Hunting Grounds

Chapter 9

Kate only had hands for two backpacks since she needed to carry her weapon at the ready. The doors might be closed but they got them open so that meant someone else could, too. So they needed to be diligent and at the ready as often as possible.

She dropped her two backpacks close to Rick. "How's it coming?" She had left Rosie with Rick to get ready to leave this place.

"Rosie is a little bigger program than I thought she was, however, she has determined she can fit herself in just one of them, leaving the other two for other things. She won't transfer herself until we're ready to leave," Rick explained.

"Alright. Regarding backpacks – I have two so I'm off to get the third," Kate told him.

"Drop the third one in the kitchen. We need to find bags, preferably ones that we can put a vacuum in for the food. We need a plan for water, also," Rick said.

"On it." Kate again leaned down, kissed his cheek, and left him to his job. She liked him so she didn't see an issue with kissing him or having sex with him.

[_] /\ [_]

Kate was back after dropping off her third backpack in the kitchen dining hall. She walked up behind Rick, put her hands on his shoulders, and looked past him. "How's she doing?" Kate didn't know how Rosie became a friend so quickly but suddenly she was worried about her.

"See if you can find these things. Rosie says there might be one in Engineering, Medical, the captain's room, or Bridge." Rick showed her a picture of what to look for.

"A rod?" It looked like a simple tube that was maybe at most 12 inches long. "What is it?"

"Basically one of these." Rick tapped one of the devices Rosie was going to use. "Think of it as a reader. A screen is rolled up inside it. Just pull it out and it can be used to read what's downloaded into it."

"Okay." He had given her places to search for one so she kissed his cheek yet again and headed out.

Rick wasn't sure he was going to hold out till tonight to seriously kiss her back for all these little kisses. She was clearly smart, not scared, very pretty, and very sexy. Not to mention very tasty.

[_] /\ [_]

"I've got two. Is that enough?" Kate was back and laid both of them on the table Rick was still sitting in front of, watching Rosie and answering her questions.

"There are only two of us so we should be good. I've got something else for you to search for." Rick asked Rosie to show her a picture of it.

"I've seen one of those. It was when I was getting the backpacks but it wasn't a backpack. What is it?" Was it worth getting?

"Rosie's explanation makes it sound like a glider pack. Basically it sounds like if you wear it and activate it, then it extends wings. What you have is part jet pack and part glider. So do we want one of those or supplies?" Rick asked her given what half of him wanted and what the other half wanted.

"OH GOD!" Kate looked at it and quietly debated with herself as to what she should say. The idea of getting to fly had an appeal but it meant a lot less supplies. Once they left this ship they were definitely going to want and need those supplies.

Kate walked away from him and then walked back. "I know what I want but I know what we need. I hate it but I say we dump the jet pack and go with backpacks full of supplies." She hated herself for making a choice. "I think I hate you now." He had forced her to make a tough choice.

"Now you sound like me. I so want a jet pack but at the cost of supplies? I just couldn't justify it, so I like you even more now." Rick smiled up at her and beckoned her to come down closer to him.

Kate found herself being kissed so she grasped his head to continue kissing him. Once she broke from the kiss she was convinced that they would be having sex later. She couldn't wait to get her hands on him.

"Is there something else? Something a lot smaller?" Kate asked. Like something that would fit in one of their backpacks?

"Try this." Rick got Rosie to show her something.

"Ear buds? I've seen those all over the place. I thought they were just for listening to music or something," Kate said.

"They might do that as well, but these particular ones are actually encrypted communication buds. This way we can whisper to each other and hear what the other person says. They have helmets but I'm betting they won't fit our heads because Rosie showed me a picture of them, alive, not dead," he told her.

"Rosie?" Rick knew she was listening and instantly Kate saw a picture of one on the screen in front of him.

Kate put her head next to his and looked closer at the screen. "It's a rat." It had a rat face, rat ears, and even a naked rat tail. Except that it was in clothes, standing on two legs, and it had hair everywhere.

"Cute, isn't he?" Rick teased her since he was actually a touch grossed out.

Kate turned her head and said, "Jackass," right into his ear.

"That's my name, don't wear it out. Go find the earbuds and we can try them out first while I look for other things. Then we can break for dinner," Rick suggested.

"Deal." Kate kept her head facing him and kissed his cheek again. "Jackass." She began to retreat and abruptly felt her ass being slapped which had her squealing. She jumped, turned to look at him, and saw a grin on his face.

Yeah, she liked him.

[_] /\ [_]

Rick and Kate were sitting at the table looking at the Jetsons food that was dinner. "I'm going to want a real meal eventually. This stuff doesn't have much taste or it tastes weird," Kate commented.

"Yeah, I want a big, double cheese, juicy, greasy, artery-hardening burger." Rick could feel his mouth water just thinking about it.

"And a shake and curly fries," Kate added.

"Chocolate." Rick liked her thinking.

"Uh-uh, strawberry. Or better yet a Blizzard." Kate sighed. She could almost taste the New York Cheesecake Blizzard Blend. It had a tart strawberry center.

"Ice cream. Only an aircraft carrier carries ice cream, you know. You want to get lost? Try billeting on an aircraft carrier. Get caught going up a down only staircase and don't get me started about being out on a flight deck where you'll go deaf without ear protection.

"I'm Navy, I've had more than one mission that started out on a carrier even if it was just to be transferred by helicopter to a submarine," Rick told her.

"I don't think I could do your job and I know I would miss you if you were deployed," Kate admitted to him.

"Say that again." Rick wanted to know if he had heard right.

"Don't want your job?" Kate asked.

"No, the part about you would miss me." Rick was focused on that and watched Kate blush. She picked up a piece of her Jetsons food and ate it to hide her grin.

[_] /\ [_]

Kate stepped out of the shower and spotted a naked Rick standing at the sink trying to figure out how that toothbrush worked. They hadn't had sex last night but they'd just finished having a lot of sex this morning.

She had gotten three climaxes out of Rick and had tasted him all three times. He had in turn gotten her to climax six times which was a new record for her. He might not have a girlfriend but he clearly knew what to do to a woman's body; he had obviously learned that somewhere. But whoever that was didn't matter much. He was hers now and since she didn't share with anyone it was going to stay that way.

Kate was mostly dry save for parts of her hair so she walked up behind him and slipped her arms around him. She had woken up this morning with his face planted firmly between her spread legs. That was a morning wake-up she could get used to real fast.

"Does it work?" Kate asked him.

"It more hurts than anything. We're going to have to come up with a new plan." Rick put it down and spun in her arms so he could face her, wrap his arms around her, and kiss her.

Rick was learning to love having sex with her. He was finding she was an amazing woman. The only question he had was what was wrong with her? She was almost too perfect so there had to be something he didn't like about her.

He nuzzled her neck. "Do you have plans for today?"

"If we had coffee I would be making it and drinking all I could, so I'm guessing back to Rosie and keep packing," Kate said with a sigh. "I remember seeing bags that look like they could have all the air vacuumed out. We just need to figure out how to do that."

"I need to check Rosie to see how she's doing. I'm thinking her new memory space is smaller so she might be having a problem trying to figure out what she can or should take with her," Rick told her but kept hold of her.

"I've got the beginnings of a plan once we leave this ship. What I need from you while you search for things is anything that looks like a poncho or rain gear," Rick told her. "We haven't looked outside of late since neither of us have been on the Bridge lately so I'm betting it has rained or is raining. This place is too green for it not to rain a lot."

"Got it." Kate looked up at him. "Just two or more than two?"

"Two, maybe three feet wide and over 6 feet long. It's not for us to wear. I have an idea. So see what you can find." Rick kissed her again. He didn't have another erection in him so it was just a kiss. But their kisses were really beginning to mean something.

[_] /\ [_]

Kate showed up with four ponchos that were still viable mostly because they were plastic. "I found four what look like ponchos." Kate dropped them and headed to Rick.

"Good! Do you remember the cabinets that we got the weapons out of? See if you can find some of these." Rick showed her a picture.

"Fat discs. What are they?" Kate saw them and the design reminded her of something.

"They're mines. I was thinking of making punji sticks and dipping them in our shit to injure and infect them. Something we learned from the war in Vietnam. However, mines might be better. And then there are these things." Rick changed to a different picture.

"A Frisbee? A fat Frisbee?" It looked like one to her just a little fatter.

"Grenades." Rick grinned and turned to look at her.

"That thing's a grenade? Really?" It didn't look like any grenade she had ever seen on TV or in the movies.

"You and I know that a grenade can only be thrown so far. Now think how far you can throw a Frisbee. I don't know why no one hasn't thought of this before." Rick liked the idea of them.

"We don't need too many so just three or four of each will do. Then we can discuss what Rosie has chosen to download so we can see if we like it or if there's something better."

"On it." Kate started to leave then paused. "They're not going to blow up on me, are they?" They were talking about explosives here.

"Just don't activate them and you'll be fine. And if you die you have my approval to haunt my ass." Rick grinned at her.

"Jackass." She still liked him, though. Rick grinned as she left to find those two things.

[_] /\ [_]

"I got three of each. They're actually a little smaller than I expected. I also found this thing, whatever it is." Kate put down the other object.

"OH! Think plastic explosives. Now we just need a detonator but you can look for those later, or I can. Ready for lunch since we skipped breakfast?" Rick asked her.

"Yeah, I need to recover some energy or I'm going to be useless tonight or tomorrow morning since we tend to have sex in the mornings." She didn't really care when they had sex just so long as they did.

"Great, we can discuss what Rosie is doing over lunch." Rick got up and followed Kate to the kitchen and dining hall to eat something.

[_] /\ [_]

Kate still didn't know what it was she was eating but the taste was definitely different.

"So what's your plan? Ponchos, mines, grenades. I want off this planet and to go home somehow," Kate questioned him while she ate.

"Well… After talking to Rosie I've identified where that ship she talked about was located. Once we search that site we'll know for sure but I'm hoping it's a landing site for whoever is hunting us.

"I want to plant the mines behind us to cover our six at least a little. If we're lucky the mine will have a trip wire. Now if it's a landing site I have a plan. You know what a spider hole is?" Rick asked her.

"A spider hole? Is that anything like a trapdoor spider? They dig this little hole and cover and wait for prey to come by. They jump out, bite it, and drag it down into its hole to eat it," Kate said.

"Pretty close. A military spider hole is a camouflaged one man hole typically used for observation. In our case I want to dig a shallow hole just bigger than either of us. We lay down in our separate holes on our stomachs. Build a camouflaged cover using dirt, leaves, and maybe even a live plant.

"We'll have a gap facing one direction that we can shoot through. I'm hoping that their night vision can't see us because we have dirt all around us. Our heat, so to speak, will be hidden by the dirt. About the only thing they might spot will be our heads. Hopefully they'll think we're a small native animal and not a threat to them.

"Then comes the fun part. We wait for a ship to land if we can spot where they've landed in the past. They come out and we shoot them. We then enter their ship, let Rosie do her job, and learn how to fly it. Tell us what to do since she can't actually touch anything. After that comes the hard part." Rick was still working on the rest of his plan.

"Where the fuck is Earth." Kate wasn't stupid.

"Exactly. Now what I'm hoping for is that whoever these guys are they've have been to Earth before so they have it in their ship's database that Rosie can find. We fly home and decide what to do once we get there." Rick wasn't sure he wanted to just hand over this ship to any nation. Any ship like this would be seriously advanced.

Kate bit her bottom lip. "That's an awful lot of ifs, Rick."

"And no plan actually works like planned once you encounter the enemy. I'm hoping that's where our ear buds come into play. We can talk to each other even if we're not side by side in the same hole," Rick told her.

"That's why you want the ponchos. It might rain on us while we wait. What if we have to pee?" Kate looked at him. "NO, don't tell me!" She didn't want to hear she was supposed to pee in her pants while in her hole.

"In any event we're not leaving until well after your period. I don't want those dogs catching your smell and finding us. I'm still working on how we're going to hide our scent based on what we have to work with."

Kate was thinking her period should be coming up soon like in a day or two depending on how long they'd been asleep to get here. So maybe sex tonight or tomorrow morning was out because of that. It didn't mean she couldn't take care of him, though.

"When we get in our holes we're probably going to have to be very dirty so be ready for that," he warned her.

"How dirty?" She really didn't like being dirty. She even hated the idea of tent camping. She was a city girl and just being out here in this jungle definitely wasn't what she liked to do.

"Very. Covered in dirt and have leaves and other plants rubbed all over you." Rick knew he was going to have to do the same.

"Wonderful." She meant the opposite, of course. She huffed out a breath. "Beats being dead, I suppose."

"Very," Rick admitted. He had no plans to die here either.

"Do you think Rosie's up to the challenge?" Kate asked since he was the one working with her while Kate was doing all the scouring through places for items.

"So far she thinks she is. Like everything else we won't know till we come to that time. I'm thinking that she doesn't want to be turned off and never be found again. Though that might be me. She may simply be doing what she was made to do no matter who it is." Rick really didn't know for sure.

Kate stated the obvious. "If she can't we're in deep trouble."

[_] /\ [_]

Rick woke up suddenly and found Kate giving him a blowjob. They really were getting used to each other. Each had found at least one spot that was very special to the other person and right now Kate was putting his spot to good use. Because of it he climaxed in no time only to have her not stop giving him a blow job.

Kate was learning to like his taste and while his first climax had been tasty she was ready for more so she just never stopped.

After a shower she got a gauze pad from Rick and one of his medical kits, made herself a pad, and wrapped around her panties. It felt weird but what choice did she have? So for at least the next week there wasn't going to be any sex between them except for what she could do for him which she was happy to do since it came with a reward. Not to mention all the kisses and if Kate was careful enough she could feed some of his climax back to him in a kiss. She had tasted herself on his lips so he could taste himself on hers.