Chapter Six: Thor
“The first man to strike another in an argument, has lost the battle of wit.” – Dortjus Mentor.
They were trekking. They’d parked up the Tug again and were now making for some shelter. Making contact now was not an option. Dortju had fucked up on the time controls and had landed them in -4356 mid Mar, at 2 am. Chani was pissed because there was also a mild snow storm underway and she was freezing! They had warm coats but the wind around here had a way of making itself felt. She never missed that from when she lived in Scotland.
She’d suggested they overnight in the ship. Dortju had said no for some reason.
Dortju never liked the weather either but he’d already adjusted his metabolism to deal with it so was thinking more about the inevitable chat Chani would likely want to have with him in the morning about his plans for a way in. It hardly bothered him, knowing what was coming, made him think about it. He was more worried this time about the plans he never had for her than the ones he did. It did distract him from the bloody cold a bit. Metabolism adjustments or not, cold snowy wind in your face was still cold and snowy and in your face. He still had another wee card up his sleeve.
“Not far now Chani!” He shouted through the gusts.
She wondered how on Earth he knew or what he was on about. It was clear they would not make for an Inn until morning so she wondered if he’d found a bear cave to shack up in for the night or something.
After what seemed like another hour (8 mins) Dortju told Chani “That’s us here. Just at the bottom of that slope by the wee spring.” He shown his torch down the gradual slope. There was fir tree’s all around and a particularly proud one stood up close to the spot he shown a light at.
“Whatever.” Was all Chani bothered with. Dortju smiled.
“Did you bring your bathing suit Chani?”
“Ha fucking ha!”
“Acht here we are pet. Time to get cosy.”
She’d be happy to be out of the wind.
They were at a point where 2 small streams joined in a small pool before flowing off together to wherever. The smallest, barely big enough to need to extend your step to get over, came from an opening in the undergrowth. Chani could see wisps of mist in the air around it as Dortju shined his torch about to show the place off. It would be a nice view in daylight without snow in your face.
She wondered how damp and dingy it would be and if that was home for the night. She could wait for whatever stood for a mattress and blankets and some heat in this time and place for a night or two but for now she just wanted to be out of the wind.
“Welcome to my wee secret surprise for you for this mission pet.”
“O what, no trip to Harrods this time then I guess?!” She retorted
Dortju kept his reply to himself.
Dortju pulled aside some of the undergrowth and she seen the opening was actually almost nearly 3 meters in width and 2 in height and after a short slightly uprising tunnel there seemed to be somewhat of a glow coming from inside.
“What’s this Dortju?”
“I know where we are, I know this place. C’mon.”
He went in. She was curious.
As she approached she felt some heat come from the wisps and realized it was not mist but steam. Dortju was away in already.
She pushed aside some undergrowth and walked in. It was immediately warm with a gentle light blue glow in the background a bit off to the right, the tunnel varied in size and shape but you could stand in it. She heard the sound of Dortju putting their bags down and shuffling about further in. The tunnel was perhaps 5 meters in length with a glow coming from around a gentle curve in it, there was a slight incline to the cave and the burn ran down one side. There was easy passage with dry feet and Chani was now more than curious. The wind only lessened and the heat only increased as she went in.
She entered and was completely gobsmacked. “Dortju! What the fuck!”
“Make yourself at home pet, it’s cosy enough, your bags just over there on the other side of the fall.” He had his books out and reading glasses on with his bed made up and his sack secure already.
The stream was fed by a small waterfall that lingered in a pool about the size of a large bath before heading out at the front of the cave. It lightly steamed on it’s surface and was the source of the glow.
“Dortju… but.. when did you, but, what was, why didn’t you tell me, what the fuck is this?!”
“Chani pet, catch up. Old school trip. Geyser pond. Scandinavia, it’s no hard to join the dots now surely, but your welcome. It happens to be near where Thor is just now so why not.”
“Wow, good shout! Master Dortju.”
The cave was perhaps 4 meters across in a roughly circular shape. It WAS warm and the wind chill was leaving Chanis bones by the minute. There was a small pool, perhaps the best example of a natural Jacuzzi Chani had ever witnessed. Her mind went from thinking damp and dingy to moist and exotic, there was obviously plenty ventilation, thankfully, Dortju had his pipe out now. The fall trickled down from the forest above into a bath shaped hole in the rock with a soothing note and hot steam seeped into it from below and bubbled out the top. It heated the water. The odd snow flake came in from the forest but evaporated and became steam as it wafted about above the pool. It was dream like.
“The water actually heats the wee pool outside just enough for a wee dip in the morning but I must confess I do rush back in to jump into the hot pool, we’re on top of a wee geyser is all.”
IS ALL, Chani thought! It’s goregous! She missed the likes of this from ole Terra. She had seen more than a few sites traveling through Space and Time with Dortju but this was a special one.
“How hot is it?” Chani was getting into this place. The glow from the pool gave the whole cave an atmosphere Chani thought was magical. It obviously had a natural source of light and illuminated the space just around the pool with a gentle blueish glow.
“You can let me know pet.” was all he said.
“Where does the glow come from?”
Dortju looked up from his book on Telsa theories and said “What?”
“Why is there light in here from the pool? and what is that smell?”
“Chani, did you go to school? Ever hear of triboluminesence,τρίβειν is Greek for rub, you know what lumen means in latin. It’s a natural light from crystals. Basically the more you move the water and it rubs with the crystals the brighter it’ll be. It’s fun. Try it out. Now do you mind I need to get back to study.” But he smiled he was enjoying her interest and lecturing her. Always the teacher.
Chani knew he was showing off now but was impressed. She went over to the lighted pool and got two answers to her current questions. A waft hit her nose as she approached that wasn’t unpleasant. It had a charcoal or coal burning smell to it. Naturally homely, not the inside of a spaceship or hospital.
The steam made it smell like an old log cabins fireplace. It came from small cracks in the sides of the pool between what looked like spatches of blue glowing crystals, time and being underwater had made them the shape of bubbles. There was a smooth seat like bit crystal free from where the water obviously used to fall but over time water had made a channel and now fell deeper in the cave and trickled over towards the pool. She felt invigorated by it’s smell and enchanted by the view.
The water from the forest seemed to have a mind of it’s own and either headed off to the burn or seeped over towards her doing it’s job of filling up the pool. No where near where it used to flow.
As she reached to the water she put the back of her hand to it first but was instantly impressed. It felt like a very hot bath but easily bearable. She was in luck. Without a bikini or swimwear but it was just Dortju, she knew he’d not object. She was not going to miss out on this chance. In fact she might…
“Jump in in your undies. I wont watch. Once you heat up a tad it wont feel quite so hot. Enjoy. I’m next once your done pet.”
“Well Mr. Dortju you have done a good one with this one. I won’t forget this in a hurry, if ever.”
“Uh-huh.” Dortju was loading his pipe.
Dortju seemed to have worked this one out. She did get in the pool and loved it. She pushed the water around some and it did just get brighter and it was fun. Dortju pretended to not care.
“Dortju this is too cool my man.”
He thought that was a bad choice of words, she was being cute. He thought it’d end up like this.
Both she and Dortju knew he only pretended not to look. She hardly cared. Neither did he but she was obviously in her prime at 29. He reckoned he was in for a special treat tonight with Chani. “Right Dort, now I’m getting settled, how’s this in gonnae go? I mean it is fecking Thor we’re dealing with.This is a bloody cool place by the way!!”
Acht she had to spoil it, already back to business, least the cave’s scenery had occupied her for a bit. The best way for Dortju to get hassled from Chani was to be interested in something else apparently. He’d actually become a bit too interested in wavelengths apparently but was hardly about to complain.
Dortju never sighed but put his book down and his arm behind his head and closed his eyes as he drew on his pipe. The rock surface wasn’t exactly a pillow and he couldn’t wait for his turn at the bath. He wondered if it’d be a joint venture in the end.
He’d never ask.They flirted and took the piss out of each other at times but Dortju would never offer an unwanted advance.
Chani was sparing with her intimacy out of respect to her husband, but what he never knew, never hurt and many people who practiced magic were polygamous. But Dortju and Chani had seen it all together and Dortju was a gentleman.
“Same as usual, make contact but aye this one is different. Have one guess, hint: we need DNA and it’s Thor I’m meeting. What’s the easiest in and out?” He spoke over his pipe while puffing now and then with his head back, relaxing.
“Your going to enlist in his army, impress the hell out of him and become a general while I do something or another, I really don’t mind taking another man of his court but I’d rather not make a habit of it.”
“Million miles out pet and it’s me taking the putting myself out this time.”
“It’s time to pick a fight. I need to simply challenge Thor.”
Dortju surmised.
“Not many people have ever said that my darling! Hardly simple!! What’s my role?”
She only ever used that pet name when she was concerned.
“That’s my point. It is that simple.”
“It’s not quite so bad. It’s not all out combat but a challenge but it will involve contact and so…”
“DNA. I get ya. So am I to cheerlead this affair then or what?”
“Nope, your staying here!”
Chani felt like she had been slapped in the face. This was her mission to.
Dortju seen her expression, all the joy of the bath had left her. She could have left this to the morning and just let the night be but she would be her.
“You’d be killed and if you came along. It would also weaken me, caring for you. This place right now is for the protected or able to protect and your kinda small on the lbs weight scale.”
She hardly felt like taking that as a compliment but also did. She relaxed back into the bath and got use to the idea. It was a short mission. She’d make the most of her role. If she had to play home marker for a couple of days with Dortju she was sure she’d manage and wondered who’d enjoy it the most.
He knew she would adjust to a day and a half on her own with a Jacuzzi alright while he went and got his head kicked in by Thor to come back with some DNA and perhaps only bruises. .
The Ancients needed it. To all accounts some life spores had been sent to Earth by the Ancients 10,000 years ago, apparently as an accelerator to the function of the Monolith and this had spurned the blond haired blue eyes Aryan race but some double checking was needing to be done so a sample of Thors DNA was needed and Dortju’s best method to get that close quickly enough was to throw down the gauntlet and pick a fight. It’d have to be over a spilled drink though and not a loved one so he’d just get slapped about a bit and not executed. Thus Chani was ‘staying at home.’ She’d not complain too much later.
“You could join me in the bath Dort, there’s easily room for us both.” He wasn’t long joining her. They were rarely intimate but they made it count if they were. She was hardly a prud on that matter.
She seemed to be getting used to the idea already of spending a ‘weekend’ in this cave.
It was well into the second day now and Chani was getting worried. He’d left in the morning and evening was drawing in now on the next day. She couldn’t be bothered working out what date it was and the progress of the sun told her enough about the time.
After checking their rations and making sure everything was as ship shape as Dortju would want it she wondered what she should do. They both had flares to set off at set hours in extremis but short of that she had no way to contact him. She wondered now about how it felt for him not being in contact with his own daughter. She knew she missed her own son Tony like nothing and couldn’t wait to be home. She felt like home wasn’t home unless she was able to connect with her own. She felt it in her bones.
She was gathering up some drift wood to make a fire later when she noticed old markings ‘D.O. & N.B. – 98’ scraped into the fir tree by the pond next to the streams join. She wondered who N.B. was.
Night was closing in and the moon was rising. It was one of those evenings when they were both in the sky at the same time at opposite sides of the world, as the sun set on the west the moon rose as if they were on a set of scales in the east. Chani looked off towards the moon, the direction he’d headed, as the sun started to fall below the horizon behind her and night got underway. Sitting in the cave would have been more of a novelty under better circumstances. Currently she was keeping watch outside. The wind was breezy and there was no snow.
“Oi oi lass. I’m back.” Dortju hopped up the slight slope from the forest and she did notice the limp he was trying to hide. She couldn’t have been happier.
“What’s with your leg man? Get an ass whipping?”
“Well I did go ask for it and yes, got the goods to. Ready to play doctors and nurses pet?”
“What again already. C’mon let’s get you sorted.” She gave him her shoulder and helped him into the cave.
“Not like that tonight pet, I hurt.”
“Aww, C’mon. Last night we even, well you’ll remember.”
It took an hour to get him properly dressed and bandaged. They had over 100 samples of DNA and more than likely more than half of them were Thors. Before the fight they’d evidently shook hands and hugged.
There was no shyness or awkwardness about being naked that night either, Dortju had wounds. They needed attended to and that was that.
He did the sewing of the parts he could reach. The slash just under his left buttock brought on an embarrassing moment for them both, they persevered and got Dortju literally sewed back together.
He was thankful for the small bottle of Jack Daniels he had brought along. Chani seen him swig at it between pouring it on wounds before they were sown. He’d be chatty tonight for sure.
Better getting him started now she thought. She was exhausted from worry and aye she’d take another bath. Get his tale regaled at her and listen attentively. He deserved his hard man talk, he HAD just picked a fight with the ‘God’ of thunder. “Did it end up a knife fight then?” She asked as she left him to his Jack Daniels and went to get her bath ready.
“Want some?”“No thanks. C’mon Dortju, what happened?” “Believe it or not he just knocked me out with one punch and I can tell you this I know it was only half of what he had. It was the pottery that got me, the whole floor was scattered in it…” He’d be in full flow for an hour or two now, she made herself a flask of thick hot chocolate and got in the caves hot bath while he mused away about his adventures of the night before. She put her mind on auto record and mumbled the odd “O really.” “Wow” or “Uh huh” and left him to it. Dortju could easily go from being the most aware of the moment to lost in his own head in a second flat.Dortju missed a naked flame in sight. He made a small fireplace from small rocks halfway to the entrance and made good use of the old dry wood Chani had collected as he blethered. He made a small fire with old fir tree branches as he explained how he’d spilled Thors tankard. The scent was awesome and the firelight made the whole mood of the night one to relax to. If the cave did belong to a bear it would likely return and simply warm itself by the fire and welcome some hot chocolate. Her biggest concern now was would her underwear be too cold tomorrow when they were headed back to the Tug if she slept in the bath.
Between his ramblings she’d gathered he’d spilled Thors drink, took a punch and ended up out cold on a floor covered in sharp crockery which came from a common practice of smashing beer tankards together. Out for 2 mins on the floor and then out 2 mins later from the Inn on his way back.
She dozed. Then.
“Dort get in here and bring that pipe and aye ok I’ll have a Jack or two.”
She knew he’d have some pent up fury to get out after the fight and she actually fancied being at the receiving end of it.
She wanted her own release.
They’d be leaving in the morning and if a bear came and wasn’t happy she knew it’d have Dortju to deal with first. She was taking off her underwear as Dortju was getting into the bath.
Quite some time after, she emitted a murmured gentle little snore that Dortju would only describe as a cute attempt at it. His cloak was close to hand and he rolled it up and put it under her head. She snuggled into it. He’d talked his way into the bath and she listened for a bit more before ‘stretching’ and leaning back. Dortju shut up and obliged without any complaint. It’d been clear Chani wanted a little less conversation and a little more action.
Dortju’d earned it perhaps, he was hurting and she enjoyed her side of it anyway so did he evidently.
She looked so at peace with herself as she slept. He would not ever forget the beauty he witnessed between her feminine form and the crystal lit bath with the fire flickering in the background that night. If it wasn’t for the cuts and bruises he’d be convinced he was dreaming.
He refilled his pipe and settled into some more Tesla theories.
The facts of life sometimes made him wonder.