“Looks good so far,” Kenz’ox says as we both stare up at the saucer’s underside while it rises to the other side of the leaves. Then it starts to move toward the beach, not making much of a sound except a deep hum that I feel in my chest.
Aker’iz starts to squirm and protest that nothing is happening, so Kenz’ox tosses her into the air, making her squeal. “This place is nicer without that Plood thing here anyway, right, Chief Aker’iz?”
She squeals in glee.
And I kind of have to agree. That saucer is creepy, inside and out. It doesn’t help that it’s a constant reminder of the darkest day in my life, when I was abducted from Earth. But I’ll forgive it all that for being a safe home for me and the girls for years. And now, I might have the tool I need to search for Callie in a really effective way.
The saucer moves out of sight, leaving only a drizzle of leaves and bark.
“It looks like it works,” Kenz’ox says in a suspiciously neutral voice. “You can go back to your planet.”
I grab hold of his upper arm. “Do you want me to?”
“No,” he says with emphasis as he puts his hand on mine. “I want you here.”
“I want to be here, too,” I tell him. “This is where my life is now.Youare where my life is.”
Before, I thought a caveman husband would be an anchor, keeping me trapped on planet Xren. But that’s not how anchors work—they help you stay in a place where you want to be. And while I still have a longing for Earth, now I want to be here with Kenz’ox. He and Aker’iz can never go to Earth, that’s obvious. But we can go to other places, if that saucer works as well as it seems to.
Kenz’ox bends down and picks something up from right underneath Aker’iz’s rocking cradle. “Do we need this anymore?”
It’s the letter I prepared for him to give to any Earth girl who might arrive after I left. “No. We can burn it.”
“It’s full of letters,” Kenz’ox observes as he slides the string off and unfolds the leather sheet. “Like on Aker’iz’x mug. What do they mean?” He shows me.
I grab the sheet. “I will read to you. Ahem.
Dear whoever you are.
I am assuming you are from Earth, if you can read this. If you’re not, please give it to the nearest Earth girl.
I am Theodora, and I’m not here anymore. I am walking toward the Borok tribe for a purpose that is important to both you and me. It concerns the flying saucer you’re looking at right now.
The caveman with the baby is called Kenz’ox. He is immensely kind and strong and dangerous. Please try to persuade him to go to the Borok tribe as well, so that he and his baby may be safe. If anything happens to any of them, I will murder someone, because I love him.
Signed, Theodora.
PS. Have you seen Callie? She’s missing.”
I fold the sheet in eight. “I don’t think it will burn. Let’s keep it for something else.”
Kenz’ox lays one massive arm around me and pulls me close. “You loved me. Even then. When you were leaving, and I told you to just go.” His voice has a good amount of gravel in it.
“Of course I loved you,” I say into his chest, fighting for breath. “I never stopped.”
“My love,” he growls so I feel it through all of me. “I love you desperately. We must never be apart.” He squeezes me one last time, making me gasp.
“We won’t,” I promise when he loosens his grip. “Oh… what was that?”
For a split second, it’s as if the sun gets brighter, then settles down.
Kenz’ox reaches for his sword. “Stay close.”
We stand like that for a moment, but nothing else happens before there’s the sound of breaking branches from above us and the saucer comes slowly down again.
Kenz’ox keeps his hand on the hilt of the sword. “I don’t like that Plood inside. What if he comes to life?”
That’s been on my mind, too. I don’t know what might happen if that damn mushroom were to actually become a living Plood.
