Chapter 5
Another second passes,then another. Something shifts in his dark eyes. His fingers curl a little, and his claws gleam in the starlight. I don’t need an enemy. I need a friend. Or at least someone who can help me survive until rescue arrives.
I sheath my knife, then reach out and grasp his hand and his fingers close around mine. I expect him to be cold to touch, but he’s not. I thought his claws would scratch me, but they don’t. He pulls me up, but my legs are still weak, and I stumble into him. His arm goes around me and once again I’m surrounded by heat and fur. This time I don’t panic, and I don’t fight. I breathe in his heat. He smells like a storm, that scent of ozone that follows lightning. Beneath the fur he wears a soft and well-worn shirt. Maybe he crashed, and he’s been waiting for rescue and is glad to have company.
A note of caution sounds at the back of my mind. I can’t trust him, but he’s been here longer than me and can help me survive. I draw back and look up at him. But at what cost?
For how long has he been here alone?
He takes his time to release me and a faint smile curves his lips. I glance away. I don’t want to see his pointed teeth again. I’ve had enough of predators for one night, but my heartbeat quickens as though I am once again prey.
He speaks in a language I don’t know and beckons me to follow.
“I need to stay with my ship.” The last thing I want to do is run off into the mountains and miss my ride out of here. I point at the wreck in case he can’t speak Basic International. Not all aliens can, because of their vocal cords, but any spacefaring race can at least read it and he should at least be able to understand me.
He frowns and shakes his head. “If you stay, you will be eaten or freeze,” he says in perfect Basic, though his voice is gravelly as though he hasn’t spoken it too long.
“Rescue is coming. I set off the beacon.” My ass is wet from sitting in the snow and I’m chilled to the core. I don’t want to freeze out here, but abandoning the ship is against regulations.
He smiles without showing his teeth. “No signals out.”
“What do you mean?”
“No signals…” He shrugs and sighs, his face tilted up to the endless night. “The storm, or something in the planet, mean no signals leave.”
Did our data bursts never reach the main ship? They were just updates though. All the detailed surveys are stored on the ship. Does that mean the company doesn’t even know we finished? That means they wouldn’t be worried until the next data burst is missed. That was almost a full day away. Then another six days to get here. I don’t want to freak out or believe that the beacon isn’t transmitting.
I fold my arms around myself to keep what little body heat I still have and study him. If I go with him, will he let me leave when rescue comes?
“I sent transmissions when I was surveying the planet.” And there had been no oddities until Sawle had taken the damn joy flight.
Something flickers over his face, concern, maybe. I shouldn’t be judging his body language by human references when he’s nothing like a human man. For a start, he’s massive. He makes me feel small…protected when I was in his arms and surrounded by his fur. I shove the thought away. I don’t need to be protected. But I need warmth if I’m going to survive.
“You were high enough then. Now.” That shrug again. “Follow.” He starts walking this time leaving me two choices stay and freeze or follow.
My training tells me to stay with the ship. Follow protocol. If Sawle had followed protocol I wouldn’t be stuck here freezing my ass off and debating my survival options. I want to be angry with Sawle, but I’m too cold to be furious. His own recklessness killed him, and I don’t want to be collateral.
It's clear I can’t stay outside. Aside from the cold, there’re things that want to eat me. I’m not sure that the alien guy is any less dangerous—he’s simply nicer about it.
“I’m going back to my ship,” I call. That’s the safe and the smart thing to do. Follow the rules. The rules are there to keep people safe.
The alien turns around and shakes his head, then he stalks toward me with easy strides—that are twice the length of mine—through the snow. I back up a few steps, my feet sinking into the snow up to my calves. Snow finds its way into my boots and I can add wet socks to my growing list of problems.
He stops in front of me. His eyes are bright, his hair dances in the wind and I can taste the change in the air when he’s around. “Do you want to die?”
What kind of question is that? “Of course not.”
“Good.” Then he bends and scoops me over his shoulder with his free hand. That hand settles on my frozen ass cheek and the tips of his claws press against my skin.
I push away using his shoulder as leverage and struggle with no success. “Hey. Put me down.”
“I walk quicker and it’s cold.” He doesn’t relax his grip.
He strides through the snow like it doesn’t bother him at all, and I can’t fault his logic. He is quicker, and I am so cold that the heat from his hand is like a brand on my ass. I stare as my ship disappears. We skid down a slope, and he uses his staff to pivot and to stabilize himself. When I think we’ll fall off the side of the mountain, a breeze springs up to nudge us back to safety. I’m glad I’m not walking as I’d have tumbled into oblivion at least three times already.
But he’s taking me too far from my ship. Already I’m forgetting what route we took as all the rocks and snow look the same. All I know is that I have to climb up an almost non existent trail. He walks along a tiny path with a sheer drop on my side. My stomach rolls and I close my eyes and bury my face in the soft thick fur.
There seems to be a hundred ways to die and I haven’t made it through one night. I’m never going to survive the next few days.
When I peek the path has widened into something less gut twisting. I want to wriggle and be put down. But concentrating on not moving or distracting him seems like the best option if I don’t want to find out what’s at the bottom of the cliff.
I try to remember the surveys. There should be lush forest at the base of the mountains. Farther north there're warmer climates. A desert has swallowed one small continent. A little farther south there’s nothing but ice. I’m glad I didn’t crash there, or in the desert. At least where there’s snow, there’s water.
He slides into a crevice and I tuck in close, thinking he’s about to accidentally smash my head on the rock, but then we are through the gap and there’s no more wind. And I swear it’s warmer too.
I open my eyes expecting to see the insides of a small gloomy cave where he’s been sheltering, but the walls gleam white and pink. I blink and squint and realize I’m not looking at the insides of an extra pretty cave, but a city that’s been carved out of rock. Overhead there are bridges. Moss or something grows in cracks illuminating the area, and starlight filters from above and is captured and reflected by the rocks.
It's the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen.
The alien lowers me down, my body sliding over his in a way that should be reported to HR. But there’s no one to report to. No welcoming committee, or curious people wondering what he’s brought home. The city has a population of exactly two.
