I’m not feeling lucky.
Though the air is clean and breathable, and there is plenty of water and plants.
And aliens.
“Are you listening to my heartbeat?”
“I can’t hear the beat. I can sense it.”
“The electrical signal?” He’s silent for long enough that I turn and glance at him. “You hear it with your kam?”
“It’s not hearing.” He taps one ear. “That is for hearing. Every creature, every person has a unique signal.”
“You make electricity.”
He lifts his hand. The markings on his arms light up, and sparks dance between his fingers. “We make a charge.”
“Humans call it electricity. How do you sense it?”
“As a signal.” He says, as though it is obvious.
Maybe to him it is. How would I describe hearing or seeing to someone without ears or eyes? I don’t have kam, something he uses without thought as it is another sense to him.
“Tell me when you are ready to stop for the night and I will find you somewhere to rest.”
“And what will you do?”
“Also rest.”
So I could run away while he sleeps. But then I will be alone in the forest, surrounded by animals I can’t see until they are on top of me. If he’s only going to follow, having him around isn’t so bad. “Are you tired?”
“No.”
Shit.I don’t want to be the one to admit weakness. “Good, neither am I.”
4
ALDIT
She’s lying. She is moving slower, and she is stumbling.
I’m willing to bet my sword that she is thirsty and hungry. I have water but no food. I will need to hunt so that we can eat. And I suspect that the more I push her to rest, the more she will resist. Something I was known for in my tribe. So, we will suffer together.
She trips, swears, glares at me as if she wants to bite my hand for even thinking about helping, and gets up. Sometimes saying nothing is the correct response, so when she starts walking again, I silently follow.
One of us will need to call a stop, and I suspect it will be me because she’d rather kill herself than ask for help. Foolish in a survival situation, but otherwise I admire her determination to get herself even more lost.
Typically, it is better to stay where one is when one realizes they don’t know where they are. We are taught that as children, in case we wander off. I may have needed to sit and wait on more than one occasion.
The first time was an accident, the second was a little more deliberate. The third time I was older and wanted to see how long I could last without being found, something that would keep me alive once banished.
Three days.
The spanking my ass received was worth it.
As well as monitoring for predators, I also search for a resting place and for something to hunt.
The latter is easy. When a cloud-seeker darts in front of me, I send an arc toward it. Its heart stops and it drops to the ground.
