She extends one of Mango’s furry-soft paws towards me. Then she presses against the middle of the creature’s paw, and razor-sharp white claws spring out.
“Mango haz klawz liek Ravok,” Leelee utters, each syllable heavy with excitement. Her grin stretches even wider at my apparent surprise.
I look from Mango to Leelee and then back to the small fluffy animal, my brows arching high in response. I slowly reach out my hand and prick one of my fingers against the animal’s minuscule claws. They are viciously sharp, but Mango is so small that I cannot imagine he poses much of a threat.
Leelee sets Mango down. The animal gives an annoyed huff at being woken and stalks off with its tail lashing back and forth.
She pulls her communication device out of her pocket and quickly taps out something on its screen. After a moment, she turns it to show me something. On the screen are several images of animals that are vaguely similar to Mango, but with a variety of different markings and colorizations. Most also appear to be much larger than Mango.
Leelee smiles, tucking a wayward curl behind her ear as she turns the screen back. She scrolls in silence, the soft glow from the screen reflecting in her brown-green eyes. She shows him another image. “Deez esa tiegr. Es beeg cat. Liek Mango.” The image is of a magnificent beast, blazing orange and black stripes covering its large body. She taps another button and a video plays, capturing the creature’s mighty growl.
“Strong,” I murmur, looking from the ferocious beast on the screen to the seemingly docile Mango now perched lazily on the cabin’s windowsill. Perhaps Mango is a youngling and has yet to grow into its adult form?
As I watch Leelee, her face illuminated by the soft glow of the screen and her smile warm as she shares pictures of more ‘beeg catz’ with me, she shows me a video in which a person demonstrates the retractable claws of one of these animals. Now, those are claws that might cause some damage, I admit.
I feel strange watching Leelee smile over this planet’s animals. I’m not sure I want to know any more about this planet. It makes me uncomfortable in ways I cannot begin to express, even to myself. This is a doomed planet and getting to know more about the creatures living on its surface distracts me from my duty to my people.
Not wanting to be rude to Leelee, as she has been kind to me, I fake a yawn, instinctively knowing that she will rush to get me comfortably settled. I need time to think, and I can’t do that with her hovering close.
With a gentleness I’m coming to associate with this strange female, Leelee helps me get settled under the thick covering. Her soft touch is unlike anything I’ve been introduced to on this planet since my initial crash landing. The smell of something floral and sweet, a soothing scent unlike the sterile scent of the human military facility, fills the air as she slowly lowers me onto the surprisingly soft mattress.
Leelee places the glass of water on the bedside table, her movements tender and her eyes filled with something I don’t understand. She turns off the light and dark settles over the space. Once she’s left the room, closing the door behind her with a soft creak, I’m left alone with the pulsing silence. My eyes find their way to the glass of water on the table, lit by the soft moonlight seeping through the window. It’s a simple act of kindness, one that leaves me staring at the glass in silence in the emptiness of the cabin room for what feels like an eternity.
The shrill cry of her communication device jerks me from my spiraling thoughts. I hear her in the other room, her chatter growing faint as she begins conversing with another female, a new unfamiliar voice.
Now, alone in the quiet room, I find myself dwelling on my duty to my species, a responsibility I’ve always borne with great pride… but something feels different now. For the first time since discovering this planet, I hesitate, even rebelling against the prospect of claiming this resource for Cryzor. The thought of repaying Leelee’s unprovoked kindness by allowing my kind to consume her world doesn’t feel right.
Instead, perhaps I should convene the Cryzor fleet elsewhere. I’ve crossed a multitude of galaxies and there will be other worlds, other prospects that can secure my reputation. As I arrive at this conclusion, it’s as though the weight of red star giants lifts from my shoulder, replaced subtly with a relief that bubbles unexpectedly from within. I resolve then that once Ireturn to my ship, I will mark this solar system as uninhabited and move on to the next system to explore.
As sleep beckons, I make a silent promise to myself. Leelee, and even Mango, are all beings worth protecting – they’re my secret to keep.
With that decision made, I find it easier to fall asleep
Exhaustion nearly overpowers me as I lay in bed. When the scent of Leelee reaches my nose, I realize that her smell lingers on the cushion on which I’m resting my head. She’s just close enough for me to hear, to remind me of her existence. As my eyes gradually surrender to overwhelming fatigue, my mind takes me back to earlier.
The memory flits across my mind of how she had strained to get me off the floor, the muscles of her petite figure shaking as she pulled, determination marked in the set of her jaw and spark in her eyes. However, I can’t stop dwelling on the sensation of her leaning against me once she got me on my feet. I could feel her trembling with fatigue, her quickened breath heated against my bare chest. I remember her pressing close to me, her body an intriguing puzzle of soft curves against my firm expanse. Her scent, something sweet and unique, filled my senses, embedding itself into the fabric of my memory. Her closeness sparked a myriad of unfamiliar feelings, stirring within me a strange mix of protectiveness and desire that was both baffling and intriguing – a sensation so foreign and yet oddly comforting. I find it hard to comprehend or regulate these emotions.
As I drift off into darkness, my last conscious thought is of Leelee’s surprising warmth, remarkable resilience, and shocking compassion for someone like me.
And the way she had looked at my body when she didn’t think I was watching.
CHAPTER 24
Lily
My phone sings a cheerful tune, shattering the silence of the cozy cabin. I jump a little, hastily pulling it out of my back pocket. I think the number flashing on the screen is Koko’s but I’m not sure. I quickly answer, glancing toward where I left Ravok, hoping the phone didn’t wake him.
“Hello?” I whisper.
“Lily? It’s Koko,” a mellow voice echoes through the quiet room, as warm and comforting as freshly baked bread.
“Oh. Hi, Koko. How can I help you tonight?”
“Just checking in on you. How’s the cabin working out? Need anything?”
“It’s lovely. I can’t thank you enough for allowing me to stay here. There’s nothing I need – you’ve had everything I could possibly need already stocked,” I reply. I wonder what would’ve happened to Ravok if I hadn’t been here. It makes an ache lodge itself under my sternum. He could’ve easily died.
Thinking of Ravok, and his magnificent bare chest, I realize that there is something I need. “Actually, I just thought of something I do want. I could use an extra-large pair of sweatpants and… maybe an oversized t-shirt or hoodie.” A blush creeps up my cheeks as I hastily bridge the unexplained request with a simple lie. “I didn’t pack warm enough for the cabin, you see. I prefer to sleep in oversized clothes – the bigger, the better – but I forgot to pack some.”
