“I think you’re right.” Kayla got up, brushing the dirt and leaves off her pants, and walked up to Beatrice. Kayla was slightly taller than the curly haired woman, which made it all the easier for her to put her arm around Beatrice’s shoulders for support as they walked.
“I don’t mind being carried,” Hai volunteered. Talia smiled and got on her knees so Hai could get on her back.
“Everyone ready?” I was eager to get this show on the road.
“Yep,” Kayla nodded.
“I am now,” Hai replied.
“Let’s get going,” Fatima answered.
I led the way through the forest with Julie by my side. It was peaceful and quiet as we walked. I might not be here by choice, but I was grateful to be on a beautiful planet with soft pink grass and teal leaves instead of a desert planet or something less inhabitable.
“Up there! Do you see that?!” Julie pointed excitedly to a structure in the distance. We picked up our pace and closed in on a hut made of wood and stone with a thatched roof.
“It’s like a hobbit hole.” Ashley, a curvy woman with cream-colored skin and blonde hair, observed.
The structure was sturdy but short, much shorter than a house. The door was disproportionately large compared to the rest of the building.
Julie opened the door that was nearly double her height and gasped when she saw what was inside.
“Food!” She ran inside to a basket of dried meat and brought a piece up to her nose to smell.
I followed her inside and picked up a handful of dried berries in the basket next to the meat.
“Do you think it’s safe to eat?” Sarah asked.
“The meat looks safe.” Julie inspected the piece in her hand before taking a bite. She moaned as she chewed. “Forgive me, I’m a chef, and I’m not sure how long we were in those cryotubes, but it feels like my tongue hasn’t tasted anything for a while.”
Anusha picked up some berries. “From a botanist’s perspective, these berries look fine.”
“You’re a botanist? What does a botanist do exactly?” Talia asked.
“I just finished grad school before I got taken. I was supposed to start a job working in a corporate lab studying the effects of climate change on plants from different regions.”Anusha frowned down at the berries as she recalled what her life would have been if she were still on Earth.
“Well you’ll certainly get to use all your knowledge here.” Talia tried to lighten the mood.
No one had said it outloud, but there seemed to be an understanding that we weren’t going back to Earth. You didn’t become alien cargo, crash land on a strange planet, and expect to find a way back home.
“I know I’d certainly appreciate your knowledge of what might be poisonous versus what’s safe,” Fatima added.
“Do you work with plants too? I saw you inspecting the grass when we got off the ship,” Sarah asked.
“No, I’m an archeologist. I’ve been trained to be observant and the grass caught my attention,” Fatima replied.
“That makes sense,” Sarah nodded, then she popped a dried berry into her mouth and chewed.
“Hey there's stairs!” Talia announced and then disappeared from sight.
“Talia, wait! You don’t even know what’s down there!” Fatima sighed and followed Talia to the lower level. Julie and I followed and were immediately greeted with a dry cool den with a bed of furs and more baskets of food and one large covered bowl filled with a sweet nectar.
“Someone obviously lives here,” Julie commented as she took in the spacious room.
“Should we leave?” Sarah asked as she twirled her hair nervously through her fingers.
“We should find some water and come back. Maybe whoever lives here will be back and let us in.” Anusha suggested.
I nodded my head. “I thought I heard a river nearby. We can go investigate while also keeping track of where this den is.” The mere thought of water made my mouth feel ten times more dry than it already did.
