by Beth Sadler
Chapter 6
Jenna sat frozen to the spot as, Teril floated down from under the belly of a plane that had suddenly materialised overhead.
One minute she had felt a faint vibration in the air and the next, there was a plane that looked like a huge Stealth Bomber. It was hardly visible in the dark with it's all over black finish and lack of lighting. Only the moon shining down directly overhead revealed its outlines.
Teril landed on top of the creek bank and then carefully made his way down to Zabron.
"Hello Zab old man, what have we here?" Punching Zabron on the arm he simultaneously grinned at Jenna.
"Meet the Fairy Princess of Lamington National Park, or, to be more exact Jenna Bradley."
"I very pleased for you to meet, Miss Princess Fairy," spoke Teril giving her a cheeky grin. Jenna just laughed in reply.
During this light hearted exchange, Zabron had been busy fitting a harness to Jason. The harness was fitted with a flap that unfolded into a portable stretcher. He positioned Jason carefully onto it then looked over at Jenna.
"Can you make your own way up to the top?" At her nod of agreement both men then took an end of the stretcher, and started carefully up the bank with Jason. He didn't cry out or move and seemed to be sleeping peacefully.
Teril turned a confused face to Zabron. "You spoke in Teeronal to Jenna, how much does she understand?"
"I'll update you on everything that's happened once we're onboard. For now, realise that Jenna understands every word that you say," he cautioned. Teril looked stunned but, gamely pushed his thoughts aside as he bent to his task.
Very quickly the men had Jason hooked to a cable. Then, with Teril accompanying him and the tractor beam steadying them both, they were hoisted into the transporter.
"We will go up next, please do not be afraid, you will be quite safe." Zabron rushed to reassure Jenna. He didn't want her to resist going with him. No way was he leaving her alone in the bush to find her own way back to the Guest House. "After all, you're a fairy princess and fairies fly quite happily I'm sure." Smiling, he gave her a quick, reassuring hug.
"No problem, anyway I've got to come to keep Jason asleep."
Jenna wasn't being completely truthful. Zabron's casual hug had got her blood pounding and her thoughts in turmoil. Now, all she was thinking about was not drooling all over him and dying of embarrassment.
Jenna never remembered the lift up into the plane. All she remembered was the complete absence of sound and motion and Zabron's hard, strong body, wrapped tightly around her for the duration of the lift. Hell, why couldn't it have lasted another hour or two? She had thought as, she snuggled into his welcome arms.
Once on board things had moved quickly. Jason's leg had been realigned then he'd been placed in a metal, tube- shaped contraption that was probably an advanced form of Hyperbaric Chamber. Zabron assured her that an hour in the Oxyzon, as it was called, would nearly heal Jason's leg. Once in hospital he would appear to have only suffered a simple fracture.
Jenna now had time to look around at the new world she was in; she was sitting on one of a group of seats that looked remarkably like luxury recliners. They were placed in a circle in the middle of the plane, obviously to simplify conversations amongst the crew. Teril sat at an even more luxurious seat, in front of a huge screen that was surrounded by dozens of lights and buttons. He was focused intently on his task.
Zabron took a seat next to her and reaching over, he pulled a hidden seat belt from the sides of her chair, snapping it into place around her body.
"Wow, you certainly travel in luxury, don't you?" Jenna ran her hand over the soft upholstery, admiring the velvety soft feel of the material.
"We use these transporters to travel great distances on the planets that we visit so, they need to be comfortable. We conduct surveys on Earth as far away as the Arctic; that's where my last survey took place. Not so happy a job as it turned out as, I ended up in the Oxyzon that young Jason is in now, with much the same kind of injury."
"This transporter isn't the same vessel that you travel from Teeron in then?
"No, we travel between planets on an Interplanetary Pod that hold upwards of six of these transporters. The Pod is docked in hover mode in this park--way out in the mountains where hopefully no one will bump into it. It has a cloaking device that reaches to the ground similar to this transporter's. They can only be seen when we have to do outside manoeuvres, such as the rescue that just took place."
"Are we going to the Pod now?"
"No, that would expose the Pod to view too many times. "We'll hover in the mountains for the hour Jason needs to heal then, we'll fly as close to O'Reilley's as possible. Remember that we will lose the cloaking ability once the hatch is opened to lower us back to the ground."
"How will we get him back to the rescue station then?"Jenna worried.
"I'll carry him back to the restaurant where, hopefully, we can slip away without anyone noticing us. I'm going to need a lift back to the coast though." He laughed into her enchanting face.
That was when he received his final shock of this extraordinary day. As they talked Jenna pulled her baseball cap off, letting a waterfall of glowing, silver-blond hair untangle from her crown. She'd wrapped her pony-tail around her head under her cap, to keep the bugs from getting into the fine strands. Experience had made her aware of how flying insects loved to get tangled in the gossamer strands once the sun went down.
Zabron heard Teril's gasp from behind him and swung around with a fierce look on his face.
"My life-mate remember, friend" he barked in Teril's direction.
"Hey, I hear you, but you have to admit, that hair is going to attract a lot of attention on Teeron," he replied, holding his hands up in a sign of surrender.
Zabron sighed in apology, "You're correct of course. I was just as stunned as you to see it."
Jenna frowned at them both as she tried to work out what the problem was.
"How is my hair a problem to anyone but me? I'm the one who has to deal with the darn mess it gets into." Zabron gave her a very serious look before gently explaining.
"Little fairy, you have to know something of Teeronites to understand the interest you will cause. We are a small population on a planet approximately the same size as Earth. However, we only have one race that strongly resembles each other. We're all very tall, even many of our women are well over six-foot. We all have dark hair and blue eyes. Can you imagine how you will be stared at when they see your tiny stature and delicate features? Now your glorious silver-blond hair is one more attraction."
"Darned if I see the problem, I hadn't planned on moving to Teeron," Jenna grumped. Damn it! He wasn't only not interested in her, he saw her as a huge problem.
"I had hoped that you would like to travel there with me, when this tour of duty is finished," Zabron muttered miserably. Hail Hera, she didn't want him.
Jenna cheered up immediately at his words.
"Oh well, I probably would like to visit if you think it would be possible. I don't have anyone here who would worry about me," she replied cheerfully.
"There is a strong reason for you to visit Teeron as soon as possible. You must have realised by now that your ability to understand us has to mean that you are genetically linked to us somehow. I'm a geneticist, and in all my studies here on Earth, you are the first person that I've met who has that ability."
Jenna sank back into the doldrums again. The damn man just wanted to study her.
"Yeah, I see what you mean."
Just where he stood romantically with Jenna, Zabron now wasn't sure but, at least she had agreed to travel to Teeron with him. He had time to work on his wooing technique.