by C. R Corbin
"You've already come a lot farther than I have." I admitted to her while I munched on the cinnamon roll. To be honest, a tiny part of me did feel a bit bitter, I did feel a bit jealous and I wasn't going to lie about that fact, but the truth of the matter was that she has earned her position, I haven't done anything worth celebrating yet.
"Don't say that, your work here is important. Someone has to conduct the research on the frontier." she stated with a comforting grasp of my shoulder.
I rolled my eyes and gave her a goofy grin, "Can't I be a little jealous of the girl that gets to go back to Earth and look at all the new advancements and all of the old cultural artifacts?"
She seemed to take my comment in jest and laughed before turning back to the plate of cinnamon rolls. She was always the go-getter, the ambitious one between the two of us. I knew her better than anyone else on this damn colony and I was grateful to have met her. The fair biologist who was gifted in all the ways I wasn't and yet chose to be more humble than she really needed to be.
She doesn't say anything because she's meek, but I could tell some part of her was going to miss this place.
My vision quickly became a blur and all the images melded together before the image of captain Leland appeared. He was standing tall in front of me with his arms crossed.
"Do I have to reprimand you again Miriam? I had told you already to never go outside with your communicator, and you even went out with your water tank half full. You know-"
"Always keep my water full and keep a communicator on me, I know. It's just a short walk." I grumbled and he sighed.
"Yes, but emergencies can and will happen. You need to be ready for them once they approach."
I rolled my eyes as he continued to blabber on, the man cared, but he was way too overbearing with us, I was only walking around the outside of the building, there was no reason for him to be so touchy.
But he was gone now, wasn't he? They were all gone. No longer would I enjoy hot days in the mess hall while I happily conversed with all of my colleagues. No longer would I lament my situation with everyone else lamenting their post on this planet as well.
No longer, it was as if the sun had died and left the world in a cold wake.
There was a light, however, a single man that stood out amongst the rest of them.
He was impossibly tall and fierce. It honestly felt like his muscles were made out of metal, out of steel. He held me close while the two horns atop his head standstill against his hair which would whip against them. Those small black locks clash against his forehead while he carries me somewhere far away from all of this, a place with far more hope than I could ever dream of.
And I loved him, upon seeing him I loved him and I knew I did.
It was embarrassing, but I found my mind drifting off to more...sensual thoughts. I could already feel the space in between my legs pulsing, my womanhood was getting wetter just from feeling his presence and I could tell that he was getting there as well. That immense size in between his leg throbbed as he sat me down and let me stare at the bulge forming in that space between his legs. I licked my lips while he holds me, grasping me gently before pulling away. I tried to follow, but found that I was stuck, basically bound to the earth as he floated away. I stared as his immensely powerful body faded into the light, those horns of his peeking like two mountains while his two blue eyes glimmered with the light of electricity and oceans the galaxy over.
It was simply incredible and it was also partially true.
Because when I opened my eyes that's pretty much what I saw, the fleeting shape of some man that looked exactly like the one in my dreams.
His fleeting shape was blacked out and it disappeared in the sun while I watched the grasses outside shiver as winds batter them. I was in some kind of cave if my blurred perception was correct. It took a few more moments for me to effectively open my eyes all the way, I glanced over the rocks and sighed as I began to let it all go.
Alright so I was being taken by some man that I didn't know and my home base was pretty much entirely destroyed, now was the time to start crying
I stared at my suit that looks like it had hastily been put back on. I blushed as I thought of what could have happened while I was out. Why were my clothes taken off? I quickly stripped my clothes off to get an answer and sighed in relief when I realized that everything was in its place.
I glanced over my arms and my legs, the wounds were patched up, slathered in some sort of strange gel that was slowly, but surely mending the wounds back together. It wasn't a permanent fix since it still really hurts to move, but it would have to do until I got some actual medical care. In fact, I think my leg was alright now, for the most part at least, it was just my rib and my left arm that was giving me trouble.
I looked around the caves for any more clues that I could be presented with and there were none. Whoever had taken me must be traveling light if that were the case which brought me to my next question.
Just who the hell was this?
Why had they saved me from those strange bug creatures and why was I with them now? Why had they healed my wounds and why was I suddenly safe after being on the cusp of death? What the hell had happened during the time I was out? Was anyone else out there? Had a couple of days passed? A couple of hours? How many?
I frowned as I thought of the implications. I could have been taken in order to be used as a hostage, or if those old stories were to be believed, to be probed. I didn't even know what to think of it so I merely shook my head and turned around for some more rest, It was still much too early to be walking about, I still need to heal up quite a bit so I wouldn't be able to do anything until later. I was incredibly weak so that told me that I hadn't had food or water in quite a while. That was the first matter on my mind and there didn't seem to be any rations in sight.
Just my luck, stuck with someone and hungry. At least I wasn't dragged away by those other things. They didn't seem to be all that friendly.
What kind of alien species was able to turn invisible at will and manage an assault like that? The thought of it was enough to make me quake in my boots for god's sake. What the fuck were they even? They looked like they were a long and slender species with a head that was akin to an ant or fly from one of those Earth nature documentaries or those bugs on the terraformed planets.
So what the hell was their issue? Were we intruding on their territory? They couldn't just send us a message instead of, butchering us?
I covered my mouth to stifle a whimper as I thought of all that we had lost. The thought of losing all my friends in such a manner made me sick to my stomach and all I wanted to do was to ball up and cry my eyes out. I turned on the sands that I was laying on and began to do just that. My lip quivers and I begin to shake while the tears streamed down my cheeks. I was tired, alone, and saddened, if there was any time for me to just drop dead it would be now.
The thoughts of Evelyn, the captain, of Steven, the images flashed through my mind. The good, the bad, all of it came in one colossal wave that just made me want to take back everything that I had done to offend or hurt them.
The best that I could do was to avenge them.
The first priority for me should have been to get out of here. The captain was unable to send an emergency signal due to our communicator being completely fried so, for the most part, I was completely stranded here without a choice or say in the matter. I should probably go back home to Kelai and see my friends and family, but those that lost their lives on these sands deserved to be avenged. I have never seen such a case of barbarism ever, but these men deserved to be, butchered just as they have, butchered us. The tears trickle down my reddened eyes as I gritted my teeth.
The emotion that was consuming me was a tidal wave of regret, guilt, anger, and sadness. It all consumed me and all I could do was think of achieving my revenge, that is until the sound of something hitting the floor in front of me rocked the place
I glanced at the entrance to see him standing there, his armor was dull and didn't glow in the light of the sun, in fact, it was more like a collection of grey stone-like plates that were placed on top of this black mesh. I could tell that they were metal, however, that was clear from the noise they made when they glided over one another.
In his arms was some sort of animal carcass, I didn't recognize it, but it was a four-legged creature with a long snout and four eyes on each side of its face. On top of it was a set of two ears and four horns, along its back was a ridge of hair, almost like a mohawk.
He sets it down before going to town skinning it while I watched him, he didn't even say a word to me.
He begins to peel off the skin and the hide before setting it aside for some reason, probably to use as some sort of coat of source of warmth once the desert got too cold to deal with at night. He carves off the meat and hangs it over the flame that he had started in front of me using a strange pill that he pulled out of his pocket. He begins to roast it while glancing back over at me occasionally.
"Who are you?" I croaked out although my voice was incredibly hoarse. I begin to cough and he takes notice of my struggle before reaching for his pocket and pulling out a bottle that he tosses towards me. I glanced at it and raised an eyebrow, but he simply made the motion to drink. I suppose some things were common to all species.
Oh yeah, I think I should finally freak out about that now shouldn't I? I was captured by a fucking alien! We were attacked by fucking aliens!
I didn't even know how I ended up in this situation. We had known that some aliens were out there, but they never did attack us or even greet us...ever. We detected their signals and our own messages fell on deaf ears due to the fact that our technology wasn't able to reach the speeds needed to travel to them. They never approached because I guess they wanted us to develop normally. This one bug species didn't care about that apparently considering the fact that we were, butchered at their hands.
I take the bottle and fumble with the cap which was quite strange to me. He motioned towards a, button on the side which I press and which causes the cap to pop off, after the cap pops up I give him a look that basically says "Thanks."
I take a sip from the water and after I was done with it he presents me with something else, a piece of meat on the end of his knife that he offers to me. I grabbed it and lifted it up to my mouth before taking a bite. I was so hungry that I could've eaten anything, this meat was a bit gamey for me, but I was in no position to complain at all.
There were so many questions I had for this guy, but he didn't seem to be in the mood to answer me at all, in fact, he seemed to be a bit fixated on me, but didn't want to even respond to my attempts at getting anything out of him. Probably because of a language barrier of some kind, but he could at least make an effort.
It was infuriating! I had to get back to base and find anything that was salvageable so that I could call someone to help us out. I didn't know where he was dragging me, but it was clearly not back to the base...unless he could help me
That was unlikely, I didn't know the man and from the looks of it he was just dragging me somewhere, god knows what would happen to me if he completed this trek.
, but part of me wanted to trust him, I wanted to trust him with my life and to feel him trust me as well. It was this strange sensation that was brewing in my stomach, I would have called it infatuation if I knew any better, but I didn't. At the moment he was my savior and he was so much more than just a man in my eyes, I had to get out of this mindset, whatever this warmth was, it was getting in the way of my logical train of thought.
I glared at the entrance of the cave as it glowed with the rays of the white star here. The gravity on this place was a bit less intense than Earth which was nice at least, it wasn't like some of the other giants we've been to where the entire crew had to wear exoskeletons suit to walk on the surface. I slid my fingers over the charred meat as I continued to bite off more and more hunks of it until it was gone. Almost as if it was on cue he offers me another one. I grabbed it from him and hungrily scarfed it down before my eyes began to slowly drop. I was already sort of tired from all the shit that we had been doing before this meal, digesting the meat and having a full belly just made me feel even sleepier.
And thus I nodded away slowly while lying there in front of the flame, I saw him killing it with a quick sweep of a piece of cloth before I felt him reach out and gently dash the tip of his finger over my hair.
His touch was electric, it stung with an incredible array of emotions that I couldn't even describe, I could hear him mutter some words, but the most notable was "teren".
As if my life couldn't get any weirder. I was abducted by some alien that obviously needed me to have done something such as this. I wasn't even sure if this was all real or whether it was an illusion. Who knows? Those bug-men could have drugged me and caused me to see extraordinarily powerful and sexy men during my period of exhaustion.
I wanted to get back to the base and find the other survivors, to get away from here and to try and hunt anybody that I knew was part of the assault, but I was in no condition to get away from him. As tempting as going with him may have seemed there were still matters I had to attend to and I wasn't about to just trust the guy. Sure he may have saved my life, but there was also the concern of an ulterior motive. After all, aliens attacked our base. Who's to say that this one has good intentions?
Chapter Five
Jino
The desert here was vast and the sources of water appeared only every once in a while. I dragged her as far as I could, grasping at stones while I willed the ship to get even a little bit closer to make my life easier, but it was not to be at the moment. All I could do was walk.
I wasn't physically hindered, oh no. I was just annoyed with the amount of time everything was taking.
I knew that those Melphians could be around the corner at any moment so I kept her tucked against my shoulder rather tightly. To feel her curves pressing against my arms and her breath on my back was...incredible. I was tempted to simply let myself claim her here and now, but I knew better, I knew that I wasn't an animal, there were rules and standards that we had to abide by, back on Delos.
She was stirring now, just as we stepped atop a large stone ridge. In the distance, I could see more of those four-legged creatures running with their many eyes and long snouts shaking as they passed on by. The yellow sky of this planet gave it the impression of being desolate, inhospitable, and hot. On the contrary, it was teeming with life if you knew where to look, it's just that all the red and yellow made it a bit harder to see.
I heaved her down the sand mound before breaking out into a sprint for a short while. We were about a day away now, nightfall was always difficult here considering the predators and the fact that we were likely being tracked by the Melphians. I tried to pay it no mind, however, it wasn't on my mind, it wasn't.
I grimaced as she begins to stir once again, I wished that she would have just woken up already and stopped unconsciously teasing me. I wanted to speak with her, to see her walkabout and make sure she was alright. The safety of this girl was imperative to me as she was likely one of the last hopes that my race had considering the fact that we were scattered and basically extinct at this point, if not simply critically endangered.
"Ahhh." she lets out a low moan as I kept marching on, the sun was beating on that orange suit of her's and the air was warm. I wondered if she was getting a bit too hot or not, the suit should have protected her considering the rather insulating material that it was made from.
Her hands clasp my back before I set her down, I glanced her over before her eyes fluttered open. If she was going to wake up I suppose she would need to be still so I could give her some answers. Her eyes fluttered open a few moments after setting her down and she immediately screams and begins to back away from me before wincing at the soreness on her leg.
"Who are you?" she calls
out and I frowned, my translator was able to decode what she was saying, but since she didn't have a translator on her there was no way to convey my own speech to her.
This would be troublesome indeed.
I waved my hand upwards in an attempt to show that I wasn't going to harm her, but the sudden movement only made her even more afraid and she quickly backed away.
"Stop! I want to help you!" I whispered and she shrieked.
"Look I really appreciate you helping, but I need to go back, my friends need me, I need to contact home base and let them know what's happening!" she panicked and began to get to her feet once again, but her legs and arms were still too weakened to really put up enough of an effort to sprint away so she merely doubled over as she attempted to stand. She struggled to her feet once again and begins to limp away while I only stared at her in exasperation
"You're not going to make this easy are you?" I asked her, knowing that she wasn't going to understand a damn word. I wanted to simply get my frustrations out, I was talking to myself more than I was actually talking to her at the moment.
She glances at me and turns away before muttering, "Look buddy I really appreciate all of this, but I can't go with you! For all I know you might be working with someone even worse than whatever took over my base!" she declared and I frowned.
It wasn't in my job description to have found her here. Once I got her back to the ship I was going to transport her out and arrange for her to be sheltered in a nearby base of mine while I returned here and finished the job. There was no need for her to remain here considering the fact that she would likely be, butchered if she attempted to go against the Melphians.
"You can't." I muttered.
She keeps on crawling away and I walked up beside her while she rested on her knees, she was still weak from her injuries so she took a knee about a few steps away from where she had started.
"Your legs are weak, you need treatment." I began.
"Are you cursing at me in that language? Whatever, I don't need this right now, I need to get away!" she grunted and struggled back to her feet before I finally lost my cool and grabbed her.