by Zara Zenia
Deep down, she had some hope that she might find Oszul. He did say he'd been doing routine trips back and forth. Yes, that was only when he needed to check for messages or use the long range comm device from the ship. Maybe he'd continue to do so, just in case he worried about her. He's not going to worry about you. He sure hasn't so far.
She walked over a slope and saw a scenic view expand out before her eyes. "Wow," she exclaimed out loud. The horizon seemed so far away, but there was nothing but various shades of white and some grays in between. The way the ice just blanketed everything made it seem so surreal. It was a large expanse of land, she knew that. But it managed to look so small somehow with everything being covered in the same freezing substance.
"Was the sun that low before?" she asked herself. Speaking out loud like that somehow made her feel less alone now. She wasn't entirely sure how the sun worked out on this ice planet, but the light seemed to be dimming. It was getting colder too. A wind picked up and she decided to get down from the slope she was standing on. Okay, you've seen the lovely view. Time to get back inside the ship. That was smart thinking. She wasn't stupid enough to wander off.
Just as she was turning around to head back inside, a gust of wind swept over the area. It came through with such force that she was practically knocked over. Stumbling down, she spun in place, then rolled over several times. The snow covered her suit, instantly starting to wet it and make her feel even colder. This thing was meant to be able to keep a person warm in extreme conditions. So why was it getting colder?
She wiped snow away from her goggles and it felt like the sky was ever darker. "What the hell?" she muttered to herself. Was she still facing the ship? No, that was impossible. It was just over the slope she'd been standing out when the wind took her. Only ... it wasn't that way. "Oh shit." How could she possibly not know which way to go. She had only been two dozen paces or so from the ship!
Treasure stumbled along the increasing difficult to see ground. She didn't want to move too far in case she was heading in the wrong direction. However, with the way her ice-suit was doing less and less by the minute to stop the cold, what choice did she have?
A crevice opened before her, just inches away from her feet. It hadn't been there at all, then suddenly she was right on top of it. That was how bad the visibility was now that the sunlight was dying. I could have easily walked right into that without seeing it, she thought. What a sobering idea, that she could have just vanished from the mission. Maybe no one would ever know what had happened to her. All while she was stuck and then frozen to death down a hole in the ground.
"Wait a minute." It wasn't a crevice. There was a way to get down there that didn't involve falling to her death. It was a shallow ice cave. Once she got down inside, the wind dropped off a lot. After ten or so minutes, the extra cold that she'd been feeling started to abate. This would be the perfect place to warm up, just for a minute. Until the cold wind died down, that was all.
That was some idea, but it didn't work in practice. It got darker, and colder, and soon enough she became so freezing that she had to take a nap. I'll just rest my eyes for a minute. The wind will stop soon.
When she awoke, Oszul was with her. "What happened?" she asked with sheer confusion. "How did you get here?" Maybe she was just dreaming about being lost in the snow. It was a silly thing to have happen to her after all. Or maybe seeing Oszul's face out there was a dream. She felt like she was being warmly massaged. It was so nice. So it was definitely a dream, maybe a romantic one too.
"You're awake!" he exclaimed. "Are you feeling alright? Are there any parts of your body you can't feel?"
Treasure realized that he wasn't rubbing her body in a romantic way. He was massaging her vigorously. "What are you doing?" She sat up quickly. "Where are my clothes?" she asked next. And then, "Where are your clothes!"
"I had to warm you. Your suit was covered in frozen water and snow. What were you doing out there?"
That was a genuine method for warming someone who was in danger: sharing body heat by huddling together without any clothes on. She just hadn't expected to wake up with a big, naked Hjott warrior holding her body. Her body that was also completely naked and rubbing against him.
"What? The ice cave ... I was just stepping out of the ship for a minute to stretch my legs. A gust of wind knocked me over, turned me around. I lost my bearings. Then the sun started to set, and I began to freeze."
"I can see that you were freezing. You're lucky to be alive. If I hadn't come along... I don't know what I would have done if you weren't alright, Treasure."
"You do care about me, don't you?"
"Of course I do. There's something I really need to tell you. It's about us."
Before he could finish whatever he was about to say, Treasure couldn't stop herself. She kissed him. It felt good to be the one initiating it this time. His lips tasted so good, it was impossible to resist sliding her tongue and tangling it with his.
They began to caress each other's bodies and moan lightly. He worked his hands over her body, and it was as though he'd already explored every inch of her. Somehow, he was able to touch her in just the right ways, without touching her down below. Oszul made the slopes and curves of her body his playground. Explored them with his thick, strong fingers. There was so much power in those hands, enough to probably snap her in half if he wanted to. Yet he had a great amount of control over them. He probably could have performed the most intricate and delicate of actions with ease, despite his great strength.
He started to fondle her breasts, and she was reaching her hand slowly down. Down toward his nether region, where she was eagerly awaiting something big. She glance down and was taken aback. It was an impressive size, a lot bigger than any guy she'd ever seen naked. "Wow," she said.
"What's wrong?"
"Oh, nothing's wrong at all. You're very well endowed, down there," she said with a sudden bout of shyness overtaking her. Was she really naked with a Hjott warrior on a space ship, making out with him? About the grab his dick?
Then there was a sudden bang sound coming from outside. It was outside, but the banging was something colliding with the hull of the Scorpius. They were in a bunk, in Treasure's bunk to be more precise. He must have taken her in there when he wasn't sure if she was going to be okay.
They quickly put their clothes on. Oszul donned his ice-suit, which he'd thrown to the floor at some point. And Treasure found a new one that wasn't cold and wet. They ran outside to see what was happening.
Chapter 11
Oszul
He was finally ready to claim Treasure as his own. He knew for a fact that they were fated mates. His glowing uxormea was a testament to that. They were meant to be together. The banging sound he'd heard was not just someone knocking to be let in though. They had to stop their moment of passion, which was harder to do than anything else he'd done. The last thing he wanted to do was cut that moment short. He was ready to enter her, to become one with her.
Whoever was out there was going to pay for making them stop. If it was one of the escaped prisoners, they were going to wish they'd remained in prison instead of fleeing to Vurt.
"Someone's trying to break into the ship," he told Treasure. "I must tell you—the escaped prisoners found our camp, and one of them was headed this way. That's why I came back, to make sure you were safe."
"We'll make them sorry they came here then," she said, getting herself ready to engage in a fight. "What? Right?" Her face dropped. "You're going to ask me to hide or something stupid like that, aren't you?"
"I have to insist," he said. "Don't look at me like that. You heard the message, the warning. They're very likely here to try to capture you specifically. Why give them the chance?"
"Because I'm not a damsel in distress! I'm a military agent," she spat back. But there was no time to argue with her. Oszul hurried Treasure into her quarters and closed the door with her on the inside. He wasn't locking her up or anything. It was just a clear demonstratio
n that he wasn't going to let her follow him outside. Thankfully, she remained in her room despite being free to just open the door if she wanted to.
Oszul couldn't find the source of the banging. He quickly used to the comm to contact the camp. He instructed Dariux to find a good place to hide. "I won't be able to leave the ship yet."
The reply was muffled, possibly due to the poor weather at night. Oszul wasn't completely sure his message was getting through, but he had to keep talking anyway. He would just hope that his words were heard.
He then went on to inform the other Hjott about what had happened. How he'd found Treasure almost frozen to death and had to bring her inside. With it being so dark, there was next to no chance they were going to be able to find the prisoners. He wanted to hear Dariux agree to do as commanded, and that he and the others would hide for now, but everything across the comms was all garbled.
After receiving nothing coherent back, Oszul decided to give up with the attempt at sending a message. Perhaps he had gotten his orders through. Perhaps not. There was no way he could know for sure.
"What did they say?" asked Treasure from behind him.
Oszul was surprised to find her standing there. He had gotten so used to people following his commands, that he'd forgotten Treasure was such a free spirit. "You frightened me," he blurted out without thinking. He would usually never have admitted that to anyone. Why did he feel so vulnerable around her?
"That's funny coming from someone so much bigger than me," she replied. "Did you find out what the noise was?"
"There's no sign of them. It's too dark to see out there. I don't think it would be wise to open the exit without knowing what could be out there."
"We could go and look together. I'll have your back. We have lighting."
Treasure did seem like she was ready to take on whoever was out there. That wasn't the point. Oszul felt such a strong urge to keep her out of harm's way that he just couldn't bring himself to use her plan.
"Okay, that's a good idea," he said. He was lying, but it was for the right reasons. "Can you manually check if the read outs are fine on the primary engine console first? I'm having some issues getting a proper read out in the bridge."
"What's that got to do with this?" she asked with incredulity.
It was going to be hard to trick her now, but he would try. "I can't get through to Dariux. I need to keep trying to get a message through. Can you check the engines for me? If something's wrong, if we're under attack by a force greater than we were anticipating, we might need to escape. Or we might need to take the ship out and carry out a rescue mission on Vurt."
"Okay, I'll check everything's okay. Should I just look out for—" The moment she was inside the door to the engine room, he rushed up and closed the door. This time he did lock it from the outside. He used his commander's passcode to do so. That would override any attempt Treasure made to open the door from the inside. I must keep her safe.
Oszul readied himself and moved along the ship to the secondary exit. There was a small hatch there that was used for this type of emergency, or when the primary exit was broken or blocked by something. Quietly, he exited the hatch and prepared to defend himself from whoever was out there. He was going to win. This Hjott warrior was now fighting to protect his fated mate, the woman who he was intended to be with and love forever.
Oszul crept along, moving almost silently. Despite his height and strength, he was able to be very agile when necessary. Two of the escaped criminals were desperately trying to find a way to get into the ship. They had stopped banging on it and were now attempting to pull away the primary hatch.
"Hey!" Oszul shouted without thinking. He didn't want to risk being taken down and leaving Treasure without anyone to defend her. "I'm here if you want me, you ugly bastards!" He knew that kind of insult would not be taken lightly by any Aurelius or Terud worth his honor. The two aliens stopped trying to get in immediately and turned to face him.
Oszul was planning to lead them away from the Scorpius first, then try to take them down. He turned and ran, but he came across something no man could defy. No matter how skilled or talented a warrior he was—he could not beat bad luck.
As he ran, Oszul stumbled on an outcrop of stone that was hidden beneath some powdery snow. He went down for just a moment, then managed to regain his footing. While he was quickly up and running again, it was too late. The Aulius was the first to tackle him, and then the Terud had no trouble landing several blows to Oszul's face and back while he was busy fighting the other alien.
Despite his best efforts, Oszul couldn't recover from that major blunder. He should have just used the element of surprise to attack them. Instead he was only thinking about drawing the fight as far away from Treasure as possible. Why? He shouldn't have been so timid and foolish.
The Aulius and Terud escapees bound his hands and dragged him along. "Let's take him back to the shuttle," one of them said.
Suddenly Oszul had to hide a smile. They were going to take him directly to the Rigel shuttle. Not only that, but they were moving away from Treasure. She was going to be terribly angry later about being locked away. Once he could tell her why he'd done it, surely, she would forgive him. He was only working to protect her, after all. That wasn't a selfish act that would warrant her being mad.
Also, he was going to make this mission a success despite how horrible wrong it had gone.
Chapter 12
Treasure
"You jerk!" Treasure shouted as she spun around and realized what was happening. "No, no, no! You're not going to do this to me again. I'm not some prize for you to lock away and—" She was going to say that she wasn't a treasure, but the words would have tasted bitter in her mouth. Accidentally making a bad pun using her own name at a time like this was far too ironic for her to handle. Even with her great sense of humor.
"Let me out of here!" she shouted as she banged on the door. After hearing his footsteps move away, there was nothing but silence. He didn't come back for her. And then he was gone for kind of a long time. The minutes drew on and on, and soon she found herself starting to worry about him.
She started to look through the computer console that was attached to the door. It took her a good hour to do it, but she finally managed to override the door. The trick was to use to emergency lock, and make the system think there was a disaster going on. The emergency lights started to flash, and an alarm sounded. Then all she had to do was input that there was nothing wrong. "Everything's just fine," she said to the computer screen. Not that it was able to understand her, but she felt better talking out loud again. Being left alone was starting to be a motif of this mission. She didn't like it at all.
The Scorpius was empty. "Where have you gotten too now?" she said to no one. Oszul must have locked her away so he could go outside and deal with whoever was trying to get into the ship. That was incredibly stupid. The two of them together would have had a much better chance at dealing with the intruders. But he doesn't see you as an equal, as a warrior like he is.
Again the sun was beginning to set already. The days and nights were so short on Vurt. It was incredibly difficult to keep track of time without constantly watching the clock. She wondered how long she'd been unconscious in that cave before Oszul had found and rescued her. It must have been for much of the night. No, it was already daylight by the time he actually revived her. It was very confusing.
She put on her ice suit and headed back outside to look for him. The temperature outside was already starting to plummet again, but it was the only thing to do. The ice shuttle was still there, parked near the ship on the path leading up the mountain. The Hjott's temporary camp had been compromised. There was no point in heading that way. It was starting to get cold though, and she had no plans to get herself lost out in the cold again. The thought of it made her feel even colder, so she went back onto the ship and locked the hatch.
I can go back out at dawn. There's nothing I could do for him right now. He'd just end up
having to save me again. Treasure slumped as she reflected on that thought. Was she really someone who needed a man to save her? Couldn't she do this herself? The urge to rush back out there was strong, but it was also one that she knew wasn't smart. Being a good soldier meant using your brain just as much as being brave. Gusto was pointless when it just got you into danger and endangered the lives of others on your side.
The best thing was to get as much rest as possible so she could head out the moment the weather warmed up. It would be warmer in the morning. Treasure went back to her bunk and locked the door. Just in case someone managed to get onboard, it would act as an extra layer of defense. It would also give her a chance to ready herself for a fight if someone did get onto the ship. They'd have to come through an extra door, and this one was made of thick steel.
It became completely dark outside. She could see through the monitor in her quarters. The other two bunks had recently been used by her Qetesh sisters. Her own bunk had been host to herself and Oszul, naked and warm. Touching and exploring each other's bodies. That was such a distant memory although it only just happened that day. She wondered if she would ever see him again.
Did he have something important to tell her? He'd mentioned something, she was almost certain. Or maybe she'd just read that in his actions, in his expression. Eventually, she managed to fall into a fitful sleep. The only dreams possible seemed to contain Oszul. He was telling her that he did this to save her. He didn't want to make her feel like less of a warrior. He just couldn't put his pride aside and let her stand up against their enemies. He had to protect her. It made her feel safe, but also like less of a warrior. It was a conflicting sort of dream. The overall sensation was nice though. Maybe it wouldn't be all that bad to let the big, golden alien look after her.