by Ruby Dixon
“I know. Logic says there’s no one here, but…”
He nods. “I feel the same way.” He releases my hand and cups his mouth. “Ho! Is anyone there?”
His shout echoes off the canyon walls. It’s eerie, but effective. After a moment, I’m pretty convinced we’re alone here, too. I get brave enough to take a few steps forward, looking up. Sunlight spills in from above, but the walls are sheer and I don’t see any paths or handholds. No one’s coming down from this direction.
So while this is wild and strange…it also feels a little safer than I expect. “Do you think we should stay here tonight?”
“Here…where?” Hassen looks at me curiously. “In one of the hollows?”
“I think those were houses, though I don’t know where the roofs went.” I shrug. “We could put a skin over a corner and make ourselves a little nest for the night. Explore the place and see what we can find. Maybe there’s a hint as to where these people went.”
“Are they all dead?” he asks.
“Good question.” Eek, I hope not. “One way to find out, though. Shall we go exploring?”
Hassen looks troubled. “I…do not know. This feels like walking into a hunter cave left by a…a stranger. I do not know how I feel.”
I guess strangers are a big concept to a guy that grew up knowing all the people on the planet. “It’s going to be okay,” I tell him, holding my hand out. “We’ll check it out together. I’d rather see what’s down here than go back up and face the metlaks.”
He nods slowly, then takes my hand, his spear gripped tight in his other. “Let us see what we can find, then.”
Whatever happened to the people of this little Stone-Age city, it wasn’t plague or famine or anything like that. We peek in on each house, and they’re all empty. Every single one is completely body- and bone-free, which makes me feel better. I think I’d probably have turned around and faced the metlaks if we’d found a stack of bodies. It’s all very quiet and peaceful, just…empty.
I think it’s old, too, and I tell Hassen that. A few of the small ‘houses’ have rotted bits of what must have been furniture. There’s nothing left but a few frames and piles of dust that suggest stuff was here that didn’t survive the elements. Everything is coated with a thin layer of ice, too. Even the floors. Each of the small houses is made the same, a perfect little square with an ice-covered dugout section that must be a fire pit, and something that looks suspiciously like a kitchen area. There’s a debris-covered cubby connected to each house that has grime and detritus caked into the ice, and I can’t figure out what they’re supposed to be used for…until I find one that has a hole in the floor, and then I get excited.
“These aren’t Stone-Age people,” I tell Hassen. “That’s a motherfucking toilet.” I get down on my hands and knees, leaning over the ice-covered hole. “Give me your spear!”
“What are you doing, Mah-dee?”
“Looking for pipes,” I tell him. He hands me his spear, and I jab the butt of it against the ice, cracking the thick layer after a few stabs and uncovering the hole. I peer into it and then drop a chunk of ice down the hole. I can’t see anything down there, but despite the shadows, it looks like there are pipes of some kind.
Crude pipes are still pipes.
“These people had toilets,” I tell him, excited. I get to my feet. The stone walls suddenly look a lot less crude to me. Romans had running water and pipes, didn’t they? Maybe this is the ice planet equivalent of an ancient Roman civilization.
I’m going to ignore the whole Pompeii-Vesuvius equivalent my brain immediately draws. There’s no lava here. The volcano was a jillion miles away. “This place is fantastic, Hassen!”
“Why is it fantastic?” He gazes at me, hard brows draw down.
“Because toilets. That means running water somewhere around here. Let’s go find it!”
He’s mystified by my excitement, but takes his spear back and follows me as I dash around the icy remains of the city.
I’m not wrong—in the big house, there’s a bright blue hot spring bubbling, the edges lined with squared pavers. It looks deep and smells stinkier and more sulfurous than the one back at the old cave, but it’s fresh water. I glance around. “Maybe this was a bathhouse. Or a communal gathering spot.” I see lots of benches and another hollow that’s probably a fire pit. “This place is so great!”
“Mmm.”
I turn to look at Hassen. “You don’t like it?”
“I do not like that there are people here, Mah-dee.” He still holds his spear, alert. “How can people have lived here without the tribe knowing?”
“Maybe they’re other sa-khui?” I rub my lip as I think. “Actually, that can’t be right. You guys crashed here about three hundred years ago, and these ruins look way, way older. That means this planet was inhabited before you guys got here.”
His mouth sets in a grim line. “What does this mean?”
“I don’t know,” I tell him honestly, rubbing my arms. “It could mean any number of things. It could mean that the people that lived here are long gone and we’re the only ones left on the planet. It could mean that there are people living somewhere else, but far away. Maybe they didn’t like how cold it was here and left.”
“For Jo-see’s island?” He snorts. “If so, they are gone now.”
I wince at the thought of another tribe of people vaporized by a poor living location. “You might not be wrong. But we don’t know. What I do think is that we should stay here tonight, and then we need to tell Vektal about it. This could be a place to live during the brutal season.”
He looks around, clearly not seeing what I see. “Here?”
“Yes, here.” I gesture at the pool of water. “We’ve got water. We’ve got plumbing, however frozen. We’ve got houses. Those are like caves. People live in them.”
“There are no tops!”
“We can make tops,” I tell him. “Roofs, I mean. We can make roofs for each of the houses. And look at this place!” I point to the high canyon walls. “We’re snug here. I bet it doesn’t get much snow. No metlaks are going to wander down here.”
“No sa-khui either. We fell down a hole,” he says in a flat voice.
“Then we can make ladders. My point is, it’s not the worst idea.”
“And if the people that left come back?”
“I’m pretty sure they’re not coming back, big guy.” I look around at the empty, forlorn house, trying to imagine it full of people and furniture, with a bright fire burning in the big hearth. “I’m pretty sure they all left hundreds—or thousands—of years ago.”
17
HASSEN
Mah-dee is right about one thing—the how-ses are warm.
We finish exploring and pick one of the smallest of the small, cup-like structures to spend our night in. Under Mah-dee’s instructions, I use my spear and several of the extra furs we carry to form a tent over the top of the howse. We build a fire in the center, and she moves into my lap so I can wrap her in my furs and let my body heat warm her as the suns go down and it grows dark. Once the fire is burning, though, she does not need my warmth. The small structure of the howse means it does not take long for it to get warm. With the fire going, it is almost pleasant.
It is very quiet, not unlike the tribal cave when all the hunters are out on journeys. Perhaps Mah-dee is right and this will be a good place for our people. I think of her excitement over the toy-lets. Those are a good thing, she tells me. The hot pool of water like our bathing pool at home? Also good. That we can make these cup-like structures into small, warm caves for each family? This place is just waiting to be inhabited again.
Mah-dee is excited. She thinks the chief will be, too. She thinks we can spend the brutal season here and be happy.
But I hesitate. To me it is not home.
It is a cold, strange place that someone else has left behind. I do not know what to make of it.
I know this thinking is wrong. I ponder this as I stare in
I rub my mate’s arms as she drowses in my lap.
Perhaps I need to learn to be brave like my human. Mah-dee has been nothing but strong and confident since she awoke from the strange alien bubbles. When her sister cried, Mah-dee shielded her. When I stole her, Mah-dee fought the others and wanted to get her back. Mah-dee does not know how to quit. She does not give up, ever. And she sees everything—even this strange, empty place—as opportunity.
I need to be more like my sweet mate. Embrace the changes that come into my life, the way I embrace her. After my family’s death, I lived in fear of more change. When I stole Li-lah and ended up with nothing, I thought change was bad. I thought I had made mistakes and regretted my choices.
But those choices—those changes—have brought me Mah-dee, and she is the greatest gift a hunter could ask for.
Perhaps this place will be as good for my people as Mah-dee is for me. I slide a hand over her thigh, feeling possessive.
My khui immediately begins to rumble, sensing my mood. In my lap, Mah-dee gives a little sigh of pleasure and leans back against me, exposing her neck to me. I nip at it and move my hand between her thighs, seeking her little nipple there.
“Mmm, what are you doing, Hassen?” Her hand moves to my mane, and she twists her fingers in it as she holds me close. Her back arches as I find the sensitive spot on her cunt and stroke it. “Oh. Is that what we’re doing?”
“We are resonating,” I tell her between kisses to her soft neck. “It will happen, and it will happen many times. Tonight, you are mine and mine alone.”
“Completely alone,” she agrees, and I hear a smile in her voice. “It’s kind of weird, isn’t it? To be in a home and not have other people around.”
“Very odd,” I agree. I miss the noises of a busy cave, but after being exiled, I am growing used to it. “But like you, I think it will work. And tomorrow, we will leave and begin our journey home so we may tell the chief of this place.” My fingers stroke her slick, wet folds. “But first…”
“First,” she agrees, undulating her hips against my hand. “First, we have all the sex.”
MADDIE
Two Weeks Later
“Mush, big guy! Mush! You’re slowing down and we’re near the finish line!” I call out from my seat atop the first sled of supplies.
Hassen looks back at me, eyes narrowed. “You have been shouting that all morning.”
“It’s because you’re not a great listener, baby.” I smile brightly at him to take the sting out of my words. “Get your second wind and let’s go! Or are you too tired? Do you want me to get out and help?”
“Stay where you are,” my delightfully surly mate tells me. “You will need your energy for later.”
Despite weeks of resonating, I’m still dorky enough to blush and get all turned on, too. I press my thighs together and try not to think about sex too much, because if that happens, my cootie starts to purr, and then his cootie starts to purr, and then we throw down in the snow like a pair of wild animals.
It’s a lot of fun, but it’s also put us behind schedule. With every day that passes, it gets a little colder and a little snowier, and I suspect the brutal season is almost here. That means less time to fool around and more hustle to get home.
Which is why I’m riding on a sled instead of pulling one behind me.
We’ve got two sleds with us, a larger one that Hassen pulls behind him, and a smaller one sized for my frame. Both are full of furs, food supplies, and dried dung for fire fuel. We’ve killed game and skinned and smoked meat as we’ve traveled, adding that to the pile of supplies so we don’t demolish every hunter cave we run across. They’re not completely picked clean, in case someone needs to drop in during an emergency, but they’re definitely down to the bare bones. For now, though, getting supplies to the tribe is the most important thing, and since dragging a sled has left me far too exhausted every day for my mate’s attentions, he’s decided that we should tie both sleds together and I should ride on top while he pulls them. Which sounds ridiculous except…it works. And I’m not passing-out exhausted by the time we stop every night, which leaves us plenty of snuggle time.
My Hassen craves snuggle time.
Okay, I do, too.
“Around the next ridge,” he calls to me as we head into one of the many undulating valleys. “And we shall be at the Elders’ Cave. Are you excited to see your sister?”
“I don’t know if excited is the right word,” I tell him. “I want to see her again, but I’m also a little worried she’s going to lose her lid about you and me.”
I hear him grunt as he digs his feet into the snow, pulling a little harder now that we’re close to our destination. “She will have to learn a safe place to keep her lid, then. I do not intend on losing you.”
I stifle my giggle at his response. I love his sweet words, especially when they’re mixed in with a complete lack of knowledge of human euphemisms. It’s fun. Actually, everything about being with Hassen is fun. I love him. I love our crazy, passionate sex. I love the way he holds me tight like I’m the best thing that’s ever happened to him. I even love our journeying together, though it’s hard. I love everything.
I’m just a little worried that Lila’s reaction to our resonance is going to crap on my happiness.
Because I’m really, really happy. I know I’m supposed to be full of despair or worried about the future since there’s been a cave-in and people are injured and Warrek’s dad is dead. I know there’s a lot to stress over and this place isn’t safe and my sister might never recover her hearing and I’m pregnant at the worst possible time with a baby who’s going to be half-alien and…I’m deliriously happy. Like, crapping-rainbows-and-bluebirds-singing happy. And it’s not just because I’ve been getting dick on the regular—though that certainly helps—but I love Hassen. I love our funny conversations and the way he cares about everything so damn much. I can’t imagine life without him at my side.
My sister is going to have to cope, because I’m not giving him up.
I’m lost in thought, trying to figure out the best way to soft-pedal the news to my sister that I resonated to the enemy when I realize that Hassen’s steps are slowing. “Do you need me to get out and walk for a while, big guy? Because I can. I don’t mind.”
He doesn’t respond, and I see he’s gazing at something up ahead. I turn to look—
And gasp. My stomach tenses and my entire body feels like it’s been dipped in ice.
We’re still a short distance away, but from here, I can see something sticking out over the cliffs. Something with smooth black metal curves that are completely out of place in this jagged, snow-covered landscape.
It’s the Elders’ Ship. And it looks like it’s completely on its side. Oh, shit. “Is that the…it has to be. What does that mean?”
“Hold on,” Hassen tells me. I barely have a chance to do just that before he surges forward, his steps quick as he races over the rest of the distance, heading for the ship. I cling to the leather straps to anchor myself, worrying. If the ship is on its side, then no one can live in there. Heck, I don’t even know if anyone can even use the computers anymore. All of this worries me.
It’s also a little discouraging because that means it’s just one more place knocked off the list of potential places to stay for the brutal season. Now, more than ever, our discovery of the little stone village tucked into the canyon seems important. I know Hassen has his worries, but I think we’ll be safe there. Certainly safer than out in the open.
We’re both silent as we head into the valley, approaching the Elders’ Ship. Even from this distance, I can see a spread of small, hide-covered tents clustered around a central fire. Smoke rises from it, and I can see people moving. That means the sa-khui are still here. Good. One worry-knot in my belly unclenches.
A few people approach our sleds, and I see Farli with her pet, who’s no longer limping. There’s Georgie, holding her baby as she approaches, and Bek.
“Ho,” Hassen calls out. “We bring back supplies.” His voice is careful and even, and I know he has to be stressing. His gaze focuses on Georgie as he sets down the handles for the sled. “Where is my chief?”
“He’s out with Rokan and Lila,” Georgie says, adjusting her daughter from one hip to the other. “They’ve got a big group out at the fruit cave picking everything they can before the storm comes in.” She glances up at the skies and grimaces. “It’s going to be a nasty one, looks like.”
“The brutal season is upon us,” Hassen says gravely. He moves to the sled and puts his hands out for me, and I let him help me down. “Is everyone well?”
“Well enough,” Georgie says. She looks at Farli and Bek. “Can you guys take the sleds? Sevvah and Kemli are smoking some meat by the fire, and you can get their mates to help unpack things.” She shoots a look at me, bouncing Talie. “It’s been a long few weeks.”
“I’ll bet,” I say, putting my arms out to take the baby from her. Talie’s getting big, and Georgie looks exhausted. “So my sister’s not here? The fruit cave still exists?”
“She’ll be back tonight,” Georgie says, handing over her kit. “We weren’t sure when you guys were coming back, though she’ll be excited to see you. And yep, the fruit cave is still mostly intact, which is good. I’ve been half-tempted to dogpile everyone in there instead of out here in the snow, but there’s not enough room.”
“The Elders’ Cave,” Hassen asks, his gaze going to the ship. “It is…”
“On its side. Yeah.” Georgie rubs her forehead. “Rukh and Harlow say they managed to get out just in time, but there’s no way we can set up shop in there for the winter. We’re going to have to find an alternative.” She looks at the sleds, and a little of the tension eases on her face. “These supplies are going to help so much. I’m glad you guys came back when you did.”
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