“Looks like we’ve got double trouble. I forgot just how fast the expedition ship can travel,” Jessie said. “Why aren’t you taking off yet?” she asked.
I kept the ship hovering as the Langmilian cruiser came closer and closer.
“I have an idea. It’s somewhat risky, but it may be the only thing that saves us. Make sure the shields are up!” I said. Jessie pushed a couple of buttons and the dashboard indicated that the shield was now activated. Good thing because the Langmilians wasted no time firing their lasers at us. Red blasts of light deflected off the sleek, white surface of the ship.
“How much longer are you going to wait?” Jessie asked, her voice now taking on a more alarming tone.
“Just a few seconds more. I want the expedition team to get a little closer,” I said. Jessie stopped asking questions. She seemed to figure out what I was trying to do. Now both of the ships were only a few feet away. There wouldn’t be enough time for either of the approaching ships to reverse course or put on the brakes.
“Hang on!” I yelled as I maneuvered the ship straight up into the air. Down below us, we could hear the sound of a major collision. We didn’t bother to stop and assess the damage. We watched Anarhie disappear from a distance as the ship took off towards the east.
“Wow, that was quite an impressive maneuver, I have to say,” Jessie said as she reached over and kissed my cheek.
“Thank you. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to pull it off for a second there. That was touch and go.”
“So here we go again, set adrift into the far reaches of space. Will we ever be able to find a place to settle down or are we destined to wander the universe for the rest of our days?”
“I have to believe what my mother used to tell me. Whenever I felt like I wasn’t able to face the challenges ahead of me, she would say, ‘Yahn, you must not look to the sky and wonder what far off star you should be trying to reach. You have to look at where you are and appreciate what you have in this very moment. When we are always looking to the future, we can never truly live our lives’.”
“That sounds like really great advice, but it still doesn’t really address the question,” Jessie said. Again, I thought about how much I liked the stubborn nature of this Earthling woman that I had grown to love.
“Hmm, first of all, I think we need to get out of this solar system and head back towards my home system. I think I know of a planet where we should be able to settle down, at least for a while,” I said, as I began to scan through the various moons and planets on the navigator program.
“Yes, looks like there’s still a planet that the Sarceastians have yet to ruin,” I said.
“Really, where is that?” Jessie asked, hopefully.
“Padure,” I said, showing her the beautiful, green planet on the screen.
“It looks very nice. I hope it’s not another gas giant,” She said.
“No, it’s a planet that is almost completely covered in forest. When I was very young, my parents would take me there on Hailonjohn,” I said.
“Hailonjohn? What’s that?” She asked.
“I think the closest thing in your Earth language to the word is the word, vacation,” he said.
“Ah! That’s very similar to where my parents took me. They would take me to the Great Smoky Mountains every fall when the leaves began to turn,” she said.
“I see. Well, we shouldn’t have too much trouble on Padure.”I said.
“Is it inhabited?” she asked.
“Yes, but the Padureans live on the far side of the planet from where we would visit. In fact, we never saw one the whole time we were visiting this place. The only other living things are the forest-dwelling creatures, which shouldn’t pose a threat to us as long as our laser cannons continue to work properly.”
“Well what are we waiting for? To Padure then!” Jessie said as her face lit up. I looked over at her and smile back. Nothing made me feel better than seeing her happy. I threw the ship into hyperdrive and beams of silver light appeared all around us. I felt as if I were being pushed down into my chair with a tremendous weight. Finally, the light disappeared and the ship slowed down its speed. Within an hour or so, a vast, green planet appeared below us. Large clouds hovered above the planet, an indication of the large amounts of rain that its surface received.
“It really is gorgeous,” Jessie said, looking down.
“Gorgeous, like you,” I couldn’t help but say, clutching her hand for a moment. Then, I released her hand and began the landing sequence. I looked for an opening in the mass of trees that I saw below. Off in the distance were the green silhouettes of mountains. I managed to find a small, grassy clearing in the midst of the vast, forested landscape. The ship touched down gently and we landed safely.
As the hatch opened, we walked out, carrying our laser cannons just to be on the safe side. We encountered no other life forms as we examined the grassy clearing. All around us, I could hear the sound of strange birds and other forest creatures coming from the nearby forest. The trees were lush and green, some of them laden with red and orange fruits. There was a misty haze in the air, indicating a large amount of moisture in the atmosphere.
“We should make camp here in the clearing. That way, we can hear or see anything that approaches us,” I said.
“Sounds like a plan,” Jessie said. We went back to the ship and took out a tent we had found in one of the storage hatches. It was made of a strong Neutomian material, resistant to the wind and the dampness in the air.
We set it up and cooked some of the meat that we had, left over from our meal in the café at Anarhie. It seemed that we finally would have some peace after being pursued across the galaxy. After dinner, I set up motion detectors around the perimeter of the camp that would alert us for any movement in the area. We lay together under the stars, holding hands. We had no need to speak because we were sharing our thoughts with one another. This was a technique that I was teaching Jessie because it was the main way that we Karkastians showed affection, leading up to mind-melding.
You are the most elegant creature I’ve ever set eyes on, I shared with her.
I feel the same way about you, she said, looking at me and smiling.
Finally, I couldn’t hold back any longer, I clutched her hand tightly and closed my eyes as our minds became one. Soon, Jessie’s eyes were rolling back in her head and she was softly moaning with pleasure.
Oh Yahn, how can you make me feel so amazing when all you’re doing is holding my hand? she asked me. She took a deep breath, focusing her attention on providing me with pleasure. A pleasurable sensation began to wash over my entire body. I closed my eyes and let it engulf me.
Oh yes my love that feels so nice, I thought as she continued to focus on pleasuring me. After reaching a mind-blowing orgasm, we lay together again silently, clutching one another’s hands.
“You know I think I’m starting to enjoy that even more than sex. There’s something more pure about it. I can’t exactly explain it,” Jessie said.
“You have really gotten the hang of it,” I said. Soon, we dozed off, still holding hands. I woke up in the middle of the night, realizing that we should not have let down our guard for such a long time. There was a strange beeping sound that was different from the sound that the motion detectors made. I looked at the motion detectors and they weren’t indicating any presence nearby.
Jessie sat up and looked at me as I scanned the perimeter.
“Is everything alright? I guess we shouldn’t have dozed off like that. What’s making that beeping noise?” she asked.
“I don’t know, but I have my suspicions,” I said as I walked just inside the forest, following the sound. I shone my flashlight around me in the dark, but I could see nothing but the occasional glowing eyes of some animal in the distance. The beeping sound seemed to be coming from above my head somewhere in the trees.
Finally, I looked high into the boughs of one of the tallest trees near me. I could see a flashing red
light almost at the very top. I knew right away what it was, having discovered one of these devices back home. It was a Sarceastian life detector that had been planted here by one of their expeditions. More than likely it was going off because of us. I shot the device with my laser cannon and its flashing light and beeping stuttered to a halt. I ran back to camp.
“What was that sound? Did you shoot something?” Jessie asked, now on her feet with her laser cannon in her hands.
“I found a Sarceastian life detector. I shot it, but more than likely they now know that we’re here, and at some point they will probably send an expedition crew to check it out,” I said.
Chapter 11
Jessie
“So now what?” I asked Yahn, feeling frustrated that the Sarceastians were messing things up for us again.
“Well, it will only be a day or two before an expedition crew is sent out to investigate if I know the Sarceastians well. We have two choices- set off into space again or we stay here and defend our new home,” Yahn said.
“I don’t know, it sounds really risky to just hang around and wait for the Sarceastians to show up. My vote is for leaving,” I said, thinking the risk was too great.
Yahn walked over to me and took my hand. “Jessie my love, we have been through so many trials to get here and now we truly have a place where we can live together without anyone judging us.”
“Yes, but we are still in danger. It’s as if there is no place that the Sarceastians haven’t taken over besides Earth, and we know that’s not an option for us.”
“That is precisely why I think we should stay. We have motion detectors that we can set up around the landing perimeter to alert us of the presence of the expedition team once they arrive. I also noticed some disarmed land mines in one of the compartments of our ship. We could plant those all around the landing strip. I know how to re-activate them. Then, all we have to do is find a place to conceal ourselves and wait. Once the Sarceastians arrive, the motion detectors will let us know. If they survive the land mines, we can ambush them.”
“I don’t know, Yahn, it seems risky,” I said.
“So does leaving this planet to try and find another safe haven,” Yahn said.
In the end, I gave in to Yahn and agreed to go along with his plan. We took out the land mines and planted them all around the landing strip. It would be difficult for the Sarceastians to set foot anywhere without activating them.
“From this point on, we must avoid this area. I know the location of each mine, so that we won’t accidentally set one off,” Yahn said. Then we proceeded to set up the motion detectors around the landing site so that they would be activated once the Sarceastians landed. Now all that was left to do was find a hiding place where we could wait for the arrival of our enemies. We went into the lush forest to the west of our camp and found a small cave that was only a couple of hundred yards from the camp and landing site. It was a small opening in the side of a forested hill. We would be able to see anyone approaching us from far away. It was spacious and comfortable enough for us to sleep in. We took our food supplies and bedding materials and set them up in the cave.
“And now we wait,” Yahn said as he sat down next to me on my bedding material. We began to kiss and look in each other’s eyes when the motion detector began to light up.
“Wow, that didn’t take long,” I said in amazement.
“I can’t say that I’m surprised. The Sarceastians are nothing if not thorough in the protection of what they believe to be their resource. You stay here and I’ll go check it out to make sure that an animal didn’t set off the detectors. Be ready with your laser cannon in case I don’t return,” he said.
“Don’t talk like that, of course you will return,” I said. Yahn kissed me and smiled. Then, he left the cave. I sat in the darkness listening to the sound of water dripping from the ceiling. The moments I sat there waiting for Yahn felt like an eternity. Finally, I saw him running back to me with a look of alarm on his face.
“Well, is it them?” I asked.
“Yes, there’s an expedition ship. I saw eight of them exit the ship. They didn’t see me. What surprised me was how easily they avoided the landmines. One of them pulled out a device that started to light up when he pointed it at the area around the landing site. It was some kind of detector that they used to show them where the mines were located. Looks like we are going to have to resort to our ambush plan after all,” he said. A second later, we heard a series of explosions as the Sarceastians detonated each of the mines so that they wouldn’t have to worry about setting them off.
“Ok, here’s the plan. Once we get out of the cave, I will approach the landing area from the south and you will approach it from the north. Do not show yourself until you hear me say, “Freeze!” then you and I will have them surrounded. If they try anything, we will have to shoot to kill at that point,” he said.
“Sounds risky, but I suppose we have no choice other than to try and remain hidden,” I said.
“They will not give up until they find us if we try to remain in hiding,” he said.
I took a deep breath and exited the cave behind Yahn. I headed off through the forest to the north of the landing site, The vegetation was thick in this area and thorns tore at my flesh as I made my way through the tangled undergrowth. As I got closer to the landing site, I suddenly came face to face with a forest creature that I could not name. It was as big as a car and had horns all along its back like a dinosaur. However, it was covered in fur and had a face much like a seal. Its four limbs had long sharp claws like a bear. It looked at me and I looked at it, clutching my laser cannon nervously. Finally, it snorted a couple of times and ran off into the woods. I suppose it could tell that I was a threat with my laser cannon. Once I got to the edge of the forest, I hid behind a giant fern and looked out at the landing site. I saw six Sarceastians in their phantom-like cloaks looking around at the items we had left behind. Two more of them came walking off of our ship, carrying some things. I switched on my language decoder so that I could understand what they were saying.
“From the look of it, there are two of them, sir,” one of them said to another who had a red cloak inside of the grey ones the others wore. I guessed that this was the leader of the expedition.
“Well they can’t have gone too far. Be careful though. They obviously have been expecting us or else they wouldn’t have laid all of those mines. Humans are so primitive in their weaponry.”
“Yes sir,” they said as they began to fan out from the landing site. I looked for Yahn. I knew that this was the time for us to ambush them, but I told Yahn I would wait for his signal.
“Freeze!” Yahn said, emerging from behind a bush with his laser cannon in his hand. I came out from behind the fern and approached the two that were heading in my direction.
“Put down your weapons!” I said in a commanding voice. The two Sarceastians looked at each other and then back at me as if they were trying to decide if they should obey my command or not.
Suddenly, their captain lifted a hand into the air and both my laser cannon and Yahn’s were lifted out of our hands and into the air. We had forgotten all about the Sarceastians’ telekinetic powers. The captain began to laugh under his cloak as his hateful red eyes glowed with delight.
“Now you will come with us or you will die. The choice is completely up to you!” the captain said as he pulled out his own laser gun. The others pulled out their weapons as well. A second later, the rest of the expedition crew came out of our ship and saw what was happening.
“No need to send out a search party. We have thwarted their feeble plan to ambush us,” the captain said. His voice was deep and eerie, like the voice of an evil wizard.
Yahn had not moved a muscle since his weapon was taken away. He closed his eyes and seemed to act as if he were in another world. I wondered what in the world he was doing.
“Come with us, right away!” the captain said. I put my hands on my head and began to walk with the two
guards that were near me.
“I said move!” The captain yelled at Yahn, but Yahn stood his ground. Suddenly, his eyes opened and took on a strange, blue glow. He lifted his hand into the air and the Sarceastian’s weapons flew up out of their hands. One of them landed in Yahn’s hand and the other in my own.
“What?” the captain said as he tried to close his eyes. He was trying to use his telekinetic powers in order to gain back the weapons. Yahn’s eyes grew bigger as if he was drawing more power to himself. The captain could not overcome Yahn’s powers.
“Now you are our prisoners. You will come with us or die!” Yahn said. The Sarceastians reluctantly put their hands up in the air, realizing that Yahn was too powerful.
“Let’s take them to the cave and imprison them there,” Yahn said to me.
“Walk!” Yahn commanded. The Sarceastians began to march towards the cave with their hands on their heads.
Alien Romance Box Set: Alien Former: Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Books 1-5) Page 130