by Ruby Dixon
The alien's big hand pushes it back toward me. There's a scowl on his ugly face and he shifts on his feet, waiting. The message is clear: he's not going anywhere until I drink.
Goddamn it.
I take a sip of the broth and immediately start to cough. The aliens have some weird taste buds. Georgie shared some of Vektal's travel rations with us, and it was like biting into concentrated pepper spray. This smells like the sock-flavored hot tea version and tastes even worse. I grimace and push it away, only to have the alien force it toward me again.
"If I spill it, I wonder if you'll make me lick it off the floor," I mutter to myself, but take another sip. It's not as awful on the second taste….oh, who am I kidding? It's rancid. But I drink it, because Tall, Dark, and Brutish isn't leaving until I do. It takes me forever to choke down the sips, and when I get to the bottom of the cup, there's a sludge that makes me gag, but I force it down, too. Then I hand the cup back.
The alien sweeps the fur over my shoulders and tucks it close to my body. He leans in close and I hold my breath. The rest of the ship is utterly silent, and I can feel all eyes on us. He adjusts the blanket, and when I glare at him, says one word.
"Raahosh."
Then he stands, scowls at the others for staring, and storms away.
"What did he just say?" one of the girls asks.
"It doesn't translate well," Kira says, touching her ear where the translator piece is. "Something like ‘Angry one who growls'."
"It's his name," I say, though I'm guessing. ‘Growly Bastard' suits him. This isn't the first time Raahosh has shown up to say hello. I woke up from a comatose slumber to find him in my face, forcing water down my dry throat. He'd staked himself out as my own personal rescuer, showing up to hand me meat, drinks, and making sure that I am warm.
In short, he'd been hovering since the hunters had arrived, and it is pissing me off.
Normally I wouldn't mind when a guy showed up and started giving me presents, especially since I was starving. But these presents weren't freely given. Captain Obvious wanted a mate, and he'd staked me out.
He wasn't doing that weird vibratey thing with his chest, though. Georgie had told me that Vektal had a khui – the cootie, as we liked to call it – and that when it recognized its mate, it would make him purr and make him want to sex me up. Vektal had vibrated for Georgie. Raahosh was silent, though.
Which made me thankful…and confused. If he wasn't vibrating for me, why keep coming after me? It made no sense. Stupid alien. I licked my lips and then made a face, because they still tasted like the tea.
"He's hideous looking," Claire says. "Do they all look like that?"
"No, Raahosh is scarier than most," I say cheerfully. I'm glad he doesn't understand English, because I don't know what he'd do if he hears me talking shit about him.
Vektal's kind of cute in an overgrown sort of way. He's blue, and Georgie says his skin is like suede. He's got big, arching horns that emerge from the edges of his hairline and curl around his head like a seven-foot tall ram. He's muscled all over, has a tail, and has these weird bumpy ridges on his arms and across the brow. Most of the other guys have a similar make-up, with only variations in height, coloring, and horns. Just your everyday blue alien people.
Raahosh stands out from the others in a few different ways. For one, he's the tallest. Which isn't much of a thing considering they all stand above seven feet, but it makes him seem to tower more than most. His shoulders aren't as broad as Vektal's, which means he's only enormous, instead of gargantuan. And while Vektal seems to be more of a pure blue, Raahosh is a darker shade, a grayish blue shade that just makes him seem like more of an Eeyore than the others.
The scars don't help that impression, either. One side of his broad, alien face is scarred up, deep gouges over his forehead and eye telling of a past encounter that he lost. They continue down his neck, and disappear into his clothing. The horn on that side of his head is a jagged stump, his other arching upward as a sleek reminder of what he's missing. Add in a firm mouth pursed with dislike and narrow eyes that glow with the weird blue provided by the symbiont?
I think it's a fair assessment to say that Raahosh is scarier than the others, yeah.
The fact that he's staked me out as his property is…irksome. I told Georgie and the others that for a cheeseburger, I'd do just about anything. But having an alien lay claim to me feels…weird. I don't even get a choice? This is like me saying "I want a cheeseburger" and someone slapping a pickle into my hand and saying "Fuck you, you get a pickle."
And then because I'm thinking of phallic objects, I eye Raahosh again. Not in an obvious way, of course. I'm lying down and my eyes are mostly closed, but I can see him and another alien guy moving at the edge of the ship, packing bags and double checking things. Georgie and Vektal are nowhere to be seen. I watch Raahosh as he bends over and then stands up.
He has a really long tail. I wonder if that's an indicator of anything going on in another, ahem, area.
Not that I care. Maybe if we have to get this parasite thing, it'll choose someone other than him. Wouldn't that just piss Mr. Pushy off?
I fall back asleep daydreaming of the look on his face when my cootie rejects him.
RAAHOSH
My khui is an idiot.
It must be. Why else would it ignore the women of my clan and the moment we enter the den of the dirty, ragged humans, it begins to bleat in my chest like a quill beast? Or that it chose the frailest of the sick humans to select as my mate?
A mate that glares at me with knowing, angry eyes and refuses to eat the medicinal broth that I bring her? That pushes aside my hands when I try to help her to her feet? Who scowls when I bring her water?
It's clear that my khui is full of foolishness.
"Did you resonate for anyone?" Aehako asks at my side. He stuffs a fur into a traveling bag. We are preparing the humans' cave for travel, since they are too weak to do so. Everything must come with us, Vektal says. It does not matter that it is stained and filthy, or useless. The humans have so little that he is sure they will treasure whatever they have, so it must come. Two of the hunters that resonated for females have been sent off to get furs from the nearest hunter caves, because the humans are poorly equipped to face the harsh snows, and they have no khui to keep them warm.
This will be remedied shortly, however.
A sa-kohtsk is near. The large creatures carry many khui, and we will hunt one for its meat and ensure that the humans will not die of khui-sickness.
I think of the hollow eyes of my new mate and how miserable she looks. Most of the human hides are a pale color, but my human is paler than most. That must mean she is sicker. I will insist she be one of the first to get a khui.
Aehako repeats his question. "Raahosh? Did you resonate?"
I don't like to lie, but I also don't want anyone to know, not when my mate is glaring at me as if she is furious.
Raahosh is scarier than most.
Her words cut. She is smooth and pale and weak, and yet I am the one lacking? I shrug and shoulder the pack. "It matters not. We will see what happens when the khui are in the humans."
"I didn't resonate." Aehako looks glum, his broad features downcast. "Do you think more will resonate when they come into season? Perhaps they're not in season." He gives me a hopeful glance.
"Do I look as if I know human seasons?" I snap. "Finish your bag. We need to hurry if we are to get the humans close enough to the sa-kohtsk to hunt it."
Aehako sighs and returns to work. I tell myself he is young. In fact, he might be the youngest hunter in our clan. He will get over his disappointment, or another human will resonate for him later. Or even a sa-khui woman, perhaps one not yet born.
All I know is that I am resonating for one of the dying humans, and if she dies, she takes all my hopes and dreams with her.
I have never had a mate. Never had a lover. Women are few in our clan, and women that want to mate with a scarred, surly hunter even fewer. I
never dreamed that I would have a mate of my own.
Now that she is here…I'm not entirely sure how to act. So I remain silent and it takes all of my energy to will my khui to remain silent when the humans stand up and begin to ready for the long trek back to the clan caves. Hunters have returned with furs and one is being cut up to make foot coverings. Others are securing their flimsy clothing, and Vektal's new mate, Shorshie – she of the tongue-tangling name – helps another wrap a thick fur cloak around her.
Only a few of the humans are not readying themselves. The one with dark skin and hair like a tuft of sweet-weed lies unconscious under her furs. Vektal says she is one of the sickest. There is another who has a broken limb, and she leans heavily on Pashov for support to stand.
And then there is mine. My human, who ignores everyone around her and resolutely huddles under the blankets.
She is stubborn. My khui chose well in that aspect. I am stubborn, too. Together, we will make very stubborn kits. A bit of the resentment in my heart leaves at the mental image of the human holding my child to her breast. I would have a family after so long.
"Ready all the humans," Vektal says as he passes by, heading for Shorshie. "We leave very soon."
"What about the ones that cannot walk?" Zolaya asks. "Or the one that cannot be woken?"
"Then we carry them. We do not leave any behind."
Shorshie gives Vektal a loving smile and turns to hug him. "You're so good to us. I can't thank you enough."
He touches her cheek. "You are mine. That is all that matters."
I pretend not to see when she playfully nips at his thumb with her mouth. It is no sin to be affectionate in public, but knowing that my own sick mate sits in her corner and scowls at me makes it difficult to see. She is not happy at the thought of a mate.
She is not happy that it is me. She finds me hideous.
Raahosh is scarier than most.
I grab one of the furs, angry, and storm toward her. It doesn't matter if she likes me or not. The khui chooses the mate. She will simply have to accept it.
"Wake up," I say as I stride to her side and pull back the blankets. "You–"
Her head lolls and she slumps against the floor. She is not willfully neglecting my attention, then. She is unconscious. Fear strikes my heart and I cradle her against my chest, pulling her against my warmth. Her skin is so cold. Can she not retain heat? How will she possibly survive? For a moment, I panic. This must be how Vektal feels when he looks at Shorshie. Helpless in the face of her fragility. I cradle the woman against me and tap her cheek.
She rouses after a moment, and then recoils at the sight of me. "Captain Obvious. I should have guessed."
I ignore the sting to my pride. I don't understand who this ‘Captain Obvious' is. A lot of the human words don't make sense. At the ancestor's cave, we received the knowledge gift of their language, but it's clear that things don't match up properly. Sometimes when my human speaks, I don't understand her.
Though I understood her disdain for me well enough.
I prop her up against my chest and help her to her feet. She hisses with pain as she does, and falls back against me. Her small back hits my chest and my khui immediately stirs to life…as does my cock.
I close my eyes and concentrate, willing both to remain unaffected. Now is not the time.
The human struggles against me, shoving aside my hands. "Quit touching me! Let me go!"
Let her go? She cannot even stand. I won't let her go. I ignore her slapping palms as I run a hand down her bare legs, looking for wounds. She bats my touch away, but not before I see that three of her many toes are swollen and bruised. They are likely broken, and she does not have a khui to heal her.
And she thinks to ignore my help? More foolishness. I ignore her protests and sling her into my arms. I will carry her to the sa-kohtsk hunt if I must. She will get there. I cannot bear to think of she does not.
"Hey! Put me down, you big oaf," she yells in my ear. Her lungs are not suffering, at least. I ignore her bellowing and make sure she is wrapped in the blankets despite her flailing.
"Raahosh," a warning voice says.
I look over – even as the human's hand smacks me on the jaw in protest – and see my friend and chieftain stalking over to me.
"You cannot haul her around if she does not wish it," he says in our language. "Humans must be gently wooed. They are fragile."
My ‘fragile' human's fist slams into my cheekbone. "Put me down," she bellows again. "You fucking suck!"
I…suck? But I am eating nothing.
"Raahosh," Vektal warns. "You know my orders."
I do know his orders. Do not do anything the humans do not want to do. I gently set mine to the floor with infinite tenderness, resisting the urge to crush her against my chest and stroke her filthy hair. "She is wounded," I tell him gruffly. "I wanted to help."
"There will be time enough for that," he says and claps my arm good-naturedly. Of course he's in a good mood. He has his mate. Mine looks at me as if she'd like to bury my knife into my back. "Let her walk if she wishes to walk."
"Fine," I growl out. I make sure the furs are bundled tightly around her and offer her foot coverings. It's the least I can do, and I pretend not to see when she winces and says more vicious, incomprehensible words as she tries to ease one over her swollen foot. She's covered in wounds, this human creature. There's a fresh one on her arm where a ‘sensor' as they call it was removed from her flesh. This was from the ‘bad guys'. All I know is that I want to get a khui into her so she can heal and get well.
Mating is not even on my mind at the moment. I simply want her to thrive. My hands twitch, desperate to comfort and caress, but when she shoots me another hateful look, I go to join the hunters.
I cannot be around her and not want to touch her.
LIZ
I like to think that I'm not particularly squeamish. I'm really not. My dad was a hunter, and I grew up at his side, baiting fish hooks and skinning the day's catch so we could roast it over a fire. I'm an expert with a bow. I'm not half bad with tracking. I can butcher a carcass like a badass.
But the sa-kohtsk is a creepy mutant motherfucker.
It's been a few hours since we left the ship behind for the last time. I wish I could say I wasn't sorry to see that smelly pit disappear into the distance, but I'm a little freaked out. This planet is an ice planet. It's like Antarctica on steroids, and the sun is setting. There's so much snow that my newly-covered feet sink into it like quicksand, and I see no familiar trees or shelter. It's cold as fuck, my toes feel like red hot pain every time I take a step, and I'm feeling so weak I can barely lift my head. This is not exactly survival mode. At one point, I fall behind the others so far that someone swoops me up and carries me over his shoulder. I don't even have to see the guy's face in the driving snow to realize who it is.
Raahosh. Of course.
Now the girls and I are seated under a few flimsy, willowy trees that shiver with every step the sa-kohtsk takes. The sa-kohtsk is impossible to describe. It's like a wooly mammoth mated with the love child of a brontosaur and a long-legged AT-AT from one of the Star Wars movies. The resulting thing looks like a hairball propped up on spindly legs, and it screeches and moans as the hunters bring it down.
The men crowd around it. Vektal immediately trots over to the women and runs his hands over Georgie. "Are you well?"
She fusses over him, too. Oh, puke. I tune out and gaze at the downed creature. I miss hunting. I haven't done it since my father died, but seeing the dead thing and the scent of its blood on the air brings back memories of hunting together. I miss Dad. I miss hunting.
I look up and see a pair of glowing, intense eyes watching me from a distance. Raahosh again. I hug my furs closer and ignore him, hobbling closer to Georgie and Vektal so I can hear what's going on.
They're busy making out. I watch Vektal kiss Georgie's forehead. “Now, we get the khui. Gather the women.”
So sexist. Yes, gather up
all the little women-folk so they can be taken care of. My lip curls at this, but I hate that I'm such a stereotype. Truth is, I'm too friggin’ exhausted to do anything other than stare.
Georgie steps forward with Tiffany at her side. Poor Tiff. She's from El Paso and really, really isn't doing well with this weather. Plus, I think she's diabetic, so she's not doing so hot. She's been practically comatose all week. Tiffany stands weakly, and Georgie continues to move forward. "Where are the khui?"
"Inside," Vektal says and points at the belly. "Are you ready, my Georgie?"
Like we have a choice? I let Georgie answer, though, and she says, "Let's do this."
The creature is then sliced open from belly to sternum, and blood rushes out. Weirdly enough, it makes me homesick again. "Just like skinning a deer. No big deal. No sweat."
I look over, and Raahosh is still watching me. My skin prickles with awareness and…something else? I might be about to pass out again. I hope not.
At my side, Georgie swallows hard.
There's a cracking sound, and I look over to see Vektal standing on the ribcage of the giant creature, prying it apart with big, straining arms. It gives the loudest snap I've ever heard, and then splits open.
"Really, really big deer," I comment.
Georgie swallows again. Tiffany moans and stumbles away a few feet.
I keep watching, because I need something to concentrate on. I'm afraid if I look away, I'm going to see Raahosh approaching to put his hands on me again. I'm not sure why the thought both annoys me and fills me with a liquid sort of heat.
Vektal takes the heart from one of his men, and it's swarming with wriggling, glowing spaghetti-noodle looking worms. Okay, yeah. This is not cool in my book.
"I think I'm going to be sick," Kira says somewhere off to my side, and Tiffany makes a hurking noise. But Georgie's watching Vektal like he's about to give her a diamond ring or some shit. They murmur quietly to each other, and then he pulls out his knife.