by Maia Starr
“Just about?” I yelped.
Frankly, the idea of dying was not one I had expected to encounter. This had been but a simple cargo run: one that should have resulted in an easy come, easy go, and a happy reunion back on our home planet of Yala. What hell had I invoked to have this happen to me? My crew deserved better than this. They were good men!
“It’s going to depend on fate, Commander,” Lorth replied, trying to remind me of one of the core beliefs of my race. “We simply have to surrender control to the universe in this particular matter. We will do all we can to influence fate to work in our favor, and if that is not enough, then we have another purpose elsewhere.”
I sighed. As much as I knew he was trying to comfort me, I had been a skeptic in the ways of the faith of my people. The Raithers were a hard-working warrior race, with strong convictions and a capable, practical attitude, which was something that I could be proud of. But when it came to matters of philosophy, I found myself at odds with the common core beliefs of the Raithers around me. It was something I had learned to keep to myself from a young age.
I was a man who had always worked hard to make my own destiny and doing so had awarded me many opportunities I wouldn’t have otherwise had. It seemed natural then to question the role that fate might play in my success.
Although the other Raithers were particularly fond of a relaxed approach to life, I had always found that hard work and tenacity could often change what others might consider a fated event. It was all in your perspective, in my opinion. And I wished I had someone around to speak with who could understand that. Sometimes keeping my philosophy to myself had been difficult.
“Commander! We’re going to make it. But…”
Before the rest of the words could make it out of Lorth’s mouth, the ship was seized by turbulence, and a loud explosion echoed through the chambers. I was thrown out of my seat from the force of it, and soon the ship was going down…down…down… into the unknown.
***
“Lorth? Baarda?”
I opened my eyes, the world around my bright and disorienting. My fingers were clasping dirt, and my nostrils were filled with the vague scent of smoke. Beyond the smoke was something else entirely: fresh, sweet air.
I scrambled painfully to my feet as fast as my body would allow me to, my heart pounding hard in my chest. Where was I? And where was my crew?
I looked around everywhere, but there was no sign of the ship or my men anywhere. I closed my eyes, trying to force myself to remember the events that had transpired. There had been an explosion, and then my body had become weightless and hurtled to the ground. The ship had crashed somewhere else, smoke billowing from its engines as my crew was lost from me, possibly forever.
I had to find my crew. But it would do me no good bellowing about this place like a fool. There was no telling what kind of life might be lurking among the lush green foliage. It was beautiful here, but it was a type of beauty that somehow made me feel uneasy. The whole place was covered in life: large trees with thick trunks and palms with fronds almost as big as my ship had been. And the greenery was splashed with colors: vibrant hues of bulbous flowers and fungi in bright reds and violets. The place seemed oddly familiar somehow, and my mind searched for the memory of where I had seen such lush greenery before. It had to have been in a book because I would have remembered walking through a place like this.
Unfortunately, nothing came to mind, and I was left clueless and confused as I made my way carefully through the brush. My chest tightened, and I halted my movement immediately when I heard a sudden snap in the distance. It could either be my crew, or something else entirely. I wouldn’t know if it was friend or foe.
“I’ve never seen flora like this before!”
I grew rigid at the sound of the most beautiful voice I had ever heard before. I recognized the language as one of many that were spoken on the planet Earth: a dialect so sweet and strange that it was mesmerizing. It sounded musical in a way, kind, gentle, and enthusiastic. I could see nobody approaching, but I knew I had to get close enough to see the face of the human who was speaking. It was as if I were in a trance, and I had no choice but to come closer to the siren that was beckoning me forward.
“It is very peculiar.”
I halted at the sound of another human. I had never seen a human up close before, only in pictures. I knew that they were much different than a being like myself, and they would most definitely never have heard of the Raithers before. Our kind liked to keep a low profile and only allow ourselves to be seen when it was of utmost importance. Our ancestors had declared it was the best way to ensure the continuation of our species, and thus far they had been proven correct. We were one of the longest-standing alien races in the galaxy, and we had a comprehensive body of knowledge of almost all life in the universe because of it.
“What do you think the others are doing?” came the heavenly voice again.
“Oh, who knows. Probably sitting around feeling sorry for themselves.”
I moved forward noiselessly, creeping along until I could hear the human voices so near me, I knew they were close. I peered through an opening in the foliage and froze. In front of me stood the most captivating creature I had ever laid eyes on. Her hair was thick and long, golden and wavy, cascading down to the middle of her back. She had pale skin, even for a human, and round, endlessly beautiful eyes the color of the oceans on my planet: sparkling sea green.
I nearly approached her right then but froze when she spoke, her voice smooth and soft like a creamy yerna sandwich.
“I’m kind of glad we got away from the rest of the group. They haven’t been very kind, you know?”
“Nah. Most of them are more worried about themselves and keeping up their reputations as intellectuals. It’s kind of stupid, but it is what it is.”
“I guess they never learned how to have any value for other humans despite how much they value the things they study,” my human replied, her exotic, beautiful face creased with sadness. I would have done anything to make that expression disappear from her features, never to return.
“Did you hear that?” the other human asked looking up suddenly, her brow furrowed.
“No, hear what?” my human replied.
It was then that I, too, heard what the other human had heard. There was a dull, thudding noise coming toward us, to the left of the where the humans were crouched in front of one of the large plants and studying it with intensity.
“That doesn’t sound good,” the other human whispered.
“Mary…I think we should get out of here,” my human said. “Go. Now.”
“But…”
“Go!”
A huge crash and the sound of one of the giant trees cracking in half brought Mary to her feet and she took off running back in the direction she had come from, while my human, for some reason, stayed frozen in place, her oceanic eyes wide with a mixture of what appeared to be fear and curiosity.
She actually began to step toward the noise, and I cried out involuntarily and emerged from my hiding space.
“Human! What do you think you’re doing! Get away from there!”
She whipped around and stared at me, her eyes round and, for the first time, full of fear.
“Who are you?” she asked, her beautiful voice barely above a whisper. But I didn’t have the time to introduce myself. Whatever was coming toward us was almost there.
“Get down,” I hissed, gripping her arm tightly in my hand and pulling her into the cover of the brush.
Just as I did so, a huge, horrific creature stormed into sight. It towered over us both by nearly three stories, and its eyes were wild and black. I reached for my weapon, the latest technology on my planet: a gun that shot high-intensity laser blasts that could destroy any threat. But when I tried to ready the weapon, it simply wouldn’t charge. Something was wrong. My weapon was useless here. I checked my backups and they, too, were dead.
“Is that an elephant?” the human asked, scramb
ling forward, her curiosity refusing to die.
“Hush, female!” I exclaimed, watching the creature with my eyes narrowed. No, this creature was nothing like an elephant. I knew exactly what this was. A Jorgan. The Jorgans were a terrifying race of creatures who lived in a tepid climate. They were savage and bloodthirsty, and once they set their minds to killing something, they didn’t let up until it was completely destroyed. The human had barely gotten a look at it before I had shoved her against the tree and she had stumbled to the ground, more worried about saving her life than I was about making sure she didn’t lose her balance.
Apparently, my shove didn’t faze her, because soon I felt the heat of her body beside mine, her face so close to mine that it was nearly touching. Now that she was standing beside me, I could smell the gentle sweetness of her skin, and I had to swallow hard to keep my composure. The human shuffled, pushing against me so that she could make enough room for herself to see through the gap in the trees.
“It’s so big,” she breathed. “Why is it red? And where are its ears?”
I gave her a warning look, and she clamped her mouth shut, watching the giant creature silently. Still, I could tell from the expression on her face that her mind was working fast enough that if she were a machine, it would probably be smoking. I had never seen any creature with such a profound curiosity. She seemed to be silently asking and answering questions to herself. Soon it felt like she completely forgotten that I was there, and we stood silently side by side as the large, terrible beast crashed through the rest of the forest and eventually turned its back toward us and began moving slowly out of sight.
We remained frozen in place until we could no longer see the broad red backside of the creature. The deep rumble of its footsteps began to fade into the distance, and finally, I turned to the human, a combination of emotions rising in my chest. She didn’t find the creature menacing, apparently, and I wondered if she would have been willing to chase it down.
But suddenly she seemed to realize again that I was beside her and she turned to me, her mesmerizing eyes studying me thoughtfully.
“What was that all about?” she asked finally, and again I could practically hear the gears in her mind moving quickly as she took me in and processed the situation we had just experienced together. “Have you been here long? Tell me what you know about this place.”
“Honestly, human, that is something that I have been trying to figure out for myself. I don’t know any more about this planet than you seem to.”
“What was that thing?” she asked. “And what are you?”
I stiffened, mildly insulted by the question. Humans and Raithers were biologically similar enough that she shouldn’t have compared me to such a loathsome creature. I was considered quite formidable by my fellow Raithers, and many females had been denied the pleasure of my company in a romantic setting. I had always been more dedicated to moving forward with my plans and goals than I happened to be when it came to romantic affairs. And because of it, I had found myself at the head of the fleet, commanding the noblest crew available on my planet.
“Come, human,” I said with a heavy sigh. “Let us get to safety and then I will tell you what I know. Unfortunately, though, I fear it isn’t much.”
“I don’t want to go with you!” she exclaimed.
I glared at her, and she froze, whether afraid of me or simply indignant, I couldn’t be sure.
“There are dangers around every corner here. You are going to come with me. You are not safe on your own.”
I stared her down until, finally, she nodded miserably.
“All right,” she sighed. “Let’s go.”
***
We walked in silence until the human’s stomach let out a peculiar rumble.
“What do we eat here?” she mumbled. “I’m hungry.”
I gritted my teeth. I hadn’t considered what we would eat on this planet. I had been more concerned with trying to find the area where my crew had landed. I still didn’t know whether or not they were alive or dead. Food had been the last thing on my mind.
Back on the planet Yala, food was always in abundance, and yet our population had been in decline lately. It was alarming how quickly it was happening, but many Raither women had found themselves unable to reproduce; whether this was because of a change in the atmosphere or something else entirely, we still didn’t know.
If I could bring the human to Yala, perhaps the two of us would be able to begin repopulating my planet together. The thought was pleasant. Probably too pleasant.
“I guess we should probably try to figure that out,” I said, sighing inwardly. As attracted as I was to this human, she had a streak that was somewhat obnoxious.
“We can look for native inhabitants of the land,” she said, trotting beside me, completely oblivious to my annoyance. “And whatever we find them eating, I guess we could try to eat it too.”
“That seems pretty risky,” I said, casting a sidelong glance at her. “What if the planet is hostile?”
“The planet wouldn’t be hostile,” she said, arching her brow at me as if I were stupid. “Actually, there are some common building blocks of life that exist on almost every planet that is teeming with Type B life.”
“I know that,” I said, pursing my lips. “That doesn’t mean we can eat all of it.”
“Look!” she exclaimed, not bothering to address my point. I looked in the direction she had thrust her arm and saw a tree in the distance. It looked as if there were heavy fruits hanging from its boughs, and I turned to the human.
“Don’t you dare…”
But before I could finish my sentence she had already taken off running in the direction of the tree. I chased after her, but she was shockingly agile and limber, climbing up the tree as if she had been doing it all her life.
“Catch!” she shouted, dropping a huge fruit down to me. I jumped away from it and let it land on the dirt in front of me. It was impossible to say what kind of reaction I might have to the foreign foliage. And although I was wearing gloves, I wanted nothing to do with the peculiar yellow fruit that the human had thrust at me. For all I knew, she could be trying to kill me. She was wildly intelligent, and I was beginning to think she just may know a lot more than she was letting on.
“Suit yourself,” she said, shrugging and tearing one of the big fruits off for herself. She kept it tucked safely under her lanky arm as she descended the tree, and then sat down on the ground, leaning comfortably against the trunk of the tree. “Do you have a knife?”
“Even if I did, I wouldn’t be giving it to you,” I said, walking forward and removing my weapon from the holster at my side. “But I will open this for you as long as you promise not to touch me with it. Raithers are very sensitive to environments outside our home planet.”
“Raithers?” the girl asked, quirking a brow at me. “I’ve never heard of your kind before. You don’t look very different though. I mean…except…”
She looked down at her fruit and trailed off, her cheeks turning an odd pink color as she examined the yellow lines of the rind.
“Well, we like to keep to ourselves. It is better that way. You know, the way you humans attract attention to yourself and your planet, it’s shocking that you haven’t been invaded by now.”
“Actually, we may have been,” she said, an easy smile brightening her face. “There are these cute little flowers…”
She trailed off as I knelt down in front of her and carefully sliced the fruit open. The air was suddenly filled with a deliciously sweet scent, and we both looked down at the bounty within. It was a cream-colored fruit with a soft-looking texture. It was only slightly juicy, and the human grinned.
“This looks so good,” she said, reaching in with her bare hands to grab a piece.
“No!” I shouted, a pang of guilt tightening my chest when the smile faded from her face, and she looked at me in fear. “It could hurt you. Use this.”
I dug through my pockets and handed her a multi-fun
ctioning tool. It was protocol to carry at least three of them on you at all times as a warrior of the Raither race. She examined it, her perfect brow forming a small line of worry.
“What is this?”
“Pull it out like this,” I said, demonstrating on my own. “That one has never been used. You can eat with it without touching anything. There is also a knife and a flame creator on it, among other useful things. You should hold onto that while we’re here, until we figure out just where we are.”
“Oh, I know what it’s called,” the human said casually, her mouth already full of the fruit. I gaped at her, unsure of whether I was more surprised that she knew more than I did about the planet, despite all of her questions, or that she was so confident eating the alien fruit.
“You do? And are you sure you should be eating that? It could be dangerous…”
“It’s perfectly safe. Do you see these seeds?”
I frowned and looked reluctantly over to the inside of the fruit. “I know this variety. This is kind of incredible, really. I’ve never seen it in person, but I’ve had a lot of training. I’m a scientist on Earth, so I know a lot about this kind of thing. Are you sure you don’t want some?”
I realized with a sudden voraciousness that I, too, was starting to need sustenance, and I went over to the fruit that I had allowed to land on the ground and reluctantly began to cut it open.
“So what planet is this then?” I asked her, taking a small, tentative taste of the fruit. “I know you’re probably as new here as I am. So, what is it that you know about this place?”
“It’s called Hexa,” the human said, her voice casual as if she didn’t realize quite what it was that she was implying.
I gaped at her, the food turning to cement in my mouth. “Hexa?”
She nodded and took another generous bite of her fruit, then smiled at me. I wished I could be as enrapt by her beauty at that moment as I had been the moment before she had spoken the name of the most fearsome planet in the universe, but what had been said could not be undone. Hexa. So that explained why my weapons didn’t work.