“Do we want to be diverted to it?” Geoff asked grimly.
“We don’t have a choice,” Krig replied. “Escape pods send out a location ping, but they’re also designed to deliver themselves to the first place with a nitrogen and oxygen atmosphere, which is why we’re headed toward some moon. I think it’s a wise choice because this pod has only a certain amount of resources.”
“Will we be safe on that moon?”
Krig gave her a brief but unsettled glance. “I don’t know.”
And that, of course, did nothing to alleviate her stress.
Chapter Six
Krig concentrated on the console readings as the gravity of the moon brought them down through the clouds a little faster than he’d like. He wished he had thruster control to at least scan the terrain and find the best possible position, preferably the high ground. But he didn’t, so they were flying in blind.
He left most of the controls in the autopilot’s capable hands. Had the life pod been damaged or something he would gladly take over, but all he really had to do was make sure the magnetic shields held as the hull heated up. Still, the pod violently shook as it broke through the atmosphere. If they hadn’t been strapped in they would’ve been in for a bumpy ride.
Krig got a quick glance of a lush green surface and tall trees before the landing thrusters engaged to slow down their descent. But something happened, and Krig wasn’t sure what it was until a loud boom impacted the side of the pod, throwing them off trajectory. He heard Keirah scream and the crunching of metal as the magnetic shields collapsed, and then they were rolling around like a ball.
Everything went black.
Awareness came back to him sharply as he instantly remembered what happened, and he jerked only to feel the bite of the safety harness across his chest. He looked around and realized they had crashed upon the surface, although the pod was still intact. It was the sideways landscape on the view screen that told him their landing had been less than ideal.
He unhooked his harness and turned to find Keirah and Geoff also unconscious. He hurried to Keirah’s side and lifted her head.
“Keirah, draga,” he murmured into her ear before kissing her mouth. “Wake up.”
She blinked her beautiful blue eyes, and for a split second, she smiled warmly at him, which made his heart pound in his chest, before awareness sharpened her gaze and she swung her gaze around to find her husband. Disappointment sluiced through Krig, and he took a deep breath to contain his jealousy. He wanted all her attention on him, not on her puny human husband.
“Keirah?” Geoff asked groggily from behind him.
Krig sighed. Puny husband was awake.
“I’m fine,” she answered. Her gaze came back to him. “What happened?”
“I’m not sure. Let me go explore. Stay here.” He stood and pulled out a blaster from under the console, and he opened the door. As he headed outside, Geoff went to follow him. “I said stay here.”
“You need backup,” Geoff argued.
“I am Alphan. I can take care of myself.”
“Have you ever been on this moon before?”
“No.”
“Then you need backup. What if there’s some type of tentacle creature that reaches out and snaps you up? We’d never know what happened to you.”
Krig seriously had no idea what he was talking about. “Tentacle creature?”
“Sure,” Geoff said. “Happens all the time in movies.”
“Hmm,” Krig muttered, giving up. If the tentacle creature got Geoff then that would solve a lot of his problems. “Get another blaster from the storage compartment under the console. The pod has four.”
The moon was lush with vegetation, and the pod’s off-kilter trajectory was a scorched path of black and broken greenery. The air was heavy with humidity, which caused liquid beads to form on his face within a minute. He took a lungful of air and coughed a little as he felt moisture line his nasal passages.
“Don’t breathe deeply,” he warned Geoff. “The air can drown you.”
“Great. There go my allergies.”
He ignored Geoff’s dark humor and made his way around the pod, trying to see how damaged the vessel was. As he rounded one side, he noticed a thick red goo-like substance coating the dull metal hull. Parts of some type of animal lay in disarranged pieces all over the place.
“I think I know what brought us down,” Geoff said. Krig noticed he was looking up toward the sky and followed his stare. Up above were large winged bird like creatures with pointy beaks and claw feet. “They look like pterodactyls.”
“Are those carnivores?”
“Yeah, I think they were. They’ve been extinct on Earth for a long time, but I remember an old movie that had them sweeping up humans to eat.”
“Then let’s make sure we don’t grab their attention.” Krig glanced around. “There’re a lot of trees, which is good. We can either make base under them or up in the branches.”
“Why can’t we stay with the pod? We can shut it tight, be safe from whatever creepy crawly things are indigenous to this moon.”
Krig shook his head. “The Xyran is probably still looking for us. If he was able to track the location ping before we crashed it’s only a matter of time before he finds where we went.”
“We spent four days in space,” Geoff argued back. “He could’ve picked us up at any point. I bet he thinks we’re dead.”
“You want to bet Keirah’s life on an assumption?”
“No, but I don’t want to pit her life against unknown, potentially dangerous, extraterrestrial varmints. The pod is safer.”
“The pod is trackable.”
He had to give the human credit for not backing down. Geoff stood toe to toe with him, scowling and unafraid even with Krig outweighing him with fifty pounds of pure muscle.
“We’re going to have to work together, Geoff, to protect Keirah,” Krig said.
“You’ll get no arguments from me on that score.”
“So trust me when I say that we’re too vulnerable out here in the open,” he continued. “I don’t think the Xyran has given up. I don’t think it’s wise for us to stay here when he could show up at any time.”
Geoff opened his mouth to argue, but Krig held up a hand, halting whatever he was going to say.
“But you’re right that the pod offers the most shelter, so we’ll stay here for now.”
He could see that he’d shocked Geoff, and he liked throwing the man off his kilter.
“Look,” Krig continued. “There are two categories on what can or will kill you while trying to survive. The first are outside things like animals. It’s prudent to learn what creatures are here and which ones will hurt us. Or find out if the temperature plummets when the sun goes down. The second is the regular maintenance we’re going to need. The body needs air, food, water, shelter.”
“Even being from the city I know that much,” Geoff said.
“Let’s make a perimeter sweep.” Krig walked away, not caring in the least if Geoff was following.
“Wait for me!” Keirah called out.
He stopped and turned, frowning as he put his hands on his hips to stare her down. “I thought I told you to stay in the pod.”
She held up a blaster. “I want to help.”
“You can help by not making me worry about protecting you.”
Keirah looked at Geoff, who stayed quiet, and Krig was relieved the human seemed to back him up on this. At least they were of the same mind.
“I want to help, Krig,” she said softly.
He couldn’t seem to help himself as he caught a curl with his finger and caressed its soft texture. She made his shaft ache to be buried inside her hot little body, but it was more than just a sexual need to claim her. He’d always admired strength and spirit, and Keirah DeWinter had them in spades.
“All right,” he heard himself relenting. He hadn’t realized he was going to concede until the words had come tumbling out. “But stay close to me or G
eoff. Don’t wander off. We’re doing just a preliminary sweep to check out the area.”
“Okay.” She smiled at him, and he felt a kick somewhere in his solar plexus. “Do you recognize any of the plants or fruits? Rations will only carry us so far.”
“True. Why don’t you gather things that might seem edible? The pod has an analyzer on board to see if the plants can be consumed or not.”
With a plan in motion, Krig felt a little better. More in control. He didn’t like feeling this helpless although that had more to do with his two companions than anything else. It wasn’t like he didn’t know how to take care of himself in the wilderness. Part of his early warrior training had been a situation similar to this one, where he’d been left in an uninhabited rainforest, and he’d had to survive for two weeks on his wits alone. Now he recalled every memory of that test as they made a sweep of the area.
He pointed to one tall tree. “Lots of vines means lots of cordage.”
“What do we need cords for?”
“Rope. We could set animal traps—”
“Or Xyran traps,” Keirah added, interrupting. She grinned up at him, and he couldn’t help but grin back.
“Exactly. We can set the pod up to look like we’re living there and use it as a trap.”
“Or really live there until we’re rescued,” Geoff quipped.
Krig threw him a dark look. “Since this is such a humid environment I’m going to assume it’s going to be hard to start a fire. Search for a large log, preferably something a little old or dying.”
“Why?” Keirah asked.
“For dry wood. If we cut it in half the inside should be dry. The pod might have an axe, but if not we can salvage part of the hull to fashion one.”
They continued on, and Krig used the tree nearest to the downed pod as his reference point because it would be easy to get lost. About twenty minutes later he began leading them back to the pod when he heard Keirah curse.
“Ow! Damn it!”
He and Geoff both rushed to her side and saw that she was cradling her hand.
“What happened?” he demanded.
“Thorns,” she said and pointed to a large bush. “I saw some berries.”
Krig took her hand and saw a red spot on the outside of her little finger where a drop of blood appeared.
“Let’s get back to the pod so we can bandage this,” he said.
“It was just a little nick,” she protested.
“We don’t know anything about this world, Keirah,” Geoff said. “Those thorns could be this moon’s version of poison ivy.”
The word poison shot through Krig, and he scooped Keirah up into his arms, much to her displeasure, to hurry back toward the pod.
“Krig, put me down.”
“No. I don’t like the idea of poison. I want to check you over immediately.”
“Calm down, Keirah,” Geoff told her. “I happen to agree with Krig on this.”
She crossed her arms, and Krig saw the set line of her lips that suggested she wasn’t happy but damned if he cared at that moment. He wanted her safe. If she’d stayed in the damned pod this wouldn’t have happened, but he held his tongue.
They made it back just as twilight was falling, and Geoff closed up the pod behind him, sealing them inside. Krig laid Keirah down upon one of the bunks and hurried to grab the medical kit.
“Geoff, I’m okay,” she said.
Geoff placed a hand on her forehead. “You’re running a fever.”
“I am? I don’t feel hot.”
Krig picked up her hand and inspected the wound. It had formed a little blister at the injection site, and he carefully cleaned it with a sterilizing pad. She flinched a little, and he surmised it had to hurt. As he applied a little pressure, some type of white ooze filtered out of the blister.
“That can’t be good,” Geoff muttered.
“I agree,” Krig replied grimly. “Hold her down. I’m going to get all the pus out.”
“Pus?” Keirah said as Geoff grabbed hold of her shoulders.
Krig pushed against the wound, and she let out a scream of pain as the white substance shot out in a long steady stream. He wiped it up and did it again and again until the wound bled red.
Keirah was crying, and Geoff nuzzled against her neck, murmuring platitudes, making Krig very glad to have the human male at that moment. He’d never been a soft type of man, never had to coddle or soothe someone, and he wasn’t sure if he’d have been able to help Keirah in that manner. The hard stuff he could do, but being gentle was a mystery.
After he’d bathed the wound in medicine and wrapped her hand, Krig gave her some medicine to help her sleep. He and Geoff stood shoulder to shoulder staring down at her.
“I shouldn’t have let her come with us,” he said.
“We can’t keep her locked up,” Geoff replied. “We just have to be more careful. Now we know to avoid the bushes with those berries.”
“I don’t like seeing her so pale.”
He felt Geoff’s eyes on him and turned to meet the other man’s gaze. “You care for her.”
Krig nodded. “Of course. She’s my mate.”
“Oh come on, you haven’t even had sex with her yet.”
“You’re saying I have to have sex with her to care about her? Did you?”
That brought Geoff up short. “No, of course not.”
“Then why do you think I’m so insensitive that I wouldn’t, or couldn’t, care about her now? I did not give her my proposition on a whim.”
“Then why? Why her?”
This wasn’t a conversation Krig wanted to pursue, so he grabbed his blaster. “Stay here and watch over her. She might need more medicine.”
“Wait, we’re talking. Where are you going?”
“I want to see what type of changes happens around at night.”
Geoff didn’t say anything else as he opened the hatch and left, closing it behind him. The night was really dark, and noises almost drowned out the sound of his thoughts. Almost. He didn’t like how his heart had pounded at Keirah being hurt. He didn’t like the sense of doom he’d gotten as he’d worked on drawing out the sickness from her hand. And he especially didn’t like how she’d cried in pain.
It was like an arrow to his heart. What the hell was happening to him?
Chapter Seven
Geoff watched Krig leave the pod, not knowing how he felt about realizing that Krig actually cared for Keirah. They’d only met the man a few days ago and sure, the situation was far from ordinary, but he’d always thought that he’d hold her heart alone. He’d come to the conclusion that she might share her body, but she wouldn’t share her love. What would he do if Keirah came to have feelings for the Alphan male?
Pushing the thought aside, to a far deep corner of his mind, he took his shirt off to dribble a little water on the corner so he could wipe her face. The medicine seemed to be working since she wasn’t as hot as before, but her face was still flushed.
He dozed, not really sleeping since he was too worried Keirah’s fever would spike. At some point Krig came back in, but he didn’t talk to him. Geoff saw the other man check on her and run a finger lovingly down her cheek and took it in stride. He couldn’t keep thinking the Alphan was the enemy because, despite his jealousy, he knew Krig was a good man, alien or not.
He must have fallen asleep because he was jolted awake when the hatch door opened. Geoff bolted upright, and it took a second for the world to swim back into focus. He looked down at Keirah and saw she was warm to the touch, although the bandage looked fresh. Krig must have checked it. He stretched and had to take a leak so he made his way outside to see the Alphan urinating into the thick foliage. Geoff made his way over and stood next to him, unzipping his pants to do his business.
“The wound is still red but not as swollen,” Krig told him. “She needs to stay in bed today, resting.”
“Agreed.”
They both finished and zipped up. Geoff wished he had some soap, but water
would have to do, and they both rinsed off their hands.
“So, Captain,” Geoff said as he turned to the other man. “What’s on your agenda today?”
“Let’s find some dry wood and then go hunting.”
“Okay.”
It didn’t take them long to find a large log that was perfect, and using some vines they hauled it back toward the pod. Krig used a tarp to cover it in hopes of drying it out a little more. Geoff checked on Keirah to see she was still sleeping. Although he was slightly worried she hadn’t woken up, he knew the best thing for her body was rest, so he tried not to fret too much.
The pod had a small axe that would’ve made chopping firewood a bitch, so Krig grabbed a small torch and Geoff helped the Alphan climb to the top of the pod, where the metal hull had twisted upon impact, to salvage some of it for an axe.
“There’s a lot of creature parts up here,” Krig called out. “I’m going to throw some metal down to you, but we’re going to have to clean it up.”
Geoff stood back as several metal shards were thrown down, and then he used some of the collected water on the tarp to clean off the pterodactyl blood and gore. Krig climbed down. Being a city boy, Geoff watched, fascinated, as Krig twisted vines tightly around the piece of sharp metal on a piece of sturdy wood. Soon he was chopping away, testing the sharpness of the metal blade as well as the sturdiness of the vines.
Geoff realized he wasn’t much help in this wilderness and tried to keep out of Krig’s way. Now, if they’d had to hot wire a car or pick pocket someone then he was the man for the job, but this moon was a far cry from the concrete jungle he’d scoured as a teenager.
Halfway through the day it showered, although Geoff didn’t see much relief from the humidity as soon as it was over. The tarp had collected more water, and he was thankful they hadn’t landed in a desert.
“I want to hunt,” Krig said after the little rain shower had ended.
“Want me to go with you?”
Krig shook his head. “Someone needs to stay with Keirah. I’m not sure sleeping so much is a good thing.”
“A human body heals through sleep,” Geoff said. “I’m worried, too, but her fever is going down, and she doesn’t appear to be in distress. Besides, there’s not much else we can do.”
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