Striker looked at the rest of the group. Ever since the attack on Kendrick, they stayed close together. The mood was subdued, most of them were beginning to show signs of weariness.
It was already late afternoon, but they couldn’t stay here, it was not an ideal place to set up camp, with no protection against attackers. The thorny shrubs and the large boulders were ideal hiding places.
Even the air was not safe. They saw flocks of winged creatures, and on a couple of occasions, several large shapes circling above them. Too high to make out clearly what they were, but Striker wasn’t prepared to take any chances. This environment was hostile and it would breed hostile animals. “Let’s get a move on, people,” he called out. “We’ll have to find a better spot to spend the night.”
Grumbling and cursing, the group began moving again. Woolf helped Kendrick with his pack. The injured Kendrick seemed to be in better spirits than most of the others. Remington walked in front of the group. Chu and a man named Acram Mian took the rear. Mian was a trained survival expert, ex-military. He kept mostly to himself, didn’t talk very much. Striker spoke to him only a few times and got the impression that the man didn’t care much for people. He was dark-skinned, like Ashim Sirski, the meteorologist, and Concitta Sanchez, the geophysicist, but his facial features were different.
He carried a big hunting knife strapped to his waist and a small, but powerful laser-pistol. There were a number of gadgets hanging on his belt; Striker recognized one of them, a Guard-Dog. This device, when activated, would alert the carrier of approaching life forms. It wasn’t very effective in a crowd of people, that’s why Mian usually slept away from the others.
Striker stayed close to Remington. He didn’t fully trust the big man. He was too cocky and too sure of himself. Remington seemed to be in a talkative mood. He fell back and walked beside Striker. They finally reached a flat plateau, the vegetation was sparse, except for the tall trees. “Can’t you contact the research-station with your personal com?” he asked.
Striker grunted, shifted his pack on his shoulders. It was beginning to get heavy. Carrying the big laser-rifle in both his hands made it awkward to balance his pack. They all carried more than was comfortable. “All I get is static,” he said. “The station is hidden inside a small valley, surrounded by mountains, which are blocking the signals.”
“Damn!” cursed the big man. “It would have been nice if they’d send that land rover to pick us up.” He stopped, stared ahead and cursed again.
Striker saw it at the same time. A deep chasm, too wide to cross even with a temporary bridge made from cut tree-trunks. He lifted an arm. “Don’t walk any further,” he warned the others, then approached the chasm carefully, with Remington right beside him.
It looked deep and stretched in both directions. The walls were smooth; they would need ropes to get to the bottom, but Striker ruled out that possibility. “It can’t go on forever,” Remington remarked, looking first in the left direction, then to the right. “Which way to go?”
“We’ll figure that out tomorrow,” Striker said. “Tonight we camp here.” Nobody complained when he told the team, some even cheered.
The area lacked any natural shelter, so they decided to pitch their tents. It didn’t take long until they erected all five tents. Five flimsy looking silvery structures, like halves of giant eggs protruding from the rocky ground.
Acram Mian came up to Striker. “We’re running low on water,” he said. “I saw a small creek about 15 minutes back.”
Striker nodded. “Take Chu and Woolf with you,” he said. “And watch your step. Where there is water there usually are animals. And don’t get lost.”
Mian grinned, touched a black finger to his flat nose. “Don’t worry, lieutenant. Survival is my business.” His teeth flashed white between thick, large lips.
“I know.” Striker smiled. “Just the same. Watch out for Chu, he is good at survival in space and in the air. On land, I’m not so sure.”
“Like you, sir?”
“Like me. I am also out of my element.”
“We’ll be back before dark,” Mian promised.
Striker watched the three walk back the way they had come, each of them carrying a couple of inflatable water-containers. They should have filled their canteens when they passed that stream. He shrugged and made a mental note to put Mian in charge of anything that had to do with survival, like water and possibly food.
The sun started disappearing behind the mountain ridge, it would be dark within an hour. Striker decided not to sleep in a tent. He would be just as comfortable in his sleeping bag under the stars and in the open. He didn’t need the illusion of safety, which the thin material of a tent provided.
Mian, Chu, and Woolf came back shortly after dark. It took longer than expected. Striker was already sitting at his guard-post when Chu joined him. “Any problems back there?” Striker asked.
Chu sat silent beside him. “We found something you might want to look at in the morning,” he said after awhile.
“What did you find? A way to get us out of here?” Striker grinned.
Chu chuckled. “I’m afraid not, but I think you should bring Breanna McGuiness.”
Chapter Thirteen
Alpha Colony
After supper in the mess hall, Anina excused herself. “Sorry, Thomas,” she said. “I know you had plans for us, but I have a couple of patients coming in tonight.”
“This late?” Tom asked, surprised. “Why don’t they come during the day?”
Anina shrugged. “It’s Lin Wong, she is having some problems with her pregnancy. I want to do a more thorough examination.” She smiled. “Maybe tomorrow night.”
Tom went home alone to their sleeping shelter. There wasn’t much to do after dark. Never an avid reader, he already read the few digital books they brought. Lighting wasn’t a problem, the light in the ceiling from the solar power and the batteries would last all night, if necessary.
He went to bed, naked, dimmed the light and stared at the darkened ceiling. Maybe Anina would be home soon, he could wait. He closed his eyes for a moment, concentrated on the images flashing through his mind.
When he opened his eyes again, he looked at the empty spot where his wife should be lying. He must have drifted off to sleep, the remnants of a dream still lingered in his mind, but all he really could remember were the tree-elves.
He got out of bed, opened the door, and without realizing it, started walking toward the ponds. Crossing the narrow bridge, he stopped to look at the sky. The pale moons were high in the zenith, flooding the land below with their eerie light.
When he reached the women’s bathing pond he found a woman leaning against the thick trunk of a tree. She saw him, came toward him. It was Mabel, she was completely nude. He stared at her voluptuous body, noticed her full, solid breasts.
“You came,” she said and opened her arms.
He stepped into her embrace. She pressed her warm body against him, her hand slid down his belly, found his already reacting organ. Then she pulled him into the tall grass, spreading her thighs, as he fell on top of her. She was ready for him, he slid with ease into her wet sex-canal, entering her deeply. The waves of pleasure immediately began to wash over him.
A passionate woman, she urged him on as he labored on top of her. It wasn’t long before she experienced her first orgasm. She came with ecstatic cries, her fingers raked his back as she rode the crest of her climax. “Let me be on top,” she whispered.
They uncoupled, Tom lay on his back and watched her straddle him. He noticed that her pubic area was shaved. Her vulva was thick and smooth. Slowly she let herself down, hovered above his swollen member. Her labia touched his slippery glans. With a loud sigh, she sank into his lap, swallowing his aching organ to the root.
He couldn’t see her face in the shadows, but he knew that her pale blue eyes were upon him. “You are a passionate woman, Mabel,” he said and moaned as she began to rotate her hips.
“Thank
you, Tom,” she gasped, whipping her lower torso back and forth. “Contrary to what people say about me, I am not an ice-cube.”
“You’re hot,” he grunted, his eyes glued to her beautiful breasts. “You are certainly hot.” He came inside her with a deep cry in a long, shattering climax.
When he finished, she lifted off. “I’m taking a dip in the water,” she said and ran toward the pond.
He closed his eyes, waited for her to return. When she didn’t come back, he sat up, searched for her in the pond. He saw a slim, female form in the water, but she swam in the shadows of a tree with branches that stretched far into the pond. He got up, walked to the water’s edge.
The woman in the water had long, black hair; he only saw her back, but he knew it wasn’t Mabel. Orona, it must be Orona! Wondering where Mabel disappeared to, he jumped into the water, approached the woman from the back.
He didn’t know if she heard him coming because she suddenly began moving away from him, toward the shore on the other side. She wants to play hard to get, he thought and followed her. He caught up with her just as she climbed up the embankment. Putting his hands around her, he cupped her breasts, his stiff pole touched her soft buttocks, slipped between them. Then he slid into her creamy sex-organ. She pushed back against him, struggled, but he held her tight. Her struggling drove him crazy, like a berserker he moved in and out of her. She kept silent all that time, didn’t utter a sound.
Letting out a series of satisfied grunts, he erupted inside her with explosive force. He slipped out of her; she turned around in his arms. When he saw her face, he stepped back with a surprised cry. “You are not Orona!” he croaked dully, his mind in turmoil.
Her large, round eyes sparkled with dark-green iridescent colors in a beautiful and delicate, but alien face.
She smiled suddenly, displaying a row of small, sharp teeth. Then she slipped by him, disappearing in the water.
He stared after her, but she never surfaced again. Slowly he climbed onto dry land. Looking around, he realized that he was on the other side of the pond. A rustling sound in the tree above him made him look up to see half a dozen small shapes drop from the low branches, circling him.
He looked into their elfin faces, he couldn’t read their expression, but he didn’t sense any menace from them. One of them beckoned, turned around and began walking away. The others herded Tom. He followed them down a narrow path, for a while it ran parallel to the creek.
* * * *
After walking for a long time, about two hours in Tom’s estimation, they made a sharp right turn. Tom noticed the rocky wall of a steep cliff to his left. The path ended suddenly, they stepped into a small clearing. There was a large pool of water, a waterfall cascaded down the cliff, sending sparkling streams gently into the pool of water below.
The group of tree-elves stepped into the water, motioned for Tom to do the same. The pool wasn’t very deep. The small creatures began to swim, but the water reached only to Tom’s chest.
They headed for the waterfall, walked into it, through it and down a dark tunnel. There was a lush valley on the other side, ringed by high cliffs. Tom suddenly remembered an old Earth legend. “Shangri-La,” he whispered.
The two moons bathed the valley with their pale light. Their bright disks were reflected by the calm water of a large lake. The creek widened into a small river that emptied itself into the lake. Tom saw a cluster of grass covered huts at the mouth of the river; he realized that in all likelihood he was going to meet the inhabitants of this planet.
The tree-elves and Tom started walking again. They followed a wide, well traveled path. Tom noticed that the trees in the valley were not as tall as the ones outside. The fruit trees looked trimmed, cultivated.
They passed the huts, entered a grove of larger trees, inside the grove was a grass-covered glade with a small pond in its center. A giant flower grew in the middle of the pond. It reminded Tom of a giant water lily. On the flower stood the most beautiful woman Tom had ever seen.
She was nude. Flaming red hair hung past her buttocks, strands of it covering her full, round breasts, her flat stomach. She looked human, except for her large round eyes. They glowed with green iridescent colors and looked straight at Tom.
There were other female shapes on land and in the water, but Tom ignored them. His eyes were glued to the tall, beautiful vision on the flower.
“Welcome, traveler from another world,” said the voice. It held a strange quality to it, as if it came from all around him.
“You speak my language,” he said, astonished.
There was the sound of tinkling laughter. When she smiled, she became even more beautiful. “I didn’t speak at all,” the voice said. “My words are inside your head.”
Telepath, Tom thought and said aloud, “You can read my thoughts?”
“Only when you speak them, but I can feel you. I receive your emotions, not your words.”
An empath, then, Tom thought, not a true telepath.
“I sense that you understand,” the woman said, laughing again. “You find me beautiful, and you desire me.”
“Very much so.” Tom found himself in the water, it wasn’t very deep. The flower was huge, thick leafs grew mostly under water all around it, a carpet of purple petals covered the surface of the flower. Tom hoisted himself onto it.
The alien woman in its center opened her arms, she was even more beautiful this close. He looked into her strange luminous eyes and stepped into her embrace. Her body felt warm and soft against his skin. He kissed her fiercely. She opened her mouth and let his tongue enter. She tasted of flowers and sweet honey, and he swallowed the fluid that flowed into his mouth. An unstoppable desire came over him, between his legs his organ seemed to swell to enormous proportions.
Kissing her neck, he put his hands on her round buttocks, pulled her closer to him. His lips fastened on her long nipples, suckled until they shot their sweet nectar down his parched throat.
She flowed onto her back, her long legs opened; gently moving tendrils beckoned him to enter the dark orifice between her smooth thighs.
Falling to his knees, he moved on top of her, and when he entered her, he roared his pleasure into the night, like a swamp tiger after a kill. Never before had he experienced such softness, such exquisite bliss. Her sex-organ seemed to have a life of its own, it pulsed around his penis with gentle movements, contracted and expanded with a steady rhythm that sent waves of almost unbearable pleasure through his entire body. He climaxed without loosing any fluid.
She fed him more of her nectar, he moved between her soft thighs with untiring, steady strokes. Nothing else existed in his universe but this beautiful, alien woman underneath him. He didn’t remember leaving her embrace.
Lying in semi-darkness, he stared at the crisscrossed hollow reeds that formed the ceiling above him. Looking around him, he noticed that the walls were of similar construction. The room he rested in was not very large, but big enough to hold a small group of people.
A flood of light entered the room suddenly, and he squinted to stare at the opening door. A naked female figure was silhouetted against the bright light. She came closer, knelt beside him. She looked like the alien girl he encountered by the women’s bathing place, her large green eyes studied him silently. “Where am I?” he croaked.
She said nothing, just laid a hand on his forehead Smiling, she put her hand behind his head to indicate for him to sit up. In her other hand she carried a small bowl, which she held against his lips. His throat was dry and he drank the offered liquid. It was cool and sweet, tasted like sugar water with a tardy after taste. When he emptied the bowl, she stood up and walked out of the door.
Tom sat for a moment, staring at the bright opening. Everything seemed so unreal. The happenings of the previous night were blurry, fragmented memories. It was obvious that he stumbled upon an indigenous life form. But what about that woman on the flower in the pond? He remembered what Anina told him about Rob Cameron, the geologist. He had
mentioned a woman in a lake.
Who was she? What was she?
He got off the grass bed he lay on and stepped outside. The sun was already high in the blue green sky, and the clear water of the lake reflected its bright light. He stood in the shadow of a tall tree, one of many surrounding a cluster of huts.
There were people splashing in the water, some walked among the huts. All were females. All looked young. And all of them were naked. A couple of them walked by, they carried fruit in woven baskets. When they saw Tom they smiled, but walked on without stopping.
He ran after them. “Who are you people?” Tom asked, but they only looked at him out of large green eyes. “Can you understand me?” They just looked, smiled, and walked on.
He walked toward the lake. Gentle waves were washing over purple sand; his bare feet left shallow impressions that filled quickly with water.
One of the alien females watched him as he walked toward her. Looking closer, he noticed that most of them were wearing necklaces made from small shells around their necks. Some wore belts made out of long strands of grass, with colored stones and shells woven into them.
The one who was watching him smiled when he came close to her; she reached out, offered him something. It looked like a fruit. When he hesitated she took a small bite out of it, then, smiling, she held it out again. This time he took it, bit into it. It tasted delicious and he wolfed it down, realizing how hungry he was.
She laughed. It sounded like a high, musical chime. It was the first sound he heard from them. Then she spoke something in a soft, chirping language.
“I don’t know what you’re saying,” Tom said, “but it sounds beautiful. You have a lovely voice.”
The Xandra (Book 1): Daughter of the Dark Page 9