by Maia Starr
My ecstasy was enhanced by Kecha’s own surrender, his hips moving with the power of a locomotive now, my body trembling beneath him in an effort to keep up with his force. A sudden, furious explosion erupted within me, and I cried out despite my efforts to stay quiet, my body quaking and contracting around him as we climaxed together, each of us lost in our own pleasure and the ecstasy of the other.
He kissed me tenderly and held me close, and I found myself slipping into a deep, contented slumber, shocked that I could ever possibly have resisted the Raither for this long. He was a force to be reckoned with, and I wanted to be his reckoning. And yet, I still didn’t trust him.
But none of that mattered as I finally allowed myself to succumb to the depths of sleep, peace overwhelming me and promising me, despite all the odds stacked against me on this horrific prison planet, that everything was going to be all right.
***
The next morning, I sat up, shivering. My clothes were strewn beside me, and Kecha was nowhere in sight. I felt a jolt of panic as my eyes searched the area for him, my mind thoroughly convinced that what had happened between us had been a horrific mistake and I was never going to see him again.
Was he really the type to leave someone stranded in the forest after having his way with her? I didn’t want to believe it, but at the same time, I still didn’t feel like I actually knew Kecha all that well. There was something he was keeping from me. I was fairly certain of it. Maybe it was that he had been stringing me along all this time in the hopes of taking advantage of me and ditching me the first chance that he got.
Whatever it was, I felt humiliated. I dressed quickly, running my options through my mind. It would be best if I headed back toward the group of researchers. At least with more than one great mind, there was a possibility of survival. If I allowed myself to stay alone, it would be likely that I would face untold dangers and find myself unable to survive them this time.
Just as I was making my mind up about which direction to start out in, a deep, masculine voice spoke from behind me.
“Where are you going, human?”
The look of horror on my face must have been amusing because when I whipped around to face Kecha, he chuckled.
“I brought you some breakfast. Please, sit and eat. We have a long way to go.”
“Where are we going?” I asked as he thrust the leaf at me. I looked down at the variety of fruits, noting that he had apparently taken into consideration my personal preferences when choosing my meal, and feeling a twinge of apprehension. I had been sure that he was going to abandon me there, stuck in the forest alone to fend for myself.
“We are going to find my crew,” he said, looking at me as if I were stupid. “And my ship.”
“We? I can’t go back into the desert with you. We already tried that.”
“We are not going to go back there. This is a large world. That means that they could be anywhere. It is possible that they didn’t land anywhere near the desert. And if they didn’t, going through there would be a waste of our time. And besides, as I said before, it is possible that we are already too late to help them if that is the case. Many of the creatures who thrive beneath the sands have a tendency toward eating steel. That means that the ship and anyone in it was likely immediately destroyed if it landed in the desert. We are better off searching elsewhere. It would just be a waste of time.”
“I see,” I said quietly, looking down at the ground. “So where are we going to look then? We’ve combed through this forest quite a bit already.”
“Not all of it. And besides, there are other areas of this planet. I climbed the trees last night and saw some prairie land to the east of here. That is where we are going to go. My people love to live in the vast open spaces. Being confined in forested areas such as this would be excruciating.”
“All right,” I said, furrowing my brow. “But why would it be excruciating?”
“We love the sun,” he said, his dazzling eyes dancing. “We love to be able to look up at the sky and enjoy all that the planet has to offer. It is a beautiful thing.”
I said nothing more on the subject but allowed my mind to mull it over. It seemed kind of strange to me that the Raithers would care so much about an open sky, but then I supposed that there were many cultural and societal things that humans did that he wouldn’t really understand or appreciate either.
“Come now,” he said. “We really should be going. I am anxious to find my people.”
“Yes,” I said. “I know.”
***
“Human!”
My heart leaped to my throat, and I froze, my eyes wildly seeking the space around us for danger. The last time that Kecha’s voice had spoken with such urgency, I had nearly been obliterated by a fireball hurled from one of the most horrifying creatures I had ever seen.
“What is it?” I whispered hoarsely, unable to detect any immediate threats. I was frozen still though, unwilling to put myself in danger.
“Come! Look!”
My mind began to relax, but my body was still reeling from the adrenalizing promise of danger. I walked shakily to Kecha, who was kneeling in the dirt and peering down at the ground, his face stunned.
“It’s a piece of metal,” I said frowning, crouching beside Kecha and reaching out to touch it. The surface was cool and smooth, and soon we were working together to dig it out.
“Do you see this symbol?” Kecha asked, his voice nearly manic with excitement now. “This is a piece of my ship! The rest must be nearby somewhere! We’re saved!”
My heart began to pound in excitement, and we began to dig faster, fueled by the hysteric giddiness that had somehow begun to consume us both. All this time we had been searching in the wrong direction, and now we were finally getting somewhere. This was proof. Proof that getting home was still an option. I could be safe. I could return to Earth.
“This…this was the wing tip,” Kecha said once we had uncovered the majority of it. “But it has broken. The rest of it shouldn’t be too far off, but we will need to keep searching. It is something we can fix easily if we just find the rest of the ship!”
Kecha laughed out loud, a pleasant sound that seemed to come from his entire body. It was mesmerizing to see him so happy; it was an emotion he hadn’t been prone to experiencing during our long journey together. But now, both of us were ecstatic, and we sat on the ground together laughing as if we were nearly about to lose our minds. I had never been so relieved in all of my life. There was the possibility of escape now. Everything I had been worried I would lose was going to be all right. And I had this amazing alien man to thank for it. He was incredible. I owed him my life.
Suddenly, the thought that he was going to deposit me back on Earth and I was never going to see him again made me feel unbelievably sad. I looked at his handsome, happy face and wished for nothing more than the opportunity to stay by his side for as many days as we could possibly manage it. It seemed so cruel that we should have been born on separate planets, to different species, and that we would never see each other again after I was deposited back to my own planet. What was going to happen to the strange but powerful bond that we had shared? Where on Earth was I ever going to find a man who compared to him, either as a lover or as a protector?
And yet, I knew there was no other option. I had to return to my home planet. Whether I liked it or not, no bond was stronger than the one I shared with the land where I had been created and had spent the most important and formative years of my life. But it would have been nice if maybe that bond could have been shared with someone like the man who had guarded my life so fiercely that for the first time, I felt like a truly important person…
“Alice!”
My heart leaped into my throat at the sound of Mary’s voice. She ran toward me and embraced me, and I looked around, shocked to see my entire Research team surrounding us. “We thought you had died! I could have sworn that…that thing caught you!”
“The Jorgan,” I said, pulling away f
rom Mary. I was a little bit uncomfortable with the physical attention, and although Mary and I had been friendly, the truth was that we had never actually been friends.
“What?” Mary asked, tilting her head in confusion.
“It’s called a Jorgan. I met someone who…”
“Human. Who is this?”
Suddenly, the group of women were pulling out makeshift weapons and getting themselves into a fighting stance, ready to attack at a moment’s notice.
“Stop, it’s okay!” I shouted, stepping between the mob and Kecha. The last thing I wanted to see was a lynching.
“We have made it a rule not to associate with anybody on this planet!”
Lauren’s voice grated on me instantly, and once again I remembered just how much I didn’t miss my peer group from Earth. Everything seemed to be a play for dominance, especially with Lauren.
“Well, you can take your rules and shove it!” I exclaimed. “I wasn’t there with you, and I know who I can trust.”
“Are you sure about that?” Lauren asked, narrowing her eyes at Kecha. “Nothing on this planet is trustworthy. Every single confrontation we have had has been a fight!”
“Well, that’s bad for you, but I have my own life. And I don’t need to be a part of any group that follows your lead!” I exclaimed.
Everyone seemed taken aback by this, even Kecha, who was clearly expecting me to join the human ranks once more. He seemed shocked that I would choose to stay with him over my own people, and to be honest, even I was a little bit surprised.
“Alice, think about what you’re saying…” Mary whispered.
But I was done listening. “I want you all to leave me alone and stay out of my life. I mean it!”
Mary seemed hurt, which made me feel a little bit guilty, but there was no helping it now. The last thing I wanted now, or ever, was to take orders from Lauren or any other human for as long as I lived.
“All right, human, let us go now then,” Kecha said, taking me by the arm. He gazed at each and every woman in my group, his multicolored eyes flashing menacingly. “And if any of you humans comes anywhere near my human, you will live to regret it.”
And with that, he led me away, leading all of us to wonder what the implications of his words meant and what this might mean when it came to my relationship with my own kind.
Chapter 6
Commander Kecha Thornax
“Those lousy, no good…”
Alice kicked at the dirt, furious, and yet something about her behavior made me chuckle inwardly. She was fuming, angry at her people, but there was something more that contributed to my already incredible mood. She was implying that she didn’t want anything to do with her kind, and for some reason, that made my claim on her all the stronger. She had chosen me over them. And knowing that felt deeply satisfying.
Elation had taken hold of me, and the human and I glided through the forest like soldiers on a mission, each of us carefully combing through the foliage to seek out the glittering fragments of my lost ship. It was exciting to work together alongside Alice. She had a quick, intelligent mind, and I felt sure that, should I bring her back to Yala with me, she would help to repopulate my declining race with quirky and intelligent beings that would ultimately help to make the universe a better place. With our genetics combined, everything was bound to be wonderful.
In a way, it was a relief not to find too many clues because that meant that the whole thing might be lying somewhere mostly intact. However, every time one of us found something, it was a new reason to celebrate, and our giddy laughter would echo through the forest, sometimes attracting unwanted attention, and other times simply causing us immense relief.
“Kecha! Come here! Quickly!”
The human and I had been up uncharacteristically early that morning, and so I was feeling a little bit sluggish. Truth be told, I was sorely lacking in sleep, as it had been my duty to stay up and protect the human through the night. Although I managed to nap at times when we stopped for meal breaks, and occasionally allowed myself the chance to rest my eyes while acting as the lookout, it had still taken its toll on me, and I was feeling more uncoordinated than I had ever felt in my life.
“What is it, human?”
“He looks like you,” Alice whispered.
Her voice sounded strange, and I stepped forward to peer over her shoulder (which wasn’t hard to do considering she was at least two heads shorter than I was). I gasped at the sight before me. A Raither man was lying on his stomach on the ground, his eyes closed and his skin pale. I knew at first glance that he was dead.
What killed him appeared to be the force of impact, and I crouched down, reaching out just short of touching his face. He was a man from my crew, one who had been relatively new. I let out a loud shout of anger and grief, then stood, storming through the forest to get away from the scene.
“Kecha, wait! Where are you—”
“Stay back, human! I need to be alone right now!”
I felt bad when I looked back at the human, whose beautiful features now wore a wounded look, but her feelings were inconsequential now. the first and only Raither man I had found was dead. That meant that the others were probably nearby as well, probably just as dead as the man we had just found.
“Good to see you again, Commander.”
I froze, nearly afraid to turn around to face the source of the voice that had come from behind me in case I was suffering from a psychotic break.
“Baarda…?” I whispered, my voice deep and grating on my own ears.
“Yes,” Baarda said, stepping in front of me and gripping my shoulder, a bright smile on his face. “We have been waiting for you.”
A sudden wave of relief crashed over my entire body, and I nearly fell to the ground, overcome by my exhaustion. But I had to keep up appearances in front of my crew, no matter how tired and drained by emotion I was.
“Where are the others? How many have survived? And the ship?”
Baarda smiled, his face kind and familiar and comforting.
“The others are safe. All but poor Jorgan. He had suffered quite a terrible fall. Come. We must go before dark. That is when the Yegen come out to hunt.”
My chest tightened. The Yegen were formidable foes to be certain, and it would be best for all of us to avoid their wrath.
“Yes, let us go. Come: I must fetch the human.”
Baarda looked surprised for a moment but knew better than to speak back to me, and we turned back toward the direction we had come from so that I could fetch Alice and take her back to wherever it was that my crew was waiting for my return.
***
“Kecha…Kecha, it is time to wake up. Baarda asked me to come and fetch you. They are going to share an evening meal.”
I opened my eyes reluctantly, but when I did, I found that my body was well rested and feeling stronger than it had been in all the time since we had arrived on this planet. The fruits and berries we had been eating were enough to keep us alive, but they had lacked the essential vitamins and minerals that were necessary for keeping Raithers like myself fit and agile.
I gazed at the human, who now also had a healthy, ruddy glow on her cheeks, and smiled sleepily.
“They really made themselves at home here, didn’t they?” I asked, sitting up and stretching widely. I could feel the human’s gaze upon my bare torso, and when I caught her eye, the flush that reddened her cheeks brought a deep heat to my loins. But this was neither the time nor the place to explore my confounding claim on this creature. I would have to do my best to hide my feelings for her, for her own safety. The crew already seemed suspicious of my interest in any being found on this planet, and the last thing I needed was mutiny on my hands.
“They did. And it’s kind of creepy how they just left that poor Raither lying out there…”
“It makes sense, though,” I said, pulling my shirt back on over my head and rousing myself out of the comfortable cot. “It deters any of these creatures with an aversion
to the scent of death. It is a tactic we learned in training long ago; any man’s death can ultimately prove meaningful.”
“I still think it’s creepy,” Alice said with a small shrug.
I grinned despite myself, and before long we were sitting in front of a huge, billowing fire surrounded by most of the members of my crew. Only a few had disappeared entirely, which was good news. I had been fearing the worst, thinking everybody may have been scattered throughout the planet at the mercy of a disjointed fate. Fortunately, most of the crew had remained in the ship as it plummeted to the ground and survived.
The ship itself had survived the impact surprisingly well, though no matter how hard the men tried they were not able to repair it. Our supplies were still there, providing luxurious sleeping arrangements and a meal selection that nearly made me wrought with emotion upon indulging. It felt like home in a way, and the men had made a kind of base out of the ship, putting together a highly fortified encampment around the ship to keep it safe and provide the crew with shelter and security.
I hadn’t slept so soundly and woken up so rested since I had been a child. But now that I was rested, the pull to get ourselves off this planet was stronger than ever before. We could not live here, and I was the commander. It was up to me to make sure my men were able to find a way back to our home planet. It was time to take charge.
“All right, listen up,” I said, setting my food aside and standing before the fire. The crew all looked up from where they were eating; probably about thirty-five Raithers in all, each of them staring at me as if they had been waiting all this time for me to assume the lead once more. “Although the ship has not been able to be repaired as of yet, I still want a group of twelve men working on the engine, six men working on the skeleton, and the rest of you need to make your primary concern the radio. If we can’t make the ship work, we can at least contact our planet for help.”
“With all due respect, Commander,” Baarva said, “But we have already made the radio a priority. It doesn’t work. The frequencies are stunted by the atmosphere of the planet. The Federation made sure that no communication could be made in or out.”