by Maia Starr
“I need you to press in order to stop the bleeding. Then I can bandage it properly. But the pressure needs to be applied for a couple of minutes, maybe even ten,” she said.
“How do you know all this?”
“I told you, on Earth, I am a scientist. I am not exactly a medical doctor, but this is science. I know a little of the human body, and the Kynon does not seem to be that different, even if you are blue and very tall,” she smiled.
“You are very smart. You have shown me that over and over again. I am lucky that I got stuck with you, human, if I had to be stuck with a human,” I said putting my other hand on her arm and rubbing it up and down. She looked at it and then looked at me.
“You are? Sometimes I think you hate me,” she said.
“No. I could never hate you. I would not have done what I did just now in order to save you from that cyborg if I hated you. It is quite the opposite,” I said.
A big smile came across her face. “I am glad to hear that, alien.”
“I wouldn't have stopped, you know,” I said.
“What do you mean?” she said looking through the supplies in the box.
“If he had taken you. I wouldn't have stopped until I had you back. I would have chased him all over this damn planet,” I said.
She stopped fumbling around the medical supplies and looked up at me. There was hope in her large brown eyes: maybe more than that. It was possible that she was looking at me with love, but it had been about a year since I had seen that look in a female's eyes. I didn't think that I recognized it anymore.
“Really?” she said.
“Yes, in all honesty,” I said.
“Well, of course. I am the cargo, and you are responsible for getting me back to your planet,” she said as she pulled her eyes away from mine and looked through the box of supplies again. I grabbed her hand with my one free hand and stopped her from fumbling.
“No, that is not what I mean. It is not because you are the cargo; it is because you have captured my heart, human. I don't know how you did it. Even though I have protested against it and tried to stop it. It happened anyway,” I said.
“I think you must have really hit your head hard. Let me see if that is still bleeding. Are you feeling light-headed?” she said in a teasing way as she pulled my hand away from the blow on my head. She was being playful.
“I mean what I say, Bridget. I think that it is possible that—”
“Lieutenant! There is something on the ground. Come look!” Nippara shouted breaking our conversation.
Chapter 13
Bridget Thomas
“What is it?” the lieutenant said as we both got up and moved to the front of the ship.
“It looks like wreckage,” Nippara said.
“That's my ship! Take us down,” Vnor said.
“Oh my god! Do you think there are any humans?” I said looking at the ship. I was so happy to see another part of the ship. It was a very large chunk, with several chunks scattered along the ground. We were in the middle of the desert as I looked around. There was nothing.
“Only one way to tell. Set us down over there,” Vnor said to Nippara. “This is unbelievable. The ship is all over the place. It must have broken up in the atmosphere, and the ship took an arc path as it came down. That is why we and other survived. It was a slow fall.”
I ran to the door of the ship. “I have to see if there are any humans.”
“Whoa wait. You are staying here until we check it out,” Vnor said grabbing his gun.
“But—”
“Listen to me for once,” he said.
“Fine!” I said crossing my arms. I could hear a laugh come from Nippara as he set the ship down in the sand. I sat at the windshield looking out. The door of the ship opened, and Vnor gave me one last look. Then he and Nippara walked off the ship with guns in their hands.
“If there is a human female, they are going to frighten the hell out of the girl,” I mumbled under my breath as I watched.
I wished that Vnor had completed his sentence. What was he going to say? Was he going to say that he loved me? Was he going to at least say that he would give it a chance? Was he going to explain why, after having sex with me, he became completely cold again? I guessed I would have to wait and see. But there was a big possibility that he would suddenly become cold again. It was a small window in which he became warm and open. I knew it was because he had lost his lover, and I had to be open to understanding that. It was a lot to deal with. But for some reason, the fact that he saw K6R taking me away made him open up again. How long before that window closed? Would it be closed when he boarded the ship again? I was glad that we had come upon some of the wreckage, but it was very bad timing.
I stood up and looked down. I watched them look around the wreckage very slowly. Then I watched as Vnor slowly entered one open side as the chunk of metal. Then he came out and looked towards the ship. “Bridget! Come out here!”
I jumped over to the door and ran down the ramp of the ship. I was excited that he was allowing me to come outside. I ran over to him. “What is it?” I said.
“Hello?” I heard a soft voice say.
“Yes, it's me, Bridget. I am human,” I said looking at Vnor with wide eyes. He gestured for me to go in. I walked into the chunk of metal and found a human female that I recognized squatting underneath a shelf with a blanket on top of her. She threw the blanket off and crawled out. She ran into my arms.
“Oh my God! Another human! I can't believe it. I never thought I would see anyone ever again!” she said as she began to cry.
I hugged her. “It is all right. You are safe now. You are with me. These aliens with me are friends. They will not harm you. What is your name? I remember you from the yoga retreat, but I don't think we met,” I said patting her hair as she hugged me.
“Gloria. My name is Gloria,” she said.
“Gloria, yes, I remember. Are you the only one here, Gloria? Are there any more with you?” I asked.
“No, I am the only one. When I woke up, I looked around, and I was in this chunk of metal in a seat. I looked around; there is no one. I have walked in various directions but not too far. There are food and water in this part of the ship, and it is warm at night. I did not want to end up dying in the desert. So I always came back to it. I have been alone,” she said.
“You poor thing. Come, we are going to take you with us. Get what you need but we have food and drink, and we are going to a safe place: a home where you can rest. But take whatever you want from here,” I said. “I am never going to leave you alone. You will always be with me. We have been searching for the others,” I said.
“I am just so glad to see you,” she said hugging me again.
I hugged her and then slowly helped her walk out of the chunk of metal. “This is Lieutenant Vnor Gin, and this is Nippara. Come on; let's get you onto the ship,” I said to her. She nodded her head yes.
Once I got her on the ship, I gave her food and water and set her on the bench. She didn't have much of a story to tell because she had just been alone, practically camping alone in the desert ever since we crashed. I didn't know what would be worse: being alone in the desert not knowing if you would ever see anyone again, or what I had been through with the cyborgs. It was hard to tell.
“Let's get out of here. I left a note inside the wreckage in my native language in case another crew member comes across it so they can find us,” Vnor said.
“Let's keep going to the outpost,” Nippara said. Soon we were in the air again traveling toward our new home. I held Gloria close to me. She was still in shock and feeling relief over being found by another human. I looked at Vnor. He nodded in approval of me taking care of Gloria. I gave him a little smile. He smiled in return. Good, he had not closed down yet.
“Thank you for stopping. I don't know how much longer I could have lasted there,” Gloria said.
“I am so glad that we found you. It is so good to see another human,” I said.
&n
bsp; “Where are we? Is this where the blue aliens were taking us?” she said.
“No, it is not. We crashed on the way to their destination. We are on a planet full of cyborgs, if you can believe that. I believe it is called X003.”
“Cyborgs? Seriously?”
“Yes, they are very dangerous. Gloria, if you see one, you need to run and hide. They are vile, awful things. They want humans; trust me, you do not want to come across one,” I said.
“I understand. Now, where are we going?” she asked.
“Our friend that is flying the ship knows of a compound that we can stay at. There are others like him there, a family, a farm. We are going to stay there while the lieutenant tries to get in touch with the rest of the crew. We were in a very large village; it was unbelievable. Gloria, there are so many different types of aliens all over the place. But the cyborgs came and invaded, and it is not safe for us to be there. So we are going out into the deserted areas of the planet over the mountains where the cyborgs cannot get to us. We will be safe there, and you can rest,” I said.
“Rest; that sounds heavenly. I have not slept a full night sleep since we crashed. I only sleep an hour and then wake up, fearful that someone will find me. It has been awful,” she said.
“That is awful. You can sleep now. There is a bench in the back. Come, we will be there in…” I said looking at Vnor.
“Two more hours,” he said.
“Two hours. You can get two solid hours of sleep, and when we arrive, you can sleep a full night. For now, you can rest easy knowing that you are safe. I will be right here, and we are not landing this ship until we get there.”
“Really? Are you sure? I am so tired,” she said.
“Yes, I will show you,” I said standing up and opening and cabinet. I pulled out a blanket. Then I walked with her to the back of the ship. There was a very long bench with a padded top. It wasn't exactly a bed, but it would do for now. She sat down and then laid down. I covered her with the blanket and brushed her brown hair to the side. She closed her eyes, and within seconds, she was asleep.
I walked back to the front of the ship and looked at Vnor. He smiled. Was he still open? Would he ever tell me what he was going to say before we spotted the wreckage? I wanted to ask him, but I knew it wasn't the time. I couldn't force him to talk about these things, especially when I knew the talk of his lost loved one was painful. For now, I was just happy that he was smiling at me and that I had another human companion. It was enough to get me through the rest of the trip.
Chapter 14
Lieutenant Vnor Gin
It made me happy to see Bridget happy. She had the biggest smile on her face when talking with the other human. This wasn't the friend that she had been looking for, but it was better than nothing.
I was glad to that we had come upon the wreckage. It let me know just how far and wide the wreckage had spread across the planet. No wonder I couldn't find the captain and others; they could have been anywhere.
But I was glad that we had found this human; it made me feel like I was one step closer to getting off this planet. The fact that the captain had already been to the village let me know that he had survived. I knew it was only a matter of time, but I had really gotten myself into some trouble. I had killed a cyborg leader, and I didn't know what would happen now.
“We are coming upon the compound,” Nippara said from the front of the ship. I walked to the front and sat down and joined him. Outside the window was a vast farmland: a vineyard with rows of food growing. There was a large square outline that was the buildings. A courtyard in the middle had a fountain.
“There it is: home away from home,” he said.
“I am glad that we are here. Once we are settled, I need to speak with you about business,” I whispered to him. I didn't want to frighten Bridget.
“Sounds good, Lieutenant. Let me go first and explain what is happening. If a large group of us get off the ship, it might frighten them, but they know me. They have never seen humans before. Let me go and tell them we only seek room and board and nothing else. Then I will come and get you,” he said as he turned off the ship.
“Yes, we will wait here,” I said.
The door of the ship open and he walked out. There was a Lana, and elder one with a farm tool in his hand, waiting. As soon as he saw Nippara, his face lit up. They spoke loud to each other in cheerful voices. I could see the elder farmer agreeing to the terms.
Then he came back to the ship and walked up the ramp.
“They have agreed to rent the two houses that happened to be vacant. But I told him that the two humans were called Galons. So don’t say the word human. I think it is best that these Lana do not know what they really are,” he said looking at Bridget and Gloria standing next to me.
“I agree. Galons it is,” I said looking at them. “If they ask, say you are from the planet Galo; don’t say humans and don’t say Earth,” I said.
“Understood,” Bridget said.
“Yes,” Gloria said.
“Great; let’s go,” I said.
Nippara led us out of the ship and to the compound. The elder nodded to us, and the other farmers lifted their heads to look.
“They will look but lose interest. They are used to travelers,” Nippara said.
We walked through the compound of several buildings. We walked all the way to the back. There were two empty houses, and the front doors faced away from the compound, providing some privacy. I walked into both houses, checking them out. They were spacious, with four rooms. One main room with a small kitchen and sitting area, two very small bedrooms, and a washroom. I was mostly checking them out to make sure they were not occupied by anyone.
“You can have that one all to yourself. I need to stay with them to protect them. I'm not letting them out of my sight,” I said to Nippara. He smiled a wily smile.
“I will go see about getting the food and supplies off the ship and bringing them here. I could probably borrow a wheelbarrow or wagon from the farmers,” Nippara said.
“I will be there to help you in a few minutes. After I get them settled in,” I nodded to him.
“Holy crap! There is a bathtub. Can you believe it? I can take a bath,” Gloria said.
“Go ahead. I have been fortunate to have access to a shower these last few days,” Bridget said to her.
Gloria smiled and skipped off to the washroom, closing the door behind her. I looked at Bridget.
“We are going to be all right here. I can sense it. These farmers do not seem interested in us at all. They are just in it for the money of renting out homes. I am going to have a look around and help Nippara with supplies. If you need me, shout for me,” I said.
“I will,” she smiled.
I looked at her. I wanted to pull her into my arms and kiss her. But I didn't know if it was appropriate. So I kissed her on top of her forehead, gently. Then I walked out.
I walked around the compound, taking in the security of the place. There was nothing for miles, and the horizon was flat; you could see all around. This would be a good place for us for now. I walked out to the ship to find Nippara loading up supplies in a wagon. He walked into the ship to grab another load, and I followed him. This was good; we needed privacy. I closed the door of the ship.
“What is it?” he asked.
“This stays between us. Bridget knows because she saw it. The raid, the cyborgs, they were coming after her,” I said.
“Really? That is intense. But it does not surprise me; when K6R wants something he doesn't stop,” he said.
“I have a feeling he is going to stop now,” I said. He gave me a strange look. “He had Bridget. He was about to take her on to his ship. I had to stop him,” I said.
“Shit. What did you do?”
“I killed him. I took my knife and pushed it through his neck. On the side. I saw him do it to two other cyborgs. I don't know what got into me, but I had to stop him. He's dead. I killed a leader of the cyborgs.”
“Holy shit!” Nippara said putting his hands behind his head and looking at me.
“I know. Not good. That’s why this is very dangerous, more than before. We have to stay here and stay low. But I do want to know when my captain returns to the village,” I said.
“This is dangerous. Very dangerous. I wasn’t expecting that cyborg raid. Let’s wait a day, then I will go to transmission station on the mountain to check on the news. I won’t tell my friend at the mountain transmission station or that I was even in the village. He will have news of K6R’s death and the raid. The cyborgs could follow me on my return here if they are out on patrol. I think it is best to wait a few days before I go to that station, and it won’t make me look suspicious to my friend,” he said.