by Maia Starr
And yet, as angry as I was, I was exhausted as well. I had barely been able to rest on Hexa after the attack that had rendered our shelter uninhabitable and engulfed in flames. The image of the Grechen haunted my dreams and had left me tired and anxious, terrified that I might run into another.
Now, being out in space, I was able to sleep deeply, although not comfortably. Still, it was better than the ground of a planet where, at any given moment, I might be burnt to a crisp.
I closed my eyes and chose to let the question rest, knowing that if I made a scene, it would be my last. I would confront Kecha when we were alone, and I knew that we would be able to get away with having an honest conversation without his loyal followers keeping a stern eye on me and making me feel as if I were the most unwanted creature they had ever met. There was a time and a place for everything, and I would just have to find the time to confront Kecha on what surely was turning out to be a lie. I hoped it was just a misunderstanding, but something was making me nervous.
I would just have to hold my tongue and allow my body to get the rest it needed. Because if it did turn out that Kecha was lying to me, that would mean that I would need to save my strength because I was going to try to beat the living hell out of him.
***
“Wake up, human! We are here!”
I was startled out of my sleep by Kecha’s excited voice, and I stood up, my heart pounding in my chest.
“Earth?”
Kecha looked confused for a moment, and then sheepish.
“Come. We will take good care of you here.”
Before I had the chance to reply, I was being ushered off the ship and out the doorway.
I gasped in disbelief. Yala was breathtaking. The sky was vast and filled with as many colors as the eyes of the Raithan man that had been taking care of me, and as far as the eye could see, there was beautiful, hilly terrain on patches of pastel purple and tan earth. It was almost like stepping out into a painting, only here, I could smell the sweet scent of the lavish wind and feel the tickle against my neck as it lifted my hair.
“I want to go home,” I said halfheartedly, suddenly remembering my latest complaint.
But the words felt hollow to me now, and I followed Kecha and his crew absently as we left the ship.
Outside was a crowd of Raithers clamoring around the ship and seeking words with those of us who had emerged. I was greeted with shocked stares and points, but mostly ignored in favor of the crew that had apparently been presumed dead.
“All right, all right,” Kecha finally said, his loud, deep voice cutting through the clamor. “We will answer all of your questions in depth at a later time. We are tired from our journey and would just like to get some rest now. So, if you don’t mind, please part and allow us through.”
The crowd reluctantly obeyed and before long, I found myself in a fancy hovercraft that was long like a limousine and smartly furnished. Kecha was beside me, telling the driver where to go. The driver nodded, and before long we had arrived in front of a tall, unbelievable structure. It reminded me of the Greek Colosseum, except made purely out of clay the same color as the lavender earth. Sweeping designs covered the frieze of the building, and I found myself sucked in by its intricate mastery.
“This is my home,” Kecha said, matter-of-factly. “You are going to stay here with me.”
“Until I return to Earth,” I said, more firmly this time than the last.
But he did not answer me. Instead, we moved into the house, and Kecha showed me to the bedroom.
“Rest a while, human,” he said. “I have a crew to rescue.”
And with that, he left.
***
By the time Kecha returned, I had gone through every room of the house, my anger at him mounting exponentially as I did so. He was beautiful, yes, and so was this ridiculous house, but that didn’t give him the right to blow me off. Just what was he thinking? How selfish could he possibly be?
“Tell me why I’m here,” I demanded, the second I heard him walk through the door and I met him on his way to the dining area of the magnificent home.
“You are here, human, because I want you here. And because you want to be here. Or is that not apparent?”
He seemed bored by my question, which only served to fuel my anger to the breaking point.
“I told you where I want to be!” I shouted. “And that is on Earth! In my own home! With my own people! Not here with you in this house where I don’t belong! What’s the matter with you?”
“From what I have seen, you and your own people do not get along. Why don’t you try to give this a chance? You could be happy here. The Raithers have very reliable soul technology; it can help you to predict where you will find your most pleasurable outcome possible, and I can assure you—”
“I can assure you that you have no idea what would make my soul happy!”
Kecha opened his mouth to reply, but I was already beyond done listening to his bullshit. I shook my head, silencing him, and then went off again, this time hoping to hit him where it hurt.
“I don’t know why you seem to think that just because we get along and that you saved my life, that I owe you something. I will never owe you anything. And you know what? Just because we had sex doesn’t mean that I care about you. I can’t stand you. You’re an arrogant, selfish, asshole and I couldn’t care less what happens to you or your people!”
He narrowed his eyes but didn’t speak, and seemed more than at his threshold of patience. And yet he didn’t respond to me in any way other than to purse his lips and sigh. Kecha’s handsome face seemed drawn and yet determined somehow. It only served to make me angrier.
“If you even try to so much as speak to me again, I will find a way to make you regret it. I can promise you that,” I said, my anger turning to ice.
I whirled away from him and stalked down the hallway into one of the rooms I had determined were intended for guests. The one he had placed me in at first was clearly his own, but there was no way in hell I was sharing a bed with this man. Not now. Not after he had betrayed me like this.
I tossed and turned in bed that night, unable to sleep. When I got up to gaze out the window, my heart nearly stopped. The sky was filled with billions upon billions of bright, glittering stars. This was nothing like the view on Earth or on Hexa. This was a sight unique entirely to the planet Yala.
The sky’s multicolored hues had dimmed, but the colors were still there, only this time, translucent and merging, moving as though driven by an iridescent current that brought each swirl of color to life.
Suddenly I understood why the Raithers preferred the bright open spaces and wanted to always be able to see the sky, no matter where on the planet they happened to be. It made me feel a reluctant sympathy and admiration for Kecha, despite my fury. I would have to at least explore the planet before figuring out a way back to Earth. If Kecha wouldn’t take me back home, I would find my way myself.
***
I woke up the next morning, my stomach gurgling in response to an incredible scent that was wafting through the corridors of Kecha’s impressive home. I sat up, frozen with an internal conflict. Did I get up and face the man who had abducted me to his planet against my will, or did I stay in bed and pretend that my voracious appetite didn’t exist and remain in bed and hungry for the rest of the day, just so I wouldn’t have to face him?
The thought of staying in bed was rather tempting, so I lounged back against the huge, fluffy pillows and sighed. This was fine. If nothing else, I could escape out the window and get to know the mysteriously beautiful planet that I had been deposited upon against my will.
It struck me suddenly just how incredible it was that a human female like myself had been able, through no effort of my own, to view two completely different planets within the span of a month. Most humans had only ever seen Earth, and this was especially true of those of my sex. And yet, my mind had been filled with wonder at the beauty and complexity of life, my scientific heart fill
ed nearly to bursting with the perplex ecosystems that created and sustained the delicate balance of life. In a way, this situation was beautiful.
But it didn’t change the fact that I had been lied to by the one being in all the universe that I had wanted to trust with my whole heart. I wanted to give everything to him, no matter how naïve that may have been. The betrayal I felt ran deep. I had believed that he wanted to help me. That he wanted to do what was best for me. But all this time, he had only been thinking about what was best for himself and what he wanted. It hurt more than I knew how to let on.
“Human!”
I frowned when Kecha barged into the room carrying a silver tray. On the tray was a sinfully delicious-smelling meal. He smiled at me as if he already knew all of my weaknesses and was working to butter me up.
In a way, I found myself succumbing to his charm. Frankly, I had loved spending time with this man, even though I had known he had something up his sleeve. Now that I knew what it was, it was almost a relief in a way: as if the ax had finally dropped and I could stop worrying about it. Now maybe I could invite him into the bed with me, and we could share some of that mind-blowing physical connection that had been so indulgent and satisfying back when we were on Hexa.
And yet there was still a part of me that was furious. I despised the fact that he could be so selfish. A million delicious meals would never be enough to make up for the fact that I had been betrayed by the one person I had allowed myself to trust. That pain might never go away.
“Please, eat something. We were malnourished on Hexa, despite our best efforts at saying alive. This meal should do you some good. I was able to look into human customs and dietary needs. I will be in my study should you need me.”
He didn’t wait for me to respond and instead disappeared from the room, leaving me with the obnoxious temptation of the meal he had prepared for me.
I looked at it bitterly, my stomach growling fiercely as I did so. It vaguely resembled something you might find at any diner on Earth, but if you were looking at it in a funhouse mirror. Why was everything so twisted sometimes?
And yet, I could not resist the temptation. Without Kecha there to know I was eating it, I consumed the meal and enjoyed the burst of flavor. It was similar to foods on Earth, but different: almost more soulful.
I finished the meal and sighed when it was completed, rubbing my stomach. He had given me a portion size that was far too large, but I had gone ahead and eaten it all anyway. Apparently now I was stress eating. That was the last thing I needed to do.
As much as I wished I could forgive him for what had happened, I just couldn’t. Things would never be the same between us. I had been betrayed, and until I went back to Earth, I would never be happy again.
***
“You can’t stay angry at me forever, can you?” Kecha asked. It had been a week since I had been brought to Yala, and in that time, he had gone back to Hexa and liberated all of his comrades. A few other humans had managed to join the ranks of the planet, but they refused to speak to me. We hadn’t exactly parted on good terms.
“I will be angry as long as I want,” I said stubbornly. “You lied to me.”
Kecha’s eyes flashed with an emotion that looked a lot like guilt, and he approached me, putting his hand on my shoulders and holding my gaze.
“I am sorry I lied to you. But I am not sorry that I brought you here. You are mine. I claimed you, and you accepted that claim. And one day, you will have my children, and we will help to repopulate Yala.”
I scoffed at him, disgusted, and pried myself out from under his grip.
“I can guarantee you that none of that will ever happen.”
His handsome face broke out into a smile, and for a moment I wished more than anything that I could once again smile with him and go back to the time when things were simple.
“We will see, human.”
“Stop taking my feelings as some sort of a challenge. I will never let you keep me here.”
Kecha shrugged, and I stormed away from him and locked myselff back in my room. I had been spending a lot of time there, and I would be fine spending the rest of my life there if he thought he could keep me on Yala against my will.
But what he didn’t know was that I had a plan brewing. I was going to get back to Earth, whether he liked it or not. And I was going to do it my way.
***
It took me a while to come up with a good plan, but when I did, it came to me like a bolt of lightning. The leader of the Raithers was organizing a search party for the humans and Raithers who were still lost on the planet, and then they were going to return them to Earth. I would just have to board the ship before it launched and stow away until we made it to Earth. It was simple.
That night while Kecha was asleep, I snuck into the kitchen and packed a bag full of food and water. I snuck into his room, where he lay sleeping soundly, and with trembling hands grabbed the security clearance card that he used for work. I hesitated before leaving, taking one last look at the man I had spent the past few months of my life with. He looked so beautiful while he was sleeping, his handsome face flawless and peaceful. I wished things could have been different. But some betrayals were just unforgivable.
I returned to my room and crawled out the window, my heart pounding hard in my ears. I stood frozen in the yard, trepidation in my chest. Why did I feel so reluctant to leave? I had been coveting the idea of home so much that I should have been running as fast as my legs could carry me to the center, where the launch was going to take place early the next morning. I had to go now. No hesitation.
The night air was cool, and I took one final chance to stare up at the mesmerizing night sky. Yala was so much more beautiful than Earth. I had been there for a long time and had begun to explore all of the fields and hills, delighting in every new discovery I made. The thought of leaving all this behind to return to Earth nearly brought me to tears.
And yet, I had to do it. I had to go home. Didn’t I?
As soon as I made it to the base, I made a beeline for the area where I had both entered and exited with Kecha during several rounds of testing and interrogation by Yala’s diplomats, who wanted to know everything they could about humanity and my role in arriving to the planet Hexa and how I had managed to survive. They only allowed me to come back to stay permanently at Kecha’s house once they had conducted several lengthy tests to ensure that I would not be carrying any sort of contagion to their planet. Until the tests had been completed, I hadn’t been allowed out of Kecha’s sight; we had been stuck in his house together.
When I crept into the base, the lights were dim, and my eyes scanned the room to make sure that nobody was in sight, relieved to find that the coast. I knew my way around thanks to Kecha’s adamant insistence that he take me everywhere with him, though that had tapered off a little bit once the novelty of me being on his planet wore off.
I stepped forward as cautiously as possible, knowing that if I got caught, I would be in major trouble. Most of the Raithers were tucked safely in their beds at a reasonable hour, as their society worked like clockwork, so I knew that I probably wasn’t going to encounter any problems.
Finally, the huge, familiar ship came into view—the ship that Kecha had shown me so proudly—a ship that looked identical to the one that had crash-landed on the planet Hexa. I knew the inside of the ship intimately after living there for so long at Kecha’s side, and felt a surge of guilt at the thought of leaving him forever. I had enjoyed being at his side, and he had truly gone above and beyond to protect me.
In his own way, I was sure he loved me deeply, but it was in a selfish way, in a way that refused to meet my needs and hopes of the future. I had believed at first that perhaps our relationship could be meaningful, at least just a little bit, but the sad fact of the matter was that it never could be. Not with somebody who refused to acknowledge my feelings and respect my wishes. Not with someone who lied to me and betrayed me in the worst ways possible.
I
climbed into the ship, securing myself comfortably in the cargo bay. I was exhausted from the journey and emotionally drained at the reality of leaving the beautiful planet Yala behind forever.
The worst part of it was that if I could have truly believed that Kecha was sincere in his emotions, if he could have actually done as I wished, I could have loved him too.
I let the thoughts pass through my mind, too exhausted to pay them any more heed for the night. I was going to go back to Earth, and that was all there was to it.
I woke up suddenly, strong hands seizing my arms, and a deep, angry voice shouting Raither curses at me.
“Oh, it’s that gredding human that the commander brought to our planet! Now we’re infested with the vermin! And we don’t even know what they are after. What if they did some kind of weird alien mind control on them while they were together on the prison planet? They might be here to invade us. From right under our noses!”
“Alien menace! Scum! What are you really after? No criminals on Hexa deserve their freedom.”
“We will get the truth out of you!”
Before I could even scream, a rag was shoved into my mouth, and the Raithers were lifting me to my feet, shoving me out of the ship and into the darkness of the unknown. I fought my hardest, with one crushing thought weighing heavily on my mind: Kecha couldn’t save me this time.
Chapter 8
Commander Kecha Thornax
I had been roused sometime during the night for some unknown reason and lay awake in my bed thinking of the human. She had been with me for a long time now, countless months, and slowly, day by day, she seemed to be getting used to the situation at hand. And yet, there was damage done between us that only I could repair, and it did not feel good.
I wracked my brain to figure out the best approach to making amends with the human, but there seemed to be no simple solution in sight. This was something time would have to work out on its own, no matter how frustrating that might be.