"I feel something," I announced softly. I expected Nancy to chirp out another comical reply, but she did not. "I think that she is breathing, but very slow."
"Why no pulse?" Lin asked. She was still hanging in the doorway watching for intruders as I groped the lovely alien for signs of life.
"Her skin is firmer than ours. It is possible that her veins and arteries are undetectable from the outside."
"You'll just have to stick your finger inside her," Nancy suggested without a hint of humor.
"Nancy!" both Shira and Lin rebuked my wife for the suggestion. However, the thought held merit. Maybe blood flow could be easier detected from the inside. I wasn't a hundred percent sure that she was breathing. The idea of placing my finger inside this sleeping beauty had me curious.
"She's right, though," I told them. "I might be able to get a pulse from the inside, or at least check for moisture. A dead body would dry up."
"Are you seriously considering fingering this woman's pussy?" Lin asked in shock.
"No, actually," I replied. "My first thought was her mouth, if that is okay with you."
"Oh," was all Lin said in response.
I pressed down on Delilah's chin to open her mouth. The opening was very narrow, but I was able to see dozens of small black teeth, and brown tongue. With no knowledge of this species anatomy, I couldn't be sure if those were natural colors. I slid my pinky finger in and felt around inside her cheek. There was some saliva present. Brushing against the teeth as I moved around inside her pie hole, as my dad used to call it, I found the points to be sharper than that of a human. A fine saw blade came to mind. When her tongue moved to lick my finger, I pulled out abruptly. Her teeth closed against each other once I was clear.
"What happened?" Nancy asked.
"Did you find a pulse?" Shira wanted to know.
"Better, I think. Her tongue moved. Unless that was an involuntary muscle movement of a corpse, I believe that she is still alive."
"Great," Nancy said sarcastically. "What do we do now?"
All three women looked to me as I replied the obvious. "We take her with us."
CHAPTER ELEVEN:
I sincerely hoped that Delilah's stasis chamber was not required for her survival on this planet. I had not fully considered that possibility before I lifted her tiny body from it. There was no way to transport the big casket-like box anyway.
She weighed a little more than she looked but could not possibly be more than eighty pounds. I would be able to carry her downhill to our raft without a problem. If a crisis arose, I would certainly risk her life by tossing her aside to protect my women.
It was impossible for me to determine if the air inside her capsule was any different than that on the planet. I was not there when the lid popped open, should there be some sort of telltale sign. Questioning Shira and Nancy they revealed no noticeable scents coming from the chamber. I would just have to take my chances that the alien’s lithe body would be able to breathe the same as us regardless of location. We inhaled the same gases on the ship.
Nancy initially told me to drag Delilah’s scrawny ass across the ground if I insisted on taking her. Of course, I wasn't going to do that. Then she suggested that I carry her like a big sack of potatoes over my shoulder. If I had to hurry at any point, I would indeed consider that method. But, until then, I preferred to be able to see her face as we traveled. Not because she was so beautiful. I needed to watch for signs of life, or choking, or whatever.
I was not able to help with the transport of any supplies that we decided to scavenge from the crash site. My cargo was the most precious. Besides, I already had more supplies from our island strapped to me than the others did.
We acquired two long, lightweight poles, two u-shaped pieces of metal, and a bag of gummy sticks that we assumed were food. No one was particularly eager to taste test it. Perhaps the food held necessary nutrients for our captive. There wasn't much else in the shuttle's kitchen. The refrigeration box was completely empty. That supported Delilah’s story of a hurried escape.
Our trip down the same path was hastier than our ascent. The slope was a big reason why. My eagerness to make sure that our raft was still secure was another. About halfway back to the calm blue sea we rounded a corner to find a new animal, the largest that we had seen so far on this planet. The beast had been crossing the path left to right when it noticed our careless approach. I was in front of our group with my pistol in hand. That arm also carried Delilah's legs, but that did not prevent me from aiming the weapon as needed.
Covered with long stringy black hair, the six-legged animal stood as high as my waist. Its face was like a ball except where the narrow snout shot out of the front. At first, I had thought maybe it was like an anteater with a tiny mouth. When a screechy roar erupted from it, a long jaw revealing plenty of sharp teeth was exposed.
It unwisely took two quick steps toward me. Nothing about its beady purple eyes indicated that it was the least bit friendly. I was not here on a diplomatic or recon mission, so I did not hesitate to fire. The short laser beam caught the thing in one of the front legs causing it to squeal loud enough to alert anything on the island to the disturbance.
I quickly placed Delilah's feet on the ground, then dropped her the rest of the way as the animal charged angrily. With the ability to aim better I put the next shot in its furry chest. It was even more shocked by the pain than the first time and let everyone know it with another ear-shattering squeal. Before I could fire again, the beast turned and ran down the path in a panic, favoring one limb. It galloped on six otherwise cooperative legs a short distance before darting off to the left. I held my aim in that general direction a little longer with visions of another, larger version of it coming to its aid. Maybe I encountered the child and the mother was protectively nearby. Always be prepared for the worst scenario, I told myself.
Nothing else appeared, and the rustle of thick vegetation suggested that the injured animal continued its escape until out of our area. I gave the others a quick and simple situation report. They were squatting down behind me during the ordeal. When I went to lift Delilah back up, I was surprised to see her eyes open and staring at me.
"Delilah!" I said to her. There was relief discernible in my tone. She was the trophy acquired by this expedition. Having her die would have not only lowered our spirits, it could dramatically reduce our desire to venture out again to face these hazards. "Are you okay?"
The ultra-petite ebony woman gave me the slightest nod in return. "Are you sure?" Another tiny nod. The fact that she wasn't talking still concerned me. Maybe she needed recovery time from the deep sleep mode like we did. "Can you stand?" She shook her head side-to-side very slowly. That was definitely a no.
"Offer her some water," Lin suggested, unable to prevent nurse mode even though she distrusted the woman.
Delilah slowly turned her head toward Lin and flashed a meager smile, followed by a nod. I let her drink directly from my bottle. I had more back in the raft. She took three sips amounting to maybe two ounces, then gestured that she had enough.
"Can we go yet?" Nancy asked, sounding only slightly irritated. The alien beauty's return to consciousness was distracting all of us. It was best that we get back on track with our descent before we encounter another problem. I lifted our prize back into my arms.
I was happy to see the raft just as we left it. Nothing was missing, though birds were picking around at the cloth that we used to cover everything of value. I padded a section of Shira's corner and laid our precious cargo there to rest. I repositioned slightly toward the opposite corner to offset the weight, though I'd rather be closer to the woman. Both Nancy and Lin were responding well at that point to my desire to take the alien back with us to our island. Information was the most valuable commodity in our world. Over time, I hoped to extract a ton of it from our refugee. Shira was onboard with the idea from the beginning.
There was a slight breeze at our backs as we pushed the poles into the water. S
ince the new metal ones were significantly easier to handle, I assigned them to Shira and Nancy. That gave us two spare wooden ones in case we lose one to the sea. Even though we did not have anything like a sail, the motion of the surface water toward our target accelerated our trip. We were nearly halfway there when I heard Delilah's soft voice.
"Thank you," she whispered again when we all paused to listen to her. "Thank you for rescuing me. I would have died eventually if you had not come for me."
"Why were you on that shuttle?" I asked. I was planning to wait until we were home before interrogating her, but I couldn't resist the urge to learn something as we traveled. I kept an eye out for trouble instead of looking at her directly during the conversation.
"As I said before, I needed to escape, too," Delilah replied. Her voice was lower and quieter than it had been on the ship. I didn't know why, but it made me even more suspicious. I didn't have any reason yet to think that this woman was someone other than the alien that guided us here. "I became a traitor when I helped you."
"That was days ago," Nancy said, doing her best to hide her distrust.
"I did not know that," Delilah responded. "I went into stasis shortly after boarding and setting the autopilot. I always travel that way. I see that you had time to build a seafaring vessel. Is it safe?"
"Why did you crash?" Nancy asked, ignoring her concern over our raft. I had the same questions, so I let her continue until there was a reason to stop her.
"I did not know that the ship crashed. I was sitting on the ground beneath Joah when I awoke. I guess I am fortunate to be alive. Thank you all again."
When we passed one of the coral fortresses with the fish men, I asked Delilah what she knew about them. She confirmed that they were the native intelligent life forms as I had surmised. Other places where the water was deeper, she claimed that there were whole cities of these things. Though they had no technology and their intelligence was limited, it would be wise not to place us in position to be attacked by hundreds of them at once.
"Aguiti is the name your people have given them," Delilah told us.
"Our people?" Lin asked. I did a double take myself. Did she say our people? Were there other humans on this planet?
"Excuse me," Delilah corrected herself. "That is the name in your language that our people have given them. I misspoke. My sleep mode has my brain a little cloudy. I am sorry for the confusion."
"Why do you sound different?" Nancy asked our hostage/guest/refugee. I couldn't quite put a label on the alien woman at the moment. I planned to extract information from her, but preferred to treat with a level of respect, if we could afford it.
"I noticed that as well," I added. Additionally, the melodious rhythm of her voice was quite subdued.
"On our ship the control entity translates for us so seamlessly that it is difficult to detect. While I am able to speak this language of yours, it is easier to allow the translation instead while on one of our vessels. There is often a slight variance in pitch when we go without it. I believe that the entity also adds a sophistication to our voice that is naturally absent, sadly."
"You people all look the same to me," Lin told her, the words sounding ruder than her tone. I disagreed to a degree. We witnessed many of different color skin. However, feature wise, it might be challenging to identify one from the other. "How do we know that you are the same person that told us to escape on the shuttle?"
"I believe that you and I had a moment, did we not, Lin? During a training mission in the simulator. Would you like to make contact with me again so that I can repeat the effect?"
Everything stopped as we awaited Lin's reply. I clearly remembered Lin having something like an orgasm the last time that these two beautiful women touched. Shira was not there but heard all about it from Nancy.
"That won't be necessary," Lin finally replied. She squinted her eyes as she stared at Delilah. The delayed response was obviously not due to considering the offer.
"Are you sure, Lin?" Nancy asked right on cue. I knew she would not be able to stay quiet after that interchange.
"Stop it, Nancy," Lin barked at her. "But I am curious as to how you were able to effect my body in such a way."
"My people have some abilities that will seem strange to you," Delilah replied. "I am one of the few that can cause the blissful response. Others can cause pain or confusion."
"Can you do it to Joah?" Nancy asked. I immediately had a vision of messing up my only pair of shorts if the thin ebony temptress touched my skin. Instinctively, I took a step away from her causing a slight shift in the boat.
"I don't think so," Delilah answered. "But I'm not entirely sure. My gift of surging your hormones has varied effect on different people."
"Is it something that you have to do intentionally?" Lin asked.
Delilah did not answer right away. She was certainly smart enough to understand the impact of her answer. She might also have been considering how it would affect the rest of her story. I had the impression that she was withholding valuable information from us. However, I would prefer to drill her once we get home instead of on the raft. I’ll gleam what I can from this conversation and use it to help structure future questioning.
"Yes," Delilah answered. When no one spoke again she added, "Once I detect in you a specific chemical ratio, I can choose to manipulate certain things to provide you with a good feeling."
"Why did you do it to me?" Lin asked. "Why at that moment?"
"I don't know," Delilah said as if deep in thought considering what her motive might have been at the time.
"Bullshit!" Lin said. Her distrust of Delilah was only getting worse as this conversation continued. I could completely understand why. I was picking up the same deceptive vibe.
"I agree with Lin," I said. "I think that you did it for the viewers."
Delilah turned her pretty black face to me, then to Lin, then back to me. "That may have been part of my motivation. Yes. But please understand, I have made physical contact with less than a hundred humans. Maybe ten times have I picked up the chemical signature required to use my gift. Lin was only the fourth person to receive those effects."
"Meaning," Nancy spoke next. "You only chose four people to fuck with your mind."
"It is not quite like that," Delilah replied with a noticeable cringe. I wasn’t sure if it was a response to the accusation or the terminology.
"Were they all female?" Lin asked. Maybe she was checking on Delilah's sexual orientation. I didn't feel that information to be of much value, other than concerning my own attraction to the alien goddess. But I was curious to the answer, too.
"No, two were male."
"Did they ejaculate?" Nancy asked with a naughty grin. She seemed to be enjoying this interchange more than anyone else. Her distaste for the alien woman was set aside while she was being amused. I didn’t like everyone being so distracted, so I focused on watching the sea for trouble.
"Yes, they did," Delilah replied as if she was revealing the test results of a scientific experiment.
"Huh," Nancy said, no doubt visualizing the scene. "Were they naked at the time?"
"Okay, that's enough of the sex talk!" Shira raised her voice. "Can we please focus on more useful information?"
Thank you, Shira, I said to myself. I could feel my body responding to Delilah's revelation. I imagined her tiny body on her knees before me as she made physical contact where I wanted it the most, looking up at me with that gorgeous ebony face. I took a deep breath and pushed that thought from my mind.
We were nearly to the island before anyone spoke again. Shira and Nancy began discussing dinner. The physical exertion required to propel the boat, as well as other parts of the journey, had us famished by the time that we finally reached our home. We only had a few things to eat, so the conversation veered toward how to prepare the strange potatoes in different ways for variety sake.
When Lin placed her pushing pole across her corner of the raft, she picked up the small bag of food
that we raided from Delilah's shuttle. "What is this?" she asked our guest.
"Gogi," Delilah replied without hesitation. "It is a processed food from my home planet that is extremely rich in nutrients. It is very popular among my people as we travel the stars."
"Can we eat it, too?" Shira asked.
"Yes. Though our bodies have some variances, we should be able to eat each other's food without a problem with very few exceptions. For example, the white sea berries on your island contain a substance that would negatively affect my digestion. I will refrain from eating those."
"Will it give you the shits?" Nancy asked.
"Yes, Nancy," Delilah answered with the first bit of detectable attitude. "It will give me the shits."
"What does this Gogi taste like?" Shira asked.
"Chocolate," Delilah replied catching all of our attention. Some of our island edibles tasted pretty good but did not come close to comparing to chocolate. "Or, fecal matter, depending on your taste buds."
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