The Alien’s Stowaway

by Alyx X

  He was definitely a large alien—all over.

  My body shuddered when my finger pushed against my swollen nub. It was easy to imagine what would happen after I pulled Jarix's pants down. What I hoped would happen. I imagined his hands on my body, on my breasts and hips and ass. I could see that hair sliding across his shoulder, and those eyes piercing me as he moved between my legs. The more I imagined, the faster my hand moved. I circled my fingers, opening my legs wider to accommodate my movements, breathing hard into my blanket to hide the sound.

  An orgasm came almost too fast, eagerly chasing the image of Jarix on top of me, thrusting in and out while those strong stomach muscles clenched. The waves of pleasure burst in my core and sent electricity crackling over me, relaxing my worried muscles. I kept rubbing until my core stopped clenching and sighed in relief as the final jolts of pleasure faded away.

  It was surprising how much one small orgasm and a simple—but delicious—fantasy had relaxed me. The next thing I knew, the wake-up bell was jerking me awake. My dreams had been filled with golden eyes watching me as I fell through space. Not quite sure what that nonsense meant, I sat up. Jarix was invading my thoughts and my dreams, it seemed.

  I shook off that feeling as I jumped down from the bunk, not liking where my emotions were headed. He was sexy, okay? I could accept that he was hot as fuck and not have feelings for the alien. Besides, he probably wouldn’t even want me to accompany him wherever he was going next. I’d been burned the last time I cared for a man, and I didn’t need to do that to myself again.

  Alice shot me a worried look when we walked out of the barracks. She must've realized I'd been here all night. I shrugged, and on the way to the mines, whispered the explanation to her. "Clarissa stayed up to make sure I didn't leave, I think."

  She huffed in frustration. "That woman is trouble. She could ruin this."

  "I know," I lamented. "It's our only real shot."

  If we were going to get out of here, I'll have to spend significant time at the ship, and that left Alice to cover for me. I hated the thought of her being caught. What if they punished her, beat her? The guards generally didn't beat her, as she was the oldest worker there. Even they had that much empathy, little as it was, but if she was caught covering an escape, all bets were off.

  Throughout the workday, my mind constantly crept back to Jarix. His body, his crooked smile. His need to not be seen as weak or child-like. It was endearing. I needed him and his ship to get out of the desert, but it would be okay if we were friendly with each other, I thought. It would make our time together more pleasant, anyway.

  The fact that I'd masturbated while thinking about him was just a testament to the lack of attractive men out in the desert. The guards certainly didn't fit the bill. It wasn't because I was legitimately attracted to him. I needed him, but I didn't want to marry him. I repeated those two sentences a few times in determination.

  As we worked, Alice and I discussed how I might get away today. We went back and forth a few times—always whispering—but in the end, we decided to keep going the way we had been. She insisted she plead innocence if anyone asked, even Clarissa. If I were determined to be missing, I'd just stay with Jarix and fix the ship as quickly as possible, then return for Alice when it was done. It wasn't a great plan, but it was the only one we had.

  After our shift, I waited until later in the day to sneak away. I didn't want Clarissa to suspect anything. By the time I climbed down the ladder, the sun had fully risen. My layers of clothing protected my skin, but I hadn't had much water since the day before when I'd left the cave. By the time I got there, my throat was scratchy to the point of being painful, and I felt lightheaded.

  The relative coolness of the cave was an enormous relief. I stumbled toward the back without asking Jarix to turn on the light and collapsed beside the running water. After slurping up as much as I could handle without becoming nauseated, I turned toward Jarix's spot on the other side of the small space.

  "Jarix?" I called out. He didn't answer. It was full daylight outside, and it provided enough light for me to crawl over and see a blanket on the ground, but no Jarix. All the stuff from the emergency kit was laid out in a row on the stone ground, too. My heart thumped once, painfully. Where the hell was he? I hurried around the bend in the cave and looked out into the desert. If he wasn't here, he had to be there. Damn it.

  Returning, I grabbed the blanket—I had no idea where he’d gotten it—and covered my head with it, holding it up to provide a bit of shade from the relentless sun. I looked at the distance, then took a deep breath and ran for the ship.

  A few sweaty minutes later, I approached. I rounded the frame until I could see inside. Yep, there he was. He was passed out halfway beneath the bottom of the floor. I wedged myself into the ship and realized he was lying in a big tank of water. Despite the near gallon I’d just consumed, my mouth watered at the sight of it. I’d never seen so much in one place before, and I ached to join him in the tiny pool.

  However, the alien appeared to be unconscious again. "Jarix!" I yelled. Dropping to my knees, I quickly put my hands on his face, assessing his body as I did. I had to wake him up. The water was stained with blood, but it had probably saved his life in the heat of the day. It was only big enough for his torso, but I could feel that his skin was at a normal temperature. Out here in the sun it should have been much higher.

  His legs hung out on one side and his head and arms the other, with most of his ass and torso submerged. I looked around and realized the windows must've been treated because, while the interior was plenty bright, no rays of sun broke through. It was a damn miracle, and I shook my head at the passed out giant before me, annoyed at the risk he’d taken. Whatever had drawn him out here, it wasn’t worth dying over.

  Jarix's eyes suddenly opened, and he blinked several times before he focused on me. "Glad to see you," he mumbled. Those golden eyes washed away my annoyance, and I cringed inwardly at how happy I was to see that he was okay.

  "Can you walk?" I asked, trying to focus on getting us out of here.

  "I think so." He looked around. "Though, I barely made it in here to the water."

  "How long have you been out here?" I asked. "It's the middle of the day."

  "You left, and I got bored after I woke. I came out here in the night."

  My jaw dropped. "The night I left? But Jarix, I stayed in camp the next night. You've been out here all one day and part of this one!"

  He blanched. "No wonder I'm so hungry. I do feel better, though. All the sleep helped my body heal I think."

  I tugged on his shirt. "Let me see." We needed to get to the cave, but the ship was enough shelter for a few minutes, apparently.

  He lifted his shirt, and I was relieved to see the wound had knit up. How it had done so while submerged in the water was a mystery, but I was grateful nevertheless. Maybe it had something to do with his superior alien healing abilities. "What's the blood from?" I asked, and indicated the water in the big tub.

  "When I passed out, it was bleeding." He prodded his side. "It's closed up, finally." He gave me a sheepish look. "I thought I could start working on the ship."

  "What were you thinking?" I asked in exasperation. "You could've gotten a lot more done if you hadn't been so worried about me thinking you were weak."

  He stared at my lips, then blinked again. My hands twitched and clenched, wanting to take his face back into them. I coughed once, pulling his attention back to my eyes. "I know you are right. At the time, I just wanted to hurry up the efforts to fix the ship."

  "Well, I understand that. I wouldn't mind getting away from this part of the world myself. But you can't rush these things, or you end up further and further behind."

  He nodded. "If you'll help me up, I think I can walk."

  I held out my hand and he grasped it. I had to brace myself by grabbing the chair, but I got him to his feet. He dripped all over the floor, to my dismay. He turned toward the door, but his movement drew my atten
tion to the source of water I didn’t want to waste. The tub. I wasn’t sure why this pod needed so much of it, but I didn’t care, at the moment. "I wish I could sink into a tub of water like this," I whispered. "And have a proper bath."

  It had been nearly four years since I'd had one. Brushing and wiping off had been all I'd been able to do since then, plus the occasional two-minute shower provided by the camp. At least the salt kept the body odor to a minimum.

  "If we can get the tub to the cave, we can rig something," he said. "I'm sure of it." I whirled on him, surprised at his casual offer. I hadn’t expected him to be so accommodating, either. I smiled at him, indicating he should begin walking. Priorities were priorities.

  "Is there a way to remove the blood?" I asked as he stepped out. Jarix turned back and shook his head, sadly. Sighing, I asked, “Is there a drain?”

  Jarix nodded and pointed to the side. I flipped a switch and watched the water go out of a hose. "It'll drain outside into the sand," he said.

  What a fucking waste. I felt tears well in my eyes, but I blinked them back. "Well, let's head back before it gets any hotter." I threw the blanket over his shoulders, standing on my tiptoes to do so. "Come on."

  8

  Jarix

  It took most of my energy to hold the blanket over Evvie and myself for the walk back, but she was right. I didn't want to appear weak. It was against my very culture and upbringing to admit weakness. So, I held the blanket and walked as quickly as I dared, hoping she wouldn’t notice how much I was sweating.

  When we returned to the cave, I immediately moved to sit, leaning against the wall and breathing hard. Evvie just looked at me knowingly, but chose not to say anything. She quickly got started on a meal as I watched her work. She was unfamiliar with the food packets, and I was too tired to try to do it for her, but she asked me for help, so I walked her through how to prepare a meal for us.

  Once the packets were preparing, she pulled a small package out of her clothing. "I brought some meat," she said shyly. "I wasn't sure how much this food of yours would sustain you." This was obviously a gesture, though I wasn’t sure what kind.

  "I'll try yours and you try mine," I suggested, trying to smile naturally.

  She smiled back and unwrapped her package. It contained two small pieces of shriveled-up meat inside. "Sorry, it's not much." You’re telling me.

  I took the meat, uncomfortable with the texture. I eyed the meat cautiously, worried it might make me sick. However, if the tiny human had apparently been eating them for a long time, they couldn’t be that dangerous. Before I took a bite, I offered her the pouch of food she'd just prepared. "Here. Try mine." She took it with wide eyes, looking into the packet curiously.

  The little meat popped into my mouth easily, but that was the best part of the experience. It didn't have much flavor, and the texture was worse in my mouth than in my hands. If this was what the planet had to offer in the way of sustenance, I wouldn't mind getting to Haltrean sooner rather than later. Even the prison food was better than this—when they remembered to take the hide off the meat.

  "This is pretty good," Evvie said after swallowing her first bite. "Better than the slop they give us in town."

  She gave me a strange look, like she was embarrassed. This woman wasn't good at concealing anything. "The town?" I asked. "Did they make this? It's terrible." I slid the other piece of meat over to her. If she liked it, she was welcome to it. I didn't ask for my meal back, though. Evvie was tiny, and too skinny, she needed all the sustenance she could get. After she'd eaten a few more eager bites, she seemed to realize it was supposed to be my meal.

  "Oh, my gosh. I'm so sorry. Here." She thrust the package and spoon toward me. "I'm sorry."

  "It's no big deal," I said. "You need to eat, too."

  She ducked her head. "I ate at, uh, home. You need to eat, and heal."

  I took the food because she was right that I did need to heal, and because I wasn’t sure I could even say no to her.

  "I need to get going soon," she said. "It'll be dark."

  "Would you get in trouble if you didn't get back on time?" I asked. I'd been curious about what sort of place she worked. Out here in the desert with nothing else around, it seemed likely she wasn't supposed to be here with me, away from her town. "What's it like, living way out here in the desert?"

  She grabbed the little piece of meat and crammed it in her mouth. After she'd thoroughly chewed it and swallowed, she shrugged. "Like anywhere else, I suppose. I just have to go to work at nightfall and wouldn't want anyone to miss me or come looking. They'd turn you over to the TerraLink Program without hesitating." That last part was definitely true, but some of what she’d said felt off.

  Thinking quietly while I chewed, I realized she was lying through her evenly spaced teeth. I thought it might’ve been about her job, but I wasn’t positive. Before I called her out on it, she narrowed her eyes at me. "You have to promise not to try to fix the ship until you're fully healed. It won't do anyone any good if you pass out like that again. And this time there's no water in the tank for you to rest in." She was right, but she was deflecting.

  "You want to steal my ship, don't you?" I asked. I’d been suspicious for a while, and now I wanted to know the truth. Not that it was much of a ship, but I didn't think she knew that.

  Her face paled in the dim light of the cave. "No, I don't.” I gave her a flat look. She was still lying.

  "No, really. I don't, but I was hoping you'd take me and my friend with you wherever you’re going." Her voice got smaller and smaller as she spoke.

  "Finally, some honesty." She didn’t react in any visible way to that, just continued on with her plea.

  "I'll fix your ship," she offered. I watched her, amused. It would only be a couple of days before I could fix it myself, therefore rendering her offer useless. What she didn't realize was that I did need her to help me navigate this planet. She finally met my gaze. "But you have to take me away from here. Preferably help me off of the planet entirely."

  "Why do you want to leave so badly?" I asked. I hoped this would be the question that would finally get her to tell the truth.

  She didn’t hesitate to answer. "The planet is dying, and a single corporation decides who gets to leave and who gets to stay. Why wouldn't I want off?" Her reasoning was sound, yet something was being left out. She deflected, but I had my own things to hide, so I let her.

  How did you end up crashing here?" she asked.

  "My ship hit some asteroids," I lied quickly. "It was falling apart, and Earth was the closest planet."

  Her brow furrowed. "Most ships are designed to withstand asteroids that can't be flown around."

  So, she had some experience with space travel. "How would you know that?" I asked with a laugh. "It was an older ship. Probably would've fallen apart soon anyway."

  "I haven't lived on this planet all my life," she said. "I was assigned to Hydronia for a while as a maid. But before that I lived just outside The Glass City. It wasn't so bad there, but I know there's a better life off of Earth."

  I knew of the planet Hydronia, but hadn't ever been there. "What happened to your job on Hydronia?"

  She rolled her eyes. "My employer didn't care for me and sent me back, so now I work for the corporation out here in the salt mines." She shrugged. That statement felt more true. "It could be worse, but I'd like to make a real life for myself somewhere. Somewhere that doesn't view humans as cattle."

  "Cattle?" I wasn't familiar with the term.

  "Sorry, it's an old expression. Cattle are animals that used to be in great abundance on Earth, mostly raised then slaughtered for food. They are like all animals now; scarce. Raising animals for food is too expensive when water is this hard to come by."

  I knew many societies that lived their entire lives without consuming flesh, but mine was not one of them. The low-quality meat at the prison had made me weak more than once and I'd had to skip eating it. At least these emergency meals had meat in them, to
a point. It wasn't recognizable as meat, but had the same nutrients.

  Happy that she was talking so much, I offered more of myself to her. "I grew up on a planet much like Earth used to be, I think. Full of life, beauty, history, and families. Though, our main industry was war. We trained soldiers and built armies for our allies." I was proud of my heritage, but saddened by how much destruction the warring sometimes caused. My life had been happy there. Before my sister died. "I was a respected trainer and General of Technology. As was every man in my family for hundreds of years."

  Not anymore. I was the last of my name and could never go back. I blanched and waited for her to ask why I'd left. I hadn't considered that bragging about my position might raise questions I wasn't ready to answer. The thought again crossed my mind that, if she knew I was a wanted criminal, she might turn me over to her authorities in hopes of reward money.

  Evvie shook her head. "I found a few old history books when I was a kid. My mom taught me how to read. Humans used to war with one another regularly, it's a part of what destroyed the planet. They never outsourced it. It seems like a guilt-ridden existence. What about all the people you and your men killed? What about their families?"

  She'd focused on the moral implications of my planet, not the reason I'd left. Thank goodness. "Actually, that was a hot topic of debate. Many people within my species have certain abilities that make us more technologically advanced than most. It’s not the rarest of gifts, but fewer than ten percent of our population have the ability. My family used that skill to work on cures for common and deadly illnesses for various planets in the universe. It balances our world. We help planets we are allies with to win their wars, and we cure sicknesses using technology and science."