by Mira Maxwell
It doesn’t take long for my teeth to start chattering so I opt for the heat cube over a fire tonight. It’ll heat up the space faster and it’s less work for me. Once it’s switched on, I grab the furs and arrange them into a cozy little nest right next to the box. I crawl under the covers and wait for my body to relax and warm up so I stop shaking. I’m exhausted from the events of the day, but I still can’t push the thought of Ozmyx from my mind. He’s causing me a lot of extra anxiety now that I know I’ll be forced to spend a few days with him beginning bright and early tomorrow morning. He’s just such a grump and I find myself wishing I could have some more time with my friends instead of these alien strangers. And then there’s the pressure of getting back to Earth with enough time to make a difference in the bleak predicament we find ourselves in. I’m surprised by how distracted the other women have let themselves become. Engaging in romantic relationships seems like it should be the last thing on anyone’s mind out here.
My mind is spiraling and instead of calming me down, it’s getting me worked up again. I tell myself that I’ll avoid Ozmyx to the best of my ability and not let him get under my skin. With my plan of confident disinterest, I exhale a deep breath and push all other thoughts out of my mind.
Three
OZMYX
“Is there a reason that we can’t follow the trails?” Savannah asks from behind me, clearly out of breath, annoyance dripping from her words.
I pause and glance over my shoulder. She’s further behind than I thought. Clearly the rough terrain is taking its toll on her today. I should have realized that her short human legs would struggle once we left the path.
When Mallyk told me last night that I would be escorting Savannah back to the ship, he made a point to tell me to “be nice.” In all the years that I’ve known Mallyk, those words have never before crossed his lips. I’m starting to think his human mate is making him soft. As a buffer, I also enlisted Krenar to accompany us. I know that I don’t have the best bed-side manner and I can tell that I make the humans uncomfortable. Especially Savannah. Whenever I’m around her bad things always seem to happen. I’m starting to think the fates are against us.
Regardless, I check my temper before I answer, the events from last night making me especially tired and ornery today. It isn’t her fault that I’m lacking sleep and my muscles are especially fatigued.
“We spotted a group of Salthu close to the fortress in the night. And what we think was a Kreog,” I say. “We think the Salthu were tracking it.”
I turn to watch her as she climbs through the deep drifts of snow. With her next step she falls into the snow up to her waist, letting out a cry as she falls forward, trying to catch herself with her hands. For the first time since the humans arrived, I feel like a complete asshole. I never once stopped to think how difficult this hike is for her. But before I can move to her, Krenar swoops in from behind and pulls her out of the snow hole.
“Thank you Krenar,” she says. She’s brushing the snow off her clothes and I can tell that she’s irritated with me again. I don’t know what to do to make females happy, much less human females. I’m completely out of my element, which is a new feeling for me. Krenar continues walking with Savannah following close behind. When she passes me, she doesn’t meet my gaze but there’s a strange feeling in my chest. Something that I haven’t felt in so long, it’s foreign to me now.
“So what does that have to do with our current off-road path?” she asks. It takes a moment for me to realize that she is in fact talking to me and not Krenar. She’s focused on her feet and the terrain in front of her. I can’t blame her for that. Humans weren’t made to thrive in this harsh planet of ours.
“The Salthu are always extremely aggressive,” I say. She’s quiet, walking just ahead of me. From what I can tell, it seems like she wants me to tell her what happened last night, so I continue. “It’s very possible they’re still in the area. And if there is a Kreog around, that is concerning as well. They’re massive creatures. Large enough that just one could bring down a decent section of the fortress wall.”
“Really?” she asks, turning to look at me. “Like giants or trolls or something?” Her annoyance with the way things have progressed today seems to have passed and strangely…it makes me happy.
“Yes. I don’t know what a troll is but Kreogs fit the description of a giant. They generally keep their distance from inhabited areas, preferring to keep to the caves in the more desolate regions of the planet.”
“So why do you think it ventured so close?” she asks, and for a moment I forget about the animosity that I have been feeling towards the humans. I’ve been so annoyed with being tasked with babysitting that I’ve never really taken the time to talk to any of them or get to know them at all.
“I’m sure it has something to do with the Salthu. My instinct is telling me they’re going to try to capture the Kreog and use them in some way to their advantage. Perhaps they’ll try to train them for battle. I don’t really know. But it isn’t anything good…of that I’m certain.”
The reminder of the physical exertion from the night before makes me grasp my sore shoulder and rub. We tracked the Salthu until it was clear that they weren’t interested in us. For some reason, tracking the Salthu hunting party proved to be a strain on my fresh injury. It’s strange that it’s still sore after all the hours it has had to heal. Typically our injuries heal themselves within a few hours, though poison has been known to slow the process. It’s frustrating. I’m not used to feeling pain and I’m especially not used to having an injury slow me down.
“What would you do to fight something that large? I mean, you can’t fight it in hand-to-hand combat, right?” She’s so caught up in the idea of a fight between the warriors and a massive giant that she missteps again and falls forward into the snow. She catches herself with her hands but her exhaustion and frustration with the situation is obvious. Without hesitation this time, I put my hands on her waist and pull her to her feet. She brushes herself off again and then quietly thanks me before starting to walk. Her determination is impressive and though I know she’s quickly losing her patience with my choice of route, she’s keeping it to herself.
“We would use arrows to dissuade it from coming too close to the walls…though that would probably just irritate it more than hurt it. It has never gotten close enough where we’ve had to do anything about it. I don’t think it would unless it was lured.”
“And you think the Salthu would use it to bring down the fortress?”
“We certainly don’t co-exist peacefully. They’re more primitive barbarians that lack any civility.”
“Is that what you thought of humans before you met us?” she asks. She looks at me out of the corner of her eye, like she wants to be sure to catch my reaction to her question. She reads me better than I gave her credit for.
“Honestly, I didn’t think much of humans at all. There was never a reason to before this.”
“That’s fair,” she says, apparently unaffected by my attempt at truthfulness. “So what would the Attalans do with a Kreog if you caught it?”
“We wouldn’t eat it, that’s for damn sure,” Krenar chimes in for the first time. “They taste horrible. Though, if it’s between eating Kreog or starving, then I’d choke it down.”
“Krenar’s right,” I say, “They do taste horrible, but they’ll do when necessary. Their furs make great blankets and their bones can be used to make weapons.”
“So you’ve killed one before?” Savannah asks.
“Only once,” I say.
“I’ll never forget it,” Krenar says.
“We were taking the final physical tests that we needed to pass in order to become a warrior. Krenar and I were forced to survive in the remote Calindre Mountains way to the North of us. We were doing okay until we decided to make shelter in a cave that was already inhabited by a Kreog. Of course we didn’t know it at the time. It wasn’t until the dead of night that we realized our mistake.”
<
br /> “We hadn’t even bothered to keep watch that night, we were both so exhausted. That was our sixteenth day on our own and we were feeling every minute of it.”
“So what happened? How did you kill it if it was just the two of you?” Savannah asks.
“I had my spear at my side and when I awoke to find a huge creature standing over me, about to take a bite, I was so startled that I jumped up and rammed my spear right through its heart. It fell quickly and then Krenar was there, making sure it was indeed dead.”
“It was smelly,” Krenar says, “But that didn’t keep us from using everything we could to make our survival a little more comfortable. The furs kept us warm and the meat kept our bellies full. The fact that we ate the meat over the course of days and days could be why we can’t stand the taste of it anymore. There’s only so much Kreog an Attalan can stomach.”
“Sounds awful,” Savannah says. “So, you had to pass tests to become warriors? You couldn’t just decide whether you wanted to join?”
“No, there is no choice. Defending the city against the dangers of the planet is the most important thing to the prime minister. All of the males in our tribe are expected to either find a mate or join the guard.”
“But there are other important jobs besides mating and fighting.” Savannah says, almost laughing. But when she looks at my face her smile slowly slips from her face. “Aren’t there?”
“The males that mate have various jobs in the city. Those that don’t are expected to provide the city’s defense.”
“And what about the females? Can they have jobs in the city or are they just expected to have children?”
“They can also have jobs but reproducing for the sake of the continuation of our species is also very important.” We’re still hiking through rough terrain and Savannah’s out of breath and struggling up the steeper inclines. Her questions about our very different ways of life seem to be distracting her from the unexpected exertion I’m placing on her today. Following clear paths would make this journey much easier on her but I can’t risk it, not when the Salthu could be lurking around. Krenar has journeyed ahead of us, almost as if he wants to give us privacy. It is probably a strange sight for him. I haven’t spoken to a woman in many years.
“So, that means you never found a mate?” she asks.
Her words stop me dead in my tracks. Memories flood my mind, ones that I’ve pushed down and tried to forget long ago. She’s looking at me, studying me with a strange look on her face. Maybe I don’t look well. I certainly don’t feel well all of a sudden. “I did,” I manage to say. I’m just standing there feeling like I’m in shock when I hear Krenar yell, “Down!”
Without thinking, I launch myself forward, slamming into Savannah and taking her down into the snow, my body covering hers. There’s a loud explosion behind us as a thermal pulse strikes the rocks inches from my body. I feel the vibrations in the ground and I’m up and moving toward the threat before the smoke clears. I chance a glance behind me to see Savannah lying on the ground. From my quick glance she looks to be okay, just staring after me with fear in her big blue eyes. I need to clear my mind and find Krenar. The only way to keep her safe is to eliminate the attacking Salthu.
I pull the battle ax from my waist and swing it in a wide, fierce arc, slicing the head clear off the shoulders of the first Salthu in front of me. Krenar is fighting three other Salthu just ahead of me. There’s another cluster of them charging through the trees. Instead of waiting for them to reach me, I grip my ax tightly and run forward to meet them head on. It angers me that I was caught off guard. Instead of being on guard I was distracted by Savannah and all her questions. It could be a costly mistake.
As we collide, my weight is thrown off balance. This beast is large and built so solidly he barely budges when I hit him. The ground trembles once more under my feet and this time I hear Savannah call out behind me. There’s pure terror in her voice and it makes me turn. The sight seems like a dream. The ground has collapsed and created a hole. Savannah is desperately grasping for something solid to hold onto as her body starts to slide into the hole that’s forming below her.
There’s an urgency that I feel to get to her before she falls. So much so that I leave the threat at my back and run to her. I grab her hands before she loses her grip and hold on tight. There’s a trembling below us and it’s so unsteady I’m waiting for the ground beneath me to drop. “Hold on, Savannah,” I say as I plant my feet underneath me and begin to pull her up.
“Behind you,” she screams, breathless and scared.
I’ve already decided that I have to take what’s coming. If I let go, she’ll fall. I don’t know how I’ve come to care so much over the last two days, but I have. I shout out as the Salthu’s spear stabs into my side. I tense up and take it, willing myself to hang onto Savannah. Then, there’s a loud crack and the ground crumbles beneath us. Somehow I manage to hang onto Savannah, but we’re still falling. The best I can do is twist my body so she has something to land on when we finally hit the bottom. When we land, there’s a blinding pain in my side followed by a sickening crack. I want to give in to the darkness that threatens to overwhelm me but then I see the huge Salthu falling down the hole after me.
Four
SAVANNAH
Ozmyx is holding me tightly and takes the brunt of the impact, but it still feels like I’ve had the wind knocked out of me when we land. Before I can do anything, he throws me to the side before the Salthu can land on me. I hit my head on the rocks and am struck with a blinding pain by my ear. I’m full of panic now that we’ve crash landed in this hole and the enemy is on top of us.
I saw the spear go through Ozmyx’s side just before the ground went out from under him and we both fell. That doesn’t stop him from overpowering the Salthu that has fallen in the cave with us. I look away because I don’t think I can stomach a grizzly death scene right now. There’s an audible crack in the cave that I can’t tune out before it goes quiet. I look over to see the Salthu lying dead on the ground, his neck at an odd angle.
“Are you hurt?” Ozmyx asks. He’s lying very still on the ground as if killing the Salthu was the last bit of strength he had in his body. I’m touched that he’s thinking of my wellbeing right now.
“No, I’m okay,” I say. To be honest, I’ve never been this physically beat up before but out of the two of us, I’m definitely in better shape. Mentally, that’s another question entirely.
“Good,” he whispers before he closes his eyes. I can’t think straight right now. How many emergencies have I been in where I’ve been the clear headed one, able to take care of those that needed me? Right now I need someone else to take the lead and tell me what to do. I look around, trying to figure out what kind of situation we’re in. There’s a hole above us with light shining down but all around me it’s dark. From what I can tell the cave opens around us and even extends far beyond what I can see. I don’t see an obvious way out. There’s no way we could climb out of the hole we fell in and I have no idea how long we’d need to search to find a way out of the caves.
And then I look over at Ozmyx again and realize that he seems to have passed out. Moving quickly, I crawl to his side, putting my hands on his chest in search of a heartbeat. Thankfully, I feel the reassuring thud in his chest. I have no idea if our anatomy is even the same but at least it seems that our hearts are located in the same general area. This whole situation seems so strange to me, though. I’ve been essentially out of a job on this trip being that I’m the crew’s doctor. The aliens heal quickly, without any additional medicine needed. The rest of my crew, aside from Natalie and her broken leg, has been healthy. Ozmyx is different from the other aliens and I don’t know why. This worries me now that we’re stuck down in this cave with only the few things I thought to bring in my backpack.
My fingers trail over Ozmyx’s side, gently feeling for broken bones and analyzing the wound from the spear. To my dismay I realize that the tip of the spear is still lodged in his side. I
’ll have to remove it in order for his body to begin to heal. I shrug out of my backpack that has somehow managed to stay attached to my back through this whole ordeal, and quickly open it, looking for the small first aid kit that I always carry. I grab the small scalpel and lean close to examine the protrusion. I’m just about to make my first incision when Ozmyx grabs my hand.
“Shit!” I yell, “You scared me! I thought you passed out.”
“I’m still here,” he says. “The spear, be careful. It contains some sort of poison. I can feel it moving through my body. It makes it hard for me to move.”
Well, shit. As if we didn’t have enough problems as it is.
“I don’t think you should touch it,” he says.
I sit back on my heels and try to think of what to do. He’s probably right, I really shouldn’t touch it. Unlike the Attalans, humans don’t have super healing abilities.
“Okay,” I finally say. “What if I make a few incisions so you can pull it out? We need to remove it so your body can start healing itself.”
I don’t know if he has passed out or if he’s thinking about what we should do. I’m just trying to be patient while he lies on the ground, so still it barely looks as if he’s breathing.
“Yes,” he answers after a minute.
“Okay,” I say, positioning my hand with the scalpel above his wound again. “Let’s do this quickly before we lose the light above us.”
He doesn’t respond but I begin anyway. I make the first incision, but I’m too gentle. I’m used to working with human bodies and our soft flesh. I’m quickly learning that Attalans have much different skin. It’s tougher to cut through for one, but it has a different feel to it as well. It’s smooth but like a tough leather. I give it another try, pressing down with more pressure this time. The scalpel makes a clean cut, exposing more space around the spear head so Ozmyx will hopefully be able to pull it out.
