by Leslie Chase
Alien Explorer's Love
Leslie Chase
Juno Wells
Edited by
Sennah Tate
Cover Design by Aria Tan of ResplendentMedia.com
Editing by Sennah Tate
Copyright 2017 Leslie Chase
All rights reserved
This is a work of fiction intended for mature audiences. All names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Created with Vellum
Contents
1. Jaranak
2. Lilly
3. Jaranak
4. Lilly
5. Jaranak
6. Lilly
7. Jaranak
8. Lilly
9. Jaranak
10. Lilly
11. Jaranak
12. Lilly
13. Jaranak
14. Lilly
15. Jaranak
16. Lilly
17. Jaranak
18. Lilly
19. Jaranak
20. Lilly
21. Jaranak
22. Lilly
Epilogue
About Leslie Chase
About Juno Wells
Also by Juno Wells and Leslie Chase
Also by Leslie Chase
Also By Juno Wells
1
Jaranak
The moments before the crash were surprisingly boring. Jaranak looked down at the blue-green planet hanging under his ship and sighed. Far out on the edge of the galaxy like this there were so many more interesting planets he could be exploring. Places no one from Prindakh had ever seen before. Instead, here he was wasting his time cleaning up someone else's mess.
"I know," said Karnan, his second in command. "You want to hunt. But we're on a rescue mission, remember? And this planet is too advanced for a hunting party."
Jaranak scowled at his friend. Just because he was right didn't make his advice any easier to take. This 'Earth' was already sending out radio waves, and the locals were developing fast. It would be an awful time to mess with their development. If they got a good look at the ship they might even be able to figure out how to use transstar technology. That was the most dangerous transition in the history of any technological civilization, one that many species never managed. Trying to do it too early could wipe them out, and the locals hadn't even discovered nuclear power yet.
"You're right, I know you are. We find the Skystorm, rescue the survivors, and get out as quickly as we can. Then we can see if we can find somewhere to have a proper hunt, where we won't disturb a growing civilization."
He clapped Karnan on the shoulder and nodded. "You scan for the Skystorm's drive signature, and I'll get ready to take us in. The faster we do this, the sooner we can get on."
Their own ship, the Far Hunter, hung in space about halfway between the planet and its single, over-sized moon. They'd be invisible unless one of the locals pointed a telescope right at them, and even then they'd only see a matte black shape as long as the transstar drive was active. But once they descended into the atmosphere they would be easy to spot by anyone who glanced in their direction. This had to be done carefully and quickly.
"I wonder what happened down there," Karnan said, focusing up the sensors on the planet below. "Hrail is usually so careful, she doesn't take any chances."
"We can ask her when we find her," Jaranak told him, ignoring the possibility that she hadn't made it. The distress call they were answering was automated, and that wasn't a good sign. Nor was the fact that it was more than two years old. But Hrail was a friend of theirs, and Jaranak wasn't about to assume the worst. Especially not to Karnan, knowing how he felt about Hrail. The lovesick look on his face as he hunted for any sign of her ship broadcast his feelings, as much as he might try and hide them.
I just wish that Hrail felt as strongly for him, Jaranak thought. Though maybe this chance to rescue her will let him prove himself.
Jaranak smiled to himself. It would be nice if Karnan got to save his woman from being stranded on this primitive planet. Jaranak never felt the urge to settle down with a female himself, but Karnan was his best friend as well as his second in command. He wanted them to be happy.
The ship shuddered under Jaranak and he turned his attention back to the controls. Something was wrong with the warp field surrounding the Far Hunter. Interference from the crashed ship, perhaps? If the Skystorm's drive had been breached, it would be making a mess of the local energy fields, and that could make piloting difficult. Nudging the ship out of orbit, he swooped in towards the planet, wanting to get this rescue over with. The longer they hung around, the worse the interference would get.
"Do you have a reading?" he asked, and Karnan nodded quickly.
"I'm narrowing it down now. Somewhere to the planet's North, in this region."
The display showed the area he was talking about. It was on land, which was a mixed blessing. Searching the bottom of an ocean would be hard work, but hiding from the local civilization on land was a different kind of problem. Coming blasting in from space would be anything but subtle.
Worse, the signal was coming from an area full of construction. It looked like one of the largest of the human cities was nearby, which wouldn't make stealth easy. He shrugged: the humans seeing his ship wouldn't be a complete disaster, as long as they didn't get their hands on any of the technology. It didn't look like he'd have any choice; they'd just have to hope that their appearance wouldn't disturb the culture too much.
The strange shudder ran through the ship again, and he frowned. Fingers danced over the controls, pulling the transstar field in closer to the hull of the ship, but that didn't help. Something was wrong, very wrong, with space near this planet.
Karnan looked up from his readings. "I think the Skystorm's drive is active," he said, voice tight with stress. "It's putting out some kind of interference wave. The shielding must be down."
Jaranak had no attention to spare for the sensors, it was taking all his attention to keep the Far Hunter in the sky. They'd come low enough to hit the atmosphere, but now the engines weren't responding properly.
Using one transstar drive to attack another was an old trick of war, but this should have been a safe mission. Could it be an accident? He didn't see how, but he didn't have time to think about it.
"What in the Black Star's name has that woman done to her ship?" Jaranak snarled the question as he felt the fields disintegrate around him faster than he could compensate. Trying to pull up was futile, the drive didn't have the power. The interference waves pulled the Far Hunter down no matter what he tried to do.
"Everyone lock yourselves down," he shouted back. Behind them, their two crewmates had started to come forward, the shaking enough to alert them that something was wrong. The urgency in Jaranak's voice drove them back to their seats in a hurry, and the field generators kicked in to wrap them in protective webs of force. Those would keep them safe through anything short of a full-on crash landing.
Now I just have to avoid one of those, he thought with a grimace of concentration. The ship hardly responded at all now, waves of energy from the Skystorm's engine tearing apart any fields he tried to put up.
"We're coming in hot," he snarled to Karnan. "Give me a course, somewhere empty. This is going to be a hard landing."
"Here," Karnan said instantly, and a glowing image appeared in front of Jaranak. A path that would take them into the ocean — hitting land at this speed would be near-certain death.
A water landing wasn't that much safer, but at least it would hide the ship if they didn't make i
t through. Fighting for what little control he had, Jaranak tried to follow the shining path. The controls fought him at every turn, and the planet zipped past under them as he tried to bring down their speed to something that might be survivable.
All too soon he was out of time. He no longer had the faintest notion where on the planet they were, but he knew that if he didn't take them down now then he'd have no control over their final descent. Angling downward he poured all the power he had left into the defensive shields. Half the warning lights on his control panel were blazing now, and his own transstar drive was on the verge of overloading. Jaranak looked at the readings and saw disaster coming.
With a curse, he did the unthinkable and hit the core eject button. Behind them, deep in the ship, the engine hatches blew and the ball of furious energy that powered the ship burst. Lightning crackling out from the Far Hunter and over the waters as the transstar core vented its power and died. The warning lights died with it and the shaking stopped as the engines failed.
Without the drive, the ship's erratic flight turned into a smooth arc that ended with a shuddering crash into the water. The impact slammed Jaranak into his safety harness, and he tasted blood. Somewhere in the Far Hunter something was burning, acrid smoke filling the air. And the hull creaked, groaning under pressure. But it held and for now at least, they floated.
Jaranak managed a savage grin of exhilaration. The consequences could wait: he'd managed to land the ship, and his crew were all alive. For now, that was reason enough to celebrate.
Lights flickered and died as the last of the power failed, and the gravity fields released the crew to tumble from their seats. Emergency batteries took over after a second, and the screens came to life, showing them where they'd landed. Outside, a blue ocean stretched to the horizon — for all his skill, he might well have traded one death for another. But at least they lived, and that meant that there was hope.
Karnan pulled himself up, face bloody from where he'd hit the deck. He looked at the sensor logs and went straight back to work. Jaranak wasn't sure whether that was dedication or shock, but at least he was moving.
"That was a hell of a landing," Parvak said with a groan, picking himself up and looking at the damage control board. He swore at what he saw. "Did you ditch the core?"
"It was about to explode," Jaranak said. "There wasn't any choice."
Parvak and Orshar exchanged looks, and Parvak spoke again. "There's no way we're going to get off this planet without the core, and that's... it's not going to be easy to build one, not here."
"Not unless we get the humans to do it for us," Orshar said. Jaranak gave him a hard look and he raised his hands. "Hey, I'm not saying we should. But it'll be a hell of a job just on our own."
"We're going to need some parts if we're going to fix this damage," Parvak confirmed. "And we can't exactly call for help. We'd just be calling another crew into the same trap that caught us."
Jaranak nodded. "So we need to find out what happened to Hrail and her crew. We know that the Skystorm's transstar core is still working, so if we can find and salvage that we'll be okay. And if not, we'll just have to do our best to make one ourselves — how hard can it be?"
Everyone laughed, though it wasn't a very funny joke. Technically it would be possible, but the practicalities were daunting.
"First things first. We need to get moving, and we've only got so much battery power to work with. Orshar, you rig up an engine and get us moving. Parvak, make a list of the supplies we'll need for repairs aside from the core. And figure out something we can trade. Raid the trophy room if you have to. Let’s hope that these 'humans' look enough like us that we can find a way to blend in."
"What about me?" Karnan asked, looking up from the sensors with a dazed look in his eyes. Blood ran down his face. "I can help build us an engine."
"You are going to see the autodoc," Jaranak said firmly. "I need you healthy for what's coming next."
Karnan tried to shake his head, but the motion made him wince in pain. Without a word, he got to his feet and stumbled towards the medical bay. A few hours and Karnan would be in much better shape to help. Assuming the autodoc still worked, which Jaranak didn't want to bet on.
Jaranak looked out at the horizon and sighed. When he'd wished for excitement, this had not been what he had in mind.
2
Lilly
Dr. Allen's attentions were always an irritation, but Lilly Hardridge had long ago learned to ignore them. Turn this way, breathe deeply, cough, it was a litany of instructions that embarrassed and annoyed her.
And none of it would help, of course. Portly Dr. Allen would hem and haw and give her his 'encouraging' speech again, and then he'd give her more medicine. Lilly knew exactly how this would play out, it had been happening every few months since she was a child.
I shouldn't complain, she told herself. She didn't have the funds to pay another doctor for this constant attention, and if Dr. Allen hadn't been a friend of the family she'd be without medical help entirely. But even so, she couldn't help wishing that he'd just give her the medicine she needed and go away. She could do without the added reminder of her infirmity.
I'm not going to get better, and we both know it. So what's the point of these examinations? She'd asked once, only for Dr. Allen to go red in the face as though she'd questioned his competence. He'd spluttered something indignant and then ignored the question. That had been when Lilly realized that to him she was still just a silly girl, rather than an adult.
And any time she asked about her treatment, the questions got put off. This was 1901, he was fond of reminding her. Mankind had moved out of the realm of superstition and into the world of science. I'm not sure why me asking questions is supposed to be 'superstition' though. It seems to be because he doesn't want to answer them.
The dawn of the 20th century had brought many wonders, and Lilly just wished she could count a better doctor among them.
Her friend Margaret squeezed her hand, bringing her back to the present, and Lilly managed to smile at her. Margaret sat by her side, there to provide moral support and to keep her temper in check. One of the great advantages of sharing an apartment with her best friend was that Lilly couldn't escape Margaret's help. While Lilly might protest that she didn't need anyone, it was comforting to have a friend with her.
"Well, Doctor?" she asked him once he was finished and put away his stethoscope.
"Still much the same, Lilly, much the same," he said, repacking his bag carefully. "Your breathing is smooth enough this morning, which is encouraging, but I'll leave you a fresh supply of medicine anyway. Please try not to exert yourself, my dear. I'd much rather find that the bottle I'm giving you lasts until our next appointment."
Lilly made a face. She'd prefer that too, if only because of the vile taste of the damned stuff, but it never seemed to work out that way. Any exertion at all ran the risk of sending her into coughing fits and needing some of the medicine to ease her breathing again.
The cause of the ailment was a mystery; all Dr. Allen or anyone else had been able to tell her was that it was some kind of tropical disease. Lilly could hardly remember the time before she'd picked it up, but some of her strongest early memories were of being dragged from one doctor to another by parents desperate to find a cure. That had gone on even into her teenage years, though with less and less hope. No one had the slightest clue what it was — and no treatment had helped her breathe more easily.
At least I don't take the fevers often anymore, she thought, trying to look on the bright side. When she'd been a little girl those had laid her out for weeks at a time, much to the distress of her parents.
"I'll try to take it easy," she said, looking dubiously at the small bottle Dr. Allen placed on the table. That didn't seem like it would be enough to last, but Dr. Allen was always trying to get her to use less. It was, apparently, 'for her own good' somehow.
"Good girl, Lilly," Dr. Allen said, and for a moment she thought he might pat h
er head. He caught himself in time, though, turning the gesture into an awkward wave before turning to leave.
Once he was out of the small apartment, Lilly let her expression darken into a glare. She didn't want to risk offending an old friend of her parents but the way he treated her as though she was still twelve was infuriating nearly a decade later.
Then again, I didn't like it when I was twelve, either.
"You know he means well," Margaret said, seeing her expression. "He's just. Well, he's just a bit of an ass, I suppose."
Lilly couldn't help smiling at that, but it didn't really lighten her mood. She hated the reminders of her illness, that was the problem. Because of it, she'd never get to travel, to see the world like her parents had. Dr. Allen's condescension would have been a lot easier to cope with if it wasn't for that.
Margaret came back to sit beside her, bringing her a cup of sweet tea. That was something that always helped to calm Lilly's nerves, and she took it gratefully.
"You need something to take your mind off it, Lilly. I saw something in the papers that might interest you, news from the South Seas."
For a wild moment Lilly hoped that it would be news of her parents. But no, if Margaret had that kind of news she'd have brought it through immediately, not saved it until the doctor left. For that matter, Dr. Allen would probably have known about it and told her. It couldn't be about them.
Which meant that they were still missing, and still probably dead. That thought brought her mood down even further. It was hard to give up on hope even years after their expedition disappeared.
