“It worked!” Jessie cheered.
“Shh! There are probably still Sarceastians around in the woods. They may have fled for safety, but they’ll be back. Come on, back to the camp. This calls for a celebration!” David stated.
We went back to the camp and celebrated with a meal of fruit and Barbalot meat. Barbalots were small rabbit-like mammals found only on Padure.
As the night came on, Jessie and I went to our tent while David continued to guard the camp in case any Sarceastian patrols might still be in the area.
“I don’t know about you, but I say we leave tomorrow,” I said as I watched Jessie undress.
“Yes, I am ready. Having to worry about Sarceastian patrols and the eventual arrival of more Sarceastian ships is not something I’m looking forward to,” she agreed. I ran my fingers through her hair and gave her a small kiss.
"I'm in the mood for some mind-melding," she said, raising her left eyebrow suggestively. I nodded and took both of her hands. We both closed our eyes, and I felt the energy of her love flowing from her hands to mine. Soon, I was overwhelmed with pleasurable sensations that flowed throughout my body. Both of us began to moan with delight as we reached orgasm at the same time. We lay together afterwards, listening to the sounds of the night. I was trying to find a nerve to ask Jessie to form a forever pact with me. Forever pacts were similar to Earth marriages. The pact bonded a couple together forever unless the pact was broken by a holy Kerkola, the Karkastian equivalent of an Earth pastor or priest.
“Jessie, there is something I’ve been meaning to ask you,” I finally got the nerve to say.
“Sure, what is it?” she asked. I got up and stood in front of her, taking her right hand in mine.
“Jessie, for some time now I’ve known that you were the only one for me. I want us to always be together, to be bonded to one another forever more. What I am trying to say is that I want to form a forever pact with you. Will you take this pact and be by my side for the rest of our days?”
"Yes, I will! Oh, Yahn. It's like you're asking me to marry you!" she became very excited as a single tear ran down her rosy cheeks.
“What does marrying mean?” he asked.
“It’s very similar to your forever pact. When you get married, it’s like you are bonded with each other for eternity in the eyes of God, which is the higher being that many humans believe in.”
“Yes, that does sound like the same thing,” I admitted.
“Do you exchange anything? Humans give each other rings as a symbol of their marriage,” she shared.
“Usually, the Kerkola, a holy Karkastian, binds the two lovers with golden rope, but I don’t have any,” I stated.
“Hmm, I have something that might work,” she said as she went to dig through her purse. She got out a gold necklace and brought it over to me.
“Here, this will work,” she said, handing it to me.
“Will we still be bonded even though a Kerkola isn’t present?” she asked me.
“Yes, as long as we say the sacred vow. Repeat after me,” I instructed her.
“I, Yahn do agree to form a forever pact with you, Jessie so that we can roam the universe bonded by love for the rest of our days. Now you,” I said.
“I, Jessie, do agree to form a forever pact with you, Yahn so that we can roam the universe bonded by love for the rest of our days,” she repeated. Then, I took her hand and wrapped the gold necklace around both of our arms.
Jessie gave me a long and loving kiss and pushed me down onto the cot from the space cruiser that we were using as our bed. She took off all her clothes and let me gaze upon her gorgeous, naked body before climbing on top of me. We consummated our pact and fell into a deep sleep. I dreamed of a palace in the clouds where we sat in peace looking down on a fair city of floating buildings below us. I knew that this city was the place we were hoping to find one day.
The next day, we woke up at the same time and prepared to say our goodbyes and make the trek back to the space cruiser.
“I really wish the two of you would stay, but I can understand why you don’t want to. It’s not the ideal life having to look over your shoulder all the time to watch out for a Sarceastian patrol,” David said.
“No, it isn’t the life for us, and you are more than welcome to come with us if you wish,” Jessie added.
"No, thank you for the invitation, but my place is here. I am going to re-build my home and defend it against the Sarceastians for the rest of my days. That is my destiny," David answered.
"We understand. We will miss you quite a bit, David. You are a true friend to us, and I hope that we might meet again one day," I said, shaking his hand.
“Whenever you wish to return, I will be here.”
"Goodbye, David," Jessie said, hugging David.
“Goodbye. Look out for each other!”
Just a moment after we entered the woods, we heard the sound of an approaching Sarceastian patrol. We hid behind the trees and drew our weapons, but we had been spotted. The forest lit up with red light from their laser fire. Several trees around us were set ablaze.
“They are behind the trees!” one of them shouted to the others. We returned fire from behind the trees, taking out several of them, but there were ten or so, and they continued to move in our direction.
“What are we going to do?” Jessie asked me.
"Just keep firing back, we are going to make it through this," I reassured her. Then, I fired a few more shots and killed another guard. There were now about six of them and they were almost upon us. From out of nowhere, David came up behind them, firing as he went. One by one he killed all of the guards except for one who was mortally wounded. The wounded guard fell to the ground but managed to fire one last shot at David near his heart. He let out a cry of distress and fell to the ground. I came out from behind the tree and shot the guard before he could lift his laser cannon again. Jessie and I ran over to David to check on him. He was barely breathing when we came over to him and knelt down.
“I am not going to be for long in this world. That guard managed to shoot me near the heart. You two must go on and leave me here. You have your whole lives in front of you. Leave this place and go somewhere that the two of you can truly be happy and live in peace. There is no peace here as long as the Sarceastians continue to return,” he said as he gasped for air.
“David, you need to save your breath. We are going to save you,” Jessie said, as her eyes filled with tears.
“There is no saving me. Please, leave before another patrol spots you. I’m certain that there are other Sarceastian patrols out there, and they will be looking for the humans that blew up their colony.”
“David, I want to tell you how grateful I am again about your help and your friendship. I will never forget you or the things that you have done for us. Go now to your eternal rest,” I said as I knelt down and took his hand.
"Thank you, Yahn. I would never have lived this long if it wasn't for the two of you. May God look out for you both for the rest of your days." David began to gasp for air and soon, he stopped breathing. I shut his eyes as Jessie put her arms around David and began to cry.
“No! You can’t die!” she exclaimed. I allowed her to shed her tears and hold him for a moment. Then, I took her by the hand and lifted her head up to face me.
“Jessie, he’s gone. We must leave soon before we are spotted by the other Sarceastians.”
“We have to bury him and give him a proper memorial,” she stated. I wasn’t sure what this meant. When Karkastians died, they were shot into space. However, since David was a human, I wanted him to be honored in the way that humans honored their dead. I helped Jessie dig a large hole near the site of the rubble that was once David’s house. We wrapped David’s body in material from his cot and placed him in the hole. Once we had covered him with dirt, Jessie said a few words in his honor.
“Lord, take David into your heavenly kingdom and reward him for a life of care and service for what he believed in.
David was an honorable man who died defending his home planet against those that would pillage and destroy it. Be at peace, my friend, amen,” she stated, solemnly.
“Be at peace,” I repeated.
With heavy hearts, we walked back to the space cruiser and uncovered it. Luckily, there were no further signs of the Sarceastians. I comforted Jessie as she broke into tears again, holding her close to me.
"Come, my love, we must be on our way. Our journey doesn't end here. We must say our final goodbyes to Padure," I said. We stood for a moment on the ridge looking over the forested landscape that was interrupted here and there by the clear cuts the Sarceastians had caused.
We turned and got inside the space cruiser and began the launch sequence. As we began to lift off, Jessie took my hand and looked me in the eye.
"I vow right here and now to never leave your side. For David's sake, we will continue to live happy and free lives together for as long as we can." Jessie's eyes began to cloud with tears again as we looked down on the beautiful green landscapes of Padure. Soon it became a green ball in the distance as we moved through the stars into the vastness of space. Jessie began to look through the navigator at the nearby planets for a possible destination.
“Well, where to now?” she asked.
“It doesn’t matter to me as long as we’re together,” I said, feeling hopeful despite everything we had just been through. However, the loss of our friend still pervaded our mood.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Jessie
David’s memory still hung like a cloud over us as we tried to get ourselves together and figure out our next move. I searched the navigator, but couldn’t find too many planets in the immediate area that were inhabitable. There was Hetyor, a gas giant that had no living beings and an atmosphere so harsh it made Venus look like a vacation destination. Then there was Lodhurgloss that was far too hot and had such an arid climate that there was no water on its surface. Finally, we had to resign ourselves to stopping at another spaceport. These were always dubious destinations even under the best circumstances, but we would have to refuel soon and we didn't have many other options. The fact that we were wanted on Earth made us targets for bounty hunters and mercenaries. The space port was called Trevanan, and it was even more dangerous than Anarhie. For the most part, there was no law on the spaceport, and very few humans journeyed there due to the amount of murderers, robbers, and the likes of them on the planet. Most of the inhabitants were Reflominans, two-headed giants that had very little conscience.
"I hate to say it, but I think Trevanan is our best bet for refueling," I finally said.
“Are you sure there’s no better place?” Yahn asked.
"I wish there was, but all the planets in this sector are completely uninhabitable. Let's land, fuel up, and head out of there as soon as we can. If we keep to ourselves and don't stay long, maybe we can keep from attracting attention to ourselves." I knew this was foolhardy because a human traveling with a Karkastian was sure to turn heads just about anywhere in the known universe.
My mind turned again to David and how sad I was to have lost such a dear friend. The only silver lining was the fact that he had died defending the planet he loved. I comforted myself with this fact.
“Do your kind believe in an afterlife?” I asked Yahn, thinking of David’s fate.
“You mean life after death?”
“Yes.”
“Our kind believe that the energy and essence of our souls live on in another plane of existence. We believe that you spend the afterlife working through the problems that caused you trouble in your life until you reach a state called Kardenzol, which is like a perfect state of being."
“I guess that’s a little like the idea of heaven, which is this perfect place many humans believe that you go when you die if you have lived a virtuous life.”
“Is that what you believe?” Yahn inquired as the spaceport showed up on our radar.
“I don’t know what I believe anymore. I just hope for David’s sake that heaven or Kardenzol exists. I have to believe that if such a place is real, he’s there because he was such a decent human being.”
“Yes, I would like to believe that too.” Yahn smiled and put his hand on my knee for a second before preparing to land the space cruiser.
Trevanan soon came into focus as we lowered the space cruiser. It was not only less safe than Anarhie, it was also older and more run down. The buildings looked decrepit and decayed. There were even buildings there that were built directly on the ground, which was a rare thing at this time. Those buildings were in particularly rough shape. We began to move into position to land on a strip that began to show up on the radar screen. Normally, there were creatures in charge of such places, but no one came on our communication screen to give us permission to land.
“This is Yahn of Karkast, requesting permission to land on platform nineteen,” Yahn stated. There was no answer. We looked at each other doubtfully as Yahn lowered the ship.
“Again, this is Yahn of Karkast, requesting permission to…”
“Yeah, yeah, go ahead,” An annoyed voice said.
We landed and a Langmilian with his feet up on the desk looked us over. He didn’t give us a friendly greeting.
“Hello friend, we are in need of a refueling. Is there a station nearby?" Yahn asked. This Langmilian was not like the sleek, well-dressed beings we encountered on Anarhie.
“Yeah, there’s one about a mile from here.”
This seemed odd because usually the refueling stations were located right next to the landing sites in most spaceports.
“Is there one closer?” Yahn asked.
"Used to be, but it closed down," the Langmilian said, pointing to a boarded up building just to our west.
“Thanks,” Yahn said as we got back inside the space cruiser and headed down the road towards the station that was open. Once there, a surly human came out of a small hover dwelling and looked us over suspiciously. I did not like the way he was looking us over one bit.
"Can you fill her up?" Yahn asked politely. He nodded but did not offer any words of greeting. "Afterwards, we need to rent a port to keep our cruiser for a day or so." The man nodded again. He was portly and tall and looked as if it had been five or six years since he had shaved or taken a bath.
We left the refueling station and began to walk down what looked to be an abandoned street, the kind that were built way back in the twenty-first century. There were a few hover cars here and there, but not a whole lot of activity, otherwise. The few beings we did see, looked to be rough types. A gang of Reflominans eyed us and a few of them began to say inappropriate things to me. I began to wonder if I was the only female creature in the area. Yahn gave them a glare and kept a hand on his laser cannon, as did I.
Finally, we came to a high-rise hotel that was attached to the ground. This let us know that the building was quite ancient. When we walked through the door, a female Derinian gave us a surly look. Derinians had yellow skin and were almost completely round in shape. They usually had two sets of hands and very large eyes.
“One room?” she asked.
“Yes, please,” Yahn answered. She looked us over again.
“A Karkastian and a human together? That’s a new one,” she finally said.
“We’ve heard that one before,” I answered.
“Room 567- top floor. You can take the elevator or the stairs,” She said in a detached voice.
The fact that the hotel had an elevator showed us just how old the building was. Most high-rise dwellings used beaming technologies to take people up to higher floors, which was much faster and safer. The elevator jerked into motion dubiously but did get us to our floor. There was graffiti all over the walls, which reminded me of the ghetto areas back on Earth. It was very quiet, almost too quiet on the top floor.
“Well, we should be able to get some rest up here,” Yahn pointed out.
“I suppose, but I’m starving, and I couldn’t eat another ration.”
“Alright, I just hope that we can find a place that will have food that is edible,” Yahn said.
The room was dingy and cold. The carpet looked stained and it smelled like mildew and smoke. However, the bed did look as if it had clean sheets on it. We sat down our things and went back down the elevator in hope of finding a café. We were going to ask the Derinian, but she was nowhere to be seen.
"Well, stay close to me, I suppose we will have to find a place ourselves." Yahn smiled and took my hand. We went walking down the block past several more abandoned buildings until we heard loud music coming from the corner. Several Reflominans were coming in and out of the building, many of them stumbling as if they had been drinking too much.
“This may get a little rough, but I don’t think we have many other options around here,” Yahn stated.
We walked in and quickly realized that we were the only creatures that weren’t Reflominans. The two-headed beasts towered over us and gave us suspicious looks as we walked in. A few of them were whispering amongst themselves.
We went in and sat down at the bar. The bartender ignored us at first.
“Bartender? What do you have to eat?” Yahn asked politely. The bartender kept on scrubbing glasses and didn’t look up at first.
“Excuse me…” Yahn continued.
“We got Radagat stew and that’s all. We’re out of the rest,” he barked, without looking up.
“Alright then, two bowls,” Yahn answered. The bartender turned away from us, went in the back and came back with two steaming bowls of food. We were both so hungry that we ate the food as quickly as we could. The meat was tough and salty, but it was edible. Then, we ordered some ale. As soon as the bartender put the pints down in front of us, a really plump Reflominan came and sat down beside me, eyeing me inappropriately.
“How much for the female?” he asked in a low, gravelly voice.
“She is not for sale,” Yahn replied.
Yahn: Paranormal Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Alien Mates Book 4) Page 15
