by Louise Wise
The next day was spent as she spent the other. It was ridiculous, she told herself on countless occasions.
And finally, with frustration overcoming fear, she stepped out of the buggy, and began to walk along the riverbank. If she saw a wolf, she’d jump in and swim was her plan. Taking a look at the fast-flowing river, it wasn’t a very good plan, but it was all she had.
Along her way she picked up various sticks and sharp-edged stones, and once back inside the safety of the buggy she began to make herself a spear - or a sharpened stick. Whatever she called it, the tip was sharp enough to cause serious harm to any wolf that tried to attack her.
She was ready when the alien came this time. As he approached the buggy, she opened the door and climbed out, with a tentative smile on her lips. “Thank you for the food,” she began.
But the alien raised a hand to silence her. He took out the computer tied around his thigh by twine, and she repeated her gratitude so it could be played back to him.
“We will be friends,” he said. His voice was robotic, and he spoke in single syllables. He didn’t attempt to smile, and his face was void of any warmth or welcome expression. It was cold, and Jenny shivered. “You are not safe here.”
Jenny blinked up at him.
“You stay with me,” he said.
“No!” She didn’t mean to shout, or panic the way she did. But she scuttled back into the buggy, and banged the door shut, and sat staring at him from the inside.
The alien stood for a moment, probably wandering on her state of mind, she thought gloomily as he turned and disappeared into the trees.
“Oh, God.” Jenny held her head in her hands. “Now I’ve just about lost the only help I have.”
Bodie came on air, and she told him what had happened. But instead of being sympathetic, he’d been glad. Stay right away from the alien, were his signing off words.
That morning, Jenny drove the buggy to the top of the hill where the spaceship was nestled. The doorway to the spaceship was tightly closed.
She climbed out and stood looking around. She’d wait for him, say her apologies for last night and leave. It seemed simple. But it didn’t feel simple.
Jenny peered towards the edge of the forest, wondering if he was in there somewhere. She looked back towards the spaceship. He could be inside, but she’d never be able to push up the door on her own to find out.
A movement in the trees almost made her scurry back towards the buggy, but the shadowy figure was tall and two-legged.
Him.
She forced herself to remain still, and waited as he came nearer.
“I come t-to say I’m s-sorry,” she said as he neared. She cursed herself for stammering but under his strange eyes, she couldn’t do anything else.
His gaze touched hers as he drew level. Black, bottomless, and unlike the dry orbs of before, this time they glittered like crystals. The dark pink of his lower gum was exposed, and his teeth, white and sharp, were in a continuous snarl.
Ice streaked her spine, and a sudden panic tightened around her lungs so she couldn’t breathe. Her fingers found the latch to the door of the buggy and curled around it; she watched as his eyes fell to her movement. She felt his disdain, and pulled her hand away as if the latch had grown hot.
Making a motion with his hand towards the spaceship, the alien began to walk down the hill. He didn’t give Jenny another glance, but beside his vessel began to deftly build a mound of broken branches, which he surrounded with loose rocks. He was building a base for a fire, and making it quickly, Jenny thought.
Leaving the safety of her vehicle, Jenny followed him to the bottom of the hill, and stood watching as he built up a sizeable fire.
Soon he had erected a spit above the fire, and lit it using something akin to matches. And still without looking in her direction he went into the spaceship and came out with a bloodied creature over his shoulder. He skinned and gutted the animal, and had it on the spit in moments. He was very mechanical in his actions like he’d done it a thousand times before - which of course he had.
Jenny stood watching from a short distance, ready to scurry up the hill and into the buggy if he as much as looked at her.
He didn’t. It was as if he knew how frightened she was of him. She felt thankful for his awareness. And whilst thinking about his consideration and willingness to help her she didn’t see him approach until he was a few feet away.
Jenny jumped, and looked up at him dumbly. The thoughts of fleeing emptied from her mind as the muscles in her legs went on a sabbatical and refused to move.
“Not kill you,” he said.
Jenny was certain he meant his words to be of comfort. She hoped so anyway. She forced her tight mouth into a smile.
“Thank you. I appreciate that.” She sounded ridiculous. She felt ridiculous. She was being appreciative for him not killing her like she was saying thanks for a trivial favor.
The alien walked over to the fire, and sat down. He looked at her, and Jenny realized she was meant to follow him. She did. But sat on the other side of the fire, with her back against the spaceship and keeping her eye on the safety of her buggy which was looking, at that moment, too far away for comfort.
Jenny was offered a generous portion of meat wrapped in yellow leaves. Watching him bite into his meat and leaf sandwich, Jenny copied. It was delicious. The meat was tender, slightly salty, but hot and heaven to her empty stomach. The leaves were a strange buttery taste. She ate, while keeping a careful watch on him. But the only attention he gave her was when he offered more food.
It was warm by the fire and Jenny watched as the alien pulled off his animal hide poncho, and rags beneath, and sat naked from the waist up.
Jenny noticed two things about him - irrelevant and significant at the same time - he had the most breathtakingly gorgeous body she’d ever seen and he was looking straight at her. His scarred mouth curved into a strange smile, then he leaned back against the tree, his long legs stretched out before him.
They’d eaten their fill, and sat either side of the fire. Jenny had inched a little closer, liking the warmth and realizing the alien was not going to hurt her as he’d promised.
“I’m sorry for last night,” she said, after a while. “I’ve never been in a situation like this before when I’m the vulnerable one.” She gave a small laugh. “I’m usually accused of being too aggressive or harsh. Maybe this is my punishment.”
He didn’t attempt to understand her words using the computer, but just sat and listened to her voice like he were listening to fine music. He even closed his eyes.
Jenny watched his face. He sat against the fire damaged tree, his face tilted back as if enjoying the warmth of the suns on his face. He was a powerfully built man - alien - she corrected. His black hair, blowing slightly in the wind, hung around his shoulders.
She eyed his bare chest and had to forcefully avert her eyes from the splendid ridges of muscle that played there. But without any conscious effect, they drifted back again. In the end, she gave up trying to look away and scrutinized him, telling herself she was a scientist and was obtaining important research.
With his eyes closed, she could pretend he was an ordinary man and she was back in England.
She sucked in her breath. Her eyes were open, and on her. His alien gaze was sleepy. He stretched with the self-indulgent grace of a cat, and yawed loudly.
Jenny yawned too, it being infectious.
The alien smiled - at least she thought it was a smile. The twisted mouth, the exposed lower gum and white teeth resembled a smile - or a sneer. The glittering black eyes were on her face and held an unmistakable masculine interest in her.
Had he been aware of her furtive scrutiny of him? Jenny’s face burned.
“Thank you for the food,” she said, for want of saying something.
He inclined his head. “Thank you for the.” he said, and replaced the last of the sentence with a word from his own language. Watching her, he spoke several more words in his
native tongue.
Jenny copied them, becoming tangled in the strange terminology. The alien man looked pleased at her attempt at his language. He yawned again, and closed his eyes.
He looked peaceful, and Jenny watched as his huge chest rose and fell in a gentle motion.
She wondered whether she should leave. But it was so warm here and she was so comfortable. She couldn’t bear to go back the confines of the buggy, not yet.
She told him about her mother, and of her famous father; the Zack Bodie, the astronaut who successfully mined for lunar water - pockets of water left over from billions of years ago on the moon, and whose footsteps she was walking in.
She knew he couldn’t understand a word she was saying, even if he was listening but it was a comfort to talk about her parents, and to think back to the days where she was invincible. She almost laughed at that.
After a while, with her belly full of food and with the warmth of the fire close by, her eyes began to grow heavy. The alien was clearly asleep, and unable to resist the temptation she lay down and closed her eyes.
*
He opened his eyes, wondering why she had stopped talking. She was asleep, laying on her side, with her hands a cushion for her head. She looked so childlike and vulnerable he knew it would be easy to crush her.
He had been taking things slow, and gently forcing her into accepting his presence. It had been a challenge on his character but he was pleased with himself so far.
He hadn’t understood much of her chatter for she had spoken too fast for him to catch many of the alien words. But he’d understood she’d spoken of home, and of her childhood. This pleased him for it made him realize all the studying he was doing of the human’s language was working.
When she woke she felt confused by her surroundings. For a moment she thought she was back home in England and in her bed. She sat up blinking, and visibly jumped when she saw the alien. He was leaning against a boulder sharpening an already lethal looking spear.
From his position Jenny saw a variety of scars on his shoulders. They stretched down his back and disappeared into the waistband of his raggy trousers.
The fire had burnt down to ash, and Jenny shivered.
The alien turned and looked at her. He drove the spear into the hard ground beside him, causing Jenny gasp. As if remembering he was supposed to act gentle, the alien held up his hands and attempted another smile.
Jenny wasn’t sure she liked his smiles.
She stood up, feeling flustered. “Thank you for the food a-and company,” she said almost automatically.
The alien reached for the computer.
“I’ll, er, go and leave you to it, then,” Jenny said, and pointed to the spear. Cheerfully she added, “You know, lots to do, and all that.
Fires to make, spears to sharpen.”
The alien looked at the spear, and then back at her. He seemed confused. He spoke into the small computer, “Come tomorrow at dawn, and I will share my kill with you again. “
Jenny licked her parched lips. “Share your, er, k-kill?”
The big alien man consulted his computer. “Eat with me tomorrow,” he said. “Sun rise.”
Jenny nodded, realizing she’d been summoned.
EIGHT
As she drove the short distance to the spaceship, Bodie came on air. When she heard his voice she knew he wouldn’t understand this new and dangerous friendship she had with the alien, so she deliberately kept her talk about Taurus and the problems they had with it.
Come tomorrow at dawn, he had said. She couldn’t get the alien’s words out of her mind.
She had fallen into a restless sleep as the sky brightened whilst wondering if the alien had made his kill or, and the thought plagued her constantly, whether he had fallen victim to the wolves” wide jaws and snarling teeth, and now dawn had long changed into daytime.
She stopped the buggy at the top of the decline, and looked across at the spaceship. Its size still sent a thrill through her veins, even though the sight of it was becoming familiar.
She climbed out and began to walk and slide down the slope. She was afraid she was too late and had missed him. She wondered what his name was, and what he was doing here. Had his race simply been exploring too?
The door to the spaceship was closed. Hesitating, she knocked and stood back primly.
Feeling his presence, rather than hearing it, Jenny turned. The alien was standing at the top of the hill looking down. His long hair was taken by the wind and whipped across his face; he brushed it away as he continued his appraisal of her in silence.
The animal skins he wore hung loose from his upper body, but they didn’t conceal the weapons hanging from a twine belt around his waist. They were crudely made; probably from bone and wood. The vision, he portrayed for Jenny at that moment, was one that made her want to bolt away and as fast as she possibly could, and hide.
But she couldn’t. He was standing beside her only transport and shelter, and without his help she would die.
Or die at his hands?
She shivered, but found her legs moving towards him.
As she reached the top, he turned around and began to walk towards the dense forest.
Soon they were inside the wood, and enveloped within its green surround. The alien turned a few times to see if Jenny was still behind, but he didn’t slow his pace. She tripped and fell twice in the tangle of foliage, and cursing beneath her breath, had to hurry after his quickly disappearing figure.
“Not so considerate now, eh, Mr. Alien?” she muttered crossly, after she’d slipped up to her knees a cold marsh. She pulled her legs free, holding her boots on to her feet as the bog tried to claim them, and trying to look which way the alien was heading at the same time.
Just three or four paces in front and she would quickly lose him among underbrush and find herself alone beneath the canopy of dark, dank towering trees.
Or not alone; the lone howl amongst the chattering creatures above in the trees made the threat to her safety a very real one. She scurried after the alien.
She passed many of the giant killer-flower, and was careful to avoid them. She was interested to notice the alien was also as wary.
Soon they came to a clearing with a wide view of a lake, which, at first glance, she thought was an ocean. In the distance, a truculent flood of water gushed over a high wall of rock with such force it left her breathless. And even from where she stood its spray dampened her hair. Tall feather like reeds in oranges and reds grew from the bottom of the lake like some kind of alien giant water flower.
The trees weren’t as dense here, and sunlight fell on her cool skin and warmed her. She noticed most of the dry, spiny bush was covered with tiny buds and wondered what type of flower or fruit would follow. She looked around. It really was a beautiful place, almost tranquil.
She looked across at the alien; he was crouching beside an unlit fire. He lit it, and carefully began to build the fire up. An animal, already prepared, was on a spit above.
A spot on the ground by her feet startled her and broke the spell she was under. She was standing in a puddle of dark blood. She moved away, crossed her arms tightly around herself, and watched as the alien settled himself beside the fire.
He didn’t look once at her, but continued to stare into the flames. Jenny moved nearer to its warmth, but made sure the fire was between them before she knelt on the cold ground. As if hot, the alien removed the top half of his clothes, and Jenny had a delicious view of his chest and abdomen again. She scowled. He was doing it on purpose, the trollop!
She giggled to herself, wondering if the air was addling her brain. She sobered when she found his strange stare on her, and turned to watch the fire.
They sat in silence, watching the flames lick at the carcass on the spit. Soon the meat began to cook, and the smell made Jenny’s mouth water.
Moving towards the fire the alien unleashed claws from his fingertips and hacked out a chunk of meat. He pushed the almost raw meat i
nto his mouth, and while the fire spat as fat dripped down onto it, a trickle of blood ran down his chin; he brushed it away. He turned the meat, and sat back on his haunches.
At that moment, she would’ve given in to her fear and ran, but looking in the direction they had travelled she wondered which she feared more: the forest and its hidden dangers, or the alien.
Taking control of her breathing, she forced herself to relax. He wasn’t out to harm her, she told herself. He has claws, so what? So do Labradors.
The alien took out the computer. He spoke into it in his one-syllable, clipped voice. The machine played-back his alien words in English: “Have you tried the transmitter from your vehicle?”
Jenny glanced over at the computer cum translator he held. She had no option but to move closer so she could speak into it. She did so reluctantly and spoke deliberately into the device: “Yes.”
“They are not coming back for you?”
Jenny cleared her throat. “Our craft is having technical problems.”
The alien seemed intrigued although his face remained blank and unmoving as Jenny explained as simply as she could what had had happened.
“The asteroids brought our craft down,” he said.
She looked up in surprise. “Were you exploring the planet, too?”
He ignored her question. “Can your craft be repaired?” He was definitely interested.
“I hope so, if only for those left onboard.” Of course he was interested, the thought thundered in her brain. How could she have been so dim? He wouldn’t allow her rescue, all he wanted was Taurus for himself.
“Why only for those left onboard?” he asked. “I do not understand the reason. “
“I could survive here, they can’t if their provisions and air run dry.”
“You have concern for them?”
“Of course.”
She saw something flash in his eyes. It could have been surprise, but she wasn’t certain.
Without replying, he checked the meat again. This time, with a knife. When she looked closer, she saw the knife was made from antler, like the spear yesterday, and shaped and sharpened to its deadly appearance.
