“Yes. Yes, I did.” He gazed off to the horizon, daydreaming.
“Won’t you tell me what happened, or do you consider it none of the business of an insufferable snoop such as me?”
A moment of silence passed. Then he added, “It’s my unhappy story.”
“Tell me more about this woman,” she urged.
He played with his coin-shaped music box. “Kelsey was my first love. We served together and shared many dangers. There was a time I thought . . . It’s over now. I can no longer love her, and yet I can’t seem to give her up.”
Alaina looked at him with a thoughtful stare so as not to miss any shade of his meaning.
“Is your life merely the consequence of other people’s choices?” she asked.
“No, but it is limited by the free choice of others.”
“You have a great deal to learn about romance.”
“Doesn’t everyone?”
“How delightful.”
“Delightful?”
“We've found something we can investigate.”
“Oh?” said Gallant, wondering if she was offering to help him explore romance—personally.
She’s so impulsive. I never know when she’s serious.
“Well it’s nice to know I’ve a friend,” he said.
“Yes, I know and I feel it too,” she said, and then added, “For those who enjoy straying from the trodden path, adventures can be fun.”
“I suppose,” he said.
“Nevertheless, I doubt if romance is much different here than back on Earth.”
“This colony has been outside the norm of Earth for quite a long time,” he said, looking at his chronometer. "Speaking of investigating, perhaps we should get back to our exploration expedition. I still need to examine the other side of the volcano before we head back.”
“Okay,” she said wistfully.
They flew to the other side of the volcano and completed their survey, logging their findings into the onboard computer and sending the data back to the Hummingbird for AI analysis. They preserved a printed summary along with the samples into a secure waterproof container that fit into a satchel on the flyer.
As the sun set, Gallant decided they had accomplished all they could for one day and prepared to return to Hallo. They took off and flew over the jungle near a large lake.
As they left the volcano behind, the flyer engine acted erratically and stalled causing the flyer to plummet toward the valley floor.
“Hang on,” said Gallant as he struggled with the controls.
Alaina’s hands tore into his chest as he managed to slow their descent. He accomplished a semi-controlled landing on the lake surface.
Alaina, who had been clinging precariously to Gallant during the many gyrations, let go of him as the flier struck the water. Alaina collided feet first with the lake but quickly submerged, dozens of meters away from Gallant. He too slammed into the water as the machine went down. The surface was like cement at that speed.
After swimming to the surface, Gallant gasped for breath. She was nowhere in sight.
“Alaina! Alaina,” he shouted, frantically looking around to see if he could catch sight of her nearby. In a semiconscious state, Gallant was not quite aware of his surroundings. Plunging beneath the surface, he looked for her.
At last he saw a figure not too far away in the misty depths of the lake. Swimming underwater, he moved his arms and legs in rhythm. With powerful stokes he got close to her limp body. Placing his hand under her chin, he repositioned himself to pull her to the surface. When they burst free into the air, he breathed in deeply.
Holding her head up in his hands while he floated on his side, he breathed into her mouth several times, trying to fill her lungs once more. When she sputtered water from her mouth and began breathing on her own, he started swimming to the shoreline, about three kilometers away, pulling her along lifeguard style, as he learned at the academy.
With each stoke, he felt a twinge of pain in his shoulder. He knew now it was injured, but he kept on swimming, steadily watching the beach get nearer with each stoke. Swimming this distance ordinarily would have been merely a nice workout, but with his impaired shoulder and a debilitated person to assist, he quickly realized he would have to ration his energy to get them both to safety.
He finally reached the shore, exhausted. His memories came flooding back, reliving the impact of hitting the water and the desperate dive to find Alaina. The transition from a disassociated state of labored swimming into one of a painful reality came like a blow. As he caught his breath, he also remembered he had lost all his equipment, along with his comm badge and gun. He and Alaina were now stranded, without any resources, two hundred kilometers from the only civilization on this planet.
Gallant surveyed the wide beach clearing they found themselves on. About thirty meters offshore, high grass, scattered trees, and brush appeared before eventually morphing into a full-fledged jungle. He checked on Alaina. She was still semiconscious; her breathing was labored, but steady.
He pulled her farther up the clearing on the beach and massaged her hands and feet to restore circulation and revive her. She moaned and opened her eyes.
“What happened?”
“The flyer gave out on us. We crash-landed into the lake. How are you?”
“I’m okay,” she said, coughing up more water. "I think."
Gallant twisted about trying to find his bearings.
The breeze was dying down with the setting sun and cooling the land. As night approached, the air flow over the island and further out to sea balanced out. The waves broke on the shore to burst rhythmically on the limestone cliffs. The surf and beach produced a phosphorescence of water with the vivid bright heaving surf running from the breakers to the beach.
The approach of twilight dulled the colors of the day, leaving a fading gray impression of substance transforming into shadow with the fall of evening. The setting sun not only reduced the available light, but a chill in the air was developing as well. The climate during the day had been warm and humid; however, night time temperatures dropped drastically. Soaked from head to foot, his wet clothes clung to him, robbing him of warmth.
Alaina pointed, her eyes growing wide.
“Alaina?” asked Gallant.
A roar from deep within the jungle fixed his attention and he remembered the warnings he had received about the wild panther-like cats. They hunted in the jungle after dark.
“There are dangerous animals in this area,” she said. “I saw something moving in the shadows at the edge of the jungle about thirty meters down the beach.”
Gallant looked around more slowly and tried to spot movement along the shoreline. Something was in the grass north of them. Again he heard a roar and the high grass moved. The cold hand of adrenaline trickled down his back. He forced himself to remain quiet and listen while he continued to look for more signs of wildlife.
He watched and waited. The shadow appeared again, moving slowly from left to right across his view. He reached for his handgun, but it was gone. He grasped the handle of his knife and pulled it out of the sheath on his thigh. He moved forward slowly.
He decided they should walk south, away from the shore, but they were quickly swallowed up by a dense forest better defined as a jungle. Overhead, birds circled above him.
A deep-throated growl sounded nearby.
What was that?
A shadowy beast moved along the jungle’s edge, still a hundred meters north of them.
“Come, it’s not safe here.” Alaina led him rapidly away from the waving high grass along the parallel direction.
They stopped and watched as the grass stopped moving as well. The sun continued to set and the shadows grew longer by the minute; the gray of the sky was turning black.
They came through a ravine that sliced across their path, and Gallant smelled fresh water. Thirsty, they made their way down to the bottom, where a small stream flowed. All the birds had stopped singing.
/> They were being stalked by the creature. They might have to fight it off.
Gallant walked with Alaina, keeping his attention on the high grass with his hand firmly holding his knife. He thought he saw Alaina frown, but she didn’t speak, trying to remain as quiet as possible.
They walked on, becoming nervous whenever they heard the squawking noise made by the beast.
The moon was bright enough for them to see an animal trail ahead. Helping her cut a path through the chest-high underbrush, he looked toward the threatening high grass again, but no longer saw any sign of the animal.
Together they entered farther into the arms of the dark forest, struggling against the vines and obstacles on the jungle floor. The landscape didn’t change even as they had walked more than a mile; it was a mysterious place, wrapping them in danger.
Beneath the jungle’s tree canopy, the floor, the lowest layer of vegetation had no plants growing directly from it, because the sunlight was not filtering through. The ground was littered with decomposing vegetation and organisms breaking down into usable nutrients. Many nutrients were locked into this biomass. Tree roots stayed close to the surface to access these foods. Large animals foraged for roots and tubers, while insects—like millipedes, scorpions, and earthworms—used their litter as a source of food.
The humans were forced to make their own path as they pulled back the brush.
As he stepped over a clutter of vines, the ground dropped away, and Gallant found himself pitched into a black pit.
“Ouch,” he said, looking up at Alaina above him. Not wasting time, he got up and climbed back to her.
“I think it’s time to make camp for the night. I can’t see us making much more progress in the dark.” She was trembling, whether from the wet clothes and cold night air, or from fear, he couldn’t tell, but from everything he had seen of her, he was fairly sure she wasn’t frightened of the dark, the jungle, or any old jungle cat.
He grunted his agreement.
“We need a fire,” said Alaina. “I’m freezing and besides it will keep the dragor away.”
“Dragor?”
“Yes, that’s the huge panther-like cat that’s been stalking us. If it catches us unaware, your knife isn’t going to be much use against a beast of at least two hundred kilograms with huge fangs and claws. I’d be more comfortable with a good, bright, blazing fire.”
Nodding, Gallant began rounding up dry wood and grass from the nearby area. Alaina gathered large leafy branches from a nearby tree to create a shelter.
As he arranged the firewood, he looked up to see Alaina taking off her halter top and shorts. She stretched the clothes out on a nearby bush, and, in the next second, she removed her undergarments as well.
Shivering naked in front of him, she appeared unabashed.
Gallant gawked momentarily, but, given the necessity of removing their wet clothes, he simply said, “I’ll turn my back.”
“All right, if that’s how you feel,” she said. “I don’t know if UP morality, or cultural standards have changed so much, but I hope you’re not going to be offended by simple nudity. It is, after all, necessary for us to get our clothes dry before we can sleep.”
He said nothing further, but he had managed an admiring glance before turning away. Certainly her form could offend no man.
She said, “Are you going to light the fire, or are you going to let me freeze to death?”
Focusing his attention back on the kindling, he struck his knife blade against a stone of flint which he had found. The spark ignited the kindling, and he quickly added the larger branches. Once he threw on a large block of wood, the fire lit up nicely.
He stoked the flames for a minute, and then finally, without looking at her, he removed his clothes and stretched them on the bushes next to Alaina’s.
He sensed her presence nearby when she leaned a branch against a low lying tree limb. She began pilling the leafy twigs on a support branch until it resembled a fair shelter.
Joining her efforts, Gallant gathered more leafy material for bedding.
Alaina walked behind him. She placed a finger on top of the scar on Gallant’s left shoulder and traced the scar down his back, which continued on along his right leg—as if her touch had magic healing powers to impart. Her touch certainly had an effect. He swallowed.
“I’m sorry . . .” she said with evident empathy for his injury.
“It’s still healing. It’ll disappear before too long.”
“Your scar kind of resembles an outline for a dragor. Dragor is a blending of dragon and panther—very deadly, very mysterious. When we first began building our town, we lost many children to the dragor. Our parents told us scary stories about dragors to keep us close to home,” she explained, adding, “Are you deadly and mysterious?”
He didn’t answer right away, but he thought of the things he had accomplished that he was proud of and of the few things he lived with that he was not so proud of. “A warrior should be deadly,” he said, “but not so mysterious.”
She nodded, apparently satisfied with the answer, as if it fit into her understanding of him.
As they faced each other—naked—Gallant’s breathing became shallow and rapid. He let Alaina’s figure and beauty produce an undeniable natural response.
He took her hand and the soft touch created a rising intimacy. She moved closer and ran her hand across his shoulder, caressing him.
For several minutes he mirrored each touch of hers with a touch from him; each sharp intake of breath by him was echoed by a soft moan from her.
Exploring her body heightened his anticipation until he could wait no longer. Wrapping his arms around her in a sensual embrace, they fell into their makeshift bed and made love. They remained together until they finally fell into a deep sleep.
Their pleasures were not long lasting, however, as the jungle noises arose once more, demanding their attention.
Gallant rose, dressed, and built up the fire. Alaina fell back asleep, enjoying the warmth and intimacy of their improvised shelter and the roaring security of the fire shielding them from predators. He joined her, her face snuggled under the bedding leaves, only inches away from him, while Gallant remained awake listening to the deep-throated growls of their stalker, who waited patiently beyond the fire’s edge in the shadows.
Sometime in the predawn light, the dragor departed and Gallant was able to fall into a shallow fitful sleep, lasting until Alaina’s rustling disturbed him.
Gallant awoke with the sunlight streaming through the trees’ branches, weaving a beam directly onto his face. He was glad the long night was over.
With one eye squinting open, he saw Alaina, backlit by the sun. She was filling a concave stone with water from a bamboo-like plant and moving it close to the fire. Once the water reached a roiling pitch, she placed a reedy straw into it and drank her fill. She quickly refilled it and seeing him stir, she said, “Rise and shine. It’s breakfast.”
His eyes burned and his mouth tasted stale. His arms and legs ached, and he found turning his stiff neck was painful, but to his utter amazement, he found Alaina had several eggs cooking on a flat stone near the fire, next to boiling water. He had no idea how she had scavenged them.
“Good morning,” he said.
“Good morning.”
“You okay?” he asked, feeling his way forward within their new relationship.
“I’m great,” she said, standing arms akimbo, dressed in her shorts and halter top once more.
He thought, Yes, you are. You’re gutsy, smart, and sexy. He pulled on his dry clothing as well.
Alaina began telling him a humorous story about her previous experiences in the jungle and a lilting laugh escaped her lips. Covering her mouth with her hand, she seemed pleased with her account.
While the story was appealing, her unrestrained joy in telling it made it more fascinating. Gallant reached over and touched her hand.
Her lips quivered into a smile.
He felt a su
rge of rekindled desire, but the loud squawking of passing birds interrupted his reverie and reminded him that they should prepare to leave.
Gallant swallowed as much water as he could before scarfing down several eggs.
“That was good. Thank you.”
“How’s your shoulder today?” she asked.
“No problem.”
“Then we should be going. If we head due south, I think we can come to an outpost in a day or two. That is, if nobody is searching for us already.”
“I’m pretty sure Junior had the flyer bugged, but he probably thinks I’m exploring along the lake area around the volcano. I never got a distress signal off. I can’t image he’ll be too concerned about my disappearing into the jungle. And no one knows you’re with me. I’d say we’re on our own.”
Gallant only took a few steps before outside their campsite before he spotted a series of large paw prints in the mud the size of a grizzly bear’s with long sharp claws.
I’m glad dragors don’t like fire.
“We better get going,” said Alaina.
As Gallant turned and took a step, she slapped him hard across his rear and ran ahead of him laughing.
Looking after her with a gleeful smile, he followed happily.
They followed an animal trail that twisted between the trees and the steep mountain terrain. Beyond the trail was a canyon with a stream running for as far as they could see. The stream bubbled and shot spray in their direction. They climbed along the embankment until they saw a footpath near a group of boulders.
“We should cross the stream here. It looks like it broadens ahead.”
They cautiously stepped into the water to test its depth and found a fordable path across. Untroubled water fowl waddled along the path ahead of them. Once on the other side, they walked purposely forward again. The roar of the nearby river provided a background to the loud animal sounds.
They climbed up a hilly slope along a mountainous cliff spotted with trees. The ledge they were on started to give way. Gallant jumped down to a lower ledge under a tree canopy. He managed to grab Alaina’s arm in time to keep her from falling farther. He grasped her afterward, even after the danger had passed, only to realize he had been squeezing her hard. Yet she never complained, settling onto the ledge beside him.
Henry Gallant Saga 2: Lieutenant Henry Gallant Page 11
