by Mara Jaye
“Please? Don’t leave me here alone. I’ll die and there’ll be no one to bury me.” Tears stream down her face. I clench my jaw, resisting the urge to do anything to save her as she continues. “You don’t know what it’s like having no one to talk to. Emol isn’t a paradise at all. The plants are deadly. The Kik birds aren’t friendly and I’m running out of supplies from the ship. There’s three days food, tops.” She wipes her eyes and sniffs. “I don’t know how to make a weapon and my knives are weighted for throwing. I don’t mind dying. I just don’t want to be alone again. This is harder than I thought it would be. No one is here. No one. Even the voices in my head are quiet until I talk to them first.” Her chin trembles. “I know I sound insane with the voices, but they’re like viruses here. I don’t know how to get rid of them.”
Before I can rerun the tests for removing her from the planet, she stands and continues. “Sorry. I’m talking to dead air. It’s just, I’m not a survivalist. There’s fruit, tastes awful, but is edible. I’ll have to learn how to hunt the birds or die trying.” She’s quiet for a moment, looking around her, before leaning forward and staring into the probe’s camera. “No answer, huh? I’m begging an empty room and dead drone for help. Great. At least you mean what you say. When you’re gone, you’re gone.”
The woman is absolutely beautiful. I’m trying to not think with my attraction, but close up like this makes staying focused difficult. I already want to know everything about her. Where did she live on Earth, what her favorite foods are, and what she felt when realizing she’d left her home planet? Her motions and sounds distract me when she sniffs, wiping her eyes again before picking up our device. She turns it one way, then another before resuming her examination of the camera. “So. Only one lens wrapping all the way around? I’ll bet that gives you a three-sixty view.” The picture turns upside down for a moment before righting itself. “Hell if I know how you hover, though. There’s no jet on your bottom.” She chuckles, her voice still shaky from crying, and the video goes upside down again. “Other than your voices, I can’t tell if you’re a boy or a girl, either.”
Our probe is placed on the ground again with the woman getting to her feet, looking over it. “Too bad you all abandoned me here.” Her voice breaks on the last few words. She’s silent for a moment. “I could have used a real friend.” She sighs and tilts her head up at the sky. “I’ll have to pretend the drone is a person or quietly go insane.”
Enforcer?
Yes, Deek? I respond, even if I’m pretty sure I know what his next words will be.
Could we send this to the Director and change her mind?
I want to say yes, but the Director is as bound by the rules as I am. The attempt would be useless. We could. It seems a shame to leave someone behind when all of our training says to bring everyone home.
I agree.
The woman is talking again, but I’m not listening. Her lips entrance me, which sounds grandiose, but there is no other word for it. She seems scrappy, able to take care of herself. She’ll get used to being by herself. As soon as the words leave my mind, my chest hurts. It’s just a video feed of a normal Earther. She’s one of the most beautiful, but then, there are so many on her planet who are. Still, her voice, the way she moves? Origins help me if I were to ever touch her because she might just be my bondmate. Impossible, but my system is reaching out for hers.
Deek breaks into my musings. We can’t just leave her there. Her name is Xell.
A spear of jealousy pierces my chest that he knows this and I don’t. Still, I’m grateful for the information and turn her name over and over in my mind while replying, How do you know? Is she in Alliance datalinks? I enter the small bridge.
“No. She told the probe, or us, in an effort to get a response earlier.”
I sit next to Deek, watching the woman pick up our device. She’s taking it somewhere outside. “We should send the probe out for more information from Emol, submit our report and leave.”
Deek shakes his head as Xell puts the probe on the ground next to her campfire. “Maybe, as long as we let it come back to be her pretend friend.” I give him an exasperated look for the suggestion. He reacts with a, “What? She’s desperate for companionship. If our drone helps her, why not?”
He’s already using her word for our device. I want to kid him about using Earth terms, but later. “All right. I’ll talk to the Director.” Might as well go boldly into the thorns, so I open a channel to her and request, Permission to land, question the survivor, and retrieve the antidote,
Are you insane, G’nar? Do you want to kill everyone who comes in contact with you and BaKrell?
Tira’s answer doesn’t surprise me but I need to keep trying. Thing is, Director, she’s still alive.
So? She found the antidote. Yay. The nanos are still there. Nothing has changed.
My conscious picks at me. She’s right. Xell’s glow in the dark eyes clearly indicate her infection. I try a different tact. There’s no secret tech for screening even Emol nanos yet? She’s alone and knows she’s doomed to die. It’s cruel to leave her there. I can’t just walk away.
What does she look like? The director asks and when I’m silent, trying to find a non-committal answer, she interjects, That’s what I thought. She’s an attractive Earther and you want to risk everything to save one insignificant person. A snort goes out over the innercoms. What is it with you men and the exotic? Obviously, Gharian women aren’t good enough anymore and you have to go breaking the law and putting the entire galaxy in danger. I can feel Deek’s addition to our conversation and her tone changes from personal to formal. Emol is under strict quarantine for a reason. Your main mission should be finding the missing Vahdmoshi core ship. Instead, you’re both silly for an Earther.
Before I can object, she adds, You may absolutely not go to the planet surface under any circumstances. Find and contain the escaped Vahdmoshi ship and come back to Ghar for debriefing. Do I make myself clear?
I subconsciously nod. Yes, Director. Orders received.
Chapter Five
Xell
So.
I’ve met potential rescuers who won’t help me. Or rather, to be fair, they can’t. Or won’t. If they were still here, I’d ask for a supply drop.
The men spoke English, one with a slight accent, and both sounded like decent people. I’m not a cryer, but when the sobs start, I can’t help myself. I lean against the hallway’s wall, the afternoon sun inching its way towards me. The air is already hot and I’ll be roasting soon. I need water, and I wasn’t kidding. I have three days food left. I look over at the drone. Maybe their absence is a kindness after all. If they gave in and sent supplies, it’d only prolong the inevitable. The fruit I’ve found so far isn’t nutritious enough and I wasn’t kidding. Those Kik birds are nearly impossible to catch.
All of Emoli knowledge is in my head, thanks to the temple. I’ve begun cultivating a small garden away from the stalk trees. They have a name for it, but I don’t want to lose myself by using their words. Silly, I know, since I don’t think anything matters at this point. Thanks to the new guys’ inaction, I’m on my own.
I get to my feet and dust off my butt. Depression settles around me again, shoving any hints of hope from my mind. I grab my one non-melting container from the dead campfire and head to the nearby stream. Trying to embrace my evaporated gratitude, I admit it’s nice someone else knows I’m here. Vahdmoshi, huh? And the non-rescuers are Gharian? I could wonder how the Ghars know English when the Vahds don’t, but does it matter? Not when both races have stranded me.
My efforts have worn a path from the ship to the creek. The water looks clear and the nano library tells me it’s potable. I don’t entirely trust them so I heat everything before drinking. If my ancestors could boil out dysentery, so can I. Loaded up with water, I go back to my new home. Kiks fly over and while I know it could be worse around here, I’d hoped for better than solitude. The time I’ve been here hasn’t changed me much. I’m still m
ourning the loss of my business and my friends.
I stop in my tracks, realizing I didn’t tell anyone about who the Vahds abducted with me. Damn. If the Ghars couldn’t help me, they could have at least gotten a message to… I stop, realizing how dumb I am. So, outer spacemen are going to call up Ralph’s wife and tell her what happened? Resuming my trip back to the site, maybe it’s just as well they left me here. I shake my head from the negative thoughts as I rebuild the campfire. Thing is, I was an optimistic person in my former life. If I had a working starship, I’d probably be a lot more hopeful. Learning about the infection, the Emolis’ loss, then the antidote from the planet’s online library let me know how doomed I am.
The embers glow. Heat from them and the air is too much. I usually have a siesta time until late afternoon. It’s only been a month or so, maybe more, since the days have run together. Even so, I have a schedule of sorts. Wake up before dawn, drink a gummie brick, learn more about Emol from the nanos, bathe, get water for boiling, take a nap until it’s cooler, drink another gummie brick, scavenge from the Vahdmoshi ship, do laundry in the creek if necessary, and get some sleep.
There were weeds and dead limbs to burn to see which was best for my fire. I had a lot of “fun” melting various containers from the ship until finding one able to withstand the coals. I’m also lucky the Emolis had some survival information in their library or I’d be dead by now. If the acid-filled stalk trees don’t kill a gal, the poisonous and carnivorous flowers will. Dumb fruit is what will save me, sort of. It’s plentiful yet almost worthless. I can eat the slightly foul meat, but gain no benefits. It’s like subsisting on cotton balls. Edible, but as a long term meal plan? Yech.
I step into the hull’s opening. Thanks to the nanos, I can see in the dark a lot better. The Vahds have no mirrors on board so I have no idea if my eyes are metallic from the infection’s influence. They have to be different, though, because I can see better in the dark now. The drone is still where I left it. Resembling two metal dinner platters glued together with a wraparound visor in between them, there’s really no way to tell how it flies. I’d love to open the device and see how it works. With my luck, I’d probably trigger the nuclear fuel powering it.
I pick up the drone, balancing it on my left hand. “So, it’s just you and me, and you need a name if you’re going to be my new best friend.” I turn it around, looking for anything other than the obvious. “There’s no writing or instructions on you.” Peering into the visor, I try to get light to shine into the thing. “Do spacefaring beings even have electronics? Or, is everything powered by atomic goo of some sort?” I can’t help but smile at my reflective face. “Worst-case scenario is you’re a decent, if probably expensive mirror.” Which leads me to think about the Dumb fruit’s tiny seeds. I’ve tried to scrub my teeth with a piece of cloth but really need a brush. Grimacing first one way, then the next, I check for any lingering seeds. I nod at me. “Not as bad as I’d thought and has certainly been worse.”
After watching me talk, yes, I both look and sound stupid talking to an object. Feels as if I’ve turned my cell phone into my best buddy and I laugh at the idea. Tucking the drone under my arm like an oversized clutch purse, I walk down the hall into the bedroom. “Crazy, huh? You get your own room, though. There were two Vahds here, so there’s the space.” I stop at the smaller of the two living quarters. “It’s too hot to sleep fully dressed and, I’m not sure you’re completely offline. With my luck, I’d be nude in front of the, what did he call it, the Intergalactic Alliance?” I set the drone on a bed. “Anyway, in case you’re still gathering data, you’ll sleep here during our siesta.”
When I step back to go to my own room, the drone lights up and begins hovering over the bed. I knew it. “Son of a bitch.” They’re men. Maybe not human, but certainly humanoid and curious. I’m humiliated and not surprised. My only wish is they’d started watching after I checked my teeth. “You both were watching me this whole time?”
“Hello. I’m sorry, but no, we weren’t.”
He sounds nice for a creeper listening in on my conversation with the drone. He also sounds younger than I am so I use my best big sister voice. “Enforcer Baykrel, is it?” I ask.
The guy clears his throat before saying, “Yes, sort of. I’m Enforcer BaKrel Decron, but Deek is what everyone calls me.”
“Uh huh.” I’m not ready to play nice. Plus, I have to look up at the drone since it’s hanging out above my eye level. “All right, Enforcer BaKrel, what’s up? Now that we’ve established you’re a little sneak, I take it nothing has changed. I’m still stuck here until I die.”
It’s a few seconds before he responds. “Correct. We are forbidden to take you with us under any circumstances.”
I try not to be disappointed in his answer, yet I am. My eyes fill with tears and I look up at the ceiling until they stop forming. If neither Ghar will cure or return me to Earth, they’re wasting both of our time with this chatter. Sure, I’m lonely, but I’m also not interested in being a novelty to later ignore. I force him to come to the point. “And? Why are you talking to me now?”
“Right. We want to know where you received the antidote. We can’t work on a plan to remove you from Emol until getting a sample for ourselves.”
“Oh.” This is news I want to hear. “To Earth?”
“Not Earth, exactly, but somewhere more populated. You don’t deserve solitary confinement for any reason.”
I have to turn away from the probe. I don’t want them to see me cry from the kindness. If I were honest, the reasons for stranding me here are solid. This infection would wipe out Earth. Especially since it killed off Emol and has the Ghar men running scared. I wipe my eyes, clear my throat, and face Deek’s drone. “Sure. I can show you. I also hope you have a way to take the stuff without nanos hitching a ride.”
“We’re still working on the solution for them. In the meantime, if we can analyze the antidote, there might be a way to help you leave.”
I want to believe Deek unconditionally but all of this is too good to be true. Biting my lip, thinking about the conditions that I want him to meet, I step forward. “Before I do anything, you have to promise to help take me home. I need something solid to prove you’re not lying.” At first, there’s no response and as I wait, the seconds stretch out in silence. They don’t fool me this time. Since the drone is still hovering, I know Deek is listening. I tilt my head and ask, “Hello? Are you there?”
“We’re talking.”
The voice gives me goosebumps. It’s the other man, someone Deek calls Enforcer Mackerel. He could read the news in his language and I’d love it. His name cracks me up but I can laugh later. Right now, they need to all but sign with blood their intent to remove from Emol. “Fine, as long as you come up with a solid plan to take me home without my new friends.”
The Enforcer begins speaking again. “I’m sorry, but we can’t do something as serious as promise you anything right now. Even if we tested the antidote, there’s no guarantee we’ll find a solution.”
At least he’s honest. Still, I want him to repeat his offer of help and mean it. The drone’s silence from earlier continues to scare me in the abandonment feels. “And you’ll take your promise to rescue me seriously if I help you first?”
“A promise is a sacred thing, something I’m not able to give at the moment. I can make a deal. If you lead us to the antidote, I’ll do everything I can to assist you with living on Emol comfortably.”
His voice is an aural caress, and yet, his offer is a little too good to be true. I want to trust both of them, yet, they left me alone once already. Nothing is keeping them here except the antidote. “What if I don’t want to stay here? What if I demand you take me with you?”
“Then we’re at an impasse,” Enforcer Mackerel says. “That is, unless, I can convince my leaders to allow researching a way to remove the nanites from you. I can’t guarantee you passage anywhere until we’re sure the contagion is removed.”
He has a point. I don’t want to be the Grim Reaper everywhere I go with these things. I have to trust their offer. I nod. “All right. I’ll take you to the antidote, but first, I want to record a message to Earth. I need to tell them what happened to the others here and how I had to bury them.”
“We can’t do that,” pipes up Deek. “The Lesser World—”
“BaKrell,” Enforcer Mackerel interjects, “She can give us the message while we go there and we’ll send it when the potential cure is obtained.”
The word cure reminds me that ultimately, if I don’t help them, they can’t help me. “Great. I’ll lead you there. The path is pretty clear but branches off at several points.” I head out towards the distant forest. “I’d found it by accident, I thought at first. Now, I realize the nanos were taking me there.”
“How did you know they specifically were leading you?” Deek asked.
I tried to think back. I’d never asked the same thing. “The path leading there just seemed the right choice.” The vegetation began growing taller the closer we walked to the forest. Stalk trees rose up in front of us like beer-bellied telephone posts. “It was more of a feeling than a solid fact.”
“You don’t remember anything significant about the nanos before going to the, what did you call it?”
“Temple,” I offered as the springy moss cradles my feet. My runners are already comfy and I could walk miles with the right food source. “The stone building seems like one of those ancient temples on Earth.” I held a branch back for the drone. “There are others all across the planet. Most are in ruins but a few, like mine, are still functional. The nanites’ library has all the information.” I try to slide in a hint. “When you two rescue me, I could recite everything I’ve learned. More, if the nanites need to stay with me for a while.”
“Have you been to any besides the one we’re going to?”
I’m facing away from the drone, in the lead, so he doesn’t see my grimace. Not even a nibble at my hint? Whatever. I sigh to myself, but I’m not giving up just yet. “No. Emol might be smaller than home, but it’s still big if you’re on foot. The Vahds didn’t leave me a vehicle so it’s foot power or nothing.” I turn right at a fork in the path nodding in the direction not taken. “The other way leads to a larger creek. I’ve toyed with living here where it’s cooler versus the ship.”
