by Crymsyn Hart
Alika brushed by Phillip, took one of the towels he had, and wrapped it around herself. Seeing her clothed helped him stay centered. She said something that sounded like another bird whistle, a cardinal this time. He shook his head, frustrated that they could not bridge the communication gap. She sat down on the bed again and sifted through the gadgets they had retrieved. Alika brought one of them to eye level, turned it a few times, and pushed a few places on the shard. It resembled nothing more than a twisted spoon, but when she pressed another place it trilled. He jumped. The contraption now faintly glowed purple. She held it up to her ear. Part of it bore into her temple while the rest of it sprouted thin legs the width of a single hair that spread over her ear and down her cheek until it touched the top of her lip. The device sunk into her skin until he could not see it any longer.
Alika spoke a few things directed at him, but Phillip could not understand her still. She sighed, pressed upon her cheek, and a blue glow briefly flared beneath her skin and then faded away. His guest said something again. At first her words were like static. Her eyes scrunched together at the corners, and she waited for him to respond. He shook his head no and then yes. Alika grimaced and uttered a string of words that he assumed from her tone were mixed with frustration and anger. She tapped on the device in her ear. It pushed through her face, walked around in a circle on her cheek, elongated a couple of its tentacles until it shone with a yellow light, and sunk back into her green flesh.
“Can you comprehend me now?” Her voice held a deep, sultry tone that sent shivers along his flesh even under all his hair.
Phillip nodded. Alika jumped from the bed and sprang into his arms, wrapping her feet around his waist and capturing his neck in a strong grip while letting out a squeal.
Chapter Four
A sense of relief washed over her. She collapsed on the platform he called a bed. Luckily, among the wreckage she had been able to find one of the translators; it was a little worse for wear, but at least it worked once she tweaked it. For some reason it had not functioned correctly on the first try. Maybe it was because whatever base language they spoke on Earth was harder for her translator to decipher. At least her host was able to understand her, but Alika was not sure if he would be able to speak in his animal form. On her planet, she could speak mind to mind with others of her kind when they were in their second form. I don’t think his species is as evolved as ours. But maybe. She stared at his tall body and was amazed at what a massive creature he was. However, she found him to be slightly unattractive because his feet only had five toes, not six. His nails were the same as they were on his hands and not clawed. What kind of beast was he truly? He reminded her of a gorenaut, and yet he was vastly different from them. He was certainly tamer than any of the great Goren that roamed her planet in the vast forests and mounts.
“It’s a great thing that you can understand me.” Alika threaded her fingers through her hair and then down her cheek, checking to make sure her translator remained where it was. It had sunk into her skin; with the minimal damage it had undergone she was not sure it would stay in place, but it seemed to be sticking. The words she uttered in Phillip’s language seemed harsh to her ears now that she could hear them. Alika studied the other pieces on the bed. Most of them were useless. A couple could be useful, but if she were going to send a distress call to Rovan she needed more parts to build a communicator. Even then she was not sure if she was going to be able to construct one with the primitive tools on this planet. She had glimpsed some in the building she had nearly toppled that might be of use, although she did not think her host would risk another venture to the ship and she was not about to get captured. Those weapons the other humans had carried could be used in wounding or perhaps even killing her. And she was not about to risk Phillip getting hurt because she was foolish. That meant she would have to go alone. It would be best when he was sleeping. Yes, that is when I’ll go, but when does he sleep? I must learn more about him before I can sneak off. He deserves at least that much.
The moonlight poured through the opening in the ceiling and illuminated the pool. As it reflected off the water, she saw the beauty of the cave Phillip had brought her to. Small crystals embedded in the walls glittered like the stars she so longed to be among again. Alika sighed. One day I will get back there.
Phillip grunted, so she glanced up. He offered her another cylinder of water. Alika accepted it gratefully, twisted the white housing on it, and drank. It was nearly tasteless, but her body needed the liquid. It made her miss the sweet nectar of Baliz wine, pressed from the most wondrous fruit to be found on Rovan. She took another sip of the water and then offered it back to him. He shook his head and gestured for her to keep it.
“Much thanks.” Her stomach gurgled, and she realized it had been some time since she had eaten. “Do you have food?”
Phillip cocked his head and then slipped off into another room of the cave. He moved so quickly that she had trouble keeping track of him. It had only been in her canis form that she was truly able to maintain the pace set by her host. When he returned, he held a couple of things in his hands. One was a round orange orb and the other was a gray, shiny cylinder that had some sort of label on it. Alika was not able to read the language printed on the label. He offered her the orange sphere. She took it and sniffed it. The food smelled similar to the Baliz fruit she had longed for. Alika took a large bite and was surprised at the thickness of the skin and the juiciness of the flesh inside of it. The sweetness made her smile. Phillip pushed his nails through the shiny container and pulled back the top, fished something out of it, and slurped it down. She made a face at how he let the contents slide down his throat. He offered the contents to her. Alika forced a smile and then plucked one out delicately, trying not to touch the slimy slices. She wasn’t sure what kind of food it was, but it had a sweet aroma, almost too sweet for her palate. She took a tentative bite and found it was appetizing. Alika ate the rest of her slice and then took another. She focused on eating the first object until there was nothing left. Phillip had finished the can and then used the pool to wipe the remnants from his chin.
“Thank you,” she said.
He barked something, his lips pulling back over his sharp teeth. Alika figured that he was trying to smile for her. The silence between them was annoying. There was so much she yearned to ask him about, and it just was not possible to communicate. She had had more interaction with others when she was alone in her ship.
“Can you speak at all?”
He gazed at her with those deep brown eyes, and she knew that there was intelligence behind them. Phillip nodded and cleared the dirt floor. He drew a crude figure of himself with the sun next to him, then him being the creature with the moon in the sky. He pointed toward the man image and then his throat.
Alika studied the drawings and realized what he was trying to convey. He was a man by day and the creature before her at night. “So you can only speak when you’re a man?”
He nodded.
“Well, you make yourself easily understood.” Alika glanced at the pile of metal on the bed and saw the other translator. Maybe it would work. She picked up one of the pieces and broke the end off. She pressed the middle of the circular piece, and a button popped up. When she pushed it, a purple light shot up and illuminated the ceiling. Alika poked the center, and the small circle had four legs. It was the translator’s core.
“I might have a solution, but I don’t know if it will work. Would you be willing to try?”
His hairy face scrunched up and then relaxed while he thought it over. After a moment, he nodded.
“Could you kneel, please? It will make this easier.”
Phillip got onto his knees and looked at her. Alika smoothed the hair where she was going to place the device.
“I’m sorry. This might hurt.”
He grunted and looked toward the ground. She placed the gadget in the center of his forehead. The legs pushed into his flesh. Phillip made another sound of pain. H
is facial muscles twitched. Alika touched the center of the translator, and it wormed its way into his flesh. A howl tore out of his throat. She winced at the sound, but pressed the button again. Its glow softened. Sweat glistened along his top lip where the hair was thin. Soon the device was firmly embedded underneath his skin and not noticeable. Alika ran her hands over his forehead, amazed that the hair was fine, to be sure that the translator was not going to pop out. She trailed her fingers down his cheeks, feeling the strong bone structure underneath. Something about him made her skin tingle, but not in a bad way. She had experienced it on other worlds where their beliefs leaned more toward the mystical than the scientific. It was an odd energy because it was not exactly strong. It seemed to be woven into the very fabric of what he was.
I wonder if I can finally learn more about him.
“I apologize for the pain.”
He shook his head. “There is no pain now. It’s just uncomfortable.”
A smile worked her lips up. “Wonderful. It works. I can hear you.”
“Hear me? I’m not saying anything.”
She laughed. “No, silly.” She pointed toward her temple and then touched the translator she had implanted in his forehead. “This allows me to hear your thoughts while you’re in this form. I suspect that when you’re a man I won’t need to read your mind. On my planet, when we’re in our bestial forms, we can read one another’s thoughts. I thought the translator might help with this.”
Alika heard, or rather felt, multiple questions and images pass through her host’s mind. They went so quickly that she was not able to make sense of it all. She put her hands to her head and shook it, trying to sort out all of the visions. “Stop. Stop. One inquiry at a time. Your thoughts are moving a little more quickly than what I’m used to.”
“Sorry.”
“It’s okay. We both have a lot of questions for one another. At least this way we can have some sort of discussion. Just take it slow. Fair?”
“Yes.” Phillip rose from the ground. He walked over to the other side of the cave and slumped down to the first place she had seen him. Another sense of relief enveloped her because they could finally communicate.
Now she could make her intentions known about obtaining his help and flying off the rock she had landed on. Of course, there were so many other things she yearned to know too.
“I have much gratitude to you for taking me back to my ship, or what’s left of it.”
“You’re welcome. Did you get all of what you need?” he asked.
“No, I have to go back and gather a few more elements from the wreckage so I can construct a device to send a distress call back to Rovan so they can come and pick me up. There were devices in that building that I could use to help me, but I can’t do it alone. Will you help me?”
Phillip rolled his eyes and made a sound of frustration. “I won’t see you get caught by the army. They had guns. They could hurt you. If they catch me, they’ll put me on a table and cut me open. I assume they’d do the same to you, considering you’re from another planet, and they will want to see what makes you tick. That seems to be the way of all the humans. Is it like that on other planets? On yours?”
Alika shook her head. “No, we don’t automatically dissect other species. We try to learn about them if they visit. We have a defense system in case there is some kind of attack planned, but normally we welcome other visitors. Earth is so primitive. Then again, there’s much about this planet that’s elementary…” She sighed, searching for the correct term. “That isn’t right. How do you say out in the middle of the universe with nothing around it? Where the inhabitants have little intelligence?”
“Boondocks, maybe. So there isn’t life on Mars or Saturn?”
She giggled. “Oh no. Well…maybe a long time ago, but everything on Saturn is in ruins. I don’t think your people will be able to get there for another two or three centuries. Mars?”
“The red one.”
“Oh yes. No, nothing lives there either. There were some signs of visitors, but nothing permanent. Right now our people try to avoid Earth.”
“Why are you here then?”
She played with a few strands of her hair before she met his gaze. It was nice to know that they could finally talk. As she focused more on Phillip’s thoughts, she could easily fall into the wavelengths of his brain. It was comforting to have another being sharing her thoughts. It had been a long time since she had allowed anyone to get so close to her. This was not something she had anticipated; Alika had not had a mate situation for a long time. No one had piqued her interest. How could she tell him that she had been trolling for a birthday gift and ended up being surprised by a solar flare? Would he even understand that? It was obvious that he was smart, but the longer she was linked to his mind, the more she was able to sense the utter loneliness that lived inside of him. Alika was not sure if she had ever met anyone so forlorn.
“I’m here because my ship was blown off course from a solar flare that screwed up my instruments. Before I knew it, I was descending too quickly and wasn’t able to skip off your atmosphere back into space.”
He scratched his head. It appeared that he picked out something from his fur, examined it carefully, and then ate it. Alika tried to hold back her disgust, but was not able to get very far. Even in her canis form, she did not attract parasites or sample them. There definitely has to be something wrong with him, or maybe that’s just the way he is when he is a beast. Would he be any different as a man? I haven’t really observed him. I shouldn’t base all of my judgments on just this sole conversation or his hygiene habits.
“You crashing here made my life interesting. I haven’t seen such activity this deep in the woods since one of the hikers got lost and they caught a glimpse of me. News crews and other hunters came into the forest searching for me. It was rather amusing guiding them around the forest and laying false trails.” Phillip hissed and pulled his teeth back from his lips in what she assumed was a laugh because she could hear the delight in his thoughts.
She could not help but smile from his warm demeanor. “Why would you pretend to give others false information about yourself? I would think you wouldn’t want to get caught after everything I saw you do today while knocking down the lights. That brings me to now; what are you exactly? I’ve never come across your species from my database of this planet.”
It appeared that his rather large forehead creased. His eyes seemed troubled for a moment. A few images passed through her mind while he was thinking over how to respond to her. He sighed and then met her gaze. “I’ve been alone for many years. After a while, I guess I craved some excitement.” Phillip shrugged and grimaced again, but she sensed that he was holding something back. “There are many names for the beast I’ve become. Humans call me Bigfoot, Sasquatch, Yeti, Brown Ape, and a few other slang terms they have come up with to describe me. Most people assume I’m a myth. Some believe there are others of my kind.”
“Are there others of your kind?”
Silence erupted between them while he stilled his thoughts. Then she caught a short burst of images. One of them was the picture of a female with long black hair and a bright smile. There were some feelings that he had associated with this woman, but Alika could not latch on to exactly what they meant because the visions were fleeting. “I don’t think there are any others like me exactly. I’m unique. I’ve never come across them in all my travels, but I have seen signs. It appears that they are a solitary breed. So yes, it is my belief that there are others who resemble what I am.”
“So how do you categorize yourself?”
“Do I need a label? I am exactly as you see me. Beast by night and man by day. Alone for all time.”
Alika’s heart twisted hearing his words and feeling the deep sorrow of him being alone for so long. She saw the long span of years stream through his mind like neverending space. The vision of him in the cave when a white substance covered the land and him cold and alone, the only solace being the vol
umes he read and at times a stray animal who would keep him company. Sometimes he was a man and had nothing but his dreams and the memories of the woman he had loved. This other woman must have been a mate to him. He has not been with another person in so many years. Although he was a hairy beast standing before her, she saw the man underneath all the hair and wished to bring him a little bit of peace. It was the least she could do to ease to his soul since the poor man had saved her life.
She got up from the bed and crossed the cave to stand before him. He was over seven feet tall, and her head came to the center of his torso. She realized that he could do her real damage. His hand could encompass her head. Those nails could shred skin through to the muscle if they wanted. And yet, Alika knew that he would never hurt her. She placed a hand on his chest, feeling the coarse fur of his pelt. Phillip was remarkably clean, with no insects in his hair or clumps of dirt. She did admire that. I guess I was wrong about him eating some parasite before. He jumped at her touch. Alika slid her fingers over the hardness of his abdomen, touching the man underneath.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
She gazed into his deep brown eyes and smiled. “Are you functional?”
