Guardian Awakening

by C. Osborne Rapley

  “I want to swim in that pool and feel clean.” She held out her hand to Tristan. “Come on.”

  “Be careful, we don’t know what’s in that water, and mind your leg.”

  She turned back to him one eyebrow raised. “Oh Tristan! We have not seen anything dangerous in any of the rivers and streams we have come across, and the pool is only small. Besides I can see the bottom.”

  Tristan looked at her smiling face, and the sudden change was unbelievable. His heart banged against his ribs he took a deep breath No! He paused for a moment before following her to the edge of the pool. It was shallow, with a smooth rock bottom, the water crystal clear and no sign of animal life.

  She knelt and touched the water with her hand. “It’s warm.” She sat and removed her boots.

  Tristan looked at her suspiciously “You’re suddenly happy. And different, what’s changed?”

  She shrugged “This place reminds me of my home where I grew up, that’s all.”

  She stood pulled off her belt, stepped out of her uniform overalls and dived naked into the water. She turned to Tristan, her face wet and smiling. “Come on.”

  He turned round before removing his clothes to prevent her seeing how she had begun to affect him. He stepped backwards into the pool. It was warm, with a slight mineral taste. The water must have come from deep underground. She splashed him and laughed. He smiled. The water had a soothing effect on him and he rubbed off the weeks of grime and floated, letting the warmth soak into his body. Aeisa had her back to him as she concentrated on washing her hair.

  Taking advantage of her distraction he stood, walked over to a flat rock and lay down in the sunshine to dry. He concentrated on getting control of his emotions, ignoring the heat in his groin, fighting the feelings that had been growing in him during their forced walk, the nights sleeping together for warmth. He regained control, the cool air on his skin dissipating the heat in his loins. He sat up reaching for his clothes when a splash caught his attention.

  Aesia had stood and was wading over to him. He felt then tension return as she drew closer. Her wet hair cascaded down her slim body, partly covering her breasts. Water drops glistened like jewels on her skin in the sunlight, her strange cat like eyes, pointed ears, and small firm breasts made him think she must be the embodiment of a water nymph, this waterfall and pool hers to command.

  A lump rose in his throat, a constriction in his chest, heat returning to his body. “God, you are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen!” He blurted it out without thinking.

  She stopped, he held his breath, felt his face burn, heart pounding waiting for the outburst of indignation. Her skin between her breasts went darker the flush went to her neck and cheeks. She turned away as if embarrassed at her nakedness. She stumbled on a wet rock. Tristan leapt to his feet and went over to her.

  He knelt beside her. “Your leg, are you OK?”

  “Yes I think so.” She looked up at him with her blue eyes, and she shook her head slightly “No… I…” she whispered it softly. Her lips parted her tongue flicked across them making them glisten. Suddenly the air around them seemed to crackle and his heart pounded; the fresh smell of her, the warmth of her naked skin, he kissed her. Her body trembled beneath him. He half expected a slap but her tongue sought his.

  She felt him harden against her thigh. The barrier she had been holding ever since she first touched his mind collapsed. She could not deny herself any longer. She wanted him with every fibre of her being. He was not one of her people, his ways strange an alien, but her desire radiated out from a hard knot in her very core, taking all reason with it. This was the point of no return, she could not go back now.

  Her heightened senses were aware of him. She was hot with need, aching for him. The kiss had sealed both their fates.

  He shifted position laying, his body over hers. Her heart pounded and blood raced like molten fire in her veins. Her arms went round his shoulders, pulling him down to her. She arched her back as she grabbed is hand and guided it to her breast. Throwing her head back she groaned as he kissed her neck and her breast hardened beneath his hands.

  She clung tightly to him, her body writhing, breathing heavily between little sobs and sighs. She guided him with her hands and her mind. He kissed her face, long pent up tension and passion gripped them. She reached for him, wrapping her legs round his thighs to pull him deep into her. The permanent connection was made. The sudden telepathic and physical connection caused her senses to explode. Tristan gritted his teeth as her body pulsed in rhythmic waves around him.

  She tightened her legs round his back, pulling him ever closer to her. He was taking her to a place that stole her soul. The heat engulfed them. They moved together slowly at first then ever faster. The second explosion came far more powerful than the first and she bit his lip as shuddering uncontrolled waves took her body. She held him to her, her legs pulling him deeper, their embrace so hard that they both felt they occupied the same place in the universe. They were for one powerful, overwhelming moment, the same person, minds as well as bodies linked in a burning fire, giving and receiving under a strange sun.

  They lay together in the warm sunlight totally spent. After a while she lifted her head to look at him her long soft hair cascading over his chest. “Tristan?”

  “Yes?” He looked up into her strange blue eyes each like a cloudless blue sky. “What?”

  “When we mate it is for life, you felt the connection didn’t you?”

  He nodded. “Yes, I have never experienced anything so intense before.”

  “The first time Sicceians mate there is change, our telepathic connection is synchronised, and it can only happen to us once. It is not like that for your species is it?”

  He regarded her silently for a moment, her presence in his mind like a gentle caress. “Normally no, we do tend to bond for life, but it is in no way irreversible.” There was a sensation of wistfulness, tinged with fear coming from her.

  She nodded, her hair tickling his chest. “Like you and Sarah?”

  Tristan did not know whom she meant for a moment. “With you it was totally different, something has changed.” The faint edge of fear receded from her mind.

  He stroked he hair. “When I was in the Navy I volunteered to be part of an experimental weapons program,” he continued as she rested her chin on his chest, watching him. “It involved a direct connection to the weapon through an implanted interface. Something went wrong. They were not sure why or how but my mind rejected it. They could not remove it. I was severely compromised with constant headaches. I lost my confidence, my ability to function properly. They pensioned me off.”

  She nodded. “Go on.”

  “When I got close to your ship for the first time something happened, I could communicate with it. All I could think was your ship activated the implant, I don’t know how because I was told it had fused, but the constant ache suddenly vanished. I have not had a headache since. The point is, while we were making love I was overwhelmed at the connection we had. I know it would never be the same with anyone else and ordinary humans don’t have your ability anyway. My relationship with Sarah was empty and meaningless in comparison”.

  He sighed. “It can only ever be you from now on. You have spoiled me for anyone else.” He smiled.

  “Good!” She moved deliciously against him, his pulse quickened, and the fire returned. He pulled her towards him as she whispered in his ear, “I want you again.”

  Much later, as the sun started to dip behind the hills, a faint chill was felt in the air. She sat up and reached for her clothes “Tristan?”

  “Hmmm, come back here.” He reached for her. She nestled against him her jacket thrown across her shoulders. The wistful emotions had returned.

  “Tristan?”

  “Yes.”

  “We can never have children.” She paused. “It is an imperative for us, females of my species I mean.” He felt her sadness as she said it. “Every cross species mating is steril
e.”

  He squeezed her. “Let’s not think of that now, we have a long way to go.” She nodded and he felt her put the thought out of her mind. “Aesia, how many species are there?”

  “Oh, about thirty-five that we know of, why?”

  “Do they all look more or less the same?” he asked, ignoring her question.

  “How do you mean, the same?”

  “Well, but for minor differences, like us; two arms, two legs, walk upright that sort of thing.”

  “Yes.”

  “Does that not strike you as strange?”

  She shook her head. “No, I’ve never thought of it.”

  “Well think for a moment, Alien species evolving on different planets which before space flight would be totally isolated, what are the chances of them being almost identical? You are built the same as a human female, have the same physiology, respond during intercourse to the same stimuli. Is that possible in a totally random universe?”

  “No, I suppose not.” She paused. “You have mentioned that before, I really don’t know.” She shivered. “I’m getting chilly, let’s put up our shelter.”

  They stayed in the oasis for almost a week. Tristan could quite easily have stayed there forever with her, but they had to move on. By this time, Aesia could almost walk normally; all she had was a slight limp.

  On the morning of the sixth day they broke camp and left their oasis.

  The weeks went by. They had settled into a routine, each day bringing them closer to their goal. They eventually reached a range of hills on the edge of the great plain and had to climb them. Sometimes the going got difficult, and Tristan worried that Aesia might fall and damage her weakened leg.

  After a couple of days, they had reached the top of the last band of hills. Tristan looked down, glittering in the distance and catching the sunlight was a large lake or sea stretching in either direction as far as the eye could see.

  “Now that is something I had not thought of. A sea between us and the beacon.”

  Aesia came up behind him and took his hand. “Maybe we can walk round it?”

  Tristan sighed. “Maybe.”

  They reached the shore late that afternoon. They sat down together and looked at the barrier before them. Tristan lay back in the soft, warm sand and cursed out loud, “Bugger!”

  Aesia leaned on her elbow and looked down at him. As he looked back into her eyes, he noticed that they were no longer blue as the sky on a cloudless day. They were turning dark blue and had started to get green flecks in them.

  “Your eyes are changing, there isn’t anything wrong is there?”

  “Changing, how?”

  “They are darker, with green flecks.”

  She caught her breath. He felt surprise, disbelief and hope in her mind before she suddenly shut it off.

  “What? - What was that?”

  She hesitated for a moment before answering him, “It’s what happens to the females of my species once they were paired and mated.”

  He sensed a half-truth and a frown passed his brow. “Are there any other changes?”

  She shook her head and her long hair brushed his face. She squeezed him tight rolled over and pulled him towards her. Much later, Tristan walked over to the water’s edge and tasted it. No hint of salt, so it could be a small freshwater sea or a large lake. If it had been salty, he would at least have a clue as to what they faced. Aesia’s direction finder indicated the beacon was directly in front of them when they faced out over the water. He walked back to where she sat watching him.

  “We have two choices, it seems to me,” Tristan said. “We either walk round, or I build a raft and sail across.”

  She looked at him. “Which do you think will be quicker?”

  “I really don’t know. There is no way of knowing without having an idea as to how big it is.” He checked the computer. He had estimated there unit of distance was just under a mile. “We are 350 miles from the beacon so assuming 30 miles a day then 12 days sailing maximum” He spoke half to himself.

  “Tristan, what did you say”

  “I was talking to my self sorry. If the maximum distance we have to travel is all on this lake it would take us around 12 days sailing”

  “So which is easiest then?” she asked.

  Tristan smiled. “Again, it depends how large it is. It will take me several days to build a boat, but if the shore runs back around us, we could be retracing our steps. If we try to walk round; then, of course, which way do we go, left or right?” He paused for a moment. “I think a raft gets my vote.”

  Aesia looked doubtful, “Tristan, I have never been on raft, or a boat for that matter.”

  Tristan looked out over the water. “Well, as you pilot small spacecraft I am sure you won’t be seasick, especially as it’s calm… for the moment anyway. “I will build a raft, and we can try it out. If you really find you don’t like it then we will walk. How’s that?”

  Aesia nodded. “All right, that seems fine to me. Let’s start tomorrow. The sun is still warm, I am sure we can think of better things to do this afternoon!” She smiled shyly at him.

  “You’re insatiable!” He smiled.

  Aesia lay on the warm sand looking up at the stars, Tristan asleep next to her, exhausted after their lovemaking. She thought about what he had said to her. Her eyes were changing? She knew he had sensed her unreasonable surge of hope before she had locked it down. That is all she needed, her body playing tricks on her. Preparing itself for something that can never happen. A sigh shook her. “What a strange universe this is.”

  The next morning Tristan started building a raft. He cut down several small trees and used vines as lashings. After a couple of day’s hard work, he had a serviceable raft with lashed trunks and cross members. He used the laser on low power to cut holes through the deck trunks to the cross members so they could be stitched and pegged together. It had to be really strong, as from experience, he had to expect and prepare for the worst at sea.

  Water was not a problem since the lake was drinkable, so he concentrated on making a storage area for food. The next day he and Aesia fitted the mast. He used twisted vines for rigging and constructed a small cabin so that they had shelter if the weather deteriorated. One of the waterproof sheets would be used as a sail, and the other one as a spare. At the end of the fourth day, he had a sea worthy craft. The fifth day, they loaded everything onto the raft and lashed it all down. Tristan was not going to take any chances, and, since Aesia was not a strong swimmer, he found some bark that was similar to cork, cut it into strips, and tied them together to form a life jacket.

  There was no tide, as the planet had no moon. So Tristan had to dig away the sand around the raft to get it to float. There was an offshore breeze most of the time, so, once the raft was floating, it was a simple matter of hoisting the sail and steering it with the rudder he had lashed to the stern. The raft worked perfectly. He checked to see if Aesia was all right with it. She seemed a little dubious but was willing to continue.

  For the first three days the journey proved uneventful. Tristan had made some fishing line with the wire he had used for animal traps, so he tried his luck and caught several small fish. He used the laser on low power to heat one of the pans and grilled them. They tasted a little muddy, but did at least make a change to their usual fare. It did rain one day, but the shelter kept them dry.

  The morning of the forth day dawned bright and sunny. As Tristan expected the further south they travelled the warmer the weather. Tristan was holding the raft close to the wind and making good progress. He had just mentioned to Aesia how much easier sailing was compared to walking when the raft lurched. It caught her off balance she staggered and fell overboard. She immediately bobbed on the surface coughing and spluttering. A large black shape emerged from under the raft.

  Tristan’s heart leapt into his mouth, “Aesia stay still don’t kick or splash.”

  “Why Tristan?”

  “Just be still Aesia now!”

&nb
sp; The black shape moved around the raft. Tristan pulled on the rudder spilling the wind from the sail and splashed it in and out of the water to attract the creature.

  “Tristan what are you doing is there something after me?” Panic gave her words a sharp edge.

  The creature nudged the raft several times and actually lifted it out of the water. Tristan grabbed the laser pistol and fired as the shape swam from under the raft. The water boiled round the beam and with a flick of its tail the creature disappeared. “Aesia?”

  “Tristan I’m over here. Please get me out of here!” She was by this time quite a bit astern of the raft. Pushing on the rudder and pulling the sail round to catch the wind Tristan turned the raft without taking his eyes off Aesia. If he were to lose sight of her now he would have difficulty finding her. As he had only scared the shark like creature away he did not know how much time he had before it came back.

  “Come on, come on you lumbering cow.” Tristan muttered under his breath as the craft slowly turned. The wind filled the sail and the raft surged forward. As he got closer he spilt the wind from the sail and turned towards her. He raced to the side “Grab my hand Aesia,” She kicked forward as the raft drifted close and reached for Tristan’s out stretched hand.

  Tristan noticed a black shape moving up from the depths under her. His fingers brushed against hers, he lent further out holding a rope with his other hand. Their fingers locked together. He pulled her forward then released his grip to grab her wrist. He pulled and stood up lifting her from the water. They fell together in a heap on the deck just as the gaping, teeth filled jaws of the creature broke the surface. Robbed of its prey it turned and banged against the raft.

  Tristan was glad he had stitched and pegged it together, or they would both have been floating in the water and eaten. Aesia lay on the deck gasping.

  “Are you all right,” Tristan asked as he pulled her up to a sitting position.

  She nodded “Yes I’m fine but what about that?” The raft shook again.