by Lena Grey
We rush into the hallway, and I grip Jillian’s gloved hand. “You’d better. The last thing I need right now is to lose my best friend.”
“Don’t leave without me, okay?” Jillian winks. We both know the pod will launch automatically—with or without her.
I rush toward the stairwell that leads to the launch deck three floors below the ship’s main living space, following the other students down the steps as fast as my bulky suit permits.
My breathing becomes fast and shallow at the sound of the robotic voice counting down to potential doom, and I force myself to calm down so I don’t hyperventilate.
Auto-launch sequence to begin in six minutes.
I make it to the launch deck and climb into the forward cockpit seat of the pod assigned to me and Jillian. There’s no sign of the professors or the ship’s crew; their pods all sit empty. A wave of sadness washes over me. Will they make it to their pods before the ship disintegrates?
Auto-launch sequence to begin in four minutes.
My mind races with questions. Is the timing exact? Will the pod take off when the countdown reaches zero? Or is that just an estimate, a way to ensure that evacuees move fast?
Auto-launch sequence to begin in three minutes.
My heart thumps wildly in my chest as the countdown continues. Time is running out, and Jillian is nowhere in sight. I fidget in my seat, growing more anxious as the countdown continues.
Auto-launch sequence to begin in two minutes.
Where is she? The ship has the fastest technology available in the universe. It should only take Jillian a few seconds to download a database. Maybe the doors to the tech lab auto-locked, trapping her inside.
I consider climbing out of the pod to go look for her. I don’t want to leave without Jillian…I don’t want to die either.
Auto-launch sequence to begin in 60 seconds.
I close my eyes and say a silent prayer for my best friend. No, Jillian is more than just a friend. She’s my sister, my family. Tears stream down my cheeks as the clock continues to count down…45 seconds, 44 seconds, 43 seconds…
“Wait! Waaaaaait!”
My eyes fly open. A wobbly Jillian runs toward the pod, the bulk of her survival suit slowing her down.
Auto-launch sequence beginning now.
The pod’s engine whirs to life, the dashboard lights come on and an auto-harness secures me to my seat.
Th escape pod is fully automated from startup to launch and is programmed to find and land on the nearest viable planet. Even if I want to stall the launch until Jillian climbs in, I can’t.
Shit! The pod’s domed lid emerges from the frame and starts closing. “Hurry, Jillian! Hurry!”
Just before the lid closes around the empty seat behind me, Jillian jumps into the pod, ducking her head to avoid shearing it off.
Before she’s even settled in the seat, the auto-harness straps Jillian in place. Seconds later, the thrusters launch the pod from its docking station, sending it—and us—hurtling through space.
Chapter 3
Trauhn
“Are you certain we are going in the right direction?” My voice breaks through the stillness of the forest.
“Yes, I am certain.” Remmel scowls at me. “The flyer you seek is west, near the salty black water. Why you seek that particular flyer I do not know, especially when so many dropped from the sky.”
I do not know either and can not find the words to describe the urgency that bubbles deep in my belly. All I know is that we have to find the one flyer that caught my eye before another Rakui does. Or worse, a rogue.
What began as a typical day of hunting for me and Remmel took a strange turn when the sky above crackled with lights, sounds and colors, and the small wingless flyers soared to the ground.
Blue. That is the color of the daytime sky. But when the crackling sounds come from the heavens, there are streaks of orange, of purple, of green.
Each time one of these strange sky events happens, a wingless flyer arrives on our world, although they are usually much larger than the ones that arrive today. Sometimes a flyer contains items of use and value to the tribe or arrives empty, and we salvage various materials to make weapons and tools. Other times, it delivers more rogues to the planet.
Never had the heavens delivered more than one flyer at a time, yet today’s crackling brought more flyers than I can count on one hand. This is either a blessing or a curse from the gods above.
Instinct tells me it is the former. I pray this instinct is true because our tribe has suffered enough and might not survive another curse.
As the trees become sparser and the water comes into view, Remmel speaks in a hushed voice. “Why do you question my sense of direction, Trauhn? Have I ever led you astray?”
“No, Remmel. Your tracking skills are not rivaled.” Remmel truly is the best tracker in the tribe. Still, I temper my praise. An entire tribe cannot depend on the skills of one. It depends on the skills of all. Each member contributes to the whole.
“The flyer is there, partly buried in the sand.” Remmel points between the trees.
“I see it.”
“Tread lightly.” Remmel throws a hand in my path. “It could contain rogues.”
“This, I know.” Remmel’s unnecessary warning irritates me. “Am I not a fierce Rakui warrior? If there are rogues in the flyer, I will take care of them.”
“Unless they have magic weapons that shoot fire,” Remmel argues. “In that case, they might take care of you first.”
He is right, but I am not worried. The closer we get to the downed flyer, the more certain I become that a blessing waits. Still, I draw my sword. “We shall proceed with caution until we know what the flyer contains.”
We move silently toward the flyer, remaining on guard as we emerge from the cover of the trees. So far, we detect no movement or activity. Perhaps the flyer contains nothing but supplies. As we get closer, I can see that the top of the flyer is covered by an oddly patterned shield the color of a mother’s milk, hiding whatever is inside.
I hope that whatever the flyer contains, it will help our struggling tribe. I am used to the hardships of Rakui life and can survive off the land for all my remaining days. But, for the sake of future generations, the village’s few families with kits deserve to thrive like our people of the past.
Extinction. A term from the Cavern of Memory that explains the very threat to the tribe. Females are rare among the Rakui now. Fewer females mean fewer kits. And fewer kits mean the possibility of extinction.
For many moon cycles, I had prayed for something to reverse the tide…to change the fate of our tribe. Does the bubbling in my belly mean these prayers are being answered?
We reach the flyer and peer through the milky cover to find two small, still beings inside. Round contraptions cover their heads, making it impossible to identify their sex or species.
“Rogues,” Remmel whisper as he pulls me away from the flyer. We retreat back into the trees. “The advantage of surprise is ours. We can be done with them and salvage what we can from their wreckage.”
“Let us not be hasty,” I counter. “Have you wondered why they are still seated in the vessel so long after landing? We saw no movement. Perhaps they are already dead.”
“If that is the case, then the gods have blessed us this day.”
“What if they are trapped and injured instead of dead? We should render assistance.”
“Assistance?” Remmel is shock. “You would render assistance to our enemies?”
“You saw how small they looked. What if they are merely half-grown kits?”
Remmel clenches his fists. “Rogue kits are still rogues, Trauhn. I do not understand your line of thinking.”
“We should use our swords to pry open the flyer,” I state.
“And then?” Remmel asks.
“And then we will know what our next move should be.”
“Look.” Remmel points toward the beach. “There is no need for us to o
pen the flyer. It has opened on its own.”
Chapter 4
Kenzie
I groan as I slowly regain consciousness. My mouth is dry and my head is pounding. Somehow, some way, we had landed and not liquefied from the impact. “Jilly? Are you okay?”
Jillian lets out a similar groan. “Battered and bruised, but nothing’s broken.”
“Same here,” I respond.
“What the hell happened out there? I thought these damn escape pods were designed to provide a safe flight and a smooth landing.”
“You don’t remember? We took a beating from the storm. At one point, I think we took a direct hit. Look at the lid.” The clear dome over our heads had shattered, becoming crackly and opaque. Thankfully, the lid remained intact.
“If the cover hadn’t held, we would have been sucked into space,” Jillian says.
The thought is sobering. A few minutes pass before I ask, “What took you so long in the tech room?”
“My server access was denied. Must have been an auxiliary power issue.”
“Did you get your database?”
“Yeah, but I had to hack the system and download the whole D: drive.”
“I wonder where we landed.” I put my fingers on my left wrist and wait for the tiny microcomputer implanted under the skin to reset.
To prepare for the Year of Interstellar Education program, all students received a cochlear language translator implant. The med staff also injected us were also with a powerful symbiont called Terran Enhancement for Adaptation and Survival beyond Earth, or TEASE, and received a wrist-implanted microcomputer.
The TEASE helps us quickly adapt to the various planetary atmospheres we encounter on the journey. The microcomputer communicates with the TEASE, allowing us to monitor physiological and environmental data.
When my TEASE is reset, I tap the Environmental Data option and scroll through the various screens. “Looks like we landed on UD237, whatever that means.”
“It means we’re fucked,” Jillian responds.
I glance back at her. “Why would you say that?”
She’s studying something on her tablet and looks worried. “UD237 stands for Undeveloped #237. According to the database Jade and I compiled, this place is so primitive they haven’t even given it a name.”
“Fantastic.” I’ve been through basic survival training, but I’m not the kind of girl who enjoys roughing it.
“Oh, it gets better,” Jillian says grimly. “And by better, I mean worse. Way, way worse.”
What’s worse than waiting to be rescued from a planet so primitive it doesn’t have a name? “How so?”
“UD237 has two suns and two moons but is uninhabited, Kenz. It’s unable to sustain humanoid life forms. That means it’s unable to sustain us.”
“Why?”
“It has atmospheric pressure and oxygen levels that aren’t compatible with humanoid biology. I know our escape pods are supposed to land on the nearest viable planet, but the storm strikes must have messed up the navigation.”
“I think your database has a glitch. My TEASE sensors are picking up acceptable oxygen levels outside the pod.” I unlatch my respirator helmet and pop it off my head. “See? Breathing just fine.”
“Hmm.” Jillian taps her wrist. “My TEASE agrees with yours.” She removes her own helmet and inhales.
“Let’s get out and look around.” I press the lid release button. The shattered dome retracts partway before getting stuck. After some maneuvering, we crawl out of the pod’s cockpit and slide down to the ground.
Our pod landed on a stunning white sand beach that sparkles like crushed diamonds under the hot, mid-day suns. If it wasn’t for the inky black water lapping at the sand in gentle waves, it could be an Earth beach.
I walk toward the edge of the waves, dip my fingers in the water and bring them to my lips. Warm and salty, just the tropical oceans back home.
Jillian has her nose buried in her tablet again. “Hey, don’t get too close to the water. There may not be any humanoid aliens living on the planet, but there are plenty of sea creatures in the ocean.”
Shuddering, I move away from the lapping waves. Just because Jillian’s database is wrong about the planet’s atmosphere doesn’t mean it’s wrong about the sea creatures.
“The gravitational force on this planet is super strong,” Jillian says. “It’s no wonder we landed here. Our pod was literally plucked out of the sky and pulled toward the planet like a nail to a magnet.”
“Do you think the other escape pods landed here, too?”
“I can’t say for sure, but I assume so.”
“Any ideas on how to find them?”
Jillian puts her tablet away. “Not really. Besides, finding them isn’t our top priority. Surviving is.”
“We have enough food and water to last a few days.” I pat my survival pack. “I hope it doesn’t take longer than that for Alliance Interstellar Security to rescue us.”
“Food and water aren’t our only concerns,” Jillian says. “This place may look and feel like the Caribbean right now. But when the sun goes down and the temperature drops, the predators come out.”
I swallow hard. “What kind of predators?”
“Giant birds and insects, wolf-like creatures, sand worms. I could go on, but I think you get the picture.”
I nod. “Out here, alone, we’re sitting ducks. We need to find the others because there’s safety in numbers.”
“You’re probably right,” Jillian agrees. “First things first, though. We need to get out of these survival suits. They’re hot as hell and restrict our movements.”
We help each other shed the bulky suits and stash them in the pod. Looking around, I assess the surrounding terrain. We can either walk along the beach or head inland toward the forest fifty yards away.
I’m not really sure what we should do. All we know about UD237 are the few details identified by interstellar scientists and compiled in Jillian’s database…details that have already proven to be less than accurate.
Jillian has her tablet out again, and I peer over her shoulder. “What are you looking at now?”
“The planet’s satellite map. I think we should head toward the trees. There’s no protection here on the beach.”
I turn toward the forest and freeze. “Uh, Jilly? I thought you said this planet was uninhabited.”
“I did. There are no humanoid aliens living on this planet.”
I grab her arm and spin her around. “Then who are they?”
Chapter 5
Trauhn
I rub my eyes, unable to believe what I am seeing.
Females. Two of them.
Even from a distance their gender is unmistakable. No male rogues are as small, as shapely, as purely feminine as the creatures standing on the beach.
I bolt toward them only to have Remmel pull me back. “Let me go, Remmel. Are you not seeing what I’m seeing?”
“I see the rogue females, yes. But we must proceed with caution.”
“Why? Surely, the small creatures are no match for two Rakui warriors.”
“Even if they present no danger to us, we do not want to spook them. I am in no mood to chase the females through the sand when the suns are high and hot. We must be as wise as we are strong.”
As much as I want to argue with Remmel, I know his logic is sound. So we move slowly and purposely toward the females, like hunters stalking their prey.
With each step forward I can see them more clearly. The smaller one steals my attention and my cock hardens beneath my leathers.
Her wavy mane, the color of rich, damp soil, is long and thick, with curly tendrils that frame a pale face that matches the sand. Strange black coverings are molded to her body from neck to ankle, highlighting an unusual, curvy shape I find captivating.
She sees me staring at her and locks her gaze with mine. Her eyes, wide and surprised, are like green pools of beauty staring into my soul. In that moment, I know she is mine. The gods
have answered my prayers, sending salvation from the heavens. My mate has arrived in the wingless flyer and she is the most beautiful sight I have ever seen.
“The smaller one belongs to me,” I declare to Remmel, staking my claim.
“Belongs to you how?” Remmel scoffs. “As a pet you will keep in a cage like a banckle?”
I glare at him. “You will speak of my mate with respect. She will soon be carrying my kit.”
“Your mate?” Remmel laughs. “How can such a puny, oddly shaped creature carry your kit? Her belly is flat and narrow. Your growing kit would surely split her apart.”
I do not know if Remmel is right; all I know is that the female belongs to me. She is mine to feed, to protect, to cherish.
“Look at them, Trauhn. It is clear they are small and weak and come from a land without hardship. I will be surprised if they survive until the next moon, let alone through the storm season.”
“I will protect her.” I will do anything to keep my mate safe, even give my life to spare hers.
“The burden of being unmated for so long has clouded your judgement. We should go, leave these rogues to the elements as the fates intended.”
“I will not leave my mate.” My claws bunch and I resist the urge to slash out at Remmel. “If you were wise, you would claim the other one before another male claims her first.”
Remmel sighs, unhappy yet resigned. “I long for a Rakui mate, not a small, unappealing rogue. I will keep the taller one safe until you are properly mated, but I have no desire to claim her.” He reaches beneath his leathers. “My cock hardens more for my own fist than it does for the rogue female.”
I am tired of using my fist for relief. Soon I will sink my cock into my mate’s warm cunt and plant my seed in her belly. Together, we will experience the ultimate pleasure, a true gift from the gods in the heavens.
Chapter 6
Kenzie
