Twenty One
They ran out of water towards the end of the next day. Their journey had been conducted mostly in silence as they tried to conserve energy. Both of them were feeling the strain. It was all they could do just to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
When dusk fell, they were too tired even to make a fire. Kara crawled into the tent and tried to ignore her dry mouth and empty stomach. She slept badly, her dreams disjointed and fitful.
The next day they set off at dawn, estimating they would reach the woodland by midday. Kara trudged behind Vahn, taking refuge in his long shadow.
She spent most of the morning fantasizing about biting into a sweet peach, imagining the juice dribbling over her chin.
Her daydream was interrupted when she walked into the alien. He’d stopped abruptly.
“What is it?” she croaked. Her throat was parched.
“There is something on the ground. It looks like an animal. It might be dead.”
She perked up. A dead animal could mean food.
“How long dead? Does it look edible?”
“It looks fresh. See for yourself.”
Kara stumbled forward. A small bundle of grey fur lay on the sand in front of them. She knelt down to take a closer look.
“It’s one of those hound-beasts,” she said. “But young. Poor thing.”
“Poor thing?” Vahn grimaced. “Those animals nearly killed us.”
“I know, but this one’s only a puppy. I wonder what happened to it?”
“Its leg appears to be broken.”
Kara saw he was right. The pup’s hind leg was bent unnaturally.
“The pack probably left it behind. It doesn’t look like it’s been here long.”
“Check if it is still warm.”
Kara didn’t like the idea of eating a dead animal but she knew they had no choice. She put her hand on the little body, trying to gauge its freshness.
A tongue flickered across her fingers and she jumped.
“Jesus.”
“Kara, are you all right?”
“Yes, fine. But the bloody thing’s still alive.”
The little animal struggled to a sitting position and licked Kara’s hand again.
“Even better.” The Vraxian’s voice brimmed with satisfaction. “Let us wring its neck and have fresh meat.”
“What? No!” Kara looked into the puppy’s black eyes. A scar over the right one gave it a quizzical expression. “I’m not killing it. Besides, there’s barely enough for a mouthful. It’s tiny.”
Vahn shook his head in frustration. How could a species which had waged bloody war against the Vraxian Empire for two decades be so feeble-hearted?
He should snatch up the hound-beast right now and slaughter it on the spot. His stomach growled at the thought of roasted meat.
But then he looked at Kara, now stroking the puppy’s head, and knew he couldn’t do it.
Drek.
He looked round for something to make a splint with.
“Tear off a strip from your shirt,” he told her brusquely. She did as he asked.
Finding a stick of suitable length, Vahn strapped it to the creature’s damaged leg, straightening the bone. The puppy whined miserably in pain as Kara tried to calm it. When Vahn had finished, it found it was able to stand.
The small creature gazed up at them and wagged its thin tail.
“Look, it’s saying thank you,” said Kara. Vahn strode off.
“ Alekt, ” he said irritably.
Kara shooed the puppy away.
“Go on. Go find your pack. And try not to attack anyone when you’re grown up, okay?”
She walked after Vahn. When they’d gone some distance, she checked behind them. The puppy was gone.
Okay. Good.
She hoped she wouldn’t regret not eating it.
It was a relief when they reached the woodland. It was a much larger area than the small copse they’d seen two days ago; Kara estimated it covered several square kilometers. Almost a forest.
As before, most of the vegetation was desiccated. But the trees provided some shade from the suns. And even better, they discovered not all of the ‘foliage’ at the ends of the branches was made up of the tiny green flies. There were some leaves here and there – curled up and dried out, but leaves nonetheless.
Their optimism was short-lived. They walked for miles through the arid forest of dead trees searching for a water source. Their hopes were dashed when they found the lake – or rather, what remained of the lake.
It wasn’t very wide, maybe eight hundred meters across, but it stretched for more than a kilometer to the left and right. Had it been full of water, it would have been big enough for boating or water-skiing.
But right now it was a yawning crater of dust.
Brittle fish bones lay scattered on the dry bed, along with the detritus of desiccated water plants. Whatever moisture had existed here had evaporated long ago.
The strength seeped out of Kara’s legs and she slumped to the ground. Vahn squatted next to her.
“Do not give up hope. As you have rightly pointed out, there are creatures on this planet besides us. They must have access to water somehow.”
“And what if they don’t?” she said dully. “What if they’re actually dying? Like we will be soon.”
She leaned against a husk of a tree trunk, wanting to cry but knowing she wouldn’t be able to produce any tears.
Vahn silently set up the tent. His serpetri, which he normally wore coiled round his waist, hung limply in the dirt and his stomach ached with hunger. But he wasn’t thinking of his own discomfort. He was worried about Kara.
“You take the shelter. You need the rest.”
“It’s your turn.”
He sighed.
“Humans are exceedingly stubborn.”
“You’re only just getting that?”
A smile flickered over his lips.
“Then let us both take the tent. It seems meaningless to argue at this point.”
At this point. The point where their survival was in doubt. She nodded tiredly.
“I suppose if we’re going to starve to death, we may as well do it in comfort.”
“Precisely.”
They crawled into the tent and lay on their sides face to face. Only a few inches separated them in the confines of the shelter and Vahn wondered if he’d made a mistake when her scent drifted over him.
He was about to make an excuse and crawl outside when she touched his arm.
“Vahn.”
Her voice was soft and his pulse quickened. She was gazing at him with her velvet brown eyes, a shade that didn’t exist among Vraxians. Her smooth face, which had seemed so strange to him at first, now made him desire to touch it.
“Yes, human?”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Anything.”
In the quietness of the tent, he couldn’t look away from her. His heart thumped harder in his chest.
“I need you to promise me something.”
She tried to moisten her lips and his gaze focused on her mouth. He barely heard her next words.
“I don’t want to die like this. Not slowly and painfully from lack of food and water. Not with my organs shutting down one by one. Promise me when I start to suffer, you’ll end it.”
His eyes snapped back to hers.
“What are you asking me to do, human?”
“What you’d do if we met on a battlefield without a second thought.”
“You want me to end your life?”
“I’m only asking you to do what Vraxians have done to countless of my people. But this time it will be a mercy. Please, Vahn. I’m begging you.”
She was giving up. He took in her beaten expression, the hopelessness in her eyes, and it made him hollow inside.
Humans are a pestilence that must be eradicated. How often had he said those words? Fulfilling her request was simply the natural order of things.
And yet it was no longer that straightforward. He and this human had been forced into comradeship. Having her accept defeat now was unacceptable.
No. He would not allow it.
“Just like a nedek human.” Contempt dripped from his voice. “Wanting an easy way out. I might have guessed you were as spineless as your compatriots.”
She jerked in shock.
“You think I’m a coward?”
“I think you are proving what a pathetic species Terrans are.” He looked at her coldly. “I will gladly put you out of your misery, human. At least it will stop your pitiful whining.”
“My… my whining ?”
“You are like a dinnig fly, small and irritating. I shall be glad to be rid of you.”
“Fuck you.” She was getting angry. Good. Anger was better than despair. “Fuck you, you alien dickhead. I ask for help and this is what I get?”
“I am only pointing out the obvious. Vraxians are the superior species. You may as well give up now. You are clearly too weak to go on.”
“I can go on as long as you can!” She yelled into his face and he hid a grin. It hadn’t taken much to provoke her into rage. “You’re an arrogant fucking jerk and I fucking hate you!”
“If you’re hoping to goad me into ending your life, you can save yourself the effort. I will happily put you out of your misery.”
“Go to hell, you big blue piece of shit.”
“If you would kindly hand me your blaster, I can…”
She raised a fist to punch him in the mouth but he was ready for it. He caught her hand and raised an eyebrow.
“Feeling better?”
She glared at him.
God he was a bastard. He’d deliberately pissed her off. Goddam psychological bullshit. She wanted to hit him. She wanted to scream at him and claw his face off. She wanted to…
She kissed him.
She didn’t know why. She wasn’t intending to and she certainly hadn’t planned it. But the cauldron of emotions seething inside her – rage, resentment, fear for her life – welled up until she thought she was going to implode. She needed an outlet.
So she kissed him.
It was an angry kiss. A kiss borne out of fury and frustration. A desperate bid to feel something other than helplessness.
To feel alive .
Vahn reeled under the hard press of her lips and fought to steady himself. Her angry kisses were arousing him in a way he didn’t think possible. Vannla’s Sword. What he wouldn’t give to turn this little human’s rage into desire.
But the shame of what he’d done to her the last time they kissed was still etched into his memory.
“Kara, stop.” Vahn gently disengaged. “What are you doing?”
“Trying to forget we’re dying.”
“You hate me, remember?”
“And you hate me.”
“So why are you doing this?”
“Because right now, I’d rather feel hate than nothing at all.”
She kissed him again. Softer, this time. More seductively. Her hands stroked over his chest and abs, finding the gap below his T-shirt. His scales were smooth and warm beneath her curious fingers.
Vahn tried not to react but her tentative exploration was hard to ignore. When the tip of her tongue swept his bottom lip, his resolve was severely tested.
Zandarr’s Fountain. He wanted to pin her down and explore every inch of her tiny human body. Pin her down and run his serpetri all over her. Pin her down and make her…
He jerked away again.
“Kara, we cannot.”
“Why? It’s not as if you haven’t kissed me before.”
“I was delirious. And I performed farnor for forgiveness.”
“You won’t need forgiveness this time.”
She wound her arms round his neck, making it harder for him to pull away. He still refused to respond to her kisses but his reticence only inflamed Kara more.
She pressed herself along the length of his body, molding her curves to his muscular form. He’s so much bigger than me, she thought breathlessly. He could crush me if he wanted. Heat rushed through her core and thundered in her ears.
She hooked a leg over his thigh, rubbing against him with a delicious friction that sent shivers down her spine. The thundering grew louder.
Vahn pushed her away and held her at arms length.
“Stop,” he said hoarsely.
“I don’t want to.”
“Just stop. Listen.”
Reluctantly, she did as he asked. It took her a few seconds to realize the thundering she heard wasn’t the blood rushing through her veins. It was coming from outside. She stared at him, mystified.
“What is it?”
The shelter was trembling as if being buffeted from all directions. Vahn pulled open the flap and the sound grew louder.
In the next second, he caught Kara’s hand and dragged her outside. A deluge of water sluiced over her and drenched her to the bone.
Rain. It was raining.