Twenty Two
It wasn’t just a shower. It was a torrential storm, a biblical downpour. Kara laughed out loud as she turned her face up to the heavens.
Water filled her open mouth – glorious, cool, thirst-quenching water. Her bone-deep fatigue was washed away, along with the dust and dirt of the days-long journey.
Beside her, Vahn sank to his knees and let the torrent pour over his shoulders and back. His hair hung straight between his shoulder blades and his muscles gleamed.
Thank Ayanlesh , he thought. The gods had intervened. Another moment, another second, and he would have spreadeagled the little human on the floor and…
“The canisters!” Kara gave a start.
Running to fetch her backpack, she unscrewed the containers and stood them in a row to fill up. As soon as one was half full she gulped it down, offering a second to the Vraxian.
She thought she’d never be able to drink enough again.
A few meters away the lake was filling up. In the fading light, she thought she saw movement in the water. She pointed it out to Vahn.
“I thought everything was dead in there. It was full of bones.”
“I suspect the lifeforms on this planet are adapted to sporadic rainfall,” he said. “Maybe eggs survive in a dormant form until they come into contact with moisture.”
Something flipped out of the water and submerged again.
“Incredible.” Kara was awestruck. Vahn gestured towards the nearest tree.
“It is not just the animals. Plant life is regenerating too.”
Buds had appeared on the branches. Even as Kara watched, new leaves unfurled, sending clouds of insects into the air as they were dislodged.
“How is it all happening so fast?” she wondered. A flock of small birds appeared from nowhere, swooping and trilling as they picked the insects out of mid-air. Vahn got to his feet to watch.
“An evolutionary survival technique, I imagine. I suspect this planet has just entered its rainy season and everything has to reproduce before the next dry spell.”
“How long do you think it will last?”
“No way of telling.” Vahn stroked his chin thoughtfully. “If the lake fills up there should be plenty of water for a while. Until the next dry season.”
Kara shrugged.
“We won’t be here that long. We’ll be rescued before then.”
“Will we?” Vahn raised a brow. “We do not even know if your beacon is working properly. It is entirely possible we may yet have to face another drought.”
The thought of being trapped here for that long made her heart plummet. She rubbed her arms, the rainwater chilling her skin. Looking for her jacket, she saw she’d left it outside the tent. It was soaked.
Vahn saw her shiver.
“My jacket is in the shelter. Use it to keep warm.”
“What about you?”
He hefted his laser-blade and his eyes gleamed.
“I am going hunting.”
He loped into the gathering darkness.
Kara stood in the rain for a few more moments until the night chill drove her back into the tent.
Stripping off her shirt and trousers, she wrung them out and lay them in a corner. Her underwear would just have to dry off while she was wearing them. No way was she getting naked with Vahn around.
Now that the immediate danger of dying of thirst had been averted, the memory of how she’d kissed him made her cringe with embarrassment. Sweet Jesus, what had she been thinking? She’d practically thrown herself at him. She wanted to curl up and die.
She wondered what he’d thought about it. He hadn’t kissed her back, but he hadn’t exactly stopped her. He was twice her size, he could have easily pushed her away. Or used his serpetri to knock her out again. He hadn’t done either.
Maybe he was just being polite. Or maybe he felt bad for you because you were all needy and desperate.
Her cheeks burned with mortification. She’d only kissed him because she thought they were about to die, she thought defiantly. Totally understandable. Nothing to be ashamed of.
Yeah, you just keep telling yourself that.
She pulled on Vahn’s jacket. It was way too big on her – big enough that it covered her from neck to knee. Good. She didn’t want to give him the wrong idea.
What, like the idea you gave him when you snogged him?
“Oh, shut up,” she muttered.
She sat in the opening of the tent and watched the rain for a while, letting the sound of the downpour soothe her. There were barely any stars visible, the night sky obscured by rain clouds. So she didn’t see Vahn until he suddenly metamorphosed out of the dark right in front of her.
“Shit!”
She jumped out of her skin. Vahn grinned mischievously and squatted in front of her. Rain dripped from his hair and face. He was holding what looked like a fish and his pockets were bulging.
“Here.”
He threw something to her. It was some kind of fruit, spherical and firm with satiny skin and a stalk where presumably it had been attached to a tree.
“Is it edible?” God, she hoped it was. It looked just like the peach she’d been fantasizing about.
“Yes. I tested one with my dendra .”
“Your…?”
He held out one of his serpetri and showed her the tiny bumps at the end. The bumps she knew could open into little sucking, pulsing craters.
“They are rudimentary gustatory receptors.”
“Come again?”
“In Earth vernacular, taste buds.”
Kara very carefully kept her face immobile.
“You can taste stuff with your tentacles?”
“With my serpetri. Yes.”
So back at the cave, when you had that thing inside me, you were able to TASTE me?
She swallowed, hoping he wouldn’t notice how flustered she was by his revelation. Fortunately his attention was elsewhere. He was busy adjusting the tent flaps so they formed an awning over the entrance, creating a little porch which shielded them from the rain.
“So the fruit’s safe to eat?” she asked.
“I hope so. I have consumed three already, may Ayanlesh protect me.”
She didn’t need any further persuasion. She bit deep into the jeweled flesh, exclaiming in delight as thick, sweet juice burst into her mouth.
“Oh. My. God. This is heaven!”
He watched her eat, noticing she’d donned his jacket as he’d suggested. It would carry her scent now, he realized ruefully. He’d be reminded of her whenever he wore it.
He tossed her two more fruits and she ate them so fast she got hiccups. He laughed and she stuck her tongue out at him, glad the awkward topic of taste-buds was forgotten.
“What else you got, snake-boy?”
“I caught this.”
He held up the fish. Or at least, something that looked like a fish at first glance. But on closer inspection she saw its fins were actually webbed feet.
“Eww. Looks like it missed a whole stage of evolution.”
“It will taste fine once seared. I hope.”
He drew his laser-blade and adjusted it to a needle-like width. Then he gutted the fish, expertly removing bones and skin. Making the blade wider, he cut it into thick slices.
“That thing’s really handy,” Kara said. “Like a high-tech Swiss army knife.”
“I was fortunate to still have it after I ejected. I lost my blaster.”
He pressed the flat of his blade to each wedge of flesh in turn, searing it until the top turned golden brown.
“Here. Try this.”
He handed her a piece and she took a bite. It was delicious.
“Like cod,” she said happily, reaching for more.
“To me it tastes like shafon . A delicacy from our inland sea.”
“You have an inland sea on Vraxos?”
“Our capital city is built around it. It is one of our earliest civilizations.”
Kara tried to remember her alien geography lessons.
“Taa’riz, that’s its name, isn’t it? The biggest city in the Vraxian Empire?”
“Yes. And the capital of the United States of Earth is Delhi?”
He pronounced it Del-high and she corrected him.
“Delhi is our biggest city. That’s where our military headquarters are. But the World Presidency and the International Parliament are both based in Washington DC.”
She stopped, wondering if she was giving away sensitive information. Vahn didn’t appear to notice. He munched on another piece of fish thoughtfully.
“Your presidential system is interesting to me. A leader your people vote for. On Vraxos, we have a Zhaal, an Emperor. The role is passed down from father to son and only three clans, known as the shintu clans, have ever had claim to the throne.”
“Father to son? What, girls don’t make the cut?”
Vahn shrugged.
“It is just the way it is. But not because of lack of ability. On the contrary. Our females have excellent strategic skills. In fact, the head of the military, the Zhaal’s right hand, is a female. She is quite formidable.”
Kara was aware. The entire SDF knew of the Vraxian commander, though none had seen her. Seen her and lived, that is.
“What about the Zhaal? What’s he like?”
Vahn’s eyes glinted with amusement.
“Trying to elicit information about an enemy target, small human?”
“Much good that it would do me,” she retorted. “Yes, your ruler is on every SDF hit-list going but I’m hardly likely to get to him from here, am I?”
“True.” He paused. “He is a good leader. He cares about his people. He does more than just sit in his palace and issue commands. He thinks about every single ramification of every single order he gives.”
Kara snorted.
“So why won’t he discuss peace terms?”
“I told you. Every overture he makes is rejected by your President.”
“That’s bullshit. She…”
“Let us not discuss it.” Vahn cut her off. “We have declared a truce, you and I. There is nothing to be gained by arguing over things we will never agree on.”
Kara subsided grumpily. He was right.
“Fine. No war talk.”
“There is something we should discuss, however.”
Kara stiffened. She had a feeling she knew where this was going.
“Oh?”
“What happened in the tent. When you kissed me.” Vahn looked at her steadily. “What was that?”
“It was nothing.” Her cheeks flushed bright red. “I thought we were goners.”
“And your solution to take your mind off that was to make vastra with me?”
She couldn’t meet his eyes.
“If vastra is, um, sex, then yes. I apologize if I offended you.”
“You did not offend me, human.”
She risked a peek at his face.
“You’re not angry? Or disgusted?”
“Disgusted?”
“Because we’re different species. I don’t look anything like a Vraxian so…”
“I think we established some time ago that I do not find you disgusting,” he said mildly. “For reasons that escape me, our physical differences do not seem to be a deterrent to the mating impulse.”
Kara swallowed. This conversation was not going the way she’d imagined.
“Perhaps it’s because we’re the only bipeds on the planet,” she offered. “Maybe we’re connecting on a subconscious level because we’re biologically compatible.”
“Natural selection, you mean?” Vahn studied her thoughtfully. “Perhaps. But it may also be proof that humans and Vraxians can co-exist harmoniously. I suspect we have more in common than either of our leaders believe.”
“It’s a shame we won’t get to tell them.”
“But we could gather the information for ourselves. Conduct research to find out more about each other.”
“What do you mean?”
He shrugged.
“Twice now we have found ourselves engaging in… questionable behavior. Behavior that compromises our definition of each other as enemies. First me, then you. I for one would like to know why. Surely you would too?”
Kara flushed.
“I guess. I mean, there were extenuating circumstances both times.”
“Perhaps. But would it not be an advantage to learn more about each other?”
“So what are you suggesting?”
“We undertake a scientific examination to expand our knowledge. And, perhaps, to satisfy our curiosity.”
“What kind of examination?”
“A physical one, of course.”
Kara’s jaw dropped.
“You want us to do what now? You want us to examine each other?”
Vahn’s eyes glinted with amusement.
“I am not suggesting vastra , little human. I just want to learn more about Terran physiology. And you can learn more about mine. If – when – we return to our home worlds, perhaps our deeper understanding of our species will help bring about an end to the war.”
Kara tilted her head, considering. It was an intriguing idea. Quite apart from anything else, it might help explain why she was so attracted to him, even though he was an enemy of her people.
And knowledge was power. Isn’t that what her mother always said? Though to be fair, she probably didn’t have this scenario in mind.
She gave Vahn a pointed look.
“Simple research? In the spirit of scientific evaluation?”
“Yes.”
“No touching without asking.”
“No.”
“And if I say stop, we stop. Immediately. No questions.”
“Of course!” He was offended. “I swear it on Vannla’s Sword.”
Dear God, if mother ever found out about this…
But she already knew what her answer was. Besides, what was the worst that could happen?
She backed further into the tent and waited for the alien to follow.