Chapter 2 #2
But knowing the research station would have a healing blood source drove the wild part of me forward; the predator that formed the core of all Boolas. My boots shifted in the sand, and I carried on, despite the fact that the research station appeared no closer on the wristport.
The last time I’d been at the research station on Tern, D’iver had been with me. He’d pointed out the tiny, over air-conditioned room with the hard-backed chairs and blacked-out windows that visiting Boola fed in, and we’d both shuddered.
It had always bothered me that my species had chosen to hide their need for blood for fear of being seen as lesser.
Driven by bloodlust rather than brains. I hated that my need for blood made me weak and vulnerable.
Why should I be ashamed of my true nature?
I’d always hoped that one rotation, I wouldn’t have to hide that part of myself.
The truth was, Boola only needed blood once a month unless injured.
Like a charge on a drained battery, the new blood reactivated the old.
And, like me, most Boolas lived with extended family until they found their blood mates, because sharing blood created close bonds.
I hoped the Boola at the research station wasn’t some old, shriveled-up yak.
Throat dry and tongue swollen with thirst, I’d give my useless leg for a container of water in this moment. But I needed blood to heal and to restore what I’d lost.
I scowled into the distance, willing Thermal Station C to appear, but the longer I stared at the churning horizon, the more disoriented I became.
The sun-passing chime dinged again. Blant, how long had I been standing here drifting in a dreamworld?
I couldn’t see a thing and my limbs were numb.
Tremors in my legs let me know I’d been stopped for a while, and the arm holding the makeshift staff wobbled as I struggled to maintain my grip.
Why would the goddess Sola gift me another chance at living only to have me die in the middle of a freezing sandstorm?
I’m not blanting smart enough to figure this out.
If my brother were in my place, he’d have us out of this fix by now. D’iver wouldn’t blindly march to his death. Think! Think! What am I missing? I just needed a little rest. To sit down for a while.
Pain shot through my leg, like the stabbing tentacles of the prized underwater Toona at home, as I bent my knee to sit. Blood seeped through my pants, the warm stickiness a grim reminder of the danger I faced.
Though I trembled, I was glad for the pain.
It let me know I was still alive. As I slowly lowered myself to the ground, a sheet of loose sand gave way beneath my good leg, sending me toppling forward.
Agonizing pain ripped through my thigh as I grasped for a handhold.
I cried out, unable to stop my roll down the steep slope.
It was as if someone had come along, scooped out all the sand and decided to push me into the hole. Or as if a giant blanting meteorite had crash-landed.
I threw my arms out, trying to slow the momentum, but didn’t come to a stop until I’d reached the bottom of the basin. In the distance, I imagined I heard a voice yelling, but the dizziness made my head so fuzzy I couldn’t tell up from down.
Tepid water met my lips and dribbled down my chin, bringing me back to reality.
A muffled voice came from near my head on the right, and even though distorted, the rich and velvety tones distracted me from the wrenching pain for a moment. “That was quite a tumble.”
“It hurts,” I whined to the stranger. Memories of my mata flooded my mind, as if her spirit was guiding me. Trust your instincts, she’d always said. Don’t let anyone take advantage of your kindness.
“I don’t doubt that for one minute.” It sounded like the owner of the voice might have been smiling.
I swiped at my grimy eyes with the backs of my hands, the little protection my shredded shirt had offered long gone.
When I opened them again, an Earther male came into focus.
As he crouched beside me, his long golden ponytail whipped in the wind.
His face was covered with an oxy tank mask, and his wide shoulders stretched his synth-fabric coat.
Even through the cloudy mask he wore, his eyes—sky blue, like on my home planet D’ulanna—seemed kind. My instincts said he was trustworthy.
I accepted the water container he held out and swished out my mouth before drinking half.
“Thanks.” The wind was calmer inside the shifting sand of the crater, but I could only make out one set of tracks and no hovercraft.
“Please tell me there’s a rescue party coming?
” My teeth chattered, and the thought of standing, let alone walking, almost brought tears to my eyes.
Laugh lines spread from his eyes behind the oxy mask. “There’s a rescue party coming.”
Relief flooded me as I squinted into the wind over his wide shoulders. “Anytime soon?”
The stranger continued to sit on his haunches, smiling with his eyes as if he hadn’t seen another face in an annum.
The pain in my leg had worsened after rolling it in sand, and the back of my neck ached like Sola’s fire.
I ignored my lengthening fangs, dipping my chin to hide them as best as I could.
Any warm-blooded body would have had me salivating at this point.
“Sorry to disappoint, but it’s a rescue party of one.” His laughter fogged up his mask as he pointed to himself. “I’m thinking it’s best we just get on with it.” He stood.
The muscles in his long legs bunched and stretched as he moved, the wind lapping at the fabric of his trousers.
Around his waist, a tool belt sat on narrow hips.
When saliva pooled in my mouth, I passed it off as hunger.
I hadn’t met many Earthers, but I thought his height seemed impressive for his species, easily matching my own.
“Can you walk?”
More than at any other time in my life, I wanted to make a good impression, so I nodded. When he held out a gloved hand, I had no choice but to grasp it. I groaned as he pulled me upright and then immediately toppled into him. His solid arms caught me without even the smallest shuffle backward.
“As I thought,” he said. “Hang on. This is going to hurt.” He crouched facing me, leaned in and hooked his elbows under my armpits.
I gulped as his hair brushed over my cheeks.
A second later he placed his leg between mine before standing and hefting me over his shoulder.
“You made it most of the way. How about I help you out a bit for this last stretch?”
Pain ratcheted through my body, increasing one notch at a time until the edge of unconsciousness closed in. “Just wake me when we get there.”
Thoughts of coppery sweet blood flooding my tongue, followed by a meal of rare meat, a hot shower and a comfy mattress, drifted through my mind before sleep’s grip took hold.