Chapter 3 #2
She stepped closer to the map and pointed to herself and then a point on the map which was about a quarter of the way to my destination. She squeezed my wrist once. She repeated the actions, slower this time. I scratched my head. “Are you saying you’re going to go this far with me?”
Her lips parted, and she nodded eagerly.
I looked at the map, then at her. “Why? Is that terrain difficult or something?”
She only blinked her eyes at me. Then she hauled her pack onto her back and stood at my side expectantly.
I couldn’t believe this. Less than an hour on this damn planet, and I had a beautiful tour guide. Maybe after I delivered the plant to the retrieval shuttle, I’d stay here. Make a life with Goldie like in my dream. I shook my head. A fantasy.
She seemed determined to go with me, at least for part of the journey, and who was I to argue? She was an independent… female… alien. She made her own decisions. And I couldn’t deny, I enjoyed having her at my side.
So I shrugged, and said, “All right. I’m not going to turn down a free guide.”
As we set out in the direction of my destination, she picked her way through the forest with an athleticism that I envied.
Now that we were both upright, and my brain was working, I could see she was about five-ten and muscular.
Her cheekbones were so high and sharp, that I was surprised they didn’t slice through the small, thin scales on her face.
But I didn’t only look at her—this planet was incredible. Lush vegetation in a riot of colors. Massive flowers that looked big enough for me to lay inside. Small insects buzzed around, and I spooked when a furry creature darted across my path before diving into a hole in the ground.
Every once in a while, a shadow passed over us, and one time, I flinched in memory of the killer ostriches, drawing a snuffling noise from Goldie. When I glanced at her, I was pretty sure she was laughing.
I hadn’t been wrong; I had been a boy scout.
For like one year when I was seven. But then my mom moved us to a new town.
Again. And I was back to square one. Like I was every year when she picked up and moved for a new job or a new man.
Sometimes twice in one year. The survival skills I learned were on the streets or in prison.
I shivered thinking about the cot. The terrible meals.
The bars. I couldn’t let that be Malcolm’s future if I failed this mission. I had to succeed.
As we walked, I tried to think back to the attack.
One minute, I was about to severed in half by one of those birds and then there’d been…
blood. The birds took flight. And Goldie had just…
been there. My brain had to have been playing tricks on me, because she had appeared out of thin air with a bloody blade in her hand.
All my life, I’d found ways to use other people to get what I wanted.
I was a career criminal. I lied, stole, and manipulated.
Played games. Those were my instincts. I’d never learned proper social interactions.
But something had come loose in my brain somewhere between Earth and Torin.
Or maybe it was just Goldie. Because I didn’t want to use her.
I didn’t want to lie, manipulate, or deceive.
She’d saved my life, and now I wanted to do something for her.
I felt desperate to prove I wasn’t some worthless weak human, and I’d never wanted to prove myself to anyone in my life.
As the sun began to set, Goldie watched the sky carefully.
At one point, she pulled a small device out of her pack that was about the size of an iPhone.
She stepped away from me and spoke into it briefly before putting it away.
It was the first time I’d heard her say more than one word, and it was exactly like the one from my dreams, just…
in an alien tongue. I couldn’t shake her words in my dream, and if I couldn’t trust my own subconscious, who could I trust?
As we walked, my stomach rumbled with hunger.
I had rations in my pack—calorie-dense bars that were meant to last me the whole fifteen days.
They tasted like absolute garbage, but I wasn’t here for fine dining.
Did Goldie have her own food? I’d share with her if she needed to eat.
I could figure something out. I wasn’t exactly a hunter, but to survive, I’d do just about anything.
Suddenly, a rustling sound came from a bush to my right side.
I pulled out a dagger a split second before leaves exploded and a brown creature surged toward me.
All I saw were teeth and claws. I stabbed with my knife, not really intending on anything but self-defense.
The knife sank into furred skin and hit bone.
Blood spilled down my wrist, and at my feet lay a twitching, dying, furry rodent about the size of a big cat.
I looked at Goldie, who dropped to a crouch near the animal. Please, don’t let this be a pet, I thought. Please, don’t let this be a pet.
She withdrew my knife from the animal and after wiping the blade off on the fur, handed it back to me. I tried to read her expression, but she remained silent and rather still. I cleared my throat. “Uh, is this good to eat?”
Her head tilted back, and she nodded. That had to be a good sign. She wouldn’t want to eat her pet.
My chest swelled with a bit of pride. I’d killed dinner for us. I grinned. “So I did good, right?” Normally I didn’t need approval. If I didn’t feel confident, I just faked it. But this wasn’t my home. My planet. I felt a strong desire to please Goldie.
This time, her lips stretched into what I thought could have been a smile. She nodded again and said, “Ackpeenar.” She spoke in the back of her throat, her syllables blending, which made her tone light and almost musical.
I shoved my knife back in my sheath. “Ackpeenar? What’s that?”
She pointed to the dead animal.
“That’s what this is called?”
She nodded.
“And we can eat ackpeenar?”
Another nod.
I narrowed my eyes. “But does it taste good?”
This seemed to amuse her. She made some gasping sounds that could have been a laugh. Then she shrugged. Okay, so this wouldn’t be prime rib. Well, this thing couldn’t taste worse than my garbage bars.
I make a fire with some lint and flint from my bag.
Goldie probably had some other fancy alien planet way to make fire, but again, I wanted to be useful.
The sun was beginning to set, casting a fuchsia streak across the sky.
A large shadow loomed in the distance. Another planet, so close that it seemed like it would only take a day to get to. But I was sure that wasn’t the case.
I pointed to it. “What’s the name of that?”
She glanced up from where she deftly dressed the ackpeenar. “Cor-in.”
Torin and Corin. Huh. Cute. I wondered if anything else rhymed in this galaxy.
We roasted the small animal, which was ugly as hell.
Kind of a like a dog-beaver-giant rat mix.
It had a whiskered snout and beady eyes.
Tiny ears. Fat as hell body like it was about to hibernate.
While it cooked, I couldn’t say the meat smelled delicious, but when in Rome, right? Maybe this was a Torin delicacy.
Goldie sat with her knees hugged to her chest. Her hair cascaded over her shoulders and back like a silver waterfall.
I caught her looking at me a lot, and I was dying to know what she thought about me.
I hadn’t been with a woman in a decade, because I’d been behind bars.
And it hadn’t been my priority when I’d been released.
Maybe that was why I was so hot for an alien.
I was sex-starved and craving touch. But while I found her attractive, my brain wasn’t on getting off.
I wanted what we had in my dream. Her affectionate voice in my ear.
The way she looked at me. The possessive hand on my chest. Her syrup scent and radiant smile.
Fuck, I was losing it. I dropped my head in my hands and rubbed my temples until the smell of meat grew stronger. I lifted my head to find Goldie placing strips of meat on a large leaf before setting my meal in front of me.
I picked up a strip of meat. The texture seemed okay.
“Here’s to our first date, Goldie,” I said with a laugh before throwing my head back and tossing the meat inside.
I chewed quick, worried that the taste or texture would make me gag, but it wasn’t too bad.
Could have used some spices. Pinch of salt.
But as I ate, I could feel the protein go to work on my tired, broken body.
After downing a thermos of water, I felt sluggish, sleepy.
The sun had set, and the fire reflected in Goldie’s big eyes.
She patted the ground next to her, and I sort of slumped over until my head hit the ground near her thigh.
She smiled, and I found myself smiling back.
My full stomach. The heat of the fire. A sense of safety with Goldie at my side.
All of that allowed me to close my eyes and drift off.
I swore, right before I fell asleep, that I felt a hand brush over my short hair