Chapter 10
TEN
Amelia
They left the vehicle at the top of the cliff and climbed down the sloping ledge to the beach.
Amelia could smell the salt water. She closed her eyes and imagined that she was back on Earth.
A broad hand splayed on her back and a low voice asked her if she was okay, reminding her she was not on Earth.
She opened her eyes. The sea was as black as ink, and the pebbly sand beneath her feet was a shimmering shade of lavender.
My goodness, it’s beautiful. It made her wonder what other amazing sights were out there in the galaxy, waiting to be seen.
Maybe those women who signed up for the Virilian Match Program had the right idea.
There was an adventure out here. She couldn’t imagine signing up to be an alien’s mistress, sight unseen, but she barely knew Taron, and here she was sleeping with him.
No, having the best sex of her life with him.
If all Virilians were this sexy, no wonder women were signing up for this program by the hundreds.
“What do you think happened to all the ships out there?” she asked.
“It’s hard to say.” He squinted at the hulking shapes. “There are many kinds of vessels. Some look newer than others.”
They walked along the shoreline a short way, until they came across the torn and hollowed out, partial hull of a small shuttle. It was half buried in the sand. The curved, jagged edge arched high enough for both of them to stand under.
“This is a good place to stay for the night,” Taron said.
It reminded Amelia of a very sad-looking cabana, but it was shelter, and the best they were going to find before nightfall. They set about gathering armfuls of wide, thick leaves from the plants that grew along the cliff. In short order, they had a soft place to lie down.
They just needed food.
Amelia looked at a tide pool among the rocks at the edge of the sea.
The water was clear. As she gazed into it, she saw fish, each with enormous mouths full of long, sharp teeth.
There were also creatures that looked crab-like, but instead of one set of claws, there were eight, each larger than the creature’s body, and appearing razor sharp.
No amount of money could get her to put her hand in that water, but she wondered if they could eat them.
Taron came over and peered into the pool. He shook his head. “Nope. I’m not reaching in there.”
“We don’t have a fire to cook them, anyway.”
He grunted in agreement. “Too risky to start one, anyway. Scouts would see the smoke. I fear we’re still being hunted.”
“Hmm.” She still had that weird gun that had burned through everything, even the metal wall.
The tide pool was separated from the rest of the ocean, thanks to a low tide.
“Maybe I can try something.” She pulled the weapon from her pocket, aimed it at the pool and fired.
The heat from the blast instantly boiled the water.
Steam exploded from the bubbling surface.
The smell of hot salty steam filled her nostrils.
Then, a dozen creatures came floating to the top, cooked instantly.
“Yes!” She pumped a fist in the air.
“Whoa,” said Taron. He turned a stunning grin on her. “That was brilliant.”
“Thanks.” She was amazed herself that it worked. They waited a few minutes for the water to cool enough to remove the boiled fish, then carried them back to their makeshift camp.
They laid their hot meal on some flat rocks and found some makeshift utensils. The evening chill seeped away the excitement of their boiled dinner.
She chewed her fish-thing, which was salty and chewy. It reminded her of beef jerky. Her shoulders slumped, and she felt weary. This was so hopeless. They may survive a few nights, but unless they could get off this planet, it was a matter of time before they were captured and killed.
Still, it was a miracle they were still alive after all they had just gone through.
She paused with a mouth full of fish. Maybe it wasn’t so much of a miracle.
She looked over at Taron, who was smashing one of those crab claws with a rock.
He had been so capable of fighting those assassins.
And he had known exactly what to say to those raiders. It made her curious.
“Taron, how did you come to be a shuttle operator?” She knew her voice sounded heavy, a little wary. This was a potentially sticky subject for him. “I mean, what did you do before you were a shuttle operator?”
He froze, rock suspended in the air. Slowly, he lowered it. He did not look at her. “I’d rather not talk about this.”
“I need to know, Taron.” Did she? Was it wise to press him on this point?
Just because she’d had sex with him—and would hopefully have more sex with him—didn’t mean his past was any of her business.
Unless they expected to have a future together.
That thought rattled through her like a stone in a tin bucket. “Please.”
“I wasn’t a good guy,” he growled, warning heavy in his voice. “Maybe I’m still not.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
He let out a loud breath and shook his head. Dark hair fell over his eyes. “I was one of them,” he said roughly. “I was a raider. Not that group—a different one. We were called Sifters, but it really doesn’t matter. Raiders are raiders, whatever name they give themselves.”
His words confirmed her suspicions. He could have lied, but he gave her the truth. That was something. And his present actions spoke more for who he was than his past ever could. “That’s not who you are now.”
He looked up at her with green eyes blazing. “Amelia, I did terrible things—things I will regret for the rest of my life. I am exiled from my home planet of Virilia for my service to the Sifters.”
“Taron—”
“No.” He cut her off with a shake of his head. “There’s nothing you can say that will make any of this right.”
“Oh, shut up. We survived a night in the wild, part of another in a raider camp, and an attack by assassins, because of skills you learned doing bad things. I would be dead if you hadn’t been a raider.” She crossed her arms. “So you can go stuff your self-loathing.”
He blinked at her. “You are so sexy when you’re angry at me. Why is that?”
“It’s because you’re crazy.” She couldn’t stop the smile.
“Look, Taron. You may have been a raider. You may have done terrible things. You’re not that old, so you must’ve been a kid when you did them.
My point is, you’re not that bad guy anymore.
It’s not what I see when I look at you, anyway; I see the guy who’s saved my life over and over.
That’s who you are now. And that’s what matters. ”
Taron turned back to his crab thing. He smashed it harder with the rock and picked out a chunk of flesh. “Maybe,” he muttered.
Amelia shook her head and ate her own dinner. Now that the adrenaline had washed away, she was starving. At least they ate fairly well on this planet. Thank goodness they hadn’t crashed onto an ice planet, or a desert planet where there was nothing at all.
Some fresh water would be nice. Oh! She just remembered that she had shoved those fruit pods into the satchel before they had run out. She pulled them out of the bag and handed one to him.
His eyes lit up. “Stars, Amelia. I may just fall in love with you.”
Amelia’s belly flipped over, and the breath stalled in her chest. The comment sounded so offhanded, he couldn’t have meant it.
He didn’t even make eye contact. He just ripped open a hole in the fruit and drank the liquid inside.
She froze for a moment, then shook herself and did the same.
Obviously, the language was giving him trouble.
He didn’t actually know English. It was just a chip in the back of his head.
He set the fruit aside and smashed open another claw. He handed her some meat. “Try this,” he said. “It’s good.”
Amelia took the meat and popped it in her mouth. It was chewy and bland, but edible. That was all that really mattered. She did her best to put his fall in love comment on the shelf where it belonged, to hopefully soon be forgotten.
“I hate to ask this, but do we have any idea what we’re doing tomorrow? You know this person who is following us.”
He chewed thoughtfully. “Not yet. We’ll see how tonight goes. You brought the transmission detector with us, so maybe there is another settlement here.” He shook his head. “It’s not likely, since there’s no evidence of habitation, aside from that camp.”
They ate until their bellies were full, then gathered up the remains of their meal and buried it in the sand.
Hopefully, there were no marauding predators out there.
The sand had shown no signs of prints or activity.
No ripped apart animals indicating predators roamed the beach.
Occasionally, Amelia would see a great, cresting body rise from the waves, before descending back into the black waters.
It was not a place she would ever want to swim.
Even the small creatures had more teeth and claws than she wanted to tangle with.
As night fell, several close, bright stars bathed the sea in silvery light, making the waves twinkle. The sands shone opal as tiny sea creatures skittered along the water’s edge.
“If we ever get out of here,” she said, “I want to travel.”
He looked at her. “Did you never leave your town?”
“No, we did, but we were raised very strictly. Like I told you, if I hadn’t been born with hearing loss, I would be in the military, just like my brothers.”
“Wow,” he said. “That’s a hard line.”
“Oh, that was just my dad. I had friends whose parents were in the military and their folks were not like that at all. After my mom died, my father sent us all to rigorous boarding schools.”
“I lost my mother, too,” he murmured.
“I’m sorry,” she said, noting the wistful tone of his voice. She rubbed his forearm, offering comfort. “That’s something we have in common.”
He raised one eyebrow. “I hope you’re not keeping count.”
She chuckled. “The list may be longer than you think.”
“Doubtful. You went to a strict school. I snuck away and joined my brother in a life of depravity.”
“I didn’t want to go to boarding school,” she clarified. “My father did not know what to do with the three of us. He sent us away to get us out of his hair and teach us discipline.”
“Well, that explains why you like being in control all the time.” He laced his fingers behind his head and leaned back.
“I don’t like being in control all the time.”
One dark brow raised, and the corner of his mouth tipped up. “Really? So what are some times you don’t like being in control?”
Amelia leaned back, letting her elbows sink into the sand. “Oh, I don’t know. Now and then I like someone else to take control.”
“Hmm,” he said. “How about now?”
She gave him a coy look. “How about what now?”
In answer, he stood up and lifted her into his arms in one smooth motion.
“Oh.” She wound her arms around his neck, loving that feeling of weightlessness. Being in a pair of strong, capable arms. “Now works.”