- Emilia -

“I sometimes think this planet isn't so bad after all,” Sophia says and tosses the salen pit into the basket where we keep them. “I mean, sure, it's deadly and scary and sometimes disgusting. But now we've been here for a while, I kind of have moments when I feel almost content.”

It's sunset, and Sophia and I are sitting here by the opening to the cave, just relaxing after a day of work and keeping our little tribe alive and prospering. In the distance we see the misty outline of Bune, the ancient spaceship, where the sun is coloring the treetops orange and red.

I take a bite out of the sweet fruit in my hands. “I know, right? Little things make me happier here. Like, looking forward to growing trees. Finding a little patch of decent clay. Drinking from the creek when the day is over. Just sitting at the fire with all you guys in the evenings. It's a little moment of ... yeah, contentedness. And I guess it helps that I'm married now.”

She smiles at me. “Still on cloud nine?”

“And how. Rosy glow around everything I look at. I haven't even cursed since ... well, for a long time.” I grin and glance over at Ar'ox, who's busy building a new forge where he can make knives and swords and spears. And scissors, because I drew him a picture in the dirt and I think he wants to try making some. He's very focused on his work, but I see him looking over at me every so often, making sure I'm okay.

“You too?” I lob the pit of my finished salen fruit into the basket. When we have twenty, we'll plant some of them in a neat row nearby, and the others in the wide track from the bobont stampede. Then we'll see if they'll grow.

Sophia leans back onto a boulder and sighs happily. “Oh, definitely. Even weeks later. You'd think there'd be a comedown, but I don't know. Hasn't happened yet. I mean, hey, Jax'zan is only human. Well, nearly. And he has his weaknesses. Must have, right? But I couldn't tell you what they are yet. His strengths seem to drown them out.”

Alice comes bouncing and drops a little heap of ghostberries on the flat rock we're sitting on, then carefully picks one and hands it to me, then does the same for Sophia.

“Thank you, Alice,” Sophia says. “I don't know where you find these berries. I've never seen them before.”

Alice sits down next to me and stuffs the rest of the berries into her huge mouth, then chews happily, juice running down her furry face.

I bite into the berry and enjoy the tart flavor. “She has a good nose for these things. I don't even know where the salen tree is where she finds the fruits, but it can't be that far from here.”

“I really can't,” Sophia agrees. “But I'm glad she finds them for us. I think our diets were getting a little boring. Those salen things must be extremely nutritious. I can see myself filling out a little, even in just a couple of days. So it's got to be good for the baby.”

“And for everyone,” I agree. “I've started gaining a little weight, finally. I was getting worried. Weird how a small thing like that can make such a huge difference.”

Aurora comes sauntering out of the jungle, waving to us with her large bow over her shoulder. She's all smiles now, seems like. I guess saving me from that little dactyl healed the self-loathing she felt when she thought I was dead, and that makes me happy. It wasn't her fault at all. I'm still moved almost to tears every time I look at her.

“Stars, Aurora, you look like Xena, Warrior Princess,” Sophia exclaims.

I nod. “Doesn't she, though? You should have seen her killing that dactyl. She got it with a single arrow. Totally amazing. Never saw Xena doing that.”

“Not like I had a choice,” Aurora says and sits down beside me. “I only had one chance.”

I gently take her upper arm and squeeze it, just to show my appreciation. She's awesome.

I take a salen fruit and give it to her. “Here. We all need to fill out a little.”

She takes it and bites into it. “We absolutely do. You know, having you gone for so long was almost worth it when it meant we could get these things. They're the most delicious food I've tasted. And they give me energy.”

Jax'zan, Heidi and Caroline come out from among the trees, carrying a couple of rough skin sacks.

“Find it?” I ask as they approach.

“Yep,” Caroline groans and dumps one heavy sack in front of me. “Finest jungle clay. I'll make the first order, Emilia: One large coffee mug, please. With the coffee inside, of course.”

I open the sack and look inside. Yep, that's the fine clay I found. I would have gone to get it myself, but the girls have forbidden me from leaving the cave today. They're just super happy that I'm home, and right now, they don't want me wandering around. “Hey, I'm not Starbucks. All I can promise you is an ugly, badly deformed bowl-shaped thing with a crack and a slow leak. And that's the best case scenario. The coffee you'll have to find yourself.”

“Whaaat?” Heidi exclaims with mock outrage as she sits down, punching me lightly on the shoulder to make sure I know it's a joke. “We have to provide our own coffee? It's a disgrace. I'll take it up with the Complaints Department. Who is that? Is it you, Caroline?”

Caroline shrugs. “Sure. I do complain a lot.”

Heidi pushes her glasses up on the bridge of her nose. “But seriously, Emilia, can't you find some kind of cute spider monkey monster that finds coffee beans? Or even the finished product? I mean, there has to be some kind of coffee springs somewhere, right?”

“You'd think so,” I chuckle. “Seems any decent planet would have that, at least.”

“Who says this planet is decent?” Aurora says. “I've seen no sign of that yet. It's a total figlio di puttana, as far as I can tell.”

The girls murmur assent, except Sophia and me. We probably don't see it quite like that.

It's getting dark, and the air is cooling down. Seems the evenings are slowly getting colder. We don't think there's a real winter here, but it seems the seasons do change somewhat.

Ar'ox is still working on his new forge, slowly building it with rocks and wet dirt. His golden hair with its internal light source glows in the darkness, and his orange stripes are burning bright against the dark green jungle beyond. He's contentedly humming something, which surprises me, because I never heard any music in his village.

As if he knows I'm looking at him, he lifts his head and gives me a smile. The fire in his eyes glows, and his teeth shine. He's transformed my life, and I love him for it. And for a thousand other reasons.

“Or what about a spider monkey monster that tracks down super hot cavemen for all of us?” Heidi suggests. “I'll take mine with long hair and green stripes, please. And an axe, I guess. And maybe a Hardee's franchise?”

“Might be a challenge finding that here,” Caroline points out.

“Heck, I'm not picky,” Heidi deadpans. “It's okay if he has a sword instead of the axe.”

Delyah comes out of the cave, holding the alien pad in her hands. “You guys want to see something cool?”

She does something to the pad, and the usual show of colors comes to life in the air above it. “Should be just a moment now ...”

Then we all gasp.

“Oh my fucking stars ...”

In the air above Bune there's suddenly a giant laser show with light in all colors of the rainbow, flashing and pulsating. Pillars of multicolored light stretch into the sky and light up the mist and the clouds as they sweep around fast. It's silent, but it's so bright and powerful I almost fall backwards.

It only lasts for a couple of seconds, and when it's over, it has burned dancing lines of light into my retina and I'm temporarily blinded.

We all blink rapidly and rub our eyes.

“Scheisse,” Heidi exclaims. “What in the hell was that?”

“That's the question,” Delyah says calmly. “I think I sent a signal with the pad. Then there was a response from the spaceship.”

“So that thing definitely comes from there,” I state.

Delyah puts one hand on her hip. “Yep.”

“That has to mean the ship is still ... not working, but active, somehow? I know we didn't explore even a tenth of it when we went there, but everything we saw seemed dead.”

“Maybe that's it,” Caroline suggests. “It only seemed dead. It might actually just be dormant.”

Suddenly Ar'ox and Jax'zan are right by us, Ar'ox with his arm around me and Jax'zan holding Sophia.

“The Ancestors,” Ar'ox says calmly. “Indeed that mountain is holy Bune.”

“Truly,” Jax'zan agrees. “I have never seen a sign like that from there before. But I have heard of it.”

I squeeze Ar'ox's huge arm. Somehow that spectacle didn't sit well with me. “How did you do that, Delyah?”

“Something in that ship is still working. It might be some kind of beacon or automated signal that responds when I do certain things with this pad. I noticed it this morning, but I couldn't get it to do it again. Until I figured it out just now. I'm pretty much just winging it.”

I squint towards the spaceship. “Do you think something there actually responded to you?”

“Looked like it.”

We sit there silently, thinking, hearing the sounds from the jungle all around us. That spaceship isn't as dead as we thought. Only Alice is completely unconcerned, gazing all around and murmuring softly to herself.

At last Aurora stands up and grabs her bow. “Something. Or someone.”

One by one the girls go inside the cave, until only Ar'ox and I are left outside.

I squeeze myself closer to him. “What do you think about our tribe?”

“It's a good tribe. With women. And children on the way. It must be the only one on the planet.”

I look up at him, admiring his profile. From this angle, he looks a lot like a tiger, especially with the stripes. But he's the most human man I've ever met. “You regret coming with me?”

He laughs with genuine surprise. “No, I don't regret that. I'm married now. Married to you.” He carefully puts a hand on my stomach. “This is the future. And I think the Ancestors just gave us a good omen.”

The air is getting colder, and I suddenly shiver. I wouldn't mind being inside the cave right now, between the skins and furs, with Ar'ox on top of me. And inside me. The mere thought sends the familiar tingles to my pussy.

I kiss his massive upper arm. “You want to go inside?”

He gives me a mischievous smirk. He probably has the same idea. “Okay.”

- - -

© Calista Skye 2017

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Make sure to catch the Epilogue at the end of the book!

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