19

- Sophia -

We eat something and then keep walking. I'm grateful for this little break. For one whole hour, probably longer, I've not thought about being stranded. At all. And even now, when my brain is back to normal and I probably should worry a lot, it feels different from before. This planet has idyllic and pretty harmless places like that waterfall. And it has caveman warriors like Jax'zan, with a body that's so perfect that if I had been asked to design my ideal man, that's pretty much what he would be like.

I long to hold his hand as we walk through the jungle, but that could impede him if we were to come across a danger. But once in a while he stops, looks around, takes three steps to be beside me and then kisses me and caresses me so passionately I swoon. It's like he can't keep his hands off me, for real, and I haven't had that happen to me that often before. And certainly not with a man like this.

We walk silently for another hour or two. I'm starting to hope that maybe this won't be so bad. We have seen all kinds of small animals and birds and insects, but the dinosaurs don't seem to be too active in this area.

Then Jax'zan slows down and looks around more than before, and I feel my heart rate pick up. He's expecting something.

I whirl around as I see movement among the trees. Fast movement, just shadows. Before I can even yelp, Jax'zan is beside me and his sword is in his hand. And I see what's coming. They're dinosaurs.

They look a little like kangaroos, with huge legs and tiny forelimbs. They're a dirty gray, but they have gigantic orange mohawks on their heads and they run extremely fast on their hind legs. Oh, and there's a whole pack of them. And they're the size of rhinos. And they're coming right for us with open gapes that have many sets of square teeth, one behind the other.

I instinctively crouch down, probably because my knees go weak at the sight of the danger coming our way so quietly. They don't make a sound, just come bounding towards us in a straight line. The ground shakes with each of their steps.

My gun won't do much against those things, but I clench it in my hand and look up just as the first dinosaur comes close enough to attack. It look like just a huge mouth coming towards us, and there's a metallic clang as Jax'zan's sword hits the first one, then another and then a much wetter, meatier thud as he swings the blade into the throat of the nearest attacker. It immediately collapses to the ground and creates a large barrier that it's hard for the other ones to pass. They have to go around it to get to us, and it buys Jax'zan time to chop large gouges in two of them while they're still confused. I notice that their heads are all mouth and eyes and teeth so that there seems to be no room for a brain. Confusing them is probably pretty easy.

The wounded ones limp away, still making no sound. But we're not done. The dinos are now attacking from three sides, and I don't know what to do. I don't want to be in Jax'zan's way, but I also don't want to be further away from him than, say, two inches.

He solves the dilemma by pulling me close and then pushing me down on the ground so I'm lying there, curled up. I clench my eyes shut. There's nothing I can do to help him now, and he's the expert.

I hear a mighty warrior's roar, then clangs and thuds and a sound like from thick fabric being ripped end to end. I have a vague impression that Jax'zan is spinning in place, but I don't look up to confirm it.

Then I hear a noise like from a helicopter, chop-chop-chop, it rains cold blood and slivers of meat and then everything is quiet.

Jax'zan takes my arm and pulls me gently to my feet. “Victory,” he says, and his teeth shine white in a face that's so red with dark blood I yelp again.

The dinosaurs that didn't have the sense to run away are lying around us, and Jax'zan's sword is dripping with their blood. “Stupid Bigs,” he says and wipes it with a leaf. “Fast, but think slow. And never learn. The spinning blade always works.”

I'm all shaky and I'm glad my finger isn't on the gun's trigger, or I would probably have shot the ground many times. But Jax'zan doesn't seem too concerned about what just happened. I guess I shouldn't be surprised about that – this is his planet, and I'm sure all the warriors in his tribe learn how to deal with the different monsters at an early age.

I look down myself. My shirt is splattered with dinosaur blood and I can only assume that my face looks like I'm a vampire who's been feasting a little too hard. “Not your first one?” 

He juts his chin out. “Not my first.” Then he comes over and takes me into his arms, hugging me tight.

It's the first time he's done anything like that, just comforting me after something bad, and it feels like a completely natural thing. It's not something he does a lot, but I think it just feels right to him now. I totally melt into his arms. I needed to see this human part of him. He's not that alien after all. I've known guys I understood less than I understand this simple man whom I suspect has hidden depths in addition to his other talents.

“Zophia not afraid. Jax'zan protects.”

I bury my face in his warm, hairy, stripy chest. “I know. You're a great warrior. Even a bunch of charging dinosaurs can't scare you.”

He considers this. “Can scare. Must fight right anyway. Difference between warrior and boy is that warrior fights right even when afraid.”

I sniff. His constant protection is making me emotional. “And difference between warrior and Sophia is that Sophia is useless.”

He holds me out from him and lifts my face with a gentle finger under my chin. “Zophia most valuable wonder on Xren. Worth a thousand warriors.”

For the first time in my life I just stand there and drown in someone's eyes. His are alien and red and luminous like glowing coal, and I can't look away. Yeah, I've totally fallen for this jurassic alien. And I'm going to assume that he's fallen for me too, at least a little. What he just said wasn't some rehearsed line; that was a genuine feeling straight from his heart.

We stand there for a good while, and then he looks down me critically. “Zophia needs new garments.”

My shirt isn't just splattered by blood, it's also ripped by rekh teeth and dirty from all kinds of things I've been through. “You know, I think I do?”

He bends down and uses his sword to delicately cut pieces from the dead dinosaurs. I watch in fascination. He's controlling that huge sword like it's a surgical instrument. When he's done, he's got a good amount of their tough skin in his hands. It's still bloody and greasy, but I can only assume that he has a plan with it. He wraps the skins in large leaves, puts them in his bag and then we continue walking.

I feel that he's being more guarded now. He looks around even more and seems to be on a hair trigger. I'm not going to ask why. I'm pretty sure I'm not going to like the answer.

But we walk all day and when the sun is getting close to the horizon I'm pretty much done. Even so, I've been walking in difficult terrain in the heat all day, and I haven't collapsed. I'm being forced into better shape, and that's probably a good idea if I'm going to live for a long time on this alien planet. That seems more and more probable.

Jax'zan stops and erects the little tent right beside a cliff of black rock that sticks up out of the ground. I see why – if we're attacked, we'll only have three sides to worry about, not four.

We eat the rest of the food from that morning, and then Jax'zan lights a fire with some special tools that he has. It looks like two metal bars that produce sparks when he strikes them together, and then the sparks fall onto some dry fabric he has with him and produces flames. It looks so easy, and I make sure to watch exactly how he does it. It would be nice if I could start pulling my own weight a little here.

When the fire is burning, he takes his sword and scrapes the dinosaur skins, removing the fats and the meat and blood. Then he makes three sturdy frames and stretches the dinosaur skins onto them and place them around the fire.

“They will dry out,” he says, satisfied.

“And the way you positioned them, the skins will make the fire hard to see for anyone else in these woods.”

He raises his eyebrows. “Zophia understands many things. Yes, best to not be seen at night.”

There's not much else to do, so I sit down beside him and lean into him while he sharpens his sword.

I stare into the fire and feel the tiredness wash over me. “Jax'zan, what's your village like?”

“Respected tribe,” he says. “Strong warriors, good and productive Lifegivers. Water. Food. Safety. Zophia safer in village than in jungle.”

I nod, then jut my chin out like he does when he wants to confirm something. “What's Lifegivers?”

“Warriors born from Lifegivers. Important part of village. Secure the future, create warriors.”

“Ah. They're the women? And you call them Lifegivers. It's a nice name.”

He frowns at me. “Not women. Lifegivers. Different.”

I don't get it, but at the moment I'm not going to enquire too closely. Probably Lifegivers are women who have given birth and are honored with that title. Mothers, in other words. And my translator doesn't quite get it. That's fine.

I lean my head on his shoulder. “You don't happen to have spaceships, do you?”

He doesn't answer, just shrugs. Probably the translator isn't quite up to this conversation. Better keep it simple.

“Do you have a wife or something? A fiancee, something like that? A girlfriend?”

“Yes,” he says, and even the translator I've made should be able to get that right.

My heart sinks in my chest. Of course a man as great as this one has to be spoken for. I've let my fantasy run unchecked. And when we come to the village ...

“Will she try to kill me? I mean, we have had sex a couple of times by now ...”

“No one kill Zophia. Jax'zan protect.”

“Yeah, but I mean, if you have a wife, maybe she won't like the things we've done.”

“Jax'zan not married. No Rexvi warrior married.”

“Ah. But there's a girlfriend in the picture?”

“Yes. Jax'zan very fortunate. Respected by tribe. Zopia will be respected, too.”

“Uh-huh. Probably not by your girlfriend.”

He looks down at me and gives me a facial expression so alien I have no idea what it means.

I suddenly feel cold. The future doesn't look too good after all. I'll be coming to his village as a total outsider. A stranger. With no skills that they can probably use, but with a bunch of friends who are equally helpless here. And I will probably have a serious enemy in Jax'zan's girlfriend. I'd feel better if there were more of us, if I didn't have to face that situation alone.

I feel the gun in my pocket. I don't know how they'll react to me. They might be very different from Jax'zan. I mean, he looks like he might be in his mid-twenties. How much pull does he have in his tribe? He's probably not a very senior member. If someone else decides that I should be imprisoned or killed or something, he might be outvoted.

Well, it's not like I have a choice. The girls and I need help. I'm sure we'll be valuable members of their tribe in time. The first months will be tough.

I feel the old fear growing again. This damn planet ...

Jax'zan puts his sword down and shifts his position so my face is at his chest again. He must have heard my sniffling.

“Zophia always safe with Jax'zan.”

“Yeah,” I sniffle, “so far. But this isn't even my planet! We were abducted by those little creeps, and now I'm here on a prehistoric planet, totally relying on you to keep me alive. And I have no way of getting home. None.”

He doesn't reply, just strokes my hair. Probably the translator is giving him some gibberish. Jax'zan speaks in short sentences, and I think that makes the interpretation easier. But the way I talk isn't making things easy for the device.

He rocks slowly back and forth, like he has a crying baby in his arms. It strikes me from out of nowhere that he will probably be a spectacular dad. Or maybe he already is one.

I wipe my eyes. “I'm okay.”

Well, better, at least. His chest and his arms around me do make me feel better, even if he's someone else's man. I'll borrow him for a little while. But of course I can't have sex with him now that I know he's attached.

“Do you have any children?”

“Jax'zan has no heirs. Warriors must prove strong and survive many days to make new warriors. Only the strongest warriors may be duplicated. Jax'zan yet too young.”

Damn that translator! I'm sure his sentence was perfectly understandable, but I don't think I get the meaning of that. “Huh. Your girlfriend doesn't mind waiting? Or what? You have a way of preventing pregnancy?”

“Zophia not wait. Mating right away.”

I scratch my chin. Is he calling me a slut? “Well, it takes two to mate, you know. You were good and ready yourself. And don't get me started about the way you greeted me the first time you saw me. Yes, fine, it was great. But a little presumptuous, maybe? I don't think I'm the only slut here.”

I'm pretty sure none of that is coming through the translator the way it should, but that's probably for the best. I do not want to antagonize this man.

“Zophia use many words Jax'zan not understand. When reach village, Zophia and Jax'zan wait no more. Only Lifegivers require warrior to be mature. With woman, mating can happen at any time.”

I'm not getting it. But I'm so confused I need some fixed point to hold on to. “You mean you and I will mate and have kids?”

“Yes.”

“And your girlfriend won't mind?”

He looks at me with that alien expression again. “Mind?”

Hm. I wonder ... “Your girlfriend. What's her name?”

He looks at me again, and this time I recognize the expression which I'm sure is the same all over the galaxy. It's the are-you-crazy-or-just-drunk look. “Zophia.”

I stare up at him. “You mean, I'm your girlfriend? There's no jealous woman in your village? That's what you meant all along?”

He frowns. “Zophia is Jax'zan's mate. The Ancestors have promised. The Prophecy states it. Zophia only woman on Xren.”

It's the weirdest thing. I feel such relief and happiness at those words that I can feel my pussy getting wet, as if I could feel a whole spray of heat and fluid down there. I'm pretty sure he means that I'm the only woman in his life. And that's fine with me. Much more than fine.

“Let me just clarify. You have no girlfriend in your village.”

“Zophia is Jax'zan's mate,” he repeats and looks confused.

“Okay. And do you have any other mate? Like, in the village?”