29

- Sophia -

Just as I exit the tuna can, all the not-dactyls take off and soar into the sky, more like a flock of giant starlings than a swarm of deadly predators.

I can't count the not-dactyls lying dead on the ground. They're too big. But there are probably at least twenty. The rest are now flying off fast into the distance. Weird. I hadn't noticed that they had stopped hacking on the roof.

I peer skeptically up to the sky. But it actually does look like they're all leaving. Probably they're not used to resistance. And certainly not the resistance Jax'zan must have given them.

But where is he? The huge not-dactyl carcasses strewn everywhere make it hard to find him. But then I finally see him, and my hands to go my mouth. “Oh my god!”

He's on his knees and the sword is on the ground. He's bleeding profusely from many cuts and slashes and irregular wounds that I realize are not-dactyl bites taken out of him.

I run over with panic rising once more. “Jax'zan!”

He raises his head and says something. But I don't have the translator and I don't know what he's saying. The blood is dripping from him and already collecting in a black puddle under him.

“Help!” I scream towards the tuna can, because this is more than I can handle on my own. I never expected him to still be alive.

I see the girls looking out and up to make sure the not-dactyls are gone, and then Delyah and Heidi come running.

“Is he okay?”

“Shit, he chased them away! That's insane!”

I realize that any place is as good as the other right now, and we can treat him right here in the shade. Finding him alive re-ignites the hope in me. “We need something he can lie down on. Then bandages. Rip up lab coats into long strips. And take care of him while I go and find herbs. We have to stop that bleeding. And maybe prevent infection, too.”

I run into the woods to where I know there are many different bushes and plants and herbs. I'm still choked up with fear for Jax'zan. I have to stop or slow the bleeding somehow. If he has internal injuries, I don't think there's much I can do.

I find the herbs I know will clean the wounds and hopefully help slow the bleeding, and I pick every leaf of it I can find. I run back to Jax'zan, half expecting to see him dead on the ground.

He's on the ground, but he's still alive and even smiling with a face that's so pale I feel my face scrunch up in fear because his blood loss scares me. But if ever there was a time when I should be happy-go-lucky, this is it.

I use two rocks to mash the various herbs into a green, fresh-smelling paste and gently apply it to his biggest wounds.

Caroline and Emilia bring one of the primitive mattresses they've made for themselves to sleep on and Jax'zan slowly shifts his position so he can lie down. He says something with a smirk, and I know he's making a joke. Black humor. That scares me, too. He knows this is bad.

Caroline goes back to the tuna can to boil water and Emilia goes to get water for him to drink.

“What can I do?” Aurora asks.

I show her the medicinal plants “Get more herbs like this.”

She runs into the woods.

Heidi runs over with a lab coat, then starts ripping it up and carefully puts the strips on the wounds that we've put the herb paste on. “I'm sorry if this is inappropriate, but I never saw a guy this totally jacked. Do they have a huge gym at his village?”

I glance up at her. I'm not really in the mood to chitchat. “Not that I know of. I think maybe they're born pretty strong, and then their lives make them even stronger. But not all of them are this muscular.”

She lowers her voice conspiratorially. “So did you ... you know.”

I know perfectly well, but she's going to have to spell it out more if she wants an answer. “Did I what?”

“You know, you and him ... I mean, there's no women in his tribe and he looks like this ... Probably had to be tempting to hook up, right?”

I mash up more of the herbs. Despite everything, Heidi's light tone about a not-vital topic is actually perking me up. There's been too much life-or-death stuff lately. “Probably.”

“So did you? Hook up?”

I can't help a little smirk to play around my mouth. “Some hooking may or may not have taken place.”

She grins. “Ohmigod I knew it. Umm ... is he like other guys? I mean, down there? Because he's only wearing a kilt and I can see, like, straight up-”

“Yes, I get it,” I say before she can go on. “No, not exactly like other guys. Or Earth guys, I guess. A little different there.”

“In a good way?”

It feels totally inappropriate to talk about these intimate matters with him right there, but I'm kind of bursting with pride about it and he can't understand what we're saying anyway. And he's breathing easier now. He's still pale as a sheet, but he's tougher than anyone has any right to be and now I actually have some hope that he'll pull through.

“In a good way,” I confirm and smile at the memory. “Actually, in the best way you can imagine. And then some.”

Heidi is impressed. “Oh my god. And he has a body like this. And he's totally confident and defeats a million dactyls all alone. Does he have a brother?”

I lift a heavy arm and apply more green paste. It looks like his tiger stripes are much harder and resilient than the ordinary skin around them. Like he's wearing natural armor. If he survives, that's what saved him. “I don't think they have those. They're all clones.”

Heidi gasps excitedly. “They're clones? So there could be many just like this one? Millions? Like those from Star Wars?”

“Not as far as I know. I think he's the only one who's just like this.”

“Oh. Well, even so. Heck, forget the brother. I'd settle for a cousin or even an acquaintance of this guy.”

Emilia comes over with water and Jax'zan drinks greedily.

It occurs to me that he'd probably like that juice he gave me. “He probably brought his bag. Large, green thing made of dinosaur skin?”

“I'll find it,” Emilia says, then hesitates. “Is he okay ... uh, down there? I mean, with that kilt thing I can see pretty much everything and it kind of looks like-”

“He's fine,” I state. “He's an alien. Just a little different.”

“All right.” She looks him up and down appreciatively, then gives me a guilty little smile and saunters off.

Aurora returns with two fistfuls of herbs and starts mashing it all up. We're running out of bandages and Jax'zan looks like a caricature of a patient from the world's least competent hospital. But the herbs have stopped most of the bleeding and he is still awake.

Emilia finds his bag and brings it over, and Caroline brings hot water. We clean the blood off him while Jax'zan wordlessly offers each of us to drink from his canteen before he'll take as much as a sip himself. He's so selfless and noble I just give in and fall back into the happy uncertainty of love. Right there and then. Because what more can he do to prove himself to me? Not that I needed that much proof in the first place. I'll tell him that some time.

We carefully clean him and I notice that the girls are taking some joy in it. They can care for someone else for a change, someone who pretty much has to be a game-changer for us now. Because with Jax'zan on our side, everything looks much brighter. Well, almost everything. I don't think he can help us get back to Earth.

Jax'zan is remarkably calm and patient while we finish with him as well as we can. Of course it's the first time he's being cared for by women. It's probably pretty pleasant for him, despite the wounds and the blood loss. He's sitting up with his back against a tree, the center of attention of six young women. He seems to take to that like a fish to water.

He silently rummages through his bag, then takes out the translator and hands it to me. He clearly wants to say something.

I turn the device on and kneel down beside him. He's pale still, and I'm sure he'll continue to be for a while. But his voice is as strong and deep as ever.

He says something. It sounds like a question. And for some reason I know what it is, and it's like a bright light goes off in my soul and the day gets brighter.

“Will you marry me?” the over-chipper female voice from the translator chirps.

I look into his eyes. So alien, but at the same time the most human man I've ever met. And I know just enough of his language to reply properly. “Toh.”

“Yes,” the translator squeaks and I hear the girls around us gasping.

There's nothing to wonder about. That would have been my answer since, oh, about day two of knowing him. He's saved my life too many times to count. He's kind and honorable and intelligent and strong and calm and with a glint in those alien eyes. He makes love like a champ.

And I love him.

He loves me, too. He's left his tribe and he's standing on their forbidden Bune. To protect me. I have a feeling that act will cost him dearly.

Yes, of course I will marry him. Right now. Right here. In the jungle, wearing dinosaur skins and not having seen a bottle of shampoo for weeks. I don't care about the wedding being everything I dreamed it would be. I just want to be married to Jax'zan.

He takes my hand and squeezes it in his large, callused one.

The girls let us gaze into each other's eyes for a minute before they start whispering very loudly behind me.

“Did she just agree to marry that guy?”

“I had no idea aliens even got married!”

“Are we sure it was Sophia he asked? I mean, it could have been any one of us. Technically.”

“Did she ... I mean, with that kilt he's rocking I can totally see most of ... it's just, does she know what she's doing?”

“She totally hooked up with him! And he's super spectacular, she says!”

They all gasp and go quiet, stunned by the revelation.

“Fuck,” Caroline says at last. “If they're all like that, maybe we should just become sex slaves after all.”

I finally collect my thoughts enough to sit down beside Jax'zan. I kiss him on the lips and feel that he's pretty cold. I don't know how long it will take him to recover from the blood loss. But he'll make it. He's strong as fuck.

I squeeze his hand. “I didn't know you'd even heard of marriage. I mean, you're all males. Do you marry each other, maybe?”

He smiles, tired but happy. “The tribe remembers life before the women disappeared. A man and a woman could get married and live together forever. Now, we have difficulties imagining a life that perfect. Some say it was a fantasy, a fairy tale, something that never happened. But I remembered it just now and it seemed like the most natural thing to ask.”

“Is there a ritual or something? I mean, on Earth we have all kinds of traditions for how to get married.”

“I'm sure there is. The shaman has rituals for everything. But I don't think he will help us with it. I doubt I'm still a member of the tribe after stepping on sacred Bune.”

I nod. A man like him won't try to conceal something like that. He will live with the consequences of his actions. “Well, for what it's worth, you're more than welcome to be a member of our tribe. Right, girls?”

They all agree enthusiastically.

“See? We're the best tribe here, too. I'd love to get married pretty soon. But it's not like we can find a minister or a judge to officiate anyway. And that shaman won't.”

We're all quiet for a moment. Then Caroline looks around and then slowly raises her hand like she's in class. “Umm ... I think maybe I can.”

We all look at her and I raise my eyebrows. “You can?”

“Well, I don't know about here. But I can in New Jersey. I got a license to marry people so I could wed my parents.”

We all stare. Caroline shuffles her feet and continues quickly. “Because my parents lived together like a common-law couple, but they had a really great and loving relationship and kids and everything, so one day I asked why they weren't married and they said they just hadn't thought about it, and then I said they should get married because they might as well at this point and then they said 'okay, you want that, then how about you wed us.' So we waited until I turned eighteen and then I applied for a license and I got it and then I officiated and they were married. It's official, too.”

A spark of happiness flies through my mind. This is a nice surprise, for once. “Will you marry us, Caroline? I mean, wed us? Shit, how do you say that without it sounding weird. I mean, could you officiate for us? Will you?”

She shrugs. “Sure. It's not hard. You should probably think of your own vows. I mean, what with the alien stuff and all.”

I look up at my strong and honorable and spectacular alien warrior. “Did you understand that?”

There's absolutely a smirk on his face. “I understand. Get married soonest. The Ancestors will smile upon me when I wed the Mother of Xren. On Bune, even. Sacred ground.”