Kate
I clean up Rennek’s mess from making the spit, but soon after he is in our room again tossing ten times the supplies to the floor. He lifts his wings up so he can sit comfortably on the floor and begins tearing up a fibery tree trunk to get enough of the threads to weave into a long, thick cord. Looks like I jumped the gun on tidying up.
I watch him as he works. The muscles on his back move as he rips at the tree. He is the type of man an artist would want to use as a model, I think to myself. It’s easy to admire him. Then, he rips a bunch of tangled mess from the tree and tosses it aside as if I didn’t just sweep in here. Men on any planet, I shrug. At least he’s pretty.
I pay attention to the spit and the coals as he works, he gives me tips here and there. Soon, the bird is looking tasty and smelling pretty darn good too. Fat and juices drip off the meat and into the drip pan Rennek set up. My mind starts to wonder about spices and seasonings. Luckily, we have the scanner so we can determine if the makeup of local plants are hazardous in any way. It sure would suck to have to use a trial and error method to find out what was and wasn’t edible around here.
Rennek has about a dozen long, straight branches he gathered from the forest floor. They are all fairly uniform in size and length. Once the cord is done he begins to bind them together--it looks kind of like he is making a raft, but I know when it is done it will be our door.
I wonder how he is going to attach it to the stone doorframe and if there will be any type of locking mechanism. The door begins to take shape quickly now that the cord is done. I admire how agile his fingers are with the braiding. It gives me all sorts of ideas: maybe we can weave some baskets, I wonder if he can braid my hair, and then I have some other, less practical and much more sexy ideas as well. I chuckle to myself.
As he works he tells me stories about growing up on Javan with his friends, about hunting and learning how to survive. It’s impressive. He laughs about Dax jumping off a tall rock into a pool of water far below that all the older boys were afraid to jump off of and about a time when Bossan got caught in his own trap. I find myself slightly envious of his wild childhood and his closely-knit group of friends. My childhood was spent at home alone. The TV kept me company. There were no adventures. I snort a little at my own melancholy thoughts. Well, I certainly made up for lost time in the adventure department.
“It sounds like you enjoyed living on Javan. What made you leave there?”
“It is a place only for learning only, for fledglings. You graduate and move onward. Post internment it is required that one spends a minimum of four yets with the UPC. They station you anywhere males are needed. Could be a back world, could be a large city. I ended up on Thaad, it was very different from Javan. When I was young I enjoyed it, but now I think I would not like it so much. It swarms with people from many distant worlds.”
“Like the space station?” I ask.
“Nothing like the space station. I was sorry to take you there, it is no place for a goddess.”
“Luckily, I’m only human,” I tease. “I don’t know, I kind of liked it. I mean it was gritty, but it was also mind blowing.”
“It is a poor first look at what this sector of the galaxy has to offer. Thaad is a metropolis. It is a city so large that it is built up into the skies. The richest of people live high up in glass towers--like crystals growing up towards the heavens. In the evenings the setting of the sun illuminates them, breaking up the light like a prism shining down upon everything in the city.”
“The cultures all blend and the streets smell like the delicacies of a dozen worlds. There are cultural centers, universities, shops selling all sorts of amazing items. But, like any big city, it is crowded and there is much petty crime. It was good for a time, but being here reminds me of life on Javan. I too enjoy the simple pleasures,” he pauses his work and smiles at me. “It is much better to raise fledglings in a place like this. With much fresh air and open space,” he says and I’m sure I blanche at his words. I think he notices my reaction and changes the subject. “Tell me of Earth.”
“Huh? Oh… Earth.”
“Do you miss your home?”
“Hmm, my home? That’s a big fat no. But my planet, yes. There’s a lot of beauty to Earth. There are all kinds of different climates and regions: deserts, mountains, rainforests, beaches. They all have their own unique beauty--not that I ever got to see much of them. I mean, I’ve been on a couple camping trips with my dad when I was real young, but just local stuff. I’ve been to the beach, but only the Southern California ones--none of the really pretty tropical ones. That plus one trip to Vegas covers the extent of my traveling. It’s a little sad that I’ll never get to see any of what Earth has to offer, but then I compare it to this place… hell and even the space station for that matter and I’m okay. I’ve seen more in the past couple weeks than I have in my entire life. I consider myself lucky,” I tell him. He is quiet and thoughtful for a while.
“We should climb atop the ruins and watch the sunset tonight. There is much to discover here together Kate, we will make it our task to uncover all the beauty Elysia has to offer.”
“The sunset sounds like a really great place to start,” I agree. I can’t help but feel the flutter of butterflies in my stomach. It almost feels like being on a date with a guy I’m really into. I try to think back to the guys I dated back on Earth. Did I still feel this giddy a few weeks into the relationship? I wonder when this fuzzy, new feeling is going to wear off.
Once the door is finished Rennek leaves again and returns a while later with another big log and some smaller pieces of wood. I don’t bother cleaning up after him this time because I figure he still has a mess to make.
The first bird is done cooking by this time and we remove it from the spit and place the waiting bird over the fire. I start to pick at the cooked one a bit and silently wish for plates or bowls or something. Luckily, the meat is delicious and with some seasoning it could easily become my new favorite meal. It’s not chicken, but it is what it is. I look forward to making this again once the others get here. I tear off pieces and feed them to Rennek, telling him about Thanksgiving. He beams at me and licks and nips at my fingers with each bite I serve him.
Rennek splits the wood using the big knife he keeps on his hip and a large rounded rock. Unfortunately, we don’t have an axe or a saw. The backside of Rennek’s knife is serrated though, which is better than nothing, I guess. He hacks at little pieces that need to be removed. It leaves a rough edge, but doesn’t diminish the overall product.
I see that with these pieces he is making a frame for our stone doorway. He, rather impressively in my opinion, cuts the wood to just the right size so that it can be pressed it into the doorway. It fits so tightly in the space that he has to hammer it in with the rock. Then, he gets to work whittling, making wooden hinges. I thought braiding the cord took forever, but this whittling business takes the cake. After much of the day is done he hammers the final pieces together and hangs our door.
“Tomorrow we will find clay and fill any cracks,” he says opening and closing the door, making sure everything is up to his standards. I notice he has a ton of braided cord left over.
“Wow, our little home is already starting to take shape,” I beam at him.
“The simple things,” he says, lacing his large clawed fingers through mine while we admire our new door together.
The rest of the day is filled with more supply gathering. Rennek collects and prepares a stock pile of wood for the fire: to cook with during the day and to heat our chilly stone room at night. He makes a long list of things we need and sends it over to the ship. I give him my input, suggesting plates and bowls and different things to cook with, towels, supplies to hand wash our clothing, buckets or jugs to hold larger amounts of water, and crates to store things in. We talk about creating a metal arm to go in the fireplace that we can hang a pot on, the synthesizers can easily whip one of those up… if they are functioning that is. If not, we can cannibalize some of the ship to make something work. There are so many things we need, but my mind keeps going to useless things, like a cool area rug. I’m just really excited to make this place homey.
Rennek is super busy. He knows all the things that need to be done to survive and to make the day run smoothly. I want to help, but I don’t really know what needs to be done and I don’t want to keep interrupting his stuff. So, I try to be as useful as possible. By now I’m familiar with the small water filter Rennek carries for us and I fill all our pouches with fresh drinking water. Rennek disposes of the bones and waste from our Elysian chicken meal and adds spices to the list of things we will ask the others to bring. When we cross paths back in our room I see he has hung some pegs in the spaces between stones on one of our walls. Now we can hang our pack and our clothes up too, instead of just tossing them on the ground--though hanging up clothes mostly just affects me. All Rennek has to hang up is his loincloth.
Rennek lets me go behind the ruins and collect some more pompayas on my own, but he makes me take the charger with me. It’s sweet that he makes such a stink about my safety, but I assure him I can do such a simple task on my own. On the way back, I come across a dead animal. It’s hard to tell what it was, and I’m not so curious to poke around to find out. Instead I see a cluster of those giant pink cabbage looking flowers and it easily distracts me from the yucky dead thing. I rip one from the stalk it grows on and bring it back with me. I’m curious if it’s edible.
I ask Rennek to do a scan on it for me. When he does I see a little blue light appear on the screen--that must be good, I imagine bad would be red or something. It’s unfortunate that the language implant in my head only helps me speak and understand alien language, it doesn’t make me literate in it. My guess is confirmed however. He tells me it safe to eat and when we break it open to inspect its center, we find it is filled with something like seeds or nuts. The scanner tells us this plant is also a wonderful vitamin source and I’m super excited I found something useful. I just hope it tastes good. In all my excitement about this new leafy prospect I forget to mention the dead animal I saw.
As it gets close to sunset I sweep the room one last time and organize our food, water and firewood. The pack hangs from a hook by the door. I straighten our blankets to make our bed look neat, if not cozy. I mean, the blankets are a thin material so you can only get so cozy lying on a stone floor. I look forward to when the others arrive and bring pillows and mattresses from the ship.
As I tidy I keep stopping to admire our little space. Even though we don’t have much, every little corner has a little something that makes it looked lived in. It’s wonderfully exciting. I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy, I think to myself--taking it all in. I mean, I do wish I had a nice area rug though. But beside that, everything is so absolutely perfectly… it’s a little scary. I’m just not used to everything coming up roses, it almost makes me worry this is the calm before the storm--but I push that useless thought away.
When our space is as tidy as can be and everything is in its place, I wash some of the outer leaves of the pink cabbage thing and tuck the last of the meat inside of them like a burrito. It’s a little plain, but a great starting point.
Rennek and I watch the sun dip below the horizon from the rooftop. We admire the wide flat valley behind the ruins. Rennek believes that centuries ago this was the farmland of the people who lived here. He points out the pompaya trees and the tall stalks that hold the clusters of pink cabbage flowers.
“This could be what is left of their crops, a few fruit bearing plants surrounded by overgrowth that has crept in from the forest,” he tells me thoughtfully.
The moons and the stars come out and Rennek points out the different constellations he knows--though we are viewing them from a different angle than he is most familiar with and he shows me the directions of different things he has told me about: Mother Planet, Thaad, Javan. He tells me of places he visited while he did his mandatory time with the UPC. They all sound so exotic and beautiful. He promises to take me to some tropical beaches on a planet called Isleria and we lay for a long time on the roof, listening to the sounds of the jungle and staring up at the stars.
“We should end every day like this,” I say.
“I cannot imagine anything more perfect,” he tells me, his black eyes intent on my face. It’s impossible not to smile up at him. He kisses my forehead and runs his clawed fingers through my hair. I think one of the things I love most about him is the way he is always touching me, just in the sweetest and simplest of ways. It makes me feel like he finds even the barest of contact with me precious--he makes me feel like I am precious.
We head back to our room and he does his nightly check in with the others before he readies for bed and he sets a latch on the door.
“That’s a nice feature,” I notice.
“It will keep small curious animals from poking around, or give us a moment to ready ourselves if something larger comes knocking. It will not keep a predator out, but it might give us an extra moment to grab the guns or a knife,” he tells me.
“Ek, let’s hope that never ever happens,” I respond.
“Indeed,” he agrees.
***
The next morning Rennek hustles off into the forest and returns with two more Elysian chickens ready for the spit. We chat about building a little aviary where we can maybe raise a few of the birds and we wonder what their eggs are like. I’m happy to realize that eating eggs is another thing I have in common with my alien boyfriend. I’m happy anytime I discover something that seems vaguely familiar to me, to be honest.
He leaves me in charge of cooking the birds and tells me he has some work he needs to concentrate on, before he heads into one of the other nearby rooms. The birds are pretty easy to cook and don’t take too much attention other than a little turning here and there, so I figure this is my opportunity to check out the ruins, do a little exploring and maybe figure out what I can do around this place to help out.
I don’t bother with checking out the bathing room, because frankly, that place gives me the creeps. I don’t know what could be swimming in that water. So, until we clean it out, no thank you. Instead, I walk around the courtyard and survey everything more closely. The fountains are all running now, but most of them have plants and debris in them. Rennek set up his small filter in the main fountain and the little thing is now working to clear the last of the sediment out of the water for us. I will no longer need to manually filter our drinking or bathing water, though we will need to clean the small filter regularly to keep it functioning.
I look around and wonder what to do with myself. I feel a little bit at a loss. I could start digging all the junk out of the smaller fountains, but that would probably keep me away from the spit for too long and plus, it would be way easier to do that once we have a shovel or something to scoop with. It seems all the work to be done in the courtyard is gardening related and since I don’t have any tools to help me with that I finally decide to head over to where the fruit trees are. I’ll just gather more food to make sure we’re all stocked up. I grab our empty pack and start walking over. Halfway there, the unthinkable happens.
I start my mother fucking period.
I feel the telltale drop of warm to cold wetness between my legs and cringe. Why had I not even thought of this until now, I wonder to myself--cursing that I’m not more prepared.
My flow is typically light, so I grumble and curse but eventually decide I might as well continue on my errand before I head back to take care of my lady business. I had hoped to poke around for a bit longer today and see if there is anything else edible. If this was in fact once a farming area, there might be other food sources still growing here. Instead I’ll have to go interrupt Rennek in his chores and ask if his super cool back world training ever covered tips on how to make tampons out of leaves and tree bark. I kick the dirt in frustration.
This is exactly the kind of thing I want to talk about with my new boyfriend. I grimace just thinking about it. I find the pompayas and only grab two, we still have one back in our room. I want to grab a few pink cabbage things, but they are big and unwieldy. I think I can squeeze two in the pack and carry another. Later I’ll try cooking them in the bird drippings and maybe even start experimenting with the seeds, I plan. I decide I’ll go a little further first though, I’m not exactly in a huge hurry to go ask Rennek to help me take care of my period.
Unfortunately, I encounter a patch of thick trailing vines covered in some mean looking thorns. Just as I’m about to turn back I take a closer look and notice fat brown berries, practically the size of apples--because all the plant life is mega sized here. I tiptoe through and over some of the vines, grabbing as many as I can reach without getting stuck by a thorn. I cross my fingers in the hope that the scanner reads this stuff as edible. Though I see some berries on the vine have been picked at by birds, so I’m already assuming they’re good to go. At least today will have one silver lining, I think to myself.
The skins of the things are fragile and the more I pile into my bag the more the ones on the bottom get squished. So, I only gather about a dozen or so. I’ll worry about getting more once we determine if they are tasty or not. I start heading back and decide now to instead only grab one cabbage thing to carry in my arms, but when I get to the stalks I notice a horrible odor.
“Oh, barf,” I cover my nose and mouth. I suddenly remember the dead animal that I had forgotten to tell Rennek about. Nasty old thing is probably rotting in the humid jungle. I look over to where I remembered seeing it and to my horror I see two more largish animal corpses. I stumble back and look anxiously around me. Now obviously this isn’t the spot animals go to lay down and die in the jungle. Nope, something killed these things. My mind reels. There is a predator nearby and I’m all alone out here. I took off without telling Rennek and unlike yesterday I didn’t even bring the charger with me.
I hear a rustling of leaves nearby and I drop my cabbage and run like I’ve never fucking run before in my life. I haul ass all the way back to the ruins and am calling for Rennek as I charge in the gate. Rennek jumps through one of the corridor windows and runs to me, searching me all over with his hands as I pant like a fool, trying to catch my breath.
“You are hurt Kate!” He exclaims. “You are bleeding! Where are you injured?” He says inhaling deeply and continuing to search my body. Alarm written all over his face.
“Wha…?” I pant, “I’m not bleeding... I’m…” Oh. I am bleeding. Then I cringe again and probably turn bright red. Rennek can smell my period. Most. Embarrassing. Thing. Ever. “No, no, no.” I hold my hand up, gesturing for him to wait while I suck in air. He watches me helplessly, shock and worry in his eyes. I can’t help but laugh a little. “Okay, I can breathe. Not hurt. I saw a couple dead animals in the forest and it spooked me,” I explain.
“But you are bleeding Kate, I can smell it!” He says, his fears unquelled.
“Unrelated,” I tell him and because it’s not like I can keep it on the down low--I tell him about my period. “I just… I started my period. It’s that time of the month. I’m not hurt.”
“Oh.” He says, clearly taken aback. He looks around, as if he wants to offer assistance in some way but has no clue what to offer me. It’s not like there’s a tampon tree growing nearby.
“My sister began her cycles just before I left for Javan. There are no females on Javan.” His eyes have this helpless look in them that I’ve never seen in Rennek before. He can handle a gun fight on a space station, but tell the guy you started your period and he’s helpless.
“It’s cool. I can figure something out. I can rip up that shirt that’s already torn, make a couple of pads I can clean and reuse.”
“I will help with anything you need. Are you in pain? Madreed used to place warming pads on Kahreen. Would you like something like that? I can warm stones, we can wrap them and place them on your stomach. Do you need to lie down?” He breathes out earnestly, stroking my hair.
“No, dude. It’s just a period. I’m fine, really. Thank you though, I appreciate how sweet you’re being. Let’s definitely see if we can synth some tampons when the others come though. Tee shirt pads aren’t going to cut it for long. Plus, I’m betting the other girls are starting to deal with this little inconvenience too.”
“Why were you running?” He asks, refocusing now that he isn’t worried about my blood loss.
“I saw some dead animals and I heard a noise. I figured some kind of predator was nearby,” this sobers Rennek right up. He doesn’t know how to handle a period, but a predator he can do.
“Come, stay close to me.” He goes to our room and grabs his blaster and hands me a charger. We take a quick break to turn the meat on the spit and make sure the coals are low and cooking evenly. I also take this opportunity to change my pants and stuff a little folded square of shirt between my legs. I have to keep telling Rennek to look away and he laughs at my modesty.
“Show me where you saw the animals,” he tells me and we head back out of the ruins. As we get close, Rennek stops and smells the air. He motions for me to remain silent and after a moment or two we continue on toward the tall stalks with the pink cabbages on them. I don’t have to point out the obvious to him. The stench becomes palpable. I stay behind him and Rennek inches forward, blaster at the ready. His eyes move from the carrion to our surroundings. When we are right on top of the dead things he kicks at them with one of the big claws on his toes. I can see puncture holes all over the things.
“Gross,” I say.
“I saw one like this on our first day here.”
“So, four in the past few days?”
He simply grunts in response. His expression is severe and concerned. He studies the ground around the animals, I suppose he is looking for tracks. I look too, but I don’t see any footprints--only scuff marks. He pokes at the animals again and harrumphs.
“What is it?”
“It may be nothing.”
“Well tell me what it is then,” I insist.
“Coincidence perhaps, but all these creatures are female, as was the one from the other day.”
Gulp.
“What would hunt only females? A misogynistic panther?”
“It may not be the gender of the creatures that attracts, but rather their scent.”
And Rennek can smell me… so I wonder what that means for our neighborhood predator. We poke around a little longer, but find no other signs so we head back to the ruins.
“I will have to hunt this creature,” he tells me.
“If it comes back, yeah. We should avoid it until the others get here though. I’d feel better if you weren’t out hunting alone.“ I say, but he only grunts again in reply.
As we approach the ruins he stiffens and smells the air. He presses me close against the wall and we peek beyond the gateway entrance. Rennek is silent and still and even though I’m scared, I risk leaning forward to look beyond him. I hear the sound of something heavy scuffing against the dirt and stones. Then I see it. I don’t scream when I do, but I involuntarily suck my breath in hard. Rennek pushes me back and shields me with his big muscled arm.
I can hardly believe what I saw. In the courtyard of our ruins, with half of its body hanging out one of the corridor windows, is a big--I mean huge, like big as an SUV, fucking spider. I only saw its backside very quickly, but it was dark and hairy with too many long and jointed legs. Rennek covers my mouth and locks eyes with me. I realize that I’m hyperventilating. His gaze centers me and I slow my breathing.
It’s not that I’ve ever been particularly scared of spiders, it’s more so that this thing is giant and it’s been hanging around our camp for days killing animals the size of goats. By the size of it, I assume it could take down something much larger… something person sized, for example. Rennek takes his hand from my mouth and motions for me to wait. I shake my head vehemently, no. I haven’t had the chance to think this through and I don’t think he has either. I don’t want Rennek to fight this giant thing alone and I don’t want to be left alone while he does. I also don’t think I’d be super helpful in a fight against a giant spider either. Instead I tug at him, hoping he gets my silent hint that we should just leave. We can come back later with the others and shake this thing out with a group. But he shakes his head right back at me and motions for me to wait once more. I hear the spider moving around more in the courtyard and my heart starts pounding hard again. Rennek seems to think I’ve agreed to him going solo in there and so he turns and begins to charge in. I grab for his arm to stop him, but he’s too quick. I watch in horror as he bursts into the courtyard.
The spider turns and looks upon my man and I see its face for the first time. Maybe all spiders look like this and I’ve just never noticed because on Earth they are tiny, but this thing’s face is freaky as fuck. Like, going to have a starring role in all my nightmares for the rest of my life kind of freaky. It has more beady black eyes than I can count and two long, sharp looking pincers at its mouth. It snaps them when it sees Rennek and Rennek falls into his battle stance. Blaster strapped around his chest, he has dropped down to all fours, his tail whipping and his wings spread wide behind him--giving the appearance that he is even more huge than he is. He bares his fangs and his rumbling growl turns into a roar. The stone walls seem to vibrate with the power of it. The spider takes some anxious steps back and forth. Its breath huffs hard, disrupting the dirt and leaves on the ground. Then, miracle of miracles, it turns and climbs over the far wall and is gone.
I run in to be by Rennek’s side, but he sprints after the thing and mounts the wall like a massive, agile cat. Rennek stops at the top of the wall though, which is practically the height of a two-story building (color me impressed) and peers over the edge. A moment later he jumps back down to me. He runs his hands through his wild black hair. I notice a thin sheen of sweat glistening on him. His eyes go past me and settle on something in the courtyard. I turn to see what has caught his attention.
Laying there on the ground are the pants I was wearing earlier when I started my period. The spider had dragged them from our room. Rennek hops up and in through one of the corridor windows to looks inside our room. I race up to look as well. One thing stands out clearly to me: the two Elysian chickens sit untouched, but my period pants got dragged out into the courtyard.
Rennek looks at me, but he doesn’t need to speak. Thank goodness, because this is actually kind of equally embarrassing as it is scary. Obviously, Rennek isn’t the only one who can smell my period and unfortunately, it seems like the giant spider is interested in that smell. Lovely.