Chapter Four
Their journey was uneventful during the weeks that followed. Kara kept track of Nariya’s ship and they landed on Dragua almost a week after the Ambassador’s message.
The sun was scorching hot as Kara and Arazor stepped out on the desert terrain. They wore heat-resistant suits and breathing masks. Kara carried supplies and got into the rover as Arazor turned on the cloaking field around the ship to hide it from view.
“Mark this location on the map. The desert land keeps changing and we won’t be able to track the ship otherwise,” Arazor said. He took off his mask once he was inside the rover.
“Have you been here before?” Kara asked as she saved their location.
“No, but a friend of mine has. He told me that this is the most unpredictable of planets, especially at night. We need to be extremely careful,” he said.
“So, where are we going from here?” she asked him. All she could see was that they were surrounded by vast red sand. There were no living creatures in sight.
“We will go to the city. It might take us a day and a night to reach it. A day here is almost the equivalent of two Earth days. And the nights are longer still,” he said.
They drove all day under the sweltering sun, over sand dunes and stopping whenever a sandstorm hit. The sandstorms were terrible. They had to wait for hours for them to pass and, often, the rover would end up buried in the sand. Luckily, it was built for such environments and could dig itself out easily. Kara kept track of their coordinates and saved them accordingly. As night crept in and the sun faded away, sinking below the sand dunes, Arazor brought the rover to a halt.
“We will camp here for the night. This should be safe.” He checked the coordinates on the system. Kara was clueless as to where they were. It looked like they were in the middle of nowhere. She quietly admired how Arazor could keep track of their location. Secretly, she was glad he had come. She wouldn’t have survived a day on this hostile planet alone.
Arazor set up the portable camp. It was fitted with sealed walls made of a gray material that Kara had never seen before. It seemed as if it were almost alive, resembling the skin of a rhino. Their communication system from the rover was connected to the computer system inside their camp so that they could keep tracking their location and send data back to Andromeda 13.
At nightfall, the temperature dropped and it became quite cold. Kara stared from the porthole outside and into the night. The night sky became luminous as countless constellations filled its expanse.
“Who are the inhabitants of this planet?” Kara asked him.
“The race that has occupied this land is tribal and they are known to be merchants,” Arazor said. They had just finished dinner and Arazor was sipping wine as he gazed at her. He was fascinated by this petite woman. He found himself lost in the color of her long dark hair and her intoxicating scent...
“How do they live in such a hostile environment?” she wondered aloud.
“They live in a city protected by a force field,” he explained. “Only vile creatures live out here in the wilderness. They come out when darkness falls. So stay inside.”
Kara was lost in thought. “I hope Nariya is alive when we find her...”
“You’d better get some sleep. You’ll need to be rested tomorrow,” he said.
“Thanks for your concern, but I’m not tired,” she responded. He was being bossy again.
“You will need your energy once you get to the city. Go to your sleep chamber now,” he said coldly. Why did she have to question every single thing he said?
“Why don’t you go sleep yourself? I’ll sleep when I feel like it, just like you do,” she said. Once again, he saw that light in her clear brown eyes and was awed by her beauty.
He rose from his seat and strode toward her. She moved back until she was against the wall. He towered over her. Cupping her chin with a strong hand, he gazed deeply into her eyes. “I want to take you right here, right now,” he said in a quiet tone that was both chilling and laced with desire.
“You can take my body, but my heart will never be yours. I will not let you break my spirit,” she said, staring steadily into the piercing gray eyes that were growing darker by the second.
For a fleeting moment, he caught the deep desolation in those beautiful eyes... Something he had failed to see before. She was so young, far younger than he was. He looked about thirty-three, but in Earth years, he was over two hundred years old. Yet, she persistently defied him. He suddenly wanted to kiss her... to protect her.
Arazor, you need to get away from her. Now! The voice in his head screamed at him. He suddenly let go of her and strode out of the room, not looking back.
***
Hours later, Kara checked the tracking system once again for any updates. Nothing new. Her mind drifted again and again toward Arazor. She hadn’t been able to sleep and, to stop herself from thinking about him, she had taken up the task of tracking again. There were still seventy-two Earth hours until sunrise. She wondered whether she could survive the long, long night with Arazor.
She was still tracking when suddenly the signals on her device were disrupted. She frowned. A look out of the porthole showed her that the night was still as a picture. There was no sign of a sandstorm. Puzzled, she entered the common control room. Arazor was nowhere in sight. He must be in his sleep chamber, she assumed.
Holding the comm-pad above her head, she continued to try to reestablish the signal, but the disruption persisted. She checked the main computer’s system which confirmed that the disruption was coming from the north. She suited up and unlocked the door to check the source of the anomaly. It was almost pitch black outside. With dim starlight as her guide, she checked her comm-pad again for a signal and tapped in commands to reset the device. Suddenly, she heard something move to her right.
Kara turned on the small flashlight and followed the sound. She peered around the corner of their camp wall. Nothing. She turned back in the opposite direction. Still nothing. Kara had just decided to go back inside when a strange sound behind her made her stop. She turned, pointed the flashlight in the direction of the sound, and froze.
There, towering over her, was the most horrid creature she had ever laid eyes upon. It had a long snakelike body and neck with multiple spindly legs and milky eyes. Pincers encircled its grotesque head. Adrenaline rushed through Kara’s veins as she screamed and staggered backward. Within a split second, the huge, dark thing pinned her to the ground. Kara tried to shield her face with her arms but it was futile. She could smell the rotten breath of the monster. A sharp pain shot up her shoulder and right arm where something hot burned.
Then, suddenly, the creature retreated as if it had been struck.
The next few moments passed in a haze. The excruciating pain was beginning to blur her vision. She saw the bright glint of a sword striking through the darkness. The slashing sounds of tearing flesh and piercing shrieks filled the night air. She blinked and saw Arazor. Her mind was growing fuzzy. She felt herself rise into the air. She was floating, floating... and then falling as darkness engulfed her.
***
Arazor held her in his arms and carried her back inside, sealing the door behind him. He moved quickly and placed her on the bed inside her chamber and tore open her suit. Her breathing was shallow and she was shivering with a high fever.
The gash on her shoulder was thin but deep and the skin around it was getting dark green. Blue-black veins formed around it, like a spider web. The poison was spreading fast.
Stupid, stupid woman, he cursed her under his breath, clenching his teeth. Without losing another second, he raced to the control room and brought back a small vial with blue liquid: the antidote. He made her drink the whole bottle and spread some on the wound. Then he took out his small knife and cut the palm of his hand and sucked some of his own blood. Then, cupping her head, he opened her mouth and he locked lips with her own, slowly letting his blood fill her mouth. He eased her out of the suit and she lay naked on the bed. He sat on the chair next to her and waited. His breathing had become labored and he had to take a deep breath to calm his agitated nerves. But she would be safe now...
The creature had almost killed her. It was blind but detected its prey by sensing heat signatures. Kara would have died if he hadn’t heard her scream and immediately come to her rescue. His blood, mixed with the antidote, would heal her. He had a rare blood type among his kind, something he had inherited from his mother’s side.
He gazed at her frail form. The poison could paralyze the prey if not treated immediately. Even now, it would take days for her to recover. She would hallucinate if she woke up and could go into a coma if she didn’t...
***
Several hours later, Kara woke up. She was delirious and failed to recognize Arazor. “No, no... Please... Stop... Please, I’ll be careful next time...,” she begged him. Arazor looked at her and clenched his fists. He couldn’t do anything to help her in this pitiful condition.
“Please, Ben... stop it... I’m pregnant!” she cried hysterically and tears streamed down her face. Arazor stared at her, his chest constricting. What was she talking about?
“Stop it now! You’ll hurt the baby... It’s yours!” she screamed, shivering uncontrollably. Arazor took her in his arms and wrapped a warm cloak around her. “No... No! It’s over... I lost the baby... The ba – baby’s gone!” she whimpered and cried in his arms. His jaw clenched once again. This woman was broken inside and, for the first time, he saw her in a different light. She was trying so hard to be brave, to stand up for herself. But here she was, so vulnerable and alone... His chest tightened once more and he wished he could make her pain stop. But he couldn’t.