The human was starting to grow on me. I wasn't expecting that I would find her so interesting, or any human for that matter. I had only known the females of my own kind, the Kynon. I had loathed the idea of having to mate with human females for the sake of our own species, but now it didn't seem like such a bad option. Looking at the small female with red hair, I was growing more and more attracted to her, now that I was able to concentrate on more things than just outrunning the cyborgs. She shared my appreciation for sunsets. If we were going to be stuck out here in the desert being hunted by cyborgs, we should at least enjoy the one amenity that the desert had to offer: spectacular sunrises and sunsets. But now after the sun had set, it was growing colder. We sat inside the shelter that I created while I listened to the beacon; it had a steady beat. It was sending out a signal on a loop. I hoped that they were out there, the captain, the ambassador, and the lieutenant: my crew. I hoped that they were out there working out a plan or were able to contact our base on Xeion.
I looked at Emma; she was leaning against a part of the wreckage falling asleep.
“You are tired. Here, lie down properly. You need the rest,” I said moving the bags of supplies and things that I had laid out on the ground material.
“I am very tired. I have not slept well in a long time, not since being taken from Earth,” she said giving me a look. A bit of guilt hit me in the pit of my stomach. But I wasn't going to apologize. Taking her from Earth was my mission; I was a soldier, and I did what I had to do.
“There, now there is space for us to sleep,” I said. “I am going to take a quick walk around the outside to make sure that we are truly alone,” I said.
“What if they come for us? The cyborgs?” she said looking at me with fear in her eyes.
“I am a light sleeper. Most soldiers are. We have to learn to rest while keeping watch; don't worry yourself. Get the rest that you need. Get some sleep,” I said as I crawled out of the shelter.
The cold wind hit my heated body, and I was glad for it. The Kynon ran hot. We practically radiated heat, and my body was keeping the shelter warm. Plus, being so close to the human female and inhaling her scent was making me hotter.
I walked around our camp searching the horizon for lights. I didn't see anything. We were alone; it meant that I could get some rest. After taking a stroll further out, I came back into the shelter. My breath caught in my throat. Seeing Emma laid out on the ground in her shredded dress was definitely a sight to see. Her long pale legs were tucked up against her body. In the dim light of the moon that was coming in through the slits in the shelter, I could see her red hair spread out around her. I turned my eyes away from her. I laid down as far away from her as I could. I laid on my back and put my hands underneath my head. It was going to be a long night. I felt drawn to her.
The next morning, I was awake and out of the tent before she woke up. I couldn't handle being next to her petite body any longer while she slept. It was causing desire to rise in me, and I needed to focus. I needed to come up with another plan if the beacon did not work.
“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sleep so much. I haven't slept that well in a long time,” I heard Emma say as she crawled out of the shelter.
“No need to apologize,” I said sitting in the sand and staring toward the horizon. I had watched the sun rise, and it had been spectacular. I had the urge to wake her up and share it with her, but I knew it was important for her to sleep. I handed her a jug of water.
“It is a very strong brewed drink that we usually have in the morning. It has what is called caffeine that really wakes us up,” she said.
“And it is worth killing over?” I looked at her as I had never heard of a drink worth killing over, except for water sources, which could cause territorial battles.
She giggled. “No, not really. It is just an expression. I wouldn't actually kill anybody for it. It just means I really want it badly.”
We sat there for a few minutes, but I couldn't help but to tease her. “It is morning. You wanted to leave yesterday; will you be leaving this morning?”
“I do hate sitting here and doing nothing. My friends are out there. They need my help,” she said.
“I know. We will get to them. But I beg you to wait until this beacon works,” I said.
“What if there is no one out there to listen to your signal? Then we are just sitting here wasting time.” Her cheeks flushed red as she looked at me with her blazing green eyes. The sunlight was hitting them setting them on fire as she looked at me with anger.
“Forty-eight hours. This signal needs time. If my crew is out there, they will hear it, and they will come, but we have to give them the time.”
“Forty-eight hours! That is a lifetime! You don't understand. You don't understand what those cyborgs are doing to them!” She stood up.
“Then tell me. Tell me what they are doing and what makes it so urgent that we need to leave right now, putting ourselves in danger in the desert. We go for a walk, we might not survive!” I shouted back at her, also standing up.
Her eyes watered. She didn't want to tell me. Her lips pressed together tightly. Then she let out a grunt and turned away from me, stomping off into the sand.
“I need some privacy, okay? I will just be behind this sand dune. Do not follow me,” she yelled.
I understood what she meant. I sat back down trying to retain my anger. Why wouldn't she tell me? Why wouldn't she tell me what the cyborgs were doing to the human females? I needed to know everything; it was important. Obviously, the cyborgs did something to her. I felt for her and the women but I had a mission, and I had to stick to it, no matter the sacrifices. Before I left Xeion, I promised that I would get back to her, and I would. Besides, I really didn't have a choice in the matter. I couldn't take on an entire city full of cyborgs on my own. That would be a suicide mission. We would have to wait here to see if we were found, and if we weren't then, we would need to find a village or some other means of support.
It was a long day. Waiting was not something I usually did. I was an action being. This was a necessity, however, it wasn't easy with Emma shouting at me for not doing more.
Around mid-day, she was at it again. “Did you check to make sure that thing is working?” she said pointing at the beacon.
“You haven’t been in there in hours. I would think you would want to check on it at least,” she snarled at me.
“Damn it! Fine!” I shouted and went inside the shelter. It was working perfectly.
There was little we could do to escape each other when our tempers rose like this. She would crawl inside the shelter, leaving me outside doing my watch. Then she would come out, but we wouldn't speak. It was a long day of this routine. My temper was constantly being tested. She would either have me raging in anger or raging with desire, depending on her mood. It was up and down all day. I was glad when the sun started to set because the temperature would cool off, and I was hoping that our tempers would as well. I sat down to watch it.
“I don't know. Can you join me without arguing with me? I would like to watch the sunset in peace,” I said to her.
We sat in silence staring at the beauty of the sunset. I was surprised that she kept to her word and didn’t argue with me. She just sat there and made small gasping noises that were driving me wild.
That night, as I slept in the shelter with her, I actually fell into a deep sleep. I needed the rest after the exhausting day I had. But then something woke me up. I opened my eyes to see Emma with her body against mine. She was shivering. I realized that it was a lot colder than the night before. I rubbed my arm up and down her body trying to get her warm. She stopped shaking. She moaned lightly in her sleep. Having her body against mine was making my blood run through my body, making my staff harder. She smelled incredible. I licked my lips subconsciously wanting to kiss her. Then I looked down and saw her eyes open. She looked at me. But I was surprised; she didn't look scared. She didn't pull away startled. She just looked up at me with her green eyes. I couldn't help myself. I lowered my mouth to hers. I kissed her passionately; to my surprise, she kissed me back.