Chapter Twelve
We leave in such a hurry, we’re airborne before I finish putting on my singlet.
“What’s that guy’s fucking problem?” I ask, trying to will the nanites to dry my hair.
“He and I disagree on a few things,” Kest mutters. “Let’s leave it at that for now.”
Now that I understand Kest’s language, I watch the ship’s holographic displays. Since we left, he’s activated a cloaking device, deflector shields, and a series of weapons systems.
“Should I be worried?”
Kest grimaces. “He won’t risk breaking our laws, so he won’t hurt you, but he’s not to be trusted.”
That doesn’t make sense. “Then why did we have to leave?”
“Because his intentions are malicious. I don’t want him lingering.”
That makes two of us. “Will the cloak keep him from finding us?”
“For a while. We’re going to need some help. Hang on.”
A series of menus appear and, after a minute, a hologram of Briette.
“Hey, Kest. What’s going on?” she asks.
“Bakan just paid us a visit,” he says, explaining the encounter. “Think you can run some interference? Keep him from tracking us until the Council meeting?”
“Hmm. That might not be so easy,” says Briette. “He shouldn’t have been able to find you now. I can send out some decoys with your ship’s signature, but that won’t fool him for very long.”
“Thanks, that’s fine. Keep an eye on him and ping me if you hear anything, okay?”
She nods. “You got it.”
“Thanks, Briette.”
“Yeah, thanks,” I add.
“You’re welcome. Stay safe,” she says before signing off.
Kest pulls up a hologram of Ohalessa and spins it around. “Where would you like to go, pet?” he asks, his mood brightening.
I laugh. “How should I know? I’ve never been here.”
He brushes his hand over the hologram, giving the globe a little spin. “Any place look interesting?”
“All of it, but…” After looking at the planet for hours in my room, there were a few continents that always caught my eye. “What about that purple area? That one, there,” I say, landing my finger on it.
“Sure, that’ll work.”
Without even slowing down, Kest turns at a sharp angle that probably would have torn a human aircraft in half; inside the ship, we don’t even feel it. Out the window, Ohalessa flies by so fast it’s just a multicolor blur. Reaching our destination only takes a few minutes.
The color of the small continent I chose apparently gets its hue from its forests. Standing hundreds of feet in the air on long, spindly trunks, the trees sway in the breeze, causing thousands of tiny violet leaves to rain down. Most make it to the ground, but many get caught on vines that hang between the trees’ branches.
“Definitely not like home, is it?” asks Kest.
“It’s beautiful. Like something in a dream.”
“You’re going to feel that way a lot, these next few weeks,” he says, kissing the top of my head.
He sets us down in a small clearing, then dresses. From a compartment he retrieves two pairs of black boots, as well as an equipment pack, which he slings over his shoulder.
“Will these fit me?” I ask, trying on the boots. Kest doesn’t answer, other than a quick wink. Sure enough, they’re perfect.
“They were fabricated using your exact measurements, thanks to the nanites.”
Okay, maybe those things aren’t so bad after all.
Considering my feet are bigger than average, finding nice boots has always been an issue for me.
“Okay, but can I get these in white?”
“Next time, pet,” says Kest, patting my bottom. I’m about to growl at him, but then I notice the fabric of my singlet is darkening. Before my eyes, it adopts the same shade as the leaves of the trees outside. Kest’s jumpsuit changes too.
Oh, great. We match.
“Come on, pet. You must be pretty hungry.”
Between everything that’s happened since I woke, I hadn’t thought about it much, but now my stomach rumbles. “I am. Can I have a ration bar?”
Kest laughs out loud. “Are you crazy? No. We’re going to have something much better.”
* * *
We head outside, where the air is warmer and the ground is softer. Leaves squelch underneath our feet, and each step kicks up an aroma of fresh rain. As we walk, Kest retrieves from his pack a long, curved pole. To my surprise, I’m pretty sure I know what it is.
“Is that a bow?”
Kest nods, smirking. “Welcome to Ohmora, where people who can move stars and construct planets come to live like primitive sub-sentients. Here, we eat what we can catch.”
Oh, for crying out loud.
“And how long is that going to take?” I ask, feeling another complaint from my stomach.
“Every time you speak, you scare away something edible,” Kest whispers. “Follow me, and try not to walk so loud.”
Walk loud?
What am I supposed to do, float?
It takes me a while, but soon I start developing a sense of where best to step to avoid making noise. Kest quietly points out animal tracks—slight indentations in the dark gray soil. Occasionally I hear rustling up in the trees, and barely catch glimpses of birds darting between the branches. Though I’m hungry, I soon get lost in the hike, taking in every weird, beautiful detail.
Stopping, Kest holds out his bow and aims it high. I hold still, not even wanting to breathe. Kest draws back on a holographic string, the muscles in his arms bulging. He exhales, aims, and lets loose.
A bolt of light shoots from the bow, and high up on a tree a branch cracks. Scared by the noise, a bird takes flight, rising into the thick leaves of the higher branches.
“Damn,” Kest mutters, shaking his head. “Sorry, pet. I haven’t done this in almost a century.”
“Think I could try?” I ask. “Maybe the primitive human can catch something.”
He laughs, handing over the bow. It’s so heavy, I nearly drop it on my foot. “Be my guest, Haley. You do much bow hunting in Manhattan?”
“Ha. Ha. Shut up.” Lifting up the bow, I make the motion of drawing back an arrow: both bolt and drawstring flare into life, ready for me to fire. I aim for the same spot Kest hit, and let fly. My shot comes close, though it falls short.
“Not bad,” he says. “Have you ever done that before?”
“Sleep-away camp, as a kid.”
Kest laughs, taking back the bow before my arm falls off. “I never would have guessed.”
We walk on for a while, resuming the hunt. Our failed shots seemed to have scared away most of the prey, and before long my stomach is growling again, and I can’t help feeling moody. I try not to think about how hungry I am, but my thoughts stray back to earlier.
“Are you alright, pet?” Kest asks.
“Yeah. Just… what’s Bakan’s problem? Does he have some kind of grudge against you?”
He sighs, shaking his head. “Not exactly. We ascribe to very different ideologies on how to treat inferior species.”
I doubt I’ll ever warm up to being referred to as an inferior, but I don’t interrupt.
“He’s a supremacist, Haley. To him, humans are pests. He believes they’re not worth the effort to conquer, much less save. The closer a race is to driving itself extinct, the more militant Bakan gets in his effort to prevent intervention.”
I ball my hands into fists as a cramp tightens my chest. “He’s a fucking monster,” I mutter, my appetite forgotten. “Do your people usually agree with him?”
Kest shakes his head. “Bakan’s an extremist, by any definition. However, there are many who will side with him, depending on a species’ potential, and that’s all he needs. If its problems are too great, and benefits too few…”
“You can’t let that happen, Kest! I know Earth has problems, but we can do better!”
“I know,” he says, hugging me with one of his massive arms. “We’re going to convince them.”
Suddenly, he lets me go, lifts his bow, and fires off a shot. I turn to see a large, furry, four-legged animal sinking to the ground, a smoking hole in its neck.
Kest smiles thinly as the bow collapses into itself. “Come, I’ll clean it. You need to eat.”
When we reach the animal, it reminds me of a deer… or maybe a goat. It’s hard to compare when its purple fur blends so well into the surroundings. Long, straight antlers sprout several feet tall from its head; long, spindly legs look barely sturdy enough to stand on. However, its body is thicker, and looks to have plenty of meat.
“What is that?” I ask.
“Ohastrix.”
I have to look away while Kest cuts into the beast. “Haley, go gather some wood for a fire.”
“Yes, sir,” I say, bristling a touch at being ordered. Yet, it does elicit a wave of heat in my core. Being told what to do has a strange appeal, and being out in the wilderness, with a gorgeous alien warrior, about to eat a meal cooked over a real fire… There are worse things.
After a while I’ve gathered an armful of fallen branches and bring it back, trying not to look at the bloody mess Kest has created. He tells me to get more wood while he starts the fire, which I’m glad to do. By the time I get back, the meat is cooking over the fire. It smells incredible, like peppered lamb.
“Sit,” he says. “It’ll be ready to eat soon.”
I do as I’m told, setting myself down next to him. He holds me in one arm, hugging me against his body. With his other arm, he holds a stick, which he uses to turn the meat and stoke the fire. We don’t speak; I try to focus on the incredible aromas, the crackling fire, and the forest’s beauty. When we eat, I groan blissfully at the animal’s extraordinary flavor. We eat the meat off the bones of its legs, and then its ribs. Every bite is delicious and tender. Kest was right: this is way better than his ration bars.
“I can’t believe I’m eating an alien animal,” I say, giggling as I pick out another chunk of its flank. “Thank you, Kest. This is amazing.”
“You’re welcome,” he replies, grinning. “And I hate to tease you, but this ohastrix was kinda old. The meat of a younger one is a real treat.”
Oh, God.
My stomach rumbles again at the thought.
“I’ll bet those birds taste pretty good too,” I say.
Kest nods. “Oh you have no idea. After a hundred years of chicken, I would kill for some prito. I’ll try to catch us one later.”
He pulls me back into his lap, and I sigh contentedly, enjoying the feeling of his hard, muscular body beneath me. For a moment, I forget about all the anger, fear, and humiliation I’ve experienced throughout the last few days; I forget about Bakan and his dim view of humanity. Right now, everything is perfect.
But it won’t last forever.
“Kest?”
“Yes, pet?”
My mind is made up. I know what I have to do.
“I want to help. With the Council. Whatever it takes to save Earth, I’ll do it.”