Page 30 of Protected By the Alien Commander

Olivia

I wasthe only one still standing at the vidscreen next to the outside door. I was probably being ridiculous, but I didn't want to miss any sight of Doshax. What if he was injured or needed help?

I cared about him a lot. And now that it seemed like we were on this planet again, and who knew when we would get rescued, I was actually happy. Because it pushed back the day when I would have to say goodbye to him. And I didn't want to do that.

It was true what I’d told my friends. He was the best man I had ever met. Now if we could just get off this stupid planet and still be together, that would be great.

The vidscreen showed the same dirt, trees, and nothing else. I sighed and considered for probably the hundredth time whether I should go lay down and take a nap. Even if it wasn't yet nighttime. I was really tired. But I couldn’t, not with Doshax out there with who knew what else. Those giant lizards could have attacked him. Or maybe a herd of those hoppy rodents ganged up on him.

The sound of footsteps in the ship grew louder and I turned to see Ava. Good, I wasn’t sure I could deal with Miranda yet. Then again, Ava hadn’t been too keen on Doshax either.

"Is he not back yet?"

I shook my head and turned back to the vidscreen.

"Has he said anything about whether he can get the ship flying again? And what caused it to die right when we were almost in space?"

"No, we haven't really had a chance to talk about that. I'm sure we'll get rescued." I didn't say anything about what I had read in the captain’s log. No sense in freaking her out.

"I'm surprised that no one has checked out our ship. No one could have missed it crashing."

I shrugged. I wasn't going to tell my friend that no one noticed because the whole planet's uninhabited and scares grown adults. I was putting off their emotional breakdowns for as long as possible. Actually, I had hoped we’d get off this planet and back home before they realized we were nowhere near Earth.

"You seem like you're upset with me, Olivia. You have to think of it from our point of view. I mean, things have been really strange and then there's this guy that you just met, and we’ve never even seen his species before—"

"Sure, you admitted your concern, I understand that.” But I was still not happy about it. “You have to realize that he has not shown any cause for concern at all. I'm not going to let you denigrate him in my presence anymore."

After no response, I glanced at Ava, who chewed on her bottom lip while looking at me. I didn’t care that I was scowling. How dare she? I turned back to the vidscreen and gasped.

Things were hopping towards the ship. And a bigger thing walking behind the two hopping things in front. What the hell was coming? And would they attack us?

"What is that?” asked Ava. “Are those people? Why are they moving so strangely?”

We watched the odd things move closer to the ship. I wanted to run around in circles screaming, but couldn’t take my eyes off the vidscreen. Why did they come when Doshax wasn’t here? At least they couldn’t get inside the ship. I hoped.

Then my breath caught in my throat. What if they had already attacked Doshax? I wrapped my arms over my stomach. Oh, please let him be okay. I had never told him how much he meant to me. Or how happy I was and secretly relieved that we hadn’t left the planet, because I knew I wouldn’t have seen him again. Would I ever have the chance to tell him?

As the hopping things grew clearer on the vidscreen, I realized they were humanoid and— "Are their hands tied behind their back? And their ankles too?"

The men were also naked with not a stitch of clothing. And they weren’t the good-looking kind that could wander around without clothes. They were gray, and their faces looked humanoid but different. What in the world?

Then I grinned, relief flooding through me. "That's Doshax behind them with what looks like someone over his shoulder!"

Ava added, "And it looks like he's got his gun trained on them. I wonder if they're from another ship that crashed, and they tried to jump him?"

"They would have to be.” I bit my lip before I spilled that this planet was abandoned.

"I wonder why they attacked him?” Ava asked. “I mean, he's tall and strong. You can tell that just by looking at him. They’d have to be idiots to try that."

I smiled. That was my man, Commander Doshax. "Hey, I haven't gone to check on Emma. Is the medpod working? Is it healing her?"

Ava didn't look away from the vidscreen. "It says it is. I sure hope it’s decent. Emma was out for a long time.”

I chewed my bottom lip. I was really worried about Emma. Could the medpod heal her without injuring her? Humans were a new species here—at least, I didn’t think any of us were out here. Except for the previous captain of the ship.

I pushed aside my curls that had fallen on my face again. They wouldn’t stay out of my eyes. Then I frowned at the vidscreen. "Where did the other guy go? There were two of them, and now there’s just one."

The other hopping guy fell backwards and landed on his back. Doshax turned in circles with his blaster out in front of him.