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“His name is Ryle,” I mumble. We step over the jagged lip where the ship was torn. The sleeping pods, which held us in suspended animation for the duration of our space travel, are mostly unusable. I can’t imagine anyone voluntarily sleeping in the coffin-like containers, anyway. They weren’t even that comfortable.
Skye leads us to the cargo bay. “There’s no reality TV on the alien planet, so we’ve got to make our own gossip, right?”
“For sure,” I mutter, but I’m not really listening. The floor of the bay is littered with sleeping bags. Friends wave to me, shout my name, beckon me over. I am happy to be here.
But I miss being in a cave with Ryle.
There’s much work to be done here, though, and the most important thing is going to be making myself useful. Somehow. Tomorrow. I’ll be useful tomorrow. Tonight I’m exhausted. Almost too tired to sleep. Skye and Hope help me set up a sleeping bag against a wall and leave me there with a small lantern and a pile of rations and water pouches. Activity slowly dies down as the crew tucks themselves in for the night.
I stare at the ceiling.
I stare at my own feet.
I roll over and try to close my eyes, but my tablet’s notification light blinks. Someone sent me a message. My silly dumb heart leaps, just a little, as if it could somehow be him.
But it is! I didn’t realize the extent of the Rurim’s technology, though I should have guessed it would be as advanced as ours. Probably more so. They must have figured out how to connect to our comms system. And Ryle found me.
“I am away from you and I don’t like.” It’s a sweet sentiment, but I chuckle as I wonder how much work the translator had to put in on that one.
“I miss you, too,” I type. I make a note to add his phrase to the translator once I learn how. “Can’t sleep?”
“Cannot sleep. Guarantee me a kiss tomorrow. Then I can sleep.”
“I promise,” I reply. Then on impulse, I take a quick picture of myself making a kissy face. I hardly look my best, but hell, he’s seen me worse. I was covered in mud the minute we met. Silent giggles make my hand shake as I hit send.
His reply takes a moment to load. I smile in anticipation of his picture. I’ve really come to enjoy looking at his face, and...
It’s a dick pic.
I bite back a shout of surprise. I have to cover my mouth to keep from cackling out loud. Is this another first? Have I received the very first alien dick pic in human history? I can’t let anyone else see this! Skye would be delighted, I’m sure, but what would the captain say?
I’d better save it. It might be a piece of history, after all.
