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?? CHAPTER 21 ??
Ryle
I finally have my mate alone again! Granted, it’s because of an oncoming doom tornado, so it isn’t the happiest of circumstances. But we’ll have several days journeying and exploring together. What male wouldn’t be thrilled? I must keep my excitement on a short leash, though. I know she is overwhelmed and afraid. But I will take care of her. She’ll see.
Our journey back to the caves is faster this time. It’s just the two of us and we know the way. We stop when she needs to rest, but we don’t settle down for a full night - she’s in too much of a rush, and I don’t really need it myself.
We see some strange sights this time - more animals are migrating. That alone is a strong proof that my Maysee is right about what’s coming.
The sea is quiet now, at least on the surface. Those creatures that skimmed above the waves must have all made it to their destination. But the sky over the forest is filled with sound and color. Winged creatures, big and small, make their way down the coast away from the oncoming danger. How far must they travel? Will they find caves and other shelters of their own? Or can they fully outrun the storm, reach lands that the winds won’t touch?
We move more slowly once our path turns away from the coast and into the forest. The monkeys are nowhere to be seen, but we spot some large four-legged creatures lumbering along through the trees. We give them a wide berth, and they eyeball us but show no interest in turning our way. They blend in too well to see clearly, but they’re definitely large - half my height but probably four times as heavy - and they have long quills covering their backs.
I show Maysee my weapon. We scavenged a few cheap old low-power blasters from our ship’s storage bins. “Hunt?” I ask her, and she shakes her head. We’ll subsist on the rations that she brought. There’s no time to spare for stalking and cooking.
We don’t approach the bog, but when we near the area, she points out swarms of insects all heading in the same direction as well. Everything is running for cover. Every creature that flees is further proof of the danger on our heels.
The cave is the same as when we left it. Empty of life. Maysee holds out a bright lantern through the darker areas. If nothing is coming in here, it must mean those mushrooms are inedible. Or poisonous. Their entire purpose may be to absorb and block the flood, as Maysee showed me in the picture. I hover close to her back and watch the ceiling as we pass through the archive room. Something chitters in the high ceilings, but nothing comes down to bother us.
We pause before the mystery door at the end of that dark tunnel - the one beyond the alien archives. “We made it,” Maysee sighs, and she looks up at me. There’s a darkness beneath her eyes. Did she not rest enough? I will make sure she gets a full cycle of sleep before we leave this place. I won’t let her make herself sick or exhausted. She’s been so determined to help and save our crews. Someone must take care of her. I must take care of my mate.
I run a thumb over her cheek. She leans into my touch. “Can you kick it down?”
“Push through,” I say, and I flex my arm.
Shebites her lip and grins. “Big muscles,” she says, and she reaches up to touch my bicep. Her admiration makes my cock jump to attention. I’m always hard around her, but moments like these make it even more difficult to focus on the tasks at hand.
“They are good, yes?”
“Very good. Very strong.” She pats my arm, then my chest. Her smirk says that she’s teasing me, but the glint in her eye says that she does like what she sees. Very much. Is she as aroused as I constantly am? Sometimes I don’t think so, but sometimes she surprises me. These humans are so mercurial, so confusing. But that’s been half the fun of getting to know her, hasn’t it?
“Okay,” she says, releasing a sharp breath. “Let’s get in there.”
I have her step further back into the tunnel. Then I lower my shoulder and hurl myself into the door. Dust flies and falls, but the wood remains. I’m jarred so hard that my teeth clack. Tsek. I half expected it to go down with one blow. It made a mighty cracking sound, though, so I’m sure I will take it down. It’s just going to take some work.
I ram into it again. I hit it hard enough to make the tunnel rumble, but still it remains. Maybe Maysee was right and I should try kicking it? I give it an experimental blow with my heel.
“Wait!” Maysee slips around me. “Those aliens were hunched over-”
“Hunched?”
She demonstrates, leaning low, rounding her shoulders. “Hunched. Hunchbacked. Here!” She spots something and sinks to her knees. “It’s a door handle!” She probes beneath the door. Something clicks, and sure enough, she pulls and the door swings outward. “It was a pull, not a push,” she giggles. I don’t get the joke, but I laugh with her, anyway. How foolish of me! Where we’re from, all doors are sliding portals. I never thought to try a different direction.
“My clever mate,” I tell her, and I move her aside. “Remain behind me.”
“Of course, of course,” she grumbles.
We emerge from the darkness into a massive, warmly lit cavern. The lantern isn't needed here. The cavern is high, too high to see, but something glows up there. Something that isn’t light from the suns, though a few sunbeams do pour through. There are reflectors for the light, same as in the stone bunks’ caverns, but there’s also a glowing substance in patches throughout the entire area - some lower sections of the roof, upon the walls, even on the floors.
“It’s beautiful,” Maysee says. She squats before a patch and touches it. “Soft, too. Wow.”
“Very wow,” I say.
The space is enormous; it’s a long oval-shaped cavern, with glowing crevices along the walls that suggest offshoot tunnels and spaces. A tree grows right in the center and reaches up through the roof and beyond - too far and too dark to see.
“That’s the biggest tree I’ve ever seen,” Maysee says. She drifts forward and touches the bark. Vines trail down all around the trunk, with colorful round fruits growing along them. I knock on one. Are they safe? Wouldn’t it be a miracle if they are? White vines with pure white berries sprout near the roots. Maysee collects samples of everything.
The planet has provided again. It led us to its surface, and that mudslide led us to this cave. It wants us here. “This,” I say, spreading my hand, sweeping it across the space, “We come. We stay.” This could be a home.
