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They floated for hours and ignored the rumblings of their empty bellies, determined not to eat or drink their emergency rations until absolutely necessary. To their relief, the pod landed before low oxygen levels sent its passengers into the suspended animation of cryogenic preservation. Bruised, nauseated, and feeling more than a little battered by the rough landing, Louella gladly obeyed Yas’kihn’s order to let him out of the pod first.
“If there is any danger, I am better equipped to neutralize it,” he explained as he rolled her under him before shoving open the hatch.
Caged between his arms and legs, she did not disagree.I might be stubborn and independent, but I’m not stupid.
“Do you think anyone else landed here?” she asked.
“If they did and are nearby, our pod will inform us.” Yas’kihn looked at the pod’s rudimentary display and map to discern their location. He rummaged through his long and detailed memory for any recollection of the planet on which they had landed. Nothing. He tapped the screen to see if the pod had linked with any other escape pods landing on the planet. Nothing. Either the other pods had landed too far to connect with their pod, or they had the poor luck to be alone on this planet.
On all fours, he pressed his back against the pod’s door andpushed. And pushed. And pushed. Eventually, the pod’s door groaned. Jaws clenched, he pushed again, hissing with the repeated effort. With a loud creak, the metal buckled under the strain of the general superior’s might. Squealing hinges gave way and the door flung open. Yas’kihn grunted and took several deep breaths. Careful not to crush his dainty mate, he rose, straddling Louella, and peered through the opening. He climbed out of the pod and looked around at leagues of barren desert. He grunted again.
“It’s getting hot in here, Jax,” Louella’s voice floated across the heated air from within the pod.
He sighed and nodded to himself. Much of Ahn’hudin was desert and he had spent decades surviving in that harsh environment. If fate wished to defeat him, it had better try harder.
He poked his head into the pod which was indeed growing rather steamy inside and said, “Come out, Louella. We must salvage everything we can from the pod.”
She nodded and pressed her full lips together, compressing them into a thin line of worry. As she climbed out, she took a deep breath of the hot, dry air. Her head swiveled as she looked around.
“We’re in a freaking desert.” She paused, then muttered, “Oh, shit, I’ve gotta pee.”
“We are,” he agreed as he re-entered the pod and began to slice and tear fabric from the seat while she squatted and emptied her bladder onto the sand. When she finished, he handed her a large swath with a curt command to hold on to it, then dove back into the vessel to find what meager foodstuffs and water were available. He sent a silent prayer of thanks to the Durja, the god of warriors, for having earlier refrained from consumption of the pod’s emergency rations.
Louella looked at him as he handed her a jumble of packets and tools salvaged from the pod. “Do you have any idea where we are, what planet we’re on?”
“We were in the Aeskarib Sector headed for one of Kaan’s moons when our ship was attacked. The Kaanians guard their territory closely and are secretive. Even their allies know little of their space or their people.”
Louella folded her lips between her upper and lower teeth and bit gently down in an effort to keep a cry of dismay contained. It wasn’t Jax’s fault they were stranded wherever it was they were. She inhaled deeply through her nose, calmed her fraying nerves, and said with fatalistic resignation, “We’re gonna die out here.”
“Not if I can help it.” Yas’kihn grunted as he bundled their supplies and tools into the length of cloth he’d ripped from the pod. He also found the distress beacon and removed it from where it was moored within the pod’s guidance system. They weren’t going to be staying with the wrecked pod, so he would take it with them. He hoped the beacon’s crystal battery was strong enough to send out a distress call to guide rescuers to them.
He tied the makeshift sack securely around their meager supplies and hefted it over his shoulder. He walked forward a few steps, expecting his mate to fall into step behind him, and halted when he heard her speak.
“I can’t walk across the desert in bare feet, Jax. If nothing else, the sand will burn my skin.”
He snorted in disappointment with himself and turned around. Walking back to her, he dropped the sack at her feet and climbed back into the pod. A few seconds later, she heard more cloth rip. When he emerged, he held two long strips of fabric and two shorter strips torn from the ceiling and the floor, respectively. He squatted in front of her and said, “Give me your foot.”
Louella obeyed.
Yas’kihn growled low in his throat, again disgusted with himself for forgetting his mate was injured, although she’d not once complained. He fished the pod’s emergency medical kit from the makeshift satchel and treated her wounded foot. He hoped the medical supplies would work with her human biology to aid in her healing rather than aggravating the swollen, weeping laceration.
Louella watched without comment as he gently brushed the sand from her bandaged foot, making sure no particle remained to abrade the tender human skin before he folded a strip of thin carpet and held that to her sole while he wrapped a long strip of the lighter weight cloth around her foot and ankle. He tore the second strip in half several inches from the end and used those ends to tie the cloth into place around her ankle.
“Other foot.”
She gave him her other foot, and he wrapped it, too.
“Thank you, Jax.”
He nodded and picked up the makeshift sack again and threw the bulk of it over his shoulder. Louella thought about asking if he could tear off some more fabric to fashion a hat for her to protect her from the strong sunshine, but reconsidered.There probably isn’t enough fabric left.
She trudged behind him, appreciative of the numbing agent he’d sprayed on her foot and watching the swing of his leather kilt and his tail, the masculine sway of his massive shoulders, and the play of heavy muscle beneath his armored hide. The deep sand shifted and slid beneath her wrapped feet, making her stumble. Somehow without watching her, Jax always seemed to know when she lost her balance and pivoted to catch and steady her.
“We need to find shelter,” he said after they’d been hiking for several hours.
Louella took advantage of the pause to allow herself a small sip of water. She wanted to guzzle the entire bottle, but knew better. She’d read too many stories in which the idiotic heroine used up all the supplies, making dire circumstances even more perilous.I’m not going to be that stupid. Her belly growled. Loudly. She silently reminded it that she’d gone longer than this without eating.
She peered around them and saw nothing but more dunes. “I don’t see anything that looks remotely like shelter.”
