Page 14 of Craving Stardust

“What do you eat on your ship?” I asked.

“Food fabricated from a paste.”

Even canned cinnamon rolls sounded better than that. “I suppose you can’t carry fresh food with you on such a small ship.” If it had been larger, it wouldn’t have fit on my wagon and my winch wouldn’t have been able to move it.

“It’s rare to have fresh food, though I do get into port on one planet or another on occasion and buy it then.”

I helped him sit up on the side of the bed, glad when he didn’t sway or look like he was about to pass out. “Are there many planets with ports out there?”

“More than I can count.”

I tried to imagine multiple species of aliens and just as many cities, but the thought made me dizzy. My world shrunk to this small place. Earth was such a tiny speck when compared to everything else out there. The farmhouse was smaller. And I was a fraction of a speck in comparison to that.

I tugged an old pair of my grandfather’s sweatpants over Lordek’s ankles. They’d be much too snug, but mine would be even tighter. And he couldn’t walk around naked—though I suspected I’d enjoy the view.

He shifted his hips, pulling the sweats up around his waist, keeping the sheet over his cock. I’d seen it; hard to miss something big and green like that even when I was trying to remain clinical as I cut away his clothing last night. My mind kept dragging me back to that moment. His cock was thick and long and it had nubs along the sides. What purpose did the nubs serve?

My body overheated at the thought of how they’d feel moving inside me.

He had two other, smaller cocks, one above and one below his main staff. Only in my steamiest dreams could I imagine what they could do while he pumped into me.

“It must be exciting to travel from planet to another, to meet new people, to see the stars from all angles.” I struggled to keep the conversation neutral. I didn’t just like him, I was sexually attracted to him. I doubted he wanted me to nudge him down on the bed and climb all over him, however, despite his amazing kiss. That had been fever-induced. He may not remember doing it.

I helped him stand, and while he grunted and some of his vibrant color fled his face, he remained upright, putting most of his weight on his good leg.

“It’s been amazing, but I’m growing weary of traveling all the time.” His gaze locked on mine, and I sensed he was searching for something, though I didn’t know what. “Would you ever want to travel like I have, or do you see yourself remaining here on your own planet forever?”

“Travel among the stars? How could I? My home’s here on Earth. I inherited the farmhouse from my grandmother. I have friends, and I recently opened a bookstore in town. Do you have books where you come from?”

He lifted his arm and only then did I see a small device fused to his wrist as if it was partly made up of his green skin but also mechanics. “I love to read. I have billions of books stored on my wrist com.”

“Wow. You have an entire library at your disposal.” I couldn’t imagine such a thing. “How do you read it?”

“Watch.” He tapped on the “com” and it projected a screen with writing unlike anything I’d seen before. He scrolled through it, turning pages like a book I might read here. In some ways, this was the same; in others, completely different.

“That’s amazing. Do you have physical copies of books?”

“Not many. Long ago, we did. The material used to craft them is expensive, and it takes resources, stripping them from our planet. We chose long ago to embrace technology where we could to save those resources and preserve our planet.”

“I understand.” I released a heavy sigh. “I guess there’s just nothing like holding a book in my hands, scrolling through the pages. Smelling them. It’s a special experience. I have some collector’s editions. First editions that belonged to my grandparents. I treasure them.”

“Many families on my home planet feel the same. Books are rare and a collector’s item there as well.”

Then we were alike in that way as well. That was comforting.

“Whenever I put into port, I sync with their mainframe and add to my collection as long as I can understand the book’s language,” he said. “Most interstellar beings speak Universal, however, and write it too.”

“Everyone can communicate?”

“All but those who’ve chosen to remain isolated.”

Except Earth, though we didn’t make a choice. We hadn’t been discovered yet, I supposed. Would we one day read Universal and communicate with other species among the stars? If Lordek could crash here, others could land. It was coming. I wasn’t sure there was anything we could do to stop it, assuming anyone wished to hold something like that back.

Perhaps aliens already had reached out. Our governments might not have shared such information with us.

He put most of his weight on his good leg, but fortunately, I’d found an old pair of wooden crutches hanging in the barn and adjusted one to the tallest height. It was still much too short, but he it would support his leg until it fully healed.

He frowned at it until I explained.

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