Page 8 of Star Mates

“I don’t think he’s...it’s...Middle Eastern,” she managed.

“Obviously, this is not real,” he muttered. “This is...we must have suffered from a mild form of oxygen deprivation.”

“Right,” she said. “We’re hallucinating the exact same thing.”

He threw her a dark look. “I’m going to make sure it’s...organic.”

She nodded her head vigorously. “That’s a good word to use.”

He let go of her hand and took several steps closer to the alien, studying it with narrowed eyes. Then he knelt and reached out, touching the bony leg. “It feels like clammy skin.”

“What type of skin? Lizard skin? Frog skin?”

“Human skin.”

“Oh,” she said, surprised. “Is it breathing?”

Logan shook his head then half rolled the alien over. The big head flopped to the other side. “There’s blood at the base of the skull. I think it’s dead. Emmarie, I think...God, I can’t believe I’m going to say this out loud,” he took a deep breath and faced her. “I think we’re on a spaceship.”

She bit her lower lip. “Are you trying to tell me that we were abducted by little green men?”

“This isn’t funny!”

“What do you want me to do? Break down in hysterical crying? Because I assure you, that I can do!”

He ran a hand through his already tousled hair. “No, you’re right.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, in through the nose and out through the mouth.

At that moment the ship rocked again, hard enough to send them both sprawling. Logan hit the wall hard with Emmarie smacking into his side.

“Well, if we are on a spaceship then there’s something wrong with it,” she muttered, pushing herself off him.

He looked at her, then over to the dead alien. “We crashed,” he said. “It was an accident. Those other eight people weren’t supposed to die.” And then he was gone, rushing back up the ladder and out the room.

Emmarie watched him for a moment before a glance over her shoulder at the creature still spread eagle on the floor had her scrambling after him. They left the room and went back to the corridor.

Logan ran his hand over all the panels until one slid open. They had found the cockpit, and two more dead aliens sitting in the chairs. But before she could freak out anymore, she came face to face with the breathtaking view of space. The glitter of stars, the never-ending blackness, and large rocks moving extremely close to them. It was everything television and movies had shown it would be. Then part of the window blinked out and a human face came up. He was half turned away, and as he started talking to them all Logan and Emmarie could do was stand there with their mouths hanging open.

“This is the star jumper, Sunray, coming along the port side of your asteroid. We know you’re incapacitated. Prepare to be-whoa.”

He abruptly stopped talking as he turned to face them fully. Shock blanketed his face.

“Your human,” he said.

Relief flooded Emmarie as she stared at the very ordinary man. He had military style cropped dark hair, dark eyes and a pointy chin. The too sharp angles of his face made him look like he could stand to eat a hefty meal or two.

“What are you doing on a Merloni ship? Wait a minute, hold that thought,” the man muttered, holding up a finger. He turned away and shouted something behind him before turning back to face them. “My name is Pikon Brant,” he continued before nodding to their right. “Is he alive?”

Logan and Emmarie both looked and saw another green skinned alien lying sprawled on a divan in the center of what looked to be a command center. There were buttons, blinking lights, and monitors everywhere, and all the wires led right back to the oversized chair. Emmarie thought Logan hadn’t been too far off when he talked about Star Trek.

“I don’t know how to tell,” Logan replied.

Pikon held up his arm, and with his other hand laid three fingers on the inside, starting at the elbow. “His pulse, if he still has one, will be located here.”

It was clear that Logan had no wish to touch the alien skin again. He twisted his mouth into a sour grimace gave, and shot Emmarie a bleak look before he walked over to the unmoving alien. He checked the arm and then gave a quick, negative shake of his head.

“There’re two more here and we found a fourth body in another room,” Logan told Pikon.

Pikon nodded, and then another voice muttered very loudly, “Is that an Earthling?”

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