Page 20 of Alien's Eternal Mate

Her lips quivered, and tears slid down her cheeks.

“Not again. Now what did I do?” I groaned and stood up. “I’m trying to get you to stop crying, not cry even more.”

“Forgive me, milord.”

“Stop apologizing for everything!”

My voice increased in volume because of my agitation, which only made her cringe even more. Gro had a set of lungs on him, that was for sure.

“I’m sorry.” I held my hand out toward her, then pulled it back. “I’m sorry.”

I turned away from her and rushed out the door into the night. I had to get away. This wasn’t my life, it wasn’t my world. I had to get back to my real body.

The ship. The ship that the colony had been built on. That was my only hope. The settlement had been built upon the upper decks of the crashed vessel. Most of it remained below ground, hidden from view. If it were intact enough, there might be a way to get a message to Luna.

I moved through the streets, largely empty at that hour. The few aliens I encountered all avoided me just like the rest.

I reached the outskirts of the settlement, and saw a long, rocky trail leading down to a possible entrance to the ship. As I set foot upon it, I heard a voice from nearby.

“I heard you’re daffy in the head now, but are you really sure you want to throw your life away?”

I spun about, my eyes discerning a small shape sitting with its back to a boulder. A juvenile alien, one of his eyes closed permanently by a jagged scar.

“What are you talking about? Just who are you?”

“Ah yes, I’d heard you had amnesia.”

The juvenile stepped into the moonlight, scrawny and scraggly. His ribs stuck out like bare branches on a tree, and mud caked his skin in several places.

“I’m Lo. The only person in Starlost Village who isn’t afraid of you.”

I looked at the miserable wretch before me. An exile of some sort? Why did he dwell out here amongst the ruins of the ship?

“Greetings, Lo. Apparently my name is Gro. It’s nice to meet you. Again.”

His eyes widened.

“Wow, that Backlash really did a number on your noggin, didn’t it? You’re…nice, now.”

“But you did not fear me before?”

He shook his head.

“No. Why should I? Everyone else is afraid you’ll go berserk and take away everything they have. As you can see, I have nothing to lose.”

“Why is that? Were you exiled?”

His eyes narrowed, and his voice took on an edge.

“I am a bastard. My mother was raped by a raider from another tribe, so my father does not claim me, nor allow me in his house.”

“None of that is your fault.”

“Yes it is. I should have known better than to be born a bastard.”

It took me several moments to realize he was making a jest.

“Well, Lo, why do you think I would be throwing my life away if I entered the ship?”

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