Page 10 of Pandora: Alien Games

Where would I go now? And what was I going to do?

I missed Van. But I was here in the middle of fucking nowhere, alone, and my talents didn’t help me now. Who needs a great thief in the middle of the dunes? What would I steal? Sand?

There was movement in the distance. Something approached. Maybe it’s Van. We couldn’t be that far away from the spot where the pod crashed. Hopefully, the shuttle landed somewhere close by. Before I could plan or think more about it, I grabbed the water skin and left the cave.

The cave sat inside a formation of rocks. It was a mountain once, but erosion had turned its once proud height into a hunched back that stuck out of the sand. As soon as I left the protected shade, the heat of the three suns hit me full on. The heat fried mu skin. I should have used that blanket as a cape. This genius thought crossed my mind as I made my way down the narrow, rocky path. How did Banoo get up here? I could barely find my footing, but the movement in the distance convinced me to hurry.

My body smelled. I needed a shower, but I don’t even know if they have showers on this planet. The rocks under my feet were loose and yellow, and with each step a small number of them became dislocated and rolled down, only to be swallowed by the hot sand. As I check my wrist, I noticed that my com device still isn’t working. It showed me random numbers that made no sense. Oh, well. I could throw it in the sand, but it might useful one day for something. Maybe I can trade it.

Sweat dripped into my eyes and made them burn.

I read about heat, about the desert, but never in my life did I believe I’d experience it on my own skin. The station was always cold. We always kept the life maintenance system at a minimum to make sure people won’t die, at least not so fast. I missed the coolness of space, but in space I never experienced sunlight. Today, as I was huffing, puffing, and sweating I wished I could enjoy this so much more.

Van and I planned to land on a planet in the Aray System, a lush green place covered by a rainforest. We had plans about building a hut with the means we had there, eating fruits and berries, and making friends with the indigenous people, if there were any. As far as we knew, there was no higher intelligence on that planet. This place wasn’t the third planet in the Aray System. It was something different, something that scared me and fascinated me at the same time.

The small path finally ended and a sweet scent filled my nose. What could smell like coffee and cinnamon here in the middle of nowhere?

Walking on sand is difficult. I tried to jump and make Van notice me. It had to be Van. He probably had a way to get us out of here. Van and I always were a great team. Him with his ability to build things from scratch and me with my talent to get those things for him. Whatever Van needed, I could get it, one way or another. They called it stealing. I called it repurposing of resources and using them in a smart way.

My mind still had to come to terms with Edoo, especially with his form. I never considered that a race that was so different from ours could exist. He could at least have said bye or something. Abandoning me like this in the middle of nowhere was not the nicest thing. It was fucked up. But what could he do with me? He was trying to help me. A look at my shoulder revealed a gaping hole now fully healed, letting me know I should be more thankful to Edoo. If I didn’t die of thirst, I would have passed away from the infection, and it that would have been a slow and painful death.

“Van!” His name escaped from my lips. I shouldn’t make so much noise, but I couldn’t help myself. The joy of meeting Van again, the hope that he was still alive and well, and that he will be by my side in this cruel new world, kept me alive and breathing.

Right after I called out, I wished I could run back and hide in my cave again. It was too late. The damage had been done and I had to live with the consequences.

Ramy

Many suns had passed since my younger brother Edoo left our home and the pack. It was typical for him to walk away for many sunsets, but this time his absence became reason for worry. At one time, Eray, Ashok, and Hassym had walked away. I knew his hunting grounds. We all did. Edoo is a specialist when it comes to hunting the Rash, the plague of the desert and of each oasis.

I feel a surge of pride whenever I remember what a skilled hunter my little brother is. Still, I was worried that he could have ended in the sands, his blood turned to dust by the three sons of Ra who grace the sky with their heat. Sometimes Edoo forgets time and that our pack has other obligations beside the hunt of the Rash. It was that time of year when we all met on the shore of the mighty Elin and looked for new mates. It is in the way of the Anubis to fight, party, and then have a wild orgy.

Some of us end up taking a female. Others return home knowing we did our duty to the bloodline. All four of us are from different fathers. Our mother was too strong, too alpha, to submit to a male. She would participate in the orgy; find a new partner; then fight, drink, and fuck only to bring a new pup into the world. She taught us to be strong and smart, and not to allow anyone to dictate our future.

The climate on Sphinx has been changing since the ruling class, The Sons of Ra, lost increased power to the Bastet, the merchants. We, the Anubis, were always warriors. We fight, we kill. Our way of life is splattered by blood from the cradle to the grave because there is no higher honor for a warrior than to die by the sword. Still, as alpha I did what stood in my power to keep my pack, my brothers safe. That was not an easy task.

“Ramy, there. Look to the east.” Hassym shouted to me before he pushed his Ren into a hasty run. The huge creature was not made for speed, yet they could be fast on short distances. Hassym has a sixth sense for the hunt. He feels danger a few heartbeats before the rest and is eager to run toward it headfirst. I tried to discipline him over the years, but to no avail. It was who Hassym was—a crazy hot head.

Eray looked toward Ashok and Ashok and shrugged. The twins had a special way of communicating. They were the youngest and Ashok was silent. My brother never spoke a word since the day he returned from his first hunt, but that did not make him a lesser warrior or hunter. He found strength in his own silence and ways to use it to his advantage. Eray, on the other hand, spoke enough for two, being not only an interpreter for Ashok, but also a skilled storyteller loved by females of all races. Each time Eray made a new conquest, we wouldn’t hear the end of it.

“Make sure he doesn’t get himself killed,” I barked toward the twins. They broke in a fast run, urging their Rens to move fast on the slippery sands.

The desert is my home and I know about its dangers, the obvious and the hidden. It is a silent killer than can drain the water from one’s body and leave you to die a painful and slow death at the end of days and days of agony. But it can also kill you fast. Rash swim under the sands the way fish swim in the waters of the Elin. And not only Rash. There are small insects with a deadly bite who poison your body and melt your brain in hours, as well as other creatures that hunt under the cover of darkness. The sand python could also bury itself under the sand and jump at you, scare your Ren to death, and snake itself around you, strangling you. Even we, the Anubis, must be careful not to drown in the sands or get killed by dangers that hide in plain sight.

I leaned closer to my own Ren, Bashar, and scratched him on his head between his upper pair of eyes. He rewarded me with a touch of his large thick trunk. Bashar was my Ren since I became a man. We Anubis have a special connection with our Ren. He moaned softly.

“I know, Bashar. They’re idiots, but they are pack.” I gently nudged him to speed up. Bashar is like me. He doesn’t like to run. Our mass gives us strength and our strength in fight lies in the huge power we both have. As alpha and oldest brother, I’m the biggest and the strongest of them.

My small pack is different from the others. We fight and we laugh. The guys push my limits and test my authority often, but each of us would die for the other. We don’t fight to the death for rank because, at the end of the day, the other is more important than ourselves.

Mother always said a pack is as strong as its weakest member. That is why the pack must be united. A good alpha knows the strength and weakness of each of his people.

The sounds of battle made Bashar run faster without me nudging him on.

Hassym

Danger!

My body can feel it before my mind registers it as a fact. It’s inside me, like a heat swelling my awareness of the fight to come. My claws elongate and my mouth waters. There is nothing I love more than a good fight.

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