Page 18 of Pandora: Alien Games

God, I need a shower.

I stepped close to the edge of the crystal-clear water. It was blue, blue like the sky, and it called my name. I edged close to it touched the crystal blue surface with my fingers. I yearned to touch it with my toes.

“Why are you so nice to me?” I asked Ashok. I knew he wouldn’t understand me and that he couldn’t speak. Still, I liked being close to him.

I knelt in front of the water and slipped my hand in it. It felt so wonderfully cool against my hot skin. I took a handful of water and drank until I was full. Ashok did the same. It tasted incredible, the best thing ever.

The boots had to come off and they did. I leaned down and opened the laces, freeing my feet after weeks of being trapped inside them. Yuck. My socks were nuclear. I wanted to throw them away but, instead, I rolled them down and stuck them into the boots. The cargo pants were next. My skin is so pale. I had the feeling it reflected the sun. My shabby t-shirt went next and landed next to the pretty cover up Ashok gave me.

I stood there in only my undies and bra. And it wasn’t a nice bra. It was standard issue, grey, and not at all the way they described them in the stories I loved. I never touched lace. The most beautiful thing I ever had was the wrap Ashok gave me.

As I looked around, everything was magical and magnificent. All the guys except Ashok weren’t around. My toes touched the surface of the water. I never saw such a large body of water. The only water I had was in the small showers, but it was nothing like this. The space station water was brown and dirty, recycled water running through filters that were old and clogged. I know because I cleaned them, and they got as clean as possible with the old tools we had. Which wasn’t saying much. And now this. My toes touched the crystal water and I stepped in. It was cool and surrounded my toes in a surprising way. I walked in. The water wasn’t as deep as I thought and reached my chest. Whatever was on the bottom was squishy and got between my toes. Weird, but pleasant. Soft and slippery. I wanted to take one more step, just one more.

That was wrong.

The step I took made me slip and my entire body, including my head, became submerged in water. Oxygen was sparse, my lungs started to hurt, and I tried to push my head up to the surface. I could see the three suns. Here I was, just under the surface.

A strong arm grabbed me around the waist and lifted me out of the water. The first reflex was to breathe in but I couldn’t. My lungs filled with water. Even though sweet air was all around me, I gasped. Ashok hit me with a closed fist over my chest. I read about people drowning, but the experience was so horrible and awful I couldn’t stop myself from clawing against his arm even though he kept me safe. The hard hit dislocated something and I could breathe again. Wow.

Ashok took me into his arms. I could smell him. He was silent and calm and allowed me to grab his neck and lay my head on his shoulder. He put me down on a patch of grass. Eray sat nearby. He said something that again sounded weird and foreign to me. Then he made a weird movement with his arms.

Eray

I watched my brother hover over the small female. She was something. Since Ashok took her from Hassym she had been silent. I had to give that to him. Ashok believed a kind approach would bring better results.

We’re home now and there will come a moment when we must decide what’s going to happen to her.

I watched her undressing and couldn’t stop myself from admiring her pale skin. It looked like the moons of Ra and her light soft body. The others got to touch her and Hassym bit her. We will have to take her to see the Oracle, no matter if she wants or not. I don’t plan on landing in the Games. Ashok is the only one of us who participated in them and he returned a completely different Anubis. No one escapes the Oracle or the Games. I remembered how I felt when I confronted the Oracle and it freed me from the Games. Being in the Games is an honor. And a nightmare.

Ashok has a hardness inside him since he returned. I wished I could have taken his place, but I couldn’t. And with him being mute, Ashok never got the chance to speak what was on his mind. Hassym wanted to be in the Game. It would give him the chance to achieve fame and become a leader. Ashok wanted away, far away from everyone.

My eyes are still on the female. Her long, silky black hair falls in a cascade on her back. I would love to touch it but, if I learned anything from Hassym, it was that she doesn’t appear to like things Anubis females like, so I won’t bite her ass or touch the bubbles of her round chest.

She stepped into the water and I wanted to join her. She made me feel curious about her planet, where was she from. Did they have water and oases like this on her world?

And just like that, while watching her, she slipped under the surface. If this was a swim style it was weird. Ashok ran toward her and I saw him dip fast under the water, pulling her up. She looked scared. All that long hair of her was awkward and wet, sticking to her face and neck. She held on to his neck and he brought her to the shire. I found myself envying my twin brother. I couldn’t do this to myself, so I got up and entered my own tent.

Frustrated and hungry, I remembered it was my turn to cook. Damn!

I took a deep breath. Her scent was everywhere. It intoxicated me, making me think about what Ashok was doing. He probably wasn’t doing anything, but I felt a prang of jealousy again thinking about how close he already was to her. Neither one of us could understand her, and that is why it didn’t count.

As I stepped out of my tent, I saw them in the water. Ashok held her and she was moving her arms frantically. She really didn’t know how to swim. I expected that the small female would be a good swimmer and even hail from a planet with lots of water because she was so pale and her skin was so soft.

I stood there watching them.

“What the fuck are they doing now?” Hassym asked from behind me.

“I think Ashok is teaching her how to swim.”

“He can’t keep her either.”

“Hassym, I know that asshole is your normal style, but try to be a bit nicer. She’s clearly not from here. Wouldn’t you want some kindness if you were stranded on a strange planet?”

“Hey, I’m fucking nice. She’s annoying me. I’m sure she’s going to get us in huge trouble! And isn’t it your turn to cook?”

“Going right now.”

I was eager to get away from Hassym. He’s not a bad guy, mostly, but he gets cranky when things don’t go his way.

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