Page 62 of Holiday with the Aliens

Woman.

He’d known women before, and not all of them were friends. But he wanted to lie down next to this one and give her some of his warmth, to hold her close and keep her safe. She smelled of the same wreckage he’d escaped from, but her walk through the forest to get here had overlaid her scent with something woodsy and ancient. He breathed deep, drinking in the smell of her along with the musty scent of the cave.

Bad.

He jerked back as something foul tickled his nose. Not the woman. This smell was old and deep and dangerous. This was something that fed on the creatures in the bowels of these caves and spit out bones and blood. Something that this woman needed protection from.

Arest moved on, running deep into the system, his eyes adjusting to the encroaching darkness. But every step he took away from her tried to pull him back. He blocked that out. Danger lurked and he needed to find it, needed to end it so that she was safe, so that he could findheronce more and show her that nothing here would harm her.

He hadn’t left the chamber when the air changed. Rotten fish and oil tickled his nose and something scratched along the floor on the other side of the chamber.

Near the woman.

It hadn’t been there only moments before, but Arest didn’t take time to think. Instinct crashed over him, sublimating all thought until he was nothing but furor and death. He sprang across the distance, rolling into an open space and staying crouched low. His senses were open, waiting. The woman still huddled in her corner, her body stiff with fear. But the sound from whatever monster lurked in the dark hovered just this side of silent, barely louder than a rat’s scurry.

The air moved, a whisper against his skin, but Arest flowed with it, following the currents with a predator’s silence. His claws connected with a scrap of flesh and it tore, his prey letting out a belabored bellow, but bounding back before Arest’s claws could sink deep and do damage.

No light shone here and whatever Arest fought used that to its advantage, blending into the deepest shadows where not even a hint of movement could be seen.

Arest knew that he’d fought blind before, though he didn’t know how he knew that. The past was too much of a blur.

The stench shifted, and Arest’s gaze narrowed in on another corner. His prey had moved silently, but nothing was silent enough to evade him for long. His lips drew up in a sharp facsimile of a smile and his blood sang. The woman was out of danger for the moment.

Now he didn’t need to play nice.

His ears found the creature and tracked it as if by sight. The thing was trying to scurry into the wall, into a crack that Arest hadn’t seen. But he would not let this creature get away. Especially not when it might summon more and put the woman and Arest in danger. No, this ended now.

Using a trick he’d learned long ago and ultra-light feet, Arest crept up on his enemy and finished it in swift movements, killing it before it knew that it was dead. The only evidence of the violence was Arest’s own heavy breathing, the thump of the body against the floor, and the putrid smell of the blood that poured out of the thing’s wounds.

A slip of movement behind him alerted Arest that the woman was getting up, but he remained over the creature and investigated the little hole. Was that how he’d entered this chamber? He hadn’t come in through the hallway. There were no sounds or scents coming from there. That didn’t make it safe, but for the moment it posed no threat.

The thing beneath him was mostly naked, covered in scraps that might have once been clothes. Whether it’d worn them for so long that they’d rotted off, or it’d scavenged them from its victims, Arest couldn’t know. He felt around the hole in the wall and was satisfied that not much could get through. As an extra precaution, he wedged his victim into it and blocked it off as best he could. Rocks might have made a better boundary, but he’d need to see to do that work.

Footsteps pounded behind him and Arest turned. The woman was gone.

Chapter Three

Stella ran blindly, both literally and figuratively. She could barely see the hallway in front of her face and even if she could, she’d have no idea where it led. But she had to get away. The scary monsters, creatures,animals, or whatever they were, had fought. One hadkilledthe other, she was sure, based on that final sudden scuffle and the horrible smell that had flooded her little sleeping chamber.

Why had she hidden here? Why hadn’t she stayed by the ship where rescue crews were sure to find her? Why was she sostupid?

A sob tore out of her throat and her fingers came away wet when she wiped at her eyes.

What kind of planet had monsters living in caves? For the first time since she crashed, she wished that this planet had been a barren wasteland, incapable of sustaining life. At least then she wouldn’t have to hide from invisible threats and deal with caves that trapped her when all she wanted was a little shelter. Was that really so much to ask?

She tried to suck in deep breaths, but she was running too fast and her lungs were overworked. Bile rose in her throat andshe was afraid she was going to puke. Or pass out. Stella forced herself to slow down. As she slowed, she came to a fork in the path and solid rock blocked her from continuing forward. Only then did she realize that the light was getting better.

She hoped that meant she was moving towards an unblocked opening. Without pausing to think, she turned right, towards the brighter of the two paths. Even if it didn’t lead to an escape, she’d take a little bit of light. She’d happily trade one of her candy bars for a flashlight at the moment.

The light was getting brighter and Stella slowed even more. Once her feet stopped pounding, she couldn’t hear anyone behind her and came to a complete stop. Fatalism crushed her. Either her pursuer would catch up or not. She was too tired to do anything but move slowly. Her heart beat a hundred times faster than it should have and she could barely gulp down a breath.

When she’d joined up with the civilian fleet she’d been looking for more excitement in her life. Now she’d happily go back to the boring drudgery of LA if it didn’t involve ship crashes and scary monsters.

She looked behind her, but if the survivor from earlier trailed her, he wore darkness like a suit. She could feel something back there using some sense that her ancestors who’d evolved in the caves of Earth had used for survival. Never before had she needed it, but now it was the only thing that kept her alive. And sane. She needed her wits now, and every bit of survival instinct that lived deep within her. There were monsters in these hallways and she didn’t want to be dinner.

She moved on soft feet, carefully walking on the balls of her feet and leaving her knees soft, ready to sprint or jump. The light got closer, a weak but steady stream at the end of this interminable tunnel. How long had she been walking? How long had she been stuck here? Her fear said days, but it couldn’t have been more than an hour or so.

The hallway narrowed around her and as the light grew stronger she became more sure in her conviction that thiswasa hallway and not a cave passage. The walls were smooth, almost flat to the touch, and they met at angles at the roof and the floor. It was all solid stone, but this had been carved by machine. It didn’t look like a mine, either. If someone bothered to lay a carpet down on the ground, she might think she was in an office basement.

---