Page 17 of Stranded with the Alien

Without waiting for an answer, she strolled to the bag and opened it. Conscious he was probably watching her, she pushed the doll inside while surreptitiously checking the hidden pocket.

Her pulse quickened. The beacon was still in there, snug as a bug in a rug.

She closed the bag and left it propped against the cave wall. She tore the top off her food pack.

“You not eating?” She gestured at her rations. “Not surprised, it tastes like shit.”

“Sheet?”

Kara’s eyebrows rose. It was the first time the alien had tried to speak her language, other than a garbled attempt at the wordhooman.

“Shit. Like this.” She pointed at the drying stain on her shirt. “Shit.”

The alien pointed at the similar stain on his shoulder.

“Zift.”

“Zift?Ziftmeans shit?” She waved the food pack. “Well, this is definitelyziftthen.”

She smiled. The Vraxian inexplicably found himself wanting to smile back and turned away, annoyed with himself.

They had shared a moment of levity earlier but nothing had changed. She was still the enemy.

Kara made a show of yawning repeatedly. She wanted the alien to think she was utterly exhausted, far too spent to have any ideas about running. Or that perhaps, after their brief moment of camaraderie, she might no longerwantto escape.

But when she curled up in her usual spot, she found his tentacle once again winding round her ankle.

She bit back her anger and stayed silent. Let him think she was resigned to it. More fool him.

She pretended to sleep, slowing her breathing and letting her shoulders relax. It was hard not to drift off for real. She was dog-tired and every muscle ached. But she kept herself awake with the knowledge that the alien must be as beat as she was.

Even so, it was several hours before the tentacle loosened its grip. She peeked towards the cave mouth through half-closed eyes. The Vraxian was propped up in a sitting position but his hand had slipped to the floor beside him.

Quietly, moving her leg as little as possible, she unlaced her boot. Then, holding her breath, she slid her foot out.

The tentacle stirred a little, then relaxed. Kara glanced at the alien again. He hadn’t moved. She let out a breath. So far so good.

Leaving her boot behind, she rolled to her feet and grabbed the backpack. It was a shame there weren’t any water canisters close to hand, but they were stacked at the other end of the cave and she didn’t want to waste another second.

She edged towards the opening. It wasn’t large and the Vraxian’s long legs covered much of the gap. Her eyes fell on the pulse gun next to him.

Silently, she picked it up.If only I could shoot him right now.But she couldn’t. Even the thought of pulling the trigger caused little electric pulses to sting her neck. No, she couldn’t kill him.

But shewasgoing to have to step over him.

Adrenaline flooded her system, making her heart race.

Calm down. You can do this.

The pep talk had no effect. Chest thumping, she straddled his legs, desperately trying not to wobble or trip.

Halfway through the maneuver, she couldn’t help looking down at the alien’s face.He looks a lot less fierce when he’s asleep.

She studied the bony structure that made Vraxians seem so frightening. Spiny ridges ran from the corner of each temple to a point between his brows. Where they met, a third ridge – more prominent than the others – rose to form a vertical crest that swept through the centre of his forehead and into his mane of white hair.

The rest of his facial features weren’t dissimilar to those of humans. His nose even had a slight crook in it, as if it had once been broken. But from the chin downwards, it was all distinctly extraterrestrial.

Starlight glinted off the scales of his throat, turning them silver. More scales glittered at the open vee of his tunic. For a split second, she caught herself wondering what they would feel like and if they would be warm to the touch.

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