Page 37 of Stranded with the Alien

“Fuck you!” Kara was yelling now, her fists clenched. “It’s not a lie. My father died in that first battle. He died protecting us from your swarm of invaders.”

“Then we have one thing in common at least, small human.” Vahn regarded her steadily. “The war has taken loved ones from both of us.”

He turned and walked on. Seething, Kara followed him. They didn’t speak until they reached the outcrop of spindly trees where she’d taken refuge on her first night on this planet.

It seemed an age ago.

The body of the arachnid which had attacked her was gone. No doubt claimed by hungry desert animals. Kara lookednervously at the trees as they approached, wondering if more were lurking.

Vahn seemed to read her mind.

“Let us hope that creature which attacked you is a purely nocturnal species.”

His voice was neutral and she forced herself to relax her shoulders. If he could get past the argument, so could she.

“It definitely looks greener here. Let’s look for a water source.”

“Wait.”

Vahn was looking up into the trees with a puzzled expression and she instantly tensed up.

“What is it? Is it one of those giant spiders?”

“No. There is something unusual about the leaves.”

Kara squinted into the upper branches.

“I don’t see anything. Just green foliage. That’s normal, isn’t it?”

Vahn drew his laser-sword and flicked it on. Then he threw it high into the tree, sending it scything through the base of a thick branch.

The blade dropped back down and he caught it deftly by the hilt. The severed branch followed, thudding onto the ground beside them.

Kara gazed down at it and her heart fell.

“Damn.”

“Indeed.”

What she had taken for leaves were in fact thousands of tiny, green insects clinging to bare twigs. When she poked at them with her foot, they rose in a thick cloud and swirled round her head.

“Jesus!”

She coughed as they got into her mouth and eyes. Frantically, she batted them away until they swarmed back to the tree.

Vahn, she noticed resentfully, hadn’t been touched.

The branch on the ground was now bare, unadorned with even the slightest bit of foliage. She walked round the base of two or three other trees. They were all the same.

None of them had any leaves. The trees were as parched as everything else on this god-forsaken planet.

She whirled round to Vahn.

“There’s still got to be water somewhere, right? Even if the trees don’t have leaves, there are insects. Animals. Other plants. Look, there’s a bush here…”

She plucked a scrubby little plant from the ground. Its roots came out dry and shriveled, and its leaves turned to dust in her hand. She let it drop.

“No, this can’t be right. It can’t be.” In desperation she pointed at the larger line of green towards the hills. “There are more trees over there, they can’t have grown without moisture.”

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