Page 42 of Stranded with the Alien

“Go on. Go find your pack. And try not to attack anyone when you’re grown up, okay?”

She walked after Vahn. When they’d gone some distance, she checked behind them. The puppy was gone.

Okay. Good.

She hoped she wouldn’t regret not eating it.

It was a relief when they reached the woodland. It was a much larger area than the small copse they’d seen two days ago; Kara estimated it covered several square kilometers. Almost a forest.

As before, most of the vegetation was desiccated. But the trees provided some shade from the suns. And even better, they discovered not all of the ‘foliage’ at the ends of the branches was made up of the tiny green flies. There were some leaves here and there – curled up and dried out, but leaves nonetheless.

Their optimism was short-lived. They walked for miles through the arid forest of dead trees searching for a water source. Their hopes were dashed when they found the lake – or rather, what remained of the lake.

It wasn’t very wide, maybe eight hundred meters across, but it stretched for more than a kilometer to the left and right. Had itbeen full of water, it would have been big enough for boating or water-skiing.

But right now it was a yawning crater of dust.

Brittle fish bones lay scattered on the dry bed, along with the detritus of desiccated water plants. Whatever moisture had existed here had evaporated long ago.

The strength seeped out of Kara’s legs and she slumped to the ground. Vahn squatted next to her.

“Do not give up hope. As you have rightly pointed out, there are creatures on this planet besides us. They must have access to water somehow.”

“And what if they don’t?” she said dully. “What if they’re actually dying? Like we will be soon.”

She leaned against a husk of a tree trunk, wanting to cry but knowing she wouldn’t be able to produce any tears.

Vahn silently set up the tent. His serpetri, which he normally wore coiled round his waist, hung limply in the dirt and his stomach ached with hunger. But he wasn’t thinking of his own discomfort. He was worried about Kara.

“You take the shelter. You need the rest.”

“It’s your turn.”

He sighed.

“Humans are exceedingly stubborn.”

“You’re only just getting that?”

A smile flickered over his lips.

“Then let us both take the tent. It seems meaningless to argue at this point.”

At this point.The point where their survival was in doubt. She nodded tiredly.

“I suppose if we’re going to starve to death, we may as well do it in comfort.”

“Precisely.”

They crawled into the tent and lay on their sides face to face. Only a few inches separated them in the confines of the shelter and Vahn wondered if he’d made a mistake when her scent drifted over him.

He was about to make an excuse and crawl outside when she touched his arm.

“Vahn.”

Her voice was soft and his pulse quickened. She was gazing at him with her velvet brown eyes, a shade that didn’t exist among Vraxians. Her smooth face, which had seemed so strange to him at first, now made him desire to touch it.

“Yes, human?”

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