Page 21 of Fallen from the Stars

“Every time I become wistful and long for a physical form of my own, you remind me why it would be a terrible thing to possess. Thank you, Theodora.”

“The human body is a disgusting thing.” With a smirk, Theo stood and kicked off her boots. She unbuckled her belt and laid it, along with the pistol, beside her footwear. Raising a hand to her collar, she released her jumpsuit’s seal. The material sagged as the front seam opened. She peeled the suit off her body, pulling her arms out of the sleeves before shoving the whole thing down her legs, leaving only the under suit she wore beneath her outer garments. The touch of air directly on the skin of back, arms, and legs brought immediate relief from the heat.

Sitting in the grass along the bank, she drew her knife from its belt sheath and pulled the jumpsuit into her lap. She carefully used the sharp blade to make a few alterations that would make the uniform more comfortable in this unforgiving climate.

“Where do you think Vasil went?” she asked as she cut off one of the sleeves.

“Maybe he was eaten by a plant,” Kane said.

Theo shook her head, smirking. “You saw how easily he tore that other one apart. I doubt it.”

“I will note that we’ve not witnessed him eating yet, and his…dentalsituation suggests a more protein-rich diet. Perhaps he’s hunting?”

“Maybe we just haven’t been around him long enough to see him eat. He might’ve eaten some of the fruit he gathered for me, for all we know. But you’re probably right.” She caught her lower lip between her teeth and carefully sliced through the material around the jumpsuit’s waist. “You don’t think he’d just…leave, do you?”

“Honestly, Theo, I don’t know.”

The thought of Vasil leaving was strangely unsettling to Theo. She had Kane, but what did he know about this world? He’d kept her from losing her mind several times in the past when the silence and solitude had become too much, but to go the rest of her life without meetinganyoneelse seemed…frightening. Before Kane, she’d had Malcolm — her tutor, her protector, the man she wished had been her father from the start. It had been so many years since he died that she’d forgotten what it was like to have someone near. Someone she could look at, touch,feel.

She was alone here without Vasil. What did it matter if he was a kraken? He was still…alive.

There were always other people on IDC ships, but her time around them had always been fleeting. She’d never made any lasting friendships, especially after enlisting. What was the point? Most people only wound up betraying you eventually, and those who didn’t always left sooner or later — IDC crewmen were constantly being reassigned and shuffled around the universe.

She thought back to the few times she’d attempted to get close to others, to getintimate; each experience had left a sour taste in her mouth. Theo had been nothing more than a conquest, an easy fuck. In her desperation for human contact, she’d allowed herself to be used, all under the delusion that she could have more than a physical connection. And she couldn’t bring herself to be angry about any of it — none of those men were at fault for failing to meet her expectations, which had always been vague even to Theo.

After a short series of disappointments, she’d simply distanced herself from everyone.

Theo sighed. She set the separated pieces of her suit aside and leaned forward to sheathe her knife. Why did she have to be so fucked up? She hated letting people close, yet she craved intimacy like she needed air.

She stood up, removed her under suit, and kneeled at the stream’s edge. She scrubbed her clothing to wash away the sweat and dirt before spreading them out in the sun to dry.

Tossing her long hair back, she walked into the water. Her bare feet traversed slick rocks and soft mud, a welcome relief from wearing boots all the time. The cool water was wonderfully refreshing against her heated flesh.

“Keep an eye out for giant, predatory fish, would ya?” she asked, wading forward until the water reached her waist.

“This is a stream, Theo,” Kane replied, “not the ocean.”

“Kane, I was almost eaten by aplantyesterday.”

“Just do what you need to do so we can get back.”

Theo shook her head and dipped down to submerge herself up to her shoulders. She spread her arms to the sides, relishing the feel of water flowing over her skin. “Don’t rush me. I’m in no hurry to get back to the pod and stare blankly at the sky until bedtime. If you’re bored, go to sleep.”

“I can’t go to sleep,” he said, “because you want me to keep watch. Please, feel free to take your time. It’s not likeIcan go anywhere.”

“Why thank you,” she snickered.

“My pleasure, madam.”

* * *

Vasil rose from the water and dragged himself onto the beach. He felt replenished. He’d not been in the water since pushing Theo’s pod ashore the night before last and had forgotten how strange his body felt after prolonged periods in open air. The humidity helped, but it would never be enough; krakenneededthe sea.

He carried his catch — a pair of meaty, long-bodied fish — in one hand, fingers hooked beneath the fish’s gills, as he moved toward the pod. The humans he’d lived alongside ate many plants, but they all included meat in their diets whether it came from land or sea. He doubted the odd, tube-like containers she sometimes ate from contained any sort of meat; hopefully, she’d enjoy fresh fish.

“Theo?” Vasil called.

She did not answer, and nothing moved within the pod. He called her name again. The gentle wind and rolling waves provided the only sound.

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