Page 5 of Fallen from the Stars

She walked to the back of the pod and groaned. The exterior shell was dented and scorched black above and below the floatation ring, and the hole on the underside was clearly visible despite the angle and the shadows. There was no way she could repair that without the resources to do so.

She cursed. “Completely wrecked.”

Wind tousled her hair as she scanned her surroundings. The beach gave way to vegetation not far behind the pod, beginning with long grass and thickening to full-blown jungle not much farther along. The plants were more shades of green and purple than she realized existed. She turned back toward the ocean.

The waves crashed against the shore, the strongest reaching a point perhaps ten meters away from the pod before receding. She glanced to the side, studying the stretch of sand to the pod’s left; it was nothing but soft sand this far inland. No debris.

“You said we landedinthe ocean, right?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“How the hell did the pod get here, then?”

“Youdounderstand how shorelines work, don’t you? I know you’ve spent most of your life in the bowels of various ships…”

“Don’t get smart with me. Look.” She settled her gaze on the water line before dragging it to the bits of driftwood and broken shells farthest from the sea. “You see how far away that is from the pod?”

“We’ve hardly been here long enough to have accurate data on the tidal patterns of this planet…but you are correct.”

“Wait, did I just hear you right? Did you…did you just say I’mcorrect? Did you record that?”

“No. I’m afraid I’m all out of storage space.”

Theo snorted.

“That sound is most unbecoming of you.” He highlighted something on the ground, guiding her eyes down. It was a deep, wide groove leading from the pod to the wet sand, where it faded. “That is not the result of riding the surf.”

“No, it’s not.” She stared down, examining the other imprints in the sand — longer, undulating marks, like something had been repeatedly swept over the ground. “The pod was pushed out of the water, Kane.”

“I pushed it out of the water,” someone said in a deep voice behind her.

Theo whirled around, dropping her hand to her hip to draw her knife. She had it pointed at the newcomer before she realized what she was looking at. Her heart stopped, her eyes widened, and she sucked in a sharp breath.

“What the fuck is that?” she rasped, taking several steps back.

The creature was unlike anything she’d ever seen. Its upper half was humanoid, with broad, powerful shoulders that tapered to a lean waist, muscular arms, and large, long-fingered hands. But those fingers ended inclaws, and the placating way it held up its hands stretched the delicate webbing between each finger. The creature’s skin was light gray, with white stripes on its head, upper arms, and…

Tentacles.

However human-like its features appeared above the waist, it was entirely alien below. The creature was held itself upright on a set of long, thick tentacles that curled over the sand beneath it. She watched those tentacles slowly spread out, lowering the creature’s torso as though it were trying to appear smaller and less threatening.

“Unknown lifeform,” Kane said, sounding as stunned as Theo felt. “There is a firearm with the pod’s emergency supplies.”

“Doesn’t help me now, does it?” she murmured, her gaze drifting back up the creature’s body to stop on its face.

Its facial features were a blend of human and alien; the basic structures were similar, but it was entirely hairless, its nose was broader and less pronounced, and its pupils were horizontal and oddly rectangular, stark against the polished silver of its irises.

“You would prefer to have remained in the water?” the creature asked, brow furrowed.

“It’s talking, Kane.”

“I heard it, Theodora.”

“But it’s speakingourlanguage.”

“I may not have a body, but I am not deaf.”

The creature’s brow knitted further, and its full lips fell into a deep frown. “Have you suffered a head injury? You seem confused.”

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