Page 61 of Alien Prince's Fake Bride
I focus on a piece of charcoal in the cold heap of ash and lift it over the fire ring. “I’m getting better. Yesterday’s training was good. Especially the last part.” I drop the charcoal and twirl one of Mareliux’s tendrils.
He chuckles. “I did enjoy the training last night. I must confess I’ve never experienced anything quite like that.”
“Me neither. I thought it was common for—” I abruptly stop and stare into the jungle.
“Enemy?” Mareliux asks quickly, his hand going to Bellatriz’s hilt.
“There was movement,” I say softly. “Something big. It looked almost like... a man.”
The prince smoothly stands up without using his arms, a fine display of strength. “Anyone there?” he yells so the leaves tremble. “Show yourself!”
Nothing happens, but the jungle is a fraction more quiet for a moment.
I put my hand on his thick calf. “Probably nothing. Just a shadow.”
He stays up, scanning our surroundings. “In this jungle, a shadow could mean we’re about to be attacked.”
I get up, too. “You want to walk a little? See more of this planet than just the spot where we happened to crash?”
He thinks about it. “Not really. This is our base. I’m much more comfortable surveilling a place from the air than on the ground. Here, we have the pod to hide in if we meet an enemy that we can’t defeat.”
“We may have to,” I point out. “If something goes wrong with the rescue. If theGladiuxisn’t coming. Can we be sure that those Vyrpy can’t take over the ship? There may be many more of them, hiding in other places.”
“We can’t be sure, no. Caret’ax and the squad may all be dead. And even if they’re not, theGladiuxwas in its faster-than-lighttravel mode when we ejected. It may be impossible for them to know exactly where in space that happened. The ship travels very far in only a heartbeat. I’m honestly astonished that you and I found ourselves ejected in the same solar system, much less crashing on the same planet. And this close!” He points to his own pod, barely visible beyond the trees. “It shouldn’t be possible, even with the AI trying to do it. The pod had nowhere near enough power for that.”
“Syntrix,”Bellatriz says. “Your pods were pulled together by the Syntrix while in space. Can you guess why, Mareliux? Starts with ’soul’.”
24
- Mareliux-
I ignore the sword’s AI. She obviously thinks that Umbra and I are Soulbound. I highly doubt it. Nobody believes in Soulbound anymore. I’ve never met anyone who was. It’s from the old fairy tales only.
“At any rate, we can still wait,” I say out loud. “We won’t move from here until we have to. This is where the beacon is. When it runs out of power, this is still where we have the greatest chance of being found if theGladiuxsearches the planet. The pods will stand out on their scanners as symmetrical metal objects. This is our home, Umbra. For as long as we’re on this planet. But we may at some point have to widen our domain for gathering fruits and maybe hunt.”
Umbra frowns. “Are you sure nobody lives here? What if there’s a city with a spaceport just a day’s walk from here? What if this is a zoo we landed in?”
“Umbra,”Bellatriz pipes up, “I checked that before we crashed. I know which route theGladiuxtook through space, andthere’s no inhabited planet along the way. I can make a good guess about which solar system this is. It has no registered settlements.”
“Oh,” Umbra says, dejected. “It might be worth checking, just in case.”
“At some point we’ll take a wider look around,” I agree. “In fact, we can start now. I’ll walk a little patrol around us and see if there’s something we can use. Running water would be good, for instance. You can stay in the pod.”
“No.” Umbra says flatly. “I’m coming with you. I trust your skill with the sword more than that pod.”
I know she’s flattering me, but it’s working. “All right. But first, we’ll make a weapon for you.”
I use Bellatriz to make a long spear for Umbra. Walking to my broken pod, I break off a piece of the ceramic tiles on the outside of it and shatter it on a rock. Two of the shards are sharp enough that they can work as spearheads.
Umbra ties one of them on, and then she has a primitive weapon. “Sigise has my gun,” she says, thrusting her spear at a point in the air. “I wish I had it now.”
“Your wedding outfit should have a holster,” I agree as I decide on a direction to walk. “That’s something you can introduce on Earth when you return.”
“I have a confession to make,” Umbra says as she steps over the remains of our barricade. “This isn’t really what Earth women wear to get married.”
I give her a lopsided smile. “I think most of us guessed. It’s not common for brides to want to hide their shape and beauty as best they—” My head whips around. There’s movement.
“What?” Umbra asks, pulling closer to me and clutching her spear. “Is there someone?”
