Page 1 of Not So Stranded
Chapter 1
It turned out that Kit should’ve paid more attention when they told him about what to do during a storm on Ikaika, one of the many uninhabited islands northwest of Kaua’i. He’d thought he had done great by tying the boat to a fallen tree before checking all of his little tent’s tie-downs. And the tent had done beautifully through the night—he’d stayed dry and been able to sleep when the thunder hadn’t woken him up.
But now his boat was gone.
Standing there on the beach and staring out to sea wasn’t going to get anything done, but he couldn’t quite believe that his converted trawler had disappeared. It hadn’t sunk just offshore—the water was so clear, he’d be able to see that. It wasn’t miles away bobbing on the waves—he had binoculars. It was simply gone, and he had no idea how that could happen. The University of Hawai’i wasn’t going to like that at all, but more than the fact that he’d lost their boat was the fact that he was stranded.
As the shock faded, Kit settled into figuring things out logically. Scrubbing at his bearded face for a moment, he took a deep breath before he turned back to his camp. He already knew he was screwed when it came to water and food because he’d left most of that on the boat. The island was crawling withrats that weren’t afraid of him and liked to break into anything that smelled enticing, so he’d thought leaving everything on the boat would save him from having to protect it. The water barrels they’d given him had been too heavy for him to bring ashore, even if he’d wanted to do so.
So, he needed to find a source of water first and foremost.
When he’d initially explored Ikaika, he’d found a lagoon with a generous cave and a waterfall about a ten-minute walk inland. That was probably his best bet for fresh water. He had kept the water treatment kit and an empty gallon jug in his tent, so he got both of those items and his knife and started walking.
It was August, so the dry season was here with higher temperatures, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t storm from time to time. Though last night had been fierce, it hadn’t lasted more than a couple hours. Just long enough to remove his boat, apparently. But the occasional storm did offer the possibility of leaving a container out to catch rainfall next time, so that was good. Maybe he could rig up something with a tarp since he had a couple extra ones of those, too.
Food was another issue. The biggest problem was the fact that he didn’t want to contribute to the demise of any one of the rare or threatened flora or fauna on the island. While his speciality was the conservation of green sea turtles, he was well aware of the unique biodiversity of these islands. He was pretty sure the rats were fair game since there were projects on other islands to eradicate them.
Could he eat a rat? Kit shuddered, but if it came to it, he might have to.
He could stick to fishing, but he’d have to make sure and avoid the reef areas. The little bay where he’d anchored the boat didn’t have a reef, so maybe that was his best bet. Or did he want to fish the reef because that was where the bigger fish would be, preying on the rest?
Not to mention the fact that there were plenty of plants he could eatifhe could figure out which ones weren’t poisonous.
And now Kit realized why he should’ve let Doctor Hadley join him. That old goat might be a horny bastard who couldn’t keep his hands to himself, but at least he knew how to survive on these islands. Kit had thought he could easily handle his first field assignment alone and hadn’t wanted to spend most of his time avoiding Handsy Hadley. But if the old man’s many tales were to be believed, he was definitely aware of which critter and plant he could eat out here.
“Fuck.”
Kit stopped walking. As far as he knew, he was the only person on this island, so who had just cursed?
“Fucking fuck-fuck.”
Seriously, who was that? Kit stepped more quietly through the underbrush of dead leaves and vines, now looking ahead of him instead of at the ground for snakes.
Someone was definitely up there and they were…slogging through mud? He could hear thick squelching noises. Lots of them, actually. Maybe it was more than one person? If they had a boat he could call in to the university for help—because all his communications equipment had been on his missing boat, too.
But when he came to where the creek should’ve been, the one that flowed from the lagoon to the beach, Kit found a swath of mud and… “Holy god,” he whispered, hardly believing his eyes.
There in the mud was a blue-skinned person whose lower body was a mass of tentacles. Even though they were filthy from crawling through the mud, Kit could clearly see a humanoid upper body and a tentacled lower body. Butwhatwas he seeing? He just…couldn’t be seeing what he thought he was seeing.Tentacles!
“Please don’t freak out,” they said, holding a muddy hand out toward him. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
They spoke English? And used slang? Kit looked behind himself, almost expecting to see his own dead body back there or something. This couldn’t be real.
“Can you help me? I’m really stuck.”
Kit gulped and looked back to the…person. Okay, yes, it wasn’t like he’d come across a some kind of animal stuck in the mud. This was an intelligent, self-aware person asking for his assistance. Whatever they were wasn’t the most immediate concern.
Nodding, Kit set down his supplies and walked closer.
“Not too close,” they said urgently. “It’s deeper than it looks, and I’ve only made it worse. Maybe—” they sort of threw themselves toward him. “Can you pull me out to where it’s drier?”
Kit didn’t say anything as he grasped a pair of slick hands, had to wipe some of the mud off, and then held on again. He honestly didn’t knowwhatto say yet, his mind swirling with questions, so he only gripped them and pulled. Behind them, their tentacles worked to push. Suddenly, a pair of longer tentacles shot out and grabbed two tree trunks.
Kit jerked so hard he fell back on his ass, but that actually helped pull the blue person closer. A few more tugs, and they were mostly free of the muddy creek bed.
Nearly nose to nose with them now, Kit finally found his voice. “What are you?”
“Cecaelia,” they said like that meant something. “My name’s Hiaka Kahale.”
