AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Q’on frowned. “I am afraid not. His ship is too big to navigate through the trees, so he had to find a nearby clearing. It is not far. Come. He has fresh clothing for us, and food that is better than roasted deer meat.”
I groaned and soldiered on, scurrying to keep up with Q’on as he plowed through the snow. He seemed to have found a fresh supply of boundless energy, but I was still sluggish from the cold and exhaustion. Onward we pushed through snowbank after snowbank, with me tripping every few yards on a branch or root. How Q’on dodged them I never knew, but at least I managed to avoid falling on my face.
To Q’on’s credit, the ship really wasn’t very far away. I think if I’d had to walk much more, though, I would have turned back to the relative safety of the cave. Instead, we broke through the trees to a clearing about the size of a football field, filled from end to end with the sleek metal vehicle.
I don’t know quite what I expected. Having never seen Q’on’s ship, I didn’t know what a Xalanite ship looked like. Massive in size with clean, seamless lines, the huge machine hummed loudly as it hovered in midair, the only thing connecting it to the ground being a small staircase that seemed to have lowered from the belly of the ship itself. The bright, blinking lights of the sci-fi TV and movies I’d grown up watching were nowhere to be seen, and its shape was more akin to a giant, flattened bullet than a saucer or the like. I couldn’t differentiate any windows in the hull, and I wondered how they navigated through space without them. Was there some kind of sensor system that warned them of debris or asteroids? Those were concerns with interstellar travel, weren’t they?
Standing underneath the expanse of the hovering ship were more purple-scaled men. They dressed in similar weapon-loaded clothing to what Q’on had been wearing when he crashed behind my house, though none of them had any weapons in hand. About four aliens stood waiting for us, all tall and built andfit. If I were the polyamorous type, I might have gotten some naughty ideas, but I didn’t think my poor pussy could take five of him. One alien boyfriend was more than enough for me, thank you.
Too bad my best friend had chosen to cut me off after she slept with Ryan and broke up our marriage. She might have enjoyed this scene.
I scooted closer to Q’on and nudged his side. “Will the nanites you shot into me translate for them, too? I don’t want to accidentally start an intergalactic incident by saying something that’s rude in your language.”
He smiled wide, his bright white teeth and fangs reflecting the sunlight like a corny toothpaste commercial. I half expected to see him hold up a tube with the brand name on prominent display.
“You will be fine. Our nanites are connected; it’s how I contacted them.”
“I thought you were exiled,” I whispered as we got closer. “Are these guys on the side of your leaders, or are they part of some rebel splinter cell?”
I could almost see the nanites scrambling to translate my jargon. Finally, Q’on threw his head back in laughter. He hugged me with one arm and made a grand gesture towards his friends with the other. “They are part of the faction that overthrew our former leaders. My exile is no longer in effect, though I have no desire to go back.”
I cast him a sideways glance. “Really? Even though our government is apparently staffed by kidnapping jackasses? You could go home, Q’on. Back to your planet.”
He shrugged. “I have a home here with you. We just have to get it back from your authorities.”
It was my turn to laugh. “And how exactly do you plan on doing that? They’re basically a covert agency with little to no regulatory oversight in place. I highly doubt we could just stroll into a courthouse or police station and demand they give us my house back.”
Q’on just grinned. “That is already being taken care of.”
I doubted that, but I kept my mouth shut. How could four newcomers to the planet be at work smoothing things over with my government when even Q’on and I still had misunderstandings over the most basic things? I tried my best to show him how things are here, but he still got confused or misread things I said or things he saw in books and TV. The thought offour timesthe chance to mix things up just made me cringe. Maybe I wouldn’t be the one starting an intergalactic incident.
As we neared the group of Xalanites, I noticed them frowning and pointing at me. I figured it might be because I’d gone days without a shower thanks first to the AARO then to our current predicament. I must’ve looked terrible.
When we stopped in front of them, though, the tallest Xalanite turned to Q’on and said, “Your mate is damaged. Do you require a med pack?”
Damaged? I hadn’t gotten hurt since we escaped the AARO facility. What was he talking about? I turned and followed his pointing finger to see a trail of blood in the snow behind me. I wasn’t due for a visit from Aunt Flo for another week by my account, but the stress of the kidnapping followed by the brief stint of wilderness life must have triggered it early.
Part of me expected it. I mean, I was getting up there in age, and my periods weren’t exactly super reliable anymore. It made sense that I’d start sooner than normal.
Another part—a much larger one—fought against the creeping sense of devastation that threatened to ruin my mood. I was about to be rescued; I shouldn’t have been lamenting the loss of something that was never guaranteed in the first place.
I shouldn’t have been upset. I should have known.
I wasn’t pregnant. A small part of me had held out hope that maybe Q’on’s sperm was different, that maybe it would do the trick. Now, though, I realized how foolish that was. Dreams like that are for those lucky bastards who have functioning plumbing. Mine was faulty, and not even a virile male like Q’on could fix it.
My hands shot to my crotch to cover the embarrassing red stain. I didn’t know if Xalanite women had periods or not, but no matter how natural it was for humans, humiliation took center stage. This was not the kind of first impression I’d wanted to make with Q’on’s friends.
Q’on took me by the shoulders and looked into my eyes, his gaze searching. “Amber? Are you all right? Do you require a doctor?”
A flush hit my cheeks as I scanned the area for something to staunch the flow. I don’t know what I expected to find. It’s not like we were going to find a convenience store or gas station out here. Unless Xalanites kept pads or tampons or the alien equivalent in their ships, I was screwed.
“No, Q’on, it’s fine. I’m not hurt. This is normal for us. For human women, that is. We go through this generally once a month if we’re not pregnant. Totally natural. Just … messy.”
He cocked his head to the side and frowned. “It is natural to bleed?”
Oh, dear God, someone shoot me now. “Yes. Well, this type of bleeding is natural, anyway.” I launched into a brief explanation of what went on for Earth females every month, and if I hadn’t been freaking out, I might have chuckled at the expressions that crossed the Xalanites’ faces. Rapt attention followed by sheer horror followed by a weird kind of respect. It would have been hilarious if not for the fact that I was still standing in the freezing snow, bleeding like a stuck pig.
The taller male raised his brows and nodded, like he was confirming something to himself. “Earth women are truly strong, to lose so much blood every lunar cycle and survive.”
