Page 72 of Alien Jeopardy
A branch snaps in the distance, and if it startles Ka-Rexsh, he doesn’t show it. Our steps are loud, too, but unlike the previous nights here, there are a multitude of forest noises now. Soft bird calls—at least, I hope they’re birds—and rustling leaves, the susurrus of insects.
“How did they live through the flood?” I ask out loud, surprising myself.
“I don’t know,” Rex answers grimly. “I have a feeling that Ken is populating the surface of this place as he sees fit.”
“What do you think happened here?”
It’s a dangerous question to ask, considering Ken is likely listening in, and setting him off would be a definite hazard to our health.
“I don’t know.” He shakes his head, giving me a meaningful look.
It’s funny how we’ve only been together a couple of days because I know exactly what he’s thinking—Rex also thinks pissing off Ken is a bad idea, and the topic of whatever happened to all the people who once lived here is absolutely a no-go topic of conversation.
Still. I can’t help wondering.
“How many?” I ask, and he shakes his head again.
I don’t blame him. “Curiosity killed the cat,” I say out loud.
“You brought a cat?” he replies, thoroughly flummoxed.
A laugh bursts out of me, and I’m grinning at him as we step into a clearing. Rex stops, and I look around warily, then realize this is a pretty good approximation of a campsite on Earth. A pile of rocks circles a round pit, and a couple of sleeping bags are rolled up next to it.
It’s barebones, but it’s dry, and at this rate, that’s a shit ton more than I expected.
Ka-Rexsh is already kneeling by the firepit, and I’m pleasantly surprised to see there’s even wood in it already. The tacklebox sits next to him, and he digs through it and quickly finds the fire starter. With an expert flick of his fingers, the fire starter sparks, and before I can so much as blink, the kindling ignites.
“That was impressive,” I say, hugging my arms against my chest to ward off the cold.
He grins at me, the firelight gleaming off his sharp canines. “You are easy to impress, then.”
“Maybe I am.” I laugh, shrugging slightly. “Do we need more wood?”
“I’m not sure we want to burn any of these trees,” he says, frowning at them. “This type of tree, on my planet, is full of sap. It’s not good to burn. Beside, I don’t want you to be alone here while I search for wood.”
“I could help you look.” I’m slightly miffed that he would leave me here.
“You cannot see in the dark.”
“That is a problem. You’re not wrong,” I admit, laughing at myself. “Will you hand me the comms tablet, please? I’m going to check in with the other women.”
He nods and hands it to me wordlessly, and the tablet screen shines bright enough that I have to back out and adjust the settings so it doesn’t blind me in the darkness.
I scooch back to the main screen, fingertip hovering over the comms app, when I see something that makes me squeal in utter delight.
Which, of course, freaks poor Rex out completely.
“What is wrong, hyrulis?” he asks, head swiveling so fast as he tries to figure out where the danger is coming from that I can’t help laughing again.
“Nothing is wrong, I’m sorry I scared you. Look.” I hold up the comms tablet, pointing to the app I just noticed. “This is my favorite reading app—it’s for fanfiction. I mean, I have no idea how this could possibly work here, but if it does? I’m going to be so happy.” I hug the tablet to my chest, absurdly pleased.
“Fanfiction?” he asks. “This word does not translate.”
“Oh.” My nose wrinkles, and I tilt my head. How the heck am I supposed to explain that I’ve been reading fan stories about humans being abducted by sexy aliens since the Roth invaded and we realized aliens were real? Every new tidbit of information we learn about the aliens led to new stories being written at such a rapid-fire, frenzied pace that it provided me with hours of entertainment. And then there are the other fanfics, too, all about popular series or books that people wanted to change to make the characters do something different, or the fics about celebrities, or the alternate universe fics—but I never really read any of those.
Nope. I’m an alien fanfic girlie through and through.
“It’s stories,” I say in a hoarse voice that sounds guilty even to my ears. “I mean, it’s more than that, but it’s just made-up stories, basically.”
