Page 19 of Infala: Her Alien Protector
Maria almost felt a pang of sadness that she wouldn’t get another more fun ride up. Almost.
“Sounds good,” she said, climbing on and wrapping her arms around his neck.
Zepharos tied her in again. Her arms were strong, but he wasn’t about to risk it. Once she was fastened against him, he began the climb, and, as promised, in short order they reached the crack. It was as described. An easy climb up, and one that Maria could make without the need of assistance. And it was precisely what she did, following him up until they reached just below the summit where they climbed out onto an open stretchwith a few unlikely trees somehow taken root and tenaciously clinging to the rocks.
“Almost there,” he said, urging her onward. “We will rest at the top.”
“Less talking. More walking,” she said with a gasp. The air was thinner up here and she was feeling it in her lungs and legs. A rest would beverywelcome. But, as he said, first the top.
It took another twenty minutes to reach it, but when she stopped heaving for breath and stood up straight to take it all in, Maria felt her breath taken away for another reason entirely.
“It’s incredible,” she marveled, staring out over the vast valleys and mountains, taking in the expansive plains of alien grasses and colorful forests of wondrous trees and vines. Off in the distance the sky was black with bright blue lightning arcing through the sky. The opposite direction was clear, the red, orange, and yellow glow of the sun’s illumination making for a dazzling spectacle of raw natural power.
“Not bad, eh?” he said, taking in a deep breath with clear relish.
“Understatement of the year.”
“I’m glad you like it. You’ve had a rough go of it on my world, but it is not all stress and trauma. There is beauty if you but look for it.”
“In abundance.”
“Indeed. I—” His eyes darted to the distance. “Quick! Follow me! Hurry!”
He raced under a small outcropping, dropping to his belly and sliding in, pulling his pack and Maria in with him.
“What is it?”
He pointed from their hiding place. “There, in the distance. A little higher than we are. Do you see them? Six, no,sevenships speeding off in different directions.”
She squinted hard, trying to pick them out in the sheerempty magnitude of the alien sky. “Wait, I think—yes, I see them! What are they?”
“Definitelynottransport ships. And by the way they’re flying, I would all but guarantee it is a search pattern. We’re safe here, though. The geology of this region is particularly robust, and the rocks contain the same elements we noted before.”
“The ones that mess with their scanner tech?”
“The very same. They can still search visually, of course, but from that altitude they clearly are not.”
Maria let out a sigh. “So, I guess they know I’m gone.”
“Undoubtedly. But more importantly, they’ve taken the bait. Look at the ships. Moving fast, relying on technology as they trace flight logs and track ships. They’re not even bothering with a surface search, just as I’d hoped.”
“So we’re safe? For now, I mean.”
“Relatively. The gambit bought us some time, but it will not stop them forever. Once they have run out of leads and realize we are on foot, it will become a whole new game, and I would have us in a town where we can acquire a proper ride before that happens.”
“But you said they’re following ships.”
“Yes. But only ships that departed from the city and those that connected with them. It is a vast world, and they cannot possibly trackallthe ships. And normally it would be a sound plan.”
“But you capitalized on their reliance on technology.”
“Precisely.”
“Because you were raised to live without it.”
“Exactly.”
She looked at him, smiling with pride that his plan had worked, and it really sank in just how much he’d put on the line for a total stranger.
