Page 21 of Possessed By the Alien Guard
She smiled up at me and placed her hand in mine.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
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Jillian
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FIN WORKED TIRELESSLY for hours without a break, widening the hole he’d made the night before.We didn’t need to clear the entire rock fall, just enough to make a tunnel to crawl through.But every time he tried to increase the size of the opening, more rock slid down from above.It seemed as if half the mountain waited poised, ready to fill the gap.
He passed another stone back to me, moving it effortlessly even though the weight of it when he let go dragged at my arms and made my body want to tip forward.I said nothing.This wasn’t even the largest of the rocks—those he moved completely by himself.
I stepped to the side of the cave, but didn’t have far to go.We were running out of room.Even though I’d tried to pile the rocks as high as possible, they rolled and slid all over the place.
Billy bleated from behind his partition, and I called out to him, “It’s okay, sweetie.We’re going to get out of here soon.”
Maybe.
Fin’s naked torso disappeared back into the hole he’d made, blocking the small amount of sunlight it let in.His jacket still lit the small space, but nothing looked as good as natural light.
Everything he had said about this being a living planet had really hit home.I’d only been on Sagittarian One for a few months, and even though they’d been lonely, the world itself was beautiful.I missed people, not theChandra.The fleet’s old flagship had been turned into Chandra Station now that we orbited a planet, but that hadn’t changed the fact that living there meant being surrounded by plastic and metal and artificial light.
Fin emerged from the hole with another large stone.The familiar clatter of rock falling on rock sounded.But this time, instead of the cave growing darker, it became lighter.
I stepped to the side to squint around his wide shoulders.“It’s opened up!”
He threw the rock towards the pile and brushed past me, diving into the hole again, shoving it wider with his body.His arms were hidden from view, but his back muscles flexed and bunched—he was clearly moving a lot of weight around.
When he slid back out, he spun to face me.“You will climb out now.”
“But Billy—”
“I will lift him to you.”Without letting me delay any longer, Fin picked me up and hoisted me to the hole.
I bent at the waist and wiggled forward, using my forearms to pull me along the rough rocks.Thank goodness for my jumpsuit.Eventually, I got my hips and thighs inside and pushed far enough forward for my head to clear the other side.
