Page 12 of Stowaway to the Stars: A Duet
Stephenie glanced back over her shoulder to see that Ee-rah was still going at it with the Gray Guy. She wanted to tell him where she was going, but that was too dangerous. What if someone else heard and followed them? She silently willed that he just know that she was returning to his room.
Stephenie drug Darcy through the hallway as fast as she could while trying to remain as silent as possible.
This was a feat proved impossible by Darcy’s constant questions.
“How the hell did we get here? WHY are we here? Am I dreaming? This has to be some sort of bizarre nightmare. I knew I shouldn’t have had that pizza for dinner. Junk food always gives me the weirdest dreams.”
Stephenie was grateful to see the door was still open to Ee-rah’s room. Closing it must be a manual thing- something she didn’t know how to do.
She shoved Darcy inside and pulled her along until they were out of the way of the open door. Now, if anyone was walking by, they wouldn’t be able to see them unless they stuck their head in and really looked around.
“You’re not dreaming,” Stephenie said sternly. “I thought so too…but, well, it’s not a dream. The weird monsters you just saw? They’re called Toxhocan, and they come from the planet Toxhoca. It’s super far away from Earth. Anyway, so yeah… Aliens are real, and we somehow ended up on this ship. I don’t know HOW we ended up here. Apparently, they’re a trade ship and happen to be passing through this galaxy. They’re not supposed to interact with humans at all.” She paused to catch her breath. Saying it all out loud like that… God, she was going to need to be admitted to a psych ward if she made it back to Earth. WHEN she made it back to Earth. WHEN, not if.
“Well, obviously someone did!” Darcy exclaimed. They both winced and glanced around to make sure no one had heard them, and came running into the room to check it out.
“Obviously,” Stephenie replied, nodding.
“But… I don’t know. Are you sure this isn’t some sort of nightmare? Because this kind of stuff doesn’t just happen. Alien abductions aren’t real.” Darcy bit her lower lip and glanced around the room.
“Apparently, they are,” Stephenie said begrudgingly. “I mean, I can’t think of another name for what’s happened to us.” Abducted by aliens. That certainly was never on Stephenie’s life bingo card.
“But WHY? What could they possibly want with two college girls?” Darcy exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. She began pacing around the room. “I just… I just don’t believe this. I need to sit down.” She wandered over to the bunk and slumped down with her head in her hands. “God, I have the worst headache.”
Stephenie gave her friend a sympathetic look. After all, it wasn’t that long ago that she had her mental breakdown over the subject, although she had a totally different way of trying to figure things out.
“Seph-e-knee!”
Ee-rah came charging into the room. Before Stephenie could say anything, he lifted her up in the air and swung her around in a circle, and then pulled her close against him in a bone crushing hug. “My Mate,” he whispered in a gravely, exasperated voice. “You were not harmed, were you? Are you alright?”
Stephenie found herself relaxing against him. It was amazing how safe she felt in his arms at this moment. He had been worried about her… He was relieved to see her. No one had ever cared about her like that before… What the hell was she talking about? This was an alien! They weren’t even a part of the samespecies! And she had only known him for a day or so, certainly not longer. This was…not normal. She needed to get her mind out of the gutter and focus on getting home.
It wasn’t until Darcy started screaming again that Stephenie came back to reality.
Ee-rah sat her down, and Stephenie ran over to cover Darcy’s mouth, cutting her off mid-scream. “Shh!” She said. “We have to be quiet, remember? We can’t let the others know we’re here.”
Darcy, unable to speak, simply raised her hand and pointed.
Stephenie followed the direction of Darcy’s finger. She jumped, but still managed to keep a hand over Darcy’s mouth to keep her from screaming out loud again.
“Ee-rah,” Stephenie said slowly. “W-what are they doing here?”
The gray alien was standing in the doorway. He was so large that he blocked the whole entrance with his body. His pointed horns twisted high above his head. Gray blood dripped down his chest, and Stephenie saw there were four deep scratch marks running from his collarbones to his lower abdomen. He was obviously older than Ee-rah. Small wrinkles had formed at the base of his eyes, just barely visible beneath the black tattooing of his face. And he was breathing heavily, still trying to catch his breath from the fight with Ee-rah.
“A-rec is here to help,” Ee-rah explained carefully. He narrowed his eyes at the gray one. “He promises to keep his hands to himself. He will not hurt you- either of you.”
“You trust him?” Stephenie asked. She glowered at the newcomer, not as convinced as Ee-rah.
“I do,” Ee-rah said. He came forward and grabbed Stephenie’s free hand. “I would never let anyone hurt you. I would fight him to the death if he dared touch you. And he knows I would win.” His lips raised into the ghost of a smile.
Ee-rah turned from Stephenie to say something to the one he called A-rec in their language. He gestured to the computer desk, and A-rec nodded.
Stephenie and Darcy stepped aside as A-rec came into the room and closed the door behind him. The sound of the door locking was unsettling. Did Stephenie trust that Ee-rah could take this monster if it came to another fight? Possibly…but she didn’t want to take that chance.
Ee-rah began typing quickly on the projected computer screen as he had done earlier. A red light came from the projection and settled right in between A-rec’s eyes. It stayed there for a few moments before fading away.
“Can he speak English now?” Stephenie asked Ee-rah, never taking her eyes off the one named A-rec.
“He speaks your language, yes,” Ee-rah replied, nodding his head in confirmation.
