Page 2 of Ahelno
For someone encased in space jello, I could see surprisingly well. I looked in horror as everything outside my compartment seemed to come apart. Anything that wasn’t bolted down – and a few things that were – were flying through the shaking cabin as the ship hurtled towards the surface of the planet. It was like watching a tornado whip through a building on television while I floated serenely in the ocean. I met the eyes of the alien across from me. The gel was only halfway up its cubicle, and it was getting knocked around in its box.Good, I thought.
CHAPTER 3
I felt the crash.
Of course I did.
And yet, it wasn’t as catastrophic as I expected. I was still alive, for one thing. The compartment door dropped open with a heavy clang, and blue gel sluiced down through the floor grate beneath me. I barely noticed. The second the restraints released, I collapsed onto my hands and knees, hacking like my lungs were trying to crawl out of my throat.
I gasped and choked on my knees as I coughed up a gallon or two of blue slime. Then threw up the contents of my stomach. Then coughed up some more gel. By the end of it, I was covered in the stuff and oddly exhausted for someone who hadn’t moved for days. Eventually, I slumped and rested my forehead against the edge of the compartment’s doorway and just… breathed.
Everything hurt. But I was alive. I kept reminding myself that I was alive as darkness dragged me under again.
Some time later, I awoke to an icy spray of water coming from the vent above me. The stream hammered against my skin, washing the slime away as the pale blue runoff disappeared down the grate below. The gel dissolved upon contact with the water, turning slick and surprisingly soapybefore swirling down the drain.
I pushed myself upright on shaky limbs and peed directly on the grate. Not my proudest moment, but the water rinsed everything away, and my bladder thanked me. My dignity was the least of my worries at this point. I was alive, and I could move my muscles again. One thing at a time.
Looking across the wreckage, I saw the alien pilot hadn’t made it. Its body was pretty unrecognizable, and if I hadn’t already emptied the contents of my stomach, I would have thrown up again. My throat was raw. Every muscle felt sore. And I was trapped on a wrecked ship on an unknown planet. But that was a problem too big to think about at the moment.
I trembled as I picked my way down the hallway, dodging crumpled and torn bits of metal and wires. I opened all the doors to see if there was anything useful. I found some cloth in a closet and dried myself off. Although physically shaken and still sore, I sighed in relief. Now to hunt for some food and dry clothes.
I moved slowly through the cabin and opened every cabinet, drawer, panel, and bin I could find. Everything was labeled with pictograms or symbols I didn’t understand, and I was hesitant to open anything unfamiliar. I did manage to find some sort of space suit, although it had two additional sleeves for extra limbs. It was too large, but I rolled it up around my arms and legs, and tied the extra sleeves around my waist so they stopped flopping around. It was dry and clean, so that would do for now.
Outside the window, the planet looked almost like Earth. The sky overhead was a muted, dusty blue, which probably meant there was an atmosphere. Whether it was breathable was a question I’d been too terrified to consider, but thenI saw the jagged holes in the hull of the ship and figured it must be, because I hadn’t died. Tentatively, I drew in a deeper breath. The air seemed warm and smelled slightly metallic. It was strange, but breathable enough that my lungs didn’t immediately revolt.
Beyond the wreckage, the landscape spread out in swaths of purple and green ground cover that looked somewhere between grass and moss. Clusters of unfamiliar plants dotted the terrain, and farther off, towering tree-like shapes rose against the horizon. I scanned the landscape for movement, but saw no animals, no birds, no signs of civilization. Nothing except endless stretches of strange vegetation beneath a dull blue sky. I wasn’t desperate enough yet to open the ship’s door, but I wasn’t naive enough to think rescue was coming. Either way, I needed to find water soon.
I spotted something moving in the distance. I pressed closer to the broken glass of the front window as the shape grew larger, rumbling over the uneven terrain toward the crashed ship. My pulse spiked. A ground vehicle came into view first, followed by the hulking figure I made out riding it. Four arms. Humanoid. Massive.Shit.
CHAPTER 4
Dakleth
A perimeter alarm had sounded half a centine ago, indicating the grounding of an unauthorized space shuttle. As the nearest patrol guard, I responded immediately - though not entirely out of duty. Secretly, I welcomed any excuse to leave the overcrowded capital behind and disappear into the quiet wilds for a few hours. My current assignment required me to assist with patrols of the densely populated capital area, but I much preferred my quiet estate away from people and politics. This unexpected diversion was a welcome reprieve.
As I approached, I saw the shuttle had crashed, which explained its lack of landing clearance. The vessel had carved a scorched path through the terrain before finally collapsing onto the moss-covered ground. They were fortunate the craft had gone down several clicks outside the city. A crash within the capital would have resulted in devastating loss of life.
Grabbing the emergency aid kit, I approached the damaged shuttlecraft. The hull was torn open in multiple places, smoke curling from fractured metal panels as overheated systems hissed and crackled in the cooling air. Reaching the main hatch, I pressed the release mechanism. The door groanedbefore slowly sliding open.
“Is anyone alive?” I called into the dim interior. “Do you require assistance?” Even though the ship was unauthorized to be in our orbit, there were intergalactic protocols to follow to aid survivors.
Standing in the doorway, I noted the chaos of the wreckage inside. I spied the battered, very dead body of a Trexian on the floor and narrowed my eyes. There was no reason for one of those chitinous pirates to be near the planet of Ptekennan.
As I scanned the rest of the room, I stopped short when I laid eyes on the most stunning creature I had ever seen. She glowed like a Lumanela from the old stories. Her face, which was decidedly feminine, was ethereal. Her luminous eyes seemed too large for her delicate face and had a ring the color of the sky around the black pupil. I had never seen such a color on the eyes of another being and was immediately entranced. Her skin looked like the petals of a moon flower. A thick, glossy, golden mane surrounded her face and shoulders like an aura of sunshine.
She was so small and delicate, but her limbs were willowy and elegant. I had never seen anything like her before. I had no idea what species she was, or where she had come from, but in that moment, I would give anything I had for her to bemine. As her sweet scent hit me, my mating shaft swelled and slipped out of its pocket. Without conscious thought, my chest rumbled to soothe the female I hoped would choose me as mate.
Andie
Shit, shit, shit. A giant, four-armed, gray alien with black wings (wings?!?!) spotted me when he opened the shuttledoor. The alien was HUGE, and his deep gray skin was textured like the hide of an elephant or rhino. He was wearing a short, black skirt made of hanging strips of fabric. Despite the skirt, everything about his stance, his muscled torso, and his unnerving focus on me screamed “male.” The alien stood frozen for a moment when he saw me, but then hegrowledat me. I looked down and saw the head of a giant cock poking through the strips of his skirt, and I knew I was in immediate danger.
That was it. I was officially done with this whole “abducted by aliens” experience.
“Awww, hell no!!” I shouted, pushing him backward as I skated under his arm and sprinted out the door. I summoned every last remaining drop of energy I had as I made my desperate escape. I hauled ass on still-shaky legs for the trees and prayed to any deity that was listening that the gray monster in the wreckage would let me go.
Dakleth
“Mate!” the tiny creature shouted, then pushed my chest and ran out the door. I was momentarily stunned. The female of my dreams - dreams I never even knew I had - just initiated the mating ritual of my people. A feeling of elation that I had never known filled my body and soul. I would chase her, as the ritual demanded. Then I must subdue her - show her that I was a strong male who could protect her and our future young. Then I would claim her.
