Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

T araxan listened intently as the small female talked to the forest creature she had befriended. Given sufficient time and input, his translation implant should be able to decipher her language, but so far it had little to work with.

He had become increasingly convinced that she was neither a threat, nor part of a larger scheme to entrap him. The fact that she had a map of her own, even though she didn't seem to understand it at first, was one factor. Another was simply her complete lack of familiarity with her surroundings.

Once he realized that, he should have continued on his own path to the destination on the map that suggested a way off this planet. However when she had curled up at the base of the tree, looking absurdly small and defenseless, he didn't have the heart to leave her.

It was just as well that he had not. Once he had intercepted a long, legless reptile that had been slithering towards her. It had been large enough to wrap itself around her small body, but he had dispatched it easily enough, and the meat had provided protein as he continued to watch over her.

The second predator had been a large feline that could have presented an interesting challenge, but after Taraxan growled at him, the animal slunk away. He shuddered to think what would have happened if it had decided to attack the female.

Now he watched as she returned to the map. She finally seemed to have deciphered its meaning, but from the expression of shock on her face and the way her shoulders drooped, the knowledge did not provide any comfort.

Once again, he thought about making himself known to her, but before he could decide, she straightened her shoulders and picked up the bag. He watched approvingly as she lined it with some of the leaves from the water gathering plant, then poured more water inside. A crude solution and not entirely leakproof, but it was a sign of intelligence.

He was less impressed by her next activity. She picked up one of the large leaves that had covered her during the night and, with some difficulty, made a hole in the center of it. He watched disapprovingly as she placed it over her head and then used a vine to secure it around her waist. Clothing was far from a necessity in this type of survival situation—and he already missed the sight of her enticing body. Perhaps her culture had some type of taboo against nudity?

Before he had time to do more than speculate about her society, she consulted her map again, then walked into the jungle. Assuming that he had interpreted his glimpse of her map correctly, her destination and his were in the same general vicinity. Thankfully she was heading in the right direction. He decided to follow from above, leaping easily from branch to branch, or taking advantage of the many hanging vines to swing from tree to tree as he followed.

He told himself that he needed to keep close to her so that he could pick up any additional words she spoke, and to make sure she continued in the right direction. At first, she did just that, although her pace was frustratingly slow. She seemed to trip over even the smallest vine and run into every low hanging branch. His translation implant decided that the frequently repeated word "dam-uht" was a colorful metaphor indicating distress.

If he had been observing one of his young cadets, he would have immediately dismissed them as clumsy and unworthy, but instead he found this female's determined efforts admirable and… adorable? He was not used to thinking of a female in such a way, but it seemed to suit her. However, her helplessness also increased his protective instincts, and once again he debated making his presence known. As he argued with himself, he realized that she was beginning to stray off course. That seemed to decide the matter, but before he could drop down to ground level, she appeared to realize the same thing. She came to a halt and slumped down against a large fallen branch.

The small forest creature—Misstuh Tiduhlz—had accompanied her on her journey, sometimes perched on her shoulder and other times skipping along beside her. Now it looked up at her expectantly.

"Idontwanttogetlost. Weneedtowaituntilthisafternoon." As she pointed to the sun directly overhead, he realized that she had been using it to guide her.

The little creature chittered at her, then began digging around in the rotten wood of the branch. Taraxan nodded approvingly when it retrieved a large insect and tried to hand it to the female. To his surprise, she shuddered and drew back. Why was she rejecting an obvious source of protein?

After one more attempt to offer her his prize, Misstuh Tiduhlz bit into it with obvious enjoyment.

Perhaps she was not a flesh eater. It was not a common trait amongst Doturans, but he had heard of such things in his travels. If she would not eat meat, she would still require sustenance. The tree in which he was currently perched held clusters of small pink fruits. He tested one and determined that it was edible. Moving quietly along an overhanging branch, he dropped one of the clusters so that it landed in the moss at her feet.

She jumped and cast a startled look upwards, but he had already withdrawn from view.

"Fruit! Doyouthinkitssafe?"

To his disappointment, she offered one of the fruits to her companion but after he devoured it eagerly, she lifted a pink globe to her own mouth. Her first cautious bite was followed by a little moan of pleasure that sent a streak of excitement straight to his cock. He could easily imagine her making a similar noise when he pleasured her…

Resolutely pushing the image aside, he saw with satisfaction that she was eagerly consuming the rest of the fruit. He was not as pleased that she insisted on sharing them with her companion, but he found an unexpected sense of satisfaction in the knowledge that he had assuaged her hunger.

Moving quietly, he dropped two more clusters close to her. She gave them a longing look, then shook her head.

"IsupposeIshouldsavetheseforlater."

He frowned as he watched her add the fruit to her supplies. It was a sensible precaution and yet, he hated to think that she might still hunger.

After she shared a drink with her companion, she settled back against the log. Misstuh Tiduhlz climbed into her lap, and within minutes they were both asleep. Taraxan quietly dropped a few more bunches of fruit nearby, then settled back to watch over her.

A loud squawk from far overhead awoke Jane. She hadn't intended to fall asleep but between the previous night's disturbed sleep, the morning's long walk, and finally getting some food into her stomach, she hadn't been able to keep her eyes open. At least the sun was no longer directly overhead and she would be able to get back on track—or what she hoped was on track.

And wasn't this what people in tropical countries did anyway? Take a nap in the middle of the day? Maybe that was true on tropical planets as well. She still didn't want to believe that she was on an alien planet, but she couldn't think of any other explanation.

The squawk sounded again and she looked up to catch a fleeting glimpse of an extremely large bird—although bird was not exactly the correct term. The creature had wide, brightly colored wings, but they appeared to be made of skin rather than feathers, and a long, sinuous tail whipped along behind it. She gulped. Definitely not like any Earth bird she had ever seen.

How the hell had she ended up on this planet? She prayed that there would be an answer at the destination marked on the map. And perhaps she would finally encounter a native of this planet. There must be someone here—although what kind of being would steal someone away from their home and abandon them in a jungle?

Maybe it was just as well that she hadn't met any natives.

"Well, except for you," she smiled, stroking her companion's head. He purred, then hopped out of her lap and went to catch another beetle.

She shuddered and turned away as he devoured the insect, then realized that more of the tasty pink fruit had fallen while she slept. She gathered them up, and then decided that she had enough to eat a few more. They really were delicious, like a cross between a peach and an apple with a slightly tart outer skin and a sweet, juicy interior.

After she satisfied her hunger, she tucked the rest away in her bag. It had not held water as well as she would have liked, but she had seen quite a few of the blue-leafed bushes as they walked. She thought she could count on gathering more water wherever they stopped for the night. The thought of another night in the jungle made her shiver, but there didn't seem to be any alternative. Since there was nothing on the map to indicate scale, she had hoped that perhaps she would reach the river today. There was no sign of it so far and she suspected that she might have a longer journey than she had anticipated. With a sigh, she picked up her bag, adjusted her vine belt and set out once more.

The walk seemed even more difficult this afternoon. Her legs ached from the unaccustomed exercise. Fortunately much of the ground was covered with deep blue moss, but her bare feet were still bruised from her encounters with unexpected rocks and twigs. The undergrowth through which she pushed scratched at her skin and had an unfortunate tendency to smack back against her. Even Mr. Tiddles seemed tired, content to perch on her shoulder rather than jumping ahead to explore.

She reached up and patted the wide furry tail he had wrapped around her neck for stability. "You don't like this either, do you? I hope you haven't left your family behind to accompany me."

The thought that he might have left his home worried her, but she couldn't deny that his presence was a comfort. And she had yet to see any others of his kind, so perhaps he had been alone as well.

The afternoon dragged on but she kept putting one foot in front of the other. She still held out hope that she might reach the river, but by the time the sun had lowered to the point where it was shining directly into her eyes, she had to accept the probability that she would not reach it today. Instead, she started looking for a place where she could spend the night. A small clearing where she could at least see her surroundings seemed like a better alternative than camping amongst the bushes.

Swearing, she pushed through an especially stubborn set of branches that clung to her with determined tendrils, then gasped with delight when she reached just such clearing.

The space was even larger than the place where she had spent the previous night—a long, wide strip of land exposed to the sky. More moss covered the ground, but this moss was a deep gold and small patches of white flowers were scattered across the surface. It was stunningly beautiful in an exotic kind of way, the deep colors of the surrounding jungle a perfect background.

"This looks like a good place to spend the night, don't you think?" she asked Mr. Tiddles.

To her surprise, he chittered anxiously, his paws tightening on her shoulders. Why did he seem worried, she wondered. Perhaps it was because he was more used to the closer confines of the jungle. Still, his nervousness gave her second thoughts and instead of moving directly into the sunlight in the center of the clearing, she walked slowly along the edge looking for any indications of danger.

The golden moss grew thickly here, especially soft beneath her feet, and she cast a longing look at one particularly inviting patch highlighted by the rays of the setting sun. It would be a welcome change to be out from under the heavy shadows of the trees, away from the scratchy branches and clinging vines.

Everything looked quiet and peaceful and she took a few cautious steps out into the sunlight. Mr. Tiddles squeaked and grabbed her hair.

"Ouch! What's wrong with you? It looks perfectly safe."

As if in response to her words, a heavy thud sounded behind her. She whirled around, and froze, too frightened to scream. A huge, spider-like creature had dropped to the ground. Golden fur that glittered in the sunlight covered a bulbous body supported by a disconcerting number of long thin legs. The small head was composed mainly of an enormous mouth filled with long shining teeth dripping a sickly yellow substance.

"Oh shit."