SEVENTEEN

- sedona -

"What the fuck?" A voice screams before their concerns are being echoed by another.

"Where am I? What the hell? Help!"

The other girls waking up is proving to be a challenge to say the least.

"Wait! It's okay. I know this is strange, but please don't worry, you're safe. I promise."

My hands are up in almost surrender as I look at the two women who have awoken first. They're both huddled in their own pod, pressed firmly against the metal back as their eyes flick between me, Kuvier, and their surroundings with varying degrees of curiosity, fear, and confusion. I opened their pods when they flashed red, and it took a second for them both to wake up fully, but clearly they're awake enough now.

"Who the hell are you? Where am I?" The voice comes from the mouth of a pretty Asian woman with honey-blonde hair as she glares at me with distrust. "Do you know who I am? Do you know how much trouble you're going to be in?"

"I didn't do this." I put my hands on my hips and give them a serious look. "I know you're both scared, but the first thing you need to know is that I'm a victim in all of this just like you."

"And this is what exactly?" An incredulous voice questions from the other open pod. It's a South Asian woman, her big brown eyes wide as flying saucers. Pun intended.

So far, only these two have fully woken up, but two other pods are now flashing red, and the last two are still flashing yellow, so they'll probably turn red soon. I didn't anticipate having to conquer this conversation without support. Even when Renata and I talked about waking them, the plan was always to wake Amari and Sabrina first. That way the four of us could be together to break the news to the new girls. But, here I am doing it all by my lonesome.

Go with the flow, I guess.

"Well, we're not where we're supposed to be—"

"Yeah, I can see that," Blondie bites back. "What I want to know is where in fuck are we, and what the hell is that thing?" She shoots a look of fear and disgust at Kuvier as he calmly stands several feet behind me. Irritation rises in me at the contempt on her face.

The hostility rolls off of her in waves, and I take a deep breath, trying to force myself to be understanding. Despite her bad attitude, I have to remember that I've been awake for days and she's just coming out of stasis. Patience is a virtue that I need more than anything right now.

"Not a what, a who. His name is Kuvier and he's the only thing standing between us and freezing or starving to death, so have some respect," I snap back. Blondie arches an eyebrow and appraises me, flickering her gaze between me and Kuvier, who I'm sure is probably a little lost right now. Much of this conversation holds language he hasn't learned yet, but he stays quiet and patient.

"Right…and why is that?" Brown Eyes watches the heated exchange between us with quiet reserve.

"Take a look outside." I step aside and give them both the space to move. Kuvier mimics me, stepping to the side, his eyes fixed on me.

Naturally, Blondie is the one to step a wobbly leg out of her pod first, but Brown Eyes follows closely behind as they make their way forward. They don't make it past the fire pit before I hear an expletive come from one of them. I don't have to guess to know that they saw the red mountains and endless snow. Believe me now?

"How did this happen?" Blondie demands as they come back to stand in front of me.

"We crashed and we're stranded somewhere that isn't on Earth, and—"

"Wait, what?" Brown Eyes looks at me as if I've lost my marbles.

"What the hell do you mean we're not on Earth?" Blondie speaks again. Her arms grip her body tightly, warding against the cold. She's looking at me like I'm crazy too, but the doubt wavers when her eyes set on Kuvier again.

I'd like to go ahead and just give them some furs and food, but I know that they'll need more details before they feel comfortable enough to accept help.

"Look," my patience flickers, "I know it's hard to believe, but I'm telling you the whole truth. There are other girls stranded too who can back up my story."

"Which is?" Brown Eyes asks again, imploringly. "You haven't told us much besides we're safe, stranded outside of Earth, and reliant on a goat man."

I sigh because that's fair. "I only know so much about all of this honestly. We're all in pretty much the same boat here."

"This is insanely fucked up!" Blondie throws her arms up in exasperation. "Last thing I remember, I was falling asleep at an AirBnB the night before my wedding. Now, you're telling me I'm not even on Earth now?" Her voice is shrill at the end, and I start to feel truly bad for her.

I had a job back home that I mostly loved—teaching is not for the weak but I loved those kids with my whole heart. I had my new house, but those were the only real things I had going for me. On Earth, I really had no one to look forward to spending time with outside of work. I'd gone no contact with my mom three years prior when my grandmother, the last person in my family I cared for, died. Past that, I've always had a hard time making friends, and my colleagues were just that—colleagues. This girl seems to have truly had a life that she's been forced to leave behind.

"We were kidnapped by aliens," I reveal cautiously, not wanting to really set her off. "I don't know why or how exactly. None of us do."

" Kutti k bache. " Brown Eyes mumbles the foreign words under her breath and I don't have to know the language to deduce it's a curse. "This whole thing is fucked six ways to Sunday."

"No kidding," I say to Brown Eyes, giving a bark of laughter. "Here, let me get you guys situated and at least a little warmer. I'll tell you everything I know."

***

Because my luck is so fucking great, the next two to wake up are the other two new girls—Xiomara, a pretty Latina with ringlet curls, and Meghan, a fiery woman with the red hair to match and pale skin. Their wake-ups go about as well as Samra and Krissy's though everyone else besides Krissy—aka Blondie—are at least nice about it.

Of course, Sabrina and Amari are the last to wake up. It isn't until after they do, when we're all gathered around the fire, that Renata and Enikk finally return.

"Well, shit." Renata pulls up to stop in front of the awning, small dead animals hanging from the leather strap around her waist. Her face is flushed with life and finally expressive again, but definitely showing concern as she takes in the sight before her.

I'm about to stand to fill her in when I see Enikk come up behind her and stop short. He tenses as he takes in all of us before he throws his head back and takes a deep breath. I see the moment his eyes light with that same fire I'd seen in Kuvier's the first time we met. Hell no.

He was not about to make my life harder. I might be able to handle that kind of attention and deal with being kidnapped and stranded, but something tells me the other women are going to need a little extra encouragement to get there. Whoever he's about to become infatuated with is not ready.

"Kuvier?" He looks at me immediately from his designated spot off to the side. I mouth to him, "Enikk."

The moment he looks at Enikk's determined face, he understands what I'm silently begging him to do. Kuvier quickly and discreetly moves around the women, putting his hands on Enikk's chest and pushing him back out of the crate, murmuring to him as he goes. None of the other ladies really pay them too much mind and I breathe a sigh of relief at the crisis averted.

Renata makes eye contact with me and I know we need to talk so I stand from my spot, leaving the other women softly discussing or staring into space in Krissy's case. We step off to the side, a bit away from the fire pit, near our gathering wall of supplies.

"When did they all wake up?" Renata whispers to me, setting down the things in her hands and around her hips.

"Not long ago. Their pods went out one at a time," I answer, biting at my nails. "I already explained everything and after the initial shock they seem to be all calming down."

"Of course they all wake up before we're ready," she huffs with a roll of her eyes. It's a sentiment I second. Even now, things are proving to be difficult considering I wasn't able to finish enough clothing for everyone. All of them are covered in furs in various stages of sewing. Samra even has on my incomplete pair of pants, the waistband tied with sinew rope to keep them up.

"We'll have to tell them about the fact that there's probably no way home." I cringe away from the idea. "I hadn't wanted to be alone when I broke it to them."

Her face scrunches in worry, but she nods. "Let's talk about it over dinner."