Chapter 13

They traveled on Traze's lawe for hours on end. Though Veda did not want to admit it, she was growing tired. Not as tired as she would have been if she were walking, of course, but it still took a fair amount of effort to balance herself on Traze's lawe.

So when Traze yelled out for the caravan to stop, Veda was internally very grateful.

They had come upon a clearing with a small pond. This was the spot where Traze had chosen to rest.

As his lawe landed on the ground, Traze dismounted and then pulled Veda off.

"We will have a meal here and rest," Traze explained. "It is the hottest part of the day, so it is best to save our strength and not travel now."

Now that they were standing still, Veda could feel it. The heat had been harder to notice with the wind rushing against her face, but now she could feel the heat and humidity bearing down on her.

But she didn't want to seem weak. She had insisted to Traze that she could handle this trip, and she wanted to stick with her word. So she focused on drinking some water and eating the lunch the Aterans had packed.

All the Aterans, except Aldohr, were kind and accommodating to her. They passed some food along to her and thanked her for being willing to rough this terrain in order to help them. Though, really, for Veda, it was hardly a sacrifice. Especially now that she knew she would be traveling on a lawe this entire time. She enjoyed every second they went flying through the air, and it didn't bother her one bit being out in the Living Sands.

Traze was especially kind to her, though. With every bite she took of the food, he asked her if she liked it. She assured him with every new food she tried that she did enjoy it. And she wasn't lying. She had never been a particularly picky eater, and nothing tasted bad. The texture of the vegetables on Atera were considerably different from what she was used to back on Earth, but nothing was so different that she couldn't enjoy it.

"How are you handling the expedition thus far?" Traze asked.

"I'm really liking it," she assured him. "Riding the lawe is so much fun, and I really enjoy the views of the rainforest."

Veda considered asking him again about the kode comment from earlier, but she pushed it aside. She wanted to focus on the expedition for now and feared she would get distracted. Plus she wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer to whether or not she was Traze's kode. She still didn't know how she'd feel about it.

Once Veda had finished eating, and she'd had her fill of water, she grew impatient again.

"Can we take a walk around the pond or something?" Veda asked. "I don't want to grow restless."

"Sure," Traze agreed as he finished his food as well.

The water was beautiful. It was a glistening, gorgeous pool with clear water. Veda really wanted to enter it. It was so tempting with how hot it was outside.

Unfortunately, though, even here, Veda noticed the low water levels. She couldn't fully enjoy the pond without the creeping fear of the Aterans' environment failing them.

She had become more invested than she expected to in the time she'd been awake on Atera. She'd come to love the Aterans and worried greatly about their ability to survive.

"It really is beautiful here," she said as she looked up at Traze.

He nodded. "I am glad you like it here. I know you may not like it as much as your own planet, of course…"

"No, I do!" Veda said quickly.

Traze seemed surprised to hear this. "Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, I really didn't like Earth all that much, to tell you the truth."

Traze eyed her curiously. "Why not?"

Veda shrugged. "It's just… on Earth I wasn't really getting what I needed, you know? I had this dream for my life, and it wasn't satisfied."

"That was why you were ready to have an alien husband?" Traze asked, remembering what she had mentioned the other night.

"Yes, exactly."

"And what would an alien husband provide for you that you could not get on your own planet?"

Veda considered holding back, not telling Traze the truth. It felt a little weird to be so forthcoming with him about this, but ultimately, she wanted to talk about her life with someone. She had been missing that kind of intimacy.

"I guess I assumed an alien husband would take me in as his spouse to love and honor me forever. I really wanted that. I was ready to settle down and have a family. And I never met a man back on Earth who wanted to give me those things. It was starting to get to me. I was beginning to feel like I might never settle down, so I chose the drastic option of becoming an alien mail-order bride."

Traze nodded. "You do deserve that, Veda. You deserve to be loved and honored. I hope that you know this."

Veda smiled. "Thank you, Traze. I really appreciate you saying so."

Traze nodded.

They continued to walk until they reached some rough foliage. One half of the pond's edge was flat grasses, and on the other side were a lot of bushes and some trees. When they were no longer on the flat grass, Traze seemed to become worried.

"What is it?" Veda asked.

"I would like to check the perimeter of the pond to make sure nothing dangerous is lurking. You stay here."

Veda nodded. "Okay."

When she turned around, she saw that she and Traze were not entirely alone. It appeared that Aldohr was just steps behind.

Veda sighed. She was really starting to get creeped out by this loser. But she was not going to let him intimidate her.

She turned on her heel. "Oh, Aldohr?" she yelled out.

Aldohr looked sheepish, like he had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar, but he walked over to Veda.

"You're taking the time to follow me, so I presume you've already finished taking samples of the water and the sands in this pond?"

Aldohr glared at her. He clearly did not like receiving orders from her, a human.

"Why would I do that?"

"Because there could be valuable information in these waters and sands. We need to take samples back to the lab. They might tell us something."

Aldohr never stopped glaring though he changed his tone. "I will do so at once."

His words were complicit, but the look he was giving her was not. He loathed her, and his eyes said it all.

And Veda, for the life of her, could still not figure out why! What had she done to him to make him hate her so? None of the Ateran warriors seemed to share his sentiment. Most Aterans seemed excited about her theories of the healing sands and were hopeful they might actually lead to valuable information. Yet here was Aldohr, livid and bitter every time he had to so much as hear her speak.

Traze walked back just as Aldohr was collecting the samples. He appeared pleased.

"Good work, Aldohr. That could be useful." Traze smiled.

Veda didn't much like Aldohr getting credit for her idea, nor did she appreciate his attitude. She was about to tell Traze the truth about how Aldohr had responded to her, but then she stopped herself.

What good was being a tattletale going to do? Yes, Traze would likely be defensive and protective of Veda as he had been thus far, but it would only make Aldohr resent her further. She did not want that. She wanted to mend bridges not burn them down. Veda was sure that if she just continued to be polite to Aldohr he would eventually come around and treat her more kindly.

"Yes." Veda looked up to agree with Traze. "Aldohr is a very hard worker, it seems."

Veda said it as a genuine compliment, or at least attempted to make her tone as complimentary as possible, but it did not appease Aldohr. When Traze looked the other way, he glared at her again, his contempt palpable.

Veda ignored Aldohr as he stomped off. She wasn't going to let his attitude ruin her day. It truly had been an amazing, glorious adventure, and she was still wrapped up in it.

Veda was about to say something to Traze when she was distracted by a loud splash in the water next to them. Veda turned around to see some of the Ateran warriors wading into the waters to cool down. This filled her with excitement.

"Oh, Traze, can we go swimming?" she asked cheerfully.

But Traze immediately seemed skeptical of this idea. "I don't know…"

"Come on, Traze! It's so hot. Aren't you hot?" Veda asked.

"Yes, I am."

"Well, me too! And it would make me so, so happy if we could cool off by swimming around a bit. Pretty please?"

Traze sighed, and Veda had a feeling she was going to get her way on this.