New Year, New Planet: Blind Date with an Alien (My Holiday Tails) by Marina Simcoe

Author:Marina Simcoe [Simcoe, Marina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rocky River Publishing
Published: 2021-12-15T18:30:00+00:00

IT TOOK US A WHILE to get Lucy to cross the stream.

At first, she refused to move at all. After some coaxing, though, she made the first tentative steps across the rocks. Reaching the spot where I’d slipped, she froze and wouldn’t move again.

I talked her into taking a step. Then Greyx hopped onto the nearest rock and reached for her across the remaining distance, carefully guiding her to safety.

On our side, she collapsed to the floor, hugging herself. Soft humming came from her again, worrying me more than her screams would have. Why did she hum that song, over and over again? Why wouldn’t she speak?

“You made it.” I sat at her side and wrapped my arm around her shoulders. “We’re together again. You did well, Lucy.”

Her slim body shuddered, the humming getting louder. I wished she’d just cry or scream, to let it all out. But she just hummed and rocked back and forth, keeping it in.

“Here.” I grabbed Greyx’s bag and put it into her lap. The silly thing seemed to comfort her.

She hugged it, pressing her face into the soft material.

I stroked her back.

“It’ll be okay, Lucy. We’ll be okay. Greyx will get us out of here.” I looked up at him for confirmation.

He nodded grimly.

“What’s your plan, Greyx?” I kept my voice soft for Lucy’s sake but slipped a harder note when I added under my breath, “And don’t you dare tell me it’s classified.”

He glanced over his shoulder, scanning each end of the tunnel as if yirzi would be hiding there, listening. “The plan is to get to the meeting point for one of our ships to pick us up.”

“What? Someone is coming for us?” This was the best news I’d heard in a while. Relief lifted the worry in my chest. We weren’t forgotten or abandoned here. There was a way off this dying planet. “Thank you.” I then turned to Lucy. “Did you hear that, Lucy? I told you we’ll be fine.”

She kept hugging the bag. But the rocking and the humming had thankfully stopped.

Greyx crouched in front of us.

“It’s a long way to the meeting point still—there aren’t many places where shuttles can land and most of them are watched closely by yirzi. The place where we’re heading is about two days away. You’ll need your strength.”

Two days.

It was a long way away.

He shoved a piece of the black snake in Lucy’s hands. “You need to eat.”

She shook her head, wide-eyed with horror. I couldn’t blame her. The thing was repulsive, ink-black blood dripping from its both ends.

“Sorry, Greyx. This is just...” I shuddered, my insides twisting at the thought of eating that. “Here, Lucy.” I took a thick slice of dohmat from my pocket instead.

The fruit didn’t agree with my stomach, but Lucy seemed to have no trouble eating it. She took it from me, then bit into it with a crunching sound. The toothpaste-like smell of the dohmat wafted through the air, making me nauseous. I shifted away from Lucy, trying to fight it.

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