The happiness and excitement I’d felt at getting successfully back to the ship transformed into a sick bundle of nerves. My stomach twisted, and I ground my teeth in anticipation of what I’d find. I was not looking forward to seeing the bodies of my friends, especially if I couldn’t do anything for them. I had a feeling Buroudei wouldn’t stand around guarding me while I tried to bury a bunch of half-eaten humans.

A dark form was taking shape on the horizon. I sat up straighter, pointing and exclaiming, “There it is! We’re almost there.”

Buroudei did not respond, but urged his irkdu forward with a click of his tongue. We crossed the last stretch of sand in what felt like no time at all. I held my breath as we approached.

The carnage of the scene was still laid bare. Though, shockingly, I didn’t see the corpses of any of my friends. Instead, the sand was littered with the motionless bodies of the horrible crab monsters. Just seeing them, even lifeless, with their legs curled inward on themselves, was enough to make my skin crawl. Buroudei was sniffing the air, his head swinging back and forth as he surveyed the scene, spear half-raised. I didn’t speak, too afraid to make a sound. But after a moment, he seemed to relax, though only slightly, and we continued forward.

When we passed by one of the dead alien monsters, Buroudei leaned down and yanked a spear from its body, growling something to himself and securing it to his mount.

“I don’t see any of their bodies,” I whispered, more to myself than Buroudei. I wasn’t sure if that was giving me hope, or hinting at something even worse. Was it a good or bad sign that none of my friends were rotting out here? I had a good view into the bridge, and I saw the aftermath of the pilots and soldiers who had died there – scattered bones stripped clean of flesh, scraps of uniforms littering the floor. But that seemed to be limited to the initial attack area. I didn’t see any more human gore out here, and something had obviously killed all the crab monsters. A flicker of painful hope came to life inside me.

Maybe they’re all still alive out there.

I hadn’t been told anything about how many aliens like Buroudei there were on this planet. I had no idea if there were other groups out there, or even other kinds of aliens, that could have rescued my friends. But for now, I was choosing to believe that they were still around. Somewhere. Someway.

I grinned, feeling a renewed sense of purpose. Things were already going well. We’d made it back to the ship without issue, and there was evidence that my friends were still alive? It was almost too good to be true. The thought that there were other humans on this planet, the women I’d spent two weeks working and living with, brought me intense joy. Now I just have to figure out how to ask Buroudei to help me find them.

I surveyed the ship, remembering why we’d come.

One thing at a time.

With Buroudei’s help, I dismounted. If he hadn’t been there, holding me every step of the way, I would have flopped to the sand in a tangle of discombobulated limbs. It was kind of awe-inspiring how graceful and strong he was.

“Thanks,” I said, smiling up at him. He did not return my happy look. It was clear he wasn’t glad to be here. I had to make this quick.

The only problem was I didn’t really know where to start. I knew I wanted to avoid the mess in the bridge, so I circled around the back of the ship to the open cargo bay, followed closely by Buroudei, who now held a spear in one hand and his axe in the other. Just as I remembered from the brief time I’d been in this part of the ship, there were boxes and shelves lining the walls. Some things had been damaged, but a remarkable amount of stuff seemed untouched. I picked a random part of the room and started looking around, opening whatever boxes I could. A lot of the stuff was interesting, and potentially useful to someone, but not to me. Things like microscopes and lab equipment were passed over, but when I found a crate of water bottles, I literally jumped for joy. Dozens of plastic water bottles, shining like precious jewels, in neat little rows. I grabbed the first one in reach, cranking it open and chugging. The valok plants were OK, and they kept me hydrated enough, but there was nothing like pure water when you were thirsty.

Buroudei was watching me with concern.

“It’s water! My home planet is covered in this stuff.”

I poured a little in a stream onto the floor of the cargo bay, and Buroudei jerked back, then leaned forward with interest.

“Here, drink some!” I showed him how to drink from the bottle, and he did so, rather suspiciously. After a sip he handed it back, making a sour face that made me chuckle.

“You’re so broody. Come on, help me get these out there, would you?” I gestured to the large crate, which weighed easily 80lbs, batting my eyelashes, only half-jokingly. Buroudei crouched then lifted the crate onto his shoulder, steadying it and holding it with only one arm so that he could keep his spear ready with the other. Holy shit. I tried not to gulp at the sheer, raw power of his body. To say it was impressive was an understatement.

We moved back outside, and Buroudei lashed the crate securely to the irkdu, just in front of the saddle. We made several trips in and out of the cargo bay. I was able to track down some extra clothing and two extra jackets. None of it was my size, but baggy was better than nothing. I also found an abandoned pack that still had all of the supplies for our original mission – the first aid stuff, the sunglasses, the rations and the sunscreen. We tied it all to the irkdu, the giant animal starting to look more and more like some kind of mutant pack mule. As Buroudei tightened the straps against the backpack, I stared at the broken front part of the ship, smashed to bits by the alien crabs.

No chance that thing will fly again.

A jolt went through me. How was it that this was the first time that the thought of returning to Earth had even crossed my mind? We’d come all the way back to this ship, a space ship, for God’s sake, and I hadn’t once wondered if we could somehow get it up and running, or at least make some sort of transmission for our rescue? I’d only wanted to come back here for supplies, nothing more. What the hell did that say about me? Did I not want to go back?

My gaze drifted to Buroudei. Involuntarily. Inevitably. Like his body was emitting some kind of gravity. He’d been protective and good, in his alien way. He’d looked out for me, tried to take care of me, and made me feel, every moment, like I was his, even if that was sometimes extremely annoying. What did I have back on Earth? No one. Nothing. A government that had betrayed me and sent my friends and me to almost certain death. I had my PhD program, I guessed, but what was more fulfilling to a linguist than studying an alien language, up close and personal? The realization crystallized inside me so hard and fast it cracked, radiating pain through my rib cage. I had nothing on Earth. Nothing worth going back for. But here? Maybe here I had something. Or someone.

I have to tell him.

In this short time, as crazy as it seemed, I’d grown to care for my tall, brooding, alien gladiator. I had to let him know, somehow. My chest was tight with the need to let out this mounting emotion. I moved towards him, placing my hands on his chest, tilting my chin upward. My voice was choked as I spoke his name.

“Buroudei...”

A ferocious roar split the air. The breath whooshed painfully out of me as Buroudei slammed me to the ground, covering me with the bulk of his body as a spear soared over us.

What the hell?

If we were going to run into trouble out here, I thought it would have been more of the crab things. Not one of Buroudei’s men.