Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 55551 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 278(@200wpm)___ 222(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55551 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 278(@200wpm)___ 222(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
“Alright,” I say. “I know one little human didn’t cause all this chaos.”
“I did, actually,” she says, opening a fresh packet of snacks.
“Mhm. And how did you get here? I wasn’t notified of any alien species in my territory. It’s not safe for a human to be wandering the world. You could be hurt.”
“Someone could be hurt,” she agrees with what I can only describe as an impish grin. She is very, very happy with and proud of herself, whatever she has done. It is quite interesting to be able to read the emotions of an entirely new creature almost immediately upon meeting it, but apparently humans emote so effectively even a dull brute like me can understand.
Sullivan
Something tells me this is Thorn.
I am looking at a truly monstrous alien. He has long dark hair and a beard, very dark brows quirked harshly over golden eyes, with two narrowed, vertical slits both focused on me. He is wearing what looks to me like the skin of his enemies as pants. The pattern and hue of the leather does not match that of his upper body, which is red and golden.
He is larger than almost all of the other saurian aliens, and he is already much smarter than they were. He’s asking questions, for starters. Questions are the domain of smart people and things. He has an air of responsibility about him. He looks dominant, but not aggressive like the others. He also looks faintly confused at my presence here, which makes sense.
“I crashed my ship into your planet,” I explain. “I came here to ask if there was a port somewhere around the place, but the people here tried to eat me instead. So I dealt with the situation, and they decided to make a swift exit.”
“What caused the hole in the wall?”
“Chaos Fish.”
The look he gives me tells me he doesn’t know what a Chaos Fish is. That’s fine. If he doesn’t tread carefully, he’ll soon find out.
“Sounds like a translation error,” he says. “Or a strange local dialect. It sounded like you said Chaos Fish.”
“I did say Chaos Fish.”
“Alright.” He puts his hands on his hips and looks at me quite sternly. “Where did the Chaos Fish come from?”
I grin as I answer that question in a way I know he won’t enjoy, softening my tone to a gentle explanatory one more appropriate for a bedtime story. “Well, when a Chaos Fish mummy and daddy love one another very much…”
“You are flippant,” he interrupts. “You are calm. You are dangerous.”
He makes those assessments very quickly and quietly to himself more than to me. I enjoy his opinion. He seems to understand me quickly, and unlike the idiots who first met me here, he is not trying to intimidate me. He has more confidence in his sheer existence to do that, I imagine.
“I’m just a lost little human trying to find her way home, sir,” I say. The tactics I used with the idiots are not the same as the ones I’m going to use on this guy. This guy wants to be respected. I can see that in every line of his bearing. He’s used to everyone reacting to him like he’s a saurian god. So my little respectful act should get him right where I want him.
“Where is the crash site of your ship?”
“About twenty minutes walk that way,” I say, pointing in the direction I came from. “Big, steaming crater. You won’t be able to miss it.”
Thorn
There is something about this human. Something besides the simple fact that she is female and smells fertile. There is a dancing intellect behind her eyes. Every word is calculated, every expression carefully schooled. She’s trying to manipulate me because she thinks I am of limited intelligence. I can imagine that her interactions with the patrons of this establishment created that impression. I decide not to correct her misapprehension. If she thinks I am a big stupid lizard man, that works for me.
“You will need to come with me if we are going to find you a ship off-planet,” I say. “The ports are not located anywhere near here. I can give you escort.”
She cocks her head to the side and looks at me in a way that suggests she is trying to work out whether or not she can trust me.
“You’re a lot more reasonable than the guys here suggested you’d be. I hope you’re not trying to lure me into some kind of trap so you can eat me. I’m not as helpless as I look.”
“Evidently.”
“I want a ship to get off the planet. I mean, I don’t need a whole ship for myself, of course. It’s not like I’m some kind of pirate…” she laughs at what must, for some reason, be a joke to her. “Could you possibly escort me to the nearest port? I’d be ever so grateful.”