Transmission Lost (8 page)

******

Slowly, painfully, Aria's eyes drifted open. Her head was throbbing, and her entire body still felt a slight burning sensation. Soft, early daylight hit her eyes, and she blinked. Even that felt difficult to her. The Ailian tried to lift her head, but she found that she couldn't, so she settled for turning it to one side. To her right she saw Jack, stretched out on his bedroll a short distance away from her, his rifle cradled in his arms as he slept.

He come back for me...,
she thought. After watching him sleep for a few moments, she turned her head to the left, and saw an empty campsite and a fire which was nothing but a few tiny flames and a pile of embers. Aria saw no animal bodies, but she did see drag marks and patches of ground where dirt had been brushed over the pools of blood. Groaning softly, she again tried to lift her head, and only managed a few inches before she had to give up.

A few moments passed before she realized she was naked underneath the blanket laying over her body. She managed to lift her left hand, and she brought it under the blanket to feel down her body. Her fingers felt bandages and tender spots where she'd been wounded, but she felt no fresh blood.

He do this...

“Awake, I see.”

Aria turned her head back to Jack. He was sitting up, looking at her. Aria tried to speak, but her throat was dry and all she could manage was a small growl. Jack smiled.

“I figured you'd probably be weak, what with the way you were wounded last night,” Jack said. “I thought about taking the opportunity to sleep in the tent, but I figured you wouldn't be able to defend yourself if any of those animals came back. I think they learned their lesson, though.” Jack shuffled over to her. “Hungry?”

Swallowing her pride, Aria nodded fractionally. Jack got up and went over to their packs, getting some food and bringing it over. He set a can next to Aria, and then he put the last of their gathered firewood on the fire. After a little poking and jostling the flames sprung back up. He looked at Aria.

“Can you feed yourself, or do I need to do it for you?” Jack asked her, grinning widely.

That was the last straw. Hissing between her teeth, Aria mustered all of her strength and lifted her head. She got herself not quite into a sitting position, but she was able to prop herself up on one elbow. The Ailian opened up her food and began to eat, ravenous from blood loss and exhaustion. Jack ate as well, even bringing her a second helping after she wolfed down the first. When breakfast was done, Aria laid back down, weary from even that little bit of activity.

“How are you feeling?” Jack asked, taking a seat next to her. “You took a beating last night. I thought you might not make it for a little while, there.”

“Feel weak...,” Aria murmured. “Tired. Still not feel legs...But will recover, I think...”

“Good,” Jack said, nodding.

Aria looked away from him, her head a jumble of confusion and disjointed thoughts. Then she looked back at him, her eyes blazing. “You come back. Why?”

Jack scratched the back of his head. “I figured you needed the help,” he said. “And...Well, I mean...You saved my life before. I couldn't very well just up and abandon you, could I? Besides, this makes us even, doesn't it?”

Looking away again, Aria looked into the fire. “Thank you...”

“Ah...You're welcome...,” Jack said, blinking. He hadn't expected to ever hear real gratitude coming from her. “Oh, I almost forgot.” He reached underneath his bedroll and pulled out her flight suit. Aria looked at it, surprised. The garment was clean, or as clean as could be done on short notice, and the holes done by the predators had been mended. “That sealer is really more suited for flesh, but it did okay on your clothes. I figured you wouldn't want to walk around naked the rest of the time we were here.”

Aria was a little touched, despite her best efforts not to be. “Um...Thank you...Is nice gesture, yes?” Jack smiled at her. Aria closed her eyes again, trying to sort out her thoughts. She still felt lightheaded. That probably wouldn't pass until she had more rest and a few more good meals in her.

“So, are we friendly enough for me to know more about you?” Jack asked her. “You wouldn't tell me anything about yourself the last time I asked. How about now?”

“Ask.”

“Seriously? You're not going to threaten to kill me if I talk too much?”

Aria growled at him, but her snarl managed to twist itself into a kind of half smile. “Could change mind. But feeling grateful just now. Ask.”

“Alright, then.” Jack laid down on the ground next to her, his feet up next to her head and his head down by her thighs. “I told you about my family, so how about yours? Where are you from?”

Brushing a hand over her face, Aria couldn't quite believe she was entertaining this human's curiosity. “Born on Lirna. Is Ascendancy homeworld, yes? Family live there still. Father, six sisters, two brothers.”

“Big family.”

“All Ailian families big,” Aria said. She sighed. “Mother dead. She die three years ago. In battle. Father very sad, try to keep me home after she die. I not let him. Joining military my dream, make mother very proud. Want to keep fighting for her.”

Jack nodded his head. “Are you the oldest of your siblings?”

“Yes. Most sisters and brothers too young for military. Still live at home, help father with business. He is...not know human word. Deals in food, yes?”

“A grocer.”

Aria shrugged. “If that is word.”

“You have a boyfriend? Or are you married, or anything?”

Those words Aria did not recognize. “What is...boyfriend? Married?”

“Uh...Like your father and mother, I guess,” Jack said, feeling a little awkward. He really didn't why he'd asked that question, actually. He supposed he was just curious about her, since she hadn't ever told him anything about herself before.

“Oh! No...Not mated right now.” Aria was quiet for a few moments. “And you? I not ask before.”

“No,” Jack said, shaking his head. “I used to have a girlfriend, but she left me a few years ago. She said I wasn't serious enough about life to be worth staying with.” He chuckled ruefully. “I guess she was right. I've been something of a screw-up. I quit the military, probably the only job I was ever any good at. And since then, all I've done is scrape by hauling freight. And I can't even do that right, or I wouldn't be here right now. Kind of makes me pretty useless, huh?”

Aria watched him, then she shook her head a fraction. “Not think you so useless...”

After that, they were both quiet, sitting there. Though it was getting lighter, it would still be another hour or so until the sun rose over the horizon. The fire was beginning to die again, and Jack knew the campsite would get cold fast if the flames went out. He started to stand, and felt something on his arm. Looking, he saw that Aria had put a hand out, laying it on him. She was looking at him with something that...almost looked like concern.

“I'm just going to go gather some more firewood,” Jack said, feeling strangely as though he needed to reassure her.

“You coming back, yes?” the Ailian asked.

“I'll be back,” Jack promised. He stood, picking up his rifle and slinging it over his shoulder. “I'm not leaving you again.”

Aria let her arm drop, and she looked up at the sky. “Careful,” she said, closing her eyes again. “You get killed, and...”

Jack grinned. “I know,” he said. “You'll kill me again.”

Smiling, Aria nodded her head. “Yes.”

******

They had to remain at that campsite for several days while Aria recovered her strength and healed from her injuries. Jack was amazed at how quickly Ailians seemed to heal. He knew that if a human had been injured to the extent that Aria had been, it would be at least a month before they were up and about again, but Aria managed to struggle to her feet on the second day. She couldn't do much more than be a presence at the campsite while Jack took care of all the chores that needed to be done, but it was more than he had expected of her.

Aria seemed to have warmed up to him, as well. The only times that she ever threatened him was when she was joking, and she told him more about herself as the time passed, even telling him stories about her childhood and growing up on Lirna. Jack told her stories about growing up on Earth in return. When night began to fall, Aria would go to sleep in the tent and Jack would sleep on the ground outside, as he had grown accustomed to.

On the fourth night, they were setting up for bed as usual, and while Jack was unrolling his bedroll he shivered as a cold breeze blew through the campsite. He paused, huddling his arms around him to ward off the chill. Even the campfire wasn't enough to protect him from a cold breeze. Aria noticed him shiver, and watched him carefully from the entrance to the tent.

“You sleep outside again?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Jack said. He stopped shivering, the breeze past. “I've kinda gotten used to it, you know? It's not so bad, being out in the fresh air.”

Aria nodded. “Is cold, though, yes?”

Jack waved a hand. “Eh...I sleep next to the fire and I do okay. Every now and then the wind blows, but it's not bad.”

Aria nodded again. She started to go inside the tent, but then she stopped. “Would be nicer somewhere warmer?” Her tail twitched a little, her ears flicking as she waited for his answer.

“I guess so...,” Jack said, wondering what she was on about.

Looking towards the river, the Ailian was silent for a moment. Then she looked back at Jack, beckoning him with one hand. “Come. Tent big enough for two. Is warmer than sleeping outside.”

Not sure he had heard her correctly, Jack tilted his head to one side, his eyebrows raised. “Share the tent with you? Really? I thought you didn't trust me.”

Aria beckoned him again. “You save my life. I trust you enough to share tent. Come.”

Still quite surprised, Jack stared blankly as she withdrew into the tent. Then, deciding not to look a gift horse in the mouth, he picked up his bedroll and followed her in. She was quite right, the tent was spacious enough for two, even if one of them was as big a person as Aria. Jack set his bedroll down alongside her own, then glanced over at her. She was stripping off her flight suit, down to her bare fur, except for the bandages. Jack felt his face warming. She did have a very lithe figure, and even if it wasn't a human one it was close enough to make him feel awkward.

“Aria, what are you doing?”

She turned to look at him, and he looked away from her exposed chest. “Get ready to sleep. Why?”

“Do you have to be naked while we're sharing the tent?”

“I always sleep like this,” Aria said. She pulled her flight suit further down her body, drawing it down her legs and then folding it neatly. “Is normal, yes?”

“I usually sleep with at least
some
clothes on,” Jack said, glancing over at her.

Aria stared at him, then chuckled. “Humans strange,” she said simply, lying down. She turned her back to Jack, her tail curling around her body.

His face still red, Jack finished laying out his bedroll. He laid himself down, trying not to think about the naked Ailian barely a foot away from him. This endeavor was made all the more difficult when he felt Aria scoot herself to the rear so that their backs were touching. “Um...”

“Is warmer this way, yes?”

Jack closed his eyes. “Yeah.” He tried not to focus on where his thoughts were currently leading him, but it was very, very hard.

“Jack?”

“Yes?” Jack replied, gritting his teeth as he imagined all the possible things that could come out of her mouth next, none of them very conducive to restfulness.

“Sleep well.”

He let out a breath that he hadn't realized he'd been holding. “You too, Aria.”

******

Aria felt well enough the next day that she felt she was ready to start walking again. They packed up camp and were ready to leave before the sun was very high in the sky. As they finished up, Jack couldn't keep from yawning, his mouth going wide. Aria noticed this.

“Not sleep well?”

Jack should his head, yawning a second time. “I...uh...I didn't. I...er...had a few things on my mind.” His cheeks reddened slightly.

Aria blinked, looking at him, then shrugged. “Oh well...You sleep better after day of walking.” She picked up his rifle, making as if to clip it to her pack where she'd been carrying it since they started their journey. Then she paused, looked at Jack, and held it out to him. “Here.”

“Are you sure?” Jack was surprised. “You trust me enough to give me my weapon back?”

The Ailian nodded earnestly. “You save my life, and I not wake up dead this morning. Good enough for trust, I think.” She pulled his pistol from her belt and gave that to him as well. “Besides. You prove you good enough to use them. Not a baby.” She grinned.

Grinning back, Jack reloaded his pistol before replacing it safely in its holster on his own belt. “Thank you for that vote of confidence, Aria.” He checked his rifle, making sure it was properly loaded as well. “So...Which way from here?”