Last Call (Stranded in the Stars Book 1) (7 page)

He went about packing supplies for the journey to come. Opening his survival pack he tossed in simple first aid bandages and disinfectants; cleaning fabric for hygiene and ropes, tools, and other such necessities. He chose to only bring two guns with him, a .44 pistol and an assault rifle. Jack didn't expect to run into anything but if there was no shelter to be had at night, he wanted to be prepared.

Jack didn't expect the girl would have much so he added extra food and water rations to his load.

He looked around, walking through his quarters and realized he couldn't remember a time when he had to provide for someone else. He had barely met the girl a day ago and he already felt responsible for her safety.

Cyborgs were only responsible to their allegiance, themselves, and to other Cyborgs. Even now he knew he could not leave this planet without the girl in tow. It would be cruel to abandon her to this planet alone even if she wanted to stay
.

What did my curiosity get myself into now?

Walking over to his ship's replicator with a bundle of military grade mesh in his hand. He threw the material in and set it to reconfigure into a small cloak for the girl. The mesh would be breathable during the day and would morph into a well insulated heat pocket during the night. It wasn't much but it would help keep her warm at night.

He placed the material into his pack, settling into the quiet of his ship.

***

Allie hadn't slept well, lost in a whirlpool of thoughts and not willing to risk sleeping in, she tried to stay up through the night. She didn't want Jack to be mad at her but her half dazed thoughts no longer mattered when a strong voice called her name jerking her out of her half-sleep.

Sitting up she rubbed her eyes, trying to remove the traces of her waking dreams, she slowly focused on the shadow before her blocking out the oncoming dawn.

"I said sunrise. Did you not listen?" The shadow growled.

He’s in my cave! How did he find me? And it isn't even sunrise yet.

Glancing at the dim light behind him she could tell the sun had yet to crest. She appealed, "The sun isn't out yet. I did listen to you, please don't be mad," stammering. "I can't travel well in the darkness." Even his shadow was imposing, causing a shiver to run up her spine, reminding her of ancient horrors.

"You apparently don't travel well at all," he crouched before her. "Get dressed. We won't be burning daylight for you– what with the monsters at night." He threaded his fingers through her unkempt hair.

"I'm ready to leave. I just need a moment." She disentangled herself from his hand at the same time he stood up.

Allie grabbed her pouch and filled it with roots.
For strength
. She told herself.

He watched her as she moved to the spring and wiped herself down. She rinsed her feet in the cool pool before tying her wrappings around them and when she was finished she turned around to face him and tried to hide her nerves. "Thank you." she quipped.

She couldn't help but notice that he had prepared more for this journey than her. He was in full body armor again with the black metal and grey mesh but now he had a large bag strapped to his back and several guns within reach and he carried the load as if it weighed nothing.

Allie blushed as he just continued to stare at her, feeling a tension thicken the air around them.

***

Jack was incredulous, "That's it? That's all you're bringing... I thought this was a several day trip, not a casual outing."

She looked around self-consciously. "I don't have anything else," before walking over to where she had awoken just minutes ago and picked up her blanket. "I can bring this but it's frayed. It may fall apart. I don't need much out there." She contemplated.

He grabbed the rag from her grasp and tossed it back on the floor. "I have extras. Let's go." He said furiously, climbing out.

She lived in a hole in the ground with barely any tools and a meager food supply.
The only thing going for that rat's nest was the spring
. He thought,
At least she had a source of water and heat.

He was furious.
Why hadn't she taken more from her crashed ship? Has she really been here that long, that everything was gone?

Jack grasped her hand as she emerged from the hovel, helping her through the rocky entrance. He noticed glumly, that she had her blanket under one arm.
She’s a proud one.

Standing up before him, "Please don't throw my things. Like I said, I don't need much to survive on
'HIS
', but everything I do have is precious. I've made this journey before with less."

Choosing not to respond to her comment, He let her take the lead.

They had walked the next several miles in silence.
And in the wrong direction
. Jack bristled. He was monitoring their location constantly.
Was she really that upset about the blanket?

"Is this the right direction?" He inquired slowly, wondering if she was going to try and lead him into a trap.

"Yes..." She looked back at him."There is a shortcut a half day's walk this way. The crash is on the other side of that mountain bend in the distance," she pointed. "If we scout around the crags this way we'll eventually come to a tunnel that will allow us to cut through the worst of it." She continued, "It's easier than climbing over rocks all day."

"Hmm, if you're sure." Jack scanned the route ahead, sensing no change in structure, no shortcuts.

"The tunnel is burrowed through a rockier route. A giant wurm must have gotten stuck there at one point, long ago. It's held up by its bones."

"Lovely. What can you tell me about them? The wurms that is," he inquired.

She thought about it for a moment, rounding a large boulder in their way. "They only ever come out at night. I don't think they like the sunlight or the heat. So far I have never gotten close to one, they leave me alone in my cave and they're easy to avoid but I also don't go out at night. Everything changes at night."

"I've noticed the tremors get worse after dark. My readings have confirmed that they are sensitive to UV rays."

Nodding, she continued. "Sometimes they come above ground to fight. They also eat each other sometimes and they spawn thousands of wurms that nest right below the surface. When those wurms die above ground they provide me a source of food."

Jack grimaced, remembering her meager supply. "I noticed. I saw a pile of bugs in your cave." He paused. "What do you eat out here?" He glanced at her small frame.
She's willing to eat bugs to survive,
he admired that.

"The wurms when I can find them." Allie stopped briefly to look at him. "There are also other little bugs that survive here and some roots if you know where to look for them." She pulled out some to show him. "They grow near the mountains."

He stopped to look at them outstretched in her hand.
The roots had a good source of nutrients and minerals.
He was pleased that she had something else to nourish her besides grubs. "With a planet infested, literally, with wurms, it's a wonder even these can grow here." Watching Allie eat the roots as they started walking again; Jack stayed by her side.

He looked at her small frame next to him and wondered if she were hungry. Not the daily hunger every person feels but the type of hunger that occurs after being deprived of food for a significant amount of time.

"Do you want some?" She pulled out more to offer him.

Taken aback by her generosity, "no thank you. Cyborgs don't eat roots." She continued to look at him for a moment before putting them back into her pouch.

Jack could have eaten the roots so he wasn't entirely lying, they would have done very little for his system. Cyborgs had far more complicated digestive systems than a human being or Trentian.

Jack, like all Cyborgs, had to monitor and maintain his biological side as well as his tech core and processing systems. On one hand he fed his tech side with updates to his systems. Staying technologically ahead meant constant maintenance to improve speed, cyber reach, and physical endurance.

Cyborgs had a secret central hub that only they had access to where information was constantly shared. They all fed into it, protected it, and helped maintain it and he received most of his enhancements from it.

His nanobots healed away any damage to his systems, whether it was technical or physical as they were perfectly attuned to both sides. If one side died then the rest would die too; yes his consciousness could live on forever as part of the network but he would have no body for it. Not unless someone was willing to spend millions of dollars to rebuild him.

There were some Cyborgs still existing without a body wandering cyberspace, corrupting systems, navigating the digital realm, and all around spying on others.

His human body needed sustenance but only a small amount and not very often. He kept protein bars and moleculers on board his ship for just that reason. He had eaten a bar yesterday but only because he transferred a substantial amount of his nanobots to his ship and creating more took a toll on both his halves.

***

They had been walking for what seemed like hours now and she had watched the sun's position above them out of boredom. It had been mostly silent since their earlier conversation and she hated it. Allie had so many questions she wanted to ask.

She knew he had access to information she had only dreamed of but it wasn't really that, she admitted. She wanted to become his friend; make a connection with another being even if it was for a short time.

An internal battle raged within herself. On one hand she desperately wanted to get to know him but on the other... she was also incredibly intimidated. So after much contemplation she sadly resolved to stay quiet and only sneak glances his way.

Allie liked how he looked and she found herself appreciating him in full survival mode.
Jack
. She thought to herself, could probably kill the Warlord and all his Generals without hesitation.

Glancing over again– he still looked so stern, so fierce, with his short dark hair catching strays of light that gave it a fleeting indigo gleam. Her former captors were no match for him, she fantasized, imagining he was there that day she stood in line with the other terrified girls.

The Warlord would have just arrived and before he even touched the first girl, Jack would appear out of nowhere and gut him from behind. She pictured him with his dagger in hand and the blood of the Warlord dripping down its sharp edge.

That he would look up and meet her eyes.

That he would walk over to her with purpose.

That he would
–

It was a nice fantasy but that was all it was.

Finally, she felt the courage to break the silence, "Why are you here–errr–I mean what brought you close to this planet?" She asked cautiously.

He looked her way. "I'm hunting."

That was ominous. Confused, "Hunting for what?"

"A man."

“But there is no one here but me.”
Was there somebody else?

He looked over at her but said nothing.

The conversation dropped and another hour went by. The sun was directly above them before the silence broke again.

***

"Let's rest here. You can eat while I look around." Jack dropped his pack on a nearby rock, opening it.

"I don't need to rest and I ate earlier." she said.

Jack just stared at her, assuming she was referring to the handful of roots, he ignored her comment. He pulled out a protein ration and handed it to her.

"Take this and eat it. It'll give you strength. I hope you like vanilla." He snickered at his joke.

She looked at him again
. If she continues to give me those doe eyes, I'm going to push her to the ground and take her right here.
In the dirt, in broad daylight, and in the middle of this wasteland.

"I've never had vanilla before." Taking the ration reluctantly when he unwrapped it, she nibbled the edge and moaned.

His shaft went hard at the sound. He watched with fascination as her lips puckered around the oblong bar to nip a piece off and he had to forcefully hold back a groan as her throat contracted and swallowed it down. Who knew watching someone eat could be such a turn on for him?

I want to feel that throat contract around my cock.

She murmured a thanks as he quickly walked off to scout around. Jack wasn't sure what intrigued him so much about her. The fact that she smelled like a mixture of sweat and sex or the fact that she was so beautiful and vulnerable– or maybe it was his processors malfunctioning. His human half seeing something in her that he thought he would never have.

He scaled a ledge to scan the horizon, his thoughts coming to an abrupt halt; taken aback by a monstrous skeletal forest coming into view.

A forest of dead wurms. Their skeletons towering up from the ground to look like decrepit pale-white trees. He'd seen battlefields more cheerful than this. Unnerved, he settled down to stare at the scene before him.

The forest of bone extended out for miles with no end in sight, only coming to a stop at the base of the mountain. Did the creatures come here to die? Or did they hit the rocks and splatter against them?

He could feel a deep rumble and shift below the rocky surface, miles beneath him as the beasts moved. It lulled him into a strange sense of calm being at the edge of an endless graveyard of monsters and feeling the weak vibrations below him. Everything was dead– quiet– as far as the eye could see.

Some of his brethren had found women over the years preceding the war. Yuric, his commander, was the only one to take a mate during the war and they all thought him a lunatic at the time, having to protect his woman and fight a war at the same time. Now, he remembered back in envy.

It was rare when a Cyborg mated with a woman as there were a lot of risks involved. They were created with the intention to inflict violence, to do jobs and fight battles that human men could not. Cyborgs could restrict their humanity when needed too. Although none of his mated brethren had ever hurt their women, not one union had failed and children had been fostered, there was still always that risk.