Head back to Camp

I mostly ignored Lily’s protests on our trek back down to the beach. By the time we saw the ocean, the sky was beginning to brighten.

We stumbled out of the jungle too tired to walk, dragging our blistered feet through the mud and onto the sand.

The beach camp was exactly where we’d left it. Tents clustered around the shuttle, portable lights illuminating the sand while the surviving security personnel maintained a perimeter facing the jungle. One of the men spotted movement between the trees and immediately raised his rifle.

“Contact!”

Five pulse rifles swung toward us.

“Whoa!” I threw up my hands. “Friendly!”

The rifles slowly lowered. It took them a moment to recognize me without my jacket.

Nobody said anything.

I couldn’t really blame them.

Lily was barefoot, covered in mud and still wearing the primitive scraps of leather the ogres had dressed her in. Her long blonde hair was tangled around her shoulders, although the glowing halo above her remained irritatingly pristine. Eleni looked marginally more respectable, mostly because she was still wearing my black undershirt although every crew member was catching an eye full of her ass as her cheeky panties did little to hide anything.

One of the security officers stared at us. His eyes moved from Lily. To me. To Eleni wearing my shirt. Then back to me.

“Don’t,” I said.

His mouth closed but he couldn’t wipe the grin off his face.

A medic hurried over and wrapped a thermal blanket around Lily’s shoulders.

“Oh, thank God.” She pulled it tightly around herself.

“You were gone all night, sir,” one of the men said.

“I noticed.”

“We were preparing another search party.”

I looked toward the jungle. Something enormous roared beyond the trees. Everyone looked at it. Thank god that second party didn’t go in. I turned toward Eleni. Something had been bothering me since we’d found her.

“Wait.”

She looked at me.

“How did you get here?”

“I walked.”

“I gathered that part. How did you get planetside?”

“My shuttle.”

I looked around the beach. There was only one shuttle. “Where’s yours?”

“Destroyed.”

I stared at her.

Lily lowered the blanket slightly.

“You destroyed another ship?”

“I did not destroy it.”

“What happened?”

“The jungle ate it. I attempted to land approximately three kilometers from the Nightshade’s distress signal. Shortly after touchdown, several large vines wrapped themselves around the landing gear. Additional vegetation subsequently penetrated the engine compartment.”

“Penetrated?”

“Forcefully.”

Lily shivered and looked toward the trees. “I hate this planet.”

The crew quickly disassembled the camp and we were aboard the shuttle within the hour. Lily claimed the seat beside me, wrapped herself in her blanket and fell asleep against my shoulder before we’d even cleared the atmosphere. Across from us, Eleni sat perfectly upright with her arms folded. I closed my eyes and drifted off on the ride back.

Medical intercepted us on the flight deck. Lily was taken away for scans, hydration and whatever Federation medicine did for someone who had spent several hours imprisoned by horny eight-foot alien primitives. Eleni disappeared with another medic after reluctantly admitting she’d been exposed to several unknown plant toxins.

I received a few minutes of poking, scanning and questions before being informed that I was dehydrated, exhausted, and covered in superficial injuries.

I was allowed to return to my cabin for a shower before any debrief took place. . My quarters were silent when I finally reached them. The door closed behind me. For the first time since we’d landed on that planet, nobody was screaming, shooting, getting eaten, being kidnapped or propositioning me for sex.I stripped what remained of my uniform off and stepped into the shower.

Hot water hit me, steam enveloped the room and I felt my body relax. Mud spiraled toward the drain. Dried sap came off my arms. Several scratches I’d forgotten existed suddenly reminded me they were there. I rested my forehead against the wall and let the water run over me.

It’d been a hell of a first day on the job. And tomorrow I was presumably expected to put my gold jacket back on and pretend I knew what I was doing as if I hadn’t just fucked my trainee and then let her get kidnapped.

Just as I was enjoying the solitude, the door to my quarters opened.

I lifted my head.

“Hello?”

Footsteps.

Someone was inside. I cautiously opened the shower door and stuck my head out. A shadow passed across the doorway. Apparently my night wasn’t over yet.