Starseed (18 page)

Kole turned back to her and the Ant person moved on down the cavern away from them
. He tossed the backpack off his shoulder and pulled out more dry clothes for her. “This is his place, but he gives it to us with good will. He’s going deeper in the cavern so as not to scare you.”

“
Oh, okay. Are you sure he won’t come back and get us?”

“
Yes, like I told you the Ant People aren’t to pretty to look at, but they’re harmless and on good terms with the Starfleet coalition.”  He pulled some more clothes from a bag. “Here, put these on and this time stay in the cave.”  He laughed. “It’ll be hard to do laundry here.”

She grabbed the clothes and scraped the long wet strands of hair away from her face.
“Thanks, I’ll stay in the cave as long as you’re with me.” 
I’m not staying here alone with the Ant People. No way. No how
. She went over to her corner of the room and undressed.

Kole turned away and unpacked the supplies they’d dragged in from the starship
. “We have everything we need and I’ll be here with you.”

She laid the damp clothes over a rock and walked over to where he was setting out some kind of foil packs
. “Where’s Ari?”  She wondered if Ari could turn into other things besides a wolf and the golden boy. It was all so very strange.

“
He’s gone farther up on the mountain. He wants to be able to listen for a message from our rescue ship. The sounds are easier to pick up closer to the horizon. He can do that better on higher ground.”

“
Will the rescue ship be here soon?” she asked, hoping with all her heart to get off this strange planet and away from the creepy Ant People.

“
I’d imagine we’ll be out of here in the next day or so. They have to come a long way to find our signal.”  He handed her a foil wrapped package. “Eat this. It doesn’t taste as good as your chocolate bars but it will fill you up.” 

She took it and tore the corner off and started munching
. “This tastes good. What is it?”  She stopped, abruptly.
Do I really want to know?

“
Its pure protein made from seaweed. It’s a delicacy harvested from Earth and very nutritious.”  He ate one as well. “It’ll get us through the night and we can retrieve more supplies in the daylight.” 

“
What will they do to you when they find out you didn’t destroy the starship on Earth?”  She sat on a big flat rock picking at the protein bar and listened to Kole.

He hesitated for a heartbeat
. “It’ll be okay. I have what they sent me after.”  He pulled several wafer thin white crystal disks from his pack and a huge rose quartz crystal from another pack.

At least that’s what they looked like to her
. “What’s that? It doesn’t look like much.”

“
They are more than they appear to be.”  He touched the disks with a kind of reverence. “Power points on Earth have been hidden for centuries, holding the knowledge of the universe. Everything–the arts, science and history of my people and many others are on these stones. They have been safe on Earth until recently. If they should fall into the wrong hands, it could destroy worlds.”  He sat beside her and sighed. “It’s time for this knowledge to come to your people again. Ancient prophecies are happening now.”

“
What does that mean?”  She was more confused than ever.

“
Well, it means that it’s once again time for Earth to experience a time of peace and enlightenment. Many centuries ago, our Ancient Ones seeded Star Children on the island of Lemuria on Earth, now a lost continent.”  He sighed and stretched out his long legs and sat beside her.

“
These people had great wisdom. They communicated telepathically and were able to travel into other dimensions enjoying a time of peace and enlightenment.”

“
That blows my mind. What happened to them?”

“
Evil came into the world and the island sank into the sea, killing most of them. The surviving Lemurians were scattered all over the Earth. For their own safety, they were forced to conform to the ways of humans, having to ignore their special abilities. In time, they forgot their powers and history.”

“
I see. That’s terrible.”  She glanced down at the objects in his hand. “Anyway, to someone like me those items look like regular old rocks.”

He laughed
. “That’s the way we planned it. And it has worked for many years. When the government took over the land around the caves, we thought they would be safe forever. Then we heard the rumblings about the aliens around the area and knew it was time to retrieve the stones.”  He carefully wrapped them in a velvet cloth and put them back in his pack.

“
How can you know such things being so far away?”  She was at a loss not understanding how people from another planet could know what was happening on Earth.

“
You’d be surprised at what we know. We intercept transmissions from your world and others to keep our finger on the pulse of the cosmos. We have workers listening to your news broadcasts every day and night twenty-four-seven.”  He changed his shirt. “You might say we are the peacekeepers mostly by listening, and at other times, like now, we have to take action.”

“
That’s amazing.”  Extraterrestrials were listening to their daily lives from millions of miles away trying to keep peace. She wondered if the world leaders would do things differently if they knew other worlds were out there listening and watching.

“
Elle, come to bed.”  She hadn’t been watching him and realized that he had been making a bed for them. “It’s late on Earth and I know you’re worn out. You need to rest.”

Oh my, she was going to have to sleep in the same spot as Kole
. Nervous and self-cpnscious she eyed the bed. “I can’t sleep. What if that thing comes after us while we’re sleeping?”

“
I trust the Ant People. Nothing is coming through that tunnel without us knowing it.”  He reached his hand out. “Come to bed. I’ll hold you and protect you through the night.”

He wanted her to come to bed with him, to get warm, but her heart did a double time beat against her ribcage
. Almost giddy from being this close to Kole she was just a bit anxious about this part of their adventure. Tonight she was exhausted. She wasn’t afraid of him and wanted him, which was crazy under the circumstances. She didn’t even know if he could make love. Her thoughts tumbled and churned as she crawled into the sleeping bag beside him.

“
Let me hold you.”  He pulled her against his chest, spooning her against him. “Tomorrow will be a better day. Try to go to sleep. You’re safe with me.”

She snuggled on her side, closer to Kole
. Here she was in a cave on another world with Ant People and all she could think about was how good his touch made her feel. It felt wonderful to be next to him after all they had been through. She hoped there would be more to come. With his arms around her, she finally began to relax. Fighting her exhaustion, physically and mentally, she mumbled, “I’m tired.”  

“
I know.”  He held her close and whispered in her ear. “It isn’t practiced on my planet, but yes, to your question. I can make love.” 

Her eyes popped open
. “Really?” she mumbled and wondered what that would be like.

“
Yes, now go to sleep, your body and mind need rest.”  He held her tight. “We will have our time together.”

As mixed up as she was, and he chose to answer that question
.
Wow! Did I hear what I think I did? He can make love. When I get some energy, I’m going to do something about that.
She sighed and snuggled against his body warmth. Much to her surprise she was drifting off to sleep, safe in his arms thinking of how great they would be together. Her heart did a tumble at the thought of lying in his arms all night.

Several hours later she rolled over and reached for Kole to find he had left her side
. She opened her eyes to see him across the room, standing over a fire, stirring some sort of pan. Something smelled like chicken noodle soup and she was starving. Stretching, she pushed the sleeping pad away and glanced toward the cave entrance to see the rain coming down in sheets blowing sideways. She sniffed the air and her stomach growled.

Kole glanced in her direction
. “Hey there, how are you feeling this morning?”

“
Better, I think.”  She walked over to the fire. “I’m stiff and sore, but I’m good.”  She peeked into the pan as he stirred it.

“
What do you have in the pan?”

“
Breakfast.”  He grinned at her with that magnetic smile. “Want some?”

“
Oh, yeah.”  She peeked in the pan. “Where did you get chicken noodle soup?” 

“
It was one of the things I had in my backpack from the supplies I picked up in town. The soup and those Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory bars are a couple of my favorite things from your planet. Those and apple pie.”  He stared into the fire as if deep in thought. “Dotty makes the best apple pie,” he said.

“
Yeah, I like those things, too, but chicken noodle soup will hit the spot.”  She practically drooled as she watched him stir the soup.

He dished up the food in something that looked like a paper bowl and handed it to her with an odd-shaped spoon
.

“
Did you see any Ant People last night or this morning?” she asked.

“
No, didn’t see or hear anything all night.”

“
And where is Ari? Does he need to eat? Elle wasn’t quite sure what to think about Ari.

“
Ari has already eaten. He came and checked in with me earlier.”  He glanced at her while he ate his soup. “I’m sure you have questions about us.” 

“
That’s an understatement. I see him change from a wolf to something that glows gold and then a human. How can he do that?”  She finished her soup and stared him in the eye to see his reaction. “Can you do that?”

He eased closer to her and grinned
. “I can do a lot of things. When I drop my human essence, I appear as a golden being like Ari. He is part of my family, my guardian, and has watched over me since I was small.”  He spoke softly. “I am human like you and you’re biological parents, also descendants from the Lemurian Star Children.”

“
You are human, like me?”  Once again, relief spread to every corner of her mind. And to think all this time she was worried he could turn into some kind of scary monster when and if they made love. At least a golden being was better than something scary.

“
Yes, like you. My people use more of their brain power than the people on Earth. That’s the main difference.”

“
What is your planet like? Do you live in houses like us, drive cars, sleep in beds, and have families? There are so many things I want to know.”  She wanted to know everything at once.

He sat beside her, finished with his meal
. “We don’t eat food like your people. Our society is fast-paced. We don’t take time for sit-down meals of any kind. We take pills and shots to avoid eating.”  He shook his head. “Productivity is highly overrated on my world and the food doesn’t taste like yours. Somehow, I think we missed the mark on this one.”

He grinned
. “I enjoy eating real food. The smells and tastes make eating very enjoyable.”  He ran a hand through his hair. “I wish I had some more of those chocolate bars from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.”  A wistful gleam came into his eyes as he smiled.

Her heart went out to him
. He had missed out on so much. “When we get back home, I’ll buy you a case of them.” She reached out and held his hand. “Go on, tell me more.”  She couldn’t imagine not being able to eat. Sure, when she was busy at work she could see how taking a pill instead of stopping for a quick bite would help her get more customers finished. Maybe it would increase her paycheck at the end of the day, but it would never be her lifestyle preference.

“
On my planet, things are quite different. There are no diseases or illness. We live in a healthy environment, virus-free.”  He glanced into her eyes.

“
With no illness, do you live forever?”

“
No, our bodies wear out like yours. Our lifespan is somewhat longer, but we die of natural causes.”

“
Oh, I see. But what about children?”  His lifestyle, living in a disease-free environment
,
sounded like paradise.

“
We have families, but we create our children in laboratories. Childbirth is obsolete.”  He grinned. “When the time is right, the couple goes into a clinic and picks the color of eyes, hair, and sex of their child.”  He watched her reaction. “It may seem too clinical to you, but there are no risks for the mother or baby. Everything is done in a safe environment.”  

“
You mean to tell me you’ve never made love?”  She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
Here he is, the most fabulous man from Mars, her own Starman and he’s a virgin.