12:31 06/06/2587 –(8734/706/43/19)

“Can we please stop and rest,” Nish complained; her legs ached, she was hot, and she was hungry.

“You’re the one who wanted an adventure before you left,” Gabriel reiterated as he swung his machete at the foliage that blocked their path. Nish had wanted something a bit more primal for their last day to truly wow everyone back home. Technically tomorrow would be the last day, but the shuttle departed a 60/50, so that did not give them much time to do anything.

To that end, they had all decided to travel through the Melbiac forest, a dense woodland filled with life, and only a few established trails, taken only by the most adventurous tourist and locals.

So disused was the forest that the trails were overgrown, and no guides worked its routes, so anyone wanting to travel in it needed to do so on their own. Not that this was a survival situation by any means, they were travelling along the shortest route, had enough food and water for a week, and all the forest had good reception. Disused was not the same as wholly abandoned.

“Yeah, well, we can’t all be superbeings,” Nish retorted between her pants for air.

Gabriel snickered and asked, “you are aware that I am overweight, and my exercise routine can only be described as light?”

“On Earth, my dear human, on Earth that is all true; here, you might as well be Zuomerc,” Nish retorted, propping herself against a tree.

Gabriel went quiet, and when it became clear Nish was not going to explain who Zuomerc was, he said, “care to elaborate.”

“Zuomerc was a mythological hero to the ancient Domot. Famous for slaying one thousand and five monsters, his most incredible ability was his endurance; it was said he never needed to land, that he could fly forever without stopping,” Nish explained.

“Although, now that you mention it, I’ve never felt stronger in my life,” Nish said, standing to her full height. “Being in high gravity all the time is one hell of a workout.”

“I didn’t mention anything,” Gabriel said, confused.

“It’s just a turn of phrase; now compliment me, you ditz,” Nish replied.

Gabriel smiled and, with a faint chuckle, said, “you look like you could take on five MMA fighters.”

“What about me?” Pista asked, jumping onto Gabriel’s back and, as usual, butting into another person's conversation.

“I’m pretty sure you could take on an entire basket of kittens,” Gabriel replied. To which Pista trilled broadly.

“Come on, we need to get going, or we’ll be late tomorrow, and last-minute tickets cost a fair chunk of change,” Gabriel said after checking the time.

Travelling through such isolated land had both benefits alongside the apparent problems. The main one was that many small creatures had no fear of sapients drilled into them by being chased by thousands of children.

This became apparent when a flying animal perched on Gabriel's head and began preening its wings.

“Don’t move; I need to capture this,” Nish said, pulling out her P.D.A and snapping a picture, just as the little creature rubbed its rump on Gabriel's scalp and made itself comfortable.

“It’s making a nest,” Pista said joyfully.

It was interesting, but Gabriel was in no mood to have this little dear stay any longer; the memory of the last time flying animal he interacted with was still vivid, despite happening over a month ago.

Gabriel attempted to shoo it away, but the animal was having none of it and refused to move. Changing tactic, Gabriel instead grabbed the critter, which struggled half-heartedly, before realising Gabriel’s hand was, in truth, comfortable.

A tripedal lobster was the best equivalent Gabriel could come up with, one of those spiny lobsters without the big claws and huge eyes. It was covered in brown and green fuzz, and its wings were similar to a butterfly.

“Can I pet it? It looks just like a Coy; just it has fewer legs,” Pista asked, staring intently at the animal. Gabriel supposed a Coy was a domestic pet, similar to a cat or something.

“Gently now,” Gabriel said as the creature gently wafted its wings.

Pista trilled happily as she patted the animal’s large adorable head while Nish filmed the whole thing.

“Cabtra’s going to be so jealous,” Pista squealed as the animal rubbed its head against Pista’s fingers. That was one of Pista’s friends if Gabriel remembered correctly.

Suddenly a rumble came from above, and everyone looked up, the canopy hid much of the sky, but even so, Gabriel could make out dark clouds.

“Oh, by the eyes, three separate weather reports said it would be dry today,” Nish half shouted. She had brought an umbrella with her, but if the rain was going to be as bad as it seemed, it would not do much good.

“Did you remember to change your location from Reshu to the forest when you go the report?” asked Gabriel, placing the fuzzy lobster on a branch.

Nish looked straight ahead before shouting, “Crap!”

“Come on; we need to find somewhere dry. That way, you two won’t freeze to death,” Gabriel said, taking hold of Nish’s and Pista’s hands and leading them through the forest.

***

Gabriel had hung a tarpaulin above their heads, they had initially been brought it along so they could sit on the wet ground, but the trio were nothing if not resourceful.

They had also managed to get a fire going to stave off the chill; depending on how long it continued to rain, they could be here for a while. Not that Nish, Gabriel or Pista were skilled at woodcraft, Gabriel had brought along a canister of liquid lighter fluid, and a packet of fire starters with so much heat even the damp wood of the forest eventually caught light.

“You really are prepared for anything,” Nish said as she basked in the warm glow of the fire.

“I felt it was prudent; I like to think that we are three smart people, but let’s be honest, were not exactly survival experts,” Gabriel replied, poking the fire with a stick; it gave out a large crack, which made all three of them jump.

Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

Pista cuddled up to Gabriel, resting her head on his arm. Unfortunately, bringing seats with them had been impossible, so instead, they all sat on a smaller waterproof sheet that was soft to the touch. It was a little cramped, but considering how chilly it was, neither Pista nor Nish was eager for personal space.

A low mournful lowing sound came from the woods, through with so much vegetation and the sound of the rain, it was impossible to tell where it came from. It was a haunting noise; whatever made it sound as though it was in pain, whether physical or emotional, it did not matter.

It wasn’t, of course; these were the famous howling shork, known across the galaxy for their unnerving calls. The shorks themselves were harmless, no bigger than gibbons, and far less aggressive. The calls were the shorks telling the others to stay off their turf. On the rare occasion, two shorks met, it would be resolved with a push-up contest.

None of this knowledge stopped Pista from huddling even closer to Gabriel, and considering how the bellows went right through Gabriel, he could understand why.

They would be at it for hours; each shork was fearful that its rivals would use the cover of the rain to invade their territory. So, Gabriel rummaged through his rucksack, looking for a distraction. Then he found it.

“Who wants to try roasted marshmallows?” asked Gabriel.

***

Nish sighed, a trait she had picked up from Gabriel. It had been raining non-stop for over forty hours, and it did not look like it would let up any time soon. They had attempted to contact emergency services, but the thunderstorm was interfering with the signal.

She wasn’t worried; they had more than enough food, water and blankets to last the night. Not to mention the lifeform they had in their corner could take on anything Minagerad could throw at them.

Gabriel was an enigma to Nish in several ways. Not unexpected, considering they evolved on worlds three hundred light years apart.

Emotionally distance while simultaneously warm and open, impossibly tough and incredibly fragile, cavalier with danger and frightened of his own shadow. With a sample size of one, Nish did not know how much that said about humanity and how much it said about Gabriel.

Nish heard a branch snap, and she strained her eyes in the dark, looking for whatever made it. It was probably Gabriel; he had gone out a little earlier looking for more wood they could dry over the fire before using it as fuel.

Gabriel had not been concerned about going into the forest, he was not going beyond the sight of the fire, and there was nothing in the woods that could threaten them. Those were Gabriel's words which made Nish question them; he naturally had a different sense of what was dangerous than she did.

There was another crack, louder this time, and Nish reflexively stretched out her wings and immediately regretted it as they became soaked by the downpour. All stress evaporated when Gabriel came into view, dragging an impressive collection of sticks, water sliding off his hydrophobic suit.

“You ok? You stretched your wings there for a moment,” Gabriel asked, propping the stockpile against the fire.

Nish was amazed at how good his eyesight was and was more than a little pissed off when Gabriel insisted that a human’s night vision was terrible. “I needed to stretch but forgot about the weather,” Nish replied, refusing to tell him the truth, not least of all because she needed to be brave for Pista. Nish shivered as her cold, sodden wings began pulling her down.

Gabriel noticed this, sat beside her, and allowed Nish to stabilise her own body by leaning on his. “Looks like we're sleeping here,” Gabriel said as he tried to distract himself from how hungry he was and how likely it was that he would soil himself.

He could have gotten that fancy one with the toilet function, but no; when on Earth would he ever need that?

As she leant on Gabriel, she looked down; Pista was also cuddling up to him. She was both excited about the adventure and terrified about being trapped in the forest.

Nish also felt strange; it was something she had never felt before. It had occurred two weeks or so after meeting Gabriel, and at first, she had assumed she was ill. But a quick trip to the doctors had laid that fear to rest.

She had since come to believe that Gabriel was the cause, and now that she held Gabriel tight, she was certain of it. It wasn’t a bad feeling, but she had no word for it; it was utterly alien to her and driving her nuts.

“I’m not looking forward to the bill when I need to book new tickets,” Nish mumbled, trying to distract herself from the odd emotion. They would probably only have first-class ones left, which cost much more than a pretty penny.

“I’ll chip in,” Gabriel replied as Pista got herself more comfortable, resting her head against Gabriel’s shoulder.

Nish tried to relax, closed her eyes and thought, “This is going to be a rough night.”

***

If Pista had been upset about saying goodbye to Erilur and Risoti, then she was utterly devastated by saying farewell to Gabriel. So much so that she had not managed it after fifteen minutes, still clinging to him, bussing like a mad person.

Nish and Gabriel had expected this, so they had arranged an evening flight and arrived early. Maybe not early enough. At this rate, they have to book another set of tickets.

“It’s ok; I’ll come visit, I promise,” Gabriel said, gently rubbing Pista’s head.

“But I…I…I,” Pista tried to say before her emotions got the better of her, and she buzzed even harder.

Gabriel spent the next ten minutes gently rocking Pista back and forth, and despite Pista's distress, he could not help being highly flattered by her outpouring.

“Can’t… you come… onto the spaceship with us?” Pista asked. Gabriel wasn’t sure what she meant precisely, whether she just wanted Gabriel to walk onto the shuttle with them or wanted to take him back to Yursu. Not that it mattered, he could not do either.

The instant Gabriel said no, Pista began buzzing again, and it took another ten minutes to calm her down.

“Come here,” Nish said, holding out her arms. Pista was reluctant to at first, but eventually, she relented.

Finally, accepting there was nothing she could do about Pista went quiet. She was not the only one who felt a pang at being separated, though not as severe as Pista; part of him wanted to hold onto her and never let go.

“I… guess this is goodbye for now,” Nish said, unsure how she should do this. She had said goodbye to colleagues and friends before, but this was different, and Nish had no idea why.

Gabriel stared at Nish and wondered whether he should say anything about his feelings. This would be his last chance, and odds were that if he waited until he visited Nish, in god only knows when Gabriel never would.

“Nish,” Gabriel said.

“Yes,” Nish replied.

Gabriel held out his hand and said, “it was lovely to have met you, and I’m looking forward to visiting Yursu.”

Nish took his hand, and they both shook. Gabriel did what he often did whenever he faced something uncomfortable. He retreated into his nice comfy hole and waited for it to pass.

He watched Nish and Pista leave for the shuttle waving all the time and then watched the shuttle depart into the atmosphere until it was gone.

“For the best,” Gabriel said.

***

Gabriel walked back to his penthouse on autopilot, ignoring everyone and everything around him. He was very good at it, and he deF.T.L.y avoided every obstruction. He had intended to spend the walk thinking, but Gabriel did not think.

Through the lobby, Gabriel gave only a passing greeting to Shupp. He wanted to be alone.

He kept his back to the view as he ascended the lift, focused solely on the floor number.

Back in his room, he removed his suit and hung it up. Near his bed was a large stack of books, the same ones he had bought on his first day here. He had spent so much time with his friends that he had not read any of them.

Now he had all the time in the world. He finally got what he wanted.

***

Two weeks later, Gabriel's letter had finally reached Erilur. At first, she was a little perplexed; the last time she had received paper through the post had been when her acceptance letter to Rorit Univerity had come almost two decades ago.

Whoever had sent it, had gotten lucky; she would be leaving for Xorko today and had it arrived just five hours later, It would have needed forwarding to her.

She was busy, but this was an event in and of itself, and she read it in her living room; her parents were there, helping her pack.

As Erilur read the first word, she understood what had happened. “That mother fucker,” she said aloud. As she read through the letter, her grip tightened, and her claws punched holes in the paper.

“What, what is it?” her mother asked; she had been curious before, but now she needed to know what was written in it.

“Gabriel, that piece of shit, he one-uped me,” Erilur replied, waving the letter in her mother's face. “That monkey wants a war; well, now he’s got one,” she added, grabbing her boots and payment card as she headed for the door.

“Where are you going?” her mother asked.

“I’m going to buy an ink pot and a fountain pen and that powder stuff people used to put on their letters in the old days,” Erilur replied as she closed the door and headed for the nearest stationary store.

“She’s moving to a whole other world, and she puts it all on hold for a pissing contest,” her mother stated, dumbfounded.

“Don’t look at me; she gets it from you,” Erilur’s father said, deF.T.L.y dodging the cushion thrown his way.