Drelloc was so tired, but she understood the need to keep moving despite the fact. She observed Donner, the man was always moving and shifting. His eyes never seemed to stay in one place for long as he scanned the ground ahead for threats and danger.
She shuddered, they had already encountered more than enough danger to keep her nightmares busy for the rest of the year. But despite the horrible circumstances that she found herself in, she couldn't help but feel more alive than she had ever felt in her life.
While her own people did not secrete such potent natural stimulants as human adrenaline, her own body still created a fear and stress hormone when activated by strong external stimuli. With the amount of times they had nearly stepped on live ordinance or fallen through the thin dried mud laying over some sort of toxic mire, she was about as on edge as she had ever been in her life.
In fact she was nearly shivering with the amount of stresses that were swirling around in her body and bloodstream. She had never taken hard drugs before, but she could very well imagine that they might produce an effect similar to this. The mixtures of positive and negative emotions were almost too much for her tired mind to handle.
They made their way up an embankment, Donner assuring her that they were nearly out of this terrible place. She watched her surroundings tiredly, her legs shuffling slightly as she fought to keep pace with the man.
He was walking faster, likely just as apprehensive as she was after spending half the day amongst such horror. She saw him turn to look back at her, those piercing blue predatory eyes seeming to look straight into her innermost self. She felt her eyes crinkle in a smile as he looked, she managed to gasp out a question through her heaving lungs, “Are we… nearly there?”
He seemed to think before turning, speaking with a gesture that drew her eyes forward. “Yes, not much longer. We are going to rest just at the top of that hill, you see it ahead?”
She saw it, it looked lovely. The sides were not too steep and there were some large boulders she could use as cover from the sun too. She flexed her throat to speak, the works dying in her throat as she felt something metallic depress under her foot with an ominous clicking sound.
She froze, she wasn't a soldier. But she knew what antipersonnel traps were, and if she didn't know any better then she would have assumed she had just triggered a landmine. For whatever reason it had not detonated though as it would likely have been intended too, and she trembled in fear as she looked down as best she could.
‘Yes, it is!’ Part of her wailed as she made out the unmistakable features of the terrible device half buried in the dried mud dust. She looked over towards Donner, the man was crouched over and making a noise that sounded far from reassuring.
She held herself as still as she could, “Donner, what do I do?”
The human stood stock still for a moment and she felt her heart sink in her chest as she witnessed his grim expression. The sallow look of his eyes telling her that she was in trouble, and not the kind that she would likely be walking away from.
She shivered, her bones quaking under her skin from fear. Not that she was about to die, for some reason the thought didn’t bother her as much as she had at first assumed it would. No, she was afraid of all those who may die because she had failed her mission.
She gestured to Donner slowly, “Donner. You need to leave me, I can’t..”
But the man refused her instantly. “No, I won't.” The anger in his tone surprised her. What was he mad at? Her for getting him into this whole fiasco, or something else? Drelloc felt her mind scrambling for answers and loosened her hold over the others slightly.
‘We need to give him the drive.’ one of her other selves said. Drelloc made a negative gesture in response.
She thought angrily, ‘But if I do that then how can we be sure he will even be able to get it to the right people. If the information falls into the wrong hands..’
But she was cut off again. Another quarter this time spoke up internally. ‘You know what you need to do. Do it, he will understand. He has too.’
Drelloc looked back outward, her surroundings hadn’t seemed to change much. Donner still stood nearby, too close in fact. If the mine were to detonate in that instant it surely would have killed him too. “Donner, you need to get away. I have to tell you something..” She hesitated.
Donner took the opportunity to straighten and speak once more, his strange alien features screwed up with emotion and his voice trembling from the power of them. “I can’t leave you behind like this Drelloc. You don't understand..”
She made a subtle gesture of understanding. “I understand, I do. But you need to listen to me now. My mission, I.. I won’t be able to complete it. I am passing the torch to you Donner.” The man opened his mouth to speak but she raised her voice, the rebreather she wore muffling her slightly as she spoke quickly. “I have on my person a data drive that contains information on the current Hegemony codes for this sector. It needs to be taken directly to Union Intelligence Command back at headquarters. Nobody but Zeslov or Tammara are to see it or get ahold of it. Do you understand?” She asked the question almost desperately, she needed to hear him say it. Needed to know that her mission was going to be completed despite her own.. issues.
She felt the skin around her eyes sag in a frown as the man shook his head stubbornly. “I can’t just leave you here. No, I know how to disarm explosives, I took a course that was meant for Whipcrack once. I think I can do it..” He seemed almost frantic.
She needed to convince him, she looked around and her eyes alighted on the grinning skull of some long dead slaaveth soldier. She pointed to it and waited till he looked. “I'm dead already Donner. Just like them, you need to listen to me. I have vital information for command, you must take this drive to them.” She shuffled her arms slowly so as not to agitate the explosive she was atop, just because it had not detonated didn't mean it was a dud. It may have simply become fouled, the slightest movement on her part might be enough to finish triggering the terrible device.
Donner stopped, his gaze fixated on the partially buried corpse. “I can’t believe that. The mine hasn't gone off, so there is still a chance for me to disarm it. I need to try.”
She was almost beside herself. What would it take to convince him to admit defeat, to let go of his mission to protect her. Not even he could protect her from certain death. “Listen, you need to let me go.” She felt liquid leaking from her secondary eyes, not quite tears as a human would understand them but something born from a similar depth of emotion. The pain and anxiety she had been feeling since the first gunfire had started several days before now exploded out of her as she sobbed. “Please, don't die for me. You can make it, you will be so much faster without me too. You could make it, I know you can!” She was almost wailing, her carefully concocted control now fully shattering under the strain.
She felt her other quarters slip from her grasp, but she remained mercifully still. Her other selves understanding the gravity of their situation. Donner shook his head violently and crouched, his hands over his face as the distraught looking man seemed to war with himself. Muttering and shaking his head.
He stood and then started to take off his armour, she was aghast. What was he doing? As if to answer her question he spoke softly, “I won't leave you here to die Drelloc.” He tossed the discarded gear behind him. His vest, gun and tactical harness landed in a heap.
She waved all four arms in a series of emotional signals that did little to deter the man. Finally she demanded, “What are you doing, why can’t you just leave me to my fate?”
Donner shook his helmeted head, gazing down and away from her eyes as he finally blurted out what had been eating him up inside. “I can’t leave you because I can't live without you! I’m.. I.. You are everything to me.” He clamped his mouth shut with a slight snap, as if he was afraid to have spoken the words
Silence reigned, the sound of the wind the only thing that whispered in her stunned mind. Her other selves were just as quiet as she. She had suspected, had hoped. But he had just admitted to everything she herself had been too afraid to admit to herself.
He seemed to shake himself, his arms coming up in some manner of placating gesture. “No, I m-mean.. Yes I meant that. But w-what I meant to say was..”
She cut him off. “I love you?”
Now it was the human’s turn to freeze. She felt part of her wilt inside, but whether it was from shock or embarrassment she couldn't tell. She had said it, she had admitted it out loud.
What the drudge did they do now?
**********
Donner was frantic. What an asshole, what an idiot. He was an absolute doofus, he had just gone and said it, and to a UNI spook too. He had just told this woman, a trained information specialist and many times his superior, that he had deep feelings for her. What was she going to say? What would she do? What could she do..
He put up his arms in an apologetic manner, desperate to mitigate the damage his careless admission must have caused. What a truly messed up situation, she was already worried about her life ending and he had to go and heap his own human insecurities on her like that? It was shameful.
He stuttered out, “No, I m-mean.. Yes I meant that. But w-what I meant to say was..”
Drelloc cut him off suddenly, her arms hung by her sides now in the most neutral manner he had yet seen from her. “I love you?”
Donner was unable to accept her words for the admission they were for a few long moments. His face a mask of surprised confusion as his arms slowly lowered back to his sides. All thought’s of the apology he was giving now forgotten in light of a new and powerful revelation.
He coughed. “You.. what?”
The strange alien woman made a slow gesture towards him, almost pleading in its intensity as the skin around her eyes crinkled hard. “You heard me. I know what you meant. I meant it too.”
He felt a sort of muted elated dread in his chest. On the one hand, here she was confirming all that he had been wishing for these past few days. On the other hand she was still perched atop a live explosive.
He took off his flack jacket the rest of the way as Drelloc stood silently watching him. His helmet and gloves were next, joining the small pile of gear that was heaped at his feet. He removed a small tool can from his equipment belt and unopened it to peer at its contents.
As he did so he heard her asking, “Donner, what are you doing. You had better not be thinking of trying to save me. You need to take this drive and..” But he cut her off with a wave.
“No, if it didn’t trigger immediately then it must have been fouled or something. I know that I can get you out of here. I just need to think for a second.” He scrubbed his hands over his face, trying to remember the explosives and ordnance class he had taken when he was a new recruit.
He pulled out several of the small tools from the can, a pair of needle nosed pliers and a small magnetic screwdriver. Drelloc made a series of slight noises and he slowly crawled his way towards her.
“This is ridiculous. You will kill us both!” She seemed to fight with herself for an instant and he froze as her body shuddered for a moment. She sighed and spoke in a different and slightly tinny tone, likely another of her strange internal personalities shining through. “You can do this Donner. We are counting on you.”
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He nodded, not sure if he was addressing her or one of her other selves, “I can do this. I will do this. I just need to..” he trailed off as he inched forwards again. The mine was mostly invisible from his position near to the ground. Only the slight cracks in the once muddy soil showing the outline of it.
He tried to think of the make and model, it looked almost like a model-H4.8 mine. The pre-war design having been used mostly against hostile fauna and brigands on isolated frontier outposts. He was less surprised by the mine’s failure to detonate now, the model-H type mines had become well known for their failure to live up to their combat potential.
It also meant that he knew what to do to disarm it safely. He pulled out his whittling knife from his pocket, pausing to look at it. He glanced up towards Drelloc, “I need you to trust me.”
He saw her make a series of gestures that ended in her whispering, “My life is yours Donner. I trust you.”
His heart skipped a little, the clear endearment that she put into her tone now apparent to even his dull human senses. He pushed the emotions deep though, he had to remain totally focused on what he was doing.
Ever so gently he used the point of his blade to scrape the dirt from around the edges of the half buried mine, the more he uncovered the more nervous he became. His hands started to quake slightly as he finished clearing it off, the last vestiges of clinging mud falling away from its dark green casing. He felt a gentle hand rest slowly on his shoulder, Drelloc’s slightly husky gurgling voice telling him, “You can do it Donner. I trust you with my life.” It was her normal voice once more. He felt his mind calm, his hands steadying at her words and gentle touch.
He took a deep breath and worked around the sides of the canister again till he felt the blade touch a subtle joint. He carefully followed it up to the top and levered on it with the point of the blade, careful not to impart any force on the mine itself. After a few tense seconds he heard a small crack and a line appeared, it grew into a gap as he lifted the top cover of the mine ever so slowly and looked inside.
He swallowed heavily. “Okay, I see the trigger mechanism.. Holy shit..”
Drelloc spoke slowly, as if afraid her words would doom them. “What is it? What do you see?”
Donner took a shallow breath and pried the top a little higher but was unable to lever it entirely off due to Drelloc’s wide two-toed foot. “The spring catch didn't release, it seems to have caught on the fuse. Some water or mud must have leaked in and fouled the system. Don’t move.”
She seemed to snort slightly. “I wasn’t planning to.” she seemed to mutter, only just loud enough for him to hear in his current situation.
He swore quietly and wiped at his lenses ineffectually, the eye pieces of his gas mask fogging up from his labored breathing. With a final curse he tore them from his face and risked an unmasked breath. Sensing nothing immediately deadly he smiled only slightly. He looked at the internals of the mine and sized them up in his head. If only he had a long thin piece of foil he could use to hold the spring catch in place.
He glanced up at Drelloc suddenly, “Drelloc. Do you still have one of those protein bar wrappers on you?”
She carefully checked her pockets without so much as asking why he would need such a thing. Her trust in him allowing them to skip such minor pleasantries. She made a few disappointed noises as her hands came up empty before she grumbled triumphantly and held out a crumpled piece of shiny branded foil.
“Yes, I got one! Er, here you go?” She handed it to him with a strange expression, two arms clasping together in an almost placating manner as he took it from her.
He first straightened and then folded the thin aluminum foil several times before he was sure it was now rigid enough to do the job. He looked up at her and patted one of her thighs that was not currently planted on a live explosive. “Okay, here goes nothing. When I tell you to run you need to hoof it like your life depends on it.. because it does.”
She simply made an affirmative gesture and tensed slightly as he turned his attention back to the mine. He had propped the opening with his carving knife and now slowly slid the folded piece of foil inside the mine’s housing. If he did it right, he should be able to lift the catch and jam the foil under the striker. Almost.. There…
He managed to do it, the catch tripping slightly as he forced the small blocking pin in place. But it was not a perfect fit, it would likely slip from its crude position in a second when the tension was relieved, and that could have explosive consequences.
He jumped to his feet and shouted, “Run! Now!”
He grabbed her as she started to move, pushing her in front of him as their legs pumped. After what felt like an eternity he bore her to the ground behind a small rise, his body covering hers as he heard a slight fizz from behind him. There was a tremendous noise, less a sound and more like a wall of pure force.
The ground leapt up to meet him as the sky became light and he felt pain in his shoulders. Then his helmeted head slammed into the shuddering ground and everything went black.
**********
Donner groaned. His head was throbbing, his throat felt like raw meat and his tongue was a piece of sandpaper in his parched mouth. He tried to open his eyes but shut them again quickly, the intense light making his aching head swim even more.
He groaned again, smacking his lips as he trashed weakly against something that had him bound.
There was a rustling noise and he felt hands on his chest, too many hands. He tried to remember what had happened. There had been danger, something was making him sad and angry at the same time. He remembered.. trenches, mud.. the mine!
“Drelloc!” He shouted as he tried to sit up, his eyes slamming open. He looked around in a panic and felt something push down on his shoulders. Two hands gripped the sides of his head as a face swam into focus, slowly he slowed and then stopped. Blinking against the light that was rapidly begging to dim as his dilated eyes adjusted to the gloom.
Drelloc knelt by his side, her strange alien features only a foot from his own as she scrutinised him with those blood red eyes of hers. “Definitely concussion. Oh you dumb rouv. Why did you have to go and be the hero again?”
He smiled a bit dumbly, her words glancing off the top of his addled brain like skipping stones from a pond. He reached out and placed a hand on her cheek, on one of her cheeks rather. “Drelloc..” he murmured. She placed one of her ten-fingered hands over his own, her eyes closing as she leaned into him slightly. After a moment of this she pulled away and stood. “How..” He asked her, looking around for the first time since he had awoken.
He was in the survival shelter, the walls a little sagging but looking sturdy enough. “Okay, well I managed to set up the tent alone, as well as dragging you out of there. I found a small stand of tall scrub over the hill you had pointed out and set up camp there. I know it's a little close, but I just couldn't carry you any farther. I’m sorry.” She seemed to slump slightly.
Before she could draw away he reached out and gripped one of her thighs, the only part of her in reach. “No, you did incredible Drelloc. You saved my life, you set up the camp on your own. I am proud of you, you have come so far already from the nearly clueless woman that I met on that first night.”
She seemed to glance down at his hand holding her leg and then moved closer deliberately. A strange look crossing her features, “Clueless huh? Is that what you call it?”
He floundered slightly, those strange alien eyes of hers seeming to bore into his own. He shivered, and not just from the cold that was beginning to seep into the small shelter. He released her as she shuffled closer to his side, her movements slow and deliberate.
She placed two hands on his chest once more, making him wince slightly as several bright spots of discomfort flared on his back. The discomfort warring with the quickening of his heart as she leaned closer. Her mouth was on the top of her head, out of view. But he could imagine it pursing slightly as she began to speak slowly. “What you said to me, when I told you to leave…”
He tensed. He knew that this was coming, but he hadn’t really had time to prepare himself for such an admission. “I told you.. and you told me..” he trailed off slowly as she placed a third arm on his chest. This one moving slowly down his stomach towards his abs.
She seemed to tremble slightly, the many sensory tendrils that hung from the bottom of her head coiling slightly as she tasted the air. She opened her eyes once more and looked into his own deeply. That same strange emotion moving across her grey alien features. The smaller secondary eye set above the primary that was looking into him closed as she shivered. “So cold..” she muttered.
Donner felt something in his mind shift. He had been looking at her as an alien, but now in that moment something changed. He no longer saw the differences in her shape, the dark grey skin and blood red eyes that were set in such a strange manner compared to his own. No, she was simply another lost soul, tormented by the events that had led them here. He longed to comfort her, to protect her and shelter her. Maybe it was the concussion talking, but in that moment he realised he loved her with every fiber of his being.
Donner reached out an arm and cupped one of her cheeks again, the tiny nearly invisible hairs feeling like velvet under his sensitive fingers. “Drelloc, I love you. I mean that with every particle of my soul.”
He heard her gasp. “I.. know. I think I knew that first day, but I didn’t want to admit it to myself.” She shuffled closer to him and he tried to sit up but winced as the pain in his back forced him to lie still once more. “No, don’t move. You were hurt, I think you have shrapnel embedded in the bones of your shoulder. I wasn't able to get it out and so I just applied quickheal to them. It should prevent infection, but there may remain pain for some time.” She seemed sad that she hadn't done more and he found himself chuckling weakly.
“What is it? What did I s-say?” She asked, the slight chattering of her teeth reminding him of her need for warmth.
He struggled with the jacket he was still wearing, “Help me get out of this thing.”
She realised his point and with her four extra hands he was soon disrobed. Several of her eyes roamed across his body as she bundled the jacket in her arms. “So, do you want to..” She yelped in surprise as he grabbed her shoulders and pulled her down closer to him. He laughed as she regained her composure and made a disapproving gesture. “Well, I suppose there is no reason to be shy anymore then?”
Donner smiled, his teeth glinting in the dwindling light as he shrugged. “I am cold, what can I say. And tired, we should sleep as we may not get the opportunity to do so again before we reach friendly lines.”
Drelloc made an affirmative gesture and moved closer to him, her slightly smaller alien from tangling with him as she practically climbed on top of him. He grunted, “What are you trying to do?”
She made a strange noise, part a gurgling chuckle and part snort. “I don’t know. I just have this uncompromising urge to be closer to you. I can’t explain it, I want to touch you.. if that's alright?”
Donner glanced at her, two of her legs were entwined with his and her head was resting on his shoulder. He had to suppress a laugh, “I would say you are doing that already Drelloc.”
She slapped him gently on the top of his head. The same hand then placating the gesture by running through his hair gently. He couldn't suppress a sigh as her dexterous fingers massaged his scalp. “Oh, I mean.. Yes? But I was serious about getting some sleep. We need to get there tomorrow, the upcoming territory is way too hot to camp overnight.” She made a small noise that caused him to smile. It had sounded very much like ‘Mhmm.’ The very human expression sounded a little odd coming from her.
He felt her run her hands over his chest and shoulders, her curiosity overcoming the shyness that had stayed her hand earlier now that they had both admitted their feeling openly. He ran his own hands over her strange body in return, determined to give as good as he got. She giggled almost girlishly as one of his hands brushed her waist. “Stop, I'm ticklish there..” She murmured as she nuzzled closer to him.
He could feel several of her sensory tendrils touch his bare skin under the flack jacket, Drelloc releasing a sigh soon after. “You smell so strange, but in a good way.” She added a little hurriedly. Seemingly embarrassed by her admission.
He hugged her a little tighter and admitted, “You smell nice too. Like a forest after rain, or decaying wood. I don't know, it's actually pretty comforting. Like memories from a forgotten childhood.” He stuttered out, feeling a little embarrassed himself.
He chuckled as she just snuggled closer, the mismatched shapes of their bodies warring with their obvious desire to be as close as possible. He ran a hand along the lower edge of her head, his fingers tickling the small hanging sensory tendrils that hung from there causing her to shift.
She pressed closer to him and sighed. “Donner, I was wanting to ask.. Have you ever..” she trailed off and he was forced to prod her slightly to get her to continue. She giggled and then nervously continued, “Have you ever, slept with an alien?”
He cracked a small smile at her timidness, she was far older than he. Likely well over one hundred years of age and yet here she was acting like.. He realised that she was probably asking for herself. Her people were not exactly known for being physically romantic in the manner of most other species in the Union. She was likely feeling her way around, trying to make him more comfortable with her presence.
He rested his cheek against her head and smiled. “I have, last night in fact.”
He grunted as she once more jabbed him in the ribs. “You know that isn’t what I meant.”
He nodded and sobered slightly. “Well, I had Whipcrack take a few passes at me, but she always struck me as more interested in Frezz.” he wasn’t sure what to tell her, a pang in his heart fluttering as he mentioned his squadmates. They stayed close for another moment in silence before he asked her, “Have you?”
She chuckled. The strangely alien sound was much more familiar to him now that he had spent so much time in her proximity. “No, not at all.” She hugged him slightly tighter. “Not until now at least.”
He found himself smiling. “Well, you can chat all you want tomorrow as we make our way back to the front. We need to get some rest, and if my sore muscles are any indicator then I am about ready to conk out.” He wrapped his arms around her upper body and rested his chin against the side of her wide head.
Drelloc patted his shoulder with one arm. “You are right. Thank you for saving my life.. again. I couldn't have made it this far without you.”
Instead of replying he just hummed softly. A tuneless melody that he had often used to lull himself to sleep on noisy nights in conflict. Soon his breathing slowed and he dropped into the dark blissful oblivion of sleep.