Straight lines crossed the bottom of the sheet. She couldn’t decide what they represented, but the river, if it was a river, led down to them. And in the center of those lines was a patterned blue dot.
As she stared at it, she realized that it almost looked like the planet Earth.
The implications made her heart pound. What if this really wasn’t just some unknown jungle deep in the Amazon? What if she really wasn’t on her own planet any longer?
She tried desperately to convince herself that she was imagining things, but the vibrant foliage, the enormous fireflies, even the shadowy creature that has attacked them…
Mr. Tiddles reached up and patted her cheek, and she choked back a sob. She’d never heard of anything like him before either. Her thoughts circled frantically, trying to come up with another explanation, but deep inside she was already certain. She was no longer on Earth.
Chapter Three
Taraxan listened intently as the small female talked to the forest creature she had befriended. Given sufficient time and input, his translation implant should be able to decipher her language, but so far it had little to work with.
He had become increasingly convinced that she was neither a threat, nor part of a larger scheme to entrap him. The fact that she had a map of her own, even though she didn’t seem to understand it at first, was one factor. Another was simply her complete lack of familiarity with her surroundings.
Once he realized that, he should have continued on his own path to the destination on the map that suggested a way off this planet. However when she had curled up at the base of the tree, looking absurdly small and defenseless, he didn’t have the heart to leave her.
It was just as well that he had not. Once he had intercepted a long, legless reptile that had been slithering towards her. It had been large enough to wrap itself around her small body, but he had dispatched it easily enough, and the meat had provided protein as he continued to watch over her.
The second predator had been a large feline that could have presented an interesting challenge, but after Taraxan growled at him, the animal slunk away. He shuddered to think what would have happened if it had decided to attack the female.
Now he watched as she returned to the map. She finally seemed to have deciphered its meaning, but from the expression of shock on her face and the way her shoulders drooped, the knowledge did not provide any comfort.
Once again, he thought about making himself known to her, but before he could decide, she straightened her shoulders and picked up the bag. He watched approvingly as she lined it with some of the leaves from the water gathering plant, then poured more water inside. A crude solution and not entirely leakproof, but it was a sign of intelligence.
He was less impressed by her next activity. She picked up one of the large leaves that had covered her during the night and, with some difficulty, made a hole in the center of it. He watched disapprovingly as she placed it over her head and then used a vine to secure it around her waist. Clothing was far from a necessity in this type of survival situation—and he already missed the sight of her enticing body. Perhaps her culture had some type of taboo against nudity?
Before he had time to do more than speculate about her society, she consulted her map again, then walked into the jungle. Assuming that he had interpreted his glimpse of her map correctly, her destination and his were in the same general vicinity. Thankfully she was heading in the right direction. He decided to follow from above, leaping easily from branch to branch, or taking advantage of the many hanging vines to swing from tree to tree as he followed.
He told himself that he needed to keep close to her so that he could pick up any additional words she spoke, and to make sure she continued in the right direction. At first, she did just that, although her pace was frustratingly slow. She seemed to trip over even the smallest vine and run into every low hanging branch. His translation implant decided that the frequently repeated word “dam-uht” was a colorful metaphor indicating distress.
If he had been observing one of his young cadets, he would have immediately dismissed them as clumsy and unworthy, but instead he found this female’s determined efforts admirable and… adorable? He was not used to thinking of a female in such a way, but it seemed to suit her. However, her helplessness also increased his protective instincts, and once again he debated making his presence known. As he argued with himself, he realized that she was beginning to stray off course. That seemed to decide the matter, but before he could drop down to ground level, she appeared to realize the same thing. She came to a halt and slumped down against a large fallen branch.
The small forest creature—Misstuh Tiduhlz—had accompanied her on her journey, sometimes perched on her shoulder and other times skipping along beside her. Now it looked up at her expectantly.
“Idontwanttogetlost. Weneedtowaituntilthisafternoon.” As she pointed to the sun directly overhead, he realized that she had been using it to guide her.
The little creature chittered at her, then began digging around in the rotten wood of the branch. Taraxan nodded approvingly when it retrieved a large insect and tried to hand it to the female. To his surprise, she shuddered and drew back. Why was she rejecting an obvious source of protein?
After one more attempt to offer her his prize, Misstuh Tiduhlz bit into it with obvious enjoyment.
Perhaps she was not a flesh eater. It was not a common
