Free Eden by Louise Wise Page B

purpose, the trollop!
    She giggled to herself, wondering if the air was addling her brain. She sobered when she found his strange stare on her, and turned to watch the fire.
    They sat in silence, watching the flames lick at the carcass on the spit. Soon the meat began to cook, and the smell made Jenny ’s mouth water.
    Moving towards the fire the alien unleashed claws from his fingertips and hacked out a chunk of meat. He pushed the almost raw meat into his mouth, and while the fire spat as fat dripped down onto it, a trickle of blood ran down his chin; he brushed it away. He turned the meat, and sat back on his haunches.
    At that moment, she would’ve given in to her fear and ran, but looking in the direction they had travelled she wondered which she feared more: the forest and its hidden dangers, or the alien.
    Taking control of her breathing, she forced herself to relax. He wasn’t out to harm her, she told herself. He has claws, so what? So do Labradors.
    The alien took out the computer. He spoke into it in his one- syllable, clipped voice. The machine played-back his alien words in English: “Have you tried the transmitter from your vehicle?”
    Jenny glanced over at the computer cum translator he held. She had no option but to move closer so she could speak into it. She did so reluctantly and spoke deliberately into the device: “Yes.”
    “They are not coming back for you?”
    Jenny cleared her throat. “Our craft is having technical problems.”
    The alien seemed intrigued although his face remained blank and unmoving as Jenny explained as simply as she could what had had happened.
    “The asteroids brought our craft down,” he said.
    She looked up in surprise. “Were you exploring the planet, too?”
    He ignored her question. “Can your craft be repaired?” He was definitely interested.
    “I hope so, if only for those left onboard.” Of course he was interested, the thought thundered in her brain. How could she have been so dim? He wouldn’t allow her rescue, all he wanted was Taurus for himself.
    “Why only for those left onboard?” he asked. “I do not understand the reason. “
    “I could survive here, they can’t if their provisions and air run dry.”
    “You have concern for them?”
    “Of course.”
    She saw something flash in his eyes. It could have been surprise, but she wasn’t certain.
    Without replying, he checked the meat again. This time, with a knife. When she looked closer, she saw the knife was made from antler, like the spear yesterday, and shaped and sharpened to its deadly appearance.
    There was a box on the ground, which she hadn’t noticed until he moved towards it and carried it over to the fire. Reaching in, he took out a tall, spouted white canister, which he held it out to her.
    “Fill, water,” he instructed.
    After she had done as he’d asked he took the filled canister from her and emptied in a powder. Then he replaced the lid and put it in the center of the fire beneath the spit. After a while, when Jenny was almost drooling, he brought out a flattened, cleaned stone as before, and sliced off several pieces of meat onto it and handed it over to her. She tucked in with a hunger that frightened her. Her stone plate was empty all too soon, and as she waited in silence, she was rewarded with more meat.
    “This is delicious,” she said, and watched the alien shift his plate to his other thigh, so he could use the computer. “Were you the ship ’s chef?”
    She waited while her voice was translated, he cocked his head as he listened, and then spoke into the voice box. It said:
    “I was an electrical engineer. My cooking expertise is limited to throwing an animal on an open fire. Anyone who is hungry could do that.”
    “I couldn’t.”
    He looked at her with his usual expressionless face, and spoke without the need of the voice box. “Did you evolve or de-evolve?”
    She grimaced. “It sounds that way, doesn’t it? We’ve become so used to technology that