Maria

After a long, monotonous hour of trudging through this endless field of Tolon’s odd pale blue wheat-like plants, I was struggling to remain upright from the exhaustion. Why were there no roads on this planet? 

Exploration was definitely not as thrilling as the discovery center back home had led her to believe. In fact, it wasn’t even enjoyable. See new worlds they’d said. Be a part of something great they’d said. Nowhere had they said that she would be slogging through blue stalks of overgrown grass to meet some alien ambassador over imagined slights supposedly caused by her survey team. She wasn’t a diplomat. She was a scientist. And apparently she was a scientist who was meant to be in a lab or office, not off exploring alien planets.

Jones had reported that he had encountered a well-muscled humanoid male who demanded to meet with our team leader to discuss our purpose on their planet. Apparently headquarters had forgotten to mention that there was a civilization that would be bothered by my team poking around, or I would have sought these people out first before getting to work on the field study.

Now I was stuck being an intermediary ambassador with no clue what was going to happen. I didn’t even have any background on these people. I had no idea how I was even going to understand them. Well I take that back. Jones had understood just fine. However he hadn’t told her anything about it. Hopefully they weren’t a violent culture.

I stood there for what felt like hours, alone at the designated meeting spot.

After waiting for most of the afternoon I spotted a figure slowly walking toward me from the opposite direction. I stood from where I had flopped down to wait. As he approached, the scientist in me started cataloguing facts and from that sprang so many questions. Were all the males here as muscled as him? Was he the one that Jones had met earlier? How did their skin pigment to that color? Were there different variables with the planetary light source that caused their skin to almost glow?

He stopped several meters away from me and I blinked rapidly. He was tall, or at least he felt tall. “Halar gotong?” He called.

I shook my head. This was going to be harder than I originally thought. How was I supposed to communicate with him? How had Jones managed?

He crossed the remaining distance, hand extended. He stopped again, this time he was right in front of me and nodded down at his hand. It was empty. Again I shook my head.

I watched as he then placed his other hand in his outstretched one. After holding his hands together for a few seconds he let go and once again stretched it back out to me.

Hesitant, I reached my own hand out. He nodded but didn’t move to grab me. It was several more heart pounding seconds before I got up the nerve to put my hand in his. I was grateful for his patience. He didn’t seem to mind waiting, simply watching me with his rather luminous gaze.

The second I touched my hand to his I heard a deep male voice echo in my mind.

Can you understand me now?

Without even pausing to think I jumped back, severing the connection of our hands. When I looked back up at him he hadn’t moved, his hand still outstretched. He smiled, waiting.

It took me a few minutes to get up the gumption to place my hand back in his.

Nothing.

Hello? I ventured.

Are you well? I did not mean to affright you.

I tried not to gape, but I confess, I did.

C-can you read my thoughts?

He laughed, deep and hearty and rich. My nerve endings tingled and my chest tightened. No my lady. I can not.

But you can hear me?

Only when you purposefully speak your thoughts to me.

Oh.

Your hair shade is mesmerizing. Do all of your people have such a unique shade of oak?

No. I put a hand up to my honey blonde hair. It was then that I noticed that his hair wasn’t black as I had first assumed. It was a very very dark purple. Is your hair naturally purple?

Purple? He looked puzzled for a second. Our people’s hair is many varying shades of amethyst and slate, no oak.

I nodded. And kept nodding.

He spoke first.  I have the name Kheal. You?

Maria. My name is Dr Maria Danton. A sharp zing raced up my forearm to my elbow, just short of painful. I winced. 

His grey eyes flashed, his gaze breaking with mine to stare down at our still-clasped hands. Startled by the heat emanating from his hand I also peered down at where we were touching, albeit with much less intensity than him.  I was surprised when he dropped my hand, practically throwing it away, and turned abruptly. I stood still and waited. After all, he had been so patient with me.

For a second I wondered if maybe I had hurt him in some way, without realizing it. There were too many unknowns for me to reasonably hypothesize what was happening with him.

After several minutes Kheal reached his hand out once again. As I took his hand I noticed his eyes had turned silver, not at all like the pale gray they had been earlier. Now they were shimmering, almost metallic. They were stunning.

The moment our hands connected again his voice, low and strong, rang in my head.

Dr Maria Danton. I felt the cazah when you gave your name to me. I claim you as my life mate as custom requires. You are to come with me.

He didn’t let go of my hand as he turned and strode back in the direction he had come, ignoring my verbal and mental protests. I struggled to stay upright as he pulled me along behind him. Wherever we were going, we were getting there quickly. His long strides forced me to practically run in order to not be dragged.

So not what I had signed up for.