I'll drag the entire thing back with me and work on figuring it out at Alice's side, while I know she's safe.
The comm system in the pod is heavy and unwieldy, but I manage to strap it to my back and give one last look to the pod. There's nothing we can't live without in here, nothing that's more important than getting back to Alice as quickly as possible, so I abandon it and start heading back.
All the while, I think of Alice. Laughing, smart Alice with her bright hair and her bright smile and sarcastic words. Alice, who goes crazy when I touch a sensitive spot on her neck, makes charming little grunts of need when I'm deep inside her, and who clings to me at night in her sleep and then declares that I hog the bed.
I keffing love that woman.
Just thinking about her makes me walk faster. If whoever else is on this planet has found her and harmed one golden hair on her head, I'm going to keffing burn everything to the ground.
I keep expecting my lungs to ache or for my legs to get tired, but fear for Alice's safety is the best rush of adrenaline I've had in a long time. I'm able to keep going without getting tired, and when I find our familiar stream, I race forward even faster. "Alice!" I bellow, heading for our tree. "Alice! Sunshine!"
When I get to the tree, the rope ladder is pulled up and my heart thuds in slow-motion. Is she just scared or mad? Or did someone crawl up it and attack my female?
I'm about to throw the comm system down off my back and climb up the tree when a familiar yellow head pokes out of the ship from above.
"Kas!" she cries, and then bursts into tears. "It's you!"
I want to joke that of course it's me, but something's happened that's rattled her and I no longer feel like joking. "Lower the rope for me, Sunshine. I'm home. I'll take care of you."
She tosses it down, and I climb up with ridiculous speed, skipping every other handhold in my effort to get to her. The moment I get to the top, I fling off the heavy piece of equipment on my back and Alice rushes into my arms. I love the sight of her, mussed, wavy hair, tiny tube top knotted between her breasts and a homemade skirt. She's never looked more lovely.
She's crying, her face wet with tears as she holds me tight. "You're not allowed to leave again," she chokes out.
"I have no plan to." I squeeze her tight. "You're stuck with me." I run my hands over her smaller frame. "Are you hurt? Did someone show up? Is that why the ladder was up?"
Alice burrows against me for a moment longer, and then my words sink in. I feel her stiffen against me, and she pulls back, a suspicious look on her face. "Why would you think someone showed up?"
Time to come clean. She's not going to be thrilled with me, but she deserves to know the truth. All of it. "We're not here alone, Sunshine."
53
ALICE
My overwhelming joy at Kaspar's return is almost immediately soured. Funny how in a jungle full of danger, he immediately zooms in on the fact that we're not here alone. Not “did our rescuers swing by” or “did a jungle predator prowl too close.” No. He asks if someone showed up.
Maybe it's a logical conclusion, but judging from the guilty look on his face, I'm right. He knows something that he's not sharing.
"We're not here alone, Sunshine," Kaspar tells me. There's a grave look on his handsome face, and not even my joy at seeing him again can block out the “danger” signals flashing in my head.
Calm. I can be calm. "How long have you known?" I ask.
I know him well enough now that I can see the guilt written all over his face. "Since we headed in this direction. The day I went out scouting and said that I saw more giant bugs? I saw a footprint in the mud instead. That told me someone was here, but you were already panicking and I didn't want to give you more to worry about."
I lick my lips. My first initial thought is anger that he's lied to me. Frustration that he doesn't trust me to tell me the truth. But I also know Kaspar well enough at this point that he doesn't have a malicious bone in his body. If he genuinely thought he was protecting me, I believe him. I know I was a mess when we first landed. Heck, if I'm this upset just at catching a glimpse of someone, I can't imagine how much anxiety I would have been in over the last few months knowing someone else is out there, possibly watching us.