Page 5 of Alien in the Depths

“I swear it’s true! My father had his son’s personal diaries in his study.”

Sofia laughed, ceasing the water-warfare. “That’s insane. To survive a war and then be murdered by your wife.” She held her side, giggling. “How did she even manage that?”

“Apparently, she stabbed him forty-five times in the groin when they were, you know, getting it on.” He winced at the thought, instinctively covering his junk. Sofia noticed, because of course she did, and started giggling again.

Zaraq watched her, a smile tugging at his own lips at her glee. Sadistic glee, but adorable all the same.

The day passed slowly, with the two explorers sharing stories about their adventures. They migrated from the pools when it got too hot and were now sitting against the tunnel wall just outside the cave with the natural springs.

They sat across from each other, their legs almost touching in the narrow tunnel. To Zaraq’s disappointment, Sofia had thrown on her strange T-shirt over her swimsuit. Probably for the best, because her body had kept him distracted during their swim.

“I told you my story. What’s yours?” Sofia asked, tilting her head curiously. Zaraq tensed. This was part of the reason he avoided people. Well, this, and not knowing who was sent by his previous boss or law enforcement.

“There’s not much to tell. I traveled a lot with my parents until they died. When I was older, I was able to travel some for work.” Technically, he’d been hunting down people who owed his boss money, but that was still traveling. Sort of.

“I’m sorry. My parents are also dead,” Sofia said, a sad look crossing her face. “How old were you?”

“It was a long time ago.” He couldn’t exactly share that they’d been killed when he was seven and how he had to keep himself alive after that. His methods were unsavory, at best. It didn’t help that they’d been living on Rikuus at the time of their murder.

Rikuus was known as crime central for this side of the universe. It was mostly run by crooks and mob bosses, and the law enforcement on the planet was as depraved as many of the criminals. As an orphaned child, he couldn’t do much except get involved in the mob life. He’d started as a simple messenger boy, but as he grew, things changed.

He was brought from his reverie by a nudge on his leg. His eyes snapped up, finding Sofia studying him with a slight frown. He shook his head slightly and smiled sadly at her.

“Anyway, I’ve been alone for a while. It’s nice to have some company,” he said to change the topic.

Sofia bit her lip, eyeing him dubiously before clearly deciding to let it go.

“Adventuring is sometimes a lonely sport,” she replied. They shared a smile, and Zaraq marveled at the familiarity between them.

“Speaking of adventuring,” Sofia said as she jumped up. “Want to explore some more?” She offered a hand to Zaraq, and he relished the softness of her hand as he took it. They returned to the cavern to collect their packs. His heart nearly stopped when Sofia gasped loudly.

“Zaraq! Look!”

He turned cautiously, wondering if his doubts of the paranormal were going to be obliterated. He let out a soft laugh when he saw her at a small basin toward the back corner of the cave. He joined her, their arms brushing as they looked at the pile of jade stones just below the surface of the shallow water.

“Do you think it’s bad luck to take one? I can never decide,” Sofia mused.

Zaraq took a deep breath and dipped his hand into the water, grabbing a smooth stone. They both shared a wide-eyed look and then studied the cave anxiously. When nothing happened, Zaraq dropped the stone into her hand.

“Let’s hope the general’s spirit doesn’t live in these,” he joked.

Sofia swatted him at the comment, but the corners of her mouth tilted upward. She consulted her map, showing him the route she wanted to take. They would be able to spend the night in the largest catacomb, where most of the Orcan barbarians were buried.

As they set off, Sofia spoke softly. “Thank you. I love taking little mementos from my travels, but I had to leave most of them back on Earth.”

“Did you do this a lot back there? Chase spirits and other nonexistent creatures?” he asked cheekily.

Sofia shoved him and laughed. “They do exist! Well, not that I’ve found any documented proof. It’s part of why I was so keen to explore space.”

“What happened?”

“Oh, you know, just a spectacularly failed career in ghost hunting. I bought all this tech, traveled the world, and just got ridiculed by the so-called professionals.” She made a strange movement with two fingers on each hand and rolled her eyes. “It’s a seriously competitive and cruel industry.”

Zaraq’s mouth tightened. He couldn’t imagine anyone disregarding this charming, funny, and gorgeous female. The thought weirdly filled him with anger on her behalf.

“Anyway, I got to see a lot of cool places. I met some amazing people—all living, unfortunately,” she added with a smirk. “And I have a bank of weird and wonderful stories. It’s my party trick.” She tapped her forehead with a finger and grinned at him.

“Well, I could probably give you a run for your money on that one. I’ve collected my own share of stories on my travels.”