Or Die Alone

Lorza stopped at the peak of one of the dunes, holding her hand to her brow to shield her eyes from the sun, then he heard her cry out.

"I see it! Boyd, I can see it!"

He scrambled up the incline to join her, practically dropping to all-fours for grip as he climbed, coming to rest beside her as he panted. He could see it, hazy in the distance like a mirage, what looked like a refinery rising up from the flat horizon.

"That's it! That's the oxygen farm! We can't be more than a day's walk away by now!"

Boyd pumped his fist in the air, then Lorza took him in her arms to lift him off the dune, hugging him against her chest and spinning him around. They became tangled in the makeshift rope that he had used to drag his sled, tying Lorza's legs together and sending the pair toppling to the snow in a puff of powder. Boyd found himself lying atop the alien, his face sinking into her cleavage, and she laughed heartily as she attempted to untangle the rope. After a moment she gave up and lay back on the snow, her arms splayed to her sides as she caught her breath, looking down at a now red-faced Boyd who was struggling to pull himself free of the bonds.

"You're not half bad at navigating, mudak, you'd make a fine cartographer."

She ran her fingers through his hair, her claws tickling his scalp as she pet him. He struggled to climb free of her breasts, his hands sinking into the plush fat, unable to find purchase. She smirked at him, reaching behind his back to unclip the rope from his belt, then took him by the wrist and rolled him down the dune. He came to a stop at the bottom and rose unsteadily to his feet, dizzy as he brushed the snow of him, the heat from his suit melting what got caught in the recesses and circuits that lined it. He glared up at her and she laughed again. It was infectious, he didn't have the heart to scold her, nor to suppress his own grin as he mounted the incline to return to her side. He welcomed the levity after their ordeal.

She took his hand as he reached the top, pulling him up and tying the rope back on his belt.

"Lead on mister Boyd."

CHAPTER 8: HONEYPOT

The sun was getting low, framing their destination in its pale and far-off glow, the oxygen farm growing larger by the hour as shafts of light penetrated its many pipes and platforms. They could make out details now, innumerable cylinders of enormous scale extending out of view beneath the ice, no doubt siphoning water from the sub-surface ocean and carrying it up to the refinery to be prepared for shipping. Oxygen was a valuable commodity, humans breathed it, drank it, and used it as fuel for conventional thrusters. Wherever there was a colony or an outpost, there would be an oxygen farm on a nearby stellar body. Asteroids, comets, gas giants and frozen moons all contained oxygen in abundance, though it was admittedly a rare occurrence to find it in liquid form. This one must have been placed here by ExoCorp to supply Hades with fuel and drinking water. With any luck it would be manned by civilians or completely automated, the possibility of Syndicate stooges taking control of it was not impossible but it wasn't as if they had any other options. Better to keep his concerns to himself so as not to dampen Lorza's good mood.

"We should find shelter soon," he said, "though I'm loathe to stop walking when our objective is so close. I feel like I could reach out and touch it."

"Yeah, plenty of caves around here, we have enough food to last us days and there are no monsters on our tail, so there's no reason to rush and exhaust ourselves. We can take a break and you can cook us up some supper."

"All you think about is food," Boyd chided, and she patted her paunchy belly with her hand.

"I have to keep the engine running."

"You might be starving, but I feel like you're the only person who has ever appreciated my cooking."

"Does your wife cook for you?" Lorza asked, looking back over her shoulder at him as she hopped over a patch of ice. "I find that when one human can't cook, they have a wife or a mother that does it for them, so they never had to learn."

"No," he replied, "I don't have a wife. I couldn't, not in my line of work."

"Poor Boyd, no mate to cook for him, he must eat his own food. Lorza will have to teach him."

"You're going to teach me to cook?" Boyd laughed, assuming that she was joking.

"Yes, when we get off this moon I will teach you to cook, you'll be making borscht like a true babushka in no time. Then you can woo a mate. There is a human adage that my people like very much, 'the way to a heart is through the stomach', this is true for us also."

"Yeah, I couldn't help but notice."

"Food is central to our culture. Hunting together reinforces our bonds, cooking and preparing the kill brings us closer together, when the whole pack feasts at the table and shares the fruits of their labors we grow as a family."

"How about you?" Boyd asked, crossing the patch of blue ice gingerly as he extended his arms for balance. "Is there a Mister Persian rug waiting for you back home?"

"Borealans don't really...well, we pair off sometimes when we mate, but for the most part we're pretty liberal when it comes to romance. Humans value monogamy and pair for life, or at least they claim to, but I've rarely seen that behavior from your kind. It's paradoxical."

"So...you've never met anyone that you really liked?"

"Oh, sure, and I've had a few of them. I've not found a mate though, not in the way a human would understand the concept."

"And...have you ever been with a human?" Boyd hesitated, trying to phrase the question in a way that sounded less suggestive. "I hear stories about Borealans from the Marines, word is they get up to a lot when they're off-duty."

"Why? Are you interested in being the first?"

She laughed at him as he shook his head vehemently.

"No I'm just curious, it's not every day I get to have a heart to heart with an alien."

"No, I've never been with a human. There was one guy though, a boy I met when I was studying in Saint Petersberg. He was cute, we hit it off, we went to all the same classes and I could sense that he wasn't good with girls. He liked me though, maybe an eight foot tall alien was less threatening to him than talking to females of his own species." She chuckled as she reminisced. "One night he followed me back to my dorm, I told him that I needed his help with a thesis I was writing. It was a lie of course, I just wanted him, but he must not have liked the way that I propositioned him. I guess I shouldn't have expected all humans to be accepting of aliens in that way."

"His loss," Boyd said, shrugging. Lorza gave him a sideways look, cocking her head.

"Why do you say that?"

"He passed up an opportunity to try something unique, he probably won't get that chance again. You should always seize the moment and try new things, even if you end up hating them, at least you can say that you didn't let the opportunity pass you by."

She reached over and gently punched his shoulder, playful, but still with enough force to knock him off balance. She grinned at him as he stumbled.

"I didn't expect such wisdom from you, mudak. What about you? Ever been subjected to a night with an Equatorial?"

"Can't say that I have, you can probably imagine, but there aren't many positions for Equatorials in my profession. They're not exactly the most subtle or tactful operatives. Besides, why do you phrase it like that? I remember back when we were arguing you told me that you'd like to lock me in a room with one just to see what would happen, too. Are they really that bad?"

"They're worse, though I can't say that I don't see the appeal. They fuck like they fight, there's a winner and a loser, and they give no quarter."

"And what about Polars?"

"We put a little more thought into it than that," Lorza replied, grinning. She looked past him, gesturing with her clawed finger. "Look, a cave opening. We should stop here and get some rest."

Boyd nodded his agreement, and they changed course towards the cave mouth. This one was a little smaller than the last, but shallow, and before long they were seated on the soft sleeping bag beside a stove. Boyd flipped a cut of meat over the flickering, blue flame of a gel packet as they sat together, huddled for warmth. If he could forget about the mobsters who were intent on killing him, it was almost fun. Maybe he should do some more camping when he got back to civilization and took a well earned vacation.

Lorza watched the meat brown, licking her chops as Boyd turned it on his knife.

"If only we had something warm to drink," she muttered, "we have water bottles but the plastic would melt if we tried to heat the contents."

"This one is nearly done, it'll warm you up."

After a few more moments he passed the meat to her, steam rising from it in the cold air, and Lorza took a wet bite out of it. He placed a second steak on the stove as she licked the juice from her chin with her long tongue.

"You don't give yourself enough credit Boyd, this is like heaven. Maybe it's the mild malnutrition talking but I could eat this all night." She draped her arm over his shoulders and hugged him against her furry body, sawing off another hunk of meat with her sharp teeth. "We're probably the only people who have ever seen one of these animals, let alone eat it. We should name it!"

"Name it?" Boyd chuckled, his eyes on his cooking.

"Yeah, we discovered it, so let's name it." She scratched her chin with one of her black claws as she though about it. "How about...a snowdevil."

"Not bad, not bad," he replied as he flipped the meat. "Needs to sound more aquatic though. What about an Octo-stalker?"

"Oh, I've got it! You ever seen a Rainbow Spider?"

"Can't say that I have," Boyd replied, "what's that?"

"It's a huge predator that lives in the equatorial jungles of Borealis, it's covered in beautiful fur that refracts light, hence the name. The Elysians especially like to wear its pelt as capes or robes as a status symbol. This creature was colorful too, so how about we name it a Rainbow Squid?"

"Fair enough," Boyd said as he brought the now cooked meat to his mouth and took a bite. "Rainbow Squid it is, and this here is Boyd's home cooked Rainbow steak, patent pending."

She laughed and brought her head down level with his, rubbing her fur against his cheek in a display of affection that surprised him. Polars really were a tactile people, they communicated so much through touch. It had been alarming at first, but he was quickly growing accustomed to it now. She was warm, and her coat was like velvet, he brought up a hand to scratch her head and she crooned appreciatively.

"Your suit really is warm," she mused, then she smirked and wrapped her large hands around his torso. She plucked him off the sleeping bag with little effort, planting him in her lap and crossing her arms around him. Her thighs were pudgy and soft beneath him, her breasts cushioning his head as she blew warm breath in his hair. "If only this kept its charge overnight, it would be so~ nice."

He finished off his steak, blushing in earnest, feeling the rise and fall of her ample chest. She rested her chin on his head as she watched the fire dance, Boyd now enveloped in her fat and fur as they relaxed, the cold all but driven off by their combined heat.

It felt nice, it was comfortable to be held like this, and Boyd didn't know how that made him feel. His heart had quickened and there was more than warmth heating his cheeks.

"You went quiet suddenly," Lorza mumbled, "something wrong?"

"No, I just...I'm relaxed."

"I know that humans can be weird about being touched, but we're friends right?"

"I don't mind."

"I think that you'd be a credit to any pack that would have you," she muttered. It was an oddly off-hand comment, and he peered up at her as she looked down at him with her blue eyes.

"Yeah? Why do you say that?"

"I think that you're a Polar at heart, you're a survivor, you take care of your own." She ruffled his hair with her hand. "At least after you've learned who your allies are."

"I guess the way to your heart really is through your stomach," he said, and she laughed at him.

They sat in silence for a while, Boyd feeling an odd tension growing in his chest as he sat in Lorza's lap. He had become painfully aware of the way his fingers sunk into the supple meat of her thighs, and the way her breasts swayed as she breathed, pressing against the back of his head. He couldn't stand it any longer, and rose to his feet suddenly, Lorza blinking her eyes at him.

"What's the matter?"

"I just...bathroom break." He hurried off down a side tunnel as Lorza watched him with a quizzical expression. When he was out of view he leaned against a nearby wall, tapping at the touch pad on his wrist to lower his suit temperature, hoping that the chill air would have the same effect as a cold shower. His chest felt tight, what the hell was wrong with him? He had endured her teasing and her attempts to get under his skin for days, but now it was her genuine affection that was piercing him like a hot knife. He was accustomed to resisting interrogation, but he didn't know how to deal with this.

Did he like her? How would he deal with it if he did? He felt like someone was inflating his heart with a bicycle pump and that it was about to explode. He tried to compose himself, would he even survive another night in the sleeping bag with her?

The bite of the cold helped distract him a little, calming him enough that he might put on a stoic front, but he doubted that it would last long. He had to do something about this, could he not endure her company for just one more night, and then be rid of her? Maybe it was her proximity that made him feel this way, and having her gone would ease the tension.

Just stick it out, he told himself, in a few more hours it won't matter and she'll never have to know about it. Lying was his job, playing a role was his profession, and this was no different.

He made his way back up the tunnel, walking returning to where Lorza was sitting and planting himself a good foot away from her. She cocked her head at him, scrutinizing him with her piercing stare and tracking him with her fluffy ears. He selected another piece of meat from the pile, they had dragged it closer to the sleeping bag tonight, and began to cook as a means to occupy himself. He felt her eyes on him as he flipped the meat with his ceramic knife, the flame from the gel packet casting long, moody shadows that twitched and flickered on the ice walls.

"Boyd, you've been acting weird all day now, if you can't talk to me then who can you talk to? There's nobody here besides us. I can never read you, you're an enigma."

"I'm fine, just some digestive issues, I'm probably having a hard time with the alien meat."

She kept her eyes on him, her expression skeptical.

"I may not be able to read you like I can with most humans, but I know you well enough by now to realize when you're acting out of character. Did I do something to upset you?"

"No, nothing like that. Listen Lorza, we only have one night left before we're off this wretched moon, so what do you say we have a little more to eat and then get to sleep? I'm tired from all the walking we've been doing, and the sooner we pass out the sooner we can be up and moving again."

"Yeah...ok." She didn't seem convinced. He had to admit that he wasn't doing a very good job of concealing his feelings, hiding the way you felt about someone was somehow so much harder than going undercover. He felt as if he couldn't look her the eye or she'd know, but she could sense that something was wrong.

He was startled as he felt her sinuous tail wind around his waist like a tentacle, surprisingly powerful as she dragged him towards her and into her waiting arms. She planted him in her lap again, enclosing him in a cocoon of flesh and fur, his head spinning as her familiar scent washed over him.

"At least share your heat if you're going to get all quiet on me, mudak. The sun must have set because it's getting colder. Will you stop wriggling?"

Boyd struggled to escape her grasp, a new desperation gripping him as that pressure in his chest returned, his face burning as he made excuses.

"My meat will burn, come on, lemme go."

She was so much stronger than him, and he couldn't escape her, eventually relaxing to simmer as he realized that she wasn't going to let up.

"I can feel your suit getting cooler, you're running out of power, we should get into the sleeping bag."

He had dreaded it, but he nodded his head, Lorza releasing him to tend to the stove as she unzipped the bag. He retrieved the meat and began to eat it, not really hungry anymore but forced to keep up appearances, it would look strange if he didn't eat the food that he had prepared.

He turned around to see her lying snug inside the bag, holding it open her with one hand in invitation, her large breasts pressing together under their own weight.

"Come on, I'm getting cold again."

He steeled himself and complied, shuffling closer and rolling into the sleeping bag. She closed it around them and zipped it up, Boyd now trapped inside with Lorza, her voluptuous body pressing down on him from all sides and her feminine scent hotboxing him in the enclosed space. Her whole body was soft, yielding, no matter what position he tried to sleep in he was always in contact with something round and squashy. Worse, she was being extra affectionate now, draping her arm over his chest and pushing her face into the nape of his neck to nuzzle like a cat.

"My people sleep in piles," she muttered, her hot breath tickling his skin. "It's nice that I can be more relaxed around you, I'll sleep better if I can feel someone close to me."

His heart was pounding like a hammer in his chest, the feeling of her warm fur on his skin making his head spin, Lorza noticing and placing her palm on his forehead.

"Are you sick? Your face is red."

He felt as if steam might pour from his ears, unable to contain himself any longer as her plush body enveloped him.

"No, I'm fine, just the stress getting to me I guess."

She hooked her clawed hand around the back of his head, sinking her fingers into his hair, and pulled him closer to bury his face in her furry neck. He breathed in her scent, warmth flooding his body and his heart quickening as she scratched his scalp, pleasant shivers rolling down his spine. Were all of her kind this affectionate with one another? Was this normal behavior to them? Even when he had been with women he had never felt anything like this before, as if her compassion was leaking from her very pores. He felt more wanted in that moment than he ever had in the heat of sex, the sensation was confusing and exciting, he felt drunk.

"That's it, just relax, you're so tense. We'll be home free tomorrow, get some rest."

Her voice was soft and low, husky yet feminine, her breath tickling his skin as she murmured in his ear. Did she know what she was doing to him? No, she couldn't influence him like she could other humans, she had said so herself. Unbeknownst to her, years of training in resisting everything from persuasion to outright torture had steeled him against her wiles, this was something different.

He felt as if he might explode if he didn't say something, anything. This would be their last night together, his last chance to act on these feelings. What was it he had said to her? That you should seize the moment, let no opportunity pass you by and never fear new experiences.

"Lorza..."

"What is it," she mumbled, "finally going to tell me why you've been acting so shifty?"

"I...I think I might be falling in love with you."

She released him from her embrace, looking down at him with a confused expression. She was usually so snarky but now she was speechless. His face burned and he stammered through the rest of his confession, each sentence making him feel more like he had made a grave mistake. "These past few days since we...well, since we stopped fighting...I've never felt so close to someone. Maybe it's because of the things we've been through, maybe it's because we've had to spend every moment together, but I feel like you're the only person who can know me the way you do. I'm a spy for the UNNI, a spook, I was sent to Hades on a covert mission. From the moment I saw you I was lying to you, and every day it became harder and harder. Now I feel like I can't even look at you without spilling my guts, what kind of spy does that make me?"