(upbeat music)
So, there are three chapters left.
So I believe we are at the end of caveman aliens,
ransom, a Sci-Fi, BBW, alien faded mates, romance, I believe.
I don’t know how many times I’ve done this now.
So there’s been 14 months.
So a year every month, I’ve been reading chapters of this book.
And I have to say, I did not enjoy any of this sex.
I did enjoy the world building.
I didn’t really enjoy the characters that much.
Dialogue’s pretty weak.
But I got into it.
So here we are, chapter 28.
I think 29 30.
What’s the situation?
Summary, the final summaries, the ladies were taken
from their university where they were working
on translation device, transported through space
where they tried to take over the ship,
failed miserably, were dropped on a planet.
The planet had dinosaurs, kind of, alien dinosaurs.
They were all looking for food.
Sophia, our main character, falls into a river
that makes you drunk, gets, falls down like a waterfall
into a cave where she meets a man, alien man,
who is jacked on steroids, has tiger stripes on him
and red eyes that are sexy as hell apparently.
He also has two penite, a big one
and a little one that looks like a sex toy.
He decides, this is the fruit, there are no women on this planet.
They reproduce by putting their genetic material
into a plant and growing essentially clones.
They did not get specific as to how they
put their genetic material into the plant.
I believe they have sex with the plant.
He tries to wake her up by performing oral sex on her.
She says it’s really good, but then goes, “Hey, you shouldn’t do that.”
They hang out for a bit, they get down and they knock boots.
They start, he’s like, “Hey, come back to my village.”
He’s like, “I gotta help my friends.”
She goes back to her friends, they go to the village,
she goes to the village, they meet again,
they knock boots again, it’s really good apparently.
They get to the village and then the priest of the village
is like, “Whoa, she’s the mother for told in her prophecy.”
Those other women are on our sacred ground
and either they come down and be our sex slaves or we kill them.
This view is like, “Hell no!”
So then she gets put in prison while
they try to figure out what to do with her.
Unknown stranger puts a ladder because it’s just like a big hole.
Put a ladder in the prison, she crawls out
and then works her way back to her friends.
She only knows one person on the planet,
so it was pretty clear who it was from the beginning to me,
but they tried to make that in mystery,
which was a good effort, but pretty much a failure.
They get back to the container that was
dropped on the planet with all the women in.
They’re all overjoyed to see each other
and then these things, they’re calling them not Dakto’s,
they’re taradactyl giant bird dinosaur
things are coming in and going to attack
and they were gonna kill Sophia and
then a whirling blade of madness came out
and started cutting stuff up.
That was Jackson.
Our heroes love interest.
The hero being Sophia, in this case, heroin.
I actually, you know, I don’t see heroes
being gendered, so I’m sure I’m wrong.
But our hero love interest, Jackson came in and he’s, (imitates gunfire)
he’s cutting them all up and shit, but he’s getting tired and she’s like,
I have to go back, I have to help.
So, let us make this happen.
Chapter 28, Sophia.
I hiss and curse and scramble and try to claw my way to the door,
but not have to help him, but the
other girls hold me back until I calm down.
There’s nothing you can do, someone says into my ear.
We have no weapons.
She had a gun, she’s used it all.
Good stuff.
You’ll just get it his way.
I realize that it’s true and I take a deep shaking breath
and try to keep from breaking down into a screaming heap,
a sore, sob forces its way out of me.
As my world is filled with black despair,
still I notice that the girls are filled with something else.
God, that’s him, that’s her boyfriend.
Fuck, he’s hot, okay, pause.
You are in a container that is being attacked by dinosaurs.
You are all under the threat of death.
You may notice that he’s a very attractive man.
You are not going to start having conversation about it.
You are going to be in stiff silence,
you’re going to be stunned, you’re going to be shocked.
Okay, then the next sentence makes though.
Are they all like him?
So like can I get one too?
He just chopped off its head with a single slice.
I’ve never seen anyone jump that high.
Yeah, the other girls saw him too.
For the first time I realized I can just shake my head.
They’re definitely not all like him, not at all.
No one’s not like him in the whole universe.
I can hear the screeching from the knot ductiles outside.
I clamp my hands over my ears.
And then the whole tuna can’t reverberate
with a bang, so loud, Caroline loses her balance.
It falls on her butt.
We stare at each other.
What the hell?
Then there’s another bang and another.
And I realize that the walls of the tuna
can are getting dented from the outside.
The dents protrude into the can.
They’re big and pointy.
Like, dactyl beaks.
They’re trying to break into someone whispers.
Shit, I wonder if it’ll hold together.
It did go through space.
I’m pretty sure I can handle a dinosaur.
We sit in a huddle on the floor and hug each other.
Looking up at the ceiling, we’re more and more dense
and more performing with loud rattling bangs.
It’s like being inside a huge drum when
someone’s throwing large rocks at it.
The gun is empty, I whisper, unnecessarily in a sore throat.
Do we have any Spears?
Just this or a whole set of stick that’s only the size of a pool cue.
But I think it’s pretty much worse than nothing.
Roll and window.
Okay.
The tuna can is now reverberating constantly
with bangs and the dactyls are definitely sitting
on top of it and pecking hard at the metal.
Many new dents develop.
The sound is taking on a strange sound
as if the metal is starting to give in
that a streak of daylight appears in the ceiling.
That’s a whole, somebody says.
It’s not holding.
Fuck, this can’t be good.
All that exposition, I know it’s only four lines, completely unnecessary.
Everyone would understand.
But I feel a calmness come over me.
I’m pretty sure Jaxon is dead.
Those dactyls are fierce and there were hundreds of them.
He can’t defeat them all.
This whole thing is just no good outcome for me.
Because it’s time to get real.
We have no way to get off the planet.
The plude aren’t going to come back and get us again.
Even if we survive this, we’ll be killed by something sooner or later.
And this being eaten by dinosaurs is probably
better than being kept as a sex slave
by a stone age tribe.
And better than being sacrificed and better than being slowly killed by one.
This is a very long sentence.
And better than being slowly killed one after the other
by a various horrors of this planet.
Maybe dying like this isn’t the worst thing that could happen.
At least we’ll die together.
In reality, we were dead the moment we were kidnapped from Earth.
I’ve known it all along.
I just haven’t admitted it to myself.
Don’t worry, girls.
I say I can hear the flatness of my voice.
This is all going to be OK.
Well, whatever happens, I’m going to stay in care.
Fuck.
The entirety of this book.
She’s taken on a role of the happy, go lucky girl.
Well, whatever happens, I’m going to stay
in character as the cheerful one to the end.
No one replies.
They probably think I’ve gone crazy.
There’s a horrendous metallic shriek
as a portion of the roof is being rolled and ripped off.
Along beak dips down.
We all squeal and bunch together up to the wall by the door.
Other parts of the roof are breaking down too.
And pieces of the metal are torn off the top.
Like an actual tuna can, can.
Tuna can being attacked by a maniac with a blunt knife in each hand.
Pointy, not dactyl snouts with terrible teeth are being stuck in from above.
Now we can smell them too.
It’s a smell like rotting meat and sulfur.
I think this is it, girls.
The deliost says calmly.
We deserved an end better than this.
But for what it’s worth, it’s been a pleasure working
with all of you because they’re not in the military.
They can’t say serve.
So it’s been a pleasure working with all of you.
We all look to each other.
It’s hopeless, but we face certain deaths so many times now
that we just don’t have many more fucks to give.
We clutch each other’s hands, slender, dirty, sore,
and bruised hands that were used for lifting coffee mugs
and using cell phones and writing on computer keyboards.
But then had to do a very different things on this planet.
I’m proud of us.
I think we’ve done really well.
Even if it ends like this, damn right.
It’s been an honor, guys.
Thanks for everything, ladies.
We’re the best fucking tribe on this shitty planet.
The best by far, I heard the other ones.
I don’t even have– I heard the other ones don’t even have women.
Fuck this useless planet.
And it’s pitiful, loser kidnappers that dumped us here.
I’d like to see anyone else do this after us.
Earth, girls, rule.
Thanks, guy.
Fuck this is some painful dialogue.
They could have had someone give sort
of a mini-month-a-log to three sentences.
And then they all just kind of agree would have been more impactful.
The dialogue in this has been rough.
It’s been hit and missed.
Sometimes it’s pretty good.
Sometimes it’s pretty bad.
This to me is bad.
I don’t think this is– I am very big on if I’m writing a serious
story, how would people actually talk?
And a lot of times in these kind of situations,
they just wouldn’t say anything at all.
So that’s what you have to go with.
They certainly wouldn’t have a line for everyone that they pass around.
Something makes me get to my feet, and
the girls are looking at me in puzzlement.
My knees are weak.
My movements are jerky with fear.
But I know what to do.
Jaxana’s alone out there.
He has to be dead already.
But I want to go to him.
No, I need to go to him.
I will die holding around his dead body.
It’s right.
You know, I’m not sitting here like a trapped rat just waiting
for a damn-not-dacto to decide to eat me.
Gun or not, I’m going out fighting.
I slapped the door button and step outside.
That’s pretty cool.
Now, she says she’s going to go out and die holding her lover’s body.
I’m OK with that.
She says she’s going to go out fighting.
I think it would be worth to go out fighting.
This is a classic.
OK.
There’s tons of movies where they have
the guy with a gun and a guy without a gun.
And they say dig a hole.
And it’s clearly that he’s digging a grave for himself.
And when he’s dig onto a certain point, the guy shoots him.
And he falls down dead in the hole.
I’ve always thought in that moment, I’m going to die anyways.
I don’t want to die digging my own hole.
So since I’m going to die anyways, it would be worthwhile
to attack the man with the gun and give it a shot.
Because if I lose, he’s going to kill me.
But then he has to dig the hole.
If I win, I don’t have to dig a hole.
So regardless of result, I am plus not digging a hole.
Whereas that guy is 100% digging a hole or dying.
So it’s kind of win-win even if you lose.
She’s kind of got the same philosophy.
She’s like, I’m going to die.
I might as well die on my own terms.
This is how I’m going to do it.
I got some respect for Sophia.
Chapter 29.
Sophia.
I just, just as I exit the tuna can, all the not-dactals
take off and soar into the sky.
More like a flock of giant starlings than a swarm of deadly predators.
I can’t count the not-dactals lying dead on the ground.
They’re too big.
They’re probably at least 20.
The rest are now flying off fast into the distance.
Weird.
I hadn’t noticed that they hadn’t stopped attacking at the roof.
I peer skeptically up to the sky.
But it actually does look like they’re all leaving.
Probably they’re not used to the resistance.
And certainly not the resistance, Jackson must have given them.
But where is he?
A huge not-dactal carcass strut.
The huge not-dactal carcass strut, strune
everywhere, and make it hard to find him.
But then I finally see him.
And my hands go to my mouth.
Oh my god.
He’s on his knees.
And his sword is on the ground.
He’s bleeding profusely from many cuts and slashes
in irregular wounds that I realize are not dactyl bites taken out of him.
I run over with a panic, rising once more.
Jackson.
He raises his head and says something.
But I don’t have the translator.
And I don’t know what he’s saying.
The blood is dripping from him, and already
collecting a black puddle under him.
Hell by scream towards the tuna can’t,
because this is more than I can handle on my own.
I never expected him to still be alive.
I see the girls looking out and up to make sure the not-dactals are gone.
And then Delia and Heidi come running.
Is he OK?
Shit.
He chased them away.
That’s insane.
I realize that any place is as good as the other right now.
And we can treat him right here in the shade,
finding him alive, reignites the hope in me.
We need something he can lie down on.
The bandages rip up lab coats into long strips
and take care of him while I go and find herbs.
We have to stop that bleeding and maybe prevent infection, too.
I run into the woods to where I know there
are many different bushes and plants and herbs.
I’m still choked up with fear for Jackson.
I have to stop or slow the bleeding somehow.
If he has internal injuries, I don’t think there’s much I can do.
I find the herbs and I know I know we’ll clean the wounds.
It hopefully helps slow the bleeding.
And if I pick every leaf of it, I find the herbs I know
will clean the wounds and hopefully help slow the bleeding.
And I pick every leaf of it.
I can find and I run back to Jackson half
expecting him to be dead on the ground.
He’s on the ground but he’s still alive and
even smiling with a face that’s so pale,
I feel my face crunch up in fear because his blood loss scares me.
But if there was ever a time when I should
be happy, go lucky, this is it, fuck you.
I use two rocks to mash the various herbs into a green, fresh smelling paste
and gently apply it to the biggest wounds.
Caroline and Amelia bring one of the permanent mattresses
they’ve made for themselves to sleep on.
Jackson slowly shifts his position so he can lie down.
He says something with a smirk and I know he’s making a joke.
Black humor.
That scares me too.
He knows this is bad.
Caroline goes back to the tuna can to boil water
and Amelia goes to get water for him to drink.
What can I do, Aurora asks?
I show her the medicinal plants.
Get more herbs like this.
She runs into the woods.
Heidi runs over with a lab coat then starts
ripping it up and carefully puts strips
on the wounds that we’ve put the herb paste on.
I’m sorry if this is inappropriate, but I never saw a guy that fuck off.
But I never saw a guy this totally jacked
and they have a huge gym in his village.
In the moment of crisis, you would not say this.
You might think it, you would not say it.
You certainly would not ask the fucking question.
I glance up at her.
I’m not really in the mood to chit chat.
Not that I know of.
I think maybe they’re born pretty strong and
then their lives make them even stronger.
But not all of them are this muscular fuck off.
She lowers her voice conspiratorally.
So did you, you know?
This is degraded the value of everything I’ve done previously.
Because they’ve now descended into junior high school level sex talk
while a man is bleeding to death in front of them.
And a man that the main character supposedly loves.
So this would not happen.
This whole thing I’m reading right now
is incredibly disappointing because this would not happen.
I know perfectly well, but she’s going to have to spell it out
if she wants to be a fuck off.
You wouldn’t even extend it.
You would just say not now.
Did I what?
You know, you and him.
I mean, there’s no women in his tribe
and he looks like this probably had to be tempting to hook up, right?
I mash up more of the herbs despite everything Heidi’s light tone
about a not vital topic is actually is actually purking me up.
There’s been too much life or death stuff lately, probably.
So did you hook up?
I can’t help a little smirk play around my mouth.
Some hooking may or may not have taken place.
(sighs)
This would be appropriate.
If you would take care of sort of the immediate trauma care
and he was like sleeping gently and
then you start talking after, this is fine.
The fact that they’re doing it now completely doesn’t make sense.
She grins, oh my God, I knew it.
Is he like the other guys I mean down there because he’s only wearing a kilt
and I can see like straight up.
Yes, I get it, I say before she can go on.
No, not exactly like the other guys or earth guys, I guess.
It’s a little different there in a good way.
It feels totally inappropriate to talk about these intimate matters
with him right there, correct?
But I’m kind of bursting with pride, incorrect.
And he can’t understand what we’re saying anyways.
And he’s breathing easier now.
He still pale as a sheep but he’s tougher than anyone has a right to be.
And now I actually have some hope that he’ll pull through.
In a good way I confirm and smile at the memory
actually in the best way you can imagine and then some hidey is impressed.
Oh my God, and he has a body like this and he’s totally confident
and defeats a million of dactyls all alone.
Does he have a breath?
Does he have a brother?
I think this second last chapter may ruin the whole thing for me
if they keep this shit up.
If they do like three more four more chapters of this shit, I’m done.
Well, I mean, I’m done anyways, but I mean,
you’re ruining my memory of what the bits I’ve enjoyed by this.
This is like when you watch a movie
and you watch like a second or third movie
and then it ruins the first movie.
This last chapter is ruining previous chapters.
Does he have a brother?
I lift a heavy arm and apply more green paste.
It looks like his tiger stripes are much harder and resilient
than the ordinary skin around them.
Like he’s wearing natural armor if he survives, that’s what saved him.
I don’t think they have those.
They’re all clones.
How do you gasp, you say?
They’re clones.
So there could be many, just like this one.
Millions, like those from Star Wars.
(exhaling)
The pain I’m experiencing right now is visceral.
Not as far as I know, I think he’s the only one who’s just like this.
Oh well, even so, heck, forget the brother, I’ll just sell for a cousin
or even acquaintance of this guy.
This is gross.
Like this is actually gross.
Emile comes over with water and sucks on drinks, greedily.
It occurs to me that he’s probably just like that.
Juicy gave me.
He probably brought his bag, large green thing made of dinosaur skin.
I’ll find it Emile says that hesitates.
Is he okay?
Down there I mean, with his killed thing.
Why is everyone just fucking looking in his deck?
Stop it.
I mean, with that killed thing, I can see
pretty much everything and it looks kind of.
He’s fine, I state.
He’s an alien, just a little different.
All right, she looks up and down appreciatively
and then gives me a guilty little smile and something.
So suddenly, all these women are just fucking horn dogs.
It’s, yeah, no, they’re gross.
This group of scientists, intelligent scientists women are gross.
Or a return returns with two fistfuls of herbs and starts mashing it all up.
We’re running out of bandages and Jackson looks like
a character of a patient from the world’s least competent hospital.
All the herbs have stopped most of the bleeding and he is still awake.
In media, Emile finds his bag and brings
it over and Caroline brings hot water.
We clean the blood off him.
Well, Jackson wordlessly offers each of us a drink
from his canteen before he’ll take as much of a sit for himself.
He’s so selfless and noble.
I just give, give in and fall back into the unhappy certainty of love.
Right there and then, because what more
can I, can he do to prove himself to me?
Not that I needed much proof in the first place.
I’ll tell him that in some time.
She was looking for like judgment earlier though.
So I’m not a big fan of that.
We carefully clean him and I notice the
girls are taking some joy and it fuck you.
They can care for someone else for a change.
Someone who pretty much has to be the game changer for us.
Because with Jackson on our side, everything looks much brighter.
Well, almost everything.
I don’t think he can help us get back to Earth.
Jackson is remarkably calm.
And patient while we finish with him as well as we can.
Of course, it’s the first time he’s being cared for by women.
He’s probably pretty pleasant for him despite the wounds and the blood loss.
Despite the wounds and the blood loss, he’s
sitting up with his back against the tree,
the center of attention of six young women.
He seems to take to that like a fish to water.
He suddenly rummages through his bag and
takes out a translator and hands it to me.
He could only wants to say something.
I turn on the device and kneel down beside him.
He’s pale still.
And I’m sure he’ll continue to be for a while.
But his voice is strong and his deep is ever.
He says something.
It sounds like a question.
For some reason, I know what it is.
It’s like a bright light goes off in my soul.
And the day gets brighter.
Will you marry me?
The over-chipper female voice from the translator,
I guess my first problem with that is,
does this alien culture of all men have a concept of marriage?
Maybe the men pair off with other men, but they’re fucking plants.
So maybe they pair off with plants, which seems unlikely.
So if they have marriage, there probably
is marriage between two men who like,
I’m not even making it sexual.
If they just love each other and want to be together
and support each other, they could have marriage.
But because the women have been prophesized in their religion,
it may be included in their religion.
So I would like a little explanation of that,
but we’ll not worry about that right now.
Will you marry me?
The over-chipper female voice from the translator,
Sherbs, I look into his eyes, so alien.
But at the same time, the most human man I’ve ever met.
And I know just enough of his language
to reply proper– I fucked up the response.
And I know just enough of his language to reply properly.
Tall.
Yes, the translator speaks.
And I hear the girls around us gasping.
There’s nothing to wonder about.
That would have been my answer since, oh, about day two of knowing him.
He saved my life too many times to count.
That should not be the foundation for a marriage.
Saving someone’s life, the adrenaline and stuff,
that is not a solid foundation for a marriage.
He’s kind and is honorable and intelligent and strong
and calm with a glint in those alien eyes.
He makes love like a champ.
And I love him.
Some of those attributes do make for a good marriage.
Some of them do not.
He loves me too.
He left his tribe and he’s standing on there for Bitten Boone to protect me.
I have a feeling that act will cost him dearly.
Yes, of course I will marry him right now, right here,
in the jungle, wearing dinosaur skins, not
having seen a bottle of shampoo for weeks.
I don’t care about the wedding, being everything I dreamed
it would be, I just want to be married to Jaxson.
He takes my hand and squeezes it in his large, calloused one.
The girls let us gaze into each other’s eyes for a minute
before they start whispering very loudly behind me.
Did she just agree to marry that guy?
I had no idea aliens even got married.
Are we sure it was Sophia?
He asked.
It could have been any one of us, technically.
Did she?
With that guilt, he’s rocking.
I can totally see most of.
Is she just, does she know what she’s doing?
She totally hooked up with him and he’s super spectacular, she says.
They all gasp and go quiet, stunned by the revelation.
My voice has just gone valley girl.
Fuck, Caroline says it last.
If they’re all like that, maybe we should just become sex slaves after all.
Oh, that’s an awful line.
That is, that is actually awful.
I mean, you’ve, again, you’ve taken the honor and the
nobility of these women and just desecrated it as much as you can.
I finally collect my thoughts enough to sit down beside Jaxon.
I kiss him on the lips and I feel that they’re pretty cold.
I don’t know how long it will take for him to recover from the blood loss,
but he’ll make it.
He’s strong as fuck.
I squeeze his hand.
I didn’t know you’d even hurt a marriage.
I mean, you’re all males.
Oh, there you go.
This, okay, so this, this is the stuff that
boys me up in this story, which is, again,
a shocking roller coaster of emotions.
I asked the question a page later, talking
about the very thing I was talking about.
Do you marry each other maybe?
She, he smiles, tired but happy.
The tribe remembers the life before the women disappeared.
A man and a woman could get married and live together forever.
Now we have difficulties imagining the life that perfect.
Some say it was a fantasy, a fairy tale, something that never happened, but
I remembered it just now and it seemed like the most natural thing to ask.
Is there a ritual or something?
I mean, on Earth, we have all kinds of
traditions that you have to get married.
I’m sure there is.
The shaman has rituals for everything,
but I don’t think he will help us with it.
I doubt I’m still a member of the tribe after stepping on sacred boon.
I nod.
A man like him won’t try to conceal something like that.
He will live the consequences of his actions.
Well, for what it’s worth, you’re more
than welcome to be a member of our tribe.
Right, girls?
They all agree enthusiastically.
See, we’re the best tribe here too.
I’d love to get married pretty soon, but it’s not like we can find a
minister or a judge to officiate anyways.
And that shaman world, we’re all quiet for a moment.
Then Caroline looks around and this little
raises her hand like she’s in the class.
I think maybe I can.
We all look at her and I raise an eyebrow.
You can?
Well, I don’t know about here, but I can in New Jersey.
I got a license to marry people so I could wed my parents.
That sentence has weird implications, but okay.
Like, if you read it wrong, it’s like, “I married you.”
You need my parents.
We all stare.
Caroline shuffles her feet and continues quickly because my parents lived
together like common
law couple, but they had a really great and loving relationship and kids and
everything.
So one day I asked why they weren’t married and they say they just haven’t
fought about it.
And then I said, “They should get married
because they might as well at this point.”
And they said, “Okay, you want that?
Then how about you wed us?”
So we waited until I turned 18 and then I applied for a license and I got it
and then I officiated and we were married.
It’s official too.
A spark of happiness flies through my mind.
This is a nice surprise for once.
Will you marry us, Caroline?
I mean, wed us?
Shit.
How do you say that without a sounding word?
I see the author and I kind of are on the same page on something.
I mean, could you officiate for us?
Will you?
She shrugs.
Sure, it’s not hard.
You should probably think of your own vows.
I mean, with all the alien stuff and all.
I look up at my strong and honorable and spectacular alien warrior.
Do you understand that?
Is it absolutely a smirk on his face?
I understand.
Get married soonest.
The ancestral smile upon me when I wed the mother of Zran on Boone even,
sacred ground.
So our last chapter is a wedding, which is kind of fucking awesome because I
did not expect again the best part of this
book so far has been regularly I have not
expected what has happened to us.
And it’s the end of every chapter.
And often I am wrong and that is the best part of this book so far.
So far, what I mean, the last chapter.
We inspect the tuna can.
It’s totally ruined.
It looks more like a colander now that a tin can.
We can’t live here anymore, Delia says.
It will give us no protection at all.
The dactyls know where we live.
I have a feeling they’ll be back.
These huge carcasses will start to rot and be a major biohazard.
And one reason for staying here was that the kidnappers might be back.
Now it’s probably been too long for that.
Even if they did come, this thing is broken and they probably can’t attach
it to their ship again.
I nod.
I want this tuna can to be closed chapter in my life now.
We can do better elsewhere on this planet.
How about a cave where you found me, Jackson?
He was walking slowly around.
What’s?
He’s walking around now slowly, but still he’s recovering fast.
We’re talking like an hour.
Tribesmen come there sometimes.
Also the water isn’t good to drink.
I know about a better place, further away, but safer.
There are caves, cleaner water, trees
that bear fruit, good defensive positions.
Yeah.
Because on this planet, your life is
always in danger from someone or something.
It’s the way life was for everyone on earth too.
Not so long ago, but I guess we have forgotten that.
At least we have Jackson now.
That makes our chances much better.
I totally trust him to do the best way.
Uh-huh.
I totally trust him to know the best way to do this.
Fine with me, but we should stay here for at least another night, Jackson.
Jackson is in no shape to walk in the jungle.
Jackson shows us how to gather useful stuff from the dead dactyls, like
certain parts of their skin and sharp teeth and talons.
We’ve toughened up a lot now and Delia cuts huge, rager sharp teeth out of
the dactyls as if she’s done it many times before.
That’s kind of cool.
It turns out to be a pretty good evening.
We feel safe enough to light a big fire from
the dead knocked dactyls, and we sit in a
circle around it and talk and joke and laugh and enjoy ourselves.
I know we have many hard times ahead of
us, but we’re over the first major hurdle.
The dip as Delia calls it.
We’re over the dip and we made it more or less.
Some of this made it out like bandits.
I glanced up at Jackson.
I’m sitting as close to him as I can without stripping him naked, and I
enjoy the heat from him, safety he exudes.
The warm light from the fire flickers across his face and makes him look a
little less alien.
He’s not beautiful perhaps, but he’s handsome enough and he’s super manly
and has the soul of a lion seriously.
Who could ask for anything more?
We get married the next morning.
Caroline is wearing her lab coat, which I know she spent some time cleaning
in the stream using rocks and such.
She’s buttoned it all the way up to look all spiritual.
The girls have made a little altar and saved some of the food they have for
the reception after the ceremony.
This is a very, I’m sorry I have to have to have said it.
It’s a very feminine way to handle
this to actually go through all this stuff.
It’s good.
That’s actually kind of appropriate because they want it to be special so
they’re going to make it special.
The sun is rising and it’s throwing long shadows.
I’m in my blue cave woman outfit because it’s all I have.
Jackson is wearing his kilt and nothing else.
As usual, the girls have made me a little tiara of flowers and that’s my
whole wedding gear.
You think it would be ridiculous.
No one here can dress right.
I don’t have a scrap of lace anywhere on me and no best man.
There are no wedding bells and no
family members but I have four bridesmaids.
Delia is my maid of honor and I have the
best groom in history and I’m happily bawling
my eyes out before it’s even started.
So it’s a real wedding.
All right.
I spent the night in Jackson’s arms.
He couldn’t do much more than hold me but that’s fine.
He’s quietly told me about his life and
his tribe and now that he’s an outcast.
Well because of me, he sacrificed so many things for me it’s insane.
He’s fine with it.
Not one word of blame passed his lips and his tone of voice was always calm
and matter of fact.
The way he always is.
Choking even.
Now he’s waiting at the altar, a revelation of manliness of strength.
Even with the dirty improvised bandages all over him, the tall and blonde
Caroline is standing
there looking serious and downright regal
and the girls are standing a couple of yards
away looking at me solemnly.
I walk between them and up to the altar holding eight red flowers at my
hands, one for each of us girls and one for Elysia and one for Jackson.
I’m able to keep the tears down for this.
The light from the alien sun is throwing golden rays through the bushes and
branches of the jungle.
There’s just a little bit of mist on the close to the ground and I’ve never
felt more with more one with anything and that is holy.
I’ve never felt more one with everything that is holy than right now.
Nobody smiling at the simplicity of it all, everyone is serious.
This is my wedding.
It’s not quite the way I planned and dreamed about when I was growing up,
but this is real and it’s totally wonderful.
Jackson takes my hand and walks me the last two steps up to Caroline.
She says a few words that sound a lot like they were from a hippie wedding
because there’s
a lot of words like blossom and Harmony and commonality, but that’s fine.
It’s pretty appropriate for the situation.
She does great.
I say some simple vows.
Fog, you gotta say what the vows are.
That was literally the point of setting this
up was they could say vows to each other.
I say some simple vows I thought of.
Jackson says some pretty much shorter which comes across pretty powerfully.
He’s not kidding about this.
Fucking garbage man.
If you’re gonna do a wedding, the vows are the thing that you actually
present, which means
you, the writer, could not think of good
vows for them to say to each other, which is
total bullshit.
Then Caroline asks us the important question.
Jackson goes, “Tool.”
In a powerful voice with a hint of impatience and then I say, “I do as
firmly as I can,” which is not very because I’m tearing up again.
We kiss and that’s it.
There’s no aisle to walk down and no organ to play or with the recessional.
The girls come to hug me and congratulate me now that I’m married.
I hold Jackson’s hand while we all munch on fruit and berries and even some
of the meat from Jackson’s bag, chatting
lightly like a real reception that I catch
myself.
This is a real reception.
It’s the best one ever.
Then it’s time to leave the tuna can.
We pick up the objects we want to bring with us.
I check that the translator is still in my
pocket and that we have the empty gun.
I guess just even a metal thing is still useful.
We walk over to Alicia’s little stone grave.
There are fresh flowers there again.
Red flowers.
Eight of them.
Amelia quietly explains to Jackson what happened.
We stand there for a while and I wipe away some tears from my cheeks.
I wish she was here and I certainly wish she had tried to hijack the sauce.
And I certainly wish I hadn’t tried to hijack the saucer.
I’m sorry I think to myself.
Like I always do when I stand right here.
So sorry, Alicia.
Delia puts her hand lightly on my arm.
I know you still blame yourself for this.
She says softly right in my thoughts.
I keep seeing you look over at this grave and you take some crazy risks
because you feel guilty.
You know you’re the one who’s been placing
flowers here every morning but you didn’t
kill Alicia.
That was all them.
The aliens.
Not you.
Not even a little bit.
You can let it go.
The words have more weight because they come from her.
Delia rarely speaks but when she does it’s always a game changer.
She’s observant too.
I thought I was being super stealthy about the flowers.
Thank you I saw it wipe my tears.
The other girls agree in pat my back and shoulder.
Damn right.
And anything you probably saved us all from a much worse fate.
The plude a deep voice says Jackson is behind me pondering the grave.
It is known that they take women and kill them.
Use them for terrible things.
Our women went from the same way taken from us.
They deposited you here as a way to damage us and instigate confusion.
They would have done that anyway.
Nothing any of you did had any impact on that.
They are evil.
I feel his heavy hand on my shoulder and I reach up to squeeze it.
It doesn’t make me feel better that maybe getting us stranded here wasn’t my
fault after all.
It’s been a constant source of piercing guilt at the back of my mind.
It’s gotten me to do some brave or stupid things that I’m not sure I would
have done otherwise.
All right Delia says let’s go.
She starts walking in the direction where Jackson has said that there are
caves we can live in.
When after the other the girls take a last look at the tuna can and our
little colony and
then we walk after her with their meager possessions and of course fabric
bags on their shoulders.
I carry Jackson’s bag because he still wounded and I don’t think he is up
for much more than walking today.
He’s not pale anymore at least.
The girls are gone and we’re alone with the tuna can.
We’re newlyweds.
We need to deserve a couple minutes alone.
I look up him.
I look up at him.
How does it feel to be a husband?
He bends down to kiss me.
It feels like an end to the end of the beginning.
The old Jackson has become the new.
The world has changed.
It is better, brighter, full of promise but also harder.
That is the way it should be for a warrior.
But now life will be easier for Sophia, my wife.
I will see to it.
I go up on tiptoes to kiss him.
I don’t need to say anything.
I’m pretty sure he can see happiness in my face.
I look down at the translator.
It works much better than anyone ever would have thought.
If that super advanced chip inside has made
it much closer to actual AI than even its
maker suspected.
It’s pretty much taught itself, Jackson’s language all by itself.
If we were still back on earth, it would be total sensation and it would be
world famous.
So would Professor Wilkins probably, and maybe even I.
I don’t feel it.
It’s too distant, too unreal.
I almost feel like I never happened.
I’ve never gotten the other thing and I’ve got other things on my mind now.
I like the fact that the battery won’t last forever.
It’s kept us sensationally well so far, but it’s a crutch.
I have to learn his language now.
I’m supposed to be a linguist after all.
Well I do know a good few words already.
I flick the switch at the LED lights.
I place the translator back in its pocket and look up at Jackson.
I don’t think I’ll need that anymore.
He gets the meaning in nod seriously and he
takes me into his arms and sniff my hair.
Cratune Couté.
He growls into my ear, sending delighted
shivers down my spine and tingles in my girly
bits.
And I know those words.
I’ve practiced in secret with the translator.
I take a deep breath, close my eyes and
smile happily as I squeeze my husband hard.
It’s my wedding day.
It’s going to be a good one whether this planet agrees or not.
I love you too.
We stand like that for a long time and
he takes my hand and we start walking.
I mean, solid ending to be honest.
There’s an epilogue which I think is just
going to lead on to like the next book.
It says, “Dear reader, thanks for reading my book.
If you want to get an email, you can sign up for her thing.
It’s free.
I’ll appreciate all reviews book good and bad.
I mean, overall, I’ve said my piece throughout this whole thing.
More books from Calista.
Fire planet Warriors captive.
Sci-Fi, BBW, Alien Fade of Mates, romance.
Holy.
It’s a different series.
She has K-Man Aliens ransom, which I think there’s seven books.
Fire planet Warrior captive.
Harper Evans always wanted to go to space, abducted by creepy aliens and
then crash landed
on the planet that everyone just calls
Fire Planet, not what she had in mind.
Her only company is an insanely hot alien
barbarian warrior who doesn’t speak English.
I think I’ve read this book before.
A standalone sequel to Fire Planet, Fire Planet Warriors Passion.
Given to the alien, Olivia Cooper chose a bad time to become a space marine
and the newly formed Space Force.
This was before Space Force was the thing.
Maybe Donald Trump read this book.
Just when Earth had been badly defeated mankind’s first battle with
beautiful but extremely deadly ethereal aliens.
It sounds like she’s writing the same book over and over again with slightly
different alien
invaders baby, a standalone sequel given to the alien, Star Set, the Warrior
Princess’s
claim, the ship reached the hands of
blood, I’d acquisition her as an oblique.
She’s writing the same book over and over again just changing out some
elements, which is I guess.
Harlow Quinn Romance has a formula.
She’s actually just made up her own formula and is just following through.
Star Set, Alien Seed, intent on keeping the secret of the blood secure at
all costs, Prince
Keshe braves a ritual that is utterly
forbidden in the eyes of the Allied forces.
Falling in love with her was not part of the plan.
Gamma Raiders, Space Pirate Prince, Gamma Raiders Storm Squadron Alpha, can
a BBW pilot and a sexy alien warrior find love in the midst of war?
I bet they can.
Alpha’s Uncaged 2, Paranormal Shifter Romance
Box Set, 10 Hot Paranormal Shifter Romance.
Stories, I don’t know what a shifter is.
I’m assuming shifting between genders or something like that or persons.
This is a follow-up collection to the best-selling box set, Alpha’s Uncaged.
Oh, but this is like a group of authors.
My Alien Prince.
He’s a Prince of the Stars.
She’s an ordinary girl from Earth.
Can they be allowed to fall in love?
Yes.
My Alien Prince claimed to buy the axe true.
The K-let’s claim.
God damn, this is endless.
Pursues by Alien Alpha, Fusion, Sci-Fi Alien Romance, Stars Apart, Stoweway.
When an extraterrestrial attacked on London
during her lunch break, Helen accidentally
beat aboard the board of the ship.
Seemingly emotionless Alien Prince, all she
wants to do is go home, however bound by
duty to return to his planet for his arranged marriage.
Prince Lenneck, heir to the throne of Arsiroth, would rather let her out
into open space than go all the way back to Earth.
Huh.
The epilogue.
How many pages?
Oh, it’s a couple pages.
It’s the last I got her.
We walk away from Jaxon’s village.
The terrain is different and more hilly.
We pass clear streams.
I’m happy.
It’s the weirdest thing.
I’m surrounded by the Alien Planet.
Things aren’t looking that good for us.
He’s beyond everything I thought a man could be.
That’s my husband.
My brain has trouble processing it.
That’s my husband.
We keep walking in silence.
I realized that I accepted that a good while ago when I was stuck on my own.
So she’s going to be a forever.
It worked out so far.
That’s a good-eye state.
It’s a fertile area.
So this is home now.
I wipe sweat off my forehead.
Well, I won’t miss the tuna can or the dactyls or that dam river that we
couldn’t drink from.
Good riddance.
They all agree.
She says, her voice is a strange tremble to it.
If you look at the top of that mountain and you squint a little, does that
look like something else?
The sun is low behind the tree and I shield my eyes with one hand.
From this angle, a part of the mountain
near the top is rounded strangely symmetric.
Unnaturally so.
And its sharp edge seems perfectly circular.
There’s green vegetation all over it.
So I can see.
I can’t see any specific details, but the color is different than the rest
of the mountain below, lighter and somehow more even.
My hand flies unbidden to my mouth.
I’ve seen my share of Sci-Fi movies and then some.
I recognize a rocket engine nozzle when
I see one and I’m looking right at one now.
No, two.
No.
Six at least.
There’s a whole cluster of giant rocket
engines pointing towards us from boon.
They’re totally overgrown and must have been here for eons, but they’re
still unmistakable and beyond them.
Oh my stars, it’s enormous.
We’ve been living right on top of it for
weeks without recognizing where what it is.
I swallow in my throat and suddenly gone dry.
Yeah, I say strongly to keep my voice from shaking.
That’s a spaceship.
Ah, good cliffhanger.
Setting up the next book that we’re going to go find a spaceship.
Adventures abound.
Want to know what happens next?
So I had talked with some friends and some people who listened to the
podcast and while I have enjoyed caveman’s alien ransom.
I noticed there were some dips in my enthusiasm as we got through all 15
episodes of this.
So I am not going to continue with the series and I don’t think I’m going to
do another whole book again.
This has been an interesting experiment, but I don’t think I can do like
dedicate another year to reading these books.
So I need to find other things to read.
So if you have anything that you would think would be interesting for me to
read, I’m going to thinking more like
articles, threads from Reddit, stuff like that.
Anything else that you would like me
to read and analyze and shit on probably.
I would appreciate it if you have suggestions
and I think we’re going to end there.
But thank you for coming with me on this
journey to an alien planet where we’ve learned
so much about ourselves and others and fucking plants.
[Music].