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  Time passed, and the town came into view. At last, the shadows seemed to be long enough that Phillip motioned for them to get going. They stayed to the dark part of the streets and flattened against buildings in case someone drew near. While she was close to Phillip, she sensed some power around him that she could not explain. When she pulled away from him, she saw that it was darker around him; the shadows concealed and almost made him blend in so it was harder to determine that he was there. It was an interesting trick, and she wondered if she could master the technique.

  They got to the rear of a building, and Phillip stood by the door. “Do you know what you’re going to get?”

  “I have an idea of what I need. I just need to see it.”

  “Stay here. I will disable their alarm system.” He walked around the corner. The light blinked off. Phillip returned and opened the door. “I don’t know how much time we will have, so we have to be quick.”

  “That was my plan anyway.”

  He ducked inside of the building. Alika followed behind him. Inside were all kinds of wares that distracted her. Labeled cylinders with pictures of what appeared to be food lined the shelves. She shook herself from her daze and found that Phillip had taken a bag. He went to a tall black case with beverages inside of it and placed them inside of the bag.

  “We’ll need more water. The electronics are here. There isn’t much, I’m afraid. This is the general store and has only few things. This way.”

  He led her to an aisle that had some things she might need. She spied a large bag that was similar to what Phillip had lost and took it. She glanced around and saw a primitive-looking battery she might be able to use. Something reflective caught her eye.

  “You have a battery for a power source and a space blanket. Do you need anything else?”

  She quickly ran through the ingredients she had in her bag. “Wire. I think that might be it.”

  A large crash echoed where Phillip moved to. She figured that something had fallen. He reappeared with a spool of copper wire and threw it into her bag. “You look around and see if there’s anything else you want. I’m going to get more water and some food.”

  Alika nodded and quickly hurried through the store, coming upon a shelf that had several of those dark brown-labeled bars that she had enjoyed before. She scooped what she could into her bag and then added a few more just to be on the safe side. They might not be considered food, but they were heavenly. They would make a great birthday gift for Elarna. She glanced around and saw some garments. Phillip appreciated having her clothed, so she took some of those too.

  Outside she heard shouts arising from the street. Peering out the window, she saw figures approaching with lights bobbing, running toward the store. They must have realized that they had entered it.

  “Phillip, humans are coming. We have to get out of here.”

  “I know. Follow me.” He tapped her shoulder.

  She had not even realized that he was behind her. Alika moved with him through the store, clutching her full bag. They made it outside in the darkness, and the voices were getting louder. They were inside the building. Phillip pressed her back against the wall. The power emanating from him also enveloped her. One of the humans rushed past them, and he did not see them. Alika held her breath and quieted the beating of her two hearts. The male took a moment and then returned out of breath.

  “I don’t see anyone,” he called to someone inside of the store.

  “They have to be around here somewhere.”

  “Yo, Donald, you’re not going to believe this! Come in and take a look at the size of these footprints!”

  The man stared straight at them. Alika just knew he would see them, but he did not. Instead, he slipped into the shop and did not come back out. She still held her breath as Phillip took her hand and led her through the darkness back to the mine. They heard footsteps and twigs breaking as they neared the entrance to the mine. Phillip held her against the trees. So far they were hidden, but she was not sure how long that would last.

  “They found us,” she whispered.

  Phillip glanced at her and put a finger to his muzzle. She glanced at the stars and thought she saw something moving, floating above the foliage. Footsteps ricocheted through the night, but did not draw closer. Who or what was it? Phillip gestured that it was time to move, so she did. They made it to the entrance of the mines when a large light appeared out of nowhere from the sky and shone down on them. Both of them froze.

  “Stop where you are!” a voice commanded from above.

  Alika glanced up and saw a man leaning over the edge of the flying machine with a rifle pointed at them, hovering very close above them, and she had not heard them. They must have had some stealth technology. This planet was surprising her more and more. She glanced at Phillip. “What do we do?”

  He growled and dropped the bag, moving her behind him. “Whatever happens, stay behind me. If I get hurt, I will heal. When you get the chance, run into the mines. Make it back to the caves. Build your machine and get out of here.”

  Alika realized that he was going to sacrifice himself for her. He touted that he was immortal and no matter what injury he got he would heal, but she did not know that. There was no way she was going to let him put himself in harm’s way. “No.” She jumped out from behind him and pushed him back. “I’m not going to let you do anything. You can hide yourself from them, can’t you?”

  “Yes, but I’m not sure whether they can see me or not.”

  “It doesn’t matter. We’re in this together. I’m faster on four legs than two. If you can carry my bag, we can distract them. I’ll run them off in another direction. They won’t suspect it.”

  He growled, showing her his teeth. Alika sensed that he wasn’t happy about the plan, but before he could say anything she shoved her bag at him and stripped off her clothes. The light was still on them. She did not care anymore if they saw her shift. Alika stared into the light and caressed her breasts because of the males she had met; they all seemed to be fascinated with that part of her anatomy. The light moved a little and followed her. Her bones moved and popped, but she welcomed the shift rather than fight it the way Phillip did. It flowed through her until she was down on all fours. Then she took off into the woods. Phillip howled in frustration. The light did not follow her.

  She slunk into the shadows and ran toward the mountains. Not sure of where she was going, she raced away from town and human habitation. It was better for all of them. As the elevation rose higher, she caught a familiar scent. It was the faint scent of exhaust from her ship and the aroma of charred earth. The tops of the trees were burned away where her ship had sheared them and made a clear path, giving her a trail to follow. Alika tried to stay far away from it but still follow it, until she came to the place where her ship had crashed. There was no human presence to speak of. The army had moved off. It was almost as if they had not been there at all because they had left no footprints. The area was empty except for the grass and the trees. They had cleared out and gathered all of her ship parts. Taking a minute, she sniffed the air and did not sense any humans. Carefully she went into the crash site and nosed around in the dirt, hoping to find something left of her vessel.

  After finding nothing, Alika went in the direction where she was thrown. She prayed she might find something of her ship near the rocks where she had headed after the crash. While she scoured the ground, she saw something glint from the starlight. Alika transformed back to human form and pushed the rocks out of the way. Down in the hole, she pulled out the very thing she needed. It was the size of the cell phones Phillip had taken for her case. It had been on her belt when she had left the ship. After that Alika did not remember what had happened to it or her clothes, just that she had transformed. Her body had tried to keep itself alive, and she had gone into shock.

  She opened the pouch and prayed that it was still working. When she touched the silver screen, it blinked on. A sigh of relief flooded through her system. It was more
than just a communicator. It contained preloaded star charts just in case the main computer went down in the ship; she would be able to use it in a pinch, and there was a long-range communicator built into it too. In the distance, she could see the light from the flying machine that the military had. That meant that Phillip had led them away or they had broken off their search for him and decided to come looking for her. She glanced at the darkness and knew that the entrance to the caves was not far off, but she did not want to chance it in case the military remained. Instead, she thought about getting higher. It would have been nice to have had a form that could take to the air, but her kind only had one animal form. Sometimes they were flyers, but most of the time they were four-legged.

  I can’t stay here. I really need to get back to the caves we were at before, and I don’t know how to do that. If I can get to the gravesite then, maybe there is someplace there that I can hide. I have to risk it. Alika placed the device on the ground and slipped back into her canis form. Then she grabbed it carefully between her teeth and followed her nose. She caught Phillip’s faint scent still clinging to the grass and ran along it until she was at the gravesite again. Alika did not smell any other humans that had disturbed the area, so she assumed that it was safe. Back in human form, she pressed a few buttons on the communicator and it whirred to life. She tapped the screen to open a star chart that showed Rovan. An image of her planet popped up. Alika tapped a few more places on the screen, and a loud beep issued from the device. It was sending out the signal. All she hoped was that it would get there.

  It was not going to happen overnight, but she could wait. And with the tools they had gotten, she could boost the signal. It would work. It had to. She took the communicator and held it against her chest. Alika found a niche in the mountain wall and sat with her back against the stone. The hardness kept her anchored. If the message did not reach Rovan, then she was going to be stuck on Earth. She certainly could not do it as a woman. Maybe as a wolf she could find some unpopulated wilderness and settle down. But if she could live with Phillip, then she could deal with her life on Earth.

  The sun rose, streaking across the horizon in various shades of gold and pink. It was very different from the deep purples and crimsons that accompanied the dawn on her world. Small flying creatures began to tweet in the bushes around her. The chill of the night had worn off, and she felt the warmth of the dawn on her skin. Phillip had not returned. She was worried and prayed that nothing had happened to him. After waiting for several more hours, the shadows were no longer concealing her. The only place for her to wait was in the cave. Hopefully, the military had not set any traps in the cavern. She remembered the path to the backside of the cave and slid inside of it. Alika did not smell any human presence as she walked toward the main cave where she and Phillip had first stayed. Human scent permeated the small space. Everything that had been sacred to Phillip was scattered about and other stuff was removed. What would they find in his books and clothing? She found a torn-up sleeping bag and curled up in the remnants of it. From there, she found sleep.

  When she woke up, it was dark out and there was still no sign of Phillip. A spear of disappointment struck her heart, along with fear. The longer he was gone, the more she wondered if she would see him again. Had he been captured? Was she ever going to feel his touch again? She rooted around in the remains of things and found some more of the wrapped bars that she had before and ate them. They filled the hollow in her stomach, but not in her heart. She picked up a few of the volumes lying about and tried to read the words. It was all gibberish to her. The translator was not set to interact with her optical nerves. She did find one that had pictures in it. Some of them reminded her of the objects she had seen around the mountain. Others appeared to be plants, and some were avian creatures that flew through the air. Others were similar landscapes on other planets, and there were a few unique to Earth. Many of the scenes were beautiful. The images displayed frozen mountains and beasts. She checked her computer and saw that the signal was still going. She was not sure how long the power source would last. It would be best if she could find the crystals she had in the other cave. Then she could harness the energy.

  Alika flipped through the book again and then walked around. As the night wore on, she found another bottle of water and ate the bars sparingly. All her thoughts were about the time she had spent with Phillip. She found one of his discarded shirts and pressed it close to her nose, inhaling his masculine scent. It was then that she felt tears slip down her cheeks. She fell asleep clutching his shirt to her chest.

  Her dreams were of them in one another’s arms. Someone was holding her and murmuring in her ear. She opened her eyes and saw that she was in Phillip’s arms. It was still night. She smiled when she saw him.

  “I thought they captured you.”

  He brushed the hair from her eyes, and the caring reflected in his dark brown ones warmed her heart. “I eluded them. There were a couple of close calls. I finally lost them a few hours ago. When I knew it was safe, I had to come back to you. Are you okay?”

  She nodded, threw her arms around his furry neck, and kissed his snout. It did not matter if he was a man or a beast. Alika knew that he was the man she wanted. There had to be some way she could convince him to come back with her. “I’m glad you came back. How did you find me?”

  “I followed your scent from the crash site. I went by and saw that the humans had left. I wanted to be sure you were safe. They did a number on my cave.”

  “I found my communicator.”

  He brushed his claws down her cheek. “I’m sure that’s a relief to you. Do you still need all the items we collected?”

  “Yes. The signal is very weak, and I can hook this up to everything and actually send a message instead of a distress call. I did not know the way back to that particular cave.”

  Phillip lifted her up in his arms. “Well, how about if we head back? There’s no need to worry; I doubt the army is looking for us now.”

  Alika sighed and hoped that that was the case. She felt more secure now that Phillip was back. She hugged him close, never wanting to let him go.

  Chapter Nine

  Phillip watched Alika assemble the communicator she was working on. It had taken a few hours for her to get everything the way she wanted. She had hooked it up to the crystals in the cave and was drawing power from them and from the battery. Also Alika had used the space blanket as an amplifier. He did not really understand the technology behind it, but she had used the wire he had gotten and connected it to the cell phone and the laptop. Her device had become the one thing in between each element. While she was working with the laptop, she downloaded the data onto her device and figured out what they had learned about her ship. There were pictures of her on the computer, of the trajectory of her vessel, and where it had entered the atmosphere. He glanced at the maps and at the point of entry. There were satellite images showing her ship coming into the atmosphere. They had gone through the information and there were blurry photos of him, but nothing concrete to show exactly what he was. It had taken her most of the night and into the morning to build the machine. Now they hoped that it would work the way she wanted it to.

  “At least the signal is a lot stronger than what it was before. The power from the battery helped a lot. I was afraid that it was dying. I guess it was more damaged than I thought it was. Thank you for all your help.”

  “You’re the one who put it together. I don’t know what you did. It’s not something I could build.”

  She stood on tiptoe to press her lips against his. As short as she was, she fit against his body in every way. Phillip never thought it would have been possible to love another woman the way he had loved Kaylana, but it was true. Over the short time they had known one another, Alika had become very dear to his heart. All he wanted was to protect her and keep her from going anywhere. He kissed her back and slid his tongue along her bottom lip, tasting a bit of the chocolate she had eaten earlier. Phillip had been surp
rised to find so many bars in her bag. He figured that when it came to chocolate, it seemed that even alien women had a taste for it. He pulled away from her and admitted that the T-shirt that hugged her body and the too-big jeans were enticing. They were belted with fabric that he had torn from another shirt. She looked scrumptious, and he wanted to eat her up.

  “You would be able to build it. All those volumes you read, I’m sure you have read many things over the years.”

  “I read a lot and I know some offhand facts, a few languages from all over the world, and a few other things. I can carve and knit. I know how to make my own clothes. I can hunt for food, tan the hides of animals, and operate a gun if I need to. I have accumulated knowledge with the times, but I never got into really figuring out electronics. Living in caves and abandoned cabins where there is no electricity, there’s no point for me to mess with computers much.”

  “That’s understandable.”

  “So now that it’s working, how long do you think it’ll be before they come for you?”

  Alika turned back toward the device and tapped it. The screen came on, and there were images of planets. She pressed the green planet, and a large picture came up. She punched the numbers on the laptop, and strange letters appeared on her clear screen.