Yet here I am, whole and well, and with my mate. She smiles when she spots me watching her, and gestures for her tablet. “Copy,” she says, pointing at the closest stack of stones, then pointing back at her device.
Aha. She’s found something interesting. I rise and bring her the tablet. She points to the stone that’s closest to my eye-level. “Look.”
I wipe a layer of dust from the surface before me. These aren’t bunks for beds after all. Each of the large flat stones is covered in scrawlings, drawings, symbols. These must be some ancient, primitive records of some sort. Fascinating. I wonder if any of them will contain anything useful. Though I can’t imagine how we can hope to read them.
I return her tablet to her. Our fingers brush as she takes it. My mating nodes pulse, right along with the hardness between my legs. It’s going to become painful soon. I’ll have to slip away for a moment to relieve myself. I’m satisfied that this room is safe for now, at least.
“Water,” I tell her, using another of the few words I’ve picked up.
“Water!” She nods in agreement. Then she pulls a disc from her suit and hands it to me. A water filter? Ingenious, if so.
“Water,” I agree again. I point to the ground around her and show her my palm. “Stay here,” I say in my language.
She nods. “Stay,” she says in hers.
Good. Great. Time to do something about this raging hard-on. Then I will hydrate this headstrong, fragile female. No problem at all.