Midnight Glow: Scifi Alien enemies to lovers romance

Chapter Three

Selene's head throbbed as she peeked out of the opening of the pod. The sun was still rising, casting brilliant light across the water. The sea glittered so brightly Selene had to hide her face in her elbow to protect against the blinding light. The clouds in the sky were grey, but compared to the red clouds of dust she had grown up seeing on MarsV-2, they seemed only off-white. The sky was more purple now than blue, and where the clouds were growing on the horizon the sky was streaked pink and orange. If her mind hadn't felt so clouded from exhaustion Selene might have thought the view was breathtaking.

Her arms burned as she hoisted herself up onto the lip of the craft. There hadn't been any sleep the night before. She had spent the night trying to keep water out of the craft while she planned her escape.

"I should've taken the job on the Fluri. Even if I had to spend eight years with Mack," she muttered to herself.

Thinking of her ex-boyfriend still left a bitter taste in her mouth. She let out a snort. "Talking to myself now. I think I'm starting to go insane."

A breeze blew over the waters. The wind was warm but still sent a shiver down her spine. The only saving grace in this nightmare was that the craft seemed significantly closer to the shore. She could see a beach of stark white sank. And trees. Tall, dark green trees... with large dark green leaves of all sorts of sizes. Anticipation filled her. It was clear now too in the daylight there was a mountain- a real mountain! She dropped back into the craft, her mind finally made up.

Carefully she stripped off her suit and folded it into her waterproof pack. Underneath she wore her usual uniform: mesh slacks and a shirt. The material was finely engineered. Breathable and elastic enough it suited almost any environment. It was the most expensive thing the URS lent their crew. Selene hoped it wouldn't weigh her down in the water.

She had only swum a few times in her life and had thought the skill would be useless. Her hands shook as she tied the pack carefully closed. She had spent the night stripping and restriping the bag. Ensuring only the barest of survival materials were left.

She had repurposed one of the bandage kits in the med pack, forming the strips of seri-cloth into rope. She tied one end of the rope around her waist, and the other end to the pack. She didn't have to be a good swimmer to know the pack would weigh her down if she wore it on her back. It was waterproof and would theoretically float. Theoretically. Selene had never actually tested it. Ice planets and deserts didn't have oceans, after all.

Selene's stomach was tied in knots as she jumped to sit on the opening of the pod one last time. It would take at least one standard half-day to swim to the shore. Days seemed much longer here. If only she hadn't been so busy trying to keep water out of the pod all night, she might have remembered to reprogram her suit sensors to her new environment. Too late now. Her suit was shoved into the bottom of the pack.

She swung her legs over the side of the pod. The blackened metal sparkled in the sunlight. It was terrifying leaving the pod behind. But she would exhaust herself trying to keep the water out of the pod so it wouldn't completely sink well before it reached the shore. And then she would drown attempting to swim the rest of the way. Her hands tightened on the pack. No, it was better this way.

She jumped out of the pod and plunged into the water. Her body tensed, preparing for the shock of cold water. But it never came. The water felt like a warm embrace around her. She sank like a stone into it. Another time, perhaps if she survived this, the waters could be enjoyable. Not now though, when the waves immediately began to jostle and yank at her. She had to fight the urge to suck in a lungful of water. Instead, she began to move.

Her body seemed to know what to do instinctively, pumping her arms and legs to reach the surface again. She let go of the pack so she could focus on staying above the waves. The waters tugged at her as she attempted to resurface. Her lungs burned her head finally pushed above the water. She gasped in fresh air, her lungs burning with the taste of salt. When had she swallowed the water? There was no time to contemplate. She pushed away from the craft and towards the shore.

Swimming had been much easier when it was practised in a shallow pool on her home world. Here the waves propelled her forwards, washed over her, pushed her underwater, and then tugged her backwards. It felt hopelessly futile attempting to move against them. A a little like trying to steer a space craft all by herself. Without Bratz and Cleo and the rest of the Bots, she was hopeless all alone. Desperation tugged at the back of her mind as she fought to keep at the surface. She couldn't focus on moving forward, only staying alive.

The minutes began to drag into hours. She thought she might truly die of exhaustion. When she turned to look back over her shoulder, the pod was no longer visible. The shore did at least seem closer. Selene couldn't tell if it was all in her head. Her arms were turning to goo. Everything was burning. Her lungs, her eyes, her muscles, and skin. How much longer could she survive? Twenty minutes? Could she push herself an hour?

The sun continued to rise overhead. Every time the water washed over her head and Selene had to force herself back up to the surface she could see the purple-blue sky, the gray clouds smeared across the horizon. Her vision became fuzzier around the edges as the salt water blurred her vision. Eventually she kept her eyes squeezed shut. Her breaths came in gasps. And then she felt the sand beneath her feet. She opened her eyes as the waved thrusted her forward. She fell forward onto her knees heavily in the sandy shallow waters. She crawled onto shore and collapsed onto the hot white sand. Exhaustion hung heavily over her entire body. The pack was still tied to her waist. It took all her strength to drag the rope to bring the pack up to her. She crawled forward in the sand with her pack until she was out of the waves. Her hands shook so badly it took her several tries to open the pack. She could barely stomach the meal supplement but she forced herself to eat it anyway. She had survived.

Facing the waters she could just make out the shiny flicker that had once been her emergency pod. It was almost fully submerged in the water now. The fresh water in her pack tasted icy cold compared to her body temperature after swimming for so long. Hours had passed, although it was hard to judge when the giant sun seemed to have barely moved in the sky.

She would rest for now. And then she needed to explore and build a shelter. She likely still had at least twelve hours of daylight. Enough time to scope out the land. She looked around carefully. The beach was larger than she realized. The trees loomed tall overhead, at least four times the size of any of the spindly twigs they called trees back in her home world. These trees were formidable. Their low branches would be suitable for shelter and weapons making.

She felt naive hoping there would be no predators here. Trees that size could only mean bigger predators and prey. Even if the stats were comparable to her home world, there was no way to guess how big the mammals were here. If she could climb one of the trees though, it would offer shelter and safety... She was too tired to contemplate such pressing matters. She had survived and that was all that mattered.

She laid back on the sand, ignoring the sun that was beating down on her. It would dry her clothes soon at this rate. It was so warm and comfortable compared to the terrifying night she'd spent aboard the pod. The waves formed a rhythmic lullaby. She could rest a while until her stomach settled from her small meal. Then she would begin exploring. Her eyes slipped closed. The sun felt like a warm blanket wrapped around her. She let her head fall back into the warmth of the sand. Just a moment to rest her eyes. As she slipped into sleep the underbrush of the trees behind her rustled. Her sleep was fitful, but deep enough she did not rouse when the first figure stepped onto the sandy beach.