Ajos: The Restitution - A Sci-fi Alien Romance, Book 1, стр. 29

11

It turned out that although she’d have to attain some more clothing, the dress that she wore was perfectly suited to Murn GZ.

It was a favorable temperature outside. Not hot but not cold and the air was dry but not uncomfortably so.

The whiteness of the sun still rubbed against her senses, that and the hardened dirt everywhere. Back on Earth, she’d spent so much time indoors, so much time at work, she’d hardly gone outside just for the sake of it.

She’d been missing out.

There was so much more than sterile laboratories and white walls.

She glanced around as they walked, trying to familiarize herself with where she was.

It had been dark when Ajos had taken her to his home the night before, and along with her tiredness, she hadn’t been able to see much around her.

Now, though, she could see everything.

The first thing she tried to pinpoint was the blast zone, but they were either too far away from it or the rebels had done a good job of cleaning everything up.

As far as she could see, the buildings looked intact.

“I must know,” V’Alen suddenly spoke. “How is it that you know of hyperspace—of jumping?”

She was walking between them, him and Ajos, and she turned her head to glance up at the robot by her side.

“Your planet is…a Class Four planet,” V’Alen continued. “You have not yet discovered such technology, neither have you created it. Records concerning your planet state you have not yet fully discovered your planetary system. Even the closest body to you, the satellite, you have yet to explore one side of it—the side you call the dark side.”

Kerena's eyebrows rose and she smiled. It surprised her that he knew so much about Earth.

“How is it that a civilization that is so…primitive…knows of such advanced science?” He tilted his head as he spoke as if he was trying to figure out some difficult puzzle.

“We have sci-fi movies. There’s Star Trek, Star Wars, and a host of others. That’s where I learned about hyperspace jumps from. Like, in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, they had to save the Resistance by jumping to hyperspace straight through…” Kerena caught herself and a sheepish smile came over her features but V’Alen only cocked his head some more.

He didn’t frown, she noticed. His facial muscles seemed mostly unaffected by emotion, but the way he cocked his head said he was still confused.

"It was just a movie." She couldn't help but chuckle.

"A movie?"

“You know, movies. Like…wait, you don’t have movies?”

He blinked at her but didn’t answer.

Kerena gawked at him. “You know, like imaginary worlds that people create and turn into moving pictures for entertainment?”

V’Alen blinked again and Ajos grumbled something.

“What was that?” She turned her attention to the tall alien.

“V’Alen does not imagine. He cannot understand the concept.”

Her mouth formed an ‘O’.

That was something she couldn’t wrap her mind around.

“Oh. Well…” she glanced at the robot man, “that’s how I know about that stuff. But I don’t know how to explain it to you now that I know you have no idea what I mean.”

V’Alen jerked his head almost imperceptibly and she assumed the conversation was finished.

They were walking for maybe five minutes now and the farther they walked, the more aliens she saw.

Most were going about their daily lives, walking down the streets pushing carts or carrying loads in their arms. Some were walking in groups and were heavily kitted out with weapons.

There were so many types of aliens, she couldn’t keep track.

There were tall man-beasts that looked like yetis…small beings dressed in little brown robes who didn’t even pass her knee in height…she was sure she saw an octopus man and there was even an alien that had hard scales like chitin all over his body.

It felt like walking down any street, except she was walking among beings that were so different from her in many ways.

However, despite that the beings around them were so different, she noticed one distinct similarity—most, if not all of them, were looking directly at her.

At first, she thought they were looking at the three of them collectively.

They were quite the trio—a robot, a human, and a tall minty-teal guy—only, it soon became clear that the onlookers were paying no attention to Ajos and V’Alen.

They were looking at her…and she knew she wasn’t imagining this second part, but the looks there were giving her sent distinct shivers down her spine.

It made the hairs at the back of her neck stand on end as if there was some kind of threat in her midst and when Ajos brushed against her, she was sure it was because he sensed it too and had moved closer to her.

There was a growl in his throat again, one that made his body vibrate and she could feel that vibration each time he brushed against her bare arm.

Just what the hell was going on?

“We’re here,” he said, breaking the musings in her head and she realized they were walking up to a strangely shaped building.

It looked like a brown cone with the top chopped off.

The door slid open and an armed alien was standing there. He was purple with four arms and as soon as Ajos saw the alien, a rumbling sound began in his throat.

“Krinnnnnqrid.” The word came from Ajos’ lips in a drawn-out growl.

“Com-Commander.” She was sure the alien lost some of his color. He looked utterly terrified and when his eyes settled on her, they widened even more.

V’Alen moved forward, blocking them both from