DISCLAIMER: Not necessary…

                        AN: Hello, hello again! Hard to believe it but we're on Chapter Eight already! This fic is just zooming by! Anyways, I hope you enjoy the next chapter when they finally get to Dead Earth. :)

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Chapter Eight- Dead Earth

                        Alyson gasped with pleasure as the planet Mars came into view. A few more minutes and they would be able to see Dead Earth!

            "Finally!" Jim said from behind her, manning the controls, "Only a few more weeks with you."

            Alyson growled with anger. She and Jim had fallen back into those I-really-hate-you arguments. They worked harder then ever on finding things that annoyed or bothered the other person and shoved it in their face. It was like the almost-kiss had never happened.

            At the thought of what could've happened, Alyson felt her body grow warm. She was attracted to Jim, she had already admitted that to herself days ago, but that didn't mean she like Jim. She hated his guts, but he was a good looking man and her body appreciated the opposite sex.

            Not that that mattered. She would rather die a slow and painful death a thousand times over then admit she was attracted to James Pleiades Hawkins. As if he ego wasn't big enough already, admitting to him she was attracted him would just enlarge that oversized ego.

            Besides, say she did tell Jim she was attracted to him, Jim would probably just laugh in her face, thinking: how stupid can this girl get? It wasn't a prospect she was happy with. Best keep her mouth shut.

            Alyson turned to BEN, who was standing right next to her, and said, "Isn't this great BEN? Dead Earth…"

            BEN nodded his metal head, "I can hardly wait, Alyson! Soon we'll be on a planet no one has lived on for I don't now how many years!"

            Alyson felt herself beam and she forgot her hatred for Jim. She was too happy to feel anything but her giddiness. But she felt heat on her back and she turned her heard to Jim and their eyes met. For a moment something sparked between them but the Jim turned and the moment was gone.

            Growling, Alyson turned back to Mars and BEN but found Mars had disappeared, making room for the brightest star in all the galaxies, the Sun. Alyson had studied the Sun back in her earlier years. She had been almost as fascinated by the Sun as she was with Dead Earth. In the Dark Galaxy, the Sun was the only still living thing. Everything else was dead, or had never been living.

            Then Alyson noticed something that made her eyes wide with shock. The Sun was casting light off a planet to the side of it.

            She felt the crewmembers move to the railing next to her in awe. All of them stared a gape at the planet beside the Sun.

            "Dead Earth…" Alyson whispered.

            Dead Earth was more beautiful then she had ever imagined. She had been expecting a gray and brown planet that looked dead, but this planet was the exact opposite. It was made of blue, white and green. The colours of life. It looked flush and alive with the Sun's light shining off of it. Alyson realized that Earth looked like a shinning blue jewel, glittering against a jewel-inspector's light.

            "It's so beautiful." BEN whispered.

            Alyson nodded numbly and found herself turning to look at Jim. The captain's eyes were wide with awe and he looked back at Alyson, tearing his eyes away from Dead Earth.

            "How much longer until we're there?" Alyson whispered, looking into Jim's deep eyes.

            Jim glanced at Dead Earth and then back at her, "A few more hours at the most, Professor."

            Alyson nodded and turned back to the railing and stared at Dead Earth, where her destiny awaited.

                        The R.L.S. Fate was slowly pulled into the atmosphere of Dead Earth. As they descended on to Dead Earth, Alyson saw that the green she had seen form afar was really thick trees.

            Alyson turned from the railing and looked at Jim, who was still manning the controls, "Where are we landing, Captain?"

            Jim frowned for a moment in thought and then said, "I believe it was called "Mary Land" or something like that."

            Alyson laughed, "You mean Maryland?"

            Jim glowered, "Whatever."

            They fell back into silence as Alyson turned back to the railing. She then turned into a conversation with BEN.

            Jim scowled at Alyson's backside. It's a nice backside, though, Jim thought and then shook his head. This was no time to think about how nice it would be to see what Alyson looked like flustered from his kiss when there was work to be done.

            "Rochester," Jim called to the helmsman, "Dock our ship right outside of the planet's atmosphere and then prepare to take the smaller boats down."

            Rochester nodded, "Aye, Captain." He said and hurried to do as his captain ordered.

            Jim left his steering wheel and climbed down the ladder to where Alyson and BEN stood. He smirked as he neared and both Alyson and BEN stayed unaware of his presence.

            Jim placed his hands on Alyson's shoulders and she gave a jerk of surprise. With a small shriek Alyson wheel around and tumble into him. Both she and Jim would've fallen had Jim not grabbed her wrists and caught her before she could press to hard against him.

            Jim was surprised at how strong his lust for Alyson was. Looking down into her large, green eyes, Jim wanted to drag Alyson down onto the deck and kiss her… maybe do a little more then just kiss.

            Afraid he would do just that and get a black eye from Alyson, Jim let go of her arms. "Watch it, clumsy." He said.

            Alyson glared at him, "It's your fault! If you hadn't done that to scare me, I wouldn't have jumped."

            "Is it my fault you're so skittish?" Jim snorted, "Professors for the Academy are such pansies."
            Alyson went pale with rage, "Why you… you-"

            BEN wisely interjected before Alyson and Jim got into another verbal brawl, "Come on, Alyson. Let's get into the smaller boats and get ready to go down to Dead Earth!"

            Alyson glared once more at Jim and then allowed BEN to drag her away. They disappeared into a flight of stairs that led to where the smaller boats were kept.

            Jim shook his head and then turned to help his crewmembers tie down their boat so it wouldn't float away while they were gone.

                        Alyson watched as Dead Earth got bigger and bigger. BEN sat beside her and Jim was behind her, manning the controls yet again.

            There was another boat, filled with the crewmembers that weren't staying on the Fate. They were just as quiet as Alyson's boat.

            They landed in a valley surrounded by trees. Pale yellow grass grew tall in the valley and wind made the grass ripple and sway.

            As the wind caught strands of her loose hair Alyson sighed with pleasure and closed her eyes. Just inhaling Dead Earth. She noted that it didn't smell dead, it smelled alive and fresh. Like a baby.

            Alyson only opened her eyes when she felt the boat plopped slightly on the ground. Alyson turned to Jim as he hopped out of the boat and cast a scowled at the surrounding forest.

            "Come on." Jim grunted as he as his crewmembers joined him. There was about six of them.

            Alyson glared at Jim but didn't say anything. She waited until BEN had hopped out of the boat and offered his hand in assistance before she jumped from the boat and onto the ground.

            "Shall we look around?" Alyson asked, "I want to try to find some ruins to record."

            Jim nodded and looked over at his crewmembers, "Everyone follow me."

            Alyson and BEN walked right behind Jim, while the crewmembers trailed behind them. Alyson noted they carried guns and clutched them tightly, as if they were afraid something would jump out at them. Even Jim did that. Alyson shook her head and sighed. Men, always thinking they're going to charge off into battle.

            "I wasn't aware that we were charging off into battle, Captain." Alyson said as they reached the edge of the forest.

            Jim looked at her over his shoulder and glared at her, "Professor, if there's one thing I've learn it's never go unprepared."

            BEN hurried up to Jim and said in a voice filled with panic, "Jim, I hear something coming from the forest."

            "What do you-" Jim's words were cut out from his mouth as a scream emitted from the forest.

            Alyson screamed as brown bodies darted around them. BEN, unfortunately, was in the way of one brown body as it lunged from the forest and the robot was sent careening into the ground.

            "AMBUSH!" Rochester roared in a booming voice. He whipped out his gun and fired at one of the brown bodies, but the creature easily dodged the blast.

            The brown creatures let out another piercing scream and lunged at the crewmembers. Alyson collapsed to her knees as she threw her hands over her head, praying she wouldn't be hit. She was aware that the creatures seemed to have an advantage over the crewmember and Jim, despite the fact they were gun-less. She heard the clatters of metal against ground as Jim and his crew were forced to drop their guns from the fierce attacks of the brown creatures.

            Then she felt someone roughly grab her shoulders and haul her up to her feet. Fearing it was a brown creature wanting to do damage to her, she started to kick and scream, praying for a miracle. She kept thinking about what certain men, even wild men, would do to a woman alone and unarmed.

            "We have to run!" Alyson blinked as she recognized the voice as Jim's. She raised her head and met his eyes and nodded.

            Jim released her shoulders and grabbed her hand. He began to pull her away from the area were his crew was still being attacked.

            "What about the-" Alyson started.

            "We have to get back to the ship and get reinforcements." Jim told her forcefully and pulled her harder.

            There was another screech behind her and something hard, a human body most likely, crashed into her. The next thing she knew, Alyson was sprawling into Jim and they crashed into the ground.

            Almost automatically, Jim pinned Alyson beneath her. Purposely, protecting her with his body.

            Alyson looked into Jim's dark blue eyes and saw the fear there. But she saw it not as fear for himself, but fear for her. He was worried about her! That was why he was protecting her with his body.

            Something inside Alyson shifted. She was touched by Jim's automatic response to danger targeted at her. Something inside her changed in that moment, looking into his eyes, and Alyson raised a trembling hand to Jim's cheek.

            Jim's heart was pounding with bone-chilling fear. Surprisingly, it was not for himself but for the woman he had beneath him. He didn't know why he was protecting her so, but his body had done so automatically. He didn't even need telling to. He only found himself regretting not telling Alyson something. What that something was he did not know or his mind did not want to know.

            Alyson whispered, as if trying to speak the new emotions that had suddenly grasped her, "Jim." But whatever else she was going to say didn't come out when she saw the brown creature appeared above her, the sun blocking her view of them. They poked at Jim with the sharp tips of their spears.

            Jim growled fiercely, ready to turn and fight. He'd be damned if he late a single one of these creatures touch Alyson. He didn't know why, but the thought of anyone other then himself touching Alyson in an even remotely intimate why sickened him.

            But then a voice belonging to one of the creatures was saying, "Stand up. Both of you." In surprisingly good English.

            "Do it, Jim." Alyson whispered, "Just do it."

            Jim frowned but stood. He gripped Alyson's hands and pulled her up with him. Once they were standing, Jim turned to face their captors, pushing Alyson protectively behind him.

            Alyson gasped as she finally got a good look at the brown creatures. Goodness, they were human! She could see that they were humans now that they weren't moving so fast. They all wore only leggings made of an odd type of material that looked heavy and itchy. They all carried deadly looking spears as well.

            They looked Jim and Alyson over a few times before they started to murmur to each other in a strange tongue she didn't understand.

            Then the biggest brown human, the leader Alyson guessed, turned to them and said, "You are to come with us. Try to run and we will cut you through and feed your bodies to our dogs."

            Alyson was surprised to find that she understood what the brown man was saying. From the look in Jim's eyes, he was just as surprised. But Alyson could tell from the way he looked, the leader was joking about killing them. She placed her hands on Jim's shoulders and gave him a small push.

            The leader nodded and said to a small boy located on his right, "Tie them up and put them with the others."

            The boy nodded, pulled out a thick rope from behind his back, and hurried to Jim and Alyson. Alyson winced as the thick rope cut into her wrists tightly. She glared at the boy as he went back to the leader.

            The leader grabbed Jim and pushed him back to where his comrades stood, tied up as well. Then he did the same to Alyson. Alyson stumbled and collided with Jim. She leaned against his back and resisted the urge to cry.

            "Get walking." The leader ordered gruffly.

            Alyson closed her eyes and obeyed. She kept thinking that this was not what she had expected when she had arrived on Dead Earth. She had expected ruins and bones, not live and hostile Earthlings. She had a feeling deep within her gut that she was not going to enjoy this adventure very much.

            As Alyson walked she bumped into BEN. She opened her eyes and looked over at BEN. BEN smiled weakly, trying to reassure her.

            "Don't worry, Alyson." BEN assured her, "We don't need to worry about this. We have Jim with us."

            Alyson looked at Jim, who was marching ahead of them, his shoulders stiff and his head held high.

            Oddly enough, she felt safe.

                        Jim, BEN, Alyson and the crew was lead deep into the forest. Alyson found herself constantly tripping over roots sticking out of the ground. The all Earthlings got deeply annoyed with her constant tripping and slowing them down.

            In full anger, the leader storm over to Alyson with his spear gripped tightly in his arm. Thinking he was surely about to stab her and be done with her clumsiness, Alyson lowered her head in fear.

            But instead of pain striking her chest or stomach, the leader grabbed her arm and bent down at his back. With a jerking movement Alyson was thrown over his shoulder and he moved back up into the front of the line.

            The fact that Alyson was now bouncing off the Earthling-leader's back caused a commotion from the crewmembers, as well and Jim and BEN. Alyson hated to admit it, but she was happy that they seemed to care for her so much. For reason she wouldn't admit, she was happiest when Jim demanded the leader put her down.

            "Put the Professor down this instant!" Jim growled, pulling at his bonds, "Or I'll see you regret it."

            The leader glared at Jim, "Would you rather I run her through and leave her body for the worms? It would be much easier to do."

            That shut Jim up rather quickly.

            So Alyson, because of her clumsiness, was now bouncing of the back, feeling rather uncomfortable. The only joy she got was from the fact the leader carrying her was not enjoying it anymore then she was. She could tell by the way he muttered to himself that he hated carrying her.

            Alyson rolled her eyes and decided she wasn't going to play Little-Miss-Meek. She subtlety raised her foot and when she felt the leader step on a dead branch on the forest floor, she kicked him in the cheek.

            There was a howl from the leader and he almost dropped her, but remembered in time and kept a firm hold on her legs. He purposely jumped so Alyson plopped off his shoulder and then landed painfully back on it. She cursed and wanted desperately to rub her stomach, which had been her unfortunate body part that had crashed into the board shoulder of the Earthling.

            Alyson still felt proud of herself for annoying the leader. Hoping he was happy to, she looked over at Jim. She was surprised to find the darkly handsome captain glaring at her. She blinked.

            Jim mouthed, 'Behave." And keep on glaring at her.

            Alyson felt her anger rising. Who was he to tell her to keep quiet and behave? He wasn't her keeper. She could be bad if she damn well wanted to! She returned his glare and then jerked her head away from him and glared at the tree, refusing to make eye contact with him. But she did behave for the whole rest of the trip.

                        Alyson was happy when they finally emerged from the forest. The smell of trees and decaying ground was starting to bother her.

            She also noted with pride that she had yet to make eye contact with Jim. She had no idea whether or not he was still glaring at her and she had no intention of finding out.

            Alyson turned her head back as far as her neck would allow and peered over at the village in which they were being taken to.

            The area had been clear-cut to make room for poorly made huts, thatched with mud and straw. There were women there, hanging up what they probably laughing called cloths, and naked children running around playing a game of some sort. Alyson could hear the mud of the ground squash beneath the feet of the Earthlings and the Fate's crew.

            As they got closer to their final destination, Alyson could see another, better made, hut. This one was made of stone and brick. It was a dull gray colour and looked very spooky in the dimming light of the day, but it still looked safer then the almost-ready-to-collapse huts of the villagers.

            As they continued to the stone hut, Alyson noticed the villagers giving them odd looks. Some were of fear, other admiration… and what surprised Alyson the most was that some were glaring.

            Alyson found herself thinking: what did I ever do to them? But decided to ignore the hostile glares of the villagers. They were a primitive people and probably showed hostility to anything they did not understand.

            Alyson took this time to look at Jim; even though she had sworn to herself she would not. Lucky enough, Jim had his face turned from her. He was too busy staring at the naked children to notice her stare and she was grateful.

            Alyson supposed the reason why she wasn't as surprised as the others to the way of life these people seemed to be living was because she had known what the lifestyle of primitive cultures was already. She had known that they lived in sorry excuses for houses and couldn't make proper cloths. She had already known the children walked around barefoot and naked, man with only pants, and the women only enough to cover the private parts of their bodies. This was nothing new to Alyson, while it was extremely new to Jim, BEN, and his crew.

            Alyson almost smirked at being superior to Jim in this sense, but then he was turning his head back to her and Alyson, feeling childish, jerked her head away from him so he couldn't see she had been staring at him.

            The leader set Alyson down on her feet and said gruffly, "I will no longer carry you. Can you walk?"

            Before Alyson could answer, Jim answered for her, "Of course she can walk." He said.

            Alyson gave Jim a quick glare before saying, "Of course."

            The leader nodded curtly and they walked the rest of the way to the stone hut. There were large stone steps, about five or six, leading up to very tall double doors in a dark wood colour.

            The leader, with a grunt, pushed open the double doors and they stepped in. Alyson, BEN, Jim and his crew where pushed in the middle with the Earthlings surrounding them on all sides so they didn't try to run away.

            Large bricks lined the walls with candles and knight amour Alyson had seen in pictures. She found herself automatically moving closer to Jim when her nerves started pounding. Shaking her head at herself, she moved away. She couldn't count on Jim. She was going to have to rely on herself.

            They continued down the stone hall and stopped at another set of double doors. The door creaked open and they stepped in.

            Alyson's nose crinkled in disgust. This seemed to be an eating area for the Earthlings. Long tables lined the walls and back of the room with long benches to match. At the back table there was a tall chair with a pointed top. Alyson guessed the ruler sat there.

            But Alyson wondered who would want to sit here. The room smelled disgusting and there was all sorts of decaying food on the ground. The ground itself was dirt. The smell and look was atrocious and the way the candles lit the room only made it look worse.

            A little child wearing rags hurried up to them. Alyson was to busy looking around to get a good look at the child.

            The Earthling leader spoke in the harsh Earth language to the girl, who answered in the same tongue. When the girl was done speaking the leader growled and spoke in a low voice. The girl nodded and hurried away, a look of cold fear in her eyes. She disappeared into a small brown door that was meant for the slaves of the stone hut.

            The Earthling leader turned his head to Jim and the others and said in a thick tone, "Our leader is not here. He is visiting another colony north of here. We will not decide your fate until he returns."

            "Goody." Alyson mumbled and Jim shot her a quick glare.

            The Earthling leader growled and drew Alyson close to him. So close she could smell his disgusting breath. She was aware of Jim tensing, as if ready to spring to her defense. But Jim wouldn't do that, would he? After he didn't like her and seemed to be annoyed with the way she was acting, which was like herself. That and in case Jim hadn't noticed, his hands were tied up.

            But the Earthling leader seemed to be unaware of Jim's growl of possession and said to Alyson, "Women should learn their place."

            Alyson's eyes sparked with anger. She was seconds away from ramming her foot into the very thing that made men think they were superior to women when the leader pushed her back against Jim. Jim grunted at the unexpected weight, but held Alyson up without anymore complaint.

            "Take them to the dungeons." The leader said, "Give them little food."

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                        Ooohhhh! Looks like we've stepped back into the medieval ages! You can guess Alyson's not to happy with that 'women should learn their place' crack. I happened to enjoy righting the line following after the leader's line. It was fun. Anyway, stay tuned for Chapter Nine: Sir Rubin of Maryland. We met the leader of the Maryland and tribe and turns he's a… gentleman!? Jim's not going to like this. Review this chapter and look out for the next! Until next time:

                                    "Remember, Lone Star, evil will always triumphant over good because good is dumb." Space Balls, Dark Helmet

                                                            -Lizzy Rebel