He hadn't expected alien tech to be reasonable. After all scientific advances by an alien race that evolved light years away from earth would have their own subtle nuances and the like. Yet Austin couldn't make much sense of the pile of shrapnel that lay before him.
It looked, to his eyes, like an inside out solar panel that had been all rolled up.
He kicked it experimentally. The resulting hum on the metal lasted much longer than he was comfortable with. Cautiously, he maneuvered around it until he was peering into the tube.
The inside looked even odder up close. All discs arranged around him like mirrors. Most of them had been shattered but a few remained intact.
A spark drew Austin's attention.
One of the shattered plates winked at him through the small bit of light in the opening. The tiniest flash, almost like a spark of energy, seemed to be coursing through the glossy disc.
Reaching through the hole, Austin tentatively fingered it. Hoping to budge it some what, feel some kind of warmth, or otherwise prove it was the light playing tricks with his eyes. Instead, he felt a sudden sharp pain.
With a yelp, Austin yanked his arm out of the hole and inspected his hand. A droplet of blood trickled down his finger where something had his hand. Sticking his finger in his mouth, Austin glanced back at the hole and could have sworn he saw the disc soaking up his blood. Like a hard flat vampire.
"What are you doing?!"
Austin screamed and whirled around to find Kalthara looming over him,
"You scream like a small child."
"Sh-shut up! You snuck up on me!" Squaring his shoulders Austin tried to make himself look bigger. Like a tiny bird against an elephant. "Besides how'd you get up here without me seeing you? Did ya fly up here or something?"
She narrowed her eyes at him.
"I told you not to leave the transport."
He suppressed a scowl. Austin got the feeling he'd have to get used to suppressing a lot of facial expressions around Kalthara.
"I'm pretty sure I'm allowed to walk a few yards away from my truck."
"What are you even doing up here?"
This was it. His time to (metaphorically) shine. Austin had never considered himself a prideful, or even a particularly spiteful, man. But this space woman's irritating tendency to find everything he was sensitive about had ignited a spark of indignation.
He'd only known her for a day tops and already he wanted to do or say something that would make her sit up, take notice, and shut up. Not many people had ever truly gotten under Austin's skin the way she had. Especially in such a short amount of time.
That was probably why he was more snide than he usually would have been.
"Oh nothing. Just digging out this weird piece of metal that is clearly not of this world for shits and giggles."
Sarcasm was nothing new to Kalthara. She frequently utilized it herself. But it lost it's charm when used against her. Especially by under evolved apes who should know their place.
"You are aware that I could snap you with but a finger, yes?" Before Austin could respond, she moved past him to get a full look at what it was he'd been messing with.
And froze.
"What is THIS doing here?!"
The altean artifact was fractured, cracked, and torn asunder but still very much recognizable. Kalthara resisted the urge to attack it. Even as it lay there in the dirt mocking her with its very presence.
The only explanation was that it had somehow broken off from Kolivan's craft and wrapped around her own following her into orbit. But the chances of such an accident occurring were astronomically high. Let alone that it would end up so close to her craft upon landing. Yet there was no other explanation. At least none that were within the realms of non-fiction.
Investigations into the probability of Kolivan's pet project ending up on this rock with her would have to wait. Right now she had more important things to worry about.
"Ya mean it ain't yours?"
Speaking of things to worry about…
Austin was giving her a look of confusion as he gestured to the machine.
"Of course not. The technology is completely different from mine." She spoke matter of factly.
He could contain the snort anymore. "Right because it's unreasonable to assume the piece of alien space metal belongs to the alien lady."
Kalthara's subconscious brain immediately attempted to send a message to the rest of her body that it'd be great to punch the tiny ape and re-assert some dominance. Thankfully her conscious mind cut in to remind her subconscious that they needed Austin and he'd be a lot less willing to help her out if she went around punching him for every snide comment. There was also a tiny bit of input from her moral center about how punching lesser undeveloped weak lifeforms was wrong but Kalthara prefered to pretend that it wasn't there.
Instead, she began to dig out around the crashed artifact. Hoping to loosen the dirts hold on it.
"If it ain't yers then why are ya diggin it out?"
Ignoring him, she continued. He sighed and, judging from the sound of boots scraping against rock, left. Well that was fine by her. If he had no intention of helping then his presence was only a hinderance.
That, of course, was entirely different from saying assitance would not be welcome. Trying to dig with one arm was proving to be an almost impossible task. Every time Kalthara scooped a large handful of dirt out of the way, more seemed to slide back into place.
Several minutes of work bore out little results as all of her progress essentially amounted to nothing. At such a rate it would take Kalthara forever to dig out even a portion of the artifact barehanded.
Kalthara's ears twitched at the sound of scraping metal. She turned around just in time to see something being thrown over the side of the rock formation and clatter to the ground. Followed by the struggling figure of Austin, who rolled on his back one he'd made it over the ledge.
"Oh man… I am… out of shape." He said breathlessly.
She stared at him. She hadn't expected him to come back.
Eyeing the tool he had flung over the ledge she cautiously asked. "What… is that?"
Instead of getting up, Austin tipped his head backwards to give her an unamused look.
"Are ya trying to tell me you don't have shovels in space?"
"O-of course we do!" No matter what anyone said, she was NOT flushing in embarrassment. "I-I mean why would you bring it here?"
"To dig out the thing?"
There was a pause.
Kalthara took a deep breath and said, slowly this time, "I mean to ask why you would bring me a shovel?"
Austin continued to look at her. This time with an expression of bewildered confusion. He did not appear to understand the question. Almost as though their minor spat had never occurred and Kalthara hadn't just threatened him with cartoonish violence.
This was not at all what she was used to. Usually when she got into arguments, even small ones, her peers would leave her alone. It was preferable to awkwardly talking it out, she supposed.
Or that is what she assumed.
No one had ever asked her.
Picking up the shovel, she began to awkwardly scoop the dirt out of the way. It was much more effective than doing it barehanded. But with only one arm free it was still something of a struggle.
"Uhm," Austin awkwardly hovered nearby. "You, uh, you want me to do it?"
Kalthara firmly pressed her lips together and ignored him.
"I mean… Ya do have a broken arm." He licked his dry lips. "It'd probably be best if we did it together. But I only have the one shovel. So y'know…"
He trailed off as a free flying shovel full of dirt barely missed him.
Staring at the gravel he decided it might be best to let the alien women do as she pleased. Still, it was no reason for him to remain idle.
Clapping his hands he awkwardly announced. "Well this is probably gonna take awhile so I'm just gonna go make sure I still have enough supplies in the truck. Water. Dried food. Sunscreen. The works."
Awkwardly he wandered over to the ledge and waited for a response that never came.
Clicking his tongue he muttered, "Okay then."
For the second time that day Austin made his way down the rocky outcropping and headed for his truck. Though he was happy that he likely wouldn't have to climb back up immediately. At least not while awkwardly carrying a shovel.
He hadn't really been expecting much. It wasn't like he really thought she'd prostrate herself in gratitude, bowing, and swearing to him her first born child. But a simple thank you wasn't too much to ask was it?
Even just a nod of acknowledgement would have been satisfactory.
Though the fact that she hadn't thanked him should not have been too surprising. Austin already knew that their shaky alliance had been born out of necessity more than anything else. Yet that didn't really explain her attitude.
Afterall she was the one who had tried to kill him. Not the other way around. So it didn't make sense to be so guarded with him. Besides even with a broken arm she was clearly stronger than he was.
Austin could still remember the way she'd moved that night. Injured, delirious, and yet still having enough control of herself to launch an attack on a perceived enemy. How much of it was skill and how much was whatever the alien equivalent of adrenaline was, he couldn't say. But he knew one thing for sure.
If the shock of the crash combined with her injuries hadn't rendered Kalthara unconscious. She could have killed him. Hell, she WOULD have killed him.
That wasn't the attitude of some random space traveler. No matter what aliens were like, most creatures didn't kill in such a slick style naturally. That was something that required training and experience to properly pull off.
Her excuse for her presence wasn't all that great either.
Sightseeing. Right. Because that wasn't an excuse they had here on earth.
She'd lied to him about her presence. That alone was alarming. But the fact that she hadn't killed him yet was even more alarming.
Afterall if she had just killed him first chance she got, that would have made things a bit more obvious. Alien Invaders probably didn't give a hoot about killing people. Especially not random clearly alone unarmed humans in the middle of nowhere. But since she hadn't…
It did not rule out the idea of her being here as some kind of spy or scout for an invasion force. But in that case she would have made a much greater effort to learn more about earth. Sure she'd made fun of Austin's equipment but that was hardly a sign of the planet's fighting force. Even an alien would have had to know that.
Austin huffed as he opened the bed of his truck.
All of this thinking was getting too complicated for him. There wasn't even any guarantee that human logic would apply to an alien lifeform. For all he knew Kalthara's behavior was considered downright friendly by the standards of her people.
Nothing you can do about it now. He reminded himself. Just check out the supplies and leave it at that.
Busying himself with the chore Austin mentally categorized all of the items in his trunk.
There was enough water in the old gasoline container he used for the two of them. At least presumably. He had little idea if Kalthara even drank water.
He was sure he'd seen a movie once as a kid where water was like acid to the aliens. Of course that was hollywood and this was real life. Where rude women with fuzzy ears threatened him with strong fingers.
The generator seemed to still be hangin in there despite years of use. His telescope was still carefully packed away like it had been on that fateful night.
The camping stove, folding chair and table, as well as the kettle and thermos were all packed away in their own little corner. Just in the right place to access when he needed a nice hot drink on those cold nights in the desert.
A walking stick sat in the backseat of the truck along with
Austin glanced back at the outcropping. Undoubtedly she was still at it. He moved on to the smaller items he kept in his knapsack.
Dried food bits, sunscreen, a first aid kit (which was down some gauze thanks to Kalthara), a wool blanket, a small flashlight, a thermos, a well worn camping knife, a box of matches, a compass and a map marked with stargazing locations. The last thing he removed from the bag was a small pill bottle.
He raised an eyebrow at the bottle and thought reflectively. So much had happened the previous day and through the night that he had almost forgotten his daily dosage. But it hadn't been that long since he'd taken his last dose. At least he didn't think so.
If he wasn't careful the doctor would get on his case again. That kind of stress was the last thing he needed.
Pouring the correct dosage into his hand, Austin swallowed it. Screwing the cap back on he stashed his medicine back into his sack. He'd have to remember to hide them when he got back home. He couldn't have Kalthara messing with it.
Suddenly a sound like a car crashing made Austin nearly fall out of his truck. He looked back at the outcropping to see a very familiar piece of metal tumbling down the cliff. As well as a familiar figure staring satisfactory down at the crash.
Austin sighed and scratched his scalp in irritation.
"What was even the point of me giving her that shovel?" he asked no one in particular. Then in a mock tone, "Here's a shovel to dig your creepy alien vampire shit out with. Not like yer gonna push it off a cliff or nuthin."
Kalthara stared down breathlessly as the altean artifact tumbled to the bottom of the cliff. She didn't worry about there being too much damage done. If the thing could resist entering the atmosphere without falling apart then a tiny tumble down a cliff was nothing.
She'd realized rather quickly that she didn't need to dig out all around the machine. She only needed to dig out one side of it at just the right angle to make pushing it out of the ground possible. The fact that it had rolled far enough to fall off the end of the outcropping wasn't planned but nonetheless solved the issue of getting it off the top of the cliff without getting crushed.
Peering over the edge, Kalthara judged the distance before backing up and taking a running start. Leaping from the ledge, she bounced off from a small ledge to another, before landing onto the ground below. Unfortunately she stumbled and almost tripped.
Cursing, she resumed her balance and glared at the sling. She'd have stuck that landing if her arm had been free. Looking at the truck, she hoped Austin hadn't seen her stumble. It would not do to look foolish in front of him. Not at this time.
However, her worry soon turned into irritation as she saw that, once more, the human man had disappeared from his place by the transport. Glancing about, she realized that there was only one place he could have gone.
Angrily Kalthara circled around the outcropping towards her crashed ship to see Austin placing both his hands on the metal siding. She paused as she saw the expression on his face.
A massive grin had replaced his rather sarcastic half smile. His back was straighter and more alert. Even his movements seemed more energetic.
However, it was his eyes that gave her a reason to pause.
Kalthara liked to think she could be a keep observer. The problem was that she tended to notice things without really noticing them. Only realizing what it was she had seen much later.
Austin's eyes were naturally dark with white sclera. Something that set his eyes apart from her yellow ones. She had thought the rather cold and lifeless look in his eyes had just been her own inflection given his dull alien design. But now…
Now his eyes were bright. The color and design had not changed. Nor were his eyes suddenly luminous in the shadow of the outcropping. It was the way that a spark of life seemed to have suddenly appeared that seemed to make them seem somehow different.
But that was silly. A persons eyes did not change. At least not in the ways her subconscious was trying to communicate to her.
Shaking the thoughts from her head she made her way over to the man. She stood there awkwardly for a moment wondering how best to announce her presence when Austin seemed to catch sight of her.
The look on his face reminded her of the time when she had caught her brother sneaking extra provisions from the kitchen when they were children. A mix of frozen shock, guilt, and fear. It was almost funny how similar the expression was.
Austin immediately pulled his hands off of the metal, and backed away.
"Uhm… I uh… I was just…"
She could only describe it as a whim that made her throw the poor man a bone.
"Seeing what might be the best way to move the ship to a more hidden location?"
Austin stared at her, mouth agape, before taking up the bone like a dutiful dog.
"Ah-Yes! Yes, I uh, I just wanted to see if there was an easy way to move it. Yeah."
He gave an awkward laugh and rubbed his hands together.
After a few moments of awkward silence, he began again.
"We, uh, we should probably move this." he then quickly added. "You can see it from the sky."
Kalthara raised an eyebrow. "You humans can fly?"
Austin paused for a moment before giving an amused "Uh, no we have machines for that."
"That is what I meant."
"Oh."
Looking about her she asked, "Do you know where we can hide it?"
Austin paused for a moment. "I… might. There are an area near here with a ton of old caves. I've been over there with my telescope before. Some of 'em might be big enough to park your ship in. Better yet, most folks avoid the area"
"And why is that? Is it a dangerous area?"
"That… depends on what you mean by dangerous." Austin answered carefully. "Instruments tend to go wacky around there. Lots of theories about it. Probably some kinda magnetism in the rocks or something."
Looking at her ship, Kalthara wondered if she could manage to get it working enough to move across the landscape to the area mentioned. And even then, would the magnetism mentioned make her ship's dysfunctions worse?
But that was a risk she would have to take. Austin seemed to think that other humans would not react well to seeing her ship, and she was going to have to trust his judgement. It was the whole reason she'd formed this alliance after all.
"I will attempt to see if I can move it." Kalthara began trying to climb up the side of the ship.
"Move it? Ya mean… yer gonna pilot it? Like, right now?"
She paused.
There it was again. That odd change. His voice was essentially the same, but his voice had still changed somehow. It was odd. She ignored it.
"That is typically what one means when they intend to move a craft, yes."
"Oh r-right." He shuffled his feet. "You uh… You need me to show ya where to go in my truck?"
As she climbed into the cockpit, Kalthara gave Austin a look.
It was the kind of look that said, "The answer to that question is so obvious I am not even going to waste oxygen explaining how obvious it is."
He watched as she fiddled with some kind of controls. Sometimes even seeing to poke the thin air before-
Air rushed out from the machine from vents that opened from underneath. Austin had to raise his arms to his face and close his eyes to keep the dirt and sand from blinding him. As the clouds of sand settled, he carefully opened his eyes.
And gaped at the now hovering aircraft that sat suspended in the air before him.
The cockpit door opened and Kalthara poked her head out. Ears twitched in irritation at all the dirt in the air. She spoke, and although her voice was drowned out by the engine, he could still make out the words. Probably because she was screaming.
"IS IT LEVITATING?!" Was the gist of what he understood.
Austin wasn't certain his own deep voice could be heard over the noise. Even if it could, he wasn't sure he'd be able to. So instead he soundless nodded. It got the message across.
"ALRIGHT. GET IN YOUR TRANSPORT AND SHOW ME THE WAY!" With that she disappeared from view and closed the cockpit door.
It wasn't until after Austin had climbed behind the steering wheel, and was halfway across the desert with an alien craft following him that he realized that, along with never saying thank you, Kalthara didn't seem to know how to properly say please.