By Hannah Carter
Shots glanced off a yellow-leafed tree as Tee darted through bushes taller than him. He screeched as another bullet almost grazed his large ear. Taurus’s tail, he thought ERT-82’s greens would provide camouflage, but the chlorophyl-deprived foliage left him exposed. “This is Ambassador Tee, calling dispatch. Come in, Caelum Base!”
Only static. He shook his wrist telecommunicator. Ugh—intergalactic roaming plans were so unreliable these days.
Another shot rang out. Tee gasped as fiery pain blasted his nerves. His eyes widened as the azure blood spread down his arm, staining his silver protective suit. He staggered, nearly falling beneath the limbs of a towering tree, but he couldn’t stop. He had to stay on his feet, had to find his spaceship and get home.
“Git back here, ya filthy goblin!” a voice called, right before another gunshot pierced the air.
Oh, Scorpio—despite the fact these primitive ERT-82 inhabitants had no access to Caelumian vaporizing technology, Tee’s wounds proved their guns were quite capable of destruction.
“Pa!” a new voice entered the fray. Another shot fired. Dead leaves exploded, and Tee yelped and slipped on a patch of slick foliage.
“What is it?” the first, deeper voice asked.
“Ma thinks the critter’s back at the house. She’s screaming and throwin’ an awful fit,” the second voice wheezed.
Tee crept farther away from the bloodthirsty barbarians. He raised his wrist to his mouth and whispered again into his telecommunicator, “Come in, Caelum Base.”
Static crackled to life, and a loud voice answered, “This is Caelum Base. Come in, Ambassador Tee.”
Pisces’ fin! Tee had forgotten to take it off speaker after his mother called.
“There it is!” the first voice cried again. “Git ’em!”
Tee’s attacker thundered through the forest again. Sniveling, Tee stumbled away from the giant man. All the while, Caelum Base repeated their message. Tee fumbled to silence his telecommunicator. Better to take his chances hiding than draw more attention to himself.
His stomach roiled. He wasn’t a warrior. He was a scholar. An ambassador! He clenched his fist, whimpering. He should’ve taken the job at the library on Caelum like his mother said and never gone into space. Researching the languages and customs of ERT-82 from his cozy chair was far preferable than field work.
Another bullet fired—pain ricocheted from Tee’s leg through his body. Crying out, Tee tumbled down a hill and slammed into a tree, raining down a handful of pinecones.
He silenced his telecommunicator and tried to steady his breathing. Sweat rolled down his face; his ears quivered. So this was the end. He’d only been trying to get directions when he knocked on that backwoods house. Now look where he’d ended up. ERT-82 inhabitants were crueler and more vicious than the textbooks said. If the trigger-happy demons ever made it into space, their impact on intergalactic peace could be catastrophic.
Heavy footsteps tromped by Tee’s hiding place. He held still, but he could see the giant form of one of his attackers. Moonlight glinted on the metal of the ancient weapon he held—a long-barreled firearm. Not nearly as effective at vaporizing as the newer models on Caelum, but it still inspired fear.
Tee held his breath. Even one stray inhale could betray his position.
The bigger human passed. Paused. Sniffed the air.
Nothing in the ERT-82 pamphlets had said humans had advanced olfactory systems…
He walked by Tee’s hiding spot.
Tee waited until the human was out of sight. He breathed a sigh and—
“Hey, critter,” the youngling whispered. “I see ya.”
Tee swore by every constellation he knew. His mother would have been quite offended. But she’d probably never see his face again, let alone hear profanity cross his lips.
“Please don’t hurt me,” Tee stammered.
“Yer already hurt.” More leaves crunched under the child’s feet. “Yer bleedin’.”
Even the young ones had keen hunting instincts.
The youngling smiled. Eerily, some teeth were missing. Had they been knocked out in some brutal gladiatorial match?
The child reached into a pack at his side. “Here. I brung some gauze.” The boy produced a thick package from his satchel. “My name’s Drew, by the way. S’yours?”
“Tee.”
“That’s a funny name. Where ya from?” With gentle hands, Drew began to wrap Tee’s injured arm.
“A planet called Caelum, far away from here.” Tee’s ear tips drooped.
“Ain’t heard of Caelum, but you’re on Earth. In Kentucky.”
“Ken-tuck-ee.” Tee tested the foreign word on his tongue, wincing as Drew moved down to the leg injury. “Are you going to shoot me, too, Drew from Ken-tuck-ee?”
“Naw.” Drew shook his head. “Reckon there ain’t no sense in that.”
“But… your pa…” Tee stumbled over the name.
“Pa thinks you’re dangerous. Ya spooked him.” Drew peered closer at Tee until their noses almost touched. “But I don’t think yer the wrong sort.” Drew cinched the bandages and held out his hand. “I can help ya.”
“But…” Tee patted his protective suit and found nothing. “I… can’t give you anything.”
“You don’t owe me nothin’.”
“But—”
“We’re friends.” Drew gave a gap-tooth smile. “Ya don’t need to do squat to be friends.”
“Interesting.” Still, Caelum politeness dictated that Tee should at least offer something… he picked up a pinecone and offered it to Drew. “Here. Take this pinecone as a testament to our friendship.”
Drew grinned. “All right. Reckon a pinecone wouldn’t hurt. Here.” He returned the gesture. “You take one, too. So you’ll always remember yer buddy Drew.”
They shook on it.
Funny—Drew’s gentle but calloused hand didn’t feel any different from a Caelumite’s as Tee held it.
“I need to get back to my spaceship,” Tee said.
“I’ll help ya. I’ll keep my pa away.”
Tee smiled. “You know, with—uh, folks like you… it makes me think there might be intergalactic peace between Caelum and Kentucky one day.”
Drew raised his pinecone. “Or maybe inter-galaxy-ical friendships.”
Tee clinked his pinecone against Drew’s. “Yes. Maybe inter-galaxy-ical friendships, too.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
This is one of my favorite stories you’ve written! I love the suspense and how much emotion is packed into the scene. And the ending is just wonderful! Well done, Hannah! 🥰
Awww, thank you so much, Kayla!! ♥ You’re gonna make me cry. ^_^ Thank you for all your support! ♥
I like how you contrasted the violence at the beginning with the gentle humor and friendship at the end. Such a sweet story with an enjoyable change in viewpoint!
Thank you so much, Arlan!! ^_^ I really enjoyed moving the story from a place of “violence toward the unknown” to “making friends with the unknown.” Thanks for reading!! ^_^
nice…
Thank you so much, SC!! ^_^
The beginning had me thinking that this is exactly why I don’t ask for directions! If siri can’t tell me how to get there, then I probably don’t need to be there anyway!! 😂 However, just as it is in life, we find that many humans are often far more kind than we anticipate! Wonderful story Hannah, love the tone shift midway through!! ☺️
Bahahaha, thank you so much, Andrew!! ^_^ Probably everyone should think twice about asking for directions from people that live in the woods…just seems like a bad idea all around. xD
SUCH A SWEET STORY 🥹 Looking forward to more adventures with these characters! <3
HEHEHE THANK YOU SO MUCH, BEK!! <3 I'd love for there to be another opportunity for them to come back!
I loved this so much hahaha!
Hehehe, thank you so much, Olivia!! ^_^
I like that the humans aren’t necessarily bad, but they act without all the information. I could see a child ignoring the difference to talk to Tee.
Yup, I agree! I think kids have more of a natural propensity to be open to new people and things, so long as they haven’t been taught to fear them. I thought of the song “You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught” from South Pacific a lot while writing this. :)
Love Tee’s perception of things. The child missing teeth because of gladiator battles lol. Great story!
Awww, thank you so much, RJ!! ^_^ That was one of my favorite lines to write if I’m being honest xD
This is so sweet!!! My heart!!!
Hehehehe, THANK YOU SO MUCH, CASS!! ♥
This one had me tickled pink! That hunt’ll be a “tall” tale retold around town many times, I shouldn’t wonder… ;)
Awww, thank you so much, Rose!! ^_^ You’ve killed me with your tall tale pun though, LOL XD ♥