Eden (19 page)

“I do understand what you
’re
feeling, you know,” she said. “There were times when I thought killing him was the only option too, but it isn’t. There
’s
another: we live in peace together. It can be done.” The uncertainty on Bodie
’s
face was clear.

“Don’t assess him on his appearance.” Her hand closed around his as she appealed to him. “Fly
’s
a good, kind man. He
’s
asked for nothing that I wasn’t willing to give.”

*

Outside, cooking breakfast, Fly listened in silence. She was sensitive and selfless. She was always willing to listen to every side of the story. She was gentle, but her voice and quiet reasoning were lined with steel. He felt proud, and not for the first time, a little in awe of her.

Jenny stepped out of the ship and he turned at her approach.

“It smells good,” she said, sniffing the air.

“Fish and boiled graddy leaves.”

“I fancy a bowl of corn flakes, topped with ice-cold milk. Toast with strawberry jam, and freshly brewed coffee. Not necessarily in that order. “

Fly felt her arms snake around his middle. He didn’t think he’d ever tire of that simple gesture of affection.

“I do not understand your words,” he said. He liked the way she stood against him, her small, slender body pressing against his. He looked down at the top of her head. “Repeat slowly.”

She sighed in his arms. “It doesn’t matter.” She pulled back to look at him. “Here, with you, everything tastes wonderful anyway.”

Fly looked at her upturned face; she was smiling up at him in contentment. He wondered what he had done to deserve such a look.

“The food is ready,” he said, and went to turn towards the beginning-to-burn fish, but Jenny wouldn’t let him go. She clung on, resting her cheek against his chest.

Fly
’s
hand moved to her hips, and pulled her even closer. The fish could burn. He stiffed the top of her head, liking her scent.

“I want to ask a
favor
,” she said against his chest.

“
Favor
?”

“I want you to do something for me,” she amended her words. “It might benefit us all.”

Fly waited for her to continue.

She pulled out of his arms, and looked up at him. “I want you to talk to Bodie. I
’ll
get Matt out of the way by taking him for a drive or something tomorrow, and that
’ll
give you plenty of chance to talk to Bodie alone. He
’s
frightened of you and only needs a little reassurance. And if it works, in turn he
’ll
reassure Matt. Matt listens to Bodie.

“You admit there is a problem?”

“No,” she refused to enter his trap. “I only want to hurry things along a bit.”

“You want me to reassure him that I will not kill him?”

Jenny appeared to wince, but then chuckled beneath her breath. “Well, not exactly like that, but yes, I suppose so.”

“And will that stop them from wanting to kill me in return?” “Why not?
I’m
trying to find ways for all of us to live together in perfect harmony, and the least you can do is reassure them. Surely, you can see that?”

Fly didn’t see. The men didn’t trust him, didn’t like him and weren’t prepared to even try. And Fly knew that because he felt the same way. He’d help them get well; the sooner the better, he thought, and then he and Jenny would go their side of the island, and the men theirs. Hopefully, they’d never have to meet again.

“I do not think Bodie would believe me, Jenny,” he said, wanting to be honest with her. “I am an alien to him, I look different, I sound different - I
am
different! “

She pouted, and raised twin eyebrows beseechingly. “We
’re
all animals, underneath we
’re
all the same,” she said.

He couldn’t hide it anymore. He smiled.

“OK, I will talk.”

Jenny placed a kiss on his chin, then moved towards the burning fish. She turned two portions out onto plates before walking back into the spaceship with a farewell wink.

Fly closed one of his eyes in return, and she hooted with laughter.

He smiled after her. She really was unbelievable; unbelievable in the way that he felt he didn’t deserve her. Sometimes he thought he should push her away for fear of soiling her, or hold her close against him in case she disappeared forever in some beautiful dream.

Bodie
’s
eyes flashed open, and came into direct line with the alien
’s
blank gaze. He appeared upside down because Fly was kneeling behind him, tending to his head wounds. Bodie paled, and swallowed to dispel the dryness that had formed in his throat.

The hands on his head were strangely gentle. Strange because they were large, callused and scarred. His head was bathed with something that stung, and then re-bandaged.

He held his breath as the alien moved to check the firmness of the sling. After glancing wordlessly at Bodie
’s
face, Fly pulled off the silver cover and inspected his ribs.

“Ouch!” Bodie
’s
yelp of pain surprised them both.

“Sorry,” said Fly absently, intent on Bodie
’s
injuries.

Bodie was overcome with shock, and watched the alien
’s
profile with a new interest.

“It appears we are in your debt,” he said as the silence stretched. “Not only have you saved our lives, you rescued Jenny too.”

“But you are going to try to
overpower
me, even though you are indebted towards me?”

He felt betrayed. “She told you?”

“I heard.” He pointed to a corner in the roof where a wide crack zigzagged from ceiling to floor, letting the sunlight filter in.

Bodie inhaled strongly, he wasn’t going to allow himself to be intimidated. “I meant everything you heard. If I find out you
’re
hurting her, I
’ll
kill you, I swear.”

The alien
’s
deadpan features remained emotionless. But his eyes changed; as if life had flickered into them.

“You speak like Jenny,” he said.

Bodie ran his tongue across his upper teeth. His entire mouth felt dry. The alien hadn’t appeared to hear his words, and had only seemed to listen to the same distinctive narrative he and Jenny used.

“Where
’s
Matt?” He looked at his empty chair in sudden panic, until he remembered that Jenny had taken him for a drive in the restored buggy. It felt like he had been asleep for hours. His body seemed to demand sleep all the time lately, much to Matt
’s
annoyance. It was its way of recuperating, he supposed. Matt would just have to wait.

Fly hadn’t answered him, and he asked with feigned cheerfulness to pad out the silence: “So, how long have you been here?”

“I have seen two winters, and three summers.”

“Do you live in the ship? It doesn’t seem safe.”

“We have another shelter by the river.”

“And how have you been living?” This was bizarre - impossible! Alien and human life forms coming together for a social chat. Only Bodie didn’t feel particularly social towards the alien, he raised his gaze, quickly
realiz
ing that the hidden messages absent in the alien
’s
body language were present in his eyes.

“From the land.”

“You have done well surviving for so long on you own. The wolves, or whatever you call them, don’t they present a problem?”

“No.”

“Jenny says you share a bond with them?”

“Yes.”

Another short answer. Bodie looked into the eyes and noticed that the light had vanished, and once more they seemed as dry and as empty as space itself. The alien
’s
sudden spark of conversation, it seemed, was at an end.

Fly whipped off the cover completely, making Bodie start, but he could do nothing except lay helpless and watch, as the alien
’s
large hands ran the length of his splintered legs. They rested on his bare toes.

“Move them. “

Bodie shook his head. “I’ve tried. I can’t feel my legs.”

“This is not good.”

Staring up at the ceiling, he nodded grimly, and didn’t notice Fly extract claws from his fingernails; neither did he blink when the alien cut a fine line on the tip of his big toe.

Fly sat back on his heels, and regarded him without words.

Bodie moved his head and looked at him, feeling somehow that he had missed something.

He re-covered his body saying, “Jenny will care for you only until Matt has healed.”

Bodie paled at the implications of those words, and fear thudded into his gut like hard-thrown snowballs.

“Jenny...” he cleared his throat.

“Belongs to me.”

“No,” he said. “She belongs here with us.”

“We have another shelter that is warmer and when you are well, we will
both
leave.”

“Oh God,” Bodie groaned. “Jen can’t want this. She can’t!” He thumped the side of the mattress with his good fist. “God, if I were well,
I’d
...”

“Jenny wants to come with me. She has asked me to explain because you fail to believe her. She will stay with me, and you will stay here.”

Bodie swallowed. He felt the blood drain from his body, and
became limp with defeat.

“She isn’t even the same species as you, she
’s
a member of the human race,” he said through deadened lips.

“The debt hasn’t been repaid yet,” the alien replied. “It never will be. Jenny stays with me.”

“What debt?” Then Bodie
realiz
ed and hot anger filled his body. “My God... you
’re
holding Jen to ransom! Only she
’s
willing because it keeps us alive. “

The big alien inclined his head, as if trying to understand. “I will not kill you or Matt. You are safe from me.”

“But you
’re
not safe from us, alien!” Bodie yelled, as Fly rose up and walked away.

Fly didn’t answer. He was finished, and he left with Bodie still blustering after his departing back.

TWENTY

When Jenny and Matt arrived back, they found Bodie sitting outside on a chair fitted with castors. His legs had been raised onto a stained pillow on another chair. He was in a one-sided conversation with Fly, who was not paying Bodie the slightest attention, but was working, with deep engrossment, on a boat.

Jenny climbed out of the buggy pleased that Bodie was making an effort, even if were only his nervousness that kept him chattering. Matt followed her, his face sullen.

Matt had spent most of the drive trying to make Jenny believe the only way forward was without Fly. Their conversation had been a waste of time. Jenny had tried to explained to Matt that Fly wasn’t a threat to his well-being, and Matt had stuck his fingers in his ears singing, “La, la, la, can’t hear you, la, la, la.”

She’d got her own back though, when he began his list of condemnations against Fly, she’d acted all mature and listened quietly before telling him he was talking out of his backside - then left him sitting in the buggy.

When she got back, hours later, he was furious but he hadn’t attempted to bad mouth Fly again.

“You
’re
looking much better,” she said brightly to Bodie. Bodie
’s
answering smile appeared wildly exaggerated, and his shoulders seemed to sag with relief at seeing them. And she knew, on seeing them together, that Fly
’s
talk hadn’t been a success. Her own shoulders slumped

“Where’ve you been?” Bodie asked. “You’ve been ages.” “Sorry,” she said. “We got talking and forgot the time.”

Matt, leaning heavily on a stick, glared at Jenny like a petulant child. He turned from her and looked at Bodie. Fly was completely ignored. “It was a waste of time, Commander,” he said, limping over towards him. “She won’t even listen.”

Jenny looked sharply at Matt, frowning. Then watched as Bodie shook his head, and directed volumes of unspoken words to Matt with his eyes.

Matt lowered himself onto the floor by Bodie
’s
chair and whispered in his ear, making her
realiz
e that they had a plan of their own. While she had sent Fly in to talk with Bodie, Bodie had told Matt to talk with her. And now they wanted to compare notes. Oh, how divided it had become already!

They climbed the hill that snugly hid the vessel, and crossed the dry, rocky land towards the beach.

“I did as you asked, and spoke with Bodie,” Fly said. “Why does he call me “God”?”

Jenny giggled. “I
’ll
remind him of your name,” she said. “Did you reassure him?”

“He very much resents our relationship. I told him of our home and that when he is recovered you and I will be sharing it.”

“It
’s
not as if I
’ll
be abandoning them completely. Bodie will be well again soon, and
I’m
sure once he
’s
better his anxiety will lessen.”

“The damage to his legs is much worse than we anticipated,” he said, and explained the lack of feeling Bodie had, and she was consumed with fear for her uncle.

“He will need constant nursing.”

She fell silent at the implication of his words, and they crossed part of the vast plains deep in their own private thoughts. Their feet disturbed thick layers of dust and it rose up around their knees. They unsettled a pair of grey-
colored
creatures, which scuttled away on multitudinous legs, marking the ground behind them with their strange prints.

Climbing the rocky embankment to the beach, they proceeded along the sand, passing the shiny-barked graddy trees. They walked close to the sea-edge where the sand was wet and firm.

“You were gone a long time in the buggy with Matt,” he said. “Did the small repartee between them mean he was told to talk you against me?”

“I thought you had missed that!” She looped her arm through his, and then said on a sigh, “The reason we were gone for so long was that we had a blazing row. I got out and left him in the buggy. “ She smiled in memory. “I think he was worried that I’d leave him there. If it weren’t for a couple of natives, I would have. I think they had a good cooling effect on his temper, too. He was very subdued on the way back. “

She rested her head against his shoulder, and added, “No matter what he or Bodie say they’d
never
turn me against you.”

Fly said nothing.

“How’d the hunt go?” she said, trying to keep their conversation light. It was hard to gage Fly
’s
mood, but she sensed all was not well with him.

Since Bodie and Matt
’s
arrival she had been forced to
realiz
e that their relationship was still as fragile and as breakable as ever. “Did you manage to catch any more of the woolly herd?”

“Two.”

She chuckled.

“They run very fast,” he defended himself, and she could feel his body relaxing.

Soon, they reached their destination and Jenny moved around the house as if for the first time and
marveled
, yet again, how one man without the aid of modern appliances could build such a
structure.

Checking on the secured animals was little more than an excuse to revisit their home, and it only took a few minutes to see that all was well.

They all had plenty of water and grazing land. Jenny tended to her crops; none had sprouted, although weeds had already made their appearance.

“Nothing changes,” she muttered as she pulled these out.

She caught Fly watching, lolling casually against a tall tree.

Smiling seductively, she crossed towards him. Standing on tiptoe she wrapped her arms around his neck, and pressed her body against him. Slowly they slipped down to lie in the golden flowers, and the only witness to their tender lovemaking was a lone bird that flew overhead.

“Where the hell have you been? You’ve been gone all morning.”

It was a few days later, and Jenny had just left Fly at their house. Relations still hadn’t improved between the three men, in fact, they’d got worse.

Matt was recovering quickly, but Bodie still needed around the clock care. He found himself a burden, and was frustrated at his body
’s
lack of strength.

“Missed me, Matt?” she asked.

He scowled, then did a double take of her. “You
’re
covered with yellow dust.”

Jenny giggled, saw his expression, and hastily turned it into a
cough.

“We were worried about you, love,” Bodie said.

Jenny sighed -
love.
He was in his “Uncle Jim” mode. She almost preferred Matt
’s
foul mouth. But looking into Bodie
’s
exhausted eyes made her feel guilty for leaving him for so long. But it
was so nice to get away from their moaning about Fly.

“Where
’s
the alien?” Bodie asked.

“Cleaning and gutting the hunt from this morning.”

“It
’s
time we had some
organization
,” he said, trying to sit up in the chair. He winced as his body protested at his shifting.

“You OK?” asked Jenny.

“Yes, love. It
’s
obvious we
’re
going to be here for a long time, so we should discuss shelter and the means and ways of feeding ourselves.”

“Fly has said you can stay here.”

“I know, darling, but the spaceship
’s
falling apart at the
seams.”

She wished he’d stop speaking to her with endearments. Matt
’s
face was becoming more and more hostile with every word. It was clear he was jealous of their family bond, probably even more so now they were in this predicament.

It was common knowledge that Matt had
idolized
her father, Zack. He’d once told her that he’d read every book Zack had written, and of how his dream had come true when he become an astronaut himself.

He’d been a good friend back then. It’d been as if he knew how difficult it was for a woman to penetrate the male dominated space-age era, and he’d helped her smash through the glass ceiling. Eventually their friendship developed into something more - well, at the time that
’s
what she had thought, Jenny mused sadly. She’d thought she had loved him. But he became cold and distant overnight.

She may have been foolish in keeping her famous surname a secret, but she’d so badly wanted to make it on her own, without any support from her father
’s
name.

And then, when she revealed her true identity, Matt turned against her.

“We only need a bad storm and the ship will cave,” Bodie was
saying.

“When the time comes for you
to leave,” Jenny said. “Fly and
me will help you find another shelter. “

“Where
’s
your
shelter?”

“The other side of the river. Once the bridge is up, I
’ll
take you
over. “

“Won’t you need permission from Fly,” Matt said, in a silly, sarcastic voice.

They both ignored him and Matt turned away, cursing under his breath.

“You
’ll
be pleasantly surprise when you see the house,” she said, smiling and nodding at the same time. “I mean it,
pleasantly
surprised.”

Bodie smiled back, although she sensed it was forced.

“We
’ll
see, sweetheart, we
’ll
see.”

He was
humor
ing her! Bloody, stupid man! She knuckled her eyes, and groaned to herself. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She decided to laugh.

“What
’s
funny?” asked Bodie.

“You are.” She looked up. “I know what you
’re
doing,
honey.
And it
’s
not working. You
’re
going to have to accept Fly, Bo. He
’s
here to stay, like it or lump it.”

“We
’ll
never accept him. Can’t you see that? What
’s
wrong with you, Jenny! Why aren’t you listening to us? Are you afraid we
’ll
make you see sense?”

Jenny tightened her lips against his outburst. Obviously, they’d had another of their lengthy discussions while she was away, and it had been totally opposed to Fly as usual.

“
I’m
not deserting Fly just because you
’re
here,” she said calmly. “You
’ll
just have to accept him.”

“He
doesn’t accept
us!”
Matt broke in angrily. “The alien is resentful of our arrival. He
’s
jealous that we share a past with you! “

“Matt, shut up,” Bodie said.

“Why is it you can tell her the truth, but I can’t?” Matt demanded.

Bodie flapped him away. Matt stood up and walked a couple of spaces. He faced the spaceship, where he smacked it several times in frustration with the flat of his hand.

Jenny ignored him, and turned back to Bodie. He was rubbing his temples. And when he spoke again his voice was full of pacification,

“Jen, sweetheart, see reason. When you move out of the spaceship you
’ll
be living with - well, he isn’t even a man, he
’s
an
it.
You
’ll
be living with an alien; a creature.”

Jenny mentally counted to ten. “The
creature
is still a man - a man with a name.” She looked from Matt to Bodie, and back to Matt again. She held out her hand. “I
’ll
have the gun back now, please.”

Matt turned from the spaceship, where he had been resting his forehead against the cool exterior. He raised his eyes skywards. “Oh, puleese! The silly cow thinks we
’re
strong enough to blow the alien away, already.”

“You know the rules. You two are not allowed the gun in Fly
’s
presence. You’ve only yourselves to blame,” she said. “Can’t expect much else, can I?”

“Well, I expect that you’d trust us over an alien, at least!” Matt said, incredulous. But he flung the gun across to her, which she caught.

His hurt expression mellowed her.

“I know you
’re
afraid, I’ve been there too, remember?” She turned to Bodie. “Fly
’s
OK, you know. Giving you the spaceship has proved that, and he
’ll
supply your food until Matt is well.”

Matt cocked an eyebrow. “Is that where you’ve been?
Paying
him?”

Jenny
’s
head reared up like a startled filly. Anger burned her face. She rushed forward with the grace of a ballet dancer and slapped him hard across the face with the back of her hand.

The force of her blow made her stumble and Matt
’s
head was jerked back against the wall of the spaceship with a bang. He checked his face for blood, then squared up to her cussing angrily.