Journal 3
Sol 20
I have learned of the human’s name and he has learned of mine. This came about after a great ordeal, in which we both managed to survive out in the desert searching for signs of life.
It was an early morning. I did my ritual stretching and prayers as the human defecated brown liquid and yellow water into a bucket he aptly called his “throne.” It was agreed upon that we were to venture out just far enough in good enough radius from our makeshift shelter of our destroyed ships in search of any signs of water or life. Our rations, if conservatively maintained, would only last ten more Sols. We needed to do something.
We trudged over a few perilous dunes just as the twin moons faded into the darkness and the scorching sun made its way into the sky with a magnificent pink and yellow hue. My helmet still worked and the dark visor along with my second eye lid helped with protecting my eyes from the rays. The human had to keep his bulky goggles and head wrap on to protect his face. His helmet was too bulky and was only meant for protection not practical wear.
We slid down a giant dune after spotting a dark spot of sand in the middle of a valley of white dunes. There were shriveled up weeds of pink and what appeared to be a creek bed of some kind, roughly the size of an imperial class freighter (in human terms this would be the size of a medium sized transport vessel or a skinny Earth lake of some kind).
I crouched down drilling my blade deep into the muddy ground. The human took out a long and thin metal rod and spun a hole deep into the ground just to my right. My bracer analyzed the ground noting a pocket of ground water of indeterminate size. The human, in example of them being simple creatures, happily dug into the ground uncaring for what maybe beneath him.
I said to him, “You should be careful. You don’t know if the water is pure or contaminated especially on a foreign planet such as this.”
“It’s fine,” he cajoled. “Just means we need to filter it when we get back.”
“I suppose,” I replied shaking my head at him for his simplicity. It was always amusing listening to him.
I needed to be cautious for our kind is sensitive to contaminates in water when consumed. I remember on my first mission out of training, we were given capsules of water from a swamp planet. The ship master ordered us to take a sip. We all spat it out and choked violently. He laughed and said calmly, “This is a lesson to all… the water on other planets and our ship are never going to be pure as ours. This is only a micro amount of the water you will find on this world. One cup will destroy your insides with bacteria in no time. This amount will not kill you. You are to be acclimated to these conditions. No excuse for not knowing. Always test. Always observe. Always learn.”
We all responded in the natural salute of us beating out chest and bowing deeply as we flapped our frilled gills.
We both struck water as it seeped out of the ground. I sat there proud of myself feeling as if I was one step closer to getting off this wretched desert rock. I looked over and the human was yelling with exuberance as if he were a fango hound excited for food from its master. For reasons known only to Golo, I began to chuckle at this display from the human. Reminded me of the younglings back in Sangoli, my birth home.
I asked jokingly, “You excited?”
“Hell yes!”
“Ha!”
“Oh, now that is a first from you,” the human said as he plopped down. “Thought you blue lizards never laughed at everything.”
“Only the elite guard have no emotions. I’m only a captain in the regular attack force.”
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“Fooled me. Then again… All the others I encountered have been prisoners who swore to never say anything.”
“And the humans I have encountered have all died defiantly or screaming like cowards. Even the prisoners,” I said with some reverence noting this would cause anger in him.
Instead he sighed with an understanding look. It’s just the nature of war. Especially with how long it has been.
We both took out our water extractors and shoved the tubes delicately into the holes. The small machine gently vacuumed the water into a filter that excreted the harsh minerals into a separate compartment. At least, that’s what the small pack on my back armor was doing. The human’s extractor was a block of green metal with simple buttons. Everything electrical and storage wise was enclosed in the box. There was a second tube that ran from the box up the human’s left shoulder as it dumped the water into an inflated bag with a drinking hose on his shoulder. He called is a “Camel Back.”
His human words for things make no sense to me.
There was a sudden rumbling and shaking of the sand as soon as we both finished extracting the water. The frills on my neck stood at attention as I took out my Katari blade and scanned everywhere around us. The human took out a slug throwing shotgun with laser sights. I looked over at him and he gave me a nod as he slowly walked backwards. The rumbling was in front of us. The regret of not bringing my plasma rifle bothers me to this day.
A large, white tentacle shot forth grabbing my leg as I instinctively sliced it off. The human immediately shot a tentacle off his leg. We both ran up the steep dune as tentacled-mouth beast with six legs sprung forth screeching. It was the size of my ship. We both cursed and fought back as it tried attacking us. It had ten tentacle mouth parts and serrated teeth that spun like an industrial eviscerator used in executions for the worst war criminals.
I was so preoccupied with staying alive as I hacked off two tentacles, I failed to notice one more grab my thorax (midsection) and pull into it's mouth. I could not use my blade at this time. I began to accept my death.
The human jumped on top of the low standing beast and shot five rounds into its thick, slimy head. He primed a thermal detonator and a plasma grenade and shoved it into the hole. He jumped off nearly breaking his ankle in the process.
He yelled at me, “COVER!”
I did as instructed.
The grenades exploded disemboweling the head as chunks of white and blue guts and brain splattered all over me and the sand. The human was covered less so in comparison, but was sand crusted instead. Luckily, the creatures body did not slink back into the water hole. However, what we both discovered was an underground lake.
I said thankfully to the human, “Thank you!”
“No problem.”
“Tell me, human… What is your name?”
“James Taro Williams… Yours?”
“Ga’Roch,” I said with a half-smile as I retracted my suit's helmet. “If too hard to pronounce, then Gar for short.”
“Pleasure meeting you, Gar,” he smiled as he tried to help me up only for him to slip into the blood and sand causing both of us to laugh.
“He looked at the carcass and ascertained, “Guess we have meat?”
“We should test it before eating.”
“Agreed. You have something to test?”
“Of course,” I said tapping my bracer as two analysis spikes shot out. “Need to get samples first.”
If I were to choose between the purple slop of the standard rations I was given and the human canned mystery stuff versus the blue, surprisingly lean meat of the tentacled mouth creature, then I would gladly thank Golo for the blue steaks. Just wished there would be seasonings to go with it. At least we managed to use the human’s ship as a storage set up for the meat whilst turning it into hardened jerky. Still a strange flavor. James called the taste to be that of buffalo (another one of his weird sayings; perhaps an animal of some kind).
Alas... I do miss having a proper meal. I especially miss the Gorgon fillet from the Corilian Star Cruiser during a festive dinner with Cora. The savory aroma of the meat, the perfectly salty and spicy meat, and the steam that melted across my flat nostrils. The quenching and freezing drink of the Orbilio Wine from the sack of the Nexo beast. It was her hand that held mine and her lovely gaze that I miss the most.
I suppose having a proper meal with one that gives you comfort is what makes a meal worth it. James will suffice for company.
