Chapter ten

Really it was the suicide rate that bothered him.  Life was so different off earth that 3 in 20 children of aliens offed themselves for some reason.  That was terrible!  Sam would rather be on the run from them for years than deal with that kind of stress.  He needed to stop and think though.  Flying as fast as he was, he knew he left the agents far behind in the three hours he had been in the air but he really needed to touch down and go over what he had just learned.  It was too much to process while doing something as strenuous as flying.

He hadn’t realized how far he’d gone originally but he crested a ridge and flew right into Yellowstone national park.  It was still daylight at that and he could see a parking lot a few miles off in the distance at 2 o’clock to his direction.  He veered away from that area and sought out a hot spring somewhere deeper into the park.  Bumping into a single person is one thing, bumping into a crowd is a whole ‘nother issue.

Sam found a single spring hidden up in the back that seemed like most people avoided.  It had a stream coming from it that went downhill a few hundred yards to a geyser cluster that Sam could tell had seen visitors but most didn’t come up here.  Perfect!  He set his pack on a rock a short ways away and pulled off his shirt and skirt.  The bra had not survived the shooting and he had no spares with him.  Not that he cared.  His chest was rather small as it was.

As a human he knew the water in these springs could melt off your skin if you stepped in.  This one was pretty high on the temperature scale as well and had a steady stream of bubbles and steam coming from it.  Sam knew he could handle high temperatures though.  How high he wasn’t sure but this seemed like a good test.  He stepped over to the edge and put his foot next to the water's edge.  No sensations from the temperature so he slid it forward with still no effect until his foot was completely submerged.  It only felt luke warm to him.  That was both annoying and intriguing at the same time.  At least he won’t have to worry about anyone joining him in the waters.

He stepped down into the waters and felt more warmth towards the center where the water was closer to boiling.  It actually felt warm there.  Hallelujah!  But Sam wanted to sit down and relax for a bit so he moved to a couple rocks in the pool set at the right height that his head and shoulders stayed out of the water.

So living on earth is a cakewalk compared to living in a majority of the rest of the planets.  Either it’s super dangerous or the environments are that depressing.  Either way Sam didn’t like it.  Then there was the fact that his species was classified.  So either he was some failed genetic experiment or there was some huge bounty on the head of his species.  They hunt animals on earth for sport, who’s to say sentient species don’t get hunted out in the universe.  He kind of wished he’d stayed a bit longer but really didn’t want to find out just what kinds of crap he was going to be subjected to off world.  Maybe he’s actually from mars and can visit occasionally.

Sam was startled out of his reverie by the one thing he’d hoped coming up here would avoid: company.  At least they were alone and didn’t seem startled by his appearance.  Small blessings.  That was until they started pulling off their own clothes to step into the water with Sam.

“Whoa whoa whoa!  None of that in this park!  Do you want to be cooked alive?”  Sam stood up and walked out of the water towards the woman who had shown up.  Steam billowed off his form as the water fell from his fur.

“What do you mean?  You were just in the water.  I figured if the water here was cool enough to sit in I could relax for a bit.”

“Yeah, no.  The water is close to boiling.  I can just handle very high temperatures.  Alien and all.”

“Aw man. I was really hoping for a dip in a natural hot spring.  It’s on my bucket list.  Doctors told me I have about six months to live. That was four months ago.  I’m just trying to live life any way I can until I go.”

“Well that does explain why you weren’t afraid of me. Not much to be afraid of after that.  Not that I’m dangerous or anything.  You should put your clothes back on and don’t try to go into the pools.”

“Aww.  I really wanted to sit in a hot spring though.”

Sam eyed her as he walked back down into the water, “you realize this is volcanic land, right?  Most of these pools are boiling.”

“Yeah.  I know.  Wishful thinking?  Part of the bucket list was to come here, another was to sit in an actual hot spring.  How do you handle that water if it is boiling like you say?”

“Not a clue.  It feels good to me, though, so I’m not complaining.  Hot showers weren’t doing it for me and I wanted to feel something hot.”

Sam was leaning back in the water when, after a moment, he got a suggestive reply, “I could make you feel hot.”

He flailed and sputtered in the water before righting himself and keeping his head only halfway out of the water for a moment.  He eyed the woman for a moment before lifting up from the water more, “that’s… a bit forward?  Surprising?”

“Oh, come on.  You have a fantastic body.  You are in great shape!  Who wouldn’t be interested?  Besides, sex with an alien would be an interesting line to add to my bucket list.”

Sam coughed and looked away.  He felt his cheeks burning in embarrassment at the thought but was also still on the mindset of having a girlfriend even if he likely wont see her again.  There was also that annoying part of no longer having the right anatomy.  What would he even do?  She was a complete stranger even!  This was getting him excited though.  She wanted him, and he could smell it.

He couldn’t have sex with her, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t please her.  His embarrassment changed to sly ideas and he grinned as he moved back across the pool over towards the woman, but he shook them from his head.  He lay on the side of the pool, kicking his feet behind him, and cocked his head at the woman, “you know, I don’t think it would be a good idea if we had sex.”  The woman looked crestfallen.

Sam stood up but the rapport from a gun echoed around them and the woman startled as Sam fell over backwards, “oh god, did you just get shot?! Are you alright?!”

Sam didn’t answer right away, catching his breath from being shot in the chest.  “Yeah, yeah. I think I’ll be fine.  I’m not moving any time soon though.”  Sam took a deep breath and felt a rib pop back in place, the large gage bullet was buried in his chest next to his left breast.  It was probably from a .30-06.  Good hunting rifle.  Sam focused his hearing while he lay there.  He didn’t hear anyone moving around.

“How are you okay after getting shot?  In the chest even?  You should be dead!”

“I am an alien.  Honestly, though, I have no idea.  Supposedly I have natural bullet proof armor under my skin.  It’s weird.”

“What’s weird is seeing a bullet hole in your chest and still talking to you!”

Sam paused for a moment.  That really did make sense, “do me a favor, put your clothes back on.  I think whoever shot me is waiting to make sure I don’t get back up.  They’re likely watching.”

“But that’s creepy!  Some asshole with a gun might be staring at me naked!”

“Maybe.  Most likely they’re watching me.  Just stand up and put your clothes back on.  If I’m lucky they will leave me alone and move on.  They may think I’m hurting you.”

“Well, we weren’t doing anything.  Alright, let me get dressed.  What should I do once I have some clothes on?”

“That I leave up to you.  Either poke me with a stick or walk away.  Your choice.”

She put on her clothes and looked around.  There wasn’t even anywhere to hide for hundreds of yards around.  Whoever shot the alien had been quite far off when they did it.  Maybe seeing her fine and the alien still on the ground would be enough to get them to leave.  She started to walk back down the hill towards the geysers closer to the main path when she heard a second gun shot.  It was then she realized the alien was no longer laying down but instead was running at high speed in the direction of some bushes.  A third gun shot rang off and the alien jumped over them.  She saw a gun go flying in multiple pieces as well as a hat before they started jogging back towards her.  There was a second bullet in their chest to accompany the first but it didn’t seem to bother them much.  They pulled both bullets out of the holes and tossed them to the ground.

Sam walked over to the spring up the hill and put back on his clothes.  He grabbed his bag and joined the woman just down the hill.  Standing next to her, he just chuckled to himself and retightened  the straps to his bag.  The woman gave him a hug suddenly.  Hesitantly he returned it, unsure what was going on.

“Thank you.  That was fun, exciting, and rewarding!  Totally made the trip up here worth it.  I’m Amy by the way.”  She held out her hand for a shake.

“It was a pleasure to meet you Amy.  I’m Sam.”  He met her hand for the shake, giving a soft grip but holding with both hands.

“The pleasure was all mine.  Take care of yourself!  I don’t want to hear about you on the news.”

Sam just smiled and turned south with a wave.  A quick skip and a jump and he was up in the air, headed to the next destination.