Alienbutt was brought out of his thoughts as Stoney came up and stood beside him. For a while neither spoke. It was three days since Alienbutt had awoken to discover the changes to his body and still Stoney refused to talk about the eye.
“The ship will be ready to leave in the morning, Alienbutt,” Stoney finally said. “I’ve inputted the position of the gateway the best I remember into your onboard computer with all the star maps I have.”
Alienbutt nodded and looked up at the sky. It was a couple of hours until sunset. “Thank you, you have done more for me than I could have hoped, Stoney, I now have a chance to get home.”
“So what’s your plan for your last night here with us?” Stoney asked, following Alienbutt’s gaze to the top of one of the surrounding hills.
“I thought I’d walk up that hill there and watch the birds fly over. Care to join me?” Alienbutt replied with a smile as he set off walking. “It’s a great sight to behold.”
Stoney shrugged and set off after Alienbutt. “I fainted and stabbed your eye with a scalpel,” he confessed. “I’m sorry, not good with the sight of blood.”
“I know, I overheard one of the frogs talking yesterday,” Alienbutt said, then changed the subject. “I used to watch the birds every evening with Wickede. He said it was good to share a bit of natural beauty with a friend, as it kept life in perspective.”
Alienbutt sat on the top of the hill and watched as Stoney finally reached the top, his face red and his breathing heavy. “What a stupid bloody idea. We could have seen your birds from half way up,” Stoney said, throwing himself down next to Alienbutt, who passed him a bottle.
“Here, have a sip and stop moaning. Finally figured out the password on the replicator that Wickede put there to stop me drinking.”
Stoney took a sip and smiled. “Whiskey?” he asked.
“Wickede said that when I got drunk I was no good for working the next day, so he put a password on the replicator to stop me drinking,” Alienbutt said, smiling as the first of the giant birds flew over. “I always hoped if I watched often enough I would see two of the birds collide but they never do,” Alienbutt said, taking the bottle back as the number of birds flying over increased as they headed for an evening down at the lake below.
“You do realise you have little chance of getting home, even if you somehow manage to get to the gateway. You could have a good life here. It’s not that bad a place to live,” Stoney said as the birds continued to fly over.
“I know, but I’ve got to try. Wickede is depending on me,” Alienbutt said, draining the bottle. “Let’s go back to the camp and I’ll make you one of my special kebabs and we can drink some more.”
To be continued.
All images are mine.
