Bond Beyond Measure, Page 2

  He kept running.

  The rain and thunder never let up. The sky was darkening even more and visibility getting worse. Only the flashing lightening showed the way now. The strange purple vegetation added to his fear. What was this strange place?

  Patric finally slowed to a stagger from sheer exhaustion. He was in another meadow that looked like all the others. This one was filled with pink bushes. Each bush had five trunks. He struggled to take another step. As he did so, they moved out of his way. He was too tired to care. He fell to the ground, whimpering in a semiconscious state.

  The pink bushes, really five legged creatures native to this planet, scrambled away from the strange site. Patric would have thought they looked like giant starfish walking on all five limbs if he would have seen them on a clear day with a clear mind.

  One of the pink creatures curiously returned to the human. He trilled a gentle whistle in his own language, but the being did not respond. The five legged creature stepped a little closer. He examined the strange creature with two large beady eyes that protruded on antenna like extensions near the top of his rounded pink and purple body.

  The starfish creature was unperturbed by the weather. In fact, he enjoyed it. What troubled him was the being's actions. It laid there curled up, eyes closed and making a strange noise. It was unresponsive to the environment. It should be enjoying this weather.

  The pink five legged creature gently touched Patric on the arm with his forelimb. Upon touch, quintapods have the ability to sense the nervous system of other quintapods and be able to interpret the mood, intelligence and emotion of the other. It worked on the human too. The quintapod immediately felt the strong emotional fear and loneliness from the strange being. This poor creature did have a pure heart, but something traumatic had just occurred. With the touch, he could sense this was a youngling of his kind. A species the pink and purple creature had never encountered before. This child needed help and none of the quintapod's fellow herdsman seemed interested.

  He whistled to them sharply, but they refused to help. The unusually long storm was causing the ground bugs to surface and they were more interested in eating the delicacies. The five legged creature curled on top of the child, shielding it from most of the rain. He provided the warmth he sensed the child needed. If a ground bug happened to surface near him, he didn't hesitate to snatch it up.

  In that day long storm the quintapod chose to bond with the human, not physically, not mentally nor even emotionally. They bonded in a nervous system to nervous system connection, something below conscious thought. When touching they would know each other's thoughts. He wanted to help the child and knew through this connection he would be able to give the child the support he needed to get through his first night on the planet.

  Patric awoke the next morning to a pleasant blue green sky, in a purple and cinnamon wilderness. The landscape had touches of green that was also dotted with blooming flowers of multiple colors. He heard whistles and chirps that came from the herd of pink quintapod grazing in the field.

  He was no longer just another five year old boy. He was much more. He had aged intellectually and could actually understand some of the quintapods' conversations! He also had a better understanding of his own language. The bond had given him this.

  Also, when he was in physical contact with the quintapod that had bonded with him, he discovered he could mentally communicate fully and freely with the creature. Patric gave the quintapod the name of Quinton since he would never be able to pronounce or whistle his real name.

  Quinton could now understand Patric's speech to some degree as well and liked the sound of the name Patric had given him. Both of them have become new people. This was the first time that a quintapod had decided to mentally bond outside its species. Where it would go, Quinton didn't have clue. He was intrigue with Patric and his species.

  The other quintapods' interest in him grew as well. Where did Patric's kind come from? There wasn't a single tale about the humans in the quintapod history.

  Patric had told Quinton that he had come from the sky. Quinton took Patric at his word, for he knew he was telling the truth. Or at least that was the way Patric had perceived it.

  Quinton wondered how people could live in the sky. Obviously Patric couldn't fly. In ships, Patric had tried to explain and showed Quinton pictures of ships from his own memory. He even showed Quinton pictures of other worlds and what he knew of them.

  They talked constantly, learning and growing from each other's knowledge.

  Patric knew he was safe with Quinton and the quintapod herd until he could find his mom. He knew without doubt that Quinton would help him find the food and shelter he might need until then. He knew Quinton would never leave him no matter where he chose to go. They were closer than friends.

  The quintapod herd started looking for other humans. They found two lifepods that had landed near each other. Patric explained how the quintpods had save him and convinced the survivors that the starfish creatures were intelligent sapient beings. With Patric and the quintapods' help, they gathered up as many of the marooned humans they could find. By the time a rescue ship found them, they had established a small colony and had learned to coexist with each other.

  As time passed, Patric and Quinton's knowledge continued to grow. They learned together, faster than any individual could, but neither of them would have guessed, with their combined abilities, they would someday save the Free Worlds Organization and their home from the further ravages of the Czarian pirates and other outside threats.

  If you have enjoyed reading this story, please watch for my other stories to be released.

  Thank you