Vance Higgins found himself fighting the urge to sleep with every iota of his being. It seemed like weeks since he’d had a decent night’s sleep, the ship over and his stay in England offered little chances for a good rest. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d been able to close his eyes. The invasion, than this world, it seemed like weeks. It would be so nice to close them, just for a second…

Higgins forced himself back upright. No sleep for him, not yet. Soon.

Movement from behind caught his eye. Without a seconds thought, he whirled around, leveling his submachine gun to the ready as he moved. Lack of sleep was making him jumpy. It was just the strange woman he and Evans had rescued. Next he’d be shooting bunnies hopping by.

His gaze lingered on the woman. She was truly beautiful; never before had he seen anyone so gorgeous. None of his high school sweethearts; none of the women in the English brothels; no one compared. She seemed like some kind of goddess carved out of obsidian. Only the soft rise and fall of her bare bosom as she slept marked her as a living, breathing beauty.

He was in love. He knew absolutely nothing about her, but he knew he would do anything for her, even die for her.

Her eyes shot open. Higgins stumbled back, startled at her sudden awakening.

She quickly sat up and smiled at him. I could get lost in that smile, he thought. She said a few words in her language, one wholly unlike anything Higgins had ever heard before, as it was mostly made of clicks, whistles, and ticks.

“I don’t understand,” he said. “Not at all.”

She raised her arms to cross her chest, and began to rub her hands up and down her arms as if to warm them. She shivered slightly.

“Oh, you’re cold.” Higgins kicked the pack sitting next to him over, than pulled the blanket from its bottom. He pulled the tie off, unrolled it, than draped it over her shoulders.

She smiled at him again, this time from much closer. Higgins smiled back at her. She said something else in her strange language of clicks and whistles, before leaning towards him and puckering her lips. He leaned towards her, closing his eyes for the kiss. He reached where she’d been, but found nothing waiting. Opening his eyes, he saw her leaning back with a look of confusion on her face. Higgins backed away while trying to hide his embarrassment as best he could.

Pulling the blanket closer around her body, the woman smiled at him again. She raised her hand to her mouth. She opened her mouth as if to put something inside, and than made chewing motions.

“You’re hungry,” he said. “Of course. What else could it be? We don’t even speak the same language, after all.” He reached in to his pack and pulled out a ration can. He popped the top of the can open and handed it to her. “It ain’t much, but it’s all we’ve got, so try and make it last.”

Ignoring the fork tool in the can, she reached it and started yanking the nutritious goo inside. Apparently oblivious to any flavor, good or bad, she gobbled the can down within seconds.

“Wow, you’re the only person I’ve ever met that actually likes rations. But I guess with what those lizard guys were giving you, rations would be pretty good.”

She smiled as he finished talking, and he smiled back at her. He could do this all night, he realized. Hell, he could do this for the rest of his life.

The watch. He was supposed to be paying attention, keeping them alive. “I’ve got to go back,” he said. “For all our safety.” He turned to head back to his nice comfy rock for the rest of his watch.

The brush of her hand against his own stopped him. She looked up in to his eyes as he turned, her fingers interlocking with his own.

She leaned forward once more, bringing her lips towards his own. This time she wasn’t just hungry. As her lips neared his, lines of blue ink appeared as if by magic on her face, and within seconds a strange tattoo seemed to sketch itself across her left eye, forming a spider web across nearly half of her face.

Their lips touched, and Vance Higgins found himself staring at his own face. Confusion set in, but only for a moment. His knees went weak under him, and he saw nothing more of this world.