I held my breath as I tumbled into the rift opening. Any attempts to pull away from him ended in failure. He was much stronger than I was, and I ended up next to him in a very short amount of time.
He let go of my arm, and I punched him as hard as I could before I moved back to the Earth side of the rift. I heard him laugh and then got yanked back. I was struggling, and dots of light had started to appear on the edges of my vision.
My brain was screaming along with my lungs for oxygen. There was none on this side, and my fear of the burn was big enough that I would rather suffocate than attempt breathing the air this side.
“Eliza, stop being stupid. Take a breath and calm down.”
I shook my head at him and pushed away, or at least, I thought I was. My head was spinning and up wasn’t where I was expecting it. Asher let me go suddenly, and I fell to the ground with a whoosh of air escaping me when I landed.
My body decided against instructions and took a deep breath. But instead, of a horrible burn in my lungs, I tasted the fresh air. Different to Earth, fresher than anything I had ever felt in the city.
Asher stood over me, hands on his hips. His look said it all; I was stupid. My assumptions were groundless. More questions and fewer assumptions were top on my list of going forward with this new life.
He reached down and took my hand, none too gracefully he dragged me back up to my feet. No other man had managed to make me feel so sexy only to be followed by embarrassment. Not at all how I prefer men to see me. Elusive, and an enigma was the way to go. Always.
“You could have told me the air was fine,” I said.
Covered in mud and muck, because of course the ground was wet when I fell into it. All I wanted to do was punch him again, or, at least, find a way to wipe the damn smug smile off his face.
“How was I to know you were going to act all dumb about this?” He asked. "It is a different planet in the same system as the Man's manufacturing plant."
I sighed he infuriated me beyond measure. There was no dealing with him, no reasoning it seemed. Choosing to ignore him I turned around and took a good look around.
The farmland was beautiful, the farmhouse not quite as far away as it seemed from the other side. We were behind the house, and the layout of the section we stood in were herb garden style.
Small pavers separated the different parts from each other, and some still held the remnants of stabilizing rods. I had to assume for plants that were prone to vining up things. I cast my glance wider and saw mountains in the distance and thought I heard an ocean.
Peaks covered in white and green, with massive trees going down some of them. Just how huge I couldn’t discern, but the scale of things on this side was very different and didn’t quite meet my perceptions.
Of course, those were based on television and movies and not my physical experience. I was a city girl through and through; mountains weren’t part of my life. It was, however, what I thought peace personified. Now that I knew the air was safe I took in another lung full.
“This is amazing, how could you ever leave this behind?” I asked.
“It was easy,” He whispered.
I turned to him and regretted speaking without thinking. His expression told me how much pain the memory brought him.
“I’m sorry Asher. I've never seen or experienced anything like it.”
I wanted to touch him, put my hand on his arm. Maybe hug him but I had to maintain a distance. Don’t cross over, or there would be no return. That was a precipice I couldn’t ever cross.
“It’s okay, I understand. It was a long time ago but being here is not what I expected.”
He was looking back at the house, had he gone in when he created the opening? There were no tracks in the mud leading to the house, but that didn’t mean anything. The rain could have obliterated any traces of that for all I knew.
“So, any particular place you want to put the Shi?”
I looked into the case and was amazed at how much better they looked. The plants perked up in their natural environment. It filled me with hope; we might be able to succeed after all. We had to figure out the best way of harvesting and distilling of course.
“We have to get some tools first, but the ground, at least, seems nice and wet,” He said with a pointed look at me.
I gave him a lopsided grin, now that I had some time I realized I was acting dumb. Didn’t mean he wouldn’t pay later for not telling me it was ok, though. He leaned in and whispered in my ear.
“Promise?”
He turned away with a laugh and headed towards the house. My ever-growing list of priorities shifted again. First on the list; control thoughts better. And get my body under control, specifically my lust.
What was his range? How close did I have to be for him to read my thoughts? Distance, the key would be distance. I needed to put as much of it between us as possible; physically and emotionally.
Asher avoided the house however and went to a small shed off to the left of the main structure. A tool shed of some sort, before I reached it, he came out of it with a variety of gardening implements.
“Anything else we need?” I called to him.
“Could you get the watering can for me, please? There is a tap on the other side of the shed.”
I nodded and headed into the shed. It was small but tidy; my expectation was that it would be a mess. The owners deserted it a long time ago. But it seemed whoever left last made sure that everything was in its place.
Once out of Asher’s view I looked at the house a bit closer, it appeared as tidy as the shed. The curtains were drawn and all the windows I could see firmly closed, and probably correctly latched.
All the plants around the house were dead, no more than dried husks. But the house itself still appeared pristine, that the owner could come back at any moment and move in again with little disruption.
Had his parents left it like this in hopes Asher would return? I could picture a family leaving everything ready for a long lost son and my heart ached for both them and him.
After filling the watering can, I walked back to our chosen plot. My expression was carefully crafted, and my thoughts expertly focused. On the plants and the task at hand, not the man digging in the muck without a shirt.