by Lisa Lace
Without any further arguments, her parents turned around and left her to pack.
Katie looked around for anything else that needed to go to Bonaan with her. With a shrug, she stuffed the black lace teddy into one of the inside pockets of her suitcase. There was no telling whether aliens went for things like that, but it wasn’t a bad idea.
She sat down on her bed next to her suitcase with a huff. As exciting as it was to be starting off on a new journey, packing and worrying were starting to take their toll on her. Her parents hadn’t been wrong: she was going to marry an alien. It was a crazy scheme, the kind of thing usually reserved for true adventurists or the terminally single.
Katie wasn’t either one. She was not an adventurer. Katie had only left her home state of Illinois a few times, and that was only a road trip to an adjacent state. She’d never been out of the country.
And as for being single? She’d never really had a problem with men. She’d had a few boyfriends in high school and college, and when Ben came around she thought he was the one. There had never been a question in her mind.
They seemed perfect for each other. He was going to school for business management, and she was getting her degree in finance. They would be the ultimate power couple, and all their friends agreed.
When some of her friends got engaged after a year or so of dating, Katie hadn’t minded that Ben was a little slower on the uptake. It made sense to take things slowly. It wasn’t like either one of them was going anywhere.
And then, of course, there had been the sex. She’d had a little experience before they met, but he brought out the vixen in her. Fucking Ben was never routine or boring.
He was always wanting to do something different, like bending her over the coffee table in the middle of the day or dragging her into a dressing room. She eagerly went with him to the adult store outside of town to pick out new items for experimentation. Ben was an expert at bringing her to ecstasy over and over again, so she never said no to any new ideas. In fact, he’d gotten so used to her compliance that he didn’t bother asking anymore. He did whatever he wanted.
Ben was always a gentleman when they went out to dinner or one of the numerous company parties, but the devil in him always came out when the two of them were alone. It made her feel sexy and alive, and she thought he felt the same way.
Now she wondered why he had suddenly decided that she wasn’t enough. Why did he have to turn to a big-busted coworker? The memory made her relive the things he liked to do to her and how they made her feel. Her nipples tingled rebelliously at the memory of Ben wrapping his tie around her like a blindfold, and she shook her head to pull herself out of her little fantasy.
God damn it. None of it mattered now. Not any of it.
Her cell phone chirped from the nightstand. When Katie picked it up, she didn’t recognize the number. “Hello?”
“What’s this I hear about you flying off to outer space as a mail-order bride?” Ben asked, cutting right to the chase. He sounded angry.
“Ben? Where are you calling me from?” Katie frowned at the phone. She pulled it away from her ear and checked the number again.
“I borrowed my friend’s phone. It was the only option I had since you were ignoring me.”
Katie couldn’t deny that. He had called and texted her several times a day since their last conversation. She had deleted his messages without reading them and put Ben on ignore every time he called. She was tired of kicking a dead horse and didn’t know why he was so insistent.
“Why do you care?” she asked, not sure she wanted to know the answer.
“Because I love you, babe. We belong together. Don’t you know that? Besides, I think what you’re doing is rash. Come on, an alien? It’s not going to be anything like what you and I have. Certainly nothing like what I have. Will he even have a cock?”
Katie snorted. “I think it’s time I went and did something spontaneous and for myself. Logic hasn’t worked out for my life so far. I thought you were smart enough to understand I don’t want what you and I had.”
Why did men have to be so stupid?
“Listen to me, Katie.”
“No.” She had to stop him. “You listen to me. I am not getting back together with you. I’m not going to talk about it with you. I’m not going to come groveling back to your apartment so you can turn around and screw someone else behind my back. Go have your fun. I’ll be off somewhere fucking an alien! I bet he has two cocks!”
She hung up the phone and slammed her suitcase shut. It was time to head to the spaceport.
Chapter Four
Katie’s feet tingled from nervousness as she stood up from her chair in the waiting area and headed down the ramp leading to the ship. “It’s just like getting on an airplane,” she whispered to herself. She still had to get her ticket, go through security, and wait in a hard plastic chair until the announcer called her number. There was still a long, covered corridor that led down to the side of the spaceship. Some things never changed.
Commercial flights into space had run for a few years now, but deep down she knew she was leaving Earth behind, and it was nothing like a plane ride. At least none of the demonstrators from television had bothered to block the entrance to the interstellar spaceport.
She stepped onto the ship, and it had a slightly familiar smell of new plastic and antiseptic wash. The women were allowed to pick their seats, and Katie chose one next to the window on the left side of the vessel which would allow her to photograph the view as her flight departed. She had promised her mother she would be careful, but Katie promised her father to send back plenty of pictures of space, the ship, the aliens, and the food.
“Welcome to the TerraMates Transport System, flight 2330. Please secure your carry-on luggage in the overhead compartments and fasten your safety belts,” said a pleasant voice over the speaker. “We will be taking off as soon as possible.”
Two women slightly younger than Katie eagerly plopped down in the seats next to her. “I can’t wait to get there,” said the one on the outside, a blonde with massive cleavage. “This is going to be romantic.”
“I sure hope so,” replied her friend. The second woman had put up her short brown hair in a glossy bob. “If it’s not, I might miss what I’m leaving behind.”
“Who, Bobby?” the blonde asked.
The brunette shook her head. “Nope, all of his friends!”
The two girls cackled for a minute before they finally caught their breath. “Seriously, though,” said the blonde, putting a thoughtful finger against one pink lip, “I wonder what these alien men are going to be like. All the brochures said they’re similar to humans, but I want to know what they look like downstairs.”
“Wouldn’t it be crazy to find out they had blue cocks or something?” The brunette giggled. “What if they like to have sex in public?” The two hooted like flying off to marry an alien was nothing more than a sorority party to them. It made Katie feel old. It also made her wonder what exactly she had signed herself up for.
According to the contract, the Bonaan engagements were different than typical TerraMates marriages. TerraMates would match her with a Bonaan male by the time she arrived. Couples were paired up according to their answers to survey questions. But information about how many children she wanted and if she smoked wouldn’t necessarily mean two people would be attracted to each other. What if she traveled all the way across the galaxy and discovered her 'perfect match' was merely an exotic version of Ben?
Then again, it could be incredible. She leaned back against the headrest and stared out the window, letting herself fantasize. She imagined stepping into the Bonaan spaceport, looking around nervously for the right place to go. A handsome man, strong and gentle, would push his way out of the crowd and introduce himself. He would give her a flower, not a rose but some other romantic bloom indigenous to Bonaan. Something that glowed in the dark.
She thought about their eyes locking and seeing him overcome with animal lust. Mayb
e he was in heat. He would scoop her up in muscular arms and carry her back to his place, where they would make hot, not-public, not-blue, not-weird love. When they finished, she would lie next to him in his alien bed, and they would talk, realizing just how much they had in common.
He wouldn’t want to wait to get married. He would love cats or the Bonaan equivalent. He wouldn’t let her fall in love with him and betray her years into their relationship. Instead, he would introduce her to all of his friends and family members and get excited when they made a trip back to Earth to visit the humans.
Her perfect man would be an alien.
It was an alluring fantasy, and one she’d already had plenty of times about human males. But it never got old and always left her with a tingling between her legs that she shouldn’t feel in public.
The engines roared to life, and Katie felt her seat rumble underneath her. It would have increased her pleasure if she wasn’t about to throw herself on the mercy of extraterrestrials. The force of the ship pressed her back into her seat, making it hard to turn her head. Fortunately, she was fascinated by what she saw out the window.
The buildings around the spaceport on the east side of town came swiftly into view before they began to shrink. The entire city looked like a picture book before she knew it, the cars and people rapidly disappearing, leaving only larger elements visible.
A river ran through the map below her like a snake, shiny and glorious. Even the bodies of water slowly dissipated into a misty haze indicating the ship was headed into the clouds. Where a terrestrial flight would have leveled out, the spaceship kept moving, heading up to a place where the sky turned from a darker shade of blue into inky darkness.
Chapter Five
Troxeo slid his thumb against the yoke of his ship. Switches, buttons, lights, and levers covered the panel in front of him. He knew them all instinctively. His fingers longed to reach out and flick them, to do something active instead of sitting idle, but he couldn’t risk getting distracted.
The ships filled with potential brides would be coming his way soon. They wouldn’t see him because he had engaged the ship’s stealth mode long ago.
The sun was too bright here, even though he was far away from Earth’s atmosphere. The locals might worship the big star, but it was harsh and unforgiving compared to the gentle warmth that radiated from the sun back on Oretoz.
“Here they come.” Arkhan occupied the copilot’s seat next to him and pointed at some tiny black dots in the distance. Arkhan was his cousin, but anyone could easily mistake the two of them for brothers.
Troxeo’s hair was a light blonde, cropped short and set off by his green eyes. Arkhan had chosen to grow his dark hair out longer until he could pull it into a short club at the base of his neck. It matched his brown eyes perfectly and made it easy to distinguish between the two men. They both had the strong jaw lines and chiseled cheekbones of their grandfather. They had followed in his footsteps as enlisted soldiers.
“Let’s take our time,” Troxeo said. “The Earth ships are unarmed, but I don’t want to alert them and risk having the others turn back. We have four vessels to choose from, and I think the last one is best.”
“Is that how many they’re sending?” Arkhan gave a little whistle. “That’s an awful lot of wives.”
Troxeo snorted. “I guess those idiots on Bonaan don’t have the balls to get mates for themselves. They have to resort to importing puny beasts from another planet to satisfy their lust.”
“Well, you never know.” Arkhan shrugged. “I’ve heard Earth women aren’t that different from ourselves. Physically, anyway. Maybe you should order one. Settling down would do you good.”
Troxeo shot his cousin a derisive look. “Then who would command my ship? You? I think I’ll pass.” He watched the black dots slowly grow bigger against the backdrop of Earth and turn into spaceships. At this distance, it looked like they were traveling next to each other, but he knew better than to be fooled by an optical illusion. There would be just enough space between them to insert his ship.
“You sure you don’t want to grab the first one and get it over with?” Arkhan’s dark eyes held fast on the approaching figures. “We could probably haul the whole ship back to Oretoz if you want.”
Troxeo shook his head. “They asked for one human and one human only. With my luck, bringing back a whole ship of them will be interpreted as carelessness instead of going above and beyond the call of duty. Just be patient. I want the last one, and I’ll get it.”
The first Earth ship zoomed by, completely unaware of Arkhan and Troxeo’s presence. Their small ship shuddered in the shock wave and slowly stabilized. It was followed almost immediately by a second ship.
“Are you sure we have to wait? What if something happens and the last one explodes? You never know how things will go with a primitive culture.”
“I can see it coming right now,” Troxeo replied. “The last one is the only one I want. Trust me. I’ve been planning this for a long time.”
The third ship roared by, and Troxeo studied its sleek form carefully. The communication satellites from Earth had been quite generous with their information, including diagrams, photographs, and even operational instructions for the Earth vessels. They were well-engineered even if they lacked the sleek designs of the Oretoz builders. Nevertheless, he knew exactly where all the entrances were on the ship.
Troxeo had begun planning this mission from the moment his commander gave him the orders.
* * *
They called him to the Innermost Chamber of the Oretoz Capital Fortress in the middle of the night. Troxeo answered the call with efficiency and without protests.
The leaders reserved midnight meetings for the most important of government actions. During those hours, the secretaries and other administrative personnel were at home. They were also the kinds of meetings that led to promotions once the assignment was complete.
When Troxeo had arrived, Commander Reck was looking at digital maps and charts spread out before him. Troxeo had recognized Earth even before his commander spoke; it was a favorite source of controversy on Oretoz. Since Bonaan was close to Oretoz, they had watched the communication to Earth with the utmost scrutiny.
Commander Reck and the other government officials had been considering invading Bonaan for years, once the weapons, ships, and soldiers were in place. But the prospect of assimilating Earth was more tantalizing.
For one thing, it had more resources. The Oretoz could get a staggering amount of energy from its vast saltwater oceans. Earth’s inhabitants were also technologically inferior to the Bonaan, and the consensus was it would be easier to invade Earth despite the distance. As far as Troxeo knew, however, no one had reached a final decision.
Commander Reck spoke as soon as he entered the room. “I have a top secret mission for you. I’ve considered all of my best soldiers, and you are the only one I can trust with the job.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I need you to go to Earth and bring back a human. I don’t want one of these egghead scientists that think they know everything about the universe. I don’t need someone to tell me about their environment or their weapons systems. They’re so stupid that they broadcast that information unencrypted. I want to see one in person. I want to talk to it. Can we communicate with them? What are they like? The average human will give me a better idea of what I’m dealing with than any ambassador or hand-picked diplomat.”
Commander Reck leaned over his maps thoughtfully. “Take time to plan, but I want you to leave as soon as possible.”
Several other council members were in the Innermost Chamber as well, hovering quietly in the background. They didn’t bother hiding the disgust from their faces as they watched the conversation.
“I must once again advise against this move, sir,” a tall, lanky man at the back finally said. His drew the ends of his words out slowly like something sticky covered them. By his willowy build, it was evident that he wasn’t a soldier.
“It’s true we don’t know much about the...humans.” He made a face as though the word left a bad taste on his tongue. “What if the one Troxeo brings back is smarter than we imagined? What if it escapes and warns the rest of its race? The last thing we want is for Earth to prepare for our arrival.”
Commander Reck laughed. “That is exactly my point, Councilman Keyb. We don’t want to underestimate them, no matter how primitive they may be. But I’m not worried about a single human, even if it did escape. It could never be smart enough to disable the genetic weapons I have prepared.”
Councilman Keyb nodded, but Troxeo could tell by the glitter in his eyes that he still didn’t agree with Reck. “Very good, sir.”
Reck turned back to Troxeo, patiently waiting for his response.
Troxeo bowed slightly. It was little more than a nod and included his shoulders. “It will be my honor to accept this mission and my glory to die in the pursuit of it.”
“Excellent.” Reck dismissed him with a flick of his fingers.
* * *
Now, as the fourth ship loomed larger in his sight, he increased the power to his engines. By the time the Earth spaceship flew past, he was already building up speed and beginning pursuit. He smiled. The pilots would never know what hit them.
“How will you know which one to pick?” Arkhan watched Troxeo unbuckle his seat belt.
Troxeo paused to look his cousin in the eye. “I’ll know.”
Chapter Six
“Let me off! Let me off of this god-forsaken flying death trap!” A woman sitting a few rows back had begun to whimper as the spaceship left Earth’s gravity well. The ride had been relatively smooth at first, but it had done nothing to calm her down.
Katie could hear the woman’s breathing as she puffed and squealed in her seat. The attendants, like the passengers, were restricted by their safety belts until they reached the darkness of space waiting for them on the other side of the atmosphere.
