as a captain in the Martian Marines, I know that it is not honorable to even entertain these thoughts.
The Xojor approaches the timegate as it whirls like a golden ring—slipped from the hand of some gigantic ancient god. I hold my breath as we slide through the mirror-black void at the center of the ring.
The effect of traveling through time is likened to the experience of sliding through the surface of water—moving from one world into the next. I know that the moment of submergence will come, cutting off my air and plunging me into a completely new environment that is foreign to my biology.
In that instant where I am stuck between time, I feel as if my soul is calling out for the female who I touched, smelled, and wanted. I have never had a female in my long life. I have never felt a woman’s body beneath my own. But the sight of her, the presence of her, feels as if it’s already changing me at a fundamental level.
I am experiencing emotions I have never felt before—emotions I didn’t know I was even capable of. It is at once unsettling and exciting. A passion rises in me that is not unpleasant. It is a passion that only seeks to be quenched and can only be fulfilled by her.
We arrive on the other side of the timegate, and I immediately command my crew to close it behind us. As soon as the gate comes to a halt and stops spinning, the mirror-black void disappears. The gate is closed. Our mission is complete.
A cheer rises from the bridge crew, soon joined through the intercom from every deck. My first mate slaps me on the back in congratulations. I know I should feel proud. And I do. I am sure I will receive great praise and commendation from the king and council, yet nothing will dampen the growing sense of need building inside me.
Before we return the females to Mars, we must complete one final part of the process. Only then will I know if my life will be renewed and expanded or shattered beyond all reasoning.
7
The door slides open, and two massive men stand on the other side. I bite my lip in disappointment. It isn’t the captain. Bobby hasn’t stopped complaining since our rescue and now directs her complaints at the new arrivals.
“I am Lieutenant Martix Controi,” the one in the red says decisively. His eyes linger on Sophia, and she blushes and steps behind Madeline. “This is Medic Foxx. He will be performing some necessary tests and procedures before we arrive on Mars.”
“Mars?” Bobby demands. “Why aren’t you returning us to Earth?”
“It is my duty to inform you of your current situation while Medic Foxx performs the procedures.”
“We have rights,” Madeline says, although not wholeheartedly.
We’ve talked about our situation at length during the space battle we just went through and the strange chilling transition that happened when we moved through the spinning wheel. I’m not sure I want to know exactly what is happening and where we are now.
Scientists have explored Mars with probes for decades, and we know for a fact that there is no life on the red planet. But the sphere I see tilting slowly below me out the window is not red. Not like the planet we saw before moving through the ring. This planet, the very same sphere, is blue and green with wispy clouds that float over the surface, reminding me so much of the Earth we left behind.
“I am pleased to inform you all that you have been rescued from the destruction of Earth and the fate of being consumed by Mantises.”
“Why didn’t you save Earth?” Bobby asks.
“Even if we had the firepower necessary to overcome the Mantises, which we don’t, we cannot interfere because of the inevitable paradox involved in time travel.”
“Time travel?” Sophia stutters.
“You’re from the future?” I ask, feeling lost. And still slightly disappointed that the captain has not come to tell us this story himself. I want very much to see him again, though I do not fully understand why.
“We are from the future… or you could say that you are from the past. A thousand years to be exact. Our people are the result of genetic experimentation that began around the time of the invasion. We eventually were able to escape the dying Earth and relocate on Mars, where the genetic experimentation continued, allowing us to colonize, survive, and ultimately thrive. In a thousand years, we