Mate Abduction (Alien Abduction #9) - Eve Langlais Page 0,4
on these ships all the time.
Some didn’t return.
Most did, with wondrous stories.
Her turn to leave and discover what was out there.
Her nerves steadied, and she stepped past the embarkation chamber. A fancy term for the tiny room that could seal shut and spit you into space. She remembered the movies on Earth.
The hall proved smooth walled, like the ceiling, which extended to about ten feet. It was tall enough and wide enough for a Zonian. She traced her fingers over the paneling with its almost imperceptible seams. Fine work. The Psalandrs, of course. The Zonians had no patience or time to build ships, but they had the wealth to buy them. Protection, food, and other things were given to the orange mechanics, and in return, they built and maintained the technology.
“Stop petting the walls and get in here,” Ishtara’s voice barked from a speaker.
To the casual observer, she might sound angry. All the Zonians spoke in that same manner. In the beginning, Clarabelle had mistaken it for them being mean. She knew now that Pantariste and the others would lay down their lives for her and anyone they considered family.
Entering the bridge, she found Ishtara sitting in the command seat.
A yellow gaze fixed on her, and the beak smirked. “There you are. Taking your lazy time. Don’t look so impatient to me. Perhaps you don’t really want to go on this trip, caw?”
“Just because I didn’t run all the way here doesn’t mean I’m not pumped about this mission.”
“Mission!” Ishtara snorted. “I believe Katrina would call it a booty call, given we are hunting for breeding stock.”
“That’s a rather nasty way of putting it.”
Her indignation had Ishtara grinning. “Would you prefer I call your males dinner?”
“Not funny, Ish,” she grumbled as she tossed her pack on the floor and sat in her seat. She’d stow it later.
“You know, if it’s human males you need, then we could pop into the Obsidian market and see what we can bid on.”
“We,” Clarabelle enunciated, “don’t want slaves. We want boyfriends.” The word didn’t really translate despite the emitter embedded inside her ear.
“Why would you be friends with a male?” The very idea flummoxed Ishtara.
“Because they’re fun to talk to. They make you feel special when they flirt. Sometimes it’s nice to just cuddle.”
“If you wish for hugs, I will give you one that you won’t forget.” Ishtara cracked her knuckles, and Clarabelle waved her off before she could break some bones.
“I don’t want a hug from you. Or my sisters.”
“Only from a male? Why?”
“Because it’s different. Nice. When you cuddle with someone you care about, it’s special and makes you feel warm inside.” She struggled to explain something she barely understood herself. It had been a while since her time on Earth. “I want to find a companion. A human one that will understand me. Not a slave or someone whose sperm I’m going to take before I ditch him. I—I mean we,” she hastily corrected, “want a real chance for a connection on an emotional level. Maybe if we meet the right guy we’ll have a kid with them, although I’m not going to be the one staying home. If I end up with a baby daddy, he could take care of the runt.”
“You’d share the raising of progeny with a male?” Ishtara sounded aghast. “You’ll ruin them. What if the male’s weakness is passed on?”
“But that’s just it. On Earth, men and women are basically equal.” For the most part. There were some inequalities still, but nothing like the drastic difference she’d experienced since going to space. Space-travelling aliens were not as progressive as expected.
“On Earth, mayhap this impossibility occurs, but you are here, on Zonia.”
“Yeah, but we’re not Zonian.” She probably shouldn’t have shouted it.
“Obviously.” The yellow gaze flicked up and down. “Very well, you have convinced me. Let us go find you some pale-skinned, penile-possessing companions.”
Clarabelle wanted to bang her head off the console at the less-than-eloquent description. But she had no time for annoyance, as they soon left the planet side bay and were airborne. She didn’t have a window to look out, but she did have a screen, and she watched avidly as they left the surface of the planet, a ball of browns and yellows with some toxic green for water. An alien world with a few too many suns. They left it behind to coast among the stars.
Holy crap, she’d done it. She was on a quest to find the orphans a new home. Despite