ready.”
Degorsk sighed. “Bite her first. Earthers lose their inhibitions when injected with our venom. They welcome sex after the bite, in fact. You’d be amazed how willing they are.”
“You’re sure?” Osopa had his doubts.
“It’s for the best. Let her see there’s nothing to fear. You’ll all be happier for it.”
With that, the doctor moved on, avoiding Tina’s kick as he left them, even chuckling with indulgence at her combativeness.
“What do you think?” Osopa asked his clanmates, tightening his grip on Tina as she began shoving against him again. He looked especially at Yorso, the cultural expert.
His Imdiko seemed reassured by what they’d been told. “Dr. Degorsk said they feel better after they’re bitten. Let’s try it, and see how she acts after that. Then, if she wants to…”
“Who are we to naysay the experts?” Tukui wore a hopeful expression.
Osopa had to agree. He’d give anything if she’d stop crying because of him.
* * * *
Nothing she’d done had put the aliens off from taking her from the others. Tina was exhausted from fighting a hopeless battle to break free. She lacked the strength to offer more than a few token shoves and kicks.
Could she believe the kind words they’d spoken? The four-bar Kalquorian, he of the intense stare, who’d snatched her from the dining room and carried her around the colony hadn’t offered a word of apology. He’d simply clutched her to that powerful chest, his great strength draining hers.
The other two had seemed desperate to reassure her. If they had no intention of harm, what did they want? She was a mere female, worthless to everyone. Even a remote convent.
Sex-slaving, demonic Kalquorians.
Was it true? Tina wept, wondering what would happen next.
Abruptly, she was set on her feet and released. She staggered a step forward, and a hand steadied her when her legs threatened to give out. She stared to see where they’d brought her.
Her sleeping cell. The colorful rag rug on the floor, the soaps and candles on the shelves—all things she’d made from leftover bits and pieces others saw as trash. Her private space, with its bed, hard mattress, her white aspirant dress and head scarf hung on the wall pegs. The place she’d called home for the last five years. The place she was to have been unceremoniously evicted from.
She whirled to confront her attackers. In the tiny cell, they appeared larger than ever, huge Goliaths whose heads nearly brushed the ceiling. She emitted a shriek and backed as far from them as possible—an entire foot.
One still held her arm, the Kalquorian who’d entered the dining hall in a merry mood. He knelt before her, his rich voice soothing. “Tina, please let us talk to you. We mean you no harm.”
Despite the gentle expression he wore—such a handsome man, and no horns as she’d seen on the propaganda vids—Tina’s panicked thoughts grew more chaotic. Should she talk to them? Would it be treason since she had no government secrets to confess? What would Sister Katherine do? More importantly, what would Sister Bernadette do?
She had no compass to guide her. She was alone in her sleeping cell with three men, enemies of her world.
We’re tainted in the eyes of the Church and the Holy Father whether we’re violated or not. Mary’s bitter, wretched voice spoke in her thoughts. We’re as good as executed for lewdness.
“Matara—Tina—please. Speak to me.” The kneeling alien beseeched, as if only her acknowledgment could offer him comfort. A scene straight out of a movie, the misunderstood hero trying to make the leading lady see he was good beneath the bad-guy façade. All that was missing was the background soundtrack.
This isn’t a movie, stupid. There’s no script here, no happy ending. Wake up.
She could hardly believe it when actual words spilled from her lips. Scripted lines after all, spoken a hundred times before. “Why are you doing this? Why are you attacking us?”
“We followed a man we wished to capture to this place. We had no idea there was a colony here.”
No men lived on Europa. Supply ships came and went once a month, delivering goods and mail without interaction with the nuns or aspirants. “A man? What man?”
The scary alien who’d torn Tina from her fellow aspirants answered, his voice so deep she expected it to vibrate the floor. “General Hamilton came here.”
Understanding swept over Tina. Cassidy Hamilton’s grandfather, an important military leader in the fight against Kalquor, had visited the convent before. Cassidy was always moody after seeing her sole remaining relative. It