Page 39 of Devin (Warriors of Etlon #5)

Bright needed a Terran. They were small, weak, and easily interbred.

But one Terran would be suspicious. Two would be sufficient bait, though, ideally, three would be better.

The only problem was that single Terrans were hard to come by.

They were all scooped up by the first Mahdfel to catch their sweet scent.

She didn’t blame them. In fact, her son had done the same thing and Bright could not be more delighted in her daughter-in-law.

They had already produced one grandson and were working on another.

Most of the Terran women had rather a bland color palette but thankfully their children all seemed to take after their father’s green mottled skin.

If she were not well past her child bearing years, Bright would have considered pairing with a Terran male, just to see if she could produce an Etlonian cross that might appear more Etlonian than Terran.

Bright had never thought to see the extinction of her own species, but she was one of the last of her kind.

The Death Lizards, may they rot in their own armor, had wiped out all the pure males and kept only a few females in cold storage for who knows what kind of future plan.

Instead, the Etlonian Mahdfel had turned on the Suhlik and taken the females as their mates.

Only Mahdfel males could not have daughters, and so with each generation, her species was becoming diluted, and soon there would be nothing left.

The Suhlik had to pay for such crimes, and Bright was itching to get back into the thick of it. She had a plan, or half of one. The only problem was that every decent plan needed the right kind of bait and she had settled on Terrans, so now, only Terrans would do.

Bright had come to the conclusion that she very well may need to actually travel to Terra in order to acquire two or three Terrans, but Terra was so far away that by the time she got to Terra and back again, her leads might be cold.

Plus, it was quite clear that Terra was still in that xenophobic afraid-of-any-aliens-except-Mahdfel mode after being recently invaded by the Suhlik.

Getting a landing permit and a visa and then leaving with single Terran females would probably be a bureaucratic nightmare.

Bright would also need a reason to travel to Terra in the first place.

That, she had already. Wendy, the sister of Humility had a birthday soon, and under Mahdfel law, she would have to be matched.

Humility had it in her head that Wendy needed to return home to earn a chance to fall in love with a male Terran, rather than be shipped off to a Mahdfel somewhere who would fall instantly in love with her and mate for life.

Bright had offered to take her home, but had not wanted to press the issue, lest she seem too eager.

And then, without warning, the answer fell into her lap as she was returning her grandson from their daily walk.

“Did you hear?” Clover said. “They picked up a woman that came through the transporter.”

Bright furrowed her brow in confusion. “I thought all the warriors on Etlon 2 were matched.”

“That’s the thing. She’s not matched. She was an accident of some sort. Scrubs was a little short on the details, but apparently she showed up and now she just wants to go home.”

The perfect opportunity had just fallen into her lap and Bright seized upon it.

“What is her name and where can I find her?”

Clover blinked in surprise, but gave her the pertinent information. After making excuses, Bright was quick to leave and head to the temporary quarters of the accidental Terran named Nora. After a moment, the door slid open to reveal the answer to her dilemma.

“I am Bright,” she said, giving the Terran a once over. Despite being the pale Terran beige with brown hair, she looked healthy enough. Bright inhaled deeply and caught no scent of illness.

“Hi,” Nora replied.

“Yes, I think you will do,” Bright said, more to herself than the Terran.

“I will do what?”

“It was explained to me that you wish to go to Terra,” Bright said.

“They said that there wouldn’t be a ship here for another month or two,” Nora said.

“From Etlon. In a cruiser. They are fast and comfortable, but you must have power enough to pull the strings to get one. I think neither you nor I have such pull,” she said.

“I do, however have a daughter-in-law with a cargo ship that is much smaller, much less glorious and a lot slower, but it is here.”

The Terran hesitated for a moment, as if she thought she was being offered a suspiciously good deal. “And your daughter-in-law is just going to take me home?”

“No,” Bright said, shaking her head, hair changing to blue and white as she did.

“I will borrow the ship. It is not just you, but Wendy I will be escorting home. It was considered too costly a journey to send just one passenger home, but now we have two. There has also been a second flugle bloom and the warriors culled quite a number, more than enough for a cargo to sell for fuel. The journey will probably net neutral, but I have been approached by more than one Terran who are demanding a product called chocolate. And Odette has requested certain plants that might fare better with someone who will care for them during their passage. Is chocolate widely available on Terra?”

Bright tried to make the deal sound more like a small favor instead of something too good to be true.

“Chocolate is a major flavor. It’s refined from the cocoa plant. How long do you think it will take to reach Earth, Terra?”

“I shall include cocoa on the list. If anyone can grow it, Odette can,” Bright continued, putting Nora more at ease. “I believe the term the Terrans use is weeks. About six of them, Clover said, are needed to reach Earth.”

“I’m in,” Nora said.

“Of course you are. I will return when I have finalized all the details.” And with that, Bright left as suddenly as she had come. The plan to help rid the universe of the Suhlik was coming together, but there was so much more work to do.