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“I can’t tell you how sorry I am that you were brought here against your will. But I will tell you I personally will do everything in my power to make your stay here as pleasant as possible. Of course, it must be obvious we’d love for you to decide to stay on Earth.”

Stay on Earth. This is the first time I’ve really considered the magnitude of this choice. All I’ve thought of since they told me they were moving me to this facility was that I wanted to be with Lumina.

Being with Lumina, though, means staying on Earth.

Staying on Earth means never seeing my beloved clutchmate Zorn again.

It means giving up my career in the military that I’ve served for close to half my life.

My mother died several years back. I haven’t had leave to return to Draal to visit her grave.

Could I give all that up for a female I’ve never had a conversation with?

It’s premature to make that decision. It is not too early to ask to see Lumina.

“I was pulled from a crashed escape capsule and nursed back to health by a female I’m now fond of. I’d like to be reunited with her.”

“No one told me. You’d like to be mated to her? Which agency is she signed up with? Perhaps I could pull some strings and get her assigned to this one.” She seems excited to help. Maybe this will be easier than I thought.

“I don’t believe she had saved up for the fee yet.”

“Oh.” Her face caves in on itself. The brightness in her eyes fades. This isn’t good news. “No one can jump the line, Captain Krine.” She shakes her head, her face grimacing. “I can’t make that happen.”

My eyes slide to Pfall and Laang. If the females didn’t have translators, I’d suggest we overpower them right here, right now. Even though the males don’t look like they’ve been in the military, the three of us could probably take the eight females standing here, even though five of them are armed.

I don’t make a secret of the fact that I’m assessing the facility boundaries and armaments.

For all I know they’re going to lock me in a cell.

If I ever get a chance to make it out of the building and back onto the grounds, I’ll need a strategy for escape.

The barbed wire is canted out to prevent break-ins, not break-outs.

Perhaps they were telling the truth when they said most males are here by choice.

“Let me show you to your room.”

The room is spacious and furnished with clothes and toiletries. As mentioned, there’s a basking rock under the window. This isn’t what I pictured at all—it’s nice. But I have no desire to stay. I want to find Lumina.

I admit, I’m excited to pull on a pair of pants that fit. Although it’s a relief to speak with fellow Draals, they don’t seem to understand my plight.

“The females are plentiful. And eager,” Pfall says.

“You’ll find another. In fact, there’s a mixer tonight.

Eligible females come to meet us. They dress in their finest and are on their best behavior.

It’s shocking to go from having rarely seen a female my age to being desired by many. ” Pfall looks proud of himself.

“I’ve found several I could be happily mated to. I’m just having too much fun at these mixers to settle down,” Laang says with a chuckle.

After they leave, I open the door to make certain it’s not locked, then scout the hallways. There are cameras at every intersection and I don’t know who is watching the feed.

At the hospital, I sat under the warming blanket for hours and fed really well.

Using my camouflaging ability they won’t see me on the camera.

I think I’ll be able to get to the wall and climb over it before anyone knows I’m gone.

Then what will I do? Perhaps I need to get access to a computer and investigate what rights, if any, I have on this planet.

Can they just round me up and incarcerate me?

Whatever the penalty, I need to find my way back to Lumina.

For the first time since I woke up on Earth, I’m in a room by myself. I sit on the upholstered blue rocker in the corner, close my eyes, and allow myself to relax. After a few moments of this, I’ll be able to parse through my options and decide what to do.

Zorn! I feel my brother. My eyes pop open to look around as if he could possibly be in the room with me. He feels so close!

We were separated before, on Pythian. At one point we were almost on opposite sides of the planet. When I searched for him, his mental signature was almost non-existent. It proved that physical distance weakens the signal. I don’t believe I could be receiving his signal from Draal.

Could he be on Earth? He has to be. He feels close. I try to determine his emotions. I search for anger, pain, fear . . . I don’t feel it. Am I feeling my brother’s . . . lust?

I replay the last events I remember before I woke up on the pirate vessel. Zorn and I had just emerged from our transport after five years off-planet. We were headed for some well-deserved rest and entertainment.

In the past, when we were on leave to Draal, our first stop was always home.

We went to see our mother, who cooked our favorite dishes and lavished us with her love.

We were both sad that on this furlough, the only place we’d see our mother would be at her grave.

We lost her two years ago and went through the Draalian mourning period while away with our military.

It didn’t make our loss any less bitter.

As soon as we left our transport, we decided to head to a bar near the base and drink a pitcher of local brew.

Now that I replay that evening in my head, I know the exact moment our malenka was drugged.

A heavyset drunken Draal in an old uniform stumbled against our table, set it to right, apologized, and moved away.

Motherfucker! His voice was the voice of the pirate captain, the one who told us human females wanted our cocks and our sperm.

It never occurred to me until just this minute that Zorn was also on that transport ship. But of course he was. We were both drugged. My stomach heaves as I think he might have been lying in the stasis pod next to me on that ship and I never knew it.

Is he here? Was he brought to this Newcomer facility?

I use the comm they supplied me and call the female on duty. “Is there a Draalian here by the name of Krine other than myself? Zorn Krine?” my tone is urgent.

After a moment, she replies, “No, Sir.”

After days of feeling dead space where our connection always was, to now feel him so close soothes my spirit.

“Might there be a Draalian here who has amnesia?” That would explain things.

“No, Sir. You’re the only Krine here, and no amnestic Draalians.”

“Thank you,” I answer tersely, then terminate the comm.

It takes me only a moment to decide I want to find Lumina before I search for Zorn.

I’m going to find them both, then make decisions from there.

These ridiculous Earth rules that put protocol before the heart surprise me.

You’d think Earthers would care less about a female’s place in line than who she loved.

Love? Could Lumina love me? Why would she? I acted despicably. But I recall the look in her eyes when we stopped halfway up the steep ravine. She may not love me, but she cares for me.

And me? What are my feelings for her? It’s too soon for love—for both of us. But all of that can be sorted out after I find her.

Lumina

I let the feeling of urgency propel me for hours, but I finally admit defeat.

The needs of my body have conquered my emotional desire to drive nonstop to find Zoriss.

I’ve pulled off the side of the road and am cradling my head in my palms. The headache is so fierce I take more painkillers than I should, then wait for them to kick in.

I shouldn’t be driving—I’m seeing double—but as soon as I can bear it, I get back on the road.

My nav says I’ll be at the facility around nine tonight.

I hope he’s there. I know better than to call, though, they treat these guys like they’re a state secret.

Women are desperate for them. I guess that’s why he’s on Earth in the first place. He was abducted for God’s sake.

As soon as my headache is down to a dull roar, I continue making my way to Beautiful View.

My mom always called me headstrong. I have to confess, I never admitted she was right until now. I shouldn’t be driving and I know it. I should be at home in my medtube letting it calm the synapses in my head. I’d still have a concussion, but it would speed my recovery.

Instead, I’m racing down the highway toward the facility in Beautiful View praying that’s where I’ll find Zoriss.

I have no idea how I’ll get in to see him, though.

The imbalance between women who want mates and the males who are here is shocking.

When the first batch showed up, there were riots outside the facilities.

That’s when all the facilities that were still under construction were built with reinforced concrete, and the existing ones were all retrofitted with barbed-wire fences around the exterior.

I guess mom was right when she called me impulsive as well as headstrong. I’m hurtling along this dark highway with no guarantee my Draalian will even be there, and even less chance that I’ll be admitted.

I’m maybe an hour away when I see a disabled hover at the side of the road, a woman about my age standing nearby, looking bedraggled.

For a split second, I actually consider pressing forward and waiting for another motorist to stop to help her.

But we’re literally in the middle of nowhere.

I haven’t seen another vehicle for twenty minutes, and frankly, I’m not a heartless bitch.

I slow my vehicle and turn around.

“Anything I can do?” I ask after I step out and approach her.

“I called for help. They won’t be here for half an hour or more. I’ll be fine.” Her voice sounds upbeat, but the look on her face tells me she would welcome my company while she waits alone in the dark.