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“No. I hate to tell you, but buying black market Draalians is more of an open secret than having to sneak to the underground. You can do that on the Internet. Sorry.”

Inspecting her face, I think she actually is sorry.

“What are we going to do in this underground?”

“First, we’re going to find a mech to remove the tracker and the governor from this hover-van.

While she’s working on that, we’re going to forge you some credentials, convert my money into stealth-credits, and get new wristbands for both of us so no one can track us.”

“What’s a governor?” Nothing she said made any sense, but somehow that’s the first question I think to ask.

“It keeps the van from going really fast—company policy. Got to get rid of that.” She winks at me.

“You weren’t already going fast?” I ask, rubbing the shoulder that got jammed against the door.

“We might need to go faster.”

I didn’t get a good look at anything on the planet on my way here. I was in a small cage in the back of a paneled hover-van similar to this one.

We’re in a city with clean streets and sleek buildings. Large signs dispensing news and information line the roads and walkways. Many of the screens are filled with colorful charts and graphs.

“Birthrate,” Annora says.

“Is it getting better now that you’ve brought other species here?”

“Yes. Not by much, though. It’s a huge concern for everyone on the planet, although most of us don’t talk about it very often. What is there to say? Our species is dying? Yeah, in private we talk about anything but our lack of population growth.”

“Can humans and Draalians procreate?” I ask, then wish I could snatch my words back. Why would I even wonder such a thing?

“Not naturally, but the scientists are working on it.”

“Why kidnap us and bring us here, then?” I mumble under my breath. It makes no sense.

“The plan was for males to come of their own free will. Some are for procreation, yeah, but others are called companion males. Don’t most people of any species, male or female want someone to love?

Someone who cares how their day went? Someone to hold us when we’re feeling blue?

No pun intended.” A bubble of laughter escapes her.

“We don’t condone kidnapping, Zorn. My mom is a good person. I have no idea how she lost her moral compass and bought you in some sleazy auction.

“Earth has a lot to offer. Although many women want babies, and our species desperately needs them, most people I know want . . . love, companionship, and to be honest—sex. Isn’t that what we all desire?”

Is it? I have two out of three. Or at least I did.

“I have most of that already. Zoriss and I have love and companionship.”

“You’re lucky.”

I have to admit, though, spending time with Annora is different than being with my brother. Brotherly love and companionship are vastly different than what Annora’s talking about. Especially the sex.

My attention returns to the activity on the streets we’re whizzing by.

Seeing sidewalks full of mostly women is odd.

It is heartening to see an occasional male of one of the three species they’ve brought to Earth.

I even see one or two male hybrid children on the sidewalks holding their mother or father’s hand.

“So many females,” I murmur.

“Yeah. No males except otheraliens. Our women can have children through artificial insemination, but all the children are female. We just aren’t able to have male babies without the alien males. The few human males that are left are old and in armed compounds for their own safety.”

“If you came to Draal, you’d probably see only males. The few females we have are usually hidden away by their families or mates—too dangerous to be out alone.”

“I imagine it would be as odd for me to see a lot of males as it is for you to see all these women.” She pauses for a moment.

“You could stay if you want. We would welcome you. You’d be introduced to as many women as you desire until you find someone you’re compatible with.

You could meet them and court them. We have a whole program to integrate you into society, find you a job, help you in every way.

Just because you hate me, doesn’t mean all Earth women are bad. ”

“I don’t hate you.”

She glances at me, whispers, “You have every right to,” and almost runs over a small brown canine.

Before I have a chance to respond to her statement, she drags her gaze back to where she’s going and informs me, “We’re almost there.”

She pulls into a structure and keeps circling lower and lower. I wonder if it was used for parking vehicles a long time ago. When we get to the bottom level, things look very different from the surface streets.

The pavement empties into an enormous underground area teeming with people. These women aren’t dressed in clean, colorful clothing like up above. Everything here seems grimy. It’s dark down here, and the females I see aren’t hurrying anywhere. Their eyes all seem either angry or suspicious.

I’m evidently not the only one who’s cold.

I see barrels at odd intervals that seem to contain small fires.

Women are congregating around them, warming their hands and talking.

Over to my right, three younglings are playing with a partially deflated ball.

Up ahead, two women are having a push-and-shove match over something.

No one seems to be paying any attention to them, though, as if such behavior is commonplace.

After we exit the van, a female with slitted eyes and turned-down mouth approaches us. She’s wearing a long black coat. I wonder if she’s hiding a weapon under there. I stand between her and Annora. Her stance tells me she’s ready to fight.

“Draalian,” she remarks, but she’s not talking to me, she’s talking to Annora. “You here to sell him on the black market?” She assesses me the way someone would look at a bovine they wanted to buy.

“Fuck off. I need a mech.” Annora slides from behind me and stands tall, her chin thrust out defiantly.

“If both his cocks work, I can get you ten thousand credits,” the female with matted black hair says in a conspiratorial tone. “Maybe more, depending on size.”

“Shut the fuck up. He’s a sentient being with free will. Back off.”

“Fine specimen. Maybe twelve grand. Do both cocks work?” she leers.

“My fists work,” I tell her as I approach, placing my body between her and Annora.

“Fuck you, newt,” she says as she walks away.

“Newt?” I whisper to Annora.

“There’s always a faction that doesn’t want change. People love to hate, especially people who don’t feel good about themselves.

“There are those who would rather humans die off completely than mix with other species. Haters love to call other people names. Some call Draalians newts. It’s not a nice term.”

“Look at the wog!” A dirty little girl with unkempt blonde hair says as she points at me.

“I guess there are other descriptive names for Draalians?” I ask, lifting a browridge as I stand taller.

“Yeah. I imagine we’re going to hear them all before we get out of here. Wog for pollywog. I think it’s an amphibian.

“You stand out enough, what with your maleness, and your six-and-a-half-foot tall self, and your blue scales. I must admit, the crimson coat was an interesting choice,” she says as she glances at me with a sarcastic lopsided smile.

“I’m a captain. I’ve served over fifteen years in the planetary army, Annora. I’m proud of that.”

“I understand. Don’t get me wrong, the coat makes you look amazing.”

Amazing? Too bad now isn’t the time to ask her to enlighten me.

The woman who wanted to buy me is shadowing us to my right. She’s grumbling to herself, and her eyes keep darting toward us—toward me, actually.

“Can we get these tasks done somewhere else?” I ask. “It might not be easy to keep you safe down here.”

“Walk faster,” she urges. “Perhaps we need to buy a weapon.”

I put my hand on the small of her back. I’ve never felt these protective urges before. It feels oddly like . . . coming home.

It’s a dark maze of pathways and people, but Annora finds a mech, brings her to the hover, then leads me deeper into the bowels of this place as we seek a forger.

At the end of a dark alley, we locate the wizened older female with a shock of white hair who the mech told us to find.

She’s standing in front of a metal box almost as tall as me and about the same length.

It’s emblazoned with a faded picture of what I think is food.

It looks about as healthy as Annora’s brownies, and about as appetizing.

I believe it’s a tube of meat in a bun. My stomach churns.

“Nothing like a hundred-and-fifty-year-old woman in a two-hundred-year-old hot dog truck to inspire confidence,” Annora says under her breath.

“He needs papers,” Annora tells her. “Clean papers. Alex the mech told us to find you.”

“Cost ya,” she replies. The few teeth she has left are dark yellow, although the one in front is almost as dark as Annora’s brownies. Does this planet not have dentists?

“I also need credit bands that can’t be traced. One for each of us.”

The female gazes at us through her scattered nest of hair, the skin on her face has so many lines it looks like it was folded haphazardly.

“Expensive.” By the looks of her teeth, I’m glad she’s a female of few words.

“Can you do it?” Annora moves as if she’s about to look for another forger.

“For ten thousand.”

Annora’s mouth drops open as her eyes widen.

“I don’t have that kind of money!” her voice is a surprised squeak. I’m trying to figure out if this is a dramatic act to bring the price down, or if that’s a shocking amount of money.

“Can’t help ya.” The woman wipes the hair away from her face as if she only now realizes it’s obstructing her view.

I watch intently, admiring Annora’s skill now that I realize she’s creating this little drama.

“It’s a good thing we don’t need to be there in a hurry,” she tells me while she shrugs her shoulders and shakes her head.