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Tiera MacKenzie could not believe her ears. “My friend is what?”

“She is the embodiment of the potential of our race. Signy has a talent for instantly absorbing and applying knowledge, and that is something most attractive to the Nine.”

The military representative was impatient. “You must come with us.”

Ziggy had been gone for forty-eight hours, and now Tiera was facing the Gaian military officers that Mrs. Alora had described to her when Ziggy was taken.

Tiera rubbed her forehead with two fingers. “Why must I come with you?”

“As Signy’s friend, you have been invited to stay on the mother ship of the Nine. To keep her happy, her spouse has ordered that you be brought up for an extended visit. Bring what you think you will need, because we will be leaving in five minutes, and you will be with us.”

Tiera arched her eyebrow. “Really?”

He crossed his arms. “Really. You can do what you will with your time, but you are coming with us. The government wants to continue good relations with the Nine, and if your presence is the price, they will pay it.”

Tiera called her mother and quickly filled her in while she grabbed a duffel and filled it. “No, Mom, I don’t know what they want. No, apparently, Ziggy is on the mother ship, and they want me to visit her. No, I don’t know how long I will be gone. I will keep you posted. Love you.”

She hung up and lifted the bag filled with underwear, comfy dresses and two pairs of shoes. Stomping back to the front door, she walked past the man in uniform and out to his vehicle. Tiera tossed the bag into the back seat and buckled into the front seat, crossing her arms over her chest.

He didn’t say a word, merely got in, put the vehicle in gear and drove to the launch port. The cars in front and behind did the same, forming a secure column.

When he stopped, she got out, grabbed her bag and marched to the shuttle with its walkway down.

“Where am I supposed to be?”

A surprised member of the Nine with a distinctly damp appearance waved her to a chair and gently took her bag from her. He spoke carefully. “Please use the harness. It is for your safety.”

She smiled. “Thank you.”

Tiera fastened the harness, watched as the pilot sealed the hatch and they lifted off.

“Am I your only passenger?”

He nodded. “The Potential has asked for you, and so, we will deliver you to her since she cannot come down.”

That was news to Tiera. “Why can’t she come down?”

“She is newly bonded. Councillor Rothaway will not let her go.”

There was a slight colour to the male’s cheeks as he spoke, a blue flush under the pale green skin.

The phrasing was odd, but Tiera nodded and kept silent as they climbed through the atmosphere toward the huge bulk of the mother ship of the Nine.

Nine different races that had emerged from the same species were represented on that ship. That the Nine had also once lived on Gaia was not a coincidence. Something on the planet, or in the planet itself, changed the races that lived there.

Tiera had known about Ziggy’s talent for knowing things simply by touching others. You could not grow up with someone without picking up on things like that.

When the marauding Tokkel had captured Ziggy, Tiera had been worried. When she reappeared with her body intact and her features grim, Tiera had let her speak at her own pace. Eventually, the whole story came out, and Tiera had sworn to keep her friend’s confidence.

With the shuttle passing through the atmosphere and into the darkness, the stars grew clearer and brighter than she had ever seen them, but they soon faded again as they approached the docking area of the mother ship.

A sense of urgency started in her body. She was going where few humans had gone before, and she had been invited to stay overnight. Only dignitaries and pilots had ever had the honour before today, well, them and Ziggy.

The docking procedure was probably fascinating, but Tiera was busy looking at and cataloguing the variety of races in the docking bay.

People whose origins were in water, fire, forests, air, rock and others were all there, each in a specialized environmental suit that allowed them to work with exposure to space.

As the shuttle settled, she heard a clamping sound. The shuttle was then hauled forward by a mechanism under the landing gear. They were pulled into a compartment that sealed behind them.

The hiss of gas was audible, and when a light on the console turned blue, the pilot unclasped his harness and retrieved her bag.

“An escort has been arranged for you. He will take you to the Potential.”

“You mean Ziggy.”

He grinned, showing distinctly pointed teeth. “We are very big on titles.”

She laughed. She couldn’t help it. “Thank you for your kindness, Pilot.”

“Arcolothi.”

He bowed low.

“I am Tiera.”

She tried to mimic his bow, and she must have done all right, because he grinned at her again. Tiera hoisted her bag back onto her shoulder and headed through the open hatch.

There was a small path and another doorway. She really hoped that her guide was there, because she had no idea how to find Ziggy or how many of the Nine had bothered to learn Gaian.

Her steps slowed as she exited the doorway, and when a man who had been leaning against the wall stood straight and smiled at her, she knew that he was either her guide or he was going to hit on her. Either way, she was in for some conversation.

“Tiera MacKenzie?”

“I am.”

She inclined her head.

“I am Tonos, your guide to the mother ship of the Nine.”

He bowed low and fluttered large, elegant insect-like wings. “I am of the People of the Air, so do pardon my wings.”

Tiera looked at the wings and smiled. “I find them very fetching.”

“Thank you, Signy Rothaway has pronounced them to be creepy.”

A giggle escaped her. “That sounds like Ziggy.”

“Please, let me take your bag and show you to your quarters.”

He took her bag from her and slung it over one muscular arm and offered her the other. “Please allow me.”

She touched his arm, and to her surprise, his skin actually rippled slightly under her touch. His wings fluttered and his eyes widened at the light contact. She pulled her hand away, but he grabbed it and placed it back on his forearm.

His eyes grew heavy lidded as he straightened his shoulders and tried to behave like nothing had happened. “So, what do you do for a living, Miss Tiera?”

She followed his lead as he walked toward a pod situated on a rail. “I am a caterer. I prepare large amounts of food for weddings and such.”

“Do you find this work fulfilling?”

Tiera grinned at the memories that his words evoked, “Well, it certainly is more than I ever imagined it could be. It is a challenge and a torture at the same time.”

He settled her inside the pod and stowed her bag behind her. “I thought to give you a tour of the ship and this is the best way to do it. Are you ready?”

Tiera thought about it, she was in space, waiting to see her friend who had disappeared a few days earlier and was now the living proof that humanity had potential to evolve into something else. Ziggy had also married a councillor of the Nine who could shift his shape into something else in that short span of time.

She exhaled deeply and smiled, “Yes. I think I am.”