Page 75 of Saved By the Alien Hybrid

The door slid open, revealing Fendar’s familiar, scarred face. His long, red hair billowed forward with the shifting air pressure in the room. He rolled his neck, cracking it loudly as he stepped across the threshold.

“Thalen?” he asked.

Ven stood aside so he could see that their leader was still being treated by the medpod.

“He’ll live?” Fendar frowned at Thalen’s battered body.

“He will,” Haerune said.

Fendar’s gaze drifted over them, narrowing as he took in the tension of the room. “This is about the females, I presume.”

He righted the chair that Xeth had knocked over, sinking into it with a weary sigh. As he stretched out his legs, his hooves screeched over the stone floor. His tail draped limply over the arm of the chair, too fatigued for even a twitch. He turned all three of his weary, yellow eyes on Rentir. “So, are you agonizing over your female, as well?”

Xeth growled a warning that Fendar didn’t bother to acknowledge.

“No,” Rentir said, smothering his doubts about the way Cordelia was keeping distance between them. “Far from it.”

Fendar nodded in approval. “Good. What point is there in all we have achieved if we refuse to embrace our futures?” He crossed his ankles, slumping in the seat. “Unless we intend to take up the work of our creators, we will have to find another way to continue our kind.”

“We do not have a kind,” Xeth grumbled. “We are amalgamations, dissimilar even to each other.”

“Not all of us,” Ven murmured. “You really think we can… procreate?”

Fendar shrugged. “Why not? What say you, Haerune?”

Haerune’s tendrils writhed an anxious rhythm. “I don’t know. I have not seen any evidence that we were sterilized—there would have been no reason to bother, without any females present. But that doesn’t mean our genes are compatible with life.”

“But they could be?” Ven pressed. “There’s a chance?”

Hesitantly, Haerune nodded. Ven sat back down in his chair, apparently stunned to silence by the revelation. Rentir wasn’t immune to it, either. Cordelia willing, he could potentially have… kin. What did he know of being a father? The idea of such a thing towered over him, making him feel immeasurably small.

“I have a sense about it,” Fendar offered, and they all looked at him uneasily. Fendar’s ‘senses’ were hardly ever wrong. Theywere nearly prophetic. “We do all share auretian genes, and Haerune has alerted us to our human DNA. There’s no reason to believe we couldn’t mix. Isn’t that a terribly amusing prospect? Imagine a dozen little Xeths running all over the base, kicking the other hybrids in the shins and demanding their extra rations.”

“You are tiresome,” Xeth grated.

“Funny, I’m sure you hear the same often enough.”

Xeth bristled, his black claws lengthening.

“Put those away.” Fendar waved a lazy hand. “I’m not getting up to fight you. I’ve been awake for three days straight trying to get those Aurillon bastards out of our systems. Worthless fools. If it weren’t for theGidalan’s AI, they’d never make it past my firewalls in the first place.” He closed his eyes, resting his head against the wall. “Well?” he rumbled without moving. “What are we going to do about the females?”

CHAPTER 32

Cordelia squeezedSophia’s shoulder before moving away, giving her space as she desperately scarfed down alien rations. The women were all gathered in the common space, sprawled out over the massive couch—aside from Seren, who stood by the window with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, gazing out at the endless expanse of nature.

Nyx rose, her prosthetic clicking against the polished stone as she stood beside her Commander. “We’re still missing Thea, Celeste, and Juno,” she said in a low voice, hands on her hips. The scratches on her face were thin, dark scars already, and her hair had been washed and pulled back into a dark braid that shone with health. “What’s the plan?”

Cordelia grimaced. “I know where Thea is,” she said, looking toward the window.

Nyx made a pained sound. “She’s dead?”

Cordelia’s head whipped back around, her eyes wide. “No! Shit, sorry. She’s, well…” Cordelia pointed upward.

Nyx frowned. “…Dead? Big arcade in the sky?”

“Nyx,” Cordelia said with exasperation. “She’s on theGidalan. The Aurillon have her.”

Nyx’s eyes widened. “Oh, fuck. Seriously?”