Chapter 6
ADRYEL
The buzz of conversation filled the common area.
The data chip pressed against Adryel’s ribs, a constant ridge beneath her shirt where she'd sewn it into the seam.
She'd gotten used to it over the voyage — mostly.
Every time she shifted in her seat or reached for something, there it was.
A reminder of everything she'd left behind, and everything she was still carrying.
She pressed her arm against it once, just to make sure, and turned back to the viewport.
The Galactic Alliance ship had entered the system not long ago, and now they were heading toward Kantenan.
She could see the world ahead, a vibrant side that was lush and alive-looking, and then a stripe, where the dark side was, and that's where a good deal of the mining work happened.
It had something to do with the processing of citricite and other ores that the Kantenans mined.
Just seeing the world had her breathing a sigh of relief.
It didn't matter how much Graecey promised that she wouldn't be kicked out of the program, Adryel kept expecting to be ejected from the ship every time she turned around.
It eased her mind to know that if she was ejected now, it would at least be to a planet and not into the expanse of space.
She'd overheard some of the workers commenting that landing and getting everyone ready could take forever, so it might be a while before they would get off the ship.
Besides, landing a ship this large could take time.
The bigger the ship, the harder it was to maneuver, especially in gravity.
The Kantenan world was standard level one gravity, which was what most humanoids were used to, but it still took time and expert maneuvering especially in the lush jungle terrain.
Best to be prepared to sit and wait even if it made her antsy.
She found Janae and plopped down with her, giving her some snacks.
Janae’s nerves were getting to her, because she started scratching at the dry skin on her brow.
Adryel slapped her hand. “Stop it. You’re only going to make that look worse right before we go down.”
Janae shrugged. “It gets worse when I'm nervous, regardless of touching it.”
“Well, you don't need to do anything to mar your skin more just before we meet our mates.” She reached up and started brushing Janae's bangs back into place.
“Like you have a chance,” Roemary said as she glided by, looking like her usual perfected self, followed by her apprentice, Sereya.
Okay, maybe they weren’t master and apprentice, but sometimes, they had that vibe. They weren’t equals, but it was obvious that Sereya was following Roemary. They were opposites in many ways - Roemary with her pale skin and hair, and Sereya with her darker skin and dark hair.
Both were determined to be chosen by an alien.
To prove their value or something. Roemary expected the aliens to be fighting over her, while Sereya, well, she was up in the air.
Roemary, though…
Adryel would punch her in the face if given the chance. Especially if she kept messing with Janae. Janae was too sweet. Naive in a way. She felt like Janae needed a protector.
Especially from bullies like Roemary who kept insisting that she was well-financed. It wouldn't surprise Adryel to find out that her family was a major benefactor for the Galactic Alliance's program.
Maybe her family just wanted to pawn her off on some alien. Get her out of the way.
The idea made Adryel smile.
But the poor alien!
“Don't be an ass,” Adryel snapped at her. “Every one of us has a chance.”
“Sure. In theory,” Roemary said and stalked off, her glossy perfected hair shining in the light. She turned to Sereya and smirked. “They're so cute, thinking they will find someone.”
Adryel spit out a curse she’d learned when she was a kid. If they fell out the air lock, she wouldn’t miss them.
There was something about Roemary that made Adryel see red.
One of these days, Adryel was going to punch her in the face.
Janae started scratching at her brow again. The little white flakes fell off her skin, revealing thicker marred red skin underneath.
“Stop,” Adryel whispered to her.
Janae put her hands in her lap. “Sorry,” she whispered back.
“Are you girls ready?” Graecey approached Adryel and Janae, her warm smile spreading out over her face.
They weren't alone in the common area, most of the females who were part of the program milled about in their little clusters.
Excitement bubbled from every little group.
Normally, Adryel would make fun of everyone's enthusiasm, but she couldn't. Not without making fun of herself as well, because she was a little excited too.
Underneath that excitement was tension, between everyone. Nerves started to get higher and anxiety was mixing with the excitement, and it made a weird energy. Not bad, but every one of them knew that this was going to be a life-changing day for just a few of them.
But there was no way to know which one of them that would be.
“Think so,” Janae replied, her voice low and meek.
“It's a battle,” Adryel said, her gaze darting back to Roemary. Roemary happened to glance over as well, and once again, that hot, angry feeling ran over her.
Roemary just made her angry.
She had to ignore Roemary, and get on with this. Adryel had a purpose and a plan, and she had to stick with the plan. Stay away from Kerde and the Rhysgarrds.
“Knowing what aliens choose to like, well, that is a hard thing to predict. Especially in this situation,” Graecey said, jarring her attention away from Roemary, and back to the impending arrival.
“Why do you say that?” Adryel asked. What was special about this situation? She'd seen all the images at their office. They did this all the time, bringing together different species.
Some of those little alien mixes were cute little things.
She glanced at Janae, who was listening, but not. She'd seen her friend's expression when she didn't want to be there. It was her nerves; worry marred her features.
“This is our first time bringing females to the Kantenans.”
Adryel blinked. “I thought this was standard procedure.”
“This experiment is. But a planet must apply and be accepted into the program. We've brought females to many different worlds, but each world had to apply and meet certain criteria.”
“What criteria?” Janae asked.
“They had to have a need for infusing the population with new genomes, for one.”
“And do the Kantenans?” Adryel asked.
Graecey nodded. “Yes, they do.”
“What else do they have to do?” Janae asked.
“They have to tell us what is expected in a natural mating within their culture, so we can prepare you.”
“What do you mean?” Adryel asked. “Are they, like, super ritualistic?” Was there more to mating than just, well, sex? What else could there be? Dancing and moonlight prayer?
Graecey grinned.
At least Adryel amused her.
“For example,” Graecey began, her entire persona taking that of a teacher. “In some cultures, the female will choose the suitor. In others, the male claims the female immediately. Some have a marriage ceremony, and, in others, it is merely speaking of certain words that bind the two.”
“And what about the Kantenans? Do they have such rules?”
“Some,” she said. “They declare their intentions, and, if you accept, then you are bound.”
“So, there's no courtship with them?”
“They claim they know their mates immediately upon meeting.”
“What if none of us are claimed?” Janae asked.
“Then we move on.”
“What do we do? Go down and line up or something?”
“We will take you down in small groupings, so as not to overwhelm the Kantenans. It will be organized and civilized, have no fear,” Graecey said and grinned. “Now, I have to go prepare.”
“Sure, you go ahead,” Adryel said to Graecey. “It's getting exciting.”
As Graecey walked away, Janae glanced at her. “Don't sound too excited.”
Adryel shrugged. “I’m just glad we made it here.”
“Me too. Look at those trees,” Janae said, gesturing out the window to the foliage outside. As the ship maneuvered down, it flew past all sorts of clusters of green life.
The ship shifted, and the landing process began, slowing it down, and the green became more defined as they lowered through the sky toward the landing pad below.
“Pretty,” she replied, though her mind still raced about how this was going to go down. “You know, I still have tons of questions. Like how do they determine which groups go down and when? What about their male parts? Are they the same fittings?”
Janae snorted. “I thought you read everything?”
“I sort of did.” The details she paid attention to was the information about the world and their culture, and that was just enough so that if she did have to abandon the Galactic Alliance, she’d at least know something about where she wound up.
She didn’t pay much attention to the anatomy. That was something that always bored her, anyway. It didn’t matter, because she wasn’t getting picked anyway.
“There was plenty of information about the physical stuff. The information talked about the size differences and what to expect as far as physical intimacy.”
“So you read that part?” Adryel asked, raising her eyebrow.
“I was curious,” Janae said, her cheeks turning pink.
“It’s fine. I think we all were,” Adryel said. Another topic she only glanced at. Kantenans were larger than standard humanoids, and that they were proportional to their size. Generally speaking.
“As long as they're not going to punch me, I should be okay.”
Janae sighed. “Great, now I have another scenario to imagine. Getting punched by an alien with body armor and ridges on his back.”
“Well, when you put it like that...”