Ice (Galaxy Alien Mail Order Brides #4)

Prologue

Planet of Sintaz

“Women.”

Izotz remembered precisely three times when his youngest brother had a great idea.

One, jumping off snow cliffs into the drifts below to avoid being eaten by a hungry bearguar.

Two, giving unauthorized permission to the spaceship full of Galaxy Playmates to land on their ice-covered planet.

Now that was how a man heated up the wintery nights on Sintaz.

Three, traveling north to avoid an unpredictable ice storm.

This new idea? It didn’t make the list. Not even close.

“Women,” Edur repeated as if saying the word in an excited tone would make the idea better. It didn’t.

“No,” Izotz stated, his tone final. He was the oldest, and it was his responsibility to look after the other two.

“But, women,” Edur persisted.

“He has a point,” Tushar chimed in, supporting their youngest sibling. “Women.”

“Do you even know where this Erd is?” Izotz asked.

Tushar gestured that he did not. “I think it’s called Arth.”

“And it has women,” Edur added.

“Our mother should have dropped you in a snowdrift as a baby and left your blue ass there.” Izotz tried to turn back to his meal. Things tended not to stay warm for long and already his broth was the temperature of the outside.

Well, maybe that was a little dramatic. Outside the broth would have been frozen solid.

“You could have been raised by a bearguar or a hairy bellaphant,” Tushar added, also teasing Edur, “walking around on all fours and roaring for your supper.”

“Rawr,” Edur roared. Only to add gruffly, “Women.”

Tushar bit back his laughter.

Izotz sighed in resignation. “You’re not going to stop until I agree to listen, are you?”

“No,” Edur and Tushar answered in unison.

“Fine. Show me the hologram.” Izotz crossed his arms over his chest as he balanced on the stool.

It had been built to his taller height so his feet could comfortably touch the floor.

Their Sintazian home had three of almost everything—three stools, three eating utensils, three bowls, three beds.

They didn’t need anything else. After their parents had met with an ice storm while hunting, it was just the three of them.

Edur lifted his hand from beneath the eating platform sticking out of the wall and set a holographic chip on the surface, proving he had been holding it the entire time. He activated it.

The transparent image of a strange blue and brown planet swirling with white appeared in rotation as if it hovered over Izotz’s food. He automatically pushed his bowl aside even though the hologram would not contaminate it.

“Is yours one of the many stagnant civilizations without enough women to produce offspring? Do you come from a monogamist culture with no one to marry? Or a polygamist culture in need of more food makers? Are you lonely and looking to reassign your assets? What if we told you there is a planet whose name is called Earth that could solution all your needs? Would you be jolly?” The deep male voice asking the questions was clearly a computerized translator and not a very good one at that.

Foreign words from the original recording could be heard low in the background.

“Yes,” Edur answered needlessly.

“Earth,” Tushar said. “That’s what it is called.”

“Let me guess,” Izotz muttered sarcastically, unimpressed with the sales pitch. “It has women.”

“Earth has women they are willing to share,” the male voice said.

Izotz smirked. “This translation is horrible, or the Earth people have awful grammar. Solution our needs? Earth is a planet, so it would be it is not they are, and—”

“Shh, just listen,” Edur waved his hand for Izotz to be quiet.

“So, join us for jolly-making on Earth, where all your humanoid female fantasies can become digestible food.”

Izotz reached to pause the recording. “No. I’ve heard enough. I’m not eating females.”

“You know what the translator means.” Edur frowned. He was right. Izotz knew that not many people spoke the Sintazian language, so the translators were often comically wrong. Though, it was usually enough to get the gist of what was being relayed. “It’s not a food service. It’s a bridal service.”

Edur pressed the button to resume the recording.

“Earth has a breathable sky, food you can put in your heart, and…” The translator began speaking in an alien language as if the words could not be translated.

“Don’t worry, it stops that in a second,” Edur assured him.

“I wasn’t worried.” Izotz reached for his food. The fact it was cold put him in a grumpier mood.

“…officially discovered life forms not of their own planet but are humanoid compactible and ready for travel to their new homes,” the translation continued.

“Compactible?” Tushar frowned, his demeanor changing. “They squish down?”

“Wait, a detailed image scan is coming up.” Edur’s excitement didn’t die amongst the doubts of his brothers.

“Upon mate selection, all necessary papers will be given to the Earth government and transport will be taken upon us, as you leave the planet with your new—”

“Digestible food,” Izotz said over the translator. Tushar laughed.

“Those wishing to stay on Earth will be provided with manly identity.”

Izotz again turned off the translator. “No.”

“You haven’t seen their pictures,” Edur insisted.

“I don’t need to. Why would we leave?” Izotz asked. “We have everything we need. This is our home.”

Edur stood and walked to the entry of their ice hut. He grabbed both handles and pulled the two doors open to reveal the barren landscape of snowdrifts and ice cliffs. He gestured his arms at the vast stretch of nothingness.

“That is the only reasonable argument you have made,” Izotz said.

Edur shut the doors.

They were isolated, three of the very few who remained on the frozen globe of their home world.

Many of the settlers had left with the ESC scientists who came to survey the landscape.

For some reason, the alien organization wanted to set up base and start a hundred-year-long project mining fifteen-thousand feet below the planet’s surface to test mineral compounds.

Most of that time would be spent going through thousands of years of compacted snow, ice, and whatever else happened to have crashed on the planet to be forgotten.

Rumor had it alien spaceships were buried all over the place.

Those who hadn’t hitched a ride with the ESC had found work on cargo ships hauling cold storage.

“Option one.” The translator began speaking again. Tushar had turned it on.

Izotz glanced at the image of a humanoid woman. She stood, arms to her sides, rotating in a slow circle. Her clothing fit tight to her body and her brown hair fell long down her back.

“They’re tinted strangely,” Tushar observed, noting the non-blue of their flesh.

“Option two.” Another woman replaced the first image. This one had lighter hair, which grew high over her head. Her gown sparkled.

“At least they have the right number of limbs,” Izotz said.

“Option three.” The third woman held a rectangular object in her hands and wore black-rimmed eye protectors.

She opened the rectangle to show alien words written inside.

Her lips moved slightly as she read. “Option four.” This time it showed a redhead in tight black clothing with smoke coming from her lips.

“Option five.” The woman wore two strips of clothing, over her chest and hips.

“Three,” Izotz said. As more options appeared, the image of that woman stayed with him. “I will order option three.”

Edur laughed. “I knew you would change your mind.”

“I want five,” Tushar said. “And two.”

“Don’t be greedy,” Izotz scolded. “Take option two. Five will never survive our weather in her traditional garb.”

“Fine. I’ll take option two,” Tushar muttered, clearly not happy with having to choose only one wife.

“You have our orders,” Izotz told Edur. “Let the aliens know to deliver them here. There is too much to be done for us to leave.”

“It doesn’t work like that. I think these are merely examples of what we will find when we go to the planet. They don’t bring them here,” Edur said. “We have to meet the women on their home world.”

“It would be more convenient if they delivered brides to those seeking them.” Izotz sighed. “Fine. We will take this trip to Erd—”

“Earth,” Tushar corrected.

“—if we get the hunting done for the winter storms. We will need extra food supplies if we are to accommodate a larger family, and I imagine we will have to teach these women how to hunt our territories before they can help provide. We will also have to scavenge building materials to expand our home for when they come here to live with us.”

“I’ll arrange our travel.” Edur grabbed the holographic device and hurried from the room.

“He didn’t hear anything I said, did he?” Izotz shook his head and looked at the cold contents in his bowl.

“All he heard was yes,” Tushar grabbed the bowl and took it toward the cook fire.

He dumped the contents back into the kettle before pouring out a new serving.

Nothing was wasted on Sintaz. It couldn’t be.

Food was hard to come by on an icy tundra.

He set the rewarmed meal before his brother.

“Do not look so worried. Space travel is safe, and they would not take us to Earth if there were anything to worry about. Companies like this wouldn’t be in business if they lost customers on alien worlds. Think of it as a vacation.”

“What is this company called, anyway?” Izotz turned his full attention to the meal.

“No idea,” Tushar said. “But I trust Edur to suggest the most reputable.”