An image of a beautiful blue and white planet popped up first. It was so much like Dhelta — the Dhelta that no longer existed — that it brought tears to Darren’s eyes. His throat swelled up and suddenly he couldn’t seem to breathe.
“This is Planet Earth in the Solar System,” Joel intoned. He changed the slide to the next one. “You can see the sun, asthey call it, and eight planets, or satellites, revolve around it. Earth is the third satellite from the sun and it’s the only one with life on it in the group.”
He changed to the next slide. Ten beings stood formally in a group staring at the camera as if their lives depended on it. They were like Dheltans; they had bodies like Dheltans, two legs, two arms. They were female. They were young. And they were the most beautiful females Darren had seen in a long time.
“These are humans, the dominant species on Earth. Ohirins put out a call for mates and Earth responded. The program is experimental for us and for them and I’ve orders to collect them, with yourselves, and bring them to Ohiri. From here we’ll go on to Drypso.”
While the pilot briefed them, Darren’s eyes were plastered to the image on the wall. There was one female that spoke to him with her eyes. He couldn’t see what color they were; the image wasn’t detailed enough for that, but her hair was long and red; the tint of Yithir, the red orange of their star when it was muted by cloud — had been muted — on their home planet. Of all the lovely females in the group, she was the loveliest.
“My ship’s the Pioneer, a Dheltan ship, by the way, and the journey to Earth takes seven days, using wormholes,” Joel added.
One of their ships had survived, then. Darren was pleased to hear it. Dheltans had lost so much. The downside of the close orbit to their sun, was that Yithir occasionally flared, and just once the flare had been so large and fierce, it engulfed their planet in flames. He wondered what the priests would have said about that, but there were no priests around. Dhelta had gone up in a puff of smoke, and all his family and friends with it.
Luckily or unluckily, depending on your point of view, he and his brothers had been on Ohiri doing military training when the disaster happened, and they’d decided to stayon Ohiri and joined the empire’s military full time instead of going back. They had no choice; there was nothing to go back to. The planet that held their hearts and lives was a burnt-out shell in blind and numb orbit around the star.
But surviving Dheltans must look to the future; you couldn’t change the past.
“When do we leave?” asked Darren.
The pilot met Darren’s gaze with his level one. “We can take off as soon as you warriors are ready, within the next twenty-four hours.”
Chapter 7
Off Planet
Aelanna, Kora and Nayli had all met Ms. Dapkey’s criteria for being eligible for the Harmonious Mates Agency. There had been medical tests but Aelanna had expected that, and they were carried out at a private clinic. They also took photos and installed an alien language translator in her brain. Wherever this place was, it was an advanced society.
They were going into space!
Aelanna’s insides went queasy at the thought, but she was doing it; she had made up her mind. On being accepted, she quit her job at the diner. Unfortunately, she couldn’t go back to her apartment, for sure. The three sat in the airport cafeteria waiting to board the private plane that would take them to some state in the south — Dapkey wouldn’t tell them where. She claimed she didn't know where it was.
“Is the Harmonious Mates Agency strictly legal?” asked Kora out of the blue, slurping her coffee and holding her cup a little way from her face, deep in thought and staring at nothing.
Aelanna was stirring sugar into her coffee and at Kora’s question she stopped the teaspoon mid-stir.
Nayli recovered from her agitation at the question and sipped her orange juice. “I don’t see why it shouldn’t be,” she said doubtfully, “The government must know about it to let the spaceships land, right?”
“Or maybe the alien ships are illegal and they enter Earth’s atmosphere cloaked. Star Trek has cloaking. It’scommon knowledge,” said Kora. “Dapkey runs the Harmonious Employment Agency as a cover for shipping women to aliens. Who knows if it’s legal?”
Aelanna didn’t like the way Kora’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
“I hope they have coffee where we’re going. I’m so nervous I can’t stir mine,” she said.
Kora threw her a concerned look. “It’s not too late to change your mind.”
“Girls’ privilege. We’re not committed until we board the spacecraft, remember?” added Nayli.
“But you’re going?” Aelanna looked at Kora, who nodded once, then at Nayli, who gave a series of little nods, her head bobbing.
“Into the unknown,” said Kora.
“Stop it. You’re frightening her,” Nayli replied.
Aelanna lifted her cup to take a sip, but just a look at the black, steaming drink turned her stomach over. Or maybe it was what she was about to do. She set the cup down in the saucer with a decidedchink. Nayli blinked in surprise and Kora side-eyed her.
“You alright, babe?” she asked. “I was only fooling around.”
Aelanna jumped up to her feet as if her seat had been set on fire.
