Lero went thoughtful for a second. “I have a theory about that. You know how species love reptiles or hate them... ”
Blayze: “It’s like Sunset Sauce, you love it or you hate it. There’s no in between.”
Lero: “Precisely. I reckon the Ohirins use us for our appearance. That’s why they sent Pilot Joel and the Dheltan crew to Earth to collect the females. We appeal to humans; if they had seen lizards, they never would have gotten on the ship.”
Blayze nodded slowly. “Wily grackics.”
“Also, we’re useful in certain combat situations. We’re mammals; Drek couldn’t freeze us out like they did the Ohirins,” added Darren.
“Yeah, how’d they do that?” Blayze wouldn’t let it go.
Darren drained his cup and shoved to his feet. “Let’s go to the bridge and ask if we can make ourselves useful; no use sitting around here moping.”
“Speak for yourself,” retorted Lero.
The Drypso capital city wasn’t much better than the military base attached to it, though it was bigger. Translation —biggermeant more huts and more streets, though the streets were little more than dusty tracks. It was depressing. Even the capital name was uninspiring: Drypso Main.
Aelanna learned that Drypso was a small planet with one landmass, and the rest of it was covered in sea. The Ohirin Empire had left just enough lizard-people to defend it and had built the capital city and the base as a bare minimum. They had inherited buildings from the planet’s history, so that was a bonus. Drypso had been a trading post before the Ohirins had won it, a passing-through stopover, where ships called in for emergency repairs and to restock essentials. It was pointless building satellite towns in the desert. Nobody wanted to live there, Aelanna thought, so why bother?
The girls were moved by ground transporter supervised by Rathri to a hut much like the one they’d stayed in at the base. It was only a short journey and ended in a room which was like a large office or reception area, stripped of decoration, only large sectional seating and a few hard chairs, and double doors at the other end. It wasn’t a bar, like they’d been in before. This felt more like an administration block.
Rathri told them to sit before she made her announcement. She had a clipboard.
“If you’re lucky, you’ll get three suitors.” She smirked. At the girls’ funereal expressions, she cleared her throat and carried on deadpan. “It was a joke, an attempt to lighten the mood.”
She drew a deep breath. “Your suitor will take you to a private office through those doors, and you will chat for half an hour.” She pointed to the far doors and Aelanna could see acorridor through the glass windows.
“At the end of the day you will choose the suitor you prefer. If you don’t choose, a suitor will be chosen for you. There will be breaks for lunch and tea, and the washrooms are in the corridor about halfway along. That will be all. Look lively!”
The lizard woman marched to the entrance, intent on her clipboard.
Aelanna sat next to Kora and Nayli.
“There’s only one city. There’s a good chance we won’t be separated,” she whispered.
Kora flashed her brows; Nayli stared at her lap. Aelanna had no idea what her friends thought of it.
The first suitor was a young lizard in an impeccable uniform, though however smart they looked, Aelanna didn't like the way their jackets were overlong to fit their stretched oval bodies and their pants seemed too short because they had little legs and their tails stuck out of the pants.Ugh. They reminded Aelanna of iguanas, though she’d only seen pictures. Ensign Rathri made a note on her clipboard.
She looked up and called out, “Captain Thrashk for Aelanna Smith.”
Kora snorted. “Good luck.”
Nayli’s head snapped up and her eyes widened.
Aelanna blanched. She froze. All the breath seemed to leave her body as the lizard man approached.
“Lady Aelanna, shall we go and talk in private?” rasped the captain, bending over her seated form and offering his arm. She couldn’t very well refuse.
A gasp from Nayli spurred her to jump up and take the arm. She followed Nayli’s gaze. Brigadier Zittishk had come for her. Aelanna remembered him from the welcoming committee the day before.
She allowed the captain to lead her to an office, on his cold arm. She didn’t want to touch his skin because she dreaded it would be clammy, and she was thankful for thefabric of his sleeve under her hand.
He opened the first door in the corridor, put his hand on the small of her back and guided her into the room.
“This way, warm cheeks.”
A metal desk was in the room with a padded chair on the business side and two wooden visitors' chairs, but the surface was clear. A window looked onto the next hut. The floors throughout were the same composite stuff they had in the barracks. It was all very bare and depressing.
