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“Sell us to the highest bidder, who will then eat us.” Ivy grimaced. “There’s no way that’s going to happen. The next Banti scum who points his snout near me will get it punched.”
“Are you for real?” Kate Drummond, Prodigy’s assistant engineer, shoved her dark hair off her face. “You think these aliens have us in here to fatten like cattle?”
“Yes. They’re Banti,” Heather said. “They think we taste great.”
Kate shook her head. “There’s only one part of my body that I like being eaten, and it’s not by some freaky alien who gets too bitey.”
Ivy laughed and shook her head.
Kate turned away, muttering to herself as she did so.
“We have to stop them,” Heather said. “And I need to know what happened to Loka.”
“Your alien protector.” Ivy smirked. “He’s into you?”
“He might not be so into me after what happened to him. It’s my fault he got taken away. The cyborgs messed him up pretty badly.”
“As if he would leave you to the Banti without putting up a fight,” Ivy said. “I gathered from the way you don’t shut up about him, Loka is crazy about you. Even I’ve noticed him lurking around the office, leaving you those bits of coal. It’s weird.”
“It’s not weird. It’s sweet. I’m just not sure it will go anywhere.” Heather ducked her head. She wanted Loka and the dream of a space pad together to be real. A place in the stars with her own gorgeous alien scientist.
“What’s the problem? You’re not that into him?”
Heather raised her eyes to the reinforced metal ceiling. “It’s not that. I like him. He’s great. Loka knows so much about science.”
“There you go. You can geek out together for days and talk test tubes and tedious star experiments. He sounds perfect for you.”
“He is. The timing isn’t. I’m not ready.”
“You need to get to know him better?”
“No. Well, I would like to get to know him better. I feel like I only know a little about him. But I love what I already know.”
Ivy rolled her eyes. “You sound ready to me.”
“My space pad, I don’t have it yet. I want everything to be in place before I settle down, find my mate, and have a family.”
“My relationship success is sketchy, but even I know it doesn’t work like that.”
“I wish it did. Three more years here, saving every penny I can, and I’d be all set. Then I can set up a My Single Alien outpost on my chosen planet, alongside my bakery. Then I can find my dream guy.”
Ivy snorted. “That will only happen if Diadora agrees. Have you mentioned your crazy cake and courting plans to her?”
“There is that tiny, insignificant hurdle to get over. Diadora knows I’m great at matchmaking. And I’m learning from Vegas. She’s showing me how to be a decent manager. Nothing like Diadora. I can’t be anything like her.”
Ivy looked around the room. “Take a few tips from me: let no one mess with you. Expect people to let you down. Never have sex with a client before making them sign a nondisclosure agreement.”
Heather stared at Ivy. No wonder she had trouble with relationships if she applied those rules to every area of her life. She looked around the cell. “I know it’s crowded in here, but I don’t see Diadora. Maybe she’s evaded capture.”
“Maybe not.” Ivy grimaced. “With her cybernetic parts, they might not consider her good enough to keep alive.”
Heather’s stomach did a slow, unhappy flip. “We cannot be served up as hors d’oeuvres for these aliens.”
“Especially since you have a giant horned alien to fight for.”
“You’ve got things to fight for.”
Ivy shrugged. “Sure. But I don’t have a hot alien waiting to make cute little babies with me in our love pad.”
