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She smiled at him. “Rexx isn’t bragging. He’s an amazing warrior. You all are. But we don’t need to fight at all. We do this trade and trick the Gente at the last second.”

“Everyone’s here.” Cleo sat at the head of the table. “So, Wren, what’s your idea?”

“Have you figured out a way to blast these Gente out of the sky while saving the animals?” Blaze said.

“Better than that.” Wren sat forward, her stomach tight. “I propose we offer them a trade. The animals for some of the women on the ship.”

There was silence for a few seconds.

“You want to offer my gorgeous butt up to the aliens?” Sloane shook her head. “Honey, those animals are cute, but I’m not stepping off the ship for anyone. Definitely not into the arms of a Gente.”

“No, that’s just it. We all know Gente are in desperate need of fertile females. Humans and Gente are a biological match.”

“It won’t work,” Striker muttered.

She slid him a glare. “They’ve petitioned for fertile females a dozen times to the Council.”

“And each time, they get told no because they’re ruthless assholes,” Striker said.

She waved a hand at him. “We’ve got females on board the Apocalypse. We fake a trade offer. We suggest three women in exchange for all the animals on their ship.”

“Interesting. The Gente are frantic for mates. Their population numbers are down thirty percent in the last decade,” Cleo said. “They could be desperate enough to take the bait.”

“Cleo, you can’t be serious,” Striker said. “We can’t control the situation.”

“We can never control any situation,” Wren said. “But we can put in measures to minimize the risk.”

“I’m not so sure. They’ll steal us away and impregnate us.” Daisy shuddered. “I’m all for being a mom one day but not with a Gente.”

Rexx shifted in his seat. “Agreed. They aren’t laying a scum sucking finger on you.”

Daisy’s cheeks flushed, and she smiled at him.

“They’ll know it’s a trap,” Striker said.

“I don’t think they will,” Wren said. “There are billions of Humans. We simply say we’ve got some surplus to requirements. We have no use for them, so we want to make this trade. Humans are valuable to Gente, just as those animals they have are important to us.”

“Do you know why the requests for a trade with Earth for fertile women have been rejected?” Striker’s hands were flat on the desk.

Wren bit her lip. “Because they aren’t a gentle race.”

“They’re brutal sadists. They won’t respect any Human they mate with.”

“That trade deal will never happen,” Cleo said. “But we can say this is an unofficial agreement. No one else needs to know.”

“I like it,” Georgia said. “It could work. Good idea, Wren.”

“I hate it,” Striker said. “What happens if we trade the women and the Gente double-cross us? They could have the animals and our crew. We’d be left chasing our tails.”

“That won’t happen. You’ll be our backup,” Wren said. “Striker, you always look out for me. We’ll have you and the other warriors standing guard to make sure the trade happens, then we retreat.”

“You make it sound so simple,” Rexx said. “The Gente aren’t stupid. They have their own fighters.”

“They do,” Cleo said, “but I like the principle. We need to figure out how to do the exchange smoothly.”

“We could arrange for the animals and women to be sent to a specific location. That way, we know where everyone is,” Wren said. “It needs to be an open area, so we can see what’s going on.”

Striker was shaking his head, a scowl on his face. “No, I don’t like this.”