Chapter One

LIGHT YEARS away, a Tah’Narian sat at the subspace controls, his keen eyes on two human males congregating near what looked to be a large body of water. One was talking on a primitive communication device.

Keyno leaned over Gibor’s shoulder and stared at the screen, listening to the Earthlings poke fun at one another while they prepared for a ritual of “fishing.”

“He’s stunning,”

Keyno admitted, enthralled. There was something about him that spoke to Keyno.

“Isn’t he? That hair of his is almost white in the sun.”

“Huh?”

Keyno asked, confused. “I was referring to the brunet.”

“Well, I wasn’t.”

“His voice alone could bring a Tah’Narian to his knees.”

“Any Tah’Narian, or you, my friend?”

Keyno asked with a slight smile, watching the brown-haired human push the blond one into the water.

“Me, of course.”

“If you’re so interested in him, do a scan, and find out if he’s of age. He may be eligible for the upcoming collections. Matter of fact, do both of them. And Gibor, copy that to my private files, will you?”

Gibor smirked at his captain. “Seems like I’m not the only one interested in these two.”

“I gave you an order, First Officer,”

Keyno replied, winking.

“One I’m pleased to obey, Captain,”

Gibor replied. “Gods, Keyno. As much as I hate what we do, I hope he’s eligible. I want him.”

Keyno lowered his voice. “I don’t like this, either, but what choice do we have?”

The subject was something they’d had long discussions about in private. It was not appropriate for the Bridge.

“It seems to me there has to be some other way,”

Gibor whispered.

Teams of skilled scientists had exhausted all possible options for reproduction with multiple species, but each attempt had failed. In some cases, the results were not just unsuccessful but downright monstrous and horrifying. Their labs became scenes of frustration and despair. With each failed experiment, their hopes dwindled, and their desperation grew.

A violent civil war had erupted as the Tah’Narian race teetered on the brink of extinction, their survival hanging in the balance. In the aftermath, a new king had been crowned. Their kingdom and the very people themselves were now stained with the scars and sorrow of war.

Their citizens quickly became embroiled in heated debates over what to do about their inability to procreate. Some had joined fervent purity groups, adamantly arguing that they should simply let their species die off rather than resorting to extreme measures.

This was a small minority of Tah’Narians, but they were vocal, and the majority of the population remained conflicted as they grappled with the weighty decision that would determine the fate of their race.

But unfortunately, the damage had been done. The war with the Onfre had left them sterile, which eventually led to this—a breeding program.

Some races didn’t have a problem volunteering. Their king’s own mate was a perfect example. But the humans, well, they were the most stubborn, obstinate, and hardheaded race the Tah’Narians had ever dealt with except for maybe the Ne Reyn.

Although the country of the United States of America came a close second to those females.

Keyno shook his thoughts off. There was nothing he could do about the way they took mates, and even if there were, he wasn’t sure that he would change anything. His people were dying.

“Gibor? Find out what you can and let me know. Send me a copy of that recording too.”

“Yes, sir,”

Gibor replied.

KEYNO LEFT the Bridge, his shift over. Until he came back on, Gibor had control of the starship.

Their friendship had stood the test of time, and he trusted his friend without a doubt. While all of his officers were highly skilled, he and Gibor had been through countless challenges together.

Entering his quarters, he changed out of his uniform and into something much more comfortable, then programmed the reduplicator for an Akdov, an alcoholic drink.

A few moments later, there was a flash of light and a beep from the machine letting Keyno know it was ready. Taking it, he sat on the couch. Picking up the nearby remote, he adjusted the opaqueness of the port windows to reveal the endless expanse of space beyond.

The inky blackness stretched out before him. Despite seeing it countless times, Keyno never tired of this breathtaking view. It reminded him of just how small he was in the grand scheme of the universe.

For as far back as he could remember, space had fascinated him. Even as a young, he’d known what he wanted and hadn’t let anything get in his way until he achieved it. Although his path to the stars had not always been smooth. A forced mating and the death of that mate when the Onfre seeded Tah’Nar’s atmosphere, for example, which made Keyno take a healthy swallow of his drink.

Where in the universe had that thought come from? Such a subject was one he absolutely did not want to pursue. It was sad and tragic, but he wasn’t the only Tah’Narian who experienced sadness and tragedy during the attack on them by the Onfre.

At least he had lived through it.

Leaning his head back against the couch, he stared at the ceiling. A headache was brewing, but he wasn’t surprised. They were on pace to arrive at Earth at the designated time for the next harvest.

After this, only one harvest was left.

When the Tah’Narians first arrived, they’d offered humanity certain technological advances in return for mates. What should have been a nice and simple trade, the humans turned into something scary, and Keyno greatly resented that. Many of his kind did.

The young human males from that country were forced into what they considered a cruel practice known as the lottery. Their fates were decided by chance, and if their number was drawn, they were immediately ripped away from their families and handed over to the Tah’Narians without warning. Any hope of saying a final goodbye was eliminated.

As well as any chance to run.

It left the humans with nothing but terror and dread for what awaited them. The fear of being picked was so great that some of those young men had tried to escape, and when they couldn’t, they fought. And what had been the American government’s answer to that?

Teams of humans called SWAT went in and extracted these young men, then turned them over to the Tah’Narians.

Keyno didn’t like it, but they tried not to interfere when the humans were dealing with their own kind. But he’d noticed during the previous harvest that these human police officers were becoming increasingly violent against their own people.

It was concerning, but humans tended toward violence it seemed.

The Tah’Narians monitored satellite communications as soon as they discovered a planet with a species who was advanced enough to approach. Once it was deemed a species was sufficiently advanced, the Tah’Narians then studied them to see if they were compatible to themselves.

The humans were one such race. If Tah’Nar had not been desperate, they might have bypassed this particular world. As the humans liked to say, it was a hot mess. Politics aside, humans generally seemed predisposed toward war, which was most unbecoming.

But then again, who were the Tah’Narians to judge? Their own people had a dark past, filled with battles and conquests. As they observed the humans from afar, they couldn’t help but feel a sense of irony and understanding. After all, both species shared a common flaw—the desire for power and dominance.

Keyno reached up and rubbed one of his ears. It felt much better when someone else did it, but there was no one else.

As far as anatomy went, Tah’Narians and humans were quite compatible. At one time, all Tah’Narians had been capable of giving birth, but not now. It’d been surprising that humans who were born male did not have the capability. Humanity had females, unlike Tah’Narians, who were all males and had no interest in the female gender.

Similar to human males, Tah’Narians had a standard body structure—two arms, two legs, a torso, and a head. However, their appearance was distinctly feline, with tufted ears perched atop their head, sharp fangs, and a tail. Their genitalia also differed—a Tah’Narian’s penis possessed barbs.

Tah’Nar found themselves in this situation because they’d foolishly meddled with a race they shouldn't have crossed—the Onfre. Under the orders of the previous Tah’Narian king, ships had been sent to that planet to steal its resources.

Resources the Tah’Narians honestly hadn’t needed. When the Onfre refused to simply hand over their valuable resources, a brutal attack ensued, resulting in the loss of lives on both sides. The Tah’Narians’ greed had led to war and the loss of innocent lives.

The Onfre retaliated by releasing a chemical into the atmosphere of Tah’Nar. The noxious gas spread like a thick fog, infiltrating every corner of the planet and rendering all Tah’Narians sterile. The once vibrant economy crashed; panic spread as life for all abruptly changed.

It was a cruel and calculated move.

Keyno’s hair shifted uneasily on his shoulders, which was another difference between them and humanity. Why his mind kept returning to a time he absolutely hated, he didn’t know. So much tragedy. So much loss—loss he had personally experienced.

Disgruntled, he stood. Reliving those dark memories would do nothing but depress him. And he knew he couldn’t afford to dwell on them, not with everything that was coming in just two days’ time.

Keyno programmed the reduplicator for his meal, choosing Raymand’dar, which he understood was similar to an animal called a cow on Earth that humans liked to eat. Steak, he thought it was called.

Such a weird name. He couldn’t imagine eating human food.

Raymand’dar meat was green and spicy, just like he liked. He chose searing as a side, which was similar to an Earth-type salad. But searing was native to the planet Kalgo Prime. It consisted of blue and purple raw vegetables that were served hot instead of cold.

Sitting at the little table in his quarters, he pulled up the video Gibor sent him of the two humans. Keyno spent several minutes watching them pull some sort of squirming aquatic animal out of the overly large body of water. Lake. Earthlings called it a lake. The blue water was kind of odd, but it matched the pretty blue sky.

While Keyno watched the humans enjoy their nice summer day, he read over the file Gibor had sent him. “Hmmm. His name is Dale Michaels.”

Keyno read the parents’ names, not that he cared about that, then he frowned. “Twenty-one? He’s only twenty-one. Gods, he’s under the age limit.”

The American government assigned a number to young men between the ages of twenty-three and twenty-eight. Those were the only men allowed to be harvested, and this one wouldn’t even be of age for the last harvest next year.

Keyno grumbled under his breath. He hadn’t met the human, only watched a subspace video of him, but something appealed to him besides Dale’s looks. He definitely found him sexy, but it was more than that.

Keyno could tell he was both funny and sassy. From watching the recording and seeing how he joked around with the other human, Keyno was able to determine he was a good friend to the blond-headed one. He checked the notes again. Chad. Dale’s friend was called Chad.

He was the one Gibor was interested in. Keyno blew out a breath. That was yet another situation. Chad was old enough to be part of the upcoming harvest in two days.

The lottery system was supposedly set up to spit out numbers randomly, and the Tah’Narians didn’t interfere with that.

But Keyno was going to because his friend wanted that blond.