Chapter 5

A couple of days later, Voren and I emerged from his bedroom and walked the short distance to the ship’s bridge.

I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face. His dedication and lovemaking had been out of this world. Though gruff on the outside, his fierce heart enveloped me in a love unlike anything I’d ever experienced before.

“There you are,” said Brax, giving his brother a secret grin, then he looked at me. “You are looking exceptionally well compared to a couple of days ago.”

“Yeah.” I cleared my throat, glancing at Larralian, who sat at a control station tapping on the screen.

She arched an eyebrow and stared pointedly at my stomach. “I see you don’t waste any time, Voren.”

Wait. Is she saying I’m pregnant? No way. How would she be able to tell?

“It’s in the glow of your skin, Lilly. An in-utero Volderen gives the mother special…” Brax rubbed his jaw as if thinking. “Special abilities.”

Vor released my hand and stepped toward his Brax. “You are sure the DNA harvest did not harm Lilly or the baby?”

The DNA extraction had been a relatively simple process. Larralian had taken hair, saliva, blood, and dead skin samples from me. She’d then made me lie on an empty medical table in the med bay with the sleeping patients, hooking us up with tethers similar to electrodes. After a few minutes, she’d nodded and said I was a perfect match for the splice.

“I am sure, brother. The repair serum has been administered. They will be reintegrated by our people on the Atlantis , their identities secret, their future rewritten.” Baraxen tapped a tiny disc on his temple. The blank wall in front of us faded away, and Earth loomed in its place.

So many questions popped into my brain about Atlantis and more Volderens on earth, but they flew out as I stared at the viewscreen. “Wow,” I breathed. My home. Or at least, it used to be my home. Would I miss my cabin, my things? It would be too risky to return, not after knowing what my government knew.

No. I may not have a physical home, but I have something better. I have a family and people who care about me. I have a future if I’m brave enough to take that step with my mate.

“Larralian, get ready to transport them on my mark.”

She responded to him in their native language.

Tearing my eyes from the viewscreen, I swiveled to see how the Volderen transporter worked.

May you all find a new purpose, a new passion, in your new lives. Hopefully you’ll adjust to all the changes between 1947 and now.

A silver light encased each body and then blinked out of existence, leaving only five empty beds.

I couldn’t even begin to imagine the shock they’d feel when they awoke in a new millennium, their loved ones dead and gone. It won’t be easy.

The Volderens had remained here all those decades, searching for a way to heal humans, even after being tortured and exploited by humanity. How could I not choose to stay, to love them like family?

Brax had called me a savior, but he had it wrong. They’d saved me .

“Time to fuel up. Everyone sit down strap in. Lilly will get her first up-close view of Mars.”

Voren motioned me to a sleek chair off to the side, and I sat while he showed me how the harness worked and buckled me in. “Why not just return to Voldera?”

“Because it’s an exceedingly far distance for a small ship. We lost our means of returning home when our base ship crashed into the ocean thousands of years ago. But now that we’ve accomplished our last mission, we’ll focus energy on reinforcing our hidden colony on Mars and getting the generational ship completed.”

“How old are all of you?” His mention of decades and thousands of years had me genuinely curious.

“By Earth standards, I’m forty-five, and Voren here is forty-eight. Larralian, our sister, is the baby of our trio at only thirty-five.”

The female looked up from her display, rolled her eyes, and ignored us once more.

“So, you live on Mars?” I looked at Voren, who’d taken the seat next to his brother, between the both of us.

He nodded. “For now. It is our hope—no, our dream —to one day return to Voldera with the cure our tribe had been tasked with finding. We’ve suffered many setbacks and calamities since being marooned in this solar system, but now that we have your DNA, our course is clear. You are destined to be the hope of the Mars colony and the savior of our people on Voldera. You will be our Eve.”

I didn’t know how I felt about being a savior, but the idea of a second chance at love, at having a family of my own, of creating a new society of tolerance and acceptance solidified my choice.

“Being a savior doesn’t interest me.” The control panel on the arm of my chair, with its smooth glass, reminded me of a cell phone. The first thing on my list is learning their language.

Vor smiled. “Could I interest you in pleasure, and perhaps becoming my wife?”

I leaned to the side, pressing my lips to his ear, and whispered, “Pleasure first, then we’ll see about marriage.”

He turned and met my lips with his, flicking his tongue against my mouth. “That sounds like an enticing deal. I’ll have you screaming my name and begging me to take you as my wife.”

A delightful shiver coursed through my limbs. “Or maybe I’ll have you begging.”

He pulled away a couple of inches, his warm, golden eyes shining with intensity. “I look forward to our negotiations.”

I chuckled.

“You know what?” His hand covered mine. “I’ve never experienced such intense emotions before you. Now I cannot imagine life without it. The universe got it right for once. I admire your strength and resilience. When I realized my mate was a human, I wanted to hurt you. But now, I only want to protect and love you, to honor you as my equal.” He trailed a finger along my jawline. “Lilly, I love you.”

I’d only met these people a few days ago and it had been a rocky start, but deep in my heart, something opened and allowed me to love again.

“Well, I never believed in love at first sight, but here I am, and there you are.”

His eyebrows drew inward. “That’s a terrible way to profess your love. Is it so hard for humans to admit their feelings?”

I hitched a shoulder. “Love is complicated, Vor. I had it once and lost it. I never want to experience it again. It scares me.”

“I shall do everything in my power to never leave you or our children.”

“I believe that.” Beneath my feet, the ship began thrumming, readying itself to leave orbit. “I do love you, Voren, even though it’s crazy and doesn’t make sense. Something deep inside tells me we’re meant to be together.”

“That is because we are mates. Even across the universe, love cannot be denied.”

I smiled. “That’s beautiful.”

“It is true. Volderens seek their mates all their lives, and most never find them. You are my miracle, Lilly, even if you are a human.”

“Gee, you really know how to make a lady feel special.”

“Must I reaffirm my skills at lovemaking again?” His eyes darkened with lust.

My heart pounded at the thought of our bodies uniting once more. The way he moved his tongue and used his hips felt more like an addiction than a skill. “There’s only one way to find out,” I teased.

“Then I cannot wait until Brax leaves orbit. I have a lot of proving to do.”

A bubble of happiness and desire flooded my veins.

This is what it’s like to not be alone, to be accepted into a mismatched family who cares.

With a grin, I raised my chin and watched the view screen as the ship veered from my home planet to point at the stars.

An unedited sneak peek at book 2 of my Alien Quickies series, Her Alien Harmony, releasing March 2025:

Chapter 1

Drayven Narax

“Watch yourself before you fall into the lava, idiot,” said Garen, yanking on the collar of my shirt.

I froze with one foot in the air, hanging fifty rugars, about forty Earth feet, above the magma lake. The liquid fire bubbled and popped. Its scorching sulfuric scent tainting the thin oxygen with an acrid stench.

“What’s wrong with you, Drayven? Is Baraxen working you too hard on the Perseverance ?” Garen’s voice sounded higher than usual.

“Rorian’s beard, that was close.” With a relieved breath, I backed away from the cliff of death and wiped my brow, giving my friend a nod. “Something like that.”

That godsdamned ship is seriously going to be the death of me. Being the chief Volderen engineer, every design diagram had to be examined and approved by me. Now that Baraxen and Voren had returned with the human savior named Lilly, renewed fervor on completing the generational vessel spread through the colony in anticipation of returning home.

“Well,” he turned to glance at the dark tunnel leading upward to the harsh surface of Mars, and also where the frame of the generational starship sat, waiting for its completion. “She may not be pretty, but she’ll do her job.”

“No, she is not pretty.” My tone came out harsher than I’d intended, but I couldn’t help it. “She will nurture and protect future generations of Volderen families long enough to return to Voldera.”

Garen raised his eyebrows, his violet skin flushing even darker. “I didn’t mean any offense, Drayven.”

Sighing, I patted him on the shoulder and deflated. “I know. It is just…” I lifted an arm and ran a finger along one of the horns on my head, collecting my thoughts. “How she looks should not matter, but a ship needs to be more than just functional. It should not only protect its people but sustain the mind and remind our children of what we have sacrificed, and prepare them for what the future holds. Traveling amongst the stars for decades on end will get boring and uninspiring.”

Garen chuckled. “You mean inspiration as in battle? I don’t think that’ll be a problem. We were bred for war.”

“ No . I mean inspiration as in creativity, art, things that take one’s breath away with a glance.”

He quirked an eyebrow, his sharp teeth peeking behind a bewildered smile. “I’ll never understand you. When most Volderens were holding a sword or blaster in their sixth year, you were concerned with the beauty of the weapons and how they were designed.”

“What is so wrong with that? Why can function not have beauty? I think we lost something in our heritage when we left Voldera all those years ago. In our ongoing quest to save our species, we have forgotten how to create, to inspire, to truly live .” I tapped the band around my wrist bearing an ugly strip of metal—a lifecord—which allowed me to communicate with my crew and other useful functions. “Like our lifecords. They heal, connect us to the fleet, translate all the languages of Earth, and even change our appearances, yet they look like a manacle created by a human blacksmith. Why not make their function beautiful and meaningful?”

Garen shook his head and turned, heading up the slope leading to the colony’s underground hub of ships and living quarters. “Maybe you should finally take some time off and visit Earth, find some of that beauty you love so much.”

Is he mocking me because I have never visited the planet, or out of his distaste for all things human?

It didn’t matter. I had been made fun of my entire life. He was not wrong. I had enjoyed taking things apart not only to learn their purpose, but to marvel at their intricacies, always wondering how their creators were inspired to make them in the first place.

“Maybe I will,” I yelled at his retreating back.

He raised his hand and laughed but did not turn.

With determination, I stalked to a branching outbound tunnel where the small, personal ships called Sparrows slept in hangars.

He is right. It is time I finally left this rusty ball of red rock. Next month would mark my fortieth Earth year, and it was high time I took a vacation. After all, a few days of respite would not be much of a setback with the Perseverance . We had been working on it for the past five years, and now that the frame had been fabricated, the intricate details of the inside would need to be hashed out with the other engineers, which would take another five years if we were lucky.

A flutter of excitement flowed through my veins as I pressed my hand against the lock. I am going to do this. I am really going to do this.

With a quiet hiss, the metal door slid upward into the ceiling, and I followed the bright blue pathway lights into the hangar, where forty or so personal craft waited for anyone with clearance to fire them up.

“Captain Drayven?” Ryllian, the lone lieutenant on duty, held a data pad in one hand and stared at me, his green eyes wide. “Can I help you?”

I smiled. “Yes, you can. I need a ship readied for a two- or three-day trip to Earth.”

“Oh, okay. I didn’t see you on the roster for today.” He swiped a finger across the data pad’s screen. “Unless I missed it, which is always possible.”

“No, you did not miss it. This is a private mission having to do with information on the generational ship design.” A bead of sweat popped on my forehead.

Why am I worried? It is not like Baraxen would deny me a Sparrow. The military does not use them for defense. They are mainly for civilians.

“Uh, maybe I should just double check that you’re authorized—”

“Lieutenant,” I barked, seeing my spontaneous quest about to shatter into a dream. “Are you questioning an order from Major Baraxen?”

Ryllian straightened, his eyes staring straight ahead, the years of training activated with the tone of my voice. “N-no sir. Not at all, sir.”

“Good.” I felt bad pulling rank, but if I had to wait for him to get clearance from Baraxen, that would take at least another ten minutes and honestly? I was afraid I would change my mind. Humans fascinated and terrified me. They were capable of such beauty…yet such destruction. “I am taking a Sparrow and will be back in seventy-two hours or so. You can notify Major Baraxen once I leave. Understood?”

The younger Volderen nodded.

I sprinted to the closest Sparrow, its number marked in our language as 42 , then turned to glance at Ryllian. “Is this one fueled and primed?”

“Yes, sir.”

With a nervous smile, I climbed the ramp and stepped inside the small vessel and slammed a hand on the control. The ramp lifted upward and became the door creating an airtight seal.

Walking past the tiny sleeping nook and two back passenger seats, I settled into the pilot’s chair and issued commands in my native tongue to start the engines.

With a quick tap on the lifecord, I adjusted it to project an image of a male human with short, black hair, an average physique, and a bland face. I would land somewhere outside a small city and keep the Sparrow stealthed. If I knew what I was looking for, that would help.

A map of Earth filled the view screen. I squinted, my eyes traveling over the land masses. So many cultures and people, how could I choose?

“Computer, put me in a park near a small city.” I had always enjoyed reading and watching the history of humans, so why not immerse myself in their culture. Between my lifecord’s information and what I had learned from others, I would be able to navigate their world effortlessly.

The computer chose a small city in Texas called Barkley, and I prepared my course.