With a groan, Loka rolled onto his side.

“He lives.” Hoan’s face appeared over him. Although there was a smile on his face, concern filled his eyes.

“Help me up.” Loka ached all over after his unsuccessful fight with the cyborgs. His head spun as Hoan eased him up against a wall. “How long have I been out?”

“All night. It must be midday by now. I’m not sure of the time. The cyborgs removed our comm devices.” Hoan gestured around him. “Some of this lot have been placing bets on if you’d ever wake up.”

Rubbing his eyes, Loka realized they weren’t alone in the cell. There were twenty other aliens, all looking like they’d gone a few rounds with cyborgs.

“I hope you didn’t place a bet.”

“Only that you’d wake up.” Hoan leaned his head against the gray cell wall. “It looks like you took quite a beating.”

“I was trying to get Heather off the station and send a message for help. The Banti saw the ship leaving and dragged us back.”

“Banti?”

“We believe they’re behind this. They’re not the only ones. They are separating aliens from humans. Heather figured it out. She realized the strange matches from My Single Alien made no sense. The code interfering with the station’s systems originated from the matchmaking agency. It’s been making bogus matches so Banti have access to humans.”

“The code spread from there?”

“It appears so.” Loka rubbed the back of his neck. “Whether that was intentional or not, I don’t know. Maybe they just wanted access to human females through the agency, but then realized it wasn’t working.”

“They came to Prodigy to take what they could?”

“The malicious code will destroy this place before long. They need to grab their assets while they can.” Loka studied Hoan, noticing bruises and scrapes on his skin. “What happened to you? How did you end up in this cell?”

“I was assisting in engineering when taken,” Hoan said. “The code was getting into every system. As soon as we fixed one thing, another would break. We’d restore emergency power and the heating went off. We’d restore the lights and the comm system went off-line.”

“Intelligent coding,” Loka said.

“That’s not a Banti speciality.”

“Heather identified two different aliens involved,” Loka said. “Banti and Vincole, the blood-thirsty muscle and the brains.”

“What plans do they have with the humans?”

Loka shuddered. “It won’t be anything good. They have been denied access to the agency’s work. They most likely want humans to abuse or impregnate. Heather believes the Vincole want to take over running the matchmaking agency. I think they want to expand their illegal auction practises. Whatever their purpose, it doesn’t end well for the humans.”

“The Banti might simply want the humans as a delicacy.”

Loka’s head dropped. “I have failed Heather. I tried to get her out and keep her safe from danger. I did not succeed.”

“Heather won’t hold it against you. She stood a better chance with you by her side than she would have on her own.”

Loka raised his head. “I am fond of her.”

Hoan smiled. “It doesn’t take a genius scientist, such as myself, to figure that out.”

“We have been getting to know each other.”

“You like what you know?”

“I do. Very much.”

“Even though you aren’t seeking a mate?”

“Heather has a certain way of engaging me. I find myself thinking about her when she isn’t around.” Loka rubbed a horn. “I made a mistake by not setting her free. I proved to her that I am not good enough.”

“Did Heather tell you that?”

“She did not need to. I believe she never would. Heather is kind.” Loka sighed. “I showed her I cannot be relied upon. A better alien would have protected her.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Hoan said. “I heard from some of the others in here about the failed attempt to get off the space station. Several ships were destroyed. You are fortunate to have been returned safely.”

“It was because of Heather,” Loka said. “They wanted her. That’s why they kept the ship in one piece.”

“I still don’t understand why you think you failed her. You were doing your best to get her away.”

“Heather didn’t want to go. I insisted upon it. We were leaving the station to send a message to get support. I even failed to do that. We are on our own. No one knows about the takeover.”

Hoan shook his head. “There is a wide band communication block in place. It extends fifty miles around the station. You weren’t to know about that.”

“I could have done better.” Loka bumped his head back. His horns made contact with the wall.

Hoan patted his knee. “You’re being too hard on yourself.”

“I should never have believed I was good enough for Heather. I am not in the right place to make overtures to a mate.”

“Humans have a curious saying,” Hoan said. “The heart knows what it wants.”

“Which means?”

“You can’t control the way you feel. Maybe that’s what happens when you meet the female destined to be your mate. You cannot help yourself. You have to be with her.”

Loka’s gaze slid to Hoan. “I have been feeling strange around her. Could it be that?”

Hoan shrugged. “It sounds like it. I don’t believe it is something you can resist.”

“I need to. I have proved myself not capable of protecting her. She cannot want me now.”

“No one would be able to protect her from a malfunctioning space station, a group of rampaging cyborgs, and some sneaky aliens. All of us have failed in that respect.” Hoan gestured to the bruised and bloodied aliens surrounding them.

“I should stick to science.” Loka prodded a bruise developing on his arm. “At least I understand that.”

Hoan chuckled. “Some of it.”

“I know more than you.”

“I’ll let you have that because you’re my boss.” Hoan grinned at Loka. “You’re being too hard on yourself. Heather likes you.”

“You think so?”

“You told me she sniffs the coal you leave for her. That is a sign a mate is interested.”

“She probably does it because she feels sorry for me.”

Hoan shoved him in the arm. “Stop being an idiot.”

“That is not possible. I have an IQ of one hundred and ninety-five.”

“You are into this human. I’d venture to guess you love her.”

“I never said anything about love.”

“You want her as your mate. We do not have many mates in our lifetime. Many of us choose a single mate, a mate we share everything with, a mate to be in love with. You love Heather.”

Loka ran a hand down his face. “I never thought I would have a human mate.”

“The heart knows what it wants,” Hoan said. “It has picked you an adorable human mate.”

“You think she’s adorable?”

“All humans are. They’re so small, you can pick them up with one hand. Have you noticed how they giggle? I find it endearing. When they blush, they make my insides feel warm.”

“You sound as if you’re looking for a mate.”

“Not yet. When I do, I will look for a human. They are beautiful, entertaining, and they smell like Taxian honey.”

Loka nodded as he scratched a horn. Heather always smelt great, a mix of cinnamon and sugar. And she did giggle, usually when he’d said something that didn’t translate well. She was also smart. He had witnessed that when they’d discussed his work in the lab.

“My inexpert dating advice about Heather is that you need to get out of your own way.”

“Get out of my way?”

Hoan smiled. “It’s another human saying. People don’t achieve what they want because they’re blocking themselves. You’re coming up with reasons why you shouldn’t be with Heather. What you need to do is come up with reasons why you should.”

“I cannot protect her.”

“You can. If we’d been better prepared for this attack on the station, you could have taken her somewhere safe before it even occurred. Or, if you’d spent more time looking at the code, you could have fixed the problem.”

“We are so different.”

“Different is good. Different is a challenge. We all like a challenge.”

“She has her work. I have mine. We are not in the right place in our lives to be together.”

“So, you have to save for longer to get what you want. Perhaps you won’t get to spend as much time together to begin with, but that will change.”

“It’s not that. I want to provide for her. Heather has big ambitions for owning her own home in space. She is working hard toward that.”

“Work on that dream together. Once we’ve successfully mapped this galaxy, we’ll be in high demand. Everybody will want our services, which means we choose where we work and when. You can work from your home with Heather.”

Loka grunted. It was something he’d considered. It had seemed like a throwaway thought. A dream. Not something that could actually happen.

“What if she rejects me?”

“Then at least you will know,” Hoan said. “Tell her how you feel. Tell her that you want to be with her.”

Loka looked around the cell. All the aliens who were conscious were listening in to their conversation. Several of them nodded at him.

Resting his head against the wall, he closed his eyes. Hope fluttered in his stomach. He needed to change his thinking. He could be good enough for Heather. Loka wanted their life together in space. He longed to have her by his side as he did his research and she ran her matchmaking service.

“So, what’s it going to be?” Hoan asked.

Loka looked around the cell at the other aliens. “We need to get out of here and save Heather.”