Loretta followed Mylash into the gym and stood in amazement as she watched dragons fly around overhead. The space was huge, like several football fields laid out and stacked up on top of each other. The transparent dome allowed a view of the outside. Brilliant stars and galaxies shone above the flying dragons.

Mylash picked up a basketball from a rack near the wall. “Let’s get this party started,” he yelled.

A group of men gathered around Mylash as she crept back to the bleachers that were full of female humans. She sat down next to a curvy, dark-skinned girl with a pregnant belly under her designer jacket.

“Those are the commandos from Draconia,” the girl said. Loretta smiled over at her, then looked back at the men surrounding Mylash. “You’re mate is a bad ass, supposedly.”

“He is,” Loretta agreed.

“I’m Lexi Garcia. You’re Loretta Franklin, right?”

“Yes.” They shook hands and Loretta felt instantly at ease with the pretty, young woman.

“When are you due?” Loretta asked.

“In the spring. It’s a human gestation period. There are already dozens of babies on board the armada. You should come hang out in the nursery some time or in the brides’ quarters. It’s away from the unmated males. We can have coffee and shop for new clothes.”

“Can’t you just get that in your apartments?”

“Yes, but the rest of the girls aren’t there.” She nodded back up the bleachers at all the women sitting there. Many of them were heavily pregnant or holding small children. Loretta bit her lip, thinking that she would be like them soon. “The brides’ quarters are like a cute little shopping district in some city on Earth. The guys made it for us so we would feel more at home.”

“That sounds really nice.”

“Look. The game is starting!” Lexi said, cheering for the guys. “That one’s mine.” She pointed at the Commander.

“What’s it like being mated to the Commander of the armada?”

“Probably a lot like being mated to the leader of the most bad ass commandos in the Draconian military.”

Both women giggled and settled in to watch the game. Draconian basketball had similar rules to human basketball, but Draconian rules included shifting and flying. They did seem to be required to dribble and shoot in human form. Between shifts, they didn’t bother putting their uniforms back on.

Mylash and Commander Or were on the same team, playing against half the commandos. Mylash’s team had the advantage. He caught the ball as Nash dropped it, flying overhead in dragon form. Mylash shot the ball from far across the court. It sang over the heads of the other males. Someone jumped to catch it but missed.

The ball flew to the end of the gym and sunk effortlessly into the basket. Loretta stood and cheered like a high school girl at homecoming. Lexi cheered beside her, still sitting on the bleacher.

Mylash’s team won the game. He flew and landed in front of her, shifting out of dragon form with a sly smile on his face.

“That was an illegal throw,” one of the commandos said.

“It was perfectly legal,” Mylash countered.

“How do you guys even keep track of the rules?” Lexi asked, pushing herself up from the bench. Nash was there to help her to her feet and hold her gently in his arms. He kissed the top of her head. Loretta took comfort in seeing the love between the other couple.

“Did you see that shot, little mate?” Mylash asked her, taking her in his arms.

“That was awesome,” she giggled. She’d seen him burst through walls and turn solid rock to molten lava. But the throw was super impressive too.

Loretta spent the next few days relaxing on the ship. She hung out with Lexi in the brides’ quarters and got to know a lot of the other girls there. There was a lot of talk about the commandos. Most of the men in the armada had normal civilian jobs. It wasn’t a military operation. The commandos on the other hand, were special forces military. The baddest of the bad back on Draconia. The women were curious to see who those men would be mated with.

“You’re our first commando bride,” Lexi explained to her as they sat under the artificial sunlight that glowed over the little sidewalk cafe where they liked to have brunch.

The trees that lined the street ruffled gently in the manufactured breeze. In almost every way, the street felt like they were back on Earth. Of course, the roof overhead was transparent and showed space beyond. Loretta had heard the brides liked it that way. She did too. It didn’t help to pretend they weren’t actually on a spaceship just because they wanted some of the comforts of home.

“I hadn’t thought of it that way,” Loretta said.

“Your husband is leading the force to bring prosperity to Earth. It’s pretty amazing.”

“I think so too.”

Lexi picked up a shopping bag from the bouquet they’d been shopping at and rose out of her chair. “I’ve got to get going. I’ve got work over on the lab ship. We cracked the cure for cancer yesterday.”

Lexi leaned down and gave Loretta a kiss on the cheek before waddling off to a transport elevator. She sat there for a moment and looked out at the cute little neighborhood. It was a relaxing atmosphere, and she liked it. Loretta wished she had a job of her own. She’d never heard back after her interview.

She picked at her cheesecake and noticed a shadow cast over her table. She looked up and found Mylash standing above her.

“Hi,” she said brightly. “Did you come for pastries?”

“Sure. I love your human sweets.” A waiter brought him a plate with cheesecake and a cup of cappuccino. “But I came down here to ask you something else.”

“What is it?”

“You were a financial analyst. You know the human financial system first hand.”

“I was a junior analyst. Yes.”

“Still. You have more experience than anyone else on the armada with the human financial system.”

“Really?”

“You do. And that is what I wanted to discuss with you. The armada is worth, in human terms, over six hundred trillion dollars. We need help investing that money into the human stock market. We want to slowly take over every human corporation on the planet and buy up all the natural resources. We’ve run the simulations and see this is the most effective way to get to our end goal.”

“Are you kidding me? You want me to be responsible for six hundred trill… Oh my god. I think I’m going to faint.”

“What is it?”

“I don’t feel so good.”

Without a word, Mylash scooped her up in his arms and carried her out of the brides’ quarters, through a transport elevator, and into the sick bay.

“Medic! My bride is ill,” he said, sitting her down on a slick white table. A medic approached and scanned her with a hand held wand.

“She isn’t sick, General. She’s just pregnant.”

“What? Why would I feel sick so soon?”

“The gestation will be normal for a human, but this side effect is common for human/Draconian pregnancies. You’ll have some dizziness for a few days, and then it will subside.”

The medic walked away, and Mylash grasped her hand, looking down at her with the happiest look she’d ever seen from him. “A baby,” he said.

A tear slid down her cheek. She hadn’t spoken to her grandma in days and a rush of guilt and panic hit her all at once. “I can’t believe this is happening,” she whimpered.

“Aren’t you happy?” He looked crestfallen.

“I am. I want our baby. I need to see my granny, Mylash. Can you take me home?”

“Of course, my beloved little mate. I will take you now if you are well.”