Are you prepared to go to the mating Armada?” Vlosh asked after they had both rested for some time.

“I really should bathe first,” she said, feeling sticky from the come all over her body.

“It is better if you leave the semen on your skin to do its job,” he said.

“Okay.” The idea of it was kind of gross, but in actuality, she didn’t really mind his semen on her like this. It was actually kind of hot in a kinky sort of way. He’d explained that his pheromones would help prepare her body to take his enormous penis inside her tiny little vagina. If having come on her all day was what it took, then it was a price she was willing to pay.

“I guess I’m ready then,” she said. “Are you coming with me?”

“I cannot accompany you today. I have to oversee the attacks on the Mulgor. We have beaten them back from Earth, but they rest beside Venus with their shields up. We cannot penetrate those shields with our weapons.”

“Why keep attacking if it’s useless?”

“Because we need them to know our strength. Plus, it will keep them busy.”

“I wish you could come with me. I don’t know anyone over on the mating armada.”

“I’ve asked to have several of the other brides meet you when you land. They will introduce you to the ship’s resources and socialize with you while you are there.”

“Is this just an attempt to get me out of your hair?”

“My hair? You are not in my hair.” He ran his fingers through his thick, dark brown hair and frowned, confused.

“It’s just a saying. Meaning I’m annoying and distracting to you, so you’re getting rid of me.”

“You may be a distraction but you, Indigo Robertson, are not annoying. I admire you. I’ve read your history files.”

“My history files?”

“Yes. Commander Or sent them to me when I was first informed of your existence. I was unprepared to take a bride when I learned about you. I made a mistake. I will not make it again.”

“Do I get to read your history files? I don’t know anything about you,” she said, a little irritated at how one-sided it was.

“Perhaps you can read my history files on the mating armada. I am told human females enjoy discussing that sort of thing in groups.”

She snorted. What was he talking about? Gossip? What a funny man.

“Sometimes,” she said in semi-agreement. It did kind of sound like a fun idea to gossip about the Draconian males with a bunch of human woman. They had something he called the brides’ district over on the command ship of the mating armada. It had shopping and pastries. That sounded like it would go perfectly with boy gossip. She flicked the base of her neck and made her uniform contract.

“I guess I’m ready then,” she said, standing from the bed.

“I will accompany you as far as the docking bay. Then I must say farewell.”

She nodded in agreement and they walked together out of their apartment and down the brightly lit hallway to the docking bay she’d arrived in just the day before.

She never expected that she would feel so comfortable with all of this so soon. She was already beginning to heal from the loss of her family. Not that the wound would ever disappear, but she at least was no longer screaming, crying or convulsing. That was progress.

Vlosh showed her to her ship and helped her get inside. He explained how it was set for autopilot to take her across the distance between his ship and the mating command ship.

He leaned down and kissed her cheek, smiling at her softly. His eyes were hard as black diamonds and betrayed the intensity of his feelings. She smiled back and watched him walk out of the ship before the door slid closed.

Two trips in space in so many days. It was crazy. Her whole life was crazy. Somehow, the foreignness of her experience was allowing her to separate herself from the experience of finding her family and best friend dead. It was as if she had been taken from one life and transplanted into another.

She should have been crying her eyes out still, not letting some strange man come on her tits. But somehow, it all made sense. She didn’t know how. But it did. Instead of obsessing over it, she decided to just let it be what it was.

She missed her parents and Molly desperately with every passing second. But since she’d come to space, the cycling thoughts that haunted her had cooled and faded to the back of her mind.

It was a blessing. One part of her thought she should feel guilty for moving on with her life; the other part told that part to shut the hell up. If she were to dwell on the loss of her family, she would surely lose her mind more quickly than Vlosh.

Pain and grief were worse companions than a crazed inner dragon, she was sure of it. Any relief from it was welcome. She had to let it be welcome or she didn’t know what she would do.

The small transport ship lifted from the dock and thrust forward through the exit and into space as she thought about her family. She would try to do something to honor their memory and their lives. When she got back to Vlosh, she would ask him about doing something with the mating lottery prize money.

The small vessel flew through the starry black void of space from one massive vessel towards another.

Draconian spaceships looked a lot like what you might see in a science fiction movie. There was a large half-domed area over a smaller cylindrical part. She had a flash of memory and realized they looked like the Enterprise from Star Trek.

Her vessel slid through space until it arrived at the docking bay of the other ship and came to a landing inside.

Indigo felt nervous and excited to meet the other brides. She hoped they liked her and would accept her even though she’d been mated with a guy from the military armada.

The exit of her ship opened, and she unlatched her harness. A moment later, she stepped out into the docking bay.

A group of girls came forward. Two of them were pregnant and the third held a little baby in her arms. All three were dark skinned and curvy like herself.

They rushed forward with beaming smiles and found herself being hugged and petted by all three at once.

“Hi,” one of the girls said. “You must be Indigo.”

“Yes.”

“I’m Tabby,” said a pretty, enthusiastic girl with long wavy hair and bright brown eyes. “This is Loretta,” she said, motioning to a more reserved but equally pretty girl at her side.

Indigo waved at the second girl, who gave her a warm smile in return. “This is our leader, Lexi,” Tabby finally said, motioning to the girl with the baby. She looked like she might be part Hispanic, but Indigo wasn’t sure. She was just as sweet and pretty as the other two girls, even with what appeared to be a very young baby.

“And this is Violet,” Lexi said, folding back the blanket the baby was wrapped in.

Everyone “awed” at the baby as they gazed down at her. She was dark like her mother but had the angular, perfectly proportioned features of a Draconian.

“She’s so beautiful.”

“It is a great blessing to have a Draconian daughter,” Lexi said. “Come on, girls, let’s do some shopping.”

All four of them giggled and turned to the exit of the docking bay. They passed Draconian technicians who seemed to give them a reverential kind of respect as they proceeded toward the hallway.

More Draconian males passed, looking down at the woman as if they really were a lottery prize. It made Indigo feel honored and freaked out at the same time. If these men didn’t have very many women back on their home planet, was it really safe to walk around among them?

They came to the end of the hallway and entered an elevator that took them up to the top level of the command ship. When the doors slid open, Indigo couldn’t believe her eyes.

It was like stepping out onto a street in some cute little touristy town on Earth. It had everything anyone could want. Shops lined the streets. Hanging baskets full of flowers filled the air with a sweet scent. She could even hear the sound of birds singing.

Above, the domed ceiling looked out onto space, but the artificial lights felt and looked like warm summer sunlight.

“Why are you wearing that uniform?” Tabby asked.

“Tabby, don’t be rude,” Loretta said.

“I’m not being rude. I just think she deserves better.”

“It’s a long story,” Indigo said, suddenly feeling a rush of sadness hit her full force.

“What’s wrong?” Lexi asked.

“I had to put this on because I didn’t have anything else to wear. My clothes were covered in blood.”

“Blood!” Loretta said.

“What happened?” Lexi said, putting little Violet in a stroller.

“I found my parents and best friend dead. The Mulgor had slaughtered them in our cabin in the woods. Vlosh suspects they were after me.”

“Oh my God, that’s terrible!” Loretta said. She had a thick southern accent but it didn’t hide her outrage or concern.

“How would the Mulgor even know about you?” Lexi asked.

“I don’t know. I don’t know anything about any of this.”

“I’m going to talk to Nash about it. The vast majority of Draconians are the most upstanding, honorable people you could ever meet. But there are a few bad apples. I know from experience.”

“You think someone leaked the information?” Tabby asked. “Like with the technology?”

“It could be.”

“Let’s keep this quiet for now, girls,” Loretta said.

“Good idea. We’re here to have a good time. Not get down in the dumps. This girl needs cheering up, and she definitely needs some better clothes,” Tabby said, hooking her arms in Indigo’s and Loretta’s.

Indigo let a smile break over her face. It was good to have girls who she could count on as friends. Each of them seemed sweet and special in her own way.

They proceeded down the street, and Indigo tried to push the thoughts of her family out of her mind. The grief was still there, hard and palpable like a rough stone in her stomach and throat. All she could do was try to carry on. Being drenched in despair wouldn’t help anyone, least of all her family.

They took her into the first clothing shop and the girls started pulling beautiful designer fashions off the racks and holding them up to Indigo in front of the mirror.

Indigo had never been in a clothing shop like this before, let alone tried on any of the clothes. The idea that she was going to be able to just take this stuff was a little thrilling and was a slight balm for all of her troubles.

Tabby decided she was Indigo’s fashion consultant and piled up a number of outfits. Indigo took them into the dressing room and began trying each of the things Tabby had picked for her.

It turned out that Tabby had really good taste and a keen eye for what would look good on Indigo. Almost everything she had picked was comfortable and fit her just right.

Indigo came out of the dressing room in a pretty pink dress that brought out the deep chocolate color of her eyes and seemed to make her skin glow.

Tabby handed her a pair of gold pumps and Indigo slipped into them. She looked at herself in the mirror, stunned at how nice she looked in high-end clothing. She had a muscular, curvaceous body but the pink fit and flare dress made her look feminine and pretty.

“Now it’s time to get your hair done,” Tabby said.

The other girls had picked out a few things of their own and they had bags in their hands as they walked out of the first shop.

“Let’s go get something to eat,” Loretta said, rubbing her round belly. Loretta seem to be further along than Tabby, but they were both showing their pregnancies pretty clearly.

“Food sounds awesome. I’ve barely had anything to eat in days.” Indigo said.

“Isn’t your mate feeding you?” Lexi said, flabbergasted.

“It’s complicated.”

The girls walked into the street side patio of a café and sat around a circular patio table.

“This place is my fave,” Tabby said.

“You have to try the cheesecake,” said Loretta.

“I need something more like a burger,” Indigo said, laughing.

“You really are hungry,” Lexi said, checking on Violet in her stroller. She lifted the baby out of the stroller and pulled back her shirt to feed her as the girls talked.

“Tell us why your mate isn’t feeding you,” Loretta said, looking up from her menu.

“It isn’t his fault,” Indigo tried to explain.

“He supposed to be taking care of you,” Tabby said.

“The ship that I’m on is a military vessel. It wasn’t equipped or prepared for human women to be aboard.”

“That really isn’t an excuse,” Lexi said, gazing down at her baby.

“He should have made accommodations for you,” Loretta said.

“My mate is General Vlosh Torr. He’s the highest ranking officer in the entire Draconian military. If you guys haven’t noticed, the Draconians are at war with the Mulgor.”

“Of course we’ve noticed,” Lexi said. “The Mulgor have been wreaking havoc on this mating mission since day one. The whole thing was completely disorganized. Giving new technologies to humanity was a last-ditch effort to salvage the mission. And we all saw how well that worked out. But the mating mission is the most important thing the Draconians will do for the next thousand years. Without our children, their race will die out.”

“Without Vlosh’s leadership, the race will die out sooner than that.”

“We can appreciate how protective you feel of your new mate, Indigo. But you also have to look out for yourself. If he isn’t making accommodations for you, how are you going to accommodate him?”

Tabby snorted and all three of the other girls looked at each other knowingly. Loretta giggled and Lexi grunted.

“What I think she’s trying to say is that you need to be comfortable. You certainly need to eat.”

“The Draconian replicator table was all in Draconian.”

“At least he sent you over here so you could get a decent meal, some real clothing, and talk to us girls. As far as I know, you’re all alone over there, being the first bride to be matched on the military fleet,” Lexi said. She moved Violet over to the other side.

“There will be more soon,” Tabby said. “You can count on that. When I work in the virtual reality system, spying on techno drug dealers, sometimes I look at the databanks for the mating lottery. Thousands of girls who are registered in the system are already being matched up with the new Draconian males who arrived in the solar system on the military fleet.”

“And new girls enter the lottery every day,” Loretta said. “Especially with what’s happening on Earth with the Mulgor invasion. Being able to escape the planet will become more and more attractive as time goes on.

“How bad is it on Earth?” Tabby asked. “It was bad when I left months ago, but I can’t imagine how bad it is now after all those cities were bombed.”

“I spent most of the invasion in a cabin in the woods. When I drove into Reno, I noticed a lot of buildings had been blown apart, but it seemed like people there were kind of just going back to business as usual.”

“Reno isn’t the most populated city. It wouldn’t have been a prime target. But I’m sure that once invasion is stabilized, the Draconian effort to rebuild the Earth will be revitalized.”

“We’ve bought out almost every corporation with substantial holdings of important resources on the entire planet,” Loretta said.

“Loretta is our resident stockbroker. She’s in charge of the Draconians’ assets of one hundred trillion dollars,” Lexi said. She put Violet over her shoulder and began to gently pat the baby’s back.

“A hundred trillion dollars?” Indigo said, shocked. She couldn’t even imagine that much money, let alone a girl not much older than her being in charge of it.

“I try to look at it like it’s a video game. If I took it too seriously, it would give me a nervous breakdown,” Loretta said.

The Draconian waiter came and they all ordered their lunches and desserts for after. Indigo ordered a burger and fries for lunch and cheesecake for dessert. Usually, for her athletic training, she tried to stick with cleaner foods. Right now, she needed a big, heavy meal after the last few days that she’d had.

Everyone enjoyed a coffee drink, and Indigo looked down at her perfectly prepared cappuccino when the waiter set it in front of her. She brought the cup to her lips and sipped, taking in the rich flavor and aromatic scent. She let out a little moan of pleasure, feeling her body unwind and relax the most it had for over a week.

The girls had a soothing effect on her, and she was glad Vlosh had sent her over here. They didn’t seem to have the best opinion of Vlosh, but she knew he was doing his best under the circumstances.

He was going to be the man she’d spend the rest of her life with. According to Vlosh, he would give her a mating bite that extended that lifetime. She wanted to get along with him. She wanted to support him as if he really was her husband. Otherwise, the next hundred years were going to be a real bitch.