“So how was Kor-el?” Erin asked.

Mia made a humming sound in her throat as she thought. “He was nice… sort of nervous. He looked much better than he did in his picture. We didn’t have as much trouble communicating as I had thought we would. I was impressed that he’d memorized all the details about what I liked and didn’t like. He kept showing me things that let me know he’d taken the time to learn about me.”

Erin nodded, remaining neutral. “Sounds goods. Are ya interested in scheduling a trial time with him?”

Mia looked at her hands. “Could I try meeting one or two of the others before I take that step? You were right that I need to think of everything, not just about being attracted to one of them. Kor-el was great, but meeting him made me realize this was for real and that this is not just a normal dating service.”

“Meeting the others is no problem at all,” Erin replied easily. She pushed the folder across the desk and watched Mia flip through the photos again. The girl took her time to read this go round, going over each account carefully, instead of just ogling the pictures.

Erin settled back in her seat to wait. She could scarcely feel the movements of their giant airplane as it glided along, but a quick look out her window at the birds going by was all the convincing she needed to believe the machine they were in was flying again.

What she didn’t know was where they were at the moment nor where they were going. No one ever bothered to say. Her ignorance about her situation would have shocked her, but in the last month this process had been repeated several times. Apparently, keeping the city-sized plane fueled took landing it now and again.

“How about this one? TJX984,” Mia raised her head. “Is that really his name?”

Erin held out her hand for the information sheet. She scanned it to get her answer. “Yes. That’s his formal name. Looks like he goes by Jex. That’s at least pronounceable. I would think that would be easier to call out in the heat of passion than some of the others.”

Mia giggled at her naughty joke and Erin smiled back. She was a likeable girl. The other one she’d helped place had been too, but she had no idea if the girl was happy or not with the choice she’d helped her make. It was like the arranged marriages of old where a girl was married off to gain land or make a political alliance, then never heard from again.

The draftee women were being traded for planetary protection. It was bride politics, but at an unprecedented level. They weren’t just being sent to another country. They were leaving the Earth and for good as far as she could tell.

“I think I would like to meet Jex next,” Mia said, handing the folder back, but keeping the information sheet on her potential match.

Erin had yet to learn how to send the information to the women through the magic of the device Toorg had given her. She was going to have to ask him to help her figure it out. Toorg was very clever with machines and seemed quite able to show her without uttering a single word of explanation. In the meantime, she’d insisted on having a paper stating the information on every alien. The girls took the paper, kept it for a day or two, and then gave it back the next time she met with them for a follow-up.

“I’ll set up yer meeting. I’m sure Jex will be very excited that ya chose him.”

“Do you think Kor-el will be mad at me?”

Erin smiled. If she cared about that already, Mia was closer to a decision than she knew. “I’ll make sure Kor-el knows ya liked him and are just trying to be sure since it’s a big decision.”

Mia put a hand to her chest in relief. “Thank you, Erin. You’re keeping me calm through this and I appreciate it. I know I seemed all sure of myself in the beginning, but after meeting Kor-el, I realized the men in these photos are a lot like me. They’re not sure this is right or that they’ll find someone better. They’re just doing what their people say because they have no other choice either. I’m not going to back out or anything. I’m just trying to pick someone that I’ll be happy with since this is probably the only chance I’ll get.”

Erin nodded and firmed her mouth. “I know, luv. Sometimes ya have to fight for yer freedom, even within yer captivity. Taking time to meet as many as ya want is yer right in this process and is very smart. I think ya are doing just fine, Mia. Whoever ya choose should feel honored.”

Erin watched Mia nod as she stood to return to the draftees common area. There was a commotion among the group, some women squealing, and a surge in nervous energy. Shaking her head because she knew the distraction possessed a man stick between his legs—because it always did—she walked out her office door to see who it was.

Angus looked completely out of place in the middle of so much female attention. His gaze made a direct line to hers, begging for her help as usual.

Now came the lies.

“It’s about time you fecking got here. That healing excuse can only take ya so far, Angus.”

The females before her parted like water as she walked into his arms for a hug like she really did have the right. Maybe she did. They were at least from the same place and time. Didn’t that make them a couple of at least some sort? It wasn’t like anyone here could be considered her competition though. These women wouldn’t know what to do with a sexist eegit like Angus MacNamara.

“I’ve missed ya bad, Angus. Kiss me hello and make me happy,” Erin cooed, glaring into his gaze when he looked startled by her words.

His head dipped slowly, but his lips moved sideways before actually making contact with hers. She got a quick hug that robbed her of breath and a lip brush against her cheek.

Erin snorted as she backed away from him. It was too hard to hold all her disgust in. The man was never going to convince anyone that he liked her, much less loved her. There was no faking anything for Angus MacNamara. She should have known better than to try.

Ignoring her bruised feelings, she lifted Angus’s hand and used it to drag him to their office. There were two desks in the room. She’d already chosen one of them—the one that faced the door so she’d be face to face with whoever came to see her. The person sitting at the other desk would be looking out the window all the time.

Once inside the room, she quietly closed the door. She tossed away his hand, probably with a little more force than strictly necessary, but she wasn’t campaigning for sainthood after his brush-off. She had to bite her lip to keep from chastising him for his lukewarm reception.

When she finally decided to risk meeting his gaze again, Angus was staring out the window in shock. She turned to look too, so she could see what he was seeing. Clouds went by. Then a couple birds.

Turning back to him, she sighed over seeing her first reaction to what was happening mirrored on Angus’s face. She might never be allowed another genuine mad moment in this crazy place. She felt sorry for him without the man speaking a single word.

“We’re fecking moving,” Angus said.

“Yes,” Erin answered. “It takes some getting used to.”

“We’re like the birds in the air. How is this possible? I don’t even feel us moving.”

Erin shrugged as she dropped down into her chair. “I see the impossible a hundred times a day here and I don’t understand any of it. Ya just get used to such things over time.”

Gaze still glued to the window, Angus reluctantly sat down in the chair at the other desk.

Erin studied his stunned expression and decided to change the subject. “I see ya trimmed yer beard. No wonder the draftees swarmed ya.”

“Nate took me to a place where they’re set up to groom ya—man or woman. The barber seemed human, but I couldn’t swear to it,” he said gruffly, still staring out the window.

Erin nodded, not that Angus saw her do so. He had yet to really look at her. She might as well have been invisible, but how was that anything different for her and Angus? The only reason she cared what people thought was she feared Nate would split them up if the two of them didn’t act like what was expected of them.

Though at the moment, after Angus had publicly shunned her in this universe too, Erin wondered if splitting up would be such a bad thing. She wondered how long Angus would have to be completely gone before she’d stop missing him.

Pushing her emotional selfishness aside, Erin sighed heavily for the millionth time that day already.

“I suppose I should tell ya about the work here. After the last match gets finalized, I’m given a sheet on one of those women ya saw when ya came in. I’m also given five or six photos of potential aliens that somebody somewhere has deemed appropriate for the poor lass. She has a few weeks to meet them all and make a decision about choosing one for something they call a trial time. That’s a fancy way of saying they share quarters like ours and get to know each other any way they choose. If their trial time takes, she fecking goes home with him to his planet. If it doesn’t, she picks her second choice and does a trial time with him. At the end of her list, she either picks one or they all go back in the queue. They let her not pick for three cycles of her number coming up before somebody chooses an alien husband for her. Draftees aren’t allowed to drift unfettered for long… as I understand it.”

“Sounds barbaric—like we’re trading a horse for a herd of cows or something,” Angus said. “These are people we’re dealing with, aren’t they? Even the aliens.”

Erin nodded and frowned. “Each alien waiting for a bride comes from a planet that has promised protection to the Earth… the Earth of this Universe at least. Eventually, some woman has to go to each alien or we lose the alien support they’ve worked to garner. Whoever is in charge of this whole program doesn’t want that to happen. Our job as matchmakers is to facilitate the women’s choices and make sure all aliens eventually get someone suitable, or least who won’t pitch a fit at the end of the day when they head back to his homeland.”

“It’s like the Middle Ages all over again. This whole fecking place is completely daft,” Angus proclaimed.

“I agree with ya, but they are very serious about keeping their madness,” Erin replied.

Angus finally managed to look at Erin fully. She was refusing to hold his gaze. An uncomfortable awareness took him over as he realized he’d upset her once more. He’d come really close to kissing her a minute ago. His cock had twitched at the opportunity so he’d judged it prudent not to go there with an audience.

“Thanks for leaving a note this morning. It would have been a worse day to wake up and find ya gone with no explanation.”

“Ya are welcome, but that weak gratitude won’t help these people believe we’re an actual couple, Angus. They’re pleased with my work. I don’t want them shopping for other replicas of either of us. No one has mentioned such a possibility to me yet, but we’re not the first like us they’ve abducted and brought here for a go at this. According to Nate, there was another of me who died before I got here.”

“I know. He told me. I reckon I panicked out there,” Angus said, nodding with his head toward the door that led out of the office. “All those women made me nervous.”

“Toorg!” they heard through the door.

“I am Toorg!” they heard him reply.

Erin rose from her chair. “They greet him that way every time he shows up. He’s a personal favorite among the draftees. I haven’t seen Toorg come up in the files yet. Not him or Berg. Darcone, the pointed ear guy, is in Mia’s set, but she passed him over already. It’s those cold eyes of his. He’s perfectly polite, but the way he looks makes me shiver. I can understand why some young girl wouldn’t want to take him on.”

“I thought he was scary myself. Toorg’s appeal is easy to understand. Big and blond. Great smile. What’s not to like about that boy?” Angus demanded.

“Well, conversation would be a challenge with him. I’ve only heard him say three different things. One of them is a secret name he has for Prudence Sheffield. She’s the sullen woman staring out the window out there harder than ya are in here.”

“Sorry,” Angus said, bringing his full attention back to Erin once more. His eyes kept straying to the sky moving by outside. “It’s just so hard to believe this is really happening to us.”

“I agree.” Erin walked to the door. “Come on. Toorg will be in here shortly if we don’t walk out to him. I don’t know for certain, but I believe we’re being summoned to Director John’s office. Maybe we’ll find out more about why we’re here.”

There was a tap on the door and a big blond head stuck itself inside. “I am Toorg,” he said, shrugging his shoulder over the interruption.

Erin walked over and patted his arm. “It’s okay. Angus and I are ready. I was just saying I figured ya had come to fetch us.”