“What’s going to happen to us?” one of the women screamed as the ship continued to be pulled into the Milisarian ship, which was intimidating in its largeness compared to the small passenger ship they had been cruising through space in this whole time. It was complete chaos as these depressed Earth women tried to figure out if they would even live through the next few hours. Alexis did not like them, but she felt like she needed to calm them down and talk to them about what would actually be happening.

Alexis looked to Destiney for help. With all the wailing, there was no way they would be able to hear her. Destiney was the only one who could grab their attention. Destiney placed her fingers in her mouth as if she was going to hail a cab and whistled. Silence fell over the crowd, and they turned to look at the two women. “Listen up, ladies! We cannot just lose our minds here. We need to know what we are getting into, and my friend Alexis here can tell us that. So, can you just calm down and listen for a moment?”

Alexis tried not to laugh at her friend’s spunk and the way everyone was nodding, ready to follow her instructions. She would have made a great leader of some kind back on Earth had those around her let her be herself without fear. Alexis wasn’t sure how she would fare on Milisaria. If she were a man, she would surely be a commander, but women were most certainly lesser beings on the planet, though, Alexis didn’t know enough about that part of their culture to say for sure. She could only hope that their liking of human women would keep the women aboard as safe as they could be in such a situation.

“The Knights of Milisaria have a lot of dealings with humans. I have met one once, when I was trying to work for NASA. They are a warrior race that is always trying to make themselves better in some way, and I suspect that they believe breeding with humans would make them better because they are not the sharpest tools in the shed. We are much more intelligent than they are,” Alexis explained, hoping the women would understand and not go into a complete panic again. At least they would still be getting what they wanted, sort of. The Arkani would have been much kinder to the women and given them a choice. That was something Alexis doubted the Milisarians even had the emotional capacity to do. However, they would be much better looking than Arkani. Someone like Destiney might appreciate that over the veiny, thin creatures with wings they would be married off to if they made it all the way to the Arkani’s planet.

“Are you saying they want to use us to have their children?” one woman said, a woman named Stacia who was one of the women who came from jail for a second chance.

“More than likely, yes. That is what they will want us for,” Alexis responded, preparing for more chaotic chatter and squeals as their ship was almost entirely swallowed up in the larger Milisarian one.

“But what about the Arkani? Won’t they be angry and come for us? There must be some hope. Can we fight?” one of the other women asked. Alexis felt herself getting a headache, trying to explain this to them. She knew she should be patient and be aware that these women had hardly come in contact with an alien beyond what they saw on the news, but it was hard. It was why she wished to be around like-minded peoples, but that dream was long gone by now. The Arkani would never have them.

“The Arkani are not a strong, warring people. They will be saddened, but they do not have the resources to come for us,” Alexis said softly, just as the final lurch told them they were fully on the Milisarian vessel. The ship felt dark without the view of all the planets and stars, and Alexis longed to just get this over with.

The women huddled together as the door to the ship was forcefully opened and in marched several Milisarian knights, ready to put them in shackles and bring them onto the ship. “Cooperate, or you will be bound,” one of them warned, gesturing for the women to come to them. Alexis nodded to them, trying to get them to do as the knights said. Resistance was pointless. A bunch of scared women were not going to overpower warrior aliens with two sets of arms. It just wasn’t realistic. They would all become the mates of these harsh men and forced to have their children. Still, as much as Alexis told the others not to resist, she felt she could at least make things go more her way. She wasn’t just going to lie down and take it from any man. He was going to respect her first.

“Good luck, lady. I love you,” Destiney said as she strutted over to the knights, giving herself over willingly. Alexis just hoped whoever chose her would not stifle that spunk of hers. Alexis could not imagine what would happen to her friend if she lost that amazing part of herself.

Watching as the other women filed into the arms of the knights to be taken onto their ship, some by force and others cooperatively, Alexis decided it was time to give herself up as well. She took one more look at the ship that had been taking her to a new life, which she had been sure would have made her happy, before turning around and surrendering into the arms of one of the four-armed, muscular men with dark hair.

Milisarians were not the worst-looking creatures in the universe, though the harshness of their frame would take a bit of getting used to. They were all pale, like a human who had not seen the sunlight in a long time. It made their veins more visible, and she had heard, that you could sometimes see their beating heart through their translucent skin. None of the warriors had their chests completely uncovered for her to tell if that was true or not.

They all had tribal-like markings on their skin. They had slightly pointed ears, protruding out from their long hair. They were also much taller than the women, making their presence that much more intimidating. Most Milisarian knights stood at least six feet tall.

Once all the women were on the Milisarian vessel, the hatch to their ship closed, and they watched as it was released out into space again, on autopilot to its original destination, but empty now. The Arkani were going to be devastated and confused when the empty ship landed on their planet.

Some of the women began to cry as the hold on them was tightened. Alexis stood there stoically, promising herself that she would not react until she had a moment alone. Showing weakness would not get her anywhere with these tough men.

Alexis looked around and saw that they were in some kind of meeting area inside the ship. She had no way of knowing just yet exactly how large the ship was or how many of the knights it held. She got the feeling that the ones who came on their ship to get the women were only a small fraction. They had yet to see the ship’s commander.

Sure enough, the door slid open, revealing a hallway of sorts, which had several more Milisarians filing in, much too many for the women they captured. It was going to be a fight to decide who was able to get women. One Milisarian broke through the crowd, and she could tell by his demeanor and his gold staff and armor that he was the commander. “I am Shene,” he announced, looking perpetually angry. His chest was mostly bare, below the armor, revealing his ripped stomach. His black hair came down to his lower back, and he was larger than many of the other men by far. Even they looked scared of him as he walked around, forming the crowd into a perfect circle. “I am the King of the Milisarian Knights,” he announced, staring down at each and every person in that room. Alexis was surprised that the king was commanding the ship and not on the planet. They must have truly been desperate for women if he headed the mission to snatch women out of space and bring them onto a ship. “My men will get to choose the women they would like to have. You are going to be Milisarians now.”

He stared down all the women again, and Alexis noticed some of them whimpering and shaking. She caught Destiney’s gaze and saw that she had her eyes locked on one of the men there. Hopefully, he would be the one to pick her so she could be happy. If anyone there deserved it, she did.

The men began to come out and pick the women, taking them away to who knows where. Alexis was so busy paying attention to what was happening to the other women that it surprised her when a hand landed on her shoulder. “This one is for me,” a familiar voice said, and Alexis looked up in horror as she saw Shene himself was taking her by the arm and leading her out of the room. Alexis looked around feeling helpless as she realized Destiney had already been taken. All she could do was allow herself to be dragged out of the room and down the maze of white hallways that led to what seemed like thousands of living quarters and other rooms that she doubted she would get to explore anytime soon. It was probably not a good thing to be the mate of the king. He would not be kind. He would only be in it to make an heir to lead as well, if not better, than himself.

The ship was even more expansive than she had imagined, and she realized that she would never find her way back to the room she was just in, much less be able to find Destiney if she was ever given the chance. After many dizzyingly fast turns, she was taken through a pair of large double doors and into the suite that belonged to the king while he was on the ship. It was luxurious, but that gave her little comfort as he threw her on the bed and locked the doors, leaving her in there by herself. She had nothing to occupy her but her thoughts, and those were not comforting at all.