Kirk stepped into the enormous hall.

He paused, looking around in wonder. The room was immense - larger than any human shelter he had ever seen

Back on Aerie, Kirk and his brothers floated along the craggy surface of the planet, soaking in starlight for energy. Since their physical forms were gaseous, shelters weren’t a point of focus in their lives. They spent most of their time under the stars.

But when radio transmissions from a planet called Earth had arrived, the leaders on Aerie decided to visit their galactic neighbors. And the only way to do that was to take on forms that could tolerate Earth’s environment.

The leaders decided that in order to determine whether Earth was friend or foe, a contingent of Aerie’s citizens must be sent to Earth. With this in mind, Kirk and his brothers were prepared for the journey. Their gaseous forms were migrated into lab-grown human bodies and they were assigned suitable Earth names, garnered from the selection of Earth media they had consumed.

If the Earthlings accepted these men from Aerie, and the men’s experience of human life was positive, then relations between the two planets might begin.

Satisfaction of the full human experience culminated in what some of Kirk’s brothers described as a click, allowing their soul to become permanently affixed to their human form.

Thus far, the click had only been accomplished when a man from Aerie fell in love and mated with a human woman.

But back in the lab in Stargazer, scientists were trying to make the men click without love. The attempts were pleasant but led to nothing.

The women who had successfully mated with the first three aliens to arrive grew more and more concerned that the scientists would grow weary of their attempts on their mates’ brothers, and ultimately harm the men or the relations between planets.

The women had secretly sent groups of men to different locations, hoping they would find mates and begin a normal human life, far from the reaches of the scientists and the governments of both planets.

Kirk and his brothers, Buck and Solo, had been sent here by his brother Magnum’s mate, Rima.

Rima had told Kirk to find her friend, Kate Henderson at the Convention Center. Rima told him she would talk with Kate before he arrived, so that Kate would be ready to help.

Buck and Solo were waiting in the lobby, so as not to draw unwanted attention. It was up to Kirk now to find Kate.

Rima had described Kate’s long yellow hair, her dark eyes, and the snug gray uniform with royal blue trim that she would be wearing. He knew he was looking for a table with a logo that said Suspended in Space. He expected it would be easy to spot her.

But now that he was here, he understood why Rima had described her friend so carefully.

The room, which was big enough to land a spacecraft in, was crowded with humans of all shapes and sizes. Tables and booths stretched as far as the eye could see, each festooned with logos and labels.

And nearly every woman in his view seemed to be wearing a snug uniform of one kind or another.

Sounds of delight pressed in on him from every direction. And the smell of popcorn filled the air.

“Hey big guy,” a man said.

Kirk turned to discover who had called to him. Perhaps this human knew where Kate could be found.

The man was large and smiling. He wore a suit and a pair of dark spectacles, as did his companion beside him.

“Here you go,” the man said, handing Kirk a pair of eye coverings. “You’re one of us now.”

Kirk looked down at the glasses. They were pure black.

“Go ahead, put ‘em on,” the man said, smiling.

Kirk placed them on his face. To his surprise, he was able to see perfectly well in spite of their dark color, though the room was a bit dimmer than before.

“Sunglasses,” he said to himself. He had never seen a pair in real life.

“All you need is a black suit and a memory neuralizer and you can help us hunt aliens,” the man’s companion said.

“Oh,” said Kirk, suddenly afraid that he had been found out.

But the men only laughed.

“Thank you for the sunglasses,” Kirk said. “But I have to go find Kate. Do you know her?”

“Kate who?” the first man asked.

“Kate has long yellow hair and dark brown eyes. She is wearing a snug gray jumpsuit with royal blue trim,” Kirk recited obligingly. “She is at a table with a logo that says Suspended in Space.”

The two men gave each other a look.

“You mean Katie Bly?” the first one asked.

“That’s me,” squealed a voice from behind.

Kirk turned to see a woman. She did indeed have long yellow hair, and she was wearing a gray jumpsuit with royal blue trim. But something about her seemed off. She didn’t look at him the way he expected a friend of Rima’s would.

“You are Kate Henderson?” Kirk asked her carefully.

“I’m whoever you want me to be,” she said, eyeing him up and winking.

“She’s not Kate Henderson, buddy,” said the man who had given him the glasses.

“He’s right,” the woman admitted. “I’m a cosplayer. And Katie is always a crowd-pleasing getup. But I can take you to her line. Do you really know her?”

“I need her,” Kirk said.

“Good luck, man,” the man told him, clapping him on the back.

The woman who was and was not Kate took his hand and led him through the crowd.

Kirk congratulated himself on his good fortune that he had made a friend who could help, even as he tried to puzzle out why this woman looked so much like Kate. He wondered what a cosplayer was.

They walked past artists making beautiful sketches with colored inks. The drawings looked real but the princesses and dragons were frozen still on the page. Kirk’s brother, Buck, would find it all very interesting. Kirk regretted for a moment that he had come inside alone.

However, Rima had urged Kirk and his brothers to remain discrete.

It had been explained to Kirk on Aerie that his physical form was designed to please and attract human females. But he had not fully understood what power it held until he and his brothers left the lab at Stargazer and entered the world. Women seemed to appear out of nowhere to gaze at them hungrily.

The temptation to explore this heady new power was nearly overwhelming. But Rima had instructed them to find Kate and ask for her help in finding appropriate mates. So they had managed the train ride to Philadelphia from Stargazer without allowing the women who prowled after them to find satisfaction.

A woman in a white gown with a round bun on each side of her head gave him a little wave as he passed her stand, which held seemingly endless shelves of t-shirts.

He waved back and she pressed something into his hand.

“May the force be with you,” she whispered.

He looked down. It was a black plastic cylinder.

He wanted to stop and ask what it was, but not-Kate was tugging his hand, so he tucked it into the inside pocket of his jacket as they walked.

They passed a jewelry shop and a table where blue colored men with strangely formed ears stood talking.

“Aliens,” not-Kate said. “That make-up is some seriously hardcore cosplay.”

Make-up was a concept Kirk was familiar with from watching the movies. Did that mean these men were not really aliens? Was this what humans thought of aliens?

But they were rushing past superheroes and Greek gods, artists, and jewelers and more people in gray jumpsuits with royal blue trim.

“Here you go,” not-Kate said triumphantly.

“Thank you,” Kirk said, looking at the line of people before him.

At the front of the line was a table with a logo on it that said Suspended in Space. But there was no Kate Henderson sitting at it.

“She’s probably on break,” not-Kate suggested. “I hope you get to talk to her. And if things don’t work out with her, here’s my number.”

She slipped him a small piece of paper.

“That’s my business card, but my cell number is on there,” she told him.

“Thank you,” he said. “It was kind of you to help me.”

She squeezed his hand and let go, then slipped into the crowd.

He looked down at the card in his hand.

---

Walker & Stein Pediatrics

Sandra Walker, MD

215-555-0202

[email protected]walkerstein.com

---

Kirk had always thought doctors wore white lab coats and carried stethoscopes. But perhaps that was only in the movies. He still had so much to learn.

A man in a navy suit with a badge on a chain around his neck walked down the line, inspecting the people who were waiting.

“Autograph?” he asked Kirk.

“Pardon me?” Kirk asked.

“Are you going to want Miss Henderson’s autograph?” the man repeated impatiently.

“No, I’m here to talk with her,” Kirk said. “Her friend sent me. She told me she would call to let her know I was coming.”

“Oh shit,” the man with the badge said. “She’s waiting for you. Follow me. You shouldn’t have been waiting in line.”

Kirk was relieved. They had arrived in the city sooner than expected, but Rima had reached Kate in advance after all, just as she promised.

He followed the badge man through a door in the paneled wall and into a bright hallway. Interlocking circles in the carpet made him feel as if he might be floating.

They reached a door and the man with the badge knocked on it.

“Miss Henderson, the gentleman you were waiting for is here,” he called.

“Thanks, Hal,” a woman’s melodic voice said as the door opened.

Hal nodded to Kirk and headed back down the hallway.

Kirk didn’t nod back.

He was gazing in wonder at the most beautiful sight he had ever seen.

Kate Henderson watched him from the doorway, her dark eyes taking him in. Bright light from behind set off her figure, which curved in at her waist and out at her hips in a way that made it difficult for Kirk to think.

“Hey, I’m glad you’re here,” she said, dragging him inside and closing the door behind them.

“Your friend sent me,” he began.

“I know, I know,” she said. “My break is almost up but I wanted to fill you in so you know what we’re up against.”

“I need to speak with you privately though,” Kirk said, eyeing the lady who was examining her face in the brightly lit mirror beside them.

“Oh, no, Sadie can be here,” Kate said with a smile.

“My instructions were very specific,” Kirk told her, shaking his head.

“Don’t worry about it, kid. I’m leaving anyway,” Sadie said, patting him on the shoulder on her way out.

“Thanks, Sadie,” Kate said.

“No worries,” Sadie said over her shoulder. “Nice looking guy, they don’t make ‘em like that anymore. Ha.”

Kirk smiled, but he waited until the door was shut behind her before turning to Kate to begin their conversation.

His heart was pounding like an overworked fusion drive. And though he was new to this planet, he was sure he knew the reason why.

Kate Henderson was his mate.