Page 40 of Alien Protector's Mate

Too busy surviving, S’aad realized and kept on talking. “Well, this entire station used to be a B’Kaar warship. One of the biggest of its kind. A destroyer class called theDevan’kra. We positioned it here in Earth orbit and converted it.”

Jay ran his hand along one of the walls, tracing the B’Kaar designs. “It’s incredible,” he breathed. “But why turn a destroyer into a station? And why here, of all places?”

“It’s less of a station and more of a massive weapons platform.” He shrugged. “Earth has a valuable resource that needs protection.”

Jay looked at him from under the brim of his tatty cap. “What resource?”

“Females,” he replied, his voice tight. “Human females are incredibly precious to us, Jay. Non-imperial Lathar and others might try to raid the surface and steal them.”

Jay snorted, a bitter edge to the sound that caught S’aad off guard. “They don’t need tostealanyone. Just go to one of the factory cities… plenty of women there would fall over themselves to leave.”

S’aad blinked in surprise. He’d known that conditions on Earth were far from ideal, but hearing it so bluntly from someone who’d lived it was different. “It’s not just about willing participants, Jay. There are… other species out there, ones that would see earth or any of her colonies as nothing more than a food source.”

“What… you mean some aliens wouldeatus?” Jay whispered, going as white as a sheet.

He nodded. “Unfortunately so. Such species are in the minority now, mostly exterminated by more reasonable members of the intergalactic community, but there are a few holdouts, like the Krin.”

“The Krin?”

He inclined his head. “A predatory species that delights in hunting and consuming other species, often while they are still alive.”

Jay looked like he was going to be sick. “That’s… That…”

“Exactly.” S’aad clamped a hand down on his delicate shoulder. “But don’t you worry. We keep the Krin well-contained in their own areas of space. There’s no risk of them reaching Earth.”

They walked in silence for a few moments, the only sound the soft hum of the station’s systems and their footsteps echoing off the metal walls.

“S’aad,” Jay murmured, his voice low. “What the emperor said earlier, about the new data from the human penal colonies?”

“Yes?” he asked, sliding a glance sideways down at Jay. His shoulders had tensed, and his fingers fidgeted with the hem ofhis jacket in a way that put S’aad on alert. There was more to this question than simple curiosity. “What about it?”

Jay’s expression darkened, his eyes flashing with… something for a moment. “Well… what if they don’t want to be matched? What if they don’t want to be in the program at all?”

The vehemence in Jay’s voice took him aback. “It’s voluntary. No one is forced into the program. I would assume that if they don’t want to be matched, they would continue to serve their sentences where they are.” He tilted his head, watching the human carefully. “Why?”

For a moment, it seemed Jay might say more, but then he shook his head, his expression closing off. “It’s nothing. Just… it seems like a system that could be easily abused. That’s all.”

S’aad nodded, letting it go, but he made a mental note to follow up on this later. There was more to Jay’s reaction than he was letting on. He just knew it.

“We’re nearly there,” he murmured as they neared the coordinates Maax had provided.

S’aad’s senses sharpened, the warrior taking over from the scientist. The intersection ahead was small and dimly lit, perfect for a clandestine meeting… or for being ambushed. He spotted Maax’s hulking form in the shadows and breathed a sigh of relief.

“I thought I said to come alone,” Maax growled, his eyes narrowing as he looked at Jay.

S’aad moved to put himself between the big engineer and Jay. “He’s my assistant. I’ll vouch for him. He’s been a big help already, and I think he can help us as well.”

Maax’s expression remained skeptical, but he gave a gruff nod. “Fine. But this doesn’t leave the three of us. Understood?”

Both S’aad and Jay nodded.

Maax’s voice dropped to a near whisper, the low rumble barely audible over the ambient hum of the station. “I didn’twant to risk this conversation being recorded. The information you sent me, S’aad… You were right. The discrepancies aren’t the coding mistakes they look like. Or rather, there are coding mistakes, but they’re hiding what look like deliberate changes.”

S’aad’s stomach tightened, a cold weight settling in his chest. He’d suspected as much, but having it confirmed made the situation all too real. And dangerous. “Someone has access to the systems and is making these alterations on purpose?”

Maax nodded grimly. “Exactly. But I can’t for the life of me figure out why. There doesn’t seem to be any discernible pattern to the changes.”

“Do any of the alterations involve actual matches?” S’aad asked, his mind racing through possibilities.

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