Page 13 of Alien Engineer's Mate

The settlement was deserted as they made their way out of the pod and through the buildings. That wasn’t a surprise. Most people would be at their work assignments at this hour. She gripped one trunk and pulled it along while Leo took the other, his jaw clenched as he refused to look at her. She sighed and held Grace's small fingers in her free hand while Kyle walked close to his brother's side.

The dry air pulled at their clothes, and Eira tightened her grip on Grace's hand. The landing pad was only half a kilometer away, a straight shot across the colony's well-maintained path.

"Will there be sand at Devan Station?" Kyle asked, the words muffled by his mask.

"No, honey." Eira squeezed Grace's hand as they walked, urging her to keep up. "Devan Station is in space. No sand, just stars."

"They have proper hydroponics labs," Leo added unexpectedly. "Like in the advanced agriculture vids."

"Even better than that. They have real gardens there, with actual Earth plants. And the station is so big, they have entire sections just for recreation."

They formed a line along the rocky ground, the settlement buildings falling behind them. Grace and Kyle were betweenEira and Leo as they pulled their trunks. Her muscles ached, but she kept her pace steady, watching her children navigate the familiar path. Her respirator pressed against her face, a reminder of why they had to leave. This wasn't a world meant for humans, no matter how hard they tried to make it one.

"Almost there," she called out. "Just keep moving forward. Don't look back."

But she did look back toward the memorial gardens.Goodbye, James,she whispered into her respirator.I hope you understand.

They reached the landing pad, a large expanse of reinforced concrete not far from the settlement’s warehouses. She grunted as she shoved their trunks together, creating a makeshift windbreak for Grace and Kyle, who were starting to fidget in the dry air. Standing, she rubbed at her lower back. The landing pad was deserted. No one had come to see them off. She'd known they wouldn’t; they’d all be working now, but the reality of their isolation still stung a little.

"How much longer?" Kyle asked, pressing against her side. His respirator fogged slightly with each breath.

She checked her wrist display. "Should be any minute now." She wrapped an arm around his shoulders, noting the tension in Leo’s tall frame as he stared up at the orange sky.

Grace tugged at her sleeve. "Mama, I’m thirsty."

"We'll get you something to drink on the shuttle, baby." She smoothed her daughter's hair, trying not to think about how their lives would change once that shuttle arrived. Would the Latharians have thought about human children's needs? About juice boxes and snacks and?—

A deep rumble cut through her thoughts, vibrating in her chest. Kyle's fingers dug into her arm as a shadow fell across the pad. Grace whimpered as she pressed her face into Eira's leg.

“It’s here!” Leo called out, just as the alien shuttle dropped out of the sky almost uncontrollably. She had to bite back a yelp, convinced it wasn’t going to stop and end up splattered at the bottom of a new crater where the landing pad used to be.

But it didn’t. It stopped abruptly, about half a meter from the surface of the pad. Her eyes widened in amazement. Thepowerit must have taken to do that. She looked up at the thing. It was easily three times the size of the colony's transport vessels, bristling with weapons. The landing struts alone were taller than she was.

"Holy shit," Leo breathed, moving closer. Despite his earlier anger, his hand found Kyle's shoulder, pulling his younger brother against his side.

The shuttle's engines cycled down, the high-pitched whine setting her teeth on edge. Her heart pounded against her ribs as she stared up at it. This was really happening. In a few moments, she would lead her children onto an alien ship and leave behind everything they'd ever known.

Grace started to cry, the sound muffled by her respirator but heart-wrenching all the same. Eira scooped her up, settling her on her hip despite her being really too big for it now.

"It's okay, sweetheart," she murmured, though she wasn't sure if she was reassuring Grace or herself. "We're going to be fine. Look how shiny it is. Like a big silver bird, right?"

The shuttle's hull plating shifted, the ramp extending toward the ground in rapid-fire clicks. Each clank of deploying mechanisms made Grace jump, her small arms tightening more around Eira's neck.

Kyle pressed closer to Leo, who had gone very still, his expression unreadable behind his respirator. But Eira could see the tension in his shoulders, the way his hands had curled into fists at his sides. He looked so much like James—thesame protective stance, the same quiet strength—that her throat tightened.

The ramp touched down with a clang that echoed across the empty pad. She forced herself to breathe steadily, to project a calm she didn't feel. Her children were watching her, taking their cues from her reactions. She couldn't fall apart now, couldn't let them see how terrified she was.

Heavy footsteps echoed down the ramp, and she held her breath as she waited for the first glimpse of their alien escort. The first Latharian emerged. He was huge, broad shoulders seeming to fill the entire doorway. Petrol-green braids hung past his shoulders, catching the orange light of the sun. But it was his eyes that made Grace bury her face in Eira's neck… they weren’t human, with vertical pupils that seemed to assess each of them in turn.

"You are the mate program candidate?" His voice was rough, the words heavily accented but clear enough over the howl of the wind.

Eira swallowed the urge to ask if he saw any other humans waiting around with packed trunks. "Yes," she said with a nod, proud that her voice was steady.

He nodded, then moved down the ramp.

"I will take these," he said, surprisingly graceful for someone his size as he reached for both trunks, hefting them onto his shoulders. Her eyes widened. It had taken both her and Leo to drag them across the settlement.

"Follow," he commanded, already turning back toward the shuttle.

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