Page 8 of Breedable Boys from Outer Space
He laughed. “Maybe, but they need to know you’ll be able to handle the long-term stress.”
“Would you be able to handle it?”
He paused. “I don’t know. We’re expected to man up and say yes, but this is uncharted territory. Being with these off-worlders changes people. Add in the expected isolation, and kids… It’s a high-stress scenario even if things appear calm.”
“Have you met them? The aliens?”
He shook his head. “No. Contact with them is extremely limited. But I’ve met a few of the men who partnered with them during an early test. They’re… different. Not bad different though. They’re more content and very devoted to their partners.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
He hummed. “You know when somebody seems overly happy there’s a bit of creepiness to it because you’re not sure what they’re hiding?”
“Yeah?”
“It’s like that, but you know intrinsically they’re not hiding anything. They’re just obscenely happy, but it’s still slightly creepy because we’re not used to that level of contentment.”
“And they’ll be like that for the rest of their lives?”
He shrugged. “Probably not, but we don’t know for sure. That’s why we’re doing all these tests now, to establish your baseline prior to introductions.”
He paused. “Remember, even those earliest men are still in what we’d consider the honeymoon period. Combined with not being used to the alien pheromones, everything is likely exaggerated in their brains. We all expect things to settle into a new normal as they become accustomed to everything.”
“I see.”
“Second thoughts?”
I licked my lips, then shook my head. “I mean, who wouldn’t have them? But the desire to give it a shot is still stronger than the desire to leave.”
“Good man,” he stated. “Honest. Some level of doubt is healthy, given the situation. I’d be more concerned if you weren’t the tiniest bit wary.”
“Really?”
He nodded. “A good dose of skepticism keeps us alive, and right now you’re trusting other people to give you accurate information.”
“Yeah…”
He patted my shoulder. “Go on. I’ve still got one more draw to do before lunch.”
I nodded and hopped down from the chair, then joined the stream of men headed to the mess.
It was weird how much it all reminded me of boot camp. Sleep in the bay; get up; shit, shower and shave; PT, breakfast… But instead of training it was endless testing: physicals, blood tests, personality assessments, and anything else they could think of.
I ate, then strode to the bulletin board where our schedules were posted. I saw that I was indeed scheduled for a brain scan that afternoon, but had more than an hour before I’d need to report for it.
With nothing else to do, I decided to go for a run around our section of the reinstated base. The area was nice—with tall trees all around, and decent weather so far.
I guess that was a good thing—since I had no idea how long I would be living there. Years? Decades?
We’d been told that our… mates? husbands?… would make trips back to their home world, and take us along. But what about Earth? Would I have to leave behind a man and children every time I stepped off base? Would there come a day when we’d be able to enjoy a day at an amusement park as a family?
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that though we were sacrificing a lot, these men from another world were sacrificing more. Leaving their home to find partners on a strange world where their children would have to be hidden away for their own safety.
They could have simply abducted men and taken them to their world for breeding, but they hadn’t. It showed a level of respect I wasn’t sure humanity had earned.
I ran out to the fence that separated the intake and testing area from the long-term living area. The hum of activity from the other side was constant—trucks laden with supplies rumbling past at all hours. Everything was being renovated and rebuilt so that we’d have our own small town.
I paused and stared out. I could just make out part of the business part of the base. Piles of materials sat outside the commissary and exchange. Out further, past a line of trees, was some of the family housing.
