“First, gross,” Lucy said with a frown. “Second, she knows we’re not going to go in there and just pick out the guy we think is the hottest, right? It’s like—”
“Biological and shit,” Rue finished, her frown matching Lucy’s.
“I don’t think she cares about that tidbit of information. She thinks the fact that these guys have been without women for a while will make them putty in her hands,” Jessie said with a shake of her head as she studied Tabitha where she was talking to a few others. “I feel a little bad for whichever Djaromir she sets her sights on.”
Rue and Lucy nodded in agreement.
“Enough about crazykins over there and her Venus’s- flytrap vagina. We have more important things to focus on,” Rue said before she clapped her gloves together once. “We ready to do this?”
“Yeah,” Lucy said, emphasizing her readiness with an enthusiastic fist pump.
“Oh,” Jessie said, pumping her fist belatedly when she realized she’d missed Rue’s cue. “Ditto!”
“Ladies,” their Phaeton guide called, interrupting their huddle. “Please line up over here. Once I’ve checked your bio suits, please wait behind me at the door for Trex to scan your bands. Do not worry. It can be done through your suit. There’s no need to remove your gloves once I’ve let you pass.”
The women nodded collectively and fell into line. Since there were only ten of them, it wasn’t a long one. Lucy lined up behind Rue with Jessie behind her, the line moving fast as their buckles were checked before their wrists were scanned with a handheld device.
The idea that she’d been tagged by the Phaetons still bothered her, but they’d insisted that this was for their own safety. She couldn’t blame them either; especially not after the reports she’d seen about the kidnapped brides. The bracelet she wore was a direct result of the Phaetons’ pledge to make sure brides didn’t go missing again.
Holding out her wrist, she waited for Trex to give her the go-ahead for her to move on.
Not only did it track her location, it also took her vitals, making sure things were A-Okay onboard the Lucy-train. Something she admitted did make her feel a little better about moving to an alien planet. She had trouble keeping both feet under her on Earth, considering her luck, so she had to figure that she’d be just as accident-prone on Djaromir.
Perhaps more, considering how many mishaps she’d had since they’d arrived for their volunteer period. She put some blame on the fact that she was uber anxious. Things tended to get a bit wobbly the more stress she was under. Ever since she was a kid, she’d had bad luck or poor timing.
Generally, a mixture of the two, if she were being honest with herself.
It came part and parcel with Lucy, and there didn’t seem to be a way to shake it. She hadn’t broken any mirrors or anything else that could explain the bad luck. It was just the way things were.
Once she was scanned and ushered to yet another short line, she was practically vibrating inside her snug-as-fuck space suit. She hadn’t been kidding earlier when she said this was definitely not a one-size-fits-all situation.
“You okay?” Rue mouthed after getting her attention with a hip check.
Lucy nodded and winked.
She was totes okay. Excited, nervous, and overall a ball of anxiety, but she was okay. She’d signed up because she wanted what she’d seen between the warlord and his lady during their interview. She wanted someone to look at her as if she hung the moon.
Come hell or high water, she was going to get it.
Chapter Seven
“Sir!”
Sparx came to a halt, looking behind him.
“Is that Colby?” Matrix asked with a frown as he squinted at the figure running towards them.
“Yes, it is,” he confirmed, wondering what the miner was doing following them.
As Colby closed the distance between them, Sparx noticed the other Djaromir sweating.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, immediately knowing that something had to be wrong if his second-in-command had interrupted the journey to greet the women and their Phaeton escorts.
“You’re needed in the command center,” Colby panted, most likely having run at full speed the few miles to catch up. “Earth has sent a message recalling two of the female volunteers.”
“Why?” The question came out as sharp as the anger that split his chest.
“They’ve matched in the Phaeton system as possible brides.” Colby delivered the news with a wince. “In the future, it might be best for us to request our volunteers are not applicants of the Bridal Pact as well…”
Sparx waved the suggestion away. “Their computer has no real say in mating. They simply answer questions, and it spits out a match based on the probability that they will get along. I’ve even heard tales of the brides changing their minds and leaving. Can you imagine something like that occurring here?” he scoffed. “A mating on Djaromir is not questioned. It is fact.”
“What would you have me do, sir?” Colby asked, waiting for his direction.
“Tell them exactly what I’ve told you. We will not be sending any of the brides back until the agreed upon cycle, and only if they wish to leave.” Sparx turned to walk back the way he’d been headed before he stopped. “No, I will tell them that myself.”
“Would you like me to tell them?” Matrix said, rubbing his hands together in anticipation, the smile he had on his face looking sinister due to the scar running down it. “In fact, considering this could impact the volunteers scheduled to arrive in Gunninng soon, it would be my pleasure to explain what Djaromir will and will not do regarding a situation like this.”
Sparx eyed Matrix, who looked a little too excited to get the chance to yell at their coordinator on Earth, but who was he to take away the simple pleasures his friend found in his duties.
“I appreciate the sacrifice you are making in dealing with those people,” he said, clapping Matrix on the
