make sureeverything’s doing what it needs to do. When we get to the point where it’ssafe to share the news, we’ll go from there. I’ll tell Wheaton as soon as I seehim next but I want this kept on the down-low.”

When the men gave her quizzical faces, she added, “I want tokeep this between us, on a need-to-know basis and nobody but us and Wheatonneeds to know…got me?” She gave both guys a serious look, willing them to agreewith her.

“That sounds like a plan, Poppy,” Tamin said with a grin.

“We already have your vitals on record, but I would like toscan you every day if you are able to be here. According to our research, youshould have a similar pregnancy cycle that humans have on Earth but we want toguarantee that you have the best care possible and also check for anydifferences between human-to-human pregnancies and human-to-warrior ones,”Rodin explained.

She nodded in agreement. Not wanting to take any chanceswith the possibility of a baby, she knew these guys would take care of her thebest they could. “Wait, the scanning won’t cause my baby to grow any extra legsor anything right? It’s safe to do it every day?”

“There will not be any extra appendages, we promise,” Taminvowed, holding his hand over his heart.

They all stood and Poppy leaned toward Tamin first and thenRodin for hugs. After somewhat hesitant embraces, mainly because the men didnot understand why she was touching them, she leaned back with a sweet smile.

“Thanks, docs. Now show me more of this place and let’s getcrackin’. If I’m supposed to be working, then you might want to show me thesupply room we never got to earlier.” Leading the way, she tossed back, “Andy’all need to relax…I’m a hugger. Get used to it.” The men’s chuckles followedher from the exam room.

The rest of the afternoon went by very quickly. Poppychecked her messages throughout the day but no messages from Wheaton so far andshe was starting to get bitchy. Not trusting the bracelet’s indicator, shescanned the message center every hour but nada…zip…zilch.

Tamin and Rodin took turns keeping her company during herinventory and exam room supply check while they worked on their tablet computerdevices. Every once in a while they asked her if she needed anything and howshe felt, which would cause her to make fun of them a little.

They had become familiar with her sense of humor and hadbeen joking around with her all afternoon. Both men seemed to be really niceguys and had mentioned their opinions on the bridal match program. Apparentlyneither of them had entered to be selected in the first group of warriors inthe lottery. They were biding their time, absorbing as much information onhuman interaction as they were able to. The two warriors seemed like two halvesof a whole, which made Poppy think there might be more to them than they leton.

They actually did a great job of distracting Poppy from thefact Wheaton had not messaged her yet. Every time she went to see if she had amessage, they would ask her questions about her childhood or her sister. Pixieended up being discussed quite a bit, and her antics had both men laughingloudly when Poppy explained how they were similar but Pixie was a bit more“spicy”.

They both had expressions of horror on their faces when sherealized that they didn’t understand the word “spicy” wasn’t referring tocannibalism. That resulted in the next hour being spent going over phrases orwords that would not translate correctly to their translation devices. Poppysmiled thinking about how she’d had to explain the word “fuck” to Wheaton,which of course made her check her bracelet for messages again.

Damn that man, where the hell was he? Feeling a hand touchher shoulder lightly, she jumped before she realized that Rodin was standingbehind her.

“Are you all right, Poppy? I have been talking to you andyet you seemed so far away,” he asked with a concerned tone in his voice.

“Sorry, Rodin. I kind of lost myself in my own head for aminute there,” she said, shaking her head to clear it. “What did I miss?”

“We were considering reaching out to the brides still on theship and asking to see if they would all have physicals. So far, we have beenwaiting for their warriors to bring them to the medical unit but we have onlymet you and one other when they received their translators,” he said with agrimace. “Tamin and I believe that the warriors are possessive of their femalesand have decided to keep them away from most unmated males as a precaution. Ofcourse with the news of the matches being incorrect we are unsure who will bestaying and who will be taken back to Earth. Regardless, it is still a goodidea to get them scanned just in case.”

Rodin seemed to think for a moment before coming back to thepresent. “We were actually surprised that Wheaton gave you a tour of the shipafter you first arrived. I realize he did not bring you to medical because wewere unavailable but he did take you around.”

Tamin entered the room as they were talking and passed Poppya fresh glass of water.

“We believe that the other bride who came by initially wouldnot have visited again if she had not accidentally cut herself and neededmedical attention, which in her case was what you would call a bandage,” Rodinadded.

“Her warrior was beside himself with worry. I believe thatis one of the other pairs that has also decided to fight the Council’s decisionof separation,” Tamin said with a smile, obviously recalling how amusing itmust have been to see a normally cool and calm warrior lose his mind over asmall cut.

Poppy sat there for a minute, completely stunned that she’dforgotten for even one minute there were other women on the ship. Humanwomen. Human women who were most likely in the same position she was in.

“How soon can you contact them, doc?” Poppy asked, herexcitement building the more she thought about it.

Rodin smiled at her exuberance, studied his tablet for amoment and pressed some buttons.

“I just sent messages to the

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