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“The other humans you were stolen with, you mean?”
“Yes. They were my neighbors, women that I care about. They’re headed for a slave auction.”
“I’ll help you,” Niko says without missing a beat.
“I don’t know you. I’m doing this on my own.”
“What better way to become acquainted than traveling into enemy territory?” He grins. “We can share one-room cabins and pretend to be mates. We can trade shifts watching for thieves when staying the night in unfamiliar places.”
This man has the imagination of a romance novelist.
“Niko, I’m not your forever mate. I’m not a forever kind of woman. So, once we get out of this, the only thing we’ll be to each other is unlikely allies. Maybe we can share a drink to celebrate us not dying, but after that it’s goodbye; see ya never.”
“Is this a human phrase?” He asks. “Forever kind of woman. What does it mean?”
I should have known better than to paraphrase. Although our colony is predominantly populated with humans, I have come in contact with a number of different aliens. Using the most common English phrases can cause confusion, depending on the language that it’s being translated to.
I’ve had to let guys down easy before. I’ve had relationships that I thought were casual and come to find that the man was more serious about me than I expected. Before I left Earth, I had to have a hard conversation with one such boyfriend who demanded to know why I wouldn’t let him come with me.
This situation is even stranger. I like Niko, I really do. In just a day’s time, I’ve come to realize he’s brave and funny, and I’m sure he’s got some amazing stories to tell. I’d be his friend if I thought he could accept my rejection. But I can tell he won’t. Being his friend would only be a waiting period for him, and he would find new opportunities to try to prove that we’re meant to be. I don’t have the time or headspace to even consider a relationship.
“It means that I don’t plan on settling down anytime soon. I am not ready to be someone’s wife, and I don’t know if I ever will be. I don’t want children or responsibilities. I just want my freedom. I want to have fun. Or at least, that’s what I wanted before. Right now, all I want is to find Frankie and Kaye.”
“I’m very fun,” he purrs in reply.
Why do men have a habit of choosing one sentence you said and responding only to that comment when you’ve said so many other important things?
I’m about to say something to express my annoyance, but he quickly cuts in.
“Don’t start huffing, beautiful. I believe I understand now. You’re telling me you don’t want me to make you pregnant and hide you away in a little house somewhere? I don’t know what things are like on Earth, but those old ways are gone for the Kar’Kali. I’m not some archaic bastard with plans of carrying you off, never to see your family again.”
I’m afraid to ask him how he imagines his life with his “mate,” because it might make him think I’m considering it.
“I don’t have a family,” I tell him. “I think that’s why I’ve always been like this. No one has ever told me what to do or kept me close. I like it that way, and I don’t plan on letting someone be my keeper now.”
“No family?”
“That I know of,” I say. “My mother left me in the hospital after she gave birth. And since she was a drug addict, I don’t think anyone wanted me. So I grew up in what we call foster care. She didn’t list a father on my birth certificate. And she died just two years after I was born.”
I wait for a pitying look. It doesn’t come.
“My parents died when I was young as well,” he tells me. “I know how difficult it can be.”
“Yeah,” is all I can say at first. Then I ask, “What happened? What were they like?”
“They were murdered. I’m told my mother was a kind female, and that my father was a difficult male, only soft to her. They died for nothing.”
“Who did it?” I’m angry for him. I am learning the way his jaw flexes when he’s emotional. It’s happening now; the slightest twitch to his handsome face.
“A story for another time, okay?”
I nod. “Of course.”
I wrack my brain for a subject change.
“How long do you think this will take?” I ask. I can hardly tell how much time has passed since he tapped a help request into his comm device.
“I hope it’s soon,” he sighs. “We’re not too far from the border. There should be lawdrones around, monitoring the area for pirates.”
