“You were captured by aliens, that much I remember, and if we’re not on Earth anymore…”
Her gaze dropped to their dresses. The odd design would make sense if they weren’t even human fashion.
“The aliens are called the Lathar,” Jess said quietly. “They’re a warrior-based society and have no women.”
Lizzie’s eyebrow winged up. “So they steal other people’s. They sound like assholes.”
She remembered her mom’s panic and tears when the news came that Jess had been taken. They’d always known that service in the TDF was dangerous. Space was a perilous place. But there was a distinct difference between “hit by an asteroid” and “kidnapped by little green men.”
Jess’ expression set for a moment, darkness in her eyes as she pressed a hand to her stomach. “Well… some can be. But we’re exactly the same. Some humans are right dicks. And really? The Lathar aren’t all that bad.” A dreamy smile crossed her face. “Some are very… nice.”
Lizzie gasped, picking up on her twin’s emotions. “Oh. My. God. You fell for one of them. Didn’t you?”
Jess grinned. “Not just me.”
Lizzie’s gaze slid sideways. A flush rode high on her mom’s cheekbones.
“Mom!” she hissed, scandalized. “You didn’t?”
“In my defense, I only said yes at first because Fenriis promised to get me to you two.”
That news stopped Lizzie in her tracks. She felt off kilter, and not just because she’d been ripped away from everything she knew and thrust into what was turning out to be a strange new world. That was traumatic for any homebody. Even college had taken her some time to adapt to, and that was one on Earth. She’d immediately discounted anything off-world. Now? She felt like her entire existence had been tipped upside down and shaken about. And like something was missing…
“I’m sorry, Fenriis? Who is that when he’s at home? Us two? And was there a man in here talking to me?” She shot rapid-fire questions at them, a frown on her face.
“Fenriis is my ma… my husband,” her mom explained, taking her hand. “And Jess wasn’t the only one who was taken by the Lathar. They sent someone to take you as well. I’d lost you both. I was ill and then Fenriis offered to help me find you.”
“Oh. And you fell in love with him on the way?” Lizzie asked, trying to fit the image of a distinguished silver fox Lathar in with the idea of little green men.
“Something like that.” Amanda smiled, patting the back of her hand. Lizzie looked at her mom, really looked. She looked happy, in better health than Lizzie had seen her for a long time.
“So why did they take me as well?” she asked, including Jess in her look. “And what about the guy speaking to me?”
“My husband Laarn is the head doc here,” Jess explained gently. “He’s been treating your sleeping sickness. Perhaps it was him you heard?”
“Hey! Get in there, sis! A doctor. You snagged a good one,” Lizzie grinned. “At least… you haven’t scared him off yet, so you must be doing something right.”
A sound by the door caught all their attention, and they turned, just to see a long-haired guy look into the room. His eyes widened as he spotted the three of them. Then he disappeared abruptly.
“Was that?” Lizzie whispered, leaning against her mom. She was tired, so tired, but it was a bone deep tiredness rather than a feeling like she needed to sleep again. In fact, she wasn’t sure she could ever sleep again.
“Uh-huh,” Lizzie nodded. “That was Ivaas, one of the healers looking after you.”
“He looked so… normal. Human.”
“Well, they are human. Kinda.” Jess smiled, settling herself more comfortably on the bed. Like their mom, she looked happy, almost glowing. She’d put on a little weight, which suited her, but there was something else. Something Lizzie hadn’t put her finger on yet. And it wasn’t just because Jess was in love. That was apparent. It was something else.
“Or rather,” Jess carried on. “We’re Lathar. Humanity are descended from one of their expeditions that got lost. They crashed and forgot where they came from… became us.”
Lizzie’s eyes widened at that news and then widened further when the biggest guy she’d ever seen walked through the door. He was covered in scars and had long, dark hair that flowed over his shoulders. Neither detail held her attention as soon as she saw the little girl in his arms. Tiny and delicate, she had a small hand wrapped in the guy’s long hair, the thumb of the other in her mouth.
Lizzie held her breath as the child looked at her, feeling the weight of an old soul’s regard. Then the baby smiled and held out her arms.
To Lizzie.
She blinked as the big guy walked over, automatically taking the baby as he handed her over. “Welcome to the family, Lizzie. We’ve been waiting for you to wake up for a long time.”
“Uh… hi?” she managed to reply, looking from the child to the alien in front of her, then to Jess, who was beaming.
“Meet my husband, Laarn, and this is Miisan. Your niece.”
2
She was on an alien planet. A freaking alien planet.
Lizzie couldn’t stop looking around, eyes wide at the plants in the garden around her. If she squinted and looked sideways, she recognized almost all of them. They were very similar to plants on Earth. Like evolution here had followed the same paths and ended up with almost the same design.
She wasn’t surprised. It happened on Earth as well. There was a pinnacle for design in each niche, and even in closed ecosystems on opposite sides of the world, evolution created the same basic design, like the wolf and the long-extinct Tasmanian tiger. Same design, same predatory niche, but one lupine and one marsupial.
So the fact that she could almost recognize all the plant varieties around her wasn’t surprising and was actually rather comforting. With a sigh, she leaned her head back against the lounger and closed her eyes, listening to the comforting rustle of the breeze through the branches of the trees. The temperature out in the garden was pleasant, even verging on warm. Perhaps the seasons were the other way around here, like in Australia back home?
Making a note to ask someone about it later, she let herself relax. Her morning had been taken up by Jess’s husband, Laarn, doing tests on her. From what she could work out from his conversation with the other doctors, they had no idea why she’d woken up. It wasn’t anything they’d done.
Interesting. For all their high-tech medical knowledge and gadgets, including the holographic scanner machine they’d had her in earlier, they didn’t know everything. That in itself was comforting. Aliens were discomforting enough, and hot aliens were even worse. But hot alien know-it-alls... That would flip Lizzie’s bitch switch quicker than anything.
And, at the moment? It wouldn’t take much to make her flip out.
She’d been playing catch-up all morning. She’d known Jess had been taken by aliens, so to find out she’d married one was no surprise. Jess was clever, easy to talk to, and beautiful… all the things Lizzie was not… so the fact Laarn had fallen hard and fast didn’t surprise her. And her niece, little Miisan, was utterly delightful.