Chapter 2

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Tears streamed down her face as an unwarranted whimper left her lips. 

The 'alien' stared down at Macon with an unreadable expression.  It was if he too was frozen in the moment. 
Those icy eyes pierced her soul. 

Finally, he knelt down turning his head to the side as if to get a better look. He studied her features intently.  Her golden brown hair was a wild mess of waves. In the lantern light, he could just make out the light brown of her dewy skin as it beckoned him to touch.

Her brows furrowed as she'd expected something more horrific than the being that crouched before her now. With his powdery grey skin and hypnotic lavender eyes, he appeared far more 'human' than she could ever have imagined.
Suddenly, one side of his lips perked up in a half smile revealing sharp teeth.  At the sight, she was struck back to reality.  To just how dangerous he actually was.

Instantly, she pushed herself out from under him and against the wall. 

Hearing the scuffle, the other two emerged onto the balcony. 

Macon shook with fear and thought she might pass out.   She tried her best to hold on to consciousness, but in the end she felt herself limp as darkness took over. 

*Chiss*

This would certainly prove to be the most surprising day in my existence. 

Nothing could have prepared me for the moment that would change my life forever. 

As I looked down into her blue eyes that mirrored the pools of home, my heart claimed her for all eternity.

This would soon prove problematic, as I well knew, Xane had planned to keep her for himself. 

I'd joked only moments earlier that I'd take her for myself if he didn't. Earning a growl in response as if my joke were some kind of conquest even then. 

Xane was my commander, my superior.  What had just happened was meant to be... well it didn't matter now. 

My soul felt a searing pain as I watched him scoop her fragile body up into his arms.  I fought back the growl that threatened to burst forward at the sight of her pressed firmly to his chest as we made our way back to the pods. 

As agreed upon by the UGF (United Galaxy Federation) ten years ago, all remaining topsiders were fair game. 

We could search among them for potential mates before returning home. 

This was our last rotation on Earth, and as promised, we would be bringing back all of the remaining females that we could find. 

I did long for the warmth of home. Nothing compared to the sunrise on Aturi, or the lush forests.  It wouldn't be long now.

I sighed turning on the auto-docking feature as our pods neared the quad just outside of Earth's atmosphere. 

Once we made our way to our respective stations, I heard Commander Xane give flight commands. 

Finally, we were headed home.  Two days into the journey,  I'd held out as long as possibly could, and then I broke.

"Puri, I require information on imprinting between humans and Aturians." The words spilled out before I could think better of requesting the information from my onboard database AI.

"Human-Aturian imprinting has become a natural occurrence over the past decade.  It now occurs between 56% of mated pairs." The automated voice answered in return.

"Are you experiencing symptoms of imprinting?" Puri asked intuitively. 

"Ohh... umm," I fumbled.  "No!" A scowl crept over my features as I hoped the AI would not alert any superiors of my impulsive search. 

In reality, I should have known that imprinting was entirely possible between species. 

I guess I just never expected it to happen to me. 

I'd always assumed I would imprint on Vosi once I returned home after my service.  Leaving Aturi at only 16 rotations and spending the last 10 on Earth, I felt more human than Aturian at this point anyway.
Vosi had been a close acquaintance of my family and a friend of mine.  Her siblings had always quipped us over our supposed union.  But, nothing had ever come to fruition. 
I didn't know how she'd feel about me once I returned.  I was far from the Aturian I'd once been.
It didn't go unnoticed how most of us had picked up many mannerisms and other  qualities from the humans after living among the remnants over the last ten years. 

We'd even spent time living among some to the topsider camps.

Some of them had been more than open with us, begging to return to Aturi when we did.

It was understandable seeing the deterioration of their planet in such a short time. 

That was not the case with the brown haired female that I knew rested soundly in the hyper-sleep chamber at the quad's base. 

At the thought of her, I felt an uncontrollable urge to go.  If only to look at her once again. 

Xane had watched her closely for the past two years.  She was fiery and strong.   "She'll make a great mate for a commander," he often boasted.

We'd almost lost track of her 6 months ago when she decided to head south. 

I'd been the one to find her living near the water's edge. 

I never approached her, but I'd been drawn to her even then.


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