When they had decided to start helping humans, people still disliked them. There were critics who claimed the Draconians were taking away humans’ freedoms and liberties in their attempts to build a better world.
Indigo didn’t see it that way. She thought that everything was pretty messed up, but she knew that it wasn’t the Draconians’ fault. Taking control of the situation, and forcing humans to share their resources, was the grown-up thing to do. It was like a bunch of adults making a bunch of toddlers share their toys. The more she thought about it, the more ridiculous it seemed.
“We’ve had this conversation before, Mom,” Indigo said.
“This from the girl who entered the Draconian mating lottery,” her mother said.
“Mom, don’t bring that up now. That isn’t fair.”
“I don’t care how much we need money, nothing would be worth our little girl being forced to mate with some alien.”
“Mom, I’ve heard that the girls who mate with the Draconians are happy with their lives. I’ve seen the interviews on morning TV shows. Those girls are not making that up. I follow a few of them on social media. They can’t stop gushing about how awesome it is to be a Draconian’s bride,” Indigo said. She was stuffing her face all during the conversation. At that point in time, she found the food much more interesting than the subject matter.
“Well, if you had been chosen, I would’ve refused the money,” her mother said.
“Get real,” her father said. “For a half a million, we both would’ve been at her wedding. As long as she was happy with what she was doing. I would’ve supported her, and it wouldn’t have just been for the money,” her father said.
“Randy,” her mother chided. “I can’t believe you’re saying that.”
“I’ve said the same thing over and over again, Darla. Our little girl is a smart young woman. I trust and support her to make her own decisions.”
“Thanks, Dad,” Indigo said. Her plate was empty so she scooped herself another helping. As an athlete, she had to keep her energy up to perform the kind of physical activities required on the tennis court. Driving all night to escape from an alien invasion was no different.
“I never joined the lottery,” Molly said.
“You didn’t?” Indigo asked. Although it didn’t surprise her. Molly didn’t need the money for herself or anyone in her family. Unless she was a super adventurous person, which Molly wasn’t, it wouldn’t make any sense for her to join the mating lottery.
“I just never saw the point,” Molly said. “I’d rather marry a human. And besides, those Draconian men are so tall. I’ve heard rumors that their, you know… Equipment, is gargantuan.”
Indigo’s mother gasped and both of the girls started to giggle. Her father cleared his throat and stood from the table.
“I’ve got the dishes tonight,” he said.
He started to clear the table and Indigo’s mother helped him carry everything to the counter near the sink. They cleaned up the kitchen together while having a semi-heated discussion in low tones out of earshot of Molly and Indigo.
“Are they fighting?” Molly asked.
“No,” she said. “They just have a disagreement about the Draconians that goes back five years. The Mulgor invasion is just accentuating it. God, I can’t believe how tired I still am.”
“Where are we all going to sleep?” Molly asked.
“The couch is a pullout bed. Mom and Dad will sleep in the queen-size bed in the bedroom. I’m going to take a little walk around outside and get some fresh air before I pass out again for the night.”
Indigo stood from the table, her belly full, and she moved to the front door. Outside, the air was crisp and the sun was setting over the Western mountains. The sharp scent of pine filled the air and needles crunched under her feet as she walked into the forest. She could hear an owl hoot in the distance as twilight set in. How good it must be to be a creature of the wild, where the worries of men were unknown to them.
Chapter 5
Vlosh worked with his top advisers, devising a plan of attack against the Mulgor. They would use their fighter jets to push the Mulgor armada back and then ground troops would land on Earth to take out the alien invaders who remained.
Just as Vlosh was ready to give the command to launch the first of the fighter jets, the communication device on the inside wrist of his uniform pinged, letting him know he had an incoming message. He flicked two fingers down his wrist and Commander Or came onto the screen.
“What is it Commander Or?” Vlosh demanded. “We are about to launch our fighter jets against the Mulgor as we speak.”
“General Torr, I wanted to be the one to inform you that your match has been identified.”
“What?” Vlosh shook his head in disbelief. He had never intended to join the mating lottery and be mated with a human. Sure, maybe in the future he would enter his DNA into the pool and possibly find a human woman to have his babies. But now was the worst possible time to get involved with one of these “strong-willed” human women.
“Commander, I don’t have time for this,” he said. “Send me the information, and I will deal with it later.”
With that, he flicked his fingers down his wrist and closed off the communication. Damn. He could already feel his inner dragon coming to life and growling with need.
Just knowing that the woman existed had triggered his mating impulse, and his inner dragon would be impossible to control until he had claimed her as his own. This was a worst case scenario and the exact reason he had not wanted to get involved with the mating lottery until the Mulgor were dealt with. Ideally, until the Mulgor were wiped out of existence.
Draconians lived for several hundred years, and Vlosh was only seventy-five. He had plenty of time to find a human to mate with. Unlike humans, from what Vlosh understood, Draconians had an ideal match.
They used their computer systems to match up the genetics of the species they mated with. But the computer matching system was only a way of expediting the process of finding one’s true mate.
If a Draconian came face-to-face with his fated mate, his dragon would surely tell him in no uncertain terms. Just as his dragon was telling him now.
“Launch the fighter jets,” Vlosh said through clenched teeth. The lieutenants on the bridge began giving orders to the pilots in the docking bay. Jet after jet launched from the command ship and sped out in fighting formation towards the Mulgor armada that orbited the Earth.
While it might take human vessels years to travel the distance between Mars and Earth, it only took the Draconian fighter jets a few moments to reach the Mulgor fleet. They launched their opening salvo of high-powered laser beams against the Mulgor armada. The fighter jets were able to easily maneuver around the shots from the Mulgor’s large, slow ships.
Vlosh watched the screen as his fighter jets finished their first salvo and flew into their second formation. The Mulgor launched their own jets into space, and the two warring species began an intricate dance between their quickest, deadliest fighters.
“Launch the second attack,” Vlosh commanded. The second brigade of fighter jets launched from the docking bay and sped toward the Mulgor fleet. He could tell that the Draconians outnumbered the Mulgor two to one, unless they had additional jets of their own.
After a few moments of intense battle, it became clear that the Mulgor did not have additional jet fighters.
“The Mulgor are beginning evasive maneuvers,” said one of the officers on the bridge. “The mothership is retreating and the fighter jets are covering its escape.”
“Continue the attack at full power. Blast them with everything we’ve got,” Vlosh said. This was exactly what he had wanted to happen. It was the best case scenario. But he couldn’t rest on his laurels. There was always some hidden variable in the equation. He had to be careful.
“The Mulgor are retreating towards Venus,” the officer said.
“Keep with them. Let them know we mean business,” Vlosh said.
His fighter jets had taken out the majority of the Mulgor vessels, and they were in pursuit of the rest of the fleet, peppering them with laser missiles.
“The Mulgor are in orbit around Venus and have put up their defensive shields.”
“Their ships cannot attack with their shields up,” Vlosh said, thinking aloud. “Recall the fighter jets. But keep a rotation of ships attacking them every fifteen minutes. We want them to know we mean business.”
“Yes sir,” his officer said.
“We need additional units to land on Earth to exterminate the Mulgor who remain.”
“Mulgor ships are retreating from Earth as we speak, sir.”
“Good. This is just as I had hoped. But we have to ensure that every last Mulgor scum has been removed from the planet surface.”
“Yes sir,” his officer said, carrying out his orders.
Taking a deep breath, Vlosh flicked the communication screen on the wrist of his uniform and brought up the information about his mate. A picture of a young woman came onto the screen. She was curvy and strong and had a big, bright smile on her full lips. Her hair was wavy and dark and her skin was a dusky shade of brown that he found particularly appealing. The shape of her body and the look in her dark brown eyes instantly made him aroused.
His dragon screamed and he could feel the beast flapping its heavy wings within his mind. His dragon scratched at the back of his eyeballs painfully, and Vlosh squeezed his eyes shut against the agony his own inner beast was causing him. This was exactly what he did not need right now. The sight of the girl did something unexpected to him. It wasn’t just the scream of his dragon, it was something else, something deeper, something that appealed directly to the man in him.
She was beautiful, that was for sure. But there was something about her that seemed so brave and strong.
He began to read the information about her. She had grown up poor but had received a scholarship to a human university to play a sport called tennis. She’d studied physical activity, or as the humans called it exercise science. He found that interesting and attractive in a strange sort of way. Draconian women were rare, and highly prized. They spent most of their lives in absolute luxury and would often grow round from inactivity.
This girl was round and curvaceous but it was from her strength. He admired the thickness of her limbs and the muscles in her arms and thighs. If he hadn’t been in the middle of a war, he would have gone directly for her and made her his own as soon as possible. Unfortunately, he couldn’t do that. Not yet.
Chapter 6
Indigo opened the cupboard door and looked inside. There was one box of spaghetti noodles left and a package of cornmeal. That was pretty much it. The food at the cabin had only lasted a few days between four people and someone would have to go into town to find something for them to eat.
“I’ll go,” her father said. Indigo narrowed her eyebrows at her him. There were a bunch of crazies out there, not to mention the Mulgor still roaming the planet. They had heard on the radio the day before that the new Draconian space armada had pushed the Mulgor fleet back towards Venus. There were still Mulgor on Earth, and the newscast had advised everyone to stay indoors until the threat was neutralized.
Indigo knew that her father had high blood pressure and diabetes, not to mention a bad back. If things got bad and he had to run, he could get hurt, even have a stroke. She wasn’t willing to chance her father’s safety by sending him into town to find food. Nobody knew what was happening out there, and by what she and Molly had experienced at the gas station, Indigo had a pretty good idea about how quickly society started to break down.
“No, Dad. I’m the strongest and quickest of all of us. I know how to use a gun. I can keep myself safe, and I can run away from any threat if I need to. I’m not going to let you risk yourself when I know I’m more equipped for the job.”
“But you’re a girl,” her mother said.
“That doesn’t matter, Mom. I’m still stronger and faster than Dad. I’m going. That’s final.”
“Let her go,” her father said. “She’s right. She’s more equipped for the job.”
“I just don’t feel comfortable allowing her to go out there with all the craziness,” her mother said.
“Mom, I’ll be fine,” Indigo said.
“Do you want me to go with you?” Molly asked. Having Molly tag along was the absolute last thing Indigo needed.
“No, that’s fine.”
She slipped the handgun into the waist of her jeans and covered it up with her sweatshirt. She had a couple of large sacks for food and Molly’s credit cards if stores were even open anymore. At least she would be able to pay. For all she knew, she would have to just break in and steal food.
Her father handed her the keys to the SUV, and she quickly went outside and got behind the wheel. Her parents and best friend waved goodbye from the front door of the cabin, and Indigo pulled out of the driveway and drove down the dirt road.
On the way towards the highway, she saw Molly’s car still sitting in the ditch where they had left it. There weren’t any tickets or notes, and none of the windows had been broken. Basically no one had bothered with it and no one had cared.
Indigo made her way out onto the main highway and looked down at the gas tank. It was a quarter full so she shouldn’t have any problem getting into town and back. Even still, if she could find some gas somewhere, it would be better to fill the tank.
She turned on the radio and listened to the news reports. Draconian ground forces where wiping out the remaining Mulgor who had landed on Earth, liberating human cities from the grip of the invasion. It made her feel safer to know that they were being driven off the planet and the Draconians were protecting humanity.
Forty-five minutes later she came upon a small town. The streets were eerily empty as if the world had become a ghost town overnight. She drove into the parking lot of a grocery store and grabbed the bags to carry supplies.
When she came to the front door, she noticed that it was dark inside. The sliding doors didn’t slide open. The hours posted on the window indicated that the store should’ve been open, but it wasn’t.
Damn.
This was her worst fear. She would have to break in and steal the food. There was no other choice unless she tried to drive to the next town. She looked around, squinting into the sunlight. Snow had fallen a few days ago and it still covered the streets. People must be staying indoors, out of sight. But others would be running out of supplies soon, too.
She wouldn’t have enough gas to get to the next town over and all the way back to the cabin. Indigo had to make a decision. The last thing she wanted to do was break into a store to steal food. It went against all of her principles. But so did letting her family starve.
She heaved a heavy sigh and walked around the side of the building. Maybe there was a side door that would be easier to break. Around the back of the store was a regular wooden door with a deadbolt above the knob. It was the kind of thing that would break open if she shot it.
Great. Just great.
The Mulgor were making her a criminal, something she’d vowed never to become growing up on the bad side of town as a kid. Her parents had raised her right, and she had standards.
What was she supposed to do? She wondered what her father would do in this situation. Weighing the options again, she made up her mind. Indigo lifted the gun out of her waistband and aimed it at the deadbolt.
Two shots and the bolt fell forward. She pushed at the door and it swung open. Stepping forward, she peered inside. It was dark and smelled like rotten vegetables. That wasn’t a very good sign either.
She stepped through the door and progressed down the hallway into the storage area of the grocery store. There were some boxes piled up and a card table for employee breaks. There was no sign of anyone inside.
In fact, it looked as if no one had been there in a while. Probably since the invasion. And she had to be the asshole who shot a hole in some poor shop owner’s
door. It couldn’t be helped. She kept telling herself it was the only way, trying to make herself feel better about it.
Indigo stepped into the main shop space and looked around. Everything was in its place, as if it had just closed one day and never reopened.
She opened up her plastic bag, grabbed a cart, and started moving. She found as many nonperishable items as she could. There was no refrigerator at the cabin, so she’d have to take canned goods and boxes for the most part.
After she’d filled bags in her cart with as much stuff as they could carry, she hurried back out the open door.
As she pushed her cart to the SUV, she heard the click of a rifle being cocked. Slowly, Indigo turned her head and looked in the direction of the noise.
“What do you think you’re doing?” the voice of an angry old man growled.
Indigo turned toward him, letting go of the cart. It rolled forward a few feet and stopped against the parking curb behind her.
“My family is hungry,” she said, hoping to appeal to his humanity.
“I have money. I can pay.” She reached for her backpack to show him the credit card.
“Not so fast,” he said pointing his rifle more aggressively.
“I’m getting my credit card.”
“No use for credit cards.”
“What do you want then? The food?”
“Maybe. Maybe I should take you down to the jail house.”
“Are you a cop?”
“Maybe I am,” the old man said. He was wearing a ratty plaid jacket and a dusty old baseball cap. He was clearly not a cop.
“I don’t think you are.” Indigo was starting to feel nervous. This guy could be a loose cannon. Who knew what he wanted or why he was holding her up like this.