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ever thought of entering the lottery, not until I went to the store and … well, you don’t need the whole story. But now, I am about to leave a space ship and go on board a space station, hanging in space above a planet you can’t even see from Earth.”
    “A cruiser,” he said.
    “What?” she asked.
    “This is a space cruiser,” he said matter-of-factly, “although you can drive it on the ground too. And it can hover over the sea.”
    “Oh my goodness, are you a Karalian space nerd?” she asked.
    “What is a space nerd?” he asked, his face solemn.
    She began to laugh. “Nothing, just someone who knows a lot about space and talks about it a lot. I’ve met a few, believe me.”
    “Ahh, so you are a space nerd too?” he asked.
    She laughed, tears running down her face, the sensation of being near hysterics filling her body as she fought for control. “Yes,” she said at last. “I think I probably am.”
    “Then Darl is right. We are a perfect match.”
    Suddenly feeling the weight of his words, said with such innocence, she sobered. “Yes, Malik. I believe we probably are.”

Chapter Eight – Malik
     
    “Now we can go to Karal,” he said as she came out of the decon’ room.
    “Good, because I think I’ve had enough surprises for one day. The Karal never mentioned having to strip down so that you can be cleansed with … what was that?” she asked, pointing back to the decon’ chamber she had been in for the last twenty minutes.
    “Gas is piped in that is colourless, odourless, and harmless.”
    “So you’re not going to tell me what exactly it was,” she said,
    “No. As a warrior I have always been told to share as little information about our technology as possible,” Malik said, ushering her back to the space cruiser.
    “Because you don’t trust humans,” she said.
    “No, it’s not just humans,” he said. “We don’t share our information with any species.”
    He got back into his seat, and she sat beside him, and already he felt relaxed around her. This was not going to be as awkward as he thought. Although they hadn’t got as far as mating yet, the thought of being with her in bed both excited him and made him nervous. Would their easy-going relationship shift once they had been together intimately? Would she please him? Would he please her? The sim had always acted accordingly, but he had no idea if that was what the sim did to make his confidence grow.
    “It looks like a jewel,” she said, looking out of the window at Karal as they pulled away from the space station and began the final part of the journey.
    “Yes, the brightest jewel. Once our mission is over, and we return here, I will show you the whole of my planet, we can take the cruiser and go to the Island of Grenvit, and perhaps ride the hegara…” He cut himself off; he was beginning to sound like the romantic she wanted him to be. How could she have brought a change out in him so soon after their meeting?
    “What is a hegara?” she asked.
    “You ride them, like your horses, only crossed with a big cat.”
    “That I have to see,” she said. “You know I am going to hate leaving Karal tomorrow.”
    “You haven’t even set foot on land yet,” he said.
    “I know, but the way you talk about it makes me know I am going to love it here.”
    “Then I am sorry about the mission,” he said.
    “Don’t be. I am torn between which I am more excited about. But I suppose you don’t take females on too many deep space missions, so this is my only chance. Why is that?” she said.
    “Because my prime may be over soon, so the Council ruled each warrior must take a mate,” he said.
    “Your prime? What’s that? You aren’t going to die are you, once you’ve … you know, impregnated me?” she asked.
    “No. But I will begin to age,” he said.
    “We all age. How old are you, by the way?” she asked.
    “I am one hundred and ten of your Earth years,” he said.
    Her head snapped round to look at him, her