Read Online Alien Romance: The Alien's Pregnant Mate: Scifi Alien Abduction Romance (Alien Romance, Alien Invasion Romance, BBW) (Celestial Mates Book 2) by Marla Therron - Free Book Online
Authors: Marla Therron
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could."
He nodded absentmindedly, acknowledging she was making sense, and dragged a hand over his face with a sigh.
"Terminarch, or relict when they're in small groups, are what's left of a species," he explained, "Usually after a big disaster, like colony collapse or genocide. When there's so few left that there's not even enough viable breeding pairs to maintain the remaining population. When a species is about to dwindle out of existence and go extinct, the last few individuals are called terminarch."
Erena felt a touch of sympathy as she realized what Shang was saying.
"So, the Dyfedi," she frowned as she leaned closer, "So, your species is going extinct?"
"Haven't seen another of me since my mother died," Shang shrugged, trying to act like it didn't bother him, "The Dyfed world was wiped out in an ecological disaster centuries ago. The only survivors were the ones off planet at the time in the handful of colonies and ships. They lost contact with the home world. Hell, we don't even know where Dyfed is any more. If there'd been some kind of organization, if the displaced colonies could have found each other, they might have survived. But we were scattered for too long, afraid to meet in large numbers, and it doomed us."
Erena looked away, able to imagine it all too well. She'd had nightmares about it more than once, of going into space and losing contact with earth. Of returning and finding she was the only one left. She shuddered. Then realized something didn't make sense.
"Afraid?" she asked, frowning, "Why were you afraid to meet?"
Shang flinched like he'd said more than he meant to. He was quiet for a long few minutes and Erena forced herself to be patient, realizing this was probably hard for him.
"Remember what I said before," he asked, "About the authorities finding your planet and turning it into a petri dish? It wouldn't be the first time they've done something like that."
Erena paled in horror. Would the government of so many planets and species really do something like that? Shang had never lied to her before, that she knew of. But it seemed too awful to be real.
"Alright," Shang said after a moment when the silence had lingered too long, "It's your turn. Tell me about earth."
Chapter Eight
They continued to talk while Diamat grew slowly larger in front of them. Erena described earth and growing up there, telling him about her training days, her crew. He asked a few questions, got a little huffy when she mentioned her relationship with Paolo, but for the most part just listened, taking it in.
Erena realized how much she'd needed to talk about it, the home she'd left behind, the friends she would probably never see again. She hadn't really processed it yet in all the madness of the auction and then running away with Shang. Before she knew it she was crying as she described the farm she'd been born on.
"You must really want to go back, huh?" Shang asked, watching her with a strange look in his eye.
"I do," she confessed, scrubbing at her eyes impatiently, "I really do."
"Hm."
He didn't say anything else, but he reached out to put a comforting hand on her shoulder, and Erena smiled gratefully, embarrassed but glad he understood.
Soon they were approaching the atmosphere of Diamat. Up close, Erena could see it was a lot larger than Earth, and appeared to be primarily ocean. She couldn't spot any continents the size she was used to, most of them appearing smaller than Australia.
Primarily, the planet's surface was dotted with thousands of island chains, most of which didn't look very green from up here. Maybe the vegetation here was a different color?
If the sun was more red or blue than Sol, earth's sun, then the plants might have adapted to absorb a different wavelength of light. Or maybe it wouldn't have plants at all. She couldn't rule out that vegetative life might be rarer than they'd thought.
She strapped in, her hands shaking, as Shang prepared to enter orbit.
"Why are you so
He nodded absentmindedly, acknowledging she was making sense, and dragged a hand over his face with a sigh.
"Terminarch, or relict when they're in small groups, are what's left of a species," he explained, "Usually after a big disaster, like colony collapse or genocide. When there's so few left that there's not even enough viable breeding pairs to maintain the remaining population. When a species is about to dwindle out of existence and go extinct, the last few individuals are called terminarch."
Erena felt a touch of sympathy as she realized what Shang was saying.
"So, the Dyfedi," she frowned as she leaned closer, "So, your species is going extinct?"
"Haven't seen another of me since my mother died," Shang shrugged, trying to act like it didn't bother him, "The Dyfed world was wiped out in an ecological disaster centuries ago. The only survivors were the ones off planet at the time in the handful of colonies and ships. They lost contact with the home world. Hell, we don't even know where Dyfed is any more. If there'd been some kind of organization, if the displaced colonies could have found each other, they might have survived. But we were scattered for too long, afraid to meet in large numbers, and it doomed us."
Erena looked away, able to imagine it all too well. She'd had nightmares about it more than once, of going into space and losing contact with earth. Of returning and finding she was the only one left. She shuddered. Then realized something didn't make sense.
"Afraid?" she asked, frowning, "Why were you afraid to meet?"
Shang flinched like he'd said more than he meant to. He was quiet for a long few minutes and Erena forced herself to be patient, realizing this was probably hard for him.
"Remember what I said before," he asked, "About the authorities finding your planet and turning it into a petri dish? It wouldn't be the first time they've done something like that."
Erena paled in horror. Would the government of so many planets and species really do something like that? Shang had never lied to her before, that she knew of. But it seemed too awful to be real.
"Alright," Shang said after a moment when the silence had lingered too long, "It's your turn. Tell me about earth."
Chapter Eight
They continued to talk while Diamat grew slowly larger in front of them. Erena described earth and growing up there, telling him about her training days, her crew. He asked a few questions, got a little huffy when she mentioned her relationship with Paolo, but for the most part just listened, taking it in.
Erena realized how much she'd needed to talk about it, the home she'd left behind, the friends she would probably never see again. She hadn't really processed it yet in all the madness of the auction and then running away with Shang. Before she knew it she was crying as she described the farm she'd been born on.
"You must really want to go back, huh?" Shang asked, watching her with a strange look in his eye.
"I do," she confessed, scrubbing at her eyes impatiently, "I really do."
"Hm."
He didn't say anything else, but he reached out to put a comforting hand on her shoulder, and Erena smiled gratefully, embarrassed but glad he understood.
Soon they were approaching the atmosphere of Diamat. Up close, Erena could see it was a lot larger than Earth, and appeared to be primarily ocean. She couldn't spot any continents the size she was used to, most of them appearing smaller than Australia.
Primarily, the planet's surface was dotted with thousands of island chains, most of which didn't look very green from up here. Maybe the vegetation here was a different color?
If the sun was more red or blue than Sol, earth's sun, then the plants might have adapted to absorb a different wavelength of light. Or maybe it wouldn't have plants at all. She couldn't rule out that vegetative life might be rarer than they'd thought.
She strapped in, her hands shaking, as Shang prepared to enter orbit.
"Why are you so
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