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felt like a schleppy mess standing next to them.
    Even though she knew the space station was going to be full of people, it was still a shock when the shuttle doors opened and the docking bay was a hive of activity with personnel running around going about their jobs. Seeing all the various shades of grey- and black-skinned men really made it hit home that she was about to land on an alien planet. It did make her feel a little bit better that most of the aliens in question were dealing with seeing her much less smoothly. She noticed more than one of the males walk right into some fixed object as their curious gaze followed their group as they walked.
    “Why are they staring?” Ali whispered to Conn once they were out of the noisy hangar bay.
    “You are the first Earthling that has visited our planet. Naturally, they are curious, and you are quite a striking female,” Conn answered with a wink that had her blushing again.
    There were two other people in the lift with them at the time, and their whispered exclamations when her cheeks turned red made her feel a little like a bug under a microscope until Kal gave them both a nasty look and they quieted down.
    “Alison, when we exit the shuttle on the surface, you will be escorted straight to the med facility to see if our doctors can help with your virus side effects. We will be going to be debriefed by our superior officer, but we will come to check on you once we have been released, okay?” Tannen explained as they boarded the small shuttle, and he strapped her into the seat and made certain her restraint belt was secure.
    “Okay,” she answered, trying to sound braver than she felt at the moment, which in turn just made her nerves even worse. The lovely lunch that she’d enjoyed with Kal was now an ominous pile of rocks in her stomach.
    “Are you all right, Ali?” Kal asked, taking her hand once he’d strapped into his own seat.
    “Just nervous.” She gave him a forced smile.
    “Kal, Commander Vaughn will be waiting for us when we land,” Conn added, as he looked pointedly to where they had joined hands and then back briefly towards a small camera-like device in the ceiling.
    “Everything will be fine, Alison,” Kal said, as he reluctantly released her hand and placed his own hands on his lap with a slight frown.
    Thirty minutes and some turbulence later, the shuttle engines finally turned off, and Conn emerged from the controls to open the doors for them. No one said anything as they walked down the steps, Alison in between Tannen and Kal, and onto the smooth black pavement below. There was a small party of people waiting for them, and an older man in dress uniform stepped up to clasp Conn’s arm in greeting.
    “Captain Drogan, I’m glad to see your safe return,” the older man said with an easy smile, as he nodded towards Tannen and Kal before turning his eyes onto Alison. “And with such interesting cargo this trip!”
    “Commander Vaughn, this is Alison Baker of Earth.” Conn introduced her, right before Alison noticed the only other woman in the group push her way to the front of the crowd.
    “Conn! Finally, you have come back. Now we can get this pesky contract signed and formally announce our bonding,” the woman practically yelled as she came up and kissed Conn’s cheeks in a way that Alison didn’t care for at all.
    “Shara, it’s so nice to see you,” Conn said awkwardly, as he took a small step back to return an appropriate level of space between them.
    Alison could tell from the looks on their faces that none of the men had expected Shara to be here. She took a closer look at the woman who, if she was honest, she’d disliked in her mind ever since she’d heard of her existence. She was exceedingly beautiful of course. Shara must have been about 5’8” tall, slim, and her dark pewter skin looked rich and supple next to the deep purple of her silk dress.
    But it was her face that really was the most stunning part of her. She had a