Free Nothing on Earth by Rachel Clark

less than one percent of the population.”
    She couldn’t quite imagine a population made up of almost all men, but she could certainly understand the implications. Without enough females, every generation would produce less offspring and eventually the race would die out.
    “So that’s why they abduct human females? So they can breed and produce the next generation?”
    “That pretty much sums it up. The problem for John, and for me, is not what they’re doing but how they’re doing it. Few human women are compatible, so basically they track down the ones that are, abduct them, and force them to breed.” He swallowed heavily like he was trying to keep down the contents of his stomach. She could relate. Her lunch was threatening to make a reappearance, too.
    “The general public has no idea that human women are sentient beings. By the time they are seen, the breeding council has pumped them full of hormones, and all the men find are lesser beings desperate to mate. The drugs reduce them to mindless sex slaves, unable to talk, unable to think clearly, unable to defend themselves. The scientists even brag about how they manipulate the babies’ DNA so that the children are intelligent. Nobody knows that human women are already intelligent.”
    “So how did you and John find out that it wasn’t the truth?”
    Alec looked really uncomfortable now, and she almost told him not to answer. Almost.
    “John was a collector. He studied for years to join their ranks. He was so proud when he graduated. I can still see the expression on his face.” Alec smiled just a little, seemingly lost in the memories of easier times. “He couldn’t wait for his first collection assignment, but it turned out to be the experience that changed his entire life.”
    “What was his first assignment?”
    “You.” Alec smiled softly.
    “Me?” she asked in a squeaky voice.
    He nodded and pulled her back into his arms. “You were his first assignment. Even after his superiors explained the real situation to him and his teammates, John had been willing to do his duty simply because it’s a necessary thing to keep our planet alive. Once he realized that human women were as intelligent, if not more intelligent, than the men on our planet, he started to see things differently. He couldn’t stand by while human women were being used in such a way. On that first assignment, he managed to hide you from the scans, make it back to the planet, collect me, and move us both here.”
    Alec looked more uncomfortable with every word he said.
    “That must’ve been hard for you,” she said, trying to stay rational. A really big part of her wanted to rage and throw things, but she also realized it wouldn’t help the situation at all.
    “It was, but I made it even harder for John. I spent months sulking and refusing to believe what he told me, even when I lived next door to you.”
    “You lived next door? With John? I never saw you. How is that possible? We were neighbors for almost a year.”
    He looked really sad now, like he carried a ton of regrets. “I refused to leave the room. Refused to learn the language. I hurt him so much, and I didn’t once stop to wonder how hard it was for him. Well, not until they came for you.” He shook his head, lost in the memories. “I’ve never seen John scared. I didn’t even know he could get scared.”
    She lifted a hand to smooth across the wrinkles marring his forehead. “He loves you deeply,” she said quietly.
    He nodded his acknowledgement and continued talking. “I’ve got a lot to make up for, but I love him, and now we both love you, so we can build a future together. Well, as soon as we can figure a way to hide you permanently.”
    She knew John had been trying to build some sort of device that would hide her from their scans, but she’d watched him grow more and more frustrated over the last few weeks. The materials he needed just didn’t exist on this planet, and every alternative had