Free Found: BBW Alien Lottery Romance (Warriors of Karal Book 2) by Harmony Raines Page B

who manages to maintain his health at the expense of his people. His nice green lawn, his food always fresh…” She didn’t go on, most humans felt a bitter resentment toward him. Only the arrival of the Karal had propped up his leadership. They had given the people of Earth hope, and the President had milked it for all he was worth, making himself out to be the saviour of the human race. Gaia believed he was capable of anything.
    “But when we discover a new planet. What then?” she asked. Gaia would hate for the President to gain control of a planet like Karal.
    “You are looking at the new governor.” He smiled broadly. “And don’t think it’s because I am in favour with the Hierarchy. I am being exiled to the new planet. Tikki, my partner, and I will be in charge.”
    She placed her hand on his arm, feeling a surge of pride emanating from him. “I think that is a good idea. Thank you for explaining how things lie. And how much is resting on this mission.”
    “But above all, Gaia. You must come home. No matter what happens, how badly damaged you might be, it is imperative that this mission returns. Because for every one that fails, the chances of us holding the Council together in their support of humans wanes.”
    “I understand.” Yes. She understood it all now. And as her eyes locked with Rikka’s, she wondered if he was for her, or against her, now.

Chapter Sixteen – Rikka
     
    “Ready to launch,” he said. He waited, listening for permission to leave Karal.
    “Permission to launch,” came back the voice from the tower.
    He throttled forward, feeling the engines building up power, and then he released the cruiser, feeling it crouch like a cat about to pounce before it shot off into the air. Next to him, a pale-looking Gaia gripped the arms of her seat as she tried to withstand the g force.
    “It didn’t seem so bad when we left Earth,” she said.
    “We have a lot more equipment and supplies. The ship is heavier so we need the increased build-up.”
    “Right,” she said and then clamped her mouth shut.
    He kept his hand on the control stick and his eyes on the instruments. The Karal left their planet many times, but it didn’t mean that any trip wasn’t without its dangers. The atmosphere was still a layer of gas, which would love to rip the cruiser apart. They were a foreign body in the protective layer around the planet, and it would burn them up if he got it wrong.
    The cruiser trembled, and then they were flung through the other side and out into the nothingness of space. He let out a pent-up breath. This was it; they were on their way. Going on a mission he wasn’t sure he believed in.
    The Karal, particularly the warriors, were very insular. All that mattered was their species and it’s survival. It was how they had been brought up to be. In some ways, it could be blamed on their lack of females. It had given them both a lack of compassion, and an underlying need for their species to survive at all costs.
    If they were not hardened, how could they go to another planet and round up females? Rip them away from everything they knew and take them to Karal? There to breed with as they saw fit.
    He glanced at Gaia. Rikka could not even begin to think how terrible it would be to have to mate with a woman who was tied down, legs spread apart so they could be raped by an alien. That was what had happened more than once in their past. That was what had happened to his mother.
    “Are you OK?” she asked.
    He smiled, the colours rushing into his face, scared that she had read his thoughts, happy that she showed him concern, when it should be him asking her if she was OK. This was second nature to him. Going off into space was what he had done all of his adult life. Yet this was only the second time she had been off solid ground.
    “Yes. We travel out towards the far star,” he pointed into the distance. The star was a couple of hours away. “And then we enter a wormhole. We have to deploy