by Black, Tasha
The next woman walked out onto the stage and at first Kent thought he was hallucinating.
She moved with unconscious grace, her long dark hair flowing behind her just like he remembered. Those lovely large, gray eyes blinking against the spotlight.
“Have a seat, Margot,” the host said kindly, indicating a plush chair opposite her own.
Margot.
It was a perfect name for a beautiful woman - the ahh and ohh sounds in it made him think of the cries of passion he had heard women make in the movies they used to show him in the lab.
He and his brothers had been made to watch many hours of copulation movies. Kent knew his human form would not be permanent until he clicked with a human mate. The scientists at Stargazer Labs had hoped to make them click permanently into their human bodies without the help of a mate.
But no matter how many movies he watched, or how many times he dutifully found pleasure at his own hands, Kent had never felt so close to the click as he did right now, just gazing at the woman who had captured his imagination.
She’s here.
Margot sat and looked around in thinly veiled confusion.
Surely she knew why she was here. The women had been thoroughly vetted and gone through a whole screening process before being selected to be on the show.
The production assistant finished attaching a body mic to Margot’s shirt.
“Action,” the director said .
At once the host’s face came to life.
“Here’s your host, Olivia Fontaine,” the narrator’s voice came over the speakers.
“Hi everyone,” Olivia said, her eyes sparkling as they always did when the cameras rolled. She was very beautiful in her own right, and Kent had noticed more than once how his brother, Wayne, looked at her. “I’m here with Margot Chase, our seventh contestant. Margot, please tell us a little bit about yourself.”
Margot blinked at her.
“I see here that you are twenty-one years old, Margot,” Olivia continued encouragingly. “And you want to follow in your father’s footsteps, running the family business one day?”
“Yes,” Margot said, nodding madly. “I’m definitely twenty-one. And I absolutely can’t wait to run that business. It has always brought me joy to work with my dad.”
Kent recoiled.
Margot was lit from within by a hot pink blur of lies. Absolutely nothing she’d just said was true. But that didn’t make any sense.
Onstage, Olivia looked as surprised and horrified as Kent was.
For a moment he wondered if the host shared his gift for spotting the truth.
“Um, okay, you’re surprisingly passionate about being a mortician,” Olivia said. “That’s… really interesting. And you’re studying Mortuary Science at college?”
Margot’s eyes widened slightly. “Yes,” she said immediately. “Yes, I am.”
Another lie.
“And I see here that you’re also a softball champion. That’s pretty cool,” Olivia said. “Is it true that you volunteer teaching softball to inner city kids?”
“Yes,” Margot said. “The only thing I love more than playing softball is teaching softball to kids from the city.”
Lies.
“And being a mortician,” Olivia said.
“Yes,” Margot agreed. “Definitely that too.”
Kent could hardly see the two women - they were lost in a red cloud of Margot’s deceit.
He had never heard someone tell so many lies in a row.
And yet there was no sense of malice. Each lie was a radiant mist, not a blot.
And Margot’s manner wasn’t smooth or practiced. As a matter of fact, she looked frightened and maybe even embarrassed. Kent didn’t think Margot had planned any of her many lies.
But why, then?
As the awkward interview continued on the stage, Kent tried not to listen to the words, and only to pay attention to Margot’s presence. He’d learned quickly that a person was more than the words they spoke.
Margot seemed gentle and agreeable. She was more genuine than anyone he had ever met.
And yet every word that came from her mouth was a lie.
Kent was intrigued by this mystery.
“Please keep her on the show,” he whispered to the producer next to him.
The man looked up in surprise, but obligingly made a mark on his clipboard.
The woman had captured his imagination.
Kent was determined to understand her better.
6
Margot
Margot scrambled offstage as soon as the PA unclipped the mic from her shirt.
“Take your packet. Your suite number and room are handwritten in the top left corner,” a woman backstage said to her in a bored way.
Margot accepted the paperwork and hurried down the hallway that the woman had indicated.
When she reached the bright light of the hallway she paused a moment to look down at the paperwork, wondering what she had gotten herself into. The heading told her all she needed to know.
So You Want to Marry An Alien?
Margot gasped and leaned against the wall to steady herself.
This couldn’t be right.
But all of the pieces seemed to fit.
After all, Stargazer was alien town, USA.
And the interview she had just botched was classic reality TV fodder.
“Holy crap,” a woman announced as she burst out of the backstage area to join Margot in the hallway. “I was so nervous I almost forgot my own name. They said he’s watching today, but you can’t see anything with that giant light in your face.”
“The spotlight,” Margot said automatically.
“Yeah,” the woman agreed. “I tripped over my own feet on the way out there too. I’m getting cut for sure. I’m Ruby, by the way.”
Margot smiled and took the hand the other woman offered.
Ruby was short, with playful dimples. Her chestnut curls bounced around her shoulders as she shook Margot’s hand.
“I’m Margot.”
“You look familiar,” Ruby said.
Margot shrugged, praying that Ruby wouldn’t put it together just yet.
“Hey, do you know which room you’re in?” Margot asked.
They looked down at their scripts.
“I’m in 7B,” Ruby said.
“I’m 7A,” Margot said. “Looks like we’re roommates, or at least suite-mates, if that’s a thing.”
Ruby smiled and they headed down the hallway together.
When they reached a handwritten sign that marked the suite, they went in.
A small living room with an open kitchenette welcomed them. There was a single, large window overlooking the town of Stargazer. The other two walls were covered in framed movie posters. Mostly sci-fi stuff, but nothing where the aliens were the bad guys.
Three doors led out of the living room, each with a handwritten letter on it.
“I wonder if they delivered our stuff to our rooms,” Ruby said, heading into the door marked B.
Margot’s heart surged with hope that her room might contain a change of clothes, even as she felt guilty that they belonged to the other Margo.
Before she could check, the door to their suite burst open.
“What the hell was that?” Olivia Fontaine demanded.
In the regular room lighting, her make-up looked almost comically garish.
But her expression was not funny.
“I-I’m sorry,” Margot said instantly.
“You were so smooth in the audition,” Olivia said. “I felt like I wasn’t even talking to the same person today.”
“I was nervous,” Margot said. “I’m not very experienced with all those lights and everything.”
She felt bad about the lie, but if she had come this far…
“Well do better next time,” Olivia said a little more gently. “One of the producers is pulling for you.”
“I’m sorry I tripped and everything,” Ruby said, banging
her shin on the coffee table and wincing a little as she sauntered over.
“You’re fine,” Olivia said, smiling indulgently at Ruby.
Margot wondered why there seemed to be a double standard.
Then she remembered that surely Ruby had at least been able to answer simple questions about her own life. And besides, cute-but-clumsy was practically a rom-com staple. How were you supposed to meet the hot guy if he didn’t have to help you pick up your stuff after you bumped into him?
It was exactly the type of thing Margot hated. What had she gotten herself into?
“Thanks, Olivia,” Ruby beamed back at the host. “I’m a big fan. You were amazing on that Hoax Busters show.”
“Oh, thanks,” Olivia said. “This will be way more fun, though.”
Ruby hugged herself with glee and Margot smiled in spite of herself.
“Time to talk rules,” Olivia said. “Remember there’s no cheating, no trips off-campus without signing out, and absolutely no physical altercations of any kind.”
“Physical altercations?” Margot echoed.
“None,” Olivia said firmly, “staged or otherwise. Any physical altercation will result in immediate disqualification.”
“Is that really a risk?” Margot asked.
“This is reality TV, honey,” Olivia said. “Anything can happen. And for some shows, it’s actually encouraged. But we’re not going for that kind of vibe.”
Margot let that soak in for a minute.
Maybe she really was inexperienced after all.
“I need to go have the rules reminder talk with the other contestants,” Olivia announced. “But I’m in 7C so I’ll be back later.”
“Oh wow, we’re roommates,” Ruby enthused.
“Maybe not for long,” Olivia said, giving Margot a look. “Shape up, Chase, or you’ll be out, no matter who’s rooting for you.”
Margot nodded solemnly as Olivia headed swiftly back into the hallway, high heels smacking the polished wood floor.
“Oh my gosh, are you okay?” Ruby asked, putting an arm around Margot.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Margot said. “I’ve had worse feedback for butchering a job.”
Ruby blinked at her in shock.
Too late, Margot remembered she was supposed to be a mortician.
“Uh, I mean for messing up homework,” Margot said quickly. “Obviously not work-work.”
“Oh,” Ruby said, looking a little crestfallen. “I mess up work-work all the time.”
“Remind me what you do again?” Margot asked.
“I work with my family too,” Ruby said. “We have a wedding planning business.”
“Wow,” Margot said. “That sounds like a fun job.”
“Not with my… challenges,” Ruby said darkly. “I’m constantly ruining things, I’m a total klutz.”
“I’m sure it’s not that bad,” Margot laughed.
“Tell that to the lady whose wedding cake I fell into,” Ruby said.
“Oh dear,” Margot said, resisting the urge to smile. “That must have been rough.”
“Yep,” Ruby said. “But not as rough as the time I tripped over a flower display and knocked a tiki torch into the wedding tent.”
“Oh wow,” Margot murmured.
“No one got hurt,” Ruby shrugged. “But I really need to get out of the wedding business. I know it’s a pipe dream, but I’ve always loved science fiction. I got obsessed with Space Love in college. Imagine if I could marry my own alien…”
Crap on a cracker.
Margot had played a small recurring role on season two of Space Love. Maybe that was why Ruby recognized her even without the wig from her current show, A Lion’s Game.
“Doesn’t it seem weird to marry someone you’ve never met?” Margot asked.
“Oh, we’ll meet him soon,” Ruby said. “Besides, they’re all really good looking and polite. Everything else can be worked out, right?”
Margot smiled at her new friend’s optimistic worldview. She’d never had much luck with men herself.
For all she knew, Ruby was right, and her misfortune was really because her standards were too high.
“I don’t know,” she heard herself say. “I kind of want someone who makes me feel something - a spark. Do you know what I mean?”
Her thoughts went back to the guy at the gas station. Yesterday, she would have scoffed at the idea of making that kind of instant connection with someone. But now she wasn’t so sure.
“Yeah,” Ruby said. “A spark would be nice. Off topic, what are you wearing tonight?”
Margot blinked at Ruby.
What was happening tonight? Was she supposed to know?
“I mean, your costume is really eye-catching, but it’s a cocktail party,” Ruby said politely.
Margot looked down at herself. She had forgotten that she was still wearing a lei and a grass skirt. No wonder she’d gotten those looks from Olivia, even before she’d opened her mouth and inserted her foot.
“I… haven’t decided yet,” she said, wondering if Ruby would really believe she might be considering staying in the grass skirt. “I guess I’ll go see if my bag is in my room.”
“Okey-dokey. Me too, I guess,” Ruby said agreeably, heading to her room. “Want to have a fashion show for each other?”
“Sure,” Margot grinned, watching her go.
Something about Ruby was instantly comforting. She couldn’t remember ever feeling so at ease with another woman so fast either. In her line of work, it was too easy to believe they had some kind of agenda. But Ruby seemed like an open book.
What was going on with her today?
Impulsive choices, fast friends, her head spinning over some guy at a gas station? It wasn’t like Margot at all.
Maybe she was coming down with something.
Still, all told, things were going better than she had any right to expect.
Even if she had blundered her way into a reality alien dating show, it was definitely less boring than fat camp.
7
Kent
Kent returned to his rooms, head in the clouds.
Unfortunately, he hadn’t been able to pay attention to a single thing that had happened after Margot left the stage.
He had allowed the producer next to him to approve the other women who were competing as he sat in a daze, trying to find a loose thread in Margot’s tapestry of lies.
“Are you all right, brother?” Wayne asked him.
His brother’s deep, solemn voice cut through the fog, and Kent turned to him.
“Yes,” he said. “I’m confused, but I am well.”
“What happened?” his other brother, Parker, asked, sticking his blond head out of the kitchen in a comical way.
“I met a woman,” Kent said, thinking happily of Margot on her bicycle.
“You met ten women,” Wayne corrected him.
“Oh yes, the contest,” Kent said.
“Please tell me you didn’t fall for a woman who is not part of this contest,” Wayne said. “I knew this whole thing was a terrible idea.”
“She’s part of the contest,” Kent said.
“Fantastic, brother,” Parker said, coming in from the kitchen. “You will choose her, and all will be well.”
Kent thought about that, choosing Margot, spending his days riding bicycles with her, basking in her sweet smile.
Then he remembered the lies.
“It’s not that simple,” he said slowly.
“Of course it isn’t,” Wayne said, launching himself from his seat and pacing the small living room. “It’s not entirely up to you. She could be eliminated merely because the watchers or the judges don’t care for her. This whole idea of a contest to marry you is ridiculous, not to mention insulting to females.”
“Sage said that the television show would make us seem more accessible,” Parker pointed out.
“There must be hundreds of better ways to help humans become accustomed to our kind,” Wayne said. “We cou
ld show off our powers, demonstrate our superiority in weapons design, compete in feats of physical strength with their males…”
“I don’t know how much those things would help,” Kent said politely.
“We don’t want to frighten them, brother,” Parker laughed. “We want them to accept us as their own.”
“Are these forms not enough to win them?” Wayne asked darkly.
It was true.
Each of the men had been a gaseous being on the planet of Aerie. These human bodies had been grown in labs for them to migrate into.
The sole purpose of their new bodies was to attract the desire of human females. Each of the men was tall and muscular, with pleasing features and lustrous hair - every plane and texture precisely designed to excite lust in the women they encountered.
As far as Kent could tell it was effective. Women seemed to go from sensible to irrational in a heartbeat when he approached them.
But he had never met a woman who made him feel that same irresistible wave of need.
Until Margot.
“There’s something about her,” Kent said.
“What is it?” Parker asked.
“I met her when I was at the gas station today,” Kent said. “She was riding a bicycle and the tire was flat, so I helped her. Everything about her was sincere.”
“This is a good sign.” Wayne nodded.
“But just now, when she was being interviewed, everything she said was a lie,” Kent explained, shaking his head in wonder.
“Everything she said?” Parker asked.
“Yes, everything,” Kent told him.
“Was she nervous?” Wayne asked. “Maybe she got a few things wrong if she was nervous.”
“She was nervous,” Kent said thoughtfully. “But, no, I don’t think that would have caused her to tell so many lies. It was so bad I almost couldn’t see her in the fog of untruth.”
“This is not good,” Parker said, his normally sunny expression turning sad. “Why would she lie?”
“I’m not sure,” Kent admitted.
“Perhaps this woman is not a sensible choice to click with,” Wayne pointed out.
Once a man from Aerie chose a mate and she accepted him, they would click permanently into their human body forever. But the men could only choose one woman. On Aerie the mate bond was eternal, and this quality had not left them, in spite of their human forms.