Page 9 of The Alien’s Mate

He hummed. “It’s so frustrating. His DNA is like a mirror of our own, yet it’s just different. It’s like laying a three-thousand-piece puzzle, and just as I’m about to place the last piece, it doesn’t fit. But we know why. It’s simply because he’s not from our ecosystem from our planet. But, our DNA is so alike, we have a unique possibility. Could you guess what it is?”

Lila’s heart began to race. Slowly, she shook her head.

“With your grades and your biology degree, I’m sure you understand.” He smiled. “Come on, Miss Vernon. Have a guess.”

She swallowed. “C-cross breeding.”

Mr. West nodded seriously. “Almost. Hybridization. We’ve tried to splice his DNA with human DNA, but we haven’t succeeded. It’s just like that last piece again. So, we tried artificial insemination, but it didn’t work. Our last option is, well, natural conception.”

Lila felt faint. Her body trembled. Why did she have such a bad feeling?

“I bet you’ve wondered why we hired you, Miss Vernon; you’re so young, and lack the proper experience for such a project. But, to be honest, you don’t need that kind of experience for your purpose here.”

Lila could hardly breathe.

“Atlas chose you, himself,” Mr. West continued. “We had over five hundred applicants. We had to sort out all the men, and then sort out everyone too old for the task. Then, we had to sort out those who didn’t pass the clinical tests. Out of the remaining batch, we let Atlas choose his mate. Yours was the face he lingered on, the one he chose.”

She felt tears in her eyes. This wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be happening. “So…” Her voice you barely carry. “So, you’re going to… inseminate me?”

“That was our first plan,” nodded Mr. West, but he furrowed his brows. “But, whenever we try to extract semen from the specimen, it’s as if it self-destroys. It’s mindboggling, and we’re at a loss. The last thing we can try is letting him do it himself.”

Lila widened her gaze and caught her breath in her throat. “W-what?”

“During the recruitment process, we subjected him to some… well, pornographic material in conjunction with the faces of the final women, which he seemed to respond quite well to. So, we’re fairly certain his way of reproducing mimics that of ours.”

Lila’s mouth was dry, she felt nauseous, and she could barely feel her legs.

“I’m going to be honest with you, Miss Vernon,” muttered Mr. West. “This isn’t what we wanted. The procedure is risky, and you’re just as valuable to us as he is, if you’re able to carry his offspring. Atlas is much bigger and stronger than a human, and we have very little knowledge of his mating habits. We can only assume it’s similar to ours, given his anatomy. What we’re about to attempt is unprecedented.”

She shook her head as tears rolled down her cheeks. “No. I-I won’t do it.”

“You’ve signed a contract, Miss Vernon.”

“I didn’t sign up for this!”

“Yes, you did.” His voice turned harsh. “Suit yourself for not reading the fine prints, but it’s all there. Your body belongs to Howland & West Industries, to Project Titan.”

“Fuck the contract!” she spat and swallowed a sob.

Mr. West seemed unfazed. “Do I need to remind you how unpleasant your life will be if we become your enemy, Miss Vernon? You will spend a long time in prison if you don’t do this.”

She glared at him. “Maybe I’d prefer that.”

“Would you?” He cocked his head. “I thought you said you wanted to save the world. This is your chance. This is your moment. Atlas carries the potential, but you would carry the key. Don’t you see? You’d be a new Virgin Mary, the mother of the cure for every illness in the world! People would worship you for generations!”

She scowled, bile rising in her throat. “Dr. Howland would never agree to something like this. When he gets here and realizes what is happening, he’ll—”

“Miss Vernon, Dr. Howland was the one to suggest it.”

She gawked at Mr. West. She couldn’t believe her childhood hero would ever suggest such a thing. “You hired me to be a—” She sniveled as she searched for the right word. “A broodmare!”

“We hired you because you carry the perfect genetic structure for this experiment,” muttered Mr. West. “We hired you because Atlas chose you! He has spent five years alone inside that enclosure! I know that Dr. Bryce talks about him as if he were an animal, but I know he’s not. I care about him, and I want to do all I can to lessen his misery. If that means giving him you, then so be it.”

“Is it for him,” she challenged through her tears, “or is it for you?”

Mr. West pursed his mouth. “Theoretically, artificial insemination should have worked. We don’t know why it didn’t. The semen should not act the way it did. My theory is that he chooses when to conceive; maybe there’s another component that is needed, like a pheromone that is emitted during mating. Another theory is that it must be done naturally, because the sperm must have something organic to cling to. It could be anything, but if one of our theories is true, he will need a partner of flesh and blood. If neither is true… well, at least, he will have company.”

Lila tried to gather herself, but she could barely stop trembling. “And what if he kills me? Did you think about that? What if he tears me apart the moment we’re without that glass?”