Alien Dragon Read Online Free PDF

human.”
    He nods.
    “That’s what they tell me.”
    “You don’t really know?”
    “My mother came to Taneyemm as a refugee. She was pregnant. I don’t know if she came from Earth or another planet, but the dragons took her in. She gave birth to me there, but died shortly after. I was raised by a Taneyemm family as one of their own.”
    “That’s very generous of them,” I say. Raising someone else’s child? How interesting. It happens on Earth still because parents die so frequently, but I’ve never heard of someone raising a child from another species. That’s fascinating to me. I imagine his Taneyemm caregivers must have been very generous and kind. They must have been very doting.
    “Yes,” Hal says simply. “They’re quite lovely. I hope you can meet them sometime.”
    We turn down another hall and suddenly, we’re standing in front of a door. It doesn’t open like a normal door. This one is designed to slide sideways, as are most of the doors on the ship. I still can’t quite get used to the swoosh sound they all make. This one doesn’t open as we approach, though. Hal has to input some numbers on a digital keypad next to the door. Then he presses his thumb to the pad. Finally, the door opens and we walk into a dining area.
    “Seems like a lot of work to get a little food,” I murmur, and he nods knowingly.
    “Yes, but you must remember that this food has been rationed for four years and must be rationed another four. We have gardens on the ship, but if someone decided to sneak in and take more than his or her fair share of the meals, we would starve before we reached home.”
    Home.
    He calls Taneyemm “home.”
    Will that be me someday? Will I always consider Earth to be home? Or will I change, too? Will there come a time when I stop thinking of Earth as a place that’s “mine”?
    It doesn’t even seem like a stretch to believe that. Earth hasn’t felt like “home” in a very long time. No, I feel like a woman who has no home. I have nothing to return to. There is no one to miss me. There is nothing.
    Taneyemm might be awful, but it must be better than what I came from.
    Even if it’s a planet full of fucking dragons.
    That’s a pretty well-kept secret because I’ve never even heard rumors of that one. Oh sure, people have stories about shifters, or “changers,” if you’re old school, but alien dragons? That’s a new one. I’ve certainly never heard about that in regards to Taneyemm. I actually know very little about the planet I’m going to.
    As we sit down and trays of food appear in front of us, I realize I’m going to have a lot to get used to.
    “What is it?” I ask, but Hal shakes his head.
    “Wrong.”
    “What?” I’m confused.
    “Wrong. Never ask what something is. It’s rude. Do you want me to help you prepare for your new life or not?”
    I nod slowly.
    “Then we start now. I’m not pulling that crap where I let you run free for three years and then suddenly try to prepare you for your new life. The other girls will be woken one month before we arrive and taught what they need to know, but you? You’ve got four damn years to learn. We start now. Never ask what someone gives you.”
    “I’m sorry,” I say quickly, and I pick up my fork to begin eating. It’s been so long since I had real food that I devour the whole thing quickly. Everything tastes good. Hal looks surprised, so I assume this is supposed to be “bad” food. Hey, when you’ve been scavenging on a broken and bleeding planet for years, anything would taste better than fried rats.
    Anything.
    Even the few times I’ve been able to grow vegetables, they’ve always been limp and tiny. Nothing like the food my mother used to grow before the war.
    Nothing like that.
    “Okay,” Hal says, finishing his own food much more slowly. “So, in the future, don’t act like you haven’t eaten in a year, okay?”
    “But I-“
    “I know, darling,” he holds up his hand. “That’s why it’s