Page 99 of Roping Her Alien Ranchers

The cat blinked slowly in response; a gesture I’d learned signified affection in feline communication. She rose from her curled position, stretching with elaborate precision before leaping down from the command chair and padding toward me. Her soft paws made no sound on the metal flooring.

I sat up more carefully this time, extending my shorter tentacle to curve beneath Manji’s warm body. With gentle precision, I lifted her from the floor and brought her to my chest, where she immediately began vibrating with that remarkable Earth adaptation called “purring.” The rhythmic vibration traveled through my skin, resonating with my internal structures in a way that created an unexpected sense of calm.

“There’s so many things to take apart on this planet,” I told her, stroking her fur with the tip of a primary tentacle. The texture fascinated me still. Touching it was addictive. I wondered if that was an evolutionary design, to be so soft that even predators would fall prey to the feel of it.

And then there was Tammy. Tammy with her copper hair and blue eyes. Tammy with her fierce independence and vulnerability that she tried so hard to hide. Tammy with her body that had accepted ours as if we’d been designed for each other, despite the vast evolutionary distances between our species.

“And... she’s here,” I whispered, the words carrying a weight that seemed to reconfigure the molecular structure of the air around us.

In response, Manji purred louder, her small heart beating against my chest in counterpoint to my own triple cardiac rhythm.

“Yeah, I think I should stay too,” I admitted, the words simultaneously liberating and terrifying.

But even as I said it, my tentacles continued working, muscle memory completing the repair process my conscious mind wished to abandon. The soft alloy molded perfectly against the sensors, the gelatin milk paste creating the seamless bond that would allow for optimal functionality. My body betrayed my heart’s desires, continuing the work I’d been trained to do—fixing, repairing, making things operational again.

The final component clicked into place with a soft sound that might as well have been a thunderclap. The ship’s systems recognized the completed circuit immediately, status lights shifting from amber standby to operational green across the console. A gentle hum rose from the propulsion chamber as dormant systems began their automated testing sequences.

Flight-worthy. The ship was flight-worthy again.

I sat motionless, Manji purring against my chest, as the full implications settled over me like a suffocating weight. We could leave now. We should leave now. Our mission, our people, our dying world—all demanded our immediate departure.

But my gaze fell on the barn door, beyond which lay a small ranch house where Tammy would be making coffee in her chipped blue mug, probably wondering why I hadn’t come in for breakfast yet. Beyond which lay fields where horses grazed and a raccoon had somehow formed a bond with a security specialist from another world. Beyond which lay a life I’d never imagined wanting but now couldn’t imagine leaving.

“We’re supposed to save our world,” I told Manji softly. “Not fall in love with this one.”

She had no answer for me beyond her steady purring. Perhaps that was answer enough.

37

TAMMY

Why was happiness so dang fleeting?

Iheld my breath as Kalith ran the strange alien device over Sassafras’s rounded belly, its soft blue glow casting ethereal patterns across the mare’s chestnut coat. The stable smelled of fresh hay and horse sweat, familiar scents that grounded me while my heart thundered with anticipation. Sassafras munched contentedly, oblivious to how her body might be carrying my future—my ranch’s salvation—inside her womb. Mystery watched from his stall with unusual attentiveness; his dark eyes fixed on his mate as if he understood exactly what we were checking for.

“Stay still, sweet girl,” I whispered, stroking Sassafras’s neck as she shifted slightly under the unfamiliar sensation of the scanner. “Just a few more seconds.”

Kalith moved with careful precision, his fingers dancing over the handheld device with the ease of someone who had built and rebuilt countless machines across multiple star systems. The scanner hummed softly, a musical alien tone that seemed to fascinate Mystery, whose ears pricked forward at the sound. For all his previous temperamental behavior, the stallion had become remarkably protective of Sassafras since their mating.

“The embryonic cellular patterns are unusually dense,” Kalith murmured, his brow furrowing with concentration. “I’m detecting multiple distinct heat signatures.”

“What does that mean?” I asked, my fingers tensing in Sassafras’s mane. “Is something wrong?”

Kalith didn’t answer immediately. He adjusted his device, and the blue light intensified, projecting what looked like a three-dimensional hologram above Sassafras’s belly. I squinted at the glowing image, trying to make sense of the pulsing shapes suspended in the air between us.

“Is that...” I began, my voice catching as I started to recognize the tiny, curved forms.

Kalith’s eyes widened suddenly, the brown irises flashing with gold as his human disguise momentarily slipped. A ripple of forest-green passed across his forearms, his true skin showing through the camouflage as excitement overrode his control.

“Twins,” he announced, looking up at me with a genuine smile that transformed his usually analytical expression. “Sassafras is carrying twin foals.”

I stared at him, uncomprehending for a heartbeat. Then the reality crashed over me like a wave.

“Twins?” I repeated, my voice rising to a pitch that made Sassafras flick her ears back. “Are you sure?”

“The scans are quite conclusive,” Kalith said, tapping the device to expand the holographic image. “Two distinct embryos, both exhibiting strong cellular division and proper development. They are mere days along—far too early for any Earth ultrasound to catch. But my scanner reads life the moment it kindles.”

“Twin foals,” I whispered, the words settling into my bones like a revelation. “Twin Selle Français, Quarter Horse crosses.”