She was here. I’d been able to sense her ever since they’d woken me from my cryosleep. My mate was close, but her scent was off. It was clearly her, but it wasn’t quite right. Maybe my instincts were off after sleeping for too long. I wasn’t even sure how long I’d been in that cryopod. Awakening had been rude and painful.

I dimly remembered rough hands pushing me along a corridor, into this cell, before the door had closed behind me. It hadn’t opened for several days. Food was pushed through a small hatch, but no matter how much I shouted at the being on the other side, they would never answer.

I had no idea where I was. I didn’t even know what year it was. All I remembered was getting into my cryopod to prepare for the long journey to Kev-4, the planet most of my people had already fled to. War, famine and pollution had decimated our own planet and Kev-4 held the hope of new beginnings, a better life. The journey was supposed to take just under two intergalactic years, hence the cryopods. It was the fastest I could afford. If I’d had the money, I could have made the trip in a single IG month, but my savings didn’t stretch that far.

I was sure this wasn’t Kev-4. It was too cold for that. I shivered, wishing I had a blanket. I still only wore the loincloth I’d put on in preparation for cryosleep. Whoever the beings were who’d taken me prisoner, they didn’t care much for my wellbeing.

The first moment of happiness was when I’d smelled her scent. My mate. It was likely that she’d been on the same ship as me. Maybe we’d been attacked by pirates. The route to Kev-4 was long and went through some barely chartered parts of the galaxy, so it wasn’t unheard of for ships bound to get captured by pirates. Usually, they stuck to asking for a ransom or simply ransacking the vessel, stealing all valuables before letting their captives go. But not in my case.

At least my mate was with me. Her scent had become stronger over the course of the past few IG hours, and now she was close. I almost expected the door to open to reveal my beautiful female, but instead, a sound above made me look up. A small square vent was my only source of fresh air, but I’d already discarded it as a possible escape route. It was too tiny for me. It should have been too small for any Gofren, but there she was, my mate. I couldn’t see her in the dark, but I sensed her presence.

“Mate,” I said hoarsely.

I’d waited for this moment all my life. I’d imagined hundreds of different scenarios about how our first encounter would go. This hadn’t been one of them. In some of my dreams, I’d rescued my mate from scores of enemies, thereby instantly earning me her gratitude and love. I’d not expected to be the one who needed rescuing.

“What?” she asked from above in an unknown language, instantly translated by my implant. Why wasn’t she speaking Gofren Standard? Was she from one of the more remote parts of my planet where they still stuck to some of the old indigenous dialects? It didn’t matter. My implant would do the work until we could learn each other’s languages.

“Mate,” I repeated. “Can you understand me?”

“Yes,” she said after a moment’s silence. “I can understand you. I have a translator slug.”