Tayla looked up in awe at the Washington Monument, one of the few pre-war structures remaining in Washington DC, “So we didn’t destroy it during our invasion?” she asked curiously.

“No, apparently they painted it green,” Smith said with a smirk, “I guess your people wanted to keep it for themselves.”

“You two should reserve the sightseeing for after we are done with the Earth military contractors,” Liana called, waving them along the national mall.

“She’s right,” Tayla said with a sigh, “mother has been insistent that I spend more and more time on matters of state… I don’t know what’s gotten into her!”

Smith frowned, having a few guesses, but he kept his thoughts to himself. For now, he was visiting Earth, the newly pledged consort of an alien princess, later that day they’d be in Hawaii, a place he’d always wanted to visit but had never had the time or the money for. This was supposed to be something like their honeymoon, but Empress Tetra had asked her daughter to take care of “a few small things” while they were on the blue planet.

In the humidity of the D.C. summer, Smith almost missed the nanofabric of Zeta Prime, the traditional earth suit becoming stifling as he adjusted his tie slightly.

Tayla seemed to notice, and she smiled as she leaned in, “I like this attire… it’s what you wore when I first saw you.” She curled a finger through his hair, “If it is uncomfortable though… Liana and I will help you out of it later.”

The Amazonian princess squeezed him tight to her for a moment, then let go, giving him a peck on the cheek as they walked to the meeting.

…

Jolene sighed happily, Amra and Meana were each rubbing one of her feet, the diminutive Zetans looking up at her excitedly as she watched the stars drift by outside the viewport. Tolith squirmed in the front of her panties, trapped and exciting her more with every passing moment, and Zenya had earned her spot in the back, trapped between Jolene’s cheeks.

“M-Miss Jolene,” Amra said hesitantly, “if you made us all smaller there might be room in there for all of us-“

“Oh sweetie,” Jolene laughed, leaning forward and ruffling the four-foot Zetans hair, “it’s not about room, we all agreed you four were going to play the Game of Life, and the winners would get first pick of spots, Tolith and Zenya beat you two fair and square, so they’re in my underwear today and you two are out here on foot duty.” She gave a small smile, “better luck next time with the spinner.”

“Yes Miss Jolene,” Amra said, her Zetan ears dipping slightly as she stood up, following Jolene across the room.

“Now as much as I’d love to drift through space punishing my little pets all day,” she drawled, “we do have some actual work to do. She checked a small wall monitor, quickly finding the location of the other ships in the convoy, “Looks like Nea and Kurt got up at 0600 and started on their relays right away… Joey and Telma are out placing theirs too.”

Jolene moaned a moment as the two prisoners in her underwear seemed to be going inward at the same time. She chuckled, seeing the envious expression the faces of the two Zetans behind her.

“We’re going to be out here charting the lane for New Tombstone for at least two years, you two will get plenty of turns to be tiny and ride around in my underwear,” she said sternly, “so stop the pouting.” She snapped her fingers, “go get your space suits on! Last one dressed…” she tried to think of what to threaten, what was a punishment and what was a reward to her Zetan crew seemed to blur, “last one dressed is spending the night in my workout socks, chop chop!” they squealed in delight, then ran for their work stations.

Jolene took a final look outside at the stars before joining them, and smiled. My own place, she thought, dreaming of the planet waiting for them at the journey’s end, my own sky…

…

Joey floated in space, the jets of his spacesuit allowing him to easily maneuver around the hyperlane beacon as he activated it. A small red light flared to life at the top of the structure as it powered on, and Joey checked it off on his wrist computer, marking it as set and in good working order.

“You still out here working?” Kurt’s voice came over the intercom. Joey turned to see Kurt floating by in his own space suit, dancing acrobatically high in orbit above a gaseous orange planet that loomed large below them. Jolene had determined this system would make a good base for some of their hyperlane beacons, and while it had no habitable planets, it was beautiful.

“Not all of us get up at the crack of dawn,” Joey laughed, “you know we’re supposed to try to stick to a standard twenty-four-hour schedule, right?”

“What can I say, I have to get up early and hide Nea’s shrink ray,” Kurt joked, releasing his beacon and watching it tumble into a slow orbit.

“You going over to Adam and Kira’s shuttle later?” Joey asked, “they invited us for dinner, and Telma wants to get to know them.”

“Nea and I will stop by,” Kurt said, glancing back at their own shuttle.

Each of the colonization shuttles had a fairly simplistic pill shaped design, and while the ships themselves were the size of football fields and a good hundred feet tall, the living quarters in each one was only the size of perhaps a three-bedroom apartment. Going two to a shuttle, their convoy stretched among the stars. They were actually fairly fortunate, Kurt had heard of some operations that forced up to ten people in one… quite the cramped years-long journey.

“I think I’m wrapping things up here,” Joey said, seeing a message from Telma flash across the inside of his visor. “Head home space cowboy,” it read, “I need your help to relax after a long day of work.” He felt blood rushing to his groin and he grinned, “I’ll see you later Kurt, I’m gonna go… freshen up.”

…

Adam sighed, lookup up at the ridge of Kira’s shoe overhead. The smell of her foot radiated all around him, and she’d shrunken him small enough that climbing out was out of the question. He saw a grinning green face fill his field of vision overhead, and waved his arms frantically, trying to get her attention.

“Awake?” Kira giggled, “sorry, you fell asleep on the couch and you looked sooo cute… but I wanted to watch the viewscreen, so I just put you in your favorite sleeping spot.”

“Put me back to full size!” he playfully demanded, “I smell like your foot and I need to wash up before everyone comes over for dinner!”

“As though I’d let you wash yourself,” Kira said with a smirk, reaching down for him. She carried his tiny naked form to the kitchen, eager to scrub him down in the sink.

She paused a moment, “are we still pretending we don’t know that “Nyla” is actually princess Nea?”

“I can’t keep track of what we’re supposed to know,” Adam muttered, “let’s just tell them we know everything over dinner.” He smiled up at Kira as she turned the tap water on, “those two are lucky we’re settling a planet in the middle of nowhere, nobody out here will question why Kurt Miller, the man who lost his Zetan love, is now with another Zetan woman who looks very much like the dead princess…”

“Young love,” Kira said with a smile, “I think it’s sweet how they think we’re fooled, oh Adam, let’s let them think they’re keeping the secret just a little longer?”

“It is funny watching them slip up names when we’re around,” Adam chuckled, “okay, we’ll-“ the rest of his thoughts were cut off as Kira pushed him under the column of warm tap water with a giggle.

…

Nea sipped a cherry cola, having finally abandoned a lifetime of avoidance and trying Earth’s fabled “sodas,” a beverage she had spent most of her life railing against. The sweetness and flavor were overwhelming, and she couldn’t get enough. It made a fine beverage to cap off a day of work, and she had opened one as soon as she’d returned to the small living room on the colony shuttle that she and Kurt shared.

She scrunched her toes around the other thing from Earth she couldn’t get enough of, giggling as Kurt fought against her slightly grimy sole. Her feet had spent the day inside a pair of standard work boots as Nea had helped prepare hyperlane beacons for placement, and she’d learned that Kurt seemed to enjoy them a little… dirty.

“If you admit that you belong beneath Zetan feet, I’ll let you up,” she teased.

“Never!” Kurt shouted, gasping as Nea rubbed her foot across his naked body in a practiced maneuver that she knew would drive him wild.

“It’s over human,” she barked, “I’ve taken you and your…” she looked playfully at the bottle in her hand, “sodas, both of you are mine now!” She let her big toe trace over his face, flooding his nose and mouth with the heavy musk of her sweat.

“I won’t surrender,” Kurt called, “I’ll… oh fuck” he spasmed, pinned in place by Nea’s soft sole as he came.

“And another victory for the Zetan princess,” Nea said smugly, watching him collapse against the floor.

“I didn’t realize we were keeping score,” Kurt muttered with a grin, stepping upright as Nea lifted her bare foot off of him.

“Perhaps we should?” Nea giggled, “you’re very fun when you’re being… competitive.” She reached for her shrink ray, clicking him quickly back to full size, and letting him collapse next to her on the couch. Her nose wrinkled, “you smell awful!” she teased, “go wash yourself!”

Kurt just roped an arm around her, pulling her into a kiss as she squealed and playfully fought him, “oh no,” he said in a teasing tone, “now you’re all dirty too, I guess we’ll both have to shower?”

“Indeed,” Nea said, returning the smile.

As the colony convoy drifted through space, the hopes and dreams of those on board lit a path through the blackness of the void. For Nea and Kurt, it wouldn’t matter what kind of world was waiting at the end, as long as the other was in it.