Chapter Two
I splurged just outside of Vegas and stopped at a truck stop to take a shower and do some laundry before heading to another planet. The shower… well, I walked back out as soon as I saw the mold growing on top of spider corpses. I had standards. And apparently was fine meeting my husband being unwashed. Which, yeah, was saying something. I considered the washing machines at the same establishment, but thought of the condition of the showers. What sort of smells would get imbued into my clothing? Nope, re-worn clothing would have to work to meet my alien husband.
Once I got to Las Vegas I sold my car, converting it into cash, which was surprisingly easy. Apparently lots of people like to sell their vehicles in Vegas. I think it had to do with the whole gambling money at the casinos thing. I wasn’t gambling at a casino, I was gambling on a husband instead. I had no idea what my husband was going to be like, but I knew he was going to be alien. Which was impressive. I wasn’t sure if that meant that I won the lottery/gambling or not, but I’d find out after I stepped through the portal.
With all my worldly possessions and all my money in my bag, I arrived at the portal that would take me to the planet Retere.
I was very glad to learn that I was not part of the first group of women to go through. Those three ladies I could see ahead of me, and all the media attention was on them. I was very, very glad that I would not have that attention, because if the media got wind of me after dealing with all of my PR nightmare, and leaving the planet and heading to a new planet, well, that would not have been good. Especially if my new husband got embroiled in all the mess. So I avoided them, looked the other way, brushed my hair down over my face, tried to show that I was shy and just didn’t want to talk to anyone, instead of my usual pretty outspoken exuberance and decent in a crowd. What with the whole public relations background and all.
The first group walked through the portal. From what I could gather from talking to the people around me, I was going to be sent separately and not with a group. There was a cost from the alien’s end to use the app, where they had to pay a certain amount to get a spot in the portal. So if my husband was getting me across all by my lonesome, did that mean he was even more rich than the others? To be able to afford the dedicated transport? Apparently there’s only so much mass that you could send through the wormhole at a time. I didn’t know exactly how that worked — that’s for scientists to figure out, not media directors.
So I had my backpack, which they let me carry. They said they would let me bring my bags through since I was going by myself. I know the girls in front of me did not get that option — they had to send their stuff separately. Either was okay with me; I still had my possessions and could take them with me. That worked. It wasn’t like I was really leaving anything here behind. Again, it worked for me.
So with no hesitation in my gait, I stepped up to the alien portal ready to start my new life.
They called the portal an event horizon. I wasn’t exactly sure what that meant. Again, not a scientist. But the trip through the event horizon was… let’s call it different. They tried to explain to me exactly how it happened, but once they started talking about molecular dematerialization and reconstruction, I noped out. I didn’t tell them I was checking out mentally, but I just didn’t want to hear it. I had no problems with getting from Point A to Point B, I just didn’t want to hear about how it happened. Especially since it was walking across the universe in a matter of seconds.
So I knew I just had to walk straight through the event horizon, and yeah, I closed my eyes, because what with the whole walking across the universe thing, I didn’t want to see myself be dematerialized. I didn’t even want to think about that concept. So yeah, I closed my eyes and stepped through.
It wasn’t as bad as my brain was telling me it would be. It went pretty quick. Painless. I didn’t notice any pain, at least. It just seemed like… I don’t want to call it walking… It was like jumping into a pool, except it was dry when you entered. And vertical. So like, there was the event horizon being the surface of the pool, and once you got through, then everything was good. It was just that you were on a different planet.
So I stopped when I got to the other side. And then I realized, wait a minute, I’m on an alien planet. A different freaking planet. There’s nobody here that knows what happened. They don’t know about the mayor. I have a chance to start fresh. I had a man — a husband — I was meeting, and I was going to start a new life fresh with him.
I knew that all the guys that were applying to get wives were wealthy. It was not necessarily cheap to bring people across the universe. I don’t fully understand how you deal with the costs of that, but I could understand how it could be expensive. It wasn’t a short commuter flight, at least. So all the guys that were signing up to get wives were rich, and therefore I knew I didn’t have to worry about money. Which again, was a bit of a peace of mind. I was going to be taken care of. Which, after living in my car for the past three weeks, being taken care of would be rather nice. I’d no problem with the concept of getting a job, because I do like to keep busy, but I didn’t have to if I was reading everything correctly. If my husband was wealthy enough to bring me from another planet, he most likely was rich enough for me not to have to work outside the home. Which is a bit of a comfort. It’d be nice to be taken care of.
So I was standing there, thanking God that I actually made it to the other side of the wormhole in one piece. Well, maybe millions of pieces, but I got reassembled correctly, with my fingers and toes where I thought they were. I was wearing socks and shoes so I couldn’t see my toes, but when I wiggled them in my boots, they felt normal. They felt like they were all where they were supposed to be. Which is good enough for me. I’d check them later just to be sure, but hey. Good enough.
I looked around, and blinked when I saw an uniformed man coming towards me. I had heard that the aliens were all big. And this guy was no exception. Seven and a half feet tall, maybe? I don’t know — I just had to look up, and continue to look up and up when I went to meet his gaze. I was on the taller side personally, tall enough where again, the Civic wasn’t all that comfortable to sleep in. So I was used to not necessarily being intimidated by tall men, but there’s a difference between the six foot three guy at the gym and the very ripped being walking towards me that had to be almost two feet taller than me. That’s pretty darn significant.
And he was big — bulky. Not fat bulky, but muscles. And… big.
He didn’t say a whole lot.
Oh, and he was handsome. I didn’t mention that part, did I? Yes, he was very handsome. Shortish brown hair, chiseled jaw, a dusting of scruff on his face. Blue eyes that looked like they would sparkle in the right light, or if he looked at you just so. Like at that particular moment in bed, when a man moved…
I shook my head, trying not to get distracted. I had a husband to find. I shouldn’t be crushing on the first alien I saw, regardless of the fact that he was hotter than all the men I’d ever seen on Earth.
He didn’t say much, only grunted. I took the grunt to mean I should follow him. Which I did, and as we started moving I could see the other ladies that had gotten here before me doing squeals and whatnot in a room down the hall. I could see the room out of the corner of my eye, and it looked like that was where they were meeting their husbands. Except this uniformed man that I was following was leading me down a hallway. A different hallway. One that would not lead me to the room of husbands.
I did follow him though, because when there was a guy in uniform, I tend to obey and follow along. When he started to take another corner, I stopped. I knew I was close enough where if I shouted, people in the other room could still hear me. I didn’t really want to, because that would obviously bring people running, but it would make a scene. And I didn’t really want to start my new life on Retere with a scene. That was why I was leaving the last planet, and I didn’t know how many other planets the Reten knew about. It wasn’t that I necessarily felt unsafe, but I also didn’t want to put myself in a situation that might be unsafe. So I stopped, and he turned and looked at me.
“I’m not going any further before I know where you’re taking me.” I was happy I was standing up for myself, even if that was a couple feet shorter than the guy in front of me.
The handsome man in the uniform cocked an eyebrow.
“It is more private this way, going to go to the paperwork room.”
I stubbornly held my ground. “Will I be meeting my husband there?”
He smiled at me, humor filling his eyes. And yeah, those blue eyes did sparkle. “You don’t recognize me?”
I blinked and canted my head. I had to admit I didn’t look all that closely at my matched husband. But okay, there were the eyes, and… “You weren’t wearing a uniform in the picture,” I finally said, blaming him for my own lack of recognition.
He smirked right back. “And you had shorter hair in your picture.”
“Fair,” I admitted grudgingly.