Chapter Three

ARNON

My chest started to tighten as I enumerated our problems. We had already faced a grave situation, but everything was worse after the news from the scientists. I had hardly any time to brief my father before our meeting.

“This is awful,” the President said. “You need to get some women knocked up, and fast.”

The joke took everyone by surprise, and we all laughed nervously. I hadn’t expected the President to make jokes at all. She looked too taciturn for levity.

“There are other problems that we haven’t mentioned yet,” my father said.

“Are you referring to your social customs?” It was the first time Mrs. Lynch had uttered a word. I didn’t know why she and her family were here. My father turned to look at her appraisingly.

“That’s exactly to what I am referring. Our people have a reverence for women, and we don’t allow our males to have intercourse with anyone except a life partner.”

“It sounds like you have a lot of young men that need to get married immediately,” Mrs. Lynch said. “Today must be your lucky day. That’s my specialty.”

“Mrs. Lynch owns a company called TerraMates that arranges marriages between Earth women and aliens. She is the best at what she does,” the President explained.

“That’s correct. I am the best.” Mrs. Lynch smiled at the President. “My company arranges marriages. The usual terms of the agreement are that they stay married for a year. After that, there is an opportunity for divorce. Of course, in this unique circumstance we might adjust the agreement to two years. That way, the children can be born and cared for before the couple separates, if that is their desire. TerraMates has a very low divorce rate.”

My father was shaking his head. He looked at me to explain the problem.

“No, I’m afraid that won’t do for us at all, Mrs. Lynch.” I was acutely aware of her daughter’s beautiful blue-green eyes staring at me.

“Why not?”

“On Auxem, we mate for life.”

The room grew quiet. I could feel everyone’s disbelief rising. Someone shouted out, “That’s why you’re not making any babies!”

“It’s not a conscious choice,” I stammered, scrambling to try and explain a complicated concept in seconds. “It’s biological. Once we claim...”

Jayne Lynch coughed loudly.

“The ceremony is superficial for us. What links an Auxem man to his woman is a physical and emotional bond. Once a man bonds with a woman, he loses all interest in any other female. If she dies, he will never mate with anyone else.”

“Are you kidding me?” The person who spoke up was a member of the President’s entourage. “Well, that would take care of the problem of infidelity, now wouldn’t it?” She looked bitter. I wondered if she had a husband in the past who had cheated on her. I had heard of such things happening on other planets, but it was non-existent on our world.

“We are only trying to explain our world to you. We cannot enter into an arranged marriage with anyone. For us, divorcing after a year would be torture. We need women willing to become life partners.” I looked around the room, but no one was ready to meet my eye. They were still absorbing the full meaning of my words.

Mrs. Lynch was the first to speak. “That’s going to be more of a challenge than I anticipated, but I’m sure we’ll figure out a solution.” From her expression, she had no idea about the magnitude of the task in front of her. She whispered to her husband, and they both nodded.

Maybe humans could mate for life after all. She seemed to have a life bond with her partner. I turned my head to look at their daughter. She was studying me with a curious expression on her face.

I wondered if she was thinking about our kiss last night and how it fit into my story. I was thinking about it too. Was I falling for a girl I had only met the night before? I wondered if it would be a good idea to get emotionally involved with her. She might not be a match for me, and we didn’t know if she had the right genes.

I felt my cock start to stir at the thought of reproducing with her, and immediately shifted my thoughts away from Jayne Lynch. The last thing I needed was to embarrass myself in front of all these dignitaries. The President was speaking again, and I turned my attention back to her.

“Long ago, there was a similar situation in the western United States. Women were scarce, and mail order brides were common. Those who married did it for different reasons, but they all understood it was for a good cause. As long as the women know what they are getting themselves into, it will work.”

“So you agree, then?” I knew Father was trying to sound calm, but there was a hint of desperation in his tone.

“Hang on a minute.” The President’s face looked like it was made from steel. “I never said I agreed to hand over Earth women into your custody. Your Majesty, we know nothing about you. Your planet is light-years away. We would need to have certain assurances.” She trailed off as if she wasn’t sure what to say next.

“We should send a few women as test subjects,” Mrs. Lynch cut in. “We would need to ensure they were safe and treated properly.”

“That’s a good idea. We can monitor an advance team for physical health, emotional health, and overall happiness.” The President nodded at Mrs. Lynch.

“But we don’t have time. We need wives right away.”

“If you need the females, you will have to make time for this.” The President’s voice was firm. “How long before you can’t reproduce?”

“The scientists estimate between one and two years.”

“We can arrange a group who will return with you as a trial. If everything you’ve said is the truth and there is no danger, we will begin scaling up. You can send ships filled with your men to Earth, and they can start living together as couples on the way to Auxem.” She stared off into space, calculating. “There will be time enough.”

My father nodded. It wasn’t like we had a choice in the matter. If they were willing to give us their women and all they required was a trial period, we would do it.

“We’ll have to run the numbers as to the exact number of women and calculate the time frames. I’m sure we can save your people from extinction together.”

Father looked troubled, but I knew he was trying to be grateful. The idea that an upstart, low-class little planet was dictating terms to us must have irritated him. But we both knew that we were out of options. We needed women without the H4T7 gene and Earth seemed like the biggest source. We just had to prove that life on Auxem was as good as we said.

JAYNE

After the startling revelations at the President’s meeting, my family sat at home trying to figure out how TerraMates could present Auxem as an incredible opportunity. Recruiting women for the initial trial would be difficult.

Mom sighed. “The volunteers are going to have to be tough and self-sufficient. We don’t know what kind of situation we’re sending them into.”

“I don’t think we need to worry about their mental fortitude,” I said. “You’ve already received initial reports back from your scout team. They all say the Auxem are telling the truth.”

“You never know what people are up to,” Dad said. “They could be playing us. They could have an ulterior motive that they’re not disclosing to us.”

I felt irritated that he could talk about Arnon and his family as if they were a bunch of con artists. “There was nothing but honesty on their faces. I’m a psychologist. I know how to read people. They were telling the truth.”

Dad smiled at me. I knew he loved me, but he never treated my opinions like they mattered. His attitude got on my nerves.

“I don’t think the women should go by themselves,” Mom said slowly. “We need a leader to help make decisions. Maybe we can send one of the regional managers or franchise owners.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Dad said. “Everyone who fits that description is either your age, which is a little past the childbearing years, or they’re in relationships and have families of their own.” He proceeded to list off all the TerraMates employees, tapping a finger for each one as he eliminated them. “You can’t expect any of them to go to another planet. You’ll be needed here on Earth. Even if you weren’t, I’m not letting you anywhere near those guys. They must be ready to fuck anything that moves.” His voice trailed off as he glanced at me.

“Yes, Khellen. All your caveman posturing aside, I definitely can’t go. I wasn’t saying I should. But who can we send? It has to be someone we can trust implicitly to both shepherd the women and be a spy for us on the ground.”

My parents stared at each other in dismay. After a moment, my mother spoke. “No one can do it. We’ll have to hire someone and hope a background check and our instincts will be enough.”

“You’d be willing to put those women into some stranger’s hands? I think we can come up with something better than that.”

When I spoke, my voice broke the silence like a crystal glass shattering on the floor. “I’ll do it.”

My mother shook her head. Her face was dark as a thunderstorm.

“Do what?” my father asked. He was always a little slower on the uptake compared to Mom.

“I’ll be your representative. I’ll go, and I’ll watch over everyone. You know I’ll tell the truth.”

“I hope you’re joking.”

“Baby, you’re much too young for something like this…”

“What about getting a job?”

“We can’t possibly let you go.”

I held up my hand, and they stopped talking over each other. “There is no one else who can do this. We just decided that. These people are going to go extinct if we don’t help them. What can be more important than preventing the annihilation of an entire race?”

“Jayne, it’s too dangerous.” My mother was getting frustrated. “It’s fine for other people. It’s not fine for you. You’re still my baby.”

“I’m twenty-seven. Weren’t you pregnant with Maria when you were my age, saving Dad from becoming nothing but a sperm donor? How is this any different from you?”

Mom and Dad looked at each other. “Think about this,” Dad said. “You’d be little more than a brood mare for these people.”

“I think it’s different.” I was highly insulted for myself and Arnon’s people. “Marriage isn’t the same on their planet. It’s forever, and there’s no divorce. They revere women. Did your investigators have anything to say about that, Mom? It sounded to me like they were telling the truth.”

Mom and Dad were tag-teaming me. “You’ve got to be reasonable,” my mother said, trying again. “The other women will be coming from situations where they don’t have any other choice. I’ve worked to give you options. You have your whole life ahead of you. You said yourself that you want to date and choose the man you’re going to love and marry. Why would you want to throw everything away like this?”

I thought about Arnon and his burning brown eyes. I remembered him saying that I was an angel and that I would be his. The memory gave me goosebumps all over again. Maybe I wasn’t as reasonable and self-sacrificing as I thought.

In the back of my mind, I thought Arnon would choose me if I volunteered. I wondered if he really would. Would a single kiss be enough to convince an alien to marry me?

I couldn’t tell Mom and Dad that. They thought I was foolish enough as it was.

“This is you saving the birds again, isn’t it? You have to overcome your instinct to rescue everything.” My mother shook her head. I appreciated that they were concerned about me, but I couldn’t help laughing.

“You’re ridiculous.” My voice said one thing, but my head thought something else. She was uncannily accurate with the bird reference. I preferred to think of them as angels, myself. “Saving an entire race is the complete opposite of wasting my life.”

“People, we have a plan.” My mother was pacing back and forth at the front of the room. All the executives who ran TerraMates were gathered for a meeting to discuss the Auxem project. “There are three steps. First, we will screen the women with the new mental fortitude test we’ve developed. Second, we will test them for the gene. Third, we will interview everyone and make sure they understand how their life is going to change.”

Heads nodded all over the board room.

“We will choose fifty suitable women to start. Jayne will lead them. She can supervise everyone and act as a liaison between Auxem and Earth.”

A few curious glances turned my way, but no one said anything. I was certain they were glad it was me going instead of them.

“Because of the permanent nature of the Auxem marriage bond, there will be a series of parties held where the women and men can meet and self-select a partner. It is important the pairings not be arbitrary or arranged by anyone else.”

A hand raised at the back of the room. “Why is that?” It was Aretha, the European division’s director.

Mom explained that the Auxem bonded for life. “Once twenty couples have self-selected, an official from Auxem will bond and marry them according to their customs. We want to make sure each marriage will be legal and binding on both planets.”

“Sounds all right so far.”

“The women will board starships with their husbands and return to Auxem. The couple will be given a few months to conceive naturally. If they have any problems, we will provide fertility assistance. After conception, the women will give birth on Auxem and begin their lives as citizens of another planet.”

My mom turned to look at me. I stood up, feeling nervous to be addressing so many people. I had to remember that I had trained for this position and I would be good at my job. I was going to take care of these women.

“That’s where I come in. The BioScans will be storing information about the brides, but we will need to send the data to Earth periodically. Along with the formal statistics, I will be gathering information about our women’s emotional and mental states. The plan is for me to report back, describing the women’s treatment and health care, as well the dynamics I see between each woman and her husband.”

“Jayne will provide essential information, helping the President to make an informed decision. Let me stress that this is a pilot program. We still need to figure out if we are going to allow more women to emigrate to Auxem.”

Aretha spoke again. “Are you are willing to take this position, Jayne? You said they. Shouldn’t you have said we? Are you going to be part of the initial program too?”

“Yes, of course. I’m willing. I volunteered.”

“Why would you do that?”

“How often does a girl get a chance to save a planet from extinction?” I shrugged and smiled at the female faces around me. Most were laughing at my joke, but a few showed concern beneath their smiles.

For the first time, I felt a twinge of fear in my heart. What was I getting myself into?