Selena sighed as she signed her last patient’s medical files before she called it a day. It had been a hard day, with several patients coming to the emergency room after a damaged building collapsed, killing a few people and injuring a several more.
It was maddening and highly frustrating to work with barely the essential medical supplies and very little medicines, and she knew it wouldn’t get any better, at least, not anytime soon. The hospital’s director asked his staff to save as much as possible of the few resources they had since they had been told there was hardly anything left.
“Nurse Martinez, please approach the reception desk. There’s a message for you there,” one of the doctors warned her, as he walked by her.
“Thank you, Dr. Suarez. I’ll see you in the morning,” she replied with a faint smile. The man nodded and with another sigh, she walked towards the reception. “Hi, Maria, I was told you had a message for me,” she said to the older woman sitting behind the desk.
“Yes, querida, I have it here,” she handed her an envelope. “I was hoping you wouldn’t be leaving so soon,” the woman complained, having recognized the envelope.
Selena doubted the meaning behind Maria’s words before she took the envelope from the other woman’s hand. She hadn't expected an answer so fast. After all, she had been to the office only a couple of days ago.
“I wish I could stay longer, only things are getting worse, and you know that,” she replied, with a sad tone, putting the envelope in her pocket with shaky hands.
The woman nodded. “I know girl, I know. I wish I could do the same, but who would want an old woman like me?” she said, with a self-deprecating grin.
“You can’t know that for sure, Maria. It’s a vast universe.”
The woman shook her head. “I’m too old for that kind of adventures,” she admitted. “Besides, I can’t even afford the cheapest fee. All of my money is spent on food.”
“I know what you mean, it took me a while to save the money to pay the lowest fee,” Selena admitted.
“I hope you get a good dowry, girl, your parents will need it once you’re gone,” the woman said, sighing.
“I know. We’ll see.” She took a deep breath. “I better get going, my father worries when I’m late.”
She walked all the way home feeling as if she was carrying a ticking time bomb. She had to make a considerable effort not to open the envelope the minute she left the hospital, but she needed the privacy of her room for that task. She wouldn’t tell her parents anything until she was sure she could accept the man bidding for her.
She wondered if he had sent her a picture, but she knew she was hoping for too much. The man at the agency at told her she would only see him once she got to wherever he lived.
Her mother was finishing dinner when she got home, and though she wanted to go upstairs to her room to finally open the letter, she forced herself to stay in the kitchen and help her set the table.
Her father was watering the few vegetables they had in the garden.
Dinner seemed to last an eternity and when Selena finally closed the door to her room behind her back. She was so anxious, her whole body trembled.
Taking a few deep breaths, Selena sat on her bed and took the envelope out of her pocket.
The message was brief. Mail Order Bride had found a match for her on a planet called Sumirion. The place had a very low demographic density, and he was requesting a wife to provide him with companionship.
Considering the planet was quite far from Earth, he was willing to pay her family the highest dowry to compensate any problems that might cause. When Selena took a look at the amount her parents would receive, she nearly hyperventilated. She had never seen a number with that many zeros in it. Her parents would be protected for a long time with that amount of money.
There wasn’t much information on the man, but she knew she couldn’t ask for more than they had given her. She would have to make her decision based on the little detail they had given her and the fact he was willing to pay such an amount of money to have her as his wife.
That fact, by itself, was somewhat suspicious. Why would he offer to pay a lot more than what was established for the fee she had paid? That could only mean he was sure she wouldn’t find him an acceptable candidate and he was literally paying her to marry him.
She sighed, rubbing her pounding forehead. There was no way she could say no. She would never get an offer like that one again, she was sure of it, and the whole purpose of putting herself in such a situation was to give her parents a better life.
A gentle knock on her door startled her, and she quickly hid the letter under her pillow, before she invited her mother in.
“What’s going on, Selena? You’ve been too restless all night?” the woman asked, as she took a seat on the bed, next to her daughter. “Did you get an answer from the agency?”
Selena sighed. Her mother knew her too well, that was for sure. She pulled the letter from underneath the pillow and handed it to her.
Her mother let out a small cry of astonishment. “How were you able to afford the highest fee?” her mother asked, shocked.
“I wasn’t. I paid the lowest one, but if you read the message you will understand why you would be paid such an amount,” she explained to her mother.
“This sounds fishy, what if he’s some kind of monster? What do we know about him or about this planet they mention?” her mother asked, apparently concerned with the man’s generosity.
They had been through so much already that they didn’t trust easily. “I’m sure the agency investigates their clients thoroughly. Otherwise, no one would ever use their service.”
Her mother let out a deep sigh, running her shaky fingers through her graying hair. “You’re considering this offer.”
It wasn’t a question, but Selena answered it anyway. “Yes, I am. I’ll never get a better offer, mamá. And if he’s this generous with the dowry, he’ll probably be more open to the possibility of removing you guys from this hell.”
“You can’t know that for sure,” her mother grumbled.
“No, I can’t,” she accepted. “Either way, with the money he’s offering you would be able to live a decent life for a long time.”
Her mother shook her head. “You can’t do this thinking of us, Selena. This is your life we’re talking about. You’ll be the one who will have to put up with this guy, whoever he is,” there was a hint of desperation in her tone and Selena hugged her. “I want you to be happy, to find a love like the one I found when I met your father.”
“Mamá, you know that’s just wishful thinking, this world is quite far from the one you knew when you were younger,” she said, trying to comfort her.
“It’s not fair. This whole situation is so unfair it makes me want to scream from the top of my lungs,” her mother cried out.
“I know mamá, but it’s useless to think like that, and you know that. I’m sure I’ll be alright, and the minute I get there, I’ll find a way to send you a message and let you know how everything is.”
“You’ve made up your mind?”
“Yes, this is the best offer I’ll ever have, mamá. I would be foolish if I said no.”
She had made her decision at that precise moment. She wanted to give her mother a better place to live, and this was the only way she would ever be able to achieve that. Sure, she would be the only one marrying the guy, but she was sure there were worse alternatives.
“When do you have to leave?” her father’s voice startled them. He was at the door, leaning against the frame.
“According to the letter, in a couple of days. Apparently, he’s in a hurry to get a wife, and his planet is quite far from here,” she explained, with a sigh.
“Are you sure you’re making the right decision?” her father asked her, with a stern tone.
“Yes, I am. I won’t get a better offer, that’s for sure, papá.”
He nodded. “We just want you to be happy and safe, not to sacrifice yourself for us.”
She got up and closed the distance between them. “I know that papá, as well as you know this is the only way to get a chance of getting that,” she reminded him.
He hugged her and sighed. “Yes, I know, we just wished things were different.”
“Me too, papá, me too,” she assured him.
The following couple of days were quite chaotic for Selena. Quitting her job, signing all the required papers and preparing her baggage took a lot more time than she had thought possible. Deciding what to take and what to leave behind proved to be a challenge in itself, but she finally managed to finish packing.
Her wedding day, if you could call the cold ceremony of signing wedding papers. It was nothing like what she had dreamed. An office clerk from the agency and a couple of witnesses for both parties were summoned to the agency. Selena signed the marriage certificate, after the man’s quick speech on marriage and how important it was to preserve the base of any civilized society.
It was an awkward event, but she guessed she couldn’t expect much more from a cold marriage like the one she had signed for.
Anabella left one day before she was scheduled to depart and Selena was able to say goodbye to her and give her the coordinates of what should become her new home.
“Promise me you’ll get in touch with me as soon as possible,” her friend asked her, as she hugged her.
“I will, I promise. Just concentrate on being happy with your new husband. Don’t look back, you’re not leaving anything behind worth missing.”
She nodded, and they chatted for as long as possible before her friend left.
The day of her departure finally arrived. Saying goodbye to her parents was the hardest thing she’d ever done in her life, but it comforted her that she was leaving them as protected as possible.
Selena took a plane from her hometown to the country’s capital, Buenos Aires. There, she was notified she was to wait for the spaceship that would come pick her and a few other women up. It wasn’t a surprise to find Mariana in the same group. They were both happy to see a familiar face, and they vowed to stay together as much as possible.
She had to admit she was a bit worried about the trip to her new husband’s planet, so, having company would certainly make things easier.
They had to wait the whole day at the airport for women to arrive from all over the country. When they were finally ready, a huge spaceship entered the Earth’s atmosphere and floated over the city. A smaller ship left the larger one and landed at the airport.
Three creatures walked down from the shuttle and headed to the room where the women waited. It was their first face to face encounter with an alien, and a thick silence filled the room.
Looking pretty much like walking reptiles, with scales and reptilian faces, they were creepy, to say the least, and some women looked shocked. Apparently, they had never considered the possibility their husbands wouldn’t be humanoid.
One of the creatures greeted them and introduced the group to the women. “We are Cetians, from planet Cetia, of the Fifth Quadrant. We created the Mail Order Bride agency to help people all over the universe to find their perfect match,” the creature explained. It was hard to determine their gender underneath the flowing tunics they all wore. “We’ve been doing this for a long time now, and we’ve never had a complaint from any of our customers. I’m sure that won’t change.”
Selena was sure they had just been threatened. The word failure wasn’t in their vocabulary.
After the creature’s speech, the women were guided inside the ship and transported to the main vessel. Once there, they were taken to their rooms and informed of how long their trip would be.
“You’re headed to Sumirion. That’s in the first quadrant. It will take us fifteen rotations to get there. During our journey there, you’ll have an automatic translation device implanted into your auditory system, to facilitate communication with all known species in the universe,” the creature explained.
“Thank you.”
“You’re free to walk around and enjoy the common areas of the ship, but please respect other people’s privacy,” the creature warned her. “We’ve installed a library, a gym and even a pool for the brides’ entertainment, so feel free to use them at will.”
With those words, Selena was left alone to enjoy her small suite. Though it wasn’t luxurious, it was quite comfortable, and she knew she would enjoy her time on board if she were able to forget for a few days the future that waited for her at the end of it.