“I have to wonder if the matchmaking service isn’t taking advantage of the Earth women’s ignorance about cyborgs,” Jenna said to her husband, Captain Zeke Be`Kal. “You said they were born and conditioned to be ruthless killers in war.”
“They are,” he said. “But they also have their emotions suppressed on active duty. They go through reprogramming and psych evaluations and rehab if necessary. They are more humanoid than a machine.”
“I would just hate to be leaving an unsuspecting woman from my world with a cyborg might end up breaking her heart or even worse,” Jenna said.
“It was her choice,” Zeke said.
“But was it an informed choice?”
“They may be trained and programmed to kill in war, but they are also trained to protect females who are not in armed combat against them,” Zeke said. “I’ve never heard of one hurting a female.”
“Maybe not physically, but can he really love her? People who use a matchmaking service are looking for love. Are cyborgs even capable of love?” Jenna persisted.
“I think you answered your own question,” Zeke said. “Her cyborg applied to the service to find him a mate. I think that might mean he is also looking for love.”
“I didn’t think of that.”
Skye couldn’t stop herself from eavesdropping outside the dining room when she heard Jenna mention cyborgs and matchmaking. But she finally decided she’d better make herself known before someone saw her.
“What was that about cyborgs?” she asked as she breezed into the room to get some breakfast.
Jenna looked up at her a bit ruefully. “Cyborgs are some of the most dangerous beings alive, and I worry that Earth women don’t know what they are getting into by agreeing to mate with them.”
“Oh, I did the research, but the service assured me that Rader has been appropriately screened and deemed eligible for matching,” Skye told her. “We have been talking almost every day since I’ve been aboard and exchanged vid-mails. Rader seems completely devoted to our relationship.”
“Well, I really hope it works out for you,” Jenna said sincerely. “I just don’t want these alien matchmakers taking advantage of us backward Earthlings for profit.” Jenna gave her husband a playful look as she said it. All of the passengers knew full well that Captain Be`Kal was an alien. His feline eyes and blue hair were feline humanoid traits.
Early in the journey, they had all heard the story of how Zeke and his brother rescued Jenna and some other Earth women from alien slavers. They told the story to every group of Earther’s they transported for the matching service. Jenna was his meomee the Narovian term for a soul mate.
When recognition occurs, the soul mates become so aroused sexually they must mate almost immediately. It happened to Zeke and Jenna right in the middle of the mission. The way they told the story had the guests laughing so hard they could hardly eat. The timing could have been better, but it was clear that Zeke and Jenna were completely in love and devoted to one another.
That’s what Skye wanted to have with Rader. In just a few days, her new life would begin. Between long conversations with Rader and reading, Skye had participated in the group activities that Jenna had planned for them. She even had time to work out in the gym regularly. It was almost like a vacation.
She was friendly with the other passengers, but not really close with any of them, partly because she would probably never see any of them again. Skye was the only one going to Glasica, which was their first stop.
Jenna had told them the Zephyr was actually small as freighters went but too big to land anywhere they didn’t plan to stay awhile. It was actually big enough to fill a football field and then some, but most of that was taken up by the cargo bay.
Tray Morikin, second in command, would be flying the shuttle taking Skye down to the planet. He was also delivering goods for local merchants, so they took the large freight shuttle instead of the six-passenger flyer. Skye had commed Rader of their arrival before she boarded the shuttle in the passenger section. A bot tram took her luggage to the shuttle after she had checked every nook in her cabin to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything.
As a small colony, Glasica didn’t have a real starport. They had a shuttle landing port in the town of Dalborth and one on the secondary continent Tresta. Bot trams would unload it into the single warehouse, and bot transports would distribute the goods to the various settlements.
Skye felt shaky as she climbed into the passenger section of the shuttle. Jenna insisted on going with her seeing how nervous she was. She also wanted to get a look at this cyborg the matching service had foisted on this guileless young woman.
Jenna had seen his pictures that Skye had shared with everyone when they were all exchanging pictures of their matches. Those didn’t prepare her for the man waiting for Skye to emerge from the shuttle.
Rader Knight was a full two meters tall (a fraction over 6’6”) with a powerful buff form like a bodybuilder. He wore at snug dark gray t-shirt over khaki tan cargo pants tucked into black boots. His short brown hair was parted on the right and long enough on top to wave. He was square-jawed with the hint of a cleft in his strong chin and piercing blue eyes that lit with excitement when he saw Skye walking down the exit ramp.
Although Skye was a little taller than average, the top of her head only came to the middle of his upper chest. Rader looked as formidable as most cyborgs and far younger than his forty years. Skye was mesmerized as she looked up into his face.
Jenna looked from one to the other, and both had radiant smiles as they walked toward each other. Rader held out his large hands as they approached each other and Skye placed her smaller ones in his. Rader bent and lightly touched his lips to hers. As he started to pull back, Skye couldn’t resist kissing him again, lingering just a little longer.
Rader pulled her against him and hugged her as though he had found the treasure of a lifetime pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
Once Jenna saw the way Rader looked at Skye she felt satisfied that her passenger was in good hands. It made Jenna wonder how the last cyborg mate they’d transported to Modonne was doing. She needed to remember to send Zara a vid-mail to see how they were faring. Her cyborg had almost the same expression as he had hugged her.
Jenna snapped a still of the couple for her personal record. It was gratifying to facilitate the union of people who were just beginning their lives together. Her first meeting with Zeke hadn’t exactly been a happy occasion but once she stopped fighting their connection, Jenna had fallen completely in love with him. They were indeed soul mates.
The Narovian Interstellar Matchmaking Service used the same criteria to match other humanoids as they used to help Narovian felines find their meomee or soul mates. The felines could recognize their soulmates when they met, but finding them was not always easy. With the service spread throughout the Alliance matching soul mates was extremely profitable.
Bringing them together with Zeke’s ship was a labor of love. Jenna watched for a moment longer then went back up the ramp and seated herself to wait for the freight to finish unloading. Eight more future lovers to go. Jenna smiled. She really loved her job.