Chapter Three

VEN

I wasn’t in charge of anything.

The sobering thought occurred to me as I sat in my lawyer’s office, listening to him telling me I had to get married. I realized I needed to use TerraMates after all. After my postulating and swearing up and down that I would never have a mail-order bride, I was going to have them ship one out to me.

Fuck. Pan was going to make fun of me forever.

I didn’t want to have to resort to these measures, but I didn’t see any way out of it. Without a wife, I was going to lose everything.

It started when my uncle’s representatives called me and asked to speak with my wife. I didn’t have one. The snarky lawyer explained that if I didn’t have a wife by the time I turned thirty, my inheritance, Uncle Mastoh’s entire fortune, would be given to charity.

I knew I wouldn’t gain control over all the money until I was thirty. I had been living off the interest from the investments. I vaguely remembered hearing something about having to get married. But I had been young and hung over during the reading of the will. Thirty had seemed like a long way away. Before I left the military, I banked all the interest. I didn't start spending it until I retired.

I needed a wife to keep the money. It couldn’t be that onerous. And didn’t I want to be married in the abstract, theoretical sense? The inheritance was giving me a push in the right direction. More like a shove, I suppose. I could always take the divorce at the end of the year, and I would be able to keep my standard of living.

I winced, as I realized how shallow my thoughts were. I consoled myself with a single thought. By hanging on to my uncle’s money, I was fulfilling the vow I made to myself as a teenager in my family’s small, dingy apartment. At the time, I swore I would get out of that life, earn money, and become wealthy. I would never treat my family like my father had, taking us close to homelessness multiple times.

I wasn’t going to let my uncle’s money go. I needed it for my future children. They would have everything they needed, and they would never live a life like mine.

Everything would work out in the end. Pandenn would say it was the universe working in mysterious ways. But he would never find out about my decision or that he was right about TerraMates.

I needed to start now before I lost my courage. I pulled up the documentary again and started the application process.

Two weeks later, I had jumped through all the hoops, gone through the interviews, paid the ridiculously high fees, and received a birth control shot, which lasted a year. I was ready to find a mate.

I swung back and forth on my porch swing, feeling impatient. When one of my servants approached me, I felt a twinge of apprehension. I had asked to be left alone for the rest of the day unless it was important. What could be so important that he would disturb me?

“Sir?” Elon looked nervous. “I know you said not to...”

“Disturb me unless it was important,” I finished for him. “I know. Well, you've disturbed me. What is it?”

“A package came for you. I thought you were waiting for it.”

He held out a small square box that I recognized immediately as an old-fashioned hologram message. There were far more sophisticated technologies available, but TerraMates was an Earth-based company. Even though they had plenty of lovely human woman dying to get off their backward little world, they lacked many of the refinements possessed by civilized planets, such as up-to-date messaging technology.

I thanked Elon and held the box in my hand. It had been a long time since I had felt this nervous. I was a decorated war veteran who had risked his life many times in the military. I had no reason to fear this trinket.

I activated it, and a full-sized hologram appeared. Not everyone went to the trouble of setting up a hologram profile. In fact, this was the first out of ten I had seen. I placed the box on the floor and stepped back to look at her assets. There was only one word for the image of the woman in front of me, and that was...

Wow.

I sat back on the swing, pushing the ground with my feet to get it rocking again.

She was tall, with long shining blonde hair that hung to her ass. Her eyes were pale blue, a rare color on my planet. Her body was thin and her skin was pale. As she turned to me, I could see that her legs were just the way I liked them — long and thin, perfect for wrapping around my waist.

TerraMates had matched the physical profile I requested. I wondered about her personality.

“Hi, Montana.”

“Hello, there, Ven.” Her voice was sultry. Could this woman be any more perfect?

“What do you do for a living, Montana?” I asked, rocking a little faster in the swing.

“I’m a systems analyst. I have two years of college training and a certification.”

Good. She was smart, but not too smart.

Anyone could be a systems analyst. It might seem insecure, but I didn’t like brilliant women. They intimidated me. I didn’t like them stupid, either. Don’t get me wrong. I wasn’t into bimbos. But middle-of-the-road was just right.

“You sound smart. What do you like to do in your spare time?”

“Well, Ven, I enjoy dancing and horseback riding.”

Horseback riding? What the hell was that?

“Oh, that’s interesting.”

That was enough talking to a hologram for me. I leaned over and slapped the box, turning it off. I reclined on the swing and steepled my fingers, smiling to myself. She was the woman. The woman I was going to spend the rest of my life with — or at the very least, the next year. They had matched me with the perfect woman.

I couldn’t wait to meet her.

On the day Montana was supposed to arrive at the space station, I arrived an hour early. I thought I might have looked too eager, but I couldn’t wait to meet her. We were going to be perfect for each other. Thank goodness her flight had arrived on time. It was going to be down to the wire, but as long as we got married today, it would be okay. Everything would work out with Uncle Mastoh’s will.

I tapped my foot, thinking about Montana Willoughby, soon to be Montana Dofalar if she took my name. I pictured us going out dancing. Maybe she would show me some holograms of horseback riding, whatever that was.

And I definitely had some sexual fantasies featuring the leggy blonde. I couldn’t wait to meet my fiancé and make her my wife. Everything was going to be different.

I wouldn’t have an empty feeling inside anymore. I would have someone with whom I could spend time. Not only would she be around for me, but I could also keep my way of life and everything that had become important over the past three years.

I strolled back and forth in the spaceport, ignoring the other travelers. Finally, they announced her flight. I waited patiently as each person came off the ship, went through the scanners, and emerged from security.

I scanned each face to see if it was her. The last stragglers appeared, but none of them was Montana.

“Excuse me, aren’t there any more passengers on board?”

The attendant frowned. “I’m not sure. Who are you looking for?”

“A human named Montana Willoughby. She’s tall, with blonde hair and blue eyes.”

The woman checked her console. “None of the ticket holders have that name,” she said. “Is it possible she goes by something else?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never met her.” It felt weird to have to say that I was meeting someone I had never met, though I suppose spaceport employees heard these kinds of stories all the time. The attendant couldn’t care less.

“I’ll check for you.” She disappeared through the gate. Five minutes later, I saw her again.

“There’s only one woman left. She’s taking a while to get packed up. Come and see if she’s the one you’re looking for.”

I followed the attendant onto the shuttle. Something didn’t feel right. If there was one thing I had learned in the military, it was that following my gut was the best policy. I touched a blaster which I always carried in my pocket. It was small but got the job done.

When I walked onto the shuttle, my eyebrows drew together as I caught sight of the only woman remaining on the ship. She wasn’t Montana. I could tell right away.

She was small, with a sturdy frame that looked like she would be good at physical tasks, like climbing or carrying cargo. Her figure was shapely, with full round breasts and hips that encouraged men to rest their hands on her side when they danced...if you liked that sort of a woman. She appeared to be busy packing up her bag. Why had she taken everything out of it? My uneasy feeling intensified.

Then she turned around, and I saw her eyes.

The moment our eyes met, I thought something drew all the air from my lungs. I couldn’t get a breath. And my stomach felt peculiar. I found myself staring into her mesmerizing brown eyes.

I felt like the whole universe had just tilted and nothing was ever going to be the same again.

“Sir?” the attendant said, and I knew from the way she said it, she had already spoken to me before. “Is she the one?”

I waited only a moment more before speaking the words I knew would change my life.

“Yes, she’s the one.”

The woman looked troubled but didn’t say anything. She played along, following me off the shuttle without saying a word.

I didn’t know who she was. I didn’t know why she was here instead of Montana. All I knew was that she was the one.

Whatever that meant.

“Wait, wait, wait.” We stood on the outskirts of the arrival area. I was explaining my behavior for the fourth time. The first couple times didn’t seem to be effective. “Are you telling me you want to marry me?”

“Yes,” I said. “I mean, no. The woman whose ticket you came her on...she was supposed to marry me.” I felt myself beginning to blush. Again. “She was my mail-order bride.”

“Are you kidding me?” Emmy said, looking incredulous. “Nobody does that anymore.”

“I’m completely serious. If you’re willing, I don’t care that you’re not Montana. I’ll marry you. I need to marry someone today.”

She wasn’t going to fall into my arms after that enticing proposition.

“I don’t even know your name.” She looked amazed that I would dare to suggest such a thing.

“It’s Ven. If you don’t want to, I don’t blame you, but why were you on the shuttle in the first place? I needed to marry her today.”

She couldn't stop looking at something or someone over my shoulder. Emmy started repositioning herself. She tried to play it cool, but I could tell she was putting me between her body and whoever she wanted to avoid.

“Never mind.” Emmy smiled brightly, but an element of authenticity was missing. Something about it seemed fake. “I’ll...”

She swallowed hard.

“I’ll marry you. We better go now if you’re in such a hurry. Come on.”

She grabbed my arm, making sure to conceal herself behind my body. Soon we were quickly marching toward the exit.

A couple of men who looked like thugs brushed past us. I felt Emmy’s hand on my arm get tense as we passed them. I got a good look at them and made a mental note of their appearance. I wasn’t going to find out everything at the spaceport, but it might be useful to remember their appearance.

As we walked, I tried to organize my thoughts and accept reality. I wasn’t going to get married to Montana, my self-selected perfect match. But Emmy had stepped up. I needed to get married, and that was the only thing that mattered. Everything else would sort itself out later.

A justice of the peace waited at the courthouse for us. We could do the deed within the next hour. After we had our certificates, we’d head straight to the lawyers and then home.

She could tell me her story, and I could tell her mine. We could spend the rest of the year together, and maybe even the rest of our lives.

A realization struck fear into my heart. I didn’t know anything about Emmy.

Then I thought about what I would lose if I didn’t marry her. The idea was appalling. I couldn’t go back to living the way I had as a child — poor and desperate. I had made a promise to myself to live a different lifestyle.

All I need to do was go the courthouse with a stranger and swear to love, honor, and protect her for the rest of my life.