Chapter Four

AIRIK

"Airik, you're late. Again."

"Hi Mom," I said, kissing her on the forehead. "I told you I was working late."

"You're always working late."

"It's important. Even more important now than before."

"I know you've been working towards this goal since you were a boy. But your life can't be entirely focused on work. There's family, too. And a wife in your future, I hope." She had a tentative look on her face as if she was expecting me to get mad at her.

"Mother, I know that The Akuna is coming up soon. My birthday is in two weeks. Even if I could forget it, you wouldn't let me."

"We just want you to be happy, Airik."

"Yeah, happy. And you don't want to be the parents whose son lost his job because he hadn't married by the Akuna. That wouldn't make me socially acceptable."

"Airik, stop. We want this for you. Did your boss threaten you about your job?"

"He did. It's the law. He has to uphold it. If I'm not married by my birthday, they will have to fire me. I'm the only Director of the Precog Division who wasn't already married when they took the position."

"Because you were smart, intuitive, and brilliant. That's why they promoted you despite your age."

I smiled. My mom had a way of making me feel good about myself, even if I was a loser.

"Right now, I don't fulfill the requirements of the job. Everyone in a senior government position has to be married by their Akuna. It's a royal decree."

She tsked.

"We don't even have a monarchy anymore. Why hasn't anyone gotten rid of that stupid rule? Don't they make exceptions for people?"

"Most people get married by their Akuna. I'm a terrible exception."

"Airik, you could still get married. I know some lovely women. Your father does, too. Everyone seems to know a girl who is perfect for you."

"Everyone is wrong," I said with a frown. "I had a vision, Mom."

"About who?"

"It was about a woman I'm going to fall in love with."

"Really?" She sounded excited now.

"Yeah, but don't start inviting people yet. I saw her death." For the first time, I heard how heavy my voice sounded. I realized my vision had been bothering me more than I thought.

"Was it death from old age, at home, by your side?" she asked tentatively.

"No. I think she will die soon. I don't know what exactly happens because Sornalee interrupted me."

"We all knew that you weren't going to marry her. She's such an airhead," she murmured.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I had broken up with Sorna right after her interruption. I hadn't been able to find out how the woman died or when it would happen. I was furious with my ditzy former girlfriend. Mom was right when she said marrying her would be a mistake.

"Would you have listened to me?"

"Probably not," I conceded. "It certainly wasn't Sorna in my vision."

"But this woman," my mom said, seizing on the important point. "The one you're going to love. If you've foreseen her death, you can save her. The Precog Division will rescue her, just like they take care of everyone else on Koccoran."

"Not everyone, Mom."

"Almost everyone, Airik. You can save her, too."

"There's a problem." I hesitated because I knew how she would react.

"What problem could there possibly be? You have a job. Get the Ground Team moving. You've got to make sure that girl lives."

"I don't think the Ground Team operates this far out," I said, reluctant to tell her.

"Why not?"

"Because she dies on Earth."

"Earth?"

"She's a human."

"A human?" I winced when I heard the shock and dismay in her tone. I supposed acceptance by the family wasn't going to happen. I hadn't even met this girl yet, and might never meet her. She may have been killed with a poisoned dart already.

I was saved from an uncomfortable conversation when my brother walked into the room.

"Did I hear you talking about The Akuna, Airik?"

I nodded.

"I've got the perfect solution to your problem."

"What's that?" If I didn't humor him, he might sulk for weeks, and I didn't need new drama.

"Have you ever heard of TerraMates? They'll arrange your marriages for you, with an alien. You get married for a year, and if you want to get divorced, your time is up and you're free to move on. The women get an exorbitant amount of credits for moving halfway across the galaxy and marrying a stranger. You get the wife you need with no commitment and, more importantly, no lovey-dovey issues. You know, the stuff you hate in a relationship." I saw my mother frown out of the corner of my eye, but I ignored her.

"It's complicated now."

"Are you talking about the dream girl from your visions?"

"You overheard me?"

"Sorry, but you're not in a closed room here. If you wanted privacy, you should have gone into the den."

I shrugged. It didn't matter. My mother knew already. Everyone else would know soon enough, even perfect strangers.

"Well, this is what you do. Get an arranged marriage to satisfy your superiors. It's a ridiculous and outdated law. Divorce this woman after a year and find your true love."

"Divorce is unacceptable," I said.

"Unacceptable," he said, looking at me like I was stupid. "Not illegal."

He had a point, but it was still a dumb idea.

"That's ridiculous, Kartar. I'm not going to marry a stranger."

"Would you rather lose your job and everything you've worked for?" he said in disbelief.

When he put it that way, it was a rather compelling argument. I felt myself start to capitulate.

"Airik, let me help you out with this. I'll go through the process for you. You'll just have to sign on the dotted line. There are interviews you'll have to do yourself, but I'll do everything possible. Consider it my birthday present to you."

I felt my mind scrambling for other options. There were none. I was running out of time. This solution would give me a wife. No questions asked, no strings attached. I didn't like to get serious with my girlfriends. An arranged marriage was the least serious relationship I could imagine. It was more like a business deal.

Besides, I didn't have a choice, as he had pointed out. My career was everything to me. I wouldn't jeopardize it for something as stupid as The Akuna.

"Okay, Kartar. I didn't know what I was going to do."

"No problem, big brother. You've helped me out more times than I can count. I owe you."

Just like that, I was getting a wife.

I stood in the transporter room, feeling more nervous than I ever had before. A woman on that ship was going to be my wife. Even if we were only married for a year, it was an enormous commitment. And one taken seriously on Koccoran. I was going to get married today.

I had never met my fiancee.

I heard the unmistakable sound of a transporter beaming in and looked up to see a beautiful woman shimmer into solid form.

She wasn't too tall. I estimated she would come up to my chin. But she was willowy, with long limbs, graceful fingers, and a delicate oval face. Her hair was jet-black and loose, reaching to her waist. She gazed at me with piercing blue eyes. No one on Koccoran had blue eyes. For a moment, I wondered where my brother had found her. Then I pushed the thought out of my mind. I didn't want to bring preconceived notions to the table. I wanted to form my own opinion of my wife.

The last thing I noticed about her physical appearance was that her skin was so pale it was almost translucent, and completely without a blemish. No one had skin that color on Koccoran, either. I found myself longing to touch it. Was it as smooth as it looked?

I didn't realize I was staring at her, and I struggled to find my voice.

"Welcome." I swallowed. "My name is Airik Buhari."

She looked blankly at me.

"You don't speak Galactic Standard?" I said with a frown. What kind of a marriage agency was TerraMates? Standard was a language spoken everywhere in the galaxy. Eventually, with all the millions of languages in use as populations from different planets met and interacted, it was necessary to adopt a language everyone would use that was common to all worlds.

After the Union of Planets had passed the Language Standardization Act, all the planets that were a part of the Union were required to adopt it within twenty years. That was fifty years ago. I thought by this point everyone spoke Standard. If she didn't, I was starting to wonder about her home planet.

"Oh, no. I speak Standard. And English."

"English. An ancient language," I said. "Interesting. I have a fascination with ancient languages." I made a mental note to work on my English.

I was curious where she was from, but I didn't ask. Kartar hadn't given me any info on her and it was better that I make up my mind about her without any preconceptions.

I held out my hands crossed at the wrist. She looked down at them, and an expression of panic flitted across her face. She rubbed nervously at a bright red scar on her neck. It was in the shape of a circle. I hadn't noticed it before because her long hair hid it.

"It's a greeting on Koccoran. Hold out your hands like mine."

She nodded and crossed her arms. I smiled. "You must be Quinn?"

"Yes, that's me," she said. "I'm sorry. I'm not usually such an idiot. But I'm afraid I lost the folder containing information about Koccoran culture and everything about you. I'm flying blind here."

There was a folder? I hadn't received anything. I wondered if Kartar had forgotten to give it to me, or if he had done it on purpose.

"Me too. I never even got a folder to lose."

She looked as uncomfortable as I felt.

"Shall we go? We'll be traveling to the next town over, where I live. We'll be getting married today. You know we have to get married within 24 hours, right?"

"Right." She paused. "Are we having a religious ceremony?" She looked upset at the thought, and I wondered why.

"No. Marriage is a civil or social custom and is run by the government. We have no religion on Koccoran."

"That's perfect," she said. Quinn was more relieved than I would have expected. I gave her a forced smile and turned to leave the transporter room, wishing the transport attendant long life.

I knew the attendant was a telepath. She had a strange look on her face as I left. She had probably never seen me tongue-tied. Now that I thought about it, I don't remember having problems speaking like this before. I hoped it wouldn't continue. It would be a long year if we were going to be this uncomfortable together.

We had only just met; I was determined to give us a chance. I needed to marry her. I didn't care if we sat in silence for an entire year. She was the reason I would keep my career.

We arrived at the garage, and I found some warm outerwear that arrived for her. TerraMates provided it.

"Here you go. These are your outdoor clothes."

Quinn stared at them with mild distaste in her eyes. "I have to change what I'm wearing?"

"You don't know anything about Koccoran, do you?"

She swallowed and started to shiver. It was cool in the garage because the door was always opening and shutting, letting people and air into the Transporter Center.

"It's below zero outside," I said. "You need to protect yourself." She didn't move. "Maybe you didn't know to bring your gear?" I said, pulling on snow pants over my regular pants.

"I don't have any gear," she said, slowly.

"You don't? How is that possible?"

"At home, there's no snow. It never gets colder than twenty-one degrees."

"Wow," I said, feeling worried. "You're in for a bit of shock. We're in the middle of winter right now."

She looked upset, but then she lifted her chin. "I'll be all right. It's just cold. Right?"

I gave her another tight smile. "That's right."

I wasn't smiling on the inside. This was not a positive development. I should have told Kartar to put down something about the weather or the environment. Now I was stuck with a fragile flower who wouldn't be able to handle the cold. I didn't like coddling people.

She pulled on the clothes awkwardly. I noticed the red coat looked stunning with her black hair and fair skin. She was truly beautiful.

"If you pull your socks over your regular pants before you put on the snow pants, they won't ride up. Just a little tip for next time."

"Thanks," she said. I waited until she finished dressing, then led her through the garage to the small door that led outside.

As we stepped out the exit, the wind hit us in the face with some snow that had blown off the roof. She flinched in shock. I looked at her with pity and concern.

"Pull your scarf up, Quinn. It will protect your face."

She nodded and clumsily pulled her scarf up without taking off her gloves. I walked over to the nearest snow car. It was similar to vehicles I had seen on planets where they didn't have snow ten months of the year. Instead of wheels, it had tracks to go over the snow and travel between cities. During the brief, two-month summer, smaller self-driving cars were used for transportation.

The driver opened his door. "Hey buddy, we need a ride to Nivan."

"I can do that," he said. "Hop in."

I opened the door and let Quinn climb in first. An hour later, we were in the small town of Nivan. During the walk from the parking lot to the wedding location, Quinn struggled to move in her big boots. It had snowed heavily yesterday. The snow removal division was still in the process of getting all the sidewalks cleared. They hadn't gotten to this one yet, and it was up to our knees.

Finally, we got to the door, and I opened it, holding it for her. I didn't miss the sigh of relief that she let out when she felt the warmth inside.

"Come over here and take your extra clothes off," I said as we stepped through the second set of double doors. To our left was a coat room. We removed our boots and set them on a mat. The snow would melt and drain into a shallow trough underneath the footwear. On the wall, there were hooks for hanging up our snow pants and coats.

I motioned to a device that looked like a long radiator but had loops pointing up on the top. "Put your gloves, hat, and scarf here to dry. The loops heat up and dry off your clothing. The theory is that they will be warm and dry before you go out again into the terrible weather."

"Nice," she said. She put her gloves and hat each over one of the loops, then wound her scarf around a couple of them. I felt entranced when I watched her movements. She was lovely and elegant. When she looked up at me after she finished putting all her outdoor clothes away, her crystal clear blue eyes ensnared me. I couldn't seem to look away.

I wondered if she felt it as well. The moment stretched, but she looked away first.

"We should go this way," I said, turning away from her. Why did I feel guilty? Quinn was going to be a temporary wife. My true love was somewhere far away on a backward planet. I had to nurture the hope that she would be safe until I found her. I wasn't sure how far into the future my vision was. Perhaps it was a year or more away, and I could still find her and save her. I had no business getting interested in another woman.

We walked through the large entrance and into a corridor. I turned into a room whose nameplate read:

Maloney-Buhari Wedding

Quinn gazed at the sign and read the words slowly. There was no time for hesitation.

"Come on," I said, taking her hand. She looked at me in surprise. "We have to keep up appearances. My mother and my brother are the only ones who know you're from TerraMates."

"Oh." Her eyes were big.

"Can you pretend you like me? Hopefully, you will, soon enough."

She laughed and then shook her head.

"I like you, Airik. I won't have to pretend."

The words warmed my heart but made me feel guilty at the same time. Even if I wasn't getting involved with her, wasn't it was a good idea to like my wife?

"I like you too, Quinn," I said. "Ready?"

"Ready."

I opened the door and lifted my head high as we walked into a room packed with over a hundred people. I heard Quinn's shocked gasp. To her credit, she kept her smile firmly in place.

"I thought you said we were meeting your family," she said out of the side of her mouth.

"Yes," I said as we walked forward.

"What are all these people doing here?"

I turned and smiled at her. A genuine smile for the first time.

"This is my family."