Ramliel: The Teague Bride Experiment: Intergalactic Dating Agency

by A. M. Griffin

  She’d known they would be dead when she woke from stasis, but it hadn’t seemed real. None of this really seemed real.

  Feeling refreshed and revitalized was normal after stasis, she read. And the muscles? They’d been stimulating her muscles with a TEMS device to prevent muscle atrophy and the real kicker? Apparently, they’d downloaded information into their brains, nothing invasive, just hours and hours of recordings (two hundred years’ worth) teaching the women about Teague, the world, the culture, the rules and the language. She was fluent in all things Teague now.

  There was also something else she hadn’t been expecting. The timer located on the top right of the board. A countdown to when they would reach Teague. It was programmed to Teague time, which she now understood.

  Three months.

  In three months, she would be on an alien planet and meeting her new mate. Her chest constricted and a new wave of anxiety hit her. Three months felt like a long time, but also too short.

  Why hadn’t the aliens awakened them with a few days to spare? That would’ve helped with the anxiety. What were they supposed to do for the next three months? It wasn’t like they needed to spend it learning about their new home.

  Mia now knew all about Teague. The Yatur people, what a sector and star system was. She knew about comlinks, hovercars and shuttles. She also knew what to expect with sex.

  She took a deep breath. Sex.

  Sometimes the male would bite the female when he orgasmed. The scary part? The Yatur had sharp pointy teeth.

  Not nice. Not nice at all.

  An incoming message pinged on the whiteboard. Calling it a whiteboard was a stretch. It was actually a control console. She could use it to communicate with anyone onboard the spaceship. She could pull up a map of the ship and locate where the various activities that were available were being held. There was a schedule of daily events, but what caught her attention at the moment was the incoming message icon that flashed.

  She pushed the button. There was a pause then something flickered and took up the entire screen. An image of a little boy. Not like any boy she’d ever seen on Earth, but thanks to the new information downloaded into her brain, she recognized him as a Yatur boy around five years old.

  Short, brown hair covered most of his face, leaving the area of his eyes, nose and mouth hairless. The hair on top of his head was longer and spilled around his face. He wore a shirt, like she’d expect a normal boy to wear.

  He smiled into the camera, displaying sharp white teeth. “Hello! My name is Ramliel but sometimes my friends call me Ram.” His excitement had him fidgeting in his seat. “You’re coming to visit me from so far away! Is it true that your people didn’t know that other species existed?

  “Why don’t you know how to travel in space? Why did we have to send our ship to get you? My father said I’m to show you around when you get here. I can’t drive a hovercar right now, but when you come I’ll be able to. Wouldn’t that be fun?!”

  Mia listened to the little boy ramble and with each passing moment her anxiety melted away.

  “I have to go eat dinner now, but I’ll talk to you again next week!”

  Message complete. Do you wish to receive the next?

  Mia selected the option to play the next message. She wasn’t disappointed. He was just as jovial as the first time. This time he showed her his favorite toy. It was a figurine of an animal that he hoped to see when he visited his grandfather’s house which was located on the southern tip of his planet. He told her that she would like his grandfather because he always carried snacks in his pockets.

  His favorite treat was made up of sugar and was sticky. He couldn’t have it often because he often made a mess of it and his mother complained. It all sounded so…normal. Mia almost forgot she was listening to an alien and that alien child was now grown and waiting for her to be his mate.

  Knock. Knock. Knock.

  “Come in!”

  Diana poked her head through the doorway. The pudginess that had been on her brown face before stasis was gone. There was a lean look to her now when combined with her high sculpted cheekbones.

  “Damn girl,” Mia said, touching her own face. “Were they giving out cheekbones while we were in stasis and I missed out?”

  Diana chuckled and entered her room. “You see my hair?” She unraveled it from her bun. It fell in thick coils down her back. “My hair has never been this long or healthy!”

  Mia ran a hand through her curls. It was also longer and thicker. She’d gone natural a few years ago and hadn’t been able to grow it beyond her shoulders. Now it hung down her back. “They must’ve given us some helluva vitamins. They had to be a doozy to keep us fit and healthy for the past two hundred years.”

  Diana ran a hand down the side of her body. “My body feels good, but my stomach and brain are at odds with one another. My brain is saying I’m not hungry, but my stomach is like, ‘Bitch, put some real food in me’.”

  Mia chuckled. Her stomach growled. She opened her eyes wide and a laugh burst from her mouth. “I guess I’ll be eating too. Let’s stop by and get Lina.”

  “She already did,” Lina breezed into Mia’s room. She glanced at the video of Ram, paused mid-laugh and holding up a piece of his favorite candy. “Oh, cute. Have you fast forwarded to what he looks like now?”

  Diana inhaled a sharp breath. “Lina! You didn’t!”

  Lina laughed. “Of course, I did. I mean, I’m going to go back and listen to all the ramblings of a child, but I wanted to know what the end result was.”

  “These videos are a way for us to get to know our new mates,” Diana said. She lifted her chin, angling it. “I think it’s nice that we’ll get to see them grow up. It’s sweet.”

  Mia turned back to the screen. “It is sweet.”

  Diana’s stomach growled. “But we have three months to get through them. Right now, let’s go to the dining hall and get something to eat. I’m starving.”

  “Me too,” Lina agreed.

  Mia took one more look at the screen before leaving. She wondered if the dining hall served sugary and sticky sweets like the one Ram held.

  Chapter Five

  Mia spent the next few weeks familiarizing herself with everything Yatur and their culture. She already knew it, thanks to the download fed into her brain while in stasis, but there was something to be said for sitting down and reviewing the material directly.

  It also helped keep her mind off of the fact she was hurling through space and everyone she knew and loved back on Earth was dead and gone.

  Her days were structured. She’d learned about structure early on. After her dad died she’d relied on it. From the time she got up to when she went to sleep, her day was planned. If every minute of her day was accounted for there was no room for sadness, defeat or loneliness. She had tasks and the tasks needed to be completed.

  Mia treated this new chapter of her life the same way. She created structure for herself.

  Every morning she woke up and went to breakfast with Lina. They met Diana and a few other ladies. After breakfast, Mia went to the observatory and looked at the star systems and different planets they passed. Afterward, she went to one of the classrooms where different Teague educational curriculums were being taught.

  Although they’d all received the same educational download, there were other women like Mia who’d wanted to learn by either tactile or visual simulations. Once the morning lessons were completed, she ate lunch and took a short nap. That was followed by a workout.

  She’d always been a cardio girl, preferring to fast walk over running, but that changed after she’d awakened with muscles. She used the weightlifting machines in order to keep what she was given.

  Her day would then wind down with a shower, dinner then time for socializing with her new friends. Lastly, she would get in bed and view the next video from Ram. She’d gotten through his primary years—where he showed her his favorite toys and chattered on about what he did that day and what he plann
ed to do the next.

  She watched the videos in awe most nights. He had grown up knowing she would be his wife, er, mate. While she had been in stasis, he’d been out there preparing a life for her to come to.

  Ram was a cute kid, but different from any child she’d ever known. He had the cutest little button nose. His eyes were dark, but there was so much passion and wonder behind them. They would light up whenever he talked about his father and wanting to be like him one day.

  He also had a best friend, Cohn, who he wished was his brother. Mia sat up and followed along with every story and every adventure. The apprehension of traveling to another planet and mating with an alien slowly faded.

  She felt like she knew Ram. Really knew him. How many women back on Earth could say their mate had prepared for them since the day they were born? How many would also look back on messages their husband shared with them when their husband was still a child?

  She didn’t like that she’d been forced into leaving Earth and mating with an alien, but Ram had made her situation palpable. With Ram, she knew there was someone waiting for her. She wouldn’t be alone. He was going to show her everything there was to do on Teague, per his words.

  And she found that in those dark hours of the night, she was looking forward to finally meeting him.

  With her nightly ritual complete, Mia curled up in bed and turned on the next holo-vid from Ram. The picture flickered on. Instead of a smile that could light up a room, Ram sat with his lips pursed and a frown on his face. His arms were crossed and his chin rested on his chest. The hair on top of his head was unruly, which she’d gotten used to seeing.

  He said his mother complained that it never stayed in place. In all the videos she’d witnessed, more times than she could count of him running clawed fingertips through it, making it stand on end. In this video, he wore a fancy tunic. It was dark purple which looked good against the brown fur on his face, neck and arms.

  There was silence as he watched the floor. Something had happened. Mia could see it written across his face. Maybe he got into an argument with Cohn, or his mom made him do something he didn’t want or he’d done something to anger his dad?

  Mia waited. She could’ve fast-forwarded the video and gotten to the part where he explained what was wrong, but she felt compelled to wait this out with him. She wanted to be in the moment—his moment.

  Then Ram’s eyes lifted and he glared at the camera. “I don’t like you. You’re ugly. Uglier than any creature that I’ve ever seen in my life. I don’t want you to come here. It would be a disgrace for me to mate with you. I wish you would turn around and go home. I don’t want you.”

  Mia’s breath caught in her throat.

  * * *

  Ram completed more before others woke, then they did while they were awake. Today wasn’t any different. He’d unfurled himself from Varona’s—his latest companion—arms and left the bed, leaving her sleep and sated. Although he’d spent most of the night with her legs wrapped around his waist, arms around his neck and fingernails embedded in his skin, he still woke at his normal time and with only a few hours of sleep.

  In his private office, he went about setting up for the day’s activities. By the time his assistant arrived Ram had a list of tasks for him to either complete or look into. He also scheduled a meeting with the heads of the departments to review the new figures and opportunities he was looking into.

  At this pace, he would be done with everything on his to-do list by lunch time but would most likely spend the rest of the day working because working relaxed him and always had.

  After his duties were complete, he would work out to hone his muscles and physique. Then, dinner with Varona or whatever business associate he needed to either review ideas with or discuss new business ventures. His day was just the way he liked it. Structured.

  The intercom on his desk beeped. Since Ram was expecting replies to the messages he’d already sent out this morning, his response to the voice command system was curt. “Open,”

  “Message from the Human Bride Program. Mia Brown will arrive to Teague in one month from this date. Everyone is expected to meet at reception center to review the welcome expectations for your new mate. Will you be able to attend?”

  Heart slamming against his chest, Ram paused. The day was fast approaching. One that he dreaded.

  From the moment he was a child, he’d known he was mated to an unknown alien. Nothing about his life was his own. Not what he did for a living—a business he’d inherited from his father. Not who he mated— a female from a strange planet. Nothing was his decision to make.

  Ram gnashed his teeth together. His jaw ached from the amount of pressure he put on it. In one month, his life would change and not for the better. He would be expected to get rid of his female companions and start a life with someone he didn’t choose and didn’t know.

  Why couldn’t he be like Cohn?

  Cohn’s parents hadn’t signed him up to mate with a human female. They didn’t have the credits to do so, but that wasn’t the only reason. They’d wanted him to choose his path in life.

  His friend had worked himself from a simple officer of the law to one of the most respected enforcement agencies in the country. Ram often sought his advice when dealing with security measures.

  While Cohn wasn’t mated yet, and hadn’t made any attempts to do so, he still had the option of following his desires and heart. Ram had no such thing.

  Attached to the message was a file with his new mate’s name on it. He hadn’t opened or read her file since he was a child. He didn’t see the point now.

  The message beeped and repeated itself on a loop. When it finished, Ram replied. “No.”

  Chapter Six

  “Gather all of your belongings and meet in the reception hall for the arrival of your mate.”

  The overhead announcement set off her nerves and Mia’s heart flipped and flopped. Her stomach wasn’t much better.

  “I don’t want you.”

  For the past three months the adamant declaration was all she heard in her head.

  While everyone else anxiously awaited their arrival to Teague and wanted to meet the mate they’d felt like they’d grown up with, Mia had been in turmoil. She hadn’t mentioned Ram’s last words to either Lina or Diana. They talked about their mates constantly while Mia had smiled and played along.

  She didn’t pretend Ram was attentive and continued to send messages but she also didn’t tell the truth. Whenever they asked about him, she smiled and deflected. How could she tell them that she didn’t expect her mate to welcome her with open arms or that the last message she’d received had been when he was ten and although he’d had ample time to change his mind, he hadn’t?

  Both Lina and Diana had watched videos of their mates that almost spanned a lifetime. They’d gotten to grow with their mates and now knew them as well-established adults. Mia didn’t know where or what Ram was up to. Was he even still alive?

  “Please be patient. Once your mate arrives, we will call your name.” Came the next set of messages on a loop.

  Mia stood with the rest of the women in the reception hall. It was a large empty space that had become a hangout during down time. There was a popular game on Teague involving a ball and knee pads that everyone had been trying to learn. Mia hadn’t tried to participate but she’d come to watch the other women as they’d played and cheered them on.

  The A.I.’s largely stayed out of the way, gave lessons on the game and refereed the tournaments. Now, the tall robots that had taken care of them on their centuries long journey stood in a single file by the door. Mia hadn’t interacted much with them because they looked like they could snap her neck if they went rogue, but a lot of the women had grown close to the A.I.’s and saw them as protectors.

  “Please stand back from the door as we prepare to disembark.”

  The mood in the room grew with excited chatter and bright smiles. Everyone had their suitcases and backpacks, all of their Earthly p
ossessions with them. Mia hadn’t used a quarter of the items she’d brought with her.

  The clothes weren’t needed since everything had been provided. The smell good soaps and lotions that she’d brought from a popular name brand store remained unopened and unused. Also in her suitcase were the items she’d been able to take from her house after her dad died, two photo albums full of pictures, an old tie and her mother’s necklace and matching bracelet.

  She clutched the handle of the suitcase on her right tighter and brought it closer to her body as she thought about those items.

  “I’m scared and excited,” Lina said from her left.

  And who could blame her? She was about to meet someone who’d waited their entire life for her. Lina’s eyes darted around the room and when she caught the gaze of someone else she knew, she smiled and waved.

  “How are you doing? You haven’t really said anything lately,” Lina asked Mia when she faced her again.

  Mia planted a fake smile on her face. “I’m doing good. Just nervous.”

  Lina focused her gaze on Mia. Then seeing the smile, which must be convincing enough, she relaxed. “I hope we’ll live close to each other. My mate, Ahnir, told me we could have my friends over for dinner and date nights.”

  Lina had that dreamy look in her eyes she got whenever she spoke about Ahnir and a pang of jealousy hit Mia.

  As quick as the emotion came, Mia pushed the feeling aside. This was a big day for everyone here. She wouldn’t ruin their joy because her own had been ruined months ago by the fierce words of a young man in the making.

  Glancing around the room, she wondered if any of the other women might have been unhappy about being selected to leave Earth. Based on the upbeat energy of the room, she couldn’t tell. The air brimmed with expectation. Any apprehension prior to their arrival, now seemed gone. Even her fear of what was coming next couldn’t dispel her happiness for those she’d come to know and she didn’t want it to.