Kahm

by T. J. Quinn

  I confess, I’m a little scared and excited at the prospect. I understand why it isn’t practical for us to meet before we decide whether to make this commitment. Some of my family and friends think I should jump at the chance, and others think I am crazy to consider it.

  But I have reviewed the data from the Narovian Matchmaking Service. They have a 97% success rate with their matched couples attaining a successful relationship. Those are way better odds than I have on my own of finding a mate for life. According to our genetics, we are soul mates. They have used the same criteria that they used to find soul mate matches for the feline and other races that can actually recognize their soul mates.

  Korjh, I am very close to making a decision. Every time I see you on your videos, you pull at my heartstrings, so to speak. When I think of you all alone on that farm without family or close neighbors, I think about the things we might do together if I were there with you. Everything from sharing a meal to what it would be like to be with you as a man if you know what I mean. The possibility excites me.

  Hope to hear from you soon. I look forward to getting your videos every day.

  See you soon!

  Zara.

  Zara turned off the camera on her laptop and pressed send. She really didn’t understand the technology of how she could send and receive the videos from another planet in a far-off star system, but she didn’t have to. So much had changed since the Alliance announcement and the Drayid attack last year. More and more people were looking at the prospect of going to other worlds to settle.

  Whole families were looking to emigrate to newly opened worlds for settlement. Narovian Matchmaking Services were also doing a booming business. They had assured Zara that each match was thoroughly screened and that Korjh was cleared to be matched to one of their applicants.

  Zara took that to mean he wasn’t a serial killer or anything like that. He had never been married or had a long-term relationship. The man was gorgeous. She didn’t understand why women wouldn’t even date him when they learned he was a cyborg. He was a veteran for crying out loud. He deserved respect for what he must have been through.

  After the Drayids came to Earth and destroyed whole sections of cities all over the world, she couldn’t understand their blatant rejection of him. He seemed friendly and warm, and he had a sense of humor. Korjh had learned English just to speak on videos to her in her own language. In every one he told her how much he wanted her to come be his life mate.

  Zara had read and reread Korjh’s dossier online. She watched his videos again and talked it over with Ellie and her own family. Mom and Dad thought it was crazy. Her brother liked the idea so well, he decided to apply himself. Even Ellie was thinking about it. She and Zara had been friends since grade school. Ellie hated the idea of Zara moving to another planet without her.

  “So, on your application, say you want a match on Modonne,” Zara said to Ellie during lunch break at work. “It’s been two months since I got matched to Korjh.” She paused and took a deep breath and let it out. “Ellie, I’m going to miss you terribly, but I’ve decided to marry Korjh.”

  “I knew it!” she said, slapping the table. “As soon as you showed me that video, I knew you were going to go for it. I can’t say as I blame you. Only, what if it goes all wrong? You’re going to be in space for three months just getting there. What if he turns out to be a colossal jerk and you can’t stand him?”

  “Then, I’m screwed,” Zara said.

  “I think you will definitely be screwed,” Ellie replied with a naughty giggle. “It might not be so bad.”

  “He is pretty hot looking,” Zara admitted blushing at the vision her mind had flashed of sex with Korjh.

  “Yep, you’re definitely going,” Ellie snickered taking in her friend’s pink cheeks.

  “I’m going. I have a crush on Korjh now, and I am pretty sure I will fall in love with him,” Zara admitted. “If it doesn’t work, I’ll figure something out. There’s a whole universe out there, and I want to see some of it.”

  “Well, since I didn’t see how you could turn down that hot hunk, I already filled out my application a month ago, hoping they might find someone for me on Modonne,” Ellie admitted.

  “I hope they do, if that’s what you really want,” Zara said.

  Then the buzzer sounded for them to go back to work. Lunch with Ellie every day was the only thing she was going to miss about the place.

  Hi Korjh,

  I accept! I will be your mate. I have just notified the Narovian Matchmaking service, and they are arranging my transport to Modonne. A car will come for me next week to take me to the Alliance base in West Virginia, and a privately owned passenger freighter will send a shuttle to pick me up there. It is the Be’kal Zephyr owned by Captain Farzeke Be’kal. I will arrive at Belda Starport at Sezrop in about three months.

  Aside from packing, all that’s left is to make my marriage vows to you and sign the agreement. I have signed the contract and returned it to the matching service. I am so excited, happy, and scared. I’ve never even been on a plane let alone a spaceship, and I have never been married. But I’ve made up my mind, and I wanted to tell you as soon as possible. Tell you more later,

  Zara

  A few hours later there was a flower shop delivery for Zara. She opened the box, and inside there was a card and a little velvet box on a bed of a dozen red roses. She read the card first:

  My Dearest Zara,

  I wish I could present this to you in person as it is a tradition in your culture, but know it is given from my heart in honor of your acceptance to become my wife and mate.

  Warm regards,

  Korjh

  Zara opened the small velvet box and found an unusual silver ring with an emerald cut blue stone inlaid in the metal of the ring. In the top of the box, it said, “A blue stone to match your beautiful blue eyes. A symbol of our commitment to each other.” Etched on the inside of the band, it said, “My Forever Love.”

  The band itself was etched with an intricate design that sparkled almost like diamonds. Zara liked the way the stone was inlaid so it wouldn’t catch on things.

  As Zara looked at it, tears pricked her eyes. No one had ever given her something so beautiful, and roses too. Suddenly, she had an idea how she could show him what it meant to her to become his mate and share his life.

  She went to her closet and took out a box she had been storing on the top shelf.

  This was my mother’s wedding dress, still as beautiful as the day she wore it, so I decided to wear it while I make my vows to you.

  I feel like I know you well enough to believe that you are sincere in your intention to become a loving lifemate. This is my pledge to you,

  As your wife and life mate, I will respect, honor, and care for you, mate only with you and bear your children. I will strive to live with you in harmony and solve our differences as they may arise. I make this vow according to our marriage contract which I have signed in good faith.

  I truly hope that we will have a happy life together. When I finally meet you face to face, I will seal it with our first kiss. Meanwhile, I will just blow you a little kiss.

  See you soon Korjh.

  Zara

  CHAPTER FOUR

  My beautiful Zara,

  Your acceptance and marriage agreement have made me very happy. I can hardly wait for your arrival now that I know you are on your way. Your pledge to be my mate honors me deeply. I hardly dared to hope that you would accept me.

  Now I will give my pledge to you. Dearest Zara, it is my honor and privilege to become your husband and lifemate, I promise that I will love and cherish you and mate with only you for the rest of my life. I will care and provide for you and our children as they come and do all in my power to respect and help you realize your dreams. I will be yours as long as I draw breath.

  We will seal our vows with a kiss when you arrive my mate.

  Korjh

  Ellie drove Zara to the meeting spot in West Virginia in h
er SUV with two plastic trunks and two suitcases of everything she was taking with her to Modonne. It was just a rest stop along the West Virginia Turnpike. A big black Hummer with the windows blackened out was waiting there. A woman with close-cropped hair in a green uniform stood by the front bumper of the vehicle. She matched the photo that the Narovian Matchmaking Service sent her along with the vehicle license plate.

  Zara got out of the car and approached her, “Penye Estiam?”

  The other woman nodded. “Zara Maples? I will be your driver. Let’s get your things.”

  Five minutes later they were speeding down the turnpike. Zara had barely had time to hug Ellie goodbye. Suddenly she was crying, and she didn’t know why. She wanted to be Korjh’s mate. She had signed the marriage contract. But now she was really doing it---leaving everyone and everything she had ever known---the only world she had ever known.

  Penye didn’t say anything. Zara knew she could change her mind right up until the time she boarded the shuttle up to the starship that would take her to Modonne---to Korjh her new husband. But she couldn’t, wouldn’t do that to him.

  That didn’t mean she had no doubts, that she wouldn’t miss her family and friends or the world she was leaving behind.

  She had cried it out and dried her tears by the time they reached the helicopter pad that would take her to the secret Alliance Starbase hidden in the Monongahela Forest. On the helicopter ride, Zara closed her eyes and breathed deep calming breaths. When the copter landed, an automated cart unloaded her baggage and carried it to the waiting shuttle in the open hangar carved out from the side of the mountain.

  There were five other women and two men waiting at the on-ramp as Zara went over to stand with them. An attractive young woman with short brown hair and hazel eyes came down the ramp with a bright smile.

  “Welcome everyone, my name is Jenna Be’Kal, I am director of passenger relations, and yes, the captain is my husband. Come on up the ramp, and I will check you all in one at a time. When everyone is checked in, I will show you your seats.” Jenna strode up the ramp ahead of them and stopped in the doorway with her tablet.

  Zara was assigned a cabin with a young woman from Baltimore. She was also on her way to Modonne to mate with a Narovian feline who had settled there. Naomi Nelson was from West Virginia about thirty miles from the Alliance Base there. A few generations back one of her ancestors had children with a Narovian feline.

  Jenna seated them together on the shuttle to let them become acquainted. Zara felt better already knowing she was not the only Earther going to Modonne. She wasn’t the only one to gamble on love on another world out in the galaxy.

  The trip up to the ship was mildly uncomfortable as they reached escape velocity. Once onboard the starship, Jenna Be’kal guided them to the observation bubble to let them all take a look at Earth from space. Everyone had seen pictures, but never first hand.

  Next Jenna took them to their quarters before they broke orbit and started their journey to six different worlds where they would leave off and pick up passengers. She urged everyone to come to dinner or third meal to meet Captain Ba’Kal and the rest of the crew.

  Captain Zeke Ba’Kal might have been a swashbuckler in another life. He was over six feet tall with longish pale blue hair and a neatly trimmed darker blue beard. Only his lime green cat eyes made him appear not entirely human. He was a Narovian feline humanoid.

  Although he had told the story many times, he regaled the passengers with the story of how he found and rescued Jenna and five other Earth women from alien slavers. Of course, he embellished a bit, making it sound a little more dangerous than it was.

  He had been reluctant to be mated at first because he didn’t think his itinerant lifestyle was conducive to a long-term relationship. But, once the hormones and pheromones start flowing, there is no resisting. Jenna assured Naomi that she would be pleased with her Narovian feline mate. None of them could miss the way the couple looked at each other.

  It reminded Zara of the look in Korjh’s eyes in his videos. Some of the other women looked doubtful when she told them that Korjh was a former warrior and a cyborg. Zara could see they automatically thought ‘killer.’ Even Captain Ba’Kal looked doubtful.

  Zara left the dining room that evening feeling uncertain about her decision to become Korjh’s bride. When she got back to her room, there was a new video waiting for her on the Alliance issue tablet that Korjh had arranged for her. She didn’t look at it right away as she sat on her lower bunk and hugged her legs, resting her chin on her knees.

  What did they know? Korjh was thoroughly checked by the matchmaking service, the same as she was. That included a psych evaluation. Korjh would not have been allowed to settle on Modonne if he had been deemed dangerous. He would not have been approved for matching either. Narovian Match Making Service had been matching people from Earth for hundreds of years. They almost never got it wrong.

  Zara sighed. There was no use worrying about other people’s misgivings about her decision to marry Korjh. None of them had met him or exchanged videomail with him for weeks as she had. They hadn’t looked into his eyes and seen the hope and longing. She couldn’t let other people’s misgivings rekindle her doubts.

  Zara opened her purse and took out the new tablet. She almost dropped it when a life-sized hologram of Korjh displayed in front of her. Just as he started to speak, Naomi came into the room, and Zara pressed the stop button on the screen. Korjh’s hologram disappeared.

  “Oh, my God! Was that him?” Naomi exclaimed.

  “Yeah. I was expecting a video and got that. Obviously, Alliance tablets are higher tech than ours.” Zara told her.

  “He’s gorgeous!” Naomi exclaimed. “Even more gorgeous than that hunky feline captain, even my Besdem is not that gorgeous.”

  “He is gorgeous, but I saw what everybody thought when I said he is a cyborg. They think he is some kind of killing machine who can’t be trusted,” she said. “But he is a man with cybernetic enhancements.”

  “Sounds like you’re having doubts,” Naomi said gently. “We all do. What we are doing is one giant leap of faith.”

  Zara nodded.

  “Even if you married him, you can still get out of it. Captain Zeke has a contract with the matchmaking service, and he makes the rounds about twice a year,” Naomi explained.

  “But they said all sales were final,” Zara said.

  “That just means you don’t get your money back. You can change your mind at any time,” Naomi said. “It was in the fine print at the end.”

  “I didn’t read it all,” Zara admitted. “You only get one chance, unless your mate dies.”

  “I read every word,” Naomi said. “Because with Narovian felines, there is no changing your mind once you meet them. The pheromones and hormones bind you biologically.”

  “Well, I don’t want to change my mind. Korjh is right for me, I know it. I just start to have doubts when people give me that look when I tell them he is a cyborg.”

  “That’s because they are bred and trained to be killing machines, to fight wars,” Naomi said. “Captain Zeke said some of them are just too dangerous to live in normal society. That’s probably one reason Korjh lives way out in the middle of nowhere.”

  “He’s not too dangerous. It’s that people are scared of him,” Zara insisted. “It doesn’t matter what other people think. I’ve married him. A deal is a deal.”

  “Good for you,” Naomi said sincerely. “I hope it works out for you. If you press that little icon on the bottom of the screen, that will take it out of hologram mode so you can listen and watch privately.”

  “Thank you, Naomi. I prefer to see this privately,” Zara smiled, thinking she was going to like the other woman.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  After her experience with the hologram, Zara went through the tablet to find the tutorial that Jenna had told her was included. She explained that she could have interactive video chats with Korjh now that they were in space. Zara was ex
cited to figure it out. So, they could talk in real time. It turned out to be almost as simple as her smartphone.

  She was disappointed her first try because Korjh didn’t come to answer her call. It was a few hours before he commed her back in the middle of her night.

  Zara went into the tiny bathroom so she wouldn’t wake Naomi. Brushed her hair quickly before she opened the tablet.

  “Hi Korjh,” she said, smiling as his image came on to her screen. “So good to see you!”

  “Sorry I was out, riding the fields to check my crops and machinery to make sure they are growing properly and receiving water,” he explained. “Is this a good time for you?”

  “It’s actually the middle of our night,” she said quietly. “But it’s okay. We are on twenty-seven-hour days. First meal will be five hours from now.”

  “That will be early evening for me,” he replied. “How about an hour after that?”

  “That would be fine,” she said, “But I’m up now, I can talk a few minutes. My sleep schedule will have to be readjusted when I get there.”

  “It will take some getting used to. We are on twenty-two-hour days. Sounds like your wake period runs into our night period,” he said, “I’m sure we can find something to do.” His sexy smirk told her precisely what he was thinking.

  Zara blushed even as her body reacted receptively. She felt suddenly shy although she fully expected to be intimate with her husband in the not-too-distant future. This was the first time he had broached the subject face to face.

  “I’m sure,” she said finally with a hint of a smile. The thought of being naked beneath Korjh’s big, sexy body with that exquisite mouth of his kissing her made it hard to breathe.