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Darcy nodded once, and Magnolia looked like she was about to say something in agreement, but she was cut off by the sound of a door closing somewhere deeper in the office, followed by crisp, efficient footsteps. Another human woman appeared, her blonde hair tied neatly back.
“Welcome!” she said. “I’m your human-Zabrian liaison Tasha. I’m here to explain the new Zabrian bride program to you!”
She indicated chairs. Darcy, Magnolia, and I sat down as she launched into a memorized presentation about the Zabrian outpost. Apparently, it was a colony made up entirely of Zabrian males who occupied themselves with various ranching and farming endeavours.
“That doesn’t sound too bad,” Magnolia whispered from beside me. She’d grown up on Terratribe II, so she likely knew a lot about farming. I knew diddly-freaking-squat about the topic, but I’d always been a hard worker and I was used to manual labour. I was sure I could figure it out.
“Why aren’t they recruiting Zabrian women?” That harsh-edged question came from Darcy, and frankly, it was a damn good one. One I hadn’t let myself look at head-on because too much thinking about it might make me want to back out. And backing out meant getting chopped up and chucked in a very cold lake.
A pinch appeared between Tasha’s pale brows.
“That actually has not been made entirely clear,” she admitted. “The Zabrian people do have a fairly rigid honour and caste system. It’s possible that Zabrian females aren’t interested, or aren’t allowed by their families, to journey to this remote outpost planet to marry the men there.”
We all absorbed this. Something felt a bit wrong with that answer, but what the hell did I know about Zabrian culture? Tasha didn’t look like she was lying.
“I couldn’t find an image of a Zabrian on my comms tablet. Will we get to know what they look like?” Magnolia asked. “Not that it… I mean, it’s what’s on the inside that counts. As long as he’s kind and respectful and everything…”
Tasha nodded firmly.
“Oh, yes. We have been assured in the strongest possible terms that no mistreatment of you will be tolerated. Each province on the Zabrian outpost has a warden-”
“Warden?” I repeated, catching on the odd word.
Tasha waved away my concern. “I think it’s just an awkward translation from Zabrian. The warden is basically a government official, representing the authority of the Empire on the outpost planet. If you participate in the program, you will travel first to his office, and from there you’ll meet your husbands. Warden Tenn will be your point of contact if anything is amiss with your Zabrian husband.”
I nodded. That was good, I guessed. We wouldn’t be entirely on our own out there.
“And no, I’m sorry,” she said, turning back to Magnolia. “I don’t have any images of a Zabrian male. They are rather notorious for not submitting their information to the wider universal databases, and trade with them is limited, though there may be one or two on Elora Station right now. But I have spoken via video call with Warden Tenn, and I can tell you that they are humanoid. Two arms, two legs, a prehensile tail. I’m not sure if the colouring varies between them, but Warden Tenn had violet-coloured skin and long white hair. He wore a wide-brimmed hat that cast a lot of his face in shadow, but he wasn’t bad looking. I’d say he was rather striking, in fact. Very strong jaw. Extremely tall.”
She paused, her gaze looking far-off, before she shook her head and brought herself back into the present moment with visible effort. “Anyway. If you step out of the shuttle, take a look at your husband-to-be, and decide you don’t want to go through with it, that is acceptable.”
“And kind of mean,” Magnolia murmured to herself.
“Once you are married, though,” Tasha continued, “you will be expected to remain on the planet with your husband for at least one full month, barring any serious issues or abuse, of course. After that month, if you are not happy with the arrangement, you will be allowed to return to Elora Station. Warden Tenn will send me an update when you travel there next month to ensure everything goes smoothly.”
“Hold on,” I said, sitting up straighter in my chair. “Did you say next month?” It was only halfway through June station-time. That meant at least two more weeks of being on Elora Station, waiting for Magnus’ men to show up and stomp my sorry ass. “Can’t we go any sooner?”
Tasha raised her eyebrows at me.
“I suppose that means you’re accepting the terms of the program?”
“Yes!” I said impatiently. I tried to quiet myself, to not sound quite so desperate, as Darcy gave me a suspicious look and Tasha cocked her head. “But I’m just… eager! To get started. And meet my husband. Is there any way to go sooner than that?”
Infuriatingly, Tasha shook her head.
“Everything has been arranged for next month,” she said, not unkindly. “I’m glad you’re so enthusiastic about the program, though!” She smiled at Magnolia, who smiled back, and Darcy, who didn’t. “Have you two decided if you’d like to proceed to the next stage?”
Magnolia hesitated for a moment, then appeared to steel herself and nodded firmly. “Yes. I’m in,” she said.
Darcy sighed. “Me, too.”
“Wonderful!” Tasha said, looking relieved in a startled sort of way, like she hadn’t expected this to be quite so easy. I eyed Magnolia, then Darcy, wondering what drove them to agree to participate in this program.
Were they running from something just like I was?
“Well, if we’re all decided,” Tasha went on, beaming and nodding, “we can move on to the next stage!”
5
