Suddenly a Bride

Across the Stars
Trilogy
: Book 1

Suddenly

a Bride

Ruth Ann Nordin

Chapter One

“
N
umber 258!”

Rilo An quickly stood up and approached the co
unter before the large gelatinous
purple creature called out the next number.  He produced his ticket and brushed the shaggy brown hair out of his eyes.

“What is your wish, si
r?” the creature said in a high-
pitch
whine.

“I wish for a life mate
,” he said, uneasily
adjusting his black jumpsuit.

In
this large room with a good two-
thousand people, the place felt unbearably hot, a
nd his warm clothing was not helping.  He cleared his throat and focused on the glittery purple blob that swayed as it punched something into the holographic screen in front of it.

“Numbe
r 239!” called out a pink gelatinous
creature from another window at the long counter.

A woman with three eyes and wings flew out of her chair to go to the pink creature.

“May I see your tag?” the purple creature asked him.

Rilo turned his attention back to the representative and pulled out the metal tag from his pocket.

The creature’s hands felt slimy and cold as it took the tag from his hand.  Not wishing to offend it, Rilo resisted the u
rge to wipe his hand on his one-
piece suit.  His future depended
on what this creature decided, and these particular
Star
Systems Unlimited
representatives were not known for their good nature.

The representative looked at him with its black eyes.
  “You are from the planet
Pandoran
?”

“Yes.”

“You will want a life mate
who is physically compatible with you.”

“Yes.” There was no way he was going to have children otherwise.

The creature gave what could be considered a nod and punched in some options on the screen floating in front of it.  “T
wo choices for a male from
Pandoran
.  Earth or Alaris?”

He shrugged.  “What is the difference?”

“Earth fem
ales are
emotional and prefer a permanent bond.
  Alaris females are driven by p
ower and switch partners as the genetic line dictates
.”

Oh.  He
didn’t like the idea that a woman might decide
his genetic line didn’t suit her.  That was part of what led to his planet’s current predicament.  “Give me an Earth female.”

“Do you have a preference on what type of Earth female we give you?”

Seei
ng as how he knew very little about
females in general, he didn’t have the slightest idea what to pick except for the basics.  “I want a female who wants a permanent bond and children with one man.”

“That describes most females there.”

Then there shouldn’t be a problem finding one, he almost said, but then, he would have probably been sarcastic and he didn’t want to upset the representative.

“Is there a certain body type you desire?”
it asked.

“Just one that can bear children.”

The purple creature gave a low exasperated hum.  “I will pick one for you.”

He nodded his consent.  What else could he do?  He had so little knowledge in this
area.  With a planet full of
men, all he’d seen were pictur
es
of women
in the school files
.  But the females who once inhabited his planet wore the same black jumpsuits and had long black hair.  To him, they all looked the same.  He reasoned that Earth females would as well.

A thought did occur to him.  “May I ask if Earth females can still have female offspring?”

“Yes.  Females outnumber males by a small percent
age
on that planet.”

He breathed a sigh of relief.  Good.  Then there was a good chance more females could be born.  With any luck, his offspring
would include females as well.

“I put in your request.  You may wait in the Ready Room.
”
The purple being scanned his tag with the necessary information
to get him to Earth
—
and to the woman who would be his life mate.

He thanked the creature, took his tag, and
turned to
the large white room that formed
a perfect circle.  The counter in the center of the room mirrored the circle, and he guessed there were twenty
representatives
attending to the customers all waiting for their wishes to be fulfilled.  He wondered how the system running the place knew which Earth female would be wishing for the same thing he was.

Giving a slight shake of his
head, he de
cided it wasn’t important. 
Star
Systems Unlimited
would take his credits and find a suitable match.  He searched the crowded room where various beings from other planets sat and waited for their number to come up
so they could make their wish.

Each day when the place opened for bu
siness, they started at number one
and continued on until it was time to close.  He was glad he decided to come early.  As it was, the two suns lighting the
solar system
w
ould soon reach the first-quarter
of the primary sun’s cycle.

He wondered how long the wait was in the Ready Room.  The electronic board at the front of the room beneath the clock directed him to the corridor he needed.  He headed for it, wondering exactly what a female would be like.
  Earth women were more emotional than the ones on Alaris.  He wondered what “emotional” meant.  It wasn’t that he and other men on his planet didn’t feel, but no one labeled them or even their females “emotional”.  But he’d risk “emotional” if it meant he could secure a female for the rest of his life.

Every male on his planet understood the inherent dangers of relinquishing that life bond.  He wondered if the Alarians would wake up and give up their selective breeding.  Too many lessons had to be learned the hard way, he supposed.

As he made his way down the corridor with windows that filtered in the bright blue light from the multitude of lights coming from the second sun, he saw another male from h
is world.  The uniform and brown
hair gave him away.  The man stood a
t the end of the line which led to a
tall, stick
-
like creature
.

Rilo stopped behind him and asked, “Are you seeking a female too?”

The other man turned to him and nodded.  “Is there another wish for us to have?  We have everything else on our home world.”

“It’s
the only reason I’m leaving.” Rilo
took a deep breath and glanced behind him.  He could return to the safe and familiar, but there
wasn’t anything
worthwhile in it.  What did he have after all?  A job, a place to live, mindless entertainment
…  Life
there hadn’t been bad.  But it hadn’t been fulfilling either.  He glanced at his tag before he asked, “Did you choose Earth or Alaris?”

“Earth,” the man said.

“Me too.
What did you wish for in a life mate
?”

The man gave
him
a slight
grin.  “I didn’t request a life mate
.”

Rilo frowned.  “You don’t want to secure your offspring’s standing in the female’s life?”

“Oh, I do.  But I don’t know what to expect.  I’m not sure if I’ll find any of the Earth women to my liking.  It might be that Alaris is better suited for me.”

“But the women there don’t seek life mates.”

They moved forward in the line, and the man said,
“I know
,
but I was warned the women on Earth can be emotional.  I’m not sure if
that’s worth it.  What if they’
re violent?
  What if they’
re
too
restrictive?  What if they’
re miserable?
”

Rilo hadn’t considered that.  “Is that what emotional means?”

He shrugged.  “I read that emotions can run
from good
to bad.”

He didn’t like the sound of this.  Taking another step closer to the stick-like creature, he said, “I told them I wanted a female who wished for a permanent bond and children.  Surely, such a woman would be nice to be with?”

“I don’t know.  I’m going to Earth to check it out and see for myself.  If it turns out that a female Earthling won’t suit me, I’ll come back here and request Alaris.”

As they walked forward, Rilo wondered if he should have done the same thing.  Perhaps he was hasty in asking for a life mate.  This was a permanent decision, and his wish was being processed.  He glanced back at his tag.  It was too late to pay to return.  He was at the mercy of the woman the agency selected for him.  Just how did they make their decision anyway?
  Did they run his profile through a database and match him up with
the one who
best suit
ed
him or did they just pick a female at random?

The man next to him showed the stick-like creature his metal tag and the creature scanned it.  Then the creature tu
rned his attention to Rilo who
presented his tag as well.

The creature nodded to both of them.  “Earth.  Corridor E3.  Terminal 12SS.  Departure a
t 678 sun cycle 1,
853 sun cycle 2.”

Rilo felt a mixture of apprehension and excitement.  In as little as seven hours, he’d depart for Earth.

“Will you be going to eat?” the man asked him as they made their way toward Corridor E3 which was lit by the suns through the windows on all sides.

“Not yet.  I want to see if they have any brochures on Earth.”

“I’m sure they do. 
In case I don’t see you again, I wish you well with your life mate.”

“Thanks.
”

“If nothing else, with women there, I’m sure the scenery will be better.”

Rilo couldn’t argue that point.  He wondered if there would be any pictures of Earth women
here
.  Did they look like women that had once inhabited his planet or were they different?  He’d guess similar if th
ey were physically compatible with
him.

His traveling companion found a place to eat and departed down an off-shoot corridor, leaving Rilo to
scout out the
information centers up ahead.

***

C
aitlyn
Davis
walked up to the booth
in the diner where the two construction workers sat.
  She inwardly groaned and glanced at her friend who was busy filling coffee cups.  Well, she’d have to battle Travis and Richie today.

She pulled out the pad and pencil and asked, “May I take your order?”

Travis, the brunette, turned his eyes to her and scanned her up and down.  “What’s a pretty lady like you doing in a joint like this?”

She fought the urge to roll her eyes.  “The same thing I do every time you come here.  Now, may I take your order?”

“I don’t know.  Got a private spot where we can go?”

Richie, the blond, laughed.  “Can I get served when he’s done?”

“Look,” she began, not hiding her exasperation, “I’ve got a job to do, okay?  It’s lunchtime
and I have other
people to take care of
, so if you don’t get to it, I’m going to let you fend for yourself.”

Travis groaned.  “That’s the problem, Caty.  I fend for myself too much.”

She
rolled her eyes a
nd turned to go to another booth
where a young couple was
reading their paper menus.