Joven's Bride Read online

  The whole world went a little crazy even before the alien attack. The world was still getting used to the fact that they were not alone in the Universe. Earth was not the only planet in the galaxy inhabited by homo sapiens. But after the Drayids attacked, Carly sought counseling to deal with her grief and post-traumatic stress disorder.

  Sara Thomas had been her best friend since grade school. They grew up in the same southern Ohio small town, went to the same college to become teachers just as they always said they would.

  After Captain Dargan Merrek broadcasted his announcement about their presence in the solar system every hour for twenty-four hours, Carly and Sara became fascinated with everything alien. When Carly discovered the Narovian Interstellar Matchmaking site on the internet, Sara was genuinely excited as she.

  Several humanoid races were compatible with Earth humans, and thousands of feline humanoids looking for mates. The Narovian Interstellar Matchmaking Service was not like the Earth dating sites that Carly and Sara had tried a few times. The Narovian service matched applicants genetically.

  The men were exotically attractive, even sexy, and she could easily imagine a feline humanoid lover. She loved cats, but unfortunately, she lived in an apartment that didn’t allow pets. The fee was the same as what they would pay for an ancestor DNA search, so they had worked through the detailed application form together.

  A few weeks later, Sara was gone.

  Even though the trip had marked the end of the school year, summer vacation was not nearly long enough for Carly to recover. She still had nightmares about the day the Drayids attacked. She couldn’t have been closer to Sara if they were sisters. Losing her left a big hole in Carly’s life.

  Without Sara, she couldn’t find much enthusiasm for any of the things they did together. Every summer they took a road trip around the country for a week at least. They were both so excited about finding alien mates together, hoping at least to find them on the same planet.

  Now it didn’t matter anymore. The summer after she lost Sara, Carly spent a lot of time on her computer looking at all the Alliance websites that had popped up on the internet between First Contact and the Drayid attack.

  The more she learned about the Narovian Feline humanoids, the more confident she felt in her desire to find a feline mate. Carly studied their species in depth, but she had only skimmed the surface of information on cyborgs.

  She did learn that the pheromonal meomee bond would temper the ruthless warrior in him. She had pretty much made her decision by the time she received a second vid-mail from Joven:

  “My dearest Carly,

  You honor me with your reply. Even without the scent of you, the sound of your voice tells me that you are meomee. You are as beautiful as I could imagine in my wildest dreams.

  I am truly sorry that you lost your friend in the Drayid attack. I fought for many years in the war against them. We made peace with them, but your world took so long to accept our offer to join the Alliance, the Drayids thought they could annex your world even though it is within Alliance territory. We have a blockade in effect patrolling our border, but it is too late to prevent their attack on Earth.

  The territory bordering Sector Six that includes the Glasica system has coexisted with the Alliance for millennia. Life on what is now my world is much like that of small community life on Earth. My kind have been coming to Earth for centuries, so we know a great deal about your culture.

  I am pleased that you agreed to accept a cyborg mate, but there is one thing that was not in my profile. Enhancements to my DNA and alterations to my body as I was grown in the artificial womb gave me the ability to shift my body into animal form…”

  Joven backed away from the camera and changed into a large black panther-like creature. As he came closer to the camera, she could see leopard spots beneath the black, somewhat like domestic black cats with tiger stripes showing in the black.

  Carly gasped and stared in stunned silence for almost a minute. Joven paced closer to the screen so she could see his blue feline eyes, those same eyes with the loving expression she had seen before. Then she realized that he was just as magnificent in his big cat form. She also knew it didn’t frighten her.

  “I knew from the beginning that I must be completely honest about myself with you, meomee. Even with these enhancements to my body, I can breed with you in humanoid form and make offspring with you. Even the scientists who created me can’t be sure whether the shifting trait would be transferred to my children.

  I will be deeply saddened if you can’t accept me as your mate because of this, but I will abide with your decision, meomee.”

  “Oh, no,” Carly murmured to the man on her computer screen, as she saw the pain in his eyes at the prospect. He seemed to be in love with her already; or maybe in love with the idea of his soulmate. But when she saw that look on his face, Carly just wanted to put her arms around him and hold him close.

  Come to me, meomee. We will have a good life here on Glasica. Two females from your world are mated to friends. I told them about you, and they hoped you would accept my proposal and come to Glasica to be my wife. Please consider it, meomee…”

  Your meomee,

  Joven

  End recording.”

  Carly watched the video a few times while she contemplated her reply. She knew what Sara would say. She wasn’t likely to find another soulmate match. Her gut feeling told her Joven was the one. The only obstacle that made her hesitate was leaving Earth, probably for good.

  But what an opportunity! Before the Alliance came, Earth technology might not even establish an extraterrestrial colony in her lifetime, let alone travel interstellar. That in itself was exciting and terrifying at the same time. Maybe Joven made her feel a little bit of that, too. He was a hulk of a man, a fierce cyborg warrior, who could turn himself into a fearsome big cat.

  Yet when he looked at her from her screen with such affection, Carly was sure she had nothing to fear from him. That was when she knew she had decided to become his wife.

  Carly took a deep breath.

  “Joven,

  The answer is yes! I am pleased to become your wife. I only wish it didn’t take three months to get to your world. At least, we will be able to talk to each other in real time once I’m in space. That in itself seems as fantastic as marrying a shape-shifting feline cyborg.”

  Carly paused to laugh out loud.

  Please don’t be offended, meomee. I am laughing because I am happy now that I made the decision to come to you. When I say it out loud, it seems almost too fantastic to be real. But it feels more real every time I watch your vid-mails.

  I know it’s right because I feel a unique connection to you that I’ve never felt with anyone else.

  I learned as much as I could about your species after Sara, and I made our applications to the Interstellar Matchmaking Service. We were both born and raised within the radius of the Alliance Law Enforcement base, so I knew being matched with a Narovian feline humanoid was possible. Honestly, I was kind of hoping.

  It’s probably just as well that it will take three months so we can get to know each other before your pheromones have us in the throes of mating frenzy. Although it does sound exciting. You are so hot.”

  She smiled into the camera on her laptop at him blushing. Felines were well known in Alliance sectors for their sensuality and sexual prowess. Just thinking about the lengthy process of consummating their marriage got her female parts all excited.

  “I mean you are handsome…”

  Chapter Three

  The next day Carly received a delivery, from the Narovian Interstellar Matchmaking service, her first indication that Joven had received her acceptance to become his wife. A box containing a dozen pink roses came from a local flower shop. Nestled inside were a pink velvet ring box and a card:

  My sweet meomee,

  I have no words in your language or mine to tell you what your agreement to become my wife and life mate means to me. In the tradition o
f your people, please accept this ring as a symbol of my commitment to our mating.

  Your soulmate,

  Joven

  After reading the card, she picked up the ring box and just held it in her hand and rubbed her finger over the soft velvet lid. She drew in a breath and let it out. She was going to love it, no matter what. Opening the box, she gasped, amazed at the beauty of its simple design.

  The unadorned, silver metal ring wrapped around a modest teardrop pink diamond. It was made to encircle the finger, leaving a space between the two ends. Her hand trembled just a little as she lifted the ring from its velvet bed to try it on. It fit perfectly.

  Carly was still admiring the ring when her open laptop beeped to signal an incoming message. She knew it would be Joven; she had set her computer to beep only for his messages. Looking at the beautiful long-stemmed roses in the box, she deemed they would be okay for a few more minutes and went to the computer to view the vid-mail.

  “Meomee Carly,

  I was made to fight and kill the enemies of the Alliance, which I did for many years. The warriors who fought at my side were the only family I ever had. I was bred in vitro and grown in an artificial womb, never knowing the donors of my genetic material. There were many years in my life that I wearied from the purpose of my existence. During those times, only the possibility that I could one day find my soulmate and begin a real family of my own kept me centered on my purpose.

  As you have studied the feline race, I have reviewed your marriage traditions. I have signed the marriage contract which is attached to this vid-mail for you to sign electronically and return to the agency. But now, I would like to make my marriage vows to you:

  Carly Adrian, my precious meomee: I will love and respect you, honor and protect you, breed only with you, and share all that I have with you for all of my life.

  Now for mundane matters. The agency will email you details of your travel arrangements. Before you leave, they will inoculate you, and inject a language module built from your own cells. Within a few days, you will be able to understand, speak, read, and write the common language. I have already received a similar module for your language.

  You are allowed to bring fifty kilograms of your possessions, which will be scanned before loading. The agency will provide you a com-tablet that will enable us to communicate holographically as you travel to Glasica. The next transport leaves in two weeks.

  Joven gave her a sexy smirk.

  My beautiful meomee, you already know what to expect when we finally meet for the first time. So, as you said, it is good that we have time to get better acquainted in the meantime. My body reacts when I even think about mating with you.

  “So, does mine,” she murmured to the screen. It would be so much better to talk in real time.

  Joven Brendict strode into the Sasga Café, stopped and scanned the small dining room by sight. Spotting his friend at a corner table, he went to join him.

  “Rader, it’s good to see you. I’m sorry, I didn’t arrange a meeting sooner.” Joven dropped into the chair across from Glasica’s Chief Law Enforcement Officer Rader Knight.

  “I know you’ve been busy between patrolling the star system and recruiting your second team. I’m just glad the Alliance authorized funding,” Rader said. “I don’t scare easy, but I was terrified when that poacher’s ship made our flier crash. They are lucky Skye wasn’t hurt more seriously than she was.”

  “Your argument in favor of space patrol was compelling,” Joven said. “Thanks for recommending me to head the team. Getting this job is why I decided to settle here. Your wife has fully recovered?”

  “She has, and she is carrying our child. What about you? Did the agency find your meomee, yet?”

  Joven couldn’t help smiling at the question. “They have, and she has signed the marriage contract. She is leaving Earth in just a few rotations. Then it will take about a hundred rotations before she arrives.”

  “And it seems even longer waiting for her to arrive.”

  “I told her that another woman from Earth was already here, so I’m sure she will want to meet your Skye. She was in the same city as your wife when the Drayids attacked. Her friend was in the perimeter of destruction and disappeared in front of her eyes.”

  “It certainly convinced Earth governments they needed Alliance protection,” said Rader. “Now the Alliance Council is trying to make a plan to control the Drayids without starting another War.”

  “I’m just glad we are not in a direct route from Drayid Territory like Modonne is,” Joven said. That would certainly make my job harder.”

  “There are not enough females here to make us a target for slavers. Smugglers, poachers, and criminals on the run are all we have to deal with here,” Rader said. “Does your female know what she will do when she gets here?”

  “She was a teacher of children on Earth. Perhaps she can become an instructor in one for the virtual schools here on Glasica. She was given a custom language module before she left Earth.” Joven smiled and raised and eyebrow. “We will also be trying to make children of our own and supervising our farm crops.”

  Does she know that you may have to be away for many rotations at times?”

  “I explained it to her, but I’ve got a good team. They will not need me to treat them like newbies. Most of them have served as long as I have,” Joven said. “I have all the surveillance equipment I need at my home. Most of the time, I will monitor from there, and coordinate with you if we have any breaches into Glasica space.”

  “I don’t blame you,” said Rader. “We have both waited a long time to find our mates. This is our time to enjoy the pleasures of having a mate and making a family with her. We earned that right.”

  “A hundred rotations are going to seem like a hundred solar orbits.” Joven shook his head.

  Rader nodded. “It did while I was waiting for Skye to arrive. But the vid-chats helped ease the waiting because we talked in real time every day.

  Carly found the Interstellar Matchmaking Office on a rural country road in the hills of West Virginia. It was an ordinary storefront building not much bigger than a specialty shop in a strip mall. The building with its parking lot was surrounded by woods on three sides.

  A large multi-car carrier truck, parked on the left side of the office, was loaded with cars. A second, empty trailer unattached was parked far enough back to allow loading of the first. They were collecting the vehicles from the people leaving them behind. There was no room on the starship to carry them, and their fuel systems were obsolete on most Alliance worlds.

  Carly was leaving her four-year-old compact car. It would be sold at auction and the money donated to a memorial scholarship fund in her friend Sara’s name. There were several choices for those leaving their vehicles to be sold. Money could be transferred to Alliance credits, sent to family members, or donated to charity.

  Some of the people were just dropped off because they gave their vehicles to someone else. Carly had already removed anything personal from her car. All 50 kilos of what was going with her were in three matching footlockers that stacked on her wheeled luggage carrier.

  She’d spent the last few weeks getting rid of everything else she owned. Her savings had all been converted to Alliance credits. It was nearly enough to pay her own way if she ever wanted to come back to Earth.

  With everything she had learned about felines, and about Joven, she doubted she ever would. Carly felt pretty sure she had found the love of her life.

  Chapter Four

  Carly spent a couple hours at the agency’s office getting a medical scan, required inoculations, and a bioimplant for the most common alien language spoken on most Alliance worlds. It was a far more straightforward process than she expected. The medical technician swabbed her cheek and picked some cells to imprint with the language, then painlessly injected them back into her neck.

  Though not sure how it worked, she simply accepted that it did. The language would be imprinted into her brain as
those programmed cells multiplied. Alliance technology was far ahead of Earth, but Earthers would reap the benefits because homo sapiens were more prevalent in the galaxy that anyone imagined.

  As the brides and grooms were processed for departure, shuttle buses came to take them to the helicopter that would take them to the secret Alliance Starbase in the Monongahela Forest that couldn’t be reached by road. From there they would shuttle up to the passenger-freighter that would take them to the various planets to unite with their mates.

  Carly felt giddy and on edge, not really having second thoughts, just nervous about going into space. She had only been on a plane once in her life, and she’d gotten the same edgy excitement. Within a couple of days, she would be able to contact Joven directly then throughout the long journey.

  Twenty-five people shuttled up to the Star Traveler, three of them were from the secret Starbase, going to unite with their mates. A cheerful passenger relations director met them in the shuttle bay and led them to a conference room to review the safety regulations and rules of conduct.

  The Star Traveler was a midsized interstellar passenger freighter with the capacity for 50-100 passengers and many tons of freight. Some of the twenty crewmembers, both male and female, were feline humanoids.

  Afterward, drinks and snacks were brought in by androids for a meet and greet with the rest of the passengers. She saw some Narovian felines in the flesh a few times that day. A few had served on Earth as Law Enforcement agents at the Starbase, so they spoke English reasonably well. The other felines were coming from various worlds, and it was too soon for her language implant to be effective.

  “Joven, it’s so great to see you in person. You are taller than I realized. Or isn’t the image accurate,” Carly asked later when she was alone in her cabin.

  He smiled seeming as happy to see her. “It should reflect my true stature. You are just as I imagined, as my processor translated your image to 3-D based on your dimensions from your dossier.”