Chapter 20
CARL
I’d signed on the dotted line just as I’d planned, only to find that while they completed updating the mate matching program, that service was on hold.
I asked Xero to keep my transfer and official quarters assignment secret just a little bit longer, as he had informed me that they were mere days away from starting it back up, and I would be included in the first batch to get tested.
So, I spent my days arranging my current classes to be taught at a distance and my future classes to be announced once we knew where I’d officially be - here aboard ship or on some as yet unnamed Dragonii colony world.
Officially, that is, as I knew down to the very depths of my soul that I’d be right here, with Kit.
Well, after we got back from our honeymoon, anyway.
I also arranged for which items I wanted to bring up and which I wanted to go in storage for now, and for the rest to be donated - books, dishes, and stuff like that to the college thrift store and the rest to the one here within the Fleet, as apparently thrifting was a popular hobby even here among the stars.
My TA was staying at my house to keep an eye on everything, and I’d promised he and his friend could rent it from me at less than market rate if they made sure all the things went to their designated places.
The things coming here to our quarters were being secured in the garage until I got the official mate notification, so the surprise was well and truly in no danger of being even partially revealed.
As for my car, I’d arranged for it to be stored at a place that specialized in secured, private parking for vintage vehicles.
I’d paid a month’s rent, hoping that no more time than that was necessary, as after that, it was to return to the garage at my house, which was large enough for two cars, so my TA or his roommate could park inside and the other in the driveway on my car’s side.
I let out a squeal of pure glee Monday morning when my tablet beeped, and I saw I had a message to report for my testing.
“Something exciting?”
“Um, yes. There was a burst pipe in the ladies’ room down the hall from my classroom, so all classes are canceled. I don’t have to go back today, and possibly tomorrow,” I fibbed, thinking fast.
“Then we should make the most of you getting another day. But instead of going bowling yet again, how about we eat at the Caribbean beach cafe on Kalife’s Blade?”
Ohh, that would be perfect. I would be matched this morning, and instead of dinner, we could go there for lunch and enjoy a romantic stroll along the simulated beach, planning our future together.
Then we could come back, fuck like bunnies so he could claim me Mylos style, cuddle afterward, and nap, then enjoy a lazy dinner in bed, have more sex, do more planning, and tomorrow, well, tomorrow I’d wait in for my stuff to arrive and Kit could help me rearrange everything, getting rid of the stuff he had that we didn’t need.
“Sounds good,” I replied happily. “What, why are you looking at me like that?”
“You look like you’re plotting something.”
“Pop quiz. After I’ve been away and they’ve had a sub, and then this pipe bursting, they’ll never expect it.”
“You’re evil, you know that? That’s what they’ll say.”
I cackled. “Yup. But someone has to keep them on their toes! No easy passes from me.”
“Nor from me,” he agreed. “I’ll see you at five then. Meet me at my office?”
“Yup,” I promised, knowing full well that in reality, he would be coming much sooner to meet me instead.
Ah, this was going to be epic, and I couldn’t wait to see the amazement on his face!
Would his plumage already be manifested enough to show some of his scales?
I was dying to see what color they’d be and to see his eyes shift.
“Okay, see you then,” he said, taking his tablet with him.
“See you!” I called after him, then ran to take a very thorough shower, seeing as I‘d be bottoming for the claiming process.
Shower done, and a romantic lunch date at the beach suitable choice of attire quickly put on, I made my way to the elevator, thanking my lucky stars that once I‘d discovered the beaches the Fleet boasted, I’d gone shopping and bought both beach bum and smart casual beach attire from the shops on board.
“Xero, please show me the way to the shuttle bay. I need to get to my mate matching appointment aboard the mothership.”
“Happy to help, and may the odds be ever in your favor!” he sang.
I smiled. “Thanks, but not sure if Hunger Games quite strikes the tone I’m after.”
“Then positive vibes for your desired outcome,” he sang, and the guiding light band turned into a set of rainbow stripes.
“Better,” I laughed.
I made the 11:45 shuttle, so I ended up being a bit earlier than necessary for my appointment.
That was fine. It gave me time to send an email to my TA letting him know that movers would be arriving soon, and I would call him when I had exact time confirmation.
I checked my email and played a game on the tablet as a few more men came and sat down, presumably also here for their test, seeing as we’d all been directed to an area with a sign that said, “Mate Matching Service”.
It was just before 1 pm when the door opened again, this time admitting a man I didn’t know and one I did.
“Alec!” I called out in greeting, and his head swiveled around, his gaze locking onto mine instantly.
“Um, hi,” he said, walking over.
“You had to wait for your test, too?” I asked, for some reason, thrilled to discover he was unmated. Which was stupid because I was here for Kit. Though admittedly, Kit and I both had enjoyed watching him work while we worked on Kit’s abysmal bowling skills.
“Um, yeah.” He looked at me, confusion written large across his features. “I thought you were mated to that Kit guy.”
“Here to get it confirmed. I’ve never taken the test, and you know how it is. Until they are told, their minds hold them back.”
“Um, yeah. Sure.”
I glared at the man who’d come in at the same time as Alec, as he’d just rolled his eyes at my comment.
He’d see soon enough. He wasn’t worth wasting my time on.
I patted the empty seat next to me. “Here, have a seat. I was here before anyone else, and the nurse said the matching officer would come out at one on the dot and take us all to the area they’ve got set up. ”
“Cool,” he said, plopping into the seat.
“So, you’re sure you’re mates, huh?” he asked me, not quite looking me in the eye, his cheeks pinkening.
“Yes. Some things you just know, even if certain Mylos miss the obvious and rely solely on these tests. Are you hoping to get matched?”
“Yeah,” he replied, wiping his palms on his pants. “I’m tired of being alone, and hook ups don’t really appeal, you know? I might only be twenty-three, almost twenty-four, but I’m ready for my happy ever after guy to show up so we can plan a life together.”
He looked down at his lap as he spoke.
“I get you. I didn’t know I was ready for that until I met Kit three years ago.
We were introduced, and it was like bazinga!
I realized fate had just played me good and I’d won the mate lottery.
Only the joke was on me as Kit was completely clueless, and his display never kicked off.
So I thought I was mistaken, right up until that kidnapping case last year, where it turned out one of the investigators had met his match and downplayed his symptoms and suppressed them until a doctor suggested he was mates with the guy.
And then the guy took the test and badda bing, badda boom! Achievement unlocked.”
“Oh yeah. The teacher who was kidnapped during that Friendship Picnic event. He and a kid were taken by people pretending to be bus drivers, right?”
I shot him with a finger gun.
“Well, I’m hoping I’m not,” the guy on the other side of him said.
“I’m tired of being told what to do as my old man won’t let me help run the ranch.
He’s still treating me like a regular ranch hand, not even the foreman.
So when I asked him last Sunday at dinner to at least let me help me select the new livestock, and he told me that he’d been meaning to have a sit down with me to let me know he was promoting my brother-in-law to foreman and would be handing him and my sister the ranch in a couple of years’ time, I’d had enough.
The announcement about the Dragonii colony offer came on the news, and I signed up.
I’m here to take the test and then get assigned my piece of land so I can go ahead and skedaddle off to my new life. ”
“That’s terrible!” Alec said. “Why would your dad do that and not at least make you and your brother-in-law and sister equal partners?”
“Because, in his actual words, ‘This is Oklahoma and there’s no place for no Brokeback Mountain shit in this town’.
I’d always thought he was okay with me being gay as long as I didn’t kiss and hug all over anyone in front of him, and that he’d get over it if I did find someone special.
Ya know, get him used to having the guy around, and after I took the ranch over, extend that to overnight stays, and let it go from there.
But no, he’s just a bigot who was biding his time.
My sister told me I was welcome to stay and that she and Ted were sympathetic, but that Dad was right and the ranch would have issues if it came out. So, I left.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” I told him honestly, my heart aching for him.
My family had always been nothing but supportive bar my dad’s cousin Edna, and she objected to everything and anything anyway.
She made one comment when I was seventeen, and that was it.
She was banned from all family gatherings forevermore. “I’m Carl, by the way.”
“Alec,” Alec added with a cute, tiny wave.
“Jesse,” the man replied. “Nice meetin’ y’all. Hope you get what you’re after.”
“You too,” I told him earnestly. The guy deserved to achieve his dream of owning his own ranch, and he was going to get it, mate or no mate.
But right now, he wasn’t in the right mindset to find he was mated, so I hoped for his sake that if he was matched, it wouldn’t be today, but later down the line.
Or maybe he’d fall in love with another human colonist, and they’d expand their holdings by merging. That was a nice thought.
A Mylos officer wearing a sash over his bare torso appeared.
“Those for the mate matching service, please follow me.” We all stood up and began trailing after him down a narrow corridor like a line of ducklings.
He led us to a room that held more chairs, a desk just beyond those, and a machine several steps behind that.
This was it! I was so excited, my heart started racing, making me feel a little faint. I was grateful when he indicated we should all take a seat.
“You should each have a form on your tablet’s homescreen. If you did not bring your tablet, I will give you one to use that has the questionnaire on it, but you will have to key it with your thumbprint and retinal scan before starting.”
I checked my tablet and sure enough, there was a flashing icon labeled Compatibility Questionnaire. I tapped the screen and got started.