6. Jesse #2
I held up my tablet. “Thanks,” I said before turning to retake my seat, getting a nod of acceptance in return.
As I did so, I saw Alec was the only one still completing his.
I settled into my seat to wait and was relieved when only a few more minutes passed before Alec stood up and made his way over to the officer to get his sample taken.
I’d spent it looking at the different apps on my tablet, so at least I hadn’t been bored while waiting.
One of them seemed to be a reading app and appeared to have an absolutely crazy number of books in every conceivable human language available to download.
“Alright, I have your swabs duly labeled, and Xeranos already has your replies. I’m going to run the results three at a time in our multi-analysis machine here.
Results will not be announced until the final result is in.
If you are matched, you will wait here if your mate is in-system.
If your mate is a Mylos and must travel a significant distance to meet you, you will be escorted to secure quarters where you will remain until your mate arrives.
If your mate is Dragonii and is not here, you will wait here for a Dragonii representative who will come to greet you and arrange transport to the colony world, where you will be united with your mate.
If you signed up only for the Dragonii program and are not matched, you will meet with the representative here, and he will go over your options as to where to settle and what role you wish to pursue.
Those of you who signed up for Mylos only, if unmatched, will continue as you have, and so may leave.
Likewise, if you are in a Mylos mate program and go unmatched, such as a scholarship student or trainee, or have accepted other employment, you will continue as you have and leave.
“ With that, he took the bundle of samples and began doing his thing with the machine.
It took less than five minutes to do all twelve. In the middle of it, his kunnarskyn buzzed, and he checked his message.
“Everyone except you five can go,” he said, pointing at me first, then the guy immediately behind me, then Carl, Alec, and the guy on the far end.
I swallowed, a sinking feeling in my stomach.
“I’ve been matched?” Alec asked in a high pitched voice.
“Indeed. Please remain calm. I see you are on medication for your blood pressure, and I do not wish you to suffer a spike. I promise you everything will be as it should.”
“Is it a Mylos or a Dragonii?” he gasped out, starting to hyperventilate a bit, clearly panicked, as despite his earlier bravado, now the reality of what it meant to be actually matched was hitting him like a ton of bricks.
Hathrup looked at him reassuringly. “It’s a Mylos, and they are here within the Fleet, so you will continue within the local veteran’s training program.”
Carl began rubbing circles on his back. “Just breathe with me.”
“Am I matched or am I just finding out where I’m going?” I interjected, it dawning on me that if Alec was being held back because he’d been matched, then the rest of us probably had been as well. Which, given the apparent odds of even getting one match, let alone multiples, was crazy.
And absolutely would be just my luck.
“The Dragonii representative will answer those questions. I’m afraid the Dragonii specific results merely tell me if you are to wait here or not. The representative notifies any Dragonii that is matched and also handles the colony assignment.”
That pissed me off to no end. What harm would it do to give me answers to those two questions now? Stupid red tape. Still, not his fault. That lay with the person or persons who’d come up with the stupid rule and withheld the information from Hathrup.
“Right. So we just gotta hurry up and wait,” I grumbled.
“Well, I know I signed up only for the colony stuff, and we know the odds are we won’t be matched. I reckon the odds are even higher against it, seeing as that guy just got his mate ticket punched.” This was from one of the guys whose name I hadn’t learned, but he was spot on.
“And me,” Carl piped up.
“See?” the man said, as if that proved his point.
The other guy who’d not spoken simply nodded his head.
Carl’s attention was now on his friend Alec. “That's it, easy now. Match your breaths to mine.”
Hathrup walked to the back of the office space, returning with what looked to be water from a device set into a side wall, which made it appear as if from thin air, and offered it to Alec.
Some kind of food synthesizer or something. Pretty cool, I gotta admit.
Alec accepted it with shaky hands, and Carl helped guide it to his lips without spilling so he could sip it.
“Good thing he’s not a colonist with that ticker,” the silent guy said, speaking at last and referencing something he must have learned about Alec some other time.
“There are excellent medical facilities available, and he would not be in a position that would jeopardise his health,” Hathrup informed him icily.
“Jeez, sorry. I didn’t mean to offend.”
Asshole. This guy is going to New Haven? Fuck. I hope we won’t be neighbors.
“It’s alright, just ignore them. Lots of people live with high blood pressure. It’s pretty common,” Carl murmured soothingly to Alec.
The door opened, revealing two Dragonii in the hallway.
Fuck me. Those guys are even more imposing than the Mylos.
“Jesse Wilson, Samuel Lamont, and Kyle Porter, if you’ll come with us, my assistant and I will get you sorted and on your way,” the one in front said.
I stood to follow them out, filing the other two guys’ names in my mind. Kyle Porter was the asshole. Another Dragonii was waiting in the hall, this one wearing fancier clothes.
Wait, I know this guy. He’s the Dragonii ambassador. Wow, they’re really pulling out all the stops here.
“So, none of us matched, right?” Kyle demanded. Then, without waiting for an answer, “Why won’t you answer me?”
Samuel and I exchanged embarrassed looks.
“All will be revealed as soon as we board our vessel.”
“We’ve definitely been matched,” Samuel murmured to me. “They obviously are worried we’ll make a run for it.”
“Are we leaving straight for New Haven?" I asked, panicked now for an entirely different reason. “I thought I’d be able to go back home, so I left my dog behind. Please, I can’t leave without him.”
The ambassador patted my arm. “As soon as Xeranos notified us of your matches, we sent someone to collect your belongings. You’d listed a dog as your dependent on your questionnaire, so please be assured, he will join us aboard our vessel.”
“So we have been matched?” Kyle’s eyes began to dart around.
It looked like Samuel was correct. Kyle definitely looked like he wanted to give in to the impulse to flee.
I didn’t like the guy, but I understood how he felt.
All I'd wanted was to start a ranch on my claim. But I’d made a promise when I’d signed the contract.
There was no use running. I was as good as already married to a Dragonii I’d never even met.
Yet, anyway. I took a deep breath, gathering my courage.
I’ll still get my ranch, just there’ll be someone else to help me run it.
Which is a much better proposition, really.
I’d just been thinking earlier about how I’d need to find out about how to hire a ranch hand once I got going.
I’d be able to put that off a bit, as there’s already a second pair of hands to help with chores. And Buster is coming.
I desperately wanted my dog. I needed to hug him and bury my face in his ruff. That always made me feel good. Buster was magic like that.