I threatened the pilot to eat his insides if he did not hurry and I was certain it took half the time to arrive as it usually did.
The second I set my foot in the usual room Maxwell met all of us, I had two plans and a few things to say to the manipulative human male waiting for me with a wary look on his face.
“Sir Ghauro,” he said, like he had repeated my name a few times so as not to anger me. “We were quite surprised to hear about your visit…What can I do for you?”
“I have requests.”
His eyebrows met his non-existent hairline. “Re-requests? I’m sorry, but we—”
“You offered Melaniemoneyto become my bride, did you not?”
His face turned red, beads of sweat erupting on the top of his head. “I—uh, sheaskedfor the money. I did not—”
“Give it to hernow.”
He blinked a couple of times, stunned into silence. The longer the silence stretched, the tighter my fists closed over the table.
“Wecan’t,” he answered, voice shaking. “Melanie signed a contract. The money will only be releasedifshe produces an offspring.”
“Then send the money to her grandmother. She is sick, and requires medical assistance,” I said, trying to remember the exact words my mate had given me. “I have been told your dying planet asks money to keep its people alive. Money she does not have.”
He let out a laugh of disbelief. “It’s not that simple, sir Ghauro. I cannot just send fifty grand to some random old woman on Earth. I have superiors. Accountants. Money isn’t given away so easily.”
“Then bring her here.”
The man looked at me like I was insane, but I was ready. I had replayed this conversation in my head over the last two hours and I thought about all the possible outcomes.
“We cannot just take people from their world and bring them to a different system, it’s not—”
“Is it not what you have done to my bride?” I asked and all the blood that had made his face red vanished, giving him a sickly complexion. To be fair, he did look kind of green, now…
“I—huh, we…” I waited. “Even if wecould, I looked at the woman’s file; she’s sick! She can barely breathe outside her home or without the help of a ventilator.”
“Clean air will do her good, then. Melanie said Earth air is unclean, she will do better on Taurus.”
He shook his head, looking at some papers spread in front of him. What was a neat pile when I arrived, was now a mess of out of order sheets. He gave up, shoving the paper to the side and turned his electronic device on, tapping on it with his frantic fingers.
“There she is!” he exclaimed. “She isn’t alone, see? She has someone called Ernesto living with her to help.” Ernesto?Melanie did not mention this…“We do background checks on the brides we select for you, and when Captain Farrow landed back on Earth two days ago, he added this to the file…” He cleared his throat and read, “Mr Ernesto Alvarez moved in with Mrs Olga Traynor one week after Miss Melanie Traynor departed. They were both worried about—Melanie’s disappearance and…their mutual lack of money, so…Well, you get the gist. She is fine. And bringing the Grandmother here might mean bringing the man living with her, do you really—”
“Do it,” I ordered. His hand clasped the device so hard it cracked. I did not flinch, did not soften my gaze. “If youdo not, I will tell the others about the questionable way you use to find us these brides.If you do not,” I repeated, “I will ensure the failure of your entire project, extinction be damned.”
19
I love you too, you green softy
Melanie
“What is going on?” Zhari asked, sliding her head through the large opening that served as a door.
I blinked, a tear falling from my lashes onto my forearm as I turned my head. I must have looked pathetic, sitting on the floor facing the door, waiting, legs folded against my chest, head resting on my crossed arms.
“I’m not sure,” I said. “We had a fight. He left.”
Zhari frowned and walked inside, stopping at my level to sit on the floor with me. “It is not my brother’s way to flee from conflict. He must have something on his mind.”
I scoffed, wiping at my wet cheek. “He said he needed time. That he’d be back in the morning.”
It was the middle of the night now. People kept celebrating outside, chanting, dancing, laughing…I wished Ghauro and I were celebrating too, instead of going into that damn discussion so early.
