resort to these measures, but I didn’t see any way out of it. Without a wife, I was going to lose everything.
It started when my uncle’s representatives called me and asked to speak with my wife. I didn’t have one. The snarky lawyer explained that if I didn’t have a wife by the time I turned thirty, my inheritance, Uncle Mastoh’s entire fortune, would be given to charity.
I knew I wouldn’t gain control over all the money until I was thirty. I had been living off the interest from the investments. I vaguely remembered hearing something about having to get married. But I had been young and hung over during the reading of the will. Thirty had seemed like a long way away. Before I left the military, I banked all the interest. I didn't start spending it until I retired.
I needed a wife to keep the money. It couldn’t be that onerous. And didn’t I want to be married in the abstract, theoretical sense? The inheritance was giving me a push in the right direction. More like a shove, I suppose. I could always take the divorce at the end of the year, and I would be able to keep my standard of living.
I winced, as I realized how shallow my thoughts were. I consoled myself with a single thought. By hanging on to my uncle’s money, I was fulfilling the vow I made to myself as a teenager in my family’s small, dingy apartment. At the time, I swore I would get out of that life, earn money, and become wealthy. I would never treat my family like my father had, taking us close to homelessness multiple times.
I wasn’t going to let my uncle’s money go. I needed it for my future children. They would have everything they needed, and they would never live a life like mine.
Everything would work out in the end. Pandenn would say it was the universe working in mysterious ways. But he would never find out about my decision or that he was right about TerraMates.
I needed to start now before I lost my courage. I pulled up the documentary again and started the application process.
* * *
T wo weeks later , I had jumped through all the hoops, gone through the interviews, paid the ridiculously high fees, and received a birth control shot, which lasted a year. I was ready to find a mate.
I swung back and forth on my porch swing, feeling impatient. When one of my servants approached me, I felt a twinge of apprehension. I had asked to be left alone for the rest of the day unless it was important. What could be so important that he would disturb me?
“Sir?” Elon looked nervous. “I know you said not to...”
“Disturb me unless it was important,” I finished for him. “I know. Well, you've disturbed me. What is it?”
“A package came for you. I thought you were waiting for it.”
He held out a small square box that I recognized immediately as an old-fashioned hologram message. There were far more sophisticated technologies available, but TerraMates was an Earth-based company. Even though they had plenty of lovely human woman dying to get off their backward little world, they lacked many of the refinements possessed by civilized planets, such as up-to-date messaging technology.
I thanked Elon and held the box in my hand. It had been a long time since I had felt this nervous. I was a decorated war veteran who had risked his life many times in the military. I had no reason to fear this trinket.
I activated it, and a full-sized hologram appeared. Not everyone went to the trouble of setting up a hologram profile. In fact, this was the first out of ten I had seen. I placed the box on the floor and stepped back to look at her assets. There was only one word for the image of the woman in front of me, and that was...
Wow.
I sat back on the swing, pushing the ground with my feet to get it rocking again.
She was tall, with long shining blonde hair that hung to her ass. Her eyes were pale blue, a rare color on my planet. Her body was thin and her skin was pale. As she turned to me, I could see that her legs were just the way
It started when my uncle’s representatives called me and asked to speak with my wife. I didn’t have one. The snarky lawyer explained that if I didn’t have a wife by the time I turned thirty, my inheritance, Uncle Mastoh’s entire fortune, would be given to charity.
I knew I wouldn’t gain control over all the money until I was thirty. I had been living off the interest from the investments. I vaguely remembered hearing something about having to get married. But I had been young and hung over during the reading of the will. Thirty had seemed like a long way away. Before I left the military, I banked all the interest. I didn't start spending it until I retired.
I needed a wife to keep the money. It couldn’t be that onerous. And didn’t I want to be married in the abstract, theoretical sense? The inheritance was giving me a push in the right direction. More like a shove, I suppose. I could always take the divorce at the end of the year, and I would be able to keep my standard of living.
I winced, as I realized how shallow my thoughts were. I consoled myself with a single thought. By hanging on to my uncle’s money, I was fulfilling the vow I made to myself as a teenager in my family’s small, dingy apartment. At the time, I swore I would get out of that life, earn money, and become wealthy. I would never treat my family like my father had, taking us close to homelessness multiple times.
I wasn’t going to let my uncle’s money go. I needed it for my future children. They would have everything they needed, and they would never live a life like mine.
Everything would work out in the end. Pandenn would say it was the universe working in mysterious ways. But he would never find out about my decision or that he was right about TerraMates.
I needed to start now before I lost my courage. I pulled up the documentary again and started the application process.
* * *
T wo weeks later , I had jumped through all the hoops, gone through the interviews, paid the ridiculously high fees, and received a birth control shot, which lasted a year. I was ready to find a mate.
I swung back and forth on my porch swing, feeling impatient. When one of my servants approached me, I felt a twinge of apprehension. I had asked to be left alone for the rest of the day unless it was important. What could be so important that he would disturb me?
“Sir?” Elon looked nervous. “I know you said not to...”
“Disturb me unless it was important,” I finished for him. “I know. Well, you've disturbed me. What is it?”
“A package came for you. I thought you were waiting for it.”
He held out a small square box that I recognized immediately as an old-fashioned hologram message. There were far more sophisticated technologies available, but TerraMates was an Earth-based company. Even though they had plenty of lovely human woman dying to get off their backward little world, they lacked many of the refinements possessed by civilized planets, such as up-to-date messaging technology.
I thanked Elon and held the box in my hand. It had been a long time since I had felt this nervous. I was a decorated war veteran who had risked his life many times in the military. I had no reason to fear this trinket.
I activated it, and a full-sized hologram appeared. Not everyone went to the trouble of setting up a hologram profile. In fact, this was the first out of ten I had seen. I placed the box on the floor and stepped back to look at her assets. There was only one word for the image of the woman in front of me, and that was...
Wow.
I sat back on the swing, pushing the ground with my feet to get it rocking again.
She was tall, with long shining blonde hair that hung to her ass. Her eyes were pale blue, a rare color on my planet. Her body was thin and her skin was pale. As she turned to me, I could see that her legs were just the way
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