in a bright gush of light.
The landscape of an unknown planet filled the screen—bright red sand and unfamiliar, lush green vegetation.
The camera must have been mounted on someone’s body, as the image was unsteady and accompanied by the heavy breathing of the person wearing it. As they turned, a Voranian military aircraft came into view. It appeared to have suffered an accident. It was lying on its side, its shiny metal hull crushed and dented.
A group of what I had first thought were gray boulders on the red ground started moving toward the person with the camera. As they came closer, it became apparent the things were alive.
Approaching the camera, they didn’t slow down, menacingly moving closer. Several thin protrusions extended from their large, lumpy bodies. The closest blob of flesh lunged forward, knocking the camera off. It fell to the ground, the image breaking into stripes and dots before disappearing completely.
The next moment, the video resumed from a different angle—a camera from the damaged ship must have turned on. The group of gray blobs attacked a huge Voranian male who looked almost small in comparison.
Bare from the waist up, the Voranian fought fiercely. His fur, slick with sweat and blood, plastered against his bulging muscles as he punched the gray blobs of flesh with his fists and tore at them with his horns.
With a deep growl, he sank his fingers, tipped with long black claws, into one of the blobs attacking him. Baring his teeth in a terrifying grimace, he ripped the flesh apart, drenching himself in the pulsing gush of his enemy’s blood.
The camera zoomed in on his face as he tilted his head back and released a deafening roar. The close-up of the Colonel’s red eyes left no doubt that it was indeed my “potential spouse” out there, ripping living things to pieces with his bare hands.
Paralyzed by shock, I stared at the screen long after the video had ended.
Was this the man I had to live with? Was that how he behaved at home, too? A shudder ran through me. Was a loving marriage possible with someone like that? Could I even spend a year in his employment?
His poor children...
“Daisy. Are you okay?” A touch to my shoulder brought me out of my troubled thoughts. Nancy, one of the Earth’s representatives to the Liaison Committee, gazed at me with concern.
Absorbed by the horrors playing out in the video, I hadn’t noticed when she’d entered the room.
“I’m fine...” I mumbled, the nightmarish image of the Colonel’s brutal expression frozen in my mind. “I’ll be fine... Won’t I?”
Chapter 2
“ARE YOU READY, DAISY?” Nancy asked.
We stood at the ship’s closed exit, surrounded by the rest of the Earth delegation, all of us waiting for the door to open.
“Sure.” I nodded, watching a wide wall section of the ship open and slide down to form a ramp for us to exit.
With sweaty palms, I smoothed the flared skirt of my white polka-dot dress and adjusted the red silk scarf I wore as a headband. I tightly squeezed the handles of the hard-shell, candy-apple-red purse where I kept my Grandma’s Christmas ornament.
I’d had a hard time falling asleep last night after watching that video. When I woke up this morning, however, I was able to see things in a new light.
Sending that video was the opposite of a romantic gesture. Obviously, the Colonel wasn’t expecting a romance and wanted to make sure I didn’t have any such expectations of him. That would also explain why he had not tried to contact me before and showed no interest in getting to know me better. He was looking for a nanny, not a girlfriend. My status of wife would be nothing more than a legality, something to circumvent the law since there was no interplanetary employment agreement between Voranians and humans yet.
The long Marriage Contract that I’d signed covered every political and legal issue of my immigration to Voran, giving few provisions on the actual nature of our union or even my living conditions. It most definitely read like an employment contract.
Adjusting my expectations had calmed me down somewhat. I’d gained a better understanding of my role in the Colonel’s household. The children would be my main and only focus, I’d decided. Thinking about meeting them warmed my heart.
Despite his savage nature, the Colonel still could be a fair employer. I would look after his children for a year for him, learn the new culture, and have a fun interplanetary adventure. Maybe I’d