Betrothed Episode One (2 page)

It was
time for me – Annie Carter – to find my place in this
universe.

The
Alpha System was incredible.

Space
travel, not so much.

I hardly
had any savings, so I’d booked a transport I could afford. A
stinky, cramped freighter hauling borinian ore.

It had
terrified me when I’d boarded, but the longer I’d spent in my
cramped room, the more I’d calmed down.

It was
kind of crazy to travel all the way to the Alpha System just to
apply for a goddamn job.

It felt
right though.

I’d been
at the institute too long. I needed to find myself.

I wasn’t
brave – at least not now. The old me had travelled everywhere. The
old me had enjoyed packing up, grabbing her wallet and passport,
and traveling wherever the wind had blown.

The new
me – who’d wound up 400 years in the future without family,
friends, and far away from anything she’d ever known – was
different. The new me was scared to leave the building.

The new
me figured that the moment I set foot outside was the moment the
universe came crashing down around my ears.

But I
was still doing this.

I landed
on the main planet in the Alpha System, a cheery rock called Begia
Prime.

It had spectacular scenery. It was like New Zealand on
steroids. Enormous snow-capped mountain ranges plunged down into
azure blue rivers. Forests of sprawling, knotted alien trees clung
to hillsides, giving way to golden grassed plains.

And in
the middle, for no good reason, was a dirty stinky city.

There I
would find the application office.

Mark had
made me promise to call him after I’d applied. He’d mumbled
something about needing to ensure I hadn’t been assigned to the
role of president.

President of the universe? Yeah, right. If my family were
still alive, they’d tip their heads back and laugh at the thought
that flaky Annie would ever amount to anything, let alone president
of the goddamn universe.

I
figured I’d get my application out of the way before exploring the
planet.

And even
then, I’d probably have to go back to my tiny habitat pod – my
accommodation – and chew my nails for a few hours to muster up the
courage to head out into the wilderness.

It wouldn’t be dangerous – the Alpha System was a premier
tourist spot.

I was
just agoraphobic from spending three years in the
institute.

It
didn't take me long to find the application office.

I walked
inside to face an opaque black window.

There
was no one else around, and for a few awkward minutes I stood there
and did nothing.

Then I
cleared my throat.

With a click, the window disappeared, revealing a squat alien
behind a counter. “Application, please.” He shunted one of his
pudgy hands towards me.

“
Ah,” I hesitated.

“
Application.” He twiddled his ten fingers.

“
I-is this the application office for the Foundation
Government Corps?”

“
Of course it is.”

“
So ... I just hand you my application then?”

He
twiddled his fingers and nodded.

I handed
him my data pad.

“
Step forward and place your hand on the biometric scanner,”
the alien said in a bored tone.

I
complied.

After a
few seconds there was a beep.

The
alien sniffed. “Alright then, looks as if you can’t apply
yet.”

“
Ah, what?”

“
There’s a contract out on you. No one can apply for a job in
the government until all existing contracts taken against them are
satisfied.”

I
frowned at the clerk. “Sorry?”

“
There’s a contract out on you,” he said slowly, as if I was
hard of hearing. He had an impassive, blank expression, and brought
a two pronged finger up to scratch his ear.

“
... Ah, sorry? You ... y-you mean someone wants to kill me?”
My heart skipped a beat.

His
eyebrows flattened and he shot me a quizzical look.
“What?”

“
Y-you said there’s a contract out on me—”

“
It means someone has some controlling interest in you.” He
shrugged his shoulders and started to shuffle the data pads on his
desk again.

“
... What does that mean?”

“
It means, humie, you can’t take this job until you get your
contract satisfied. There are strict universal laws about that kind
of stuff.”

“
I, um, I, ah ... what kind of contract are we talking about
here?” I was floundering. My face was red, my hands were sweaty.
Just when I thought I was settling into the future, it was throwing
me more surprises.

I had
never heard of contracts.

The
clerk shot me a bored look. “How should I know? You could be
indentured, you could have an inheritance, you could be
betrothed.”

I
latched onto one word. “Sorry, betrothed?”

“
You know, legally obliged to marry someone.”

“
That’s a thing?” My voice pitched and shook.

“
Of course it’s a thing.” He shot me another bored look. “Now,
you gotta go find out what contract is out on you, and you’ll have
to satisfy it before you can apply for a job with the
government.”

“
H-how do I do that?”

I didn’t
know if the clerk’s race rolled their eyes, but this guy sure
looked like he wanted to. He leaned over his desk, his pudgy
pronged fingers disturbing the heaped pile of tools and datapads,
sending a few scattering to the floor. “Lady, don’t you know
anything? You been living under a rock your whole life?”

“
I’m a newfound one. I only woke up 3 years ago,” I admitted
as I slid my gaze to my hands.

“
Oh.” He appeared to relax. “In that case, listen carefully.
You have to book a transport to the Central System. Then you need
to visit Cluster. When there, you’ll need to visit the Contracts
Office. Depending on the type of contract out on you, you’ll
probably have to head to the Identity Office too. Then, when the
contract is confirmed, all you have to do is satisfy it, and once
that’s done you can reapply for this job.” He shoved my application
back at me, receded into his chair, punched something on the panel
in front of him, and flicked me a smile as the window to his office
turned opaque. “Good luck,” he called before his voice cut
out.

“
Ah ha,” I managed after a long pause.

My body
stiff, it took me awhile to turn away.

My hand
shook as I held my application.

There
was a contract out on me. I could be indentured – and god knows
what that would entail. Or I could have inherited
something.

Or ... I
could be betrothed.

I’d come
here today to get my life sorted – to join the modern
galaxy.

Before
today, I hadn’t even known about contracts.

...
Christ.

I wiped
a hand down my face and forced myself to walk away.

I barely
had any money, and the few savings I had would now be burnt
away.

Great.

Back to
square one.

I hated
the future.

...

I
couldn’t calm down. My body was wired, my mind filled with crazy
thoughts.

I could
inherit a small moon, or I could be indentured to a crazy alien
warlord.

I’d gone
back to my accommodation – a small pod on the outskirts of a
transport town. It had an incredible view of the wild wilderness of
this planet on one side, then the dingy transport town behind
me.

I stood
there and stared at the tall majestic mountain ranges, my gaze
drawing towards the horizon as dusk set.

I needed
to talk to someone, someone I could trust.

In this
lonely galaxy, there was only one man.

I called
Mark.

“
Hey, kid, how did your application go?”

“
Ah, not great,” I couldn’t control my tone.

“
What happened?”

“
Um, Mark, have you ever heard of contracts?”

“
... Sure. Why are you bringing them up?”

“
Like, I don’t mean ordinary legal contracts, I mean ...
Christ, I don’t know what I mean. Some kind of universal, ah ...
thing.” I couldn’t find my words. I stared at the view with wide
open eyes and a pounding heart. I rubbed my hand back and forth
along the window ledge, until the smooth metal started to grate
against my fingers.

“
Yeah, I know what you mean. Universally Binding Contracts.
Why are you bringing them up?”

I
paused. I couldn’t speak. My breath had stuck in my
chest.

I patted
a hand on my middle, crunching over.

“
... Annie?”

“
I have a contract out on me,” I blurted, “I have no idea what
it is. But if I don’t satisfy it, I can’t apply for this job. And I
need this job, Mark – it’s like the only thing I can do in the
future. I feel so freaking useless most of the time, and totally
out of my depth. And now this has come along,” I sucked in a
breath, “and I have no idea what it is. I could be betrothed, Mark
– betrothed.” I couldn’t stop the torrent of thoughts from spilling
out of my mouth. “The clerk at the applications office told me I
have to go to the Central System, and to the Contracts Office and
then the Identity Office. But I hardly have any money, Mark. It
will take up all my savings, and then some. I don’t know what to
do. Just when I thought I was getting used to this future, this
comes up.”

Mark
didn’t interrupt. I fancied wherever he was, he had a calm smile
plastered across his lips.

I took
an enormous breath and flopped onto my butt. I could still see a
slice of the horizon through the windows, and I concentrated on the
white sleek mountain peaks beyond.

I stuck
a fingernail in my mouth and started to chew it.

“
Take a breath, Annie, it’s all going to be okay. First things
first: it isn’t that unusual to have a contract. It won’t be that
hard to find out what it is. It won’t take up all your savings
either – as a newfound one, you can apply for a grant to head to
the Central System to get this all sorted.”

“
... Oh. But – but what if I’m indentured, or
betrothed!”

He
laughed. “I like how you’re more scared of being betrothed than you
are of being indentured.”

“
Mark, this is serious!”

“
Yeah, I haven’t heard you give a thought dump like that since
your first year after waking up. Anyhow, there’s nothing to worry
about.”

“
Yes there is—”

“
Annie,” he interrupted before I could get going
again.

I shoved
my thumb further into my mouth, grating my teeth back and forth
over my nail.

“
You aren’t betrothed,” he said confidently, “nor would you be
indentured.”

“
What? I’m not? How can you be so sure?” I jumped to my
feet.

“
Because you’re over 400 years old, technically.”

“
... And?”

“
Come on, Annie, think. You were born a long, long time ago.
You can’t possibly be betrothed to someone, nor indentured – the
contract holder would be well and truly dead by now.”

“
But ... what if the contract holder came from a really
long-lived race?”

“
Why would someone have indentured or betrothed little Annie
Carter from 21st century Earth? Earth wasn’t even part of the
Foundation Protectorate 400 years ago.”

“
Oh,” I conceded, my shoulders finally dropping from up around
my ears.

“
There’s really only one possibility – you’ve inherited
something.”

“
But who would leave anything to me? As you keep saying, I’m
more than 400 years old.”

“
The Contracts Office picks up and deals with contracts from
every member of the Foundation. My guess is 400 years ago, someone
put you in their will with a clause that should you be woken up,
you get the cash – or whatever they’ve left you.”

I
blinked, suddenly feeling extremely stupid. I stared at my feet
sheepishly. “Oh. Ah, yeah, that makes sense.”

“
Yeah, it does. So can you do me a favor and stop chewing your
nail?”

He knew
me well enough to remember what I did when I was
nervous.

“
I stopped chewing it a few seconds ago, actually.”

“
Alright then. Now, all you have to do is contact the
Contracts Office, prove your newfound status, and they’ll help
arrange transport.”

“
Why can’t I just get them to look into my contract for me? I
mean, do I really need to travel all the way to
Central?”