Betrothed Episode One (3 page)

“
Yep, unfortunately you do. They’ll have to do a full atomic
scan of your DNA to check it’s really you. But hey, it won’t be so
bad – you keep telling me you want to travel.”

“
Yeah, I guess.”

“
Just don’t overthink it, Annie. Go claim your inheritance.
Who knows, with interest, maybe you won’t have to apply for that
job after all – you might be inheriting a small
fortune.”

“
Mark, we’ve talked about this – I want to give back. I want
to do something worthwhile. I’m sick of sitting around doing
nothing. I feel so useless.”

“
You’re not useless, Annie. You’ve got an incredible head on
your shoulders.”

I
blushed.

“
Keep me in the loop. If you have inherited a fortune, I
expect you to take me out for a drink.”

I let
out a soft laugh. “Sure thing.”

“
Let me know when you’re headed to Central, too – as I might
be around those parts. We could meet up.”

“
Mark, that would be great.” I smiled, tucking my hair behind
my ears as I did a quick turn on the floor, heading towards my
luggage.

“
Alright then. Keep safe, Annie.”

“
Always.”

“
See you around, kid.”

“
Thanks so much, Mark.”

With
that, he ended the call.

I stood
staring at the view, feeling extremely foolish.

Of
course it was an inheritance, and of course it wasn’t that
serious.

I
sighed, shook my head, and turned around to call
Central.

It
didn’t take long to organize transport to the Central System. As
soon as I explained my situation and revealed my newfound status,
they took me under the government’s considerable wing.

Everything was organized for me.

Within
two days, I was aboard a transport headed straight for
Central.

It was a
four-week trip, even utilizing priority jump routs.

It gave
me a lot of time to calm down.

But the
closer we got, the more my nerves reignited.

I tried
to rationalize them away – I tried to tell myself it was nothing.
The clump of worry forming in my gut wouldn’t shift,
though.

I felt
as if I was heading towards something.

By the
time we arrived in the Central System, I was jumpy.

The
small transport I was on had a viewing platform with seats and a
massive window that showcased space flitting on past.

Needing
to keep my mind off things, I paced in front of the
view.

The
Central System was unquestionably incredible. It would have to be;
it housed the primary administrative units of the
Foundation.

From
security to identity – everything was dealt with on the cluster
planets.

The
cluster planets were a group of artificial and natural planets
joined together in a modern feat of technology to form one enormous
celestial body.

For a
simple girl from 400 years ago, they were astounding.

When my
transport approached, my nerves dropped away to be replaced with
awe.

The
cluster of planets were joined by an enormous artificial gravity
generator about the size of a small moon that modulated the natural
gravitational forces of each planet to keep them at a constant
synchronous distance.

It
enabled sky bridges and elevators and space stations to join up the
planets without the fear of them being crushed or torn
apart.

Standing
there in my transport, I pressed a hand to the enormous viewing
window before me, and I leaned in close until my breath condensed
against the techno glass.

My eyes
grew wide and a sense of true wonder filled my heart.

“
Approaching Central,” a voice filtered over the ship-wide
coms. “Passengers disembarking in the security body must go to the
second-floor starboard airlock. Passengers disembarking for the
Contracts Office should head to the third-floor port
airlock.”

The
message continued, but I didn’t need to hear the rest.

I didn’t
have any luggage, just a few synth credits. The credits would allow
me to synthesize whatever clothes or food I needed.

The
credits were already pre-loaded into my identity tag – a
subcutaneous implant just behind my left ear. In fact, everything
was in the implant, from proof of my newfound status, to my
itinerary.

Taking a
deep calming breath, I made my way to deck three.

That sense that something was building – that I was heading
towards something – settled deep in my stomach. It felt like a
knot, or a hard clump of fright ready to explode.

I tried
to push it out of my mind.

It was
just nerves.

I would
soon find out it was more, much more.

For the
past three years I’d barely left the institute.

Now here
I was on my own in the most important destination in the entire
universe. Suffice to say, it was packed with aliens. Every person I
passed appeared to be from a new and different race I’d never seen
before.

If the
people weren’t confronting enough, then the sheer megalithic
technologically advanced architecture was.

The
planet I disembarked on was arguably the biggest.

I’d been
expecting an enormous densely populated city that stretched across
the whole planet. That’s not what I found.

It was
beautiful. Large glistening white buildings separated by bridges
and lakes and gardens.

In the
sky you could see the other planets and security stations and
bridges of Central.

I’d been
in the future three years now, but this was decidedly the most
futuristic experience I’d had.

It felt
as if I’d walked into the concept art for a video game or somehow
wandered inside a sci-fi movie.

I
disembarked with a bunch of other passengers, but they quickly
walked off, keen to complete whatever task had brought them
here.

Me, I
walked around in a bit of a daze for an hour or two.

There
was so much to see. From hanging gardens to floating lakes, it was
a wild trip for my eyes and my imagination.

It was
also a distraction.

I’d
already identified where the Central contract building was. It
would be hard not to. It was the biggest building I’d ever seen. It
was like a whole city back on old earth. The outside was made of
undulating white sail-like constructions that glistened under the
sun.

It took a damn long time for me to find the courage to
approach the building, then even longer to go inside.

There
were a series of security checkpoints leading up to the building,
which I thought was overkill considering the number of security
checkpoints I’d had to go through in order to get onto the planet
in the first place.

Each
time my implant would be scanned, and I’d be let through, often
with a curious glance when the guard realized I was a newfound
one.

It took
about 20 minutes to actually get inside the building.

By that
time my nerves had exploded. It felt as if live wires were
crackling through my entire body. I was so jittery, I had to secure
a hand onto my stomach and force myself to breathe lest I
faint.

If I
thought the outside of the contract building was incredible, then
the inside was mind blowing.

It was
that same odd mishmash of styles that I’d encountered in so much of
the rest of the universe. The building was like a warren, with
countless corridors and rooms branching off.

Occasionally a door would roll open to let someone through,
and I’d catch a glimpse of the room inside. Devices would be strewn
across tables, or neatly stacked along walls, with pot plants and
artwork dotted everywhere, and aliens rushing to and
fro.

In fact,
come to think of it, there was artwork everywhere. Statues, vases,
old contraptions. It was like walking through the greatest museum
I’d ever seen.

It took
me a moment to realize that the art wasn’t there for show. I saw an
official-looking man in the regal attire of the Foundation leading
two aliens to a room where they carted away a boxful of a
hodgepodge of items from intricate statues to old engine
parts.

These
were all inheritances, weren’t they?

It took
me a long time to reach the main reception area of the contract
building. I hadn’t been lying when I’d said it was a small city. I
saw people whizzing around on small hovercraft, but I had no idea
where they got them, and I doubted anyone would give one to me. So
I just had to walk.

Eventually I found the line, and what a line it was. I swear
it stretched for blocks. There was every imaginable alien, every
imaginable color, form, and shape.

It
should have been boring waiting there for hours, but it
wasn’t.

Well, at
least it wasn’t until he showed up.

It was
when I was close to the front of the line that something
happened.

The
massive queue started to break apart, everybody muttering in their
own tongue.

At first
I didn’t know what was happening, and I stood there and
watched.

A man
was walking down the enormous long hallway.

He was
human, or at least he resembled a human. Tall, proportioned
shoulders, a sharp jawline, and a piercing gaze.

He
should have been handsome, except for that gaze.

It was
like staring into the center of the Big Bang.

It was
also exceedingly arrogant.

He was
dressed in a well cut black tunic with a high collar that showed
off his trim neck and angled jaw. There were no decorations save
for a purple pin on the left breast of his jacket. There was also a
slim line of purple trimming around his collar.

He
looked like an extremely trendy priest, well, apart from the death
glare.

I stood
there and I stared at him until he walked right up to
me.

“
What are you doing?” he asked in a clipped, curt
tone.

I turned
bright red; I could feel my cheeks threatening to burn right
off.

“
Why aren’t you following customs?” Those piercing steely grey
eyes narrowed.

I
started to stutter, my blush becoming iridescent. “Sorry, did I do
something wrong?”

“
You are refusing to yield your position in the line to
me.”

Everyone
was looking at me, including officials.

“
I …” I bit my lip and shrugged my shoulders. “Who are you
exactly?” It was probably the wrong question to ask. Considering
the cowed awed gazes everybody else was shooting this man, I
shouldn’t be questioning who he was, I should just be getting out
of his way. But the question blurted out of my lips before I could
stop it.

He
looked shocked, but in a thoroughly arrogant way. I’d never met
somebody more sure of themselves, more certain of their power and
their right to hold it. He angled his head back and shot me a
terrifying gaze. “I don’t play games.”

I didn’t
know how to respond to that. It wasn’t an answer to my question; it
was a random snippet of information. Great, so this guy wouldn’t
want to play Monopoly with me, I’m glad we’d sorted that, but
honestly, who the heck was he and what did he want?

I didn’t
know what to do, so I stood there looking exceedingly
embarrassed.

“
Don’t pretend not to know who I am, I am an Illuminate,” he
spoke through bared teeth now, and he gestured to the purple pin on
his breast.

I looked
at it, then looked at him nonplussed. “Oh,” I managed, “what’s an
Illuminate?” Again, I should have kept my stupid mouth shut, but my
lips wouldn’t oblige.

He
either looked like he wanted to kill me or he’d seen the most
curious thing in the universe, I wasn’t sure; this guy was hard to
read. The only emotion I could pick up was arrogance. And in that
second, he turned it on full bore.

He
looked me up and down, his gaze not exactly flattering. “Where have
you been that you do not know what an Illuminate is and how to
treat them properly?”

“
I’m a newfound one,” I stuttered.

“
... I see. Well, here is a lesson you shouldn’t forget,
newfound one, if you see this pip,” he pointed to the relatively
plain looking brooch, “you move. No questions, no attitude,” he
hissed. Then he brushed past me.

Attitude? He was the one accusing me of having attitude? He
was the greatest bully I’d ever met!

Still, I
shuffled backwards, mortified, not by him but by the way everyone
else looked at me. It was as if I’d committed the greatest faux pas
this side of spitting in the Queen’s soup.