Candidate (Selected Book 4) (46 page)

"I would. I would teach you anything you want to know. I would take you anywhere in this system you wish to visit."

"Our moon?"

"Yes."

"Could we walk on Mars?"

"Yes."

"Will you love me?"

"Yes."

She started to cry and held out her ribbon.

A lump formed in my throat, and I reached a hand for Jasmine, finding her arm, then down to her hand. I squeezed tightly.

Deep Dark took the ribbon. "I have to put you in a cage."

"Do aliens hug?"

"Not all, but Niecor do."

"Will you hug me first?"

He was very gentle, pulling her to him. She threw her arms around his neck. And then he stood up. It was like a father with a daughter. He held her and slowly walked to the nearest cage. I followed them with the cameras. Sylvie had her face buried against him, and she was trembling. But then I looked at the alien's face, and there was no mistaking the joy, even in the alien features.

"You feel very good, Sylvie. You have made me very happy today."

She clung tighter, and it was a long time before she let him put her in the cage.

"What is happening with Haruki?" I asked.

"They both want her. She can't decide."

"They should have more time than this, Jasmine."

"I know, Andromeda. I know."

"Can you help her? Somehow?"

"Dark Skies, patch me through to the three of them."

"Go," said Dark Skies.

Jasmine began speaking Japanese. "Full of surprises," I muttered. "Clover, do you guys have some magic way to teach me a half dozen languages?"

"No. Jasmine is offering a special challenge to them."

I watched, and then I heard one of the males look at the other and say clearly, "Hai!" The other one paused then said, "Hai!" They both turned to Haruki.

She looked back and forth and said, "Hai." Then she looked down at her ribbon. A moment later she turned and ran off. I didn't understand. But she ran to a weapon stand, grabbed a knife, and then I watched her trim her ribbon into two, cutting it the long way. She returned the knife and ran back.

Jasmine spoke. The two males stepped forward and accepted a half ribbon each from Haruki. They grabbed her by an arm each, picked her up, and carried her to a waiting cage. They set her down very gently, closed the door, and turned to stand guard in front of it.

"Wow," I said.

* * * *

Fifteen minutes later, Jasmine ordered the women to return to the middle. I looked around. Sylvie and Haruki were in cages, guarded by their new challengers, as was one other woman, one who hadn't wanted to talk to me.

"Three," Jasmine said.

"It would have been more if you'd given me more time with them," I said. "Sixty four women. An hour each. That's a long week. Four at a time. I could do four at a time. That's only two days. Administrator, with future batches, I want two days to perform interviews, not one. Can you make that happen?"

"Can we run this event first?"

"I'll get you more volunteers."

"Andromeda, please."

"Fine, fine. I'm ready."

"Begin!" Jasmine called out.

The first half went as expected. It took less than five minutes before all the women were in cages. But none were as upset as from the few events I'd watched by video.

The second portion was brutal, and I didn't care for it. But I had cameras on all the women. Some were fascinated. Some cheered on the males who had caught them. Some cheered on the males who were challenging the first males.

And some hid their eyes. I didn't blame them.

But then it was over.

"We ran late," Clover complained. "Someone ate our time."

"This affects the rest of their lives," I said. "So you can guess who I think is in the wrong if you aren't going to give them a chance to make the best choices they can."

"We need to hurry for the next one," she replied. "That's all I'm saying."

"I need to speak with Julie," I said. "But someone has me shackled."

"Whose idea was that?" Jasmine asked.

"I'm only saying, I need to speak with Julie, and it should be in private without cameras. I'd like you there, Jasmine."

"All right," she said. "Clover, do you have this?"

"Julie is in waiting room 4. I'll move the rest into position. Andromeda, is there any chance you can take less than a half hour?"

I sighed. "That's not fair. I didn't take that long."

"Let's go," Jasmine said. "You two can bicker later."

"I'm not bickering," I said. "I'm trying to help these poor women that you yanked from their homes and are forcing to marry against their will. Excuse me if I care what happens to them."

"We all care, Andromeda. Or you'd be down there with them."

I shut up.

"She's a pain in the ass," said Clover.

"Yeah," said Jasmine. "But she's the pain in the ass that's going to get you to Switzerland, so stop harping at her."

"I'm not harping at her. I'm trying to keep to a schedule."

* * * *

Five minutes later had three of us in a room. Julie was there, swallowed by the chair and table, and clearly blind, but I was able to activate her visor. She saw me and smiled.

"I saw you fight," she said.

"Yeah. Lots of fun. Dark Skies likes dropping me."

"Who is Dark Skies?"

"She's an Octal," I said. "And a dear friend."

"I heard that," Dark Skies said. "I like you, too."

"You guys go away! This is a private moment."

"Who are you talking to?"

"Dark Skies is eavesdropping," I said. "Administrator!"

"It's private now," Jasmine said after a moment. We both took chairs. "Julie, I talked to all four of the males who asked you questions yesterday. Any of them would covet your ribbon."

"Really?"

"Really," Jasmine replied. "The challengers will be arrayed in a circle along the perimeter of the arena, evenly spaced. Your four, if we can put it that way, will be together. I will point them out to you later, in case you don't remember them. They are dressed differently today, and I hear all the aliens look like."

Both of us stared at her. "You just made a joke."

"I may have," she said. "There may be others interested in you, Julie. But if so, none have indicated it to me."

"Four. Four want me."

"Four want you," Jasmine confirmed. "But hold your emotions in check. We don't have time for you to cry."

"I'll try," she said. "So I give one of them my ribbon? Which one?"

"You'll have to decide."

"I have to decide. Like, walk up and decide? How can I do that?"

"This is what I mean, Administrator," I said. "They need
time
."

Jasmine turned to me. "I heard you. I heard you the first time. I heard you the fifth time. I heard you the seventeenth time. I am working on it. Have you heard me at all?"

I stared into her eyes and then lowered my head. "I'm sorry."

"Let's focus on Julie," she said. "We'll do what we can today."

I nodded and turned to Julie. "I'm sorry I wasn't there."

"You were in the hospital. Are you all right? We saw the fight."

"Yeah. A little bruised. They fixed the broken bones."

"Oh god," she said. "She broke your bones?"

"You don't need to worry about that," I said. "That was a grudge match with someone who had no desire to find a mate here but every desire to get her ass handed to her by a tiny human."

Julie smiled.

"Even if she kicked my ass."

"Yeah, but you didn't soil your pants."

I grinned. "I know. I saw your interview. I didn't understand half of it, but I saw something I really liked."

"What?"

"I saw you come alive. When you talk about your work, you come alive. You were beaming, Julie. And those aliens liked what they saw, too."

"That makes it a job interview."

"They want a mate who challenges their minds," I said.

"So, a friend."

I looked at her. My heart went out for her. I looked at Jasmine, completely at a loss. She took over.

"Julie," she said gently. "They want you. You."

"Jasmine," I asked, "do they hug?"

She cocked her head. "Yes, although not as ravenously as some species."

"Good word," I said. "Julie, maybe you start with this. Walk up to them and ask if any of them want to hug you. Give hugs to whomever wants a hug. I know, in a way, it's just a hug. But it's a chance to see who feels good, who holds you the way you want to be held." I grinned. "Who tries to cop a feel."

She snorted at that.

"I'd rather send you on dates with each of them, but..." I glanced at Jasmine. "Start with a hug, then talk to them."

"Julie," said Jasmine, "the professional opportunities available to you are independent of your choice today, at least if you give your ribbon to any of these males. You can focus on the personal portions of what you want."

"Do you want children?" I asked.

"Yes. I suppose they won't be human."

"No, but they make that work somehow, anyway. So ask them about kids. How many they want, how soon, gender, things like that." She nodded. "And they aren't all the same species. I bet different species raise their kids differently. Ask them about that." I paused. "In the past, there's been a problem I've had with a few girlfriends."

"What's that?"

"We have had different ideas about what constitutes good, healthy adventure. For some, that means putting on a backpack and getting lost deep in the Yukon." I made a face. "Yes, I actually did that. Getting lost wasn't part of the plan. She assured me she had ample batteries for the GPS. She assured me she remembered a compass. She assured me the maps would stay dry when it started raining."

"Oh, no."

"I had another girlfriend who liked inappropriate sex."

"Like, bondage and stuff?"

"Like, loud sex at my parents'."

"Oh, no."

"And she liked public bathrooms."

"Eww."

"Yeah, I know. On the other hand, I haven't been able to get any of my girlfriends to go on a cross country bicycle trip with me."

"You wouldn't get me to do that, either. But I can drive the RV."

I smiled. "So you could ask about things like that, then listen to what they say."

"That one wanted me to cook for him. I like to cook."

"Well, there you go. That's not enough of a connection for an entire relationship, but it's a distinguishing mark. If sharing food is important to you, then picking one who can eat what we eat might be important."

"I would counsel you to avoid a litmus test like that," said Jasmine. "It is one factor. Do not make it the only factor. You can have perfectly nice mealtimes while eating from different platters."

"But if I can't taste it, I can't cook it," said Julie.

"Then make him cook it," I said.

"This might be important to you, Julie," Jasmine said. "But the other things Andromeda is saying are important, too."

"All right."

"Ask what a typical night at home would be," I said. "Ask if he snores."

"I snore."

"Then tell him that," I said.

She smiled. "Thank you, Andie."

"You're welcome."

"Will you be there?"

"I'll be in the stands," I said. "You've got this. Julie, four space aliens want you. They want to take you back to their lair and do ... things with you."

"They do not."

"They certainly do," I said. I looked at Jasmine. "Or they shouldn't ask for your ribbon."

"She's right," Jasmine said.

"What... what kind of things?"

"Oh, tickle fights," I said. "Do aliens like tickle fights, Jasmine?"

"I know some Catseye who are addicted to tickle fights," she said. "And they win."

"I'm sure they cheat."

"Not being ticklish isn't cheating," she said.

"Feeling okay, Julie? Strong? Confident?"

"No, but maybe this will be okay. Space aliens."

"Yeah. And at least some of them seem like pretty decent space aliens. Not the Catseye, of course, because they seem to think tickling helpless humans is funny. But the others. They seem okay."

* * * *

On the way back to the stands, Jasmine said, "You enjoy teasing me."

"I enjoyed making her smile. She needed a reason to smile. Jasmine, if whoever gets her doesn't treat her right, I am going to..."