Chapter Five
After we’d splashed cold water on ourselves, some even reapplying their make-up, we were ushered to a comfortable round table in a large sitting room, where we were served our dinner. It was nothing like what we would have enjoyed at the glittering rooftop restaurant, but it still tasted better than anything I’d cooked over the past few years. My culinary skills were basic at best, and I’d lost the heart to create anything interesting because my mother complained no matter what I made. So I’d kept it simple and bland, but on the side I had indulged in ice cream, chips and chocolate bars, my secret rewards to myself, which of course had piled on the kilos.
A couple of the girls decided the only way they could handle what might eventuate, was to imbibe as much of the fruity wine as they could. Since it tasted so nice, even I decided to indulge, but in a slightly more civilized manner. I still wanted to learn more about what was going on here, and I didn’t want to be too toasted.
Miss Jackson frowned across the table at them, but decided to keep her opinion to herself for a change. The atmosphere in the room was akin to that of a wake, dark and dismal. No one seemed to want to talk, which suited me fine. After three days of their incessant chatter, I appreciated the peace and quiet. It gave me time to think, as I wondered what the outcome of this strange journey of mine would be.
What awaited me on my return to Earth? Would I continue on in the shoes of the lovely young Andita DeBurgh, or would I end up back in my own cumbersome body? The more I thought about it, the less I felt like going back. I wanted to be free of the old Ruth, like a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis.
I had seen and done more interesting things over the past few days than in my entire lifetime. It made me realize I really did have an adventurous streak, something that had obviously been stamped out of me by my personal circumstances, my domineering mother and my own low self-esteem and unattractiveness.
When I thought of my father, I couldn’t help imagining him applauding my current situation, even though it seemed that women of the future had taken a retrograde step in letting this crazy Treaty become law. Wasn’t there anything else Earth could have offered the Terrons besides its own women? Other than that they were free to pursue their studies back on Earth, but it seemed this particular group were as vacuous as any debutantes from the nineteen fifties. Were all young women on Earth this insipid and disinterested in the larger picture? I might have missed out on a great deal of life experience, but at least I still kept abreast of current affairs.
A flurry of activity at the door told us that the man we’d tried to thwart out of his mate had returned. And this time there would be no denying him. His strong handsome features were tight with determination, and his intense sky-blue eyes glittered silver with an inner light. He really was the most magnificent man I had ever seen. How could any girl not want to swoon in those strong arms?
Swoon? I remembered thinking how I’d never do that! And here I was, practically drooling! I blamed my new body, obviously still pumped with feminine hormones I had lost years ago.
He crossed the plush carpeted floor in several long strides. He still wore the black jacket but had changed his trousers, because this pair shimmered under the overhead lights, and were so tight they almost looked as though they were a part of him. Some kind of futuristic lycra I assumed as I finally managed to tear my eyes from his long lean legs and he walked around the table and out of my line of sight. But I could sense him, and knew he had stopped directly behind my seat.
I almost jumped right out of my chair when he placed his hand on my shoulder. As I turned to glance at it I noticed how enormous it was, with long tapered fingers tipped with neat buffed nails. He could twist my head off my shoulders in an instant with paws like that I thought, almost wishing a return to my more robust middle-aged body.
It was then I realized just why he had laid his hand against my shoulder, particularly when Emily-Sue grabbed hold of my arm and started to sob.
I was the chosen one, the one destined to be his mate. But I can’t be, I rebelled internally. I’m not from this time and place. I don’t even belong here.
Of course Mr Dinner Plate hands didn’t know this. Before I knew it, he had easily drawn me from my chair, by sliding his massive paws under the crocks of my arms.
Emily-Sue continued to cling to my arm. “No, not Anita,” she cried. “Not her.”
“I’m sorry,” he rumbled from above me, as he pulled me against his body. I came up against a solid wall of muscle. His apology astounded me, and I glanced up into his face. Yes, he did mean it, I realized, as a flicker of regret flared in his silvery eyes. Then he easily pried Emily-Sue’s fingers from my other arm.
“Unless your planet can come up some other way, this is the way of things,” he said in a deep accent-free voice. It seemed all Terrons spoke English like that. Languages and accents weren’t something I’d studied in any particular detail in my life, but the way the Terrons spoke made them sound so devoid of emotion, like they possessed no feelings whatsoever. It was a relief to find Mr Demantena did have them, however guarded they might be.
His words mirrored my thoughts of only moments ago. Obviously he had reservations about the whole treaty thing too, making me wonder if I now had some leverage to negotiate my way out of this bizarre situation. I knew if I didn’t do it soon, he’d probably knock me over the head and drag me back to his cave by my hair.
Instead of the future I felt like I’d taken a trip into a bygone era of arranged marriages and slavery. Until today I hadn’t even met the man. We didn’t know anything about one another, yet we were expected to ‘mate’ because of some crazy sixth sense his race seemed to possess.
Emily-Sue came after us as Mr Demantena propelled me away from the table, his hand still resting firmly against the back of my neck. I realized the glass of wine I’d drunk had made me a bit too tipsy. I felt a little light-headed and my legs were rubbery, but it could also be because of the immense man walking beside me, as he guided me where he wanted me to go.
I suppose I could have broken free and run back to the sobbing women, but something told me I’d end up bodily removed from the room, just like a cave girl. I much preferred to go under my own steam. Besides, I’d had enough of their company. Despite my apprehension about what would happen next, I was rather intrigued by this tall alien man, and thought despite my reservations he’d be much more interesting company. I mean how many people did I know who had actually left Earth’s orbit?
“Can’t we at least say goodbye? Emily-Sue cried.
A tearful farewell was the last thing I wanted, so I hastened my exit, also managing to get away from the overwhelming presence of my new-found companion and the pressure of that huge warm hand against my back. Once we were out in the corridor, officials directed us in opposite directions anyway, at least for now.
I was escorted back to my suite to collect my belongings. I crammed them into my case as fast as I could, hating the way every move I made was being watched by that odious little official and his off-sider. Then I found myself in the elevator once more, heading to yet another floor. Trying to keep track of where I was going proved futile. They all looked the same. Soon I was completely disoriented and lost.
In the end I was ushered into a curtained chamber with a view over the ocean. The planet’s three moons were bright tonight, something I hadn’t noticed from the other side of the building looking down on the city skyline. It was a breathtaking scene, but I wasn’t given time to admire it. An Earthean woman appeared from another room and beckoned me to join her.
I entered what appeared to be a change room, and in front of me hang the most beautiful satin dress I had ever seen. So brides still wore white, I reasoned, as the woman introduced herself. That set me to wondering if as Anita, I was still a virgin. I had absolutely no idea!
“My name is Dana, and I’ve been living on Terron for twenty years,” she said, sounding quite proud of the fact. I turned to regard her. If she’d bee
n mated to one of the Terrons, she must have done so in her twenties, which would make her close to my real age, but this woman looked so ageless it was impossible to determine her age. She had sleek black hair, intelligent brown eyes, and smooth clear skin any teenager would be proud of.
“You don’t look like you’ve been here that long.” I just had to say it.
She smiled, but didn’t answer my question. “I think you will look absolutely stunning in this dress.” She fingered the satiny materiel of the gown.
“If it fits,” I remarked.
“They always fit,” she asserted. “It’s made from the materiel the Terrons make most of their clothes out of. Unfortunately they won’t let us take a sample back to Earth to analyze. It would save a fortune in the clothing industry because it stretches so far and seems to last forever.”
If fashion now was anything like my time, then cloth like this would close down the entire clothing industry, but I didn’t comment. I let her help me out of my blue dress and into the new one, for which I wasn’t permitted to wear my bra or even my panties. It wasn’t until I had the garment on that I realized why support wasn’t necessary. The dress clung to me so well that it held me in and hugged me in all the right places, although I wasn’t impressed with the more than ample amount of cleavage now on display.
But I couldn’t help enjoying the sensual feel of the materiel against my skin. It was soft and light, almost like wearing nothing at all. The long flowing skirt fluttered about my legs like the caress of a thousand butterflies. And, unlike lycra, it breathed.
“And now in keeping with Earth tradition, a fingertip veil.” Dana pulled a white tulle veil festooned with pearls from the dresser behind her. She fluffed it out and affixed it to the top of my head with a pearl and crystal encrusted comb.
I’m getting married Mother, I couldn’t help thinking, to the most stunning man imaginable. I really must be dreaming. This can’t possibly be happening. But everything I’d been experiencing these past three days had made me feel more alive than anything I’d done in my entire life.
This meant I was also going to find out all about sex. At that thought I swallowed. I didn’t think I was ready for that, particularly not with a man I didn’t even know, a man who was so damn huge. Perhaps I could talk him into spending some time getting to know one another first, I thought hopefully.
“There.” Dana placed her hands on my shoulders to turn me so I could look in the mirror. Staring at the stunning woman on the other side of the glass, I very much doubted Mr Demantena would want to spend time getting to know me. He’d probably devour me on the spot. I had never seen a more beautiful bride. What if I morphed back into my true self the moment he said ’I do?’ I wondered for an insane moment. He’d probably run screaming from the room.
“Are you ready?” Dana asked.
“As I’ll ever be,” I murmured softly, still awed by the wide-eyed young beauty gazing back at me from the mirror.
“Speaking from experience, the first time isn’t so bad, particularly if you’ve had a boyfriend before.”
Since I knew virtually nothing about Anita’s life before I took over, all I could do was hope that she had. After seeing how large his hands were, I didn’t doubt Mr Demantena’s other organs were equally in proportion. I suppressed a shiver. I really didn’t fancy losing my virginity to an oversized alien on another planet. But it seemed that this was precisely what was going to happen to me. Once again I hoped that Anita had already had sex.
“Have no fear Anita. They have been well schooled in the art of love-making,” Dana once again tried to reassure me. Unfortunately it didn’t work, as another shiver chilled down my spine.
She pulled the front of my veil over my face, so that I was now looking at the world through frosted gauze. On uncertain legs, I followed her out of the change room, down another long corridor, and into a very official looking chamber.
Two pompous-looking men were sitting behind a long bench to one side. One looked like he was from Earth but the other was obviously Terron. They all seemed to favor long hair, but this man had his tied back into a neat braid. They both wore elegant black robes adorned with embroidery down the front.
Another official-looking man stood beside the man I was to marry, along with the older one I’d first seen him with. I wondered if he was his father. The last thing I wanted in my life right now were parents-in-law. He too wore one of those long black embroidered robes. But what Mr Demantena was wearing, or more to the point, not wearing, completely stole my breath away.
He still had on those shiny skin-tight black pants, but had removed his jacket. I sincerely wished he’d left it on, because I felt my face flush as I took in the sight of the biggest damn erection I’d ever seen, not that I’d been subject to many… well not this up close and personal. If my cheeks could have flared any redder I would have turned into a tomato.
Tearing my eyes away from that enormous bulge didn’t help my flaming cheeks, because the shimmery white shirt he wore had been left open almost to the navel, revealing the most impressive abs in the galaxy. Which galaxy, I wasn’t sure, since I had no idea just how far from Earth I was, but they beat anything a body-builder from my own time period could have produced without pumping iron and drinking steroid milk-shakes.
Dana nudged me from behind, and I realize I’d faltered in my steps. I glanced at her, and my confusion must have shown on my face. Once again she beamed her reassuring smile. She appeared to have come out of this still in one piece, so I took a few more uncertain steps.
My husband-to-be, or mate, or whatever the heck he was supposed to be, held out his hand to me, but I didn’t put mine in it, because when he moved, I saw that his shirt had splits in the sleeves, revealing tanned muscular arms. I know most women would have been reduced to a puddle of drool on the floor by now, but I wasn’t a normal woman, and neither was this a normal situation.
I had to marry this incredible hunk, and then have sex with him! How could I when the sight of that massive bulge in his pants scared the living daylights out of me? There was no way I’d survive a night of passion with a man built like him. And why the hell was he sprouting such a massive hard-on anyway? Surely he should have more self-control than that!
This was clearly what my traveling companions had been warning me about. And naïve little fool that I was had walked straight into the lion’s den. Not that I’d had much choice otherwise.
“All right, what do I have to do to get out of this?” I heard myself asking in a frightened little mouse voice.
“It’s all right, Anita,” Dana tried to reassure me again.
I rounded on her. “No, it’s not all right. Look at him, for goodness sake. He’s going to break this tiny little body in two!” I swept a hand over my borrowed persona. Even as Ruth Clarke, I doubted my ability to accommodate what he had filling his trousers.
“No, he won’t. Haven’t you read your notes?” she asked.
“No, can I go and read them now?” I demanded. Anything for a reprieve while I tried to work out a way to extricate myself from this insane situation.
“This can’t wait,” Mr Demanteena growled, grabbing hold of my hand in his enormous one. It was then I noticed he was trembling. As I glanced up at him in alarm, I saw a faint sheen of sweat on his brow. After nursing my mother for years, I saw the sickness in his eyes right away. Whereas they’d had a healthy silvery glow a short time ago, they were now as dull as those of a dying man. Even his skin seemed to have paled beneath his tan. Why did such a well-built, supposedly healthy man, suddenly look like he was standing on death’s door?
“I don’t even know your first name,” I cried, trying to extract my hand from his, but he held it fast. He might look ill, but he was still much stronger than I.
“It’s Jordan,” he ground out, as though it was an effort to even talk. His hand continued to tremble as he pulled me closer to him. I became conscious of how hot he felt, much hotter than before.
“Jordan?
” I squeaked, having expected something unusual and exotic as his surname.
“Yes, blame your planet for that one,” he rumbled.
He hadn’t asked me my name, and I wondered if he even cared to know. Probably not. He’d just want to jump my bones and impale me on that great big rod of his. I cringed inwardly at own overactive thoughts.
“No, it’s a perfectly nice name,” I admitted. “I just expected something more, Terron, I suppose. And what’s wrong with you, anyway? You’re sweating and shaking like you’ve got a severe dose of the flu.”
“Terrons don’t get the flu,” he muttered, and nodded to the Terron official standing in front of us, who took this as his cue to begin the marriage rites. They sounded exactly like they had hundreds of years ago on Earth, except his accent-less voice made him seem banal and completely disinterested in his job. Perhaps he was. He’d probably read out these rites hundreds of times before, and couldn’t really give a fig what became of all the Earth women who disappeared into Terron’s hinterland.
As I stood there beside the towering inferno, my ears buzzing and my own body rebelling, I longed for a pair of red shoes I could click together and mutter; ‘There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.’
Surely the Prof would have worked out how to get me back by now. He couldn’t mean to leave me here permanently, could he?
But when Jordan Demanteena said he would take Anita DeBurgh as his lawfully wedded wife, I finally came up with my out clause.
So when the official turned and asked me the same question, I said; “Well, you see that’s the problem. I’m not Anita. I’m actually Ruth Clarke from the year two-thousand and twelve. And I took part in this experiment that kind of got out of hand-”
“She says yes,” my over-sexed companion interrupted my ramblings.
“No, I don’t,” I protested, glaring at him. “And if we’re sticking to tradition here, if one party says no then it means-”
“I now pronounce you husband and wife,” the official announced.
“No,” I finished. They weren’t even listening to me! Didn’t I have any rights at all?
Suddenly the towering inferno seemed to tumble, taking me with him. If it hadn’t been for both his elderly companion and the official grabbing hold of his arms, he would have landed right on top of me. Luckily I managed to scramble away as he let go of my hand.
“Can’t take it… anymore…” Jordan moaned, seeming to sag between them. “Too late… it‘s all too late.” A look of despair clouded his ashen face. He looked utterly devastated.
“My God!” I gasped. “Is he going to die?”
“Not yet, but he’s going to Age,” the older man said grimly. “Just like me.”
“Well duh,” I said. “Don’t we all?” Except for me, it seemed, who appeared to be defying that particular law of nature due to Professor Johnston’s malfunctioning time travel experiment.
“I’ll call the medic,” Dana said. “Surely something can be done before it’s too late. Take him through to the honeymoon suite,” she ordered.
Somehow they managed to drag the comatose blonde giant out of the room. Before I was given the opportunity to even consider making a run for it, two steroid-munching guards dressed all in black, carrying sophisticated looking firearms I didn’t want to mess with, appeared as though by magic to escort me in the same direction.
The honeymoon suite turned out to be a magnificent set of rooms overlooking the Citadel in another part of this enormous hotel complex. A gorgeous sitting room from which veered a massive bathroom, and beside it another room dominated by the biggest damn bed I’d ever seen. I guess it had to be huge to accommodate the likes of Jordan Demanteena, who still seemed to dominate it despite it’s size. He lay sprawled on it, looking like he was asleep, rather than suffering from some terminal Terron aging disease. And that damn bulge in his trousers still hadn’t gone down despite his comatose state. I chanced a glance back at my two guards’ nether regions. Neither of them were packing anything even remotely like it.
I was beginning to wonder if I should feel sorry for the man. The elderly gent now sitting at his side on the bed had looked positively heart-broken when he’d collapsed. The thought of getting married and then having my husband promptly die on me didn’t sit al all well, and I glanced away from the tragic scene of the gravely ill man and his grieving companion, wondering if my guards would allow me to even leave the room.
They flanked me as I returned to the sitting room, and watched me closely as I sank down onto one of the soft velvet-covered lounge chairs. I leant forward to place my elbows on my knees, and rubbed the sides of my temples with my fingers, not realizing until then how tense I was. Where was the damn fruity wine? I could have used a whole carafe of it right now!
My journey into the future had suddenly turned from an adventure into disaster, with me a virtual prisoner, forced to marry a dying man. Could this night possibly get any worse?