Page 10 of Escape Clause

“I can’t give you what you came for,” he said bluntly. “Our marriage will be temporary, terminating at the end of the provisional period. I’m sorry if you had counted on a lasting commitment. I cannot give you that.”

His announcement met with dead silence. Then she let out a huge sigh, followed by a choking laugh. “That’s it?” She pressed a hand to her chest. “That’s what you wanted to tell me? I was afraid you were disappointed and were going to reject me.”

“No,” he said. “I intend to live up to the terms of the contract.”

“Your terms are acceptable to me,” she said.

“They are?”

“It’s a relief. My intention is to leave at the end of the provisional period, too.”

“Why come all this way if you’re not open to seeing it through?” It wasn’t that he felt rejected or hurt; he was curious, that’s all. Marriage was a commitment; you didn’t try it on like a new shirt to see if it fit. You made your selection and then made it work. For most people, that was. Not him. He was the exception.

“Why did you?” She turned the question back on him.

“I enrolled in Cosmic Mates to set an example for my people, to encourage them to enroll.”

“Your people?” She arched her eyebrows.

“The Caradonians. I’m governor-general. When I say, ‘my people,’ I refer to the citizens.”

Her eyes widened, and for a moment, she was silent. Then, “Why is Cosmic Mates so important?”

“You may have noticed how few females were at the spaceport. It is that way all over the planet. Twoyears ago, women of childbearing age were infected with a nano-virus. The pandemic killed millions—”

Eyes ablaze, she leaped to her feet. “Wait a minute! You brought me—and other unsuspecting women—here where we could be infected by a virus and die?”

“No, you are immune. It only affects Caradonian females and only those in their prime.”

“How do you know?”

“Because that was one of the first things we tested. It was one of the tests you received in Medical on the ship, just to verify. We would never endanger anyone else.”

Her eyes narrowed. “What else did you test for?”

“We checked that you didn’t carry a contagion that could be harmful to us—we don’t need another pandemic—and you were injected with a translator chip, which included auxiliary programming enabling you to use our electronics and technology.”

“Like vaporators, accelerators, and doors?”

“Exactly.”

She sank onto the sofa again. “Caradonia needs women.”

“We lost half of our child-bearing-aged female population. The remainder cling to life in stasis pods.Even if we develop a cure, the damage has been done. Our species can’t recover from this unless we start producing children soon.”

“That still doesn’t explain whyyouare not in it for the long-term.”

“I have no desire to bond—ever. I am not capable of forming close attachments. If I were capable of loving—but I am not—it would interfere with my mission to help my people.” Up until the pandemic, he’d been creating upward mobility opportunities for the surface dwellers. Then came the decimation of the female population, and he’d had to shift time and resources to the crisis.

He strategized, prioritized, and planned. He met with advisors, kept his people informed, and tried to sound encouraging. But the problem seemed so overwhelming, it left him numb, like he’d been placed in a stasis pod. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt alive.

“It’s not in me to love another person. I am not husband material. It would be wrong to inflict my company on any woman. I would be cold company.”

Chapter Six

He is certainly cold company.As time wore on, the chillier he’d become. However, he trumped the mayor by a long shot as far as husband material went.Better cold than evil.

He couldn’t have made it plainer his heart wasn’t in the marriage. Of course, hers wasn’t either, but at least shehadone, and, when she met the right man, she would embrace love with open arms and her whole heart.

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