Page 1 of Varro's Human Bride
Chapter 1
Julie stood in the living room of her childhood home, her heart in her throat. Happy family photos covered the walls and every surface, but she felt no sense of joy as she stared at them now. Only utter heartbreak. Her mother had always taken more pictures than most parents. Tears blurred in her eyes. Probably because Mom knew one day their family would be torn apart.
After a mournful glance at her favorite picture—one that showed Julie and her sister Nova as children having a tea party—she picked up her heavy suitcase and walked out into the dark night. A dust storm had been raging beyond the protection of the dome-city for days, hiding the moon and stars. The street lamps provided just enough light for Julie to make her way to Beck Street, where her new friend Caylee lived. Moving into the shadows, she approached the house from the back entrance and knocked quietly on the door.
It opened and a young woman who looked eerily like Julie stood before her.
“Hey, Caylee.”
“I worried you might change your mind.” The petite blonde gave her a sad smile and stepped aside, ushering her in and closing the door behind them.
“I’m crazy nervous, but I’m not changing my mind. Promise.”
“That’s good to hear,” Caylee said. “By the way, I just learned his name—it’sVarro. Sorry, but they didn’t tell me anything else about him.”
“Varro. Got it.” Julie’s heart raced. Her soon-to-be husband’s name was Varro.
“Here, let me take that for you,” Caylee said with a nod at Julie’s suitcase. “Your new haircut looks great, by the way. Just like mine.” She gave a nervous chuckle.
“Thanks.” Julie handed her the suitcase and Caylee placed it on the dining room floor. “Um, are your parents asleep?”
“Yep. So is my brother. Don’t worry. They know the drill. I-I just hope I can do a good job of…being you.”
Julie exhaled a long breath and met her doppelganger’s blue gaze. “You’ll do fine. My coworkers at the bakery and all my neighbors know what’s going on. They’ve all been sworn to secrecy. My coworkers have also promised to be patient with you while you get used to my old job. No one will rat us out.”
A worried look crossed Caylee’s face. “Yes, but what will happen to you once your Tarrkuan mate, Varro, discovers you’re not me? Your DNA hasn’t been altered like mine. You won’t be able to conceive a half-Tarrkuan child. Procreation is very important to them. Eventually, Varro will probably take you to a doctor and figure out what we’ve done.”
The women moved into the living room and sat down on a plush sofa. Julie looked at Caylee, trying not to let her anxieties about her upcoming interstellar trip invade her conscious. It was likely true that Varro would one day discover the deception, but it was her hope that when he did, he would be so taken by her that he wouldn’t care and he wouldn’t send her back to Earth. Grief pierced her heart and for a moment, breathing became difficult. She closed her eyes briefly and searched for the strength she knew she had. Nova had been strong and Julie prayed she could be as brave and strong as her older sister who’d traveled to planet Tarrkua four years ago.
“Regardless of all that,” Julie eventually said, “I must take the risk. There’s nothing left for me on Earth. Nova is my only family and I want to see her again.”
“Does Nova know about your parents yet?”
“No. I couldn’t bring myself to tell her when we last spoke. She asked where they were and I lied and said they were at a coworker’s retirement party. That was four days ago. I suppose I’ll tell her in person once I reach Tarrkua.” Emotion clogged her throat. It had been three weeks since the accident in the factory where her parents had both worked. Fourteen people died during a fire that broke out.
“What should I do when the video comm in your house rings? I’m prepared to do your job and live in your house and do my best pretending to be you, so as to not rouse the suspicions of the Tarrkuan officials who come to visit our dome-city, but I won’t be able to fool your own sister.”
“I took the video comm offline this morning. Nova won’t be able to make a connection.” Guilt ravaged Julie. Her older sister would be worried sick when she wasn’t able to get through, but Julie couldn’t risk anyone intercepting their communications and learning about Julie and Caylee’s plan to switch lives.
Caylee, like Julie’s sister, had been randomly chosen by their own people to become a Tarrkuan bride. Earth and Tarrkua had had a trade agreement in place for over fifty years—Tarrkua gave Earth TEC600 reactors and a steady supply of reactor material which they mined from the Feshinga Asteroid Belt, and in return Earth gave the Tarrkuans one female from each dome-city on Earth every year.
Without the Tarrkuan’s TEC600 reactors, Earth’s dome-cities would have perished long ago, as it took a substantial amount of power to keep the cities running. And, without human females, the Tarrkuans, who were still recovering from the outbreak of a deadly virus that swept over their planet sixty years ago, wouldn’t be able to continue re-growing their population. A disproportionate number of females had died during the outbreak, which had forced the Tarrkuans to look off planet for females.
Human females were randomly selected at a young age for the eventual honor of becoming a Tarrkuan bride once they reached their twentieth birthday, but such humans had to undergo specialized DNA modification that made them compatible with Tarrkuans and able to conceive children with the aliens. Caylee had undergone the DNA modification and so had Nova.
But Julie hadn’t.
Her heart thundered in her ears. What if the alien she was supposed to marry—or rather, the alienCayleewas supposed to marry—cast her aside after realizing she couldn’t bear his children? Tarrkuans mated for life, but she wasn’t sure if that rule applied in her case, as she would be marrying him under false pretenses. She felt immense guilt over the prospect of deceiving Varro, despite having never met him before and not knowing a thing about him, only his name.
Nova’s husband loves her. Nova has a happy marriage with her Tarrkuan mate.
She kept reminding herself of her sister’s good fortune and prayed she would have the same luck once she reached Tarrkua.Please let Varro be kind. Please let him be understanding.
A long silence stretched between Julie and Caylee. No doubt Caylee had her own worries—she had to suddenly pretend she was Julie. Though she would eventually be able to visit with her parents and brother occasionally, in secret and most likely under the cover of darkness, for the sake of appearances she probably wouldn’t be able to see them for a long time.
“When Varro discovers my deception, which I hope will not be for some time, I will try to send you a message. I don’t know what the Tarrkuan officials will decide to do. They don’t have the authority to arrest a human on Earth, but the New Leesburg authorities might detain you. I really hope this isn’t all for nothing. I hope you aren’t still sent to Tarrkua in the end. I know how much my sister didn’t wish to go, though she stubbornly would not admit it, and I would hate to see you taken away from your family and friends even after all this.”
Caylee smiled and placed a hand atop Julie’s. “If you make Varro fall in love with you, he won’t turn you in. Nova’s husband loves her, right?”
