Valerie took the pause as a time to gather a couple papers from the desk in front of them. Handing Poppy something that resembled a deposit slip, she continued.
“Also, your first portion of the stipend will be deposited later today and the second part when you’re selected. After the thirty-day trial period, if you marry, you will receive half a million dollars. You can do anything with that money. Pay off bills, gift it or even invest it. However, we wanted to warn you there’s a limited number of personal possessions you can take with you once you leave. Space on the crafts is limited and apparently it’s easier to buy new items when you arrive than transport them across space to their home planet. You will be expected to live there with your spouse. We’re working out a clause that may allow volunteers to come back if they have a death in the family but so far the warriors are not very happy about that. Their goal is to protect you and whatever child or future children you might carry. Let’s just say that the recent bomb threats have made them very antsy regarding our security.”
“Wait. Did you say half a million dollars?”
“Yes, the government feels that’s a reasonable compensation for your sacrifice. We also have paperwork showing that if you do come back to Earth, the money will be tax-exempt. We do ask that you keep that number to yourself. We want women to volunteer and make an honest go of this. If it gets out that we’re offering such a large sum, we could have the wrong type of people apply. I will need you to sign a nondisclosure agreement before you leave.”
Poppy took a sip of her now-cold coffee and thought for a minute. That actually did make sense. Hell, if she’d known she’d be getting that much money, she would have been much more eager to apply. She also knew some of her friends would dump their so-so boyfriends and apply as well.
“So what would I do with all my stuff?” she asked.
“I would actually be in charge of getting it into a storage facility for you for your trial period. At the end of the thirty days you can decide if you want to sell it, pick through it, or we can auction it off for you and deposit the money collected.” Valerie handed Poppy more paperwork and pointed out a spot to sign. “If you want me to take care of everything then sign here. Otherwise we’ll assume that you’ll have family or friends take care of your possessions. You don’t have to decide what to do with your possessions right now but this just authorizes me to set up a storage container and movers after you pack your initial bags you want to take.”
Poppy signed the marked spot, knowing that Pixie was too busy to worry about packing and storing her belongings. Poppy didn’t have much in the one-bedroom apartment and she figured if she did get past the thirty days, a majority of it would be donated to a shelter since it was all cheap stuff.
“I do actually have a question…what did you do before you became a liaison?” Poppy asked.
“Oh, I was a social worker before I applied here.” Valerie’s smile tilted to one side. “Honestly, I had a hard time with the social services aspect.”
When Poppy cast her a questioning look, she added, “I couldn’t handle seeing the tough stuff, you know? I loved being able to help kids but in the end, the state had the final say even if it was something I didn’t agree with. That part is hard and I wasn’t prepared for it, even though I thought I was. I had actually been planning to go back to school, maybe getting my law degree, when I saw an ad for a liaison position. So…here I am.”
Smiling with understanding, Poppy handed Valerie back the paperwork and pen after signing the nondisclosure agreement.
“It sounds like you actually have all this job down pat. Do I now just wait and see what warrior name pops up as a match?”
“Essentially, yes. We will contact you, but before you leave I need to remind you of the nondisclosure agreement you signed. We’ll be closely monitoring all your calls and emails. This is for everyone’s safety. If there are any threats, we’ll know about them immediately and be able to take care of them. Also, you are not allowed to speak to any press unless you’ve spoken with our people and been given a script to read. It’s very important that during this initial test run we control all information going out and coming in. I don’t know if Suzie mentioned it, but we had to eliminate some candidates who did their questionnaires online. When the hackers released the information, it created a frenzy of death threats and also media blitzes on those applicants. They’re considered compromised since we don’t know if they’re going to be getting paid from outside sources in exchange for information now.”
Poppy stood and nodded her head. “Okay, mum’s the word and all communication is monitored so watch what I say. Gotcha.”
Valerie followed Poppy out of the office and handed her a business card as they walked toward the elevator.
“My card has all my contact info, including my home and cell numbers. If you have any questions, and I mean any, please call me. I’ll call you once I find out about the match. Once that happens we won’t have a lot of time to get things done so it might be a good idea for you to start deciding what you would want to take to the squadron ship sooner rather than later.” Smiling at Poppy, she pushed the Down button. “It was wonderful meeting you. You aren’t going to regret this.”
As Poppy stepped onto the elevator and started the trip down to get her phone and sign out, she kept thinking, Please let Valerie be right. Don’t let me regret this.
Chapter Eight
Poppy had barely made it home when her cell phone started ringing.
“Hello?” she gasped, trying to catch her breath. Those three flights of stairs took it out of her normally and that wasn’t counting when she had to juggle groceries as she climbed.
“Poppy? This is Valerie. You’ve been matched!”
Valerie sounded extremely excited and the words echoed in Poppy’s head. Matched? Matched! Holy hell, she was matched!
“Already? I thought this was going to take a couple days… Are you sure this is right? Could the system have made a mistake?” Poppy was so stunned that the jar of sauce she had managed to get to the counter rolled right off it and into the kitchen sink.
“The match came through right after you left and since it happened so quickly, I asked myself the same thing…but Poppy, they double-checked it and ran it through once more. It picked the same warrior. The only thing I can tell you right now is that your match is a Healson Warrior and you will be meeting him as soon as we can get our ducks in line. He’s very anxious to meet you.”
“Healson? Isn’t that the diplomat class? In all honesty, I was kind of hoping for a Brakken—I don’t know anything about being a politician’s wife. The only time I vote is when it’s time for presidential elections.” She managed to pull out one of her barstools and lean against the counter until she got her legs working again. Holy crap. A match. Her brain was having trouble processing this.
“Don’t worry about that. The system knows how to do its job. It’s our job to trust the programming.”
“But…I guess I just didn’t expect…holy shit,” Poppy stuttered, still in shock.
“Poppy? Are you okay? I really wanted to tell you in person but I was so excited I couldn’t help myself. You’re actually one of the first five women matched. Can you believe it? I’m so happy for you. This is amazing. We need to start getting things going so you can meet and greet and start the trial period. Did you talk to your sister yet?”
“Um no…I actually was planning on cooking her dinner to go over all the info tonight and let her know that the schedule’s been moved up since I had my exams today. Now I’m going to have to tell her I already have a match. She’s going to kill me!” Poppy breathed in and out heavily.
“Calm down, Poppy. Everything is going just like it’s supposed to. Just a little faster than we anticipated,” Valerie said in a soothing voice.
“And the trial period? When does he want to do the meet and greet? I haven’t even started packing anything. What about stopping my mail and paying my bills? What about―”
&
nbsp; Valerie interrupted the mini-breakdown Poppy had decided to have. “Poppy. Listen to me. I am your liaison. I am here to help. I can even meet with your sister if you need support when breaking the news. Don’t worry about your mail. I’ll take care of that when it’s time to set up the storage facility. That goes for any bills you have due as well. My job is to make this process as easy as possible for you, both mentally and physically. Do you need me to head your way to help with your sister? I can be there in about an hour.”
“No, I can talk to Pixie myself. I may need to call in backup though if she starts asking questions about things that I don’t remember paying attention to. Or if she tries to strangle me,” Poppy said, reaching in for a cider from the sack. Taking a rather large sip, she asked, “Can I call you back tonight if I need you?”
“Absolutely. I’m here to help any way I can. We want to set up the meet for tomorrow morning. Can you pack tonight after talking to your sister? I want you to focus on getting your stuff together and talking to your sister. Call me as soon as she leaves so we can figure out a time you can come in. You may want your sister with you. There’s nothing saying the family can’t meet your potential husband.”
Poppy nodded and then realized that Valerie was unable to see.
“Okay, wish me luck. Pixie’s a pistol. And, Valerie?”
So many questions were running through her head but she did want to get one thing out to the liaison, who was now seeming more of a friend than anything else.
“Yes?”
“Thanks. I may be shocked right now but I’m also actually excited. I really appreciate you calling me and helping get all the small stuff out of the way. I just can’t believe this is happening.”
“You’re welcome, Poppy. I’m so happy for you. I have a good feeling about this.”
* * * * *
Breaking the news to her sister was actually easier than Poppy had expected. Pixie was somewhat preoccupied and had mentally checked out of the first part of the conversation. It wasn’t until Poppy said she’d already been matched that Pixie decided to check back in.
“What the fuck did you just say?” Pixie dropped the piece of garlic bread she’d been preparing to shovel into her mouth.
Poppy tipped the bottle of wine and topped off Pixie’s glass yet again. Not a bad idea to keep Pixie tipsy if she could help it. Liquid courage for herself actually wasn’t a bad idea either and she decided to fill up her glass with her favorite sweet red wine. Now that she was thinking about it, did aliens have access to alcohol or should that be one of the things she packed to take? That was definitely on the call list for Valerie later.
“I was saying that I was matched today. Yay!” Poppy said with a gigantic fake smile and raised her wineglass, hoping her sister would follow her lead.
“Poppy— Poppy— Fuck! I don’t even know where to start! Are you sure you have a match? I thought these things took weeks or months. This is too quick―are they going to try to take you away from me tonight?”
“Pix, what’s going on with you? I went through the first half of the meal answering all the questions you had yesterday and you didn’t even pay attention. Are you okay? Plus, you’re about to cry…you never cry. And what do you mean, ‘take me away’? You act as though I’m going to get snatched off the street. You have a life, sis. I don’t. You have a great job and boyfriend. I don’t. I can’t even get a cat in this stupid apartment to become the crazy cat lady. I need this. Or, at least, I need to see if this will work.”
Poppy pleaded with her eyes for Pixie to understand where she was coming from. She knew she was on the verge of tears herself but knew also that if she cried then they would both start blubbering. When her sister took a deep breath in, Poppy braced herself for more yelling. She was very surprised when Pixie spoke in a small voice.
“I am happy for you. I think this is a good thing…at least it’s something you need to do to knock yourself out of whatever rut you have been in. These problems at work are grating on me and it’s as if Brenda is fucking up on purpose. I don’t know why she would do that, but it’s making me crazy. Maybe she wants my job…or she’s just an idiot and because we’re friends she thinks she can get away with all these mistakes. Brian is still acting weird and when I tried to talk to him last night he brushed me off.”
Shaking her finger at Poppy, Pixie smiled. “And don’t even mention getting a cat and being a cat lady. You’re allergic to them, you loon.” Pixie took another sip of her wine and continued.
“I just normally have all my shit together and give you advice. All of a sudden you’re making life-changing decisions without me. I know we don’t see each other as often as we could, but when you leave I won’t even have that chance. And what if this guy is a nut ball? Or a crazy wife beater?”
“Drink your wine, sis. First, he’s never had a woman to beat so I doubt he’s abusive. According to the FAQ sheet women are revered because there are so few. Second, if I feel threatened in any way, there are people who I can talk to. They would bring me back immediately and the trial period is over. Also, our profiles were matched, so if he is a nut ball then I guess I’m one too.”
Poppy allowed a small smile to creep over her face when Pixie snorted a laugh into her wineglass.
“You are obviously a nut ball. And so am I apparently because I’m happy for you. How long do we have before you have to go meet Mr. Warrior?” Pixie grabbed the piece of bread on her plate and popped the entire thing into her mouth.
“Well, that’s the other thing I needed to tell you. I should meet him tomorrow morning to start the trial period.” And three, two, one, detonation.
“What!” The word was somewhat muffled by the carbs and garlic flying out of Pixie’s mouth but Poppy understood her loud and clear.
“Apparently he’s really excited and we’re meeting tomorrow morning.” Before Pixie could start protesting, Poppy held out her fingers and started ticking off her arguments. “My liaison, Valerie, will be in charge of bill paying, mail forwarding and also hiring movers to take this stuff to storage. Which reminds me, I need you to take the family photos to your place for safekeeping. If this works out, I’ll most likely donate all my crap to the women’s shelter, so grab anything you really want to keep, and if I come home, I’ll just steal my shoes back.”
“Wow, you really do have all your shit together.” Pixie sat there stunned with bread crumbs all over her shirt. Grabbing the bottle of wine, she chugged a couple gulps straight from the source and peered around the apartment.
“How come you’re so calm right now? I would be losing my shit,” Pixie finally asked once she’d demolished about a glass and a half via the bottle.
“Honestly, I’ve had mini-breakdowns all day.” Poppy gave Pixie a sheepish grin. “Valerie is a lifesaver and they’ve thought of everything to take care of for me so I don’t have to worry about that. I guess I’m too excited to be upset really. I mean, I’ve waited for something awesome to happen to me and I think this is it. I could be married in a month, Pix! Married! I haven’t had a steady boyfriend for a couple years and my dates have all been losers. What if this man is truly my soul mate and he just happens to come from another planet? I could be getting pregnant soon—that was something I couldn’t even think about before because I didn’t even see the possibility of meeting anyone.”
Poppy could tell what Pixie was thinking. By now she had to realize that nothing was going to change Poppy’s mind.
“You’re right, Pops. I am happy for you. It sounds like you’re happy with your decision.” She smiled and yelled as she turned to run down the hall, “I just hope that you’re going to be happy I’m taking those shoes I’ve been wanting to steal for months now!”
Poppy laughed as she jogged after her crazy sister. Pixie was right—she was happy with her decision. Nothing could pop this happy bubble she had created for herself.
Chapter Nine
The next morning came sooner than Poppy expected.
“Are you
ready?” Pixie asked, cradling a to-go cup of coffee.
“As I’ll ever be…and you’d better have gotten me a cup too. My coffeemaker broke this morning and I haven’t had any caffeine since I finished the first pot.” Poppy stood and cataloged what she’d scattered on the floor. Three suitcases and one duffel bag, courtesy of Pixie.
“Did you say you’d already had a pot of coffee before you broke it?”
“Yeah, I couldn’t sleep so I got up at four and made a pot. Then the coffeemaker decided to break on me like the piece of crap it was. And don’t give me that look. I can’t take your judgment this early in the morning.”
She walked to the bathroom to get the smaller duffel she’d filled with her toiletries. Shampoo, check. Deodorant, check. Tampons, check. Birth control pills, check, although she wasn’t sure whether she would need them or if she was even allowed to take them with her. She only had one week of pills left, so surely it wouldn’t be a problem. Endless amount of hair ties, check.
“Damn, Pops, you pretty much packed every single piece of clothing you had. Couldn’t you at least leave some of the yoga pants?” Pixie laughed when Poppy pretended she was going to throw the small duffel at her. “Just kidding, jeez.” She set her cup of coffee down on the nightstand and jumped over a bag to give Poppy a hug. “You still sure this is what you want to do?”
“Absolutely. I think packing helped me step over the ‘I don’t know’ feeling that may have been floating around inside my head. Pix, my life literally fits into these bags. Everything else is disposable.” Poppy turned around and scanned the room again. “Is that pathetic?”
“No, Poppy. It’s not pathetic. You just haven’t set down roots yet. I would be in the same place if I hadn’t met Brian.” Pixie brushed a kiss on Poppy’s cheek. “It’s time to go, slowpoke. We need to leave in the next ten minutes to be there on time, and that means we can’t get you a coffee if you don’t hurry. I’ll grab this bag and head down to the car, so don’t keep me waiting.”
Brida Pact Page 6