There was a mass limit to what the transporter could send – no more than a thousand Earth pounds per transport – so they still used ships to travel between planets, for commerce, vacation, and to wage war. If they tried to transport more than a thousand pounds, then everything inside the transporter went kablooey.
“I just want you to understand something,” Cora Lee said. “I know it’s hard to believe that Lukan fell for Alexandra’s bullshit, but you’re dealing with an alien species here. They think differently than we do. They’re warriors. They’re simple and direct. If they want something, they just go take it, and mow down anyone who tries to stand in their way. They don’t resort to lying or manipulating. Like, if two female Vulfan wanted the same guy, they’d fight over him, possibly to the death.”
“I guess,” Talia said glumly. “It’s just…he spent an entire year thinking I was this low-down, cheating skank.”
“That no good rat-bastard,” Mar-ee said. “Unless we have forgiven him. Have we forgiven him?”
“She will,” Cora Lee said firmly.
“Give me time. And I’ve got a million questions about what’s going on here,” Talia said.
“And it’s possible I have four or five answers.” Cora Lee grabbed a golden, two-pronged fork from the table and speared a chunk of meat. “Mmmm, being with Tristao really works up an appetite. He has the most talented tongue. And oh, my God, the size of him.”
“TMI!” Talia shrieked. She clapped her hands over her ears. “La la la la, I can’t hear you!”
“You have lost your hearing? Should I call a healer?” Mar-ee asked, swiveling her head to look at Talia with concern.
“It’s just an expression, Mar-ee,” Cora Lee assured her, her mouth full of the savory morsel. “And Talia, you’ll find out about the talents of Vulfan men soon enough.”
“Argh! Also, why does their name sound so much like ‘wolf’?”
“Common ancestry. That is also why we can mate with them and have their children. Eons ago, the common ancestors of numerous humanoid races were forced to leave their planet because their sun was dying. They scattered throughout the Milky Way. Earth was meant to be one of their colonies, but the Earth ship crash-landed, and only a few children survived, along with some animals like dire wolves and big cats. They forgot all their technology and knowledge of their past. Did you know that the Vulfan are actually part dire wolf and part human?”
“Aren’t dire wolves those extinct prehistoric giant wolves?” Talia asked.
Mar-ee picked up the plate of sweet-meats and shoved it under Talia’s nose. “Consume. Calories. Now.”
“Fine, Mom.” Talia rolled her eyes. She grabbed a two-pronged fork from the table and used it to spear a potato-like vegetable and popped it in her mouth. It was delicious, she had to admit.
Mar-ee shook her head. “That is not possible. I am a mechanical unit and you are a meat unit.”
“My sweetie’s got a meat unit.” Cora Lee giggled as Talia groaned. “A humongous one. And yes, they are. The dire wolves originated on the same planet as our ancestors.”
“Ok, I understand all of that. But how is that they can change from humanoid into animals?”
“Genetic engineering. There are a lot of species who consider it dishonorable to use weapons when they fight with each other, it’s some cultural thing, again, passed down from those common ancestors way back when. But they still waged war. So their scientists worked on making their species the strongest, fiercest fighters possible. There are shifter wolves, bears, big cats, and even dragons. And apparently, once I become pregnant with Tristao’s babies, the stronger genetics will take over and I will become a Vulfan.”
“Good lord. So if I were with Lukan, I’d become a Vulfan?”
Cora Lee nodded. “Yes. I know this is a lot to take in. I was prepared for all of this, given an orientation, and I knew what I’d be committing to before I ever set foot on Ilyria.”
Talia poured herself some wine from the glass and took a big gulp.
“What would have happened if you’d decided not to come to Ilyria? They would have trusted you not to tell anybody about what you’d learned?”
“Oh, heck no.” Cora Lee shook her head. “If word got out, the U.S. government would try to storm the Anders building to get their hands on the technology there. And other nations would as well. It would start a dozen wars and throw Earth into chaos. If I hadn’t wanted to travel to Ilyria, they would have erased my memory.”
“Erased it?” Talia said in shock. “Made you into a vegetable?”
Cora Lee snorted. “No, silly! My short-term memory. They have a very sophisticated system called the memory chamber. They can take out old memories and replace them with new ones.”
Talia shuddered. “That’s really creepy, actually.”
Cora Lee helped herself to some more sweetmeats, and shrugged. “Better than the alternative, which would be world wars, panic over the idea of aliens, and also the end of this program, which might mean the end of the Vulfan race.”
“So all the women who sign up for this program…”
Cora Lee nodded. “They all agree to this. They come to this planet, hang out for a few weeks, meet tons and tons of guys, and see if they click with anybody. The agency comes up with cover stories for their friends and acquaintances. Of course, part of Million Dollar Matches is just the regular Earth dating agency, which Alexandra was running all along. But they just keep that going as a cover. Her real money comes from the interstellar dating thing.”
