Page 9 of Jorhee

Hathrup took out two sealed sterile swabs, like you’d see in a police procedural, and took a sample first from the other guy, sealing and labeling it before doing the same with me.

I held up my tablet. “Thanks,” I said before turning to retake my seat, getting a nod of acceptance in return. As I did so, I saw Alec was the only one still completing his. I settled into my seat to wait and was relieved when only a few more minutes passed before Alec stood up and made his way over to the officer to get his sample taken. I’d spent it looking at the different apps on my tablet, so at least I hadn’t been bored while waiting. One of them seemed to be a reading app and appeared to have an absolutely crazy number of books in every conceivable human language available to download.

“Alright, I have your swabs duly labeled, and Xeranos already has your replies. I’m going to run the results three at a time in our multi-analysis machine here. Results will not be announced until the final result is in. If you are matched, you will wait here if your mate is in-system. If your mate is a Mylos and must travel a significant distance to meet you, you will be escorted tosecure quarters where you will remain until your mate arrives. If your mate is Dragonii and is not here, you will wait here for a Dragonii representative who will come to greet you and arrange transport to the colony world, where you will be united with your mate. If you signed up only for the Dragonii program and are not matched, you will meet with the representative here, and he will go over your options as to where to settle and what role you wish to pursue. Those of you who signed up for Mylos only, if unmatched, will continue as you have, and so may leave. Likewise, if you are in a Mylos mate program and go unmatched, such as a scholarship student or trainee, or have accepted other employment, you will continue as you have and leave.“ With that, he took the bundle of samples and began doing his thing with the machine.

It took less than five minutes to do all twelve. In the middle of it, his kunnarskyn buzzed, and he checked his message.

“Everyone except you five can go,” he said, pointing at me first, then the guy immediately behind me, then Carl, Alec, and the guy on the far end.

I swallowed, a sinking feeling in my stomach.

“I’ve been matched?” Alec asked in a high pitched voice.

“Indeed. Please remain calm. I see you are on medication for your blood pressure, and I do not wish you to suffer a spike. I promise you everything will be as it should.”

“Is it a Mylos or a Dragonii?” he gasped out, starting to hyperventilate a bit, clearly panicked, as despite his earlier bravado, now the reality of what it meant to be actually matched was hitting him like a ton of bricks.

Hathrup looked at him reassuringly. “It’s a Mylos, and they are here within the Fleet, so you will continue within the local veteran’s training program.”

Carl began rubbing circles on his back. “Just breathe with me.”

“Am I matched or am I just finding out where I’m going?” I interjected, it dawning on me that if Alec was being held back because he’d been matched, then the rest of us probably had been as well. Which, given the apparent odds of even getting one match, let alone multiples, was crazy.

And absolutely would be just my luck.

“The Dragonii representative will answer those questions. I’m afraid the Dragonii specific results merely tell me if you are to wait here or not. The representative notifies any Dragonii that is matched and also handles the colony assignment.”

That pissed me off to no end. What harm would it do to give me answers to those two questions now? Stupid red tape. Still, not his fault. That lay with the person or persons who’d come up with the stupid rule and withheld the information from Hathrup.

“Right. So we just gotta hurry up and wait,” I grumbled.

“Well, I know I signed up only for the colony stuff, and we know the odds are we won’t be matched. I reckon the odds are even higher against it, seeing as that guy just got his mate ticket punched.” This was from one of the guys whose name I hadn’t learned, but he was spot on.

“And me,” Carl piped up.

“See?” the man said, as if that proved his point.

The other guy who’d not spoken simply nodded his head.

Carl’s attention was now on his friend Alec. “That's it, easy now. Match your breaths to mine.”

Hathrup walked to the back of the office space, returning with what looked to be water from a device set into a side wall, which made it appear as if from thin air, and offered it to Alec.

Some kind of food synthesizer or something. Pretty cool, I gotta admit.

Alec accepted it with shaky hands, and Carl helped guide it to his lips without spilling so he could sip it.

“Good thing he’s not a colonist with that ticker,” the silent guy said, speaking at last and referencing something he must have learned about Alec some other time.

“There are excellent medical facilities available, and he would not be in a position that would jeopardise his health,” Hathrup informed him icily.

“Jeez, sorry. I didn’t mean to offend.”

Asshole. This guy is going to New Haven? Fuck. I hope we won’t be neighbors.

“It’s alright, just ignore them. Lots of people live with high blood pressure. It’s pretty common,” Carl murmured soothingly to Alec.

The door opened, revealing two Dragonii in the hallway.