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What if he didn’t like her and just walked away?
What if they weren’t compatible after all?
“Do not fear, Naomi,” Oberon said. “No harm will come to you from the prospective parent.”
She had momentarily forgotten the AI could read her vital signs.
Naomi opened her eyes and stretched slowly, trying to force her heartbeat back to normal.
“You have approximately fourteen minutes, if there is anything you wish to do to ready yourself before the meeting,” Oberon said.
“Thank you,” Naomi said, standing and brushing off her tights. “I’ll just take a quick shower and get changed.”
“Excellent,” Oberon said.
A door appeared in the corner of the all-white room, and she took a deep breath, trying to compose herself before heading to it.
2
Gage
Gage Zeyr’n stood at the threshold of the shuttle ship, fighting back his impatience as a butler droid fussed with his tie.
It hummed lightly as it rolled side to side in front of him, tightening the silken noose and straightening it, and then tightening it all over again.
The custom-tailored suit and Drathian silk tie were gifts from his employers, their value probably greater than a year of Gage’s normal compensation.
But they paled in comparison to the larger gifts.
The first was an extremely early retirement, with full pay and benefits for life - all backed by a trust in his name, in case anything ever happened to them.
The second was the title to a stone carriage house with a big vegetable garden and a meadow for his canine partner to run in, carved from their own estate.
And the third, and most expensive gift of all, was this trip to the Midsummer Fertility Center.
While any lucky Maltaffian guard might receive early pension for an exceptional job, or save up for a house of his own one day, this unique access to an off-planet surrogate to conceive and bear an heir was an unheard-of luxury, reserved for only the wealthiest on the planet.
Gage had tried to refuse it. In his eyes it was too much.
It was all too much, really. He had only been doing his job.
But the Bly-Xarxyn family had insisted. Gage had saved their children from a kidnapper’s plot. They were determined to repay him somehow.
“The only fair reward for you protecting our family is for us to give you the opportunity to enjoy a family of your own, my good man,” Dayvees Bly-Xarxyn told him merrily while sucking on a Vystian cigar.
“I don’t need an heir,” Gage had replied gruffly.
“Of course you do,” Dayvees laughed. “You have a pension and property now. Besides, I hear some of these surrogates are tender little Terrans.” He gave a chef’s kiss and winked at Gage.
“Dayvees,” his wife, Emyra scolded playfully. “You’ll embarrass him.”
“It would take more than that, madam,” Gage said.
But he was lying. It took all his training not to let the blood rush to his cheeks. Living on duty these last years had taken its toll. He hadn’t been with a woman in so long…
“Call me Emyra,” she said, scolding him now, instead of her husband. “We’re family friends now. We’re not your employers anymore.”
He smiled at her indulgently. She was a kind lady, and her husband was a good man. But Gage would never be one of them. The elite of Maltaffia practically spoke their own language. Living among them for so long had taught him their ways, but it just wasn’t in his blood.
