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She bought me cheap?
I don’t know why I found that so insulting. I mean, was the situation any better if I’d been expensive?
“I run a business,” Shrisa said. “We specialize in being the very best matchmaking service in the empire. We pair exotic species with their ideal Titan mates.”
Exotic species? Ideal Titan mates?
What was she talking about?
“Look, I think there’s been some mistake,” I said. “I didn’t sign up for this.”
“No. You most certainly did not. And after your recent performance, you’d better not misbehave again.”
“I’m sorry about that,” I said. “But I need to return home. Back to Earth.”
“A ticket to Earth is almost three thousand credits. Do you have three thousand credits?”
“No.”
I didn’t even know what a credit was.
“But I’ll pay you back, I swear,” I said. “No matter how long it takes. I give you my word.”
“Your word?” Shrisa said, her voice flat and toneless.
“It means I promise.”
“I guessed,” she said. “I can’t give you three thousand credits for nothing. I bought you so you could be one of my girls. Who knows, maybe you’ll find your true love.”
My throat turned dry.
“Work?” I said. “Here?”
“Titans like rare species,” she said. “The rarer, the better. Don’t ask me why. If one takes a liking to you, you can go live your happily ever after with him. You’re pretty enough. There might be a Titan down on his luck who might be interested.”
“Happily ever after?” I said. “With an alien?”
“All men are aliens, my dear. The sooner you learn that, the better.”
“An alien can’t fall in love with me! I need to go home!”
Shrisa sighed.
“Fine,” she said. “There are two options open to you. Either you join the line-up or I can give you different work—work I’ll pay you for. You can work off the debt you owe me, plus room and board. Then you can either leave or save up for the ticket home.”
“How much will I get paid?” I said.
“For a maid? About ten credits a day. Minus room and board, so let’s say five credits a day.”
I performed a quick calculation. My eyes boggled.
“That’s over one and a half years!” I said.
“That’s for the ticket,” Shrisa said. “You have to reimburse me for what I paid for you first.”
“And how much did I cost?”
“Twelve hundred credits.”
