Chapter 3: Harmony

~~ Delta - Nov/02 - (Earth - May/2095) ~~

We had arrived.

One hundred and sixty very excited women and twenty kids disembarked the Fortune. We had docked up to one of the naval ships that patrolled Delta space. They were the guys that my younger brother Rick, wanted to join, the Delta Space Police Force or DSPF.

We women ranged in age from eighteen to thirty-four years. We were all different shapes, heights, races and religions. The two things we had in common were that we were female and single. About fifteen of the women had kids under the age of ten, and all of us had skills of some degree.

Even the twenty or so under-twenties had skills, even if it was because they were raised on farms. These towns were being built to house new communities, and from what I’d read, farm skills were definitely a commodity that was required. The Giants from what I had read needed to be introduced to more modern farm methods.

They had been stuck in a more hunter-farmer society until Queen Lee had rescued them. They did have higher education but couldn’t develop the technologies because of some spell that I didn’t understand, had stopped them.

I had read just about any information I could find on Harmony and the race called Giants that we would be living with. We were also told that many of the other races from Utopia would also be residing in the Twin Cities, and I found them all fascinating.

They even had dragons on Harmony, and these fascinated me no end since reptiles were my thing. I wanted to learn about their history of development. They were also considered sentient, and this really boggled my mind.

Some of the girls had skills in running small businesses and arts and crafts, and I could see their contribution as well. I didn’t believe that everyone had to have a degree, just be good at something that contributed to the community.

After talking to a few of the girls, I could see why they were picked. Whoever was doing the selecting obviously had a bigger picture in mind than just helping some randy male Genteli and Giants find bedmates, as that was just the bonus from what I could deduce.

Barb and I were to boost their science team. We were to learn about the evolution of the species currently on the continent and to work out how we would help make sure they were around for our great-great-grandkids to see in the wild.

I was really looking forward to my new job. If I could score a guy who wanted me too, then that would be the icing on the cake. I got the impression that while our contracts were for two years, this was really a lifelong commitment if we wished to make it one.

I had learnt that most of us have very little holding us to the old world. I’d miss my mum Dana, but she had a new husband, and she had decided that even though she could have come with me, she was happy with her lot. Vince had even managed to knock her up before I left, so they were over the Moon.

She was only forty-two and more than happy to be a mum again. My seventeen-year-old brother Rick said that he’d come and visit when he was old enough. Vince treated mum and Rick really good, even though he wasn’t Rick’s biological father and I knew Rick liked him in return.

Vince even emailed me and promised that he would love and look after our family. I knew that he loved them both, and that was what was important to me. He had recently gotten a new job and was working as a data analyst for the same company that had hired me.

He was one happy guy when I talked to them from the Moon. The new job and its pay meant mum didn’t have to work and his new hours meant that he could coach Rick’s cricket team. He had once played State cricket, too.

In the six years, he had been with mum, he had been a great help in getting me selected and taught me a lot about the game. I liked the guy. I actually found their happiness a little depressing at the time, but the fact they were happy for me getting the opportunity to chase my dream was also warming.

I guess that’s all part of being a family and growing up.

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We went to Rubyvale.

One hundred and twenty of us were ferried down to a Transport Station that was located on the Rubyvale side of the Jade Bridge. Ten of the women had kids, and we were told that there were schools for them. The rest were going to an island called Rahia Island on Utopia, the home of the Giants. Oops, sorry, the Grandteli, as they called themselves.

Utopia was Harmony’s twin, and there was a lot of speculation on how Harmony got into this orbit, but that wasn’t my field of interest. Utopia was where our explorers first landed, and it was occupied so we couldn’t colonise it. Harmony, however, only had the dragons, and as Queen Lee owned half of this planet, she had said we could come from Earth, as long as we abided by her charter.

Most of the girls who were going to Rahia Island had teaching, industrial and or trade experience. They were going to help set up new industries on the island and a Trade School.

We had a running betting book that they would all be married before the year was out and pregnant once their tags stopped working. There was one bet going that the whole darn lot of us would be. There were even jokes about us all being mail-ordered brides, but we just hadn’t picked our guy, yet.

A comment said, to have been overheard by one of the girls had us all believing this, but I didn’t hear any comments that any of them were opposed to this idea. While the job ad didn’t say we were picked as possible brides, the implication was that we were welcome to become permanent residents once our contracts were up.

Half of us were to be housed in Opal City, and the other half stayed on the Rubyvale side of the river. When we got off the transporter, we were met at the Customs Station. We were told to remove metal objects and walk through a scanner. We had to do this all the time on Earth if using planes, so no one thought much about the procedure.

We got to the other side to see our welcoming committee. I took one look at the gorgeous redheaded woman and knew without being told whom she was, our Queen Lee. I thought it was cool that a tradie chick from Queensland was the Queen Wizard of two planets.

My eyes then lighted on her spunky husband Sean Watson and their new wife, Donny. Sean was from Brisbane as well and had come to Delta as the Captain of the Army team. He was a Lord Wizard and a smart guy, as he had Engineering Degrees, like Lee. Donny was a teacher and a faerie shapeshifter and had only recently joined the pair.

My eyes then flicked to the guy I recognised as the Wizard for Opal City, Justin Ubobo. He was a real honey, and I didn’t think I’d have any trouble spreading my legs for him. It was a shame he was taken by the woman who was as tall as I was, a giantess called Gemma, who was his Apprentice Wizard.

Justin was Wizard Allan Ubobo’s oldest son. Allan was the Captain and navigator of the first ship from Earth that mad it to Utopia. Their ship, the GJ10, had been a tiny Explorer ship that had wrecked on Utopia four years before the Fortune set out. Allan had then married Princess Darla of Antalia, which was one of their southern continents. He has since become an apprentice wizard, and he and Darla had married to Prince Zak de Kay.

Zak was the brother of King Aeron de Kay of Davinia one of Utopia’s northern continents. Aeron was also a wizard, and he was married to Yuko Maki. Yuko was a Biochemist and Food Engineer from Japan, and she was shield Mage like Zak. They also married Karri Watson, Sean Watson’s sister. Karri was Aeron’s Apprentice and an Electrical Engineer.

After Allan had been shipwrecked, Justin was left on Earth to bring up his half brothers and sisters, the twins Jamie and Jennie, Brad, Tyson, Arial, Kim and the youngest Barbie. From what I had read and heard while on the ship, Justin had done a slap-up job of it.

I was informed that the people beside Justin were, Alec Shaman, a healer and his wives, Kim and Nyoni. The girls were still in University. I already knew Kim was Justin’s half-sister and Alec’s apprentice wizard. Nyoni was from the shapeshifter or Therian race like Donny. Alec was Rubyvale’s Wizard, and Justin was Opal City’s.

I also recognised Kyle Vella and his husband, Tony. They were from Earth and Kyle was Lee’s second cousin from America and the Gold Wizard. Tony was from New Zealand and Kyle’s apprentice wizard. They were married to Debora, a Geneticist from Earth and Piper who was a computer programmer who was Nyoni’s older half-sister.

The sister’s mother, Selin, was the Queen of the Therians and a Weather Mage. I found their race intriguing and decided that in the future, I would have to learn more about them as the concept of being able to change one’s gender and form, totally intrigued me. They sure made up an eclectic group of people.

I eyed off the guy called Alec, he had a similar body type and dark red hair colour as the hunk I was looking for. From a distance, he looked a lot like him, but I knew he wasn’t my hunk. Mine was a little broader and taller, and I felt that he was older. So, I deduced that my hunk came from Rahia Island and was possibly even a relative.

The welcoming committee did their job, and the girls going to Opal City were hustled off onto an airship for the short trip to their new homes. The airship reminded me of a more modern and compact form of a Zeppelin. I heard the locals call it the flying bus.

My group of sixty were staying in Rubyvale. Barb and Jill decided to share an apartment and Foxy, and I got our own flats, to our delight. While we hadn’t minded sharing a bed, we both liked having our own space, plus we were hoping to find a bit of male companionship for the other sides of our beds.

I wasn’t happy that Pauline was in our group. I felt that I hadn’t heard the last of her. She was assigned to Aquatics, so wasn’t on my team. I was thankful for this, at least.

Alec actually escorted my friends and I to our new berths and reminded us that the dining room would serve us three meals a day as part of our rent. Some of the items in the Replicator were free, and the others we had to pay for.

They did have several shops already set up that would sell us staples and other grocery items if we wanted to cook for ourselves. They even had coffee and chocolate from Utopia. We could also purchase locally made clothing, furniture, housewares, electronics and other such items, from the Mercantile.

Alex pointed out the location of the replicators and made sure we were recognised by the system. We had already been issued our new Mads. They were a combination of communication and datapad and also weatherproof. I thought they were amazingly versatile.

Our bank accounts were set up, and our money from home should be in them if we had asked for it to be transferred, along with our two weeks of pay that covered the flight here from Earth. The girls and I thought it was cool that we had gotten paid for sitting our arses while we flew through sixty light-years of space.

To enter our rooms, we just had to be wearing our Mads, so don’t leave home without it. Our Cargo would be dropped off in the next couple of days, and we would be notified when we could pick it up, or we could leave it in storage. If we had items to sell, we were to go see the B&C Office, and they would help us out.

Alec also reminded us that there was a big party being held in Clarksville in a week on Easter weekend. If we had taken a fancy to anyone on the dating website, it might be an idea to let them know and find out if they were going to be there.

My room was down the hall from the other girls, and Alec dropped me off last. I had to ask, “Hey, Alec, do you have an older brother or cousin by chance?”

He grinned at me and answered, “I, in fact, have five male cousins, and three of them are living here now. One that is younger than me is still on Rahia Island.”

“My oldest cousin, Nathan, has moved to live in Benson, the new settlement in Aurora. He is engaged to the leader of the Science team, Professor Roslyn Gilberto. You should also make sure you contact her and the other Science Team leaders at some stage. I’ll make sure you have their contacts details.”