Chapter Twenty

Lisbet woke up from cryostasis feeling woozy like a zombie back from the dead. There was a buzzing sound by her ear that made Lisbet wince. When it paused, she relaxed, only for it to come back on again. It must have gone on and off ten times before she realized that the sound was something she’d have to deal with or it would just keep happening. Being woken with a kiss was much nicer.

She rubbed her eyes and opened them.

The lid on her cryochamber was still down.

That woke her up.

If the lid was still down that had to signify that there was a problem. She slapped herself awake and looked at the blinking screen in front of her.

There was an urgent message from her father.

Lisbet snorted.

So her father was allowed to send her urgent messages? How about that? She pressed the button that acknowledged that she was awake. She was about to press the button that would ignore his message and put her back to sleep, but what if it really was something really important?

She grudgingly pressed the button that allowed the message to play.

It was a video message of him sitting like a panicked ape in a room that was unfamiliar to her. He sat with his knees apart and glossy embossed papers in his hands.

“Lisbet, I don’t know how to talk to you about this, but we’ve noticed something odd in your documents from Sleeping Beauty Inc. When we signed your purchase papers with Sleeping Beauty Inc., you were actually being purchased by someone named Beckett Beltrose and not by Vantz Bloomburg directly. When I was reviewing the contract, I got worried that Vantz hadn’t actually married you. I asked Sleeping Beauty Inc. for a copy of your marriage certificate, and they said that they couldn’t provide me with one since your sale is complete and I was only carbon copied on your sale as a courtesy. I got the money for you, but beyond receiving payment for you, legally, it’s no longer my concern. So, I want to ask you. Did you really marry Vantz?” Her father looked frustrated and crazy. He thought someone had cheated him, but he obviously couldn’t bear to say it in those words.

What his reaction meant was that her father thought of her as something he could sell. He still didn’t realize that Lisbet could have told him no. Why had she said yes? The reasons she’d done what she was told felt very distant and foolish now. If she thought she had done it for her family as an act of love, partially to save her sisters from a similar fate, but he’d also sold Cassica and Tiffania had sold herself. After everything, it was clear that her father thought of her as an object and one he could still control, even after the sale. Love wasn’t part of the equation for him.

It stood in stark contrast to how Beck had treated her. He had been so hands-off Lisbet hadn’t known how to react. She had been controlled her entire life and when a man encouraged her to say what she wanted, it was a gift she didn’t know how to accept.

In any case, Lisbet had no interest in replying to her father’s message. What would be more interesting would be having a frank conversation with Tiffania about how their family’s fortunes fared since she had left over a year ago. Suddenly, Lisbet wanted to talk to her sister again. She hadn’t made very good use of the time they had together in The Boiler Room, but she thought they’d see each other every day for weeks if not months, so she hadn’t asked enough questions.

Her father’s message continued, “I contacted Sleeping Beauty Inc. again just now and they said that since Vantz has acknowledged you publicly as his wife, he has kept his end of the contract. But I need you to tell me,” her father stressed, “did he marry you?”

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

The message ended and Lisbet sat with her arms crossed for a full minute.

Did Vantz marry her?

Of course, it was a marriage by proxy. Those were weird. To make matters worse, she knew that she had been too dull with pain and heartache to really read the marriage agreement she had signed. Was the paper she signed not a marriage agreement with Vantz? She knew exactly why she didn’t read it. She had already signed all her rights away. Signing a marriage agreement gave her a level of respectability and rights most Sleeping Beauty Inc. models would never achieve. So she signed whatever had the words ‘Marriage Contract’ at the top of the document.

Thinking back on what she knew since she arrived on Mars, she thought it made perfect sense for Beck to have been her true purchaser. He was wearing the bracelet attached to her bracelet. Neither Beck nor Vantz had tried to deceive her that way. But Vantz told her that he was okay with her fooling around with Beck.

Then, it came clear to her. If she was married to Vantz, it didn’t mean anything… legally. It didn’t mean anything at all. It didn’t matter if the marriage certificate had been real or just a dumb document meant to fool everyone. Vantz would never have been able to touch her without Beck’s permission! That wasn’t a real marriage. Vantz had never even acted like he was a real husband. That had been something she had nurtured in her own head.

She was Beck’s property!

Was there a bigger gentleman in the universe than Beckett Beltrose?

She slapped the controls on the side of the cryochamber to open the lid. She slipped out of the cryochamber and padded back up the spiral staircase and onto the flight deck.

Lisbet could have had a completely legitimate relationship with Beck the whole time. She just hadn’t thought of it that way because she’d been looking down on him and looking up to Vantz like an idiot.

Vantz was…

She froze. She could hear him talking. His English accent was coming through the walls. He was in cabin number one.

Very quietly, Lisbet approached the cabin door, but she didn’t open it. She stood as still as a statue. Invocation had said that he heard Beck telling her the fairy tale from cabin number one. The walls were thin. She listened.

“Beck sorted it out. I told you he was my champion. He’s at the site now. No, the rocket wasn’t in good condition when he arrived, but he cannibalized his solarship and gave up all the correct equipment.” There was a pause. “It does put him in an awkward position. No, we haven’t figured out how to explain that explosion going off. They’re so touchy about what we blow up, even when we tell them on repeat that we’re going to burn the whole thing. I suppose it’s just too much to ask for people to believe that this one explosion was a coincidence. As if they aren’t going to blame us for everything anyway. If we’re lucky… Yeah, I suppose that’s true. The bomb in the rocket could go off as part of a chain reaction when the other bombs go off, or we could say it did anyway. Beck needs a fresh transport.” Another pause. “I wasn’t expecting a solarship for him. I don’t think he was expecting one either considering resource distribution. I think he was hoping for something like a helocarrier or a land rover. What can we get him?”

The break in conversation was long. Lisbet decided to crack the door open when he spoke next. It didn’t seem like he was talking to Beck. It sounded more like Vantz was talking on the communicator with a person Lisbet couldn’t hear. The only thing that made sense was that he was in the room, but maybe Beck was listening to one side of an audio communication.

Vantz went on, “That’s marvelous! Just drop it on the sand next to the compound on the next revolution. Thanks.”

Lisbet made a crack in the door. Beck was in his VR cage. His eyes were covered by the VR faceplate and he was standing with his back to the door.

“Are there a lot of questions about Lisbet?” Beck asked in Vantz’s voice.

At first, she wasn’t sure if she’d seen that correctly, but she watched carefully and saw Beck’s mouth move.

He laughed Vantz’s laugh and went on to say, “She’s resting. She’s quite fatigued after her harrowing experience. I’m sure she’ll be back to answer questions in The Boiler Room soon. I’ll tell her you said that. Yes, I know no one likes my avatar. Bye.”

He was hanging up!

She couldn’t be found there!

Lisbet pushed away from the door without closing it. She pushed herself backward and accidentally smacked her head against the adjoining wall.

Beck pulled the door open and stared in surprise at her huddled form on the floor.