Mars Needs Women

Chapter 3 - Partners Without Benefits

For a few moments, we just hemmed and hawed in the darkness.

"Well, this is awkward," Walt finally said, breaking the silence. "So, why are you here, Mavis?"

"Runnin' away," I answered. "I ain't gonna let them hitch me to some no-account stranger. You?"

"Same."

"Huh?"

Walt let out a long sigh. "I found out my parents were setting me up with an arranged marriage. It was supposed to be a surprise. Some surprise." He let out a snort. "Told them hell no, and if I was to get married, it would be with a woman I chose, not them. They said they paid big money to get me a wife and things got heated. Then some low-life brute called the Broker locked me in a room."

"Yeah. Me and the Broker had our own meaningful encounter."

"So, what are you going to do now?" Walt asked.

"Umm..." I answered. "Didn't think that far ahead. What about you?"

"My parents had my life all laid out for me. But I'm going to make my own path, and prove that I can make it on my own. Do you know what I mean?"

My head bobbed up and down. "I'm with you on that, Walt."

"The Mars Provisional Government has a land grant program to attract colonists, and I'm thinking of making my claim. I know business from helping in my parent's trading company, but the thing is, I don't know much about farming or ranching. Might be a steep learning curve."

Right away, a light bulb came on in my mind. "I know farmin'. My Pa and I raised chickens and some crops together. And I did mechanics, too — got so I could take apart our old tractor, then put it back together again."

Walt said nothing for a moment, but I could almost hear the brain gears grinding. "Hmm, so are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Maybe we work together?"

"Yeah. And if we were married, we get a better claim deal."

My eyes shot full open and I put hands on hips. "I told ya, I ain't getting' hitched!"

"Oh, no, no..." Walt replied, waving his hands. "We just pretend to be married when we go into the claim office."

"So, just business?"

"No romancing, not even friends with benefits. That only complicates things."

"Okay, then," I said, then extended my hand. "Partners?"

Walt grasped my hand and shook, sealing the deal. "Partners."

*****

The horizon glowed orange with my very first Martian sunrise, and the brand-new day made me all hopeful-like. We got to the Mars Land Bank office when it first opened.

The red-haired woman who helped us fill out the forms was friendly enough, but when we said we were married, she wrinkled her forehead while searching through a database. "I can't find any record of your marriage certificate."

I scooted close to Walt and let him put an arm around me — had to admit, it felt kinda good, but we agreed to no such entanglements. "We just got married," I said while gazing at him with my best dreamy eyes. "So, the record might not be entered yet."

"Oh, congratulations," the woman said with a bright smile. Her fingers fluttered across a tablet viewer for a few moments, then nodded. "Alright, we're all set. All you have to do now is select your new homesite."

I almost couldn't believe that worked. Thank God for lax rule following.

The woman left us alone within a nearby cubical to choose. As Walt scrolled through the available properties displayed on a view panel, I asked, "How do we choose?"