Fusion

Tegan Varley, top saleswoman for an off-world appliances and electronics conglomerate, is going to be the first Human allowed to attend the Intergalactic Technology Trade Show on the isolationist planet, Sayakim. Her plans literally crash and burn when Tegan's shuttle makes a crater near the site where she is supposed to meet the Trade Commissioner, Fendera Shularin. Fendera, a member of a species who can heal by touch, saves Tegan's life, but with one terrible consequence: they are now telepathically fused for life. Besides the burden of no longer enjoying mental privacy, Tegan and Fendera must navigate the legal and political scandal their unintended fusion has caused. Because as everyone on Sayakim knows, fusion is a sacred, monogamous bond synonymous with marriage.

Fusion is a standalone novelette of approximately 18,000 words.