THE WEAK CHILD
It was near dark when the man came back from the house, his face cool and impassive, but his eyes showing a slight rage of anger.
He entered the front door, going down to the basement where a woman, not much more than twenty sat holding a small infant. She, the girl was Mexican, with dark hair and brown eyed. The other children in the room ranging from two to around eight or nine seemed like her brothers and sisters, rather than the ones she gave birth to.
"They said we have to get rid of the baby. Said that she is not one of us."
"But neither am I." Lupe had grown braver since that horrible incident. The scars had healed, and she had not been harmed -at least, since the Dominants found that the children of ordinary humans and dominants were dominants in most cases.
Rarely a baby was born with no dominant traits. It was one in one thousand, but the dominants did not want to take any chances.
The child had to be destroyed.
Now Paul, the father, did not want to see any of the children of his favorite killed, even a weak child like that baby girl Lupe nursed. He could see farther ahead, to where his little daughter would be an asset. He had already planned a union between her and that little baby boy destined to be one of the Chosen.
According to the primitive genetics of the humans, the children born of such unions would be able to blend in more, having the human emotions and dominant strength.
The scientists had said the running from pursuers, and the lack of food that caused the baby to be born wrong. Penny, another captured girl had given birth to a boy with the same malady as Lupe's daughter.
When she whimpered to the dominants to save her son, her master had cut off her wrists just above her chains and calmly watched her bleed to death.
Lupe's owner had taken off her chains after the birth of his first son and the rest of the dominants regarded her as his favorite concubine that meant her children were born free.
Penny's owner, James, on the other hand, had to take his children to the Dominant leadership and get a form for them to be considered pure Dominants. Now he was free to marry Margaret, a dominant whose husband had been killed in a shooting match with the Mexican army. They would produce many more of their kind.
It was James that told the others of Paul's new daughter, how her tiny voice rose high, unlike the steady cries of a dominant child. It was James that arranged the tests, and gave the results to the council.
"Paul, the child must die." Lewis stood up, pointing his finger at him.
"We have been trying to find a way to infiltrate the humans," Paul said, "our lack of emotions is what has caused the curiosity of those around us."
"The villagers have been taken care of."
"Yes, but what of others? The local population are mainly peasants, easily swayed by superstion."
"And by eliminating those who poise the greater threat and by removing certain of their young females for experimentation." Lewis gave a cold smile. "How many are still alive?"
"A female named Lupe, one called Susan, another called Felicia, and a girl called Pilar. Lupe is mostly Castilian, Susan, an American student on a visa. We had our scientists find a corpse similar to her background and altered certain dental records, and DNA structure. The parents are sure that their daughter died in a car accident," said Jenna, a female dominant.
"Felicia, from Mexico city, of pure Aztec descent. Pilar from Vera Cruz, mixed Yaqui and Castillan, has born two dominant children. These were the only ones that survived the initial torture without begging, minus the usual screams." Her eyes like Lewis's were cold.
"And how many bore mistakes?"
"Lupe, since she was pregnant at the time at the time of our encounter with the Federales. We were short of food."
"It seems that this problem is caused by malnutrition. How is the other experiment going?"
A dominant male stood up. "We have started to train several of our men to start sexual arrangements with human females on the outside." When one in the crowd asked if they would chain them like the others, he said, "No. They will appear pleasant to the women, get them willingly to lay down-I believe the term is seduction. Half the children will be taken from their mother to be raised by us, the other half will remain with the female. We have a counter experiment with several of our women."
"The same terms?" asked Lewis.
"Yes."
"Then," said Lewis, turning to Paul, "your favorite will have more children. We will allow her substantial nourishment -be sure the same arrangements are made with our other captives -to see that she does not produce another defective offspring. You will remove the child."
"He must kill it,' said James.
"Why? The child is to be given to the chosen one."
James sneared. "As an amusement or a pet? Our race is ready to procreate at nine or ten. If she is a weakling, she will die and even our weaker members at ten can rip her insides apart. That is why we do not give female captives under the age of thirteen to them."
Lewis motioned James to be silent and turned to Paul. "The child will be a burden. I will give you up to two hours to take her away." He handed him a vial. "It will cause no pain. If you do not go through with it, sooner or later, no matter where you hid her, I will send the chosen one after her."
"And he will kill her."
"Yes."
"And what if he does not?"
"Then," Lewis said, "Pray that any union between her and the chosen one produces offspring like us, but until it happens, the child is under the sentence of death."
Paul rushed to his home and nudged Lupe. "Quick, get the new baby and - " He turned to see his oldest son looking at him.
"What is it father?" he asked and looked with contempt at the baby. "She is one of them, isn't he?"
"She has not developed yet," said Lupe, "until she does, your father wants to take her out of the village."
"Good, she must not live."
"Yes, she will live." She turned to her master. "She is your sister. Your father wants her to be the wife of the Chosen one. Remember how you were able to fool the Federales?"
The boy nodded.
"Well your father and the others cannot, but children like you can. You can make yourself appear to be harmless. Your sister can appear harmless as well, but can fool them more." The look on Paul's face told her that she had said enough.
"You must prepare for your marriage with Susan," he told his son, "You must keep silent about this incident and never tell anyone. Tell the others that I have taken your sister away and buried her."
"But you will not."
Paul gave a sly smile, and whispered to his son. "We can better conquer the so called man by using their own kind against them." For some reason the dominant did not believe it. Perhaps it was Lupe's Roman Catholic belief getting to him.
The boy watched his father and his concubine get into the truck.
At the last moment, Paul got out of the cab and motioned to his son.. "John, I left an envelope taped under the mattress. Bring it to me."
"Yes. Is it important?"
Paul nodded and waited until John brought him the envelope and then entered the cab. "Remember, we have taken the child to die. No one must know of this envelope."
"Why?"
"It contains the true reason for the beginning of our existence."
John watched his father drive off.
For an hour, Paul steered the truck along the dusty roads, passing small groups of women, giving an appearance of cheerfulness. He stopped for a moment to chat with a businessman who pointed towards the city.
It was night when Paul drove the truck into the parking lot of a hospital and ordered Lupe to wait with the baby in the car. He put the envelope in his pocket, and a pocket sized electronic device in his right hand. Raising his hand, he aimed the device at the hospital. The lights went out.
"You have five minutes before they turn on the electricity. I have also disrupted the radio and other sensors. Take the baby and put her inside and come back." He handed Lupe the envelope. "Put this in her blanket." He gave her a stern look. "Remember James's captive?"
"Sí." She ran towards the door, opened it, knowing that her master could sense what she was doing, knowing that she had to return. * At least, my daughter is safe* , she thought, as she ran back to the truck.
Early the next morning, Señora Mendez, a social worker working for the city came to the hospital. "So," she said, "you found this baby girl besides the potted palm?"
"Sí, Señora. We would have asked around, but we were concerned for the safety of the patients. There was no identification, is that not true?" The nurse gave her the envelope. "Except this."
Mendez opened it, but she could only make out a few English words. Besides she had too much to do with her caseload of poor families wanting to find a better home for their children. "This is nonsense. Obviously the mother of the girl is Norte Americana. I will take care of it. You have the baby?" She held out her hands and the nurse gave her the small bundle. She shoved the envelope into her purse.
An hour later, the Señora approached the orphanage where she handed the baby to the resident nun.
"We will find a good home for her," said the nun.
"Thank you, sister."
On the way back to her office, Señora Mendez was robbed at knifepoint by a thin girl of around sixteen and her boyfriend. They took her purse and left the social worker bleeding on the sidewalk.
The sisters soon used their contacts all over Latin America to find suitable adoptive parents. The child had obviously Castilian blood which meant that the parents would have to be at least middle class and "There is a good chance that a couple from the Estados Unidos might want to adopt her."
"And what of Señor Gomez and his wife," said Sister Honoria.
"Nonsense," said Mother Superior, "they want a little baby of Yaqui ancestry like themselves. I will make a long distance call."
It seemed that the baby would not remain in the orphanage long. A week later, a tall blonde woman approached and in her halting Spanish asked about the baby girl.
"Of course, Señora Jones," said Sister Honoria, "we have to have your visa and I wonder why the couple have not come down here themselves."
"Miss Jones., sister. They live in the East. It isn't as if they live in Los Angeles. When they got the picture, they asked me to come down. Is the baby healthy?"
"A picture of perfection. Your visa please, Miss?"
"Here and one of the sisters will accompany me back to New England?"
Mother Superior looked at Sister Honoria. "You know English more than most of us," she told the nun, "you have the bottles and blankets, no?"
"Yes Mother Superior."
The trip took almost four hours to the airport, and another eleven with a stopover in Chicago until finally reaching it's destination.
The couple waiting, both with dark hair and olive skin looked as much like the baby girl as if they had given birth to her.
Miss Jones smiled with contentment. She loved her job, bringing hope to families and although she had a stern exterior and harsh countenance, she was a softy at heart.
"Here you, Mr. and Mrs. Parker, your new baby daughter. Have you decided a name for her, yet?"
"Yes," said Mrs. Parker, "Sloan. How about that darling?" She looked at her husband.
"Well Sloan Parker, we'll take you home to meet your older sister."