Through the Vortex
Bane's Desire
Part 16 - White Encounter

Despite my mixed feelings about Trowa - caused by the doubts Quatre had shared with me and my own discoveries of Heero's lies before I was sucked up into the vortex - I found myself enjoying my encounters with Tradell even though I'd never entertained thoughts of being intimate with his double before. After my first visit to his resting space, our trysts gradually became less sexual as the other Purple came closer to his delivery date.

One afternoon, as we lay in his bed propped up by soft pillows and clothed in only a thin sheet covering our legs, I watched Tradell's long and slender fingers with spellbound fascination as he slowly traced an invisible line from the left side of his protruding belly down to the underside. "This is where they will open me to enter the A.U. and remove the progeny," he explained. "After that is accomplished, the unit itself will be removed. The healing practitioners will then seal my body closed until the time comes again for me to produce another progeny."

"Did you contract to carry two for you Choosers?"

"Three," Tradell answered with a smile. "Kattron and Dorothea wish to have a larger number of progeny than is the norm. I am happy to do that for them."

"What happens after your contract is fulfilled?" I asked, curious.

"I will be given the choice of staying here as a part of this familial unit or live apart in my own abode."

"What will you choose?"

Softened green eyes turned to study my own. "I will dwell wherever you and Kattron are," he answered, his face shining with his love for both of the men in his life. "I don't think I could be ever be content without either of you in my existence or in my bed."

Not knowing what to say to that, I leaned over and tenderly kissed the man I'd been intimate with for nearly a month, but pulled back suddenly when Tradell gasped and put a hand to his stomach. I quickly pulled further away, afraid that I'd somehow hurt him. "What is it?" I asked after noting the sudden lack of color in his face and wearing a look of confusion.

"Call for Ty," he said in a shaky voice. "I believe the progeny is not content to be inside the artificial unit any longer."

A flurry of activity began after I hit the monitor that had been left at Tradell's bedside in case of an emergency. In a voice made shaky by my nervousness, I informed Tradell's caregiver of his task's need. Moments later Kattron rushed into the room with Ty and Mueller behind him. The blond Chooser immediately took charge of the situation, orchestrating the removal of his Chosen from their abode to the Life Center. Excusing us from the drama, Mueller took me back to our abode where we anxiously waited together for word of Tradell's delivery.

Just before the eventide repast began, Hildah received word that a healthy baby girl had been safely delivered and that Tradell was doing well in the recovery space of the Life Center. Mueller arranged to have flowers and several small appropriate gifts (paid from my valuation account) delivered to my lover who, I'd been informed by Kattron via Hildah, would not be receiving visitors for several weiks.

Herron seemed more than happy to take up the extra time that had been allotted for Tradell. I was somewhat surprised to find that I didn't mind the extra time spent with the duplicate of my Earth lover. Just like Heero, Herron had grown on me. He was similar enough to my own Heero that I found the look-alike's presence comforting, especially after spending each morning being sick as a dog. Herron proved to be understanding, compassionate as well as passionate when he made tender love to me. Even without the passion elixir, forbidden during the incubation period, his touch awakened my body to its need to be touched and our joining was always mutually satisfying. Well, physically anyway. Yet even after a powerful climax, I always felt like there was something missing. I would be lying if I said I hadn't grown fond of the two men who were my lovers, but I didn't love them. They shared my present, and complicated my future, but they didn't have a thing to do with my past, like Heero and my former comrades did. Oh, I knew commonality wasn't entirely the reason why I felt something was lacking in my relationships with the other two. It was love, plain and simple, that was missing. I love Heero. His strength, fortitude and dedication combined with his outward appeal and the vulnerable, sensitive side of him that hardly anyone else got to see helped me to fall head over heels for him. Was it just having those traits that cause me to love him? To this day I don't know why we fall in love with one certain person, but I do know that I love him and only him, regardless of our difficulties. I'll probably always love him.

A month after Tradell's delivery, he came to my abode as previously scheduled. I was startled to find that in place of the needy, submissive lover I'd come to know, Tradell, now slender, his bulging belly only a fading memory, was horny, aggressive and quietly demanding. No more than a moment had passed after I greeted him at the door to my room before his mouth was on mine in a devouring kiss, and his hands were busy with the task of removing our clothing. Before I knew it, I was breathless, lying on my back on the bed naked with Tradell above me, nudging my legs apart with his knees.

And so once again my life in this existence had changed. I now had two equally aggressive lovers who seemed intent on possessing me. I tried to act as Duwan would, to keep the two happy and apart as much as possible, and before long I found myself adapting once more and trying to find enjoyment in my new life. I slipped easily into the routine of spending my mornings heaving over my vomit bowl and the afternoons being led around by Mueller to sights around the city. Twice a week I juggled my two amorous, demanding lovers while my waistline slowly began to thicken.

Two months of pregnancy passed by rapidly and I'd grown used to the pampered life I'd been abruptly dropped into. And believe it or not, I pretty much adjusted to the idea that I was pregnant... with twins. On the day I'd found out that bit of information, Mueller informed me that Duwan had wanted to fulfill his contract as quickly as possible, wanting to move on with his life. Evidently it was an option given to all Chosen. Too bad I was the one that had to live out his need to rush the experience.

At my request, Mueller took me out in the afternoon when the weather permitted. Not only did I love the feel of the sun's warmth on my face and the gentle wind on my skin, but I got to see how life evolved in Sangor and view a bit more of the world I was now living in. I'd spent much of my childhood living outdoors rather than in, so I suppose it's natural that I prefer not being locked up in a room, no matter how fancy it is. Still, I was in a foreign world and it had taken me and was still adjusting to the many different hues of nature that existed on Erith that were so dissimilar from Earth. After a couple of months of living there, the blue grass and odd-colored plants, trees and sky didn't seem quite so strange anymore.

However, it was the buildings of Sangor that fascinated me. They were unlike anything I had ever seen before. The structures themselves came in many shapes and sizes, but the one thing that was consistent was the outside walls of the buildings. I could only suppose there was some form of building code that stated they had to be similar, but the total effect was a fantastic visual sight. From my vantage point on the ground, there appeared to be thousands upon thousands of 4x4 inch squares of material similar to a reflective Mylar fixed on the walls. Each one was hooked to a framed base that allowed each tile to move with the gentle currents of the wind. Each building, though, bore a different shade of color. One was silver, another gold. There were bronze, pink, amber and pale violet, plus all the colors that pertained to the societies in Sangor. What made the siding spectacular was when all the tiles moved with the wind. It gave the appearance of looking at a horizontal pool of water that had a gurgling fountain beneath that rippled the surface. The walls of all the city's buildings came alive with movement, and they were spellbinding.

On these frequent outings that we took each afternoon, I kept a curious eye out for those of the lower ranks, also depicted by the color of their clothing, usually just their shirt or blouse. I saw people dressed in yellow and green on the streets and inside businesses. Mueller told me Yellow's were the owners of the many businesses that served the city. Greens were more prominent on the streets and employed by Yellow. The were the lower-wage workers that basically performed the more manual jobs that kept Yellow's businesses running. I noted from my narrow, sheltered view of their society, that it was Green who drove the freight trucks and vehicles similar to busses that were smaller, sleeker versions of the same kind of vehicles used on Earth. Mueller informed me that their vehicles were powered much like the transport tubes, by magnetic bands set just under the surface of the smooth pathways (that I thought of as roads) and on the bottom of the vehicle. That explained why there didn't appear to be any air pollution on Erith.

In all my outings I never once saw a person dressed in white. I asked my caretaker about that and he informed me Whites didn't wear that shade of clothing, but that the color rank referred to their lack of any bands. This group, I was told, was not allowed to roam amongst the general populace where their lawless ways might have an adverse affect on contract abiding civies like ourselves. Several times on our outings Mueller mentioned that there had been incidences where Whites forcibly took goods from other civies, similar to a mugging, and broke into abodes or businesses to steal another's property. He'd related also, with deep disappointment, that Whites had committed other crimes that would extort payment from the upper ranks.

In order to keep the non-law abiding Whites away from the main populous, they were assigned places to live and work in communal abodes in the outlying areas of the city called the hinterlands, near the main food fields where they toiled to make a living. It took me a moment to realize that from the way the Whites were treated and worked in this society, that they were the throwaways. That thought sickened me. After all, isn't that what I had been on L2? A throwaway who had been left to survive or not on the street of that godforsaken colony? I decided that the more I learned about Erith and its culture, the more it became more apparent to me that it wasn't as perfect as it had first appeared, for it still had its social problems regardless of its peaceful state.

My natural sense of curiosity had me wanting to learn more about Erith, of its people and customs. Yet in my protected position, I quickly gathered that it wasn't deemed a necessity that I or any other Purple know how things worked, nor was I encouraged to learn. I came to realize that a Chosen was basically a highly cosseted person who only had one purpose in life, and that purpose seemed to be the reason I upchucked every morning. As far as I could tell, a Chosen like myself lived on easy street with little to no concern about the problems outside his abode. Duwan, Herron and Tradell had been born to this, to their color and future. It seemed as if they accepted it without question.

Despite Mueller's attempts to answer my many questions, my curiosity wasn't easily sated. I wanted to know what happened to those who had lost their rank and had become White, mostly because there always were those types of people in any society. They were the free spirits, unconventional thinkers, odd balls and freaks. With my background, I felt an affinity for that small segment of society.

Mueller told me once, days after my arrival on Erith, that those who didn't fulfill their roles in society, who didn't keep their contracts, were stripped of their colors. With that as the threat for punishment, the majority of Erith's society was successfully kept in line. I had to admit, it had kept me in line also, that and the one experience I'd had with being punished.

I couldn't help feeling badly for the less privileged, namely, those of the White rank. How could a society that seemed to have perfected their way of life so much have such discrimination and prejudice against one of their own? Then again, I didn't really know anything about how the upper two levels worked. For all I knew they were diligently working on social problems and I just happened to be ignorant of the fact because it wasn't part of my contract. I, and probably all other Purples, found myself caught in an in-between state of being useful to the upper ranks and completely separated from the lower ones, with no power other than to help the upper colors produce their children because they were too busy running the world to have them on their own.

Thoughts of Erith, its strange colored landscape, the fantastic buildings and the inequality that existed there had filled my thoughts for many days, but they as my waist began to thicken my curiosity dimmed and I began to look forward to the fluttering signs of life inside me. My full attention turned to my pregnancy and the wonder of it all, and eventually my homesickness for Earth, my friends and lover began to diminish as I fixed my mind and heart on what was going on within my body.

At three months I was proudly sporting a very small, protruding belly. It wasn't so large that anyone could tell from looking at me that I was pregnant, especially in my loose fitted clothing, but I knew it, and it felt oddly wonderful. The A.U. accelerated a Chosen's pregnancy from the usual nine and a half months to seven, so I was almost halfway through my time before I knew it, and I hoped the morning illness would ease up sooner rather than later.

I was also beginning to get used to people touching me. Before coming to Erith I only let Heero touch my body with any familiarity, other than a brief embrace from one of my closer friends or a hand shake in greeting my co-workers or those I'd come into casual contact with. I was now used to Mistra Hildah's nightly inspection, lifting my shirt and pulling down the waist of my pants to view my rounding stomach. She liked to run her hands over it and put her ear to the slightly distended area before placing two kisses on my hairless skin. I was embarrassed at first, but had no choice but to put up with it as well as the open display of my condition when she had guests over. I eventually came to accept others touching me as just another part of my new life. Hildah was obviously excited about the prospect of being a parent and she wanted to share that with her closest friends. I was in no position to deny her.

After emptying my stomach twice one bright morning, Mueller began to give me my daily heramone injection and I asked my usual question about what are we doing that cycle.

Mueller didn't respond until he put the infuser down. Then lifting his head, the blond man answered with a smile, "We visit Mistra Sallah this cycle. She is anxious to see how you are progressing and we need a new supply of heramones."

"I like her," I declared with a lazy smile. "She's a lot like someone I used to know, as is Wudon." I sighed wistfully then, thinking of my former friends.

"Do not think about them," Mueller said in a firm tone, knowing where my thoughts had gone.

"You're right, I guess. That life is behind me. I have to accept the fact I can't go back and that I'll never see my friends or lover again." The depression that came and went periodically was suddenly hanging over me like a dark cloud.

"You are not completely unhappy here," the blond said, sounding confident in his statement.

"No, I'm not unhappy. In fact, I'm surprised at how content I am. Probably more than I've ever been in my life."

That seemed to satisfy the other man. "Let us have our bath and after you have partaken sustenance once more we will make our way to the Life Center, walking through the commons if you wish. After seeing Mistra Sallah, we will do something enjoyable. Perhaps hover sailing over the waterway would please you, or enjoying a cold, tantalizing delicacy."

That guy knew me well enough now to know just exactly what to say and do to get me out of the doldrums. Food and fun did it ninety percent of the time. "All right," I said, perking up. I'd seen small hovercrafts over the lake before, but had never been out on one. The promised treat, too, was something to look forward to.

"Herron left an inquiry on the message board requesting verification for his scheduled bed visit after the eventide's repast. Are you up to such a task?"

"Yeah, he knows by now to leave my bed well before I wake up and empty out my poor stomach," I replied, wrinkling my nose in distaste. "Shouldn't this sickness be over soon?"

The other man shrugged. "Everyone is different. Some Chosen experience it for only a short time and others suffer with it throughout. It is the body's reaction to the A.U. and the increase in heramones. Perhaps it is because you carry two that it has continued this long."

"Are you sure I'm going to be able to carry two?" I asked, touching the slightly rounded belly. "I'm not a very large man and I happen to run on the skinny side. Two progeny seems like a lot."

Mistra Sallah declared you more than capable of carrying two at once. In this one insertion you will have fulfilled your contract."

"It's still hard to believe," I told him. But the evidence was there, under my hand. During my last visit to Sallah she'd told me that I would show more quickly than most because I carried two. She added that I might not carry them the entire thirty weeks, but would deliver before that time because of lack of space needed for the babies to continue growing.

Mueller smiled at me, a warm affectionate grin that an older brother would give a younger one. "Come, let us bathe." Taking my hand, I allowed him to lead me from my comfortable bed to the bathing room. I was long past wondering if this world had a fetish about bathing; I now knew it for a fact. I certainly had never been cleaner in my entire life.

"""""""""""

We left the abode early, opting to walk through the park that day (which Mueller called the commons) instead of taking the transport tube after I discovered the day was cheerfully bright and warm. We'd been to the commons quite a few times and, just like the first time, Mueller reminded me that if we should happen upon any person of a color below our rank, we were not to acknowledge or speak to them. All citizens of Sangor, excluding Whites, were allowed access to the commons, but that didn't mean the upper colors socialized with the lower ranks. He also told me, probably intending to reassure me that I would be safe, that the lower ranks were forbidden to approach an enceinte Purple. That was just one other thing about Erith's society, the definite class segregation, that seemed pretty damn screwy to me. I'd learned from the streets of L2 that forbidding the lower echelons of society something the upper class had usually made them more desperate to have it, and it was the getting it that usually caused trouble.

The sunshine streamed through the leaves and branches of the trees above us, dappling the ground under our feet as we walked hand in hand through the lush blue and beautifully manicured gardens of the park. All around us were flowers, shrubs and trees of the like I'd never seen before coming there, in shapes and colors that were as beautiful as they were strange to my Earth-trained eyes. Since we had plenty of time, we stopped by a large pond to sit and watch the multi-colored striped fish breaking the water's emerald green surface and fly into the air for a second before re-entering the water. Mueller chuckled at the look on my face as I continued to be awed by my surroundings.

I breathed in the sweet, clean air of Sangor and experienced a deep sense of peace that I don't think I've ever really known in my life before coming to Erith. It was a place of no war, little to no crime, and everyone seemed to be living their lives content with fulfilling their tasks according to their birth-appointed colors. I closed my eyes and tilted my head back, making sure my braid was tossed over the back of the bench. Letting the warmth of the sun wash across my face brought me an even deeper sense of contentment that was as foreign to me as this world was. I stayed in that position for several moments, listening to the splashing sounds made by the jumping fish. I heard a slight noise behind me a moment before I felt my braid grabbed and harshly pulled down, keeping me in my place and at an awkward angle. I gasped, surprised at the attack and from the sudden pain at my neck and scalp. I suddenly had a hard time breathing with my trachea constricted by having my head pulled back over the bench. My eyes snapped open the same moment that I felt a sharp object press into my neck. From the corner of my eye I saw an unknown man standing right behind me, wearing a wrinkled, rough-textured, dark brown shirt. I had to wonder where the hell my reflexes had gone, letting someone sneak up behind me like that and get the drop on us. I consoled myself by thinking that my reflexes were slow because the attack had been completely unexpected and, as far as I knew, out of the norm for Erithian society.

"Come with me now or your life is forfeit," said the gravelly voiced man behind me.

Chancing a side glance at Mueller, I could see him paralyzed with fear, eyes wide on his unnaturally pale face. It was obvious I wouldn't be getting any help from that corner. I also knew that, given the opportunity, I could probably disarm the man that I figured was a White or disguised as one, but I wasn't acting on my own behalf any longer. I had two babies in my belly that I'd do anything to protect. I only had a moment to decide that it would benefit myself and my babies if I just went along peacefully. Besides, I'd rationalized that this would give me a chance to see how the lower half lived. I didn't doubt that I could defend myself and escape once the pressure on my neck and the sharp object against my throat was gone, so I didn't feel overly threatened. I might be pregnant but I still possessed the skills of a gundam pilot and an L2 street brat. Neither was anything to sniff at.

"Don't hurt him," Mueller pleaded, looking and sounding both panicked and frightened. "He's enceinte."

"His Chooser's name and rank?"

"Hildah, Sangor Red, level deca tu. Her abode is Luminea Tower, deca sev. She'll pay an exchange fee, so there's no need to harm her Chosen."

While Muller answered the man's question, my captor managed to drag my pregnant ass off the bench by pulling my hair. He pressed me up against his chest while the sharp object I could only assume was a knife remained at my throat.

"Return to your abode and inform your mistra. Contact will be made shortly." When Mueller hesitated to leave me, the sharp tip resting against my throat pricked my skin. I could feel a trickle of blood dripping down the exposed column of my neck. My caregiver's eyes widened in horror. "Go!" My abductor ordered sharply, and this time Mueller turned and bolted like a flash of purple lightning, his quick slippered footsteps rapidly fading in the distance.

"Come willingly, Chosen, and you will not be harmed."

I would have nodded my head, but couldn't as the man held my braid too tightly. "All right," I agreed, trying to sound timid. I thought it would be wise to play up to the belief that I was helpless in case I had to defend myself. And honestly, I couldn't see how he'd get out of the park with me. There had been plenty of other Purples and a smattering of other colors in the commons that day. Surely someone would come to my aid if it looked like I was being abducted. As I was more or less dragged across the blue grass, I couldn't help but wonder if citizens of a law abiding society such as this world even know what to do if they met up with the man holding a knife against their or anyone else's throat. Probably not. I couldn't remember if Sangor had some form of law enforcement or not, so I could only hope that the man jerking me around was being honest when he said he'd let me go as soon as Hildah paid the ransom.

That little fleeting thought of being rescued by a good Samaritan was dashed to pieces as the man holding me stopped suddenly and called out the name Satti. My stomach flip-flopped as a round hole in the sidewalk lifted. In an advanced society like this, I hadn't thought they would have sewer drains like those on Earth. A grizzly haired old man's head popped out of the hole, saw the two of us, then disappeared below. "Proceed into the opening," the man behind me ordered, pushing me down to my hands and knees. A not-quite-so-clean, wrinkled hand came up and out of the hole, showing me the way. I followed that hand, letting it guide me. I could only hope that there was a ladder just inside the lip of the hole to lead us down into the space below, because a jump would probably harm the babies. I dangled one slippered foot out and found it clasped and gently pulled to the first rung of a ladder. Slowly, I eased my slightly rounded belly over the opening and climbed down into the darkness. The man above me, now in my sight, looked to be in his forties. He was thin with sharp cheekbones, denoting malnutrition. He had a head of dirty brown, shaggy hair and a matching roughly trimmed beard. I kept my eyes on him as I climbed down the ladder and until my head dipped below the park's surface. I noted briefly that he knelt down and turned, intending to follow us down into the hole.

I quickly took in my surroundings and observed that the sides of the manhole were made of a dull gray metal. Then after entering the main sewage channel moments later, I noted the sides of the more cavernous walls were made of the same substance.

I quickly moved my fingers from the rung they rested on just before the guy above me stepped down on it in his haste to get below the surface and re-cover the hole.

"Decca more rods to the bottom," the voice below informed me now that the opening above had been sealed and we were left in the dark. And sure enough, after ten more rungs my feet came to rest on a cold and damp surface. Cole, seeping moisture immediately leaked through my inadequate cloth shoes, but I was too distracted by the smell of sewage to be overly bothered by the uncomfortable feeling. Unfortunately, with pregnancy, at least with mine, there came a hyper-sensitive sense of smell.

"I'm going to be sick," I informed the two men, gagging as I spoke.

"Then you are in a suitable space to do so," the man behind me chuckled darkly. I clamped my hand over my nose and mouth, trying to delay the inevitable, and turned towards the sound of his voice. The underground sewer line was dark, making it impossible see my abductor or anything else. I felt my upper arm grabbed and then I was being pulled down the vile black passageway, our feet splashing in the water the only sound. I didn't ask any questions and my kidnappers certainly didn't seem to want to talk, which was fine with me. I was feeling as sick as a dog and didn't think I could manage a full sentence anyway. We were forced to pause several times in our dark trek while I got rid of my breakfast and then some, but the two men waited only until I stopped retching before they forced me to begin walking again.

We sloshed through liquid for an indeterminate amount of time, with me holding one hand over my mouth, pinching my nose closed to keep out the vile smell, while the other hand gripped my aching belly. Each of the men had a hold of my upper arms, supporting and dragging me along through the dark, rank tunnel. If there was something to be grateful for it was that I couldn't see what I was wading ankle deep through. I did wonder, though, how these guys could see in the black-as-ink darkness that surrounded us when I couldn't see a thing.

When I began to think there was no end to the black void, a faint light became visible in the distance and I began to hope that I'd soon be able to breath something other than the stink that surrounded me.

I'd say it took another ten minutes of walking before we came to the flashlight, or their equivalent of one, fastened in a bracket over a metal door. One of my kidnappers hit the door with what looked like a rock in his hand and the loud banging echoed through the tunnel. The sound of an old metal bolt being pulled back was heard and then the door in front of us promptly opened, letting out a flood of light that nearly blinded me. I quickly closed my pained eyes while being unceremoniously dragged through the open doorway. The sound of the rusty metal door closing behind us was reminiscent of a prison door clanging shut, and without even seeing where I was, I felt claustrophobic. I put my hand over my eyes with the hope of sheltering them from the light until they adjusted.

"We secured a select breeder this time," the man gripping my arm tightly announced.

"He is eye-appealing for certain," a familiar, scratchy voice said in an approving tone. "His Chooser?"

"Hildah, Sangor Red, decca tu."

"Decca tu?" Now the other voice sounded concerned. "That's a higher rank than we have had dealings with before. She may have Blue connections."

"His caregiver assured me that she would be willing make the exchange."

Blinking rapidly, my eyes finally got used to the light and I discovered that the room I was in was actually dimly lit. I guess the complete absence of light in the tunnel had, at first, made even this limited light unbearable to my light-starved eyes. As I turned my head to see who my kidnapper was speaking to, my eyes almost popped out of my head. Although the new guy looked younger, thinner and more unkempt, he was a dead ringer for Howard. He stood not five feet away from me and his bloodshot, rheumy eyes were fixed on me, moving up and down my purple-clad body.

"He carries the artificial unit," my pseudo, adopted uncle look alike focused on my barely rounded belly and I instinctively put my hands on it, protecting my babies. "That should bring us a greater settlement. What are you called?"

"Duwan," I answered.

He and the others laughed. "That's an odd naming."

I shrugged, not knowing what to say. I took a look at Howard's double and then the men standing around him. It was obvious to me that he was their leader by the way they stood around him, subtly showing him deference. They all wore clothing that was dark, mainly browns and blacks. During the time I'd spent in Sangor, I'd never seen anyone wearing clothing made from these colors. "Are you Whites?" I asked.

The not-quite Howard frowned. "Lacking intelligence, are you?" I thought then that maybe it would be best if I did more observing and less talking, so I remained mute in response to his question.

Howard's twin stepped closer to me and I resisted the urge to back up. I really didn't want him close to my children while he had that spark of desperation and danger in his eyes. "We will send a go-between to your Chooser's abode with a demand for a settlement to secure your safe return. After all has been settled between your Chooser and ourselves, you will be given a choice. You can either choose freedom, to live your days as you would with us, away from your shackling contract, or choose to return to your rank and confinement. The decision will be yours to make."

Now it was my turn to frown. "You can remove the bands?" I asked, bringing my hand up to touch the hated collar.

"Yes."

"And the rank markings?" I nodded to my exposed right arm bearing the two tattoos of rank.

"It is painful, but this we can do."

Suddenly, the vision of a new future captured my thoughts. Once liberated from the collar and tattle-tale tattoos, I would be free to roam Erith, to seek out its sights and meet its people. It was sudden movement within my belly jerked me out of the dream of being free once more. I was hit with the stark reality that I was no longer alone. I had these two babies to carry to full term. Where would I go, pregnant as I was? If I did run off, who would deliver them from the artificial uterus? I knew there was no way the babies could come out of me without medical assistance. And what about Herron, Tradell and Mueller? What would they go through if I just disappeared on them? It was shocking to realize that I was trapped by circumstances as much as I was by the collar and bands that I wore. "I would go back," I told the lookalike.

The man studied me for a moment before saying, "I won't accept your answer until the settlement arrives. Consider well the life ahead of you."

I decided it might be detrimental to my health to contradict the man in front of me. He looked like Howard, but I could see in his eyes a hardness in them that I'd never seen in the man on Earth. This man was no doubt the product of a harsh life, one that had probably squeezed out any bit of compassion for those of the upper, privileged ranks. He wanted me to choose freedom, and by the look in those cold, hardened eyes it looked like he might be willing to force me into it if I chose to return to Hildah. It was disheartening to think I might have to fight my way out of there after all.

TBC