"If you keep on the way you are I may have a baby boom on my hands." Mistress was again sitting on a chair just inside the door of Hotch's cell talking to him. He had finished his three nights with the latest woman, who he thought of as 'garden lady', and was again receiving a visit from the woman in charge of organizing his assignations.
"The reports I received about you were very good," she continued. "And, once the women start talking between themselves, I suspect that everyone is going to be asking to be paired with you. Plus, several of the women who have decided against having any more children may change their minds." She shook her head in mock dismay.
"Women should not be abused – Not physically and not sexually!" Hotch hotly declared. "And I don't understand why it has been allowed to go on for so long!"
"Maybe because no one here knew any other way," Mistress said thoughtfully. "But, you are here now to enlighten us," she ended her remarks cheerfully.
"Not willingly," Hotch reminded her. "I still question the morality of this – this – arrangement."
"Question away," Mistress encouraged him. "However, in the meantime, I hope you appreciate the changes we made to your room."
"My cell," Hotch quickly contradicted her. "Where I am being held against my will!" He raised his leg up to display the manacle and chain attached to it.
When he had returned to his cell that morning, he had found clean sheets and a pillow waiting for him on his cot.
"Bribery!" he spat out. "I suppose you think it will encourage me to cooperate with your program."
"No, not bribery," Mistress told him thoughtfully. "Think of it as a show of appreciation. And, as for cooperation – We'll see."
"Now, you are going to have several free days," she continued. "I am working with one of the other farms to arrange your next encounter."
"You are renting me out now?!" Hotch demanded, outraged. "My breeding services are for hire? What are you doing, charging a stud fee?"
"No – No – No - Nothing like that," Mistress hastened to assure him. "It's just that here on the island we value intelligence as well as physical strength and we do what we can to encourage both. Farm #2 has a woman who has above average intelligence and she wants to have a third child. There is no doubt that you are extremely intelligent and, even though there is no guarantee that that particular trait will be inherited, they would like to send her over here to meet with you."
"Actually, we sent an unusually intelligent woman of our own over there about a year ago," she added. "And the results have been quite satisfactory."
"And if they hadn't been 'satisfactory'?" Hotch questioned sarcastically. "What would you have done then?"
"On our farm we have a place for everybody," Mistress emphasized as she stood up to leave. "Regardless of their abilities. Now, if you would like to complete your shaving, let 415 know and he'll make sure you get the opportunity to do so."
"What about my hair?" Hotch asked as he pushed his hair out of his face. "Or should I try to shave my head as well?"
"There is someone I can send over," Mistress told him. "How soon she can be here depends on where she is at the moment. Let me see what I can do."