“Great. So the next question is, what is the age limit of women who can have children?” Freya asked.
“I think it would be best to set an age limit that is fairly young. A woman’s likelihood of conceiving after we reverse the procedure will go down. We would risk wasting medical supplies if we reverse the procedure and the woman is not able to conceive.”
“Would you recommend a different age limit for women who we will need to reverse sterilization verses women who had not previously been sterilized?” Freya asked.
“Theoretically yes, but you ask that question as though everyone will be having multiple children,” the doctor replied.
“Would it be such an issue if some couples did have multiple children?”
“It will raise health concerns in some individuals.”
“Could we not leave the number of children allotted up to the same medical criteria then?” Freya asked. She didn’t suppose that most people would want to have an excessive number of children, but if they were healthy enough and a population increase was needed, why not let them if they chose to do so?
“Are you saying that every woman capable of having multiple children will be required to do so?” he asked.
“No, not at all. We need to be sensitive to space restrictions and housing concerns. I think everyone should have a choice in the matter. If they want multiple children, they can do so, choosing to have them in the allotted space provided, whether that be a one-bedroom home or a three-bedroom. If they want a bigger home, then perhaps they could have the choice to move to the colony world to raise them.”
After Freya spoke, there was utter silence on the other side of the monitor. What she had just said was a totally radical concept, yet it flowed off her tongue so easily. Have I just given myself away? Would the Council step in and overrule me? Or even worse, have me replaced? She was going to have to be more careful. She needed to make changes slowly over time; this might be too much too quickly.
So much of her wanted to inquire whether their infrastructure could be expanded. Seeing the deer made her want to inquire into the scientific data about the environment outside, and what would happen if they were to expand the dome, exposing foreign vegetation. If the human had adapted, then all life forms must have evolved also.
Part of her had wanted to bring it up at this Council meeting, but it would simply have to wait. It would be far too easy for the Council to have her killed and blame it on the rebellion. Perhaps that was what had always been done. Was there really even a rebellion with a violent threat, or was this always just a fabrication of the State?
“I, of course, am not a scientist—I am a visionary. I have ideas about the direction that our civilization could move in now due to the opportunities the colony world will open for us. I believe that population increase needs to be our number-one priority as we do not yet know what kind of threats await us once the colony world is open.” She paused.
It was imperative she appear humble to the Council, and possibly even give them a way to say no to her without creating conflict.
“The only reason the human race has survived this long is due to the State taking the correct actions when needed. I believe a new action is needed for our survival. I do not pretend to have all the answers, which is precisely why the Council exists. I share with you what I think we need, and I need you to figure out how we can go about doing it, or if it is possible. I need to rely on you and your teams to do the research and come up with the answers. So please, conduct the necessary analysis so we may together do what is now necessary for our survival.”
There was still silence on the other end. Have they shut me out? Was there a conversation going on I can’t hear? She looked over to see Chastity. Her body looked more rigid than usual, tension written all over her face and posture. Freya needed to keep her end goal in mind moving forward. If she couldn’t change the State, she needed to stay in position long enough to let the rebellion through to the other side before the transport device was destroyed.
It was her greatest desire to keep both planets together under one rule, but she accepted it just might not be possible. Only time would tell whether the State truly protected the ecosystem, or whether it protected its own interests. It had been so obvious to Freya that Victor was more interested in power than the ecosystem, but was that just him, or was that how the entire Council felt?
“Does anyone have any information to share or add to this discussion before we call this meeting to a close?” Freya asked.
The question was again met with silence, and so she said her farewells, and charged them to begin their research into population increase plans. She had such a short amount of time to make a big difference, and she didn’t know whether she had the support of the Council as of yet. Chastity turned off the monitor, but said nothing to Freya. She simply took her leave.
There were so many messages waiting for her, so many tasks to respond to. All she wanted to do was curl up in a ball in bed and just simply disappear. Anxiety coursed through her, yet it wasn’t as close to the surface as tears.
There was only one thing to do; she went out into the gardens. The gardener had still not been replaced with a permanent worker. Part of her wondered whether the Council wanted a member of the military to stay on until they decided whether she should be in the position she was. Lewis had killed Victor, after all; it would be so simple for them to take care of her also.
She walked out to the forested area and sat down at her favorite tree. A horrible thought came over her. What if Lewis had been acting on the Council’s orders? What if his defiance had been an act? What if he wasn’t punished at all, simply just sent somewhere where I would never see him again?
There was yet still a more horrible thought than that. What if he didn’t really love me? What if every part of what happened was part of the Council’s plan to remove Victor?
Although she had never loved him the way he loved her, or at least she thought he loved her, she had felt deeply for him. There was an affection there, an intimacy, something completely unique to what she had shared with Colin. Somehow, having secrets, ones that were tearing her apart inside, changed how she felt about Lewis. She had needed him; she was hungry for him. A desperation had pulled at her very core for him to have him there.
The feeling was apparent to her, as she felt she needed him now. With Colin, she had shared her hopes and dreams. He was someone she had truly fallen in love with. Lewis was more of an advisor, a friend. It was less about hormones and passion, more about survival. Had any of it been real?
Freya let out a bitter laugh. She had lost two loves, and both of those losses left her with more questions than answers. Here she was in a similar situation again: she would never really know whether either one of them had loved her. The State had done this to her. People should be able to choose their own partners; it was really the only way to know whether they loved you or whether they just pretended to.
So much of her wished she could sit curled up at the base of this tree forever, but she knew it just wasn’t possible. There was no way to know whether she was being monitored, or whether the men working on the grounds were safe. They could be plotting her death at this very moment.
If she were to be able to come out there at all, no emotion could be shown. If she were questioned about what she was doing, surely it would be believable if she said she needed a place to think. Maybe she could even start to bring her tablet with her and get some work done. It was a much better view than the office.
She sat there at the base of the tree until the sun began to set. Her body ached from inactivity; her joints had stiffened. It would most definitely be questioned if she were to sleep out there, and so it was time for her to go back to her office. Everyone had cleared out of the house for the evening, and Chastity was nowhere visible.
It was best to lightly skim through her messages; if not, it would be an absolute disaster the following day. A meal had been left at her desk, which had now grown cold.
She picked at it while she skimmed message after message. It was slightly more pleasant now that she accepted the reality that she didn’t really need to know or understand most of this.
Victor had most likely read each message carefully as a way to be informed to plead his case against the Council. Most of the information meant nothing to her, so why should she bother? The Council could have all the small, trivial matters; she would focus her energy on the subjects that mattered the most to her.
Her eyelids grew heavier and heavier as she read. Stubborn determination set in; she was going to finish everything off before she went to bed. Would it be such a bad idea for me to take a quick nap? If she could just close her eyes for twenty minutes or so, she felt confident in her ability to get on top of her messages for the day. She laid her head back in her chair and reclined slightly.
Chastity came into her office and shook Freya’s shoulder gently until she came to.
“What is it?” Freya asked, nearly jumping out of her chair.
“And here I thought I would have to go into your apartment to wake you,” Chastity replied with a knowing smile. “I knew it was just a matter of time before you began to sleep in your office.”
Freya rubbed her eyes to clear the sleep and looked around the room. The sun was rising.
“I didn’t seriously sleep here all night, did I?”
“Victor used to do it all the time. That is why you could almost always find him here,” Chastity replied.
“Did I sleep too late? Why were you looking for me?”
“I felt you would want to see this immediately.” Chastity leaned over to Freya’s tablet and tapped on her message icon. There were, of course, several messages in her inbox, but one subject heading in particular caught her attention. Voluntary population increase and colonization.
Freya’s hands trembled, almost to the point that it was difficult for her to read the message.
“You are receiving this message because you have been selected for a voluntary program. As colonization is drawing near, we are now able to begin to increase our population. If you wish to have your sterilization procedure reversed, you have been granted the privilege of having a child. As this is a voluntary program, please respond with your answer in the link provided below. If you select yes, we will follow up with further details and instructions.”
Freya read the message three times before she was able to take her eyes off the tablet. She finally looked up at Chastity, who repressed a smile. Freya’s eyes pleaded with her, searching for understanding.
“This message was already sent out to everyone who qualified. You do not need to take action. There is a message there for you also, stating that we are not as of yet making a public address. The psychologists felt it would only be harmful to the people who are not chosen if we publicly address this. The situation will be explained to everyone who replies yes,” Chastity explained.
Freya still sat there in stunned silence. It was more than her sleep-fogged mind could handle. Is this really happening? Or am I dreaming? It just didn’t feel real—it was almost too easy. The Council had already agreed and done the research, and sent a message to those selected.
“You should exercise and shower. It is not a good practice for the head of State to get into a habit of sleeping in their clothes then wearing them the next day.” Chastity left her office.
Freya listened to her advice, changed her clothing and headed down to the exercise room. Once she was running, her mind finally accepted that she was in fact awake. She couldn’t be sure whether the conversation had played out the way her mind processed it, but the more she ran, the more she believed it. She had, after all, proposed this matter to the Council twice. They had to have done all the research, and then gotten hung up on that one silly little thing about apartments being overcrowded.
Perhaps they obviously didn’t take people’s desire to reproduce into account. To think people would rather have equal living space than a child was absurd. This was exactly what was wrong with the State; they had forgotten what it was to be human. If the only reason they originally refused the population increase was apartment sizes, they needed to update their way of thinking.
It was becoming more and more apparent to Freya why she was chosen to be the head of State: the people, and especially the Council, needed her. Civilization was on the brink of a new era; things had to be done differently. If everyone kept trying to keep up with the status quo, they would never survive colonization. It was even starting to amaze her that the colonization project had ever materialized and lifted off the ground, let alone the planet.
She finished her run, did her stretching, and headed back to her apartment for a shower. A sudden urgency came over her. There would be hundreds upon hundreds of messages and reports currently being sent to her. Considering how much information was sent when everything remained the same, she was frightened of what her inbox would look like with this kind of change.
It also wouldn’t be wise for her to just skim through everything. These messages would be important for her to stay informed if she were to keep credibility as a leader. The population increase had worked; now she just had to convince the Council to freely let anyone move to the colony world who wished it. If this could be the case, peace could be possible. It may not feel likely, or even reasonable, but it was possible.
Chapter 14
Change was everywhere. Freya and the Council had chosen to not make any public address about it, but it was evident to everyone. There were pregnant women all around. There were more children being selected to train in medicine, with less Security or manual laborers.
Most everyone’s civil duty hours had been extended. It started off with an hour, and then two. There were less people who cleaned; everyone was assigned cleaning duties on top of their extra civil duty hours. Food and medical supply production were on the rise. People who had been given nonessential medication in the past were no longer able to obtain them. Even Freya didn’t have access to sleeping pills.
The general population had never been fed enough to be overweight, yet people were in general getting leaner. The food rations had been cut down slightly, redirecting rations to the pregnant women in need.
The military had not been reduced, but they spent more of their time cleaning and performing manual labor jobs where there was a shortage of workers.
Security had taken one of the biggest reductions in workers. James continued to report that they were so short on workers that the State was nearly blind. Freya kept insisting for him to pool his resources to the highest risk areas, and to just do the best he could. It was more important to Freya that people were fed than monitored. It was more important to have medical staff on hand for the possible threats that awaited them when the colony world opened.
The transport device had been built, and even though Freya had assured the Council it would be heavily guarded, it was not something she could deem as a priority.
She would work, sleep for five hours, exercise, and work. Freya felt it was important to set an example herself of lending an extra hand. She now spent a few hours every day working in the grounds. Of course, she told everyone she did it simply to lend a helping hand, but the truth was, it felt better than any free time she had ever had.
The once small garden had been expanded, now that the need to produce food had increased. Devina often managed to join her in the vegetable garden. She would report positive feedback in regards to the general morale of the people, and that the resistance was finding themselves growing optimistic.
Freya was sometimes concerned that the changes would lower general morale among the people, but Devina reported otherwise. They were willing to work harder for the greater good simply because the greater good was bringing about change. There was an optimism among the people that had not been previously seen.
Although Freya had been rather camera-shy in her rule, Chastity convinced her it was time for her to address the people. The rebellion had always hated the broa
dcasts, seeing it only as propaganda. Freya thought of this every time there was any sort of an update. She chose to simply send messages to people’s inboxes or post publicly for those who wanted to read it.
The way that people were forced to stop what they were doing to watch those long boring broadcasts was not how she wanted to govern. If the people wanted information about current events, let them read it in their personal time. She did her best to attain transparency with what was posted. Sending a few people notice to extend their hours would have a different response than telling the masses they had to work harder. Even education curriculum was speeding up; school hours were becoming longer also.
She was told the colony ship was set to land in three days. The team of scientists urged her not to go public with the exact date and time as there were still risks ahead of them yet. The ship could burn up in re-entry, or the navigation that was now over twenty years old could have led them too far off course. Gravity could have been miscalculated, and they could hit the ground with too much force. They wanted her to wait until the ship had landed, and they were certain of the safety of the colonists before alerting the public.
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