“Amen on the headache part!” He mumbled.
Unexpectedly, the door to the conference room opened and a wild-eyed Jenira came charging in. As soon as she saw Kala and me, she immediately relaxed and started signing to us wanting to know if we were okay. After we assured her we were safe she assisted us in seeing to the others. Within less than an hour everyone on the ship was conscious again and except for one individual who had hit her head and suffered a mild concussion when she collapsed, everyone seemed back to normal. Ming of course had lots to complain about; he insisted that we should have attacked more aggressively when the Tottalax first appeared instead of trying to hail them, however, when we informed him that we were cloaked and in pursuit of their ship he quieted down. We followed the ship for 3 days as it traveled parallel to the Federation territories, never getting closer than 3 days to its border. On the third day, the ship took a dramatic turn away from the border and accelerated. We matched it speed following it until on the fifth day it turned and flew into a nebula. We tried to follow it but found our scanners didn’t work within the nova and we lost track of their ship. We found ourselves lost within the nebula and eventually had to use the automated controls to reverse our trail precisely to get back out.
“How do you think they travel in there?” I asked A’Lappe later that day.
“I’m not sure, possibly by variations in magnetic and gravitational fields within the nebula. They most likely have mapped at least part of it and have it charted with some landmarks that they use for navigating inside.”
“Do you think it possible that their home world is inside the Nebula?”
“That’s in interesting idea. There would be a lot of radiation present inside the nebula that would not bode well for most life forms, but their being amphibians and living underwater most of the time might reduce the radiation levels to a sustainable level for their life forms.”
Considering that we had lost the Tottalax trail we headed back to Federation space and set course for Megelleon.
I hoped to set up a museum of sorts onboard my ship to display the items we had recovered from Earth to look at on our way back to Megelleon, but there turned out to be a lot more items than I had anticipated and our holds were so full there was little space to display the bulk of them. However, we were able to display a number of pieces of art in some of the dining rooms and corridors and common areas throughout the ship. At first these displays seemed to delight everyone, but after a few days it became apparent that those aboard the ship from Earth were avoiding these spaces while those from the Federation were visiting them. I was pondering this when I went for my daily visit to Dr. Hughes and I decided to broach the topic with him.
“Dr. Hughes, I’ve noted that recently the refugees from Earth are avoiding the art from Earth that we have exhibited around the ship. I would have thought that people would want to see things that reminded them of Earth.”
“Dr. Hughes peered at me a moment and then sighed before he began to answer. “Tibby I see a lot of the members of the Earth colonies here and while I can’t share with you specifics about anyone, I can share with you general trends and thinking among many of them. It’s true that many of them are now avoiding these objects. When you first put them out they were excited to see them as they gave a sense of normalcy and home but as time passes these objects are becoming a painful reminder of all that is lost. They feel uncomfortable seeing them and knowing that what those objects represent is lost to them and they can never go back to the Earth and have it be like it once was. There will be times when they want to see these objects and to reminisce the past, but to see these objects daily for them is like a parent who has lost a child and every day they are forced to look at their toys and favorite objects. They are a painful reminder. Given time most of them will want to see these objects again but for right now it’s too much too soon.”
“I see. Do you think it would be wise for me to have them removed and put back into storage?”
“For the time being, I think it might be good for you to have them removed from the common areas and only displayed in areas specifically designated for their viewing. That way, they can go there when they feel like they want to view these objects and they won’t be in their face daily as painful reminders of something they are still trying to deal with.”
“Thank you doctor, I’ll see to having that changed.” I responded.
“While we are talking about others I need to discuss Jenira with you,” Dr. Hughes continued. “Normally, I would speak with her parents since she is still technically a child, but since she has no parents, you and First Citizen Kalana are more or less like her parents or guardians and so I feel I can discuss her with you. I have her medical records that I received from Dr. Danjuma. There are many things we discovered about Jenira that complicate her case. I know you are aware of what happened to her and her brother after they were taken from their parents. How they were forced into child prostitution and some of what they suffered, but I suspect there are things you do not know that I feel you need to know.” I sat forward in my chair as the doctor now had my full attention.
“How old do you think Jenira is?” He asked.
“I don’t know for sure, Tanden said she was two years older than he was, and I assume he was 11 or 12, so I would have guessed 14, but lately things are causing me to believe she is older than that.” I answered.
“Actually, she is 17, possibly even 18, it’s very close. Both she and Tanden were given drugs to retard their growth and put off their puberty so that they could be prostituted as children longer. In Tanden’s case, the drugs didn’t work as well on males, he began growing and was no longer as desirable for their intentions. Jenira, on the other hand, responded to the treatments and developed slower but the drugs she was given destroyed her reproductive organs as a means of preserving her childlike appearance. Jenira is sterile she will never be able to have children of her own.” He paused a minute to let his words sink in. I felt myself filled with grief for Jenira, once again the pain and suffering this young lady had gone through was coming back to haunt her again. She would never be free of it.
“Will she always remain small like a child” Can’t any of this be reversed?”
“From what Dr. Danjuma has been able to determine, using the educational headbands, the damage done by the drugs Jenira was given cannot be reversed.” Now that she is off the drugs she will rapidly grow physically to her correct chronological physical age, but her reproductive ovaries will never produce eggs.”
“Can’t she have new ovaries cloned, like they cloned my eye?”
“They might be able to clone one using tissue from a donor, but not tissue from Jenira herself. Even then from what Dr. Danjuma has been able to glean from the ship's computers, the drug Jenira was given also messed up her Endocrine system her body simply won’t produce the hormones necessary for her ovaries and reproductive system to work.” Dr. Hughes said sadly.
I asked, “I have noticed that since rescuing Jenira that she seems to be growing taller and developing breasts. Does she know of the effect from the drugs on her body?”
“She hasn’t mentioned it, but I think she knows. From the things she has revealed her masters were pretty graphic in their details about who and what she was to them and what they intended of her. I imagine that they didn’t hesitate to tell her what the drugs she was given would do to her.”
“Do you think that has anything to do with her obsession about being a warrior?” I asked.
“It certainly plays a large part of it. Right now, I think its best we not try to deal with that aspect of her life. It’s seems to be the one thing that gives her life meaning and purpose and without that I suspect she would lose all reasons for living. If she knows that she will never be able to have children she might just feel she has no reason to live at all. Being a warrior/protector gives her life meaning and something to strive to achieve and by protecting others she feels like she is protecting herself.”
&nb
sp; “Can you tell me how our fellow Earthmen are doing? In general that is, I’m not asking for specifics.” I really was curious and wanted to know.
“I can only speak to those that were at the Mars colony with me. None of the Chinese have availed themselves of my service even though I have let them know I was here if they were interested. I get the feeling that Ming is intimidating them, not directly but his assistant Yǎnjìngshé seems to always be around every time one of the Chinese starts to open up and say anything she gives them a look and they suddenly cringe and stop talking. However, I think you should know that at least four of the Chinese women are pregnant, but none of them appear to have a mate or partner.”
“What are you implying?”
“I’m not implying anything other than that is it noteworthy and a bit unusual when you think about it. Here is a colony in dire straits struggling to fend off starvation, and you have several women pregnant with no partners. Pregnancy is the last thing you would want under those conditions. You would have expected their colony doctor to have aborted the pregnancies rather than allow them to continue. This doesn’t make sense. I’ve tried to talk to these ladies but Yǎnjìngshé herds over them like a shepherd herding sheep. I don’t mean to tell you how to run your ship Tibby, but I suggest you keep an eye on Ming and her. I don’t think either of them have the best interest of others at heart.”
That night as Kala and I lay in bed I brought up what I had learned that day. “Kala, Dr. Hughes told me today that Jenira is actually close to 18 years old and that the Brotherhood had been giving her drugs to prevent her maturing so they could continue marketing her as a young girl. He said that now since she is no longer on the drugs that she will quickly grow physically to match her actual age.” Kala stared at me before saying.
“So why are you looking so glum, I would think you would be happy for her.”
“He had more to say about it. Apparently, there are consequences to taking these drugs. Jenira is sterile, she will never be able to have children of her own.”
“Oh!... Oh no Tibby!” Kala cried. “Does she know this?”
“Dr. Hughes thinks she does, though Jenira has never said so. He believes many of her actions are a result of this and it’s her way of compensating for what has happened to her. It’s her way of justifying her existence.”
“By the star's Tib, can it get any worse for that poor girl? Isn’t there some way the damage can be undone? After all, they cloned a new eye for you, can’t they clone a set of ovaries for her?”
“Dr. Hughes said that from what he has learned there isn’t anything that can be done. I’m not a doctor, so I can only relate what he has told me.”
“Well I’m not ready to concede this point. There must be some way to undo this condition certainly with all your wealth you can find a way.”
“I’ll certainly try. I’ll get Cantolla and A’Lappe working on it, but in the meantime I think it best we keep the information to ourselves.”
It was early the next morning when Norkoda came into my study. Piesew announced him, served us both foccee and then departed leaving us alone.
“What can I do for you Norkoda?” I asked.
“Actually, I am hoping I may be able to do something for you.”
“You have already done a considerable amount for me,” I answered. “You provided invaluable service at Goo’Waddle and you have twice served us when we were attacked by the Tottalax. I’d say that it is I who should be doing something for you.”
Norkoda made a high whistling sort of sound that I had discovered was the Nibarian equivalent of a human laugh. “Tibby I only play a small role in all that you do; it is a great honor just to be able to assist you in the smallest of ways, which brings me to the purpose of my visit.
“As a part of my ongoing training for the FSO I decided to use your refugees as a training tool by observing the Earth survivors covertly, I didn’t have any goal in mind other than simply observing them un-noticed. That’s when I stumbled on some things that I think you need to be aware of, he said as he pulled a small object from his pocket and pointed it at the large vid screen on my study wall.
“These images were captured on a miniature camera in the one lounge near the rear of the ship that is seldom used. Not long after the refugees came aboard several of the Chinese began using this lounge away from the other refugees. I have only ever seen two refugees from the Mars team enter this lounge and it appeared that Yǎnjìngshé made them feel unwelcome and they left shortly thereafter. It appears that all of the Chinese women in this group are pregnant and Yǎnjìngshé seems to intimidate them and often I see her leaning over them shouting and they seem to be crying.” As he was saying this images displayed on the screen seemed to verify his statements.
“Is there any sound with this?” I asked.
“Unfortunately, no! I really wasn’t trying to get any personal data on anyone, it was more of a test to develop my skills. I got this video purely by accident. Here, watch this next part. It’s really strange.” As he was saying this Ming suddenly appeared on the screen. He entered the room with one of the men who had served as a guard back on the Moon. The guard positioned himself at the door acting like he was watching for anyone who might be approaching. A big smile spread across Ming’s face as he crossed the room to the largest of the expectant woman and with one hand rubbed her pregnant stomach as he spoke to her. She didn’t look up at him but hung her head sobbing as he continued to rub. Suddenly, he appeared to speak gruffly to her and she sobbed more as he moved his hand up and grabbed her breast hard obviously causing her a lot of pain. All the while Yǎnjìngshé stood by grinning. Ming then walked away and approached each of the other expectant women stopping to rub or pat their stomachs. He said something briefly to each but like the first woman, they too hung their heads and didn’t respond to him. Finally Ming regained his smile and spoke to Yǎnjìngshé, who nodded to him and smiled. Ming then turned and spoke to his guard and they left together.
I was at a loss with what I had seen and turned to Norkoda and began, “I don’t like what I saw there. For one thing, I was hoping to integrate the Chinese with the Martian team and not have this sort of segregation taking place, and secondly I fully intended that everyone rescued would be on equal footing and that no one would be lording over them like Ming is doing here and I definitely do not like what I am seeing him doing here. I specifically told him that he didn’t have servants and guards anymore, but he seems to be circumventing that. As for what just happened I am totally baffled. Do you think that perhaps Ming is the father of all those women’s children and that they were his concubines on the Moon?”
“I don’t know Tibby, but it is obvious that they are afraid of him and of Yǎnjìngshé as well. Also, since then I have been watching them and they do not speak to anyone other than the Chinese women and then only to a few, most of the time they sit silently with Yǎnjìngshé nearby watching them.”
“H-m-m, I think I need to bring Dr. Hughes into this. May I have a copy of that recording? I don’t want the doctor knowing where I got it. Very few people on this ship know you are FSO and I would like to keep that a secret if we can. Furthermore, if no one knows where I got this recording you can still move about without people being suspicious of you and that you might be spying on them. Oh, you might want to include a sound recording capability when you put that device back in that lounge again.”
Norkoda nodded, “I was thinking the same thing, but I wanted your approval before I did so.”
“Thank you. I really appreciate you bringing this to my attention. You might want to increase your surveillance of Ming while you are at it. I’m beginning to realize that our problems with him are not over and we may not have seen the worst of things with him.”
I called a meeting with all my senior officers and included Dr. Hughes and played the recording. I had Dr. Danjuma present as well since she was now our medical officer and responsible for the health of the pregnant women. I didn’t explain t
o anyone how I had acquired the recording, I let it speak for itself only saying before I began the recording, “I have something I want you all to watch and then I would like your thoughts and comments. For the time being, none of what you see here is to be discussed with anyone outside of this group.” Then I started to play the recording on the vid screen.
“Is there any sound to this,” Dr. Hughes said as he leaned forward staring at the screen.
“I’m afraid not,” I responded. “This camera wasn’t intended to observe anyone in particular, it was set up as a test and it caught this event purely by accident.” While my statement wasn’t exactly true, it wasn’t totally false either so I didn’t feel too badly about the slight stretch in truth.
“Those women are in a state of terror,” Hughes continued. “They obviously are very afraid of the standing woman. She was Ming’ assistant wasn’t she?”
“Yes and apparently is continuing to act in that role to some extent.” I answered. By now, the video had reached the point where Ming arrived.
“By the stars! What’s he doing to that woman? She looks like she is ready to die from fright.” The Commodore exclaimed.
“Oh my!” He exclaimed when he saw Ming squeeze the woman’s breast harshly. “Tibby can we just spacewalk that brute?” I could hear others around the room gasp at what they had just witnessed. Up until this point Dr. Danjuma had sat silent, but now she spoke up. “This certainly explains the bruises that I observed in several of the pregnant Chinese women. I’m wondering now about their pregnancies. I didn’t do any DNA testing to see who in the Chinese party might be the fathers as I assumed they were different men, but now my suspicions are aroused. I didn’t mention it before but several others of the Chinese women from the Moon appear to have been pregnant in the recent past, yet there were no Children on the Moon that we saw or rescued. When I asked one of the women about it she lied and swore she had never been pregnant. She seemed very emotional and frightened and I dropped the matter but I did make a note of it in her records.
Solbidyum Wars Saga 4: Too Late for Earth Page 22