I shrugged, but the tight knot in my belly suggested this wouldn't be good news. Nothing that came from Administrator Voss ever was.
The community hall was already filling when I arrived, my hair still damp and my clothes smelling of salt and fish. I squeezed into the back row, trying to be inconspicuous.
Administrator Voss stood at the front, his tall frame imposing, gray hair slicked back against his skull. He didn't wait for everyone to settle before speaking.
"The Eastern territories have increased their request for compatible females," he announced without preamble. "All unmarried women between eighteen and thirty will submit to mandatory blood testing. Today."
A murmur rippled through the crowd.
"The Eastern territories? You mean the monsters?" someone called out.
Voss's expression hardened. "The Eastern Alliance has provided our colony with essential medical supplies and technology. In return, they've requested compatible human females for their population needs. This is a mutually beneficial arrangement."
"You're selling us!" A woman in the front row stood up.
"No one is being sold," Voss said coldly. "You will be tested. If matched, you will be relocated with full citizenship rights in the Eastern territories. The compensation to your families and to the colony is merely acknowledgment of your contribution."
My heart hammered in my chest. I'd heard rumors about women being sent east, but I'd never thought...
"Testing begins immediately," Voss continued. "Line up outside the medical station. Anyone who fails to comply will have their ration cards revoked entirely."
As the meeting broke up, fear and anger filled the room in equal measure. Women huddled in small groups, whispering frantically. Some were crying.
"Aya!" A hand touched my arm, and I turned to see Mira, another orphan from my age group. Her eyes were wide with fear. "What are we going to do?"
I shook my head. "What can we do? No ration card means no food."
"But the monsters?—"
"Eastern Alliance," I corrected automatically, though the distinction felt meaningless. "I don't know, Mira. I really don't."
The line outside the medical station stretched across the colony center. Women stood silently, faces drawn. A few colony guards stood nearby, making sure no one slipped away.
My stomach growled as I waited, reminding me of the reduced rations I faced. Maybe that was the point. Hungry people were easier to control. Easier to convince that being shipped off to the unknown might be a better option.
After nearly two hours, I finally entered the sterile white building. A nurse I'd never seen before gestured me to a chair.
"Arm, please," she said, her voice softer than I expected.
I extended my left arm, watching as she prepared a needle.
"First time being tested?" she asked, swabbing my inner elbow with cold antiseptic.
"We've never had testing before," I answered.
She smiled slightly. "I meant for compatibility. Your file says you're an orphan, usually orphans are tested as children."
"I don't know. Maybe I was."
The needle slid into my vein with practiced precision, and I watched my blood flow into the collection tube, dark red against the plastic.
"Nervous?" she asked, noting my tense posture.
"Wouldn't you be?"
She pressed a cotton ball to my arm as she withdrew the needle. "The Eastern territories aren't what most colonists think. Some matched women live better lives there than they ever would here."
"So they say," I murmured.
