“What punishment would you receive?” Logan was curious to see if Faith’s fears were sound.
“We would be removed from our position, our family shunned, and we would be unemployable.”
“Stop talking, Reg!” the other soldier said, the one who called Faith a rate.
“Do you need to work to eat?”
“My family came to this dome because of a lottery that my father took part in with his law firm before the nuclear disaster. The one stipulation of the lottery was that we had to agree to find employment and offer our services.”
“Who do you offer your services to? Directly?”
“Colonel Winstead. Everyone from the lottery offers their services directly to Colonel Winstead. It is expected.”
“If you do not uphold your agreement, what happens to you and your family?”
“We will be forced to move to less adequate housing, receive fewer food supplies, and could be kicked out of the dome.”
So Dome Leader Winstead was using some sort of indentured servitude to those who came in under the lottery system. It was dishonorable to use power and authority over those less fortunate.
“Reg!” The other soldier shoved him back.
Logan spoke directly to the younger soldier named Reg. “You can remain here.” Then he turned to the other soldier. “You will leave.”
“What? You can’t do that! I don’t answer to you!”
“Actually, your president gave me full authority over this entire dome, its people, and that would include you.”
“What?”
“Leave now or I will have my warriors take you into custody.”
“Fine. I’ll tell Colonel Winstead that you interfered with his direct orders. He will kick you aliens out of the dome!” The older soldier stormed off.
The younger soldier, Reg, breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you, sir, for allowing me to stay and do my duty.”’
“You will not enter these quarters and you will not approach the female inside unless I am with her.”
The male paled. “Sir, may I be frank?”
“Go ahead.”
“The colonel intends on questioning her. She is going to be made an example of to all subway tribes. If you plan on keeping her safe, have him question her with you present. Always keep her with you or your warriors. Remove her from the dome sooner than later.”’
“What do you know?”
“I am just giving you friendly advice.”
“Appreciated. Carry on, soldier.”
“Yes, sir.”
In a roundabout way, his fears for Faith’s safety were just confirmed. He needed to decide quickly on how he was going to handle the situation. There was no way he would leave her fate in the hands of Dome Leader Winstead.
