“Oh, God! I think I lost them. Can let them get me. Need someplace to hide. Is anyplace safe in this world.”
“The baby is coming soon. I hope it will be okay. I’ve never done this before. I don’t know how. Luke has no idea what to do. People die having babies. Damn males have no idea what fucking them gets us.”
Come to us. Here is the way… You will be safe here. We have food and clothing and a healer. Come this way. See our vision. This is the Refuge. You will be safe here. Come to us and build a new life and live in harmony with others like you.
Together, they broadcast a telepathic invitation, repeated it over and over, reaching farther and farther out in the fringes of the city ruins. Callan showed Ajha how to do it so gently, those it reached just thought they had heard about the refuge from someone in passing. They disclosed the location and presented vivid pictures of the building inside and out. Through all that, they projected a sense of safety within the Refuge.
They did this every night after they made love. Often, they made love afterward too. Their sexual bliss intensified their psionic connection.
They also tried to reach out for Mikki during their meditative sessions. But Ajha’s psionic connection with her had not been established before Mikki was taken.
Ajha concentrated as hard as she could until tears streamed down her face. “I can’t feel her, Calan. I can’t feel her at all,” she cried. “Does that mean she is dead?”
“No, sweetheart,” he reassured her. “You probably got separated before you ever connected psionically. These other people we touched, were people whose thoughts you heard somewhere along the way.”
Ajha wiped her tears away with her hands. “Some of them might not be people we want here,” she said.
“We will deal with them when they come. Until we have a governing body, we just have some simple rules. No violence, stealing, or otherwise maliciously causing harm or distress to another resident,” he said. “Meanwhile, we should get these people together and pass out tablets so they can start learning---especially the kids. They need something to do.”
“Is there a place for them to play?”
“There is a kind of courtyard in the center of this complex where they should be able to play outside safely,” Calan said. “We don’t have any playground equipment, but there is room to set up a gaming field. Perhaps the families will decide to build one.”
“They won’t miss it. There is no playground equipment in the streets. We used to play kickball. Or hide and seek---lots of places to hide in the ruins,”
“We’ll figure something out. Meanwhile, we’ll get them together and show them around and outside,” he said. “I’ve got bots setting up a huge vegetable garden plot at one end, but there is plenty of room at this end for the children to play.”
“When are we going to look for Mikki?”
“I thought we would go later this afternoon since they do most of their business in the brothels in the evening,” he told her. “We’ll start making the rounds when they will be getting ready for ‘work.’”
Calan drew his fingers down Ajha’s smooth cheek.“I know what she means to you, my love we will keep looking until we find her or find what happened to her. From your memories of her, I know she is a survivor because of how she taught you to survive. She is probably biding her time for a chance to escape.”
“You’re right. Mikki would hate it, but she would do what it took to stay alive. She always said it was better to get raped than killed.”Ajha responded.
“And you both were. I am so sorry that happened to you. I will show you how to protect yourself. No one should be treated that way. I don’t want anyone to ever hurt you again.”
Ajha reached up and pressed his larger hand to her cheek then turned her face and kissed his palm.“I’m so glad you came here… that you are real and not just a wishful dream. I loved you even before I saw your face.”
“And I, you.”Calan leaned forward and kissed her lips softly. “We should go get started. It’s going to be a long day.”
Calan spent a few hours with the people they had just brought to the refuge. Ajha helped hand out the tablets to all but the smallest children. Most of them had some knowledge of the tech, but not enough to operate them without instruction. He showed them how to work the rudimentary reading program and how to access the information about his plans for the refuge and the current state of civilization on Earth.
He encouraged them to work on the reading program because that would help them learn everything else they might need. There were also entertainment programs and games, and the tablets were also com units. But he didn’t instruct them on those uses to start. If these people were ever going to learn how to run the community, they needed to be educated.
One of the men had learned to read some, and he said he would help the other people. After lunch, Rax was back with the new smart air beds. They were self- inflating and could be set to the desired firmness and would maintain it until reset.
Calan introduced Rax to the new residents and asked the cyborg to help them set up the beds once the droids had distributed them to the rooms.
He also gave Rax the task of showing the group the exit to the green space where the children could play outside. Calan wanted everyone to become accustomed to the cyborg as well as to give Rax experience interacting with people. He did well as he had experienced simulated interaction in his virtual life while in stasis.
Knowing that Ajha was anxious to look for Mikki, they left for the western entertainment district conveniently located just outside the Starport City compound. It was close enough for residents and starship crews on leave to venture outside the walls of the gated city for the seedy types of entertainment. They especially liked that the sex workers were humanoid rather than artificial beings.
Those patrons either ignored or were oblivious to the fact that most of the humanoids providing services there were little more than slaves. While slavery was technically illegal in the Federation. The law was only enforced within the fortified city. Outside the city, the overlords ruled with no one there to stop them---yet.
Calan set the hover tram down about a fifteen-minute walk from the brothel district taking care to hide it behind some ruins. He set the cloaking mechanism making it virtually invisible. That was one piece of equipment he couldn’t afford to have stolen. The scooter would be way too easy to steal.
Although it was early, Calan could sense activity in the brothels. The first one they stopped at, the brawny protector didn’t want to let them in because they weren’t open yet.
