by Alma Nilsson
Jade said nothing but gave Babette a smile. Of course, she agreed, but she didn’t want to point out that she wasn’t one to ever cry. She did worse things than crying. Much worse things.
Soon the transport landed in front of a walled-in large stone building. It had no windows except a strip going up the side, and then the building disappeared into the clouds. Babette and the other women were met by a young Alliance woman when they exited the transport. The woman was shorter than Babette but wore so much silver jewelry Babette was surprised she wasn’t hunched over from the weight of it.
“Welcome. Thank the gods for your safe arrival. We’ve been expecting you. Please come into your new home. This is House Human.”
Babette could not help but smile at the young woman. She was cute in a grey kind of way. She had big green eyes that looked curious as she spoke to them. But then Babette caught herself and thought, We probably have the exact same face expressions, curious.
All the human women followed the young Alliance woman into the main entryway of House Human. The foyer was made of yellow stone and had no furniture. It was just windows all the way around and one elevator. They all got into the enormous glass elevator and shot up quickly to the living quarters. Babette had never been in a glass elevator that went up so high so fast. She never had been afraid of heights before, but this elevator was something else. She almost felt scared as she watched them climb through the city. Thankfully, women around her were casually talking about the Alliance, so she concentrated on listening to them and not how high up they were going.
When they reached the top and walked into the large reception room, Babette was overcome with emotions. She recognized this room from all the computer images she had seen and was happy to be home. To a home, she had never been to before, but she recognized it as home in the Alliance, and it was exactly as it looked in the pictures. She reminded herself, though, Home until you find a husband, then you will have a forever home...with an alien.
Alliance slaves dressed in green were suddenly surrounding the women and taking their bags and belongings from them. Then a middle-aged Alliance woman appeared and introduced herself as Madame Bai.
“I will be your cultural guide for the next few weeks. Now, let me show you to your rooms and then you will all have a meeting with Jane, your Head of House, in 20 minutes. Please, ladies, we must do this quickly. You are the last to arrive,” with that Madame Bai turned, and they all followed her up the massive stone stairs.
Madame Bai went down a large stone corridor that had rooms, dormitory-style on each side, “Your names are written outside your doors, and you all have been assigned your rooms according to rank. Thankfully, having spent a good deal of time already with us on your journey over, you are not completely ignorant of our bathroom technology, mealtimes, or prayers. I will, of course, cover all of this again, but for the moment, let’s just get you to your rooms.”
“Babette, this is your room,” Madame Bai said and pointed to the empty room. “The lights will turn on when you enter. Please be downstairs in now,” Madame Bai checked the time, “Fifteen minutes, for the meeting with Head of House Human. Do not be late.” She repeated the same thing to all the women.
Babette gave Jade a little wave and then entered her room. The lights turned on as she entered, and as she walked in, she noticed one large wall was a window. “Computer, open shade.”
The shades slowly opened, revealing the red, almost magenta sunset that filled the urban stone skyline. “Wow,” she said to herself and sat down on her bed for a minute to take it all in. Her moment was soon over, though when an Alliance woman all in green entered her room and dropped Babette’s bags at her feet.
“You should be downstairs,” said the woman gruffly.
Babette was startled by her gruffness, “I was just about to go. What is it to you anyway if I’m late?” She really wanted to know. She had never had anyone cleaning up after her or helping, and she wasn’t sure how all of this was supposed to work in the Alliance.
The woman shook her head at Babette, “We are here to make sure you keep to your contracts. Now go downstairs.”
Babette left thinking to herself as she joined some of the other stragglers in the dark stone hallway, I am so glad I never had a servant before, how awful.
Downstairs she followed the other women into the large dining room with rows of large black tables and banners hanging from the high walls that said in blue, ‘House Human.’ It was all so surreal. She found her assigned seat and looked around at the other women trying to figure out if there was some kind of system, they used to rank them or if it was just random.
Across the room, she met Jade’s eyes, and they gave each other a little smile, and then Madame Bai came into the room and began, “Welcome. It’s good that you are all here and healthy. We were thrilled that you all volunteered to help us and then devasted when we discovered you had contracted the Zoipli virus while in the spaceport. We all have been saying extra prayers to the goddess of home and of health to bring you to us, and finally, our prayers have been answered. Thanks be to the gods as they allow us to walk in their light.”
When the women looked at her blankly, Madame Bai chided them, “Now you say, ‘We are not worthy of their grace, but we accept.’”
After all the women said the words, Madame Bai continued, “I’m not surprised that the men that were supposed to teach you about our culture and religion have failed. But don’t worry, we will bring you all up to speed here. First, I would like to introduce you to your Head of House Human Jane. She is currently serving with Captain Kara on the Zuin, as some of you know the Zuin, you came over on it. Now please stand and bow to your Head.”
After a couple of seconds of hesitation, the women all stood, and when Jane stood in front of them, they bowed.
Jane stood began to address the women who had all quieted down for her, “With the gods' permission, mark the date, the 3rd day of the 55th week of the year 18905, Earth date, November 16th, 2636. Welcome to House Human. I am Jane,” she hesitated as she had to drop her surname, and she still was not used to it. “Head of House Human. I am responsible for you all. Madame Bai and her assistants are only your cultural guides. Any problems, you come to me. Any fines will be sent to me as well as you, and just so we are clear on that matter, I will not hesitate to send people to the High Priestess for punishment rather than paying the UCs. Don’t be fooled by our connections with some of the Imperial Houses, we are poor. As you all volunteered to come here, I expect you to be keen to learn and follow all the Alliance customs to the tiniest detail with no deviations. Now, are there any questions you have for me now?”
A young woman Babette didn’t recognize raised her hand, and Jane nodded, “Yes?”
She stood up and asked, “How can we reach you if you are off in the galaxy somewhere?”
“Good question. What’s your name?”
“Petra.”
“Thank you, Petra. The Alliance is more technologically advanced than we are, and their communications travel on gravitational waves through space so you can always reach me. Any other questions?”
Babette raised her hand and then stood when Jane nodded to her, “I’m Babette, and I want to know what happens if we don’t find an Alliance man we want to marry?” She thought this was just as good as time to ask, if any. She fingered the small silver ring she had taken from her quarters in the Fira while she waited for Jane’s answer.
Jane nodded, “Unfortunately, Babette, in the contract that you all signed with the Alliance Empire, you must marry either by their choice or by yours. I’d hope for all of your sakes, it would be by your choice alone. I am not sure what your experiences were like on your journey over but let me assure you that many eligible young men in the Alliance would make excellent husbands and are all desperate to have a wife, especially a human wife. As human women are more likely to give them a daughter. As you are all aware, this is mostly a matriarchal society. The Alliance Houses, especially of maximum cla
ss, have few women, which means fewer women to rule.”
“Do you represent us in the High Council?” another woman asked.
“Yes,” Jane said, taking a sip of water. “House Human is not a permanent member of the High Council, but there are a few open days over two one-week periods twice a year when all the Head of Houses are invited to speak about issues concerning them.”
“When is the next meeting for all the Houses?” the same woman asked.
“This week actually. I just came from the High Council and will be attending a reception later. Is there something, in particular, you would like me to petition for? It’s unlikely I could do anything now, but please let me know.” Jane had expected these women to be more complacent than some of them were.
“I think it’s quite a coincidence that we were released from Space Port One Hospital on the same day that you happen to be on the Capital Planet.”
“The gods show us their kindness in many ways,” Jane replied, which in Alliance terms meant, ‘You’re a fool if you think I’m answering that question.’ Then when the woman said nothing, Jane said, “Since you have been in the hospital, many things have happened. Captain Kara has taken command of the Zuin, which almost all the former female crew of the Dakota is serving on. If any of you are interested and have the right qualifications, we might have a place for you onboard as well.”
“And the other crew members from the Dakota?”
“One member, Junior Doctor Drusilla, now known as Doctor James of House Vo, remained in the Capital City and is now an Alliance doctor at the prestigious Capital City Hospital. Details of her wedding will be in the Day as she married an Imperial Doctor.” Jane did not want to encourage any of them to see Dru. She was worried that Dru would be able to see that their memories had been changed over the last weeks.
“And did this human doctor also think it was wise to wipe our memories?” another woman asked haughtily.
Jane was prepared for this question. “Doctor James was updated about all of your conditions, but when the decision to wipe your memories of the traumatic treatments for the Zoipli virus was made, unfortunately, Doctor James herself was very ill with the Uli virus, so she could not be consulted. However, I can assure you,” Jane touched her hand to her heart, “We made the best decision we could at the time. I hope that it is not too disconcerting that those terrible weeks when you all were ill are lost to you.”
“Is it possible to retrieve the memories?” someone else asked.
Jane shook her head, “I don’t think so. I’m sorry.”
“Who were you to decide for us? We are adults. We could have decided for ourselves.”
Jane shook her head and then spoke firmly, “You are adults, but you are now Alliance citizens and apart of House Human. As long as you are in this House, I have the final word on all of your choices. This was part of the deal you struck when you agreed to come here.” She let that sink in for the women for a minute, and then when no one else spoke, she continued, “I have petitioned for the High Council to allow humans to wear our own clothing some of the time, and I think this new suggestion or a law will be passed. I will let you know. If you have other things, you would like to see changed, please message me. If you have pressing matters, VM me. Otherwise, I will make a point to drop in every time I am on the Capital Planet and will personally get in touch with all of you to check on your progress. Are there any more questions?”
“Are you married?” Babette asked cheekily.
“I am not. It is not in my contract with the Alliance.”
“How is that you don’t have to marry?”
“I will only answer this question because it is your first day on the Capital Planet. I’m not married because I was already 38 years old when I came to the Alliance.”
“But not too old to still marry,” Babette commented.
Jane marked this one as a troublemaker. “No, but as I said, it was not a part of my contract with the Empire. We all have individual and unique contracts with our new galactic affiliation. Now, are there any more questions?”
Another woman stood up, “My name is Mara. Are we at risk of getting another galactic virus? It scares me that Doctor James caught the Uli virus here in the Capital City. I thought we would be safe here.”
“Mara, let me assure you, you are all in good hands now. It was rare and unlucky that you were all exposed to the Zoipli virus. Now you have all been vaccinated against any more viruses, and all men coming down to planet when they have been abroad in the galaxy will be screened to keep you all safe.”
“I just don’t want to be so ill again. I don’t like having weeks of my life that are missing in my mind either.”
Jane could tell that they had all talked about this a lot. “I can promise you it will not happen again, and the Alliance has the best medicine in the galaxy. Nothing is going to harm you again. Understood?” when they did not answer her, she asked again, “I can’t hear you? Understood?”
“Understood,” they replied in unison.
Jane nodded, she hoped it was a while before they heard about Dru being challenged to a duel to the death. “Now, I will leave you.” Jane waited for them to rise and bow and then remembered that they didn’t know and chided herself for already falling into the Alliance order so quickly. “Rise and bow again, I am your Head of House.”
The women all did as Jane bid, and then she left the dining room, followed closely by Madame Bai. One of Madame Bai’s helpers addressed the human women then explaining about their ID necklaces, ICs, and clothing.
In what was referred to as the Classroom, Jane spoke privately to Madame Bai, “Is everything going well so far?”
Madame Bai nodded, “Yes, they are much more pliable than any of you were. I don’t know if it is because I have experience with humans right off a spaceship now or if it was because they volunteered?”
“Or because their memories were replaced and who knows what else Doctor Anu and her team added?”
Madame Bai frowned, “Our doctors would never do that.”
Jane wanted to roll her eyes but refrained, “I’m only joking. I am sure it will be easier this time around. You know what to expect from humans now. And these women volunteered.”
“I hope so,” Madame Bai confided in Jane, “Two of the women already have bans on them, and I have let them know what that means so there won’t be any surprises. I still feel guilty about what happened with Drusilla, I mean, James.”
“Yes, I also feel responsible for what went wrong, but we cannot blame ourselves, she never asked for help and put up a brave face. We must learn from our mistakes.”
“With these women, I will be tracking them in their rooms. Had I done that to you, I would have known Dru was as unhappy.”
“Don’t you think that’s taking it too far?” Jane would have definitely not wanted Madame Bai and her minions watching her every move.
“No, I think it is necessary. What if one of them becomes particularly sad, and I miss it again.” When Madame Bai realized Jane didn’t follow, she said straightforwardly, “I don’t want any suicides. There hasn’t been a suicide among women in the Capital City for over a century.”
“Oh,” Jane said, surprised she even thought something could get as bad as that. “I don’t think,” she began but then caught herself and said, “Fine, you do what you think is necessary for now. I understand there are a lot of women here, and I want you to feel that you have the situation under control.”
“Thank you. I think most of the women will be fine. Some of them are a bit more difficult. She brought out a small list, I think Babette will be difficult. She seems to ask a lot of questions.”
“Yes,” Jane smiled, “but she is beautiful, so maybe she will find a husband quickly who likes to answer a lot of questions, and she will be out of your hair. I hope a lot of them actually find husbands after their first Assembly, and then their new Alliance families can deal with them. There are so many.”
“I will pray to t
he gods for it. Expect my first report at the end of the week. May the gods light your path.”
“May the gods show you mercy,” Jane replied and then returned to the Zuin.
Life in the Capital City
Over the next weeks, Babette was both intrigued and overwhelmed by her new life. Their schedules were even more strict than they had been onboard the Fira, which had come as a surprise to Babette. She had naively assumed that life on a military starship would have been more regimented than life with mainly women on the planet. However, she tried to live up to the standards expected of her.
The 1,000 women were divided up into groups by their ages, former occupations, potential occupations, and health. Babette was relieved when she found out that she passed the health exam as she didn’t like the look of the exercise and diet restrictions put on the women who were deemed ‘unhealthy’ by Alliance standards. Not only were they made to exercise a lot and eat one less meal a day, they were also physically punished publically. Madame Bai had simply explained it, ‘We have found that there is no better way to treat obesity than with societal shame. It is only in this way people will not re-offend.’ Babette had never considered being overweight a crime, but apparently, in the Alliance Empire, it was, which would explain all the bland food and water.
For her occupational class, Babette was put in a small group of women who had no further education beyond the standard human 15 years. Babette had never wanted to continue school after her primary education was met. She had done well at school, but after graduation, the last thing she wanted to do was to pursue more education. There was nothing that she was academically passionate about to warrant such a time-consuming expense. Also, at the time, she had already been offered the good job that she had until she had decided to come to the Alliance at the high-end clothing shop. So, it had been an easy decision for her not to continue with her education. However, now in the Alliance, Madame Bai thought it was negligence that she and another 25 women from the 1,000 were not educated to higher levels. Subsequently, they all had to complete extra classes in math and logic, among other academic subjects, to bring them up to a satisfactory standard. Babette found the classes boring and struggled to finish her assignments. However, every time she saw one of the overweight women, she was relieved that at least she wasn’t publically shamed for her lack of education.
