by Nina Pierce
She continued, “I think the re-population plan is going just fine without my help. How can they expect a professional woman to give up her life for two years just to birth offspring?” Jahara looked at Merenith sipping her wine and contemplating the question she'd just posed. This was her third glass, very unlike Merenith.
"It's not horrible,” Merenith said at last. “Unpleasant definitely, but not the worst thing that could happen.” She stared blindly at the flames and Jahara knew she was thinking back to her own time at the Garden. “Think of it like a vacation. You haven't had one of those in years.” Curving one corner of her mouth, Merenith turned to Jahara, lifting her shoulder. “I didn't mind being pregnant. The birthing stuff isn't even so bad, especially if the offspring are male. You just leave them at the Garden. I'm not even sure what they did with him. The girl I birthed was harder to leave behind, but I had no way of caring for her at the time. I know she's at some school where they love her."
Merenith turned her gaze back to the flames. “I didn't grow up with my birth family like you, Jahara. The school taught me everything I needed to know. I loved the girls there as if they were my birth-sisters. The teachers loved us like a true Dame would love her own birth child.” Merenith stared pensively at the fire. They had talked about her upbringing, but Jahara never realized until this moment how truly different life had been for Merenith.
"Really, it's not so bad.” Merenith's voice lilted into a false cheerfulness. “Besides, you already know what to expect. You came with me during foaling season last year. It's a lot like that.” She drained the last of the burgundy liquid.
"Those mares looked particularly uncomfortable. I remember a lot of braying and kicking and blood. Lots of blood."
"Oh, for goodness sake, Jahara, if anyone was listening to you, they'd never know you were a skilled healer.” Merenith's voice grew louder with each word. “Blood? That's the last thing that should be upsetting you.” Pushing up from the floor, Merenith stalked into the kitchen.
Jahara followed her. “Mer, what's going on?” She had no idea what had caused this vehement reaction in her partner.
Merenith thrust the glass so hard into the cleansing station, it shattered. Jahara saw the droplets of blood running from her partner's hand and moved to help.
"I've got it. Just don't touch me right now,” Merenith said on a shaky breath.
"Merenith, just let me stop the blood.” Reaching for her again, Jahara felt helpless as Merenith wrenched her arm away from her contact.
She rounded on Jahara, her face flush with anger, her eyes welling with sadness. “You, you, you. That's all you think about, Jahara. You. Well, what in Hades about me?” Merenith's head fell forward and her shoulders quaked with the sobs she released.
"Mer.” Jahara took Merenith's hand in hers and let the warmth of her healing power flow through her. Their hands glowed white with the energy emanating from Jahara's palm. The flow of blood from Merenith's hand stopped, the ripped flesh came back together, and the scab repaired instantly to healthy skin.
Jahara brought Merenith's healed hand to her lips, gently kissing the spot where the glass had torn her flesh. “Merenith, you're right. This isn't just about me. I'm sorry if I made it sound like that. It's about us.” Lifting Merenith's chin, she kissed her gently. “One month, one week, one day, it's too much time to be away from you. You are my life. I don't know how I'm going to survive."
"I love you so much, Jahara. All I keep wondering is what will happen to me if you choose not to come back to me? What if you fall in love with another ... or worse?"
Jahara knew she spoke of tribes of men and women rumored to be living outside the law. Jahara could never understand how a woman could choose that life, men were barbarians. How could it possibly be true?
"Since we were young, we heard those rumors,” Jahara said, wiping a tear from Merenith's cheek. “They're just children's tales meant to frighten. No more real than the black horseman or the bloodthirsty animals who steal you away into the night. They can't be true. There is no reason a woman would give up all we've worked so hard to build.” Jahara waved her hand around their beautiful home. “The only men I've dealt with at the medical center come in with injuries they caused by their own stupidity. Men are only good for physical labor and breeding. Why would any woman choose to make a life with that?” Stooping, Jahara looked into Merenith's lowered eyes still glistening with tears. “The plague may have decimated the male population, but it gifted us with so much.” Jahara lifted Merenith's healed hand. “The power to heal, to communicate with animals.” She kissed her long fingers. “The power of telepathy, telekinesis, visions, and intellect. We have so much. Women are meant to be their own leaders. Now, have you ever met a man with any of those gifts? Especially intellect?"
Merenith giggled a nasally laugh. “No, I can't say I have. Not in all the time I spent at the Garden or in my years since."
"You're beautiful, funny, smart, and above all, you're the only one who tolerates the tidal wave of emotions that overtake me. Neither my Dame nor my birth-sisters could put up with that. I can't imagine there's a man on this earth willing to have me longer than it takes to impregnate me. I mean really, can you?"
They both laughed at the absurdity of her statement.
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Chapter Two
The helo-train rocked along the dusty road. Jahara could have taken the private air transport her Dame had offered, but she hadn't wanted anyone to know she was the daughter of a government official, not yet. This ordeal was already more than she could handle.
For the past two weeks she had handed patients over to other healers and had trained an interim Medical Director who, she hoped, would continue to run the healing facility with professional efficiency. The healer she'd chosen was a gifted woman, but she didn't have the focus for keeping detailed records as the government insisted. Jahara quaked at the thought of sifting through the reams of work that would accumulate over the next month before Merenith could visit her at the Garden with the computer disks to update.
One month. How would she survive that long without Merenith? For the past two weeks they had been nearly inseparable, leaving for work late, returning home early. They'd barely slept, spending every moment talking to and loving each other. Jahara had squeezed out a long weekend away from the responsibilities of the hospital and the two of them had ridden Merenith's horses into the mountains and hiked along the cool forest trails.
In the shade of the evergreens, they loved each other until their bodies ached, and held each other, weeping until their tears had run dry. Playing with the ring on her left hand, Jahara thought of the woman who had stood with her on the edge of the river holding her hands and reciting a pledge of commitment. It might not be legally binding, but her heart belonged only to Merenith; and Merenith's to Jahara. Nothing would change that.
Jahara had begged Merenith not to come to the helo-station this morning. They kissed good-bye, as was their usual custom before they went off to work. Both acting like this night would be the same as all the others, but it wouldn't. Jahara would be alone at the Garden and Merenith would be home in the warmth of their bed.
Merenith was not the only one worried about the impact the time apart would have on their relationship. Hearts were fickle creatures and heads couldn't always control where they chose to go. What if Merenith found another while she was away?
Jahara looked at the faces of the other girls on the helo-train, most still too young to be called women. These would be her breeding sisters. She wondered if fear shadowed her face as it did so many of theirs.
A few huddled together in small groups, whispering and giggling. The majority however, sat in silence observing the skeletal cities of the ancients flash by the windows. The buildings had fallen into ruins decades ago. The women had fled the crowded cities to save themselves and their daughters. Only wild animals and vegetation inhabited the dwellings where humans used to reside.
So
mewhere in the bowels of this wretched vehicle were the cases she'd packed, filled only with reading disks of research and tomes she'd never had a chance to peruse. There was no reason to pack clothing. Everything she needed would be provided. Anything brought in required sanitization. It was the only way to guarantee no viruses or foreign spores would infect the fragile systems of the men chosen for breeding. The poor things were such weak creatures.
Closing her eyes, Jahara forced away the retched thoughts and drifted back to the river bank. She heard Merenith's voice reciting their commitment words.
"I Merenith, pledge my heart to you, Jahara. I will love you and cherish you. I will forsake all other women and hold you above them in a place of honor." Jahara imagined again the cool breeze rustling through the pines of their forest retreat. She saw with clarity the depths of Merenith's eyes sparkling like the river in the bright summer sun as Merenith finished her declaration of love. "My body and soul will belong to you alone for as long as the Creator of this Earth chooses for me to walk this realm." She felt the ring on her finger as if Merenith had just placed it there.
Jahara let the recollection lull her into a deep meditation.
* * * *
Pulled from Merenith's arms, the buzzing of beetles became loud and persistent. Jahara opened her eyes, taking a moment to reorient herself. The noise had not come from insects, but rather the cacophony of female voices blending in excitement. She looked at her timepiece. She had been lost in her own head for over two hours. Not a good sign. Her meditations were taking her farther away from the natural world and deeper into her own reality. She knew better than to let herself free associate without someone to watch over her. She was grateful for the noise that had roused her.
A body bumped into her.
"Oh excuse me. I didn't mean to wake you, but I just wanted to see it for myself.” The young woman pointed out the window. “Isn't the Garden of Serenity just about the most beautiful place you've ever seen?"
Nothing outside the train intrigued her as much as the woman kneeling in the seat beside her. An obvious descendent of the Ennessy clan, her flaming red hair was cropped close to her scalp and the alabaster skin almost luminescent in its transparent quality. The muscular arm thrust in front of her face ended in an equally thick, square hand that shook excitedly at the window to a distant structure looming on the horizon.
"Forgive me, my name's Attika.” The hand that shook Jahara's engulfed hers completely. The strong grip nearly made her gasp. “Gosh, I'm sorry. It's my first time from my people. I'm a little excited and I forget my own strength. My Dame warned me about how fragile others can be. Are you all right?” She motioned to the fingers Jahara massaged.
"I'm fine.” She smiled at the young woman, who looked to be a few years younger than Merenith. Her green eyes sparkled with excitement. “I'm Jahara Hri...” she stopped. Everyone knew her Dame. “Just call me Jahara."
Flopping down in the seat next to her, Attika's muscular legs stretched the seams on her cotton breeches. Ennessy women required no males to help in their lands. Their physical prowess was well known throughout the territory. Attika obviously had come from a long line of pure Ennessy descendents.
Attika craned her squat neck to look out the window. “Isn't this just about the most exciting thing? I've been waiting to breed. It's all I've ever wanted. I'm the youngest of five birth-sisters. My own Dame came here twice in her youth. Two of my birth-sisters were conceived in the same womb. How awesome would that be to bear twins?” Attika sighed. “All my birth-sisters had little girls whom they brought home. We have a very large birth family. This is the farthest I've ever traveled. I'm going to miss them, though I was so happy when the projection disk finally arrived."
Attika's probing gaze was like feelers on her skin.
"How silly of me. This must be your second stay?” Attika waved her hand. “Not everyone is new to breeding. This must be like coming home for you."
"What makes you say that?"
"Well ... you're old."
Jahara's face pinched.
"Forgive me. Have I overstepped my bounds? My Dame would be so displeased.” Attika thumped back against the seat. “I do that. Talk too much and make assumptions about people. My gift is numbers, not visions. My mouth just seems to start going and the words fall out of it and before I know it, I've insulted everyone around me.” She waved at the air as if brushing the thoughts away.
"I can't even begin to tell you how often I upset my birth-sisters. And elders? Well, I'd probably better not go there. The number I've offended can no longer be calculated without some algorithmic formula.” Turning to Jahara, Attika smiled. “And I've done it again. Blathered on until the first breeding sister I've met is ready to throw me off this helo-train."
Jahara wanted to defend herself. To explain to this child this was her first breeding season, but it wasn't worth her effort. The girl was right. She was old, much too old to be birthing children. “I'm not insulted,” she said as she forced her mouth to smile. Morose, Jahara leaned back against the seat watching the desert melt away into a fresh and breathtaking world.
The Garden of Serenity was still miles away, but the curve of its roof reached high into the cerulean sky. It looked to be thirty stories, perhaps more at its peak. Curving gracefully down to the earth like a rainbow, the edges were lost in the succulent green of the strange foliage.
The dust on the edge of the road had given way just this side of the mountains, to long green shafts of plants that bowed and swayed in the wash of the air from the train. The palm trees lining the road were new to her. She'd only seen pictures of them in textbooks and of course in the pictorials of Merenith's youth. They were very different from the prickly pines that grew in the forests of the mountains where Jahara had grown up.
The car became unnaturally quiet as the train pulled up to the Garden, its luminous dome opening to allow the helo-train entry. She moved like a fish caught in the current of bodies and stepped onto the reception deck crowded with greeters dressed in pale yellow tunics and skirts. The doors whooshed as they closed away the outside world and trapped her within their confines. Had she not seen it with her own eyes, she would have believed they were still outside. Though the false sunlight heated her skin, she rubbed her hands vigorously over her biceps, trying to ward off the inexplicable chill coursing through her body.
"Fifty-two square miles in total, with twenty-eight square miles for agriculture. There are five thousand, three hundred, fifty-two people of whom two thousand, one hundred, eleven call this their permanent home. Seventeen thousand, six hundred nine megawatts of solar power required on a daily basis; with five hundred eighty two wind turbines providing a backup source of energy. Two hundred five thousand, one hundred thirty-eight pounds of food consumed per day, that's one million, four hundred thirty five thousand, nine hundred, sixty-six pounds a week, all grown and cultivated inside the Garden. Four point two babies born per week, only two point one of whom live through their first month. There are forty-seven living abodes, thirty-one specifically for breeding; twenty-two billion..."
"Attika,” Jahara said quietly, interrupting the verbal assault. “I get it. This place is big."
Attika's face turned crimson. “Bad habit. The number thing I mean. I already apologized for the rambling. When I get nervous or agitated, the numbers are the only thing I can focus on. As excited as I am, I'm also frightened. I've never seen a man before, let alone...” she looked down at her feet, “well, you know ... mated."
Apprehension coiled like wire around Jahara's stomach. Despite what Attika thought, or any of the other woman who must look at her as some sort of elder, neither had she. The thought of a man doing what she had witnessed with Merenith's stallions filled her throat with acid.
"Welcome to the Garden of Serenity.” A woman standing above them on a podium addressed the women. “I am Kylie Giavenic, the hostess for this breeding group.” She stopped to let the wash of the departing helo-train subside.
"As most of you know, the Garden is a closed ecosystem. We will separate you into groups of twenty women and take you to your temporary housing. The first living area is where your families, friends, or partners will visit you. You will spend only one night there while you go through purification. In the morning, you will enter the heart of the Garden where we hope to make your stay as enjoyable and comfortable as possible."
The whoosh of doors could be heard and Jahara watched the wall behind Kylie disappear, revealing an open air foyer with large trees and flowering shrubs decorating the space.
Kylie lifted her hand gracefully in the air. “Welcome one and all to your new home. Please, come."
Despite its benevolent appearance, Jahara moved with the throng, feeling like she was walking into the mouth of a lion.
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Chapter Three
Jahara settled into the comfortable chair resenting all they had put her through in the last eighteen hours. Last night she had experienced the trials of Hades.
She'd only been able to use the video-communicator long enough to tell Merenith she had arrived safely. They'd been unable to exchange any words of adoration, no caresses of affection, and no time for the tears she'd wanted to shed before the line was cut and another woman allowed to go through the same ritual.
Jahara knew instinctively they were trying to sever her attachments to her life outside this domain and it only fueled her ire. No matter how they sugar-coated this thing, she didn't want to be here.
