by Rachel Burns
The warehouses we went to were huge. They were so huge that no one noticed us as we pushed our way through the crowds. Daddy programmed what he wanted. The goods we’re brought to our truck and loaded onto it. Douglas and Alex drove to our airship and loaded the goods onboard while we went to the next warehouse. This was one where you chose your items one by one and not by bulk. Daddy sent me off with Amy to pick out a pair of outdoor shoes for Kyle.
She looked at several, wanting to get good quality and a good price. I helped her search, but there were so many people in the store that I suddenly couldn’t find her. “Amy,” I called to her. “Amy, I’m here.” I stood still and waited for her to hear me. When she didn’t, I went to the front of the store and waited by the door. People jostled up against me and pressed me out of the way. Amy could have left before I got out here, or she could have left since I’d been standing here, and I had missed her in the crowds of people.
I was getting scared. What was going to happen to me? Would I still be standing here when the warehouse closed this evening? Would Daddy find me there, or would I be sent to another orphanage?
I stood where I was for over an hour with my eyes darting around, searching the crowds for a familiar face. Then I saw Amy talking to Daddy. “I didn’t mean to lose her. She was beside me in one second and then gone in the next.” Amy was crying to Daddy.
“We will spread out and search the whole warehouse.” Douglas and Alex were also with Daddy.
“Daddy!” I screamed for him, pushing my way through the crowds, propelling myself into his arms.
Daddy hugged me for a moment. Then he pushed me away. Still holding tightly to my forearms, he looked me up and down. “I thought I lost you,” he told me.
“I thought I lost you too. I’m sorry. I only turned away from Amy for a second. There were so many people that I couldn’t find her again.” I tried to explain through my tears.
“I told you to stay with your sister.” Daddy bent me over and wrapped his arm around my waist. His hand came down on my rump, spanking me with all of his might. The rapid blows had me squealing out with pain. Still, I clung to him and was glad to be back with him. He was alighting my ass with fire, but I felt safe in his arm.
Crowds of people gathered around us and laughed at me. They thought this was very funny. In the position I was in, half the crowd could see my face as I squinted my eyes shut and cried with each swat. The other half could see him spanking me. Daddy spanked on so long that I couldn’t stand on my own two feet by the time he finished. He hugged me to his chest and held me close. “Don’t ever do that again, never leave me. I thought that you had run away again. Never scare me like that again.”
“I won’t, Daddy. I didn’t run away. I swear I didn’t.” I was holding onto him as tightly as he was holding onto me. I was thankful that he had spanked me. It proved that he loved me.
Slowly, Daddy relaxed his hold on me.
I peeked at the others when I had gathered myself. They were embarrassed, and they looked mad at me. “I’m sorry,” I told them.
Daddy took hold of me by my hand and didn’t release his tight grip until we were in the back of the truck. When he released my hand, he scolded me again. Then he turned to Amy and drew her over his lap and spanked her for losing me. The two of us spent the truck ride sniffling.
Back at the airship, Daddy told me that I was taking us home. Douglas was my co-pilot. Amy and Daddy went through their lists again, doing an inventory as I flew us home. At first, I flew too slowly. Daddy scolded me for that. I picked up the pace and went fast. I watched the quadrants around us and made sure I didn’t collide with anyone else.
It was easier to fly through space than hover over the surface of a planet. I got to look out and observe the planets and far away stars.
When we got close to home, I saw more meteoroids. I didn’t think that there were enough of them to call Daddy.
I flew around them as Douglas called into report them. That got Daddy’s attention. He stood behind my chair and watched as I dropped into the atmosphere and landed the airship.
“Good job,” Alex stated. “She has a good eye. Maybe I could teach her how to shoot and actually hit something.” Alex looked at Daddy.
Daddy nodded at him and turned away from me. Daddy was still mad at me. I hated that.
I would work harder so he would praise me.
Now that I knew he loved me, I would stay with him, even if I didn’t believe that the Aliens were ever going to attack us. I’d humor Daddy.
Chapter 11
My days were constantly busy. Daddy had adopted six new children over the past three years. I was already around fifteen-years-old. I never got to celebrate a birthday like the others because we didn’t know when I was born. Every time one of my siblings had their yearly party, I bit back my hurt and tried to stay out of the way.
I was doing better with everything. I had gotten used to the daily drilling in the classroom and outside training. Shane and I had become close. We both loved to read. Shane was going to go to school to study in a few weeks. He took part in the Children’s Academic Championship every year and always placed in the top ten. Last year, he had placed third, his personal best. This year he was considered too old. He was an adult now.
He went into Daddy’s office and told him that he thought that I should go this year and represent the family. Shane figured that Daddy would like the idea of having the family represented.
He was right. When Daddy heard that Shane had been training me for the competition, Daddy didn’t hesitate to sign me up.
Daddy insisted that I practice around the clock, only breaking to train and to sleep. Shane had gone through the same training and always obtained good results.
I practiced for months. Then it was time to go to Galexit for the test. Daddy and I traveled there alone. He had me fly there so I wouldn’t be so nervous. Nevertheless, I had to give him the command of the ship several times so I could go to the bathroom. I was nervous.
We checked into a hotel where everyone recognized Daddy. He told them that we were here to visit Shane, and that I was going to see if I could see where I might place.
It was my goal to be in the top fifty and be admitted to the real test.
Seven hundred and twenty-six of the smartest children in the universe were here to see if they could get one of the fifty spots for the real test. Only the best would. Daddy told me over and over that it was good practice for next year. Shane had gotten the last spot the first year he tried to join the test. Then he worked his way up to the fifth spot.
Every year they left home together and came here. It had been something special that they did together. Now Daddy was attending the test with me. It made me feel special.
Daddy’s attention was harder to get as the years went by and new siblings and in-laws appeared. Jenny was married to a man who won this competition three years in a row. Daddy had made the match for her. He had immediately agreed with Daddy when he said that war was imminent.
Jenny was already pregnant. I had to wonder if he and his parents were willing to say whatever Daddy wanted to hear so he could sleep with Jenny. He wasn’t especially good-looking. Jenny hadn’t been pleased with the match, but she liked having sex with him. I heard her talking to Maggie about it.
Shane strode into the hotel lobby and joined us as we went up to our room. He waved to the cameras. We would be on TV this evening. Daddy was always on TV when he came here with Shane. I used to watch at home. Daddy rarely let us watch unless one of us was on it.
As soon as the doors to our suite were closed, and we were alone, Shane informed Daddy about a conspiracy. “Twenty girls have sighed up to take the test this year. Because of you, and the reporters watching you, Sophia is going to be put to the test. They plan on making her look so stupid that other girls will think twice before they join next year.” Living with Daddy on his protected estate made me forget that women weren’t considered equal to men.
I looked at Da
ddy to hear what he had to say about that.
“One of my professors suggested that the girls have their own test. Separate but equal, he called it.” Shane shook his head.
Daddy turned to me. “Perhaps we shouldn’t have come. Is she in danger?” Daddy asked Shane.
“Our last name will protect her. However, I must warn you that people think that you are going a bit crazy because of the number of children you adopted. You have sixteen children in the meantime. When will you stop?” Shane was forgetting whom he was talking with.
“Never, I’ll adopt until I think that I can’t be of help to those children. Children who are exactly like you.” Daddy took hold of him and pressed him over the back of the sofa. Daddy removed his belt and laid into Shane, telling him that arrogance didn’t suit him. He told Shane that he knew that he hadn’t trained once since he came here, and that he would bring him back home if he didn’t get his act together. Shane promised to behave and listen to Daddy.
Then Daddy lifted up his belt and threatened me with it if I didn’t get a spot for the main test. I backed away from him, but I nodded at him. It was rare to see one of my older siblings getting punished like that.
Shane got up and went into the bathroom. I could hear him sobbing slightly.
Daddy was right; Shane had forgotten who he was and who Daddy was. We were unwanted orphans who were being trained to be ready to fight when the war started. We could all fight, fly and recite the classics, even Charlotte.
~
The next morning when Daddy and I went down to breakfast, cameras flashed to get our picture for the digital newspaper that adults got on their wrist computers. Daddy told them that I was here to try my luck. If I didn’t get a spot for the real test, then I might next year. Daddy made it sound as if it didn’t matter. My siblings back home watching this would know better.
Daddy walked me over to the university while the reporters followed us. I was thankful that we lived on our tiny planet where no one bothered us. This was very annoying.
The university was filled with teenagers and their parents. I was the only one who was holding onto her father’s hand. Daddy had big problems with letting go. It wasn’t only with me but also with my siblings. He talked with Lyanna every day on the videophone. She was expecting her third child and had two nannies helping her and two maids. At home, we all helped clean the house and did garden work in spite of the staff we had, but being pregnant made a woman special in Daddy’s eyes. Pregnant women and young mothers led a life of leisure. Daddy had been nice to Maggie since Cole had told him that she was pregnant.
We got into line for children my age and waited to sign up. The reporters hadn’t been allowed into the university, but that didn’t stop the other parents from talking about us. I also heard people complaining about girls being here.
“Why don’t they want girls to take the test?” I asked Daddy in a whisper.
He leaned down and whispered in my ear. “Because they’re fools. My wife was the smartest woman in the universe. She won this test twice.”
“Your wife?”
“She died before you were born.” Daddy looked straight ahead at nothing. He didn’t want to talk about his wife. I would ask the older children about her when we got back home.
When we signed up, the man told Daddy that I had to sit in the back of the classroom.
“Why?” Daddy demanded to know, using his military tone of voice.
“The girls have a way of distracting the boys,” the teacher replied.
“If the boys are so easily distracted, then they shouldn’t be here.” Daddy took my hand and guided me away from the sign-up stand. He brought me to my classroom, where he complained about the rules to the teacher giving us the test. He hated that I had to sit in the back.
I quietly went to the back of the classroom and sat down by two other girls. When the boys entered the room, they practically fell over the desks because they were staring at us.
“What’s wrong with them?” I asked the other girls while my father scolded two boys to show a little self-discipline. The ones who recognized him nodded at him with fear in their eyes. Brandon Reeves’ daughter was here, and that put the fear of God into them. They went to the front and sat down. The ones who didn’t know who my father was smiled at us. One guy wished us luck and winked his eye at us.
“They never see girls,” a girl with long red hair told me.
“Why not?” I asked her.
“Do you ever see boys?” she asked me, grinning at me as if I were a fool.
“Yes, all the time. I have eight brothers,” I replied.
“Wow. I’ve never heard of that. Where I come from, it’s weird to have two children.” The other girl nodded along with the redheaded girl.
I shrugged my shoulders. I was used to other children, first at the orphanage and then at home. I didn’t want to be an only child. That would mean that I would have Daddy’s complete attention all the time.
The teacher shut the doors and cleared his throat. He warned us about cheating, and he warned the boys not to pay attention to us girls in the back. He hinted that we wouldn’t be here for the next round. I narrowed my eyes at him, wanting to send daggers his way. I was actually very good at throwing daggers. He wouldn’t know what hit him. I was also good with guns and arrows. I had good eyes. That’s what Daddy told me. Alex trained me.
The teacher passed out the test. The boy who handed a test back did so with a shaking hand. I gave him a brilliant smile to distract him.
He smiled back at me. I looked down at my test and went to work. I had filled out hundreds of these tests while I practiced. I was quickly finished. I re-read my answers and then double-checked them again. I was positive that everything was correct. No one else was finished, and I wasn’t sure what to do.
The teacher saw me looking around and marched over to me. “You’re finished?” He stated that as if it were very unlikely.
“Yes, Sir. I am. Thank you.”
He picked up my test and marched to the front of the classroom. He slid my test into the machine. It beeped half a minute later with my score. I got one hundred out of one hundred.
I smiled at him. “I guess that means that I’ll see you again this afternoon. Thank you, Sir.” I took hold of his hand and shook it. Then I went out to my father. A few other kids were also finished from the other classrooms.
Shane was standing next to Daddy. It was nice of him to come and wait with Daddy. “Hi, I’m finished.”
They both stared at me, waiting to hear what I had to say. “I sat in the back and took the test for my age group,” I stated, not wanting to share my good news so quickly.
“Do you know what the margin will be?” Shane asked me.
“No, but we can go and have a long lunch before we come back this afternoon,” I told him.
“Sophia, you don’t understand. The teachers will announce a certain score, and you have to be that number or above.” Shane explained.
“I know, but with one hundred, I’m sure I’ll make the cut.” I beamed at them.
Daddy gave a hoot and lifted me up and spun me around. “Good girl, Sophia.” Daddy set me down and walked me over to the man who had signed us in.
“Is there a problem, Mr. Reeves?” the man asked. Sweat was starting to build on his brow. He knew how Daddy felt about him.
“None at all. I wanted to know when I was supposed to return with my daughter.” Daddy asked him.
“When everyone is finished, the machine will pick the top two-hundred and fifty. A number will be called out, and your daughter has to be above that number.”
“Yes, I understand that. All I asked was when we should be back.”
“The next test is from three to six. It might be better to wait to see where she is. It would be embarrassing for the girl if she got sent home in front of everyone.” The teacher gave me a look of pity.
“I’m not worried. She got one hundred.” Daddy turned away from the man. Daddy wrapped his ar
m around me, taking me along with him as he left the school grounds. It made me feel like I was his best girl.
Shane walked with us. The reporters were waiting outside of the gate, and we were the first ones to come out. They asked Daddy how I did. He announced my score, and I figured that my family at home was watching this live on TV. Still, we called them from my room. They were so excited for me.
Daddy warned me to continue to do so well.
Shane sat me down and told me about the next test. It was another written test. I already knew that and had taken those tests too. My goal was to be among the top fifty. It was also Daddy’s goal.
If I made it to the next round, then I would be called back tomorrow morning. I would be among the top one hundred. Fifty of those children would go on and be able to claim that they had taken part in the championship.
Shane took part in it every year that he tried. I wanted to be as good as he was. I doubted that I would place as high as he did, but I wanted to try. It would make Daddy happy.
At three, we were back at the university. Several people talked to Daddy, asking him what score I had reached. He proudly told them. We found out that the cut off had been at ninety-one. Very few girls were left. I went to my assigned room, and no one told me where to sit. I went to the front and sat up straight as I waited for the test to begin. I didn’t know what to do with my hands, so I ended up folding them and setting them on the top of my desk. I jumped sky-high when a reporter took a picture of me.
A teacher handed us another test. I forgot about everything else and concentrated on the test. I wasn’t the first one to finish. By the time I had checked and double-checked my answers, around twenty other children had given up their tests.
I gave up my test and had two questions wrong. I had to wait this time. Daddy wouldn’t like that. I went out to Shane and Daddy. “Can we go?” Shane asked with a smile on his face.
I shook my head and a tear ran down my cheek. “I got two questions wrong.”
Shane laughed, and Daddy gave him a mean look. “I’m sure you’ll make it to the next round.”
