Chapter 26

A religious Experience

Hafie was the third daughter of the Imam, and had always felt she was a disappointment to her father. No great religious scholar or great beauty, she was the dutiful daughter. Having been consulted against the excesses of the flesh since early childhood, she was inexperienced in the ways of men. And having been brought up in a religious institution with very conservative values, there was not much chance of her gaining any experience. Especially now that she was one of the selected.

She had been afraid, like all of the other women, that she would be taken into a courtyard and stoned. When her father had compromised with the other of his followers and agreed to seek out David Findley and review the processes that they used, many women were greatly relieved. Being tethered to a stake in the ground and being struck by stones by family members did not appeal to any of the female members of the temple, and since the penalty was reserved for adulteresses, it brought shame to the families involved. Which was the argument used for many months to preserve the lives of the women involved.

But the politics of religion changed as well. The expense of keeping so many women alive for religious reasons began to fracture the membership. Especially when the law required that they be kept without child. And since birth control was not allowed, this meant that sexual congress was prohibited. And since the men could not have sexual congress with anyone else, while the women were alive, this caused greater pressure to get the issue resolved. Widowers were able to screw. Thus the financial and physical pressure to eliminate as soon as possible the women currently kept in a hotel.

The solution to these troubles appeared to the membership in the memory of David's father's business. It was ideal in that David's father had maintained an inspected slaughterhouse that was both Kosher and respectful in the past. What made it more attractive was the fact that he was able to process sixty women a week. Which would eliminate the backlog in a matter of six weeks. Thus removing a terrible financial burden.

The Imam graciously included his daughter into the first shipment to show his support of this program. It was also to save on the hotel rental for her for every night she was alive. Thus it was political and financial that had her on the first bus on Saturday morning.

Margaret, Carol and Candy were the first ones in the reception area when the bus pulled up outside at eight o'clock on a Saturday morning. Shortly all of the women were settled in chairs and working on the questionnaires and getting acquainted with the women who would be working with them through the process. Hafie found herself with a young woman her own age.

Finding her name was not on the initial selection, Cathy asked how Hafie came to be sent today.

"My father sent me as a show of support for this program" Hafie said. "I believe he is also saving money on the hotel bill." She added with some malice.

"Really? That is kind of shallow." Cathy said. "What did you do for an occupation?"

"I was a language teacher."

"Really?"

"Yes. Hebrew, Latin, Spanish and French. In addition to Farsi and English. I have a gift for languages."

Entering that as an interest area into the portable, Cathy sent a message to Margaret asking what to do with a linguist. The response back was pretty quick. Put her next to the cooler and we will talk with her. Do not take her down right now.

"Do any of the others have as much talent in the language arts as you have?" Cathy asked.

"No. Most of these were my students. Good girls, planning to be wed some time. I guess now that they won't do that." Hafie said.

Cathy decided that no comment was necessary. And she asked Hafie to wait here for some further questions.

Candy stood up with her group and started them down to examination. The first stop went normally with very few questions or any commentary. So did the lavatory. Looking over her charges at stripping, Candy was astonished to see the condition and youth of the women she was escorting. All ranged from five foot two to five foot five, and were very well proportioned. No extra flesh or creases. Damn, Candy thought to her self, all of this is prime. None of them have a blemish on their body. Asking one of the girls about that, a girl named Kashia told her that they were naturally almost hairless on their bodies, and that all were virgins. Most of them were blushing and giggling as they put their belongings into the boxes. All went through the door without a single hesitation.

Cindy's experience five minutes later with her group was almost exactly identical. Just like Candy, she was struck by the health and lack of sparse flesh and hair on the women she was escorting. And the giggling while they followed her lead.

Abby's group were a little older. The body shyness was transient once they knew that there were no men around. Like the others, their following of suggestions and instructions gave no sign that they knew what was really going on. It was a quiet acceptance that was eerie.

Cathy had followed Abby, and now there were sixteen down and only a single group left.

At barely ten o'clock, Candy then came down for her second rotation of the day. This was another smooth and uneventful trip. The women were almost acting like they were going to summer camp. Even the stripping was done with no hesitation. Twenty down in just over an hour.

Following the last one through, Candy saw that Margaret was sliding the last one down the trolley toward processing, and stepped off the turnstile.

"Is there something wrong with this last bunch?" She asked Margaret, hurrying to help field dress the last two of her group.

"No. Why?" Margaret asked.

"All of them were like sheep. Not a peep or anything out of any of them. Like they were going to summer camp or something. No words of worry, no tears. In fact, they were giggling among them selves while they were in the line at the door. What is the story?"

"I don't know. Tox screen should pick up anything funny. Do you think they were on Ex or something?"

"I don't know. They seemed weird. No nervousness or any sense of dread. All of them were polite and quiet as hell. Just weird." Candy said.

"Well, we can ask the last one we have up front. She was some kind of language teacher. Maybe we can get a bit out of her before we pop her." Margaret answered. "I got to tell you though, all of them were cute as hell. All will be prime or better. Not any fat or much hair on any of them. Solid meat too. I think this is going to be our best day yet for product."

"Yea. Shame we don't' have all of them like this. Almost like angus beef crossed with lamb."

In the reception room, Hafie looked at the clock and saw that it was almost time for prayers. It seemed ludicrous to pray to god while sitting in a waiting room to be slaughtered. And why was I kept here? I didn't pray this morning either. Am I being tested for my lack of faith? She wondered to herself what was coming up next.

Her concerns were cut short as an older woman in a plain dress came into the reception area and walked over toward her. Looking at her portable, she came to where Hafie was sitting and introduced herself. "Hi. I am Margaret Findlay, and I was wondering if you would mind talking with me for a few minutes"

"No, not at all." Hafie replied. "I was wondering when it was my turn. One of your young women left me here with my questionnaire and I was wondering why I was singled out."

"She had told me you were a linguist and teacher, and we were a little curious. It says on your document that the Imam is your father." Margaret said.

"I am his third daughter. He sent me here today to watch over the others, but it appears that it was not necessary. I don't know why he asked me to come first, except to spare me staying in the hotel any longer." Hafie replied.

"Was it that bad?" Margaret asked.

"We had been separated from our families and each other. We saw no one for the time we were there. We had been condemned and we expected to be taken away any day. It was a relief to finally be taken as a group. When you were taken alone it was a sign that you were to die by stoning or beheading."

"That would be depressing." Margaret replied.

'Yes. But it was the only way we could conform to the teaching of our laws. And since most of us were unmarried or had never been with a man, we knew we were going to heaven without any blemish on our souls." Hafie replied innocently.

"We noticed that most of them were very young."

"Yes, all were school aged."

"So how did they get picked for the lottery?"

"Oh. They weren't. They were substitutes. Like me they were all second or third daughters arriving on behalf of their parents."

Margaret blanched in stunned shock. "What?"

"Yes. They were substituting for their mothers or other relatives. They were chosen for their purity and sent here instead of them. This way we fulfill the law, and those who come are most likely to get into heaven. And families do not suffer the anguish of being torn apart by the loss of a mother."

"How old were they?" Margaret asked, cautiously.

"They ranged from thirteen to seventeen. If you were a real lottery applicant, you would be as yourself. But the younger ones were chosen so that they would be pure and enter heaven more readily. Sacrifice for those you love is well accepted in our culture." Hafie explained calmly.

Margaret began to feel very sick. If it were publicized that Findley had termed younger women before they could have age of consent, the legal and political ramifications would be enormous.

"Hafie, would you mind waiting here while I have a couple of my people talk with you?"

It was late before David got back from H&S, where the renovations were in full swing. The new walls and their insulation were already framed up and put in place, along with the reconstruction of the demising wall separating processing from slaughter house. The caretakers loft renovation had started with a total of sixteen bedrooms, three office spaces, and four bathrooms. The entire first floor was re-designed to accommodate twin process lanes down the east and west wall of the building. Sixteen exam rooms, eight restrooms, and dual high speed blood and urine process labs, and a large reception area with seating for over forty in the primary reception room provided for the ability to process over two hundred a day, using the current method of termination. If we can get the scheduling module working, we probably can have process flow even higher.

David was still wrestling with the ideas of termination processes as he drove back to his plant. Three minutes per was a long time, given the wait at the doors of from one to ten minutes. That had to be wearing on the stock. Getting that time frame down would be critical to improve process flow and reduce stress, David felt. If women were going through the turnstile at a rate of about one every minute, there would be minimal stress and angst. Even the one in back would not have time to become agitated. That would also mean a turnstile time of five minutes for a group, not ten or twelve.

"The big thing is fear management," Helen had told him earlier in the week. "We do the best job of that with intake, exam, and even in stripping. The key time where tension builds is going to be at the wait at the door. Even with thinking another half hour is ahead of them, we have to keep the focus off of what is going to happen. I am torn between the long quiet talk and the quick pop."

David had noticed that there was a significant difference between the plant at H&S and the one at Findley. There were a set of chutes and conveyors under the floor that carried everything to a bin at the rear. Merle had not used this very effectively because of how he routed stock around in the rear area. David's plan avoided that with the overhead trolley immediately behind the new turnstile doors. But these chutes would substantially improve movement of waste to the rear of the plant. Keeping them clean and keeping odor of blood and waste down would be the challenge. But nothing a good process would not handle.

Which was the sort of discussion David envisioned having when he got back to Findlay in the middle of the afternoon.

In the meantime, Carol, Helen, Nancy and Hafie had been in a lively and intense discussion about the people who had been sent to Findley today. Apparently all of them with the exception of Hafie had falsified their documents to provide an escape for their parent or aunts. All had been given the promise of ascent to heaven with no blemish on their souls.

Leaving Hafie with Candy and Cindy, the older ladies (Margaret included) subsequently cornered David in his office when he got back.

"What did you know about the selectees being sent here this morning?" Carol asked in her prosecutorial voice? "And when did you know it?"

"Give the man a break, Carol" Margaret said. "I doubt he knew of this. Besides he wasn't here, remember?"

"Was there some kind of mix up?" David asked.

"Not so much a mix up as a fraud." Margaret continued. "It seems that the women sent here would not qualify for the lottery at all."

"So why were they sent? We didn't process them did we?" David asked suspiciously.

"Yes we did. And all of them looked very young and attractive. In fact all of them were aged fourteen to age seventeen." Margaret replied.

"What the hell happened?"

"Hafie was sent here as well to make sure that there was no damage in handling. The first twenty were processed normally. We picked Hafie out because she was a linguist on intake and we wanted to look at her closer. What we found out was that the Imam has substituted third daughters for the parent mothers in all of the selections. And sent them here for us to slaughter." Carol said.

Stunned, David sat down. "What should we do legally?"

"For starters, we need to keep Hafie around if we are going to protect ourselves." Carol said. "She is the only one who would be able to testify that this was done on the front end and not by us. David, I have to ask you. Why and who did the selections list?"

"Nancy and I did. We started from the youngest to give the older ones a chance to get closer to age of exception. There are about a dozen in that list who are close to that mark." David said. "Do you mean that we were responsible?"

"No. These girls represented themselves as someone they were not. And I think we can make the case for honest mistakes for the teen age to young teen, young twenties. If these had come here for a older group we would have caught it earlier." Carol said. "It does mean that the good Imam has a few questions to answer."

"Well, we can ask those later. Our next schedule from him is on Tuesday. So what do we do with Hafie in the meantime?" David asked.

"I guess we give her the tour, see what she wants to do while we finish the rest of the group we should keep her around to prevent any future ringers." Carol said. "She would be able to identify any substitutes given the size of the community. Besides, we need a linguist if we are going to work with the Latin and other communities."

"Ok. Who does tour guide work?" David asked. "Who started her?"

"I guess that would be Cathy." Carol said.

"Well Cathy, do you want to take her around, get a read of her, and let us know if we should keep her around?" David asked.

Nodding her head, Cathy wandered out to reception to meet up with the newest potential goat.

Hafie was slowly getting tired and cramped. She had been sitting for several hours, and was wondering what was being decided. Her faith convinced her that whatever happened, it was god's will. But her heart did jump when she saw Cathy come back into the reception room and make a beeline toward her table.

"Hafie, I wanted to talk with you for a few minutes about the things you said to Carol and the others. I do not doubt your truthfulness, but we are a bit curious about how you feel about this."

"My father has a lot of responsibility to the community. I am sure he feels he has good reason for the leadership decisions he makes."

"Ok. That is the official line. What do you think of this situation?" Cathy asked. "Do you feel that you are still a member of that community?"

"Why would I not be?" Hafie asked.

"Well, you were sent here. From the way you have described it to us the community has sentenced you to death and no longer has any use for you. They don't even want your body back for disposal."

"That is a harsh way to look at it. I admit that I was disappointed in some of the effects on me personally." Hafie replied.

"Let me ask you about this. How do you feel about the substitutions?" Cathy asked.

"I feel that those were wrong. It was a compromise that many of the leadership forced on my father and which I feel is definitely wrong." Hafie replied with some emotion.

"Hafie, if they were going to try to do it again next week, would you help us to stop it?"

"How so?" Hafie asked.

"You know the community. You know the people, and can make the estimate of who is legitimate and who is not. We care about what happens here. We do not care to kill innocents as substitutes. This is something that has to be a choice of someone who is old enough to make the choice themselves, and who freely chooses to do so." Cathy said.

"You are asking me to go against the governance of my religion, and my fathers wishes." Hafie said solemnly. "I am not sure I could do that."

"Hafie, That is true. If you are to be asked to stop a wrong, is it against your religion?"

"How can I stop this terrible wrong? You are asking me to enforce a terrible choice against people who choose to save those they love."

Stopping to think of this point of view, Cathy had to think this one through. "Hafie, How old do you think a person should be to make a choice like this?"

"It depends on the maturity of the person. Some people are terribly selfish and are never able to make a choice. Others who are very young do understand what is being asked of them and can make a choice such as this with great maturity."

"This is true." Cathy replied. "However, there are laws of men as well as customs and laws of your religion. We are as bound by the laws of men as you are to your custom and religion. These laws carry a penalty for us. If we are known to have actively aided this substitution, Findley would loose it's license, we would be closed down and all of us here would be condemned immediately."

"That would be the will of god in any event." Hafie replied.

"True. But the others who would take our place would be far worse to the women who come here."

"How can you say that?" Hafie asked.

"Because we care. We treat women who come here as if they are friends and family. And we treat them with dignity."

"So you say. But all I have seen of you is this reception room."

"Hafie, if you would like, please come with me and I will show you."

Standing up, Cathy indicated that Hafie follow her down the way to Examination.

"This is where we start he process. Stage one is our intake room with the forms and our discussion. This is our stage two." Cathy said as she picked up the blood draw supplies in the first exam room. "Please unwrap your arm."

Quickly taking several blood samples, Cathy explained that this was for health analysis reasons as well as indicators of her body's classification as meat. "Sick people are usually sent home with a limited delay to recovery. Usually we don't have many."

Hafie followed Cathy to the lavatory, and filled the urine sample cup. "Here is where we drop the samples off for grading. That is done while we are in the third stage area. Follow me." Cathy said as she led Hafie to the stripping room.

"Here is where we match up your belongings and paperwork. That way we can ship all your things back to your family."

Hafie looked at the boxes sitting on the table and felt a shiver. "These are the ones from the other girls?"

"Yes. They are all boxed and ready to go back home. Go ahead and look at them if you like. It will be a few minutes while I run the samples through testing. That way you can see how things are treated."

Reading the intake form on one of the boxes, she saw that Kashia had been rated Prime, was fifty five kilos, and all of her instructions regarding her pets, bank accounts and disposal of goods were clearly listed. "The problem is that this was not Kashia. This was Richa, and she was here for her aunt. So all of this information is false." Hafie whispered.