Chapter 3: The Hut

After breakfast the next morning, Sonia had them all out playing the game with the green cloth on the ground. Most of the children were used to it from the mainland camp, but Patience and her own three children: Nelson, Grace and Walter, hadn't played it before. They quickly got the trick of walking across the cloth. Hope noticed that Sonia had them playing a slightly different version, because she always had them do it in the same order. Sonia led the group, carrying Bobo, with the others following her by age, youngest first. That put Hope at the end of Sonia's group, with Patience following behind, leading her own group of children. Sonia told Hope to make sure that all the children followed on correctly. The young ones still got a sweet each, but they had to go back into the hut to get them from the replicators.

Hope asked Sonia what the point of the game was, but the only answer she got was, "You'll see," coupled with a mysterious smile.

By midday two more groups had arrived to fill up the hut, Celina with eight children and Kassa with nine! It turned out that one of Kassa's group, Ayesha, had only just turned fourteen -- her birthday had been two days after Hope's -- and she was going to be travelling separately, along with her younger brother. She didn't have enough experience as a mother to be in charge of a lot of other children, so she would go as an ordinary concubine with her brother, Musa, as a dependant.

Hope was very glad to hear that. It meant that when she turned fourteen she should be able to stay with Solomon. Sonia told her that the Confederacy wanted to keep siblings in the Kindertransport program together, especially if they had lost both their parents. Hope's confirmation that she and Solomon were indeed orphans, verified Sonia's earlier hunch as to their motives for wanting to fight the Swarm.

That afternoon Sonia gave them their introduction to the sleep trainers. Both Celina and Kassa soon realised that Sonia knew more about things in the camp than they did, so they were happy to go along with her guidance. Unlike the med-tubes they didn't have to completely strip for the trainers, just take their sandals off. That was a relief for Hope, as she didn't want to undress in front of Nelson. Khadija and Ayesha had to take their hijabs off as well, but they timed it for when Nelson was in a tube for his learning session. Bobo had been running around barefoot so Hope had to help him wash his feet before he got his turn; he giggled when she tickled his toes. Each of the children only had a short initial lesson, mostly to get them used to the procedure. When Hope had her turn, the lesson was a repeat of what George had told her on the boat: children and concubines must do what they were told. George had turned out to be a very good source of advice.

Both Ayesha and her brother left later that afternoon, gone to the Moon Sonia said. Solomon was rather disappointed. He had wanted to see a big Moon rocket take them, but they just walked out of the hut, accompanied by one of Sonia's friends in grey.

No party hats and no cake for their evening meal this time, though the food was still good. With four women and twenty eight children eating, the long table was crowded and noisy.

That night in her bunk, Hope whispered to the AI through her wrist unit. She wanted to know how she could learn to be a sponsor and not a concubine. The AI promised her it would set up a special training course for her, starting tomorrow. She asked it to do the same for her brother; she wanted to be sure he became a Marine when he turned fourteen. After finishing her conversation with the AI, she turned over to go to sleep. As she did so, she noticed that Kwanza was sleeping in his mother's bunk. Perhaps he wanted some reassurance because of all the new children who had arrived earlier today. A few days ago he'd had Sonia all to himself. Now he was sharing her with six others, and there were even more children around with Patience, Celina and Kassa.

After breakfast the next morning, Hope finally found out what the game with the green cloth was really about. Sonia lead all four groups outside where they saw two Marines, one by each end of the hut. The Marine nearer Hope was holding a metal cylinder. He put the cylinder down and pushed a button on the top. It unfolded into a disk on the ground, not green but metallic. Hope could see the second Marine by the other end of the hut doing the same thing with a second cylinder.

The Marine started explaining to them all, "This is a transporter. It will take you to places far away. This one is going to take you to where you can see Private McKinlay there, standing near the south end of your hut," he pointed, to make sure everyone understood, and the other Marine waved her arm. "You remember the game with the green cloth?" he asked.

Hope nodded along with the others. Some of the children were holding their wrist units by their ears to get a translation.

"This transporter isn't green, so it won't do anything yet." He stepped onto the disk and nothing happened. When he stepped off the disk, he signalled to his comrade and the disk glowed red. "It still isn't green, it's red, so it won't transport you," he told them. "However, you should not step on a red transporter because things might happen."

Suddenly there was a second Marine standing on the transporter disk. The children all jumped in surprise, and Celina screamed slightly.

"That's why you shouldn't step onto a red transporter disk. Things can appear very suddenly on a red transporter disk. This is Private McKinlay, who was standing by the other disk." Private McKinlay smiled at the group, and Hope noticed that there wasn't anyone by the second disk any more.

The private stepped off the red disk, and it turned green. The first Marine carried on explaining, "The disk is now green, so it is OK to use it. Private McKinlay is going to use it to go back to where she came from on the other disk." The woman Marine stepped onto the green disk and disappeared. Hope could see her standing on the second disk by the other end of the hut.

"Look at the disk please, all of you," the Marine told them. "It's red. That's because Private McKinlay is still standing on the disk at the destination. When she steps off that one, this disk will go green." He waited a second for the other Marine to step off the disk at her end. Hope saw that the disk at this end glowed green again.

"That's why you have to keep moving and step off the disk at the other end," the Marine explained. "If you stand on the disk you stop the next person coming through behind you." Everyone nodded at that, though Bobo was just nodding because all the others were.

Next, the children had to watch while the four concubines practised going through the transporter on their own. Sonia was used to it, though the sudden jump in vision when she arrived was still a bit disconcerting. She was able to keep walking despite the change. Coming back, once the pair of disks had been reset, was easier. Celina was the most nervous of the four of them, but she managed to get it right.

Once they were back with the children, the four women got everyone into their groups and each group practised on its own, going through and coming back. Sonia, carrying Bobo, led the group through. Hope enjoyed it; she was always at the back keeping an eye on the others as they went through ahead of her. She could see the disk blink red as each of them transported, and then go green again when whoever was at the other end stepped off. The Marines were checking to make sure the children didn't follow too closely behind each other, and that they kept moving when they arrived on the destination disk. For the grand finale, the two Marines had everyone in the hut lined up: Sonia's group first, followed by Patience's, Celina's and lastly Kassa's. All of them went through twice, ending up back where they had started.

When everyone was through the transporters for the final time, Solomon asked Sonia, "Where are the sweets?"

"In the replicators, as usual, Solomon," Sonia told him. At that, most of the children made a rush into the hut to get their reward, while the two Marines packed up the transporters ready to move on to the next hut to repeat their demonstration.

There was still a bit of time before lunch, so Hope asked if she and Solomon could explore the camp for a bit.

"Yes you can, but don't go too far and don't take too long," Sonia told them.

As they walked, Hope told her brother about her talk with the AI the previous night. "It will give you some extra lessons to help you be a Marine. You have to be sure to do all the work it sets for you."

"Yes Hope, I'll work really hard so I can be the best Marine ever," Solomon assured her. "Do you like Sonia?" he changed the subject abruptly. "I think she's nice. She's much nicer than Mrs Maruge was, more like Patience, except she tells us what to do as well as hugs us."

Hope agreed with him, "She's really nice, and she knows a lot about how things work here, because she's been here much longer than we have. We should do everything she tells us. Even when she tells us we can't have any more sweets."

Solomon frowned at that. "Race you to the next hut!" he shouted suddenly, and took off at his fastest speed. With her longer legs Hope could usually beat him, but he had surprised her and was already stretching out a lead. She tried, but he just managed to beat her to the hut, White Twelve she noticed in passing. "Beat you! Beat you!" he teased her. "I'm a Marine and I'm the fastest!"

On their way back to White Six, Hope could see two camp staff giving the transporter demonstration to the groups in one of the other huts. It wasn't two Marines this time, but one Marine and one of Sonia's friends in grey. Hope realised that Sonia must have given that same demonstration herself many times before.

Most of their afternoon was taken up with sleep-learning. There weren't enough trainers for all the kids, so they would only have long sessions every other day, either morning or afternoon. That still left plenty of time for play, as well as homework. There weren't as many Marines around this camp as there had been soldiers around the mainland camp, so Solomon couldn't learn as many new things from them. The AI did replicate an inactivated RLI-1 Laser Rifle for him, so he could practice stripping it and putting it back together. He was really pleased with that, it obviously wasn't just a toy, but almost the real thing.

That night when she climbed up to her bunk, Hope found Bobo already asleep there. She thought he had noticed Kwanza the previous night and had decided to do the same thing himself. Hope gently moved the three year old over and settled in next to him. It struck her that in a year's time she would be ready to have her own children, so she might as well start getting used to it now.

The next morning there was more practice with the transporters, though this time they didn't just go to the other end of the hut. They ended up somewhere completely different, a big empty shed. Sonia said it was the airport arrivals hall. Having travelled by boat, Hope and Patience's groups hadn't seen inside it before. It was more familiar to Celina and Kassa's groups, who'd arrived by plane in the usual way. Jumping to a completely different destination was more disconcerting than it had been yesterday, but it wasn't so different that anyone forgot to step off the transporter or to follow the person in front. They all went back and forth a few times, so everyone got used to the sudden transition between outside and inside.

After lunch, Sonia, Hope and Khadija were in the kitchen helping clean up. Bobo was trying to help as well, putting the occasional dirty plate into the recycler. As they worked, Hope asked, "Were you married, Sonia?"

"Yes I was. He was a pilot, but we got divorced when Kwanza was two. I moved back in with my parents, so they could look after him while I carried on working. We needed the money."

"I'm sorry I asked," Hope apologised, "I didn't realise." She felt stupid for having asked the question. She should have realised that it might have embarrassed Sonia. She'd spoken without thinking.

"That's all right, Hope," Sonia reassured her, "It happened a long time ago. Life hasn't been too bad for us, and now I have all of you as well. Besides, I'll get myself a new sponsor when we get to our colony."

Taking the opportunity to change the subject, Hope asked, "What do you want your sponsor to be, Navy or a Marine?"

"A Marine, or maybe Fleet Auxiliary, I think. Some of the Navy concubines go fighting on warships, and I don't want to do that. It would be much too dangerous. I want to stay at home and raise children, not fight."

"Navy concubines can fight?" Hope had never heard of that before. Perhaps she could fight the Swarm even as a concubine.

The AI's voice interrupted them from a small speaker in the ceiling, "Some Navy concubines are used in non-combatant roles on warships, such as medical assistants."

"That's what I'll do then," Hope declared firmly. "If I'm a concubine, I'll pick a Navy sponsor and study to be a medical assistant." She was glad that there was a way for her to be directly useful in the fighting, even if she didn't make 6.5 on her CAP score straight away.

"Rather you then me, Hope," Sonia replied. Bringing the other girl into the conversation she asked, "What about you, Khadija? Who would you like as a sponsor?"

"Oh, I want someone older. When I'm fourteen I think I'd like my sponsor to be about seventeen or twenty. A husband should be older than his wives, so a sponsor should be older than his concubines."

"That might be difficult, Khadija," Sonia told her. "Most of the available sponsors in the colony are going to be fourteen, just as you will be. The older ones will already have picked their concubines. Even the new people, straight from Earth, will have got their concubines before arriving at the colony. You'll probably have to settle for a sponsor about your own age."

Khadija's face fell as Sonia was explaining. "But boys my age are so silly. I want a sensible sponsor. Somebody grown up."

"They'll be fourteen by then, not eleven," Hope interjected, "so they won't be quite so silly. But I agree it would be nicer to find an older sponsor. Like you say, it's better if the husband is a few years older than his wife."

That night, Hope found Bobo sleeping in her bunk again. She whispered to her AI link, "Why is Bobo in my bunk so often?"

Just as quietly the AI replied, "Genetic analysis indicates that, like you, his parents were tall and thin. You probably resemble his mother more than concubine Sonia does, so he identifies with you more."

Hope could understand that; both Sonia and Patience tended more towards short and plump. If his real parents had looked more like herself, then that would explain why little Bobo had taken to her so much. She asked the AI, "That was biology, wasn't it?"

"Yes, Hope. Do I understand from your earlier conversation in the kitchen, that you wish to have extra biology lessons included in your training?"

"Yes please. If I can't be a sponsor then I want to be a medical assistant on board a Navy ship."

For the next few days, the children spent their time playing, doing lessons and practising using the transporters. Solomon had quickly become an expert at stripping and reassembling his Laser Rifle, and Hope was beginning to find out that there was an awful lot of biology for her to learn. Sonia and the other adults had their own lessons, though they didn't have as much homework as the children did. A lot of their 'homework' was actually helping the children understand the things they had covered in their sleep training sessions.

Hope noticed that the oldest girl in Kassa'a group, twelve year old Neema, was often sick in the mornings. Remembering what her mother had been like when pregnant with her little sister Mercy, Hope asked Kassa about it during a quiet moment away from the others.

"Yes, Hope, you're right," Kassa told her. "Neema's pregnant, but please keep it quiet. She was attacked in the mainland camp and she's very unhappy about things. Let her talk to you about it if she wants to, but otherwise stay away from the subject."

"Oh, that's horrible for her," Hope said sympathetically. "I won't tell anyone. Did they catch who did it?"

"Not yet. But they'll be able to identify him if he ever turns up here, and I don't think the Confederacy will be letting him get away with it."

"Good," said Hope firmly. She was remembering those three poor women and the three wicked soldiers in the truck. Men like that should die, just like Absalom had arranged for Amnon to die.

Late that evening, after the children were in bed, the AI told the four concubines that they would all be leaving the camp in two days. It immediately followed up with, "In preparation for the move to the Transfer Camp, we will be enforcing the dress code for concubines from tonight. You must now remove all clothing and put on standard concubine attire. Four shifts are available from the replicator. You are allowed to retain a limited amount of personal jewellery."

Dismayed, the four of them looked at each other. Sonia decided that, as the hut leader, she should set an example, so she went over to the replicator to retrieve their concubine shifts. Giving each of the others a shift, she shook out the one tagged for her and looked at it. It was awful! Just as bad as the rumours had predicted: dull grey, shapeless and very, very brief. It was barely long enough to keep her decent; just as well she was quite short. If she were much taller it wouldn't cover anything at all. She understood why she had hardly ever seen any other women around in these shifts. They were only issued shortly before departure, and anybody forced to wear one would want to stay out of sight as much as possible, hidden in her hut.

With a resigned sigh she started removing her clothes. "Come on, ladies," she admonished the others. "We all knew this was going to happen sometime. We'll just have to get used to it."

Kassa was practically in tears, she was tall and her shift was hardly any longer than Sonia's. Celina asked the AI, "What about underclothes?"

"No underclothing is provided except when necessary for a few days during menstruation. If the shifts are not acceptable, then nudity is allowed as an alternative."

"Oh no! I'll wear the shift," Celina replied hastily and carried on undressing. Patience just changed in silence, doing what she was told.

In the morning Patience had to tell her oldest son not to stare. At eleven years old, Nelson was beginning to get interested in the differences between girls and boys, and the shifts let him see a lot more of the four women than he had before. Sonia was wishing that she had done more to keep her weight down to airline standards. The shift showed a lot more of her legs than even her old airline uniform, and they were rather plumper than they had been. Kassa especially found it really difficult, and spent a lot of time that morning lying on her bunk, where nobody could look at her.

She wasn't the only one finding the new dress code a problem. After breakfast the AI ordered them all outside. They found that three huts had been called out, White Six, Seven and Eight. One of the women in White Seven had refused to change out of her old clothes, and was being made an example of. For a minute Sonia was afraid that she was going to be executed in front of the children, but the corporal running things announced that she would be stripped naked before an audience as a punishment. Nowhere near as bad as being executed, but bad enough.