Chapter 3
Gaining Freedoms
Sharon still had her own personal reservations, which she’d not expressed. The other females had begged, pleaded, and bargained for more freedom. Duggin had been with them for three weeks now without any incidents occurring. They also had not gotten any closer to finding the mercenaries that they suspected hid nearby.
Gayle had argued the hardest. She wanted to find a mate rather than learn a trade or skill she could use. Until males were allowed here or the females were allowed to leave, that just wasn’t happening. Sharon felt bad for herm even though she wasn’t a friend. That woman probably never would be a friend because she wasn’t nice, plus she was selfish. In fact, she was one of the women that had put on some garish makeup then pranced around nearly naked in an attempt to catch Duggin’s eye.
The one that had given up last, trying to intercept him even after his goal was clear, had been Gayle. The woman wasn’t bad looking, it was her personality that was flawed. That was something it might take a male a while to notice. By then, he might be mated for life. She was on the hunt, more so than any of the others. Gayle was the driving force behind the push to let males in or go out into the world to see them, regardless of the risks.
Now, the Mazlans had relented. Their males would be allowed in to socialize in small groups. All the females interested in mating had been asked to fill out a form. The priests, or whatever their religious leaders were called, selected the males based on who they believed was likely to find a mate among the refugees.
The same choices to gain mates had not been given to the males among them. Instead, they had been offered a chance to train to fight. Once trained, they would be allowed to join the military or live outside the refugee housing independently as they searched for a job. Only two of the eight males had chosen to do so. Both of those had asked to live with the other trainees. Maybe they just wanted to escape the constant whining of some of the females looking for mates.
There were times Sharon wished she could escape. Clancy would soon be enrolled in college and her and Duke were already living in their own home. Eventually the Mazlans hoped to disperse all the refugees among their population. Some of the males, Ralph in particular, might not be so easy to disperse. He had no intention of finding a job. It was his belief he should be cared for the rest of his life because of what he’d been through.
Sharon didn’t know much about him except that he’d come to Zero about a month ago. He refused to discuss his past saying it was too painful. His eyes were shifty, he never looked anyone straight in the eyes when he could avoid it. She tried to avoid the man, but he constantly sought her out whenever she was alone. It made her feel uneasy.
Right now seemed to be one of those times. The hair on the back of her neck stood up as goosebumps broke out on her skin. She was sitting in the library alone since it was late at night. Sharon hadn’t been able to sleep. Looking up, she saw Ralph sneaking up on her. He was looking around as if he worried someone might see him. His walk was slow as if he struggled to be quiet.
Standing, she was posed for a quick retreat if needed. “What brings you here so late at night?”
“Couldn’t sleep. You?” Ralph asked.
“Same, but I was about to go. Good night.”
“Don’t you want to stay to talk?”
“School is early in the morning.”
“You’re always here way before class starts.”
“I need to study. I also have to keep up on my reading.”
Sharon walked away. She had no desire to be drawn into a long conversation. One thing that struck her was the way he’d said she was always early as if he’d been watching her. Shaking off the uncomfortable feeling his words gave her, she went to her room. Once she got in there, she was able to get ready then get to sleep quickly.
In the morning, she pushed the whole scene with Ralph from her mind. She showered, dressed, then headed to breakfast where she found Duggin looking for her. They ate almost every meal together. It gave them time to learn about each other. Since he’d arrived, she felt like they’d become well acquainted. In the space station, she’d never known anyone well.
That had changed since they’d been freed. Now, they could make friends with whoever they wanted. Sharon found she was cautious about who that was. Only a handful of people had earned her trust, Clancy being the closest one. Both of them had decided on their choice of careers with Sharon choosing nursing, maybe even becoming a doctor later, while Clancy would be a biologist. Both were good solid career choices.
They had studied together more before Clancy had moved out. Now Sharon was alone in the library more often. For some reason, being alone made her nervous. With Duke and Duggin here to protect them, she shouldn’t worry. Still, any security plan could fail. She’d been abducted before so that proved it.
She finished her breakfast, saying goodbye to Duggin as she prepared to enter the classroom to start her day. Ralph stood outside the classroom but she wondered why. He’d refused offers of education or skill training. The man was lazy, looking for a free ride. It might sound mean, but having a rough time was no excuse to rely on others to take care of you if you were capable of doing for yourself. Most of the women refused to be permanent dependents. They had skills they would learn to use.
Another week passed quickly. Sharon and Duggin were in the cafeteria when Gayle made her announcement. “I’ve heard they will be letting us have visitors. Six males at a time will come to a meet and greet twice a week.” Gayle told everyone.
“Have you heard anything about it?” Sharon whispered to Duggin.
“No, but that doesn’t mean it might not be true.”
Sharon found out later that it was. In two days, the first group of males would be visiting. It seemed strange Gayle had known before their security males, Duggin and Duke, had. Duggin had explained that she might know because she had been the one to present the argument that had swayed the Mazlans. Gayle had pointed out that several of the women would find mates which would give them their own households. Their mates would be responsible for them, giving the Mazlans more resources for those left in refugee status.
Personally, the males might be the larger problem. Those unwilling to find a job were also unlikely to find a mate. Ralph, so far, was the only one who wasn’t even trying. All the other males were at least taking training to try to find something they wanted to do. Larry had figured it out, he would be a farmer. It was surprising that he would take almost as much training as Clancy did. A lot of it was the same too.
Clancy visited for a while every few days. Sharon missed her terribly, but having Duggin here helped ease her. She knew that as they moved on with their lives they would have many changes. It was a certainty on her part that they would always be friends, but how much they saw each other would change. Both of them had picked exciting and challenging fields. They were also both finding relationships they were pursuing. Actually, Clancy’s was already a done deal. Hers was a matter yet to be decided.
She and Duggin were at breakfast talking as they ate. “Today is the day. Be careful, this is a security nightmare. A band is coming in as well as the six Mazlan males.”
“I’ll stay back from the partiers. I have no interest in it. My schoolwork is more important.” Duggin seemed happy that she had no interest in visiting males. It surprised her he would think she might. Maybe they needed to have a talk or do something different. He’d not even kissed her yet. Could it be she was misreading their whole situation?
Sharon wasn’t an aggressive female, she wouldn’t make the first move. What if he never made one? They’d become good friends, but maybe she’d imagined that there was anything more. He might be using her to keep the other women away. It might not be a conscious choice, maybe he thought she wasn’t interested either.
Once class began, her day moved fast. Soon, it was lunch with the meet and greet beginning now. She headed to the cafeteria to eat which put her in the middle of the whole thing. Gayle had left class early to be the first in line to meet the guests. The woman probably wanted first choice. The six males were big strapping gents. They had dark good looks to go with their muscular bodies. They all seemed a bit shy when presented with so many females.
Gayle checked them out looking for all the world like a she was wanting to buy the choicest specimen. Sharon didn’t like the way it looked. These guys weren’t slaves being sold, they were males looking for a life mate.
The damned woman walked up to one of the guys. “Is there a sheet with information on you guys so I can learn more about you?”
“What do you need to know?” The guy asked. He seemed to be the one the others deferred to.
“Your position, can you support a mate well, and what do you do for a living?”
“What is position?” He asked.
“Razar is your leader. His brothers are each in charge of something,” Gayle explained.
“Leading is what Razar does for a living, but his father is our ruler. Razar is a prince.”
“So what do you do?”
“I’m a night manager at the mines,” he said.
“Does that pay well?”
“Yes. Are you sure you don’t want to know our names?” He asked looking confused.
“I’m not sure I’ll need to know.”
Sandy walked closer. “I’d like to know your name.” She smiled shyly. “I’m Sandy.”
The man smiled at her. “I’m Golir. These are my brother Nodir, Jodir, Lodir, Kodir, and Bodir.”
“You’re parents liked rhyming names?” She asked.
“It is a family thing. The dir ending denotes my father’s bloodline. He was a noble, but not a royal.”
Gayle stepped up to Sandy pushing her out of the way. “You’re part of the nobility?”
“We don’t have that here, but yes. Excuse me,” Golir said. He moved off to find Sandy. They went to a quiet corner to sit.
Golir’s brothers looked at Gayle in horrified fascination. They stepped away one at a time looking for other women to speak to. Gayle shrugged. “They weren’t suitable. I hope they send better prospects next time.”
Sharon had a sinking suspicion these were well connected, well off males that could support a wife in the manner Gayle would like. Her way of questioning them had left a lot to be desired. It was time to head back to the library to get some work done. The others were out of school for the day due to the meet and greet. Anything she wanted to get done this afternoon would be on her own. That was alright. She worked on her own well getting much accomplished most of the time.
Once she was in the library, she got down to work. Her subjects were set up in sections with assigned reading, then a question portion. Once she worked through six sections, she would have a test. When she worked through twelve, she would have a final.