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For a brief moment, Sev had an almost overpowering urge to turn and keep him from locking it. He wanted to say,
“Wait, there’s been a mistake! We’ve changed our minds!” and then get himself and Mia the Seven Hells out of there.
The feeling was so strong he had to actively fight against it. They were here for a mission, he reminded himself. They had to expose the PPP cult for what it was—if not, it was coming to Earth. And who knew how much damage The Prophet might do if he got access to the influential leaders of the small blue and green planet the Kindred protected? The humans didn’t always pick the best among them to be leaders—they were often swayed by greed or fame. He and Mia couldn’t run away just because he felt some misgivings.
“Misgivings” was a mild word, though. Every instinct he had was shouting at him to run and Sev wasn’t used to ignoring his instincts. He forced himself to do it this time, though, and waited until Brother Jonash had finished locking the thick metal door behind them.
“If you’ll come this way, I’ll give you an abbreviated tour as I show you to your very own Smart Bungalow,” he told Sev. “I’m afraid we don’t have time for more than that—at least not now. You’ve come at the end of our work cycle and it’s almost time for the Evening Dimming.”
“The Evening Dimming?” Mia asked, and since Brother Jonash continued to rudely ignore her, Sev repeated the question, trying to tamp down his irritation as he did so.
“What is the Evening Dimming?” he said.
“Oh, that’s when the artificial star we have at the top of the dome gets turned down for the night,” Brother Jonash explained, still speaking exclusively to Sev. “It powers our Dome and gives us heat and light to grow our plants and crops. We don’t ever turn it off completely—we just dim it at night so that everyone can get some rest,” he added.
“Hmm…I see.” Sev nodded. It sounded to him like the artificial star at the top of the PPP Dome was similar to the artificial green sun that powered and heated the Kindred Mother Ship, but he had never heard of any other people having such power.
It troubled him—the green sun in the Mother Ship was what gave the Kindred their ability to fold space and go from one point in the universe to any other point instantly. If a cult like the PPP gained such an ability, they could spread everywhere—like a cancer spreading throughout the universe.
The path they were on was leading them upwards and after a moment they broke out of the dense tropical vegetation and Sev saw they were standing at the top of a hill. It wasn’t very tall, but it was high enough that they could see the whole Dome laid out before them—though the far walls were so far away he could only make them out as faint, rainbow glimmers.
“Here we are—you can get a good view of your new home from here.” Brother Jonash surveyed the area spread before them with obvious pride. “Over there are the crop fields and the greenhouse,” he said, nodding to Sev’s left. “That’s most probably where you’ll be for your work assignment—the men always work outside the home,” he added.
“Are those the domiciles? The houses?” Sev asked, nodding at rows and rows of neat, orderly white domes laid out in front of them.
“Oh yes—each Smart Bungalow is meant for a single couple—it’s just big enough for two.”
“What about the children?” Mia asked and this time she was talking to Sev. Clearly she’d given up on trying to get Brother Jonash to answer her.
“Yes, whataboutthe children?” Sev asked. “We saw some in your Outernet ads—do you have any domiciles big enough for families?”
“Actually, we don’t believe in children living in the adult’s section of the Dome.” Brother Jonash spoke almost primly, as though he was mentioning some delicate subject. “It wouldn’t do for them to witness Marital Punishment until they’re old enough to understand. A child’s innocence must be preserved, you know—especially when it comes to, ahem,intimatematters.”
Sev saw Mia’s eyes widen and she mouthed,“Marital Punishment?”to him, her eyebrows raised. Sev wondered what it meant as well. This was the second or third time Brother Jonash had said something about “punishment” without giving an explanation. And this time he seemed to be equating it to some kind of sexual activity. What in the Seven Hells was going on in this Dome between the males and the females?
Before Sev could ask, however, Brother Jonash went on.
“The far quarter of the Dome is devoted to the children—they’re raised by the single Aunties who haven’t been called to take a husband or have lost their husbands and are too old to bear more children themselves.”
“So…you separate the children from their parents?” Sev asked, frowning. “What about the newborns and the babies? You take them from their mothers?”
“It’s necessary so that couples can live their lives in the way the Prophet has decreed.” Brother Jonash sounded slightly defensive, Sev thought. “Of course, all of the women here in the Dome help to feed the babies—mother’s milk and nourishing breast nectar is important for their development,” he added and for once, he addressed his remarks to Mia. “You’ll be able to help with that—all the women who live in the Dome do their part.”
“Because feeding the babies is women’s work?” Mia asked flatly. She looked supremely unimpressed.
Sev thought that his partner was probably going to have to employ her “poke-her” face more while they stayed in the PPP Dome because right now she wasn’t even trying—probably because this whole situation was frustrating to her. He didn’t blame her—it frustrated him too. No one should be treated like a second-class citizen for any reason—including their gender.
Brother Jonash frowned at Mia’s comment.
“Ofcourseit’s women’s work,” he said shortly. “Men aren’t equipped to do such tasks. Anyway, let’s move on.”
He turned back to Sev and pointed out several other features of the Dome, including the public gardens and park and a small building which he called “The Library of the Prophet” where the Prophet’s ‘Words of Wisdom’ were collected. Then he pointed to a grand building with a tall spire, rising almost to the top of the shimmering rainbow Dome. It was much bigger than any of the small, white, unassuming Smart Bungalow domiciles he had pointed out earlier.
“Andthatis the Inner Sanctum. It is where our Prophet lives and also where the Binding Ceremonies are performed. If you and your wife pass our period of initiation—and I very much hope you will—you’ll be allowed to go inside. There the Prophet himself will perform a Binding Ceremony for the two of you that will tie your souls together for all time—even unto the Afterlife.”
“That sounds…special,” Sev remarked, not sure what else to say. “Will we see The Prophet beforehand?” he added, hoping the answer was yes—they needed to see Chud Brumpkin up close to find out what was giving him such power over these people.
“Oh certainly—though probably not up close,” Brother Jonash said, dashing Sev’s hopes. “He gives weekly lectures in the park that all are required to attend but he rarely walks among us. It’s draining for him, you know, to expend so much energy in personal contact. So he mostly stays within the Inner Sanctum writing his words of wisdom and performing Binding Ceremonies.”
