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Not out of the Dome, necessarily—there was still no way to do that. But maybe she could at least get out of the house. She felt stifled with her thoughts going round and round in an endless circle of guilt and shame and need and desire.
Fresh air—I need fresh air,Mia told herself. But where could she go?
Suddenly she remembered that during their “tour” of the Dome, Brother Jonash had mentioned a library. True the only books housed there were the “Wisdom of the Prophet” but Mia didn’t care. Maybe she could dig up more evidence against the PPP to prove they were a cult. Or maybe she might find a set of blueprints for the Dome and somehow discover a way out for Sev and herself.
Or maybe she would just have a walk in the artificial sunshine and clear her head. That was better than pacing in circles obsessing and reliving the past, Mia told herself. And if anyone asked why she, as a wife, was out of the house, she could always claim that she longed to learn more of The Prophet’s wisdom. Who could say no to that? It was the perfect cover.
“I’ll do it,” Mia said aloud. “If I stay in here one more minute I’m going to go insane!”
Taking a deep breath, she walked to the front door and left the small domicile, headed in the direction of the library. She might find out something important…or she might find out nothing at all. But anything was better than staying cooped up indoors with nothing but her own guilty thoughts for company.
It was time to get out of the house.
THIRTY-FIVE
MIA
Awalk through the park did Mia a world of good. By the time she reached the library—which was a small white dome-shaped building which looked like three of the white domicile units put together—she was feeling much more clear-headed.
She felt odd stepping inside a public building without shoes on, but none of the women in the Dome wore shoes. Mia supposed the PPP literally wanted to keep their female members barefoot and pregnant. She bet herself if she asked about birth control, she would find out it was outlawed or at least strongly frowned on. Once more she was reminded of her old sect and the way they kept women subservient.
Once inside, she found herself in a cool, dim room steeped in a hushed quiet she associated with libraries back home. There were no shelves of books, however—instead she saw rows of desks with light keyboards imprinted on them. A few of them were occupied—by men, of course. They were sitting at the desks, staring with rapt attention. In the center of each desk, a small hologram of the prophet seemed to be lecturing, but Mia couldn’t hear what he was saying. After a moment she realized why—the men were all wearing ear-pieces.
“Yes? Can I help you?” A man with pale blue skin, receding silver hair, and bulging blue eyes was looking at Mia coldly.
“Oh, um…I’m new to the PPP and I was hoping to learn more of the Wisdom of the Prophet,” she said quickly, trying to look humble and hopeful at the same time. “My Spiritual Advisor, Brother Jonash, said this was where all of the Prophet’s teachings could be found,” she added.
“Well…” The male librarian—if that was what he was—looked somewhat mollified by her words. “Have you finished all your household chores for today?” he asked. “And have you done everything your husband asked of you?”
Mia wanted to tell him it was none of his fucking business, but she swallowed her anger along with her pride and nodded humbly.
“Oh yes, Brother,” she said, giving him an earnest look. “I would never venture out of my domicile if I hadn’t.”
“All right then.” At last he looked satisfied by her answer. “Come with me and I’ll teach you how to use the holo-desks. They’re a bit tricky—most females have a little trouble catching on,” he added.
“That’s all right, Brother Beemux—I’ll show her.”
Mia turned to see who was talking. It her surprise it was the same woman that Kissie and Teebra had pointed out to her yesterday as one of The Prophet’s Concubines. The one with the willowy figure and long hair. What was her name again?”
“Hello, I’m Sister Zellah,” the woman said, answering her question. “You must be new here, Sister…?”
“Oh, Sister Mia,” Mia said quickly, smiling at the other woman. “Thank you so much for offering to help me.”
“Yes, thank you for offering, Sister Zellah,” the librarian, whose name was apparently Brother Beemux, said stiffly. “I really have no time to deal with trying to teach a woman—I have important duties to attend to.”
“Go attend to them Brother,” Sister Zellah said, nodding. “You shouldn’t be bothered with us women—we’ll be quiet as can be.”
“Very well.” He nodded and turned away to the back counter.
“Come on—let’s go in the other room. It’s less crowded.” Sister Zellah hooked her arm through Mia’s and led her away. They walked around the corner and into another part of the library where there were more rows of holo-desks, all of them empty.
“Thank you for coming to rescue me,” Mia said in a low voice. “I, uh, don’t think Brother Beemux wanted to be bothered with me.”
“Oh, he’s one of the males who doesn’t like the idea of women reading.” Sister Zellah’s voice was hushed but Mia could hear the bitterness in it. “In fact, he and several of the Elders have gone to The Prophet with the proposal that reading shouldn’t even be taught to the female children of the Dome. They believe it’s better for them to grow up ignorant—supposedly it will make them better wives if they can’t read and ‘fill their heads with nonsense.’”
“What?” Mia exclaimed so loudly that the other woman shushed her, a worried look on her face. “Sorry,” Mia lowered her voice to a whisper. “But that’s terrible! I mean, isn’t it?” she asked, watching Zellah warily. Was she dealing with a true believer like Teebra or a skeptic like Kissie? She didn’t need to get reported if Zellah was the former instead of the latter.
“Yes, it’s terrible,” Zellah said, causing Mia to breathe an inward sigh of relief. “But what can any of us do about it? The men rule here in the PPP Dome—we women have no say in the matter. We can’t even stop our daughters from growing up illiterate,” she added bitterly. Then she cast a glance at Mia. “I’m sorry if I’m shocking you. Maybe I’ve said too much.”
