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“Itsounds like a good situation,”Andiagreed.
Shewas feeling relieved.Shehad plenty of gold and silver pieces left and more than enough to buy a ticket for the shuttle.Thatreminded her of her other plan.
“Flow-da,Iwas wondering if you’d like to go shopping with me after breakfast—er,FirstMeal?” she asked. “Imean, if you don’t have anything else to do.Ionly have these same clothesIhad on when we crashed yesterday andI’dlike to buy something else to wear.”
“Oh, shopping!I’dlove to!”Flow-da clapped her hands excitedly. “AndIknow all the best shops in town!You’llsee—we’ll get you tricked out in style!You’lllook like a trueZo’rathian!”
“Downto the shopping district is it?”GoodieTight-azz came stumping out of the kitchen, carrying a wide wooden tray filled with steaming plates. “Good.Thetwo of you can come with me and attend myNOmeeting then.”
“Oh, um…”Andididn’t know what to say to that.Shedidn’t want to go to the meeting of theNewOrder—it sounded very strict and judgmental.Butshe didn’t see how to get out of it, either.
“Wecouldn’t infringe on your meeting,GoodieTight-azz,”Flow-da protested—clearly she didn’t want to go either. “Itjust wouldn’t be right!”
“Nonsense—it won’t be infringement at all.Anyway, you girls need a little guidance in your lives and theNewOrderis just exactly where to get it.Youtwo will be my guests—Iinsist.”
AndGoodieTight-azz glared at the two of them so fiercely,Andifelt like it was impossible to refuse.
“Well, thank you,” she said, trying to smile. “That’sso kind of you.Er…are we supposed to bring ourManimalstoo?”
“Ofcourse!Theygo wherever we go—got to keep an eye on them lest they run wild,”GoodieTight-azz declared. “I’mbringingManfred.”
Shenodded at the sad olderManimalwho was still chained in the corner of the dining room with a small pile of dark brown kibble in a bowl in front of him.Andiwondered if he’d been allowed to leave the spot last night or if he was chained there all the time.Itseemed like a very inhumane way to treat a person who had once been sentient—or any creature at all, for that matter.
Andihoped thatCadewould behave during the meeting, but she could only nod dutifully and exchange glances withFlow-da.
“Don’tworry—you girls will still have plenty of time to shop once the meeting is over,”GoodieTight-azz remarked. “It’sonly about four solar hours long.Nowcome on—dig in while the digeridoo is still hot!”
Andshe began spooning large helpings of something that looked like chunky blue stew into their bowls.
Fourhours?Andi’sheart dropped.Shewished theMoonshuttle was here right this minute.Livingin a house run by someone likeGoodieTight-azz was beginning to grate on her nerves.Itwasn’t nice to feel like she was being cheated and she had no privacy.Notto mention the fact that now she was being forced to go to afour hourmeeting she didn’t have any desire to attend!
Ifit wasn’t for the fact that the ship is broken and there’s no power,I’dgo back and stay there,she told herself.Butof course, there was also the pack of wildManimalsto think of—she wasn’t anxious to deal with them again either.
No, it seemed like she was stuck withGoodieTight-azz, at least for this week until theMoonshuttle came.
Shewould just have to live with it and try to stay on her landlady’s good side.
27
ANDI
TheNewOrdermeeting hall or “Haven” was set up a little like a church,Andithought.Ithad two rows of benches and a wooden podium up front that could have been used as a pulpit.Butbefore you got to the main hall, you had to go through a kind of line.Therewere some wooden screens set up and women on either side were handing out strange looking garments.
“Er…what are these?”Andiasked blankly, when a woman shoved one into her hands.
“Theseare your atonement clothes—don’t worry, we wash them before every meeting,” the woman said briskly. “Justgo behind a screen and strip to the waist—then you can put the atonement top on, open to the back.”
Thisseemed extremely odd toAndi, but since everyone else in the whole meeting hall was putting on the atonement garments, she guessed she would have to do it.
Shedidn’t like stripping down, even behind the screen.Cadewas with her and he was already eyeing her breasts again as she pulled her red wrap dress down to her waist.
“Notright now,”Anditold him as he leaned down to nuzzle her neck.Hewas walking upright again, rather than all fours.Whichwas good except when he got an erection—as he had right now—itreallystuck out.Andihad seen several of the other women shooting both her andCadedisapproving glances—as if she could help it if he got a hard-on, she thought indignantly!
Possibly, though, they were disapproving of the way he walked upright and didn’t have a collar on.Allthe otherManimalswere on all fours and—with the exception ofHartford,Flow-da’sManimal—they all had on either choke collars or control collars.
Noneof them looked very happy toAndi, but she didn’t feel like she could say anything in this crowd.Allof the women here had the same grim expression asGoodieTight-azz—as though they’d all tasted something sour but were too proud to spit it out.
Andiopened the atonement garment and studied how to put it on.Itwas light blue and resembled a long-sleeved hospital johnny which tied at the back of the neck and then fell open to reveal her bare back.Thesleeves were long and loose and the garment itself was short enough that it only fell to her waist.
