My own security-guide led me in the direction of the end of the lines and beyond them to a set of guarded doors, then through the doors and past what looked like another guard post. This one was at the end of a normal-type corridor, but one without any doors or desks or anything. We walked the thirty feet to the end of it, stopped in front of yet another door, and after a moment were allowed in through it to the inner sanctum. There seemed to be an awful lot of guards for a bunch of women who mostly appeared to want to be where they were, but maybe the Amalgamation simply wasn’t in the mood to take chances. The far side of the door had its own set of white uniforms, and also a fork in the road. The corridors to either side curved away out of sight, and we took the one to the left.
When we rounded the curve I was able to see another widened area, one that had three desks to the right and a single door of glowing yellow to the left. The door was what I was led up to, and when my guide opened it I saw an older woman seated at a large desk in an office decorated almost as well as Director Gearing’s had been. At first I thought her desk was also almost as empty, but moving closer showed me it was neat rather than unused. She had a number of folders in precise stacks in front of her, and when my guide gave her the papers she was carrying they were placed carefully on top of one of the folders.
“Ah, the Prime Terrilian Reya,” she said, looking up at me with a smile that could have used something to warm it. “I’m pleased to welcome you to our facility, dear, and will do everything possible to make your stay with us a pleasant one. I’m sure you already know how unusual your condition is, and frankly I’m looking forward to having you as a guest. We so rarely get the benefit of an outside opinion regarding our efforts.”
“So I’m a guest,” I said, moving to one of the chairs in front of her desk and sitting in it. “I seem to have noticed an awful lot of guards in this vacation facility. Do you have that many guests trying to refuse your hospitality?”
“Of course not,” she said, and her smile widened just a little, to show she was properly amused at the joke I’d made. “The guards aren’t for the ladies of our facility, they’re for another purpose entirely. The young men are too often visitors to our areas, and it’s on their account that the guards are stationed where they are. Some of them consider it amusing to attempt leaving the complex in ways other than the ones permitted to them, and we really can’t allow that. They’re-too high-spirited-to be allowed out on their own, but boys will be boys and they continue to try.”
“They must be absolutely adorable,” I commented, a mutter the woman didn’t seem to hear. She was too busy reading the papers she’d been given by my guide, and didn’t even look up when another woman wearing a uniform in the same yellow as hers came in and put a cup of something on the desk in front of me. The second woman left as quietly as shed entered, and a minute or so later the older woman looked up again.
“Your medical preparations are complete, so we can get right to seeing you settled in,” she said, sounding as though there had been no lag in our conversation. “It’s nearly lunchtime, so you’ll soon be having your first introduction to the young men. The thing you must keep in mind at all times is that they know exactly how special and important they are, and you are to do nothing that will seem as though you’re challenging them. They challenge each other on a regular basis, you see, as part of their training, so you must be sure not to involve yourself in that. It would be very unwise, and we certainly don’t want their instructors lodging protests, do we?”
Once again I was given that small, cool smile meant to be so companionable and approving, the smile that went so well with the woman’s lean face. Her eyes were dark and her hair a reddish brown worn very short, and her hands were long-fingered and fairly graceful. She hadn’t done a single thing to offend or harm me, but it was all I could do to bear her presence without screaming.
“As a newcomer, you’ll almost certainly find yourself the center of attention, at least for a short time,” the woman went on, folding her hands on the desk as she looked at me. “The fact that you’re also quite attractive will no doubt add to that, and you mustn’t be upset if the men become somewhat-boisterous. It’s simply the way they show approval, and they won’t cause you any true harm. All you need do is go along with whatever they ask of you, and everything will be fine. You’ll find that we’ve helped you out as far as your own interest is concerned, so you needn’t worry that you won’t find an eagerness to match theirs. You . . . ”
“Just a minute,” I interrupted, finally finding a reason to resume my end of the conversation. “What do you mean, you’ve ‘helped me out’? What sort of help are you talking about?”
“My dear girl, you don’t think we’d throw you into a situation like this without help, do you?” she asked in turn, just as unbearably patient as that man Serdin had been. “You’ve been given a stimulant to match your body chemistry, one that will cause arousal in you when the men are present. You’ll find yourself wanting their attention, which is, after all, preferable to being frightened and unsure. As I’m sure you’ve already been told, we’re here to assist you in every way we can. We want you to be happy while you’re with us.”
Happy. In the way that herd animals are kept happy. I sat back in the chair without saying anything one hand rubbing at my forehead, trying to remember the time I’d been given the same sort of selfless help once before. There had been a time, I was as certain as I could be of that, but I couldn’t quite recall the circumstances. All I could remember was a sense of terror and shame, mixed well with the sure knowledge that I was completely alone with no hope of rescue. Just like right then, trapped on a world I’d never even heard of.
“Now, despite the fact that you’ll be distracted, you’ll be expected to eat everything given to you at every meal,” the woman went on, apparently taking my silence for agreement. “In your position you’ll require a carefully balanced diet, and that’s what you’ll be given. That, combined with proper exercise, will bring you to full health and keep you there. I learned from your file that you were fed this morning before being allowed to awaken, but you haven’t yet had anything for midmorning. That broth in front of you should do for now, and as soon as you’ve finished it I’ll have you shown to your assigned place.”
The woman ended her little speech and gave me another of those smiles, her expression showing she was waiting patiently for me to comply. Since there was no real reason for me to refuse, there was no reason for her to expect that I would. Reason was the key, with everyone being as reasonable as possible, and it didn’t matter to anyone how completely and totally unreal it all was to me.
“I don’t want any broth right now,” I said, trying to push back narrowing, invisible walls. “I haven’t done anything to make me hungry or thirsty.”
“You don’t need to be hungry or thirsty, dear,” the woman came back, all ready with her smile and her patience and her reasonable explanation. “What you need is proper nourishment, and we’re here to be sure that you get it. Drink the broth, and then you may go.”
“And then I may go,” I echoed, suddenly remembering very vividly that same attitude in the woman who had run the creche I’d been raised in. I hadn’t particularly cared for the attitude then, and I certainly didn’t like it now. Most especially didn’t like it now.