in that."
"Eden said that some females of your planet
can still have children, while others are entirely barren."
Ashleigh tried to wrap her head around the situation.
"I'm one of the unfortunate females who are
truly sterile. I won't have children of either sex. The scientific
community is almost certain that something happened universally to
us; either an unknown change to our genes or environment with the
end result of either true sterility or only male children being
born. I'm almost thirty-five years, and there are less than five
hundred females younger than me, on a planet where the males
outnumber the females 8 to 1. The men, they want to help the race
survive, not make more competition for future generations by only
having males."
"But I thought that men's sperm determined
the sex of the baby?"
"It should. But what we discovered through
many years of testing was that something happened between
fertilization of the egg and implantation in the uterus that
changed the baby from female to male. We tried inseminating them
artificially, but no matter how we manipulated them, the fetuses
always became male. The only time we could get female babies was
through the use of alien eggs and uteruses. It's unfortunate, I
know, and I do feel badly for you and the other women. But our
people are desperate."
Ashleigh protested, "But the babies that will
be born, they won't be either race, but a mix."
"It doesn't matter; our people can continue
on."
"How long have your people been abducting
women from other planets?"
She rolled her eyes in thought. "I became an
adult at sixteen years and they started testing the females shortly
after that, and then it took many years for the probes to return
with the right planets for the ships to take women from. Ten years,
perhaps."
"And you haven't found a cure or the reason
for the sterility?"
"No."
"And how many babies have been born since the
abductions started? How many girls to boys?"
She smiled. "The first mixed baby girl was
born about five years ago. Now there are over a dozen girls and
about thirty boys resulting from the abductions. There have been
numerous pilgrimages to other planets and systems, but the travel
time is long and the women, of course, need time to adjust."
Of course.
"You don't know if the girls born now will be
sterile or not, though," she pointed out.
"That girls are born regularly is sign
enough. When the time comes that they are adults, they'll be
tested. All testing so far points to the mixed females being able
to breed successfully."
She felt her anger rise. "And in the
meantime, your people are abducting innocent women like me."
Sloan put down her glass and took Ashleigh’s
from her. "I know you're angry, and I can empathize with you, but
think of it this way. If your people were going to die out
eventually, wouldn't you do anything in the universe to change the
course of that future if you could?"
Ashleigh wanted to say that she thought she
would rather go gracefully into non-existence then abduct women and
force them to breed, but she didn't. Because if she knew anything
about human nature, then Eden and his people had behaved no
differently than humans would have.
Sloan shifted the subject slightly, "I hope
you can take some comfort in knowing that Eden will take very good
care of you. He cares about you.”
She muttered, "As a brood mare."
She smiled sadly. "I'm sorry, Ashleigh. I
can't imagine how you are feeling right now, but I will tell you
that my brother is one of the sweetest, most gentle men I've ever
known. You need time to adjust to this situation, but in time I
know you'll come to love him."
"I really just want to go home to Earth."
"I know it seems impossible, but our ability
to travel through space is millennia ahead of your planet's. We're
so far away from Earth that we're already in another solar system.
Our ships use something called yanning , that folds space for
us, and allows us to travel great distances in a shorter
"Eden said that some females of your planet
can still have children, while others are entirely barren."
Ashleigh tried to wrap her head around the situation.
"I'm one of the unfortunate females who are
truly sterile. I won't have children of either sex. The scientific
community is almost certain that something happened universally to
us; either an unknown change to our genes or environment with the
end result of either true sterility or only male children being
born. I'm almost thirty-five years, and there are less than five
hundred females younger than me, on a planet where the males
outnumber the females 8 to 1. The men, they want to help the race
survive, not make more competition for future generations by only
having males."
"But I thought that men's sperm determined
the sex of the baby?"
"It should. But what we discovered through
many years of testing was that something happened between
fertilization of the egg and implantation in the uterus that
changed the baby from female to male. We tried inseminating them
artificially, but no matter how we manipulated them, the fetuses
always became male. The only time we could get female babies was
through the use of alien eggs and uteruses. It's unfortunate, I
know, and I do feel badly for you and the other women. But our
people are desperate."
Ashleigh protested, "But the babies that will
be born, they won't be either race, but a mix."
"It doesn't matter; our people can continue
on."
"How long have your people been abducting
women from other planets?"
She rolled her eyes in thought. "I became an
adult at sixteen years and they started testing the females shortly
after that, and then it took many years for the probes to return
with the right planets for the ships to take women from. Ten years,
perhaps."
"And you haven't found a cure or the reason
for the sterility?"
"No."
"And how many babies have been born since the
abductions started? How many girls to boys?"
She smiled. "The first mixed baby girl was
born about five years ago. Now there are over a dozen girls and
about thirty boys resulting from the abductions. There have been
numerous pilgrimages to other planets and systems, but the travel
time is long and the women, of course, need time to adjust."
Of course.
"You don't know if the girls born now will be
sterile or not, though," she pointed out.
"That girls are born regularly is sign
enough. When the time comes that they are adults, they'll be
tested. All testing so far points to the mixed females being able
to breed successfully."
She felt her anger rise. "And in the
meantime, your people are abducting innocent women like me."
Sloan put down her glass and took Ashleigh’s
from her. "I know you're angry, and I can empathize with you, but
think of it this way. If your people were going to die out
eventually, wouldn't you do anything in the universe to change the
course of that future if you could?"
Ashleigh wanted to say that she thought she
would rather go gracefully into non-existence then abduct women and
force them to breed, but she didn't. Because if she knew anything
about human nature, then Eden and his people had behaved no
differently than humans would have.
Sloan shifted the subject slightly, "I hope
you can take some comfort in knowing that Eden will take very good
care of you. He cares about you.”
She muttered, "As a brood mare."
She smiled sadly. "I'm sorry, Ashleigh. I
can't imagine how you are feeling right now, but I will tell you
that my brother is one of the sweetest, most gentle men I've ever
known. You need time to adjust to this situation, but in time I
know you'll come to love him."
"I really just want to go home to Earth."
"I know it seems impossible, but our ability
to travel through space is millennia ahead of your planet's. We're
so far away from Earth that we're already in another solar system.
Our ships use something called yanning , that folds space for
us, and allows us to travel great distances in a shorter
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