Lines yed across the front of the pad and then the screen seemed to blur. When the lines all cleared I was staring at Kennedy surrounded by two girls both a little taller than her. My eyes filled with tears as her face lit up in a smile.


    She waved at me and I cried as I heard her voice.


    “Hi, Mama,” she said happily, “this is pretty cool don’t you think?”


    “Incredible!” I choked out watching her.


    Kennedy looked wonderful. She was healthy and well. Seeing her surrounding by strong looking girls thrilled me.


    “This,” she pointed to her left and right, “is Eve and this is Dara. We’ve bonded fully, Mama. You can speak English and they will understand you, too. None of us took the imnt the women offered. We are all part of the new generation.”


    I was so d to see her but I was curious why she wasn’t with Hannah. Gathering my courage, I just asked her. The answer surprised me.


    “Hannah,” Kennedy sighed, “is just too temperamental for me to bond with Mama. I hope you understand, I love my birth Sister, but she grates on my nerves.”


    “She is like her father, just like you are like yours,” I smiled. “I hope these Sisters are good for you?”


    They were good for her. Kennedy told me the things she had seen and some of the ces she had been. Dara was slightly older, but Eve was just about Kennedy’s age.


    The girls shared simr mindsets, but their ancestry was different. Eve had Earth heritage, but Dara did not. The girls were all agreed that this world was run wrong, though. They did not believe in very or forced servitude.


    Dara’s mother was a very powerful and old female. She had lived a long time before birthing her only daughter. Because she had only Paterian lineage she remembered the time before the men were put in thepounds.


    Life had been better before. The men died young sometimes, but they were happier. Dara’s female breeder missed the rtionship her ancestors had had with their men. It saddened her to see the fear in the men’s eyes every time she approached. Over many years (the women tracked time that way also, so they taught me the Paterian word) Dara’s female breeder hade to think it was wrong.


    Eve had shorter memories than Dara. Her feelings on very were the same as her Sisters’. She remembered Earth of the mid eighteenth century. Hearing Kennedy talk amazed her. She said she would enjoy sitting and discussing Earth with me one day.


    Talking of Eve’s Earth breeder from several generations ago saddened her. The woman had taken her own life after her child was weaned. She could not bear being the ve this ce demanded. I felt for the woman and her offspring. My sad eyes met Kennedy’s and she looked hard at me.


    “You felt that way, Mama,” she said firmly. “Do you still feel that way?”


    I denied it, but Kennedy wasn’t satisfied. She had thought I might do something foolish. Kennedy demanded to know how I’d been since she left.


    “I’ve been fine,” I lied, “never better.”


    My words angered my daughter. Her eyes narrowed and I got the feeling she wanted toe through the screen.


    “You can’t lie to Dad because he knows how to read you,” she reminded me. “I know what he knows. You are not telling the truth.”


    This was so embarrassing and I told Kennedy that. I didn’t really want to exin my ws in front of everyone. It just wasn’t normal for my children to have all my memories. Kennedy should not know how I felt about certain things.


    “I love you and worry about you,” Kennedy sighed. “Do you wish to harm yourself?”


    I had to admit the whole thing to them. Every piece of my jumbled recovery was discussed in detail with the three girls. I felt absolutely humiliated.


    They didn’t seem to think it was something I should be embarrassed about. Dara congratted me on surviving my inner turmoil. Eve reassured me as Kennedy looked at me with absolute understanding.


    “We will free you,” she promised me. “You will not die a ve.”


    That brought me to another concern and I cleared my throat. I told Kennedy what the men wanted. My men had nned to ask Hannah, but I wanted to see how Kennedy would react.


    Dara asked pointed questions about the boys. She wanted to know about age and training. I was honest with her, but I felt bad knowing where this was leading.


    “What if they understood?” Eve asked suddenly turning to face her Sisters. “What if we didn’t steal them? What if they came to us?”


    It made no sense to me, but Kennedy exined. Rescuing men meant capturing the entire family. That could be really hard to do. The women had to keep the men safe, but show them they were free. It often took a long time and it was difficult.


    “What if these boys came to us willingly?” Eve asked getting more animated.N?velDrama.Org holds this content.


    It was a novel concept. Damien could teach the boys about the world and then the free men could take them away without a fight. That would make it so much easier.


    “We have to talk to some Elder Women,” Kennedy said suddenly facing the monitor.


    “Wait!” I called suddenly desperate not to lose my connection to her. “I’ve so enjoyed talking to you…”


    Kennedy sighed and gave me the same patient look her father would have.


    “Mama, send a message to Hannah. She’s deep in the mountains, so she won’t be able to talk to you like I am. She would enjoy it if you wrote her a letter. Your pad is set up so you can do that. She’ll get the message and send you one back.”


    I smiled and tried not to be a whiny, needy mother, but in truth I just wanted to see my girls. It had been so long since I had seen or heard from either of them.


    Eve spoke next, she exined the pad would not transmit sound if the girls were in the mountains. Kennedy and her Sisters had made sure to be in a ce they could talk to me today. Hannah would probably arrange to be somewhere she could talk soon.


    “The pad burns,” Dara said suddenly and Kennedy pped her forehead in a very human gesture. “You can’t get caught by the General or other women with this. It will burn quickly in a fire pit. Don’t stand too near, though. The device is powered by the ore, there will be anrge discharge of power when it burns.”


    I looked at it and smiled. Of course they’d run it on the ore.


    “You are curious, Mama,” Kennedy informed me. “This pad will let you learn about whatever you want. I’m not sure how to describe its ability to you. The closest I could say is like aputerized encyclopedia.”


    I thanked the girls and sent my love. Kennedy seemed to be in a big hurry as she blew me a kiss and signed out. She was very excited about talking to the Elder Females.


    The screen blurred and the girls were gone. I sat and stared at it. God, how I had missed them. This was the first I had heard from Kennedy since she had flown off. If it had been my choice I would have talked to her all day, but she was a busy girl. Just like Hannah, I smiled. Both girls fighting for freedom, I felt proud of them.


    The pad was remarkably easy to use. I figured out how to send a message to Hannah quite quickly. The pad would let me know when she sent a note back. At least ording to the instructions the thing provided it would.