“No more than you can Daddy," she said quietly. "I'm so sorry, Mama," she sobbed suddenly. "I wanted to survive and do well. You told me to do well. I didn't know what they would do to you..."

I hugged her waist and Ra hugged her shoulders. Hannah shuddered between us, apologizing profusely. The faltering apologies changed to angry curses and I felt Hannah's body tense.

Ra pushed me back and I felt the men's hands pulling me away. Despite my struggles I was moved behind Bane.

“Control, Sister," Ra said gruffly, “the other men do not know we are here. Mama is with us. You must not lose your temper."

Damien spoke in a calming voice, he reminded Hannah the importance of control. Ra was right, he told her. If she made too much noise or flew up the Keepers would sound the alarm.

“We thought," Hannah said sounding calmer, “that we could take you away."

The men tensed and Evan's grip on my arm increased.

Hannah spoke and the men relaxed some. They had thought to put me on a ship, but there would be no one to protect me from the aliens. They could go with me, but there was nowhere to go close to here. The other planets that were inhabitable were not suited for humans.

The men had already told me the portals were not a good idea. They led to dangerous planets where slaving and slavery were common. I would be in more danger there.

“What about beyond the mountains?" Christof asked. "Could you take us there to live?"

Ra snorted and Hannah rolled her eyes. Not a chance, they told us.

The men would suffer first. There was an electromagnetic field that would disrupt their bond. If the men made it past that without breaking it would be a miracle.

It was intended to stop men from sneaking past the mountains. They had already gotten the small effect from it where they'd stayed in the mountain and that was just the edge of the field. When the men moved into it the disruption to their bond would make them crazy.

“We are bonded," Hannah said, "and we have felt it. We have to fly high above not to be disrupted by it."

The planet beyond the mountains was dangerous and wild. Without women to protect them the men would be killed. I would never survive.

"We would stay with you," Ra said, “but we are still young and there are only two of us.”

"The women we talked to say it used to take three or four groups of mature women to protect the men adequately. That's as small a settlement as you would want," Hannah said sitting.

Since she was calm I walked over and was pulled onto her lap. Ra sat beside us. Damien and the men followed me over and sat right in front of the women.

"The next one will be strong, too," Kein said thoughtfully. "One more strong female, Ciara, you can do that.”

Hannah tensed beneath me and I looked up at her. A tear slid down her cheek and she closed her eyes. I Looked to Ra for the answer to this strange behavior.

“Nu-reeh and the other owners in this area," Ra said carefully, “have been very careful to not let the slaves breed. Hannah is so strong and was bred so quickly....They turned the question to their computers. There is a certain...amount of humanity that is acceptable. The computers say your numbers will help the planet as long as they stay under a certain percentage of all the births.”

“How many?" I asked quietly.