The G. M. Os. - 20. Chapter 20 - Prisoners, Part 1

Chapter 20
Ship Clock 262349
Abner (Abe) 34-793k
Li (Lee) 32-413f
Prisoners, Part 1

 

After lunch, a security bot escort took Abe and Don down to the medical floor and they went into Gene’s room. He was lying in his bed with a bewildered look on his face. He appeared not to even notice Abe.

“Hi, Gene, I’ve brought someone you might want to meet,” Abe said.

Gene didn’t look over at Abe. He just kept staring straight ahead.

“Dadi, is something wrong with Dadi Gene?”

“It appears so,” Abe said. He went over to his love and jostled his shoulder.

Gene looked over at Abe, but didn’t seem to recognize him. “Do I know you?”

“I’m Abe, your husband.”

“Oh, yes, Abe, my husband, the man I love, the man I have sex with, I am age nineteen, five hundred sixteen years old. Yes, Abe, my husband, the man I love, the man I have sex with, I am age nineteen, five hundred sixteen years old. Why have they moved me, my husband Abe?”

“There were machos in the med center.”

“Yes, Doctor Haraldan was a macho, the bots killed him, I have a new doctor, you are Abe, my husband, the man I love, the man I have sex with, I am age nineteen, five hundred sixteen years old.”

“Dadi, I’m scared of Dadi Gene.”

“Dadi Gene, who is he. Am I Dadi Gene? I would have to have children to be called Dadi. I had a Dadi and he whipped me. I do not like being called Dadi. Abe is my husband and the man I love and the man I have sex with and I am age nineteen, five hundred sixteen years old. Abe, Abe, Abe, Abe, Abe,”

“Gene, please, you’re scaring Don.”

“Yes, Abe, but I do not like being called Dadi, he must call me something else, he can call me Gene, yes, he will call me Gene, yes, he will call me call me call me Gene. I will answer to Gene.”

“Dadi, please, can we go, he’s scaring me.”

“One moment sir, I have a sedative for the patient,” a med-tech bot said as it trundled into the room. “It appears Eugenis 54-721c has been severely traumatized from being transferred from the med center. If you will please step out of the way, I will give him an injection. It will calm him, but not cause him to sleep. Eugenis 54-721c, please hold out your arm. You will feel a slight pressure; there, you may put your arm down now.”

The bot trundled out of the room and Abe looked down at Don. The boy looked up and said, “He said I can call him Gene, is thath okay?”

“You know, son, I think we’re just going to have to stop saying Dadi. Gene’s Dadi was a very bad man and whipped him. From now on you will call us by our names, okay?”

“Okay, Abe, thath’s cool. Can I call Aunthie Megan justh Megan?”

“No, you may not. This only works in our family.”

“Okay. Gene, can I thalk tho you withouth you thalking scary?”

“Who are you?”

“I’m your son, Don. Didn’th Abe thell you abouth me and my sisther Dona?”

“Um, um, uh, uh, don’t tell, let me think, wait, it’s on my paper. Abe, do you have my paper? I had my paper at the med center. My paper, my paper, what happened to my paper, what happened to my paper, what.”

“Gene! Stop thath! You scare me when you do thath. Ith’s not nice when a father scares his children. You should be ashamed.”

“Yes, yes, yes, I do this, I can’t stop, I can’t stop, I can’t stop, I can’t.”

“Sthop ith righth now!”

“You talk funny.”

“I have a speech impedimenth. I can’th say thee.”

“Is that ‘tee’?”

“Yes.”

“You’re Don, yes?”

“Yes, Gene, I’m your son Don.”

“Don and your sister is Dona. Abe I need my paper. It has all the information I need to remember. Can you find it?”

“I’ll ask the bots, okay.”

“I will talk to my son while you are gone, okay?”

“Sure, Gene, that’s fine.”

“Don, are you a good boy?”

“Of course I’m good, all lithle boys are good.”

“I wasn’t good. I got whipped when I was bad.”

“You were spanked?”

“No, whipped with a whip made out of knotted rope. It was very painful. My mind is bringing those memories back. Memories of being whipped by the man I had to call Dadi. I called him Father when he was nice, but when he whipped me I had to say ‘thank you, Dadi.’ That man was bad, but I can’t stop remembering him hitting me.”

“Thath sounds horrible.”

“Yes, it was. Are the doctor’s going to be able to fix your speech impediment?”

“I had a therapisth buth I had tho move over here tho geth away from the machos. Machos are bad.”

“Yes, you should have Abe tell you about machos.”

“I was beathened up by machos. I had tho sthay thwo nighths ath the clinic in the thown. Dona is being operathed on by boths righth now from sthabs she goth from machos ath daycare.”

“That’s horrible. Will she be alright?”

“I guess she was hurth bad. All of us are here because the boths are looking for machos everywhere.”

“Hey, guys, Gene the bots had your paper because they didn’t know what to do with it.”

“Thank you, Abe. Me and Don have been getting to know each other. Haven’t we?”

“Oh yes, I like you Gene. I’ll be proud tho have you be my dad, no, sorry, father. Can I call you Father?”

“Well, Don, I’d prefer Gene because that man was not nice to me when he found out I wasn’t as smart as my sister.”

“You know, you two are sounding very intelligent. Are you sure you guys have brain disorders?” Abe asked.

“Abe, you know I have a speech impedimenth. Maybe, thaths why they think I have a brain disabilithy. Do you think so?”

“You know, we’re going to have to talk to that psychiatrist. Now, if they’ll just let us go back to the med center that might happen.”

“Good, thath sounds greath. Gene, I wanth tho go back tho our rooms so I can wathch a vid. Is thath okay with you?”

“Oh, okay. You know, Abe, I feel a lot better since that bot gave me an injection. Do you think they will be able to give me a pill to stop me from talking the way I do?”

“I’ll have to ask. Kiss goodbye?”

“Yes.”

They kissed. Then Gene looked at Don and said, “Climb up here and give me a kiss, too.”

“Is thath how you’re going tho be?” Don asked.

“Yes, we will kiss in this family.”

“Abe doesn’th kiss me.”

“Well, that’s his problem, not mine. Now get up here so I can kiss you.”

“Well, you, buth you bether noth do ith like you kissed Abe.”

Don climbed up and Gene held his son’s head and planted a kiss directly on the boy’s lips.

“Ooh, ick, why’d you do thath?” Don asked as he leaned back away from Gene and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Don, that’s how I kiss. Now, give me another and then you can go.”

“Do I have tho?”

“Yes, I’m your father and I said you have to. Now plant your lips right here. Come on, boy, kiss me. There, now was that so horrible?”

“Well, I don’th know. Buth if you’re going to kiss me like thath every thime I guess I’d bether geth used tho ith.”

“That’s right, Don, sometimes we have to do something we don’t want to. You’re lucky I didn’t stick my tongue down your throat like I do to Abe. He likes me to kiss him like that.”

“Does he do thath tho you Abe?”

“Yes, Don, he does that when we have sex.”

“Oh, thath’s an adulth thing, isn’th ith?”

“Yes, that’s what adults do when they make love to each other.”

“Buth, thath man who made me thouch his thingy made my kiss him, thoo. He thried tho sthick his thongue down my throath.”

“Oh, shit, did he, Don?”

“Yes, Abe, I’m sorry, don’th geth mad ath me. I’m sorry, the man made me do ith.” He started to weep and Gene pulled him into a tight hug until Don quieted down.

“What happened, Abe?” Gene asked.

“A worker at the rearing center took Don into a toilet room and abused him. Don didn’t just have to touch him; it was more involved than that. I didn’t know Don had to kiss him, though. That’s something new. I wish we could get him back to the med center to get some psychiatric help. He’s supposed to be over there right now for a weeklong visit.”

“Any nightmares?” Gene asked.

“Not that I know of, but he doesn’t want to be left alone at night. He and Dona have been sleeping with me.”

“Nude?”

“Yes, all of us.”

“Is that okay?”

“Don’s psychiatrist says it’s okay, so I guess it is. Gene I’d better take Don back to our rooms. We’ll come back up this afternoon. Another kiss?”

“Definitely.”

Later that night, Abe lay in his bed listening to Don crying in his bed. It just felt heartless that the bots wouldn’t let Don come over and snuggled up beside him. It certainly would solve the problem, but he got up and went over to Don’s bed where he found the boy sitting up. Don immediately practically flew over and wrapped his arms around Abe as best he could. Abe held his son and sighed. The door chimed, opened, the light came on, and the liaison bot came into the room.

“What is the child’s problem?”

“He’s scared.”

“Humans! Okay, he can sleep with you. Why can’t humans act more logical?”

“We don’t have computers in our heads.”

“Um, good point. I will have to review our policies. Oh, your daughter is out of surgery. It took longer than anticipated as there were multiple organs involved, including major blood vessels. All have been repaired. We will keep her for one week then permit her to return home. Machos that could have harmed Donaldus 00-893m have been removed from the med center. We will return him there tomorrow for continued treatment of his conditions.”

“Thank you. He admitted today that more actions were committed against him by that abuser.”

“Unfortunately, one of the physicians removed was his psychiatrist. He had macho tendencies. He was interrogated, but he refused to cooperate and had to be eliminated. We are sorry if that will cause the child problems, but his safety is of utmost importance. I will leave you now.”

********

With all of his family members in the med center in Central City, Abe couldn’t figure out what to do with himself. He moped around the home thinking he didn’t have anything to do until he finally realized he had to get on with his life and go out into the farms and see if there was some kind of work on one of the three other farms.

His first stop was the beefalo ranch, but neither Ben nor Charity was in the office. He went out into the first barn, but it was empty of people and beefalos. He went over to the second barn and was presented with the same thing. When he got to the third barn he saw both Ben and Charity discussing something. They immediately quieted when they saw him walk in the door.

“Hi Abe, how’s it going?” Charity asked. “How’s the family?”

“In the med center, I’m trying to find something to do. Anything going on around here?”

“No, Abe, we were discussing whether we were going to have a little barbecue tonight since everybody doesn’t seem to have any crops coming in. How is the shrub farm?”

“I suppose it’s growing, that’s what it’s supposed to do.”

“Bored, huh?” Charity asked.

“Yes, maybe I’ll go over to see if Dorcas and Peter have anything going on.”

“Don’t count on it,” Ben said. “Peter was complaining the orchards were completely between harvests and other work for another week. Willy was going to go down to the daycare and volunteer some time. I don’t know what Lee is doing, but it can’t be much if she doesn’t need Willy’s help.”

“How did the macho eradication go?” Abe asked.

“Five more farms were cleared out and twelve dormitory residents were removed,” Charity said. “Freddy’s interviewing candidates for the farms, plus contacting people who want to come here to join the commune. With the dormitory residents from the first go around and this time there are room for nineteen new people, plus the opening from those dormitory residents who will be moving up to a full section farm. I guess Bot Security will be interviewing those who want to come here to make certain that aren’t any machos among them. I guess they’re serious this time about ridding the ring of all machos.”

“That’s what happened when Roger and I were beat up and the five farms were destroyed, but they keep coming back. When we were staying at Bot Security Headquarters in Central City I told our security liaison about what the workers at Don and Dona’s rearing center were saying about homosexuals. It said they were aware of the rearing center problem and were including those places in the eradication. Of course, that just opens up more opportunities for machos to move back in and start filling children with false thoughts. It never seems to end. The liaison said it’s the cities that they have the most trouble with and there doesn’t seem to be anything they can do until they find one and interrogate it. Of course, that means torture, but for a macho I have no sympathy after what they did the Don and Dona.”

“So, what’s your plan?” Charity asked.

“Go home and read a book, I guess, nothing else going on. No, I’ll fly out to the flower farm and see if Lee is there and needs any help with anything. Then I’ll be back home reading a book this afternoon. Though, a barbecue tonight sounds like a pretty good idea. I could use a belt of whiskey.”

“Want one now?” Ben asked.

“No, not now. I’ll see you guys later.”

Abe went down to the parking and got into his speeder. He took off and headed up to the flower farm. He saw Lee working on an irrigation line and landed to see if she needed help with anything.

“Actually, no, I’m just trying to keep busy without going crazy from boredom. What are you doing?”

“Looking for work; if you don’t have anything going on here, I’m going back home and read a book.”

“We could go down to your place and practice some lip locks.”

“What?”

“You heard me. What’s wrong, you afraid of kissing a lesbian?”

“How can you suggest such a thing? What will Willy say if she finds out?”

“I don’t plan on telling her. Will you?”

“No! But, why me?”

“You’re available and we’re both bored. I’d suggest going over to the farm office, but Willy might come back looking for me. She has the speeder.”

“How’d you get up here?”

“Walked, it’s only a little over five klicks. Kind of felt good getting some exercise. You should try it sometime. So, do you want to go down and practice kissing or will you want to fuck me, too?”

“I don’t want to fuck a woman.”

“I don’t have a vagina, so you’d have to do it in my ass. Sound good? Willy’s fucked me with our strap-on dong. Kind of feels good having that thing slide into me. Do you like to use lube or are you one of those rough guys?”

“I go both ways.”

“How does Gene like it?”

“Not a lot of lube from the back.”

“Sounds interesting. We always do it front ways with lots of lube. Course the dong is slippery to begin with. So, how about some kissing and a dry fuck? Sounds kind of interesting to me. Come on, Abe, be a man. Imagine I’m just another man. Do I lie on my stomach or on my knees?”

“On your stomach, though I want to warn you my cock is kind of long.”

“Our dong is kind of long and it’s thick, too. So I won’t be surprised when you slide it in or do you want me to moan like I’m in pain. Willy likes it when I do that.”

“Damn, Lee, you’re getting me excited with all this talk about fucking.”

“Getting hard, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“Good, I’ve never felt a real hard cock before, might even put it in my mouth. You like that, Abe?”

“Yeah.”

“Get you all slobbery then you can shove it in with just a little lube. You like to lick Gene’s ass?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, you’re getting me excited, too. Got some anal sex antibiotics?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, Abe want to fuck a female ass. After all, isn’t one ass just as good as another?”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

Afterward, they showered, put their clothes on, and went into the living room where they sat on the loveseat. Abe didn’t know what to say. Lee certainly had a good ass to fuck and it wasn’t that hard to imagine it was just another man who was receptive to having his ass dilated. She played the part to the hilt exciting him with her moans and gasps as he thrust into her. Half way through he lay down on her back and reached around her to massage her breasts. That sent her into bucking back into him and with short strokes he slowly brought himself to one of his best orgasms of all time. He rose up on his elbows intending to get up, but she told him not to move. He felt her move her hand down to pleasure herself and kissed her neck until he felt the orgasm course through her body. All in all, it had been a most enjoyable experience.

“What’re you thinking?” Lee asked.

“How doing it with you was rather nice.”

“Yeah, it was. I certainly liked it.”

“Shame we’ll never be able to do it again.”

“No, Abe, we won’t. It is a shame though.”

“Yeah.”

“Kiss goodbye?”

“Not here, drapes are open.”

“Down the hall then.”

“Down the hall.”

The kiss was of parting friends, not passionate, just pleasant. After Lee left, Abe went back to the bedroom and sprayed air freshener to mask the smell of sex. He might have preferred to leave it for tonight, for a little personal attention, but he didn’t want it to soak into the carpet and get Gene to asking what happened when he wasn’t here. He took the sheets off the bed and put them in the washer. Back in the living room, he used the module to call up one of Gene’s vids from ancient Earth and sat in a chair to watch it on the wall vid screen. Unexpectedly there was a knock on the front door. When he opened it, he saw Ben standing there.

“Can we talk?”

“Sure, I was going to watch a vid, but I can do that later. Come on in. Do you want something to drink?”

“No, this won’t take long.”

“What’s up?”

“Dec came back from school early today because he had a stomach ache. When he came in he went into the bathroom and vomited. Then he asked if he could go outside for a little bit. I couldn’t say no, so he went. After a little bit, he came back. He said he heard a noise over here and wanted me to check it out. So, you had a little sex with Lee, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“You guys made a lot of noise; came right through the glass. It’s okay when someone does that at night because there’s no one about to hear it, but during the day, well it gives people the wrong idea. I gave Dec an answer I hoped would satisfy him, but I can’t be certain. Don’t be surprised if he spreads it around to the wrong person. Well, that’s all I have to say. See you at the barbecue?”

“Sure.”

“Good, though it might be better if you’d just go back to the med center and visit your family.”

“Can’t, Bot Security sent me home and, in unsaid words, told me to stay here.”

“I see. Well, it’s your neck. You know, though, some of us make mistakes that we regret later in life, so it looks like you’ve gotten yours out of the way early. I’d like to have a little sympathy, but you’re just going to have to live with the consequences. Shame though, you’re kind of a nice kid. I’ll let myself out.”

After Ben left, Abe went into the kitchen and looked at the knife rack. He went into the dining room and got a chair. He put it in the kitchen where he could stare at the knife rack. He wasn’t planning on committing suicide like Roger had tried and Eddy had done, but it was just a thought. Dark days were ahead and there wasn’t anything he could do to lighten them. Of course, Dec was going to talk to Petr who would talk to Leon who would talk to either Lee or Willy. If he went to Lee, the story might end there, but if he talked to Willy, well life as he knew it would be over. Willy would blame him for what happened because he was the man and it was always the man’s fault.

********

Abe stood next to Ben at the barbecue sipping on his straight whiskey. They weren’t talking, nobody was talking to him. The story was out and all the parents had made their decisions about him. Though, Megan did say hello, but she went over to talk with Peter and Dorcas. Lee, Willy, and their children were not at the barbecue, which meant only one thing to Abe. Willy knew what happened. It didn’t matter how she found out. That she found that was evident by their absence.

“What are you thinking?” Ben asked.

“Nothing,” Abe said.

“Yes you are; you’re thinking why Lee and Willy aren’t here.”

“Yeah.”

“You know why, don’t you?”

“I have a strong suspicion.”

“I’d say it was more than a suspicion.”

Abe felt a touch on his elbow. It was Willy. He sighed, resigned at the coming confrontation.

“I want to talk to you. Your place.”

Abe followed her to his back door. She walked in ahead of him. He came in, turned to shut the door, and turned to face her. She slugged him square in the nose and he instinctively put his hand over it. His nose hurt as much as it was supposed to. Willy glared at him. He tried not to smile and the pain helped in that regard.

“Lee admitted her deceit and I slapped her face. I haven’t decided if I’m going to forgive her, but I don’t have much choice in the matter. I’m a mutant and can’t leave. You, however, could leave, but I don’t expect that you’d give me the satisfaction. You have family and probably don’t want to have to take Gene somewhere else. Just to let you know, I don’t blame you. Lee admitted she was the instigator in the whole affair, but I don’t give a fuck what the others think of you for going along with it. You could’ve said no, but you didn’t. I’ve hated people because they couldn’t accept my mutation, but I think I hate you more.”

She continued to glare at him. He wanted to look away, but he couldn’t do force himself to do it.

“Your nose is bleeding; I’ll send Ben in here and see if you need to go down to the clinic. Oh, by the way, we need you down at the daycare tomorrow. We’re shorthanded from losing a couple of our workers from the macho purge. You need to be down there at eight.”

She left and he went into the bathroom and looked at his nose. He’d never seen a broken nose, but if they looked like his, the nose was broken. He got a washcloth and cleaned the blood away from his mouth, but it continued to run out of his nostrils.

“Abe! Where are you?” Ben yelled.

“In the bathroom,” he said as he grabbed a hand towel and put it up to his nose. He turned to leave and almost walked into Ben.

“Let me see,” Ben said. “Yep, broken. I’ll run you down to the clinic. I suppose you realize you deserve it.”

“I don’t blame her,” Abe said. He followed Ben out and after a short time they were at the clinic. They walked in and stood at the counter.

“Yes?” The receptionist asked.

“Broken nose,” Ben said.

“I’ll get the medic, he can fix it. Do I have to report a fight?”

“This wasn’t a fight,” Abe said.

“I’ll have Freddy call on you in the morning and you can explain it to her.”

“I’ll be at the daycare tomorrow.”

“Oh, okay, I’ll tell her.”

The next morning, as Abe was getting ready to go down to the daycare, there was a knock on his front door. Who could that be, he thought. When he opened it there was a security bot standing facing him.

“Can we talk?” it asked.

“Sure, come in,” Abe said.

“That will not be necessary. I am here to tell you adultery is a crime punishable by extended prison sentences or death, but you have familial responsibilities and you were savagely beaten by machos. Human passion is a strange thing to bots. It is illogical. We try to control it, but it is hopeless. You are on probation from this day forward until such time as we determine you are no longer a threat to the human population on this ship. Nano bots have already been installed and now they will be active at all hours. We will also install three more, one each in the bathroom, your daughter’s room, and your son’s room. Striking a child in anger is a crime punishable by summary execution. You have been notified and warned. Have a good life.”

It turned, went down the steps, and flew away without having to use a speeder. Abe closed the door and went back to the kitchen. So, the new security bots didn’t need speeders; that was something to consider and remember. He had already struck Don once and couldn’t do that ever again. Maybe, just maybe, it was time to get himself in to see a psychiatrist and see if he could get rid of the anger he had for bots and anyone he felt was weaker, like Gene when he first arrived here and, now, Don. He went back into the kitchen and finished fixing breakfast.

Down at the daycare, Megan put Abe to work with a group of girls who were playing with dolls. They did not appreciate his presence causing one of them to complain to Megan, who assigned him to work with a group of boys. They were all mid-iteration age six and one of them asked Abe, “Did she really moan when you fucked her?”

Luckily, or unluckily, for Abe, Freddy happened to come into the daycare at that moment. She motioned for him to come over and they went outside.

“Were you that bored?” Freddy asked. “You could’ve come down to the office and I would’ve sent you out to work with Jack and Bill, they always need help. In fact, why don’t you go back home and change into some coveralls, I’ll find out where they’re working and if they need some help. If they don’t, I’ll find you work on one of the other farms. I hope you do realize your little escapade is going around the commune. The way that nose looks, Willy must have whopped you a good one. I hope it hurt, you certainly deserved it. Oh, did a security bot stop by?”

“Why do you ask?”

“I got a message to find you some work. It seemed rather strange, so I messaged back, but they told me it was none of my business.”

“Adultery is a crime, but since all my family is in the med center, they put me on probation. They’re adding nano bots to the residence in the bathroom and the kids’ rooms. Striking a child in anger is punishable by summary execution. I’m going to try to get in touch with a psychiatrist to see if there is something they can do to about my anger problem.”

“I’ll see what I can do. Now, get out of here. Oh, I have a new receptionist, so try to be nice.”

“Where’s Theo?”

“She and Beau had macho tendencies and bots took them away. The bots sent a message saying they were talking like homosexuals needed to be cleared off the ship. They’re dead. I kind of feel sorry about that because she was basically a good girl, but we can’t tolerate anyone here who talks like they’re homophobic.”

********

Two days later the bots delivered Don. Abe welcomed his son back and thought that things might get better, now. The first thing he did was get the boy settled back in his bedroom and then got him ready to go down to daycare. But, there was the inevitable question.

“Abe, wha-t-’s wrong with your face, i-t-’s bruised?”

“Well, Don, I did a very bad thing and Willy hit me in my nose. What’s with the tees?”

“Oh, the speech therapis-t gave me an exercise tho do, sorry some-t-imes one slips thru, bu-t I am ge-t-t-ing be-t-t-er with my thees, sorry.”

“Don’t say you’re sorry about having trouble speaking. They should’ve done something for you at the rearing center. I sent a message to that psychologist about the possibility of your speech impediment being mistaken for a brain disability. He’s going to check on it and the next time you go to the med center to see the psychiatrist, he’ll retest you.”

“Tha-t-’s good, Da, no, Abe.”

“Yeah, now for the bad news. When you go to daycare today the children are going to get on to you about me and what I did.”

“Abe, wha-t did you do?”

“Son, come over here and sit beside me. Yeah, now, I said I did a very bad thing and I did. All the commune knows about it because it was supposed to be a secret, but someone found out.”

“Buth, wha-t did you do?”

“Son, I had sex with Lee.”

“Did you make love with her?”

“No, it was just sex and because we were making so much noise someone outside our window heard us.”

“Did you fuck her?”

“What do you know about that?”

“Did you fuck her? Thell me, I wanth tho know if you fucked her.”

“Don, calm down, but yes I had sex with Lee and she was rather verbal about it.”

“Did you rape her?”

“What do you know about that?”

“Did you rape her? Thell me! Did you rape her?”

“No, it was all very mutual. She’s the one who brought it up to begin with, but I didn’t say no and we did it and someone heard us and now the whole commune hates me. I can’t go anywhere. Everybody blames me for what happened.”

“Gene is going tho be mad ath you,” Don almost screamed his words. “Go away from me, I’m noth going tho daycare and I don’th care whath you sthay about ith. Now, you’ve goth me saying my thees wrong. I hope you’re happy abouth thath. Go away, I hathe you.”

Abe walked out of the bedroom and went into the living room. He went to the module and called up old Earth vid index and found something titled ‘Young Frankenstein’ that was supposed to be a comedy. He pressed select and went to the red wingchair to watch it.

After an hour, there was a knock at the door. He paused the vid and went to answer it. There was a security bot staring at him with crystal eyes. There was a speeder in the parking area.

“You will come with me,” the bot said.

“My son, he’ll be alone,” Abe said. “He’s too young to be left alone.”

“You’ve done it before, what’s different about this time?”

“No one knows he’s here.”

“We will notify Frederica about the situation. Get in the speeder!”

Abe went out, climbed up into the vehicle, sat in one of the human adapted seats, strapped himself in, and wasn’t surprised when a black bag was draped over his head. Well, at least they hadn’t killed him outright. Maybe, he had a chance for just a lengthy prison sentence. The flight was interminably long, but that might have been due to not being able to see. Finally, the speeder slowed and then stopped. His straps were undone and he was picked up by his arms and carried for quite a long time. After they settled him down on a floor of some kind, he felt a cord being tightened around his neck.

Shit! They were going to hang him. And, that happened when the floor dropped out from under him. He twisted his body around, he reached up with his hands trying to loosen the cord, and then he felt the floor rise up from under him. The cord was still tight, but his hands were grabbed by metallic hands and pulled down behind him. He felt something metallic wrap around his wrists. He had a similar experience with his ankles.

“Abner 34-793k, you have been found guilty of committing adultery and being in an unhealthy relationship with a family member. You are hereby sentenced to fifteen years solitary confinement, thirteen years suspended dependent upon your ability to return to a healthful relationship with your entire family and community. Eden Commune is being informed of this action. Consider your brief experience at the business end of a garrote as an example of a possible outcome if you continue your behavior upon returning to Eden Commune. Take the prisoner to processing.”

Abe felt the cord being roughly loosened and the hood was removed. He looked around and he saw he was in the courtyard of some kind of red brick building. When he looked up he couldn’t see any windows. So, this is what a prison looked from the inside, he thought. Two years solitary confinement, he wondered what that would mean.

********

The day began on a happy note. Willy was almost civil to her. The children didn’t say anything derogatory. They ate the breakfast she prepared. Then they all left. Lee couldn’t go out anywhere, except up to the flower farm. As she was walking up the lane, a speeder landed in front of her and a security bot flew out and landed within a meter of her. Two other security bots followed and landed behind. One pulled her hands behind her back and handcuffs were fastened to her wrists. Then they shackled her legs. The one in front produced a black bag and draped it over her head.

The flight was long, but she was resigned to the fact she had been arrested. There was little she could do; well, actually there was nothing she could do. Though, she wasn’t quite certain what she’d done, except let Abe fuck her. Was that a crime? Well, maybe, it was. The bots always came up with crimes that people wouldn’t consider as crimes. Finally, the speeder landed and she was painfully carried by her arms for a short time.

She was set down on a floor and a cord was tightened around her neck. She started screaming and twisting her body to get away from that cord. Then the floor dropped out from under her and she felt life being drained away. She didn’t notice the floor rising back up.

“Li 32-413f, you have been convicted in absentia for committing the crime of adultery, punishable by a prison sentence or death, bot choice. As you already have a record of seditious behavior and being a danger to the peace of Hercules III, you are hereby sentence to twenty years hard labor, fifteen years suspended on condition that you can be welcomed back into your family and your community, and on the condition that you perform your duties at prison facilities on Hercules III in an acceptable manner. Failure of either condition, or both, may include the immediate imposition of the penalty of death, by bot choice, which I am sure you may believe to be an excruciating end to your young life. Take the prisoner to processing.”

In her cell, Lee figured her life was over. Five years of hard labor, what was that? She was a farmer; she knew what hard labor was all about. What could the bots come up with that was worse than being a farmer? Well, actually a lot of things. The bots could always come up with something hard and difficult, like an excruciatingly slow death. Would she scream? Of course she would; she practically screamed when Sister Angelina first hit her ass with that metal rod of hers. How long would they let her linger in pain before letting her die?

She looked around the cell at nothing in particular and then noticed the sheet. She stood up, pulled the sheet out from under the blanket, and looked around the cell for some place to tie one corner of the sheet. There were bars on a window above the sink. She got up onto the sink and then the stand behind it. Reaching up she could just get a corner of the sheet around a bar and the tied a firm knot in the sheet. Lee jumped down and tied a slip knot in the opposite corner. She pulled the sheet down and saw that she would have to squat down a bit to effect good tension on the weapon of her execution.

Lee thought a moment about what had happened in her life, but realized this was the end and there was nothing to do except drop toward the floor. The last thing she saw was a bot entering the cell, extending an arm toward her, and feeling an excruciating pain in her chest. That was the last thing she remembered.

********

When Lee woke up she immediately noticed she wasn’t in her cell. She was on a bed, a real bed, in a room with a window that had bars on the outside. Her wrists and ankles were strapped down. She shut her eyes in an attempt to go back to sleep. She heard the door open.

“Oh, good, you’re awake,” a human voice said. “Do you need to void?”

“Avoid what?” Lee asked as she opened her eyes. There was a woman in a nurses uniform standing beside her.

“No, do you need to use the toilet?”

“Why didn’t you say that?”

“I did. Now, do you need to use the toilet?”

“Yes, I do. Where am I?”

“I’d like to say, but I am not permitted,” the nurse said. “I will have a med-tech bring in a commode.”

“What’s a commode?”

“A portable toilet, where have you been all your life?

“Living on farms.”

“Oh.”

The nurse left and in a moment a med-tech bot came in pushing a wheeled stand holding a small toilet. Lee looked at it and looked at the straps holding her onto the bed.

“You are still bound,” the bot said. It stood away from the bed and powered down.

The door opened and two guard bots walked in. They looked at Lee, then came over and undid the straps.

“We trust you will not try anything stupid,” one of them said.

“If you will excuse me, I have to use the toilet,” Lee said as she climbed out of the bed. “Are you going to continue staring at me?”

“We must be certain you do not try to commit self-destruction, again.”

She sat down and took care of what she needed; then looked around for some toilet paper. As if it had been reading her mind, the med-tech bot extracted some toilet paper from its body and handed it to one of the guard bots. It handed the paper to Lee. Why did bots have to be so difficult, she thought?

She climbed back up into the bed and the guard bots retied her ankles and wrists to the bed. The med-tech bot and one of the guard bots left, leaving the other in the room. It stared at Lee with its crystal eyes.

“You are at a prison and medical facility for the criminally insane on Ring 7. You will serve your term here until your release date or until diagnosed as being sane enough to complete your sentence as previously defined. You will be released to the ward after you are examined by the psychiatrist and deemed safe to be around other patients. Nourishment will be provided in a few minutes as you have been here for nine hours.”

Nine hours, on a different ring, and saying she was insane; what wouldn’t the bots do to her? Lee lay her head down on the pillow resigned to the fact her life had gone from being an okay flower producer to having to be in prison for five years because she convinced Abe to have sex with her. Now, she kind of wished he had said no, but she probably would’ve tried harder to convince him. For some reason, illicit sex seemed at the time to be something to try; so much for sexual hunger.