“Piedmont Park! Let’s go!” Elsie, Bedelia and I were excited!

Yelena, too. “I love kids! With five, maybe she could use a hand!”

He opened a portal and helped us step through. It was like stepping in a bathtub with warm water, then stepping out in a cool breeze. We stood by that huge lake. But, instead of mud and weeds, there was yellow sand all the way around the lake and plenty of places to sit!

The lady looked up. All her kids had a frightened look!

That diplomat bowed. “One needs me. Are you well, Lady Becky?”

I tried to bow and fumbled. So I curtsied. “I am well. Eae yeo!”

He smiled and ported away.

She looked after him with a sigh. “Hello, I’m Becky. This is Bedelia, Elsie and Yelena. We’re from Esta Faho.”

“Esta Faho? Where’s that?”

I waved up a map. “Here’s Piedmont Park, and around it are the 5 cities of Rahn Estar. The Earthan Colony’s kind of around the Beltline, but I think a lot of people might put their houses between the lake and a city, whichever city they want to be near. Ferrimos is where King Challet lives, and it’s on the west side and Rahn Estar’s 5 cities are on the east side. To our south is—Marenalay? But, I thought it got destroyed! Maybe they rebuilt it.”

“How long does it take to walk the Beltline? I heard there’s more parks than Piedmont.” Elsie smiled. “Oh, an hour and a half! Answered my own question! I learned to write progs, so I’m havin’ to look up things all the time.”

“Progs?” That term sounded familiar.

“Programs. You know, like software. I help Ella write ‘em, but she’s teachin’ me. She should be out here, not in there! Where’s Rainbow on this map? Oh, north of us. Yeah.”

The map had other provs around us. But they were from Elshar Mashai, where the Zheien Colony moved from. Half of this planet is K’hasa Zha. I heard about that place in Rainbow! Elshars poisoned it. Did they poison Esta Faho?

“I wish I could do something clever like that. My parents made me get married at 13.”

“But dat’s illegal! Ya have to be 16 an’ go to Juvie Court—”

“My parents and his made me go to Mississippi. I—don’t mind me. People don’t like drama. I’m Stacy.” Why didn’t Mississippi change the law, too, like Georgia did? Just awful!

I shook hands with her. “Listen, my name is Becky, and I’m Antomias, 1st Prince Of Esta Faho’s wife. If you need any help, I’ll help you get it. School’s provided here for everyone.”

A mental display popped up and I kept explaining. “Food’s provided, and any clothes you want to design or copy, like if you saw something on a website. If we all wanted to dress up like Disney Princesses—” I touched a website so the computer had a pattern, and made a sky blue dress with a much higher neckline than they do. Waved, and I wore it, complete with butterfly wings that moved! And a magic wand with sparkles as I moved it!

Stacy stood up and wore a white one that looked awesome on her! Bedelia had a yellow one, Elise a brown one with diamond-shaped panels in a variety of bright colors, and Yelena had a pink one! All of ‘em got excited! I giggled. Always wanted to be a princess, growing up.

All Stacy’s kids had brightly-colored outfits! Her boys had prince costumes!

She giggled. They ran around and the girls pirouetted.

“And, clothing formers don’t cost anything! Food doesn’t—”

“But, I looked at the food. It’s all restaurant food!” She looked down.

“There are no limits. Absolutely none! And the treaties that Earth is considering in the UN won’t have any separate accommodations for the poor. No food allowances or any of that nonsense!”

She got this worried expression. “Stacy, are you all right?”

“Mom! Her oldest girl, about kindergarten age, shook her arm and she didn’t look at her. All the kids got upset!

An Ishah healer popped in. “Oh, what is wrong? Mrs. Boswell? I need help, here!”

Five other healers picked up the kids, but they didn’t want to be picked up.

The kids screamed, and the frantic healers tried to talk to ‘em, and Stacy’s healer didn’t seem to know what to do! All the kids tried to get Mom’s attention. Stacy’s healer made her sit down.

Stacy still stared into space, with this horrified expression. Blinked. “Oh, my, I went to Merit Colony with all my kids! We got sick because I went in the clinic! They said—I’d lose my baby!” Merit Colony! I felt sick. She hugged her big belly.

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I put my arms around her and she cried.

“Don’t worry. You all got aandats, right?”

“They gave us white ones, on the ship! I’ll be—in debt—”

“No, you won’t!”

That first healer came closer. “Lady, there is na cost! Do you feel all right? What happened?”

“I saw my future! Will it still happen?” She shook all over.

I sat beside her on the padded bench. “No! These futures can be changed! That’s why we’re here with the rest of Elshar Zheiea, because they saw what happened to—” But there wasn’t a help file for this part. Why not? So, why are we here?

Because King Challet asked them all to come here. All yellow Zheien. They all came from his original colony, the one they created for all the Elshars who married Zheien, before Feia Na created the Ishah. I repeated it.

Stacy trembled. “I didn’t choose to come here! I followed some of the people I saw when we went to the place with the white sand, and I didn’t know which ship to get on. Is it too late to choose another one?”

Again, an answer came. “There isn’t a time limit. Why don’t you live here for a while? If you want to move, you can take your house with you. It’s easy to move the whole thing, and doesn’t cost anything to do it.”

“They said I could have a house, but I didn’t want the one we lived in—” She looked sick!

“You can have another one! That diplomat might know who to ask.” I found him on a map and he was now free. Whoosh! He stepped out of a portal.

Stacy shook harder. Her brown skin went kind of grayish.

That Ishah healer waved. “Oh, daughter, I can help—you fear men? I can bring another healer.”

“Ejis nae! Should I leave?” Het Paren went white, and his eyes, black!

“I knew you—but you married Serie. I—” Her five year old? Do they do arranged marriages or something? Better not to jump to conclusions.

“Ejis nae!” He got the blank stare.

A lady healer came for Stacy.

“What’s w-wrong with him? Is he sick? I upset him!” She cried.

All the kids got upset again!

“Listen to me!” I held her hand and kneaded it, to bring some warmth to it. “It’s okay. He’s seeing his future. I don’t know how that happens. He’ll talk to you in a min. We have plenty of healers, so nobody’s dying.” My heart beat fast. If he was from Esta Faho I’d be more—but he’s from Rahn Estar. They have mine poisons, too. I put him on the bench beside her, on the other side of her lady healer.

“Daughter, have some of this.” The healer held out a vial of white powder.

“I’m—pregnant--is my baby okay? She was sick in that other future! I lost babies—is she one of the ones I lost?” She sobbed.

“Oh, your baby is all right. You had healing, and you may have more any time. Let me take a look.” Gently, she put her tri-fingered hands across Stacy’s forehead. Those blue eyes stayed a serious blue.

After a few tense minutes and three checks, the healer talked to her. “For now, your baby is fine, but I think Pirad needs to see you soon. He can grow your baby to any age you wish, and add Elshar traits to make her strong.”

She just looked overwhelmed.

The diplomat came to life! “Ejis! This is Serie?” He watched her playing in the water with a stick. A duck got curious and swam over. She dropped the stick and held a hand out. The duck put his long neck under Serie’s arm and she petted him. Giggled.

Stacy sobbed. “I don’t know what to do! I’m 18, and I don’t want to be married to Jim, and I’m all alone out here with my kids, and I—how old are you, Het?”

He smiled. “I am 17. We are very near the same age. I could marry you, to save your honor. Is easy to sever a marriage from an evil one! In the other future, King Theapet did so. But, I could ask of—Keris Pon is on the council of Esta Faho and has authority--”