I ate with my family. So awkward, sitting on a bed!

Tom startled awake. “Where is Becky?”

I touched a mental map. Alb Seer. She went there, last night! Why? But, she sat up, right next to him. “I’m here! What’s wrong?”

Why would I see this? I closed the mental display. Saw the healers lean the Zheien back. They won’t be getting up today. I gave Keiley a hug. Becky and Elsie went towards the entrance, and Stacy got her kids in a line and followed. Yelena, too. Ella was still working, but mainly checking records. She smiled at Elsie, who had been about to go back.

It felt funny to eat with my parents, but nice. Margarite walked with me. “I am sorry I did not see you yesterday. I felt guilty to take time from your husband. How did you meet?”

We walked towards Piedmont Park. I told her about seeing my future and our quick marriage. Skipped all the upsetting things. Becky showed Stacy how to see if her husband’s okay, and a holo of Ella came up! What’s going on?

“Do you need to go?” Margarite pulled at her brown hair, and I saw a bit of silver at her temple. That shocked me. Did I think she’d never get older? “No. Just distracted.”

“I’m happy for you about your council position. I wish I could do something important.”

“You’re important to your family!”

She looked down. “They all decided to have Zheien tutors. With the server, it’s easy to manage a household. We are still friends, but I designed a house. I feel so out of place! No one needs child care.”

“Oh, Margarite, you can still—” A red icon blinked on my mental display. A couple—a Zheien couple in Ferrimos wants to talk to me. Ferrimos? That’s in Elshar Zheiea, not here! “Excuse me a minute.”

Their holo stood there. They explained telepathically, after a couple false starts. They are adopting a kid from Earth and need advice!

I smiled. “This is Margarite, and she is a nanny! No one I know has more knowledge about how to care for an Earthan child.” I looked at her and how her face brightened!

“I will try to answer your questions. How old is she?”

“She is 6 Earth years. Last year, she went to live with a couple, but they changed their minds about adopting her, so Annalisa is fearful about us. She loves to read about space, so she decided to move to Alb, if Atlanta decides she can come. But, our hands disturb her. For now, she lives with a couple who nae wish to leave. They think of Annalisa as a difficult and willful child. She wishes to sleep with them and they insist she is a ‘big girl’ and must sleep in her room! We offered for her to sleep with us, but her parents think we are wicked!”

I laughed. “Zheien are not wicked! In other countries than the United States, families share a bed and it’s perfectly normal! Do they know about our progs?”

I explained, but this poor couple is distraught! “Look, call your healer. Server, can I talk to this social worker?”

Suma came up, one of her. “Hi, Bedelia! Their diplomat’s going to see them tomorrow at 2 pm. I can talk to them. Margarite, hi! I’m Suma and I’m the Rainbow Therapist. Great to have you on board! Would you be willing to talk to all our adoptive parents at once? Zheien are volunteering to adopt Earthan kids, and Fulton County has 117,000 kids in foster care. The Alb Council divided them and Elshar Zheiea is taking 5,000 of them divided between the provs of Elshar Zheiea, K’hasa Zha, and the 5 cities of Rahn Estar.

“I have a lot of clones. Your skills are going to be so much in demand, if you were to agree to be cloned, it would help a lot. A lot of families will want to talk to you!”

She looked completely overwhelmed! “But, all of these children have foster parents! They are not going to come with them?”

Suma shook her head and her brown hair went all over the place. “Not many will even consider it! Fulton County considers it a very good thing. They ran the abuse prog and fully half their foster parents are now history and they need placements as soon as it can be arranged! A few are being aged out of foster care, or have been emancipated. And, a few are happy with their placements. But, they are asking kids what they want and most of ‘em want to come here. Diplomats are making contact with thousands daily and giving them a choice. We have one here already?”

Elsie’s record came up! I gasped.

“You know Elsie?”

“Yes! She’s been living with us for 3 years. She’s underage?” But, how could she get a job? Pay for her rent and groceries?

“Her fosters will probably go to jail for not reporting her missing! There’s a list of her relatives. Molly woke up her aunt and her mother! Oh, Molly’s on MarKu. Her Elshar clone’s been busy!”

“But, Molly’s in high school—”

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Suma got this funny look in those brown eyes. “Don’t ask how, but she’s 18. All of her clones except for a 12 year old that lives with her best friend’s family. She’s happy to be 12 and I check in with her. That one didn’t marry a clone of Binneas. But Molly and Ben Nias are in Emory Med School together. Elshar clones. Neal and I have a pair of those living in my old apartment on Earth. She has Berto’s genes and a lot of his skills, but my memories. Your clone and Jos’ are living in her apartment.”

I gasped. “She’ll get yours killed!”

“They’re working together to take down Atherton’s drug network. That detective agreed to a clone, and they’ve already arrested hundreds. The UN Vote is Monday, then Ih Esta will be busy. Don’t tell Elsie anything. Her fosters are mixed up in this. She’s innocent. I made sure Atlanta Police knew she’s been working honest jobs and paying her rent. And, one of her clones ‘pretended’ to help her fosters get new clients. She knew things and got out just in time. They stay high too much to keep track of a teen. Elsie had suspicions, but when her clone went for a visit, she found some paperwork from Atherton’s companies. Took an opportunity to help get evidence. Elshars found Atherton and helped him with slaver herbs. Your friend’s a heroine, to volunteer for this! She wants revenge for what they did to her in the other future.”

And, that was my fault for getting her that last job with Atherton’s company. I thought it was far enough away from him.

“Bedelia, are you okay?” Margarite had me by the shoulders.

I nodded. I’m always okay. Even when I’m not.

Margarite went to talk to that couple.

I excused myself and went for a run! How many people are going to die because of things that I did? How can Elsie even be friends with me?

Thought I had the entire Beltline to myself. I picked the wilderness part of Piedmont. Even this had a new jogging path. Pushed myself harder.

Beside me, Suma caught up. “Wanna talk about it?”

I slowed down. Limped. Tried not to do that.

“You’re pushing yourself too hard. If you need to talk, I’m here. If you want to wait, I’ll still be here. I’m also a healer, if you want it.”

“Would you?” I let her see me. Noticed a privacy screen running.

“Look, you can’t hold it in forever. I can keep a secret. Remember our talks in Rainbow?”

She knows a lot of my secrets. I opened up. I need someone. Never even told Margarite about my eating disorder, because I was too ashamed. She and her family got killed--

“Look, you can’t take responsibility for anyone who died. Slavers happen, and Atherton was the worst Earthan slaver. He’s Heden’s puppet. There are already thousands of Heden’s clones on Earth, and some are little boys who are serial killers. That’s how Elsie got hurt on Earth. It would’ve happened—”

“Maybe if she’d never met me—”

“Do you know how many people died because of Atherton? Thousands. Probably tens of thousands who got taken for slaves! I kept track of all the stats, in Rainbow! I’ve never hated anyone in my life, but I hate him! Jesse, my step-father, was mixed up with him. He destroyed Mama!”

Suma cried. When she broke, I did. We hugged and yellow light glowed. What’s doing that? My knee quit hurting. More. My anxiety went away! That never leaves, no matter how long I run! Like a cloud just lifted and took all the guilt with it. She’s right. I never wanted Atherton to hurt anybody. He just did that all on his own. And they won’t die, now.

She let me see how my clone had a meeting with him and dumped Exorbar on his desk. It’s the nastiest slaver herb known. She’s immune. But tiny amounts are usually enough. She had to give him a whole vial. Just grabbed his throat and dumped the vial in his mouth. He’s been recloned. It wasn’t enough. There was enough on her clothes to disable all his bodyguards around his Peachtree Plaza office. None went in the vents. That ditsy secretary’s now an operative and she had protection. Did a victory dance in his outer office as all his crooked officials fell with stares and a stupid smile.

That look on his face when he fell! He made fun of me, the way I smile, the way half my smile goes crooked when I laugh. But that stupid grin, that slobbering, half-crooked grin, I’ll remember that forever! Oh, I laughed! Finally, I got revenge!

“My sister’ll be coming back soon, won’t she, after that?”

Suma had that sad expression on her face. “She took over Atherton’s companies.

“He saw his future and his wife had an affair with one of his competitors. Before we could get her out, she went in a red portal from Atherton’s office.”

“I didn’t know they had red ones! Is she coming here?”

Suma took a breath. “Red portals are what scientists use to get rid of highly toxic materials. It’s a one way trip into the nearest sun. Miserable way to go.”

His wife was nice. Once, I had stomach flu and she picked a fight with him. On the way to his office, she had a cup of coffee from a really upscale place that had gold leaf on top. Offered it to me, but I was too sick. So she poured it into the back of my PC. “This is your ticket home. It’s his office server.” Oh, that smile on her face as she turned on her stiletto heels and strode into his office. He was cussing up a storm.

“Wondering what happened to your server? I did. You two-timing—” The door closed.

Charlie came in. “Our LAN just went down! Oh—” He pulled the PC out from under my desk. “Honey, get ya purse and leave. I gotta work. All of you, take a day off! I can’t pay ya, but I can tell ya this office ain’t doin’ nothing this afternoon. Last time she pulled this, it was 3 days.”

So, I joined the ten other workers from his offices and got the first elevator because I was quick. We heard him yelling all the way to it.

I felt bad. She stuck up for us with him. Showed up at odd times with doughnuts or snacks for the coffee area. Didn’t know her well, but nobody deserves to burn up in a sun!