Chapter 3 - The Hut

After breakfast the next morning, Sonia had them all out playing the game with the green cloth on the ground. Most of the children were used to it from the mainland camp, but Patience and her own three children: Nelson, Grace and Walter, hadn't played it before. They quickly got the trick of walking across the cloth. Hope noticed that Sonia had them playing a slightly different version, because she always had them do it in the same order. Sonia led the group, carrying Bobo, with the others following her by age, youngest first. That put Hope at the end of Sonia's group, with Patience following behind, leading her own group of children. Sonia told Hope to make sure that all the children followed on correctly. The young ones still got a sweet each, but they had to go back into the hut to get them from the replicators.

Hope asked Sonia what the point of the game was, but the only answer she got was, "You'll see," coupled with a mysterious smile.

By midday two more groups had arrived to fill up the hut, Celina with eight children and Kassa with nine! It turned out that one of Kassa's group, Ayesha, had only just turned fourteen -- her birthday had been two days after Hope's -- and she was going to be travelling separately, along with her younger brother. She didn't have enough experience as a mother to be in charge of a lot of other children, so she would go as an ordinary concubine with her brother, Musa, as a dependant.

Hope was very glad to hear that. It meant that when she turned fourteen she should be able to stay with Solomon. Sonia told her that the Confederacy wanted to keep siblings in the Kindertransport program together, especially if they had lost both their parents. Hope's confirmation that she and Solomon were indeed orphans, verified Sonia's earlier hunch as to their motives for wanting to fight the Swarm.

That afternoon Sonia gave them their introduction to the sleep trainers. Both Celina and Kassa soon realised that Sonia knew more about things in the camp than they did, so they were happy to go along with her guidance. Unlike the med-tubes they didn't have to completely strip for the trainers, just take their sandals off. That was a relief for Hope, as she didn't want to undress in front of Nelson. Khadija and Ayesha had to take their hijabs off as well, but they timed it for when Nelson was in a tube for his learning session. Bobo had been running around barefoot so Hope had to help him wash his feet before he got his turn; he giggled when she tickled his toes. Each of the children only had a short initial lesson, mostly to get them used to the procedure. When Hope had her turn, the lesson was a repeat of what George had told her on the boat: children and concubines must do what they were told. George had turned out to be a very good source of advice.

Both Ayesha and her brother left later that afternoon, gone to the Moon Sonia said. Solomon was rather disappointed. He had wanted to see a big Moon rocket take them, but they just walked out of the hut, accompanied by one of Sonia's friends in grey.

No party hats and no cake for their evening meal this time, though the food was still good. With four women and twenty eight children eating, the long table was crowded and noisy.

That night in her bunk, Hope whispered to the AI through her wrist unit. She wanted to know how she could learn to be a sponsor and not a concubine. The AI promised her it would set up a special training course for her, starting tomorrow. She asked it to do the same for her brother; she wanted to be sure he became a Marine when he turned fourteen. After finishing her conversation with the AI, she turned over to go to sleep. As she did so, she noticed that Kwanza was sleeping in his mother's bunk. Perhaps he wanted some reassurance because of all the new children who had arrived earlier today. A few days ago he'd had Sonia all to himself. Now he was sharing her with six others, and there were even more children around with Patience, Celina and Kassa.

After breakfast the next morning, Hope finally found out what the game with the green cloth was really about. Sonia lead all four groups outside where they saw two Marines, one by each end of the hut. The Marine nearer Hope was holding a metal cylinder. He put the cylinder down and pushed a button on the top. It unfolded into a disk on the ground, not green but metallic. Hope could see the second Marine by the other end of the hut doing the same thing with a second cylinder.

The Marine started explaining to them all, "This is a transporter. It will take you to places far away. This one is going to take you to where you can see Private McKinlay there, standing near the south end of your hut," he pointed, to make sure everyone understood, and the other Marine waved her arm. "You remember the game with the green cloth?" he asked.

Hope nodded along with the others. Some of the children were holding their wrist units by their ears to get a translation.

"This transporter isn't green, so it won't do anything yet." He stepped onto the disk and nothing happened. When he stepped off the disk, he signalled to his comrade and the disk glowed red. "It still isn't green, it's red, so it won't transport you," he told them. "However, you should not step on a red transporter because things might happen."

Suddenly there was a second Marine standing on the transporter disk. The children all jumped in surprise, and Celina screamed slightly.

"That's why you shouldn't step onto a red transporter disk. Things can appear very suddenly on a red transporter disk. This is Private McKinlay, who was standing by the other disk." Private McKinlay smiled at the group, and Hope noticed that there wasn't anyone by the second disk any more.

The private stepped off the red disk, and it turned green. The first Marine carried on explaining, "The disk is now green, so it is OK to use it. Private McKinlay is going to use it to go back to where she came from on the other disk." The woman Marine stepped onto the green disk and disappeared. Hope could see her standing on the second disk by the other end of the hut.

"Look at the disk please, all of you," the Marine told them. "It's red. That's because Private McKinlay is still standing on the disk at the destination. When she steps off that one, this disk will go green." He waited a second for the other Marine to step off the disk at her end. Hope saw that the disk at this end glowed green again.

"That's why you have to keep moving and step off the disk at the other end," the Marine explained. "If you stand on the disk you stop the next person coming through behind you." Everyone nodded at that, though Bobo was just nodding because all the others were.

Next, the children had to watch while the four concubines practised going through the transporter on their own. Sonia was used to it, though the sudden jump in vision when she arrived was still a bit disconcerting. She was able to keep walking despite the change. Coming back, once the pair of disks had been reset, was easier. Celina was the most nervous of the four of them, but she managed to get it right.

Once they were back with the children, the four women got everyone into their groups and each group practised on its own, going through and coming back. Sonia, carrying Bobo, led the group through. Hope enjoyed it; she was always at the back keeping an eye on the others as they went through ahead of her. She could see the disk blink red as each of them transported, and then go green again when whoever was at the other end stepped off. The Marines were checking to make sure the children didn't follow too closely behind each other, and that they kept moving when they arrived on the destination disk. For the grand finale, the two Marines had everyone in the hut lined up: Sonia's group first, followed by Patience's, Celina's and lastly Kassa's. All of them went through twice, ending up back where they had started.

When everyone was through the transporters for the final time, Solomon asked Sonia, "Where are the sweets?"

"In the replicators, as usual, Solomon," Sonia told him. At that, most of the children made a rush into the hut to get their reward, while the two Marines packed up the transporters ready to move on to the next hut to repeat their demonstration.

There was still a bit of time before lunch, so Hope asked if she and Solomon could explore the camp for a bit.

"Yes you can, but don't go too far and don't take too long," Sonia told them.

As they walked, Hope told her brother about her talk with the AI the previous night. "It will give you some extra lessons to help you be a Marine. You have to be sure to do all the work it sets for you."

"Yes Hope, I'll work really hard so I can be the best Marine ever," Solomon assured her. "Do you like Sonia?" he changed the subject abruptly. "I think she's nice. She's much nicer than Mrs Maruge was, more like Patience, except she tells us what to do as well as hugs us."

Hope agreed with him, "She's really nice, and she knows a lot about how things work here, because she's been here much longer than we have. We should do everything she tells us. Even when she tells us we can't have any more sweets."

Solomon frowned at that. "Race you to the next hut!" he shouted suddenly, and took off at his fastest speed. With her longer legs Hope could usually beat him, but he had surprised her and was already stretching out a lead. She tried, but he just managed to beat her to the hut, White Twelve she noticed in passing. "Beat you! Beat you!" he teased her. "I'm a Marine and I'm the fastest!"

On their way back to White Six, Hope could see two camp staff giving the transporter demonstration to the groups in one of the other huts. It wasn't two Marines this time, but one Marine and one of Sonia's friends in grey. Hope realised that Sonia must have given that same demonstration herself many times before.

Most of their afternoon was taken up with sleep-learning. There weren't enough trainers for all the kids, so they would only have long sessions every other day, either morning or afternoon. That still left plenty of time for play, as well as homework. There weren't as many Marines around this camp as there had been soldiers around the mainland camp, so Solomon couldn't learn as many new things from them. The AI did replicate an inactivated RLI-1 Laser Rifle for him, so he could practice stripping it and putting it back together. He was really pleased with that, it obviously wasn't just a toy, but almost the real thing.

That night when she climbed up to her bunk, Hope found Bobo already asleep there. She thought he had noticed Kwanza the previous night and had decided to do the same thing himself. Hope gently moved the three year old over and settled in next to him. It struck her that in a year's time she would be ready to have her own children, so she might as well start getting used to it now.

The next morning there was more practice with the transporters, though this time they didn't just go to the other end of the hut. They ended up somewhere completely different, a big empty shed. Sonia said it was the airport arrivals hall. Having travelled by boat, Hope and Patience's groups hadn't seen inside it before. It was more familiar to Celina and Kassa's groups, who'd arrived by plane in the usual way. Jumping to a completely different destination was more disconcerting than it had been yesterday, but it wasn't so different that anyone forgot to step off the transporter or to follow the person in front. They all went back and forth a few times, so everyone got used to the sudden transition between outside and inside.

After lunch, Sonia, Hope and Khadija were in the kitchen helping clean up. Bobo was trying to help as well, putting the occasional dirty plate into the recycler. As they worked, Hope asked, "Were you married, Sonia?"

"Yes I was. He was a pilot, but we got divorced when Kwanza was two. I moved back in with my parents, so they could look after him while I carried on working. We needed the money."

"I'm sorry I asked," Hope apologised, "I didn't realise." She felt stupid for having asked the question. She should have realised that it might have embarrassed Sonia. She'd spoken without thinking.

"That's all right, Hope," Sonia reassured her, "It happened a long time ago. Life hasn't been too bad for us, and now I have all of you as well. Besides, I'll get myself a new sponsor when we get to our colony."

Taking the opportunity to change the subject, Hope asked, "What do you want your sponsor to be, Navy or a Marine?"

"A Marine, or maybe Fleet Auxiliary, I think. Some of the Navy concubines go fighting on warships, and I don't want to do that. It would be much too dangerous. I want to stay at home and raise children, not fight."

"Navy concubines can fight?" Hope had never heard of that before. Perhaps she could fight the Swarm even as a concubine.

The AI's voice interrupted them from a small speaker in the ceiling, "Some Navy concubines are used in non-combatant roles on warships, such as medical assistants."

"That's what I'll do then," Hope declared firmly. "If I'm a concubine, I'll pick a Navy sponsor and study to be a medical assistant." She was glad that there was a way for her to be directly useful in the fighting, even if she didn't make 6.5 on her CAP score straight away.

"Rather you then me, Hope," Sonia replied. Bringing the other girl into the conversation she asked, "What about you, Khadija? Who would you like as a sponsor?"

"Oh, I want someone older. When I'm fourteen I think I'd like my sponsor to be about seventeen or twenty. A husband should be older than his wives, so a sponsor should be older than his concubines."

"That might be difficult, Khadija," Sonia told her. "Most of the available sponsors in the colony are going to be fourteen, just as you will be. The older ones will already have picked their concubines. Even the new people, straight from Earth, will have got their concubines before arriving at the colony. You'll probably have to settle for a sponsor about your own age."

Khadija's face fell as Sonia was explaining. "But boys my age are so silly. I want a sensible sponsor. Somebody grown up."

"They'll be fourteen by then, not eleven," Hope interjected, "so they won't be quite so silly. But I agree it would be nicer to find an older sponsor. Like you say, it's better if the husband is a few years older than his wife."

That night, Hope found Bobo sleeping in her bunk again. She whispered to her AI link, "Why is Bobo in my bunk so often?"

Just as quietly the AI replied, "Genetic analysis indicates that, like you, his parents were tall and thin. You probably resemble his mother more than concubine Sonia does, so he identifies with you more."

Hope could understand that; both Sonia and Patience tended more towards short and plump. If his real parents had looked more like herself, then that would explain why little Bobo had taken to her so much. She asked the AI, "That was biology, wasn't it?"

"Yes, Hope. Do I understand from your earlier conversation in the kitchen, that you wish to have extra biology lessons included in your training?"

"Yes please. If I can't be a sponsor then I want to be a medical assistant on board a Navy ship."

For the next few days, the children spent their time playing, doing lessons and practising using the transporters. Solomon had quickly become an expert at stripping and reassembling his Laser Rifle, and Hope was beginning to find out that there was an awful lot of biology for her to learn. Sonia and the other adults had their own lessons, though they didn't have as much homework as the children did. A lot of their 'homework' was actually helping the children understand the things they had covered in their sleep training sessions.

Hope noticed that the oldest girl in Kassa'a group, twelve year old Neema, was often sick in the mornings. Remembering what her mother had been like when pregnant with her little sister Mercy, Hope asked Kassa about it during a quiet moment away from the others.

"Yes, Hope, you're right," Kassa told her. "Neema's pregnant, but please keep it quiet. She was attacked in the mainland camp and she's very unhappy about things. Let her talk to you about it if she wants to, but otherwise stay away from the subject."

"Oh, that's horrible for her," Hope said sympathetically. "I won't tell anyone. Did they catch who did it?"

"Not yet. But they'll be able to identify him if he ever turns up here, and I don't think the Confederacy will be letting him get away with it."

"Good," said Hope firmly. She was remembering those three poor women and the three wicked soldiers in the truck. Men like that should die, just like Absalom had arranged for Amnon to die.

Late that evening, after the children were in bed, the AI told the four concubines that they would all be leaving the camp in two days. It immediately followed up with, "In preparation for the move to the Transfer Camp, we will be enforcing the dress code for concubines from tonight. You must now remove all clothing and put on standard concubine attire. Four shifts are available from the replicator. You are allowed to retain a limited amount of personal jewellery."

Dismayed, the four of them looked at each other. Sonia decided that, as the hut leader, she should set an example, so she went over to the replicator to retrieve their concubine shifts. Giving each of the others a shift, she shook out the one tagged for her and looked at it. It was awful! Just as bad as the rumours had predicted: dull grey, shapeless and very, very brief. It was barely long enough to keep her decent; just as well she was quite short. If she were much taller it wouldn't cover anything at all. She understood why she had hardly ever seen any other women around in these shifts. They were only issued shortly before departure, and anybody forced to wear one would want to stay out of sight as much as possible, hidden in her hut.

With a resigned sigh she started removing her clothes. "Come on, ladies," she admonished the others. "We all knew this was going to happen sometime. We'll just have to get used to it."

Kassa was practically in tears, she was tall and her shift was hardly any longer than Sonia's. Celina asked the AI, "What about underclothes?"

"No underclothing is provided except when necessary for a few days during menstruation. If the shifts are not acceptable, then nudity is allowed as an alternative."

"Oh no! I'll wear the shift," Celina replied hastily and carried on undressing. Patience just changed in silence, doing what she was told.

In the morning Patience had to tell her oldest son not to stare. At eleven years old, Nelson was beginning to get interested in the differences between girls and boys, and the shifts let him see a lot more of the four women than he had before. Sonia was wishing that she had done more to keep her weight down to airline standards. The shift showed a lot more of her legs than even her old airline uniform, and they were rather plumper than they had been. Kassa especially found it really difficult, and spent a lot of time that morning lying on her bunk, where nobody could look at her.

She wasn't the only one finding the new dress code a problem. After breakfast the AI ordered them all outside. They found that three huts had been called out, White Six, Seven and Eight. One of the women in White Seven had refused to change out of her old clothes, and was being made an example of. For a minute Sonia was afraid that she was going to be executed in front of the children, but the corporal running things announced that she would be stripped naked before an audience as a punishment. Nowhere near as bad as being executed, but bad enough.

There were four Marines present: three privates, two men and a woman, along with the female corporal. The woman private was short for a Marine, and pregnant. Both Hope and Sonia were surprised at that; neither of them had seen a pregnant Marine before.

Sonia recognised the offender, Jamila -- they had talked briefly a few times when they met between the huts. She looked terrified, but still refused to take her old clothes off, even when the corporal repeated the order. One of the male Marines, Private Chabani, seized her arms from behind to hold her still, and the corporal told the other male private to cut her clothes away. He reached for his belt and pulled out his knife. Pandemonium broke out. Jamila screamed and fainted, slumping in the grip of the Marine holding her. Many of those in the audience who could see the knife also screamed, with a few fainting as well. Even those whose view was blocked were uneasy, wondering what was going on.

The corporal immediately started bellowing at the private and he turned towards her, still holding his knife. As soon as she saw what was in his hand, Hope screamed with the others. The last time she had seen a knife like that, it had been held in a Sa'arm's claw, back at her village. A lot of memories she thought she had buried came flooding back: dead bodies, blood, the ghastly wounds Sa'arm knives could inflict. People butchered like cattle: women killed, children killed, babies killed. Her mother's corpse. Her little sister's corpse. She managed not to faint but she had to turn away, her eyes filling with tears. Solomon was crying and hugging her tight for comfort, his head turned away also. She managed to put her arms protectively around her brother, but that was the limit of what she could achieve.

Sonia quickly surveyed the chaos in her group. Hope and Solomon were still upright, though not moving. Khadija was frozen on the spot; it looked like she had lost bladder control, as there was liquid puddling on the ground under her. Siti was screaming continuously and Bobo was worriedly trying to attract Hope's attention. Only Kwanza and Murua seemed to be functioning normally, though they both looked disturbed at what was happening to the others. Telling Murua to look after Kwanza and Bobo, Sonia went to comfort Siti while keeping an eye on the rest.

Corporal Campbell surveyed the disaster this simple punishment demonstration had become. Private Fantoni was doubling back to barracks, with his damned Sa'arm force-field knife well hidden. Not that he would be keeping the souvenir for long, it wasn't allowed out where the refugees might see it for very good reasons. Once she got back from making good the mess he had caused, he was going to be on jankers for the maximum possible sentence. What an idiot!

The demonstration was obviously aborted, so the corporal swiftly got the clean up organised. Private Ngowi, who had not been upsized yet due to her pregnancy, herded the walking wounded back to their huts, while Private Chabani carried those who had fainted.

Once the area had been cleared, she lead the way to hut Seven, with Private Chabani carrying the collapsed Jamila. They still had a job to do, albeit with a smaller audience. She sent Private Ngowi to the replicator for a pair of large scissors and a concubine shift. Quickly, Jamila's clothes were cut off and replaced with the standard grey shift. They left her lying on a bunk, still unconscious, and made their way back to barracks. Corporal Campbell was wishing there was a clause in Military Law that would let her use Fantoni's knife to separate him from his testicles.

In their hut, Hope and Solomon sat silently on his bunk, hugging each other. Khadija was taking a shower to clean up, while Siti was holding tight onto Sonia's hand. They were all quiet, dealing with the unwanted memories that had intruded so unexpectedly. Sonia made sure everyone had calmed down, and that they know she was around to help. Anyone who wanted a cuddle got one.

It was a very subdued group going to sleep that night. Bobo was in Hope's bunk of course, and Siti was in with Sonia. Kwanza had reluctantly agreed that she could sleep there, despite wanting to be with his mother himself. Sonia promised him that he could be with her the next night. Hope had a disturbed night; her dreams kept waking her up. She didn't think she screamed aloud, though she wasn't sure.

Because they were going to a new camp, in the morning they had to pack up anything they wanted to take with them. Being mostly refugees, they didn't have a lot of stuff. Even Patience hadn't brought much with her on the boat, and most of that had since been replaced with new from the replicator. Sonia confirmed that there would be replicators at their destination, so they didn't need to take any replicated stuff with them. That meant Solomon had to leave his beloved RLI-1 behind. At one point he even burst into tears about it, and had Sonia and Hope hugging him from two sides. The AI promised that he could have a new one when he arrived, but it was still a very miserable Solomon who left his rifle on his bunk and made his way outside with the others.

This time they were sharing a transport pad with other huts, so they had to walk a little way and queue up behind the people from White Five. Sonia noticed that the women ahead of her were as uncomfortable about wearing their concubine shifts as she was, each trying to pull the hem down so it covered a bit more. The Marine on duty confirmed with Sonia that they were from White Six and waited a few seconds, to allow the last group from White Five to clear at their destination. Behind them, Hope could see the four groups from White Seven arriving, the four adults, including Jamila, in the same grey shifts. Finally the Marine waved Sonia forward and they were off.

They arrived in another large room, similar to the arrivals hall at the airport. A Marine spoke to Sonia as soon she stepped off the transporter, "White Six?"

Sonia nodded, "Yes."

"Good. Follow me."

Sonia followed as the Marine walked steadily towards a door with a white square painted above it. When they reached the door the Marine stopped and looked back, checking that the whole hut was present. When she and the AI were satisfied, she led Sonia and the others outside. Walking a bit faster now, she took them along a row of huts. Sonia could see the familiar numbers by the doors: White One, White Two....

Once they reached White Six the Marine left them and Solomon went straight to the bedroom replicator to replace his RLI-1 and get his sweet. He hugged the rifle to him and took it to his bunk. Everything inside the new hut was just like the old hut, so it all felt familiar.

After allowing everyone half an hour to get settled, the AI told the four concubines to gather everyone round the table for an important announcement.

When they were all ready, it began, "Welcome to Kindertransport Transfer Camp Two. You will be here overnight before transfer to your colony ship." Hope's heart leapt. She and Solomon would be away from Earth tomorrow! She could barely contain her excitement, and she could see that Solomon had a big grin, just like the one she could feel on her own face.

The AI had paused to allow its audience to absorb the news. "This camp is situated on an island in the Pacific Ocean, so you are now well away from Africa. The time here is eight hours ahead of where you were, hence you should be prepared for a short day."

It was difficult for Sonia and Hope to get the younger children into their beds that 'evening', since all their body clocks were still out of sync. Bobo wanted to be in Hope's bunk of course, which she was used to by now. Solomon didn't mind, he had more space in his bunk here because the AI hadn't bothered to put in the divider that would have separated his end from Bobo's.

The next morning, Hope tried to feel excited about the transfer to the colony ship, but she wasn't as well rested as she would have liked to be. She'd had two successive bad nights, the first from her dreams and the second from her body clock, so she was feeling flat and tired. Solomon seemed perkier, and was really looking forward to getting on board ship. Kassa emerged earlier than she had the last two days, though she stuck close to the pregnant Neema. That let her stand behind the girl if she thought one of the boys was staring at her. Over breakfast, Nelson asked the AI about arrangements for the transfer.

"The transfer will take place between 12:39 and 13:39 local time. It will be in two stages, the first stage from here to Tycho Base in the Moon and the second stage from Tycho Base to the colony ship Sadi Carnot."

Nelson wondered why the transfer was being done in two stages, rather than a single jump. The AI informed everyone that the ship was in a high orbit, too high for a transporter to reach in one hop. Keeping it on the far side of the Moon also reduced the risk of the Swarm interfering. That was the reason transfers were made from the Pacific. There was too great a risk bringing colony ships in low orbit over the Sa'arm bases in Africa.

Solomon wanted to know how much they could see of the Moon, and how long they would have there. He was very disappointed when the AI explained, "Tycho Base is underground. The first transporter will deliver you into a large room, where you have to walk forward a few metres and step onto a second transporter. All you will see of the Moon is the inside of that room."

Sonia was relieved to hear that. It sounded much more efficient than an airline transfer, which would have involved a lot of waiting at the intermediate stop. Her heart had sunk when the AI first mentioned a two-stage journey.

Again they had to pack anything they wanted to keep, and again Solomon had to leave his laser rifle behind. He wasn't as unhappy about it this time, as he knew he would get a replacement once they were on board ship.

Like last time, the White huts were all sharing a single transporter. As they waited behind the groups from hut Five, the Marine reminded Sonia to lead her people straight ahead onto the second transporter at Tycho, and to follow directions once on board the ship.

When Sonia arrived in the Moon, a grey uniformed Civil Service Officer said abruptly, "White Six? Follow on behind," and gestured to the tail of White Five disappearing into another transporter ahead of her. As she crossed the room, she was aware of another stream of children and grey-clad concubines to her right. She didn't have time to look at them properly before she was stepping onto the second green disc and leaving the Moon.

The welcome on board ship was just as brusque, but came in a blue Fleet Auxiliary uniform, "White Six? Follow the others through the hatch to the white ring." There was a door, or hatch Sonia mentally corrected herself, indicated by a white square, and with the familiar tail of White Five moving through it. She followed on as ordered, the rest of the hut trailing behind her. Beyond the hatch was a strange corridor, it looked as if it curved downwards but when you walked along, it was flat. No huts on board ship, just hatches off the corridor. The numbering was the familiar black digit in a white circle: White One, White Two....

Ahead of her, Sonia could see another Fleet Auxiliary crewman in blue standing across the corridor just beyond the hatch where the people from White Five were turning off. As she approached, the hatch closed behind the boy she had been following. The crewman beckoned her forward. At least this one smiled, though he didn't talk. He turned and walked ahead of her to just past the next hatch, White Six. The crewman stopped and turned, again blocking the corridor, smiled for a second time and gestured for her to enter the open hatch. The AI spoke though her collar to confirm the obvious, "Enter pod White Six." She walked through the hatch and saw the usual arrangement of a large table, kitchen and play area. Everything looked familiar from the huts.

Solomon was dismayed when he arrived inside. He tried to go through to the bedroom replicator to get his rifle, and his sweet, but there wasn't a door! "AI, where is the bedroom?" he asked.

"The sleeping area is on the upper level of the pod. There is a gravity lift for access. Look to your left."

Solomon saw an illuminated purple circle on the floor, beneath a hole in the ceiling, and he rushed onto it. Hope almost screamed when she saw her brother floating up through the hole. Soon he was coming back down, with his new rifle clutched in his arms and a big smile on his face. The children all immediately rushed over to try out this wonderful new toy. Sonia and Celina had to intervene to make sure everyone took turns in the lift. When the adults got a chance to visit the upper level, they saw it was laid out identically to the sleeping section of the huts they were used to, with the same arrangement of twenty four bunks, toilets and showers.

Kassa and Celina were just starting to prepare lunch when the AI ordered everyone to gather for a recorded announcement from the ship's captain. A woman's voice told them, "This is Captain Williams of the Kindertransport ship Sadi Carnot. Welcome on board and welcome to your pod. It will be your home for the next few weeks while we travel to the Wallerat system. Your pod AI will be able to give you full details of what to expect when we reach the colony. As well as myself and my crew, we also have a Civil Service Officer on board, Signifer Taylor. You must do whatever he or any of my crew tell you to do. I am sure you are all aware by now of the penalties for disobedience. Remember that they can be very severe.

"When we are fully loaded, there will be about three thousand of you on board, fifteen hundred in each half of the ship. Because of the numbers, I'm afraid you will have to spend most of the time in your pods. The AI will only open the pod's main hatch for you in an emergency, or for your scheduled time outside the pod. That will allow you to use the ship's mess in your half of the ship, and to mix with people from other pods. Unfortunately, the mess is too small to allow all of you to use it at once, so we have to limit how many of you are there together. Your pod AI will let you know in advance when it is your turn to use the mess.

"I will talk to you again shortly before we are ready to depart. Thank you all for listening, and have a pleasant journey."

Hearing the captain say that there were two halves of the ship, Sonia remembered the parallel stream of people she had seen briefly at Tycho Base, while crossing to the second transporter. The AI confirmed her suspicion that the other stream were indeed being loaded into the other half of the ship.

After the captain's announcement, Solomon wanted to know how they could fit three thousand people onto the ship. Hope didn't know, so she asked the AI. It decided that Solomon needed a mathematics lesson to pass the time before lunch.

"An Aurora class ship has six rings of sixteen pods each. How many pods is that, Solomon?" the AI asked.

"Can I have some paper to work it out, please," he asked.

"Just use your finger to write on the table-top."

As Solomon moved his finger, the AI produced a line on the table-top behind it, just as if his finger was a pen. "How do you do that?" Solomon asked.

"I have more direct control over the furniture in this pod than was possible in the huts back on Earth. I am merely changing the colour of a small part of the table's surface."

Hope was pleased that she had been able to do the sum in her head. Six times sixteen was the same as twelve times eight, and she knew the answer to that from her times tables. As usual, Bobo was sitting by Hope, and saw Solomon writing on the table-top. Immediately the three year old started his own drawing. Hope whispered to the AI through her wrist unit, and soon Bobo had four spots of coloured 'paint' to dip his fingers in, so he could draw in colour. Finger painting, but without the mess. Hope briefly wondered whether Bobo would be more interested in the painting or in the mess.

Solomon, meanwhile, had reached his answer, "Ninety six pods."

"Very good. One pod is assigned to the Civil Service Officer," the AI told him. "How many pods are left?"

"Ninety five."

"Correct. How many adults are there in this pod?"

"Four. Sonia, Patience, Celina and Kassa."

"Good, Solomon. Do you know how many children there are?"

"Lots." Solomon wasn't sure of the exact number.

The AI talked him through the numbers of children in each group and adding them together. After one mistake he came up with the correct answer, twenty eight children.

"Yes. There are twenty eight children in this pod, which is typical. How many people are there in the pod altogether?"

"Four and twenty eight is ... thirty two." He managed to get the answer after a pause to think, and some use of his fingers.

"Correct again. Can you multiply ninety five by thirty two, Solomon?"

"No. That's too difficult. Can you do it for me?"

"I can help you, but I won't tell you the answer." The AI displayed a simple touch-screen calculator on the table-top for him. Solomon quickly worked out how to use it, with a little assistance from the AI.

Meanwhile it asked, "Hope, can you do the sum by long multiplication?"

Hope was startled. She'd been keeping half an eye on Bobo's finger painting, so hadn't really been paying attention. She managed to remember her long multiplication, and eventually arrived at 3,040 written on the table-top, the same number as displayed on Solomon's calculator. She and her brother both looked at their results. The Captain had been right. So many people on just one ship.

Lunch was almost over when there was a brief announcement from Captain Williams, "We have now completed loading. Departure from orbit will be in about fifteen minutes."

Just before the appointed time the AI put up a big display of the Moon, with the blue and white Earth behind it. Sonia watched, with Kwanza next to her. He realised that something important was happening, but he wasn't quite sure what it was. Sonia was both glad and sad. She had worked towards this moment for a long time, and she had achieved what she had set out to do: Kwanza would be safe. Nevertheless, it was a big wrench. She knew that as a concubine she would almost certainly never return to Earth again.

Hope was sitting between Solomon and Bobo, looking at the image covering one wall. Bobo was immersed in his finger painting, while Solomon was watching the display with her. Suddenly, the Moon and Earth began to shrink as the ship moved out of orbit and started its journey. Hope's old life was there, getting smaller and further away. Her little sister. Her mother. Her Daddy. All gone, all shrinking as the ship accelerated. She held her brother's hand and repeated her birthday wish to herself: victory over the Swarm. She owed it to Daddy.