The Freshman
Copyright 2005 by EC
EC's Erotic Art & Fiction - http://www.ecgraphicarts.com/

(warnings: corporal punishment, erotic discipline, public nudity, sex between 
adults, references to drug use, references to violence, language)

Chapter 30 - Americans in Danube City

The three Americans completed the final leg of their journey about 10 hours after 
beginning it in Chicago. Only a short time after rising to cruising altitude the 
plane began its descent into Danubian airspace. Jason and Cecilia looked out of 
their window at a range of heavily forested mountains that gave way to open 
farmland punctuated with villages and crisscrossed by railroad tracks. There was a 
large lake off in the distance that must have been the Rika Chorna Reservoir. The 
plane banked to the west and briefly followed the Rika Chorna River westward as 
it descended towards the capitol. Finally it veered away from the river and passed 
over potato fields and some ancient-looking buildings as it approached the 
nation's only international airport.

The arrival was a surreal experience because the airport was so primitive. The 
plane simply stopped next to a 1930's art-deco style terminal building that looked 
like a prop from a very old movie. Workers rolled two staircases on wheels next 
to the plane and the passengers stepped out into the open air. The final part of the 
journey into the building had to be completed on foot.

It was obvious there still was a lot of tension because of the recent coup attempt. 
There were police snipers and anti-aircraft batteries on the rooftop of the terminal, 
and an over-all air of concern among the officials working the Customs lines. 
Jason knew the Danubians had reason to be worried because, until the situation of 
the mercenaries was resolved, there was the constant possibility of an escape or 
rescue attempt.

Cynthia led the group through Airport Customs because she spoke Danubian and 
her companions did not. It was obvious the Customs officials knew who she was 
and simply waved her through. Jason and Cecilia noticed her exchanging salutes 
with several people in uniform.

The person picking them up was none other than Vladik Dukov, the Prime 
Minister's son. He was in full uniform and accompanied by two lower-ranking 
police officers. Once their suitcases were retrieved, the three Americans and the 
three police officers traveled into Danube City in a van owned by the Danubian 
Police. For most Danubians, even riding in a police van was considered a luxury, 
since there was a very strict prohibition against personal vehicles of any type in 
the Duchy. Why that rule was needed became very evident as the van entered the 
Danubian capitol. The crowded streets and tightly packed buildings simply could 
not have accommodated anything other than trolleys, bicycles, and the occasional 
police or military vehicle. 

The fact that Vladik was the Prime Minister's son made no difference as far as his 
transportation was concerned. Cynthia explained that Danubians liked to keep 
things as simple as possible when it came to their daily lives. It was a cultural 
value that even politicians were expected to uphold, and certainly one that Dukov 
supported. Even the Prime Minister tried to be as unobtrusive as possible as he 
went about his business. For example, if Dukov needed to go anywhere, usually 
he just hitched a ride in whatever police van happened to be nearby. If his 
situation was urgent, or he needed to go to several places in a single trip, the cop 
driving the van might actually need to stay parked outside and wait for him. If it 
was something really important or a major trip by a Parliamentary entourage, then 
three or even four police vans might be needed. That was considered extravagant. 
Upper Danubia had no equivalent of Air Force One or the Presidential Limo.

As they passed rows of well maintained solidly built houses, small street shops, 
attractive schools, and clean trolley stops, Cecilia was able to appreciate an urban 
environment that was totally different from the one where she grew up. The first 
thing that struck her was the complete lack of graffiti. There was none: not a 
single spot of spray paint on a single wall, anywhere. There was no trash on the 
streets and absolutely nothing that appeared broken. It was obvious the country 
was not rich, but what wealth it did have seemed very evenly distributed.

There was one quirk of the Danubians that became evident right away, and that 
was their love of griffins, their national symbol. Griffins were everywhere; not 
just on the national flag, but also painted on any large wall throughout the city and 
in the form of numerous statues guarding the entrances of parks and public 
buildings. There were big griffins, small griffins, medieval-style griffins, and even 
abstract modern griffins. Every society has its oddities, and the obsession with 
depicting griffins was a major one of the Danubians. Cindy joked:

"If you don't like looking at griffins, you're in the wrong country."

The van passed an area where there were a large number of naked criminals 
moving around carrying musical instruments or other items needed to perform or 
record music. Cecilia couldn't decide what shocked her more, seeing a bunch of 
naked people on the street or seeing them with their instruments. Cynthia 
explained that the area was where the city's thriving musical recording studios 
was located and that the naked people in the street were musicians from various 
groups who were working on their music.

"The Danubians have an expression 'to sing like a criminal', which falls back on 
their idea that only a criminal, a person who has gone through a lot of personal 
anguish, can really express themselves with true emotion. There's a belief in this 
country that only music that comes from criminals is genuine, that has that 
genuine feel of suffering that people here like to hear so much."

The trip took the van around the Old City Wall, which was largely intact except 
several spots where openings allowed streets to pass through into the oldest 
section of town. Huge 600-year old stone watchtowers, which at one time looked 
out over open fields, now looked out over the old business district of the 
Danubian capitol.

The group's destination was Danube City's largest hotel; an elaborate 19th 
Century building that overlooked the East Danube River. It was in that hotel 
where Cecilia, Jason, and Cindy would spend the next several nights, and where 
Kimberly Lee would meet with them later in the afternoon.

Cynthia translated an explanation from Vladik.

"The Prime Minister apologizes for not being at the airport to greet you himself, 
but he's down in Athens, 'cause they're getting ready to put that baggage handler 
on trial... you know, the guy who was going to load the bomb on their plane. 
Anyhow, he'll be back in a couple of days and in the meantime wants you guys to 
get settled in."

Vladik checked the Americans into three adjoining rooms, but Cynthia explained 
that they actually would have only two rooms, because two police officers 
assigned to protect the group during the trial would have the third room. She 
added that Cecilia could either sleep with Jason or with her. It was obvious that 
Cindy was the one who would have a room to herself.

Kimberly Lee, dressed in business attire and accompanied by a tall female 
criminal, showed up shortly after the three Americans were checked in. Like 
every other criminal, Kim's companion was completely naked except for her 
metal collar. The taller woman was very attractive and couldn't have been much 
older than 21. It turned out she was yet another fellow American, Kim's client 
Tiffany Walker. Tiffany shyly shook hands with Jason and Cecilia, said hello to 
Cynthia, and then did something that totally surprised Jason. She knelt in front of 
Kimberly, touching her forehead to the ground.

"Goodbye, Apprentice Lee, may the Ancients protect you on your journey home."

"Goodbye, Criminal # 98946. You are released for the evening. May the Ancients 
protect you until we meet again."

With that Tiffany stood up and hugged Vladik. They took off, a uniformed cop 
and a naked criminal, who just happened to be engaged to each other.

Noticing the bewildered expressions on her guests' faces, Kim commented: 

"It's sort of an interesting story, how they got together. I'll fill you guys in on that 
later on, because I think it will help you understand this place a bit better." 

Cecilia's heart was pounding now that she finally was meeting the woman whose 
music had so profoundly changed her life. She had corresponded with Kim plenty 
over the past two years, but now, here she was, in Danube City, with Kimberly 
Lee right in front of her, and not able to say anything. She was just too 
overwhelmed.

Kim understood that Cecilia had been through a lot, and perhaps needed a break 
from anything that required any thought or making decisions. She suggested a 
walk through the old section of the city, the heart of the place that would be their 
home for an indefinite period of time. It gave Cecilia and Jason a chance to just 
follow someone else's lead and not really have to worry about anything apart from 
seeing the city. They would need time to adjust to where they were and what was 
happening to them.

Kim led them past the Old City Wall into the downtown part of the capitol. They 
walked through the National Parliament Building and exited into the Central 
Plaza, where they contemplated the National Cathedral and the sprawling 
headquarters of the National Police. It was weird to think, in the basement that 
very building, were many of the prisoners and nearly all of the weapons from the 
failed coup that had landed Jason and Cecilia into Upper Danubia in the first 
place. Several old tanks and military trucks guarding the main entrance, as well as 
the police snipers stationed on the roof, served to remind the four Americans of 
the continued tension the nation suffered because of the recent traumatic events.

"It's a strange building, the Central Police Station. A lot of it's underground, 
which is why they got so much room. There's chambers and vaults down there 
that are over 1000 years old, and even a catacomb. It's a lot bigger than it looks, 
'cause of all the parts you can't see. Anyhow, the Central Courthouse, where 
you're gonna be testifying, that's over there, opposite the Police Station. You guys 
want to see my office?"

Of course Jason and Cecilia were curious to see where Kim worked, so they made 
their way into the main entrance and up two flights of stairs to the hallway of 
offices where Danube City's 20 Spokespersons and 17 Apprentices worked. They 
entered one of the doors and passed into the back room. There were two desks, 
because, as Kim explained, she shared the office with another Apprentice. Once 
she graduated and sworn-in as a Spokeswoman, she would have the office to 
herself. Kim added that the office where she was working was Spokesman 
Vladim Dukov's office before he became Prime Minister.

Seeing all of the places she had heard about in Kim's music and correspondence 
greatly put Cecilia at ease, and allowed her to start asking her questions about her 
life and about Danube City in general. Gradually the conversation became more 
two-way, and Cecilia and Jason started relaxing enough to talk about themselves.

They stepped back out into the Central Plaza. Off in the distance loomed King 
Vladik's Castle, but Kim announced there would not be time to see that landmark, 
because already it was getting late. Instead she had something much stranger and 
much more revealing to share with them. They returned to her office, where the 
two sisters changed into black prayer robes. They invited Jason and Cecilia to go 
with them to the Temple of the Ancients.

"We've both converted to the Danubian Church." Kim explained. "If you guys 
don't mind, Cynthia and I need to go over to the Temple, and we'll take you to see 
it, if you're curious. After that I'm gonna have to head down to the river and meet 
up with someone."

With that the four Americans walked past Danube City's 15th Century National 
Cathedral, which now was used mostly for ceremonial instead of religious 
functions. The real center of the nation's religious life was the Cathedral's 
predecessor, the Temple of the Ancients. The Temple was much older than the 
Cathedral; parts of it 3,000 years old, dating clear back to the mysterious origins 
of the Danubian nation. Before there was anything else in Danube City, there was 
the Temple. 

The building seemed fairly busy for a weeknight. There were no worship services 
going on, but plenty of people were present, praying in front of Priests or 
Priestesses, performing penance services, or getting counseling. Cindy took a 
candle and lit it, indicating she wanted a member of the Clergy to talk to her. She 
knelt and began praying while holding the candle. Within a few minutes a middle-
aged man in a black robe approached and they stepped outside into the park 
behind the Temple. Kim explained a few details about the history of the Temple 
during Cynthia's absence, which lasted about 20 minutes. When Cynthia re-
appeared, the four went down to the river. 

It was a warm late spring night. They silently walked along a very dark trail until 
they got to a sidewalk that paralleled the East Danube River. They turned 
upstream and walked until they got to a park bench, where a naked muscular 
young woman, barely visible in the darkness, was waiting. Kim and the other 
woman knelt facing each other, touched their heads the ground, then knelt upright 
and turned to face the Temple. They scooted closer together, placed their heads 
back on the ground, and began quietly praying. Cynthia motioned Jason and 
Cecilia to step back.

"They're gonna be at it for a while, so we might as well go for a walk. We'll 
follow the river down to the Castle, then we'll come back and see how they're 
doing."

They began their trek along the shore, their walk partially illuminated by the 
moon reflecting off the East Danube River. The Castle loomed ahead, looking 
quite forbidding, with its black shape silhouetted against the moonlit night. 
Cynthia glanced back in the direction of her sister to the spot where she was 
praying with the naked woman. Cecilia looked back as well, wondering what Kim 
was doing.

"So, who's that woman Kim's with?"

"Her name is Criminal # 99348. Before she was convicted, she was known as 
Officer Malka Chorno, and Kim, even though she's an Apprentice, still calls her 
by her former name. Malka Chorno's the cop that arrested Kim...four years ago. 
Hard to believe, it's been four years already. Anyhow, Malka Chorno was a 
person whose soul was very damaged, perhaps as much as Jason's father, but in a 
different way. She was really mean to Kim during the first year of her sentence. 
Then, while she was switching Kim a year after she arrested her, she lost control 
of herself and beat Kim so hard she cut her skin open, which is illegal. When 
Spokesman Dukov tried to stop her, she kicked him in the stomach, in a 
courtroom right in front of a judge. Well, that ended her career as a cop real fast. 
She was convicted of a bunch of stuff and became a criminal, no better than Kim. 
Ever since then Kim and Malka have trying to come to terms with each other, 
because they both know the path of their lives requires them to do it. Their souls 
are tied together. Each of them became a criminal because of the other, but each 
was redeemed as the result of her arrest."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"Yes it does. The path of each of their lives was to get arrested. It had to be that 
way, because each of their souls was damaged. Before she got arrested, Kim was 
getting heavily into drugs. Her arrest stopped that, dead in its tracks. As for 
Malka, she was obsessed with what happened to her younger sister. The girl 
disappeared with seven other Danubian girls because of a white slavery 
trafficking ring that hooked teenagers on drugs and then sold them in the Middle 
East as sex slaves. Malka became almost psychotic over what happened because 
she blamed herself for not watching her sister better. She became a real monster 
around criminals, and especially foreigners. Her arrest, and the way Kim handled 
it, made her realize hatred had consumed her and destroyed her completely. She 
changed, became repentant, overcame her hatred, and took back her life. Malka 
accepted herself for what she is, a criminal.  Now the Path of her life is totally 
different.  She's the city's most popular gym instructor."

"Kim's had a very important role in Malka's life. Here's an example, just one out 
of a whole bunch. After she was sentenced, Malka met her husband Tuko at the 
Socrates Club, because Tuko was a friend of Kim. Then, last fall, Tuko (who's 
now a cop) went to the Middle East as part of an international police team trying 
to find out what happened to the victims of that trafficking ring who were still 
missing. Just before he left, Kim had a vision about where her body was buried 
and told him about it. He went to that spot, dug around a bit, and sure enough, 
there it was, the body of Malka's sister. Tuko came back to Danube City with her 
body and a couple of others. If nothing else, at least the girls had a decent burial 
in their own country instead of rotting out in the desert. So, ever since Tuko got 
back, Malka and Kim have prayed together, even though they don't really like 
each other. There's some sort of spiritual bond between them, something neither 
of them understands. And that spot where they pray, that's where Malka arrested 
Kim for smoking weed."

Cynthia's companions were silent, not knowing how to react. The story of 
Kimberly Lee and Malka Chorno was strange and very frightening. It was a very 
Danubian story.

Jason and Cecilia felt uneasy as they glanced off into the wooded park that 
seemed full of both the living and the dead. They could feel there was something 
in there: something ancient and mysterious. Cecilia asked why that relatively 
small plot of land was so important.

"This spot is the holiest place in Upper Danubia," explained Cynthia. "They call it 
the Sacred Ground of the Guardian Spirits, and it's been important for 3,000 
years. They have all kinds of beliefs about the Sacred Ground, but the one they're 
really big on is that it's the only spot in the Land of the Living where you can 
confront whatever you did wrong in your life. The Ancients are here, and they'll 
answer if you call out to them. So people come here at night to pray. What they 
do is go to the Temple first and explain to someone in the Clergy what's bothering 
them. The Clergy member gives their own perspective about what's wrong and 
what to ask the Ancients. Then the person comes out here to face their...sins, 
although that's not really a good way to translate it. Maybe 'damage to the soul' is 
a better way to say it."

Cynthia glanced at her companions in the dark and continued. 

"It's sort hard for me to explain, but anyhow, the Danubian Church teaches that 
the soul is a living thing, something you need to maintain and protect. You suffer, 
and your soul suffers, but what you need to do is come to terms with your 
suffering, and above all, not pass it along to anyone else. You have to repair your 
spiritual injuries, and the wise person asks the Creator to help them come to terms 
with the pain in their lives. This is where they come to do it, this ground behind 
the Old Temple. I've had issues...a lot of things built up in me and a lot of hatred 
that I carried with me since I was a little kid...and it wasn't until I came here that I 
found a way to deal with it."

"By converting to the Danubian Church?"

"No. That came later. Not 'till last summer. There was a lot of stuff that came 
before I converted, and plenty of stuff that's come since. When I converted, that 
was just one small part of a very long spiritual journey I've had to endure."

"So, how come you converted, anyhow?"

"I think...maybe out of all the religions, this is the one that makes the most sense 
to me. The faith is all about repairing the damage to your soul and doing the best 
you can, so you can follow the path in life the Creator laid out for you. A path not 
for anyone else, but only for you. The point is, to follow your path in life, you 
have to meet the Creator halfway by understanding how your soul might be 
damaged, and how you have to fix it. You're not going to do anything perfectly, 
but the Creator wants you to do the best you can."

"I like what they're preaching at the Temple because I see it in my own life. I 
mean...they do have a very strong idea about what's wrong and what's right. 
What's wrong is to inflict needless suffering on any living entity, and what's right 
is to try to make the world a more pleasant place for everyone and everything 
around you. They teach that a damaged soul is what destroys and hurts, while a 
soul on the right path of life does the opposite, makes everything better, or at least 
strives to make everything better. If your soul is damaged, then you will be a 
constant source of misery to yourself and everyone else around you."

"Like my dad."

"Yes, Jason, like your dad. From what I've heard about him, his soul is about as 
damaged as they come. Well, anyhow, to answer your original question, why did I 
convert? I think the thing that got me was the Clergy's view of the Afterlife. What 
the Danubians believe is that upon dying, you have to come to terms with the way 
you lived, and just as importantly, the way you were as a person. You face the 
Creator, you hold up a mirror that you're buried with.  In that mirror you see your 
soul for what it truly was when you were alive. You see the Absolute Truth, the 
full truth about the path of your life. Every question you ever had gets answered. 
And then, except for the truth, there's no absolutes, no black and white, no 
Heaven and no Hell. Instead what you have is an afterlife in which your soul faces 
the consequences, good and bad, of everything you ever did. I like that idea, 
because it means that you have to take responsibility for the way you live, day to 
day, minute to minute. What's done in your life is done, there's no praying and 
just hoping it will go away. You do something, and the Creator will hold you 
accountable. All you can do is hope you can learn, and try to behave better in the 
future. A pretty strong incentive to do your best, don't you think?"

"Yeah...a bit scary, when you think about it."

"Not at all. It's very empowering. You can't make excuses to the Creator. You are 
responsible, and that's all there is to it. I pray a lot, but for the future, not for the 
past. I can't change the past, and I will face the consequences of the past when I 
die. However, I do control what kind of person I will be in the future. That's what 
I need to worry about. That's where I ask the Creator's help."

A middle-aged couple passed them in the darkness. They were as naked as Malka 
Chorno and wearing collars, but Jason and Cecilia noticed the collars were not 
typical criminal collars. Instead they were smooth and lacked the prisoner's ring.

"That couple's performing pubic penance," explained Cynthia. "I can tell, because 
those collars are from the Temple, not from the Ministry of Justice."

Cecilia knew about public penance, but Jason did not, so Cynthia explained it to 
him. In some ways penance was like a criminal sentence, but it was a sentence a 
person imposed on himself instead of having it imposed by the Ministry of 
Justice. The goal of penance and a criminal sentence were similar, to strip away as 
much as possible from the person's old life to allow him to start building a new 
one. As Cynthia put it:

"The Church considers penance important for anyone who wants to make any 
kind of change in their life. Penance places you on public display.  The idea is that 
the public stripping of worldly items from your body will help you to strip the 
worldly contamination from your soul. You're also humbling yourself in the eyes 
of society, because a person performing penance has the same legal status and 
duties as a convicted criminal. You put on the Temple collar and expose yourself 
to everyone around you. You are announcing to the world 'I don't like who I've 
been up until now. I want strip my soul and rebuild it, because I need to change. 
Until I can clean my soul, my body will remain uncovered.'"

"Cynthia, I'm kinda curious about something. Did you ever perform penance?"

"Yes. I wore a Temple collar last summer for a couple of weeks before I 
converted. I'm planning to do it again after the trial. This time it's going to have to 
be more than a few weeks. I might be wearing a collar for several months, but I 
haven't decided how long yet. When the time comes, I'll talk to the Priest who 
swore me into the Church and see what he thinks."

"But...how come you're gonna do it now? Did you do something wrong?"

"I have my reasons. I can't really explain them, but it's important to me. I'm just 
waiting for the trial to be over, and then I'm getting collared. I have some issues I 
got to settle between myself and the Creator."

Cynthia's explanation profoundly affected her two companions, for very different 
reasons. 

Jason was heartened by what Cynthia had told him. He desperately wanted to 
mark the end of the person he had been, and the beginning of the person he 
wanted to become in the future. He wanted to break from his past and 
demonstrate to himself and the world that he could be someone else than who he 
had been before he entered college. He did not want to be the helpless son of a 
wealthy American corporate sociopath. He wanted to be someone different, 
someone he could actually respect. Would performing penance give him that 
break he needed to separate his new life from his old one?

Cecilia, meanwhile, suddenly felt horribly guilty about wanting to use a Danubian 
religious practice to pursue a sexual fantasy with Jason. Now that she understood 
the philosophy of the Temple and the seriousness of public penance, the thought 
of using it to make Jason into her personal servant seemed offensive, to say the 
least. She felt that if anyone needed to perform penance, it was she, for having 
such a sacrilegious thought, not Jason. An idea began forming that over the next 
several weeks would grow, crystallize in her mind, and ultimately force her to 
take action. She would need to confess to a Danubian Priest her secret fantasy of 
abusing public penance and accept the consequences.

----------

The group returned to the spot where Kim and Malka Chorno had been praying to 
find Kim standing by herself, looking out over the East Danube River. Kim was in 
a quiet, reflective mood, but seemed happy to see her companions return. The four 
Americans made their way back to the Temple and then out to the plaza in front, 
where Kim pointed out the café where her husband had worked during his 
sentence.

"It's weird, how your mind plays tricks on you. Every time I pass that place I 
think I'm gonna see Sergekt with his waiter's tray, and of course he hasn't worked 
there since we finished our sentences."

Kim suddenly became less reflective and more upbeat.

"So, how tired are you guys?"

"Not too bad."

"OK, then let's get these robes off and I'll take you over to the Socrates Club."

The four Americans briefly returned to the Central Police Station to allow Kim 
and Cynthia to get out of their prayer robes and put their street clothes back on. 
However, they would remain dressed only long enough to take a trolley to the 
Socrates Club, the famous criminals' haunt that was the core of the entire 
Danubian music scene. Then everything, jewelry included, would have to come 
off.

The four Americans surrendered their possessions at the cloakroom and entered 
into a world unlike anything Jason or Cecilia had ever seen. There were hundreds 
of naked bodies on the dance floor, seated at the tables, and just running around 
with pitchers of beer or bowls of deep-fried vegetables. Kim found an empty table 
and ordered a large bowl of vegetables, which tasted something like salted 
Tempura, and a pitcher of very weak Danubian beer. It was amazing to see how at 
ease the Lee sisters were with their bodies, and of course Jason, who fit right in. 
Cecilia felt uneasy because her dark skin drew a lot of curious glances from the 
European crowd. The Lee sisters drew less attention because everyone in the 
room knew who they were.

Shortly after they sat down, a young criminal who obviously liked Cynthia joined 
the Americans. He invited her to dance, leaving Kim and Cecilia to converse at 
the table. Kim talked at length about the club and its history, as well as her own 
time as a criminal when "Socrates' Mistresses" was just starting out. She added 
that the band would perform here the following weekend, and of course Jason and 
Cecilia were invited.

Kim's husband Sergekt Dolkiv showed up, kissed her, and shook hands with 
Jason and Cecilia. Then, in Danubian he asked his wife to dance, leaving Cecilia 
and Jason with no choice but to get up and dance as well. 

They danced slowly to a very sad-sounding song coming from the stage in a 
language neither of them understood. They were dancing naked, in a room of 
about 400 other naked young people, all of them criminals or ex-criminals, in club 
that was legendary for its music throughout Europe. They were in Europe's most 
isolated country, with no hope of being able to leave anytime soon. And yet, 
already, on their very first night in Danube City, there was a "normal" feel to their 
lives, in spite of the strangeness of their situation.

Cecilia had come into the club with a woman she idealized, only to realize that 
Kimberly Lee was a very ordinary person in a very ordinary marriage with an 
ordinary Danubian. The Lee sisters were both flawed young women whose most 
important contribution to Cecilia and Jason would be their friendship. Friendship 
was good enough for Cecilia. She and Jason would need some decent friends to 
get them through the difficult times that lay ahead.

At about midnight the four Americans and Sergekt Dolkiv got dressed and left the 
Socrates Club. Sergekt and Kim accompanied the others back to the hotel, but 
then got on another trolley to go home. Tomorrow was another day with a very 
full schedule. Cynthia went back to her own room, while Jason and Cecilia 
decided to go down to the hotel swimming pool.

The water looked very inviting. As they entered the pool area they noticed a sign 
written in various languages, including:

Danubian: "Negátutk odyáckt nad pisinúkt tatúk. Jáku: $ 1,000."
English: "Clothing prohibited in swimming pool area. Fine: $ 1,000."
Spanish: "Se prohíben los vestidos de bańo en la piscina. Multa: $ 1,000."

Obviously their days of wearing swimming suits had ended. 

Jason and Cecilia took off their clothes and slipped into the empty pool. The 
swimming lessons had to continue, no matter where they were. He spent a long 
time encouraging her to become more daring when taking her feet off the bottom. 
Finally, Cecilia surprised both herself and Jason by swimming the entire length of 
the pool unassisted. They were making excellent progress with at least one part of 
their lives, keeping Cecilia alive in the water.

After swimming, the couple returned upstairs. Although she was desperate for 
sex, that night Cecilia was not in the mood to have Jason spend the normal session 
with his face between her legs. She didn't even want a massage. Instead she 
briefly massaged him, and then assumed his favorite position on the bed, on her 
elbows and knees with her bottom turned up and on full display. She wanted to 
present herself and submit to him. He entered her and, as usual, thrust until both 
of them were gasping from exhaustion and pleasure.

Later, when he fell asleep, she got up and opened the curtains of the hotel room. 
For a very long time she stood at the window, looking out at the moon as it slowly 
sank westward over the river. 

She quietly hummed Kim's song "The wall that divides my soul". Now there were 
two walls that divided her soul, the one that separated her life in New Jersey from 
the one in Chicago, and the wall that separated the life in Chicago from the one 
she was starting in Danube City. There was one important difference, however. 
However hard this second transition might be, she wasn't facing it alone.
 

