November

September: Week Two

The carrier shortage had gotten worse - so much worse, in fact, with the addition of an entire new nation to the Union - that even sterile carriers were being recruited to fill the role of wife for some of the higher-ranking officers. It was around that time that Jesse was first introduced to the fact that Sloane was a carrier.

They had been in classes for a week - Sloane had told them that he liked to start the week off easy - with history, some craft projects, and cosmetology (which Jesse resolutely slept through) on Monday, then moving on to childrearing, carrier counseling, general psychology, and literature Tuesday and Wednesday, then finance and cooking on Thursdays. Fridays would be reserved for relaxation, private counseling, and preparation for the nighttime, because Friday night was date night.

Sloane was in the middle of a childrearing lesson, and Jesse was pretending not to listen as Sloane taught them how to tie a cloth diaper, when suddenly the door to the room was kicked open and a furious-looking officer came storming onto the scene. Sloane instantly looked terrified, but stood frozen, a demonstration doll dangling from his left hand, still waiting to be pinned up, as the man approached him in a rage. Jesse knew the strike was coming long before Sloane did - he could see the rage in the man's eyes; the anger and absolute loss of control. He made contact. One hand went broadside against Sloane's face, knocking him down with surprise, and all Jesse could think was how much brighter Sloane's eyes looked when they were startled all wide open like that. Then their leader was on the floor and the man was standing above him, raining down blows and screaming that Sloane was a whore, a lying whore, while Sloane covered his head and did his best to talk him out of it.

Tega started screaming and Jess and Vichy leapt into the mix, each trying (and failing) to separate Sloane from his attacker. Grant went in on Sloane's side, covering the man's body with hos own, putting himself in the line of fire, trying to prevent any further hurt. The man was absolutely mad with ire; he threw Jesse and Vichy off easily, met their punches with two of his own. They at least, however, distracted him enough to allow his anger to abate, and Sloane to get back to his feet. Honesty and Suleiman ran into the hallway to call for help, but when they came back with two of the escorts and one of the guardian officers, Sloane was standing up and the shouting was gone. Sloane glanced at the guards, once, then turned his attention back to the man who was now standing close to him, his arms around Sloane's waist, speaking to him in a lowered voice.
The guardian looked, annoyed, at Vichy and Jess, disheveled and still growling from the fight.
"Domestic dispute. Next time, why don't you let them work their problems out on their own instead of jumping in the middle and overreacting?"
The guard holstered his gun, shaking his head as he walked back into the hallway, the two escorts moving silently in tow. Under his breath, Jesse heard him mutter something about carrier hysterics and this hardly being an emergency.

Jesse wanted to chase him down. Instead, he looked at Vichy, who was equally dumbfounded, and turned to head back over to Sloane, who was still shaking but was quietly introducing the barbarian to the group - as his fiancé. After the man left (kissing Sloane tenderly on the forehead and rubbing a thumb over the bruises just beginning to appear on his face in apology), Sloane explained to them what had happened. Expressing dissatisfaction with his fiancé, he'd gone to the counselors and requested information on some other potentials, just to explore the possibilities and consider the idea of splitting up. It was meant to be a secret, but apparently his fiancé had found out. Dissolving their association - splitting up - would have meant, of course, that his fiancé's esteem would be diminished. Being given a wife, particularly a fertile one, was a mark of the highest honor. This meant that his fiancé was unwilling to let him go. Which meant that this act he saw as insult and rebellion, had pissed him off royally.
Which in turn meant that Sloane had to be punished.
"So that," Sloane explained, preparing to turn even this into a lesson for his students, "Is why we must always be very, very mindful of our behavior towards our potential husbands. Is it right? Is it respectful? These are the two questions we must ask ourselves..." here, he trailed off, staring at something seemingly midair. His eyes, only misty before, were spilling over now, and he was speaking to himself when he said:
"We must ask ourselves what we could possibly be doing wrong."