Chapter 4: Counseling the Couple

The windows of a small dome glimmered from a salt lamp. Judah sat on a chair, which looked more like half of a giant egg than an actual chair. Across the room--the couple whose child the Carsonites had taken--huddled together.

“And this happened tonight?” Judah asked Dannon and Alayna’s neighbors.

“The Carsonites came tonight, yes,” the husband said.

He pushed a data card in Judah’s direction.

“It’s the card they gave us,” he said. “So whenever we have another baby, they can’t take it. The guidelines apply to the firstborn only.”

Judah gave a deep sigh and a slight shrug. He accepted the card and tapped the screen. The younger Carsonite’s face populated the screen.

“Hello,” the recording said. “I don’t know your names. I was drafted as a Carsonite when I was eighteen. I was taken from my parents. My name is Blake Willard, but that’s not important. Consider this your record that your firstborn was taken, and the next time you have a kid, he or she can’t be taken from you. Go to SSEA.gov. There are two missions going. The Conner mission is filled up, but there’s an underground lunar colony going. I suggest moving there if you can. I’m so sorry we had to meet, and I’m sorry for what happened to you.”