seven

Sana was curled up on his lap, in his arms sleeping when the wall opened up at the back of the waiting room. Romero opened his eyes as two soldiers stepped into the room. He hadn't been sleeping, just conserving energy. Sana woke up and blinked at the two soldiers. One was a mature gentleman with grey hair and wise old blue eyes. The other was closer to her age, perhaps several years older.

"Sir, I thought there was only one for us to pick up," said the younger soldier.

"Only, supposed to be one, Lieutenant," responded the older soldier. "We're supposed to be picking up Dr. Romero Scott Redmen, formerly drone number 8053902A5."

Romero stood up with Sana and informed the two soldiers, "That's me. I'm Dr. Romero Scott Redmen."

The older soldier checked his hand held computer screen. "Just supposed to him, and she's way too short to have ever been a drone."

"Sana was never a drone," Romero informed them, "She is my fiancée. We're expecting our first child, and I will not leave without her."

"Major," questioned the Lieutenant perplexed.

The Major consulted his hand held computer, "What's her name," he asked.

"Sana Ray Coles," answered Romero.

"Sana Ray Coles," repeated the Major tapping his screen. "There she is, Sana Ray Coles. She's a resident of the mall. Been here just over four months... Impressive... Ms. Coles here has a genius IQ, graduated number one from her high school at sixteen with full college scholarships. You have a doctorate in child psychology and a master's in social work. You've worked for the past ten plus years at Our Children Our Future helping troubled youth, quite successfully I might add...

There's no mention of pregnancy. You haven't been to the Health Care Center for anything even though you've been requested to report for a physical more than once."

"I know Adena has access to that information," stated Sana.

"You're on a first name basis with Dr. Goldmen," noted the Major.

"Dr. Goldmen took advantage of Sana her first night here," Romero informed the Major. Then he pulled the positive pregnancy test from his pocket in its plastic baggy and showed it to the Major. He reiterated, "I will not leave her."

"Adena has issues," Sana told the major, "She's not operating with a full deck. She kept Donna separated from her husband and two children for three years."

"Major," the lieutenant asked, "I thought individuals like Ms. Coles were not supposed to be kept. I thought they were supposed to be allowed to leave the same way they entered."

"I'm sure Dr. Goldmen was informed of who was approaching and that she should not be retained," responded the Major. "But she's in charge inside the facility. Ultimately, who stays and who goes is her decision. Ms. Coles shouldn't have been kept, but obviously Dr. Goldmen decided to keep her." The major sighed, "This is highly irregular. And I know Ms. Coles family and friends have been searching high and low for her and have made a big stink about it being impossible for her to be driving along one minute with the GPS tracking her just fine then suddenly just disappear, car and all."

"I will not leave her," Romero repeated with conviction.

"And I'm not going to try to make you," the major told Romero. "You'ld kick both our asses. But I have to get Ms. Coles leaving with you approved. A story needs to be created like she had amnesia or something to explain her disappearance and she'll have to agree to go along with it. Then there's Dr. Goldmen. It sounds like she needs to be re-evaluated. But in the meantime, I'm sure she's going to contest Ms. Coles' removal."

"So, how do we proceed," asked the lieutenant.

"Dr. Redmen, Ms. Coles, I'm going to ask you to wait here while I try to fix this," the major told them. "And be careful. There are military personnel here that take orders directly from Dr. Goldmen. She may send a couple of people to try to separate you. I doubt she knows you're both down here yet. Plus, you said Dr. Goldmen took advantage of Ms. Coles when she first arrived. May I inquire, was this of a sexual nature?"

Sana looked away embarrassed as she answered, "Yes."

"Dr. Goldmen is not supposed to get intimate with the residents," shared the major.

"What about former drones," asked Romero, "Is she allowed to be intimate with former drones?"

"No," answered the major, "Has she been intimate with you," he asked Romero.

"No, not me," answered Romero, "She prefers female companionship. There are several former drones that are now females that she is intimate with regularly."

The major was clearly unhappy, "I'll make this as quick as possible."

Sana and Romero watched the wall close behind the major and lieutenant.

"That hall behind here looked like it went on forever," Sana running her hands over the now closed wall, "Even if we had searched down here, we wouldn't have found this. I think it can only be opened and closed from the other side. I bet there are miles of corridors down here."

Romero looked at his watch, "We might as well have breakfast." He began to rifle through their choices in the freezer and picked out a couple of dinners.

"I wonder what's going on upstairs," said Sana glancing up.

"It's just approaching six o'clock in the morning," Romero told her. They're still in bed. It's just the mall walkers and attendants getting ready for the day. Kevin is an early riser, but Janice spent the night with him. He won't come out of his room until about eight or so. And I saw Dr. Goldmen leading Libby back to her quarters when I was carrying you up to bed. So she will probably sleep late also."

Upstairs in the mall, just as Romero said, everyone was sleeping except for the mall walkers and attendants. Around eight a.m. everyone else began getting up and getting ready for the day.