“Because I have come to know you, to respect you, I am thrilled to tell you that in the Alliance of Four Cities, there is no poverty, no unemployment, no drugs, no street gangs, no alcohol, no slums, no bars, no pollution. We have free elections, free enterprise, freedom to grow and be what we want to be. We have art, music, education, trade, business, science, and industry.”

He smiled for the first time. “Sounds like a dream, doesn’t it?”

“Speaking of dreams,” Stephanie said out of the corner of her mouth, as she slumped lower in her chair, “I wish he’d hurry up and finish and let us go take a nap.”

“Shhhh!” Madeline said, fighting the heaviness in her own eyes.

“Well,” Stephanie grumbled, “how long is he going to drone on?”

Five minutes later, Madeline was beginning to ask herself the same question. Travis had turned off all the lights to show slides of the Alliance and Shalev. That was all it had taken. Stephanie had now joined Lori with her head on her arms, and Becky had wiggled sideways in her chair until her head was in her mother’s lap. Her breathing was deep and regular.

Madeline looked around. Perhaps Travis was excited about what he was saying, but he was obviously the only one. Over twothirds of the heads were down and several others were tipped way back, mouths open, dead to the world. The soft sound of snoring was evident whenever Travis paused in his narrative. Even as Madeline watched, Rose Browning, who was sitting at the table in front of them, surrendered, and her head dropped forward with a snap.

Somewhere in the back of Madeline’s head, an alarm clanged dully. Something was not quite right, and she tried feebly to sort it out in her head. Some drowsiness after lunch in a dark and stuffy room was normal, but it was barely one in the afternoon. Something was wrong! Then she decided that whatever it was, it wasn’t that important after all, as her own chin dipped lower and lower until it rested on her chest. Travis droned on, lulling her over the edge into a blissful, inviting cloud of sleep.

CHAPTER 6

Madeline turned her eyes slowly, letting things come into focus. A wall panel with oxygen spouts, a call button, light switches, bars on the side of the bed all seemed so natural and yet so strange.

Suddenly a figure in white loomed over her and spoke. “Mrs. Lloyd? Hello, how are you feeling?”

“What?”

“How are you feeling now?”

With a conscious effort, Madeline considered the question and finally nodded. She felt a dull ache at the base of her skull, but other than that, nothing seemed wrong. “Okay,” she mumbled.

“Good. I’ll be back in a moment. Dr. Abernathy wanted to know as soon as you came out of the sedation so he can start prepping your child.”