They had strapped her to a table, many times, she thought, and they had done things to her that she could not recall. There had been another time when some of the women had held her down and done things to her. She shuddered violently and closed her eyes. The memory receded. Mark, she thought suddenly, very clearly. Mark! She jumped up and looked about wildly. The woman who had befriended her hurried over and caught her arm.

"Look, Molly, they'll put you under again if you make trouble. Understand? Just sit still until our break, and I'll talk to you then."

"Where is Mark?" Molly whispered.

The woman glanced about and said in an undertone, "He's all right. Now sit down! Here comes a nurse."

Molly sat down again and stared at the floor until the nurse glanced about the room and left once more. Mark was all right. There was ice on the ground. Winter. He was six, then. She remembered nothing of the late summer, the fall. What had they done to her?

The hours until the break passed painfully slowly. Occasionally one or another of the women would look at her and there was awareness, not the incurious glances that had been given her before. The word was spreading that she was back, and they were watching her, perhaps to see what she would do now, perhaps to welcome her, perhaps for some reason she couldn't guess. She looked at the floor. Her hands were clenched, her nails digging into her palms. She relaxed them. They had taken her to a hospital room, but not the usual hospital, one in the breeder's quarters. They had examined her thoroughly. She remembered injections, answering questions, pills… It was too blurred. Her hands had clenched again.

"Molly, come on. We'll have tea and I'll tell you what I can."

"Who are you?"

"Sondra. Come on."

She should have known, Molly thought, following Sondra. She remembered suddenly the ceremony given for Sondra, who was only three or four years older than she. She had been nine or ten, she thought.

The tea was a pale yellow drink she couldn't identify. After one sip she put it down and looked across the lounge toward the uncovered window. "What month is this?"

"January." Sondra finished her tea and leaned forward and said in a low voice, "Listen, Molly, they've taken you off the drugs and they'll be watching you for the next few weeks to see how you behave. If you cause trouble, they'll put you on something again. You've been conditioned. Just don't fight it, and you'll be all right."