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It was late afternoon by the time Aoife and James had been exiled back to Earth, but not until nightfall was it deemed safe for Hope to return home. Arjun and Jhansi personally escorted her back, and Jhansi all but fell over herself apologising. "If I'd had any idea Daisy was feeding all she knew back to that come mierda, I'd have broken the law and wiped her right down to the very basics of her being," she said, shaking her head. "I had no idea she was as much of a weasel as her accomplices."
"I had the feeling something like that was going to happen when you couldn't make it," Hope admitted. "But at least they're no longer contendors."
"Not anymore," Jhansi assured her. "Emma and Daisy will, of course, only recall Pandora as a dream, and their memories of the place will fade over time. James and Aoife, on the other hand, won't even know there's such a place as Pandora. Even should it get mentioned, they'll just stare blankly and wonder what the hell Emma and Daisy are talking about."
Hope sighed. "I'm just so glad it's finally over," she said. "I've felt as though I've been doing nothing since fret ever since Aoife tried to kidnap me." She wasn't going to refer to that horrible woman as her grandmother, and Jhansi gave her a lopsided smile that suggested she knew what was going on in the girl's mind.
"I don't blame you," she said. "We value family very highly here on Pandora, and for good reason. Every baby that survives birth is very precious to us, so you can imagine how relieved we were when the council agreed in principle to Eldon's idea."
"How long has it been since a baby survived birth?" Hope asked carefully.
"Sixteen years," Jhansi said, her smile turning sad. "My daughter was the last born beofre the disease really took hold. And she was a baby conceived of one of the Earth women who came to us unofficially to try and turn the disease's tide. The woman herself passed delivering the child, but her last words begged for me to take the baby as my daughter and raise her, and though I was grieved at the mother's loss, I fulfilled that duty. But my daughter, sadly, is barren, as was discovered when she took ill a few months ago. She survived, but the disease had made her as infertile as all the surviving women."
Hope sucked in a shocked breath. "And you say no baby has survived birth since then?" she said, horrified.
Jhansi nodded. "And none of the Earth women who came to us the first time are alive," she said. "They all succumbed to the disease, and the last one died only a few months ago. She'd had multiple miscarriages, and the doctors believe it was those that ultimately killed her, and not the disease."84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUPQ834TXy4
"That's why Eldon wants to make your venture an official one," Arjun said, giving Jhansi's hand a squeeze and winning a watery smile from her. "This way, you are all protected, and your children will be protected as well. We may need to do some tests on each baby that is born, but no matter what their genes, they will not be separated from their mothers. The council isn't as hard as that."
"Thank God for that," Hope said. "I'm still rattled after all that happened, and I really didn't want to face the prospect of losing my baby to someone else's wiles."
"It won't happen," Arjun promised. "No matter what, all babies born will stay with their mothers, and they'll be given the same rights as native born Pandorans. That I can promise you, and you already know we take the matter of promises very seriously."
Hope nodded. And as the car approached Eldon's mansion, she finally felt at peace. Anyone who wished to bring harm to her or her baby was out of the picutre, and once the council had formally signed off on Eldon's plan, life would truly begin here on the planet Hope already felt was more like a home to her than Earth had ever been.
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