Chapter 3: An opportunity

Trembling as I am, I follow the Keeper through the door. We go to a plain office, there is a simple metal desk in front of us, on the back wall hangs a framed picture of our beloved president Lucas Laurent, next to the picture there is a banner THE MINISTRIES OF ESTERMOND says in big red letters. Then it lists the different ministries we have. Ministry of Health: To maintain healthy Good Citizens. Ministry of Females: To take care of our Bearers. Ministry of Education: to preserve the minds of our children. The Ministry of Press and Information: To spread the truth. Ministry of Bravery: To fight the Eels. Ministry of Obedience: To punish the Eels… I look away from the banner, I already know all the Ministries we have and their functions, they made us memorize that information in First School. Sitting behind the desk, there is a corpulent woman with brown hair and small round eyes looking attentively at me. I immediately feel intimidated by her. On the edge of the desk, there is a small silver nameplate: Chief Keeper Sonia Winter. I shiver. This woman runs the Detention Facility, which means my life is in her hands.

“Out,” says the woman without taking her eyes from the screen.

“Yes, Keeper Winter,” says the Keeper that brought me here as she lets go of my arm and steps out of the office.

Instinctively I take a step back. Have I been brought here to be executed? Is Keeper Winter going to kill me herself? Maybe she has a gun in a drawer. I watch her every move, dreading what will happen.

“Do you know why you are here?” She asks me as she looks at me with disdain.

I shake my head no holding my tears back with everything I have.

“You can not imagine how disgusted I feel for having you here in my office and more disgusted for what I am about to tell you…” she says as if the words tasted bitter in her mouth.

I dare to look up, intrigued by what she just said. Keeper Winter stands up from her seat and starts walking with her hands on her back towards me. I lower my gaze again. The chief Keeper starts to walk in circles as she analyzes me.

“You are pretty, I have to admit that, but I do not think that is going to be enough for him,” she comments.

I hold my breath, wondering what she means. Enough for who?

“He is a hero, you know?” The Keeper continues nonchalantly. “One of the greatest commanders Estermond has ever seen. You do not deserve him, girl.”

What is she talking about?

“I am afraid I am not following you, Keeper Winter,” I venture to admit.

Keeper Winter snorts. “Of course you do not. I have not told you what you are doing here.” She then walks to her desk and takes a piece of paper with droplets of dried blood on it. “Do you know what this is?” She asks me.

I nod saddened. It is the confession they forced me to sign admitting I am an Eel. I had no other choice, they were they were pulling out my toenails! I would have confessed I was a lamp just to make them stop. Cold sweat runs down my spine as I recall that day.

“You admitted being an Eel and you know what happens to Eels, do not you?”

“I know, Keeper Winter. Estermond executes Eels.”

I let out a soft groan. Please, get it over with already and end my suffering once and for all.

“I am surprised by you. You look rather calm to be a condemned Eel about to be executed, are not you afraid?” Keeper Winter asks with a wicked grin.

“Not afraid, I am terrified,” I admit.

My answer causes her to giggle. The fact that my misery amuses this woman makes me hate her, but of course, I do nothing.

“He is going to hate it, you know? This is going to be a terrible imposition for him and I know for a fact he is usually an ill-tempered man. I can only imagine how much worst is going to get with an Eel by his side. Especially one that tried to infiltrate in the the Shark Youth Forces. Tell me, was that the plan all along? To infiltrate an Eel inside our honorable Shark force to destroy us from within?” She asks, disgusted.

“Absolutely not, Keeper Winter. I genuinely wanted to be a Shark,” I reply looking down to the floor.

“Stop with the lies! You are not fooling me the way you fooled your instructors. And do not worry, those instructors are going to pay the price for their ingenuity.”

“My… my instructors?” I ask with fear. What are they going to do to my former instructors?

“Those silly men have been removed from the Ministry of Bravery and are being investigated. They were foolish enough not to detect an Eel among their trainees, they do not deserve to serve the Righteous Regime. They are dumb and inefficient,” she explains.

A sense of guilt overcomes me, innocent people are suffering because of me. This is terrible!

“My instructors have nothing to do with this,” I mutter, but she doesn’t care about my opinion.

“I do not care what you have to say about this matter. No one does, actually. The reason why I brought you to my office is because we received interesting new information that has now been added to your file. This information has caused a lot of commotion in several ministries. It has never happened before and nobody was sure about how to proceed, but after careful consideration from the senior members from the Ministry of Bravery and the Ministry of Obedience, they have decided the best course of action for you,” she declares satisfied.

“Wha... What new information?” I ask shyly.

“Remember taking the fertility test? Well, the results are here,” she replies. “They show you are FX100.”

I narrow my eyes, confused by her words. FX100? Isn’t that the highest number you can get? Right now my head feels cloudy and I can not recall but it sounds high. What I do know is that the result is positive, which means I am fertile. Negative results are always FX0.

“One hundred...” I mutter confusedly.

“Who would have known?! Of all the thousands good citizens, you, an Eel, happened to be extremely fertile. This unusual high result has made us reconsider your future. Despite the Righteous Regime’s efforts, we are practically becoming extinct; every day there are fewer and fewer people who test positive in their fertility tests... and the females that do are FX40 or FX50 at the most. You know how rare it is to find a FX100 girl?”

My eyes widen with surprise. I shake my head. I am having trouble understanding what this all means for me. Given how rare my result is, are they going to let me live? My heart is pounding in my chest as I wait to know more.

“Why are you silent? Say something, Eel! Don't you realize this is good news for you?” Keeper Winter exclaims.

“What are you going to do with me now?” I ask and, for the first time in days, I dare to feel hope. “Are they going to make me a Bearer?”

A few weeks ago becoming a Bearer was something I never considered seriously and kind of dreaded, now it is my only hope to stay alive.

“Yes, you are to become a Bearer. But that is not all, you already have an assigned partner for you to have children with,” she states. “And he is not just any man, he is Commander Leopold Mortensen, our famous national hero. You have been really lucky in that regard, Eel.”

I gasp when I hear the name. Now the words she was saying before start to make sense in my head. “You are pretty, I have to admit that, but I do not think that is going to be enough for him.” “He is going to hate it, you know?” I am sure he will! Commander Leopold Mortensen hates Eels more than anything in this world. His whole life is dedicated to exterminating them. This doesn’t make sense to me. Why would they assign me to him? He is a renowned Shark commander, everyone in Estermond knows who he is. He is constantly on the news being praised as a hero. Kids look up to him and adults admire his bravery and determination when fighting our enemies. Everyone in the youth forces wanted to be like him. He is probably going to be promoted to major soon; it makes no sense for him to have a partner accused of being an Eel, even if the accusations are false. It must be a mistake. Surely they can not pretend for us to be together.

“Commander Mortensen but,… I do not understand...”

“I do not understand it either, to be honest. I have no idea what they did to force the Commander into accepting you, he is simply too good for you. If you ask me, you deserve to be executed, not to be with one of the finest men in our nation. But it was not my decision, as I said, members from both ministries along with the Assignment Committee decided what to do with you,” she says, and then she stands up. “Keep in mind that this doesn’t mean anyone trusts you, people around you are going to keep an eye on you and the moment you do anything even slightly suspicious or contrary to our values, you will be brought back here to be immediately executed. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Keeper Winter,” I reply in a whisper.

I think about the few times I saw Commander Mortensen from a distance inside the Ministry of Bravery. Just as the Keeper said, he is a very rude and ill-tempered man, always impatiently yelling orders at his Unit; as much as he is brave and heroic, he is also a very unfriendly looking man... and now I am going to have to live with him. How is he going to treat me? He surely hates me already because he assumes I am an Eel. Is he going to be cruel to me? Try to make me pay for my supposed crimes against Estermond? I shiver just thinking about it. Commander Mortensen and I? The idea is too bizarre and frightening.

“Eel, you are going to become a Bearer, which means you will be attending the Bearer Center along with the other fertile women and the Matrons in charge of the Center won’t tolerate any nonsense from you. You better be in your best behavior,” Keeper Sonia warns me. 

I draw my breath in. The Bearer Center? I used to make fun of that place, it is the place the Ministry of Females designed especially for fertile women to spend their days learning everything about being a good mother and housewife. The Matrons, the women in charge of taking care of the Bearers and running the Ministry of Females, force Bearers to constantly smile and act like everything is perfect in that place. I always thought they were ridiculous and now I am going to become one of them. The Matrons have always given me the creeps. There is something in their eyes that makes them seem evil. Matrons control the way Bearers act and live to ensure they fulfill their duties and act respectably. Bearers are supposed to always be smiling and serving their families, from one pregnancy to the next while they act like the perfect housewives.

“I understand, Keeper Winter,” I repeat reluctant. I dread the future presented to me, but I have no choice. Is either this or die.

“Very well then. Be obedient and submissive, Eel, and maybe you will get to survive,” Keeper Sonia says with a wicked smile. “Regardless, you will never be as good as Grace Mortensen was.”

Keeper Winter then calls the other Keeper so she takes me away. She immediately comes in, clasps my arm, and drags me back to my cell.

“Stay here until a Matron comes to get you,” she indicates to me with a look of disdain.

I flinch as she slams the door close. I do not know how long it is going to take for the Matron to come, so I sit on the floor. My pulse is accelerated because of the news I just received. I can not believe this is happening, a few hours ago I was convinced I was going to be executed, and now I am going to become a Bearer.  As I wait I start to think about all the things the Keeper told me, including the name of Grace Mortensen. Grace was Commander Mortensen’s first Bearer, she was as famous as him because she used to be the face of the Ministry of Females. She was the perfect Bearer, always obedient and devoted to the Righteous Regime. Grace and Leopold were the perfect couple, everyone in Estermond admire them, until a few years ago when she died after a group of Eel rebels kidnaped and murdered her. Her body was found burnt and almost unrecognizable, it was a tragedy, I remember her death was in the news for days. Commander Mortensen captured everyone involved in the kidnap except for Xander Norton, the Eel mastermind behind the attack; Xander was never captured and that has cast a shadow over Commander Mortensen's perfect score because he left the man who killed his Bearer free. Of course, I will never be as good as Grace, Keeper Winter was right about that, Grace was an example for all Bearers in Estermond and I will just be the Eel who was allowed to live.

Hours go by and the Matron doesn’t come. With each passing minute, I get more and more anxious. I am going to get the chance to survive but, at what cost?