Page 21 of The Pacifist
“No. But they came across a group of people.”
“Someone got there before the earth healers? Who would be so reckless? What about the radiation and toxicity?
“That’s the crazy part. Apparently, the ancestors of these people survived in an underground city until it was safe to come out.
“No one can survive underground for four hundred years, Jonah.”
“Told you it was an interesting story. Basically, according to the report, the French government created underground survival bunkers in a cave-like system. It had the capacity of about a thousand people, but only thirty-eight made it inside in time.”
“Jonah, that’s crazy. How many are they now?”
“Thousands.”
“But are they…” Mila hesitated. “I mean with that few original survivors there’s bound to have been inbreeding.”
“You mean are they illiterate and mentally slow?”
“Yes, or deformed. What do I know?”
“They probably would have been if not for the fact that the survivors were smart enough to write down a strict set of rules to be followed. There were five women and thirteen men and they made mathematical systems to minimize the inbreeding. I suppose that’s what happens when a group of scientists are the sole survivors.”
“Do they speak English?”
“No. They speak French. We used to think it was a dead language, but apparently not.”
“Then how did the earth healers communicate with them?”
“Some of our priestesses with linguistic skills went to help and they’ve been working with the group.”
Mila leaned back. “Wow… I don’t know what to say. I can’t wrap my head around that many people going undiscovered for this many years.”
“I’ve been wondering the same thing, but the earth is no small place and most Council members aren’t interested in spending resources outside the healthy zone. That’s why the cleaning work is progressing so slowly. The good thing is that they’ve proven that at least that part of old Europe is safe to live in. It gives hope that there might be other survivors out there.”
“And are they happy to be found?” Mila asked.
“You would think so, but apparently not. The report said they were aware there were other people in the world, but they saw us as a threat. For now, doctors are trying to establish a safe way for them to be included with the rest of the Motherlands, but they don’t seem too eager.”
“Why are there doctors, are they sick?”
“No, it’s just that we don’t know if they have the immune system to withstand what would be considered common diseases among us.”
Mila leaned her head on the window. “I hope that means there are animals who have survived too. It’s exciting that you have access to classified information like that. I promise I won’t tell a soul.”
“It’s one of my favorite things about being on the Council. The other day I found a book I’ve been dying to read since I first heard about it. Did you know that two hundred years ago there was a book that rattled the council so much that they made it illegal to speak about the Nmen?”
There was an eagerness to Mila’s tone. “Yes. I heard about it. It was a romance of some kind, wasn’t it?”
“Uh-huh. I’ve read some of the transcripts from the meetings back then and it was insane how threatened they felt by the desire that book aroused in women around the world. Not only did they make that book illegal, they also banned all other books that were emotionally charged, be it romance or horror.” I shook my head. “If you ask me, it was a crime to humanity just like the ban on alcohol. To take away people’s freedom to read what we want is censorship of the worst kind.”
“But you’re going to change that, right?”
I narrowed my eyes with determination. “That’s the plan.”
“Tell me about the book. I’m so jealous. Did you read it already?”
“It’s calledForbidden Letters from the North, and yes, I read it. Once I began, I couldn’t stop reading. It’s about this young woman who finds a letter that has been thrown over the border wall and then she writes back. Maybe I can get you a copy because it’s so good, you need to read it yourself.”
“Then you’d better get to work and make them lift that ban.”
