<div class="floatleft"><div align="center">(https://www.mediafire.com/convkey/cdc1/04s7432n614occi4g.jpg)<br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;">Chloe Dawson<br/>  ‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾  </span></span></div></div><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;"><em>… our kiss is wonderful … feel some of the stress flow out of me … feel maybe our little sparkle inside me … break and just stand at the window, looking out on the bright canal … may have to take up boating … Foresight nudges me …</em></span></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;">  “Yes Kimmie, we’re safe for a while. Long enough and then some. The Shadow is confused.”</span></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;"><em>… look around the flat … our belongings are on the table … we’ll need to do lots of shopping … knock at the door … Ulla announces herself …</em></span></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;">  “Come in, it’s unlocked!”</span></span><br/><div class="floatright">(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/72/Blaxsta_Vidal_Icewine_2005_bottle.jpg/74px-Blaxsta_Vidal_Icewine_2005_bottle.jpg)</div><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;"><em>… she enters, bearing a bottle … explains that this is a welcome gift from the clinic … goes to the cupboard in the kitchen and takes out three wine glass … expertly uncorked the bottle … pours a bit into one glass and tastes … nods and pours three glasses indicates we should sit as she sets the glasses on the coffee table … when we are seated and have ours, she lifts hers …</em></span></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;">  “Skål Cheers. Welcome to the next phase of your lives.”</span></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;"><em>… sip … not bad … she explains that this is a Swedish wine and that viticulture is very new here … take another sip … very nice … she continues …</em></span></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;">  “I hope now is a good time for a fairly lengthy set of explanations. The dinner and a quick trip through a dry goods store so you can acquire the minimum you’ll need for the night. I think a bit of shopping everyday will be prudent, not a huge trip to get what you need all at once.”</span></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;"><em>… nod and sip the wine … I’ll need food soon …</em></span></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;">  “First, I’m Ulla. I’ll be your guide and secretary and social advisor and translator and whatever else you need me to do for as long as you need me to do it. Sister Carlotta has explained some things behind what I witnessed at Salem. The Sisterhood is deeply in your debt and will do all we can to support you in your several tasks.”</span></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;"><em>…  nod in agreement …</em></span></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;">  “Thank you, Ulla. This has been rough. I trust Carlotta told you I  am in the very early stages of pregnancy, so I would like to establish a relationship soon with physician who specializes in such things. We would call these an Obstetrician and Gynecologist. And our traveling companion, Dr. Tangie Jensen, will also attend me.”</span></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;"><em>… I like her smile …</em></span></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;">  “You will have your choice of the finest doctors and facilities in Sweden. Me, I’m a failed physician. Too much memorizing and comprehension and I just couldn’t manage. But I work at the clinic and learn more and more each day so all things considered it was a serendipity for us that I was in Salem as one of Sweden’s representatives and that I was with the clinic. The clinic I refer to is the Centre for Gender Medicine and Research, Karolinska Institutet. We performed the first uterine transplant that yielded the first successful pregnancy back in 2014. The Centre looks forward to setting up facilities for your research and to enrolling you in the Doktorand program, equivalent in rigor to your PhD program. When you are rested and settled in, I’ll take you on a tour. I warn you, they’re planning an informal reception., only because a formal reception would reveal too much to our enemies.”</span></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;"><em>…  Kimmie’s hand grips mine when Ulla refers to the transplant … Foresight clears another hurdle … yes, Kimmie will be a full woman one of these days … and maybe bear a little sister or brother for Isis … that I cannot see …</em></span></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;">  “So what can you tell us about our request for asylum and so forth?”</span></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;"><em>…  she sips her wine and nods …</em></span></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;">  “Earlier today was perfunctory. Those were the paper pushers. People in very high places are aware of your presence here and have some hints of what you were working on. Others are Sisters and understand the war that is emerging. So please don’t worry about asylum. This building was specifically chosen for you because although you don’t see it, this is a fortress. There’s an elite force guarding this building, for you and for other purposes I don’t know so can’t disclose. The US Government is currently baffled what happened. I don’t know if you’re aware, the mansion at Salem was destroyed in a huge fire not long after our departure. The Sisterhood chose to sacrifice it as a further distraction and to cover up the means of our escape. Oh, and no one was hurt. Arson investigators will find faulty wiring. The Sisterhood will rebuild, a facility more suited to today’s needs and certainly better protected for the days to come.”</span></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;"><em>…  sigh …</em></span></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;">  “Wow. That is so sad. I remember visiting there for ‘summer camp’ when I was a girl Kimmie. That’s where I learned what being a sister was all about andthe first steps to Insight. A big dormitory with lots of girls sleeping on mats on the floor. Camping i tents and sleeping outside. All those things good little witches do.” #<em>Giggle</em></span></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;"><em>…  sip of wine … my stomach complains …</em></span></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;">  “Is it too early to eat Ulla? You’re in the same boat as us, so to speak.”</span></span><br/>