again. But married? What if getting married changed things and we ended up hating each other. We've both seen it happen to other people. What if it happened to us?"
"It won't! I won't let it happen to us."
She looked at him for a long moment and then took both of his hands in her own. “I believe you,” she said and smiled mischievously. “But you'll regret it when you see the price of engagement rings at Cartier's."
Relief swept through him and laughed aloud. “So you'll do it? You'll marry me?"
She kissed him lightly on the lips. “You'd better marry me, unless you want me to sue you for breach of promise? Come on. Let's get back to the house. I've never been to bed with a fiancé, before."
"What about the staff? They'll be expecting us to do the tour."
"They'll just think you're suffering from jet-lag.” She playfully squeezed his bottom. “By the time I've finished with you, you're going to be exhausted."
"What a way to go,” he laughed, holding hands they strolled back to the house.
* * * *
It was several hours later, after dinner that Russell remembered what Janine had said just before he'd proposed to her. “You were going to tell me about your idea,” he reminded her.
"Yes, that's right. You know that we have far more prospective parents than babies to sell and the problem's been getting worse every year. Well, I had this crazy idea but the more I think about it the less crazy it seems. A lot of the pregnant girls we get here are dropouts from university and runaways who just turn up here. I suppose that they've heard about the Foundation through the grapevine."
"Probably, but I don't see..."
"Let me finish,” she interrupted. “Otherwise I'll lose my train of thought. I got this idea of setting up a help-line, direct to the Foundation, targeting runaway girls of eighteen who've got themselves pregnant. I could arrange to meet them locally and in confidence. If, like a lot of those who've turned up here, they're isolated from their families, friends, and the father of their babies, I could lure them here and keep them in the hut that Ben and Eve used to live in. No one would ever know where they were, or even miss them, they're runaways, and we could simply take their babies and sell them."
"But what do we do with the girls once they've given birth? Kill them?” Russell asked sarcastically.
"No. I thought of mating them with young male runaways and letting them breed, we don't want any breeders under eighteen because they could cause trouble, whereas the older kids will probably be grateful for a roof over their heads and regular meals."
"That's true and if we take blood samples from them we could cash in on the black market in human organs. How much would dying rich people pay for, healthy kidneys, hearts and lungs that matched their blood type?"
"That's a brilliant idea, Russell. Why we could even breed designer babies, blonde, blue eyed, babies with the same colour hair and eyes as their adoptive parents."
It was a great idea and Russell felt a flush of excitement. Breeding kids would be no more difficult than breeding any other animals and besides all these runaways were just a drain on society that no one would miss. They could even ship the babies and organs anywhere in the world. The operations could take place in the Foundation and no one need ever know.
"I'll arrange for another dozen huts to be put near Ben and Eve's,” he said. “We'll need a bent doctor to take care of them, I know just the man."
"And I already have a girl in mind to be our first breeding mother,” Janine said. “She's eighteen, coming nineteen and desperate, or so she told me on the phone. She'll be ringing me back later today and I'll set up a meeting. Can you get the old hut ready for her within the next day or two?"
"No problem. I've got six weeks before I have to fly home again. I'll sort out the hut and the doctor. You just concentrate on the girl."
* * * *
The small cafe was crowded and Janine was
"It won't! I won't let it happen to us."
She looked at him for a long moment and then took both of his hands in her own. “I believe you,” she said and smiled mischievously. “But you'll regret it when you see the price of engagement rings at Cartier's."
Relief swept through him and laughed aloud. “So you'll do it? You'll marry me?"
She kissed him lightly on the lips. “You'd better marry me, unless you want me to sue you for breach of promise? Come on. Let's get back to the house. I've never been to bed with a fiancé, before."
"What about the staff? They'll be expecting us to do the tour."
"They'll just think you're suffering from jet-lag.” She playfully squeezed his bottom. “By the time I've finished with you, you're going to be exhausted."
"What a way to go,” he laughed, holding hands they strolled back to the house.
* * * *
It was several hours later, after dinner that Russell remembered what Janine had said just before he'd proposed to her. “You were going to tell me about your idea,” he reminded her.
"Yes, that's right. You know that we have far more prospective parents than babies to sell and the problem's been getting worse every year. Well, I had this crazy idea but the more I think about it the less crazy it seems. A lot of the pregnant girls we get here are dropouts from university and runaways who just turn up here. I suppose that they've heard about the Foundation through the grapevine."
"Probably, but I don't see..."
"Let me finish,” she interrupted. “Otherwise I'll lose my train of thought. I got this idea of setting up a help-line, direct to the Foundation, targeting runaway girls of eighteen who've got themselves pregnant. I could arrange to meet them locally and in confidence. If, like a lot of those who've turned up here, they're isolated from their families, friends, and the father of their babies, I could lure them here and keep them in the hut that Ben and Eve used to live in. No one would ever know where they were, or even miss them, they're runaways, and we could simply take their babies and sell them."
"But what do we do with the girls once they've given birth? Kill them?” Russell asked sarcastically.
"No. I thought of mating them with young male runaways and letting them breed, we don't want any breeders under eighteen because they could cause trouble, whereas the older kids will probably be grateful for a roof over their heads and regular meals."
"That's true and if we take blood samples from them we could cash in on the black market in human organs. How much would dying rich people pay for, healthy kidneys, hearts and lungs that matched their blood type?"
"That's a brilliant idea, Russell. Why we could even breed designer babies, blonde, blue eyed, babies with the same colour hair and eyes as their adoptive parents."
It was a great idea and Russell felt a flush of excitement. Breeding kids would be no more difficult than breeding any other animals and besides all these runaways were just a drain on society that no one would miss. They could even ship the babies and organs anywhere in the world. The operations could take place in the Foundation and no one need ever know.
"I'll arrange for another dozen huts to be put near Ben and Eve's,” he said. “We'll need a bent doctor to take care of them, I know just the man."
"And I already have a girl in mind to be our first breeding mother,” Janine said. “She's eighteen, coming nineteen and desperate, or so she told me on the phone. She'll be ringing me back later today and I'll set up a meeting. Can you get the old hut ready for her within the next day or two?"
"No problem. I've got six weeks before I have to fly home again. I'll sort out the hut and the doctor. You just concentrate on the girl."
* * * *
The small cafe was crowded and Janine was
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