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Asena regretted wishing for so little. She got to shower, clean clothes, and even eat a hearty meal of flatbread, lamb curry, and rice. The agent led her to a hall set up like a dormitory lined with cots.
An elderly female searched their belongings. Asena set aside a plastic bag, pouch, and envelope with sketches on parchment. Each bolstered her ties to an imaginary family in Sudan. She'd purchased them from an artist in the marketplace near the Pyramids of Meroë.
She would've liked to carry her father's picture, but nomadic shifters of that region feared cameras and avoided having their photographs taken. The ten copies of Vic's latest snap had aided her in tracing her route. Now she depended on the soft copy in her email, cloud, and a hidden microchip in the necklace. She'd somehow managed without a phone and access to the greennet at her fingertips for so long.
'Welcome to the rogue life,' Moggie growled.
The crone frowned at the three totems Asena had bought while traveling from the Cape of Hope to here. She handled the packet containing the black garb decorated with beads carefully. Her late mother had worn it for her mating ceremony. She'd never met her mom. Vic's mom had hand-embroidered the other for both of them. The platina jewelry and four gold coins in the pouch were heirlooms; her inheritance. She'd not worn them in the new world, but they represented her heritage. Vic had carried hers along. So had Asena.
Within a few hours, ten females and two males joined them in the hall. Their excited chatter in pidgin told Asena they were seeking mates. Most were young, especially the twin sisters.
Another, Bebi, spoke fluent English. A lioness by her scent, she kept her distance, but her haughty gaze studied them all, and she seemed to look down on them.
Most avoided Duma, and the two lean males—Lycaon pictus or wild dogs, gave him looks that could kill.
Asena didn't have an issue with the hyenaoid. Where she grew up, sexual preferences were irrelevant. They followed the motto 'Be with whoever makes you happy.'. The beta of their pack and the principal of her school were gay. The alpha of their sister pack was bisexual; he had a male and female mate, which caused a bit of a stir when Asena was ten. Viola came out as a lesbian a year before they graduated and recently mated with a female.
Duma continued to talk her ear off, but unlike Vic, he didn't pester her to participate in the conversation.
A Bantu silver fox, cocooned within her wrap, arrived. She didn't speak, sat curled up in a corner, and refused to interact with anyone.
They all got a simple new duffle bag. Asena packed her belongings in it. The organizers supplied them with black track pants, shirts, and hoodies, along with new undergarments and toiletries. They all received a copy of their files and new identity papers. Now they were humans from Cairo. A large paper bag contained a coarse suede and fleece coat, a cardigan, new boots, gloves, and a woolen hat.
