Chapter 177

"He would have forced you to join? No one would have done anything?" Trish whispered, almost rapt with attention. A cold horror had gripped her at the life Laura was describing. The Moon never talked about any of this. She hadn't realized how much brutality, how much corruption, how much violence they'd glossed over in their little, pat explanation of what happened on Earth after the citizens of the Moon left. "There was violence and things were unsettled until the crime lords took power" just didn't cover it. Which wasn't surprising, but it did sicken her.

Finally Laura looked at Trish, but she just snorted. "Even if my mom had still been alive, I doubt she would have been able to protect me if I hadn't kept to myself. The world was finally returning to some semblance of order. The lord wanting a small group of women to service him was a small sacrifice to pay for that. He was violent, but his violence had purpose. People stop