Khan crossed his arms and scoffed. “Don’t let her fool you, Boulder. Even if Christina is pregnant Pearl will tell you that she isn’t. The Momsies protect their own.”
Raking my hands through my hair, I cursed. “If I’m to be a father I want to be part of the child’s life.”
“And I respect that about you,” Pearl said softly. “But Christina chose to leave and if she’s pregnant the child will stay with her. You wouldn’t want a baby to be torn from its mother, would you?”
“No, but later… when the child is old enough to come here – if it’s a boy, I mean – I could take care of him and train him,” I rambled.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Boulder, don’t turn all mushy because of a kid. You’ve probably fathered several already.”
I froze and stared at Khan. “No, I haven’t. I’ve only ever been with Christina, you know that.”
Pearl looked down and Khan closed his eyes like he had said too much.
A queasy feeling spread in my gut. “What?” I barked. “What children have I fathered?”
They exchanged a long glance before Pearl spoke. “If we tell you, can we trust you to keep it secret?”
“Yes,” I said quickly, eager to hear what the hell Khan had meant.
“Most men in the Motherlands are sterile.” Pearl started slowly. “It’s something we’re trying to change, but the massive pollution our ancestors fought after the war has left us with a medical predicament, and children are no longer produced naturally.”
“But your numbers are rising.” I said because Christina had told me this.
“Yes, they are.” She nodded solemnly, “but only recently. Seventeen years ago a deal was made between the Northlands and the Motherlands. We trade.”
“I know,” I said with a frown. “I own mines and logging companies, I know this.”
“Yes, but what you might not know is that the greatest export the Northlands has is sperm.”
“Excuse me?” I glared at her. “Did you just say sperm?”
Khan let out another deep sigh and pressed his lips into a fine line.
“We get sperm from the ten million men living up here in the cleanest and most unspoiled natural surroundings that the world has left.”
I dropped my chin. “How? I’ve never heard a single guy mention he donates sperm. How do you get sperm from us?”
“Simple,” Pearl said. “Every sex-bot has a core designed to contain and freeze the sperm that is ejaculated into it.”
“You… you steal our sperm?”
“Certainly not,” Pearl said in defense and looked to Khan. “Tell him.”
“It’s a bargain that my father made and I renewed,” Khan admitted. “Since the first peace treaty was struck centuries ago our boys were always bred on Nmen sperm. It was one of our conditions for entering the agreement in the first place. How do you think it is that we’re so big compared to the men of the Motherlands?
“Because we eat meat and build our muscles from childhood,” I answered, because that’s what I’d always been told.
“Yes, but there’s a genetic component to it too.” Khan shifted his balance and drew a deep breath. “Since the beginning the robots have been designed to evaluate the male they’re with. When a man who doesn’t fit the criteria of a breeder is with the robot his sperm is disposed of, while a man like you will be selected as a breeder.”
“A man like me?”
“Tall, muscular, and fit,” Khan said matter-of-factly. “But now that the Momsimen are almost incapable of producing their own offspring we’ve accepted donating our genes.”
“We?” I asked incredulously. “I don’t remember being asked.”
“Boulder, this is bigger than you,” Pearl argued. “This is about the survival of the human race. The Nmen sperm is being used in different corners of the Motherlands as we speak.”
“So all your men are sterile, are they?” I asked harshly.
