Taking the children

In Part 2 of Rome's Revolution, right after Rome and Rei crash-landed the Ark II, the couple was accosted by an angry mob of Ibbrassati. Why were they so angry? Because they thought their secret enclave was just that, secret and hidden deep in the woods, at the bottom of the gorge. After Rome was reunited with her father, Fridone, as they were making their way from the crash site, Fridone asked Rei about this:

“How did you know where to find us?” Fridone asked, trying to distract him. “We are always so careful to keep this enclave hidden. No one comes here. Our real settlement is about 40 kilometers to the south and west on the shores of Lake Eprehem. When the Vuduri come to take the children, they always do it well away from here.”

But even before that, as Rome and Rei walked down the cargo ramp, the first thing that Trabunel asked them was (and pardon the Vuduri):

“Nei he nanhume croence equo. I qua sei fica qua vez equo? A bir qua fica taoxiu ta vuncoiner asse ciose equo?”

In English, this translates to:

"We have no children here. What are you doing here? And why do you bring this ship here?"

Apparently, the Vuduri not only stripped the Ibbrassati of all technology, they stole their children as well. But not all children. While many of the mandasurte are mind-deaf because they only have 23 pairs of chromosomes, there are many mandasurte who have the proper set of 24 but for some reason (birth defect, Cesdiud) are not mind-connected. If a pair of 24-chromosome mandasurte mate, it is entirely possible, if not probable, that their child would be mind-connected. This is not unlike two hearing deaf parents giving birth to a child who can hear.

The Vuduri on Deucado were instructed only to imprison and oppress the mandasurte, not mind-connected Vuduri so as soon as the Overmind detected such a child, the Vuduri swooped in and took them away to be raised "properly". Sucks, huh?