Total pages in book: 182
Estimated words: 171288 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 856(@200wpm)___ 685(@250wpm)___ 571(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 171288 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 856(@200wpm)___ 685(@250wpm)___ 571(@300wpm)
“My instruments in the field indicated that she was fertile,” the guard named Spoone protested. “I cannot be blamed if the instrument is at fault.”
“Most certainly you can be blamed for I am blaming you,” Dr. Loone raged. “Get rid of her at once! She cannot breed, so she must be recycled.”
Recycled? That didn’t sound good to Penny at all—or, apparently, to the woman they were talking about.
“Please!” she begged as two more guards came to drag her off the table. “Please, just take me home! I want to go back to the station—please!”
But the guards were already dragging her off the metal exam table and towards the exit door.
“If you can’t use her, you should take her home!” Penny heard herself shouting. She knew it was dangerous to speak out but she couldn’t help herself—she couldn’t stand to see the woman being dragged away to who-knew-what horrible fate like that!
“Silence, breeder!” One of the guards shook his pain prod at her menacingly. “And who said we can’t use her? There is a use for everyone here in the Compound,” he added ominously, as Penny shrank away from the crackling end of the prod.
She wished she was brave enough to protest, but what could she do? She was naked and unarmed and frightened to death with a pain prod right in her face. Feeling helpless, Penny subsided, not daring to protest again. The door closed, muffling the woman’s screams and then there was only silence.
It was quiet after that. Once everyone was examined, the seven remaining prisoners were herded off the exam tables and out of the room. They went down a long corridor and into another shower room.
Penny was braced for another stinging spray of astringent purple cleanser, but thankfully this shower was only warm water. She gratefully rinsed the purple stuff from earlier off her skin and out of her hair. This time they were given towels to dry off with and thick, warm robes to wrap up in afterwards. It was certainly an improvement, but they were still being held against their will, Penny thought grimly.
A new attendant came to take charge of them after the shower. This NeverBreeder was orange and bald and wearing a silver jumpsuit, just like all the rest of them, but he—or she, as Penny found herself thinking of the new NeverBreeder—had a distinctly maternal air.
“Now then, my sweeties,” their new attendant said, smiling at them, which made her look like a jack-o-lantern, due to her round orange face, Penny thought. “You can call me Mother Toone,” she told them. “I’m here to look after you while you’re in our dormitory wing. Come with me, now.”
Mother Toone led them down another long hallway and again Penny wondered if now was the time to try and escape. But there were still two guards with pain prods at the end of their ragged little line. Also, the Breeding and Conception Center was a maze—she was already lost and had no idea where she would go even if she did run. So she didn’t dare try an escape. Instead, she walked beside Shurla and shared a look with her friend that needed no words.
This place is a nightmare! We have to get out of here!
“Now then, here we are my sweeties,” their new attendant said, as she led them through another doorway and into a room with a long row of empty cots. “Here’s your dormitory. This will be your home for the next several days.”
“I thought the guy who called himself the Glorious Leader said we could leave after a single night if we didn’t like it here?” Shurla spoke up, glaring at Mother Toone defiantly.
“Well, of course you may, for our Glorious Leader never lies to us.” Mother Toone smiled gently, looking more like a Halloween decoration than ever, Penny thought. “It’s just that most breeders settle down and get more comfortable after their first night. But if you still want to go tomorrow morning, then you’re more than welcome. Of course,” she added. “Unless you have a spaceship waiting somewhere, you might have a bit of a problem surviving outside the Compound. But if you’re really determined, you can walk right out—that is our promise to you.”
Penny wanted to ask about the woman who had been deemed infertile—why hadn’t she been allowed to walk out? Instead she had been sent for “recycling” whatever that meant. But again, she had a very strong feeling that speaking up here would only make the situation worse. So she kept her mouth shut.
“Now, you must be tired after your big day,” Mother Toone remarked.
“You mean after a day of being abducted and drugged and brought here against our will?” Shurla demanded.
Mother Toone’s smile remained constant.
“You may dislike our methods, my dear, but I promise you that very soon you will thank us for rescuing you from your old life and bringing you to the Compound.”