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)
“Good luck with that,” Claudette said unsympathetically. “Every door in and out of this place is locked to the retinal scans of the NeverBreeders who work here. Even I have to wait to get in and out until one of them comes to help me and the Breeding and Conception Center has been my job assignment for the past twelve cycles.”
“There must be some way!” Penny pleaded. “Some time when they’re taking a break or leaving for the night or some point when I could slip out when nobody is watching!”
“Haven’t you been listening to a word I’ve been telling you?” Claudette’s voice from the other stall was harsh. “Somebody is always watching around here! Even in the Love Huts—if you don’t do your duty and breed in the bed chamber at the Mandatory Breeding Hour, they’ll know it. And you know how they’ll know it? Because they’re always watching!”
She took a deep breath and blew it out in a frustrated sound.
“Look, I don’t have any more time for this. This is life in the Compound and there’s absolutely no escape unless you want to end up in the sausage grinder. So get used to it or die—those are your only two choices, Penny. That’s it. I’m sorry.”
She got up and the stall door banged shut as she left. There was the sound of water running in the sink and then the door to the bathroom opened and shut, leaving Penny alone.
I can’t cry, she told herself, even as the tears leaked down her cheeks. I can’t. If I show any emotion other than happiness to be here, they’ll suspect I’m not hypnotized and I’ll end up in the sausage grinder, just like Claudette said. But oh God—what am I going to do?
It was at times like these when she wished she could pray—wished she could reach out to a higher power who had everything under control—who had a plan, even though she couldn’t see it—
“Courage, daughter,” a soft voice whispered in her ear and then the entire bathroom seemed to fill with a warm, comforting presence.
Penny took a deep, surprised breath. It was like someone had come to her when she was standing out in the cold and wrapped a warm, cozy quilt around her shoulders and given her a comforting hug.
“What…who?” She looked around but there was no one there—except there was. Penny could sill feel the presence wrapped around her like strong, loving arms.
“Courage,” whispered the voice again. “Things seem dark now but you will prevail.”
Then the presence and the voice that went with it were gone as quickly as they had appeared. But somehow, Penny still felt comforted.
She wasn’t sure what she had just experienced or who had been talking to her but she felt better—stronger and less hopeless. Maybe despite the scary situation she found herself in, things would still work out all right.
Penny sniffed and blotted her face with toilet paper. She would splash some water in her face and tell Mother Toone that she’d gotten something in her eyes and rubbing had made them red. No matter how hopeless things looked, she couldn’t let herself give up.
Even if there didn’t seem to be any point in doing anything else.
Twenty-Eight
“Now, now, stop fussing with your Unification dress! It’s supposed to be worn this way.”
Mother Toone parted the long, feathery strands of the billux grass top that Penny was wearing so that it showed her breasts—now heavy and full with nectar—and the leaking tips of her nipples.
The billux grass plant was one of the few on Yown Alpha that wasn’t poisonous and since the long strands were soft and colorful—deep blue and turquoise and jade green—they were used to make special occasion clothing like the Unification dress Penny was wearing.
The “dress” was actually a sleeveless top worn in a band just above her jutting breasts and a long skirt worn low on the hips that went almost to her ankles. In the outfit, Penny thought she looked like a hula girl—an obscene one.
“And the bottom has to be worn like this,” the NeverBreeder attendant continued, reaching down to part the long feathery fronds so that they framed Penny’s swollen pussy.
“But…it’s so revealing,” Penny protested.
“It’s supposed to be, my sweet!” Mother Toone told her, parting the skirt even wider. “It’s all part of the ceremony—you’ll see.”
“I guess I will.” Penny was fighting to keep the happy smile on her face, which mirrored the smiles on the other women in her group. All of their breasts had begun making nectar by now and all their wombs had been pronounced “ripe and ready for conception” during their last exam. So today was the Unification Day Ceremony, when they would all be joined with their “Forever Mates” for life.
All the other women in her group seemed ecstatic that the big day was finally here—Shurla most of all. It was hard to reconcile the beaming bride arranging the fronds of her top to showcase all three of her breasts with the girl who had mouthed-off angrily on their first day at the Compound.