art modern medical facility you see behind me here.” He nodded at the tall metal and glass building behind him. “After that, you’ll spend your first few nights in the dormitory wing until you’re ready for your Unification Ceremony. Now, I know you don’t know what any of that means right now,” he went on, holding up his hands, as though to stop their questions. “But you will learn. And then, I promise, you’ll be as happy living here as all the other breeders you saw on the way in.”
Penny wanted to ask why he kept calling them “breeders,” but she sensed she wouldn’t like the answer to that question. She saw the angry jut of Shurla’s jaw and knew her friend had questions to ask too. But the Glorious Leader was taking a bow and excusing himself. Before anyone could say anything else, he was leaving them, heading towards the huge mansion on the hill at the far end of the Compound.
“Well, I guess now we know who lives in the big house,” Shurla muttered. “That asshole who calls himself the ‘Glorious Leader.’ Gods, he’s so full of shit! He—ahhhhh!”
She stumbled and fell to her knees as one of the NeverBreeder guards shoved the end of a pain prod into the small of her back.
“Do not speak ill of the Shining Star!” he barked at Shurla. Such blasphemy is not permitted!”
Penny wanted to help her friend up, but her hands were still cuffed behind her back. Still, she did the best she could to protect Shurla by putting herself between the other woman and the pain prod.
“Leave her alone!” she snapped, glaring at the guard. “You nasty little Oompa-Loompa, you!”
“I do not know this name, but I assume it is insulting,” the NeverBreeder remarked, glaring at her. “You will move along into the Breeding and Conception Center or suffer the same fate as your friend.”
Shurla had gotten to her feet by that time. She shook her head at Penny and took a shaky step.
“Come on, there’s nothing we can do right now,” she muttered. “We’ll figure a way out of this later.”
Penny hoped she was right. With a last glance over her shoulder at the NeverBreeder guard, she allowed herself to be herded into the big glass and metal building, never dreaming what lay in store for her inside.
Twenty-Three
The group of women was herded into a long room with many metal exam tables, all lined up in a row. At first Penny wondered if this was supposed to be the dormitory the “Glorious Leader” had spoken of. But then several more Oompa-Loompa NeverBreeders came into the room. These had on silver lab jackets to go with their silver jumpsuits and they seemed to be doctors or scientists of some kind.
“Well? Why are they not up on the tables, Guard Spoone?” one of them demanded of the guards. “Hurry—we have work to do!”
Quickly, the guards un-cuffed each of the prisoner’s hands and prodded them up onto the tables.
Penny shivered helplessly as her damp skin made contact with the cold, bare metal. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so frightened—what were the alien doctors going to do to her? To all of them? Was this going to be some kind of horrible sci-fi horror vivisection scene where the aliens dissected them alive? Were they—
“All right, breeder, let us check the health of your mammaries,” the orange-skinned NeverBreeder doctor said in her ear.
“What?” Penny somehow managed to get out.
Instead of repeating his statement, the NeverBreeder doctor ran a long slender wand with a glowing tip over her breasts. The tip turned pink and he nodded, as though pleased.
“Very good, your mammary glands are in optimum health.”
Well, it was good to know she didn’t have breast cancer and this was certainly easier than a mammogram, Penny thought, relaxing some. Maybe the whole exam would just consist of the weird little NeverBreeder doctor running the lighted wand over her body without ever touching her with it. Maybe—
“Now spread your legs,” the alien doctor commanded. “I must test the health of your womb.”
“What?” Penny crossed her legs tight. “I don’t think so!”
“Guard Spoone,” the doctor’s voice was impassive—even bored. “Come here at once and shock this breeder until she spreads her legs for me.”
“Wait—what? Wait a minute!” Penny cried but before she could say anything else, the same guard who had shocked Shurla earlier jabbed the end of his pain prod against her side.
“Ahhhh!” A scream of agony ripped from Penny’s throat and