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.”
“I didn’t need to be rescued!” Shurla snapped. “I was perfectly happy as a joy-girl back at Hell’s Gate! At least back there I got paid when somebody shoved something up my hoo-hah! Why do you even want us here, anyway? You keep calling us ‘breeders’ and you examined our wombs. But if you think I’m going to have a baby for you crazy assholes, you’ve got another think coming!”
“My, you’re a feisty one, aren’t you, my dear?” Mother Toone remarked, still smiling, though she appeared to be fingering something in her pocket. “That’s all right. You’ll see things differently in the morning, after a good night’s sleep. Once you’re well-rested, we’ll explain your true purpose in life and how you can serve the Glorious Cause.”
Shurla opened her mouth, doubtless to argue some more but Penny had caught a glimpse of what Mother Toone was holding in her pocket—it looked suspiciously like a miniature pain prod.
“What about something to eat?” she asked, quickly, hoping to keep her friend from getting shocked. Plus, she really was hungry. It had been a long, long time since the half protein bar Granny Two-two had given her back on the Hell’s Gate Station.
“You’ll get your nightly portion of Mother’s Milk very soon,” Mother Toole promised her. “That will fill you right up—I promise.”
“Mother’s Milk? What’s that?” Shurla demanded.
But their new attendant didn’t answer. She simply swept out the door and then the clicking sound of a lock being turned echoed in the long dormitory.
Shurla went to try the door anyway and Penny went with her.
“Hey! Hey, let us out of here!” Shurla yanked on the latch and pounded on the door uselessly. “Hey, you can’t keep us here!”
“I think they can,” Penny murmured to her friend. She put a hand on Shurla’s shoulder. “I’m sorry—I’m scared too.”
“I’m not just scared—I’m angry!” Shurla stopped pounding at last and they both went to sit on two of the cots, which were side-by-side. “Who the hell do these freaks think they are, swooping us up and taking us to this crazy place?”
“Do