hill to the large building with a rotten odor emanating from it.
“All right now, come on,” Claudette said to Penny and the remaining woman in their group. “I’ll be dropping Chima off at the garment making factory and then I’ll bring Penelope to the Marketplace.”
The garment factory was a large, airy building where rows and rows of industrial-type machines were manned by numerous breeder women—all of them working on making the red and blue togas that all the breeders wore. Claudette introduced Chima to her new supervisor—a NeverBreeder by the name of Roone with sharp, beady little eyes—and then nodded at Penny to follow her towards the Marketplace.
But they seemed to be taking the long way around, Penny saw. Instead of heading straight down the manicured path, Claudette was leading her in a lingering circle over the neatly clipped grass.
“Penny,” she said in low voice as they walked slowly along. “I have to talk to you.”
“Yes?” Penny looked at her, not liking the foreboding sound of the other woman’s words. “Is everything okay?”
“Everything is most certainly not okay,” Claudette snapped, giving her a sidelong glare “What was that performance you put on yesterday at the Unification Ceremony? Everybody was talking about it—and I don’t just mean the other breeders!”
“They…they were?” Penny felt like an icy hand had cupped her heart. “Are you sure?’
“Of course I’m sure,” Claudette said angrily. “I heard Mother Toone telling Director Loone, who supervises the Watchers, who spy on everybody’s Love Huts, to keep a close eye on you and to turn up the hypno-whispers. She also said if you don’t straighten up and act right you’ll have to be recycled.”
“What? Mother Toone said that?” Penny knew it was ridiculous, but she couldn’t help feeling hurt and betrayed. She’d had the idea that the NeverBreeder attendant liked her—that she was somehow on her side. And now to hear that she’d been talking about recycling her…
Claudette seemed to read her mind.
“You thought she liked you, didn’t you?” she asked with an ugly laugh. “Well let this be a lesson, Penny—you can’t trust the NeverBreeders—any of them. So you’ve got to straighten up and fly right!”
“I…I’ll try,” Penny faltered. “I was just…just surprised at who they picked as my Forever Mate, that’s all.”
“Well, he doesn’t seem to have treated you too badly.” Claudette looked her over critically. “You’re certainly doing better than most of the new breeder brides. Although…Penny—what the hell is that?”
“What?” Penny looked down to where her friend was pointing and saw, to her dismay, a growing dark spot on the front of her blue toga.
“Oh, crap!” she muttered, reaching into the fabric to rearrange the tissues she’d put there to soak up the nectar still leaking from her nipples. But to her dismay, the tissues were soaked, though she’d put them in her top barely an hour before.
She pulled out a wad of sticky tissues and looked at them in dismay. What was she going to do now?
“What’s going on with you?” Claudette demanded, frowning. “Why didn’t you get your breasts drained during your Mandatory Breeding last night?”
“I…um…” Penny wasn’t sure how to answer that question without giving away the fact that V’rex was immune to the hypno-whispers too. But Claudette guessed it.
“He didn’t breed you, did he?” she asked, looking at Penny with a mixture of awe and envy. “You still haven’t been bred!”
“He’s a nice guy, okay? Well, if not nice exactly, he’s at least not a rapist,” Penny said quickly. “He promised not to…do that to me if I didn’t want him to.”
“Listen, he may be nice but he’s not doing you any favors refusing to breed you,” Claudette lectured. “Sooner or later you’re going to get pulled into the Breeding and Conception Center for another womb check. And if they find that you’re not pregnant and that you don’t even have any signs of male seed inside you, you’re going to be in deep trouble!”
“Well excuse me for not wanting to get raped!” Penny cried.
“Shhh!” Claudette hissed angrily. She looked all around them, but there was no one in sight. “Look, I’m just trying to warn you. You’re already in trouble. I mean, you think you got the Marketplace as your job assignment by some random choice? This is a punishment assignment, Penny!”
“What? How can that be?” Penny frowned. “What’s so bad about baking and selling bread all day? I’ve always wanted to learn how to make sourdough.”
“Think about it—it’s not just about baking and selling—it’s about being out in the