Disclaimer: This book and others contains mature subject matters and may not be suitable for all readers. A list of possible triggers is found at the back of each novel.
(Unedited Version)
The chilly, white-walled, sterile room was eerily quiet. Only the rhythmic beeping tone from the medical equipment, attached to each still form cut through the silence. On any other night, the soft sounds of women crying or chanting prayers, hoping to be rescued from the horrible fate that befell them, filled the room.
Two rows of ten women, in different stages of pregnancy, lay motionless on the beds, while two men in long white coats walked between them. They gave casual glances to those in their care as they checked off items on their clipboards.
“That’s it for this last hundred,” one man said, removing his latex gloves and tossing them into a trashcan by the door.
“They’re quiet tonight,” mentioned the other.
“Yes, I gave them a mild sedative earlier, to shut them up. I can’t take any more of that constant praying to their pagan god.”
Hanging their clipboards on the wall, the other man glanced at his companion. “Will the sedative affect the product?”
“It’s mild enough not to affect any extractions, and just enough to keep the hosts asleep. Most of them are sleeping right through insemination too.”
“It’s good the inseminations are working and the females are receptive because the males are still very combative on our floor. We’ve discontinued several donors and removed them from the line for refusing to mate with the females. So, at the risk of losing all our males, we had no choice but to do it this way.”
He laughed as he stepped out of his paper slippers and into regular shoes. “I’m glad I work with the females. They’re only aggressive when they first get here but at harvest time, after the second extraction, most of the fight is out of them. They lie there and pray or cry, but that’s all. By the third or fourth harvest, they no longer need sedatives.”
“This batch must have some new specimens if you used sedation.”
He nodded. “Yes, a group of fresh replacements were mixed in and added to this floor.” Pointing to one woman with an oversized stomach, he added, “You see that one over there, number Eleven Seventeen? That one produces numerous stock at every extraction. She’s the best one on the line. Very dutiful.”
“Soon, we’ll have the males just as compliant as the females.”
“Good. It’d make all our jobs easier.”
After a final scan of the room, the two men walked out, closing the door behind them.
The quiet beeping tones continued as it did, day after day, week after week, and month after month.
Mara, now known as Specimen Ten Seventy-Five, looked down at her stomach. She was not as large as the other women who laid on either side of her, but the constant flutters from within confirmed she was with child.
A few weeks prior, she overheard the scientists talking, not knowing she was fluent in their language, and say if she would not begin to produce any product, they would have her removed from the line.
She understood being removed from the line meant certain death.
Every day, several times a day, different Helgion men were brought in. They climbed on top of her, forcefully pushing themselves inside her. With every repulsive thrust, she wished she could die. Her tears, pleading, or prayers never stopped the torture she and the others were subjected to, while armed guards and scientists stood around watching.
After many unsuccessful attempts, the scientists stopped bringing men to her and the other women, deciding to use artificial insemination instead. With metal clamps around her ankles, they spread her legs and injected her with several doses. After the second procedure, it was finally successful. Mara did not know if this was a good thing at this point or not. She would be allowed to live for another nine months or so, but what was the fate that awaited the child she carried?
A morbid trade—her child’s life for hers.
From Protect Your Enemy- Book Two in the Rise of a Legend Series