earned death benefits for her father. That money was spent within a year

e the brooding sile

made of a soft cotton. Natural fibers were a rare commodity in the hovels as were any clothing items that were not government-i

requiring you to wear

ern than anything else, Leda tamped down on a flash of an

ou sa

h time, the idea of ju

office. It was enough money to start a new life somewhere else if she went on her own. There had to be a place she could hide where even The Whoremonger’s cold gaze couldn

e her a liar and a cheat.

d her family wanted her here, not t

e only bit of light in the gathering darkness of their apartment. Silence weighed down

er

tly. She took the little packet and unrolled it with trembling fingers. F

l dose,” Cythia mumbled,

is to slip your scent a

his be

our stupid plan, not mine. I pray you don’t fall into estrous the moment that you’re mounted, but i

d the pills, not bothering with the lukewarm glass of water sittin

you just swallowed down

their hands on — Leda took her pills dutifully every day. The payment of the black market meds was

al Command for sentencing to incredible fates. If they caught her, all of them could end up serving a life term in the works cam

e to

ight. She tried to rationalize away the fear. There wasn’t a fate worse than death awaiting her, no public flag

he sense that somethin

l the questions about her world had been resolved. Details of the thousand-year war that had de

es as the world dissolved in war. But huge gaps existed in the fossil reco

earth the secrets that hadn’t withstood the great wars of the past. According to the archive record

tterns and off of the large swathes of the planet t

called the Aquila. The air was purest there with a cleared view of the

on. Some said that they were still out there, whole civilizations that flourished in the stars without the sickness and ravage that existed down below. The space flee

or justifications that went beyond just their physical size and strength. The ability to oversee was written into their biology. By contrast, Betas and Omega

r subservience, one that was very hard to overcome. Even with the chemical

Alphas, mated and bred then kept as pets in the gilded cells of the sky levels. Others used chemical cockt