Apex Book Company

“They won’t vote for execution.” Karl leaned his back against the bars of his cell. His lips formed a thin smile. “In the state we’re in, they can’t afford to kill anyone. All of us are precious.”

On the other side of the bars, Steen frowned. “That didn’t stop you from killing the female.”

Karl pushed off from the bars and continued to pace. “Unfortunate.”

“Are you saying it was an accident?”

Karl sighed. He reached the end of the cell and turned. “Are all the infertile males stupid like you?”

Steen shrugged his wide shoulders. “For a bunch of stupids, we do a good job making sure the Hive and Deep Six has power.”

Karl sat on the bed and rubbed a hand through his cropped black hair. “You’re nothing special, infertile. You punch a few buttons. Click a few dials.”

“We are the foundation.” Steen placed both palms against his chest. “Our labor helps maintain society.”

“Is that what they tell you?” Karl smiled. He stood and began to pace again. “Still, I envy your freedom to move unfettered in the city.”

“I don’t understand it.” Steen’s frown deepened. “How could you kill? You’re a fertile male. You have the greatest responsibility of all.”

Karl’s voice held a weary note. “Responsibility? That’s what they’ve told me since the day I was born.” He rubbed his temples. “Every day, over and over. Delivered in lessons and piped through the speakers in our rooms at night. You can’t escape the voice of society.”

“You’re supposed to be helping the world grow again.” Steen watched Karl pace. “Not helping our extinction.”

“I don’t care anymore.”

“We need your seed to fertilize the females’ eggs. That’s your purpose.”

“My purpose?” Karl’s eyes narrowed. He stopped and looked at the blond giant. “What could you possibly know of my purpose?”

“Enough that it doesn’t involve murder.”

Karl rubbed his lips. “When I saw her eyes I knew she would scream.” He moved to the bars. “I would have been discovered escaping. I couldn’t let her go.”

“You broke her neck.”

“Quick and painless,” Karl said. “She didn’t feel a thing.”

Steen moved closer and curled his fingers around the steel bars. “How did you overcome the female? She was twice your size.”

“A lifetime of controlled anger–”

Karl stopped. The outer door to the prison had opened. A tall woman with cropped blonde hair stepped inside.

Her grey, neck-to-foot bodysuit was austere in design, and loose fitting, concealing her breasts and the curve of her hips beneath the coarse fabric. She also went bare-foot, as was the custom among the infertile females of Deep Six.

She took in the cell, the two men on either side of the bars, and their closeness, in one sweeping gaze of her dark green eyes. She stepped forward. The door closed behind her.

“Speak of female,” Karl said, “and they appear.” He looked at her feet. “A reject too.”

Steen’s cheeks reddened. He stuck his hands behind his back. He avoided the female’s stare as she advanced towards him.

“Who are you?” Her voice was deep. She matched Steen in size and stature. “Well, answer me?”

Steen took a step backwards. “Steen Jepore.” He winced and took a deep breath. “I am second technician, third shift, in Deep Six’s power plant.”

“Why are you here, second technician?” She shifted her stare to Karl. He smiled.

Steen pulled his hands to his chest. “I was on my way back to the dorm. It all happened in a second. I normally don’t walk past the Hive after my shift but I was in a hurry to–”

A hiss escaped her mouth as she raised a clenched hand. “Come to the point.”

“I was the one who caught him last night.”

“Ha!” Karl pushed his face against the bars. “I ran in to you. You fell on me. Not much finesse in your capture technique, second technician.”

“He was too small to be one of us,” Steen said. “I took him back inside the Hive. I figured he had to be one of the fertile males. He struggled and kicked like a crazy man but I managed. That’s when I saw the dead female near the door.”

“You alerted the Hive to the crime?”

Steen closed his eyes. “Yes. Everyone was shouting at me. Waving their hands in my face. I triggered the fire alarm and they all came running.”

“I still have a headache,” Karl said, rubbing his temples. “They were hysterical.”

“It was terrible,” Steen said; his eyes were still closed. “I will never forget that look on the dead infertile’s face.”

“A shock to us all,” the female agreed, her features softening for a moment. “We all feel her passing.”

“I certainly felt her passing.” Karl smiled.

The female turned to Steen. “Why are you here at the prison?”

“I was the biggest male there. One of the Senators ordered me to bring Karl here and guard him until someone relived me.”

“We’ve been discussing my fate most of the night,” Karl said.

“Can I go now?” Steen asked.

“I wouldn’t know.” The female turned her stare back to Karl. “I was ordered here. The Senate is close to a decision on his fate.”

“Will they relieve me if it’s much longer?” Steen clasped his hands together. “I can’t start my next shift without sleep.”

“My only concern is the murder. I’m to wait here until Senator Thuron or another Senator contacts me. I have no orders about you.”

Karl grabbed the bars. “Senator Thuron? I’ve heard that name before.”

“You should have, Karl. She’s the wisest female in Deep Six.”

“You know Senator Thuron?”

The young female nodded. “At the moment, I’m her personal aide. When she moves to the chair, I’ll be taking her place in the Senate.”

“And you are?” Karl asked, matching the female’s unyielding stare.

“Anen Polon.”

“Well, look here, Steen Jepore.” Karl made a dramatic bow accompanied by a flourish of his hands. “We have a future member of the Senate in our presence.” He smiled as he straightened. “I’m sure you’ll make a wonderful Senator, Anen Polon.”

Anen nodded, ignoring the sarcasm. “I will, Karl. I just hope you aren’t alive to see it.”

Karl looked away and laughed. He stuck his hands in the pockets of his grey prison overalls. “Sorry to disappoint, but the Senate won’t vote for my death. I’m a fertile male remember? I’m too important to society.”

Anen arched a blonde brow. Her voice grew louder. “You’re not that special, Karl. No one person is above the law, and as far as I know, execution is still the punishment for murder.”

Karl smiled. “It hasn’t happened in a century. I don’t intend to be the first again.”

“Lucky it wasn’t a fertile you murdered.”

“Was the infertile with child?” Steen asked.

Anen shook her head. “I’m told the poor sister in question was off-roster, spending her rest year teaching the three to five year old infertile females.”

Karl wiped an invisible tear from his cheek as he sniffed. “I am sure the little ones will miss her.”

Steen took a hesitant step closer to Anen Polon. “They told me to guard him until someone came to relieve me,” he said, looking at Karl. “Do you think they will come soon?”

Anen swung her gaze from Karl to Steen. “You dare complain. A female is dead.”

Steen bit his lower lip. “I’m not complaining.” He looked down, rubbing at the lines in his palm. “I don’t belong here,” he said. “I work at the city’s power plant. That’s my job.”

Anen studied the male. The way he avoided her stare confirmed the sense of superiority she felt, despite her infertility.

Birthing was always a painful, horrendous experience. Something she hoped to avoid it at all costs in the future — when finally a Senator, but Anen knew she could at least carry and contribute children to Deep Six.

There was an eighty percent chance the in-utero planted egg wouldn’t make it to term. Eighty percent chance the child — if it did survive — would be an infertile, and another eighty percent that child would turn out to be an infertile male.

Sometimes she felt as if they were still being punished for the past.

As Steen continued to shuffle and avoid her eyes, Anen wondered how much the infertile males contributed to society. They couldn’t make the same sacrifice as either the fertile and the infertile sisters. Even the fertile males provided their sperm. And now Karl’s psychopathic side had shown its ugly nature. Wasn’t the gene pool better off - regardless of how small it had become - without his tainted seed?

“Just be quiet while I talk,” Anen finally said. “Don’t say a thing unless it’s important. Understand?”

Steen lowered his head further, looking at his boots. “Yes.”

“You don’t have to take that,” Karl said. “It’s easy to snap their necks!” He slapped his hands together for effect.

Anen staggered as if physically struck. Her fair skin paled further as she clutched a hand to her throat. She stepped away from the cell.

Steen shook his head. “No, I could never do that. I am the hands of society. I am part of the foundation.”

“They treat us like slaves,” Karl said. “In their eyes I’m nothing more than a breathing sperm bag they can milk for my seed. And you!” He thrust his arm between the bars and tried to grab Steen by his grey overalls. “You’re like a drone that does their bidding. Your kind is too blind and docile to see you’re being used.”

“We all do our part for society, Karl.” Anen recovered enough to speak. “One world, one city: striving forward together. Our duty to ourselves is to repopulate the planet.”

Karl jabbed a finger at Anen and a sneer twisted his features. “That line may have worked on the people who survived the war, but it won’t work on me.”

“The war?” Anen looked puzzled. “That was over a hundred years ago. What does that have to do with this?”

“In our infinite wisdom, we’ve dropped enough toxic bombs on each other we’ve permanently altered our DNA.” Karl kept his voice low. “We’ve destroyed all our cities except this one.” He turned his back on her. “That slogan doesn’t inspire anything in me except anger and contempt. I’m not your puppet you can use anymore.”

“The words mean we have a duty,” Steen said. He glanced at Anen but she nodded for him to continue. He licked his lips. “You may not care if our race lives or dies. We do. Anything we can do to help society, we will. It’s the duty of everyone in Deep Six.”

“What if I don’t want to strive forward together?” Karl began to pace again. “What if I want to do my own thing? Haven’t I done enough already?” He turned to them and spread his hands. “Haven’t I contributed enough? When do I get time for me?” He walked over and sat on his bed. “There has to be more to my life than this.”

Anen stiffened and walked to the bars. “How selfish you are, Karl. Your seed belongs to all of society, not you. Your purpose is to contribute, as do all the fertile males and females.”

Karl smile was resigned. “My purpose? Everyone is so sure she knows my purpose. What about you? You won’t be contributing to our purpose when you’re a Senator.”

“Senator’s are exempt,” Anen said.

Karl nodded and smiled.

Anen pursed her lips as she studied the small, dark-haired man. “The lifestyle of a Senator is one of long and arduous hours,” she said. “We sacrifice everything for society. The pursuit of finding better ways to sustain and increase our shrinking populace is a never-ending task. The Senate plans the future. The Senate leads us all towards a better world.”

“The Senate has all our futures in mind,” Steen said.

“Not me,” Karl said. “They don’t have my future in mind.”

Steen shook his head. “They care for all of society.”

Karl stood and folded his arms. “Only if we conform to its rules.”

“The alternative is anarchy,” another voice said. “A return to our past.”

They all turned. A mirror’s image of Anen Polon - two decades her senior - stepped into the room.

“Senator Thuron.” Anen rushed to the older female’s side. “Has the Senate decided?”

The Senator nodded. “We have.”

She and Anen walked to the cell.

“Hello, Karl.” Senator Thuron clasped her hands behind her back. “Five thousand and six.”

Karl stuck his hands in his pockets. “Five thousand and six?”

“That’s was the total count of society in Deep Six until last night.”

Karl shrugged his thin shoulders. “Is that supposed to mean something to me?”

“Obviously not.” Senator Thuron looked him up and down. “I came to see for myself.”

Karl grinned.

“You can go now,” Senator Thuron said. “You are no longer needed. The Senate thanks you for your service.

Relief flooded across Steen’s face. He ducked his head once and practically ran towards the door. It opened, and without a backward glance, he disappeared from view.

“Well?” Karl asked, smiling at the Senator. “In its great wisdom, what has the Senate decided?”

“Termination, I hope,” Anen said.

A smile bent the corners of Senator Thuron’s mouth. “All are precious to society, Anen — even Karl.”

Karl laughed. “See! I told you I was too valuable. They were never going to kill me.”

“The Senate spares his life?” Anen couldn’t keep the hurt from her voice. “He murdered one of our sisters.”

“Be at ease,” the Senator said as she placed a hand on Anen’s shoulder. “We cannot take his life.”

“It’s true,” Karl said as he grabbed the bars. “We’re all too precious in your wonderful society.”

Senator Thuron lunged at the bars, trapping Karl’s hands beneath her own. “Mock all you want, Karl. Things are about to change.”

The smile shattered on his face. He struggled to pull his hands free. “Let go!”

The Senator grinned.

“Out the door to the passage,” Senator Thuron ordered Anen. “Let them know I’m ready. I’ve seen enough. We can commence.”

Karl continued to struggle. “What’s happening? Let me go!”

Anen walked to the outer door and step outside, a moment later, with a smile on her face, she stepped back inside, leading four blond females in to the room.

Karl’s eyes widened when he saw the infertile females. “You said you wouldn’t take my life.”

“I did say that, didn’t I?” Senator Thuron let go with one hand and placed it against palm-lock on the cell door. The Senate had access to all of society. There was a whir inside the lock as the bolt withdrew.

“I don’t understand what’s going on.” Karl pulled his other hand free. He hugged himself as he staggered back towards the rear of the cell. His eyes remained on the four silent females who now stood behind the Senator.

“That doesn’t matter,” Senator Thuron said. “It’s not important for you to understand.” She pushed the door open and stepped aside.

“No!” Karl jumped onto the bed as the four females rushed his cell. Their faces were set with the same stony expression Anen Polon wore.

“Did the Senate grant everything?” Anen asked as they watched from outside the cell.

The Senator shook her head. “Not all. They partially agreed. They will allow us the use of some of the prohibited technology, and they agreed Karl can be used as the trial case.”

The females grappled with Karl, dragging him down to his belly. Each female held an arm or leg as he kicked and screamed and struggled.

“Excellent,” Anen said. “So that has to be a yes to organ transplants too. What about cloning technology?”

One female produced a set of plasti-cuffs and snapped them over Karl’s wrists. They flipped him on to his back.

The Senator sighed. “Partially. No matter what I said, they wouldn’t give in. We can only clone the murdered female’s reproductive organs. No other parts of her.”

Another female produced and black fabric bag, which she pulled over Karl’s head.

“A pity we can’t be done with the males completely,” Anen said. She smiled as she watched Karl struggle.

He screamed louder with the bag over his head and thrashed his body from side-to-side.

Senator Thuron chuckled. “Cloning a complete female would be a quicker way to repopulate society.”

A female held Karl’s head in her large hands, trying to hold him steady.

Anen wrinkled her nose. “The Senate is too nervous. We would never use the technology to create the world we had before.”

Karl kicked and bucked but the females were stronger as they continued to work in grim silence.

Senator Thuron patted Anen on the back. “We must be patient. I shall sit in the chair soon enough.”

Anen touched her brow. “What about the Mind-wipe and reprogramming technology? They must have agreed if they said yes to Karl.”

One female slipped a length of silver chain around Karl’s neck and pulled it tight.

“Of course,” the Senator said. “Mind-wipe and reprogramming is essential if we are to succeed.”

Lifting him up above their shoulders and holding him in a firm grip, the females carried Karl from his cell. A feeble moan escaped the bag.

“I believe poor Karl is terrified,” Anen said, a smile lighting her eyes as she pointed the trail of liquid ran that from Karl’s leg to patter against the floor.

#

Steen fiddled with his fingers as he rode the elevator within the Hive.

He didn’t want to be here. Three months and he’d almost managed to get back in to his familiar routine.

He would never forget the night he spent in the presence of a murderer and the two infertile females.

The elevator stopped and the doors opened.

Steen continued to look down as he rubbed at his moist palm, still trying to guess what possible reasons Chair Thuron would have for ordering him to her chambers halfway through his shift. There wasn’t any reason Chairwoman Thuron should need to speak to an infertile male.

“Hello.”

Steen looked up and blinked. He hadn’t realized others had boarded. He focused on the small fertile female who rode the elevator between the two large infertile females. She smiled up at him as she caressed a hand over her protruding belly.

“Hello.” Steen started to smile but froze. The fertile female looked like Karl.

“I love babies,” she said. “I want to have a thousand!”

She giggled and Steen’s blood chilled. She had Karl’s voice.

The small female pouted as she pulled the gown up to expose the ugly, red-pink flesh of a scar that ran from her sternum to pubic bone.

“They cut me open, see?”

The two infertile females, who had until this point remained passive observers, sprang to pull the grey gown down.

Steen backed in to the corner. His eyes were wide as he stared in horror at the thing Karl had become. In that brief instant Karl had raised his gown, Steen spied something else apart from the surgical scar: No penis between his legs. Karl wasn’t a fertile male anymore.

“What’s the matter,” Karl asked. “Are you okay?”

Steen licked his lips and nodded. The infertile females were watching.

“Yes,” he managed. “I’m okay. Does it hurt?” He pointed at Karl’s stomach.

Karl touched his belly. “Itchy sometimes.”

“Do you remember me?” Steen asked.

Karl frowned and rubbed his nose with a finger. “No. Don’t remember.” He smiled. “Do you like babies?”

Steen shrugged. “Of course. Every baby helps society.”

Karl hugged himself and grinned. “I have a baby growing inside.” He touched his belly and giggled.

Steen wiped his brow. “That’s wonderful.” He couldn’t think of anything else to say.

The elevator stopped and the doors opened.

The two infertiles pulled on Karl’s arms, escorting him out in to the passage.

“Bye!” Karl yelled.

The doors closed and Steen continued his ascent.

His mind reeled from seeing Karl alive and so drastically changed.

The elevator stopped again.

Steen stepped in to the passageway and looked left and right. Both directions ended with a door.

He walked over and opened the left door.

Anen Polon looked up from her desk and stood. She nodded to Steen as she walked over and ushered him towards a seat.

“Chairwoman Thuron sent for me,” Steen said as he sat.

“Yes, I know.” Anen smiled. “Are you ready to help society, second technician? Do your duty for Deep Six?”

Steen nodded. “Of course. I am the hands of–”

“Good,” Anen said. “Chairwoman Thuron has found a new use for the infertile males.”

Steen rubbed his palm. “It is our duty to help society. That is our purpose.”

“Good. You now have a new purpose.”

“What’s that?”

She smiled as two infertiles entered the room. “I hope you like having babies, second technician.”

---

Liam Rands lives in Sydney, Australia in a house full of books and several cats who also like books but for different reasons. After working as a barman, sailor, radio DJ, and a few other quirky jobs, Liam has settled in and is trying his hand at a writing career.