Heading On Down

As they descended, she and Jane eyed one another uncertainly from time to time. Each saw herself as the natural leader of the group, and viewed the other as a potential threat to that. Astra knew that Jane was a natural bully. That had been held in check before, since anything too overt would have landed the guard in trouble. The breeders were supposed to be treated well, for all that they were effectively prisoners, for it was recognised how vital their role was.

Astra's gaze swept over the others, visible in the dim emergency lighting. All of them were naked, of course. Lesba was her particular friend. That friendship was now tinged with admiration. Lesba was eight months pregnant with triplets, and Astra wondered how the petite woman even managed to remain on her feet, never mind uncomplainingly keep on descending the stairs.

Astra knew that Terra was only one month into her latest pregnancy. As yet the girl showed no visible sign of it. Astra did not know how many offspring she had been seeded with. The girl was of medium height, very dark-skinned and with black hair.

The panicky Elipsis was a tall girl with long blonde hair. She was five months along with triplets, and her belly was about the same size as Astra's (who the reader will recall is six months pregnant with twins).

After descending the stairs for what seemed like hours but had probably been only about thirty minutes, they arrived at a small landing. As well as the stairs continuing on down, there was also a steel door in one wall. It looked very solid, and when they tried to open it it proved to be locked.

"It's most likely a tunnel leading to another of the staircases," Jane said. "The vibroblade would cut through the door." She looked at Astra.

"Would there be any point?" Terra asked before Astra could respond. "Traversing to another stair would delay us, and there's no guarantee that the other stair would be in any better condition than this one. Wouldn't it be better to save the vibroblade's charge? We wouldn't want to risk it running low when we really needed it."

"There might be alchemic beasts on the far side of the door," Elipsis said timidly.

"There might also be some waiting for us further down the stairs," Jane pointed out. "One route is probably as safe - or as dangerous - as any other."

That produced another burst of wailing from Elipsis, and it took Astra, Lesba and Terra five minutes to calm the girl down.

1. They decided to use the vibroblade on the door and find out what was on the far side.
2. They decided to press on down the stairs.
3. Seeing how heavily Lesba was breathing from her exertions, Astra suggested that they should rest for a while.
4. "Oh, shit!" Lesba suddenly exclaimed. "I think I'm going into labour prematurely."
5. Then the door was opened from the other side!

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