The next few days went by without much discussion between Mist and Rain. Most non-school days, they would go out into the woods and walk around, but it had rained on Saturday, and the ground was still muddy on Sunday, so Rain had declined Mist’s invitation. It hadn’t deterred the nature-lover, though, so Rain had spent the day studying and reading in her room. Thoughts of the points Mist had brought up recently about the way the Motherhood viewed men kept coming back to her, leaving an unsettled feeling in her gut.Monday morning, she went to class as she always did. She had an hour of her history course before she’d report to Mother Swan’s anatomy class. Having the same Mother for all of her medical classes was helpful because she got to know each of her students so well. Rain had thought it was great only having one instructor until she considered that also meant she’d only hear one person’s interpretation of everyth

All day, Rain listened to discussions between the other girls in the hallways, before class started, in the restroom, everywhere she went, trying to get an idea as to whether or not anyone else knew what Cloud was alluding to the night before. But she didn’t hear so much as a stray whisper that made her think anything was going down at the medical building that day. She even hinted to Cloud that she thought there was some gossip, but her friend had no idea what she was getting at.By the time she was making her way over to IW that afternoon, she’d resolved herself to the idea that Sunny and Mist were nuts. Either that or whatever had been in the works had gone wrong or been discovered. She approached the changing rooms concentrating more on getting this over with so she could go finish up her homework as opposed to actually being worried about some kind of coup on the part of the younger women.Making her selection had not b

“Rain?” he repeated, his blue eyes wide as he spoke her name.“Yes.”The alarms were still sounding in the hall, and the announcer came on again to remind them not to speak to one another. “We expect to be fully operational again in fifteen to twenty minutes,” the voice explained. Rain sighed and sank to the floor, being sure to keep her dress pulled down. It was going to be a long fifteen to twenty minutes, and she doubted that was accurate. Chances were, it would be longer.“I’ve read about that.” He was looking off in the distance, at the wall, as if there was a window there, and he could see outside. “Sometimes, when it comes down hard, I can hear it on the roof.”She realized then what he meant--the rain. “You’ve never seen it?”24C shook his head. “I’ve never seen anything, Rain.&rdq

The door to the insemination room clicked shut behind her with a definitive echo, as if to say the conversation that had transpired within could never be accessed again. Another Mother was giving directions in a stern tone, and Rain did her best to pay attention. The lights in the hall seemed brighter than usual, and the ones that ran along the floor were flashing. In the distance, she heard a chirping noise, some sort of an alarm. “Go straight into the changing area, get dressed, and leave via this hallway on the left immediately. Go straight to your boarding house and remain in your room until the all clear is sounded. Do you understand?”Rain looked at the Mother closely then and realized it was Mother White, the woman she’d thought had been looking at her oddly the other day. Her eyes enlarged slightly, but Rain did her best to hide her surprise. Or was it fear?Creases above the woman’s upper lip protruded a

Rain did her best to calm herself, taking a few more deep breaths before she opened her mouth. Even the thought of recounting everything that had transpired while she was in IW had her heartbeat increasing and her palms beginning to sweat.Mist was still looking at her intently, waiting patiently for Rain to respond to her inquiry. Realizing she was under no obligation to tell Mist anything, Rain thought through the situation. Why should she tell her friend everything when Mist was keeping information from her?“How did you know something was going to happen?” Rain asked, leaning forward so that she was closer to Mist and keeping her voice low. “You did know, didn’t you?”With a shrug, Mist adjusted on the mattress. “Sunny heard a few things, rumors, from the older women. She said she had an idea they were going to do something, that it might get dangerous, but she didn't know the de