Chapter 1

Bill tried to keep calm, but it was hard. Anna had told him he had better be on his very best behavior or he'd suffer the consequences.

He was in a large covered building usually used for cattle shows. In the arena itself were a dozen or so poles stuck firmly into the ground, spaced evenly 15 yards apart in a row. At each pole was a young man, hands cuffed behind his back, tied to the pole. Bill was naked except for a sort of loose skirt that came down to mid-thigh, and his bare feet stood on rutted dirt that still smelled of cattle and their leavings. In the bleachers were a few hundred women.

In front of the bleachers was a platform raised several feet above the ground. On it was a long table, and seated behind it, facing the bleachers, were several gray-haired women. The one in the center rose.

"Attention, everyone! We gather once more in the spirit of Dworkinism, hoping as always to move a little closer to the ideal society we have set out to create. Welcome on this beautiful fall afternoon to the first North Central Sperm Exchange. Some of you have come a considerable distance and we welcome you especially.

"We Dworkinians have largely achieved our goal of eradicating the patriarchy. There is no glass ceiling to prevent a woman's rise in her career. There are no wolf whistles, no pinched butts, no crude jokes. No woman or girl goes out at night with that nagging fear that she might get raped. No woman within marriage is raped to satisfy her husband's base desires. No woman cowers in fear before the physical power and cruelty of her husband, facing the agonizing choice of getting beaten yet once more or leaving to live with her children in abject poverty. We have solved these problems by eliminating men from society!"

Smatterings of applause from the crowd during her speech coalesced into a substantial ovation. After it subsided, she continued.

"As was noted many decades ago, the only necessary function males serve is as a source of sperm. Many of us thought we'd never see the day when that was all we needed them for, but as sweet fruit of the unspeakably bitter holocaust, that day has come! That is why we're here today. To prevent inbreeding within our various communities, we need to exchange genetic material, which is of course most conveniently accomplished by exchanging the living male sources of this material. Up until now this has been handled privately, but there have been limitations. Rarely have communities had young males come of age at the same time to arrange a direct swap. Giving one now in expectation of getting one some number of years down the line has proved problematic. Young males have been bought and sold, but they have sold for as little as $300 and as much as $59,000, leaving one party or the other feeling cheated by the extremes in price.

"Markets -- carefully but fairly regulated, as always -- are a pillar of the good society. The time has come to create a market for sperm producers. Here before you today we have 14 source of sperm. Fourteen pairs of testicles and -- oh yeah -- the young men they are attached to." The word 'men' was emphasized with disapproval. "This is a pilot program. Other regions in North American are watching us."

"These young males are all basically well behaved. They are at least 18 years of age, and they produce semen on command, deposit it in the cup provided and hand it over. The semen of each one has been microscopically examined and determined to have high sperm counts with excellent motility. Five of these specimens before you have had their sperm used to successfully start at least one pregnancy. They are all free of any known diseases or genetic defects. Their pedigrees are on record for your examination. Naturally our communities allow only the most accomplished of their women carry a male pregnancy to term -- and I'm proud to say that accomplishment includes mastery of the revolutionary Dworkinian ideology. So here before you are sources of the genetic diversity we seek, however repugnant the male animals those genes currently reside within. When the sperm that unites with one of our eggs is lacking the hateful Y chromosome, the result is a daughter -- a new citizen of our glorious society. In this way is the Dworkinian dream to be realized!" There was more applause.

"So now we come to the practical matter of how the auction is to be conducted. Our next speaker will explain the procedure to you..."

Ten yards in front of each boy was a table, with two or occasionally three women seated behind it. At his own table was his handler Sarah and also Mary, an older woman who was a leader in his community, Washington Lake. Once the second speaker had finished her explanations, many women filed down from the grandstand to start evaluating the boys available for purchase. Typically they first paid a visit to the table before approaching the boy.

A trio of women approached Bill, and he gulped.

Sarah had made it clear what was riding on this. More prosperous communities could afford to bid a higher price, and that prosperity would likely mean his cell would be nicer and his food more varied. If there was no bid at all, he would go back to Washington Lake for another year until the next auction. But as he well knew, the only reason his existence was tolerated was because he was a source of sperm. If he brought little or no interest in the marketplace, there was certainly no reason for him to go on living. Sarah stated this as a simple, obvious fact, and of course it made sense to Bill too. But however pathetic and worthless he might be, he wanted to live! He had heard that there were a few other boys growing up in his community, and they could probably sell one of them for a good price. Sarah said Mark in particular was looking more promising than him. He had never met Mark. Boys were never allowed to meet, it had been explained, because they might encourage each other in patriarchal thoughts and behaviors springing from the male evil within. On this day he stole glances at the young men on either side and he saw them checking him out, but naturally any attempt to communicate with them would be viewed unfavorably.

"Hello, William," said one of the approaching women. "How are you today?"

"I'm fine, ma'am," he said meekly.

"And how do you see your place in life, William?"

Bill was puzzled. "Excuse me, ma'am, I'm afraid I don't understand."

"You are here today being offered for sale. If we buy you, how do you see yourself fitting into our community? How do you feel about it?"

"My role is to provide sperm when requested. Because I am male, I am an inferior and pathetic person and providing sperm is my only purpose in life. I am grateful for the chance to serve Dworkinism in the only way fitting to one of my gender."

The first woman nodded approvingly.

"Nice color of hair," said one of the others.

"Yes, and not too much chest hair," said the third. "And look, his beard is quite full. That's a good sign."

"He seems awfully tall and muscular. Just the sort of traits that rapists had," said the second.

"But our security is excellent," said the third. "And the genes that make men tall and muscular also tend to produce tall and muscular daughters."

"True," said the second. "But his skin is pale, and his face ... I don't know. Would you like your daughters to look like that?"

"Hmmm," said the first woman. "Let's go on to the next."

"Wait," said the third. "Who knows how the auction will go? We ought to look at what we'd be paying for."

The first woman said, "I'm glad you're willing to do this. I couldn't fact touching those disgusting things even once!"

"You get used to it," said the third. With that she moved to his front and the other two gathered behind her. All three faces wore sour expressions as she reached in and lifted Bill's skirt. She lifted his limp penis with one hand, and with her other hand found each testicle and rubbed it between her fingers. She then withdrew her hands and let the skirt fall, immediately taking the antiseptic paper towel one of the others offered and carefully cleaning her hands.

"Seems OK," she said.

The first woman said, "I think numbers 6 and 7 are still our top choices. I'd hate to be stuck with this specimen."

"Well of course," said the second woman as she tossed the towel into a small wastebasket not far from Bill's feet. "But we don't know how the bidding will go." And without any further word to him they strolled on to the next boy in line.

A group of five women wandered up and without a word to him looked him up and down. "I'm sure we'll do better than that," said one, "given what we're prepared to pay."

"Shhh!" hissed another. "You can never be sure, and we shouldn't reveal our intentions. We have to at least pretend to be interested." With that, she walked around behind him, nodding thoughtfully, and when she was in front of him lifted his skirt to take a look at his genitals. "Yes, very interesting," she said absentmindedly and joined the others who were already part way to the next boy's table.

One group of four approached and took only the briefest look at his sexual apparatus, but they pressed fingers into his thighs and calves, back and front. One rubbed his nipples in her fingers and pressed more deeply around that area. One got close to his ear and suddenly shouted, "Boo!" Naturally Bill jumped a little, but remembered that above all he must be kind and polite. A couple of the other women looked at her questioningly, and she said, "It's important to learn his temperament."

The next group to visit was just a pair of women, one fairly old and the other younger.

"Hello, William, my name is Emily," said the older one.

"And I'm Amy," said the younger, who actually looked into his eyes and smiled.

"Hello, pleased to meet you," said Bill, smiling in turn but quickly looking away, fearing he might be seen as insolent.

All of the women wore baggy clothing of one sort or other, but there was something about this younger woman that made his heart beat a little faster. He only dared occasional glances, of course, as he had been taught anything more was very rude. But when she lifted his skirt, he realized that his penis was no longer small and insignificant. While it was still pointed downward, it was near its full size. He caught a brief smile on Amy's face. She then did something none of the other women had: she wrapped her fingers around his penis in a gentle hold, and she gave a few gentle squeezes a few seconds apart.