The Disciplined Women of Earth Zero

by Susan Thomas

  After the three men were in, Field hung around for a few minutes then he too went in. After a while, with my heart pounding, I entered the back door of the warehouse. A flight of stone stairs went upwards. I guessed this building was Victorian by the design and the glazed bricks of the staircase. I slipped off my shoes and crept cautiously up the stairs. At the top was a landing with several places where doors had been bricked in. Only one door was left and through it I heard voices; one was Anton Field.

  Then I heard, "Yes Mr Brown I have secured the remaining six with bribes. I had to agree to far more money than anyone else but of course...."

  I heard laughter and then Anton's voice, "Well done Mr White. I am pleased with you and indeed with you all."

  So Field was Mr Brown. I suddenly felt terrified. If they found me here now I'd be murdered for sure. However, I was eager to learn as much as possible.

  I heard Anton Field's voice again. "Now everything is in place we'll move on the first of the month as agreed. That is a week on Monday. That gives us a whole week to get the word out to Yellow Sash. I don't like leaving it so long but communication is so slow. When I am in charge that is one of the things I wish to improve."

  I sensed that the meeting was only going to be brief. To be caught on the staircase was fatal so I scuttled down the stairs as fast as I could in my stockinged feet. I got to the cobbled courtyard, popped my shoes on again, and hurried back to the office. Anton Filed never came back before five which is when, as one person, everyone left for the day. I was in a state of high anxiety. I knew who Mr Brown was, when Yellow Sash were going to strike and how they were getting funds. I had to communicate all that quickly and it was far too much and complicated for a coded message. I wasn't a professional spy so I just made my decision.

  I left with everyone else but was very edgy. I kept looking around to see if I was being followed but there was nobody. When I got to the café 'Mr Jones' was sitting near the back facing the door. I ignored all my protocol and just went straight to his table. He looked horrified.

  The waiter asked what I wanted and I snapped out, "Pot of tea please," and as soon as he had gone, I began. "Mr Brown is Anton Field. Yellow Sash is going to strike Monday week on the first of the month and I know exactly how they are getting the money. I have no time now to write it all down on paper but trust me this information is good. This is not speculation or conjecture."

  'Mr Jones' was very calm. "Do they suspect you know? Do you fear for your life?"

  "No, I am confident they don't know. I followed Field to a meeting with plotters. I had already identified the warehouse as dodgy. I eavesdropped and it was clear he was Mr Brown but I got out before they found me."

  "If I take you off right now will you be in trouble later with Mr Foster?"

  "No, I telephoned earlier to say I would be very delayed."

  "Right, come with me."

  I was taken to a building but not told what it was. There I was questioned in great detail by several men who took notes at great speed. Then I was taken back to the Foster household in Mr Jones' strange vehicle. He instructed me to say nothing about what I had been doing.

  The weekend was actually quite pleasant. Breakfast was leisurely and then Mr and Mrs Foster took us all to a large park which had a butterfly house and several large greenhouses with tropical plants. We had lunch in a café and it was all in all a most enjoyable day. Nobody got spanked that evening but that night I found myself crying for Bill. It was ridiculous. It seemed that every night I missed him and wanted to hold him. Sunday was deathly boring with a long tedious church service in the morning and again in the evening. Monday though was hugely dramatic.

  I arrived at work and the whole place was abuzz with it. The Theocracy had changed all the rules: skirts could be shorter, bust lines deeper, make-up could be worn to whatever extent a woman wanted, jewellery likewise, men could wear beards or not and have their hair long or not. Those were enough to get everyone buzzing but there was more. The hated public spankings were going. Church services were only compulsory once a month and the tight rules about plays and concerts were to be relaxed. With all these announcements nobody was working at all. Nobody knew where Anton Field was and it was like a school would be if all the teachers suddenly disappeared.

  At two o'clock the place was full of police and men in plain suits who didn't identify themselves. Everyone, except me, was ordered to go home. I spent an hour with them showing them my findings about the various false companies and then they took over and I went home. The Foster household was in turmoil. Rachel looked worried but everyone was talking about the changes. Apart from Mrs Foster everyone was pleased. Mr Foster came back and gave me a hard look but he said nothing.

  On the Tuesday it was announced that there had been arrests: four men, one of them Anton Field, were to be exiled; a dozen more were to be tried for corruption; but that was it. An announcement was made that Yellow Sash members had been misled by Anton Field who planned murder and had all sorts of unpleasant plans. However, there was to be no hunting down of Sash members. They were forgiven. Rachel looked extremely relieved and I realised no one had any idea what a rebellious woman she was.

  Then I was whisked away from the Foster household and taken back to the building I had been questioned in. This time I met the head of the SIS who congratulated me and thanked me. Anton Field was being sent as an exile to my own home of Earth Nine. I was no longer alive there of course so it didn't matter to me. I asked, "What will he do with no money or anything?"

  'Mr Jones' laughed. "Don't worry about him. His sort always come up smelling of roses. He'll end up in politics I shouldn't wonder. We've also exiled his associates Mr Grey, Mr White and Mr Green.... each to a different earth. All three were in senior positions in the Theocracy and now bitterly regretting being sucked into his schemes. Tough luck! They were prepared to murder. For all its faults our Theocracy would never do that."

  The head of the SIS shook my hand again and again thanked me for a job well done. He seemed like a dog with two tails and I guessed he approved of all the changes coming in. I wondered if they would now renege on the promise of Earth Eight and being set up in an equivalent position to that I had before my accident, but not a bit of it. They were going to keep their word. 'Mr Jones' was going to take me to the Alternative Worlds Unit where I would be given all the paperwork and access to bank accounts and sent whirling off to Earth Eight. I could begin my career again and meet the couple who had been my parents on Earth Nine. I was vague, as was 'Mr Jones' about how that was actually done, but apparently it was quite simple, just power hungry.

  I was once again shown to a vehicle not unlike an old Land Rover and we set off. As we drove I thought how Earth Zero was beginning to change. The rules for women were being relaxed, although of course, any wife could still expect to go over her husband's knee for a good spanking. I have to be honest, that didn't really seem to bother any woman that I met. It had its good sides for marriages were solid and mostly happy. It was the silly rules and public spankings they resented most and they were changing.

  I thought about the relative simplicity of life here on Earth Zero. How people didn't pursue material goods because they simply weren't available. They made do with home made stuff and making their own music and dancing to it. With no social media they had to talk to their neighbours and I had enjoyed that relative simplicity even in the capital of Lancaster. It made me think of Bill's farm.

  I thought about the beauty of the hills around our farm: how the birds greeted the day, the roar of wind through the trees, so often sounding like the sea in a storm, the roar as the wind whipped giant trees around making it sound even more as if waves were crashing nearby. I thought of the water in our narrow streams, rushing down between the banks, eager to get on with their journey to the sea. Then I came, at last, to our farmhouse; the ancient stones warm in sunshine but so solid when the wind howled. They made the house blend and merge into the landscape... part of it and not an intrusio
n. I thought of Rachel and Lizzie and all the lovely people that had become my friends. I thought of the goats; of Annie who butted and nuzzled me every time I came near. "Come on," she seemed to say, "give me attention," and when I did she simply stood very still while I stroked her. Then, finally, I let myself think of Bill. Bill, that strong, gentle, kind and loving man who had already lost one wife and child. "The universe," he had said, "clearly wants us together." How could I do that to him again?

  My career, and all its attendant riches, suddenly seemed unimportant. Shallow, unreal... dreams to be chased, ultimately leading to nothing of worth. But what about my parents? How could I leave them? The realisation came with a force so powerful it took my breath. My parents were already dead. That couple on Earth Eight were not and never could be.

  I thought of all that and I ached for Bill. I longed to lay my head on his strong chest and say, "I'm going to have a baby." It was a need so strong I reached out to 'Mr Jones' and touched his arm.

  "Take me home," I said.

  "I thought that was what I was doing."

  "No, take me back to Bill."

  He looked at me and smiled. "Lucky man," he whispered, as if to himself, and turned the vehicle in a new direction.

  We arrived at the farm just as Bill began walking back from the evening milking. The trees, bare when I left, were now frosted with the bright green of the coming spring. He saw me and began running, calling as he ran, "You're home!"

  Also from LSF Publications...

  Further details of ebooks by Susan Thomas can be found here:

  http://susanthomas.lsfpublications.com/

  The Disciplined Women of Chapel Island by Susan Thomas

  When 18-year-old Kate and her wealthy parents make yet another house move, this time to their luxury new home on Chapel Island, Kate senses from the outset that there is something both mysterious and exciting about the place. The island is beautiful, though somewhat unusual in that it has its own currency and a police and security force known as The Guardians - and it isn't long before Kate has her first encounter with them. Whilst exploring on her bicycle, she narrowly avoids colliding with a golf cart (the mode of transport on the island) and is later questioned by two Guardians who tell her that her mother will be informed.

  Subsequently, Kate is puzzled when she notices that her mother has to go out and pay some kind of penalty, and on returning home is taken by her husband to his study where she later emerges rubbing her bottom. Kate's curiosity deepens and she follows her mother to the Accountability Suite in the House of the Guardians. As a result of Kate's investigations, she discovers that domestic discipline and corporal punishment are an accepted way of life on the island - and the reason Kate's parents chose to reside here. Under this regime, many infractions are dealt with publicly with all manner of spanking implements.

  This is a rite of passage for Kate, who discovers that the ritual of such punishments excites her, and that excitement is carried through to her intimate relationships. When she breaks the rules, she is up for correction, and joins the other island women on stage, all naked and waiting for their punishment, which is often severe. But she is still inquisitive and discovers there is much subterfuge going on, with hidden cameras in her home. Why is she being spied on? Who can she trust? And who are 'The Five' who have control of everything that happens on Chapel Island? She finds out eventually, and becomes empowered...

  Claimed by Her Master by Abigail Armani

  A new sci-fi romance from #1 best-selling author Abigail Armani.

  Felix Kazinsky is an eccentric scientist, a genius who has built a portal into a distant star system, home to a race known as the Amarans. Amara is a male dominated world where females are few in numbers, a world where females are prized and captured, bought and sold, and used in the pleasure houses of the north. Raids from the north are common, and Felix is tasked by the king to take his teenage daughter, Vanessa, back with him to keep her safe.

  When Vanessa eventually returns to Amara she is reunited with Magnus Flyn, the handsome Commander of the king's guard, who claims her for his own. The chemistry between these two sizzles, but Magnus doesn't hesitate in putting his wayward woman over his knee for a much needed spanking. But Vanessa is headstrong, and her disobedience results in her being taken captive and taken to a secret location in the Great Desert to be the plaything of a mysterious man intent on subjecting her to an intimate examination and keeping her for his pleasure.

  Will Magnus rescue her in time? How will he deal with the woman he loves? What will life be like with her as his bride...? Filled with action and adventure, sex and romance, this imaginative roller-coaster of a book is a real treat for lovers of dominant men and their feisty females.

  Bob & Wendy's Domestic Discipline by W. Arthur

  Bob and Wendy enjoy an unconventional lifestyle of kink and discipline. Married for six years, their relationship is one in which Bob is the dominant partner and Wendy his submissive wife. As Head of Household, Bob takes charge and doesn't hesitate to enforce discipline when needed for poor behaviour or disobedience or disrespect. Wendy doesn't like punishment spankings but accepts that she needs them ... however, she loves the fun kind, which inevitably lead to great sex. Theirs is a partnership embracing love and discipline; it works well for them and they wouldn't change a thing about their lifestyle. Although the discipline aspect of their relationship is something they carry out in private, they are pleasantly surprised to discover they are not the only ones who practice it...

  The Bends by Art Zeeton

  The Willowbends Homeowners' Association, known as The Bends, is a luxurious, private, gated community which is one of a kind. Why? Because The Bends is the impressive communal backdrop within which all residents of this secure community embrace rigorously imposed domestic discipline. Such activities happen behind closed doors, and also publicly at the varied functions hosted by the Homeowners' Association, demonstrating many creative methods of punishment and humiliation... such as the monthly March of the Miscreants. Delivered by hand, crop, paddle, hairbrush and cane, ruler and whip and more, spankings are a necessary and accepted way of life in The Bends, and an intriguing outlet for those people who are rich, bored, and with time on their hands.

  Newcomers are slowly acclimatized to this very special way of life, and in the fullness of time discover that The Bends has it's own unique form of currency... Things are not always what they seem to be on the surface, and there are secrets to be explored.

  With its masterful plot twists and turns and realistic character portrayals, The Bends is a writing tour de force. Stimulating, sensual, titillating and entertaining, read on to discover precisely how the reality of domestic discipline far outweighs the fantasy in this very special environment.

  Alice's Education by Susan Thomas

  When eighteen-year-old English girl Alice Watson obtains a place at an American college, she knows exactly what she has signed up for, as the Charnock Amos Jones College for Young Women has a strong Christian ethos - and a reputation for strict discipline. The college prides itself on its academic excellence and rigorous discipline, and all students must study the Student Manual and the teachings of the Reverend Charnock Amos Jones who advocates the importance of modesty for the young Christian woman... though it is not considered immodest for her to bare her bottom for her corporal correction.

  Alice shares a student house with nine other girls and Mark Accourt, their supervisor. It falls to Mark to set goals, monitor the progress and behaviour of the girls, and administer discipline. Spankings are a regular occurrence, and Alice feels that Mark doesn't like her ... a fact which proves unfounded. It takes Mark some time to realise his developing feelings towards Alice, and when he does, the two embark on a relationship, and Alice has a big decision to make...

  Dana's Domestic Discipline by Carly Burton

  Dana works long hours at the gym as a Personal Trainer to support herself and her boyfriend, Ryan ... and Ryan lets her. He doesn't have a job and i
s more interested in getting drunk and smoking with his buddies than looking for work. Things come to a head one night when Dana returns home to find her apartment trashed, and Ryan and his friends drunk as usual. But when confronted, Ryan becomes abusive and hits Dana. Rushing out in floods of tears, she ends up hiding in someone's garden, and that someone turns out to be her ex, Simon, with whom she had a brief relationship five years previously before he went to live in London.

  Things begin to change for Dana as Simon steps in and takes control. Unknown to Dana, he has returned home with the intention of looking her up and restarting their relationship. He clears her debts and takes care of her, ensuring she doesn't work such long hours and skip meals. He has conditions, however: Dana must agree to his discipline and accept that if she breaks his rules there will be consequences. It isn't long before Dana gets her first spanking followed by a stint in the corner to contemplate her behaviour. Simon can be stern, but he is also romantic and loving and has her best interests at heart... aside from which he is a gorgeous hunk who falls in love with her all over again, and his martial arts skills come in very useful when dealing with Ryan. Being independent, Dana has some difficulty initially adjusting to her new regime, but one thing becomes crystal clear ... her dominant Simon is the best thing that has ever happened to her.