James Wittenbach - Worlds Apart 03

by Bodicea

  It seems like each

  world we come to is either beyond our repair or, like this one, terribly in need of our help Is this what we expected when we launched this Odyssey Project?” Alkema tried to comfort him. “We were only meant to find these worlds. We were the Pathfinders. The Phase II ships were to … see to the rebuilding.” Keeler sighed. “What must they be thinking back on Sapphire, on Republic. None of them could have estimated how low these worlds had fallen, or how much strength would be required to keep them.”

  “Let’s try to stay on topic, people” Lear said toughly. “We have to convince them that they are in danger. Then, they will have to ask for our help.”

  “Wasn’t that the purpose of this very mission?”

  The hatch slid open and they turned to see Solay entering the forward cabin in what could be considered a brisk stalk. “May I join you,” she asked, taking an open seat at the head of the table.

  “Of course,” said Lear.

  “Would I be correct in assuming you have been discussing the fate of my world?” she asked.

  “It has come up,” Keeler answered.

  Solay looked at Alkema and Honeywell. “Commander, I would like to discuss something with you and Commander Lear, just us three.”

  Alkema stood before Keeler could ask him to leave. “I think I’ll join Captain Wang in the command module.”

  “Honeywell out.” The holoscreen vanished.

  Solay leaned across the table, and spoke in an almost confidential tone. “Quite a show these Aurelians put on for us.”

  “Were you impressed?” Lear asked.

  Solay tented her fingers in front of her at the table. “When I was young, all the girls of my commune had to make these little ecosystems in glass globes. We were taken to a glassworks, and each of us helped an artisan make a globe for us. There were six daughters in my commune who went, and making each globe took two days. I remember how much I hated having to be away from my books in my studies, but the reverend teacher assured us the exercise was necessary, to teach us the value of artisans, and to teach us about the ecology of our planet.”

  “We took our globes and put dirt and small plants in them, and insects and water. We created little ecosystems in our globes. The reverend teacher said that each little globe was a world of its own, and we were to guard and protect them, because someday we would be the guardians of our own world. I remember thinking that these little globes weren’t really worlds.

  They were pieces of our world, selected and artificial, sealed off from the real world. Every one of those little worlds we made eventually died. Some of the girls neglected their globes, and their worlds died quickly, but even those who tried could not keep them alive for very long.” She poked at the projection of the Aurelian sphere. “That’s what this is, you know. A glass globe with some dirt and water and plants inside. That’s what they want for us… for my world. That’s how they want us to live.”

  Keeler’s lip curled a bit. “What did you think of Coronado?” Solay looked around the room before she spoke, as through to be sure no one was listening.

  “She spoke beautifully, and she told Ciel exactly what Ciel would have wanted to hear, exactly what most of the Circle wanted to hear. She praised them for the all things they want to be praised for, and promised them the fulfillment of their most … ambitious dreams.”

  “I noticed that,” Lear put in.

  “Coronado knew our world perfectly. She knew exactly what to say to Ciel to nurture her into trust. She spoke our language flawlessly, even using some of our idioms. She knew of Ciel’s politics, her concern about us, her position in the Circle. It felt like manipulation.”

  “I begin to suspect that it was not to your liking,” said Keeler, levelly.

  Solay joined her hands together, clenched into one fist. “Coronado spoke too sweetly, and too knowledgeably about our world. I found myself asking how she could possibly know us so well. Her sphere has only a few days ago arrived at the very edge of our system. How can she know us so well.”

  “Advance probes?” Lear suggested.

  “Her intelligence must come from within our own planet. How else could their knowledge of our world be so vast and so intimate?” Solay looked terribly serious. “I believe the Aurelians have agents on our planet, and they have been spying on us and reporting to her for years.” Or, she really can read minds. Keeler thought. “How can you be sure? How do you know we’re not part of the Aurelian Advance Guard, providing them intelligence on your world, softening your world up for conquest?”

  Solay, for the first time he could remember, laughed. “Please, you are nothing like the Aurelians. Your attempts to secure an alliance with us have been clumsy and incompetent.

  You know nothing about us. What possible motive could Coronado have had for sending such a group of crude, heavy-handed amateurs as an advance party.”

  “I think your people would have noticed if there were giants walking around, especially naked ones,” Keeler said, partly in jest, but mainly to see how thoroughly Solay had thought this through.

  “There were humans among the Aurelians, probably many more than we saw,” Solay answered. “They could have slipped unnoticed into our cities. They may even have a base of operations hidden in one of the Wilderness Areas of my planet. 85% of my planet is designated permanent wilderness.”

  “There have long been rumors of… of subversive elements within Bodicéan society. To say more would be a betrayal of my people’s secrets, but they may have allied themselves with the subversives, or instigated them. I can not believe she would know us so well unless she had a spy among us, perhaps…” she cut herself off.

  After a moment, Lear prompted her. “Perhaps what?”

  Solay stared at both of them, her eyes glaring with resentment at being reduced to confiding in these people she was so convinced were her enemies. With as much reluctance, as resignation, she suggested, “They may even have operatives in the Circle itself. It would … it would explain much.”

  Her tone of voice spoke clearly that no further information would be forthcoming. “I resent being spied upon,” she hissed. “The point is, I don’t want anyone to manage my planet except for the women of my own world. Bodicéa must be managed by Bodicéans, led by Bodicéans, and have her development determined by Bodicéans. I don’t want to be a part of Coronado’s worlds any more than I want to be a part of yours.”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  They made their way through the streets of Serenopolis, three gentlemen and the young girl, in the back of an odd sleigh-like conveyance that scraped over the ground on rails into which were set hundreds of tiny cylindrical wheels. Four brightly-scaled reptilian beasts (mammals never evolved on Bodicéa) drew the vehicle, trotting quickly and smoothly through the city, but not quietly. At each stop, they raised their heads, snarling and howling in protest against their burden. A driver, a large, dark-skinned woman, with an impassive expression etched into her face, kept them in line with snaps from her several whips.

  “Neat,” said Miller. “What do you call those beasts?”

  “Sh’val,” Tobias answered. “At one time, they were the most useful animals on the planet.

  We once raised them like cattle, and ate them. The meat was said to be wonderful when cooked over an open fire.”

  “Eating meat is disgusting and barbaric,” Pieta sang out with the assuredness of proclaiming commonly accepted wisdom. “You should never eat anything that has a mother.” Miller decided not to break it to her about Lt. Alkema’s fondness for chili dogs. He craned his neck over the side of the sedan to watch the street scenes pass outside. Serenopolis was a curious city. It occupied a high flat cliff that ran along a large bay. On the other side was the open sea, but somehow, the city seemed to have no relation to it. There were no docks, no shipyards, no dangerous pubs filled with exotic characters, not even a fish market. For all the influence the sea gave to Serenopolis, it might as well have been on a high plain a thousand kilome
ters from the nearest water.

  Most of the buildings were built of some material that was like both wood and stone, and some bricks. Most of them were painted the same shade of white, as bright as moonstone but flat. The architecture was simple. In the residential sectors, the houses tended to be large and boxy, with deep-set windows. Only in the better neighborhoods were houses tall, like Ciel’s, and everywhere built even closer together. The buildings became larger, and more substantial, as they approached the city center, all built of stone. There were none of the decorative flourishes, the statuary, or the unexpected displays of color Sapphire’s architects loved. The simplicity of these buildings lent them a certain elegance, Miller conceded, as though they were deliberately toned down in favor of the natural beauty of the hills, the sky, and the sea.

  Tobias explained that most of these buildings were shops that made things for use in the city.

  The production areas were in the back, and goods were exchanged in the front.

  “Do you trade with other cities, other regions of the planet?” Miller asked.

  “Very little,” Tobias answered. “The Circle has made it almost impossible to get a trade permit, and only absolutely necessary items can be traded. They believe transporting goods over long distances is an unnecessary waste. You’re only allowed to consume products produced in your environmental sector. Every city is supposed to be self-sufficient in the basic necessities of life.”

  Miller thought about this. “Those drinks you served at the house tasted very tropical…

  citric acid, fructose. Are those grown those locally?” He hadn’t seen any greenhouses.

  Tobias blinked at him slowly, as though waiting for Miller to come to his senses. “Ciel is the First Advocate of the Inner Circle… and she likes tropical fruit. Somehow, she always manages to have some.”

  A large, bean-shaped streetcar trundled past, spitting steam from its rear. Miller saw heaps of women jammed inside. He scanned it quickly, detecting a hydrogen-powered engine in the rear quarter. The driver snapped the whip. The beasts roared and pulled them with a jerk onto the next street.

  Somehow, he had expected a city of women to be prettier, to have planters with trees and flowers at every corner, he was a bit surprised at how functional it was. For that matter, there weren’t very many women in the street. Those that were did not seem to be in any especial hurry. They tended to be in clustered in groups, making their way collectively, and stopping collectively when they saw something of interest or encountered another group.

  “The Compound is at the end of this circle,” Tobias announced. Miller craned his head again. Ahead was a tall white wall that encircled an area the size of a very large city park.

  Four large women in dark blue jumpsuits were positioned at the gate, faces protruding from plain, dark head-dresses. The vehicle halted in front of them, and Pieta leaned out.

  “Good day, mistresses,” she called out.

  Two of the women leaned over her as the draft beasts snarled. “Child, what is your business here.”

  Pieta spoke confidently, “After last night, none of the women in the Familial Circle were in any kind of condition to make the journey this morning. Look at these specimens, and you will understand.” For once, her precocious-ness was useful, although still annoying.

  One of the women stared at Miller and Tamarind. She looked like the kind of woman who derived purpose from causing trouble for others. Her expression grew sour with anticipation.

  “Cali, I don’t believe I’ve seen these men before.”

  The other woman, a large-set blond, poked her head into the sleigh, squinted, furrowed her brow. “You remember us,” Tamarind said with a voice of total assurance and a slight wave of his hand. “You remember seeing us here before, many times.”

  She withdrew suddenly, shaking her head like a swimmer with water in her ear.

  “You okay, Agni?” said the other woman, just as heavy, but dark.

  “It’s all right, I didn’t recognize them for a second, but I’ve seen them many times before.

  Pass on through.” She waved them through the gates. The driver snapped the reins, and the reptiles pulled them into the compound.

  “How do you do that?” Miller wanted to know.

  “Do what?” Tamarind responded.

  “Did you put a thought in her mind?”

  Tamarind shook his head. “There were only two paths. They would either let us pass, or they would not. I simply directed us on the path that would allow us to complete our mission without further difficulties. Her mind had nothing to do with it.” Tobias giggled. “I thought she was going to have us all thrown into incarceration. How embarrassing that would have been.”

  “I would not have allowed that to happen,” Tamarind said firmly.

  Tobias looked at him and grew serious. “I don’t believe you would have.” Except that the people on the inside were almost uniformly male, aside from a few guards, the compound looked little different than the city outside. Somehow, though, just the presence of men made it an entirely different world. The air was charged with something different here, subtle but different, a psychic residue of forced subservience, of natural will and prerogatives denied. Pieta directed the driver to stop the vehicle, and she held the door as the four of them exited.

  Miller looked around. Men strolled between the buildings, alone or in pairs, reminding Miller of students between classes at the university. Something else was different, too. Thin grass lawns divided the buildings and the walls into quadrangles. They were marked, possibly as some form of athletic field.

  “This is how men live on my world,” Tobias told them, as he led the way. “I lived here for the first twelve years of my life, before Ciel became a member of the Inner Circle. After I fathered Pieta, she declared me her ‘Privileged Consort.’ At which point, I moved into her house.” He squinted around, like a university alum surveying his old stomping grounds. “This place has hardly changed at all. The paint looks fresh. They repaint every two years. Over there is the adolescent hall.” He pointed to one of the buildings, although they all looked alike.

  “That’s where the boys live until we are old enough to service the needs of women.”

  “You know, I used to have a coital simulation fantasy that went like that,” Miller said.

  “The Halls of Honor within the Unreal City are not like this very much,” Tamarind said.

  “However, it has some of the feel of the Unreal City, it is a place apart.”

  “What is the Unreal City?” Tobias asked.

  “It is the place where I went when I felt the call of my destiny. It was established by the great Warrior-Prophet Sumac, who founded the order of Cenobite Warrior Monks to whom I belong. Most of it was built by Rian, the warrior-architect. I entered as an Acolyte when I was seventeen of our years old, eight of yours. I became an Adept, and finally a Master of Sumac.”

  “Is the Unreal City populated by men alone?”

  “Women may join the Order, but they are bound by the same strictures. No exceptions are made to accommodate them. The warrior’s life is a life of great discipline, and purpose.”

  Tobias leaned over and spoke in a hushed voice. ” My pater used to tell me, in secret, the forbidden stories of Jo-Jo, a boy who disguised himself as a woman, gained access to the Outer and Inner Circles, and made fools of all the women there. When he was found out, they castrated him, let him bleed to death, and forbade anyone to ever speak of him. Such is the fate of any man who aspires to a life of purpose on Bodicéa.”

  “Why do you think it is?” Tamarind asked.

  “We live only to serve women. When not serving them, we are kept here, fed, and entertained. They tell us it’s because we are precious resource, to be protected.”

  “Do you think that is the true reasoning behind it.”

  Tobias cocked his head. “They do it because they can.” He looked as though he were about to elaborate, when a trio of women approached them on the path. />
  Two looked to be in their thirties (their teens on this planet), one was an adolescent (and so on). The youngest stared Tamarind up and down, then addressed Pieta. “Is that one available?” she asked.

  “After last night, I doubt it. You know how things get when the moons are both full.”

  “Hm,” the girl said haughtily. She had a full head of long, curly, shaggy hair, wide lips, slightly protruding eyes, and a large nose. Her voice was reedy, and her tone demanding.

  “How soon can he be ready again? He looks like he could go tonight if you fed him and let him rest a little.”

  “Sorry, sister,” Pieta shrugged. What can I do about it?

  The girl grimaced, her disappointment seemed tinged with contempt. “But I want him.

  He’s much better than that other sire.”

  Miller guessed that on a planet where women ruled and men were possessions, there was no need for an ugly girl to compensate with a pleasant personality.

  “Perhaps next time, Lowren,” said one of the older women, appraising Tamarind and Miller. “Maybe we can reserve them.”

  “But I just want one.”

  “You can try,” Pieta said. “Our collective was on the waiting list for over a year.”

  “Aren’t you a little young?” asked one of the women.

  “I haven’t gone through the Rite of Moon’s Blood yet,” Pieta admitted. “But my mothers were so exhausted after their consummation, and these man had to return by today at zenith.

  I offered to take them back so my parents could rest.”

  The two older women giggled. “What a considerate daughter you are.” Miller had a sense that Tobias was seething, either at the casual attitude of possession the women displayed toward him and the other men, or because of the sophistication his own pre-pubescent daughter displayed, he could not tell. The women concluded their business with a few gropes at Miller and Tamarind, and went on their way.