There were a few emails, mainly progress reports, stuff that could wait until the morning. He shut the screen down and closed his eyes. He sighed as he heard the sounds of his family getting ready to sleep. At that moment a small figure stood in the doorway.
“Good night sir,” said Nour. She was wearing one of Pema’s t-shirts, her hair clean and wet. She looked thin, her stomach slightly distended, her eyes sunken. “Pema said you could show me pictures of jannah.”
“We call it Eden. It’s a real place. A planet.”
“I know.”
She stood quietly, waiting for him to give her permission to enter. He waved to her and she walked cautiously toward him. He was unsure of how to act. Perhaps she had grown to mistrust men? She gently took the lead by climbing into his lap. She was skin and bone. He opened his screen.
“What do you know about cosmology?”
She looked at him puzzled, not understanding the English word. He spoke to the screen and asked it to translate. The Arabic term was Alam ul-Shahood, the observable universe. Her eyes lit up immediately and she spoke in rapid Arabic. The AI translated. “My sister and I would look at the stars and she would tell me stories. She said man had walked the moon and robots had explored Mars. I have seen pictures. She liked science fiction and said that one day I might walk on another world.”
He smiled and called up the many images of the planetary systems surveyed by Shunyata probes. Her eyes were wide with wonder. Finally he showed her the first probe shots of Eden and she clapped with delight.
“And this is the place Alice speaks of?” she asked in Arabic. The AI translated.
“Yes, we have people there already.”
“May I see?”
He wondered if he should. He did not know how she would react to their nudity. He explained that the weather was tropical and they didn’t wear much. She giggled at his awkwardness. “I have seen pictures of natives. They are like the jungle boy, Mowgli. But my sister had that book. I will be like Mowgli? A naked jungle girl?”
It was the wonder of a child. He showed her the images, told her their names (she was greatly impressed with Akoi). He thought he was tired but her enthusiasm reinvigorated him. She became intensely interested and asked many astute questions, the AI translating, her mind quickly absorbing the challenging concepts. This was what it was all about and he remembered his own childhood. It was proof that even in the darkest of circumstances, there were still minds that shone brightly.
Tshering eventually came to usher them both to bed and like a child he pulled a face of disappointment. The adult returned and he shut down the screen and walked Nour to her bed and kissed Pema good night. Then he had an idea. He went back to his office and found his tablet. He showed Nour how it worked and she caught on very quickly. He left her to sit in bed, her face lit by the screen, absorbed in a world of information, just as he had done as a child.
83
Li Li and Akoi
Akoi was walking ahead. Li Li couldn’t help but admire her. Her genome was pure homo sapiens: tall, long limbed, narrow waist, her skin a rich blue/black. Like most Asians and Europeans, Li Li was a hybrid, the result of interspecies breeding in the Paleolithic. In her case she had traces of denosiva hominim (David even more so) and Constance, Archimedes and Anne, traces of homo neanderthalensis. These inconvenient facts made nonsense of racial purity arguments. The white Europeans who had once considered themselves racially pure were in fact the inbred children of Neanderthals. It was Akoi who was the pure breed.
Akoi turned. She was completely naked except for the traditional beaded necklace and belt she had packed in her personal belongings. She was no longer carrying a gun but she was carrying a large hunting knife strapped to her upper thigh.
“I think we are nearly there,” she said smiling.
They had broken into four teams and were exploring the coastline near their new base. Archimedes, Junji, Constance and Anne had walked one way and David, Prosperous, Akoi and herself the other. When they had come to a large headland Prosperous and David had made their way around the water’s edge, negotiating a rocky outcrop. Akoi and Li Li climbed to explore the cliff edge.
Li Li hadn’t expected to find too many new species, but there were still surprises: a little copse of red reed, ideal for making string; a nut filled tree bristling with a new species of the hairless four-legged flyers they had called draco; a tubulous ground vine that spread for metres and cascaded down the cliff face, and when cut, released a sweet scent somewhere between newly mown grass and chamomile.
They pushed through a thick copse of bushes and walked out to a magnificent view across a jagged bay filled with little rocky islands and wave after wave of inlets, coves, bays and headlands.
“Wow, we are the…”
“First humans to see it,” laughed Akoi, completing what had become their mantra.
It had been Li Li who had reminded them that in the distant past the first wave of hominids out of Africa had once carefully made their way into Asia and Europe by hugging the coast; each new beach, headland or cliff face being the first ever seen by humans.
Akoi stood at the edge and let out a wild ululation. It echoed off a nearby cliff and was then blown out to sea. Below they heard responding yells and Li Li walked to the edge to look down. David and Prosperous were standing on a small beach looking up and waving, their black skins marking them out against the pale pink sands.
Akoi squatted on her haunches to rest and admire the view. For some reason Li Li thought it was the perfect time to confess to Akoi. “I wanted to tell you that David and I had sex five days ago, on the beach.”
Akoi turned and stared at her blankly, her thoughts indecipherable.
“I know you like David. I’m saying I don’t mind sharing.”
“I’m surprised he managed to get it into your little Asian pussy.” Akoi tried to smile, but it was clear her first emotion had been sexual jealousy.
“That’s unfair,” Li Li said, clearly hurt.
Akoi looked out across the water, creating an awkward silence.
“Well, we did have to take it slowly.”
Akoi laughed. “And I’d have no chance with Junji, that Japanese dick of his, is well… Look, I’m sorry. That was bitchy.”
Li Li smiled to signal she accepted the apology. “I think we have to be totally open about this. It’s been over a week. People are horny. You can feel the sexual tension.”
“I made sure I packed a dildo, a big black one,” said Akoi, trying to turn it into a joke.
Li Li gave an insincere smile. “No, but seriously, we should lay our cards on the table. I had planned to talk to the other women about this, but I think we should be emotionally and sexually generous. We’ve left the old diseases behind. We can control pregnancy. The men aren’t bastards. There are too few of us. Sexual jealousy is like a cancer. I have talked to Anaïs and Freja…”
Akoi shook her head. “Yes, well, they didn’t waste any time.”
Li Li sighed. “This is important. Sexual jealousy and sexual power games destroyed many utopian experiments.”
“I don’t recall that free love worked either.”
“It was never free. Not while the men had all the power. I mean, we can talk sexual politics if you like, but to me it’s about proudly owning your sexuality and I’m not monogamous and I’m not hetero.”
Akoi nodded. “In my culture, women are sexually competitive. We openly seek the best warrior when we are girls. There is a period of sexual play, but once we have decided, that is it. Did you know that we marry when we are still young and sleep with our husbands? We do not have intercourse until we can bare children, but we satisfy them in other ways and they satisfy us. We remain monogamous. Adultery is a very serious business.”
“But you never lived that life. You lived in Germany. You never married your warrior. Perhaps you romanticise the past. What do you want? Who is Akoi now, today?”
Akoi looked away.
“Surely as
a teenager you had sexual adventures? The Germans are relaxed about these things.”
Akoi gave a deep sigh. “Die weißen Deutschen. I was bullied because I was black, schwarze Hündin, a black bitch, a dog. They said I was skinny, ugly, smelly, kot farbigen – shit coloured.”
Li Li would not accept her sob story. “And I was called chink, gook, rice-eater, yellow-skin, niaqouais. I was asked if my cunt was slanty like my eyes. They see us as sex toys, exotic dolls. Even you. You have been less than kind referring to my little Asian pussy.” Li Li stood in front of Akoi and spread her labia for her too see. “Inside, it is pink, like yours.”
Akoi curled her lips in a smirk. “And I thought I was competitive. Sheesh, calm down Li.”
Li Li pushed at Akoi and because of the way she was squatting she easily lost balance and fell onto her back. Li Li hopped on and pushed her vulva in her face. “Taste it. It tastes like yours, not of ginger and soy sauce.”
Akoi laughed nervously.
“No, I am serious. Make me come. I dare you. And then I will fuck you.”
Akoi looked up at Li Li and realised she was serious. Her first reaction was to push Li Li away but she was also aroused, very aroused. She grabbed Li Li’s hips and pulled her in. Half way Li Li changed positions to the classic French soixante-neuf. Akoi came quickly from pent up sexual energy.
Half an hour later they made their way down to the small beach. David and Prosperous were in the water exploring. When they surfaced and saw Akoi and Li Li they walked out, their wet bodies glistening in the sunlight.
“What took you so long?” asked David.
Li Li gave a mischievous laugh. “We were horny. We fucked.”
David was startled and looked at the equally perplexed Prosperous for help.
“We’re still horny,” said Akoi.
“You boys up for it?” Li Li dared.
At first they were unsure, thinking it was a joke. When Akoi walked up to David and kissed him, he looked at Li Li for an explanation. “You’re crazy.”
“Don’t tell me you aren’t horny. Besides, who will see?” she replied, looking around.
“I will see,” said Prosperous.
“The internal moral judge?” Li Li asked walking up to him and placing a hand gently on his chest. “Is it the authentic inner Pros, or the internalised voice of moral judgment on Earth? They most certainly cannot see and you will never have to face their condemnation. No state. No judge. No church. No colonial master. We don’t have to bring them with us in our heads.”
He looked down to see Li Li slowly lower her hand to his stomach. He could have asked her to stop. She hesitated, waiting, but he remained silent. She was right. His objection was reflexive, the result of years of internalising the moral disapproval of others, of questioning his own moral judgment. He need not feel guilt and knew Anaïs would approve, even join in. She had told him that she and Li Li had already satisfied each other. There was no harm in this. He returned her kiss.
“This planet has turned you wild girl,” said David with a broad grin on his face.
She turned to look at him as she placed her hand on Prosperous’s growing erection. “Wild like the original Eve. Only here there is no old, white-haired, male God to toss me out of this garden. Isn’t that right sister Akoi?”
“Amen to that sister Li. We are here to take Eden back.” She kissed David and pushed him down onto the sand.
They did not seek to find a private spot because there was no one to see. They took their time. When they were finished they ran into the sea, splashing, squealing and chasing each other like little children. As Li Li floated on her back looking up at clouds racing across a blue sky under an alien sun, she felt totally alive, totally free.
They collapsed back on the beach to dry off. Akoi had not expended all her pent up sexual energy and was trying to arouse Prosperous. Li Li rolled onto her stomach to look at David. They were on the water’s edge, their feet being tickled by waves lapping at the shore.
“I hope you don’t mind me being like this, a little wild?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “New planet. New rules. I’m not going to tell you what to do.”
“This doesn’t mean I don’t care about you.”
“I know. Anyway, who am I to complain? My mob were polygamists. The only reason they stopped was because of whitefella law. I reckon if men can have multiple wives, I reckon my sisters can have multiple husbands. Fair’s fair.”
He moved closer to her and began to stroke her back, cheekily running his fingers over her buttocks and intimate curves, over her legs. It tickled and she shivered with delight. He was very gentle and playful. When he began to kiss her, she adjusted her hips to encourage him. When she was close to orgasm he climbed on and entered her from behind. She dug her hands into the wet sand. It felt and looked like Earth sand, except for the fine granules of pink and red coral. On the edge of surrendering she thought that this was life at its most basic: survival and reproduction. It might have been advanced physics that had got her there - the culmination of tens of thousands of years of progress, stagnation and regress; experimentation, error and breakthrough - but on Eden they were thrust into the distant past. A small hunter/gatherer band in an uninhabited land, unconstrained, free to begin again. Perhaps those ancient hunter/gatherers migrating out of Africa had also found themselves on a beautiful beach and surrendered to desire? She closed her eyes as his rhythm matched the ebb and flow of the waves. She came once and then again, wave after wave: the pulse of the cosmos.
The others were already back by the time they straggled into camp. Junji was already preparing a meal of rice, seafood and local herbage; experimenting with new flavour combinations.
“You get lost?” asked Anne as she dug a pit for a fire.
“We got distracted,” said Akoi with a silly grin.
Anne looked at her, not wanting to believe the obvious.
“Distracted?” asked Constance who had walked over with a pile of reeds to use as a fire starter.
“There was a little sheltered cove,” said Prosperous with a comically stern expression.
Constance stood and put her hands on her hip. “Sheltered eh?”
Anne finally picked up on the subtext. “You fucking, horny devils.”
Archimedes walked out of one of the tents, curious at what was happening.
“Okay, we had sex,” said David. “The children weren’t watching.”
“Damn,” Connie exclaimed, spitting at the ground. “I was in the wrong party. I’m as horny as all get out.”
“How far along the coast did you explore?” Archimedes protested. “We’re not on this planet to fuck around.”
Li Li and Akoi laughed.
“Actually Archi, that is exactly what we are here to do. I don’t know how you think children are conceived,” said Li Li.
He was flummoxed.
“Oh come on Archi, don’t tell me it hasn’t crossed your mind?” Constance exclaimed cynically.
“My circumstances…”
“Okay everyone, cards on the table,” said Constance, commanding everyone’s attention. “Who amongst the women objects to pussy?” She looked around. None of the women objected. “Cock?” The women smiled but did not raise their hands. “Okay, who amongst the men objects to pussy?” All the men kept their hands down, even Archimedes. “Cock?” The men looked nervously at each other, checking to see who would raise their hand.
Finally David tentatively raised his hand. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, no offence Archi man, but…”
“So, there you go Archi. Just one man. Besides, you told me you’ve fucked women. The limitation would seem to be in your mind. Seriously guys. What is it with your fear of dick? Hypocrites. We’d be quite happy for you all to kiss and make up.”
The other women found this hilarious.
Junji stood forward. “Don’t buy his bullshit. It’s just that he’s very particular. You know these British, very fussy. He has very poetic notions of
handsome youths, preferably Spanish or Italian. He wants to suffer for love. We just don’t meet his high standards. Archi dude. We’ve talked about this. You chose this. This is your lot, these people. You are the one who has a closed mind. Not us.”
Archimedes had no comeback. Junji had once again proved to very perceptive.
It was a turning point: the moment they relaxed into the process of building a new culture. They still did the work of exploration; of mapping and cataloguing, but at a more relaxed pace. The more difficult task would be working on their minds, carefully mapping and cataloguing the many beliefs they had brought with them: all the irrational taboos, prejudices, habits and preferences instilled by personal belief or familial and societal pressure.
As the night progressed they talked about the day’s events. Each had a different perspective informed by their unique cultural backgrounds. It ended late, with Akoi, David, Prosperous and Anne teaching the others tribal dances. It became trance like, ecstatic, primal. Even Archi dropped his reserve, twisting and turning in his own imaginary version of a Druid midsummer fertility rite.
As she lay physically exhausted by the fire looking into the night sky, her neurons still firing, David fast asleep beside her, Akoi and Prosperous a tangle of exhausted limbs a few feet away, listening to Junji, Constance and Anne fucking, she realised she didn’t miss Earth. Not really. Its civilisations were tired, propped up by rickety myths and corrosive beliefs, the foundations crumbling because people no longer believed the web of lies.
They would start anew. Create new stories. She would make sure of that.
84
Akash
It was like trying to carry a cup of tea without spilling any. It was a matter of fluid dynamics. The smallest bump set up a pattern of waves that quickly became chaotic. It was especially dangerous if you filled the cup to the brim. It was only a matter of time before the tea spilled. The trick was to keep one eye on the cup and avoid obstacles and long distances.
This was proving increasingly difficult. Dealing with Bhat was a high-risk venture. They couldn’t send in their own team in and had to rely on mercenaries, in this case a former member of the Assam Rifles, a Sikh and no friend of the Hindutva. Assassination and kidnapping had increased and as a result the elites had developed defensive protocols. Bhat went everywhere with bodyguards in an armoured car driven by a trained driver. There were several ways around this but each method was a clue to the likely culprit. Akash had also made things more difficult by demanding that there be no collateral damage; difficult because the jihadists they wanted to implicate were not the least concerned about civilian casualties. The most obvious jihadist technique was a suicide bomber, perhaps a motorcyclist who would drive up beside the car and explode a bomb powerful enough to pierce the armour. It would be possible to find someone desperate enough to kill themselves provided their family could be lifted out of poverty, but such a method might kill innocent bystanders. They might try a carefully placed sniper, but that would suggest a professional hit.
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