Ascending (20 page)

To me, this was excellent logic; but Nimbus remained stony in the face of Festina’s arguments. I wanted to poke him (quite gently, with a finger), but did not know how others would view such an action. Anyway, I doubted if prodding would have much effect—the cloud man appeared to be as unresponsive as granite. At last, Festina grimaced and stepped away from him.

“All right,” she said, “we aren’t accomplishing much here. Captain, any ideas to propose?”

The captain man, Mr. Kapoor, ran a hand through his almost nonexistent hair. “Just to go through the motions,” he said, “we should check ship’s stores, in case some spare parts didn’t get zapped. There’s a minuscule chance we can throw together a makeshift communicator—at least something good enough to send a public SOS.”

“Very well,” Festina told him, “let’s hope we’re lucky. And while you’re doing that, I’ll make a quick run around the ship and gather the rest of the crew. Where’s the best place for them to assemble? Down near the storerooms?”

Kapoor nodded. “That’s as good as any.”

“Fine, Captain, carry on. Oh, and please send two people to Dr. Havel in the main computer room. He’s got a casualty who’ll need to be transported someplace safe.”

“Aye-aye, Admiral.”

The captain moved his hand in a manner reminiscent of a salute (provided one had a high capacity for reminiscing). As he and his collection of crew members moved off down the hallway, Festina turned to Uclod, Lajoolie, and me. “One of us should stay with Nimbus,” she said. “To talk to him if he decides to come out of his shell.”

“I shall do that,” I said. As his somewhat-sister, it was my obligation to attend to the cloud man’s needs; and of course, to berate him for his churlish behavior as soon as nonfamily persons had departed the room.

“I’ll stay too,” Lajoolie piped up hastily, speaking with uncharacteristic urgency. She must have believed I might do the cloud man an injury if left alone with him…which just goes to show what unjust suspicions arise when one conducts oneself in a Forthright Manner.

Festina turned to Uclod. “What about you? Do you want to stay here or come with me for a once-around-the-ship?”

The little man threw a glance at Lajoolie, then turned back to Festina. “I’ll go with you. Uncle Oh-God would rip off my ears if I let you go wandering with no one to watch your back.”

He reached out quickly, grabbed Lajoolie’s hand, and gave it a quick squeeze. Then he and Festina vanished out the door, leaving the rest of us on our own.

Alone In The Dark

If you have been paying attention—and for your sake, I hope you have, so when persons of High Social Standing accost you in the street, saying, “Have you read Oar’s book?” you will be able to answer, “Yes, especially the part where she and Lajoolie were left alone with Nimbus”—if you have been paying attention, you will realize our party had only possessed two glow-wands. One belonged to the captain, the other to my friend Festina; therefore, when the captain departed in one direction and Festina went the other, Lajoolie and I were left with a conspicuous absence of light.

Also a conspicuous absence of food. I
still
had not eaten a bite in the past four years, and being in the dark always makes me famished. Quite literally. Especially an enclosed darkness without even the tiny sustenance of starshine. If I did not get food or light soon, I would lapse into the torpid state that befalls my species when deprived of the necessities of life. It had only happened to me once, when I drowned in a great river and remained stuporous under dark water until the current washed me ashore…but I did not enjoy the experience, and was keen not to repeat it.

Therefore, to conserve energy I settled myself onto the floor and attempted to relax every muscle. Lajoolie must have heard me moving, for she asked, “What are you doing?”

“Saving my strength,” I said.

“For what?”

“To avoid enforced hibernation. I do not suppose you have any foodstuffs with you? It could even be opaque if that was all you had.”

“Sorry,” Lajoolie said. “When the captain or admiral gets back, you can ask them for something. The ship’s food synthesizers won’t be working, but I understand there’s a hydroponics facility; that’s a place that grows fresh produce.”

“I know what a hydroponics is,” I told her untruthfully. “I was taught such things in school. Also the elevenses table.”

“You went to school?” Lajoolie asked. “I always thought your planet was…well…”

“Filled with ignorant savages who knew absolutely nothing?”

“Sorry,” Lajoolie said.

It was the second time she had said, “Sorry,” in the past minute…and she had a most abject manner of saying it. I could not see her in the dark, but the way she spoke, I imagined her dropping her head in a posture of crushed self-esteem. Of course, Lajoolie might actually be making rude gestures at me in the blackness; but I did not think so.

I am not such a one as beats around the bush when a person’s behavior puzzles me. “Is there something wrong with you, Lajoolie?” I asked. “Are you psychologically damaged in some way, or do you simply act submissive to put others off their guard? I think it most strange that a muscular woman should constantly quail before the eyes of others, or feign an aura of fragility when she is clearly not fragile at all. Was your spirit broken somehow or is this simply a sham, wherein you pretend to be dainty for some foolish alien reason?”

Off in the darkness, Lajoolie began to cry.

Lajoolie’s Tears

I had never imagined I would make her weep. Though I am clever and warm and most well-intentioned, it turns out I am not always adept at saying the right things to people. As you must know by now, I have not had a great deal of experience in social circumstances; I spent much of my early life with no one to talk with but my sister, and she
never
burst into tears. At least not until the Explorers came.

So perhaps there are times when my words have an adverse effect. I do not mean to be upsetting; but sometimes it happens, and then I am upset too. It is quite most dismaying to find you have accidentally hurt someone’s feelings. I never intend that
ever
. And it is just too bad that some people (especially alien people) are so unexpectedly
vulnerable
.

I never intend to be cruel.

Though I had wanted to conserve my remaining energy, I rose immediately and let myself be guided by the sound of Lajoolie’s whimpers: shuffling blindly through the darkness until I could wrap her in my arms. When I did, the big woman did not push me away. She was seated on the cabin’s unused bed, so I sat beside her and let her sob into my jacket.

After a time, when her tears began to ease, I murmured, “Why are you crying, foolish one? Tell me, and I shall try to make it better.”

“It’s just…” Lajoolie whispered. “It’s just…” She succumbed to more sniffles.

“Come,” I said, “let us talk about this. I inquired whether you were mentally disturbed, and then you began all this fuss. Does that mean you
are
emotionally damaged? You have been tormented and abused?”

“No,” she answered in a small voice. “I was never abused.” Sniffle, sniffle. “By anyone.” Sniffle, sniffle. “But you thought…you said I was putting on an
act,
pretending to be…something I’m not. And I
am
putting on an act, but I must be terrible at it if I can’t fool some
alien
who’s only known me a few hours.”

“Ah, but I am more perceptive than most of the universe. Especially the parts of the universe that are vacuum.” I paused. “What precise type of act are you putting on?”

She did not answer right away. I was beginning to realize Lajoolie never did
anything
right away; she preferred to ruminate at length before committing herself to action. At last, however, she said in a low voice, “Have you heard of arranged marriages?”

“Of course,” I told her. “They are a narrative device found in works of fiction—designed to explain why persons who lust after each other cannot consummate their passion until the end of the book.”
¹⁰

“Arranged marriages aren’t just fictitious, Oar. They’re quite popular in some cultures.”

“Popular with whom?” I asked. “Those who rent rooms for illicit affairs?”

Lajoolie tried to pull away from me, but I held on. She stopped struggling after a moment, but said most angrily, “This isn’t about affairs, Oar! It’s not about sex at all.”

“Then what is it about?”

“It’s about…oh, you’ll never understand.”

“Do you believe me stupid or deficient in some way? Or is it that you think an alien can never comprehend your niceties of emotion?”

“I don’t mean that. I just…”

“Tell me,” I said. “Tell me everything, and I shall be a sympathetic listener. Or if I am not a sympathetic listener, you can say to yourself,
I was right that Oar cannot understand.
Then you will feel better for being correct all along, and you will find you have stopped crying.”

Her next sniffle sounded slightly like a laugh…and in time, with many Lajoolie-like pauses, she explained her Dire Position.

On Being A Wide Woman

According to Lajoolie, all Divian men (including Tye-Tyes, Freeps, and myriad other sub-breeds) are attracted to females with broad shoulders. There is an evolutionary reason for this liking—in ancient days, muscular bodies indicated good health and breeding potential—but that is not what Divian men think about when they slaver over the width of a woman; they simply think how fine it would be to nuzzle such luxuriant flesh.

Therefore, Tye-Tye women are much in demand on Divian worlds. Tye-Tyes were originally engineered to live on a planet with high gravitation, so they had to be inordinately strong just to keep moving; but after Tye-Tyes were created, Divian men from other breeds took one look at the muscular Tye-Tye women and went most thoroughly goggle-eyed.

Though slavery had been outlawed for centuries, non-Tye-Tye males of wealth and privilege found ways to purchase desirable Tye-Tye girls for purposes of matrimony. Or simply for sex. This practice became a major component of the Tye-Tye economy…which led to a thriving industry wherein young girls were put through Diverse Regimens Of Training in order to make them more salable. This meant, for example, that brides produced for the off-world market were educated in useful skills: they learned many languages; they became adept at social graces such as music, witty conversation, and how to berate servants; and of course they lifted heavy weights in all directions so as to increase their natural charms.

Most of the girls sold as brides submitted quite willingly—they were young and impressionable, not to mention they had been told from birth what an honor it was, being purchased by strangers because of one’s appearance. These girls Did Not Know Any Better. But after marrying rich husbands (or being sold as mistresses), they seldom remained in the same state of ignorance; inevitably, they met other women who enjoyed very different circumstances, and they also met men who whispered such words as “Freedom” and “Love” and “Meet me behind the house when everyone else is asleep.” As time went on, an unquestioning girl-bride became an established woman-wife who was not so naïve and controllable as she once was. The woman’s husband/master/owner would try to control her anyway, at which point he would discover an important truth:

These women were very strong.

Not just a little bit strong—they were
prodigiously
strong, with muscles on muscles on muscles. Men lusted after them for that very reason. But these muscles made the women exceedingly dangerous in bed (which is where the men fervently wanted them). A few men endeavored to deal with the situation by resorting to chains, manacles, and other forms of restraint, not to mention embarking on schemes to crush the women psychologically…but the logistics of this are fraught with complications when your intended victim is muscular in the extreme, not to mention that it takes a certain kind of male to implement such a program with sufficient ruthlessness. Most men who acquired Tye-Tye brides did not want the women as punching bags; they simply desired wives who looked jaw-droppingly gorgeous and who would competently attend to wifely duties without causing undue fuss.

In many cases, husband and wife resolved their differences through awkward nocturnal discussion: there would be a divorce, or an
arrangement
, or even a reconciliation wherein man and woman decided they could do worse than staying together. But some couples were not so adroit at devising peaceful solutions—some just resorted to violence. Wives dismembered their husbands with greatly exuberant ripping; husbands shot their wives without as much gleeful style, but with equally permanent effect; scenes of domestic horror were played up on the news, and dominated the public consciousness in the form of jokes, catchphrases and urban legends. “So this guy had a Tye-Tye wife…”

Such negative publicity agitated the Tye-Tye marriage brokers and seriously threatened their business. Male customers still lusted after wide-shouldered Tye-Tye brides, but buyers demanded that adequate measures be taken to avoid wifely insubordination. Thus began a lengthy period during which Tye-Tye girls were subjected to more than just classes in etiquette, needlepoint, and power-lifting; they were also brainwashed with potent pharmaceuticals so they would submit to their eventual masters.

These measures were kept secret from the men who purchased the women, just as the backroom procedures for carving up cows are hidden from those who purchase meat. However, it turns out that husbands can often tell when their wives have been systematically reduced to emotional cripples…and many men prefer to have a partner-in-life who is not a pretty shell wrapped around a festering void of numbness.

The Tye-Tye marriage brokers once again found themselves forced to change tactics. This time, they opted for simplicity—they took hostages.

Lajoolie’s Situation

When Lajoolie’s parents sold her to a Tye-Tye marriage broker, they also sold her brother Xolip. Xolip did not know this; Lajoolie’s parents did not know it either. But a frightening man explained to Lajoolie that little Xolip would be slain in a most brutal fashion if Lajoolie did not conduct herself with acceptable diligence and devotion. If Xolip’s murder did not improve Lajoolie’s attitude, the frightening man would kill Lajoolie’s other brother…then her father…then her mother…then random children off the street, chosen on the basis of youthful beauty and joy-filled radiance.

This man was so frightening, Lajoolie did not doubt he would carry out these threats. If Lajoolie’s new husband ever complained to the marriage brokers about her behavior, young Xolip would suffer a freak playground mishap wherein the boy’s ear-globes were accidentally cut off and mailed to Lajoolie in a box. The same would occur if Uclod died under suspicious circumstances, if Lajoolie were seen sporting with another man, if certain standards of beauty and hygiene were not maintained…in short, if Lajoolie did anything that cast unfavorable light on the marriage agency which sold her to the Unorr family.

“But that is horrible!” I said. “Does Uclod know of this?”

According to Lajoolie, he did not. Customers were not told how marriage brokers kept their “employees” in line, and of course, the women themselves were forbidden to speak of it. Lajoolie would not tell Uclod the truth, even if she swore him to secrecy: he would be outraged, for he was a decent-hearted person, even if he came from a family of criminals who thought purchasing him a wife was a nice birthday present. In the long run, the little orange man might also start asking himself, “Does my wife care for me at all, or is she only
pretending
to like me for fear of injury to her loved ones?” This would hurt the little man’s feelings and undermine his faith in the Marital Partnership.

Lajoolie assured me she
did
like Uclod; she liked him a great deal, and thought she was very lucky. For one thing, Uclod turned out to be in a similar position to Lajoolie herself: his criminal Grandma Yulai had told him he had to agree to the marriage
or else
. It was a tradition in the Unorr family that older generations ruled the younger in matters of marital choice. If junior Unorrs did not obey their elders when it came to accepting a spouse, the youngsters were deemed too disloyal to be trusted in anything else. They immediately found themselves out on the street…or possibly
under
the street, if one was being paved nearby.