Sappho Chapter 9 free porn video

Chapter 9 Later that day, as promised, the Valiant took us in one of the their shuttles several thousand kilometers inward to the South American space needle, the incredible achievement of two centuries before. Needle was an apt description, a silver tube extending downwards to disappear in the vastness of the continent very far below. The concept of a space elevator had been known for well over a thousand years - and the proof was just a few kilometers away, a narrow structure extending into space all the way to Spaceport in geo-synchronous orbit, about 36,000 kilometers high, and through it, reaching several thousand kilometers beyond to an anchoring asteroid that counterbalanced its incredible weight. Spaceport One, seen close-up, was nearly as impressive. Nearly two kilometers in diameter, it hovered like a flattened pearl hung with a thread. One of two spaceports, the other being in Africa, it served as a gateway to space. Spacecraft of all kinds: tenders, deep space cargo ships, tankers, specialty mining vessels bound for the asteroids, all linked to gray extensions from the blindingly white body. We sat in our seats in a row, Barbara, me, and Danica. No matter how often I'd been through it, and I'd been to Spaceport One several times, its enormity had always crept up on me, there being no size referents until you approached quite close. The huge, fat disk brought back old memories; my ship had been moved up in pieces through one of the freight elevators inside the needle and assembled inside the spaceport itself; a pretty tawny-haired girl with freckles I didn't know from the commissary had deep-kissed me goodbye just before I'd stepped on board my scout ship, and I never knew precisely why. Yet, all were not so fascinated with the scene before us. "Goddess, Debbie," Barbara gushed, clutching my arm, "did you see the pilot of the shuttle? He is the handsomest man I've ever seen in my life." I recalled him clearly. He'd watched us both with some interest as I boarded the shuttle, not a completely comfortable sensation. "He's a fine-looking man with strong features and a nice smile. If you ask him right, I'm sure he'd fill you with his children." She laughed briefly then gave me a startled look. "Do you think so?" "Come on, Barbara! I'm joking - well, maybe he would, but only if you signed some release papers first." I waved my hand to clear away her puzzled frown. "Barbara, you've only been here a few days. The world is going to open up for you. Take it easy for now, the men will still be there. You have nothing to worry about if you're careful." I nodded to her right. "Actually, Danica might be a better person to talk about this than me." While they discussed the strengths and weaknesses of my former sex, I went back to the view of the port, looking for changes in the last seven decades. I didn't see anything, a dent or scrape in the side from some distant accident, maybe, but it seemed the same, just as I'd left it, except that the girl who'd kissed me was probably a great grandmother by now. Thoughts of my family welled up from deep pits where I'd buried them. It had only been two years! My younger brother could be alive; surely there was an entire family I could see - if I wanted to. We stayed in the spaceport the rest of the day, eating at one of the many restaurants on the observation level while Barbara watched men, filling her eyes with them like obscene works of art, for I knew well what thoughts passed under that head of long blonde hair. Yet even she tired of it after a time, and eventually we found ourselves by the rail with hundreds of others, holding drinks and looking down through the transparent floor onto the finest world in mankind's universe. Later that night we took the sleeper. It's a long fall to Earth. For balance, they try to schedule elevators going up with ones going down, although it isn't an absolute requirement. The four shafts are kept in near vacuum to maintain speeds of thousands of kilometers per hour down magnetic rails, bare centimeters away from walls and disaster, but safe enough with the right engineering. It took the entire evening before we began to slow down about twenty miles up, and the weight pressed us back into our seats as if the forces of nature were angry that we'd survived. We filed off the elevator with the rest, almost immediately stepping onto an indoor tram to the airport. After a three-hour flight, we stepped off the plane at New Dallas, the capitol of the North American Republic. I had a glimpse of magnificent towers of silver and white in the distant haze, and had a good whiff of city, clean air with the tinge of a thousand mingling scents. It was hot as Paglia in the summer, but without the breeze, and I started to glow fast before we ducked into a waiting black government limousine for a twenty minute ride to the Planetary Council building, a modern skyscraper of plassteel and bonded glass that hadn't been there when I'd left. An agent with neat sandy hair and wide shoulders, who'd been riding in the front, stepped out first and directed us through the right half of the silver and bronze entrance, then through a vast foyer with central fountain, down a guarded corridor and past two layers of security, where we checked through full-body scanners both times. One flight of stairs up, and down a high, broad, near-empty hall we walked, my new military heels clicking sharply on the hard gray marble. Finally, in a waiting room adjoining the council room, we split up and I left Barbara and Danica behind. "This is routine, Barbara," I assured her, although I had no idea if that were true or not. "And I don't know how long this will take. It might be an hour or the rest of the day." The agent, whose name was Richard, I found out later that day, turned his cool black eyes to me and said, "The council generally breaks for lunch in a couple of hours, Ms. Bates." I smiled at him, but not too much. I'd already given the wrong signals to a couple of other good-looking men when I was just trying to be friendly. "Thanks. Barbara, I'll be back soon then." Richard pushed the heavy double doors inwards and waited for me. I brushed my skirt, straightened my jacket and bow, and then approached the door. "Good luck. You'll do fine," he said reassuringly, almost contradicting himself. I nodded, walked through and he closed the doors behind me. The audience benches were barren and silent, an indication of a closed session, which, of course, it would have to be if there was a chance of declaring a planet off-limits. I strode silently on the brown carpet down the broad aisle straight towards the Planetary Council. I'd scanned what I could about them aboard the Valiant. It's six members were actually an advisory board, but in actual practice, their recommendations were rarely overturned by any of the six powers, all having representation in the council body. Someone was a traditionalist, for the council chambers was full of hospitable woods, or the molded plastic equivalent, decorated in the ancient courtroom style. But in place of a judge, bailiff, and stenographer sat the council and, standing to the side a single armed guard. The council sat on a raised dais. Four men, ranging from their thirties to seventies and two women in their forties, watched me approach a long table obviously intended for me. Perhaps twenty feet away, it offered a single chair, a pitcher, a glass, and a small metal mini-mike. The Council looked friendly enough, although all of them, including the women, perhaps mainly the women, looked me over very closely as I advanced and sat. "Good morning, Scout Bates, or would you prefer another name?" The strong, vibrant baritone came from a white-haired gentleman to the right center, George Madsen, by plate in front of his chair, the chairperson from the European Confederation. I leaned forward comfortably with hands folded on the table. I saw no threat there, no angry faces. "My name on Sappho was Debbie Larranti. You know my real name. But I go by Debbie nowadays for obvious reasons. Scout or Ms. Bates is fine, Mr. Chairman." "Very well, Ms. Bates." He lifted a gray folder just above the surface of the council table, showing it to me. "We read your report, fascinating reading, a detailed account of an incredible world. I congratulate you on your perseverance and grit under extraordinary circumstances. It reflects well on you and the Academy." I reddened a little. He looked as if he really meant it. "Thank you, Mr. Chairman." He glanced casually at the others on the panel then proceeded. "I speak for the rest of the council that we concur with your recommendation. Sappho will be placed off-limits for the foreseeable future. Any group that hates men simply because they're men should be kept isolated. If they wish to isolate themselves, then even better." "Yes, Mr. Chairman." "We do however, have questions, Ms. Bates." 'Here it comes,' I thought. "Yes, Mr. Chairman." He held a short stack of paper in his hand, spreading them out in front of him. "You added an addendum to your report. For the present, we'd like to concentrate on this document. Ms. Bates, you believe the ship from Sappho you mentioned in your addendum will arrive here as early as one year from now." "Yes, Mr. Chairman. From what I knew of the hyperdrive ship program, I think that's a reasonable early estimate." "I'd like your opinion on what effects that will have on Earth and Sappho, when the women from Earth go to Sappho." "The effect to Earth will be nil. You'd have about 20,000 happy women, mostly in their twenties and thirties. They'd fit seamlessly into Earth life once they got used to the men here. Sappho, however, would be changed forever. The men on Earth are, by and large, a pretty decent lot. The priestesses in Stein could never overcome so many personal testimonies. They'd be ruined." The woman to his immediate left, Hua Thanh Binh, from the Southeast Asian Alliance, broke in to ask the awkward question that I knew had to surface sooner or later. "Ms. Bates, why doesn't that violate the non- interference policy?" She was too smooth, and I replied slowly, choosing my words carefully. "Ma'am, when I first arrived on Sappho, Jezzi Belladonna wanted to cut off my male parts, burn them in a ceremony to the Goddess, surgically alter me to resemble a woman and make me a virtual slave. I was naturally resistant to the idea. Fortunately, I was rescued. "Later, when I attempted to negotiate with Jezzi face to face, to protect myself I threatened to release a recording about my life on Earth and Sappho if I were killed or harmed. It wasn't enough of a deterrent because she arrested me and made me what you see today. As my parts were trimmed away and Sappho's surgeons worked to make me as female as they could, the recording was released onto Sappho's net. This destroyed the Temple's influence in Paglia and Woolf and had a severe effect in Stein. It's my judgment that the Temple in its present form is doomed. A ship of Earth women to Sappho will accelerate it, but won't change what's already happening." Her eyes flickered with amusement. "Your judgment? A convenient judgment, as it would clear you of violating the non-interference laws." I glanced at the others on the council. None were offended by her questions; it seemed that she was the designated point woman for this line of inquiry. "Yes, Ma'am. Of course, it's a moot point. A ship of Earth women would doom the Temple as well, but that's a side effect of the deal the Paglia government bargained for. I agreed to silence the beacon and try to get Sappho declared off-limits to Earth cultural contamination, and they agreed to create the ship. I didn't force this agreement on them." She shuffled a few papers around until she located the one she wanted. Planting her right index finger on the page triumphantly, she pounced. "They tried to kill you on your way back to Earth. Obviously Paglia had no intention of following this so-called agreement and I'm sure you knew that. In fact, you state for the record that you aren't sure that Paglia would build the hyperdrive ship without this - monstrous threat to destroy their planetary sperm supply, a more singular act of cultural genocide I've never heard. This whole agreement upon which you base all your actions was a fraud from the beginning." "Sappho politics can be harsh," I conceded. "Still, you can hardly blame me for trying to fulfill my part of a bargain that I made in good faith. And I forgive the actions of those who tried to kill me who, for all I know, could be a few misguided miscreants. As for the threat that could be forcing Paglia to do what they promised - I had nothing to do with that, and I have a Sappho native in the next room who can corroborate what I say." She looked at me askance. "You missed your calling, Ms. Bates," she replied. "You should have been a lawyer. You may have stayed within the non-interference laws, but you manipulated events." Manipulating events, despite the weasel-like appellation, was not a crime and she knew it. Linking a real crime to it in the same sentence was a sneaky trick. I gave her a direct stare. "Yes, Ma'am, and it wasn't easy." She regarded me closely for a moment, and then she smiled, giving rise to a suspicion that it was all just an exercise for the historical record. "Well, the end result could have been much worse," she said. "I have no further questions, Ms. Bates." And suddenly the worst of it was over. Other members of the council had their own questions, mainly clarifications or added details, but on the whole they were a pragmatic bunch with no wish to find fault with a satisfactory outcome. This being a closed session, there was no need to grandstand or pontificate, and I thought they appreciated my candor. Then, from the representative from the North American Republic, a short, prematurely gray woman named Doris Martinez: She collected her hands into a tent, shifting her fingers until they lined up precisely, as if she required the correct posture before addressing a difficult subject. "Ms. Bates, you say you're married to a Sappho woman," she stated uncertainly. "Yes Ma'am." I smiled. "You should have several pictures of her in the addendum files. Her name is Indira Albright." Her face smiled, but only faintly. "When you approached the witness table we all noticed that you were quite attractive. Do you think of yourself as a woman?" "Thank you, Ma'am. I do." I gestured towards her place at the dais. "You have my medical report from the doctor on the Valiant. But besides the physical, it was a personal decision I made on Sappho. I could either remain bitter or accept what had happened and make the best of it. And truthfully, it was easier to do on Sappho than it would have been here. After all, I like women, and nearly everyone else on that planet feels the same way." "Ah, yes. And if you could become a man again, Ms. Bates?" "The reality is that I can't, Ma'am, not the way I was. I'd be imperfect, not everything would function properly - not with Earth technology the way it is today. I brought back a Sappho plant that could make the series of operations easier, but it might be years before it could be approved for use on Earth. But even if I could, I wouldn't. After two years, I've become accustomed to this body." I grinned. "And I have a wife that loves me just the way I am. You see, Ma'am, I believe she is in a hibernation pod on Sappho, waiting for me. When that ship from Sappho returns, I intend to be on it." She brought her hand to her chin, her visage becoming more thoughtful. Two of the men shifted uncomfortably in their chairs, and another looked away. I couldn't blame them. Visiting Sappho for them would likely mean a smoother, sleeker appearance - and I was the living example. "But the way they treated you..." she began hesitantly. "How can you think of going back there?" I composed myself, giving her my finest smile. Sure, I'd been sliced and reshaped a little, raped, tortured, nearly killed once or twice, and came back with the wrong woman, but this scout had it all under control now. Really. "I'd have to change my identity and my face, but when I arrive, close to thirty years will have passed since I left. Hopefully, no one will connect me to Debbie Larranti." I shrugged. "Ma'am, I was born on Earth, but I don't belong here any more." "I see. Ms. Bates, you don't have to answer, but may I ask you what you'll do until the ship arrives?" "I'll need money to get back. The plant I brought from Sappho I mentioned should do it, but I'll need time to market it properly." "Ms. Bates," Chairman Madsen interjected mildly, "That's not possible. You aren't a Sappho citizen. I'm sure you understand the need for that rule." I nodded. "Of course, Mr. Chairman. My wife was supposed to sell the plant. Unfortunately, she couldn't come with me. But I am a citizen of Paglia. Under the circumstances..." He shook his head firmly. "We don't allow dual citizenship. Only a real native of Sappho would do." I sagged inside. This was a disaster. "Mr. Chairman..." I started to protest. "Hear me out, Ms. Bates. I'm sure the council would agree that if this is a valuable drug that benefits mankind it should be made use of," he said, glanced around significantly at his fellows on the dais, getting a few nods and other positive responses. "Naturally, if a Sappho citizen owned the items you brought, she might market them." He smiled and I smiled back gratefully. He had as much as told me to use Barbara. "Yes, Mr. Chairman. Thank you." He nodded like an elder gentleman to a young lady he had been able to assist, a courtly gesture, and one that made me feel odd - a strange sort of vulnerability, as if I had just been protected. He continued in that vein, speaking to me directly as if from a father to a daughter: "I don't have to remind you that everything we discuss here is restricted. Even the existence of Sappho is to be kept a secret - at least until the Sappho ship arrives. We'll permit the ship to dock in space; to exchange their women for ours because it benefits both of our planets, but anything further than that, such as trade, except for what you have already brought here, and under the conditions described, of course, is prohibited." "Yes, Mr. Chairman." "A few more things, Ms. Bates. You are placed on inactive reserve in case any issues arise that require your assistance when the Sappho ship arrives. Thank you again for your service to the Scout Services and welcome home." He was reaching for his gavel when I remembered something. "Mr. Chairman!" He looked up. "Yes?" "What about the press?" He smiled. "Already handled. You never arrived. News of your appearance will be delayed until the ship comes. The agent will brief you and your alien friend on your options and provide you with assistance." He nodded sharply. "Very well. We're finished here, Ms. Bates. Good luck." He glanced at the clock. "And just in time for lunch." He rapped the gavel smartly and the meeting ended. *** "Debbie, come on, the party is starting!" Barbara called up to me from the beach. I waved down casually from the balcony. "Be there in a minute!" If you squinted a little from certain places out to sea and ignored the modern flowing-style high-rise apartments, their shapes and coloring designed to create the impression of natural features, Palm Beach looked like Paglia. We'd been snorkeling earlier that morning, shopped in the afternoon, and had a couple of drinks at the pool bar in the shade of our hotel in the late afternoon - and now this party. "She's amazing. Doesn't she ever stop?" Lt. Danica Cardone asked me, who'd had her assignment extended another week, not to help me adjust anymore, except for one major area, men - and that had taken only a few days - but to guide Barbara to a smooth transition, and, by the way, to whom she had taken a liking. "Not when there's men around," I replied. I turned to her. She leaned against the rail, dressed for the party in a loose wrap-around skirt under a swimsuit, as I was. "Actually, I think she's doing very well and she has you to thank for that. Suddenly you're the expert on all this, not me." She shrugged. "I just mainly tell her to slow down. She's not crazy, well maybe man-crazy, but if you'd never seen one before - except for you," she finished, her blush barely noticeable through her new tan. "Sorry. It's easy to forget that you a man - and lovers." "I'm not embarrassed. That was then, and I think it worked out. She's where she needs to be and I," I said, holding up my ring, "found the one I really want, and someday soon, we'll be together again." She gave me a bemused look. "You know, that talk used to creep me out, but you mean it. Pushin' my imagination way farther than it normally goes, I even envy you in a way." "Thanks. Everything seems to be on track. All three drug conglomerates have samples of the enzyme. When they finish their tests I expect to see a bidding war followed by an enormous amount of money. When I'm gone, Barbara will be an extremely wealthy woman. Oh! It goes without saying that you're invited to my hundred year birthday party in a couple of months." "If I can't make it I'll send you something appropriate - like a cane. Whatever happens, Debbie, keep in touch, ya hear?" "I hear you. Well, we'd better go. I can get in a little volleyball, have a few drinks, and go back." I pushed away from the balcony and started to turn, but Danika took my arm for a moment. "Richard gonna be your boyfriend again tonight?" "Sure. He's a decent guy and understands what's going on. I won't need him much longer to keep me out of trouble anyway; I think I'm getting the hang of it just by watching how you handle men." "Maybe. But you might have a talk with him. He may be an agent, but he's got feelings, too. I think he likes you - a lot. You make a convincin' girlfriend." "It's easy with him. He's sort of like a considerate dom on Sappho and I just play fem to him. I like him a lot. But even I weren't taken, he just doesn't do anything for me physically." "He understands that up here," she said pointing to her head, "but not where it counts. Remind him again." I nodded. "Right." It had been a good party. Besides the volleyball, which I played with Richard, I had a great time in an impromptu beach soccer game where I was the only woman. Afterwards, I sluiced the salt and sand away in the cold water of a public beach shower. I noticed Richard out of the corner of my eye, and what he was looking at. After the enhanced nerve growth of the surgeons and hormones, I had the same reaction to cold water as any woman. By that time, I'd become used to the looks. Pretty women on Sappho, after all, garnered about the same reaction. But Richard lingered a little too long and deep for my comfort. I caught his eye for a second before he turned away and resolved then to have a talk soon. I had my chance later that night. We sat by the small beach fire with a half-dozen other people. The setting was romantic enough: the eternal sound of the ocean breaking against the shore, the salty ocean breeze cooling us off enough to want to sit close together, the smell of barbeque chicken and ribs from a grill making stomachs rumble. Richard had been reticent that evening, but I knew men and him, in particular, too well. He was working up to something and I had an idea what it was. I took his hand in mine, which startled him, but not too much to stop him from slipping his arm around my waist. I let it stay there, but decided it was way past time to talk. "Richard, lets go for a walk." His face was difficult to read in the flames of the fire, but it looked at odds with itself, conflicted. "Sure." He stood and we waved to a few of our party friends as we strolled away. We walked slowly, his hand still around my waist. It wasn't that bad if I pretended it was Indira. Even without that crutch, it wasn't terrible. I understood exactly what he felt, even imagine myself in his place. I was not something that any man would be comfortable with, a contradiction, a body that denied what his instincts and nature told him. Stopping about a hundred meters away from anyone, I looked up into his face, the last gasp of sunset giving his sandy hair a reddish hue, and steeled myself for something unpleasant. "Richard, kiss me," I said simply. "What?" "I'm pretty sure you heard what I said." His jaw clenched and he swallowed. His eyes wouldn't leave me and he shifted in his swim trunks. He shook his head, though. "Debbie, it wouldn't be right." Goddess. I could read his body like a book; that restraint must have cost him. "Richard, you have no idea how much I respect for you that, but you should just do it and get it over with. You have to know. I'll give it a good chance, I promise." I closed my eyes and relaxed, imagining a person in front of me, neither man nor woman, just a person whom I liked and liked me. He brought me forward, large hands holding my waist and back close. I wrapped my arms behind his back, feeling powerful muscles and broad shoulders. 'A person. He is a person,' I reminded myself. And then his lips touched mine. His was a dom kiss, unskilled by Sappho standards, but what it lacked in the forms, was made up in raw power. He wanted me in no uncertain terms, would have taken me there on the beach with a little encouragement, if I'd let him. I allowed him to kiss me, filling the rest of the kiss with myself, showing him what I was. He didn't understand the nuances, but I think he had the feel. To my amazement, if I thought of him as a woman dom, I liked it. With his natural strength, the dom part of him felt right, but he wasn't a woman, his chest was hard and muscular, the hips too narrow, his arms too strong; he was all too overwhelming and wrong. He backed-off and our eyes met as we regarded each other. "That wasn't bad for me, Debbie," he said huskily. I laughed. "I'm shocked; it wasn't too bad for me either, but it wasn't right. I'm sorry, Richard, but your body doesn't have what I need. You're a great guy, but we're incompatible. I couldn't make you happy." He sighed. "I've known that all along, I suppose. It had to be demonstrated, though." He nodded towards a nearby berm. "Sit with me?" "Sure." We walked through the cool sand, resting our backsides on a short pile of weathered wooden beams protecting the beach behind from erosion. "Tell me about your wife, Debbie." I looked up at him curiously. "You've always avoided that subject before." "I think it's time that I got to know you. I go back to New Dallas in a couple of days. What's she like? What's it like loving a woman on Sappho?" I pulled out a slim wallet from a zipper in my skirt and opened it up, showing him a picture of us together during one of our dates in Woolf. We were holding each other's waist. Both of us were smiling and probably half-drunk. "That's Indira." He took a close look, tilting it to catch what light was left. "She's pretty," he remarked. A corner of his mouth turned up to form a rueful grin. "I guess I see what you see in her." "You probably do, physically. Richard, to understand Indira, you have to understand Sappho. Love on Sappho isn't quite the same. Here, the default male is dominant. Normal Earth women respond to a man's strength, his role as father to their children, and expect him to be the leader - although some would deny it and say otherwise. I've seen from the inside what women here really like, what they talk about. But on Sappho, men don't exist. The women there are wired to like other women - a conflict. Have you read my report on Sappho? Did you read about doms and fems?" He shook his head. "No. I was briefed - about you, mainly - but I didn't have the need to know everything." I explained about the Sappho roles, and then: "Richard, I had to learn how to act like a fem to survive. It wasn't easy, but I managed, and at least then I had a girlfriend and my parts to remind me what I really was." He winced at that. "But when they neutered me on the world-wide vid and sacrificed my manhood in the holy flame..." He twisted his legs together and grimaced. "Ouch." I smiled. "...and replaced it with a vagina, clitoris, uterus and ovaries..." "Christ," he muttered, looking away. "...I had to learn to accept myself as a woman, what I would likely be for the rest of my life. With some help, I thought I made a good start. Indira finished it. I was damn lucky to meet her. You see, on Sappho every girl is expected to know herself eventually, and is encouraged to have relationships. By her mid twenties she should have a good idea of who she is. Indira knew herself; I did not. Yet somehow we meshed well. "With Indira I'm very slightly the fem. To her, I'm her wife." I sneaked a glance to see how he was taking it. "I know how strange that sounds. Sometimes it's hard for me to believe that I'm married to her, and being married to a Sappho woman does take some getting used to." "This type of relationship is - unfamiliar." He furrowed his brow. "Does she take on a man's role and you..." I shook my head, waving my hand impatiently. "It's not like that. Richard, it's hard to explain, but I want you to understand. On Sappho, every married person is a wife; everyone is a woman; but women aren't all the same; there are shades from cutesy girly-girls to very dominating, large, powerful women. And there are some traits more prevalent in women, constants like trying to look good for your girlfriend or wife, a softer, sympathetic side - at least in most cases," I said, thinking about Tyrona. "Richard, Indira is a woman, first and foremost, who is attracted to other women. She thinks I'm beautiful." I stopped for a moment, glad that it was too dark to see me blush. He shrugged. "Well, you are beautiful," he said matter-of-factly. That was a first for me, to be called beautiful by a man, and with it came another odd feeling, one not quite wanted, but I decided in the end that I was glad he thought I was pretty. "I wasn't looking for a compliment, Richard, but thanks." "I know you weren't. It's natural for men to take advantage of women like that. It makes them lower their guard." I laughed. He reminded me of how I used to be and my former life. There was nearly always a sexual undertone with single men and women. It wasn't going to work on me, though. "Do you want to hear this or not?" "I do. Go ahead." "Indira treats me like a woman and I'm expected to act like one. I'm still not used to it completely. She likes the way I look; she likes to have some input into the way I dress, wear make-up, the things that a woman might do to look good. It's like a man looking good for his wife, but this time, I'm looking good for her. And she expects me to be emotional like she is sometimes, to talk, communicate about feelings." "Like two girl friends?" "Closer. It's physical, Richard. I'm her wife, as she is mine. Marriage to her is, well, for want of a better term, more feminine, and making love is different, too - I had to learn to accept as well as give." I smiled. "Not hard to do with the right person." He took my hand, but it wasn't a prelude to anything, just one person showing that he understood. "A very different place," he said. "You love her very much. I can feel it when you speak about her." I pointed to Orion, following the belt two belt-lengths over and one up. "That's Sappho," I said, my voice fading. "That's where I must go." Tears filled my eyes as I thought of my wife waiting for me. I let them drip to my skirt. "I have to get back there, Richard." He placed his other mitt over mine, and started rubbing it gently as if I had frostbite, a weird sensation that made me feel small. I supposed he was afraid to hold me - I'd given him reason enough. "You're crying," he noted. I shrugged; I'd almost given up trying to fight the tear attacks when they hit. "A lot of what they did to me involves hormones. It happens; I cry sometimes." "Do...do you want to talk about it?" he asked me hesitantly. I nearly laughed. This was so obviously new territory for him, but he was brave enough to press ahead. I squeezed his hand to let him know I appreciated the gesture. I looked to the sky again. "I worry about not knowing. Anything could have happened back there. I'm assuming that Indira is in a hibernation pod waiting for me. It feels right. I told her that I'd return and she knew what she needed to do. If she could do it, she would have." "You must go back," he said decisively, like a dom. I nodded, looking back sharply. "Yes, I do. Thank you for understanding, Richard." *** When we left the terminal in Phoenix, the heat hit me like a blast furnace; it had to have been around 45 degrees C. Phoenix in the summer was even hotter than I remembered it. Barbara even yelped when she touched the roof of the cab. Fortunately the air conditioning worked during the ride over to the Holliday Haven Nursing home, a traditional sim-adobe edifice surrounded by acres of garden-like grounds, the totality managing to appear precisely what it was, a halfway house between the living and the dead. The cab pulled silently up to the visitor's entrance, an arch of some significance, I gathered, as all must pass under it to enter and depart, but with no sign or words of meaning. We stepped out by the curb, both of us wearing bright, cool dresses, just a step more formal than what might wear around the house. I didn't want to see my brother in funeral clothes. I paid the driver with a swipe of my card, and we entered through the unknowable arch. "Will you be all right, Debbie?" Barbara asked me after we'd passed the visitor's desk. I sighed, getting a grip on my emotions. "Yes. It's going to be a shock for both of us, but it's something I have to do." "Are you going to tell him about Sappho?" "I see no alternative. If the council wants to punish me for it, then they can, but I don't think my ninety-six year-old brother is in a position to upset Sappho culture." "You want me inside with you, Debbie?" I looked her over, unsure if she really meant it or was just being polite. "If I know my brother from long ago, he'd never resent seeing a pretty woman. But it's your choice. This might be very grim," I warned her. She nodded. "Then I'm coming." "Thanks, Barbara. You've been a great friend." Traffic in the halls was light, just the occasional orderly and others of the firmly alive here to visit their relatives like me. We found room 112 easily. Its door was open so I looked inside, hesitating at the doorway before entering. By the window, with a view to the garden, lay a bed. An old man I hadn't seen for over seventy years looked back, barely recognizable under a lifetime of wrinkles and experience. But his blue eyes were exactly the same as I remembered. I smiled and my feet brought me forward all the way to his bedside. Dragging a handy chair closer, I sat, biting my lip as I realized that my younger brother was clearly very close to the end of his life. Under the sheets, his body was thin, even emaciated. I'd expected the ravages of old age, but he looked sickly, too; his color wasn't right - and yet those eyes held cool intelligence, for which I was deeply grateful. "Hello, Joe," I said. "Hello? I don't think I know you or your friend. I would have remembered," he rasped, an unhealthy harsh rumble that made my chest clench in sympathy and loss. The last time I'd seen him, he was twenty- one and just starting his life. "My name is Debbie Larranti now, but it used to something else. Let me tell you a story, Joe. I hope you don't have anything planned for an hour or so." He grinned toothily, his skin drawing up far too easily to be healthy. "I've just cleared my schedule." When I was finished, he closed his eyes. For a few seconds, I thought he'd gone to sleep and darted a glance over to Barbara, wondering if we should go. But he opened his eyes again. "Well, that was a story. We'd given up on ever seeing Dave about thirty years ago. Do you really claim to be him? If you do, then I'll demand proof. Some may think it's cute or sweet to send the old man off with a smile, but I'd rather have the truth." "It's true," I said. "I have some pictures from Sappho from orbit and quite a few on the ground, and this is the Barbara I spoke of, but naturally, all that could be faked. Ask me something." "Why don't you tell me what happened the last day you saw me. If you're who you say you are then you should remember it better than me." "Dad, Mom, you, Gail and I had lunch at Ruidoso's. I remember having a pair of burritos and I think you had some spicy chicken thing. I was in my uniform. We talked about sports and other things because Mom always cried when she thought about me leaving. Gail and I were about to get into a cab to the airport when you gave me a hug, very uncharacteristic of you. You chose the moment to call me an asshole." I frowned. "I don't think you meant it." He stared at me then laughed, rough barking that sounded like he was coughing his lungs out. He lifted his skinny arm at my concern and brought it down in a "calm down" motion. "Oh, Christ, it is you. You bet I meant it. You going away meant that I would be the protected one. Mom would never have let us both go to space. Any ambitions I had in that direction died that day." "Older brother's privilege, Joe." He nodded wearily. "Too true. So you're really Dave, nicely packaged in female form, and my last living relative. It's almost easier to think that Dave knocked up a girl before he left and you are his great granddaughter. You look something like him." "I'm the last living relative? I checked the records before I came here. You had a wife and two daughters." He shook his head. "Both daughters were adopted. The wife couldn't have kids." He eyeballed me. "I don't suppose you can have any?" I smiled, nearly crying. "I can, Joe. They gave it all to me." He sighed, a nasty wheezing thing, and I reached quickly for his hand. "Rest," I said. "This excitement isn't doing you any good." "What the hell do you know? I'm glad you came, Dave. I'll be dead soon - cancer. Damned if I thought I'd care about it now, but I hope you have a family, have a good life. I have few regrets now, I'd have even fewer if you do." "You're making you older brother feel mighty strange, Joe, but I'll see what I can do. You want to see some pictures?" "Sure. I want to see this Sappho. Girls everywhere and no men?" "A fair description, but these 'girls' would cut your balls off if you came." He grunted. "No loss; they haven't done me much good lately. Tell me about it, Dave or Debbie. Tell me about Sappho." I stayed with him until he fell asleep a couple of hours later. Two days later he died. Barbara and I went to his funeral, but I didn't know anyone. I stayed to listen as others described him, then we left. I was silent on the ride back. I'd thought I was tying-up loose ends, but that brief moment with my brother stayed with me, more than a memory, less than a presence, and I couldn't shake the feeling that I'd been changed. *** A year passed since I'd returned to Earth. Barbara had long since moved on, finding greener pastures on the southwest coast in the sprawling metropolis of Angels. A rich woman now with the money from the pharmaceuticals, she'd found a decent man that she and I both liked. I had also changed location, and now rented a quiet apartment in Quincy. Most days I went to a women's club to exercise, scanned the planetary net for news and new technology that might be useful on Sappho. My official story was that I was married but separated from her husband with a chance of reconciliation. That kept the men away - mostly, and the women from prying too hard. With few friends in the city and none that I'd let get too close, I kept in touch with those that knew me: Barbara, of course, Danica, and even Richard, who'd decided to keep my friendship after being rejected as a lover. The wharf in ancient Boston is a good place to forget things for a while and kill time. Recreations of the old ships gave it a Neverland feel when the fog concealed the tall buildings in the background, modern roads, rails, food stands and the hot peanut sellers that lined the boardwalk. Besides walking, or eating, one might buy a bag of bread pieces and feed the seagulls as it had been done for at least the past fifteen hundred years. The birds were smarter than dactyls. After hundreds of generations, they had absolutely no fear of humans, queuing up in shrieking, cawing chorus lines three high while flying into the wind, the strongest in the middle, where the best odds for a bite of a thrown piece of bread lay. It was a cold day. Besides the wind, it was overcast, and the gray clouds permitted little warmth. When I ran out of bread, I showed the birds my empty hands, wrapped my long heavy coat around me and walked off to find a taxi back to my apartment, my black boots making a solid "thunk" on the thick gray weathered boards. Saying hello to my neighbor, Henrietta, who had just come home from work, I ducked inside my apartment, put on a fresh pot of coffee and sat down. Then the vid rang. The caller ID showed a head shot of a mid- thirtyish brunette in the black uniform of the Outer Defense Forces - a Captain Dina Moore. My heart skipped a beat. I hadn't heard from the military for over a year. "Computer, take the vid on the main screen." When she appeared, I said, "Captain Moore, what can I do for you?" She wasn't one to waste too much time on pleasantries. "Greetings, Ms. Larranti. You are returned to active duty. You will report to the New Dallas Office of Planetary Affairs as soon as possible. I'll meet you there." I nodded. "Yes, Ma'am. Is this what I think it is?" She considered saying something, but in the end decided not to give me anything on an unsecured line. "Just hurry, Scout." "Yes, Ma'am. I'll fly out immediately." I packed a travel bag in five minutes flat and less than two hours later I was back in New Dallas. I'd already changed into a Scout work skirt and blouse in the lavatory on the flight, so I was ready when I entered the building. The desk gave me a necklace pass to wear and then sent me downstairs. After passing through a guarded steel door, I entered a monitoring or command center, and a huge screen on the wall was filled with a ship that I recognized immediately. Scale was impossible, but I knew it to be nearly four hundred yards long and about two hundred yards across. Several hundred hyperspace nodules lined the outside in a geometric pattern, like bumps on the outer skin, and the entire vessel had been painted in an attractive silver and blue swirl with the orange nebula and star centered prominently on the side, a symbol I hadn't seen before. I spotted Captain Moore in the center of the room, staring at it with hands on hips. So engrossed was she with the ship that I had to clear my throat before she realized that there was another person beside her. I snapped a salute as soon as she turned. "Ma'am, Scout Larranti reporting for duty." She broke into a sudden grin when she recognized me. "At ease. I'm glad you came so fast." She pointed abruptly to the screen. "Tell me what you think." "That has to be the ship from Sappho. It's the same design and the logo is distinctive." She nodded. "Of course. We've had them on long-range sensors for days. Are there any anomalies?" I looked closely. "Nothing I can see from this side. It looks exactly like the original design." "Good. You'll be doing some translating, Scout." "Sure, Captain." Before I had a chance to say another word, she barked a command: "Put them on the screen!" The view of the ship changed abruptly, and I stared at what I assumed were the pilot, copilot and some government representative. I didn't know whether to grimace or smile; the pilot was the same woman who'd tried to kill me on my ship. "Greetings from Earth. We've been expecting you," Captain Moore said smoothly. She nudged me to begin. While I translated, three things became evident: They were shocked that we knew who they were and their purpose. They were astonished to learn that Sappho had already been declared off- limits. They knew who I was and the pilot, especially, seemed disappointed that I'd survived. When it was over, the ship named the Hattie George headed for high orbit. We'd established an inspection procedure and a general date where they might dock at the Spaceport, to transfer their cargo of throwbacks and pick-up a new load of lesbians to bring back. "Did you read the report they gave you, Captain?" I asked in a measured tone. "Not all of it. I skimmed through most of it, including your bio. I thought most of the report was interesting, but not relevant after twenty years. My job here is to ensure that the passengers from Sappho arrive safely and that the new passengers going to Sappho leave in an orderly manner." "Captain, I'm sure the Sappho ship will unload and load exactly as they say; there's no reason for them to do otherwise. As for me, buried in my profile is a notation that I want to go back. My wife is on Sappho, almost certainly in a hibernation pod waiting for me. I have to be on that ship when it goes back." "But that would mean..." She shook her head. "None of my business." "Ma'am, if you've skimmed even a little bit of that report, you'll know that I wouldn't be welcomed in some circles if I returned under my own name. This pack we just spoke with is a part of one of those circles. They mustn't know that I want to go back. This is none of you affair, Ma'am, but I do have one request: I'd like to get on that inspection team." She considered it. "Not a problem. In fact I'd want you on board in case there were any language problems." "Thank you, Captain. Now, let me tell you what I know of this group." *** Two days later I was back in a shuttle, making the short hop from Spaceport to the Hattie George, in holding orbit at 45,000 kilometers. The team of six was all women, as men would not be permitted aboard a ship from Sappho. As we drew close, I had a proportional sense of its size. It wasn't as large as a colony vessel, but for a population of only ten million, actually three million, considering it was done exclusively with Paglia funds, it was impressive. I smiled, Jezzi must have been overcome with rage when it launched, completely unable to enjoy her country's finest technical achievement. I stepped through the airlock first, removed my helmet and shook my hair free. The Pilot extended her hand, the one who'd tried to kill me earlier. With her helmet off, she was in her early forties, solidly-built with walnut-brown hair fashioned in a straight medium cut that would require little attention. Her green eyes seemed more amused than angry, although I wondered if she weren't a tad jealous of our relative ages. Most women would be; I had aged a year to her twelve since we'd last met. "Pilot Serena Starnes," I said, looking down at her, meeting her hand exactly halfway between us in an Earth style handshake. "Debbie Larranti," she said, smiling insincerely as she shook my hand precisely twice. "You look about the same - and alive. You must be one of the luckiest people I've ever met." I shrugged. "If it makes you feel better, Serena, I thought the alflatoxin on the toilet seat was a nice touch. It might have worked if we'd been the slightest bit careless." "I knew we should have disabled the analyzer," she remarked. "But that would have tipped you off for sure. Jezzi underestimated you." "I hope all that's in the past. There is no reason for us to be enemies any longer." She nodded. "Of course not. A pity your wife isn't here to see us." Her eyes narrowed as she watched me for my reactions. 'Malicious Bitch,' I thought. 'Trust Jezzi to send a man-hating fanatic as a representative to Earth.' "You still want to spar with me, Serena? Lets say we just get this inspection over with, and we can part ways forever." "Right." She spread her hands in a universal gesture of greeting, including the rest of the inspection team and me within her arms' broad expanse. "Welcome aboard the Hattie George, women of Earth," she announced. The inspection lasted about half a day. Twenty thousand bodies floated in amber fluid inside transparent hibernation tanks, stacked high to the ceiling in cubicles barely large enough to hold them. It looked like an old picture of a colony ship; the same problems of size and space being solved in the same way a thousand years later. But this ship, unlike those ancient vessels, contained little else; it was simplicity itself, having three sections: the impulse and hyperdrive units, the hibernation tanks, and a small section for maintenance crew and pilot, of which no more than five stayed awake at any one time. The crew and rotating pilots had lived two years while the others had slept, and would live two more on the way back. Having nothing to do unless the inspection team needed me to translate, I found the small common room, a lounge and mess facility, where I met Lois Hanniford, the short, genial politician I'd seen on the screen vid in New Dallas. She sat on a sofa in a powder blue pantsuit with a small portable in her lap. She looked up as I entered, her face showing mild surprise. "Ms. Hanniford?" I said, stopping at the opening. I hadn't been told to stay clear of the forward area, but hadn't explicitly been told that I had free reign of the ship, either. She put the portable to the side and stood. Within a naturally happy face framed by light brown curls, cherubic cheeks sprouted dimples. "Come in, Ms. Larranti. Perhaps you'd like something to drink, some coffee or a cold beverage?" "Thank you. I was getting bored watching the team check their monitors." I went to a dispenser of Daphne's, a drink I'd liked on Sappho made mainly from apples and a touch of lemon, and filled a clear plastic glass with it. "I know exactly what you mean about boredom," she said enthusiastically. "I came here expecting tough negotiations, and found that you had already paved the way. To fill the time, I wonder if you'd mind sharing a few memories." I took a quick sip before answering. 'This could prove interesting,' I considered. "Why not? Please call me Debbie. I have some questions for you, too." After a half-hour, I still couldn't decide whether I liked Lois or not. Her questions and curiosity bordered on the nosy, even for Sappho women, but her ebullience and free laugh brought her back within my graces. She'd been in high school when I'd been on Sappho, and I was like an old dark legend come to life. Her questions themselves told volumes; a lot of nasty things had been spread about me after I'd gone. According to the official record, I'd been permitted to leave Sappho to avoid a scandal with an underage girl. I laughed at that. She knew about the attempts to kill me, of course, but all that was supposedly in self- defense - to prevent me from telling Earth about Sappho. "All that's bullshit," I said mildly. "Even this ship was my idea." I told her my tale, leaving out any names that might still be around. My special time with the priestesses was a highlight. Yet even after a lot of details and names, I wasn't sure she believed her ears. Then: "So, you and Tyrona Malefic were married?" she asked when I told her about the rescue. I smiled. "For a while." "Goddess. After all this time. She's sworn for years that you lied, but there was a vid where you said you loved her." "Oh, really?" That was a good sign. I'd sent Reni a copy of our conversation with the data she'd asked for. That the vid had been used meant that Reni and Joanne might have gotten away from the Woolf and Paglia authorities. As for Tyrona, I added it up. By the time the ship returned, Tyrona would be close to sixty. I wondered if I should come clean and tell Lois that it was just a way of getting back at her. Would the nearly thirty-year notoriety for being my "lover" enough punishment? Tyrona would have detested the inference and the looks. Nah. "Lois, how is Jezzi and Tyrona, or how were they when you left?" "Jezzi was still Executive Directress and Tyrona was her acknowledged prot?g?. Now, I have no idea. There was talk that Jezzi would retire, but her mind is still as strong as always." She seemed curiously closed-mouth. I rolled my hand forward in a circular motion, urging her on. "And what about Paglia, Woolf, Stein, the Temple? Come on, Lois; tell me. I'm dying to know what's going on." She paused, looking for all the world like a diplomat judging the waters. "What's the problem?" I asked, somewhat annoyed. "Soon there will be twenty thousand Sappho women telling their stories. Anything you keep secret won't be a secret for long." Her eyes suddenly grew very large. "Earth would interrogate them?" she exclaimed in alarm. I drew back a fraction, frowning. That was an odd thing to think, and a strange thing for her to get excited about - after all, Sappho, from their perspective, was ridding themselves of troublemakers and malcontents. "Earth will ask each woman questions: ask her about her life and her wishes to know how to best accommodate her, and to get her comfortable in Earth society. In fact, I'll be helping with that, but I'd hardly call it interrogation. They'll be treated like honored guests." I gestured aft. "If you don't believe me then ask any one of the women inspectors. I'll translate for you and you can probably follow along. Earth standard hasn't changed that much from the ancient dialect." She nodded. "You're right. There's no reason not to tell you." The old Temple had been destroyed. It had already been badly damaged in Paglia and Woolf. Stein just took a little longer. The telling blow had been a series of vids of the founders, authentic recordings from ancient data chips that put the Temple in a bad light. When about two-thirds of Stein refused to listen to the priestesses or worship at the services, Ythren fell in a blaze of revolution, mostly bloodless, fortunately, many of the sisterhood and lower-ranking priestesses even joining in. Enough was left from the wreckage to reform into the Temple of the Goddess. Women are, in some ways, more conservative than men. Instead of removing their leaders and priestesses from power, they allowed many to stay on temporarily, with restrictions, of course, to avoid the chaos their vacancies would create. But there had been deaths, and women had killed other women, certain in their belief that they were doing the right thing. Sides had been drawn, temples stormed; women had killed priestesses, or had been killed trying, with whatever was handy, knives, farm implements, and guns. Nearly half of those who had stormed the main temple in Ythren had been throwbacks, enraged at being lied to for centuries. I thought of the Beavers while she related the events, now nearly twenty years old. Dusti and Sue had been indifferent, but Penny had been a true Temple follower, one of those in the congregation who had screamed for my death. She would have defended the local Temple, and I worried about her and the rest. But Joanne had made her choice, been free to make her choice - another good sign. For the first time, I had a sense of confidence that Indira had made it into the pod. She would be waiting when I returned on the ship - if it worked out the way I thought it would. We left the Hattie George several hours later, finding nothing unusual, nor had we expected to find anything. But we'd taken readings of everything, had made records, holovids of every room and open space. It was a huge amount of data, but there was only one thing that I wanted to see. Back at the spaceport, the computer assembled the holovids, creating a three dimensional representation of the ship. I pulled on the imager helmet and flicked it on, the surround imaging placing me in the center of the ship. I turned and moved forward using the hand controller, passing the hibernation pods, through the open passageway and through the door to the medlab. The DNA equipment was to the right, consisting mainly of an automated tester bolted to a table, a type similar to those I'd seen on Sappho, an old design by Earth standards and three times the size of a modern unit, but quite functional. It was no surprise to learn that they would do DNA testing. Besides the medical uses, they'd want to keep a record of all who boarded. They'd need twenty thousand DNA samples soon, including mine. Unfortunately, my DNA was already on file and had that annoying XY signature, should anyone choose to look close enough. If they didn't catch me on the ship, then they would when I left the ship on Sappho. But there were sometimes ways around DNA tests - if one prepared early enough. I found what I was looking for in the side room. The thousands of small vials in clear plastic were labeled for blood work. I shut the imager down, removed the helmet, and began to think. This would take a little planning. There were ways of changing my appearance drastically in the month before the Hattie George was scheduled to leave. I could darken my skin, widen my face and nose, and most importantly, get a blood transfusion just before I boarded. When they took the DNA sample, it would be of someone else with XX chromosomes. *** The Hattie George pulled in nice and slow. It was easily the largest ship at the spaceport, and allowed me a new appreciation of how large the original colony ships must have been. I joined tens of thousands in the observation lounges and vid screens as the first ship from the newly discovered colony world docked. Like a welcome from a mother to her long lost child, an umbilical extended from the spaceport to lock to her side. At two hundred and thirty-six known colony worlds, discoveries had become steadily more infrequent as the search grew farther from Earth. Any new ship was an event, and this one more than most. This was a secret only disclosed earlier in the day. Only a handful of worlds had been classified "off-limits," and the name of the planet and word of Hattie's cargo spread like a brush fire in a drought. The crowd around me at the rail, many with drinks from the neighboring lounge spoke intriguing, mostly light-heartedly, making other men laugh nervously, or become thoughtful, wondering how they would react to meeting a woman who'd never seen a man before. The women weren't completely silent; many expressed sympathy, curiosity, worry about how they could get along without knowing the ropes; a few snide comments showed a touch of jealousy at the abrupt influx of twenty thousand new women aboard the station. "We'd better be heading over to bay soon, Scout," Captain Moore said, touching my shoulder. I nodded. "Right, Ma'am." I leaned back and straightened my dress blues. "Excuse me," asked a tall, not bad-looking older man with graying temples. "Are you a part of this?" There was nothing left to be secretive about anymore. "Yes. We'll be handling the new arrivals." He blue eyes took in the three ribbons on my chest. One was an academy ribbon, one a meritorious award, and the third was a tiny diamond by a blue crescent in a field of solid black, the discovery pin. He leaped straight to the correct conclusion: "You're the scout who found them?" he asked me curiously. At my nod, he exhaled. "Christ. A world full of women? But that would mean..." I leaned towards him and touched his arm. "Trust me," I said sincerely. "You wouldn't want to go there." I grinned and slipped away while he was thinking it over. "I've got to go now. Bye!" We had taken the entire section to ourselves, about a tenth of the interior docking capacity of Spaceport, enough of the station to process twenty thousand before sending them down to Earth in the needle. I watched them emerge one at a time from the umbilical into the huge spaces, wide-eyed, arms folded or open, brushing their hair back nervously, some crying in joy or relief. A line of women in civilian clothes and military uniforms, who knew enough of the ancient dialect to understand basic Sappho, greeted the new arrivals. They did whatever was required: guiding them individually through the registration process; holding their hand when necessary; explaining the signs on the bathroom doors, where the showers were, food and drink, and so forth, but mainly reassuring them that they hadn't substituted one bad situation for another. After the arrivals had been photographed and given an ID, they were given an electronic information packet and released to eat, go to a lounge or just walk around to view some of the repeating vids on Earth life. Some, though, had something else on their minds. To avoid too much culture shock, the numbers of men were limited, and those there were paired with women. Still, they were on display, and the younger and handsomer drew small crowds, some coming close enough to touch when it was clear that they weren't going to bite. Lieutenant Frank Dasault, a taller man in his mid twenties with wide shoulders and a strong, masculine face, won some admirers. A pretty woman about his age, with a tan and blonde streaks in her hair, probably from Paglia, watched him longingly from about ten feet away. He could hardly help but notice her. Told to be polite at all times, he smiled, a woman-slaying smile that even I recognized as one, and all the more effective for its innocence. "Hello," he addressed her melodiously. "What's your name?" It was too much for the young woman, who sighed, "Goddess!" just before her eyes rolled up into her head. He leaped forward instantly with an athleticism that few men and very few women could have matched, diving to the floor to catch her head a fraction of a second before it could crack against the unforgiving surface, then picked her up in his arms as if she weighed nothing, and carried her away like a lover to the medical station. That helped. In the meantime, I wandered the floor, sometimes looking for those with questions, but most of the time they came to me with interpretation problems and the like. That kept me busy for hours and I ate a couple of food bars on the run for lunch. About mid-afternoon, tired after being on my feet for so long, I heard a familiar voice. "Debbie?" I whirled. She still had that same confident smile. Her white hair was shorter than I recalled, and she was older, about forty, although she was fit enough and so stunningly healthy to look years younger. "Wendy?" I cried, stepping forward to take her in my arms. She hugged me back, holding me closely, her strength even greater than I remembered. "Goddess, Wendy, I'm glad to see you!" And I decided it was all right to cry. "How did you get away?" I asked her as soon as I was able. "The last I heard you were in a mine in Stein." She grinned, looking me up and down while running her hand over my hair. "By the Goddess, you've barely changed at all, Debbie. I was in a mine. I became a lead hand there and moved on when I had word of a new mine opening from a friend in Paglia. I took a chance and purchased a share of it with my savings. It was one of the rare Earth mines that were so necessary to make the preservative. In a few years I became a wealthy woman - enough to buy my way onto the Hattie." She looked at me closely. Her warm brown eyes hadn't changed over the years. "Are you doing all right?" she asked softly. "I heard rumors about Barbara and Indira." I told her what had happened on the day of the shuttle flight and the switch attempt. "Barbara and I are friends again. In fact, she's getting married in a couple of months. I'll make sure that she contacts you as soon as possible." "That's wonderful! Then we can..." Her voice trailed off as she looked over my shoulder, eyes narrowing as she focused on somethin