Every Man's Fantasy Ch. 22

Carlin laughed at the absurdity of the dress, which was of no use to her as a Junior in the Cloner City (much as she loved Yael for the gift); but Wildchild and Hazel insisted she try it on and she quickly changed her mind. Observing herself in the full-length mirror of the Junior dormitory, while Wildchild and Hazel looked on admiringly, Carlin couldn't deny she looked gorgeous. "Ravishing" her friends said. It made her long for Yael to be back with her.

While the Cloner Fair was on, Danielle tried to contact Robyn Bradford to recall her to Celetaris. The Petticoats had been on Samothea for three months. It was time to rotate half the crew and re-supply the team, collecting replacements for those delicate electronic instruments that had begun to have problems.

The first attempt was a failure. The communications link worked well but it was night time and a party was on full swing in the Council Chamber. As the night-rain drummed on the roof of the chamber, drummers sat around the walls beating out a frantic rhythm and the population of Samothea sang and danced wildly, spinning each other around in their new dresses.

Danielle left sending her message until nearer the end of the Cloner Fair, when the women would be more sedate. A week later, her request got through unhindered.

The medical team asked that Doctor Jane Bradford should be among the three Petticoats to return. The success of Annela's rejuvenation therapy had inspired the Samothea Project's medical advisors to propose a program for delivering the rejuvenation therapy to all the women on Samothea. It needed to be tested on Celetaris first because there would be inadequate equipment on Samothea to remedy a problem if anything went wrong. The team wanted Jane's advice and test-results.

There were mixed feelings among the Petticoats about returning to Celetaris. Each Petticoat was assigned to a different tribe, with whom she lived and whom she studied as part of Eva Welwyn's anthropological research project. They had all been kindly accepted by the women of Samothea, even those hoping for male visitors.

The Petticoats had quickly gone native, fitting into the life of Samothea so well that they took on Samothean customs themselves, happy to do their share of the chores and learning each tribe's special skills. They picked up the dancing style of each tribe and taught their own dancing-styles. After the feasts, hesitantly at first, then with greater enthusiasm, the Petticoats shared the beds of the women of Samothea, snuggling their new friends for warmth during the cold wet nights. Whether or not the Petticoat who lived with the Herders took part in the nightly orgies was omitted from the anthropological record.

The Petticoats also shared their technology with the women of Samothea, though the usefulness of electronic devices was limited by damage from the x-rays, against which the osmium alloy shielding was only a temporary defence. There had been a slight hesitation about giving out modern technology. Strict anthropological researchers (as Eva intended the Petticoats to be) try to interfere as little as possible with their subjects; but this attitude was quickly discarded because the hunger for Earthside technology was so great that it was a feature of Samothean culture worth investigating in itself. Also, had the Petticoats kept their tools and instruments away from the Samotheans, they would have risked alienating the population, so highly was Earthside technology prized on Samothea.

Two women who pestered the Petticoats about their technology were Hazel and Wildchild, who yearned to fly the airsuits. Their importuning reached its peak during the Cloner Fair and finally persuaded the Petticoats to give them lessons. Anyone else who wanted to learn was invited to come to the shuttlecraft, where the suits could be charged by the on-board air-compressor for a standing start. As in so much else, Wildchild was the first to try something new and risky.

Wildchild and Hazel were quick learners and soon were adept. After half-a-dozen lessons, they proved their abilities by taking a flight out of the Cloner City into the White Mountains. This was where Wildchild had trekked with Yael and Carlin. They buzzed around the rim of the large volcano and flew through its plume of white steam. They raced across the parched highland plain and reached the valley where the girls had found the Miners.

From the valley up into the mountains had been a two-day climb three years ago. Now it was a fifteen-minute flight at 100 miles per hour. They continued their ascent, conquering the mountain peaks and rising so high that they could look down on the spine of the continent and see its western edge. They hovered, memorising the view to determine where they would explore in the future and flew back at top speed to the Cloner City.

Back in the City, the girls received a heroes' welcome by the women awed by their airsuit skills. Among their admirers was Wildchild's mother, Galatea, who had been to visit the Herder's Northern Camp and was riding down the hill into the field when she saw Wildchild's skilfully controlled landing. Galatea jumped off her horse and waited for Wildchild to come to her, brushing the dust off her tunic and long leather skirt.

More and more in the last few years, especially since Galatea had become Chief of the Herder tribe, Wildchild's respect had increased to the level that a daughter of Samothea normally showed toward her mother. Their meetings were increasingly friendly.

Now, still wearing the airsuit, elated from a successful flight, Wildchild strode up to her mother and put her arms around her, kissing her cheek. Galatea kissed her daughter back and held her tightly, if a little hesitantly, as if she thought too much affection would be repulsive. She held the embrace, none the less.

"I'm glad you're back, Galatea."

It was Solange who had called out, striding across the field to greet Galatea, happy to find mother and daughter being friendly together.

"Hello, Samothea. I have a request for you from Gloria. Will you come into the Council Chamber to discuss it? You, too, Galatea, if you're free."

Galatea and Solange walked off together chatting while Wildchild and Hazel stripped off their airsuits and went for a wash in the Junior dormitory. They were helped by Carlin, who pumped water into buckets for the girls and handed them sponges, lending a hand to clean in places where they'd missed.

Twenty minutes later, wearing her red flowery cotton dress, Wildchild descended to the Council Chamber. Solange and Galatea were seated at the high table, waited on by another Junior. It was more than a year since Wildchild had been a Junior. It was the frock that reminded her of the year in the Cloner City. It made her feel like a girl again.

One duty she performed as a Junior was to curtsey to the tribal chiefs. It became a habit and, on an impulse, Wildchild did it again now, as a sign of respect to her mother. As she rose up, her pendant, the silver 'S' of the Prefect of Samothea, which she wore on a necklace, dropped out of her dress. Galatea went to greet her daughter and kissed her once more.

She held the pendant in her fingers.

"You know, Samothea," Galatea said, "this was your favourite thing as a baby. I had to dangle it in front of you for hours and you'd giggle and laugh, watching the diamonds twinkle."

"I don't remember that, Mum."

"You were less than a year old. ... Samothea, I'm sorry how I treated you, how we all treated you. I don't know when you'll be able to forgive me but I want you to know that I will never give up the hope that you'll tell me I'm forgiven."

"You're forgiven, Mum. It's all different now. None of what happened matters any more. It hasn't for a while."

"Thank you, Samothea."

"I dare say I was a headache to you."

"It was my fault. I had the power and I misused it. You can't be blamed."

"Well, it's worked out all right in the end. I am who I am because of how you raised me."

"No, Samothea. The end doesn't justify the means. You've turned into the most amazing young woman; talented, happy, intelligent and beautiful; but it's despite how I raised you, not because of how I raised you."

"All right, Mum. ... I love you."

"I love you too, Samothea."

They kissed once more. Wildchild brushed a hand through her mother's tightly-curled hair, which had grey streaks now, starting above the temples and in strands on her forehead.

Galatea smiled and led her daughter over to the high table to sit with Solange, saying as they walked:

"Let's find out what Gloria has requested you to do, Samothea. I hope it's a risky and difficult job, something to show off your skills."

******

Before the Cloner Fair, Hazel had given Wildchild the burden of deciding which tribe they should live in together. Wildchild chose the Woodlanders; so Hazel made her goodbyes to the Farmer tribe and the girls shared Wildchild's horse for the ride to the Cloner City. They stayed in the Woodlanders' tents at the Cloner Fair. Their fellow tribe-members had been overjoyed to welcome them back; and the woman most pleased to see the girls return was Mirselene.

Her joy at their return was unfortunately short-lived. It was almost the last day of the Fair when Wildchild told her of Gloria's request for a secretary to the Advisory Council on Celetaris. This request couldn't be refused but Hazel's request to accompany Wildchild, taking the spare seat on the shuttlecraft, was agreed by Mirselene only when two conditions she insisted on were met.

The first condition was that the Woodlanders' Petticoat (a hard-working friendly woman, much-liked by the tribe) would not be one of those rotated this time.

The second condition was that the girls would bring home a long shopping-list of tools and electronic goods properly shielded from the x-rays. The tribe still talked about the back-pack full of luxuries that Yael had sent back with Robyn after her first week on Celetaris.

The Woodlanders' Petticoat agreed to stay with the tribe and Wildchild memorised the shopping-list. But the girls kept a secret: they didn't reveal the full plan for their visit to Celetaris.

5 An order for airsuits

When Robyn Bradford landed her shuttlecraft on Celetaris, it was met by many members of the Project Team. Danielle was there with Yael. She wanted to thank the crew for their courage and dedication. Eva Welwyn was there. She wanted reports for her anthropological research. A representative of the medical team was there. He eagerly awaited Jane Bradford's medical results. Best of all, however, were the families of the returning Petticoats. They all waited on the other side of the hygiene lab.

Hazel and Wildchild were the first through hygiene. They stood on the platform in the sunshine, taking in the amazing scene. There were spacecraft, aircraft, jetcars, hover cars, hover trains and a thousand people milling about. They were enchanted and didn't know where to look first.

Then Yael sprinted up the platform and launched herself at the girls, holding them in a stifling hug.

"God! I've missed you two!" she exclaimed breathlessly. "So much has happened! Annela's been cured but now she's horny the whole time. Ezra shaved off his beard. Danielle is teaching me physics. Ezra gave me a bow and arrows but I'm not allowed to shoot at anything living, not even a shitehawk. Gloria has her own hotel room and she studies the law, day and night. I made friends with Mr. Fanshaw, who's a hundred-and-twelve years old. Freya plays with Mr. Fanshaw's dog, Charlie, every day in the park. Ezra's Mum and Dad were here but they've gone home. It's a shame you missed them. Nathan's sweet and Mariotta's feisty. You'd love her. And I have a bloke. He's called Ryan. That's what we call male bedmates here. 'Blokes'. He's at the medical university in Ocean City. You can try him out if you want. You can compare him to Ezra. What else? Oh, yes ..."

Wildchild grabbed Yael by the cheeks and pulled their faces together, mouth to mouth in a long and passionate kiss.

When Wildchild released her, Yael exclaimed:

"What was that for?"

"To stop your jabbering," Wildchild said.

Yael laughed, then she asked with a coy smile:

"Doesn't Hazel also want to stop my jabbering?"

"You bet I do!" Hazel said, pulling Yael to her.

Hazel gave Yael a deep and slightly damp kiss, tongue-tips brushing, their sweet young bodies pressed firmly together. The sensual kiss lasted much longer than Wildchild's. Yael wrapped her arms around Hazel's neck. After a couple of minutes, Wildchild put her hands on their shoulders and pulled the girls apart, saying:

"That's enough."

Yael turned to Wildchild and gazed into her eyes, searching for a spark of jealousy for which she would tease her friend for ages; but Wildchild calmly met her gaze and revealed nothing but the deep and enduring love she felt for the girl she called 'sister'.

With a happy laugh, Yael threw her arms around Hazel and Wildchild again in an ecstatic hug, exclaiming:

"I love you girls!"

"Come on," she said, turning around. "I'll take you to meet everyone."

Taking the middle place, Yael held the other girls by their waists. They linked their arms around her back and set off. For fun, Yael walked as models do, stepping one foot in front of the other, swinging her hips. After a few steps, the other girls copied her, swaying their hips in rhythm, cotton dresses swishing as they stepped gaily through beams of golden sunlight that shone through the rafters onto the platform.

"Hey, Yael!" a voice behind them shouted. "Yael Eloisesdaughter Woodlander!"

All three girls looked around, hair billowing as they turned.

"Give us a smile!" he requested.

It was the same videographer who had filmed Yael dancing in the rain. He had recognised her as she ran up the platform and had been filming all this time. Now his video camera captured the image of three gorgeous girls - one with straight blonde hair, one wavy blonde and one curly black-haired - tall, thin, fit and beautiful - smiling happily, bathed in a glow of light, as if the sun-god had dropped molten gold on them.

"Who's that?" asked Wildchild.

"He's a news reporter," said Yael. "I'm not supposed to talk to him. Danielle's orders. It's to do with sex; which is a shame. He seems nice."

At the end of the platform, the girls met Danielle. Meeting her was exactly the joy they anticipated. She was hugged even by Wildchild, usually an avoider of hugs.

They took a jetcar home and, on the way, Wildchild asked:

"Where are Ezra, Annela and the others?"

"Annela and Ezra are at the medical centre," Danielle said. "My husband, Roger, and Madam Gloria are looking after Freya at our apartment. We haven't told Freya that you're coming. We want it to be a surprise."

It certainly was a surprise. Freya had played with Charlie-dog that morning and was kneeling on a chair, doing her chore of setting the table for lunch when the door opened and Danielle came in, followed by Yael and then two more people she recognised.

Her eyes popped out like a cartoon character.

"Wildchild!" she screamed, bouncing up and down. "Hazel!"

She bounded over the furniture and launched herself at Wildchild, who bent to scoop the crazy girl into her arms.

"Hello, Pudding," Wildchild said, holding Freya tightly. "Pleased to see us?"

"Am I?"

Freya put her arms around Wildchild's neck and kissed her face all over.

"Spare some love for Hazel," Wildchild said.

"Hazel!" Freya shrieked and jumped from Wildchild's arms into Hazel's and kissed all over her face as well.

"I'm so happy," Freya said at last. "I could have a norg...."

"Don't say it!" Annela and Danielle cried in unison.

"Yael!" Annela said, in the nearest her sweet voice could approach to admonishment. "I thought you explained to Freya what that word meant."

"I meant to," Yael admitted with a guilty laugh, "but I chickened out."

******

Before lunch, Gloria and Wildchild quickly had a private chat in the spare bedroom. Wildchild gave messages to Gloria from Solange and the Advisory Council and Gloria explained to Wildchild a little more about what her duties would be as secretary, beginning with memorising all the laws and precedents that Gloria had researched while on Celetaris.

There was a lively party going on in the sitting room when the women returned, with Yael and Freya telling Hazel all they had done so far on Celetaris. With Wildchild back, there was exactly the kind of teasing fun one would expect when four women a child from Samothea were gathered together. Gay laughter met Annela and Ezra when they arrived at the front door of the apartment.

It went quiet for a moment, as Wildchild came to greet Annela and congratulate her on her recovery. She hugged Annela firmly and kissed her on the lips in the Woodlander style. Annela held Wildchild at arm's length, to admire the girl's beauty and exclaim about how tall she had grown.

Annela remembered Hazel and they also kissed because Hazel was now a Woodlander. Then the girls said hello to Ezra. There was a moment's quiet hesitation, a pause for the reading of minds, then an embrace for each of the girls that Danielle found surprisingly passionate. She was pleased that the girls adored her brother but not quite sure how intimate their relationship was. The depth of affection was obvious, however, in the happy smile on Hazel's lovely face and the unexpected purity on Wildchild's face when she offered up her forehead to Ezra for her special kiss.

Lunch was brought and it was a lively meal followed by a dispute about the washing up.

"See, I told you!" Yael said to Wildchild: "You have to beg to do chores here."

Yael continued to chat away happily, telling her friends about the symphony concert, eating chocolate (which was poison to Samotheans), her friend, Kelly, her bloke, Ryan, and going clothes-shopping with Mariotta.

"It's a shame she's gone home," Yael repeated, "because Mariotta would have loved to dress you two."

"She certainly would," Danielle said looking across at the stunning girls. "She would also have said: 'If you are typical of the women of Samothea, then every girl in the galaxy will want to go there to learn your beauty secrets.'"

"Why not?" Annela said.

"Why not what, Annela?" Gloria asked.

"Why not invite girls to stay on Samothea? Not for our beauty secrets, but for our healthy lives: to learn how to fare for themselves and work hard."

"Like the Juniors," Wildchild added, finishing Annela's thought.

"Exactly! The 'Samothean Juniors'," Annela said. "We can teach the girls discipline and self-reliance; how to live off the land; how to hunt; and how to enjoy simple things. It would be a good experience for young girls - boys as well, I don't doubt - to learn practical skills and become confident."

"It's a good idea," Gloria agreed. "They should be younger than eighteen, to avoid the complications of sexual activity. Or they could come for a year in between high school and university. They would stay a few months with all the tribes in turn."

"Or for just the summer," Yael suggested. "Kelly went to summer-camp last year. Maybe she could go to Samothea this year."

Annela's idea was discussed all afternoon. Roger and Danielle gave what advice they could on finance, logistics and marketing.

"I'm sure the Samothean Juniors will be a great success," Danielle said, impressed by their enthusiasm.

"It will be with Annela in charge and these girls involved," Gloria avowed, "Hazel and Wildchild were two of the best Juniors I ever had."

"I'm sorry, Madam, but we can't help run the Samothean Juniors," Wildchild said.

"We have other plans," Hazel confirmed.

"What other plans?" Gloria asked.

"We want Ezra to teach us how to become Prospectors."