Every Man's Fantasy Ch. 22

The lively argument continued until the food came to the table. This was when Joan Mayfield arrived, cursing the institute's Board of Trustees for a bunch of spineless old men.

"Good timing, dear," Peter said. "Dinner's just coming."

"Oh, good! I'm starving! What did you order for me?"

"Sole fillets."

"Sole fillets!" Joan objected.

"What's wrong with sole fillets? You like sole fillets. The last time we were here, you said they were the best things on the menu."

"That doesn't mean I want them every time."

"I'm sorry, Joan, but you asked me to order for you and I chose what I know you like."

"Isn't that just typical of a man!" Joan protested to the table, not noticing the looks Esther, Cassie and Danielle gave each other.

"He orders what he thinks I like, not what I actually want."

"What do you want," Peter asked in a remarkably indulgent tone.

"A steak would be nice."

"It's a fish restaurant," he said.

"Is there no end to a man's excuses?"

Now Joan noticed the smiles that broke out on many faces.

"All right," she asked, "what's the joke?"

"The men were just saying how rational women are," Danielle explained.

"What rot!" said Joan, laughing at herself as much as anyone. "The best thing about being a woman is being irrational when you feel like it. Peter doesn't mind that I'll blame him all night for not ordering me steak in a fish restaurant."

"That's a good topic for discussion," Danielle said. "What is the best thing about being a woman? You first, Cassie."

"That's easy. Sex."

Everyone looked at Paul, who raised his hands defensively.

"Don't ask me," he said modestly. "It's probably something she does on her own in the laboratory."

Cassie laughed.

"It is from my lab work, I admit. I'm talking neurologically, not romantically. My doctoral thesis was on the differences between male and female brains during sex."

"What did you find out?" Danielle asked.

"That all the clichés are true. Women's personalities and brains are complex and multifaceted, while men are simpler and more focussed. The same is true for our neurological responses to sex."

"In my doctoral work, I devised a way of presenting brain activity as colours projected as a holographic image, so we could measure the input by its type (depicted in different colours) and strength (the intensity of the colours). The activity of different organs showed up as anything from a gentle glow to an explosion, like a firework."

"A woman's brain-scan during sex looks like fireworks going off everywhere, with the background bathed in a warm steady undulating glow, like ocean waves crashing on a shore. This is because women have multiple erotic zones and can enjoy multiple orgasms and orgasms of different types."

"A man's brain also has rises and falls of colour but there is a main focus. The holograph is a gradual march up to a mountain peak and then a collapse. There can be level parts of the ascent, when a man relaxes and delays; but his brain doesn't have the fizzing buzzing fireworks going on all the time that we women have. The supreme moment for men is a rocket-launch and a big explosion."

"So, if you ask me what is the best thing about being a woman, it's having a female sexual brain. Judging by responses and intensity, my results suggest that women get about twice as much pleasure from sex as men (though subjectively it may not feel that way, of course)."

Annela was keenly focussed on what Cassie was saying but she asked no questions for now.

"You're next, Esther," Danielle said.

"What's the best thing about being a woman? Easy: motherhood."

"I agree," said Joan. "I take back irrationality and choose motherhood instead."

She and Esther began to talk at the same time.

"Sorry," they both said.

"You go ahead, Joan," Esther invited.

Joan spoke between mouthfuls of delicious sole-fillet, grilled and seasoned perfectly.

"To carry and bear a child, despite the inconvenience and the pain, is a feeling only a woman can have," she said. "Men won't begrudge us the pain but they can't know the exaltation, the sheer euphoria of creating a life, nurturing it within your own body and suckling it from your own breasts. I know millions of women do it every day, but to make a new human being is still the greatest thrill and privilege any living being can know."

"Sometimes, when fools oppress me at work, when things go wrong, when I have a bad-hair day or when I'm just in a mood, I get home and I see my children and I say to myself: I made them. I carried them. I bore them. At least I've done something worthwhile with my life."

This expression received a judicious nod from Esther, a smile from Annela and wistful sighs from the other women.

"My turn!" said Danielle, eagerly. "I think the best thing about being a woman is being loved by a man."

"I'm going to throw up," Eva said.

"I'm serious," Danielle insisted. "Women have been brainwashed into believing that we don't need men but no real man has ever been ashamed to admit that he needs a woman. We're told we shouldn't want men to put us on a pedestal, and we're supposed to resent old-fashioned chivalry as patronizing condescension; but I love it. I love that my husband protects me, helps me, carries my burdens and worships me."

"Now I really am going to throw up," Eva declared but Danielle laughed unrepentantly.

"All right, Annela," Danielle said. "You've been too quiet. Tell us silly pampered women what it's like to be a real woman, someone who really is independent and self-reliant. Tell us what you think of all our foolish theories."

"I agree with Danielle about being loved by a man," Annela said, "though I have only a part-share in a man. I also agree with Joan and Esther about motherhood. And I completely agree with Cassie about sex, especially at the moment. But I think the best thing about being a woman is other women."

"I don't think I'm any more independent than you or anyone else, Danielle. I rely on my sisters and they rely on me but there are a few differences between life on Samothea and life on Celetaris."

"We're a close-knit community on Samothea, especially the Woodlanders. We're comforting and friendly most of the time. We help each other and enjoy each others' company. We kiss and hug much more than you do here on Celetaris. We sleep naked together, for pleasure and comfort as much as to keep each other warm at night. It's a much more tactile society than the society here."

"I saw this when Yael and I first went for a run with Danielle and Cassie. We showered together afterward and I washed Yael all over, as we do in the river by the Forest Camp, then Yael washed me; but I noticed that Danielle and Cassie washed themselves. I thought at the time that it was rather lonely and unfriendly. You two also dried your own hair, instead of having another woman comb it, as Yael and I did."

"I don't mean to imply that Samothean society is friendlier than here. No one here has been anything but scrupulously kind to Freya and me. But perhaps because we are poorer and have less technology, we express our kindness and friendliness in a more earthy and physical way."

"So how come your female society is so comforting and pleasant?" Eva asked. "Aren't women always jealous and bitchy?"

"They can be," Annela replied, "but the jealousy and bitchiness of the Woodlanders is kept firmly under control."

"I know it was a tongue-in-cheek question, Eva, but the truth is that we Woodlanders are a small tribe and have to guard constantly against jealousy and resentment, which we do with strict customs, abundant chores, dedicated roles in the tribe and limited playtime. We also choose the bossiest woman to be chief. Mirselene never puts up with any girlish nonsense, especially not bitchiness."

"Our lives are dictated by routine. A day in the forest begins with morning chores, then we go foraging for nuts, berries, fruits, mushrooms and, in my case, medicinal herbs. Others go hunting pigeons or to chop wood. We come back for a communal lunch. Then it's afternoon chores. I also give Freya a reading lesson, until it's time to wash in the pool and prepare for the nightly feast. If there's any spare time, it's filled with work. I have a loom I sit at and weave."

"After the feast, we often sing and dance. I tickle Freya before putting her to bed and we sleep three to a bed with Erin, snuggling Freya warmly between us, which sends her quickly to sleep."

"I think our closeness and daily routines give us emotional balance. It's reassuring to know exactly what one's duties are when there is so much work to do every day. I also think it's good for the girls. As you know, Freya loves doing chores. Here, girls her age seem to care only about playing. Many people say how well-behaved Freya is."

There followed a general discussion about Samothean society. Annela's remarks were chewed over by the group, as she was questioned on the details.

While the table was occupied on that topic, Eva said as an aside to Danielle:

"What Annela describes is beautiful, isn't it? It's exactly how a female society should be, don't you think?"

"I do," Danielle agreed, knowing where Eva was going with her question.

"It would be a shame for it to be spoiled by the wrong kind of people going to Samothea."

"I agree completely," Danielle said, "though we may disagree a little in regard to who are 'the wrong kind of people'."

Eva smiled and Danielle smiled back. They both knew there was a new argument lurking just beneath the surface: an argument for another day; because while Eva suspected that Danielle thought 'the wrong kind of people' included feminists, Danielle knew for certain that Eva thought 'the wrong kind of people' were men.

8 The judgment

The Court of Equity sat in Ocean City, capital of Celetaris, and consisted of a judge and a jury of twelve locals. The judge asked the jury to disregard all the publicity to do with Samothea, though he understood how difficult that might be to do, but they were to try their best to be objective.

There was a live link to Earth, the outworld settlements and Samothea. By this means, Gloria and her advisory council could have conversations with Paul Kessler and with Wildchild, who sat beside him, working a computer tab but, mainly, listening to every word and memorising it.

On the bench behind Paul were Danielle, Annela, Hazel, Freya, Ezra and Roger.

The case for Outworld Ventures was made by the tall dignified lawyer who had spoken at the Samothea Conference at the Institute for Science. He made the same legal arguments as before: in short, the Planetary Homesteading Act gave the settler company the rights to Samothea for fifty years after Ezra landed on its surface, the population and ecology being unsustainable at the time.

There was little Paul could say to undermine the legal case, so the gist of his response was that it would be neither fair nor equitable to the population of Samothea to grant full control of the planet, including its inhabited parts, to the settler company. Newcomers, whether visitors or settlers, would be able to exploit the planet's resources and harm the interests of the people there. He cited depositions from Samotheans and reports from the Petticoats, describing life on Samothea.

He also mentioned that the Settler Company might feel obliged to recognise the original property claims of the Colony of Samothea and apply its laws as they existed when the colony was founded. In which case, this would threaten the existence of two well-established, peaceful and thriving communities, the Woodlanders in their Forest Camp and the Mariners in their Beach Settlement. Strictly speaking, their homes were illegal because the original law of Samothea said that no permanent settlements were allowed within the forest between the White Mountains and the Southern Mountains (which was designed to be a National Park) nor within 100 feet of the high-tide mark (to preserve the beach from development).

To expel two peaceful tribes from their homes would offend against man's natural sense of fairness and the Anglosphere principle that changes to the law made democratically by constitutional bodies, such as the tribal rulers of Samothea, represented valid laws.

The lawyer for the settler company replied that it would not be fair to the relatives and descendents of the original colonists to lose their valid claims to property on Samothea by enshrining in law what were purely emergency measures taken by the colony after it was cut-off from the rest of the galaxy.

The best argument for Outworld Ventures was the vulnerability of the colony to outside exploitation, which contradicted the claim to autonomous ownership. How fair would it be to the women of Samothea if every carpet-bagger, huckster, claim-jumper and illegal miner could go to their planet with impunity?

There was both technical legal argument and some sentimental pleading, but it was not clear which tactic (if either) worked best on the jury; and by the end of the second day, the arguments were exhausted.

Every evening of the court-case, Wildchild videochatted to Gloria and the Advisory Council, disgorging her memory full of material for discussion.

On the third day, the judge gave his summing up for the jury.

He began by saying that there was no precedent for a settler company to make a claim against its own colony in a Court of Equity. Every previous case had been the other way around.

"This fact should not affect your decision," the Judge told the jury, "but it is an influence none the less; because, if the case had been tried in the Court of Justice, then I would have no hesitation in directing you to award full possession to Outworld Ventures. The law is precise and incontrovertible. The question for you, therefore, is: How equitable is the operation of a precise and incontrovertible law? How fair is it to the population of Samothea that their planet should be owned for another 45 years by the settler company?"

"The plaintiff has (in my view) ably argued that this would be the fairest outcome for the relatives of the original settlers, who never arrived on Samothea to realise their purchased claims, claims that would lapse if the present population of Samothea were the legal owners of the planet."

"I also see a strong support for the plaintiff in the matter of defending the planet and its resources. I do not think the defendant has fully explained how an autonomous population on Samothea might defend itself from alien interlopers."

"Lastly, there is the sustainability of the planet. Both sides agree that rejuvenation therapies are necessary and expensive but I see no alternative than for whoever owns the planet to sell land, mining rights, fishing rights, hunting rights and rights to other resources, which makes the question of fairness moot in this case."

The judge summed up Paul's arguments as well, but not as positively. It was clear where his sympathies lay and, although he did not direct the jury, they did not spend much time on their deliberations before returning a verdict in favour of Outworld Ventures.

The settler company was now the legal owner of the colony of Samothea, the whole planet, both inhabited and uninhabited continents, all lands, forests, seas, mineral deposits and even the asteroid belt. Only to properties already sold to settlers did Outworld ventures not have title; yet even these could be charged a lease.

The Outworld Ventures lawyer spoke briefly to Paul while the Samothea Project team left the court-house quietly and subdued. The team met in Joan Mayfield's office next morning and the mood was still gloomy.

Overnight, Wildchild had learned what the women of Samothea thought of the judgment. In general, they were resigned, though some wanted to appeal the verdict; but Paul thought an appeal would be a waste of time and money. It would be best to wait until Outworld Ventures published its proposal for the development of Samothea.

The settler company's lawyer had unofficially hinted that the proposal might not be significantly different from the compromise rejected at the previous conference.

A positive result of the legal judgment was that Ezra could now lodge his claim with Outworld Ventures for the bounty for re-discovering Samothea. He could have no compunction now about claiming his reward of 100,000 Galactic pounds.

Everyone on the project team urged him to submit his claim, as did his friends on Samothea.

There was a hiccough in the process when Outworld Ventures at first refused Ezra's application for the payment, saying that, because he had previously refused the bounty, it was no longer available. A videocall from Paul Kessler to the legal department of the settler company put things straight, there being no statute of limitations on bounty claims and no evidence that Ezra ever formally renounced the bounty, only that he had not claimed it until now.

So the one good thing to come out of the whole sorry mess (as Ezra saw it) was that he was now stinking rich and could afford to pay his creditors handsomely and buy rejuvenation therapies for all his bedmates.