Boulder
Slamming the door hard, I got Khan’s attention. He was standing in his office, talking quietly with Magni, and they both looked up with deep frowns.
“I need your help,” I exclaimed, pointing to Khan and walking quickly to where they were standing. “Do you have your own room tapped as well?”
Khan’s nostrils flared slightly, and I got the sense he didn’t want Magni to know about the surveillance, but he gave a small nod.
“Good, because Pearl and Christina are talking in your room right now and I want to know what’s going on. The bloody guards at your door wouldn’t let me eavesdrop.”
Magni’s lips pursed and he leaned back, folding his arms comfortably over his chest. “Yes, brother, let’s hear what the women have to say. Maybe Pearl will reveal where Laura is.”
“She doesn’t know,” I said harshly. “I’ve asked Christina to find out and she insists that the council doesn’t know.”
Magni laughed bitterly. “Oh, geez, you’re so fucking blinded by that woman, Boulder. The bitch has been lying to you from day one.”
My temper flared up. “I warned you,” I sneered at him. “Don’t you fucking call her that.”
Khan touched his wristband and four images appeared in front of him. Four different angles of his private chamber were showing, and we could see Christina and Pearl kneeling down and watching the recording of that long poem I’d just watched with Christina.
“What are they listening to? I don’t understand it,” Magni said.
“It’s poetry,” I answered.
“Poetry?” Magni coughed. “Are you fucking kidding me – who has time for poetry?” He had his nose wrinkled as we listened to the words. “Did she say juxtaposition?” Magni asked. “Please tell me that’s something dirty and sexual.” He poked me. “Did you and Christina ever try the juxta position?”
Khan rolled his eyes. “It’s not a sexual position, you dumbasses. A juxtaposition is two things with contrasting effect.”
“Showoff.” I bumped my elbow into Khan’s ribs but he was too busy looking at the women to retaliate.
“I hate poetry,” Magni groaned.
“Me too, but according to Christina it’s because I’m not evolved enough to appreciate something as fine as that poem.”
Magni snorted. “She calls that fine?”
“Shit,” Khan muttered when Christina and Pearl got up from the floor and walked toward the doors to the balcony. “The sound is bad on the balcony.”
Luckily the women stayed inside and only opened the balcony door to let in some fresh air.
“We have to show this to the council,” Pearl said, leaning against the doorframe. “It deserves a prominent place, but we’ll need to reframe some of the wording to something more appropriate.”
“Why? People will know it was written before the big enlightenment. It’s art, Pearl. You don’t change a painting because the color offends you. Hera speaks the language of her day, and any poem should stay true in its form,” Christina argued.
“You have a point.” Pearl nodded.
“I swear, Momsies are soft in their heads,” Magni groaned.
I shushed him, desperate to hear what Christina was saying, but only caught the last part. “What did she say?” I asked worriedly.
“Something about time to go,” Khan answered, and we all listened carefully when Pearl placed her hand on Christina’s arm.
“Are you sure?”
“The university is large, and I’ll admit that I would like to keep digging to see what buried treasures we could find, but it would take me years to uncover the whole thing and I’m not sure it’s healthy for me to stay.”
“Is it Boulder?”
Christina lifted her gaze and gave a small nod. “He wants me to stay.”
“And you, do you want to stay?”
“No,” she said and looked down. “Of course not.”
In Khan’s office, I fisted my hands and closed my eyes, exhaling deeply.
“Then we should start planning for your return,” Pearl said softly. “There are messages I need you to deliver to the council and you need to copy everything from the flash drive. What is found in the Northlands remains in the Northlands; it’s part of our agreement. We can learn from our findings and bring home electronic information, but the books have to stay.
Christina tensed up. “You know they have lots of books already, right?”
“So?”
“Even in this mansion there are plenty of antique books. Maybe they wouldn’t mind if I bring back a few and study them.”
“Maybe,” Pearl said thoughtfully. “But you would need to let a librarian classify them first.”
“I could classify them,” Christina suggested.
“No, Christina, you’re still young and impressionable. Reading of violence or passion could bring out unwanted emotions in you.”
“You mean like longings?” she asked.
Pearl squeezed both her hands. “Yes, Christina, like longings.”
“Those books aren’t forbidden here,” Christina said softly.
“I know.” Pearl let go of Christina’s hand and looked out the window. “They didn’t used to be forbidden in the Motherlands either.”
“So what changed?”
Pearl’s shoulders lifted in a shrug. “It’s confidential, but since I sense that it hasn’t happened to you and you already declared that you’re going home, I’ll tell you.”
“Turn up the volume,” I instructed Khan.
“In the beginning of the twenty-third century a young woman wrote a series about the Nmen. It was pure fiction of course, but she made them sound like amazing, virile heroes and had millions of women starting to swoon at the idea of being with one of them.” Pearl shook her head. “Of course, the council back then tried to spread the word that it wasn’t true and nothing but a fairytale, but women made their way to the borders trying to get across.”
Khan, Magni, and I exchanged glances. “What the fuck,” Magni muttered. “I didn’t know that.”
“And then what?” Christina asked.
Pearl let out a deep breath. “Obviously, the council couldn’t allow it and needed to take radical measures to protect the women. All of them were sent back home, and after that laws were made to prohibit people from speaking about the Nmen and sharing pictures or stories about them. Not only were the books that had started this dangerous situation banned but so were all books that involved sexual passion or violence. It’s been that way for more than two centuries now and we still enforce those laws to prevent something similar from happening again.”
“But if someone wanted to come here and stay voluntarily, why couldn’t they?” Christina asked with her head tilted.
“It’s not safe here. What do you think would happen to us if we weren’t protected in this mansion? Nmen are not like our men. They have high levels of testosterone and are prone to violence.”
“True.” Christina looked down. “But Boulder has been very kind to me.”
“That’s good, but for all we know, he might be an anomaly, Christina; we can’t know for sure. And there’s the obvious concern.”
“Which is?”
“What would happen if women came here and the population grew, with more females being born?”
Christina shrugged. “They wouldn’t be so desperate?”
“No, I’m talking about the threat to us. To the Motherlands.”
“You think women would be a bad influence on the Nmen?”
“No, you’re getting it wrong. Today we have a peace treaty and we hold a powerful position because we’re supplying them with enough boys to sustain their numbers.”
“Right.”
“Christina, it’s not our choice to isolate them up here, but surely you understand that we can’t let them grow in numbers. It would be a catastrophe if they were to attack us.”
“Because we don’t know how to fight?”
Pearl shook her head. “We can defend ourselves perfectly well, but we’re pacifists and we don’t want to kill to protect ourselves. Being forced to do that would be horrible.”
“Yes.” Christina nodded. “But you said the council would like nothing more than for the Nmen to join us.”
Pearl sighed heavily again. “I did say that, but maybe it’s just wishful thinking. Enlightenment takes time and Khan is…” She shook her head.
“Khan is what?”
“A genius,” Khan said dryly and gave me a “What?” expression when I shushed him again.
“I’m trying to make him see things our way, but he’s a stubborn soul and very limited in his thinking,” Pearl said thoughtfully.
Khan snorted and arched a brow. “Limited in my thinking – ha, look who’s talking, I can’t tell you how annoying that woman is.”
I kept my eyes on the image of the two women.
“All right,” Christina said. “I’ll leave the books here then. Maybe you can categorize them,” she suggested. “Unless of course you worry that it will affect you and make you vulnerable to one of the men here.”
Pearl laughed. “Not likely. The only one who is slightly attractive is Boulder, and only because he doesn’t hide behind a huge beard.”
That made me square my chest and grin silently when Khan shot me a scowl.
“It’s funny,” Christina said. “I can remember how intimidating I found all the men when I arrived here, but my time with Boulder…” She trailed off.
“Yes?” Pearl asked.
“It has changed me,” Christina breathed. “I feel safe with him, and as annoying and primitive as he can be, he can be funny and sweet too.”
Magni tousled my hair. “Such a sweet boy,” he teased.
“I think you’re right, my dear,” Pearl said solemnly. “It’s not safe for you to stay. You’re becoming too attached to him.”
Christina nodded. “I know. Can you imagine me and Boulder being a real couple? It’s ridiculous, right?” A fake laugh escaped her, but Pearl didn’t laugh. “I would have to give up my entire life,” Christina said, and her words made me heave up my chest in a deep intake of air.
“It’s not like I could take him home to visit my friends and family. They would think I’d lost my mind and would be scared of him for sure.”
“They would!” Pearl confirmed.
Christina looked down. “So it’s best if I just go.”
The way Pearl pulled Christina in for a hug and held her close made me jealous. I wanted to do that. To hold Christina and to tell her that she should stay.
They stood like that for at least a full minute until Christina pulled back and dried her eyes. “I’ll tell him tonight then.”
“You do that. I’ll prepare the letters that I need you to deliver for me. And, sweetie…”
“Yes?”
“It’s going to be very lonely here without you.”
The two women stood slightly apart, both with sunken shoulders.
“I’ll stay if you ask me to,” Christina said and I willed Pearl to speak the words, but she didn’t.
“I could never ask that of you.”
“But how long will you stay here?”
“Until I decide otherwise.”
“Laura probably feels guilty,” Christina told Pearl.
“If you meet her, tell her that I don’t blame her and that I’m fine.” Pearl looked down. “As fine as I can be under the circumstances.”
“I will,” Christina assented and left the room.
“Aha – see?” Magni exclaimed triumphantly. “I knew it. Pearl knows where Laura is. She just admitted it.”
“No, she didn’t,” I said. “She said if you see her, and that doesn’t mean they know where she is.”
“I agree with Boulder,” Khan said and pointed to the image of Pearl. “Did you hear what she said about staying until she decides otherwise… Ha, the woman is crazy if she thinks she can escape from here. I don’t think she fully understands what being a hostage means.”
While Khan was talking, Magni spun around and raked his hand through his hair, making sounds of frustration.
“Give me ten minutes with the councilwoman and I’ll have her spilling all her secrets,” he almost shouted.
“No!” Khan shook his head. “I won’t allow you to interrogate Pearl or frighten her further.”
“What are we waiting for?” Magni exclaimed. “I can’t just sit here and do nothing. I want Laura back.”
Khan had that expression on his face: the one that signaled that he was about to explode. Being called limited in his thoughts by Pearl and hearing that she found me more attractive than him had to be a blow to his male pride.
Magni and I both knew the expression and normally Magni was smart enough to back down, but this time he didn’t. Instead he kept pressing for time with Pearl until Khan slammed his fist down on his desk.
“When are you fucking gonna accept that Laura is gone? Your wife didn’t want to be with you. She left you. Do you hear me? She left you!”
Magni stumbled backward as if Khan’s words were a physical blow. “But she’s my wife.”
“I know, brother, I know.”
The sorrow in Magni’s eyes tore at my heartstrings. After hearing that Christina was leaving me too, I felt like looking at my future self. A protector without anyone to protect. A husband with physical needs and no one to fill them. I would never be able to be fulfilled by sex-bots after experiencing the real thing, and I didn’t even know what to do with all the emotions I had for Christina. I had no memory of my mom. Like other Nmen, I had been three years old when I came from the Motherlands. The only physical connection I had experienced, until Christina came, was fighting other boys and men.
The despair I felt in my belly, just thinking about going back to my old life without her, made me feel aggressive and irrational. I could relate to Magni’s desperation.
“I’m going to keep her here,” I muttered.
“What?” Khan swung his head from Magni to me. “What did you say?” he sputtered.
“Christina – I can’t let her leave.”
“The fuck you can’t. It’s bad enough that we have a councilwoman as hostage, we’re not taking Christina hostage too.”
“That’s easy for you to say. You’re the only one with a woman in your bed,” I sneered back at Khan.
“A woman in my bed?” He narrowed his eyes at me. “What I do with Pearl isn’t your fucking business.”
I arched a brow. “So you can watch me fuck Christina but what happens in your bedroom is a secret?”
“What are you talking about?” Magni interjected. “When did you see Boulder and Christina?”
“He spies on us,” I explained. “Maybe he spied on you and Laura too.”
Magni pinned Khan with his gaze. “Is this true? Did you?”
“What?”
“Spy on me and Laura?”
“No, of course not.”
I was walking toward the door, growling in frustration. “This is all a fucking mess.”
Behind me the brothers were still arguing.