Five months later – October 2437
“I mean it, Finn.” Pearl jabbed her finger into my chest. “This is a serious matter. Not everything in life is a joke, and I’m putting my trust in you.”
As one of the five men that Pearl had chosen to represent the Northlands, I was about to set out on a journey into the Motherlands. My mission was to educate the Momsies and show them that we Nmen weren’t the abhorrent creatures they had made us out to be.
“Oh, he’ll behave himself,” Khan said and pounded my shoulder harder than necessary. “Won’t you?”
“Absolutely!” I gave them my most trustworthy smile. “Don’t worry, I’ll have all the women falling head over heels in love with me in no time.”
Pearl linked her arm with Khan and a small triangle formed between her eyebrows. “This is about diplomacy, and your goal isn’t to sleep with as many women as possible. Your goal is to show them that they have nothing to fear from Nmen.”
“Trust and sex can go hand-in-hand, and as the official seducer, I won’t disappoint you.”
“You’re a representative,” Pearl corrected me with a small smile. “You can’t just come up with a title of official seducer.”
“Why not? Representative sounds so boring.” I lifted my hand and underscored a headline in the air. “I prefer Charmer or Seducer Extraordinaire.”
“Representative!” Pearl repeated. “Now, please remember all the things I told you about being nice to the mediator. He or she will be your new best friend, guiding you around the country and keeping you safe.”
“You already told me ten times.”
Pearl ignored my comment and continued repeating instructions that she had already given me.
“I’m very proud of you for seeking out Athena and asking her for her forgiveness. The fact that you show remorse for your role in keeping her a hostage tells me I made the right choice when I picked you.”
“Yeah, I feel horrible about what happened to Athena,” I lied. “I think you’re right, Pearl, asking for her forgiveness is really going to help unburden me. It’s hard to sleep at night when you know you’ve done something wrong.”
Magni raised his eyebrows and gave me a pointed stare, telling me that I was taking it too far.
“Magni.” Pearl turned to her brother-in-law. “Are you absolutely sure you don’t wish for Finn to carry your apology with him when he goes to see Athena? It was you who kidnapped her, after all.”
“Nahh, I’m good.”
“But maybe if you…” Pearl started, but was interrupted by her husband Khan, who put his hand on her forearm.
“You’re wasting your breath, honey, I know you don’t understand this but it’s a pride thing, and Magni and I weren’t raised to apologize.”
Pearl opened her mouth to speak, but wisely closed it again. “Well, at least Finn is man enough to apologize and that gives me hope for the rest of you.”
We watched her walk away before Khan spoke.
“I can’t believe she still can’t read you well enough to see when you’re lying.”
“That’s a good thing,” I said and chuckled. “I doubt she would’ve convinced the Council to let me go and see Athena if she knew the truth.”
“Just don’t upset her.”
“Who? Athena or Pearl?” I asked.
Khan frowned. “Both. It’s a miracle that Athena even agreed to see you. I can’t imagine she has pleasant memories of her five days as our hostage.”
“It wasn’t all bad,” I defended myself. “Maybe the first night was a disaster, but she wasn’t a complete pain in the ass the whole time.”
“Hmm.” Khan walked to the door. “Don’t forget to report back to us about your progress.”
A slow smile spread on my face. “Do you want all the dirty details?”
“The dirtier the better,” Magni said. “And don’t forget to look for Laura.”
I gave him my promise and half an hour later, I crossed the border to the Motherlands together with four other men that Pearl had selected for this mission. We had met as a group when we were briefed about the project, and they all seemed to be great guys between the ages of twenty-five and thirty-four.
Since I had already been to the Motherlands as part of an experiment to integrate children in a school class, I wasn’t as nervous as the rest of the men.
“I feel so stupid without my beard,” Bruce Lee muttered as we walked toward a welcoming committee. His hands rubbed his cheeks.
“Then why did you shave?” I asked but looked straight ahead.
“Because Christina and Pearl told me that I would fit in better if I shaved.”
“You idiot. We’re not supposed to fit in; the whole idea is that we’re taking a stand for our right to be different. I know you want to get laid but believe me, my beard didn’t scare the women away when I was here the last time.”
He shot me a sideways glance, and played nervously with a leather band around his wrist. “I wish we were going together as a group,” he muttered. “Christina was the first woman I ever met, and you should’ve seen how awkward I was around her in the beginning when I worked at the digging site. I’m afraid I’m going to mess this up for everyone.” With his ink-black hair and a bit of slanted eyes, Bruce Lee showed traces of Asian ancestry.
“It can’t have been that bad or Christina wouldn’t have recommended you to Pearl,” I pointed out in a whisper before we stood across from a delegation from the Motherlands consisting of four women and two men. One of them was Isobel, Pearl’s mother, whom I had met when Pearl and Khan married. I gave her a smile of recognition that she returned.
“Welcome.” Spreading out her arms in a grand gesture, she had our full attention right away. “May peace surround you all. My name is Isobel and I am the chairwoman of the Council here in the Motherlands. I know every one of you has been selected by my daughter with great care, and I trust that you are aware of the heavy responsibility on your shoulders.
“Pearl has guaranteed us that you are trustworthy, kind, and nonviolent men.” Her last words hung in the air as if she challenged us to contradict her.
“Each of you will be traveling to different areas of our country in the company of a skilled mediator. They are trained to handle conflicts, should they occur, and they are eager to teach you about our society and way of life.”
With the efficiency of someone used to delegating, Isobel matched us with our personal guides.
Bruce Lee smiled when he was paired up with a cute brunette called Antoinette.
I on the other hand scowled when Hans was assigned to me. It wasn’t that I had a problem with males, but the three female mediators that were walking over to officially greet each one’s appointed Nman were a lot prettier than the two I had come to know during my last visit to the Motherlands.
“May peace surround you,” Hans said and reached his hands out to me with a warm smile.
I had done this silly greeting before, but I wasn’t in the mood to stare into another man’s eyes for ten seconds, so I chose the Northland way and shook his right hand up and down.
He took it well, so I figured someone had warned him that we did things in a different way. “Would you like to say goodbye to your friends before we leave? Our drone is just over there.” He pointed behind his back.
Since I had only met the other Nmen today, I wouldn’t exactly call them my friends, but I called out a “Good luck” to Bruce Lee. He was too busy holding hands with the cute brunette and staring into her eyes to even hear me.
“How about I meet you at the drone? I just need to talk to Isobel about an urgent matter.”
Hans walked off to the drone while I approached the chairwoman of the Motherland’s Council.
“Good to see you again, Isobel.”
“Same to you, Finn.” She smiled and reached out her hands to me. This time I took them.
“I thought we were friends, Isobel – remember how I protected you when you went to Pearl’s wedding?”
Her smile didn’t waver. “Of course I remember.”
Casting a quick glance toward the drone where Hans now stood waiting for me, I leaned in a little. “Then how come I get a male mediator?”
Her lips pursed. “Because you already slept with the two female mediators that were assigned to your group when you were last here.”
“They told you that?”
“Not in detail,” she admitted. “But yes, we know full well about all your escapades, and since that is not the purpose of your visit, we decided to try a new approach.”
“Wait a minute, are you saying I’m not allowed to have sex with any women while I’m here?”
“I don’t see how we could stop you. And as long as it’s consensual, it’s really none of our business. But when it comes to the mediators we prefer that they keep their focus on the task instead of the person.”
I looked over at the four other men. “What makes you think that they are going to be any different from me?”
Isobel shrugged. “Hans is a very nice person and a skilled mediator. I’ve told him about you and he is excited to be your guide and protector.”
I winced at that last word. “Protector? What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
Isobel placed a hand on my wrist. “Nothing for you to worry about; it’s not like we expect a mob of people to attack you. When I say protector, it has a different meaning here than in the Northlands. You could say that Hans will protect you from yourself.”
“Excuse me?”
Isobel fixed her eyes on the collar of my jacket. “Maybe I didn’t explain that very well,” she said. “It’s just that you Nmen have a tendency to speak without a filter, and that could easily get you into an awkward social situations. Hans will guide you and teach you about our ways to protect you from that happening.”
Placing my hands in my pockets, I rocked back on my feet. “You know I adore you, Isobel, but you’re naïve if you think you can change me into a Motlander. I’m not going to change who I am or how I speak.”
It wasn’t the first time I had made Isobel blush a little.
“I adore you too, Finn, and I am certain that you and Hans will have a very good time together. Now go in peace, my friend. I believe Athena is waiting for you.”