Every Man's Fantasy Ch. 14

"What's a 'matronymic'?" he asked.

"It's your mother's name. We use it with your tribe to identify you. I'm Solange Malkasdaughter Herder."

"Oh, then I'm Ezra Mariottason. But why do you use matronymics instead of surnames? You all have surnames, I presume, or your ancestors did."

"It's the wisdom of the Founders to keep the peace," Madam Lawspeaker explained. "The Founders knew that when small close-knit communities on Earth failed, it was always due to conflict caused either by social status, sex or property. So the Founders decided we should start with a clean slate and be judged on our talents. We shouldn't use our surnames or anything that reminded us of our family status on Earth."

"We also have strict marriage laws; and we hold land in common within the tribes. Madam Recorder remembers our surnames and what property each woman is heir to - for when such information will be relevant again."

"I see," he said. "It makes sense. So here's my second question: Why are there no pigs on Samothea?"

There was a whisper from beside Gloria: "He knows." "Shush!" said another voice.

"Good question, Ezra," Gloria replied. "Also, no goats, dogs, cats or donkeys; only one type of sheep or horse; and only two kinds of cattle. Can you guess why?"

"Well, at first, I thought it might be a dietary reason, but that seems unlikely. Then I guessed it might be cultural; but there's no religion on Samothea that I know of. So my guess is that you're using the pig cloning kits for people."

"Go on," Gloria said.

"Kalyndra told me women have only one go at conceiving a clone because you've got a limited number of cloning kits. Hence the rumour that they're running out; but I don't believe it. It's not the kits you're running out of: it's some vital component. After all, the kit is just a few swabs, a hypodermic and an applicator. There must be some active ingredient that's involved to explain why you've put up the price of cloned children consistently for the last fifteen years."

"True," Gloria admitted. "Tell us more. Tell us how the cloning kits work."

"Gloria?" the Lawspeaker warned.

"As you said, Madam, we have no secrets," Gloria said, firmly.

"All right," Ezra said. "The cloning kits work by molecular nanotechnology."

"Nanotech!" was the whisper on the other side of the table.

"I think the kits have two or three kinds of nanotechnology," he continued, "maybe in the form of a serum or crystals you can add to a fluid. You start by taking some cells from the woman. Kalyndra said you cut some skin from one of her nipples, I suppose because it's easy to get living skin from the teat of a pig."

"That sample is treated with one kind of nanotechnology which, I guess, separates out a cell and reverts it from its adult stage to an embryonic stage."

"Another process uses blood samples to test the exact place a woman is in her monthly cycle. And the third process uses the applicator to implant the cloned cell in the wall of the uterus. Am I right?"

"Madam Medic?" Gloria said.

"Mostly right, Ezra Goldrick," she said in a strong clear voice that belied her physical frailty.

"In fact, we use four types of nanotech, er, 'nano-technology'. The first kind we call the red nanotech. It reverts the cells from their differentiated states to an embryonic stage. The second type of nanotech - the purple nanotech - separates out one cell and isolates it, so we can collect it up and implant it. It makes a dark spot in the serum which you can see through a microscope and suck up in a pipette."

"The white nanotech is mixed with the blood and changes colour to indicate the best time to implant; and the green nanotech is placed in the applicator ahead of the cloned cell, to prepare the uterus for the cell."

"Why do you call the kinds of nanotech by colours?" he asked.

"Because they are the colours they're labelled in the kit."

"And am I right in guessing you're running out of nanotech?"

"No. Not exactly," Sally (Madam Scientist) said. "We're running out of the red and the green nanotech; but that's not the real problem."

"All right," Ezra said, "then I can guess what the real problem is. Most nanotech on Earth can reproduce itself, so it's either designed to be sterile or is kept under sterile conditions. That's why you couldn't let me into the cloning lab: not because I might contaminate your nanotech, but because the nanotech may get loose and contaminate everyone else."

What little opposition there had been to letting Ezra know about how the cloning kits work now dissolved. It seemed that he understood the process just as well as either Madam Medic or Madam Scientist. Gloria nodded to Sally, who continued her explanation.

"Quite right, Ezra Goldrick," she said. "We know we have to keep the nanotech away from the raw material it uses to replicate itself. One problem is that, although we know what the raw material is, we don't really understand what's going on at the chemical level. There may be lots of the raw materials all around us. If so, the nanotech would spread like a plague, so we do the replicating in a sealed room and use only the store of raw materials the Founders left us."

"And it's the original store that's running down?" Ezra suggested.

"Yes. We know the names of the minerals but we don't know how to identify them. We have enough of each kind of raw material to make enough nanotech for hundreds more kits; but, after that, cloning stops - for horses, sheep and cows as well as women."

"I can help," Ezra said confidently.

"You can?" Gloria asked.

"I'm a geologist. If you show me the chemical formula for the raw material, I can probably find a source of the elements you need, in minerals or other natural things."

Gloria signalled Madam Medic, who opened the large leather volume in front of her and flicked through the pages until she found what she wanted, saying to Ezra and the chiefs:

"This is our medical science book. It contains the instructions for the cloning lab and the details of the nanotech."

He looked over her shoulder as she turned the pages of the hand-written text until he'd read the whole section.

"I know all these elements," Ezra said. "Besides the commoner ones, like carbon, nitrogen, calcium and iron, we need iodine, magnesium, bismuth and strontium. We can get some from sea-weed or animal blood and bones. The others will come from minerals we can find the White Mountains because they are products of volcanic activity. I'm certain I can help you make new cloning kits."

He sat down feeling happier than he'd done since the discussion began. He even began to plan in his mind a trip to the White Mountains.

The three chiefs had sat silently all through this exchange. This was unusual for Mirselene, who at last had something to add, saying to Ezra:

"It's very noble of you, of course, to help the Cloners," she said, "but do you really need to? After all, we know you're potent. When you've had enough sons and daughters to sustain our numbers, we won't need cloning ever again."

"I'm sorry to contradict you, Mirselene," he said, "but we will need cloning for quite some time. My children can never mate with each other."

"It would be incest!" pointed out Madam Lawspeaker.

"You're right, of course, Madam Lawspeaker," he said, "but I was also thinking of biology. My sons should mate only with clones unrelated to them. Maybe, long in the future, distant cousins can mate; but no step-siblings. The danger's too great."

"Genetic bottleneck," Solange said, remembering her conversation with Ezra on the subject.

"That's right, Solange," Ezra confirmed. "My children must mate with strangers, not with close relatives, or further generations may have health problems and even deformities."

"You're assuming you will sire sons," Madam Medic said.

"Is there any reason to think I cannot?"

"One good reason: none of the Founders' attempts to clone men or male animals succeeded."

"Do you know why?" he wondered.

"No one knows why. We have theories but no explanation."

Ezra nodded. He didn't ask what the theories were. He had plenty to think about as it was. The table went quiet as the chiefs and Ezra digested what they'd learned. Then Calliope asked to see the medical textbook.

"Go ahead, Madam," Gloria said. "There's a copy for each of the tribes - with our apologies for being so tardy in giving them to you."

The three chiefs looked astounded. Even Solange was taken aback. Where was the arrogance of the Cloners? Where their superiority? These were different women from more recent times - kinder, more conciliatory. Had Gloria achieved this change in just six months?

"We have other books in preparation as well," Gloria continued. "We're working on the Book of Scientific Knowledge, Memories of Earth, the Story of Samothea, the Laws and Constitution of Samothea and the Family Name Book ..."

There was a stirring to Gloria's right as she pronounced the name of this last volume.

"... which Madam Lawspeaker advises should not be made public ..."

The Lawspeaker sat even more upright in her chair and prepared to make a comment.

" - for reasons she has already given us," Gloria added firmly, cutting off the interruption before it began.

"Ladies," she concluded, "I invite your opinions on the matter at the chieftains' meeting. The question is: will it disrupt the harmony of our society to publish the records of our ancestry?"

The three chiefs shared a glance but made no answer for now.

"Meanwhile, I would like to know from Ezra Goldrick of the Three Tribes precisely what problem brought him to visit us here in the Cloner City, to examine our medical equipment?"

The chiefs had already given their approval: Ezra was free to tell the story of the salvage operation and the discovery of Yumi. He took another cup of water and began to tell how he crash-landed in the sea.

4Megan joins the Juniors

While the councillors and chiefs talked, Hazel, the pretty blonde Junior, showed Megan upstairs into the Junior dormitory, where two other Juniors sat chatting comfortably on a bed.

"Girls," Hazel said, "this is Megan Herder. She's sleeping here tonight."

The Juniors got up to greet their guest.

"Hello, I'm Preeda," said a petite girl of Thai ancestry. She had a small round face and long, tightly braided, shiny black hair.

"I'm Jenna," said the other, a skinny black girl with a rich smile showing strong white teeth. Her dark eyes shone in bright friendly welcome.

The first thing Megan noticed in the Junior dormitory was how much stuff the girls had. There were six beds. The one nearest the door was empty but the others, even the one the girls had been sitting on, were covered with piles of clothes of every shape and style. Books and assorted knick-knacks essential to a young woman's happiness hogged every spare surface, and boxes with who-knew-what contents were ever-present obstacles on the floor. There was lots of furniture: chairs, dressers, a large wardrobe and a long mirror.

Clearly the girls had been trying on clothes. Megan marvelled at the wealth of the Juniors; though, as a woman whose tribe kept minimal possessions so they could move easily, she disapproved both the luxury and the clutter.

"Megan, this will be your bed," Hazel said, indicating the empty one by the door. "Would you like to rest while we do our chores?"

"I'd like to help," Megan said. "What can I do?"

"You can help me make up a room for Ezra. ... Jenna, you make Megan's bed and Preeda, will you to go to the Fair to order dinner for thirteen in two hours, please?"

Preeda was a sweet and submissive girl who normally obeyed straight away, but now she delayed, reluctant to leave.

"What is it, Preeda?" Hazel asked.

"Promise me you won't say anything interesting while I'm gone?"

"Of course not, away with you."

Now the girl rushed off to her task, running in the hope she might be back before she missed anything important.

The second thing Megan noticed, therefore, was that Hazel was the senior Junior (as it were), the one who gave the orders.

With armfuls of bedclothes, Hazel led Megan to a spare room, where they placed Ezra's pack and made him up a bed.

Back in the Junior dormitory, Jenna made Megan's bed and began to put away some of the mounds of clothes in the wardrobe. Ten minutes later, Preeda returned, breathing heavily after sprinting up the stairs. That reminded Megan.

"What did you mean about not saying anything interesting?" she asked the panting girl.

"Sex, of course," Hazel answered on Preeda's behalf, "especially sex with Ezra Goldrick of the Three Tribes."

"What do you girls know about sex?" Megan asked.

"Not much yet but we're learning," Jenna replied.

"From each other," Preeda added.

Megan smiled, thinking how lucky the girls were. Suddenly she thought of herself as a matron, with experience and knowledge to share. It was an odd idea - she was only a few years older than the Juniors - but it gave her a pleasing sense of power.

"I'll tell you what I know," she said.

The girls finished their tasks and sat down. The three Juniors sat on the bed that Jenna had just cleared and Megan sat facing them on her own bed.

She unstrapped her sandals and sat cross-legged, her arms and shoulders relaxed, preparing to tell the girls what most women at the Cloner Fair also wanted to know.

"Sex with Ezra is beautiful and exciting," she explained. "He's passionate and eager and makes me respond in ways I don't expect or didn't previously know I could."

"Is sex better with a man?" Hazel enquired.

"No."

"Ah-ha!" said Jenna.

"What do you mean, 'Ah-ha!'?" Megan asked.

"Your mouth said 'No' but your eyes said 'Yes'."

"I saw that," agreed Preeda.

"Come on, Megan," Hazel implored. "Tell us everything."

"All right, but it's hard to explain. ... Sex is better in some ways with a man but not in others. ... Ezra is hard where women are soft. ... He tends to take charge, even when he doesn't mean to. It's like he's in control because he knows what he wants more than me. ... With women, it's usually all soft touches and gentle caresses and feeling what the other woman feels, doing to her what you like having done to yourself, listening for her responses and being guided by them. ... We like to tease and delay and even when we reach a climax, it's all about reassurance and mutual pleasure."

"With Ezra, it's more like a contest. Sure, he gives me pleasure - amazing, unbelievable pleasure - but it's more like him taking what he wants from me and me giving myself to him. I find I'm responding to him, even when I'm on top and controlling everything."

"Does he have all the power," Hazel asked. "Is he rough?"

"No; yes; sort of. It's complex. Sometimes I have the power over him. I can tease him a lot, but nowhere as much as I can tease a woman because he'll reach a point where he can't control himself any more; then he'll take me forcefully. That's the best bit of all: the idea that I've got him to a point - with my mouth or my body - where he's got to give in and use me to finish himself off."

"How do you tease him? How do you make him lose control?" Hazel asked.

Megan told the Juniors what it was like to suck Ezra's cock, giving him uncontrollable pleasure just with her mouth. She said it was really his only erogenous zone, which the girls could hardly believe.

As they sat there, eyes shining, hanging on her every word, Megan realised she was talking for her own sake, trying to sort out in her own mind exactly how she felt, why she longed for Ezra and neglected her female lovers.

She also realised she was getting the Juniors excited. It was unfair to them, if there was no outlet for their desires. She needed to calm things down a bit.

"That's enough about sex for now. Tell me about yourselves. How long have you been Juniors together?"

"I'm nearly nineteen," Hazel said, "so I won't be a Junior much longer. Jenna joined me seven months ago and Preeda has been a Junior only two months."

"So what work will you be doing after this, Hazel?"

"I'm a Farmer, so I'll work in the fields or maybe with the cows or chickens. It depends on what needs doing."

"You're a Farmer? I assumed you were all Cloners."

"No, the Juniors can be Farmers, Miners or Cloners, though there aren't many teenage Miners."

"But how will you like it working in the fields after living with all this luxury?" Megan wondered.

"It'll be fine. It's hard work, planting, sowing, reaping and digging drainage ditches, but it's satisfying and I love my tribe. I love how we sing as we work; and we have wonderful feasts at the end of a hard day."

"I bet you keep all the best produce for yourselves," Megan said, not at all envious.

Hazel smiled silently to herself and the other girls laughed.

"All right," Megan said, "what's it like being a Junior? What's the best part?"

"The best for me is living in the Hall here with these girls," Hazel said.

"Same for me," agreed Jenna. "It's fun living with the Juniors."

"Yes, it's the other girls;" Preeda said. "And I like serving at the big table."

"I like the clothes," Jenna added.

"So what are the worst parts?" Megan asked.

"It's a long day, getting up before the councillors and going to bed after them," Hazel said.

"It's boring having to wait around," Jenna said.

"I don't like washing the councillors," Preeda said in a quiet voice.

"Ew!" said Megan. "You have to wash those old women!"

"And dress them," Jenna said, laughing. "It's not so terrible. They're sweet old dears, mostly."

"Preeda will get used to it," Hazel said, wisely. "It's better than being a nurse."

"I don't like when Madam Lawspeaker touches me," Preeda said.

"What do you mean she touches you?"

"Oh it's nothing improper," Hazel clarified. "Just a pat on the bottom or a hand on a cheek."

"She strokes my hair and says how pretty I am," Preeda said. "Maybe it's innocent but there's no need for it."

"You should report her to Madam Gloria - or does she touch you as well?"

"Never ... unfortunately," Jenna said. "I wouldn't mind if she did."

"Nor me," agreed Hazel, "she can touch me anywhere she likes anytime she wants."

"Me too," said Preeda.

"You all fancy Gloria?"

"Of course, don't you?" asked Jenna.

"She's not beautiful."

"You need to see her up close," Preeda said. "When she looks at you, you just melt in her eyes. She sees everything. She knows you all the way through."

"Ezra's smitten," Hazel said. "You can tell by how he looks at her."

Megan felt jealous. An instant and mortifying passion. She'd never felt jealous of any woman Ezra had slept with. She'd been in orgies with him and felt only pleasure that she'd been able to share him with her girlfriends. Now she felt affronted, as if he'd cheated on her. She needed to see for herself how he looked at Gloria.

"Girls, I'd like to help some more, if I can. Will you let me be a Junior and wait on the table at dinner with you?"

"We'd love you to," Hazel exclaimed, "but you won't want to be a Junior dressed like that."

Megan was in her practical leather shorts and jacket. They were old and faded, besides being a little dusty from the journey.

"Come on, we'll have a wash and dress you for dinner."

"Yes," agreed Jenna, "we'll show you how we wash the councillors."

The girls stripped and ran down to the bathroom, carrying thick towels which they left on hooks by the door. They fetched buckets of water, sponges and small bars of soft clay.

They began to wash each other, laughing as they splashed water around, rubbing each other with the clay and washing it off with the sponges. Then they got Megan to stand in the middle of a shower and began to work on her, cleaning her from the head down.

The Juniors laughed as they splashed, getting more water on each other than on Megan, but when she was fully lathered in clay, they became more serious and attended properly to their tasks.