THE QUEEN OF TIME
2570 A.D.!
A TALE OF ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE
By Jerome B. Bigge
Chapter Forty Eight
"I like a world that is `warm'," Jon said to me as we flew back to Trella. "A world where you don't have to wear an oxygen mask and gasp for breath all the time," he added. The surface pressure of Mars being such that even breathing pure oxygen you still feel out of breath all the time. The Women and the Lorr are of course used to such, but while the Women look "human", it should be noted here that their lungs and blood are "different".
"The Women are `beautiful'," I teased him as we flew along.
"And as `strange' as the Lorr in their own way," Jon smiled.
"There were `feminists' in the Twentieth Century who would have liked such a society," I pointed out, the clouds like drift- ing puffs of white cotton against the deep azure blue of the sky. We were just past the Sierras, and flying over the lower hills.
"There are always `queer' women and other `unnatural' forms of life," Jon smiled back. Like most people of the Twenty Sixth Century he viewed homosexuality as a "mental disease", one to be "cured" by the Priestesses. To Jon and everyone else the idea that someone might enjoy being homosexual made no more sense than the idea that someone might enjoy being "sick" with some disease. While it is true that some free women enjoy being "lapped out" by their slave girls, this is considered much in the same light as if the action was being performed by a dog. Slave girls under the law still being considered "animals" in the legal sense here.
"What about male homosexuals?" I retorted back at him then.
"A man uses his `hand' if he doesn't have a woman," he said. In a society like ours few men went for long without "having" a woman, prostitution being "legal" and female slavery commonplace. It is known that such things tend to "keep women in their place", which is perhaps one of the "reasons" that they now exist again.
"There were cultures in the past where homosexuality was considered `normal'," I pointed out. The Greeks of the Classical Era having viewed such matters in a far different light than now.
"And what ever happened to any of them?" Jon retorted back. I rather suspected that he "had me" there. On the other hand I'd guess that homosexuality might have had a weakening effect upon a society in that homosexuals would be less likely to get married. Less "likely" to father children, to pass their genes on to the next generation. This is probably the major reason why most an- cient peoples were so strongly opposed to the homosexual as such. In societies with high infant mortality rates, with almost con- stant warfare, a high birthrate would be a decisive factor there.
"There were people in the Twentieth Century who thought that a woman like me must be `gay'," I smiled, my own appearance being such that I did look rather "butch" in a way, as well as the fact that I had rather "unfeminine" interests in a number of things...
"No woman as `good in bed' as you could be," Jon grinned.
"We don't have to get to Trella right away," I smiled back.
"A lovely place," Jon said, looking about as I tied down the plane. The small lake glittering in the sunlight, the clouds now spotting the sky adding their own bit of beauty now to the scene. We didn't have any wine or snacks, but I did have a blanket... A heavy forest on all sides, the breeze rustling the leaves a bit.
"Perhaps now we can start living as marrieds," I smiled.
"I'm a pretty `lucky' man," Jon said, watching me undress.
"You could have had a wife with a nice smooth skin," I said. I'm all scarred up from battle, from all the fights I've been in. If that splinter had hit me harder and in a different spot I'd be dead now, just another memory like so many others I've now known.
"I think I prefer a woman who can stand by a man," he said, removing his vest and kilt, the common attire of men in this era. "There's more to being a good wife than just being beautiful..."
"You knew `what' you were getting when you married me," I said, moving into his arms, molding my naked body up against his.
"That's `why' I wanted you, and no one else," Jon said then.
"We could `retire', go live on your estate," Jon said to me. Holding me in his arms, cuddling me as I laid fucked beside him. I tend to be a woman who always has "doubts" about herself a bit. I am not a beautiful woman, I don't have a "ripe" figure, or most of the qualities that men usually find "attractive" in a woman. I'm supposedly "easy to get along with" according to Jon, but I'm of the opinion this due more to the fact that unlike most married couples, we don't have the things to fight about that most would. As a Queen I am so wealthy that money means very little to me, a fact that I think makes it possible for us to live as we do here. I do have a lot of jewelry, perfume, "everything else" any woman might desire, slaves to serve me in any way I wish, and "duties" that are "light" enough that I really don't feel tied down here.
"Let Amethysta rule Trelandar?" I smiled, kissing him back.
"She and Sanda could do a good job of it," he pointed out.
"You wouldn't like the way I'd get," I spoke thoughtfully.
"You can't `let go', can you?" Jon smiled, knowing me well.
"Not for `long'," I smiled, kissing him, caressing him now. I did not think that another half hour would really matter here. We had have so little "time" together over the years that we both value these moments together when both of us can "forget" it all!
"I'm glad you flew through that "Gateway", Jon said to me as we flew back towards Trella. "This is `where' you belong now..."
"I was a `misfit' in my own era," I answered, recalling as if was only yesterday some of the political ideas I'd seen then. And the real disintegration of American society didn't start un- til the Clinton era, when homosexuals, feminists, Blacks, and ev- ery other "minority" group demanded "their share of the pie" even if they had done nothing in the first place to produce it here!!! That had been perhaps the "beginning of the end", the economic and social "bankruptcy" that had brought Janet Rogers to power in 2008. And it is evident that the Democratic Party was to blame!! That same political party so much based upon human greed and envy, upon very much the same "ideals" that throughout all of hu- man history have been proven to be the "destroyers" of society. That recurring false "belief" that there is a "free lunch", that you can somehow "have" things without ever having to "pay" for them. The lies of those who in their hearts perhaps know better! Politicians who in order to get elected appeal to the greed and envy in people, people like Les Hawkins, like Bill Clinton, like that agent of Princess Tara who sought to become another "prin- cess of evil" like her mistress had once been. That woman whose first name had oddly been "Hillary", who had perhaps too admired the first "Hillary", who had done so much to destroy her own so- ciety back in the Twentieth and early Twentieth First Centuries.
"You look `better'," Sanda said to me as we shared drinks that night. I supposed that was possible, I mused thoughtfully.
"You should find a man, get yourself laid," Jon grinned.
"Jon!" I laughed, Sanda "blushing" a bit as she sat there.
"It's not good for a woman to rely on her `hand' too long," Jon observed, no doubt delighting in Lady Talen's blushing too!
"What makes you believe that I don't have a `lover'?" Sanda suddenly challenged him back. "I'm not unattractive," she added! Sanda then explaining that she'd kept it a secret from all of us!
"Why?" I asked, puzzled here that she'd do such a thing!
"When Les Hawkins started to `make trouble', I planted an `agent' of mine on his staff so I'd know what he was up to," San- da explained. "He reported to me on a regular basis on Hawkins' activities when we met in a certain tavern not far from here, and I suppose one thing did lead to another and we became `lovers'." Sanda going on to say that any public "acknowledgment" would have "blown his cover" and ruined the entire operation she had going!!
"Going to get married?" Jon asked, regarding the brunette.
"We `are'," Sanda smiled, her dark eyes flashing into his!
"You're not `neck chained'," I observed, such being the cus- tom in this era although there is no legal sanction for it here.
"There is `another' like `Hawkins' in the Assembly," Sanda said. "My husband is now on his staff," she continued on here. I supposed that was good enough reason to keep this all "secret".
"I wonder if we can `trust' her," Jon laughed to me now.
"She has a history of being `tricky'," I smiled back.
"I prefer other `weapons' than the sword," Sanda said.
"Just as long as you aren't another `Hillary'," I smiled.
"The woman was once a part of my organization," Sanda said.
"Makes sense when you think about it," I mused thoughtfully.
"There was a time when I thought too little of `honor'," she said. I could understand such things, the desperation back then. The seeking of "allies" wherever they might be found, even if it was likely that they could be a danger to you later on here then! "`Drew the line' at Tara however, woman just too mean for me..."
"I guess she's worth `keeping around'," Jon grinned at me.
"Yes, I'd say so," I smiled, regarding my Prime Minister.
"And she is rather nice to look at," Jon grinned back.
"Even if she is `married'," I smiled, Sanda nodding.
"Probably `better' that way..." Jon smiled at me.