Do You, Earth, Take This...            by: RJMcD

 

Part One

 

Chapter One

Ron Dennet shuffled along with the other men, moving up the dusty path toward the vehicles at the top of the hill. An oppressive sun beat down on the line as it snaked up the side of the quarry, but Dennet wasn't even sure which sun to complain about. The Arizona sun? The Nevada Sun? The New Mexico sun? Hell, maybe it was even the old Mexico sun.

"Move along," said one of the tall military guards. There wasn't any insistence in his voice. Though Human, Zin didn't display emotions the way Earthmen did and it was sometimes hard to tell when they were angry or when they were satisfied. Even Dennet, who had always made a point of understanding other cultures, occasionally misinterpreted communications from a Zin.

"Damn heat!" said the man in front of him.

"It's a bitch," the closest Zin guard agreed.

Zin never minded if any of the Earthmen talked, as long as it was in a language they understood, was loud enough for them to hear, and wasn't anything inflammatory. Most of them liked the opportunity to practice Earth tongues. They didn't even mind being called Zin, though they themselves only referred to their planet as Zin and called themselves Marfmanols.

When their armada of ships had first been spotted scientists, then politicians, then the public, had gone into a frenzy. A message was received. "We come in peace." (It was later learned that the cliché had been chosen as a joke; the Zin did have a similar sense of humor). It was in clear English. Scientists in six different countries had spotted the ships at about the same time and it was impossible to keep it a secret. People left the cities as fast as possible. Areas around military targets became ghost towns. Armies mobilized. Men worldwide immediately volunteered by the millions.

"Stop your progress and please send a representative," was the message from the U.S. government. Others sent similar messages. The Zin, of course, didn't stop. They delayed before finally replying, "Please explain progress. Please explain representative, Thank you." and they kept on coming. Replies were sent, and met with more requests for explanations. When they were close enough they attacked.

The war was not easily lost, despite the advanced weaponry and superior mobility of the aliens. There were things they didn't know, and things they had misunderstood about Earth, and that cost them – and they had no supply lines. But Earth's casualties were unimaginably heavy, as the Zin displayed merciless might and a take-no-prisoners battle plan.

It was said, as soon as the Zin were seen in person, that they were superhumans. Not simply because they looked, sounded, and for the most part behaved like other humans, but that their height, which averaged four to seven inches over six feet, commensurate weight, and their advanced technological status indicated they were a super version of us. There was still some of that "superhumans" talk going around, but after the war, after the men of Earth got used to being around the Zin, they started accepting the Zin story.

The Zin were not cruel victors, but neither were they apt to change their minds when presented with Earth reasoning. They even apologized for invading. Zin, they said, (and this was their story), had been in slow but steady decline for over a hundred of our years. The soil was depleted of key minerals and they hadn't been able to figure how to create what they needed, and hadn't found it on closer planets. People were dying. Forty years ago one of their governments (there were over twenty) discovered Earth, and proposed making contact and establishing trade. But the more they studied Earth cultures the less that sounded like a viable solution to their problem. Instead, they increased their monitoring abilities, studied us, learned our languages, and, twenty years ago, sent a single ship to perform a kidnapping. When things finally reached a point of desperation, all the Zin nations got together and created an invasion force.

Once Earth had been conquered a fleet of transport ships landed and began sending back key items. Dirt, plants, animals, and fresh water were loaded by machinery and by forced Earth labor. After the third round of ships they had enough to save their planet and those of their people that remained alive. Then they took Earth's women. The women of Zin, they explained, were the ones that had died, and they needed women to keep their civilization going.

Some twenty years ago, when they had sent a small ship here and kidnapped a woman, they had confirmed that we were also Marfmanols, or Humans as we called ourselves. Their scientists hypothesized that some time in the very distant past a planet had exploded, throwing its Marfmanol seeds into the universe. Some had landed on Earth and some on Zin and perhaps some on other moons or planets where conditions were different and unable to grow life. The slight differences in the gravity, ecology and evolution of Earth and Zin accounted for our different sizes and the other minor variations between us. We might, the Zin suggested, think of them as another race in the mix of "Humans" who had simply been in an environment that made them grow bigger, like Swedes were bigger than Filipinos. Zin itself had "races", which they called Heffs, though they said their physical differences were fewer than between the races on Earth.

With the kidnapped woman they also found out they could breed with us, as their scientists had predicted. There were two Zin-Earth children on Zin at this very moment, and the woman was healthy and happy.

Ron Dennet had bought into most all of the Zin's story, as had the vast majority of Earth. The Zin probably were humans, or at least close cousins. There might even be other, distant planets with environments similar to Earth and Zin where the seeds had landed, and those as yet unknown planets might have also produced Humans. A year after the war, however, it really didn't matter whether there were or weren't. Zin controlled Earth, and that was the important thing. Dennet didn't believe the kidnapped woman was happy. Few did. No one could go through that and be happy. She might be in an almost catatonic state, something that could be said of some of the men on post-war Earth, but that was a long way from happy.

Dennet reached the top of the hill and walked to one of the dozen air-conditioned converted school buses that were waiting. He was as eager as the rest of the miners to get out of the sun and into the cool air. There would be a bottle of spring water and probably another of cola on each seat and he was looking forward to that. When they got back to the camp they'd all shower, washing the dirt and grim from their bodies, and then be able to relax in the air-conditioned community room, dressed in fresh clothing. Maybe he'd watch a movie. It was amazing how many movies had been made that he'd never seen.

 

 

Chapter Two

Hundreds of millions of men had been killed during the Zin invasion, and probably ninety percent or more had been Earth casualties. The remaining population, both military survivors and civilians, had been gathered together at various locations around the globe. The Zin, knowing their plan but not disclosing it, had been clever. At first they separated the men and women into isolated living quarters "to prevent jealousy and violence" and because the women were doing different work. The men were trained in mining, farming, and construction, as well as common infrastructure support jobs, taught by those who already knew the trades.

Large groups of men were sent to work on "projects", further separating them from their families. The projects never seemed to be completed, or if they were then there was always another project that just happened to be located even farther away.

The Zin knew little about grays, and appeared to operate in a world of black and white. They generally treated the people of Earth with kindness and were friendly, if somewhat remote. If you caused trouble they shot you. Reluctantly, to be sure, and they always apologized afterward, but they never hesitated.

Ron Dennet had seen it happen eleven times in the year since the invasion, and heard of hundreds of additional incidents. Three of the deaths he had witnessed had happened within a month of the conquest, when victor and vanquished were getting to know each other's limits. One had happened the following month. The rest of the deaths had occurred about three months ago, when the third wave of transport ships had arrived. In every case that Dennet had seen it was because the men had heard that almost all the women of Earth were going to be sent to Zin or, if they found out after the woman had been transported, because they flipped at the thought that their former wives, girlfriends, and female relatives would be forced into breeding with Zin and they'd never see them again.

Things had quieted down since the last round of shootings. Zin control was so complete, and there were so many soldiers, that any sort of resistance was simply disguised suicide. It was impossible to get away with anything. Physically the Zin towered over Earthmen and were twice as quick, so no one even thought about trying to overpower them.

All the inhabited areas of the planet were scanned by devices that were, in effect, television cameras, though the actual technology was very different. The barracks areas, like the one where Dennet and the other miners lived, were heavily monitored. Video, audio, heat and motion monitors were placed every couple of yards, and were in every room as well as outside the building and in the quarry. Zin walked through constantly. Though they were friendly, and often repeated jokes they'd heard from other Zin at other barracks around the world, they were careful never to develop real friendships with the conquered Earthmen. And they never talked about their plans for the planet until it became necessary to do so. Zin knew how to keep a secret.

Constantly seeing Zin had a psychological effect on the men of Earth. Nations had been conquered before, but there were always other nations outside the conflict that had remained free. Conquerors were frequently neighbors and the same physical size as the conquered, though this wasn't always the case. With the loss of Earth every human was placed into a single category: conquered people. Nationalities, religions, governments, and Human "races" had no meaning – they were all simply Earthmen.

With the women gone even sex had no significance anymore. There were the rulers: the big Zin, who moved about freely, and who made all the decisions – and there were the ruled: the Earthmen, who were smaller, powerless and subservient. It was simple. Black and white, just like Zin thinking.

Dennet himself had no special skills. He was a new Store Manager trainee for a small auto parts store before the invasion, which is how he ended up as a simple worker at the quarry.

Others, however, especially those with skills in what the Zin called "Earth Resource Occupations" were singled out for special jobs and the special favors that came with them. Engineers, Architects, construction workers, Mineralogists, miners, farmers, land management experts, Oceanographers, commercial fishermen and the like, all stayed in nicer buildings.

When the hookers – the only women the Zin had not taken away – were brought around, the men in Earth Resource Occupations received their services. A couple of the guys in Dennet's barracks were offered the opportunity "to party", as the Zin put it, the first time the hooker buses visited. Two men had been chosen from a barracks holding one hundred and ninety-eight men (for some unfathomable reason Zin liked to do things in multiples of 33) It was almost a month before the Zin brought the hooker buses back. The next time the buses came, two more were selected. Not all the men chose to accept, though the percentage seemed to be edging upward as time went on. The opportunities were rare because there simply weren't that many prostitutes, and the rarity somehow added to its value.

 

 

Chapter Three

"We are accepting volunteer to move to new quarter and train in other occupations," the Zin barracks commander said. The one hundred and ninety-eight men of the Calico Quarry stood in the dusty field outside the barracks and listened. One hundred and sixty-five Zin guards had arranged themselves in a circle around them, as was traditional for the morning announcements.

"We find ourselves short of people in some field," Commander Yuteek announced. "These are indoor jobs, in clean environments. Office skill are a plus, as you say it. Not all jobs are office jobs, but all are pleasant. This evening there will be a sheets of paper for you to sign your names on if you decide to volunteer. Thirty-threes will be accepted this month. Thirty-threes next month, too. We have no orders after that, but we expect them probably."

The men looked at each other. They wanted to ask questions but that would have to wait. It wasn't acceptable to speak during the morning announcements. Ron Dennet, like the rest, immediately liked the idea of clean, indoor work. He didn't think he had many office skills; he had worked the computer at the auto parts store, doing a little inventory control, and he had taken care of customers, but his management trainee title was a sham, just a way for the company to classify him as management and lower their worker numbers enough to avoid unionization. Still, what did the Zin know about that sort of thing. He figured he had a good shot at it.

"Your animals are not popular on Zin so we don't need them, and many animal farmer volunteer recently," the commander announced. "Here, when the volunteers leave, the daily production quota will be lowered the amount they are. We have almost enough of this different stone. Thank you."

Though older than the troops, and presumably better educated, the commander had the worst grasp of English of any Zin Dennet had ever heard. But he always made himself clear enough, and no one cracked a smile, including the armed troops.

That evening Dennet joined one hundred and eighty-six others in the barracks in signing the volunteer sheets. During the day some of the men had talked to Zin, and though the guards weren't especially well informed they seemed to know that the new jobs were scattered around the country, that training was available, and that previous experience was a good thing but not very important. The jobs apparently covered a wide area – every occupation where the Zin figured they were short. Three Zin troopers said they had heard they were mainly office jobs, but two others said it was more likely to be chefs, cooks and waiters, and one was sure he'd heard they needed cleaners for the homes and offices the Zin army had occupied. "Zin men are not neat people at home," he said with a laugh, "Military, yes, but off duty, no. We have been on this place long enough to have erratic looking homes."

"Our homes," Dennet thought when he heard the last comment.

During the next morning's announcements Commander Yuteek read thirty-three names, Ron Dennet's among them, from a notebook. "We are now instructed to choose and transport quickly," he said. "We are sorry here to make you hurry, and we apologize to you thirty-threes. We chose fast because it was our new instruction to do so. You will return to our barracks and pack the things that belong to you. Then reassemble here. Everyone else is dismissed to go to work. Thank you."

Dennet was surprised when the thirty-three were taken to the airport and he found out he was in Southern California. He had arrived at the quarry in the back of an air-conditioned troop transport, along with twenty-one others slated for the quarry, and the drive had taken four days and the better part of a fifth. The transport had no windows and the stops for food and facilities had been at makeshift camps along the way so he'd totally lost his bearings.

The next surprise was that the plane contained thirty-three Oceanographers and commercial fishermen, already secured in their seats with locked seat belts.

"They said they didn't need us anymore," a tuna fisherman, who occupied the next seat, told Dennet once they were airborne. "Fish apparently didn't go over real big on Zin. At least not Earth fish. They've getting their ecology back on the right course and things are starting to work again. That's what our Commander said. Millions of troops being here on Earth really eased the pressure on their resources. Makes sense. They gave us a choice of transferring to construction crews or taking this. Must be a need for construction crews, too."

Dennet nodded. "Yeah. It means they're probably going to stay here."

"I don't figure that," the fisherman said. "A million miles from home, or however damn far it is. Would you want to stay on a planet that far from Earth?"

"No."

"Me, either."

"You figure they'll just go home and leave us here when Zin's environment gets back to normal?"

"That's what I figure. May take another year – or two or three, but why stay if they don't have to?" the man said. "Ironic, isn't it? Then we'll be in pretty much the same fix as they were. Our ecology will be only partially depleted, but our women will be gone. The question is: What happens then?"

Dennet tightened. The Zin's removal of all the Earth's women had quickly become an unmentionable topic among the Earthmen. It caused too much personal pain and anguish. – and created too much humiliation by reminding them of their impotence as POWs. Mentioning the missing women was the ultimate faux pas.

"Sorry," the man said when he saw Dennet's reaction.

"It's okay," Dennet said. "I didn't lose anyone close."

"Well, I figure the hookers are going to be Earth's Eves," the man said. "When the Zin leave they'll be the ones we start the repopulation with. Ain't that a kick?"

"Yeah," Dennet said, "It is."

"Look, I'm gonna try to get some sleep," the fisherman said. "Don't like to fly, and I try to sleep through it when I have to."

"Rather be on a boat," Dennet guessed.

"You got it, Son," the man said. "By the way, you hear anything about where we're going or what we're going to be doing?"

"It's not much of a secret, I guess," Dennet said. "Some of the Zin troops told us it was office workers, cooks, waiters, and housecleaners. Seems Zin men aren't too neat at home."

"Hell, that only proves they're human, just like me," the man said with a smile.

"Like me, too," Dennet said. "You should have seen my apartment."

"Kept my cabin neat as a pin," the man said, "but my apartment was a wreck, too. When I had an apartment, that is."

"Yeah."

"Well, anyway, what you heard is pretty much the exact same thing we heard so I guess there's something to it. I'da rather stayed on the ship, but they said they didn't need us to fish anymore. They had enough fishermen to feed Earthmen and they wouldn't be takin' any more fish back to Zin. Earthmen. Shit, never thought I'd be called an Earthman. Still sounds funny."

"It does," Dennet agreed.

"Earthman," the man repeated. "Huh."

Twenty minutes later Dennet drifted off to sleep.

 

 

Chapter Four

None of them could believe their luck. They were housed in a dormitory on a small, partially bombed out university campus. The school grounds had been fenced in, and there were Zin guards at the perimeter, just like the barracks at the quarry, but outside of that there was no comparison. They were issued new clothes and, though everyone wore the same thing, they were better – more white collar – than the utilitarian clothes of the quarry workers.

The dorm rooms, like the rooms in the barracks, had their doors removed, but it was one to a room. There was a soft drink machine on each floor that, of course, was free. Even the food was good, with plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, and small amounts of meat.

They had free reign of the baseball diamond, tennis courts, lacrosse field, Olympic size lap pool, diving pools, and squash and handball courts. But the biggest thing was the vegetation: trees, shrubs, and grass were all over the place, in stark contrast to the quarry. The air was cool, and even cooler by the pond next to the baseball field. Dennet stretched out on the soft grass beneath a large tree at the first opportunity. The comparative density of the oxygen almost made him high with pleasure. He hadn't realized how much his skin had dried out in the desert-like quarry area. Almost immediately it become softer and more pliable.

And that was it. For the first day and half nothing was required of them.

On the third day they had what the Zin called Registration. It began with a full medical exam, performed by Earth doctors who consulted with Zin physicians. Following that was a picture session and the issuance of an I.D. badge, and then a long questionnaire about their previous experience. Just as the rumors had predicted, the questions asked about their skills and experience in lower-level office work, household maintenance, cleaning, cooking, lawn maintenance, and gardening. With two hundred and ninety-seven men in the dorm building the process took all day and all evening. The last man was processed just before two a.m.

"They're getting organized for a long stay," Dennet said. He has found the fisherman in a room down the hall on the same floor of the dorm and they had started hanging around together.

"It's gettin' to look that way, isn't it?" the man, whose name was Wilson Davis, replied. "I think you were right and I was wrong."

"I didn't know for sure," Dennet said. "Still don't. But. . . "

"We never know with them," Davis said, "but you're sure right about them getting organized. They'll be here for a while. Maybe they'll rotate duty with the ones left at home, but it doesn't look like they're planning to say Adios anytime soon. Hell, we ain't breedin' so all they got to do is wait us out for fifty years or so, and they can have the whole damn planet to themselves."

Dennet frowned. Fifty years. He'd be seven-one years old and among the last Earthmen living. Fifty years of Zin rule.

"Sorry, Son. Didn't mean to depress you," Davis said.

"It's just hard to imagine," Dennet said.

"Yeah. Hard to imagine being invaded from outer space, too. Hard to imagine that hellish war. Hard to imagine, but here we are, and here they are," Davis said. "Could be worse. Most wars, the politicians whip up the troops into hating the enemy, and after the war that hate's still there. They don't generally treat the folks in the conquered country very well. But the Zin have been decent. No doubt who won and who lost, but as long as you don't cause no trouble they treat you with some consideration. Could be a whole lot worse."

"I suppose."

"Sure," Davis said. "You just haven't seen what I've seen after some of our wars."

"Isn't it tough on you?" Dennet asked.

"Of course," Davis said. "What makes you think it isn't? You're not lettin' this world-weary facade fool you, are ya?" Davis smiled. "Listen. I made Captain with the company when I was twenty-nine years old, which is pretty young. Been a Captain for nineteen years. Bigger boats now. One thing I learned was to never let'em see you sweat. 'Them' is anybody. The crew. The First Mate or Engineer. The company suits. Anybody. You're askin' if life is tough on me? Being a conquered people is rough on anybody, Son. I just don't let'em see me sweat."

Dennet nodded. "Easier said than done, sometimes, I imagine."

"Gets easier, the more you do it," Davis said. 'Helps, too, if you go around callin' everybody 'Son.'" He winked.

Ron Dennet laughed. Laughing felt good, and he wanted the feeling to last forever. Unfortunately, he wasn't the one in charge. Dennet and Davis got separated the next day.

"They're moving all us Future Office Workers of the Earth over to the other side of the campus," Davis said with a smile. "They tell you what kind of training you were getting?"

"Not really," Dennet said. "When they separated us into the two groups this morning the Zin in charge just said we'd be training in a lot of areas so we'd be versatile. He actually used the word 'cross-trained'."

"They're getting pretty articulate, aren't they? I'll bet if they weren't humans, if they were real aliens, they wouldn't be adapting so damn easy," Davis said. "That was always one thing that pissed me off. We get invaded from outer space by US. Other damn humans. It's like we got invaded by ourselves."

"Bigger versions," Dennet said.

"Well, hell, not that much bigger," Davis said. "I know guys six-five and six-six. Some of those NBA guys are taller than that."

"But not everybody," Dennet said.

"Nope, not everybody. Can't figure how come that is. What makes everybody on a planet come out within a few inches of each other? I wonder if the ones back on Zin are as big?"

"I never heard anyone say."

"Me neither. I'm going to ask one, one time. I wonder how tall the women were? Never heard'em say that, either."

"Since they all died, though, I don't know if I'd bring it up," Dennet said.

"You're right there. Well, I'm all packed, so I better get movin'. They don't like to be kept waiting," Davis said.

"Maybe I'll be able to wander over and say hello," Dennet said. "We can grab a cup of coffee or something."

"Don't think that's in the cards, Son," Davis said. "Once those folks get their minds made up they're pretty single-minded. But it would be nice chattin' with you, so if the opportunity arises. . ."

"Take care, Wilson."

"You, too, Ron," Davis said.

The Zin used the classrooms of the defunct university for training sessions, and true to the earlier announcement, the Earthmen were cross-trained in all the mentioned areas other than office work. Classes were demanding and moved along quickly, but there was also time for recreation or just lounging around in the late summer sun.

Two months later all Earthmen were pronounced "graduated." The Zin even had a little ceremony, and instructors shook the hands of their students. Dennet thought the whole thing was a little strange and artificial, but the Zin were sincere in their praise, if somewhat unemotional. Standard Zin behavior, and even though Dennet was getting used to it there was no doubt that theirs was a foreign culture.

The next morning the Zin called a general assembly in the school's theater. All the Earthmen who had not been culled out as future office workers were guided into the building. Dennet was surprised to see that the room was guarded by a dense line of armed troops along the wall, in front of the stage and at all the doors. The relatively relaxed classroom attitude of the Earthmen was quickly replaced by a sense of dread. It had been a couple months since any of them had seen such a concentration of firepower.

"I am Commander Careluku," the Zin who took center-stage announced into a talker. "I've spoken to some of you, and we know each other, and I welcome all of you here. You have graduated. Now you will put your skills to work in our homes. Our fine soldiers have been here for over two years, and are missing the things of home. We have been building houses and apartments building." He stopped and corrected himself. "Apartment buildings. You will, each one, be assigned to an officer or Hero. Higher ranked officers and Heroes of the War will get first choice, and then other officers by rank. You will take care of your solider with the skills you have learned and others skills that you will learn. Please take off all your clothes. Thank you."

 

 

Part Two – Three Years Later

 

Chapter Five

The girls were standing in the courtyard of a new shopping mall.

"What about your man? He's a Chilasodia, right?" Uji asked. "Mine says that Chilasodia lie."

"Oh, he does," Fum said, "but everybody lies a little. Your man's a Dulomosia, isn't he?"

Uji nodded. "His name is Flam Lilotsim. He was a Colonel." She picked a non-existent piece of lint from her tiny dress.

"Yeah. I don't think Dulomosia like Chilasodia too much," Fum said. "My man is Sip Bettusalo."

"My man says it's because Chilasodia lie," Uji said.

"It's true," Fum said. "But not a lot. Little white lies every now and then. Really, they don't lie hardly at all. It's just that the Zin magnify any little difference between the nations."

"Oh, do I know that," Uji said, and giggled.

"Aren't they a trip?" Fum said, "The way they talk about each other," and added her giggle.

"And the Migbalosas," Uji said. "We had one over for dinner last night. I made a really scrumptious Scumwat with grass soup. My man was so nice to him, but he was pompous all night."

"I knooow," Fum said. "Pompous is right. Migbalosas! Boy."

"Uh-oh, here comes my man," Uji said. "It was nice talking with you."

"You, too," Fum said.

They touched bracelets and Uji hurried over to the store entrance. Her man was coming out, accompanied by another man.

"So if you decide to get more education about this, you can contact me anytime. Maybe we'll have dinner," the other man was saying.

"I'd like that," Flam Lilotsim said. "Later this week?"

Uji joined them, standing beside her man and looking up at him as he spoke.

"Sure. Anytime. Have your girl call my girl," the other man said. He waved and walked down the courtyard of the shopping mall. Uji's man turned to her. She went up on tiptoe and they kissed.

"We're going to Slasha next," Uji's man said.

"Ohh, good!" Uji said, and clapped her hands together.

Some of the other couples in the mall were holding hands as they walked, and Flam decided to do the same. He took Uji's little hand in his and they strolled toward the sex shop.

Slasha was packed. Four men were in a group in the courtyard, waiting for their girls to buy things with which to surprise them that night, or on nights to come. The inside of the shop was full of people. Over some of the tall counter tops Uji could see the heads of men floating by and she thought it looked funny. She knew that their girls were with them, unseen behind the high counters, but it still amused her. It wasn't often that you saw men in shops who appeared to be without their girls.

"Can I go look?" Uji asked her man.

"Sure," Flam Lilotsim said. "Don't take a long time."

"I won't," she said. "Thank you."

She quickly went to the lingerie section because she knew that sort of thing was what her man enjoyed the most. There were a lot of green items, green being the red of Zin. Zin could never understand the association between red and erotic, or red and exciting, that they had encountered in many of Earth's cultures. For them the color that was erotic was green, and so the Slasha chain of stores featured a lot of green items. Black, white and coppery shades of brown were also popular with the men, and Slasha sold those colors, too.

Flam Lilotsim wandered around the front of the store, then went outside to wait for Uji. He didn't join the small group of men outside the store – three were Huuhvit and the fourth was a Gazopius – but took a seat on one of the benches put there for men who were waiting for their girls. He did some "people watching", as it was called on Earth. He liked to observe both other Zin and their girls when neither knew he was looking.

The couples that strolled through the mall were interesting. All the Zin were of similar height, but their girls varied a great deal. The variations fascinated Flam. One from the Asian group who, even in the high heels all girls wore, was still more than a foot shorter than her Zin man. A girl with long, flowing brunette hair who was very slender but came up to her man's nose. A voluptuous blond who thrust her large breasts proudly in front of her as she strolled beside her man.

Flam then studied the men, trying to see into their brains. What did their choice in girls reveal about them? He wondered. What did my choice of Uji reveal about me? He decided that it all probably meant very little.

 

All the variety is in the girls, Flam thought. We Zin are so boringly the same when it comes to physical characteristics. What I used to think were large differences between us are nothing compared to the magnificent variety here.

It amazed him that the girls were able to show emotion in public, apparently without even trying. Zin were emotional, but only in private. After being exposed to Earth people Flam had started thinking about himself. Zin may have been different from one nation to the next, but not as different as Earth people. Zin had more qualities in common. Not showing emotion in public was one of them. It was the only way Flam knew, until he'd seen the men and women of Earth. Now he wondered if the Zin trait was something learned over long centuries until it was so ingrained that it was automatic. Or was it something biological that served as a defense mechanism? His exposure to these very different humans provoked those completely new questions – and they weren't the only ones. Earth culture, in all its confusing differences and all its similarities to Zin culture, made him wonder about many of his long-held beliefs and values.

He glanced toward the group of men, and caught them glancing at him. They quickly looked away.

Had they been talking about him, he wondered. The Gazopius probably, but he found it difficult to believe that Huuhvit would be involved in nationalistic talk. He knew that his people, the Dulomosia, had an unusually high percentage of Heroes of the War, and had received promotions that were slightly out of proportion to their numbers, but all of that was based on merit and none of the other nations had any legitimate reason to be upset. Still, he knew that some of them were spreading rumors of favoritism, especially after Dulomosia had been properly awarded so many high picks when the girls were chosen. His own choice of Uji was a good example. He was both a medium –grade hero and high-ranking officer so his being awarded First Pick at one of the first Girl Schools was all by the book. That, however, didn't stop others from being jealous.

And getting Uji was definitely a reason for others to be jealous. She was among the most beautiful girls he'd ever seen.

He looked through the open entrance of Slasha, but couldn't see her. Uji. She was a good girl. She had talent and ran his household well, taking care of him in every way. Not a Zin girl, but having a Zin girl was a dream that he didn't let himself dream. There were no more Zin girls. Even back home all the women were imported Earth girls.

Flam contemplated the changes he himself had gone through. Ten years ago, as a graduating cadet, the thought of mating with an Earth girl would have seemed preposterous. Mating with a girl like Uji was unthinkable. Yet now he found her beautiful and knew he was very lucky to have her. Other Zin had openly told him that, as well.

"I'm ready!" the gleeful voice said.

Flam stood up and smiled at her. "Did you get something sexy?" he asked.

"You'll see," she said, as she teasingly waved a package in front of him.

"Tonight?" he asked.

She blinked her eyes playfully, playing the coquette.

He smiled again. Earth girls enjoyed causing public emotions in Zin, and Flam was inclined to make Uji happy. Public emotions were still a little unnatural for him, but he, like a lot of the others, was slowly getting used to the idea.

There were occasions when Zin from home visited Earth, and without fail they commented on how the Earth culture was affecting the Zin, and how the Zin on Earth had changed. Sometimes there was a critical tone to their voices or phrasing, but no one came out and actually condemned the changes. How could they? The men on Earth were the ones that had saved their planet and their race. The men on Earth were the ones who were being asked to sacrifice their futures by colonizing the planet as a second home for Zin, preparing buildings, transportation, food, and infrastructure.

Unspoken was the fact that the Zin on Earth were also preparing a place for a future when, once again there would be large numbers of Zin children and a growing population that would, also again, place a stress on the resources of the home planet. Zin-Earth children fathered by those that had not come to fight in the war, but had stayed behind and waited. No, visitors from home didn't dare say anything critical about the Zin on Earth.

Flam wanted to make one more stop in the mall and he told Uji where they were going. That was one of the nice things about Flam, Uji thought. Even though he doesn't have to tell me anything at all, he still sometimes remembers that I like to know these things.

What she knew now was that there was no reason to get excited about going to another shop because Flam was going to the Zin communications store. All the disks were in Zin, whether they were story discs, fact discs, picture disks, music disks or vibration disks. Uji read a little Zin, but not enough to enjoy a story. She sort of liked some of the story disks that she thought of as "movies" because she could follow most of the conversations, just as long as they didn't get too far into the less widely known national accents of Zin. Zin music was completely beyond comprehension.

"I have thought of a way to explain it to you," Flam said, after failing on at least a dozen occasions to get her to enjoy Zin music. "There is a lattice of wood," he said. "Let us say it is six feet long by three feet high. It is made of wood sticks three feet long. The horizontal sticks are not even, in two rows. A stick protrudes horizontal. Before it ends another starts. Before that ends another starts, either slightly above it or slightly below it, so the third stick protrudes horizontal from the left side. The row below is similar but not quite the same. Next to this lattice you place another lattice that is nine feet long. And another that is perhaps seven feet long. And so on. Now weave through this lattice many green cloths. Some are short. Some are the maximum of thirty-three trop long. Start them all at the same point. Where one cloth ends a new one starts that is a different length." He sat back and looked at her. "See? That is Zin music."

Uji had smiled at him and shook her head. It made no sense to her, not anymore than the music itself did. It was, to her, like three orchestras or bands all mixed together with each of them playing a different song. Zin music was simply a mess.

"Thank God" she had said, "that Zin don't sing!"

He had looked confused for a moment, and then, in the privacy of his home, he had burst out laughing.

After shopping, they took an autovehicle home. Flam was quiet, lost in thought, and Uji didn't dare interrupt with conversation. She knew her place. She remained very aware of him without staring at, or even glancing at him, but he seemed to require nothing.

Flam Lilotsim's home was big. Getting used to it had taken real effort on Uji's part. It's not made for me, was her first thought. Though the Zin aren't that much bigger, just the little added height of everything makes it difficult to function. It made her feel small. Everything was made for the men, without much thought for the girls. Counters were a couple inches too high, and chairs were both a couple inches too high and too wide. Her man's bed was too big.

The bed. Uji thought back to the day when Flam had picked her out of group at the Girl School. She had been naked and self-conscious. Flam had been introduced as a Hero of the War and one of the youngest full-Colonel's in the army. As such, it was said, he had First Pick – and he had chosen Uji. She had been scared, she remembered, and totally unaware of what an honor had befallen her. How silly I was, she thought, and she shook her head to clear away the childish memory.

After the second phrase of her education, the one at the Girl School, Flam had brought her home with him. He had showed her the small room that was hers, and taken her through the open doorway to the big master bedroom and the huge bed. That was the bed she shared with him now, almost every night, rarely sleeping in what they both still said was "her room" but was mostly used as a closet. The cleaning and cooking and caring for him that she did was important, and she knew that, but she also knew that the real reason for her existence was her man's bed. If it was just the cleaning and things like that there would be no reason to have made her so pretty. And they had made her pretty, there was no doubt of that. Out of the entire class she was probably the prettiest. She had been picked first, hadn't she?

The Girl School was where she gave up. Really, there was no reason to maintain the protective facade once she had been picked for the Second Level. She remembered that all the other girls from the university who came to the Girl School gave up, too. It was nice to give up.

Uji didn't clearly remember anything before the school, and that bothered her sometimes. Other than knowing she was an Earth girl and not a Zin, and that she had been in hiding before being taken to the Girl School, the rest of her life was something of a mystery. It had been dull and harsh and dry; she knew that, just as she knew that her life now was exciting and satisfying.

"Home – One minute," the autovehicle said.

Flam sat up straighter. "It's about time," he said. He turned to Uji, and gave her a small smile. The autovehicle seemed private, but the visual, thermal and audio monitors made it a public place in the view of Zin so even the little smile took a conscious effort. Uji gave him a big smile back, always anxious to increase the happiness of her man. That, after all, was what girls were for.

 

 

Chapter Six

"I don't want you to talk to any girls that belong to Gazopius or Chilasodia," Flam said,

"Yes, Sir," Uji said.

"They're trying to stir up trouble and I suspect they'll use their girls to spread rumors."

"Yes, Sir," Uji said with a smile.

"I'm going over to Maz Walmuktim's for a while," Flam said. "We'll have dinner at nine o'clock p.m. Fix some jossi, and that potato food that you do."

"French fries!" she said.

"Yes. I like that."

"I'll fix everything the way you like," she said. "I enjoy cooking for you."

"You do it well, Uji," Flam said. He bent down and kissed her. She slid her tongue into his mouth and he fenced with her for a minute. "We'd better not start that, or I'll never get over to Maz's," he said when he broke away. "But maybe I'll tell him I'll be late" He smiled at her.

"Oh, you!" she said, and hugged him. "Sex yesterday afternoon, sex last night, and now you want it again!"

"And you don't?" he asked. His smile widened.

"You know having sex with you is my most favorite thing in all the world," she said.

"I believe that," he said.

"It's true!" she said. "Half the time I'm the one that starts it!"

Flam laughed. "I can't debate that."

"So, do I get to please you?" she asked, looking up at him wide-eyed, in the way she knew he liked.

"Yes," he said. "When I come back." He bent and kissed her quickly and turned toward the door.

"I hope you hurry," she said.

When she saw Flam pull out in the autovehicle she went to her bedroom and changed into her exercise outfit and went to the workout room at the rear of Flam's home. She put on a disc of Earth music and started her routine.

Exercising was a mindless activity that she did as often as possible, though only when Flam wasn't home. It gave her time to think.

What had she noticed about the way Flam had eaten dinner last night? Did he finish everything? What did he finish first? How had she fixed that item, compared to the way she had fixed it last time? Did Flam think the foods all went together well? Did he east all of one dish before eating another? Did the meal go good with the drink? Had Flam finished all his drink? By the end of the meal or before? In gulps or sips? To wash down a dish that might have been prepared too dry? Or did he drink in a way that indicated he liked the drink? Had she served it so often that he no longer enjoyed it fully?

There were just so many things to think about.

Flam was not as relaxed lately, and she was concerned. Maybe she needed to visit Slasha again. It had been two months since she'd gotten a new negligee, and perhaps it was time for a new stimulation.

Did she have sufficient skills to overcome his distraction? Could she help him with it? She had set out to answer these questions by listening carefully – without appearing to listen, of course – every time he talked on the screen or the mixer, or when Flam was with another Zin. She had also asked other girls when the opportunity arose. Some of them were facing the same problem in keeping their men happy and content, and they offered information from bits of overheard conversation.

She was dismayed when she tried to put it all together. It was a big problem that a little girl couldn't fight. The coalition that had formed for the invasion of Earth was no longer together, at least on Zin. At first the politics at home hadn't affected Zin on Earth, but that was changing. Zin were being infected by old nationalistic feelings and groups were taking sides on matters of policy, mimicking their brethren at home. Everyone was being caught up in it, even Flam.

Some of the girls thought it might help to form their own coalition, with the goal of promoting the knowledge that they were providing enough happiness and satisfaction to Zin men that to upset that applecart would be harmful for all the men. An organization actually started, and Uji had joined, but it had become impotent almost immediately when many of the girls became scared that they would be acting too uppity.

The only thing that seemed proper was to wait and see how their men worked it all out. Politics was obviously not an area that girls could understand, and they would be fools to try and do anything without the leadership and guidance of the men.

Uji cleaned the exercise equipment and went to take her shower.

Normally, she thought of everyday things while in the solitude of the shower. But when she was dealing with new ideas her time under the water was occasionally bothersome. Seeing a disk story that showed a part of Zin she had never seen before was enough to get her thinking, trying to imagine the details of life on Flam's home planet. It happened, too, when Flam would tell her something about his childhood or cadet life that was new information.

She started washing at the top of her body and worked down, over her ample breasts, and inevitably coming to the place between her legs. It was so like Flam's. Smaller, but still the same. When she thought of that she always felt some part of her was unexplained. It was the same, and heaven knows she'd talked with enough girls to know they were the same, and that they, too, were sometimes bothered by some ephemeral memory. There was a thought that none seemed to be able to grasp, and it was connected to the things between their legs. They tried to dismiss it as "girl-think", as the men liked to call it, but the puzzlement never completely went away.

Uji grabbed the items between her legs and gently squeezed. They didn't respond like Flam's, didn't change shape and grow, but they were somewhat sensitive. What is it that I should know about these things that I can't remember? she asked herself for the thousandth time. And why can't I remember? She moved them about, as if that would trigger a thought, but nothing came to mind.

She had gotten close to the elusive thought once. It had been when Flam stopped at a warehouse to pick up some new screens for the house. The owner had come in that day just to wait on Flam, and they had all gone to the office while the screens were being retrieved and packed. The owner's secretary, a slightly overweight, middle-aged woman with a nametag reading "Wilma" had taken care of the informationwork. She had caught Uji's eye and stared at her. Uji was used to Zin looking her over, and it made her happy that other men thought Flam's girl was something special. But she'd never had an office worker look at her like that. She wanted to say something to the woman, but it wasn't her place to initiate a conversation when she was with her man. She stared back at the woman, who finally shook her head and walked away. That evening, in the shower, Uji couldn't help but think of the incident. It was so unusual. She knew it must mean something but she struggled and struggled with the scene and couldn't come up with anything. There was a fact that that was close enough to grasp, but when she tried to focus on it the fact slowly melted away. From time to time the office worker woman's face would appear in her mind, like that of an old friend, but she never could figure out why.

From time to time Uji also thought about her name. That was a strange thing to think about, she knew, but she couldn't help it. She loved her name. It was Flam's favorite name and she was proud to have it. She had no last name, of course. Girls didn't. That was perfectly natural. But sometimes she didn't feel at home with her name. Uji. Who is Uji? she asked herself. I am Uji. But why am I Uji? It seemed like such a silly question to ask, but she couldn't help herself. Uji was a Zingirl name and she was an Earthgirl. Flam was a Zinman, so she had a Zingirl name. It made sense, but it didn't make sense.

She thought about dying her hair green. Would Flam like that? He thought green was the most erotic, exotic color. But for hair? She had never seen a girl with green hair, so maybe it wouldn't be a turn-on. Or maybe it was just personal-private and the girls returned to normal hair color before going out in public. Strange that none of them had ever said anything about dying their hair green to please their man. It must not turn them on, Uji thought. But I have to come up with something to ease Flam's stress. No doubt he'll come home in a troubled state. He always did when he visited Maz Walmuktim, or when Maz Walnuktim came to Flam's house. All political talk and talk about problems. Why can't they leave Flam out of it? Uji thought. Because he's too important, she thought, answering her own question. Well, then, I'll just have to think of something special for our sex tonight. Something from Girl School. I'll get Flam's zoomer so hard and hot that he won't be able to think of anything but how much pleasure he's receiving from me. That's what I'll do! Forget that stupid old politics stuff, my love, and think only of the pleasure.

 

 

 

Part Three – Three Years Later

 

Chapter Seven

Uji addressed the small crowd of girls gathered around the platform. "The scheduled ship, as you know, is late. The last three have failed to arrive, and there are still no communications of any kind. I can only guess what that means, but it seems clear that Zin is destroyed or radioactive or something of the sort. I'm not at all unhappy about that, even though it was the home of my man."

She paused and took a breath. Even though he'd been dead almost a year it was still difficult for her to think of him or mention his name.

"Their war among Zin nations at home infected us," Uji continued, "and we know the result of that. Most of us are without men now! The few men that are left are scattered in the remote areas. It is up to us to find them and tell them that the war at home and the war on Earth are over. I am proposing we start searching for them. Uah disagrees."

Uji stepped back and another girl took her place.

"What did the men bring but war? My man is dead," Uah said. "Like many of you I would give anything to have him back, but that's not to be. Will we take substitutes? Will there be jealousy among us because there will be far too few men to go around? I don't think it will be a good thing to have the men back."

Uji retook the talker. She held it loosely, as if she was tired. "I think of the future. When we came – however that was – the men moved all the prostitutes to Eve Towns and they began producing little people, new people. They are missing things between their legs, as you know, but missing them gives them an ability to produce new people. I think we must search for the men so there will be more new people. Uah disagrees."

Uji handed the talker to the other girl and stepped back.

"There is a report from a place in Europe called Netherlands," Uah said. "We don't know if it is true, but it may be. A girl got the things between her legs to work just like a man's."

The girls in the audience who hadn't heard this rumor were astonished.

"If this is true," Uah said, "we don't need the men. We can go to the Eve Towns and have the prostitutes show us how to do things. It shouldn't be too difficult. At least I don't think so. But I confess that I am as ignorant as anyone. If this is true, it would be better than using the men. They would produce new people who would want war all the time, and we would be destroyed, just as Zin destroyed itself. Uji disagrees."

Uji came back to the center of the platform. "What are we without men? Men are our purpose, our lives. Don't you wish, right now, right at this very second, that you had a man to please?" She saw many in the audience nodding. "Well, there are men left. Not very many. We will have to share. But we will have a man to look after and please. Isn't that what life is all about? It is, and that's why I think we should search for the men who remain alive and welcome them home."

Uah had the final word. "More war. More jealousy. More new war people. We don't want that."

The vote of the girls was solidly in favor of Uji's stance. The next day they went to search for men.

 

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