The SS Isle of Capri had been in solar orbit on the edge
of the Aikean system for two standard universal time days now, the equivalent
of three days on Earth or a little less than that on Gallifrey. The trade
conference was going well. The planetary system of eight inhabited planets
were almost certainly going to benefit from it. While Kristoph played
his role as one of the delegates, Marion had spent much of those three
days travelling around the planets with the other diplomatic spouses visiting
orphanages and hospitals and villages in outlying places where people
desperately needed something to give them hope for their future.
They were travelling now, on a shuttle craft coming back from Aik-II,
one of the arid innermost planets. They had visited a food distribution
centre that was put in place to give immediate aid to a region where crops
had failed and famine was imminent. Marion was reading some more information
about the crisis on a mini computer screen in front of her seat. It was
a familiar enough story, of course. The reasons for the failure of crops
were to do with weather and climate. But the reasons for the famine were
economic and political, just as they were in those parts of Earth affected
by such tragedy.
She finished reading about the famine and sat back, looking around at
the delegate spouses sitting nearest to her. Only two of them were women
with male spouses taking part in the negotiations. There was a Haolstromnian
who was currently in female form, but had appeared at breakfast this morning
as a male while his partner, the delegate, was female. The night before
they had both attended a ball in female form wearing matching gowns. There
were also two men who were the spouses of the Bassina Coppa delegate,
a slender, waiflike woman, with alabaster skin and white hair and a very
stern expression permanently etched on her face.
In the seat beside her was a very attractive man who was about Marion’s
age. He had piercing blue eyes and light brown hair and wore a suit, shirt
and trousers. But the suit was specially tailored to account for the fact
that he was pregnant. On his planet there was only one gender –
male.
He gave a soft sigh and shifted in his seat, grimacing a little.
“Are you all right, Bertin?” Marion asked him. He smiled charmingly
at her.
“The baby is moving about. Four and a half months now… growing
every day. He has more energy than I have. He’s fed up of me sitting
still. I’ll be glad when we get back to the ship and I can stretch
my legs on the promenade deck.”
“Yes, I know that feeling,” Marion told him. “Is it
your first baby?”
“It’s my first,” he answered. “But we have a five
year old boy. My partner, Grady, the Ambassador, gave birth to him.”
“It… must be nice to have the choice,” Marion said.
“To share the child-bearing. Your way of life has a lot to commend
it.”
“You have a child yourself, Lady Marion?” asked The Haolstromian
ambassador’s companion, Claudia Jean, or Jean-Claude depending on
choice of gender.
Marion paused momentarily. Her answer was not exactly a lie.
“I have a daughter,” she said. “Rodan... she’s
a year old. My mother in law is looking after her while I’m away.
Spoiling her rotten with love and treats.”
“My father is doing the same with our boy,” Bertin told her.
Claudia Jean added that her four children and three born of her current
partner, the Haolstromnian ambassador, were all being looked after by
her birth parent. Marion reflected that between them they represented
three very different definitions of parenthood. Claudia Jean belonged
to a species that never formed long term relationships and they had babies
whenever they chose by voluntary parthenogenesis. Bertin was a Mizzonian
and when they wanted children, one partner fertilised an egg and passed
it to the other who incubated and nurtured it within his body until birth.
Gallifreyans and Humans, with their method of a man fertilising the egg
within the woman’s body seemed peculiar to both the Haolstromnian
and Mizzonian. But the one thing they all three had in common was that
they loved their children.
And that gave all three of them a particular view of the sad situation
they had witnessed on Aik-II.
“It was terrible to see so many children affected,” Bertin
said to her as he glanced at the images on the computer screen she had
turned from. He touched his swollen stomach as he spoke, instinctively
wanting to protect his own child. “I hope the trade deals that our
husbands are negotiating will really help them, and not simply fatten
corporate bank balances.”
“It’s no concern of ours if it does,” said one of the
Bassia Coppa husbands. “We are not delegates.”
“We can still care,” Marion answered them. “And we can
tell our husbands, wives, spouses, what we saw here today. I know Kristoph
will be interested.”
“My husband certainly will be,” Bertin agreed.
The two Bassia Coppans shook their heads and said it was nothing to do
with them. Marion was puzzled by their reaction.
“I don’t even know why those two came with us, today. Bassia
Coppa men don’t have opinions,” Claudia Jean said. “About
anything. They do as their women tell them, and think what their women
tell them to think. Those two are only here to look attractive on Madam
Coulliette’s arm at the social functions.”
The two men looked hurt by that comment, but Marion thought it was an
accurate assessment. They were very much like some of the Gallifreyan
ladies she knew who thought of nothing but luncheons and ballgowns. They
really didn’t think they had any role to play in changing anything
they had seen today.
“Well, that’s a pity,” Marion said. “I for one
intend to talk to Kristoph about it. I know he is aware of the situation.
He read the reports, the statistics about failed crops and the numbers
of people affected. But until you’ve been there, and seen those
hollow eyes and the look of utter despair on their faces, you can’t
really know. Kristoph will listen to me, and I know he’ll do all
he can to make sure something is done to provide immediate help for them.”
“They all will,” Claudia Jean assured her. “Even Madam
Coulliette. She is a typical Bassia Coppa woman, with her harem of men
for her personal pleasure. But she is also a woman of the universe and
she will join with the other delegates in ensuring good is done here.”
“I do hope so,” Marion said. She sat back in her seat and
looked out of the window at the view of a dark blue and red planet. It
was Ak-III. The next planet out from Aik-II They were still more than
two hours away from the SS Isle of Capri, right on the edge of the system
in synchronous orbit with the frozen twin planets of Aik-VIII and Ak-VIII.
But that was all right. The shuttle was very comfortable. There was plenty
of food and drink when she wanted it, and friendly conversation with her
fellow travellers.
Even so, Marion thought she would be glad to get back to the ship. She
thought of the custom suite with the warm, Mediterranean sea she could
bathe in and relax until Kristoph was done with today’s negotiations.
He would be just as tired as she was, of course. He would be glad to take
off his formal suit and come into the water with her. And after they had
bathed they could lie on the sand together, warm and cosy, until it was
time to get ready for tonight’s reception of delegates.
But at some time during the evening she would also tell Kristoph about
her day and the things that she had seen.
She was thinking about her gown for the reception when the one man travel
capsule crashed into the side of the shuttle. Later, it was established
that the capsule pilot had suffered a blackout and swerved off course.
The shuttle pilot had tried to avoid it, but he had only seconds before
the impact.
Marion fell forwards as the shuttle pitched sideways. The anti-gravity
cushions activated a few seconds too late to prevent her hitting her head
on the edge of the seat. She felt somebody grab her hand as he fell against
her. It was Bertin. His cry of fear and pain was the last thing she heard
before she passed out.
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