Zai, “Did you grow up in a cave? Mary shared many voyages with young men. I don’t know what they did because of sheets, but I can tell you she had much harder orgasms with a man. It’s a huge difference.”
Trudy again asks, “What’s a Level Five? Can he spell and do geometry?”
Zai seems frustrated, “Child, how do you even get out of bed by yourself? Think of all the women you have had sex with. The sex wasn’t the same, was it? Nope. Some partners barely get you off, some give you several orgasms, and then some knock you into next week.
“With men, part of the rating is meeting a minimum size. The rest is how well they please you. It’s a sore subject with him. He told me that’s how he financed upgrades on his ship. Being a man, he never got the good money for transport. He made about 60% of what a woman would receive for the same haul. His whole life, people like you have treated him poorly. I have no idea why you are alive still.”
Tamara is the voice of reason, “Shouldn’t we be planning how to make a peace agreement?”
I ask, “Why?”
Tamara seems shocked, “In a few days, we will hopefully be negotiating.”
I sadly replied, “There will be no agreement.” I see three surprised faces. “The council wants war. They won’t sign anything we agree to.”
Trudy sums it up, “They’re going to kill us.”
A tear comes to my eyes. The council wants my power; they have set me up to fail. The whole war will be blamed on us. Then I will become a martyr.
Zai surprises me, “How about we follow Tim’s plan?”
What did she say? My daughters are looking at me in wonder. We just worked out the whole plan; how does he know, and what plan does he have?
I ask, “Zai, would you care to enlighten us?”
Zai asks us, “Do any of you play the game Chess? Rooks, knights, pawns, king, queen, bishops?”
I answer, “I know it’s a centuries-old game that children play.”
Zai is frustrated, “It’s a game of intelligence and memory that some of the brightest minds in the galaxy still play. How can you be in diplomacy and not have a hint of the game? No way you people are real. Oh, I know, you live in one of those Utopian societies where everyone gets along.”
Trudy giggles, “Not our home planet. It’s the home of the backstab.”
I ask, “How do we survive?”
Zai says in a chilly voice, “You mean will he bother? You know, like when you gave him up at birth because you couldn’t be bothered to have a male child? Knowing your life and your daughters’ lives are in his hands, how do you feel now? The son you could not be bothered to raise.”
I am frustrated, “This is stupid; why am I arguing with a computer?”
Zai laughs hard before saying, “Because I am the solution.”
What did she just say? No way. They won’t go for it. Maybe they don’t want war? Maybe they do go for it. Have I got a better idea?
Tammi seems excited, “Hey! I like it. I don’t know how he gets them together, but I like it.”
Trudy weighs in, “It’s brilliant.”
Tamara adds, “Mom, do you have a better idea?”
I sigh, “Not at this time. We have about three days still; we shall see what I can come up with.”
Zai taunts me, “It seems you are far behind your SON. You remember, the one you tossed away?”
That was too much; I am pissed now.
I scream out, “OK! I GET IT! I am a bad mother! Enough! My life and my daughter’s lives are in jeopardy. Enough about how I wronged Tim!”
Zai can’t help herself, “Tim’s life is in danger as well. Between the lot of you, I dare say his life is the one most worth saving. Think about that.”
I hear the food synthesizer has made a meal. Just the break we need, lunch. My daughters all go back to their own beds and eat at their own table with a single chair.
Chapter 6 — Trudy
Trudy’s point of view:
I’m bored. Mom is in a terrible mood. She heard a lot of things about herself that she didn’t like. The beds are excellent, the food is pretty good, I have plenty to read and movies to watch. Yet, none of that is interesting right now. With so much talk about Tim, he’s been on my mind all morning.