The crowd were confused. No one had talked of caring so publicly before. In fact, most men had no idea what it meant.
“Well at least we’ll know where we stand,” muttered a woman from the back.
“Stand—we’ll hardly be standing, we’ll be on our backs,” said the horselike woman.
“So nothing has changed then,” muttered another woman.
“I don’t know,” said a jack-of-all-trades.
“Let’s become the civilization we were meant to be!” yelled James the Strong.?“
And what’s that?” yelled a voice from the back.
“Education,” Aggie whispered to James the Strong, “with order and the vulnerable protected.”
“Lots of ordering,” yelled James the Strong.
“Ordering?” yelled a voice from the back.
The crowd, even more confused, began to murmur.
“Ordering what?”
“Yeah, from where?”
“I said ‘order,’” whispered Aggie.
“Order, not ordering,” yelled James the Strong.
“And education,” whispered Aggie.
Soon a woman owned by a man was all the rage, the “in” thing. Then it became law, and the nurturing shed was closed for reconstruction.? Under Aggie’s suggestion, the nurturing shed, having a fair amount of equipment for birthing and the like, seemed a good place to expand into an institute for scientific learning.Starting, as Aggie suggested, with a way of protecting people from wasps—“perhaps something that involves needles?”
James the Strong loved the idea. Wasps plagued the city, and when he saw the crowd cheering, he felt a surge of pleasure he had never felt before. He wanted more cheering; he wanted to walk out on the balcony every day and face that applause, and he offered to fund the institute himself.
“I will give up a few things,” he shouted, though not quite sure what, and the crowd cheered.
Six months later, James the Strong, sprawled out on his king-size bed, pondered his new life and the joy of being liked.? His favorite bit was the speech-reading; he loved it, all that standing on the balcony and yelling.
And he was built for it, not like his father, who had to stand on a stool and have someone hold up a placard of what he was saying.? James the Strong’s voice purred, ricocheting around the courtyard like a moth in a lampshade. Even the Aliens could hear the odd word, on a calm day. ?It was all in the design of the courtyard—a design courtesy of Aggie—and, of course, the voice-vibrator.
In the past, men hated him, but not now; he had given a whole woman to each, forever. The only thing a man had to do was pick . . .
Under the new ownership act a woman could swoon and flirt all she liked, but once owned by a man, she was his to dive on, talk at, and feed.? With one act, James the Strong had become a “man’s man.” He had given men so much and women even less.
Each day he was greeted with cheers, backslaps, and handshakes from the men and little from women.? Life had changed drastically for women. Not only were they to make babies, but they had to catch a man first.? They still couldn’t earn a living or learn things or even own a place. Instead, they were shuffled off to the huts the Foreigners had left for the art corner and, with an “it’s only temporary” promise, tried to make the best of things.
Free to roam with the sole aim of attracting a man, they started talking of good and bad catches and ways to attract, some getting a little up themselves when they had a choice.? Others, like Fanny, yearned for the good old days.? Fanny, claimed by an opulent Settler, was one of the first to be owned.
“A bad shag is for life now,” she said, “and what’s worse, there is no complaints department.”
James the Strong slid his arm behind his head and watched his Aggie undress.
She slipped off her shoe . . .
“This leading thing is not as bad as I first thought,” he said.
She slipped off her stockings.
He sighed.
Her dress fell to the ground, her hair to her shoulders . . . then finally her bra . . .
In the moonlight, she always took his breath away—stopped him talking.
“How ’bout some bed-diving,” he purred, and then, forgetting about how bed-diving worked, grabbed his Aggie and pulled her to him.
Over the next few months, James the Strong watched his Aggie expand with child, often wondering how he would have done any of “this leading thing” without her. And as her tummy grew, he marveled at it, touching it, always with his ear pressed to her stomach, listening to the baby.? For the first time in his life, James the Strong was truly happy, so happy he was willing to try any shagging position to work around the bump—even give up bed-diving—until the offspring was born.
Aggie began to relax, enjoy her status, and make plans for her son, collecting information in the library.? Until Aggie’s son Manifesto the Great was born; then things changed. For a start, James the Strong was not crazy about the name.
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