The t’apaur was dark blue, nearly sheer, and loosely flowed from her hips. She looked at herself in the mirror then spun for Ford’s approval.
“Well? How do I look?”
He grinned. “I’m not looking forward to strangers seeing you like this, but I’ll damn sure enjoy the view. I tried to find the darkest color I could—I figured it’d give you a little extra cover.”
“It is safe, right?”
“Oh, absolutely. They’ve got a weird society that works for them.
Women aren’t oppressed, they’re free to come and go as they please, work, whatever. It’s just a weird dynamic. The irony, I suppose, is women lead the men around by their…well, like you lead us, sweetheart.” He smiled. “But out of the men’s appreciation for their women came the urge to protect them while wanting to show them off. They feel no need for modesty, because they take great pride in their bodies. Just don’t be shocked when you get your view of the population.”
“Why? Am I a porker by comparison?” She’d lost a few pounds during training, and some of her pre-launch plumpness had converted to muscle. The men constantly nagged at her not to “get skinny” as they said, because they loved her the way she was, full thighs and all.
He grinned. “You’ll see. It’s safe to say that to the three of us, believe me, you have no competition among their women.” Ford and Emi met up with Caph and Aaron at the hatch.
“You don’t have to do this, Em,” Aaron quietly said. “We can cancel the order and leave.”
“Don’t be silly.” She kissed him. “I appreciate it, I really do. Let’s get this over with so I can get back here and put some clothes on. It’s cold.” She was barefoot, and the cold floor wasn’t helping the waves of gooseflesh that crawled over her skin. Her nipples were nearly painfully pebbled in the cool air.
Caph held up a shawl. “Once we meet with the controlling magistrate, he can give special permission for you to put this on because you’re chilly. His guards will escort us back here so there’s no trouble. They’ll be happy that we observed their customs, and you won’t have to leave the ship again while we’re here.”
“Anything else I need to know?”
Aaron reddened. “You have to walk in front of us. We can’t touch you in public, can’t hold hands, that kind of stuff.” Okay, that was unexpected. She’d counted on at least being able to sandwich herself between two of the men for warmth and comfort.
“Oh. Okay.” Emi took a deep breath. “Let’s do it.” The air outside the ship felt uncomfortably chilly. They met with the official greeting magistrate at the end of the gangway. He was a short, squat man, built like a fire plug if he was to be described on Earth, rotund and with a pale complexion. She glanced around. The few other men she saw looked similar in appearance.
He noted Emi’s dress¯or lack thereof¯and looked pleased, but not overly interested. “Captain Lucio, welcome to Tay-Dax’n.”
Aaron introduced them all. The magistrate shook hands with the men and bowed to Emi. She glanced at Ford. He bowed his head, mouthing, “Thank you.”
She tipped her head. “Thank you.”
The magistrate smiled. “Please, follow me. The controlling magistrate is awaiting you.”
She glanced at Ford again. He motioned for her to follow first.
She did, and as they exited the facility she saw more people, including women.
The Tay-Dax’n women were built much like their men, only with breasts.
And they were covered with large amounts of body hair.
Emi fought to control her amused smile. While she wouldn’t win any beauty contests here, she felt an inordinate amount of relief and amusement that her boys’ eyes would be only for her.
Her self-consciousness soon slipped away as she tried to step into the role of anthropological observer. Each woman seemed to have an invisible buffer around her—no men ever stepped inside that neutral zone around a woman, even the women they appeared to be with.
Young girls wore sheer t’apaurs that covered their entire body while most of the older women did not, and only women dared get close to or touch another woman. Their collars all ranged from plain leather¯most likely denoting lower income¯to extremely ornate.
Ford had apparently spent some bucks on hers.
That instilled her with a surprisingly odd mix of comfort and pride.
Men steered clear of Emi, few even casting a glance her way. She was an oddity of height in this world—most of the other women were much shorter than her, but she was also much thinner by their standards.
And a lot less hairy.
Aaron and the twins trailed behind as closely as they could by local decorum, and she felt rather than heard them let out an audible sigh of relief when they reached the controlling magistrate’s office.
The man stood when they entered and repeated the welcome they’d had with the greeting magistrate. Then he asked, “Captain, may I speak to Dr. Hypatia?”
“By all means.”
He turned to Emi, focusing his eyes at her feet. “Doctor, we appreciate you adhering to our customs, but I imagine you are rather chilly, are you not?”
“Yes, I am. Very.”
“If you’d like, I see one of your men has brought you something appropriate. Please feel free to wear it if you need to. We understand not all races can tolerate our chilly conditions the way we can. The gesture alone is more than enough to satisfy us of your honorable intentions.”
“Thank you.”
Caph immediately handed her the shawl and she wrapped it tightly around her.
“My guard unit will escort you back to your ship once we finish so that there will be no complaints. Again, I must say I admire you for this. Most of the treaty races we deal with refuse to dock here if they have female crew. I will be sure to send my appreciation and regards to the DSMC about your character, Captain.”
“Thank you, but I’ll be honest, Dr. Hypatia is the one who insisted we dock. We didn’t want to make her uncomfortable.”
“Extraordinary. You are an amazing woman, Doctor. You are all welcomed to conduct your business and move freely about the station as you need. Dr. Hypatia, I understand if you’d feel more comfortable staying inside your ship.”
She nodded. “Thank you.”
“Please enjoy your stay. Thank you for your time.” The guard briefly spoke to Aaron, and they all returned to the ship after being issued passes. Now with the shawl wrapped around her, Emi noticed strange looks her way, a few frowns, mostly from other women. On their way to the magistrate’s office, barely a glance had been cast their way, but with the shawl around her it was like she drew attention to herself. Emi suspected if they didn’t have the official guards with them, local law enforcement would have been called on them for violating the dress code.
When they reached the hatch, Aaron sent Caph in with Emi and left again with Ford to go get the part. Safely behind the door, Caph scooped her into his arms and she started shivering.
“You okay, babe?” He carried her down the main corridor.
She clung to him. “No,” she chattered, “I’m fucking freezing!” He hurried to their crew quarters and turned up the thermostat in their cabin, slipping under the covers with her until she stopped shivering. Part of it was the sudden stress relief, she knew, but she’d been fucking cold.
“I’m not nearly as furry as I need to be to survive here.” She laughed.
He hugged her close. “Thank the gods, honey.” He realized she was still wearing the collar. “Why don’t you turn around, and I’ll take that off you?”