“Every year?”
My eye was caught by the flash of blue light in the transfer chamber. A man appeared and wheeled his cargo boxes carefully into the constantly milling crowd, and it made me think there was likely a distribution center in another underground cavern. Another man disappeared. A family appeared and moved down the rows. There was a constant flow from the transfer chamber. Cynthia kept on, seeing nothing unusual.
“Huge celebrations take place. Feasts and festivals in all capital cities.”
“Sounds like a good time.” My eyes scanned the room, and I saw that just like on Earth, many people were talking into electronic devices, only here it was just a little different. Just like what Frank had used, each of the devices people carried projected an image that seemed to rest in the person’s open palm, displaying whomever they were talking to.
Totally bizarro world. So many things that were like what we had back home, only slightly tweaked.
“The elections are mostly for show. The leaders are all so beloved, particularly because they’ve brought us through trying times, we’ve basically had the same ones in office for the last twenty years or more. It’s how I know Ryder and Nick so well. Their families are part of high court.”
“Are the festivals fun?”
“Absolutely. Wouldn’t miss it. The one in Reethan is a blast. I think it’s the best one. The people of Reethan are way more relaxed than the people in every other province. We’ve actually been able to find loopholes in a few of the nation’s laws.”
“Where is Reethan?”
“We’re basically an island to the north, which allows us to specialize in seafood exports to all the provinces.
“Is Nick from Reethan?”
Cynthia wrinkled her nose. “No. He’s from Milos. There isn’t a more conservative region in Sunan. Every t is crossed and every i is dotted.”
“Sort of Amish?”
“You might say.”
I gave it a moment, let her think I was going to move on, smiled at the children playing tag in an area sectioned off for them, then popped a question. “You and Nick. What’s happening?”
She flushed a red that was bright enough to make the sun envious. Jackpot!
“There’s nothing going on.” She took a big bite of her meat pie and started chewing slowly, trying to look nonchalant. Damn, she’s good, but I’m sneaky.
“That’s not what I read off of him earlier.” I gave her a pointed look.
“What—” She almost choked on her food. Coughing and sputtering, she grabbed a big gulp of her drink to wash it all down, and she was still gasping and trying to recover a full minute later. I felt bad for tricking her. Nick was actually tight as a clam. He gave nothing away voluntarily, not that I’d tried. It did tell me she had something to hide, though.
“Did you really get something off him?” she croaked with reddened eyes.
With an apologetic, chagrined look, I shook my head, which made her glare at me. Still, I demanded, “Spill it Cyn. What’s happening with you guys?”
She took a deep breath and wiped her mouth absently with the back of her shaky hand. “Okay. This is all I’m going to say, so listen hard. I had a crush on him a few years ago. I managed to embarrass us both with it, and I’ve left him alone ever since. He thought my brother was in danger and came to let me know. My brother turned out to be fine, but other than that, there’s nothing going on. I probably have some residual embarrassment left over from that time, but it’s nothing I want to go into details about. I guarantee you.”
I pouted, wanting more of the juicy deets, but gave it up with a mental shrug. I knew that mulish look on her face. I wasn’t going to get anything else out of her. Playfully, I stuck my tongue out.
“You want some shoes?” She tried to give me a frosty look.
I answered with a winning smile that spread across my face, cheek to cheek, and sing-songed, “I’ll be your best friend.”
She arched an eyebrow. “I thought you were my best friend.”
The next hour was one of perpetual motion. There were wonderful materials—beautiful, soft and feminine—to choose from. It was true that all women were dressed in the same kinds of clothes that we were wearing: blouses and loose-fitting pants. I mentioned that I thought it strange that not one woman was wearing a dress, and Cynthia let me know that dresses and skirts had been outlawed for safety reasons.
“What safety reasons?” I scowled, feeling outraged. What a crazy place it was that women couldn’t wear what they wanted to wear. It felt like a violation of justice and personal freedoms.
“Rape prevention,” Cynthia said matter-of-factly.
“How does a pair of pants prevent rape?”
“By wearing fewer form-fitting or revealing clothes, women will somehow be safer, and men won’t be tempted to cross boundaries without invitation.”
“That’s ridiculous. You’ve been on Earth for a while now, and you wear whatever the hell you want without having problems.”
“Well, obviously, I agree with you,” Cynthia replied impatiently. She continued poking through a stack of folded blouses on a table. “I didn’t vote for the law—I guess I was too young anyway—but it won by a majority.”
“So if a law passes prohibiting you to do something that’s perfectly innocent, then that’s it? You have no more choice in the matter?”
“Pretty much. That’s what makes us a successful democracy. We all need to compromise to get along.”
“Don’t you guys have any guaranteed rights?”
“Of course, but the law passed after Ryder’s sister was raped and killed. It was like having...I don’t know, Princess Di pass away. She was the poster girl for Milak in particular and Sunan as a whole. The people felt like they needed to do something, like somehow that would keep us all safe. You know, we aren’t hugely populated like the U.S. We’re a very close-knit society.”
I grimaced. “She was raped and killed?”
“The provinces were in shock. They didn’t want any man to have easy access, I suppose, and didn’t want women’s legs hampered while trying to run, which, I’m told, is what happened to Ryder’s sister. I have to say, it took me a while to wear a skirt back on Earth.” Her eyes became unfocused as she remembered something that made her cheeks flush and her lips flatten into a grim line. “But I do appreciate the personal freedoms that you have there. It’s more what I’m used to on Reethan.”
This explained so much. Now the whole I’m-flashing-my-ass-for-everyone-at-the-club argument made sense. Ryder’s anger over the fact that I was wearing a miniskirt and that he’d had to school some guy for trying to make an ass grab was clicking. Maybe his sense of propriety had been offended, but even deeper was a...rage? Did it remind him of what happened to his sister?
“Okay, you will love these shoes. They’re made with the most comfortable cushiony soles from one of our native species of rubber tree, the burbur tree.”
“Hey! I’ve seen a pair of these in your closet.”
“Well, technically, I wasn’t supposed to bring them to Earth, but I just couldn’t resist, so keep quiet about it. But trust me, your feet will feel like they’ve gone to heaven.” She handed me a pair of shoes that were soft and had light beige suede that wrapped across the top of the foot and buckled at the heel, like a little wraparound blanket for my foot. The sole was thick, but light.
Thankful to get my heels off again, I stepped down into the shoes and wanted to cry out with the joy of it. My abused feet wept happily, and I made a silent promise not to force another heel on them for at least thirty-six hours. Of course, I immediately wanted to buy the shoes. We also managed to grab a pair of pants in my size and another blouse that was a feminine, pale blue material, soft and delicate and perfect for my height and skin tone. Cynthia was enthused because she thought the color made my eyes “pop.”