meaning. And there was a wave of sickness in her when she grasped the concept of war. At that moment, she was almost ready to call a halt to the talks, to message the Mother to start the research people to working around the clock to improve the mining torch, to produce weapons capable of blasting the Delanian fleet out of existence before such animals could enter the peaceful Artonuee system. And as she choked back her dismay, Rei continued. The war had devastated three planets, leaving the Delanian society in shock, setting back space exploration for decades.
'We decided then,' Rei concluded, 'that man would never kill man again. And in fifty thousand years there has been no war.'
In present times, the entire Delanian industrial system was working full scale to construct star ships. Before the end came, a percentage, a disastrously low percentage, of the population would be in space.
The idea of vast workshops clanking, pressing, erecting the impressive Delanian drivers took Miaree’s mind off the horror of the war and caused a flicker of admiration. She listened. She questioned. She ended the day with mixed emotions. On the one hand, she deplored the Delanians. But she had to be impressed with their racial drive. They were, after all, a race which had sought the far stars. Now, in all their billions, they faced extinction. The concept was too vast to grasp.
Alone in her room, she sought relaxation with jenk. She was feeling the exhilarating lift of the liquor when she joined Rei for the evening meal. They ate in courteous silence, then sat on the outside deck, watching the Great Bloom fade in twilight, silent as the Fires of God rose and gleamed and towered in the sky.
'We have talked little of you, and your people,' Rei said.
She talked. Relaxed, sipping jenk, her guest also partaking of the liquor, she spoke mostly of Outworld, her voice low and musical. She told of the great poets who had lived on Outworld spoke samples of their works. At her orders, the domestics played music tapes. She mentioned that Outworld was the planet of love, and Rei asked for explanation. That led to an extended conversation regarding the life cycle of the Artonuee, from egg to adult.
Rei talked of his experience with the two ifflings. Miaree listened with great interest, for that was an experience which she would face, in time. And no Artonuee had been able to talk with personal knowledge of the feelings one has when an iffling is celebrating its chance at sentient life. She was much impressed to learn that Rei had seemed to receive some form of thought from the ifflings.
'It is strange,' Rei said. 'You feel such a tenderness for them, while I feel only dread and revulsion. I can still see those terrible maws, so powerful that they cut through the material of my space suit to clamp onto my flesh.'
'When two races meet, there is much strangeness,' Miaree said, rather defensively. 'We find it difficult to accept your method of bearing young.
Only our extinct animals bore live young on The World.'
But both spoke of the distasteful things with great respect, with a measure of acceptance. A brief session of technical talk, during the day, had impressed Rei with Miaree’s power of understanding. She displayed quick comprehension of atomic theory, exchanged some information on electromagnetic wave theory which explained, in part, the motive power of the flyer which had brought them to Outworld. The talks had done one thing. They had convinced each participant that the other was to be respected. Rei had wanted to delve further into the technology of the converters which powered the flyers. But Miaree cut the technical talk short, to get back to gathering information about Delanian society.
Now it was evening. A soft breeze cooled them. Jenk liquor relaxed them. The scent of the ever-blooming flowers drifted on the wind. The night sky was a thing of awesome beauty. Miaree fell silent, thinking, as she looked at the alien, about his explanation of the breeding process of the Delanians. It seemed to be a cold, sterile relationship. Mates were chosen by vast computers which looked down to the lowest level of the reproductive system to match genes, to refine the race, as Rei put it, to promote racial excellence. The selected breeding pair produced an allowed number of offspring, usually two. The relationship for breeding was often brief, lasting just long enough to fertilize the female. However, in some cases a permanent relationship was formed.
She was favorably impressed when Rei explained that the two sexes were equal in all ways. The idea of male dominance was a false one, she was told. In fact, the crew of the ill-fated star ship on which Rei had come to the Artonuee system had been integrated. Pleasure relationships were permitted.
This concept shocked her, too. Couples did not merge for pleasure, although there was joy in the fertilization process. But for simple self-gratification? Unthinkable. Artonuee females ripened on a cycle which varied, but which usually produced eggs once every five years. Then, and only then, did an Artonuee female seek a male.
Thinking in a spirit of scientific inquiry only, she decided to question Rei further. 'You mentioned the female Juanna. Was she your pleasure companion aboard the driver?'
'We were very close,' Rei said.
'And did you produce offspring?'
'No. My children were not yet allotted,' Rei said.
'I don’t understand the pleasure relationship,' Miaree said.
'I can see why. Your methods are so much more efficient.' He chuckled. 'If we were constructed as you are, we would be in the far galaxies by now.'
'Explain?'
'A joke,' he said. 'Our wise men often say that we are too involved in, ah, pleasure. They say we spend too much time enjoying our, shall I say, biological differences. They say if we’d applied the same amount of energy to research, our advances would have been much greater.'
'This pleasure relationship,' Miaree asked. 'How does it differ from the actual mating?'
'In results only,' Rei answered. 'The male is chemically treated so that there is no fertilization of the female.'
She looked at him wonderingly. 'The process is the same?'
'Exactly.'
'Could you explain, in detail, how the merging is accomplished?'
He laughed. 'The male genitalia hardens and is inserted into the female genitalia.'
'So. It is thus in our race.' She mused. 'In fact, as I studied pictures of you without clothing I noted that your male genitalia is very similar to the organs of our males, although differently placed.'
'I would be interested in knowing something of your reproductive process,' Rei said.
'It is quite different,' she said. 'First there is the ritual of courtship. The male fondles the female to excite her.'
'I left out that detail,' Rei said. 'It is thus with us.'
'Is there attraction, then, between a Delanian female and her mate?'
'We call it love,' Rei said.
'An interesting word.'
'An interesting process,' Rei said.
'And the physical merging,' Miaree went on. 'How is it accomplished? I mean, where are the female genitalia located in your females?'
'In the vee between the legs,' Rei said.
'Strange.' Miaree rose. Without speaking, she slipped out of her gown, stood before Rei naked, wings unfolding. She turned. Her rear was exposed by the unfolding of her wings. Her body, graceful, slim, was a rainbow display of colors as she said, 'The Artonuee female’s reproductive organs are located with an opening at the lower rear. Do you see?'
'Yes,' Rei said. He swallowed. And an entertaining thought came to him. Astoundingly, the opening to Miaree’s lower body was strikingly similar to the sex organ of the females of his race. He did not know about depth, but in size he knew that their organs would be compatible.
'You are very beautiful, you know,' he said.
'Thank you.' She shrugged into her gown, covering her wings.
'In size and shape I think that we could blend.'
'There would be no fertilization,' she said matter-of-factly. 'Although in the future I’m sure that we will experiment with artificial fertilization. There is certain evidence, from your encounter with the ifflings, that the life force is similar in our races. It would be most interesting to see what would happen should an Artonuee egg be exposed to the seed of a Delanian male.'
