“My pack!” I shouted hoarsely. “My equipment, everything. Those masculine momsers have all our gear!”
“Not quite,” Mata said in soothing tones. “As soon as you left we saw to it that the porter, Veldi, was rendered unconscious and both your packs are here now. Your associate Steengo’s equipment was not in your residence so we can assume that it is now in the possession of Iron John or his associates.”
“Not good.” I worried a fingernail with my incisors. “There are things there they shouldn’t see . . .”
“Might I interrupt,” Tremearne’s voice spoke through my jaw-a-phone. “I was waiting until things quieted down to tell you. Steengo’s pack as safe.”
“You have it?”
“Rather I should have said `made safe.’ All of your packs are boobytrapped with a canister of rotgrot. Which, when released by a coded radio signal, causes the contents of the pack to instantly decay to their component molecules.”
“Nice to known. A lot of secrets are being revealed of late, aren’t they?”
There was no response from my jaw. I held out my wine glass for a refill. “Some simple answers , to some simple questions, if you please.” My anger had been blasted by fatigue, excoriated by fear of imminent death. Mata nodded in response.
“Good. On a historical note-how come guys over there, girls here?”
“A union of convenience,” Mata said. “Many years ago our foremothers were forcefully relocated to this planet. This inadvertent transplantation had a sobering effect on them. Whatever excesses of zeal they had displayed on other worlds were not repeated here. Peace, cool-reasoning and logic prevailed. We became then as you see us now.”
“Women,” I said. “A society of women.”
“That is correct. Life here was a running battle for a good long time, or so it is written. The Fundamentaloids tried to convert us, while our next door neighbors tried to wipe us out. The inferior sex they called us, a threat to their existence. When we first came to this planet we found that those macho crazies were already well established. Our group was forced to spend a good deal of effort just staying clear of them. This was time and energy wasted, our founding mothers decided, so they sought for ways to bring about peace. Eventually they convinced the male ruling clique that they could prosper by utilizing their energy in a more positive manner. It was a completely selfish appeal, arranging ways for the males on top in their society to stay on top, while providing absolute control of the rest of the men.”
“Sounds pretty terrible,” Madonette said. “Turning all those men into slaves.”
“Never say slaves! Willing collaborators is more like it. We showed those in charge, and in particular the one now called Iron John, how much easier it would be to rule by brain rather than muscle. We demonstrated to their satisfaction how a great deal more could be accomplished. With our intelligence and knowledge of science, and their muscles, two separate societies were born. In the beginning there was much hatred and clashes between the groups. This died away when it was decided that only the male leaders knew of our existence. This suited the leaders to perfection.”
“That was when the two cities were built-and the wall?”
“Correct. This planet is rich in red clay and fossil fuel so the males soon became manic brick makers. After we showed them how to build kilns, of course. There were contests to see who could mold the most bricks, or fire the greatest number, or carry the most. The champion was named brickie of the month and achieved great renown. This went on until you couldn’t see the trees for the mountains of bricks. We quickly researched brick laying in our data bases and put the men to work on that.”
She sipped her wine delicately and waved her hand in a circle. “Here are the results-and quite attractive they are too. While our physical scientists were sorting the males out this way, our cultural engineers were looking at the sloppy mucho – macho theories that had been keeping them going up to this point. The Iron Hans myth was only a part of their pantheon. We simplified and altered it. Then used genetic biology to modify the physical structure of their leader, so he is as you see him now. At first he was grateful, although gratitude has long since vanished.”