by David Larson
“I’d be hurt,” Mike said.
“Of course you would,” Tawny said “But have you ever wondered why? Her love for you shouldn’t have been affected by the love she might feel for someone else. Can’t a woman love her husband and her children at the same time and not lose any of the love she feels for a single member of that family?”
“Sure,” Mike said, “but that’s not the same thing.”
“Why isn’t it?” Twany said. “Because sex was involved?”
“Well, yeah,” Mike said.
“So if you were involved in a sexual relationship with a woman on Earth, a committed relationship, and you found out that she was going out dancing with someone else, would that be ok?”
“No, it wouldn’t,” Mike said uncomfortably.
“Why not?” she asked.
“Because it’s only a matter of time before something sexual happens.”
“And that’s the thing you use to draw the line then?” She asked, “Sex?”
“Yes,” Mike said. “I think that’s true. What is more intimate between two people than sharing each other’s bodies,” Mike could have been more uncomfortable, but he really wasn’t sure how.
“I can think of quite a number of things that would rank right up there in the intimacy department,” Tawny said. “For example, the death of a loved one, or the birth of a child. Sharing some adventure or music.”
“But if you really care about someone,” Mike said “wouldn’t you want to share things like that with them for the rest of your life?”
“Well, sometimes ‘the rest of our lives’ is a lot longer than we planned on. We change in ways we didn’t plan. Besides, sharing something with someone certainly isn’t diminished if that person shares something important with someone else. If fact, sometimes things are actually made more important, or special, or beautiful, when they are shared with more than one person. Including sex.”
“That’s a long way for my Earth mind to travel,” Mike said. “But I guess I can see the merit to the things you’re saying. I just have to wrap my head around it a little tighter.”
“How much time did you spend on Earth?” Mike asked in a wild psychological swing aimed at changing the subject.
“Quite a lot actually,” Tawny said. “At one point I stayed there when my ship left, and I waited till the next one came.”
“How long was that?” Mike asked surprised.
“Almost 5 years,” Tawny said. “The prospect scared me a little at first, and the crew was absolutely against it. But I kept after them and eventually they acquiesced. It was kind of the same way you talked them into your being here right now.”
She tilted her head and smiled at Mike. “I guess we have something in common.”
“Yeah,” Mike said smiling back in pure adoration, “I guess we do.”
“Were you in the United States when you were there?” He asked. “It must have been since you speak English so well.”
“No,” Tawny said “But that’s an interesting question since I speak with an Australian accent. I actually speak 7 languages fluently and have a rudimentary understanding of 5 others. It’s kind of a hobby of mine.”
“Wow,” Mike said, “that’s some hobby.”
“It made my job on Earth quite a bit easier,” She said. “I spent that 5 years in Southeast Asia. Mostly Cambodia. Have you ever been there?”
“No I haven’t,” Mike said “The Vietnam war ended just before I was born, and there seems to still be a stigma about traveling around that part of the world for most Americans. Why did you pick there?”
“We had picked up a few people from that area, and some of the things we learned made us pretty sure that the Cambodian people had a philosophy of life, that could be a great starting point for what it would take to change the self-destructive course Earth seems to be on.”
“Where were you in the country?” Mike asked “And what did you do to get by?”
“I started in Phnom Penh,” She said. “At first, I worked in one restaurant or another, mostly washing dishes. It was pretty touch-and-go for a little while. Life in a country like that can be a little dicey for a woman on her own. But we made sure I had more than enough Riel, the Cambodian currency, to fend for myself. And after all, quality of life and security is pretty much based on what you can afford.”
“Where’d you get the money from in the first place?”
“We produced it on the ship.”
“You counterfeited local currency?”
“It wasn’t really counterfeiting in the truest sense of the word,” Tawny said. “I guess a better word would have been ‘reproduced’, or ‘replicated’. It’s pretty complicated and I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t be interested in the process.”
“Not right this minute,” Mike said. He was totally captivated by her story.
“Any way,” I had all the documentation to travel around the country as much as I wanted and the jobs were simply a way to assimilate myself into the culture. The fact that I’m nearly the same color as the natives there help immensely. That seems to be universally important to humans.”
“Yeah,” Mike said, “it seems to be.”
“Do you know anything about Saloth Sar?” Tawny asked.
“No. Is that a person?”
“After a fashion,” Tawny said. Her face grew a little dark. “You probably know him by the other name he took. Pol Pot.”
“Him I’ve heard of,” Mike said. “A real nut from what I remember.”
“See Mike, that’s one of the things that amazes me about Earth in general, and the United States specifically. Pol Pot was responsible for the horrific murder of almost 3 million of the people in his country. This happened just 2 years before you were born, and almost no one in your country knows what happened or what your government’s involvement in the tragedy was.”
“Honestly,” Mike said, “I had no idea the US was implicated at all.”
“The United States backed a coup in 1970 and installed a sympathetic ruler. The Communist government wanted their own ruler in power, and a horrible civil war broke out in 1970. See, two governments wanted control over an area so they could use it to their best interests, as they fought to control another country. Just like we talked about in the interview.”
“It seemed to me you didn’t understand how that worked when we talked,” Mike said.
“I understand it all too well,” Tawny said. “Better than most of the people on your planet. But the people here don’t. I’m pretty good at my job.”
“I guess you are,” Mike said. He was falling more deeply in love with this woman the more they talked. Her depth was nothing less than incredible to him. And her strength was intoxicating.
“The civil war in Cambodia lasted 5 long years and exacted a terrible toll on the citizens of Cambodia. In the end Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge won, and took over control of the government. Pol Pot wasn’t just a communist; he was also a staunch nationalist. He wanted to bring the nation of Kampuchea, the old name for Cambodia, back to the greatness it once had been in the past.”
“Make Kampuchea great again,” Mike said quietly.
“Exactly, and literally,” Tawny said.
“In Pol Pot’s view Kampuchea was a world leader when the economy was strictly agrarian. Also, he felt as though immigrants and foreigners were diluting the blood line of Kampucheans, and undermining his countries return to greatness. Non-Cambodians were rounded up and imprisoned, killed, or deported. He also launched an all-out campaign to convince the Cambodian people that they were under constant threat of having their boarders overrun by the Vietnamese. Massive time and resource was spent to fortify the border between Cambodia and Vietnam.”
“Sounds familiar,” Mike said flatly.
“On Day One of Pol Pot’s regime, he sent troops into all of the major cities and told them to completely evacuate the people. He told the people in the cities that they were under direct threat of being bombed by the United States, and th
at it could happen at any time that very day. Since the US had already bombed Cambodia during recent years in conjunction with the war they were waging in Vietnam, the threat was real to the residence of the cities.”
“Phnom Penh was totally empty in just a few days,” she said.
“Where did they all go?” Mike asked.
“Just out into the country side,” She said. “They were prodded along the road by Khmer Rouge troops as they carried the few possessions they were able to throw together when they were evacuated. Most were taken to work camps so they could work in the fields producing rice. But the most heinous part was the interrogation camps and the killing fields.”
“I’ve heard of the killing fields,” Mike said.
“The government felt that anyone that had an education was a threat to returning Kampuchea to what it once was. People that were doctors, lawyers, or any other kind of professional were arrested and executed. People that were thought to be collaborators with foreign governments or part of groups that were a threat to the Khmer regime were arrested and tortured, until the admitted they were subversives. If they survived the torture they were then executed. There were cases like a ten-year-old girl that eventually admitted to working for both the CIA and KGB.”
“Ten years old,” she said to Mike for emphasis. He just looked back at her speechless.
“Most of the prisons that were used to hold these thousands of prisoners were converted schools. They still stand today as a monument to insanity.”
“The people that were deemed a threat to the government were transported out of the city to a place where they would be housed for a few days while they waited to be executed.”
“The killing fields,” Mike said.
“Yes,” Tawny said. “That place is still there today and every single person on the planet should visit it, and realize how easy it is to let that happen all over again.”
“Once the prisoners arrived at the execution spot the were only held long enough for them to be killed. The executioners were told to save ammunition so the victims were usually stabbed or had their throats slit, then the bodies were shoved into huge open pits. Eventually they had to have more executioners, but there were only so many knives and bayonets to go around since most of the weapons were at the border keeping people safe from the nonexistent invading hoard of Vietnamese. So, they had to improvise. Thousands of people were killed by having their throats cut with the sharp edge of a palm frond stalk.”
“The babies that were allowed to stay with their mothers,” She stopped to collect herself. Tears were welling up in her eyes. “The babies were slammed against a tree, and their tiny lifeless bodies were flung into a separate pit.”
“I,” Mike said. Tears in his eyes as well. “I don’t even know what to say.”
“Today you can still visit that place,” Tawny went on as she dried her eyes. “There’s a tower that must be 100 feet high containing skulls of victims that have been unearthed from the killing pits. Everywhere along the path that winds through excavation sites are signs that remind visitors to be careful and not step on human remains. Bones, teeth, bits of clothing, and personal effects are being exposed by the elements everywhere.
“The amazing thing is that Khmer people, people that were part of this slaughter, still live among the population.”
“How can they let them live?” Mike asked amazed.
“That’s how the Cambodian people are,” she said. “Gentle, beautiful people that love life and believe in live, and let live. Some of them were just corrupted by a compelling force. And people just stood by watching it happen.”
“How does that happen?” Mike asked.
“It has always happened,” Tawny said. “People may say ‘never again’, but what they really mean is ‘never again to me, or my people’. The German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemoller summed up the issue beautifully. He said, ‘First, they came for the Communists, and I did not speak out, because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out, because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out, because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me…and there was no one left to speak for me.’”
“It’s a constant part of history on earth. Look at the Spanish inquisition. But people think, ‘that was another time and another country. That could never happen here…or to me.’ It will happen again, and again. And people will always look back saying ‘never again,’ instead of realizing they are slowly allowing the same thing to happen all over again. They just justify inaction by pointing out irrelevant differences, or personally irrelevant talking points.”
“It will always happen again, Mike. And I guess that is the one singular point which we’ve been trying to accomplish for thousands of years. Luckily we have tenacity and a general air of optimism.”
“Lucky for that…” Mike said.
They sat in silence for a few minutes, both lost in reflection of the conversation.
“Did you stay in the capitol, then?” Mike said finally.
“No,” Tawny said. “I worked there for a little while, then I got hired onto a tour boat that was going up the Sab River when the water was up. It really was quite amazing. Running up that river. Fishing boats, junks and barges working endlessly up and down that muddy waterway.”
“Eventually I got onto a small fishing boat with a beautiful Cambodian family that kind of just adopted me, and we went all the way across Tonle Sap Lake and ended up in the most enthralling city on the face of the planet, Siem Reap.”
Tawny looked wistfully of in the distance remembering the beauty of the Angkor region of Cambodia.
“It really is the closest thing to Hale I’ve ever seen on earth.” She said.
“I lived just outside the ancient temple complex at Angkor Wat. I was there when they came back for me.”
“Honestly, Mike,” she said. “It was touch and go there for a minute as to whether I was going to come back or not. I knew that I couldn’t exist in human society for ever. There had been too many close calls. In the end I simply turned my back on all of that, and came home. I’ve never been back, although I went on several more missions. I just stayed on the ship and greeted subjects.”
“Do you miss it now?” Mike asked.
“I do,” she said. “But my life is here. It’s always better to remember the good parts of your life and move on. How else can you continue to grow?”
“Mike,” Tawny said, “this has really been a pleasure. But I’m afraid that I’m going to have to get back now.”
“Oh,” Mike said surprised. He had lost all sense of time and had no idea how long they had been sitting there. “Of course. I’m sorry I’ve kept you so long.”
“Oh please,” She said taking his hand into hers, “don’t apologize. This has been lovely, really. I enjoy talking to you, you’re an excellent listener.”
“Can we do it again sometime?” Mike asked as he squeezed her hand a little. “I’d really like to see you again.”
“Of course,” Twany said happily. “I’d really like that. I have something to show you that I think you might really like. Can I pick you up at your place tomorrow?”
“That would be great!” Mike said.
Fourteen:
Mike and Tawny sat across from each other on the tram. Mike hadn’t slept much the night before. He had been way too keyed up anticipating the time when he would get to see Tawny again.
“Where are we off to?” Mike asked.
“Oh,” Tawny said smiling, “I think that will be better off left as a secret. If I told you, you’d be disappointed because you’d relate it to the same thing on earth. And this is definitely not the same thing.”
“Okay,” Mike said. “I leave my immediate future in your capable hands.”
“I promise you won’t regret it,” She said.
“I really don’t mean to be forward here,” Mike said “but how is someone like you not spoken for.”
Ta
wny did a horrible job of suppressing a laugh, and Mike was instantly embarrassed.
“I’m sorry Mike,” She said. “I don’t mean to laugh at your expense. It’s just the colloquialisms. ‘Spoken for.’ What makes you think I’m not ‘spoken for’?”
“I’m sorry,” Mike said, “I didn’t mean to assume. You don’t have on a ring, and you never speak of any other kind of personal relationship.”
“Mike, you have to understand by now that a ring is an earthly custom. And it should make complete sense, especially after our last conversation, that there is absolutely nothing here that relates to that.”
“I get that,” Mike said “and I don’t mean to pry, but you did say that some people here stay together for life, and that some people live together for a time. I’m just surprised that no one has been able to offer you what it takes to stay with them. I mean, you’re about everything a man could ever want in a partner.”
“Why Mike,” Tawny said in mock shyness “I do believe you’re making me blush.”
Mike just smiled at her.
“Of course, I’ve had relationships with others,” she said, “just like everyone else here has. And before you bend something in your mind, trying to figure out how to ask the question politely, of course I’ve had relationships with both men and women.”
Mike was swimming deep in a pool of mixed feelings and emotions now without the aid of a floatation device. He was exhilarated, shocked, disappointed, and encouraged all at once. Tawny sensed Mike’s dilemma.
“Mike, there is nothing here that equates to Earth relationships. I tried to explain that to you before. There is no such thing here as homo- or heterosexuality. There is no title of straight, gay, lesbian, transgender, queer, transsexual…nothing. I would guess it wouldn’t be far off the mark to assume that nearly everyone here has had physical relationships with both the same and opposite sex.
“Sometimes those sexual encounters are just for that one time, and sometimes they’re lasting. The chances of people being hurt are slim because of everyone’s dedication to honesty. If you go into a situation confident that all cards are on the table then you really have to work pretty hard to be hurt by something you didn’t see coming.”
