by J. P. Larson
“Are you ‘looking’?” Alex asked her.
Grey paused.
Alex envisioned a shoe falling from the sky and landing in his open mouth. Grey laughed. “Mixing your metaphors?”
“I thought it was appropriate, just this once.”
“Ms. Danforth is waiting for us near the aft drive access panels,” Grey explained. Alex led the way. Miss Danforth was reading off test equipment readings while her older sister stood with her head buried in the guts of the Pride’s drive system. When Ms. Grey and Alex walked up, Ms. Danforth extracted herself from the engine and looked at them.
“Your phase inverters are fine,” Ms. Danforth explained. “The problem is this little part right here.” The younger sister held up a small, silver box.
“What is that?”
“Regulator. It’s not regulating anymore. And I can’t fix this. It needs to be replaced.”
“I don’t think I have any spares of that, either,” Alex told her.
“You don’t. I checked.”
“Do you have any spares?”
“Of course we do,” Ms. Danforth told him, arching an eyebrow. “We keep spares for all our parts.”
“Then my ship is fixed?”
“We keep spares for our ship, not yours. And our parts aren’t always compatible.”
Alex looked very glum. Grey gave him a kind look. “I think maybe you need to talk to the captain again.”
Alex looked at her. “Here or there?”
“I’m right here,” said Dawson from behind Alex. “Ms. Grey, will you help the Danforth’s put everything back together?”
“Yes, Captain.”
Dawson turned around and led the way forward, quickly finding the galley. “Small ship,” she commented. “I would go nuts.”
“It’s home,” said Alex. “Or at least it was. Would you like some tea?” Without waiting for an answer, he began brewing a pot. He grabbed two cups and set them on the table, then transferred the steeping pot. “Now what?”
“We’re not ogres or witches, Captain,” Dawson told him. “You had a nice time at dinner.”
Alex had heard the stories, and Captain Dawson had as much as admitted they were all true.
“You have all been very decent to me,” Alex admitted. “But I can’t go with you.”
“You’ll die out here.”
“I know. About ten minutes after you jump to hyper. I won’t starve to death.” Alex looked at the tea, poured a little into one of the cups to check the color, then filled both cups about half full.
“That’s an extreme reaction,” Captain Dawson said. “I’m sure we could come up with other workable choices.” Alex shrugged, conceding the point. “What is it worth to you if we get you to your planned destination, with your ship,” Captain Dawson asked him.
Alex suddenly looked hopeful. “Name your price.”
“Except if that price is going home with us.” Dawson gave him a sad look. “The stories you have heard about us – do they fit your image of us after today?”
Alex thought about it carefully. “Grey told me why you run your planet the way you do. I can certainly understand your viewpoint.”
“That was very diplomatic,” Dawson told him. “But you’re still afraid of us. You were afraid to come aboard my ship. You would rather die than leave here with us. You are so afraid of us because we refuse to be pushed around by ignorant, greedy, sadistic men.”
“I’m not that kind of man. My father isn’t. My friends aren’t.”
“But you know men like that.”
“Yes.” Alex admitted.
“The stories you have heard. Do you know where those stories started?”
“Funny you should have mentioned StarInc Station. I ran into a guy in a bar there once. Said he spent some time as a ‘guest’ aboard a Dawson’s Star ship. It wasn’t a pleasant experience.”
“And what sort of man do you suppose he was?”
Alex paused. “Ignorant, greedy and sadistic.”
“Do you think maybe the stories you’ve heard are slanted just a wee bit?” She sipped her tea and watched him make up his mind.
Alex looked at her, ran the options through his head. “Yeah, they could be slanted.”
“Men on Dawson’s Star do not vote. They may not hold property. They must follow the dictates of their mother or their wife. Some women are much stricter with their men than others, of course. And they learn from an early age to treat all women with respect. In those respects, this is much like Earth has treated women at various points in history. But men are not property, they can have jobs, and they are treated with the respect that they earn.”
“What do you want from me?” Alex finally asked her.
“I want to name my price to save your life,” she told him.
Alex looked at her. “I’ll go with you,” he said finally. “Can I collect some things?”
Captain Dawson smiled. “That’s not my price.” Alex looked at her in surprise. “If we can get you and your ship to its final destination, what will you give us?”
Alex took a drink of his tea, giving himself a chance to think. He set the cup down and looked Captain Dawson in the eye. “Name your price, Captain.”
“We want a trading partner, Captain. Dawson’s Star has a sum total of four merchant ships, none of them as fast as yours. Jane’s Gift carries a large payload, but we’re slow. Your ship is perfect for carrying intellectual property and other small items.
“We want a trading partner. And we’re tired of bad press. We want you to say nice things about us, give us some good public relations.”
“I trade with you? At whose terms?”
“Ours, of course,” Dawson replied with a laugh. “Do you think you could out-negotiate Ms. Waters with her special talents? But I think you can rest assured – you’ll make more money with us than you could possibly make without us. We’ve been somewhat isolated. We have some very interesting industries, but we have a hard time finding buyers. And we have an even harder time finding people willing to sell us any technology. The Gift mostly carries hard goods: supplies, medicines, that sort of thing.”
“All this is a moot point. Ms. Danforth says she can’t fix my ship.”
“No, she didn’t say that at all.”
“She says the regulator is shot and your spares won’t work.”
“The regulator is shot, but she said that sometimes the parts don’t interchange. This isn’t one of those times. Your ship has been fixed since you sat down for dinner.”
Alex looked at her, decided she was telling the truth, and started smiling. “You just gave up your negotiating position. You could have gotten anything you wanted from me.”
“If you honor my terms, I will be getting what I want.”
Alex held out his hand. “I would be honored to accept your generous offer, Captain.”
“One more thing, Captain,” Dawson told him. “Ms. Grey will be going with you. After the wedding ceremony."
“Wedding ceremony?”
“You can annul it at any time you want,” she told him. “But if you’ll remember what I said about men owning property, you’ll understand about the difficulties of trading with us as a single man. Legally, when you find yourself in Dawson’s Star space, your ship will belong to Ms. Grey. We understand this is a marriage of convenience, and Ms. Grey will stay in her own cabin. It’s an unusual arrangement, but it simplifies many things while you are in DS system.”
Alex paused, looking at Captain Dawson. The woman silently returned his gaze, looking over the rim of her teacup. “Is marriage really necessary? It seems a bit excessive.”
“No, it’s not absolutely necessary,” Dawson replied. “But as I said, it makes things substantially easier. It also provides you with a level of legal protection. We have had incidents. You aren’t married.” Alex didn’t even wonder how she knew that. “But if you’re strongly opposed to the idea, we can set up other arrangements. Marriage to Ms. Grey would res
olve any real problems for you dealing in DS space.”
Alex thought it over. Something else was going on, but now he was curious. Finally, he smiled. “I always assumed that I would do the asking when I decided to get married.”
Captain Dawson nodded understanding. “I don’t think this is what she had in mind, either. If the two of you can’t get along on ship together, we’ll figure something else out.”
“Does she know what we’ve been discussing?” Alex asked.
“Of course. But I’m shielding you, so she doesn’t know the results. I didn’t know what your reaction would be, but I wouldn’t have her the brunt of a backlash if your thoughts turned nasty.”
Alex decided he was offended. "I'm not a nasty man, Captain," Alex finally told her.
Dawson looked at him. "You and I both know you're a hard man at times, Mr. Swanson."
"Not with my friends."
Dawson smiled her unnerving smile. "No, not with your friends. Which is why we want you, and it's why I trust Ms. Grey would be safe on your ship."
Alex returned her smile. “So do I ask her, or does she ask me, or have you just arranged everything?”
Captain Dawson's smile grew. “We don’t expect you to follow all the social rules of our society, although Ms. Grey will need to teach them to you before you arrive home. Go talk to her and work out things however you work them out. We’ll hold the ceremony at 0800 ship’s time. Um. Jane’s Gift time. You have ten hours.”
They both got up. “Thank you, Captain. I think my life is going to be more interesting than ever.”
“I think so, too, Captain,” Dawson told him. “Ms. Grey is my cousin. My mother and her father were siblings. After the ceremony, when we’re not talking ship’s business, you may call me ‘Linda’. Not before.”
“Well then, my name is Alex. I’m much more comfortable with that than ‘Captain’.” Alex paused. “You used past tense when you explained about the relationship.”
Dawson looked at him for a moment before answering. “My uncle died a number of years ago, when Ms. Grey and I were still both children. This isn’t a topic you should raise with Ms. Grey, but she may offer to tell you about it at some point.” She paused. "I'm going to repeat something about protocol, Captain. Do not be too familiar with the women of Dawson's Star, even Ms. Grey. We are formal with outsiders, and we are generally formal with men. Expect to use titles and last names unless invited to do differently. I assume Ms. Grey will so invite you, but that is her decision. Not mine. And certainly not yours."
Alex nodded, standing up. He saw Captain Dawson off at the airlock, closed up again then found Grey chatting with the Danforths.
“Hello, Mr. Swanson,” Grey said. “Have an interesting chat?”
“Did the Captain tell you what we decided?” Alex asked her.
“No.” Grey paused. “And she’s shielding you. I can’t even peek.”
Alex turned to Ms. Danforth. “Is my ship really fixed?”
“Of course. We’ve run complete diagnostics. We even fixed a few other things while we were at it.”
“I can’t thank you enough.”
“Quite all right. Full records in your maintenance logs. Carry some spares, would you please? And get some better tools.”
“I wouldn’t know how to use them.”
Ms. Danforth looked at Ms. Grey then shrugged.
“We’re done here. Good day, Captain.”
“Thank you both again.”
The Danforths packed up and disappeared in the direction of the air lock. Alex turned to Grey. “We should probably talk.”
Recitation
Alex slept fitfully, waking two hours before the scheduled ceremony. He spent some time working out, then cleaned up and dressed in his best suit. His wasn’t a military or even a company ship, so no uniforms. He headed to the cockpit and called up Jane’s Gift.
Ms. Waters, the finance officer, was on the comm. “What do I do now?” Alex asked her.
“We have contracts for you to sign,” she told him. “The Captain will meet you at the airlock. You’ll sign the contracts, then you can get married.”
“Do I get to see the contracts first?”
“You won’t have any problems with these,” she told him. “You can read them here, but they just spell out your agreement with the Captain. If you have a problem, we can discuss it.”
“On my way,” he told her, ending the transmission.
Captain Dawson was wearing a formal uniform when Alex found her at the airlock between the two ships. She had on navy blue trousers, a white blouse, and a wool, navy blue coat with the now familiar braided pattern up the right sleeve. “Permission to come aboard,” Alex asked her. She nodded, and they headed for her cabin. They were met by the finance officer, and the three of them entered the captain's outer quarters, which appeared to double as a conference room.
The contracts were amazingly short. Alex read through them quickly. He was surprised, actually. The terms were quite fair, provided he didn’t try to divorce his wife while in Dawson’s Star space.
“I have a small change,” he told them. “Something I can't help.”
“Oh, this sounds interesting,” Captain Dawson said. “Do tell.”
“My military status is somewhat unusual. I guess you could say I’m in the reserves, after a fashion. I can’t let my business get in the way of my military duties.”
“I’ve dealt with that before,” said Ms. Waters. “Give me a moment.”
Ms. Waters made use of a computer console to make changes to the contracts. She showed Alex the changes, and he nodded approval. Alex signed the new contracts when they were presented to him.
“The agreement is for five years,” Dawson reminded Alex. “There are exit clauses on agreement of both parties or if you should become unable to perform your duties for health reasons, that sort of thing. If you and Ms. Grey can’t get along, we can work something out. But I expect you to do your best with my cousin and for our agreement.”
“I will, Captain,” Alex promised. “How does the ceremony go?”
“Ms. Waters will escort you in. If you don’t mind, she’ll also prompt you through the first half of the ceremony. A Dawson’s Star man wouldn’t need help, but I’m sure you want everything to go smoothly.” Alex nodded at that. “Ms. Grey will need to guide you for the second half of the ceremony, so don’t be surprised.” Captain Dawson got up. “The ceremony begins in 12 minutes, just enough time for you to get nervous.”
Alex got up with her and offered a hand. Captain Dawson looked at it for a minute. “You’re on Dawson’s Star territory, Captain,” she told him.
Alex slowly lowered his hand, the smile fading at the same time.
“On our territory, you should try to follow our customs,” she continued.
“I don’t know your customs,” Alex replied.
“You’ll need to learn.” She smiled mischievously. “The proper greeting for a man to a woman is a deep bow while tugging your forelocks.”
Alex looked at her with astonishment, thought about the stories he had heard, then began to comply before he heard a voice in his head.
Alex looked around and noticed Ms. Waters trying to look innocent.
“Kari!” said the captain. “You tattled!” She turned back to Alex. “Expect some teasing. Be a good scout. You’ll be fine.”
Alex gave Dawson a look, smiled, then bowed and pulled the hair at his forehead. Both women began giggling.
“You’ll do fine,” both women agreed. Dawson added, “Please don’t do that again. It looks very silly.”
They exchanged smiles, and Dawson left.
“Now what?” Alex asked Ms. Waters.
“Now I believe it’s traditional for you to pace around the room, get really nervous, ask for a glass of water – which I won’t give you, by the way, -- and ask me if you’re really doing the right thing.”
So Alexed paced, got nervous, asked for the non-existent wat
er, and wondered if he was doing the right thing.
Alex envisioned the air lock opening to space. Ms. Waters was silent. “That’s not fair,” Alex admitted. “I apologize. Somehow I suspect the Captain would have let me negotiate harder if I had tried.”
“You’re naturally honest,” Ms. Waters said. “If you weren’t, we just would have demanded a huge fee for the repairs. Almost, but not quite, more than you could pay. But tell me, what did you expect to happen to you if we took you home with us? Hard labor in the mines, shackles around your ankles?”
Alex looked at her in surprise. “I guess I was a little colored by the stories. I don’t think I had a clue what would happen, and my mind decided whatever it was, it wouldn’t be good.”
“Salvage on your ship would more than have paid for a return trip home. Or you could contact someone to pay for the more extensive repairs involved. Do you know anyone who could have helped?”
Alex thought about his parents then realized Ms. Waters was probably watching. He glanced at her, discovering a very surprised look. Then she started laughing. “Oh, that’s priceless! Just priceless.”
“Please don’t tell anyone,” Alex said in a panic. “I try to make my own way, but it’s always so much harder when people know who I am. Or who my parents are, anyway. In the military, everyone assumes I'm privileged because of Dad. Outside, because of Mother.”
“Okay, Mr. Swanson,” she told him. “But it’ll all come out eventually.”
“It always does, but I do my best to establish my own credentials before it does.”
Alex returned to pacing. Ms. Waters watched him for a few more minutes.
“I would be honored, Kari.”
“Alex, I want to stress something to make sure you understand. You must never call a woman from Dawson’s Star by her first name unless she specifically asks you to. This even applies to family, and it applies even if they call you ‘Alex’. Most women will treat you with the same respect you treat them, but all Dawson’s Star women will be offended if you are overly familiar with them. After the ceremony today, some of the women may offer their names. Consider it an honor, but remember to respect those who choose otherwise.”
