The Clones of Mawcett (50 page)

“Yes, the same way you dressed for the party at the embassy.”

“Me too, sir?”

“No, of course not,” The admiral said. “You'll wear your uniform.”

Jenetta breathed a sigh of relief.

“That's your Nordakian uniform, Commander. Or perhaps I should say Captain, since that's your rank in the Nordakian Space Force.”

Jenetta's relief had been short lived. The Nordakian uniform was almost as uncomfortable as the formal wear of the palace. The skirt was only calf length but was almost as tight as the long gowns, and the knee length black leather boots had thirteen-centimeter stiletto heels that made her feet ache.

“How long will we be on Nordakia, sir?”

“As long as the Royal Family wishes you to remain there. A day, a week, a month, a year, five years, whatever. You are an officer of the Nordakian Space Force, Captain, and only on loan to Space Command at the pleasure of their majesties.”

Jenetta grimaced. “Yes sir. Is that all, sir?”

“Yes, Commander. That's all. You're dismissed.”

Jenetta turned and walked to the door, stepping out of the room as the dual doors slid noiselessly open, and then closed just as silently behind her.

Walking directly back to the BOQ, Jenetta stopped at Eliza's door and waited while the computer announced her presence outside the apartment. Eliza opened the door a few seconds later and stood to the side so that Jenetta could enter.

“Come on,” Eliza said, “put on your sweats so we can go to the gym.”

“I want to talk to you first. We're being shipped off to Nordakia. We leave in two days.”

“We?”

“Yes, both of us.”

“Why?”

“Admiral Holt says the Royal Family has requested that we visit.”

“Your voice says you don't believe that.”

“I think that the Royal Family may have been asked to invite us. They want us out of the way for a while.”

“Why?”

“I'm not sure. Perhaps it's because of the press conference. They might hope that our absence here will let everything die down completely. Or perhaps it's something else.”

“Well, I don't have to go. I'm not in Space Command.”

“You might as well be. You're being housed, clothed, and fed by Space Command. Besides, a few months away might be good for you. You said you're tired of being cooped up here, so it'll be nice to be on a planet again, with fresh air and sunshine.”

“But we'll have to dress in those long, awful gowns, won't we?”

“Yes.”

“And wear those terrible shoes with the thirteen-centimeter heels that make our feet ache.”

“Yes.”

“And you still think that I should go?”

“Yes. They must have a reason for shipping us off. Besides, why should I be the only one to suffer,” Jenetta said grinning.

“Are you sure that my presence was requested?” Eliza said, grinning back at Jenetta.

“Come on, let's head over to the gym.”

“Okay. It'll just take me a minute to get ready.”

Two days later, Captain Jenetta Carver of the Nordakian Space Force reported aboard the Ezillusuh with Eliza and two very large cats. Jenetta was dressed in one of her Nordakian uniforms and the officer on duty at the docking entrance came to rigid attention as she and Eliza approached. They were quite a spectacle to those people on the dock unfamiliar with the forms of dress required of Nordakian women. Eliza was dressed in one of the gowns that barely allowed her to walk, and Jenetta didn't have much more mobility in her form fitting uniform. Both women were again wearing corsets that painfully constricted their waists by five centimeters. Jenetta would have had new uniforms and gowns made, but every time she'd been required to wear the restrictive clothes, she'd believed it was the last time. Although the palace dressmakers hadn't left enough fabric to let out the clothes around the torso, they'd left enough in the hem so the clothing could be altered for Jenetta and Eliza's new height.

While Eliza was wearing a headdress that extended almost to the deck, Jenetta had let down her hair. She'd had it trimmed to the proper length before reporting to the ship because it had grown quite a bit over the past year and a half. Although she had many times considered cutting it back to the acceptable Space Command length for loose hair, she had never done it, keeping it tightly rolled up at the base of her neck instead. As the commanding officer at Dixon, there was no one there to order her to get it cut.

Jenetta and Eliza were immediately escorted to a prepared VIP cabin, where they found three handmaidens waiting. The handmaidens would stay in an adjoining room, standard practice when transporting dignitaries aboard a military ship, but they would be available to attend the two women during all of their waking hours.

After settling in, Jenetta reported to the Captain on the bridge, and remained until after the ship left port and was on its way to Nordakia. The trip would take three months at top speed.

There wasn't much to do aboard the Nordakian ship, so Eliza spent most of her time in the cabin. Nordakian women weren't permitted to exercise with the men, so she and Jenetta couldn't spend any time in the gym. They exercised together in their cabin instead, using several bed pillows tied together to form a punching bag, much to the horror of the handmaidens. A cargo hold was set up for their use so they could run with the cats. Jenetta's Space Force service and senior rank gave her the run of the ship so she spent time on the bridge or in engineering, but she felt useless most of the time. Since the corset restricted how much they ate at any one sitting, they seemed to be eating almost constantly, munching on fruit or snacks throughout the entire day.

At least there were two women officers, both lieutenants, on the ship, and they all got together evenings to talk. Jenetta wondered if the discussions would have a corrupting influence on the women. She discovered, although it came as no real surprise, that neither of the two officers liked the tight skirts and boots, and both wished they had the freedoms that the men enjoyed. They expressed their hopes that, someday, the military would adopt uniforms like Space Command's. They were grateful, though, that they were allowed to wear their hair shorter than what was normally permitted on Nordakia. Both women wore it at the minimum length, so it only extended down to their derrières.

Finally arriving at Nordakia, after three months of travel, a shuttle took Jenetta and Eliza down to the surface. They were greeted by Minister Gkibuke at the palace shuttle pad.

“Captain Carver and Lady Carver. Kareer a Nordakia.”

Both Jenetta and Eliza replied together, “Zrand Chekkora u Kareerdu,” its Amer translation being, 'it's my honor to be welcomed here.'

“We have your suites all prepared. If you'll just follow me…”

Eliza had the most difficulty walking, so everyone walked at her pace. It made for an amusing parade, the minister, Jenetta and Eliza with the cats, the handmaidens, and the porters with the luggage, all walking at a snails pace. But for the cats, it was a common enough sight at the palace.

'All that's missing are the juggling clowns and calliope music,' Jenetta thought facetiously, as the group crept along towards the residences.

Jenetta and Eliza had been assigned adjoining suites in the area of the palace reserved for royal visitors. The three handmaidens that had traveled with the women went with Eliza, and Jenetta found Vronnesa, Znanna and Tkusa waiting for her in her suite. After the minister left, the four women had a warm reunion.

Jenetta's first order of business was to take off the uniform. It was late and she had been wearing the boots all day. Over the previous three months, she had grown more accustomed to wearing the heels, but her feet still ached at the end of each day. Her three handmaidens undressed her and ran a bath so that she could relax in the warm water. Jenetta had learned on her last visit not to waste her time fighting them, so she just relaxed and let them take care of her. She also had to worry about appearing to fight off attackers in the presence of the cats, who restlessly padded around the bathroom and bedroom during their first few hours there. Jenetta had to admit that being pampered like royalty, occasionally, was nice.

After being dried and prepared for bed, Jenetta relaxed in the enormous bed, which had been adjusted according to the specifications she had used on her previous visit, and fell into a deep sleep.

In the morning, the three handmaidens called lightly to Jenetta to wake her. The cats wouldn't allow them to approach the bed while she was sleeping, so they called from about three meters away. Once she was up, the handmaidens led her into the bathroom and bathed her again. Dried, powdered, and perfumed, she was guided back into the bedroom, where they dressed her in clean underwear and then wrapped the corset around her. Vronnesa used the white controller to reduce her waist as Jenetta tried to expel enough air to help the process. Then the three handmaidens finished dressing her in stockings, shoes, slip, and gown. Vronnesa had tightened the corset more than necessary, so she relaxed it a little until the gown fit properly. Jenetta was grateful for the small adjustment.

Once fully dressed Jenetta took the mincing steps allowed by the gown and walked to the outer room where her breakfast was waiting. As always, the corset kept her from eating very much, and she was soon full, if not satisfied. She had requested that a large bowl of fruit always remain filled so she could snack. Instead of being given time to relax after breakfast, her handmaidens immediately whisked her off to the beauty spa. The first task was to repair her hair. A number of strands had broken since her last visit to Nordakia.

Shaped like an oversized, open faced space helmet mounted on a tall plastic box, the machine would carefully separate and trace every single strand on her head, seamlessly extending any that had broken off with a synthetic hair that perfectly matched the original.

When she was done, every hair that grew from her head appeared to almost reach the floor. She stood perfectly still as her handmaidens trimmed the hair to exactly the right length of one finger width from the floor, since only the Queen's hair was allowed to actually touch the floor. When they were done, the thickened blond tresses again made Jenetta feel like Lady Godiva. She could easily use the voluminous mane to protect her modesty if she was naked.

No sooner had Jenetta finished with the hair machine than Eliza arrived with her entourage of three handmaidens. Currently, her hair barely reached the middle of her shoulder blades, although it hadn't been shortened since her birth on Dakistee. Jenetta estimated that she would be wedded to the hair machine for at least a couple of hours.

Moving to a recliner so that she could receive a manicure while she received a facial, Jenetta fell asleep.

The_Clones_of_Mawcett

Chapter Twenty-Four

~ July 22nd, 2272 ~

Jenetta and Eliza lunched together in Jenetta's room after returning from the spa. On this trip there would be no tome carrying tutors waiting to occupy her time with lessons, so the entire day was free for whatever activity they chose.

As they were having desert, Jenetta remarked to Eliza, “I don't understand it. I haven't been able to stop thinking about Christa since the minute we arrived. I guess I feel so terribly guilty being pampered while she may be suffering.”

“I know what you mean. I haven't been able to get her out of my mind either. Perhaps it's because we've just been sitting around without anything to occupy our minds. That hair helmet should at least have music piped into it. I'm glad we don't have to do that very often.”

“You've been thinking about her also?”

“Ever since I woke up. No, that's not correct. I've been thinking about her off and on since we landed.”

“I wonder if you've been picking up on my thoughts.”

“Or you picking up mine. You know what they say about bonds between siblings; especially siblings that were together in the womb.”

“We weren't in the womb together, Eliza. I was thirty-three years old when you were born.”

“We were in the womb together, literally. We were together as one person then. That makes us even closer than twins who develop from the splitting of an egg already fertilized by a single sperm. I am you and you are me.”

“But we've never been affected by each other's thoughts before.”

“How do we know? Whenever we've been together we've been working towards the same goals. When you were on Dixon, you were too far away to be affected by my thinking, or I by yours.”

“Okay, let's test it. What am I thinking right now?”

“You're thinking— that you've had enough to eat for the moment because your corset is killing you.”

Jenetta looked at Eliza and laughed. “Is that your brain speaking, or your mid-section?”

Eliza giggled. “Maybe both, but I know that I'm full and my corset is killing me.”

“Me too, but I don't think that was a valid test. What else are you getting?”

“I still can't get the image of Christa out of my head.”

“Me too. Maybe we are connected. Let's relax and try to think about something else.”

Rising from the small table where Jenetta took her meals, they moved to Jenetta's sitting area and selected comfortable chairs as the six handmaidens cleared the table. The cats took up places on either side of Jenetta's chair. Their senses may be confused by Eliza's smell, but their ability to identify Jenetta was infallible.

“What are you thinking now?” Jenetta asked after a few minutes.

“I'm thinking—that I hope palace security is excellent. I could never fight off an assassin dressed like this. I can't even get up out of this chair without assistance.”

“I've had that same thought every time I'm encased in one of these gowns. I always have such a feeling of helplessness until I'm free again.”

“You said a couple of months ago that you'd go to the Uthlaro Dominion to find Christa.”

“Yes,” Jenetta said.

“We have quite a bit of money in our book account with the new advances. How much would a small ship cost?”

“They're not cheap; not if we want one that will get us there in a reasonable time. Are you thinking that you want to go?”

“I want to see Christa free. Like you, I'll do whatever is necessary.”

“I'll probably have to give up my commission. I doubt that they'll give me a ten year leave of absence.”

“Ten years?”

“That's how long it will take to get there and return, assuming that we find her right away. It could take twice that long if we run into problems or can't locate her.”

“What about outfitting the ship with weapons?”

“That's an absolute necessity. I know where we can have that done in the Frontier Zone. I learned quite a bit about such matters while I was at Dixon.”

“How soon can we leave?”

“As soon as we get back to Higgins I'll resign my commission. Then we book passage to Urgucet. I know the name of a dealer there who has a large inventory of the kinds of ship we'll want. He caters mainly to smugglers, and can get whatever you want if he doesn't have anything in stock. Once we get into the Frontier Zone, we'll have the ship outfitted to meet most problems we might encounter.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

“Yes. But we can't begin until I can get us back to Higgins.”

Listening to Nordakian poetry as the handmaidens took turns reading, the two women relaxed to the extent permitted by the restrictive clothing and the thoughts that were racing through their heads about the upcoming mission. Their thoughts and repose was interrupted when a palace page arrived at the door. Vronnesa spoke with him and then came over to Jenetta.

“My Lady, the Queen asks that you and Lady Eliza come to her rooms.”

“Of course. When?”

“Now, My Lady, if it's convenient. She also asks that you bring your pets, so she may see them.”

Jenetta looked over at Eliza who nodded. “We're ready.”

The handmaidens helped Jenetta and Eliza stand up, then  straightened their clothes and fixed their hair to perfection before the group followed the waiting page to the Queen's quarters. The big cats walked alongside Jenetta and Eliza, and each group of handmaidens followed their mistress. The page, whose walking was not restricted in any way, nevertheless led very slowly. He was obviously accustomed to the Queen's pace.

Arriving at the Queen's suite, the party halted and waited in the corridor to be admitted. After just a few minutes, the two wide doors of the suite were opened and Jenetta and Eliza were admitted with the animals. As always, the handmaidens remained behind in the corridor.

Jenetta and Eliza approached the queen, bowed their heads, and pressed their hands against their chests, Jenetta's open and flat, Eliza's closed.

“Please lift your heads, ladies,” the queen said.

“My Queen,” Jenetta said as she raised her head, “we're honored to be summoned into your presence.”

“You are always welcome here, Captain, as are your sisters. Welcome to the Royal Palace, Eliza.”

“Thank you, your Majesty. It's my honor to be welcomed here.”

“Captain, your beasts are magnificent,” the queen said as she admired Cayla and Tayna.

“Thank you, my Queen. They've become treasured companions. Unless I'm threatened, they're as friendly as could be.”

“I see that. Captain, I want to congratulate you on another successful attack against the Raiders, but mostly I want to personally thank you for the treasure that you have given us.”

“Treasure, your highness?”

“Greater than all the gold and jewels in the universe. You've delivered to us the original Almuth, as I'm sure you well know. Finding it in the computer core that you presented to the ambassador came as a considerable shock, and has shaken our priesthood to its very core. No one ever suspected that our ancestors had come to this planet so they could follow a modified version of the True Word. It finally explained things that had mystified scholars for centuries. They never understood why the page numbering, on what we believed to be an original document, wasn't consistent. Pages seemed to end without full explanation of what they appeared to be conveying, and additional pages seemed to have been inserted because they contained no page numbering. We understand now that our ancestors cut out the passages that they wished to ignore and added new passages that better fit their idea of how the Almuth should read. They deviated from the Almuth in ways that never would have been accepted on Dakistee.”

“It wasn't our place to announce what we found. We thought it better that you discover it for yourself and decide whether it should be made public.”

“Our scholars and academicians have been arguing over that very fact for more than a year. His Majesty has finally decided that we've been living a lie for millennia, and that the True Word shall be restored to the people. We've printed up millions of volumes, and they will be distributed shortly. A few priests have objected, and say that if the books are distributed, they'll take their followers and leave the planet, much as the original groups must have done on Dakistee. But the True Word will no longer be repressed by a handful of extremists.”

“What will you do, your Majesty?”

“This planet isn't a prison. We shall allow anyone to leave who wishes it. Their threats won't dissuade us from spreading the True Word, as it was indeed written on Dakistee.”

“There was another document in the core that I felt you should find and decide whether or not to reveal.”

“You're talking about the report that puts the blame for the Dakistee viral infection squarely on the shoulders of the extremist priesthood?”

“Exactly. The government case seems pretty conclusive. The virus was developed by one of the followers, and the priests who took them off planet infected food supplies and the drinking water systems in major reservoirs just before they left. The King's agents found schedules and documents in one of the rectories. In fact, the documents provided the information they needed to eradicate the virus, though it was too late to save the population from extinction.”

“The King and his advisors have decided that the document should not be made public at this time. It would serve no useful end for our people to know that our ancestors had committed mass genocide in the name of a false religious document. It will be retained in the archives, though, in case rebellious actions by the current priesthood necessitate its release.”

“I think that they'll be more amenable to the changes if they know of its existence.”

“Yes, we agree. The religious leadership has been shown a copy. While they have so far stopped short of throwing their full support behind restoring the True Word, they are wisely not seeking to suppress it. The few priests in opposition haven't had access to the document. We will proceed as planned.”

“It will mean sweeping changes, your Majesty.”

“Yes, but for the better. The modified Almuth has held our people back for hundreds of centuries. The original version contained no bans on using the technology that the brilliant minds of our people could conceive, nor restrictions on the way that women could participate in society. There were also no requirements for the length of a woman's hair or the clothing that she must wear. That was a modification by the priests who led our people here. There will be many changes, but those things will finally free our people. And we have you, and your sisters, to thank for it.”

“We're most happy that we could serve our people.”

“We also found the news broadcasts in the core to be most interesting. Our scientists have been debating the appearance of our ancestors most vigorously. Their smaller stature and skin coloration was more closely akin to that of Terrans than as we now appear.”

“The generally accepted physical form of my Terran ancestors in that era, as presented by the scientific community on Earth, is also quite different than the way we now appear. I suppose every species is going to change over a period of twenty-thousand years.”

“Yes, I suppose that's so, but our scientists have begun an investigation to learn if Terrans and Nordakians are related.”