Oh, I agree you shouldnt really pursue a counterclaim. But the suggestion that you might could perhaps help you get your answer.
Answer? About what?
About why Daklar is pursuing you like this.
Do you know why? asked Adikor.
Jasmel looked down. I didnt, not until today, but
But what?
Its not for me to say. If youre going to hear it at all, it will have to be directly from Daklar.
Chapter 36
Reuben, Louise, Ponter, and Mary sat around the table in Reubens kitchen. Everyone but Louise was eating hamburgers; Louise was picking at a plate of salad.
Apparently, in Ponters world, people ate with gloved hands. Ponter didnt like using cutlery, but the hamburger seemed a good compromise. He didnt eat the bun, but instead used it to manipulate the meat, constantly squeezing the patty forward and biting off the part that protruded from the disks of bread.
So, Ponter, said Louise, making conversation, do you live alone? Back in your world, I mean.
Ponter shook his head. No. I lived with Adikor.
Adikor, repeated Mary. I thought he was the person you worked with?
Yes, said Ponter. But he is also my partner.
Your business partner, you mean, said Mary.
Well, that too, I suppose. But he is my partner; that is the word we use. We share a home.
Ah, said Mary. A roommate.
Yes.
You share household expenses and chores.
Yes. And meals and a bed and
Mary was angry with herself for the way her heart fluttered. She knew lots of gay men; she was just used to them coming out of the closet, not popping through a transdimensional portal.
Youre gay! said Louise. How cool is that!
Actually, I was happier at home, said Ponter.
No, no, no, said Louise. Not happy. Gay. Homosexual. Bleep. Having sexual relations with ones own gender: men who have sex with other men, or women who have sex with other women.
Ponter looked more confused than ever. It is impossible to have sex with a member of the same gender. Sex is the act of potential procreation and it requires a male and a female.
Well, all right, not sex as in sexual intercourse, said Louise. Sex as in intimate contact, as inyou knowum, affectionate touching of of the genitals.
Oh, said Ponter. Yes, Adikor and I did that.
Thats what we call being homosexual, supplied Reuben. Having such contact only with members of your own gender.
Only? said Ponter, startled. You mean exclusively? No, no, no. Adikor and I kept each other company when Two were separate, but when Two became One, we of course hadwhat did you call it, Lou?affectionate touching of the genitals with our respective females or, at least I did until Klast, my woman-mate, died.
Ah, said Mary. Youre bisexual. Bleep. You have genital contact with men and women.
Yes.
Is everyone like that in your world? asked Louise, stabbing some lettuce with her fork. Bisexual?
Just about. Ponter blinked, getting it at last. You mean it is different here?
Oh, yes, said Reuben. Well, for most people, anyway. I mean, sure, there are some bisexual people, and lots and lots of gayhomosexualpeople. But the vast majority are heterosexual. That means they have affectionate contact only with members of the opposite gender.
How boring, said Ponter.
Louise actually giggled. Then, composing herself, she said, So, do you have any children?
Two daughters, said Ponter, nodding. Jasmel and Megameg.
Lovely names, said Louise.
Ponter looked sad, obviously thinking of the fact that hed likely never see them again.
Reuben clearly saw this, too, and sought to move the conversation to something less personal. So, um, so whats this Two become One you mentioned? Whats that all about?
Well, on my world, males and females live mostly apart, so
Binford! exclaimed Mary.
No, it is true, said Ponter.
That wasnt a swear word, said Mary. Its a mans name. Lewis Binford is an anthropologist who argues the same thing: that Neanderthal men and women lived largely separate lives on this Earth. He bases it on sites at Combe Grenal, in France.
He is correct, said Ponter. Women live in the Centers of our territories; males at the Rims. But once a month, we males come into the Center and spend four days with the females; we say that Two become One during this time.
Par-tay! said Louise, grinning.
Fascinating, said Mary.
It is necessary. We do not produce food the way you do, so the population size must be kept in check.
Reuben frowned. So this Two becoming One business is for birth control?
Ponter nodded. In part. The High Gray Councilthe governing body of elderssets the dates on which we come together, and Two normally become One when the women are incapable of conceiving. But if it is time to produce a new generation, then the dates are changed, and we come together when the women are most fertile.
Goodness, said Mary. A whole planet on the rhythm method. The Pope would like you guys. Butbut how can that work? I mean, surely your women dont all have their periodsundergo menstruationat once?
Ponter blinked. Of course they do.
But how couldoh, wait. I see. Mary smiled. That nose of yours: its very sensitive, isnt it?
I do not think of it as being so.
But it iscompared to ours I mean. Compared to the noses we have.
Well, your noses are very small, said Ponter. They are, ah, rather disconcerting to look at. I keep thinking you will suffocatealthough I have noticed many of you breathe through your mouths, presumably to avoid that.
Weve always assumed that Neanderthals evolved in response to Ice Age conditions, said Mary. And our best guess was that your large noses allowed you to humidify frigid air before drawing it into your lungs.
Ourthe scientists who study ancient humansbelieve the same thing, said Ponter.
The climate has warmed up a great deal, though, since your big noses evolved, said Mary. But youve retained that feature perhaps because it has the beneficial side effect of giving you a much better sense of smell than you would have had otherwise.
Does it? said Ponter. I mean, I can smell all of you, and all the different foods in the kitchen, and the flowers out back, and whatever acrid thing Reuben and Lou have been burning downstairs, but
Ponter, said Reuben, quickly, we cant smell you at all.
Really?
Yes. Oh, if I stuck my nose right into your armpit, I might smell something. But normally we humans cant smell each other.
How do you find one another in the dark?
By voice, said Mary.
Very strange, said Ponter.
But you can do more than just detect a persons presence, cant you? said Mary. That time you looked at me. You could She swallowed but, well, Louise was another woman, and Reuben was a doctor. You could tell I was having my period, couldnt you?
Yes.
Mary nodded. Even women of Louise and my kind, if they live together long enough in the same house, can get their menstrual cycles synchronizedand we have lousy senses of smell. I guess it makes sense that whole cities of your women would be on the same cycle.
It never occurred to me that it might be another way, said Ponter. I thought it odd that you were menstruating but Lou was not.
Louise frowned but said nothing.
Look, said Reuben, does anybody want anything else? Ponter, another Coke?
Yes, said Ponter. Thank you.
Reuben got up.
You know that stuffs got caffeine in it? said Mary. Its addictive.
Do not worry, said Ponter. I am only drinking seven or eight cans a day.