“Because of all the opposition to the decrees. Much of it came from religious fundamentalists … The Islamic nations were dead set against the whole idea of genetic meddling with the human body. It was, they said, against the law of Allah. …”
“Allah?” asked Jan.
“Another very masculine God. You wouldn’t have liked Him. Anyway, it wasn’t just the Islamic nations, there was fierce opposition from the Western religious fundamentalists as well, Catholic and Protestant—and don’t ask me what they were; it would take too long to explain. Just take my word for it that the whole argument got pretty bloody.
“You see, when the United Nations made the two hundred year plus decree they decreed at the same time that every individual in the world, provided they weren’t too old to be genetically modified, was entitled by international law to have their life-span thus expanded. So you can imagine the result—people living in a country that had vetoed the longevity treatment for religious reasons were understandably tempted to move to a country where it was allowed. Well, all hell broke loose, and when the dust finally settled all the maps of the world had to be redrawn. Most of the bigger nations, including the Soviet Union and America, had fragmented into a number of new, autonomous states, such as your Minerva.”
“You make it all sound so convincing,” said Jan wonderingly.
“It’s convincing because it’s true,” he told her. “Minerva owes its existence to genetic engineering despite whatever myths about its origin you’ve been fed. And Minerva’s inhabitants weren’t just satisfied with the Prime Standard model—they added all the modifications that they could under the then still-existing international laws. The early feminists, for reasons of dogma, were loath to acknowledge that most of the psychological differences between men and women were genetically inspired. The idea smacked too much of ‘biological determinism’, a very politically unpopular concept at the time.
“However, by the end of the twentieth century research into the working of the human brain had proved that biological determinism was a much stronger force in human affairs than anyone had previously wanted to accept. And, of course, the feminists took full advantage of these discoveries when they came to set up Minerva decades later. …”
Jan shook her head. “I’m sorry. You’ve lost me completely now. I can’t even understand half the words you’re using. What, for example, were these feminists you keep mentioning?”
To her annoyance this question amused him greatly. He threw back his head and laughed so loudly he provoked angry muttering from the surrounding cubicles.
Finally he said, “Very well, we’ll leave it for the time being. I shall continue your belated education in the history of our unfortunate planet at a later date. Now let’s talk about something else—the price for my on-going protection and support.”
“Price?” she asked, puzzled.
“Yes, price, my little amazon. I told you before we would make a deal. In return for my help you will help me. By giving me something I need.”
“But I don’t have anything to give you.”
“On the contrary. You have yourself,” Milo said and smiled at her in the same way that he’d smiled at Buncher.
Chapter Ten
“You’re saying that you’ll only continue helping me if I agree to have sex with you?” Jan asked angrily. She felt shocked and betrayed. After all his apparent sympathy for her she had begun to trust him.
He shrugged. “You have to be realistic, Jan. You can’t get something for nothing in this world. Especially in this world up here. And as much as I feel sorry for you I am not, by nature, an altruist. Now I find you very attractive and charming and I feel that, despite your appalling ignorance, you might make a stimulating companion. To be frank, I need a woman. But I am fastidious in such matters and, as you have already seen, the women in this floating zoo leave much to be desired.” He sighed and continued, “Since being captured three years ago I have had only a few brief and unsatisfactory couplings. I need something more and I believe you can provide it for me.”
She had shrunk back on the bed. “You intend to have sex with me even though I don’t want to,” she accused him.
“That’s putting it rather bluntly, but, well, yes. …”
“That’s rape.”
“No, no, not at all,” he protested. “I’m not going to force you to make love to me. It won’t be rape.”
“What do you call it then? You’re saying you’ll hand me over to the rest of the animals in here if I don’t allow you to penetrate me. That’s rape as far as I’m concerned.”
He regarded her coolly. “I assure you there’s more to my love-making than mere penetration, young woman. But again I stress I will not be taking you by force.”
“Just because you won’t be using physical force doesn’t make it any less a case of rape,” she told him.
He ran his hand over his scalp and said, “Look, think of it merely as a business proposition. You have to do something you don’t want to do in order to get something you need.”
“I see. I let you rape me and you let me live. Is that what you call a business proposition?”
He looked annoyed. “I’m not going to rape you and, yes, selling your body is a business proposition. It’s called prostitution and it’s one of the oldest businesses in the world. Women—and men—have been selling their bodies for money or food or other favours for time immemorial.”
“If someone doesn’t want to have sex with someone else but is obliged to do so for reasons of survival then that’s rape,” she said firmly.
“No, you’re being too pedantic,” he told her. “Take, for example, a woman who wants a more comfortable way of life and who therefore sleeps with a man in order to attain it even though she feels no sexual attraction towards him—that’s not rape, is it?”
Jan frowned. “Perhaps not, but I said ‘for reasons of survival’ and that’s not the same as your example. A woman obliged to sell her body just to stay alive is being raped by the men who take advantage of her situation, no matter how much money or food they may give her. They are rapists, pure and simple.”
“I don’t think …” he said, and faltered.
“What you’re offering me is the survival proposition,” she said quickly, pressing home her advantage, “sex or death. In other words, rape.”
He glared at her. “Enough of your Minervan dogma,” he said irritably. “What we have here is a problem of semantics and further argument is futile. I will give you my ultimatum. You have exactly a week to decide whether or not to accept my proposition. If you agree to it you will give yourself to me willingly with no talk of rape or any other Minervan nonsense. If at the end of the week you do not accept my proposition I will withdraw my protection and you will be on your own here. And you know what that will mean. Do you accept the terms?”
Jan was silent for a time, then she said, “I have a week to make my decision?”
“Yes. I guarantee it.”
“Very well. I’ll tell you in a week.” She leaned back against the flimsy wall and folded her arms. He seemed to relax. “Good,” he said and smiled at her. She didn’t smile back.
She had made her decision and felt relieved about it. Before the week was up she would have placed the fire bomb where it would do the most damage and blown the Sky Lord out of the sky.