Renegades of Gor (55 page)

she looked about herself wildly, in consternation.

“Is this the behavior typical of the women of Ar’s Station?” smiled Calliodorus,

glancing at Aemilianus.

“Say more simply it is the behavior typical of women,” smiled Aemilianus.

“Commander,” begged the girl.

“You are aboard the Tais, a warship of Port Cos,” said Aemilianus. “You have had

the honor of conversing with her captain, my former comrade in arms, and friend,

Calliodorus.”

“Port Cos!” she said.

“Yes,” he said.

“That accounts for the accents,” she said.

“Precisely,” he said.

“It is true,” said a man, “her face is not unattractive.”

She blushed.

“I understand nothing of what is going on,” she said to Aemilianus.

“Ten ships of Port Cos, and fifteen others,” said Aemilianus, (pg.366) “entered

the harbor of Ar’s Station yesterday afternoon, shortly before what would

presumably have been the last attack of Cos on the piers. These twenty-five

ships neutralized what forces of Cos could be brought to bear at that point and

succeeded in evacuating the piers.”

“Then we are among friends,” she said.

“Most of us,” said Aemilianus.

“Why am I in chains?” she asked.

“Slave chains,” said Aemilianus.

“Why am I in slave chains?” she asked.

“Do you not know?” he asked.

She was silent, wondering feverishly, doubtless, how much he knew.

“My commander can see,” she then said, lightly, “that the only collar I wear is

a portion of my chaining, and that I am not branded.”

I stood rather behind her, my arms folded. My face must have appeared somewhat

severe. Certainly I was angry. Though she had not explicitly claimed to be free,

it seemed clear that she was hoping to be taken as such.

“Perhaps,” she said, “my chains may not be removed, and I may be given suitable

raiment, that of a free woman, that I may take a place among my free sisters.”

She had certainly worded that carefully, I thought. She had not said “my place,”

which might suggest she had a right to it, but “a place,” which was compatible

with it merely being a place she took, with or without title, so to speak.

“You are on trial,” he said.

She looked at him, startled, aghast.

“Or,” said he, “if you are a slave, you are being given a small hearing.”

“I do not understand,” she said.

“Perhaps you do,” he said.

“On what charges?” she asked.

“The charges, if you are a free woman,” he said, “are several, such as the

intent to deceive with respect to caste, the jeopardizing of fellow citizenesses

by disgarding traditional concealments and modesties, to your own advantage in

the event of the taking of the city, for example, going barefoot and baring your

calves, and such, and a lack of patriotism, as (pg.367) evidenced by having

refused to cut your hair, to supply needed war material to your compatriots.”

“But you can see, Commander,” she said, suddenly lifting her hands to her head,

“that my hair has been cut, and shortly, too!” She rubbed her hand over the

brush of hair on her head.

“It is our understanding that your hair was shorn only yesterday, and against

your will, in a cell in the citadel, by an escaping prisoner.”

“Surely you do not believe that, Commander,” she said.

“Lady Claudia, the traitress, and an undisputed free woman,” he said, “is in our

power. Shall she be brought forward to testify as tot he circumstances in which,

and the time at which, your hair was shorn?”

“No, Commander,” said the girl.

“You do not dispute what I have said then?” he asked.

“No, Commander,” she said, defeated.

“It is also believed that you carried much gold with you, in your purse,

presumably, again, to improve your chances of persuading victorious Cosians to

spare you, resources incidentally much beyond the reach of most women of Ar’s

Station, thus, again, supplying you with an advantage over them. Is this

disputed?”

“No, Commander,” she said. She knew, of course, that Lady Claudia could testify

as to the presence of the gold in her purse. Indeed, interestingly, although

this was not known to the girl, that very gold had been used after the fall of

the gate to assist in the escape of Aemilianus and his colleagues to the piers.

I had scattered it behind mercenaries, to clear a passage.

“You have not charged me,” she said, “with not wearing robes of concealment.”

“In Ar’s Station,” he said, “as in Ar, robes of concealment, precisely, are not

legally obligatory for free women, no more than the veil. Such things are more a

matter of custom. On the other hand, as you know, there are statutes prescribing

certain standards of decorum for free women. For example, they may not appear

naked in the streets, as may slaves. Indeed, a free woman who appears in public

in violation of (pg.368) these standards of decorum, for example, with her arms

or legs too much bared, may be made a slave.

“There was no crime then,” she said, “in my appearing in public as I did, even

though, say, I wore but a single layer and my calves, ankles and feet were

bared.”

“Whether the degree of your exposure was sufficient to violate the codes of

decorum is a subtle point,” said Aemilianus, “but I will not press it.”

“Surely may low-caste girls go about with only as much, or even less,’ she said.

“But you are of the Merchants,” said Aemilianus, smiling.

“A low caste!” she said.

I smiled. The Merchants often maintain that they are a high caste, and should,

accordingly, be included in the councils of high caste. Now, however, it seemed

she was eager to accept that, and stress that, the Merchants was not a high

caste. The traditional high castes of Gor are the Initiates, Scribes, Builders,

Physicians and Warriors.

“I do not press the point,” said Aemilianus.

“And if I dressed in such a manner that my caste would not be clear,” she said,

“it is no more than many women do upon occasion. Surely such women even reserve

the caste robes and colors for such things as formal occasions, and some even

for ceremonial functions.”

“True,” said Aemilianus.

“I do not think then I should be held accountable under the charge of attempting

to deceive with respect to caste,” she said. “For example, I engaged in no

business under false pretenses, and I never claimed explicitly to be of a caste

other than my own.” It seemed to me that she did have a point here. The legal

problems connected with intent to deceive with respect to caste, of course,

problems of the sort which presumably constitute the rationale of the law,

usually come up in cases of fraud or impersonation, for example, with someone

pretending to be of the Physicians. “And, too,” she continued, “if conquering

Cosians should have seen fit to take me for a simple, low-caste maid, I see no

reason why the laws of Ar’s Station should now be exercised against me. What

would be the point of that, to protect Cosians from a mistake which they never

had the opportunity to make?”

“You hoped by your mode of dress, and such,” said (pg.369)Aemilianus, “to

conceal that you were of a caste on which vengeances might be visited, and thus

to improve your chances of survival.”

She tossed her head, and the chain dangling from her collar moved in its staple.

“I am not a man,” she said. “Indeed, I can barely lift, let alone wield, the

weapons of men. I have nothing of their strength. I have nothing of their power.

I am other than they. I am a woman. I am something quite different from a man. I

think that I am entitled, then, to attempt to secure my survival as best I can,

and in my own way.”

“In the way of a female?” asked Aemilianus.

“Yes!” she said.

“In doing what you did,” he said, “in going barefoot, in baring your calves, in

not having your hair shortened, in carrying gold and such, you arrogated to

yourself considerable advantages over other women in Ar’s Station.”

“It is every woman for herself,” she said. “It is not my fault if other women

were not as clever as I. It is not my fault if they did not judiciously bare

their bodies, and design themselves clothing such as might appeal to a

conquering invader. Too, it is not my fault if they lacked the gold wherewith to

sweeten a petition to foes for the collar. Am I to be blamed, too, for being

more beautiful than many women of Ar’s Station, for I am certain that I am, and

for thus having some additional unfair advantage over them?”

“Why did you not donate your hair to the defense of the city?” asked Aemilianus.

“I did not want to,” she said.

“Why not?”

“It was pretty,” she said, angrily.

“And?” he asked.

“I thought I would be more attractive with it,” she said, angrily. “I thought if

I were captured by Cosians, I would be more likely to be spared, if it was not

cut.”

“While the women of Ar’s Station had theirs cut?”

“If they wished,” she said.

“And thus might be less likely to be spared?” he asked.

“That is their business, not mine,” she said.

“What of the desperate need of cordage for catapults?’ he asked.

(pg.370) “Let the hair of slaves be shorn,” she said.

“And what if there was not enough?’ he asked.

“Then get hair from the women who are willing to give it,” she said.

“What if there was not enough?” he asked.

“My hair would make no difference,” she said.

“What if all the free women took that position?’ he asked.

“They did not,” she said.

“For one in chains you speak rather arrogantly,” he observed.

“Surely they will be removed in a moment,” she said.

“What did you do to contribute to the defense of the city?” he asked.

“I accepted a duty,” she said.

“Bit it is true, is it not,” he asked, “that you did this only late in the

siege?”

“Yes,” she said.

“And only after it had been made clear that women who did not participate in the

efforts of defense were to be lowered over the wall at noon, naked, to Cosians.”

“Yes,” she said, angrily.

“What duty did you choose?” he asked.

“I served as a warder in the citadel,” she said.

“Why did you choose that duty?” he asked.

“I thought it would be easy,” she said.

“And in such a place,” he said, perhaps it would have seemed less inappropriate

to wear garments such as you did, and go barefoot, and such?”

“Perhaps,” she said.

“You did not choose to work on the wall?’ he asked.

“No,” she said.

“Why not?” he asked.

“I am not strong,” she said.

Straighten your back,” he said.

She did so.

“There seems nothing wrong with your body,” he said.

One or two of the men smiled.

“Slight as it is,” he said, “it seems such that it could be appropriately

subjected to lengthy servile labors.”

She looked at him, frightened.

“Or perhaps more appropriately yet,” he said, “to numerous, (pg.371) various

labors of a more delightful sort, labors particularly suitable for females.”

“Commander!” she protested.

He said nothing. I wondered if he were not, in his mercy, giving her an

opportunity to request permission to speak. I was curious to see if she would

ask such permission.

“Have I heard the sum of these charges?’ she asked.

“Your behavior of this morning might be included,” he said, “in which, before

your compatriots, you in effect begged the collar of Cosians.”

“I had no idea, Commander, that you or the others were here,” she said.

“We gathered that,” he said.

There was laughter.

“I beg your indulgence,” she said. “I am only a female.”

Aemilianus did not speak.

“I do not think my behavior so untoward, unpredictable or surprising for my

sex,” she said.

The face of Aemilianus remained expressionless.

“I do not think that other women, those of Ar’s Station, or of other cities,

under similar circumstances, would have behaved differently,” she said.

“Do you think they would have behaved so, so readily?” he asked.

“I do not know,” she said. “Perhaps stupider women would not have. It is every

woman for herself!”

“I understand,” said Aemilianus.

“If that, then,” she said, “is the sum of the charges against me, I request that

they be dismissed. Surely my defense, even if you do not approve of me, is

sound. Surely everything that I have done, including the matter of wanting to

keep my hair, lies within the prerogatives of a free female. Similarly, it is

surely within her rights to pursue her own best interests, selfishly or not, as

she understands them. Similarly, it is not her fault if other women are not as

favored as she with intelligence and wealth, and perhaps beauty. If there is any

objection to my conduct, surely it must be merely that I was not, in your

opinion, sufficiently patriotic, and surely it is no crime to be insufficiently

patriotic. Therefore, remove my chains.” At this point she lifted her chained

wrists to Aemilianus.

(pg.372) “The matter,” said Aemilianus, “is considerably more complex than you

seem to understand. There are more subtleties here than you seem to realize. For

one thing, your conviction that it is not a crime to be insufficiently patriotic