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Scene #35
I pillaged the small medicine chest in the lavatory. I was
relieved to find that after one thousand years of divergence, our
two cultures both still formed soap into palm-sized cakes. There
were tiny bottles of the depilatory this people so favored, and, at
last, a nod to the more primitive—a straight razor. The beard
was my first victim. How I detested it! I was clean-shaven when
taken; why my captors thought a beard was the natural condition of
my face was beyond me. By the time Marlena had taken over my
handling, the beard was well-established; she knew me no other way
and would be shocked, I assumed, when it was gone. Next I
attacked my hair. Too snarled to comb, it had to go anyway. Both
male and female now wore their hair no longer than an inch or two.
If I would fit in, I must do the same. I sighed. It would grow
back, and with proper attention, be a flowing mane once more.
The hot shower was purest bliss. I haven't known hot water... in
far too long. Thank God it wasn't more of that chemical mist. I
tried on my purloined clothes. While the pants fit well enough at
the waist, they were far too short. I picked up the razor blade and
began taking out the hem; that would give me another inch at least.
The shirt was beautiful, the forever blue of a summer sky...
but almost impossible. The sleeves only came to mid-forearm, and I
feared that any move of my shoulders would rip it right up the
back. Perhaps Harlan, after a little persuasion, would consent to
loan me his great flapping overcoat. Then I would look like some
huge bedraggled raven, I thought, chuckling to myself. I
listened at the door, heard nothing. I slid back the lock, and
stepped outside. Beth spotted me first, and began wailing, more
alarmed at my transformation into a male of the dome society than
she had been when the assassin attacked us. Harlan was caught
mid-sentence. He trailed off and sat, blinking like a frog.
"Oh. My. God." Marlena sat down suddenly, just managing to hit
the chair and not the floor. She stared at me, shameless, for a
full minute, then began laughing. Almost hysterically, I thought.
It was rather embarrassing. Besides my sleeves... Had I committed
some other fashion faux pas? At last she revealed the reason
for her mirth: "No one would recognize you if you simply make eye
contact with them. No one knows what your eyes look like." She
got up, walked around me, appraising my new appearance. "Oh!" She
giggled. "You missed some." She could just reach, by standing on
tiptoe, some straggling hair that had eluded my scissors. "Sit
down." Accustomed to obeying, I sat, caught Harlan staring at
me. His gaze met mine for the briefest moment, slid away. My
face was red from the unfamiliar shave; it grew redder still as I
felt Marlena press herself against my back. Her nipples were hard
and hot against my body. Now it was my turn to drop my gaze, and do
the best I could to hide my discomfort. "Marlena..." I began.
Harlan startled at hearing me speak for the first time. "I'm
married." "Married? What has... oh. Of course. You have a
daughter. I knew that." "You knew he was married? How long have
you..." Harlan erupted. "Harlan, shut up!" Marlena and I said
together. Harlan looked vanquished, as if his pet cat had
suddenly stood upon hind legs and begun issuing orders. "You
know, I have to leave." Marlena sighed. "But I don't
understand." Her tone was petulant, like an overtired child. How
our roles had changed! "If it weren't for Sarah... I'd be
content to stay, be whatever you wanted—your pet, your experiment
- but I won't let you threaten my world. You must undo what last
night's presentation did. You must convince your people that they
can never go back." Marlena looked blank. Last night seemed
like last month. "I'm still not convinced we're a threat to
you... Damnit! I don't even know your name! I can't very well keep
calling you 'Tarzan.'" "It's John. My name is John."
"John." She pronounced it more like zhaan. "Another thing I
don't understand... How did you learn our language? Surely, in a
thousand years..." "Grimm's Law." Again, Marlena looked blank.
"Oh, don't tell me you've never heard of Grimm's Law!" "No, I
have, it's just... You're very well educated, for a savage." She
bit her lower lip. "I... I'm sorry, I didn't mean that." "It's
alright. Captivity... had a very positive effect on my
concentration. There were Beth's books. Once I discovered the
writing system hadn't changed much at all..." I had eventually
trained my memory so well that I could construct tables in my mind,
and remember every detail as I plotted how the sounds must have
changed down through the years. "I had little else to do." I
concluded. I had a sudden inspiration. "Let me show you my
world. See it for yourself, before you decide its fate."
"Alright." Marlena agreed. Harlan puffed up and was about to
issue a protest when we both shot an icy look at him. "But first...
Why don't I show you mine?"
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