CHAPTER XI

Acquilla did not look any too well pleased at this substitution, but as she had no time to lose she made the best of it.

“How in the world did you manage it?” I exclaimed when Dianne and I had soared lightly into the clear air.

“Oh, we Histriones are privileged to lie a little now and then,” said Dianne with the smile of a naughty child. “Were you disappointed it wasn’t Dulcina?”

I took quite a little time to prove to her that her jealousy had no foundation.

“It is Acquilla that worries me,” I concluded.

“Acquilla is a cerebral. I am not worried about her. I shall never be jealous of a Minervene, I promise you.”

“She is very intelligent,” I remarked, unwilling to surrender any advantage.

“Are you trying to make me jealous!” exclaimed Dianne, taking me in her arms with a savagery that crushed my body to hers.

“The eternal feminine, thank heaven,” I cried laughing.

Dianne’s eyes were glowing like a startled lioness.

“If you hurt me, I shall hurt you!” she said, showing her sharp white teeth. But instantly she relaxed under my mocking gaze. “Please, Jack dear, don’t stir me up. Things are bad enough as they are.”

“How am I ever going to escape from Acquilla?” I said dejectedly, but at this moment looking down, I perceived we were about five hundred feet over the East River, which was spanned by a dozen great bridges at least a quarter of a mile in width.

“But aren’t those palms and cork trees below me?” I exclaimed, peering over.

“Yes. By the control of the Gulf Stream we have been able to procure a temperate zone as far north along the Atlantic coast as Newfoundland. It is middle Athena but the temperature is not below sixty.”

“You have changed the course of the Gulf Stream! Then you have changed history.”

“No. Of course, the strategic position we have allows us to deflect the stream after it leaves the Gulf. We divide it and send a part to the coast of Greenland, which has developed an entirely new civilization.”

“But how?”

“Really I don’t know--it’s all engineering and I never could understand mathematics.”

“My darling Dianne, how refreshing to find a woman who doesn’t know something! But you speak of Greenland as we did. Then countries have retained their identities?”

“Certainly. Women have a horror of uniformity and standardization. Climate, we know, influences the types of human brains. We do everything to preserve the genius of local areas. Internationally we govern as little as possible.”

“And here--is there such a thing as the United States left?”

“There is a loose alliance, of course, but there are broad divisions you did not have. There are four great states. Amazonia, which extends from Florida to Baffin Bay and as far west as the Appalachians; Dixie, which starts from Panama and goes to the Rockies; Illinois, which takes in the great lakes and the midwestern basin, and California, which takes in the whole western coast.”

“But is there no conflict of interests there?”

“What interests could divide us?”

“Commercial interests?”

“Each state produces what it is best fitted for. We have a supreme council, it is true, that controls such vital matters as health, climate, population and the distribution of energy, but in an age of pure reason it is impossible that any injustice should be done.”

“Still--”

“Later you will understand. Our solidarity is the solidarity of the whole human race. We are united in the pursuit of great scientific achievements. Education has broken down the barriers of prejudices and greeds. But what do you wish most to see? The hospitals, schools or museums? I must take you somewhere, you know!” she added, glancing at me with adorable mischief in her eyes.

“There is just one thing I want to see above all others,” I exclaimed instantly. “I want to see my fellow men.”

“I was afraid you were going to ask that,” said Dianne, looking grave.

“Do you realize that since I have been here I haven’t seen a single man! Do you wonder at my curiosity? Where are they? When I try to open the subject with Acquilla she always evades me. You at least will tell me the truth.”

Dianne hesitated a moment and then leaning forward, gave certain directions to the machinot, who flew rapidly down Long Island.

“It is a dangerous thing I am doing,” she said frowning. “Dangerous perhaps for both of us. It will make Acquilla my enemy for life, but since you ask, my darling, I can’t refuse.”

“I know you have carried your subordination of my sex to the extent of shutting them out of all public life. Do you also bring them up in ignorance, that they have forgotten what they once were?” I asked indignantly.

“Oh no, it is only the personal contact and the public appearance that is eliminated. They go to school and college--a television college, of course. For those who have a natural talent the higher education is open. But few avail themselves of the privilege. You will find, dear, a great change in your fellow men. You must be prepared.”

“But what do they do?”

“Of course males are primarily developed as breeders, naturally.”

“So they are segregated--in some sort of glorified seraglios, I suppose.”

“Segregated of course, but really, Jack dear, they are quite happy with their existence and everything is done for their physical comforts.”

“So that is the level to which they have sunk,” I said oppressed by the prospect.

“I realize now,” said Dianne, gazing at me with undisguised admiration, “how changed men will seem to you. But if you find any trace of dissatisfaction, it will be I who will be surprised. Look over there. We are approaching the first of the Clubs.”

“Clubs? Is that what you call these prisons?” I exclaimed, perceiving an immense park surrounded by high walls.

“Oh, the walls. They are really to protect the men.”

We flew over the enclosure which was an immense tract about the size of lower Manhattan with a dozen golf courses and two stadiums, in one of which I observed the familiar sight of a gridiron with a football match in progress.

“Couldn’t we see the game?” I said eagerly, thrilling with the memories of my college enthusiasms.

“No. Impossible. Women are barred from the Clubs by an ancient tradition. But we can stop and watch for a while.”

The aeromat sank to a distance of five hundred feet above the ground and remained poised by some gyroscopic device. Dianne handed me a telescopic helmet which not only brought the whole scene to my eyes in the minutest detail, but recorded the slightest sounds.

“But these are women!” I exclaimed after one quick glance around at the brightly colored togas which crowded the auditorium.

“It is the colors that confuse you.”

“But they have long hair.”

“Men again.”

I looked closer and observed that on one side of the arena the entire section was occupied by men dressed in black. When I inquired of Dianne she said:

“Men take these contests very seriously, Jack, and defeat is considered such a disgrace that the losing club goes into mourning until the stain is wiped out by victory. This Spartan attitude on the part of their supporters is believed to inflame the eleven with the spirit to win or die. Of course, this is a development of sport since your day which must be surprising to you.”

I looked at Dianne from the corner of my eye, but evaded comment. Since the experiment on the soles of her feet, I had begun to wonder if a sense of humor were not beginning to develop.

“But why don’t they begin to play?” I asked, observing the field covered with a score of figures in conclave.

“Why the teams aren’t yet on the field.”

“But the--”

“Oh those are the officials.”

“Twenty-four officials!”

“I confess, dear, that I am not familiar with the great masculine sport,” said Dianne, “but I believe that such a vast body of legislation has grown up about the game that not only each player has to be watched by two officials, but each team has to be represented by legal experts to argue on the interpretations which may arise.”

“Then lawyers do exist!” I exclaimed.

“The club community has nothing to do with the state,” said Dianne. “Inside their walls, men are allowed to organize themselves as they see fit. That’s why a great many atavistic customs have been retained. For example, they say everything there is run by committees.”

“I must visit the Club,” I exclaimed.

“Impossible!” exclaimed Dianne, really alarmed, “and I beg of you, if you love me, don’t ask anything of the kind. You must watch every step, dear, for our happiness depends on your discretion. You have enemies, determined enemies already--”

Before I could reply the air was filled with a terrific din. I looked down and observed the section of bright colors fluttering in a state of the wildest hysteria.

“The home team is arriving,” said Dianne.

Through the portals at the north end I observed the irruption of a band of Dionysian revellers performing the most curious revolutions, shaking tambourines and leaping to great heights in the air. Behind with their hands on each others’ shoulders the eleven and substitutes marched in military formation. The appearance of the home team completed the frenzy in the stands which burst into a triumphant paean under the skillful guidance of a score of cheer leaders.

Hardly had the pandemonium subsided than the turn of the visitors came--but with what a difference! The sections of mourners rose and stood with bared heads while the procession led by similarly black clad figures with the colors furled and wrapped around in crepe entered and approaching the home stands, passed with solemnly uplifted hands, as the gladiators about to die before Caesar once saluted him. From the adherents a funereal chant rose in barbaric acclaim. It needed no effort of my memory to realize that the team was being expected to do or die. I am not ashamed to confess, that the noble spectacle so moved me that my eyes filled with tears and I had to turn my head lest Dianne should surprise my emotion.

“What magnificent specimens,” I exclaimed when I could master my voice. “But they are giants compared to the others,” I added, for in general the spectators I had observed, were small and effeminately slight, whereas the players were Goliaths.

“We breed the athletes solely for these spectacles,” said Dianne. “They are really good for nothing else and we never mate them with the higher castes.”

“What’s happening now?”

“The officials are searching the players, of course, before the game begins.”

These preliminaries were conducted with the minute fidelity of a police force. Not only were the nose guards, head guards, neck protectors, ear mufflers, shoulder, knee and elbow protectors searched for any metallic substance, but the soles of the shoes were displayed against the possibility of murderous spikes. That these precautions were not unnecessary was evidenced by the storm of boos and groans which accompanied the unmasking of several players, when the offenders were on the opposing side.

The game, though so extremely sanguinary as to require the constant passage of the stretcher bearers, I found dull, due to the fact that at every moment the officials inflicted a penalty which necessitated lengthy discussions and so encumbered the field that it was impossible to follow the play. From the frequent casualties I gathered that the game had returned to first principles and that after the forcible elimination of the star players the result as in my day would be left to the multitude of substitutes.

“Enough, dear?” said Dianne observing my restlessness.

“Plenty. The game has been ruined by the legislators,” I replied. “And to call such beings men makes me hot with anger!”

“I knew how you would feel,” she said taking my hand and looking at me affectionately. “And don’t regret that you can’t visit the Clubs. Really, you would be bored to death. Don’t waste any sympathy over their condition. They are a lazy indulged lot and not in the least rebellious.”

“But is no work required of them?” I asked frowning as we rose and flew toward the south.

“What work could they do that is not better done by machinery?”

“Yet you said there were exceptions.”

“True, but they live separately. Men in general are simply the breeders who live a pampered existence from twenty to thirty-five.”

“And then do you operate a sort of slaughter of the drones?” I asked ironically.

“Yes, of course. Oh, we do not exterminate them,” she added, observing my start of horror. “We simply consign them to the Frigidrome with the records of their get. Occasionally if the Eugenics board is not satisfied with the strain in some particular caste, we restore the strongest breeders for further service.”

“Ended and cast off at the age of thirty-five!” I said bitterly, for the degradation of my sex aroused in me the flame of revolt.

I was silent, sunk in my black mood, nor could any of Dianne’s enticements draw me out of my depression. I think it was then that the call came to me to dedicate myself to the cause, as from the blue a voice called to Joan of Arc to lead her country out of defeat and despair. For suddenly I felt uplifted with a new revealing purpose. Things should not continue as they were. I would not tamely witness the humiliation of my brothers. What man had once been he should become again. Then and there I dedicated myself to the cause. I would be the John of Arc of my sex, even if the end too were martyrdom!

“Jack dear--darling, what is it! You look so strange,” cried Dianne, who had been watching my gloomy abstraction.

I looked at her and was conscious that in that brief interval of time something had changed between us. I loved her--my senses rioted under the flame in her eyes, but I was no longer the irresponsible John Bogardus of a moment ago. I belonged to the cause and the cause came first.

“Dianne, my beloved Dianne,” I said, taking her hand gently. “I must tell you the truth.”

“Oh, not that!” she cried, for love had awakened the eternal feminine, “your eyes, your voice frighten me.”

“You were right! If I could only have remained ignorant, how happy we could have been,” I said sadly. “But now that I have seen,” I continued with flashing eyes, “my whole nature protests against this slavery you have placed on my sex. I shall never, never know a quiet moment until I have changed all this!”

“But you--what can you do?” said Dianne, looking at me in terror.

“I do not know yet, but I do know that somehow, some day, I know it, I feel it, Dianne, I shall be the instrument to deliver my brothers out of their bondage!”

“How your eyes shine,” said Dianne, clasping her hands and gazing rapturously at me. “You are like a god in his wrath.”

She flung her arms about me, holding me to her in the terror of her passion. I tried to comfort her, felt a certain giddiness myself, and firmly drew the lovely arms from my neck.

“You will help me?”

“You know I will,” she said, catching her breath.

“No matter what happens?”

“If you go into the Frigidrome, I shall go with you.”

This time it was I who held out my arms and caught her to me.

“Tell the machinot to fly to paradise,” I cried with a happy laugh. And for the rest of the day suspended indolently above the clouds we dismissed our fears and there was no further talk of politics.