“My life would be so much richer, if only I were free I were free and with Mezyana. If only we could express our love in the way most lovers can without fear. All I can ever think of is Mezyana and how much I yearn to be near her.” Binta sighed. “If you’ve never loved, you can never know how much pain this separation causes. Whenever I think of love or comfort or devotion - and that is so often - all I can think of is Mezyana.

“I want to live with her when I leave here. To share all my moments with her. Especially those little moments: the ones which mean so little when experienced alone and so much more when I’m with the one I love. We’d have our own home. We’d sleep in the same bed. Kiss each other as we left for work in the morning. Sit arm in arm, watching the television, feeling the comfort of our embraces. Laugh over shared memories over a beer or a meal out. Be as inseparable as the best of heterosexual couples. These are such innocent desires. And they so utterly overwhelm me.”

Binta ran her hands through the long strands of her hair and gazed sadly at her naked lap. Ana smiled wanly. Her emotions were curiously unfocused. She was reassured by Binta’s commitment to someone else. She’d never felt so strongly towards someone as Binta had, but she appreciated and rather envied the yearnings.

She was about to comment, when a knock distracted her attention towards the door. A broad smiling woman’s face was peering round. Like Binta, she wore no clothes and her very long hair reached down to just below her waist. She was deeply sun-tanned and her hair was bleached blonde by the sun. She was much taller than Binta, - who wasn’t especially short, - and built proportionately. She boasted round breasts, a taut stomach and muscular thighs. Ana was acutely aware of the incongruity of her interview clothes and the nakedness of her companions.

“Hiya!” their new companion called out breezily. “How’s it going?”

Binta noticeably responded with less enthusiasm. “Hello, Ketaba. Have you met Ana? The director’s new secretary.”

“Pleased to meet you, Ana!” Ketaba grinned warmly, approaching her and kissing her tenderly on the lips. “So you’ve not come to join our profession? Well, I’m sure that like Inta you’ll soon see its advantages. It’s a good life! Very healthy and curative! As I’m sure Binta’s been telling you...”

“Of course I haven’t, Ketaba! I’m no more likely to endorse prostitution than you are to endorse alcohol or tobacco.”

“There’s just no comparison, you silly girl!” rebuked Ketaba, sitting by Binta’s feet on the end of the bed. “But you’re, well, unnatural. So you’re not likely to have a very balanced view on the profession.” She smiled warmly at Ana. “Don’t believe all the perverse advice our pretty little dyke might give you. She hasn’t exactly chosen this career. She doesn’t know how lucky she is that the government has deemed this an appropriate punishment for her criminal behaviour. She’s got a chance in life she’ll be inestimably grateful for the rest of it.”

“I just don’t understand how you can possibly imagine that the torment of being mauled and abused by strange men can ever be something to be grateful for.”

“Don’t listen to her! She’d never have opinions like that if she enjoyed normal unperverted sex. Prostitution is a good career. It’s the only one where a woman can be physically active, give pleasure to others, earn a respectable salary and still never have to leave her bed. It’s kept me healthy and if I were skinny and malnourished like Binta I’d be more grateful. Still, despite her admirable devotion to naturism, she rather compromises her healthy image by her carnivorousness and sloth.”

“There really can not be very many women who advocate prostitution as healthy. It’s not just a way to keep fit and healthy on the punters’ expense.”

“Don’t be so facetious, Binta! What do you think Ana must think hearing your sarcasm about a career which most people here have freely chosen? I take pride in my work. I like the physical exercise it gives me. And I like it when clients appreciate a good job done well. And a man cannot disguise his appreciation: I can tell you!”

“Don’t disgust me, Ketaba! Any lingering enthusiasm I ever had for men before I worked here has been more than eradicated by rather too frequent and intimate association.”

“Don’t deny that you enjoy it!”

“Of course I do. I can’t understand how women could ever voluntarily put themselves through this ordeal. What do you think, Ana?”

Ana’s composure was disturbed by the question. Her natural sympathy inclined her towards Binta, but she didn’t wish to disagree too strongly with this large naked woman to whom she’d only just been introduced.

“I just don’t know enough to hold an opinion.”

“Listen to the less perverted employees here and you’ll get a much more balanced view. One of the advantages of the profession is that it understands and caters for naturists. I just don’t think Binta at all acknowledges how lucky she is to live and work where clothes are optional. It’s a healthy, life-giving freedom you just can’t find anywhere else. Much as I might criticise Binta for her unconstructive attitudes and criminal tendencies, I must admit to a kindred feeling to a colleague who shares my enthusiasm for a natural untrammelled life.”

“Our similarities there are extremely shallow,” sniffed Binta. “You’re just a fanatic”

“At least I’m not a pervert!” snorted Ketaba in return. “Honestly, Ana, I don’t know how you can sit in the company of someone who so blatantly disregards the natural order as Binta does. Surely the very notion of her crude perversions disgusts you! How do you know she’s not going to try and seduce you?”

“Don’t scare Ana with your crude homophobia. I’m no more likely to try seducing her than you are to seduce every man you meet...”

“Don’t be sarcastic! What could be more natural than the active pursuit of sexual intercourse? What do you think, Ana?”

Ana’s experience of sex was far too inadequate for her to express an opinion. She stuttered a few non-judgmental words before her face burnt into a blush. Fortunately, neither of her companions chose to comment on her virginal embarrassment.

“I detest all unnatural practises, especially homosexuality. The purpose of sex is to reproduce, and women who practise it with other women, and men with other men: Why! It’s as disgusting and unnatural as murder, drug-taking, sodomy and cannibalism! Our government recognises this and does its best to suppress such activities. The president has frequently spoken of his intentions to stamp out it out, and although I disagree with him on most things, on this I am in full accord.”

“I’d have thought that President Marmeluke would be very unlikely to share your opinions on naturism,” challenged Binta. “I imagine he considers it every bit as perverse as sado-masochism and incest.”

“There really is no comparison! Naturism is nothing more than a return to the natural order. It is a healthy and commendable relaxation of the individual in the unfettered body. The other things you mention are all totally contrary to the natural order. If everyone were homosexual then the human race would very soon be extinct. If everyone were naked, then everyone would be much healthier and more fulfilled. I’m shocked to hear a fellow naturist even hint of any comparison. The only reason naturism isn’t widely practised in this country is consideration to those misguided people who have an unnatural disgust for their own bodies, but if it were so bad why is it permitted in a state institution like this Brothel?”

“Entirely for the titillation of the clientele!” Binta bitterly responded.

“Unlike you, Binta, I see no contradiction in the instinctive delight a healthy heterosexual man gets from looking at a naked woman and the pleasure I get from displaying my body. Would you prefer it if men derived no joy from seeing you unclothed? There is nothing more natural than the naked human body, and it is equally as natural for a man to enjoy regarding it. It’s just your dykish tendencies that make it impossible for you to treat it as anything other than a selfish indulgence.”

“There aren’t very many places where nudity is commonplace...” began Binta.

“That’s where you’re wrong! Well, not totally wrong. There are quite clearly not enough such places. It would be far better if Alif were a place like Agdal, where a woman can freely walk down the streets of the capital city wearing nothing more than a contented smile and sandals, carrying all her possessions in a handbag.”

“Agdal again!” Binta smiled. “I wondered how long it would take for you to raise your favourite subject again. Everything’s so much better in Agdal!”

“But that’s because it is. And a well-kept secret in Alif it is too!” retorted Ketaba. She leaned forward and placed a hand on Ana’s knee. “What do you know about Agdal?”

“Not a great deal!”

Ana knew only that the neighbouring republic supplied consignments of fruit and vegetables to Alif and that its principal mountains were large enough to be seen from Rif . She knew more about the other neighbouring kingdoms and republics than she did about Agdal, but geography had never been her strongest subject at school.

“Exactly! The government of Alif is embarrassed to have such a much more liberal neighbour. They just don’t want people to know that just over the border there is a country where naturism is widespread and unexceptional. A country where there are no restrictions as to how many or how few clothes one can choose to wear. A country where there are people naked in the city streets, in the countryside, working in offices, driving tractors, and doing all the other everyday things that one can do without the tyranny of clothes. For naturists like me it is truly a paradise. Whenever I have a holiday, I’m on the first train there with my exit visa and just the clothes I need to get to and from the border.”

Ana had never suspected that Agdal, or any other country, could possibly allow people to wander freely in the nude. Surely people would object! Perhaps Ketaba was simply telling an elaborate joke.

“You haven’t told Ana everything about Agdal though, have you Ketaba?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know exactly what I mean. The country’s liberal policies don’t stop at trivial things like nudity. It also allows other things...”

“Like alcohol, you mean?”

“Don’t be so coy, Ketaba! Like freedom of speech. Like trades unions. And of course homosexuality!”

“Well, you would focus on something like that, wouldn’t you? The most disgusting thing about Agdal - and probably why so much about the country is kept secret in Alif - is its tolerance of homosexuality. In fact, it almost encourages the perversion! Wherever you go there are depraved men dressed as women, sometimes with surgically enhanced breasts, women dressed as men, women consorting with women, and men with men. It’s perverts paradise! It’s the serpent in the Garden of Eden, and my fear is that if it’s not eliminated then the whole edifice will collapse.”

“How on earth can letting a few people live their own lives possibly cause any disaster...” wondered Binta.

“A pervert like you just can’t understand why...”

“Well, you’re passionate about going around in the buff. You think it’s a big deal, and what you like about Agdal is that it lets you do so. Whereas I really don’t think nudity’s a big deal at all. I could quite happily wear clothes if there were a better choice than there is here, but I can’t change my sexuality. For me, the attraction of Agdal isn’t to show my body off to everyone, like you do, but just to be able to lead a normal contented life.”

“The only way you can do that is by renouncing your unnatural tendencies. How can you possibly think that there is anything normal or to be contented about in lusting after other women? The whole idea makes me feel rather unwell.”

“Maybe so, but ...” began Binta, who evidently enjoyed arguing with Ketaba, when she was quite suddenly interrupted by a loud persistent buzz. She cursed under her breath and then frowned at Ketaba and Ana. “I’m afraid my shift’s due to start now. I’ll have to ask you to leave.”

“That’s fine, Binta dear. A girl’s got to do an honest day’s work!” smiled Ketaba as she stood up.

Ana stood up too. “Well, goodbye then.”

“Goodbye, Ana,” smiled Binta warmly who stood up and kissed her tenderly on the cheek, sending a frisson through Ana’s body. She just wasn’t used to even the most innocent kisses back home, and she was very aware of Binta’s tastes. However, Ketaba also kissed Binta as they left, so Ana concluded that this kissing reflected nothing more than casual affection and was bound to be commonplace in an institution like the Brothel. As Ana and Ketaba left, she observed that the light above the door was now set to green.

“So, what do you think of Binta?” asked Ketaba as they walked along the corridor.

Ana didn’t know what to say. She felt quite unsettled by their conversation and by the continued presence of a naked woman. What was she supposed to think? People weren’t like this in Rif .

“She seems all right,” she answered noncommittally.

“I wouldn’t say that. Being homosexual, there’s obviously something wrong with her. I just hope she gets over it. What about you though? When did you start working here?”

“I start tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow! My! You are new to the Brothel! What do you think of it so far?”

“It’s bigger than I thought,” Ana remarked, awed by the extent of the corridor punctuated by red, green and yellow lights. How would she ever find her way out?

“Well, it’s the biggest Brothel in the country, you know! Probably the world. You should feel proud to be working at such a prestigious place. And while you’re here, I really urge you to seriously consider a spell of prostitution yourself. It’s healthy, it’s good money and it’ll do you a world of good...”

“No, I don’t think so. I’m just a secretary. That’s all I want to do here...”

“That’s what your predecessor, Inta, said at first. But she soon changed her mind. Although she was only a Gamma Plus, she didn’t do too badly out of it. However, I’d be foolish to believe you would have any concrete idea of what you really want to do on your first day here. I’m sure you’ll see your way to a more active career.” Ketaba paused as they arrived at a stair-case. “Erm, I don’t suppose you really know your way round here yet. Do you know where you want to go?”

Ketaba escorted Ana to the foyer down a complex series of corridors and stair-cases. She chatted away amiably, telling Ana about all the exciting things to do in Blad: the cafés to visit, the theatres and the tourist attractions. She interspersed her chat with references to the enjoyment and satisfaction she got from her career and how Ana should at least consider becoming a naturist.

Ana only partly heard what Ketaba was saying. Her thoughts retread her day so far, returning frequently to the image of Binta lying on her bed waiting for the male clients she so despised.