Learning
How Boys Are Different From Girls - At Thirty
by Sterling
Chapter 3 of 4
Julie
dove into her library with renewed passion. Now that she had
experienced sex four times, all the references to love and romance that
she had skimmed over made a great deal more sense. There was far more
involved than a business transaction of transferring sperm from a man's
body to a woman's. She as Mother Superior understood why sex was
considered sinful, especially if approached with the wrong attitude.
And as Mother Superior, she had certainly had the wrong attitude with
Brother Luke. But she as Julie wasn't so sure. Julie wanted to lie down
next to Luke again. She missed him every night. She wanted to feel that
penis thrusting urgently up into her body. She let her hand wander down
there and did what she now knew was called masturbation, connecting
those sensations with the ones she had felt during sexual intercourse.
She read that the good feeling men had when they released sperm was
called an orgasm, and what Lisa had reported was also an orgasm,
something women too could experience. Telling her inner Mother Superior
to take a hike, Julie experimented with her fingers down below,
fiddling different ways, inserting, thrusting, rubbing gently, and at
last she had that good feeling with release that signified orgasm. The
Mother Superior gasped that it really was very sinful. Julie told her
to get lost.
She now knew that a couple almost always had sex in
private, which might explain why she had felt uncomfortable on the
beach with the other four present. She learned about sexual jealousy,
and felt a bit of it herself as she saw again in her mind Luke pounding
away in the post-orgasmic Lisa.
Her inner Mother Superior was
intrigued to learn about the institution of marriage, and how sex was
acceptable within marriage, but always considered sinful outside of it.
But marriage made no sense when the two sexes lived on separate islands
a strenuous day's paddle apart.
More careful reading revealed
that pregnancy only followed intercourse if done on a particular couple
of days in each monthly cycle. One by one Lisa, Frances and then Julie
got their monthly visits. Despite their multiple doses of sperm, none
of them had gotten pregnant!
This consideration led Julie to her
first change in the women's daily routine. Going forward, all sisters
under the age of 40 were to carefully record their monthly periods, and
to do their best to recall recent ones in the past too. Julie confided
to Frances and Lisa what she had learned about menstrual cycles and
fertile periods, and gave Sister Frances the task of recording and
organizing the reports from the other sisters.
Julie also
commissioned the construction of a second boat, urging Grace to put
more effort into a faster craft. This further draw on the community's
lumber supply left them with very little, and Julie winced. But wood
wasn't vital to their survival, and visits to Our Savior were.
It
was time to plan the next visit to Our Savior. Lisa and Frances were
due to have fertile periods before hers came next, but she felt she
ought to be on the next expedition as leader, and therefore it should
be during her fertile period. From the records gathered by Sister
Frances, she looked over the list of girls and women who were expected
to ovulate when she did. She needed strong women for paddling. She
needed young women who were in their fertile years. She needed women
who were supportive of her as a person and of her plan to do something.
Ideally she'd also like those who could keep a secret, but she realized
she couldn't keep her plan secret for long. Certainly if a sister got
pregnant, she would have to explain a swelling belly. She also needed
women who were willing to let a man invade their bodies in that
particular way.
The first candidate sister was 18-year-old
Meghan. Julie asked what sort of sacrifice she would be willing to make
for the continuity of their community. In particular, would she be
willing to have a mild illness for nine months? Hearing her assent and
feeling true enthusiasm behind it, she swore Meghan to secrecy and
explained the facts of life, including the bit about the men inserting
something like a large finger into their vaginas and releasing fluid.
Meghan was surprised, of course, but didn't change her mind. Next was
34-year-old Sister Lucy. Lucy was a bit on the old side, but she was
strong for purposes of paddling and a reliable supporter of Julie. She
also agreed without hesitation. At once Meghan and Lucy began paddling
practice to improve their strength and endurance.
Julie
planned their clandestine arrival for the middle of the night. As they
neared the sheltered beach on the near side of the pile of rocks, a
figure emerged from the trees and waved, then walked into the water and
began swimming out towards them. As he approached the boat, Julie
recognized him as Brother Jacob.
As he tread water near them, he
asked if they had come for the same favor they had asked for before.
Julie explained that they had, but noted that she had two different
companions this time. Jacob explained that a fourth man had joined
their group and the four of them felt another location would be more
secure, and told her how to find it. It involved paddling further
around the island.
As they approached the new spot, Jacob, Luke
and a third man were there to pull the boat into a small canal which
led into the forest. Once the women had disembarked, they pulled it
further under the vegetation until it was quite hidden from prying eyes.
Luke
then explained the situation. Shortly after their departure, the abbot
had made it clear that any craft from Our Lady was to be turned away.
If any sisters did land, the men were to notify him at once and escort
them to the seclusion cells. He had designated Brother Peter as the
leader of security, to patrol the shoreline periodically. This new man
with them was none other than Brother Peter himself, but Luke assured
them that he could be trusted completely. The men had set up watches so
that one of them was always scanning the shoreline late at night for
the arrival of a boat. Now they had arrived, George was serving as a
lookout just in case there was some unexpected intrusion.
Julie
stood beside Brother Luke. She wanted to be alone with him as soon as
possible. "Are we ready to proceed to the business at hand?" There were
no objections. "I suggest we pair off and meet in private as couples. I
will go with Brother Luke. Lucy, would you like to choose?"
But Peter stepped forward and said, "I choose you," moving up beside
Meghan.
Lucy
and Meghan looked at Julie. To them she was the Mother Superior, but
between the brothers and sisters it wasn't clear who was in charge.
Julie said, "Is that all right with you, Meghan?"
"Certainly, Reverend Mother."
"And you, Lucy? Are you content with Brother Jacob?"
"Yes, I would be delighted."
It turned out there were multiple secluded spots, so the three couples
could all mate in private at the same time.
"Let's reconvene here after the first sperm transfer is complete," said
Julie.
Luke led Julie through the dark forest some 50 yards before they came
to a small outdoor bower.
"You
planned all this out, I see -- with the canal for the boat and the
multiple spots for couples to be alone," she said. "All so you could do
us a favor in case we returned?"
"It was quite a favor. A favor
we were all very eager to give." He sat close beside Julie and lowered
his head so their faces were inches apart.
There was this thing
called kissing, lips to lips. She decided to try it, touching her lips
to his. He got the hang of it quickly and kissed her back. Soon she
felt a fire of anticipation.
He looked questioningly at her and she nodded.
Seconds
later she lay on her back, exposed for the taking, and his trousers
were off. He eagerly approached her and slid his penis into her vagina.
This time the entry was smooth. In and in he went until she felt his
pubic bone against hers.
"Oh, God," he said, pulling most of the
way out. "Ooohhhh!" he said as he surged into her once more. He
withdrew once more and then pressed in once more hard, fast and very
deep and then remained motionless for a few seconds, holding his
breath. Then he relaxed and gasped for breath, letting himself down on
her.
"You delivered it already?" she said, surprised.
"Yeah," he said.
Julie said nothing about sexual pleasure and female orgasm. She was
there to try to get pregnant.
Meanwhile he returned to this kissing he had just learned. They kissed
as his somewhat soft organ lazily slid in and out.
Julie felt warm and wonderful. These are romantic feelings, she said to
herself, trying to remain objective.
"So, what's with Brother Peter? The head of security?"
"He
is something of a rival of the abbot. They were both on the Council
when the old abbot died, and Peter was bitterly disappointed that
Brother John was the chosen successor instead of him. We also knew him
to be not the most devout among us, more prone to sins of the flesh
than most, and we thought he'd be a good choice for our group."
"Makes sense."
Brother
Luke lay on Julie, his penis gliding back and forth slowly. It had
grown quite stiff again. Her inner Mother Superior came to the fore.
Here she was lying on her back, letting a man slide what must be a
sinful organ in and out of her dirty place. The rules were clear about
not touching themselves or each other down there except as needed. They
didn't specifically say no men should touch them there, but then the
book said nothing about men at all. Any reasonable person would know it
was prohibited.
"I'd really like to deliver more sperm in you, but..."
"Go ahead, Luke, I'd like that."
"What about sperm for the others? I only have so much."
"That doesn't matter so much, anyway... I just want to feel you do it
again... Please?"
She
realized her pretense of the business-like Mother Superior engaging in
a tiny bit of sin to prevent something worse was wearing thin.
"OK," he said, smiling at her.
So
he once more thrust in and out forcefully. Julie felt the good
sensations grow. But she also knew they were not growing anywhere near
enough or in the right directions for an orgasm.
On a whim she whispered in his ear, "Be sinful in me. Be very, very
sinful!" She nibbled his ear.
Luke
sighed and began pounding harder and deeper. To Julie it felt so good,
so right. His penis was getting bigger. Her vagina was wet, hot,
expectant. Any second now... three, two, one...
"Ooooooohhhhhh!" he groaned as his penis kept ramming in and out, then
slowed.
He lay on her, recovering his breath. He looked at her tenderly and
kissed some more.
After several minutes Julie faintly heard, "I wonder what's keeping
them."
Luke hadn't heard, so she relayed the message to him. They dressed and
rejoined the group.
Jacob was nowhere to be seen, but George was there. Presumably Jacob
had taken his place as lookout.
"So,"
said Luke. "We had all assumed you would want sperm from multiple men,
like last time. Is that true?" Julie's request for a second shot
evidently made him uncertain.
Julie paused. She did not want to
take it from anyone else. Just Luke. And she didn't want Luke to give
it to anyone else either. Was this fair?
"I... I personally am
not going to take sperm from any other men. I'm... not feeling up for
it. And I have further matters to discuss with Brother Luke. But... An
additional sperming does increasing somewhat the chances of pregnancy.
So if either of you is willing, I would encourage it."
Peter
looked at Julie with an expression that plainly said he had been very
much hoping to insert his penis into her and deliver sperm. But he said
nothing.
Peter smiled at Lucy, and she followed him without complaint.
The
way George looked at Meghan, Julie knew he would be very disappointed
if she declined him. But instead she smiled and followed him as he led
the way into the forest.
She turned to him and hugged him, and he eagerly returned the hug.
"How old are you, Luke?" she asked.
"Twenty-two. And you?"
'Twenty-nine."
She thought. He was a cut above the others -- above George, Jacob --
certainly above Peter and way above the abbot. "Will you marry me?"
"What?" he said. "'Marry'?"
"It's
complicated," she said. "Will you be on my side? Look out for me? Give
me sperm when I want it? Give me sperm whenever you want to?"
"Um, yeah," he said. "Yeah!"
"That's
kind of what marriage is. Except in the real world married couples
sleep together at night, and when the babies are born they all live
together and eat together as the babies grow up. We can't do that. But
would you if we could?"
"Yeah, I think so," he said.
"You're
also supposed to agree not to give sperm to anyone else. And I'm not
supposed to take it from anybody else. But I couldn't ask that of you.
What if some sister needs your sperm?"
"Well, um..." he said.
She
suddenly felt very emotional. Her voice got higher and uneven. "Not a
problem. I'm the God-damned Mother Superior. I can just say that any
sister has sex with you on pain of death."
"Are you feeling OK?" he asked.
Oh,
what a sweet, sweet human being. "Yeah, I'm feeling fine. But I'm tired
of being in charge, making all the decisions, being responsible for
everything. I feel like being the youngest novice for once. You know,
the one who's just three? Can you treat me like the youngest novice for
a minute?"
"Sure, Julie," he said. And he held her and rocked her as they stood.
It was wonderful. After a few minutes she straightened up again.
"Thanks," she said, and kissed him.
"Um, Julie," he said. "Were you serious about letting me give you more
sperm?"
"Yes!" she said, and she followed him eagerly down another path to a
different small clearing.
As
they undressed, she said, "But this time, I might be touching myself
with my fingers down there near where your penis is going in and out.
Is that OK?"
She could see him wanting to ask why and thinking better of it.
"Certainly," he said.
And
as he pounded away, her fingers found what she knew was called her
clitoris and gently rubbed it, just a little. Sometimes she just
absorbed the feeling of his penis pounding into her, other times she
spiced it up with just a little touch to her clitoris. Then she
fluttered her fingers on it, also attending to the powerful penis
banging in and out of her, attached to a powerful man. She got right on
the edge -- she knew it would happen soon, if things were just right.
This man's dirty, disgusting, sinful organ was pounding in and out of
her dirty, disgusting hole. He was going to shoot some sticky,
disgusting, sinful stuff up into her. They'd done it twice already, she
had plenty of sperm already, but she adored it, she wanted it, she was
sinning so badly, and now she wanted to feel fantastic in a totally
animal way.
"Are you about ready to give it?" she asked urgently.
"Yeah, why?" asked his sweaty face.
"Can you... wait until I say and then go really fast?"
"Um, sure..."
"I want to get like Lisa did," she explained.
He grinned and kissed her nose but fucked her all the harder.
She fluttered, rested, poked lightly, getting herself right on the
edge, so close.
"OK, now!" she whispered, removing her fingers.
Luke sped up, pounded hard, doing his very male thing to her female,
getting ready to give her sperm, to give her a baby...
"Oooohhhhhhhhhhh!" she cried.
"Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!" he moaned.
Their
organs twitched together, to slightly different rhythms. Ecstasy -- and
more sperm, pumped from the mysterious depths of Luke's body into the
mysterious depths of hers.
Julie's
cramps were unwelcome, and she was despondent when she started
bleeding. With all the passion that she and Luke had brought to their
sex -- how could so much earnest reproductive effort go unrewarded!
Lucy got her period too. But Meghan did not.
That was one pregnancy, hopefully. But they needed more.
Before
the next boat to Our Savior, Julie wrote a letter, sealed it, and said
it was to be delivered into the hands of Luke and no other. What was in
it? Nothing important. It was a love letter. But she wanted so much for
him to read it, and wanted him to reply. He did, very briefly, on a
small scrap of paper, noting that he would try to be prepared with
proper paper and envelope next time.
The boat made the crossing,
over and over. If three fertile women could not be found, they sent
two, with a third woman who might possibly be fertile if her cycle was
irregular.
Lisa and 23-year-old Jennie came back from an expedition and both
missed their periods.
Julie
was delighted. If they were to even begin replacing the boys and girls
who had not arrived due to the lacuna, six or seven pregnancies would
be just fine. But then she found herself troubled by doubts as she lay
in bed at night. She read everything on pregnancy that she could find
in her library. It had its hazards. It was a tricky process. In all
cultures, experienced women helped young mothers give birth. They had
no such women. Without any modern medicine or technology, the chances
of one of the sisters dying in childbirth were significant. If the
order on Our Lady were to survive, they would have to risk a few women
dying. But at least once a couple of them had gone through it, the
others would have better information in deciding whether to take the
risk. If she ordered them to as Mother Superior, they would out of
obedience -- but that didn't feel right, and from her reading she knew
most people in the broader world wouldn't think it was right either.
So with three apparent pregnancies, Julie planned out just two last
expeditions.
The
next was timed for her fertile period, which coincided with Frances's.
She asked Julie if she could refuse to take sperm from Peter, and Julie
instantly agreed. It should be her choice anyway, and with the
soundness of their methods validated by a few pregnancies, the tiny
extra chance at fertilization wasn't important anyway. No other sister
would be fertile at that time. Grace wasn't interested in getting
pregnant, and at 44 it would have been unlikely anyway. But she was
eager to make the journey -- to see how her boat held up on the long
trip, and to see the other island -- to explore!
Luke, George
and Peter greeted them. Frances said she only wanted to take sperm from
one man, and she chose George. They explained that Grace had just come
to paddle. Peter made to protest, but the three women gave him a look
to show their determination. So the two couples went off to their
private spots, leaving Grace and Peter at the boat.
Luke and
Julie had just been kissing and talking for a couple minutes when they
heard some heated conversation in the direction they had come from.
They paused to listen, and a few seconds later, they heard a distinct,
"Hey, no!" in Grace's voice. Julie scrambled up at once and raced back
along the path, Luke following close behind. Grace's protests
continued, and when the beach came into view, they saw Grace on her
back, Peter on top of her, holding her down with one arm and awkwardly
trying to yank his trousers down with the other.
"Stop, this instant!" said Julie as loud as she dared -- they did need
to avoid detection by the larger Our Savior community.
"It's only fair... I just want to give her some sperm."
"No,
you can't!" She landed on her knees next to the pair and tried to pull
Peter off. She had little experience with physical tussling and she
realized that Peter was a lot stronger than she was.
"She's not doing anything else... It just takes a second..."
Luke landed next to Julie. "Uh, come on Peter!" he said.
"Stop him!" urged Julie. She was aware of a naked Frances running into
the clearing.
Luke
pulled on Peter's shoulders, but Peter shrugged him off. By now his
trousers were down far enough. Luke landed on Peter's back, grabbed him
around the middle and twisted him off.
Grace struggled to her feet, smoothed down her habit and backed away.
"Let go of me!" demanded Peter.
"You must never touch a sister without permission," commanded Julie.
"OK, OK," said Peter, and Luke released him.
"I don't see the big deal," he said. "You're the ones who came over
here begging to get sperm."
"You never get to touch one of us without permission! Can you just
tackle some other brother because you feel like it?"
"Of course not, but... Those are the regular rules. You've broken all
the rules. You know this is damned sinful, all of this."
"Some
rules are the same. You don't touch people without permission. Why
don't you go relieve Jacob as lookout, or better yet just go back to
your settlement."
"No," said Peter, crossing his arms.
Frances
said, "I tried to come right away, but George was doing it to me, and
he didn't want to stop." Just then George strolled onto the beach,
smiling. "After he gave it to me, I got up and came quick as I could."
"That's fine, thank you sister." Julie looked around. "Are you OK,
Grace?"
The boat builder nodded but didn't look entirely sure.
"What happened?" asked George. Luke raised his hand quickly and George
said no more.
In
the uneasy silence, Julie thought. She had to spend the night with
Luke, she just had to. "I'm waiting for you to leave," she said,
looking at Peter. All three women stared at him. He stared back. Luke
stared too. George just stood there, smiling vaguely.
"Oh, come on George, let's go!" Peter said at last. "Leave these creepy
little sperm catchers alone."
They headed up one of the paths. Just as they disappeared, they
overheard George say, "Sperm catchers... That's pretty funny!"
"So, George gave you what you wanted?" Julie said to Frances. "You
caught his sperm?"
"Yeah," said Luke. "But, I'm not sure I get it. I mean, you come here
to get sperm, right? Isn't more better than less?"
"Sometimes.
But I read the books and I think it works this way out in the world
too. Women want sperm, but they're kind of picky -- only when they feel
like it and only with the right guy. The right guy is very important."
"If you say so. But you like getting it, right? It feels good. I know
you and Lisa both enjoy it a whole lot sometimes."
"Yeah."
"So?"
"Let
me ask you this. Why does Peter care? You say he can rub his penis and
the sperm comes out and it feels good. Why is he so set about
delivering it inside a sister?"
"Oh, well... Oh, I can't quite
explain it. But it's totally different. It's like we've GOT to do it. I
mean, we don't have to, of course, but we want it more than anything.
I'd fast for two days just to have a chance to give it to someone -- to
you, I mean."
"Interesting. So maybe we can't explain why we really, really DON'T
want it sometimes."
"OK,"
said Luke, and mused for a moment. "I guess if boys and girls grow up
with both women and men around they learn these things better."
"I
think you're very right. And, now let's kiss. And can you suck on my
nipples? They say in the books that that's fun too. If you don't
mind..."
"Not... at... all!" said Luke, grinning and feasting his eyes on her
bare chest.
"And I promise you, in just a couple minutes, I'm going to want it from
you. Really bad..."
Luke sucked. Julie thought it felt fantastic. Before long she was as
good as her word, and he eagerly gave it to her.
They lazed around after Julie had caught Luke's second bunch of sperm.
"Can I tell you something? Just you, without telling the others?"
"Sure."
"I
think three of the sisters are pregnant. But I don't want too many
until we actually experience getting the baby out. It can be dangerous,
apparently. So, I'm thinking one more expedition after this one, and
then we won't come back for several months."
"Oh," said Luke. "Oh! That's too bad. I won't get to see you then..."
Julie was sad Luke was disappointed, but also a little happy that he
would miss her.
They
slept and hugged, and from time to time grappled each other with
passion. A protrusion from Luke's body grew hard and stiff, he plunged
it deep into Julie and delivered some more sperm and then the
protrusion grew soft again and withdrew. The sky was growing light, and
Julie woke to the sound of Grace and Frances talking at the boat. Julie
woke Luke and rolled him onto her and begged for his penis in her
vagina for the sixth time. From his urgency at the moment of sperming,
Julie might have thought he wanted turn his body inside out and shoot
his entire self up inside of her. She was happy.
The abbot stewed. It was especially hard that morning to achieve an
attitude of reverence and prayer.
That
blasted Mother Superior and her women! He vividly recalled every detail
of his one private meeting with her, how she had enchanted him, brought
out his most earthy and least divine nature, how she had exposed her
freakish body without the penis and testicles that God meant men to
have. Instead, that opening -- fleshy, moist, set within the
surrounding hair. Beckoning him, like the gates of Hell. And his penis,
harder than it had ever been. His sinful organ in its most sinful
condition, drawn to the infinitely more sinful damp hole, the voice of
the Devil urging him on, rewarding his advance with pleasure, making
him push, in and out and in and out, torturing him with pleasure,
drowning him with it as his body spasmed, spewing his sinful, dirty
excretion up into the disgusting, sinful hole.
But now he had
just learned that Julie hadn't disappeared as he had commanded her to.
She had returned, again and again. She had corrupted some of his best
brothers. A series of sisters had come, and Peter, Jacob, George, and
Luke had all been bewitched to do the same disgusting sinful act with
them, over and over. To conspire against his wishes.
These wild
ideas about how new people grew inside of women's bellies were
nonsense. He didn't know how people were created, but they did not grow
in the bellies of women. They were not started through an act so
unspeakably disgusting and sinful. God would never create such a world.
Yet he wondered. If he tore the plastic from his own library, he could
tell for sure... Never!
Peter had confessed the whole thing to
him. Apparently what had triggered his conscience was the realization
that the sin had infected him. He was so craven that he had tried to
force himself into one of the sisters who did not want to sin in that
way.
So the abbot had had the other three conspirators escorted
into seclusion, while Peter showed him where the women arrived at
night. Jacob was released every night and accompanied Peter to the
beach, ready to trap the women when they came again. And a week later
they arrived, exactly as Peter had said they would. Once the women had
landed and their boat was hidden in the canal, some of his men had
appeared and gruffly convinced them that they had no choice but to
follow them up to the seclusion cells. Peter walked free, but the abbot
now had three of his order and three women in the cells.
Disobedient
brothers he was used to. But women... their presence undermined the
community's life of prayer. He overheard two of his younger monks
whispering about the women. Had they seen them? One had talked to them
through the walls in the middle of the night, and they had answered.
They wanted help getting out -- well, that was no surprise. The two
brothers were excited by all this. They even fantasized about setting
them free so they could see what women looked like -- one had missed
that initial visit in the central square, the other had been there but
hadn't quite been able to believe his eyes. He desperately wanted
another look.
How could he do God's work of guiding a
contemplative order with this distraction? How could he get rid of the
women? There was no prescribed punishment for an outsider. If they were
his own, he could in theory have them flogged -- in fact, he had
decided that the three younger monks would have to take a few lashes.
But exposing the bare flesh of these women to the eyes of his monks?
Not a good idea. He certainly couldn't have them put to death! His
Church categorically rejected capital punishment.
His only real
option was to get them to leave. But first he would make sure their
memories of the visit were very unpleasant ones. When they delivered
his message to the Mother Superior that they must never come again, she
should understand that there were consequences both unfortunate and
certain.
His first idea for a punishment was an enforced fast of
four days before sending them on their way. Peter had humbly pointed
out that the physical exertion to paddle all the way to Our Lady was
considerable, and embarking on the journey after a four-day fast might
endanger their lives. So the abbot had extended the term to five days,
to be followed by two days to eat their fill before he expelled them.
After
the women's boat disappeared over the horizon, he waited two full days.
Then he extracted confessions and expression of regret from the three
conspirators. Sensing lukewarm remorse, he had ordered them to take
seven lashes each before he released them. They were assigned
indefinitely to kitchen and latrine duty.
Peter appeared
genuinely contrite as the abbot explained that his own equal punishment
had been suspended because of his help in exposing the plot. The abbot
appointed another of his men as head of island security, but retained
Peter as a consultant who knew about the ways of the women.
With the women gone and mostly forgotten, the atmosphere in the order
calmed down and returned to normal -- almost.
But
the three miscreants did not fully embrace their calling. When they
knelt to kiss his ring, he sensed no true spirit of obedience. Others
reported seeing them in hushed conversation with other brothers, a
conversation that stopped with an aura of guilt when anyone approached.
If
the annual boat from the Church ever did return, he would feel
compelled to give his opinion that the Mother Superior of Our Lady had
lost her way and that her entire order would need a most thorough
review.
Naturally, Our Lady was alarmed when the boat did not return on
schedule. Lucy, Eleanor, and Emma were missing.
They
could recall no freak storm that might have swamped the boat.
Conceivably its integrity had suddenly faltered, making it no longer
seaworthy. Julie reassured a worried Grace as the sisters debated that
possibility, reminding her she had never claimed expertise, and that if
it was anyone's fault it was Julie's. Perhaps one of them had gotten
ill and needed time to recover.
Perhaps they had lost a paddle
and then lost the spare as well, leaving them adrift. With this
possibility in mind, Julie had the other boat prepared at once and a
team of strong paddlers headed off most of the way to Our Savior. They
sighted no boat, heard no cries for help, and saw no wreckage. They
returned.
But Julie resisted the obvious possibility of simply
paddling over all the way and asking what had happened. The incident
with Peter on their last visit stuck with her, and she had a hunch that
it bore some relationship to this current situation. In planning this
last trip, as a way of smoothing the waters, Lucy had agreed in advance
to accept sperm from Peter. But could Peter somehow have put the other
three men out of action and then set out to forcibly give sperm to the
three women -- a crime called rape? It seemed unlikely he could do it
himself, though he might have recruited others from the Our Savior
community into a new group.
To appear in plain view in daylight
would blow their cover. To appear in the usual place at night would
risk the other boat suffering the same fate as the first. If the women
had been captured, Julie had no power to bring about their release.
Julie's instincts told her to wait, though there was palpable tension
in the community as the days passed.
When
nine days later the boat was sighted, the lookout screamed. This was
not proper behavior for a sister of the order, but no one, not even
Sister Catherine, thought to chastise her for it.
Julie raced to
the shore to meet them, and kept all others at some distance while she
got a quick, whispered report from Lucy. She swore the three of them to
silence. When they had rested and eaten a large meal, they gathered in
Julie's receiving room where they went over every last detail of what
had transpired. They had been told through whispered contacts with
monks that Peter had discovered the plot, which all the women knew of
course meant that he had betrayed them. Luke, Jacob and George were
being held in seclusion.
Julie thought once more -- reflecting
that she was doing a lot more thinking and decision-making than she had
ever dreamed necessary for one of her order.
The plan had called
for no more visits to Our Savior for some time anyway. Whenever they
went over again -- and they must go over again -- Julie's intuition was
that if caught the punishment would be less the longer they had been
away. For the longer term, she supposed they could appear offshore and
encourage some monk to swim out to the boat, climb in, and deliver his
sperm to a waiting woman. She supposed if they wanted some semblance of
privacy the woman could jump in and they could manage the transfer with
the relevant organs underwater -- she wasn't sure that would work, but
she couldn't see any obvious problem. If Luke was to be believed, some
brothers might swim a good long ways and risk a stiff punishment on
their return for the opportunity to deliver sperm.
The main
thing to do was wait for the bellies of Jennie, Meghan and Lisa to
swell. Frances joined this group too when she missed her period. George
had kept humping Frances as she listened to her sister Grace being
attacked, but he had done his job.
Meanwhile, she thought about
how strong Peter was. She thought about the poor women being locked up
without food. She thought about how Our Savior had the same materials
they did to build a boat. If the abbot died or was removed by his
Council, who knew what a new abbot might do?
This got her
thinking about weapons. The books had a great deal on them. There were
boats so large that the men on them looked like ants. There were
airplanes, bombs, rockets, tanks -- all were way out of their league.
Even rifles, muskets and pistols were beyond them. All of these
evidently worked on the idea that something shot out the end so fast
that you couldn't step aside and it could go right through you. She
could understand the ideas behind swords and spears more easily. It was
hard to think what they had that could be made into a sword -- a
plowshare, maybe? There were bows and arrows -- they would have to look
into them. Slingshot -- that looked promising. Spears might work. A
sharpened end could do damage even if they didn't have any metal points
for it, and maybe they could make some of those. There were also
references to "martial arts" -- ways to fight without any weapons at
all. But it was hard to understand what they were getting at just from
the pictures.
She would have to put a few of the sisters on the problem of weapons
and how to fight. Hopefully they'd never need them.
Jennie
started bleeding heavily between her legs and getting really bad
cramps. Stuff came out that was way more than the heaviest period.
Julie's reading told her this was known as a miscarriage. Jennie would
be fine, but she wouldn't have a baby. She was also very distraught,
and Julie read this was to be expected as well.
Word
reached Julie that rumors were afoot. Some sisters had heard a
fantastic story of how tiny people were growing inside the women who
had visited Our Savior. Among the conservative sisters, most felt that
this was a pathetic cover story for a disease that the visitors had
contracted there -- or that had been visited upon them by an angry God
for disobeying His commands. Julie was surprised that the secret had
held as long as it had. She needed to do some explaining.
She
sent word to Sister Catherine that she would like to give a formal
explanation of what had happened with the boats, and suggested she
invite up to a half dozen other sisters who she thought might be
appropriate for this audience. Julie then met with her council and this
group. As expected, Sister Catherine had selected her fellow avidly
conservative sisters who had disagreed with Julie's new plan of action.
The group packed tightly into Julie's receiving room.
"May God
be with me in what I say to you today," she began. "When the Council
elevated me to the position of Mother Superior, it put upon me a heavy
burden. As you know, one of my first acts was to break the commandment
of the library. The books had been wrapped in a special holy plastic,
and I removed this plastic and have looked carefully through the
library. May God forgive me. I did this in order to find a way for this
community to survive.
"Now, our order is founded upon the
principle that knowledge is the ultimate source of sin. In reading the
books, I have risked taking sin upon myself. Yet, using their teachings
in combination with deep contemplation and prayer, I devised plans for
our survival. However, I have only shared what was necessary with those
who would help to carry out the plan. I found two kinds of useful
teachings.
"One pertained to the building of boats, and you have
all seen the craft that resulted. My judgment is that this knowledge
has no great spiritual significance. The boats allowed us to make
excursions to Our Savior. As I reported, the lacuna of the boats had
afflicted them as well, and they knew no more than we about why it had
occurred or when it would stop. They had no useful information about a
way to reach the Church or to arrange for our survival.
"The
second set of teachings may allow us to survive. This information is of
spiritual significance. I am going to tell you today the barest
essentials of the plan and how it is going to work, God willing.
"There
are tiny people growing inside the bellies of Meghan, Lisa, and
Francis. There was a tiny person growing inside of Jennie's belly, but
this tiny person died."
Julie noticed several of the sisters scowling .
"This may sound like an incredible story."
"Or like the work of the Devil," muttered Sister Catherine.
"I'd ask you to consider this: Where do you think new people come from?
Where did our three-year-old novices come from?"
"They
were a gift from God when they were much smaller, and grew for three
years until they were delivered to us," said one of the oldest sisters.
"The creation of children is one of God's mysteries, and speculation on
the matter is not productive in achieving a life of holiness." This was
straight from the Book of Innocence.
"Yes, that is true. How God
creates people remains a fundamental mystery, but the teachings have
revealed to me a little more than we knew before about the process.
What God provides starts very small and grows inside the bellies of
women. When it is the correct size, it comes out of the woman's belly
and is known as a baby. This is how we were all created. Three years
after emergence from a woman's belly, each of us was delivered here as
a novice. Can you think of some other explanation that is so reasonable
that, in contrast, the idea of babies growing inside of women's bellies
is ridiculous?"
She looked at each member of her audience, but no sister spoke.
"The one other piece I will add is that each woman had to journey to
Our Savior before a baby could grow in her belly.
"The
books have also told me that these tiny people come out at a
predictable time. If the tiny person inside of Meghan does not die
first, he or she will emerge from her belly somewhere between three and
four months from now. Between now and then, Meghan will grow much
fatter than she is. After the baby emerges from her belly, she will
return to her normal size. Things will proceed in the same fashion with
Lisa and Frances, though the babies will probably emerge from their
bellies a little later.
"I judge that to be the information that
you all should know. There is much more detail. Much of it is known to
every sister who made the journey to Our Savior. However, it is my wish
that no one in the order learn more that she wants to know, so that she
may as closely approximate the innocence that is our order's reason for
being. If after prayer and contemplation, a sister feels that it is
right that she learn more, I would share further information.
"Are there any questions?"
Sister Catherine said, "You referred to the tiny person as 'he or she'.
Do you not know whether it will be a boy or a girl?"
"That is correct. God has already determined which the baby will be,
but it will only be revealed to us once the baby is born."
"How will we know?"
Julie hesitated. "That is among the extra information for sisters who
wish to learn more."
"Are any of the other sisters who journeyed to Our Savior going to have
tiny babies grow in their bellies?"
"No. That could only happen if they return to Our Savior again."
There were no more questions.
Julie felt she had done her best to support the innocence of the
conservative sisters.
In
practice, the sperm transfer process was such a memorable experience
that the sisters who had undergone it tended to talk about it. It was a
small community, and overhearing private conversations was very common.
Perhaps Sister Harriet retained her innocence, because she was quite
deaf. It is doubtful that any of the others did.
Julie
got a few volunteers to act as midwives. She went through the
encyclopedia page by page looking for anything related to childbirth.
After she'd identified some relevant sections, she invited her midwives
in to her private audience room to read to them. She also let the
midwives look at the few relevant pictures.
Meghan got to 39
weeks. When she started having real labor contractions, Julie prayed
more fervently than she had in a long time. She let her very poorly
trained midwives handle most of it, but Julie stopped in from time to
time. She left more than once, crying as soon as she was by herself.
Meghan was young, Meghan was strong, and Meghan was no complainer. But
now Meghan was crying, and yelling, and looking exhausted. The books
said labor could go on for a day or more. Even if Meghan lived, no one
would ever want to have a baby again! She went to find Grace and
insulted the dignity of her office by sobbing in the older woman's arms
for some minutes before regaining her composure.
The midwives
figured out when Meghan went from transition into the pushing phase.
When they could actually see a rounded bump showing in her vagina, they
called Julie in for the final delivery. The bump grew, it bulged, and
then with a push everything happened at once. The big bump was a head,
then came shoulders, body, cord, and lots of slimy fluid. Jennie looked
terrified at what she had caught and apparently couldn't think what to
do with it. It gave a thin, piercing cry. Others reminded her and she
brought the baby to Meghan's chest. A glance between the baby's legs
suggested it was a girl. Meghan was distracted as another push expelled
another large blob that Julie knew was called the placenta. But then
everything changed. The exhausted Meghan beamed at the puckered, wet,
reddish thing. She put it by her breast and the little thing who was so
stunningly helpless then exercised the one and only skill she needed
just then. She found Meghan's nipple and sucked on it.
Jennie
managed to cut the cord. Bit by bit all the blood and fluid and
extraneous stuff was wiped up and carted away, and what was left was a
young woman, Meghan, and a tiny creature who was unmistakably a human
being, a little girl. This was how new people came into the world. This
was how nature replaced the people who all inevitably died. It was a
miracle.
The half-dozen most conservative sisters refused to
visit the baby. It was not within their order's calling to have
anything to do with it. When she was three, they would treat her like a
novice. Until then, she was the responsibility of the youngsters who
had turned the world upside down. But none doubted any longer that
Julie had in fact discovered how to create new people.
The
regular world prepares girls slowly for womanhood. Little girls see
babies, big girls see babies, and then when young women see babies,
they're not something totally new. No one had prepared these women.
Several of them developed a strong case of baby hunger. The ones who
had been to Our Savior and knew firsthand how the process started asked
with some urgency when they could go again. Some who had had no
interest before now wanted to make the trip and receive sperm
injections. Julie confirmed the rumor that for those over the age of
35, it was unlikely that their bodies could have a baby under any
circumstances, and for those over 45, it was no longer possible.
Lisa
delivered a tiny baby boy, which was a mystery all its own. It was one
thing to know that a man had to do some bizarre little act in a few
seconds to make a woman pregnant. It was quite another to think that
what could squirt out between the woman's legs would be a baby man.
Wouldn't it make more sense if women did some bizarre little act with
men and then the new men would grow inside the grown men? But it didn't
seem to work that way. But despite the strange stuff it had between its
legs, the tiny boy was just as charming and lovable as the tiny girl.
Frances
delivered another small boy, but he didn't look right from the start.
He didn't suck at her breast, he cried only weakly, and to everyone's
great sorrow, he died a day after he was born.
All did their
best to console Frances. Julie watched closely to see if this would
dampen the enthusiasm for having babies. But it didn't -- not at all.
Frances herself wanted to try again.
Julie let the mothers gave
names to the tiny people who had emerged from them. The girl was called
Jean, and the boy was called Paul.