Chapter 3

It was hard to ignore the women surrounding Sid in his English class. Even the instructor had joked that he was now surrounded by a harem. Sid, his voice deep and rumbling, had answered that he was sure that it was purely accidental. The statement had provoked giggles across the entire room. The giggles convinced him to look around the room with a little more care.

When the papers were handed back, Sid stared at the B+ in a state of shock. Just about every paragraph had editorial remarks about grammar and structure. He couldn’t believe his eyes, but he read it very carefully. Rather than complaining, he realized that it was a chance to improve. Others in the class were quite vocal in response to their grades, not bothering to read the comments. Sid was not surprised at their juvenile behavior.

The women in class held very little attraction for Sid. None of them held a candle to Sally in terms of appearance and/or manner. Most of them looked like they wore clothes that had shrunk in the washing machine. Their pants ended halfway between knee and ankle, as though they were expecting a flood. Their blouses were short by a few inches and displayed bellies that bulged forth because their pants were too tight. Unlike Sally’s diaphanous gown, their clothes made them look like clowns. Most of them walked like storks, but without the grace attached to those birds. They clomped about in shoes that were outlandish in their size. Rather than settling gracefully into their chairs, they dropped into them like sacks of flour.

After experiencing Sally, Sid understood why his uncle had never married or acted all that interested in the women around him. Just a week ago, these women would have held his attention with great ease. He frowned as he realized that he stood a very good chance of being alone in this world.

History class was a repeat of English. His grades were lower than he had expected, and the women overly friendly. His dissatisfaction with life on Earth grew. The time passed tediously, yet he remained alert and listened to the instructors. He took detailed notes about all that was discussed in his classes, knowing that he would refer to them often. Two more papers were due at the end of the week, one for English and the other in his Business class.

Finished with his classes, he headed to the student center to get a bite to eat. As he passed by the information booth, his English instructor called out to him. He turned, surprised to hear her call him. She rushed up to him and said, “There’s a student position in the library that has just become available. The job will cover your tuition, and give you some spending money. I thought you might be interested in it.”

Sid was about to respond that he already had a job, but thought better of it. This would solve several of his problems. It would give him greater access to reference materials while saving him money since he wouldn’t have to pay for his security guard uniform or tuition. Finally, he would save time since he wouldn’t have to drive an extra hour to reach the job. He replied, “That sounds good.”

Professor Smith asked, “How’s your uncle?”

Sid looked down at the floor, saddened by the reminder, and licked his lips. He answered, “He passed away last week. His funeral was Saturday.”

She looked at him in surprise and said, “You could have asked for an extension on your paper. I would have understood.”

Smiling, he answered, “No. I enjoyed working on it, and it helped keep my mind off my other problems.”

“I understand. By the way, your paper was one of the best in the class.” She looked at the young man unable to define what attracted her to him. With his rough features, he wasn’t that good looking and his short military haircut wasn’t all that stylish. He wasn’t that tall, coming in at 5’8”. He looked fit and moved with a cat-like grace. Perhaps it was his intensity that drew her towards him. She was tempted to ask him to join her for coffee, but didn’t feel that would be a good idea.

He replied, “I really appreciated all of the comments you made on it. Now I can see how to improve the quality of my papers tremendously. It’s going to help improve my grades in all of my classes.”

It was rare for an instructor to get such positive feedback so early in the semester. Usually, it took three or four poor grades before the student even looked at the comments and even more before they took them to heart. Taken aback by his comment, she replied, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he replied as he adjusted his notebooks so that they didn’t dig into his arm. Before the silence had a chance to become uncomfortable, Professor Smith left after saying a simple goodbye.

He went to the library and after a very short conversation there, had a new job shelving books. The new job would make the next two weeks rather busy since he would need to give a two week notice at his current job, but he could handle both jobs. He took his responsibilities very seriously and felt that all of the forms should be obeyed. It wasn’t that he needed to work once the insurance money was paid, but for now it was necessary and he would continue working regardless of need.

Heading home to study, he realized that he had pursued the opportunity to get a new job without eating at the student center. His stomach reminded him of his hunger so he stopped at a fast food joint on the way home. As he sat in the restaurant eating his meal, his mind kept returning to Sally. He wanted to join her in Crossroads, but she had insisted that he give her time to prepare for his first mission. For now, he was stuck here knowing that there was a gorgeous intelligent woman waiting for him in Crossroads.

Once he reached home, he decided to call into work and let his supervisor know that he was quitting. When he called his boss and tendered his resignation, he was shocked when he learned that tonight would be his last night. He was informed that there were three people waiting for work, and that replacing him would not be difficult.

He sat at the desk, staring at the closet with longing. It was time for him to study, yet all he could think about was Sally. He chased the thoughts of her from his mind and began to study. The first thing he did was to carefully read all of the comments made by his English Professor. He had not recognized the errors made in grammar or the structure of his argument. He wrote up a check list of the errors that would be easy to spot, but the problems dealing with structure were much more difficult to categorize.

He went to work on the paper for his business class. He would write a section and then check it against his checklist. Every error that he found, he corrected using the examples from his English paper. By the time it was finished, it read very well. He printed up a copy so that he could read it over again at work. He looked at the clock in shock. It had taken him much longer to write the paper than he had expected. He hurried to work for an uneventful last shift.

He began shelving books at the library the very next day. After the library closed, he went home to work through his Algebra homework. It didn’t take long before he realized that he couldn’t solve a single one of the problems. He consulted his notes, observing that similar problems had been solved in class. However, he couldn’t differentiate between problems that should be solved one way versus the other.

He turned to the first page of his math textbook and started reading. For the first time in his life, he actually read a math book. To his surprise and delight, he found that he could understand the material. He worked through the assigned problems and then worked through the rest of the problems at the end of the chapter. This was a revelation as great as any that he’d ever had!

The days passed slowly, filled with classes, work, and homework. Sid paid attention and worked hard on his classes, but his desire was to be elsewhere. Finally, the day came when he could step through the portal. It was with a great sense of impatience that he stepped into the closet.

Expecting a sterile white room, he was surprised to find himself in a richly colored room. There were blue carpets on the floor, floral wall paper, and a crystal chandelier. The door at the other end of the room was now easily visible as a wood door. It opened as he approached.

The waiting room had been totally transformed. Persian carpets decorated the floor, the coffee table was now made of a dark hardwood, and the chairs were covered with leather. The walls were off-white with lamps spaced along the length. It was a very rich looking room, with a strong masculine feel to it. Seated on the chair, Sally watched him examine the room with pleasure. She asked, “Do you like?”

Sid looked at her and answered, “I like it a lot. What a surprise.”

The epitome of grace, she rose from the chair and approached him. Her movements were smooth, hips undulating with sexuality, and the look on her face seductive. Her gown, a pale transparent blue, exposed the treasure that was her body. Holding his breath, he watched transfixed, unable to take his eyes off her. Embracing him, she held him tightly. Whispering in his ear, she said, “I missed you.”

He wrapped his arms around her, crushing her against his chest. The end of many days of separation came as a relief. He whispered back, “I missed you.”

It took only seconds for them to reach the bedroom. Sid undressed himself as she released the gown she was wearing. When she lay on the bed, he moved beside her and started kissing her lips. She responded with an eagerness unknown to her, prior to that day. He kissed her neck and then moved on.

A few minutes later, with Sally’s screams of joy still ringing in his ears he rolled off her, cursing himself for not being good in bed this time. His excitement and desire had overcome his control and he had lasted only two minutes. His excitement and desire had overcome his control and he had lasted only two minutes.

Sally lay upon the bed shaking as her body refused to return to normal. Sid looked at her in concern, afraid that he had hurt her. This had been almost more than she could take and it took almost a full ten minutes for her to recover enough to respond to Sid’s gentle questioning. It was unbelievable to her, that a man could do this to a woman.

She looked at Sid and said, “That was amazing. I didn’t believe it could be better than last time.”

The words were meant to comfort, but Sid understood that his desire had been too strong for a great performance. Thinking she was lying to spare his feelings, he said, “Next time, I’ll last longer. It was just that I missed you so much.”

Sally sat up and asked, “What do you mean? That was outstanding.”

Frowning, Sid confessed, “I didn’t last long at all.”

Laughing as though he were telling her a joke, she said, “You can’t be serious. Are you teasing me or something?”

“I’m very serious,” replied Sid. He added, “I wouldn’t tease you about something this serious.”

Eyes wide with wonder, she said, “You can do better than that?”

“Much better, I think.” Sid looked at her and realized that she was telling the truth. He asked, “What is sex like on Cassandra?”

“The men are very passive. Occasionally, one will participate with a little more enthusiasm than others.” She looked sad as she thought about the men and their lack of interest in sex. To compensate, the woman had become very orgasmic. She added, “The women are much more active. I always preferred women, there. Usually, we just grind our private parts together. I always came that way.”

Sid said, “It doesn’t sound like the men are much of anything in bed.”

“I guess that is true. They’ve never been the same since the Great War, hundreds of years ago,” replied Sally.

Curiosity drove Sid to ask, “Why is that?”

The Great War had destroyed the people and culture of Cassandra. An exchange of artificial viruses had turned men into weaklings, with very low sex drives. Worse yet, their bodies produced a protein that destroyed sperm with X chromosomes, while the women had proteins that destroyed sperm with Y chromosomes. Many of the men and women were sterile, since they were affected with both proteins. A very few men and women were able to breed with each other, but the children resulting from such couplings tended to be sterile. Very few children were actually fertile.

The race was quickly dying out until they had discovered the portal to Crossroads. Investigations had led them to discover that the sperm of men from Earth were resistant to the enzymes of the women. When they tried to import men from Earth, the equipment of Crossroads would not allow it. Further investigation revealed that there were rules that had to be followed for the equipment to function. The man must save the woman from dire circumstances and the rescue must take place on a planet named Chaos. Without the rescue, the woman from Cassandra would never get to couple with the man from Earth. The children produced by such a union were most often fertile, and able to produce children of their own. It wouldn’t be long before the population of Cassandra reached a half million once again.

Sally looked at him for a minute as she debated about telling him the truth. It was forbidden to tell him the whole story, only enough to keep him satisfied and coming back.

She said, “I can’t tell you.”

Sid asked, “Are they going through the whole damsel thing so that they can experience an Earth man in bed?”

The question was close enough to the truth that Sally had no problem answering. She said, “Yes. The damsel will expect the hero to have sex with her.”

“Won’t you be jealous?”

Sally looked at him in puzzlement, not quite understanding the word jealous. She asked, “What is jealous?”

Sid was smart enough not to pursue that question. Instead, he said, “Never mind. When do I go?”

Sally answered, “First, I have to train you in the culture of Chaos so that you can function there. Then, we have to pick a mission. Finally, we have to decide how to go after that mission.”

The next week was spent learning the culture of Chaos. It was a very in-depth study covering the economy, social structure, relationships among people, and the infrastructure. The time spent studying was interrupted for meals, sleep, and sex. The sex only got better, a fact that totally amazed Sally.

The following week was spent examining three missions, of which he was to pick one. Sally laid out each mission in considerable detail. One element that Sid felt was the most important was how much trouble the maiden was facing. If she was in serious trouble, he wanted to know about that mission first. Sally argued that a mission should be undertaken based on the ease with which it would be completed.

The first mission she presented to him concerned rescuing a woman that had been taken by a small gang of three men in an isolated area. This maiden was in serious trouble, because the three men had forged some papers of indenture. They were taking her to a city to sell her, and would arrive at the city in three days. If they managed to sell her then by the laws of Chaos, she would become an indentured servant, regardless of the validity of the original papers. Since she was an attractive woman, it would mean at least five years in a good brothel. As prostitution took its toll on her body, she would move to lower and lower class establishments over time. She’d be an old hag in less than ten years.

The second mission Sally presented to him concerned rescuing a maiden that was being held by one man in the middle of the city. It was his hope that she would fall in love with him and eventually marry him. Her situation wasn’t desperate in the sense that he meant her no immediate harm. The mission wasn’t all that difficult, basically a snatch and flee. The man holding her wasn’t an expert in weapons, so Sid could easily overcome him.