New In Dubai (Part 2)

The Preparation

Later in life, when she looked back at the day of her sale, Zara would find difficulty in remembering what happened after hearing the news from Amir. She would vaguely remember doing her chores with the rest of the women; the cleaning, cooking, and serving, but she would be unable to recall any other details.

Only when her uncle, Johairi, ordered her to be bathed would her memory returned.  She would remember stepping into the bathtub, squatting down to pee as water ran over her skin. It was a welcome and rare sensation as women in the Dhall household were only allowed one shower per week. Rarer still was the fact that 2 older women, her mother and one of her aunts, were in charge of cleaning her. Zara knew the 2 older women were washing her for her sale but she was glad her mother was with her anyway. The death of her father had hit her the hardest but she fought through her despair and in the ensuring years, she had been there for Zara and Amir, showing her children their place in this new world.

“Remember to smile,” Zara looked at her mother who repeated herself. “Your smile is your most beautiful feature. When you are up there, remember to smile.”

Her mother’s love for her children was without question but it was still a surprise when she hugged Zara. Standing in the shower naked except for their collars, mother and daughter hugged each other for the last time.

Mother and daughter left the shower and after drying herself with a towel, Zara stepped out of the bathroom to see that a meal had been prepared for her.  Unlike the men who had proper meals prepared for them by the women, the women of the Dhall household usually ate simple food like rice or oatmeal with a bowl of plain water. It was still far better than other households. Uncle Johairi made sure all the food for the women were halal, something that couldn’t be said for every household in the Middle East as many people believed the sin of women were so high it was just a waste of time for them to try to follow God’s word.

Here in front of her however was a proper meal with chicken, vegetables, milk and even a mezze. The whole household was there with the women kneeling at attention on one side of the room and the 4 men of the Dhall household standing on the other. Standing in front of everyone was her Uncle Johairi.

The middle son of 3 boys, her uncle took responsibility for the sons, wives and daughters of his dead brothers when both of them fell to the disease. Zara knew it must have been a hard slog for him as it couldn’t be easy to be the sole man taking care of 14 people, 10 of whom were women. Despite all that had happened, Uncle Johairi never lost his innate kindness. Kindness that many would argue women do not deserved.

“Have a good meal Zara,” Uncle Johairi said. “Then we need to go.”

Zara did the only thing she could to show her gratitude; she knelt and bowed her head to ground. Slowly, she crawled to the submission plates on the floor. The food were place in dishes that were originally designed for dogs but in the years since the practice started, people had started to call them submission plates or "subplates" for short.

With her hands behind her head, Zara began to eat.

The food was delicious and Zara ate greedily. It has been some years since she ate anything like this outside the holidays, and she was sure her mother, aunts and cousins put in some time to get it perfect for her farewell. She didn’t want to disappoint anyone.

The meal ended too quickly and Zara found herself been guided to the living room where she was dressed for the public. First was the embarrassing but necessary diaper that Zara put on quickly. After that, came her gag. Designed to be a replica of a male tool with Islamic verses written on it, the gag was attached to a leather strap which Zara's aunts helped buckled behind her head. Zara felt the gag in her mouth and noticed that it was different from her usual gag which she had for the past few years. In another example of his kindness, Uncle Johari must have had it made especially for this day.

Zara then put on a long-sleeved black dress that reached her ankles, ankles that were covered by a pair of black socks. The dress was two sizes too big for her but nowadays, that's the accepted and expected practice in the Middle East. A thick black scarf of the same material was then placed over her head and her mother put on Zara's niqaab. The thick black veil was fastened above her eyes and only a tiny slit was allowed for her vision. Zara then held her hand forward together and her aunts covered them in a pair of black gloves. Her mother then cuffed her hands together with a pair of black handcuffs while an aunt cuffed her ankles together with another pair. Finally her mother knelt before her and linked the two pairs of cuffs together with a short silver chain. The short silver chain prevented Zara from standing upright and Zara had to stand with her back hunched. Her uncle may be kind but he was also devout. He followed the Islamic ruling that women should not be allowed to stand upright in public. In truth, Zara couldn’t say she disagreed.

“Zara,” Uncle Johairi kindly said. “Say goodbye to the family.”

Zara looked to her kneeling mother and was immediately hugged by her. A hug that was soon joined by the other women of the family.The group hug was only finally broken up by the soft sad command of her uncle. 

“Zara,” Uncle Johairi said. “We need to go.”

Her mother with tears in her eyes released her hug and whispered her final advice to Zara, “Remember to smile.”

Zara looked at her mother and did the only thing she could. She nodded. The women of the family moved back a step as Zara felt a hand on her elbow.

"We need to go Zara," her uncle said.

Cuffed, silenced, and hobbled, Zara was led to the driveway where the family car waited. Like most family vehicles in Dubai, the rear doors of the car were bigger than the front and the reason was waiting for her.

The Islamic Isolation Cube, widely known as the IIC for short, and was based on an American design. In the ironic aftermath of The Plot, nations around the world had truly joined together. With the shortage of men throughout the world, the remaining men of the world had to help each other in the control of women. Ideas and technology of how to control women were freely shared between nations and the IIC was just one example.

A cube-like machine, the IIC was officially designed for the safe transport of women over long distances but everyone knew and understood the real reason for the IIC. To strictly control women even when they are out of the house and to isolate the world from their evil.In the Middle East, the movement of women is strictly controlled but even in this region, sometimes there was a need for them to go out in public. In such situations, there is a need to control what a woman can do and see. The IIC was the result of such concerns. It is to provide a safe, isolated, and controlled way to move women from one location to another.

Amir opened the door of the IIC and as her uncle led Zara into the machine, Amir gave a friendly smile to her. Zara nodded in return, glad that her brother was there to send her off. She had no hard feelings at Amir’s actions this morning as it was nothing but what she, and all other women in the world, deserved. She was old enough to know that it wasn’t always this way, but everything changed due to “The Plot” and she was about to get a history lesson;a lesson to remind women of their horrible nature.

Zara was grateful for the soft cushions of the chair in the IIC. There were many families who do not care to spend such expenses for the comfort of their women, and it was another show of the concern and kindness of her uncle. As Zara sat comfortably in the chair within the IIC, her uncle strapped her in with the leather straps that came with the chair.

Kind as he was, there were some things even he can't get away with. Locking a woman in the IIC was one of them. Uncle Johari used the straps to lock Zara's hands, legs, body, and head in place and after making sure she was as secure and comfortable as possible, he closed the door to the IIC. A brief darkness surrounded Zara before her history lesson then started.

A screen lit up in front of Zara's face and with her head locked in position she had no choice but to look at it. A strong male voice sang an Islamic verse. Within the dark and soundproof IIC, the idea was that the screen and the voice would become Zara's world.  Zara had to agree it was a good idea.

The lesson started with a picture;a picture of dead bodies. A picture showing thousands and thousands of dead bodies laying in the desert. Laying there because there was just no place in the morgue to house them. The male voice of the IIC then told Zara of the horror of "The Plot". Of how 7 years ago, a flu-like disease swept the globe and changed the world.

At first the world thought it was another worldwide flu epidemic like the 1918 Spanish Flu, but events soon proved that this was no ordinary pandemic. In 1918, those infected by the Spanish Flu had a mortality rate of 10%, this disease however had a mortality rate closer to 25%.

As the disease spread, the world soon realized a strange characteristic of the disease. The disease affected men more than women to a degree unseen of throughout history. Throughout the world, men died in the millions while women died only in the hundreds. The world soon discovered why as news came that the disease sweeping the globe was in fact a man-made virus.

Traditional enemies immediately began to blame each other for manufacturing the disease. Even though no one had any evidence, fear, panic and unfounded accusation led to wars throughout the world. In the Middle East, a short and bloody war now known as the “Months of Mistakes” erupted.The war made Mecca a nuclear wasteland and Jerusalem a chemically uninhabitable city. The screen in front of Zara showed the destruction of the Great Mosque in Mecca as well as what was left of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. Throughout she had seen the pictures countless times, Zara still feel the horror of seeing the two holy cities of Islam in ruins. She wanted nothing but to closed her eyes but she crushed her desire and cursed her own weakness. This was the truth and as a woman, like all women, she needed to be reminded of the evil her gender was capable of.

Memories of the day when a then 9 year old Zara lost her father came flooding back.

Mohammad Dhall was a fit, healthy man, a loving father and husband, but the disease took no notice. It took him to Allah along with millions of others. Zara remembered that day clearly when news came from the hospital that his father had fallen to the disease. The disease spread so quickly that no one knew anything about it and patients had to be quarantined for the public’s safety. So her father died alone, without his family beside him. A heartbreak that was soon compounded when her 2 year old brother, Iskander, also fell to the disease.

The history lesson in the IIC continued on.

As disease and global war made Earth a living hell, a discovery changed everything. The news came from the Americans. The American government, or what’s left of it by then, announced to the world they had uncovered the origin of the disease. Zara still remember that day when crowding around the television, her surviving family members heard the news that the disease was not a man-made; it was a woman-made disease. 

Now commonly known as “The Plot”, the disease was invented by a group of militant women with a devious aim. These women desired a world where there was female dominance of the planet and to achieve this, they decided to knowingly kill millions of men throughout the world.

The news spread throughout the world like a firestorm. Unless you were in the deepest jungle of the Amazon, there was no way anyone would have missed the news of “The Plot” and the plans of the women involved. To make matters worse, the American government informed the world that the women in America had help in inventing and spreading the disease. The disease had spread too quickly throughout the world and the Americans believed there was no way the women could have been so successful without help from other like-minded groups in the invention and spread of the disease. This was a plot that had worldwide global help but with the American population so depleted due to the disease, they found that they no longer have the necessary resources to find all these women.

That was the reason they made the information public. They were asking for information and help from other governments in tracking down these collaborators. So began the worldwide witch-hunt for the collaborators of “The Plot”.

It was a hunt everyone wanted in on.

Every family has lost at least some male family members to the disease and in a region like the Middle East where family is everything, vengeance was on the mind of everyone. Women who had lost sons, fathers, and husbands, were especially “helpful” in tracking down the collaborators but when the first collaborators were captured and trialed, the information that came out were more infuriating than satisfying. 

It was another period of time Zara could remember clearly. The collaborators could be divided into 2 groups. The few women who had full knowledge of the plan and knew what they were doing, and the majority of the plotters who did not. Most of these secondary collaborators swore by the Koran they had no idea they were helping to spread a disease to kill their own family members, much less 25% of the male population in the world. Even the few women who did know of the actual plan were surprised by how well it worked. To these women, the plan was kill “some” of the male populations of the world, not 1 out of every 4 of them.  The shame and horror Zara felt when it was revealed that women, not men, were responsible for the deaths of millions were compounded by the fact these women thought that it was okay to just killed "some" of the men.

Needless to say, all these women, even those who did not have first-hand knowledge of what "The Plot" was doing, were executed. Unlike the soft West, ignorance was not considered a reasonable excuse when millions of bodies were already in the ground.

The wars that started due to the disease stopped almost immediately when “The Plot” was discovered but by then the damage was done. Not only had millions been killed, and cities destroyed, the disease continued to spread unabated. Drugs were created to slow and combat the disease but men still died in the tens of thousands. However the months after the “Months of Mistakes” were not just a period of mourning, but also a period when the world showed its resilience.

The World Health Organization received help from almost every major country and the United Nations, which had helped in the suing for peace throughout the world, passed a UN treaty that banned the right to go to war for 100 years.

Frankly, it wasn’t all that difficult as no one was interested in more deaths but it was a great giant step for humankind. Grievances between nations, races and even religions, were all put aside as everyone wanted to rebuild what the women took away. It was the same in the Middle East as every nation laid down its arms to start rebuilding. Food, technology, building materials; anything that was needed for the rebuilding was willingly and happily shared by everyone. However with the rebuilding came the need to ensure that what had happened would never happen again. With that need, came a small miracle.

The UN came with a non-binding treaty that banned the right to vote for women throughout the world. In the aftermath of the horror of "The Plot", the treaty passed easily but it was the decision of the various countries of the world whether to implement the treaty. Zara had heard rumors that there were still some countries in the world that still foolishly allow the vote to women, but in the Middle East there was never any doubt all countries would implement the treaty. This was when the miracle happened.

The screen in front of Zara showed the press conference where senior religious leaders from Islam, Christianity and Judaism from all sects came together to support the treaty and urged all people of the faith, of any faith, to support it as well. A civil law now came with universal religious consent and the people took to it with vigor. Strict laws were passed banning women from all jobs but the most mundane and menial. Strict laws were passed in the control and confinement of women. Strict sumptuary laws were passed to control the dressing of women in public and private settings. In short, anything and everything a woman did was controlled and harsh punishment was issued to anyone caught flouting the laws.

The program in the IIC ended with scenes of the rebuilding the world had undertaken in the years since “The Plot” was discovered. Saudi Arabic was building a new city called New Mecca; Iran hosted a conference where senior Sunni and Shite clerics came together promising peace between the two major sects of Islam; religious leaders from Islam, Christianity and Judaism were discussing a new site to build a New Jerusalem; and the peace was shared throughout the world. The final scene of the lesion was that of a museum and monument was under construction in Geneva for the men killed by “The Plot”.

With the end of the lesson, the IIC became dark with only the sound of Islamic music in the background. Zara closed her eyes to enjoy the sweet sound of the music when it suddenly stopped. The screen then lighted up and Zara opened her eyes. This time the program started with a woman confessing proudly to "The Plot". 

Zara knew her. 

She was Mia Limburg, an Israeli woman who was one of the leaders of "The Plot" in the Middle East. Zara had seen this program before when she was taken on a long trip to Abu Dhabi last year. The program would show a series of confessions from the women involved in "The Plot" and while some like Mia Limburg were proud of their work, most were horrified by the results of their actions. 

Zara sat in the darkness with her eyes closed, listening to the confessions of these women and silently glad of the control the men had in her life. Zara had no illusions of herself; she was just a normal girl and if she had been born 10 or 20 years earlier, she would had grown up in a time when women had more freedom. Freedom like what these women had; freedom that allowed them (willingly or unwillingly) to join a mad plot that killed millions of men.

No, it was better now with women taken out of public life, being fully controlled by their men. Zara tugged at the chains and straps confining her. They did not give her an inch of freedom and Zara was relieved. These hateful women who proved once and for all that women should never be free. With her confinement, the world was still at peace. 

New In Dubai

The Announcement

Zara woke in the same place she had woken up to in the past 5 years; in noisy darkness.

Like always, Zara extended her body once awake and hit the soft, smooth fabric that engulfed her. Like all women of Dubai nowadays, Zara slept in a black body bag. Wide enough to cover her body in full, it was however perfectly designed to only allow her to sleep with her knees curled up to her body.

With the incessant ringing of the room alarm in the background, Zara got up to her hands and knees. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes, tried to stand up and...hit her head against the bars of the cage. The knock woke her up fully and Zara cursed herself for her own stupidity. Her sleepy brain had made her forgot that she was still in her cage and Zara again scolded herself for forgetting her place.

This is her life now; sleeping in a body bag in a small cage. Not only that, she was naked with only a collar around her neck and diapers to control her bodily fluids. Zara took a breath in the darkness, controlling herself. She remained herself this is nothing special. All other women in Dubai now sleep like this, some probably in worse conditions. Silently she made her daily vow to accept this position as her deserved lot in life.

Her control back, Zara put her hands on the ground and waited patiently for the morning release. She knew the other women of the Dhall household were doing the same thing. Waking up like her, all of them were also dressed like her; naked except for a collar and a diaper. The only other accessory the women were allowed was a pendant showing the name of "Dhall" hanging from the front of the collar. An example showing that they were owned and controlled. Freedom is something women no longer deserved.

This is the way it should be. Freedom for women had cost the world too much and Zara could only hope the men of the world would not make the same mistake ever again. The footsteps of the men were clearly heard a few moments later and Zara heard the door of the room being opened. Slowly, she heard the sounds of the cages being opened one by one.

When she heard her cage being opened, Zara immediately started to crawl out. Still in the darkness of her body bag, Zara felt a hand on her neck and followed its direction, not too gently, crawling to the centre of the room. An increase in pressure by the hand told her to stop. The hand then released her neck and a moment later, Zara heard another cage being opened.

Zara knew from memory that the cages were placed on both sides of the room and apart from each other. There was a certain hierarchy in the positioning of the cages. The older women had their cages nearer to the door of the female room while the younger girls had their cages at the back of the room. The bars of the cages were small so that the women could not reach out to touch one another even if they managed to get out of their bags. Though they were confined to their body bags, on one wanted to take any chances with the women being free without male supervision.

Zara waited as the sound of the cages being opened finally stopped. Minutes later, she felt her body bag being opened. Crawling out of it, she made sure her eyes were on the ground the whole time.Once fully out of the bag, Zara lowered her head to the ground. The man was satisfied with her show of submission and went on the next woman.On all fours, Zara waited for him to finish and give her the daily inspection.

“Stand and attention”

Zara recognized that the squeaky male voice belonged to her younger brother Amir who at 14 was the youngest surviving man in the Dhall family. His age did not matter as all the women stood up at his command and stood at attention. Standing with her feet wide apart, Zara raised her arms up and interlocked her fingers behind her head. With her head looking up, she pushed her shoulders back, thrusting her breasts forward. She also made sure to have a big smile on her face. Beside, in front and behind her, all the other women of the Dhall family did the same.

Any discomfort Amir had in seeing 10 women naked and standing at attention in front of him was destroyed long ago. Seeing that everyone was ready, Amir started the inspection. There were 10 women in the house but as she was near the head of the line today, it only took moments before Amir got to her. Zara was slightly surprised that he was alone today as usually when he was here, there would be another male with him. Zara guessed this meant her younger brother was growing up and her smile got wider. 

Still, Zara did not envy him. She knew Amir had to be careful. It’s the responsibility of the younger men to make sure the women were properly maintained and it was a heavy responsibility. No one wanted another “plot” and the only way to prevent it was to make sure all women were controlled and shackled.

When Amir reached Zara, she steeled herself for his inspection. Unlike the naked women, Amir was wearing a traditional long-sleeved white Arabic robe with a white keffiyeh on his head. He was also wearing surgical gloves, and with them Amir’s hands first touched Zara’s armpits. After making sure they were properly shaved, his hands moved towards her breasts. He gave them each of her nipples a firm, and for Zara, painful tug. Zara said and did nothing outside making sure her smile was in place. Even when Amir’s hand slapped her face, once on each cheek, her smile never left its place. Instead she embraced the sting on her cheeks and thanked her brother for reminding her of her place.

“Thank you brother”

Her dry throat protested at being used without a drink of water first but Zara knew food and water would only come after the inspection. Her brother ignored her as was his right and moved on to the next woman.

Eventually, Amir finished with his round of inspection and stood back in front of the women. It was time for the second, more humiliatingly, round of inspection.

"Babies, release your diapers."

Zara still feel a sting in her heart at being called a baby but knew Amir was right. The legal status of women in Dubai now was that of a newborn. In legal terms, women were considered babies who could never grow up and as such must be fully "taken care of" at all times.

Zara released her diapers and carefully dropped them to the ground. The smell of 10 used diapers filled the room but none of the women cared. It was something they had smelled on a daily basis for years. Amir however rubbed his nose at it.  

“Stand and attention”

Zara and the women got back into attention at Amir's command and he began his second round of inspection.

When he reached her again, Amir first reached down between her legs to softly make sure there was no stubble in the area. Zara felt great shame at this but you would never notice it just by looking at her. Her smile was still in place when Amir gave her another command.

Zara bended over and with her hands on her buttocks, pushed open her ass for her younger brother. She felt his hand with his dirty glove go into her and in her heart, Zara fought to stay in place. Like always, she won. Amir was checking if she had hid any items inside her and Zara again remained herself this was nothing but what she and all women in the world deserved. She told herself the world could take no changes when it came to the danger posed by women.

“Kneel”

Amir's command came the moment his hand was out of her and Zara immediately knelt on command. Amir moved his hand (which was just in her) over her head, petting her like a pet and at the same time checking to make sure her head was properly shaved. Like all women in Dubai, in accordance to the law, Zara’s head was bald. In fact, outside her eyebrows all other areas of her body were shorn of hair. Women throughout history had taken great care of their beauty and their hair was always considered important.

Not anymore.

The second inspection went as expected, there were no problems with the women of Dhall. Humiliating as it was, all the women knew it was necessary and thrived to keep themselves properly maintained. Amir was soon in front of the women again. He took out a piece of paper and began to read out their chores of the days. Zara heard her name being called and what she was supposed to do today. Zara thought she must have misheard but when the other women turned to watch her, she knew otherwise. Uncle Johari would have to punish them later for breaking from attention without permission, but that would come later and she wouldn't be around by then. Hoping to show confidence even when she felt none, she forced her smile wider.

As Amir turned to leave the room, Zara bowed her head to the ground with her hands still behind her head. She made sure her ass was high in air as she, along with the rest of the women, thanked Amir for his presence. She forced her voice to be cheerful but her heart was pounding.

Today, she was going to be sold.

Special thanks to J. Kreeg. This story is set in the same world as his "New In Town" story which is posted in the free Yahoo group, Confining Clothing (https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/confiningclothing/info). If you wish to know more about the world, please join the group for free and look under the Files section for the folder "Kreeg's Stories". Thanks

The Southern Park of the Dragon

The Southern Park of the Dragon had a reputation of being the most beautiful park in Sakura City and Iza had to admit that so far, the reputation was fully deserved.  It was still early morning and the warm soft sunlight had bathed the park in a soft warm glow.

Iza smiled beneath her hood-veil as a morning breeze flowed past her.  As she walked, she could see the first signs of activities of the city. A young family was strolling further up the path with the wife pushing a baby stroller and walking a respectful 3 steps behind her husband; a young teenage boy was walking his dog to her right, a jogger was running down the path in the opposite direction of her. As he got closer, Iza noticed that he was not along.

A woman was running along behind him and unlike the man who was dressed in a modern tracksuit, the woman was dressed in traditional Vipponese sporting attire but with a touch of the modern about her. Dressed all in black, the woman had a pair of black pants on with a black shirt and gloves. With her hood-veil, she looked like a ninja except for her running shoes and a black leather collar that encircled her neck. A silver chain ran from it to the man’s right wrist where it was connected to a bracelet.

As the man ran past her, Iza respectfully kept her head down but she risk a glance at the man’s hands and noticed that she was mistaken. It wasn’t a bracelet but a sport watch which had a hook for the woman’s chain. The woman’s hoodveil was also modified in some way. The traditional hoodveil was cloth which the woman folded to fully cover their head leaving only a gap for their eyes. This woman’s hoodveil was partly made out of leather. Iza could not tell how much of it was leather but could see that the area of the hoodveil below the chin was made of leather and it goes around the neck like a collar. The silver chain was connected to the front and Iza briefly wondered if the woman created it herself. For the honor of their family, public display of submission to their husbands was considered a norm for most women in Vippon, and some women like to modify their own clothing for a "personal" touch in their public display.

That was not Iza.

A girl who came from a rich family from the province of the Tiger, Iza was never bought up traditionally like most girls in the country. Her father was liberal and forward thinking, more concerned with Iza's education in science and mathematics than her homemaking skills. She loved him for it, and that was the only reason she agreed to this matchmaking meeting. She even wore a new furisode for it.

A style of kimono, the furisode is a formal style of kimono worn by unmarried girls since ancient times in Vippon to signify that the girl was single, and of legal age for marriage. Iza had ordered a new one for this meeting and it was exquisite.  Made of fine silk, her furisode was bright blue in color with flying white cranes patterned on it. The long distinguishable sleeves ran 100 cm, and her red obi was decorated with flowing lines symbolizing water. It was a pain to walk in but she felt it necessary to show her status and her family’s wealth. Not for Iza was the traditional view that women should be demure invisible and submissive. 

Everything on her was expensive, including the black hoodveil covering her head.  Made of the finest silkworm, the veil left only a small area for her eyes but outside that, her entire head was totally covered. Completing her outfit were her white gloves and white split-toe socks, as well as her geta footwear. Iza was confident that she was as perfectly dressed as possible for a formal matchmaking meeting. She wanted to be as perfect as possible so that no one could begrudge her when she rejected the match.

Yusuke Moon was a scion of a rich family from the Sheep Province. The unusual family name was because the Moon family was not native Vipponese. The family originated from Jorea, Vippon’s north neighbor, and most of their family’s businesses was based on trade between the two countries. Iza, much like her liberal father, could not care less about the fact that the family was less than one hundred percent Vipponese, but she do care about the fact that married women were expected to quit education and jobs to focus on the family. Sure, family was important to her but the daily servitude of a Vipponese wife was so unlike her, Iza wanted to laugh whenever she thought of it.

No; she was not ready for marriage.

A thought further enforced when she saw her potential husband. The location chosen was near perfect. Under a sakura tree, a traditional low table was placed on a wide tatami mat and a tea set was on display on the table. Behind the table sat Yusuke Moon.

Iza’s potential husband was, for a lack of a better word, fat. Sitting behind the low table, Iza saw that his gut was twice bigger than what it should be, and it says a lot of his health that sweat could be seen on his brow even though he was sitting down under a tree. Iza was glad her hoodveil was covering her face or her look of disgust could be seen by all.

Yusuke took up as she approached and both of them bowed to each other, Iza making sure her head was lower than Yusuke. After that came the customary introductions. Both of them recited their family lineage, education, and for Yusuke, his job and business. It was all very boring for Iza and she found her attention wandering to her surroundings. Then Yusuke asked her to drink the tea.

Yusuke had bought a servant of the Moon household with him who was, as befitting her station, kneeling on the grass just beyond the tatami mat. Silent as a ghost, she stood and approached her two superiors with her head bowed and hands folded in front of her.  Kneeling beside the table, she then slowly and carefully poured the tea into the tea cup. She then placed a white screen between her and Yusuke before prostrating herself before Iza. As Yusuke was praising the quality of the tea before her, Iza was more pleased by the fact that the servants of the Moon household was if nothing else, well-trained. As she took down her veil, to drink the tea, she was almost sorry she had already decided to reject this marriage. She would have enjoyed being served by servants who knew their place.

Even though the screen protected her from Yusuke’s view, Iza went through the rituals of handling the tea properly before taking a sip of the tea. It was foul. The terrible tea stung her tongue but given the social etiquette of Vippon, she had no choice but to drink the rest of the tea. The servant placed her hands on the screen and Iza quickly put her veil back in place.As the servant stood up and retreated backwards toward her original position beyond the tatami mat, Iza was thinking that perhaps the servants of the Moon household was not that well-trained after all. A good servant would have waited for a signal from her before removing the screen.

Yusuke asked, “How was the tea, gentle Iza?”

Several thoughts went through her head before Iza decided to go for the most direct route of ending this farce of a marriage meeting. “Yusuke, I am sorry but I’m afraid our taste in tea is vastly different. I thought that this is foul.”

Iza thought Yusuke would have been displeased by this but instead Yusuke had a big smile on his face. “It is,” Yusuke admitted. “It is truly terrible.”

Iza was knocked by this admission. “I’m sorry Yusuke but you were just praising the quality of the tea to me a moment ago.”

“I was,” Yusuke admitted again. “It was a test.”

“A test?” Iza asked. “For what?”

“For you of course, silly girl,” This was the first time Yusuke has been less than unfailing polite and seeing the mischievous eyes of Yusuke, the moment Iza realized just how outplayed she had been till now. To his credit, Yusuke waited a moment for Iza to gather herself before continuing.

“Dear Iza, I take it you realized that the Moon household is part Jorean and part Vipponese.” Seeing Iza’s nod, Yusuke explained the test. “You see in some ways, Jorea and Vippon are very similar but in some ways, the differences are subtle yet great. Take this test for example; wives in Vippon are supposed to tell the whole truth to their husbands so as a Vippon girl yourself, what you did was correct. You told the truth even though you thought it would displease me.”

This was about the last thing on Iza’s mind when she answered but for now she just nodded. Yusuke continued, “However in Jorea, it’s different. In Jorea, wives are expected to tell the truth but at the same time, they are not to contradict their husband in public. In fact, due to their mutemask, they cannot even if they want to.”

Iza of course knew of the mutemask. A fiberglass white mask all women in Jorea wore to show their chastity and obedience, the mute mask encased the head of the women rigidly, preventing them from speaking in public.

“But what does that got to do with this…test?”

Yusuke’s smile got bigger and he said, “It’s very simple really. It’s a simple matter of social etiquette. Under Vipponese social etiquette, you telling me this tea is foul is totally acceptable but under  Jorean etiquette, you telling me this tea is foul is something worthy of harsh punishment.”

Iza was afraid to ask but intrigued, she found she had to. “So which “social etiquette” should a wife of the Moon household follow?”

“Both of course,” Yusuke said. “Stupid girl, just look at Momoe.”

For the first time, Iza took a good look at the servant Yusuke bought along and only now did Iza realized that Momoe was dressed in a combination of Jorean and Vipponese clothing. She was dressed in a drab brown Jorean hanbok, but on her head was a Vipponese hoodveil instead of a Jorean mutemask. Iza was wondering if all servants of the Moon household dressed like this when she realized that Yusuke had not introduced Momoe at all. The fact that Momoe was a servant was something she thought up herself due to her dressing, Yusuke never introduced her as such. Which means…

“I’m sorry Yusuke but you haven’t introduced me to Momoe yet.”

“Oh yes, I haven’t.” Yusuke said. “Let me correct that right now. Iza, please meet my first wife, Momoe Moon.”

Iza’s stomach turned at the introduction but she had no time to dwell on that as Momoe bowed her head to the ground. Even though she had no wish to agree to the marriage, Iza knew that she shouldn’t have the first wife of her potential husband bowing her head to her. She responded quickly, bowing her head towards Momoe and pleading.

“I’m sorry, Momoe-san. I did not realize I was in the presence of Yusuke’s first wife. Please forgive me.”

Both women held their position towards each other, on their knees with their head to the ground, till Yususke said. “Wife, you may answer.”

“There is nothing to forgive Iza-san for we are both servants and slaves of the Moon household.” Momoe replied.

It was the correct, respectful thing to day  but while Momoe's words were correct, her actions were not. Normally, you would raise your head at this point but Iza did not feel Momoe raising her head and refused to do it before her.

“Wife, you may rise.” Only then did the two women raise their heads from the ground and Iza could see that Yususke was delighted by the situation. He said, “Back to the explanation! As you can see stupid girl, the women in the Moon household dressed in a Jorean hanbok with a Vipponese veil. This partial uniform is to show our history as a migrant family from Jorea who made good in the Kingdom of Vippon. It's not too difficult for you to understand right?"

The insults were beginning to glad on her nerves but Iza was also curious. Why would her father agreed to this marriage when Yusuke already have a wife? He must have known about that and Iza could not believe he would willing let her be a second wife. Yet her father agreed to this marriage meeting and Iza was smart enough to know he must have a good reason for it. Iza wanted to know the reason. She did nothing but gave a small nod.

"Good," Yusuke said. "But it's not good for women to be too intelligent, right Momoe?"

Momoe who was still kneeling on the grass just beyond the tatami mat just replied quietly, "Yes my lord. Women are to serve the house and be slaves to their lords. Nothing else."

Yusuke nodded. "Servant to the Moon household; slaves to their husbands. These are the qualities we require of our wives. However if you are unable to fulfill these requirements, I wish to ensure you this marriage can be cancelled with no hard feelings on our side." It took every ounce of Iza's self-control not to leap at the offer; she knew there must be a catch to this offer. Yusuke promptly gave it to her. "Of course, the business alliance between our families would be cancelled as well."

Not wanting to aggravated the situation before knowing the whole story, Iza gave a submissive nod and said. "I'm sorry Yusuke but I do not know much about the family business. It's not something my father speak of to me."

"That's something I agree with. Women has no role in business, though with what I heard of your father's "progressive" leanings, very surprising." Iza felt like slapping Yusuke's face at the insult but the feelings evaporated when he continued. "Of course,  many would say this was why your father's business is in some much trouble."

It was an Eureka moment for Iza. Suddenly, everything made sense. If the family business was in trouble, a marriage sealing a business alliance with the prosperous Moon family would help. That was why he arrange this marriage meeting and since this meeting was between his beloved daughter and a vile man like Yusuke, the family business must be in serious trouble.

"What is your decision girl?" Yusuke asked. "Understand that if you agree to the marriage, it will be the last decision you ever make because a woman of the Moon household never decide, they only obey."

Iza bowed her head to the ground and said. "There is no decision to be made...my lord. I obey the choice of my father."

Iza could sense Yusuke standing up and could him dropping something on the low table.

"My girl, you have been very disrespectful to me since the start of our meeting." Yusuke said. "Offer this to me and beg for punishment."

Iza looked up at the table and could see there is a belt on the table. For her father and family, there was no choice. Taking the belt with both hands, Iza held it above her head and begged. “Please use this belt and punish me for my failure my lord.”

Iza felt the belt leaving her hands and heard her lord's order. "Bowed your head to the ground stupid girl and raise you ugly butt high. I will give you 10 swats of the belt. Maintain the position at all times, make sure to keep your brainless head below the level of your butt. Understand stupid girl?”

As Yusuke held the belt over his head, Iza said,  "This stupid girl understand my lord."

The belt came down and the park echoed with the strike. A few passerby took a look at the scene and among them was an old man looking through a pair of binoculars.

“Looks like negotiations were successful.”

“Was there ever any doubt?”

The old man looked at the man beside him, a man destined to be family by marriage in the future. “In truth, considering the rumors of how liberal she was brought up, I thought there’s a fair chance your daughter would reject the marriage proposal.”

The other man laughed gently at his friend. “There’s more than one way to get obedience,’ the other man said. “Obedience is not something you gain only through pain, humiliation and beatings.  Sometimes love is more effective than any of the above.”

“Like the love a daughter has for her father?”

“That and the love she has for the family. See how she would accept a beating from a stranger she just met for the sake of the family who she believes is in trouble?”

The old man look through his binoculars again and could see that his son was giving his future second wife a full thrashing, holding nothing back in his strikes. Yet despite it all, the girl was still in position accepting the beating that was her due. The old man had to admit he was more than a little impressed. “This would be a good marriage for the Moon household,” the old admitted to his future in-law in more ways than one. “Come; let us discuss the details of our business deal.”

With that comment, the two old men turned away from the scene. Nearer to the couple, the passerbys who had stopped to watch the beating slowly moved on. It was just another day in the Southern Park of the Dragon. 

I’m Back

Honestly I was never away, but had just been lazy. I’ll been writing stories for a few years now and has been crunching out about a story per month. I’m just a little tired of the output and decided to take a break.

I’m slightly amazed and humbled people still come to this blog despite there’s been no updates in half a year. However I haven’t been totally idle as I did write a few things in the past 6 months. Once the New Year has passed, I’ll put up a new Vippon story and I have 2 other stories on the backburner, one of which is already halfway done.

Thank you all for your support and please look out for my new stories in the coming year. Thanks!  

The Abandoned (Part 4)

Todd Gasol

Todd woke up to the sound of snores. He opened his eyes sleepily and turned his head to the sounds. At the corner of his room sleeping on the straw mattress that was their sleeping rug, laid his two wives. Hugging each other for warmth, they were both fully covered in their sleeping gowns and the sight bought a smile to his face.

Todd lay there for a moment to drink everything in; a moment he wanted to enjoy the contented life he had. Still smiling, he stretched and gave a theatrically loud yawn. His wives heard the noise and began to stir.

Cup opened her eyes first. Todd smiled as Cup quickly shook her sister wife and began crawling towards him after lifting her gown up to her chest. Plate woke from her sleep and after a moment of confusion, saw Todd sitting on the bed. She quickly started to crawl towards her master.

A smile came to Todd's face as he saw his two wives doing the correct submission wife crawl. With their bellies and breasts touching the cold floor, and their legs joined and straight, both Cup and Plate were pulling themselves towards him on the elbows. With the long sleeping gowns lifted to their chest, Todd should see his wives' naked legs and ass wriggling on the ground. The sight made him smile wider.

As they were crawling, Todd finally hoisted himself out of bed. Sitting up, he placed both feet on the ground. It was a cold morning and he had to half-fight the urge to curl back into his warm blankets. However his wives were already near him and he didn't want to "disappoint" them. Cup reached him first and began to kiss his feet; Plate was only moments behind her. Pleased with their attention, Todd  reached down to both of them and ruffled their heads.

"Up"

Both his wives stood up on command, but with eyes looking down at the ground in submission. Gray in color, their gowns came with a hood that covered their heads leaving only an opening for their face. From their head, the gowns then spread out widely over their bodies, covering even his wives' arms from view. That was why they had to lift it up to crawl. With their arms by their side, the sleeping gowns came down to their knees. Todd looked at the faces of his wives and made his choice.

"Plate, on the bed."

Cup immediately got on her knees and reached for Todd's pajamas. Carefully pulling it down, she put her mouth to work the moment Todd's penis showed. As Cup worked to get her master up, Plate went to the foot of the bed and crawled in. Todd looked behind him and saw that Plate had pulled her gown up again. She was fingering herself, getting ready for her husband and master.

With well-practiced moves, Cup soon got Todd ready and satisfied with the progress, Todd rewarded her with another pat on the head. Cup stopped at his pat and smiled, pleased with herself. Todd knew he would need to do something about that later but right now he had more important things to do. He turned and used his other wife for his daily morning fuck.

Plate wasn't fully ready but she did not say no. Like all women on Eridani, telling your master to wait was a punishment offence, telling him to stop was downright unthinkable. Ignoring her own discomfort, Plate quickly moved her hips in sync to her master's pounding. With no consideration to his wife, Todd quickly spent himself and came into his wife.

Sitting up, he gave a hard slap on Plate's thigh, a signal for her to get off the bed. Plate quickly got off, joining her sister wife on her knees. Placing both feet on the ground again, Todd smiled at his two wives and gave a new order.

"Clean me"

Both women used their tongues to clean the juices off his penis, never putting their mouth over their master's penis like what Cup did earlier. The reason soon became evidence as Todd reached up and grabbed a bamboo cane that was hanging on the wall above the bed. As his two wives were cleaning his cock, Todd struck down with the cane.

Again and again the cane went up and down over their backs but while both his wives gave a start whenever the cane struck them, they never stopped their worship. They were well-trained and Todd felt a sense of pride over them. So much so that an unseemly unmanly giggle came from him. He did not care. A sense of euphoria wash over him, an euphoria that was broken by a knock on the door.

Slightly annoyed, Todd got up and walked to the door, leaving both his wives on their knees. Like most homes on Eridani, his only had a living room, a kitchen and a sleeping room so it was quick trip to the main door. Opening it, Todd saw a woman dress in typical women garb. Wearing a orange jacket that covered her arms and a pair of black pants which flare out at the legs, the woman was looking down at the ground. He couldn't her face as she was wearing a wide conical hat.

"Head up."

The woman raised her head at Todd's command and he saw that she was wearing a red scarf that covered her head and her lower face were hidden by a veil of the same color. With her scarf and veil in red, Todd knew the woman was here on official business. Still, that doesn't mean he needed to be polite to her for ruining his morning fun.

"Well! What is it?"

The woman shuttered at his almost shout but rallied well. She too was well-trained. "Sir Todd Gasol, this one has a message from Sir Derek Value of the Central Administration Authors."

The Central Administration Authors, or the CAA for short, were the main authority on Eridani. Members of the CAA were elected via city-wide elections and liaison with the CAA members of other cities to produce planet laws and regulations. Derek Value was a high ranking member of the CAA of Kami City and Todd had no idea what he wanted with him. Still, there was no way a woman would lied to him.

"I take it he didn't tell you why?"

"No sir," the woman replied. "This one was not told, only that sir must attend a meeting at the CAA building on level 2 at 10am this morning."

No surprise there, messengers were never told more than what was needed. Todd waved the woman away and she quickly turned and ran off. Todd then realized he might not be the only one at the meeting. It was both strange and curious.

He closed the door and walked back to his room. Both Cup and Plate were still on their knees, only they were now hugging and kissing each other. Sexual relations between sister wives were an accepted fact on Eridani and Todd personally thought it was a good thing as it made his wives closer.

"Okay, enough with that!" Todd said. "I'm taking a bath, you two get yourself ready for a trip out. Cup, you are puller. Plate, normal attire. Get..."

"Master!" Todd was walking toward his small bathroom when he heard Plate's call. He turned towards her and saw his wife laying prostrate on the ground. This was a morning of surprises.

"Yes?"

Plate asked, "Master, this one begged to be the puller of the master's cart this day."

"Why?"

"This one was privileged to be used by her master just now. It is only fair this one be the one who suffer the whip later."

It was a surprise request by Plate but Todd knew that on a certain level, she was correct. Transportation on the planet was via ponycarts and the puller of the cart suffered whipping. Todd himself was an advocate of women suffering the whip.

"Very well," Todd said. "Now go get ready! I want to get going the moment I'm finish."

Todd turned back to the bathroom and as he was closing the door, he saw that both his wives were hugging and kissing each other again. He shrugged. As long as it doesn't interfered with their service to him, Todd didn't care. After all, it was relations between women. If he could help it, he would never bring himself down to know about relations between such lowly beings.

In that, Todd was typical of a man of Eridani.   

Mahdi

She heard the door opened. Worse, she heard the door opened while she was in the kitchen! Zahara raced in terror to the door as her husband walked into the house. Kneeling down at his feet, Zahara bowed her head to the floor.

Her husband waited for a moment, a moment Zahara spent silently cursing him for being home early, for the door closed by itself. He sat down on the stool by the door as Zahara crawled to him and untied his shoes. After gently taking off his shoes and socks, her husband stood up and walked to the bathroom. Crawling behind her husband on her knees, Zahara picked up the clothes her husband discarded on the floor. As his husband entered the bathroom for his shower, she then crawled to the laundry basket. Zahara felt the smooth beautiful clothes for a moment and wondered how it would feel to wear these fine clothes. Sighing to herself, she put the clothes in the basket and crawled back to the bathroom.

Kneeling patiently outside the bathroom, Zahara couldn’t help but smell herself. It has been 5 days since her last bath, and 2 more days before her next one. She knew she was very different from the nice soapy smell of her husband. Her orders came.

“Go prepare yourself wife.”

With her husband’s order, Zahara crawled to her room. Unlike the master bedroom, her room had an entrance that was only waist high. Crawling inside, Zahara finally stood up. Shaking her legs from all that crawling, she walked to her bed. To be exact, she walked to her sleeping mat. Her bed was a straw mat, with a pillow and a thick blanket for the cold. Beside her mat were her neatly folded clothes. Zahara took off the shirt and short pants she was currently wearing; her home attire for housework was just not suitable in public.

Zahara put on her blouse. The long sleeves on it reached her waist, and the hands were soon covered with a pair of gray gloves. Her long pants, which were also gray like her blouse, were next. Zahara put on her socks and then tied her hair in a neat bun. It wasn’t easy as there were no mirrors but she had plenty of practice, so there were no problems. One last minute check to see that all of her body was covered. Once done, Zahara crawled out of her room and waited again outside the bathroom.

Her husband finished his shower soon after. Zahara kept her eyes low as her husband walked to the bedroom. Crawling quietly behind him, Zahara reached the room a moment after her husband. Her husband sat on the bed and threw his pants onto the floor. Picking it up, Zahara helped her husband put his clothes. Shirt, pants, tie, coat; the quality of the clothes was vastly different from the coarse materials of hers. The 3 piece suit was imported from Italy tailor-made for her husband himself.

Once her husband was done, it was time for her. First, her husband put a neck corset on her. The corset covered the neck stiffly, making it impossible for Zahara to move her head either up or down. Several rings adorned the neck corset. These will soon be in use, but first her husband put a belt on her. Zahara’s hands were soon cuffed to the side of the belt. The ring gag came next. Tied around Zahara’s head, it kept her month from closing and impossible to voice anything expect a few grunts. A short chain was cuffed both of Zahara’s ankles together. Reaching up, her husband clipped the chain with another silver chain which was held in place by the belt. With this in place, it made walking almost impossible for Zahara. Her husband next put a large overcoat on her. Connected to the rings on the neck corset, the huge gray overcoat covered Zahara’s whole body down to her ankles. With no holes for the arm, the coat gave Zahara a shapeless look that totally hid her beautiful figure. The hood was next. Held in place by the neck corset, the hood covered Zahara’s head with only a big opening for her open mouth and a small one for her nose. Zahara was totally blinded by the hood but she knew that there was another piece of her attire to put on. Over her head, she felt the veil begin placed over her head. The black veil covered her from head to foot, with only a small opening at the front. Through this opening, a chain was leashed to the front of her neck corset.

Blinded by the hood and veil, Zahara felt a tug on the leash as her husband walked on. Led by the leash, Zahara could only shuffle her feet obediently behind her husband.    

As she walked (shuffled) behind her husband in the streets, Zahara couldn’t help but wondered about the city. She had no seen the city since the day she first landed on Kamatora. Enclosed in the windowless house that was her new home, Zahara wondered if it had changed at all the past 18 months.

Zahara’s family was involved in trading but has fallen on hard times due a few less-than-wise decisions from her father. One day, her father got all his daughters together and informed them that there was a chance to recoup his losses with a new business partner who was from the country of Mahdi. However the deal was risky and his potential partner requested that he gave a daughter in marriage as part of the deal.

Her father explained that in Madhi, family was everything, so the people there believed that there was no chance of cheating if you are family. Zahara remembered the shame on her father’s face as he asked if there was any volunteer for the marriage to save the family from ruin. Trained from young to think of her family first and herself second, Zahara knew that it was her duty as the eldest daughter in the family. Zahara agreed to the marriage.

The country of Mahdi was an island just off the coast of West Africa and Kamatora was one of only 3 cities on the island. It was a slave port in the past, specializing in the female slave trade. White or black, the women passing through its ports were all slaves in chains and for sale. When Islam came along, the men just covered the women’s chain with the veil. When colonialism came, even when slavery was abolished, the chains on the women stayed. Funny how tradition is formed, isn’t it?   

3 months later, Zahara landed in the city of Kamatora as the wife of Rahim Sadir. It was the one and only time she saw the city and the country. 

On the day she landed in Mahdi, Zahara remembered having a foreboding sensation. At first she consoled herself, trying to believe it was just the weather and the scenery of the country. Despite being located in Africa, Mahdi’s climate had more to do with England than the Dark Continent. On the day of her arrival, dark overhanging clouds were present in the sky. The colonial period of the past left behind many tall gothic buildings and many of these buildings populate the city. Together, the weather and buildings gave the city a depressing look about it.  

Not helping matter were the people Zahara saw walking around. She wasn’t too surprised to see men leading shapeless women by the leash, she had read about that in her research, but seeing the women shuffling behind their men totally blind was. Zahara didn’t know till then that the women of Mahdi aren’t allowed voice or sight in public.

Worse were the actions of the men. While she was waiting for someone to pick her up at the port, Zahara had looked out into the streets of Kamatora and more than once, she saw men leading their women into a wall or a lamp-post, only to laugh as the woman knocked into the said objects. She even saw a boy about seven leading a grown woman by the leash into a lamppost and then laughing loudly about it. It was only later that Zahara discovered that this was what passed as traditional entertainment in the country. The men of Mahdi though this act but funny and useful as it helps break the spirit of their women.

Totally blinded, the women had no choice but to trust their men. To have their trust broken like that was bad enough, to have their men laughed at them was soul-destroying. 

Zahara knew that feeling again as she hit a wall in her path. As she heard the laughter of her husband, she knew it was no accident. As a way to break her spirit, it was an effective tool. She felt her leash being tugged. With no choice, the blinded and broken Zahara followed wherever her husband led her.

In her enclosing veil, time lost meaning to Zahara. All she knew was to put one foot in front of the other. After a while, a sharp tug on her leash told Zahara to stop. She felt the veil being lifted off her. Still blinded by the hood, a soft tug on the leash told Zahara to move slowly forward. After a short distance, Zahara felt a downward tug on the leash and immediately fell to her knees. Another tug told her to bow to the floor. Without her hands to support her, Zahara’s head lowered till she smacked her head against the floor. It gave off a resounding thud. Another thud soon followed and Zahara knew there was another woman beside her. The laughter from the men followed right on cue as her husband and another man greeted each other.

After over a year in the country, Zahara knew what was coming. The men finished their greeting and she felt a pressure on her. Her husband had sat on her. Zahara was a woman kneeling with her head to the ground and in Mahdi, that meant she was a stool to be used. The other woman beside her was probably being used in the same way by her man.

Not for the first time, Zahara regretted her decision to agree to the marriage. It was without question the worst decision she ever made. Worse, there was nothing she could do about it. This was the lot of a woman in the country of Mahdi, and as Zahara felt her husband sitting on her, she knew this was her lot till the time of her death. Servitude, humiliations, and beatings; those would be her life till the the day she died. 

The Abandoned (Part 3)

Rose Catterly

“I think I got it!”

Dr. Rose Catterly had called her follow survivors, Captain Janet Pinkerton and Lisa Williams, to the city library because she had found the answer to some questions they had. 3 days after they had their debriefing from Kettle, the trio of survivors of The Pagoda had went into the city and got the culture shock of their lives.

Williams had seen women were pulling men on carts like animals; at a construction site, Pinkerton saw women who did all the manual labor while men sat under the shade supervising them by shouting out what sounded like insults; and Catterly herself saw an adult woman who knelt and bowed her head in submission to a little boy no more than 6 years old. On the planet of Eridani, men were the rulers while women were slaves and the 3 of them had been wondering what to do about the situation.

A scientist to her core, Catterly knew that the first thing they needed was information and had found the local library of the city. For the past week, she had found several pieces of information about the planet, Eridani, but nothing that explained why society had turned out the way it did.

Nothing till today!

“What you found?” As the captain, Janet Pinkerton had seniority over the 3 survivors and had been the most anxious to know more about the planet.

“I found this.” Catterly showed her follow survivors a small blue crystal.

“What’s that?” Williams asked.

“It’s what called an “energy crystal”.” 

“I think I read about it. “ Pinkerton said. “Wasn’t it the main source of energy storage before it got replaced by newer technologies like lasertech?”

“Yes,” Catterly was impressed the captain knew about ancient technology. “For about 100 years, it was the main source of energy storage but about 400-500 years ago, it got replaced. It seen that Eridani was a mining planet for these crystals.”

The captain and Williams looked at each other. Captain Pinkerton was the one who spoke. “It’s an energy crystal but that doesn’t prove this was a mining planet?”

“It’s what we called an energy crystal,” Catterly corrected. “However, the local uses it for more than that. They found a way to store information data on it."
"How they managed that?" The captain asked.
"My best guess is that as they were cut off from the UPF, they were unable to follow the latest technological advances." Catterly said. "They had to make do with what they have and advance their tech along those lines. Follow me and I’ll play it for you.”

Catterly led the duo to a room in the library where a table sat in the middle of it. Most tables on the planet were made out of stone but this one was made of metal. There was a device on the table and Catterly carefully placed the crystal in this. The blue crystal lit up and an image appeared about the table. 5 men were sitting around the table waiting for something and after a short while, the image began to move and sound came from the device. The 3 survivors stood silently and watched the images unfold.

The oldest man in the room cleared his throat and began speaking. “Attention! This meeting will now commence. John Petroff will be presiding; in attendance are Oda Katsuragi, Rick Perterson, and Kamal Colvin.”

The men looked at the old man who was obviously called Oda as he had turned and nodded to each man when he spoke their names. He now turned and looked at the man called John Petroff again. Oda nodded his head to Petroff, indicating that he should take over. Seeing all eyes on him, Petroff stood up and did so. He started speaking;

“The Makgeni Corporation is the last galactic corporation still with a presence on this planet. Last month, Diana Sheffler was informed that Makgeni will be abandoning their colony on 82 Eridani to “concentrate” on its more profitable colonies in the Compress system. The Makgeni Corporation will be leaving within the month and the majority of the colonists will be leaving with them. Thus far, we have 4,221 people who have indicated that they plan to stay on the planet. This meeting is called so that we can have a working plan of the colony when the Makgeni Corporation leaves.”

Oda addressed the other 3 men at the table. “The 3 of us are the oldest of the group who intend to stay. Leadership of the group will fall to us when the time comes. So I think it is important we are all on the same page for the colony.”

“Then why is he here?” Rick Perterson pointed at Petroff. “You’re staying?”

“Yes, I am”

John’s answer surprised the men.

“Why are…nevermind.” Rick quickly corrected himself. “I guess you have your own reasons for staying. So what’s this plan you have?”

Petroff looked at Oda who nodded for him to continue. “Right now, this is what we have so far. When Makgeni leaves, food and water will not be a problem as we will have the 3 greenhouse to grow our food and the water plant will be working. The main problem we will have is whether we can have long-term success without the backing of a corporation behind us. Basically, we need to find a way to be self-sufficient.”   

“Nothing we don’t already know.” It was Rick again with the comment. “So what’s the plan?”

“Food and water are issues that can take care of themselves. The planet also has fauna in abundance that are edible for us humans though we might need to increase production of the greenhouse for those of us who just came to 82 Eridani recently. People like Oda who were born on 82 Eridani had long been used to the alien food provided by the planet and used them to supplement the food provided by the greenhouse but newcomers to the planet like myself are only comfortable eating the Earth plants and vegetables provided by the greenhouse.”

The men nodded in agreement.

Seeing that everyone was in agreement, Petroff continued. “The problem we will have is the economy. There are a lot of things we can’t produce on 82 Eridani. The planet just does not have enough metal ore for us to mine to maintain the technology level we have. The transport of metallic materials to our remote planet is one of the reasons why it was so hard to maintain a healthy profit margin for the company and for that, we will need to continue with the mine.”

“Will that be enough to maintain the colony?” Rick asked. “I know we still have the spaceport but it’s going to take a lot of materials to maintain the colony.”

“That’s the big question.” Petroff admitted. “Makgeni couldn’t solve the problem but we can’t go around the problem either. We need to buy materials so we need the mine.”

“Why not cut out level of technology then?” The question was Kamal’s first input in the meeting and what he said caused everyone to look at him in surprise. “Like you said, the planet does not have enough metal ore for us to maintain our level of technology. So why not cut the level of technology we have?”

“You need to explain yourself, Mr. Colvin.” Petroff said.

“We need to maintain technology for the spaceport and medical facility. Essential things like that but for non-essential things like short distance transportation, we can cut them out. This will save materials and resources.”

“Short distance transportation is non-essential?” Oda asked. 

“Like cars for example. We need to maintain the spaceport and things like planes for long distance travel but things like cars are not really needed here. We can use bicycles which are smaller and use less material than cars to operate and maintain.”

Petroff nodded his head. “True. That might be something to look into.”

“Okay, that will be in the future. What else?” Rick asked Petroff.

“One essential provision I suggest we make is to makes it illegal to employ a woman in positions that endangers her physical, moral or mental health. This means we need to take all the women out of the mines and in any jobs that would be dangerous.”

“Why?” Both Kamal and Rick asked together. 

“For the long-term health of the colony! With only 4,000 people left, the only way the colony can continue is if we replace the people who would leave with the shuttles. Basically, we need to have more babies if we are to be a viable long-term colony.”

“That’s never been a problem before.” Kamal said.

“It will be now. At least for the next few years, we need to depend on ourselves.” Petroff explained. “Before we had colonists coming for work and this boosted the population of the colony. However with Makgeni’s withdrawn, we will no longer see new colonists. At the same time, the danger of childbirth will increase as most of the medical staff and medical equipment are leaving. Frankly, we can’t take any chances.”

“Petroff, I’m not comfortable telling the women they will be nothing but breeding animals.” Rick said. “I’m sure most of the remaining people will say the same thing.”

“We will need to explain the situation to them.” Oda was the one who chirped in. “The provision is needed if we are to survive. I think most of them will understand if we tell them the truth of our situation here. All of us already understand sacrifices will be needed by everyone.”

Kamal and Rick kept quiet for a few moments before Kamal gave a nod to Oda. A few seconds later, Rick grudgingly did the same.

“Is that all?” Rick asked.

“For now,” Petroff said. “I have a few ideas down the line but if we don’t survive the next few years, it would mean nothing.”

The images ended and the 3 survivors stood in shock, even Catterly who had seen the program before. All 3 of them heard the stories and this was proof there were some truth in them. In the past, galactic corporations like this Makgeni were a power onto themselves on planets they controlled. They controlled everything on the planet where they had the rights to and were supposed to report everything unusually to the UPF. However, it would be a small matter for them to “forget” to report that a small number of colonists on a remote planet far from the civilized planets of the UPF had decided to remain.

“My god,” Williams said. “Kettle was right; they were abandoned.”