Chapter 11

Strange fits of passion have I known;
And I will dare to tell,
But in the Lover's ear alone,
What once to me befell.
- Wordsworth -

Angie took her seat at the command station. "Take us out of orbit, Delphi. Align us with the star and go to jump speed."

"Yes, Angie."

"What's so special about this star?" Marty asked.

"Lia found some star charts in the alien station's data. This is one of the closer G-class stars that could harbor life."

"Oh."

"It's a G3 star," Karl said. "Lia has already picked up a signal from it."

"I'm still working on it," Lia said.

Marty tuned to Angie. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just a little stressed, but I'll be fine. What about you?"

"I can't sleep. I went to Onuki, but she says that I need to relax. That's kind of hard on this mission."

"Yeah, and I haven't been much help either. Onuki said that your heart rate and blood pressure increase when they mention my name."

Marty smiled. "That may be a good thing."

"I hope that you're not afraid of me anymore."

"I can't help it. I've never been afraid of anyone in my entire life, but you scare the hell out of me. I wake up in the middle of the night with cold sweats and I'm having trouble concentrating."

"Shit." She sighed. "I never wanted it to come to this. I feel awful for what I've done to you."

"Jump will commence in five minutes, Angie."

"Execute on count, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

"Look," Angie said to him. "I'll make it up to you. Please believe me."

"I do, Angie, but it's going to take some time to get over this."

"I know."

The jump engines screeched to life ending the discussion.

After a short period of madness, Delphi had a report. "We have entered normal space, Angie."

"Take us down to 5000 kps, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

Karl was the first to report. "The star has a 1.08 mass, 1.02 diameter, 1.7 luminosity and 1.8 metallicity. I don't see any instability other than a few sunspots. The solar wind is normal for this far out."

"There are four gas giants," George said. "And, I can make out three inner planets. There's one at 1.5 AU that may be habitable."

"The third planet shows a water peak," Anna said.

"Temperature is in the habitable range," Lucia said. "We're a little too far out for a good reading."

"The signal is strong," Brigit said. "I'm running it through analysis. We should have something shortly."

"I am not detecting any enemy vessels in this system," Ninja said.

"Take us to the third planet, Delphi. Maintain present speed."

"Yes, Angie."

"Honey, take over."

"Yes, ma'am."

Angie stood up and placed her hand on Marty's shoulder. "Come with me."

Marty followed her to the elevators, waiting for the door to close before speaking. "What are you going to do to me?"

"I'm not going to bite your head off, Marty. Please relax. I just want to talk."

"Is this another therapy session?"

She smiled. "Sort of."

That raised his heart rate, especially when she didn't stop the elevator at the second deck where all the crew quarters were located and instead, went to the third deck that contained the recreation areas. When they exited the elevator, he went with her past the gym to the brig. His heart rate went through the roof, and he hesitated, choosing not to follower her in.

"Come in here," she said, gesturing. "I'm not putting you in the brig."

He reluctantly entered and came over to the brig control panel with her. She placed her hand on the key activation unit.

"See. It doesn't work for me. I took my command control out of the programming and replaced it with yours. Go ahead, put your hand on it."

He did as she instructed and the brig door immediately opened. He looked at her with wide eyes, but doubt was written on his face.

"What?" She said, frowning. "You don't believe me?"

"I believe you, Angie. You're not a liar, but why?"

"I want you to realize that I can't torment you in there anymore. I don't have the authorization. I've made the change permanent. You're the commander of this vessel and it's your decision as to who should be punished."

"I appreciate that, but I would never put anyone in there."

"Yes you would. In fact, I'm giving you an opportunity to try it out on someone."

"Who?"

"Me."

Marty's eyebrows rose. "You?"

"Yes. I'm temporarily relinquishing my command to you and offering myself as a test subject for this brig."

"Come on, Angie, we don't have time for this kind of nonsense."

"Yes, we do. We won't get to the planet for several days."

"This is not going to look good on your record, Angie."

"I don't care. I want you to trust me, and this is the only way I can think of to earn it."

"Okay," Marty said, holding up his hands in submission. "If it'll make you happy, I'll do it."

"Good. You can confine me for as long as you wish and give me the water torture when you get the urge."

Marty looked at the control panel. "Does this thing still require that you remove all of your clothes?"

"Yes. I had better get undressed."

He shrugged. "Are you sure that this is what you want to do?"

"Yes, I do. Now just relax and enjoy it." She unbuttoned her jacket while he watched with confused eyes.

###

When Marty came on the command deck, nobody questioned the admiral's absence, but when time passed and she didn't show up, some people got curious.

"Where's the admiral?" George finally asked.

"I put her in the brig."

That got everyone's attention.

"You're kidding, right?"

"Nope. She relinquished her command to me, and I put her in the brig."

"Why?" Uma asked. "What did she do?"

"I think this is her demented idea of therapy," Marty said. "She changed the brig's command controls so that I'm the only one that can use them. She removed her command authorization, and she wanted me to confine her for a few days. Hey, she's the admiral, so I did what she wanted me to do."

"She is doing this for you, Martin," Onuki said. "It is her attempt at redemption for what she has done to you."

"But, I don't wish to hurt her," Marty said. "I would die for her, or for any of you for that matter. I don't require retribution for any perceived wrong that she or any of you may have done to me. It's not my way. Hell, if I can forgive Rosie's people, I can forgive anyone. I don't hold a grudge."

"It is she that requires therapy," Onuki said. "You must satisfy her wish for redemption."

"I'm trying, but I don't like it." He turned to the command station. "What do you think, Delphi?"

"You should punish her, Martin. She will derive pleasure from it."

"You must think that we humans are insane, Delphi."

"Not insane, dysfunctional. It is the consequence of your emotions."

"So, Delphi, you think that I should torment her?"

"Yes, Martin."

"What about the rest of you? What do you think?"

"It is her wish, Martin," Onuki said. "She wants you to satisfy her desire for retribution."

"I think it's rather disturbing that our superior officer is suffering from mental issues," George said. "This is definitely not the time for that."

"She is trying to help all of us by purging her demons," Uma said. "She is fulfilling her Karma Yoga. We believe that selfless acts deliver us from bondage to our egos and it helps us separate ourselves from the consequences of our actions. It is a form of purification."

"She is practicing the pillar of Sawm," Ferris said. "She is atoning for her sins by fasting and meditation. You must not be concerned by this, people. Nothing will happen to us except what Allah has decreed for us."

"I agree with Ferris," Tyler said. "She is atoning for her sins. I, for one, think that she should be permitted to do so. I would like to watch her atonement, if I may."

"We love her," Lia said. "But, she should be punished for what she has put us through. I would also like to watch her suffer."

"May I also be included," Honey said. "I find the concept fascinating."

"How about you, George," Marty said. "Do you want to see her suffer?"

"No way. I'm not a sadist."

Marty looked around the command deck. "Anyone else?"

He received no other comments or requests.
"Okay, George, you have the command. Tyler, Lia and Honey follow me please."

When he arrived at the brig, Marty entered and found Angie seated on the metal bench. When she saw him, she stood up while folding an arm across her breasts and a hand over her pubic area.

"Hi," she said with a sly smile on her lips. "Have you come to punish me?"

"Yes, but I have some observers, if you don't mind. Lia, Honey and Tyler want to watch. Is that okay?"

"Sure. I'm surprised that the whole compliment didn't come down to watch it."

"Okay," Marty said, looking back at the entrance. "You guys can come in."

The three observers lined up around the brig so that they could get a good view of the intended victim. She saw that they were examining her body and it intensified her efforts to protect her modesty. Marty activated the control panel with his hand and adjusted the water temperature to eight degrees C and the timer to sixty seconds. When he pressed the start button, water cascaded down from the brig's ceiling with immediate effect on the naked prisoner. She screamed at the top of her lungs and jumped around like she was being shocked. When the water stopped, she continued to shiver violently and yell.

"God, that hurts like hell," she said, still shivering and jumping around.

"It's what you ordered me to do," Marty said.

"Yes, I know," she said with her teeth chattering audibly and her muscles shivering relentlessly. "Now I know what you went through."

"Not quite. My punishment was at a lower temperature and for a much longer time."

"Set the temperature lower and do it again."

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

She grinned. "Yes, I am."

He lowered the temperature to six degrees and activated the shower. Angie screamed and jumped around with more vigor this time, even after the water stopped. She was shivering so violently and her teeth were chattering so much she couldn't talk. When she could finally speak it was in a raspy whisper. "That hurt really bad."

"It's supposed to, Admiral, you're being punished."

"Are you enjoying this?" Angie asked the three observers.

"I, for one, think it appropriate to see you being punished while you are completely nude as reparation for what you did to us men," Tyler said.

"I don't understand your reference," Honey said. "My people are nude most of the time and especially when they are punished."

"He means that it's demeaning and humiliating to be stripped," Lia said. "In this case it is an appropriate punishment. But, we are not really enjoying this spectacle. We would rather have you on the command deck where you belong."

"I second that," Tyler said.

"I third that," Marty said, smiling.

"Okay, you win. Get me the hell out of here."

That was what they wanted to hear.

###

When Angie came onto the command deck, everyone stood up and clapped.

"Thank you," she said, smiling.

"We love you, Angelina," Uma said.

"Allah bless you," Ferris said.

Angie was anxious to put all that behind her. "What's our status?"

"We are twenty hours out from the planet," Marty said. "There has been no activity of note except that we observed a launch of a satellite from the planet about two hours ago. Obviously, the aliens on this planet have rudimentary space capability, much like Masai's people."

"Is it possible that they are related to Masai's people?" Angie asked.

"We know of no other planet with our people," Masai said. "However, anything is possible."

"Our people have seen other people like you, Masai," Moto said. "But, this star is not one of the locations."

"The planet has a mean radius of 6,720 kilometers," George said. "Approximately 50% of the surface is ocean. It has a mean temperature of 280 K and the atmosphere is around 7 kilometers high."

"Oxygen content is 18%," Anna said. "For some reason there is a proportionally high Argon content: 10%. The rest is nitrogen. The carbon dioxide is around 0.02%."

"I have a video signal," Brigit said. "I'll put it on the main screen."

Everyone turned to watch the first alien scenes. Surprisingly, the aliens looked very much like humans, but with some unusual differences. They had no hair and their eyes had a deep blue phosphorescent appearance, making them look like they were not real. Unlike Masai's people, these aliens had sharp teeth that resembled fangs.

"What gives?" Marty said. "This is yet another human-like species."

"Maybe they're related to the Andromeda humanoids that built the space station," Angie said.

"One thing is a constant," George said. "All of the advanced aliens that we've discovered follow a typical technological path. They all seem to come up with some kind of video communications and begin space exploration in much the same way that we humans did."

"That in itself is wild," Marty said. "Our path to the stars was the result of the industrial age, the military and science mixing together. You have to wonder how these aliens end up at the same point by completely different means."

"It may have something to do with how the brain works on a systemic scale," Ferris said. "All of the brains we've found have neurons much like ours. The only difference is how the various levels of the brain are organized."

"I need facts not theory," Angie said. "Do you have a translation yet?"

"Yes, ma'am," Lia said.

"What exactly are we seeing here?" Marty asked.

"I don't know for sure," Lia said. "But, it looks like a fashion show. Women are walking around on a round platform in different outfits while people are seated around it observing. Someone is describing their outfits, but the translator is having trouble with many of the words.

"I like their outfits," Angie said. "They're like Masai's people. They have a good sense of fashion."

"At least they're modest," Marty said. "Some of our fashion shows are exhibitions of hedonism."

A group of males took the stage and they walked around wearing sharp looking Nader jackets over trousers. Some wore long coats.

"Very formal," Marty said. "The men prefer trousers and the women prefer long dresses. If you didn't know better, you would think that we're looking at a nineteenth century scene. The women don't show any skin at all."

"I haven't even seen an ankle or a neck," Angie said.

Marty grinned. "Well, at least we now know that the females look like women. They can't hide what's underneath those blouses."

"Indeed," Angie said, grinning back at him. "Although, their bald heads seem to detract from any illusion of femininity."

"I find it difficult to believe that I'm witnessing this on the opposite side of the galaxy," Lucia said. "How is this possible?"

"Again, it may have something to do with the human-like space station builders," Ferris said. "If they are responsible for human life on Earth, then much of what we do will be common to all human-like species."

"I think that they seeded human-like life all over the galaxy," Marty said. "We just happen to be the only human species on our side of the galaxy. Well, at least as far as we know."

"We haven't scratched the surface of this galaxy," George said. "There may be more human-type life forms than we could ever have imagined."

"Are we going to make contact?" Marty asked Angie.

"I don't know. What do you think?"

"I don't think we have any choice. We need to know if they know anything about the Dragons. If nothing more, they will make another ally, albeit a poor one."

"You're probably right. We have to assume that the Dragons have taken some of these people. We need to make them aware of the danger."

"I'm going to take a short break," Angie said. "Whoever needs a break, come with me."

Lia, Uma, Masai, Birdie, Rosie and Lucia got up and followed her. They went to Deck 2 and headed for the common recreational area where the crew often gathers for meals and snacks. Angie poured herself a cup of coffee and settled down at a table. Uma and Lucia did the same. Birdie and Masai got glasses of water.

Angie took a sip of coffee. She tried to avoid any discussions concerning her ordeal, but there was no way to avoid it.

Lia gave het a contrite look. "I want to apologize for what I said. You didn't deserve being humiliated like that."

"We all need a dose of humility once in a while. I feel bad about what Tyler said. He seemed pleased with what happened to me."

"I guess that he was angry. That's not very professional."

"Honey told us about your punishment," Birdie said. "My people are punished by being immersed in near boiling water. Our skin is very tough, but it is very sensitive. The process is extremely painful."

"That would kill us. Have you ever been punished like that?" Angie asked.

"Yes. Recently, I made the mistake of offending the superior of the ruling group. He personally punished me in front of the entire ruling group, most of which are males."

"Do they take your cloak when they punish you?"

"Yes. It is especially humiliating because we consider being uncloaked a shameful situation."

"If that's true then why do you allow males to choose from uncloaked females?"

"It is an ancient tradition."

"What about you Rosie? Have you ever been punished?"

"Yes, on several occasions. Our laws permit physical torment for violation of our laws, even those laws considered minor."

"How were you punished?"

"I was suspended by my feet and tormented with a pain stick for many hours of your time."

"A pain stick?"

"It is a device that stimulates our pain receptors. It feels like fire but does not damage."

"That sounds terrible," Angie said. "I assume that they strip you for that."

"Yes. And, as with Birdie's people, they permit many to observe. We also consider being uncovered in public a shameful experience."

"We were told that you are a high official of your government," Angie said. "Why would they punish you?"

"Office does not excuse us. I have been punished on three occasions for speaking out of turn or criticizing my council members. These actions are considered violations of protocol. On one occasion, I had the distinct honor of being personally punished by the High Council Facilitator in front of the entire council membership."

"I guess that my experience wasn't so bad after all."

Nobody disputed that.

###

"We are in stable orbit, Angie."

"Maintain stealth, Delphi. Launch atmospheric and oceanic probes"

"Yes, Angie."

"By the way, people," Lia said. "This species is already in our data archives. Several of the pseudo humans that we rescued from the Dragon farm come from this planet."

"We have bio scans and DNA profiles," Ferris said. "This species is very similar to Masai's people, but the match is closer to human."

"Excellent," Angie said. "That will save a lot of time."

"I'm seeing supersonic winds down to 7000 meters," Anna said. "The temperature at that altitude is -12 C."

"The oceans are saltier than ours," Luci reported. "The salinity is near 40 parts per thousand. The mean temperature at temperate latitudes is 17 C."

"There are winged creatures under a thousand meters," Anna said. "They have feathers."

"The oceans are full of fish, or creatures that resemble fish, and much that looks like plankton," Lucia said.

"Atmospheric pressure reads 1009 millibars at the surface," Anna said. "Winds are at 5 knots from the west. Temperature is 19 C."

"Sounds like a nice place," Marty said.

"I found their space port," George said.
He switched the image to the main screen. A tall cylindrical object encased in thin poles dominated a landscape populated with domed buildings.

"Is that in the process of being launched?" Marty asked.

"I don't believe so."

"Launch the biometric probe, Delphi. Distribute the insects above a thousand meters."

"Yes, Angie."

"Check this out," George said.

When the alien image appeared on the main screen, it captured all eyes. A large outdoor amphitheater was filled with people, but what they were viewing could not be determined.

"Get an insect there as soon as possible," Angie told Ferris.

"Yes, ma'am."

"So far, we're not seeing evidence of military," George said. "I can't find anything that represents law."

"Maybe they're lawless," Marty said.
"If they are, they're very docile."

"You're jumping to conclusions," Angie said. "We need more observation."

"They have children," George said. "Unless they're midgets."

Marty laughed. "That's good, George."

The main screen displayed what looked like an outdoor school. Many children were gathered around adults. Others ran around on what looked like a winding road course. Still others reclined on pads of some sort. They were all dressed in what resembled uniforms of jackets over pants.

George changed the image. An army of bipedal machines were swarming around what appeared to be an assembly complex. They were doing all sorts of assembly operations on what looked like vehicles.

"Are those robots?" Marty asked.

"Sure looks like it."

"They're definitely technologically advanced," Marty said. "But, I don't think that they're using it for military purposes."

"Here's another interesting image," George said. "It looks like families on a picnic. The children are younger than those in the school. That's strange. Many of the women are pregnant and they look like they're ready to pop."

"That indicates that they value family," Tyler said. "This would preclude a tendency toward violence."

"I have images from an insect probe over the amphitheater," Ferris said, as she switched it to the main screen.

"Wow!" Marty said. "There must be at least twenty thousand people there."

When the probe flew over the center of the amphitheater, the images that it sent back were disturbing.

"Are those people being executed?" Marty asked.

"I don't think so," Ferris said. "I believe that they're being punished."

"What the hell: they're all men," Marty said.
Ferris laughed. "That sure is easy to see since they're naked. They have unusually large sex organs. I wonder if that's a species specific characteristic."

"I believe it is," Onuki said. "All ten of them are well endowed. Their penile tissue is similar to that of human males but of much larger dimensions."

"Our males have similar organs," Moto said. "They are huge and are ringed with barbs."

"Our males organs are long and thin," Birdie said.

"Okay, people," Angie said. "Let's stay on a discussion of these aliens, please."

That ended that discussion.

"They have them strung upside down by their feet," Marty said. "What are they doing to them?"

"It looks like they're beating them," Ferris said.

"Yeah, and it looks like a woman is doing the honors," Marty said. "So much for these aliens being nonviolent."

"It looks like the audience is all female, and they're cheering," Ferris said. "That's very interesting. Maybe they hate men."

"That doesn't make any sense," George said. "Most of the images I've captured show both men and women in normal situations. If they hated men, you wouldn't see that."

"Point taken," Ferris said.

"I have a transmission of that," Lia said. She switched it to the main screen.

"It's a newscast," Marty said.

A rough translation of what was being said scrolled across the bottom of the screen as two women continued to beat the male subjects, going from one to another. The discussion was about a payment for debts to the common good and justice for wrongs against the common good. It gave some details of the men, showing their portraits and listing their names and biographical information as well as an entry for what they had done. The infractions didn't translate well. One said that the man had said something forbidden and another said that the man had disobeyed a directive concerning fashion. In each case they played a close-up video of the man being strung up by his feet and whipped.

"Those seem like minor sins to me," Marty said. "They don't warrant this extreme treatment."

The discussion also listed the names and information of many more men who were to be punished, accompanied by a video showing these men waiting in a long line, and it was quite obvious that they weren't happy about being naked. The infractions given were even more trivial like speaking out of turn or not being on time. Meanwhile other video showed the men yelling in pain as a woman continued to beat them with what looked like a plastic whip, and it was quite obvious that the woman were having a great deal of fun.

"I'm glad that we're seeing this," Angie said. "Obviously, these people have a somewhat distorted sense of justice. We'll have to be careful when we make contact."

"Who is going?" Marty asked.

"It's my turn," Angie said. "I'll give you a break this time. In fact, I don't think that we'll take any men along."

"That's probably the prudent thing to do under the circumstances."

Everybody agreed with that assessment.

###

Angie chose her landing team with care. "I'll take Lia, Ferris, Anna, Uma and Masai."

"Are we going to take weapons?" Lia asked.

"No. We don't want to appear militaristic." She turned to Marty. "However, if they kill us, you have my permission to fire a Nova Buster into their planet and put them out of their misery."

"Come on, Angie, they're not going to kill you."

"I know." She turned to her landing crew. "Okay, let's get cracking."

They went to the equipment deck and prepared for departure in a standard Lander. Angie and Lia took the front seats and Uma, Masai and Ferris occupied the seats behind them.

"Evacuate the Lander hangar, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

While the air was being sucked out of the hangar, Uma felt the need to ask a question. "Why do you think that they punish those men like that?"

"I don't know," Angie said. "But, I'm going to find out. It is not consistent behavior for an enlightened society."

The Lander levitated and slowly slid out of the hangar door. The alien planet slowly rotated below as a peaceful paradise in space. Swirls of clouds entwined the blue planet as if painted on a clear blue atmosphere. When the Lander had obtained sufficient separation from the ship, Angie fired breaking engines to enter the atmosphere. The trip down to the ground was unimpeded. No aircraft or space vehicles came up to examine them. Angie sat the Lander down on an open area near a lake. At first, nobody paid any attention, but eventually a group of aliens approached from a building near the lake.

When Angie and her crew exited the Lander, a dozen aliens of mixed gender met them. They came up to them without fear.

"Who are you? What is that?"

Lia activated the translator. "We are from across the stars," Angie said. "We come here to discuss a matter of importance with your leaders."

As opposed to all other contacts, these aliens never questioned them as to how they spoke their language.

"Surely, you did not come from across the stars in that," a man said, pointing at the Lander.

"No. We have a star ship in orbit around your planet."

"Our astronomers have not reported a vessel in orbit."

"We have a way of making it not seen," Angie said. "I will reveal it as soon as I meet your leaders."

"They will be here soon," a woman said. "Would you care to seek escape from the heat of our star?"

"Yes, we would," Angie said. "Delphi, secure the Lander."

Angie and her crew followed the people to the building near the lake. The interior was well appointed with seating and gardens around small ponds with fountains. Evidently, these people liked the outdoors inside.

The aliens that greeted them were well dressed. The men wore white suits with pants that showed no wrinkles. Under their jackets, they wore shirts that showed no means of closure. The women wore long light blue skirts with high collar white blouses that again did not reveal how they were put on. They had blue bolero-type jackets over their blouses. Both sexes wore high black shoes that exhibited no blemishes.

They offered Angie and her crew seats while they took seats nearby. Angie noted that they exhibited no signs of fear or aversion.

"Is this being watched?" Angie asked, looking around for cameras.

"No," a man said. "We value privacy."

Angie smiled. "I wish to ask a question. I intend no offense or criticism by this question. We have been observing you for some time, and we see that you are an enlightened people. By that I mean that you demonstrate the qualities of culture, civility and modesty. However, we saw the events in the amphitheater where men are being punished in a very humiliating manner. What is the purpose of that?"

The aliens looked at each other and smiled. "You are referring to the Festival. It is a time when we give in to our ancient ways. Festival occurs once a cycle at this time."

"I don't understand. Why are you doing this to the men?"

"We women are permitted to do this for the benefit of the common good. All men are judged for offenses that are listed in the Book of Festival, and If they are judged to be in violation, they are purified of their offenses."

"I still don't understand. Do you do this to all your men?"

"All men of age are subject to the judgment of Festival. It is our privilege to purify them during the festival."

"Don't they object to being treated in such a humiliating manner?"

"It is their duty to submit."

"Thank you for your information," Angie said. "We were curious."

"We understand," a woman said. "Festival time is a time of abandonment of our control. Some find it offensive, but it is required for the common good."

Angie smiles back, but she had no idea what the alien meant.

When a new group of aliens appeared, Angie and her crew stood up to greet them.

"We are members of the Council," a woman said. "We have been told that you claim to be from across the stars."

"We come from across this galaxy of stars," Angie said. "We have come here to ask for assistance and to discuss a serious matter."

"How did you traverse the long distances?" the obvious leader asked. "Our scientists believe that it is impossible."

"That's the problem. It is easy, too easy." Angie keyed her long-range mic. "Get Delphi to drop stealth mode for a few minutes."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Consult your astronomers now," Angie told them.

After several minutes, the leader looked at Angie. "We are ready to listen."

"Good. First thing is that we are not going to force you to do anything. If you don't wish to talk to us, we will leave. We are on a mission to locate the home star of aliens that abduct and eat other species, species like us and you."

"We know nothing of these aliens. We had no idea that there were other intelligent creatures out there."

"Believe me when I tell you that there are many intelligent creatures out there. Masai here is an example of a species that is similar to you. She lives on a planet that orbits a star about 10 parsecs away from here. A parsec is the distance to an object that has a parallax angle of one arc second. An arc second is one part in 60 of a degree. A degree is one part in 360 degrees in a circle. That's assuming that you understand what we call trigonometry."

"This is a very large distance. How can you go that far?"

"We create a singularity that we can jump into. A singularity is a distortion of space that pulls long distances together."

"That would require great energy. How do you generate that much energy?"

"We use antimatter and matter interaction," Angie said. "If you wish to help us, I will give you a data disk that will explain this process as well as give you an idea what my people and our planet are like as well as many of the other species of intelligent life that we have contacted on our journeys."

"I would be derelict in my duty if I did not help you," the leader said.

"Good. We also have another request. We would like to have one of your people to go with us. We prefer an individual that understands astronomy."

"Our scientists are female. Is this permissible?"

"Most of our crew is female. I am the commander."

"We will accommodate your wish, Commander, but we will have to wait until Festival is nearly over."

"When will that occur?"

"We have twelve rotational cycles of our planet left in Festival. Perhaps, you and your people would enjoy watching the men pay their debt to the common good. I can accommodate you with good seats close to the process of payment."

Angie looked at her crew and then turned to the leader. "Yes, we would like that."

Three of the men came forward. "We are honored to have you witness us paying our debt," one of them said.

"Did you not say that you are members of the Council?" Angie said. "Why would you owe debts?"

"Even though they are members of the Council," the leader said. "They are still subject to Festival."

"We are honored to be subjected to the purification of Festival by your hand, Gem-Goa."

"I will take special pleasure in subjecting you to purification."

These people are nuts.

The leader smiled. "Come and we will enjoy Festival."

###

Angie powered the Lander up and lifted off. She suddenly felt a need to address her crew.
"I apologize for dragging you people to that disgusting spectacle. I didn't wish to offend their leader."

"I admit that I found the whipping of men amusing at first," Uma said. "But, I soon felt pity for those poor men."

"The women sure looked like they were enjoying it," Lia said.

"You people didn't get it, did you?" Ferris said. "They weren't whipping those men to punish them. They were stimulating them."

Everybody looked at Ferris.

"Didn't you see it," Ferris continued. "Onuki was wrong. Their men are decently endowed but what she was seeing were erections."

Angie grinned. "Oh my! And, they were hanging upside down. No wonder why Onuki was fooled."

"Yes," Ferris said. "When we came into the amphitheater, we saw men entering and being stripped by women, and then lining up like sheep going to be shorn. They obediently allowed women to put their ankles in manacles, pull them upside down on a horizontal bar and then whip their bare backsides. Didn't you see women coming forward to escort each of them out after they had been whipped. I'll leave it to your imagination as to what they did with a man that was fully erect."

"You are the observant one, Ferris," Angie said, grinning.

"I'll just bet you that this is the only time that these prim and proper people have sex," Ferris said. "And, the gestation period is one of their years. All of those pregnant women we saw were the result of last year's Festival."

"We have a similar practice," Masai said. "Ever since males relinquished power to females in the before time, they have been held to a stricter code of conduct than females, and they are also punished differently. Females are simply confined. Males are subjected to physical torment. Our code of conduct forbids the exposure of skin, other than that of the face and hands. The one exception to this rule is the punishment of males. When they are punished, they must expose all of their skin. As is the practice of our modest society, this process of punishing males is kept secret."

"How do you know about it?" Angie asked.

"I was specifically selected by the Reagent to punish males. I have punished over ten thousand of them."

"How did you punish them?"

"I used a device similar to that which Rosie told us about. It burns like fire but causes no tissue damage."

"What does this have to do with what we just witnessed on this planet?" Ferris asked.

"The males complain to me that I am hurting them, but when I am done with them, their organ of procreation indicates that they found the process stimulating."

The women laughed.

###

Angie and her crew arrived back on the command deck and took their places.

Marty looked at her and smiled. "Did you have fun?"

"We sure did, didn't we?" She looked back at Lia, Uma, Masai and Ferris.

She got back big salacious grins.

"Did you ever find out why they were beating those men?"

"Yeah. It's called Festival. The women get to punish men for minor infractions every year at this time. It's an ancient custom."

"Sounds barbaric to me," Marty said. "How can they be so sophisticated and do things like that?"

"Actually, It is their idea of a mating ritual."

"What do you mean?"

"You know how Onuki thought that the men had large organs?"

"Yeah."

"She was wrong."

"You're kidding me, right?"

"No, I'm not. Right girls?"

"Right," Ferris, Lia and Uma replied together.

"You people are sick. That's disgusting."

"Yeah, you're right, but we still enjoyed ourselves." She stopped smiling. "Back to business. We brought a new female crew person up from the planet. Her name is Gem-Ado. I want you to go with Ferris and help examine her."

"Don't these people have male scientists?"

She grinned at him. "Sorry."

He gave her a mock frown. "I'll just bet you are."

She laughed.