Culture Shock
Amanda walked as quickly as she could through the house. She did not want to see or speak to that man again for the rest of the day. She simply did not want to. She didn't know what to think at the moment. Was she being unreasonable? Should she be more understanding? It's not as if it were Sarek himself that had done this to those women. Why should she be angry with him?
But the more she thought of it, the more something inside her screamed NO! This was most certainly NOT LOGICAL to keep slaves this way and especially for that. She knew the Empire held slaves for all sorts of terrible purposes, but that the Vulcans would partake was breaking her heart in pieces. She'd expected more from them.
Before Amanda could knock, Maya opened her door. "Amanda," she greeted. "What's wrong?" she asked as she stood aside for her to enter.
Amanda walked in and only then registered that Maya was not wearing the robes from her closet. She was wearing what looked like a set of black slacks and a business shirt. "What in the… where did you get that?" she asked. "Sarek didn't leave you any Terran clothes in the closets."
"Mariana came over and dropped it off this morning. I called her because I feel kind of funny wearing-" she pointed to the open closet and the robes. "That."
Amanda looked down at her own robes. "I know what you mean."
"But your husband is a Vulcan and it makes sense if you wear the clothing of his people. But why do I have to wear the robes?" she asked feeling a little childish. "Why don't the other girls have to wear them? They have generic Terran clothing in their closets."
Amanda sighed tiredly and sank down on her friend's bed. "Oh, Maya," she said.
Maya sat next to her and frowned. "I'm sorry, Amanda. I asked you all those questions so quickly when I knew you were in a bad spot emotionally. It was selfish of me."
Amanda looked over at Maya and felt tears of stress trying to break through to the surface. "No, Maya. It's not fair for you to keep putting your thoughts on the backburner just because you have a sense of what people are going through before they even open their mouths. That's not fair to you."
The two simply sat there, Amanda still on the problem in her head and Maya trying to figure out another way to ask Amanda what was wrong. "Um…" She swallowed. "So was last night…no good or something?" she asked delicately.
It was the last question Amanda expected to hear and she found herself doubled over with hysterical laughter. She was laughing so hard, tears finally began to flow down her face. "You have no idea!"
"Was it that bad?" whispered Maya. She sensed her mixed up emotional state. She was positively all over the place. What happened?
"Oh goodness, no," she admitted as she sobered up. Then she whispered, "That's the best sex I've ever had in my life." She didn't have to be a telepath to know Maya was about to barrage her with questions. "Don't ask, I'm not telling," she warned.
Her friend only grinned. "Damn! I guess I can't blame you. I wouldn't tell either." She shrugged. "So then what is wrong?"
Amanda sighed again. "I can't really tell you that. It's tied up with the secrets of this damned planet that I guess I'm sort of honor bound to protect at this point."
She looked unsure of herself for a second but plunged forward anyway. "Um… so are you mad at your husband or 'the planet'?"
Amanda fell backward on the bed and realized the sleeping surface was really comfortable. "I-" She thought carefully about the question she was about to answer. "Truthfully, I guess I am angry with…the planet, if that's the way we can phrase that. At him? No, not technically 'him'. But I guess I'm angry with him as a representative of his planet."
Maya was confused. "So he didn't do anything to you?"
"Oh, he didn't do ANYTHING all right," she said, getting angry all over again.
"So he failed to do something and that got you angry?"
"I think you've hit it on the nose. I mean, he did try to do something, but it wasn't good enough and the problem never got handled."
Maya sat there and thought that over. "That's kind of not fair, Amanda. How's he supposed to know what to do if you don't tell him? And you say he tried to fix it but it wasn't good enough? Do you mean good enough for you or good enough for the problem?"
She exhaled heavily. "Maya, this isn't regular marriage stuff. This is a big honking bad situation. It's big enough to fly an Imperial Starship through it."
She nodded. "You're right, you're right. It's none of my business. I have no idea what you're angry with him about. I don't even know anything about marriage or whatever. Hell, I don't know that much about men except they're all pigs. Well at least Terran men are."
"About those robes," Amanda broke into Maya's dialogue.
"Yeah?"
"You wear them when you're ready to wear them."
She was relieved. "Okay."
####
Dana and Mariana had gotten Shin up pretty early in the morning. They'd already been on the 'net and found the Want Ads for the Terran section of the city nearest them. He took them on a job search that very morning. They asked Cassie if she wanted to go and her answer was 'go screw yourselves'.
"Is she always that angry?" asked Mariana while they were getting into the shuttle with Shin. They'd left Cassie in her bed that day still in her pajamas.
"What makes you think she was angry?" asked Dana.
"Well I don't think someone says 'go screw yourselves' because they're walking on sunshine."
"Oh, she can. That's just her," said Dana.
"All of the time?"
Dana sighed. "My cousin is a rich girl. And it's sad because I've known plenty rich girls that work their asses off, but my cousin is not one of those girls. She's that kind of rich girl."
"What kind is that?" asked Shin from the front of the shuttle as he began to take off.
"She's the one that makes the hardworking ones look bad. She's the type that's never had to do a thing for herself her entire life. And now she finds herself disowned, disinherited and dissatisfied with her prospects in life. She's probably really depressed right now."
"Then why would someone like that commit a Thought Crime?" asked Mariana. "She stole some banned books or something, right?"
Dana smiled almost sadly. "Everyone did what they did that night for their own reasons. Amanda feels it's a sin to burn a book, especially anything that teaches Terrans how to control themselves better. Maya hates the Terran Empire and feels their days are numbered. I am—well I was a research assistant and I believe in the free flow of information, that to suppress information is to ask for trouble in a society. And Cassie-" She shrugged. "Cassie did it just for the thrill, just because she could. She honestly didn't believe she would get caught. And we discussed getting caught, that the chances were really high we would all get caught for what we did. But the big thing was to get the books to a safe location before getting caught. Amanda, Maya, and I accepted that consequence ahead of time. But she didn't want to listen to any of us. She just wanted a cheap thrill. And now this is where she finds herself."
"So she can't accept the consequences because she feels-?"
"She feels she's getting the short end of the stick. She can't see past her own nose right now. All she knows is that Amanda is now the woman of a high house. And Maya, someone who is supposedly beneath her, is living in the high house instead of her. And she has to share a little house and bathroom, actually share, with you and I, girls from lower stations in life. Forget the fact that we each have our own room and privacy."
"But you're her cousin!"
"Doesn't matter. She's more important than both of us in her mind. And now she has to face the prospect of getting a job and learning how to survive in a society that she also feels is below her. Because don't you know, even though the Vulcans are stronger than us and smarter, Terrans are superior to everyone else."
Mariana snorted. "She actually drank that Kool-Aid?"
"Every day of her life she's been fed that. And she really believes it. And now she's not only got to face up to consequences she didn't even think she would have to face, but she has to actually work for her money instead of just asking daddy to give it to her."
Mariana nodded. "I think that's sad that she has to learn everything the hard way now."
Dana sighed tiredly. "No, girl. What's sad is that I don't trust her as far as I can throw her. And at some point we're all going to pay for her misery. And she can't even see how fortunate she is to have gotten out of a life sentence. Selfish broad," she said as the shuttle landed.
Shin turned to them. "Are you telling me she cannot be trusted?"
"To a certain extent I think she can be trusted. But when it comes down to her or someone else, the 'someone else' is getting dogged out no matter the cost."
####
Maya and Amanda ventured out later that afternoon to check up on the girls. They found out from Cassie that Shin had taken them job hunting that morning. "They're not back yet?" asked Amanda.
Cassie shrugged. She was still in her pajamas and looking sullen. "No."
"Have they called?"
"No."
Amanda had half a mind to tell Cassie that it was late enough in the day for her to already be dressed, but she decided maybe now was not the time. "We'll stop by and ask Zurel if he's heard anything."
She shrugged. "Whatever."
As the two ladies walked away, Maya frowned as she looked back at the house they were leaving. "What is it?" asked Amanda.
Maya didn't know how to phrase what she needed to say. "She's so lost right now. A blackness has taken over her."
"Can you tell me anything else?"
"No, I'm sorry."
"What if you touched her? What would that tell you?"
"A straight dose of that mind? Are you actually trying to put me in the hospital?"
The two laughed as they walked up to Zurel's door. Amanda knocked and he answered. She saw Sokam in the background having a cup of something. "I'm sorry to bother you. I didn't realize you had company-"
"There is no bother," said Zurel as he opened the door wider. "Please, enter."
The ladies walked in as Amanda informed him, "We didn't want to intrude, but we were wondering if you've heard anything from Shin and the girls."
Zurel pointed them to a small backless couch. Sokam was sitting on one of his own. Both ladies sat down on the other couch next to each other. Zurel pulled up a chair. "Shin called about an hour ago. Apparently due to her qualifications, Dana is to begin an internship in two days. She has been quite successful. They decided to remain in the Terran section of the city for another hour or two in order for Mariana to find something as well. But it looks doubtful for her at this point. She was quite disappointed." He stood almost quickly. "I apologize T'Sai Amanda, T'Sai Maya, may I bring you two a beverage?"
"Yes," said Amanda.
Maya said, "No."
They both looked at one another and Amanda grinned. "Excuse me," she said to Zurel and then whispered to Maya, "According to custom you have to take it."
The lady's eyebrows climbed and she looked back at Zurel. "Yes, thank you, I'll take whatever you have," she changed her answer.
"I will return shortly."
As soon as Zurel left, Sokam asked, "T'Sai Maya, why are you not in the robes with the family crest? I procured them for you myself."
"Amanda said I could wait until I was ready to wear them."
He raised one eyebrow. "I do not understand what readiness has to do with wearing a proper article of clothing."
Maya, for the first time in a while, found herself squinting at someone in displeasure. "Well I don't think that's any of your business," she said in a low tone.
Zurel returned just then and placed tumblers of freshly brewed desert iced tea in their hands. Both ladies drank. It was not at all sweet, almost quite bland, but it was very very cold and refreshing to the body on such a hot day. Amanda wanted to laugh as Maya glared at Sokam.
"Your mode of dress is indeed my business," he said. "It is my clan and you are the ward of my cousin. It is imperative that you represent yourself as such at all times."
"Well I'm not going anywhere today," she said with attitude. "What difference does it make what I wear?"
"Are you planning on job hunting tomorrow?" asked Zurel of Maya, trying to deflect the unpleasant tone of the subject onto something else.
"Yes," she said to him as Sokam himself answered for her, "No."
This time, both Amanda and Maya looked at him in shock. Oh HELL NO he didn't just answer for me! "Excuse me, brother-man, who asked you?"
Amanda heard the expression 'brother-man' and knew Maya was about to tell Sokam where to go and how to get there. She stood quickly. "The tea was delicious. We have to go now!"
But Sokam didn't get the point. "You cannot yet venture out in public without knowing a proper mind block."
The silence was so deafening it was almost comical. Except it wasn't. Not to Maya, anyway. Zurel actually looked uncomfortable and Amanda didn't understand what he'd just said or why. All she knew was the opinionated Vulcan and the Terran young lady were simply staring at one another and Maya didn't look too happy. "That's private," was all she whispered at him as if she were very hurt.
Sokam realized too late he'd angered Maya. But he didn't understand why. He was simply seeing to her welfare. "It is not logical to become upset with me for being concerned about your safety," he said.
For some reason she couldn't understand, Maya found herself swallowing back tears. She stood and handed Zurel her tea. "That was delicious. Thank you for your hospitality," she said to him. She turned and left with Amanda.
As soon as the door closed, Zurel looked at Sokam. "If you wish to obtain your goal that was not the way to go about it."
"Of what goal do you speak?" he asked.
"Your intentions are clear because I am a Vulcan. Make no mistake, I have been on Terra Prime for years, but it has not led to my becoming ignorant of my race. And it is quite plain that you wish to obtain the young Terran as a bride. But you committed several very glaring errors within a short span of time. Unless you rectify the situation, the probability of her ever speaking with you again will sharply decline over time."
Sokam was confused. "I do not understand the infractions I am supposed to have committed. Do Terran females not wish for concern to be shown for them?"
Zurel sat down opposite Sokam whom was quickly becoming a friend to him. "Preceding anything I may say she has only just met you and feels under no obligation to listen to you. And now for the first issue, Terran females and clothing; you do not tell a Terran female what she can or cannot wear."
He noticeably frowned. "I meant no disrespect. To be invited to wear our robes is a sign of honor."
"She does not yet fully understand that. And her reasoning was sound. She wishes to wait until she understands and feels ready for that responsibility, for you must acknowledge it is a very deep responsibility. She is to represent a House she does not yet fully understand. And according to her words she also deduced that since she was not going anywhere important today there was no reason to wear them at home."
Sokam nodded. "I was in error. I will convey that fact to her. What further infraction did I commit?"
"You answered for her."
"She should not venture out without learning to shield her mental abilities first. That is only logical."
Zurel wanted to smack himself in the head. It was the first time he'd ever wanted to perform an emotionally based hand gesture. "Sokam, are you aware of females?"
"Terran?"
"Terran, Vulcan, it does not matter. Females in general?"
He thought about that. He'd had several very intense physical relationships in his youth while still living on the V'Tosh Ka'tur side. But they had all quickly descended into obsession and jealousy as soon as a sexual element entered the picture. "No," he admitted. "I do not understand the female mind." After his bonding he'd left quickly to cross over to the Syrranites to learn to control himself so he could thereby make a better husband to his mate someday.
Zurel tried to pick his words carefully. "Females…they do not wish to have someone speak for them, tell them what to wear, what to say, what to do. They see it as controlling. In fact, it is controlling. It leads to a phrase in Terran society their women call 'red flags'."
Sokam was fascinated. "What are these 'red flags'?"
"A 'red flag' is what is tripped in a Terran female's mind when she has the instinct that the male who is interested in her will prove to be injurious to her in the near or far future in some way whether it be physically, mentally, emotionally or a combination of two or all three. This male is to be avoided at all costs."
He was now confused. "I would never prove injurious to Maya. What must I do to disperse this misunderstanding in her mind?"
"I am sorry to inform you but that is as far as I have been able to get in my study of Terran relations. I advise you to speak with either Sarek or T'Sai Amanda on how to rectify this situation fully."