Chapter 11

Macbeth: Canst thou not minister to a mind diseas'd,

Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow,

Raze out the written troubles of the brain,

And with some sweet oblivious antidote

Cleanse the stuff'd bosom of that perilous stuff

Which weighs upon the heart?

Doctor: Therein the patient must minister to himself.

-Shakespeare, Macbeth Act V, Scene III, lines 40-45

When they returned to the hotel that afternoon, Dresle requested of their host that she look at the gardens, and as she didn't seem to need Elizabeth, the linguist went to the elevator, put her special key into the door to reach the highest level, and entered Dresle's suite. She wished now that she had her own room. Dresle's outburst had been more than upsetting – it had been frightening. Almost like the transformation of a beautiful siren into its wild and malevolent bird form.

She sat down on the couch, feeling tired, called Secretary Liam's assistant, leaving a message recounting her experiment with the "Across the Universe," song: and she also played the recording of her short interchange with Dresle about Vellorian armies. Then she decided to get a shower. Both bathrooms had showers and baths, and numerous buttons with types of soap and scents. She was already undressing when a knock came at the door. She froze, at first thinking it was Dresle; then realized Dresle would not knock on her own door. She put on one of the fluffy white robes and opened the door.

It was Svaltu. She was surprised to see the tall woman there, and amazed again suddenly by the beauty of that long, silver hair, and the shapely face.

"Forgive me for disturbing you, Dr. Bennet," said Svaltu, taking in Elizabeth's appearance. "I was hoping I might be able to talk with you for a moment."

"Of course," said Elizabeth, opening the door wide so Svaltu could enter. Her gait, appearance, and speech all seemed now elegant, soothing, and kind. Even her white dress indicated the same. Elizabeth wondered where she got it.

"Please, sit down," she said, and made room on the couch. They both sat down together.

"I was hoping to discuss with you what happened earlier on our tour today."

Elizabeth felt uncomfortable. Was she about to get lectured again?

"You know what I'm talking about, don't you?" she asked in a silky voice.

"Yes," said Elizabeth, feeling like a child who has disobeyed and must now face punishment.

"First, I would like to apologize for Dresle's outburst. When you know us better you will understand why you angered her."

Elizabeth looked up at her in surprise. "I had no intention of offending anyone," she said.

"I know you did not," continued Svaltu in the same soothing voice. "But, please, allow me to explain, so you think no worse of us."

Elizabeth nodded.

"In our society, it is a shameful thing to engage in any kind of sexual activity, and is actually punishable by law. Even speaking of such things brings shame. Those who are selected to procreate are chosen for their compatible genetic qualities, and once the child is conceived, never see each other again. A woman who is pregnant is never seen in public, for it is considered obscene. Once the child is born it is placed in the care of the state, which is its family. Thus we, as compatriots, are all brothers and sisters, and the state is our mother."

"I see," said Elizabeth.

"The idea of a 'family' – as in, a mother, father, and children, is alien to us, and only practiced by barba – by those of other lands. We believe the best way to teach and form an individual is by the citizens working together with the state to mold each new citizen."

"But – those who are chosen to – procreate, they have children, do they not?"

Svaltu's face flushed red, as if in anger, but she continued in the same soothing voice. "No, indeed. A child does not belong to any one person, but to the community as a whole, and to the state, who knows what is best for it. I, for example – and I would never tell this to any of my race, because of the humiliation – have procreated, but I neither know who the products are, nor want to know. They have no relation to me."

"But, couldn't you find out?"

"No. The child is removed at birth. But why should I want to? It is enough that I have served my state in such a capacity."

Elizabeth was so shocked by this response that she did not know how to answer. "Because – it is yours," she said at last.

Svaltu shook her head complacently. "It is not mine. It belongs to the state."

"I see," said Elizabeth.

"Dresle is very young, and therefore perhaps more sensitive. She is less experienced, and does not understand the human mind as I do."

This last phrase seemed strange to Elizabeth. How could Svaltu understand the human brain so well? They had only been on Earth for a little over a month, and did not know a word of any Earth language when they arrived.

She was about to phrase her question when Svaltu continued. "I hope you understand that if any word of this incident becomes known, it would be very embarrassing for all of us. I hope I can rely on your discretion?"

"Of course," muttered Elizabeth, not really knowing what she was saying.

Svaltu rose and Elizabeth rose too. "I hope you have a good evening," said Svaltu, and before Elizabeth could answer, she had left.

For nearly half an hour, Elizabeth sat and pondered what Svaltu had said. Why she had come was clear – to avoid a scandal, since the media were so intent on her people. But why had she told Elizabeth such details about the Vellorians' own methods of reproduction? Clearly, they were not so advanced that they could produce children ectogenetically. And why would their government make sex into a shameful thing, and even illegal, since it was necessary for reproduction?

She finally realized she was still sitting on the couch in a bathrobe, and so she finally got her shower. But she did not enjoy the luxury of it as much as she thought she would, for she was too preoccupied. When she finally got out, and dried herself off, she decided to call Will. She was only just realizing how much she wanted to tell him. He picked up almost before the first ring ended.

"Liz?" he said, and his picture appeared on the phone.

"Will! It's great to see you!" she said, and she meant it. She didn't think she had ever been so happy to see him.

"I can't believe it's you!" he said. "I picked up the second I saw your face on my phone."

Elizabeth looked more attentively at him now. He was bleary-eyed, sans glasses, his black hair was stuck up every way and he seemed to be in pajamas. "What have you been doing?"

He yawned, then grinned. "Just sleepin'. What about you."

"Oh, gosh, Will, I totally forgot about the time difference! What time is it there?"

He looked at his watch. "About five-thirty."

"Oh, Will, I'm so sorry!"

"It's all right. I had to get up soon anyway. You mind if I make some tea while we talk?"

"Not at all."

Will's apartment was even smaller than Elizabeth's, and rather bare except for a couple of posters, such as Star Trek, The Lord of the Rings, and a portrait of his family, obviously taken when he was a teenager. He passed into the kitchen and set the phone on the counter as he continued to talk. "So what have you been up to?" he said. He beamed at her. "Don't say you're not allowed to tell."

"I know about as much as everyone else, Will. There aren't any big secrets."

"So you're with the splendid dark-haired woman, right?" His kettle began to boil and he took it off the stove.

"How did you know?"

Will laughed. "Who else would want you around? Also I suppose having the cat helps."

"Ha ha," she said. "Except you, for some weird reason."

Will smiled. "So where are you?"

"Beijing."

"Ah, that's what I thought," he said. "We've seen only flashes on the news of a place that looks very Oriental. I was watching it late, trying to get a glimpse of you."

"I hope you didn't. I hate being in the center of attention."

"Are you enjoying it? I know you've always wanted to go."

"Well, this is only my first day here."

"Where are you now?" He got his tea and sat down on a chair with the dark window to his back. "It looks gorgeous, wherever you are."

"In the hotel."

"Wow, amazing! Is it your room?"

"No," she said uncertainly. "Originally I had my own room, but Dresle didn't want to room by herself."

"Probably from being in that ship so long."

"Now I sort of wish I had my own room back."

"Why?"

"Well, when we were out today, Dresle was looking at the children as if she were fond of them, so I asked her if she had any children, and she just blew up at me. Screamed at me. Asked me how I dared to suggest such a thing. She was – terrifying. I don't know how else to explain it."

"That is so strange – I wonder why?"

Elizabeth explained her strange conversation with Svaltu. Will was amazed.

"Wow! That's fascinating!" he cried. He had finished his tea and was getting out a bun with some butter for his breakfast. "But she told you not to tell anyone?"

"Not really," said Elizabeth. "She didn't want me spreading around Dresle's outburst."

"But their method of reproduction," Will said, following his previous train of thought, "I would have thought they were advanced enough to produce children in vitro – you know, like in Brave New World."

"Yes, but in Huxley's world the people were encouraged to have sex as promiscuously as they could. Svaltu said it was illegal even to talk about it, and that the whole thing was seen as obscene or bestial. Pregnant women aren't allowed in public there – and who knows how long their gestation is, with how long they live? That explains why they were looking so disgusted today at the pregnant women in the streets."

"I wonder what they do about sexual desire, then?" asked Will. "How do they repress that?"

"I don't know," answered Elizabeth. "Maybe they don't have the strong carnal urges we humans do."

"But there must be a reproductive instinct," said Will. "How else would their species survive?"

Elizabeth shrugged. "Laufa nearly lost it when he learned the world's population. We thought he was going to faint. At first he thought that just the population of Beijing was the world's population, and seemed even amazed by that. Then he figured out it was only the city's population, and Damian tried to call a doctor. Damian is Laufa's linguist. Laufa said the whole population of Vellorum is seventeen million."

"What?!" cried Will.

"And Christoph told me there's only five or six languages."

"But then – their planet must be tiny!"

"Or they reproduce slowly."

"Did you ask them about it?"

"We did, but they didn't answer."

"Unless they're lying to make us think they don't have power to defeat us."

"I thought that at first," said Elizabeth, "but you should have seen Laufa's shock and weakness on hearing the number nine billion. There's no way he was faking that. I mean, I'm not a doctor, but the look on his face –"

"Well, that kind of medieval population would make sense if their reproductive instinct is so small."

"But, if it were, why would it be illegal – even to talk of such things?"

Will shrugged. "No idea."

Elizabeth could see the sun starting to rise in the window behind Will. "Do you have to go to work soon?"

"Yeah, in a little while. I still have some time." He grinned at her. "I've missed you, Liz."

Just then the door opened and Dresle entered, looking tired and carrying her high-heels in one hand, so that she was bare-footed. Her hair also had come down and looked disheveled. Elizabeth stopped talking immediately, and put Will on mute when he tried to ask her what was wrong. Dresle did not look at her and passed into her room and shut the door. Elizabeth put in her earplugs so she could listen to Will with more privacy.

"Liz? Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said in a low voice. "Dresle just got back."

"What, can she hear you?"

"I don't know. She's in her room. I have no idea how far these people can hear."

"You'd better go. I've got to get ready for work anyway."

"Okay."

"Call back soon! When you can!"

"I will," said Elizabeth, and with a last smile she turned off the phone and Will's image disappeared from the other side.

She took out her handheld and tried to read Little Dorrit until Dresle opened the door again. She had obviously bathed for she was dressed in a towel and her long dark hair was wet. She went to the wardrobe to look for some clothes. A moment later she walked back to her room and Elizabeth could see her attempting, without success, to put on a dress. She obviously had no idea how to put it on. And, Elizabeth saw with pity, she had no undergarments on.

Elizabeth got up, went to the drawer, and drew out the garments she needed. But she nearly slipped – looking down she saw some drops of a dark liquid on the hardwood floor. It led in small drops all the way to Dresle's bedroom. When she reached the bedroom, she saw that the towel Dresle had been wearing also had a spot of blood on it. Dresle was still struggling with the dress and looked miserable. Elizabeth went to the bathroom, and then came back, laying the necessary undergarments on the bed next to her. Dresle looked up, embarrassed and ashamed.

"It's all right," said Elizabeth kindly. "We all have it here too. I can help you if you like."

Dresle nodded.

Once Elizabeth had helped her dress, Elizabeth went over to clean up the droplets of blood with some toilet paper. As she headed back to the bathroom to flush it, she saw Dresle sitting on the edge of her bed looking at her carefully. Elizabeth hurriedly flushed it and then went back out when Dresle said,

"Elizabeth, do you have any children?"

Elizabeth froze. It was the first words Dresle had spoken to her since the outburst earlier in the day. But the question did not sound aggressive or offensive.

"No," she said slowly, turning around.

"Do you have a – a – a husband?"

"No," replied Elizabeth.

"Oh," said Dresle. "I thought perhaps the man at the base, the one you talk to…"

"Oh, no," said Elizabeth, but for some strange reason blushed. "No, we're just friends. I've never even had a boyfriend."

"A boy-friend? What is that?" asked Dresle.

Elizabeth hesitated. "I don't want to offend you."

"It's all right. I will not be offended. Svaltu says I have been too harsh with you, that I ought to expect –"

"What, has she been talking at you, too?"

Dresle looked surprised. "She did not come to see you?" Elizabeth nodded. Dresle looked mortified. "Of course, she must make me look young and ignorant in front of everyone."

"It didn't make me think you were young or ignorant. In fact, for us you're very old, age-wise," said Elizabeth.

Dresle looked gratified. "Thank you. Svaltu thinks you're all savages and barbarians – but I don't think so," she finished thoughtfully.

Elizabeth was surprised. Svaltu had not come across that way at all – although she had come across as rather condescending. Svaltu had looked almost like a priestess of ancient days, clothed as she had been in white.

"So, what is this – boy–friend?" Dresle continued.

Elizabeth tried to explain the concept to one who was devoid of nearly all notions of romance or love – any notion, in fact, being a negative one.

As they were talking, a messenger came up and told them that they would be expected for dinner in half an hour.

As they got ready, Dresle began to tell Elizabeth all about the gardens she had visited. Elizabeth was not very interested in plants, but tried to show a curiosity she did not feel. Dresle was trying to learn the Latin names of the plants, and wondered if she could get a book on plants. Elizabeth promised to ask.

Their guide met them at their door and led them down the hall to a magnificent dining room with hanging tapestries and clean, shining white floors. There, a large round table was set up, and the linguists sat beside their charges. The table was one that had an inner circle that rotated so that each person could try all the different dishes. There were also multiple glasses of different sizes for each person.

"What are all these glasses for?" asked Arjen.

"For different wines and liquors," replied their host.

"What are wines and liquors?" asked Marco.

"They are beverages made from fermented fruits or vegetables – wine is made from grapes," replied Marco's translator.

"Oh, that! I'd love to try some – I've never had it before," said Marco.

"What? You don't have alcohol on Vellorum?"

"Oh, we do, we're just – not permitted to drink it," said Laufa. "It clouds the mind and the reasoning faculties."

"I'll try some," said Marco, as the waiter came round with a bottle of red wine. He seemed perfectly indifferent to Laufa's glare, although Dresle, who had asked as well, backed down immediately and was looking at her hands in her lap.

"I'd like some white wine – uh, champagne if you have it," Elizabeth said, and when the waiter came over to oblige, she said, "My friend will have some too."

Dresle gave her a grateful look and Laufa did not seem to dare to say anything. All the rest of the Vellorians refused.

As they ate, before them on a stage of white marble was being enacted a traditional Chinese dance with traditional instruments and costumes. Their government hosts were attempting to explain the history and nature of the dance and its cultural meaning. Elizabeth sipped her champagne. The taste brought back a welcome memory. It was the only other time she had ever had champagne, once she had finally graduated with her PhD from Oxford University. She and Will had graduated at the same time, and they had gone out to a pub – The Eagle and Child – Will's favourite because it had once been frequented by his favourite author. Will had ordered champagne and with a few other classmates they had toasted each others' success. They would never have been able to foresee where she was now! She had not kept in contact with any of her other classmates. She remembered the next night going with Will to see A Midsummer Night's Dream, performed by an all-male Shakespeare Company. She did not think she had ever laughed so hard.

Her reverie was broken by the sound of Dresle coughing to her right. She turned to her. The Vellorian had taken what seemed to be a large gulp of the champagne and was choking on it. Elizabeth patted her on the back and handed her a cloth napkin.

"It's so strong!" Dresle gasped. Laufa gave a little self-satisfied smile. "I don't like this at all."

"I think it's lovely," said Marco, who was clearly enjoying his glass of wine. Laufa's smirk turned to a frown.

"I liked the bubbles in it, though," Dresle confided to Elizabeth as they walked back to their room. Marco was being helped by his linguist. He had complained after one glass of feeling "light in the head," and "as if I were floating." Elizabeth was amazed. She had had more than two glasses of champagne and felt no effects at all. She determined to introduce Dresle to soft drinks at the next opportunity. She had wanted to ask their host about getting a book on plants for Dresle; but Laufa had beat her to it. He asked if they could all have access to a library. Permission was granted at once and they promised a portable library for each Vellorian the next day.

The contents of the little flat piece of technology was equal to that of the Library of Congress: Christoph requested books in Mandarin as well as ancient Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. He was quickly becoming an expert in Earth languages. He hardly even needed a translator anymore.

That evening, although Elizabeth was tired, Dresle wanted to hear all about the laws for alcohol and other foods – whether any were forbidden, and what human beings were allowed to eat and drink.

"Pretty much anything," replied Elizabeth. "Alcohol's limited by age – depending on the country – usually twenty-one. Cigarettes are illegal in most of the world. Except in some countries – like New Zealand or South Africa. They have these pipes you can smoke instead, that don't have nicotine. Will likes them."

"What are cigarettes and pipes?"

Elizabeth was up late with her explanations. Finally she declared that she needed to go to bed. "We're travelling again tomorrow, you know."

"Really? Where are we going?"

"The Great Wall of China!"