Loni's World:  Vixan Flight  Part 1 
by Tony Lee Gomes
Welcome to VIX! The female-dominated planet of the far future!


SOME BACKGROUND: The year is 4798. A thousand years before, a new world was
colonized, 88 light years from Old Earth. This earthlike planet was discovered
and called Clairvis. Then, 175 years later, when a group of female supremacist
geneticists took over the government, the planet was renamed Vix. Now, Old
Earth is ancient history -- its civilization destroyed by war, pestilence and
strife -- but the genetically-engineered descendants of humans live on, here
on the planet Vix!

Within several generations, this group of militant feminist geneticists, under
the veil of a secretive corporation called GENEX, succeeded in
genetically-engineering the planet's people into a new race, a
female-dominated race. Vixan women are built like Amazons -- tall, strong, and
athletic. Their brains are hardwired to be more logical and sharper at
mathematics and reasoning than their males' brains.

Vixan women have broad shoulders, long legs, strong arms, and although the
"secondary sex characteristic" of breasts has been preserved, their breasts do
not give milk and their nipples are not "erogenous zones" for sexual pleasure
-- because Vixan females are not the nurturing sex. Furthermore, Vixan females
have been forever freed of pregnancy and childbirth. Although Vixan men and
women have normal, vaginal sexual relations, fertilization to perpetuate the
Vixan race takes place in vitro, and gestation on Vix takes place in public
laboratories called "gestatoria", where newborn infants are born, then sent to
"childorms" to be reared by male nannies called "chatties".

Vixan males are shorter and physically weaker than their females. With a
penis, moustache and some body hair, and no breasts, Vixan males resemble the
males of Old Earth. But they are really a brave new breed of males -- with
narrow, pert shoulders and broad, curvaceous hips. With their voluptuous,
hourglass-shaped bodies designed for one thing -- passion -- Vixan males are
slaves to their naughty sexual desires, and lust after the tall, beautiful,
athletic Amazons who run their government, fight their wars, fly their
spaceplanes, and rule their planet.

And now, the story of Loni Taormina and his world...

*****

Apollonia Taormina squinted as the morning sunlight streamed through the
window panels of the Arcturus spaceplane. His shimmery, gold-tan blouse was
cut to bare most of his shoulders and midriff, and the warm, bright sunlight
streaming into the cabin felt welcome on his exposed skin.

Apollonia took a seat in the first row, next to a window. In the seat to his
left, a man of about 40 or 45 with mid-length, silver-frosted black hair was
sitting quietly, watching a private holomission glowing in three dimesnsions
on a Hive emulator, in the space above and in front of him. The older man was
dressed in a black, long-sleeved tunic with a maroon floral design flecked
with gold, and loose-fitting, matching pants, both in a shiny fabric that
looked like silkience. His shoes were black, closed-toed pumps, the
old-fashioned kind with medium-high heels that couldn't have been more than 50
millimeters. Apollonia settled into his seat and was about to switch on his
overhead Hive emulator - one of his favorite daytime romances was about to
start. Just then the older man turned his gray-green eyes away from the Hive
screen, and looked at Apollonia.

"Hello," he said. "I'm Cleo. Cleo Marberg." Apollonia started.

"Hi. I'm Apollonia Taormina."

"Apollonia? I've always liked that name."

"My friends call me Loni."

"Loni is part of Apollonia, so why not use the short version, right?"

"It's easier for some people to remember," Loni said.

The older man stared at Loni a few seconds. "And your last name. Tarmeena? It
sounds Maluvian."

"Yeah. I pronounce it Tah-or-mina. The Maluvian way, I guess. All my gamdons
are Maluvian. Wherever they are."

"All your gamdons? How many do you have?"

"Oh, I had six," Loni said. "At least that's what it says on my geneprint."

"Six gamdons, huh? Most people only had two or three when I was born."

"Well, it's not like I'm looking to track them down or anything."

"You're out of touch with them?"

"I never met them," Loni said. "I've never talked to any of them. Why should
I? I was born in Sidon Central Gestatorium and raised in Sidon Central GenCen.
Just one of millions of Maluvian zygotes they shipped up north to Centercoast
in 769, I guess. Who knows why. They say it was just something GENEX wanted to
do, for ethnic diversity reasons or whatever." Loni crossed his legs, one
thigh over the other in his favorite way, and rocked the leg on top.

"Yeah, that was part of it," said the older man, thoughtfully. "They wanted
more Maluvians in Centercoast. Both sexes. Way back when I was a kid, and
before that, the only Maluvians in Centercoast were young men, immigrants who
came up here to work as live-in domestics for young single professional women.
And they weren't sent up as zygotes by GENEX, they moved there to find work...
and to find northern women, I guess. But it's obvious your background is
Maluvian. I wish I had that olive skin and those big, expressive brown eyes
you have."

"Thanks. Sometimes I get tired of looking so exotic, as they say..."

"You want to know the truth, Loni, most Northern guys would kill to have your
features and coloring. And the figures on you Maluvian men - you Maluvian guys
are built like bombshells. Small waists and beautiful broad hips and
voluptuous curves..."

Loni heaved a sigh as if he'd heard that kind of comment many times before.

"I mean I noticed you had a nice masculine figure when you walked in here,"
Cleo said.

"You think there's really that much of a difference between Maluvian guys and
northern guys?"

"Some difference, yes. Traditionally there was, at least."

"Well, I see a lot of northern guys who are built like me."

"You do today. But traditionally northern men were built a little smaller in
the hips and rear-end. A nice hourglass figure, with curves, but not as
voluptuous as you Maluvian men."

"But that's changed a lot, hasn't it?"

"Oh, yeah. GENEX is mixing up the gene pool these days. They're putting a lot
more Maluvian genes into northern men today, I guess. So our young northern
guys are all maturing with bodies like Marlo Voltura and Nicola Rocca!"

"Who are those guys?" Loni swiveled around in his seat to face Cleo, and
blinked his eyes with interest.

"Oh, you're too young to know them, I guess. They were two of the biggest
daytime romance stars on the Hive when I was about your age. And they were
Maluvian. Very curvaceous, very exotic and passionate Maluvian men."

"Interesting."

"And they dressed divinely, too - beautiful, skin-tight pants, lots of bare
skin and stiletto heels - it was considered quite daring and risqué then. But
of course those are the normal styles for your generation now."

"Yeah, I guess they are. I mean, why shouldn't a man feel like a man?"

"Oh yeah, I have no argument with that. I'm a little too old to dress that
sexy, though. But I don't worry about it. I'm happily married..."

"So, what takes you to Denara?" Loni asked.

"Oh, my wife works there," said the older man. "She's a economist, a
university professor. She teaches econometrics. She normally teaches at Sidon
Central University, but she's doing an extended visiting professorship on
Denara-- "

"So she's been away?"

"Oh yeah."

"How long has she been away?"

"She's already been gone seven months," said Cleo.

"Isn't that tough on you?

"How can it be easy? But you adjust. I learned how to use my MEPI real good."

"Oh really? That's interesting." Loni's eyes widened. "What model do you use?"

"I use a Modulex 9000 with a Delta 9.3 tip," Cleo said, an air of authority in
his voice.

"I use a Modulex too," Loni said. "The 6300b. I can't afford a 9000. That's
too fancy for me on my budget!"

"Hey, any Modulex will do, it's the tip that's important. You want to use at
least a Delta 9.0."

"I think I'm only using Delta 8.5 or 8.6."

"No, get a 9.0 or better! The tip makes all the difference in the world. It's
the closest thing to your girlfriend's tongue, honey. Trust me on that."

Loni sighed.

"You'll learn," said Cleo. "If you use the right tip, and close your eyes and
lay back, it feels just like your woman is playing you."

Loni rolled his eyes.

"It's true. The Delta 9.0 tip varies stimulation frequency 1,000 times faster
than the older tips do. It can deliver 10,000 different frequencies at the
same time. It was designed to simulate the effect of the neorontin in in a
woman's saliva better than anything else on the market."

"Cleo, I don't think anything can simulate that," Loni said, wearily.

"Check it out, Loni"

"Okay. I'll look into it," Loni said, with a hint of exasperation in his
voice.

Cleo's expression turned serious. "I can't believe you use a MEPI, anyway. At
your age?"

"Sure. Why not? All my friends, all the guys I know who are my age have at
least one MEPI. Usually more than one. Some guys collect them. We use them all
the time."

"Well, that's interesting. I'm 46, so I guess I'm over-the-hill. But what
would a guy your age need a MEPI for?" Cleo's eyes turned on Loni's left upper
arm, looking for the telltale sign of married men of Loni's generation.
"There's no vine tattoo around your arm so I assume you're single."

"Oh, I'm single and making the best of it. For now..."

"Have a girlfriend?"

"Not at the moment, no." Loni's voice sounded wistful and slightly far-away.

"So that explains why you know a little something about MEPIs, right?

"Oh, I have as many one-nighters as I can get. And casual relationships, you
know, a few weeks, a couple of months here and there." Loni smiled a small,
serious smile, as if to telegraph that there was a lot more he could say, but
didn't feel the need to reveal to this much older man who surely had had
enough experiences of his own.

"But, you know how it is," he said, a bit wearily. Sometimes your girlfrind
isn't around. Sometimes she's out with her friends or playing sports, or
studying or at work or whatever. And then you get stuck."

"Yeah, I know how it is. With my wife, it's when she spends hours in front of
her lascomp doing research. That's what you get when you marry an economics
professor."

"Oh, no. With the girls today, it's definitely sports. If these girls would
spend as much time giving us tongue jobs as they do running around the
basketball court chasing after some stupid ball, guys my age wouldn't need any
MEPIs."

"So where do you find your girlfriends?"

"Oh, it's not that easy. True, I'm single and I work as a legal secretary. For
a big Commercy law firm. Lots of gorgeous young lawyers all over the place!
But most of them are either married, or in a relationship, or... just too
busy. Or older than me. And that's not good."

"And you're how old?"

"I'm 26. Actually 27 next week!"

"And still single? You must be in love with someone unattainable, right? In
love with someone unattainable?"

Loni gulped. "Sort of."

"Well, who is this hot female, then, Loni? Who is this gorgeous chick?"

"Well, she's..."

"Who is she?"

"Well, uh... She's a volleyball player."

"Volleyball player, huh? Professional? What team does she play for?

"Well..."

"I guess you took one look at her in that little volleyball uniform and--"

Just then an attractive young female face, square jawed and framed with nearly
shoulder-length blonde hair, appeared simultaneously on all the overhead Hive
emulators. The young woman's broad shoulders were visible, jacketed in a blue
uniform with the silver shoulder insignia of the Systemwide Transportation
Authority. She spoke, her voice chiming clear over the cabin omnivox.

"This is Captain Cherilyn Brandwell. I'll be your pilot this morning on the
Systemwide Transportation Authority Flight 3406 from Commercy Spaceport,
Centercoast, to the Paradys-Denara subsystem. Our first stop is Denara's New
Zephyr orbital, then to Symphonia, the largest orbital above Denara. Finally,
we will land at the Apex Spaceport on Denara before our return voyage to Vix.
We're set to take off shortly. Our estimated time of take-off this morning is
0848 hours Centercoast Adjusted Time. Assisting on today's flight is First
Officer Nancy Witherspoon, Chief Technology Officer Kate Greenway, and Chief
Security Officer Heather Mills. Nancy?"

The image on the overhead Hive emulator suddenly changed. Now another young
woman, with short, medium-brown hair, precise features and wide set green
eyes, addressed the passengers.

"Thanks, Cherilyn. This is Nancy Witherspoon. Passengers, welcome to the
Arcturus P5800. This spacecraft is powered by four Series 5.8 Hemispheric
Gravomag Thrust Projection Modules and three Series 20A stabilization
thrusters. The TPMs have a maximum combined thrust of 1,895,000 joules per
cubic meter squared. After we exceed escape velocity of 273,742 kilometers per
hour, we'll be travelling at an interplanetary cruising speed of approximately
297,000 kph, at a heading of approximately 132.7 Spatial Axis Degrees X, 87.8
SAD-Y, 22.9 SAD-Z. Our estimated time of arrival at New Zephyr is 1646 hours
CAT, Tuesday, August 19, which is an ETA of 1746 hours Systemwide Standard
Time August 19, and 0953 hours Denara City Adjusted Time, August 24. That's an
estimated flight time of 82.3 hours." The young woman on the Hive smiled and
said, "Stand by please for pre-flight instructions from the chief cabin
steward, Jodi Newsome." She paused, looking downward as if to check some
indicators on the control panel. She looked up again. "Jodi?"

This time a man's round face, with jet black spikey hair, plump cheeks, and a
neatly-trimmed moustache appeared on the overhead Hive emulators.

"Thank you, First Officer Witherspoon. It's good to know that you girls up in
the cockpit are in good control of the spacecraft. The time is 0837
Centercoast Adjusted Time. Welcome, passengers, and thank you for flying with
the Systemwide Transportation Authority, your gateway to the entire System.
I'm Jodi Newsome, your chief cabin steward today on Flight 3406. Serving you
with me are cabin stewards Andi Bridger, Marti Carlisle, Carlo Salerno, Nikki
Goncalves, Dani Wharton, and Adona Wilder. On behalf of the four girls in our
flight crew, and the six other cabin stewards who will be assisting me in
serving your meals and taking care of your needs, I'm happy that you've chosen
Systemwide. Andi, Marti, Carlo, Nikki, Dani and Adona and I are here to make
you comfortable on the flight so please don't hesitate to page us at any time
using your overhead omnivox. Today's passenger roster is 426, which is
approximately 60 passengers for each cabin steward to take care of. We'll be
distributing your meals in space-safe, zero-gravity squeezepaks. Four cabin
stewards will be assigned to the first level of the spacecraft and three to
the second level. So, if and when you do need anything, please page us and
we'll try not to keep you waiting too long, okay? Thank you passengers and
please stand by for our pre-flight safety instructions."

Loni watched the center aisle of the spacecraft as Chief Cabin Steward Jodi
Newsome, starting at the front end of the spacecraft, walked a few steps and
stopped, then walked a few steps again, gradually making his way from the
front to the rear of the craft. Jodi Newsome was a man of about 25, with jet
black hair in a shoulder length "mullet" hairstyle, short in front and long
and straight on the sides and in back. His complexion was fair, his big eyes
dark green, he wore a medium-sized moustache the same color as his mullet, and
his face was an unusual combination of high, fleshy cheeks and a sharply
jutting nose. He wore the smart, dark blue uniform of an STA flight crew
member, but tailored to show off masculine curves. The trim vest, with snaps
and an STA insignia in front, was cut in an inverted V, closed at the neck but
cut to reveal his pert, bare shoulders. The vest was also cropped to reveal a
snatch of bare, taut midriff. The pants were professional looking,
form-fitting around the hips, and reached his ankles. His shoes were simple
black pumps with high, stiletto heels.

Jodi Newsome walked a few steps and stopped just ahead of Loni's row of seats.
He continued his speech.

"Each seat is equipped with a gravomag belt to keep everyone down in their
seats during the voyage. At this point we ask that all passengers activate
their gravomag belts. To activate your gravomag belt, touch the red light on
your right armwrest marked 'gravomag belt'. Passengers are forbidden by
Systemwide law, General Transportation Code Chapter 91 from deactivating
gravomags during takeoff and until the in-flight walkaround signal is given.
After takeoff sequence and postorbital stablization maneuvers, the in-flight
walkaround signal will appear on the holoscreen above your seats, and
passengers may then deactivate their gravomags. To deactivate your gravomag,
touch the blue deactivation button above your seat three times until it turns
green." Jodi Newsome walked a few more paces toward the middle of the
spacecraft, then stopped again and turned around. Because his voice was being
carried over the cabin omnivox, he didn't have to speak loudly.

"During our flight to Denara and Paradys over the next 80 hours or so,
there'll be no gravity, so all passengers with hair longer than 15 centimeters
in length should put on an elastex spacecap, which can be found in the
overhead bins above every seat. Passengers who need to walk through the
spacecraft should page a cabin steward and we'll bring a pair of gravomag
slippers which you slip over your shoes to walk around the spacecraft.

Jodi Newsome bent over, slipped off one of his stiletto-heeled black pumps
and, and stood upright again in what seemed one fluid motion. He up held the
stylish shoe, with its almost needle-sharp spiked heel and pointed toe, for
all to see. He ran one manicured finger up and down the length of its sleek
heel. "You men, you all know what this is. Men wearing high-heeled pumps and
those spikey-heeled sandals should take off their shoes before putting on the
gravomag slippers. Sorry, guys, bear with us. That's just a little thing you
have to do if you want to walk around on the spacecraft."

Newsome reached down and a soft, sky blue slipper with a soft, metallic-lined
sole seemed to appear magically from his hand. He slipped it onto his bare
foot. "Gravomag slippers are cool, but they're not designed to be worn over
men's heels. You can put your heels on again when we land on Paradys. And men
with those big earrings or long necklaces and other dangling jewlery should
have already removed those things at the departure gate, but if you haven't,
you should do so now. Remember, there's no gravity in space and dangling
jewlery will tend to float like everything else that's not secured properly."

"Oh fuck. I forgot." Carefully, Loni removed his large, hoop earrings and
inserted them into his shoulder-purse.

"Might as well tuck your hair into one of these spacecaps," Cleo said,
reaching up into the small overhead bin directly above his seat. He pulled out
a pale pink, rubbery cap and pushed his hair inside it. The cap fit tightly
over his head. Loni did the same and pushed his curly brown hair inside a
tight pink spacecap.

Nancy Witherspoon's attractive face again appeared on the overhead Hive
emulators. "Good morning passengers. We'll be lifting off approximately three
minutes. Please secure passenger doors."

There was a pause as the low hum of the spacecraft's engines loudened. Jodi
Newsome had apparently gone off to his own seat in an alcove adjoining the
cockpit, to buckle into his gravomag harness, but his face appeared on the
Hive emulators nonetheless. "We have a weather report for Limnos City, Denara.
Today's high temperature was 29 degrees and dry. The weather yesterday in
Morgana City, Paradys was 41 degrees and balmy. And now, passengers, as First
Officer Witherspoon has indicated, we'll be taking off shortly. Inertial
dampeners will be activated to make our take-off more comfortable. Now, on
behalf of the girls up front who are flying this spacecraft, please sit back,
relax, and enjoy the take-off this morning."

Loni felt the g-forces pushing his body back into his seat, and felt his
muscles tighten as a wave of force vibrations from the inertial dampeners
swept gently over his body. When the wave subsided, his body relaxed, and
suddenly, there was no more feeling of increased gravity, no sense of motion
at all. But as he looked out the window beside his seat, Loni saw the Commercy
STA Spaceport, all shining titanium girders and plascrete bulkheads. Loni
could see dronecraft hovering over the flight decks, with women scuttling
about unloading freight, servobots toting the large plastex crates, and
gleaming blue and gold metallic-hulled STA space cruisers, all sitting on a
blocklike, artificial island in blue Commercy Bay. And everything was receding
to a speck, disappearing beneath the white clouds. Without the sensation of
motion and lift one would experience on a skycar flight, Loni felt like he was
sitting at home watching all this on the Hive. Soon the Spaceport - now a tiny
white box on a sea of blue - disappeared altogether, as the indigo reaches of
near-orbit overtook the panorama from above, and the cloud covering obscured
the view below.

As the spacecraft stabilized, Loni looked out the window and tried to make out
the surfact of Vix beneath the clouds. He crossed one leg over the other and
with one hand, smoothed out the delicate, tan fabric of his dresspants. The
wispy nylex fabric, which had a hint of sheerness, clung around his generous
thighs like a second skin, but the extra-wide pantlegs that flowed loosely
around his own legs. Loni's toes poked out from the bottom of the billowing
pantlegs. He was wearing silver-metallic sandals with 110-millimeter stiletto
heels - exactly the kind that Jodi, the head flight steward, said had to be
taken off to walk around the cabin. Loni thought about how unfair that was -
to make men take off their stylish shoes and plod around in flatfooted
slippers like the girls. Even the flight stewards would have to remove their
fashionable stiletto-heeled pumps and put on those sexless slippers.

Gradually, Loni felt the g-forces dissipate and then, almost suddenly, he
noticed all traces of gravity were lost. He looked out the window beside his
seat once more, only to see that the sky outside was as black as ink, and they
were now travelling high above the curving surface of Vix. An amazing panorama
of the planet arced far below, the dark oceans and brown landmasses speckled
by a thousand feathery cloud-patterns.

Loni noticed that it was only the force of his gravomag belt that kept him
down in his seat. His body felt as feathery-light and free as the clouds
below. Even the loose, delicate material of his dresspants did a little dance
of weightless freedom around his calves.

"So tell me about this volleyball player, Loni. Do you have a holograph of
her?"

"Here, let's look at her on the Hive," Loni said. He punched a small button on
a bracelet on his wrist, then, with the same hand, touched the air above and
in front of Cleo. "Overhead holo, Access Code 3124995 dot 1197, Apollonia Nero
Taormina. Access my files on Darrelyn Audrey Bertling. Access video of her
volleyball team's games beginning with the 796 volleyball season, focus all
views on Ms. Bertling."

The overhead holographic device, or Hive, emitted a long beep, and suddenly
the space in front of and above Cleo was filled by a holographic video
projection of a volleyball game. The video alternated between different views
of a volleyball court and two teams of girls, all impressive-looking athletes.
In most of the scenes, one player stood out: a well-muscled blonde girl with
long, toned legs and a uniform shirt emblazoned with the number 24.

Loni pointed at the red-cheeked girl with platinum blonde hair pulled back
into a bobbing ponytail behind her head. The girl wore a tight, white uniform
tank top with blue numbers emblazoned on the front, tight-fitting black
shorts, and white athletic shoes. "That's the girl. See her? She's number 24,"
Loni said, pointing at the space in the air where the young blonde volleyball
player was.

"Number 24? You mean that blonde?"

"That's the one!"

"Nice legs! She's a tall drink of water, isn't she?"

"Well, volleyball players tend to be tall. She's 192 centimeters. There are
taller girls on her team."

"192 centimeters? Now that's tall. My wife Jane is only 181. And I think of
Jane as tall."

"Darrelyn's just a little taller than average for a girl her age, these days."

"Average?"

"I mean for a girl today. Girls are taller now than they were when during you
and your wife's generation. Right?" Loni smiled.

"You lucky little studs today, you're surrounded with all these tall,
strapping females. Yeah, I guess the women are taller today."

"Women? Women are fine, but Darrelyn's just a girl," Loni said
matter-of-factly. "At least I think of her as a little girl..." His voice
trailed off dreamily.

"A little girl? She doesn't look like a little girl to me. Look at that body!
Toned and muscular. Nice, broad shoulders. Full bust. Great deltoids. And
those legs... They go on forever! Hey, at 192 centimeters she's no little
girl."

"But she's still in school, Cleo."

"Oh? So this is a college team she plays for?"

"Denara State University."

"Oh! Denara State University is where my wife Jane is teaching!"

"Your wife teaches at Darrelyn's school? Sweet!"

"So what year is this Darrelyn in, at DSU?"

"She's a first-year student."

"First year? So she's what - 18?"

"She's 17."

"Seventeen? And you're just turning 27?"

"Next week, yeah..."

"So you're ten years older? Well, I guess that's not too unusual these days
with kids your age, I suppose."

"Men these days are dating younger chicks. What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing at all... It's great! I'm only a year older than Jane. Back in my
generation, there were more couples closer in age. This trend of older guys
dating and marrying girls like, 10, even 15 years younger, is a pretty recent
phenomenon."

"Maybe men are feeling freer to do that now," Loni said. He bent forward in
his seat to adjust one of the straps on his high-heeled sandals, which was
digging into his skin. He smiled. "I think every man wants a girl he can -
sort of nurture. I think that's why guys my age are going for younger girls,
these days."

"I don't know her, but I wonder - what is Darrelyn's maturity level like, at
17? I mean, you obviously have this huge crush on her, but is she ready to
handle a relationship?"

"Oh, I don't worry about her maturity level. Girls will act like girls. Women
are nothing but overgrown little girls anyway. Isn't that the way the saying
goes? And I mean, girls today - they don't really grow up mentally,
psychologically until later. In some ways chicks never grow up at all, right?
That's why they need men to take care of them. Right?"

"Sure. And every man wants to take care of his woman - uh, girl - as the case
may be. But you're surrounded by all those gorgeous young lawyers at work,
aren't you? Aren't they just a little bit more mature, more sophisticated than
a 17 year-old?"

"Who said I wanted mature and sophisticated?" Loni's face contorted into a
fiercely serious half-grin. "Maybe I want sweet and innocent and girlish.
Maybe I want the baby-doll type that I can nurture. Maybe it's my male
nurturing instinct. It's biological," he smiled.

"You want the baby-doll type?" Cleo blinked. "Look at her. She's 192
centimeters tall. She's built like an Amazon."

"Well I have no problem with that, Cleo. What man wouldn't want that? I mean,
her height, her body. You think I'd be this hot for her if she didn't have
those muscles and those long, gorgeous legs? But look at that sweet, girlish
face. Look at that peaches and cream complexion. Look at those big, baby-blue
eyes. And those lips. So kissable.... I don't see any contradiction between an
Amazon and a baby-doll. Do you?"

"I don't know, maybe I'm just an old fogey..."

"Cleo, if my nurturing instinct is running my mind, why should I argue? Men
aren't supposed to think logically, anyway. We think with our cocks!"

"True, but... Well, tell me. What is this 'baby-doll' of yours majoring in at
Denara University?"

"Her major? Oh, it's math. She is so smart! I found out she got, like, the
highest possible score of all the girls in Centercoast who took the University
Math Aptitude Test last year. That was, like 2 million sixteen and seventeen
year old girls. And it's, like, a six hour test. It could fry your brain.
She's so brilliant. Isn't that cool?"

"Cool? It depends on what she does with it. Tell her not to go into academics
like my Jane. Tell her to do something practical with it."

"Oh, yeah. I'll be sure to tell her."

"Hmmm.... You know, if your girl Darrelyn is studying math there at Denara,
she may actually have had my wife as a professor in some classes. Part of what
my wife specializes in - econometrics - involves all that differential
calculus stuff, and that's a mathematical subject. My wife teaches calculus on
occasion."

"What does economics have to do with math?"

"Silly, econometrics and economics use a lot of math. How do you think they do
their calculations to figure out what the economy is doing? To figure out how
much things will cost, how much of everything needs to be produced..."

"I don't know. I just picture Darrelyn doing a bunch of stuff with numbers and
all kinds of equations - isn't that what math is?"

"Oh, come on. Don't they teach mathematics to young men in school anymore?"

"No, not really. Not a whole lot of it."

"They've been changing the curriculum a lot in the schools, haven't they? It's
a lot different than it was when I was a kid, I guess."

"Yeah. They don't teach all that stuff - all that math - to guys in high
school anymore. Everyone gets math in grade school - boys and girls. But in
high school now, guys only get one year of math in the 8th grade, it's just
like basic arithmetic and stuff like that. That's all I had. Just so you can
add and subtract and do simple shit like that. Why would a man need more than
that? High school guys today all want to be househusbands. If you can add a
liter of oil and a liter of lemon juice, you've got ... a nice little salad
dressing, right? That's all the math men need to know, I guess. Guys today, we
just want to know enough math to be successful -- in the kitchen!"

"So when did you meet this Darrelyn?"

"Actually she's from Bethel Park. I met her about six years ago."

"Six years ago? You've known her that long?"

"I was her chatty when she was 10 and 11 years old."

Cleo's eyes bulged with amazement. "You were her chatty?"

"Why not? For 18 months. I was, like, 20 years old. We haven't actually met
again since then."

"Wow! Now I understand! You were her chatty! Now that is quite an unusual
story. You not only have a crush on this young girl, you practically raised
her, huh? So tell me what it was like to be her chatty. I've never been a
chatty."

"Well, I graduated high school in 787 and right after that I went into a
childorm attendant training program for six months. The Sidereal CDA Academy.
When you graduate from the program they give you an assignment. I don't know
if you know how it works, but usually every year the guys get reassigned so
the kids don't get too attached to one guy. So the childorm will rotate you.
Sometimes you might have an assignment for only three months or six months,
sometimes for a year, sometimes a little more. Never more than two years with
one group of kids. The year I graduated - it was 788 - I was assigned to the
Upton Glades Childorm in the West Bethel Park Metroplex. Taking care of 10 and
11 year olds. First it was both sexes, girls and boys. I did that for a little
over a year. But then I got assigned to a special unit for what they called
gifted girls. Now just because they were academically gifted they weren't
perfect. A lot of these girls had discipline problems at school. But they were
very bright. These were girls who were the brightest - they scored the highest
in their agegroup on intelligence tests. So they put me in a dorm suite with
five of these girls. And Darrelyn Bertling was one of them. She was this
beautiful little girl - I remember when I could actually look down on her! She
was 10 going on 11 then, and I was 20, almost 21. She must have only been like
155 centimeters tall, about average height for her age. And there I was, 168
centimeters, and taller in my heels - a chatty always dresses professionally -
and I was looking down at her! But Darrelyn was so pretty, with that gorgeous
platinum blonde hair and rosy cheeks, and big, bright blue eyes. And very
smart. But she was crazy about sports. Volleyball, basketball, wrestling,
roller derby..." Loni smiled wistfully.

"So wasn't it hard taking care of five little gifted girls?"

"Five little dynamos! Oh, they'd be in school most of the day, and when they
got home, I'd make them sit down at their lascomp terminals and do their
homework. Then if they were good, I'd let them go out and play their sports
for a few of hours - little girls are very active, they have to move around
and run and jump and they need to play, they need that physical activity
because they're growing so fast! Not just their bodies, but their minds! And
it's like the more they play, the more they run and jump around and play their
sports, the quicker their minds get! The childorm had little private sports
parks for each girls' dormsuite. Actually the sports parks were pretty big,
with basketball courts and volleyball and tennis... It was really nice, like a
paradise for girls. I'd be in the kitchen and I'd cook dinner and watch the
girls on the closed-circuit hivescreen. Then when I had dinner ready I'd call
them in to eat. Darrelyn would always be the last girl in. A lot of days, I
had to go out looking for her and drag her in from the sports park, and she'd
yell, and wail, and cry. She was a strong little girl even back then but I'd
just pull her by the arms, or whatever, and yank her across the court, inside.
I'd kick her ball away and she'd scream. Her little cheeks would get so red.
I'd promise her that if she came in to eat dinner I'd give her a treat
afterwards, something special for dessert. Her favorite was terraberry pie
with whipped cream. Actually that was my favorite, I'd buy that, or some Mayze
cherries and cream or something else delicious and I'd save it for after
dinner. After dinner when I'd send all the girls back to their homework, I'd
keep Darrelyn in the kitchen with me and I'd sort of tell the other girls
Darrelyn was being punished because she wasn't on time for dinner, or she was
bad, or something. As I cleaned up after the girls dinner, I'd sit Darrelyn
down and give her a big piece of terraberry pie with whipped cream and a glass
of milk - and we wouldn't tell the other girls about it. Sometimes I'd give
her seconds. And we'd sit in the kitchen together and watch the Hive. Usually
we'd watch the men's channels. It was a real introduction into the male psyche
for her, I guess. Sometimes we'd watch the girlie stuff, though -- sports.
Basketball, volleyball, rugby. She'd explain all the rules and the plays to
me. And once a week, I'd put her up against the wall holo and measure her
height with a laspen. Wow, she started out at about 155 and by the end of the
18 months, she was almost as tall as I was! I still had my heels, though. She
couldn't beat me as long as I wore my heels!"

"And now? She's 192 centimeters tall and you'll be looking up at her!"

"What can I do? Hey, I'm a full grown man and proud of it!"

"And that's how it was for 18 months?"

"Pretty much the same every day, yeah. I'd drag her in from the basketball
court, kicking and screaming, she'd shout at me, I'd pull her arm, pull her
ear, and even though she was strong, she knew I was bigger and of course a
chatty can spank an unruly kid, and I did that, too, once in a while. She'd
cry and scream at me, call me all kinds of names. And sometimes when she was
really bad I'd have to send her to her room without any desert. Or sometimes
I'd get furious at her for playing with her basketball in the dorm. I'd send
her to her room. And then later on I'd break down, and go down the hall to see
her in her room. I remember how she used to say she was afraid of hearing my
high heels clacking on the hallway floor. She said the sound of the heels
scared her. She never knew if I was gonna punish her. Ha ha! Isn't that cute?
But then she'd look up at me with those big blue eyes, and I'd break down and
take her into the kitchen and give her a bowl of custard or gelato, she'd be
so grateful. We'd watch the Hive and talk for hours. And I think she'd learn a
little bit every night about what men are about."

"So even back then, she was your favorite, wasn't she?"

"Oh, no doubt about it. And I could tell she was destined to be drop-dead
gorgeous when she got older. GENEX has this program called Genalysis, it's
opensource on the Hive, it lets you take holopics and the geneprint of a kid
and predict what they'll look like in, like 10 years. It can predict adult
height, physique, everything. So I did it with Darrelyn. I ran Darrelyn's
holos through Genalysis and added 7 to 10 years, and I couldn't believe it!
She was gorgeous in every way! It said she'd be 190-193 centimeters tall,
between 80 and 85 kilograms adult weight. It even predicts the child's adult
build, and predicts adult facial features and creates a holovideo of what
she'll look like as an adult. It's amazing, you can dress the person up any
way you want, you can have her do whatever activities you want. It can't
predict adult personality that well, though. And it can't predict the choices
a person will make. Like, I always thought Darrelyn would end up playing
basketball in school, since she liked it so much as a little girl. But she
plays volleyball."

"So what does Darrelyn want to do when she graduates from Denara?"

"Oh, I was hoping she'd go to law school. You know, working at a law firm, I
really have gotten to know how much respect and prestige these young lawyers
can have. There are so many young, ambitious lawyers at our firm. I could see
Darrelyn doing that."

"But her major is math."

"Isn't math about logic? Thinking logically? That's just what lawyers have to
do. Arguing the law is all about using logic. Besides, I was hoping she'd get
into politics. Maybe run for office."

"Run for office?"

"Why not? I'd love to be a political husband someday."