Author's Note:
Chapter 19 ended with Brad Formast arriving on Samothea, nearly five years after Ezra crash-landed there.
Brad landed at the Cloner City, which is ruled by Gloria, Chief of the Cloners, and her Council, including Madam Lawspeaker and Madam Medic.
Carlin, a Woodlander, girlfriend and future bedmate of Yael (once called Tamar) lives in the Cloner City as a Junior, a kind of temporary servant to the Cloner Council.
Wildchild (also known as Samothea) and her bedmate, Hazel, are presently staying with the Farmers, the tribe of Hazel's birth.
Solange, ex-chief of the Herder Tribe, lives in the Cloner City with her daughter, Tahney, and her bedmate, Ash. She serves on the Currency Committee.
It happened to be the weekly market day when Brad arrived, so the City was full of Herders and Farmers as well as Cloners.
On Celetaris, Danielle Goldrick leads the Samothea Project, dedicated to establishing permanent contact with Samothea, rescuing her brother, Ezra, and discovering what happened to Yumi Takahashi. A principal actor in the Samothea Project is Rosa Silverstein, once Danielle's pupil, now the Project's chief engineer.
1 Brad in the Cloner City
Madam Lawspeaker led Brad into the Council Chamber, where she took her seat with the other Councillors on the throne-like chairs.
Every woman in the City tried to crowd into the hall. Some had to stay on the steps by the door. Others climbed the stairs to peek over the balcony.
Flanked by her Councillors, Gloria was at her most dignified as she graciously received the visitor from space.
"I'm Gloria, Chief of the Cloner Tribe," she said. "Welcome to Samothea."
"Thank you, Ma'am. I'm Brad Formast, from Earth, and I bring you greetings from Doctor Danielle Goldrick and the Samothea Project Team on Celetaris."
"My mission is to discover the fate of Ezra Goldrick, Yumi Takahashi and the colony of Samothea. I'm glad to find the colony surviving so well. Are Yumi and Ezra here? I have messages for them both."
"I'm Yumi," the woman herself said, weaving her way through the throng.
"These letters are for you, Ma'am."
Brad took three thin pieces of paper from inside his grey airsuit. There was a short note from Danielle, introducing herself, a page from Michio Nakatani making an awkward but humble apology, and a long letter from Itsuki, her brother, telling her everything that had happened since she left.
Yumi sank to the back of the crowd to sit and read her letters, tears forming in her eyes.
"Is Ezra here, Ma'am? May I see him?" Brad asked.
"Ezra is presently visiting the Herder Tribe," Gloria explained. "I will send for him."
She addressed the whole assembly:
"Ladies, everyone will want to come and meet Mr. Formast, so will you set up the tents and marquees we use for the Cloner Fair? Galatea, will you please send out riders to fetch back the Tribal Chiefs and Ezra?"
This occasioned an argument between the feisty Herder braves, none of whom wanted to be away from the Cloner City, where so many interesting things might happen. The argument ended only when Galatea ordered three unlucky women to ride out. Reluctantly, they left to fetch their horses and set off for the Herders' Northern Camp.
"Mr. Formast," Gloria continued when it was quiet enough for her to be heard. "It will take a couple of days for the chiefs and Ezra to get here, so I hope you will enjoy the hospitality of the Cloner City while we wait."
"Thank you, Ma'am. ... Can you tell me something? Where are all the men?"
"There are none, except for Ezra and Yumi's son, Hayate. Come and have some refreshments and I'll explain."
While Brad joined the Councillors at the high table, Madam Lawspeaker tried to shoo away the inquisitive women who crowded the hall but Gloria overruled her. Another visitor from outer space was such an amazing event that it would be cruel to exclude anyone from the excitement.
The women settled down to observe the meeting, so the Juniors had to push through them to bring in glasses of fruit-juice and rough oat-cakes. Carlin was one of the Juniors who naturally caught Brad's roving eye as the girls curtseyed prettily and took orders for tea.
After Gloria told Brad the story of Samothea, she had a question for him:
"Do you have a schedule for your visit to Samothea?" she asked. "When do you plan to return to Celetaris?"
"My schedule is flexible, Ma'am. I've enough fuel and food to last a month but, now I see the population of Samothea is thriving, I can stay as long as I like."
Brad said this with a certain relish, seeing the way the women were looking at him; yet he felt the honest requirement to add:
"However, because I have such good news to report, I know the Project Team would want me back as soon as possible, so they can make plans to send more ships here."
"More ships?" Madam Lawspeaker asked. "For what purpose?"
"I suppose, to bring more people here ... er, engineers and people like that. Settlers, ultimately."
If Brad sounded unsure, it was because he didn't know the political situation on Samothea. He naively assumed that everyone would want more people to come, especially men, to re-start the colonisation of their planet and to bring modern technology, machinery and medicine.
It seemed, however, that this was something the women needed to discuss. Not everyone wanted more men to come, though Brad was sure they all were pleased to welcome him.
Brad could see he was being sized-up and admired. He was used to female attention and rarely turned anyone away. He certainly wouldn't want to leave a planet of women on which he was only one of two adult men.
Brad leant back on his chair and tried not to feel too satisfied. He resisted the urge to put his feet on the table.
******
Two days later, despite being charmed by the women of Samothea, Brad was sexually frustrated.
However warmly he was welcomed by the Cloner Tribe - forty women competed to bring him treats or to try to engage his interest - it was all innocent and went nowhere. The women were incapable of lascivious behaviour. They were too open and honest. They were also restrained by a decision the Cloner Council took not to let anyone be bedmates with Brad until all the chiefs had been consulted.
Brad felt the delay keenly, having been alone in strict quarantine during his month of training for the mission.
A few things distracted him from the problem of lusting so ineffectually after so many available (and apparently willing) women.
He chose some light trousers and a shirt from the Cloners' store of unused men's clothes.
He was fed well but also subjected to as much questioning as he could stand, testing his innate politeness.
He tried to be useful, applying his handyman skills to help Yumi and Madam Scientist with the store of old-Earth technology, making repairs where he could. His own computer tab (a small pocket device, thin and light, covered with a dull metallic foil to shield it from the x-rays) packed up after a day, which worried him concerning his ship and the beacon for the return journey.
At last, the riders returned, bringing Calliope, Mirselene and Ezra, almost the whole Herder Tribe and an assortment of lucky women from the other tribes. Everyone else who could be spared was on her way by foot.