The Time War
By Gary LM Martin
Chapter 18: The People's Republic of Eastern Vietnam
The Temporal Social Justice Warriors:
Craig Fuller had a secret love.
When Craig Fuller had joined the Community, he had assured Maria Jefferson that he was
inanimasexual
, that is, he only had sex with inanimate objects, usually soft ones with slits in the center of them--pillows, balls, holes in walls, anything he could cut open and insulate with soft material. Maria had been hesitant to let Craig into their group--after all, Craig was a white male, but after being strictly assured by Dana Slotkin, his sponsoring friend, that he had no attraction to women, Maria allowed him to join the group, perhaps as the organization's token inanimasexual.
The trouble was, that Craig was beginning to feel an attraction to his friend Dana, and he thought she might feel the same too. They had become friends at UC Berkeley, when both joined the Equality! Justice! Weed! Coalition. Craig was a "safe" friend for girls to have, because as he explained, he wasn't attracted to women. Attraction to girls was... messy. Girlfriends could argue with you, or break up with you, or hurt your feelings. But a solid object, like a tennis ball with a slit cut into it, were so much simpler, so much easier to have relationships with.
And Craig felt that way for a time. The problem was, now his thoughts were evolving. Every time he watched Maria kiss Dana in the Community Room, he found his chest tightening and he turned away. And then yesterday evening, when Maria announced to everyone that he was going to his bedroom to give Dana some "tender loving care", Dana's eyes had caught his, and it seemed she saw the hurt in them, and she gave him a sad smile. Dana was doing that more and more often lately, smiling at him, and it felt good, but it also hurt too. He began to wonder if making love to Dana might not be
even better
than making love to a tennis ball with a slit in it.
********
Craig wasn't the only one troubled by the web of relationships inside the Community. Keith Ashanti wasn't entirely happy either. He had let his wife Hillary persuade him to join the Community. She told him how Maria was working to change history and to give black people justice for centuries of oppression. Keith didn't know what to think when he first met Maria; he had expected to meet a black woman, and he found himself face to face with a white man. But Hillary assured him that however Maria looked, he was as black on the inside as they were, and was an excellent advocate for social justice for people of color.
And so Keith had joined the Community. He was amazed when he learned about the Time Tunnel, and the true nature of Maria Jefferson's project. He had thought it was simply all rhetoric. He was surprised to find it was reality.
But one reality that Keith didn't fully understand when he joined was the nature of equality among the members of the Community. During the joining ceremony, Keith and Hillary had been made to pledge their commitment to total equality--economically, socially, and even sexually. That last component made Keith frown, but he said the words, even as he wasn't entirely sure of the meaning.
It was only later that he learned what it meant. In theory, anyone could demand that anyone else have sex with them. To refuse would leave one open to charges of "hoarding sexual wealth". Keith had looked at the other men, John Cummings, Elijah Ellison, Red Bull, and Ahmed Ahmad, and wondered who would have the balls to try and have sex with his wife while Keith was still above ground. It seemed they all had the good sense not to try.
But that reticence didn't apply to Maria. It seemed the rule against "hoarding sexual wealth" was meant to benefit him, and him only. He could and did have his pick of the women. Mostly, it didn't matter, as they were all enthralled by him, and unmarried... all except for Hillary, Keith's wife.
The first time Maria had put his arms around Hillary, Keith had been enraged. But Hillary had gestured with her eyes for him to be calm. Afterwards she had spoken to him in hushed tones, telling him that it was all just for show, and that she would never, ever let it go too far.
And so Keith let it continue, and he was forced to watch as matters progressed. When Maria saw that Keith didn't object to his putting his arms around Hillary, he took her in his arms again and gave her a kiss. Keith was outraged, but still did nothing. And then before long Keith found himself sitting, furiously at the long dinner table, watching as Hillary sat on Maria's lap, squealing as Keith fondled her breasts.
"The fruits of Mama Africa," Maria said, in a low tone, with a wicked smile, as he squeezed Hillary's breasts. Keith was livid. He wanted to strangle Maria. Somehow he forced himself to remain still as Maria fondled and then kissed his wife. But then it got even worse. Maria, sensing the power he had over Keith, said, "This is quite a piece of African ass you have here, Keith. You don't mind sharing the sexual wealth, do you?"
Keith bit his lips. His fists were clenched under the table. He shook his head.
Maria looked at Hillary. "You see, dear? I told you he didn't mind." And then as Keith watched, Maria slipped a hand inside her shirt and squeezed Hillary's ripe melons. "You believe in redistribution of sexual wealth, don't you, Keith?" Squeeze squeeze squeeze. "You want all of us to experience what you've been hoarding, don't you?" Squeeze squeeze. "And what a wealth it is," he said, staring Hillary in the eye for a long moment, and something special passed between them. Then they kissed.
That night, Keith was enraged. He wanted to kill Maria. Or leave the group. Or both. Hillary tried to calm him down. "Keith, we can't leave."
"Just watch me!"
"Do you really think Maria is going to let us leave, knowing all we do about the Time Shaft?" She grabbed his hands. "Darling, once we joined, we're in. There's no going out. If we try to leave, they'll find us. They have the Time Shaft, remember?"
Keith understood. "But... you promised me you wouldn't let things go too far."
She touched his face tenderly. "I promise."
And Hillary kept her promise... for two whole days.
********
Two days later, Maria stood up after a satisfying dinner that the girls had prepared. The girls were still assigned to cooking duty while the men worked on the next mission, which rankled them to no end. But in front of Maria, they were all smiles. "Hillary, come here, honey bun," he said, waggling his finger.
Keith preemptively clenched his fists under the table while Hillary practically danced into Maria's arms. Maria gave her a passionate kiss, and what was worse, Hillary seemed to give as good as she got. Maria smiled as he held her in his arms. "Hillary, my dear, have I ever shown you my fine collection of African nipple rings?"
"No, Maria, you haven't," said Hillary, in an artificially high voice.
"Come," he said, smiling knowingly, leading her to his bedroom.
Keith pushed his chair back, scraping it loudly against the floor, and stood up, his face flushed with anger. He moved between Maria and his path to his quarters.
"Is there some problem, Keith?" Maria asked mildly, as he held Keith's wife in his arms.
Keith looked around. Suddenly, he was surrounded by John Cummings, Elijah Ellison, Red Bull, and Ahmed Ahmad, and they all looked none too friendly.
Keith sucked in his lips. "No... no problem," he said, in a hoarse whisper.
"You want to share your sexual wealth with me, do you not?"
Keith gave a strained nod.
"Good," said Maria. He turned to Hillary. "Say goodnight to hubby, dear."
"Goodnight, Keith," said Hillary. Somehow, that hurt him worse than anything. He watched as the two went into Maria's quarters, and then the door slammed shut.
********
The next morning Keith was awoken by a hand grazing his shoulder. He immediately woke up and saw Hillary, looking pleased with herself. "What did you do?" he demanded.
"What I had to do," she said.
