31

When Hewitt left the storeroom, he headed up to the captain's cabin by way of the ramps.

He came upon the four women cheerfully getting breakfast ready. They turned as he drove in. Four frightened women stared at him.

Hewitt said in his gentle voice, 'Don't be alarmed. I've come to talk to Captain Gourdy.'

They grew calm as he explained who he was. Also, it was evident that Ruth had already told the others what she had seen in the detector viewplate.

She asked, 'Is it true that Earth is destroyed as our husband says?'

Since Hewitt had not discussed that topic with Lesbee, he realized he was listening to Gourdy propaganda. It gave a bitter irony to his present situation on the Hope of Man. He had virtually ruined his reputation by predicting grave danger to Earth from a change in the sun. Yet here on the ship it would be to his advantage if that prediction proved untrue.

For reasons of the struggle for control of the ship in which he was now an unwilling participant, he needed these people to believe that Earth and its military might existed. Only thus could he establish his ownership rights.

It suddenly seemed too dangerous a subject to discuss at all.

He said evasively, significantly, '-our husband?'

'Captain Gourdy!' explained the oldest of the four women, who had already introduced herself as Ruth. She continued with pride in her voice, 'We are the captain's wives. That is' -she went on carefully – 'Ilsa and I were the original wives of the late Captain Browne. Then we became the second and third wives of Mr. Lesbee when he was captain.' She pointed at the slim blond woman, whose blue eyes reminded Hewitt a little of Joan. 'This is Ann, Mr. Lesbee's first wife. I understand she's to be sent back to him.' The blonde shrugged, but said nothing. Ruth next indicated the sullen young brunette beauty at the table. 'Marianne is Captain Gourdy's first wife. Naturally, Ilsa and I will now be taken over by him.'

Hewitt was discreetly silent. But as he glanced from one to the other of the women and saw their agreement with what Ruth had said, he felt an inner excitement of his own.

These women, he realized, amazed, were the male fantasy come alive. Throughout history, men periodically maneuvered the State so skillfully that women were motivated to accept multiple-wife roles, at least in connection with the top leaders. A percentage of men dreamed of having a harem of compliant females all in the same household, at peace with each other, free of that jealous madness which men normally found so painfully ever present in women outside of their own fantasies. The desire for many women was probably some deep psychological need, which those who were possessed by it did not even want to have explained.

Hewitt had never had such needs as an adult. So he could look at these women as would a scientist confronted by a phenomenon of nature.

And – just like that – he had an intuition.

'I shall be the captain,' he said. 'Therefore, you'll be my wives. So, when I call on you later for any kind of help, you give it immediately.' He added, 'Don't worry, it won't be anything dangerous.'

He finished, 'And, of course, don't mention to anyone, not even Captain Gourdy, what I've said until I give you permission.'

The women were all suddenly white-faced again. Ruth said finally, breathlessly, 'You don't understand. A woman does not choose among men or do anything at all that would indicate that she favors one man over another – until she is taken to wife by a man. Then she automatically favors her husband.'

Hewitt glanced from one woman to the other. He was both fascinated and shocked. He was well aware of the long history of man and his dealings with women. But it was one thing to know of a condition that had existed in the past and quite another to see that these women actually regarded themselves as pawns. They didn't even realize how much degradation was implied by the words they were speaking.

Because of his knowledge of the past, it seemed to him that he understood this situation as no one aboard could possibly understand it.

Understanding it, he said firmly, 'I'm sorry, ladies, for once you will have to make a choice among men. I can tell you right now, when I become captain, which of you I shall retain as my wife will depend entirely on how you show your choice at the moment when I ask you to do something on my behalf.'

His words had a shock effect. A strange expression came into the face of Ruth. Ilsa suddenly looked shy. Ann Lesbee became very pale. Marianne stared at him with bright eyes.

Hewitt had the impression that all four were suddenly feeling timid, and there was a quality in them that he identified as old-fashionedness: a combination of extreme femininity, acceptance of male dominance, and a peculiar practicality.

Exactly how such a condition had come about – what dynamics were involved – could well be someone's project for a later social study.

At the moment, Hewitt said, 'When Captain Gourdy returns, tell him that I was here and that I'm going now to the dormitory where the men are. I'll remain there and wait for him.'

When Gourdy had this information conveyed to him half an hour later, he went to the detector room and switched on the scanners. He tuned in on bedlam. The dormitory was filled with excited men who clearly believed that they would shortly be arriving at Earth. What shocked Gourdy was that his own men, whom he had placed as guards, were as aroused as anyone. They mingled with the prisoners, having apparently made up their minds that there were no further problems.

As he watched the wild scene, he realized belatedly that he had not taken into sufficient account the impact of Hewitt's appearance on the people of the ship. All that would now have to be rectified. Tensely, he considered what he might do. Then he called Harcourt in and showed him the scene.

He ordered, 'You get down there as fast as you can. Take the elevator. Wait till no one is looking and slip into the room. Then talk to each of our own men privately. Tell them this is a very dangerous situation for us all. We have to remain in control till we get to Earth. If we lose command of the situation, those prisoners may take their anger out on us. Have our men leave the dormitory one at a time and come up to the small assembly room. I'll talk to them there. Tell 'em no hard feelings. Everything is O.K.'

He felt better when Harcourt hurried out of the room on that mission.

He next tuned in on Lesbee. For several moments, he watched that intent young man at his labors. He had a regretful feeling. There were many things about Lesbee that he liked, but he had a growing intuition that the former captain was a permanent opponent, and that like Hewitt he would have to be disposed of. Of course, that was for a later time. Right now -

He called Lesbee on a communicator.

'Mr. Lesbee, I'm assigning you officer cabin Number Three and I want you to go up to it right now because I'm sending your wife over there. Who among the officers do you think should be released in this situation?'

He took it for granted that Lesbee would know what situation.

Lesbee, who had his own plans, said promptly, 'I wouldn't let any of Browne's officers go, sir.' Under his breath he added: 'Not while I'm doing all this meaningless work on the engines.' Aloud, he continued: 'And since for obvious reasons, you wouldn't want too many of mine loose during this period of confusion, why not let me have Mr. Tellier to help with these engines?' He thought: 'That's really going straight to the heart of the matter.' He finished his answer to Gourdy by saying respectfully, 'Just to make sure that I'm not misunderstanding, what precisely is the special situation?'

Gourdy explained about the excitement in the dormitory.