19. WOMEN ARE FROM VENUS

THE CASE OF MERCURY RISING, 19

By automatically balancing the pull of various gravitational fields and manipulating natural forces acting on it, our little craft hurtled through inner space towards Mercury at an unbelievable speed, and the way the guts of it adjusted gravitational forces we were hardly affected at all by acceleration. If you don’t understand this, don’t worry: neither do I!

We were left, however, with a bitter taste following Blinky’s outburst, and as we had little else to think about it dominated our conversation when we weren't totally absorbed in each other. And for us not being required to control anything at all, the vessel being totally automatic and us not even having to make any critical decisions, we wiled away the days before we found ourselves, almost surprised when it happened, approaching the orbit of Mercury.

We did have one continuing debate, though, and it had, of course, to do with Blinky, who we had respected despite his many shortcomings until that conversation as we passed Venus. He had shocked both of us. It was his expressed willingness to see total strangers, even if they were from a non-terrestrial origin, blasted out of the skies that appalled both of us.

“I’m not happy,” said Angelina quietly as we sat in our two chairs wishing they could be moved closer together for romantic reasons but acknowledging that for perfectly sensible reasons on a craft that was hurtling through space and likely to encounter unexpected objects they had to be bolted down securely and even equipped with so far mostly unused safety belts.

“Why, my love?” I asked. I’d taken to calling her my love because, quite simply, I worshipped everything about her. I’d had relationships before, one or two being quite serious, but nothing like this. She had become everything to me, not like previous girlfriends who I’d have sworn I was in love with but who, with almost unbelievable rapidity, began to display their faults. But from my perspective Angelina had no faults. It was as easy as that!

“His outburst,” she said, “wishing to destroy an unknown being for no reason other than because she’s alien and he doesn’t understand aliens.”

“I agree,” I said, quite simply, “that was a side of him I never dreamed existed.”

“I won't be happy working with him when we get back home,” she said, and that was the crux of our discussion. Neither of us would be able to forget the nature of the man.

And I noticed there was no deference to the uncertainty principle. In her words it was when rather than if we arrived back home, and I liked that. I was also almost titally confident that Igor had created a safe vehicle, and as he had most likely intended to make this journey himself had therefore factored into its design a great deal of safety.

“The same thoughts have been going through my mind,” I said, because they had. “And looking back on it, we’ve encountered the dead balloonist, who might have represented a danger to us if Mercury Rising hadn’t been alert and detected him, the Yorkshire bloke who as good as threatened us when he suggested taking our craft from us and stranding us on the moon, with a suggestion that he had a cosy homestead in that crater that we could have, and the fair butterfly-like damsels in green from a world far away. Unlike those from Earth, the butterfly folk, as we nicknamed them, were no threat to us at all, neither in word nor deed, and yet they’re the ones Blinky would have blasted to Kingdom Come, leaving the dead balloonist and the Yorkshire group in total peace to do their worst. I wish the green folk well, finding a home on Venus, proving that after all women are from Venus and some of us men have little or no sense!”

“I suppose the Grimsdyke chap was getting desperate, and desperation can make rational decent people do stupid things,” mused Angelina.

That was one of the loveable things about her, the way she could see the point of view of someone who might have, albeit reluctantly, wished her harm.

“I mean, he said one of their number was pregnant,” she explained, “and it’s hard-wired in all of us if we’re normal to look out for the next generation, and that includes the unborn, and that’s probably what was driving him.”

“I’m hard-wired into protecting those I love, and I love you,” I told her, “I guess it’s a man thing from primordial times, he fighting off beasties and hunting for meat while she tended the little ones with her gentle ways and milky b***s!”

“How sweet! But not all women are in possession of gentle ways, as you put it. I’ve met a few harridans in my time,” she grinned, “and a battleaxe with breasts is far worse than one with balls, I can tell you.”

“Okay, so have I, come to think of it. But back to Blinky. I don’t think I’ll be happy working with him when we get back. I can’t stand the sort who jump to wrong conclusions and back their thoughts up by squeezing a trigger,” I told her.

“I’m in a funny position,” she said, “I was sort of edged into Blinky’s office by the powers that be who thought his blindness might become an expensive problem if things went wrong, his accident being in police time and using police equipment. You see, I was only a constable, but happy to go with him and keep an eye out for him, and his office was a right mess to start with, I can tell you! Back then, if you recall, he was blind all the time and would only have seen a mess if it kicked him! But it was a kind of unofficial promotion and I don’t know where I stand if I decide I’ve had enough of him and want to go back in uniform.”

“Have you? Had enough of him, I mean?”

She shrugged. “It was that outburst,” she said quietly. “I want a peaceful, quiet life, not one of blasting away at every Tom, Dick or Harry I don’t like the look of! And Blinky would have done that had he been here. He would have looked at alien life, decided he didn’t know anything about it or even try to understand it, and done his best to destroy it, according to his own words.

“Interruption,” said the computer out of the blue with a stark suddenness.

“Mercury Rising, what is it?” I asked.

“We are approaching our planned destination and are already decelerating.. I have configured our route to pass close to Mercury before accelerating away on our return journey, and have calculated the precise place in space for the contents of your handbag to be jettisoned,” intoned the speaker in a sombre yet matter-of-fact voice.

“By jettisoned, what do you mean?” I asked, “I thought we were meant to be blasting the diamonds directly at the sun to make quite sure they get destroyed.”

“There is no need for anything to go blasting anywhere,” retorted the computer in its more normal aggrieved voice. “The diamonds will be placed on the floor of the air-lock, near the outer door, in their tin and tucked into a cushion specially designed by master Igor for the task. Then the inner door will be sealed and when the outer door is opened the air naturally whooshing into space will take with it the items meant for solar destruction. It will all be over in a second or two, the outer door will then be closed again and we can head back to Earth.”

“As easy as that?” queried Angelina, “are you sure the diamonds won’t find an orbit of their own and stay dancing a merry dance round the sun for the rest of time?”

“They’ll be in an orbit alright,” confirmed Mercury Rising, “but it will be a decaying one, and very soon it will have decayed into the sun. The diamonds will probably be reduced to carbon dust even before they reach the outer surface of the sun, because, my friends, it’s hot out there!”

And then it was silent. Our journey, at least the first half of it, was over.

Or was it?

© Peter Rogerson 02.03.20