Free The Clones of Mawcett by Thomas DePrima Page A

gown on the bed, while Tkusa and Znanna finished attaching her stockings to the garter belt. From one of the Raider suitcases, they selected a pair of black, single strap heels. They had her sit on the bed so that they could put the shoes onto her feet, adding thirteen centimeters to her height. As a result of the DNA recombinant procedure performed on Jenetta while she was a prisoner of the Raiders, she had grown six inches over her original height of five-feet four. While wearing shoes from the Raider case, she would stand six-feet three-inches, making her almost as tall as the Nordakian handmaidens, who wore only eight-centimeter heels.
As Jenetta balanced on the very high heels, Tkusa lowered a full-length slip over her head. Then Vronnesa and Znanna helped her to step into the gown they'd selected. But when attempting to zip it, they found the waist was too small. The three handmaidens discussed the situation and arrived at the only possible solution, a corset from the Raider clothes case. Made of a special material that actually constricted or expanded when a control device was used, the corset could squeeze a person's waist to whatever size was required, or at least whatever size could be endured. Znanna picked up the white controller from the case, and touched it to Jenetta's waist while depressing the button that would shrink the corset horizontally wherever the controller came into contact with it.
 As the corset tightened, Jenetta was reminded of her days in the Raider detention center where women were forced to wear corsets and impossibly tight clothing every day. Although facing a lifetime of such strict fashion at a brothel back then, she knew that her current discomfit would only last for a day or two until proper clothing could be made. The corset would have been much less uncomfortable if Jenetta wasn't so physically fit, because rather than compressing body fat, it was attempting to compress muscle mass.
With Jenetta's waist reduced by almost seven centimeters, Tkusa was able to close the gown. The three women then shortened the hem so it reached precisely two centimeters from the floor. The skirt portion of the restrictive gown wasn't as tight as the dresses from the Raider suitcase but it wasn't very far removed. Jenetta found she could only advance her leg about twenty centimeters with each step, and it would take three steps to equal a single, normal stride.
“Vronnesa, do all women on Nordakia have to wear clothing with such physical limitations?” Jenetta asked the handmaiden who seemed to be the spokesperson for the girls.
“No, not at all, My Lady. The lower your station, the more mobility you have. The lowest classes can wear wide skirts that don't restrict movement at all, while Her Majesty the Queen can barely walk.”
“Then you're telling me that any clothes I wear while on Nordakia will be as restrictive as this gown?”
“Yes, My Lady. This gown was prepared especially for you.”
Jenetta groaned inwardly, knowing that she would have to put up with this kind of apparel for an entire month. She wondered, if only for the briefest of moments, if it was still possible to refuse the medal award. But she already knew that would convey the gravest of insults to the Nordakian people, and to the government who had gone to great lengths to arrange this tribute to her.
Once she was dressed, the three girls had Jenetta sit on the bed so they could affix an elaborate headdress with long streamers of material.
“What's this for?”
“It's necessary, My Lady,” Znanna said. “We need to hide the fact that you have such terribly short hair. Even the lower classes don't wear their hair this short. It would be cause for great embarrassment in the palace.”
“Oh, I won't be embarrassed.”
“Not your embarrassment, My Lady, the Queen's. She would be greatly embarrassed to have a guest with such short hair.”
“Don't women on your planet ever loose their hair from illness or something?”
“Yes,