Free I Shot You Babe by Leslie Langtry

the language is impossible. Fine. I’m here, but I don’t have to like it.”
    I couldn’t help smiling. Was I the only person who found this little tiff engaging?
    “I mean,” Veronica continued, “who in their right mind thinks of Mongolia when going on her first vacation since starting college seven years ago? Well, it’s too late to back out. It was nice of Professor Bialsky to arrange for a grant and everything, since I couldn’t afford the trip otherwise. But why do I have the feeling in the back of my mind that they are trying to get rid of me?”
    “Are you talking to me or yourself?” I asked.
    “You are laughing at me.”
    “Only on the inside, I swear.”
    “Yeah, well, you wouldn’t be laughing so hard if you had a mirror.” With that she folded her arms.
    I looked down at myself. My body was in peak condition. It wasn’t terribly embarrassing to be wearing such a skimpy uniform.
    “I mean, what’s with the little panties and tiny shrug?” She started smiling at last. “And the little pointed hat and curly-toed boots? I can’t figure it out!”
    “All right, Ronnie. Here’s your first lesson.” I then explained the reason for the open-chested zodag and the fact that the “panties” were for ease of movement.
    Unfortunately, I had no idea about the little hat and elflike boots.
    Her mouth dropped open, and for a moment I wondered what it would be like to kiss that mouth when she was sober.
    “You mean this…whatever you called it”—she fingered the edge of my sleeve—“is to keep women from competing? Seriously?”
    I nodded. “Genghis Khan referred to this as the Three Manly Games. He used them not only to train his warriors, but also to pit political rivals against one another. He obviously believed the sport shouldn’t be tainted by women. And the Mongolians concur.”
    She snorted. “Sounds mighty sexist to me.”
    I shook my head. “Genghis Khan wasn’t exactly a feminist, but he had high regard for women. He revered his mother and his favorite wife. They had a lot of power for women of that time. But he felt that this was a man’s world and sport.”
    “You sound like you admire him.”
    “I do. The man came from nothing. He was a peasant and a bastard, and ended up ruling an area stretching from Russia to China to India. He did this with a group of archers on horseback. He opened up the Silk Road, introducing East to West, and his sons and grandsons ruled Russia, China and India until the nineteen twenties. There’s a lot to admire about a man like that.”
    Veronica sat silently, digesting the information. As a cultural anthropologist, she was bound to be interested.
    “I read an article before I came,” she said as she stared off into the distance, “that said that a large percentage of people in the world can trace their DNA back to Mongolia. That must be why.”
    I let her think for a while, soaking up her interest with affection. I loved learning. I missed the ivory tower a bit. Watching her think was somewhat erotic for me.
    “I have an idea,” I said after a while. “Why don’t you come with us? Stay with me and my friends. You’ll experience the culture and observe the training. And in my downtime, I can try to give you some insight into the…” I paused. “How did you put it? Violent interests of men?”
    “Oh.” She looked uncertain. “I don’t know….”
    “Where are you staying now?” I asked.
    “In Ulaanbaatar.” She pointed to a rickety truck that made Sansar-Huu’s beat-up Chevy look like a Rolls-Royce. “The driver brought me out here just for the day.”
    “I can’t think of a better way for you to do what your committee wanted you to do than by joining us. And instead of feeling completely alienated back at the HoJo or whatever, you can learn about these people and their nomadic culture and have a built-in translator.”
    She considered this for a moment, much to my delight. I wanted her to stay. Wanted to be with her.