Free The Privateer by William Zellmann Page B

claiming she reminded him of his daughter.
    Finally, the little ship came in, and she knew her chance had come. The Proctor said it was the smallest ship ever to visit Ararat, and that it carried only one man. A whole ship for one man! Surely, there would be room for a small girl, as well!
    At first it had been exciting, sneaking aboard when the work crew was servicing the air and water supplies, though she had been surprised at how small everything was. Then she felt the ship moving, and knew she was actually in the space between the Lord's stars! She had prayed, of course. Where better? But then the time had dragged. The most horrible wrenching feeling had awakened her, as though the whole universe had suddenly gone mad. And in the midst of her agony, she had been discovered. Too sick to apologize, too sick to plead, too sick to even speak her carefully rehearsed speech. And then that hard, strong hand had seized her wrist, and the man she had thought had a kind look had shouted at her, told her that she might have killed them both! All she could do was make her peace with God and the man, and offer up her life in expiation.
    And what now? How was she to wash the filth from her body? The complicated mechanism she had been shown intimidated her. There were few machines in the village, and though there were many on the space station, there were special caretakers for them. What if she couldn't figure out how to use the thing? Dear Lord, even if she disrobed in the bink . . . uh 'bunk', how was she to get to the 'fresher? She had to strip. Her clothes were filthy and fouled. She would be completely naked , and he would be there! He would see her! Even husbands were not permitted to see their wives naked, except in cases of emergency or serious illness. Maybe she could keep her underwear. No, he had told her they would interfere with the 'sonics', whatever they were. And if she couldn't remember how to use the complicated 'fresher, she would be forced to invite him to see her as he helped her. She felt tears begin to well up.
    NO! She would not cry. The man would think her a child. She swallowed, and took her courage in both hands. The man had said that the morals of Ararat were not the morals of the universe, though she did not understand how that could be. Wouldn't the Lord make certain that His rules were followed throughout the universe He created? But the man had sounded sincere. And it seemed the authorities on Ararat agreed. Wasn't that what they had really been warning her about? That other places had different ideas of right and wrong? Could there really be different customs and beliefs, like the ones in those books?
    She steeled herself. Yes, there obviously could. This man and those books proved it. She had not believed it at the time, but one of those books maintained that there were places where people truly did not believe in the Lord of All. How could they then discern right from wrong, good from evil?
    Apparently, she was about to find out. If they survived this 'jump', the man had mentioned. Suddenly, she was looking forward to it. She knew right from wrong. She had studied the holy word since she would walk. Yes. She would walk through the valley of the shadow of sin and she would fear no evil! And she would fear no man, either!
    Finished with the cleaning, she approached the man. "Noble sire, my clothing is fouled. Is there fresh clothing aboard that I may wear?"
    Cale turned to her with a smile. “There is clothing, but I'm not sure you'll have the courage to wear it. In the locker in that stateroom, you will find several shipsuits. Those are coveralls that are normally worn by both sexes while in space."
    "Coverall?"
    Cale stood. "This is a shipsuit," he said, indicating his own garment.
    Ruth grabbed hold of her panic. Yes, it had trousers. Unthinkable for a woman. On Ararat , she finished. The man had said they were normally worn by both sexes. Very well. The sly grin on the man's face showed that he knew