was similarly situated with respect to Rodriguez, to his right, who took his place across from him.
“Is everything satisfactory, sirs?” asked the blonde. To Brenner, it seemed, again, as though she might somehow regard herself as playing a role. He wondered if she might not be speaking more for the benefit of the creature in the back than for theirs. Certainly her posing of the question, its tone, and such, to those to whom the language was familiar at least, had failed to ring of authenticity. Again there seemed to be some secret between her and Rodriguez. She was certainly attractive, however, thought Brenner, with those long legs, with that long, blond hair, and the yellow silk, in spite of whatever real or imagined meretriciousness, or falseness, might be in her manner. Yes, thought Brenner, she was ravishing. The brunette who had been at his feet at the bar now knelt docilely to his right. The blonde, it seemed, scarcely took note of her. The brunette was shorter than the blonde. Both, within the parameters set by their diverse heights, were superbly curved, the blonde in a tall, spare, linear loveliness and the brunette, shorter, with a more compact lusciousness. Brenner supposed that the blonde, from her manner and such, regarded herself as the superior of the two. Also, he recalled she had been summoned first to the floor and, of the two of them, Rodriguez and himself, had addressed herself to Rodriguez, who would have been easily recognized as first between them. The zard had then, perhaps as an afterthought, summoned forth the brunette for Brenner. From Brenner’s point of view, however, he was not dissatisfied with the arrangement. As a personal matter he found the brunette far more exciting. If the blonde was ravishing, then the brunette was even more ravishing. The blonde, incidentally, was of a type which many men of the home world, those who dared to speak of such things, professed to admire. Perhaps this had to do with her height and linearity, which tended to be more masculinistic than feminine, or, at least, than typically feminine. In this fashion, Brenner supposed that it might seem to many men of his world to constitute a less dangerous object of consideration, triggering fewer induced guilts, aversions, and such, than would the frank and delicious consideration of the luscious forms of more statistically normal females. Herein, one might speculate, could be found certain consequences of the negativistic conditionings to which the males of the home world were subjected. To be sure it was possible that there might exist another appeal of such a form, as well, a more obscure appeal, to be sure, but one perhaps also connected, ultimately, at least for the most part, with the negativistic conditionings. At any rate, Brenner preferred the brunette. Also, as some sop to his preferences, and as a reassurance to his vanity, he recalled reading somewhere, in a footnote somewhere, into which the most meaningful materials were often inserted, that on the openly stratified worlds, on all of which it seemed there existed the institution of female slavery, that the shorter, more luscious females, such as the brunette, tended to bring the highest prices. Indeed, more linear women, such as the blonde, tended to be held in a certain contempt, and were often consigned to the most menial duties. To be sure, it was admitted that they could be taught to jump and thrash, and serve, as well as their more normal sisters.
“Kneel there,” said Rodriguez to the blonde, indicating a place to his right, at the ring.
She looked at him, startled, but did as he had said.
She looked well there. Her back, of course, was to Brenner.
“This stuff,” said Rodriguez to Brenner, shoving a bowl in his direction, “is home-world mush. You would probably like it. Here it is probably fed to the women.”
Brenner glanced to the brunette. She put down her head. He gathered that such gruel might indeed be a staple in her fare, and doubtless in that of the blonde. The zard would presumably feed them alike. Too, they would not be likely to thrive on the fare preferred by zards. They were, after all, of a different species.
“Are you going to eat that?” asked Rodriguez.
“What?” asked Brenner.
“That,” said Rodriguez, indicating a dish near Brenner. “It is of the flesh of animals.”
“No!” said Brenner.
Rodriguez pulled the dish over to himself.
Brenner was horrified.
Brenner picked up a spoon and put it to the gruel before him. Such