Chapter 12

"Each ability group should have equal say in the governing. No one group should lord its will on the others." -- The Teachings of Gran Ch .33 Line 6.

The month that followed was one of the most tumultuous ones in Docre's recent history. There were more political and social debate in that one month than in the last five years.

The four other guildmistresses joined with Javum in a solid pro-male stance. The ones from the other guilds who thought males were a danger to society, joined a splinter group lead by Resiv, that, originally called "the women first guild", quickly became known as "the women's guild." By the time a week passed after the vote, the women's guild had grown almost to the size of the five other guilds, but didn't have enough pull in any one guild to gain a seat in the government.

The new guild demanded that a new seat be established for them. The government summarily refused to give any validity to this new radical movement. This lead to many demonstrations, riots, and threats of violence by the rebels, and counter demonstrations by the pro-males.

Inside the women's guild, though, all was not harmonious. There were many sub- factions, whose beliefs ran the gamut; from ones who felt that only the elderly and sickly males in pain should be humanely put to sleep, to the factions that thought all males should be exterminated, and reproduction done through cloning (a new technology, ironically, learned from the find), and all shades of belief in between. Resiv struggled to unify such diverse beliefs, but found it nearly impossible to unify such polarized groups. Many of the less radical members gave up and returned to their guild after a few days, but the more militant ones stayed, knowing they had no place in their old guild.

In the five main guilds, extremists were popping up too. Some pro-male factions came close to deifying males. They claimed that the find and library found within a elaborate hoax, and denounced Dahra as a heretic.

At the find, Dahra was still its caretaker. Once a day, a portaler brought a group in for a tour, and Dahra played the part of the tour guide. The rest of the time, Dahra spent on her book, comparing the sacred texts to the information found in the find's computer.

Her book on ancient history was an instant hit in the academic community, and became required reading in most history classes. Many scholars were now expanding on her book, focusing on specific eras of ancient history.

Fortunately, they didn't all have to fit into the find's computer room. Some electrical engineers using "find technology" rigged a special antennae that could transmit the information through the rocks to a receiver right above it. Now anyone could access the find's computer without contaminating the find's near-pristine condition.

It also eliminated the need for Dahra to portal researchers into the building. Which suited Dahra just fine. She never liked having to settle squabbles between colleagues.

A few scientists still requested to come in and examine ancient technology, but they were usually just a lone person or two team members. Few conflicts occurred between them.

Dahra in effect became the curator of the world's most inaccessible museum. This suited her, just fine. She had never thought of herself as the hermit type, but the quiet hours spent in pure historical research, with no quibbles or college politics, was like heaven to her.

Dahra's new book was going well. The more she examined what Gran said, and compared it to the computer's text, the more they agreed. Texts such as "the male's loss is greater than yours," took on a whole new meaning. References to "women starting the world anew," and "learning again what was known before," had baffled religious scholars before, made perfect sense now. She felt that much of the strife she had been hearing about, would be significantly reduced, once her book came out.

Dahra got most of her current news from Lissa, who, using an adept portaler friend, would come every eight days, and fill her in on the news of the world. She would also try to drag Dahra away from her research, and out into the real world. Usually, she succeeded. They would go to a club, a restaurant, or go diving in one of docre's many lakan reefs.

Lissa, in fact, was worried about her mother. She didn't think that her hermit-like existence was good for her. She thought that getting her out into the real world would help her see what she was missing, being cooped up in that glorified cave.

One day, Dahra was sitting in the first small bedroom, writing the final chapter to her book on her own personal computer, when Lissa came bursting through a portal, into the great room. "Mom!" she yelled, "where are you?!"

"Over here, Lissa," she called. Dahra sighed and pushed her chair away from the computer. It must be something important, she had only been here two days ago.