Chapter 2

"After God created the world, he created male and woman."-- The Story of Gran Ch. 1, Line 1

Dahra paced on the stone-tiled plaza in front of the museum/college of geology as various women, many with their daughters, walked past her. She should have known that no one would be allowed in the building once the testing started. Lissa's test should have been over twenty minutes ago, and Dahra didn't know enough about the geology test to know if that was a good or a bad thing.

Dahra Cahlarfelgis looked young for her six years, with none of the lines or wrinkles that usually appeared on most women her age. If it weren't for the style of her straight dirty blonde hair, most people would have mistaken her for someone three years younger. She had not changed her hair style since she had graduated from college. As a result her hair was at least three years out of date. Although it suited Dahra, Lissa and many of her co-workers had tried, unsuccessfully, to get her to change it. She had ignored them all. Her hairstyle, short in the front and sides, and shoulder length in the back, was as much a part of her as her brown-flecked lavender eyes.

Tall for a docren, Dahra was five foot eleven in height, had a moderate build, and wore garb typical of a portaler: a green loose-fitting jumpsuit, with knee length legs and short sleeves.

For the ninth time Dahra scowled and looked up at the main entrance to the geology building. Though large, approximately one hundred yards square, the museum was by no means the largest of the capital city's museum/university complex. The zoology and art museums were much larger. The archeology building, which Dahra had exited, was the geology building's twin, sitting opposite each other in the main museum plaza of Fahrlot, the capital city.

Although Fahrlot's proximity to the equator eliminated the danger of hurricanes, the monsoon season still made it necessary for the buildings to be built in typical docren fashion: from a gray stucco-like material, with rounded corners and eaves, and windows and doors equipped with heavy metal shutters, that can be secured against the ravages of hurricane force winds. The roof, though flat, had a grid of drainage channels and grates surrounded the building. The cobblestone surface of the plaza helped prevent slips and falls on the wet walkway.

One feature that made the geology building unique from all the other plaza museums, was its outside walls. The gray stucco walls were sculpted to look like layers of rock. Each layer tinted a different earthtone, giving the building the look of a muted rainbow. This unique look attracted a lot attention from tourists visiting the capital city.

On a typical day, the flow of visitors coming in and out of the geology museum would be almost constant, but today it was closed for the tests. All the others were open, though. The university made an effort to stagger the testings, so that no more than one museum was closed on any given day.

After pacing for a few minutes more, Dahra wiped the sweat from her ample brow, and sat down on one of the many benches that surrounded the plaza. This one was under a wogbol.

Unlike most days, there was no gentle breezes to mitigate the humidity, and the shade felt good on a hot sticky afternoon. The sweet scent of the flowers planted throughout the plaza which was normally delightful, became cloying, and almost over- whelming, in the stagnant air.

Dahra tapped her foot impatiently as she waited on the bench. She started a few times as other students came out of the building; some looked sad or depressed, but most were jubilant.

When Lissa finally came out of the building, Dahra spotted her at once. It was hard not to notice her unique gait.

Lissa Kemetirtan, who stood five foot eight, was faldu, like her birth mother, Frissa. But, unlike other faldu, Lissa did not bind her breasts, or have them surgically reduced. Quite the opposite. In open rebellion to tradition, she wore a bodice that actually accentuated her physical abnormality. To all who would criticize her poor taste, Lissa would reply that God had made her faldu, and she was not going to be ashamed of it. No one could argue with that.

Movers were considered to be nonconformists, and Lissa was a shining example of this. Unlike most docrens, who currently had their hair cut short, Lissa had let her straight platinum blonde hair grow as long as she could, then pulled it back severely into a single braid that ran down to the small of her back. Unbraided, her hair just touched the ground. About the only thing typical about Lissa, this day, was her dress. A loosefitting brown legless bodysuit with a plunging neckline was pretty typical dress for a mover.

Seeing Lissa walk out of the museum sent a wave of nostalgia crashing over Dahra. Had it really been three years since she had walked out of the testing room in the archaeology museum to face her mother? In those days, friends and relatives were not allowed in to witness the actual testing. That policy was changed for all colleges in the university, about a month later.

Having spotted Dahra through the tinted glass door before she exited, Lissa marched out of the building straight-faced, not giving away the results of her exam, thus prolonging Dahra's torment. Just then a light breeze saw fit to blow in, sending Lissa's braid flying off to her right, like a windsock.

"Well," said Lissa, with a note of finality, "it's over."

Dahra couldn't hide her anxiety. "But did you make it?!" she cried.

Lissa threw her shoulders back. A glowing smile broke across her face that seemed to illuminate the whole area surrounding her. "You are no longer addressing Lissa Kemetirtan. I am now Lissa Kemetirfalas!"

"You made it!" shrieked Dahra, as she flung her arms around her adopted daughter's neck.

"First time, too!" she noted.

Dahra and Lissa strode eastward down the plaza, arm-in-arm, passing the few other late afternoon pedestrians.

The plaza was over one hundred yards wide and nearly a mile long. Numerous sculptures and benches decorated the center median, with flowers, wogbols and a few other trees of more exotic types planted around the perimeter and between the statues to shade the plaza from the intense rays of Lat. At one end of the plaza was the zoology museum, most of which was outdoors; at the other end was the art museum, with its vast maze of display halls.