War Theory, Thursday, 4th Period
She was clad in her Grayson uniform today, bright blues standing out strongly against the neutral khaki of the beach and the stark black of the Tankersley beyond. Her combination cover was on the sand next to her feet, and Nimitz hovered just inside the cabin of the ship, avoiding the graininess and moisture of the sand. Brown eyes followed a stone as it skipped a few times across the channel before disappearing into the murky waters of the Potomac.
“Good morning,” she said, squinting slightly at the late morning sun. “We’ll be departing shortly, but I wanted to speak with you for a few moments before we board.”
Honor bent forward, picking up the combination cover and regarding it before she spoke. She then rubbed her nose briefly with a hooked index finger. “What you see me wearing today is the uniform of the Grayson Space Navy, referred to in acro-speak as the GSN. The epaulets you see on my shoulders designate me as an admiral in that service. You will see very few - if any -- women in this uniform during your brief stay. And if you do, many of them will likely be Manticoran officers on loan to the GSN. To explain this, I’ll draw on somethings my mentor told me before I visited Grayson for the first time.”
A wry smile twitched across her lips as she recalled the briefing given her by Admiral Raoul Courvoisier so many years ago. “Yeltsin’s Star was settled even before my homeworld, Manticore. About five hundred years before, actually. The original settlers set out from Earth for a planet that had not even been surveyed, in a time when the cryo-process for such long term travel was still fairly crude, and had only been publicly available for about ten years. They, as your notes mention, used starships to escape from 'the corrupting, soul-destroying effect of technology.’” These were the words Courvoisier had used, and the very words that had stuck with her…even if her opinion of Grayson had changed by leaps and bounds since then.
“The founder of the Church of Humanity Unchained, Reverend Austin Grayson, managed to scrape together several billion dollars for his little plan, promising a ‘technology-free Garden of Eden’ awaiting the travellers at the journey’s end. He spoke a little too soon.”
Glancing down at her cover, she brushed a stray bit of fuzz off the visor. She then looked back up at the class. “Remember when I said they hadn’t surveyed the planet before departing? That came back to bite them. They arrived on Grayson to find it a beautiful but very deadly planet: the heavy metal content of the atmosphere, of the soil, meant that they couldn’t consume any of the water, plants, or animals native to the planet, or grown on the planet. They would need technology to survive, and likely even more than the Earth they had left behind.
“This was a truth that Reverend Grayson was reluctant to admit. You could say that he was in a constant state of denial until his death. After his death, one of the current protector’s ancestors joined forces with the commander of the colony ship. They steered the society away from the ‘technology is evil’ bent, and attempted to structure a life more ‘in tune’ with Biblical teachings.” She pursed her lips, eyes dancing with amusement as she recalled Courvoisier’s speech. “This included the theory that ‘Man is the head of Woman.’
“This was the situation when I arrived on Grayson. Women, at that time, had no legal rights. They could not vote, could not own property, and could not serve in the military. I stand here before you, however, as an example of Grayson’s growth and change: I am a female Steadholder, the equivalent to a landed peerage in the Star Kingdom, wearing a Navy uniform. So… I have property and I serve in the military. I also serve as the political and military leader for Harrington Steading.
“These are, however, things that spurred much of the change on Grayson - not the result of change on Grayson. Protector Benjamin has been nudging his planet into the common era with no small amount of opposition.
“I’m telling you this because I think you have a right to know.” She levelled her gaze at the women in attendance. “There will be some animosity toward you. Partially because you are with me; partially because you are outsiders; and partially because you are women with no small degree of independence. It will likely manifest itself as a rude comment or gesture, maybe as a simple snub. If you are provoked, I ask you, please, do not respond.
“In Harrington Steading, you have little worry of this. Outside the steading, my armsmen will be close by if things get out of hand.”
She smiled. “And just so you know, not all Graysons are stuck in the dark ages. Most Graysons are very positive about these changes. Especially,” she noted, “since they are being pushed by the Protector himself.”
Drawing in a deep breath, she tucked her combination cover under her arm. “Now, with that depressing bit of business out of the way, we should really be leaving.” She gave the widest smile most of her students had ever seen before turning and leading the way to the Tankersley.
[...now in the right place. OCD threads coming up! Arrival thread will be on fh_trips, and I will edit the entry to provide a link once that is done.]
“Good morning,” she said, squinting slightly at the late morning sun. “We’ll be departing shortly, but I wanted to speak with you for a few moments before we board.”
Honor bent forward, picking up the combination cover and regarding it before she spoke. She then rubbed her nose briefly with a hooked index finger. “What you see me wearing today is the uniform of the Grayson Space Navy, referred to in acro-speak as the GSN. The epaulets you see on my shoulders designate me as an admiral in that service. You will see very few - if any -- women in this uniform during your brief stay. And if you do, many of them will likely be Manticoran officers on loan to the GSN. To explain this, I’ll draw on somethings my mentor told me before I visited Grayson for the first time.”
A wry smile twitched across her lips as she recalled the briefing given her by Admiral Raoul Courvoisier so many years ago. “Yeltsin’s Star was settled even before my homeworld, Manticore. About five hundred years before, actually. The original settlers set out from Earth for a planet that had not even been surveyed, in a time when the cryo-process for such long term travel was still fairly crude, and had only been publicly available for about ten years. They, as your notes mention, used starships to escape from 'the corrupting, soul-destroying effect of technology.’” These were the words Courvoisier had used, and the very words that had stuck with her…even if her opinion of Grayson had changed by leaps and bounds since then.
“The founder of the Church of Humanity Unchained, Reverend Austin Grayson, managed to scrape together several billion dollars for his little plan, promising a ‘technology-free Garden of Eden’ awaiting the travellers at the journey’s end. He spoke a little too soon.”
Glancing down at her cover, she brushed a stray bit of fuzz off the visor. She then looked back up at the class. “Remember when I said they hadn’t surveyed the planet before departing? That came back to bite them. They arrived on Grayson to find it a beautiful but very deadly planet: the heavy metal content of the atmosphere, of the soil, meant that they couldn’t consume any of the water, plants, or animals native to the planet, or grown on the planet. They would need technology to survive, and likely even more than the Earth they had left behind.
“This was a truth that Reverend Grayson was reluctant to admit. You could say that he was in a constant state of denial until his death. After his death, one of the current protector’s ancestors joined forces with the commander of the colony ship. They steered the society away from the ‘technology is evil’ bent, and attempted to structure a life more ‘in tune’ with Biblical teachings.” She pursed her lips, eyes dancing with amusement as she recalled Courvoisier’s speech. “This included the theory that ‘Man is the head of Woman.’
“This was the situation when I arrived on Grayson. Women, at that time, had no legal rights. They could not vote, could not own property, and could not serve in the military. I stand here before you, however, as an example of Grayson’s growth and change: I am a female Steadholder, the equivalent to a landed peerage in the Star Kingdom, wearing a Navy uniform. So… I have property and I serve in the military. I also serve as the political and military leader for Harrington Steading.
“These are, however, things that spurred much of the change on Grayson - not the result of change on Grayson. Protector Benjamin has been nudging his planet into the common era with no small amount of opposition.
“I’m telling you this because I think you have a right to know.” She levelled her gaze at the women in attendance. “There will be some animosity toward you. Partially because you are with me; partially because you are outsiders; and partially because you are women with no small degree of independence. It will likely manifest itself as a rude comment or gesture, maybe as a simple snub. If you are provoked, I ask you, please, do not respond.
“In Harrington Steading, you have little worry of this. Outside the steading, my armsmen will be close by if things get out of hand.”
She smiled. “And just so you know, not all Graysons are stuck in the dark ages. Most Graysons are very positive about these changes. Especially,” she noted, “since they are being pushed by the Protector himself.”
Drawing in a deep breath, she tucked her combination cover under her arm. “Now, with that depressing bit of business out of the way, we should really be leaving.” She gave the widest smile most of her students had ever seen before turning and leading the way to the Tankersley.
[...now in the right place. OCD threads coming up! Arrival thread will be on fh_trips, and I will edit the entry to provide a link once that is done.]