The Iron Maiden Read Online Free PDF Page A

and experienced in the bubble, that hardly mattered. “I was inside her,” he said. “And heaven was inside me.”
    “But what about--I mean, the first time--the blood--”
    “Only when the woman is a virgin, not the man.”
    She felt stupid. “Oh. Of course. But still--”
    “Give me your hand.” He took her hand it his and squeezed it cruelly. “That's rape,” he said as she yelped. Then he kissed it. “That's love.”
    “But it's still sex. Faith--”
    “Don't judge all men by the pirates,” he said. “That's what Helse taught me. Ask her.”
    “I will.” Because though her jealously still lurked, she really did want to know.
    Later, Helse clarified it for her. “He wouldn't come to me, so I came to him. I got him naked, and I spread myself upon him. I put his hard member into me and dared him to say he was raping me. He couldn't.”
    This was fascinating. “Couldn't what?”
    “Couldn't say it. Then I kissed him, and he came.”
    “Came where?”
    “I mean he climaxed inside me. Jetted his semen.”
    “Oh.” She had been stupid again. “That's all it takes?”
    “Sometimes. It varies with the situation. Sometimes a man will spurt even before he gets in; sometimes he has to pump a long time. Usually it doesn't take long. Then he sleeps.”
    “He just has to get inside her, and then it happens?” Somehow she had thought it would be more complicated.
    “It happens, and then his member softens and shrinks, and it's over. He loses interest, for an hour or a night. Sometimes a girl will move things along fast, just so he'll be done and will leave her alone. It's like letting the pressure off a valve.”
    “Some valve!”
    “Sometimes it is necessary.”
    “I guess,” Spirit said doubtfully. This seemed so businesslike it was almost disappointing.
    “Once a man has done it with a given woman, he wants more of it, on other days. Men think of sex all the time. The nice ones court a woman; the pirates rape. The difference is in their manners, not their lust. I will be doing it again with Hope, perhaps often. I can't tell him no; a smart woman doesn't. You understand.”
    She was warning Spirit not to be jealous. But she was. “Sure,” she said shortly, and left.
    But some of the truth of what Helse had said became apparent all too soon. Another band of pirates boarded. It wasn't clear that they were pirates at first; they were polite, and promised to take the refugees to Jupiter. But then it turned out that they had given the children poisoned candy, Spirit included.
    Spirit fought the drug, but it overwhelmed her and she had to sit down, then lie down. But she could still hear them talking, and learned that the pirates were holding the children hostage for the performance of the women.
    And Spirit's mother agreed to buy Spirit's life with sex. Spirit could not protest; she could not move or speak. All she could think of was Helse's remark: “Sometimes it is necessary.” Necessary to give a strange man sex, in order to save the life of her child. Because all men wanted it, and the pirates didn't much care how they got it.
    Then Faith came forward; Spirit heard her, and knew by the sudden hush that she was dressed to show off her lovely body. She was working at being beautiful. “How many children can I buy?”
    And so it was that Faith Hubris saved the lives of all the children who had eaten the tainted candy. She went with the men on their ship, and was gone.
    The children recovered. Spirit wasn't sure whether it was because of the antidote, or whether the poison was only a temporary drug, but at least they were all right. She resolved never again to be caught that way.
    And only a few hours later, more pirates came. This time the women put all the little children in the cells, while Spirit, Hope, and Helse hid in the netted supplies in the center of the bubble, where gravity was slight. Spirit was still a bit groggy, but saw the sense of it. No children would be drugged this time.
    But that