In Other Lands

by Sarah Rees Brennan

“With respect, sir,” said Serene. “And meaning no offence to you or my fellow cadets, but while it might certainly be too much for the delicate, I am a woman, and scientifically we have more endurance than men—”

“I am not scared of them,” Elliot replied with dignity. “I am just not accustomed to them, so I do not trust them.”

“Is there some kind of taboo against seeing a woman’s breasts in human culture?” asked Serene. “Breasts are functional. They feed children. Whereas I know many men cultivate their shoulder and abdominal muscles merely to attract the opposite sex. Their chests are the ones that are more decorative and which it is less modest to display!”

Commander Woodsinger did not look amused. In fact, she had the stern countenance of someone who was determined to be oblivious to jokes, impassive as a tree stump or a toadstool. Or as a blank screen: Elliot might be forced to live without technology, but that didn’t mean that he had to descend to nature metaphors.

On both sides of the wall were strangers and weird sights, terrible until you loved them. Our lands were always otherlands, to someone else.