Deborah scanned the area near Ramah, and found a spot nearby where there were no people within view. So she marked to Adelle where to she wanted to go and walked into the transporter. And she was gone.
Deborah walked into the village of Ramah. The air was hot, dry and dusty. The fields were pale brown. She walked past the living spaces of the people and came to the central well. She got herself some water, and surreptitiously (she hoped) dropped a water purification pill into her water skin. She saw a group of men, sitting on the ground, in the shade. She went to talk to them. This was going to be her first test to see if she really had learned the language well enough to talk to somebody in the field.
“I am looking for a man named Lapidot”
The men looked at one another.
“Do you know Lapidot?”
“How about you - do you know Lapidot?”
“I don’t know Lapidot”
“None of you know Lapidot”, Deborah said.
“What do you know of him?” One of the men asked her.
“I don’t know much about him”, she admitted, “Only that he lives either in Ramah or in Bethel”
“Try looking for him in Bethel”, one of the men said.
“Thank you. Peace”, Deborah said, turned around and started to walk out of town. When she had gone about 500 meters, she looked around her, saw nobody. She pulled out her communicator medallion, touched the red button.
“Adelle”
“Yes”
“Beam me up”
And she was gone.
Walter greeted her in the transport room. “How did it go?”
“Well, I was able to talk to some men there. I think I was able to communicate with them. None of them commented on my accent.
“You didn’t find Lapidoth”
“No, I didn’t. But I really didn’t expect to. I have a lot of places to search, and a lot of times to search.”
“You didn’t spend much time there, perhaps an hour”
“You think I should have spent more time there?”
“Yes. How many people did you talk to?”
“Maybe six”
“That’s not very many people”
“Okay, well, next time I will talk to more people”
She walked over to the scanner, and looked up Bethel. It was about 8 Kilometers north of Ramah. She looked for a safe spot to beam down, marked it for Adelle. She walked over to the first aid cupboard and pulled out a tube of sunscreen, carefully applied it to her face, ears, back of neck, and hands. Walter watched, silently.
“Walter: wish me luck”, She said.
“Good hunting”, Walter replied, deadpan.
“Adelle”
“yes”, the computer answered.
“Beam me down”
And she was gone.
Again, it was hot and dusty. If it is this uncomfortable in the hills, I wonder what it is like in the Negev? Also, maybe I should be doing my searching early in the morning, local time. Maybe I should just go forward in time 6 months, and come back in the winter. She was about 400 meters south of the town square. The road was about 100 meters to the west. Again, the fields were pale brown in wheat. She walked west, until she reached the road, and then turned north towards town.
Two men were fighting, wrestling on the ground. Both of them were bleeding, and there were stains of blood on their clothing. A crowd of people were watching, shouting encouragement. Deborah, being about 30 centimeters taller than the next tallest person, could easily see the action.
“What are they fighting about?”, Deborah asked one of the women watching.
“I don’t know”, she answered.
Deborah pushed through the crowd.
“Stop it! Stop it!”, she yelled.
She grabbed one of the men by the shoulders, pulled him away from his foe. The other man got up. He clenched a fist, and began to punch the man Deborah was holding. Deborah kicked him in the groin.
“I said stop it!”
The man she was holding onto continued to struggle.
“STOP IT RIGHT NOW”
The man stopped struggling. The other man was doubled over in pain, moaned.
“I don’t know who are, or what you are fighting about, but you are children of Israel and I expect you to act like adults. Now, what are your names?”
The man on his feet said “Lamelech”.
The man on the ground said “Arbach. Woman, who are you?”
“I’m Deborah, daughter of Sarah”, said Deborah. “Now, what are you two fighting about?”
“I got this man’s daughter as a wife for my son. My son says that she was not a virgin. I want the bride price back”
“She is a virgin, or was a virgin”
“Is that something worth fighting over?”
“Yes”
The crowd was silent, watching the whole thing.
“Fighting is not going to resolve the issue. It will only settle who is the best fighter, and maybe both of you will be hurt or killed. This could be settled by discussion. Look, it is hot, you are both hurt, let’s all have some water to drink, and then sit down in the shade of the tree over there and discuss this like reasonable people”
“But you’re a woman”, one of the people shouted. “Who are you to be judge over us?”
“I’ve been a woman for a long time”, Deborah said, as sweetly as she could, given her trouble with the language, “and as for who set me to be a judge, had one of you (she indicated the crowd) stepped forward to stop the fighting, then there would be no need for me to judge you. It takes courage to do the right thing, and you didn’t do it”.
Water skins appeared and both men drank. Deborah decided that she could use a drink herself, Unfortunately, the water purification pill hadn’t completely dissolved yet, and the water tasted awful. She then turned, and walked towards the tree. The crowd parted for her. The two men followed her.
She sat down, leaned back against the tree. Her backpack gave her back some cushion.
“Please, friends, sit down”
The men sat down. The three of them stared at one another for a moment. The crowd gathered around them, watching, listening.
“Lamelech, please tell me your story”
“He’s lying”, Arbach said.
“Arbach, first of all, he hasn’t said anything yet, so you don’t know if he’s lying or not. Second of all, you interrupted him. That’s rude. Let him tell his story, and then you can tell your story. Then I will ask you questions, and then we will agree on a solution. Lamelech, please tell me your story”.
“A year ago, my son, Amech, asked me to get him a wife. So I went to Arbach, and asked him to give me his daughter, Alisa, as a wife to my son. Arbach asked for 15 pieces of copper. I am not a wealthy man, so I offered to give him 10 pieces of copper, on the condition that she was a virgin. Arbach agreed.
“My son and Alisa married last night. When he went into her, there was no blood, so she was not a virgin. My son came to me and told me, so I went to see Arbach this morning to get my money back. Arbach said that she was a virgin, and he would not give me my money back.”
“Do you have anything else to say?”, Deborah asked him
“I’m finished”
“Arbach, please tell me your story”
“I am a good father. I raised my daughter very carefully. She is a good girl, a true daughter of Israel. I never had any idols in my house. My wife or I always looked after her, we never let her alone with a man.”
“Do you have anything else to say?”, Deborah asked him.
“I’m finished”
“As a young girl, did Alisa like to run?”
“Oh yes, she could run like a deer”
“Did she climb trees?”
“Yes, she was very good about climbing trees. She could pick olives that nobody else could reach”
“Where is Alisa? I want to talk to her.”
“She’s not here”
Deborah raised her voice, “Please bring Alisa to me”
After a moment, a young woman was thrust through the crowd. Her eyes were red and her tears had made tracks on the dust on her face. Deborah looked at her. She looked at Deborah.
“We are going to talk together, Alisa, come and walk with me.”
Deborah took off her backpack, stood up, lightly gripped Alisa’s wrist and began to move away from the crowd. The two women had barely moved a meter when Deborah heard something behind her. She turned around, and saw that the crowd was following them.
“The two of us are going to talk together alone. We will return shortly”
The two of them walked another couple of meters. Deborah turned around again.
“I said, THE TWO OF US WANT TO BE ALONE. Now, GO AWAY”
Deborah watched this time as the crowd backed up, but did not disperse as she had hoped.
“Alisa, we are going to have to walk for a while to be alone”
So they walked for a few tens of meters into a field. The two women looked around. The crowd was still in the village square”
“Alisa, do you trust me to help you?”
“Yes”
“Okay. I am not even going to ask you if you were a virgin or not, because I don’t think it matters”
“It does matter. I was a virgin until last night. As God is my judge, I was a virgin”
I think that when 21st century sexual mores meet ancient sexual mores, there is going to be a problem. I’m not a virgin, and I wonder if Lapidot is going to be as concerned about that as this Amech is.
“Alisa, I happen to know that the virgin blood is not a perfect sign of virginity. You could have broken the hymen while climbing a tree”
“Hymen?”
“The skin that covers the opening to your womb is called the hymen. It’s a Greek word”
“Greek?”
You idiot. Not only are you having language troubles, but you are talking about a people that not only has this girl never heard of, but don’t even exist yet. Some judge you are. You have no sensitivity to the traditions of this time and place - what makes you think you can judge these people?
“Never mind. I believe you. All I have to do is convince Amech that you were a virgin. Let me think about that”
The two women walked on in the sunshine.
“Alisa, what do you want to do once you are married?”
“I want to be a loved wife and have sons”
“Not daughters?”
“I want to give Amech a son, who will grow up and be strong”
I am going to have a lot of trouble
“Alisa, I have an idea. You say that you want to have a son. I think Amech wants a son, too. Maybe, if you both want the same thing, then there is a way to come to an agreement. He wants a son, you want a son. So give him a son”
“If God wills it”
“God works in his own ways. Let’s go back to the village, I want to talk to Amech”
They turned around and walked back to the village. The crowd was waiting patiently for them.
Don’t these people have anything else to do?
“I want to talk to Amech”, Deborah announced.
“I am Amech”, a young man, maybe 15 years old, said.
“Good, walk with me”
They walked off together. This time, the crowd stayed in the square.
“Amech, what do you want from your marriage”
“I don’t understand - what you mean, what do I want?”
“Well, you told your father to get you a wife, yes?”
“Yes”
“Well, why did you ask to get a wife?”
“All men get wives”
“Yes, but you are not all men, you are Amech. So why did you ask for a wife?”
“I... I.... I don’t know.”
“Well, there are lots of reasons. You might want somebody to clean the house, milk the goats, plow the fields. You might want somebody to talk to. You might want a woman who can sing pleasantly. You might might want a woman who will give you sons and daughters. What do you want?”
“I would like to have a son”
“Not a daughter”
“Well, my wife gives me a daughter, then that would be good. I really want a son”
“Well, I asked Alisa the very same question, and she wants to give you a son”
“She does?”
“Yes, she really wants to make you happy”
“She does? Then why did she dishonor me by saying she was a virgin when she wasn’t?”
“Amech, maybe she is telling the truth.”
“But there was no blood”
“Sometimes, there isn’t. You can’t tell if she is a virgin or not. You have to take her word for it.”
Amech did not say anything, and Deborah was content to let him think about it.
“Maybe I was wrong?”
“Maybe you were”
“I have an idea. Alisa is a beautiful woman, is she not?”
“Very beautiful”
“You want to have a son, she wants to give you a son”
“Yes”
“Why don’t the two of you be together for a year. If, in a year’s time, you don’t have a child, then you can divorce her”
“A year?”
“No matter how many women you put to work, it still takes nine months to have a baby”
Frederick Brooks, from the Mythical Man-Month. This mission is really frying my mind. Now, I’m spouting quotations
“That is a very strange thing to say”
“Yes, it was. I’m sorry. Amech, are you willing to try Alisa for a year? And see what happens?”
“Yes. Will you come back in a year?”
“I will be here in a year. Now, you have to do your part. You have to know her every night. You have to be good to her, not raise your voice at her, not to beat her, or spread tales about her. You must be gentle and kind. Do we have an agreement?”
“Yes”
“Good. Let’s go back and talk to Alisa”
They turned around and walked back to the village. The crowd was still there.
“I want to talk to Amech and Alisa alone together”, Deborah announced.
Alisa stepped forward.
“Amech, hold her hand”
“What?”
“Hold her hand. With your hand”
Amech didn’t move a muscle.
Deborah took his left hand, took Alisa’s right hand, put them together, and folded their fingers together.
The crowd gasped.
Maybe that wasn’t the best thing to do.
“Walk with me”, Deborah commanded.
They walked.
“Alisa, Amech. You are now husband and wife. I expect you to live together for a whole year. You will be faithful to each other. You will care for each other. Amech, you will know your wife, Alisa, every night that you can. At the end of a year, I will come back here, and if you still are unhappy with her, then you can divorce and Arbach will give the money back. But if you are happy with her, then you stay married and Arbach can keep the money. Can you do that?”
“I can do that”, Alisa said.
“I can do that”, Amech said.
“Beautiful. Now, all I have to do is convince your fathers. Let’s go back to the village”
They turned and walked back to the village.
“By the way, what do you think of holding hands?”, Deborah asked them.
“I like it”, Alisa said.
“Good, you are married now, you should hold hands often”
Like I wish Allen had had held my hand.
They got back to the village square. Deborah sat down in the shade of the tree. She looked at the crowd, at Arbach and Lamelech. The crowd, Arbach, and Lamelech looked at her. Deborah decided to heighten the drama, so she quietly took her water skin, and pulled a drink. The water purification pill was gone, and the water tasted better.
“I have made my decision. Alisa and Amech will live together for a year, as husband and wife. If, at the end of the year, Amech is unhappy with Alisa, then they can divorce, and Arbach will refund the money to Lamelech. However, if at the end of the year, Amech is happy with Alisa, then Arbach can keep the money.”
“But what about the purity of the woman”
“Well, that’s really for Amech to decide. I told him and her that they had to work together, to be a loving couple, and to have a child. That’s why men and women marry - to have a helpmate, to have children, and to be happy. If Amech accepts her as she is, that’s the important thing. And she accepts him. We made an agreement.
“This is my decision. Amech, Alisa, go home, and be happy”
The couple turned and left. There was a lot of murmuring from within the crowd, but the crowd parted to let them past. Then the crowd dispersed, except for one old man who approached her.
“Deborah, you are a judge in Israel”, he said.
“Father, I am looking for somebody. Maybe you can help me”
“Who are you looking for”
“A man named Lapidot”
“I do not know a man named Lapidot”
“Oh. Thank you”
“Do you have a place to spend the night?”
“No, I don’t”
“Come to my house. I am an old man, a widower. I would like some company. I won’t touch you. We could have some meat together, and talk. You are a very wise woman”.
“Thank you”
That night, Deborah slipped out of the house. She fished some low light goggles out of her backpack, put them on. She looked around. The place was deserted.
She pulled out her medallion, pushed the button.
“Adelle”
“Yes”
“I want to talk to the autodoc”
A different voice sounded. “How can I help you?”
“I would like a prescription for a drug to help a woman ovulate, and I would also like something that will help increase the probability that a woman will bear a son. Can you do that?”
“Yes, I can. How much do you want?”
“I would like enough for one woman for a year”
“Fine”
“Beam it down here when you have it ready”
“Give me a minute”
Deborah looked up at the sky. There were a million, zillion stars. She tried to spot the constellations, but there were too many stars. With a timeship, I could visit those stars. What an adventure that would be.
A small package materialized at her feet.
Deborah picked it up. Inside was a tube of ointment, a bottle of pills, and 14 sheets of paper with dense printing, in English. Deborah read the paper work quickly, or as quickly as she could. It was patient prescribing information - effects, side effects, mode of operation, warnings to health care providers, contraindications, molecular diagrams. I can’t understand this stuff, and it’s written in my native language.
Deborah walked to Lamelech’s house. She found Amech and Alisa asleep in a covered area in the back. She shook Alisa awake, then clamped her hand over Alisa’s mouth.
“Alisa, keep quiet, it’s me, Deborah.”
“Deborah?”
“Yes. Quiet. Come with me. Oh”
Deborah took off the low light goggles, held them up to Alisa’s eyes.
“Deborah”, she whispered.
“Come with me”
Alisa got to her feet, and stumbled after Deborah, until they were in front of the house.
“Alisa, I have a present for you. You must keep this a secret. You must not tell anybody. Do you understand?”
“Yes”
“Okay. In this bottle are some pills.”
“Pills?”
Deborah opened the bottle, and jiggled it until a pill fell out.
“That’s a pill. You eat it. Eat one pill on the 7th day after your period ends. That will make you more likely to have a baby.”
“Yesterday was the 7th day”
“Okay, close enough. Take one now”
Alisa took the pill, and swallowed it.
“Now, if you miss a period, then that means that you are with a child. Stop taking the pills then.”
Deborah then gave Alisa the tube of ointment.
“Here’s how you open it.”, Deborah had her unscrew the cap.
“Squeeze gently, and put a drop on your finger”
Alisa squeezed a drop on her finger.
“Now, put it inside your womb. It will make you more likely to have a son. Do it each time Amech is about to know you, or maybe better, every night when you are ready to go to sleep, and you can know him, just in case.”
“This will make me have a son?”
“The pill makes you more likely to have a baby. The ointment you put in your womb makes you more likely to have a boy if you have a baby. You need both of these to have a son. Remember, you must keep these a secret. Nobody must know”
“Deborah, who are you? Where do you come from?”
“Alisa, I come from a far away place, very far away. I am looking for somebody. I want to help people, it makes me happy. Please accept these gifts from God, and may you have a strong and healthy son”