12

Back was famous for his curious survival of so many freakish accidents. The Martians were a very warlike people, when they had no wars to fight, they entertained themselves by killing their own soldiers with training exercises. Back had survived a great number of these, despite odds that were strongly against him.

Back was descended of a long line of Martian oligarchs, and could have had the choicest of positions in the Martian government, but being a stubborn young man, he decided to make his own way in the world. He chose to do so in the military, and ascribed his freakish survival of so many terrific accidents to his excellent physical condition. On board the Investigator, he was most often found on the exercise equipment.

In addition to the cardiovascular benefits of exercise, the Martian medical establishment had also determined that violent physical activity helped to reduce the loss of bone density that comes from long periods in microgravity. In order to achieve the necessary intensity of impact, they developed a running machine not unlike a conveyor belt, but with elastic straps that attached to the runners shoulders and brought them abruptly back to the belt with every step. The force of these impacts reverberated through the runner’s body with every footfall. The purpose was to imitate the force exerted by Earth’s gravity. In Greenstockings’ case, the elastic straps had the additional effect of making her breasts bounce wildly.

Much of a critical nature has been said of the Martian women of this time. Indeed, some have said that the men and women were so alike that you could not know a man from a woman but by their breasts, which among the women were very long, hanging down low like the udder of a goat.¹ There are even cases of women having such exceedingly long breasts that some of them laid their breasts on the ground before lying down next to them.² They considered that it was childing, and their breasts always pendulous, that stretched them to so unseemly a length and bigness,³ that they hung down below their navels, so that when they stooped to pick something up, they hung almost down to the ground. In such a posture, it is believed that they resembled a creature with six legs.⁴ No inconsiderable effort was invested in developing various assemblages, termed brassieres, made of fabric and wire, and many other materials, to restrain these impressive organs.

I may here remark, in describing the action of Greenstockings’ breasts while harnessed to the exercise machine, that her breasts were by no means of sufficient length to throw over her shoulders, as has been asserted of other Martian women.⁵ On the contrary, Greenstockings’ very large breasts stood strutting out so hard and firm, as no leaping, jumping, or stirring—save for that imposed by the violence of the exercise machine—could have caused them to shake any more than the brawn of her arms.⁶ However, Greenstockings had chosen this day to attend to her exercises without the support of a brassiere.

Back was overcome. His aroused state quickly became impossible to hide beneath his flimsy workout shorts. He stopped jogging and stood still beneath the pull of the elastic straps, foolishly trying to cover his erection with his hands.

‘I don’t mind, you know,’ said Greenstockings, still running. ‘It’s kind of hot to see you running with it like that.’