13

Of course, Back and Hood were painfully aware of the attentions the other gained of Greenstockings. This jealousy, at first, only manifested itself in a cooling of conviviality between the two. Hood no longer laughed at Back’s jokes, and Back became critical of the theories Hood so often espoused. Soon, they ceased speaking to each other altogether, and the one would leave the area when the other arrived. The upkeep to such a sizable rivalry in such a small space was onerous, indeed.

During this time, Greenstockings was only having sexual intercourse with Ge Ge. By mutual agreement, they had shifted quarters so that Lu, the other Chinese astronaut, had his own room, and Greenstockings and Ge Ge bunked together. The fact that she was frequently engaging in vigorous intercourse with this man must have been unknown to Hood and Back—although, how they could have missed it is beyond me—otherwise, I can find no reason why the two men were not jealous of Ge Ge.

There is an odd theory that suggests that Back and Hood were unable to recognize the nature of the relationship between Greenstockings and Ge Ge because of a bias they held against Ge Ge’s tribe. Supposedly, the cult of whiteness extended so far as to make it impossible for its adherents to find sexual rivalry in anyone who wasn’t white. Unfortunately, there is a fatal flaw in this theory: Ge Ge’s tribe was closer to the color white than was Hood or Back’s.

And while I’m on the topic of things I don’t understand, I have to state—though not from personal experience—that sex in microgravity is difficult, and not at all as pleasurable as might be imagined. It has even been described as unpleasant. This is largely owing to surface tension, I believe. Why, then, did the crew pursue sexual relations with such intensity? Perhaps it was homesickness.