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Title: Once a first wife
Author: Norman Arkawy
Release date: August 22, 2024 [eBook #74294]
Language: English
Original publication: New York, NY: King-Size Publications, Inc, 1954
Credits: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ONCE A FIRST WIFE ***
Once a First Wife
By Norman Arkawy
She writhed under the judges' merciless
scrutiny. The charge against her was surely
a most grievous one--marital fidelity!
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Fantastic Universe October 1954.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
_The world of 2136, when seen through the eyes of a woman unjustly
accused and fighting to remain an individual in her own right
can take on somber overtones of high tragedy. Norman Arkawy has
a rare talent for looking ahead and interpreting the future in
realistically compelling terms._
GENEVA, DEC. 11 (_SP_)--_The first contested suit for divorce
in eighty-three years was brought to trial today before the Terran High
Court in this city. Justices Schluss, Jones and Klyutch presided at the
unprecedented proceeding in which Merl Wisson petitioned for a divorce
from his first-wife, Sar._
_The petitioner's case, a charge of sexual incompetence, was presented
today. Tomorrow, Mrs. Wisson's attorney will begin the unusual
contesting action. The court's decision is expected tomorrow or the
following day._
_Since the middle of the twenty-first century, when the Uniform Divorce
Code was adopted throughout the system, grounds for divorce have
included only incompatibility, sexual incompetence, and sterility.
The Wisson case, however, is the first in history in which one of the
"stigma" charges has been used. In every previous divorce action,
petition has been made on the grounds of incompatibility and has been
filed mutually by both husband and first-wife._
_When questioned by this reporter, Mr. Wisson said that he would
have preferred to seek the divorce less sensationally, on the usual
incompatibility charge, but that his first-wife has refused to agree to
an uncontested action._
_Mrs. Wisson made no comment._
* * * * *
Sar dropped the newstrip into the disposall. A sardonic smile curled
her lip. "I'll comment," she muttered, "tomorrow--in court!"
Dag yawned and stretched luxuriously. She sat up on the couch and
looked searchingly at her sister. "You must love him very much," she
said.
"Love him?" Sar laughed, and said viciously, "I detest him!"
Dag reached into her pocket for her pack of Happies. She put a
barkastem in her mouth and offered the pack to Sar. They nibbled in
silence.
"I don't understand," Dag said, finally, shaking her head. "If you feel
that way why don't you let him have the divorce? Why keep him if you
hate him?"
Sar smiled indulgently at her sister. "I don't want to keep him. I want
him to keep me!"
The blank look on Dag's face clearly indicated her bewilderment.
"I'm forty-one," Sar explained. "If I'm divorced now, what chance do
you suppose I'll have to become a first-wife again? It's hard enough
getting a man when you're young. And I have no intention of becoming
a second-wife. The first-wife pension is too good to give up! In nine
more years I'll be eligible for it. Then Merl can have his divorce and
get himself another first-wife. But not until then!"
"What if the court grants the divorce?"
"How can they?" Sar demanded. "My competence can't be questioned, no
matter how many bribed witnesses Merl may have. Anyone can look at
the record and see. And the six sturdy children who bear my name are
certainly evidence that I'm not sterile.
"No, Dag," she summed up, "I'm not going to lose my rating. I don't
know which one of Merl's second-wives aspires to be Mrs. Wisson, but
whoever she is, she's going to be disappointed unless she's willing
to wait nine years. And by then," she added wryly, "she'll be too
old to suit Merl. I'm afraid she'll have to be satisfied to remain a
second-wife."
Sar laughed. "Once a second-wife, always a second-wife," she said. "Or,
what's more to the point--once a first-wife...."
* * * * *
The courtroom was crowded the next morning when Sar Wisson's attorney
rose to present his case. It was up to him to disprove the charge of
sexual incompetence, a charge which his opponent had attempted to
substantiate solely on the testimony of Sar's husband and several men
who claimed to have had unsatisfactory love affairs with her. It was up
to him to discredit the testimony of these men, and establish the fact
of Sar's competence.
"Honorable members of the court," he began. "I shall prove beyond any
doubt that the charge against my client, Mrs. Sar Wisson, has no basis
in fact. Having established her competence, I shall request the court
to deny the petition for divorce.
"If it please the court," he announced, "I should like to call Mrs. Sar
Wisson to the stand."
When Sar had made herself comfortable in the seat opposite the judges'
dais, her lawyer began the examination. "_Mrs._ Wisson," he said,
emphasizing the title that only a first-wife is entitled to, "do
you understand the charge made against you? Do you know what sexual
incompetence is?"
"I do."
"To the best of your knowledge, are you incompetent?"
"I am not!"
"Object!" shouted Merl's attorney. "Her competence or incompetence
is something which she is not in a position to judge. Naturally, she
believes herself to be...."
Justice Klyutch, the presiding officer of the court, waved the attorney
to silence. "Overruled," he said. "The woman has a right to speak in
her own defense. However, the court will take note of the source of
the testimony, counselor."
"Now, Mrs. Wisson," Sar's lawyer resumed, "did you hear the testimony
of the witnesses called by the petitioner yesterday? I refer to the
four men who said they had been your lovers."
"I heard what they said, and it was a pack of lies!"
"Please, Mrs. Wisson," the lawyer cautioned, "just answer the questions
I ask you. Don't elaborate.
"Now then--did you ever have affairs with any of these men?"
"I did not!"
"Do you know them? Have you ever seen them before?"
"I know Jon Barra," Sar replied. "He's my husband's business partner.
The other three I never saw before in my life."
There was a mild ripple of hushed comment among the spectators in the
room. The bailiffs quickly restored order and the judge motioned the
lawyer to continue.
"I should like to submit as evidence these certified photostats of the
educational records of Sar Wisson, nee Malcom," the lawyer announced.
The papers were accepted by the clerk of the court and labeled as
exhibits A, B, and C. Copies of the evidence were handed to the
justices who studied them intently while waiting for Sar's attorney to
continue.
"You will note," he said, "that Mrs. Wisson's grades in sexual
education are all excellent. Class nine," he read, "Fundamental
Biology--grade one. Class eleven, Basic Sex--grade one. Class
twelve, Adolescent Sexology--grade two. Class thirteen, History of
Romance--grade one. Class fourteen, Sexual Techniques...."
Justice Klyutch interrupted him by pressing the 'hold' button causing
the amber light on the front of the rostrum to flash warningly.
"There's no need to list them all, counselor," he said. "The court
recognizes the evidence submitted. We can read the reports."
"Yes, Your Honor. But I should like to point out especially that Mrs.
Wisson was the top honor student in her class in Advanced Sexual
Techniques in class twenty-one," the lawyer pursued. "As a result, she
received the Aphrodite Award at the University commencement exercises
in twenty-one-sixteen. How can such a woman be called sexually
incompetent? Obviously, she is not only competent--she's expert!"
Merl's lawyer rose to his feet. "Objection," he said calmly,
matter-of-factly. "We do not contest the lady's aptitude twenty
years ago, when she last attended school. We do question her ability
now--today, this year. It is regrettable that time and age can cause
even the best of us to lose his or her talent, but such is the way of
nature. And it is our contention that, regardless of her superior
record in school, Sar Wisson is sexually incompetent _today_."
Sar leaped to her feet. "That's not true!" she shouted angrily. "It's
not true!" Tears welled in her eyes and there was a catch in her voice
as she said defiantly, "I'm only forty-one. I'm not old!"
The courtroom hummed excitedly over the dramatic outburst.
Sar felt as if a million eyes were staring at her, a million tongues
talking about her. She was conscious of an awkward stiffness in every
part of her body, which was suddenly a strange, uncomfortable garment
she wished she could throw off.
She sat down again, folding her hands in her lap, nervously clasping
and unclasping her fingers. Bowing her head, she fixed her gaze on the
floor. Shame was an emotion she rarely felt. She felt it now, covering
her, pervading the air around her. It was stifling.
The buzzing in the courtroom grew louder, more excited.
The full meaning of the accusation suddenly opened up to her and she
realized how serious it was. Yesterday she had laughed at the absurdity
of the charge. Now she was infuriated by its viciousness. They actually
meant to ruin her!
Stripped of her first-wife respectability, at forty-one she might not
even have the opportunity of becoming a second-wife. And, although she
would never be satisfied as a second-wife, at least she would still
live comfortably and receive a modest pension when she retired. But who
would want an aging, _incompetent_ woman, even as a second-wife?
There would be only one thing left for her to do. She would be forced
to enlist in one of the 'publics'! That, or neutralization. And she
could not submit to neutralization. Life in the 'publics' was not
pleasant, but neutralization was no life at all.
Living in the 'publics' would be hell-on-earth. Her rations would
be reduced to class C, and she would be assigned living space in a
twelve-quarter dorm. She'd be given a four hour job and be required to
put in four hours more in the service. But she would still be a woman.
Unneutralized, she would live.
Live? Yes, she would live. She would live to cater to the men who
utilized the Government's public sexological stations. So many
men--coarse, rough, unmateable men! The thought sickened her.
The warning light on the judges' rostrum flashed on, and the noise
in the room gradually subsided. Order was restored. Justice Klyutch
cautioned Sar not to disturb the decorum of the court again.
After Sar's lawyer had made a formal apology for his client's unusual
conduct, his opponent pursued the argument he had begun before the
outburst.
"We maintain that Sar Wisson is incompetent," he repeated. "We have
shown," he continued, "that not only her husband, but also four other
men have recently been dissatisfied with her. We have five witnesses
attesting to her incompetence _now_. We are not concerned with her
ability in the past.
"We have five witnesses," he emphasized, "who state, from personal
experience, that she is incompetent."
He smiled triumphantly. "Does the respondent have _one_ who will
dispute our claim?"
* * * * *
Sar stared at him in awe, as one would stare at an unbelievable
monstrosity, born in a fertilely imaginative mind and portrayed in the
TDs by an actor suitably deformed by the genius of make-up. But this
was no TD image--this monster was real and he was standing only a few
feet away, leering at her, challenging her, hurting her, condemning her.
They knew that she could bring forth no witnesses in her defense. That
was what made the challenge so cruel. They knew that she had had no
lovers since before her first child was born, nineteen years ago. She
had been a virtuous wife, a faithful wife. And now they were turning
her very virtue against her!
"Do you have such a witness?" Justice Klyutch asked her attorney.
"I ask the court's permission to confer privately with my client," the
lawyer replied, rising hastily from his seat.
"Granted."
"No," Sar said abruptly. Her lawyer had hardly started across the room
to the witness seat when her voice stopped him. "No," Sar repeated, "we
have no witness."
"Your Honors," her lawyer said hurriedly, "I request that my client's
remark be stricken from the record. It was not made in reply to a
question, nor was it on advice of counsel." To Sar he said, "Please,
Mrs. Wisson, do not volunteer information before you consult me."
"Why not?" Sar asked sadly. "There is no one. What good would it do to
consult you?"
"Please, Mrs. Wisson," the lawyer insisted. "Perhaps there is someone
whom you've forgotten. Perhaps you'll remember if you discuss it with
me. Perhaps...."
"No," Sar pronounced, finally. "There has been no one. I won't invent a
mythical lover. We have no witness."
The lawyer returned to his seat dejectedly. Sar had ruined whatever
chance he might have had to bring in a false witness to dispute those
presented by her husband.
If the court accepted the testimony of the four supposed lovers,
the case was lost. Even without their testimony, it was a toss-up
between Sar's word and her husband's. After all, records of an ability
possessed twenty years ago really proved nothing about the present.
So what if she had been an exceptionally apt student in school? After
twenty years, she might be different--altogether different. She might
very well be incompetent.
Sar, too, knew that she had spoiled her own opportunity to counteract
the fraudulent testimony of her husband's friends. Yet, although she
was afraid of the consequences of losing the case, she could not bring
herself to lie about her private life. She could not claim lovers she
had not had. It was ridiculous, she knew, in this day and age, but she
was actually proud of her fidelity.
She watched the three judges lean together in conference. The million
eyes still peered at her. They pawed at her body, probed at her
thoughts. She fidgeted under their merciless scrutiny as the minutes
crept by and the judges' conference continued.
_Stop!_ she wanted to shout. _Stop this torture! Say
something--anything! But don't make me sit here like a freak on
exhibition!_
Justices Jones and Schluss straightened in their seats on either side
of the presiding judge. Chief justice Klyutch cleared his throat
importantly.
"Mrs. Wisson," he said, "the court finds it impossible to properly
evaluate all the evidence presented in this case. It is our judgment
that the only way to determine your competence is to have an impartial
reliable person test you. Do you agree to submit to such a test?"
She nodded her head quickly. Of course she would agree. She'd agree to
anything if they'd only let her get off the stand--off display.
"My colleagues and I want to select for this test a man who is
impartial and whose judgment is valued by this court," Klyutch
continued, strangely nervous. He colored slightly before adding, "I
have been nominated.
"Do you have any objections?" he asked her.
Sar smiled at him. She began to relax in the presence of his archaic
modesty--the nervous shyness, the faint blush. Momentarily, she pitied
him in his embarrassment and forgot, momentarily, to pity herself.
She smiled at him. There was certainly no reason to object to him any
more than to any other man. Less, perhaps. He had a gentleness about
him that Sar decided was rather attractive. But she appreciated the
humor in being tested for competence by a man whose own competence
might be questioned.
Justice Klyutch was a middle-aged widower whose first-wife had died
three years ago--from boredom, some people said. He belonged to the
small sect who called themselves monogamists and had no second-wives,
and, since his wife's death, he had been living a monastic life.
But, although he may not have been the best qualified man for the
job, Sar was quite willing to have him conduct the test. In fact, she
reflected, he would probably be easy to convince....
When the court convened the next morning, every seat in the spectators'
section was filled. The room was hushed in expectancy as the judges
filed in and took their seats on the dais.
Justice Klyutch called the court to order.
Every ear in the room strained to hear his decision.
"At the close of yesterday's session," he began, "it was agreed that
the court conduct a test to determine the competence of Sar Wisson,
accused of incompetence by her husband. The test has been completed.
"It is the opinion of the court that the charge against Mrs. Wisson
has no basis in fact. The request for divorce on the grounds of sexual
incompetence is, therefore, denied."
An excited babbling swept across the room. It quickly subsided when
the warning light indicated that the judge had not finished his
pronouncement.
"However," Klyutch continued, "Mrs. Wisson has informed the court that
she no longer objects to the divorce and that she is willing to agree
to the action on the usual grounds of incompatibility."
* * * * *
Dag was amazed at the sudden turn of events. She couldn't believe what
she saw on the newstrip, screaming in maximum bold type.
WISSON DIVORCED!
And, in letters only slightly less emphatic, FIRST-WIFE WITHDRAWS
OBJECTION.
Dag stared at the amazing heads, then began rapidly reading the story
aloud to herself.
"Merl Wisson received a divorce from his first-wife, Sar, ten minutes
after the court had refused the divorce on the charge of incompetence.
In a sudden reversal of position, Sar Wisson agreed to the separation
for reasons of incompatibility immediately after she had won her
unprecedented contesting action. For the record, Justice Klyutch...."
The newstrip fluttered to the floor as Dag's lifeless toss missed the
disposall opening. She sat dazedly, watching the newsmachine disgorge
strip after strip onto the growing pile of paper at her feet. Too
stunned for the moment to get up and turn the machine off, she was
vaguely thankful that she had set it only for local news. If the whole
edition was allowed to accumulate on the floor, she'd have to dig
herself out!
The machine clicked off automatically after a last strip floated down
to the pile on the floor.
Aroused from her reverie as the newsmachine snapped itself off, Dag
stood up. She searched her pockets for a barkastem, found one in a
crumpled pack and slid it into her mouth. She nibbled thoughtfully.
Ignoring the mess of strips on the floor, she headed for the door,
determined to get to the bottom of the mystery of Sar's change of heart.
Half an hour later, she was pressing the call button of Sar's apartment.
The door was opened by a tall, distinguished-looking man. Dag brushed
by him abruptly and walked into the room. She saw her sister at the
bar, mixing a couple of drinks.
"Sar!" she exclaimed. "What happened? I thought you were going to fight
it."
Sar looked up and smiled a greeting. "Hello, Dag," she said.
"What happened?" Dag repeated anxiously.
"I changed my mind," Sar explained. "Woman's prerogative."
"But what about the pension, and the comforts and security?"
Sar laughed softly. "It turns out that that has nothing to do with
divorcing Merl."
"But you said...."
"I said, 'once a first-wife, always a first-wife'," Sar reminded her.
Sar turned to the distinguished-looking man, who had been watching
silently, listening to the exchange between the two women, a faint
smile on his lips. "Ken, this is my sister, Dag.
"Dag," she said, completing the introduction, "I'd like you to meet
Justice Klyutch."
*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ONCE A FIRST WIFE ***
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