A New Position

Disclaimer:

This story is set in 1930's America and reflects cultural norms for that time/place. Some of the characters here act and speak in a manner that is sexist/racist. I promise they'll learn better by the end of the story. :) Also, a couple of the characters here are based on real people. Please don't sue me if I turned your great-great-grandma into a sex goddess. :P

Flagstaff, 1929

Clyde sighed deeply as the train finally rolled to a stop at the station in Flagstaff, Arizona.

The three-day journey from Topeka to Flagstaff had been taxing. It wasn't that the train was uncomfortable; quite the opposite was true. Clyde and his wife had plenty of space amid the berths. The train seemed half abandoned. Most of the other riders seemed to work for the Railway company.

The problem was his wife, Elizabeth. She had flitted between anger and terror for the entire journey. One moment she was furious with him, the next she was pleading. Clyde supposed this was simply because she was a woman, and as such, unable to govern her emotions the way a man does.

Elizabeth winced as the train jerked, coming to rest with finality. This was it, then. The move was really happening. There would be no reversal. Her husband would not come to his senses. He had uprooted them from their home in Kansas, leaving behind family and farm. They were moving into the actual Wild West, a place full of Indians, highwaymen, and God-only-knows what else.

She looked towards her husband with a sigh, and she begrudged him his dream. She knew, from a young age, he had admired the planets and stars. As a teen, he had saved money to purchase a telescope from the Sears catalog. As a man - she had thought him to be a good honest farming man - he had dabbled in astronomy, digging out a long dark trench from which to peer at the heavens. She thought it was nothing more than a hobby, the sort of hobby on which intelligent men like her Clyde wasted a bit of time. She had been wrong.

For his part, Clyde felt a certain sense of exhilaration as he set out to start his true career. He had worked to put himself through the University, but hail had destroyed their crop that year, and he was forced to abandon his education. Determined, he studied on his own. He built his own telescope. He made his own observations and drawings of Mars and the asteroid belt and sent them to the scientists at the Lowell Observatory. He had even discovered a few asteroids, and had one named after his wife.

Then, something unexpected had happened. Guy Lowell, the head of the conservatory that sponsored the observatory, contacted him by telegram, saluting him for his drawings and offering him a job. He would be one of several astronomers operating the world's largest telescope at the observatory, pending his move to Arizona. Clyde immediately accepted.

It turned out that Flagstaff was situated in the middle of an evergreen forest, at the base of several snow-capped mountain peaks, at a breath-stealing elevation of nearly 7,000 feet. After a thousand miles of unending fields and plains, with nothing to break the terrain but the occasional Model A's traveling Route 66 beside the tracks, Santa Fe Railway Engine Number 47 abruptly entered a lush green forest and reached the town just a few miles later.

Clyde and Elizabeth made an odd couple as they disembarked the train, him with a shit-eating grin, her with eyes downcast, fixated on the carpet of pine needles that covered every inch of the ground.

"Hello there!" A clean-shaven man with an extremely receded hairline and a white lab coat greeted the couple. He huffed and he puffed as he made his way up the steps to the railway platform, looking entirely out of his element.

A young woman bustled to his side, lending a hand for support. A thick black braid hung nearly to her waist.

"You must be our farmer," said the black-haired woman.

This comment prompted Elizabeth to make an ugly sound that might have been a snort of laughter, or a stifled sob, but was probably both. Clyde's smile melted and ran down his face.

"No." Clyde threw her a look that might have melted steel, before turning to the older man. "I am the astronomer come to work at the observatory."

The older man chuckled. "Quite right. I think perhaps some introductions are in order. I am Vesto Slipher, the director of Lowell's Observatory. I present Mr. and Mrs. Clyde Tombaugh. And this is Tal-" He paused, looking to the woman.

"I am Ta'ala Sohu of the Hopituh Shi-Nu-Mu. But you may call me Tala, everyone else does."

"I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, Ta'ala Sohu," Clyde said with an air of formality. She had a slight accent that he couldn't quite identify. He turned back to Mr. Slipher.

"Chinese?"

"No, no..." said the scientist, glancing back at Tala. Her face darkened ominously. "Miss Tala is one of the natives of this area. I brought her to meet you because she is meant to be your computer."

"An Indian? Is she qualified to make those kinds of mathematical calculations?"

Clyde surveyed the young lady who was to be his assistant. She was several inches shorter than his wife, and her skin was several shades darker. Her eyes were so dark that the pupils could scarcely be discerned from the irises, and right now they flashed with angry fire.

"More qualified than some!" She spat the words at Clyde like venom.

"Miss Tala is on loan to us from the Northern Arizona Teachers College." Mr. Slipher spoke with the practiced ease of an old professor separating two students. "She holds a degree in mathematics and is furthering her studies in astronomy while she is with us."

Clyde was suddenly very aware of his own lack of college credentials. He could feel the blood rushing to his face.

"And you are German," said Tala. It came out as an accusation. The Great War had ended a decade ago, but there was lingering resentment for the Kaiser's sons. Clyde was put on the defensive.

"I'm from Illinois, by way of Kansas."

Clyde stared at her, unsure what to make of this woman who challenged him so brazenly. Tala stared defiantly back into his eyes, sizing him up, daring him to say something else stupid.

Whatever he said, she knew he was German. At 6'1" he was half a head taller than anyone else around, with brown hair that was shaved close on the sides and lightened by sunshine almost to the point of blondness. He had the build of a farmer, thin, with wiry muscles filling out his suit in the right places. The square spectacles that perched on his nose were the only hint of brainy-ness.

Clyde continued to size her up. He decided she was somewhat scandalous. To start with, she was dressed more like a man than a woman, in trousers and a button-down blouse. She evidently wasn't wearing a brassiere or a corset, either. The fabric of her top was too shear and too white to conceal the brown breasts beneath. Dark nipples were clearly visible.

He thought of the corset that his wife Elizabeth wore, that flattened her hips and slimmed her waist. Such a garment wouldn't do a thing for this woman. Her hips were too wide; her rump too meaty to accept such a jacket. She was positively inappropriate.

Clyde shook his head as if to clear the cobwebs out.

"I... I apologize if I offended."

Elizabeth forgot all about her study of pinecones and shoelaces for a moment and looked up for the first time. She could not remember the last time Clyde apologized to anyone, much less a woman, much less a... a savage.

The ride from the train station to the observatory was slow and uneventful. The men sat towards the font of the wagon and discussed a paper one of Slipher's students had published about the expansion of the universe. At the back of the wagon, Tala surprised Elizabeth by engaging her instead in a different conversation.

Elizabeth found Tala hard to hate. Intellectually she knew Tala was a savage, but in person she made polite conversation as well as any civilized woman Elizabeth knew. Her husband was clearly attracted to the Indian, but she was inclined to blame Clyde on that account. It also turned out that both women had come up farming corn. Both missed the families from which they were separated. By the time they reached the observatory grounds, the two were planning Elizabeth's new garden together.

The sun had begun its descent across the summer sky by the time the party reached the grounds. The complex of buildings was painted a light blue that stood in contrast to the dark greens and browns of the forest. Everything here seemed darker; even the sky here at altitude was a deeper blue than Clyde could remember, as though hinting that the blackness of space was just within reach.

"I expect you'll want to get settled and start to unpack first," Slither said, dismissing them. "I'll give you a tour of the grounds and show you the instruments tomorrow, Clyde."

"Follow me," said Tala. "I'll show you to your new home."

Clyde followed Tala, and Elizabeth followed Clyde. The observatory sat at the highest point of the hill, so their trek took them down a hill that was steeper than Clyde would have liked, and then up another slope, such that he was panting by the time they reached the cabin.

The cabin itself had been dropped right on the side of the hill. Apparently, no effort had been made to situate it in a flat place. There was only one room to serve as bedroom and kitchen, with a woodburning stove that would serve both for cooking and heating. By far the best feature was a large porch that extended outwards from the downhill side of the home. Owing to the incline, the porch was suspended 10 feet above the hillside, giving an amazing view of the surrounding area.

"Mr. Tombaugh... may I call you Clyde?" said Tala with a smile.

"I'd like that, Tala." Clyde marveled at the forwardness of the heathen woman, but he returned the smile, nonetheless.

"I have a housewarming gift for you." Her eyes sparkled with mischief, and she continued. "From what I've heard, you are quite a craftsman. Is it true that you built two telescopes?"

"A seven incher and a nine," Clyde beamed. "I had to leave them in Kansas, though. They were too bulky for transport." Real regret was etched on his face.

"Well, I haven't done one quite so large as yours, but..."

Tala pulled opened the door that led to the balcony with the flourish of a magician. On the porch was a tripod with a handsome brass spyglass.

"I made this for you. In hopes that we can discover something together."

"I love it!" said Clyde, and he meant it. "That's very thoughtful!" He ambled over to the instrument to try it out.

"Currently, it's not pointed at the sky. But it is trained on something -- my house. You won't find any heavenly bodies there... except perhaps my own." Tala laughed at her own joke.

Clyde looked to Elizabeth and did his best to appear scandalized. Elizabeth laughed at him and rolled her eyes. He decided it was a good moment to peer through the spyglass. Tala's house was much the same as their cabin, down to the balcony supported on spider-like wooden legs.

"If you need anything, anything at all, that's where to find me," Tala continued, apparently oblivious to the awkwardness that had crept in. "All right, I'm going to let you two get settled." And she exited the cabin, bestowing warm smiles on the unhappy couple.

The rest of Clyde and Elizabeth's afternoon was spent unpacking their belongings and arranging their new home. It was mundane and tiring, but somehow exciting all the same, owing to the newness and strangeness of the place.

Elizabeth sighed. She wasn't sure if she was ready to move on from her anger towards Clyde. Yet, here in a new place, he was her only companion. She realized that the distance she had imposed between them was hurting herself more than punishing him. She decided to give him a chance to make restitution, or at least a down payment on it.

"Clyde?"

"Yes, dear?"

"Could you fetch me water for a bath? I haven't properly washed in several days, and I would feel so much better if I were clean."

Clyde grimaced inwardly. Fetching enough water for a bath would require a couple trips up and down the hill. Still, he reasoned it would buy him some credit towards getting back in Elizabeth's good graces, so he determined to put on a happy face, and do the task.

"Of course, dear. Can you stoke the fire, while I fetch the water?"

Clyde bumbled and stumbled his way over stones and pinecones, winding his way down the hill to the pump, where he filled a pair of buckets. The trip back up the hill with two full buckets of water was twice as bad. While Elizabeth put the water on to heat, he cursed and grumbled his way back down the hill a second time, feeling that he understood for the first time precisely how Jack-fell-down-and-broke-his-crown.

His labors at last complete, Clyde plopped himself down on the side of the bed. He was chilled to the bone by the cold night air, yet somehow covered in sweat. Elizabeth poured the bath, mixing the freezing water from the pump with the boiling water from the stove, adding some mysterious herbs and oils to the water. It smelled lovely.

"Clyde?" Elizabeth stood in front of the washing tub in her dressing gown.

"Yes?" He looked up.

"You aren't going to stand there and watch me, are you?"

"What?"

"I'm going to take a bath." She gave him a meaningful look.

"Oh. Um..." He hardly thought that it mattered, given that he was her husband, but he had already humored her this far. "No, no... I'll give you some... um... privacy..."

Clyde dislodged himself from the bed with some difficulty and trudged out onto the balcony on heavy feet. The chill of the night assaulted him once more. He shut the door behind him, glancing around for a place to sit.

Finding no respite, he instead turned his attention to the brass spyglass, hoping for a distraction from his aching body. He lined his eye up to the aperture and allowed the picture to come into focus.

Suddenly, Clyde jerked himself upright, looking away instinctively. It couldn't be, he told himself. But he looked again anyway, just to be sure.

Tala was standing on her balcony, on full display. Her hands were on her hips, her head was cocked to one side, and the only thing she was wearing was a haughty smile. Other than that, she was as naked as the day she was born. She said something and motioned aggressively. The brown breasts that had been peeking out through the white blouse during the daytime danced in the night.

Clyde didn't feel cold anymore.

Alarmed and aroused, he adjusted the focal length of the spyglass. There was a man on the balcony with Tala, and he was nearly as naked. He wore an angry sneer and a flap of fabric covering his genitals, though his body was painted or perhaps tattooed all over. He was clearly a savage.

Clyde couldn't make out any of the words, but the two seemed to be having a quarrel. The man shouted something. Tala flipped her hair at the man and turned her back to him, making for the door to the cabin. That was a mistake, thought Clyde, as the man covered the distance between them in an instant.

The unknown assailant looped an arm around Tala's throat, restraining her. He pressed his head up from behind her, hissing threats or curses or God-knows-what into her ear. Clyde watched, mortified, as the man drew back an arm to strike. He brought down an open hand swiftly, striking her meaty ass. She cried out.

Tala was half-pushed and half-pulled to the edge of the balcony. Clyde briefly wondered whether the man would throw her off. Instead, he thrust her headlong at the railing, bending her over at the waist. He slapped her ass again, hard. While his strong arm strangled her, his free hand moved to his own waist, where he tore aside the one shred of clothing he possessed.

Clyde thought perhaps he ought to go to her aid, but he was frozen in indecision. What if this was Tala's husband? It would be terribly bad form to interrupt man and wife during the act of coitus. Although, to engage in such a thing outdoors where everyone could see was already inappropriate out of measure. Perhaps he couldn't expect such civility from savages, Clyde rationalized.

The wild man penetrated Tala as he strangled her. Clyde watched as she was fucked roughly from behind, the way dogs and horses and other wild animals do. His lithe, muscular hips slammed into her again and again, the impacts cushioned by her ample bottom. Her breasts shook with each clash.

Tala's face had darkened to a shade of maroon. The veins in her neck and forehead bulged. She opened her mouth wide as if to shout, but Clyde did not think she could possibly have enough breath to cry out. Her eyes rolled back into her head, showing the whites, and her whole body shuddered from one end to the other. Clyde was sure he was witnessing a murder.

And then, suddenly, the man released her throat. His strong hand grasped at one of her hanging breasts, which he manhandled with apparent disregard for her well-being. She gasped, her lungs filling with air. And then, to Clyde's complete surprise, Tala laughed. She thrust back at her assailant, closing her eyes and apparently relishing the violation.

Clyde was discomfited, his mind set at war with his body. Mentally, he knew he ought to be outraged at the impropriety, but his main source of discomfort at the moment was his erection, which was straining against his breeches. Without a second though, he reached down and loosed his belt, stuffing one hand down the waistband to relieve the stress on his painfully engorged penis.

His cock took the opportunity to jump halfway out of his pants, jutting out into the cool night air, which made Clyde suck in a breath. His cock-head was an angry dark-red, threatening full purpleness, and he couldn't remember being this hard since he was a teenager. He took a moment to admire the strength of his loins, running a hand over the aching head, tracing a finger down the sensitive frenulum. Clyde sighed. There was just one thing to do with a boner like this.

He shoved his pants down four inches, grabbing his scrotum and tugging all of himself out into the open. The sack was already contracting in anticipation of a good cum. Elizabeth hadn't let him touch her in a week and a half, and his ballsack felt heavy in his hand.

He brought his hand up to his face and deposited some spit there. He could smell his scent. He grabbed his rigid cock and began to stroke, depositing the lubrication over the sensitive underside of the glans and shaft. He knew he wouldn't last long tonight. With his left hand he grasped the railing and with the right he tugged, and he pulled, and he jerked and jacked, his hips occasionally thrusting involuntarily towards the spyglass.

His moment of relief was near when he absently wondered whether the savages were still engaged in their wild intercourse. What might they be doing? He pulled his eye up to the spyglass.

Tala was still bent to the railing, her breasts still bouncing at each impact as her lover thrust into her from behind with abandon. Unbidden, his hand willed itself to match the mystery man, stroke for stroke. She threw her hair back, her mouth set in an 'O' shape, and opened her eyes. She looked straight at him and... smiled?

Clyde stopped all at once, caught in a tender moment, but his body continued without him. The first thick rope of semen shot forth, passing cleanly between the bars of the porch railing. She couldn't see him from that far away, could she? A second spurt hit the edge of the balcony and slid into the abyss below. Pulled back to the moment by a sense of urgency, he pulled hard on his dick, milking it from the base to the tip. Two more weak issues dribbled forth into his hand and onto the floor, as Clyde tried to convince himself that he was safe, that nobody had seen him.