Challenge #01887-E063: Beyond Rocket Science
[Person 1] “Come on, it’s not rocket science!”
[Person 2] “That is exactly what this is!” -- TheDragonsFlame
It was one thing to believe that one had survived a sub-orbital flight. It was another to begin to suspect that one had survived a trip through a pan-dimensional wormhole, and to do that relatively unscathed. Sure, she had broken bones and scars, and her outfit was toast, but according to her math, she should have just died.
The whole pan-dimensional wormhole thing was easier to believe given that her hosts were Centaurs, and the smartest man in the world was also a lizard called Albert.
There are just some points at which the brain gives up, shrugs, and just goes with whatever. Because working that noise out would cause it to implode. And since brains don't want to implode, they are inclined to assume that this is the new normal and proceed accordingly. Which, in this case, means advancing the cause of physics by more than a handful of decades.
"Try no' tae drop yer tail on this," said Katie. "It's not exactly rocket science."
"This is beyond rocket science," complained Albert.
Katie stepped back from the blackboard she had made inside of the barn, contemplated her complicated sigils and attempts at explanation. "Aye, yer right. I should be startin' ye off with the rocket science." And then, despite Albert's protests, erased everything with a wet cloth. "Na. Let's begin wi' orbit velocity around th' planet... And Tsiolkovsky's rocket equation." She started drawing a graph that looked like half an inverted parabola.
Two hours later, Stani Milner the farmer caught Albert trembling by the well as he alternately swigged at some water and puffed on his pipe. Judging by the smell, it was something a little stronger than regular tobacco. "Something the matter?"
Albert looked up at him as if he had witnessed the face of God. "You know how men of all kinds are saying that the women are fragile and should not be thinking of complex problems?"
"Aye, it's well known," allowed Stani.
"To put it impolitely, that assumption is a vat of pig shit." He took a deep and desperate drag of his pipe, which only quelled his shakes a little. "We say this to hold the women back. If we allowed them to move forward like men? They would open up the cosmos."
Stani looked over to the being who called herself Katie Walker, who was gossiping with his wife Brin and kneading loaves with her. Even though Katie was clearly some kind of demon, she seemed harmless enough now. "Is she... any danger?"
"My friend, she is completely harmless in a physical sense. She will not hurt you or yours. She will not kill unless she has to. No. I've heard her explain the universe. Just listening to words. How... how it's all so simple for her." This time, a swig of cool water. Something that should have slowed a lizard-man down and let him relax. "And I am terrified."
Stani looked back to the women-folk. Katie didn't seem to be doing anything more terrifying that having one of those intense chats that men would never hear because the women would glare at them until they went away. The ones with folded arms and bowed heads and wary eyes. The ones that had inherent fears all of their own, simply because a man would never know their content.
He nervously pawed at the ground with a front hoof. "I know my Brin's smarter with the farm finances than I am, she's an eagle eye for a bargain..."
"If she became an accountant?" said Albert. "She would run this country inside of a year." Another long drag. "The biggest lie we tell the world is that women should never be taken seriously. Educate your daughters, my friend. Teach them everything they can learn. Including how to command respect. They will be a power."
Stani stared again at the women across the way. Pondered what it might be like to be the beloved father of powerful women-folk. To have sired strong and capable ladies who had the potential to take over a nation with their minds. A smile grew on his face. He had always held that the ladies were undervalued and overworked.
It was a moment that changed a world.
"How would you start?" asked Stani.
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / photocreo]
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