By Chris and Joe Herring
Illustrated by Joe Herring
I am Ron Mitchell, captain of the starship Crusader. Five years ago, I was flying through interstellar space on a mission of exploration with a crew of twelve men. We had already been in space for six months, and during this long, monotonous time, I had acquired a habit of reflecting on various philosophical questions in my leisure moments. One day, I was pondering on the question of why God had made human beings in two sexes, male and female. As I was thinking and praying on this subject (for I am a religious man), the pilot of the ship announced that an uncharted planet had just come into view. As our ship moved closer to it, we could see that the planet was mostly covered with land and was divided into two distinct hemispheres by a thin silver line—an enormous wall, perhaps. The hemispheres were slightly different colors; one was a deep green hue, the other yellow-green with a tinge of gray. I asked the pilot to beam me down on the yellow-green side, and stepped into the teleportation room. For a moment, a humming sound pervaded the room, and the next moment I found myself on the surface of the planet.
I had landed in the midst of a huge city. Enormous skyscrapers loomed over me, and the sounds of machinery filled the gray, polluted air. Massive, hovering vehicles moved through the streets. Along the sidewalks trudged big, brawny humans. They were all casually dressed, and didn’t seem to care whether their clothes matched or not. Most of them had long hair and beards. As I looked at them, I realized that they were all males; I saw no women among them. They spoke to each other in brief, sometimes harsh words, and, to my surprise, they spoke in English. I noticed that they treated each other as if none of them had any feelings. As I walked along the streets, I passed a large building with the words “Economic and Industrial Progress Center of the People” written in block letters over the doorway. I also passed a colossal stadium, which constantly resounded with raucous shouts and applause. 
I then stopped one of the brawny men who was walking by, and asked him a few questions about his way of life. Though his answers were brief, and sometimes rude, I managed to learn a good deal from him about his people. They had thoroughly explored, settled, and developed the hemisphere where we were; but they had no idea what was on the other side of the planet, since they could not go beyond the wall which divided it. Their civilization was ruled by a ruthless military dictator named Kon Torus, who controlled a huge and well-disciplined army. The people had much literature at their disposal, mostly treatises on philosophy, architecture, and mathematics. Their homes were guarded by armed androids, and were very untidy inside. The men ate mostly meat, protein, and sweets, and almost no vegetables; and they had never heard of forks or spoons. I asked the man with whom I was speaking if he was happy. “No,” he answered bluntly. “I always feel so lonely.” 
When I had finished talking with him, we parted, and I continued down the street. Suddenly, I heard a faint, rumbling rhythm, which gradually grew louder and louder. Then I saw a large company of armed men marching down the street toward me, led by a tall man wearing a cape and holding an iron rod. Wishing to avoid an encounter with the army, I contacted the pilot of my starship and asked him to beam me up, which he promptly did. After this, we moved the ship around to the other side of the planet.
I decided to investigate this side of the planet as well. I stepped into the teleportation room, and within a few seconds I was standing in the midst of a very different sort of town from that which I had just left. All around me stood tiny but pretty cabins, surrounded by well-pruned trees and bright green lawns; and I myself was standing in the middle of a wide dirt road. Along the road walked people with long hair and long garments, but no beards. I realized that they were all women; I could see no men among them. They talked, laughed, and cried, creating such a din that the air was filled with their chattering. They appeared to have more fashion sense than the people of the other hemisphere; but I deduced from the fact that they wore no makeup, jewelry, or braids that they were not trying to look beautiful, only respectable. 
I walked up to one of these women, and greeted her. She seemed surprised and interested to meet someone like me, and introduced herself as Tamira. I was able to learn a great deal from her about her way of life, since she was friendlier and more talkative than the man I had talked with earlier. I learned that the town where we were was quite large, and was ruled by a council of old women. These women acted as judges and mediators in the quarrels of the people; and these quarrels were very numerous, since gossip and slander were widespread. The old women were seldom able to remain impartial, however, since they often gave free rein to their emotions in court, took sides, and passed excessively harsh sentences. The death penalty was unknown to them; their most severe punishment for criminals was “social isolation”, imprisonment in a windowless house without companions. All the women lived in small cabins, and spent much of their time doing chores and keeping their houses as tidy as possible. Horse-drawn carts were their most advanced form of transportation. They ate mostly vegetables, eggs, and sweets, and very little meat; and they used at least nine different eating utensils at each meal. Their literature included much social philosophy and stories of human drama, but very little math and science. The women were all very sensitive, and hurt feelings were common. I asked Tamira if she was happy. “No” she answered. “I always feel really scared.” 
When I asked why this was, she took me to the edge of the village. Before me loomed a dark, tangled jungle, which echoed with bird calls. Tamira told me that beasts resembling huge serpents with legs would sometimes emerge from the jungle and attack her people. The women were afraid to enter the jungle, and for this reason they never left their village. I thanked her, and turned to go; but just as I did so, she let out a piercing scream. 
I whirled around and saw a hulking, snakelike monster emerging from the jungle. I snatched my ray gun from its holster, and fired three blasts; the beast dropped dead. I then bid the astonished Tamira goodbye, and asked the starship pilot to beam me up again; and a moment later I had left the surface of the planet.
When I was back in the starship, I decided to have a closer look at the wall which ringed the planet. Soon we had brought the starship within the atmosphere, and as we flew over the wall, which was several miles high and built of metal, I noticed a place where it bulged outward and formed a sort of colossal metal dome, covered with windows and measuring about ten miles in diameter. As we flew closer to this massive structure, a strange-looking spacecraft rose from a hatch in the top of it and opened fire on us. We fired a neutron missile in self-defense, which hit the enemy ship squarely and disintegrated it. Wishing to discover the mystery of this strange dome, we flew into the open hatch in the top, and landed in a huge room with steel walls and floor. A vast multitude of humans, both male and female, crowded around the ship. I opened the door of the starship, expecting the worst, and was surprised to find myself greeted warmly by these people. I spoke to them for a long time, and from them I learned the secret of this mysterious planet. Long ago, the planet had been conquered by alien beings, who had segregated the men and women as a sort of science experiment. The ancestors of the people with whom I was speaking had been imprisoned inside the dome and allowed to marry and have children; but the invaders had taken most of their children while still very young, and had put the boys on the men’s side of the planet, and the girls on the women’s side. Only a few babies were allowed to remain in the dome. A hundred years had passed, and most of the invaders had left the planet; and our neutron missile had just eliminated the last few. I learned that the men and women in the dome were the only people on the planet who had lived more or less happy lives before our arrival. I decided that this was because of the presence of both sexes there, and the balance of the male and female traits. 
After saying goodbye to the people, I boarded the ship and we left the dome. Then, using our neutron missiles, we blasted a few holes in the dome and wall, so that they could no longer keep men and women apart. After this, we left the planet; and I thanked God for showing me the answer to my question.
“That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body.” (Genesis 2:24)
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