order, was maybe five-three, and though her build was very slender, it was more human than that of the man who ordered the most expensive cup of Joe on the menu.
I watched her tight posterior as she walked away and tried not to think about how fleeting her life would be. Did the long-lived Feyn men weep over their mayfly sisters and lovers and mothers? Maybe not. After all, there were plenty more—the females outnumbered the males fifty to one.
“I was able to obtain the amount you require,” Marlin said by way of greeting. That was another difference between the Feyn sexes. The women were usually friendly and outgoing, often working in the service and entertainment industries. The men, not so much.
“Why aren’t you a senator?” I asked him abruptly. “You’re certainly old enough.”
While the female Feyn were often actresses, singers, servers, or call girls, the males were more often professors, business leaders, or senators. The Senate was composed entirely of Feyn, their long years and value of wisdom and intelligence making them ideal, steady hands on the tiller of state. The House of Representatives was made up of a mix of the other three races: brutes, lynix, and humans.
Marlin, not one to share personal details, grimaced at my question but answered anyway. “I would not be able to live as I’m accustomed on a politician’s salary, and I am not that patriotic.” Elected officials were truly civil servants; they were paid enough to live in comfort, but not in luxury. “Or perhaps I am too patriotic,” he said as though he genuinely wasn’t sure, “and don’t believe I would be adequately suited to the task.”