"He frowned and tutted. I'd heard that tut before and I knew I'd have todo better or earn a demerit. I looked around at the ladies around thesalon and...at the young girl behind the counter. Again I was going tohave to humiliate myself in public."Please Alan, I am Master John's Simpering sissy, and I am here to havesome work done to make me as girlie as I can be for him," I said.Immediately I could here sniggering around the room as faces looked upto see who would be pathetic enough to ridicule. She normally would have been astonished to see a mere third-desk viola player invade her soloist sanctum. But of course, when I confronted her in her dressing-room, a blast from her past, I didn’t even have to ask.“Covering my arse,” she volunteered.“Surprise, surprise. You’re a great musician, but today you fucked up the second movement. Didn’t properly recover. That’s not the violas’ fault.”“It’s not about the violas. It’s about a certain viola player.”“Come on! Blaming me again. What was it. If you don’t want to be left behind, better do what I say.”It took a few seconds for Shweta to realize that Professor Aravind was serious. She knew that she didn’t have many options as she was running out of time. Above all, Rakesh’s future was at stake and she had to do anything to secure his future.“But…this is school,” She whimpered. “Don’t worry Mrs.Nair,” Professor Aravind whispered. “Nobody dares to come before I press the call button.”Shweta stood up like a robot and walked towards his. '"Oh. Are there females on the ship?"'No. They died.'"Oh." A lot of her queries were starting to end with a disappointed 'oh'. "Well, how do the men cope? I mean, without any females around for the last ... How long ago did the females die? Why did they die?"The Praetor singularly answered each of her questions. The Viragoans in this solar system were all male, the last female died over four thousand years ago after prolonged exposure to lethal radiation emitted by a certain yellow dwarf star,.