Apphia

I had to get away from here, even if it meant leaving Earth. I didn't want go to Bystria, where women where uneducated slaves, but right then, it was the best choice. I donned the ugly working dress those women wore and stowed away on an outgoing rocket.
The girls I met once arriving didn't know more than what they'd been taught. On our breaks at the factory, I tried educating them, but only my friend Apphia could get passed "See Jane run."
   All of them were interested in learning self-defense, as their planet was at war with Zippor from the next galaxy. After a month of grueling labor and, to my annoyance, men who tried to what they called "mate" with me, we managed to convince the boss to give us bows and arrows, on the condition that he monitored us.
   Back on Earth, I'd won competitions for my archery skills, but teaching was much more difficult. They shot at the target, only to miss the tree I carved it in entirely. "Tamar, no use. We'll never get it," Apphia sighed after nearly taking off our boss's head.
     "I learned how to tote five fifty-pound bags of gravel a mile, you can learn to shoot a bow," I answered her.
     "I with Apphia. Impossible. Earth girls different," Delilah said, throwing down her bow. "You makes us feel stupid! Not dumb, not us! We's just to work, marry, birth babes, and die. That life!"
     It broke my heart, but other girls agreed and left. "Sorry, Tamar. You tried. When the world is pumping lies into people's heads, it's hard for them to see what's possible. At least you showed a couple people," the boss consoled me.
     "I just want to help. I grew up seeing women fight and win against sexism. It's so weird to think that it's the 23rd century, and women are still acting and being treated like this!" I sighed and collapsed against a tree they weren't shooting at.
"There are still people on Earth who could use your help. You've been sheltered in your United States, where there's democracy. You could always go back-"
"No!" I cried. He stared at me, shocked. "There's nothing left for me on Earth."
"Tamar! I shoot the arrow in the target!" Apphia broke the silence.
We congratulated her, then began to shoot again. Apphia landed two more on the target before they came. The police had come for us.
"Tamar Preston, you are under arrest for smuggling illegal goods over planetary borders," the commander boomed.
"What'd I bring?" I demanded.
"These," He said with a wicked grin. He tossed my jeans across the field. Before I could develop a defense, I was tackled.
An elbow dug deep into my stomach, forcing me to involuntarily shift. "Resisting arrest!" One Regulator cried. A gunshot, then...
⚜️⚜️⚜️
The boss was killed the same day. A year later, Apphia was imprisoned after teaching ten women, but soon feminism spread like wildfire throughout Bystria.