Chapter 1

Andre Levin got home late, knowing that he would be meeting his 3rd wife that very night. Ever since polygamy became legal, under the wise, benevolent leadership of Comrade Gustavo, the State made a point of arranging marriages. No one was forced to accept the government's recommendations, but resisting was frowned upon and quite rare. Most people, for the past 40 years, had simply found it easier to go along with the State's plan, rather than try to pursue lovers on their own.

Comrade Gustavo, the "Glorious Leader" of the Federal Union of Earth, had been the enlightened dictator of the planet since the Global Crisis of 2030-2035. For about 5 years, after the Great Panic of 2030, national governments had collapsed, warlords ruled large areas, and gangs committed terrible crimes against their neighbors.

Anarchy reigned supreme, until the ruthless Spanish mercenary Gustavo Ortiz imposed law and order, systematically, nation by nation. He brought peace and prosperity back to Earth, uniting humanity under one flag for the first time in its history.

Ortiz established a Charter of State, which gave him supreme authority and made the Federative Assembly, the global legislature, a passive body to rubber-stamp his laws. The High Council, an advisory body, was also given the job of selecting the Supreme Consul of the FUE, the office that "Comrade Gustavo" formally held.

He was to be chosen by unanimous vote and given sweeping powers for the rest of his life. Judges were appointed by the Supreme Consul and no longer had any independence. Juries were abolished and private defense counsel was banned. All lawyers were employees of the State from that point forward. Law firms were nationalized.

Earth was divided into 6 Continental Prefectures, with each headed by a Prefect directly appointed by the Supreme Consul. Former prefects were among the many public officials who automatically joined the High Council when their terms of office expired.

The cities were semi-autonomous, with appointed Mayors and elected City Councils. The Councils had more say on their level of government than the Federative and Continental Assemblies did on the higher ones.

Andre Levin was a professor of history at the University of Trans-Ohio's Cleveland Campus. The UTO was one of the several regional universities that consolidated the former state and provincial institutions after states and provinces were eliminated. Levin, for his part, had no complaints about the regime. He knew that his ancestors had more political freedom than he did, but he thought that democracy was an outdated system that was impractical in his own age. It was 2075 now and too much had changed to return to the nation-states and their traditions.

One of Andre's favorite books to assign students was Rights, Responsibilities, and Democracy, a political manifesto written by Dr. Donald Larkin. Larkin was a sociology professor at the University of Wisconsin a decade before the Great Panic. His controversial work claimed that democracy had been corrupted to avoid blame, hide behind a tyrannical majority rule, and subvert personal freedom in the name of "morality" and "community standards". The best way to secure liberty was to scrap Western-style democracy in favor of a benevolent dictatorship committed to protecting civil liberties from public hysteria.

In any case, Levin had indicated his preference for plural wives when he registered at age 18 with the Family Affairs Commission, the powerful bureaucracy that chose marital partners for citizens of both sexes. People were encouraged to discover their sexuality and declare it by the age of 25, so as to make it easier for the FAC to select their spouses. This gave a person 7 years between initial registration to "Final Dispositions".

Levin had informed the FAC officials in his precinct that he was a heterosexual male of mixed Jewish and Latvian descent. He wanted the maximum number of wives: 3. Since he could not afford the 3rd wife until this year, he had to wait 12 years for her.

This system of phases not only helped a man reach the fiscal circumstances that would best suit his choice, but also increased the chances of the wife's availability. Age was not a serious consideration for the State, provided that all marriages be between mature adults.

A man could declare himself bisexual and opt for both a husband and a wife. A woman could announce that she was a lesbian and request just one wife. It was a matter of personal choice, as well as finding willing and compatible partners, which sometimes took a while.

Even so, the State was more efficient about the process than individuals had been in the old days. With a world population of 10 billion people, it could locate partners anywhere in the world, but the clientele were expected not to be too picky, especially about race. It was a part of the price of greater sexual convenience.

The government was not interested in requiring "fidelity" of the spouses. It wasn't the State's job to enforce a particular morality on people. People were to obey the laws of the FUE and respect each other's rights. That was all that was expected of them. Some husbands and wives took lovers, while others didn't. That was a matter for the spouses to work out among themselves.

Whatever the case, the divorce rate had plummeted since people had been encouraged to openly seek what they wanted from the outset. If a man wished multiple partners, all he had to do was ask for them and he would get what he desired sooner or later. A woman who preferred monogamy was more likely to actually find it than in the old days. The reverse was also true.

Levin's 1st wife was Jessica, a 29 year old woman from Brooklyn. She had long, jet black hair, a swarthy complexion, and dark brown eyes. She also was rather short and petite. Her flirtatious manner and smile indicated both her Italian and Puerto Rican ancestors. She had been Levin's wife for 11 years, having married him within months of her 18th birthday.

His 2nd spouse was Melanie, a 25 year old belle from Augusta. Her Southern accent, along with her strawberry blonde hair, pale skin, and delightful backside made her stand out anywhere. Her wedding to Andre had occurred 5 years before. A bisexual girl, she had fully enjoyed sex with both her husband and co-wife.

Now, they all looked forward to meeting the professor's new mate. Jessica and Melanie hoped that she would turn out to be as accommodating as they had been. That would keep the entire household happy. The last thing that any of them needed was a jealous wife. Of course, that was rare under the present system, since those unwilling to share were generally assigned to partners who demanded equal exclusivity.

They both kissed Levin enthusiastically as he entered the house, relieved that he had shown up before their fellow wife. They were afraid at first that it was her when he knocked and they wanted everyone ready for the civil ceremony that would mark the nuptials.

"Honey, your bride is almost here. You might want to change quickly before she and the FAC officer arrive. That regular business suit just won't do for the wedding. You should know that after our weddings," Melanie pointed out, winking at Jessica as she did so.

"Yes, my love. I guess it does pay to have a wife with a sense for these things," Andre teased her.

"And which wife is that?" Jessica probed.

"Okay, scratch that. It pays to have WIVES with eyes for fashion and taste," he corrected himself, not wanting to hurt either wife's feelings.

"That's a quick save! Typical Andre, not wanting to hurt his women. It's obviously more to do with kindness than fear. After all, if one of us doesn't put out, he can still get laid with the other," Melanie joked.

"Same with me. That's one of the benefits of group marriage. Sexual blackmail is a thing of the past. Of course, I'd never try it anyway. I like fucking too much for that," Jessica commented.

"Believe it or not, in the last century it was considered inappropriate to use words like 'fuck' and 'screw' in public, especially for women. That changed only gradually until the 1970s, when major progress was made toward verbal candor, followed by 2 minor backlashes in the 80s and the first decade of this century," Andre observed, while nervously waiting for his new wife to show up.

"That's just silly! Our poor ancestors, living through all of that! I'm just glad that I don't live in the 20th century. It sounds dull. Guess I can expect my academic husband to bring up boring historical stuff like that," Melanie reacted to this footnote.