Chapter 11: Lyle Retaliates

My day was slow for a change, so I had an early lunch and headed out to the Freight Yard to meet with Sam a little earlier than necessary. A half-hour of sitting in the porch swing sipping coffee sounded pretty good to me, even though the weather was rather cool. Everything seemed to be going smoothly when I arrived at the Freight Yard, so I got some coffee and settled into the swing to relax.

I was no sooner settled in the swing than I noticed a Sheriff’s cruiser pulling into the parking lot. Deputy Sheriffs Bill Johnson and Sheryl Malloy exited their cruiser and walked over to the porch. It had been over a year since I last talked with them and I wondered what they had been doing. When they reached the porch, they asked if I had some time to talk, so I told them to go inside and grab some coffee, and then come have a seat.

Sheryl returned first, so she was making small talk until Bill was able to join us. He needed to make a pit stop at the bathroom before he drank any more coffee. When he joined us, we continued to catch up with what had been going on with each other since we last talked. We ran through our small talk very quickly and Bill finally brought up the main reason for their visit. After the BCer affair ended, I had a private talk with Bill and Sheryl about Bob and Sharna, and I then extended an open offer of a job with the Ark Foundation to them, if they were ever interested.

Bill said, “Jon, we were curious if you were serious about the job offer you made us and if it is still available.”

“I was very serious Bill, and I will hire both of you today, if you are interested.”

Sheryl said, “We may be very interested Jon. Four months ago, we took the Sergeant’s exam and the exam for assignment to the detective division. Three months ago, the results had come in and our scores were excellent. We believed that our scores, experience, seniority, and other factors would result in our being promoted to Sergeant and assigned to the Detective Division.

“However, three weeks ago, a friend of ours in the Detective Division told us he was aware of a rumor that we had been black balled by one of the influential County Commissioners. He didn’t know why the Commissioner had black balled us, but the rumor had come from a reliable source.

“Our friend promised to keep his eyes and ears open to see if he could gather any further information. If the rumor is true, there will be no promotion for us and no transfer into the Detective Division. Two weeks ago, the promotion list was posted and our names were not on it and a few of the officers selected for promotion had less time in grade, less experience, and lower test scores.

“We made a few quiet enquiries and learned that the County Commissioners had passed us over due to questionable performance in our handling of the BCer affair. There were also references to us living an improper lifestyle.”

Sheryl was becoming very angry, so Bill took over their story, “We talked with the Sheriff to learn why he felt we mishandled the BCer affair and Mike told us that he considered our performance to be exemplary and above reproach. He also told us that he had recommended us for promotion, and had been surprised when our names were not on the promotion list. Mike made enquiries of his own and three days later he told us he learned that political pressure was being brought to bear on the Commissioners to force the two of us out of the Sheriff’s Department and to have Mike and Larry Miller replaced in the coming election.”

“That makes no sense Bill.

“You and Sheryl are not elected officials. Using political pressure on the Commissioners to destroy your careers is ridiculous and why would anyone want to do that to you.

“I can understand political pressure being applied to the Commissioners by a political adversary to discredit Mike or Larry, but not both of them. The only thing that would make sense in their situation is several adversaries acting in concert. However, that doesn’t explain why they would target the two of you.

“I think I will look into this matter further and let you know what I find out. It seems to me that regardless of why you have been targeted, your careers have probably gone as far as they are going to go. If you decide on a career change, the Ark Foundation needs to create an Internal Security Department and I would be happy to hire the two of you for senior positions.”

Sam arrived as we were finishing our conversation, so I explained the problems that Bill and Sheryl had brought to my attention. Sam confirmed that there would be openings for Bill and Sheryl if they were interested. I told Bill and Sheryl to come by the house that evening at 6:00 PM for dinner and we could talk in greater detail about the positions, salaries, and benefits that would be theirs by joining the Ark Foundation. They thanked us and said they would stop by that evening, and they then returned to their patrol duties. Sam and I left for our tour of the Auburn Silo.

The train trip to the Auburn Silo transit station gave Sam and me plenty of time to talk about the problems raised by Bill and Sheryl. It had not escaped my attention that the Commissioners referenced the BCer affair, and Mike, Larry, Bill, and Sheryl were all key players in that affair. I knew that Undersecretary Lyle was upset with us, but I believed that he would mellow out given adequate time. I wondered if he was involved in the problem Bill and Sheryl were having. I contacted Bob and told him about my suspicions regarding Lyle, and I asked him if he could check on Lyle activities to see if he was involved in this matter. That afternoon Bob briefed me on what he had discovered.

Bob said, “Lyle apparently believes that our actions placed the country in a very precarious position and he believes we are loose cannons who have the power and abilities to cause further international problems. While his decision to remove us is predominately a result of that belief, there is also a small measure of revenge for the problems we caused him by interfering with his handling of the BCer problem.

“The plan he envisions is to remove everyone involved in the BCer affair from positions that allow us to create a future hazardous situation for the country. I couldn’t find a logical reason for why he felt Bill and Sheryl were a threat, but his plan is to put them in a position where they will resign from the police force. Since Mike and Larry had used their official positions to aid you, he feels they are a threat and he is underwriting a campaign that will keep them from being reelected. He also considers Harold Blucher to be a long-term political adversary who is now aiding your goals, so it is time to eliminate him also. While political pressure could be used to eliminate your friends, a slightly different approach will be needed to eliminate the threat you represent. His plan is for the Ark Foundation to be investigated, and as President and owner of the Ark Foundation, you are to be brought up on legal charges.

I briefed Sam on the plan Lyle and Tyler had placed in motion and we discussed it to determine how we wanted to address the matter. While talking with Sam, I contacted Clara to tell her that Bill and Sheryl would be coming by this evening for dinner at 6:00 PM and briefed her on our latest crisis.

While I was talking with Clara, I had her consult the Master Schedule to see when we planned to start developing our Security Department. She told me the effort was planned to start in six months, so I thanked her and let her know that we would probably be accelerating that start date for I had offered Bill and Sheryl positions earlier today. We said goodbye and I continued my conversation with Sam.

When we arrived at the transit station, we grabbed one of the electric carts and proceeded with our tour. The Ark Foundation had contracted for 1,000, 4-seater electric golf carts to be constructed to our specifications and we had only recently taken delivery of the first shipment. The carts were battery powered, capable of speeds of up to 40 miles per hour, and had a range of over 50 miles without recharge.

We drove it into the freight elevator and went up to Level 16. Sam picked several offices, break areas, and meeting rooms for us to examine. On the way down to Level 1, we stopped at Levels 13, 9, and 4. We examined several residential units, a park, kitchen, cafeterias, shopping facilities, public restrooms, and storage areas on each level. Back at Level 1, we toured the critical services areas, several storage rooms, and the utility rooms. With the exception of a few minor defects, the Silo looked good to both of us. The Contractors had done an outstanding job preparing the Silo for occupancy.

Sam let me know that beginning next month, his assistants and the Contractor’s representatives were to begin the acceptance inspections. They planned to inspect Level 16 first, then each successively lower level, and prepare a punch list to document deficiencies found on each level. That would allow us to accept each level as its problems were corrected, and once accepted, we would be able to begin furnishing and stocking the level. I directed him to make completion of the Auburn Silo his first priority for I had been thinking about moving the Ark Foundation departments into the Ark and when we did that, many of our employees would want to take up residence in the Ark. Sam and I said our goodbyes and left when we got back to the Freight Yard; he headed to the office and I headed home.

Tara, Asal, and Dorri met me when I arrived home. They had taken over the household duties to free up my other Bond Mates so they could return to work. The paperwork prepared by the Department of Immigration and Naturalization had resulted in them receiving political asylum and they were now taking classes to become US Citizens. It had seemed odd to me that my three ladies would expend the time and effort necessary for them to become citizens, so I asked why they wanted to do so when the meteoroids would shortly destroy our civilization. They explained that in Iran, the government was extremely repressive of women and they wanted to make a statement against the Iranian Government before it ceased to exist. The best way they could think of doing that was to reject their Iranian citizenship and become American citizens. They also decided to reject Iranian culture and adapt to the American culture, at least as much as their personal likes and beliefs would permit.

Clara had passed along my message about Bill and Sheryl coming for dinner, so the three of them had been busy preparing a special meal for our guests. I excused myself and went to my home office to see what Bob had found out about Lyle’s plans.

He may have been acting on what he believed best for the country, but I found Lyle’s plans to be very upsetting. He was angry with me, and targeting people that I considered friends. Hurting them would have little to no effect on me, so why was he expending the effort to get them out of office. I could sort of understand him going after Mike and Larry for they had an active part in the exchange we had with him. Senator Blucher, Bill, and Sheryl were more or less bit players at that time and had no altercation with him other than Senator Blucher being a long-time adversary, so why go after them. Granted they did play a part in the affair, but it didn’t make sense to target them. Either I was missing something or he was just a whack-a-doodle, and I didn’t think he would be in his position if he were a whack-a-doodle. If I couldn’t find a logical reason for his actions, then I would have to assume that I had stomped on Lyle’s ego and he was a very vindictive person. I called Mike and Larry to set up a meeting in Mike’s meeting room in the morning, and I asked Mike to have Bill and Sheryl present also.

Dorri knocked on the study door to let me know Bill and Sheryl had arrived for dinner a little early. I met them in the entryway and escorted them to my office. With drinks in hand and seated in comfortable chairs, I asked them if they had given my proposal any consideration. They said they had a busy afternoon and had only been able to talk privately for a short time. I told them that I had looked into the matter and had uncovered the source of their problem. They perked up at that news and asked for details. I told them that for reasons I was unaware of, Undersecretary Lyle had taken offense at me, Senator Blucher, Mike, Larry, and them. He had made an agreement with some Defense contractors that resulted in the Commissioners black balling them in the Sheriff’s Department. I had no proof of this agreement yet, and even if I got proof, it may not help them. Dorri knocked at the door and let me know my Bond Mates were home and dinner was ready. The three of us left for the dining room, planning to continue our conversation as we ate.

Bill and Sheryl had not met all of my Bond Mates before, so when we got to the dining room table I introduced them to my ladies. They were overwhelmed by my having eight ‘wives’. During the difficulty with the Unions, Clara had somehow slipped my secretary Joan Ivers into our Bond Group as my eighth Bond Mate. I have a vague recollection of her mentioning it to me and my telling her we could talk about it later. I realized it was a done deal when I found Joan waiting in bed for me that night.

As we sat down at the table, I said, “I will explain more to you about the Ark and my relationship after dinner, but for now, just consider my ladies and me as intimate roommates.

“What about the two of you, do either of you have a special someone in your life?”

I must have put my foot into it for Bill and Sheryl both turned red in their faces. I made a guess about their embarrassment being about the immoral lifestyle they were supposedly living. I said, “I don’t mean to embarrass you or put you in an awkward position, but you can discuss it with us if you wished to do so.”

Sheryl said, “Well Bill and I are more than just partners in the Sheriff’s Department.

“We were in a few tense situations early in our careers together, and ended up giving each other emotional support. In the process, we started seeing each other socially. We had an on and off affair for several years, but we each maintained our own apartment.

“Recently, Bill broke up with his girlfriend, who moved out of his apartment, and we reestablished our relationship. However, Bill’s ex-girlfriend decided she wanted to continue her relationship with Bill, so she moved back into his apartment. She and I are both bisexual; so occasionally, I get with the two of them for a threesome.

“I am in a long-term relationship with another woman who lives with me at my apartment. My lover knows how I feel about Bill, and has no problem with me being with him and his girlfriend. My girlfriend and I will sometimes ask Bill’s girlfriend to come over for a threesome. But my girlfriend doesn’t like men in a sexual sense, so she doesn’t want Bill to join us in a foursome.

“I suppose you could describe our relationship as two couples who sometimes combine to form two overlapping threesomes, with two of us being in both threesomes. My girlfriend and Bill are friendly with each other in a social sense, and the four of us do get together socially, but there is no physical interaction between Bill and my girlfriend.

Bill said, “I think you can understand why Sheryl and I try to keep our private lives a secret from our coworkers. Someone found out at least part of our secret and made it known to our coworkers. Will you have any problems with our relationship as our employer?”

I said, “No, we have no problem with your relationship. However, we are very selective of the people we allow to join us in our key positions. The two of you are acceptable, but we will have to meet these two ladies in order to see if they will fit into the Ark Society, which we are creating. I suspect they will probably be okay, and we are willing to make an exception if the situation warrants it. You will understand what I mean once we have our conversation about the Ark.”

After a rather tasty Persian pudding for dessert, we went to the living room so we could relax and explain the Ark and Ark Society to Bill and Sheryl. Once we were seated in the living room with our coffee, I said, “Bill, Sheryl, the full story is very long and convoluted. So for tonight, I will only tell you an abbreviated version that hits the high points. If you decide to join us, you will learn the details I leave out over time.

“As I told you previously, Bob and Sharna are energy-based life forms from another galaxy. I am bonded to Bob and Clara is bonded to Sharna, and that allows the four of us to communicate over a mental link. In the early 1970’s, Bob and Sharna learned that a very large meteoroid shower was headed toward Earth. They spent some time shifting the larger meteoroids onto a divergent path, and then started construction of the Ark. We are currently in the process of finishing the Ark’s construction and provisioning the Ark with food, medicines, clothes, etc.

The reason for the Ark’s existence is to preserve humanity after the meteoroid shower arrives. The meteoroid strikes will be bad enough, but the meteoroids also carry a virus that is lethal to humans. Bob and Sharna estimate that the meteoroids, virus, and after effects will kill off over 95% of the Earth’s population. While they can make a vaccine that will prevent the majority of the deaths from the virus, we will only be able to inoculate a large group of people. We can’t inoculate the entire world.

“We planned to bring the two of you, Mike, and Larry on board over the next year or two, but Lyle’s actions have forced us to accelerate our time schedule. We decided that the Ark Society would be based on polygamy, so your relationship will not cause us any problems.

“We will accept your girlfriends assuming of course that they have compatible personalities. Now the purpose of the Ark is to repopulate the Earth. While we will accept both of them, we are also going to hope they will assist us by giving birth to several children. Sheryl, we can work things out through artificial insemination, if your girlfriend is willing and finds sex with a man too repugnant.

“I rather imagine that the virus will be a strong motivator for the two of you to join us, and the decision is yours to make. I have a feeling that the two of you have reached a decision individually, but you may need some time to decide if it is the right decision for the two of you and your friends. Do you feel that you need more time to make your decisions?”

Bill said, “Do you mind if Sheryl and I take a short walk, so we can discuss what you told us?”

“No problem Bill. We will talk when you get back.”

They returned about thirty minutes later, and Sheryl said, “Well as you inferred, the decision is really a no-brainer. Bill and I both like and trust you Jon. We will shortly be having major problems at work and we want to survive the virus, so we decided to accept your offer of employment. We will talk this over with our friends and see if they wish to join us.”

Bill added, “We need to give notice to the Sheriff’s Department before we can start the new jobs, and we would like to know a bit more about what those jobs will entail.”

I said, “I suggest you let us host a dinner Saturday night and I can tell your friends about Bob, Sharna, the meteoroids, and the virus. It will be better that way for if they need proof we can provide it.

You may not be aware of it yet, but the three of us are due to have a meeting with Mike and Larry in the morning. I planned to discuss Lyle’s actions with the four of you and to also tell Mike and Larry about the Ark and my plans to bring them aboard, if they are interested. We can discuss your resignations with the Sheriff at that time.

“The Ark is going to need a Security Department and I want the two of you and Mike to be the initial members of that department. I would like to wait until tomorrow to go over the details, so Mike can be a part of our discussion.

“However to cover the basics, I envision the Security Department being divided into an Internal and an External Security Group with some overlap. I want Mike to be in charge of both groups, and I am considering the two of you to be the interim heads of the Internal Group. I will let Mike decide whom he wants to run that group. The Internal Group will perform the same basic functions as the police do in our society, so your experience should allow you to setup and run our private police organization.”

After my answering a few more questions, Bill and Sheryl left to return to their apartments. The rest of my evening passed pretty much as normal. My Bond Mates and I updated each other on our day’s activities and Clara updated the Action Item log and Master Schedule. Some of us read the newspaper or a book, while others watched TV or a DVD. My Bond Mates would drift off to bed, and eventually the two ladies designated to be my sleeping companions for the night would lead me to the bedroom. Once in the bedroom our activities varied depending on whom I was with and our current moods. I usually made love with my ladies but sometime we would just cuddle until we fell asleep. That night it was a short lovemaking session, a long cuddle, and then sleep.

Mornings were almost always chaotic. You know what chaos is if you can picture three women in a kitchen fixing breakfast for nine people, five women getting cleaned up and dressed for work, and a lone man trying to get himself ready to go to work. I usually just stayed out of their way and showered last and I could usually find an unoccupied sink after breakfast to finish getting ready for work.

This morning, I had to jump into the fray and get ready for my meeting at Mike’s office. Fortunately, I had considerate Bond Mates for they let me have priority on the shower and sink. Bedroom space was no problem as each of my ladies had a bedroom separate from mine that she shared with one of our Bond Mates. The remaining bedrooms in our house had been converted for other uses. If I took on any further Bond Mates, we may need to get a new house or add onto this one.

It wasn’t clear how I should handle expansion of my Bond Group in terms of housing. We were going to move into the Ark in the not too distant future, which would alleviate any crowding problem. However, once our people returned to the surface, we may want to move back into the house. Our Bond Group would probably be even larger then. So if we were to use our current house, then we should enlarge it now while there were experienced construction people and materials available. It may also be prudent to invest in a solar powered or wind powered electrical system for the house and an all-electric kitchen and an electric water heater. Come to think of it, we can get those items at no cost after we returned to the surface, and if we decide to move out of the Ark, we may want to live closer to the Aurora Freight Yard.

I made it to Mike’s office in plenty of time for our meeting. When the other participants had arrived and settled in with cups of coffee, I began my presentation.

“Senator Blucher and the five of us are under attack by Undersecretary Lyle. Bill and Sheryl came to me and told me that they learned that political pressure was being used to oust them from their jobs. I had Bob check it out, and he informed me that Lyle is using the County Commissioners and others to get rid of all four of you. Bob has also informed me of the plans Lyle is considering for having me arrested, prosecuted, and imprisoned. I will say one thing about Lyle; he honestly believes we are loose cannons that need to be removed from positions of power before we damage the country. I am going to call Senator Blucher and have him come for a visit. An old, political fox like him may be able to advise us in how to proceed.”

We discussed what we knew of Lyle’s attack, which was very little. When we were essentially done, Bill said, “Jon, we would like to give the Sheriff two weeks of notice. Is that acceptable to you?”

“Yes.”

Bill then said, “Sheriff, Sheryl and I have to get out on patrol. Considering the circumstances, we feel we need to resign from the Sheriff’s Department. Is a two-week notice adequate or will you need longer to replace us?”

Mike just looked at them for a few moments then turning to me, he said, “Jon can you use them immediately?”

“Yes.”

Looking at the three of us, Mike said, “The Commissioners have cut my budget and that is forcing me to conduct a staff reduction. I will be announcing the deputies selected for layoff at the end of the week. With that in mind, a two-week notice won’t work for me. Jon, you can have them effective tomorrow.

“I will get someone to cover your patrol area today. What I want is for the two of you to go type up your resignations effective today citing personal reasons as discussed with me as your reason for resigning. Then go to admin and let them know I have accepted your resignations effective today, and you need a list of department property that has been issued to you. When you get the list, go home and find the equipment. Bring it back and turn it in, and finish your out-processing.

“I am very happy with the work the two of you have done for me. The reason I want you out of here now is that your immediate resignation will allow me to keep two good people that I would have to lay off come Friday.”

Bill and Sheryl smiled, shook the Sheriff’s hand, and left. I said, “Mike, I will need good people to work with Bill and Sheryl. If any of the people being released would be beneficial to the Ark, please have them come speak with me.