Chapter 10

"O.K., I'm listening. What kind of help?"

"Do you have a social engagement coming up, where you would be expected to have a wife accompanying you?"

"Not that I can think of. The Colony is not all that geared up for official social events yet."

"Nothing at all?"

"Not unless we manufacture one. The Colony COULD have an event for the department heads and deputies to get together with their wives/girlfriends for a dinner, as a 'get-to-know each others' families' evening. Would that suffice?"

"It would, provided the event was recorded in pictures on the Colony news web pages. What I am thinking is that if Gloria and I went as your escorts, one on each arm, that would make a good picture for Penny, without any overt claim that you were her boyfriend. In fact, she could just tell her classmates "I couldn't possibly say", if they asked if you were her boyfriend!"

"You are a devious woman, Gloria. You take after your mother. I love it! I can show up with two beautiful young ladies, and say nothing about them, other than you are my escorts for the evening. How does that suit your devious thoughts, my love?"

"Perfect! Can you arrange such an event, darling? I am sure Muriel won't mind, as it is for Penny's benefit."

John agreed, and phoned Evelyn.

"Evelyn? I had a thought which I want to run past you. I think the team would bond more if we organised a social evening for the members of your team and my department heads. We would of course invite our ladies to join us. That way, the ladies would understand who we are talking about when we have to have meetings to talk business. What do you think of the idea? Of course, the Colony would finance the evening, as it is part of the bonding process, helping our economy to run better."

"I see. Financed by the Colony? I fully agree with your sentiments, Governor. I am sure the ladies would also enjoy meeting their counterparts. Sometimes, a meeting might have to be held in the home of one of us, and knowing the people involved would make that much easier to do. By all means, Governor. How do you want to go about it?"

"I was thinking, Evelyn, that if I left it in your capable hands, you could find a date and location for the event that would suit everyone. Feel free to look into utilising Colony premises which are closed for the night, as the provision of recreational space in the settlement is extremely limited. I should think they would all jump at the chance of something like this, to break the ice of business discussions."

"Thank you for that vote of confidence in me, Governor. I shall endeavour to put on something suitable. I take it the budget will include alcoholic drinks?"

"Certainly, Evelyn, but keep it within reason. I should not like to go to my Treasury with a gigantic bill for drinks. It would not do my reputation much good!"

Evelyn laughed with understanding. "I shall be circumspect with the drinks, Governor. No need to fret over that. I shall get on with it, then. Farewell."

Gloria was still sitting beside him, having listened to his end of the conversation. She smiled sweetly, and leaned over to kiss him. "Thank you, darling. Just let me know the date and time, and we can sort things out. Penny and I may require new dresses for the occasion. Is that okay with you?"

"Yes, you minx. I knew you would get something out of this for yourself."

"Oh, no, my love. I merely intend that Penny and I have similar dresses, so that neither shows up the other. In fact, the closer we are to the same dresses, the more it will emphasize that we are both YOURS!"

John took another look at her seemingly innocent face. "You have already decided, then, have you, Gloria?"

"I don't see her as competition, darling. I know I have your everlasting love, and that is all that matters to me. Penny is a good friend now, and I would be happy to have her with us permanently."

"What do you think Muriel feels about Penny?"

"I could not be 100 per cent certain, but her vision of herself as a den mother, in charge of the family, would not be affected if Penny joined us; so I believe she will be fine with the idea. Do you want me to talk it over with her?"

"Would you, please? I don't want to get embroiled in a mother/daughter argument, where I could not win. I can't afford to take sides, so if you can sort it out in advance of me saying anything, that would be terrific!"

"Right. I'll find an appropriate time to talk to her, and let you know later."

"Thank you, Gloria, my darling. Am I glad I married you!" He came over and hugged her tight, concluding with a passionate kiss. As he went to release her, she commented, "You didn't fondle my bottom, John, like you did with Penny!"

"Oops! Sorry. I shall rectify that right away." His hands moved down to her rear, feeling her plump cheeks and giving them a squeeze. Gloria did much the same to John, to his surprise. "Cheeky!" he said with a laugh.

"What do you expect from a pregnant wife?" She demanded.

"I surrender! You have an argument for everything, haven't you?" he said with a loving smile. Gloria grinned her delight, and strode away to see to the children. She made a mental note to speak to Penny about that new dress.

Tabs was talking school with Penny in the living room, while Muriel and Gloria were attending to their children. "My chemistry teacher was astounded at what I had to say about the economics of chemistry. He declared that I was talking about matters that come up at college and university courses, not school level. I asked him if that meant I would not be prepared for my school chemistry exam. He said, "If I have anything to do with it, you will get a pass mark, young lady. You have shown more interest in chemistry than any pupil I have taught since I started teaching."

Penny was delighted. "That's great, Tabs! I knew that you were soaking up knowledge, but at last it is being recognised at school. I hope you are putting in effort in other subjects as well?"

"Penny! You know I am. I want to show our new parents that I am someone they can be proud of. They encourage me all the time, even more than Mum did. Of course, Mum had to put up with Dad, so there was a limit to what she could say. I think she didn't want Dad to show too much interest in us, in case he took out his anger on us as well. Penny – I still miss her, a lot!"

"I know, Tabs. So do I, but if we do our best now, Mum's love for us will show in how we blossom as individuals. I am doing my best at college, and you are doing you best at school. Mum would say, 'Well done, you two', wouldn't she?"

Tabs burst into tears. "You are right, Penny. I want to show the world that my Mum did a lot for me, even if she is not here to see the results. John, Gloria and Muriel are doing their best for us, but I am doing this primarily for Mum."

Penny comforted Tabs, thinking to herself: I could do with John's arms round me in a nice cuddle. I wonder if I can get in there and kiss him again?

She released Tabs once she was calm again, saying, "I'll leave you to your studies now, Tabs," and stood up to leave. As she approached the door, Gloria walked in.

"Ah, Penny. Can I have a word in private?"

"Sure, Gloria. Come to my bedroom."

Once they were inside, she asked Gloria, "What's this all about, Gloria?"

"Confidentially, you and I are going to buy new evening dresses."

"EVENING dresses? But that's for social events! What are you up to, Gloria?"

"I have spoken to John, asking if there could be a social event that he would be expected to be escorted to by one or more ladies. I am thinking you and me, Penny!"

"So what did he say? Don't keep me in suspense!"

"There is nothing in the schedules, but he got the action committee leader to arrange a dinner for the committee plus the departmental heads, along with their wives or other partners!"

"Good for John! So we go with him to this event?"

"Yes, once it has been arranged. I was thinking about this, and you and I need to know all the niceties of a social dinner. I can get Muriel to tell us what she knows; John as well; but we can do our own research to avoid social gaffes. You and I will probably be the two youngest women there ... and probably the two most beautiful!"

"Wow! John will be showing us off. That will be great! Why do you want it to be me and you, Gloria? Won't Muriel be upset if she is ignored?"

"No, Penny. You see, this whole event is being engineered to show YOU on John's arm. The media will be present to picture it for the news website. Your college friends will see that you are there, on the Governor's arm, and will draw their own conclusions."

"But you will be there as well, Gloria, as his wife."

"Exactly. I will be there, quite clearly happy for you to be there too. Conclusion?"

"That the Governor is my boyfriend? Damn it, that is great, Gloria! What do I say when they ask me about it?"

"Act as if it is something you can't talk about. Let them see that you are attached to the Governor, but NEVER say anything to confirm it. That has more effect than anything else you might say. You say, for example, 'I am unable to comment on that, ' or 'I couldn't possibly confirm what you may think. It would not be right.' Whatever you say has to be non-committal, leaving it up in the air."

"I can do that, Gloria. You are a wonderful woman, Gloria. I am glad I ended up in your family."

"Penny, we are only at the beginning. We have to get the correct social customs for a dinner. I know that with the cutlery, you start at the outside and work in, but other than that, I am not sure. You have to eat fish with a fish knife and fork, so we need to be able to recognise these. Perhaps John will take us out to a restaurant, to see what we can expect to find. Maybe he can get the restaurant to give us a lesson?"

"I like the idea, Gloria. I am all for it. It would be a sort of practice run, wouldn't it?" Gloria agreed.

The mechanoids with their transmitters gradually forced the megabeasts further and further away from the mountains, and then to the fence line. Once they were beyond the fence line the mechanoids would add their transmitters to the fence posts, keeping the beasts well away from the fence, allowing it to be completed.

The Personalia were happy with their work, successfully expelling all the megabeasts in the enclave. In that, they were technically right, and unfortunately also wrong. There were nests on the ground, with eggs laid by megabeasts. In the warmth of the nest pile, eggs began to hatch. Like the dinosaurs, the hatchlings had to fend for themselves right from hatching, and their appetites were ferocious. In normal circumstances, many would be gobbled up by other megabeasts if the parent was not around, but now, not only was the parent not around, neither was the predator.

"Peter, how did you get on with settling the Yakovlev family the other day? I didn't hear any more."

Peter Parker, head of Admin, replied, "Governor, I assumed you would only like to hear if there were difficulties. There were none, so I left it at that. They chose the second house of the choices available, and as far as I know, things are fine."