Chapter 11

The estate was not equipped to handle the number of people in my party. So, once we arrived, Edgar made a call to a local hotel that was owned by the Archer Conglomerate. He finalized his prior room arrangements for my bodyguards and their family members. He also arranged for commercial D-Hoppers to take a number of my people to their home planets, so they could visit with their friends and other family members. He made the arrangements to get them to Vora for the wedding at the same time.

While Edgar was busy, I called Kendrick to let him know that I was at the estate. He would come to the estate tomorrow morning so we could catch each other up on what had happened while I was gone. I also told Kendrick he would need to finalize the arrangements Edgar made for my Earth bodyguards to visit with their families, and to get back to Vora in time for the wedding.

As the Majordomo of my estate, Edgar was responsible for everything that happened on the estate. While I sat in the living room, resting, he briefed me on what had happened since I left. We got the normal minor problems with the housekeeping and grounds staff out of the way.

Edgar said, “Kendrick hired the two security people that Sergei recommended. Our head of security and I talked with them when they arrived, and briefed them on the existing security arrangements. They took over as the heads of security, and the former head of security is now their assistant. I will introduce you to Samson and Harold when you have finished resting.

“The one thing I am happy about is they took the time necessary to evaluate the estate and the current procedures before they started to make changes. To me that’s a sign of a professional manager. Their new policies are much stricter than what we had before, but I think that’s necessary considering the situation.

“One of the policies they instigated was no unauthorized visitors, and two of my younger Security Guards brought a couple of young women onto the estate without permission. I had to let them go. It’s too bad the men didn’t think the policies would be enforced; they were good workers.

“Sergei’s two men arrived about a week after that. They, Harold, and Samson did a thorough evaluation of the estate, the new security procedures, and the staff. The four of them briefed Kendrick and I on what they believed should be done to improve security. We agreed with their recommendations and they are being implemented.

“Since then, a small group of our staff has been sent to school to learn the proper way to do their jobs, and the rest will be sent in small groups after the first group returns. The new equipment that Sergei’s people recommended is on order, and I will twixt Sergei once we have received everything. His installation crew will install the equipment and train our people to use it. That’s about all I have for you right now, Doug.”

“Let’s go then, Edgar, so you can introduce me to Samson and Harold. They can arrange for a security detail to go with me to the clinic. I have three newbies with me who need splinters and shots, and Betty and Carol need their anti-fertility implants removed. I also need to talk with Doctor Carr as soon as possible about her returning with me, and I need to discuss a problem on Earth with her.

Edgar introduced me to Samson Klein and Harold Arbut. I explained my need to go to our local medical clinic, and they selected a group of bodyguards. They came with us also. They wanted to talk with me about my expectations of them. I let Carla, Andy, Ken, and Bashira know that I needed to speak with these two men, and then we talked during our walk to the clinic. After we arrived, I made arrangements for my three newbies to get their shots and be splintered by Doctor Carr. She and I talked as she worked giving Bashira, Ken, and Carla a physical and inserting their splinters, then they also got their pain shots.

“Misty, I just arrived and want know if Kendrick was able to get the equipment and supplies you ordered. I would like to take it with us when we return.”

“Oh, yes. He ordered the list of equipment and supplies I gave him. It was shipped to your parents’ home and they are holding it for us.”

“Was he able to get that portable chemical analyzer that can analyze medicines, so you can tell what the Earth doctors are using to treat their patients?”

“Yes, that was a little difficult to obtain, but he was able to get it.”

“That’s good. I agreed to help some people on Earth with a medical problem they are having. The people of the area suffer from what seems to be a reoccurring ailment. The Earth doctors think it is some type of viral infection. They would appreciate it if you could use some of our more advanced diagnostic equipment to isolate the actual problem. I suspect there is more going on than the doctors realize or their medicines are not very effective.

“The doctors need our medical equipment, but they don’t speak or read Trade Speak. So we will need to have the equipment’s User Manuals, control labeling, meters, and display messages translated into English. That will delay the delivery of the equipment I am purchasing for them, so when we get back to Earth you may need to take a trip with your portable diagnostic equipment to see if any of our medications would be more useful than those they are currently using. We will also have to do something about relabeling the medicines we give them.

“Considering the circumstances in that part of the planet, portable diagnostic equipment may be of more use than the more sophisticated stationary equipment that’s used in a hospital.”

“Why would portable equipment be of more use than hospital equipment? It doesn’t produce the detail of stationary equipment.”

“The area is tropical and the living conditions are primitive. The people are poor and live in small villages that are a long way from the nearest hospital. It’s a long, arduous trip for the villagers to get to the hospitals. The doctors currently travel to the villages and provide treatment to anyone who is sick or injured. Sometimes, the patient dies before the doctor gets to the village.

“The next patient you will be seeing is called Bashira. He is more familiar with that part of the world than I am, so he can describe some of the more common symptoms of the diseases the villagers contract. I’m hoping that you will be able to obtain a quantity of medications that can be used to treat a wide spectrum of similar diseases that we can take back with us. From what I understand most of the patients will be children and the elderly, and they are usually undernourished and have vitamin and mineral deficiencies.”

Misty finished up with Carla, and began treating Bashira. As she worked she asked him a series of questions about the people of the afflicted area, and the symptoms that they displayed. I had told Bashira when he accepted my invitation that the doctor would need this information, in order to be prepared to treat the diseases. If I ever lose my job as Ambassador, I can always go into business as a translator.

While talking with Misty, I told her about marrying my two slaves. Misty removed Betty and Carol’s implants and gave them their annual physicals. She gave me the certificate attesting to their physical and mental wellbeing, and let me know that I may need the certificate at the Court Building.

Samson and Harold had been in the room with me as my bodyguards with the rest of the detail waiting for us in the waiting room. When we finished and came out of the treatment room, I could see that Harold and Samson had made a few significant changes in how my detail did their job. Instead of being seated in the waiting room, they were scattered around the room standing against the walls and alert to everything going on around them.

I invited Misty to the wedding and let her know when I expected to depart for Vora and that I would be leaving from Vora to return to Earth.

When we returned to the estate, I briefed Samson and Harold on my current plans for the month or so that I would be in the Multiverse. I also qualified that those plans were subject to change, based on my meeting with Kendrick, tomorrow. The only things that I planned to do that would require me to have bodyguards with me while on Slave World, were four trips: a trip to the courthouse, the trip I promised to make with Sandy to visit her Mom, a trip to President Jenson’s office, and a trip to the treatment center. My business with Chairman Smart could be addressed by a comm call.

I also let them know about the trips and people I intended to visit on Shilling and on Vora, so they could make the necessary arrangements for my security. Samson and Harold informed me that one of them would be with me whenever I left the estate until they felt my security detail had received the proper training and were doing their jobs as they should be done. Out of curiosity, I asked them what they felt was wrong with my bodyguards prior support.

Samson said, “It wasn’t that their actions were wrong; it’s just that, there are better ways to accomplish what they were doing.

“For example, when you were out in public in the past, you made it clear to your security personnel that you expected them to protect you, and those who were with you. They did what they knew you wanted, but that was not the proper way to do the job.

“Your bodyguards need to focus on the fact that they are there to protect you. What that means is, if you are with a group, you should be their primary concern. If they can protect the others in your group, that’s good, but your safety is their primary concern. If you want other members of the group to receive the same degree of protection that you receive, then we need to provide your group with a larger number of bodyguards and assign specific bodyguards to care for those you designate as requiring individual protection.

“It’s virtually impossible to protect a large group of people in a public setting, Doug. The only thing that bodyguards can do in that situation is take suitable precautions and hope that they will be in position and have enough time to protect the person assigned to them if something happens.”

Harold added, “Sir, one of the things Samson may not have been clear about is we need to know about where you plan to go, who is going with you, and anyone that’s to receive special protection, in advance. That will allow us to assign a suitable number of bodyguards to your party, and to take any special precautions that we deem necessary for the safety of you and your group.”

“All right, I understand that the two of you are trying to protect me, and I will cooperate with you. Has anyone talked with you about Sto and his abilities?”

Harold said, “Samson and I are familiar with Bushbies. We’ve had no contact with them until today, but we do know what they are capable of doing. What we need to do, is learn more about them and how they can aid us in protecting you.”

Samson and Harold were surprised when Sto established a temporary link with them and responded with, “Sto protect Doug. Sto sense danger. Sto tell bodyguards. Bodyguards and Sto protect Doug.”

“Thank you, Sto. If you can link with my bodyguards to tell them of any danger, they will be better able to protect me.”

Sto had given Samson and Harold a surprise when he talked to them over his temporary link. I could see that they were trying to decide exactly what Sto had meant.

“Gentlemen, communication with Sto can be confusing. I have found that Bushbies communicate with images, and the link they create with our brains allows us to translate those images into words. I have a permanent link with Sto, so the images are clearer to me than the ones you receive. The images are translated into short phrases and you need to learn how to string those phrases together in order to understand what a Bushbie is telling you. What Sto meant was that if he sensed danger, he would let my bodyguards know what he sensed. What he did not say was, he would let them be my first line of defense, and he would handle the matter in his own way if they failed to protect me. I have asked Sto to not kill an assailant if it’s possible to just disable them.”

Harold said, “Yes sir. We will let everyone know of Sto’s abilities, and the way he speaks to someone. We will also discuss how they are to respond if he informs them of danger. Although first of all, Samson and I will need to think about how to best use Sto’s abilities and the advance warning he can provide us.”

Harold and Samson needed more detail as to my movements on this trip, so I found Cindy and we reviewed, with them, what I had to do here in the Multiverse. She pulled up her list of things that I wanted to do and we arranged them in the best order of accomplishment.

Amir and Charlie had talked with Bashira and Ken about being Earth’s official representatives at the wedding. Aaron wanted to go with them, but he and the President decided that he could not be gone from Washington for that long of a trip. I decided to keep Bashira and Ken with me as much as possible, so they could get a good understanding of what the Multiverse was like. Cindy added them as permanent members of my travel group for this trip.

Sereine decided that she would take Coral to Toomby for a follow-up examination. Sto said he wanted to go with them, but he didn’t want any more shots. Sereine told me that when he seemed reluctant to go, Coral had asked him which was more important: her and their kits or avoiding shots. Sto demonstrated that Bushbies are intelligent beings, by immediately letting her know that she and the kits were the most important things in his life. I’ve heard of humans that blew that question, by pausing to consider the matter. The three of them would leave tomorrow morning, and would probably not be back until shortly before it was time for me to leave for Shilling.

Cindy and I finished our review of the things I needed to do on Slave World, and I asked Cindy to give Samson and Harold copies of our trip itinerary. Cindy and I would go through the lists again to update the places I would be going to on Vora and Shilling, and who I would be visiting. Cindy left to give the revised copies of our itinerary to Samson and Harold. While she was gone, I thought about Kenneth and Carla being with us, and I got to thinking about several conversations that I had about them.

Kenneth and Andy had convinced Carla to come with us, although I don’t think it took very much persuasion. Carla had been very curious about what it was like in the Multiverse, since her relationship with Andy had become intense. Her curiosity increased when my four ladies had informed me that they were expecting a double wedding later this year: Carla and Andy were discussing a joint ceremony with Sandy and Fitz here on Earth. Privately, Kenneth told me Carla was a devout Catholic and he didn’t know the church’s position on members of their faith marrying Multiverse citizens. Furthermore, that would be especially true since Sandy, Andy, and Fitz did not believe in the Christian faith.

I talked with Kenneth quite a while during our rest stops. He told me about a few of the requirements the Catholic Church imposed on a church member who wished to marry a person who was not Catholic. The religious intolerance that I was told about regarding Carla marrying Andy seemed wrong to me.

I had joined our church back on Vora when I became an adult. According to our beliefs, two people who wanted to join and share their lives with each other should be allowed to do so, and a marriage ceremony could be performed by anyone that the government had authorized to perform marriages. To us marriage was more of a civil arrangement than a religious ceremony. However, we did have a ceremony in our church comparable to baptism and the church preferred that a child’s parents be married to each other, or at least in some form of a committed relationship. However, our church would consecrate the child as a member of the Faithful even if the parents weren’t married to each other.

After I had explained my church’s religious beliefs to Kenneth, he told me about some of the beliefs that he knew about. I told him that the beliefs of the Faithful, Jewish, Muslim, and Christian faiths seemed very similar to me. Granted there were many differences in the specifics of how they worshipped and in their specific philosophies. But the basic belief in a single supreme being, love of your fellow man, and tolerance for other faiths, seemed very similar. Kenneth told me that from his point of view, they were very different. He also told me about a couple of religions that had what I thought were very bizarre religious practices. I decided that I needed to study the beliefs of Earth’s current major religions, if I could find enough time. It seemed like a familiarity with the religious beliefs of others would be beneficial in carrying out my Ambassadorial duties. It was also apparent that I did not understand the tenents of the different religions as well as I thought I did.

The subject of religion was something I thought that Kim may wish to address in one of her Multiverse articles. I definitely needed to know more about Earth religions and it would be beneficial for my mission if the people of Earth had a better understanding of Multiverse religions. I made a note to myself to talk with her about writing such an article.

Since the important items had been taken care of, I decided to send several Twixts to Vora and Shilling, to let the people I needed to meet with know that I was back in the Multiverse and the approximate time that I would available to meet with them. My schedule was essentially open on this trip, so I could fit them in at almost any time that they were available to talk with me.

In addition to the Twixts, I also made two comm calls to let Chairman Smart and President Jenson know I was back in the Multiverse, and would like to speak with them. I left a message for Chairman Smart to call me at the estate at his convenience. I was able to reach Andrew’s aide Timothy Clark and told him that I would like to talk with Andrew about the sugar addicts, but there was no rush. He let me know that Andrew’s calendar was full for the next two days, but he could fit me in during the morning of the third day. I accepted the appointment and Timothy would get back to me with a firm time.

I decided to go upstairs and take a nap until dinnertime. On this trip, I really had very little to do, considering the length of time I would be here. I had to pace myself and not rush through things the way I normally did. Otherwise, I would run out of things to do. Well, that wasn’t exactly true, for I needed to do a lot of work on the documentation of Earth’s hazards, customs, laws, society, and the other important differences between life on Earth and in the Multiverse.

With the number of people I brought with me, dinner was a major affair. I had divided my bodyguards into three groups and I took Group 1 to Earth with me.

My Earth bodyguards had come with me for the wedding, and they were enjoying the opportunity to visit with their Group 2 and Group 3 friends. I had actually taken a few people with us from Group 2 in order to have an adequate staff, but had not taken their wives. The reunion was very energetic with questions being asked and answered. The main interest was when they would be able to join us on Earth.

I did not like telling my people that we would be adhering to the original schedule, and I had to apologize for putting the sugar addicts ahead of them. Once I explained the criticality of their situation, they accepted the fact that I had done the proper thing. They didn’t really like the situation, but they did concur with the necessity of getting the sugar addicts off Slave World. I did promise, however, to look at the construction and the move schedules around to see if there was some way to expedite my getting them to Earth. Cindy added that promise to my list of things to do on Earth. I saw her add it to the list without my prompting her to do so, and I got a big laugh out of the thumbs up sign she gave me. That’s an Earth body language gesture that’s not used in the Multiverse. It’s very evident that we were all adapting to Earth.

Kendrick was at the estate when I was ready for breakfast the next morning. I introduced him to Carla, Ken, and Bashira. During breakfast, Kendrick brought me up to speed on what was happening in the Multiverse and the new things that I needed to address. Actually, it was a single general topic, but it was coming from multiple sources. The Trade Guilds wanted to know what they could do to expedite my opening Earth to their traders. I told Kendrick to defer that topic until I had completed what needed to be done on Slave World and Shilling. We could take the time to talk about that when we were no longer under pressure to get the critical items completed. We could also talk with Maribel about the best approach to appease the Trade Guilds by giving them something to do that would actually be helpful. I then briefed Kendrick on what had been happening on Earth.