Chapter 25

Clara and I had asked Harry and Larry to meet with us in my office.

When Joan ushered them in, Clara said, “Get some coffee, guys. You’re likely to be here a while.”

I started the meeting with, “A while back, there was mention of transitioning from our current form of government to the new Government.

“Currently, we are in the process of finalizing the software and preparing to elect members to the committees that will define the Government. I suspect it will take more than five years to define the new Government. Since we do not know what the Government’s structure will be, we cannot prepare a detailed plan for transitioning control from us to them. However, we can start preparing for that transition by defining our current Government’s structure and how it functions.

“Do either of you have the time to define the current Government’s structure and create a draft plan for how our current structure could be transferred to a new structure, whatever that structure may become?”

Larry said, “It sounds like an interesting project, Jon, but neither I nor my people have the time to do something like that.”

Harry said, “I agree with Harry that it will be an interesting project, but I have the same problem he has with time. I also don’t view my Public Relations Department as the proper department to take on that task.”

Clara asked, “Why would your department be a poor choice, Harry?”

“Clara, in general, my people do not have the experience with government structures to understand how they function. I think that what you need to find is a group of people who understand how a government is structured, how it functions, and have the time to do the analysis necessary for preparing your plan.”

Larry said, “I agree with Harry on this, Jon. However, I can’t think of anyone with the necessary knowledge and enough time to do what you want them to do.”

I could see the smile on Clara’s face, so I said, “Clara and I have a group in mind, however we felt we should offer the task to the two of you first. You have more maturity and hands-on experience than the group we are thinking of using to do the job.”

Harry had a quizzical look on his face when he asked, “Just who do you have in mind, Jon?”

“Eric, Marcie, and Sylvia.

“They did a good job on the presentation they made, so Clara and I thought the experience would be good for them. Since they are close to completing their Social Leadership Program in school, we are hoping that a fresh viewpoint will result in an innovated approach in merging what we have with what we will create. Mistress Hyatt will undoubtedly turn the task into one of her school projects, so we will get an even wider set of views and the benefit of her knowledge.”

Larry said, “I have to agree with you, Jon, about the level of detail and insight they brought to their proposal and about Mistress Hyatt’s response. My people are still evaluating the changes to the laws that they proposed. So far and in almost every case, my people agree with their changes. In a few cases, they did overlook a few laws that will be impacted, so I can’t say it was a perfect job.

“Since you want them to put together a draft plan, I’d say let them take a shot at it. They will undoubtedly do a better job than the Congressmen.

Harry said, “The Congressmen? I doubt they would even know where to begin. Anything they put together would have to be scrutinized to find the angles they built in to benefit them. I don’t want them involved in any way, shape, or form, Jon.”

Clara said, “Jon and I have talked about how to keep people like the Congressmen out of the new Government, Harry; we have a couple of ideas. Since Larry brought the Congressmen up, let’s discuss the requirements that a future Government representative should have in order to run for an elected position.

“We think there should be requirements for physical, emotional, and mental abilities. We also thought about adding age, but we decided that age would be a good thing as long as a candidate meets the other criteria. What do the two of you think about the three criteria, and do you have others that should be considered?”

Harry said, “What about ethics and morality? I don’t think we should have an unethical or immoral person in a position of power. Those are two of the reasons I don’t want the Congressmen involved in our Government.”

Larry said, “I agree with you, a candidate should be ethical and moral, Harry. But, I don’t think those characteristics can be used to define whether a person is qualified to be a candidate. To start with, how are we to determine someone is moral and ethical? Those are two of the things that made creating our legal code so difficult.

“Think of the problem as a graduated scale with totally moral, or ethical, at one end of the scale and totally immoral, or unethical, at the other end. No one is totally moral, immoral, ethical, or unethical. We all fall somewhere between the two scales’ endpoints. Now assuming we had a way of measuring a person’s level of morality and ethics, we would still have the problem of deciding where to draw the line between acceptable and unacceptable.”

“I suppose you’re right, Larry. I can’t see any way to measure if someone is moral or ethical. All we have to judge by is their prior statements and actions, and we don’t know what they have done when no one was around to observe them. I recall one guy making a comment that seemed immoral to me about how to fix a problem that seemed immoral; but when he explained his comment, I had to agree with him. Not that my agreeing with him made the comment seem moral, but I did think what he said was the proper way to handle the problem. I suppose we all sometimes do or want to do things that are not totally moral or ethical.”

“Clara, what were your and Jon’s thoughts on physical, emotional, and mental abilities?”

I pause to get my thoughts together, and then said, “We will be expanding our territory in the coming years. Regardless of where we establish our capital, the elected officials will have to travel from their districts to where we locate the capital, and then back. I doubt we will have air travel restored in the next hundred years, so that means all of the elected officials will have to travel by car - or possibly by horseback or horse-drawn wagon - during a portion of their journey. That means the representatives will need to be in good physical condition. Can you picture a person with severe heart problems surviving a two-week drive in hot weather and a seven-day ride through the backcountry on a horse, while camping out at night for the entire journey just to get to his district, and then have to repeat the trip to get back to the capital?

“Emotional and mental stability are also good traits, and there are tests and psychiatric exams that can be used to measure a person’s stability in those areas.

“The US survived a number of unstable politicians over the years; but in many cases, it wasn’t pretty. If possible, I would like to avoid subjecting our people to being ruled by someone who is unstable. We need measures to keep people like that out of power, and measures to remove them from power if they start showing signs of instability. The only way I can think of doing that is to make all of the candidates take tests to define their level of stability before an election, and publish the results so voters know if their choice is acceptable. Medical and psychiatric exams should also be conducted by a Government-approved doctor. In fact, personality tests would also be a good thing.

Clara said, “We definitely need to discuss ways to keep people like the Congressmen out of office further. However, I got us off topic. So for now, let’s get back to who should prepare the draft plan. Larry said he was okay with Eric, Marcie, and Sylvia doing the work. What about you, Harry?”

“They would probably be a good choice, Clara. I can see them involved in our new Government at some point, so it should be good experience for them. If we assume Jon is right about the Summary Committee needing over five years to define the Government, do we want to set a due date for their report?”

I responded with, “I think that would be a good idea, Harry. I think that the Government’s structure would be sufficiently defined within three years to start preparing the final plan, which will define how to integrate the components of our current structure into the new structure. So if we allocate a year to review their draft report and update it, then they need to submit the draft plan about two years from now.”

Harry said, “That sounds reasonable, Jon, but can three people do all the work that will need to be done within two years?”

“You’re forgetting Mistress Hyatt. I’m assuming she will put together a team to help them. Do either of you have an idea of anyone else who is available to help them?”

Larry said, “Our school system has a lot of young adults following my people around so they can learn to become lawyers. I’ve seen a bunch of them following other people around to learn from them. What if Eric and his ladies were to recruit some of their classmates who are in other career paths to help them? It would probably be good experience for all of our young people to see how all the professions fit together in a government.”

Clara said, “I like Larry’s idea, Jon. Mistress Hyatt must have more than a dozen students in the Social Leadership Program. They are interested in a career in government service, so this would be good experience for them. Then there are her Legal, Business, and other programs that have a direct tie-in to the functioning of a government.”

All four of us seemed to be smiling and nodding our heads in agreement, so I said, “I agree; that is a good idea. Now all Clara and I have to do is figure out how to get them to do the work without the two of us being there all the time to provide guidance. Perhaps a better way of saying that is, how are we going to entice Mistress Hyatt into volunteering her services?”

Clara said, “That’s easy, Jon. All we have to do is see that she becomes aware of the task we are giving Eric, Marcie, and Sylvia. She will view it as a wonderful teaching aid for her kids.”

Seventeen-year-old Greta Colt and her friend sixteen-year-old Madilynn (Maddie) Patterson were at a table in SCC 1’s Community Center. They were sitting at a table a good distance from the other occupied tables, so they wouldn’t be overheard.

Maddie said, “I saw you with him at breakfast this morning. How did you meet him?”

Greta smiled at the memory and replied, “He was with the search team that found me. He’s the one I told you about who was so nice to me and helped me into the back of the pickup he was in. I was distraught and crying, so he held me and gave me a shoulder to cry on. I felt safe in his arms.

“They hadn’t finished the search, and it took a while before I calmed down. Then when he wasn’t busy helping the other survivors they found, we talked.

“After we got back here to the SCC, they in-processed me and then I couldn’t find him. That was when we met and became friends.”

Maddie said, “Yeah, I remember seeing you at dinner that night after you in-processed. You were looking so lost and forlorn. I just had to come over and introduce myself. I was in as bad a condition as you were for I had only been picked up the day before. I had the same feelings and I hoped we could be friends.”

“Yeah, we both really needed a friend. You know, it doesn’t seem like it, but that was the just the early part of last week.

“While I was being in-processed, one of the older women talked with me. She said that in situations like ours, emotions are very intense and I had to be careful to not do something I’d regret.”

“What did she mean by that, Greta?”

“I think she was talking about sex. After I was in-processed, they took us over to the issue store, so I could get some decent clothes and bedding. After that I was taken to the single women’s barracks, so I could find my assigned bed, make it, and put my clothes away. When I was done with that, I came over here to the Community Center.

“I was sitting by myself at a table when an older man came over and sat down beside me. He introduced himself and asked if I was new. Before I could answer, the woman who spoke to me earlier joined us and told the man to leave me alone. He got angry at the woman and left.

“The woman told me I had to be careful of men like him. When I thanked her and told her he scared me and I didn’t know what to say, she said that I should just tell the men that bother me to go away. She also said the soldiers will protect us women from men like that if they try to force us into a relationship.

“She told me a young woman like me needs a protector. She also said that I needed to be careful of my feelings and not let fear or the need to find a man push me into hooking up with the wrong man.

“I told her about the soldier I met and she told me again that strong attractions like that were common in situations like the one we are in. She said I needed to take my time picking a man to make sure I got a good one.

Maddie said, “That sounds like good advice, Greta, but how did you get sex out of that?”

“You know what it’s like here, Maddie. Her comment about finding a good man made me think about how the men and women are pairing up and having sex. It seemed like that was what she was telling me not to do unless I was sure.

“What’s happening here goes against everything my church taught me about proper relationships. The men around here usually have more than one woman. It didn’t seem moral to me, so I asked one of the Negotiators about it. She said the Ark practices polygamy and people in that kind of relationship call themselves Bond Mates and they are referred to as a Bond Group.”

“Yeah, Greta, that’s common knowledge. Everyone says that most of the men died of the virus, and if we women want a man, we need to be ready to share him with other women.”

Greta said, “If that is the way things are, Maddie, does it mean I have to share Harold with someone?”

“No, I don’t think you have to share him with anyone; but from what I’ve heard, the other women will try to take him away from you; if you don’t share. Your Harold may love you, but if enough women throw themselves at him, he is likely to stray. Someone told me that three or four women will sometimes come to an agreement to seduce a man and make him their Bond Mate. They say that the women overwhelm him with sex, attention, and affection. One woman can’t compete with four women, Greta; if she tries, she will lose her man.

“I love Harold, Maddie. I don’t want to lose him.”

“The way you’re talking, Greta, is like that woman said. You are letting your feelings drive you into doing something. Before the meteoroids arrived, I’d say that if Harold truly loved you, you wouldn’t have anything to worry about. But now, I have to wonder why he doesn’t have a Bond Group already.

“From what I saw, he is a nice looking guy and he seems like a prime target for a pack of man hungry women.”

“I know and the way women treat him worries me. Harold is very shy and I get the feeling that he is afraid of aggressive women. If I pursue him, he’ll leave. If I back off, the aggressive women will band together and overwhelm him. What am I to do, Maddie?”

“Greta, isn’t that Harold coming in the door now?”

“Yes! That’s him.”

Greta stood and waved to Harold. When he saw her, he returned the wave and headed for her table. After being introduced to Maddie, he looked at them and said, “I was going over to the bar to get a soda. Is there anything I can get for you?”

Greta said, “Yes. We can both do with another drink. I want Ginger Ale and Maddie drinks Coca Cola.”

“Back in a couple of minutes.”

Harold made his way to the bar, but his progress was impeded by a couple of women who were slightly older than he was. From his actions, it looked like he was putting them off. As he continued on to the bar, Maddie said, “See what I mean?”

Greta responded, “Yeah, they are interested in him. Aren’t they?”

“Yes, they are. If he wasn’t coming back to us, he might have joined them.”

“Oh God, Maddie, you have to help me.”

“Me! ... What do you want me to do?”

“I don’t know. I don’t want to lose him; I want him for myself. But I would be willing to share him with you; if you are interested.”

“Whoa! Slow down, Greta. I think he is nice looking guy, but I don’t know him and I don’t want to get involved with a man I don’t know.”

“Well, maybe you can pretend to be interested in him to help me keep the other women away.”

“He’s coming back, Greta. I’ll think about it and we can talk when we get back to the barracks.”

Private Harold Yellen made an uninterrupted trip back to the table with their drinks. After opening her soda can and taking a sip, Maddie said, “I saw two ladies hitting on you. Does that happen to you very often?”

“Yes, almost every time I come here. It’s not like they are going to force me into something, but it can be annoying.”

Greta glanced at Maddie and then said, “Harold, you know how we were talking about us having a relationship this morning?”