Chapter 5: Meet The Boss

“Here’s what I have in mind,” Governor Michael told them. “First, I want our colony to have good, open communications. No coercion, no preaching. Not from me, not from politicians, not from religious leaders. Nothing, nada. If you want to know about someone’s beliefs, you can ask and they can choose to tell. But even then I’ll have Dora and her AIs monitor AND fact check. Now I’m going to speak out of the other side of my mouth. I am the top dog in this colony, and I will not tolerate lies and partial truths - certainly no sedition.”

“Now I know I’m giving you a fine line to walk,” he continued, “and frankly, that’s partly why you were authorized extra concubines. To do your job you’ll need diversity, because not everyone hears and learns the same way. You have a start. If you stay together, as I heard you plan, you’ll add six entitlement concubines to your cadre, plus Jason gets a bonus two for having two ‘promoted’. I know I’m stretching things, but if you let Dora guide you, you’ll add folks who are both compatible with your existing family and able to help you with your assignments.”

“Another factor you should consider in your planning,” Governor Michael told them, “With the growing uncertainty, there is more violence - less tolerance, and I need you to help heal. Adopt or foster some of the extra children we’re accumulating. Many are wounded, and like most of my companion-sponsor-wives, were victims of violence or rape or both. We need an environment that will help them recover and flourish.”

Michelle raised her hand and told him, “My father started raping me when I was seven. I want to help - I need to help.”

That was sooner than Jason expected. He looked at the shocked faces of his new family - the horror on her mother’s. He patted the seat beside him, but Shellie climbed into his lap and nestled. “Good for you, my brave girl!” he said aloud. “Now we can all start helping you to heal.” He kissed her forehead, carefully thumbed away her tears, and folded her into his arms.

The governor stood, walked to the pair, knelt and told Michelle, “Between me and my family, someone will always be available to listen. Just tell Imp if you need someone to talk to.” He turned to Annie and said, “That applies to you as well.” He grimaced and added, “If it helps to know, The Confederacy has put Edgar Rawlson in a place that there is no chance that he can ever again harm anyone - child or adult.”

“Good!” Shellie shouted, then in a normal level, “He told me that if he ever suspected I’d tell someone, one morning I wouldn’t wake up, and that night he’d start on my brother. I couldn’t tell anyone - couldn’t bear the thought.”

Jason hugged her closer, and she turned and said, “Jason promised. I’ll never have to leave him - sponsor or concubine. I trust him to protect me. I know I have to share. I know I’ll have to wait, but hear me. He’s mine and I’m his!”

Governor Michael wanted to spend some time with his new communications team, so he had arranged for family members to split off and huddle with those guests of similar status. “Look,” he told the trio, “I know Calypso and Neli are going to accept sponsorship as soon as they can figure out the right contract language to require. I set it up that way...”

He smiled and began laying out his plans and how his newest team would fit, “Just because we have electronics and AIs doesn’t mean we will have good communications. We could easily have the same kind of chaos and misinformation that social media brought to Earth. I want to make sure that there is a good, honest channel to disseminate information, news, and entertainment, and especially to research and challenge lies and half-truths. For the entertainment, Dora is negotiating usage rights for just about every piece of intellectual property on Earth. Among other things, she’s trading off-planet archiving to all parties.”

“We’re only a few weeks away from boarding our colony ship. We will actually start with two ships, and I plan to have the smaller one shuttle back and forth between the colony and Earthat and visit other colonies. In addition to facilities on Earth and the moon, there will be multiple information gathering satellites above the ecliptic and in the Kuiper Belt. The smaller ship will strip the contents each visit. We will share our news from all sources with the colonies. You will be involved with that as well as internal to our colony.”

“You and your family are going to be very busy, learning and doing,” the governor continued. “I need for you to spend this week getting up to speed on policy and practices I’ve already put in place - sleep trainers will help with that. Dora will guide you. Just as important, I need you to bond with your family and get them working with you. With your permission, the implants that Imp told you about will be activated. The collars might suffice, but I think your ladies will need private communications. I can tell you that mine certainly do.”

Michael directed, “While you are learning, doing, and bonding, do some observing and see if you can figure out how you are going to organize your group for family and work. Your family is going to be too big for you to run it. It might not work for you, but I have designated separate function heads for my family and the colony. For example, Carole is the family’s operations chief, but Ginger is my second in command for the colony. You saw Katie in action at your extraction. She’s the Colony’s top Civil Service Officer and my strategic planner. I have a colony security head and a separate security head for my family. Sometimes I goof and reach for the wrong person for a given situation, but they keep it straight...”

“And in this colony we don’t reveal CAPs - just the number of concubines authorized - saves a lot of worrying about pecking order,” Michael explained. “I should tell you that in my family we don’t worry about authorized concubine count, you shouldn’t either. Remember, you’re already short eight. Oh, yeah ... Dora just reminded me, If Calypso and Neli each pick an experienced mother or father with kids, that won’t count against their allotment. So make that short ten.”

He saw the puzzled faces and enumerated again, “Two to replace you, two each for the two of you, two bonus because Jason had two concubines elevated to sponsors. Two more if you ladies pick an experienced parent.”