Chapter 8

I had Twixted ahead to reserve a room at the Timson Luxury Hotel, as we usually did when I visited Maribel in Timson before leaving the estate. Maribel currently had a moderately light schedule; well, light relative to how busy she seemed to be during my previous visits to Timson. A light schedule was good for we had a number of things that needed to be discussed, and there were a few items that were important to me. Most of this visit would be dedicated to our discussing specific topics, but we would also need to catch each other up on what was happening in regard to Earth. I decided to try and address our ongoing official business, which included my Status Report and Expense Report; before I brought up the new items that were important to me, as those conversations could become contentious.

I was able to get a two-hour appointment with Maribel in her office for the day after I planned to arrive in Timpson. Cindy had copied the documents I had to give to Maribel from her computer to a data chip. She also made paper copies of the documents to include two additional paper copies of my Status Report for us to use during our meeting. I would not need a copy of my Expense Report during our meeting, since Maribel would just have her assistant deliver that report and the signed Expense Reimbursement Agreement to her financial people. They would review my Expense report and respond to Maribel if there were any problems with the report.

Since this was the first Expense Report I submitted to Maribel, it covered everything I had done since becoming Earth’s Ambassador. I was expecting Maribel’s accountants to have a lot of questions about my expenditures. That was one of the reasons I allocated a full week of my time to meeting with Maribel. Hopefully, I could answer some of their questions before I had to return to Slave World, but realistically, they probably wouldn’t start reviewing the report until after I was back on Earth.

Cindy, I, and my security detail traveled to Maribel’s office complex the next morning using the Hotel’s vehicles. I talked with Harold Charles, the manager of the Timson Hotel, when I arranged for use of the vehicles to make it clear to him that my visit to Timson was official Multiverse business, and the Hotel needed to submit an invoice to Kendrick for the limousine and room costs I incurred during my stay. However, I was staying in the Owner’s Suite and my room rate and the rates of the rooms my bodyguards were using were considerably higher than the rates for the rooms the Multiverse would reserve for a Multiverse official and their staff. I instructed Harold to make a suitable adjustment to what he would charge the government for my stay. I would include that invoice on my next Expense Report.

When my hover limousine landed on Maribel’s office building, Cindy and I were quickly ushered into the building and through the halls to her meeting room. One of our escorts left to let Maribel’s Administrative Assistant know we were here. A short while later, Maribel and her assistant joined us.

Maribel said, “Good morning, Doug. It’s nice to see you again. How are things working out for you and your new brides since the wedding?”

“Things seem to be okay to me, Maribel. But, you need to talk with Cindy about that subject for my wives keep telling me I’m clueless when it comes to women.”

Maribel looked at Cindy, and she said, “Doug takes real good care of us, Maribel. He was able to impregnate all four of us within two months of our getting married, and when we need some extra loving, he provides all we need. We’re hoping he will continue to do so when we become fat and ugly.”

I said, “Cindy, you know I don’t think pregnant women are fat and the four of you will never be ugly. You all seem to just glow since you’ve become pregnant. That makes you even more beautiful than you were when we got married.

While smiling at Cindy, Maribel said, “I’m glad to hear your married life is off to a good start, Doug. I have time for us to discuss several items this morning, so today I would like to address the main reasons for this week’s meetings. We can go over the remaining topics tomorrow evening at your hotel and make further appointments, if necessary.”

“Before we go into the individual topics, Maribel, I want to give you a couple of documents.”

Cindy removed the data chip and documents from her satchel and handed them to me.

I placed one copy of my Status Report off to the side. After placing the data chip on top of the remaining documents, I pushed them across the table to Maribel.

“Maribel, the data chip contains the electronic files of these documents. The top document is my Status Report to your Committee on Interplanetary Affairs. It covers the current state of diplomatic relations between my Embassy and Earth’s governments, the efforts that my staff and I have made to improve relations between Earth and the Multiverse, and the efforts I plan to initiate during the next five years.

“The second document is the draft of the document I’m preparing to explain to the Trade Guilds why Earth will be a dangerous place for the traders who come to Earth and the policies I intend to put in place to protect them from the dangers.

“I reviewed the Expense Reimbursement Agreement you gave me on my last trip. The terms are acceptable to me, so the third and fourth documents are a signed copy of the agreement and my first Expense Report for establishing the Embassy on Earth and its operating costs for the period covered by the report.

Maribel pulled my Status Report out of the stack of documents. After handing the data chip and remaining documents to her assistant, Maribel started to review my report.

While she was reading, she said, “I introduced a motion to the Council of Affiliated Worlds last month for the Council to create a Sugar Treatment Program for sugar addicts, Doug. While the Council agreed that the program was worthy of consideration, it decided to send my motion to its Healthcare Committee for further consideration.”

“What does that mean, Maribel?”

“That is the standard approach for not acting on a motion, Doug. It is a politically expedient way of shelving motions that the Committee disagrees with or cannot support or fund. Basically it means, they won’t vote on the motion until it comes out of the committee, and that will never happen.”

“I don’t understand, Maribel. The program would be very beneficial for sugar addicts throughout the Multiverse. Why is the Council opposed to establishing the program?”

“Doug, the Council isn’t against the program. They recognize the good it will do, but they view motions like that one on a cost-benefit basis and they decided that the benefits weren’t worth the cost. No one wanted to vote against the motion, so they assigned it to a committee where nothing would be done to evaluate the merits of the program and what it would take to implement such a program.”

“What about all of the sugar addicts who need help, Maribel. Is the Council going to just ignore them?”

“Yes, that is basically what will happen, Doug. From the Council’s perspective, the sugar addicts are an extremely small percentage of the Multiverse’s total population and they are spread across many planets. They see the motion as requiring a great deal of costly support for very little gain. By allowing the motion to die in committee, they are placing the responsibility for caring for the sugar addicts on the governments of the planets.

“All right, Maribel. I don’t like it, but you’ve done everything that you can do. What is next on the issue? Can I work with the planets as a private citizen, and what is the best approach for doing so?”

“I agree with you that abandoning people who need help isn’t a good thing, Doug, but they aren’t being totally abandoned. I don’t think it would be effective for you to approach the planetary governments as an individual. Your best option is to form an organization that can interface with the individual governments to aid all of the sugar addicts living on the individual planets.”

“Cindy, add creation of a Sugar Addict Support Organization to your list of things for me to do. We can go into the details with Kendrick when we get back to Slave World.”

This resolution was actually a good thing for me even if it was a costly program to fund. One of my future problems would be finding people to fill the job openings that I would create by my trading and Ambassadorial activities on Earth. The Sugar Addict Support Organization would provide me a list of sugar addicts who could emigrate to Earth, if they chose to do so. Part of the information that would be available to me was how to contact them, their personal information, their profession, and other skills that might be useful.

“Maribel, what is the latest on the situation with the power players and their games and the threatening Twixt messages?”

“The Multiverse police are keeping their ears open, Doug, but so far they haven’t heard of anything that sounds like it might be a threat to you. There is no indication that the power players have acted. So far, the police traced the Twixt messages from Vora back to the worlds where they originated. However, they haven’t been able to determine who sent the messages. All we know is that someone took advantage of the privacy laws that prevent Twixt companies from reading a person’s splinter when establishing a Twixt account. The people used false personal data on each of the worlds. They then used the accounts to send the messages and paid for the messages with a General Funds data chip so they didn’t have to identify themselves. There was only one Twixt message sent from each account and no additional activity related to the account. The wording of the messages varied, but the same thing happened on each planet, so the police believe the messages were sent by the same person or by representatives of a single group. The police are still working on it, Doug, but it isn’t likely that they will find out who sent the messages.”

“Thank you, Maribel. Sergei expected something like what you said, but he was hoping someone made a mistake. Would you have the police forward a report on what they do know about the accounts to Sergei for his information?”

“Doug, do you have a time table for completing the installation of your Twixt network to Earth?”

A problem requiring Kendrick’s attention happened just before we left, so I said, “Kendrick has one, but I didn’t ask for a copy. He said it would be almost two years before the network to Earth would be operational.”

“Did I mishear you or did you emphasize the network?”

“No, you heard me correctly. We started out with the network being a direct, dedicated route to Earth. Kendrick told me about his plans to expand the network to service a few of the universes near those on which we install transmission relay equipment. I’m not sure if he plans to add those additional branches to the network during or after the installation of the network to Earth. I’m not upset by the change in plans, Maribel. I just haven’t had enough time to think about if and how an expanded network might affect me.”

“How would adding additional branches affect you?”

“I don’t think they will, in a negative way. I suspect my feelings have something to do with my thinking that the network would be for my personal use. The additional branches brought home the realization that it is a business and others would be using MY network. I’ll get over it in a day or so, so don’t worry.

“I think I understand your feelings, Doug. It’s like having your personal space invaded. However, since the network is being expanded, it would be helpful for both of us if Kendrick expands your network after the network to Earth is operational. That way we will have the ability to communicate with each other about anything that comes up while you are on Earth. You can also submit your reports on a monthly basis, which would even out my department’s workload. Being able to communicate with me and Kendrick will also mean you won’t have to travel to the Multiverse for us to talk about your Ambassadorial duties and for you to talk with Kendrick about your business affairs. That will give you more time to take care of your personal matters when you do need to return to the Multiverse.”

“I’m aware of that, Maribel. However, my network will also increase the workload my Embassy will have to handle. The tasking the other departments place on your department for information about Earth will get to me faster and we will have to turn those requests around quicker.”

“Yes, that’s true, Doug, but it will allow you to even out your Embassy’s workload. You won’t get all of the requests for information at the same time. Since the topic came up, how are you doing with handling those requests?”

“Since we first discussed the matter, I have only sent one or two replies through Guild Master Moore. The replies provided the departments with the information we had available. For the rest of the information they asked for, we told them that we don’t have the expertise needed to understand and gather the data they requested. We also replied that the requesting departments needed to provide us with professionals who understand their specific areas of interest if they want valid data about Earth. Have our responses helped you with the problems they were creating for your department?”

“Yes. After I replied in a Council meeting to one of the departments’ complaints about my department failing to provide the information that was requested, the departments stopped complaining in the Council meetings. Responding to that complaint in the Council meeting gave me a great deal of satisfaction. The Councilman in charge of the department that made the complaint had to refund a portion of the funding that had been allocated to him for gathering information about Earth. To say he was upset is an understatement, but the rest of the Councilmen learned from his experience.

“Now they are taking a new approach. They are using your replies stating that you have a lack of sufficient technical expertise to request additional monies to fund providing you with the expertise you need to gather data. The Council doesn’t want to allocate the additional funding. So if the Council ever asks the departments to reimburse them for the unspent funds to gather the information, the departments can keep their funding by saying the information is still needed and will be gathered when the Council provides the necessary funding to recruit and send experts to Earth, which will never happen in the near future.”

“That is true, Maribel. Even if they get the funding, they will have a problem finding an expert that is willing to risk becoming a sugar addict.”

After indicating agreement, Maribel said, “The Executive Summary of your Status Report says you had a problem during your honeymoon that adversely impacted your mission. I don’t want to take the time now to read the details, so tell me about what happened?”

“As I’ve explained to you before, Maribel, Earth’s social and political structures are very different from what we have here in the Multiverse.”

“Yes, I remember us discussing that.”

“Well, we went on an ocean cruise for our honeymoon. We were scheduled to tour three African countries that were having problems with their level of medical care at the end of our trip. That tour was to be the start of an effort to improve relations between the countries of Earth and the Multiverse.”

“Yes, I recall you saying that you planned to initially bind individual countries to the Multiverse and then to meld them into a single political body.”

“Well, during our honeymoon we encountered one of Earth’s religious fanatics. He created a problem for us and the media coverage resulted in us having to cancel our tour of Africa. We rescheduled the tour, and the new tour arrangements were more favorable for us. We completed the initial visits shortly before we left on our trip here.”

“How were they more favorable?”

“Well, the United Nations is currently the only organization on Earth that can represent Earth as a planet. I submitted my Ambassadorial credentials to that organization and I’ve developed a good working relationship with a few of their key people. The new arrangements added a senior staff member of the UN to our entourage when we toured Africa. That gave us the support we need from the UN to accomplish the goals of our tour.”

“What about the problems your religious fanatic caused. Will they affect any of the other aspects of your mission on Earth?”

“Yes, the problems he created will affect us. Initially, those problems will have a negative impact. But, if the situations he created are handled properly, I believe the problems will actually be beneficial for my mission.”

“You will have to explain that to me, Doug. How will the negative aspects of the problems he caused you be beneficial?”

“It isn’t the problems he created that are beneficial, it is how those problems are resolved that will help us.

“One of the main problems facing me in completing my mission on Earth is, there are many significant political, religious, and social differences that are very deeply ingrained in the people of Earth. Until those differences are eliminated, or at least significantly minimized, it will be impossible to unify Earth’s governments.

“In order to start the process of eliminating the differences, those differences need to be brought to the attention of the public. A single incident will not change the way the people feel about these differences, so it will require resurfacing these differences many times and in many countries over a long period of time before the beliefs people have about the differences will begin to change. I think it will also take an even longer time before people’s beliefs have changed enough to unify the countries.”

“It sounds like you think this fanatic is a starting point for changing people’s religious beliefs. But entry into the Multiverse does not require a planet to accept our religious beliefs, so how will the problems he created help us?”

“The problems this man created are more than just religion; they have a lot to do with intolerance of other people’s beliefs. However, what I am hoping for in that area is to start the process of having the people of Earth to be more tolerant of other people’s religious and moral beliefs.

“The problems he created also concern the xenophobic attitude that some people on Earth have toward humans from the Multiverse and other intelligent species. He is opposed to marriage between more than one person and I sort of created a problem on Earth with the custodial relationships that exist in the Multiverse between a citizen and a criminal.”

“Okay, I understand the xenophobic and plural marriage problems for those are common on many new Provisional planets. Tell me about how our custom of having a citizen assume custody of a criminal caused you a problem.”

“It was a language problem, Maribel. You see when a citizen assumes custody of a criminal, we think of the relationship as the citizen forming a relationship with the criminal for the rest of the citizen’s, or criminal’s, life. The relationship is similar to the citizen owning the criminal, but the owner is accountable for how he treats the criminal, the criminal has rights that the owner must respect, and the relationship can be terminated by either party.

“A long time ago there was a practice in the Multiverse of owning a person with no accountability for how the owner treated the person and the person had no rights. We no longer practice that type of ownership and we use different names for the two types of relationships. On Earth, there has only been one type of relationship and it was an exaggerated form of what the Multiverse used to practice.

“When I first arrived on Earth, I heard the words slave and slavery used and when my friend Slim explained slavery to me, I didn’t understand that it was different from what we currently practice. So when I took custody of Rita, Betty, and Carol I referred to them as my slaves. The friends who were with me didn’t understand our custom and they thought I was enslaving my ladies the way the slave owners on Earth used to do. It took me a while to understand the problem and explain the differences. On occasion, one of us will still refer to Rita, Betty, and Carol as my slaves; but we are working to break ourselves of that habit.

“When we met the religious fanatic, Betty did not like the way he was speaking to me. She was upset and told him that he should be ashamed of the way he was speaking to her Master. He and his party immediately realized she was saying we practiced slavery. Since there has been only one type of slavery on Earth, that is what they assumed our relationship was like.

“The governments and people of Earth publicly denounce that type of slavery. So when news that I had slaves was made public, it took me a long time to correct the problems my initial misunderstanding of their form of slavery caused; I still have problems with people who do not believe what I tell them about a Custodial Caretaker Relationship.

The bad part is, I subsequently learned that even though slavery is illegal, slavery is still practiced on Earth; but most of Earth’s people are not aware of that fact. There are actually two types of slavery being practiced. One type is what everyone on Earth thinks of when they say slavery. The second type is a form of economic slavery in which the well-to-do people keep their workers at a subsistence level of survival by not paying them an appropriate wage for their work. If the workers don’t do as they are told, they are left to starve.

“Maribel, we need to discuss your involvement in the estate Harold, Samson, and Sergei are remodeling for my use on Poppen.

“When I was talking with Samson and Harold, I was told you gave them a code that would ensure prompt handling of any problem we have with any matter that relates to my security. I appreciate your concern for my welfare and safety, however I question the long-term effects of Samson or Harold using that code on the estate’s relations with the planet’s government and with the city officials of Hausen.

“Based on the political environment that Samson and Harold explained to me, the Trade Guilds have a major influence on the officials of the planet and on the city’s governments. I don’t want to come across as an ultra-rich property owner who is using political pull to get what he wants to the detriment of the people I employ and those who live in Hausen. I fear that is exactly what the people of Hausen will think if Samson or Harold uses the code you gave them. If that happens, the people in Hausen are likely to complain to their Guilds, which could result in the governments becoming involved. Local government involvement would not only be bad for the estate, but it would create problems for you.”

Maribel said, “Doug, I understand what you are saying, but if a serious problem occurs it will need to be corrected immediately and that is the purpose of the code. For your information, I wasn’t the one who came up with the idea of giving them the code. That was the result of a resolution passed by the Council of Affiliated Worlds, and you weren’t the only person to receive a code.”

“I disagree with the intent of that resolution, Maribel. It may have been passed with good intentions, but for me the types of situations that may place my security at risk are typically slow to develop. That is probably true of the other people who received codes. My people will have the time necessary to intervene and correct the problem that is creating the situation. Those types of situations are likely to occur in the near future for me because I’m the new owner of the estate and the estate’s new policies will create a bit of turmoil. I doubt we will be having problems once the estate has been established for a year or so and the employees are familiar with and have adapted to the new policies and procedures.

“When you add in the fact that the estate is a safe place for me to go to when I am in danger, it is unlikely for me to be a regular visitor to the estate. I doubt I will need to go there more than once or twice in ten years; although I may make short inspection visits about once a year. I also doubt that there will be a situation that causes my security at the estate to be at risk at the same time as my visiting the estate.”

“Doug, the matter is out of my control and I can’t change things. There is nothing forcing you to use the code. If you think using the code will create problems for you, then don’t use the code. However, I didn’t tell Harold and Samson where I got the code. They obviously assumed I created the code for you, so they told you I would pressure the government on your behalf. If you do use the code, it won’t be me putting pressure on the planetary and city governments of Poppen, it will be the Council of Affiliated Worlds.”

“All right, Maribel. I now have a better understanding of your position regarding the code and its use.

“Cindy, I really don’t need problems with the Guilds that using the code might create, so add a discussion point to the list of things I need to discuss with Samson and Harold. The discussion point is for them to not use the code without my permission.

“The other thing I needed to discuss with you, Maribel, is the weapons you or the government authorized for installation at my estate. What exactly was Sergei authorized to install?”

“Again, Doug, it wasn’t me that authorized installation of those weapons.

“What happened was, a problem occurred about two years ago at the estate of another person, who like you had been declared essential to the welfare of the Multiverse. That man felt he needed a more lethal defensive system for his estate. He had his planet’s representative draft the resolution that resulted in your receiving your code, which I had passed on to Harold and Samson. The resolution also authorized anyone who has been declared essential to the Multiverse’s welfare to install military-grade weapons on their estates.

“I believe it was his way of gaining more power that he could use to get whatever he wanted. I agree with you that most military-grade weapons aren’t needed for the defense of a civilian estate. Although I do believe that the code may be a good idea as long as its use is not abused.”

“Did you consult with Sergei about the installation of my defensive system?”

“No, that was the Council’s doing. There aren’t that many people who the Council has designated as essential to the welfare of the Multiverse, and you all have security consultants for your estates. So when the resolution passed, the security consultants were informed there was no longer a limitation on the types of weapons they could install at the estates of people designated as essential to the welfare of the Multiverse.

“Doug, you are now authorized to install any defensive weapons at your estate that you want to use for your defense. But like the code, you don’t have to install the weapons. You need to talk with Sergei about his plans for your estate’s defensive system.”

Maribel’s assistant reminded us that it was almost time for Maribel’s next appointment.

“I’m sorry, Doug. We will have to postpone the rest of our topics until later. There are several critical matters happening and my schedule is filled with appointments that I couldn’t cancel when I learned you would be here. I can’t meet you here in the office, but I can meet you for dinner at seven tonight. We can spend some time talking for the rest of the week in the evenings.

“Doug, there is one thing I need to know, how long do you think it will take before Earth is ready for trade with the Multiverse?”

“I really don’t have a good answer for you, Maribel. My best guess is a minimum of fifty years.”

“That will be a problem, Doug.”

“I know, Maribel. There is no way I can open Earth to trade before that and have its economy survive. If the political and social environments haven’t changed, then there will be an elevated risk to all traders doing business on Earth.”

“What if we waited until your trade rights expire, and then we approach the Trade Guilds and discuss the problem? Their goal is to trade with Earth and they won’t be able to do that if they destroy Earth’s markets or their traders decide trading on Earth is too risky. Perhaps we could introduce limited trade in about nine years from now.”

“How would that work, Maribel?”

“You will be trading on Earth between now and then. You will be familiar with their markets and how much we can sell on Earth without damaging their economy. I’m thinking of having the Trade Guilds accept you authorizing a small number of traders and limited quantities of trade goods. As trade progresses, you can add additional goods and increase the quantities while monitoring Earth’s economy. You can also control the environment in which the traders conduct business.”

“That might work, Maribel. There will undoubtedly be problems, but we can work them out.”

Cindy and I returned to our hotel and had lunch. During lunch, I tasked Cindy with making arrangements for a private dining room for tonight’s meeting with Maribel. Cindy and I also planned out the work we would do during the rest of the day and most of tomorrow. Over our after-lunch coffee, we updated the list of topics I needed to address with Maribel. I think it took us all of an hour to do everything, which fit well with the duration of our lunch break. After lunch, we worked on documenting the plans I was developing to address the things happening in the Multiverse. I would have to go over those plans with Kendrick before I left for he would be the one executing the plans for a number of the things that needed to be done.