Chapter 9: Grooming the Family (TY12-month 142)

“I’m sorry,” I said immediately. This was not the way to start a new relationship. I got so tied up at work that I didn’t even think about my concubines and dependent at home. I’d brought Bae home the day before and had dumped them both when I was called by the governor this morning. I hadn’t called to let them know I’d be late. I was a terrible husband. Master. Whatever the right term was.

“Niall, stop,” Rose said. “You must be exhausted. Come and sit down. I will make tea and you can relax.”

“But, Rose, I didn’t call you. I should have at least said goodnight to Lyle.”

“That would have been nice but Comrade Reynolds called and filled us in on the situation. Cricket went to work and found out the details so we’d understand what was going on. He was even kind enough to put your picture in a little corner of our entertainment screen so we could see how busy you were.”

“I had no idea how busy and important you are, Niall,” Bae said. “We tried to be very quiet when we brought your dinner, but Lyle whispered, ‘Nite, Daddy Cho,’ as we were leaving. It was so sweet! Cricket played a recording of you teaching Taekwondo for us so Lyle would know what a good man you are. We all decided we’d learn.”

“It gave Min-Bae and me a chance to learn more about each other. It was fine,” Rose added.

“You brought me dinner? I didn’t notice it arrive. I thought Reynolds had gotten it for me. He’s always a step ahead of what I need. You should have said something.”

“You were in the middle of a very intense conversation with someone in the military. We could tell we shouldn’t disturb you,” Rose said.

“Still, I should have called you when I realized what kind of day this would be. I’m not a very good husband.”

“Mmm. That’s a nice term to hear,” Bae said. “Do you suppose you can be husband to both your concubines? I don’t know how long it will take for me to mature, but I’d like you to think of me as your wife.”

“It will take us a little time to get used to that,” I said. “We’re going to receive a shipload of refugees—3,000 children and concubines. We’re building an orphanage and are being trained to deal with the angst and uncertainty of all those unsponsored people.”

“We’ll help as much as we can—even if that is just making sure you eat and get rest. That’s our responsibility,” Rose affirmed.

“I don’t know how to begin to thank you,” I said. “I just think of all those children coming to a strange world, knowing almost no one, and still grieving for parents or angry at the universe for tearing them away from their lives on Earth. When I arrived here, I was ten years old and hated everything. I hated the Swarm, the Confederacy, Amos, my mother. They were all to blame for how miserable I was. I don’t want those children to feel the same way. I want them to know they are here because we care for them.”

Rose pulled me against her on the sofa and held me as I relived those first days as a dependent of Amos. Bae curled up on my lap and hugged me. She’d only been seven when we were taken. With luck, the children arriving wouldn’t have been exposed to the carnal selection process and auction of human bodies as slaves. They wouldn’t see their mothers augmented so they could handle the heavy work of a farm or the deadly boredom of being a baby factory. I wanted them to have a future, and the only way people had a future in the Confederacy was if they became a sponsor.

“Let’s go to bed, husband. I’ll massage your shoulders and relieve your tension,” Rose said.

“I’m sorry your first day has been so difficult, Bae,” I said.

“It wasn’t difficult for us; it was difficult for you. Remember what Amos always told us God said. ‘It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make a helpmate for him.’ And that’s why God created concubines,” she giggled. I smiled at her and the three of us shared a kiss. In that simple move, the stress of the day began to melt.

The stress was back the next day. Rhett had machinery working to lay the infrastructure in to connect the orphanage pods to services. The first thing we set my new cohort to working on was grading and paving a roadway from the front gate to the orphanage. They were supplemented with a cadre from Capo Jeffries’s Labor outfit. I noted the comrades in the labor cadres were larger and stronger than either my orphanage cohort or the normal patrol cadres. It made sense.

We allowed body modifications within certain restrictions. Height, for example, could not be changed by more than ten percent. A five-foot-tall comrade could not be modified to be taller than five-six. We also capped height at Marine standard, six-six-and-three-quarters. I couldn’t add seven inches to my six-two frame, because that would exceed the cap. Besides, I didn’t want to be a giant. Laborers, though, frequently beefed up and enhanced their endurance in areas other than just sexual.

No one hesitated in the work. We all had a mission.

Planned Emergency (TY12-month 142)

“Deputy Cho, Centurion Oswald from Oasis is here to see you,” Reynolds said from my doorway. [See Pussy Pirates by aroslav for an introduction of Centurion Oswald.]

“Send him in,” I said, standing behind my desk. The gray-uniformed man who came through my door was obviously retouched. He had a full head of lustrous black hair, bright blue eyes, movie-star teeth, and stood exactly my height at six-two, tanned and toned.

“Deputy Cho, thank you for seeing me. I know your schedule is hectic at the moment.”

“Centurion, the pleasure is mine. We’re in over our heads here and I could use all the help and advice you can give me.”

“I have some information that might help and will entertain any questions you have. You know we don’t have a large Civil Service staff on Tara, so I’m happy you and your unit have stepped up to this challenge.” We sat at my meeting table and after cordial chit chat got straight into the meat of the matter.

“What can you tell me about the group arriving in ten days?” I asked.

“The Sadi Carnot has been doing Kindertransport since the program started about five years ago. The program has been highly successful in getting children off the planet with over 150,000 relocated so far. The early deliveries were focused on supplying planets who were producing lots of sponsors and not many concubines. I’m sorry to say our war losses have shifted that balance. Our sources say that three years ago, during what was termed the third Sa’arm invasion, our fleet stationed to protect Earthat was annihilated. When the fourth invasion arrived the next month, there were only a few damaged ships and that renegade group known as the Pussy Pirates left. They did what they could to stop the landing, but it wasn’t enough. For the next few months, the Pirates held the line by destroying anything that attempted to leave Earth. The 7th Fleet arrived and started mop-up operations. No one understands why it is taking the Swarm so long to invade again, but it may be because the Pirates didn’t let anyone leave to spread the word. But an entire fleet was destroyed. That left the moon bases full of unhomed concubines and dependents.”

“Any word of the progress on Earth?”

“Nearly eighty percent of Earth’s landmass is occupied by the Sa’arm, but in many areas, defenders are beating them back. That includes the pocket in North America where they’ve been contained. I understand you have an interest there. I’m informed your father, Major Seol-woo Cho, is still fighting and leading many successful raids in that battle.”

“I’m happy to hear that.”

“The 7th Fleet cleaned house when they got there. Most of DECO and Central Command was executed for failing to protect Earth. [See Ending This Mess by Zen Master.] Since they had inflated CAP scores to begin with, there were thousands more unhomed concubines and dependents. The Fleet has done what it can to send them to worlds in need of concubines, but they still have thousands and many are too damaged to ever survive in a sponsor’s home again.”

“Damn the Confederacy! We’ve got too many sponsors on Tara who mistreat their concubines. How are we supposed to absorb any more?” I asked.

“That’s your mission, Cho. On this delivery of the Sadi Carnot, we have mostly concubines and dependents rescued from Tasmania, an island district south of Australia. I’m afraid the continent has been completely overrun, but Earth Defense forces have so far been able to contain the dickheads there. The invasion flooded Tasmania with refugees. The people on this Kindertransport are mostly rural people including some Australian Aboriginals. These people are not ignorant, but will have a hard period of adjusting, I’m afraid. I could see potential sponsors coming out of those children, perhaps with a year or two of acclimatization and good education.”

“Do we have enough families on Tara to adopt everyone?”

Oswald dropped his head. “No. I already have over two thousand unhomed concubines working in Civil Service jobs. In other words, mostly in brothels or on your algae harvesting crews. I will be campaigning to create a benefit for qualifying sponsors who accept a supernumerary concubine if they will accept one of these concubines with at least three of her dependents on the Kindertransport. We do have a number of larger families that we are convincing to adopt children. With the addition of the Kindertransport, we will have 100,000 new dependents this year. After we deduct those turning fourteen, we’ll have a total of 700,000 dependents on the planet in a total population of less than a million souls.”

“What else can we do to help?” I hated to ask the question as taking care of an orphanage could cut the number of people Deputy Kramer and I had to assign to public works projects—like my harbor.

“Keep recruiting. One valuable service you are performing is giving surplus male concubines hope and a place they can be useful. It has reduced the number of spare males in my inventory significantly. I’ll also be happy to provide some training for the cadres you have preparing to greet the immigrants. I wouldn’t expect many recruits to the Militia to get off that ship, but the people they interact with on the planet will heavily influence those dependents who come of age in the next few years.”

“Sir, I have to say, I am impressed and pleased with your support of the Militia. I’m afraid many sponsors still consider us uppity concubines who should be disposed of.”

“Ninety-five percent of the work of the Civil Service is dealing with concubines, Deputy. You will be hard-put to find a Civil Service officer who does not respect the formation of your Militia. We are not many, but we are allies.”

I took Centurion Oswald on a tour of the compound and introduced him to our special cohort. We set up a time each day when the cohort would be released for training as an extension of the planet’s Civil Service. It would not always be Centurion Oswald conducting the training. He had two Signifers he had recruited from the new sponsors over the past couple of years and they would help. Some of the training would be delivered by the Centurion’s concubines or by sleep trainer, but there weren’t many lessons on dealing with Kindertransport immigrants.

The roadwork was done and the play areas had been leveled by the second week. Much of the work was now landscaping and building playground equipment as the residential pods were brought in and placed by the tenders from our moon base. I discussed the configuration with Rhett and after reaching a dead end, turned to Cricket to apply pressure on the young AI. Eventually, they agreed to expand the pods slightly so there was more play space and more private space. Otherwise, they would have the same configuration as the pods on the Sadi Carnot, which would make them feel as familiar as possible.

I headed to the work site each morning after I’d reviewed the messages from Drovers Run and checked all the work assignments. I figured the least I could do in this effort was to bend my back and help with the labor.

«Deputy Cho, » Rhett interrupted my breakfast, «Director Kotter requests your presence immediately for a meeting with Deputy Kramer and Governor O’Hara.»

«Immediately? I’m on my way.» “I’m sorry my dear family, but I have to go to Drovers Run immediately for a meeting with the governor. I’ll tell you all about it when I get back.” I kissed my two concubines and my son and hurried out the door to get to the transporter nexus in the administration building.