Chapter 25: Career Move

Five months later...

Time: June 1, 8237 11:15 AM

I took a moment to look up from my desk and enjoy the view. It was magnificent, a clear, blustery day, fleecy white clouds, and the view to the west from the window before me was filled with ocean blues and grays and whites. Winter was fast approaching the South Atlantic. I turned to my right and squinted at the golden sunlight of the low hanging sun. Time for a five-minute break! I got up and stretched my legs, walking over to the northern windows to gaze at an inner courtyard and the good town of Karbala beyond.

Such a change in the seasons! The signal flags were snapping on their poles and the merchant ships at port were frantically loading and unloading cargo. Today was their day of opportunity, with another autumn gale expected to strike tomorrow. The wharfs were alive with activity.

The sunlight that was so abundant just a few months ago was now a scarce resource. The sun rose today at 7:10 AM, 55 degrees to the east of north, and would set at 3:20 PM, 55 degrees on north's western side. My city was at solar noon right now, the sun's azimuth at due north and its altitude only 17 degrees above the horizon. This time of year, the sun hugs the horizon like a thief before making a quick dash back to darkness.

The security system blinked a blue and green notice. My secretary had passed through a trusted visitor who had permanent permission to enter. The front door of my office area opened and in walked Shephatiah, looking very confused and clutching a map of the cathedral complex tightly in her hand. As the door closed and sealed behind her, she looked at the office status display and saw we were alone. Her expression changed into a carefree smile and she threw down the map nonchalantly on a nearby table.

She came over and gave me a very affectionate hug and didn't let go. "Hi sweetie!" she whispered as she stood on her toes and licked my ear. "Having a nice day?"

I dropped my return hug low on her hips and patted her rump, getting lost in a very sexy kiss with this vixen in my arms. "Hmmm." I finally broke the kiss to come up for air. "Well, I am now."

Sheffie smiled and wiggled her rump into the hands that were holding her. "Ah, that feels nice! How about you? That was quite a workout you had during the Prayer of Purification. I was watching you on the video. Want a back-rub?"

My eyes lit up. "Sure! Sounds great!" A moment later I was lying flat on my stomach on one of my plush couches and getting a totally delightful massage.

Sheffie's wonderful fingers were kneading the muscles in my neck and back. "You want this back-rub to get more interesting Ilias, just say the word. My cathedral map tells me our private sleeping quarters are just a few meters away."

I nodded and sighed. "Tempting, but impossible. Jibran is scheduled to call me at noon."

"Ah. Today's the big day, huh?"

"Yeah. The execution will be at solar noon at the capital, 11:59 AM. Say! Where's Abby? Shouldn't she be here now?"

"Huh? You don't know? Abby planned to misplace her cathedral map at the main library this morning, and then get lost in the south wing. She's probably wandering around down there right now, asking people for directions. Didn't she tell you?"

I sighed. "Oh yeah. I think she tried before breakfast. I was so rushed to make the Prayer opening, I brushed her off."

"Ah..." More back rubs. "Ilias? Tonight in bed, why don't you take some extra time to notice Abby, pet her, make love to you if you can. I think she would really like that."

I wiggled under the pleasure of the massage. "You sure Sheffie? It's your turn tonight, and with all the work going on, I've been neglecting you and Michal as much as Abby."

The back-rub continued, but Sheffie also bent her head down to my butt and gave me a quick sharp nip with her teeth. I blinked in surprise. "Yeooow! Is there much blood?"

Sheffie laughed, playfully ignoring my protest and massaging my butt where she had nipped me. After a while she said, "Yeah, I'm sure. Abby is your first wife, I am the interloper."

I shook my head. "Abby doesn't think about you that way." I didn't have to add that Michal didn't either. That sadly was physically impossible.

"Oh, I know. Still, love Abby tonight sweetie. My turn will come." Sheffie's head returned to my rump. Her mouth searched and found the spot where my anus lay beneath my clothes. She inhaled deeply and then blew a breath of hot air all across the sensitive skin of my anal opening. I lay there and sighed. No one can distract me with sex as completely as Sheffie. She's a bit of a nymphomaniac and I wouldn't want her any other way. Her ideas! So original, and so often just a touch on the kinky side. Delightful!

She nestled her head into the point where the backs of my legs meet my groin. I could feel the press of her nose against the back of my scrotum, and then she inhaled deeply through the clothes. "Ah, your wonderful smell! This will be enough for me for now." She returned to massaging my back in earnest.

I drifted in the pleasure, all my tensions and worries pouring out of my body. Her hands are so skillful and wonderful. She put me into a state of thinking about absolutely nothing, not asleep but mindless. When I returned to consciousness, I noticed a soft tongue playfully licking my ears and the back of my neck.

"I hate to go," she whispered. "I really, really hate to go. But I'm due to meet Michal and do design work on the crystal reader." More wet kisses on my ears... "And you have your call in ten minutes."

Huh? Ten minutes? I blinked. Yikes! "Uh, thanks Sheffie!"

She gave me a final goodbye lick and patted my rump. "Remember, Abby tonight!" And with that smile, my number-three wife started to leave my office. She met Abby on her way in, and the two sister-wives exchanged a brief kiss before Shephatiah finally left.

Abby came over and sat on my couch. I was still stretching and about to get up, but Abby leaned on me and rested her head on my back. "Ah, I bet somebody was getting a nice back-rub!" Her hand came up and caressed my head. "Oh! And having his ears licked too!"

I chortled. "Life is good!"

"Evidently! I think I got here just in time! Come, Glorious One! Jibran will be calling any minute."

I sat up and shared a few playful kisses with Abby. "Oh, we have a few minutes. Jibran won't call before noon." We kissed for a minute, then another. My hand came up and cupped a soft breast. "Hmmm. This feels interesting! Want to be petted tonight?"

Abby gave me a beaming smile. "Okay!" And then a brief frown, "Uh, isn't it Michal's turn tonight? No, wait! Sheffie's!"

I blushed. "Actually, Sheffie suggested it."

"Ah. She did, huh? Okay! I'll look forward to it!" Abigail wiggled her hips suggestively at me and then looked at the clock. "Come! I'll dry your ears before the call!"

I was sitting at my desk looking completely presentable when the video call came in a few minutes after noon. It was Jibran as expected, and the status lights on the comm-link were indicating that the video call was being serviced with the highest level of encryption possible, quantum entangled handshaking protocols. Unless someone figured out a way to change the laws of physics, it was absolutely impossible for anyone to clone the entangled quantum spin states and listen in on this call.

Jibran was smiling broadly, and his grin spoke volumes.

I nodded back thoughtfully. "So, the end of an era, Jibran."

"Yes, indeed Ilias, and the dawn of a new day! Somewhat ironic that it started at solar noon!" He laughed. "Did you watch the execution?"

"No. My wife Sheffie was in here licking my ears. My mind was much more agreeably engaged."

Jibran laughed heartily. He thought I was joking. "Well, we now have three vacancies on the Council. CL-29 Mudar, CL-28 Miyaz, and now CL-30 Huthayfa. A vacancy at each level! Abdul Quddus is a Supreme Legislator again. We're back to the Wild Times Ilias! It should make for some very interesting politics!"

Jibran's reference to the Wild Times at the beginning of history was apt. For the first three hundred years after the War of the Burning Metals, the Cunif Califar was bound only by the Code of Bel'dar. In all secular matters he had complete and absolute power and ruled by decree. It wasn't until the reign of Abdul Nur, Servant of the Light, that the world government shifted to Council rule. But even with a fully staffed Supreme Council, the Cunif Califar holds tremendous power.

When fully populated, the Supreme Council consists of eleven members, the CL-31 Cunif Califar and ten Grand Mufeto, two CL-30, three CL-29, and five CL-28. Each level of advanced rank triples the weight of voting authority. There are thus a total of 59 weighted votes for a full Council, with the office of Cunif Califar holding 27 of them, slightly less than half.