Chapter 40: Compassion in Paradise

Time: January 4, 8240 8:28 PM

"Gosh, this place is so beautiful," I thought, as I dried myself with one of the fluffy cathedral beach towels. I couldn't imagine a more idyllic setting. The air temperature was 27C, the same as the water, and with the sun down for almost three hours the sand felt cool beneath my bare feet. Directly above my head, perhaps two degrees north of vertical shone a brilliant waxing moon, right at its transmit point and just a few days shy of full. I had just spent the last two hours snorkeling in the dark waters of the Caribbean, and considered it an experience of a lifetime. Such wonder! My only regret was that my wives could not share my joy with me. It was that beautiful.

Gazing out over the calm waters, I saw four scuba men briefly emerge about thirty meters off shore. They flashed me brief hand signals, asking if I were finished with my swim. I signaled affirmative and good night, and then we saluted each other before they returned to their military speedboat a few hundred meters out.

Wonderfully efficient, I thought. It struck me as odd when I first realized that none of the Ruling Royalty I knew bother to learn the guard's sign language, but that's the attitude of the world's elite. Perhaps someday it'll change.

The beach for a kilometer in both directions was part of the Giza Cathedral private grounds, and except for a few three-man teams of my security detail was completely deserted. It had been an exhausting three days of negotiations and this free time was my first opportunity to relax and unwind. I decided to take a shower at an opulent beachside bath facility, and then just trot back to my quarters and sack out.

As the warm soapy water washed the salt from my skin, I thought of Faisal's original time estimate and realized his outside guess had been accurate. All the principles of the agreement were now in place, and our one final session tomorrow morning from 6 AM to noon should be more than enough time to hammer out the final details. Three days after I had arrived, tomorrow I would probably have a short victory lunch with my host and then fly my ramjet back to Qataban.

Faisal was absolutely correct. The trip was well worth the effort, absolutely essential in fact. An opportunity had arisen to expand a disagreement between his group and another Health sub-faction that had opposed giving me Dalma as my Domine. It turned out the center of the opposition was the Health sub-faction in charge of the evolution of the human genome, the very township of my Domine. No wonder Faisal wanted me there in person.

The negotiations over the last three days had been swift and furious, but I finally got the hang of Health's classic battle tactics, learning how to tear down my position and reform it before my opposition could tear down theirs. It really is a very effective way of bargaining if you can think that fast. By late afternoon today, my opposition suddenly realized I had maneuvered them into arguing against their own original position, and at that point they gave up. All that's left for tomorrow is for me to be gracious in the details and let them come out of this encounter with something they can declare victory about. Faisal couldn't be more pleased.

The executive suite facilities of the Giza cathedral were vast, and the several dozen members of the negotiation teams were widely spread out, giving us all a lot of privacy. My own suite was on the short deserted wing nearest the ocean. Incredibly to me, the other negotiators preferred the town views on the other side of the main sanctuary. How could anyone ever get tired of looking at the ocean? I pray I never become that stupid.

I nodded and exchanged salutes with two of my personal guards stationed outside my quarters. I recognized them as Nasuh and Sati, the CL-8 commander and his CL-7 deputy. I had saved Nasuh's life five months ago, in the coal mines of Antarctica. As with all of my guard, the men had permanent permission to be informal with me if there were only guard present.

"Your room is secure sir," Nasuh said quietly as I approached them.

I was sure that simple sentence was the result of an intense and thorough scan, bordering on fanatic. I nodded in appreciation of all the hard work. "Beautiful night for a swim. I hope the scuba teams took a second or two to admire the scenery."

Nasuh and Sati both cracked thin smiles. They thought I was joking. Ah well. I yawned. "Big day today. I'll probably read for a short while and then sack out. Think you can find a few volunteers to join me for a 4 AM run down the beach Nasuh?"

We both smiled. The rights to be my personal duty guards were fiercely competed for. "Oh, I think we can manage to find a few sir," he replied with a grin. "Pleasant evening sir."

Was his grin just a bit mischievous? Very unusual if it were. We exchanged final salutes and then I retired to my quarters. I activated my privacy shields and then picked up some notes from the day's work, intending to review a few subtle points in the agreements that had been reached. As I approached my bedroom I froze. My instinct was telling me I was not alone. I put down my papers quietly on another table and stood still, listening with all my senses.

My mind was divided whether to be worried. Nasuh was such an efficient guardsman, the situation just didn't seem dangerous. And yet... Yes, in the bedroom. One person, I was sure of it. Unmoving. My body alert, I walked into the room and turned on the light.

There was a woman sleeping in my bed. No, not sleeping, awake but under the covers. As I turned on the lights, she slipped out of the bed and laid herself prostrate on the floor before me.

It was Dodi, one of the women who had served us a few hours ago in the dining hall. I had startled her then by asking her for her name and a few other questions about the area. And now here she was, lying on the floor before me palms up, her bare arms extended from her sides.

Like all the servant women, Dodi had been barefoot while serving dinner, wearing only a tight red halter top and short white pants. It was a kind of uniform I've come to recognize as the standard dress for the top-level slaves of the islands. Dodi was now wearing something similar, a red halter and white shorts, but both clothings now looked made of soft cotton, and the white shorts in particular were clinging to the shape of her buttocks as she lay on the floor before me.

I shook my head as if to clear it. "Dodi, what are you doing here?"

"I was assigned here, Grand Mufeto."

"Huh? Assigned by whom? Speak with complete informality." I thought for a moment, thinking if there were something else I could say to put her at ease. I realized it would probably frighten if I asked her to call me Ilias.

"Yes master, thank you for the honor. My task mistress assigned me master."

Master? Ah well, just let it go Ilias, I thought to myself. "She did huh? Dodi, what did she assign you to do?"

"To be your bed-warmer master."

I gulped. "My bed-warmer? Any idea why?"

"Master?" She paused for a moment and then continued. "The task mistress was kind enough to tell me that Grand Mufeto Faisal had noticed that I caught your eye during the dinner service tonight. Grand Mufeto Faisal gave instructions that I be your bed-warmer tonight."

I didn't know quite how to respond. I had heard vague references to this term a few times before at the islands, and I wasn't sure if it were some royal-only version of the marchette or literally just what the name implied. The room was quite cool, and after my two-hour swim in the ocean, curling up in sheets warmed by an attractive female did have a certain appeal to it.

I decided that the second interpretation would be the safest one to follow. And besides, I was on record for detesting the marchette, and had even killed a CL-15 priest over the issue. I walked over to the bed and placed my hand under the covers. "Well, you've certainly done an excellent job, wonderfully warm sheets. I'll commend you to your mistress tomorrow. Good night Dodi."

I saw her quickly wince and grimace before steeling herself and quickly wiping all emotion from her face. Was that dismay? What did I say?

"Yes master, thank you for your kindness." Taking my words correctly as a dismissal, Dodi got up off the floor and prepared to leave.

"Dodi, wait."

"Master?"

"Sit down for a moment." I gestured to a couple of nearby chairs by a bedroom window. A moment later we were sitting and looking at each other from a few feet away. The view to the west was breathtaking, a moonlit ocean, but Dodi was completely ignoring the scenery. Her attention was totally focused on me. I could tell she was also a little uncomfortable with having such an equal body position with me, but I wanted to understand the situation we were in.

"Dodi, you don't want to go?"

"Master?" She looked at me startled, clearly unused to being asked such an open-ended question by any male, let alone a Grand Mufeto.

"You looked so unhappy when I told you to leave."

"Master, it's not my place to have such emotions."

"Oh, don't worry about that. Dodi, why were you unhappy?"

"Master..." She twisted her hands and looked very nervous.

"There are no punishment issues here Dodi. Will you trust me? Just tell me the truth."

"Yes Master," she nodded and gulped. "Most of the other Mufeto are pooling their bed-warmers for group sex later this evening Master. I'm certain to be reassigned there if I leave here this early."

"Assigned to group sex?!" I could barely keep the revulsion from my voice.

"Yes Master. I was expecting I'd have a much easier time here tonight sir, especially since... Master! I'm recovering from a torn rectum, and you spoke so kindly to me during the dinner service!"