Chapter 2

Entering the stateroom he shared with Maria, Joe shed his coat and loosened his tie. He then poured two brandies and handed one to her.

It was a nice stateroom. Much nicer than one would expect on a spaceship. Not as large, perhaps, as even a child's bedroom in a normal home, but large by ship standards. It contained the equivalent of a full-sized bed, a wall-mounted video screen and communications system, a small table and two comfortable chairs.

"Lights, low," Joe said, as he allowed himself to fall into one of the chairs. The AI monitoring the room was not nearly as advanced as those of the Confederacy, but it was perfectly capable of recognizing speech, and turning down the lights.

Maria, sipping her drink, gracefully took the other chair, but didn't make any other moves to get more comfortable. Her poker face disturbed Joe. It was perhaps the first time in their relationship that he felt she wasn't being truly open with him.

"Well, cuore mia, tell me the truth," he said, simply.

"I am afraid," she replied, with downcast eyes. "When we do this, you may find another who will occupy your heart, and I will be lost."

"It is not when, but if," he declared. "I am not religious enough to be cowed, even by the Pope, and if we were to agree, none could ever displace you in my heart."

"No," she shook her head, "we have no choice. His plan is sound and based both on logic and faith. I believe he has divine guidance on this. If we abandon our faith, just to save ourselves, we will be no better than the animals of the Confederacy. Already our people are showing the signs."

"Perhaps we can negotiate a more acceptable solution."

"His Holiness will not negotiate. The solution is already acceptable, because it is mandatory, and it makes sense. We will learn to live with it. I will bear you more children. You will take other wives, and love them, and give them children as well. As long as I have your love and respect, I will be content."

Joe was floored. Maria's capitulation was totally unexpected. He had never considered the possibility of taking another wife, even in his wildest fantasy, and he had expected her to be livid at the suggestion, even if it did come from the Pope. Hearing her acquiesce so completely, to what he felt was a ludicrous idea, left him dumbfounded.

She rose and set her drink on the table, then walked over to him to sit on his lap. Wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face in his shoulder, she said: "Just remember that no other woman can love you as much as I do. Treat me well, and I will faithfully continue to lead your household. I will be mother to all of your children and all of your wives."

His maverick mind betrayed him. He couldn't help but find humor in the situation. "What if I take one who is older than you? Will you still be her mother?"

"You'd better not!" she exclaimed, hitting him on the shoulder. "If she's much older than me, she's probably beyond having children, and your excuse for taking her is nonexistent. If she's close to my age, she'll want to run things, and I don't think you'll want to live with the resulting chaos! Better you should find young women who are willing to listen to those who are wiser. They will also give you a better chance for making babies."

"Never mind, dear. It was just a wild thought. You know how my mind works."

Their talk continued for hours, and Joe resisted as one would expect that a respectable man should, but Maria was adamant. In the end, he had no sensible argument that could stand against her logic and faith. He finally agreed to support the plan, then took her in his arms and made sweet love to her, before falling asleep, exhausted.

Frank and Marco, being unmarried, had no ready source of female advice on the matter. That was not to say that they didn't enjoy (frequently!) female companionship. They were actually pretty popular with the young ladies of their acquaintance, and rarely had to spend a night alone, unless it was what they wanted.

The thing was, Joe had insisted that the plan stay secret, for the moment, preventing both them from asking for a female opinion on the plan. They were thus stuck with each other in trying to sort things out.

Being healthy, virile men, they didn't have any problems with the idea of sanctioned polygyny: it just wasn't something with which they'd had any experience. As cousins, their upbringing was similar to Maria's, and both knew that if either of their fathers had proposed such an arrangement, their mothers would have been serving his heart at the next meal!

For all their human failings however, both men were devout Catholics, and if the Pope said it was right, then it was right. The entire DiCatania clan would feel the same way, although reactions would be mixed because of the break with ingrained traditions. If Joe felt differently, the plan would fail, because of split loyalties, and very likely the family would collapse.

After discussing it at length, they jointly decided to advise Joe to go with the plan, in order to preserve unity within the cosca. That decided, they began discussing how to implement other parts of the plan. Some aspects were risky, probably even plain dangerous, and most would be expensive to implement. Additional resources would have to be obtained, and a large number of people would have to be recruited. The family just didn't have enough of either to do the job on its own, in the required time.

Father Nicholas had no one to turn to for advice, but his God. When he left his bishop, he knew he would be leaving Earth behind, but the bishop had not mentioned any of the more radical aspects of the plan.

As primary liaison between the church and the cosca, he would be responsible in some way, for the lives and physical as well as spiritual well-being of many, many people. Ultimately, probably as many as the Pope himself. There were many complex issues to be settled, solutions to negotiate, details to see to. He knew he wouldn't be able to do it all himself. He was going to need help. Even with help, he was afraid that he would fail, and that didn't even take into account the shock that he'd sustained about the changes required in some basic institutions.

He prayed for hours, asking for strength and guidance, but he knew, short of direct intervention by God himself, he was locked in. It was going to happen. Eventually, he lay down to rest, but he laid awake half the night, waiting for a sign.

The next morning Nicholas enjoyed another meal with the family, before the smaller group adjourned once again to the study. Five very somber people silently shared a single carafe of coffee, until Joe, as de facto leader, called for the discussion to resume.

He picked up his copy of the documents under consideration, and said, "I presume that everyone has now had an opportunity to read, think about, and sleep on these demands." Everyone silently nodded in the affirmative.

Looking at Nicholas, he asked, "Did you know about the more... extreme parts of this plan?"

"No," Nicholas replied, obviously unhappily. "I was told only that I would be going with you. I spent much of the night in prayer though, as I expect His Holiness did before he formulated this plan. In the absence of some sign from God to the contrary, I feel I am bound to comply with these requirements."

Joe nodded his acknowledgement, and looked at Marco. Marco, for his part, had been watching Maria, was more worried about her reaction than anything Father Nicholas might have said. He knew his cousin, and her temper, well, but he was at a loss to figure out her position on matters, from the way her smoky gaze fixed on Joe. Feeling Joe's eyes on him, he glanced at Frank, and got a nod.

"Frank and I have talked about this in great detail. It will be difficult to do much of this. We will need a great deal of help from people outside the cosca, in order to accomplish these goals. That or we will have to expand the cosca very quickly. If we don't accept the plan, word of it gets out, it will divide us and the family will collapse. Our purpose for leaving the Earth will not be fulfilled. We believe that you should support the plan." Frank nodded his agreement.

"It appears that I am alone in my hesitation," Joe murmured, looking at is wife.

Maria left her chair and approached her husband. Taking both his hands in hers, she said, "No. We are all reluctant to accept the changes, but for different reasons, none of us feel that there is a real choice. The future of the DiCatania family is in your hands, my love. If we collapse, because we cannot agree on this, all our hopes for saving Earth are lost."

Joe sighed. It was clear that she had the right of it. His only fear was that she might later doubt his love, and that jealousy would destroy his home. I guess that's a chance I'll have to take.

"All right," he replied, shaking off his fears, "Father, can you stay with us for a few days? Do you need to go back, before we undertake this effort?"

"I can stay, for as long as necessary," Nicholas replied, shakily, "but eventually I will need to report back to the Church."

Joe stood and hugged his wife, then released her and shook himself to relieve some of the tension. "Marco," he said, "have the pilot take us home. Frank set up a family meeting. Everyone fourteen and older ... and bring in at least the Capi from the other colonies, as well as their wives. I want it to happen at the evening meal on the day following our return."

Of course, not everyone could be there, but at least the off-world contingent was fully represented. Joe had to admit that it wouldn't be practical to pull staff off Earth for the meeting, and leaks might be a problem if it had been. The attendees milled around, greeting each other as old friends do, waiting to find out why they'd been called in.

As the noise level subsided and people began to pay more attention to the front of the room, Joe looked out the windows at the world they'd come to regard as "home." In fact, that was what most of the people called it - Home - with a capital H. Joe had pitched for it to be called Catania, in honor of his late father-in-law's family name, and no one opposed it, but still it was Home, in everyday use.

Marco was with him, and a few minutes before the scheduled time, the rest of the party arrived - Maria, Father Nicholas, and Frank. The five had discussed how to approach the announcement at length, during the journey home, and had decided that the best approach would be to divide the parts up and have different people present them. As leader of the cosca, Joe would set the stage and introduce the speakers.

The time had come. Joe nodded to the other four, and began tapping his spoon on his water glass to get the crowd's attention. When it was mostly silent, he began to speak.

"We don't often come together, so many of us, in one place. When we do it is always a mixed blessing. We get to see friends and loved ones from whom we have long been separated. We hear of, and remember those who have passed on. We give away our daughters in marriage. We send our sons off to start families of their own. There are many reasons why we gather this way, but the events are still rare in our lives.

"Today we are gathered to receive and greet a new member of our extended family. Some of you may know him, or know of him. I have myself determined that he is a man of great character. To tell you a little more about him, and why we wish to invite him into our midst, I give you my beautiful wife, Maria."

Polite people everywhere will applaud any introduction, but Maria was truly loved by all of those present. It took some minutes for things to quiet enough for her to begin speaking.

"You all know that, for some time, I have been concerned for the spiritual well-being of our people. My dear husband shares in my concern, and agrees that we do not wish to become as soulless and self-serving as the heathens who have gone to the Confederacy.

"He took my case to you, some months ago, and you agreed to indulge my wish to find and recruit a shepherd for this flock. Our investigations were exhaustive, and the returns were meager, at first, but eventually we did find one man against whom nothing could be said. We found a man about whom everyone who knew him agreed was a good man. Many wanted to say that he was a Saint in the making.

"I approached this man, and asked him to be our shepherd, and I think the idea shocked him a little." Maria paused and gave the crowd a small smile. "I suppose it's not every day that a confession contains a plea that you abandon Earth and go immediately into the heavens!" The crowd found that remark amusing, and it was a few minutes before the laughter subsided enough to go on.

"He couldn't give me an answer immediately," she continued, "and truthfully, it wouldn't have been reasonable to expect one. He did promise to think about it and get back to us.

"Our simple request rose to heights unintended, in the Church, and His Holiness, the Pope himself, took an interest. The Pope's clear vision was that some of the old traditions have no place in worlds that are not Earth. New environments demand new behavioral guidelines and standards of conduct.

"It was His Holiness that decided to grant the blessing for which we asked, and it was he who decided that there would be a new branch of the Church, and that this new branch needed its own Patriarch. He has also placed additional burdens on our shoulders, and has sent our new Patriarch to us with a message.

"Some of you knew him as Father Nicholas O'Donnell, a parish priest in the city that was our home on Earth. Those who did will remember him as a good man, always seeking to improve the lives of those around him. When I approached him, he was still Father Nicholas, and he tells me that he still prefers 'Father' to 'Your Beatitude.'" She paused momentarily and looked over the crowd before continuing. "Personally, so do I." The laughter again made her pause. "So without further ado, I give you His Beatitude, Patriarch of the Milky Way, Father Nicholas!"

As Maria took her seat, and Nicholas made his way to the podium, the applause thundered. Perhaps it was not an appropriate greeting for a clergyman, in the traditional sense, but it was clear that it was intended to honor both Maria and their new spiritual guide. At the podium he examined his notes and marveled at the love and respect these people willingly gave to their leaders. Eventually things quieted down again, and he was able to speak.

"Hello and good morning! With a birth name like O'Donnell, it's pretty obvious I wasn't born Italian, but to paraphrase Jimmy Buffett, I got here as quickly as I could. "The audience responded with a smattering of polite laughter.