Chapter 16: Rendezvous with the Lois

Today was the first Rendezvous with the Lois for supplies. By this time I had spoke to the Captain of the Lois about 5 times, but with the delays in conversations due to distance the conversations were short and to the point. The Captain was a black man who looked about 60 years old. I had no idea why he looked so old, since with treatments people did not age past 30 any more.

I had the Lois dock at the cargo transfer port of the number 8 cargo bay and then went to meet the Captain. He introduced himself, "Hi, I am Captain James Arnold it is a pleasure to meet you. Please call me Jim. Permission to come aboard, please". I granted him permission and introduced myself.

We started the process of unloading the Lois by instructing our ships robots to handle the jobs. It would take them about five hours.

We talked about various things, including the events of the past several weeks. I asked if Jim would like to join the senior sisters and me for lunch, he said sure. Jim added, "Ed, before we go to far here there is something you need to know. While I enjoy the company of the ladies, I am gay so I have no sexual interest in them at all. I hope that that will ease your concerns about me while I am around the women".

I said, "Oh, thanks for telling me, I had not realized that I was being that protective. Just so you know, I have no problem with your lifestyle, as long as you do not try to force it on me".

We continued talking, he was feeling me out. I had a feeling that he wanted to tell me something and he did not want to just dive in and tell me.

At lunch the ladies, Jim and I talked about a lot of things. I could see that Jim was relaxing quite a bit, seeing that the ladies were in good shape and happy to see him. It was obvious that the ladies knew Jim well and his preferences.

As we wrapped up lunch Jim said, "It is really good to see you ladies in a good mood and doing so well.

"Ed, there is something I need to talk to you about. The women at the household on the planet need to meet you sooner than three months from now. They are very, very nervous and frightened. This is especially true of the ladies of the eight orders who lost their comrades. They are really suffering the loss. They are also screwing up badly because of their grief and uncertainties. They are afraid to say anything though. Frankly making mistakes and failing is not something any woman on Jewel will easily admit and the ladies of your household make them so rarely and correct them so quickly no one ever notices them long.

"I know these ladies very well. They are extremely good at what they do. Right now, though every time I see a group of them two out of three look like they have been crying their eyes out. They can not do anything without being reminded of their loss and they are completely unsure of their futures.

"They are lost and feeling alone without a companion. They are used to being able to turn to the Reverend or their senior sisters for guidance. Of course they know you are coming, but that is also wearing on them because they will be submitting to you and that is a painful experience. Waiting three months to do it is too long.

"Your communications with them is not helping that much because of the distance involved.

"The best solution would be for you to take the Lois back and meet the ladies and let me bring the Zeus in. Unfortunately that is not practical because the Zeus is a pirate target and I am not going to have enough time to learn all the systems. Even if that was not a problem, there are issues about you leaving the current ladies.

"I suggest that you send some of the ladies on the Zeus back with me to take over the duties of the sisters on Jewel. Once I we get to Jewel, I can bring the sisters on Jewel with me to the Zeus on the next cargo run".

I was not about to leave the Zeus in the hands of another person, but I saw that the captain had a point. Still I wanted to talk to the ladies and discuss the situation with them. Frankly, I wanted their advice on how to proceed. They knew their sisters best.

"Thank you Jim. I think I want to talk to the senior sisters alone before I commit to your plan. I am somewhat new at this and currently I am relying greatly on their help and guidance".

"No problem Ed, they are the best ladies on our world. Aside from knowing all the rules, which are important, they are strong leaders. On most planets the 10^th tier ladies would be heads of major companies".

Jim continued, "I just hope you are right man for the Reverend's job. It can be quite taxing, and I don't just mean handling the ladies. You appear to be off to a whale of a start there by the way. Handling the men of the planet is nowhere near as much fun. For one thing, taking them over your knee for a good spanking, and they often deserve it, is not an option".

I thought, "Every silver lining has a touch of cloud".

"By the way Ed, I have not seen Sally, is she ok?"

"Sally is on the bridge, she's on watch right now. I'll tell you what. I'll have one of the other ladies take you to the bridge and you can talk to her. Please don't take this wrong. Sally is having some problems. I know what they are about, but for now she is not allowed to be alone with any man, including myself, so a couple of sisters are going to be with you to at all times".

Jim looked concerned, "Oh no! She didn't do it again, did she?"

I answered, "We if you mean attack a man when startled, yes. But don't worry about it".

Jim said, "You know, I've heard of a mental condition, PTSD, Jackie, is it possible she has it?"

Jackie looked at him, with a "How can this be so obvious, to everyone else and yet I not see it?" look. She said, "Jim there is a possibility you are correct. We are looking into it already". I was a little surprised by how evasive Jackie was being. She was not going to tell Jim that Sally had PTSD. I did not know why, but I was sure I would find out later. I certainly could see the she was not willing to be open with him for some reason.

Jim replied, "That's great Jackie, I hope this pans out and she can get back to normal".

Ann and Stephanie were on the next watch so I sent for them, and when they arrived had Jim taken to see Sally on the bridge.

When Jim left, Jackie said, "Sorry Sir, but Jim has a big mouth. If we told him that Sally definitely had PTSD, it would be all over Jewel 30 minutes after he arrived there. If Sally is ever to find a new master, she does not need that kind of advertising. Frankly I doubt it will matter, since she is going to want to stay with you for the rest of her life, as long as she gets into space once in a while". All the other sisters grinned.

I could see her point, though for some reason I knew that there was more to the story than that, so I said, "And??"

"And a lot of us have had problems because of him. He has this way of making you trust him. You naturally confide in him, and then 2 days later you end up over someone's knee getting your ass beat because he's told the worst possible person your secret. It has happened way to many times for it to be a coincidence.

"We just don't trust him to keep a secret".

I said, "I see. Thank you for your insight. Good job".

"Now on to the matters he has made us aware of. Do we believe him?"

"Yes", was the simultaneous answer from all of the ladies. I, no doubt, had showed my confusion, because Jackie spoke up immediately.

"Sir we don't trust him with our secrets, but he is not a liar. He just can't keep a secret. Even he knows it. We like him. He is a 'safe' man to be around and there are not that many on Jewel. He can explain a man's thinking when we cannot figure it out. Since he has undoubtedly seen the problem and since we all tend to keep our thoughts to our selves around him, my guess is he is just touching the tip of the iceberg and the problem is much more serious than he knows".

Paula continued, "Sir, I was afraid there might be a problem brewing from a message I received today from Sister Leta. (Sister Leta is the 10^th tier sister from the Order of the Brush still at the household). She said something about a problem with the order of Riding Crop. Apparently they are very upset, and are blaming the Order of the Brush and specifically Sally for the death of the Reverend since she is a jinx. Sister Angela (the 10^th tier sister at the residence from the Order of the Riding Crop) is having a hard time controlling the other sisters of her order".

Amanda then said, "I have also heard today from my sisters that things are beginning to get out of hand with the other orders. They have no authority to resolve disputes, and some of the sisters are getting into fights both internally and externally of their orders."

Yoko continued, "I am also hearing of problems. The several of the sisters seem very depressed and are being watched carefully".

Robin said, "There was no hint of a problem, until today. I think the sisters at the household waited until the Lois was to arrive to tell us. Sir, we have to do something".

Linda then said, "Sir the biggest problem is not if we are going to send back people, it is who is going to go. I know when I heard Jim suggest that we return with him I was appalled at the prospect of leaving you and my sisters. If you ask for volunteers, this is one time I'd not be shocked if you did not get any. With out an authority, like you Captain, they are going to have a rough time of it when they get back. Frankly I am wonder if it is safe for any of us to return without you". I could see that Linda had just voiced the fear that all of them were secretly dreading but did not know how to tell me.

Clair said, "Sir we will do what ever you tell us to do, but I think Linda has mentioned something that we really need to be aware of. It is not safe to return home without you. The men of my planet could see this as deserting you and that will be fatal for us".

I said, "Ok ladies, I see your points. For now this whole issue is undecided. I need to make some FTL radio messages to some friends and then we'll be able to plan some things. For now keep this between us".