Chapter 77

Dear Willow and family,

I'm not sad for Katy, yes I miss her, and yes I worry that she will never be found or will be found dead. But one of the grim lessons that being a sponsor and a concubine has taught me is to recognize what I can change and the things I cannot change. From the moment Katy, Holly, Beth, and I agreed to be Marissa's concubines we put our lives in her hand. She could make us into anything and anyone (at least on the outside) that she wanted us to be. She could have made Katy, Holly and Beth into parodies of Cinderella's step sisters. She could have made me into a Brad Pitt or Arnold Schwarzenegger look alike. As you've seen she mostly left me looking like myself, except I'd have never made it past about 5'4" in height without Confederacy medical technology. Thus I can say with some assurance that either we will find Katy alive or we won't. That is life. She couldn't avoid the Governor's order. That set her life path on a collision course with whatever has caused her to disappear.

No what I am sad about is the fact that the concubines I'm transporting have not only lost their owners, but have also lost their communities. I'm not sure that I can understand what it must mean to them to have lost the anchors of their lives, but I'm sure that your concubines are correct in their analysis of the situation. I know that at least the 'families' here will stay together, so that no one loses a sister or brother concubine nor do the children lose siblings. That is the good news. The bad news is that most of the concubines have never met their new owners. Also they have no idea of what to expect when they arrive at Atlantis-At. What I mean by that is that the society where they're headed is most likely very different from the one where they were before. But since they knew no one there and may not have been allowed to communicate with anyone outside of their immediate family they are once again headed into the vast unknown, except this time they don't even have a chance to get to know their protector.

What that bodes for their future I can't tell. All I know is that the Civil Service and the Governor at Atlantis-At have been working to make sure that if they somehow lose another 'master' their lives will not be torn free from their society outside of their master's home. Whether we will be successful or not I can't tell. Only when we experience the future does it become clear. Certainly making and executing plans helps us define the future. But as you're well aware, no plan survives actual implementation.

This is because there are always variables that were not considered when the plan was made. Still I can say that it seems to me that incidences of violence have decreased in the neighborhood where I work. I can only claim that this must be due to the people finally becoming families, rather than just a random group of strangers living and fucking together. Whether or not the families will survive and thrive in the future can only be posited at this point.

I must say that I have at least one more stop on my circuitous route through the various colonies that make up the diaspora. At least that plan had not changed when I picked up the mice. I'm sure now that I've mentioned it there will be some sort of change at the next point where we exit hyperspace. But as usual the future is at best opaque.

The best we can hope for, it seems at times, is to be where we said we would be when we said we would be there. And I have to say that at times just that is a challenge that is difficult to meet. Still one must do one's best to accomplish the tasks they are given. In this there is much solemn wisdom.

Looking at your letter I noticed that the Navy is going to try out smoke bombs from space to hopefully confuse the skywatchers that the Sa'arm employ in your 'neighborhood'. To say the least I'm sure everyone wants to know how much success they bring. My only hope is that you don't find the Sa'arm on Darling Downs are more than you can handle and therefore end up in a pinch. I'd hate to think that the next run I have make would be to pickup your orphaned concubines.