The Assassin
Chapter 8
A Family Matter (TY12-month 142)
Those first weeks in Drylanders were hectic. I had a new command, a new base, a new family, and—not the least—a new AI.
Unlike armies back on Earth, there was no ‘up or out’ pressure on our Militia. When they joined, they committed. They could serve the entire term as the lowest level comrade if that was what they were qualified for or what we needed.
My office was another of the miniature pods used on base and was crowded with Hodges, Reynolds and me in it. I was assured it would grow in the coming weeks. So, I held my staff meeting outside.
“Capo Jeffries, today’s work is getting the drill field ready for exercises. Unlike the parade ground, this should have obstacles and you’ll need to raise hills, move boulders, and plant trees. This is where we’ll be drilling for combat, not marching and PT. Coordinate with Officer Humphreys and bring cadres in from Drovers Run for day work, then send them back at night. We’ll need all available hands. We only have a few weeks left before we need to start building the harbor.
“Capo Torvalds, be sure your patrol cadres are briefed on who goes out for border patrol this week. We’ve had a report of a mountain lion stalking sheep on the far southeast corner of the township. Assess and determine if we need to man that outpost full time or if this can be handled with a relocation of the beast,” I said.
“Yes, sir,” Torvalds said. The two Capos left and got their cadres moving.
“Hodges and Reynolds, we need to get our office set up and functioning correctly. Reynolds, I need a three-dimensional topo map of our district. Work with the AI to get us a war room added on this shack. Hodges, work on the cadre rotations according to the task list we developed last week. Make sure it’s posted where everyone can see it. I want it visible, not just relayed by the AI. That means you’ll probably have to create a message board outside the office to display it. Of course, we ping everyone with their schedule as well. And don’t forget the comrades who are still at Drovers Run.”
“Yes, sir,” both responded and went about their work. I looked at the dust being raised by the heavy machinery. When Tara was terraformed, nanites had been set loose all over the planet to speed the natural process of turning rock into soil and planting grasses and trees. Of our 100 square kilometers of base, only the front ten square kilometers were clear of the fledgling forest. We sprayed the clearing with algae-based fertilizer again and planted more grasses everywhere except where the streets and building installations were slated. I went into my tiny office room to follow up on more housing.
«Deputy Cho, your presence is urgently required at Drovers Run,» Rhett said through my implant. When I get a message like that, I know I need to double time to the nearest transport pad, which was in my administration building. I hit the pad at a run and came out on base at Drovers Run.
«What’s the problem?» I demanded of the base AI.
«A concubine has arrived at the recruitment office demanding to speak directly with you.»
«And you made it sound like an emergency for that?»
«The concubine is Min-Bae Cho.»
Shit! It was that day already? I hadn’t even thought about her birthday since I started working on the new base. I’d barely managed time with Rose and Lyle. I straightened myself and my uniform and entered the recruitment office. Bae was standing silently next to the recruiter’s desk, completely nude. It was obvious she’d come straight from the testing center.
My poor baby sister. She looked exactly the same as she had a little over three years ago when I left her to take my test. She wasn’t more than four-and-a-half feet tall. She had no body hair and scant rises at her breasts. She stood staring at me with a tear leaking from her eye. I dropped to a knee and held out my arms. She ran into them and began sobbing on my shoulder as I picked her up.
“I’ll take care of this, Capo,” I said to Slocum at the desk.
“Yes, sir,” he responded and turned to the next recruit in line. I carried Bae into the office and Officer Humphreys quickly left the room.
“Officer, could you have a concubine shift delivered here, please?” I asked. She nodded and was back in just a minute with the plain gray shift. I pulled it over Bae’s head and she put her arms through the sleeves. What seldom covered the genitals of most concubines fell to her knees.
“Now,” I said. “Tell me all about it.”
“We had a family row. Amos tried to convince me to come back to him after my test and he’d give me a good strong body and make a woman of me. I told him I wasn’t part of his livestock and would either exit the test in uniform as a volunteer or in the Militia. Either way, I wasn’t coming back. I think he would have raped me before he even did modifications. He’s never crossed the line, but I think he has a thing for children.”
“One day…” I muttered.
“Shh.” Bae put a finger against my lips. “Don’t say it. When I got here at the recruitment office, the Capo refused to accept my application. He said he couldn’t do this without the Deputy’s permission because I’m still a little girl. I demanded that he call you at once.”
“I don’t know what to do, Bae. You shouldn’t be modified until you’ve reached puberty, no matter how old you are. And I don’t think you should be in the Militia until then, either.”
«Cricket, is there a precedent for this?»
«I checked with the testing AI and with the Radcliffe home AI. Both indicated the condition is natural and that Min-Bae Cho should grow into maturity naturally. It is my belief that the CAP test should not have been administered. There is precedent for holding off on the test until puberty, regardless of age. However, the test has been given and the scoring reflects the lack of maturity we would find in a child. Unfortunately, Min-Bae Cho has been classified as a concubine. Her choices are limited.»
I pondered the situation silently as Bae clung to me. I think she was afraid I’d reject her for one reason or another.
“Niall? Take me as your concubine. Please?”
“You aren’t ready to be a concubine,” I said. “That’s the problem.”
“But I know you wouldn’t hurt me. If you take me as a concubine, I could live with you and be protected by you until my body catches up with my age. I’d be happy with you. Really. If you weren’t happy with me, then I could join the Militia like we originally planned.”
“That might work. I need to talk to my family.”
“Mom?”
I laughed.
“No, sweetheart. My concubine and her son.”
“I didn’t know you had one yet! That’s cool. Is she nice?” Bae asked.
“Yes. Very nice and very understanding. She’s already had to put up with the craziness of my job. I’m sure she’ll be delighted with this new craziness.”
“Can I meet her?”
I nodded my head. «Cricket, please ask Rose and Lyle to go to my office. I’d like you to join me there as well. We have a family matter to discuss.»
«Certainly, Niall. I’ve been concerned for Min-Bae since our conversations with your other sister. We will wait for your arrival in your office.»
“So, that’s our situation,” I concluded after briefing Rose on Min-Bae’s condition and the choices.
“Why are you even hesitating?” Rose demanded. She held out her arms to Bae, who went to her for a hug. “Min-Bae Cho, please be my sister concubine and let us help you grow up.”
“Um… I think I need to say that,” I laughed.
“There should be a contract,” Cricket broke in. “While you may accept Min-Bae as a concubine, she is not well-enough developed for sexual penetration. Niall, you must agree to withhold sexual congress until she has matured and the med tube examination pronounces her ready. To do otherwise would be the same as sex with a child.”
“Absolutely!” I said. “I can’t believe this needs to be said. Min-Bae Cho, understanding that there will be no sexual congress before you have matured to a level acceptable to the AIs, and understanding that when you reach that level you may decide whether to remain as my concubine or to join the Militia, will you be my concubine?”
“Yes, Niall. It’s the best thing I can even imagine.”
“Acknowledged and recorded,” Cricket said.
Lyle fell in love with Bae instantly. He had a playmate. And Bae loved him. I assigned one of the concubine rooms as hers, but she insisted on coming to bed with Rose and me, even though the two of us made love before we settled for sleep nearly every night. Bae felt that being close to adults and to Rose’s pheromones would encourage her body to speed the process up. I didn’t know, but I was willing to hold her as she snuggled between Rose and me. She found out right away the next morning that my life was not simple and relaxed.
«Deputy Cho,» Rhett interrupted my breakfast, «Director Kotter requests your presence immediately for a meeting with Deputy Kramer and Governor O’Hara.»
«Immediately? I’m on my way.» “I’m sorry my dear family, but I have to go to Drovers Run immediately for a meeting with the governor. I’ll tell you all about it when I get back.” I kissed my two concubines and my son and hurried out the door to get to the transporter nexus in the administration building.
No Time to Prepare (TY12-month 142)
“Deputy, I apologize for the early hour, but this is urgent.” Scarlett said. “We need temporary housing for 380 concubines and 2,660 dependents.” I sat back and my mouth dropped open. We only had 575 total in the Militia—only a thousand including concubines and dependents. “As a new base, Fort Butler has the most unoccupied space and room for development. Therefore, I am passing this job on to you. We have two weeks to prepare housing for over 3,000 people. During that time, we will also be looking for a way to permanently home all of these. For now, however, let’s imagine you are running a very large orphanage.”
“You’ll need staff in addition to the concubines coming with the children,” Kotter added. “I am authorizing you to promote another Capo and requisition three cadres for a total of thirty to thirty-five comrades to manage the intake and disposition of the orphanage residents. Deputy Kramer is aware that you will requisition at least one and likely two from his unit. These requisitions will be deemed temporary, to be returned to him when the orphanage residents have been homed.”
“I’ll start working on creation of two appropriate cadres for you,” Kramer said.
“Two weeks?” I squeaked. “We’ve barely managed to get housing for our comrades so far.” And what then?
“There will be a Civil Service officer traveling with the orphans,” Centurion Oswald said. I’d met him before but it was the first time he’d joined us for a meeting. “He or she should have a sponsor pod on base for the duration. I’m sure he’ll have concubines and possibly dependents.”
“I expect all of you to meet with me in one week to go over progress and lay out the plan for the arrival and distribution of the refugees. I know you have work to do, so I won’t keep you longer. Carry on,” the governor said. We were all abruptly dismissed from her office and I ran to the transport pad to get to work on this.
I was stunned. I looked at my TOE and immediately put a call through to Humphreys. It took a minute for her to get to her desk to take the call. I didn’t want to do this through our implants.
“Who do we have most ready to promote to Capo?” I asked as soon as she appeared.
“Promotion? It’s a little early, but Foreman Greer is our most likely candidate at the moment. That will leave her cadre in need of a foreman, but I believe we have a new grad who is perfect for the job,” she said.
“Promote them and send the entire cadre to me here at Drylanders. We’ve just been given a task that I need an entire cohort for. I’d like them here by end of day. I’ll delay moving the last of my labor cadres until I have the current situation under control. It won’t be more than a couple of days,” I said.
“Yes, sir. I’ll get them moving.”
“Thank you, Humphreys. Carry on.”
«Deputy Kramer is calling,» Rhett said.
«Put him through.»
“Niall, congratulations. Didn’t have time to say anything at the governor’s office.”
“Is that what this calls for, Derek? I feel like I’ve just had a load of manure dumped on me.”
“You have, but that’s what we congratulate people for these days. So, you need some comrades?”
“Yes, sir. I might be able to squeeze out another half a cadre from what we have graduating this week, but I’ll need at least fifteen people and they should include two foremen. I’d take all twenty if you have them to spare.”
“I think we can handle it. You need good construction men?”
“That’s going to be the major task for these two weeks, but I have a construction crew on base that I haven’t moved over to the harbor yet. This cohort will need to take Civil Service training as we’ll be working with a CS officer and trying to ride herd on a shipload of concubines and dependents. I can’t take just any lout into that kind of environment.”
“All right. I’ve got your requisition. I’ll have two cadres to you by dinner time.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Niall. You know this wasn’t shifted to you just because you have wide open spaces. This is a test. I think the governor has big plans for you. Do your job well. Good luck.”
“Thank you, Derek.”
I thought about what I was going to need and went to the map room. In the weeks we’d been at Drylanders, Comrade Reynolds had done a credible job of preparing holographic maps of our township and the detail got better as I zoomed in on the base.
“Rhett, I need Capo Jeffries and Capo Hodges for a meeting. Better call in Capo Torvalds, too. We need to all get on the same page.” Capo Hodges was standing in the door before Rhett could answer.
“Capo Jeffries is coming from the parade ground where he has just given today’s construction assignments to his cadres. Capo Torvalds is coming from town. Both should be here within five minutes.”
“Thank you. Valerie, I’m trying to decide where to put an orphanage on our base. It will be a temporary orphanage so I’d like the development to be reusable for our unit as it grows. Suggestions?”
“How many orphans are we expecting, sir?”
“3,000.”
“Sir? Have we had a disaster on the planet?”
“Not yet. I’m trying to avoid one.”
Newly-promoted Capo Greer arrived from Drovers Run before we’d finished our meeting. Her cadres would be arriving in the afternoon and getting settled in the dorms. Valerie went to work sorting through the requisitions and deciding how housing would work for our unplanned-for cohort.
We had space at Fort Butler, that much was true, but infrastructure hadn’t yet been laid to the entire base that was cleared. I didn’t want the orphanage to get confused with the operation of the base, so it needed to be in a separate area. But we needed time to run utilities and roads, build whatever structure we were planning, and get the place looking welcoming for children. That meant playgrounds, sports fields, grass, and courts, in addition to the housing units.
“Rhett, we’re going to need more automation for this development than what we’ve used on the rest of the base. Thirty people just can’t be expected to build facilities for 3,000 people in two weeks.”
“Understood, Deputy. For 380 concubines, I would simply recommend platform tents and latrines, but the presence of 2,660 dependents dictates a higher level of facilities. Especially since seven dependents are assigned to each concubine. I recommend landing pods from our construction facility on the moon. We can work on the infrastructure connections this week and then bring the pods down to connect next week. Use manual labor for road finishing and creating the sports fields and park areas and public buildings for the orphanage.”
“That sounds good. Make the requisition, please.”
Comrade Reynolds was at my elbow with a fresh cup of coffee. The guy was good at keeping our office running and anticipating needs. I had my doubts when he came to me as a trans sponsor and volunteered to give up his citizenship in order to become a concubine member of the Militia. He was working out okay as long as he didn’t have to relate to a labor cadre. There were only four on my staff, including Capo Hodges, Reynolds, and two other comrades who were still at Drovers Run.
“Sir, a Commander Nelson is calling for you,” Reynolds said.
“A commander? Put him through.” What the hell? Tara had almost no contact with the Confederacy military. I figured this must be someone from Sunnybrook.
“Commander, how may I help you?” I said as politely as possible.
“Who the hell are you and why am I supposed to ship an entire replacement order of pods on this planet? Plus, this bogus order for fifty I got a week ago!” She didn’t waste time getting to the point and I realized by her dark blue uniform that she was Fleet Auxiliary. They must run the orbiting manufacturing station.
“Sir, this is Deputy Niall Cho of the Tara Planetary Militia.”
“Damned concubines!” she said before I could continue. Well, I’d heard that sentiment from sponsors on the planet as well. I plunged on.
“Tara is expecting an Aurora class ship with 3,000 refugees in two weeks. We have just that long to create an entire orphanage here on our base for them as they transition to sponsors on the planet. The original fifty pods are to house our comrades on the base. Our AI has suggested that it would be more expedient to have housing ready and connected here on our base than to land the pods from the Aurora and then get them connected. That means you won’t need to reload the Aurora after delivery.”
“3,000 refugees? How are they getting them all on an Aurora?” the commander asked. She was less belligerent now. Reynolds shoved a tablet in front of me. He’d been investigating. The tablet contained a word and definition.
“Sir, I’m informed that this Aurora is a Kindertransport. [See Kindertransport by Zipper D Dude.] It’s new to me, but according to this…”
“They’re sending you an entire shipload of concubines and dependents. Jehosaphat! I’ve heard scuttlebutt about them over the past few years. We got the remains of one with thirty concubines and a couple hundred dependents a year or so ago. Most recently, they are collecting from the borderlands around the west coast of South America, Eastern Europe, Australia, and south Asia. Every colony has been asked to accept at least one Kindertransport. Very well. Prepare the field for delivery and guidance on Monday beginning at 0900 local. It will take most of the day to bring them in without colliding with each other. Might as well get you some Militia housing at the same time. We won’t be able to repeat this as we’ve retooled nearly the entire base up here for ship repairs.”
“Thank you, sir. I appreciate your cooperation.”
“Cho, I’m sending you a file of instructions on how the ground should be prepared for pod delivery. Don’t screw it up or you’ll have hell to pay.”
“I’ll have my comrades read the document and will quiz the AI to make sure we are all on the same page. Thank you.”
“Dismissed.” The feed went blank and I continued to read about the Kindertransport program.
Food appeared on my desk at dinnertime, just before I left to go greet the new cohort. I almost left it there, but the smell of the spaghetti and meatballs was too much to pass up.
“Rhett, tell Capo Greer I will meet her and her cohort informally in the mess hall in half an hour. They should just relax and enjoy a drink before then.”
«Yes, Deputy.» I set to the meal with gusto, realizing I’d skipped lunch entirely as I surveyed the site for the orphanage with my capos. One of Jeffries’s cadres was working on installing the fencing that would separate the orphanage from the rest of the base. Another was leveling the housing pads. And another was trenching for Rhett to run the infrastructure. Hunger made the dinner much more welcome. I needed to remember to thank Reynolds for getting me something.
I deposited the dishes in the recycler and headed over to the mess hall to meet the new arrivals. I’d tried to meet each new cadre as it arrived, but this was the first day since I officially opened Fort Butler that we had more than one cadre to brief in a day. I looked around at the comrades and foremen. Capo Greer introduced me and everyone snapped to attention. I remembered to return their salute. I was surprised.
“At ease comrades and foremen. You can’t even imagine how happy I am to see you. I’m surprised at the makeup of this cohort. Were you all in the same cadres before this assignment?” I pointed at one of the comrades, preferring to hear from her instead of a capo or foreman.
“Sir, we were collected from several different cadres and put together for this assignment. Officer Humphreys and Deputy Kramer made the selections.”
“Thank you.” I had thirty-one people in front of me, including Capo Greer. At least twenty of them were women. “Honestly, I wasn’t sure we had this many women in the Militia. I recognize a few of your faces from the training camp. I want to welcome you all to Fort Butler. We’ll be receiving a Kindertransport ship in two weeks. I wasn’t more than passingly aware of the program until today. It’s been going on ever since the Sa’arm made their first landfall in Africa. The objective is to get as many children off Earth and to safety as possible. They are in one way or another orphans. Each of the 380 concubines who are traveling with 2,660 dependents may have one or more of her own children with her, but even those children, I submit to you, are orphans. Their fathers are either dead or on the front lines fighting the Sa’arm. If their mothers are not among the concubines on the transport, they are probably also dead.”
“Why are they coming here, sir?”
“I’ve read up on the program today. Originally, they were sent to colonies who had large numbers of dependents coming of age with a preponderance of those becoming sponsors. They needed concubines. And we needed to rescue these kids. More recently, we’ve suffered extreme losses of sponsors in battling the Sa’arm, meaning there are more concubines to go around. Twenty-nine months ago, during the third and fourth wave invasions of Earth, some 20,000 sponsors were lost as the Navy around Earth was destroyed. Tara has a very low sponsor mortality rate because we are growing things and not fighting a war. We also have a lower portion of the population becoming sponsors upon their majority. All the so-called breeding planets have been asked to take at least one shipment of Kindertransport orphans and concubines. If the need continues, we might see more in the future. We need to show these kids some tender loving care the moment their feet hit Tara.”
I took questions for a while and we all had another drink. The two weeks before the Kindertransport arrived would be full of hard manual labor and I hoped the women who had been selected had also been upgraded for endurance and strength. But after the ship arrived, they would be functioning like CS officers, maintaining order and caring for the needs of the orphans. Twenty extra women would be a big help.
I stumbled home and opened the hatch to my pod at about 2100 hours. I looked up and gasped.
“Oh, my God.” I’d forgotten about Rose and Bae.
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