The Assassin
Chapter 11
Building a Bigger Family (TY12-month 144)
When Cricket announced that a potential sponsor wished to interview Yindi, thirty-two people filed out of the pod and stood in four files and eight ranks. The four who stood at the front were the concubines and the twenty-eight behind them, arranged from youngest to oldest, were dependents.
“Yindi,” I said as I stepped up to the eldest of the women. She still didn’t appear to be much more than twenty-five. “Do you speak English?”
“We learn English in the teaching beds. We learn very hard,” she said. Cricket interrupted to tell me he could translate what she said via my implant.
“I have looked at your scores. Cricket recommends you highly as part of my family. Will you be my concubine and join Rose and Bae in my home?”
She looked a little lost and I heard Cricket translating through her collar. She bowed her head to me.
“I am honored by your offer,” she said after Cricket had translated the words to her. “I cannot be married to you. I have too many dependents.” Really? I hadn’t thought about taking all seven of the kids with her, but it didn’t seem to be that big a problem.
“I think we can offer all seven of the children a place in our home with you,” I said. Wow! Adding eight to a household of four? I must be crazy.
“Not seven children. All these.” She gestured to the rest of the pod residents, three concubines and their twenty-one dependents. “These are my family. I am mother.”
«Cricket, do I understand that she wants to keep all twenty-eight of them together in a single family?»
«That is correct, Niall. These are all children of the Yirritja moiety. The next pod is filled with members of the Dhuwa moiety. I believe Yindi expects all her pod to be married to the pod next door.»
«I don’t know how to handle this. Does she understand that she must become pregnant in the coming year?»
«Yes, but she also recognizes that the children will become part of their father’s tribe and will not be Yolŋu.»
«I don’t know what to do.»
«Protect them.»
Right. That was easily said. How to protect them and the thirty-two Dhuwa in the next pod was another matter entirely. Well, I had Cricket working for me. We’d figure out a way.
“I am Adaliya,” the soft-spoken woman said in introduction. She was several inches shorter than I and may have weighed the same. She was topless, as were the others in her pod—boy, girl, child, and adult. They had all been painting each other’s dark skin with bright colors. “I will be a good wife and bring many children to my husband.”
She knew what this interview was about. From the looks of it, her pod had been quite successful in the adoptions and concubine placement. There were three concubines still in the pod, but Cricket had told me that two had come of age since the Kindertransport was first loaded, so three concubines had been placed from this pod. There were also only seven children left.
“Many of your cabin have been homed,” I said.
“It is our responsibility to see that our children are cared for and that we become good mothers for a sponsor.” Her attitude was very different than that of the two Yolŋu pods we’d visited. Both those pods had all their concubines, plus one who had come of age since landing, and all the rest of the dependents. “Jenny and Happy each have two children. I have three. These children are with us because they are our children. The other dependents have all been adopted.”
“I see. You don’t seem to have the same outlook as those two pods,” I said, nodding toward the Yolŋu homes.
“Our villages… Our tribes, I think you would say, were separated by water and we had little to do with each other except occasional trade. Also, many refugees were moved to Tiwi. We got used to being with other people. We do not have the restrictions on who we marry the Yolŋu have. A woman’s children are her children, not a man’s.”
«Tiwi clans are matrilineal,» Cricket helpfully pointed out.
“Would you be able to share a household with other women? Rose and Min-Bae are my concubines. If you came with us, Rose would be in charge but you would all three be responsible for the children,” I said.
“Our people have long been polygamous. It has been less in this era, but my mother was one of seventeen wives. It is why our children bear their mother’s name. Who could keep track of so many children with the fathers’ names?”
“That’s an interesting way to look at it. Rose, did you have any questions?”
“I wonder, Adaliya, if you would tell me about the paint patterns you are using to decorate each other. Is there a meaning?”
“We people have many ceremonial designs we use. This is symbolic of my status in the house among the other women,” she said, pointing at the marks on her face. “In Master Cho’s house, you would wear this design and I would take the design on Happy’s face to show that I have lower seniority. Min-Bae would have a pattern like Jenny’s showing that she is second in seniority. Are you a full woman, Min-Bae?”
“The Confederacy says I am of the right age to be a full woman, but my menses hasn’t come yet and I’m only starting to develop secondary signs of womanhood,” Bae said. “Perhaps you would have the second seniority symbol and I would have the third.”
“Truth is what is accepted by those who believe it,” Adaliya said. “I will believe what is custom for this home.”
“I like you,” Rose said. “If Niall asks, would you join our household?”
“My children and I would come to you gladly.”
«She is stating clearly that adopting her children is a requisite to having her as a concubine.»
«Absolutely!» I turned to Rose and Min-Bae and both nodded to me. “Adaliya, would you consent to be my concubine, bear my children, and share the responsibility of my house with my other concubines? I would take you and your three children to my home.”
“I will gladly bring my children and become your concubine,” she answered.
“Recorded and acknowledged,” Cricket said through the collars and my implant.
“Let’s gather your children and your possessions and go home,” I said.
Adaliya was a delight. And the children were incredible. Her little boy, Djalu, was instant friends with Lyle. They were within a month or two of the same age and were ready to play together at once. Darana was two years older but about the same size as her brother. The boys included her in their games with no hesitation. They ran out the door declaring they were going to the playground. Jannali, the oldest sister, looked around quickly. Cricket filled me in on her age as ten years old.
“I will watch my brothers,” she said, then turned to Bae. “Will you come, too, Sister-Mother?” She still was not certain of the relationship. Bae looked like a big sister but had been introduced as one of my wives. Bae took a quick look at me and then at Rose and Adaliya. Understanding quickly dawned on her face.
“I think that is a good idea, Jannali. We should go watch the others play and maybe we can talk Cricket into teaching us a new game. We’ll be gone at least two hours,” she said pointedly. The girls giggled and ran after the children.
As soon as they were out the door, Rose and Adaliya pushed me toward the bedroom.
“My sister Rose has your child in her womb. That child should not grow up without another near her age to play with. My Master Cho, please plant the seed that will grow into a strong friend and protector of his sister,” Adaliya said. I was summarily stripped of my work uniform and pushed toward the shower. “We must wash the paint from my body because I am no longer the senior among us,” she said. “I will teach my sister wives how to paint the designs of the Tiwi.”
“This is going to be so much fun!” Rose agreed. Both women joined me in the shower. Rose and I washed the paint from Adaliya’s body, taking great care to touch everywhere there was paint and anywhere near the paint.
“Sister, my people have been polygamous for many generations. I was one of seven wives before our husband was taken to fight the star creatures. But I know little of women giving women pleasure. Please teach me how to please you,” Adaliya said.
“I will teach you all I know,” Rose answered. With that, she kissed our newest wife. “To be truthful, Min-Bae is even better at it than I am. She is small but has studied hard. For now, let us join together in pleasing our man.”
“And with that said, Adaliya, I do not wish to be called your master. Please address me as either Niall or husband, as Rose and Bae do.”
“Then, Husband, take me to your blankets and show me more of how to please you.”
We enjoyed ourselves for the entire time the children were gone. As I kissed Adaliya’s heavy lips, Rose suckled at her breasts and stoked a fire between her thighs. As I moved down, Rose moved up to capture Adaliya’s lips. Adaliya proved an enthusiastic and apt student of love between women. I loved her body. It was a bit softer and fuller than Rose. I made a note to Cricket that I didn’t want her changed significantly in the med tube unless she specifically wanted something. I wanted her breasts firmed up slightly and any muscular support necessary in her back to support them without strain. I wanted to keep her shape as long as it was healthy and she was happy.
And I definitely wanted to keep the soft and welcoming feeling of her pussy. She had a thick black bush of hair between her legs, unlike Rose, who was bare below the patch of red fur on her mound. Adaliya seemed proud of her bush as a symbol of her womanhood. I was satisfied with that. Most of the concubines I had known, either in the brothel or in the Militia showers, were at least partially hairless. None had hair covering their lower lips. I felt this gave Adaliya an exotic look that would excite me for many years to come.
With both Rose and I working on her, Adaliya had several climaxes before I rose to mine. And when I came, she went off with an explosion and a long string of syllables in her native language. This would be something we repeated often.
Preparing for the Onslaught (TY13-month 145)
In two more weeks, we were down to twenty-seven concubines and 123 dependents in the orphanage. A little pressure on the eligible Militia comrades who had not yet selected a supernumerary helped reduce the number. New sponsors were given the incentive of having a supernumerary concubine if they chose a concubine from our orphanage with at least three dependents. Those concubines who accepted sponsorship were a little apprehensive as most new sponsors were leaving the planet to join the fight in either the Navy or Marines. Some concubines turned down sponsorship if the sponsor was leaving the planet.
«We have three cadres devoted to the orphanage. It seems like we can reduce that number now. Who do you recommend we transfer out?» I asked Cricket.
«Six of the eleven men in the cohort are looking forward to being transferred out so they can do ‘real’ work. Capo Greer would like to continue in charge of the cohort unless she is needed elsewhere. All 22 of the women in the cohort would like to stay here at Fort Butler if there is a way they can be used.»
«I doubt Deputy Kramer will be pleased with having sent me two cadres and only returning six comrades.»
«Over the past two months, his personnel have been replaced. We have seven new trainees here that need to go to Drovers Run for basic now that the critical emergency has passed. There are eight more trainees ready for promotion to comrade and assignment, four of which are women and would be an excellent addition to this cohort.»
«We’ll need to find work here that is not at the orphanage.»
«I’m sure we have jobs for all of them,» Cricket said.
«Rhett, please check with Capo Jeffries and Capo Torvald on the reassignment of mostly female cadres in the harbor project or patrols. I know a lot of that work requires heavy lifting and machinery and may be unsuitable for some unaugmented females.»
«Yes, Deputy. I will work on reorganization that integrates these cadres.» The base AI was sounding more amenable to all of us than a couple of weeks ago when he wanted to dispose of the remaining unhomed concubines. I was thankful to Cricket for intervening with the base AI.
«Be sure you coordinate with Cricket before any assignments are finalized.»
«Yes, Deputy. You have a call from Director Kotter.»
«Put her through.»
“Good morning, Deputy Cho. I hope everything is running smoothly.”
“As much as possible, Director.”
“We need to meet this afternoon with the governor. She has indicated there is news for us that will affect the distribution of personnel and the status of Fort Butler.”
“I will be there.”
“She suggests that all personnel decisions throughout the Militia be frozen until we have met. Make no transfers or reassignments.”
“Yes, Ma’am. Good timing on this call as we were just discussing reintegration of the orphanage cohort with the rest of the outfit.”
“I’m sure this has to do with that discussion,” Kotter said. “I’ll see you at three o’clock this afternoon.”
Organized activity for all dependents on base filled the afternoons. It was held on the sports fields at the orphanage, but all the dependents on base were required to attend. The activities started our educational program on base. The orphanage gathering hall would be converted into our school and all dependents would be required to attend. Several of the younger Militia were still attending school as well.
I had lunch with the family and the five younger members headed out to the field.
“I may be late getting home this afternoon,” I said. “I’ve been called for a meeting with the governor and senior Militia managers.”
“Our husband is very important,” Adaliya said. “We should reward him.”
“I’m not sure it has anything to do with my importance,” I laughed. “It’s more likely that shit runs downhill.”
“I agree with Adaliya,” Rose said. “You have two hours before you need to leave for the meeting that might keep you late tonight. Come to bed with us. We still need to make sure Adaliya is pregnant.”
Two women for two hours can wear a man out.
“Niall, it is nice to see you again,” Scarlett said. “I’m afraid that every time I call a meeting, though, you end up with more work.”
“I was just telling my wives that I was sure the manure was running downhill,” I laughed. “Centurion Oswald, it’s good to see you again.”
“Please, Niall. It’s Neville. Let’s get started, shall we?”
“There’s bad news,” Scarlett said. “We’ve known about Confederacy losses in the battles of Earthat. Three years ago, we lost nearly all the fleet in the third battle for Earthat. The next month we were overwhelmed by a much larger fleet. The Navy has done a better job with the blockade since then but losses are still felt. It is especially difficult because the Swarm haven’t let us alone out here just because they’ve found our home world. With the 7th Fleet having been moved to protect Earth, our troops facing the Swarm in the colonies are reduced and even more vulnerable.”
“It sounds hopeless,” I said.
“Some people see it as hopeless, Niall,” she said. “But we all need to do our part.”
“What is our part to be, Scarlett?” Kotter asked.
“We are going to take in more refugees. I know we haven’t placed all the Kindertransport concubines and dependents, but we’ll be receiving more unhomed in the coming months. Neville?”
“The Civil Service has finally managed to get the other services to include writing wills as part of their training,” the Civil Service Centurion said. “There was a lot of pushback early on about mentioning a will as being something that dropped morale, but a few lost troops and dead concubines convinced them otherwise. We’ve also managed to clarify with the AIs that there are no longer spare concubines being eliminated in the colonies. They were sponsored to get here, but no longer have time limits on becoming sponsored once they are out here. But even with a will bestowing all their possessions on another Marine or a naval buddy, most people haven’t yet taken into account that their closest buddies are the ones most likely to buy it at the same time they do. So, two friends will their concubines to each other and then both get killed, we still have all their concubines and dependents unhomed.”
“We’ll be taking a steady stream of unhomed concubines and dependents as refugees for as long as the war lasts,” Scarlett said. “We’re doing this for two reasons. Our planet is one of the furthest out of the way of the Swarm. Our isolation makes it likely that it will be many years before the Sa’arm find us. And if they do, it will mean nearly all hope has truly been lost. Second, we have a plan.”
“We do?” Kramer asked.
“Yes,” Scarlett continued. “I had hoped not to need to put it in action for another decade, but pressures may build enough that we’ll outgrow the orphanage at Fort Butler. Niall, while you still have patrol and construction projects in your area, one of the major uses for your base will be housing and caring for the orphans. Caring for them means more than seeing they are housed and fed. You’ll also be responsible for creating a school focused on turning as many new adults into sponsors as possible. You’ll need to keep the concubines busy, which means they’ll need jobs, even if they have not joined the Militia. Yes, you will be able to assign work in any area of the colony. Our only guiding principle is that everyone earns his way. Many of the incoming concubines have done stints earning their way in brothels. There will still be some of that. Females will still be required to breed. There will still be childcare. But everyone works.”
“And when Fort Butler is full?” Neville asked. Scarlett nodded and smiled at him. “We have an entire unsettled continent,” he went on. “We are not going to open it until there are enough concubines to settle it without sponsors. We may have the first genuine population of free concubines outside of Earth.”
We let that sink in. With the departure of more sponsors testing on their fourteenth birthdays joining the military to support the war effort, our sponsor population was growing less rapidly than our concubine population. If we continued to take in unhomed concubines and dependents, we could easily face much larger ratios of concubines to sponsors. Too large for households to adapt.
A population of free concubines. That had been anathema to the Confederacy just a few years ago. But reality was rising to bite the AIs in the butt. I needed to get ready for the onslaught.
“We’re going to be blessed with more children,” I said to my concubines, trying to put a positive spin on it.
“Are you pregnant?” Bae quipped, laughing.
“I guess you could say that,” I said. Bae stopped laughing.
“We’re about to get more refugees.”
“Kindertransport, like my family came on?” Adaliya asked.
“Not this time but maybe next. This time we are taking in unhomed concubines and dependents who have lost their sponsors in the war.” I looked at my wives as they processed the information. Realization dawned on them.
“It’s not going well,” Rose surmised. I nodded.
“There have been losses of entire ships and Marine companies. Each loss orphans concubines and dependents. The will-writing mandate that was supposed to care for and protect concubines by willing them to another sponsor has a major flaw. In the majority of cases, the beneficiary of the will dies at the same time as the sponsor. That leaves the concubines of both of them homeless.”
“Those poor women and children,” Adaliya said.
“Not just women this time. Many higher scoring sponsors have included a male concubine in their households because they couldn’t fulfill the needs of their concubines while deployed. Not as many men as women, but still a good number.”
“How many are we talking about, Niall?” Rose asked.
“The estimate I was given yesterday was as many as a thousand concubines and three or four times that many dependents. The numbers are still coming in. Some are from battles at Earthat or the purge of DECO and Central Command. They may be too damaged to ever be given to another sponsor. Some are from battles out here among the stars. Our record of wins is getting better, but no battle leaves us casualty-free.”
“We need more housing,” Rose said.
“A bigger school,” Adaliya added.
“More playgrounds and activities,” Bae said.
“A hospital for those who can’t carry on,” Rose sighed.
“You are all correct. I’m told we could start expecting refugees in as little as ten to twenty days. I just wanted to tell you this because I’m going to be pressed for a while. All the refugees will be landing here at Fort Butler. I need to get out there and lead the troops, so to speak. We have a lot of work to do.”
“We can help organize the concubines and orphans,” Rose said.
“I’ll be sending out a general notice this morning. Rose, you are my straw boss. Other concubines will look to you for guidance. Remember, in order to keep them busy and keep them safe, everyone needs a job. Now let’s have breakfast.”
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