Chapter 3: Whoa! I’m Going To Barbados

Michael was feeling guilty. <Dora, I hardly spend any quality time with my first loves and Cathleen is pregnant. We need to make something special happen.>

The family got along amazingly well. In many ways, it resembled the group marriages or line marriages in some of Robert Heinlein’s stories. There were a number of loving sub groups that helped with both cuddle and sexual needs.

Rachel, Cathleen, and Hannah were heavily into each other -- with or without Michael present. Not surprising, Katie and Dora’s Gingerbread were deeply attached after only a short time. That wasn’t much of a surprise with the ninety-eight percent lesbian, Katie, but Ginger found that Katie filled a need she hadn’t known existed.

The Nerds, Billie and Bertie, while technically not married into the family, might as well have been. They slept in the family’s giant bed, avidly screwed Jimmy, Victor, and Richard, and invited any family member interested into their own family puppy pile. Danni and Carole were growing ever closer and had begun asking Mandy to join them. Vicky, Victor, Linda, and Ayesha were fast becoming inseparable. And so it went; islands and groupings circling around Michael, but content when the currents separated them from him, knowing they would soon return.

And the pre-adults, they were the happiest, most creative self-abusers imaginable.

Above all, there was love, in-love, and respect. Nevertheless, Michael felt guilty.

<Michael, > Dora responded to her musing husband, <I think I have a twofer for you.>

Three stunningly beautiful women boarded the Summer Paradise accompanied by a rather ordinary man. The blonde was just beginning to show the early signs of pregnancy. It was clear that the women adored him and each other equally. They were obviously wealthy, having paid top dollar for the one remaining suite just hours before the ship’s departure.

Anita, feeling the swelling of her coffers, was very content and magnanimous, but she wondered about sleeping arrangements for four adults in a suite that had only one king bed.

Dora’s drones, having swept the ship, found no out-of-the-ordinary surveillance anywhere aboard. The four spent the first three days of the cruise visiting with other passengers, speaking with crewmembers when possible, and retiring to their cabin for frequent, loving sex. It was pretty much the honeymoon they never had. That first evening, the four stood on their balcony and watched the shore pass and recede as the ship left port and headed south.

Though working, being together made their time special and reminiscent of their trek across Nebraska. On the fourth day, they invited Captain Hoag to their cabin for cocktails.

Hoag arrived promptly at the appointed hour, one and a half hours prior to their scheduled dinner sitting. Marjorie, though uninvited, was with him.

After greeting them, Michael said nothing, but handed them each a device resembling a PDA. When the two shook off the disorienting effect and looked at him, Michael asked, “How soon can you be ready?”

“That depends,” Hoag offered honestly, “we could go tomorrow after we dock, but if we knew the parameters of our assignment, I’d say we could optimize for the cruise after next. Does that work?”

Rachel spoke up, “Your assignment would be to captain a colonizing ship with a crew of three thousand and a capacity of up to a quarter million colonists. Your ship would also be the locale for a merchant ‘space’ academy. We are undecided if you would also wear the commandant’s hat. Assuming you accept, your ship arrives in less than six weeks. We’d want you aboard and training as soon as possible after that.”

Marjorie turned to Hoag, grinned, and asked, “Do you think Gillian would be open to your having another wife?”

Cathleen laughed, and when Hoag looked a question at her, she explained the relationship of the four passengers in the cabin. “I actually have seven sister-wives, and I’m pretty sure there will be another when Valerie reaches fourteen.”

Hoag looked steadily at Marjorie and said, “You know my woman runs my family life, you’d better start with Gillian and see how she reacts.” He already knew the answer, but was not about to give an inch on that decision.

Then the discussion began in earnest.

When the preliminaries concerning mission, crew, supplies, and such were covered, the discussion turned to methods.

Hannah, the developing master tactician asked, “We’ve used drones to assure that you have no unusual surveillance aboard, and we are reasonably sure we know of the weapons - particularly firearms, but your shipboard and portside security is not as easily ascertained.”

“I should hope not!” exclaimed Hoag. “With pirates and other desperate people at sea and on the islands, the Summer is a very attractive target. The obvious part is my team of mixed ex-military professionals. I have retired or medically boarded-out MPs, Shore Patrol, combat experienced marines, and assorted other professions, headed by a very experienced security expert. Most have other duties, but are aware and available at all times. The pair you saw at the top and bottom of each gangway was no accident.”

Hannah responded, “We are pretty sure we know the location and content of your weapons lockers. Looks to me that it would take a lot more than fishing boats with AK-47s to even get close at sea.”

Hoag responded, “I’ll get you a list, but you are correct. Right now, the biggest security threat I see is all the owners and company staff who have personal arms and no training. The only one with any training is the senior owner, Anita Davidson. She is trained and competent with her purse pistol. I pickup a weapon from the others, and another miraculously replaces it.”

“So let’s get them off the ship,” proposed Hannah. “Task your entertainment guru to work with our chief of staff to set up special events at each port. Then you can approach your boss with the proposal. She has to be bored with routine shore excursions by now, and that would give us a choice of locations for the extraction.”

“That sounds good,” said Michael. “Now one more thing. We plan to take all the available cabins for the next two cruises. I plan to let every possible family member have a cruise before we leave. It will be a working cruise, but it is likely the only chance in their lifetime. Marjorie, can you work with your purser and whomever else necessary to make sure it happens? We can disguise the source of reservations, but you may need to facilitate on this end if we need to rotate people in and out.”

“Of course,” assured Marjorie.

“Now we need to gradually bring in others of your crew, ‘ said Hannah. “We’ll assist, but we’ll rely on you to identify the need. I do want to introduce your security chief to Patricia as soon as we can. Don’t you folks be put off by her age and looks, she’s put down some serious bad guys.”

The meeting ended, and Michael escorted his ladies to dinner, the envy of every male on board.

Michael and his first three wives were still at sea, and the remainder of his ladies were having a peaceful lunch. “Michael’s birthday is in four weeks, the same day as Valerie’s,” said Katie.

“And?” from Naomi, ever alert for facts about her hero.

“He loves soca, calypso, and reggae.”

“And?”

“His all-time favorite soca band was from Barbados.”

“Was?”

“Yeah, they broke up years ago, but they did have one humongous reunion concert a while back. Their former lead singer is still active in the music business.” Katie speculated.

“On it!” shouted Carole and Gingerbread together. Katie giggled.