Chapter 86

Everyone was up bright and early Friday morning -- even those males doomed to go down to the colony without a sponsor. I was somewhat embarrassed at being in bed with Bernice only a couple of days after cutting Annie and the kids loose, but it had been more about comfort than lust. We went to breakfast together and I promised that I would do my best to look her up at the colony, but neither of us had any idea how easy that would be. For all I knew, she could end up just up the hall or clear across the planet -- and transportation seemed to be almost instantaneous if you had a good reason, but was visiting a woman a good reason when you're an unassigned male concubine? I had no idea.

The AI communicated to me via my collar as I watched her depart, "Keith McGowan, report to Medical immediately." You don't argue and I had nothing better to do, so I got up and followed the directions to Medical.

"Why am I here?" I asked the medic.

She -- and she was a cute thing wearing very little, probably a concubine -- frowned at a display and said, "The AIs want to retest your CAP."

"Why here? Why now?" I asked.

She shrugged and some incredible tits went in different directions, "It's convenient?"

The AI answered, "Your recent behavior is inconsistent with your recorded profile, Keith McGowan. It is believed that your CAP scores may have changed. In any case, an examination is prudent. Please enter the tube."

Great. With my luck it would probably go down...

In the tube, I wasn't asked many questions; mostly, my mind drifted in a dreamlike state. I remember the AI asking what motivated me to try to help Bernice and what my concerns were over the fate of Annie and the kids, but I couldn't answer; I guess the AI picked the answers out of my head. Then the lights went out momentarily and the nurse was hanging over me through the open tube cover. "Wake up, Sir!"

"Sir?"

<Keith McGowan, it has been observed that you have undergone a psychological breakthrough,> the AI said -- in my head, not via my collar. <You began recently to exhibit selfless regard for others, which, after several incidents, triggered a flag to have you re-evaluated for Confederacy service. Congratulations, you now possess a CAP score of six point nine. It is assumed at this point that you will volunteer for Confederacy service...>

"Huh. Yeah, I guess..." In the first place, what was I going to do? Hitch a ride back to Earth? In the second, there was Annie and the kids, and in the third...

<Duly recorded. Initially, you will be assigned to the naval shipyard; it is anticipated that you will quickly assume a management role after your initial training. You are allocated two concubines, based upon your scores. Will you be offering sponsorship to your former mate?>

"I will."

<You needn't speak -- merely subvocalize -- the full sponsor augmentation package was deployed to you while you were in the tube. The nursing concubine will provide you with a uniform and other items, after which a connection to your former mate's quarters can be set up at any point.> There was a short pause before the AI ventured, <Given your recent interest in the welfare of the female Bernice Wells Farris, do you have any intentions regarding her sponsorship?>

I pursed my lips as I climbed down from the tube; the nurse evidently recognized the fact that my attention was no longer on her, because she dropped back, looking a little miffed, and trotted off to get me a uniform. 'That's a good question. I may, but I can see her saying no -- she thinks she owes a lot of people... Besides, I would want to brief Annie first.'

<The female Bernice may continue to perform the function she currently performs after accepting sponsorship,> the AI noted. <This is more a function of your guidance concerning her utilization than anything else.>

Was the AI pushing a bit? 'We'll look into it.' The nurse returned with a uniform and I donned it and received several other items, including an armed forces ID that proclaimed my new CAP score, among other things. I thanked the nurse and sent her on her way, then left Medical, headed for an office or whatever where I could get privacy. The AI, divining my intent, led me to a nearby office and set up a call.

"Keith?" Annie blurted. "You're wearing clothes!"

I chuckled. "Among other things. Anne McGowan, I offer you my sponsorship!"

"I--I accept! What happened?" Annie gushed.

"It's a long story," I replied. "Are Mike and Katie in class?"

"Yes."

"Gather their things and meet me in Suite Seven Forty Four; I'll contact the school administration and have them redirected there after class."

"So we're a family again?" Annie smiled.

"Yes."

It took Annie a little over twenty minutes to arrive, at which point we kissed and cuddled like teenagers -- we were both CERTAINLY more demonstrative than we'd been in some time. At length, I addressed the second issue. "You know I have a second slot..."

This pulled Annie back from the gushy zone like a rubber band releasing. Her face got serious, "Yes."

"I met a woman," I began. "She is sort of the house mother for the unassigned males. She goes around trying to ease their pain..."

"Florence Nightingale?" Annie ventured.

"Well, it isn't that simple," I replied. "She went through a very rough patch herself and is still recovering. From a personal standpoint, she's trying to atone for past sins."

"You slept with her." It was a statement, not a question.

I could have taken the rigid stance that it wasn't her concern and she might as well get used to it, blah, blah, blah -- but I didn't. "Eventually," I admitted, "After she'd given me a shoulder to cry on and I'd given her the same. It wasn't about how hot either of us was -- it was a healing gesture."

Annie frowned and eyed me strangely, "Keith? Is that really you?"

"Yeah," I nodded, hanging my head, "The new me -- the one who cares for other people. It actually started when I decided it was best for you and the kids if I left on Tuesday, but it's been developing. It's why I'm in a uniform, instead of still naked and collared; I needed to get over my selfishness to move up..."

"This isn't one of your flings, then..." Poor Annie had suffered through dozens of THOSE!

"No."

"You don't even have to ask," she muttered. "I've been through the training. I expected to be the 'other woman' in some sponsor's family, not come back to you and..." She gathered herself. "Yet you ask me -- why?"

"I owe you," I replied. "I treated you like a concubine while we were married; I owe you a little respect now." Annie said nothing, so I went on, "Bernice may not accept; she may feel that she has to hold herself out there, available, for the men she's trying to help."

"What has she done?" Annie asked.

"It would be a betrayal of confidence for me to go deep into it, but she was in an accident and while recovering from her injuries, she became addicted to painkillers. Everything else flows from that."

Annie nodded, thinking. "Addict and hooker seem to go together."

I nodded. "That was part of it. She's kind of broken, sexually -- hooking isn't about sex for the hooker -- but she's coming back. She needs... help."

Annie cuddled up. "Given what you've told me, I wouldn't say no, even if I could." She paused a moment, then said, "The new you is amazing -- I like him a lot."

"Thanks, Babe." I kissed her on the top of the head. After a quick hug, I waved her aside and initiated communications.

It was Friday morning and the natives were restless at the BUCQ; we were moving into an uncertain future and a lot of the boys were scared. There had been a recent edict passed down that they would be able to interact with their mates and kids during the daytime -- but many of them felt that this was harder than just staying away. I mentioned this to Gonzalo, and he said that it could easily be accommodated; the males could make the choice whether or not to re-engage with their families at will. Ultimately, it wouldn't change where they slept at night.

The guys were low on the totem pole for unloading, which only made them more antsy; I flitted from place to place, patting a shoulder or handing out a hug here and there. There were a couple of fights, even; the automatic stingers came on, but no one stopped by to collect those who got stung. I asked Gonzalo about THAT, too, and he said there would be a general amnesty in recognition of the fact that stress levels were high.

About eleven, I got a surprise; the AI announced, "Bernice Farris, you have a communication. It is recommended that you accept it in private." I nodded and headed for what I thought of as my 'day cabin' -- a room with a couple of couches and controllable lighting that provided a semi-private place to help someone come to grips with things. Settling on the couch, I said, "Okay," and the wall lit up.

It was Keith -- or at least, I THOUGHT it was Keith. He was in a uniform, though, which struck me as strange... "How's it going?"

"If the boys had somewhere to go, there would be a stampede," I related, "but they don't, so everything is kinda shaky. What happened to you?"

"Basically?" Keith replied, "You cured me -- or you helped, big time, at least. Now I would like to return the favor. I can offer you sponsorship..."

My heart thudded in my chest, but... "I can't. The boys need me. Besides, if I helped you, that's a tiny bit of what I owe paid up, but it isn't much. I can't just tuck myself away in a family and be the happy little concubine. There are too many payments left on my mortgage."

"I'm told that you can continue what you're doing -- you would just have a place to come home to and decompress at the end of the day. You can't pay your debt in full if you kill yourself or burn yourself out," Keith retorted.

"Keith, Honey, I sleep with guys if they need it sometimes. You KNOW that! Is that fair?"

"In the first place," Keith retorted, "I'm perfectly capable of putting up with it, knowing why you do it. In the second, you won't have to pick among them if you don't want to; you can just come home to us."

"Us? Did you pickup Annie? That's GREAT! But what does SHE think of all this?"

A dark-haired woman stuck her head in the visual frame. "Keith has explained things, within limits -- he didn't want to reveal any secrets, but he gave me some general information. I'm fine with it. I think he's right -- you need a stable home to come home to at the end of the day and be able to let your hair down. Besides, you know he needs to have a second concubine, anyway -- I could put up with him hunting down some hot-looking chickie based upon looks alone, or I could say yes to you, knowing there is more to it than that. I like the fact that he's trying to help..."

She might have implied that I wasn't good-looking in there, somewhere, but I didn't think that was where she was going. "That's real nice of you, Annie, but..." I turned to Keith, "You told her, right?"

"That you slept together? Yes," Annie answered for him. "That you both needed it? Yes." She smiled crookedly. "Bernice, you saved my whole family. Let us help you. Why don't you come up and see us and we'll talk some more about it?"

"I'd like to, but it's bad down here," I related. "The boys are all real nervous and there have been a couple of incidents -- I don't think I should leave."

"Maybe you need help..." Annie flicked a glance at Keith. "We can come there..."

"Do you really think that's a good idea?" I worried. "Normally, I would say sure, but the guys are really upset. There have been a couple of fights..."

Keith looked concerned, but Annie said, "Are we going to help or just pretend we care?"

That put Keith in gear. "We'll be down." The wall resumed being a wall and the situation was out of my hands...

When they got down to my stomping grounds, I was amazed; Annie was a little pint of peanuts maybe five feet four -- a head shorter than me. You could smell the tension in the main entry where I met them, but she seemed to have no fear. I worried a little that Keith might draw fire, being a sponsor, but there wasn't any immediate flare-up. Annie came to me and held out her hand, "Hi..."

"Hi. Look, like I said, things are kind of explosive around here..." I said quietly.

"I'm here to help."

"I really appreciate it, Honey, but what if one of the guys gets... rambunctious?" I cautioned.

Annie turned this look on Keith. "Gee, I dunno -- you mean, like, what if I have to sleep with him to settle him down?" I shut up; this was between them. Annie was OBVIOUSLY giving Keith the needle... After a pregnant moment where nobody said anything, she added, "At least it would be for a good cause..."

Keith eyed her. "Babe, back when, I was wrong -- but you let it ride. Now, though, you don't have a leg to stand on, so why are you bringing that up?"

"I guess I'm asking the question," Annie replied. "If Bernice can do that if she has to and I'm doing what she's doing, what are my limits?"

"Is this about helping people or getting even with me?" Keith asked.

"Yes," she replied, eyeing him.

I figured I'd better say something. "Honey, what are you looking for, here? If I was him, I wouldn't know the right answer -- you could flip either way -- but he doesn't HAVE to put up with that kind of shit..."

"If he loves me, he will," she replied flatly. "If he doesn't and I was just a convenient piece of ass all these years, I need to know that NOW!"

"Bernice is right -- this is one of those loaded questions with no right answer like, 'Do these pants make my ass look to big?'" Keith gusted, sighing. "I'm guilty of using you and taking you for granted -- I admit it -- but I left you Tuesday in order to do the best I could for you because I DO love you and the kids. I wanted you safe, and me being around wasn't accomplishing that. If there is a right thing to say here, I don't know what it is, but I'm going to try... You do whatever you think you need to, then come on home to me."

Annie looked at him, surprised. "Do you really mean that?"

"Well..." Keith muttered, clearly wondering if he'd blown it, "If you're going to help Bernice, then it's the job, you know? I can... deal... with that."

I was somewhat confused, but it seemed to work for Annie... She gave Keith a big hug and a kiss and apparently all was right with the world. Keith looked as confused as I was.

Annie had me dazed and confused, but I put up with it -- and maybe that was the purpose of the exercise. I could have just said, "Screw this!" and had her hit the street, but since I didn't, she must have taken that as the litmus test for whether I really cared or not. She headed off with Bernice, leaving me just standing there, attracting unhappy glares. "Now what?" somebody grunted. I was gonna get mugged -- or, more likely, someone was gonna get stung...

Then inspiration dawned. "You think you're screwed, don't you?" I asked. "Guess where I was yesterday -- and what I was doing?"

"What?" the guy giving me the most attention asked.

'AI, project me as I was, over there where I was sitting,' I instructed. The AI did so, in three dimensions. "Take a look," I replied, pointing.

"What the fuck?" Heads swept back and forth.

"That was me, yesterday, right there," I insisted. "Some of you no doubt remember -- I spent a good part of the day there. My 'mate' and my kids were elsewhere, hoping some guy would call seriously interested in sponsoring them. In other words, I was in the same shit you're in."

"So what happened?" someone asked.

"I did something right and a door opened. There ARE doors. Hang in there, and maybe one will open. But don't sit around hoping -- I didn't -- just do whatever it is you have to do to the best of your ability," I counseled.

"I remember the guy," someone said. "You did some time with Bernice..."

"True," I agreed. "I needed a shoulder to cry on."

"Probably a ringer," someone grunted -- but no one took him seriously.

"So what's gonna happen today?" someone asked.

"Specifically?" I replied, "I don't know." 'AI?'

"You will be transported to facilities on the surface somewhat similar to these. Your families will be located conveniently close by. While you will spend nights separated from your mates, you will have full daytime access, at your discretion, to your mates and families. An attempt will be made to place families in existing households in the colony. Those not placed will work directly for the Support Directorate and will have an advocate assisting them with integration into the colony," the AI announced.

"That doesn't sound so awful," somebody muttered. "How come we didn't hear it this way before?"

"This is an experiment," the AI explained. "There have been alterations in the plan for your benefit at various points. Things have changed -- for the better, it is assumed. In an effort to prepare you for the worst, some higher probability outcomes have been overlooked. This is a general issue. For instance, given the larger population of the colony as a whole, the chances of absorption of complete families once on the surface are in all probability somewhat better than they have been on the Valhalla -- but successes in transit tended to increase that probability dramatically. Had there been huge numbers of failures in transit, the likelihood of a colonial family risking inclusion of a full family of concubines would have been much less. Therefore it was imperative that a large number of successful sponsorships be generated in transit and pressure was brought to bear."

Frowning, someone asked, "Are you saying we were put through a wringer for nothing?"

"That is not the case," the AI replied. "You were 'put through a wringer' in order to vastly improve your chances of success. It should be noted that the passenger headcount from the Valhalla represents a significant increase in the population of the colony and that all sponsors on the Valhalla are new sponsors; therefore, the available sponsor population on the Valhalla is a much higher percentage of the total population, making it easier to find a sponsor. It should also be noted that not all of the issues that you were presented with were presented deliberately. As has been previously indicated, there were adjustments made along the way to correct deficiencies in the process."

Someone else piped up with, "So I can go back to my mate and it probably won't hurt anything."

"Correct," the AI agreed. "However, your mate still has the option of pursuing sponsorship without you. This has not changed. Also, what will actually happen on the colony surface is still as yet unknown; it is believed that the large number of successes in transit will influence the colony's population favorably, but a single high-profile incidence of failure could reverse the trend. The rules have not changed -- there will just be a second opportunity at the colony in a somewhat less target-rich environment."

"Why wasn't this mentioned before?" someone grunted. We had quite a crowd by then.

"Your chances of selection on the Valhalla are higher, in general, as has already been indicated, as there are a higher proportion of available sponsor slots. Also, a dilution of your efforts by what you refer to as procrastination would have been counter-productive," the AI replied, "However, you would have been briefed upon arrival in any case. Unless there has been a solid indication that you and your mate and family should be separated, you will find that you are disembarking together, in fact. This is in order to allow you to assist your mate with the children during disembarkation and the initial period on the surface and to permit reintegration of the family if this is considered to be in everyone's best interests."

"What you're saying, then, is that we were better off kept in the dark," someone mused.

"Precisely," the AI confirmed. "It was imperative that you be trained and the proper mindset and a sense of urgency be instilled in you. This would be similar to your various military training organizations where harsh rules are enforced in a closed environment before restrictions are relaxed, leaving the individual soldier with a clear understanding of where his duty lies even in a more relaxed environment. You are now prepared to do that which is necessary to integrate into colony society under any and all circumstances, even the most harsh."

"Shelley probably needs me," one fellow mumbled and made for the door. There was a steady flow after that. But there were still a couple of hotheads...

"It's STILL wrong!" one of them growled -- not at me, fortunately; I'd been more or less ignored when the AI took over.

"That is a matter of interpretation," the AI replied. "You are not sponsors; you are here on sufferance. Rules of fair treatment that you are used to no longer apply to you -- this is one of the lessons great effort has been made to instill in you. Has there been a failure in your particular case?" I was amazed; this almost seemed to be a veiled threat...

"I don't have to like it," the guy replied.

"That is correct." With that, the AI shut up. The guy fumed for a bit, but, hey, what was he going to do?

The girls wandered back in. "There are some rumors spreading -- everyone seems to be leaving," Bernice noted.

"An AI told a large group in this room that they were getting off with their mates and families anyway, so they might as well join them -- or words to that effect, anyway," I informed them.

"That fixes a few things," Bernice mused.

"There will still be a number -- approximately ten percent -- who will remain," the AI piped up. "Most will already have come to grips with the separation, however. You have leisure time in which to discuss the sponsorship offer tendered by the McGowans."

"Uh, thanks," Bernice muttered sarcastically. "Pushy, isn't he?"

"Somewhat," I agreed. "Maybe it's happy to get rid of us."

"Let's go down to my office," Bernice waved us toward the sitting room Bernice and I had opened up to one another in before. Once there, she took the couch. Annie also settled on the couch, and I took a facing chair. "Why bother with the likes of me?" Bernice opened the conversation.

"Because you need it," I replied simply.

"I don't deserve it," Bernice replied.

"The fact that you say that means that you probably do," Annie interjected. "What you are doing adds to that. You did wrong -- and you know it and you feel bad about it -- and you're DOING SOMETHING about it. That's big."

"Did he tell you I'm an addict?" Bernice asked.

"Keith said you'd been in an accident and became addicted to painkillers," Annie related.

"The Confederacy doesn't even DO painkillers," Bernice amplified, "so they substituted something else, sort of like a methadone treatment to help me taper off. I'm addicted to sex."

THAT got me a look. "So..."

"I'm tapering off pretty well," Bernice went on, while Annie sat absorbing, "but when I was on the painkillers, I wasn't much of a human being. I did anything -- ANYTHING -- to feed my addiction. I used to hook, for one thing. I was terrible at it and I got bad habits and the sex was for drugs and money, not pleasure. I didn't even know how to do it right. Now, the pleasure component is important -- it's my fix -- and I'm learning to get involved in what I'm doing and be a participant, instead of a realistic blow-up doll."

"So, Keith is good sex?" Annie pounced.

Bernice frowned. "You know, that wasn't what it was about. It was about comfort; both of us needed it. It's probably the first time since the change that I wasn't LOOKING for the pleasure piece. That's not to say it wasn't there -- it just wasn't what was on our minds."

Annie settled back, pensive. "Then you need it."

"Pleasure?" Bernice asked.

"Comfort," Annie clarified.

"Well, it was certainly nice..." Bernice admitted.

Annie was eyeing me. "I'm amazed."

"I don't understand," Bernice muttered.

"Keith slept with other women regularly during our marriage, purely for pleasure, I think. I put up with it; he didn't seem happy unless he was proving he was hot by collecting a little strange on the side. Now he and you have slept together, but you both insist that it wasn't about showing what a stud he was..."

"It wasn't," Bernice insisted. "I'm not even sure how we got there. It was after I cried on his shoulder and confessed a list of sins that should have made his dick shrink up and hide inside him. He was unhappy about leaving you and unhappy that it hadn't produced a positive result, and worried that he was too late."

Annie looked up at me, her eyes wet. "So..." I didn't say anything; I was fighting getting wet eyes, too. Annie turned to Bernice. "All the more reason. You need it -- you KNOW you do -- and Keith can give you what you need -- comfort and sex. And I want you there." She reached out and took Bernice's hand.

Tears streamed down Bernice's cheeks. "You don't want me -- I'm horrible!"

"You aren't nearly as bad as you think you are," Annie replied, pulling Bernice to her. She waved a hand and I got up and took Bernice's other side. "Let us help."

"I want to..." Bernice mumbled into Annie's hair.

"Just do it," I murmured from behind her, hugging them both as best I could.

"All right," Bernice sniffled. "I accept."

"Duly recorded," the AI erupted. They're everywhere! I hate to think what they record...

"You're so cute," Bernice murmured. "Do you do girls?"

"We can talk about it," Annie replied, eyeing me, "sometime when Keith isn't around."

I was trying to help Gonzalo with his massive babysitting project -- getting everyone where they were supposed to go to transport down to the planet -- when the AI announced, "Jolene, you have a communication."

Half of the walls of the room were displaying split-screens of the flow through the eight transport rooms and lists of who was late and so on. "Over there, I guess," I told it, indicating a side wall.

It was Bernice. "Sissy! You're off the hook! I have a sponsor!"

Gonzalo looked up in surprise. "Congratulations! May we know who?" The display widened and Gonzalo cocked his head. "Do I know you?" he asked the male displayed.

"We spoke yesterday about opportunities..." the man began.

"Were you not..."

"A concubine candidate? I was," the man agreed. "I did something right, apparently. The AIs announced that they wanted me retested and..." he waved at himself. "Keith McGowan. This is Annie." He waved at the small dark-haired woman between himself and Bernice.

"You are aware that Bernice represents some... challenges?" Gonzalo asked delicately.

"We're aware of her past and her present. Annie plans to help her with her self-imposed mission as house-mother, I think," Keith related.

"That is a taxing job," Gonzalo noted, eyeing Annie. "We will no doubt be grateful for your assistance."

"Thank you," Annie replied, blushing.

"We are... overcome by events," Gonzalo related. "Perhaps we can meet for lunch?"

"Fine." Keith nodded.

"Again, congratulations!" Gonzalo nodded to Bernice, smiling.

They disappeared. "I apologize, my Dear, for monopolizing your conversation," Gonzalo said.

"You were right to do so." I kissed him on the neck and we went back to looking for troublemakers and the tardy.

We managed lunch, somehow, late; it's just a little easier when an AI is managing your appointment book. Bernice and I bubbled and cuddled and I met Annie, and Gonzalo related that Keith was the genesis of the presentation on colonial employment opportunities that we'd put out on Thursday.

I found out that Annie was serious about helping Bernice with 'her boys.' "What about the...?" I began.

"Sex?" Annie finished. "We'll take it on a case-by-case basis -- I won't be throwing it out there, but if it is needed, I'm prepared."

"And Keith?" I flicked a glance his way; he was discussing something with Gonzalo.

"He's approved it," Annie replied. "To a certain extent, it's sauce for the goose..." I frowned, and she elaborated, "He used to step out on me a lot, but he's turned over a new leaf. I have quite a bit of payback on the books -- or I would, on Earth -- but we're treating that aspect as a possible part of the job, not revenge."

Keith and Annie seemed to be GREAT for Bernice; I went back to work in the afternoon truly happy about her situation for the first time in a long time.