Sarah Gets a Family - Part 2

Upon their arrival on Kon-at, Sarah Miller's group found themselves working hard to finish both the set up for the family pod and to work on a "community center" of sorts. Sarah's office was in the community center and only a short walk from the office of the Planetary Governor. Sarah spent a good deal of time with Mike Farris, the Governor, and his cabinet of advisors. Her official role was as an observer, but she did interject on a few occasions. Farris had sketched out a government based loosely on the American democratic system. He, like a few other Governors before him, had realized quickly that concubines might rebel unless there was some opportunity for future independence. Working out what the route to independence would be was somewhat difficult.

In the end, Farris decided that each volunteer would be in sole charge of his or her concubines, but that concubines would be able to achieve the status of citizens by proving their willingness to participate in the work of the colony. Every colonist, meaning all colony dwellers over the age of 14, was required to serve 2 years in the military, learning how to use all of the weapons available.

After 2 years of service, any colonist who had scored below 6.5 on their initial CAP testing would be re-tested. Once the AI gave its report, each colonist would be able to receive further instruction in their strongest area. Should a colonist prove adept at a skilled trade, but be shy of the required 6.5 for full citizenship, the Governor would consider offering citizenship status on a case by case basis.

The Governor also decreed that all concubines had the right to protest certain egregious treatment by their sponsor. Farris put in a place a formal complaint process to handle complaints about lack of food, mistreatment of children, and made it mandatory that a sponsor could not recycle a concubine without a review. For the first two, Sarah, as Civil Service Representative, was the sole arbiter. With regard to recycling a concubine, Farris created a three person committee, which included himself, the ranking military officer on the planet and Sarah.

Farris wanted to insure that the Colony could use the skills of all colonists without leaving a sub-class of disenfranchised citizens. He didn't want to go as far as some Governors and offer to make every concubine on the planet a citizen, partly because he didn't have the housing available yet to accommodate all the new families that might create.

Sarah got her first major test within days of arrival on the planet. A squad from Kon-at took heavy losses in a skirmish with the Sa'arm in another sector. The AI informed Sarah that the troops were missing in action and that their concubines had been automatically assigned to her care. The pods in which those concubines were housed quit responding to the concubines almost as soon as the AI received the information, so Sarah knew it was critical to get the concubines moved quickly.

She put her crew to work immediately. Charles, Amy and Carlotta were dispatched to the community center while Ramona stayed at home to handle the family's children. Sarah took Lon and Louise with her to each pod, both to deliver the news of the sponsor's death and to get each family unit moved to the community center. In all, 10 sponsors had died, meaning that Sarah had to have the AI unlock the units to her for each group. By the time everyone was moved, Sarah was tired.

The AI informed Sarah that three of the family units had actually been reassigned because the sponsors had made provisions for their groups to be transferred to someone else. Sarah felt relief at this announcement and passed each group to the new sponsors as soon as possible.

Of the seven groups left to her, Sarah now had to find places for 15 women, 3 of whom were pregnant, 4 men, and 25 kids. Moving them all to the community center was a very short-term solution, so Sarah went back to the other Civil Service Representative's reports. One guy had created a bordello of sorts with his extra concubines; another used his extra concubines to run a hotel for traveling soldiers. Both met the primary directive for CS Representatives: Keep the concubines pregnant.

Kon-at, however, wasn't a stopping point for large groups of military people. Kon-at did have a research function, since a couple of the large research and development companies from Earth had been located there, but the researchers had brought their own concubines when they were extracted.

The answer came in a surprising manner. Louise spoke to Sarah at the end of the first week about the progress made in getting the concubines settled. Louise was very concerned that many of the mothers seemed to basically feed the kids, change their diapers, then let the kids wander aimlessly. Louise's informal survey found that the average concubine, both in this group and on Kon-at, was 16-22 years old and had little to no experience dealing with small children.

True, some sponsors had guidance at extractions from good officers who advised the sponsors to always bring a mother, but most sponsors didn't get that particular briefing. This meant that the majority of sponsors had families where the concubines had no guidance when dealing with children. The AI's, of course, helped where they could, but an AI had to be asked a question before the AI could answer the question.

This particular batch of concubines had three chronologically older people in it, two women who had run a day-care on Earth and a man who had been a teacher. Sarah decided to enlist these three to help teach the other concubines better ways to take care of the children. Sarah also thought that it was time the kids on Kon-at went to school, especially since it looked like the Confederacy planned to move more research facilities to the planet.

The three concubines, along with Charles, Louise and Carlotta, spent several weeks helping the other moms learn how to interact better with the children. The younger concubines soon were recruited to pass out coloring books, crayons, modeling clay and other small toys to the children of Kon-at. Once the word got out that the "CS Moms", as the concubines came to be known, were really good with kids, sponsors began coming by to visit with them. In just a few weeks, the entire group was passing along their newfound knowledge, both informally and in structured classes at the Community Center.

Joan Sampson, the oldest mom at 32, and one of the day care operators on Earth, was the first to find a home. She was at the Community Center one afternoon when Bob Stevens dropped in to find out more about the toys someone had left at his pod. He had been a widower on Earth and had brought his four kids to Kon-at. When new children started arriving courtesy of his 2 fifteen year-old concubines, he'd known that just feeding and diapering the kids wasn't enough, but he didn't know how to teach it to the young concubines.

When Bob walked in, he was amazed at how quiet it was in there, even though Joan had eight kids sitting in a circle. The kids were all under five, but they were listening raptly as Joan read them a story from an author on Earth. Bob was as fascinated by the story as the kids, so he sat down to listen.

Joan finished reading the storybook to the kids, and looked up in surprise when she heard someone clapping. "I didn't know anyone had come in here."

Bob smiled at her, "I loved that story as a kid and you do a good job with the voices."

Joan smiled back at him. "I think kids like it when the characters have different voices. It keeps their attention longer. Here, Timmy, why don't you show the pictures in this book to the smaller kids?"

The two adults moved away from the children. "Is there something specific I can help you with Mr. ?"

Bob told Joan his name and that he was looking for someone to help his two concubines learn some parenting skills. "I wish I'd thought about having someone who had experience raising children, but my big head wasn't in charge during the extraction from Earth." He blushed.

Joan's rueful laugh sounded pleasant to his ears. "How do you think I got off the planet? The Corporal in charge of our extraction sold my flabby butt to Joe, my late sponsor, on the idea that I could at least take good care of the kids while Joe was out fighting."

"I'm Joan by the way", she held out her hand to shake, "We've been holding classes for the younger concubines here. Kind of like the Mommy and Me classes they used to have on Earth. Maybe your girls could sit in on one of them?"

Bob checked out the butt in question, "I don't think your butt is flabby. Maybe I'll send the girls over this afternoon."

"Great!" Joan said. Over the course of the next few weeks, Bob did send his concubines and children over to the Community Center. He often accompanied them and he always made it a point to talk to Joan about what the concubines were learning.

One afternoon, Bob asked Joan if she'd like to join his family. He had been one concubine short when he left Earth and had never wanted to fill the spot until now. Sarah had already approved the transfer, but Bob wanted to ask Joan directly before making the transfer official. Joan's happy smile and huge hug were all the answer Bob needed.

Once all of orphaned concubines were settled into a routine at the Community Center, with many going to new homes, Sarah began working in earnest. She spoke to Mike Farris, the Planetary Governor, about setting up a school system on Kon-at. The two of them also worked with the AI to add some enhancements to the training that concubines received while in the medical tubes. These enhancements would better enable concubines to raise children and give the concubines the knowledge and skills to begin teaching the kids basic things, color recognition, numbers, shapes, and cooperation/sharing.

As to schools, the kids would begin attending as soon as they were ready to learn how to read. The AI for each pod would offer each child instruction at the child's level, with the ultimate goal being to prepare the children to do well on their CAP testing at 14. If a child showed particular aptitude in certain areas, the child could be apprenticed to an experienced colonist, even before the age of 14. This meant that kids who were really good at repairing machines, for instance, could be apprenticed to someone who did that job daily.

Sarah dispatched her crew, Louise, Charles, and Carlotta, to visit every pod and speak to the concubines about teaching early learning for the kids. They also showed each group how to set up a child with an educational program through the AI. Farris made this much easier by telling the sponsors about the effort and asking them all to cooperate with it. On Earth, this would have been much harder, but the nannites installed by the AIs during the initial medical screening helped encourage sponsors to accept the small intrusion.

The Community Center began to function as a day-care center of sorts for both children and their mothers. Often, a sponsor would drop in for visits with the kids and end up visiting with the female concubines that worked there as well. Sarah had no problem keeping the concubines in her care pregnant!

Charles was livid when he came back from visiting pods one afternoon. Apparently, he had found a pod where the sponsor's primary concern was NOT taking care of his children or his concubines. The three women had been modeled after Earth's porno magazine stars. This was fine; having eye candy available at home was perfectly acceptable to the Confederacy. The problem came because the sponsor apparently only allowed the concubines to eat once per day and restricted that amount because he didn't want his concubines to become "fat". The 3 children in the pod were also only allowed one meal per day.

Sarah confirmed this information with the AI, which told Sarah that none of the concubines or the sponsor had mentioned this as a problem for them. Sarah asked the AI if it tracked the amount of calories each colonist ate daily, but that information was not readily available. The AI did, however, keep track of how much food was served in each pod daily overall. The pod in question used less than one-third of the food available to the group on a weekly basis. The AI also reported that, compared to other children on the planet, the children in this group were growing at a 5% rate. The AI had also already reported the situation to military commanders, who had classed the problem as very low priority.

She took Louise with her to visit the family. The sponsor, Mark Jamison, let them in with an air of complete nonchalance. The three naked concubines were engaged in a ménage a trios and Jamison, also naked, continued playing with himself as Sarah and Louise entered the pod. Looking up, he casually asked if they would like to join "the girls". Sarah declined for both of them and asked Jamison if she might have a few minutes of his time to discuss the children.

Jamison was not pleased to have to end his stroke session, but Sarah insisted. When she asked to see the children, Jamison said "Wait just a damn minute! Who do you think you are?"

Sarah's cool reply, "My job is to insure that all concubines are cared for at the minimum standards, especially the children".

"Oh, so we have social services up our asses in space now, too?" Jamison spewed.

"The AI has reported that the 3 children in this pod are lagging behind in growth compared to the other children on Kon-at. Delayed physical development also means delayed mental development, which could impact their future ability to become citizens of the Confederacy. I am just following up on that report, making sure that your children are healthy and strong. I'm just here to check on your children."

"Fuck You!" Jamison said, "Get the hell out of my pod now!"

Sarah had already asked the AI, subvocally, to send a security team to back her up and now she asked the AI, again subvocally, to send the team into the pod. When they entered, she ordered the captain to restrain Jamison, then sent the concubines to bring the children to her.

The three kids, two girls and a boy, were very small. All three were under two years old and had large heads and bellies with spindly arms and legs. None were potty-trained. They looked like children from Ethiopia, on Earth. All three had snotty noses and didn't respond well to being held, arching their backs and crying. Sarah was horrified! Louise had one concubine off to the side asking about living conditions. She reported that Jamison, when home, wanted all of the three concubine's attention and ordered them to leave the children alone except to change diapers.

Sarah, with the captain of the security team, walked through the pod. The AI, with the help of nannites, automatically removed messes from the pods, so there were no piles of garbage or moldy food. However, there were diapers that had been haphazardly tossed in a corner. Since the diapers were larger, they took several days for the nannites to remove completely.

Speaking subvocally to the AI again, Sarah asked if she had the authority to remove the concubines from Jamison's "care". The AI said that only the sponsor or the Planetary Governor could perform those functions, but that Jamison could be arrested for neglect of the concubines according to Kon-at Law. His concubines would then automatically become the property of the Civil Service, pending review.

"Captain Thomas," she said, "Arrest Lt. Mark Jamison for neglect of Confederacy Property and place him in the brig."

She could see that Capt. Thomas conferred with the AI before following her order, but Jamison was soon heading out. Sarah had Louise take the concubines and children to the community center and asked the AI to have a medic meet Louise there. Then she asked the AI to contact Governor Farris.

When Farris' face showed on the vid-screen in Jamison's pod, Sarah asked him to meet her at the pod. He arrived quickly and Sarah gave him a quick tour of the unit. She asked that Farris make the removal of the concubines permanent and that the review committee be convened quickly. Farris immediately called the ranking military officer, Major Tom Parker, to meet them at the pod.

Parker's first words "Mark Jamison is a good soldier!" died quickly when Sarah and the AI explained the treatment of the concubines. Parker said, "They're his concubines. He can do anything he wants with them. Why should the military get involved?"

Sarah explained that the three of them represented the Confederacy on Kon-at, and asked who would want to send their troops there if the Confederacy allowed concubines, or any other property, to be mistreated in such a manner. "If nothing else," Sarah said, "We can't let him starve the children to death! They are the future of our race...and the whole reason that the Darjee had us bring concubines!"

The three of them walked over to the community center, where Sarah made sure that Parker heard the medic's full report. The three children were in a classic starvation mode, which was very visible on their bodies. The nannites in the concubines had kept starvation from destroying the concubine's bodies, but the nannites had shut down 'non-essential' functions to keep the concubines alive. Right now, none of the three could become pregnant, they did not have periods, nor could they use higher brain functions.

The medic had put the three through diagnostic tests, but the AI recommended that the concubines and their children be placed in medical stasis chambers for several days, after which they should be allowed to eat freely for several months to regain the weight they needed. Lastly, the three concubines were not to be bred for at least 2 years so that their bodies might recover from the starvation completely. Even with the help of nannites, it would take a long time.

The last line of the report damned Jamison, though. The AI informed Governor Farris, Major Parker, and Centurion Miller that the AI had reported these conditions to Jamison nearly six months previously and Jamison had ordered the AI to continue to withhold food from the women and children anyway! It was a grim group that walked from the Community Center to the brig that evening.

The three scanned Jamison's 6.7 CAP sub-scores and found nothing that would indicate he would starve those under his care. But, they did ask that Jamison be retested while in the brig and decided to put off making a decision about him until the new CAP test had been given.

Late the next afternoon, Governor Farris called Sarah at her office. "Come see me now, if you would."

She walked into Farris' office to see Major Parker already in a chair. Both stood when she entered, and she saluted the two men. "At ease", Farris said. "Take a seat."

Parker passed her a new CAP card for Jamison, along with a sub-score reader. The new test dropped Jamison to 5.3 and Sarah looked for a reason for the dramatic drop in scores. The reader highlighted it for her. Apparently, Jamison had a psychotic break at or after his evacuation. One of the other sponsors at his evacuation site had taken a heavily obese woman with him. That woman had been loud, overbearingly boisterous (to Jamison's mind) and a much older (39) than the three 15 year old girls Jamison had chosen.

The woman had turned out to be an excellent concubine for her own sponsor, but Jamison was still horrified by the sight of the woman, even after her modification. Seeing her regularly, since she worked in a supply area for soldiers, had driven Jamison over the edge of reason. He now had an abnormal fear of obese people, especially women, and he never wanted to see another fat person as long as he lived, hence he starved his women to keep them thin. Even seeing his own concubines grow with pregnancy had horrified him.

Sarah looked at Mike and Tom. "What do we do with him? He can't serve in the military with such a low score, and he'd make a horrible concubine at this point."

Farris frowned. "I think the only option is to recycle him."

Parker argued, "He's been a great soldier out in the field. Isn't there something the AI can do to fix him?"

The AI's voice, female today, said "Mark Jamison, under the Confederacy rules, and the Laws of Kon-at, is eligible to be recycled. He is surplus to requirements and his sub-scores do not indicate either the ability to be retrained to Colony jobs, or the mental ability to transfer his loyalty to a sponsor. Mark Jamison will not be able to see women who are pregnant without having another psychotic break."

"I think that settles it, then, gentlemen. Mark Jamison should be recycled." Sarah looked at the two men. "Are there any objections?"

Both men shook their heads and agreed that Jamison would have to be recycled. Farris said, "I'll tell him."

Parker, however, had another idea. "Since we three made the decision, with input from the AI, I think that the three of us should tell him and make sure it is done immediately. There's no point in letting a good man suffer after we tell him."

Mark Jamison was recycled within an hour.

This left Sarah with three concubines who could not become pregnant for at least two years and three children who would need lots of love and affection to ever become "normal". Her own family group was already at the limits that the AI would allow. To go over in her personal pod would lead the AI to start purging concubines until the number was once again acceptable.

Her solution to this came from an unlikely source. One of the female soldiers on the planet was actively lesbian and had shipped with two male concubines and no females, although she had room for two more. She offered to take the three female concubines into her pod, trading out one of the men to the Civil Service. Since the soldier, Corporal Amy Jones, was pregnant and on planetary duty until the child was born, it would be a perfect match. She and her male concubine had great sub-scores for empathy, compassion and parenting, which would help them deal with the children's needs as well.

Sarah authorized larger rations for the pod, with Governor Farris' approval, and made it a point to visit often. Within a few months, both the children and the concubines had gained back much of their strength and, with love and care from Corporal Jones and her male concubine, were recovering nicely from their ordeal.

Of course, as always happens, there was some backlash because a sponsor had been recycled. Some of the soldiers, particularly those who had served with Mark Jamison, felt that the Civil Service had over-stepped by removing the children and concubines. Governor Farris actually had to transmit pictures of the pod and starving children to all colonists while making a speech about "preserving Confederacy property".

Sarah's solutions went into the Civil Service's annals.

Sarah gave birth to her first child about 15 months after her arrival on Kon-at. She thought nothing could compare to the love she felt for the other children in her family, but her own baby boy's big blue eyes stole her heart the instant he was born. She knew now that protecting the children of the colony was why she had been born and she vowed to always serve the colony to the best of her ability so that her son could grow up and fulfill his destiny. She wanted that for all of the colony's children and for all of humanity.