Chapter Seven
People and equipment poured onto a world to help and began to implement the plan built by the governor's family. The imperial supply ships didn't return to Empire sector after unloading. They made trips to and from worlds that had grain, seed and plants for farms.
Much of the aid was donated, including all from the imperium itself, but a large percentage of it was paid for with the seized assets of people who'd worked for various bureaus of the government and the government itself. None were impoverished, but their credit balances were reduced to the average of people who held equivalent positions on other worlds in the sector and a large number of very nice cars and flyers were shipped to other worlds in trade for other types of technology.
A not really surprising, large number of people who had come to help requested permission to immigrate. The requests were granted and the much simplified naturalization process begun. In sixty days, the world of Nunture was a very changed place and not in debt. The sector governor left it in the hands of its people and those who had come to aid. It was time to report to the emperor.
The fact several members of his family were pregnant was becoming obvious. Boer decided a 'slight detour' to see the home they'd bought made sense. He didn't know if any of them would want to stay there, but thought they should at least have the option. Eddy agreed they should make the detour, but thought they should all go to meet the emperor. He said if he heard Nora sigh even once, they'd turn around and go back. She told him the house was unfurnished, definitely didn't have a nursery, and she expected Nora and all the others to do a great deal of shopping on Boniface, where very nice furniture and baby clothes were reasonably priced. He smiled and nodded.
Valer traffic control was surprised when Boer didn't ask to land the ship. He worked not to laugh and told them he didn't really plan to land it often, but appreciated the offer to move ships out of the way at Brossom Port. He got permission to land shuttles on the farm they'd purchased and exact coordinates for it. There was a welcoming committee waiting when they arrived. The woman standing a bit in front of the group introduced herself and welcomed them as mayor of Brossom. Boer introduced his family to her. She obviously knew they were 'in a hurry' because she explained who the rest of the group were instead of introducing them all.
"Governor Thiretess, most of the people behind me are representatives of civic organizations, but some of them are the people who lease fields and maintain the property."
"And do it beautifully. Nora and Mim say it really doesn't make sense for us to change any of those lease agreements, at least not now. Nora does want to grow some of our own food and purchase horses and a bit of other stock in the future. However, we aren't planning on either farming or ranching as business ventures, so there shouldn't be a great deal of difference in the leases when we do ask to renegotiate them, probably just reduction in the amount of care given the grounds in exchange for the reduction in area leased. Did I remember everything, Nora?"
"Yes, Boer. We'll invite all our new neighbor families to a picnic and get to know them after we get moved in. We can figure out what's good for both us and them then."
"We'll also have a more formal social occasion, Mayor M'tuang. Some of my family will be here full time and plan to be active members of the community, not just residents of it. However, this is a very fast stop to see what we need to furnish what we've been told is an empty house."
"It is. Marver was about too busy to furnish the bit he did live in. He packed a bag and told Genna Gothirt, chair of the university hospital volunteer organization, to come pick up the rest and see it got to people who needed it. I have the current key code. I ran in to see it wasn't knee deep in dust and everything was working when he messaged you'd purchased it. I had the filters on the air circulation and heating system replaced."
"Not knee deep, but getting there?"
"About mid-ankle. He'd turned it off and opened windows in the part he used, probably so it wouldn't be damaged before the filters were changed. I suspect he immediately forgot he was planning on doing it. He never forgot a student or a patient, but his secretary kept socks for him in his desk. The hospital did his laundry and sent someone to collect it when he forgot to take it to them. We liked him immensely, but about the only time we saw him was when he came to a banquet to pitch for contributions to the medical school scholarship fund."
The house was big, beautiful, in excellent condition and they loved it. It had been built to be a home for a very big family fifty years before, not a showplace. It had been maintained extremely well, but had been basically empty for thirty of them. The mayor said she'd driven by it and sighed that no one wanted or needed it since she was old enough to drive. It had been for sale for most of that time.
The carpet had been replaced before the house was put on the market the first time and periodically cleaned, but there had been no traffic to cause wear and it looked as if it had been laid a few months, not many years, before. Jobe said his toes liked to wiggle in it. They decided to replace it in the rooms the doctor had used.
It wasn't really worn in them, but did show someone had lived there. Boer ordered that done by a local company that assured him they could 'match' the soft bronze that had been used on the ground floor of the two story house. Nora chose a different type for the kitchen on the recommendation of the company owner. She agreed it would be easier to "mop up baby food" on the shorter pile and the pattern would "show tracks a bit less between mop ups."
Five hours after they'd made orbit around Valer, they left it. Nora wasn't the only one who sighed, but there was no doubt all of them wanted to go to Boniface. They were making lists of every place he and Anverd could remember having heard had nice furniture, or had seen what they thought was nice in displays. Boer yelled, "Run for it!" when they started asking about clothing stores. Anverd ran one way and Boer grabbed Jobe and ran the other. Boer dropped Jobe on his bed and dropped onto it beside him.
"I think I already want to go back."
"So do I, Jobe. It was a real surprise. I've never been in a house that big that felt like it was meant to be lived in before. I wanted to fill the spa in the house and play in the pools outside."
"So did I. I like to swim."
"You learned fast."
"You're a good teacher. Boer, I'm glad things got rearranged for our family too."
"So am I, Jobe. It's going to be harder to leave Eddy on Boniface, but the time we spent on Nunture working together brought us all a great deal closer than even just living together would have, I think."
"You're thinking about what should come next."
"Yes, and I think the answer is ships."
"I think more than one too. I think Eddy needs a little one and some marines who can take her home to visit. I think home should have a bigger one and marines who can take the others places, like to visit Eddy. I think we should have one big enough for most of the marines and Anverd and Venida that doesn't say you're a sector governor to go places where things need fixing."
"I have one to add to the list, a yacht."
"A very fancy ship that would fit inside the one with the marines?"
"Exactly, and inside is a very good idea. The empire is a big place, two hundred fifty-five worlds, about a third of human settled space, but there are still a lot of worlds outside it and some of them are rather odd. There are also three other species out there that we, the empire, don't really know much about."
"The world where our species began isn't in the empire and I think I would like to see it."
"So would I, Jobe. I found myself thinking about how much less time the trip up arm to see it would take with Li's 'idea.' I think she's going to want to go with us. I don't think Aura will let us go without her."
"And Lola would be mad if we went places with new things to learn and see without her."
"Yes, Venida said she flat stated no babies yet. Cal and Lou both want yours."
"Uh..
. "
"Jobe, why haven't you accepted an invitation from any of them?"
"Because Cal and Lou want my babies?"
"That's what I thought. Who do you want to make love to who hasn't invited?"
"Do I have to answer?"
"Dirda?"
"Yes."
"Did it ever occur to you to ask her?"
"No. Boer, what are you going to do?"
"It's time we straightened this out. Girls, we need to talk. Come in here."
"All of us?"
"Yes, Eddy, all of you. That's exactly what we're about to talk about."
"Good. Let's take Jobe's clothes off first, girls. He'll be giggling too hard to run by the time we finish and that will give us time to get Boer's and ours off. That what you wanted to talk about, Boer?"
"Exactly, Aura."
"I kept looking at that spa big enough for us all and thinking about one person at a time in this room with you too, Boer. It's time we stopped saying it's nice to have Jobe to reduce the number of us waiting in line."
"Nicely put, Lola. We're sure we are a family, but we don't act like people married to each other. Boer, you're part to blame in this too. You don't walk out of here without your pants on, so none of us traipse around bare either."
"I know, Nora. I grew up with 'clothes only come off when the bedroom door is closed' and have twenty-plus more years of inculcation of the same attitude."
"I think I've been dodging this, but my sub-conscious has been working on it. We want the children to be 'our' children, but that's not what we're going to get unless we make some changes. I'm battling fifteen in one big bed is an 'orgy' too. It isn't for us. It's sharing the marriage bed with those to whom we are married. We're all positive we're 'just' heterosexual and that's not really helping the situation either. Boer and Jobe had to overcome it and Boer has been dealing with the idea of polygamy, or polygyny, since he realized the emperor needed him to become sector governor, but more than two in a bed is still an odd thought."
"It's time for each of us to decide if we want to be married to all of us or ask to be replaced, Barri."
"I hadn't gotten that far, Dona, but you're right."
"You all know I've already made up my mind."
"So have I, Nora. I'm ready to have a baby. I decided it ought to be Jobe's, but mainly because I think Eddy is right about us needing his too. Lou wants his because she thinks he's adorable, wants to play with him and totally agrees he ought to have a couple in the first batch of our children. Right, Lou?"
"I wouldn't have said it quite so bluntly, Cal, which I'm sure is why you said it for me, but yes. I will never ask to be replaced."
"Neither will I. I expected to spend my life alone. I wasn't lonely and I had more than one good friend I could call and say I wanted company for the night, but I'd have never been as happy and I know it and have since the selection committee asked me if I'd consider it. I told them I'd considered and I needed to pack. I hadn't expected to just plain fall in love too, and definitely not with two men and a whole bunch of women."
"I'd already realized my commander knew me a lot better than I knew myself, Mim, or I'd have thought he was crazy when he commed the selection board and said he had 'the' right person. It took me awhile to get to the 'married to everybody' feeling, but that's how I feel and I now know that's why I liked being in the fleet so much. I'd have ended up 'married' to it and it wouldn't have been as right for me."
"I was already 'married to my work,' Aura. It really surprised me when I realized I'd always known it wasn't enough. That happened when we were on Nunture and I looked for one of you for company because I missed Boer and Jobe. I won't stop working because I love it, but our family is much more important to me now."
"Our family is my work, Dona, but it's not all of it and that's important too. I plan on working at the hospital on Valer, not office hours. I won't desert a child who has been coming to see me, or suddenly tell one to see someone else if Boer needs my knowledge and skills somewhere, or if I'm just needed at home because Nora needs a break."
"I'm going where they go. I'm going to like it most when they go home, but me and my tools are going and will until I'm too old to carry them. When I decide I'm ready for a baby, I might stay home when I'm too pregnant to waddle, but that depends on where they're going and if I've got any ideas."
"I'm in the family, staying in the family and going along whenever one of the family is headed somewhere interesting, especially places I haven't seen, basically with Boer and Jobe, but it's going to feel real good to come home. I figure they'll want to play with kids pretty often so I don't expect to get homesick much."
"I... think I'll eventually want to be replaced. I've been thinking about asking to stay with Eddy on Boniface. I love you all, but I miss politics."
"Eddy, Via is with you on Boniface and I feel a great deal better about leaving you there knowing she will be. Via, I hope you meet someone special. Another couple in the family would be nice."
"What?"
"Anverd and Venida are part of the family, just not married to all of us. You always will be too. I'm sure if you fall in love with someone, he'll belong in it just as you do. You all rather ignored that when I said it before we went to Nunture. The whole thing was very new and we were amazed and awed that we just seemed to fit together as a family. We still do, but I've always expected some of you to want to be part of the family without being in the marriage. The only two I was sure wouldn't were Nora and Jobe. She wants the marriage because of the children. He intends to make me be a hero and can't do it if he's not in it. That sounds better than I'm absolutely sure he belongs beside me and would be sure something was wrong with him if he wasn't. Misty, I think you've been waiting for Ganthin Prost to grow up since he was about seven. Since he's my cousin, already in my family and I like him a whole lot, I think it would be great to have him in ours."
"Boer, I haven't even seen him since he was barely twelve and I was almost sixteen."
"I know. You certainly made an impression on him though. About a year ago, he said he's gotten a lot of practice kissing since you taught him how, but he's sure he must have missed something in the lesson because your kiss is still the one he dreams about."
"It is?! Oh, my. I think I just answered something I thought I needed to give a lot of thought to before I answered."
"Now you two. Dirda, we were both sure you shouldn't be my princess. You were sure you shouldn't be one and I knew why I shouldn't marry. Eddy, you knew why too. You weren't sure you'd be the choice, but you waited for me anyway. You're very sure Jobe belongs in our family and we want and need his children in it, but it doesn't penetrate below the conscious level. He's my bride and that would be 'unfaithful.' He wants to make love to Dirda, but he can't make love to anyone but me until you release him."
"What?"
"How psi-projective are you, little girl who's 'been making her family's company popular since she was six?' I already know how receptive Dirda is because she waited for me when I couldn't tell her I wanted her to or why. I know how receptive Jobe is. He understood too completely from the first instant I touched him. I know he's projective. I've known how receptive you are since he told me his name. You see, you came up with all of it. Venida said he wasn't actually sleeping, but in a semi-conscious state. You made the connection to the story you knew when you reached for it and he gave it to you. It's Jobim, called Jobe, Urtala. I know I wasn't supposed to tell, Jobe, but she needs to know. She can't choose not to use it to influence people if she doesn't realize she can, and we both know that's far more important to her than being able to use it when she does choose to do so. I expect you to teach her how to recognize when she's doing it. You know when you are and are very careful with it."
"I've known since some came to my place to take the fish I was given for fixing a net with five big holes. I knew they were coming and knew when I... called others to make th
em go away. I also knew great change was coming before some grabbed me and put things on me so I couldn't run or hit them. It's how they found me. I left my place and walked away from the sea to where the ground was hard from many feet walking on it, but I didn't like them so I fought them. You were still a surprise."
"So were you, my loved friend, but I don't think I should be the only one with whom you make love."
"I'm high-psi rated. Baslior fleet does tests for it along with a bunch of other stuff most don't."
"I imagine we all are, Aura. It's part of normal testing for people studying psychology on New Cander. It's not considered necessary, but as an asset in understanding, especially for those who intend to work with children."
"Can you be high-psi with tech?"
"I don't think so, Li, but you do make me wonder."
"Boer, Eddy's still reeling."
"I know, Dirda, but Li did help."
"I think we should go with Aura's suggestion."
"What suggestion, Nora?"
"Take Jobe's clothes off, then go after yours and ours. Maybe Via and Misty should run off and giggle, but that's up to them. They're in this marriage now, as far as I'm concerned, but I think the rest of us can run over Eddy's 'sub-conscious' without them and get her over it. That's what she really needs. She can work on how she does what and how not to do it after we show her we can stand up to it. Jobe could, but he won't. You could, but you won't either. You've been not running over people you could, unless they really deserved it, since you got bigger than most, probably when you were two. Barri, I'll argue on this one."
"You don't have to, Nora. My sub-conscious keeps shouting down every argument I come up with."
"I'm going to run off and giggle."
"I'll giggle with you, Misty. We've already decided we want to be in the family, but not the marriage. I think the rest of you need to do this without that occurring to Eddy somewhere in the middle too."
"Nicely put, Via. See you all later."
When Eddy asked if anyone else had found out where Boer was ticklish, he started backing up, towards the bed. She'd decided Nora was right and she was going to help them "run over" her sub-conscious. She wiggled her fingers and they went after him. If she thought he should be first, they'd go along with her. Boer yelped when Jobe came from behind and found his ticklish spot. Two minutes later, they all were finding spots on all of them and all getting excited. Of course, it was only obvious on Boer and Jobe.