Rising Tides (26 page)

“The government
buys
them from the Company?” Matt demanded incredulously.

“No! The government buys their
debt
!”

“Same thing,” Matt insisted. He was horrified as much by what he was learning as by the sick feeling that he’d embraced such people as “friends.” Sure, women hadn’t even had the right to vote in the U.S. for long—and sometimes he honestly wondered if that had been a mistake or not—but that aside, the ideal of “gentlemanly behavior” in the world he remembered was to protect and defend the “weaker sex,” to guard their virtue and even, to a degree, place them on a pedestal of honor. Women were the guardians of civilization. They bore and raised children, made the home, and were often acknowledged as the “power behind the throne.” Some, like the late queen of England, wielded considerable power from the throne itself. At any rate, it was women who protected the foundations of humanity even while men did their best to tear them apart. In a very fundamental way, regardless of the political reasons behind any war, men forever volunteered to fight to protect their women, their families, and their homes from the very horrors they marched off to meet. It was ingrained in men, particularly officers of any service he’d ever known, to protect, defer to, and be courteous to all women—not to
own
them.

It had been hard enough on Matt and many of his destroyermen to recognize the complete equality of the sexes among Lemurians. Sandra had already defiantly staked a claim to equal status aboard his ship before they ever really met the ’Cats, but she was different. She’d become the medical officer, and some measure of risk was inherent in that, as well as their overall situation. It wasn’t as if they’d put her on a gun crew! But then, when they met the Lemurians, and began accepting Lemurian cadets aboard the ship, they couldn’t discriminate based on sex, because it would have profoundly offended their allies. Over time, Matt guessed they’d grown desensitized. Female ’Cats aboard ship, in the Army or Marines, or working in the factories, became a matter of course. Some “traditionalists” like Spanky might still act scandalized, but they accepted the situation and the necessity behind it. There were always rumors of interspecies ... associations, but in most cases they were still just rumors—with one glaring, possible exception.

Jenks looked around the table at the suddenly hostile faces. “Mr. Bates, would you care to give a history lesson?”

O’Casey glanced up from studying his spoon.

“Yeah, O’Casey, how about that?” Gray demanded. “How come you never said anything about this before?”

O’Casey cleared his throat. “Aye. Well, I could say ye never asked, but I doubt that’d satisfy ye. To be sure, at first it wasn’t an issue. When the darlin’ royal lass an’ I were marooned wi’ yer submariners, it made no difference. ’Twas hand ta mouth an’ little hope o’ rescue.” He bowed his head to those around the table. “Then, when ye came fer us in this lovely ship, ye might remember that ye had more immediate concerns than the domestic institutions o’ the Empire. An’ again, it didna’ signify. Later, as we told ye more o’ our situation, ’twas the princess herse’f who forbade me ta carry on aboot it. She was determined our peoples should be friends and cooperate against the evils o’ the world, an’ she feared this very reaction.” O’Casey looked at Jenks. “As her father’s only direct heir, an’ a ‘matriarchal exception,’ she’s quite the ‘crazed abolitionist,’ an’ after such long association wi’ the lass an’ these fine folk, ye might now add me ta that list.”

“I never doubted it,” Jenks replied. “And yet you are an Imperial Officer once more.” He glanced apologetically at Selass. “Might that at least gain me some credit as a ‘flexible’ barbarian?”

Selass huffed, but she did sit at last.

“In any event, Mr. ‘Bates/O’Casey,’ perhaps a more comprehensive ‘history lesson’ might build some slight mitigating context,” Jenks said.

“Aye ...” O’Casey paused, then took a long, slow breath. “Aye,” he said more firmly, gathering his thoughts. “The commodore an’ I, when once we were more ‘equal,’ used to engage in historical discussions, focused in the main upon ‘post-Passage’ subjects. I know you, Captain Reddy, are somethin’ of an historian yerself.” Matt nodded, a little selfconsciously. “Anyway, when the Founders first came this way, they were in much the same position as ye. Admittedly, they dina’ help the ‘locals’ with nearly the same zeal as ye, but in their defense, the threat wasna’ so pressin’ then. They chose ta hide from this terrible world. The rub was, even wi’ their greater numbers, there were, proportionately, just as few ‘dames,’ as ye call ’em. None went west wi’ the tragic ship the Grik managed ta take, but there were few enough. Ye an’ I ha’ discussed this oursevs. The ancient East Indiamen had many roles: part ‘freighter,’ ye call’em, part warship—ta pertect themsevs—an’ part passenger ship. They also transported convicts on occasion, as ye know.

“There were a grand total o’ fourteen ‘ladies’ among the passengers, two beyond child-bearin’ age, an’ some mere children.” He shrugged. “Well, the children grew up, but the ‘stable’ was still nearly bare, if ye know what I mean. By the by, descendants o’ them first ladies, if they’re ladies themselves, are not subject to the ‘institution’ bein’ discussed. They’re born free wi’ no ‘obligation’ a’tall. That said, there were nearly twenty female ‘transportees,’ whose original destination was actually a series of isles, not the land o’ ‘New Holland,’ or ‘Australia,’ as Mr. Bradford calls it. These women were bein’ transported for crimes, an’ that’s what the ‘System of Obligation’ was founded upon. They had ta ... ‘work’ their way through their terms o’ transportation, but were then available fer honorable matrimony wi’ the original crews. Their descendants were also ‘un-obligated,’ as the child canna’ be held responsible fer the crimes o’ the parent. Here, I must point out that, despite some resistance, any crew member was ultimately granted equal status within the law, regardless o’ ancestry.” He smirked. “There were too many Lascars amongst the crews—Indians, Arabs, Malays an’ the like—fer the officers ta do anythin’ else, so long before yer own ‘Revolution,’ against the Mythic Crown, there was true racial equality wi’in Imperial society. I willna’ say ’twas easy, or even bloodless, but it just had ta be. Finally, ’twas decided that any man who reached majority, swore ta hold fast ta Imperial law an’ forswear heathern religions in favor o’ the English faith, could enjoy full citizenship.” He shrugged. “There were problems, but ye’ve had some o’ those too, as I recall from our talks.

“Well, as ye can imagine, this didna’ solve every issue. We still had our own ‘dame famine’ fer a time. Then, one day, a storm-battered ship was rescued at sea an’ we first learned o’ the ‘Holy Dominion.’ ” He sipped the hot tea Jenks had brought aboard, still clearly savoring the flavor after subsisting so long on “coffee.” A couple of the other men and Chack were just as glad to have the iced tea Juan had made from some gifted leaves.

“The survivors we took in were twisted souls an’ devoted to a form o’ popery we couldna’ fathom, but were as yet not as foul as they’ve become. We met their folk an’ traded wi’ them. At the time, they seemed as much in flux as we, although they’d been ‘here’ a longer time. Their holdin’s were confined to the central Americas an’ they seemed a mix o’ Spaniards from an Acapulco galleon an’ some Indians that had landed there sometime much earlier. At first our peoples got along well enough. This world is just as big as the old, an’ it can be a lonely place. They seemed as glad ta meet us as we did them.” He looked at Jenks.

“As ye may know,” O’Casey continued, “New Britain, or the ‘Hawaiian’ chain, has lovely, fertile ground, an’ at least on this world, fastgrowin’ hardwoods ta support a respectable shipbuildin’ industry, but it’s poor in other resources. We’d come ta the same conclusion as ye, that this world had much the same structure as our old, wi’ the exception of volcanic isles which appear inconsistent wi’ what the Founders knew before. The great continents seem little changed, however, wi’ a few strikin’ exceptions, so we knew where ta look fer what we needed. The Americas were wi’in our distant reach, so we made colonies there, north o’ Dominion territory, ta supply that need. As for the Dominion, the greatest surplus they had for trade was women.”

“Despicable!” proclaimed Bradford. O’Casey eyed him for a moment, then nodded.

“Aye. But as the commodore has said, essential ta our early survival. The Company had re-formed by then an’ become a separate entity under Imperial law, wi’ broad autonomy much like before. It took advantage of the trade, an’ understandably required compensation fer bringin’ the lasses hither. Since the Imperial people an’ government had little ta compensate wi’ beyond fish, foodstuffs, an’ increasingly modern manufactured goods beyond what the Dominion could produce, we supplied those goods fer trade ta the Dominion fer females. The goods ‘bought’ the women, but the Company demanded compensation fer the transportation, so the ‘obligation system’ was expanded ta include them. The Company brought the women, but held the obligation until it was purchased by individuals or the government. At first, those who bought that obligation, or indenture, did so for the good of all an’ simply released the women among us. They married, bore children, an’ became Imperial subjects. They weren’t citizens, but their children were. There lay much of the incentive for them ta marry, ye see.

“Over time, however, once the immediate crises ended an’ there was plenty of women fer all, the Company continued the practice o’ bringin’’em in, but increasingly ta sell their indentures ta those who wanted labor. There’s now a permanent ‘lower class’ of women—called ‘Lascars’ again, I fear—who begat ‘citizen’ children with those holdin’ their obligation. Strangely, it’s they who support the Company more than any since it continues ta add ta their ranks and gives ’em a political advantage in the Court o’ Proprietors, even while the ranks of those who canna’ be citizens grows.” He paused. “I fear some o’ this may also stem from a . . . perverse reluctance ta dispense wi’ their twisted faith as well. Unlike yer Sister Audry’s approach ta convertin’ ‘heathens,’ Dominion priests’re more . . . insistent. Add ta this an even more burgeonin’ ‘trade’ since, in recent decades, the Dominion’s begun ta fear our numbers an’ Imperial power. Their ‘Church’ has taken on more an’ more of the pagan rituals o’ the early Indian folk, an’ e’en as the Company trade grows, it’s become more costly since the ‘Holy Dominion’s’ started . . . slaughterin’ their ‘excess’ females in hideous rituals.... Now we have women bringin’ their own daughters ta secluded shores an’
beggin’
the Company ta take ’em!”

There was silence in the wardroom as those present began to digest the enormity of the moral dilemma facing the Empire. The “trade” couldn’t simply be shut down without condemning untold numbers to their deaths, yet the Company fed and grew and gained self-perpetuating power off that very trade.

“I think I’m finally starting to get it,” Matt said quietly. “I see how the Company’s growing in strength, and I understand why the government’s concerned. I also see the moral and political mess the Governor-Emperor’s in. What I guess I don’t see is what the Company hopes to gain in the long run. They’ve saturated the market for marriageable women and they’ll undoubtedly saturate the labor market at some point as well. It appears they also at least contributed to this new—and yes,
much
more barbaric practice—the Dominion has engaged in. What could the Company possibly hope to gain in the end?”

“Absolute power, for a start,” Jenks said. “O’Casey saw it long before I did, but with the support the Company has gained in the Court of Proprietors, they can do almost as they please. And even as the Lascars empower the Company, they become dependent on it as well. It controls most jobs and industry, and by its actions it’s provoked the Dominion, which besides its overwhelming numbers has a navy with numerical supremacy over and near technological parity with our own.” Jenks snorted bitterly. “Start with a population that’s dependent upon you for its livelihood, add an external threat to control those who oppose you, and you can do virtually anything you want. What
that
might be, I can only speculate.”

“And I take it that the Governor-Emperor and his daughter are opposed to this?”

“Of course!”

“Wow,” was all Palmer could manage.

“Yeah,” grumbled Gray. “What a mess.” He looked at Jenks. “Now I see why you’re not an ‘abolitionist,’ but what the hell?”

“Well . . . but with all those extra women, they ought to be cheap, right?” Campeti asked.

Matt gave
Walker
’s gunnery officer another withering look, but then his eyes widened and he rubbed his chin. “Yeah. What about that? I never have gotten your monetary system straight. God knows ours is fouled up. What
do
they cost?”

It was Selass’s turn to glare, but Matt held a hand up to her.

Jenks seemed confused. “Well, ah, our monetary system has largely returned to a foundation based on precious metals. We get ours from our colonies in the Americas, as does the Dominion. Of course, the Company gets a percentage of whatever they carry in their bottoms, but there at least, the Navy has some advantage since most is transported aboard Naval vessels. There is some piracy, after all.”

“So you use what, a ‘pound’ system?”

“That’s quite a simplification, but pounds, certainly. Twenty shillings to a pound sterling, at my last inquiry—some time ago—twenty-six shillings for a guinea . . .”

“In other words, just as confusing as, well, it still is. No paper money?”

“No. Except for lines of credit redeemable at Imperial banks. There is often a discount. . . .”

“But gold’s gold, and a pound of gold’s worth what?”

“Forty-four and a half guineas.”

“And a guinea’s worth twenty-six shillings—so a pound of gold would be . . . ah, eleven hundred and fifty-seven shillings, or . . .”

“Almost forty-eight pounds,” Palmer supplied.

“Right.” Matt looked at Jenks. “So what do they cost? How much is this ‘obligation’ worth?”

“Well . . . that varies. The value of the obligation depends on how much time a woman has been in service. Of course, their maintenance is added to the total, as are any extraordinary costs such as further transportation. . . .”