by
Jacquimac
Edited by Geekydee
Personal journal
How do you explain to a seven year old why her friends are suddenly keeping a way from her, why people are nasty and hateful to her, why they are are starting to get violent towards her,
God knows but I`ve tried to explain that people are afraid of her because she is different from most people, a more loving and caring child you`ll have trouble finding but people can`t see past their own fears and bigotry.
Let me explain a little, Amanda Ciara Angelica was born almost seven years ago, her mother was intersexed and so it turned out is our daughter, sadly my wife Amanda passed away three years ago after being beaten to death by a bunch of young thugs.
I`ve managed to protect our little girl, but it has meant we haven`t been to settle into an area for long before someone finds out little Amanda`s secret. We did have a genetic profile carried out when she born and the doctors told us that she was predominently female, my wife and I decided against surgery at the time so our child could choose her own path in life.
Amanda doesn`t understand why once again we have to move, it seems that everytime we manage to settle down somewhere someone finds out and the bigotry and hatred start all over again. Neither mine or my late wifes families want anything to do with the child so we are on our own.
Little Amanda misses her mum and loves me with all her heart as I do her and I would give my life for her, what friends I have and those are very few have managed to keep in touch somehow and try to help when they can, but it`s difficult for them as well.
As luck would have it I managed to find work for a company that at the moment will allow me to transfer from plant to plant as a troubleshooter, they know of our problems but like the authorities choose to look the other way when trouble rears it`s ugly head.
What pisses me off is that I served my country in the armed forces for twenty odd years, fought to keep our country free from extremist incursions, to keep our nation free for all, yet i see the bigotry and hatred all around me in everyday life.
Before my wife died she made promise that our child would attend church regularly, something I never did as the church is the by far the biggest and worse bigot on the planet. Little Amanda does attend church every week and can`t understand that the teaching of Jesus and the Apostles is to a large extent ignored by the church itself.
Yesterday in the church the local vicar denounced to her to the whole congregation and made a move to slap her, needless to say the vicar is now sporting a broken jaw along with numerous cuts and bruises. It breaks my heart when I have to use violence in front of my own daughter. The good book says turn the other cheek, well I can`t when someone threatens and innocent child what father could?.
It`s 3am and I`m looking for somewhere to park our motorhome for a few hours, Amanda is asleep but no doubt she`ll be at loggerheads with me again when she wakes up, to be honest she nevers mad at me for long it`s just that she doesn`t understand.
I`m going to chuck work, it`s not as if we need the money which we don`t, over the years I`ve invested quite a bit and lately cashed them in and to be honest even when I`m gone Amanda will never need to work.
I just want somewhere we can live a normal happy life, somewhere Amanda can live and have a happy childhood, Is there such a place? I don`t know but I have been told of a town that might hold our dream and that`s where we`re headed for, we can at least hope for a normal life somewhere sometime.
I must try sometime to rewrite this journal, but at the moment my daughter comes first, she didn`t ask to be born intersexed or to have the problems that go with it, but she is intersexed and the problems we have them to deal with, we`ll always have them to deal with.
Well I`ve found a place to park and can grab some sleep before our confrontation, maybe if we can we`ll stop here for a couple of days but we`ll have to see what the dawn brings won`t we?
I look at Amanda sleeping the sleep of innocence as only a child can, I see her natural beauty and silently ask her God to help her and to keep her safe, futile I know but you never know her God might just be listening for once.
Christmas is only a couple months way and for once I would like to like to give Amanda a real christmas in a real house instead of being on the move all the time, she deserves the best and in that I`ve failed badly, i only want her to be happy and have the sort of life other children have.
by
Jacquimac
Part 2
Personal Journal
I`ve slept for four hours and the little one is still sleeping the sleep of the innocent, I can see a house in the not too far distance so I`ll nip over later and the occupants who owns the land around here and maybe get permission to lay over for a couple of days. Maybe after a couple of days rest the two of us will feel better and more relaxed.
While I was asleep my late wife came to me in my dreams and told me that everything will work out fine, just be strong and protect the child. Was it a dream or did Amanda truly communicate with me?
Amanda Anne Jessop the only woman I really loved, what she saw in me a retired soldier 25 yrs older than her I will never know. She was 19 when we first met and was working in a roadside diner where I had stopped to get a meal. A real beauty she was, surely she could find better work than this, but when she came to take my order we just seemed to click.
I was the only customer so she sat with me and we talked while I ate, for some unknown reason she told me she was intersexed and was surprised when she found it didn`t bother me at all. Well serving abroad broadens the mind and I`ve seen and done most things. I managed to find work locally and within the year we were married, sad to say we didn`t have the wedding either of envisaged.
Neither of our families turned up, she had no friends and the only friends I had were army buddies scattered around the country but I had no addresses for them. So the wedding party was the local preacher, the two of us and a couple of strangers I paid to stand as witnesses. We never had a honeymoon as such but she was happy, we found a town to settle in and I found work and a year later a little Angel joined our family.
Little Amanda was three when trouble first came knocking and ever since we`ve moved from one town to another, it`s usually six months or so before she outed and the self righteous start crawling out of the woodwork. OOPs Amanda has woken up, well I`ll get her fed and watered and wait for the usual tirade from her, maybe I`ll take with me when I go over to see the owner of the house, we`ll see when she calms down.
~~~~~
Oh boy what a surprise, she apologised for loosing it yesterday it seems she has finally realised why we are always moving although she feels terribly guilty saying it`s her fault. I`ve comforted her as best i could and told her that people will always be afraid of those that are different in anyway.
We walked over to house and was surprised to find one of my old army buddies owned it and all the surounding land, we moved the motorhome up to the house and he and his wife and putting us up for a few days. Steve and I go ways back, we went through basic together and served in the same units until he was invalided out a few months before i was retired.
Mary Ellen, Steve`s wife has taken Amanda into town to do a shopping, I`ve given them a wad of cash and told them to enjoy themselves (what woman doesn`t enjoy shopping). Steve and I caught up on our after service lives, he`s done well for himself marrying the most eligible batchelorette in the area and is know the biggest and wealthiest man in the area.
The girls arrived home and of course Amanda had to do the usual fashion show, at least she`s looking happy again. After dinner Amanda went to bed and the three of us adults talked . Mary Ellen told me that Amanda had let her in on her secret, needless to say I was stunned but Mary Ellen was sympathetic. Of course this meant that Steve had to be told so I told him everything,, when I told him I punched the vicar through his precious stained glass window and had Broken his jaw,he just shook his head and said "Well you haven`t changed when it comes to standing up to people"
by
Jacquimac
Part 3
Personal Journal
I knew the little one was safe with Steve and Mary, Steve was like me in his attitude live and let live, we`d served together all over the world and seen just about everything imaginable. Almost every lifestyle possible so Amanda`s problem didn`t bother him one iota.
Both my friends were concerned about us being on the move so much and suggested that we stay with them at least until the weather improved in the spring. I wasn`t too sure about it myself but at least it would give the two of us a break hopefully without any trouble.
After a goodnights sleep I decided we would take Mary and Steve up on their kind offer, and after breakfast I told Amanda that we would be staying for a while, although I didn`t say for how long for.
During the morning I did a few jobs that needed doing to the motorhome, now I needed to go and replenish my spare parts in town Steve drove me down to motorparts store and I ordered what I needed, the next stop was the bank to draw out some cash. After we had done everything we went into the towns bar bar for a beer or in my case a coke, I`ve never drank but I don`t mind if others drink.
We had just got our drinks and sat down when a couple of big guys entered and started picking on a guy who was sat on his own and not bothering anyone. Steve told me that the guy was split slow and was always abused by those guys, nobody in the place said anything and just turned away.
Me I just hate bullies and the bigger the better, I walked over and told them to lay off, the bigger of the two threw a punch and ended up with nursing a broken arm, his sidekick ended up on the floor unconscious. Steve let out yell "Roaring Rory does it again" he introduced me around and a couple of minutes later the sheriff arrive and arrested the two guys.
I was introduced to the sheriff and he asked if I wanted to press charges, I declined but he carted the two morons to the jailhouse. Apparently the idiots used their size to cowe people and people just stayed out of their way, the sheriff had never managed to catch them doing their act so his hands had been tied.
We returned home and Steve told Mary what had happened, Steve had lost an arm in combat and fighting days were over although the people in town knew he wouldn`t back down.
Amanda was busy helping Mary in the kitchen and seemed to be enjoying herself,Steve showed me around the place and told me they were selling up to some big corporation that wanted to build a factory and would provide much needed jobs in the area.
Later that night after Amanda had gone to bed to I hande Mary an envelope that held a couple of thousand dollars, "Our contribution for staying with you, Both Mary and Steve protested saying thats what friends were for, but I insisted they take the money, I just didn`t feel right not paying my way.
Over the next few weeks I helped Steve around the place, not that there was much to do and did a bit of work on the motorhome.
The day before Christmas I took Amanda into town to buy her something special, the happiness she showed was uplifting and seemed to affect everyone around her, When we returned home I got one hell of a surprise, Steve had been busy over the past few days and had invited most our army buddies over for the silly season, It was good to see them all again.
We talked over old times, but funnily we never talked about the missions we had been sent on, but it was good was remember the old days with these guys, times both good and bad. They all met Amanda and fell in love with her straight away, all off a sudden she had a bevy of uncles and boy did they spoil her.
Amanda had always had an Aura about her except for holier than thou people seemed... well more happy around her she just seemed to exude natural happiness where ever she went. Such a shame that there people who hated and feared those that were and are different from themselves.
She had a way with most people that completely mystified me and I just hope that sometime in the future I`ll see her do great things but for now it`s enough to raise and protect her and give her as normal a life people will allow.
Personal Journal
Christmas day arrived and of course Santa had visited during the night, It`s been a couple of years since we had a proper Christmas in a real house with all the trimmings. Of course Amanda wanted to go to church so we all went, Amanda, Mary and ten of us guys turned a lot of heads as we entered the church.The service wasn`t a long one but with this preacher they never were, he always got his message across with as few words as possible.
We all returned home and helped with the Christmas meal after which it was Amanda`s time to open her presents and have fun.
I`ve never been into Christmas much since my wife died but somehow today felt different I felt more relaxed and at at peace with the world. Maybe it because I was surrounded by old friends, I don`t know but I didn`t really care as long as the little one was happy and enjoying herself. After the silly season ended the guys went home but said we`d meet up again soon.
January went, then February and March and then spring thaw started, slowly at first and we still had occasional snowfall but nothing that stayed around for long and soon enough the temperature started to climb and the roads were clear enough for travelling. I was determined to find that town I had been told about even though I didn`t know it`s name or exactly where it was, the directions I had were kind of rough.
I didn`t know it but Steve and Mary had finally got the deal they wanted, had sold up and were waiting for me to make a decision on when we were leaving. I finally told them we would be leaving at the end of week and they didn`t perturbed by my decision, I guess they wnated to get on with their own lives and not be encumbered with us.
Saturday arrived and I woke Amanda at 6am so she could get dressed and fed before we said goodbye to our friends. After breakfast we said goodbye and Steve said "It`s not goodbye we`re coming with you", and went a drove another motorhome out of the old barn.
We set off and after a couple hours pulled into a truckstop, there were a few more motorhomes in the truck park some of them brand new models so we parked alongside them. On entering the cafe I was surprised to see the rest of our buddies, they too were coming with us, the ones that were married had brought their families. We were all introduced and after eating set off looking for a campsite for the night.
We drove for another four hours and finally pulled into campsite sometime in the afternoon. After setting up camp the women started cooking a meal while we guys talked of course the kids were playing together and were safe enough.
Later on the kids were fed and safely put to bed, the rest of sat around talking it was a warm and pleasant evening as we sat under the trees. The women asked why I had never re-married and I explained it was only four years since Amanda`s death, one of them said " That girl needs a mother, she getting to an age were she`s going to be asking questions about her body". I had to admit that she had a point but that somehow I`d deal with her questions.
During the night I had another dream about Amanda, were she told me that I should whatever is askedof me go along with what would happen in the next few days. When I awake I remembered the dream in great detail and wondered what she meant, I had always trusted my wife and we had kept no secrets from each other.
The next day was a late start for everyone, the kids all wanted to swimming in the nearby lake so it was late morning when we all hit the road. Little Amanda was enjoying herself and for once didn`t mind being on the road again, I suppose it was because there were other kids this time.
Everyday became more or less the same, a late start and an early stop which to be truthful I didn`t mind, It couldn`t be much fun kids to be cooped up for ours on end day after day. We weren`t really getting far on a daily basis but the driving was pleasant enough, and the overnight stops even better as I could relate to other adults in the group, especially my old buddies.
As the days went by I started to look at the map and saw that we seemed to driving around aimlessly with no route organised, not that I had faintest idea were we were headed and our group seemed to get bigger the further we drove.
by
Jacquimac
Part 5
Personal Journal
We had a problem at our last stop over, we decided that we stay there for a few days and do some much needed maintainance on the Motorhomes, the nearest town was about 15 miles away and the area seemed safe enough. The kids while having some schooling on our journey were playing in the nearby woods when one of them came running into the camp and told us that a bunch of men had grabbed at least 4 of the kids, straight away the M16`s came out and we set off to gather the rest of kids, Joey Miller ran on ahead to scout the area and see if he could track them back to their camp.
Once we got the remaining kids back to camp we checked on who was missing, Amanda, Julie, Maryanne and Jasmine were no where to be found, two of the guys stayed behind to guard our camp, which wasn`t really neccessary as the women were armed as well and fully capable of defending themselves but it made us all feel better. We returned to were the kids had been and saw Joey heading back towards us.
"I`ve found they`re camp about 3 miles north of here" he simply stated
"Guards?" I asked
"None seen" he replied
Joey was a damned good sight and had saved our butts a few times with his recon skills.
We headed to the camp and as we got closer could here what sounded like a party going on, we slowly and carefully surrounded the camp and advanced. These guys were rank amateurs when it came to chosing a place a camp. The camp was in the middle of clearing with no cover whatsoever, their pickups were about 200yds away and not one one was holding a weapon. Us on the other hand all had combat experience, had worked as a team for years and were armed to the teeth, as they saw us approaching one of them made a dive for one of tents presumably to arm himself, WRONG move, we could see they had been drinking and Billy had shot the fool in the leg, after that no one made a move.
I stepped out in front and told them we had come for the children,one bravado looked at us and asked " why you going to shoot us", "We will if we have to, your choice" I replied.
The man looked me up and down and said you talk big for a runt that`s backed up with armed men.
Steve started laughing and said to the man " you want a piece of him, you can try and the rest of won`t interfere"
I handed my weapon to Steve and straight away the man rushed at me and before he knew it he was flying through the air, when he landed I was quickly on top of him and taking his own knife from his belt held it against his throat.
"Were are the girls?" I said " One way or another we`ll get them back,whether your alive when we do makes no difference to me"
The girls were brought out and they ran towards us " Any of you hurt" I asked, " No" they answered
I looked at the men and told them to be gone by morning or they would be staying permanently and walked away.
As we entered the woods Joey peeled of with another two of guys to make sure they didn`t come after us, they positioned themselves were they wouldn`t be seen.
We got back our camp and started to pack up for an early start, we kept a guard on all through the night but there were no further incidents.
While I was asleep Amanda once again came to me in my dreams "Your journey is nearly at an end, don`t give up and do what ever is asked of you"
The following morning Joey and the guys returned to camp and after we all ate we left the area as fast as we could.
Today we started across the desert, we had plenty of water and food and at the next town bought an old pickup with we filled with Jerrycans of fuel and drove until sunset when we had a meal refueled all the vehicle and started off again, we drove for 2 days and nights before stopping again and then because we were running out of fuel and getting tired.
We rested up for a couple of days did what maintainance we had to do refilled all the vehicles and jerrycans and set off again. Three days later we drove into a small town, it wasn`t on any maps but seemed peacable, nobody seemed to care when 15 motorhomes stopped in the town square, and everyone seemed friendly.
A group of men came towards us and the leader looked at me and said " You must be Rory , welcome to our town."
This took me by surprise
"Do I know you" I asked
"No we`ve never met but we were told you were coming here to settledown" he replied
A group of the towns women led the women and children away to get cleaned up and fed while we accompanied the men into what looked like a conference hall.
We sat down and introductions were made, but it still bothered me how they knew we were coming, even we didn`t know were we had been headed.
The towns spokesman stood up and told us that we weren`t on earth as we knew it, we had gone through a portal that led to parallel universe. The portal wasn`t open all the time only when they allowed it.
How did they know we were coming? well Amanda was originally from this town and had been one of a select number of volunteers picked to study our earth, everything she did was monitored and the problems that arose about Little Amanda`s condition had been seen, they couldn`t interfere but after Amanda died they tried to contact me through my dreams and finally succeeded by projecting visions of my late wife. It was them that had been steering us along our route, they had sent the men that grabbed the children to find out what our reaction would be but ensured us that the children would never had been harmed. They needed to see how far we would go to protect our children while seeing how violent we were.
I was introduced to the man I had fought and the one Billy shot showed no sign of any injury and the pair came over and shook our hands with no animosity showing.
The spokesman stated that if we had commited any unneccessary acts of violence they wouldn`t have allowed us to see them or join their community if we wished to stay. As it was they were satisfied that we only acted to defend our children and ourselves. We adjourned the meeting so we could get cleaned up and a well earned rest.
The spokeman Wlifred came to see me and we talked
"Amanda told me that she had she been thrown out by her family because she was intersexed" I told him
"That was her cover story, she was intersexed but we didn`t expect her to fall in love and marry you. If she hadn`t been killed we would have continued to monitor you both and let you live out your lives without you being any the wiser" he stated
" I would like to meet her family if possible" I replied
He looked at me and I saw sadness on his face "Amanda`s mother died last year and I am her father"
Part 6
Personal Journal
Rory was surprised by the statement and showed it in his face.
"We are basically from the same race, but we are a lot more advanced in many ways. For a long time we have monitored your planet and are surprised you haven’t wiped yourselves out with the continuous wars you have. Your Nuclear technology is dangerously basic and we have tried to help in our own way but all help has been refused. We couldn’t tell your leaders that we are from an advanced civilisation as that would put us in danger and they preferred to listen to they’re so called top scientists" said Wilfred
Alarms were sounding everywhere and the two men ran from the building
"Another war has started in Asia, a country called North Korea has started fighting with South Korea and the Americans have become involved" said a man who ran from another building
"That’s our watch station and Karl here is in charge of planetary surveillance" said Wilfred
"A war between North and South Korea could mean the end of life on Earth if it escalates " said Rory
"How do you mean? asked Wilfred
"North Korea now has a Nuclear capability and the last time Korea fought China sided with the North Koreans" stated Rory
"True but haven’t a lot of the Western Nations got Nuclear Weapons and the last we heard China was trying to get North Korea under control again" said Wilfred
"Maybe so, but Kim Jung-il is a mad bastard and would use his missiles and that would lead to an all out planet wide war" said Rory
"If any off your people wish to return to earth, they must do it now. We are going to close the portal until we get a clearer view of the situation" said Wilfred
The newcomers were asked if they wanted to return or to stay after the situation had been explained to them and none wished to return, all the men and a few of women had fought in combat and were tired of it, if Earth was to destroy itself, it could do it with out them. They handed over all their weapons and all the vehicles and weaponry were placed on the other side of Portal and then it was sealed.
A further meeting was held the next day and the newcomers were given permanent housing, jobs would have to wait but they offered to help were they could, the children were given school placements and as the days passed everyone got to know each other.
Life was far from easy for the newcomers, there were protocols that had to be observed, new customs and ceremonies to be learned but at least the language was what we call English, oh there were a few differences in the language but they were picked up pretty quick. A police force as the newcomers knew then didn’t exist they had what they call enforcers who’s main job was to mediate between the conflicting parties and find a peaceful solution that suited all sides. There were no Military but they did have a Space Defence which was mainly used to survey the regions of space looking for rogue comets or meteors that might come close enough to impact on the planet. Money didn’t exist and everyone was equal, standard of living were very high and each home was equipped with the latest high etch gadgetry which the children loved.
Time passed and as Rory predicted the war on earth did escalate into an all out Nuclear War, China again sided with North Korea and life on Earth was harder that the occupants anticipated, famine and nuclear radiation was killing people by the millions and whether life would survive on Earth, well only time would tell although they would have lost most if their technology.
Although the newcomers were kept up to date and felt sad that their home planet was in the process of destroying itself they were quickly adapting to their new life, they found out that the planet was called "Mother" as it was the seed for all life it held or at least most of it. Rory and his group were happy to help were they could, although it was mainly manual work they usually did, the children at least would have the same education as the native children and would find the correct niche in life for that the adults in the party were grateful.
Rory and party had been on the world for about six months and the adults among them had been summoned to the Planet’s Capital City for a meeting with the planetary authorities. There had been some speculation what the meeting was about but as Rory told them it was useless to guess and they would just have to wait and see what was going to happen. The children had as children do, made friends in the community and would be staying at their friends homes while the adults were away, Wilfred who was to go with the adults told everyone that it would only be for a day or two, three at the most but the children were happy enough.
The journey to Capital City only took a couple of hours and they were quickly settled into transit accommodation, after a meal Wilfred told them that the meeting would start at Nine the next morning and took them to see the major places in the city.
What the Adults hadn’t been told was that while they were away the trangendered children would have their procedures to correct their sexual anomalies, a procedure that due to the technology of this world wouldn’t take long and was relatively painless. It had all been organised this way so that the adults were put under any undue stress, while waiting for their respective child to recover.
The meeting started on time the next day and the party were all handed large plastic folders, the folders held new Identity papers for everyone in the party along with details of the Planet, town cities, resources etc. they were told a new community was being built some miles form where they were at present living and that with some of their new friends they would be moving there permanently, Wilfred would be going with them as community leader and that three of them would be on the township committee and they had to select the three committee members, the other committee members would be selected from another that group of younger citizens that were also joining the new township.
It was explained that when a township reached a certain size, a group of younger citizens would be selected to move to a new township with at least one older family to oversee everything, this helped keep continuity in the towns and also help with overpopulation of areas. Every township was built to the same specifications and standards, and all worked for a common goal, if young people wished to leave and for example join the Space Corps then they could apply when old enough.
Later that afternoon it was revealed to the Rory and his Party that the children had been surgically corrected and were now back with their friends, at first the party were outraged that they hadn’t been told been told about any surgery but after the reason was explained they calmed down, oh they were still upset that they hadn’t been there for their children put after thinking about it realised accepted that they would have distracted during the procedure and useless to anyone.
The rest of meeting when quite well but Rory was instructed that he would be required the next day for another meeting that concerned only him personally so Wilfred took the rest back to their homes and children, on their way out Steve and Mary Ellen told Rory that they would look after Amanda till he returned.
That evening I was shown round city and was surprised that there was no crime, no poverty and everyone seemed reasonably happy, although like every civilisation there were the usual malcontent s. It was late when we got back to our room and I slept until breakfast.
"We have some bad news for you Rory" said the chairman " The radiation levels are too high to sustain life, within weeks all life be extinct"
"They knew what a nuclear would mean the end of life but they still build bigger more powerful nukes" said Rory " well at least were out of it"
After a few minutes the meeting started for the second day Rory was the sole representative for his people and hoped he would OK by them, they’d trusted him so far and he wouldn’t abuse that trust.
The chairman reminded Rory that he was the subject of the meeting and that he would have to make a big decision.
An official entered the room who Rory recognised as one of doctors that had examined them on their arrival on the planet, the doctor seated himself and opened a folder that he carried.
"Rory, when we examined your party we found an anomaly with one of the adults, unfortunately that adult is you, oh its nothing life threatening but you should think about having corrected as soon as its convenient" said the doctor
"So what’s the problem? " asked Rory
"Your reproductive organs are degenerating, its not life threatening as I said, well not yet as far we know, and I’m sorry to say we don’t have cure for you, there is another another option we can offer you, but it is really a life changing option and you may not like it. If you take it you will have be able to have a sex life, but the choice is yours, we can continue monitoring you as you are but if it does become a danger to you , you wont have the option." said the doctor
"OK what is the option? asked Rory , he had a feeling he knew what the answer would be
"A change in gender, we would remove the male reproductive organs and replace them with a full set of female organs." stated the doctor
The chairman of meeting attracted Rory’s attention
"That brings us to another point "He started "Annabel is getting to an age were she needs a mother who can help her and give her the advice she needs, now I’m not going to take your daughter from you but if you had the change you would be in fact the mother figure she will need. It will be difficult for you to adjust we know given your background but you will receive all the help and support you need" he continued "Just think about it"
One of the committee members said
"I don’t know if you have noticed that our society is Matriarchal by nature, the women are the real leaders, we are just their messengers and voice, when you reach your knew home you if you accept the doctors choice will become the Matriarch and Wilfred your voice at meetings like this, if you stay as you are you will be the voice of Matriarch. Were not trying to put any pressure on you but your people and it appears ours as well trust you, you can think logically and fast and make the right decision most of the time on your own. You have the right temperament and skills to be a Matriarch.
Rory’s mind was in turmoil, finally he asked "Can I have a few days to think about it, I need to talk to my Daughter and friends before I decide anything?."
"Well the new settlement wont be finished for another 4 or 5 months but you need to decide in the next month what you want to do" said the chairman
The rest of people with the exception of the Chairman left the room, once they were alone the chairman started
"Rory I want you to meet with someone, will you follow me please" he asked
Rory followed him along a maze of corridors until they at last came to a door on the top floor of the building, the door opened and both men were ushered inside by a young woman. At the end of a room Rory could see a figure sitting by a fire as they approach the figure stood up and stepped towards them.
"Welcome Rory, I understand you have a serious decision to make that will affect many lives, I will not influence your decision in anyway the decision is your to make and your alone. I am the Grand Matriarch who is responsible for a planet of people, I am the one who makes the final decisions that affect billions of lives but I have advisers and I do get around the settlement, townships and cities on our world to see what is happening. We are not a perfect civilisation, there is no such thing. you will always find those that don’t like whatever system is in place, but let me tell how our civilisation started and became Matriarchal" she started
They all sat and refreshments were brought and the Grand Matriarch began
"About 5000 years a group landed on this world to start a new live, at the time it was the men who ran things, they did the hardest work , the building the farming, hunting etc. while the women stayed at home as mothers and wives. We first landed in this very area and after a couple of years some moved to start in another area, they met the indigenous population and unwittingly broke some of local taboos, this started a war or sorts and very few survivors returned to us. Of course the men in their wisdom decided to take the war to the enemy and with the weapons we had compared to theirs fared well, the men gloried in death and destruction but the women saw the otherside, couldn’t we live in peace and learn from these people after all they know the planet, its flora and other life forms while we are finding out the hard way. After a few months of continuous fighting a couple of the women met with their women and even with the difference in language found a common ground, both groups of women agreed to end the fighting and make peace. On returning to their various villages they told the other women what was said and agreed on, that night the men’s food in both camps was drugged and while they unconscious all the weapons were taken away and hidden, the men were locked and confined in secure compounds and the women took over, they were sick of the death and destruction and just wanted to get on with their lives.
For a couple of years there was a peace of sorts, both our peoples worked together and helped each other, unfortunately the men escaped and war started once more, it took a lot of time and energy to finally to subdue the men but in the end it was done. The main problem came when a decision had to made to pacify the men and it was decided that castration was the only option and so both sides castrated all males over the age of 11, and that ended the war. The younger male children were brought up to respect everyone, colour, religion, sex etc. were no longer frowned upon as the male children grew they respected everyone on both sides they had seen that we could work together in harmony and were content to leave things as they were. Over the centuries we had our problems with wars, bigotry etc. but we always found a way to end those wars quickly. The men once again became the leaders and Royally screwed thing up so the people decide to go back to the Matriarchal Society we have today. I’m not in this position for life, but elected to it every 10 years, in two years time there may be another Matriarch or I may still here, that depends on the people.
As you can see we are a highly advanced people and a peaceful people, there is the Space Corps which is our fighting and exploration side of life, they are to explore the system and sometimes we send those who want to settle a planet we can use. The main use of the Space Corps is to ensure the safety of the planet by other lifeforms that might be hostile but so far we haven’t encountered another species yet. So you see we have our problems just like on your planet, but we found a way round those problems and now there is no war or serious crime in our civilisation."
"Oh don’t get me wrong were far from perfect but were still trying to solve those problems that still plague us,but in a peaceable way. It was unfortunate that the nations on your planet decided to destroy themselves, we offered our help but it was refused. Your people could have had a great future. Its a shame that so many find minds were lost because of sheer stupidity by boneheaded egotistic males." she finished
"I have to agree with you on that, time and again they were told that a nuclear war would destroy everything, yet they still did it and the as usual the innocents paid for the crass stupidity of the so called leaders of our nations," said Rory
"Well we did manage to safe as many women and children as we could through a number of portal devices but they only number a few thousand, they will be kept as family units and like your group friends will stay together, but while I don’t want to put any pressure on you, Its been suggested that we forgo placing you in a settlement but rather a township be build to accommodate everyone from your planet together, and if you make the decision I think and hope you will, you will be the Matriarch responsible for them."
After chatting a while longer Rory was at last taken back to his room to get a good nights rest before returning to the settlement the next day.