Read The Kanshou (Earthkeep) Online
Authors: Sally Miller Gearhart
The Kanshou (Earthkeep) (31 page)
Sky Ensign.
Note: Although usually associated with the Sky Shrievalty, Flying Daggers (Kanshou who fly in gerts) serve in all three branches of the Kanshoubu.
Kanshou Cadet Academies
The Amah Academy, Hong Kong, graduating Amahs intothe Amahrery.
The Femmedarme Academy, Tripoli, graduating
Femmedarmes into the Femmedarmery.
The Vigilante Academy, Los Angeles, graduating
Vigilantes into the Vigilancia.
Each academy trains cadets in every branch of service (Ground, Sea, and Sky), and the core curriculum of each academy is standardized to include intense physical fitness and combat training; the study of science, technology, law, government, commerce, ethics, computation, and communication; the study of the humanities (literature, history, language, philosophy, the arts).
The Bailiwicks
Offenders against society are remanded to containment areas called
bailiwicks
. As
habitantes
(those contained in bailiwicks) they lose their status as citizens. The maximum sentence they can receive is 30 years and the credits they earn working in the bailiwicks are sent to designated family members or friends or are held for them until they are released. When they are released, habitantes resume their status as citizens. Bailiwicks vary widely in their rehabilitation programs, their job training or educational opportunites for habitantes, the privileges accorded to habitante trusties, and the work that is available to habitantes during their confinement.
Of Little Blue's 1,240,000,000 people, about 1,000,000 (or .08 % of the population) are habitantes living in bailiwicks. Worldwide there are 780 bailiwicks, each holding from 500 to 4,000 habitantes. In addition, approximately 120,000 citizens choose to live near or (in the rarer cases of habitantes who are trusties) with habitantes in bailiwicks.
The management and regulation of the bailiwicks are the express responsibility of the Kanshoubu. Of the 600,000 Kanshou on Little Blue, some 375,000 are detailed to bailiwick duty.
GOVERNANCE OF THE KANSHOUBU
The Heart Of All Kanshou
18 Retired Kanshou of all ranks and branches, two elected by the Kanshou of each of the nine satrapies, whose responsibilities are
to determine the policies of the Kanshoubu,
to choose, review, and retain or dismiss its three
Magisters; to approve or deny the Magisters's
appointments of Vice-Magisters,
to serve as the highest appellate body in disputes
within the ranks of the Amahrery, the
Femmedarmery, or the Vigilancia.
The Amah's Ear, The Femmedarme's Ear, The Vigilante's Ear
Courts martial, or boards of arbitration elected by Kanshou from within each satrapy, operative as-needed on varying levels or at various locations, whose responsibility is to hear and resolve internal disputes or grievances.
The Congress Of Active Kanshou
90 Active Service Shrieves representing Little Blue's
600,000 Kanshou, 30 of them elected by Amahs, 30 by
Femmedarmes, and 30 by Vigilantes (10 from each satrapy) whose responsibility is to advise The Heart Of All Kanshou on matters of concern to all active Kanshou.Though technically this body has no legislative power within the Kanshoubu, its influence is great and its opinion is actively sought by the Heart on every matter of consequence.
THE KANSHOU CODE
The Kanshou are pledged to implementing the statutes enacted by Little Blue's legislative bodies. Kanshou of whatever rank or branch of service are ultimately commanded by the Magister of the tri-satrapy in which they serve, and they honor the culture-specific traditions of that geographical area.
The Kanshou keep the peace and secure the physical safety of Little Blue's citizens, most frequently by restraining individual violent offenders. First and foremost, they are warriors, champions who choose if necessary to forfeit their own lives for those who depend upon them for their safety. Further, Kanshou administer the bailiwicks and protect the habitantes. They take into custody those who trespass against "commonweal statutes," laws that have been enacted to prevent harm to others or to the Earth, such as the global moratoria on cloning and genetic engineering or the statutes that outlaw the distribution of controlled substances or weaponry. Kanshou constitute frontline emergency forces in the case of flood, fire, hurricane, earthquake or other natural disaster.
The Labrys Manual
, sacred to every peacekeeper, reflects the values and practices of each Kanshou and Kanshou cadet, including her priorities:
"As Kanshou I am Earthkeeper before all things, for the Earth and Her biosphere are essential to the existence of all life. I protect and honor Her above all that is simply important or desirable. She is my highest priority.
"As Kanshou I am guardian of each individual person's physical safety, for an individual's safety or assurance of continued existence is the most
important
element in one's life and ultimately in the life of our species. I protect the safety of our planet's people above anything that is simply desirable. This is my second-highest priority.
"As Kanshou I am protector and preserver of diversity, for diversity is the most
desirable
quality of human existence. I hold in my heart the vision of the return of one of the Earth's most extraordinary ranges of diverse beings, Her non-human animals. Until their return, my desire for diversity includes the Natural World and is centered especially in the variety of human phenomena -- our genders, our cultures, our myriad physical forms/colors/textures, our abilities, our ideas, our beliefs, our emotional expressions, our communications, our creations, and our delights. The protection and preservation of these things is my third-highest priority.
Table of Contents
1 - Asir-By-The-Sea - [2087 C.E.] 11
2 - Los Angeles - [2087 C.E.] 35
3 – Meeting - [2041-2069 C.E.] 58
4 - Parting – [2069-2087 C.E.] 85
10 – Bucharest - [2087 C.E.] 170
