Chapter 6

The vacation on Earth relaxed the three adults. Sunbathing was definitely a much more pleasant way to get vitamin D than pills from a replicator. Even using a sunbed wasn’t quite the same. They did a lot of swimming and a little beach volleyball. It was good to be back on Earth and out of the routine of work, even if only for two weeks. Darius seemed to enjoy it too, but that may just have been because Nichelle was enjoying herself.

“I can see why people like beach vacations,” Nichelle said. “Doin’ nothin’ for a coupla weeks. I could get used to this.”

“Didn’t you have vacations before?” Claudia asked, surprised.

“We couldn’t afford more than a day or two at the beach. If mom was workin’ then she needed the money. An’ if she wasn’t workin’ then we couldn’t afford a vacation anyways.”

“That’s sad,” Claudia replied to her friend. “We always had one vacation a year, though we didn’t always go to the beach. The Grand Canyon was the best.”

“I only ever saw it on TV. Looked good though.”

Just then the resort AI interrupted them through Nichelle’s collar, “Darius’ sunshade needs adjusting. The sun has moved to a different angle and his temperature is slightly elevated.”

Nichelle immediately turned to see to her son, her bangles jingling. Everyone else, even Craig, had to wait their turn whenever Darius needed anything.

Claudia lay back absorbing the sun. At seven months her bump was showing and she was anticipating the next two months and all the horrors ahead that Nichelle was gleefully describing for her. Surely things couldn’t be that bad? Though having her own baby at the end of it would certainly be worthwhile. She loved helping with Darius and her own baby wouldn’t leave when Nichelle went on to become a sponsor. She knew she would be bored with just school and work. Looking after a baby was much more fulfilling for her. Just as well; she knew that she’d be looking after babies and children for the rest of her life.

Returning to the Moon was a bit of a comedown, but they all knew there was work for them to do. Nichelle attacked her training with renewed vigor and Craig got used to his new job as a lance corporal. It wasn’t too different. He now had to run a small team and his other work reduced slightly to allow for a little management time. The higher your rank the more management you did and less of the actual work – just like before the Swarm: the workers did the work and the managers managed.

Over the months he’d been in the Moon, the Civil Service had become better organized and better staffed. In theory they now covered the bulk of the dependent and general concubine training. In practice, Craig helped where he was needed since he already had the teaching skills. The rest of his teaching load was educating FA concubines and training them in the specifics of their future work. The Civil Service did ask for his help sometimes, but there was less of that then there had been in the early days. The rest of the time he spent helping new sponsors and organizing the reception end of pickups, combined with the occasional excursion to Earth when a full-size Marine would be too obvious. There was enough variety in the work to keep him interested even if the vacations weren’t as long as when he was teaching.

“Lance Corporal,” the lieutenant said, “this is Marine Officer Cadet Saul Edwards. He has a problem and has asked the Fleet Auxiliary to assist.”

“Of course, sir.” Craig turned to the new Marine sitting by the lieutenant’s desk. Saul was the full two meters so he’d been in the Moon long enough for the nanites to have boosted his size. “How can I help, sir?”

“It’s my former wife. She’s now my concubine and she has unhappy ex-wife syndrome. I need someone to give her a jolt to shake her out of it. There’s a risk that she’ll overstep the mark if she’s not careful and I don’t want that to happen. I’d rather nip it in the bud.”

“Why not one of your Marine colleagues, sir?”

“Two reasons,” Saul explained. “I don’t want to risk her meeting the person again after I leave the Moon, so it can’t be a Marine. Second, the base AI suggested your DNA as a good match to hers. She needs to get pregnant and I want to increase the genetic diversity in my family. We already have a couple of children between us, so I’m looking for a different father.”

Craig understood the need for genetic diversity, though this man’s ex-wife wasn’t likely to be happy about what that entailed. “How do you think she’ll react, sir?”

“Julie? She won’t be happy about it, not at all. She’ll go along but with minimum cooperation I suspect. I think she’ll be determined not to enjoy it.”

That didn’t sound good, not good at all. Orders were orders though. “Very well, sir. I’ll do my best. When would be a good time?”

“Thank you, Lance Corporal. She has to go to Medical first, so she’ll be ready for you at 20:00 hours tomorrow evening.”

“That will be fine, sir. I need a few minutes in a med-tube myself to get my fertility turned back on.”

Craig checked his uniform before he left his apartment; he wanted to look his best. He’d got the distinct impression from Saul that his former wife, now turned concubine, wouldn’t be overjoyed to see him. Better to start cautiously.

The door to the Edwards’ apartment opened as he came up to it and he went in. No sign of Saul’s second concubine or any kids, just Julie Edwards sitting on the couch. She looked as if she’d been crying and hadn’t fully repaired the damage. Like Saul, she’d been through the med-tubes. She looked in her early twenties with little excess fat, except for her breasts.

This probably wouldn’t be an easy assignment. Craig liked sex of course, but he definitely preferred a willing partner. He was going through with it despite that; he was under orders here just as much as Julie was. He sat near to her on the couch, not too close but not too far either. He didn’t look at her, just stared ahead at the wall. He waited a bit for her to start talking, but she didn’t.

They couldn’t sit there forever, so he began, “You know neither of us has any choice in this, Julie. We both have to do what we’re told. You’re a concubine and I have my orders.” This was obviously going to be more difficult than his time with Lindsay, Dennis’ wife. At least Lindsay was more co-operative.

She didn’t answer, so he turned to look at her. She was just sitting there sadly in her shift and looking at her knees. He reached out to take her hand. He couldn’t help it, she looked so lonely and miserable. She was probably trying to wish him away. Unfortunately that wasn’t an option, otherwise he would have taken it. He squeezed her hand, trying to give her some human comfort. Difficult, because he was probably the last person she wanted comfort from right now.

“I know Saul has talked to you,” he said. “You agreed to be his concubine, which isn’t the same as being his wife. You’ve had the training as well. It’s important that you make the change. Not changing can be dangerous for you.”

Still she didn’t react. That wasn’t good. If they didn’t start, they’d never finish, and Craig suspected that the longer she sat there, the worse it would be for her. He stood up, keeping hold of her hand, and pulled her up. She was plainly reluctant, but she didn’t really resist. He led her into the master bedroom.

How to do this? Julie obviously wanted the minimal interaction, to lie back and pretend it wasn’t happening. That wouldn’t help him get off though. Maybe doing her from behind might be easier for her? That way she would be facing away and not have to look at him.

Craig sat her on the edge of the bed and got her to lie back with her dark brown hair spread round her shoulders. That way she could look at the ceiling instead of at him. He parted Julie’s legs, knelt on the floor and lifted the hem of her shift slightly. Her pussy was as dry as a bone when he tested it with a finger; just what he’d suspected. Natural lubrication or artificial? Given that she probably wanted something quick and with minimal interaction, he went for artificial. He stood up, took off his uniform and went over to the replicator for a tube of lube. Walking back to her, he could see that she’d turned her head to one side with an arm covering her eyes. Maybe he wouldn’t need to do her doggy-style after all.

He used one hand to spread the gunk on his dick while he used two fingers of the other to grease up her pussy. He spent more time and effort on his dick since he wanted to be close to blowing his load before putting it into her. Once he’d worked himself up close to blast-off, he moved in closer to her and replaced his fingers with his cock. He took a few strokes to spread the lube further into her pussy since his dick was longer than his fingers. Once she was lubricated, he started thrusting harder so he could cum as quickly as possible. He thought she realized what he was trying to do. She didn’t move her hips much, but she was using her pussy muscles to help him, tightening them each time he withdrew. It was good that she wasn’t entirely passive, it helped both of them get this finished as soon as possible.

Craig shot his load in her pussy and immediately withdrew. He dressed and left straight away, with a very brief goodbye. Julie clearly wanted him out of there and he was in no mood to stay. He didn’t even hang around for a shower, he could easily get one back in his apartment. He certainly wanted one, the whole experience had left him feeling unclean.

God! That was grim. He hoped he wouldn’t ever have to do anything like that again. He could understand why Saul had him do it. If Julie was suffering from unhappy ex-wife syndrome, then there was a risk that she would push things too far and wind up dead. Craig knew Saul didn’t want that, but the cure wasn’t very pleasant, either for him or for Julie. He hoped she got the point the first time; he didn’t relish the prospect of a repeat.

That night in bed with Claudia, Craig cried in her arms. Sponsors aren’t meant to do that, but he couldn’t help it. He certainly needed to let things out. Claudia was a big help, cuddling him and being mummy for the night. Thanks to her he didn’t feel too bad by the next morning.

Two days later he got a message from Saul. Julie was pregnant, which covered the first part of his orders. Saul also said that Julie seemed to be responding to the lesson, at least in the short term, so they didn’t need to repeat it. Craig felt relief, for both himself and for Julie.

He would never know the long term result of his efforts. Hundreds of thousands of new colonists passed through the Moonbases; it was impossible to keep track of even a tiny percentage of them. He was learning to let go once they’d boarded their colony transport.

Nichelle had been late; Claudia was early. Five days before she was due, her waters broke. She was going to start clearing up the mess when she felt her contractions starting. Nichelle was in a Taekwondo class, so Benson immediately called her back to the apartment to help her sister concubine. Craig was working, so the AI notified him, but he couldn’t leave work yet. The birth didn’t seem as bad to Claudia as Nichelle’s had been. It was still bad, but baby Antonia was smaller than Darius had been. She was even more wrinkled as well. Claudia didn’t mind that, she knew that the wrinkles would soon fill out as Antonia grew. A mother! She was a mother! Looking down at this brand new human being suckling on her breast she knew, yes, she could be content with this.

The weather was good that day and people were out enjoying the sunshine. That was bad news for the shops in the Mall – business was down. It was bad news for the Confederacy as well – fewer people inside the field when they isolated the Mall, so numbers were below expectations. Because of that, the extraction ran more quickly than planned as did the in-processing of the new arrivals in the Moon. Thanks to the sunshine Craig got back to his apartment forty minutes early. The AI had alerted him, but the sight of his two wives (and they were wives, not just concubines) sitting side by side on the couch, feeding their two babies got to him.

They weren’t expecting him back that early so they didn’t notice him at first. He stood quietly in the door looking at Claudia and Nichelle chatting and breastfeeding. His heart almost burst from the emotion of the scene. It was routine, but somehow it got to him. Maybe because they hadn’t noticed him yet, he could stand back and take it in. He could feel tears, tears of happiness, on his cheeks. This was a perfect moment. It wouldn’t last, but just here just now it was a perfect moment filled with emotion.

“Craig, you’re crying.” Claudia had noticed him standing there.

“I’m so happy. The two of you there ... Just wonderful,” he told them.

“Come and say hello to Antonia,” Claudia replied, smiling. “I’d give you a hug, but she might get squashed.”

“An’ you’d get milk on your uniform,” Nichelle added with a grin.

“The weather is looking good for today’s game at Wahiawa High School. The stadium is filling quickly, so don’t delay folks if you want to be here for the kick-off. We’ll be back after this break to show...”

The AI cut the feed from the local TV station during the ad-break and switched to an overhead drone. Craig and his team were waiting with the other follow-up squads, ready to transport down to the stadium to back up the Marines. The undercover people with transporters were in position and ready.

The TV feed helped them get some idea of what they were jumping into. The crowd looked good for a pickup: lots of families here to see their school team play and probably a lot of pre-packs as well. Any large gathering like this was a potential Confederacy target, so people made sure to turn up together.

The AI switched back to the TV feed after the break. The familiar pre-game rituals were starting: the teams were warming up, the band was playing and the Junior ROTC was getting ready to raise the colors. The only surprise was that the opening invocation was given by a Shinto priest, not a Christian minister. Given the large Japanese-descended population on Oahu that was not completely unexpected.

Unfortunately, the Confederacy couldn’t wait for the game to finish, that would take too long. All the necessary people were in place, so the gray exclusion field isolated the stadium as the two team captains were walking out for the toss. The initial confusion at the TV station amused Craig, as they scrambled to find out what had caused the problem with their live broadcast from the stadium. The AI soon switched the video feed back to the drones inside the exclusion field to let Craig and his colleagues keep up with developments down on the ground.

The spectators didn’t create too much of a fuss once they saw the Marines, maybe due to their Japanese heritage? Either that, or Confederacy extractions were almost expected at events like this. Ever since the Cube Ships came into service the pace and size of extractions had increased greatly. Inevitably there were a few idiots in the crowd, but the Marines dealt with them very publicly and the other spectators were sensible enough to learn the lesson. On the field most of the players and some of the cheerleaders were walking off to retrieve their CAP cards from the changing rooms. That gave the Marines time to get things organized before letting people out of the bleachers.

The first job for Craig’s team was helping with the disabled fans. There was a group, many in wheelchairs, near the sideline. His team helped those who wanted to leave Earth to the special large transporter they had set up nearby. Some of the motorized chairs were too large for a standard transporter, so his team came prepared with a larger model. Up in the Moon they would arrive near a medical section with enough empty tubes to start treating them all immediately – the video feed had let them get a preliminary count. Some of the younger ones had their parents with them, so their parents got to go early as well.

Once they’d cleared the disabled spectators, Craig moved his team to the fifty-yard line. People looking for other members of their families or pre-packs were waiting there to meet up before transporting. Mostly it was those who had been on the field: players, cheerleaders, JROTC and the band. The Marines were calling the spectators down section by section and the parents in each section would come to the fifty-yard line to pick up their children before going to the east end of the field, where the transporters were waiting to take them to the Moon. A few didn’t want to go, so Craig sent them to the west end to wait for the barrier field to lift. Half the time they didn’t even have to call out the names. As the parents walked onto the field their children saw them coming and were ready to meet them.

Craig was sitting at a trestle table with Pat, one of his Privates, when a family arrived. If they’d got this far, then whoever they ware planning to meet hadn’t seen them. Mr. Matsushita was with his wife and young son of about twelve or thirteen. “I’m here to collect my daughter, Yumiko Matsushita,” he told Craig.

Pat went off to find Yumiko and the Matsushitas stood off to one side, leaving the table clear for others. Craig saw Pat emerge from the crowd leading a Japanese-looking teen wearing a cadet uniform. His obvious assumption was wrong. As soon as Pat and the teen reached the family Mr. Matsushita erupted, yelling and gesticulating. Craig quickly joined them, waving Pat back to the table.

Turning to Craig, the irate father shouted, “My daughter has gone to the Moon! I demand that you return her at once. Bring her back here to be with her family!”

Craig asked the teen, “You’re not Yumiko, then?”

“No, I’m Himeko. I’m in the JROTC with Yumi. She asked me to let her dad know that she’d gone. He wanted her to stay on Earth and she wanted to go, so she took her chance as soon as you guys turned up.”

“How old is your daughter, Mr. Matsushita?” Craig asked.

“She’s fifteen. But she’s still my daughter and should obey her father. How soon can you get her back here?”

“If she’s fifteen, then she’s old enough to make her own decision,” Craig explained. “She’s legally an adult in the Confederacy, so we won’t force her to return against her will.”

Realizing that his daughter was already gone and there wasn’t anything he could do about it, Mr. Matsushita vented his anger at the Confederacy in general and Craig in particular. His wife and son waited silently while he was shouting; she kept her face blank, while his young son just looked embarrassed at the way his father was behaving. Once the man had wound down he stormed off to the west end of the field, followed by his remaining family. Craig was used to being shouted at by irate parents, so he wasn’t much bothered by the incident. He hadn’t even palmed his stinger.

Seated back at the table, Craig used the AI to check on the Matsushitas. Yumiko was in the Moon being processed. With her 4.6 CAP she a good chance of being picked as a concubine. Her father only had a 3.8 CAP and was presumably aware that he would have effectively zero chance of being selected. Judging by their short conversation, he would not find it easy following his sponsor’s orders. For him, staying on Earth was, probably the better option in the short-term. His wife had scored 4.7, higher than him. Another reason not to go, a man like that probably didn’t want to see either his wife or his daughter succeed where he failed.

“Nichelle,” Craig told his concubine, “I want to give you a birthday present.”

“Me? A present? But it’s Claudia’s birthday comin’ up, not mine.”

“True, but you’ll be leaving to become a Marine after your birthday, and I want you to have your present early. I won’t get a chance after you’ve gone. You’ll be posted to some colony away from here.”

“OK. Are you gonna tell me what I’m gettin’?”

“I’ll give you a baby. A brother or sister for Darius.”

“Yeah. I can see why you wanna do that before my birthday.” She paused, “Will bein’ pregnant mess with my Marine trainin’ any?”

“No. Not much anyway. I checked with Benson and the Marines have a special training program for pregnant recruits. Once you’ve had your baby you catch up with the parts you’ve missed – mostly the physical elements. You don’t want to get kicked in the stomach during unarmed combat training when you’re eight months pregnant, do you?”

“Shit, no.” Nichelle paused, thinking. “Could you make my hips wider before the birth? That might make things easier.”

“No.”

“No? Why not?” she said, frowning.

“Because I can’t order changes like that for another sponsor,” Craig told her. “By the time you’re ready to give birth, you’ll be a sponsor. You can order your own changes.”

She immediately broke into a big smile. “Yeah! You’re right. I’ll get myself five foot wide hips and a killa ass to match!” Craig just had to laugh at that.