Chapter 2

“That, my friends, is a demonstration of what NOT to do if you want to be picked up by a sponsor. It is also a demonstration of what TO do if confronted with a defiant or dangerous conk or wannabe conk. Sergeant Malone is to be commended for her quick and decisive action to eliminate the threat posed by the subject. What was his name again? Does anyone have his CAP card?” Captain Ramirez kept our attention as he took command and instructed us all.

“I don’t have his CAP card, but I know that he was Clifford D. Maxwell, Cliff for short. He was slated to be my concubine for a little while, but then I changed my mind not long ago, and he didn’t take well to that news at all. I figure that he was trying to get to me to pressure me to change my mind back. He used to be my boyfriend, so I think that he took for granted that he had it all locked down and reserved a slot for himself,” Megan owned up to having briefly chosen the fool for her stud.

“Well, consider yourself very lucky that you wised up in time to expose and destroy him for the troublemaker that he clearly was. Folks, this little soap opera should reinforce to you the stark reality that, when it comes to this situation, expectations and sentiment have no bearing on the selection process. No one is entitled to a slot as a concubine, not even with a long-time partner or spouse.

“Let me repeat that, folks. NO ONE IS ENTITLED TO A SLOT AS A CONCUBINE! Period. End of story! You aren’t entitled to have hubby or wifey drag you along. If you’ve treated them well, perhaps they will, but even now, they’re under no obligation whatsoever to you. Same goes for exes, of course, and parents, siblings, adult offspring, etc. There are ZERO REQUIREMENTS to take certain prized people from your past as concubines. Are we clear on that?

“Now, in case you get any crazy notions despite what I just told you, we have a full team here, so don’t get any ideas. The three of us are just the ones that you can see, alright now? Around every corner, in discreet spots, are the various comrades on this extraction team. Now, let me see his CAP card, just as an object lesson. Thank you. That helps a lot, Mr...?” Ramirez now addressed the security boss from the cinema.

“Zhang Yishan, sir. Originally from Hunan Province, China. I’m, alas, only a 6.3, but I hope to pass my retest. I wouldn’t mind doing so while serving as some lady sponsor’s gigolo in the meantime, though. If she doesn’t mind a Chinese concubine, that is,” the security chief now made his case.

“Well, well, it just so happens that I’ve an empty slot. For a male conk. For ... obvious reasons. What do you say? An eighteen-year old cheerleader and student council rep not a problem for you?” Megan smiled at the guard, “seriously, I know that you’re not entitled, given what he said, but I am in your debt and even owning you for a short time could be fun. I’ve never been with an Asian guy before.”

“Let’s table that for just a moment. I want to finish the object lesson, and then, to illustrate things further, we can make this fine fellow the first concubine selected by a sponsor. I like your style, anyway, young lady. You’re ... Daniels, right? Yep. Daniels, Megan Shannon. Daughter of Kevin and Amber Daniels. Aged eighteen years. Senior year of high school. Captain, Cheerleading Squad. Representative, Student Council. Current GPA 3.98. Very impressive. If you were a conk, honey, you’d be prime stock, no doubt of that.

“And your notorious ex. Let me see here. Maxwell, Clifford Donald. Convicted felon, two counts of sexual battery. Did you know that? Age nineteen, repeating senior year of high school. It says here that, at just fourteen years of age, just five years ago, Mr. Maxwell pleaded guilty to lesser charges than forcible rape related to his babysitter, then sixteen-year old Shawna Burke. His record was, mostly, of course, expunged, when he turned eighteen, but the Confederacy is exempt from that rule for obvious reasons.

“Three arrests in the past three years, all of them for some kind of suspected sex crimes. So far, though, he beat the rap other than the first charge at age fourteen. It also says that his profile, based upon CAP and past evaluations, deems him to be a violent psychopath with sexually sadistic tendencies. Dangerous criminal potential here, plain and simple.

“This man was a menace to the Confederacy, just waiting to happen, miss. A full-on sexual predator. A serial killer just waiting to happen. Think Ted Bundy or Jeffrey Dahmer. He wasn’t just dead weight. He was a serious problem, just waiting to happen, as I said. You did well to drop him like a bad habit. He had a score of 2.3 for a reason. Far below acceptable levels, even for a concubine,” Ramirez recited Cliff’s past and Megan became visibly, physically ill.

“Please, what can I do ... I dumped him, but I’m ... pregnant with his baby,” she blurted to our shock, “I had no idea that he was such ... pure evil.”

“Well, we put a premium on reproduction, of course, so I wouldn’t advocate abortion, but if you wish to look into ... alternative placements for the child upon delivery and ways to discourage any sociopathic leanings, let me assure you, the Confederacy has those kind of resources available to you. AI, how far along is this pregnancy?” Lieutenant Davies spoke up now.

“This gestational period is currently four months along. A previous pregnancy cycle appears to have been terminated at the age of sixteen, two years ago. All data indicates a voluntary termination in that case. Uterine scarring is minimal and will not prevent a healthy, full-term pregnancy under proper prenatal care. DNA patterns indicate that the late Mr. Maxwell was the biological father of both embryos,” the AI stipulated.

“Yeah, I definitely wasn’t ready to be a mother to Cliff’s kid back then. I’m damned glad that we never tied the knot or tried to raise any children together. What a fiasco that would have been, probably an abusive, violent one. But I understand why abortion’s not an option here. Just don’t ask me to raise the little guy. He or she deserves a fair shot at life, not a mother constantly watching for any signs of vicious behavior, worried sick and emotionally distant from him,” Megan nodded.

“Duly noted and resources will be allocated toward family placement of the fetus upon delivery. Proceed with the extraction, Captain Ramirez,” the AI announced, making the captain cough a bit.

“Very well, then. Okay, Zhang Yishan, do you wish to be placed as a concubine with Ms. Daniels?” Ramirez turned to Zhang, who nodded and smiled at Megan.

“I do ... she is very sweet. I will try to please her while training to retest, and if I never get my freedom back, I will be happier serving than I could ever be with another sponsor. At least my family will endure, even if it costs me my autonomy. That is a good sacrifice to make, my own needs for the benefit of my ancestors and descendants, my family, my bloodline,” Zhang, while very Americanized at times, easily reverted to a more traditional Chinese mindset, the collective exalted above the individual.

“Oh, honey, I’ll make it far less of a ‘sacrifice’ than you could ever imagine!” Megan told him with a kiss, taking his hand, “I accept this man gladly as my concubine. I get one more, right?”

“That is correct. You’ve clearly found your male. I would recommend a woman to help with the domestic side of things ... being the brood mare and the mama bear. Between you and her, Mr. Zhang will likely find that there are more rewards to his sacrifice than he ever expected. He seems like the sort to make lemonade out of lemons, anyway, to find ways to enjoy life even in far worse circumstances,” Sergeant Malone spoke up for her part.

“That would be correct, I believe. Mr. Zhang, now confirmed as a concubine of Ms. Daniels, scores very high for adaptability and resilience, less so for independence, hence his lower total. His sexual scores are average, same with his parenting scores, but his violence and aggression when something or someone valuable to him are intensified. He’s a natural bodyguard, in other words,” the AI clarified, making Zhang blush just a bit.

“Oh, boy, honey, let’s go find our mama bear! But ... first ... strip! I want to see every last spot of my new stud muffin. All of you! Off with that cute uniform of yours! I always thought that you were hot stuff in that, by the way,” Megan directed Zhang to disroble, which he did awkwardly, but with all due haste, anyway.

“See, guys ... nothing wrong with this package. It’s actually longer than Cliff’s. Same girth. In any case, it can always be ... improved. Come on, babe. Let’s go find our soccer mom!” Megan didn’t waste any time grabbing one of the other patrons.

“Here, try this. It will really help you hone in on the sub-scores,” a Marine from the shadows presented a special device to Megan.

“Thank you, sir,” Megan blushed.

“Don’t call me, ‘sir,’ miss. I work for a living. Gunnery Sergeant Heber K. Pratt. Long story with that name. Let’s just say that I’m not the clean-living Mormon boy anymore of my youth in Salt Lake City. And I don’t miss it at all,” he chuckled.

“Well, thank you, anyway, Gunny,” Megan smiled appreciatively, sizing him up for possible casual encounters in the future.

Older guys were a lot better bets than a schmuck like Cliff, that much she was freshly reminded, though she was ready to make an exception and co-sponsor with me. Yeah, I can be perceptive when I wish to be. Though not enough to catch First Sergeant Malone before she shoved my own reader into my hand. I looked at her, gulped, and accidentally brushed her hand with mine as I walked away.

“Mr. O’Connell, if you want more than just accidental contact sometime, well, I’ll be sure to give you the location for my bunk. We’ll be shipping out together, after all, and I don’t have a conk going with me like the squids. I could use a little ... cheering up, if you catch my drift,” Molly winked at me, making me blush as I went to my sisters first.

“Girls, before I read your cards with this thing, I got one question for you. Are you ready to commit incest, because that’s what this will be. I wasn’t planning to take you, but if I don’t, I need to get someone else to do it, so you’re not stuck back here on Earth. I just wanna know now which course of action you’d find more comfortable.

“I don’t want to force myself on someone who hasn’t thought this through first. You pitched yourselves to me, but are you, sisters, quite up to the job? The nanites will likely stop any deformities in the womb or later, but this is still taboo. It’s still incest. And who knows how Mom will take the news,” I barely managed to finish my little lecture when Kara demonstrated her sincerity by tearing off her green tank top and sliding off her Daisy Dukes.

“How much skin, Master? That’s your proper title, right? You tell me how skin you want to see now and I’ll show it to you, I swear. I really, really, don’t care what Mom thinks. I just want to get off this planet to safety in one piece and my odds of that are pretty slim if I’m still here in ten years or longer. You save me from that, you’ll be my hero ... and my Master. So what if you’re also my big brother?” Kara showed me that she meant business while I looked closely at her card with my reader by resuming her striptease.