“Can I see it then?”

“Sure, Brian.” Evan passed his brand new CAP Card over to his best friend.

The two boys were in Evan’s bedroom talking about their CAP scores. Brian had got his CAP card three months ago. Evan had taken his first CAP test yesterday, the day he turned fourteen.

“Six point eight,” Brian said, grinning. “So my seven point four beats you then. Older and wiser, that’s me.”

Evan just smiled. He was long used to Brian’s teasing; he’d been on the receiving end of it for years. You’d have thought that the three months difference in their ages was three years the way Brian went on about it. “Yeah, they seemed quite pleased with it at the CAP testing centre. Apparently my aggression wasn’t good, and dragged me down a bit, but my intelligence was well up. They liked that a lot. They said I could retest every year on my birthday, and my score would probably go up as I got older. I volunteered to do research for the Navy, like we agreed.”

Evan and Brian were the two top brains in their class at school. Evan was the maths brain, Brian was the computer brain and both were in classes one year ahead of their age. They got on well together in their different fields. Evan thought up interesting problems, and Brian programmed his computer to help solve them. Sometimes it was the other way round, Brian would find a good problem on the internet, and Evan would work out a sneaky way to solve it, something better than simply using brute force to crunch through all the combinations. Crude brute force wasn’t any fun at all.

They liked working together so much that they had decided to stay together to do research after being extracted. Brian, ever the computer geek, had been investigating the Confederacy on the Internet and was looking at setting up two pre-packs so they could be sure to get extracted together. The problem there was that the Confederacy wanted a minimum of three sponsors for a prearranged pickup, and they only made two now that Evan had his CAP card.

“I suppose you’ll want your mother back then?” Brian asked. He’d included Evan’s mother in his pre-pack to make sure that Evan would be with him if he was extracted before Evan’s fourteenth birthday. Just to be sure, they’d signed papers to make him Evan’s legal guardian alongside his mother; another reason for a lot of teasing between the two boys.

“Yeah, I’ll take her myself now,” Evan said. If one of us doesn’t take her, then who would? All the men will be taking their wives and probably some good-looking younger woman as well. Older single women don’t get much of a chance. I have to take her really. I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t.”

“That’s what I thought too,” Brian agreed. “Since they separated there’s no way my da would take mum, so I’m her best chance. I didn’t really have a choice. Like you say, I couldn’t leave her behind. And she knows a lot more about raising children than Heather or Jasmine do.” Brian paused for a moment, “We could always do a swap. You take my mum while I take yours?”

“No. We get on better with our own mothers I think. We can always do a temporary switch for genetic diversity some time. Having all our babies from too narrow a gene pool wouldn’t be good.”

“OK then. We’ll keep our own mothers, with the option to exchange for making babies. That should work.”

“I’ll need a second girl as well as my mum,” Evan pointed out. “Who do you think I should look at?”

“You’ll have lots to pick from,” Brian advised. “As soon as word gets out that you’ve got a good score they’ll be all over you at school. They were all over me for a bit until I chose Heather and Jasmine. Lots of ‘accidental’ nipple shots and panty shots. And a few no-panty shots. You’re in for an interesting few weeks.”

Evan didn’t look as enthusiastic as his friend had expected. “The thing is, I don’t want any of the girls from school. Most of them have just ignored me up to now, so I don’t want to pick them. They don’t want me, they just want that CAP card.” He retrieved it from his friend and replaced it in his pocket. “The only girl I’d want to take from school is Orlaith, and she’s a sponsor herself.”

“Yeah, she’s great,” Brian agreed. “At least she can understand most of what we talk about. That’s why I picked Heather. She’s almost as good as Orlaith, so I can talk to her about interesting stuff. If you don’t want girls, then you could take an older woman, they aren’t as silly and giggly as schoolgirls. I’d try out Mairead if I were you. She should fit well with your mum.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah, for definite. Mairead likes to take charge of things, while your mum is happier following orders. My mum likes giving orders too, so she wouldn’t get on so well with Mairead. That’s why she’s only one of my reserves.”

“What about you? If I take my mum back then you’ll be one short.”

“I’ll probably take Stephanie. Her daughter Kathleen is only eleven, so that gets two people away from the Swarm in the one slot. She’s got the motherhood experience as well, which is good.”

All the older women Brian had mentioned were friends or neighbours of the two boys’ mothers.

“So, you’ve been testing them all?”

Brian grinned and nodded. He had the score and he had the urges, so he had made hay while he could. “You’ll need to test yours as well you know.”

Evan nodded. He knew that already, but it worried him.

“No Evan. Thanks for asking, but I can’t. I really can’t.”

“Why not mum? You agreed to be Brian’s concubine, didn’t you?”

Louise looked embarrassed at that. “Well ... yes I did, but he’s not my son. You are.”

“I’m still a virgin, mum,” Evan told her. He could feel himself blushing. This was definitely not the usual sort of conversation he had with his mother. “Don’t you want to be my first?”

Louise avoided the question, “I’m sure you’ll find some nice girl. There must be plenty out there looking for a sponsor.”

He was disappointed, but not completely surprised. “If I do it, then I’ll need some condoms.” Evan knew he’d be too embarrassed to buy any himself. He was old enough to buy them legally now, but that didn’t help with the embarrassment factor.

Louise smiled at her son. “Well that’s something I can help you with. I’ll pick up a box next time I go shopping.” She was glad that Evan was thinking ahead and being considerate. She felt sad that she would lose him, but there was no way she’d be able to sleep with him. It had been difficult enough with Brian – sex with a fourteen-year-old had felt too much like cradle snatching. When the fourteen-year-old was also her own son it was just too much.

“Thanks mum.” Evan sighed in relief; one small problem solved. Setting up a new family with two near-strangers would be difficult at only fourteen. He really wanted his mother with him in whatever colony he ended up at. Since she was determined not to go with him, he decided to drop the subject for the moment. Maybe he’d think of something later to persuade her, or do that mother-swap with Brian. “I’m probably going to take Mairead, mum. Do you think she’d be good?”

“Oh, yes. She’s a very good choice. She knows how to look after children, and she’ll be so happy to be picked after what happened.”

“What did happen, mum? I never did find out why she was left behind.”

“That’s for her to say, not me,” Louise told him. “You’ll have to ask her yourself.”

Evan decided to do exactly that.

The bright green numbers on his alarm clock showed 03:18; Evan had woken up with an idea. His subconscious had obviously been working on the problem of what to do about his mother. Yes, it was a good idea. Thinking around it, she should go for it. Feeling pleased with himself he went back to sleep.

He pitched it to her over breakfast. Louise smiled, “I think I could probably agree to that. You’ll take me with you, but you promise not to make me to have sex with you?”

“Yes, mum. You’ll still have to do it with someone to get you pregnant, but it won’t be me. Unless you change your mind of course,” he added, hopefully.

“That would be a lot easier for me. Other men aren’t you. I did it with Brian, so I know I can do it with someone you pick.” She smiled at her son, “I trust you to pick a nice man.”

“Of course, mum. You’re sure you’ll be OK not getting much ... you know? You won’t get frustrated?”

“I’ve done without for years, Evan,” Louise smiled. Evan’s father, Patrick, had left as soon as he found out she was pregnant. Over the years Louise had got used to doing without sex. “Us older women aren’t like teenage boys, thinking about sex all the time.”

“Good. Then you’ll be my concubine, along with Mairead?”

“Yes, Evan, I will, with that condition.”

He went to hug her, “Thanks mum. That’ll make me really happy.”

“Can I come in, Evan?”

“Yes Mairead.” Her voice was easy to recognise, it was almost deep enough to be a man speaking. Sometimes it caused confusion when she answered the phone to a stranger.

She entered and sat on his bed as Evan turned from his desk to look at her. In many ways she was very like his mother: pale skin, shoulder-length brown hair, but her blue eyes were different. Mairead was slightly taller, while Louise had brown eyes and slightly larger breasts. Mairead was wearing a blue dress today. She seemed to like blue; Evan had noticed that she often wore the colour.

“You know why I’m here, Evan, don’t you?”

Evan could feel himself blushing. “Yes.”

“Louise said you’re a virgin.”

He blushed even more, “Yes.” Sex should be fun, not cringingly embarrassing like this. His face felt ready to burst into flames.

“Best to start with oral then,” Mairead said briskly. “That’ll take the edge off your excitement.” Evan just nodded. “Then we can get to the main event. You’ll last longer that way.”

Mairead amazed Evan by how nonchalantly was treating this. Would he ever be this relaxed about sex? She had a lot more experience, sure, but to act this casually about it! He managed to speak through his embarrassment, “OK.”

She smiled, “Good.” Standing and turning her back she asked, “Unzip me please,” over her shoulder.

Afterwards, lying naked on his narrow bed next to his newly accepted second concubine, Evan considered. He wasn’t a virgin any more, which was nice; very nice. He’d lost it with Mairead, which wasn’t so good. She was great at doing it, in his extremely limited experience anyway, but he’d rather have done it with his mother for his first time. Had Brian had lost his with his mother or with someone else? He’d have to ask him some time.

Evan turned to the equally naked woman next to him, “Mairead, can I ask you a question?”

“You’re my sponsor now, Evan. You can ask me anything you want,” she reminded him.

She was right. He was her sponsor, and his mother’s sponsor as well, so he’d have to start acting like a sponsor. He rephrased his question more directly, “OK, tell me why you were left behind when the rest of your family were extracted.”

“Very simple really, I was late. We’d all gone into Athlone to do some shopping. We stayed together as much as possible to try to get picked up together. Matt and Jamie were sponsors, while Tina and I weren’t. Matt was going to take me while Jamie was going to take his sister. I was looking for some sexy knickers to get Matt excited, but I couldn’t decide. The others went on ahead to the restaurant to get a table before it got too crowded. I followed on behind. I was thirty yards away when the grey Confederacy barrier came down. They were inside and I was outside.”

“That must have been awful,” Evan sympathised. He knew Jamie and Tina a little from school, though they were both older than him. Matt was Mairead’s husband.

“It was. I sat down on the kerb and cried. Those bloody stupid knickers!” She paused to collect herself. “We’d already agreed that if we got separated, anyone with a chance to go would take it. Matt picked two other women. Jamie took Tina and some mother with kids. They got away and I was left behind.”

“I’m sorry,” Evan said.

“Not your fault, and it’s old news by now. Besides, you’re my sponsor now, and I’ll be sticking close to you. Very close.”

She did. Mairead spent every weekday afternoon and evening with Evan and Louise; all day at weekends. Some nights as well, despite Evan’s small bed. She was very anxious not to repeat her previous experience. Evan was half expecting her to start turning up in class with him at school.

To help her feel better, Evan got Brian to pre-register his prepack on the Confederacy website. That did help Mairead feel more secure. The site even let him put in his agreement with his mother not to make her have sex with him, though it did emphasise that she would have to get pregnant regularly after being extracted.

The two boys talked about who could be their third sponsor. In a small town like this, everyone knew who had a good score. Evan had been getting the attention from girls in school that Brian had predicted, though that had died down some by now – word had got out that he’d filled his slots. These days they were after Aiden, who seemed to be enjoying the attention a lot more than Evan had; a new girl every weekend, sometimes two.

They both thought Orlaith would be a good match. As well as being intelligent, she was pretty with pale skin and longish dark hair – a very Irish look. The problem was that she hadn’t picked who to take yet. She was looking at three different boys, all older than her, one of the male teachers and two experienced mothers, one of whom was also a teacher. With her score she would get four concubines. She wanted to make the right choice before being extracted as the stories coming back from the Diaspora said that many of the spare concubines up there had problems. The older ones had been rejected for some reason and put back in the concubine pool while the younger ones had just turned fourteen, and she didn’t want any that young.

“Evan!” Louise shouted. “Can you set the table.”

Glad of the excuse to stop doing his homework Evan put down his pencil – school only allowed hand drawn graphs – and went down to the dining room, where he found Mairead getting the cutlery out.

“You’re our sponsor now, Evan. This is concubine’s work.”

“But I always set the table.”

“That was back when Louise was your mother,” Mairead explained. “Now she’s your concubine, and things are different. You go and watch TV for a bit and we’ll soon have everything ready.”

After he’d finished eating Evan went back to his room; that homework wasn’t going to finish itself. In the kitchen the two women were talking while they loaded the dishwasher.

“Yes, I know I shouldn’t order Evan around,” Louise said, “but it’s difficult to get out of the habit after fourteen years. I still think of him as my son.”

“Do you want to help him?” Mairead asked.

“Of course I do,” Louise replied, “I’m his mother.”

“Then you have to stop being his mother and act more like his concubine. You need to let him be the sponsor. Step back and let him take charge. You can suggest things of course, but you have to let him make the decisions.”

“But...” Louise started to say.

Mairead overrode her, “And, you really should have sex with him. You’re a concubine now, so part of your job is sex with your sponsor. It’s expected.”

“But how can I?” Louise complained. “I’m his mother.”

“You can do it if you have to. It’s not easy, but you can. You just have to stop thinking of him as your son and think of him as your sponsor instead. You had sex with Brian, and if we were in a pickup, you’d do it with pretty much any sponsor who asked, wouldn’t you?” Reluctantly, Louise nodded. “So what’s different now? There isn’t one of those exclusion fields, and we have more time than usual, but this is just the same situation. He’s our sponsor, so if he wants to do something, then we have to let him.”

“I know all that, and I did let Brian ... But Evan’s my son.”

“What about Fay? Brian did it with her as well, and she’s his mother.”

Louise looked unhappy while staying silent. Seeing her reaction, Mairead took a deep breath. “Louise, I want to tell you something, but you mustn’t tell anyone else, not even Evan. Not a word to a soul.”

Louise nodded, “I can keep a secret.”

“I had sex with my son,” Mairead burst out.

“No!” Louise exclaimed, shocked. Had her friend actually done that? “Did you really? With Jamie? You’re not just saying that?”

“I did. Before Matt, Jamie and Tina got extracted we were in much the same situation you and Evan are now. Trying to change from a family with parents and children, into the Confederacy model of sponsors and concubines. Matt and Jamie were sponsors, so Tina and I each had test drives with them both.”

“Mother of God! Tina did it with her father and brother! You did it with Jamie?”

“Yes. I needed to change from mother to concubine. To put it bluntly, when you’re spread out naked with your son pumping into you, then you know you’re a concubine.”

“Well, that certainly was blunt. Do you think I should do that?”

“It helped me, and you’ve always been in charge of Evan up to now. One way or another you’re going to have to get out of that habit and let him take the lead. A concubine shouldn’t be telling her sponsor what to do. You can give him advice of course, but you can’t give him orders any more. That’s a big change for a mother to make. Normally it would happen gradually as he grew up. For you it will have to be a lot faster. You only have up until you’re extracted, and I know the two of them are working on arranging a pre-pack. You’ll have to get your skates on, Louise.”

“I’m not sure if I can go that far straight off. Could I start sort of gradually?”

“Well one thing I did was wear a bikini round the house. Do you think you could do that?”