Chapter 1

There were things you just couldn't get in the colonies; while replicators would replicate just about anything, by definition, you had to have an original to start with. So here Pete stood in a card shop, feeling mildly foolish. On the other hand, the old flowers and candy and 'If you love me, why don't you buy me a huge diamond?' culture was by the wayside in the colonies -- the stack of a half-dozen unsullied cards in his hand was going to make him a popular guy and probably get him laid several times...

The older woman at the counter stepped aside as he got there, and Pete found himself pausing to examine the replacement.

She was big -- tall, that is, but sized to match -- and although she was probably in heels, her height was close to his. Since CPL Pete Taylor was the regulation augmented Confederacy Marine Corps two meters tall (that's six feet six and three-quarters inches for those of you not yet on the metric system... ) it was quite a height for a woman. The thick, shoulder-length hair was blonde, but in a shade that just might be natural. There was a nice bit of high, soft cleavage there, discreetly displayed under a plain, white blouse -- very understated and businesslike. The hands that reached for his little collection of cards were smooth, long-fingered, and meticulously manicured; Pete was pretty sure it wasn't a French manicure, but rather clean nails under clear lacquer -- very nice! And they also sported no rings...

The face held a neutral expression that managed to convey a bit of wistfulness; her downcast eyes said she had seen him and would have liked to initiate something, but she knew that it would only bring another rejection. She would stick to business and not make a fool of herself putting herself out there...

That wasn't what Pete thought about the whole thing. The little red dots and acne scars under the carefully applied makeup were the only flaws in sight -- and he knew that they, while they left even bigger emotional scars, no doubt, were NOTHING...

Dockers and a golf shirt weren't going to hide who and what Pete was -- but he watched that realization come secondary to her already poorly concealed attraction when he opened his wallet. Pete froze, thinking furiously; apparently, there was more to be had at the card store than cards, if he had the balls to move on it.

Pete's CAP score ran just over seven -- but he was alone. The pair of mall rats he'd been saddled with at extraction had been worthless for just about everything -- including fucking; shopping was not a highly prized skill in the colonies. On the trip out to the colonies, he'd passed up several offers to trade, despite his dissatisfaction with his concubines, because what was being offered SEEMED to be less than what he had -- but he'd regretted the whole thing later. When he got his assignment -- a long cruise with the squids to recon worlds deep in Swarm territory -- he'd dumped the silly bitches on the Civil Service rep, hoping that maybe he could get something out of them; at least they would be under supervision -- which they required, constantly. Personally, he hoped that all three of their holes had been worn right out and they had thirteen kids apiece, now...

Nadia, the platoon camp-follower, had been nice, but a bit too sharp- edged. Occasionally, a squid would hand out his steward -- usually to punish her for fucking up in some way -- which was a fuck, but not exactly emotionally ideal.

When they got back after seeing some pretty tired and tattered planets -- the Swarm sucked a world dry -- he came home to his empty pod for a week's shore leave. There was a lot of extremely willing pussy to be had at the Civil Service crèche, but it was either pregnant or willing to do anything to get out, or both -- and it usually had issues of some type, or it wouldn't have been parked in the crèche in the first place... Pete's inquiries about his late possessions yielded the information that some platoon had shipped with them as camp-followers; Pete figured they'd probably been the subjects of an experiment in observing the effects of hard vacuum on a human body...

After a week, he put in for reassignment and got a tour doing pickup cruises -- and he'd learned a lot. Pussy was fairly easily had during extractions and he'd watched and learned from the mistakes of multiple others, but not gone looking for replacements.

Not until today, anyway...

When she reached for his universal credit card (all Confederacy citizens had what amounted to an unlimited drawing account) he withdrew it, placing his hand over hers. "I'm not finished, now that I think of it. These things," he waved the cards, "are like gold -- but I really need to make sure I get the most mileage from them. Could you help me pick out something really special," he examined her nametag, unable to keep his eyes from sliding left to examine the deep soft valley between her breasts, "... ummm, Maureen?"

"Um, certainly, Sir." The tone was businesslike and respectful -- but she turned a beautiful pink color. "Edith?"

The older woman glanced around the store and stopped checking the contents of a box of new cards. There were perhaps two other customers, and the man already had eight or ten cards in his hand. "Go ahead, Dear." The undercurrents didn't really penetrate to her.

Pete didn't let go of Maureen's hand; instead, he used it to lead her around the counter and toward the racks. "They have to be romantic -- oh, I could probably get some birthday cards, too, but primarily they should probably be for lovers."

"Wives?" Maureen asked.

Pete shook his head. "That's not the new way..." It was a declaration that he was DEFINITELY a citizen of the Confederacy -- as if several other things hadn't made that same announcement...

"I'm sure we can find something..." Maureen said through a dry throat.

Pete handed her his original collection. "What do you think of these?"

Maureen checked through them; obviously, this outing with her was an afterthought -- otherwise, these would have probably just been window- dressing. These cards weren't a random selection off the rack -- they were targeted per his description, and showed good taste. So why was she here?

Pete took the opportunity to step back and take her in from behind. The knee-length grey skirt was flared enough to allow her to squat and work on the lower shelves without difficulty, yet perfect as business wear -- and softly framed a nice, plush ass. The heels were -- as predicted -- two inch -- and sturdy, not spindly eveningwear. And they framed nice ankles that led upward to nice calves...

Pete took too long -- Maureen was looking at him over her shoulder. "Ummm..." She licked her lips. 'He couldn't be... '

Pete stepped up beside her and indicated the stack of cards with his left hand -- while his right circled her waist. "Well?"

"They're, uh, fine..." she croaked, thinking, 'Omigawd! He IS!'

"How about helping me pick some more?" he asked. "Stuff like this is hard to come by where I come from -- you can't imagine how much it is appreciated..."

"Sure..." Maureen covered herself by pretending, at least, to examine the cards in front of her.

Pete didn't know where the nerve to be so incredibly fresh was coming from -- maybe he'd seen enough to know that the old rules just didn't apply. But he felt somewhat light-headed as he leaned over her shoulder, deliberately pressing his erection against the crack of her ass...

Maureen gasped. Okay, she'd had a couple of short relationships -- more like one-night stands. She knew what sex was. But nobody -- NOBODY -- had EVER done THAT! Her hands shook as she pawed the rack, pretending to be looking for cards, thinking furiously. Okay, she knew what he was -- or did she? This was the chance of a lifetime -- or a REALLY cruel joke... Hesitantly, she pressed back...

Pete let out a huge sigh. "Find anything?" he asked, leaning further forward and sliding his hand around her waist.

"N--no..." Maureen stuttered. Desperately, she hunted around, snatching a card and reading the contents quickly. "What about this?"

"Let me see..." Pete leaned up where he could breathe in her ear and examined the card. "Mmmm, that's not bad..."

Maureen glanced around. "W--why are you doing this?"

"What?" Pete acted innocent.

"T--teasing me..."

"I'm not," Pete insisted. "I'm serious."

"About cards?"

"No. About you." Pete grimaced. "Well, about cards, too, but that's suddenly secondary."

"Are you what I think you are?" Maureen asked, locking her eyes to his.

"I'm a Marine, if that's what you're asking."

"Don't you have... ?"

"No," Pete said shortly. "I... made mistakes in selecting them, so I sent them to others. I have a couple of open slots."

"Why are you here?"

"A pickup -- why else? Oh, and for the cards; they really ARE appreciated, you know." Pete smiled.

"A pickup? Here?" Maureen looked around.

"Not here," Pete shook his head. "Close by, a little later. I'm doing some shopping in advance."

"Why me?" Her eyes bored into his.

"Instinct," Pete replied. "I like what I see -- a lot!" He flashed a grin, then sobered. "But I don't want to get stuck with a pig in a poke..." Maureen's eyes flinched. "I didn't mean it like that!" he added hurriedly.

"So, what DID you mean?" Maureen accused.

"I meant I need to see more."

"Here?" Maureen asked, incredulous.

Pete glanced around. "It's quiet..." There were maybe two other customers -- and no children present. The racks shielded them from the mall- side entry.

"What do you want?" Maureen asked, guardedly.

"For starters, I want inside that blouse," Pete replied.

Maureen bit her lip. "Okay." She started unbuttoning it. Pete started pulling the tails out of her skirt.

When it was unbuttoned, Pet whispered, "Do that thing you girls do -- take off your bra."

"I'm wearing long sleeves," Maureen objected. "It won't work."

Pete sighed. "I tried. Do it the hard way, then." Maureen glanced around furtively, then undid the cuffs and pulled off the blouse. Pete undid her bra and she slipped it off her shoulders and put the blouse back on. "Now face me," Pete directed. Holding the blouse open, Pete feasted his eyes.

'Oh, Lord... ' he thought, gazing on her exposed torso. Her breasts were too big NOT to sag a bit, and they pointed outward a bit, but they were fat cones mildly deformed by gravity capped by tightly crinkled areolas under stiffly erect, brownish-pink nipples. Below that, a deep belly button rode the gentle swell of her belly. Pete schooled his features and managed to sound nonchalant. "Not bad..."

But Maureen had seen a flash in his eyes; confidence began to come to her. She moved her shoulders, causing her breasts to sway. Pete couldn't help himself; his eyes tracked the target and he drew a quick breath. Maureen smiled.

Pete grimaced. "Okay, you caught me. But I'm not buying without a test drive."

Maureen's eyes popped. "Here?"

Pete nodded. "Here. Do you give head?"

"I -- not very well, probably. Only a couple of times." Maureen looked down at her feet, back on uneven ground.

"See what you can do. Are you wearing panties?"

"Well, yes..." Maureen knelt, looking both directions, and began fighting with Pete's zipper.

"You REALLY never expected to get a break, did you?" Pete asked. "Can I see your CAP Card?"

Maureen stopped and looked up at him. "It's in my purse..."

"You aren't some kind of religious nut or anything are you? You DO have a card?" Pete demanded.

"Oh, yeah, I've got one..." Maureen looked unhappy.

"Is it that bad?"

"Well, five point nine..." Maureen mumbled at the floor.

Pete rubbed his jaw. "Stop. Button up your blouse and go get the thing. I need to see." Maureen bit her lips, but stood and buttoned her blouse, then tucked it in. "Don't let her see anything that will get us trouble from her later," Pete admonished. "I'll be waiting right here..."

Maureen moved very carefully while going to get her purse; the least little bounce caused a jiggle. While she was digging through her purse, Edith came over. "Is he finished?"

"No, we're still looking."

"He just wants to toy with you," Edith groused. "Men!" Ever since this alien thing, men had been getting bolder and bolder.

"If he buys a dozen cards -- and it looks like he's going to -- isn't it worth it?" Maureen replied.

Edith looked flustered. "I guess."

Maureen turned carefully away from the older woman and headed back into the racks, holding her CAP card.

Pete took it and whipped the reader he carried onto it. The results were, well, more or less spectacular, when matched with what he was looking for. Sweet, even tempered, self-reliant, hot, shy... and five point nine, as advertised. "Okay, where were we?"

"I was making a fool of myself," Maureen muttered, and turned away.

Pete caught her arm. "I don't think so. Look, I've seen, well, a lot of scams -- a lot of fakes, a lot of quick hook-ups that crashed and burned. You are too good to be true, so I keep looking for the down-side."

"Isn't that score enough?"

"Clearly, you can't read the sub-scores. I can -- and they're VERY nice! A five point nine is NOT an ugly score -- it's above average! It's just not quite good enough to get you out of here on your own -- and that's where I come in..." He pulled her back to him by the grip he had above her elbow. "We were road-testing..." With her in front of him, he pressed down.

Maureen reluctantly went to her knees. Pete let go of her arm and waited while she looked up at him for a moment, then bent to work on his zipper again. "I don't know why I'm doing this," she mumbled as she reached into his fly -- but she was lying; she knew EXACTLY why she was doing it. Frankly, it was the most any man had ever asked of her -- and once she was beyond the embarrassment, it was the most EXCITING thing any man had ever asked of her! When her hand closed on his erection, all thought of stopping vanished. The tenor of her previous encounters had been abortive; the acne that scarred her in her teens virtually destroyed any hope of dating in school. There had been drunk guys in bars -- and not many of them -- and feel-up sessions in the seats of cars in the dark. And NOBODY had presented her with the hot, stiff length of flesh she wound up wrestling with to get free of his underwear and slacks! "Oh, my!" It kept getting bigger...

"Something wrong?" Pete asked.

"No..." She leaned in and inhaled; it smelled like sweat -- and sex. Her mouth opened automatically, to pant...

Pete leaned forward and put his hand on the back of her head -- not to pull her in, but to brace himself while he reached down to collect a breast. The things were just incredible...

That put her in position to kiss the swollen head -- and once she'd done that, sucking it in came naturally. "Mmmmmm..."

"There you go..." Pete gasped.