Chapter 1

"They've been doing pickups for over six years now. How many pickups have they done in Edgar, Washington?" Bob asked rhetorically.

"None," admitted Steve.

Bob continued, "I'm never going anywhere. I don't have the score for it. You're in almost the same boat. Even if they were having regular pickups at the Post Office, most of us wouldn't be eligible. We could move to a city where they actually have pickups, but it wouldn't do a damn bit of good. I was born in this town. When the Swarm come, we're gonna die in this town. I've made my peace with that. Kathy seems to be OK with that. Meanwhile, we're gonna carry on our lives every day.

"What I can't accept is that our children get the same fate," Bob lamented. "Steve, it's starting to haunt me. I have a duty to protect my kids, and I haven't done that."

The diner was doing a brisk business for a weekday lunch. Bob Minter and Steve Carpenter sat under the window. All of the staff and almost all of the other customers were their friends. Edgar was just a little town on a little highway that led from nowhere special to another nowhere special. About 700 people lived in town and a few hundred more lived outside of town. Forestry and logging were the most important activities, followed by indirect support like trucking and truck maintenance. There were farmers and shopkeepers. The women were mostly cashiers, office workers and the like. Life was simple, just as they wanted it. Few moved to or from the town, except that the youngsters tended to drift away after high school.

Steve replied, "I agree with you. I'd like to do something, but I don't know what. Do you have any good ideas?"

"Well, I do," Bob said sheepishly, "but I'm afraid no one will take it seriously."

"Bob," Steve said, "we've been friends our whole lives. This is heart attack serious. If your plan won't work, there may at least be a kernel of an idea that we can build around. Come on, spill."

Bob shrugged. "I'd like to share the briefest outline of the plan with you now, and then let you think about it all afternoon. I think your first reaction will be that there are massive problems with the plan. If I'm right, the problems can be overcome.

"My idea is to save all of the kids. A giant pre-pack would be organized. The students over age 14 would be matched up as sponsors and concubines. Every other volunteer in town would be brought in. Between the adult and student volunteers, the underage children would be parceled out. In one fell swoop, all of the children in school would be saved."

Steve was poleaxed. He sat in silence for a long time, turning the idea over in his mind. Finally, he shook off his reverie and turned with a smile to his lifelong friend. "Bob, your plan would send your kids to the stars and leave you here without them. Is that what you are suggesting?" Bob nodded grimly. "You're right, giant problems leap to mind. But I think you're also right that the problems can be overcome. I think an afternoon to think about it would be very useful. How about you and Kathy and the kids come have dinner with us?"

Bob smiled. "Marcie is going to kill you for inviting guests for dinner without notice."

"We were at your home last," Steve countered. "I'll check with Marcie when I get back to the shop. Check with Kathy, please, and I'll call you after awhile to confirm."

"Good enough," said Bob. "Will you please tell Marcie a bit about my idea? Kathy already has the gist of it, but she thinks it can't be done."

With that, they began their long-time ritual of fighting over the check. They got the bill settled and made their goodbyes to their nearby friends.

"Hello!" Kathy called as she came in the back door. Becky and Travis followed. Bob brought up the rear.

"Hi there! I'm glad to see you!" Marcie said. "Hi, Becky. Hi, Travis. Where is Sandy?" Steve came in from the living room. Hugs were exchanged, and Steve and Bob shook hands.

While her kids made their way deeper into the house, Kathy shook her head, smiling. "Sandy doesn't want to be seen with her parents. She said she would have died of embarrassment because we walked two blocks over here. I hope your two are here -- Travis and Becky went looking for them."

The cheerful banter continued. Kathy pitched in to help Marcie finish making dinner. The men got the table set and saw to beverages for everyone. The kids were corralled, washed up, and seated. Dinner was served and enjoyed. The four children, Travis and Becky Minter and Jack and Lisa Carpenter made their escape as quickly as they could. The four adults cleared the table and made their way to the living room.

"I spent most of the afternoon noodling your idea," Steve began. "Here are some pads and pens for us to take notes. I'd like you to start us out please, Bob."

"Well, Marcie, I hope Steve filled you in a bit. Kathy and I have spoken about this quite a lot," Bob began. "Maybe the best way to begin is to talk about the number of people involved. Now, just for discussion, let's think about the number of children. Grades K through 12 is thirteen grades. At 20 per grade, that's 260, so let's say 300. Say there are five times twenty, or one hundred children below kindergarten age. Say 400 kids total. If families had two kids each, then there would be 400 parents. Say there are half that many, or 200 people, without kids. Four, eight, that's one thousand people, adults and children. Does that sound about right?"

Marcie said, "I thought there were about 700 living in town. That would make 300 living outside of town but in the area. That sounds about right, at least for now."

Bob went on. "Again, this is broad brush, so we can get ourselves on the same page. With 25 kids each in grades 9, 10, 11 and 12, that'd be 100 potential sponsors."

"Why'd you do 20 per grade earlier and 25 now?" Kathy asked.

"Because I couldn't do 13 times 25 in my head," Bob answered sheepishly.

Steve said, "Almost all of the eighth graders reach age 14 before the end of the school year. When are you planning this pickup?"

"I hadn't gotten that far," Bob said. "Anyway, we're still just trying to get orders of magnitude. I still have to sell this idea to you three, then we'd have to sell this to the powers-that-be, and finally they'd have to sell it to the whole town."

"I see your point," Marcie said. "Please continue."

"OK," Bob went on, "we now have 100 students over age 14 and four plus two, 600 adults, a total of 700. That'd be 350 men and 350 women. How many of those do you suppose would be sponsors?"

Steve said, "I think I read that something like 15 to 20% of men achieved a CAP score of at least 6.5, and like 3 to 6% of women reach that level. I know, I know, the CAP scoring discriminates against women, but there it is."

"I bet it has a lot to do with aggression," Kathy said. "Girls usually aren't wired that way."

"I wonder whether anything can be done to raise those levels," Marcie added. "If we have a lot of time, maybe the desired attributes can be taught."

"We can hold that thought for later," Steve said, "but, for now, let's crunch some numbers. Pulling out my handy dandy calculator, 15% of 350 men is, say, 52; plus 5% of 350 women is, say, 18, a total of 70 sponsors in our whole town."

"I had figured something close to that, myself," Kathy said. "I don't think you can get all the kids away on only 70 sponsors."

"Hold on," Bob said, "it might not be as bad as you think. The objective is to evacuate all of the children. Let's deal with the high school kids first. 15% of 50 high school boys is maybe 8. If they take an average of 3 each, that's 24 girls. If 5% of 50 high school girls is, say 3, they take 3 boys and 6 girls. That's 24 plus 3 plus 6, or 33 girls of 50, leaving 17 girls unspoken for. There are 52 minus 8 students or 44 adult male sponsors. We can get the remaining 17 girls picked."

"But that leaves, what, 40 boys left behind?" asked Kathy.

Steve sighed. "The boys get the benefit of the CAP score bias but, if they don't score well, they suffer."

"They can stay with me," Bob said sadly.

"We still have all the under 14's to deal with," Marcie said. "How many are they again?"

"Something like 300," said Kathy. "With only 70 sponsors, that's an average of more than four per sponsor. That seems too many to me. Besides, Bob are you going to give our children to someone else, forever? Do you think every parent in town will agree to give away their children?" The very thought of losing her children had caused tears to begin flowing freely down her cheeks.

"Honey," Bob said softly, "neither of the options is attractive. I would rather watch them go, than to watch them die."

That remark hung in the air for a while, sobering them all. Finally, Marcie said, "Let's take a break and check up on the kids."

The kids were fine. The four adults decided that the antidote to their sobering discussion was a stiff cocktail each. Finally, they settled back in the living room.

Steve said, "The numbers seem to work, if nothing else does. As Bob pointed out, we have to organize a pre-pack or else none of the sponsors, their concubines or their dependants are ever going to be evacuated."

"There might be extractions in the future," Kathy pouted.

"Kathy," Steve answered quietly, "are you willing to bet your children's lives on that?"

Kathy looked shocked. She hung her head and whispered, "No."

Marcie asked, "Then we somehow have to organize a giant pickup, where maybe 70 sponsors, 200 concubines, and 300 dependants get collected at the same time? How daunting."

"Baby steps," Bob said, "we need to take baby steps. Until tonight, this was just a crackpot idea of mine. Kathy thinks it still won't work, and she might be right. I'm glad you two seem to like the idea. We've hatched the damned thing. Now, we need more help."

Their baby steps took the form of short conversations with many of their friends, one on one. Often, the concept was initially rejected, the thought of the loss of their children too much to bear. But often, after a day or so, the friend would bring it up again -- a long talk with the wife had persuaded them of the wisdom of the idea.

Soon enough, Steve and Bob were being approached by people they had not discussed the idea with. It became clear that most of the people in town were talking about it. When the mayor -- who doubled as the owner of the bakery -- invited himself to join them at their lunch table, they knew the idea had become a plan.

"Well, John," Bob said, "what can we do for you today? Do we get three guesses for the subject?"

"Sure you can," the mayor retorted with a smile, "if two guesses don't count. Bob, Steve, your 'save the kids' concept has grown legs. Most of the people I talk to are very much in favor. Those few who aren't convinced mainly don't know how such a thing could possibly be organized."

Steve smiled. "We aren't smart enough to orchestrate such a big event. We think we may have left some big holes in the plan. We worry we may have missed some big opportunities. How do you think this should proceed?"

"If you don't mind," John said, "I would like to gather a core group to hammer out the details. I would like your guidance on the selection. My thoughts are that the core group should include Jean Stevens, the school principal, at least one teacher, Jim Beatty for legal advice, Reverend Andy Evans, both of you, and myself."

"I think that sounds fine, John," said Bob. "Should anyone reach out to the Confederacy before we first meet?"

"John," Steve said, "what about adding a high school senior and an underclassman to the core group? Maybe the class presidents -- they ought to be among the most mature in their age groups. The kids may have some important insights."

"That's a very good idea," John said. "I suspect these meetings should be scheduled for after dinner on weeknights. Do either of you have schedule conflicts?" Both men shook their heads 'no.' "Then I'll set up a meeting and let you know the details. Would one of you write up your arithmetic on sponsor and concubine numbers? I'll get it copied and distributed so we don't spend the entire first meeting getting ourselves on the same page.

"As for the Confederacy, I think this idea needs more incubation first. We can try to contact them later."

"One of the best parts of small town life is that you know everyone," said the mayor. "I hope you had a chance to visit a bit before our meeting, so we can get down to business right away. I have taken the liberty to enlist my wife, Debbie, to act as secretary. I have a nasty habit of forgetting important items discussed in meetings.

"Debbie, for the minutes, I'll start from your left identifying Sarah Edwards, the senior class president. Next, in order, are Bob Minter, Steve Carpenter, Andy Evans, Jean Stevens, Michael Martin, the freshman class president, Jim Beatty, and Amy Rogers, the eighth grade teacher, and finally your favorite husband." John smiled.

"Mrs. Davis, how many husbands do you have?" said Sarah, eliciting guffaws.

"Cheeky! That's what you are Sarah, cheeky!" John laughed. "So much for formalities and our opening insult. I want to get to the heart of our business. I trust you are all generally at least sympathetic to the evacuation plan hatched by Bob and Steve, and have all reviewed the arithmetic they produced. I'll open the floor for general discussion."

"I'll start, I guess," said Jean. "I've gone over the arithmetic, and it is close enough for our use at present. You did a very good job, Bob."

"Let's get after the bugbear right away," said Jim. "The primary goal is to evacuate all of the children. The vehicle would be that the children are assigned to the few volunteers in our town, and they are all evacuated in a single, gigantic pickup. Is that right?" There were murmurs of agreement. "As I understand it, if the children would be going without either parent, both parents will have to execute a legally binding guardianship in favor of a specific sponsor."

John said, "Can the guardianship papers be conditional? Revocable? Does a judge have to approve?"

"I'm not absolutely sure," Jim replied, "and we need to be certain well before hand. It would be disastrous if a pickup started and the Confederacy rejected all of the guardianships. I will make some calls and find out. For now, let us assume that a conditional, revocable guardianship document can be executed and notarized, but not recorded or approved by a judge. If that proves not to be correct, we'll deal with the fallout at that time."

Sarah said, "I'm a little worried about asking high school students to become parents. That's a big responsibility. It will be one thing to become parents after a full pregnancy. Instant parenthood is a completely different matter."

That thought took them all aback. Silence prevailed while each of them considered the consequences and the alternatives. Finally, John said, "That is potentially a big problem. I can't think of a good solution. Unless any of you have an idea," and the rest shook their heads, "let's table that one. Perhaps a solution will reveal itself in due time."

"The next point we should touch on," said Andy, "is opposition to the proposal. A lot of people have talked to me about this. Without breaching confidence, I think I can say that a lot of soul-searching is going on. For many of us, the need to decide the lesser of two such terrible evils is very, very painful. Most parents have told me that they will participate, sending their children away forever. Some say they cannot bring themselves to do so. So far, I have heard no one express outright opposition. What do you think?"

John said, "My experience is the same as yours, Andy. I have never had anybody strongly express Earth First sympathies to me. I also talk to a lot of people. I know this is heart-wrenching for a lot of people. I can envision some withholding their children from the program. I just can't see anybody in town actively trying to block the program. I especially don't think anyone will do so violently. Until we get any inkling of danger, I think we can proceed. We should use care, I think, but that's all."

Jean asked, "How much time do we think it will take from now until the extraction? Maybe now we ought to touch on the steps we need to take to pull this off?"

"I think you're right, John, about dangerous opposition," said Steve. "Still, I don't think the Confederacy will ever tell anyone that an extraction will occur at a certain place and time."

"Does that mean," Michael asked, "that we have to assemble everyone and just hope the Marines show up?"

"I don't know," said John. "I will try to reach out to the Confederacy. Hopefully, I can get some guidance."

"Well then," said Bob, "on the simplest terms, what we need to do is complete the following steps. One, identify and count the number of volunteers and especially the total number of concubine slots. Two, identify and count prospective concubines. Three, identify and count the number of dependants. Four, match sponsors with dependants and collect guardianship papers and, lastly but most importantly, find a way to rapidly assemble everyone on short notice."

"Why do I feel that every one of those steps is a lot harder than it sounds?" asked Sarah.

"Part of the problem," said Steve, "is that the number of volunteers is a moving target. Kids turn 14 all the time. I guess we won't have to worry much about volunteers moving away once this program gets started. On the other hand, it is quite possible that people will move back to town when they hear about this."

"I think you mean older offspring, and in-laws," said John. "To me, those types would only move to town if the evacuation date was known. Nobody wants to move back in with mom and dad for very long if it can be helped."

"If the goal is maximum evacuation," said Andy, "then having kith and kin on hand for the event would be a benefit."

"You're right, of course," said Jim, "but it will bedevil our efforts to match up sponsors, concubines and dependants."

Amy added, "Something like seventy sponsors from our whole town is dismal. I did some research on the Internet. It looks like it may be possible to raise the CAP scores of some people if we can arrange for those candidates to concentrate almost exclusively on that goal. For the girls, it would mean dramatically increasing aggression. Full contact sports like football or rugby, martial arts training, or military training would be necessary."

"Boxing," said Bob.

"That's a really good one," said Amy. "For boys, it would more likely mean having them focus academically on the subjects they most enjoy: mathematics, physics, and science. Some boys might get enough benefit from military training that their CAP scores would move into volunteer category."

"Both boys and girls would benefit from military-type training," Andy remarked. "It would teach obedience, team loyalty, tenacity, and more."

"There are multiple thresholds for boys and girls, as well as men and women," said Bob. "Let's not forget that many of the men and boys, including me, will not be going. Every female helped to reach a CAP score of 6.5, saves at least one other boy. Every person helped to reach the next whole number in the CAP score saves two more people. Military-type training will be useful when it is time for us stay-behinds to fight the Swarm."

"Thank you for that, Bob," Jean said. "Then combining the opportunity to expand the pool of evacuees with the opportunity to raise CAP scores and thereby evacuate more people leads us to set a date, sometime in the future, for the evacuation. And remember that all the CAP tests must be taken before our scheduled pickup. There are no tests at the pickup!"

"I have a point," said Amy. "Assuming this plan is implemented, all of the children will be evacuated. There remains some unknown time until evacuation. Between now and then, it seems to me that the most important thing is to increase CAP scores of as many people as much as possible. It may be time to throw out the entire curriculum for grades 8 through 12. The students should spend all day, every day, in an effort to advance their CAP scores. I think I just fired myself."

That brought chuckles all around. "You can't get out of work that easily, Miss Rogers," laughed Michael.

Smiling broadly, Jim said, "Amy, someone needs to help figure out just how we will go about raising CAP scores. Someone needs to figure out how to assemble information on the CAP scores -- especially the sub-scores -- of everybody who wants a shot at evacuation. Someone needs to evaluate those sub-scores and determine the likelihood of a CAP score increase, and the areas of focus to achieve that CAP increase. Someone needs to lead some of the children in this process. Someone needs to demonstrate that the adults in the community should wholeheartedly get involved for their own benefit."

"OK, OK," laughed Amy, "I get it. I will devote more effort finding out about raising CAP scores. I bet you could persuade some high school students to figure out how to use computers to start assembling and utilizing the data we need."