Chapter 3

Early Evening

They had almost finished clearing away after tea when Sam emerged from the sleep-trainer. He grabbed a sandwich and with a quick, "Thanks. Back soon," rushed off to change into his Pathfinders uniform -- a green jacket representing the Marines and black trousers for the Navy. The Pathfinders were for dependants aged eleven and over who were likely to become sponsors when they tested at fourteen. Sam was a shoo-in with his estimated CAP score of 6.5 to 6.8. He had been promoted to Corporal a few months ago and was very proud of himself. Keith had been home then and had given him some hints to help him deal with the responsibilities of his new position. Again Jane wished that Keith could be home more to help Sam, still, there was a war on and that had to take precedence. Pathfinders were aware of the problem and tried to help as much as they could. A lot of the talks and training for the kids were given by men, like that Navy Commander Sam had been talking about earlier, the one who had impressed him so much.

As soon as she saw Sam in his uniform, Julie rushed off to change into her brown Sutlers uniform. Just as the Pathfinders were for probable sponsors, the Sutlers were for likely concubines. Those on the borderline tended to be placed in the Pathfinders and given special classes in the hope that it would help raise their CAP enough to be a citizen. With concubines not eligible to fight the Swarm it made sense to push as many borderline cases as possible up to the 6.5 CAP limit. Unfortunately Julie's CAP estimate of 4.9 to 5.5 was too far below the minimum, she was going to be a concubine when she reached fourteen.

"So, Sam," Jane asked, "what will you be doing at Pathfinders this evening?"

"We have parade and roll-call first of course," Sam replied, "then we're going to be practising stripping and reassembling an RLI-1 Laser Rifle. Followed by an under-fourteens Korfball match against the Sutlers. After that I hope I can get some time in the fighter simulator, though there's usually a long queue for that. It's very popular. We'll probably have a real tank next week the Major was saying."

"Will Becky be at the Korfball match?" Jane asked. Becky was a Sutler who Sam had a definite eye on to become one of his concubines. She had her eye on him as well.

"She should be there, mum Jane," Sam replied. "I certainly hope so."

Given the imbalance in sexes, with the Pathfinders being mostly male while the Sutlers were mostly female, someone had thought of Korfball as a way for both to be able to field teams in the same sport. It wasn't so much for the game itself as an opportunity for supporters to mix with their opposites of the same age, as with Sam and Becky. When a Pathfinder hit fourteen he was going to be picking concubines from among the Sutlers, and the Korfball matches were one of the ways they were able to get to know each other before making their final choices. Sam wasn't on the team but he would be in the stands supporting, and checking out the Sutler girls.

There were other sports of course, Sam was particularly into football. But, unlike Korfball, most of the other sports teams were single sex so it was more difficult to set up town based matches between the Pathfinders and Sutlers. Those sports were more concentrated on inter-town competitions, so the kids got to meet potential sponsors and concubines from other towns. When Lansdowne was playing Roundway the Pathfinders and Sutlers from both towns would be in the stands cheering for their respective teams.

Jane thought that maybe the situation would get easier when the children born on Waller reached eleven, then there would be a lot more members of both sexes to pick from. Currently both Pathfinders and Sutlers were reliant on children born on Earth and extracted with a parent. The oldest Waller born children were only eight so they still had three years to go before they could join.

Oral sex classes were another way the thirteen year olds got to meet each other. Jane had helped with those classes herself, both at school and during joint Pathfinders and Sutlers evenings. Most of the children had a pretty good idea of what to do by the time they reached thirteen from watching what went on in their pods and in public as well, such as the Marine getting his lunchtime blow-job in the Restaurant. They usually just needed a few pointers on details, the things that were hidden when a tongue was buried in a pussy or a cock down a throat. Like most sponsors, Keith had programmed the nanites to tone down his three concubines' gag reflexes so they could all easily deep throat him. The girls in Sutlers generally couldn't do that yet. With Sam, like the other boys his age, the problem was that he tended to assume everyone could deep throat him as easily as his mothers could. She'd had to explain to him that the three of them had been modified. Unmodified thirteen year old girls had to be treated more gently, he couldn't just thrust himself straight down their throats.

The Pathfinders obviously concentrated heavily on military training since the great majority of them were going to be in the military; neither the Fleet Auxiliary nor the Civil Service were emphasised at all. Hence the availability of a Navy fighter simulator and the upcoming visit from a Marine tank. The Navy and the Marines were in competition for recruits and each wanted to make their service arm look as exciting as possible. They both knew that once the Sa'arm reached Earth in a few years time, their only source of new recruits would be from the colonies through youth organisations like the Pathfinders.

While Julie was still changing, Anjali reappeared from the upper level. "Fran's still dozing," she announced, "I managed to get a little food down her, but she's not really hungry. I did manage to get her to drink plenty though. Jai will let us know if she needs anything." She went through to the kitchen to dump the remains of Fran's meal in the recycler.

Julie soon re-emerged in her brown Sutlers' uniform. She had started just under a year ago when she turned eleven and was still pleased to have her own uniform. Jane asked her in turn what she was going to be doing.

"There's a sex video first, mummy Jane, then something about childcare. I'm not sure what that's going to be. And cookery last. That'll be good, I need some more cookery for my bronze badge. I think we're doing desserts today so I'll bring something back." Julie liked cooking, it was something she hadn't done much of in the pod so it was new for her. Helping look after babies had been part of her life since eight months after her arrival on Waller when Alice had been born.

Just like Scouts and Guides back on Earth, the Sutlers had a system of badges. Julie had achieved bronze in childcare and was working for her silver. She already had her silver for baby-care after all the practice she had with her younger siblings. Now that her brothers and sisters were growing she was getting more experience of childcare with older kids. The only sex badges she could go for at the moment were theoretical of course, she could start practical work in just over a year when she turned thirteen. That reminded Jane that she would need to start thinking about what to do for Julie's twelfth birthday which was coming up shortly.

When Anjali emerged from the kitchen Jane announced, "I'll go and get my nanites done now." With both Viv and Anjali available there was enough adult supervision for her to be away the few minutes needed. The sleep-training tube was in its own room next to Keith's office. When the younger children started reaching school age they would probably need a second one, perhaps on the upper level where the children's bedrooms were. At the moment only Sam and Julie needed to use it regularly.

Being in the tube was more restful for Jane that it usually was. Since this was just a medical tune-up there were no dreams. She was glad of that. The dreams when she took her six-monthly First Aid refreshers were full of blood and broken bones, more like nightmares than dreams.

When she rejoined the others, Bob and Charlie were playing with a cardboard box. At the moment it was a car with the two of them sitting in it. Typically, Charlie had taken charge, despite being the younger. He was in front, driving, with Bob in the back as the passenger. They were obviously copying what they had seen on old stuff from Earth as there weren't any cars on Waller, not around the town anyway. There were Marine tanks and some cross-country vehicles for journeys outside the dome but ordinary cars weren't used at all. You walked, cycled or used a transporter.

Bicycles were becoming more popular as the town grew. New cycle-paths were being added to help separate pedestrians from the cyclists after a few minor accidents. All those extra people arriving on the Mount Olympus were giving Waller a definite population boost, and the policy seemed to be to put newcomers into established towns. New towns were being established as well, but that mostly involved moving people who were already settled on Waller. Jane had lost a few friends that way when their sponsors had been promoted into a newly forming unit and transferred to one of the new towns.

Charlie and Bob decided that their box was now a pod so they laid it on its side and persuaded Dawn to be a concubine. Charlie tried asking Alice as well, but she was having none of it as she wanted to read her picture book. Dawn just used the box to play house with her doll and some crockery borrowed from the kitchen while Charlie and Bob rushed round killing Sa'arm, who seemed to have a nest behind the sofa. Jane thought that Dawn, like Bob, was probably going to become a concubine. She was a follower, not a leader. Alice on the other hand seemed much more sure of herself. She knew what she wanted and stuck with it. She might well become a sponsor when she reached fourteen. Even if she didn't it wouldn't be too much of a problem. There were always places for female concubines; it was the male concubines that didn't have much to look forward to.

Once the two boys had cleaned out the Swarm infestation they went back to the 'pod'. "Where's our food Dawn," Charlie said.

"Here you are," she replied as she laid out plates for the four of them, including her doll of course. "How much would you like?"

"Lots and lots please," Charlie said. "We're really hungry after fighting dickheads."

Dawn was spooning out imaginary stew from a small bowl. "Is that enough?"

"Yes," Charlie said loudly. Bob was quieter, but added a "thank you."

Reminded by Bob, Jane corrected Charlie for his omission. Even in play she wanted him to remember to treat concubines well. If he did become a sponsor she didn't want him making the lives of his future harem a misery. Concubines had to stick together since there wasn't really anyone else to stick up for them. Even the Civil Service was pretty limited in what it could do, though Signifer Deussen did try her best.

Looking round the room to check on the other kids Jane saw that Alice was still reading quietly. The twins were crawling over Viv, giggling all the while. Anjali was showing Gireesh something on her vid-tablet, probably an Indian movie. She wanted him to know Telugu as well as English. Jane had picked up a few words herself as Anjali was teaching Gireesh: vana for rain and yendaga for sunny. She couldn't see Helen at the moment, she was probably sleeping in Viv's room on the upper level with Jai acting as baby monitor. She trusted Viv to be sure that her baby was OK.

Alice put down her book and shifted along next to Jane. She stretched out a hand and rubbed it over the bulge of Jane's pregnancy. "You're going to have a baby aren't you mama Jane? Just like mama Viv got all fat and had Helen."

"That's right Alice," Jane replied. "I'll get big and round as the baby grows inside me. Then it will pop out to play with all its brothers and sisters."

Alice considered that. "Maybe it should wait a bit longer than Helen did. She doesn't seem ready to play yet. She just sucks on mama Viv's boobies and sleeps a lot."

Jane laughed aloud at that. "That's very good advice Alice, but I'm not sure if this one will listen to it. It may want to come out anyway."

Having finished their meal, Charlie and Bob dashed off to deal with a new nest of Sa'arm under the kitchen table. Once they had gone, Alice joined Dawn at the box, diverting on the way to get herself a doll from the toy chest. The two girls were soon engrossed in playing house, or perhaps it was 'playing pod', with their two dolls.

Anjali came over to sit next to Jane, bringing Gireesh with her, "I don't think Gireesh should sleep with Fran tonight," she said. "He might pick up something from her. We could put him in the main bedroom down here so he wouldn't be on his own." Jane nodded. Normally Fran and Gireesh shared a room on the upper level, but it made sense not to risk any infection spreading. "That's a good idea Anjali. Set up a cot for Gireesh. Viv and Helen should probably do the same so I'll sleep upstairs and help Julie with the kids for a couple of nights until Fran is better. You won't mind being woken by Helen?"

"Not too much. It'll only be for a couple of nights and its better if Gireesh doesn't catch whatever Fran's got."

Jane got up and went to where Viv was trying to tickle both of the twins simultaneously. She seized Eve from behind and took over that half of the tickling while Viv concentrated on Eddie. Jane explained Anjali's idea to her.

"That sounds sensible," Viv replied. "We can put Gireesh and Helen to bed down here with me and Anjali. You don't have a problem doing the overnight child-minding do you Jane?"

"No Viv, that's fine." Jane told her between squeals of laughter from the twins. "With you looking after Helen and Julie doing the initial check it shouldn't be too much of a problem. I'll probably have to deal with Fran myself, I don't quite trust Julie to deal with a cold on her own yet."

Gireesh decided that he was hungry and toddled over to Viv. "Mik Viv," he said.

"Hello Gireesh," Viv replied. "You want some milk?"

Gireesh smiled and nodded. He immediately started scrambling up onto the sofa next to Viv.

"All right then little Mister Hungry, here you are," Viv said as she lifted her left breast for him. Gireesh quickly latched onto her nipple. Eddie looked at Viv, considering whether to go for her other breast but decided not to. He grabbed Eve's hand and they went over to the toy chest together to find something to play with.

Gireesh finished suckling and said, "Tank Viv." He couldn't talk much yet but he had learned to say, "thank you," almost.

On his return from the kitchen, Charlie persuaded Dawn and Alice that it would be better for them to play house under the kitchen table since it was now cleared of dickheads. He went over to the toy chest to get a felt-tip marker and dragged the box over to Jane.

"Mummy Jane, this is my General's hat. Can you write 'General Charlie' on it please?"

Jane used the opportunity to spell out the word for him as she wrote: "G E N E R A L. What does that spell Charlie?"

"It makes 'General', mummy Jane."

"Very good Charlie. Now, can you write your own name?" She passed him the marker. After much concentration there was a wobbly but readable 'ChARLeI' on the box.

Jane spelt it out for him, "C H A R L I E", carefully correcting his misspelling. "What does that spell?" Jane asked.

"It spells Charlie. That's me. I'm General Charlie. It says so on my hat. Thanks for helping me write my hat mummy Jane." He gave her a childish peck on the lips, put the box on his head and walked round the room. He was trying to look important but that was difficult when he had to use both his hands to hold the box up so he could see from under it. Jane smiled at his antics.

Just then Jai interrupted them, "Fran is awake and asking for assistance."

Glancing round, the three women decided between them that Jane would go up to see to her, all without any actual conversation. Jane got up from where she had been sitting the sofa next to Viv and made her way to the gravlift.

Fran was awake and wanted a drink of water and someone to talk to. Jane got her the water and told her a story as the young girl lay curled up in her bed.

"This is the story of the little girl with the long name. Once upon a time there was a very pretty little girl with a very long name. She was called Frances Jane Vivian Anjali Julie Alice Dawn Evelyn Helen Smith-Turner-Varalakshmi-Davidson. So every time she was asked her name she had to say 'I'm called Frances Jane Vivian Anjali Julie Alice Dawn Evelyn Helen Smith-Turner-Varalakshmi-Davidson'. And that meant that she got a sore throat because every time she said her name she had to say all of Frances Jane Vivian Anjali Julie Alice Dawn Evelyn Helen Smith-Turner-Varalakshmi-Davidson."

Jane paused and stroked Fran's hair. "What a poor little girl with such a big name and such a sore throat. Then clever little Frances Jane Vivian Anjali Julie Alice Dawn Evelyn Helen Smith-Turner-Varalakshmi-Davidson had a really good idea. She thought, what if I shortened my name so I didn't have to say Frances Jane Vivian Anjali Julie Alice Dawn Evelyn Helen Smith-Turner-Varalakshmi-Davidson every time someone asked me what I was called? Then I wouldn't get a sore throat and I would feel better. So young Frances Jane Vivian Anjali Julie Alice Dawn Evelyn Helen Smith-Turner-Varalakshmi-Davidson decided to change her name to Frances Davidson for long and Fran for short. She liked her new names a lot because they were much much easier to say and her throat got much much better and everyone lived happily ever after."

"Funny story," Fran told Jane. "Was it me?"

Jane smiled, "Well, you are a pretty little girl but you never had a long name like Frances Jane Vivian Anjali Julie Alice Dawn Evelyn Helen Smith-Turner-Varalakshmi-Davidson, did you?"

"I'm Frances."

"Yes you are," Jane replied, "and if you don't stop talking your throat will get even sorer. Better drink a bit more water and try to get some more sleep."

"Yes mummy Jane." Fran curled up with her soft toy, currently a giraffe called Boris, and closed her eyes.

Jane sat on the second bed. As she waited for Fran to drop off she began thinking about what to do for Julie's birthday. All the children's birthdays were on the Earth calendar of course, the importance of their fourteenth birthday and the consequent CAP test made that a necessity. Most other things, like the annual Landing Day celebration, were based on the Waller calendar; a year with eleven equal 32 day months together with February which was either 26 days in even numbered years or 27 days in odd years. This was year eight in the Waller calendar so February had been 26 days long. There would be a birthday party for Julie of course complete with a special cake by Penny and Elly, just as Bob had had for his birthday last week, but Jane wanted to do something else as well. She decided she should check what was on at the Community Hall around that date. Alice and Dawn were coming up to their birthdays after Julie. Maybe she could get them some of Hilary's jewellery from the craft market? Alice had liked that green and yellow bangle.