Chapter 4: Reaching Understanding

Ashley jumped behind me, putting her hands on my shoulders. I reached up with my right hand to stroke her right arm. "Ashley, I don't think that's helping," I said.

Ashley's mother glared at me, but quickly turned to concentrate on her daughter. "Ash, why are you hiding behind Mark? You came here to get tested. I'm not going to punish you for your score."

"I agreed to have Mark take me," Ashley said. "My score isn't good enough, but his is."

"What?" Beatrice squawked. "Ashley Jean Roberts, explain that statement. What is your score?"

"I scored a five eight," Ashley whimpered. "I tried my best, but I knew I couldn't make it. I'm not smart enough."

"Fine," Beatrice said with a huff. "I can't say I did not hope you'd score high enough. Now what is this about Mark taking you? You are a high school student, and he's a junior high student, he can't take you anywhere."

"He's got a seven five!" Ashley gushed as she moved her arms from her shoulders to around my waist. I could feel her breasts pressed against my back as she held me close. "I asked him if he'd try to select me during a pickup and he agreed."

"What?" Beatrice screeched. "That's impossible. He can't make that kind of promise, and you can't agree to allow it!"

Ensign Marakova reached out and put a hand on Beatrice's right arm. Ashley's mother turned to look at the young Confederacy officer. "Ma'am," Ensign Marakova said quietly. "It would be best if we sat down and talked about this."

"What is there to talk about? My daughter just said something completely unacceptable," Ashley's mother snapped.

"Mark, stop her," Ashley whimpered into my back. "Please, make her understand why I want to be yours."

I sighed. I used my left hand to give Ashley's arms a gentle squeeze and then stepped forward. "Mrs. Roberts, perhaps we should accept the ensign's suggestion and move to a room so we can sit and talk about this," I said.

Mrs. Roberts turned to glare at me. She looked at how Ashley was still holding into me and her eyes narrowed. "Yes, I guess we do need to sit down. After that I'll be having a long conversation with your parents about your abominable behavior toward my daughter."

Ensign Marakova led us through a doorway. Inside we found a Spartan meeting room. An oval table dominated the middle of the room. It was surrounded by six battered office chairs. I claimed one and sat down. Ashley looked at the other chairs and then sat down on my lap, putting her legs over the left arm of the chair.

"Ashley! You unhand that boy this instant!" Beatrice shouted as she sat down across from us. "You are a refined lady, not some tart!"

Ashley just leaned against me, putting her head against my right shoulder. She closed her eyes and held me. I glanced over at Ensign Marakova, but she was just sitting quietly at the head of the table.

"Mrs. Roberts," I began slowly. "I did not ask for this or plan this. However, while we were waiting for the system to compile our scores and produce our cards we talked."

"So you talked," Mrs. Roberts snapped. "People do that."

"We talked about the future, and Ashley talked about what she saw yesterday at her school. I understand that the news had upset more than a few students and has caused a shakeup in the usual social hierarchy," I said.

"Who cares?" Mrs. Roberts snarled. "That has nothing to do with my daughter saying you promised to take her from Earth."

To my surprise Ensign Marakova spoke. "Actually it does. Probably on a couple of levels."

I turned to look at the woman. "Would you please explain it? I'm not sure I can."

The woman frowned and then looked at Mrs. Roberts. "How much do you understand about the situation?" she asked.

Beatrice shook her head. "I heard about the president's announcement and the news about some alien race coming to invade Earth. I've heard that another group of aliens offered help, but they need cannon fodder and they are using the CAP system to determine who they will select. There was something about people who can volunteer taking others with them. That's all I know."

Ensign Marakova nodded. "I guess I should not be completely surprised. The secret was kept for a year."

"What secret?" I asked.

"That aliens had approached us," Ensign Marakova replied quickly. "The whole CAP system was a requirement the aliens gave us. They needed help in the fight against the Sa'arm, but they don't trust us. I don't know how they compiled the questions or the way to score the answers, but the CAP system is their invention. They first gave it to the military and indicated that they wanted all humans tested."

"But testing wasn't made mandatory until the president made his announcement," I pointed out.

"Of course," the ensign replied. "Can you imagine the panic if testing was made mandatory immediately? There would have been investigations into why, and people would have tried to prove that the testing was false. After all, aliens set it up and put together the scoring."

"But obviously the military knew. How did they keep it quiet?" I asked.

Ensign Marakova giggled. "Only a few in the military knew. My brother was in the military and didn't know. I found out by accident when I visited him. He was a diplomatic transfer from Russia to Germany and invited me to come and spend a week. While I was there, he suggested that I complete the test for fun. I was a bit surprised the next day at lunch when the base commander announced that we were being selected to be part of one of the first units to enter full Confederacy training."

"You aren't American?" Ashley asked. "How did you end up running this testing center?"

"I don't run the testing center," Ensign Marakova responded. "I just provide a human presence here while I wait for my transfer orders to come through. I'm supposed to get shipped out to one of the outer colonies, but they are still organizing the transport units. While that is going on, they asked me to cover this testing center."

"How can you work here if you aren't an American?" Beatrice asked.

"Who is going to complain?" the ensign asked. "But let's try to stay on the topic. You were complaining that your daughter told you that she wants Mark to take her from Earth when he is picked up."

"If!" Beatrice shouted in correction. "How can I be sure he'll be picked up?"

"He'd have to try rather hard to not get picked up eventually," Ensign Marakova commented. "I've sat in on some of the briefings about pickups. This city will see quite a few pickups over the years. Unless he plans on never setting foot in a mall, movie theater, or stadium the odds are very high that he'll get the opportunity to officially volunteer. And there is a good chance that pickups will eventually be organized. The initial plan calls for randomness to help prevent a panic, but over time it will make more sense to plan out pickups far in advance when possible."

"But why should my daughter agree to go with him? He's younger than she is!"

"And unless things turn out very badly for her, she'd have a very long life once she leaves Earth. I've seen what Confederacy medical technology can do, and it's pretty amazing. I've heard someone estimate that it will keep someone healthy for more than one hundred years. Age at that point won't mean all that much," Ensign Marakova replied calmly.

"Why should she choose now? She can wait for a pickup!"

"No I can't mother," Ashley said. "Not at my school. The people with scores above six five are already auditioning others to see if they are compatible. Sure I might meet some man at a pickup, but he'd be some random guy I ran into because we were at the same location when there was a pickup. I trust Mark to cherish me."

"What does that have to do with it?" Beatrice snarled.

"What's love got to do with it?' Ensign Marakova said with a giggle. "It sounds like she feels safe with Mark. That's not a bad thing."

"And you'd know because?' Beatrice asked.

Ensign Marakova frowned. "I have my two concubines. Right now they are in my home pod. Yelena and I are..." the ensign blushed. "Let's just say we knew everything about each other long before there was a pickup. I'm very happy that she agreed to be mine, and she has been enthusiastic about showing her appreciation that I cared enough to ask. I look forward to seeing her every night."

"Um ... that's only one concubine, you said you have two," I pointed down.

Ensign Marakova nodded. "I needed to take a man so I selected an infantry trainee from the mess hall where I was picked up. We're still building a bond. He's caring, but I didn't know him. If Ashley and Mark want to start building the bond now, when there won't be the pressure of being picked up and told you are going to be torn from Earth and thrown into a fight against the Sa'arm, it will likely be a lot stronger in the long run."

Ashley giggled. "I like that idea. I feel safe in his arms."

"Your virginity isn't very safe," I whispered to her, causing her to blush and push her face into my shoulder. Ensign Marakova laughed.

"So you know all about this?" Beatrice asked the ensign. "How should I know I can trust you Ensign... ?"

"Marakova," the woman replied. "My name is Susan Marakova. Why don't you call me Susan, it will make things easier."

"Susan sounds like an American name," I observed.

"It is," Susan replied with a smile. "My parents were hoping to move to Detroit when I was born, but my father's job offer fell through. As for why you should trust me, I can't really make any statements that would prove that I am honest. The best I can offer is to allow Mark and Ashley to work out their decision. From what I see, it's a good one."

"But they are children!" Beatrice snapped.

"Not according to the Confederacy. They say a human is an adult at fourteen. That's why we start testing at fourteen, and all the rules surrounding pickups separate those fourteen and older from children," Susan replied.

"So what do I do?" Beatrice asked. "Allow them to romp around like a couple of rabbits? My family is respectable."

"I'd never embarrass you or Ashley that way Mrs. Roberts," I said calmly as I stroked Ashley's hair. "I won't deny that I told Ashley that if she wanted to be mine at pickup, she had to agree to be mine starting today, but I won't abuse that."

"Why not?" Ashley said with a giggle. "You'd never ask something of me I wouldn't do."

"I could," I said quietly. "But you are right. I don't want to ever upset you by demanding too much. I do hope we get some private time."

"So you do plan on making her into some kind of sex toy!" Beatrice snapped.

"No," I said. "Or at least not a public one. I do expect that if Ashley and I are alone we'll be exploring the possibilities, but I don't want some simpering ninny that kneels at my feet wearing some silk and lace creation. I expect that Ashley and I will find games to play, events to visit, and time to just sit and talk for now. I'd rather have her be a dear and treasured companion than simply a sex toy."

"But what if I want to be a sex toy?" Ashley asked coyly.

"Ashley!" Beatrice yelled.

Ashley twisted in my lap. She faced her mother as she pressed her ass against my crotch. I could feel her wiggle a bit trying to get a rise out of me. I fought to keep my penis from rising in response as I leaned to the left so I could look around her.

"Mother," Ashley snapped. "Do you really want to pretend I don't know about sex? How many of the senior cheerleaders are virgins?"

I snorted causing Mrs. Roberts to glare at me. "What?" she asked.

"Oh, I expect I know the answer to Ashley's question," I said with a smirk. "And I'm sure you do as well."

"Fine," the woman snapped. "I'm guessing that there are no virgins. But that doesn't mean I want my daughter to be some teen boy's plaything. She should have a chance to decide what she wants to do."

"And what do I want to do mother?" Ashley snapped. She then leaned back into my arms. I wrapped them around her waist, but she grabbed my right hand and raised it so it covered her left breast. When I tried to pull it away she held it down, keeping it against her breast.

"Apparently you want to take Mark into a bedroom and have him fuck you," Beatrice growled. The malice coming from her was palpable, and I was tempted to hide behind Ashley. Instead, I gave her breasts a squeeze and then sat up, moving her to my right knee. She fought me for a moment, but quickly turned to lean against me while holding my hand tight against her breast.

"That's not true," I hissed. "More importantly, I wouldn't want Ashley as a companion if she felt that way."

"Ha! Like you'd say no if you saw her naked!" Beatrice snapped.

"He did, and he told me we have to wait," Ashley said quietly.

"He did what?" Beatrice screamed as she stood up. I noticed that Susan was now holding some strangely shaped pistol in her hand. The ensign was watching Mrs. Roberts closely as she tried to loom over me from across the table.

"I took off my shorts and panties for him while we waited for our scores," Ashley said. "He touched me with his hand, but then told me to put my shorts back on."

Susan snorted. Everyone turned to look at her. I could see Mrs. Roberts' eyes narrow as she noticed the pistol. "What?" Beatrice asked.

Susan looked at Ashley. "Only your shorts?" she said with a smile.

Ashley blushed and pressed her head to my chest. "Mark told me I had to give him my panties if I was serious."

"Ashley, come over here and get off that boy's knee. I can't believe you are acting so shamelessly," Mrs. Robert commanded.

Susan raised her free hand. "Calm down for a moment. You aren't considering the whole picture."