Chapter 1: The Big Guy

"Phwoar! He's hunky!"

Not really what Hayden wanted to hear, certainly not when Abbie was looking at someone else. She was his girlfriend, not the other guy's. She was right though, there was this tall good-looking man crossing the road towards them. Very solidly built and handsome with short dark hair. Hayden took an almost instant dislike to him. Looking like that, the guy could probably attract girls even if he didn't have a CAP score over 6.5.

Hayden could only dream of looking like that. He was thinnish, average height and had dull brown hair. The most attractive thing about him was that he did have a good CAP score: 6.6. He was pretty sure that Abbie would have liked him anyway, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Certainly not a gift horse with the benefits she provided.

Abbie wasn't conventionally good-looking either, but she had an easygoing personality and got on well with Hayden and his friends. Her tits were small apples, firm and nicely shaped. Below the waist she was a different story. She had a big arse above thick, solid thighs and short legs. A fashion model she was not. He'd had offers – lots of offers – from better looking women, but they were only after his CAP score. He felt more comfortable with Abbie; she liked him for himself, not just for his score. Her skin was a lovely café-au-lait from her Trinidadian dad. He'd also given her frizzy black hair which drove her to distraction. Mostly she kept it tightly tied back to stop it escaping all over the place.

"I bet he plays rugby. Look at the way he's built," she went on. "I love those thighs."

Hayden scowled at her, but she wasn't looking at him.

"He's big enough for one of those Space Marines..."

Hayden didn't hear the rest of whatever she said. The guy was as big as a Confederacy Marine; put him in a uniform and he could easily be standing guard outside a CAP testing centre. He wasn't in uniform now, but he walked – make that marched – like he was in the military. Could it be? Worth taking a chance anyway. Neither of them had anything better to do at the moment, there was plenty of time before this afternoon's lectures.

He got out his phone and called his best mate, "Mike? Get over here quick. I'm on the High Street by Starbucks, walking up the hill. Byzantium."

"Byzantium? For real?" Mike asked, surprised.

"For real," Hayden assured him. "We're following one of their guys. If we stick with him, then..."

"Two minutes. We're by the bus station."

When the Government announced the partial evacuation of Earth, Hayden and Mike had agreed to use the codeword 'Byzantium' to alert each other to Confederacy pickups. That was before they realised that pickups were closed – once they'd started you couldn't get in. Finally, three years later, Hayden was able to use the code word as they'd intended. And it worked! Ahead, beyond the big guy, he could see Mike's girlfriend Bridget walking down the street towards them. Mike was to her left.

Bridget was far easier to spot; her hair was bright orange this month. Neither she nor Mike had the score to make sponsor, so she knew she'd need a way for sponsors to notice her in a line-up of naked women. She had good tits, big and firm, but there would be lots of other tits on display. The brightly dyed hair was her way to stand out from the crowd. At least this month's orange wasn't as bad as the fluorescent green she'd had last month. By contrast, Mike was average: average height, average weight, light brown hair and average looks. Average CAP score as well, he had a 5.1.

The Marine hadn't stopped at Starbucks, so the pickup wouldn't be there. The next likely place was L'Épice and Love, the organic café further up this side of the High Street at the junction with London Road.

Suddenly the big guy turned off into the entrance of an anonymous office, set in the row of shops. What! Why were they doing a pickup from an office? Hayden stopped, surprised.

"Why have you stopped?" Abbie asked. She hadn't realised who the big man was.

"I'm thinking," he told her. Not wanting to block people passing, he took her hand and pulled her into the porch where the Marine had gone. If they were in the porch, then there was a good chance they'd be inside the exclusion field when it appeared.

By the time Mike and Bridget reached them, there was still no sign of any grey barrier.

"So where is it then?" Mike asked.

"I don't know," Hayden told him. "The big bloke we were following went in here," pointing to the office entrance.

"OK, let's go in then," Mike said, squeezing between Hayden and Abbie to get to the door. Mike was like that, often acting before thinking. Sometimes it was fun; sometimes it was a disaster. Hayden wasn't sure what this one would be, but he followed anyway.

Inside, the receptionist asked, "Can I help you?" with a professional smile.

"Erm..." Mike was struck dumb. He was a tit man, and this woman had what looked like the most awesome tits in town. He was mesmerised. Female fashion had changed to show a lot of skin after the announcement of the Swarm. That had died back some once it became clear that pickups were relatively rare. More recently, the rise of the Earth First party could make it difficult if you were too obviously looking for a concubine slot. Despite that, everything above and between her nipples was on display. Mike was completely transfixed. How did she get them to stand out like that without a bra?

Hayden rescued his friend with some quick thinking, "We're here to meet someone." Complete bullshit of course, but the best he could do on short notice.

She went for it! "OK, you can all wait over there." She indicated a low table and chairs to their left.

Hayden thanked her politely and the four of them sat down.

"What's this about?" Abbie asked quietly. "We were walking down the street and you drag me in here. What is this place anyway?"

Hayden explained that big guy she'd noticed was probably a Confederacy Marine, and he was hoping to get the four of them in on a pickup. Bridget was as round-eyed as Abbie. Obviously Mike hadn't told her either.

"So where's the grey field they use then?" Abbie asked. "There's no point in us sitting here if there isn't going to be a pickup, and if there was it would probably have started by now."

"I don't know. Maybe they're waiting for someone? Some high-CAP guy..."

"Or woman," Bridget interrupted.

"Some high-CAP person to arrive?" Hayden rephrased carefully.

"If they're waiting, then we could get a few more people," Mike said, pulling out his phone.

"No!" Hayden hissed – he didn't want to attract the receptionist's attention. A quick glance showed she was working at her computer screen and talking into a Bluetooth headset, not paying any attention to the four of them. "You're not thinking, again, Mike. If there's a big crowd they won't extract anyone at all. We don't want to start a riot."

"We might get away with a few people?" Mike complained.

"Not likely. We already stand out in here like a sore thumb. We're students, we don't look like office workers. We don't want to do anything that might make them suspicious and throw us out. Then we'd definitely miss any pickup."

"What about Ray?" Abbie suggested. "He's got a big score and he's a businessman. He'd fit in. Isn't he meeting your mum for lunch today?"

"She did say he might be there."

"No harm in phoning him, then?"

"S'pose not." Hayden tried his phone. "Damn. No signal."

Suddenly, a man's voice interrupted them, "Hello Mr. Waugh. Sorry to keep you all waiting. Would you like to come through now?"

Hayden looked up at the sound of his name. The stranger was normal build, not like the giant they'd followed. He was blond, short-haired and handsome. What was it with all the good-looking men here? And the receptionist too, though she was definitely not a man. Was this place a model agency maybe?

He led the four of them through to a conference room with eight chairs set round a table. "Sit down please," he told them.

Not wanting to make a fuss, they all did as he asked.

"You were having a problem with your phone's reception?"

Hayden nodded.

"That happens sometimes. Try one of these instead."

The stranger picked up four smartphones from the table and handed one to Hayden, then one each to the other three.

"It's broken," Hayden told him. The screen showed nothing but a strangely fascinating coloured hash.

The man smiled. Hayden saw that the other three were all still staring at theirs.

Abbie looked up next, "What does it do?"

The stranger waited until Mike and Bridget finished. Bridget stayed quiet, but inevitably Mike spoke before thinking, "Piece of crap."

The man ignored their comments. "I'm Ethan Gustafson. And you are Hayden Waugh, Abigail Newton, Michael Howarth and Bridget Matthews are you not?"

All four of them nodded. "How'd you... ?" Mike asked.

"You're all carrying your CAP cards," Ethan explained. Quickly turning to Hayden, he asked, bluntly, "Why did the four of you walk in here?"

Hayden knew there was no point in not telling the truth. If there was a pickup in the offing, then they wanted in. If there wasn't, then they had better things to do. "We were looking for a Confederacy pickup."

"There aren't many extractions from offices. Most of them are from bars or restaurants. Why were you looking for one here?"

"We saw this really big guy, like a Confederacy Marine," Hayden explained, "so we followed him. We were expecting him to go into a café or something, like you said, but he came in here instead. We just followed."

Ethan paused with a distant look in his eye. "That was Shane. You're right, he does look like a Marine."

"Will there be a pickup then?" Mike asked. "If not, then we..."

"No," Ethan interrupted. "This isn't the sort of place for an extraction."

"But from somewhere else?" Hayden guessed. Ethan was phrasing his answers very carefully.

Ethan ignored the question. "Michael, you're aware that your chances of being selected in an extraction are very low?"

"Yeah, I know," Mike replied. "But if I'm not in a pickup, then there's no chance at all, is there?"

"Fair point," Ethan acknowledged. "In reception, you were talking about a Ray with a high score. Do you know his full name?"

There was an obvious question in there – how had Ethan known what they were talking about before he'd joined them? – but it was plainly one of those questions he wouldn't answer. Hayden didn't even bother to ask. "He's Ray Gibson. Mum says he's due four concs, so he scored seven point something."

"You mother knows him?"

"Yeah. He's married to her best friend from school. Mum and Sally are meeting for lunch in town today."

"At L'Épice and Love?"

"Yeah, they like the salads there. How did you know?" Hayden asked, puzzled.

Ethan gave a slight smile and ignored the question. Instead he told them, "Then I suggest that you and your friends go and meet your mother and her friend for lunch. If her friend wants to invite her husband to join them, then that would be good."

"Mum did say that Ray might be there."

Ethan smiled at that. He continued, "And remember what you were saying earlier."

The four of them looked at him, mystified.

"You don't want to stir up a riot. The Confederacy never runs an extraction if there's a riot going on." Ethan retrieved his four phones and stood up. "It's been a pleasure meeting you all. Now you'd better be on your way."

As they walked up the street, Mike burst out, "Do you think..."

"Yeah, the receptionist's tits were incredible," Hayden interrupted hastily. That cost him a punch on the arm, a hard one, from Abbie, but it stopped Mike saying something he probably shouldn't. Talking about things in the street where anyone could overhear, might cause exactly the kind of riot that would wreck everything. Mike's habit of engaging his mouth before his brain could be really annoying sometimes.

They had to find their own table in the café. Hayden's mother and her friend Sally were at a table for three; far too small for all of them. Hayden did manage to confirm that the two women were expecting Ray to join them soon. The four students managed to find a free table in a quiet corner, away from other customers.

Finally Mike got to ask his question, though thankfully he remembered to speak quietly. "Do you think those people were Confederacy?"

"For sure," Hayden said. Abbie and Bridget both nodded agreement. "The big bloke and Ethan were too handsome and the receptionist had obviously been worked on as well. Everyone says that concubines, the women anyway, get big tits after they're extracted."

The others nodded.

"They could read our CAP cards as well," Abbie pointed out.

"And they were listening in on what we said," Hayden reminded them. "Ethan knew what we'd been talking about before he showed up. He never said exactly what he did, but he didn't seem surprised at us talking about the Confederacy. I bet that place is some sort of secret Confederacy office."

"So," Mike confirmed, "there will be a pickup here today."

"Yeah," Hayden agreed. "Ethan never actually said so, but he was certainly dropping a lot of obvious hints. I think they'll wait for Ray to arrive first. They won't want to miss the chance to collect a seven if they know he's coming. I bet they're secretly scanning CAP cards here, like they did at the office."

"They read your card too, Hayden," Abbie said. I don't think they'd send us on a wild goose chase with you around. They'll want you as well as Ray."

Abbie was right and so was Hayden. Less than a minute after Ray arrived, the grey interdiction field came on and the pickup started.

While a Marine sergeant was making her opening announcement, the four of them smiled at each other. Abbie looked hopefully at Hayden, "Will you... ?"

"Yes Abbie. I'll take you."

Bridget was making eyes at him and pushing out her tits. They were bigger than Abbie's, very much to Mike's taste.

"Sorry, Bridget. I promised Abbie and I need a mother for my second. You don't have any kids."

Bridget was disappointed, but not surprised. She knew that Hayden and Abbie were an item and he was right about her lack of mothering experience. "It was worth asking," she said, shrugging, and started stripping. She liked Mike a lot, but getting herself off Earth was more important. She and Mike both knew that their relationship would only last until the Confederacy showed up.

"Sorry Hayden, you're not my type," Mike joked. At 5.1 he was below the 6.5 cut-off so, as Ethan had said, his chances here were slim. "I'll see if the woman sponsor wants me." Only one of the seven sponsors the sergeant had named sounded female.

"You could see if Ray needs an extra man," Hayden suggested. "He might want three women and a gigolo instead of four women."

"That's a thought," Mike said, before following the naked Bridget towards the line-up of potential concubines.

Hayden made his way towards the Marine they'd noticed earlier. Shane, PFC Collins according to his ID tag, was in uniform now and handing out CAP card readers to the seven sponsors the sergeant had called up.

"Ah, here's my shadow," he greeted Hayden, smiling as he handed over the reader. "Well spotted."

Hayden nodded and smiled back. The reader's interface was intuitive enough that he was able to examine Abbie's card with no problems. Everything was as he'd expected. They'd been going out together for almost a year, so he knew her well. There was some useful new information: she had a good motherhood potential – at twenty she didn't have any kids of her own yet. That was going to change soon if the stories were true.

As he'd told Bridget, Hayden wanted an experienced mother for his second slave. The official description was 'concubine', but everyone knew what it really meant. His first choice was his own mother, Lauren. She and Abbie already knew and liked each other. That should help with integrating his new family.

He found her with Ray and Sally. Lauren was naked, but Sally still had her pale blue panties on for some reason. Seeing the older women naked reminded him, "Abbie, you need to lose your clothes."

She nodded and started to strip. She'd known it was coming so she wasn't surprised. At least she already had her sponsor, unlike most of the women here.

Hayden asked, "Mum, do you want to be my concubine with Abbie?"

"No dear. I'm sorry, but I really can't deal with the..." Lauren paused, waving her right hand, unable to say the word.

" ... the incest part," Hayden supplied.

"Yes. I really can't handle that. I'm sorry, dear, but there it is."

He was disappointed, but not completely surprised. He knew she found the idea of sex with her son very difficult, but he'd hoped that when push came to shove in an actual extraction, she'd take the opportunity. "OK, mum. I'll find someone else. Good luck."

"Thanks, dear." Her eyes flicked towards Ray.

Mum with Ray? Hayden thought that would be good. Lauren and Sally went back a very long way, so they should get on well. Mum had known Ray for a long time as well, she'd even introduced him to Sally. Yeah, Ray would be a good choice for mum. Having Ray available as a backup probably explained why she had turned down his offer.

Ray was having a quietly intense discussion with Sally. It didn't look as if it was a smooth, 'Yes I'll be your slave, ' from Sally's side. Whatever it was, Hayden wasn't going to butt in uninvited. It was for them to work out.

He headed towards the line-up of wannabe concubines, followed by the naked Abbie. He saw his friend coming towards him, still dressed. "No luck then, Mike?"

"No. Ray wants four women and Cathy, the female sponsor, wants a married couple with a young kid or two. Looks like I'm staying here." Mike shrugged. He didn't look too down; it was what he'd been expecting.

Hayden decided to cheer his friend up, since this was the last time they'd see each other. "Abbie, give Mike a blowjob as a going away present." It was also a chance to test her. Fucking her himself wasn't really a test; they'd been fucking for the best part of a year now.

Abbie looked a little surprised, but she got down on her knees as instructed and reached for Mike's fly. She knew that concubines had to do whatever they were told and sex was well up the list, especially during a pickup. Better Mike than a complete stranger.