The Swarm Cycle Universe
Copyright© 2007 The Thinking Horndog

Recap of Black Friday:

Sixteen-year-old Mark is picked up at a Macy’s Black Friday Sale, the day after Thanksgiving. The Marines seem disorganized and inexperienced. The officer turns out to be British and he had no idea of the significance of Thanksgiving or the fact that the sales are going to be so busy the next day. The mostly female customers turn predator when their sale is interrupted but there are not enough men for the pickup. The Marines stun the troublemakers and the pickup continues.

Mark’s mother, Margie, is picked up by Marilyn, who also promises to collect Margie’s husband. As a condition, Mark takes, as dependents, his thirteen-year-old little sister, Cathy, and Marilyn’s daughter, Grace, also thirteen. Marilyn also has another married couple. Marilyn demonstrates to Mark that she is very much bisexual, that his mom is great looking when naked and Margie is also willing to be bi.

Mark becomes enamored of a Blonde Valkyrie named Brenda who was battling to protect some women and children until the Marines finally helped. He is a bit upset when the AI and the Marines authorize a small adjustment in her CAP score, allowing her to volunteer instead of becoming his first Concubine.

Mark is then approached by a mother and her daughter. Mai is 40, mixed Vietnamese - Caucasian. Her 19 year old daughter June had a Vietnamese - African-American father. After a test drive threesome, they both end up joining him and he makes plans to collect Mai’s son, eight-year-old Tranh, and her sixteen-year-old daughter, May.

Brenda comes back with a lady with kids and the store janitor. She also has an aunt, a statuesque mother of two, named Sandra, who agrees to join Mark. He thus has three adults and two thirteen-year-olds on hand and another three under-thirteen kids and one sixteen year old to collect at two stops.

Our story continues:

Mark Kinsey followed his new Harem through the transporter. There was a bit of disorientation and he nearly stumbled over Sandra who had lost her balance. The quick reflexes that had kept him in the running for the school record for highest number of tackles per game for this entire season saved him from embarrassment. Sandra was surprised when he lifted her completely off of the ground as he pulled her up and clear. He was even stronger than he looked.

“Don’t strain yourself, Mark! I expect that you will have to test me a couple of times as I am twice as big as the other girls.” She yipped a bit as he nipped her breast, the nipple of which was nicely positioned under his chin.

“No more ‘bigger’ put downs. Just for that, I will have to put in some extra work on you.” Mark’s leering look made it obvious that he was not displeased by her comment’s and that the ‘extra work’ would be fun for both of them.

“Volunteers!” A naval rating of some sort was talking with the ship’s systems amplifying his voice in the bay. “If you would collect your Harems and all of their CAP Cards, as well as your own Card, we need to get you started on your processing. It appears that all of the teams ran into some trouble today, but you are the first ones back. We will take your people and start you through the med screening, and then your pod assignment. We’ll let you know what comes after that. Each Volunteer, you need to find out if there are any medical problems with you or your Harem. Also, get the names and locations of any children needing pickups.”

Mark got a little shock when he told the naval rating his list of kids. “Eight-year-old boy, Tranh Williams.” The rating, actually a member of the Fleet Auxiliary, looked surprised at the combination of names. Mark explained. “The parents are both Asian-American, the father’s father was Caucasian. Anyway, we also have permission to pickup his sixteen-year-old sister, May, as my last concubine at the same time. Then we have Sandra’s children, nine-year-old Karl Jensen and six-year-old Mindy.”

Sandra jumped in shock. “What about Sharon and Willie? I can’t leave them.”

Mark was startled as well, “Uhh, who are they? I thought you only had two kids.” He looked over to Brenda who blushed. She had not mentioned those names to him while introducing them during the pickup.

“They’re my brother’s kids. Bill and Linda died in a car wreck two years ago. I have full legal custody.” Sandra was starting to look frantic.

“Hang on, hang on, they’re coming. Uhh, thirteen or younger, right?” Mark watched Sandra calm down and relax.

“Yeah. Willie is ten and Sharon is, uhh, can you handle another thirteen-year-old girl?”

“Oh, great! Wall-to-wall giggles.”

“Thanks, Mark. You are going to get so lucky tonight!”

“I have been doing pretty well already today.” He leered at her.

Sergeant Reed, the Marine NCO from Mark’s pickup, approached him. “Don’t worry. Ensign Fawkes says that our team will be the one doing the pickups for your extras, as well as all of the others from our pickup. We will be taking you and the mothers along and we won’t leave anyone behind. After you get checked in to your pod, we will call you all out for a little lunch break and quick briefing.” He handed Mark a PDA. “This is linked to the Ship’s AI. You can talk to it, and ask it for directions. It has all of the CAP card info for you and your people. It will work anywhere on the ship or even the entire planet. It will also let you know when and where you have to be for meetings and briefings.”

“Thanks, Sarge. Hey, I have a question for you, or maybe, it’s really a comment. My uncle Jack is ex-Marines and we’ve talked a lot about the military, so I know you shouldn’t really criticize your officer, but he seemed really green.”

“Well, first, I should mention that we have been on a different clock and calender since we first got picked up. None of us had a clue that Thanksgiving was around now. And he used to be a Brit, so he had even less of a clue. But yes; this is his first deployment. The whole company, actually. I’ll tell you more a bit later. For now, you need to follow that guy there to your med tubes.”

Mark, Brenda and Marilyn as well as one other female volunteer took their Harems in tow to the Medical Facility, which had six med tubes. Mark and his Harem numbered six. Brenda had two adults, besides herself, and two kids. Marilyn had herself and three adults. The other lady had two other women and three kids. Mark suggested that the third lady take her Harem through as the first batch of six. He wanted to talk to Brenda and Marilyn for a bit.

“Sergeant Reed has something else to say to me after we find our pods. I have a feeling that there is an opportunity here, someplace. Marilyn, do you have a problem with me coming along on the pickup to get my Dad and my little brother?”

“Not if they let you. Why?” Marilyn had left her unbuttoned blouse on. She was carrying her slacks, bra and panties though. It was moderately distracting, but not as bad as his nude mother sitting across from him.

“I don’t think that they realize who will be there, and I need to optimize our benefits. Remember, we need to think as members of the colony now. The best people, in the best positions for them, with the best benefits and incentives.” Mark was breathing heavily as his sister learned about keeping a good rhythm and how to handle his balls.

“Oh, that’s a good point. There are about ten people at my Dad’s place.” Brenda had never bothered to replace her top or her bra. Her hip huggers were nearly painted on. Ok, his mom was still more distracting, but the problem seemed to be additive.

“You should be there as well as Sandra and me then. That will diffuse some problems and you can get your farewells in.”

Further discussion was delayed as the med-techs wanted to talk to the volunteers about what options were available in this screening period. Mark wanted all birth control devices or drugs removed from Mai and Sandra. He asked for June to be delayed for at least a month. Three or more pregnant ladies all delivering babies at once seemed to be a bad idea. Sandra had high cholesterol and she had suffered from knee problems since high school girls’ basketball. He asked for a more thorough scan of Mai, as he was not sure if she had totally understood him when he asked about medical problems. He also asked about translators but was told they would be implanted later. He blushed as he heard Marilyn giving similar directions about his mother. He was surprised that she had Mr. Simpson shooting blanks for a bit, stating that she wanted Mrs. Simpson pregnant by his father, first.

After the first batch finished up in about fifteen minutes, Mark and his bunch were the second batch of six to go through the scanning. He was then briefed on the results while Brenda’s Harem and Mrs. Simpson went through. There were no serious problems with anyone. Also, Mai had apparently not been on any birth control and she had been in the fertile part of her cycle. That meant one pregnancy in his Harem already! June and the girls were ecstatic, Mai was a bit shocked, but ended up smiling and glowing. Sandra just looked serene. Mark promised to meet the others at lunch after they got their pods squared away.

“Mark, we can’t get in!” June was at the front of the line. Mark was indulging in a sudden whimsy. He was carrying Grace, piggyback. He moved up from the viewpoint position at the back of his Harem and the pod door opened up for him automatically. “Better get down, Grace.” He stated talking to the PDA. “Hey, AI, what was the problem with the door?”

<There was no problem.>

“Bull no one could get in.”

<Volunteers can come and go in the pods as they will, but Concubines can only enter or leave the pod with the Volunteer’s permission,> came the reply.

“Ok, but that’s stupid. I, of course, want them to come in. All of my Harem Members have my permission to enter my pod at any time, unless I revoke this permission. Uhm, and that will include future members as well. Okay?”

<That is sufficient. Acknowledged.>

“And for now, I will give the adults permission to leave the pod if they deem it necessary, but I wish to be notified when that happens. The children can leave only in the company of an adult.”

<Acknowledged.>

Mark looked at the three ladies in question who nodded in understanding...

“Okay, lets set this place up like this. Master Bedroom, two women’s rooms, a boy’s room, and a girl’s room. Thirteen-year-olds, there will be no sex with adults or in front of the other kids. Sex for grownups is only in the adult bedrooms. We will figure out more rules later. Wait! Around the pod, thirteens will wear panties and a shift or shirt, minimum. Adults will wear just the shift or nothing. Outside the pod, the rule will be nude for the adults and fully clothed for the thirteens. None of you are even close to ugly and I am going to show you off for a day or so, to get you used to it. So, adults drop all of your clothes on a couch or something for now. The pod can reconfigure while we are getting this snack and briefing that they mentioned. Oh, you can wear your shoes, slippers and such for now. Some of those floors are chilly. Carry a shift with you when we leave. There will be no covering anything up, though, unless I say so. Now, I have some plans for when we do the kid pickups, I’m not sure who all is going along yet, so all of you listen up to what I want you to do.

The dining area was getting full when the Kinsey Harem arrived. The AI had told him that it was just one of the dining areas for this ring of the ship. There were easily ten times as many people as had been picked up at the Macy’s store. Almost as soon as they entered, a very big, but soft-looking man, approached with his two somewhat dowdy looking middle-aged concubines in tow.

“Hey kid, I got a problem. The wife and her sister don’t want to do the nasty with each other. They say that’s incest. Either one will polish up nice when the med tubes are available. I’m going to swap you for one of these Asian sluts. Ok?” He didn’t seem to think that Mark would care. He reached for June who pulled back from him in fear.

“No, thank you, and please don’t call my ladies sluts.” Mark stepped in front of June.

“Out of the way, kid. You have too many anyway.” He tried to shove Mark out of his path by sheer mass. Mark saw Sgt Reed approaching with a drawn weapon of some sort, hiding in his palm.

Mark used a forearm shiver and set the bully on his ass about three steps back from his starting location. “Who says football training doesn’t help you in the real world?” The bully started to get up and Mark just watched as he stood, got set up to rush Mark, then fell down again as Sgt Reed nailed him with a stinger. “Sorry, Sarge. I saw you coming, but he rushed me. I’m not in trouble for that, am I?”

The Marine waved his concern off. “Nah, I saw the whole thing and so did the AI. He was from an earlier pickup group. He has had several briefings already and he was warned along with the others about this exact same thing. AI says he has no special skills or any reason for us to keep him.” Sgt Reed bent over and picked up the man’s PDA. Two more Marines came and collected the limp body. His concubines started to follow him, but were stopped by the Sergeant. “Ladies, you are now unassigned concubines. We have a Civil Service officer onboard who will contact you. For now just get your meal.”

Mark listened to the resulting emotional conversation where it was made clear to the ladies that the bully was going to be dead in minutes. No stigma attached to them, but their situation was now a bit more precarious. He noticed, however, that neither one seemed to really be unhappy about his upcoming demise. He turned to his own Harem, gathered them all in for a comforting hug, and then led them to a replicator outlet.

“I was right. This food is edible, but it is NOT of holiday leftover status.” Mark grimaced at the taste of the mashed potatoes. “Someone used those blasted instant potatoes for this replicator template. It should be relabeled something like ‘Institutional Mashed Potatoes’ or maybe ‘Reconstituted Mashed Potatoes’. Oh, well.” He turned to Sgt Reed, who had joined them at his table. Brenda and Marilyn were at the next table and were well within earshot. “Sergeant, you were telling me how your company happened to be so inexperienced.”

“Yeah, well, the whole colony only has two companies of Marines. At first, we were told we didn’t need any. We were just supposed to grow the colony and they were maybe going to put in a Naval staging base there. Then we were told that we needed some troops to act as Shore Patrol and also, to defend the colony. Next, they said we needed to supply our own pickup troops. Now they want us to have two battalions on call for our region of space. The problem was, they never sent any trainers. Every NCO in the unit, from the corporals on up, is prior service Army or Marines from various countries. Oh, one gal was in the Canadian Air Force. None of us have seen combat, and none have more than four years in uniform. For national origins, we have Americans, Canadians, Brits, Germans and Mexicans and that’s just in the Marines. We have thirteen different military traditions and training. The Governor is kind of old school English. He appointed officers from own his short list of ‘Gentlemen’. The Ensign is actually pretty good for an eighteen-year-old young man who was in his first year of military school when he was picked up. He knows that he basically is clueless and so, he listens.”

“It sounds like what you really need are some real veterans with enough experience and rank to take over training and some of the senior military positions. If you pick up a real find in that way, will the governor let you keep them for the military? Will the ‘Gentlemen’ in charge listen?” Mark hoped that his mother would not spill the beans. She was obviously on the same wavelength. She was bouncing in her seat in excitement and he was having problems ignoring her naked breasts, which were joining in the celebration.

“The Governor has turned it over to the Major. He’s a military historian and he’s on board this ship, right now. He took all of the officers and NCOs aside and he proceeded to tell us how deep in the poop we really were. He wants every decent veteran that he can get. He really hopes that we can get his replacement on this trip.”

“Sergeant Reed. What if I could locate a twenty-year USMC veteran with some combat experience and six years experience as a Drill Instructor? I’ll tell you up front. He has a very decent CAP score, but he has not volunteered and won’t go without a couple of issues being taken care of.”

“Mr. Kinsey, in that case I tell you to hang on. The Ensign and the Major are on the way right now. The AI is briefing them as they walk.” Sgt Reed looked volumes at Mark. The look said, ‘You had better not be jerking me around, kid.’

In another minute the Ensign and a Major approached. Mark stood up as the Sgt did. He waited as salutes were exchanged. “As you were. Sit down Sgt, you also, Mr. Kinsey. Now, what ‘issues’ are we talking about?”

“Sir, my parents are good people and have taught me a lot, but my Uncle Jack taught me a lot about some rather extreme meanings of Honor, Duty and Responsibility. Things like, ‘never leave one of your own behind.’ Or ‘never promise to complete something and fail without trying your best to do it.’ I think he’ll have about three things to settle before he’d leave. He will want every one of his people to come out with him. That will maybe mean one or two more than he has the score for. I am not talking about everyone that he knows, but he will want all that are there at the time. Second, he has a personal responsibility this evening. Third, so do I. He will want us both to honor those commitments if at all possible. Other than that, I am just speculating, but I bet that if you give him what he wants and then turn him loose, you can have a company, or even a battalion’s worth of NCOs and maybe even a decent officer or two in one or two days. Some by tonight.”

“What responsibility do you have?” The Major was skeptical.

“Sir, I am the starting middle linebacker for our high school football team. This is the last game of the season. We have a perfect record. In all modesty, with me we can win. It’s not guaranteed, but probable. Without me, it will be very difficult. We don’t have depth at my position. This is the cross-town rival. For us, it’s the biggest game of the year, Sir. Uncle Jack is a history teacher at the school. He is also co-coach of the Rifle and Drum Corp and he runs the Junior ROTC program that they re-started three years ago. They have a half-time show planned.”

“So you suggest that we pick him up later, after the game?” The Major seemed okay with that.

No, Sir. I suggest that you pick him and his family up when Marilyn picks up my dad and my little brother. They are all together at Uncle Jack’s today. Right now. By now, Dad and the others probably know about the Macy’s pickup. Make the pick up, and then let Uncle Jack and me do our things tonight. Then, this is your next step...”

Brenda, Mark, Sandra and three Marines were at the door when Brenda’s dad opened the door. “Brenda, Thank Goodness! I saw the news and I thou...” He saw the Marines and instantly focused a glare on Mark. “You! You took my girl to be a slave!”

“No Papa!” Brenda grabbed her father and wrapped her arms around him to keep the Marines from having to react. Luckily, she had on a concubine shift to cover up her bare top. “I’m a six point six now. Mark helped me get it. We came for Sandra’s kids. All four of them.” She gently pushed her father back inside so that the others could follow.

“Mr. Swanson?” One of the Marines spoke up. “No one told us that you were a volunteer.” Both Brenda and Sandra looked startled. ‘‘

Brenda’s father looked a little sheepish. “I never told anyone but my wife. I didn’t want to get their hopes up, as they couldn’t stay with me all the time. Are you picking me up now?” When the Marine nodded, he looked over his shoulder and smiled at his wife who was just entering the front room. “Mattie, get Chantelle and the kids. Ask her if she’s willing to share a bed with you and me.”

“Aunt Chan’ is here?” Brenda seemed happy. She turned to Mark. “That’s my Mom’s sister. She’s neat.” She turned back to her father with a sour look on her face. “Where are Gloria, Keith and their two hellions?”

Mr. Swanson got an identical sour look. “Your aunt and the loser decided to leave early. They wanted to get home in time to watch their TV shows. It looks like she is going to inherit the family house after all.”

“Look on the bright side, Papa. Now you don’t have to consider taking them in your Harem.” Brenda giggled. “I can just imagine the way Aunt Gloria would responded if you asked her to join you in your bed.”

Sandra excused herself and headed into the back for her kids. Brenda left to join her.

Larry Swanson again took notice of Mark. “So, you and Sandra are Brenda’s then?”

“Uhh, no, Sir. I was looking for a Harem. When they had the riot, I saw Brenda fighting to protect some women and children from the mob. You should be proud of her, Sir. Three to one, but she was clearly winning. Then, after things calmed down, uhh, well I would have been lucky and honored to have her as a member of my Harem. In fact, I was at the point of asking her. However, then the Marines decided she should have a bump to her score because of the aggressive way she was defending the others. After I had most of my people chosen and she had picked out her own, she finally spotted Sandra and introduced us. Sandra looked so classy walking towards us, uhh, totally nude, but poised and confident. So with Brenda’s nice introduction, Sandra decided to join me and become my Head Lady. I hope that doesn’t offend you, Sir.”

“No, I guess not. I guess I overreacted when I saw my daughter. Sorry, can we start again?” He held out his hand. Mark took it in his own hand and gave a firm shake. No crushes from either man. Mark realized that Mr. Swanson had four inches and a few pounds on him.

“I see where Brenda and Sharon get their stature from.”

About then, Mrs. Swanson came out with her sister. Chantelle was nervous. “Larry, what exactly do you mean by ‘share the bed’ with you two? If you want the kids and me, you can have me. If you had asked me instead of her, I would have said ‘yes’ years ago. But, I don’t really want to do things with Mattie. I can be there when you are doing her, even being a bit ‘friendly’ with her, but I am NOT going down on her. That’s just too much. Some other lady if you want, but not my own blood. Wait. Not Gloria either. She’s not my blood, but, with no offense intended towards you or the rest of your family, YUCK!”

Mark was thinking ‘deja vu all over again’.

“Ok. First, I think something like that’s pretty hot to watch, but I can have you leave her alone and vice versa. We can get another couple of ladies maybe, some who are kind of submissive. I want you two in charge.” The three of them hugged. Larry took a few liberties and his women chuckled and responded in kind. “And as for Gloria, I would have said ‘YUCK!’ if she tried to invite herself along.”

Mark looked over his shoulder at Sgt Reed. He mouthed ‘CAP Seven?’ When the Sgt nodded, he spoke out loud. “Maybe that bully’s women? I hate to be responsible for them being in trouble.”

Mark told that story to Larry while the ladies collected Chantelle’s kids. When they all came out to the front room, three of the women and several kids held small bags and Brenda was carrying a large ice chest. “I’ve got the leftovers,” she announced.