Chapter 2

Dirk Hanson and his women decided on the next morning, since it was a Saturday, to grab some breakfast at the nearby diner. It was not a big chain, just a Mom and Pop operation run by an old friend, Hal Davis. He had recently lost his wife to breast cancer, so the whole Swarm business didn't really worry him, one way or the other. All that mattered to Hal was his diner and his patrons.

Being on such good terms with Hal, Dirk and the ladies easily won a booth for themselves. They just had enough time to order their food and take a sip or two of their favorite Joe before the gray field outside made it clear that they wouldn't be going home. The tall female Marine in charge didn't see any point in making people skip their meals, so she took her sweet time. It might have had something to do with the relaxed atmosphere and the apparent lack of security issues so far.

"Will Dirk Hanson, Hugh Daniels, Pierre Charbonneau, Lisa Stuyvesant, Vera Donovan, Silas Lomax, and Anthony Fiore please raise your hands? Have any empty spots in your booths? Good. Now, we're doing things a little differently this time. We won't drag you out of here on empty stomachs. If you're full, you'll listen better and be more likely to behave yourselves.

"Alright, as you can probably guess by now, this is a Confederacy pickup for key personnel. Once everyone is comfortable, I want those with pre-packs to collect the CAP cards from their concubines and show them to my comrades here. I am Corporal Vanessa Somers of the Confederacy Space Marines.

"Now, when you're done with that, we'll return the cards to you for a moment along with sub-score scanners to make sure that you decided well, in case you wish to change your minds. Many people goof up on pre-packs, not being aware of dark secrets held by the concubines they have their hearts set on," the head Marine announced.

Dirk was not disappointed with either Wendy or Maureen. If anything, he was pleasantly surprised with some of Maureen's motherhood numbers. Wendy's sex stats also revealed something wonderful to him: she was turned-on by dominant and aggressive people of both sexes. As long as they gave the orders, she would follow them, but she didn't lack initiative. She just wanted to be enslaved, so this sponsor-concubine thing was right up her alley. She was a leather slave with no career ambitions, who really just wanted to do as she was told. This explained her behavior with Maureen and himself.

"I think that, in my case, I will keep these women," Dirk told Vanessa, before sitting back down and eating his hash browns and Eggs Benedict. Both of his ladies beamed in response to this good news.

"So would I, if I were you. You have some winners here. Lucky bastard. I fucked up when I was picked up and stupidly picked a vain beach bum who didn't give a shit for kids and went stir-crazy when there weren't enough parties for him to attend. He neglected my other concubine except when he was horny and even then he was easily bored with her. It was a mismatch, to say the least. I had to dump him at the pool.

"That was a hard lesson, so just you listen, folks. Read your concubines' sub-scores and test-drive them when you still have the chance," Vanessa warned everyone as she sampled a complimentary meal from Hal: French toast, eggs over easy, and two slabs of Canadian bacon. He had been quick on the draw as usual. Even the coffee was just right: Colombian blend, with plenty of cream and sugar.

"Are you trying to impress me, Mr. Davis? 'Cause it's working. May I see YOUR score?" the Marine asked idly.

"Here," Hal handed it over, without much hope, given his age: 64.

"Well, well. I think that we have your golden ticket, Mr. Davis. May I call you 'Hal'? I have an open slot. Care to join me in space, Hal?" Vanessa reacted to his 5.5 with excellent parenting sub-scores.

Hal's easygoing nature was his main drawback, except that for a concubine, this was good. He also lacked tech skills, but that wasn't necessary for a concubine. His sex scores were decent for a man in his sixties and his loyalty scores were very impressive. The former would probably increase with repairs to shrink the prostate, she guessed, and corrections to handle hypertension and clogged arteries. A good dose of testosterone would help for sure.

"Yes, ma'am. My wife used to wear the pants in my marriage, so it would be nothing new to me," he grinned, not really wishing to stay in Toronto without his favorite patrons.

"Smart choice. Hal is a great guy. You'll love him, I think," Dirk encouraged Vanessa.

"And he's gonna fall hard for Kelly. She's very pretty and sweet. Irish girl, was a tourist from Cork when I picked her up in Boston, of all places. Don't worry. You'll look much younger when we're done with you," Vanessa promised her new stud.

The rest of the pickup was mostly uneventful, until the very end. That was when Anthony Fiore was approached by one of his high school classmates, Gina Moro. She hadn't given him the time of day until just then. Now, having been rejected by another sponsor, she turned in desperation to the Renaissance Fair geek. About all they had in common aside from their ages and classes was that both of them were Italian and their mothers went to the same Catholic Church.

"Hey, Gina, what do YOU want from me? I was just a nerd to you until now. Remember, you said that you would rather a kiss a girl than me. I have serious candidates to test-drive. Wait for the next ship to come in," the nerd with three concubines told the majorette.

"You still have an opening. Why not take me, Tony? I'll be good. I promise. I'll make it up to you. I'm sorry, I just didn't know... , " she pleaded.

"Didn't know that I might have a high CAP? Look, princess, those hunks that you drooled over aren't sponsor material, but I am. Even they are going, because they wised up and found nerdy girls to take them to space. Why should I give you the time of day? Let me see your scores!" Anthony demanded, a bit annoyed actually.