Chapter 4

(One hour earlier)

Harriet stared at the page and wished her brother were home. He'd be able to explain the problems to her. The new teacher sure couldn't. Ever since her old math teacher had been picked up, she'd been lost. The new guy had such a strong Indian accent she didn't understand hardly anything he said. She'd been doing okay though, until Freddie started this new job. He made things seem so simple, and only had to explain things to her once for her to grasp the new concepts.

He came home so tired though, and she hated to ask him for help when he was already doing so much. Sighing, she picked up her pencil and flipped back a few pages. Was it the secant she was supposed to use, or was it something else? The co-secant? The pounding on their apartment door was a welcomed interruption.

The doorbell rang twice, and the pounding started again. Harriet dropped her pencil, and left her homework open on the table. The doorbell rang three more times before she got to it. "Harry, please! Open up, I know you're home!" It was Kitty from upstairs, but she checked the peephole anyway before she opened the door. When she did, Kitty practically jumped in, wrapping her arms around Harriet's neck. "They took them. They took Patty and Mel, but they wouldn't take me." She broke down into tears.

Harriet kicked the door closed and led her hysterical friend into the living room. She was wearing the same school uniform as Harriet, but no shoes or socks. Her blouse was unbuttoned, and a couple of the buttons were missing. She wasn't wearing a bra underneath and her C-cup breasts jiggled with each sob. Her mascara was smeared, making her look like a raccoon. "Hold on Kitty, what happened? Who took your sisters?"

Kitty looked at her like she didn't understand why she'd even asked. "Didn't..." She sniffed, trying to get herself under control. "Didn't you see the news? There were two pickups tonight. Mom was at one of them. The marines came to get my sisters. They took them. They took them, but they wouldn't take me. They wouldn't even give me a test drive."

She hadn't been raped then. "I think I know how you feel. When our parents got picked up last year, it was pretty hard."

Kitty shrugged, twisting her hands together. "Yeah. Yeah you'd know about that. You had Freddie though." She took Harriet's hands in her own. "I don't have anybody Harry. I don't have anybody at all. Do you think..." Kitty's eyes pleaded with her. "Could I stay with you guys?"

There wasn't any question, Kitty was her best friend. "Of course you can. I'm pretty sure Freddie won't mind, and if he does we can talk him around." She stood, pulling on Kitty's hands. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up." She led her classmate into her bathroom. They had three, so she got one to herself, with a door connecting it to her room. Harriet got a washcloth from her cupboard and wiped the makeup off Kitty's face. "You don't need this makeup anyway, even Freddie thinks so."

"He does?" Kitty looked thoughtful when she nodded in response. "He doesn't have a girlfriend does he?"

"What? Do you like him? I have caught him looking at you." Kitty didn't say anything, just grabbed the ends of her shirt and tied them off under her breasts. She looked just like one of the naughty schoolgirls from that cable show, 'Pickup High'. She looked at herself in the mirror, then met Harriet's eyes, winked and sashayed into the bedroom. Harriet followed her. "Spill it. Are you in love with Freddie or something?"

Kitty sat on her bed and patted a spot next to her. "Sit down Harry, please." Harriet did, it looked like Kitty was about to cry again. "I can't do it. I almost said yes, but it wouldn't be right. I'd do my best to love him, I can tell you that."

"What are you talking about?"

"He's going to retest in a couple of months, right?"

"Well yeah, I told you that."

"You know I'll do just about anything to get picked up. I told you some of the stuff I already did." Kitty blushed; Harriet didn't blame her. Some of those things had sounded exciting, others painful and a few disgusting. "You remember that I was at a pickup and the guy I was with didn't take me even though he'd promised? You don't think Freddie would do that, do you?"

Harriet shook her head. "He'd never do anything like that, but what about if you aren't with him? They do pickups at colleges sometimes." She looked hard at her friend. "Why should he take you if you don't love him?"

Kitty looked back at her. Her eyes seemed hopeful. "That's why I asked if he has a girlfriend. If he's in love with somebody else, there isn't any reason to take me." She grabbed one of Harriet's hands in both of her own. "Is he in love with anybody? He'd tell you if he was, right?"

"I think so."

"Freddie's a nice guy, and it's not like I'm in love with anyone else. I don't want to die, Harry. I won't say anything to him if you don't want me to, but Harry, I don't want to die." Tears ran down her checks as she repeated her plea.

Harriet hugged her. "I'd love to have you with us, but I don't know if he'll even be able to take me. We hardly go anywhere together. It's like what happened with you tonight, but worse. They won't send marines to pick me up, even if he saves me a slot."

Kitty wiped her eyes. "I think I have a way. They make special pickups for kids. If I'm pregnant with Freddie's baby, they have to come for me. If you're with me, then they can pick you up too. All your brother has to do is tell them where we are."

"You'd do that?"

"I'll do anything Harry. He can try me out first if he wants." She blushed bright red, but kept looking straight into Harriet's eyes. "You can try me out first if you want."

That set Harriet's world on end. Her mouth was suddenly dry, and she was very aware of her hands on Kitty's smooth arms. "You're serious? You mean you'd..." She just couldn't finish.

"I mean I'll do anything. It's not like I'm a virgin anywhere. Those other guys made me do things with girls. I kind of liked it. I told you that Harry. You're my best friend. Freddie's the nicest guy I know. If you two want to do those things with me, you can." She must have sensed something, because she put her hands on Harriet's waist, and leaned in to kiss her.

Harriet was surprised at how nice it felt. Maybe even a little nicer than the kisses she'd gotten from some of the boys at school. Kitty kissed her way down Harriet's neck. It felt so good that she didn't even notice when Kitty unbuttoned her shirt and slid it down her shoulders. She did notice when her bra came off. "Wait." she gasped. "I don't think I'm ready for this." She wanted it, she really did, but she wasn't ready to have her best friend turn into her lover without thinking things through. "We've got time, lots of time." She took Kitty's hands in hers, moving them away from her breasts. "It's not that I don't want to, but I'm not sure if I'm ready for this." Kitty looked a little scared, probably afraid she'd pushed too hard and ruined things. Harriet leaned forward a little and kissed her soft lips. "How about if we go get some of your things and bring them back here."

So they did. They found a couple of bags in Kitty's apartment, put in a couple days worth of clothes and stuff in them, and carried them downstairs. Kitty nearly left her schoolbooks behind, but Harriet demanded she bring them. They sat together at the kitchen table doing homework until Harriet's phone rang.

She'd left it in her backpack, and she had to dig for it. It was Freddie. "Hello?"

"Harriet! Grab the photo albums and meet me downstairs."

"Freddie? What's going on?"

"Harry, for once just do what I say. Get the pictures and meet me downstairs."

Harriet looked over at Kitty as she walked toward her room. "I've got someone here..."

"Who is it? You got a new boyfriend?"

"No, it's Kitty, from upstairs. Her mom got picked up tonight, and the marines picked up the twins an hour ago. I told her she could stay with us tonight, she's all alone now." She switched to a whisper. "She tried to get them to take her, but they wouldn't."

"Bring her too."

"Freddie, what's going on?"

"Trust me, I'll be there in five minutes and you two need to be waiting for me with your CAP cards when I pull up." He hung up on her.

What in the hell was going on? If he'd retested already, she'd have been sure that he'd gotten some advance warning of an extraction, but she knew he hadn't. She realized she was checking to make sure her CAP card was in her wallet. It was, so she dropped it in her backpack and ran into the living room.

Kitty followed her. "What's going on?"

Harriet grabbed the photo albums off the shelf and stuffed them in her backpack. "Do you have your CAP card?"

"What?"

"Show me your CAP card." Kitty reached into a pocket on her uniform skirt, and showed the big 5.0 in the middle of her card. "Hang on to it. I've got some sandals you can use by the door. Go put them on."

"But what's going on?" She protested. She kept the card in her hand and slipped the sandals on her feet though.

Three minutes after the phone call, they were waiting on the sidewalk out front. Kitty got a couple of wolf whistles from some guys hanging out in the parking lot, but they both ignored them. They were only there for about sixty seconds when Freddie pulled up. He rolled the window down and yelled. "Get in the back seat."

Harriet pushed Kitty in first, and then sat next to her, with the backpack between them. Freddie had the car moving before she got the door shut. She couldn't wait any longer and yelled "What's going on?"

"Hush." The tires screeched as he pulled out on the street and turned west, heading for the edge of town. "You both have your CAP cards?" They told him they did. "Good. Here's the deal, we have about twenty minutes to get to a pickup." She started to talk, but he rolled right over her. "Listen. I got picked up already. I know I always said I'd never ship as a concubine, but Chrissy's so sweet and kind and just so nice all the time. I didn't mean to say yes when she asked me, it just came out. The thing is, I retested there. I got a six point seven, so I have two slots."

"You mean..." Kitty exclaimed, and then shut up when Harriet gave her a look.

He put a headset on. "AI, I have with me my sister Harriet, and Kathy Parker. Can you read their CAP cards?" he paused for a second before continuing. "Can you confirm if Kathy's mom and sisters are going to Spindrift? Great, thanks." He looked at Harriet in the rear view mirror. "Harriet, you want to come with me as my concubine? I'm going to set up a household with Chrissy, I think you'll like her."

"Yeah, sure." It was just that easy to give up everything. Well, if she couldn't trust her brother, she couldn't trust anyone.

"Kitty, your mom and sisters were taken by a guy named Ray. He's a marine and is going the same place as me. I can't guarantee you'll be able to see them, but you might. It will be up to Ray. Do you want to be my concubine?"

"Are you serious? Yes, of course, but why me?"

"Why not? I know you, I like you, and you're my sister's best friend. I'm not in love with you, I know that because I'm in love with Chrissy, but I'd like you to come with us."

The rest of the drive he babbled about how wonderful Chrissy was. He really must be in love, he'd known the girl for all of three weeks and he'd totally fallen for her. Fallen hard enough that he'd agreed to be her concubine. He'd always said he'd never be anyone's slave; that it was better to stay and fight.