Chapter 4: The Good Old Hockey Game

The stands in Windsor's McLaughlin Arena were, predictably, filling fast. It was a Thursday night, after all, and four games would be played here tonight. The home teams, all McLaughlin Mosquitoes - a minor atom, peewee, minor bantam and minor midget – had been having a hot season, all playing over .500 hockey.

Dave Wilson was present with his pre-pack, as usual. He would sit with his wife Angela and the younger of their two dependant-aged kids, a widowed cousin (by marriage) named Barbara Wilson, and Barbara's three young daughters, eight-year-old Sarah, six-year-old Sheila and four-year-old Shirley. He was certain that if his cousin had not died in that industrial accident when he did, she'd have another aged two. Babs loved kids and she loved sex – with both Dave and Angela.

His elder son Billy was a Minor Atom, in his first year of competitive youth hockey. Donny was his second son, a six-year-old playing house league at the Tyke level.

Dave himself had been a competitive-level player in his youth, and now worked at one of the local automotive plants. Although car sales had fallen precipitously after the announcement of the Swarm, employment levels had not suffered a whit. Automobile production had been replaced by dramatically-expanded weapons production. His plant was now frantically producing armoured vehicles of varying types under emergency contract to both the American and Canadian governments. Some of their production was heading down to Central America under the provisions of Canada's Planetary Defence Financing Act - "Pay up if you survive".

He was quite aware that in this era, there was no way his kids had a hope in hell of becoming professional-league hockey stars – the Swarm were due to be here long before then. He only hoped to keep their minds occupied until his lottery ticket came up "extraction". It made him and his fellow hockey parents a uniquely tight-knit group.

He took out his wallet to pay for his brood's tickets, but was waved in by the young girl in the ticket booth. Rather than taking his money, she merely stamped his hand, stating, "We've got a sponsor for tonight at the last minute. The ice is paid for." He looked at her more closely – he could see the fear in her eyes. Beside the woman who normally guarded the entrance to the hockey shrine within, a rather large gentleman stood calmly. The middle-aged woman, like her co-worker in the ticket booth, looked like she was just holding on.

Quickly he hustled his eldest son down to the dressing room. The corridor in front was filled with other parents and tons of kids – this was the first game of the night, and the youngest were still rambunctious and full of energy. Many of his son's eight-year-old teammates were beginning to dress. The coach, Matt Hancock, was already there with his own daughter Charlene.

Dave caught Matt's eye. "So, we're going to win tonight, right?" he kidded the other father.

"Oh, guaranteed," Matt nodded. Dave thought he heard Matt add under his breath, "Both home and visitor teams." While Matt could have been displaying his usual good sportsmanship, Dave doubted it. His deportment indicated that the remark was yet another hint that this was not the normal night.

As the teams hit the ice, Dave led his wife up to the stands where the rest of his pre-pack were waiting. The Wyandotte Warriors Minor Atom AA were warming up at the far end. Dave recognized several of the parents from there, giving them a friendly wave. Some of the peewee Mosquitoes and their families had already arrived, as had their competition for the night, the Tecumseh Tornadoes. He recognized fewer parents from those teams, which was to be expected.

The first two periods went by enjoyably, but between the second and third his bladder advised him of his need to use the washroom. In doing so, Dave noticed more tall, powerful strangers – not all of whom were men. He also noticed a fuzzy grey colour overlaying the emergency exits. He thought he could recognize the containment field. It didn't startle him, but rather confirmed what he suspected already.

When he returned to his seat between his wife and cousin, he found he was just in time to watch Billy score, giving the Mosquitoes a one-goal lead. Everyone rose and cheered, even his youngest. When they sat down, he grasped both his future concubines by the hand.

"When this game is over, we're all going down to the dressing room." He drew the ladies in close and whispered into their ear. "Stay quiet, but I think we're about to be extracted."

Both looked at him in wonder. In the stands around them, they could see most were concentrating on the game. Most of the parents and players of the other two Mosquito teams had arrived by this time, and almost all of the 980 seats were full. They didn't really clue in to the grey fields over the exit doors, and there were enough strangers from the other six teams playing here tonight that they didn't realize there were Marines in the audience.

The game came to a close to thunderous applause. The McLaughlin Mosquitoes Minor Atom AA had just held off their opponents, winning by a single point and earning their goalie a shutout. Although disappointed, the Wyandotte Warriors' fans could console themselves that the game could easily have gone either way. Both had played hard and well, with less than six penalty minutes total.

Above them, they failed to notice two forms in the crowd. It might be excusable, as the pair were two sections away.

"So this is a normal extraction?" the petite blond asked her hulking companion. "I thought there'd be more sex."

"No, this is far from a normal extraction," Whitefeather advised Sandy. "Pretty well everyone here is already in a pre-pack, so they don't need to do any more test drives. Anybody who knows there's an extraction going on here is more interested in getting aboard ship than creating an instant family."

In the dressing room, everyone was congratulating Billy and his linemate Kathy, who had gotten the assist on his goal. Matt nodded at the large stranger in the washroom at the far end of the dressing room.

"OK, everyone, as soon as you've gotten changed, go get your parents. I need to see each of them, right now! Hurry up!"

Dave and his harem were waiting in the hallway when Billy poked his head out of the dressing room and bid his family enter. They quickly found that most of the kids were almost finished dressing, and were excitedly chattering about the large man with sergeant's stripes on battle armour standing in the doorway to the ablutions room.

Matt shook Dave's hand. His farewell of, "See you on the ship," was clipped from suppressed excitement.

The sergeant regarded the tall brown-haired auto worker gravely. "CAP cards, please." He examined the three adults' cards for a few seconds and looked back up. "David Wilson, do you volunteer for service with the Confederacy?"

Dave nodded, but the Marine advised him, "I have to hear you say it."

"I, David Wilson, volunteer for Confederacy service."

"Recorded," advised an emotionless voice. Everyone in the room jumped a bit.

"Relax, everyone, that's the voice of the AI. You'll be hearing a lot of that. Welcome to the Marines, Private Wilson. Are these two your intended concubines?"

"Yes, they are."

"Private David Wilson, do you accept Angela Wilson and Barbara Wilson as your concubines?"

"I do."

"Recorded," the AI reported calmly.

"OK, ladies, repeat after me," the sergeant requested. "I, state your name..."

Angela was more than a little nervous. "I, state your name ... I mean..."

The audience dissolved into laughter. Even the sergeant was chuckling.

As she blushed, she added, "You can tell who's the concubine ... I, Angela Wilson."

"Do consent to be the concubine of Private David Wilson."

"Do consent to be the concubine of Private David Wilson," she repeated.

"Recorded," advised the AI.

As the kids cheered, Babs shook her head. "I'm not even going to try to top that." She turned to the sergeant. "I, Barbara Wilson, do consent to be the concubine of Private David Wilson."

"Recorded."

The sergeant had one additional question. "Private Wilson, are you taking your concubines' children?"

"Absolutely, and they are all here. At least all that I know of are here. Ah, would either of you have a kid I never heard about before?"

Angela rolled her eyes and Babs pretended to be indignant. Unfortunately she was laughing too hard for anyone to take her seriously.

The sergeant gave a theatrical gesture toward the shower, where a glowing nexus sat on the floor. "This way to the stars, Private. When you get to the ship, immediately step off the nexus and follow the instructions of the ship's crew."

Led by Billy, Dave and his family walked into the green circle and started their journey to Thule.

The nexus room they arrived in had a large sign affixed to the far wall: "AMP027 – GEMINI CLIPPER". Underneath that, in a much smaller font, the legend boasted that the ship was "Twice as Nice".

Dave and his family looked around, wondering what to do next. A voice from a blue-uniformed woman with lieutenant's bars drew their attention instantly.