Chapter 3

Day 2

2 Section 13 -- First morning, first public orientation -- Kings

"It is seven o'clock in the morning of Day 2," the AI intoned, "and time for you to get up. Your first instruction session begins at eight o'clock and you should have breakfast first."

Hattie and Mattie King put their feet on the floor on opposite sides of the bed, stretching. An observer might think there was a mirror rather than identical twins. "Is everyone else up?" asked Hattie.

"Everyone is awake," the AI replied. "Jackie King is in the lower level bathroom and Jayden King is in the kitchen. Tyrone King is still in bed."

"I think a pit stop and a quick shower are my first priority," mumbled Mattie. She stood and ambled off. In a moment, Hattie rose and followed.

"Where are the shower controls?" asked Hattie as she looked into the shower.

"There are none," responded the AI. "The water will begin to flow when you step in. If you want the water temperature or the flow adjusted, simply say so. Towels have been provided but are unnecessary. When you have finished washing, jets of warm air will dry you."

"That sounds pretty cool," chirped Mattie. "I see multiple shower heads. Can I join you?"

"Nothin' to hide from my twin, is there?" chuckled Hattie as the warm water began to flow over her body. "A little hotter, please, and a little more pressure."

"You need not use 'please' with an AI," said the AI as the temperature and pressure were changed.

"I think it pays for me to always be courteous," answered Hattie. "Somehow, I don't think I want you to be miffed with me!"

Mattie stepped into the shower and the head on the opposite wall began to flow. Hattie and Mattie stood back to back. "I'd like my shower a bit cooler and softer," said Mattie. The adjustments were made without a verbal response.

"Tyrone!" barked Hattie as she spotted him stumble into the room. There was no door on the shower. She covered her breasts and crotch with her arms.

"I gotta take a leak!" Tyrone sharply retorted. "Mom and Jayden are in the other bathroom."

"I thought guys couldn't pee with a hard-on," giggled Hattie as she inspected the front of his underwear. Mattie laughed, watching Tyrone from over her shoulder.

"All concubines will be nude in less than eight hours," intoned the AI. "It is recommended that you use this opportunity with those you know and trust to acclimate yourselves to nudity. In addition, time is short. You should leave the living unit and have breakfast soon."

"You've always wanted to see your sisters naked," said Mattie. "Might as well get this over with." She turned and faced her brother, arms akimbo.

Tyrone's immediate response was to blanch and gawk. He quickly collected himself and said, "You are beautiful! I always knew you two were beautiful, and I admit I've always wanted to see you. Thank you."

Turning herself to face Tyrone too, and letting her arms fall to her sides, Hattie said, "Do your business and get in here. You need a shower, too."

"You aren't going be able to pee first," laughed Mattie. "I seen your dick get even harder just now. Just shuck your undies and get in here." She turned back to the showerhead and began to lather her hair. Hattie did the same.

Tyrone quickly shed his boxers and walked into the shower between his sisters. The showerhead in front of him began to spray. As if on cue, both sisters turned and faced Tyrone. "You are a handsome young man," Mattie said softly as she touched his shoulder. "I hope you find a good home. I want you to always remember: the better you give, the better you get." She leaned in and kissed his cheek. Hattie followed suit on the other side.

They quickly completed their showers. With his naked sisters on both sides of him, Tyrone was hard as a rock. During the shower, both his sisters made plain that they enjoyed the view but said nothing. When Hattie had finished, she turned to Tyrone. "Don't be embarrassed, Bro. Maybe you oughta toss off a load so you're not tenting your clothes in public."

"We'll get out of here and let you take care of your business," added Mattie with a loving smile. "Don't worry about it."

The twins briefly let themselves be air-dried and quickly left the room. An embarrassed but silently thankful Tyrone needed only a few strokes to blast jism onto the shower wall. He rinsed himself off, stood briefly in the warm air and then stepped out. As he began to step back into his underwear, the AI said, "If you choose to dress, you may wear a shift and no more."

"Shifts are for girls!" whined Tyrone.

"Shifts are for concubines, Tyrone King," answered the AI. Tyrone took his underwear back into his bedroom and threw them on the bed. He found a shift in a closet, put it on and took the lift down to the lower level.

"You look good in a dress!" shrieked Jayden.

"You watch your tongue, girl," Jackie growled. "Paybacks are a bitch. You'll be naked soon enough. Tyrone, just think of it as a long T-shirt; don't be thinkin' about what ain't underneath it, or you'll embarrass yourself." Tyrone glumly nodded. "Let's get out of here and go get some breakfast."

"Please take your CAP cards with you," the AI said. "You will find lanyards for that purpose in the replicator." Jayden pulled five lanyards from the replicator and handed them out. Each of them inserted a CAP card into the plastic sleeve and put on a lanyard. The outer door opened. "The common area is to the right and then left at the main corridor," intoned the AI.

Emerging from the living unit, all were captivated by the sight of the cathedral ceiling, tier after tier of levels visible both above and below. As they walked, people were coming out of nearby doors and headed in the same direction. There was plenty of room in the hall and in the main corridor but there were lots of people. Most wore the standard grey shift. A few wore street clothes. A few were completely nude except for a red or green collar. Almost all of the children wore street clothes and a wristband.

They soon reached the common area. On both sides of the main corridor were tables and chairs. A number of replicators were located down the middle of the corridor. The King family made their way to available replicators and, after a bit of fumbling over procedure, obtained their selected breakfast meals. They found a table for themselves and began to tuck in.

As they were finishing their breakfast, two men in dark blue uniforms came from the main corridor. Each turned in a different direction. The air shimmered behind the man on the King family side of the corridor. "May I have your attention, please," the man said in an amplified voice.

"We will hold the first public briefing for concubines here in this common area shortly. Finish your meals, please, ditch your trays in the recycling bin and sit back down. Make sure you are seated where you have the tabletop in front of you and you can still see me. If you need to use the restroom, please do so quickly and return to your seats. Sponsors in this room, please report to me as soon as you can. Your initial public briefing will be held elsewhere."

All of the adults in street clothes, mostly men, made their way to the man. After a brief consultation, the man produced what turned out to be a transporter nexus, which he placed on the floor and activated. The disk glowed green. The man showed the first sponsor to the pad and the man disappeared. The man briefly spoke with each individual and then pointed to the pad. Soon, all of the sponsors were gone.

When the man had satisfied himself that most people had finished eating, he spoke again. "I am Sergeant Ian McCormick, of the Confederacy Fleet Auxiliary. If you want to ask a question, please feel free to use my first name, which is 'Sergeant.' I will be conducting the initial briefing for this group of concubines. This session will take about forty-five minutes. There will then be a thirty-minute break. You can go back to your living units if you wish. At the end of the break, come back here. We will send the male concubines elsewhere for the second session. Females will remain here.

"This session will not be terribly graphic, and the children present are welcome to listen. Those children who become disenchanted with my lecture are welcome to quietly move to the other end of this area. Many forms of entertainment are on offer, together with supervision from a Fleet Auxiliary representative. Your children will be in your sight but out of earshot, so you can be dazzled by my performance without distraction. The Fleet Auxiliary representative will fetch you if your child requires your attention."

Many of the adults turned their attention to the other end of the area and saw a woman in a dark blue uniform. Toys, games and other forms of entertainment were plainly visible. The air seemed to shimmer in front of the uniformed woman. A few children made a beeline for the toys. They walked through the shimmering air with no apparent reaction.

"It is now just about eight o'clock," the sergeant continued. "I see that there are a few people in this area who have the red collar, indicating that they have been bound to a sponsor, or the green collar, indicating that they have committed themselves to become a concubine but have not yet attracted a sponsor. Have any of you decided that you want to return to Earth?" He looked around the room but found no takers. "If at any time before the deadline at fourteen forty-five today you decide that you want to be returned to Earth, simply go back to your living unit. The AI will handle all the rest. Similarly, you were asked not to collect your minor children until you are ready to commit yourself to become a concubine. If you are one of those people, and if you decide before the two forty-five deadline that you will be a concubine, the AI will commence the process of bringing your children to you when you throw your clothes in any recycler and obtain a green collar from a replicator. Be sure to keep your CAP card.

"I want to talk for a moment about your quarters. Yesterday, Day 1, the office building pickup and the follow-up dependent pickups extracted about twenty thousand people from each of two cities, Charlotte and Dallas. About fifteen percent of you -- about thirty-three hundred each -- came from those two office buildings. The rest came as 'dependents'," and he made air quotes, "whether or not the 'dependents' were sponsor-level. Each of the office people was sent to a separate living unit with his or her 'dependents'. There are about forty-five hundred sponsors in your group, and that's about the number of living units we'll wind up with. Oh, the unsponsored concubines will be housed in groups, but that isn't a lot of units. But we'll soon be going from sixty-six hundred units down to about forty-five hundred.

"We will concentrate prospective concubines with like circumstances. For instance, we will locate all prospective concubine couples in one area. Unattached female concubine candidates with one or more small children will be housed in another area. Many will fall under more than one category. We'll do our best to put you where you have the best chance to be sponsored promptly. We will direct sponsors to the neighborhoods that have prospective concubines in the desired category.

"When each sponsor has filled his or her allotment of concubines, we will re-locate that new family to new neighborhoods with only completed families of sponsors in the same service. You will remain in those living units with your sponsor until embarkation on the cube transport Valhalla on Day 14.

"We want you to select a sponsor as soon as you can. The more concubines a sponsor needs, the longer it will probably take to fill the allotment. If you want to be in a family unit with only one other concubine, you should find a suitable sponsor today or tomorrow at the latest, because after that all you are likely to find are sponsors with CAP scores of seven or above. Unless, of course, you decide to wait until you arrive at the colony before choosing a sponsor.

"So, after the decision deadline this afternoon, we will be moving you from time to time into different living units. Concubines will be housed with other concubines in similar circumstances. If you are a couple, you'll share a unit with other couples. Mother and daughter groups will be housed together. Unsponsored concubines may remain with their 'dependent' group that includes a sponsor for as long as there is the possibility that the sponsor will select that concubine.

"In addition, we will be relocating people to maintain the concentration in the groups. As sponsors complete their selections and are relocated away, new sponsors will be relocated in. As concubines are selected, new concubines will be relocated in.

"I'm not sure my explanation was clear. Let's have questions now to clear that up."

The disconcerted concubines had a lot of questions but soon the concepts did not seem so frightening. The sergeant finally resumed his lecture.

"There are less than seven hours left before you must decide whether you want to proceed to become a concubine or whether you want to go back to Earth. The Confederacy really wants all of you to go to the colonies. All fertile female concubines who are willing to go, will go. As for you men, we humans have Confederacy rules that we must abide by. Regrettably, that means that about two-thirds of the males willing to be concubines who were collected yesterday will be returned to Earth. As you know, all concubines remaining here after the deadline will be nude and will be attempting to secure a sponsor. Some of you women will not find a sponsor here. You will be transported to the colony and a sponsor will be found for you there. For the male concubine candidates, you have a week to find a sponsor. Those of you who do not find a sponsor during that time will be returned to Earth on Day 8.

"I want to take this time to explain to you what female concubine candidates are facing, and what male concubine candidates are facing. Many of you are couples. It is important that you fully understand what your partner will encounter. It will help you help your partner make the right decision.

"I will start with the women. In what you have learned about in the past as the 'normal' pickup, sponsors and concubines have only minutes to decide if they will go together. Sponsors are given the opportunity to closely examine the sub-scores that make up the overall average CAP score that the concubines have. Concubines virtually never get to see the prospective sponsor's sub-scores.

"What does that mean? It means that frightened and excited concubines agree to be sponsored by someone based almost entirely upon appearance. Yeah, a bit of the sponsor's inner makeup can be seen, but the sponsors aren't exactly in a normal situation either.

"Now, I didn't get to be a sergeant because I'm a swell guy. I am a swell guy off duty, but those under my command do exactly what I tell 'em, with no argument. At home, I like feisty. Not only do I like small women and redheads, I like feisty women. I never strike my concubines. I love my concubines, both of them, and I think they love me. But I was lucky that I found those concubines. A docile woman would not have appreciated the home life we have.

"So why am I telling you this? Because here you do have the time to check out the sub-scores of a sponsor before you agree to be bound to that sponsor. You have the duty to yourselves to fully understand what it is you're getting yourself into. Your choice is final on your part. Permanent. Forever. Your sponsor can dump you at any time, can trade you, can do anything he wants to do with you or to you.

"In the ordinary mating game, you take months, or years, to get to know a person before you agree to get married. Even then, most marriages fail. When a marriage fails, the former couple goes their separate ways and begins building new lives. That doesn't happen with a concubine. If your sponsor trades you, or gives you, or bequeaths you to another sponsor, you're out of luck. If your sponsor dumps you, you have the right to decide whether you will be bound to another sponsor. However, in the meantime, you will be property of the Civil Service. In many places, you'd live in a dormitory. In many other places, you'll live and work in the brothel, the whorehouse. So you want to choose a sponsor very carefully.

"I don't mean to frighten you. The established system works very well almost all the time. You can expect a rewarding and fulfilling life if you choose your sponsor carefully. Concubines whose sponsors die are treated better and are placed quickly with sponsors who will meet the needs of the concubine. Just make sure you don't get dumped.

"Now, let's spend a few minutes on male concubines. As you know, the first priority for concubines is the production of children. The second priority for concubines is for the benefit of the sponsor. Guys, for a male sponsor, you don't advance either one of those priorities. Or, if you do meet the second priority, it might mean that you'll be on the receiving end of his joystick, perhaps at both ends. Mostly, you're not going to be selected by a male sponsor unless his CAP score affords him six or more concubines, sometimes not even with six concubines. The number of male sponsors with a CAP score of eight or nine is very small, very small. The female sponsors only need one guy to do the job unless she is afforded six or eight concubines, and the number of female sponsors scoring eight or nine is even smaller. This is the reason that two-thirds of you men will be sent back to Earth.

"What will be the attributes of male concubines who are selected? The sponsor is the boss. The sponsor has a day job, and that often means the sponsor is off-planet. Remember that the first priority is the production and rearing of children. Most sponsors have a number one concubine, the straw boss if you will, or the den mother. That concubine is responsible for the welfare of all of the other concubines and all of the children in the household. Not one of you guys is qualified to be the head nursemaid of your household. So you're not going to be in charge of the household, and you're not even going to be second in charge of your household.

"Male concubines who are selected by a sponsor are the ones who are obedient, loyal and supportive, the ones who like to change diapers, like to spoon-feed infants, like to read Dr. Seuss all day, like to finger-paint. I know you guys are sitting there, saying to yourselves, 'yeah, I can do that.' You're full of something stinky, and I'm going to show you how the sponsor is going to pick that off in a heartbeat.

"So let's have a primer on reading CAP card sub-scores. Please quietly turn to face the table and get your CAP cards out." The noise in the room increased as many listeners rearranged themselves and freed their CAP cards. "Now, all of you know your CAP score, which is really the overall average CAP score. Although you know yourselves as well as anyone can, none of you knows any of the sub-scores that make up your overall average CAP score. I want you to put your CAP card on the table in front of you, about a foot away from the edge."

Again there was some noise throughout the room. "Quiet down, please. You see that something of a CAP card reader has appeared on the tabletop in front of you. Look at your neighbors' card readers. You can't see anything, can you? Your information can't be seen by any of your neighbors.

"The CAP overall average score, and each of the individual sub-scores, is on a scale of zero to ten. It is possible to get more than ten on a sub-score, but it only shows up as a ten. Nobody, nobody knows how to get from each of the individual sub-scores to the overall average CAP score.

"So let's pretend you're looking at your sub-scores from the sponsor's point of view. Look at this long list of your attributes. Five is a pretty good overall average CAP score, but five is only okay for a sub-score. Look at how fast a sponsor can size you up.

"I'm trying to keep my words rated 'G' on account of the young people in the audience. Everybody's going to want to focus on the sexuality score. I want to show you how quick and easy it is to drill down into any of the sub-scores. Find your sexuality score and tap it with your finger. You'll find quite a lot more detail. If you don't much care for sex, it'll say so. If you like to be in the dark, in the missionary position only, it'll say that. If you like some serious slap-and-tickle, it'll say that. It will tell how attracted or repelled you are to members of your own gender. It'll say how much pain you like with your sex, and how much you like inflicting pain. It tells a lot of stuff. It may say stuff you'd deny to your last breath, but it's all true.

"We can go through these sub-scores at length. I don't think that's useful at this time for the group as a whole. I will be glad to discuss this with you individually some other time, or the AI in your living unit will help you.

"Gals especially, what are the attributes you want most in a sponsor? Loyalty? Dominance? Self-control? Temperament? Spend some time thinking about which attributes are important for the person who will own you. Spend some time with the AI, discussing yourself and the attributes of your prospective sponsor.

"At a standard pickup, you would have minutes in which to choose. Here, you guys have a week. You gals have a couple of weeks, but you are encouraged to find a sponsor as quickly as possible. Colonists have customarily been allowed thirty days to habituate themselves to their new lives and their new families. The transport ship will arrive in two weeks and the transit will take one week, which, together, is less than thirty days. You will likely be allowed additional time after arrival on your new home colony so your family can bond. The more time you have, the better your family will bond.

"Your decision is critically important. Most of you who agree to be sponsored will live to a very ripe old age with the same sponsor, happy and complete. You will be far better off if you choose a sponsor as quickly as possible. Review his CAP card. Talk to any concubines he has already selected. Make a decision. Get yourself into a family as soon as you can so you can become accustomed to each other.

"Now, I want to open it up for questions and general discussion." A lively exchange between the concubines and the sergeant, and between concubines themselves, lasted a long while.

At the arrival area again, the transporter pads began to disgorge waves of humanity, the result of office building extractions in Manchester and Glasgow in the United Kingdom, where the summer daylight time was one hour ahead of GMT. These people were likewise sent off by gender into groups of eight and shunted into living units. By the end of the day, a total of forty thousand people were expected to arrive from the two UK cities, plus forty thousand more from Edmonton and Phoenix.

Repeat, repeat, repeat.

2 Section 14 -- Break -- Donald Podesta

Don Podesta was resigned as they made their way back to the living unit. His now-ex-wife, Julie, hung on his arm, trying to cheer him up. "Don't worry, honey. We'll find a sponsor for both of us. We and the kids will be together, you'll see."

Don simply shook his head as they entered the living unit, behind their two kids, Don's mother Mary and their neighbor Theresa Reeves and her two kids. Theresa wisely herded the children into the side room and asked them to watch a movie. Theresa turned to Julie and asked, "Do you want to be alone, or can we help?"

"Nothing's going to help," mumbled Don.

"I'd like both you and Don's mom to join us, if you will," said Julie. The four true adults sat in the living room. Mary and Theresa kept still.

"I appreciate your concern," Don told them all, "but it's no use. I love you, Julie. I love the kids. I love you, Mom. Anybody who sees my sub-scores isn't going to take me. We've had a good life together. You and I have had our problems, but we've always worked them out. I don't have it in me to be a nanny all day, every day."

"You can do it, Don. You can do it for us, and you can do it for the kids," Julie insisted.

"AI, will you display my sub-scores so that we can all see them, please?" asked Don. A display appeared in mid-air at the end of the U-shaped seating configuration. "AI, would you please tell us the probability that I will be selected as a concubine?"

The AI intoned, "As you already know, Donald Podesta, your nurturing score is quite low. While you work for the benefit of your family, your nurturing and other attributes result in a very low probability of attracting a sponsor."

Julie was stricken. Don wrapped her in an embrace as she began to bawl. "Honey, don't do this. I have brought you and the kids here to safety. That's all I can do. It's time for me to face reality and go back to Earth."

"I'll go with you!" Julie bawled.

"You'll do no such thing," barked Mary. "Going back to Earth means certain death at the hands of the Swarm, or worse. Your job is to care for your children and have more children. I hope to have more children, too. Imagine starting a new family at my age. I'm going to do it because that's the best thing I can do to help win this war."

"She's right, Julie," added Theresa. "Don't torture Don by making him stay with you and then be forced back to Earth at the end. Don, you should go home in the morning. Give Julie and your kids one more night with you."

"Mary Podesta and Theresa Reeves, if you have decided that you will become concubines, then you should put on the green collars now located in the replicator," said the AI. "This remains a relatively safe environment for you. It is recommended that you shed your clothes and begin acclimating yourselves to nudity. You may not wear clothes and a collar at the same time."

Mary stood and began furiously to undress herself. "I refuse to be humiliated, Julie. He can put a bag over my head if he thinks I'm ugly, as long as he puts a baby in me, and another, and another."

Theresa, still sitting on the sofa, began to work her shift up and off. "I'm committed, Julie. I'm going to make my man and my family very happy. I'm going to look out for Natalie as best I can. I'm going to give my Sam the best start in life I can. I'm going to have lots and lots of babies. I'm not going back to be Swarm food."

Still embracing, Julie and Don watched in silence as the two women undressed. First Mary and then Theresa collected their shifts and marched into the kitchen. There, they found Theresa's fourteen-year-old daughter putting her own green collar on, her shift disappearing into the recycler. Theresa flung her own into the recycler and embraced her daughter. "I'm proud of you, Natalie. It's going to be all right."

"I guess I'm considered a grownup now, Mom. Can I please join you in the living room?"

"Yes, Natalie," said Theresa, "you can. Don can't volunteer and he's beginning to say goodbye to Julie. Maybe he'll be able to stay for today and tonight, I don't know. He'll probably go home tomorrow morning, or earlier."

"The rules are established," said the AI. "After the deadline, remaining fertile females will become concubines and may not return to Earth. Unsponsored male concubine candidates will be returned as a group at the end of the sponsoring period on Day 8."

Both Don and Julie looked aghast. Mary, Theresa and Natalie took seats on the sofas. "Julie, I think you'll get the hang of being a concubine even if you miss the training sessions between now and two forty-five. Theresa, let's gather up the kids and head back. We'll let Julie and Don say goodbye to each other alone."

Andrew and Michela were young enough that it did not really register with them that they were saying goodbye to their father for the last time. They followed their grandma out of the living unit and kept up with Theresa and her two all the way back to the common area.

2 Section 15 -- Second public orientation -- males

Sergeant McCormick surveyed the area as the people began to return to their seats. It was apparent that there were fewer males. It was apparent that more females wore collars -- and nothing else -- than during the earlier session.

"Listen up, please," the sergeant boomed. "I have been selected to conduct the second session, for the males only. Will all of the women on this half of the room," and he pointed down the middle of the area with his left arm and swept the right side of the room with his right arm, "come up here. Bring your children. Those of you on the side of the room to my left go see the Fleet Auxiliary representative in the rear. Bring your children."

The women obeyed instructions with only a bit of confusion. As the women approached him, he directed them across the corridor to the next common area. Men began coming into the sergeant's area from across the corridor. The other half of the women crossed the corridor on the other end of the area, exchanged with all of the men from that area.

"Don't sit down yet, guys," said the sergeant. When all of the men had made their way into the main part of the area, he said, "Those of you who are still trying to decide whether to stay or go back to Earth, find a seat on this side of the room. Those of you who have decided to commit yourselves to being concubines, over on that side of the room, AFTER you have stripped and stacked your neatly folded shift on an empty seat. When you have heard enough and you are ready to go home, quietly stand up and go back to your living unit. The AI will handle the rest. If you want your woman to go to the stars carrying your child -- and if, of course, she wants that as well, tell the AI, and wait until she comes back at the next break. You supply the sperm and the AI will see that she's fertile."