Chapter 5: These Changes Ain't Changing Me

Estrella's conversion -- or betrayal, from the Earth First perspective -- turned a corner at the school. The Earth Firsters did not back down, but other students were willing to admit their fear and do what they could to be chosen by a sponsor. Stephen recruited the other football player sponsors and patrolled the hallways to keep the peace. After a week, a quarter of the available concubine slots were taken. It would have driven the remaining candidates to some extremes if some new kids had not tested above the sponsor level. The new blood was a little annoying about getting another Sponsor Day. Pranay had to intervene before I sicced Stephen on them.

Things were quiet, giving me the opportunity to enjoy my three concubines.

"Dude," Dipak said. "Where are the girls?"

"They cut out early to go shopping," I replied, stuffing books into my locker. "Alejandra and Maria finally convinced Estrella that sexy lingerie fell under the auspices of doing her womanly duties."

He froze and blinked a few times. "Why would you want to put clothes ON Estrella?"

"I know, right?" I shook my head. "I'm cool with her getting fully naked as quickly as humanly possible."

"Girls!" he said.

"I can't complain about Maria in a thong though," I said.

"True dat! True dat!"

We walked down the stairs.

"Do you want to come over?" he asked me. "I'm running a sexual Olympics at my apartment. Cheerleaders!"

"Sounds like fun," I said.

"I already picked the one I want, but I gotta make sure," he told me.

"Which one?"

"Conception Suarez," he said proudly. I whistled--Conception had an absolutely porn body.

"She's a bit of butterface," he said. "But the Confederacy can take care of that and it's not like she needs any other work."

"Sometimes, you're a bit of an a-hole," I told him, pushing him against the wall.

"Hey!" he complained. "Miss Piggy, Pranay's mom, and a butterface. I am single-handedly giving the less attractive set hope!"

"You got one more after Conception," I said. "Anyone in mind?"

"I'm going to have to pick an Indian girl or my parents are going to freak. The good thing is that if I don't, I won't be around to hear them freak for long," he replied, looking up and down the street. All sponsors scanned the area every few seconds. The Earth Firsters were bound to get up swinging.

"They might stop visiting relatives any time you want to sponsor an orgy in your bedroom," I pointed out.

"Hmmm, I hadn't thought of that," he said.

"Throw them a real bone," I suggested. "Ask about your cousins."

"They're fucking dogs!"

"Confed medical technology," I told him. "Hey, do yourself a double solid and take one that Amita is especially tight with."

"Ooooh! You really don't believe in leaving a stone unturned, do you?" He walked away with his head tilted to the side.

"Good luck!" I yelled after him and turned to head to Maria's apartment. They were probably planning a fashion show.

At the corner, a limousine stopped in front of me. I turned around to see two large men step out of an SUV. They did not make a move towards me. Instead they stood between Lieutenant Miranda Jones and her fellow Marine. The Marines were running towards me, looking like they intended to run right through the two goons.

Alyssa Berto stepped out of the limo. I raised a hand towards the Marines and shook my head. They stopped in front of the two goons, staring right down into their eyes. The Marines were actually bigger than a pair of mob enforcers.

"Hello, Miss Berto," I said.

Alyssa Berto still wore her catholic school uniform. I preferred the summer outfit of pink, but the plaid skirt was a little more classic in the sex fantasy area.

"My father would like to speak to you," she told me.

I studied her. Alyssa did not have the stereotypical Italian looks. Her hair was in the chestnut family, and her eyes were a bright brown. Alyssa matched Alejandra in the cream of her skin tone. She was built slim and compact, no larger than a B-cup. I imagined her ass would be high and tight.

"I don't believe talking to an alleged mob boss would be good for my health," I told Alyssa.

"I guarantee your safety," she said.

"And you'd go against your father?" I asked, but my tone of voice told her I knew she would not, even if it meant breaking her word.

"You can bring your friends," she said, spinning to the side and gesturing into the limo.

"Berto?" Lieutenant Miranda Jones asked me when the goons let her by.

I nodded.

"Hudson County's most powerful mafioso," she said with a wince. "What could he want? He has to know the Confederacy would never let you take him."

"Maybe he's sponsor-level," I told her. "Some paths choose us."

"If he had ever CAP tested, he would be in jail. Are you going to talk like a fortune-teller to a mob boss?" she asked. "We might as well go in weapons drawn."

I smirked as Lieutenant Jones and her Marine checked the limo for explosives. Alyssa looked curiously at the devices the Lieutenant pulled out to do her sweep.

"It's clean," Lieutenant Jones said before climbing in. Alyssa and I got into the limo after the Marines.

"We shouldn't be going to Berto," Lieutenant Jones told me. "It gives him the high ground."

"On Earth, the Sa'arm have the high ground," I said.

Alyssa Berto did not care for small talk, so we sat in silence for the rest of the ride.

Crime does pay, as evidenced by the Berto mansion. Alyssa led us to her father's office. She looked at the Marines but must have decided that asking them to wait outside the office would not work.

Her father watched us enter the office. Like Alyssa, he did not appear to be much for small talk. I sat down in the chair in front of his desk. The Marines took stances on opposite walls. Mr. Berto's eyes followed them; he nodded, understanding the implications of their lines of fire.

"I have a offer for you, Mr. Wild," Alyssa's father said.

"One that I can't refuse?" I asked with a smile.

He blinked. "This situation isn't one for humor."

"Do you see that woman over there?" I said, nodding to Lieutenant Jones. "Right now, she is wondering if you are the last straw."

"The last straw?"

"Comparatively, there aren't a lot of CAP nines. Seventy five out of a thousand sponsors if we could count everyone," I said. "I happen to be young and a high nine CAP. Lieutenant Jones believes that, with some help, I could achieve a CAP ten. I'd be a whole lot to the right side of normal and about one in a hundred million or more. Obviously, CAP scoring is not a standard curve, since there is an obvious sex and cultural bias, so while the U.S. might have one or two extra tens, the rest of the world would have less. Do you understand what that means, Mr. Berto?"

He sat back in his chair and intertwined his fingers before resting them on his lips.

"It means--I'd love nothing more than an excuse to shoot our way out of the county," Lieutenant Jones growled. "Twenty-two minutes! I could have Jason out in twenty-two minutes."

"Why don't you?" Mr. Berto asked.

"He won't volunteer unless we can get his friends out," Lieutenant Jones replied.

"You must really like your friends," Mr. Berto said to me.

"It's actually the concubines," I said, smiling. "The whole life raft thing revs a lady's engine pretty high."

"I could help get your friends out," he told me. "Over a weekend, so the school administrators don't notice. I have enough people to trickle them out, even one by one if we need it."

"And why would you do this?" I asked.

"You take my daughter," he replied.

"Hmmm..." I said, looking at Alyssa. "Before we go any further, let's see your daughter's CAP card."

Alyssa pulled her card out of her skirt pocket and handed it to me. The main score was not surprising at a four point five, but the sub-scores did pique my interest.

"What do you think?" I asked handing the reader and card to Lieutenant Jones.

"She's a fucking sociopath," Lieutenant Jones said a minute later. "It's somewhat balanced by her loyalty to family but that's about it! She would be a big fat no, except ... to be honest, you have the count to carry someone like her."

"Carry?" Alyssa's father asked.

"Jason's household will basically be a community," Lieutenant Jones replied. "Too many of one personality type will cause problems. Try to imagine eight high-maintenance drama queens! The women still have emotional needs, but your daughter's are simple. She has a boss to tell her what to do, and she's got her family."

"So it's not a bad idea?" I asked.

Lieutenant Jones shrugged, handing me back the card and reader. "She's not going to be doing the mothering. If you're in command of a combat ship, she'd make a good pleasure concubine to take with you. Otherwise, you have your secretary. She's perfect for that kind of thing since we don't have family assassins in the Confederacy.

I handed the card back to Alyssa.

"One thing," Lieutenant Jones said, smiling at Mr. Berto. "She needs to transfer loyalty now! A test-drive."

The corners of Mr. Berto's eyes tightened.

"We're not up to that yet," I said. "If I decide this is a route to take, it needs to happen, but we do have other issues."

Mr. Berto tapped his lips with his knuckles again.

"Your daughter would make four for me," I told him. "That's only half of my count, I need to finish it, so we're not going anywhere this weekend. Some of my friends have been more diligent, but Daniel hasn't even chosen his first concubine. I think he might have had a thing for Miriam, another sponsor, so he's a little busy fostering those flames."

"Earth First is losing leaders left and right," Mr. Berto said. "But this is still an Earth First county. You can't expect to be able to stay much longer."

"I'm doing pretty well so far," I told him. "I'll probably do better if I select your daughter and she transfers to my school. The goons come with her, don't they?"

He smiled at me.

"There's no point to any of this, Jason. Either the girl test-drives now or nothing else matters anyway," Lieutenant Jones said. She looked at the mob goons and pointed to the door. "Get out!"

They looked at Mr. Berto, who nodded.

"Look," Lieutenant Jones said to Mr. Berto and me. "Neither one of you is stupid enough to trust the other. You can't play hardball, Mr. Berto, because I'll kill everyone in this mansion to get Jason out. In case you're wondering, I have the firepower to do it. He also has the option of changing his mind at the last minute and leaving your daughter behind."

"He's a CAP nine," Mr. Berto said.

"A man bound to keep his word," Lieutenant Jones said. "If it's given freely! He's not going to give it unless he fully intends to take the girl. Your men would provide a lot of obvious protection, so finishing his concubine picks becomes easier. Jason isn't going to trust you. He will trust your daughter, but only after she makes it obvious who her boss is."

Lieutenant Jones turned to me. "The man wants to buy his daughter a ticket out."

"In exchange, I'm offering protection while you're here," Mr. Berto said.

"Bullshit! You'd be protecting your daughter," Lieutenant Jones said. "It doesn't count. Are you willing to sell one of your concubine slots, Jason? To him."

"Yes," I said.

"What price?" Mr. Berto asked.

"It's not time for that yet," Lieutenant Jones told him. "This isn't a money transaction; it's barter and the girl is the big part of your end of the deal."