Chapter 1: Driving

Me? I'm Carlos Higuera and I drive a bus. That's what I'm doing now, working my way north towards the Oregon border. We've got some people to pick up in the small towns around here. That's good, the roads here are smaller, but they ain't so busy. It gets real boring stuck in a crawl on the freeways near SF or LA. Not so boring driving here, back from the coast. Get to see a lot of nice country too. We get a lot of people from these small towns on the bus. Good folks, always polite. Their kids can be kinda noisy though. Got three of my own, so I know. Lupe, she's sixteen and the oldest. Alvaro is eleven with twelve-year-old Rosamaria in the middle.

"Turn left at the next intersection."

Yeah, yeah, I know. I can read the sign you damned stupid machine. I don't mind it playing my music for me, but when it tells me stuff I can see for myself it gets me. Looks just like a music player, but it's got sat-nav and a bunch of other stuff as well. Slips into my pocket just fine. Don't have no maker's name on it either; Lupe wanted to know if I could get her one in pink. Pink! Why do girls always want stuff in pink? Beats me. Pink don't go with Lupe's skin neither, and she's showing a lot of skin these days. Gets a father to thinking things a father shouldn't be thinking, not about his daughter anyhow. Maria ain't complaining though. She's my wife, Maria, and she gets the benefit when I get to thinking about that stuff I shouldn't. We ain't so young any more, but we ain't so old either.

"Pull up by the supermarket entrance."

Again the dumb machine comes out with stuff I know. There's five people standing there waiting: a man, two women and two kids. Kids look about nine or ten -- just a bit younger than Alvaro. Usual kinda bunch we pick up in these small towns. Never less than three, mostly more.

I pull up the bus right by them. I like to get the door just by where they're standing so they don't have to walk none. Right on the button, as usual. Me? I'm good. I may only be a bus driver, but a man's gotta have pride in what he does. Gotta keep your self-respect. That's important.

Leona gets up to check them. She's dressed up like a tour guide -- white blouse, blue jacket, blue skirt. Well, she is the tour guide, sorta. She's got the list, checks off the five new people and gets them on the bus. Hand luggage only. That's a good thing about these trips: hand luggage only. Means I don't hav'ta get out and open up the passenger luggage bay for them at every stop. Saves hassle. Leona settles the five of them in and gets back to her seat.

Sometimes we get extras. There's always a few spare seats on the bus so Leona can fit them in. A couple of times we had to put a few of the younger kids on their mothers' laps for the last part of the journey to free up some seats. Standing in the aisle ain't allowed. Not on my bus. Between me and Leona we get it sorted out. She's this small hot-looking black lady, but she can get real fierce when she wants to. She don't take no shit when she's in that sort of mood. You sit where she tells you to sit, yes ma'am.

This bunch is no trouble. They get sat down quick and we're off again. The machine is still telling me stuff. Most of the time I ignore it. Gets useful in some of the larger towns I ain't so familiar with, but these small towns are no trouble. Not enough streets to get lost in.

I've driven buses for years, working for a company in Reno. It was a family firm, owned by the son of the guy who started it. The grandson, Junior Jr. we called him, drove a bus as well. Small business, but good to work for. Junior Sykes didn't pay top rate, but he'd let you have time off when you needed it, like when one of the kids got sick. And you'd still have a job waiting when you got back. Some of the other companies, they made you clock off every time you had to go pee. They paid more, but they wanted your soul. I didn't need that, so I passed on the extra money.

We don't spend a lot and Maria brings in some extra with her cleaning jobs. Lupe's a good kid and she helps her mama after school some days, so she does her bit as well. We ain't rich, but we do all right.

One day us drivers turned up for work and there was no sign of Junior, or his wife -- she helped out in the office -- or his son. Junior hadn't left any word that he'd be off, so we were all puzzled. We already had the schedule for the day, so we just carried on. Had to call in one of the standby drivers to replace Junior Jr. on his route, but that wasn't a big problem.

When we got back at the end of the day, there were these new people in the office waving a load of paper, all legal stuff with Junior's signature on it. Junior and his family had all been extracted by the Confederacy! We were now owned by some company called Orevoa Holdings. Never heard of them before. We were all expecting the worst from them, but they ain't bad. Not the personal touch that Junior had, but they could've been a lot worse. They did get rid of a few people; Junior had already given them warnings and Orevoa gave them their pink slips right off. They brought in replacements to fill the gaps, so we didn't get landed with extra work. That suited me fine. I enjoy my work, but I want to do other stuff as well. I got a family to raise and a man needs time to do that if he's gonna do it right.

Some of the older guys went too, like my good friend Charlie. I missed him, he was fun to have around so long as you didn't talk about the Confederacy. He was over fifty-five, so they paid up his pension as if he was sixty and let him retire early. I said before, they treat us OK; good people to work for. Charlie and his wife moved to some place in California so he could get away from the Confederacy. He liked that 'Confederacy Free State' thing they have.

It's small roads to where the next set of passengers are waiting, so I keep on with the driving. We're up near Shasta here, so we need a good driver. I have reliefs, but they ain't as good as me. I let them do the bigger roads and freeways, while I get my rest. The small roads I do. Big bus on a small road needs a good driver.

Today's relief is Ethan, he's this big black guy. Ordinary big, not big big. I figure he's six-one. Not like one of those Confederacy Marines. They're six-seven and in a different league. I saw one once by a CAP testing place in Reno. Big big, like I said. Ethan is sitting front nearside, next to Leona. He has the window while she has the aisle. Figures. She's getting up at each stop while he's not moving until we switch drivers.

The other relief is Mike. He fills in when Ethan is off doing something else. He's five-nine, only a couple of inches taller than I am. Thing about Mike is that he's about five-nine wide as well as tall. Call him square; he does. He has to turn sideways to go through doors. Looks real solid.

Leona, Ethan and Mike joined after Junior got himself extracted. They're new crew, not old crew. I was old crew for a time, I just did the stuff I'd been doing before, like when Junior was running things. Tours around Reno; runs to the airport; trips around the desert. Lotsa sand in the desert -- I've seen it. Lotsa times. Probably OK when you see it for the first time, the tourists seem to like it anyway. They keep paying for it, so I'll keep driving 'em.

Along with the new crew, they got in some fancy new buses. New routes as well. At first it was only the new crew that got the new routes and the new buses, not us old crew. That had me worried for a while. Then they started putting some of us old crew on the new routes, sharing with the new crew. Not all of us, just some of us. Not all the time either, the guys still got some of the old routes as well as the new ones. It was a good sign though. Us old timers weren't all being shunted off into a corner with a pink slip as the next stop.

The new boss, a guy called Perry Davis, called me in one day, "Carlos, do you want to train on the new buses and start working the new routes?"

Hell yes I did! "Yes, Mr. Davis. I'd like that." The new management was more formal than Junior ever had been. Junior had always been 'Junior', never 'Mr. Sykes', but the new guys are different. I'm fine with that. They're paying the wages so I'll call them 'Mister' if they want me to. So he tells me...

What the... "¡Idiota! ¡Tu padre folla los cerdos y tu madre es una puta!"

Who does that dumbass think he is? There are two lanes on this road and I get to use this one! You get out of my fucking lane, asshole! You're going the other way so you keep to your side of the damned road. That guy could do with my stupid sat-nav -- he needs it to tell him which side of the road to drive on. Moron.

Even with that dumb sat-nav, I like these new buses. They can do a lot of things that don't seem obvious at first. They use a lot less diesel, plenty of acceleration and the power steering is real good. Nice and smooth.

I do need the sat-nav for the next pickup. It isn't in a town at all, just where some dirt track joins the road so there ain't no signs to follow. Looks like there are some cabins up behind the trees and three families waiting by the side of the road. Leona checks them all off on her list, gets them settled and we're moving again. Leona's good. She lets people know what to do and they do it. Keeps everything smooth and easy.

Sometimes there's trouble. Once this guy turned up with a .45 in a shoulder holster under his jacket. I didn't see it, but Leona did. Either that or the bus did; these new buses can do a lot of stuff that ain't obvious. The bus told me through my sat-nav earpiece, so I turned around to watch. Mike was on as relief driver that trip. Boy can he move fast, como un rayo. He had the guy with the gun pinned down so quick you could hardly see it. Leona took the gun out of his holster and told the guy to sit down and shut up.

"That's mine," he whined. "I got a right to carry it."

"Not on this bus you don't," she told him. "You sit yourself down quietly or we'll dump you right off." She meant it too, and he could see she meant it. She's real good at getting her message across loud and clear. The guy grumbled a bit, but he sat down. Couldn't really do anything else. He could see she'd have carried through and put him off the bus. I wasn't so sure she'd have told me to stop the bus before she did it, she was that mad. His piece disappeared somewhere and I never saw it again.

Only a couple more groups to pick up this trip. Both in towns, so I don't need the moron machine directing me. It does anyway. I ignore it, I know my way you dumb computer.

After the last pickup we get to the bigger roads close to I-5, so I pull over and let Ethan drive. These new buses have great seats for the passengers. Really comfortable. Easy to sleep in, they sort of shape themselves to you. The driver's chair doesn't do that. Don't want the driver falling asleep on the job. No sir, not a good idea at all. I just doze next to Leona while Ethan takes us up the Interstate to the Oregon border.

"Can you all please pick up any trash you have. We'll soon be coming through the bus to collect it so we leave things clean for the next set of passengers."

That's Leona, standing by Ethan and talking to the people. She must have a small mike on her somewhere, because the bus is playing what she says through its speakers, so they can all hear her.

She gives me a plastic sack and the two of us go down the bus collecting trash. At the back I throw it in the recycler. The kitchen is back there with a small replicator for drinks or snacks and the recycler. After I finish, I stay at the back to keep an eye on things.

Leona is up at the front making another announcement, "We have now crossed out of California into Oregon," she told them. "That means that we are no longer subject to the Confederacy interdict on California and we can shortly begin extracting you."

It can be, ahmm... , entertaining at this stage if some of the women strip. I can't see much from behind, with the seat backs in the way. Of course, once they stand up out of their seats...

Leona, as always, tries to spoil my fun. "There is no need to disrobe now, but if you do, then please keep all your clothes with you. We don't want to leave any mess in the bus." No ma'am. Nobody wants to leave any mess in the bus, not when Leona tells you not to.

"I will call you forward in your family groups," she continues. "Please stay seated until I call your group. When I call your group, collect all your luggage, together with any discarded clothing, and move towards the front of the bus. There is a transporter here. Once I have confirmed consents, you should walk forward onto the transporter pad and keep walking forward. There are more people coming through behind you, so you need to keep moving forward on the other side. You can carry young children if you need to. Once you are through the transporter, stay together in your groups and follow all orders from anyone in a uniform."

My job is to keep people sitting down until Leona calls them, and to help with luggage and stuff. I can get a case down from the rack while mama holds her baby.

Leona gets the first group moving. She always starts with one of the small families: sponsor, two concubines and not too many kids. That lets her repeat the explanation for all those nearby and lets them see the procedure. That's why I have to keep the aisle clear, so everyone can see what's happening and let them know what to expect. She makes sure there's always a small group sitting at the front every trip. She's well organized. Everything runs smoothly with Leona. If it doesn't, then she frowns at it and it gets right back into line.

There's a transporter pad set in the aisle floor, up near the driver's seat. Leona does the consent thing with the first group, "Do you, Mr. Sponsor, accept Ms. Concubine as your concubine?" Ain't never seen anyone rejected, though I suppose it could happen. All the groups we get on the bus are pre-packs, so they've all gotten to know each other already. They've all been checked out in advance as well. Don't want no Earth First people fucking things up for everyone else. No fucking on this bus; Leona wouldn't allow it anyway. Some couples try for blowjobs, but she tells them to stop. Likes to keep things calm and clear does Leona.

Once the first few groups are through, everyone can see what's coming and it all goes smoothly. Most sponsors aren't stupid and they all want to get this done quickly and easily. CAP testing seems to weed out the worst of the assholes. Not all of them, but there aren't as many assholes on these trips as on the normal tourist trips. 'No sir, I can't make that other family move, just because your kid wants a window seat.' You arrived late, you stupid bastard, so you get what's left. Some days I really hate assholes.

The Confederacy doesn't extract from California, but it never promised not to run buses through there. That's what the new buses and the new routes are all about. All the special things that the new buses can do have to be Confederacy tech. They've never exactly said so, but I'm sure that Orevoa Holdings are just a front for Confederacy work on Earth. Stuff they don't want "Confederacy" stamped all over too obviously. No fingerprints. What's that phrase? Yeah, 'plausible deniability'.

That reminds me, I never did finish telling about me getting to drive the new buses. That boy racer interrupted me: big car, tiny pito. Mr. Davis wanted me to turn up for an interview and he wanted Maria to come along as well, which I hadn't expected. She can't drive a bus so why did he want to see her? I told him she was working, so he paid her for the day. They're good people with the money, they made sure we didn't lose out. I was puzzled why he wanted her along as well, but he wasn't saying. He was paying and I wanted to get on the new crew, so we went along with it.

We turned up at this place in town. Not the bus depot, one of those office buildings with half-a-dozen company names outside. Sure enough, 'Orevoa Holdings' is one of them. Me and Maria go in and talk to some guy. Strange thing is that I can't remember half of it. Bits of it I can remember, but the rest is real fuzzy. Somewhere in there I got this run-down on the new buses as well. I can't remember that part at all -- I think I slept right through it. It seemed to have sunk in though, despite me being asleep.

Like I said, I remembered some of it, and so did Maria. I could talk to her about what happened, but as soon as I started talking to other people about it, I got to feeling real sick to my stomach. Maria told me the same thing. She could tell her friends that I was driving the new buses at work, but that was all. She couldn't say anything about the important stuff. Even though it involved Lupe, we couldn't tell her either. I keep meaning to talk to Mr. Davis about that, to see if we can let her know.

The big secret? They're going to extract us! For definite. Don't know when, don't know where -- they didn't tell us. But they promised us that the Confederacy will extract me and Maria, along with Alvaro and Rosamaria. Neither Maria nor me have the CAP score, so they'll find a sponsor for all four of us. That means we'll stay together as a family. That's gonna be hard, seeing another man with my Maria. Real hard. OK, I'll probably get to fuck his other concubines, but that's only going to make it worse for her. We've talked about it a lot. Then we look at the kids. This isn't about us, it's about them. If we have to do it, then we have to do it. Sometimes we've had to do stuff we didn't want to do, for the sake of the kids. Guess we'll have to do it again. Still gonna be hard though.

They also promised a place for Lupe. I know she's been looking for a sponsor to take her. I even think I know who it might be -- her best friend, Carlita. But that's no good if she isn't with Carlita when the exclusion field goes up. If Lupe hasn't been picked up before we go, then she comes as well. They didn't say they'd keep her with us, so she'll probably be with different sponsor. That's OK. I really don't want my sponsor to tell me, 'Now you fuck your daughter.' I think about it, who wouldn't with the amount of skin she shows, but thinking isn't doing. It's Maria who gets the benefit, and only Maria. Mind you, Lupe's tetas remind me of what Maria's used to look like back when we got married. Maybe if I talk nice to my new sponsor, he'll let her have them like that again. Now there's something to think about.

I'm sure that other guys working the new routes got the same offer I did. We don't talk about it, but it's there. Before, there was always the fantasy about which celeb was going to select you at a pickup. The guys don't talk about that any more. That was a fantasy, these days it's real. We're guaranteed to go.

All these new routes I drive have been for pickups, like this one. As soon as we cross the border out of California, Leona puts them through the transporter.

She sees off the last of this bunch of passengers and we finish clearing the trash. The bus seems to know where stuff is hiding, so it points me to a couple of candy wrappers that kids had stuffed down between the seats. There isn't a lot of extra trash because the bus cleans itself overnight. Things like muddy footprints just disappear. It's the bigger pieces it wants me to handle. I remember something about 'nanites' from my training, but it's fuzzy.

Ethan's still driving, so I settle back down next to Leona and let him take us to Medford airport. We get there almost an hour before the flight from LA is due, so I get out and walk around for a bit. You spend too much time sitting down on this job, so I like to walk when I can. Keeps things moving.

The walk lets me remind myself of what's painted on the side of the bus this time. These new buses can change their paintwork, so they look different most trips. They're always changing the name on the bus as well. It's never Orevoa or anything like that, probably security or something. There are some Earth First terrorist types around in California, and in Nevada too, so there's no point in advertising who the bus belongs to. It only gets changed at the depot in Reno, but it's different every trip. I said it before, these new buses can do a lot of stuff that ain't obvious.

The flight is only ten minutes late and Leona is ready waiting by the bus as the people start coming out of arrivals. Only three groups for us on this flight, though one has slipped in an extra concubine and her two kids. She doesn't have a sponsor, but they'll find her one up on the moon. A bit like me and Maria really. She's taking a leap in the dark, hoping for a good sponsor to take her and her kids. Leona lets her on the bus, so her CAP scores can't be all that bad. Her two kids seem well looked after so she probably has good motherhood scores. She should do OK, the Confederacy wants good mothers. Maria's got a good score there as well so I'm hoping that will help us when our turn comes.

These new buses have tinted windows, so people can't see in when we send our passengers through the transporters. Knowing what they can do, I wouldn't be surprised if the tinting gets a bit darker when the transporters are actually being used. Lots of Confederacy technology built into these things. Mostly computer controlled I think. There's a lot more than that dumb sat-nav on board.

Chapter 2 »