Chapter 4

"Hi folks," I called as I entered the pod.

"There's some food ready," I heard Imogen call.

"Okay. We'll be there in a mo."

I stopped and took both Stacy's hands, looking her in the face. I was right, she was nervous. "You'll be fine," I said softly. "We're not monsters."

"But they're your family."

"They are, and now so are you." I pulled her against me and gently kissed her. Before she could respond though, I gently released her, and she followed me into the main sitting area.

The girls were all sitting on the long settee to my left, while Dad was sat sprawled in an armchair almost directly in front of me, and Huw sitting cross-legged on the floor to my right.

"Hi guys. This is Stacy. Stacy, these are Branwyn, Siân, Imogen, Roger and Huw."

"I thought," she whispered, "you said one of them was your mother."

I smiled. "Stacy's a little confused right now. She thinks I'm pulling her leg somehow. Why don't you all introduce yourselves, and tell her who you are. Roger, do you want to go first?"

"Absolutely." He stood up. "I'm Roger. Despite appearances I'm forty five years old, and I'm the father of the ugly sod standing next to you." He smiled warmly and sat down and looked at Imogen.

"I'm Imogen, I am, or was, Roger's wife. I'm forty three, and I'm the mother of the handsome stud next to you." Everybody smiled, including Stacy.

I looked at Branwyn.

"I'm Branwyn. I'm the ugly monster's older sister."

"But only by twelve minutes," I stage whispered into Stacy's ear. Everyone laughed.

"I'm Huw, and I'm Llew's younger brother."

"And I'm Siân, I'm the baby of the family, and the ugly sod next to you is my big brother, and also the one who finally made me a woman." Her voice lowered, turning her monologue into a barely audible mutter. "Stole my virginity he did. Bastard. Bloody stole it he did." Stacy just stared at her, completely confused, until we all, including Siân, burst into laughter.

"Oh," whispered Stacy faintly.

"All right, now that's over," said Imogen, "would you like something to eat, dear?"

"Yes please," she whispered.

"Good. Come sit down here and tell us all about yourself."

Stacy didn't tell us much more than she'd already told me, but she listened avidly as the rest of us talked.

The AI interrupted us. "Lieutenant Carter, you have a call waiting from the Civil Service."

"Oh, right," I glanced quickly at Dad, "the flock I think. Accept please."

"Lieutenant Carter? This is Pauline Scott. We spoke yesterday about your sheep?"

"Yes, hello, how did you get on?"

"I have managed to contact Dai Thomas as you requested. He is prepared to look after them short term, but he will be ninety soon, so doesn't want to do it for long."

I was startled. I hadn't realised he was quite that old.

"Oh that's brilliant. Did I give you enough information to contact my aunts and uncles?"

"I managed to contact your father's family. Katy first, and through her Charles. Neither are interested. I couldn't identify your other two aunts."

"Oh," said Imogen. "I can give you phone numbers. I know them off the top of my head."

"Give me the numbers, and I'll let you talk to them direct," she said. "Who first?"

"Jenny?" said Dad looking at Mum.

Mum nodded. "I think so. Dorothy won't want to, I don't think"

It took just twenty minutes, but at the end Imogen's younger sister had agreed to move to Wales to take over the farm. She was an office assistant in Truro and this would be a big change, and probably for the good. Dorothy would help as much as possible, but she was now a head-mistress in a large school in north Bristol. She enjoyed her current job too much to just give it up for a farm, but as the two sisters and their families would now be only about forty miles apart instead of 170, both felt it was a good move.

"That's a relief," I said, when we had finished.

Dad nodded. "The farm'll be in good hands," he shrugged. "Sorry, I meant to tell you when you got back just now. That Pauline woman called not long after you went to collect the beautiful Stacy here," Stacy blushed, and then blushed again when Dad blew a kiss at her.

I shook my head. "No worries."

While Dad and I had been sorting out the farm, Mum and the others had been sorting out a delicious meal, to which we now all sat down, continuing our chats. We told Stacy about ourselves, and asked her questions about herself. After we'd all finished, I looked up. "AI, time, please."

"Eleven-thirty-three."

"Crikey, it's later than I thought." I took Stacy's hand. "Let's go and have a chat in my office."

She nodded and followed me in. I waved her to a comfortable chair and she sat, surprised. "I thought that was a euphemism for getting me into bed."

I smiled. "Maybe later. I really want a chat. Tell me a bit more about yourself, about your pickup. Your likes and dislikes. We've only just got here ourselves, so we're still feeling our way, but I know all about them, well, almost: Branny and Siân managed to surprise me yesterday morning." I smiled. "Talk," I said softly.

She paused for a long moment. I could see her marshalling her thoughts. I liked that; it told me she was basically an organised person. "I knew Frank for a year or so," she began slowly. "He used to come into the shop when he knew I was on shift. I think he fancied me, but he was a lot older and didn't think I'd be interested in him."

"Were you?"

"A little. I liked him. When pickups started happening in Britain, he showed me his CAP card and said he was eligible to take four people if he ever got picked. Then he asked me if I'd be interested in going with him. I think he must have guessed I wasn't a volunteer."

"Did you say yes?"

She nodded. "Uh huh. I liked the guy. He didn't presume, and he didn't pressure me. Even after I'd said 'yes' nothing changed between us. He still came in daily, at lunchtime, to get his sandwich and coke, and we talked, but never about anything serious, and not for too long or I might have got into trouble." She smiled. "When the marines came, he was just getting his sandwich. There were also a load of schoolgirls in there from the private school. Bright, sexy, young. I thought he'd go for some of them, but he came straight to me and asked me all over again. I was the very first person picked."

"He obviously saw in you what I did. Why did he pick the others?"

"I think Janine was someone who worked with him. I'm not sure. I do know that he'd always wanted children, and by taking her he got two youngsters instantly. I know he'd have doted on them, they are sweet little boys."

"You've met them?"

"Yesterday."

"Okay. And the other two? How were they chosen?"

"Don't know. It really was just 'you and you'."

"I'm betting it was you and Janine he wanted, the others were just to pad the numbers. You for yourself, Janine for her children maybe?"

She shrugged. "Maybe."

"What do you want for yourself? I'm not talking about body changes, but if you could see yourself in a few years, what would you want to be doing?"

"Having children. Helping my man. You."

"You don't want to become a sponsor yourself?"

"No. I don't want to be a soldier, and the idea of being in space scares me."

"We're in space now," I told her softly.

"Oh. Fuck." She shuddered. "I wish you hadn't said that. I knew it, but had sort of forgotten it."

"Sorry. Not even if it was always based on the ground?"

"No. I don't want to have other people having to rely on me."

I nodded. It was basically one aspect of her inherent shyness.

"I think you are going to be a lot like Branny. Far more like her than like Siân."

She frowned. "Which one's Branny?"

"Branwyn's the blonde, Siân's the redhead, Imogen's the brunette."

"Why do you say I'm like her?"

"She's no intention of trying to get her CAP score up to 6·5. She'll never be a sponsor. She doesn't want to be. Mum could possibly but isn't going to. Siân definitely will, Huw's going to try, and I'm going to help him, Roger probably could. He'll do it by helping the others. AI is it possible to compare CAP scores?"

"It is not advisable to discuss one person's CAP score in front of another person."

"Uh huh. But is it possible?"

"It is."

I thought, then got up and opened the door. "Branny, can I borrow you and your CAP card a moment please."

"Uh. I had to give it up yesterday. No, day before, not long after we came on board."

"Oh. Oh yes. Sorry. No worries."

I closed the door again and turned back to the AI.

"Can you show me the scores on the pad?" I waved the PDA.

"Yes."

"Then please do so."

I used the PDA to compare both girls' CAP scores. "See," I told her, "In many things you are very similar. Your aggression scores are identical; your loyalty differs by just point one. You've a higher sex drive that Branny, but again by only point one; your mothering score is a lot higher than Branny's as is your intelligence, but she's a touch more secure in herself, has more self-confidence. Actually Stace, looking at this, I think it's only your self confidence that's lacking." Actually, now that I looked at their numbers more closely, I realised they weren't quite as similar as I had originally thought.

"When was the last time you had sex?"

She blushed violently. "Last night."

"Good?"

"Okay."

"With your sponsor?"

"Uh huh."

"And?"

"He was okay."

"What about the others?"

"Janine allowed him to lick her, and let Amber, I think it was, lick her, and she sucked him a bit, but he only fucked me and one of the younger girls. Riley I think. He was too tired after that. But he slept with me and Janine and sent the other two to a different bed." She smiled shyly. "He was hugging me when we went to sleep."

I smiled. "What I meant was, did you have sex with any of the other women?"

Her blush deepened as she nodded.

I just continued to look at her, a calm smile in my face, inviting her to expand on her answer.

"Frank asked the others to bring me off," she whispered.

"And?" I asked softly.

"They did." She sighed and looked up at me. "It was good. I enjoyed it."

"So you have no problems with lesbian sex?"

She shook her head.

"Had you ever done it before?"

Again she shook her head. "No. But I've been with three men before. A long time ago."

I nodded. "You got horny earlier. Still horny?" I grinned at her.

Her shift was off faster than Siân's had been the day before, and she was down on her knees between my legs, her hands fumbling for my zipper.

"You do love sex," I whispered a few minutes later when she was finally ensconced on my lap, her firm, tight, hot pussy riding my erection.

She just smiled distractedly just rocking her hips to and fro, side to side, and up and down. There was even a bit of a twisting motion in there. Not much of one, but enough to give my cock a really pleasant workout. Before the previous night I'd have probably just lain back and let her get on with it, but Imogen's single night of tuition had taught me different. Instead I let my hands wander gently over her skin, lightly tweaking her nipple one moment, softly stroking her clit, even places that one would normally not consider erogenous zones. Not so light it tickled, but light enough to be sensuous. Thanks Mum.

At just five foot two and slim, her A cup boobs suited her perfectly, but her overall height meant that I couldn't easily suck her boobs while she was riding me.

"Thank you," she said much later, after I'd brought her to two climaxes, and filled her with about a dozen great spurts of my ejaculate.

I just kissed her and smiled.

"Frank was just as gentle. He wasn't as big, he was a bit flabby, and he had a smaller dick, but he knew how to please a woman." She looked at me. "Would you be offended if I named my first son 'Frank'?"

I laughed. "Of course not."

"AI," I said silently. "Ensure Stacy only has girls."

"Confirmed."

That might seem a bit mean of me, and I suppose in a way it was, but I needed her to cleave to me not to a memory. Even a good memory. I felt a little ashamed of myself for doing it, but I thought it was for the best. Maybe in a few years.

I decided that maybe Stacy should take Huw to one side to teach him control, rather than have Imogen do it. That was for later though.

"What do you really want?" I asked gently twenty minutes later as she lay in my arms.

"I think I just want to have your children," she said eventually.

"You know that in reality you should have the babies of more than one man?"

"Yeah. I guess."

"So that'll mean Roger's and Huw's as well?"

"Yeah. I understand. It's your's I want though."

I looked at her and then remembered her individual CAP scores. Her high loyalty score. She had transferred her loyalties entirely to me. Just like that. I was astonished, but pleased and excited. It took me a few moments to understand that it had happened simply because her previous sponsor had died, so she had had no one to be loyal to. Until now.