Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Hello, Mom?

   A Swarm Cycle Story

   Danny relates the events leading to him being at a Confederacy pick up.

   MF; SciFi; interracial





   "Hello?"

   "Hello, Mom?  This is Danny."

   "Good morning, Danny.  How are you?"

   "I'm fine, Mom.  I have some news."

   "What's the news?"

   "I was picked up by the Confederacy!  I'm in space right now, orbiting
Earth," I knew she would be pleased and happy for me.

   "Danny, are you drunk?  Have you been doing drugs?" If Mom believed me I
knew she would be pleased and happy for me.  I noted the concern in her
voice.

   "No, I'm sober and I did get picked up.  I'm not joking.  Honest." I
wondered if I sounded drunk to her.  Maybe it was my excited tone of voice.
I am not known to get excited about anything.

   "I find that hard to believe, dear.  I mean from what I've read, the
Confederacy doesn't take just anyone that wants to go and you're not
exactly the smartest or most ambitious young man I know.  Wait a minute. 
Did someone take you as a concubine?  No, that's not likely either.  I mean
I love you dearly and all that, but facts are facts.  Please don't take
offense." It sounded like I had to convince her.

   "I won't take offense, Mom.  I find it hard to believe, too.  It seems
like a dream."

   "Perhaps it is, Danny.  Would you like to tell me all about it?  I
figure as long as you're on the telephone with me you aren't going to do
anything to harm yourself."

   "Okay, Mom." Perhaps I should have waited to call home until after the
Confederacy contacted my family.  I began to gather my thoughts.

   I guess you have figured out that my dear mother does not have a lot of
confidence in me.  It's my own fault.  I'm a slacker and I've been that way
all my life.  Despite the efforts of my parents and teachers to encourage
and inspire me, I've always preferred to just skate by with the minimum of
effort.  My high school grades were good enough to get into college, but I
still didn't exert myself when I started classes.  I carry a consistent C
average.  I used the announcement about the impending Sa'arm invasion to
justify my attitude.  I mean why plan for the future?  In a decade or so,
we were all going to be an entrée on a lizard man's dinner plate.  Of
course, I took the CAP test like just about everyone else.  Close, but no
cigar.

   College is where I met Kelly Greene.  Kelly is the polar opposite of me,
a computer science major with a straight A grade average.  She is charming
and intelligent as well as beautiful.  Her family is supposed to have a
shitload of money.  She is tall with shapely legs that seem to go on
forever, and a pair of luscious tits that stick out to next year.  I was
assigned by chance to be her lab partner in a required basic chemistry lab.
Several other students have approached me during the semester because they
wanted to trade with me and be Kelly's partner.  Kelly was all for it.  I
didn't mind trading partners either because, even though she is sexy and
all that, the girl is a real taskmaster.  I mean she expects me to work as
hard as her.  Can you beat that?  Anyway, nobody else wanted me to be his
or her lab partner so Kelly said she figured I was her "cross to bear" this
term.  That's why I didn't expect her to say what she said this one day
after class.

   Kelly asked me to wait while she cleaned up our lab space because she
had something important to discuss with me.  I told her, "No problem." I
figured she was going to bitch at me again for me not carrying my share of
the workload.  I would listen, smile, and promise to try harder.  Anyway,
the girl led me to an empty classroom and closed the door.  I waited for
her to say something.  She seemed kind of nervous.

   "I'm going to ask you a question that might seem kind of strange, but I
don't want you to freak out.  Okay?" I shrugged my shoulders.

   "Ask away." At least this was something different.

   "Will you marry me?" she asked.

   My witty reply was "Huh?" I heard well enough the first time, but that's
my usual response to an unexpected question.

   "I said, will you marry me?" Okay I thought.  This has to be a joke, but
I didn't have anything better to do so I figured I would play along.

   "Oh, okay.  When?"

   "As soon as possible."

   "Is after lunch good?"

   "I'm not joking, Danny.  Are you sure?" Kelly sure looked and sounded
serious, but I was still waiting for the punch line.

   "I'm sure."

   "You're crazy.  We barely know each other.  Out of the blue, I propose
to you and all you have to say is okay?  Don't you have the slightest
curiosity about why I asked?"

   "I just figured it was because of my great looks, charm, and
personality. You couldn't help falling in love with me, right?"

   Kelly finally smiled.  "Uh, no.  That's not it at all."

   "Then I sense an ulterior motive.  Is this perhaps a sorority pledge
stunt?  Are you pregnant?"

   "Hazing is a thing of the past at this school and I'm not pregnant. 
It's my father."

   "Your father wants you to marry me?  I don't believe I've ever met the
gentleman."

   "You haven't met him.  He wants me to marry someone else, and I don't
want to marry the man he wants me to marry."

   "The man is a real loser, huh?"

   "Actually he's rich, handsome, charming, and crazy in love with me."

   "There's nothing wrong with that," I responded.  "What's the matter with
him?"

   "The matter is that he's black.  I can't stand black men."

   "That's kind of racist, Kelly." I think my voice had the right tone of
disapproval in it.

   "I can't help how I feel." She had the grace to act ashamed about it,
but I was not going to let her off easy.

   "Uh, Kelly?"

   "Yes, Danny?"

   "You do realize you're black, too.  Don't you?"

   "Heh!  Yeah, I figured that out a long time ago.  I was exaggerating,
okay?  I like black men just fine, but I'm not interested in being a black
man's girlfriend, and certainly not his wife.  I go for white men as long
as they're tall blue eyed blonds and very handsome."

   "Oh." I have brown hair, brown eyes, and I'm average in height and
looks. I knew I was being used like a tool, but that didn't bother me much.

   "What happens when you tell your family about us?" I asked.

   "I expect all hell will break loose," Kelly said.  "Daddy doesn't take
kindly to being defied.  Momma is a black racist so she will take an
instant hatred of you.  They'll threaten to disown me.  I'm counting on
Maynard, the man Daddy wants me to marry, to lose interest in me since I've
been defiled and sullied by a white man.  He's almost as militant as
Momma."

   "Wouldn't it be easier if you told them we're married without getting
married?"

   "That won't work," Kelly responded.  "My daddy is very thorough.  He'll
have you checked out by a detective and he'll want to see proof that we're
legally married."

   "Checking me out should take about five minutes.  Couldn't you just tell
Maynard thanks, but no thanks?"

   "My parents expect me to be an obedient daughter, and they've just about
worn down my resistance.  I'm supposed to visit them next week, and this is
a desperation move.  I have a sneaky feeling they'll have Maynard there so
he can propose to me right in front of them."

   "What happens after that, assuming everything goes like you hope it
will?"

   "Assuming everything goes like I hope it will, we'll get a quick and
quiet divorce.  I'll reconcile with my parents and we'll go on with our
separate lives."

   "And what do I get out of it?" The girl shrugged her shoulders and
lowered her eyes.

   "I don't know.  Why don't you tell me?"

   "Well, if I'm going to be accused of defiling and sullying you I want
the opportunity to defile and sully you." Kelly giggled at my statement. 
She seemed relieved.

   "I think that can be arranged.  But you'll have to wear a condom.  I'm
not on any sort of birth control."

   "I can do that." The girls I had had sex with before were all on birth
control, but they insisted on condoms because they didn't want to get a
dose of the clap or anything like that.  I didn't want to father children
anyway.  I didn't want any child of mine to be eaten by a creature from
outer space.

   "We'll have to wait until after the marriage ceremony though.  I'll have
flight and hotel reservations for Las Vegas for Friday after classes. 
We'll get married that evening and have all weekend to get acquainted."

   "I'm looking forward to it." Kelly kissed me then.  Ay!  Ay!  Ay!  It
was a real scorcher.  I was in love.

   "Me too," she said when she ended the kiss.

   "I'm going to be sad when we get divorced."

   "You're sweet, Danny," Kelly said.  "I wish you were more my type."

   I decided I was already sad.  This was Wednesday, so there were still
two days until we flew to Las Vegas and tied the knot.  Kelly told me when
and where to meet her, and to please keep her plans all under my hat.  I
promised I would do that.  I gave her my vital statistics so she could file
an online application.  She was surprised my legal name was Danny instead
of Daniel.  I had a teacher in the eighth grade that kept calling me Daniel
even after I showed him a copy of my birth certificate.

   I am not quite as dumb as people think I am.  Once I was alone, I got to
thinking about the one question I wanted to ask Kelly, but didn't.  Maybe I
was afraid of the answer if the girl was honest with me.  I mean, why did
she choose me to marry her if I wasn't her type?  Why couldn't she marry
one of her preferred blond bimbos?  The answer was obvious.  I was
expendable if anything went wrong.  I was to be Kelly's fool, her patsy,
the scapegoat, chump, dupe, sucker, the fall guy.  I think you get the
idea. Man, I was hot under the collar.  I was going to call the scheming
bitch and tell her to forget it.  I had better things to do.

   Then I got to thinking about the better things I had to do.  The only
thing I had planned for the weekend was to get together with some buddies,
drink beer and watch a Three Stooges marathon.  I do that sort of thing all
the time except sometimes it's the Marx Brothers, Laurel and Hardy, or W.
C. Fields.  But I don't often get the chance to pork a triple A grade
premium pussy such as Kelly's.  I'd be doing her the whole weekend, too. 
That prospect was too good to pass up.  Plus, I didn't really have anything
to worry about, did I?  It was Kelly who was going to be taking all the
grief.  She probably wouldn't even want me around when she was dealing with
her folks.  The Three Stooges would still be around when I returned to
school.  Whew!  I am sure glad I got that figured out.

   I put an immediate phone call to one of the campus pharmaceutical
suppliers.  He said he could sell me Viagra by the pill.  I ordered some
for my weekend.  I wanted to get my money's worth from Kelly as well as do
right by her in bed.  Speaking of money, I didn't have a heck of a lot.  I
hoped she didn't expect me to share expenses.  I called my fiancée to
check.

   "Don't worry about it, Danny," Kelly said when I explained my call.  "I
have an American Express Gold Card courtesy of my parents so all of our
expenses will be covered.  I expect the card will be canceled within five
minutes of me telling them I'm married, so we'll make good use of it this
weekend." Cool!

   I've got to admit I was plenty nervous when Kelly and I boarded our
flight to Las Vegas.  I'm sure she had a case of the butterflies, too.  At
any minute, I expected Kelly to tell me getting married was a bad idea, and
she couldn't go through with it.  I wouldn't have argued that point with
her.  There had to be a better way for Kelly to deal with her parents and
Maynard, but she was supposed to be the smart one, and I couldn't come up
with a better idea.

   We took a cab straight from the airport to our hotel and checked in.  I
was all for getting a drink, but Kelly took my hand and marched me straight
into a jewelry boutique.  She bought a pair of matching gold wedding bands.

   "It seems like a waste of money," I said.  "We're going to be wearing
them for a week at most." Kelly just shrugged her shoulders.

   "Are you ready to do it?  We have an appointment." Kelly seemed
determined to get it over with.

   "I'm ready when you are," I responded.  She seemed as nervous as I did,
and I smiled in encouragement.  We kissed for luck, gently this time.  It
was our second kiss.  Our third kiss would be as man and wife.

   We took a taxi to the marriage license bureau.  Kelly paid the fee and
we received our license.  We then walked a short distance to another office
where the civil marriages were performed.  We needed a witness so Kelly
talked to another couple who also needed a witness.  She agreed to act as
their witness, and the new bride agreed to be our witness.  Ten minutes
later Kelly and I were married.  I know that doesn't sound very romantic,
but there it is.  I had to admire my bride's efficiency and organizational
ability.  Not too much later, I was uncorking an oversize French Champagne
bottle in our hotel room.

   "To us," was the toast I offered.

   "To us," Kelly responded.  She sipped a little, then put down her glass
and embraced me.  "Thank you so much for going through with this marriage,
Danny.  You must have thought I had lost my mind."

   "That's true, but that made you all the more attractive to me." That
comment made my bride giggle and I felt some tension leave her body. 
"Besides, anyone else would have jumped at the chance to marry you."

   "That's not true at all, Danny." She sounded sad, but when she pulled
out of my embrace, she was smiling.  "Wanna fuck?" I couldn't have asked
that question any more eloquently.

   "I thought you would never ask." I must say that Kelly's body was
everything I imagined it would be.  Perfect tits.  Perfect ass.  Child
bearing hips.  Perfect body from head to toe.  Between not having eaten
since that morning, and the Champagne, we got pretty drunk, but we didn't
forget the condoms.  I didn't need the Viagra.  We fucked until we couldn't
fuck anymore then fell into an exhausted sleep.  Saturday morning we
showered and had a late breakfast.

   I was curious to know whether Kelly had proposed marriage to anyone else
and, if so, who he was.  It sure sounded like she had, but I never found an
opening to ask.  The girl wasn't forthcoming and I didn't want to
interrogate her.  Who was I to pry anyway?  I was just a temporary husband.
We strolled around the hotel a bit and played some nickel slots, but we
avoided the casino and neither of us had a desire to see any of the shows.
We went back to our room, threw off our clothes, and cuddled in bed.  We
alternated between fucking and napping.  That's pretty much how our weekend
went.  We caught a flight home on Monday morning, and drove back to campus
where we both lived in the dorms.

   "What's next?" I asked as I got my bag out of Kelly's car.

   "I'll call you," Kelly responded.  She kissed me, this time on the
cheek. "Thanks for being such a good sport." I noticed she wasn't wearing
her wedding band.  She hadn't walked more than 50 feet away before a tall
blond dude joined her.  They kissed.  He took her bag and they walked on,
hand in hand.

   "Oh, well," I said aloud.  Kelly had kept her side of the bargain.  I
couldn't complain about that.  I had a gold wedding band and some fond
memories of a weekend of great sex.  I supposed the next time I saw Kelly
she would have a divorce petition in hand.  I went back to my dorm room and
vegged out for the rest of the day.  I felt depressed and not even Larry,
Moe, Curly or Shemp could cheer me up.  It wasn't supposed to be this way.
I was too laid back to be affected like this by a woman, right?  Yeah,
right.  I decided I had to suck it up and act like it was no big deal. 
That included showing up to Wednesday's chemistry lab with Kelly there even
if I didn't want to.

   We both acted as if nothing had happened between us and it was just like
our previous lab classes.  Well, things were a little bit different.  I was
more helpful during the lab and I did the cleanup afterward.  Kelly asked
to speak with me in private again and I just nodded my head.  She led me
back to the empty classroom again and closed the door.

   "I noticed you're still wearing your wedding band," Kelly said.

   "I noticed you're not wearing yours," I responded.

   "I didn't want to be grilled by my friends.  They would have spotted
that ring in a nanosecond.  Uh, did anyone ask about your ring?"

   "Don't worry," I assured her.  "The people I hang out with wouldn't
notice that type of thing.  Even if they did, I would still keep my promise
to keep my mouth shut."

   "That's good."

   "Have you told your folks yet?"

   Kelly nodded.  "It's mostly what I expected.  I have shocked and
disappointed them.  I have broken Maynard's heart.  There's only one thing
that I did not expect."

   "What's that?"

   "They want to meet you."

   "Do you want me to meet them?"

   "Would you mind?  I know it wasn't part of our deal.  I think they're
just curious about you.  I don't think it'll be a problem, but if you don't
want to, I'll understand."

   "I don't mind," I said.  "Who knows?  They might like me."

   "Ice water in Hell is more likely than that," Kelly responded, but at
least she was smiling when she said it.  She plastered her body up against
mine and kissed me.  The girl couldn't help feeling my boner.

   "Is that for me?" Kelly asked in a teasing tone of voice.

   "It sure is." I placed my hands on her butt and ground my prick against
her so she could get a better feel.

   "Do you have a condom?" Christ!  Was she serious?

   "Uh, no, but I can get a hold of one real quick." I wish I had been a
Boy Scout.

   "I can't wait around.  I have to meet my friend in a while."

   "I guess I'm out of luck then," I said.  "Cheating on me already?"

   "I'll have you know I've been true to you since the day we got engaged.
That's a whole week so far."

   "Sorry I doubted you."

   "That's all right.  I know you saw me kissing my friend, but I didn't
know you were the jealous type." I didn't know I was the jealous type
either.  I guess I am.  Kelly surprised me by kneeling down and pulling
down my jeans zipper.  She released little Danny and kissed him.  He leaped
with joy.

   "Don't hold back," Kelly said.  "I'm in a hurry." She grabbed my butt
cheeks and pulled my prick into her mouth.  There's almost nothing I like
better than a blow job, and getting one from a beautiful woman like Kelly
is the ultimate: long, slow and leisurely.  We didn't have the luxury of
time though, and I aimed to oblige my lovely wife.  I was concerned about
making Kelly gag a bit, but after a couple of minutes or so I was filling
her mouth with my cum.

   "Sorry I was a little rough on you there."

   "That's all right," Kelly responded.  "I like it a little rough
sometimes." We grabbed our books and walked outside the building.  Kelly's
friend was waiting for her.

   "You're late, nigger.  Get over here." I tensed up, ready to attack the
guy.  How dare he insult my wife!  Kelly must have sensed my hostility. 
She caressed my arm.

   "Keep cool," she whispered.  "I'll handle this.  See you tomorrow."
Kelly laughed and strutted over to the clown.  "Yes, massah," she drawled
and they started making out.  I just stood there gaping at the pair.  They
stopped and stared back at me.  Well, the dude was gloating and Kelly was
smiling with a wicked gleam in her eyes.  It was then I realized Kelly was
feeding her friend my cum.  I smirked and Kelly winked at me.  They
returned to making out.  I hoped her friend liked the taste of my cum.  I
went to the student union and got some lunch.

   My entire wardrobe consists of jeans, t-shirts and tennis shoes.  It was
the way I was dressed when Kelly and I were married so I wasn't going to
worry about how I was dressed when I met Kelly's parents.  Kelly didn't
make any comment when I met her at her car.  She waited until we were out
of the parking lot before slipping on her wedding band.

   "What's with your friend?" Kelly knew who I meant.

   She sighed.  "I think Joel is feeling insecure so he was trying to show
you that I belong to him and not you."

   "He knows we're married?  I thought you were keeping that secret from
everyone on campus."

   "I had to confide in someone.  Besides, he's the one that suggested that
I marry you since he was too chicken to do the deed."

   "Why would he do that?"

   "Joel said he meant it as a joke.  He was pissed when I told him that I
actually did it, that I should go ahead and marry Maynard and be his
mistress.  I told him that he should have married me if he loved me.  He's
the one I would have wanted to stay married to.  I'm not so sure now."
Kelly sounded like she was about to cry so I just remained silent.

   Kelly continued.  "I lied to Joel and told him you and I were not having
sex and you were only doing it for the money."

   "I don't even know the dude.  Uh, how much money?"

   "Five hundred dollars and he only knows of you," Kelly said, "because I
complained about you often enough." She touched my thigh as if in apology.
I could imagine what she said about me and every word of it was likely the
truth so that didn't bother me.  It's funny I didn't even think about money
until Kelly brought it up.  I guess money just isn't that important to me.

   "I hoped he liked the taste of my cum."

   "Heh!  I was hoping you would pick up on that.  Joel won't even kiss me
when it's his own cum I've been swallowing." I wasn't crazy about doing
that either.

   "Do you like ribs?" Kelly asked.

   "I love ribs."

   "We're meeting my parents at a restaurant that's quite famous for its
ribs.  I've been there a lot.  The thing is that it's right in the middle
of the ghetto, and I don't recall ever seeing a white person dining there.
You're liable to have people staring at you." I think I knew what Kelly was
getting at.

   "Black people don't bother me.  I hope I don't bother them."

   Kelly was right about the restaurant being in the middle of the ghetto.
I got plenty of stares, mostly curious but some downright hostile.  I had
to admit I was kind of scared.  The large warning signs at the entrance
were interesting.  'All weapons must be checked at the door'.  'No gang
colors or hand signals allowed'.  'Troublemakers will be shot without
warning'.  We also had to walk through an airport type metal detector with
armed guards giving us a final frisk, a female guard for Kelly.  Despite
the hassle there didn't seem to be any lack of customers.  People like to
feel secure while dining, and this restaurant intended to provide the
security.

   A couple of pretty girls hurried up to Kelly as soon as we entered the
main dining area.  They hugged her and Kelly introduced them as her
sisters. Kylie was 14 years old.  Katelyn was 16 years old.

   "It's a pleasure to meet you both," I said.  The two girls gave me the
once over and both looked displeased.

   Katelyn said, "I think it's best if you didn't speak unless spoken to.
And watch what you say if you do speak."

   Kylie said, "And don't go trying to shake anyone's hand or you're liable
to be pulling back a stump." They turned to walk away and we followed.

   "So far so good," I whispered.

   "I'm glad you think so," said Kelly.  She sounded worried.  "Katelyn is
right though.  You'd better let me do the talking and we'll be all right."

   "You're the boss." We arrived at the Greene family table.  It looked
like they had already been served.  They were almost finished in fact. 
What was with that?  I knew we weren't late in arriving.  The elder Greenes
were a pleasant looking middle aged couple, but not looking pleasant at the
moment.  They didn't look happy to see us.  Mr.  Greene motioned for us to
sit.  A waitress arrived with a couple of menus and he waved her away. 
Mrs. Greene sneered at me.

   "If I had my gun with me, I'd be using it on you right about now,
whitey," she declared.  I guessed I was lucky this was a weapons free
restaurant.

   "Don't be too hard on the boy, dear," said Mr.  Greene.  "He's just a
campus lowlife loser Kelly hired in a fool scheme to avoid a marriage to
Maynard."

   "That's not true, Daddy," said Kelly.

   "Don't lie to me, girl.  I had the full story hours ago.  It's amazing
what you can find out if the money is right.  The only connection you have
to this boy is that he's your lab partner in your chemistry class.  Not a
happy partnership either.  I think you have referred to him as 'pain in the
ass Danny'?  So you gave the boy here five hundred dollars and went through
a real marriage ceremony in Las Vegas thinking that it would be enough to
get rid of poor Maynard.  Tell me I'm wrong." Kelly didn't say anything. 
She had tears in her eyes.  She stared at her lap.  I was thinking Joel
wasn't such a good friend to Kelly.  He had sold her out for a little cash.
Mr.  and Mrs.  Greene wore self-satisfied smiles, but the man wasn't
through.

   "Steps are now being taken to annul the Nevada marriage.  As soon as
that has been finalized you will be marrying Maynard." Kelly looked up in
surprise.

   "Maynard has forgiven you, Kelly," said Mrs.  Greene.  "Isn't that sweet
of him?"

   "I don't think we'll need your cooperation," the man told me, "but if
you keep your mouth shut and go along I'll add another thousand dollars to
the five hundred you've already been paid.  What do you say?"

   "I say take your money and shove it, sir.  Let's get out of here,
Kelly." There were gasps from the peanut gallery.

   "I didn't get where I am today by always being such a nice guy.  If you
walk out that door with my daughter there will some very mean gentlemen
waiting outside who will teach you the error of your ways.  You might even
live to learn from the lesson they mean to teach you."

   "No, Daddy!" Kelly exclaimed.  "I don't want Danny hurt."

   "That is up to you, Kelly."

   "I'll do what you and Momma want then.  I'll marry Maynard." Kelly
turned to me.  "I'm so sorry I got you involved."

   "Don't worry about me, babe.  I'm having a blast," I said.  "Look, your
parents were right about one thing, and that is that you made a big mistake
when you came up with the idea of marrying me.  Don't make an even bigger
mistake."

   "I don't know what you mean.  What bigger mistake?"

   "You're a grown up, an adult.  It's time to start acting like one and
that means making your own decisions.  If you don't want to marry Maynard,
tell him so and stick to your decision.  Tell your parents to go fuck
themselves." There were more gasps from the peanut gallery.  I felt pretty
good about my advice even though I knew it was hypocritical.  I mean I
never felt the need to grow up.

   "You're dead, boy," Mr.  Greene hissed.

   "I already got that impression, okay?  What are you going to tell your
hired goons to do, kill me twice?"

   "I don't need any hired goons to take care of you.  I can do that
myself." The man stood up and I did too, making sure I moved away from
Kelly.  He was taller and heavier than me.  I thought of making a run for
it because I'm no fighter, but where could I run?

   That's when the outside light dimmed and turned sort of gray.  There
were shouts and screams.  Then someone on the public address announced that
this was a Confederacy extraction and started issuing instructions. 
Kelly's father temporarily lost interest in killing me.  Men and women
started tearing off their clothes and moving toward another part of the
restaurant where an orgy seemed to be starting up.  A big black woman
dressed in a Confederacy Marine uniform walked up to our table.

   "Kelly Greene?"

   "That's me," said Kelly.

   "I'm Corporal Tonya Dupree.  May I see your CAP card please?" Kelly
handed it over and the Marine said, "You get four concubines." and handed
her a device she called a CAP card reader.

   "We're a prepack," said Kelly's father.  The Marine appeared to be
listening to somebody else.

   "That's not what the AI says."

   "I have to discuss it with my family," said Kelly.

   "What's to discuss," the man demanded.  "You have an obligation to your
family and I expect you to fulfill it." Kelly looked down at her lap again
and I almost saw her nod.

   "Well," I said.  "You don't have to worry about divorcing me anymore and
you don't have to worry about marrying Maynard.  But you still have this
guy running your life.  What good are you going to do the Confederacy if
you have to check with your daddy before carrying out an order?"

   "Just shut the fuck up, loser," Mr.  Greene demanded.

   "I admit it," I responded.  "I'm a loser.  But take a close look at
these three young women for a moment and tell me what that makes you." The
man looked confused for a moment and then comprehension dawned.  The next
thing I knew I was flat on the ground looking up at the ceiling.  My face
and the back of my head were masses of pain.  I was swallowing blood.  The
women were screaming.  Mr.  Greene was lying flat on the floor also
surrounded by his wife, Katelyn and Kylie.  Kelly was by my side.

   "What happened to him?"

   "The Marine zapped him with her phaser or whatever it is," said Kelly.
She turned to the Marine.  "Will my father be all right?"

   "He'll wake up with a humongous headache," Corporal Dupree replied. 
"You would be doing him a huge favor if you left him behind.  I've seen his
type several times before.  He'll try to use his force of personality to
try to get his way and it just doesn't work that way for a concubine. 
He'll get himself killed up there in a matter of days." Kelly nodded her
head.

   "I would sure like to know what you meant by that statement before you
got punched," Kelly told me.

   "I was just running off at the mouth," I said.  "It didn't mean
anything. Now get up there before he wakes up."

   "He was saying that my husband wasn't the biological father of my
children."

   "Well, if that's what you meant, I can understand why my daddy punched
you out.  Momma would never cheat on Daddy."

   "I cheated on your father every chance I could get." All three girls
gasped.

   "Was their father a white man?" I always thought Kelly had some
Caucasian features, and when I met Mr.  Greene, I knew there wasn't any way
he could be her biological father.

   "They were three different white men."

   "Momma," said Katelyn, "there's a word for women like you."

   "The word is slut," said her mother.  "I'm a slut for white men.  I
acted just the opposite in front of my husband for obvious reasons."

   "Tall blue eyed blonds and very handsome?"

   "Are you a mind reader or something?"

   "I just figured, mother like daughter," I replied.

   "Well, I'll be dogged." Mother looked at daughter and both giggled. 
Corporal Dupree was wearing a big grin.

   "Both of my concubines are white boys," she said.  "I just love them to
death.  I can hardly wait until I get some time off so I can start having
their babies."

   "So are you three interested in coming with me as my concubines?  It
will mean having sex with Danny and having his babies."

   "You want me to come too?" I was flabbergasted.

   "You're the best lover I've ever had and I can't think of anyone else
I'd rather have with me."

   "You now know I don't have a problem with your man being white," said
Mrs.  Greene.  She turned to Katelyn and Kylie.  "What about you two?  I
hope you decide to do what is necessary even if it means submitting to a
white man.  Your lives depend on it."

   "Kylie and I have our own secret," said Katelyn.  "I guess it's safe to
reveal now."

   "And what secret is that?" Kelly asked.

   "We like white boys, too," the younger sisters chorused and started
giggling.

   "Can you at least get Danny's face fixed up?" Kylie asked.  "Daddy did a
job on it."

   "Honey," said the Marine, "those medtubes can fix him up better than
new, and can even make him look like his sponsor's ultimate fantasy."

   "Would you like to look like my ultimate fantasy, Danny?"

   "I want whatever you want," I said, "but I'll still be pain in the ass
Danny underneath." Kelly smiled and caressed my brow.  I could barely see
anymore with my face swelling up.  It was time to go.  Kelly made her
formal offers of sponsorship and we all accepted.  I thought there would be
some hesitation or regret in leaving Mr.  Greene behind, but nothing was
said.  Once on board the ship, I was placed in a medtube and that is the
last I remembered until the technician opened the hatch.  The pain was
gone. Kelly was waiting for me.

   "I feel a lot better.  Did you change me much?"

   "I didn't change you at all."

   <A sponsor may not be modified without his or her consent, Danny
Bauer.>. I jumped at the voice that seemed to be inside my head and Kelly
giggled.

   "That was the ship AI talking to you.  It takes some getting used to."

   "I'm a sponsor?  When did that happen?"

   "You were retested while in the medtube.  You have a six point five CAP
score now, high enough to be a sponsor and you get two concubines besides."

   <You beginning to care for someone other than yourself and your concern
about sponsor Kelly Greene's effectiveness for the Confederacy gave you
that extra score needed for sponsorship, Danny Bauer.> Wow!  I guessed
being punched out by Kelly's father was worth it.

   "I hope that doesn't mean we can't still be together."

   "I suppose we could set up a joint household if you'd like." Kelly acted
shy now.

   "I'd like that very much." Kelly jumped into my arms.

   "Goody!  I want to you to help raise our baby."

   "Our baby?  You're pregnant?"

   "Since Sunday at 11:49:03 a.m.  Pacific Standard Time.  Condoms aren't
foolproof you know."

   <That is an approximate time.>.  Hot dog!  I'm going to be a daddy, was
my thought.  I now had all the motivation I needed to help save Earth from
the Swarm.

   "Wait a minute!" my mom blurted, interrupting my narrative.  "You mean
I'm going to be a grandmother?"

   "That's right, Mom.  I guess you're starting to believe me now, huh?"

   "I guess.  Have you selected your concubines yet?"

   "No, not yet.  Things have been happening pretty quickly."

   "You have two of your own sisters that need sponsorship." Shit!  Me and
my big mouth!

   "Please, Mom, not them.  I don't get along with Joan and Mary.  I never
have.  Being a concubine is all about sex, having babies and pleasing the
sponsor.  Let them find some other sponsor."

   "All the potential sponsors have left town for the big cities to
increase the odds of being picked up.  Your sisters right now would mate
with a billy-goat if he was sponsor level."

   "That billy-goat would be getting a raw deal," I muttered.

   "I heard that," Mom responded.  "Listen, I know your sisters are no
great prizes, but you already pointed out that Confederacy technology can
fix their flaws."

   They can't fix their personalities."

   "There is nothing wrong with your sisters' personalities that a firm
hand applied to their backsides can't solve."

   <Test results indicate the personalities of concubine candidate Joan
Bauer and concubine candidate Mary Bauer are submissive and their behaviors
would greatly benefit from light corporal punishment when warranted.>
Sheesh!  Even the AI agreed with my mother.  I sighed in resignation.  I
knew I was going to take my sisters as concubines even if I bitched and
moaned about it in the meantime.  Anyway, that's how it went down.  A
friend of Kelly's was able to pull some strings to get it done since non
dependents are not priority for post pick up retrievals.  At the same time
Kelly got a tall blue-eyed blond dude for her male concubine to replace me.
His name is Tim and is a pretty nice guy.

   The restaurant didn't fare so well.  It was burned to the ground by
rioters and it was not just because the people were left behind after the
Confederacy pick up.  The main target for the pick up had been a black
combat veterans' reunion dinner.  The veterans grabbed up the restaurant
staff as concubines along with all the food, drink, recipes, and just about
everything else capable of being moved.  The owner didn't care.  He was
going as a concubine.  The people left behind took it out on the building.
Kelly's dad got out alive and has since become a mortal enemy of the
Confederacy.

   Kelly and I joined the Confederacy Navy.  She was commissioned a
lieutenant and I became a petty officer third class and Kelly's assistant.
We were stationed on the moon and Kelly's task was to study various
Confederacy procedures and find ways to improve efficiencies.  She
developed an algorithm which, in theory, improved the rates of pickups and
deliveries of colonists.  It didn't work in practice because of various
delays and side trips ordered by the bigwigs.  When Kelly suggested such
delays and side trips shouldn't be allowed unless they were justified as a
military necessity, her commanding officer told her that these were
"command perks" and not to be tampered with.  The algorithm was shelved and
Kelly's projects are now under closer guidance by her superior so she
doesn't get in trouble with someone in the Admiralty.

   Kelly is still working on some ambitious projects, but she does it on
her own time and keeps it between her and the AI.  My main job is to
encourage and inspire Kelly.  Ironic, huh?
   The End