Any resemblance between the content of this story or any of the characters depicted herein and real persons or events is highly unlikely and purely coincidental.

Timeline: Year Six

Content: SciFi, gay nosex: Sometimes even the AIs make a mistake.

Tom Armstrong made his way to a vacant table, sat down and surveyed the scene inside Sadie's. Low lighting, dark décor. The place wasn't too noisy -- the music was kept down to a reasonable level and nobody was shouting. It was almost a restaurant rather than a club, though there were more vertical drinkers clustered round the bar than you'd expect in a restaurant. All the men here were well-groomed and sharply dressed; as expected given the price of entry. If you could afford to get in, then you could afford good clothes as well. Almost everyone was a high earner, mostly relaxing after a day at work. That accounted for the good ratio of sponsors here. These men were all prosperous, working in good jobs, many with good CAP scores. Men. Then Tom noticed: a lot of men and no women. Where were the women?

Looking round, Tom noticed the dance floor, off in a corner. Shit! This was the wrong club. Well, it was the right club, as selected by the AIs, and no doubt had the high proportion of sponsors the computers had predicted. The problem was that the AIs hadn't registered all the relevant facts.

This forced a last minute change of plan. He used his internal AI link to contact his backup team, «Eve, we have a problem. I'll have to switch you out. Danny, we'll use you as my number two on the inside.»

«Yes, Corp. What's the problem?» Eve asked.

«You might not get past the doorman, Eve, and even if you did you'd be too obvious. Danny won't be. We don't want to make waves before we announce ourselves, so get back into your uniform. You can come in with the rest of the team.»

«Danny will stand out you know?»

«Not as much as you think. In a way he'll fit in better here than I do.»

«OK, Corp, you've got me intrigued. Danny's getting changed out of his uniform now.»

Tom could see Danny as soon as he came in. At full enhanced size he was head and shoulders above the others in the club. Tom noticed Danny pause just after he entered and a big grin settle on his face. As Tom had expected, Danny was far quicker to pick up what it was about this place. Danny went to the bar to get his drink, included in the entry price, and came over to Tom's table. "I can see why you made the switch, boss." He leaned forward and whispered, "Camouflage." Then he quickly kissed Tom on the cheek.

Tom managed to cover his shock. Privates did {EM}not{/EM} kiss corporals, either on the cheek or on duty. Not male privates anyway. Still, Danny was right. This was a gay club, so two men kissing each other here was not a problem, and it did make for good camouflage by helping to distract from Danny's two metre height.

Danny continued with a grin, "I didn't know you visited this sort of club, boss. If I'd known earlier, I'd have made a move on you." Danny was gay, which was why Tom had switched him in for Eve. Despite his size, he fitted in well. He was even eyeing up some of the men on the dance floor, and they were doing the same back. He was giving off the right vibes for this place, which Tom wasn't. Camouflage again.

Sadie's being a gay cub wasn't a problem in itself -- sponsors were sponsors, whatever their sexuality -- but it did have an impact on how they were going to run the extraction. "I can only see one woman here," Tom pointed out.

"One?" Danny asked, looking surprised.

"Behind the bar. You must have noticed her. You were talking to her." There was an older woman, about forty and displaying an impressive cleavage, serving behind the bar.

"Sorry to disappoint you, boss. I got a close look at her while she was getting my drink, she's trans, not cis, so she doesn't count. She's Sadie and she owns the place."

"Hence the name I suppose. Very original."

"Got it in one, boss." Danny switched to their internal link; this part of the conversation was {EM}not{/EM} to be overheard. «You can check with the AI, Corp, but I don't think there are any extractable women in here at all.»

«Damn, they'll have to pick women from the pool in the moon then.»

«Some of them won't be happy with that,» Danny observed. «We might need to twist a few arms. Still, they probably won't have as many kids for the backup teams to collect.»

The AI broke into their conversation, «Premises confirmed secure. No threats have been detected. Private Singleton is ready to proceed.»

«Go Kendrick,» Tom ordered, setting the extraction in motion.

The AI had already taken over the club's electronics, so the music died and the lights came on full. Two more full size Confederacy Marines, Kendrick and Jack, appeared through the door. Tom and Danny put on their armbands, palmed their stingers and stood up. The AI patched Tom through the club's PA system, "Gentlemen, I'm sorry to interrupt you. I am Corporal Tom Armstrong of the Confederacy Marines and this is an extraction."

Almost immediately, Sadie's voice came from behind the bar, cutting into the sudden silence, "Gentlemen? There are ladies here as well!" That got a ripple of laughter, and relaxed the atmosphere a bit.

Tom saw that Eve, the last of his team, had come in along with the doorman. She signalled that the outer hall was clear with nobody left outside.

"Can all the volunteers for Confederacy service move towards the bar please, and can the rest of you gather over round the dance floor."

Tom kept Eve and Danny with him to look after the volunteers, while he sent Kendrick and Jack off to set up the low CAP men ready for the sponsors to look over. Jack was in for a disappointment today; he usually enjoyed ogling the line-up of naked women awaiting selection.

Turning to the group of sponsors, Tom was thinking on his feet. This wouldn't be like any extraction he'd ever done before, so he was going to have to wing it. "OK, gentlemen, as you've probably worked out, this will be rather different from the usual pickups you've heard about." At least that got him some laughs. "You will all need at least one woman each to make babies with, and since there aren't any here, Sadie excepted of course, you'll have to pick one from our concubine pool in the Moon. Apart from your one compulsory female, you can pick who you want to go with you, male or female. Provided they're willing of course."

"What about husbands, boyfriends and kids?" one of them asked. "I already know I don't want any of the other guys from here."

"If the kids are under fourteen and legally yours we'll definitely pick them up if you want them, Conrad," Tom replied. The AI had supplied Tom with the man's name: Conrad Everett. "If your partner is with them, then he can come as well. We don't make special runs to pick up spouses or partners without kids."

Conrad had thought about this situation in advance. He and Neil couldn't stay together all the time, and they didn't have any children. There had been a good chance that he might get picked up without Neil, and here it was actually happening. "How many unattached gay men do you have on the Moon?" he countered. "You might need those special runs to extract some new concubines for us anyway. Why not go straight for the partners we already have, rather than grabbing some random strangers? Like I said, I don't fancy keeping any of the low CAP guys here for the long-term." That got a lot of nods from the others in the group.

Tom thought Conrad had made a good point. There weren't a lot of unselected gay male concubines in the Moon; being heterosexual was well up the list of criteria to get there. These days, with Cube Ships to fill and moonbases to hold any temporary overflow, the AIs were often more flexible about picking up extra bodies. With a quarter of a million people on a Cube Ship there was room for a few extras. If they were going to have to make some special runs anyway.... After an unusually long pause, the AI agreed, «Extraction of partners is specially authorised for this group. The reduced number of dependent children allows this to be done with the currently assigned resources.» Maybe it was trying to make up for missing the fact that Sadie's was a gay club. Did AIs feel guilty about their mistakes?

Guilty feelings or not, at least that simplified things and would help keep people happy. "OK, that was a good point, Conrad," Tom announced to the group. "The AI agrees. As a special concession, your partners will be picked up as long as you can tell us where they'll be. Same deal as for children." Tom could sense the relief from many of them, Conrad included.

Conrad, who was acting as spokesman for the group, came up with another question, "What is life like for gays in the Confederacy? How do we fit in?"

"I'm not the person to answer that, but I know someone who can." Tom turned to Danny and waved him forward.

"There are gays in the Confederacy," Danny began, "and I'm one ...."

While Danny was talking, Tom helped Eve hand out card readers to those who wanted them. The AIs had been right on something, there were more sponsors here than you'd normally expect in a crowd this size. Forewarned, they'd brought extra readers with them. It turned out that a lot of the sponsors didn't want one. Tom just shrugged, they'd soon ask for one when they needed them.

Over with the group of potential concubines, Kendrick took charge. "Those of you who aren't eligible or don't want to go, move over to my left, that's your right, and sit quietly at one of the tables. If you want to try for selection, then stay where you are and get naked. Now. Just keep ahold of your CAP cards."

Standing to Kendrick's left, Jack saw Sadie moving to sit down with the stay behinds. "Damn. I really wanted to see those...."

Fortunately, he'd spoken louder than he'd intended. Sadie turned to face him, "Looking is free, soldier. Any more will cost you." With a smile, she pulled her already low neckline lower, letting her breasts fall out over the top. She even got some cheers from the guys stripping on the dance floor.

As Jack walked towards her, she waggled her shoulders to show off her assets. Jack mused aloud, "Man, those puppies really ought to ship."

"Back off buster!" Sadie complained. "They're mine, and I've got the receipts to prove it. I'm keeping them!"

Kendrick broke up the party, "Hey Jack, get your white ass back over here. She ain't goin', so let her be."

With a regretful smile for Sadie, Jack went back to work.

Eve offered a card reader to the doorman, but he refused it, "I don't want any of the guys from here. I've got a wife and our kids are under fourteen. I'll pick a second woman on the moon."

"We'll pick up your kids. If you wife is with them we'll collect her as well. You just need to let us know where and when to go so they'll be together." The AI had fed her his name and score: Marco DiMichele, CAP 6.5. "I'm assuming you're straight and not bi?"

"Yeah, I'm straight."

"Didn't some of the guys here make a play for you?" Eve asked, curious.

"A lot of them flirted with me. Comes with the job really -- in a straight club the girls flirt; in a gay club the guys flirt. Some got more serious, so I politely discouraged them. If they didn't get the message then I talked to Sadie and she barred them. She runs a tight ship. It wasn't a big problem. The men who can afford this place aren't stupid."

Marco towered over Eve. He was almost as big as a fully enhanced Marine, well over six feet. His size suited his job.

"How come you're shorter than most of the others?" he asked her.

"I wasn't enhanced, so I don't immediately look like a Marine," she explained. "I was due to come in after the corporal, he's the short guy over there." She pointed Tom out. "The two of us normally go in early to scout things out before the barriers go up and the big boys arrive."

"I wouldn't have let you in. Women only get in accompanied by a member."

"That's what the corporal thought once he got inside, so he left me back with the rest of the team," Eve explained. "Now that I've seen inside, I'd have been too obvious, even if I had got in. The idea is not to be noticed, not at first anyway."

This was turning out to be a very strange extraction indeed. When Tom released the sponsors to go and pick out their concubines, there wasn't the usual rush to pick the best prospects first. Only about half of them moved over towards the dance floor, with a few giving wistful glances back at Marco the bouncer.

That left a small crowd of sponsors not apparently interested in selecting a concubine. Puzzled, Tom asked Conrad, the self-appointed spokesman, "Why aren't you selecting anyone?"

"I only have two slots. You've said I have to take one woman from the Moon and you'll be picking up Neil, my significant other. That's the two I'm allowed, so you might as well ship me out now."

Tom mentally kicked himself. There weren't any women here, so everyone was having to keep at least one vacant slot. That cut down the number of concubines they needed to pick from the group here before transporting out. Combine that with extracted husbands and boyfriends... "Thanks for the explanation, Conrad. Do you know where Neil will be now? We'll get the supplementary extractions started right away."

Conrad looked at his watch. "He'll be visiting his mother for about the next forty minutes. I can give you the address."

Helen opened the door to see a wall of green in front of her. There was a name tag over the breast pocket in the wall: Petrescu. For her it was at eye level. Looking up she came to a face.

"Mrs. Atkins?" the giant asked.

"Yes, is something wrong?"

"No ma'am, nothing is wrong. We're here to see a Mr. Neil Everett-Atkins. We understand he's visiting you."

His "we" told Helen that there were actually two of them. Just as well, since she couldn't see anything beyond the first green giant. "Yes, he is. You'd better come in. He's in the lounge." She turned and led the two Marines inside. "Two gentlemen to see you, dear."

As soon as he saw them, Neil burst out, "You're Confederacy Marines, aren't you?"

"Yes we are, and you should be Neil Everett-Atkins."

"Yes. Why are you here?"

"We have extracted a Conrad Everett," the Marine explained. "He has requested we pick you up to be his concubine. Do you accept?"

Neil had already discussed the possibilities with Conrad, so he knew what to do, "I accept of course, but I thought that you didn't pick up partners?"

"The AI has registered your acceptance. Now get naked, you're a concubine."

Neil glanced at Helen, who was looking at him, smiling. "I've seen it all before, dear."

He turned his back to her and started to undress. The Marine explained, "Conrad negotiated a special deal; you got lucky."

Neil smiled and carried on undressing. He was average height and blond, like his mother. Conrad always said he had a nice smile. He didn't have a great physique, not like some of the muscle-bunnies he saw in the clubs. Ah! They must have picked up Conrad from Sadie's. He sometimes went there after work. Neil didn't understand why they'd come for him as well, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. He'd be able to stay with Conrad! They'd obviously both struck lucky. "Do I have to walk out naked?" he asked.

The Marine just pointed to his partner who was setting up the transport nexus. "You need to take your CAP card with you, they'll want it upstairs."

Neil dug into his jacket to retrieve his card. Seeing that the transporter wasn't ready yet, he went to hug his mother goodbye. "Look after yourself, mum."

"Yes dear, and give my love to Conrad."

"I will." Neil released his mother and quickly walked over to the transporter.

Helen watched him disappear as he stepped onto the disc. "He'll be all right, will he?" she asked.

"Yes he will, ma'am," the Marine reassured her. "He does what he's told and that's the most important thing for a concubine. We're sorry to have bothered you. We'll be on our way now."

The two Marines left, the silent one carrying the transporter.

As he lay beside his new female concubine, Conrad could hear her sniffling. "What's the problem, Denise?" he asked. He was worried that he'd done something wrong. He was not completely inexperienced with women, but he'd only actually done it twice before being extracted. Both times were while he was still at university and trying to work out exactly where his sexuality sat on the spectrum. Neither of the women had come back for more, so he'd assumed that he wasn't very good. That had been a long time ago though, and he'd stuck to men ever since.

"I don't think this is going to work," Denise sniffled. "I know you're trying your best, but it's not working. I can tell that your heart isn't in it and that spoils it for me. I don't think it will last long-term."

Despite her criticism of his performance, Conrad felt relieved that Denise had spoken up. He had come to the same conclusion himself -- that this wasn't going to work -- and he'd been dreading telling Denise that he was going to have to put her back in the concubine pool. She was really nice, an excellent mother and she and little Sophie had fitted into the new extended family really well. Except.... Except the sex wasn't working. Denise wanted it and wouldn't be getting enough if she stayed with them. Neil just wasn't interested and Conrad could perform, but reluctantly. That meant it wasn't working for Denise; she wasn't getting enough and when she did it wasn't good quality, despite all Conrad's efforts. Once a fortnight wouldn't be enough for her and would be too much for Conrad. Nobody was to blame, but the situation couldn't continue.

Conrad decided it would be better to wait before any final decisions. "I think you're right Denise. Let's talk about it in the morning, when we've both slept on it."

After breakfast, Denise took Sophie to kindergarten while Conrad briefed Neil on last night's conversation and the plans he'd made. When Denise returned they were both sitting on the sofa, holding hands. Conrad was taller than Neil and darker. Heavier too; he really ought to exercise more. Confederacy medicine could fix that of course, but somehow it felt like cheating. Neither of them were looking forward to this one bit. It wasn't anyone's fault, but it still wouldn't be easy for any of them. Denise came in and sat down, ready to talk.

"You agree that this won't work for us long-term?" Conrad asked Denise.

"Not long-term, no. I could stand it for a month or two, but by then I'd be climbing the walls. I don't fancy being farmed out to a different stud twice a week, so I think it's best if I go back into the pool now. Here on the moon there are a lot of new sponsors looking for concubines, so I have a better chance of finding someone suitable. Once we're on the ship everyone will have filled their quota, so I'd have a lot less chance of finding a good sponsor."

Conrad was relieved. He'd thought that being put back into the pool would be difficult for her, since she'd only just been picked from it. "You won't mind being back in the pool then?"

"It's not ideal, Conrad, but I can stand it. In the pool, I'll have the right to say 'No' so I can avoid the obvious predators and time wasters. I can't do that here, though it's never been a problem." She smiled at the pair of them to soften the impact of her words.

"Well, you may not even have to go back there," Conrad explained. "We've done a little matchmaking with some help from the AI."

Denise sat quietly, listening.

"We know a straight guy who's still looking for his second concubine. He's a good man, and he'll treat you right. The AI says that you will be a good match for each other. We can't guarantee that he'll take you, but he's agreed to give you a chance. We've set up a test drive for you with him later today. He's already got his wife and two young boys, both a little older than Sophie. We think it's worth you giving him a try. Otherwise you can go back into the concubine pool, with a glowing report on your time here with us. Apart from the sex thing, which is our fault really, you're an ideal concubine."

Denise collected herself. "Thanks Conrad, Neil. You say this man ..."

"Marco," Neil supplied, interrupting her.

"... this Marco is a good man?"

"Yes," Neil confirmed. "He was the doorman at a club we used to visit. The one where they picked up Conrad."

"What branch is he with?" Denise asked.

"AI?" Conrad enquired.

"Private DiMichele has volunteered for the Marines," the AI told everyone.

"How much did you have to shrink him to fit the height restrictions?" Neil asked, smiling.

His joke completely missed the AI of course. "Private DiMichele had his height increased by three point eight centimeters."

Conrad explained to Denise, "Marco was a big guy even before we were all extracted, he didn't need a lot extra to get to Marine size."

Denise nodded her understanding. "OK, I'll see him. If we don't hit it off I can always go back into the pool."

The three of them hugged, and Denise went off to repair her face. She needed to look her best for Marco.

Conrad woke up with Neil's hand on his morning wood. "Mmmm, you're awake then, dear."

"Just about. Are you after a little something then, Neil?"

"No, I was after a big something. If you really loved me, you'd have yourself extended to twelve inches. Then you could thoroughly ravage me and savage me."

"Hmmm, a nice idea, but there might be a problem. I'd have to turn you into a giraffe so you could still give me deep-throat."

"A giraffe?" Neil mused. "That might be fun. I could look down superciliously on all those big Marines."

"There is one thing though; they don't have any med-tubes big enough for a giraffe."

"Oh pooh! And I was so looking forward to it. Maybe we could come to a compromise?"

"What sort of compromise?" Conrad asked with a smile.

"Eleven-and-a-half inches?" Neil laughed.

"I'll think about it, you insatiable thing. Anyway, I have work to do. I had an idea overnight and I want to talk to the Sub-Decurion about it before today's training starts."

On his way to the Sub-Decurion's office, Conrad passed Marco in the corridor. "Hello Marco, you're a Marine now?"

Marco stopped and snapped a salute. "Yes, sir."

"Oh do relax, Marco, please. I'm only an Optio, not even a proper officer yet. How are you getting on?"

"Thank you, sir. I'm enjoying it. The Marines really suit me, sir."

"Good. And how are you getting on with Denise?"

"She's fitting very well, sir. Thank you for suggesting me to her."

"Excellent, I'm glad you two suited each other. She deserved better than Neil and me. You'll have to watch out for little Sophie though. She deploys her smiling face, her big blue eyes and her curly blonde hair. Then she brings out her big guns."

"Her big guns, sir?"

Conrad spoke falsetto, "Pleeease daddy Marco."

Marco laughed. "She's already started with that, sir. It doesn't work on her two new big brothers though. She hasn't quite figured out how to deal with them yet."

"Just give her time. Neil was putty in her hands while she was with us."

"I can well believe that, sir. Now if you'll excuse me...."

"Of course, Private. We both have things to do."

Conrad was happy for Denise and Sophie. They would be a lot better off with Marco's family than with Neil and himself. Things had worked out well for everyone, despite the difficulties at the start. There was still the problem of picking his female concubine, but he had his idea for the Sub-Decurion. Perhaps that would help.

Fay stood with tears running down her face, watching the lucky ones lining up to walk through the transporter. She'd tried. She'd tried so hard. It was so frustrating for her. Confederacy pickups weren't common, so she thought her luck was in when the grey field had come down round the supermarket. This was her chance to get herself, Ingrid and Matt safely away to the stars. She'd really tried her best. She knew she had excellent motherhood scores and she could do what she was told. She'd made sure to mention both points to the sponsors as well. Standing naked in line she wasn't the best looking -- after having two kids her body couldn't compete with teenagers -- though she wasn't the worst either. But she was in the line. She'd tried.

It wasn't enough. Two guys had test driven her. The first had just said, "No," and taken another woman. The second had told her, "Sorry. You're a dead fuck. I can't put up with that." He was right, and she knew he was right. Her CAP score only confirmed it. She loved kids, but making them didn't do anything for her.

So here she was, and here she would stay. She wiped her tears with the back of her hand. Life would go on. She'd been by the tinned vegetables when she'd stripped. Better to get dressed before collecting Ingrid and Matt from by the store bakery. Some older women were looking after everyone's kids back there.

"Fay Lynch?" a woman's voice came from behind her.

She turned to see a big Confederacy Marine. "Yes, that's me. What is it?"

"I have an offer for you. You presented yourself for selection earlier. I need to confirm that you still want to be extracted."

"What about my children?" Fay asked.

"Your children will go with you."

"If the kids are included then yes, I want to be extracted. But I don't have a sponsor." Was this really what it seemed? Could she go, even without a sponsor picking her?

"We'll supply the sponsor," the Marine explained. "You meet a requirement we have. Good experienced mothers who have the scores to make an obedient concubine..." Fay knew she could do that. Looking after kids and doing what she was told came easily to her. The Marine continued, "... and who are, frankly, not very interested in sex." Fay winced silently. She certainly fitted that one. The second guy who'd rejected her, with his "dead fuck" comment, wasn't telling her anything she didn't know already. Her ex-husband had told her enough times, though not so bluntly.

"I thought concubines had to have a lot of sex?" Fay asked.

"Not for this requirement. We've extracted some gay male sponsors who need a motherly concubine to have babies and handle childcare, but don't particularly want to have sex with her. They'll have their male concubines for sex."

"So, I'd have more children?" Fay asked hopefully. She really wanted more children. Kids weren't the problem -- she loved them -- it was what she had to do to make them that she wasn't keen on.

"You'll have to fuck about once a year or less to get pregnant. Apart from that you probably won't get any sex. Can you live with that?"

Fay quickly accepted the offer. She could put up with sex once a year, especially if it meant more children.

The Marine accompanied her back to where her two children were waiting. "Come along Matt, Ingrid. We're going with the big lady." Fay's heart was thudding in her chest. Could this fairytale ending really be true?

Conrad entered the Interview Suite, followed by Neil. Fay was already there waiting, naked like all the unselected concubines. Conrad wore his Civil Service Optio's uniform, with Neil in a standard grey concubine shift.

"Hello," Conrad greeted her. "I'm Conrad Everett and this is Neil. You should be Fay Lynch?" She looked her age, Conrad thought, thirty-three and with two children to her name. He could see the stretch marks on her belly and breasts. Her one outstanding feature was her hair; dark brown and glossy. She obviously knew it was her best feature since it was very well cared for and recently cut to just below her shoulders.

"Yes, I'm Fay Lynch." Conrad, the darker haired one, looked younger than he really was of course. Even in the short time she'd been here in the moon she'd seen the miracles that Confederacy medicine could work. According to their brief biographies, these two men were in their early forties, but they both looked about twenty-five. She was learning that up here you couldn't judge a person's age from their appearance.

Seeing that Fay was naked, Conrad told Neil to fetch a shift for her from the nearest replicator. "I assume you'd rather wear something for this interview, Fay?"

"Yes please. I'm still not really used to being naked in public. This has all happened so quickly." Was it really only the day before yesterday that she'd been in the supermarket? Yesterday had been an introduction to concubine training, and all the things they could kill you for. Then the invitation to this meeting with a prospective sponsor. The other unselected concubines called it a 'test drive', but if what she'd been told was true, then this one would be different. Being offered a shift to wear seemed to confirm that.

She quickly dressed when Neil returned and sat quietly waiting for Conrad to start.

"How much have they told you about us, Fay? What do you think you are getting into here?"

"They said you were a gay couple who needed a woman to make babies and to handle childcare. You also wanted someone who could do without sex, because you have each other and wouldn't be interested in me."

Conrad nodded, "That's right. You wouldn't be getting much sex from me and none at all from Neil. Are you sure you can put up with that? We've already tried one concubine, but she didn't work out on the sex side."

"Denise you mean?" Fay asked. Conrad nodded in confirmation. "The AI let me speak to her. She said that the two of you were really nice, though inexperienced with children. The only problem was the sex; she wanted more of it that you were able to give."

"That's a fair summary. You would be in the lead on childcare. Neither of us know anything about that, so you'd have to train Neil to help. I imagine we'll only have sex every twelve months or so. Is that right, AI?"

Fay was slightly startled when the AI spoke. She knew that were everywhere, but it hadn't completely sunk in yet.

"The minimum recovery time normally allowed between concubine pregnancies is six months, sir. Once every eighteen months or more might be a better estimate."

"Can you deal with that Fay?" Conrad confirmed.

She nodded in response, "Once every couple of years will be fine, really."

"You've obviously had sex, since you have two children. How did that happen?"

"I went on dates with a few boys at school, but word soon spread..." As she talked, Fay remembered her life back on Earth. She'd left school without a boyfriend, those few dates had got her a reputation as a wet fish who wasn't interested in sex. After school she'd drifted until she'd met Andrew. He'd been to a single-sex Christian school, so he had no real experience with girls. He'd picked up the school's strange ideas about women; they were either good girls, who were virgins, or bad girls, who were harlots. Since she fitted his idea of a good girl, he'd married her. Her being ready to do whatever he asked boosted her image in his eyes; she was the quiet, virginal obedient wife he'd been taught to expect. She already knew she wanted kids, and this was the obvious the way for her to get pregnant. Neither of them knew anything about sex, so they learned together and grew apart. She learned that she didn't really like it. He learned that it was wonderful and he wanted a lot more of it. He eventually decided that he wanted a bad girl, a harlot, rather than Fay. "So Andrew divorced me, and left me with Matt. We actually got on better after the divorce since he wasn't bothering me for sex. He kept up the maintenance payments and he was getting what he wanted elsewhere."

"That explains Matt," Conrad pointed out. "What about Ingrid."

"When I decided I wanted a second child, I started going out to bars. I'd get a little drunk and pretend to be drunker. That way, when some man picked me up, I could claim to have been too drunk when he complained the next morning that I was dead in bed. Not all of them even stayed 'til the next morning though."

"Obviously that worked."

"Mostly. A few of them were gentlemen and just put me to bed. The others weren't, and I got pregnant with Ingrid. After that I stopped of course."

"You haven't had sex since?"

"No. Not for three years."

"And you don't miss it?" Neil asked.

"Not at all. I didn't do it for the sex, I did it to get pregnant."

"OK, that covers sex," Conrad continued. "Your history says you've worked as a childminder."

"Sort of," Fay explained. "I worked in a call centre, with a lot of other mothers. There was a crèche attached. Most days I worked the phones, but if the crèche was busy I filled in there alongside the regular childminders. That was usually during school holidays. I'd done some training so I could help."

"A lot of mothers worked at the call centre?" Conrad asked.

"Yes, that was why they set up the crèche. Having a cheap crèche on-site meant they could pay less and still attract working mothers with young children."

Conrad paused, looking at the ceiling. He'd had an idea and didn't want to lose it. "AI, do you have the address of that place?"

"Yes, sir. A notice was dispatched to unattached concubine Fay Lynch's former employers to inform them of her extraction."

"Keep that address in case we ever need to extract a lot of experienced mothers in one go."

"Yes, sir."

Hearing the exchange, Fay asked, "You're Civil Service, aren't you, Conrad?"

"Yes, I'm an Optio, which is the Civil service equivalent of an Officer Cadet. I've only just started training. We haven't been here much longer than you."

"I know that the grey uniform is Civil Service, but I haven't learned the rank badges yet. We got a video about it but I've forgotten most of it I'm afraid."

"Not to worry, Fay. You'll soon pick up what you need to know."

Getting back to the interview, Conrad asked, "Were you extracted from work?"

"No," Fay replied, "I was in the local supermarket when your people arrived. I tried to get selected, but none of the sponsors there wanted me. I was going to put my clothes back on when a Marine made me this offer."

Conrad got a big grin, and Neil clapped his hands. He turned to Conrad, "Your idea worked then."

Fay looked puzzled, so Conrad explained. "Before being extracted, I knew I'd have to pick a woman alongside Neil. I'd planned to follow the other sponsors around, looking at the women they'd rejected for lack of interest in sex. They'd pick out the randy ones, that I didn't want, leaving me with a smaller group to pick from. All I did was to suggest that the Marines, and the AIs, look out for that sort of woman when they were out on a normal pickup -- the ones who were good with children but were rejected for lack of interest in sex. The Marines are there anyway, so they don't have to make any special trips. The AIs can check CAP cards remotely and point them at any suitable candidates, like yourself. We get the particular type of concubine we need without using any extra resources."

Fay nodded. "Well, it certainly worked for me. I thought I'd failed until the lady Marine offered me a place."

Conrad nodded to Fay. "One last question, Fay. If we offered you a permanent position as concubine, would you accept it?" He wanted to offer her a way to withdraw gracefully, without having to directly reject an offer. He'd used the technique in job interviews to allow candidates a graceful exit in case they saw that the job wasn't quite what they thought it was going to be.

Fay thought briefly. She didn't know everything about these two, but things seemed good so far. Her short talk with Denise hadn't shown any problems, apart from their lack of experience with children, and that would solve itself in time. Perfect? No, they weren't perfect, but they would be a lot better for her than any of the other sponsors she'd seen around so far. The others all seemed far too interested in sex to suit her. She took a deep breath, "Yes, if you offered I would accept." She was committed.

Conrad looked at Neil, who nodded.

"Very well, Fay. Will you accept a position as our concubine?"

"Yes, Conrad, Neil. I accept."

My thanks to Brooke, Gary and Tomken for their editing help. All remaining errors are of course my own.