CAUTION... CAUTION... CAUTION... CAUTION... CAUTION...

STANDARD WARNING

This story is of an erotic nature.

I wouldn't dream of telling you what you can or can't read but if the law, in your part of the world, says you must not read this sort of fiction then please go read something that they'll let you.

Don't break the laws, change them.

CAUTION... CAUTION... CAUTION... CAUTION... CAUTION...


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Selection

A Story in The Swarm Cycle Universe

by Duke of Ramus

A Piece of my Imagination

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Swarm Cycle

The Swarm Cycle is a collection of stories manufactured around a concept introduced by the Thinking Horndog positing an alien invasion and Earth's reaction. The intent is for this to be a multi-author universe similar to the popular Naked In School stories. If you're a budding author of erotica or sci-fi and see something here that strikes your fancy, pop over to the Author's Page for more info on what's going on here and how to submit a story for this collection. The rest of you are probably here to read, so...

---oOo---

Disclaimer

This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental

© 2007 Duke of Ramus.

All rights reserved.

---oOo---

The Swarm Cycle Universe

Copyright © 2007 The Thinking Horndog

---oOo---

Ron Hubbell gazed at the proud college crest on the wall, his eyes unmoving as he wrestled with one of the most difficult decisions he'd ever had to make in his teaching career. The soldier was considering a cold blooded move, to stack the odds in favour of his senior students, but could he justify it, even to himself, and thus carry it out. There was no problem with the board of governors, they'd practically given him carte blanche to do as he saw fit, so long as it benefited the students. Unlike most civilians they were well aware of what was coming and were willing to do whatever they could slow it down.

As headmaster of a college he had an automatic responsibility for the welfare and development of his students. When that responsibility was put alongside the fact that he was Commandant of a military college, which prepared young men, and women now, for life in the armed forces, that responsibility took on a special meaning.

All of that had been true before the advent of the Sa'arm, now it was the over-riding imperative.

Since contact with the Confederacy and the warning of the approaching Swarm things had become fraught. Every student over the age of fourteen had been put through CAP testing and, as expected, every senior classman with a CAP score higher than the minimum six point five had volunteered for service in the Confederacy Defence Forces. That had also been the beginning of the headmasters dilemma.

In the months since the screening of Average Joe's XIV, which had been picked up by the local satellite company and distributed through pay per view, and more importantly since series XV, the expectation had been there that those with high CAP scores would be extracted and put to use by the Confederacy.

Research Ron had carried out recently had shown that extractions tended to happen in small establishments, which offered a good mix of volunteers and, for want of a better term, drones. His classes, especially the current senior class was high on volunteers and low on potential drone material. At the present time, using the accepted selection standards, his senior class, with its ten volunteers, was entitled to forty two drones. A figure that was not achievable if extraction happened during class time. To make matters worse extraction rates were on the increase.

Ron Hubbell had a solution in mind, a fairly radical solution really, but it was the dilemma of whether it was morally acceptable or not that was holding him back. Could he ask others, with similar responsibilities to his own, to put their charges up for selection, just to improve the odds that his students would be extracted.

Making the decision, tough as it had been, he squared his shoulders and reached for the telephone.

"Margaret, would you get me the head mistress of Saint Genevieve's please."

---oOo---

The St. Genevieve School for Young Ladies was a private residential school established in the pleasant grounds of what had once been an Abbey. The school had developed a reputation for taking the more rebellious children of the well to do and maturing them into something there parents found more presentable. As a by product of this transformation the girls received a very good education, which many parents accepted as an unavoidable consequence of bringing their child back under their control.

Everyone at the school had undergone CAP testing in the last six months as part of Her Majesty's Governments much modified education plans. This testing had been available but largely ignored by the students in St. Genevieve's as being beneath them, upbringing, class and financial resources being a more relevant measure of ones place in the world. Only the compulsion placed on the college had forced the students to submit and carry out the task. In a surprising move, at least to the majority of the staff anyway, each of the students that had exceeded the minimum acceptance CAP score of six point five had volunteered for service in the Confederate Defence Forces. In many ways this was seen as a failure by the staff of the school who were predominantly nuns.

Sister Anna was the Mother Superior of the school and, after many lengthy discussions with her bishop, was coming to realise that she, and the rest of her staff, may have been just a little bit out of step with the rest of the country, if not the world. The change in attitudes that had occurred after the revelation that the planet was to be invaded had been slow to filter through to the religious community, especially those in more sheltered localities, like St. Genevieve's.

The bishop had given the Mother Superior details, which where frankly shocking, of what was happening in the world at large. To her, it appeared that morality, especially where sex was concerned had gone out of the window. Some of the things the bishop described to her that occurred during one of these extractions beggared belief. The wanton debauchery was more reminiscent of the actions in Nazi Germany than the behaviour of any civilised peoples.

The bishop had gone on to explain to her that the Pope, with the full backing of the Council of Cardinals, had issued an instruction that required all members of the clergy, whatever their position or role to, quote, 'do their utmost to ensure that as many as possible of the faithful where extracted'. He'd gone on to explain that this was considered the best method for ensuring that the Catholic church continued.

How she was to achieve that, Sister Anna didn't know, so she'd consulted with several members of staff and prayed hard for some sort of guidance. For more than a month now she'd been coming back to this dilemma and making no progress. Her thoughts, this time, were interrupted by the shrill tones of her telephone.

"Sister Anna?"

"Yes, Sister Rebecca."

"Colonel Hubbell, the Commandant from the Military College, would like to speak to you."

Now what on Earth could that man want, she thought. "Put him through Sister, put him through."

---oOo---

Don Bradwell, who moments before had been making his way back to his office for a well earned break, forced his way between the two girls and physically pushed them apart. It was all right for the mandarins in the Education department to dictate that you could not use physical means to control pupils but they should try working on the front lines. Let them come to down to his school and show how they'd manage to resolve half the problems he had without resorting to physical means.

"Stop! Now!" He commanded, raising a palm to each of the girls. He looked them over, Bethany Williams, again, well, no surprises there, and Mandy Simpson, now that was a surprise, but not to much of one, she'd been coming out of her shell ever since her CAP score had been announced. Going from dormouse to top of the pile had been a meteoric rise, especially for a fifteen year old girl who had, until recently, no claims to be top at anything.

"So, what was the problem this time?" He asked, not really expecting any sort of coherent answer.

"Nothing Sir," replied Bethany, her eyes down cast, attempting to look innocent and failing, as usual.

Don turned to face the other girl, "Mandy?"

"Bethany accused me of cheating on the CAP test, Sir. I just pointed out that the tests were impossible to cheat on and even she should be able to figure that out." You could hear the gloating edge to her voice even when she was trying to be civil.

Don winced, Bethany was a big, solid girl and a bully too but she wasn't the brightest spark in the school, as her CAP score showed, but even she would recognise an insult like that, when she heard it. Don noticed Bethany starting to flare up, "That's true," he said turning back to Bethany, "the CAP tests are administered by the AI's the Darjee provided and as such are impartial."

Bethany looked down, acting subdued, but Don knew it was just an act. As soon as he was out of sight it would all kick off again unless he did something to separate the two girls and, as usual, it was easier to move the good girl rather than contain the bad one.

"Mandy, go and see Ms. Helmson and see if she needs any assistance with the first years."

"Yes Sir," she said turning away, but only after giving him a look that he would normally have expected from Bethany. Things had definitely changed since the Swarm had made it's presence known and not always for the better.

"Now then Bethany, what..."

"Mr Bradwell," his train of thought was broken as his secretary, Kerry Sage called from the office door, "Phone."

This had better be important, he thought, "I'll see you later Bethany, see if you can stay out of trouble till then, please," he said almost pleading before heading for his office.

Kerry was waiting as he entered the office, "It's Colonel Hubbell, from that posh Military College, he wants to speak to you, says it's important."

Now what could he want that would be important to the Upper Lea Girls School, thought Don as he reached for the phone.

---oOo---

As the car pulled to a halt, a soldier stepped forward smartly and opened the rear door, standing well clear so that the passenger could vacate her seat easily. Sister Anna stepped out, her habit not the problem it had been thirty years before, and looked the young man over and realised that he wasn't a soldier at all, he was one of the students, or cadets as they were called. He couldn't have been any older than thirteen, she thought, though his uniform and bearing made him seem older.

She turned her head towards the main entrance of the college, its arched door way surmounted by some sort of military crest and looked straight into the eyes of a woman. The grey uniform, immaculate in turnout, indicated another of the cadets.

"Ma'am, I am Cadet Major Loraine Bullock, I've been instructed to escort you to the Commandants office."

Sister Anna was pleasantly surprised at the soft tones the young lady had used. She'd been expecting some sort of bellowing from all of these military types.

"This way please, Ma'am." The young lady led the way up the short flight of steps and through the imposing entrance. Sister Anna, after a quick look around the hall questioned her guide, "Tell me dear," she asked, "what does your rank signify?"

The young lady didn't miss a step, "Within the college each class is made up of cadets, within each class those cadets who are given special responsibilities are promoted. In the first year the class senior is a sergeant, his deputy a corporal. Up until the senior year the highest rank a cadet can achieve is lieutenant, and as such he, or she, is responsible for the well being and behaviour of the cadets in that year. The cadets in the senior year can be tasked with looking after a particular year, as Captains or become the equivalent of head boy or girl, the person holding that position is the Colonel of Cadets."

"So what would that make you, dear?"

"As a Major I'm the second highest ranked cadet, call it the same as Deputy Head Girl," the girl smiled at Sister Anna, before continuing, "but probably with a lot more responsibilities and power than she would have."

Before Sister Anna could respond, the cadet drew the pair of them to a halt before an oak door. She rapped on the door frame, the sound loud in the stillness of the corridor. Without waiting for a response she opened the door and stepped through. As Sister Anna entered Major Bullock announced, in a much firmer voice than she'd used so far, "Sir, Sister Anna."

The man in uniform behind the desk rose, as did another man, this one in civilian clothes. The second man had been in a seat facing the soldiers desk. "Thank you, Major, that will be all."

"Yes, thank you." Parroted Sister Anna as the cadet withdrew.

The uniformed man came around his desk and put forward his hand in greeting. "Sister Anna, I'm Ron Hubbell, the Commandant of this college." He indicated the other gentleman, "and this is Don Bradwell, who's the headmaster of the Upper Lea Girls School."

"Gentlemen." She acknowledged.

"Please take a seat," Ron said, indicating an empty seat next to Don Bradwell.

Once everyone had taken a seat Ron looked at the other two heads and began his sales pitch.

---oOo---

It took the best part of four hours to hammer out an agreement. The fact that they'd needed one had been accepted within the first hour, swung by the inside information that Ron Hubbell had been made privy to by a former military comrade who now operated one of the extraction teams.

The hard part had been thrashing out the details required to implement the agreement to everyone's satisfaction.

Ron Hubbell rocked back in his chair and looked at his two accomplices and took a deep breath. "So, just to summarise. We agree that the two senior classes from both of you establishments will join with my senior class for the remainder of their time in college."

He paused, awaiting confirmation. Once he'd received it he continued, "The students will be split into four equal classes, each class to have, as far as is possible, an equal number of volunteers." This had been a difficult part of the deal and Sister Anna had agreed only after Don Bradwells suggestion that volunteers from his school were placed in the classes from Sister Anna's college, to avoid any chance of students enacting some sort of revenge. The memory of Mandy and Betheny scuffling in the yard had been the impetuous for his recommendation.

"Finally each of your schools will provide three members of staff to assist in instruction for those classes where this college is understaffed." Which, thought Ron, is a polite way of saying that they will provide cookery teachers as we soldiers don't have that particular skill.

"That seems to be all of it. All we have to do now is get it all arranged by a week on Monday and try not to fall flat on our faces when we start." He concluded.

Don piped up, "Hopefully we can avoid any press coverage, I can just see how that would go over."

"True, headlines like 'Nuns provide Nookie for Soldiers' would be a bit hard to explain to the bishop." Said Sister Anna.

Ron barely managed to suppress a grin before he asked, "Even after the Papal directive you told us about?"

"I think so," she replied, "I get a definite impression that our aim is not to change our position, in public, that the sanctity of marriage is paramount and anything that undermines that is abhorrent. In private, probably guided by the Jesuits, who are a very practical people, it's probably been accepted that we need to get as many people off the planet as possible and any way of doing it is to be used. Preferably, as Don said, without a blaze of publicity."

"Sister Anna, would you care to join us in a glass of wine?" Asked the Commandant as he rose and moved across the room.

"Oh yes, there is nothing in our vows that denies us a drink and I think the three of us have earned one."

As Ron poured Don got a puzzled look and after a moments thought asked, "What are we going to tell the kids?"

Ron handed around the glass before answering, "I'd thought to tell them the truth but decided that would be a bit brutal and I sort of figured that those who'd volunteered would figure it out for themselves. So, I suggest that we put it across as a means of making the best use of our limited teaching resources. They've all seen the number of teachers who have left for one reason or another."

With a muttering of 'yes' and 'true' the three heads raised their glasses and gave their blessings to the next generation.

---oOo---

There were four coaches parked outside the gymnasium as the upper classmen made their way down the road towards it. As seniors they no longer had to move around the campus in formation which was one thing they were all glad of.

The lead group of cadets consisted of Loraine Bullock, the Major who had escorted Sister Anna, Alexander Flowers, the Colonel of Cadets and two of the year Captains, Maxine McMillan who looked after the third years and Gerard Gilmore, in charge of the fourth years.

"That one belongs to that church school, St. Genevieve's." Observed Gerry as they approached.

"Yes, and there's a sign on the nearest one for Upper Lea Girls School, what's this all about?" Asked Maxine, looking towards Alex.

Alex glanced over at Loraine, who nodded in agreement, "Listen up," he began, slowing his walk to give himself time, "A couple of weeks ago the Commandant had a meeting with the heads of St. Genevieve's and Upper Lea, Lorraine escorted the heads to the Commandants office. My guess, looking at those coaches, is that this is the result of that meeting."

"OK," said Maxine, "but what does it actually mean for us?"

"Well, my thoughts, and it really is only a guess," replied Alex, "is that we are about to be separated..."

"No way," burst out Gerry.

"Yes, way," said Alex holding up a hand for silence. "I'm guessing that the Commandant has come up with a way to improve our chances of getting extracted. To do that he needs to get us into a position where we are surrounded by enough people to make up our extended families, and that generally means a supply of girls. Sorry Loraine, Maxine."

"You don't need to apologise for telling the truth Alex. And remember guys, the only reason we aren't being followed around like some people out there are," Loraine waved a hand in the direction of the school gates, "is because there hasn't been a major extraction of school kids. Yes some have been picked up but the target has always been adults. That has got to change, you know it, I know it and now it appears a lot of other people know it."

"Amen," responded Maxine.

"There's no way that they're just going to announce, 'Hi everyone, these are the volunteers and you're the cattle,' there'd be a riot." Said Gerry.

"It'll be interesting to see what excuse they come up with," said Alex, "but believe me, that's all it will be, an excuse, if you're going to feel sorry for anyone, think of those girls who really are being led to the slaughter."

Loraine looked around before speaking, "This is going to be hard, especially for you guys, but grit your teeth. In the long run all of our futures depend on this going right."

"Too true," said Alex. "So lets get our shit together and make like the soldiers we are."

---oOo---

Gerry looked around before speaking, "Well that went about how we expected after what Alex said."

"True." Replied Maxine, "I even liked the excuse they came up with for joining the classes together."

"Don't get too smug Max. Did you see the look that Sister Anna wore when that announcement was made." Loraine continued, "Anyone would think that she was sending her sweet little things off to confront a ravaging horde."

"How else would you describe these guys?" Asked Maxine tapping Gerry on the shoulder.

"At least we've got them house trained." Commented Loraine, with a smile.

"Why, thank you fair maiden." Said Alex. "Now that you've had your fun we need to get the rest of the class sorted. Gerry, can you go find the new class lists, I think Ms McKay will have them. The rest of us will get started on sorting people out and, as the Commandant said, guiding them around."

"Yes Colonel," responded Gerry, before saluting and heading off.

"Loraine, grab the other girls and see if you can keep this lot," he waved his arm to indicate the crowd of girls, who were starting to mill around, "from straying to far."

"Yes Colonel, Come on Max." With quick salutes the two girls moved off to carry out their orders. Several of the visiting girls sniggered as they watched the cadets performing.

Alex moved towards the stage, collecting as many of the upper classmen as he could on the way. As he moved through the crowd he was surprised at the mix of girls he saw. The two schools were easy to separate, after all, the Catholic girls were all in the same uniform, a white blouse worn under a bottle green blazer, with a matching skirt and sensible black shoes. The other girls were in anything from jeans to mini skirts and trainers to high heels.

Alex flicked the switch on the lectern that activated the microphones and, dispensing with the traditional count of one, two, three, spoke clearly, "Ladies, may I have your attention."

He paused, waiting for the hubbub to subside. "Thank you, I am Alexander Flowers, I am the Colonel of Cadets and I'd like to bid you all welcome to my college. In a short while we will split up into the four classes, just as we were told and then begin the task of getting to know each other. The cadets in your new class will then begin a tour of the campus, if you have any questions feel free to ask them as you make your way around."

He paused for a moment and somebody called out, "Do we get to wear a pretty uniform?"

Alex smiled in response, "Only if you want to, ask one of the boys I'm sure he would oblige." Giggling and a fair few blushes greeted his answer. "Seriously, I know this has all been a bit rushed but if we want it to work we must be prepared for a little give and take. So lets all do our best to get along and get the most out of it we can."

Whilst he'd been talking he'd noticed that Gerry had returned with several sheets of paper flapping in his hand. He turned from the microphone and called across the stage to one of the other cadets, "Doug, grab those lists off Gerry and come read them out."

Turning back to the microphone he introduced the cadet, "This is Major Doug Rutledge, he's got the class lists. How we'll do this is for the first class to line up on that wall," he indicated the wall to his left, "the next class on the back wall, the third class on this wall," again he indicated with his hand, "and the last class can fall in down in front of the stage."

"When he calls out your name please move promptly. Doug."

Doug stepped up to the mike as Alex moved away and began the roll call, "Class One, Bullock, Loraine"

"Sir." Came echoing back from the hall.

"Brant, Anthony."

"Sir."

The roll call went on for some time and the responses from some of the students were not as sharp as those of the cadet who were used to this sort of thing but they all appeared to get there in the end.

What followed was three hours of bedlam as far as the cadets were concerned They where run ragged keeping the various groups of girls from going astray as they travelled around the extensive grounds of the college. Finally as the last of the girls climbed onto their buses to go home the cadets let go a huge collective sigh of relief.

"Thank God that's over," breathed the normally quiet Anthony Brant.

"Harder than your first years?" Asked Maxine.

"Hell yes, at least they understand instructions. I swear some of those creatures were just out to get on my nerves."

"I'm sure they were Tony, and we'll have to go through the same thing again tomorrow. Just do your best and if you need help ask. If needs be I'll draft in the fourth years as minders."

Alex last comment was greeted with relief more than anything else.

"Anyway, we've all got to prepare for classes tomorrow so don't stay up to late." He said. "I'd also like to see the command staff in my room after dinner."

A flurry of Sirs greeted his announcement and then the upper classmen head back to their rooms to relax before they had to prepare for another, they were sure, torrid day.

---oOo---

Alex Flowers didn't bother going to dinner. After his brief conversation with the Commandant he didn't feel up to facing food, or the curious questions from the other cadets. Instead he headed back to his suite of rooms, the main perk of reaching the top of the cadet pile, to do some serious thinking.

His suite consisted of a small bedroom, a bathroom and a living area. Crammed into this space was his desk, with its obligatory computer, a sideboard and a couch with two armchairs. He dropped into his favourite chair, tossed his hat onto the sideboard and put his feet up on the convenient coffee table.

The problem he had was simple enough, was he reading too much into what the Commandant had said.

The way the Commandant had phrased his dismissal, 'the senior classes are your responsibility, and yours alone. Their future is in your hands,' implied a lot more than just the rest of the academic year. For a start it seemed to confirm the suspicion that he and Loraine had had concerning its purpose. It also implied that he, the Commandant, didn't expect to get picked up with them if they were extracted.

Was this really the case? If so, what did he plan on doing about it? These where some of the questions he wrestled with as he waited for the rest of the senior cadets to arrive.

For the next hour his thoughts bounced from one extreme to the other before slowly settling down and allowing him to come up with the outlines of a plan. More a search for ideas and some basic principles than something a strategist would consider optimum, but it was the best he could do in the little time he had available.

He was mentally assigning tasks when he was jolted back to the here and now by a sharp rapping on his door. He glanced at the clock hung on the wall and was surprised to see that it had reached eight thirty. He let out a yell, "Come."

First through the door was Doug Rutledge, followed in seniority by Loraine Bullock, Anthony Brant, Jeri Burt, Maxine McMillan and Gerard Gilmore. Alex smiled to himself as he realised that they'd probably done that without even thinking about it. Military protocol just seemed to get into your blood.

"OK, this is basically a bull session, so grab a seat and relax." He waited as everyone found a place to sit before speaking up. "I'm sure that you've all got thoughts on what's happening around here," he paused as series of nods and muttered 'yeahs' flowed around the group. "So do I."

"What I'm going to do is give you my thoughts on what's happening, then we'll see what everyone else thinks and more importantly, decide what we are going to do."

"OK, a review of the facts. Three and a half years ago first contact was made with the Confederacy and, at the same time, the approach of the Sa'arm was explained. This led, after eighteen months, to the Average Joe TV series and a mix of announcements, such as CAP testing, first contact and the idea of extraction."

"For the past two years extractions have been going on, usually in small groups and predominantly of adults. Which brings us to the here and now and what has been happening around us."

Alex paused to look around, ensuring that everyone was still paying attention. "We have suddenly been joined by four times our numbers of girls, girls being the one thing that this college is short of. As I said earlier, on the way to the gym, I think this is a deliberate ploy, by the three heads, to get as many of their kids, including us, into a position where they can escape Earth. I will say that I believe that the initial idea came from the Commandant, but that is just my belief."

"I tried to broach this whole idea with the Commandant earlier and was told, in no uncertain terms, that the senior year was my problem, deal with it. he wouldn't say anything else on the subject no matter what I tried."

Alex too a deep breath, "Right, that is where I believe we are. So does anyone fundamentally disagree with me, if so speak up, you never know, I may be missing something glaringly obvious."

The cadets looked around, their faces reflecting their thoughts clearly. No one here could see anything wrong with his reasoning.

"OK, that's what I suspected. That leads on to the second part. What do we do about it?"

Alex waited to see if anyone wanted to take the lead, when nobody did he spoke up.

"Uhmm, I have an idea of what I want to achieve, but I'm not certain on the best way to go about it. So, I want everyone of you to consider what I'm going to say and see if you can find ways to improve it. The other thing is, I may be totally off with this, and if I am I need to be told that as well. OK?

He was again greeted by a series of nods.

"I don't know how many of you have given serious thought to the future. Not just the next few years but long term. I think this is why the Commandant has left it to me, I think he believes that one of the classes will be extracted and he wont be there, so we need to make our own decisions, starting now."

"From this I've concluded that we need to start thinking about who our concubines, or slaves, or whatever you want to call them will be."

That simple statement, a confirmation of what most of them already knew, seemed to strike a physical blow.

Alex waited for the noise to subside, "That, in turn, highlights another problem, does anyone know how many of the girls have volunteered, Doug, Loraine?"

"No."

"Not a clue."

"Lets assume that there are three in each class, which would be about average for the general population, then with our female class mates," he nodded to Loraine and Maxine, "who've volunteered we would need sixteen boys just to give each girl a male concubine, which they'd need for breeding purposes. We've only got thirteen who haven't got high enough CAPs to volunteer. Simply put, we don't have enough boys to go around."

He noted the puzzled looks on various faces, "That's right, we've all volunteered, but how many of us have seriously thought about what that entails, the decisions we, as individuals, are going to have to make. And, what happens to those who are left behind?"

Alex let his audience digest that for a bit before gathering their attention. "The only solution I can see to that, unless we get lucky, is that those of us who have volunteered need to pair off, allowing the others a chance at the free lads. If it looks like one of them, even Carey, is going to be left behind, then we change on the fly."

Carey had a CAP of three, the lowest in the senior year, he was also one of the most fun guys to be around.

Maxine dragged in a deep breath, but before she could speak Alex continued, "No Max, I'm not going to force you to partner up with anyone. What I will do is, if you come to me and say that you've agreed to be with someone, is move the two of you into the same class and that applies to all of the girls who've volunteered."

"Because this affects all of us who've volunteered, including the new girls, I want to start having get togethers to plan out our future. Not just here but when we get to whatever colony world they send us too. From everything I've seen there is a lot that can be done at that end of things to improve the races chance of survival, and I'm not sure that it's being done."

"So what do you want us to do?" Asked Doug.

"Just think about what I've said. Tomorrow find out how many of the girls in each class have volunteered then Wednesday we'll have a meeting of all the volunteers. Loraine, can you sort out transport to get any of the girls home after that, their coaches will be gone long before were finished."

"OK Alex."

"Doug, I want you to find out everything you can about the colony worlds, how they decide who goes where and what is actually happening on them. Take tomorrow to do it, forget classes." Alex turned to Max, "Max, you and Gerry look at the extractions that have been carried out so far. Not so much how they occur but what goes on around them, see if there is anything different from the official version of what happens." Alex turned to the senior Captain, "Tony, you and Jeri need to find out all you can about our new students, specifically who, if any, have volunteered and what sort of CAP scores we’re looking at, try and manage it without stirring up a hornets nest."

Loraine spoke up, "I think the volunteers will be easy to spot."

"How?" Asked Tony.

"A thing I noticed about my class, we had mostly girls from St. Gens, but there were two from Upper Lea. At first I thought it was just to even out the classes but that doesn't match. The class Max is in has at least half a dozen more students than mine."

"That's true," said Max, "But we've got a couple from St. Gens in with the rest."

"That's what I mean," said Loraine, "I think someone has already separated the volunteers from their peers."

Jeri looked puzzled, "Why would they do that?"

"To stop friction when it comes to extraction time." Said Tony.

"True," said Gerry, "Think of all the nasty things you could make someone perform for a chance to get extracted, then how you'd feel when you turned your back on them and walked away. Talk about revenge."

Doug scowled, "Doesn't say much for their integrity, does it?"

"No it doesn't, but we don't know if the heads were just being cautious or whether they were working from experience." Said Alex, "Just get the names and if it turns out that they are the volunteers then they can join us on Wednesday and we'll explain the facts of life to them."

---oOo---

Loraine tapped on the door after dinner and waited for Alex to invite her in.

"Hi Loraine, what can I do for you?"

"I've been talking with the girls and it looks like you're going to get what you want." She said.

"What I want?

"Yeah, The Jerries have been an item for the last six months, so they're gonna stick with it."

"That helps and it saves juggling classes as they're already together."

"Then you're going to love the fact that Leah and Doug have a thing going."

"They do, when did that start?" Alex asked.

"According to Leah, since last year, and Doug didn't correct her."

"They kept that pretty much under wraps, still if they're happy who am I to question them."

"True, but you're going to have to move Maxine or Anthony to get them together." She said with a smile.

"She'll kill him." Alex exclaimed.

"It wont be that bad, Max is mostly noise until she gets what she wants."

"Who are you trying to kid," said Alex, "Remember, I've seen her in the dojo and she doesn't take any prisoners."

"And Anthony does?" She said with raised eyebrows. "He just isn't as noisy as Max about it."

"True enough." He said then thought for a moment. "I take it you want to swap with Max then?"

Loraine blushed, "Uhmm, well, that did seem the best choice."

Alex chuckled, "And I suppose the fact that that puts you in the same class as Phoebe is purely coincidental?"

Loraine and Phoebe Phelps had been in a relationship for some time, it wasn't a secret though they tried to keep it low key. "You know you're going to have to get a man as well, don't you?" He asked, trying hard to be gentle.

"I know, and so does Phoebe. She's actually talking to Ted at the moment." She paused for a moment, her blush deepening, "I'm sure he thinks all his Christmases have come at once."

"Do you really think it's that bad?" he asked.

Loraine thought for a while, then spoke up. "No, it's just that I've never actually gone anywhere with a boy. Phoebe has and she thinks I'll be fine. I guess it's just the fear of the unknown."

"Your CAP score says that's the case, as it does with all of us." Alex said, "You'll just have to take your time until you're sure it's for you. I mean with your score and Teds you're going to have, what, another six or seven girls to keep him busy."

"Nine, plus Phoebe," she replied.

"And they won't allow you, as a volunteer, to become pregnant, until you've built up enough time in the job to earn a leave of absence."

"That's one way of looking at it," she responded. "You know, until your talk last night this had all been, I don't know, call it make believe. Now it's so real, callous even."

"And it's going to get worse." He said, "Think about it Loraine, you and Ted are going to have to choose your nine drones from the class you're in. It's the only way we can guarantee that you two will be together when extraction occurs."

"Shit!" She exclaimed.

"That's right, shit. And how long do you think it'll be before the rest of the class realises what's going on. Do you think they're not going to apply whatever pressure they can." He paused to take breath. "I can pretty much guarantee that some of those girls are going to be turning up the next best thing to naked and then offer to jump any volunteer who so much as smiles at them. The bitching and cat fights are going to be bloody and I can't see anyway of avoiding it, just like out there in the world."

"I've come to realise that that has been the thinking behind the way the extractions have been carried out. If anyone knew where an extraction was going to take place there'd be bloodshed all around it as people fought to get in." He concluded.

He looked a now very thoughtful Loraine in the eye and finished off, "I'm guessing that the Commandant knows what's happening, probably through an old pal who's been picked up by the Confederacy, but he can't say anything because of the chaos it would cause. He's just giving us the clues he thinks he can get away with and now it's all down to us to make the most of it."

He drifted towards the door, "Tell Max that you two are swapping places, will you?" He said.

"OK."

"And Loraine," Alex said before closing the door, "Give the future some serious thought, it's actually here already, you know."

He gently closed the door and rested his forehead against its cooling surface. On the far side Loraine leant against it too and took her time to gather herself before straightening her shoulders and marching off down the corridor.

---oOo---

Alex had positioned himself by the door to the class room, awaiting the arrival of the volunteers. He hadn't been surprised when Loraine had been proven to be correct in her supposition. Still he didn't know these girls and he wanted, no, needed to get to know them as quickly as possible.

The first group to arrive were the ones he'd been sharing a class with, all be it for only half a day, as he'd missed the afternoon sessions to prepare for this meeting. Doug and Leah were accompanied by three girls, the first a mousy blond with glasses by the name of Beverly Curry. Behind her was a petite girl with a fair sprinkling of oriental in her make up, she was introduced as Jerri Nguyen. The third girl had caught the eye of Alex as soon as she'd joined his class, tall, close to his six feet, very slim and with bright ginger hair and freckles, along with nerdy glasses. She was Rebecca Shannon.

He greeted them all and allowed Doug to lead them inside. Close behind them came Maxine and her classmates, Tony Brant and two girls from Upper Lea by their dress. The first was introduce as Benita Blackwell who looked Latino with her dark hair and dusky complexion. The second girl was just projecting attitude, which was surprising as she wasn't much to look at. When Max introduced her as Mandy Simpson, 'who has the highest CAP score in her year,' it explained a lot.

"So what's your score then Mandy?" He asked.

"Seven point nine," she replied, smugly.

Alex appeared to think for a moment before commenting, "Is that all?" He turned his attention to Max, "That wouldn't even make the top five here, would it?"

"No Sir," she responded with a grin.

Mandy looked crest fallen, "What's your score?" She asked, trying to sound sincere.

"Max here is an eight point eight, I'm an eight point nine," he replied.

"Ohh," was all Mandy could say as her face fell.

"Don't worry about it, we've all volunteered and that's what counts around here." He turned back to Max and winked, "Why don't you take your friends inside Max, I'll be in when the rest have arrived."

"Yes Sir." The cadet replied, stepping through the doorway.

Next to arrive was class two, led by the Jerries, Jeri Burt and Gerald Gilmore. the couple were closer together than strict military discipline would allow, but they'd always been able to get away with it so he wasn't going to say anything now. The three girls with them were giving the impression of air heads, which surprised Alex no end. They were introduced as Brenda Edwards, Lana Lowery and Lilia Murphy. Alex didn't get a chance to say much more as the final group arrived.

It was hard to miss the group as there were six of them, three cadets and three girls in the uniform of Saint Genevieve's. Loraine pulled off to one side and waved the two cadets in ahead of her. Ted Porter and Tony Walsh offered respectful greetings as they made their way into the class room. Loraine then introduced Alex to Alexandria Stanley, a plain, slightly plump girl, Alissa Torres, another plump girl, this time of Afro-Caribbean heritage and finally Cathleen Shepherd. Another red head, though this one was short and timid in comparison with Rebecca Shannon.

Alex waved Loraine and the girls inside and followed, securing the door as he did so.

Alex made his way to the front of the class and sat on the teachers desk. "Thanks for coming," he sad. "For those who haven't figured it out yet, we," he waved an arm to encompass everyone there, "are all of the volunteers in these new classes."

"As I've explained to some of you already, I believe that we are being prepared for extraction and all that that entails." The cadets greeted this announcement in silence, which was more than could be said for some of the girls.

Alex raised his voice, "Calm down, it's not happening now!"

When silence had returned he continued. "I also believe that the better prepared we can get the easier it will be, all round, when extraction happens."

"I want you to talk to the cadets that are now your classmates and let them explain what we think is happening, and why. Then we'll try an any questions session, but remember, a lot of this is guess work. Finally, if everyone agrees, then we need to work out a plan for the next few months."

"So people, talk." He concluded.

What followed got a little heated in places but Alex didn't spot anyone resorting to violence, which he figured was a good thing. Whether things would continue in the same vain was open to debate.

After twenty minutes or so Alex called everyone back to order. "So now you all know what I think, does anyone have any immediate comments."

"Are you fucking mad?" Asked Cathleen Shepherd, all her timidity temporarily lost.

Alex, a little confused, asked, "Why do you think that?"

"If that lot out there," she waved her arms around frantically, "find out what your planning, they'll kill us, that's why."

"Cathleen," he asked, "what did you volunteer for?"

"What's that got to do with this?" She asked.

"Everything really." Alex said, as calmly as he could manage, "The Confederacy, through Her Majesty's government has made no secret of the fact that volunteers are going out to fight the Sa'arm and, as part of the deal to get those volunteers, they get to take some people with them. People they pick when they are extracted, people who will be expected to breed to keep the human race going."

He paused, waiting for his comments to sink in, "You did know that, didn't you?"

"Well, yes." Cathleen said, then started to sniffle, "I guess I just hadn't thought about it to much."

Alex watched as Tony Walsh snaked out one of his long arms and pulled the crying girl into his arms, he had to take a moment himself to get his emotions back under control.

"That, is likely to be one of the problems we," he indicated all members of the group, "are all going to face. At some stage our class mates are going to realise that we are making selections and that those selected will be escaping whilst those left behind will, in all probability, die."

Apart from the suppressed sobs that Cathleen was still letting out the room was silent.

Looking around at the seated students it was blatantly obvious that most of them, including several of the cadets hadn't thought through the implications that went along with extraction. Alex could hardly blame them, he'd not really given the matter any thought until two days ago.

Alex continued, "It's actually worse than that," he stated, "One of the things Doug found when he was looking into the colony worlds was an initial assessment by the Confederacy AI's that stated," he picked up one of the pieces of paper he'd placed on the desk before the meeting started, "Evacuation only postponed the inevitable; the Sa'arm would happen onto the colony worlds, too, sooner or later. The first-pass approximation was that Earth was lost, but in the process it would occupy the local Sa'arm seriously, slowing them and hopefully granting the colony worlds time to get their legs under them and produce the kind of armies and navies necessary to REALLY engage them."

Alex lowered the paper, "Note people, it said that Earth was lost and that the Colony worlds would hopefully last long enough to stop the Sa'arm. No absolutes in any of this. When we are extracted we are going into an unknown and possibly desperate situation. If we are doing that then we need to maximise our chances any way we can."

Again he looked around the class room, "That's what I'm proposing, that we do everything in our power to maximise our chances of emerging, some time in the future, victorious."

---oOo---

The dining room was relatively empty now that the meal arrangements had changed. The college normally only had a single sitting but there was insufficient space to seat all of the cadets and the influx of girls. It had been decided, after the Commandant had twisted the arm of Lilian Alford, who was the kitchen manager, that the seniors would have separate meals from the remainder of the college.

Leah Cherry had just placed her tray on an unoccupied table when her thoughts were interrupted by a quiet voice beside her.

"Is it OK if I join you?"

Leah looked up and saw her new class mate, Rebecca Shannon, standing there, looking hopeful.

"Sure, grab a chair," she said, dropping down into her own seat.

Twice as they ate their lunch Leah caught Rebecca about to speak and each time she chickened out. Leah, as one of the few girls in a predominantly male college just didn't understand this sort of shyness. In the end she couldn't take it any more.

"Rebecca, just spit it out, I promise not to bite your head off."

"Ohhh, umm, well I was wondering...," she paused, then continued in a rush, "is Alex crazy, you know power crazy, or do you think he really means what he's been saying?"

Leah gave the girl before her the once over. She was slim, skinny really, with ginger hair and freckles, which were really pronounced as she blushed under the cadets scrutiny. The bottle green uniform hid any details and the glasses really did nothing for her appearance.

"Why do you want to know?" She asked.

"I just don't," she paused changing what she was going to say, "If he is, no that's not right." She stopped again and looked around before trying again. "If he's right, and he seems to believe he is, then I want to help, in any way I can, but," another look around, "but I don't want to be led down the garden path."

Leah looked around as well, thinking hard, what was this girl really asking? She had no experience with these sort of girly girly types. Spotting Loraine, she waved frantically.

As Loraine joined them, Leah looked back at Rebecca to make the introductions and found her sitting with her head bowed, as quiet as a mouse.

"Oh shit," she muttered, realising it was too late now to change anything. "Loraine, this is Rebecca, Rebecca," Leah waited until the girl was forced to look up by the silence. "This is my friend Loraine, and I think she'll have a much better handle on your question than I do."

"What question?" Asked Loraine.

"Rebecca here wants to know if Alex is power crazy or just serious."

Loraine took a moment, a moment in which she squashed her immediate, scathing, reply. When she spoke it was calmly and considerately. "Alex has power now, power he's worked hard to achieve, but as far as I'm aware, he has never abused that power. I've seen him in situations where it would have been very easy to do so but he's always done what was right."

"So do you think he's right?" Rebecca asked. "I don't mean just because you're a cadet but, do you really, deep down inside, believe what he's telling us?"

Loraine took a deep breath before answering. "Unfortunately, I do."

"Unfortunately?" responded Rebecca.

"Definitely," said Loraine. "If he was wrong then we could all stop playing this silly game and get on with our lives, but I don't believe he's wrong. Which means that everything he's saying is probably true, and that really scares me."

"Amen," muttered Leah alongside her.

"So you're going along with him," Rebecca said, "doing what he asks?"

"Yes," said Loraine, "I've already started looking at my class mates. Their CAP scores. How they interact with my friends. What jobs I would have them fill in the colony, things like that."

"Don't you think that's a little bit, I don't know, brutal?" Rebecca asked quietly.

"It is, but those of us who've volunteered really have no choice. I know it wasn't headlined when we volunteered but it was there in the small print all the time." Her voice adopted a tone that implied she was quoting from regulations, "Volunteers can take people to make up their household. These people are breeding stock. The volunteer is totally responsible for their behaviour at all times. The volunteer will be disciplined for any violations by their extended family." Loraine looked around before continuing, "Alex is just rubbing our noses in the facts, facts that most of us, me included, have glossed over for far to long."

The three young women ate the remainder of their lunch in silence, heavy thoughts inhibiting them as they contemplated the choices they would have to make very soon. As they were clearing their trays away Rebecca asked one final question, "Does Alex have a girlfriend?"

Loraine looked shocked but Leah didn't, she just smiled, "No, not at the moment. Why? Fancy him do you?"

"I've never had a boyfriend before," mumbled Rebecca, "I doubt if he'd be interested in a string bean like me."

Leah spontaneously flung her arm around the girl and hugged her, "Hey, you're just tall and Alex isn't exactly a dwarf. Ask him, he can only say no."

"I don't know if I could..."

"Go ahead," said Loraine, "We'll hold your hand while you do it, wont we, Leah?"

"Absolutely," said Leah, "us girls have to stick together, don't we."

---oOo---

"It's started." Declared Sister Anna despondently.

The three heads had taken to having regular meetings on Tuesday and Friday mornings ever since they'd amalgamated their senior years. They were into the third week and so far there hadn't been any major problems, though it had noticed that Alex Flowers seemed to be setting things in progress.

"What has?" Asked Ron.

"The girls have started to notice."

"Notice what?" Asked Don, becoming confused at the obtuse statements.

Sister Anna sighed, "Some of my girls must have figured out what is going on here."

"What makes you think that?" Asked Ron, though he had a fair idea what the answer was going to be.

"The way they've started dressing." She said, "I saw two of them this morning in blouses that where effectively see through. Fortunately they both had bras on but that's not the point. A month ago those two girls could have passed as Sisters, they were that refined, now..." Her voice petered out.

"At least you've been able to tell," said Don, "for a lot of my girls that's their normal mode of dress. When they finally figure out what's happening I hate to think what they'll do."

"If you think about what's been happening out in the world," said Ron, "you can expect partial nudity at least, and if any of the girls are really brave they'll go further." Ron sighed, "To be honest, that doesn't really bother me," he held up his hand to stop a sharp retort from Sister Anna, "Sister we knew that was likely when we started. No, what worries me is the potential for violence. A lot of those with high CAP scores have spent years being door mats to the halo crowd, how many are going to see this as a chance to get even?"

Don muttered under his breath, "Mandy Simpson."

"What was that, Don?" Asked Ron.

"Literally, just before you called me, I had to break up a fight between one of my trouble makers, Bethany Williams and a girl by the name of Mandy Simpson. Mandy was, as you've described, a typical door mat. Then came CAP testing and she came out on top, highest score in the school."

"Talk about a change in personality. The fight I had to break up was caused by Mandy giving Beth lip about their respective scores, and that was without the added pressure we're piling on them here."

Ron looked at his fellow heads and tried to put his thoughts into words, "I knew, when I first approached you, that this was going to be hard. I just hadn't realised how hard it would be day after day." He dropped down into his seat, "I still believe that it's the best we can do for the kids in the long run, especially knowing that an extraction is coming. I just wish there was some way to make it easier for everyone involved."

"Nobody ever said that this was an easy job, Ron," said Sister Anna. "We just have to do the best that we can, seeking guidance from Him, and, regardless of the trials we have to go through, I am glad that you did as you did. I may not like what is happening but I believe, deep down, it's the right thing to do." She looked at the old soldier and smiled, "Just forgive me if I don't seem happy at the pain we're causing."

"None of us like causing pain," said Don, "I suppose I'm like you two, I wish we could take the pain for them, but we can't. So we'll just have to make it as easy for them as we can."

Sister Anna sat down opposite Ron, "Have we any idea when it's going to happen?"

Ron grimaced, "Not really. It's difficult to pass messages on and off planet, but from the tone of the last message I'm expecting it to occur in the next month."

"The sooner the better," concluded Don. "Now, what other normal problems do we have to deal with?"

---oOo---

Alex looked up from the list he'd been compiling and smiled. Well, he thought, at least some things are coming together. The list showed that all of the girls had, finally, decided on a boy, which triggered an even bigger smile as he thought of Rebecca.

He'd been surprised when Loraine and Leah had basically marched the girl up to him and waited whilst the poor thing had blushed and stammered her way through a request to go out with him. He'd been so busy trying to organise everyone else he'd forgotten about himself. He'd blushed nearly as much as she had before he'd accepted her proposal. A blush that deepened as Loraine and Leah let out a resounding cheer at a job well done.

The smile disappeared though, when Alex remembered that the shifting of people through the classes appeared to have been the trigger for a lot of the students. The sudden realisation that selections were being made in their classes.

Already he'd witnessed two screaming matches between girls who thought that one of the boys should be picking them. So far it hadn't degenerated into physical violence but everyone in the group knew it was only a matter of time as the stress levels went up.

He'd watched as the volunteers, and the people they'd picked, had closed ranks excluding the rest of the class. At first this had been treated as though it was just another clique, but the truth slowly dawned and the competition had started.

He'd been offered more sex in the past week than he'd dreamed of having since he found out what his balls where for, and that was regardless of whether Rebecca had been with him or not. At first she'd worried but he'd explained, repeatedly, that these girls were just breeding machines, and she could make them look how she liked once they were extracted.

This had led to some interesting discussions on what they should do to various people, fortunately most of it was in jest.

The knock at his door caused him to jerk upright. This had to be Doug and Max.

"Come in", he yelled.

Doug Rutledge led in Maxine McMillan, both encumbered with files and loose sheets of paper.

"Grab a seat and we'll go through this lot." He said, helping them unload stuff onto the coffee table.

What he was about to receive was a briefing on a couple of tasks he'd set when the girls had first arrived at the college. It had taken much longer than he, or the researchers, had presumed it would to find the data.

"OK Doug, you go first. What exactly do we know about these colonies that they're sending us to?"

"Not a great deal really, is the answer." he said, before opening his folder. "The number of colonies allocated to the human race is vague, certainly more than one, but it could be any number up to twenty. The locations and make up of the systems is not available for love nor money. Most of the planets being used require terraforming to some degree before they will totally useable by humans. This means that, initially at least people will be living in domes."

"From what I've been able to piece together the ships you are transported on are similar to the container ships used here. The container, or pod as it's called is used as your quarters for the journey and is then dropped to the planet where it becomes your home. The pods can be expanded, but that is slow and takes resources that could be used elsewhere. It is also possible to link pods together once they're deployed, which seems to be the best way to increase usable area."

"The pods generate a force field which creates a sphere around them, protecting them from the atmosphere and creepy crawlies of the host planet. This field can be dropped once it is safe to do so."

"The current transport fleet available seem to be able to carry between a hundred and a thousand pods, depending on how old they are. Current practise appears to be to drop all the pods in a single location and leave them to get on with it under the able assistance of one of the AI units."

"Once the site is established the volunteers are taken away to carry out their duties, returning as and when commitments allow."

Doug closed his folder then and looked up, "All in all, a pretty tough start to a new life."

"Sounds like it," Alex said, "What about the extractions Max, any good news there?"

"I'm not sure, depends on how you look at it I suppose."

She consulted the notes she'd made and began, "The increase in size of the pod ships probably accounts for the increased tempo that there has been on the extractions. So far they are sticking to the same procedure of isolating an establishment, picking up the volunteers and then choosing drones from whatever is available."

"The size of the establishments has increased a little, the early pickups were from mom and pop type places, they're now hitting the bigger restaurants and smaller night-clubs. It's difficult to say if this is to get more volunteers or, to increase the choice of drones."

"You asked if the reality was different from the published facts concerning the extractions and there is one apparent difference. In several cases I've been able to identify who the volunteers extracted were, which allowed me to get an exact figure for the number of drones required. In just about every case the numbers taken were higher than those allowed. Not by many, the biggest discrepancy I've been able to find was four but it looks like they take a few spares with them each time they do an extraction."

"Other than that you appear to get exactly what they say. Isolate, identify, pick, extract, notify, all nice and easy." She looked at the two boys before concluding, "There's usually a riot after the extraction as people congregate around the isolation field, looking for ways to get in. Occasionally the extraction team is sloppy and people get hurt."

"You've both had longer to look at this stuff so have you got any suggestions for things we should do?"

Doug spoke first, "I'd suggest that each volunteer takes their own pod, even if they're attached. It's cold-blooded but it does increase the available area for that group. Other than that I don't think there's a lot we can do until we arrive at the colony."

"Max," Alex prompted.

"Not a lot really, I can't think of any way to use these extras, especially if we don't get to pick them. Other than that and extraction takes place exactly as they say it does."

"Thanks, both of you. Doug if you can float that suggestion by all the volunteers we'll see how they react. Other than that I think we've done just about everything we can."

"You know," said Max, "there is one thing that puzzles me. I suppose it always has, ever since I heard about CAP testing and its purpose. If the Confederacy only wants people with a CAP score higher than six point five, because we have the right attitude and loyalty, why are we taking so many people with scores lower than that?"

"I suppose it's possible they haven't thought it through?" Alex said.

"Or they need the lower numbers to breed the right sort of soldier," said Doug, sounding cynical.

"I guess we'll find out one day." Concluded Alex.

---oOo---

"Listen sweetpea, I really don't care if you think you've used up your picks. You can change your mind," growled Bethany.

Cathleen didn't know what to do, she'd tried to tell them that this was going to happen, and now this, thing, was telling her she had to take her. What was she going to do?

Then the dark little corner she was trapped got darker still.

"Hello Sweetpea, who's this you're talking to," came the most welcome voice Cathleen had ever wished to hear.

"Tony," Cathleen gushed as she wiggled past a frozen Bethany, "I don't know, she just told me I'd got to tell one of the girls they're not going with us and that she was."

Tony knew a bully when he saw one and also knew that in this time and place he held all the trumps. "Is that so Bethany? Why on earth do you think we'd want to take you? Look at you, you're not exactly Miss World, and you've got the CAP score of a frog. You don't even try to prove that you could be useful."

Still shaking his head, Tony snarled, "Just go away, you're not worth the effort."

He held Cathleen to him and walked away, ignoring the blubbering that started up behind him.

"Cathy, don't worry about her. You have to remember, you're in charge. It's your CAP score that's getting you out of here and that is something, no matter what they say, that they can't take away from you." He gave her a kiss on the forehead, "Try and stick with the girls, they'll stick up for you against the likes of Bethany. After all, it's their places they'll be defending."

Cathleen could do little more than nod, knowing that Tony was right. She just promised herself that she wasn't going anywhere alone until they were extracted, whenever that was.

Don Bradwell stepped back, he'd watched the whole incident and had been on the verge of interfering when Tony arrived. He knew that Ron insisted that the kids had to sort out their own problems, and in theory he agreed, but it was hard to step back when a piece of work like Bethany was about.

He jumped when a voice behind him said, "Don't worry, Sir. I think we know who the bad pennies are now, and you can rest assured, they wont be going with us."

Don turned and found himself staring at Ted Porter, "I don't know what you mean." The headteacher blustered.

"No Sir, of course not." The cadet replied, smiling as he did so. "I don't know if we'll get a chance later so, just in case, I'd like to offer my thanks now for what you and Sister Anna have done for us. It was incredibly generous and I hope we will be able to live up to the standards you've set."

Ted took a step back and offered the older man his hand. Don, struggling to keep his emotions in check took it and shook it firmly.

"Just do your best, son. It's all any of us can ask of you."

"We will Sir, we will."

---oOo---

Dorothea pushed the door open and wandered into the washroom looking for her friend, Jeanette. The two of them had been getting steadily more depressed as the reason for the joined classes became apparent. It had got worse as those who'd volunteered began to make their choices. Dorothea had been sinking into a funk, unable to concentrate on her school work, which didn't really seem to matter any more and was looking for her friend for a little consolation.

She walked into the middle of the tiled room and stopped in shock.

"Jeannette!" Shrieked Dorothea, "What are you doing?"

Jeannette Lawson, stood there in the washroom with her white blouse and bra in one hand and stared at her friend. "Something I should have done a week ago, Dot." She said, dropping the clothes on top of her bag and reaching for the blazer she'd carefully hung up before stripping to the waist. Dot watched as it became obvious to her what her friend was doing.

"But, you can't go..."

"I can Dot," Jeanette said, fastening just a single button on her jacket. "You've noticed the way Tony Brant looks at my breasts, well he's one of the volunteers and I'm going to do my best to get picked."

Dot, if she'd been capable of coherent thought at that moment would have had to agree. Jeanette had a pretty impressive chest at thirty-eight D, which had got her more than her fair share of envy before the CAP fiasco. Now it looked like she was going to use it to her advantage.

Jeanette pushed her blouse and bra into her bag and stood up.

"But Jeanette, what if he asks to, you know, uhmm... you know?" Dot grew silent.

Jeanette looked over, "Then I guess I wont be a virgin on my wedding night, will I." She said firmly, before throwing her bag over her shoulder and went looking for her one chance of getting off the planet.

Dorothea Burgess looked at the door her friend had just gone through with her mouth wide open. Then slowly, as her mouth shut, she began to appraise her own body. She couldn't compete in the boob department, that was for sure, but her legs were long and well toned.

With that in mind she started, clumsily, to roll her waist band over, shortening her uniform skirt. As she did so she started to mutter, "Forgive me Lord for what I do, please forgive me."

---oOo---

Trudy Leonard finally caught up with Jeri Burt as she was leaving the dining room. "Jeri, have you got a minute." She called.

Jeri sighed, she really didn't want to hear another of the posh girls whining in her ear about how she really should be picking them. She slowed down and let Trudy catch her, "What can I do for you?" She asked.

Trudy gave her a rueful smile. "I suppose I'm joining a long line of grovelling bitches." She said, catching Jeri by surprise.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to bleat." She took a breath, then said, "What do I have to do to get picked?"

"What are you offering?" Shot back Jeri.

"I suppose I could say anything you want, but if I don't know what you want, how can I be sure that I'd be willing to go there." She looked around, "Can we sit down over here," she asked heading to a couple of benches.

"Jeri, you and the rest of the volunteers are the ones who are in charge, not us mere mortals. So, just tell me what you want, and if I can do it, it's yours."

"That's a pretty big offer Trudy but why are you seeing me and not Gerry, he's the guy who has the spare slots."

"He is, but you're the one who's picking his girls for him," declared Trudy. "I've watched as he just plays the hopefuls along until you've made your decision. I really don't want to be part of that crowd, whining and backstabbing as they try to do each other down. So here I am, asking straight up, what is required. If I'm good enough, I'm in, if not then at least I'll know where I stand."

"You're really serious about this?" Asked Jeri.

"Oh yes, never more serious in my life."

Jeri thought for a moment, "It's going to take me a couple of minutes to find Gerry. So... You know the equipment store in the back corner of the gym, behind the vaulting horse."

"I seem to remember it, it shouldn't be that hard to find."

"Good." Jeri glanced at her watch, it was 13:45, "At exactly fourteen hundred, you will enter that store room, totally naked. Just you, nothing else. No bag, no clothes, nothing. Do you understand Trudy."

Trudy nodded her understanding.

"No Trudy, say it out loud, so there can be no misunderstandings." Demanded Jeri.

"Fourteen hundred, on the dot. Enter the storeroom naked, totally and absolutely." Intoned Trudy, "Then what?"

"Then you do whatever we say, fail and you're history. OK"

Trudy got a stubborn look on her face, "It's what I asked for, isn't it. I'll be there."

Jeri stood up and went to find Gerry, leaving Trudy to pluck up her courage.

Gerry wasn't that hard to find, especially as he'd been waiting for Jeri to come to him. He grabbed her and gave her a kiss, as he did whenever he got the opportunity. "So, what's up. You're looking distracted."

"I think I've found us another girl," she said in reply, "I'm just going to embarrass the hell out of her, and if she sticks with it she's in."

"Do I get any say in this?" Gerry asked, pouting like a little boy.

"Stop that you idiot," giggled Jeri, "You know you get a say in it. For a start you can see how she responds to all your kinky little perversions," she kissed him quickly, "But we'd better get a move on or we'll miss her grand entrance."

The two cadets made there way to the gym and were in position with plenty of time to spare.

Outside the storeroom a battle was commencing, no less fierce because it was fought inside the mind of a sixteen year girl. A girl who'd convinced herself that she was prepared to do anything to be extracted and now found that maybe she wasn't as strong as she thought she was.

She removed her clothes and dropped them in the bag, which she'd carefully hidden behind the vaulting horse. She really didn't want someone bursting in on her whilst she was in there. Remembering what Jeri had said she even took off her rings and her crucifix, something that hadn't happened for a very long time.

She watched the second hand of the clock as it swept around the final minute, still not sure if she was actually going to open the door when it reached twelve.

She counted off the last seconds in her mind, her hand already on the door handle, 'five, four, three, two, one, pull.' Without realising that the decision had been made she opened the door and stepped inside and stopped.

The two cadets were sat on piles of crash mats on opposite sides of the room. They looked her up and down but made no comment. Jeri scowled a little and waved her arms, indicating something. It took a moment for Trudy to understand. Her hands were covering her privates. Slowly she moved her arms to her side, allowing the two of them to see her naked.

"So Trudy, you want to be one of my girls?" Said Gerry seriously.

Trudy nodded.

"Just so you know what position you're up for I'll tell you that, so far, I've got three breeders, a house manager, a house keeper and a child minder. The vacancies that are left are for entertainers, now before you get the wrong idea I'm not interested in song and dance. The sort of entertainment I'm talking about will happen in bedrooms," Gerry paused for moment, and looked whimsical, "scratch that, it'll happen wherever I feel like it happening. Think you're up for that."

Trudy would never have made a good poker player, her emotions were clearly visible for all to see. Still, as shocked as she was she nodded.

"Good." Gerry declared, "so what's going to happen now is that we are going to see just how far you're prepared to go to entertain us." Just in case Trudy might be mistaken Gerry clearly indicated his girlfriend, Jeri as part of the us.

"To start with, I want you to lie on that blue mat and play with yourself. If you get off on it that's great but what your really doing is entertaining us."

As Gerry finished Trudy stepped slowly forward onto the mat, her eyes gazing straight ahead. Then still standing, she began to stroke her body, her stomach, under her breasts, across each arm, the actions increasing in pace. Her hands brushed the dark hairs that covered her pussy then returned to the rest of her body.

With one hand gently squeezing a boob and the other pushed between her legs she lowered herself to the mat. Her eyes still gazed straight forward, what little expression showing on her face could have been described as sadness.

Gerry let her continue for a couple more minutes, his cock hard inside his uniform trousers. He caught Jeri's eye and raised an eyebrow at her. She smiled and then made a rotating motion with one finger, Gerry nodded back.

"Not bad Trudy, not bad at all. Tell me, are you a virgin?"

Trudy stopped her hands and blushed, "Yes." She answered.

"Totally?" Asked Gerry, "All three holes?"

Trudy felt her blush deepen, but she managed to speak, "Only two."

"So you've given blow jobs?" Jeri asked.

Trudy twisted to answer, "A couple."

"That's all?" Jeri asked, sounding disbelieving.

Trudy just nodded.

"You know, as an entertainer you're going to have to do some pretty perverted things." He left that hanging in the air for a moment. "Do you think you can?"

"God!" Exclaimed Trudy, "I hope so."

"We'll see." Gerry stood and crossed to Jeri and whispered in her ear, "I'm going to embarrass her and then threaten something worse, if she accepts both she's in." He nibbled her ear before he returned to his own pile of mats.

"Trudy, I want you to go and stand in that corner, there," He indicated a space near to the doors and waited as the girl did as he'd asked.

"No, turn to face us." He said.

Once Trudy was facing back into the room he continued. "Right, I want you to squat down and pee."

"Pee!" Exclaimed Trudy, her hands coming up to her mouth.

"That's right," Said Gerry, a little more firmly, "I want you to pee right now."

The two cadets watched as Trudy sank down the wall, her legs splaying as she did so until her pussy was fully on display. Her head dropped, but whether it was to hide her shame or watch what she was doing the audience couldn't say. Then, after a short pause a trickle of liquid dribbled out of her hair covered pussy, the trickle slowly picking up speed until there was a sizeable puddle under the girl.

"Not bad at all." Remarked Gerry, though the truth was he was amazed that she'd managed it. "Now we'll just finish off. Come back onto the mat and get down on all fours." Gerry then stood and started to undo his trousers.

Trudy was still in her corner, watching the boy as he prepared himself for whatever was next.

"Come on Trudy, get back over here." Demanded Gerry, "Once you're on all fours, I'm going to piss on you, then fuck you doggy style. If you're good you're in, so stop messing about and get over here."

In a daze, not even thinking about what she was doing, Trudy stood and stepped over the puddle created by her own piss. She walked up to Gerry and slowly lowered herself to her knees in front of him, seeing his hard cock sticking out as she did so. With a sob she dropped her head forward onto her arms and waited for the final degrading act, her body shaking in humiliation.

Above the prone girl Gerry smiled and waved Jeri over to him. The two of them dropped down to their knees and threw their arms around the sobbing girl.

"Well done Trudy, you're in." Said Gerry.

Stunned, Trudy looked at him, "But you didn't..." She couldn't finish.

"I never intended to, as long as you where willing that was enough for me."

"So now you belong to us." Said Jeri, hugging the naked girl and smiling over her head at her boyfriend.

---oOo---

Sounding frustrated Margaret McKay pressed the button on her intercom, "Sir, there's a Captain Roberts to see you, he hasn't got an appointment but he insists that you will see him."

The Commandants voice replied, "That's OK Margaret, the Captain and I go back a long way. Just send him through."

A moment later the office door opened and a big powerful man walked into the Commandants office, "Hi Ron, how's it going?" He asked casually as he looked around.

"Not too bad Dave, especially if you're here on business." The Commandant replied.

"It's business Ron," The Space Marine Captain confirmed, "But there's no rush. We've got a little time for a chat."

The Commandant looked at his wall clock and pondered for a moment, then smiled. "You're grabbing the lot."

"That's right," The Marine said, with an answering smile. "They finally figured out how to sort out the atmosphere on one of the obscure colony worlds and now need bodies to occupy it."

"The dining room is pretty easy to isolate as well, and being on campus should keep you relatively undisturbed while you go about your business." The Commandant pondered for a moment, then sighed. "I wish I could go with you."

Dave Roberts shook his head, "I know you do Ron, but you're doing a pretty important job back here and the longer you carry on doing it the better the future is going to be. Especially theirs." He said, indicating one of the first year classes marching away from the dining room.

The two men gazed out of the window, watching the cadets going about their business. "So Ron, how's this going to pan out. Am I going to have big problems or what?"

"I've deliberately not told them what's going on, but they're not stupid. I believe that, for the most part, you'll call out a name and a family will get up and march off." Ron looked across at Dave, "Whether it's all that cut an dried I wouldn't like to say. Things have been a little tense around here for the last week. So I'd watch out for those who haven't been selected already, they may do something silly."

"We always keep our eyes open on this team. Which is more than can be said for some guys." Dave glanced at his watch, "Well, I hope none of them are late for lunch. Bye Ron, see you around."

"Keep in touch Dave, and if you get a chance drop by for a drink."

"Will do." Said the Captain as he departed the Commandants office ready to begin another extraction.

---oOo---

Dave Roberts checked with the AI as he made his way to the college dining room, "Is the extraction team in position?"

"The team is all set and all of the targets are within the target zone." The AI replied inside his head.

"Thank you, trigger the zone as I enter the main room." He instructed.

"Roger."

Dave put on his command face and marched into the dining room, as he did so the view outside changed dramatically as the interdiction field came up. Before he could say a word, and much to his surprise, a commanding voice rang out, "Attention on deck."

Immediately, throughout the room cadets sprang to attention.

Slowly Captain Roberts allowed his eyes to scan the faces before him, looking for the one who'd given the command, movement to his right drew his attention to a six foot tall cadet who was moving towards him. The cadet halted and announced, "Sir, Cadet Colonel Alexander Flowers ready for your instructions."

Dave Roberts was so used to dealing with civilians, even ones who'd volunteered that it was a surprise to be approached in such a manner. Usually you had to dig the volunteers out and often had to apply mental force, if not physical force, to get them to choose their concubines.

He smiled at the young man before him, "And why Colonel do you think I'm here.

"Extraction, Sir." The young man replied, with total confidence.

"Just who would I be extracting?"

"A total of twenty one volunteers, ten of whom are cadets, along with their chosen companions, Sir"

Captain Roberts caught sight of movement through the serving hatches, then received a wave as Sergeant Emily Horn indicated that that area was secure. He was surprised to note that the cadet had seen the signal as well.

There was more movement in the hall as a figure, dressed predominantly in black, appeared from the head table. Sister Melanie had been having a quiet, though late lunch at the top table when the outside world went black and white. She hadn't realised what was going on until the strange man and the cadet had started talking. It was then that she realised that the event Sister Anna had been talking about was occurring. She shot out of her seat and headed for the soldier. She had to make sure that her girls were safe.

Alex recognised the sister as she arrived, "Sister Melanie," he acknowledged, giving her name to the Captain at the same time.

"Sister," the Captain nodded slightly, "I'm Captain Roberts of the Confederacy Space Marines, what can I do for you?"

"Probably nothing," Sister Melanie acknowledged, "but I want to be here in case any of my girls need spiritual guidance."

Captain Roberts felt his nose wrinkle, he couldn't help it, before his own extraction he'd been involved in too many operations bought about by religious extremists to feel any sort of sympathy for those who relied on God to keep them safe. "I hope you understand why I'm here Sister?" he asked a little stiffly.

Sister Melanie nodded.

He continued, "I've done a fair few of these pickups Sister, and they have a tendency to get, well..."

How do you tell a Nun that her girls are going to get fucked and there's nothing she can do about it? He struggled to come up with an acceptable way of saying, what to him was obvious.

Sister Melanie let him off the hook, "I know that the girls are just breeding stock as far as you're concerned Captain, I even know that you expect some of them to have to prove it, right here in the dining room. I can live with that, if I couldn't I'd never have agreed to come here in the first place. But, if they need comforting, then I will provide it."

Her final statement didn't leave much room for manoeuvre, and bowing to the inevitable Captain Rogers gave a sharp nod of agreement.

"Right, lets get started shall we?" He turned his attention back to Alex, "Just how organised are you Colonel?"

"All of the volunteers have made their initial selections, in most cases all of them. Their selections know who they are and have accepted their status. At the last count there were slots for another dozen drones, Sir" Alex reported.

'Drones,' thought the Captain, 'an interesting way of describing slaves.' "Right, lets get everyone separated shall we." He activated his amplifier rig and continued, "Will the volunteers for service in the Confederacy Defence Forces make their way to this end of the room," He turned to those sat near him, "and can those of you who aren't in that group make way for them, please."

He watched on, surprised at how easy this was turning out, as the two groups swapped places. Sergeant Horn had made her way into the main room and positioned herself to check off the volunteers against the list held on her data pack.

Within five minutes she reported that all of the volunteers were accounted for.

"OK," The amplified voice of Captain Roberts called for the students attention, "Will those who have agreed to accompany the volunteers now join them." Seeing a sudden mass movement, he yelled, "Halt!"

He killed the amplifier, "How many are there Colonel?"

"Seventy four, Sir," replied Alex immediately.

"Too many, we'd get buried in the rush." The Marine muttered, turning the amplifier on he began again, "Right, we'll do this one volunteer at a time. Sergeant Horn, work your way down the list."

A voice boomed from the back of the room, "Blackwell, Benita."

Leroy Whitaker stood up from his place at the far end of the room and moved forward, pausing to collect Cheri Turner, who seemed stunned, on the way past.

"Brant, Anthony."

Half a dozen girls stood up and started to make their way through the room. Sergeant Horn, her voice still amplified called out, "Sir, he's only entitled to two."

Captain Roberts looked at Alex for an explanation.

"Sir, we didn't have enough males to go around, so some of the volunteers paired up. It left enough guys for the girls to get at least one each."

"So how should we be doing this?"

"It would probably be best if you called them up in family groups, I've got a list if that would help?"

Captain Roberts unclipped his amplifier rig and hung it off the shoulder board of the cadets uniform, "Just press this button and speak normally," he said.

Alex pulled his notebook out, flicked through to the correct page and took a deep breath. "Brant, Anthony and McMillan, Maxine."

The original six girls continued towards the collection area, they were joined by two more as they passed them.

"Bullock, Loraine and Porter, Ted."

Nine girls, including one in the uniform of a cadet, moved promptly to their sponsors.

The list went on, "Burt, Jeri and Gilmore, Gerard", "Cherry, Leah and Rutledge, Doug", "Curry, Beverly" and concluded with "Torres, Alissa."

He looked over the thinning crowd and called out the last pair of names, "Flowers, Alexander and Shannon, Rebecca."

Fred Carroll stood and gathered the girls by eye before moving down the room as a group, keeping an eye out for any one likely to cause trouble.

Alex turned back to the Captain. "That's all the ones who've already been picked, Sir."

Captain Roberts nodded, mostly to himself. "OK Sister, this is where it's going to get messy."

He turned towards the volunteers, "OK, time to make up your minds," he said. "Those of you who still have spaces need to fill them, so get out there and make your decisions." He finished with a wave of his arm.

As the volunteers moved forward there was a flurry of activity amongst the girls hoping to be picked. Half a dozen of them ripped their tops off, one skinny little thing pushed her way to the front and started stripping.

Alex, who'd been joined by Rebecca, stated "I'm not up for this, have you got any ideas?"

Rebecca looked around, she didn't really want to join the cattle market that was developing in the room. Seeing a splash of blue, inspiration struck, "How about in there." she said, pointing towards the kitchens.

"Never thought of that," muttered Alex as he linked arms with Rebecca and started moving in that direction. "Doug," he called, "Kitchens."

"Got ya," came the reply.

The four volunteers, Alex, Rebecca, Doug and Leah made their way to the kitchens where they found about half a dozen women watching the performance through the open hatches. The were all so busy that none of them saw the four youngsters arrive.

When Alex cleared his throat, there where shrieks and a couple of curses as the women span round.

Alex asked, "Ladies, would any of you be interested in joining us?"

"Why would you want has beens like us when there's all that fresh stuff out there?" Asked one of the women, gesturing over her shoulder with a thumb.

"That's easy." Said Alex, "because I've already got half a dozen young bits and I need someone to keep them in line when I'm not there. Someone who knows how to bring up children and look after a house. That ladies is where you come in, if your interested."

"So, pretty boy, do we get to fuck as well." Asked another.

"You bet," Said Alex, grinning. Rebecca bashed him on the arm, and spoke to the woman who'd asked the question. "Yes, you get to fuck, and probably have babies. Just remember, you'd be mine, step out of line and you'd be gone. Can you live with that?"

"With my old man I've been living like that all my life. What do I have to do?"

Rebecca took charge, "OK boys, sit." She indicated a desk and chairs in one corner of the kitchen. "Ladies, if you're interested get out your ID cards and strip."

The oldest of the women looked on in disgust as the rest of them started to peel off their clothes and finally stalked off to the far corner of the room. The remainder where revealing bodies that ranged from chubby to fat most of them showing the signs of childbirth.

"Come on Leah, time to pick something to make our lives easier." Rebecca stepped forward and held out her hand for the woman's ID card.

Leah asked, "How many of you have got kids?"

All of them indicated that they had.

"Oh." Said Leah, sounding disappointed, then brightened, "How many of them are under fourteen?"

Only four women kept their hands up. These were the four that Leah went to first. As it happened the four with the youngest kids also had the highest CAP scores, something that both Leah and Rebecca were interested in.

The two girls moved off into a huddle to discuss the older women.

"How many spaces have you got left Becky?"

"Four, what about you?"

"Just a couple. What do you think?"

"Let's take the four with eligible kids, you have the oldest and we'll take the other three. That'll leave us both with one slot, just in case."

"It's a plan, lets tell the boys."

The two boys, feeling a little hen pecked already, rejoined their partners and were informed of their decision. Finding nothing unpalatable with it the boys agreed and informed the lucky winners. The group, now numbering eight, went back into the main room and were greeted with a cacophony of noise and the sight of nearly thirty naked girls. Sister Melanie was stood next to Captain Roberts wringing her hands.

Seeing the Sister there got Rebecca thinking, she pulled Alex off to the side and started whispering. "Alex, I know you're not particularly religious but would you object to us taking Sister Melanie?"

Alex looked over at the Nun and thought about it, she didn't look that old but who could tell under that habit. "You don't mean as a drone, do you Rebecca?"

Rebecca shook her head, "Not really, I was thinking that she could be a safety net. A lot of these girls have led sheltered Catholic upbringings, lets face it, I'm one of them, and having the Sister along would, hopefully, calm some of them down."

"Do you think she'd go for it?" Alex asked.

"I don't know, but if your willing, I'll go and ask her." Rebecca said hopefully.

"Do you want me to come along?"

"I don't think so Alex, she'll feel less threatened if it's just me."

"OK." Alex watched as the girl he was growing very fond of headed out on another errand of mercy. He crossed over to the Sergeant who was keeping an eye on those who'd already been selected.

"Hi." He said.

She glanced at the cadet warily before returning his greeting, "Hi."

"Unofficially," Alex asked, "how many extras have you been allowed on this lift?" Doing his best to keep his face straight as he got the expected response.

She looked at him as though he'd grown two heads, "I don't know what you're talking about." She stated, categorically.

"Uhmm," He responded. "In that case the fact that there are a couple of older women in the kitchens, who are willing to go, wouldn't be of interest then, would it." Smiling at the Sergeant he turned and casually walked over to the collection of people that now belonged to him and Rebecca.

Rebecca meanwhile, had slid alongside the Sister, who was showing signs of distress at what she was forcing herself to witness. The young woman stood beside the Sister for a short while not saying anything. Finally she broke the silence.

"Worrying isn't it?" She mused.

Sister Melanie looked at Rebecca for a moment but said nothing before returning her eyes to the scene before her.

Rebecca spoke softly, "All those young girls going off to face who knows what." A short pause, then, "I'm sure it would be better if someone was there to guide them." Rebecca left that hanging for a while, just like fly fishing she thought whimsically.

Sister Melanie opened her mouth to say something, and Rebecca, who'd been waiting for just that moment, asked, "Would you come with us, Sister?"

Sister Melanie froze, her mouth open, not sure what to do. A desire to help those in her charge warring with dark thoughts of what leaving Earth actually meant.

"You could come with Alex and I, as one of our picks." Said Rebecca.

"I'm sure Alex is enough of a gentleman not to demand anything from you that you wouldn't give him willingly." Which, Sister Melanie thought, shouldn't be anything physical.

Rebecca continued. "I'd ensure that you had sufficient time to see to the well being of the girls. All of the girls," she emphasised, "not just the ones in our family."

Rebecca held out her hand to Sister Melanie and waited until, hesitantly, the Sister placed her hand into it the young girl's. Then slowly, applying very gentle pressure Rebecca led the Sister away from the Marine, "Come with us Sister, it's for the best," she coaxed.

Sister Melanie, followed along in a most docile manner, lost in her own mind at the enormity of what she was doing.

Captain Roberts watched, having heard it all, and scowled. He wasn't sure he approved of religion going with them to the stars but, he had no orders to stop it so, there was little he could do about it.

Still scowling he looked around and realised that everyone was just about finished. He checked with Sergeant Horn, who signalled completion.

Captain Roberts moved over to the patio doors he'd already decided to use as the gateway to the field terminus and dragged the generating unit out of his day pack. After positioning it he got it activated and watched as the shimmering field developed.

"OK, lets get out of here. Line up with your sponsors and we'll move through in groups." He ordered.

After all the rushing about it appeared that everyone had filled their quota, some of them with obvious choices, like Lilia Murphy, who'd gone looking for her best friend Naomi Shields and some that where much more of a surprise. The biggest, to those in the know, was when Mandy Simpson picked Betheny Williams. The consensus, when it was discussed, was that things would not go well for Bethany and many had been surprised when she'd actually agreed to leave with Mandy.

The Marine Captain looked around at the fifteen groups waiting for departure and waved the nearest one forward.

Tony Walsh led Cathleen Shepherd and their group of four girls towards the shimmering wall, took a breath and stepped through. His group followed one by one. Each family group followed suit until there was only one party left.

Alex, breaking with military tradition, kissed Rebecca, and said "I'll see you in a minute." then stepped back to watch his new family walk into the transfer beam one by one.

Captain Roberts looked around him as the last of the volunteers lined up to depart and smiled. "Emily, I wish all out pickups could be that easy." He said to the Sergeant alongside him.

"Don't we all," she replied before heading off to chivvy the last of the evacuees along.

Alex, who had heard the conversation, added, "And it would probably be the same next year if you came back."

Captain Roberts looked thoughtful, "You're probably right, still it's time to leave. Shall we go Colonel."

Alex walked alongside the Marine officer and blinked as the containment field collapsed. He was surprised to see the fourth year cadets, or more precisely the backs of those cadets as they faced outwards around the dining hall. Then he noted the riot batons they were carrying.

The Marine spoke up, "Resourceful man, your Commandant."

"Yes Sir, very." Which was when Alex spotted the very man they were talking about. Stood to one side, watching him. The Commandant came to attention and threw a parade ground perfect salute.

Alex, fighting back tears, returned it, one warrior to another, before stepping into the shimmering wall and the future.

---oOo---

Back to Index