Part 1 Chapter 2
Saturday

Maggie opened the apartment door to find the General standing outside, looking fit and confident as always. His wife Sarah, quietly elegant as usual, was at his side. "All ready, General. Will this work for wherever we are going?" The thin blouse and skirt looked good on her only slightly out of shape body. It was late spring and getting warm. What she was wearing was comfortable and while it showed her off, it was conservative compared to the almost topless or totally see through clothes that had become the current vogue.

"That's great Maggie, but there's no General or Boss today, just Fred and Sarah. Come on, Mei Ling is waiting in the car." The trio went down the elevator and out to the parking area of her building. A beautiful Asian-American girl of about twenty-five was waiting in the back seat of the car. Maggie had seen her in the office of course, but had not really talked to her as Mei Ling was both relatively new and in a different department, except for the special project that the General... Fred had been working on. Fred held the door while she slid in besides Mei Ling and then he let Sarah in the front. There was some light conversation during the drive and then they pulled in to the valet parking at a fancy hotel restaurant. Maggie did not think that she would fit in here and even the elegant beauty besides her looked a bit uncomfortable.

"Ok, now that we have ordered, I bet you are wondering what is going on." Fred had apparently arranged in advance to be seated in a small isolated area that had no other customers nearby. He pulled out a slim folder, paced it on the table but kept it closed. "Let's come right out with it. I have arranged to be evacuated off planet with my family and with our own choice of Harem members. Sarah and I would like you to join us when we get evacuated. Specifically, we want you to join my Harem while Sarah is going to have her own, but we will be actively sharing with each other, as Sarah happens to like girls as well as men. Also, I like to watch, so I may, no, I will, be having you put on shows with the other girls"

Maggie and Mei Ling looked at each other and back to Fred and Sarah. Their eyes were wide and startled, but there did not seem to be any fear or disgust.

"Boss, err, Fred. If you take my kids along with us, you can do whatever you want with me. I mean I would have let you catch me half way around your desk on the first lap if you had ever shown any interest, but Sarah, well I have never done it with another woman before. I am not turning you down flat, but I just don't know if I can do that and actively participate."

"Maggie, of course we are taking the kids and I would love to have you in bed with me at any time. I have been with several other women and girls, but if you are willing to give it a try and after one month, you don't want to try it again, I will leave you to Fred and the other men in our group." Sarah seemed very earnest as she smiled to Maggie.

"Uhh. Other men. How many in your 'group'?" Mei Ling did not seem especially shocked or concerned, just curious.

"Well, that depends on how you define our group. Fred has a bunch of women and if everyone on our list agrees, he will have two guys as well. We are asking you two first. I am currently deciding between one or two guys in my Harem. My sister is married to Fred's brother John, and they will each have one or maybe two guys. Fred's sister and her husband will have one each. So, there are maybe a dozen guys. There are some other people involved as well. Now, on a day-to-day basis, you will only be dealing with myself, with Fred and with our personal groups, but we might have John or Franklin over and have a little party, or we might have a personal chemistry situation and decide that it would be better if Maggie, just as an example, were living with Elizabeth and her Harem. We don't plan to just arbitrarily trade anyone off, but you do know that once you are on the ship you have essentially no rights?"

"Yes, I understand that and I have been with my college roommate as well, so I know how much fun that can be. I was just wondering. Do the men have the right to just take any women that they wish to?

"Not exactly. The 'volunteers' have the rights to have their personal Harem do whatever they want, whether it is sex with them, sex with a friend that they brought over to watch a football game and pay off a sporting debt with sex, to have two of his concubines put on a girl, girl show, whatever. If the volunteer says that you need to have sex with a male Harem member, then you have to. If he says that that same guy can have you any time he wants you, so be it. If he says you CANNOT have sex with someone, then you can't. Other than the volunteer's wishes, it is consensual sex only, just like in the 'free world'. The situation we are talking about is that the six of us volunteers have agreed to combine into three households headed by Fred and I, John and Rebecca, Franklin and Elizabeth. So in our double household you have Fred, Robert, Stephen, Bill and I think, my cousin Artie. Each of them is happily married and we are taking their wives and kids. What we are planning is that any groupings that naturally happen are fine. But Fred gets any woman anytime he wants and I get anyone, male or female. We also might ask for a particular couple to remain exclusive for a bit to try for a specific pregnancy. Franklin and John will probably visit and have you each on occasion. They are both nice. And for that matter Elizabeth and Rebecca may come over to sample you at any time as well. We three households have agreed to give each other full rights. Also, if any of us get killed in combat or accidents or something, the rest of us are all in line to inherit you, which keeps you from being dumped into the street. We should also mention our kids. We have four volunteer kids and they each have a prospective spouse volunteer. They will have smaller Harems, but they are expressing an interest in joining into the greater group, which would add four more male volunteers and potentially another six Harem males, I think. All in all, there are fourteen of us and we can have eighty four Harem members." Sarah looked a bit overwhelmed by the numbers even as she recited them.

"With that many people, why do you want me?" Maggie was looking kind of worried. She looked down at her body and thought she had never felt more overweight and generally pudgy. Two kids, a sedentary job and never enough time in the day to exercise had resulted in about twenty excess pounds.

"Maggie, look at me." The General used his command voice and got her attention instantly. He opened the file folder. "Take a look at this printout. This is you and your CAP scores. You have a 5.8. That is well better than an average score. See the high numbers? Those are intelligence, loyalty, parenting aptitudes and sex drive. None of your scores are really low except aggression. You would make a poor soldier, unless your kids or family were in danger and then, watch out. However, you are a great mother, a great secretary and I bet you are great in bed also. Those will be your three jobs. My personal secretary, an example mother for some of the others and you will definitely be sharing my bed. Oh, four jobs. You will be making babies. As to the couple of extra pounds you feel that you are carrying, we can put you through the med systems and take them off and make you feel and look like an eighteen year old again. Although, I bet you look your best at around twenty-three. Everything will be toned up and I don't intend to do major modifications to anyone who does not want it or need it. Mei Ling, here are your scores. You have a 5.6. You have a tad bit more aggression and intelligence, somewhat lower parenting and loyalty and a bit more sex drive. You are a bit younger also and higher CAP scores seem to come with age. You will be my liaison with the intel and analysis teams. And of course, you will also be spending some time with me. Here is my Card. As you can see, it's a ten, which is the theoretical maximum. You should both realize that the scores are an average of all the sub scores. Therefore, all of my sub-scores are ten. Therefore, my sex drive sub score is maxed out at a ten. I was lucky to find Sarah when I did or I would have died of sexual frustration."

"Ok, do either of you have any more questions? Or if not, do you agree? We need your answer today."

"Yes." Both women answered at the same time. Then they looked at each other and giggled.

"Ok, three more things and we are ready for the food to arrive. First. I should warn you that you'll probably see some situations that include incest. We are collecting a few mother, son or father, daughter combinations, or brothers and sisters, etc. The medical issues have been dealt with and it's just the shock value that needs to be addressed. Also, well, my daughter has publicly proclaimed her right to seduce me and her boyfriend has designs on my wife. The other youngsters will probably be joining in, one way or another at some time. Any problems?"

"I should be mortified, but I think I'm getting hot instead. So, I guess, no problem here." Maggie was looking a little flushed. Mei Ling just blushed a bit and shook her head.

"Second item, we are leaving SOON. With your clearances and training, I am not worried about telling you this. You cannot tell anyone else, but Friday night, we are gone! Maggie, you may get some lists of names Monday or Tuesday from my evening driver Jason and from a couple of the other security people. They are NOT going Friday, so don't mention that, but they will be coming along on the next Monday. Just pass the lists on to me or to Mei Ling. Mei Ling, do the same background checks you have been doing and then let me see them. For what it's worth, the Director knows we are going and knows that we are taking you with us." The food arrived as this last was said and the conversation was put on hold while the waitress arranged things.

"Last item." This was said after the waitress had left. "Sarah and I want a 'proof of concept' to ensure you can go through with this."

"I have a feeling I know where this is going." Mei Ling had a bit of a smile on her face.

"Yes. we have a room reserved here for the afternoon."

"Well, Darn it!" Maggie seemed a bit put out.

"You feeling too pressured, Hon?" Sarah reached out and touched Maggie's wrist in a comforting manner.

"No, but now I am not going to be able to pay attention to all this fancy food because I am getting so horny that I may melt down right here."

"Janet, thank you for coming over on such short notice. Hello, Robert. And how are you Gillian?" Sarah gave them all a hug and a peck on the cheek. Robert thought that he was getting a bit more breast out of the hug than he would normally expect. It seemed as if Sarah was braless today. A quick glance at the thin blouse removed all doubt.

"I'm great, Mrs. Winthrop, but I kind of wonder why I was invited with you grownups. The rest of the kids are home with a sitter." The group headed in to the living room

"Well, you are having your fourteenth birthday on Thursday if I am not mistaken. And this is an important issue for all of the adults. So, for tonight, you are an adult, I am Sarah and my husband is Fred. OK?"

"Ok. Sarah." The seriousness of that statement seemed to make quite an impression on the normally irrepressible teen. She seated herself somewhat demurely and waited while Fred came in with coffee, tea and juice on a small cart.

Fred shook Robert's hand, gave a quick hug to Janet, but left Gillian alone except for a smile, as she was already seated. "I am sure you all wonder why we called you. This is not exactly a social occasion. First, I really do wish that Gillian was either a week older or a couple of days younger. Gillian, what are your plans for Thursday and Friday?"

"Well, I have school on Thursday, then the birthday party at home. School on Friday and then my friends are taking me out to a restaurant for a birthday dinner."

"I am going to ask you to change some of those plans. I want you to skip school on Thursday. Instead, I want you to go the CAP testing facility and take the test. Friday night, I hope you will be going to dinner with your parents at my expense."

"Why, what's going on?"

"On Friday there will be an Confederacy extraction. It is by invitation only and you are all invited. Your Mom and Dad should both have higher scores but their current physical conditions keep them from being volunteers. I expect that you will have a shot at a 6.5 the first time out. If you are less, you can come as one of our picks, the same as your parents if they accept our invitation. If you do succeed, then you will have one day to select some people to go with you. You are allowed one additional pick as long as at least one of your picks is a Mother with five years of child raising experience, a Minimum CAP of 3.0 and decent child raising CAP sub-scores. Get the names to Sarah or me and I will check them out. Don't wait for Thursday to make that list! This is a one-time chance, for all three of you. Any questions?"

Janet had one. "Fred, why us? I'm only forty, but I have arthritis so bad that some days I can hardly move. Robert is only fifty and he already has heart problems. If it gets the kids off the planet, you can have me. That's our pick-up policy. The two of us have already agreed on that, but why us?"

"The medical problems can be fixed in a day or so on the ship. I need you for the same reason that I need you at the Puzzle Palace. We have compatible minds. You know your job and the jobs of the people under you. You are going to head up the intelligence and analysis teams as well as riding herd on our tech geeks. I should have about twenty people from the NSA. Mei Ling will be your liaison to me and to the rest of the brass. Maggie will be my secretary. Both of them will also be in my personal Harem, just the same as yourselves. Robert. You are good people. I would not have ever known about you without Janet, but I would not dream of breaking the two of you up. Yes, I intend to have sex with Janet. Repeatedly, in fact and I hope we have a child or three, but I consider her to be your main squeeze and vice versa. There will also be other women and you will be helping to keep them all happy and pregnant. Sarah is going to have her own Harem, but we will be actively sharing with each other. So she will have access to you. For that matter, Sarah happens to like girls as well as men. Janet, Robert, how do you feel about that?"

"We..." Janet looked into Robert's face and nodded. "We have discussed this. If it gets the kids out with a 'safe' volunteer, then we can do what we need to do. Robert really does not want to go bi or gay, but if that were the only chance for the kids, he would have tried. I have been a bit curious about women before, so I figured that I could handle it. We assumed that a guy would be picking us up and he might have me put on a show, so we have watched a few videos in the last year or so."

"Robert, I am just a bit, well no, a lot more than a bit, homophobic, so I don't want to hear you even mention that idea again. This is not a 'don't ask, don't tell' situation. It's a 'not in my house!' situation. OK?"

A big grin broke out on Robert's face then subsided. "That's fine with me, but maybe we should make sure we have all of the ramifications spelled out." Robert had a thriving practice in contract law.

"Of course. Well, we are definitely taking your kids along. And there will be you, our neighbor Stephen and myself as the men in my Harem. I have a total of eleven slots to fill, so that leaves nine women, Janet, Maggie, Mei Ling, Stephen's wife Jan and their sixteen-year-old daughter, Caitlin. I will also have a college friend of Sarah's and her daughter. I have two slots left open. Actually, we have only asked you, Maggie and Mei Ling, but we have high hopes for the rest. Sarah has nine slots available. She has settled on two guys, their wives and one daughter, a couple more of her girlfriends, one co-worker and there is still one open slot. We will keep one slot open between us until we see how Gillian does. And of course we are taking all of the available children."

"Mr. Winthrop? I mean, Fred? Aren't you supposed to get even numbers of picks? And no one gets more than ten."

"Good question. All of the volunteers going to my colony... Oh, yeah, I am going to be the Military Governor there. Anyway all volunteers will be allowed ONE free Mother figure who has a minimum of five child years of experience, which means one five year old, or a four year old and a one-year-old, etc. They also have to actually have carried a baby to term, have a minimum CAP of 3, a parenting sub score of 5 and the volunteer has to take all of their available children to qualify. Janet, you qualify. So does Jan, Maggie and Jo Rausch for that matter. But only one of you is a free choice.

"You should all be aware that Sarah and I are sharing our households, so there will be five men and seventeen women in the place, as well as a dozen or so kids. You may be having sex with any or all of them. Also, my brother and his wife and my sister and her husband will be neighbors and they have visitation rights with any and all of you. Additionally, if any of us get killed in combat or accidents or something, the rest of us are all in line to inherit you, which keeps you from being dumped into the street. We should also mention our kids. We have four volunteer kids and they each have a prospective spouse volunteer. They will have smaller Harems, but they are expressing an interest in joining into our larger group, which would add four more male volunteers and potentially another six Harem males. Generally, it will just be Sarah and myself with our personal Harems, though. Any questions, so far?"

"We have been paying attention to the reports of pickups. I think we understand our rights, or actually, our lack of rights. What guarantees do we have about our treatment and the treatment of our kids?"

"None. I can give you my personal word, but it is just that. The AI will not enforce it. If I get tired of you I can throw you out the airlock without a space suit. I can even go requisition another concubine to replace you. That being said, I intend to build a Family, a Clan really, on that planet and I cannot do that with terrified, bereaved Slaves. I will give you my solemn word that I intend to treat my Harem like a benevolent despot. The safety and well being of the children is a primary function of the family. The family is required by the colony to make LOTS of babies. Therefore, my orders will primarily be related to making more babies. Well, that and satisfying my sex drive which is actually maxed out at 10.0. We also might ask for a particular couple to remain exclusive for a bit to try for a pregnancy. For example, I could put Robert with Mei Ling for a month or so. We need to have as many different combinations of parents as possible. Now, we don't plan to just arbitrarily trade anyone off, but we may have a chemistry situation and decide that it would be, for example, better if Maggie was living with my sister Elizabeth and her Harem. In that kind of situation we will try to keep families together and make things as painless as possible."

Janet's eyes twinkled a bit "Robert, you have not met Mei Ling yet. I may have to poke your eyes out first so I get your attention back." Robert's eyes just did a bit of a blink-blink to confirm an interesting hit on his libido.

"Ok, just a few more things before you make your decision. First. I should warn you that you will probably see some situations that include incest. We are collecting a few mother, son or father, daughter combinations, or brothers and sisters, etc. The medical issues have been dealt with, the colonial law allows it, or doesn't actually even mention it. My daughter has decided that she is going to seduce me and her boyfriend has designs on my wife and vice versa. The other youngsters will probably be joining in one way or another. Among other things, this means that if Gillian joins the Harem, she will probably be involved with one or both of you. Sorry, but this and watching girl-on-girl action are my two primary kinks."

Robert started to sputter, but instantly turned white and shut up when he heard Gillian quietly say "Oh, Goodie!"

"Gilly? Hon? Did I hear you say what I thought?" Robert was speaking slowly and clearly to clarify the situation. It was a tactic that he had developed for surprises during depositions. He did not let surprises get to the courtroom.

"Oopsie! I thought I was saying that to myself. Uhh, yeah! Hey, Fred, if I am a volunteer, can I come over and borrow Daddy for a bit?" Gillian's irrepressible nature came out in a big grin.

"OK, I was actually just making sure you all understand the possibilities. Sure, we can get you visitation rights, but first, let's talk this over a bit more to see if your parents are going to blow a gasket. Robert? Shocked? Yes. Of course! Disgusted? Or are you interested despite what you think is right? Janet? How about you?"

"I think that if she wants it, this is not the same thing as some poor teenager being abused by some pervert father. Robert, your daughter loves you very much and has told me repeatedly that she would love to find your clone to be her first lover. Surprisingly, I personally find that I have very few problems with this."

"Gilly? Do you really want this?"

"I turn fourteen on Thursday, Daddy. I want you for my Birthday Present"!"

"Uhh, but, Hon. I... uhh, Ok."

Fred watched the young lady sit back like the proverbial cat by the canary cage. "OK, are we agreed then? You agree to join my Harem and we get picked up Friday night."

A chorus of Yeses ensued from one eager teen, one serene wife and one bemused father.

"Two last items then. Gillian, since we are guaranteeing you a spot, whether you get a 6.5 and your own Harem, or not, we are going to claim the right to make use of you and any Harem members of yours as if you were ours for the duration of the trip. Agreed?"

"Ok, Fred. As long as I can play with Daddy some more."

"Heh. Ok, granted! Also, Sarah and I would like to ensure that you are all willing to go through with this. This is the 'Test Drive" that people have talked about for the pickups. Gillian is under fourteen, but the Confederacy allows oral sex with thirteen year olds. So, if you would you all join us in the bedroom?"