Author: Thinking Horndog
Title: The Academy
Part: 7 of 88
Universe: The Swarm Cycle
Summary: The Governor of the colony of Nuevo Angelino recognizes that the ad-
hoc educational system in use in his colony isn't producing sponsors -- so he
sends a team to Earth to collect some professional educators with a
Confederacy perspective.  This results in a new and unusual kind of pickup...

Keywords: MF MFF FF M+F mf mF exhib humil inc ir group oral anal toys Mdom
Fdom

The Academy

Chapter 7

Vera:

	This seems to have been a week for craziness.  First Beth doesn't
even come home Monday night, and then she comes home hysterical and has to
dress in thirty minutes for a trip to Antoine's!  The more I saw of this Jack
person, the more he had to answer for!  I was watching Beth stagger down the
walk in front of him, vowing that I would get my licks in on the bastard --
who was UNDOUBTEDLY a predator of SOME type -- when little Frieda threw cold
water in my face!  I'd turned on her to pry more information on the situation
from her -- she was as poor a liar as Beth, or worse -- I got: "Jeez, Mrs. H!
Beth FINALLY meets a guy who is into her and you have to treat it as ugly!"

	And when I expressed my serious concerns about having this guy rob my
little girl of her innocence, Frieda hit me with: "Mrs. H!  Why on Earth
would a hot guy hunt down BETH just to take her cherry!"  I flinched at that
-- which is maybe why Frieda went on the offensive, informing me that my
over-protectiveness was likely to rob Beth of what could be a golden
opportunity while reminding me that such opportunities were few and far
between...

	Then, however, she upped the ante:  "You want her to be picked up,
don't you?"  I admitted it, so she pressed harder, with:  "Okay, Mrs. H --
what is Beth gonna have to do to get picked up?"  My imagination threw out
some pretty sordid pictures -- and Frieda went on to validate them for me:
"I'll tell you!  She's gonna have to get naked and offer to blow a guy -- at
least!  More likely, she's gonna have to do more than that!  Now, which would
you prefer -- Jack, or some four hundred pound black guy with a couple of
gold teeth and a bad attitude who's ONLY interested in taking her innocence
-- and maybe won't take her afterward because she has NO IDEA what she's
doing?"

	It was pretty harsh -- so much so that Oliver inserted himself into
the conversation to tone it down -- but Frieda was not to be denied...  "We
need to deal with reality, Mr. H!  If Beth gets picked up, you have to hope
that whoever does it is a nice guy -- and it's the luck of the draw!  When it
happens, there isn't gonna be any tender romance -- she's gonna have to put
her stuff out there and HOPE someone is vaguely interested, and she'll be
going in BLIND!  Jack, on the other hand, is into her -- I KNOW, I was THERE
when they met!  Even if you're right and he's a total scumbag, he's doing her
a favor if he teaches her a few things!"

	That was going a bit far, so I erupted, "Frieda!  That's DISGUSTING!"

	It didn't stop her. "Maybe," she retorted, "but if you screw this up
for Beth, she'll NEVER forgive you!  Besides, you missed the IMPORTANT things
when you started crawling all over Jack!"

	"Oh?  Like what?"  Given the way the conversation was going, it could
be the size of his member!

	"Did you ASK about his CAP score?"

	Funny, that floored me!  It made me realize that young girls had
vastly different priorities than those I'd had at their age.  When I was
their age, being a 'bad girl' was a bad idea if you wanted to collect
something premium in the way of a mate.  You were picky about who you offered
a glimpse of your charms (something I had in limited quantities -- and I'd
passed that dearth to Beth...), because girls with a reputation as a slut
didn't get the good stuff.  Well, that was the official tale, anyway, passed
down from MY mother -- and if real life didn't seem to reflect that, I
assumed that I was missing something.

	Young girls nowadays were looking for lightning to strike.  The brass
ring was a trip to a colony and to a motherhood role that hearkened back to
Grandma's when it came to responsibilities, but in an environment where you
always had food on the table and your basic needs -- including the all-
important 'survival' -- were taken care of.  Girls who hid their light under
a basket weren't going to get that light seen.  Young girls needed to have
their charms in quick-draw holsters -- because when the surroundings suddenly
got grey, the first one in front of a buyer had the advantage.

	Ugly as it was, I couldn't argue with this.  I'd had nearly forty
years to get to know how men's minds worked -- and Oliver, for all his
intelligence, was an open book -- so I KNEW that a young guy, in particular,
would settle for the first pair of boobs presented to him, all things being
equal.  So while I could view the current fashion trend of displaying
everything you could get away with and making access easy to the rest with
alarm and disgust, it WAS a survival adaptation.

	Similarly, the independent woman who measured her worth by the income
she brought home in competition with males was a stereotype that was taking a
serious beating -- because it only REALLY worked for women who had high CAP
scores.  Everybody else was fooling themselves if they thought doing the 'I'm
as good as any guy' thing was going to get them anywhere.  Frieda had laid it
out baldly; in the post-Sa'arm world, the vast majority of women needed to
have a different set of skills on their resumes to be successful -- skills
that would have gotten a girl in MY generation censure, at the very least!
My eldest daughter, bless her simple heart, lacked those skills -- and given
the fact that she had no natural advantages that might make up for them, that
lack was damning.  As awful as it might sound, if this Jack person did no
more for Beth than to teach her to give a creditable blowjob, it would be a
positive result of their relationship -- and if he hurt her in the process,
what was more important to her long-term survival?

	Last, but pivotal -- while I was trying to force my outdated,
twentieth-century morals down their throats, I had not even BOTHERED to
discover whether this Jack was a potential savior or just the guy who was
going to get Beth, belatedly, through her first relationship with a man!
One, simple, five word question would have provided an answer as to whether
this 'relationship' should be treated as a fling or something serious -- and
I HADN'T ASKED IT!  Frieda was right; even though she didn't actually come
out and say so, I had my head up my ass!  Granted, I was out of practice; the
other two girls had moved through the hazards of dating and were long gone --
but they'd done it pre-Diaspora, too, so we'd all been able to pretend that
the outdated rules I'd learned from my mother still applied.  But I was
acting stupid in the FIRST place; at twenty-three, Beth was already late
learning the facts of life!  The argument that 'You don't have sex with the
first guy to come along!' rings hollow when it takes THAT long for him to
show up!  When would the SECOND guy show up?  Add the whole (unlikely)
proposition that he might be Prince Charming with a high CAP score into the
equation and giving this Jack a lot of heat was... unwise.  Frieda was right
-- Beth would never forgive me if I ran the guy off, even if I got to say 'I
told you so!' in the long run.

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

	But I'm STILL a mother; I waited up.  It gave me some time for some
uninterrupted thought, and I took it...

	They came in after one, together.  He stood there looking at me while
Beth took off the shawl Frieda had sent her out with and pulled off her
heels.  Since he was inside and seemed to be waiting for me to open up, I did
so, "Jack, is it?"

	"Yes, Ma'am."

	'Ma'am, huh?  Walking on eggs, is he?'  I wondered why, since worst
case, he could just leave.  Why had he come in, anyway?  To business...
"What's your CAP score, Jack?"

	"Six point seven."

	Could it all be that simple?  Nah...  "Is that a fact?  I don't
suppose..."

	He grimaced; I'd called his bluff, and he was a liar, apparently...
I raised an eyebrow.  Well, Beth needed to learn that some men were liars...

	But he reached in his wallet and came forward with a card after all.
It wasn't a CAP card -- not like mine, anyway.  No, it said 'Armed Forces of
the Confederacy' and it identified Jack as Jack LeRoy Harper, with a rank of
LT, whatever that is.  There was a CAP score there, and it was six point
seven as advertized -- but it stole over me that this changed things.  CAP
cards more or less told you what you were eligible for if you staggered into
a pickup -- but this guy was in the Confederacy military already...  "This
says you're already in the Confederacy military," I noted.

	Jack limited himself to, "Yes."

	"What does that mean, exactly?"  Did Beth know?  She DID!  I could
tell by looking at her!

	"It means Beth is leaving with me," Jack said.

	That answer hit me where I lived, but I held onto a poker face.
"That isn't 'Maybe, someday,' either, is it?"

	Jack shook his head.  "No, 'Soon,' is more like it."

	I didn't know whether to laugh or cry!  Lightning had struck!  My
little girl had gone from the dumpster to the stars in one jump!  I wondered
if she had any idea just how lucky she was; this wasn't a 'Maybe' deal -- she
was in!  Of course, I was going to lose her...  "You didn't even have to
bring her back."

	"No, I didn't," he agreed -- and I learned right then and there that
Jack was a nice guy.

	"We're going upstairs," Beth announced, daring me to say something.
No, my little girl is no fool.  She might not be gifted, but she's not an
idiot -- she inherited my common sense.  She knew EXACTLY what she had and
what she needed to do to protect it!

	I couldn't improve the situation, so it was time to back off; I
nodded to Jack and said, "Good night, then," and left the room, leaving Beth
looking surprised.  Well, she could thank Frieda; without our little
conversation, things would have gone VERY different -- and I would have had
SERIOUS regrets, one way or the other...

	Sleep was another matter.  Ollie, bless his heart, could sleep
through an earthquake -- and besides, he'd gone on to bed early, leaving me
to sit up and stew.  So I went to bed and lay there, tense and excited...

	I THOUGHT it was just the whole Beth finally getting a break thing --
excitement that she had managed to find a man AND get picked up in the
process -- but that wasn't it.  No, I realized what the REAL problem was only
when it announced itself -- I was waiting to hear them having sex!  The
banging of Beth's headboard on the wall brought it all home...  Even Ollie
couldn't sleep through THAT, so I lurched up to go put a stop to it.

	They moved before I got there; I walked in to find Beth up on her
hands and knees, facing away from me while Jack pounded away at her pussy,
his hands on her hips.  I had a front row seat -- and I couldn't bring myself
to leave!

	Jack was practiced.  It's hard to explain, but it was clear.  He
wasn't going like a jackrabbit, and he seemed to know where Beth was in her
cycle and tune himself to it.  He slowed down at one point early on and I
knew he had cum inside her -- but he took off again after a few seconds, and
I watched white goo appear around their juncture, thinking that I REALLY
needed to say something to Beth about trimming back all that fur...

	It was hot -- animal sounds, urgent motion, Jack's big dick driving
into my daughter's pussy -- I succumbed, sliding my hand into my panties
under my cotton nightgown and rubbing my love bump and my nether lips.  I
tuned my manipulations to his strokes and the animal grunts of my daughter's
reaction to them; I don't know how I stayed quiet, since I exploded once and
had to lean back against the open doorframe while my knees shook and sparks
cascaded before my eyes.  I didn't make it to twice, though; Jack buried
himself in Beth's pussy and emitted a strained grunt and I stood there,
watching his balls jump in his scrotum and the underside of his cock pulse.

	He backed out of her and settled on his haunches, and Beth's head
came up off the pillow -- and I was discovered as her eyes picked me up in
the dresser mirror.  I snatched my hand out of my panties, but my nightgown
remained bunched, only slowly dropping back into place.  To cover myself, I
made the excuse of the headboard noise -- but of course, that had stopped ten
minutes before.  Jack flopped over and sat up, exposed; he was teasing me
deliberately, I believed -- and it worked, since I could not draw my eyes
away from his erection.  Feigning calm, I said, "That was some exhibition you
two put on."

	Jack acted nonchalant, claiming that the plan had been sleep, but
Beth had insisted -- which raised a question.  "That wasn't your first time,"
I accused Beth.  "How long...?"  I was VERY surprised that she should be able
to hide such a thing from me -- it wasn't generally within her capabilities
to keep ANY kind of a secret.

	Sure enough, Beth blushed nearly purple.  "Last night.  With Jack.
I... lied.  I wasn't drunk -- we were asleep, after."  Well, I'd suspected
that she was lying on the phone; now I knew why.

	It was time to try to back out gracefully.  "I'm going to bed now," I
announced, "and will try to sleep.  You should, too."  I backed out and
headed back to my bedroom, hoping I could actually manage a wink or two.  I
did, too -- after I made an absolute spectacle of myself in bed beside my
husband with both hands in my crotch, pumping and diddling...  Thank GOD
Ollie sleeps soundly!

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

	I said nothing to Oliver when it was time to get up and fix his
breakfast; I left it to Beth or Jack to deliver the surprise -- and it was
every bit as entertaining as I thought it would be!  Oliver didn't catch on
to the fact that Beth must be up early for a reason; he just took her to task
for staying out late and worrying us.  Beth was tongue-tied -- nothing was
coming out under her father's questioning -- so Jack stepped into the room
and announced himself, "Hi, I'm Jack."

	Ollie isn't stupid; he took in Jack, then Beth, and turned to me --
which I guess I should have expected, since I hadn't said anything to him and
I wasn't schooling my expression very well.  "All right -- what's going on?"

	I was enjoying the whole thing a little too much maybe, so I came out
with, "Oliver, meet your son-in-law -- or as close as we're going to get,
anyway."

	Oliver looked back at Jack, who tried to keep things from getting out
of hand by offering low-key apology for the surprise -- but then Oliver knew
who had rigged it.  Instead, he turned on Beth, "When did this all start?
And when were you going to tell someone?"  Before she could stammer out an
answer, however, he resumed questioning Jack, "I assume the uproar last night
wasn't your first date."

	Jack started to waffle -- and Oliver was wasting his time on side
issues, anyway.  Impatient for the other shoe to drop, I erupted, "Oliver is
no fool, Young Man.  Show him what you showed me."

	Jack gave the same little wince and grimace that he'd given me, but
said "Fine," and presented that ID card.

	Ollie was all over it.  "Forgive me if I'm wrong, but a CAP card
qualifies you for citizenship, but doesn't make you a citizen.  THIS, on the
other hand..."

	Jack admitted it; he'd ALREADY been off to the colonies -- for a
couple of years!

	At that point, Oliver shifted back to me, with his eyes, at least.
"What's this about you being my son-in-law?"

	Jack gathered himself, "Well, as your wife indicated, that isn't
accurate -- but Beth has been a concubine since sometime last night."

	That got Beth the eye.  "Usually, concubines don't hang around..."

	"Well, this is a special case," Jack replied, "since it isn't an
extraction.  I'm here on official business..."

	Oliver interrupted this with what I considered to be THE question:
"Why Beth?"

	I think Jack won my heart in that moment.  He got visibly aggravated
and said, "If I had a nickel for every time someone asked me that...  We
clicked, okay?"

	Ollie made a comment about it all being pretty abrupt, then added,
"but then, if it HAD been an extraction, it would have been considerably MORE
abrupt, wouldn't it?"  He turned on Beth, adding,  "Your friend Frieda
pointed that out last night."  Then, after a moment, it was back to Jack, "In
fact, why are you still here?  If Beth's status is what you say it is..."

	Jack gave that little grimace.  "I'm running what my superiors would
no doubt consider an unjustified security risk," he declared, "but I thought
it might be nice if Beth got a chance to say goodbye.  As to her status,
these contracts are verbal and recorded, but documentary evidence..."  Then
he kind of froze for a moment, and seemed to be listening to something.
"Hang on a sec.  You have a computer?"  Oliver admitted that we did.  "If
you'll show it to me, I think I can verify things for you."

	Oliver got up, then he stopped and did something uncharacteristic; he
rounded on Beth, asking her if she was going to get Jack any coffee --
following it up with a dig about it apparently being among her new duties.
Jack got this look on his face, kind of a "This is my fault" expression.
Beth got coffee; it was an escape for her.  Once Jack had a cup in his hand,
we adjourned to Oliver's office.

	Once in front of the computer, Jack turned up a very official-looking
document that declared my daughter to be livestock -- and Jack to be her new
owner.  And suddenly, the worm turned, and I was the subject of
conversation...

	Jack sipped his coffee.  "Do you have any plans to emigrate?"

	I made the demurral, expressing confidence that he and his comrades
would win the day.

	Jack eyed me and lowered the boom, "I agree with you -- but there is
a little problem regarding the timeline.  We're going to do it -- AFTER we've
grown a lot and spread out as a race.  Whether Earth will be in their hands
or ours is open to question."

	Oliver rubbed it in.  "Told you."

	I got mad.  Ollie KNEW why I wasn't planning on going...

	Apparently Jack did, too.  "If I may?  You'll have a few early run-
ins with the AIs, but if Oliver wants to delegate his domestic situation to
you he can."

	I was still steaming; I had to regroup a bit.  "What?"

	"I'm assuming that you object to assuming the role traditionally
assigned to concubines," Jack explained.

	"You're damned right!" I flared.  "I REFUSE to be treated like stupid
breeding stock!  Besides, Ollie is..."

	"Not domestically oriented?" Jack offered.

	"That's one way of putting it," I agreed, trying to retain my calm.

	"Let's work our way back to the basics," Jack murmured.  "Do you
object to a little additional breeding?"

	"I'm too old."  'Are you kidding?'

	"You won't be."  Jack handed me his ID.  "Look at the age on that."

	I looked -- and was surprised!  "You're thirty-six?"  Beth gasped.

	"Yes."  Jack turned to Beth, "I hope it doesn't matter to you,
because it's too damned late."

	"No," Beth muttered, "it doesn't.  Are there any MORE surprises?"
She wasn't happy; I didn't blame her.

	Jack said something then to patch things over; I wasn't really
listening.  "I'd heard about this fountain of youth thing, but, really...
Everybody gets it?"

	"Everyone who needs it, I guess," Jack replied.  "Of course, your
sponsor determines where you are regressed to and what other adjustments get
made."

	"That again." I could have anything Ollie wanted...

	Jack surprised me.  "So how urgent is your need to wriggle out from
under Vera's thumb?" he asked Ollie, deadpan.

	"I've been comfortable there for years," Oliver replied blandly.
"Work is another matter -- but I'm not interested in dictating what I'm going
to have for dinner -- or even what I'm going to wear to work, for that
matter."

	"Which is a good thing!" I declared, "He can't match ANYTHING!"

	"My senior concubine runs my household," Jack announced.  "I need to
focus on work.  If I don't like something, I mention it and it gets adjusted
-- but I don't get stupid about it."

	'Oho!'  I eyed Beth.  "How many concubines do you have?"

	"Three, counting Beth.  Beth isn't senior -- but she's more gifted at
nurturing children than the other two.  She's going to be 'Momma' at my
house."  Beth absorbed this with a glazed expression.  "One of the others
will handle overall organization of the household, but the children will be
Beth's province -- all of them.  She'll be Number Two, since one of my
concubines is a bit ditzy," Jack declared.

	I nodded.  "That should work."  But I was eyeing Beth; she was
rattled.

	"I'm sure having her mother up the street would help," Jack murmured,
baiting the trap.  "Back to breeding..."

	I gave Oliver a look.  "I guess I could go around again a few
times...  He would get two, you know."

	Jack cracked a smile, the bastard.  "Undoubtedly, you would see to it
that the other concubine knew her place."

	I shook my head.  "You know, I sensed that you weren't twenty-
something..."

	"In public, you'll have to obey the rules and behave yourself," Jack
announced, adding, "but you do that already, don't you?  What goes on in your
household is between you and your sponsor -- and as long as you don't exceed
certain limits, it won't be an issue."

	"Why are we discussing this?" Oliver asked.

	Ollie isn't that dense -- but I let him have his fun.  "There is
going to be an extraction.  At the very least, Jack can extract us -- isn't
that right, Jack?"

	"That's right," he agreed, then got cagey.  "Before I tell you more,
I need to take some measures to ensure the security of the ongoing mission --
or I can just have you picked up now -- take your pick."

	Oliver tried a question.  "How long do we have?"

	"Sorry..."  Jack clammed up.

	"What kind of measures?" I asked.

	Jack muttered something about hypnosis and nannites, whatever they
were.

	"You become nauseated," Beth interjected.  "I did, when I was trying
to come up with answers to a couple of Daddy's questions this morning."

	I wasn't thrilled; on the other hand, Jack wasn't apologetic.

	"It's been done to Beth?" Oliver clarified.

	"Yes.  She got exposed to too much information last night," Jack
replied.  "It was that or transport her immediately."

	Oliver glanced at Beth, who insisted she was fine, then turned to me.
I saw it coming.  "Ollie..."

	Ollie cut up for a second, but when I didn't rise to it, he got
impatient with my silliness. "There is only so much foolishness I'll put up
with, Vera!  Getting us both killed to salve your pride goes a bit beyond,
don't you think?"

	"Oh all right!" I knew when I was screwed.  Ollie didn't get pissy
much, but when he did...

	"Okay, to clarify things," Jack queried, "I'm recording a consent to
be evacuated for a sponsor, and an acceptance of concubine status..."

	"Yes." Oliver nodded.

	"Yes, yes, all that..." I waved it off, unhappy.  "The things I do
for you!" I ranted at Ollie.

	Oliver shocked the shit out of me!  "Don't irritate me or I'll demand
fellatio..."

	"OLIVER!" I gasped.

	Jack stood there cackling.

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

	Jack went outside and came back with a little box that displayed
pretty patterns -- and poked me rather sharply in the thumb!  It didn't seem
to take very long -- I looked, it poked me, and Jack took it back and handed
it to Ollie.  "There are some cold realities here," he announced.  "For one
thing, your contract with Oliver isn't marriage.  There is no reason why you
can't consider it such -- in some ways, it is more -- but it isn't as...
comfortable on your end as marriage was."

	I settled in a chair, thinking, 'Here it comes...'  Beth did, too,
her attention on Jack.  Well, he'd surprised her a few times this morning.
"Let's hear it."

	"There are some ugly tales out there -- and a lot of them are true;
however, on Nuevo Angelino, which is where we're going, the mistreatment of
concubines is distinctly frowned upon.  That said, you don't have the rights
you do here.  Oliver can drop you like a hot rock at any time, or trade you
to someone else -- whatever he wants.  He can change his mind before he's
extracted and leave you here, too.  I'm betting he won't do anything like
that because you give him what he wants, but if he's coming up short
anywhere, you may need to re-think your position..."

	"Ugh."  'Just perfect!  It sounds like a class in how to never win an
argument...'

	Jack went on to tell me that at some point I might need to do
something very sexual in public, just to prove to everyone that Ollie DOES
wear the pants in the family.  The idea of getting down on my knees and
sucking Ollie's cock in public was, well, shocking!  "He wouldn't, would he?"

	"He might not, but he can.  And if you refuse, you put yourself --
and him -- on shaky ground," Jack pointed out.  "The overarching rules for
concubines demand obedience -- period.  In the event that you get out of line
in public, it is his responsibility to correct you -- and if he can't, it
will reflect VERY BADLY upon him."  He gave me the eye.  "You're not going to
like this, but...  It's kind of like him taking out his dog for a walk and it
biting someone else -- or threatening to.  He needs to deal with it -- and if
he doesn't, and other people get into the mix, the question will be opened as
to whether he should own a dog or not..."

	I grimaced.  "Ewwww!  I'm a dog?"  Jack got this look on his face
like a mischievous boy.  "Out with it!" I demanded, knowing I wouldn't like
it...

	"A bitch, maybe..."

	Beth giggled -- and that broke the tension; he had me there, anyway.
"I guess I resemble that remark."

	"It's worked for you up to now," Jack murmured, "but it is going to
leave you with bad habits.  Frankly, I've seen a LOT of wives get into
serious trouble -- they tend not to 'get it.'  I foresee that you might have
a rough time."

	It was time to get the other thing out on the table.  "Speaking of
such things -- Oliver doesn't have to limit himself, does he?"

	Jack eyed Oliver, who was back from playing with the box.  He'd taken
a while, it seemed to me...  "No, he doesn't.  In fact, since there is an
imperative for him to reproduce, he'll be encouraged to add a second
concubine.  He doesn't have to, but, again, it will reflect -- especially if
you act up and get him in trouble.  If he doesn't have another woman under
his thumb..."

	Oliver sat there, thinking, for a while before he looked up at me. "I
see there are some issues," he murmured.

	"This can be handled gently," Jack said, "but Vera really, REALLY has
to understand her role.  The normal method is kind of a shock to the system;
we scare everyone to death during briefings after the extraction.  More often
than not, someone screws up in the first twenty-four hours and the whole
thing gets put down rather brutally, as an object lesson to the others -- and
usually, it is an ex-wife who thinks she's STILL a wife."  Jack turned on me.
"I'm going to be rude here.  Women who spent time during the extraction on
their knees with a strange cock in their mouth or on their back with one
between their legs tend to have a more basic understanding of the situation.
Babying an ex-wife based upon her previous relationship tends not to help her
in the long run."

	"Yeah, that was rude," I agreed, "But it DOES state the case, I
guess.  We're... going to need to talk."

	Jack kept hammering.  "While I'm being rude, I need to reiterate that
Oliver can take your advice in these matters -- or leave it."  Jack checked
his watch.  "I need to leave.  I will return when I can and we can discuss
this further this evening.  I don't know how late I will be, but I will speak
to Beth when I do."  After a pause, he related, "This thing is going to
happen on Saturday, so you need to wrap up anything that needs doing by then
-- preferably without telegraphing anything.  You won't be taking anything
you can't carry, and money means nothing where you're going; similarly, the
Confederacy will clean up any claims on your estates after you're gone.
Personal issues, you may want to look into.  Where are Beth's brother and
sisters?"

	"Travis is extracted -- Fleet Auxiliary," Oliver replied.  "Maureen
is... waiting, I think; she can carry herself, with a six point six.
Judith..."  He shrugged.  "She's married.  Neither of them makes the cut-
off."

	Jack nodded.  "I'm going to air this," he announced, "You can act on
it or not.  Traditional moral imperatives regarding incest are generally
ignored.  Confederacy medical technology can and will deal with any low-
probability problems resulting from a first pass at inbreeding.  What I'm
saying is that you can choose to take Judith -- but you'll be taking her as
your second, and will be expected to use her as such.  Or we can see to it
that she and her husband are invited to the pickup and they can take their
chances.  From what I've been given to understand at this point, we'll be
more or less processing people like cattle, so they'll probably go -- but
ANYTHING can happen in orbit, since we can't predict who will get assigned to
any particular sponsor.  The likely event is that they'll be split up.  For a
number of reasons, this whole thing is going to be a zoo -- it's very
experimental."

	I was SHOCKED! Incest?  Thank God he offered other options!  "Thanks
-- I think," I muttered.

	Jack just sighed.  "It's not pretty -- real life so seldom is..."  He
turned to Beth.  "Frieda...  Bring her around.  I'm making no promises.
Ultimately, we can put her in with the herd, I guess, but I think you want
more for her..."

	"Yes," Beth nodded solemnly.

	"We'll see," he told her.  Then he took his leave -- and Ollie,
coward that he is, followed him out, leaving me alone with my thoughts -- and
my oldest daughter.