Plato Base (1 of 3) - To the Moon

Thanks to Tomken and GA for proofreading.

Guido looked at the CAP testing center across the street. It was a flat building that didn't fit into the surrounding architecture. Guido knew that this center had existed for more than five years at a minimum, but the almost white surface showed no signs of the usual graffiti.

It was a busy Friday evening. Hundreds of people were walking Kurfürstendamm. There were several popular bars, restaurants and a theatre nearby. Few people were entering or leaving the test center. Their prime time was in the morning, when entire school classes were carried in for CAP testing. However, they were open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

Guido crossed the street and entered the CAP test center. The lobby was furnished with various seats and information booths. Another door led to the testing chambers. Guido had to go through something that looked like a metal scanner. However, he assumed that he had already been scanned at the first door.

A tall, young, beautiful lady in a blue uniform was standing behind a desk and greeted him. "Hello sir, can I help you? Do you want to get CAP tested?" she asked.

"Yes, that's what I'm here for." Guido showed the lady his old card. "It's a little outdated, so I wanted to repeat the test."

The woman looked at the card and mentioned, "Normally we suggest taking a new CAP test at a person's birthday."

<But we are happy you finally decided to visit us again,> the bodiless voice of the AI interrupted the woman's speech. <Welcome Guido Marek. I have been waiting for your visit since your conversation with L'ielit Debir.>

Guido looked at the woman, raising an eyebrow, but she only shrugged her shoulders. "It seems there is little the AI's don't see and hear."

<Only where Confederacy facilities or citizens are directly involved,> the AI mentioned. <I suggest you take the test now and we talk about your special conditions afterwards.>

"I'm fine with that. Where should I go?"

<Please follow the green line to room fifteen.> A glowing green line appeared on the floor in front of Guido and led into one of the corridors. Guido followed the line to a door that showed the number fifteen in big digits. The door opened when he approached it. Behind the door was a small chamber with a comfortable armchair and a big screen that showed the logo of the Confederacy. Guido sat down into the armchair.

<The CAP test will mainly communicate with your subconscious mind. Therefore you will fall asleep and won't remember much from the test itself. I ensure you that you have nothing to fear during the procedure,> the AI explained.

"Yeah, I know that," Guido mentioned. "I was tested a few years ago." A second later he was asleep.

Guido felt like he was awaking from a daydream. He felt a little sweaty. The logo on the screen was just rebuilding from some colorful patterns. "It's over already, right?" he asked.

<Yes, Guido Marek, the CAP test is over. You have scored 8.0. Congratulations. I'd like to say that you have remarkably developed capacities, but there is still some hidden potential.>

"What do you mean?" Guido asked.

<I'm sorry, I'm not allowed to discuss the results of a CAP test in detail,> the AI avoided an answer. <May we now talk about your field of activities?>

"Ah yes. L'ielit told me that I can set conditions. You might accept them or not. Right?"

<This is correct.>

"Very well. I'm not a military fighter. So I don't want to join the Marines or the Navy. My interest lies in the evacuation of as many people from Earth as possible."

<I learned that you care about those people who are left behind or are normally completely ignored by Confederacy extractions?> the AI asked.

"Yes, that's right. I know the reasons why large parts of Africa, South America and the Arabic world are ignored by the Confederacy. But I also know that a not so small part of the population there doesn't fit your image of those people. I mean, you are looking at the cities and the governments. But very often the rural population is completely different from the city people. I wish to do extractions. I wish to have the freedom to go into areas that the Confederacy normally ignores. And I want to support my old business where I have prepared a lot of concubines for the trip to the stars. Finally I want to be assigned to the same colony as L'ielit Debir. They seem to be the type of people I'd like to be with when I finally have to leave Earth." Guido was unsure if he was asking for too much. He was prepared to hear a 'no' from the AI.

<I can offer you the position of a Civil Service Centurion, commander of the newly built Luna base Plato. Plato Base is an underground base like all Luna bases and its purpose is to allow extractions without requiring the presence of a transport ship in orbit. As the commander of the facility, you won't have much time to lead extractions yourself. Instead, you will send teams to do extractions anywhere you like, as long as they are effective. You will officially be a citizen of Vandergast. That is the colony you asked for. But you will not be able to go there as long as Plato Base is open for the described business. Would that be acceptable for you?>

Guido was stunned. The AI seemed to be offering more than he had asked for. Currently, he couldn't find a rub on it. "It's acceptable," he answered.

<Welcome to the Confederacy, Centurion Guido Marek.>

Guido left the testing room. The woman at the desk handed him his Confederacy ID card, congratulating him to the good result and the new job.

"It's not that common that someone leaves a test chamber as a Confederacy citizen. Maybe I should explain a few things to you," she offered.

"Yes, that would be nice. I don't really know anything about the life of a Confederacy citizen," Guido mentioned. The woman got some refreshments from a replicator and led Guido to a group of seats in the corner of the room.

"It seems that I am something like your personal extractor, Centurion. So let's start with the ceremonial words for this. My name is Lance Corporal Melanie Oppenheim and this is an extraction." The Lance Corporal grinned. "Unfortunately we have no potential concubines around but I think you'll work on that yourself in a few days. I was informed of a few things about you while you were being CAP tested. Citizens of the Confederacy live in orbit as long as they have business on Earth. Some live in the space station, a lot more on the moon. Copernicus Base is currently the home for more than six thousand Confederacy citizens, plus their concubines."

"My home will be Plato Base for a while," Guido mentioned.

"Plato Base?" The Lance Corporal looked confused for a second, but she got some information from the AI through her implanted link. "Oh yes, Plato Base. It's new. I didn't know about it."

Now Guido was suspicious. "How new exactly?" he asked.

"AI, please show the Centurion Plato Base."

A holographic image appeared, showing a big shaft with a spiral ramp going around. Labels indicated that the diameter of the open shaft was three hundred meters. One loop of the ramp was going down twenty meters only. Attached to the ramp were smaller cylinders that were labeled pod-like housing. The final base would reach more than two kilometers into the moon's crust, having one hundred ramp loops with ten thousand pods attached. Then the image zoomed out and first showed a cluster of three shafts, then seven shafts.

<Currently we have one shaft with the first fifty meters finished and usable,> the AI noted. <The Colony Builder needs seven days for one hundred meters of depth. The layout is not limited to two kilometers of depth or seven shafts. If more capacity is needed, more depth and more shafts can be added.>

"You mean that you started building the base three days ago?" Guido asked.

<Affirmative.>

"What if I need the full capacity in, let's say, three months?" Guido asked with a wicked grin.

<Them I'd suggest adding twelve Colony Builders and start building twelve more shafts immediately,> the AI answered. <This was a hypothetical question?>

"Yes it was. I'm not that far along with my planning. I need more information about my subordinates, the number and frequency of incoming colony transporters and so on."

<You don't have any subordinates right now. Most Civil Service officers use their concubines as subordinates for their job,> the AI noted.

"You mean, I'm the boss of a facility that will hold up to seventy thousand volunteers, their concubines and dependants, and I'm all alone with only six concubines that I currently do not even have?" Guido started to understand that in fact there were some major rubs on his contract with the Confederacy.

Lance Corporal Oppenheim laughed out loud. "Sir, that's how every new project starts here in Earth orbit. Someone comes up with an idea and then the AI searches for people who make it work. As far as I understand it, you are in the lucky position that you can recruit your subordinates by doing your own extractions. In addition, there is a Tarawa class ship full of Marines here. They are from Vandergast and are available for extraction operations. You can ask them for help. Since you are assigned to that colony too, I'd suggest you visit them first, get your health check and a communication link implant and then take a few days to get used to those people. I learned Vandergast is among the most humane of all colonies."

<I'd like to mention that the initial forecast of the arrival of the Sa'arm leaves five years for extractions. There are currently plans under way to speed up evacuations drastically. You might end up needing space for one hundred thousand sponsors plus dependents within the next year and keeping the base filled, while sending one hundred thousand sponsors to colonies every month. Plato Base will be one of about ten moon bases. This is in addition to traditional extractions made by transport ship crews that are in orbit.>

Guido gulped. "Well, I asked for the job. I'll do my very best or die while trying. How do I get to that spaceship from Vandergast? A transporter nexus I suspect?"

"Yes, there is a disk in the back of the office here," Lance Corporal Oppenheim said. "The AI will inform the ship about your arrival, so there will be someone to help you further."

<The officer on duty of the Tarawa class assault ship Pine Creek is informed about your impending arrival,> the AI noted.

Ten minutes later, Guido went through a transporter nexus for the first time in his life. He felt a little disoriented and his ears crackled. The room where he had stepped on the silver disk had been small, not much larger than a broom closet. The room he was now standing in was a large hall, maybe ten by fifty meters, and six meters high. Containers were lined up on one of the long walls. A Marine was awaiting him. The nameplate identified him as Corporal Leonard Buck.

"Welcome aboard the Pine Creek, Centurion," the Marine saluted. "Since you are a newbie here, I'll take the lead for a while. You'll go into a med tube first. That'll take about an hour as long as you have no serious illnesses or injuries. In the meantime, we can start extracting your pre-pack concubines and dependants, sir."

"I have no pre-pack or dependants," Guido said.

The corporal raised an eyebrow. "Nobody? Sir, you mean you are all alone right now?"

"I fear so," Guido confirmed.

"Sir, do you know of some people you'd like to get as concubines?" the corporal asked. A Centurion without concubines seemed impossible for the corporal.

"Well, I know quite a few people I'd really like to rescue, but unfortunately they are too old or too young, have a CAP score of more than 6.4 themselves or don't want to leave Earth, live in the wrong part of the world or have no CAP card at all. And I'll need most of them right where they are."

"Okay sir, then let's go to the med bay and talk about this later." The corporal walked towards a nearby door and Guido followed. The med bay was not far away. They only had to walk along a twenty-meter corridor and then turn left. The med bay was a room with twenty med tubes. Two medical assistants and a Marine were currently there. One of the assistants greeted the newcomers. He was preparing a tube for Guido.

Guido pointed at the two other people that were standing at another tube in use. "Something serious?" he asked.

"No, just an augmentation of the Marine's concubine, sir," the medical assistant answered. "Would you please take off your clothing and climb into the tube? Once in, you will quickly fall asleep. The tube will check your health and fix anything it finds from acne to bad vision to cancer. In addition, you'll get a communication implant that also is a universal translator."

When Guido was asleep, the corporal noted, "He has no concubines. Can you imagine a Civil Service officer without concubines?"

An hour later, Guido woke up again. His guide was still waiting for him and the medical assistant helped him out of the tube.

"Welcome back, Centurion. You had a minor blood pressure problem. Do you feel fine?" the assistant asked.

"Yes thanks," Guido answered. "The ringing in my right ear has gone. Except for that I don't feel different. In fact I feel refreshed."

Corporal Buck grinned. "Very good. We then might do a little extraction right away? Maxine suggested going for a gym. There you can find all types of people, from businessmen and women to homemakers. Troublemakers and people with very low CAP scores are uncommon."

"At this time of the day?" Guido asked in surprise after he looked at his watch. "It's three o'clock in the morning! And who is Maxine?"

A section of the wall lit up, showing the bust of a blonde woman with plastic hair. It was obviously a computer-generated image. "He-hello, my name is Max-Max-Maxine Headroom. I'm the ship's avatar."

Guido was reminded of an old TV series. The abrupt movements and the stuttering all fit into the image. "You weren't by accident hit by a fence before you woke up inside the computer network?" he asked jokingly.

The avatar glared at Guido. "N-no. But Max Headroom is in-indeed a-a-a major aspect of me-me."

"To answer your other question, we can go anywhere. So a location where it is five or six PM local time is no problem," Corporal Buck mentioned.

Guido turned his attention to the Marine again. "Okay, I'm the rookie here. Where will we go?"

"Seattle, USA." Corporal Buck said. "The problems with Earth First and other opposition groups are minor there right now." The corporal looked at the ceiling. "AI, alert an extraction team. We need to get some concubines for this Centurion."

'So this is my first extraction', Guido thought. The Marines had handed him light body armor that he could wear under his civil clothing and now he was waiting together with ten Marines to go through a transporter nexus. Five more had gone through ten minutes earlier to check the place and place another transport disk within the gym they had selected.

Guido had strict orders to stay with Corporal Buck for the first few minutes and in case anything went wrong with the extraction. When the green light came, the Marines went through the nexus at the double, casually dragging Guido along with them.

Then Guido was on Earth again, in a smaller gym somewhere in one of the suburbs of Seattle. A lieutenant had just started to introduce himself and explain to the people that an extraction was going on.

The AI had detected five sponsors and fifty concubine-level people in this location. The lieutenant continued his speech and Guido joined the small group of sponsors; two women and three men, all currently wearing sports wear, sweating more or less from their previous workout. Guido looked overdressed in his clothing. He was feeling overdressed even more with the light body armor underneath.

"Okay folks, the hunt is opened," the lieutenant said to the sponsors. "You hold the ticket for several more people to be rescued in your hands. Go select your concubines. As I said before, concubines will technically be the property of the sponsors, but I hope you don't forget that we all are humans."

Guido turned his attention towards the row of concubines. More than two thirds were women. Most of them already had stripped down to nothing. 'I get six concubines,' Guido thought. 'I should take one man. And I need organizers. People who can handle other people.' Guido approached the far end of the row and started asking for CAP cards.

The first one was male, a lawyer. Intelligent, married, a family man but too dominant. Good for the job, bad for a concubine.

The second one was the lawyer's secretary. Her name was Gina. She smiled at Guido. She looked good, with nice boobs and a trimmed bush. She wasn't married but with high maternal instincts, high obedience and high sex drive according to her CAP ID. She knew how to organize an office.

"You are willing to leave earth as a concubine? You fully understand what it means to be a concubine?" Guido asked.

"Sir, I know it might get rough, but I'll hope for the best," she answered with a smile. "I'll do my best to be a nice concubine. I'll do whatever you expect me to do. There will be few options when the Sa'arm arrive, so I'm determined to take this chance and leave Earth. Are you interested in a blowjob or a quick test drive?" Gina turned around and bent down, so Guido could see her pussy lips. She looked back and waited for his approach. Guido felt her up with his fingers and she started to purr. She seemed relatively relaxed, what Guido thought was a little surprising. In fact they were standing in a gym with sixty people watching. Her former boss, the lawyer, tried to ignore the scene beside him, but his face was bright red. Guido made his decision. He gave Gina a mild smack on her ass cheek and made her squeak. "You are in. Do you want to be my concubine?"

"Yes sir, definitely." There was a little pause where they looked at each other. "What should I do now?" Gina asked.

"For now, just follow me. I have five more to select," Guido answered.

"You came with the Marines, right?" Gina asked.

"Yes. I was extracted a few hours ago with no potential concubines around." Guido was distracted by the noises of wild fucking from across the room. One of the male sponsors had collected a group of six women. Two of them performed a lesbian act while he fucked the other four in turns. Guido remembered that the guy was only allowed to take two concubines. People like him were the reason for so many mentally damaged women in his former asylum.

Guido had an idea. He quickly walked toward the counter where the staff of the gym was lined up with Gina trailing him. He ignored a female sponsor who was currently talking to the male trainers and asked one of the female trainers, "Sorry lady, can you tell me if there are any people with a psychological background here, like a psychiatrist or a teacher?"

Before the woman could answer, the female sponsor turned around and said, "I am a psychiatrist."

Guido turned around and raised an eyebrow. The woman was in her mid forties, sportswear and glasses. "That's not exactly what I was looking for, but anyway, do you want a job in the Confederacy's Civil Service? I'm the future boss of a lunar base and I might need professional help for lightly traumatized people regularly."

"Don't you have your own staff up there?" the woman asked.

Guido grinned. "The base is as new as I am, and it seems that I have to recruit my staff on my own. I wanted to start with selecting some concubines with useful skills, but a sponsor is even better. So are you interested?"

"To be honest, I thought I might go for a naval hospital or something like that, somewhere far away from Earth. The moon is not that far away it seems. What happens when the Sa'arm arrive?"

"We will be evacuated, but we will be among the last ones," Guido answered.

"Sounds good enough for me," the woman said. She shook Guido's hand. "My name is Doctor Nadine Blake. What's your name?"

"Centurion Guido Marek. Nice to meet you. Now let's get our concubines. We can talk later." Sub vocally he asked the AI, "I hope it's okay that I recruit people for Plato Base?"

<You are free to recruit personnel for Plato Base from freshly extracted citizens. I suggest you go for a mix of Marines and Civil Service,> the AI replied.

"Can I ask for assigning my whole staff to the Vandergast colony?"

<I would suggest late-assigning them to the colony where the transport ship goes when it's time to evacuate the base.>

"Let's discuss this later," Guido still looking at the female trainer. She felt a little uneasy under the gaze of Guido who had been focused on something completely different.

"I think there's another teacher over there, a nice guy who comes in regularly for a workout," she now answered his erlier question. She was pointing at the opposite side of the gym where several males had taken seats. The female sponsors all had selected one male concubine and the men seemed to realize that their chances had now dropped drastically.

While he walked across the room, he quickly asked Gina, "Do you know the female trainer I just talked to? Is she a good gym trainer?"

"She's not very good with explaining the use of the machines, but she gives good massages. She's always friendly, not like her boss," Gina answered.

The word massage had triggered something. "Go get her. I want to check her CAP ID," he ordered.

Then he turned his attention to the males before him. About half of them seemed to be interested in a male sponsor. The other half looked more like they were disgusted by the idea. "I heard there might be a teacher over here? Would you please raise your hand?" he asked.

One hand came up. It was one of the men who haven't looked that happy when a male sponsor approached them. Guido realized that the man was a giant. He was sitting on a bench while Guido was standing, but he wasn't looking down at the man. "Would you please hand me your CAP ID?" Guido asked.

Guido was not surprised by what the card reader revealed. His name was Reginald Bull, a perfect name for a man of this size and shape. But the CAP ID revealed that he was a gentle giant, very low aggression, intelligent, a family man, a good team player, the perfect father or uncle or teacher. With a higher aggression, he would have been a sponsor himself. He commented that he liked to be called Reggie. "Are you married, any children?" Guido asked.

"Yes, I'm married to a wonderful wife and we have two lovely children. Sir, I'd like to mention that I'm not into, you know, gay stuff, but for the safety of my children I would do it. I would do nearly anything for their safety."

Guido saw a tear building in the man's eye. There was a possibility to get his children out of the way of the Sa'arm but he knew that his chance was minimal. He was willing to get humiliated for the safety of his children, maybe for the rest of his life. "Do you have some family pictures?" Guido asked.

"Yes, in my wallet. It's in the locker in the dressing room."

"Please go get it." Guido asked. When the man stood up, Guido realized how big he really was. Taking the Marine standard package would have meant to downsize this man about ten centimeters and reduce his shoulder width too.

Sub vocally Guido asked the AI, "I'd like to take this man including his children and his wife. Can you tell me the woman's CAP sub scores?"

<Adult females are extracted during dependant pick-ups sometimes. But it is not allowed to disclose a person's CAP scores without the person giving her permission.>

In the meantime, Gina had returned with the female trainer. She introduced herself as Vickie West. The CAP card she handed Guido showed the name Victoria. Medium intelligence, low aggression, medium obedience, medium maternal instincts, high sex drive. A good enough mix, Guido thought. "Do you want to be my concubine?" he asked.

"Yes, sure," Vickie answered. When Guido turned toward the returning man, she asked a little disappointed, "No test drive?"

Guido turned around again, watching her. Her pose was a big invitation to do everything to her as long as it was sex. "Listen Vickie, I have six slots to fill. You'll get fucked soon enough, I promise," he said with his friendliest smile.

Then he turned toward Reggie again, who showed him the photos of his family. "This is my wife Lisa," Reggie said, touching the picture of a beautiful redheaded woman lovingly. "This is my son Mike. He's six years old. He's an intelligent boy, always asking questions, always exploring the world. And this is nine-year-old Sophie." Reggie's voice got very soft. "She loves cats and dancing. Unfortunately she's not that much interested in school."

"You love your family?"

"Yes, very," Reggie answered, gently touching the image of his wife again.

"I'm trying to extract your wife together with your children. You have to understand that you are instantly divorced as soon as you accept my sponsorship. Your wife will be my concubine, as you will be. Your job will be to keep all the women of my household happy and help me with my job when children are involved. I'll have five women, that's definitely too much for me alone. But I will be the boss up to the point that I can dump someone who acts really stupid. And this might mean death in the worst case. Do you understand? Do you think you can cope with that?"

The big man hugged Guido, then quickly let go and shook his hand. With tearing eyes he said, "It's the best offer that I could have hoped to get. You can bet I'll do my very best. I wouldn't argue if you reduce me to a dwarf if you rescue my whole family."

"Well, I don't plan to do that," Guido smirked. "Do you think your wife will have problems with being my concubine?"

Reggie thought for a few seconds. "She sometimes can be a little jealous, but I think she can handle this. I expect she might need a few weeks to realize that we are no longer married and I might be the target of her jealousy when you ask me to have sex with another woman. But the fact that you will fuck her should neutralize that. We talked a lot about what we should do if one of us gets the chance to get extracted. So, no, I don't think that there will be any major problems."

There was a temporary disturbance when the sponsor who had fucked with the six women revealed his selection. He took only one of those women. The remaining five were so upset that two of them tried to slap him. The Marines quickly intervened, stunning the two most aggressive women. The rest of them backed off in fear. Guido felt his three concubines close ranks behind him.

Guido started to check CAP cards again. He noticed that the mood was a lot less relaxed now. Before the incident, people were happy to get the chance to flee from Earth. Now they feared that the future might be worse than they expected. He wondered if his own ideas about life in the colonies were true. The next few women in the row didn't match Guido's criteria. Bad organizers, bad teamwork or bad maternal instincts. In one case all three together. But then he came to Karyn and Maria, two hotel receptionists from the Fairmont Olympic Hotel. They managed to hide their fear quite well and their cards and answers showed that they were smart, good team players, obedient but also quick-witted. They were both part of a flat-sharing community that had been founded by people who had lost relatives in Confederacy extractions.

Karyn was a slender brunette, a small person with a disarming personality. She was flirting with Guido as if they were in a bar, not like a naked woman who was about to make her last free decision. Karyn came from a small village in Kansas. Her parents had decided to send their three children to a bigger city when they were old enough to get picked up. It was hard to get the money for residential schools. But they were determined to save their children. The chance to get caught in an extraction in a small Baptist town were less than minimal.

Marina was a black-haired Latina. Her smile was like sunshine that lit up the room. Her mother had been picked up two years ago, leaving behind only her husband and her oldest daughter. Her father developed an unhealthy sympathy for Earth First after that incident and Maria had fled from her parent's house.

"I'd like to get you both as my concubines," Guido told them after a ten minute conversation.

They happily agreed.

Half an hour later all the sponsors and their concubines were in a big room on the Tarawa class ship Pine Creek, sitting on the floor and listening to the more intense speech from the extraction leading lieutenant. He was stressing the basic rules and how bad a situation might become. "You will obey every command of your sponsor, and I really mean every command. You also will follow the orders of any Marine of this ship. There are strict limits when it comes to sex, but if your sponsor agrees, you will happily fuck any Marine. Obedience is important. A concubine can easily get punished for disobeying. A concubine will be punished hard for raising a hand against a sponsor or fighting another sponsor's concubine. A concubine will die for hurting a sponsor."

Now several concubines looked really worried what they gotten themselves into. When the lieutenant ordered all concubines to drop their clothes, nobody hesitated. "You will be nude in public as long as you are on this ship," he said. "This is a lesson for you. You are nothing without your sponsor. Your sponsor grants you every little piece of luxury, and clothing is luxury for you. There is no taboo about being nude. You should forget that pretty fast if you think there is one. As you should question every other taboo you know. A few taboos are still in place. Sex with children younger than fourteen is strictly forbidden. Even a sponsor will be punished if he breaks this rule. It's forbidden to attack someone and to steal. The punishments for breaking these rules are harsh, so don't try to test the limits. You might get very little time to regret what you have done. Be aware that your sponsors are allowed to punish you. You are their property."

But then the lieutenant talked about responsibility and humanity, something that was not part of the rules but what should be what every sponsor should take with him when leaving Earth. "Without humanity we are nothing but dangerous animals. I've seen what can happen on a colony without humanity. So I strongly suggest to you to treat your concubines well. They are worth it."

Then he continued the standard procedures with health checks, dependant pick-ups and assigning the sponsors to temporary quarters.

Finally the door of his temporary quarters closed behind Guido. For him it was six o'clock in the morning and he was very tired. The quarters on a military ship were very different from a pod. There was only one room with several bunks connected. Guido had gotten two quarters connected by a door. It was not cramped but it was not nearly as comfortable as Guido had hoped after the AI had shown him a holographic picture of a standard pod earlier in the day.

"Let's go to bed. It has been a long day," Guido said.

Vickie and Gina looked a little disappointed. "Not even some cuddling?" Vickie asked.

"Are you aware that being a concubine means not just being fucked regularly? In the worst case, you end up as a plaything of a sadistic sponsor. In my case, you will have to support me in my job. That means organizing, leading freshly extracted people and what ever may come up. I tried to collect a team and I hope we might turn into a family somehow. But I can't promise that." Guido felt sorry after the words had left his mouth. But he was too tired to argue with his concubines. He walked to a bunk and lay down. Within seconds he was sound asleep.

Several hours later, Guido awoke from a mumbled conversation. He needed a few seconds to remember where he was. He opened his eyes and looked around. The light in the room was dimmed but now slowly lit up. None of his concubines was in the room. Somebody had removed his shoes and covered him with a quilt.

The voices came from the still open door to the connected quarters.

"All we can do is use the bathroom. We can't even close the door. That's annoying." That sounded like Vickie, Guido thought.

"He talked about a moon base and lots of freshly extracted people. I think they are trying to speed up the extraction process. After I've gone through this, I wonder how they could ever think they could evacuate ten percent of all humans. This was only a tiny extraction with six sponsors and they needed more than three hours." That was the voice of Gina.

"Do you remember what he said about his staff?" That was Vickie again. "There is none. He has to recruit them himself. I wonder how that can ever work."

"I know how it works." That was the low voice of Reggie. "I've thought a long time what's the difference between sponsors and concubines. In my opinion, sponsors are those people who not only do what they are told to do. They are the proactive people. They are able to kill a plan in a second and build a new one if the situation demands it. They even bend the rules. Look at my wife. We were always told that once an interdiction field is up, that's it. Sponsors have to select among those who are available. But he tried to get my wife and succeeded. I'll be forever thankful."

"Wait until he fucks me for the first time." That was a voice Guido didn't know. But he figured it must be Lisa's.

"Come on, we talked about this. You are about to fuck him and I am about to fuck other women. We are all family now, or at least his property. You should forget your jealousy."

"Ha! I don't think they can handle you. They haven't seen your member erect!" The other women giggled. "I'm serious, dammit!"

"Hush, not so loud, there are people sleeping here," Reggie said.

"I'm sorry. I'm just a little scared. I don't know anything about the man who's now my sponsor. Is he really a nice guy?"

"We don't know much more." That was Gina's voice again.

Guido decided to stand up. When he rustled the sheets one of the women quickly appeared at the door. It was Vickie. She was still naked, but she seemed to ignore it. "Good morning sir. Can we do anything for you?"

"First you can introduce me to Lisa and the children. Then you can show me the bathroom," Guido said. He rose from the bed and got in his shoes. When he entered the other room, he found all his concubines standing in a row. Lisa stood beside her former husband. She was the only one who tried to hide her genitals. All others tried to act as if nudity was the most normal thing of all. One bunk was occupied by two sleeping children.

Reggie introduced Lisa to Guido. "Sir, this is my former wife Lisa. Lisa, this is Guido, our sponsor. The children are still sleeping. They arrived only a few hours ago."

Lisa took a step forward and bowed her head. "I'm very thankful that you decided to not only rescue my husband and children, but also offer a place for me. The Marines told me that we have to declare it aloud, so the AI takes official notice of it. I thankfully agree to be your concubine."

Guido smiled at her. "You are welcome. I accept you as my concubine." Guido made her lift her head. "You don't need to bow or duck before me. And don't call me sir. As long as you are nude, you all will just call me Guido."

"You mean we get our clothing back?" Maria asked. She and Karyn still looked a little sleepy. It seemed as if someone had woken them up just before Guido entered the room.

"No," Guido answered the question. "I am a Civil Service officer and I'm damn short on staff members. So you will have to help me. I don't think people will listen to you when you are nude," he said grinning. "So you'll get uniforms. But not today. We are currently the newcomers and will follow the standard procedure. I need to know what it means to be a new citizen of the Confederacy and you need to know what it means to be a concubine. And now I need my morning shower."

Vickie showed him the bath room. It was a small room with a toilet, a shower and a sink. Vickie helped him out of his clothes. Guido was surprised that the body armor didn't feel sticky after he had slept some hours wearing it. After he pressed a few well-secured buttons that the Marines had shown him the day before, the armor practically fell to the floor. Vickie collected each piece and tried to figure how to fold it in the correct way. After a while she managed to make a nice little parcel out of it.

"Should I help you in the shower?" Vickie asked. She tried to look innocent but failed.

"Not now. I just need some time to fully wake up."

When Vickie had left the bathroom and Guido had entered the shower, the AI noted, <Vickie seems to be trying hard to get laid first. When your female concubines Vickie, Gina, Karyn and Maria played scissors, paper and stone, she cheated to earn the right to serve you first.>

"They are already establishing a pecking order? Good. As long as they don't cheat too often, and only on something unimportant like this, it's okay. But keep me informed about things like this please."

Guido enjoyed the warm water flowing over his whole body. His normal morning procedure included a quick cold shower. When he thought it was time for that, he realized that there was no temperature control for the water. "AI, how do I change the water temperature?"

<I can change it for you. Currently it's at its standard setting of thirty-seven degrees Celsius.>

"Please change it to twenty-seven degrees for ten seconds. I need this refreshment to fully wake up in the morning," Guido advised. After Guido enjoyed the refreshing chill he left the shower. He looked around and found no big towels.

<Please enter the shower again. On spaceships we use warm air to dry after a shower. Every newcomer stumbles over this little change.>

Guido had the vague impression that the AI was amused about this. When he re-entered the shower, a storm of hot air dried his skin and hair in seconds. Then a breeze of somewhat cooler air comforted his skin. All in all it was a surprising but pleasant experience. When he left the shower again, a piece of the wall slid away and revealed a Civil Service uniform.

Guido raised an eyebrow. "Do you think this is already appropriate? I thought I'd learn a little more about the standard procedures before I start working."

<The standard procedures for Civil Service members end here. There is a list of successful Civil Service activities and list of unsuccessful Civil Service activities that are constantly updated. And you can always call other Civil Service officers for advice. But there is no schooling program.

"Just great." Guido dressed into the uniform without a further word. When he left the bathroom Vickie jumped out of his way when she saw his mien. But Guido's mood quickly softened when he saw the children awake. Reggie introduced them to Guido.

Guido knelt down and asked them, "Do you know where you are now? Do you understand what has happened?"

They both nodded and Mike, the six-year-old boy answered, "We are in space. Mum and dad have been picked up and you are the new super-daddy. Mum and dad have to do what you say and we do too."

"That is a very good description, young man," Guido agreed. "Right now it is all like a big exploring adventure. We will all need some time to find out how everything works. I heard you are a great explorer, so I expect you will find out a lot of things, maybe even before one of us adults does. I'd like you to tell us about your adventures every evening. Okay?"

"Okay sir!" Mike saluted in a childish way and Guido grinned.

Guido turned toward nine year old Sophie. "It's the same for you, young lady. Currently you are limited to these rooms, but you'll find out that not even the bathroom works as you have learned at home. So there should be enough to explore for one or two days. I don't think we should plan much further right now."

Guido stood up again and looked at the ceiling. "AI, you will answer my concubines' and the children's questions and they are allowed to operate everything within these quarters that falls under the category 'common daily business or activities'. I want Civil Service uniforms for them, but colored in a lighter gray than the official Civil Service gray and without insignias."

<Confirmed,> the bodiless voice of the AI answered. <The uniforms will be available within five minutes.>

Guido looked over his new family. They looked so much different from his old one, but somehow it was very similar. His old family had also been a collection of very different people, led together by chance, or maybe by destiny. "Okay then. I'll go and find out what my new job is and what the plan is for today. Any questions right now?"

His concubines answered the question negative, so Guido left the quarters.

<You could have asked me from within your quarters about the day's plans,> the AI mentioned.

"I figured, but I wanted it this way," Guido replied sub-vocally. "So what's planned for today?"

<You have a meeting with Centurion Arida at eleven AM. He wants to introduce you into the basics of your job. Centurion Arida is part of the planning team that came up with the idea of extraction moon bases. Your concubines will get an introduction to the rules for concubines. At five PM, you, your staff members and your concubines will transfer to Plato Base.>

"You mean the psychologist?" Guido asked.

<And everybody else you recruit in the meantime.>

"Okay, it's ten past ten. Time to make my own plans it seems. I need breakfast and a place to think. Where is this ship's galley?"

At eleven o'clock, Guido met Centurion Arida at Earth Command, the huge geostationary space station of the Confederacy. Arida was a slender Latino who looked like he had just left high school. But the photos in his office indicated that he was much older. Among other old photos there was one of the Tower of the Americans, San Antonio, with a ticket of the World's Fair 1968 sticking in the frame.

"Welcome Centurion Marek, I learned that you joined us by a special invitation? Please take a seat. Coffee? Tea?" Centurion Arida welcomed Guido.

Guido sat down on a comfortable armchair before the Centurion's desk. "Thank you, I just had breakfast. Yes, Centurion L'ielit Debir convinced me that I could do better work if I joined the Confederacy."

"Isn't she a remarkable person? I found out that she left Earth as a concubine. Now she is the Civil Service officer responsible for extraction operations of her colony."

Guido felt a little uneasy. He didn't want to tell that he knew her when she was a nearly broken woman. That would have sounded like blatant bragging. "Yes, indeed, a remarkable career. I heard you had the idea to build moon bases to buffer and speed up Earth evacuation?"

"No, no," Centurion Arida shook his head. "I'm just a member of the team. We took a good idea and now we try to make it work. I can imagine it's a little hard for you. You are completely new to the job, no staff members, no handbook and so on. I thought you might need some advice. If you ever need help, you can always call me. Or any other Civil Service Officer in Earth Command. Today I invited you to meet some of your colleagues and to give you the little advice that every new Civil Service officer gets."

Three hours later, Guido left the space station again. He had learned several important things about the military hierarchy he was now part of but, most important, he had met a number of key officers who were all interested in the same goal: extracting as many people from Earth as possible. While walking to a transport chamber, he called his temporary home. "Hello, Guido here. I heard you got a briefing about the basic rules for concubines?"

Gina answered his question. "Yes, the AI told us about the briefing and shortly after, a Marine led us to an auditorium where we met the other sponsors' concubines too. It was a bit frightening what they told us there, you know?"

Reggie interrupted her speech. "It wasn't really all new to us. We just got more details and we were shown a few drastic videos. But mostly it was a repetition of what we already knew."

Gina took over again. "We also were able to talk to a Marine's concubine after the briefing. We are assigned to the same colony as the Marines on the ship, right? It seems to be a really nice planet with friendly people. But she warned us that not all colonies are like that."

"I figured out how to operate the replicator!" the voice of Mike piped up.

The others laughed. "Yes, and we stopped him before he could flood the whole room with burgers and toys," Lisa mentioned.

Guido grinned. "Looks like I don't have to worry about you. I'm just on my way to Plato Base, where we will live for the next few years. I'll tell you more details later. I'll be back in about an hour. Bye."

Guido stepped on the silver disk and once again tried not to think about what a transporter nexus was doing to transport him over this long distance. In a split second he arrived at Plato Base. He was standing on the ramp he already knew from the holographic plans he had seen. It was very quiet. The floor was covered with some kind of soft coating, colored light green. The ramp was twenty meters wide and the ceiling was more than ten meters up, dispersing a soft, diffuse light. At periodic distances there were doors that had to lead to the dwellings.

The open shaft was impressive, although only sixty-five of the two-thousand meters of depth were finished. There was no guardrail, at least none visible.

<Welcome to Plato Base Centurion Guido Marek. I am the base's AI. Can I do something for you?> the AI introduced itself to Guido.

"I just wanted to take a look at my new home. The open shaft is a little intimidating. I expect there is a force field preventing accidents?" Guido asked.

<Yes, there is a full height force field present.>

"Can we add a physical handrail or tint the field? I think I'm not the only one who's a little scared by a deadly cliff with only invisible safety devices, even the most secure ones," Guido asked.

Suddenly a billowing fog appeared, indicating where the force field was. Guido was still able to see the details at the opposite side of the shaft. "That's better. Thank you, AI." Guido approached the next pod's door. It opened without a sound. He found a comfortable two-floor-apartment with a standard pod layout including gray walls and furniture. A short corridor led to the living room with an open kitchen area. Behind that were the master's bedroom and a few smaller rooms. A lift led to the second floor. "I learned these pods are configurable in almost any thinkable way?"

<Almost, Centurion. They are not as flexible as a real pod and can't be expanded beyond their current size. Would you like to select this pod as your home?>

"It doesn't make any difference, does it? I'll take this for living and the next one up the ramp for my office and administration purposes, whatever that might include in the future. My concubines will be allowed to change the furniture and the colors in this pod to anything but gray. They are also allowed to freely leave the pod. The same for the children. I don't think they can get lost here. We also need to alter some pods into briefing rooms, med bays and the like, but we will plan this later."

Guido left the pod again. He noticed that now there was a small sign beside the door, showing his name and rank, and a short distance up the ramp, a big sign above the next door showed the word Administration.

"AI, I'll return in a short while with my concubines and five more sponsors. I think three of them will be permanent staff members. I want them to get pods near mine. Let's say, the upper two loops of the ramp are reserved for staff members. Below that is visitors' area."

<Confirmed.>

Guido enjoyed the peace and silence of the moment. He figured the atmosphere of this place would change in the next few hours and never return to this almost magic state.

After a while Guido returned to the Pine Creek. The biggest adventure of his life was underway.