Chapter 2

Bob spent the day on Tuesday trying to recruit volunteers and acquire some of the equipment necessary for the program. He had been thinking that martial arts training was a good idea. He went to the Judo studio operated by Matt King. It being early, and on a weekday, no classes were scheduled at the time.

Bob and Matt talked for a long time. Matt had the score to volunteer anyway. Matt was very enthusiastic about a program designed to increase CAP scores. He agreed that fight training would help almost all of the women as well as some of the men.

Matt excused himself and went deeper into the studio. He soon returned with a pole that had padding, like boxing gloves, on each end. Matt explained that it was called a pugil stick, and that it had been invented to train soldiers how to use a bayonet. Because of that, it was relatively easy to become somewhat proficient. Despite the padding, he said, pugil sticks were fairly dangerous. Protective gear was needed before using the pugil sticks.

Bob liked the idea. Always concerned that the girls were at a disadvantage, he thought there would be almost no benefit in being big. Matt said that he only owned two pugil sticks. Asked where and how to get more, Matt replied that he had made them himself. Matt produced a design drawing from the US Army. The materials were easily obtained. Fabrication looked to be easy. Matt made a copy for Bob, who said he could have more sticks made. After discussion, Matt and Bob decided that 24 sticks were needed. Matt said he used football lineman's helmets and boxing gloves as protection. Hockey gloves could be used instead. Mouth protection was important, Matt said.

Matt took Bob into the studio and showed him a kind of frame. It looked something like a two-by-four stud wall, but with fewer studs, lying on its side. Matt explained that it was used to teach balance and body control. Matt demonstrated by stepping onto one end of a board. He had Bob do likewise, facing Matt. They grasped hands, and Matt immediately pulled Bob's arm, forcing Bob to step off the board. They tried it again, and again, and again. Pretty soon, Bob had some idea of the strategy and maneuvering required, although he was unable to best Matt even once. Bob really liked that too. Matt agreed that size and strength were no benefit.

Finally, Bob got around to the most important part -- Matt himself. Bob sort of laid an ambush for Matt. He got Matt to agree that the pugil sticks would teach controlled aggression faster than anything else would. He admitted that the sticks were dangerous if misused. He allowed as how he was probably the only person in town who knew how to teach their use. Matt's wife Junko could teach the use of the pugil sticks but was unavailable.

Matt saw the knockout punch coming and he stepped right into it. He volunteered to devote all the time necessary to do whatever he could to aid the program. Not only would he teach the use of pugil sticks, but he would also teach the students as much Judo as possible in the allotted time. Bob raised the issue of money. Matt pointed out that he wasn't going to need money after the extraction, and insisted he had enough to live on for the duration. Matt did say that uniforms would be necessary, and agreed to order a dozen in various sizes for prompt delivery. Bob extracted a promise from Matt to let it be known if his financial circumstances changed.

As they were parting, Matt agreed to come to the school mid-morning on Friday, and all day, every day beginning Monday. Bob borrowed one pugil stick and set off to arrange fabrication of two dozen more.

Bob walked into the hardware store, carrying the pugil stick. John Underwood, the store owner, had never seen one before. Together, they went over the design drawing and the example. Item by item, John produced something that would work perfectly. John had to beg off on the canvas covers for the two ends. Bob knew he could arrange to have them made. Bob asked John to assemble enough material to make two dozen of the sticks. John and Bob talked about who could be 'volunteered' to make the sticks on short notice -- Bob needed them done by Saturday. John convinced Bob that he could make arrangements. Bob insisted that John charge for all of the materials. After verbally jousting for a while, John reluctantly agreed to do so. As Bob walked out of the store, John suddenly forgot all about any bill.

Bob next went to the school. He found both Jean and Dave able to talk with him. Bob shared with them his concern that the lack of equipment would hold up the program. Bob told them all about his visit with Matt King. He told them about pugil sticks and the balance frame. Dave and Jean both thought those were good ideas. Dave agreed to drop in on Matt to see for himself.

Jean pointed out that the girls had delicate, easily damaged tissue hanging from their chests, prime targets for boxing gloves and pugil sticks. Both men were thankful for her remembering that minor point. They talked about the best equipment and decided that neoprene life vests would be best, especially on short notice. They agreed that two dozen were needed.

Dave said that he could get sporting gear on short notice. After the three talked it over, they decided to get a dozen pairs of boxing gloves and helmets for boxing, and the same number of boxing gloves and football helmets for the pugil stick training. Dave suggested they needed about 200 mouth guards.

Jean brought up the fact that the lower grades were still in regular session, and would need access to the gymnasium. They talked about it for a bit and came up with the solution that several classrooms would be cleared out and used for various physical training processes.

As they were winding up, Jean said she thought a meeting on Thursday night of the Core Group would be useful. Both Bob and Dave agreed. Jean agreed to notify the other members.

Jean returned to her office, where Michael Martin was working away on his database. She had given him temporary access to the school's information system. Michael had successfully captured the name and address data for all of the students, their parents and siblings. Also captured was fairly complete information on all of the teachers and staff in the school, including addresses and spouses' names.

They talked about how to go about identifying and getting information for all of the people who were not associated with the school. Jean didn't have any immediate ideas. They decided to bring the issue before the community at the meeting. Michael hoped he would have the card readers ready for the meeting.

When Jean had done about as much for Michael as she could, Michael thanked her, packed up his equipment, and headed home.

Michael had been working furiously on the database since the Monday night meeting. He anticipated that they would need multiple computers that could access the database at the same time. He put the database on a network that his friends could access.

The card readers arrived on Tuesday afternoon. He quickly figured out how to connect the reader to his laptop computer. Using his own card, he was able to capture what he thought was the relevant information from his card. He was able to have the database correctly associate his card results with the record for himself already contained in the database.

He studied his own sub-scores. Only a few were disappointing, although they were merely confirmation of weaknesses he was aware of. The high sub-score in libido didn't really surprise him, but it did make him feel more at ease. He had worried that his needs were beyond unusual. He didn't really have enough nerve to find out from his friends whether they had similar experiences.

He copied his sister's record to another file, and then removed it from the database. After having him cajole her for ten minutes, she let him read her card into his computer. It correctly created a new record for her. He deleted the new record, restored the old record, and re-scanned her card. It correctly associated her card information with the existing record.

While on his way home, Michael had stopped to see his mom at her work. His mom was reluctant to let him read her card. She relented when Michael pointed out that the information for every person in the whole town would soon be in his database. At home, he scanned her card. Again, it correctly correlated the information to the existing record.

Michael studied the three records. The database had automatically marked him as a volunteer because of his 6.8 CAP score. Another field showed that he was eligible for two concubines. There was a separate field for his additional 'motherly' concubine. There were fields for identification of the concubines, but they were empty because he hadn't selected any yet.

Other fields correctly associated him with his mother, his father (even though he had moved away years ago), and his sister. There also was reference to his aunt and uncle (his mom's sister) and his two cousins.

The records for his sister and his mother showed much the same, except that neither of them was a sponsor. For them, there was provision to identify a sponsor. There were even fields to identify sister-concubines and dependants.

Michael turned his attention to the sub-scores for himself, his sister and his mother. Most of the numbers corresponded very well with what he knew about them. His mother had strong maternal instincts. His sister's were lower but also noted her lesser experience.

The surprise came when he got to the sex sub-scores. He of course had no clue what they did sexually, much less what they thought and felt. He didn't think of his mother sexually. Well, he didn't *dwell* on the idea of her sexually. He knew she was an attractive woman, for her 'advanced' age of 36. He did think about his sister, but with the constant dampening knowledge that it was incest.

His mother's sex sub-score was high. Michael could not recall a single episode where his mother had shown any evidence that she had libido: not a single date since his dad had left, no overheard talk with her friends, not a shred of evidence of toys, photos, or the like.

His sister's scores were similar, but phrased as 'high potential' instead of the 'high' on his mother's score. He thought about what that meant. He realized that his sister must be a virgin, as he was. He compared her sub-score with his and with his mother's. He decided that the difference between his and his sister's must be on account of gender. He decided to hold off on any more study of the details of their sub-scores.

He shifted his attention back to the functionality of the database. He decided to test the concubine selection process. He scanned his own card again, activating his record. A few keystrokes later, he was ready. He scanned his mother's card and, voila! Her name appeared in the first concubine field. He called up her record and, sure enough, his name appeared as sponsor.

As soon as he first received his CAP card, he had begun dreaming about this girl, or that girl, in his passionate embrace. Until that moment, Michael had not consciously considered his mother as his concubine. As he sat there, the idea bloomed in his head. Also, something bloomed in his pants. He realized that his mother was perfect for him. Not only did he love her, but he *liked* her. He appreciated all she did for him. He enjoyed being in her company. They appreciated each other's sense of humor. And, yes, now that he let himself admit it, he *wanted* her, sexually. He was almost unbearably hard. Knowing nothing useful would be accomplished until he had relief, he closed his bedroom door, yanked down his pants and sat back down. He turned and looked at his bed. In his mind's eye, he was on top of her, *in* her, pounding away as hard as he could. It didn't take much time until a powerful orgasm nearly knocked him from his chair.

He sat for a bit, recovering. He found a dirty shirt and cleaned the surprisingly big mess off the floor. He was going to have to give that line of thinking some time to rattle around in his head. Right then, he could think of no reason not to take his mother as his concubine.

He was finally able to go back to work. He worked on getting his second concubine assigned in the database. This time he tried getting his sister assigned without using her CAP card. It was relatively easy, but the assignment was marked "tentative" until the routine was re-done using her CAP card. He checked and found her listed as his second concubine on his record. He was listed as sponsor on her record. Their mother was listed as sister-concubine on his sister's record. The record for their mother was correct as well.

This exercise forced him to think about his sister as his concubine. They got along pretty well, now that he had matured a bit. They didn't fight, and they hardly ever bickered. If he was going to be having sex with -- he forced himself to say 'fucking' in his mind -- his mother, there was no reason not to keep their entire family together. Stacy had a lot more choices, though. She was popular at school and was really sexy. He decided to talk to her later.

Michael cleared out his concubine choices and then took the steps to designate his mother as the 'motherly' concubine. That worked just as smoothly as the rest.

Bob next headed for the sporting goods store. Fred Gregory, the owner, greeted Bob as he entered. Bob explained his thoughts on teaching the kids to shoot. His goals for shooting were to instill discipline (on account of the danger) and confidence through success with targets and clay pigeons. Bob said he was toying with the idea that every student had to hunt for and kill some game, dress it, cook it and eat it. Fred thought that was a very good idea. He added that doing that exercise only once might not resolve the squeamishness some might feel.

Bob said they needed a safe place to do target shooting, and a safe place to do skeet shooting. Fred said he would put his mind to it, ask a few friends, and get back to Bob.

Bob was also thinking of teaching aggressiveness -- and other good traits -- by having the students play paintball. They talked about the costs, risks and arrangements that would be necessary. No decisions were made.

Jean made her way to the post office. Susan Jenks, the Postmaster (she hated Postmistress), was her neighbor. Jean enticed Susan to join her for a cup of coffee. They walked over to the café and seated themselves. Coffee was delivered while the friends made small talk.

Jean reviewed some aspects of the plan that weren't yet being discussed in the community. Jean briefly explained some of the purposes of the database. She also related her concern about how they would -- with any efficiency at all -- identify all of the potential evacuees. She let the problem hang in the air while they sipped coffee. Jean could see that Susan was weighing the problem, and was willing to let her friend have the time she needed.

After a while, Susan put her cup down and caught Jean's eyes with her own. "Jean, the Postal Service can not divulge any such information. As Postmaster, I'm afraid that I cannot help you.

"However, I will mention to you that nearly all of the postal delivery people come into this café every day. If they had personal knowledge of who lived where on their routes, and if they were willing to share their personal knowledge with you, that would not be the business of the Postal Service." Susan's eyes sparkled.

Jean knew that her friend had so much as told her that the carriers could, and would, recite each and every resident on their entire routes. Learning that there were only five carriers, she and Susan talked about having Michael and four of his friends interview them all at once. After they talked it through however they decided to begin with just one carrier and Michael. Jean agreed to have Michael on hand at the café by 8:30 tomorrow morning.

With that, they chatted a little more. Susan was quite interested in the planned evacuation and the drive to improve the kids' CAP scores. Jean promised to keep Susan informed if there was anything Susan could do.

Bob finally made his way back to his own shop. His wife, Kathy, was holding down the fort with aplomb. Kathy worked in the shop quite a bit, and ran the place often. The shop wasn't busy, but it was steady. Bob and Kathy went through their changing of the guard ritual, updating Bob on recent activities. After a parting kiss -- unusually passionate, thought Bob -- Kathy left, walking home to start making dinner.

Since their mom didn't get home from work until after six o'clock, Stacy Martin usually started making dinner. She was rather proud of her spaghetti sauce. She had learned at her mother's side and then branched out on her own. Soon the sauce was simmering. Stacy put pasta water on to boil and made a salad. When she had dinner well in hand, she turned down all the burners until her mother arrived. She went to her room to relax.

Jenny Martin dragged herself in the back door with a sigh. She'd had a pretty hard day and was glad to be home. She spotted the spaghetti sauce and silently thanked Stacy. She hadn't been looking forward to dinner preparation.

She announced her presence as she passed the kids' rooms on the way to her own. Closing the door, she peeled off her work clothes and dived onto the bed for a brief rest. A bit later, Stacy knocked on the door and told her mother she'd have dinner on the table in about 15 minutes. Stacy went back down the hall into the kitchen. She called her brother to his chore on her way by.

Michael's job was to remove the clutter from the dining table, set three places, and provide beverages. Stacy and Michael got milk tonight. Guessing his mother would appreciate it, Michael poured her a glass of wine.

Michael's enthusiasm and good mood were infectious. He soon had his sister laughing and verbally sparring with him. When Jenny arrived, she was swept up in the pleasant banter. She felt her day's hard work melt away. They all sat down and dinner was served.

"Michael," Jenny chuckled, "I'm delighted that you are so happy and excited. What is it that has made you so happy?"

"The group last night put me in charge of a database for all the people who want to be extracted," said Michael. "I made a lot of progress today. It's really fun and rewarding."

"That's good, Michael," his mother answered with a smile.

The banter continued as they ate their dinner. When they were nearly done, the conversation fell off. "Mom," Michael said, "while I worked on this database, I got to thinking."

When he didn't continue, Jenny said, "Go on."

"I don't know how to say this. It's important, and I want Stacy to hear it too. Mom, will you come with me to the stars?"

Jenny was flummoxed. At first, she looked like a fish out of water. Her mouth moved, but nothing came out. Soon, her expression became like a deer in the headlights. She stared away, wide-eyed, for probably two whole minutes. That's a long time to wait for a response. Michael began to worry that he had made the biggest blunder of his entire life.

Stacy was looking from one to the other. She wouldn't have been more surprised if a movie star walked in the back door. Finally, her brain began to work again and she thought about what she'd just heard.

She knew Michael was qualified to volunteer. She thought about how young he was. She realized that mom would be perfect for him. He would be a good match for mom as well. She was pleased.

Then she began to wonder whether Michael was going to ask her the same thing. She had never given thought to having sex with her little brother. Now she wondered whether she could, whether she wanted to. She wasn't immediately sure that she did. However, she had had a lot of time to think about her being caught in an extraction with her hymen intact. That was not something she wanted to do. A girl's first time should be special. She sure didn't have anybody else that she wanted to take her cherry. Maybe her brother would gently, carefully help her out?

While Stacy was busy inside her own head, she realized that her mother's eyes were filling with tears at the same time a smile was forming on her entire face. She looked at her brother and nodded her approval. Michael immediately looked deeply relieved.

"I'm sorry," their mother blubbered as she wiped tears from her face. The smile wouldn't be wiped off. In fact, it threatened to break her face right in two. "It was sort of like my whole life flashed in front of my eyes. My son is a man. My daughter is a woman. My son wants to take me to wife." She looked back and forth between her two children. "That is the most scary, most revolting, most thrilling thought I have ever had. Yes, Michael. Yes, I will go with you to the stars. I love you both very much. I will do anything in my power to help you."

"You scared me, Mom," Michael grinned. "I thought for sure I had made the worst, most unforgivable mistake of my entire life. You have instead made me very happy."

"Do you know who else you'd like to take?" Jenny asked diplomatically.

"I haven't talked to anybody else. Stacy is in a different position. She is very popular at school." He turned to his sister. "Stacy, I invite you to come with Mom and me. We would still be a family. I know you have more choices. I would like to let you think about it. Please tell me if you make a decision, one way or the other. I won't be mad if you choose someone else. I will hold your place for as long as I can."

"Thank you so much, Michael. I'm really glad, really proud that you chose Mom to go with you. Mom, your daughter isn't really a woman yet," she blushed. "I may have to have that condition rectified in the near future. Michael, I have a whole head full of thoughts and feelings about being your concubine. I'm so glad you let me think about it for a while."

"Well, by that definition Mom, your son isn't a man yet, either," Michael said.

"That situation will be resolved soon, I'm sure," Mom said. "Michael, I will do this. But I have to ask you for some time to sneak up on it. I can't let you drag me to bed right now. We will get there, and soon, but not quite yet. Is that all right?"

"Sure, Mom," and he rose to kiss her cheek. He turned and planted a kiss on his sister's cheek as well. That made her smile broadly.

When dinner was over and Michael had finished cleaning the kitchen, he found his mom and sister in the living room, reading. He came up behind his mom on the sofa and stood quietly, just watching her. She felt his presence and turned to look at him. "What?" she asked him.

"I'll behave, I promise," Michael said softly. "I'm just so excited, so proud, so happy." She smiled at him and went back to her reading.

He leaned his head close to her ear and whispered, "How did you feel when you caught me trying to look down your blouse?"

She blushed. "That you were just a curious boy," she answered quietly.

In her ear he whispered again, "How did you feel when you saw that I had a boner? Did you know that half of them were caused by you?"

She blushed crimson. She looked into his eyes but said nothing.

"I have had the hots for you for a long time," he whispered again. That wasn't really true. 'Flattery will get you everywhere', he thought.

He made a show of slowly reaching for the front of her blouse. He slowly pulled it away from her body, looking deep within. She couldn't keep the groan from escaping. He let go of the blouse, kissed her cheek, and marched off to his bedroom. Stacy giggled. She had witnessed the entire episode.

Mother, daughter and son had incest-inspired orgasms that night, but they were all self-inflicted.

Bob closed up shop and ambled home. His day had been busy but largely successful. Kathy met him at the back door with a wet kiss and his favorite cocktail. She told him the dinner fare and sent him to change his clothes. He walked down the hall and into their bedroom. He lightly pushed the door closed behind him. Enough to get the door mostly closed, he thought. He was surprised when he heard the latch click. He knew he hadn't used enough force to completely close the door. He turned back the way he came and found his wife leaning against the door, a predatory look on her face. She sauntered up to him, relieved him of his drink, and pushed his chest until he fell backward onto the bed. She set the drink down and climbed up his body. She then delivered a long, scorching kiss and attacked his belt and fly. As soon as she liberated his newly erect cock, she straddled him, yanked her panties to the side and impaled herself in one thrust.

"Oh, woman, that's wonderful," Bob hissed. "What is the occasion for this afternoon delight?"

"I doubted you, Mr. Minter. I thought the problems with your plan were insurmountable. I admit it: I was wrong. The kids are going to be rescued! It's gonna work, honey! Your plan is going to be a success! You are a hero all over town. I'm so proud I could burst. It's made me so horny that I soaked my panties. So, I thought I'd throw a ball -- a balling, that is! You like it?"

"You know I love it, Mrs. Minter," grinned Bob. She started pistoning on his cock. He reached under her blouse and liberated her wonderful breasts. She brought her body down so she could give him yet another searing kiss. They threw themselves into the task at hand with all their strength. Soon, they reached their release, one after the other. They lay together for a while in post-coital bliss, kissing and caressing. Soon, it was time to get up and finish making dinner. They kissed tenderly and then got up and about.

The kids were rounded up and seated. Dinner was served. The usual dinnertime banter prevailed, but sometimes Bob caught Kathy looking at him, her face full of her love for him.

Michael Martin settled himself in a booth in the café. The café owner had helped him choose a booth with a bit of privacy and, more importantly, an electric outlet for his laptop computer. Michael felt uncomfortable taking up a booth in the café without generating any revenue for the owner. He ordered a cola to drink and a donut.

While those were coming, Michael fired up his laptop. When it had booted itself, he opened the database and started Google Earth. As jaded as he was by technology, he was blown away that Google Earth could show such detail, so seamlessly, about almost the whole world. He zoomed in on the café where he now sat, and waited for the postman.

The postman turned out to be a woman. Jean had explained Michael's duty to the café owner before she left the day before. When he saw Tammy Robinson arrive, he showed her to Michael's table.

Michael courteously scrambled out of the booth and shook Tammy's hand. They seated themselves on the benches, facing each other. Michael did very well holding up his end of the small talk. Tammy understood Michael's objective and was prepared to spend as much time as needed. Tammy ordered coffee and toast, and the waitress withdrew.

Michael rotated the monitor on his laptop so that both he and Tammy could see it. Tammy explained her route, which was generally the area outside of the center of town and to the northeast. Michael passed a pad and pen to Tammy in case she wanted to make some notes. Tammy described physically how she drove her route, naming the roads and streets. Michael zoomed Google Earth in towards the beginning of Tammy's route.

Tammy named the first stop on her route. Michael called a search of the name in the database and found it absent. Michael added new records for the resident and his wife. Tammy thought there were no other residents.

On and on they went. When Michael got a hit on a name on Tammy's route, they went over the record, adding missing additional information if Tammy had any. If the resident's name was not already in the database, Michael added it.

But it took a long time. The waitress kept re-filling Tammy's coffee and Michael's cola. The owner kept bringing goodies for them -- a slice of pie, and then a brownie, and such. He insisted that they were on the house and that Michael should enjoy himself. By the time they had gone completely through Tammy's route, they both felt bloated.

Michael tried fruitlessly to pay the bill. The owner of course would hear none of it. Michael was able to leave the waitress a generous tip, since he had hogged her booth for hours. Michael packed up his laptop. He and Tammy left the café and parted ways.

Michael returned to school and examined his haul from Tammy. He was pleased to see that he had added 122 names to the database. But it had taken two-and-a-half hours, and Michael felt drained. He went in to see Mrs. Stevens, err, Jean, to make his report.

Jean was pleased with the results. She elicited from Michael any ideas he had about how to improve the process. Michael realized that having a separate computer for each mail carrier would speed things up a lot. He admitted to Jean that he probably didn't have the stamina to do more than one of those interviews in a day. Together, they formulated a plan. Michael lassoed three of his friends to help him tomorrow. Together they would provide all of the computer equipment necessary. Jean meanwhile called the café owner and made arrangements for the use of the small banquet room the next morning. Their plan settled, Jean sent Michael home to rest and relax.

The gymnasium had been set up with the bleachers opened on both sides and chairs set up between. A low stage was in front, with a podium and a number of chairs. The meeting was set for 7:00. By 6:45, the room was already practically full. The noise level revealed that almost everyone was engaged in an animated conversation with someone else.

The Core Group, as they were now known, had been invited to sit on the stage. Bob, for one, was reluctant to do so. He felt he didn't deserve to be treated special and that what little he could add would best be said from the floor. That argument went nowhere. The Core Group sat down on the stage in hopes the audience would follow suit.

When 7:00 rolled around, John approached the podium and asked the audience to take their seats. Predictably, it took nearly five minutes for everyone to get settled in and quiet.

"Good evening," John began. "By now, I'm sure almost all of you know the proposal that has been floated to evacuate all of the town's children. First, behind me are the people who have helped this plan make whatever progress has been achieved so far. Why don't you let them know how you feel about the plan itself, and let them know how you feel about them promoting the plan, with your applause?"

You would have thought the Core Group members were rock stars. The applause was deafening, accompanied by whistles and shouts. Finally the noise level subsided and John re-approached the podium.

"I suppose that's as good a gauge as any of your opinion of the program," chuckled John. The applause began again, but John tamped it down. "You plainly know many of the details, but it is only fitting that we at least gloss over the most relevant portions.

"We plan to evacuate all of the children in town. In fact, we intend to evacuate as many of the *people* in town -- and the surrounding area -- as we possibly can. To do that, we intend to assemble all of the potential sponsors, both adult and among the students, to match them up with concubines, and to dole out children, a few each. Many of the children will go with their mothers, or fathers, or both. There will be some children who are to be evacuated but must go without a parent. For those children, a form of guardianship will be necessary.

"Our present estimate is that there are probably only 70 or so sponsors in the whole town, while there are perhaps 400 children. We hope each and every sponsor will do his or her duty and accept as many children as necessary. But you must all know by now that, no matter what we do, a lot of men in town, and a lot of high school boys, will not be evacuated. In order to maximize the number of people evacuated, we found out that it is possible to increase CAP scores with a great deal of effort. Not only can people work to reach the magic 6.5, but those who already have 6.5 or more can also increase their score. Anyone whose score increases to the next integer level can then rescue two more people.

"It is our plan to develop and implement a program designed to achieve as much CAP score improvement in as many people as possible. It is the high school kids who will most benefit from this program. The CAP scoring system discriminates against them because of their lack of life experience. In addition, we will ask some adults to participate in the program. The adults will be those whose CAP sub-scores indicate a high percentage chance that sufficient improvement can be achieved.

"Again, we could simply round up all 70 sponsors, find concubines for them, dole out all of the children to them, and send them on their way. We can't bring ourselves to do that. We feel we must do all in our power to rescue every single person we can. If we aren't going right away, then the only thing to do between now and then is do our CAP score improvement program. To that end, we would like to cancel the regular school curriculum for the children in eighth through twelfth grades and have every one of them work all day, every day, on improving their CAP scores.

"We need to organize this pickup. We need to know who the sponsors are, and their CAP sub-scores. We need to know who the concubines are, and their CAP sub-scores. We need to know who the dependants are. We haven't mentioned this yet, but every sponsor will be allowed one additional concubine as long as the additional is a mother and has good maternal sub-scores. That means that it is almost certain that every woman of childbearing age can be evacuated."

Bedlam broke out. Those who wanted to talk were each drowned out by the next guy, who was now shouting. Needless to say, the raucous meeting lasted for hours. But, in the end, the community approved all of the plans and proposals of the Core Group. Those who had been outraged that CAP sub-scores would be revealed were calmed. The meeting finally broke up to great merriment.

Michael and his friends had read and recorded CAP card information for 167 town folk and 53 students who had attended the community meeting. Hundreds of CAP cards remained to be scanned. The analysis could not be done until most of the scans were in the database. He was running out of time. The kids were required to attend the orientation session at the school tomorrow. The program started in earnest on Monday morning and was expected to run all the way to the extraction. He had time available on the weekend, but he needed to hurry to get the database much closer to complete. He could think of a handful of reasons to use the database. He was pretty sure there were more he hadn't thought of. He needed help.

"Michael, this part is too big for just a few people," Jean told him. "I think it's time to call in reinforcements. The easiest way to get work done is to have someone else do it for you. Is the system set up so that people can help themselves? Can we put computers in several businesses and have people serve themselves?"

"Mrs. St… I'm sorry. I'm having trouble using your first name, Jean," blushed Michael.

"Oh, is that because you think I'm an old woman?" she gibed.

"That's not it at all!" he cried. "We have all been trained to show respect by using more formal names. I respect you very much. I will get used to calling you 'Jean' soon, I promise. Besides, you are *not* an old woman. I'm actually looking forward to seeing you pregnant!"

She blushed deeply. "Thank you, Michael. That's an odd way to make a compliment, but I'll take it as one. You may have to wait some time before you see me pregnant. I want to complete a tour of duty before having children."

"Do you have children, Jean?" he emphasized her name.

"Yes," she answered, "we have two children. Our Megan is in college and our Brandon is in the Navy. But we should get back on track here."

"Thanks, Jean," smiled Michael. "To answer your question, yes, I can make it so anyone can use the database. It's scary for me to do that. I wouldn't want the files damaged. It's my job to make sure the files *can't* be damaged. If I go modify the interface, will you be my guinea pig? Will you try it and see if it feels right to you?"

"I'd be glad to do that. We can ask Heather, our secretary, to try it as well. Now, I don't doubt you'll have the system self-serve ready soon. Where shall we put the computers? I was thinking they could go into the bank, the grocery store and the café. What do you think about that?"

"Good idea," answered Michael. "Could we put out fliers to the other businesses, asking people to go to one of those places and get signed in?"

"Can you enlist some people to distribute the fliers?" she asked.

"Sure, we can do that," said Michael.

"OK, then, let's work in this order: you modify the computers; I'll contact the bank, the grocery and café and get their cooperation; I'll write the flier that we'll distribute around town. When you've finished, Heather and I will try out your set-up. Once we are satisfied, I'll write instructions for using the system."

"We can demonstrate the system when we go set it up," added Michael.

"You'll need to do that, but they'll need something to refer to after you leave," said Jean. "How will you raise your little army of flier distributors?"

"Modern technology is a wonderful thing," smiled Michael. "I can send one text message to whatever number of my friends you like."

"I should think six for distribution, plus yourself and two more to set up the equipment," said Jean. "Is that too many to ask?"

"No problem," answered Michael. "I have one spare laptop we can use for this project. I have to get two more spare laptops from my friends."

"You guys have that much spare equipment? Jean asked. "Why can't we use the school's equipment?"

"We're geeks, Jean. We've got tons of equipment. I'm pretty sure the school equipment won't be able to connect to the network," answered Michael.

"OK, Heather, try it out, please," said Jean. Heather swiped her CAP card through the reader. The screen resolved to show:

Heather Olsen? Y/N

Heather pressed the 'Y' key. The screen changed:

Are you willing to be extracted? Y/N

Heather pressed the 'Y' key again. The system went on to confirm her home address and telephone number; the names and birthdates of her two school-age children; it guided her as she input information about her three-year-old son and her live-in boyfriend; she confirmed the identity of the children's father. She told the system she had not yet agreed to be a concubine. She referenced herself to her mom, dad and brother, who all lived in town under her maiden name. When all of the questions were answered, the system showed a summary of the information for Heather. It offered to let her edit or accept the information. She accepted and the view returned to the splash-screen.

By the time Jean, Michael and Heather had been through the new interface, seven of Michael's friends had arrived. One had stopped and collected Michael's laptop. The three laptops were quickly connected to the network and readied for use.

Jean had drafted instructions for use of the computers and had watched Heather using the system to make sure the instructions were correct and as comprehensible as she could make them. Heather quickly typed the instructions and made a copy for each location.

Off they went to set up the computers and to distribute fliers.

Bob dropped in at the hardware store. John beamed when he greeted Bob. John went behind the counter and returned with a cardboard box with two dozen pugil sticks protruding from the top.

"John! How did you do that so fast?" Bob cried.

"They weren't that hard to make, Bob," John grinned. "A couple of guys made them yesterday."

"That's wonderful! You are great!" said Bob.

"Twern't nothin'" deadpanned John. "The guys were more than glad to do something concrete in support of the program."

"How much was the bill?" Bob asked.

"What bill?" grinned John.

"John, you told me you'd bill for these, at least for the materials," Bob chided.

"Oh, I'm sure that bill is around here somewhere. I'll find it and we'll settle up some other time."

Exasperated, Bob shook his head. "Right, John. Whataya bet, 'some other time' never arrives?"

"Could be," answered John, grinning. "Now get outa here. I know you've been working hard on this project."

Bob carried his box down the street to the store that sold fabric and notions. Marilyn Smith, the owner, was a friend of Kathy's. Marilyn greeted Bob as he came in. "You aren't my most regular customer, Bob. What can I help you with today?"

Bob put down the box and removed Matt's pugil stick and one of the new ones. "Marilyn, these are called pugil sticks. They were originally used to train soldiers how to fight with a bayonet. We are going to use them in the CAP score enhancement program. John Underwood arranged to have two dozen of these made, but his buddies don't sew. I need to buy enough material to cover all of the foam on each of these sticks, plus Velcro to attach the new covers."

"I see that the fabric on the original is pretty sturdy," said Marilyn.

"Those sticks are a lot more wicked than they might appear," grinned Bob. "These will see a lot of duty over the next few months."

Marilyn said, "Not only will I supply the materials, I will arrange to have all of the covers made. Today is Thursday. Would tomorrow be soon enough?"

"Tomorrow would be fabulous, Marilyn," said Bob. "The original belongs to Matt King. He is planning a brief demonstration tomorrow for the kids. It would be very helpful if Matt could have his original back as soon as possible."

"Then I will get it back to Matt later today," answered Marilyn.

"I'll pay you tomorrow when I pick them up," said Bob.

"Right, Bob, like I'm gonna take money from *you* for this project?" grinned Marilyn. "I don't think so. Now get out of here. I'll see you tomorrow."

Amy Rogers, Janice Nelson the twelfth grade teacher, and Dave Franklin had been working together on scheduling. Dave admitted he didn't know much about teaching math and science. Amy and Janice had no clue how to schedule so much physical training. They decided to put their heads together.

Amy had explained to Janice the idea that the kids would be divided into small groups. Janice had taken that idea and run with it all the way to a touchdown. She explained her idea to Amy and Dave.

Janice had checked and found that there were 71 boys and 73 girls in grades 8 through 12, a total of 144. 'How convenient,' she had thought. Half would be doing academics and half doing physical training, so she divided in two. Of those doing academics, half would be doing math and half chemistry and some other science. She divided in two again, and had four groups of 36. Small groups were ultimately needed, Janice knew, and groups of six seemed to fit. Thus, for every quarter of the whole, she had six groups of six kids each.

She had cast about for the right way to identify each of the groups. She weighed using numbers, or letters, but that didn't seem attractive. She hit upon the idea of colors. She noticed that there were six groups of six, and remembered there were six primary colors, red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet. That solved how to distinguish the groups within each quarter of the whole.

It was an easy enough extension to realize that each of the four quarters of the whole also needed a color. She settled upon four that weren't anywhere near the six primary colors: black, white, gray and brown.

Now in each of these four colored quarters of the whole there were six groups of six kids. It was easy to call out any smaller group wanted. If you wanted 36 of the kids, you could call out for, say, all the whites to line up. The red/whites, the orange/whites, and so on would line up. If you wanted 24 kids, you could call for, say, all the greens to line up. The green/grays and the green/blacks, and so on would line up. If you wanted a certain six kids, you could call for, say, the yellow/browns.

They agreed that the students -- as they still thought of them -- wouldn't be able to do four hours in a row of demanding physical training. They also agreed that four continuous hours of math and science wouldn't be a very good idea.

After they talked about it, two-hour increments were settled upon. Someone mentioned lunch period. They cast about for a way to stagger the kids into the cafeteria. Given the two-hour periods they had settled on, none of them could find a way to stagger lunch. They finally reluctantly agreed that all of the kids would descend upon the cafeteria at once. Amy made a note to share that with Jean.

The next topic was the interval between the two-hour blocks of time. The kids would need a shower at the end of each of their two physical sessions. This was in coach's wheelhouse. Dave said kids could leave the gym, shower, dress and get to the classrooms in ten minutes. Both Amy and Janice were skeptical, thinking girls would demand more time. Dave let slip that the kids were going to locker -- and shower -- together. That set off a firefight of epic proportions. They didn't come to blows, but there were a lot of sharp words.

Finally, the two women conceded the critical importance of absolute, immediate obedience. They were unable to think of anything else that would be more humbling, or a better antidote to big ego, or any other repugnant duty that would prove obedience.

They managed to get back on track with scheduling. It was agreed that the locker and transit period would initially be ten minutes. The kids cycling from academic to physical work would use the time to be ready to begin their workouts at the top of the hour. Amy and Janice were both concerned about all 144 kids being in the locker rooms at once. Dave said it would work.

Amy and Janice tried to engage Dave in the manner of approaching the instruction of mathematics to 36 students from five grade levels. Dave's inexperience was actually helpful. They decided together that the academic hours of the day were every bit as good a time to instill leadership and initiative. They decided to try to let the class self-organize to a certain degree. Three instructors (to begin with) would be in the room. Dave, again after acknowledging that he didn't know what he was talking about, said that he hoped the pace of instruction would be almost impossibly fast. The women, knowing that it took time to establish concepts in the minds of children, agreed initially on a very rapid pace.

They turned their attention to the physical training, where Dave was the expert while Amy and Janice had little knowledge. Dave pointed out that he could rely upon their candor, while female students might simply keep still and try to endure. Dave also wanted the women's thoughts on challenges for the students where the girls would have a natural advantage. Dave conceded that much of the brute physical regimen would favor the boys.

They discussed the types of work expected of the students. Dave had to explain what pugil sticks were and how they were used. The women thought them barbaric. After some discussion, the only other ideas they had that would teach girls to fight were boxing and a martial art. Both of those were on the agenda. The women adopted a 'wait and see' attitude to the pugil sticks.

The kids would run, of course. Dave told them the kids would have to have every member of their team finish a 5 K run in thirty minutes. They'd discussed pugil sticks, boxing and a martial art. He was casting about for some objectives that taught a skill but didn't rely upon strength. He explained the balance boards, where opponents try to knock one another off the rail. Amy and Janice thought that that sounded interesting. Double Dutch jump rope also required quite a bit of skill, the women pointed out. Dave was sold.

Swimming gave an advantage to strength, but less so than other sports. They jointly thought a relay race of all six team members would be worthwhile. Janice pointed out that the challenge of a certain distance traveled under water would improve the kids' endurance.

The women wanted all of the kids forced into the Home Ec domain, where the girls would lead. Janice thought that each of the members ought to cut and sew a garment for themselves. Amy was more inclined toward them knitting mittens for themselves. Bread making was discussed but enthusiasm for baking bread deflated as soon as dough rise times were mentioned.

Dave asked the women how they felt about gymnastics. That brought to mind such events as the horse and the uneven bars. It was evident that they were attracted to the idea. Dave suggested that all of the students be required to learn to perform a standing flip -- from a standing position, jump up, flip over and land on the feet again. The women thought that would be too difficult for girls, but Dave assured them otherwise -- he would have a former cheerleader be the instructor.

Dave then began discussing the idea that the students be required to learn to walk on their hands. The women *really* thought that too difficult for girls. Dave allowed as how they might be right, but he really wanted the kids to try. If that proved to be unsuitable, then perhaps they could take up juggling or unicycle riding.

They had been at this for some time. They decided to attempt to relate the four hours available to the list of tasks they wanted to assign to the kids. If the goal in running was a 30 minute finish, then students could easily spend twice that amount getting down to the goal. Getting a team through a jump rope routine might easily take 30 minutes. Pugil sticks and boxing would exhaust the students in 30 minutes each. The martial art would likely require 30-60 minutes per session. The same went for swimming. For the sewing segment, the women insisted that an hour straight was necessary, especially for the inexperienced boys. Gymnastics would also require 30-60 minutes per session.

They toted up all the time and found it far exceeded the four hours available. It appeared that not every task could be taken up every day. Self-management would be required of each team.

Knowing that their talk had been fruitful and knowing that the Core Group was to meet that night, they ended their session. Amy and Dave agreed to separately write a report of the meeting for distribution before the Core meeting.