The view of the checkpoint shrunk rapidly as they accelerated out towards Chiark.
'So what's your story?' A question most people would ask after witnessing such a dramatic fall. Looking well rested, Janus decided it would be best to make small talk with the boy sitting next to him.
'Well... About my parents, they died yesterday.' Janus flinched, he knew the look of pain that was clearly painted across Brad's face. What were the odds of him asking a question that uncovered a deep, fresh, unhealed wound?
Trying to ease out of the awkwardness that soon materialised around them he quickly blurted, 'it's okay if you don't want to talk about it now'
'No no, it's fine, I'll continue. You see, my family got tricked into moving to a Federation controlled system with the promise of better lives, work, and school. On where we were born, it was a pretty rural planet with the largest communities being the size of small towns. We were smuggled into C36 by a helpful looking bandit who turned out to be part of a large human trafficking group.'
Asking the obvious, 'so, I guess life there wasn't a bed of roses?'
'Yeh. Far from what was promised to us. We lived in a partially completed building in a pretty shady neighborhood. At first, it was extremely exciting for us to finally see the big city with lights shining no matter day or night. It was amazing to see buildings that touched the edge of the horizon. However, once we settled in, the bandits started to force us to work in the factories nearby and wanted us to pay for "transport fees" for getting us into C36; it was an astronomically high sum. They threatened to report us if we did not do so.'
Brad's face was filled with rage. Putting his muscled arm over Brad, Janus comforted him while motioning him to continue.
'We were all miserable. What they paid us at the factory was not enough to cover all our expenses, on top of the "transport fees" they demanded from us. I had to deal on the side and take up some... side jobs.' Brad's voice weakened near the end of his story.
'What kind of side jobs?' A follow-up question Brad hoped in a million years no one would ask him.
'Ha ha ha...' A nervous laughter escaped Brad's mouth.
'Go on, I won't judge.' Janus gave Brad an encouraging look.
'I... let people... men, use me... to get them off. It pays well...' Brad blushed as red as a tomato at what he had just said. In normal circumstances, one would not expect a boy as innocent as Brad to openly talk about his sexual expeditions. Expecting the worse, Brad sulked in his seat silently.
'Hey man, you gotta do what you gotta do. Don't be ashamed.' Slightly stunned but also amused by Brad's confession Janus patted Brad's back.
Brad was surprised, he always assumed that a confession like that would offend others, just like how it did when he mentioned it to his father. He still clearly remembered what his father yelled at him, 'I didn't raise a child to become a faggot! Even if we really need the money, I will never accept it knowing what you did!' That 6 letter name hurt Brad a lot. Father was furious that day, it took a lot of consoling from mother to prevent him from beating up Brad. A cold war soon emerged within the family; Brad and his father avoided each other like the plague. Uptill the day they died, Brad has not reconciled with his father.
After a long moment of silence Brad replied 'it didn't last long.'
'Oh?'
'It got messy after awhile. Some guys got clingy. I didn't mind earning a few quid servicing many different cocks; I would dare say I enjoyed it. However I hate it when they started demanding for more, grabbing my ass, forcing themselves onto me, starting to become rapey... Some even wanted me to become their boy forever -- I obviously noped my way out of those situations.'
'Wow' was all Janus could mutter after hearing about Brad's life.
Indulged in their conversation, Janus barely noticed a cloaked ship tailing them. Starting to feel something was amiss, he then realised that the cloaked ship was docking onto their very own ship out of the corner of his eyes. His ship rattled as the other ship locked into place.
'Here comes trouble.'
'What a nice ship you've got here. Mind if we take it from you?' A booming voice echoed over the hissing of the now unpressurized door.
'Stay here, I'll take care of this.' With such a commanding tone -- that was filled to the brim with confidence, Brad felt safe.
A burly man stepped out of the darkness, 'my my my, look at what we have here. Two brothers exploring the cold dark world on their own.'
Behind the burly man were two other men who obviously worked out a lot. Around their thick arms, they carried laser rifles. Brad could tell that they were the ones that did the dirty work.
'You better start getting of my ship or...'
'Or what? Beat me up? Ha ha ha ha ha ha. Don't be naive boy. We can do this the easy way by handing over the ship now or we can do it the hard way.' Right after saying that, the two men raised their rifles -- in quite a threatening way. Janus stood his ground and raised his eyebrows, unconvinced.
'I admire your courage' chortled the burly man patronizingly.
'Let's get this over and done with.'
With that said, the two men behind stepped forward and moved towards Janus as though they were marching. Unfazed, Janus was an unmovable force. As soon as they were in combat range, Janus grabbed both of their rifles and pointed it towards the opposite direction. In a moment of panic, the two men shot wildly behind them, missing every single shot. Like he was trained, Janus' mind focused. Analysing his surroundings -- with every minute detail and possibility in mind -- he had come up with a plan within a fraction of second.
In a quick motion, Janus quickly disabled the two armed men by pulling off the capacitors that powered the laser rifles. Next, he sent both of his arms flying towards their chests, aiming for their solar plexus. Unsurprisingly, even for large men like themselves, they were knocked out almost instantaneously. Horror started to set in for the burly man as he witnessed Janus take down both of his men with ease.
The burly man started to run away, trying to escape from his demise but to no avail. Unfortunately for him, Janus tackled him down, securing both of his arms tightly.
`Hey Brad, could you get the rope that's in that compartment over there?' Janus looked at Brad and then towards the compartment that was next to the steering wheel.
On the floor, the burly man continued to struggle with all his might and kicked violently.
`Here.' Brad moved in, bending down close to Janus as he passed the rope. In an unlikely turn of events, a hard kick somehow managed to land on Brad's arm.
`Oww! That hurt!' Brad grabbed his arm immediately while moaning in pain. A slight smug could be seen on the burly man's face, but not for long.
`That will teach you a lesson.' Janus punched the burly man square in the jaw. He then quickly binded the man's arms and legs with the rope, preventing him from ever moving again unless he was released.
Brad was impressed. He looked towards Janus, showing his appreciation. Under the pale lights that illuminated the ship, Janus' muscular body glistened in sweat. His strong defined arms worked together methodologically, tying the two other men up. Brad could not help but admire this sight.
Janus noticed Brad staring at him with what he would define as eyes of lust. He coughed a little to get Brad's attention and sighed `Watch over them. Give me a few minutes while I'll take a look at what they've been hoarding on their ship'
As Janus strode off, Brad was left stranded alone in his thoughts. A few thoughts started to come to mind; he can rely on this man and maybe, no, definitely wanted to marry this beautiful bastard.
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