Flight 12

Flight 12 – a serial novel by Travis Creel

[Author's Note: I realize this story may have diminished readership, because (a) the plot is very complex, (b) it may not have as much explicit sex as you were expecting (yet), and (c) I probably should have published it under Sci-Fi, although there are significant authoritarian elements to come, particularly Underground.

If you're out there and liking this story, let me know. I put a LOT of work into it and want to feel like it wasn't wasted. If you're confused or have questions, write to me and I'll be glad to help out in whatever way I can. Or share your theories as to what is going on - although there will be a big reveal in Chapter 17 and a significant hint in this one. - T.C.]

CHAPTER 15 – PICKING UP THE THREATS

Previously, on the island surface:

• Leo, having left the group on a `call of nature', disappears. Ed and Jasper, thinking he may have returned to the amber dodecagon, find no trace of him – or the amber dodecagon. Jasper realizes that Leo and Paul have both disappeared on their birthdays.

• Percy, in pursuit of the three left-siders not initially captured by Hamish, has located – and fucked – two of them (Piers and Theo). The one who remains free is Abe.

• Abe has written two messages on the beach: a large HELP' sign and GIN AND TIPSY', in remembrance of Seth, whom he believes dead. Percy finds the HELP' sign; Seth finds GIN AND TIPSY'. Both resolve to find him.

Underground:

• Paul, swallowed up by the blue dodecagon, awakens in a dark space, unable to move, with a dildo up his ass. He hears a voice: it belongs to Anthony, who took his virginity back in high school.

In Aruba:

• Jordan and Miles use a little-known browser called `beetscrew' to research ZTA. They send an email to Stimulever, ZTA's parent company, threatening to go to the press if they don't receive information about Flight 12, including a list of passengers. They are puzzled that there are no news stories about the plane's disappearance.

• • • • • • • • MONDAY, DECEMBER 3 * * * * * * * *

ST. MORITZ, SWITZERLAND – JESÚS

• For those of you who don't know why we're here, somebody fucked up. The Project is in jeopardy. Two people have contacted us demanding information about Flight 12.

• (Fred) That's impossible. Someone contacted us?

• Two someones. A Jordan Murdock and a Miles King.

• (Simon) How could that happen?

• (Sean) They must have used beetscrew. But nobody knows about beetscrew.

• That's only one issue. So they found beetscrew. How did they know to look for us? How did they even know about Flight 12? The firewall was supposed to block all females, relatives, friends – the only ones immune from it were gay partners. But we vetted the passengers carefully – no one was involved in a current gay relationship except Herrick and Derisian, who were both on board.

• (Thibaut) And yet the wall was breached.

• (Falcon) Indeed. I ran a scan a few minutes ago and indeed there had been two small cracks.

• (Paolo) Murdock and King.

• (Falcon) Murdock should have been blocked as a female. King – we don't understand how King showed up at Queen Beatrix and met Murdock. He's a gay male but wasn't on the plane.

• Could he have ties to one of the Twelve and we missed it?

• (Sean) Impossible. It would have shown up in the database.

• (Ari) You didn't safeguard against cracks in the firewall?

• (Falcon) Of course we did. I don't understand why it failed. But one of the safeguards was auto-repair if a crack DID occur. It was only open a short time. No one can get through now.

• (Ari) But they brought in a hacker. And he got through. He could get through again. We need to take him out.

• Agreed. The damage has already been done – Murdock and King know too much. They need to be neutralized.

• (Simon) We'll have to send someone.

• (Sean) I'll go.

• This is more Ari's speed, Sean.

• (Sean) The hacking was done from the states, not from Aruba. I'll go to Aruba, Ari can go to the states. After I identify the hacker, Ari can do his thing.

• Murdock and King could destroy The Project. Take care of them, Sean.

• (Sean) Don't worry, Jesús. I know exactly what I'm doing.

THE WESTERN BEACH – SETH

I was buoyed by seeing the message that could only have been left for me by Abe. Unless . . .

Whatever force we were up against knew a lot about us. Could they possibly know about gin-and-tipsy? Surely not. They didn't know THAT much if they were calling me Lee. It had to be Abe. He had survived, he MUST have survived.

I continued to walk south along the west coast of the island when I saw something. A person! Was it him? He was too far away to tell. I started to run.

• Abe! Abe, is that you? It's me! I'm here!

But instead of running joyously toward me, the person dashed off the beach and headed inland, out of sight. But, in retrospect, the figure was too tall to be Abe.

So who was it? There were only three possibilities:

1. It was someone from the left side of the plane who got freaked out by a naked man running toward him and yelling.

2. It was a resident of the island whom we hadn't been aware of.

3. It was a clue to who or what was controlling the events in this place.

I had to be careful.

THE WESTERN BEACH/UNDERGROUND – PERCY

Shit, that was Herrick. I was supposed to find his boyfriend, but it was way too early for Herrick himself. He had some role to play, but it was not yet.

I returned underground. Hamish was not glad to see me arrive alone.

• Hame, I need an extension until tomorrow. I know where he is – approximately. It should take me less than an hour to find him.

• Then why are you here? There are three hours of daylight left.

• I ran into Herrick.

• WHAT?!

• He started running toward me and shouting. I think he thought I was Derisian.

• Was he naked?

• Quite naked. How else would I know it was Herrick?

• You were wise to get out of there.

• Are you ever going to tell me why he's so damned important, Hamish?

• All he holds in his hands is the fate of the world, my pet.

• Oh, just that?

• So don't fuck up, love.

THE DARK ROOM – PAUL

There was a thump.

• Who's there? Anthony? . . . Is that you? . . . Are you still there?

I hadn't heard him in a long time. I was still reeling from the revelation that he was here on the island – if he actually was. With the fuzziness in my head, maybe the fall had induced a concussion. Maybe I had conjured Anthony up, invented him out of whole cloth. I had no idea if he was still in the room, or if he had ever been in the room, or if I was even IN a room. If I was in a room, it was pitch black – or I was blind.

It felt like being in a sensory deprivation chamber, except for the one sensation I wasn't deprived of: the dildo up my ass. There had been no other sensory stimuli for hours. Until I heard the thump, which sounded like it was ten feet to my right. I called out again – no response. I gave up.

A minute later there was a sort of groan and a muttering:

• What the fuck?

• Hello?

• Someone's there?

• Yeah.

• Who the fuck are you and get me out of this thing.

• (Wait – I recognized that voice) Leo?

• How the fuck do you know my name? Who the fuck are you, asshole?

• Paul.

• . . . Paul? Paul with the jockstrap, that Paul?

• One and the same.

• (laughing) Well, the fucking joke's on us, isn't it, Paul? My father's right, I AM a loser, just like you.

• . . . Thanks.

• Jeez, don't be so sensitive. Did you go after one of those twelve-sided things?

• Yeah. Dodecagon.

• Didn't it make you feel sexy? I couldn't get enough of it. But then Jasper – you know Jasper?

• Yes, of course.

• He wouldn't fuck me. What's wrong with that guy? All he had to do was fuck me, and none of this would have happened.

• I got fucked and this happened.

• By a person?

• No. By –

• Of course not. You were with Fearless Leader and Fat-Ass Harry. No way they were going to fuck you, you were doomed. But Jasper – dammit, Jasper wants me, that's been obvious since the airport. He's so selfish, he wouldn't do his job.

• Not fucking you was Jasper being selfish.

• Damn right. You still wearing that jockstrap?

• . . . I don't know. I don't feel it, but it was sticking to me so tight I couldn't feel it anyway.

• Can you move?

• No.

• And did you land in this chair so that a spike went up your bum?

• Yeah. Leo, can you see?

• What? Are you stupid? Of course I can't see, it's pitch black in here. God, you ARE an idiot.

• Nice to see you again, too, Leo.

• Fuckin' Jasper. It's all his fault.

THE WOODS/ THE PHALLIC TOWER – JASPER

Ed and I headed back from our failed mission to find Leo. Ed was bitter.

• I should never have let Beatrice talk me into taking him on this trip. Like that was going to do any good. He's got it into his head to be a damn homosexual.

• (Uh, Ed, you're speaking to one now.)

• That's not a path that ever leads to happiness. Do you know any gay people, Jasper?

• (Just a few hundred) Yes.

• Do you know any that are happy? No, right?

• (I knew quite a few who were happy. I just wasn't one of them.)

• Look at Seth – he's a basket case over that boyfriend of his. And Harry – how miserable is he? Not that any woman would want him either. And Ray, stickin' his dick out and wanting Augie to blow him. They want everybody to be like them, they imagine straight guys like you and Augie wanting to have sex with them. What the fuck's wrong with that Ray, anyway – he's barmy. We meet him, he tries to pass himself off as a rancher named Cody Benson. Then his real self comes out, and he's a raving sex maniac. I must say you were pretty level-headed with Leo yesterday, most blokes would have slugged him one.

• (I would have shagged him one if I hadn't held in my impulses.)

• He's such an irresponsible boy. He'll come wandering in at midnight, I suppose. If he doesn't, Lord knows what I'll tell Beatrice.

• I don't think he's coming back, Ed.

• What do you mean? Of course he's coming back.

• Paul isn't back.

• Paul – there's another one. Fuckin' fairy. Strips down to a jockstrap. Seth tries to cover up for him, says he wasn't wearing a jockstrap. They cover up for each other, let me tell you. . . . Look, sorry to unload on you like this, but I've been holding all this in ever since I met Seth and Harry on the beach. First two people I meet and they're both fudge packers. Lord.

Ed was right about one thing – Leo WAS an asshole. There ARE gay assholes, after all, and I don't mean the body parts I like to stick my dick into. Lucas was another. We come in all varieties, good and bad, just like straight people. But Ed needed to cut Seth and Harry some slack. And Paul. And me. And Tim. And maybe Dai and Vic, if my instincts are accurate.

The first person I saw when we reached the tower was Vic. He came trotting up to us, his face wrinkled as he realized that Leo was not with us. We shared the story of finding the location of the amber dodecagon, but not the dodecagon itself, and no trace of Leo.

• Do you know where Harry is? I need to tell him about Leo.

• (Vic) He's inside. Why Harry, not Seth?

• I'm assuming Seth isn't back yet. He's off –

• (Ed) Yeah, I know what he's off to. Lookin' for his pansy boyfriend.

Ed stomped off inside, where most of the others seemed to be. Tim (pantsless) and Dai (shirtless) were chatting on the other side of the tower, so I knew that the other group had returned.

• I guess we won't need to tell Harry now.

• Harry'll probably come out to talk to you. Once Ed stops ranting.

• Vic. You were watching out for Ray, right?

• . . . Right.

• Ed said that when he first met him, he'd pretended to be someone else, Cody something. But – it's more than that, isn't it? I mean, sometimes Ray is this wild, crazy, oversexed gay dude, and sometimes he's all Gary Cooper, just staying there and not doing much, acting modest – and homophobic. It's like he's two different people.

• He IS two different people, Jasper. The decawhatzits, they have some kind of effect on him. I mean when we met him he was Cody Benson, rancher from Texas. Then the yellow decawhatzit flipped the switch, and he was Ray trying to seduce Augie. The green one seemed to switch him back. He's changed a few times.

• Dual personality?

• Harry says there's a third one, named Gary. He thinks Gary's the original person. I think Harry's the only one who's ever met Gary.

• I want to meet this Gary.

I wanted to fuck him, too – but I wouldn't.

• • • • • • • • TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4 * * * * * * * *

THE PHALLIC TOWER – HARRY

I woke up this morning. I looked around, hoping against hope that Seth or Leo had returned. No. Neither one. Only nine of us woke up in the tower this morning: Paul is probably dead, Leo's missing, and Seth hasn't returned from his quest to find Abe.

Oh, please god, let nothing have happened to Seth. He is our leader, what would we do without him? He's treated me like his right-hand man, but I'm not ready to take charge. I mean, look at me. Big fat slow Harry, in charge of all these fit, sexy, masculine men? Hardly. Not after my failure yesterday. I should have kept everyone together. Instead, I'm responsible for Leo vanishing.

But somebody has to take charge when Seth is not here. Who has leadership skills among us? Vic had the physique of a natural leader, but he didn't seem anxious to get involved. Jasper might have the right qualities, but then he'd let Leo walk away when he should have kept an eye on him. Ed was out of the question – his issues with Leo would get in the way. Dai? A possibility. Tim I didn't know well enough. Augie and Gary/Cody/Ray were obvious nonstarters.

The one person with the assertiveness to be a leader was Lucas. But there was something creepy about Lucas. I couldn't put my finger on it. If there was a man with secrets, it was Lucas. He'd told Leo that if I had you in Chicago, I'd . . .' and when Leo pressed him to finish the sentence he'd said, cryptically, you don't want to know'.

Jasper told that story with the same feeling of creepiness. `I don't want to know what he meant by that'.

FLASHBACK – LUCAS (CHICAGO) – May, last year

• My name's Ernie.

• Lance.

• You're cute, Lance.

• (grinning) So I've been told.

• I'm not cute.

• No, cute' isn't the right word for a guy like you. The right word for you is hunk'.

• So I'VE been told.

• You don't look like an Ernie.

• My first name is Lucas. I use that sometimes, and sometimes I use Ernie. Tonight, I feel like Ernie.

• Well, this is Chicago. Ernie's a name with good vibes.

• Ernie Banks, sure. Mister Cub.

• `Let's play two'.

• So, Lance, if `hunk' is the right word for me – and I won't disagree – what is the right word for you?

• I'm guessing you're going to say `twink'.

• When I find a really cute twink, I call them a twinkie. I could survive on a steady diet of twinkies.

• Hmmm, you want to eat my hole?

• I'll fill it with cream, like the twinkie you are. (Grabbing his crotch) Like what you see?

• . . . Definitely.

• You can see it without the leather covering if you come with me.

• (a bit cautiously) Sounds good.

• You can taste it, too.

• (less cautiously) Sounds very good.

• Of course, I'd like a taste of yours, as well.

• (grabbing his own crotch) I think that's only fair. A dick-for-dick exchange.

• Yes, but Lance, I don't play fair. I take charge. Are you ready for that? For a real man?

• Try me.

• How about two real men?

• . . . Uh –

• You just said `let's play two'. Want to play WITH two?

• Are you . . . do you mean that? Two guys?

• I have a partner. We like to play together. Two tops, one bottom. You into that?

• I . . . I've never done that.

• Never been spitroasted? One cock in your mouth, another in your ass?

• No, it sounds . . .

• Judging from the bulge in your pants, the next word out of your mouth should be `exciting'.

• Yeah!

• Let me call my friend. We're going to spitroast you, my friend. And it will be the highlight of your week, if not your life.

• I'm in.

• My car's just outside.

Lance would be number nine: halfway to our goal.

ORANJESTAD, ARUBA – MILES

Jen had left this morning, needing to get back to her job, but Jordan was staying the full week she and Augie had originally booked. I had a surprise for her – only to find she had a bigger surprise for me. I knocked on her door and was let in by a handsome guy who looked like Jordan's twin brother.

• I'm sorry. I . . . (wait – he looked too much like Jordan to not be . . .) Jordan?

• (smiling) Surprise.

• . . . Your voice is the same.

• My face is the same, except for the make-up. Hair's a little different, though.

• . . . I, uh, don't know what to say.

• So good not to have to use Nair on my face every day. Do you think I should grow a beard?

• Jordan . . . I mean . . .

• It's a relief, Miles. Augie never knew, any more than you did. It's a long, long story. I was going to have the operation if it ever got to the point where we got married, but –

• What do you mean, he never knew? He hasn't ever seen you with . . . you know –

• My clothes off? No. You don't know Augie, he has a strict religious background. He would die if he . . . oh, Jesus, what did I just say?

• It's all right, Jordan.

• It's not. Oh Miles, I do love him. I loved him so much that I wore the wig and I wore the falsies and I wore the makeup and I wore the dress. I was willing to be a woman for him. But for him. Not for me. And now . . . there's no reason to do that anymore.

• . . . My God, Jordan, that's a huge sacrifice to even contemplate.

• Well, before I met Augie, it wasn't like my cock was the epicenter of my sex life, anyway.

• You were having sex, then, with guys.

• Of course. I liked giving blow jobs. I liked taking it up the ass. And the kind of guys I was dating they – they weren't all that into reciprocating. And I didn't mind it that much because I wanted their cocks and didn't really care about mine. I'm an attention slut in reverse. All I want is to satisfy them. That's what makes me happy.

• I'd say that was admirable if –

• If it was. But it's not. It's pathetic, Miles. I have to have some self-respect. These last six months with Augie have made me realize that I loved him enough to do this, but at the same time it made me realize what it was about myself that made me willing to do this, and that wasn't such a good thing. So, I'm in pain and I'm relieved at the same time. Which makes me feel like shit.

• Well, maybe this will make you feel a little less like shit.

• What?

• We got a response from Stimulever.

• Really?! What did it say?

• `Do nothing. Do not contact the press. Our representative will arrive in Aruba later today.'

• Oh Miles, that's fabulous! You know what this means?

• Yes. We've got to contact the press.

• Precisely. That's what they're afraid of.

• We've got to find some local investigative reporter. No use going to the New York Times yet. Get a local story published, then maybe the big boys will pick it up.

• How should we go about that?

• Leave it to me. I'll do some research, see if we can get in to see somebody today.

• Oh, one other thing, Miles. Jen texted me from the airport. You know how she always made fun of the name `Stimulever'?

• Yeah, she said it sounded like competition for Viagra – stimulate your lever.

• She was fooling around with the letters and discovered it's got a weird anagram.

• What's that?

• `Multiverse'.

THE BEACH - ABE

I saw a shape, walking slowly toward me on the beach.

It was too tall to be Al. Stan? Maybe. Any of the other passengers would be fine.

I realized how much I needed company. I needed someone to be with, to forage for food with, to strategize with. Someone to unload on, to share my sorrow over having lost Seth, to share my faint, faint hopes that somehow – somehow – he had survived just as we had survived. Someone to –

Oh, shit. It was Percy. Percy, who had raped Theo. Percy, who was – I don't know what, but he was dangerous. That much I knew.

• Derisian!

He knows me by my last name. Like from a passenger list, not from having talked to me, though we all shared our first names that night on the beach.

• Derisian, thank God. We've been looking all over for you.

Yeah, I'll bet. I was a good hundred feet from him, and I wanted to run.

• There's a helicopter on the other side of the island. Everybody's there. We were just waiting for you!

Like I believe that.

• Wait up!

It was now or never. I started to run. I looked back and Percy was running hard, as hard as I was. He was taller than I and had a longer stride. If I kept running along the beach he would catch up with me eventually. I had to cut inland. There was a fairly steep rise up from the beach, though, and I'd have to scramble up it, which would take longer than it would for him to run towards me. Could I get up top in time? I looked back and he was closer, but then he stopped to pick up something.

Now was my chance. I zagged toward the incline, the sand pushing me back toward the beach as I scrambled up the side of the rise. I looked back and saw he was closing in, but I was close enough to the top that I could get up before he got to me; and then he'd be slowed down by having to climb up through the slippery sand. One last glance and he was only about twenty feet from me, but he had something in his hand, whatever it was he'd picked up. But now I was just two feet from the top, three more steps, two –

There was a sharp pain in the back of my head. The sand came rushing toward my head as my feet slid out from under me. There was another blow.

And everything went dark.

[COMING UP NEXT: CHAPTER SIXTEEN – SIX FLASHBACK LIMIT PER CHAPTER]