Flight 12

Flight 12 – a serial novel by Travis Creel

CHAPTER 17: LOVE AND DEATH

Previously, on the surface:

• Seth finds a note stating that Abe has been captured and that Seth must return to the Tower.

Underground:

• Barry fucks his co-pilot, Phil, who has been gelded.

• Leo, captured by a dodecagon, arrives in the Dark Room with a dildo up his ass, next to Paul.

In Aruba:

• Jordan and Miles contact Stimulever, alarming them. A representative arrives to deal with them: He tells Jordan his name is Sean Stimulever, but this is not his real surname.

In flashbacks:

• In Chicago, Lucas (calling himself 'Ernie') entices a young twink, Lance, to engage in adventurous activities with him and a second top. He notes, opaquely, that Lance would take them halfway to their goal.

• On their no-sex date, Abe realizes that Seth was troubled by a past relationship with a man named Sean.

On the plane, way back in Chapter One:

• Percy switched the seats of Stan and Gary (Ray, at the time) to ensure that Gary/Ray wound up on the right side of the plane.

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

BETWEEN BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA AND ORANJESTAD, ARUBA – SEAN (an hour before the end of the last chapter)

My instructions were clear: I was to `neutralize' Jordan and Miles. So clear and yet so ambiguous.

The word neutralize' was developed as a military term. It was psychologically easier to talk about neutralizing the enemy' than to talk about killing a living, breathing human being with hopes, dreams, a family and a dog who loved him. It was a useful euphemism, embraced by police departments everywhere: An incident occurs and the perpetrator is neutralized', rarely killed'. It sounds cleaner.

Killing Jordan and Miles was undoubtedly what the Board had in mind. Happily, there was another way to neutralize them, though it was risky and might still cost them their lives.

The island – and Flight 12 – are key components of The Project, which, if successful, will re-invent the universe. Or, I should say, universes. The island is a sort of beta-test for a second universe – in fact, we call it Betaworld. It will go out of existence at the end of the year, whether or not The Project is successful. If The Project fails, Betaworld will simply expire and the existing universe – Alphaworld – will go on as usual. But if The Project is successful, both universes will be replaced without anyone realizing it – improved, in Stimulever's view. But launching The Project is difficult – a complex series of events must take place, according to `the physics'.

Betaworld's been around for over three years – the age of the island. In most locations, it's been dormant during that time, but we've activated pieces of it where and when necessary. Barry, for example, has been in Betaworld for several months; we needed him to engage with Hamish in Santo Domingo and become employed by ZTA – which doesn't exist in Alphaworld. Previous ZTA flights `crashed' on the island, providing Hamish with lieutenants and bottoms for them to play with until . . . well, their Alpha-lives continued unabated, so we won't mourn them too much. Even Beta-immolated Felix and Martín are living healthy, if criminal, lives in Alphaworld.

American flight 462 (whose digits both add to 12 and divide evenly into it) departed Miami in both universes. The Alphaworld version continued uneventfully to Aruba. The Betaworld flight experienced the emergency landing at Grand Turk and the division of the passengers among two flights. Those who caught the first flight were reunified into Alphaworld after they landed in Aruba, unaware of any discontinuity. For those on Flight 12, it was a bit more complicated.

Those seated on the left side of Flight 12, like those on the first flight, had a dual existence. Their Alphaworld versions had a great time in Aruba. In Betaworld, they wound up on the island while their relatives mourned their loss. Those on the right side – those we call the Twelve – were transferred completely into Betaworld – at some point during the flight. I wasn't sure if it was before or after Percy switched the seats of Kowalczyk and Onslow. One of them had an Alpha-life, but I wasn't sure which.

One side effect of transferring someone completely into Betaworld is that memory of them vanishes in Alphaworld. With two notable exceptions, no one in Alphaworld remembers any of the Twelve. However, due to the amount of energy required, this feature was not fully actualized for those transitioning earlier. Hamish's lieutenants still existed in the minds of those who had known them in Alphaworld, but a plausible explanation was created to account for their absence. For example, Seth remembered Ian, but thought he simply flew to Martinique and decided not to come back.

Shit, as they say, happens. There was supposed to be an absolute firewall between the two worlds. No one – other than Stimulever personnel – was to even be aware of the other world's existence. And yet here were Jordan and Miles, who had somehow managed to breach the divide and slip into Betaworld long enough to be aware of Flight 12's existence (though they didn't know about the island). Falcon sealed the breach, returning them to Alphaworld, but they'd already discovered the existence of Flight 12 and ZTA; while ZTA exists only in Betaworld, Stimulever exists in Alphaworld – and Miles and Jordan were able, with the help of Miles' hacker friend, to contact it.

So how did Jordan and Miles slip through? The firewall blocked everyone except gay men romantically involved with a Flight 12 passenger. Of which there were, presumably, none. The database – which includes every living human on the face of the earth – had erroneously coded Jordan as female, so he was missed. Jordan's brief journey into Betaworld was long enough to experience Flight 12's disappearance; after transitioning back to Alphaworld, he demanded answers about a flight and an airline that didn't even exist there.

Then Jordan met Miles King. Whom Jesús considered another snafu. His relationship with Victor Torrance should have been in the database. He should not have been able to penetrate the wall.

This, I knew, was bullshit. The relationship with Vic had, in fact, been entered into the database. And then deliberately deleted. I know this because I'm the one who deleted it. You see, Miles was part of the plan.

Not the plan for The Project. MY plan.

MY plan was to make sure that The Project never launched.

FUCK ROOM B – LEO

I've had lots of sex in my young life, but always as a top – until now. Now I was in trouble. These goddamned assholes. These pricks. Funny how calling someone a prick and calling them an asshole both mean the same thing. Well, I was no asshole, I was all prick.

I wish I wasn't, because several guys were paying the wrong kind of attention to my prick. There was a cord around my balls, squeezing me tight, winching it so hard I thought the cord would slice through my bag. Which meant my cock was rigid, of course, standing there at attention.

They put me on a scale – why, I wasn't sure, but I didn't think it was for any reason I would like. The scale registered my weight to the thousandth of a gram.

And then they pushed me to my knees. Here it goes, I thought, Leo becomes a cocksucker. Only that wasn't what happened.

Each of them started to stroke their cocks, working them as if to shoot their loads in my face. But when the first of them – Alec – approached climax, he ordered "Open up" and, from three inches away, shot his load into my mouth, making me swallow it.

I've sucked the occasional cock in my life, but I never let them cum in my mouth. This time I wasn't even sucking them off, but I had to swallow the creamy white ejaculate – which I failed to find delicious. I thought, "in the future, I'll continue to make them cum onto, not into, my body".

I was then hauled up and weighed again. What was that about?

I was quickly pushed down on my knees while Mac readied his load for me – and shot it into my mouth. Again, I was raised to my feet and weighed. By this time, Lander had entered the room, and he started to stroke himself – guess where his milky discharge wound up?

As he was working on his cock, other lieutenants entered the room. Lander was followed by Ian, and Atticus, and Anthony – and, eventually, all the others. Each time, I was weighed, and I realized it was a contest – who could spew the most spunk into me, determined by the increase in my body weight.

The three who had emptied the largest loads into good ol' Leo's mouth got their reward – they fucked me. Alec, Dane, and Atticus were the winners.

How could I explain that I was a goddam TOP?

I will not put up with this. My father is a British knight. My grandfather is in the House of Lords. When they find out, whoever is doing this is going to be in a shitload of trouble. My father may hate my guts, but he will protect his son. He will make sure these people pay.

Once I get out of here. And I will get out of here. I'll find a way.

THE THRONE ROOM – BARRY

Something was going on. Hamish and Percy were conversing quietly, as if they didn't want me to hear. I had just finished blowing each of them – I don't understand what it is about this place, but it seems like they have an endless supply of semen down here.

• (Hamish) Boy.

Don't tell me you want more sex. I'm worn out.

• Yes, Master?

I have learned to be politically correct.

• Our full complement of left-siders has arrived now. We have Derisian.

• Do you wish me to complement you on that, Master?

Politically correct fused with sarcasm.

• Do you know what that means, boy?

• No, but I'm sure you'll tell me, Master.

• We have too many bottoms. We're over our limit.

• So you'll let one of them go?

• . . . In a manner of speaking. We'll send him to a better place, at least that's the euphemism.

• . . . You're not saying . . .

• Oh, Barry, I'm not going to set him on fire. You can choose a less painful method.

• . . . Did you say . . . I . . . can choose a less painful method?

• You're a dom, aren't you? So dominate.

• Master. Am I . . . are we talking about what I think we're talking about?

• It depends on what you're thinking we're talking about.

• I think you're talking about killing one of them.

• That is correct.

• And . . . I hope I'm reading too much into it, but . . . it sounds like you want ME to . . .

• See, Percy? I told you we had a smart doggie.

• No, Hamish. That's a flat no. I won't do it. I'm not a killer. I don't care what you – Yaaaaahhh!

That last bit was the sound I emitted when flames erupted from my right thigh. I screamed bloody murder – poor choice of words – and tried desperately to smother the flames with my hands, there being nothing in reach – just as there hadn't been in Santo Domingo when he had dispatched Felix and Martín.

Just as rapidly, it vanished. I was on fire for about two seconds, the most intense pain I had ever felt in my life. I was suddenly imbued with empathy for all those medieval heretics who were burned at the stake – if there was a more excruciating way to die, I can't imagine what it was.

• Now, Barry boy. You have three choices. Choice number one: you can carry out the execution as humanely as you choose. Choice number two: you can let me execute him, in which case I will choose death by fire, one of my specialties, as you know. Choice number three: I can make you the sacrifice and promote Phil to royal pooch.

• Phil?

• He's the excess. The twelve bottoms we need are from the left-side of the plane. Your co-pilot is the odd man out. We've already prepped him by taking his balls, as you've noticed.

• You want me to murder Phil?

• It's your choice, Barry, I gave you three options. You – or him, one of you has to go. But if you don't do the deed, there's going to be fire involved.

• . . . Can I shoot him while he's asleep, so he's completely unaware?

• If that's your choice.

• You have a gun?

• I can set you on fire from across the room and you think I can't produce a gun?

• And he doesn't have to feel any pain?

• No, he doesn't.

• . . . Okay. I'll do it.

Yeah, I'm a coward. Criticize my moral weakness all you want. But if you had felt the flames on your skin, if you had known what he could do to me – or Phil – would you have chosen otherwise?

THE WOODS – SETH

I had found traces of Abe, and yet I had lost the battle. They had him. But who they were, where they were, and what their plans were – all a mystery. Why did they want Abe? And why were they writing notes to me? `STAY NAKED – THAT IS YOUR ONLY CHANCE'.

WHY were they keeping me naked – some kind of practical joke? Hey, Sid, how's this for a gag: We take some dude, kidnap his boyfriend on a remote island, and then tell him he has to stay naked or else – only we don't tell him what the or else' is. And the poor schlump has to stay naked twenty-four/seven without having the slightest idea why. And we live-stream it to people all over the globe. The Truman Show' meets `Naked and Afraid' – whaddaya think?

I walked up the beach to the point where the brook had flowed into the ocean. I retraced my steps, knowing it would lead to the bathing place. But before I got there, I got a surprise.

This one was not quite blue, not quite purple. The violet dodecagon. Only – I had walked past this place yesterday, and had seen no such dodecagon. I was certain of that. It hadn't been there.

Harry had seen Paul being swallowed by a blue dodecagon, which then disappeared. Jasper had returned to the site of the amber dodecagon (where Leo had done his naked dance) and it had disappeared. If dodecagons could disappear – could they spontaneously appear as well? If so, it changed the whole ballgame. We couldn't tell everyone to avoid the dodecagons if they could pop up where they had never been before.

I looked at the sky. Maybe an hour of daylight left. I wasn't yet to the bathing spot, and the Tower was a good half-hour's hike from there.

I quickened my pace. I definitely did not want it to be dark before I managed to reach the Tower.

FLASHBACK: SETH (CLEVELAND) – five years ago

• The thing is, I don't know what this is.

• It's coffee.

• I didn't mean the drink. I meant our relationship.

• I know.

• All I know is you're hot, and I can't resist you.

• That's enough for me.

• Is it? Because it's not enough for me. I . . . I think we should stop with the games.

• The games.

• The dom-and-sub stuff.

• I thought you liked that.

• I did. I do. And yet . . . it's wrong. All wrong. For two reasons. One is that, if we're going to play, I'd like to be on top.

• You want to dominate me?

• I want to dominate SOMEONE, yes. It's my impulse, it's my drive. And yet – I don't.

• Well that seems as clear as a pea-soup fog.

• A relationship has to be more than sex, Sean.

• It is. I genuinely care for you.

• Do you? Sometimes I think you just want my body.

• I want your body. But not just your body.

• Care to elaborate on that?

• I love you, Seth.

• Well, that's some elaboration. Why? I'm a piece of shit.

• Far from it. Seth, the more I've gotten to know you, the more I see your depth. You are a caring, emotional, responsible, decent human being.

• Who's cheating on his wife with another man.

• Ah, that's what it really is, isn't it? Guilt over Megan.

• She doesn't deserve this, Sean.

• Do you love her?

• . . . I . . . don't want to hurt her.

• In other words, no.

• Okay, I don't love her. I don't think I ever did. But I love my boys, and if I divorce Megan I won't have them. At least, not very often.

• Are you willing to give me up because you're afraid of losing your boys?

• No. I'm between a rock and a hard place.

• I hope I'm the hard place.

• (rueful smile) Yeah. You're a hard place. You're hard and you're a place I can't . . . what's that phrase from "Brokeback"? I can't quit you.

• Do you have to? We've been together for three months and Megan is none the wiser.

• We can't go on like this forever.

• We don't know that. We don't know what the future will bring. We don't have to make decisions now, Seth.

• God, I do want you, Sean.

• Then come back to bed. You don't have to pick up the boys until four, right?

I went back to bed. And then, after a lovely cuddle, I made the worst mistake of my life: I fell asleep.

• • • • • • • • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 5 * * * * * * * *

THE PHALLIC TOWER – AUGIE

After he got back last night, Seth proposed a plan for doing trips to the stream in pairs. That way, we could have multiple trips to bring back water, which we could share before the next pair went, and we'd keep hydrated better. We could also use the opportunity to wash some clothes, as long as we left enough for guys to cover themselves.

Dai and Tim had been the first pair to go, washing shirts for those who still had them. Seth asked for volunteers to go next, and wash underwear and socks. A third group would wash pants.

I thought it was time for me to step up, and volunteered for the second trip.

• (Seth) Who'll go with him?

• (Lucas) I will.

• (Seth) No way.

• (Lucas) What do you mean, no way.

• (Harry) Lucas, it's your birthday. December 5th.

• (various people) Happy birthday.

• (Lucas) Thanks, guys, but it's no big deal. So it's my birthday, so what?

• (Harry) Both Paul and Leo disappeared on their birthdays.

• (Lucas) Are you shittin' me? You worried something will happen? I'm a big boy, Self-Appointed-Boss-Man, I can take care of myself. I'm not afraid of a stupid slab of granite in the forest.

• (Seth) Lucas, you can't go. Last night I saw a dodecagon where there hadn't been one before.

• (Lucas, imitating the `Twilight Zone' theme) Doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo. Is that the best you could do, Naked Cowboy? No one made you the boss of me, and you can stop your macho posturing and let a man do his job. I need a bath and I will volunteer to wash underwear. But somebody give me their shoes – Leo stole mine. Vic, what size you wear?

• (Vic) Twelve.

• (Lucas) Perfect. Lend them to me, will ya? Augie, let's go, away from these self-righteous prigs.

And that was that. There was no dissuading Lucas, and eventually Seth just sighed and let him go with me. I was grateful that it was Lucas accompanying me, because at least he was straight. I'd decided Seth, Harry, Leo, and Paul were all gay, and the rest were probably straight, though I wasn't sure about Dai or Jasper. And of course Cody was straight but Ray was gay. I tried to hang out with the straight guys as much as possible.

And so we were off. But Lucas wasn't following the usual path to the stream.

• We're too far south, Lucas.

• Relax, Texas. We keep walkin' west, we'll run into it. Doesn't have to be the same spot we used before. Maybe we'll find a better one.

As he predicted, we did encounter the stream and spent some time washing clothes before it was time to slip into the stream and wash the grime off our own bodies. I wished we had some soap, but water would have to do.

As always, I didn't like to undress in front of others, but a hundred feet or so downstream it veered off to the right and if I went past the bend I'd be protected from Lucas' eyes. Not that I had to worry about Lucas, I was sure he was straight, but I just felt uncomfortable.

Arriving there, I undressed, leaving my clothes along the bank, and I slipped into the water, which was colder than I remembered it. And then I saw it. Another one of those medallions, the ones we were told to avoid. It was not quite blue, and not quite purple. Violet.

I panicked and, not thinking fast enough, called out.

• Lucas!

• Yeah, what?

• There's one of them down here.

• Be right there, Tex.

• No. You don't have to do that!

I should have gotten out of the stream and dressed before I yelled, but before I knew it, there was Lucas jogging toward me, without bothering to clothe himself.

• Whoa, look at that!

• Yeah, we've got to get out of here.

• Hell, no. Come on, let's check it out.

• Lucas, we're supposed to avoid them.

• Yeah? What's the harm? What did it do – it made guys take off their clothes, right? We're already naked, the worst it can do is make us dance. Don't you like to dance, Texas?

And he started off toward it.

• Lucas, you shouldn't go there by yourself. It's –

• Then come join me. Be my chaperone. Keep me from doing something stupid.

Lucas had the look of a man perfectly willing to do something stupid. I grabbed my jeans, stepped into them and headed after him. Another wrong-headed move.

Lucas reached the medallion and started dancing. I reached it but stood resolutely a few feet away, unsure of what I should do.

• Lucas, get off that thing!

• This is fun, Tex! Come join me!

• No way. I'm not going onto that thing.

• Wanna bet?

Suddenly he dashed off the medallion and grabbed me, pulling me onto it. Lucas was mad strong, and he caught me off guard; before I knew it I was on it. I was struggling to get out of his grip, but he put his arms around my waist, threw me down toward the floor, and straddled my waist.

I was so startled I lost my breath. He stood over me triumphantly as if he had conquered me, grinning. I didn't move, waiting to catch my breath and to give myself time to figure out how to get off the medallion and get away from Lucas. If I tried to sit up, he'd just push me down again. Likewise if I tried to wriggle out vertically. My only hope was to kick out his legs and throw him off balance; then maybe I could roll to the side and scramble away.

He must have read my mind, because he then repositioned his feet so that he was standing on my hands. I couldn't move them. I was trapped. I just looked up at him. And watched in horror as his penis began to rise toward the sky.

• You want to take off those jeans, Texas, or shall I?

• Lucas, what are you doing?

• I'm having fun. This thing is making me horny as hell, and it's time I did something about it.

• Lucas, stop it! It's controlling you! You don't want to do this.

• The hell I don't! I've been wanting to do this since I first saw you. You're my type, Augie. You're just damn lucky I didn't meet you in Chicago.

• Why? What would have been different in Chicago?

He didn't answer, but just smiled.

FLASHBACK: LUCAS (CHICAGO) – May, last year (continued from Ch. 15)

• You live out of town, Ernie?

• We're going to Stefan's place. He's my partner in crime, so to speak.

• Looks like we're in the country.

• People don't realize that Cook County has farmland. You can be in Cook County and still have complete privacy. We could have sex outdoors and no neighbors could see us.

• Ooh, cool. Can we do that? I've never been naked outdoors.

• Not even skinny-dipping?

• Not even skinny-dipping.

• Well, you are going to be naked outdoors, my friend. We're going full Monty upon arrival.

Stefan was waiting for us upon arrival, already in the nude. Lance grinned when he saw him and said,

• Looks like someone can't wait to get started.

• Let's go inside.

• I thought we were going to do this outside.

• We will. But some of our equipment is down in the cellar.

• Equipment?

• You said you were ready to play with two men. We're going to work you over a little before we reward you with our cocks.

• Oh, man, am I looking forward to that. Spitroasting. A cock in the mouth, a cock in the ass. I've never experienced that. I've never even been in a threesome before.

• Life is full of new experiences, Lance. Now strip!

We took him downstairs and tied him to the St. Andrew's cross. From there he had a good view of the row of eight skulls on the shelf across from him.

• Whoa, where'd you get the skulls? Are they real?

• How would we get real skulls? You can't exactly order them from Etsy. Fake ones you can order, though you have to use multiple sources if you want them to look different.

• Cool.

• We've just arranged for a ninth one. They're costly, though – the realistic ones.

Mounted on the St. Andrew's, we flogged his chest, thighs, and genitals – not too hard, we didn't want to really mark him. And then, while he was still restrained, we brought out the straight razor.

• Whoa, Ernie, you're not going to use that.

• If I put my mouth around somebody's cock, I don't want to be tasting hair. I need you clean-shaven. I don't think you should have any chest hair, either. Or pits, I hate hairy armpits.

• Are you going to shave . . . everything?

• Not your head.

• Please, no, Ernie, I mean, I go to the gym, guys are going to see me. What am I going to say when they see me `down there'.

• Tell them you caught lice. Tell them the name of some girl you caught them from and you'll be a big man in the locker room. Not to mention that without your bush, you'll look bigger.

• (Stefan) Anyway, you don't have a choice. You're rather at our mercy now, aren't you?

Stefan could grin in the friendliest way. Lance grinned back at him.

• Yeah, I guess I am. Well, it'll grow back. Thanks for the lice story. That'll be a good cover.

• Good, `cause you aren't getting any cover today. It's all nude all the time, boy.

Deprived of body hair, he looked stunning. Naturally, he was oblivious of the real reason we were shaving his body. We turned him over and flogged his back and lovely, lovely rump before taking the razor to the few places on his back half that bore hair.

• Now you want to go outside and get fucked?

• You bet!

We went into the warm spring air. He was struck by the smell. This was a city boy, and not used to the smells of a farm.

• God, what's that stink?

• Manure. To be specific, pig manure.

• You raise pigs?

• This is a farm.

• I know but I thought, you'd, like, grow corn.

• We have crops, but we also raise pigs. Butcher them ourselves. Sometimes we have a pig roast.

• What's that thing?

• That's our outdoor barbecue. We roast our pigs on it. It's got a crank on it, see – an automated one, like a rotisserie in the deli.

• Cool.

• We put one end in the pig's mouth, and the other one up its ass.

• Really? Up its ass?

• And then we tie its limbs to the spit rods to secure it, so when we start the rotisserie, it rotates smoothly over the fire and cooks evenly. We have to make sure it can't move.

• What do you mean, move? Isn't it dead?

• No, long pig tastes better when it's cooked alive.

• Long pig? What's long about it?

• Well, it's longer than a normal pig is. . . . Aren't you, boy?

• Huh?

• You said you wanted to be spitroasted. Well, here's a spit. Get on it, we're going to roast you.

• Ha ha. Very funny. I think I'll settle for being spitroasted by your cocks.

• Actually, you'll settle for being spitroasted over an open flame. Long pig Lance.

He saw we were serious. Before he could start to run, Stefan hit him over the head with a pan to stun him enough that we could mount him on the rotisserie without much resistance. One end down his throat, the other literally skewering his ass. And then we started him spinning.

• Lance, you were right – those were real skulls. And yours will be a great addition to our shelf. Thanks for the contribution, pal. You came along just in time – the meat larder was getting a bit low. You'll be our ninth victim. Halfway to our goal. Nine more and we pass Jeffrey Dahmer. Stefan – get the firewood, would you?

THE WOODS - AUGIE

• I need my fun, Texas. Why do you think you got paired up with me? Because Seth backed down when I insisted on it. He thinks he's a leader but he'll find out who the real leader is in this group. And the real leader will have anybody he wants any time he wants.

• Lucas, it's the medallion. It's doing it to you. You're not a homo.

• The hell I'm not!

He grabbed my waist, ripped open the snap and pulled down the zipper. My jeans were off me before I knew it. He was just so powerful.

I don't want to describe what happened next. We were both naked, he flipped me over onto my stomach, he was stronger than me. And he had an erection. The worst of it was that I got a hard-on and he followed up his sodomistic act by jerking me off, which was humiliating, particularly since I hadn't jacked off in over a week and the orgasm felt really good, even while my ass was in pain.

When it was over, he slapped me on the butt.

• That was great, Tex. We'll have to do that again soon. I'll make sure we go on water duty together tomorrow.

I said nothing in response. I stumbled into my jeans and headed back to where I had left my shirt, shoes and socks. Lucas didn't follow, choosing to stay on the violet medallion. That was fine by me. I didn't want to go back to the Tower with him, anyway. I'd walk upstream to the place where we normally went to get water; I knew the way back from there.

I reached the place where I had left the rest of my clothes, but couldn't find them. There hadn't been enough wind to blow them away – much less my shoes. Had Lucas – ?

I turned back to him to accuse him of . . . I didn't know what, and saw that he was still on the violet medallion – and behaving strangely. He looked like he was hugging something, but his arms were just around a column of air. A moment later, I saw his feet slide backwards and separate, bending him over at the waist. And he started to rock back and forth, as if he himself were being sodomized.

The man had just raped me, and I was concerned for his welfare.

• Lucas! Do you need help?

• Go away, Texas. I'm loving this!

A moment later, I thought I saw an image on the floor of the medallion. From this distance, it looked like a dragon. But it was only there for about three seconds.

And then the medallion seemed to crumble, collapsing into the earth, and taking Lucas with it.

ORANJESTAD, ARUBA – SEAN

• You know, Jordan's really hot.

• Seriously, Sean? That's the first thing you want to say to me?

• (smile) Jealous?

• Should I be?

• Only if you believe in love at first sight.

• Sean, really.

• Just kidding, dude. I could really go for Jordan. But you're still my number one, Miles. So what do you have for me?

• The hacker's name is Nick Carlyle. He lives in a suburb of Louisville, Kentucky called Shively. He knows Stimulever exists, of course, but doesn't know more than that.

• Anyone else we should know about?

• Yeah. Jordan has a sister, Jen. Jennifer Murdock. They flew together. She knows about Flight 12. She knows about Augie. Augie's –

• I know who Augie is. He's one of The Twelve. Where is Jen now?

• She went home. Santa Barbara, California. She's a nice person, Sean. I would hate for anything to –

• I'll have to inform Switzerland about her, and Ari is on his way to America – but it may be okay. Right now, Jen only knows about Flight 12 because of her association with Jordan. If I can pull over Jordan completely, then Jordan won't be in Jen's world anymore. She won't remember him – or Augie. And Ari won't have to take her out. Anyone else?

• We contacted a lawyer. Jordan wanted to sue and I thought I should support him. We've told some people here, of course – airport officials and a reporter – but they laughed in our face, no worries there.

• The lawyer shouldn't be a problem. After Jordan's in Betaworld, neither he nor Jen will be contacting him. Lawyers don't waste time on cases that won't earn money. He'll be safe as long as he doesn't contact Stimulever again.

• What about Nick? He doesn't know Vic. He has no ties to anyone on the island.

• Yeah, well, he's different. He's a hacker, Miles. Hackers like to cause trouble, it's in their nature, and he might pursue things on his own just because he's intrigued. Ari will handle him.

• When you say `Ari will handle him –'

• He has to go, Miles. Nick will be in tomorrow's news.

[COMING UP NEXT: CHAPTER EIGHTEEN – PIECING THINGS TOGETHER]