PATHOS
CHAPTER 2
BY ARTHUR
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Artcart65@gmail.com
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Andre felt wrung out as he completed Aldred's contract, he had now performed for over thirty two hours and, even though he had had rests during that time it was still an exhausting process, Aldred lay under him in a state of total contentment, it had been far more than he thought it would be and Andre had fulfilled every dream he had ever had.
After spending time to clean himself, Andre returned to the same room where Leon waited for him, the view screen had disappeared back into the wall space, and Leon was now dressed more formally, as Andre entered he signalled for him to follow.
The two left the pleasure room and Leon led the way further into the house until they came to another wide wooden door, a sure sign of wealth, wood was very scarce on Pathos and was only used by the very wealthy.
Behind the door was a large office complete with all manner of communications equipment, far more than in any ordinary home. Leon directed Andre to a comfortable looking chair in front of the huge desk.
After seating himself behind the desk, Leon looked up and smiled at Andre with reassurance.
"I must tell you Andre that I have never in all my life seen such a boy as you, you have good manners, you dance like an angel and your skills in bed are beyond any normal pleasure boy, now, as you saw I am a member of the Council but I am also far more than that, do you know much about politics?"
"No Leon, as you know I am only twelve and I will never be in a position where politics will make a difference to my life as a pleasure boy."
"A good honest answer, now what would you say if I told you I have a position for you?"
"For me? But what could I do, I'm not even faintly familiar with the workings of government."
"Well to clear things up a little for you, I am in charge of security for the whole of Pathos, my full title is Director of Security, I would like you to join my team to keep Pathos safe and secure, you would remain as a pleasure boy, that would be your cover and is what you are best at, if you agree to join us there will be a lot of very special benefits for you."
"But why me, I am unknown."
"That is the best part of it all; because you are unknown you will be trusted with things no other boy might be able to learn."
"So you want me to be a spy?"
"Well that's one name for it but the benefits will far outweigh the disadvantages, we will give you special training to keep you safe and while you may think Pathos is safe, I have to tell you that there are those who would like to rule over us, did you know that the planets income per year for pleasure boys alone, far exceeds that of other planets, add the girls to that mix and we are a very wealthy planet, many would like to control that income."
"But what could I do, I'm only a pleasure boy and a new and inexperienced one at that."
"That is precisely your charm and your advantage as I have said before; do you want to know the benefits?"
Andre could only nod his head in silence, the offer had taken his ability to speak away from him.
"Firstly you will be given a penthouse apartment in the fourth quadrant."
Andre could not stop the gasp of surprise, the fourth quadrant was second only to the wealthiest of people.
"You will also be given the title to the apartment so you own it outright but you must never tell others how you came by it, we will make up a story to cover that for you, next you will receive a monthly retainer of 10,000 credits, when you go on an assignment you will be paid extra as well as being able to keep any credits you make as a pleasure boy under contract."
Leon waited while all this sank into the mind of the young boy before he continued.
"We will also pay for a few enhancements for you, they are nothing to do with improving your body, that can't be done with you as you are already perfection itself, they will be a means of communication with us, you will also be given a few things to keep you safe just in case things turn a little bad, we will also provide you with an account at Matterhays Emporium for you to get whatever new clothes you would like and any furnishings for your apartment, the account will be sent to us each month for payment and will not come out of your retainer."
"Excuse me Leon, what is a retainer?"
"Ah yes, sorry I should have explained it, I am used to dealing with adults, you are the first ever boy to be asked to join us, a retainer is a sum of credits paid to you so that you are always available for us to call on, even if it means you have to cancel a contract you have already made with someone for that time, it means we have priority on your time when needed."
"Thank you."
"Now if you agree then we can start today, we have a penthouse available already and it will only take an hour to sort out the rest, if you agree then you will want to collect your Mother and perhaps do some shopping on the way over to move in, now what do you say?"
Andre sat there not knowing what to say, his mind was filled with the last thirty two hours, in that time he had performed the Terrasan like he had never done before, he had had his virginity taken by a master of the art of sexual bliss, he had been a top for a sweet little bottom boy and now he was being offered a guaranteed income, his own home and security for life.
"All I can say is thank you Leon, I accept your offer, what do I do now?"
Leon pressed some buttons on his desk top, in an instant computer screens and other aides appeared through the top of the desk as Leon pushed a small white card with writing on it towards Andre.
"Place your right hand on your chest and repeat the words on the card while you look into the camera lens."
Andre lifted his head and saw a small camera lens close to his face, taking the card in one hand he read it through silently then looked back up at the camera lens.
"I Andre; a pleasure boy of the seventh quadrant hereby swear to keep all the secrets entrusted to me by the Director of Security of the Government of Pathos, I swear to obey all the laws, rules and duties of the Government of Pathos and to fulfil all requests made by the Director, I also swear to keep all information and operations secret under penalty of death."
Andre looked up at the serious face of Leon.
"Good boy, welcome to the Department of Security, your code name will be `Lightfoot' only you and I will know your real name within the department, this recording will be kept here in my personal files and no one else will ever see it, now next thing, if you want to go and talk with Aldred for a few minutes I have things to set in motion so you can start your new life."
Leon rose to shake hands with his newest and youngest recruit before turning back to his desk to start everything in motion, he had been waiting for over two years to find just the right boy for this job and not only had he found the right boy but the boy had turned out to be far more than he ever thought he would find, Leon began making calls.
Andre had been talking with Aldred for no more than ten minutes about their shared experience in the pleasure room when Leon came in, he gestured for Aldred to leave him alone with Andre, the boy shook hands with his first pleasure boy and left, Leon turned to Andre.
"Well young man, as of this minute you are officially employed by the Government of Pathos, I have had a car and driver assigned to you permanently, he will also be your body guard when you are on assignment, he will take you shopping and to go and get your Mother, by the time you have done all that your new apartment will be ready, there will be a young man there so you can tell him how you want it decorated, all of your credits have been deposited in a new account for you at the Central Bank."
Leon handed over a small card.
"This is your account details, I want you to take a few days to get settled then I will have you picked up, tell your mother you are going away on a special holiday for two weeks, if she needs anything while you are away you are to give her this card, it has my number on it, she can tell me what she wants and I will fix it for her while you are in training."
Andre tried to keep up with the long list of to-do's as best he could; finally Leon smiled at him and patted him on the back.
"When you get back I will have a contract for you, I showed one of my friends your dance and he wants to book you for a special party in three weeks time, I told him you were very exclusive and also very expensive, it made little difference to him, he said he will pay any price to watch you dance like that again in person, I hope you don't mind but I set your contract price at twenty thousand credits for the one hour dance, if you wish to join in any other activities then it is up to you, is that alright with you?"
"Uhm... yes I think so but why would he pay so much, there are plenty of boys who can dance the Terrasan and for a lot less credits than that."
"Yes, that's true, there are many but there is only one that can dance the Terrasan better than Gratham Loid, even he could see that, don't worry about the money, he has even more than I do and he readily agreed to the price, now why don't you get going, your car is waiting outside, I will see you when you get back from your training and other extras."
"I don't quite know what to say Leon, all I can think of is Thank you but it hardly seems enough."
"There's no thanks needed Andre, I'm sure in the years to come you will repay me many times over, in fact I'm sure you will."
Leon shook his hand then called for one of the servants to show Andre to his car which turned out to be another surprise, waiting at the bottom of the flight of steps was a long sleek looking blue car, it looked as though it could easily seat ten people and the drivers compartment could hold another four, it was the latest version of the Jentra Air Car, the best of the best, his once lowly life had turned right around, it was the first step into a world of fame and fortune, as yet he did not know it would also turn out to be one of the most dangerous.
The driver met him at the rear door of the long shiny car; he saluted then opened the door for Andre.
"Good afternoon Sir, my name is Conrad, if there is anything you need please ask, now where would you like to go first?"
"Uhm... thank you Conrad, my name is Andre, could we go and get my Mother first please, she is in the seventh quadrant, I'll give you the street and block number when we get there."
"There is no need Sir, I have all the information from my file, if you would like to just sit back and relax, there are light snacks and drinks in the back for you, if you wish to have a nap I will wake you when we arrive at your Mothers accommodation block."
"Uhm... thank you again Conrad."
"No Sir I should be thanking you for getting me out of that office and into the field, it's my pleasure to be of help."
Andre got into the huge car and sat in the wide real leather seat, the soft hum of the drive could barely be heard as the car moved out away from the house and then turned down the long driveway towards the far off gates, Andre could not resist looking into the small bar fridge and then into the food bar, there were both hot and cold snacks ready for him.
Andre sighed; there was no way he could have envisioned that his life would turn around so quickly or so dramatically, to think that only yesterday morning he was a inexperienced pleasure boy going out for his first contract and now, he was a full time spy and pleasure boy for the Security Service of the Government, he chuckled to himself, his Mother was going to have kittens when this car pulled up and he got out of it.
While he helped himself to a few light snacks, Andre looked at the back of Conrad, the man looked to be in his early twenties, he was well built but not overly bulky, it was easy to tell he was well trained in fitness what else he could do would remain unknown until it was needed, Andre got a naughty thought and wondered how Conrad would perform with a pleasure boy, perhaps he only liked pleasure girls, Andre would have to ask him one day.
Andre must have dozed off as it was the sound of a voice close to his ear that made him open his eyes, Conrad was talking to him through the intercom.
"We are nearly there Master Andre; I thought I should wake you now so you can get ready."
"Uhm...ah...thank you again Conrad, I must have dozed off, it's been a long night and day."
"I'm sure it was Master Andre."
Even in his partially sleepy mind Andre could hear the almost chuckle in Conrad's voice.
After the clean and fresh wide boulevards of the first quadrant his own narrow lanes of the seventh looked dirty and somewhat dingy, as they turned into lane 668 and drove along until they came to the common block number K404, Conrad brought the car to a silent halt and quickly got out to open the rear door for Andre.
"I'll wait here for you and your Mother Master Andre, if there is anything in your home you wish taken to your new apartment let me know and I will have people over here to pack it all for you, if you are going shopping then it will be delivered while we are away."
"Thank you again Conrad, I think that would be a good idea, my apartment number is."
"Yes I have that; CZ1502 that's right isn't it?"
"Uhm... yes, thank you, I won't be long."
"Take as long as you like Master Andre, for the next three days you are on holiday so there's no hurry."
Andre smiled and turned towards the stairs, he knew the elevator would not be working, it hadn't for more than two years, the steady climb up fifteen flights began, these same stairs had been responsible for his outstanding fitness so they were of little problem now, he wondered where his new apartment would be, the fourth quadrant was one of the upper areas but it was also very big, as far as he knew they might be tucked away at the back of some big tower block.
As Andre stepped out onto the landing on his floor he saw his Mother leaning on the railing and looking down into the lane, as Andre got closer his Mother turned around, he suddenly saw how ill she looked, he had not noticed before as he saw here every day but now he had been away for a day and a half he could see how worn and ill she really was, Andre ran up and hugged her tightly.
"So it all went well my little boy?"
"Oh yes Mother, far better than you could ever dream of."
"He must have been a nice man to have his driver bring you home, how much did he pay for the contract?"
"A lot and his son paid too but the car is mine and so is the driver, now you have to get anything you want to take with you we are going to our new apartment."
"Wait, wait, what's all this about, you can't have earned enough for all that sort of thing?"
"I'll tell you everything in the car, first we are going shopping and then to our new apartment, I'll tell you everything on the way."
"Young man you will tell me everything right now or I'm not moving an inch."
Andre watched as his Mother crossed her arms and looked down at him, Andre knew that look and finally relented, he took his Mother's arm and turned her towards their old home after he had glanced down at the car far below, it was surrounded by a large number of the block residents all ogling the gleaming new car and the solid looking driver standing beside it.
Once inside Andre set about telling his Mother all about his night out, she could only sit with her mouth agape as he told here everything that had happened although he kept his new work for the Government to himself just as he had promised, he told her only that he had been given a permanent position with one of Leon's businesses.
Finally he brought the story of his first day as a pleasure boy to an end, his Mother sat stunned at what her little boy had accomplished in just one day, it was as though everything she had ever wished for had come home all at the same time, she sighed heavily then smiled at Andre.
"I am so proud of you Andre, you have done far better than I ever hoped, now what's all this about the car and a new apartment?"
"Leon said they came with the new job, the apartment has been put in my name so no matter what happens it will always be ours as well as the car but the driver is paid by the company but he will stay on as mine and to help around the apartment."
"My, my, I never thought the day would come, well young man, now that you are the head of the house, what's next?"
"Next is you grab everything you want to take right now and we go shopping, the rest of the place will be packed up for us and waiting at the apartment when we have finished shopping."
His Mother smiled at him and then ruffled the blue tinted hair, rising from the chair she took hold of her small hand bag in which she kept the old dance instruction book, looked around the place that had been their home for so long and then stepped towards the door, all the little mementos could be packed along with the few items they still had, at last it was time to leave the seventh quadrant, a wish she had held for so long.
Andre took his Mother's arm and walked side by side with her down the fifteen flights, towards the last of the stairs he noticed that his Mother was starting to wheeze and puff a little, not a good sign but the excitement of the day pushed everything else aside for the moment as Andre lead her to where Conrad held open the rear door.
Conrad smiled at Andre's Mother and said.
"Good afternoon Mother, I hope you like your new apartment, if there is anything you need please just ask me."
His Mother smiled at Conrad but Andre could see she was sicker than he thought as she climbed into the back of the car, Andre followed but now he had a concerned look on his face as Conrad closed the door and went to the drivers compartment, within seconds they had lifted off and were heading back into the city centre, next stop, Matterhays Emporium, it was time to stretch some of that account he had.
The shopping took his Mother by surprise, it seemed that after the initial problem at the door with one of the shop assistant, everything after that went like clockwork, the other attendants could not do enough for the two new customers, the one that had tried to stop them from entering was now trying to find another job.
When they had arrived, Conrad had gone in with them to make sure they would be looked after and to verify Andre's account, it had all started right at the door, as they stepped through Andre and his Mother were met by one of the shop attendants, he took one look at their dress and turned a cold look on them.
"I'm sorry, I think you are in the wrong shop, perhaps you would like to go down to the sixth or seventh quadrant, this is Matterhays Emporium, it is for the elite of the city, I'm sorry you must leave."
It was at this stage that Conrad spoke up; his voice was heavy with authority and was in a tone that would brook no trouble.
"Get me the floor manager right now."
"I am the floor manager Sir."
"Then get the CEO here pronto."
"I'm sorry sir he does not come down onto the shop floor."
"Call him and tell him that Master Andre from the Department of Security is here and wants to meet him in person."
At the mention of the Department of Security, the floor manager went pale, it was only now he realised who and what he was dealing with but he also knew it was too late for him to make amends, he turned from the trio and called on his communicator, it took less than two minutes for the CEO to arrive in a rush, a group of five assistants close on his heels.
"Yes who are you Sir?"
"I am the appointed driver for Master Andre, he has an account here and has been refused entry, it is to be corrected now or we will take this to the head of the Department of Security; Councillor Leon Sadan."
The CEO looked at one of his assistants and was soon told that a new account under the name of Master Andre had been set up only this morning and had a credit balance of 100,000 credits, the CEO almost went into a low bow as he saw the results of the enquiry, with barely a glance at the floor manager he said to another of his assistants.
"See that this employee is given what he is due and then fire him, effective immediately; Master Andre, please accept my deepest apologies for this error of judgement, we at Matterhays are at your disposal, would you like us to nominate a personal assistant to you and your Mother to assist in your shopping?"
"Thank you Sir; that would be very helpful."
Andre looked up at Conrad, the man had a wide smile on his face as he turned to go back to the car to wait, a young man in his late teens arrived, after a short whispered conversation with the CEO, the young man smiled at Andre and his Mother and asked them.
"Where would you like to go first Sir?"
"I think clothes for my Mother and I first, as yet I don't know what we will need for our apartment, perhaps you have a card so I can call later and you can put it together and have it delivered?"
"That will be no trouble at all Sir, clothes are this way Sir, I will let you look through them while I take your Mother to the ladies department, I have a sister working there who will be only too glad to assist her."
"Thank you, what's your name?"
"Gillian Sir."
"Thank you again Gillian, I hope we can do more business with you, do you have a card I can take with me?"
"Yes Sir."
Gillian reached into his smart dark one piece suit and handed Andre a small embossed card with his name and number on it.
"There we are Sir, anything you need at any time of the day or night just call me, I can always be reached on that number, it is my personal number and not the store number."
"Thank you Gillian, now where are those clothes?"
For more than two hours Andre and his Mother shopped, it was almost the first time they had had really new clothes, everything was nicely parcelled up for them and a junior assistant was told to carry all the bags out to the waiting car.
With the first blast over and done with, Andre and his Mother left with a feeling of having overspent there allowance but they did not care, it had been such a good feeling to be able to spend freely and without worry about the next meal, Conrad was waiting at the rear door for them, he had a wide smile on his face as they came up.
"Looks like you had fun, ready to see your apartment now?"
"Yes please Conrad, I can't wait."
"Right Master Andre, hop in and let's go."
"You don't have to call me Master all the time you know, just call me Andre."
"Ok Andre, but only when we are alone."
"Well I suppose that will have to do, right, now where is that apartment?"
"It's on Gow Road at the top of the hill, I think you will like it, it looks out over the lake, there are only three tiers of apartments under you so your view is not restricted, Councillor Sadan looks after his best people."
The drive from the city took nearly an hour, they were soon approaching what Andre knew was a very exclusive area of quadrant four, the first sight of their new home took his breath away and his mother began to sob with happiness.
The top tier of the apartment block was right at the top of the hill overlooking the Ganz Lake, the penthouse sat above the other tiers and back a little, there was nowhere that anyone could look into the apartment. When they arrived at the main door, they saw that it was not a number of penthouses but one single unit, their penthouse was the entire top tier of the building.
Andre and his Mother could not speak as Conrad opened the rear door for them.
"Welcome to your new home Andre."
Andre's legs would not move, his whole body seemed to have lost any strength and he could only sit in the car and look at the massive building that he and his Mother were to make their home in, to his eyes, Andre thought they had been given a hotel, it was so large and he had no idea how he was to make use of all the space.
There was a fine but small entry garden that lead up to a pair of large, double wide polished steel doors, the front of the building was of white stone and there were small windows spaced along and up and down the facade for internal light, Andre was almost scared to go inside, he had little doubt there would be more surprises in there.
As Andre helped his Mother from the car, the sound of the large doors sliding back into the walls caught his attention, he turned to see a young man of similar build to Conrad standing in the doorway, the man had a small card in his hand and stepped forward.
"Welcome to your home Master Lightfoot, if you will just come to the side so we can enter your hand print on the touch pad over here then we can go inside and you can tell me how you would like your apartment to be furnished."
Andre followed the young man to the side of the doorway, on one block of white stone was a plain metal square, the young man slid the small card into a slot and stepped back.
"If you and your Mother would kindly place your hand on the scanner it will register you so that you will be the only ones that can enter."
"I want Conrad to have access as well."
Andre noticed his Mother giving him a strange look when the young man called him Lightfoot, damn it now he would have to try to explain it to her without breaking his word to keep things secret.
Andre, his Mother and Conrad all pressed their right hand on the metal plate, there was a small `ding' and the young man withdrew the card and gave it to Andre.
"I would put this in a safe place Master Lightfoot, it is the only other way to enter your home, there are no copies so you, your Mother and Driver are the only ones that now have access; if you will follow me inside perhaps we can begin on the furnishings."
The entryway lead straight into the main living room, as expected it was huge to Andre's eyes, the entire front wall was thick glass panes and looked out unobstructed on the Ganz Lake, the only hint he had of any other homes were the faint outlines of the lower roof tops.
The room was furnished with only minimal pieces but even they looked to be of top quality, the young man then lead them through to the kitchen which was a master piece of modern luxury, every piece of cooking technology was evident, next came the gymnasium and training room followed by a large dining room.
The showing of the penthouse had taken away what little breath he had left, there were three enormous bedrooms with their own personal ensuites, the bedroom he selected for himself also looked out over the lake and was almost larger than their whole old apartment, Andre could only stand there speechless, he had never dreamed that places like this even existed.
Andre saw that his Mother was wilting under the strain of the long and exciting day, calling a halt to the inspection, he lead her back to the lounge and sat her in a comfortable looking arm chair, once there he also sat in another chair by her side.
"What do you think, Mother?"
"Oh Andre, I don't know what to think or say, are we really going to live here?"
"Yes Mother, or so it seems, now what are we going to do, I don't know anything about furniture or decorating a home?"
"If I may interrupt Master Lightfoot." The young man asked.
"Yes, yes, please do."
"I have been told that you are soon to go on vacation, perhaps myself and your Mother can work on this while you are away, there is enough here for the next few days and it will give you both time to look around and settle in."
"That sounds like a good idea, what do you say Mother?"
"Yes, that would be good, I just need a little time to get used to all this and have a small rest, I'm feeling a bit tired just now, it's been quite a day."
"Very good Madam, I'll leave my card with Master Lightfoot and you can call me when you are ready, is there anything else Master Lightfoot?"
Andre reached into his pocket and got out the card for the young teen at the store.
"This is the person you will contact at Matterhays; he is to make all the arrangements for what my Mother selects, I want him to have the commission."
"Very good Master Lightfoot, it will be done as you ask; now I will leave you to move in and will await your Mother's call."
Andre noticed that the young man had not spoken his name but also thought perhaps he was not meant to know it, when the young man had left he looked up at Conrad.
"Can you help me take Mother to her room; I think she needs some rest."
"Not before you tell me what this Lightfoot business is all about."
Andre watched as his now very tired Mother crossed her arms again, he knew what that meant, she was not moving until he came clean, Andre glanced at Conrad but he just shrugged his shoulders and waited for Andre to get himself out of the predicament.
"Uhm...well...it's sort of like this Mother, Councillor Leon has this thing about special names for his people and that's the one he gave me for when I'm out working."
"Uhuh... and that's all you're going to tell me?"
"Well I did make a promise to him."
"Alright, after all, you are the man of the house now so I suppose it will have to do...for now, but some time you will tell me everything, I don't want you doing things that are against the law."
"I won't Mother, I promise."
"Alright then, now help me into the bedroom, I need a little rest, it's been a big day for all of us."
Andre walked beside his Mother as Conrad helped her to get to the bedroom and lie down, once she was comfortable they left her to rest and went back into the lounge. Even after the long two days he had had, Andre was still too hyped up to sleep, he sat back in the large soft chair and rested his head back as he thought about all that had happened, it was five hours later when Conrad shook his shoulder to wake up and eat.
TBC.
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