The Boys of the Lady Lex

Welcome back readers. Teachers have been important for all of us. Some have been good. Some not so good. The Boys of Lady Lex are in need of good mentors and role models. Ben and I would like to think we created a few good examples here. -Ben and Douglas

The Boys of the Lady Lex Chapter 15 "Mentors" Written By Douglas DD and Benjamin TC

Ben lay in his bed in sickbay. Sitting on his bed tray were some half eaten green Jell-O and some kind of white mushy looking stuff. Ben had his math book open. He was trying to do the homework Sister Agatha had given him. Ben admitted openly that math was his worse subject. He was in honors English in school back at home, but was in remedial math. Finally after getting frustrated with the word problems that lay before him, he threw the book on the floor and laid back and closed his eyes. This was his first day going to class via the television monitor, but he had fallen asleep in more then one of his classes.

"You awake?" whispered a young boy standing at the door.

Ben opened his eyes and saw Trevor standing there. "Hey, come on in." Ben was glad to see his brother. He knew his parents would be leaving the next day, but he was happy that some family would still be here.

"How are you feeling?"

"Tired. How are you doing?" "OK."

"Something wrong, Trev?"

Trevor thought for a minute. He wanted to tell Ben about him stealing some snacks tomorrow night for Johnny, but he thought he better not.

"Nah, just wondering how you were doing. I better go, I have homework to do." Before Ben could say anything else, Trevor was gone.

Brian set his epee next to his saber. He just finished polishing his epee, saber, foil and broad sword. He thought carefully all day what he was going to do. He hated his life. It life was bad enough back on Earth, but now he was on some ship with a group of youth criminals. He just wished his life was back to normal, but after his accident his life would never be normal again.

He stood up and took his epee, saber and foil and wrapped them up carefully in a black felt cloth. He propped the swords on his shoulder and grabbed his cane. He hobbled down the passageway, using his cane as a crutch. His shoulder was getting tired from carrying the swords but he knew he had to do what he had to do.

He finally found the room he was looking for. On the rust covered door was a sign that read Incinerator Room. He opened the door and went into the small room. On the bulkhead across the room were three doors about the size of a poster board. Above the door were two lights. A red one and a green one. Currently the green lights were all turned on and the red lights were off.

Brian pushed a button on one of the incinerators. The door slid open exposing a dark small room. He slid his swords into the incinerator and shut the door. He pushed another button and the green light above the door turned off and the red light turned on. A faint humming was heard for a few minutes, then the red light turned off and green light turned back on. Brian opened the door once again and peered inside. The swords were gone. He destroyed the swords for he didn't want anyone else using them after he was gone.

Brian went back to his room. He shut his bedroom door and locked it. He took his broad sword, which was a duplicate of the "Excalibur", and ran his fingers along the freshly polished and sharpened blade. He placed the handle to his sword on the floor and propped the tip of the sword on his belly button.

Tears started to run down his flush cheeks. He hated his life. He hated his crippled sorry ass. He had enough and he was going to end it all. Images of Major Zjan'Ren appeared in his mind. He wanted so much to start sword fighting again, but how could he. Not like this. Not as a cripple.

The tip of the blade started to press into his belly button. Tears were flowing down his cheeks quite rapidly now. All he had to do now was just drop. Just thrust himself upon his own sword. Ending his sorry pathetic crippled life.

"Balance!" ripped through Brian's mind like wild fire. The sword fell to the floor with a thundering clank. Brian fell to his knees crying, his tears falling onto his blade. Just as many times before, he couldn't go through with it. But this was the closest he ever came to doing it.

"Fuck it!!!" he said. He got up and picked up his sword. He slung it over his shoulder, grabbed his cane and headed back to the incinerator room.

He rounded the corner and standing in front of the door was Major Zjan'Ren. He was standing tall and firm. His baklava was in his right hand with the watery blade protruding from its bamboo handle.

"I need to get in there," said Brian.

"In order to get into this room Young McDowell, you must fight me."

"Forget it. I'm not fighting you." Scott turned his back on the towering Kriton and started to limp away. Major Zjan'Ren pressed his communication watch and a force field appeared, blocking Brian's path. Brian turned around. "Let me out."

"Fight me Young McDowell."

"I can't and I won't."

"You will fight me!" ordered Zjan'Ren. He lifted his baklava over his head, holding the bamboo handle with both of his hands.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" yelled Zjan'Ren as he charged Brian. He swung down his baklava with a deadly blow. There was a loud thundering clank as Brian took his sword parried Zjan'Ren's attack. Brian then riposte into an attack of his own, gripping his sword tightly with both hands. The swords clashed, throwing sparks in every direction. The human child and Kriton adult glam down the corridor grunting, yelling, and thrusting themselves upon each other.

Brian spun in a circle and parried once more. Beads of sweat were retracing the trail that the tears had laid before it not that long ago. Although the duel was no more than five minutes long, it felt like a lifetime for Brian. Then Brian saw his cane lying on the cold deck by itself. He lost his balance and Zjan'Ren's baklava came up under Brian's sword where it was ripped from his hands and thrown down the passageway.

Brian fell hard to the deck on his bad leg. Zjan'Ren held the top of his blade at Brian's heart. He had a stern face with his lips pierced together and nostrils flaring.

"DO IT!!! KILL ME!!! I CAN'T STAND LIVING LIKE THIS. FUCKEN KILL ME ALREADY!!!! I AM JUST FUCKING HANDCAPPED KID WHO CAN'T DO SHIT. KILL ME!!!" cried Brian. Tears were now flowing down his flushed cheeks.

Zjan'Ren lowered his blade back into the bamboo handle and placed his baklava onto his sash. Zjan'Ren popped out his glass eye and tossed it onto the deck next to Brian. "Your cane threw you off balance. That's why you plundered," said Zjan'Ren. "I plundered because I am a cripple!!" cried Brian.

"Young McDowell. We all have handicaps, but we place them in proper balance with our lives to make us stronger, not weaker," said the Kriton I don't let my blindness in one eye throw me off balance. Young McDowell, you need to find your balance like I did. And your balance starts with your cane."

Zjan'Ren looked at Young McDowell who was still lying on the floor tears still running down his cheeks. He then went over and picked up Brian's sword and cane. He put them both down along side of Brian.

"You must decide which one of these you will seek your balance with." Zjan'Ren then went to his quarters leaving Brian there alone with much to think about.

Trevor shimmied through the air vents and he made it to his destination, the galley. He climbed down and went over to the reefer where desserts were being kept. He went to open it, but realized it was locked. He then went over to a walk-in pantry and found some cookies, chips and other snacks. He grabbed some, put in the snacks into a garbage bag and went back to the vent. Trevor climbed back through the vents and made to the entrance where he first entered the vents. He dropped to the floor and fell on his hands and knees. His face was just mere inches from a pair of black boots.

Zjan'Ren looked at his watch and saw it was almost midnight. He was in the middle of his evening meditation before bedtime when there was a faint knock on the door. Zjan'Ren stood up from his meditation pillow and threw on a robe. He went to the door and opened it. No one was there. But lying on the floor below him was a sword. Zjan'Ren left out a long sigh.

Ben lay in his bed in sickbay. He had his eyes closed just resting thinking about his time here on the "Lexington". He heard someone come into his room. He opened his eyes and saw Douglas standing there. Ben opened his mouth to say something, but Douglas put his finger to his lips signaling him to be quiet.

Douglas walked over to the bed and crawled in next to Ben. His head and torso were hovering over Ben, as his legs pressed against Ben's leg on the hospital bed. Douglas leaned down and planted his lips gently with a kiss. Ben opened up his mouth slightly and Douglas's tongue started to explore the inside of Ben's mouth.

Ben's tongue greeted the welcomed stranger and began to lightly wrestle with Douglas's tongue. Both boys letting out soft moans of pleasure. Douglas's hands began explore Ben's pale chest as Ben's hands began exploring Douglas's back. The two boys held each other tight as their kiss became deeper, harder and more passionate.

Douglas felt Ben's hard member press and rub against his hard member through their clothes. Douglas slowly thrust his hips gently, rubbing the two cocks together. A small wet spot was forming on the front of Ben's hospital gown as the two boys held each other tightly.

Ben slid his hands under Douglas's shirt and rubbed his finger tips over Douglas's smooth skin. This sent shivers down Douglas's spine, causing him to kiss Ben even harder. Douglas reached behind Ben's back and untied the strings to his gown.

Ben reached down and grabbed the bottom of Douglas's shirt. He then pulled up towards him. Douglas lifted his arms above his head and broke the kiss just long enough for his shirt to be pulled off.

Once Douglas's shirt was off, Douglas worked on Ben's gown. The gown fell to the cold, hard deck next to Douglas's shirt. The two boys were kissing and groping and feeling each other up. Their bare chests rubbing tightly against each other. Ben's hard, dripping cock leaving a trail of precum on Douglas's pants.

Ben began to work on Douglas's pants as Douglas began to nibble and kiss on Ben's neck. Once Douglas's pants were undone, he quickly kicked his shoes off and shed his pants. Ben pushed Douglas's white briefs down as far as he could reach and Douglas picked where Ben left off and lowered his briefs down pass his knees and ankles and on the way off, he snagged his socks and took the three articles of clothing off. He got on top of Ben and rubbed his hard dripping cock against Ben's dripping member, mixing their two precums together.

Douglas's tongue began to stroll around Ben's neck and started to nibble, kiss and lick Ben's ear. Ben let out a moan as he felt Douglas's tongue tickle his ear. Ben reached down and began to fondle his friend's cock.

Douglas's tongue then strolled down to Ben's nipples. He began to kiss, bite, pull gently and kiss the hardening nipples. Ben began to run his fingers through Douglas's dark soft hair. Douglas continued to let his tongue explore as he glided down Ben's chest and over his belly button. He reached a thin forest of light blondish brown pubic hairs. He blew a sweet, soft wind across them, causing them to dance in his whispery kiss.

Douglas stuck out his tongue and let it climb slowly up Ben's throbbing cock. He reached his mushroom head and ran the tip of his tongue through the pee slit, licking up the sweet tasting precum that was dripping out of it.

Douglas ran his tongue back down the shaft and up over the smooth soft skin that contained Ben's seed makers. Douglas ever so gently ran his tongue up underneath to that sweet sensitive spot up behind Ben's balls. Ben cooed as Douglas hit that spot.

Douglas twisted himself around and dangled his cock just above Ben's mouth. Ben opened his mouth and stuck out his tongue. It just barely reached his pee slit where he licked out the precum and let it dribble down his tongue to the back of his throat.

As Douglas opened his mouth wide and lowered his head down upon Ben's cock, he lowered his own cock into Ben's waiting mouth. Both boys closed their mouth gently around each other's cocks and began to suck slowly at first. They began to hump each other's mouths and both of them were moaning as their heads bobbed up and down in sync with the thrusts.

They both began to suck harder and faster, enjoying the taste and smell of each other. Douglas then let Ben's dick flop out of his mouth and he pulled his own dick out of Ben's mouth. He moved himself down between Ben's legs. Ben spread his legs as if it was the answer Douglas was waiting for. Douglas ran his tongue across the freckles on Ben's butt as if he was connecting the dots. He then slipped his tongue in Ben's crack and let it glide gently over Ben's awaiting rosebud.

Ben shivered and shuttered as he felt the warmth of Douglas's tongue on his bud. He pushed his butt towards Douglas, telling him through his actions that he wanted more. Douglas slid his tongue into the dark cavity and licked the inside of Ben's walls. Ben groaned at the pleasure it brought. Douglas began to lick, kiss, and suck at Ben's hole, sending pleasures into Ben that he never felt before.

Ben spread his legs even wider, inviting Douglas to go farther then any of them have ever gone before. Douglas got into position and ran his hard, throbbing cock down Ben's crack, leaving a trail of precum behind. Douglas pressed the tip of his dick against Ben's rosebud. He pushed a little harder and soon his mushroom head was inside Ben. Ben moaned as he felt Douglas penetrate him. He pulled Douglas towards him and began kissing him frantically.

Douglas pushed harder, inching his way into Ben. As Douglas rubbed against Ben's sweet spot, Ben yelled out "I LOVE YOU DOUGLAS" and clawed his fingernails into Douglas's back.

Once Douglas was in, he pulled back out almost to the point where he was completely out and then pushed back in. He repeated this over and over again and again rubbing against Ben's sweet spot. Both boys telling each other that they love each other dearly.

"HARDER!!!" yelled Ben.

Douglas fucked Ben harder and harder as he felt Ben's fingernails scratch down his back. Ben felt Douglas's cock swell within him. He squeezed his ass muscles tight around Douglas's cock.

Both boys yelled in ecstasy as Ben shot his seed all over his chest, some drops landing on his face. Douglas shot his seed deep inside Ben's bowels.

Ben opened up his eyesand looked around the darkened room. He was alone. He reached down to his cock and found a puddle of boy seed around the base of his cock and over his belly. Ben closed his eyes. He couldn't believe he just had a wet dream about a boy who he barely knew.

Ben wondered to himself. How could he be falling in love with a boy who he hardly knew? After all, he only spent one night with him and most of the time Douglas spent with him, he was asleep. And the few times he was awake were short periods and they only talked a little. What made Ben's heart ache for Douglas? How could this be?

Douglas lay in his rack alone. He reached down and felt the warm sliminess of his boy cum. He couldn't believe he just had a wet dream about fucking Ben. It was the best dream he had ever had. How he longed to kiss Ben again and to hold him in his arms. Sure he wanted more, but holding him and cuddling with him seemed more important to him then sex. Douglas wondered how he was falling in love with a boy he knew hardly anything about. But from the moment he first saw Ben lying in sickbay unconscious a few days ago when Ben returned from Lucifer, Douglas knew there was something special about him. Something about that boy called to Douglas. But Douglas couldn't figure how or why the boy was calling to him. Douglas closed his eyes; he didn't bother cleaning up the mess and drifted off back to sleep.

Trevor's eyes moved up the feet before him and followed the legs up until he was looking at his English teach, Mr. Wolfe. Harrison Wolfe stood there with his arms crossed and looking firm at him.

"Sloppy. Very sloppy," said Harrison in a cold tone.

"Huh?"

"You were loud in your movements. You didn't plan well, otherwise you would have known that the reefer was locked, and you left a trail behind you that a blind man could follow. If you plan on becoming a thief, you better learns the ways of stealth and thievery. Otherwise I suggest you give it up."

Harrison turned and started to walk away. Trevor quickly got up and followed behind his teacher. "How did you know I was in the galley and that I would pop out where I did?" asked Trevor.

"Like I said, you were loud, you didn't plan things out and you left a trail behind you."

"I didn't leave no trail."

Harrison Wolfe stopped. He looked at the young boy. "First of you didn't leave any trail. Your use of the English language is pathetic. I do not want to hear any more double negatives. Secondly, come boy follow me and we will take a look at that trail you didn't leave behind." Harrison led Trevor into the galley. He looked around and found some flour. He took some out of its container and sprinkled it lightly on the door handle to the reefer. He gently blew it away leaving a small imprint of a finger print.

"Look there!! Your fingerprints are all over this place."

"Yeah so? A lot of people fingers prints are in here."

"But if you would have planned, A) you would have known the reefer was locked and B) you would have known the Cook always wipes everything down leaving no traces of dust, dirt, grease and finger prints before she leaves for the night."

"How do you know all this? Were you a thief?"

"No. I am an English teacher and you better get to bed before someone finds you up. I am sure Master Sergeant Flint would love to give you KP or something for being up past curfew." Harrison turned and walked out of the galley and headed down the quiet passageway with Trevor still on his heels.

"I want you teach me," begged Trevor who wasn't giving up.

"I will teach you."

"Really?"

"Yes, every other day you will come to my classroom and I will teach you the rules of English grammar, literature, and other related items. I will even teach you about avoiding the use of ear piercing double negatives."

"That's not what I mean Mr. Wolfe. I want you to teach me the ways of stealth and thievery."

Harrison stopped and looked at Trevor. "I am an English teacher Mr. Collins, not a teacher on criminal acts. Now off to bed with you."

"But how do you know the ways of stealth and thievery? How did you know I was stealing food? Tell me," persisted Trevor.

"I read. I learn from books. Now to bed before I personally deliver you to Master Sergeant Flint."

"No! I am not going to bed until you tell me that you will teach me what you know about the ways of stealth and thievery."

"And what makes you so sure I know them? Because I sprinkled flour on your finger prints? I told you, I read. I read that in a murder mystery once. Now to bed!!!"

Trevor tried to get Harrison Wolfe to admit that he knew the ways of stealth and to teach him them, but after much argument, Trevor finally gave up. For the time being anyway."

Commander Creevey looked at her watch. She couldn't believe it was two in the morning already. But she knew when she took the role as executive officer that sleep would be more of a privilege then a right. She walked into sickbay to see how some of the tests were coming along. Since she was a biochemist before getting into command positions, she was working closely with Dr. Daniels on that blood agent that almost killed Ben.

She examined the tests and made a few notes. She fiddled with the experiments for about 30 minutes and then she left the laboratory and exited into the sickbay main room. She saw that the light was still on in Dr. Daniels office. She went over to let him know what she had just finished doing. She peaked in the half opened door and saw Dr. Daniels leaning back in his chair with his feet propped up on his desk. He was letting out a soft snore.

Still lightly gripped in his hand and resting upon his lap was a highball glass with a couple of sips of bourbon and water in it. His other hand was dangling from the chair. Below his hand on the cold deck was a picture of a woman.

Amanda Creevey walked over and took the glass from his hand and placed it on the desk. She took a blanket that was folded up on a filing cabinet and spread across him. She stared at him for a few minutes as he laid there sleeping. She then exited his office and went back out into the sickbay main room. She heard something in one of the patient's rooms, so she went to see if everything was okay. She walked in and saw Ben climbing into his rack.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Ben was startled because he didn't know she was there. His first thoughts were her seeing the wet stains on his gown that was caused by his wet dream he had only moments before. "Uh, yeah. I had to go to the bathroom. I'm okay."

"Do you need anything?"

"No, I'm fine Ma'am. I am going back to bed."

"Okay. Dr. Daniels is in his office if you need him."

"Thank you."

"Good night Ben."

Amanda Creevey left sickbay and decided to try to get a couple hours of sleep before her daily routine started all over again.

Ben woke up with Dr. Daniels taking his vitals. Dr. Daniels smiled.

"Well Ben, I think you are healing just fine. How about you grab a shower, get dressed and just relax for the rest of the day. I think tomorrow you can move back into your room and then the next day start attending your classes in person instead of watching them on TV."

"Really?" Ben was excited. He was getting tired being cooped up in a room lying in bed all day. He wanted to get up and do some things, although he still got winded easily.

"Yes, but still take it easy. You are still excused of doing physical exercise for the next two weeks. Your body's been through a lot."

"I will." Ben got down and entered the shower room. He couldn't wait to walk around the ship and stretch his legs.

Dr. Daniels left Ben's room. When he entered sickbay's main room he saw Douglas come walking in.

"Good morning, son."

"Good morning, dad. Is Ben awake?"

"Yes he is. But he's getting a shower. Give him a few minutes."

"How's he doing this morning?"

"He is recovering just fine. He will be moving in back with you tomorrow."

"YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!" thought Douglas to himself.

"I have the morning meeting I need to get to. I will see you later. Okay?"

"Okay, dad."

Dr. Daniels passed Tina Hatcher as he was exiting sickbay. Tina was coming into sickbay to see how her cousin was doing, but she was even happier when she saw Douglas standing there.

"Hi, Douglas!"

Douglas's eyes widened when he saw Tina come in the sickbay. He had done a pretty good job at avoiding her since they kissed, but his luck just ran out.

"Uh...hi Tina."

"Have you been avoiding me?"

"Uhhhh...ummmmm...no. I am a cadet now and my free time is very limited."

"I heard you became a cadet like my brother did. I think that is so sexy of you."

During their small talk, Tina kept creeping up towards Douglas, as Douglas kept backing up. He didn't want to be around her. But he was beginning to feel like a trapped rat. Finally he was pinned up against the wall.

"I really missed talking to you," she said. She then leaned forward and planted another kiss on him. She forced his lips open and let her tongue slide in and dance with his tongue. Douglas wanted to break the kiss in the worse way, but his body wasn't doing what his brain was telling it to do.

The kiss was finally broken off when they heard the door to sickbay open and close. Douglas looked around and saw no one standing there. Tina tried to kiss him again, but this time he was able to repel her.

"Not now Tina." Douglas went over to Ben's room and saw that his room and bathroom were both empty. Ben must have been the one to leave sickbay. Douglas had a horrible thought. If Ben saw him kissing Tina, what would Ben think? He had to go find him and let him know that there was nothing between him and Tina. That he was an innocent victim of seduction.

Douglas came out of the room and saw Tina standing there topless, flashing her large tits. She smiled at him. "See anything you want, Dougie?" Douglas cringed. Not only did he hate being called Dougie, but Tina had gotten Ben angry at him, too.

"What I want just left." Douglas was so concerned and upset over Ben that he didn't even notice Tina calling him the name he hated. He stormed out of the sickbay in hope to find Ben and explain everything.

Ben walked down the passageway. He was trying to hide the tears that were forming in his eyes. He couldn't believe he was falling for a boy. It was obvious that Douglas and Tina had something going on. How could he be so stupid? He touched his lips remembering when Douglas had kissed him and thought it was just a pity kiss for him for being hurt. There was no meaning behind it. He grabbed his lips as if he was removing the kiss that Douglas planted on him and he threw it harshly to the deck.

Douglas ran out in the hall and looked up and down it, but Ben was gone. He was out of sight. Douglas could feel his own tears build up. He could just imagine what must be going through Ben's mind. He needed to find Ben and explain to him that he was innocent. He ran down the opposite direction Ben had in order to find him.

"Young McDowell," said Zjan'Ren as he saw Brian walk down the passageway with his cane in hand.

"Why can't you just leave me alone?"

"You want me to leave you alone?"

"Yes I do. I don't want to sword fight anymore. Why can't you understand that?"

"Young McDowell. I will leave you alone, but first you need to look directly in my eye and tell me that your heart doesn't yearn to sword play again and that a part of you didn't feel like you were alive again when we were dueling yesterday. You do that and I will not approach you again."

Brian looked directly into the Kriton's good eye. "I don't want to sword play again." He started to walk away after saying that.

"That wasn't the deal Young McDowell. Your heart longs for it. I can tell."

Brian stopped but didn't face the Kriton. Tears were building up in his eyes. Damn he thought, why couldn't that Kriton bastard just leave him alone? Finally he turned around and started crying hard.

"If you must know, my heart does want to sword fight again. But I can't."

"Why can't you? And don't say because you are handicapped, because I won't buy that. Why don't you want to sword fight again? And be honest with your answer, not to me, but to yourself"

"Because I am scared. All right? I am scared shitless to pick up a sword again. I can't see out of my right eye, my arm and leg are weak and I am scared of losing and making a fool of myself because I am a god damn cripple."

"Being scared is good. It shows respect to your opponent. But this is where balance comes into play. You need to balance that fear, harness it and use it to your advantage and not let fear control you and use you to its advantage. It's all about balance. I can show you how to gain balance, but in order for me to show you, you need to want balance in your life. Because if you don't want balance there is nothing I can do as your mentor, your teacher, your Kalair to help you gain balance. The first step to gaining balance is to want balance. Once you want balance, then I can show you how to gain balance. Young McDowell, do you want balance?"

"But I am scared," cried Brian.

"Once again you answered a question I didn't asked. I said do you want balance?"

"Yes," said Brian who was crying hard.

"Do you want me to show you how to achieve that balance?"

"Yes."

Zjan'Ren pulled his baklava from his sash. The water blade rose out from the bamboo handle. Zjan'Ren knelt down and placed the tip of his blade on the floor.

"I Zjan'Ren of the third family of Kriton vow to be your Kalair to teach you balance."

This was the second of three times that a Kriton would kneel to a human.

"Morning Chaplain," smiled Andrew as he and Nipper came walking into the music room. Chaplain Kyle looked down and saw the two young boys were holding hands, but he didn't say anything. He being a man of the cloth and a Bible fearing man did not believe in gay relationships. However, the one thing that God did teach him was to love one another and he could tell these two young boys loved one another and that he will not hold that against them.

"Good morning boys," said Chaplain Kyle with a smile. "Had a little problem with keeping your tune today?"

Andrew and Nipper giggled. "Uh yeah, I'm sorry." Little did Chaplain Kyle know Nipper was sucking Andrew's dick at the time and Andrew had a dry orgasm at the point of playing his morning reveille. Nipper did this to get even with the early morning wake up and hearing the blaring of the trumpet first hand.

"Let's see if you can do a better job tomorrow. Now, since both of you are musicians have you either of you ever start whistling or humming a tune or even playing a tune in your head over and over that you never heard before?"

"You mean something like we made up?" asked Nipper.

"Yes, something you made up."

"Yeah, I guess," replied Nipper.

"Sometimes I do," said Andrew.

"Good, because I'll tell you what we are going to do. I found out that when it comes time for the Olympics, we will need an alma mater."

"What's that?" asked Andrew.

"That is your school's theme song, right?" suggested Nipper.

"Exactly. So the three of us will work together over the next few weeks and come up with our theme song."

"I never wrote a song before. Where do we begin?" asked Andrew.

"Well, some people like to write the music first and add in lyrics later, other musicians like to do the complete opposite. They come up with the words and add music to it. Myself, well there are times I come up with a tune first and add words later and then there are times when I come up with the lyrics and add music last. It all depends on my inspiration at the time. Am I inspired by music first or by lyrics first?"

"So how do we start?" asked Nipper. "Do we do music first or the lyrics?"

"Both of you said that you hum and whistle music that you made up yourself. Let's hear those tunes and go from there."

"Chaplain Kyle?"

"Yes, Andrew."

"I think I have a title for our alma mater."

"Let's hear it?"

"I saw on the commissioning plaque on the bridge that the SFA Lexington's motto is `Let courage lead the way'. Maybe that can be our motto and the title to our song."

"I like that a lot Andy," chirped in Nipper.

"That is an excellent suggestion Andrew. Now let's see what music you have flowing in your heads."

Chaplain Kyle, Andrew and Nipper spend the rest of the day humming, whistling, singing, pounding on the piano and playing other instruments to come up with their academy's alma mater. Surprisingly what Chaplain Kyle thought would take them a couple of weeks to complete, ended only taking a day. Of course there was some fine tuning to do, but by the end of the day their alma mater would be complete.

Ben walked into the shuttle bay. He had been wandering around aimlessly for about an hour. He finally ended up here. He saw that a shuttle was actually in the bay for some minor repairs. It was the shuttle that he would be assigned to with Douglas as his CO. He thought maybe he could switch with someone. He didn't want to be in the same crew as Douglas anymore. Not after seeing him kiss his cousin. He didn't even want to move back into his own room anymore. He wanted a different room. He would even settle being roommates with Johnny Cooper again, as long as he wasn't roommates with Douglas.

Ben glided his fingers along the skin of the shuttle. He liked the feel of the cold metal at his finger tips. He could feel some small nicks and dents in certain areas of the skin. He felt strange because it was like he was connecting with the old shuttle.

"She's a bit old, but once I finish tweaking her, she'll fly better then any shuttle in the Olympics."

Ben turned and saw Kalon standing behind him. "Ummm, Dr. Daniels said I need to walk around a bit. I have permission to be out of class and stuff."

"Relax Ben. This is Kalon Masters you're talking to. I am just glad you are feeling better. You gave us quite a scare, you know."

"I know, but Dr. Daniels said I will be okay now."

"Glad to here it. You ready to start flying?"

"Yeah, I can't wait. I never did anything like that before."

"It's going to be some intense training, but I am sure you can do it."

"Can I go on board?"

"Sure, it's your shuttle. Go ahead."

Ben climbed onboard and walked up to the pilot's seat. He sat down and ran his fingers over the control panel. Unlike some of the new shuttles, this one still had a stick handle to pilot her by. He gently grabbed the `square steering wheel' and closed his eyes. He was imagining flying through the stars.

"You wanna practice?" asked Kalon who sat in the navigator's seat.

"You mean fly it?"

"Simulated flight," said Kalon as he punched a few buttons and programmed a simulated flight. "Now, the image you see on your screen is the simulated image, like a movie projector. I will program the shuttle to be in hover mode, so you can feel the yawing, pitching, and the rolling of the shuttle. But don't worry, there is no way for you to hit a button that would take her off hover mode and send us through the bulkhead. I am the only one who has that power."

"This is gonna be cool." Ben was a little nervous. He wiped the palm of his hands on his pants. Then he gripped the handle a second time.

"Are you ready to fly Ben?"

"Can I watch?"

Ben quickly jerked his head to look behind him and he saw Douglas standing in the hatch. Why did he have to show up? Ben thought to himself. But before Ben could say anything, Kalon answered for him.

"Of course you can. You're the CO, so have a seat in your chair right there. This will be good practice for the both of you."

Ben crinkled his nose at the thought of Douglas being there. Douglas said hi to Ben, but he ignored the salutations and diverted his attention back to the control panels. Kalon carefully and slowly went over the steps on the launching procedures and what safety checks to perform. After about an hour, Kalon hit his special button and the shuttle began to hover.

"Okay Ben. Even though we are hovering, the simulation still thinks we are sitting on the deck. The image you see on the screen is not the real image, but the simulated image. Are you ready to fly?" asked Kalon.

"Yeah, I think so."

"Cadet Daniels, when you feel everything is ready to go, give the order to launch."

Douglas pulled out a cheat sheet that had the check list on it. Douglas started running down the list. Ben would perform the check and always answered Douglas coldly and sharply. He did not hide the fact that he didn't want Douglas there. This hurt Douglas dearly, but he wasn't about to leave. He had to stay. Because if he didn't fight this, he was afraid he would lose someone who means so much to him. And he wasn't about to let that happen.

An hour went by with Ben trying to launch the shuttle. And once again, he crashed it. He had not yet had a decent take off. He was getting very frustrated with himself. He blamed Douglas because Douglas was starting to cop and an attitude on his pilot skills, or lack thereof.

"Come on Ben, you can do this," encouraged Douglas.

"Will you shut up and quit telling me what I can or cannot do?" snapped Ben.

"I'm just trying to help."

"Well stop it. I don't want your help."

"Settle down you two. Let's try something different." Kalon reprogrammed the computer and the view screen changed. It was no longer the image of the shuttle bay. It was now the image of the cold vacuum of space. "Let's see how well you can fly this once you already launched."

Once again Ben tried and tried, but kept stalling out the engines, or putting too much stress on them, or losing control of the shuttle which would put them in a flat spin or a roll. Once he even crashed into the Lady Lex.

"I had enough. I can't fly this peace of shit."

"Relax dude, it was your first day. This is going to take time." Kalon once again reprogrammed the computer and the familiar image of the shuttle bay appeared again.

Kalon looked at his watch. It was close to lunch time. "Look, let's try this one more time before we break for lunch. But I have an idea. Ben just rest your hands on the stick. Close your eyes. Take a deep breath and connect with your shuttle. Let her get to know you, trust you, respect you. At the same time you do the same to her."

Ben let out a deep breath and did what Kalon asked of him. He tried clearing his mind of everything. It was hard, but he was succeeding. He was becoming one with the shuttle. Kalon saw that Ben was becoming more and more relaxed.

"Now put these on." Kalon gave Ben his mirror sunglasses. Ben shot him an inquisitive look. "Trust me." Ben placed the sunglasses on. Douglas didn't say a word. He just sat in his chair and watched. He kept thinking to himself as if he was trying to relay his thoughts to Ben that he trusted Ben and he knew that Ben could do this.

Kalon pushed another button and music started to blare out of the speakers. Kalon's love for 21 century music was evident. A song performed by Stevie Brock start to echoed throughout the shuttle. The song was entitled `Flying".

"Now Ben, feel the rhythm. Feel the beat. And when you are ready. FLY!!!"

Ben checked his instruments and everything read okay. He put the shuttle into gear and he launched her. He made it out of the loading hatch and into space. He zoomed all around the Lady Lex. Ben was cheering and yelling with excitement and Douglas was too. They were having a blast. As soon as one fast pace energetic song ended, another one began. For the next 30 minutes Ben was in his own little world flying and enjoying this tremendously. Kalon was coaching him all the way through, but Ben was not crashing or rolling, or stalling the engines.

"We better land her. It's time for lunch."

Ben sat back and waited for Kalon to end the simulation and to see the real image of the shuttle bay appear on his view screen. Kalon turned down the music.

"Okay, when you dock her, just do it gently. It is easier then you think."

"Do we have time for me to practice docking?" asked Ben.

"Yeah, my stomach is growling," chimed in Douglas. This was the first time he spoke since Ben succeeded in launching.

"If boys want lunch, then we have to dock."

"But isn't that a simulation?" asked Douglas.

"I turned the simulator off right before I turned on the music."

"You mean I...I was actually flying?" asked Ben stunned.

"You sure were."

"But he could have crashed us."

"He could of, but I had the emergency control and I wouldn't have let that happened."

"You mean we are in space? I was actually flying?" Ben couldn't believe it.

"Yes Ben. We are in space. The Lady Lex in your view screen is the real Lady Lex and not the simulated one that you crashed into earlier."

"But why did you turn the simulator off?" asked Douglas.

"I had a hunch and I went with it. And as always, my hunch was right. Now let's dock so we can go eat. I am hungry."

Ben was a little nervous now. Especially since he knew this wasn't a simulation any more. But with Kalon's coaching and Douglas's support, Ben docked the shuttle to the docking hatch outside the shuttle bay. It wasn't a pretty docking, but he docked it.

Once the shuttle was docked, Kalon, Ben and Douglas exited the shuttle craft. Ben still amazed at what he did. Ben went to give Kalon back his sunglasses, but Kalon wouldn't take them back.

"You earned them Kid. You're like me when I first began. I couldn't fly to save my life. But then Jake Masters, the man who taught me, told me I had to connect to my ship and the one way to do that is by music. And from that point on, I have been the best shuttle craft pilot in SFA."

Ben smiled and thanked Kalon for his help.

"Now Ben, don't get all cocky or anything, because this was only your first lesson. There is a lot more to learn to become a pilot. But for what I just saw out there today, you will be just fine. I will teach you everything I know, so you can out do any other shuttle pilot at the regular academies."

"Thanks, Kalon."

"You're welcome, kiddo. Now you two better get off to lunch, before the galley closes." Kalon then nodded and smiled at both boys and went on his marry way.

"You were great Ben," smiled Douglas.

"I'm not talking to you," said Ben as he turned his back on Douglas and left. Douglas stood there in the shuttle bay alone and hurt.

The remainder of the day and that night were uneventful. The boys who had academics went to their classes. The boys who had duty did their assigned tasks. Nipper, Chaplain Kyle and Andrew worked on their alma mater. Ben avoided Douglas at all costs. Douglas got to the point that he didn't even bother looking for Ben anymore. Johnny Cooper, Mike the Donkey, and the senior officers met and discussed the candidates for the command positions and the department head positions. Ely and Chief Anderson worked hard on replacing the failing gravity generator before it expired for good. They figured within a week, the new generator would be in place and fully functional. That night, Commander Creevey stopped by sickbay again. This was Ben's last night in sickbay. She walked saw the light on in Dr. Daniels office. She walked in, and like the night before. She took the highball glass out of his hand and put on the desk, picked the picture up off the floor and placed that on the desk and covered him up in a blanket. She then went about her business after watching him sleep for a few minutes. Another day had ended on the Lady Lex.

To be continued....