Welcome back once again loyal readers. As you will read in this chapter, some of the things the boys wrote about in Ben's chapter of letters happened, and some didn't. Boys being boys they don't always get it right. However, a nice little rivalry between the rickty old Lady Lex and the modern top of the line "Orion" heats up a little more here. How are these two ships destined to interlock?
The Boys of the Lady Lex Chapter 24 "Home" Written By Douglas DD and Benjamin TC
Andrew's Reveille sounded throughout the Lady Lex. Ben moaned and pulled his pillow over his head. Doesn't that boy ever get tired of playing that fucking piece of music? he thought. Can't he skip it for just one morning?
Across the cabin his "morning person" roommate jumped out of bed. He took a few steps over to Ben's bed and yanked the pillow off him.
"Rise and shine, kid!"
Ben rolled over, his back to Douglas. "Fuck you," he mumbled. Ben was not a morning person.
"I'm going to shower. Do you want to join me?"
"No!"
Douglas sat down on the edge of Ben's bed. "When are we going to sleep together again?"
"Never! Now get of my bed!"
Douglas got up, hurt. He glanced at the calendar. It read Monday, April 11th. How long had it been since he and Ben had done anything? Ben wouldn't even let him touch him any more. He tried to figure out what he had done wrong, but nothing would come to mind. Ben claimed he just didn't feel well, that is must be something left over from his injury and his illness. Yet when Douglas suggested he go to sickbay, Ben refused saying he didn't feel that badly. This morning was starting out just like the last few days, and Douglas was tired of it.
He stopped at the door to the head and said, "It looks like you don't love me any more. Which is okay. I can accept it. I just wish you'd admit it instead of feeding me all this bullshit about not feeling well. I'm tired of being treated like a Rigel water rat."
Ben kept his back to Douglas and said nothing. Yeah, I love you Douglas. It's you who don't love me. What did you do in that shuttle with him all that time? Of course you want to say I don't love you any more. You want Scooter. Now, if I just had the guts to say that to him.
Douglas turned on the shower and started soaping. The showers were on timers, and he had to wash himself as quickly as he could. The showers were rationed two per cabin, so he needed to be washed and rinsed before the water ran out.
He finished washing and then luxuriated in the warm spray for a minute until the water turned. off. He dried himself, brushed his teeth, and stepped down into the main cabin. Ben pointedly ignored him. Okay, he thought. Suit yourself. You are now only my roommate. We are no longer boyfriends. What he thought was love was apparently only a crush. He knew he no longer loved Ben.
He started pulling on his underwear and his uniform. The problem was, he did love Ben. But at the moment he couldn't figure out why. He had to latch on to Ben's kindness, his sexy looks, his enthusiasm in bed, his openness and honesty and caring personality, and forget his stubbornness and sometimes irrational jealousies.
Ben came out of the shower and silently got dressed.
"Ben."
"Yeah, what do you want?"
"I want what you want. I won't bother you any more about sleeping with you, about getting a kiss, about getting a hug, about saying I love you. It's obvious you don't. Let's be honest. We can be roommates and, I hope friends. But it's obvious we aren't boyfriends any more. You're free to pair up with anybody you like, if that's what the issue is."
Ben looked at Douglas. "Well, so are you, since that's what you wanted so badly."
"What do you mean by that?"
"You know exactly what I mean."
"Whatever. I have no idea. I just know you have made it pretty obvious you don't want me any more, and your wish has been granted." Douglas grabbed his notebook and left the cabin.
Ben sat on the bed, stunned. Well, Ben, he thought. You've certainly screwed it up this time. Both boys were fighting tears as they separated. *****
Douglas had a breakfast meeting scheduled with Captain Hatcher, Commander Creevy, and Colonel Stone. The meeting involved the three ship's officers and the commanders of the three shuttles that would be participating in the funeral services for Ambassador Talon. They would be departing for Earth tomorrow, at 14:00 hours The class schedules for the crews of the three shuttles had been altered to accommodate a rehearsal session this afternoon and the missing of classes over the next three days. While they might be missing class, they would still have homework to do. Not everybody saw being in the funeral procession as an honor.
When Douglas entered the ready room. The three ship's officers were there, as was Johnny, who was in charge of the ground detail. Ensign Kalon would actually command the "Lady Hawke" as none of the boys was considered experienced enough to command the much larger shuttle.
Spencer Harris, the commander of the "Raptor", walked in. Douglas saw him as one of the biggest losers in the cadet crew. While some of the cadets of the Lady Lex were a rough, tough, motley group, most of them had committed non-violent crimes. Some, like Scooter, or the Collins brothers probably shouldn't be here at all. A lot were like Mike, Ryan, and the Brothers brothers. Pretty much good kids who went awry. Those were the kinds of kids who found themselves in the delinquent schools. But there were a few tough cases, like Johnny Cooper and Spencer Harris. Spencer might actually be the toughest, orneriest boy in the entire crew. Every cadet except maybe Johnny, who seemed to have befriended him, and Mike, who wasn't afraid of anybody, was afraid of him and almost in awe of his presence.
Spencer obviously worked with weights. He had large, well-defined arms, his right biceps tattooed with a large bird of prey.
"Good morning, everyone," Captain Hatcher said. "Since our time is short, I will skip the preliminaries and the niceties. Douglas, you and cadet Harris know each other, of course." They both nodded curtly, even though it was only by name. "The cadets on the Lady Hawke' will be participating in the ground ceremonies. "The Wonder Boy' will be in the space fly by. It will circumnavigate Earth and be seen by virtually every space station. It will then pass close to the moon and can be observed by telescope from Lunar City. At that point the `Raptor' will accompany the drone shuttle carrying the Ambassador's body. It would be accompanied by other shuttles flying in formation on a straight line to the sun. Just inside the orbit of Mercury they will break off and the coffin shuttle will then go straight into the sun. The Ambassador was an academy graduate and was once an SFA officer. He has earned the honor of a space hero's funeral
The afternoon went smoothly, although Douglas was once again put off by Ben's attitude. He did have to concede that Ben did a great job from the pilot's chair, not letting their current conflict get in the way of doing his job. Of course the fact that Kalon Masters was constantly looking over their shoulders might have helped.
After their afternoon maneuvers, Ben docked the "Wonder Boy" in her berth. Kalon left and let the crew shut the shuttle down on its own. As the boys disembarked through the airlock. Douglas made one more desperate attempt to patch things up with Ben.
"Look, Ben, just tell me what I did wrong. That's all I ask. What did I do wrong?"
"I thought we weren't boyfriends any more. So why are you bothering with this?"
"I just want to know what I did wrong."
"I guess you didn't do anything wrong. I guess it was all me. I guess I'm the only one who doesn't think he has to cheat."
"Ben! What are you talking about?"
"Like I said, if you don't know, then you must be pretty dense." Ben took off leaving Douglas standing alone. Damn, Douglas thought, this seems to be happening to me a lot lately.
He started off for his cabin. On the way he ran into the boys who were on the ground crew that would be taken to Earth by the "Lady Hawke". Scooter stopped to say hi.
"Hi, Scooter. How did your rehearsal go?"
"It went good. I'm surprised I got picked."
"Don't be. You're way better than you think."
"Tell that to Sergeant Murdock."
"I see you still have yourself on this week's duty roster."
Scooter looked down at the deck. "I was afraid to take myself off."
"Try again next week. You have to show how good you are. Murdock will keep leaning on you and treating you like shit until you do."
"I know."
"How are you and Jeff doing?"
"Good. We, well, we took advantage of our free time yesterday." Scooter gave him a shy, somewhat embarrassed grin.
Douglas found himself with the strange urge to take care of Scooter's free time in the same way. He shook it off. He knew Ben had made him a free person, but he wasn't about to step on Jeff's toes. Besides, he still had dreams of patching things up with Ben.
"I'm glad things are working with you and Jeff. I know you and him had your problems when you were in the school."
"Not really. He protected me. I gave him what he wanted. But he never forced me to do anything. And now, well now, it's different."
"Too bad you two aren't roommates."
"That would be sweet," Scooter said.
"I still think next week is the week."
"You said that about this week."
"Yeah, well, it's too late for that now. So you try it next week."
Scooter smiled the smile that Douglas found to be so cute and shy and sexy.
Douglas grabbed him and gave him a big friendly hug. And while both boys felt a stirring from it, they both saw it for what it was, the hug of two boys who were rapidly becoming friends.
Ben got to his cabin and stopped. I have to stop being like this, or I'm going to lose the person I love most. This is stupid. I don't know what went on in the shuttle...why am I thinking the worst? I should at least give Douglas the chance to explain. I mean I'm sure it was nothing. And I miss him so much. I think I'll go back and surprise him and walk him back to the cabin. He's right. I'm acting like I don't want us to be boyfriends.
He smiled to himself and turned around, racing up the hall. He needed Douglas, more than he thought. It was time to get him back before he lost him for good. He turned to corners, took the elevator up a level and turned a corner just in time to see Douglas break an embrace with Scooter.
Oh, shit! I was right all along. I was fucking right! Ben felt the tears well up one more time. That's it, he thought, first my cousin Tina, and now this. I was fucking right! I can't trust him. I bet he wanted to kiss Tina all along. He turned and ran, ignoring Douglas as he yelled out his name. He didn't know to where, he just know he had to go somewhere and be alone.
Douglas broke his hug with Scooter. He was about to wish him good luck with Jeff and with Murdock, when he saw Ben staring at him from down the corridor. He saw Ben turn and run.
"Ben! Ben! Wait!" Douglas took off. This time Scooter was the one who was left standing alone.
A noise woke up Douglas. He looked at his clock. It read 0214. He could make out Ben in the dark as he peeled off his uniform. Since he knew Ben didn't have a watch, he wondered where he had gone. He thought about saying something to him about what had happened with Scooter, but he knew this wasn't the time. He rolled over and fell asleep, happy that Ben didn't get caught in a corridor after lights out.
Reveille was its usual evil self. And as usual, Ben turned over and complained, this time with really good reason, and Douglas hopped out of bed. Only this time Douglas didn't bother with the ritual of pulling Ben's pillow away. He went directly to the shower. He would talk with Ben, but only after Ben was awake and ready to listen.
He showered, dried off, and re-entered the cabin. Ben's bed was empty. He had already left without showering. Maybe I'll see him at our table at breakfast, Douglas thought.
But that ended up not being the case. Nipper, Andrew, Scottie, and Jesse were all there, but no Ben. Douglas felt himself becoming increasingly depressed. No matter what he did, he seemed to make the situation worse, and he couldn't figure out what he had done to start the whole problem to start with.
Since it was Tuesday, it was a class day. The shuttle classes had been moved to the end of the day, since some of the shuttle crew members from Wing Group One would be gone. The "Raptor" had not been placed in a wing group, which Douglas found strange, but the crew had been put on the same class rotation as Wing Group One.
Ben showed up for classes, but pointedly ignored Douglas. This is even worse than before, Douglas thought. At lunch, Ben ate at a different table than the rest of the "Wonder Boy" crew.
At 13:30 they met at the "Wonder Boy" shuttle bay. Like the day before, Ben was cool, calm, and professional. But there was no mistaking the ice in his voice when he talked to Douglas. Douglas was hurt deeply. Nipper and Andrew noticed it the most. They had always had a feel for the moods of their brothers.
Right at 14:00 hours the pre-flight check list was completed, and the "Wonder Boy" left her berth, as did the "Raptor" and the "Lady Hawke." The crew of the "Raptor had spent all of the last three days getting familiar with each other. Andrew and Ben had both tried to quiz Trevor on what the "Raptor" was all about, but he refused to reveal anything to his brothers.
The three ships eased their way through the graveyard, then got into a loose formation. Kalon Masters commanded the "Lady Hawke." Ensign Bond was the ship's officer on board the "Raptor". However, for the first time a shuttle was flying solo, without an officer. Douglas was completely in charge of the "Wonder Boy", though he did have both Kalon and Bond close at hand if he needed them.
Douglas should have felt excited and proud to have his first solo command. Instead he was depressed and down, as the boy he was sure he loved barely acknowledged his existence.
The shuttles headed for Earth at maximum impulse and would be there within a few hours. The short distance and the crowded conditions around Earth made using warp impractical. Once maximum impulse was reached the impulse engines could be shut down. The shuttles were now traveling under their own inertia and there was really nothing for the boys to do except for the one boy on watch. Douglas set a watch schedule, giving the first watch to Scottie. The boys found this to be a good time to do the homework that had been piled on them by their teachers.
Both Ben and Douglas found it hard to concentrate on their lessons. They both wished they could find a way to separate from each other, but the only places that were private were the head, the cramped below deck work spaces, and the engine compartment, none of which was conducive to study or even navel contemplation.
For Douglas his first major triumph as a commander meant nothing. The only communication he had with Ben was what was necessary for the operation of the ship. When the rest of the crew had finished congratulating him on getting his solo command under way, Ben hadn't even given him as much as a grunt.
Ben was just as miserable. Deep inside he was very proud of Douglas. He was proud of the entire crew of the "Wonder Boy". When he saw Andrew and Nipper both give him big heartfelt hugs he wished he could have been next, giving him the biggest hug of all. But he knew Douglas didn't want it. He knew Douglas had other interests. I know I shouldn't have these feelings of jealousy, he thought, but this time I'm right. I thought there was more to the relationship between Douglas and me than was actually there.
The crew could feel the tension between Ben and Douglas, and it bothered everybody. No one knew what was behind it, but they knew this was the second time in the last couple of weeks. Jesse, for one, was tired of it. We're supposed to be the top shuttle crew on the Lady Lex, he thought, but we won't be for long if these guys keep acting like love sick Franganese love birds every time they think somebody went to the bathroom at the wrong time. Jesse was still very appreciative of the help Douglas had given him when he confessed to being gay and his crush on Scottie. Ben and Douglas were their leaders, and Jesse figured it was time they both started to show some maturity. Their two little brothers are more mature than they are, he thought to himself. He desperately wanted to get involved and say something, but he was afraid any prodding on his part might bring about return questions. Questions about what had really happened with him and Mark. So, he reluctantly maintained his silence.
Scottie was as disgusted with Ben and Douglas as Jesse was. But he too didn't want to get involved. In his case it was because he was pretty much a private person and tried to stay out of other people's business. Like Jesse, however, it seemed to him the two little 11 year old lovers were more mature than Douglas and Ben. But then he wondered if maybe it was because they were younger and didn't have all the hang-ups Douglas and Ben had.
Nipper and Andrew were both concerned about their older brothers. They had been ecstatic when Ben and Douglas became boyfriends. Andrew liked to call Douglas his brother's boyfriend and his boyfriend's brother. They both could sense the love Douglas and Ben had for each other and were hurt to see that they couldn't sense it themselves. Nipper and Andrew had no compunctions about sticking their nose in people's business. They could be a couple of gossiping busybodies, and it didn't bother them in the slightest that people thought that of them. They saw it was one of their strong points.
Andrew and Nipper were sitting at the back of the cabin, open books on their laps. The other boys saw them hunched over and whispering. They both got up. entered the head, which could barely accommodate the two small boys, and shut the door. Even Douglas and Ben had to smile. Nipper and Andrew were horny and were going to have sex in the head. The thing that brought the smiles was not that they were going to have sex, but that they didn't care who knew it. What's the next step going to be, Douglas thought, just taking of their clothes and doing it in front of us right here in the cabin?
However, sex was not the motivating force taking Nipper and Andrew into the head. Not that the close proximity didn't turn them both on, and not that they had any compunctions about doing it the way the other boys imagined it. This time the motivating force was the need for privacy.
"What's going on between Douglas and Ben really sucks," Andrew said.
"I know and we gotta bring them back together," Nipper replied.
"How?"
"Well, I know Ben is jealous."
"Ben always gets jealous, but why is he jealous this time?"
"Scooter."
"Scooter? How do you know that?"
"Because Scooter told me him and Douglas talked alone and Ben saw it. And I figured that was when Ben quit talking to Douglas. Scooter told him how cool my brother was for talking to him and helping him. So now Ben thinks him and Douglas kissed or had sex or something."
"I know Scooter hugged Douglas yesterday. Greg told me they talked and we watched and they hugged. But I don't know if Ben knows that but maybe he does too, because he's sure been madder."
"What do we do?" Nipper asked. "I know Douglas never did anything wrong. Douglas doesn't do sneaky things like that. But we need to fix it."
"Let's just go and tell them what we think."
"Now?"
"Why not. Everybody's just doing homework anyway. And this trip really sucks. I'm tired of them being mad at each other. Me and Benjie are tight just like you and Douglas are. Let's go tell them."
"Okay." It sounded reasonable to Nipper. Sticking his nose in his brother's business came naturally for him as it did for Andrew.
"I wish we could do something in here now," Andrew said with a grin.
"Me too. Maybe when we go back home we can." The fact that Nipper had referred to the Lady Lex as home was not lost on Andrew.
The boys quickly discussed what their strategy would be and opened the door to the cabin, ignoring the bemused looks on the faces of the four boys in the cabin.
"Me and Andy have something to say," Nipper announced.
"What, that you each finally had a wet cum," Douglas said. Ben couldn't help smile at Douglas's comment, but worked hard to hide the fact.
"No!" Andrew said. "You guys got dirty minds (Yeah. like you don't, Ben thought). We have something serious to say."
The four boys set their books down, waiting with bemused looks to see what their two youngest crew mates had to say.
"We're tired of what Ben and Douglas are doing," Nipper said. He decided to blame both of them, though he knew Ben was more at fault. But he also knew Douglas wasn't doing enough to end their argument.
"And just what is that supposed to mean?" Ben said with a flash of anger. "And besides, what business is it of yours what we're doing?"
"It means you two are messing up our crew so that's why it's our business. If you guys don't like each other then that's your business. But me and Andy love you and we know you like each other. We know you love each other and so you gotta quit being dorks and make up so we can have the best shuttle there is." For Nipper that was a long speech, but he meant it from his heart.
"Ben and I are fine," Douglas said. "We're not being dorks."
This time Jesse chimed in. The subject had been opened and he now felt he could express his opinion. It was now a crew thing instead of a personal thing. "Douglas got hugged from us a while ago for having his first solo command. Then we hugged each other because `Wonder Boy' is the only shuttle to do it. I didn't see Ben give Douglas a hug or even say anything. This is dumb. We should all be happy right now, but instead we're afraid to say anything because of you two. Maybe they should split up all the boyfriends."I know they don't know about Scottie and me, he thought, because even Scottie doesn't know about it.
"We know it's all about Scooter," Andrew said. "And Douglas and Scooter never did anything but talk and hug."
"How do you know about Scooter?" Douglas asked.
"Because Andy knows everything about everybody," Ben said, this time unable to hide his spreading grin.
"And if Andy wants to play around with some of our friends, I'd let him. I trust him. Sex is sex and love is love and I trust Andy. We said we could play around. And all Douglas did was be somebody's friend and you act like he went and got a new boyfriend."
"I know you're my brother and all Ben, but you're so dumb sometimes. If you don't trust Douglas then you don't deserve to be his boyfriend."
Scottie decided to add his bit to the conversation. "I figure you have three choices, guys. Make up and move on. Decide to quit being boyfriends now and be friends and crew mates and quit acting like this. Or one of you tries to transfer off when we get back to the Lady Lex. But what you guys are doing now has to stop."
Ben was about to say something when the communications board sounded. It was Kalon.
"Time to power up the impulse engines and start decelerating. We're approaching Earth." Whatever Ben had to say would have to wait. It was time for the entire crew of the "Wonder Boy" to get back to work.
The next hour was spent decelerating, checking instruments, watching out for traffic, and listening to Kalon's instructions. The boys couldn't help but gawk as Earth got bigger and bigger in the view screen. No matter what Nipper had said about going home, this was truly home and each boy knew it.
Douglas followed the "Lady Hawke" to SFA Earth Station #2. The "Lady Hawke would not be docking. It would be taking its crew to Earth for the ground ceremonies. Kalon watched, with a bit of trepidation, as the crew of the "Wonder Boy" docked it expertly in one of the station's shuttle bays. The "Raptor" followed suit, but with Ensign Bond at the helm. After watching the docking, Kalon eased the "Lady Hawke" away and headed for Earth.
After shutting down the "Wonder Boy", the boys grabbed their overnight bags and entered the space station. They were met by two SFA representatives, wondering what they were getting into. Everybody knew what the boys were like who manned the Lady Lex. They were all losers and criminals. They ended up being not only amazed that the "Wonder Boy" had flown solo and docked solo, but that the six boys in her crew were clean-cut, polite, and professional. What they didn't know was that half the crew were actually the sons of officers on the Lady Lex, and that Colonel Stone had threatened all of the boys to within an inch of their lives if they screwed up and embarrassed the Lady Lex.
The boys were shown their sleeping spaces, as well as where the lounge area was and the eating area. They were also shown the main meeting room, where they were to meet at 0700. The boys decided to grab a snack while they waited for dinner. Lieutenant Marsh had told them that they were the first of the junior academy ships to arrive, but the others were expected soon. Douglas and Ben found a corner off to themselves.
"Douglas, I am so sorry. Andrew and Nipper were right. I've been a dork."
"I guess I could have behaved better."
"No, you behaved great. I don't know why I get this way. Maybe it's because I don't know how to have a boyfriend. I want all of you to myself. I know you didn't do anything with Scooter but hug him, but I kept thinking you wanted him over me."
"Ben, I won't deny Scooter is sexy. But he is in love with Jeff. He's just having some problems. You know what they are. It's the whole watch thing. I was trying to help him. He's a nice kid. He's my friend. He needed my help. He hugged me for helping me. If you can't handle me having friends then our relationship is never going to work. Because I will hug him again."
"Maybe you can do more sometime."
"That's not what I said."
"No, it's what I said. I said maybe you could sometime. Looks like it works for Nipper and Andrew, and you said it was sexy."
"Ben, get over this. We're not Nipper and Andrew. We're Douglas and Ben. Let's get ourselves solid fist before we worry about that kind of stuff. Or even think about it. We need to trust each other totally first. I'll tell you this much. You can trust my love for you always."
Ben sat silently for a few minutes. Douglas did nothing to push him into saying anything. But he could see the tears being fought down.
"I guess I am so afraid of losing you. So scared because I'm here without half my family. Scared because my whole life came unglued because I made a silly mistake. Every time you're not around me I miss you. And when you went into the shuttle with Scooter I didn't want to share you with him. For any reason. I wanted every bit of your attention all the time. I know that's wrong. So I just convinced myself you and Scooter were doing stuff. That made my feelings seem more right to me."
"Hey, I'm no shrink, Ben. I don't care what your reasons were. I just want you to know I love you still. And I want to be your boyfriend still. And I want you to know you can always trust me."
Ben turned and gave Douglas a huge hug and a hard deep kiss. The other members of the "Wonder Boy" crew smiled. All was right with their shuttle again. They were still the best shuttle on the Lady Lex.
Just before Ben and Douglas broke their long, passionate kiss a group of boys entered the lounge, accompanied by the same two officers who had brought the "Wonder Boy" crew there. The officers said nothing. They walked away without comment. One of the boys from the "Orion" did have something to say.
"Just like I figured all along, Douglas," David said sarcastically. "A fairy. Figures you had to pick someone ugly to be your boyfriend. I bet your whole ship is made up of fairies." Ben clenched his fists. It took every ounce of energy and self-discipline he had to not jump up and beat David to a bloody pulp.
Douglas got up and glared at David. "And what's it you ? You guys couldn't even pull off your initiation without one of you getting caught."
Mark, who was standing behind David, blushed. He and Jesse had made quick eye contact when he walked in, then looked off in different directions. He and Jesse both waited for Ben to react. They both knew of their cousin's quick temper.
"I hear we drew you for the practice rounds in May," David said. "Care to lay a little bet on it?"
"Sure. When you lose you get to suck Ben's and my dicks." He turned to Ben. "Come on my love, the atmosphere in here needs recycling."
He and Ben got up to leave, passing the other members of the crew of the "Ramses", the shuttle representing the "Orion". Even though it consisted of all underclassmen, it had come in first on the test given to the shuttle crews to determine the ship's representative in the fly-over, much to the embarrassment of the upperclassmen. The other four members of the "Wonder Boy" crew got up and followed Ben and Douglas.
David stepped in front of Douglas. "You're one sick puppy, you know."
"Afraid you're going to lose, David. Is that why you won't take the bet?"
"I won't take it because I will never stoop down to your level in any way. Just taking it, knowing I would never have to do it, would make me feel dirty. But I will tell you this. The little preliminary competition between us next month is going to be real serious in my book. Because you losers don't have a prayer."
"Talk's cheap. Put your money where your mouth is. For once." David knew exactly what Douglas was referring to, and he blushed a bright red.
Douglas knew David's answer would be silence, and he strode by, his crew following him. As Jesse passed Mark, Mark could feel himself redden, as if everybody watching them would know what had happened between them in the Captain's ready room on the Lady Lex. He knew he could never handle having Douglas as his commander.
As Douglas passed Tim, Tim said, "I liked the bet. I'd take it instantly." Douglas smiled and Tim returned it. I guess not everybody on the "Orion" is an asshole, Douglas thought, not knowing Tim was the son of Admiral Whitaker.
Tim watched the six cute boys of the "Wonder Boy" leave, admiring their asses as they went. Maybe his father was wrong, he thought. Maybe the Lady Lex was the place to be.
Ben and Douglas got to their rooms. The space station was one of the oldest ones orbiting Earth. It had rooms for guests, but they were cramped. There was room for a bed and a tiny place to change. They didn't have their own heads. The beds were barely big enough to sleep one person. Even Nipper and Andrew would have a problem sharing one. Once the door was closed one person could barely stand in the space between the bed and the wall.
"We could make up here, or wait until we get back." Douglas said.
Ben looked at the small space and the tiny bed. "We wait. We do it right. But I will be jerking off both nights thinking of you. More than once."
Douglas smiled. That's how he wanted to do it, too. And like Ben he would be jerking off thinking of it; more than once.
The crews of all the junior academy shuttles had dinner in the dining room of the space station. A lot of the boys from the various ships knew each other. None of them acknowledged the existence of the Lady Lex crew. They were isolated at their own table, not invited to share in any of the banter going back and forth. Nothing was said to them, either good or bad. It was like they weren't even there. That is until the dinner ended.
As they got up to leave, the commander of the "Port Royal" shuttle "Victorious", a big, imposing senior, said, "It's too bad the crew from the Lady Lex never showed up. It sure would have been great to tell them how sad they are, and how nice it will be to have somebody in the Olympics whose ass we can all kick. But, I guess they're just to incompetent to find their way to Earth from such a short distance away.
"And to my young friend from the `Orion'. Tell your crew mates we will send you all a dozen boxes of Aurora oranges after you win the May showdown."
That brought a cheer from all the crews but one, the one that for the moment didn't exist.
"Can you believe that?" Ben said as they walked back to their rooms. "They acted like we weren't even there."
"That's all going to change. Right after the first of May, they will all realize we exist. And when the Olympics come, it won't be our asses that get the kicking."
The "Wonder Boy" boys decided to work on their school work rather than go to the lounge to be humiliated again. While their talk level was high, their confidence level was low. They knew they had a long way to go to gain the respect of the academy ships.
The funeral of Ambassador Kalon went off without a hitch. Even Johnny Cooper didn't try to screw things up. What the boys on Earth hadn't expected was armed guards. They had started to forget that they were, after all, juvenile criminals. Johnny was able to meet with a contact his contact crewman on the Lady Lex had set up for him. The contact was an SFA petty officer, who was allowed access to the housing of the Lady Lex boys. He gave Johnny the things he asked for, which Johnny carefully packed into his overnight bag. Now I have one more bargaining chip for loyalty, he thought.
One thing TJ, Scooter, Mike, Travis, Tyler, Greg, and Eric would not forget was their being under armed guard while the members of the other academy ships were given free reign of the SFA base. It was also something those other crews were very much aware of. It was one more reason for them to see the boys of the Lady Lex as a group of losers.
Douglas had the "Wonder Boy" flying to perfection in the fly by formation. Their practice had paid off, and the fact that he and Ben were a pair again was not lost on the rest of the crew. Even the crews of the other junior academy ships were amazed at how well the "Wonder Boy" performed. But only Tim was willing to admit it, and David immediately told him to shut up.
The drone was handed off to the huge escort of shuttles and escorted on its trip to the sun, to the blazing funeral pyre of a space hero.
The Lady Lex boys were proud of their role in the procession. They found themselves carrying themselves with a pride they hadn't known before. Even the humiliations of being ignored or kept under guard didn't diminish the feelings they had. Johnny Cooper was the only one who tried to hide it, but even he couldn't keep the pride down totally. The boys of the Lady Lex had performed well.
Thursday morning the three Lady Lex shuttles met up and started back for home. The atmosphere on the "Wonder Boy" was much improved from the trip to Earth. Ben and Douglas, in their hornier moments, even wondered what it would be like to have sex in the cabin of the "Wonder Boy" with Nipper and Andrew. Douglas had told Ben of Jesse's feelings for Scottie, so maybe even they would participate. But in a way not always followed by horny adolescent boys, they decided to spend the hours of the return flight to the Lady Lex as they had the day before, in a way that reflected their pride in themselves and in their ship. Besides, making up needed to be more private. Maybe some other time, Douglas thought. What could be better to bring them even closer then a little crew orgy?
The Lady Lex had taken up a new station since the shuttles had left. The starship was now at the very edge of the Mothball Graveyard. There were two freighters berthed at her two loading docks, with one more waiting to be unloaded. She would soon be doing her first warp trial, after which she would be ready to leave the graveyard. permanently.
It was not that long ago she was about to be scrapped. She was finished, gutted, obsolete. Another space hero ready for a funeral. Now she was purring, full of young life, ready to embark on new adventures. As Ben carefully piloted the "Wonder Boy" to her berth, all the boys knew that they soon would be leaving the Mothball Graveyard forever. That part of their life was over. They were ready to ride the Lady Lex into deep space and prove they, like their ship, were ready for renewal-to prove they were better then they or anybody else had ever believed. All they had to do first was prove that to themselves as a crew and, like their ship, to see of all the parts would hold together.
Douglas and the crew of the "Wonder Boy" felt the shuttle lightly bump the Lady Lex. Ben had berthed her perfectly. The boys of the Lady Lex were home.
TO BE CONTINUED.......