The Boys of the Lady Lex

Thanks for returning loyal readers. We have received some wonderful e-mail regarding Chapter 29. Ben and I thank all who wrote and we will reply to all of you mail. Following the creative job Ben did, Chapter 30 is somewhat pedestrian, but sometimes a chapter just has to let you all know what's going on. Not much happening with the characters here, but the stage is set for the upcoming games between the "Lexington" and the "Orion." Ben and I always appreciate your mail at TheHakaanen@hotmail.com

The Boys of the Lady Lex Chapter 30 "Phosphorous Prime" Written By Douglas DD and Benjamin TC

THE LEXINGTON

Douglas woke up to blaring of Andrew's Reveille. I have an alarm clock, the thought grumpily. We all have alarm clocks. Why can't we just end the trumpet call? Then he thought about how much Andrew loved playing it each morning, how much it meant to him, and decided he could live with it. Across the room, Ben had already put his pillow over his head, trying to eke out just a little bit more sleep. Douglas wished the beds were wider so they could sleep together every night, but in the interests of getting a solid night's sleep they often would do their love making and then sleep in their own bed.

"Good morning, my love," he said to the covered up figure across from him.

"Mffff," was the muffled reply.

Douglas laughed and got out of bed, nude as usual, and prepared for his morning shower. Today was going to be a big day. The calendar read Monday, May 9th. It had been almost two weeks since his trip through the mysterious time anomaly. While saddened because he had not been able to save Kiran's life, he was also heartened by the fact he had never seen Ben happier since he had learned actions hadn't directly led to Kiran's death. From what Ben had told him about the strange voyage of the "Lady Hawke" and the meeting with the dead, he could see how that affected Ben for the good as well. The big change had been in Trevor. The sullen, cocky, yet introverted boy was starting to open up, not only to Ben and Douglas, but to others as well.

Douglas got into the stall and turned his water on steaming hot. He thought about the past two weeks and how the Lady Lex had, for the first time, settled into a routine. It was one of classes, watches, and preparation for the practice competition against the "Orion", the big lead up to the August Junior SFA Olympics.

Classes and homework had often made the Lady Lex seem like school on Earth. The most interesting class was Kalon Masters's shuttle class. As far as Douglas was concerned, the "Wonder Boy" was the best shuttle in Wing 1, which was the best wing on the ship. The "Wonder Boy" was now the lead shuttle in the wing. The wing had practiced individual and group maneuvers until they could to them with precision on the briefest possible orders. In their last class they had each been given the opportunity of trying to perform a Quinlan Loop, something normally reserved for the best SFA upperclassmen, yet something one of their shuttles would need to be able to perform in the competitive war games. Ben had guided the "Wonder Boy" through the maneuver perfectly. The entire wing group had been proud of him, and his success had been broadcast over the ship's PA system. Ben was still trying to go the next step, a Double Quinlan Loop, a maneuver even a lot of seasoned pilots couldn't perform perfectly.

His daily shower allotment almost gone, Douglas stepped out of the shower and dried himself. He put on his deodorant, took care of other needs, and stepped out of the tiny cubicle. Ben was now almost awake. He moaned once, threw off his pillow and covers, got up, kissed Douglas, and went in to take his own shower.

As Douglas dressed, he gave more thought to the past two weeks. Johnny Cooper seemed to be fitting into the job of CO, acting almost human, actually acting like he cared about the job. although Douglas knew Mike, as XO, was the person most responsible for the smooth operation of cadet portion of the ship. Mike had an affinity for organization and getting things done. That, combined with his ability to motivate people, made him ideal for the position of junior Executive Officer.

Johnny, however, spent more and more time with Mike working on the planning for their layover on Phosphorous Prime, often coming up with good ideas and giving orders that made sense. Even stranger was the fact that Johnny was spending more and more time with Captain Hatcher, learning aspects of his job, why he did things, and sometimes just hanging with him for no apparent reason. Steven Hatcher had was becoming what Johnny thought he never wanted or needed. He was becoming his mentor and role model.

Sometimes Johnny would just walk the corridors during his duty time, dropping in on a class, or stopping a cadet and asking how he was doing, or ordering somebody to clean up something, or reprimanding somebody for doing something wrong. While there were instances of the old Johnny Cooper pushing to the surface, Johnny the mustang had a lot to do with the rising sense of pride manifesting itself on the Lady Lex.

Many of the cadets had spent the two weeks practicing for the academic competition, as well as doing their usual schoolwork. Others had practiced for the sports competition. The war games competition practice had been part of shuttle classes. Next week, everything would be tested by their competition with the "Orion". The "Orion" had been randomly picked as their practice game foe, but the crew of the Lady Lex found it ironic the "Orion" had ended up being their foe. A heated rivalry had already started to build up between the two ships, some it fueled by the personalities on the two ships, and some of it my the contrast between the two crews.

Mike had placed Douglas in charge of the sports committee, which helped form the four teams that would be competing this year. There were two hockey teams and two baseball teams. Each sport had a fourteen and over team, although two thirteen year olds were permissible. The other two teams were thirteen and under, with no older players permissible. Wins by the older teams were worth double the points of a win by a younger team, but splitting into age groups allowed more participation and allowed teams to be built.

The two-team sports varied from Olympics to Olympics which allowed various types of talent to excel. One outdoor sport was picked along with one indoor sport. This year it was hockey and baseball. Next year the sports would be soccer and hockey. The year before it had been baseball and basketball. Each sport went on a two year cycle, so the following year it would be soccer and basketball.

Each cadet had to participate in at least one phase of the Olympics, and could appear in no more than two. The phases were the academic competition, the war games, team sports, and individual sports. Each phase was broken down into smaller competition. Each competition was worth a certain amount of points, which were applied to each phase. Position in individual competitions and in the phases determined the number of points each ship was awarded. The junior academy ship with the most points at the end of the competition would be declared the winner. The "Port Royal" was the defending champion.

During the past two weeks, friendships had been cemented, love affairs started, and most importantly, a growing sense of pride in the Lady Lex had started to develop. The rag tag group of delinquents who had first come aboard the Lady Lex was slowly becoming a crew and developing a sense of confidence in their abilities and pride in their ship.

One of the amusing things to happen during the two weeks was the disappearance of Sister Agatha's middle grade teacher's edition. When it became obvious the stern nun didn't need the book to teach her class, that she was going to refuse to be flustered by the disappearance, and that the book contained no useful information for a student, it somehow appeared on Harrison Wolfe's desk. Harrison Wolfe smiled a secret smile, knowing his protege was learning the art of stealth and deception.

Ben came out of the shower and both boys dressed into their full uniforms. After breakfast there would be a full inspection, followed by a rare meeting of all the cadets in the recreation hanger. The agenda for the week would be laid out.

The boys ate breakfast and returned to their cabins, brushing their teeth and waiting for the inspectors to arrive at their cabin. Each inspection team consisted of a full crew member and a high ranking cadet. Even though Douglas was only a freshman, there was a shortage of reliable upperclassmen on the Lady Lex , and as operations officer Douglas would be on an inspection team. As a result his and Ben's cabin was one of the first to be inspected.

Mike and Sergeant Murdock conducted the inspection, with Ben and Douglas at strict attention throughout. They passed with flying colors, and once they were finished Douglas joined Sergeant Flint, who was waiting outside in the corridor for further inspections.

Their first inspection was the cabin of two of the Birds of Prey, Trevor and Ian. The relationship between the two of them had changed considerably during the past two weeks. Trevor's strange meeting with Kiran when he was on the "Lady Hawke" made me realize how selfish he had been in his relationship with his roommate. Sure Ian was a dork, but Ian had done everything he had ever asked of him. In fact, as he started looking at Ian from a new perspective, Trevor saw a boy who worshipped him and was loyal to him despite the way he had treated him. He now saw Ian as more than a roommate. He saw him as a friend. Trevor more than repaid Ian for the night he wouldn't jerk him off by giving him more than one blow job. It was more than a coincidence that Sister Agatha's math book had disappeared almost immediately after Trevor and Ian had settled their differences.

Trevor and Ian passed inspection and the team moved on, eventually coming to Scooter and Jeff's cabin. Jeff, as an upper-class department head, would normally be on an inspection team, but he had injured his ankle in hockey practice the day before and was in sick bay for treatment. Dr. Daniels was confident Jeff would be ready to go by practice the next day, their first on Phosphorous Prime. Scooter was standing the inspection alone. One of the things that had developed in the past two weeks had been the friendship of Scooter and Douglas. Even Ben acknowledged that the two were born to be friends and did not stand in their way. In fact he found himself enjoying the company of Scooter, smiling at his dry wit and enjoying his friendly gentle personality. Scooter had finally followed Douglas's suggestion of scheduling himself for fewer and easier watches. So far there had been no repercussions from Sergeant Murdock, who either hadn't noticed, didn't disapprove, or was biding his time.

The two boys made no acknowledgments to each other than a quick look of friendliness. The boys were all learning the strictness of SFA junior academy life. As Douglas checked the condition of Scooter's closet he noticed something attached to the wall between the wall and the closet organizer. It was down close to the floor and he wouldn't have noticed it if a shoe on the bottom shelf of the organizer hadn't been out of place. He turned to see if Scooter was watching him, but his friend was watching Sergeant Flint inspecting Jeff's part of the cabin. Scooter had dutifully gotten his roommate and lover's part of the cabin ready for inspection as well as his own part of the cabin. Douglas quickly reached in, pulled the device out from its hiding place, and pocketed it. He was fairly certain what it was, but wanted to take a closer look at it before he said anything.

Douglas told Scooter to be at ease. He was feeling shock at what he thought what he had found and he tried not to betray what he was feeling at the moment. He also hoped Scooter or Flint wouldn't notice the bulge in his right pants pocket. The inspection was over. Flint and Douglas left for the next cabin. Douglas felt into his pocket, wondering if and when Scooter would notice it missing.

Two more cabins and his part of the inspection was finished. Douglas gave his part of each cabin an almost cursory glance, wanting the inspection to end so he could be alone and take a closer look at the device he had found in Scooter's cabin.

When the inspection was complete, Douglas went to the cadet operations office. This was for senior officers and grade department heads only and served as much as a lounge as it did an office. He sat at the cluttered desk in the back of the room and pulled the device out of his pocket. His heart thumped as he realized it was exactly what he had suspected. The device was an exact duplicate of the router that had been attached to the computer system of the "Wonder Boy" when she went out of control and almost crashed into the Lady Lex.

Now he had to decide what to do. He couldn't believe that Scooter, quiet, unassuming, the boy who was rapidly becoming one of his best friends, was responsible for nearly killing him and the crew of the "Wonder Boy". Yet, Scooter was very knowledgeable about computers, wiring, and math. He would often schedule himself for the loneliest of shifts so he could be alone. What if he hadn't actually fallen asleep but had missed things on his watch because he was busy with practicing espionage? Douglas couldn't believe Scooter had fooled them so badly. He couldn't believe Scooter had fooled HIM so badly.

He needed to talk to somebody, but he would have to wait until the big all-crew meeting was over. He took a key from his pocket, opened the bottom drawer of the desk, and placed the device in the drawer and relocked it. Only he, Johnny, Mike, and Ryan had a key to that drawer.

An announcement of the PA system interrupted Douglas's thoughts. It was Commander Creevey calling for the general meeting. Douglas left the office and headed for the recreation hanger deck. When he got there he saw Ben was saving a seat next to him up towards the front where the "Wonder Boy" crew was assigned to sit. Scooter came in at about the same time, escorting Jeff who was hobbling, but not on crutches. Dad is obviously working his usual miracles, Douglas thought.

"Hey, Douglas," Jeff said.

"Hi, Jeff. How's the wheel?"

"Much better. Your dad says I'll be walking normally tomorrow and good to practice on Wednesday."

"He must be slipping," Douglas said. "I had you figured for being ready to go tomorrow."

"Hi, Douglas," Scooter said. "It was super having you being the one inspecting my cabin today."

"Yeah, hi, Scooter. Whatever." Douglas said somewhat more coldly than he had intended. Scooter gave him a quick hurt look as Douglas disengaged himself and headed towards the front rows to be with Ben. It looks like the dirty deeds crew had their work cut out for them getting all these chairs set up, Douglas thought.

"Ben!" Douglas yelled as he came up behind Ben's row.

"Douglas!" Ben replied with a big smile. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too." Douglas gave Ben a kiss. Neither boy cared what anybody thought. In fact that was almost true of all the gay boys on the ship as they realized there were a larger percentage of them than one would think. The other boys gave them their space, and with very few exceptions left them alone. In fact, quite a large segment either found themselves having some kind of sex with one of the gay boys, or forming a relationship with another boy. Very few of the gays hid their feelings now, though there were exceptions, such as Jesse and Scottie. In the regard alone the Lady Lex had a much different atmosphere than most junior academy ships. The sex and relationships happened on them as well, but it was kept more behind closed doors. The Boys of Lady Lex had fewer hangups.

The recreation hanger was full. Each shuttle commander was responsible for making sure his full crew was at the meeting. For the boy not on a shuttle crew, their division commander was the one responsible. Commander Creevey called everyone to order and the meeting began.

The first speaker was Captain Hatcher, who congratulated the boys on the progress they had made. He told them how being able to use the facilities in the town of Ghent would do nothing but make their teams better and the crew stronger.

The boys had been looking forward to having some proper facilities to practice in. The Lady Lex hadn't been built to be a junior academy ship, and even if she had, the age of her facilities would have still been a hindrance. The hockey team both had to share hanger two. Hockey got a half of it. Captain Storm and the engineering crew had worked hard to install an ancient ice making machine and the proper plumbing for it across half the hanger deck. As large as the hanger was, however, they only had half a rink to practice on. While it was better than nothing, it wasn't the same as going all out on a full rink.

Baseball got the other half of the hanger. The staff had put a wall across the hanger to divide the two parts. Baseball was able to set up a batting cage and a pitcher's mound and plate. They also were able to set up a part of an infield for fielding practice. The hard metal decking did little give them proper fielding conditions. Grounders bounced high and hard. Dr. Daniels had to sew up more than one cut caused by high hard bounces. I was impossible to take fly ball practice, because of the low ceiling.

Even most of the individual sports were restricted because of layout of the Lady Lex. The boys couldn't wait to have some proper facilities for practice..

Commander Creevey then had Johnny Cooper talk next. He was met by a smattering of quiet boos as he reached the lectern. The idea of talking to the large crowd didn't appeal to him. It was earlier standing in the back of the room yelling out insults and smart-assed remarks than it was at standing in front of a group giving a prepared talk, trying to say something constructive. Johnny heard the boos. He knew he hadn't succeeded in getting everybody on his side yet. He still had so much to make up for. He looked at the speech sitting on top of the lectern. Mike had helped him write it. In fact Mike was responsible for a majority of it. It was a nice speech. But it wasn't him. It wasn't the speech of a mustang. He picked it up, flipped over, and looked out at his restless audience.

"I hear the boos, dudes. Maybe I even deserve some of them. But that's all past. All the things we done before is past. We've all had our asses kicked sometime in our lives. That's why we're here, cuz somebody kicked us in the butt and we fucking didn't know what to do about it so we became losers."

"No way!" "I ain't no loser" "Fuck you, Cooper" and a lot of nos and boos came from the audience. Johnny looked at them with a steady gaze. Mike's speech made him nervous, but going off the cuff like this made him excited. He was in his element.

"Ya, you heard me! I said losers!" More boos. Mike was trying to find a place to hide. He had hoped the new Johnny was real. He had written Johnny's speech to keep him under control. Instead, there was the same old Johnny, and he was about to start a riot.

"Don't forget, I'm a loser, too, just like you." He looked Travis, one of the loudest booers, in the eye. Then his gaze floated around the hangar, every boy there being touched by it. Johnny Cooper had always had charisma, but he had used it to cajole, to intimidate, to create trouble. Now he was about to use it to inspire.

"I came on this bucket of crap pissed off. All it did was piss me off worse. All you did was piss me off more. Losers and faggots. Even the peeps I knew pissed me off." He looked at Mike. "Who needed friends when I had me? Who needed any of you when I had me? Even Hatcher pissed me off by making me the fucking CO. Then the fucking cadets pissed me off by coming on our ship and embarrassing the shit out of us." Creevey was ready to get out of her seat and put a gag on Johnny, but Hatcher held her down. "And I still didn't want to give a shit! Well, guess what dudes? I had a brother who quit giving a shit and he's fucking dead. He fucking kicked me in the ass and instead of getting up I lay on the ground and became a loser, just like all of you." This time there no boos. The hangar was quiet. Johnny had their attention.

"I went to jail and became a bigger loser. I was one fucking pissed off loser! Well that's the past. Everything we did is the past. Look at this ship! Ever since we got it out in space its done nothing but get better! LOOK AT IT DUDES!! It got across fucking space with us helping build her and fly her and making her work. The losers are then and the Lady Lex is now! Losers don't do what we did dudes. Losers don't go to the stars! Everybody thinks we're gonna lay down and lose. The fuckin `Orion' thinks so now. Everybody thinks so in the fucking Olympics. Well, guess what? They are fucking wrong! The losers on this ship all got left behind somewhere. The Lady Lex is full of pride and guys who are proud of what they done. The Lady Lex is here to kick ass and take names later!" Johnny walked away from the lectern as all 200 boys rose as one and chanted, "LADY LEX! LADY LEX! LADY LEX!"

Hatcher smiled inwardly. He couldn't have said it better himself. Creevey went to the lectern and quietly waited for the commotion to calm down. She wished Johnny could've given his impromptu speech at the end of the meeting, but she realized for Johnny the time to give it was exactly when he did.

Finally the boys sat down and a restless calm returned. She called Mike up next. Mike came to the lectern to cheers and applause. Mike knew that anything he had to say now was anticlimactic following Johnny's fiery speech. "I'm usually not a boring Donkey," Mike said, "but I guess it's my turn to try." Like Johnny, Mike wasn't comfortable in front of a group. That was why he had picked Douglas, the former school officer, who loved speaking in front of crowds, to make most of his presentation. "Johnny got us all excited, but we still have to know what to do so we can do it. So here is our operations officer Douglas to tell you what happens next."

Another round of cheers and applause. The boys of Lady Lex were in a festive mood.

While Douglas's topic wasn't exciting, and he certainly wasn't in front of the group to inspire them, he was a smooth and accomplished speaker for his age and kept the attention of his somewhat restless audience. A lot of what he had to say the boys already knew, but most of it was new information. Douglas explained the set-up of the games. The individual sports were tournament style single elimination. The academic competition was on a points basis in various topics. The war games would be scored not only according to which fleet won, but on points for kills as well. The top wing group from the Lady Lex (Wing Group 1, Douglas thought proudly) would compete in space against the top group from the "Orion". Other competitions would be taking place on the ground. The two team competitions would each consist of three games. Even if a team won the first two games, the third would be played, since the idea was to practice for the Olympics in August. Each cadet had to compete in at least one phase, but could not participate in more than two. The schedule was set up so nobody would ever be scheduled for two events at the same time. The winner between the two ships would be determined on a point basis. Most of this was known to the cadets.

What was new to them was how they would get to the surface of the planet for the games. The "Lady Hawke" and the other shuttles would be manned by minimal crews and would ferry the boys to the surface along with their gear. Phosphorus Prime had large passenger shuttles to bring everybody to the surface faster, but unlike the "Orion", which would be using them, the Lady Lex didn't have the resources to hire them. Like with so much else, they would have to take care of business on their own. They would be spending one week practicing on a real baseball field, on a full-sized hockey rink, and in the real outdoors for the war games. The cadets involved in the shuttle war games would have to fly their shuttles back into space for their practices. All of the cadets would be staying in a new luxury hotel. Only a skeleton crew would remain on the Lady Lex while she orbited Phosphorous Prime. The shuttles would start loading in the afternoon according to the posted schedule.

Douglas asked if there were any questions. There were some, most of them stupid questions asking about what had just been explained. Young Carson Brothers asked one, however, that may or may not have been answered.

"Why is it so long between our practice and the Olympics?"

"Good question, Cadet Brothers." Douglas answered his question and gave the reason for the strange timing involved. At the beginning of June all of the junior academy ships would be heading back to Earth for where her students and crew would leave for a six week vacation. The vacation was one thing that made a junior academy ship a plum job for SFA spacemen. Each summer one ship was picked for a voluntary summer camp. Only about a hundred students participated each year. Summer camp could often be a way to get on the fast track for promotion. It had the reputation of being fun but difficult. However, the vast majority of the students went home to their families. After vacation was over, the ships would take their students back into the fold and head for the site of the Olympics, where they had two weeks to get back into final shape. Part of the Olympic ceremony was the all-academy senior graduation ceremony.

"Does that mean we get to go home for vacation, too?" Carson asked with the naiveté of a 10 year old.

His comment was greeting by a hangar full of laughter. "Don't we wish!" RJ said.

The Lady Lex, would, in fact, return to Earth for a brief time during the vacation period, allowing visits from Earth to the ship from family and friends.

Douglas turned the meeting back over to Mike, wishing he could have said something inspiring instead of acting like some boring teacher handing out assignments. He sat next to Ben who took his hand and squeezed it three times, their quiet signal for "I love you".

Instead of Mike, however, Johnny came back to the lectern amidst loud cheering. He instinctively knew how the meeting needed to end. "Stand up dudes!" he yelled out, gesturing upwards with his hands. The boys once again stood as one. "Are we losers or winners!"

"WINNERS!" they yelled back in unison.

"What are proud of???"

"LADY LEX!"

"What is the Lady Lex gonna do????"

"KICK ASS!!!!"

Johnny was a natural cheerleader. "Who's gonna kick ass???"

The chant began again. "LADY LEX! LADY LEX! LADY LEX!" the boys chanted over and over. The meeting was obviously over. The boys yelled and chanted on their way out of the hangar. Nobody ever noticed that one of their members had missed the entire meeting.

THE ORION

Mark Hatcher slapped at the puck and drove it past the goalie he had just faked out of position, watching proudly as it skidded into the net. The coach blew his whistle. Practice was over. Mark had just enough time to shower and get to his watch in the bridge. He skated off the full-sized hockey rink. The "Orion" had state of the art everything, including sports facilities. Like all of the junior academy ships she had a full-sized hockey rink, basketball court, complete batting cages, pitching machines, a bullpen with pitching mound, and a baseball infield with a grass-like artificial surface. While it wasn't a full infield, it could be adjusted to fit various infield situations. By a couple of simple moves, the two bases could be made to simulate first, second, or third. Of course the "Orion" had the same problem as all other ships, even with a sports arena two decks high, in that fly balls couldn't be hit.

While Mark still hadn't completely regained his standing among his fellow students following his capture on the "Lexington", his hard working attitude and refusal to whine about his position was earning him a grudging respect. His friends had stuck by him, but even though his capture was considered "in the line of duty to aid an injured student" and he had been absolved of responsibility, he had found the story had not sold well to a large number of his peers. The fact that Todd had made no attempt aid him hadn't helped his position either.

Mark showered with the team, dressed in his working uniform, and headed for the bridge. He was pleased his duty happened to come up at time the "Orion" would be making orbit around Phosphorous Prime. He relieved the cadet at the science station and took his place. Rich Zimmer sat in the CO's chair, with Captain Chase Hunter hovering nearby. As a senior, Rich was experienced at bringing a ship into orbit and had been given full charge by the Captain. Todd was sitting at the XO's station, monitoring instruments. He gave Mark a bemused smile as he took his place. The science station was next to the XO's station.

"Welcome to the bridge, cadet," Todd said.

Mark grunted. He didn't like Todd.

"Not in a friendly mood this morning, I see."

Mark grunted again.

"If it means anything, I respect what you've done since the, um, incident."

Mark acknowledged with a thanks.

"But you still have a long way to go, kid. Just because your dad thinks your shit doesn't stink doesn't give you the right to be an asshole. The man obviously never changed your diapers."

Mark's face flushed bright red. He was ready to say something, then decided the prudent thing to do was to maintain his silence. The bridge was not place to get into a discussion with Todd he probably couldn't win anyway.

"Watch your instruments, cadet," Todd admonished.

A blip had shown up on Mark's screen and he had missed it. He checked out what it was, then announced to Rich, "Sir, sensors have detected a ship just entering orbit."

"Have you identified it?"

"Yes, sir. It's the `Lexington'."

Rich chuckled. "Poor bastards. They actually showed up. Well, there goes our vacation extension."

The academy students did all the work of placing the huge academy ship into orbit. Tim Whitaker was the helmsman. It was his first time placing a ship into orbit, and Lieutenant Commander Rossi watched him carefully. Tim did an expert job of guiding the "Orion" into a parking orbit.

Just as on the "Lexington" an all-crew meeting was held. It was much quieter than the one on the Lady Lex. The "Orion" had a large auditorium which could hold the entire student body. The seats where cushioned theater seats.

Rich gave his CO speech, reminding the crew they were so much better trained, so much more experienced, talented, and motivated than their opponents. They came from better backgrounds, they knew how to win, and they had a deep sense of pride in their ship. The crew of the Lady Lex knew only how to lose and get thrown into jail. The competition should be no contest.

Unlike Mike, Todd was a polished and experienced speaker. He gave his own instructions speech. After going through all of the procedures he issued his own reminder to the crew. "I agree completely with our CO. We should win without a problem. Our facilities are better. Our training is better. Our organization and experience are better. And I would be willing to say our talent is better." He paused for emphasis. "Just remember, this isn't about practice games. This is about the Olympics. Yes, we should kick their asses next week. We should do it without breaking much of a sweat. That in itself makes our draw a bad one. With vacation looming a hard fought practice tournament would be far better than what's about to occur. Beat them badly, shake their confidence, they might just roll over and quit and be the non-factor we all think they will be in the Olympics.

"BUT! I want to warn you all of one thing. Be careful how you act. Those are tough kids on that ship. Life has dealt them some real shit. They lose badly they think to themselves its just more shit being dumped on them by somebody better than they are. Rub their noses in it, you might just awake a sleeping giant who will come back and bite you in the ass." His speech to the crew was close to the speech he had given Rich in his office. "Beware of pride and arrogance," Todd admonished, "for they may betray you."

THE LEXINGTON

Douglas, Mike, and Creevey sat in the XO's small office. Creevey looked at the device sitting on her desk. "You say it was attached to the wall and was between the wall and the closet organizer?"

Douglas answered in the affirmative.

"Do you think Scooter placed it there?"

"Who else could have?"

"His roommate," Mike answered. "I mean they both have a key to the cabin."

"Why would he set Scooter up?" Douglas answered. "They're boyfriends."

"Whoever has been sabotaging our ship is quite clever," Creevey said. "And deceitful."

"So what do we do now?" Mike asked.

"Neither one of them can do much harm on Phosphorous Prime, but when we return from the games they will be watched closely."

"Are you going to split them up?" Douglas asked.

"No I'm not. It's easier to watch them if they're together a lot. Remember, they were roommates at the Augustine school."

"Meaning what?" Douglas asked.

"Meaning they might be working together," Mike said.

"I just can't believe Scooter would do this. I know Scooter. He's my friend. I mean his dad owns a huge space company. Why would he want to harm the mission?"

"Because his dad gains monetarily from a war. Because this sector of the galaxy is volatile right now and if something happens to this ship that might be blamed on the Kriton on board it's just one more thing to get us close to war. And because your so-called friend is a very bitter young man."

"Scooter is sometimes sad, unhappy, and depressed, ma'am. But bitter he's not." Douglas said.

"Cadet Daniels, one, or the other, or both of them is actively sabotaging out mission. They will be monitored closely, starting with their cabin being taken apart while they are on Phosphorous Prime. I suggest you look at your friend with an unbiased eye. You gentlemen are dismissed." She picked up the electronic device. "I appreciate your bringing this to my attention. I am going to turn it over to Captain McDowell in security. I don't think the Kriton needs to know about this."

Mike and Douglas left her office. "I just can't see Scooter being the one behind this," Mike said. "He's just not the type."

"But what if his watch problems are all an act? What if he was taking care of his business then?"

"I still just don't see it," Mike said.

"To tell you the truth, neither do I. But there's evidence pointing his way."

"All, I think the word is, circumstantial."

"I agree. So if it's not Scooter, then do you think it's Jeff?"

"Who else can it be?" Mike asked. "He's going to be getting a very careful look from this Donkey."

PHOSPHOROUS PRIME

The planet of Phosphorous Prime had been settled with great ambition. Rich in minerals she became a mining planet. With a mild climate the area along her equator seemed tailor made for galactic vacationers. The leaders of Phosphorous decided to make tourism a secondary industry. Six major tourist venues were built, but they all ran into problems. The climate was almost too mild. The weather never got as hot or the ocean waters as warm as on some of the great resort planets like Dionasyius. The other problem was the planet didn't have enough land mass at the equator to truly attract great numbers of tourists. Another factor was Phosphorous had its reputation as a mining planet as a negative factor as well. Nevertheless it was a popular spot for decades, and out of the way locale different from the huge tourist and recreation planets.

Then the mines started to run out. Money from the mines had helped keep the six resort cities in first class condition, but as the mines dried out so did the money. All of the cities fell into a state of deterioration. The past twenty years had been the worst, but the tapping out of the mines had also had an unintended good effect. As the mines played out, the mild climate of the planet became a more positive factor. It never got too cold, it never got too hot, and the scenery was indescribably beautiful. Fishing and hunting abounded. The planet started to undergo a renaissance, with the cities of Ocean Lakes and Redando becoming the first to be revived.

Hosting junior academy preliminary games, while not an attraction for tourists as such, was a way to get noticed. A successful hosting could eventually lead to the hosting of the Junior Olympics themselves, which were a big tourist attraction.

When the "Orion" had been placed into service at the start of the academic year it meant there were an odd number of junior academy ships, a condition that would remain in effect until the "West Point" was to be completed in time for the next academic year. The "Orion" was slated to take part in a three way competition, which would be a bit large an awkward. When the "Lexington" became part of the fleet, Natter saw an opportunity to keep the practice competitions to two ships apiece. A drawing was held between the three ships and the "Orion" either won or lost according to one's perspective. She was to be the "Lexington's" opponent.

Natter needed to find a venue in a hurry and put out word for what he was looking for. The leaders of Phosphorous Prime saw this as an opportunity. New hotels had been finished at both Ocean Lakes and Redando. Having the crews of the two ships stay at them before they were officially opened would be an ideal way to break them in. The locales would be furnished free of charge to each ship. Both cities were on the rise and each had new ball fields and a large arena that had icemakers under the floor for creating a hockey rink.

The "Orion" crew would be put up in Ocean Lakes and the "Lexington" crew in Redando. Unlike the Olympics, where everything took place in one city, crews were always split between cities for practice games. The sites of the games were split between the two cities. For example the Lady Lex would host two of the three hockey games, while the "Orion" would be hosting two of the three baseball games.

Not long after all the arrangements were made, Alfonso Santiago, the head of the Phosphorous Prime tourist bureau got a call from the head of the SFA himself, Admiral Whitaker.

"I want the `Lexington' crew put up in another city," Whitaker said.

"Sir, there is no other city, other than Ocean Lakes, and putting them up there would violate your own rules."

"You have other resort cities."

"They are in desperate need of rebuilding."

"Which city is in the worst shape?"

"Ghent. It's on a peninsula with little to offer, though we have plans for its future. It's a small village, quiet and out of the way. A beautiful locale, a nice beach, but a bit cool for the big tourist trade. It's fallen into hard times."

"Then put them up there."

"But it has no facilities."

"The SFA will build a temporary dormitory to house the cadets. A fenced dormitory."

"What about athletic facilities?"

"We'll erect something if you give us the land."

An agreement was reached, and the site for the Lady Lex was changed from Redando to Ghent.

OCEAN LAKES

The crew of the "Orion" enjoyed a free afternoon. It had taken just over an hour to get them all off the starship and into their luxury facilities. It had two pools, a beach, hot tubs, a games arcade, and more. Almost anything an athletic restless boy would want. The boys planned on enjoying the evenings of their two weeks on Phosphorous Prime. While the game preparation would be difficult, and while some of their classes would still have some sessions, for the most part their free time was theirs. Morale for the "Orion" crew was high.

GHENT

The "Lady Hawke" piloted by Lieutenant Commander McKay, the ship's operation officer was the first shuttle from the Lady Lex to land at the small Ghent spaceport. Also on board were Commander Creevey and Captain Hatcher.

McKay unloaded his passengers. TJ was his co-pilot, but Ben, Gary, Eric, and other pilot along with Kalon Masters were on board. None of them had ever landed a shuttle on a planet. They had had live and simulator instruction. They were now getting some live lessons on the "Lady Hawke." The shuttle took off and returned to the Lady Lex. They would soon be piloting their own shuttles, each with passengers, back to the planet. Getting everybody down would take all day. Already the boys envied the "Orion" boys who would all be brought down in two large passenger shuttles.

Hatcher had spent a brief leave on Ghent, his wife meeting him there. It was on Ghent that Mark had been conceived. His stay in the quaint little village had been a quiet and fulfilling one. He was surprised when their venue on Phosphorous Prime had been switched to Ghent from Redando, but he figured a lot of new building must have gone on there recently and they would be breaking in new facilities there.

Instead what he found was a nearly abandoned village. Most of the shops and the little bed and breakfasts were closed and boarded up. Anfonso Santiago himself drove them out of the village to their facility a sense of foreboding started building up in him.

What he saw was a huge temporary building, with a fence topped by barbed wire, surrounding it. The building consisted of eight bed rooms, communal bathrooms and showers, and a huge communal dining room.

"I was under the impression we would be staying in a hotel," Hatcher said.

"That was true. But your Admiral Whitaker requested this change. I thought it strange, but I complied."

"Fucking bastard," Hatcher muttered to himself.

"And there is no way we can get his changed? What about the unopened hotel we were going to be using? Isn't it available?"

"With no sense of urgency around it, we put most of the workers to work at Ocean Lakes to insure everything was completed on time."

"So we're stuck here in this prison? I suppose Whitaker asked for the fence, too."

"Yes, he did," Santiago said uncomfortably. "I apologize, Captain. I assumed you knew all about this."

Hatcher turned to Creevey. "We just start to get those kids believing in themselves, and now we have this. How are we going to break the news to them?"

Creevey didn't have a ready answer. Instead he continued his inspection. At one end of the temporary facility was the ice rink, a small, cramped, noisy building made of steel and plastic. It was hot inside, and the ice looked slushy. The main building also had some classroom space and space for practicing individual sports.

"What about the baseball field?" Hatcher asked.

"They were just finished. We did what we could with the money given us," Santiago said.

Hatcher didn't like the sound of that. A walk to the far end of the property brought them to an open space with a backstop, two dugouts, and a baseball field. The problem was, there wasn't a blade of grass. The infield and the outfield was dirt and littered with small rocks and gravel. Santiago looked uncomfortable.

"No offense, but that field is a piece of shit," Hatcher said. "I want a truck with a drag out there working on it yesterday."

"I'll see what I can do."

"No, you won't see what you can do! You will DO IT!"

Santiago nodded, hoping to avoid more of Hatcher's wrath.

"Do we at least have a pool? Beach access? We need to train our swimming and rowing teams, not to mention recreation."

"I'm sorry. The admiral specified no pool. He told me your crew consisted of prisoners and should have nothing extra."

"Extra? We have teams to train! We have a lot of boys who were looking forward to swimming," Hatcher said. "We're not talking extra here, we're talking necessity!"

"I'm sorry, sir, there is nothing I can do."

"Well you do have busses here, right? To carry us to the airport and back? I mean you at least got us that much didn't you?"

"Captain, please, I apologize, but I was doing what I thought you and the Admiral wanted."

"Does that mean no busses?"

"Oh no, we do have a bus."

"A bus? To move two hundred boys you have a bus. You have one bus on this entire island?"

"No, sir. We have three more tour busses. But we plan on using them."

"That's exactly right. And you plan on having one of those right here ready to shuttle boys to the beach as soon as the first ones arrive. It will be ours for the next two weeks, along with the other bus."

"But captain, we have a flight of tourists coming in to tour the island and...."

"Then hire them a horse cart. We get two busses, and more once you free them."

"But, sir, Ghent is dying. It needs...."

"It needs Phosphorous Prime to host the junior Olympics some year. And this sure hasn't convinced me to put fives on my customer service card."

Alfonso Santiago took a deep breath. "You will have three busses at your disposal within the hour. The tourists will be informed of their mechanical failure."

"You're a good man, Alfonso. I know this isn't your fault, but I expect you to do everything you can to make us happy. You're off to a good start."

Alfonso Santiago knew the potential of thousands of future tourists to his troubled planet meant more money than what the forty old ladies who charted bus would be dropping on their tour. He was ready to bend over backwards for the captain of "Lexington", thinking he had more influence than he actually had.

For his part, Hatcher knew he had won a minor battle, but looking out at the rough, bumpy, rock strewn baseball field, he knew he was rapidly losing the war.

THE LEXINGTON: CAPTAIN'S READY ROOM

"Basketball?" Steven Hatcher asked incredulously? "Basketball? What to you mean, BASKETBALL?"

"That's what I just heard," Captain Chase Hunter said. Hatcher had just answered a message from the captain of the "Orion." "You should have received the message."

Hatcher looked at the stack of unread messages on his desk. "Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. Was it a priority message?"

"No." Hunter must have a better cadet aide than I do if he can keep up with his messages, Hatcher thought. What the hell does Chandler do with his time anyway?

"Well, I'm sure I'll find it somewhere. But whose idea was this? Every year the Olympics has two team sports. Every year! Back to when we were cadets and back before then. Why the sudden change?" Hatcher and Hunter had been cadets together and had even served together briefly. While not close friends, they had always respected each other as colleagues and fellow officers. Like Hatcher, Hunter had once been the captain of a ship-of-the-line starship. He had retired the year before, found retirement boring, and eagerly accepted the command of the SFA's newest academy ship. In fact they were both somewhat bemused by the rivalry that seemed to be building up between the crews of the two "newest" academy ships.

"The order came from Admiral Whitaker himself."

"Whitaker? Why is he getting involved in this? He has nothing to do with the academy ships or the Olympics."

"Well, he is the head honcho," Hunter observed. "Apparently it's to make Harland happy." Harland Avery, the captain of the "Port Royal" had once been Whitaker's chief aide. Whitaker had him placed as captain as the "Port Royal" as a stepping stone to a bigger command. Avery was equally disliked by his crew, cadets, and fellow officers. He had angered more then one starship captain when he was Whitaker's aide, Hunter and Hatcher included. Every academy ship wanted to see the "Port Royal" go down in this year's Olympics. Nobody had been happy when she had won the year before. Her cadets were like their captain, haughty and arrogant. Many ships had some interships rivalries of their own, like the "Orion" and the "Lexington", but all ships hated the "Port Royal", the way baseball fans have hated the New York Yankees over the centuries.

"Why does Harland want basketball?" Hatcher asked.

"Because he has good talent. And he gets it because he regularly licks Whitaker's ass. Well, it will get more kids participating in team sports. So I guess that's a plus, even if it breaks an ancient tradition."

"I have no idea who can play, here? Or who can coach it."

"I'll be coaching it for us. As you remember, I played on the basketball team back in our cadet days."

"Well, good luck, Chase. I guess I better get an team organized quickly."

"Okay, Steve. And let's both hope our cadets don't get too worked up. The way the rivalry between our two ships is going there is no telling what two crews of hormone crazed boys can cook up."

Hatcher broke the connection, shaking his head. He liked Chase Hunter. Unlike some other academy captains, Avery in particular, he treated the "Lexington" as an equal. Hatcher hadn't failed to notice Hunter had hinted that both ships were capable of working up trouble, not just the delinquents of the Lady Lex.

"Basketball?" Hatcher said to himself once again. He pushed an intercom button contacing his XO in her office. "Amanda, please report to my ready room immediately"

Commander Creevey entered Hatcher's ready room. "Something wrong, captain?"

"Who on this ship can coach basetball?"

"Basketball?"

"That's my question, commander," Hatcher said drily.

"Well, Sergeant Flint of the Marines played in high school. According to him he was All-State."

"Oh?"

"I was Most Valuable Player in basketball at the academy Olympics my senior year. Really pissed a lot of guys off a girl won it. But I want to stay with cross-country."

"Well, then commander, tell the good Sergeant to recruit himself a team."

THE LEXINGTON

Stan watched as cadets loaded on the shuttles. He was tired of the games. He was tired of having no friends. He didn't belong on the Lady Lex, but he knew it was the only way to get what he wanted. He didn't like the punks, the thugs, the queers, and the assholes, like Douglas, who thought they were better than everybody else. He wouldn't be here much longer

The "Lady Hawke" left its berth with a load of passengers. Behind her was the "Wonder Boy", piloted by Ben. One by one the shuttles left their berths, carrying the boys of the Lady Lex to Phosphorous Prime. For the first time in months the boys would be on solid ground breathing real air. They were looking forward to big soft beds, swimming pools, a baseball field with green grass, a hockey arena, luxury like most of them had never known before. They were ready to land on Phosphorous Prime and prove that they were not losers.

The parade of shuttles entered the atmosphere of Phosphorous Prime, properly spaced, each pilot with a regular crew member in the jump seat behind him ready to take over the controls, and each pilot determined not to let that happen. A dispassionate observer would remark has to how amazing it was that a group of thugs, drug dealers. thieves, prostitutes, computer hackers, and general scum could come to his point, as they brought their formation precisely into the atmosphere. They were indeed a group of winners; a group of boys rightfully filled with pride.

What the dispassionate observer wouldn't know, however, was the kind of challenge the visit to Phosphorous Prime and the competition with the "Orion" was about to be placed on the boys of the Lady Lex. What he couldn't tell you was whether the boys of the Lady Lex were ready to meet those challenges.

To be continued.....