The Survivors

CHAPTER 16 LOST

This story contains sex between minor boys and teen-agers. If such things offend you, or you are not at least 18 years of age, then please don't read on. This story is not true, but who knows, maybe someday it will be.

Welcome back. The warp storm has had devastating effects on the "Starkeeper". Is the starship lost in space for good?

Remember the story is mine, so ask if you wish to use it for anything.

Thanks to those of you who have donated to Nifty. It is never too late to add your contribution to theirs.

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The "Starkeeper" dropped down hard. But down is where gravity pulls, and in space there is no gravity, so there is no up and down. Down on the "Starkeeper" is where its artificial gravity says it is, which normally would be the lower decks of the ship. So when the "Starkeeper" changed to its "down," the gravity generator had to work to make a new down. It wasn't built to make the change as quickly as the ship was shifting, so "down" kept changing while the helmsman tried to get the ship steady.

Right when Scooter was ready to push the last digit the ship dropped. He felt his finger hit the screen, but he didn't know where he hit it. Then he started sliding toward the railing and the opening at the edge of the landing. He could feel Douglas trying to hold him, but he was going too fast for Douglas to get a solid grip. He and Douglas both started sliding. Scooter could hear Douglas screaming, then he dropped over the side of the walkway.

At the same time, the helmsman got the ship straightened out and the gravity generator was working to make "down" be the decks again. Scooter could feel himself get pulled against the wall. He grabbed the top of the control panel, which was sticking from the wall. He was hanging by one arm trying to twist his body so his other arm could grasp the panel as well. He looked down at the deck beneath him. It was a long way down and he knew it would be a very hard landing if he fell.

He wondered what happened to Douglas. Douglas had been sliding with him but he never went over the edge. There was some equipment on the upper deck which he might have struck and which kept him from going over the side. The ship got steadier and Scooter tried swinging to the ladder. The ship rocked some, but not hard enough to dislodge him.

I must have hit the right digit, Scooter thought, the ship is still in one piece. The ladder was close and he tried reaching over to it, but it was just a bit too far away. He knew he couldn't hold onto the panel for very much longer. He could feel his fingers slipping and he had no way to change his grip. He didn't think his one arm would hold him much longer. He heard voices below him. He looked down and saw some crewmen come into Engineering. They glanced up and saw Scooter.

"Hey, am I crazy or is there a kid up there swinging from the control panel?" one of them asked.

He started up the ladder and reached out for Scooter. Scooter held out his arm and the crewman grabbed his wrist and pulled him over to the ladder. Scooter told him his friend Douglas was up on the landing. The other crewman went up and found Douglas unconscious on the floor, his body lodged against the equipment, his face and head covered with blood. He put Douglas on his shoulder and brought him down. Scooter looked at his soulmate and felt tears forming. Oh God, he thought, I hope he isn't hurt bad.

The crewman who rescued Scooter was checking on the Chief Engineer and the other unconscious crewman on the floor. The other crewman called on his portable radio and soon medics came carrying stretchers. The ship was still shaking a little, but not as badly as it had before Scooter punched in the code. The two crewmen and Douglas were put on stretchers and taken to the ship's hospital.

One of the crewmen who came in was the Second Engineer. He started asking Scooter how he and Douglas got into the Engineering room and why they were there. Scooter told him the whole story.

"Well, I think this is something for the Captain to deal with." He called a crewman over who took Scooter back to Scooter's cabin. Scooter could tell the shaking was easing up more and more. The shaking was no longer violent enough to knock him down. It was looking more and more like he and Douglas had entered the right digit.

And it was the both of them who did it, he thought. He could feel Douglas place the numbers in his head when the roaring of the ship made it impossible for him to hear. It was like Douglas was guiding his finger on every number making sure he hit the right ones. He could feel Douglas in his head, like they were one. And now he was worried about how badly hurt he was. Douglas was unconscious and bleeding the last time he saw him.

Full power came on while the crewman took Scooter to his room. Scooter entered his code and the door opened. The room was a mess. Scooter's dad was on the floor. The crewman used his radio to call for help. Scooter's dad moaned, which let the crewman know he was conscious.

"Did you get the code to the Chief?"

"Dad, he was knocked out on the floor. There was nobody there to help us. Douglas and I had to put the code in ourselves."

Gordon groaned. "Ohhhhhhh man it hurts....I'm proud of you son. Very proud. I think you saved this ship and all our lives."

"It was Douglas and me both dad. I couldn't have done it without Douglas. We did it together."

The medics showed up and placed Scooter's dad on a stretcher and carried him out. Scooter followed them, hoping he would be able to see Douglas. But instead of the hospital, he was taken to a lounge. So many people were hurt that only the worst of them were taken to the hospital. Scooter still didn't know how Douglas was.

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Captain Fuller sat in his chair on the bridge. The ship was running steadier and had slowed down considerably since it came close to going out of control. The Second Engineer came onto the bridge.

"The Warp Enhancer was disconnected, Sir."

"Oh? And how did that happen?"

"Two boys shut it down."

"WHAT!!!!!! Say that again! I don't think I heard that right."

"Two boys got into Engineering and shut it down."

"Oh my God, I did hear you right. Who were they? How did they do it?"

"They are Gordon's son, Scott, and another kid, Douglas. They are both thirteen, sir. How they did it we haven't found out, but we will. Whatever they did seems to have brought us back under control."

"Or they were the ones responsible for the last big dip we took. What is the damage?"

"It appears to be considerable, sir; we haven't had time to check it all out. But the injuries are coming in from all over, including the Chief Engineer. Two dead have been reported so far, one passenger and one crewman. That boy Douglas is one of the injured. He hit his head when we had the big dip."

"Well, I have Number One in charge of damage control. With the Chief you are in charge of engineering." He looked at the view screen. "I haven't seen any flashes from warp balls. We appear to be out of the storm. We've been bounced around a lot, but the slower speed has helped stabilize us.

"Helmsman, take us out of warp," Captain Fuller ordered. "We need to get a check on the stars to get our bearings and get us pointed in the right direction."

"Aye, sir."

For the first time in weeks the "Starkeeper" dropped out of warp. Scooter was in the lounge where a lot of the injured, including his father, were being housed. He suddenly felt a dropping feeling in his stomach and some sudden dizziness. He looked out of the view port and suddenly the colors of warp were gone and the blackness of space was there. Scooter looked out and saw the stars of the Milky Way, so bright they almost lit up the room. He wondered why they had been dropped out of warp.

On the bridge Captain Fuller waited while the astrogator checked their location. As soon as he got them pointed in the right direction they would go right back into warp. It shouldn't take more than a few minutes for him to pick out the right stars and get them turned, the captain thought. He dealt with some of the many issues before him as the astrogator worked on his sightings and his calculations. Captain Fuller felt Lieutenant Harris, the astrogator, was taking an inordinate amount of time, and he started getting impatient.

"Well, Lieutenant Harris? Are you ready to get us turned?"

The lieutenant was sweating. He didn't like what he was seeing, or rather what he wasn't seeing. He thought about calling in his assistant for a second opinion, but he knew the results would be the same. He looked back into his computer screen one more time, hoping what he was looking for would show up.

"Well, Lieutenant?"

"Captain., I can't find a star I recognize."

"What do you mean?"

"So far my scans don't bring up a known star. I've only checked the closest ones, but I can't find a star I recognize. Not Alpha Orion, not Sol, not anything. I need three recognizable stars in order to calculate a course for us. "

"So what does this mean, Lieutenant?" Captain Fuller asked, even though he already knew the answer.

"Right now, Sir, until I can find a star I recognize, it means we're totally lost. It means we have no idea where we are. It means whatever happened to us in that warp storm sent us someplace humans have never been to."

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The boys on the ship were all trying to figure out what to do. The storm had to be over, since the ship was leaving warp. Most of them were helping clean up the mess in their cabins and in the corridors. All of them sensed this storm was far worse than anything anybody expected.

When the power came back on, Alex had called up Brandon's room to see if Stevie was okay. He almost cried when he heard Stevie's voice he was so happy. Alex said if he had known how bad the storm was going to be, he never would have let them split up. He told Stevie that he loved him and hung up.

Mike hugged Alex. He knew how worried Alex had been about his little brother.

Stevie had been just as worried as Alex. Alex barely beat him to a phone to call. Brandon hugged Stevie just like Mike had hugged Alex.

Ryan and Travis spent the storm in Travis's bedroom holding each other when they could. All the major pieces of furniture in each cabin were secured to the floor. Many of the passengers, including Ryan and Travis, held on to as much furniture as they could, because no matter what happened it wouldn't come loose. There was furniture that did come loose, which led to some of the passenger injuries.

Warren and Jeremy were happy to see the storm end as well. Warren had never been so frightened in a life that seemed full of fear. Somehow having Jeremy to hold him made it all better. He wanted to cry from fright, and a couple of times he did, but each time Jeremy was holding him and telling him it was all right. Like everybody else he was beat up and bruised, but had no serious injuries.

Matthew's mother had a broken arm, but Matthew and his sister Lisa were okay. He just wished he could be with the other boys now, and that didn't mean Robert Charles or Jordan. He needed to figure how to get away from them. But he was afraid that if he did anything they would get back at him, either here on the ship or later on AO IV. He sat in his room crying. He felt so lonely. He had thought Jordan and Robert Charles were cool because they seemed in charge and because they liked him. But now it seemed nobody else wanted to be friends with him because he was friends with Jordan and Robert Charles. It was like nobody but those two liked him. He hated it when they made him do sex with them. He was willing to do some things because it felt good, but he didn't want to do sex because he had to.

Jordan had been frightened, as well. He heard his father had been injured. The doctor told him that his father had been knocked out, but was awake now. Jordan couldn't wait to see him. Right now, he wanted to get drunk to keep from shaking, but he'd never before been drunk in the middle of the day.

Robert Charles sat on his bed, wearing nothing but his undies. He had wet his pants when the ship took its big dip. He thought he was going to be killed for sure. Now he was totally embarrassed by what had happened to him. If his dad knew what he'd done he would probably beat the crap out of him. He had thrown the pants into the laundry basket after rinsing them out in the shower. He knew he let his dad down—leaders didn't pee their pants because they were afraid. His dad expected him to be a leader every day and had no problem enforcing his will on his son to make him tough in any situation. Well, nobody would ever know what he had done, and he would do his best to forget it ever happened.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The "Starkeeper" was stopped in space. The Captain sat in his chair watching the astrogator at work. His assistant had been called in from damage control duty and he affirmed the findings of Lieutenant Harris. The Captain knew that they were working hard to find a recognizable star. All they needed was one star and they could start calculating from there. The computer was finished sorting the stars, but it could not recognize any star or pattern of stars.

The Captain picked up his microphone and made an announcement to the passengers. He said they were out of warp and stopped in order to check out the damage to the ship and to get it lined up with Alpha Orion. He said that anybody injured or having questions could go to any of the lounges.

Then he called for Mr. Z and the RD. They were both in the RD's office talking about all the cleaning up that had to be done and how it would be done. The Captain called and said for them to see if the older boys could help with getting cleanup underway. That would free some crew members to deal with more pressing issues. Mr. Z got on a phone and called Robert Charles, ordering him to come to the Recreation Director's office right away.

Robert Charles groaned after Mr. Z's call. All he wanted to do was stay in his room. He had all kinds of bruises and felt sore all over. Plus he was mad at himself and embarrassed about pissing his pants. He dressed in clean clothes and headed for the RD's office. When he arrived he was asked to organize the older boys to come clean out the offices. He was told to inform them they needed to meet in Mr. Z's office to help with the emergency.

Robert Charles smiled. He liked this. They couldn't say no, because they would think they were going to come to help the ship recover, and when they got to the office they would be stuck.

The first call went to Mike's room. Robert Charles was surprised Alex was there too. They both were eager to help. When he called Brandon's room, Stevie was there. Nobody was at Scooter's room or at Douglas's room. Calling Travis's room brought Travis and Ryan. The next call was to Warren's room and sure enough Jeremy was there. He suddenly wished he had somebody who could have been with him. Then he remembered wetting his pants and was glad he didn't. Jordan was alone in his room. Lisa answered when he called Matthew, and he asked them both to come to the teacher's office.

When the boys arrived at Mr. Z's office, Robert Charles told them they needed to clean it up and then they would clean up the RD's office. He left for the RD's office to report on what he had accomplished. He sat in a chair and told Mr. Z and the RD he had everybody at work. They complimented Robert Charles on the great job he was doing.

Meanwhile, in Mr. Z's office everybody was unhappy.

"Where are Scooter and Douglas?" Alex asked.

"I don't know. I hope they weren't hurt," Travis said.

"The big question is, where did Robert Charles go?" Stevie asked.

"I'm sure he had important things to do," Jordan said earnestly.

"Yeah, like sitting on his butt," was Mike's comeback.

Jordan glared at him.

"This is stupid," Alex said. "I want to find Douglas and see what he would do. Or better yet, just leave this. Mr. Z can clean up his own office. There are a lot more important things to do. They sure don't need all of us to clean a stupid office."

"Douglas would want us to find something useful to do," Travis said.

"Hmm...let me call Marie," Alex said. He picked up the phone and Marie answered on her portable.

"Hi Marie."

"Alex! Where are you, hon?"

Alex told her what they were doing.

"That's a waste. We need you here. Come to the 3rd deck observation lounge."

Alex had the speaker phone on so everybody could hear.

"You heard her guys, let's go."

Everybody but Jordan and Lisa started walking out of the room.

"Hey," Jordan yelled, "where are you guys going?'

"You heard what Marie said. We're going somewhere where we can be useful, and that's sure not here," Alex said.

"Robert Charles will be mad. He said to clean this office and then the RD's office."

"Fuck Robert Charles."

They started out again. Jordan grabbed Matthew. "You stay here with me. We'll do what we're supposed to do."

"Hey," Mike said. "Leave him alone. He can go where he wants."

"He's mine and I say he stays."

"What do you mean he's yours? You don't own him." Mike looked at Matthew. "You can come or you can stay, but you go where you want to go."

Matthew saw Jordan shake his head. He was afraid that if he didn't do what Jordan or Robert Charles wanted they would tell on him for letting them fuck his butt.

"It's okay," he said quietly. "I'll stay and help Jordan."

"You're sure?"

Matthew looked at the ground. "Yeah."

Mike looked down at him, put his hand under Matthew's chin, raised it up and said, "If you ever want to talk, remember I'm here for you." Then he walked out of the room. Matthew watched him leave with a sinking feeling. Mike's gesture had been the nicest thing anybody had done for him for a long time. He was now one hundred percent sure that Mike wasn't the person who slugged him in the corridor, and if Mike didn't do it, that could only mean that Jordan or Robert Charles did.

Mike went to catch up with everybody else. There was something strange going on, he thought. He knew that Matthew didn't stay behind because he wanted to—he stayed because he was afraid of something. Matthew was a sweet boy and Mike wanted to find out what kind of power Jordan and Robert Charles had over him. There was no question in Mike's mind that RC was the person behind the assault on Matthew in the corridor.

When the boys arrived at the lounge they that saw it was full. Marie saw them come in and greeted them.

"Boy, am I glad to see you boys; we can really use your help. Let's get you started on some tasks."

Brandon saw Scooter in one corner. He was sitting next to his father.

"Scooter! What happened?" he asked as he ran over.

Scooter saw Brandon and jumped up and hugged him. Then he saw the rest of the boys. Within a couple of minutes he told them the story of his adventure. Marie listened in. She had already heard the story, but not from Scooter. Scooter's story was coming out way different from what she had heard from the crew. The crew said the two boys were trying to sabotage the ship and were irresponsible. They said the captain felt they were responsible for the big dip the ship took before it stabilized. Listening to Scooter it was like he and Douglas were responsible for saving the ship. She would talk to Scooter's father about it as soon as she got the boys on task.

The boys got to work bringing food, items from cabins, helping some of the less injured people clean their cabins, getting blankets, or any other task that was needed. Things went from happening slowly to happening fast as the boys worked hard and quickly, helping Marie and anybody else who needed it. A lot of people had smiles on their faces because the boys were so polite and friendly and so ready to help.

While the boys were racing around helping and assisting, Marie talked to Gordon. She got the same story from him as she did from Scooter. She told him she would call the hospital and see how Douglas was doing. She found out that Douglas hadn't awakened yet and that he had a concussion. While it didn't appear serious, he was still unconscious.

In the hospital, Douglas knew he should wake up but somehow he couldn't. He kept feeling a thought build up in his head. Over and over it was "Scooter, Scooter, Scooter..."

Scooter was walking down a corridor on an errand for a medic. Suddenly he heard a voice in his head. "Scooter....Scooter....Scooter." It was like the voice he heard when he punched the numbers on the screen in Engineering—the voice that gave him the right numbers to push. It was Douglas's voice. "Scooter...Scooter...Scooter."

Scooter stopped and closed his eyes. He thought of nothing but his love and let the thought build up. "Douglas I love you."

Mike and Ryan saw Scooter standing totally still in the corridor with his eyes closed. Mike was about to say something when Scooter said, "Oh God, Douglas!" and fell right into Mike's arms.

At the same time ,Douglas opened his eyes and said, "Scooter!"

His mother and father were next to his bed. They both looked at him. Douglas opened his eyes and gave them a weak smile. He told them his head ached a little but he felt okay. His parents smiled at him and kissed him.

"Are you okay?" Mike asked Scooter.

Scooter stood back up. His head stopped reeling. "Douglas is awake. I felt him. I heard him."

"Well, let's go find him then."

They helped Scooter finish his errand and then went back to the lounge. Scooter went to Marie and asked her to find out if Douglas was awake.

"I just checked fifteen minutes ago. He wasn't then."

"Well, he is now."

Marie checked. "You're right. He is."

Scooter had told his father about hearing Douglas giving him the numbers in his head. Now this, he thought. There no doubt was something special happening between those two boys—something very special.

Captain Fuller strode into the lounge with the Governor to get a feel for what was happening among the injured. He talked to those who were waiting for the doctor to get to them. The ship's sick bay wasn't set up to deal with this many people at one time. The two doctors and two consulting nurses had set up a triage system in order to treat the most seriously injured first. Most of the injured in the lounge had broken bones. They were waiting to use the bone setting machine. The machine would heal the bone in most breaks almost instantly, once the doctor set it. They would still need to wear a cast for a few days, but the machine took care of easing most of the pain and began healing the break. A patient needed an hour in the machine, however, and the ship only had one of them. Also, not all breaks could be treated on the bone setting machine.

Captain Fuller saw the boys being busy and was impressed. This was just what he wanted to have happen. He saw Scooter's father being taken to the hospital—it was his turn on the machine. He figured tomorrow or the day after he would have to talk to him about the consequences of what his son and his friend had done in Engineering.

Just then Robert Charles showed up with the RD, Jordan, and Matthew. The Captain saw them and walked over to where they were standing. In front of Mike, Scooter, Ryan, Alex, and Stevie he said, "Robert Charles, I want to tell you what a great job you did. This is fantastic. Your father should be very proud of you." The Governor nodded and smiled at his son.

Robert Charles gave the boys around him a haughty smirk. He had come into the lounge to chew out the boys who had left their task in the office, but he quickly sized up the situation and took advantage of it. Seizing the moment was what being a good leader was all about.

The look of pride on his father's face made him forget his earlier humiliation. Robert Charles understood that he had nothing to do with organizing this, but was ready to take the credit in front of his father, the Captain, and the Recreation Director. As far as Robert Charles was concerned, life didn't get any better than this. Marie listened to the older boy's bullshit and shook her head. She was hoping one of the boys would contradict what Robert Charles was saying, but they stayed quiet.

As the ship's night arrived, the damage repair, cleanup, and dealing with the injured were close to under control. Most of the injured passengers were back in their cabins. The boys were finished helping the crew and they were exhausted.

Scooter stopped to see Douglas in the sick bay. He was happy when the nurse allowed him into Douglas's room. Douglas's mother was sitting next to the bed and smiled at Scooter.

"You can have fifteen minutes together," she told them.

As soon as she left, Scooter bent over and kissed Douglas on the lips. Douglas held him close and kissed him back. The kisses were chaste, but still special for both boys.

"Oh God, I love you, Douglas. I was so worried about you."

"I'm okay, Scooter. The last thing I remember is holding you while you punched in the numbers. Next thing I know I'm here in the hospital hearing your voice."

"You heard it?"

"Yep."

"I heard yours. And I heard you tell me the numbers.""

"Wowsers. There was so much noise, I knew you couldn't hear me. I remember holding you and then...then...I kept trying to think the numbers at you. I remember the numbers, and the ship dropping down, and you sliding and going over the edge. I remember all of it."

Scooter told him what happened to him and Douglas smiled. He was happy his love was okay.

"I'll be out of here tomorrow morning. The doctor wants me to stay overnight. If everything is okay, I'm free to go."

"Douglas."

"Yes, Scooter?"

"Do you think we can read each other's minds?"

"I don't know. I've heard you in my mind twice and you've heard me. But I can't read anything now."

"Maybe it's just when we really want it to happen. Can you read this?" Douglas closed his eyes and put everything he had into his thought. It was hurting his headache even more, but he kept doing it. "I love you, Scooter."

"I heard it. You said, 'I love you, Scooter.'" Scooter kissed Douglas again, deep and hard. Douglas's mom started into the room right then and saw them kissing. She started to say something, but she backed out of the room instead. Then she called Douglas's name, counted to ten, and walked in. Scooter was sitting next to Douglas now. The kiss was over and Douglas's mom decided not to say anything for now.

That night the dreams of both boys were about each other. They slept hard and deep.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Why didn't anybody tell the Captain what Robert Charles really made us do," Ryan asked Mike.

"I don't know about everybody else, but for my part it was because he would deny it and say we were just lying to get him into trouble."

"I agree with Mike." Alex said. "We just need to keep feeding RC enough rope and he'll end up hanging himself."

"Why didn't Marie speak up?" Mike wondered out loud. "I thought she was on our side."

"I don't know," Travis said. "She is a ship's officer, so maybe she really isn't able to speak her own mind. Maybe RC and his important father have her under their control just like they do everybody else."

++++++++++++++++++++++++

When Jordan, Matthew and Lisa came into the RD's office and Robert Charles learned from them that the rest of the boys had abandoned Mr. Z's office, he was furious. He felt once again that he was losing control and was thinking of how to get that control back. He thought about who the weak links in Douglas's group were. He smiled when he came up with two names. Since he had the girls and Jordan and Matthew in his corner, all he needed was to add two more to have control.

Mr. Z and the Recreation Director had been called to the main conference room behind the bridge for a meeting between the senior crew members and the Captain. The RD's office was still a mess, but Robert Charles had assured them that his minions would clean it as soon as they finished with Mr. Z's office

Between pissing his pants and having his charges leave their job, Robert Charles was having a miserable day. He needed something to make him feel good. He called Matthew over from where he was sitting, put his hand on the young boy's crotch and started rubbing it through is pants. He could feel the little dick harden up. He failed to see Lisa glare at him—she was the one Robert Charles should be feeling up, not a little boy.

Robert Charles shoved his right hand inside of Matthew's pants and rubbed the hard shaft. Matthew loved the feeling, but he didn't like Robert Charles doing it. In fact he didn't like Robert Charles at all.

Jordan remembered what happened between Robert Charles and Matthew, whipped out his hairless dick and started jerking it. Robert Charles unbuckled and unbuttoned Matthew's pants, pulling out his two inch spike. He pulled his six-and-a-half inches of teen boyhood out of his pants and rubbed it against Matthew's mouth.

"Suck me little boy. Make me feel good. Come on, do it." He turned to Lisa. "Go out and stand guard for us and tell us if anybody is coming."

"I will if you promise to make out with me tomorrow."

"I want to fuck you, but you won't let me."

"Just promise."

"Okay, I fucking promise as long as you suck my dick. Now go help me out." He rubbed Matthew's tight little ball sack. "Now little dude, how about a big blow job for the class leader?"

Matthew knew all about sucking cock. He'd sucked Jordan's cock often, and even though he didn't like Jordan, he liked sucking him. But Robert Charles had a gigantic cock and he didn't want to do it. It simply didn't look like fun.

"Come on, make your leader feel good. Suck it."

Matthew stared at the big monster posing in front of him. It was thick and long and hairy and the thought of putting it in his mouth scared him.

"Do it, Matthew, go on, do it," Jordan said.

Matthew got his tongue on it and licked the precum off. It tasted salty but okay. But before he could go any farther Lisa rushed into the office telling the boys Mr. Z and the RD were coming.

Three erections were quickly stuffed back into their pants. As Robert Charles zipped up and buttoned up, he told Matthew they would finish what they started later. "Quick, get your pants closed up, kid. You don't want to get me into trouble. Pull your pants up, kid. Let's go see what is going on." Once again Matthew felt like he was a nobody, that all anybody cared about was for him to make them cum.

When Robert Charles got to the lounge he was ready to chew everybody out for leaving the job he'd assigned them. But when the Captain praised him, he knew that he should go with the flow. Especially since his father was praising him too.

It was now time to divide the clique around Douglas before it got too powerful. Tomorrow he would start his plan. It never occurred to Robert Charles to wonder why nobody pointed out that helping in the lounge wasn't his idea. By the time the Captain and his father finished praising him, he almost believed it himself.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The astrogator looked up from his computer screen. He and his assistant had been typing in calculations and formulas for hours trying to set the parameters for finding three known stars.

"I have found our stars, Sir. The computer finally had enough information to pick out three known stars."

"Wonderful, Lieutenant. So tell me where we are and how long it will take us to get to AO IV. How many extra days it will be."

The astrogator blinked. The dismayed look on his face gave away what he was about to say. "I don't know how we got to where we are as fast as we did. I mean we travelled an incredible distance in a very short time."

"Okay, okay. Just tell me."

"Sir, my calculations say it will take us a year to get back."

Next. Chapter 17 The Voyage Home

Constructive comments are welcome. E-mail me at TheHakaanen@Hotmail.com. Douglas DD