CHAPTER 33
The Search
by Douglas DD
The sky was getting light in the valley. The sun hadn't come up over the mountains yet, but it was slowly having its effect in the big valley. The Hakaanen were starting to wake up all over the big valley and so were the Shkah up in their little valley. The Earth boys had been awake since before dawn, all but Douglas that is. The group was letting him sleep as late as they could, but that wouldn't be much longer. Bandar called the hospital and was only told that nothing had changed.
Douglas was dreaming about Scooter and himself. They were on a beach, kissing and making out in the surf with the waves coming over them. The warm water felt so nice, being with Scooter felt so nice. He felt like he never wanted to wake up from it.
Scooter was having a dream too. And he too was dreaming that he was on a beach making out with Douglas. Kissing and loving him in the surf. He felt like he wanted to be in this dream forever, lying in the warm water with Douglas, his love.
Suddenly Douglas felt something on him shaking him. It was Travis.
"I hate to wake you up, but we want to get going. We have a lot of ground to make up."
Scooter was woken up too. It was the doctor. He needed to see how Scooter was doing. He was afraid for him because he didn't know enough about the round eared boy. He had been up all night checking him out after he got the blood. Now he needed to see if the boy was asleep or in a coma.
Scooter and Douglas both were jerked out of their dream at the same time, and both of them felt the flow of love from their soulmate. Douglas took a deep breath. Scooter's presence seemed stronger. He got up ready to meet with the group. He had thought all night about weather he would go with the trackers or stay. His mind was made up. It was time to tell them.
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Robert Charles was shaken awake by Vordkan. He was having some kind of a good dream, but he couldn't remember it. He got out of the sleeping bag and got dressed. They went up the ladder to the upper deck. The sun was just coming up through the windows of the cabin. The men were awake, the unicorns were packed. They got more water from the shuttle's water supply, as well as some of the dried food packs.
Vordkan led Robert Charles a ways into the desert, but the men stayed behind. They sat on their unicorns watching the men walk around the shuttle. Robert Charles saw they were doing something, but he couldn't figure out what. Finally they got on their unicorns and rode up to where the boys were. One of the men handed Robert Charles what looked like a radio transmitter and used hand signals to show that he wanted Robert Charles to push the button on it. Robert Charles had a pretty good idea of what was going to happen and he knew why. Now his former ship mates couldn't get anything from the shuttle to help them. He liked the way the Shkah thought. He knew that he now had no more use for the shuttle.
He looked at the red tail of the "Moonduster" rising out of the sand. He pushed the button. For a second nothing happened. Then the red tail lifted up and a huge fireball blew up from the shuttle. Smoke, flames, sand, dust, and pieces of the shuttle shot high into the air. Robert Charles watched it all with a smile on his face. They all looked at the burning wreckage that was left. Then they turned their unicorns and headed back towards the mountains. Robert Charles never looked back. The "Moonduster" and that part of his life were no more. Every minute he felt more and more like he was a Shkah.
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Douglas faced his group one more time. He had his mind made up on what he was going to do and it was time to tell them.
"I know I'm splitting us up again. And I said last night I was going to go with the trackers. But after a night to sleep on it I decided that Mike was right in what he was thinking. I was elected to lead the group. The trackers have a job to do and Alex will be excellent at leading them to do it.
"And the rest of us? I don't know what's going to happen, except I'm going to be here to make sure they don't split those of us left up again. And I know for us to communicate with the Hakaanen effectively that Scooter and I need to be together. I have this feeling that Scooter is going to make it. And I think we need to be where he is. He is going to be too weak to communicate on his own. That's going to be our first task, getting to Scooter."
Everybody cheered at that. It was the decision they all hoped Douglas would make.
Alex, Mike, Travis, and Jeremy were going to track the kidnappers. Douglas was pretty sure they didn't need four to do the tracking, but he figured that more of them would make it easier to protect themselves and to see things. He walked out into the back yard to tell them good-bye.
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The doctor did a couple of tests on Scooter. The blood seemed to be right because he was doing better. But he needed more blood and he couldn't get any more from Mattoo. He needed to get some of the other boys to the hospital and test them. Or maybe they all had the same blood type. He didn't know how to test them right so he just used his Hakaan blood tests. And he didn't know what the tests were supposed to show.
He looked at the boy. For somebody with no round ears and no mane he was quite beautiful. He could see why his son was so in love with him. But he had also discovered that young Mattoo was more than just outwardly beautiful. He was also sweet, kind, caring, and loving. All the more reason for his son to be in love with him.
The nurse came in and they started talking. Scooter was drifting in and out of consciousness, but he could understand a lot of what they were saying.
"The round eared boy had the right blood. We're lucky he was here in this village or we would have lost the blond young one," the doctor said.
"Yes, we were, doctor. There was no time to get that group of round ears here and no way to get them all on the flyer anyway. It was lucky we had the one we found."
"Well, he is sleeping soundly over in the next room. We'll let him in to visit later in the day. It would be interested to see his reaction since he was left in the desert."
They left the room and Scooter tried to think of what they were talking about. Another boy in the next room. The only thought that went through his head was that it was Robert Charles. They had all said it was Robert Charles who was found. And Robert Charles was going to come into the room. He was right next door. Scooter was suddenly very afraid. He knew Robert Charles would come in to hurt him or worse. I gotta get out of here and find Douglas, he thought. Douglas will keep me safe. I feel his love right now.
He pulled back the blankets and tried getting out of bed. His knees shook and his side hurt. He held on to the bed. I gotta get away from Robert Charles, he thought. I gotta find Douglas. I gotta find my love.
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Douglas hugged each of his four trackers and walked them to the edge of the brush. He had his backpack with him. He reached in and pulled out the two laser guns handing one to Alex and the other one to Mike.
"I think you might need these," he said. "Please be careful. I want you all back."
"You might need one yourself," Alex said. "You should keep one."
"I feel better with you guys having it. You're going to be alone out there.
Take them both."
He hugged them each again when suddenly Bandar came up. He had a pack on too. And he was carrying a bow and arrow.
"Shkah," he said. Nobody knew what he meant. Then he held up a picture of a Hakaanen, only with a bluish green mane. He pointed to it and said, "Shkah," and nodded.
Mike nodded back. He saw what Bandar meant. The Hakaanen in the picture was called a Shkah. He pointed to Bandar's picture and said, "Shkah"
Bandar pointed to himself and then pointed in the direction they were going.
Douglas and the other four nodded yes. Douglas gave Bandar a big hug and then watched as the five naked boys headed across the field into the woods. He wondered if he would ever see them all again. He wiped back a tear and headed back for the house.
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The Mayor, Bandar's dad, was talking to the Governor.
"What do we do now? The Shkah are getting too bold," the Mayor said.
"Nothing. We don't go fighting over the round eared boys. We hardly know them. They are strangers. They are not Hakaan. And for all we know they left the Mattoo young one to die. And if they did they should be with the Shkah and not with us."
"But, Governor, we don't know if that is true. They all seem to be nice polite boys. And our boys like them a lot. They are a lot like us, both in their looks and how the act."
"Still. We don't risk our lives or anything else for them. We will make sure they are comfortable and fed and have a place to live. But we owe them nothing more. The attack is their problem not ours. And as for the kidnapping, the Shkah might have bad blood, but they won't hurt the young ones. They will be back in a week. So we do nothing because we don't want to upset the Shkah into attacking us Hakaanen."
"I just want you to know I don't agree with that. I think we need to stand up for the round eared boys. They have no where else to go. We need to make them part of us, and that means standing up for them like we would our own young ones. Because like it or not, right now they are ours. And if we let the Shkah get away with this, who knows what they might try next. I have a feeling this is just the beginning. That we are being tested. The sooner we stand up to them the better, before they realize how powerful they really are."
"No. We will stand up for our own right way if we need to, but the Shkah won't bother our young ones unless we make them mad. Going after the round ears will make them mad. We can't allow that happen."
"Four of the round ears have gone after their friends. My son has gone with them. They are very brave. I should add that those boys did not leave Mattoo to die."
"You're son went? No! You must stop them. We cannot make the Shkah angry."
"Governor, the Shkah started this. I'm worried for my son. But he and the round eared boys have more stones than the Hakaan government right now. Those boys were incredibly brave to make it to our planet. They are still brave. They didn't hesitate to go find their friends. Their leader is loved and respected. These boys did not bury Mattoo." The Mayor was getting angry.
"You keep saying that. You don't know that. We can't let them close to Mattoo."
"I say it because I know it. Bandar told me. They told him the story of how he got buried. It was in a sandstorm and they lost where he was. The couldn't find him and left them only because they couldn't wait any longer."
"And you believe that?"
"From what I see of the round eared boys, I do. I don't think Dooglass, their leader, would leave anybody behind unless he had no choice. Just from what I saw today."
"For the last time, stop him."
Bandar's father didn't answer him. He did something no Hakaanen would ever thing of doing to the Governor. He hung up the phone.
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The four Shkah men rode their horses up into the bare brown hills. Ryan and Drew were tied up, each one behind one of the men. They weren't heading for the valley, they were heading for a cave that the Shkah knew about that was high up in the hills that were between the two valleys. They were going to go there and wait for the Shkah who went to the shuttle along with Robert Charles.
Robert Charles and his group were taking a straighter path back to the valley. The Shkah knew where they were and didn't need to line up with the twin peaks to get back. It would save them almost a day. But they weren't heading straight to the valley. They were heading to the cave where Robert Charles would get his test.
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Scooter stumbled to the door of the room.
"I gotta find Douglas" he mumbled. "I gotta find my love...I know I can find him. I need him. Have to warn him RC is next door......I have to get away from RC...he will shoot me with an arrow."
Scooter was still weak from his wound and the blood he lost. He had a fever. His mind was whirling in all kinds of directions. He got into the hall. His knees were shaking. He leaned against the wall. The hall was empty and was moving back and forth. He looked for a door to escape through to get away from Robert Charles.
He weaved and stumbled down the hall. He found a door and pushed it open, walking into the warm air. He was in a courtyard. He stumbled into a bush, went around it, and then fainted behind it.
Just as the door Scooter went through closed, Matthew and Enghar came into the hall. Matthew was in a wheel chair and Enghar was pushing him. Matthew knew he was being taken to meet the hurt boy. He could hardly wait to see him, but he had good and bad feelings about it. He was a little angry and confused from being left behind buried in the sand and wanted to find out why. From how Enghar described the boy he thought it probably was Scooter, and he knew Scooter would never to anything to intentionally hurt him.
Enghar and Matthew entered Scooter's hospital room and found it empty. There was no one in Scooter's bed. Enghar figured Scooter was taken out for tests. It was weird his dad didn't say anything, since he had told him that they were going to look in on Scooter. He hoped it wasn't something serious. He looked at Matthew and shrugged. He decided to wheel Matthew out into the courtyard so they could both sit in the sun for a while.
He pushed Matthew down the hall and then through the door that went into the courtyard and decided to go to the sunny end. Neither he or Matthew looked at the big bush by the door, and even if they had they probably wouldn't have seen Scooter lying on the other side of it.
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The Mayor and Douglas were having a hard time communicating, but Douglas finally got his point across. They Mayor understood that he wanted to go to where Scooter was. The next point to get across was harder, that he wanted his whole group to go with him, that he didn't want to be separated from the group and he didn't want his group split up again.
After Douglas got everything across, the group was loaded into the wagon they had seen at the lake the first time they saw the Hakaanen. There were six boys in the wagon along with the Mayor and his partner. Douglas, Drake, Brett, Jeremy, Stevie, Jim, Jordan, all with their backpacks. For them they had no home. All they knew was, they weren't going to let anybody split them up again.
The ride to the town the hospital was in took almost three hours. They had one piss stop along the way, but spent the rest of the time sitting in the wagon. When they got to the town of Orkyl they were tired and sore.
Orkyl was the largest town in the big valley as well as the capital. The Mayor knew that as soon as the Governor found out he had brought the boys here that he would come to find him. Right now he didn't care. All he cared about now was what was best for the boys. Eikir has convinced him that spreading the boys out was the best thing for them. Dooglass had stood up against that and had them at least staying closer together. Eikir was upset about that. He was beginning to wonder about that. He knew though that Dooglass was right. The young ones should have been kept together. And now he would do anything for them, just like his son was doing right now. They were showing more courage than he had ever seen from any Hakaan; boy, or man.
They stopped at the hospital. There was a park across the street and they all got out there. The Mayor called Douglas over and held up one finger. Douglas nodded that he understood. For now there were too many of them to go into the hospital. He put Stevie in charge and followed Mayor Ancorn across the street and into the hospital.
They found out where Scooter's room was and headed to it. When they went in they saw that the bed was empty. The sheets and blankets look like somebody had been in it, but nobody was there. The Mayor went back to look for Scooter's doctor while Douglas waited in the room. He started sending his thoughts to his love.
Scooter. My sweetness. My love. I'm here. I'm here for you. Where are you? Let me feel you.
He closed his eyes and listened for a return thought. He got nothing back. Just the warm feeling of love. Scooter was somewhere, but his mind wasn't connecting. Where was he? Douglas thought. Why aren't we connecting?
Bandar's dad came back in with Enghar's dad, the doctor. The doctor took one look and called the nurse. The nurse came in and said something. The doctor got on the phone. There was no doubt in Douglas's mind that something was wrong. It looked like Scooter was gone, maybe kidnapped just like Drew and Ryan.
We walked back out into the hall and headed back for the front desk. He noticed the door to the courtyard. It looked pretty out there. He saw a Hakaanen boy and the back of another one through the window. The second one had long hair that must have touched his mane or it was hidden by the back of the wheelchair.
Douglas thought about going in, but he was afraid of scaring them. He wondered if they had seen Scooter, or Robert Charles, who was around somewhere. But if they hadn't seen an Earth boy then he might scare them, so he didn't go out into the courtyard. He closed his eyes again for a minute and thought hard.
Scooter, my love, where are you? I love you. Talk to me. I'm here for you. I love you.
On the other side of the wall, behind a bush, Scooter was hearing the words but it was like in a dream. He wanted to tell Douglas he was there but his brain wouldn't go. He kept trying to but he couldn't. H wanted to warn him Robert Charles was here, but his brain wouldn't work. He started the thought D..Dou, and passed out.
For a second Douglas thought he heard is name. But there was nothing. It was his imagination. He left the hospital and went across the street to the park where he met with the group. They were waiting with the Mayor's partner.
"Scooter's gone," he told them.
"Oh no," Stevie said. "Kidnapped?"
"I don't know. But I'm afraid so. Nobody seems to know where he is."
The mayor and the doctor went into the courtyard. Enghar and Matthew were sitting in the sun. They talked to Enghar to find out what he knew about the missing boy. Enghar said he and Matthew didn't know anything except that when they went into the room it was empty.
The doctor and the Mayor left again. If either one had looked to the right, they might have seen a hint of flesh color behind the big green bush that was there, but they both looked intently straight ahead.
The went into the park. Douglas could tell they had nothing but bad news. Scooter, who was injured and weak was missing. Kidnapped most likely. He looked at the hospital wondering where his love was. He knew Robert Charles was behind it in some way.
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Alex stopped the group. They were tired and hungry and it was time to eat. Bandar and his dad had packed food for them and they had plenty of water. Plus they could get more from lakes and streams if they needed it. It wasn't like being in the desert where there was no water at all. Plus there were farms they could visit for more food if they needed, but right now they were deep in the woods.
Jeremy was pretty good at finding the trail, and it turned out Bandar was good too. They were pretty sure they were still following the kidnappers, but they knew they weren't gaining on them. Their goal though was to find them and they knew that could take time.
Alex liked Bandar. They were beginning to understand each other some. Alex was learning words, but they had to use a lot of sign language too. Bandar had a nice body and looked very sexy, but even more importantly he was turning out to be a brave and loyal friend.
They picked up their trash and started off again. Jeremy and Bandar saw the unicorn tracks. Until they got to a main road they would be easy to follow.
They were hoping that they would try to stay off the main roads since they were carrying the two boys with them. And the other thing that worried them was, what were they going to do when they found them?
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Robert Charles was sitting in the hot sand eating and drinking water. The day was just as hot as the desert days he remembered. He didn't know much about the Hakaanen dudes, but he knew he wanted to get them, and he especially wanted to get the boys from the "Starkeeper" who had exiled him to die. His revenge would be sweet. And Douglas and his fellow leaders would die. He didn't wish bad on the rest, it wasn't their fault, but Douglas, Alex, Mike, and Scooter were dead meat.
Vordkan walked over to him and sat next to him. He and Robert Charles each had a laser gun. It made them both feel grown up and like men. Vordkan knew that Shkah boys weren't supposed to act certain ways, but he was beginning to think he was falling in love with Robbachass, the round eared boy. And he knew that could be very very dangerous. He pushed his leg against Robert Charles's, and loved it when he pushed back on it. He looked at him and smiled. But he didn't dare do more unless the men saw them. He knew he couldn't wait until tonight to do more with the hot boy next to him.
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Douglas got into the wagon. It didn't seem right to be leaving somehow. He felt like it did when he left Matthew. He was abandoning somebody who was depending on him. Scooter was close. He could feel it. He looked at the other boys in the wagon. He wished he knew what to do. He wanted to stay here and find his love. But he didn't know where to start.
Enghar wheeled Matthew out of the courtyard, right past the bush and into the hospital. Scooter tried to move but was too weak. And it might be Robert Charles going by.
Douglas counted heads. He only counted five, including himself. One was missing. It was Brett.
"Anybody seen Brett?"
"No," Stevie said. "Shit! Where is he?"
Oh fuck, Douglas thought. Not another one taken. They all jumped off the wagon and started searching the park. They found Brett against a tree close by. Douglas let out a sigh of relief. He looked like he was asleep.
"Brother, are you okay?" Douglas asked.
Brett opened his eyes. "I don't feel good brother," he whispered. Douglas could tell he was having trouble breathing. They called the doctor over who looked Brett over real quickly. He called the hospital and asked for a stretcher. Douglas knew this might be serious. And he knew that now they would not be leaving the hospital.
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Evening was coming to the valley. The sun was starting behind the mountains. In the northern mountains four Shkah men made camp on a hillside. They gave the two boys water and a little food and kept them tied and sitting next to each other. They did take the gags off of them though, figuring nobody would hear them scream now.
"Are you okay, Drew?"
"Yeah. I'm sore and hungry."
"Hang in. We'll get rescued. They'll come after us, I know it."
"I miss Drake."
"And he misses you."
Ryan wished he could hug the cute dark haired boy next to him. It scared him some that in some ways he wished he could do more than hug him.
He missed Travis. And he was worried about where they were being taken and why. He moved himself closer to Drew. He couldn't hug him but he could make him feel safe and loved. As much as he could be up on this mountain with unknown aliens anyway. He looked at Drew like a little brother who needed his protection. And he was going to give it to him.
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Vordkan and Robert Charles were in their two man tent. They had their sleeping bags connected. Vordkan let Robert Charles slide himself into his butt. He loved the feel of the round ear's big dick inside him. But he also knew if he ever got caught like this it would be big trouble for both of them.
He found out that they were going to stop off in the valley before they headed for the caves. They should get there tomorrow night, and he had a special surprise for his special friend beside him. He just hoped that he would like it.
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The trackers stopped to sleep. They ate and talked and laid out their sleeping bags. Alex led them in some singing. Bandar listened to the Earth songs. The singing was beautiful and so were the songs. The music of the round ears was almost as good as that of the Hakaanen. He knew that boys who sang like this could only be good. He crawled into his sleeping bag and closed his eyes. He felt something. It was Alex sliding in.
Alex had discussed this with Mike while they walked. Mike thought his idea was a good one. Alex gave Bandar a light kiss. Bandar kissed him back. Alex thought his breath was so sweet. They hugged and Alex stroked Bandar's mane, causing him to whimper. It didn't take long for Alex to slide into Bandar. They started making sweet love, the second pair of Earth-Hakaan boys making love.
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The first pair was in Orkyl. Matthew and Enghar doing it in Matthew's bed. Enghar making love to his Earth friend, no his Earth lover. He loved his sweet Mattoo. The other round ears never saw him. His dad thought it was best for now. That was fine with him. He didn't want to lose Matthew. Matthew was becoming his life. Engar was already thinking of Mattoo becoming something extra special in his life, something Mattoo would know nothing about. At least not yet. Enghar pushed himself hard into his lover, and took him with a wild dry cum, while Matthew shook and shook with his own dry orgasm.
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The doctor had Brett on oxygen. But that was all he knew how to do now. He needed to find out more about the round ears. The young one was sick with something, but he didn't know what. Maybe Matthew could help him with some of this when he got home later.
Upstairs on the third floor, which was the top floor, the other five boys were in a large room. It was where they would spend the night. After that, who knew?
Douglas looked sadly out the window. He wasn't going to have them split up, but here they were, split in five different places. The five of them up here in the room. Brett downstairs. Scooter gone someplace nobody knew. Four on the tracking team. Two being held somewhere by kidnappers. And on top of that, two others were dead, and one he missed terribly, sweet, loveable Matthew.
But the one he missed the most was Scooter. He should be connecting. He felt Scooter was close. But where? It was cooling down outside like it always did here where the weather and climate were controlled. If it was a regular night there would be some rain. He looked out into the courtyard. Scooter was somewhere, but where? It was almost dark. He looked down at the courtyard wishing for his love.
Scooter! he cried. Answer me. Where are you?
NEXT: CHAPTER 34 Meetings
Authors Note: As you can probably figure out, Scooter and Douglas have become the main driving force in the story, with Matthew and his ET boyfriend Enghar becoming increasingly important. I hadn't intended to make Matthew a main chraracter. I originally was going to have Matthew die in the die in the desert after he got buried. But the friends who read the original serialized version of the story were so stunned at losing little Matthew I knew i couldn't do that. After he met Enghar his role grew as I saw him being somebody special, the true First Contact in the group.
Constructive comments are welcomed. E-mail me, Douglas DD, at TheHakaanen@Hotmail.com