CHAPTER 51
"U.S.S Starfinder"
by Douglas DD
The sun was setting over western hills of the Big Valley. Matthew and Enghar watched as it sank slowly out of sight. One of Inferno's two moons was in a crescent, hanging in the dark blue sky above the magenta sunset. Matthew watched it go down and turned to his lover, his Meshanna. "I wonder if they made it," Matthew said as twinkling stars started to appear in the darkening sky. "They should be there by now." "I hope so," Enghar replied. "Because if they don't dad says we may not be able to survive on Inferno for more than a few more decades." He looked seriously at Matthew. "Does that make you sorry you stayed?" they young Hakaan boy asked. "Never. Never. Never. You're my Meshanna and I love you." The two boys kissed deeply. "I think yesterday was my birthday. Or maybe it was today. It's hard to remember all the days." Matthew had been keeping a calendar based on the date Stevie had given him before he left, but he had forgotten to mark off a couple of days and he wasn't sure if he had done his make-ups properly. "That makes you twelve then, my sweet Meshanna," Enghar said kissing Matthew again. "Yeah. Big old twelve. I wonder if my parents remembered." "You almost forgot," Enghar said with a smile. "I know. I never would have at home...," Matthew caught himself, "...on Earth." "This is your home forever, now," Enghar said. "I'm sorry, love. I know it is. It still takes getting used to. At least I'm not a round ear anymore." "No. You took care of the last one to call you that like a Shkah. I was proud of you. You are Hakaan. A Meshanna and a citizen. Everybody here knows that for sure. You have proven yourself, and I have proven I knew what I was doing when I made you my Meshanna." Another kiss passed between the two boys. The sunset was over. The valley and the yard were dark. "Maybe we should head for bed and celebrate your birthday in proper Hakaan fashion," Enghar said with a sexy look in his eyes. "Plus I'm going to tell mom and dad a cake is in order for tomorrow." Matthew smiled at the word cake. Earth and Hakaan had more in common than one would think. Before the boys entered the house, Matthew looked up at the bright twinkling stars. I hope you made it, Douglas, and brother Mike, and all my friends. I love you all. He blew a kiss at the heavens, then took the hand of his Meshanna and entered the house. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Captain Andrew Parrish sat in the command chair looking around the bridge of the exploration ship "Starfinder." This was his second exploration voyage as the "Starfinder" captain. His first one lasted a little over a year. On his return to Earth he had well over a year off while a different captain took over the starship. On his return the starship was retrofitted. Now he was back in command of a ship that was faster than ever before.
The ship had the new warp enhancer installed, now known as the Starr Drive. He remembered when the drive was first put into regular service. Gordon Starr, the inventor, was on board the "Starkeeper." It had been tested and tested and was declared ready for a regular voyage. However, the "Starkeeper" had gone into warp and disappeared. When it failed to arrive at Alpha Orion IV the enhancer was given the blame, even though there were no facts to back it up.
Gordon Starr was made into a villain and blamed for what happened because he had tried to get his enhancer into service too soon. Hundreds of lives were lost, including the new Governor of Alpha Orion IV, his teenage son, and Gordon Starr's own son. Star Command issued an order that the warp enhancer was not to be used again.
Captain Parrish also knew that the Captain of the "Starkeeper" was a fool. Captain Fuller was undoubtedly the worst Captain in the fleet. Parrish knew the only reason the "Starkeeper" was chosen was because her Captain's brother-in-law was an Admiral in the fleet, which was the only reason Captain Fuller was given a command. He believed that Captain Fuller probably had as much to do with the "Starkeeper" disappearing as the warp enhancer did.
Then months after being declared lost the "Starkeeper" suddenly came out of warp near Earth. Captain Parrish was home when the announcement was made that radio contact had been made with the long missing ship. The news that they were back safe was stunning. No ship had ever returned after being lost that long in warp space. What was even more stunning was the later news that every boy on the ship older than eleven had been lost in an unfortunate accident, and that two other boys, ten year old twins, had disappeared too. That brought a note of sadness to the happiness of the starship's return. The Governor's son, Robert Charles, and Gordon Starr's son, Scott, were among the boys lost. They were all presumed dead.
During the trip home Gordon Starr had taken over the engine room and tinkered with his Starr drive. He fixed it so it would safely return them home faster, but at nowhere near the speed that had sent them spinning away during the warp storm. Yet he managed to cut the six months down to less than three.
A day of mourning was held for the lost boys. Then an investigation was held. From what Captain Parrish could ascertain reading the reports of the voyage, the warp enhancer worked fine. It came as no surprise to find out Captain Fuller had pretty much fucked everything up. If anything, the "Starkeeper's" trip back proved Gordon Starr's Starr Drive was faster, better, and more reliable than even he had imagined when. Before it was retro-fitted onto the "Starfinder" he improved it even more. The colonies were now days instead of weeks away.
The most amazing thing was what happened in the warp storm. Nobody knew how the "Starkeeper traveled as far and as fast as it did. But Gordon Starr and his researchers were working on finding out. The inventor was dedicating all of his work to his lost son, Scott.
Now the "Starfinder" was the first ship with the Starr Drive installed permanently. The "Starfinder" was going to retrace the voyage of the "Starkeeper". Hopes were, at the very least, the lost shuttles could be found.
The mission was just a couple of weeks old, and nothing much had happened except the sameness of heading through space. They didn't plan on coming out of warp until they reached the area where the shuttles were lost. They didn't plan on spending a lot of time searching, but they would scan the area as thoroughly as possible in the brief amount of time they had to spend there. The computer logs of the "Starkeeper" showed there were some promising star systems in the area to explore, and those systems were the primary goal of the voyage.
Captain Parrish got up to talk to his Communications Officer. "I see you still have the radio on."
"Yes, sir. I'm recording the noises coming out of warp space. We're trying to find out if there is some kind of pattern in the noises that might help in inventing a warp radio. Otherwise it would be a waste of time to keep it on. We figure one more day and we will have a pretty good sample, and then it will be turned off until we return to Earth."
"Anything helpful so far?"
"No, sir. But we haven't spent much time studying the results yet. We're still accumulating data."
Lieutenant Shrader, the Communications Officer, turned up the volume. The noises coming over the speakers made no sense to the Captain. He hoped that the experts would be able to make sense of it.
"Thank you, Lieutenant. You may turn the volume down now."
The officer reached for the volume control when suddenly a scratchy noise came over the speakers. It sounded like static.
"What was that?" the Captain asked.
"I don't know. We'll, analyze it when we check the tapes. I certainly haven't heard anything like it before."
"It almost sounds like radio static," the Captain said. "Like there was a voice there that wasn't completely tuned right."
"That's impossible," Lieutenant Shrader said. "There is no radio in warp space. Hang on a minute."
He got on the ship's intercom and paged somebody. In a few minutes, Abduhl Rashad, Ph.D., was on the bridge. Dr. Rashad was working to develop a war radio, and the radio had been left on to record patterns for him to study. Rashad was one of the Earth's leading scientists in Astrophysics, Astronomy, and Warp Physics. He was a rennaissance man, a master of many disciplines. A true genius. Lieutenant Shrader, himself the holder of a doctorate in Space Communications, was the Space Fleet's foremost authority in the field, but Shrader felt like a schoolboy working alongside Rashad.
Following Dr. Rashad was his son, Amahl. Amahl was thirteen, dark haired with dark skin and beautiful brown eyes. He was a genius like his dad, maybe even more so. Dr. Rashad had agreed go on this trip only if his son could accompany him. It would be a special part of his education.
Rashad asked for a replay of the noise. He punched some instructions into the radio control panel, then put on some headphones. He listened for a while.
"I need to listen to more. We need to adjust the reception some. But this is not normal warp space noise. Something different is being sent here. It may be some kind of broadcast." Dr. Rashad was obviously very excited.
He started pushing more buttons, trying to get an exact read on the static he heard. He compared the noises to what he had on tape. He started tuning finer and finer. All the rest of them heard just the background noise and the static, but he was picking up sounds that told him there was more than just static. He pushed another key and held it down. He hear something other than static, but he wasn't sure what.
Rashad flicked on an oscilloscope and handed a set of headphones to Amahl, saying, "I need your young ears, son." While Amahl listened, Rashad played back the recording Shrader had made only moments before. Patterns danced across teh oscilloscope. Rashad looked at Amahl, tuning the instrument to various degrees of response to nods and shakes of the head by the boy. "These radio patterns are not static," Rashad declared. Looking at his father, who nodded consent, Amahl lightly touched the tuning mechanism and made the slightest of adjustments. The listeners on the bridge stood stunned, their jaws dropping. For a moment they were speechless. Then Rashad asked, "You all heard that?" It wasn't really a question.
"It sounded like part of a voice," Shrader answered. "But that's impossible."
"No. In theory warp radio is possible between two ships in warp. We just haven't figured out how to do it."
"Then, that means if we heard part of a voice, that voice probably wasn't human. Since we haven't invented that kind of a radio," Captain Parrish said.
Dr. Rashad nodded. "Exactly, Captain. The voice you heard may have been our first ever contact with an alien species."
The bridge became very quiet. A momentous moment of history might happening right then. They had a lot of questions in their minds. Where did the voice come from? What was it asking? How could they answer it? What kind of being was broadcasting it? And how could they answer it? The silence was broken when Amahl said, "I don't think it was alien at all. It sounded human to me. Like boys." Dr. Rashad said, "We will know soon. He programmed his special acoustic computer to sort through the static and enhance the signal. Finally a steady sound of static was heard with the sound of a voice running through it.
"I'm instructing the computer to eliminate all sounds but the sound of the voice. Let's see what we get?"
What he got was silence. "I guess the alien voice range is different from ours. I'll widen it."
There was a little more static, and then, a voice came over the speaker. "......survivors of the 'U.S.S Starkeeper'. Please reply on this frequency."
The message repeated itself, but nobody on the bridge could hear it. The men on the bridge were stunned into silence. What they heard wasn't an alien voice at all. It was the voice of a human boy. They turned and stared at Amahl, who said, "I told you I heard some boys." +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Mike could feel tears dripping down his cheek when he heard the reply from the "Starfinder." He didn't think hearing an adult human voice would affect him like that.
Douglas ran to the bridge. Scooter was right behind him. They heard the voice repeating, and like Mike they burst into tears. Suddenly they weren't alone any more.
Douglas radioed back. "This is the 'Jordan M. Paxton' replying to the 'Starfinder'." He got an immediate reply.
"This is Captain Parrish speaking. Are you really from the 'Starkeeper'? This is incredible."
"Well, it's true," Douglas answered.
"Then you must be the lost boys. I can't believe you are still alive. How many of you are left? And how did you get a radio that works in warp space? How did you survive in space this long?"
Douglas finally managed to calm Captain Parrish down. He told him there were twelve of them left. He wondered how to explain the rest. How to explain about how they got launched off the ship, and found their way to Inferno. How to explain the crash landing and the trip through the desert. How they found the Big Valley. How Matthew was found buried in the desert. About defeating the Shkah. About Robert Charles and Jordan and how they died. How they left Matthew behind and flew a starship to Hakaan. And finally, how they got the warp radio and were able to contact them. It was a lot to tell. And who would ever believe it? A bunch of young adolescents set adrift in space and surviving. In fact, some of them were not even adolescents yet. They were indeed survivors.
"How we got here is a long story. Right now we are operating a starship belonging to the Hakaan Federation. We need to arrange for your help. There will be plenty of time to catch you up."
"Who am I speaking to," the Captain asked.
"I am Douglas Daniels," Douglas said. "I'm the leader of our group."
The Communications Officer had opened a screen on the computer that had information about the lost boys from the "Starkeeper". "And your group consists of the boys who were on the 'Moonduster'?"
"And two from the 'Sundancer'," Douglas said.
Lieutenant Shrader checked the information on the screen. "Interesting. Two boys and some crew members were on that shuttle. The `Moonduster' had only boys. And one of the boys was Jordan M. Paxton. Isn't that the name of their starship?"
"It is," the Captain said. Parrish spoke into the radio. "I need to speak to a surviving crew member of the `Sundancer'." "There are none," Douglas replied. "Only the twins survived." "I have to say I'm totally amazed, Douglas. You have control of a starship? You and a group of Earth boys have somehow gotten control of an alien starship and are now in space?"
"That is correct, sir."
"It is hard to believe that a group of boys lead by a fourteen year old can survive in space on a small shuttle and turn up as the crew of an alien starship. It's just a bit unbelievable." Amahl looked up at his father and said. "Why is it so hard to believe that kids can do things?" His father sushed him.
"Maybe it is, sir. But as you can tell, here we are talking to you on the radio. It's pretty hard to doubt us."
"Obviously, you are. But it is still hard to comprehend. But the big question now is, how will we be able to find you? We don't know where you are, and you aren't able to tell us."
"You underestimate us, sir. I'm going to let you talk to Jim."
There was a short pause and Jim came on the air. While the shuttle had been down on the surface of Hakaan, Jim had studied the star charts. He couldn't read Hakaan very well. Stevie was better at it then he was and helped him figure out a lot of the symbols. During two days in warp Jim used the computer to match up stars with the chart. Scooter helped because he could read Hakaan better than the rest, but even he wasn't that good. Reading the Hakaan symbols was much different from learning to speak the language through a mind connection.
"Hello, sir. This is Jim. I have some information for you. I probably should talk to your astrogator."
"Son, I think whatever information you have I can take care of just fine. Tell me what you have." That was followed by a pause. Captain Parrish turned to Dr. Rashad. "What can they possibly know that would be that complicated coming from children?" Amahl glared at him.
But Jim wouldn't budge. "I really need to talk to the astrogator. I have a lot of information for him on how to find us."
"Son, there is no way you can give us enough information to find you. Maybe we can analyze what you have, but how can you have that kind of information? There is no way you can get that kind of star information. You're just kids. So tell me what you have. I'll decide if the astrogator needs to see it." The Captain looked at Rashad and Shrader, clicked off the mike switch, and said, "Something is not right about this. And I can tell you this. I won't be told what to do by a group of adolescents."
Amahl glared at the Captain. He liked Captain Parrish, who had always been friendly, helpful, and willing to answer his questions. However the captain was also reluctant go give him any responsibility or to acknowledge that he knew anything or could do anything. The only reason he was on the bridge was because of his dad. The way the Captain had talked to the boy on the radio was wrong. The boys on the other end were obviously special boys. They weren't just a group of schoolboys on a field trip. He hoped they could find them so he could meet them. Amahl usually didn't say much, but the Captain was wrong here and he needed to know that.
"Captain.....," Amahl started, but Captain Parrish held up his hand. He obviously was not going to take any kind of challenge from a kid, especially one on his own bridge. Amahl was afraid of getting kicked off the bridge so he decided to say nothing.
They realized that there had been a long silence at the other end. Had they lost communication with the boys? Rashad and Shrader started checking the readouts on the radio when Douglas came on instead of Jim.
"Captain Parrish, with all due respect, sir, when my ASTROGATOR asks to speak with your Astrogator, I expect you to respect that request and get your Astrogator. Captain, you will not treat us like ignorant kids. Our shuttle was blasted from its starship (and it suddenly struck Douglas he hadn't asked yet if the fate of the "Starkeeper" was known) with just a group of KIDS on it. We got that shuttle to a desert planet. We crashed on the surface of that planet and then crossed the desert and the mountains and found a valley with an alien colony living there. It was us KIDS who made First Contact with an alien culture. It was us KIDS who won their respect so they would help us. It was us KIDS who flew a starship to the aliens' home planet and got their help and the use of their radio. We did all this with the loss of only two crew members. Captain, I'm proud of my crew. They are full of heart, they are the bravest crew in the galaxy, they are loyal, intelligent, and they are my friends and my family! They are survivors! I love them beyond what can ever be measured! I'm proud to be their leader."
Douglas paused to take a breath, and then continued his impassioned speech. "We may be young in age, but we have done things no group of space explorers has ever done. We have survived in space when we all should have died. As far as I'm concerned we aren't a group of kids for you to look down on. We are your equals. Captain Parrish, when one of my MEN says he wants to talk to your Astrogator, then I expect you to get your Astrogator. Have I made myself clear, sir?"
Now it was the "Starfinder's" turn to pause. Captain Parrish stood there stunned at the chewing out he had received from the high pitched adolescent voice coming over the radio. His first reaction was to cut this insolent young brat off, but he took a deep breath before taking any action. The voice was one of a kid. The words were those of someone of authority. Captain Parrish looked at the men standing around him. He looked at Amahl, who had a look of satisfaction on his face.
Captain Parrish had his opinions on how a spaceship should be operated, but he was also a good Captain and a fair man. It finally occurred to him that he wasn't talking to a group of lazy teenagers lounging around in the games room of a passenger liner. He had indeed just gotten a much deserved chewing out from a starship Captain. He nodded at Shrader to open the mike.
"Yes, Captain Daniels," he said in his best clear military voice. "You have made yourself perfectly clear, and I apologize for not honoring your request immediately. Please have your Astrogator stand by and mine will be available to speak with him." Though I have no idea what can possibly be gained from such a meeting, he thought to himself. He was filled with ambivalent feelings regarding the lost "Starkeeper" boys.
Amahl broke out into a wide grin. Yes! he thought. Now I really do have to meet these boys. They obviously were a group of boys worth knowing. Anybody who could make Captain Parrish back down had balls of steel.
On the "Paxton" Douglas let out a sigh of relief. For a moment he was afraid he had gone too far and wrecked any chance of rescue. But there was no way he were going to be pushed around and have a member of his crew treated as an inferior. Not after what they had been through. Nobody was ever going to push them around again. Mike gave Douglas a big hug and Scooter gave him a big kiss.
Jim took his star charts and sat at the radio. Astrogator, he thought. Douglas called me his Astrogator. He smiled to himself. Well, it was time for this Astrogator to show what he knew. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Jim spent a two hours going over his data with Commander Nu, the Astrogator of the "Starfinder." When they finished comparing all of their data, Commander Nu was impressed. "Young man, that was an incredible job of research. You were using alien charts and figuring them out in an area no human has ever visited. I have a feeling that when you return to Earth the Space Academy is going to have an opening for you."
Jim flushed with pride. His heart had been thumping at the start. He was afraid the information he had would be wrong or incomplete and the Astrogator would tell Captain Parrish he was wasting his time. Instead he had impressed the Astrogator of an exploration starship, meaning he was one of the best in the fleet.
Nu punched some numbers into his computer. "I will be right back to you." He got up to talk to Captain Parrish.
Captain Parrish was in his office going over the computer files on the missing boys. He was surprised at who had ended up becoming the leader of the group. Douglas had been a student body officer at a middle school. He knew from his own school days that that was a fluff job. He was a boy from a soft middle class background, active in school and sports, a good student, but nothing spectacular. Yet the boy who had dressed him down had spoken with authority and confidence. He had kept a group of boys alive and together and brought them to the brink of rescue. The boy on the charts who should have been the leader was Robert Charles Grant. His father was a Colonial Governor and had been a leader on Earth. He had gone to leadership training schools and camps. He had been raised to lead. However, it was somebody totally different who had taken over. Usually training and ability to lead win out. He wondered what it was that had pushed Douglas into becoming the leader of the group. He heard his door buzz.
"Enter" he said.
Commander Nu entered the office.
"Well, Commander. That took a long time. Was it worthwhile?"
"Yes, Sir. The boy was very well prepared. He said he had a lot of help from his peers. They seem a remarkable group, Sir."
"They must be to do what they did. I underestimated them at first, Charles. I thought of them as a children. Maybe they were when they were ejected from the "Starkeeper", but not any longer. I didn't respect them. I was rightfully put into my place by their Captain. I was angry at first that some fourteen year old was reading me out in front of members of my crew, but it appears I deserved his anger. They have all of my respect now."
"It was an easy mistake to make sir. But believe me, this is no ordinary group of boys."
"So, what did you find out?"
"Sir, using the Starr Drive to the fullest, we are just under two weeks away from the planet Hakaan. It wasn't easy to figure out where they are. Hakaan's solar system is hidden behind the Gamma Epsilon double star system and nebula, and has never been detected. Their starship's path took them just past that blocking or we would never have detected them. I am one hundred percent certain that is where we will find them."
"Not long ago we would have been months away. Gordon Starr doesn't know it, but his Starr Drive is about to save the life of his son. It's too bad he couldn't have come on this voyage, but his health had become too poor. The loss of his son devastated him."
"That's assuming his son isn't one of the boys who didn't make it. We still haven't learned who they are. We have a lot to learn during the next week or so while we head to our rendezvous."
"Unfortunately sir, that might be impossible."
"Oh? How is that?"
"They are low on fuel. They have a couple of day's worth left. They need to return to Hakaan's orbit and run off of solar power until we can get there. Since Hakaan is behind the double star system, we will have no radio contact with them until maybe three days before we reach them."
"Well, let's do this much then. Tell them first, that the "Starkeeper" made it safely back to Earth. We haven't had time to communicate that. And find out what boys didn't make it. There is no way we can tell Earth anything, but I think we would like to know. We will catch up on the details when we find them. Set course for the planet Hakaan, Commander Nu."
"Yes, sir!" Nu said with a smile. He left the office and gave the order. Then he got back on the radio and told the news to the boys on the "Paxton". Rescue was less than two weeks away.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The "Paxton" slipped behind the double star system and out of radio contact. Douglas had told Captain Parrish about Robert Charles and Jordan not making it. He also told him about Matthew staying on Inferno, but there wasn't enough time to tell why. They would have no more contact again until the "Starfinder" came out of warp.
The really great news exchanged was that the "Starkeeper" had made it back to Earth. There had been some casualties from the explosion in the engine room, but it was all crew members. All the passengers survived. And again, because time was short, all the information couldn't be give, such as what it was that happened to the starship. The news a huge load off of a lot boys to know that their families were safe. Some were even crying at the news.
The Twins cried the hardest. They left the group and went to their room. After hugging and kissing and crying and laughing they found their little bodies rubbing and hard and excited. It didn't take long for them to rub their hard little boners together and have a shaking dry cum. After recovering and kissing, they got into the 69 position and took each other to another hard dry cum, their dicks throbbing in their twin brother's mouth. Maybe they wouldn't have to stop doing this when we return home, they both thought.
They weren't the only boys to make love that night. It was a time of happiness and joy for the "lost" boys of the "Starkeeper". +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Alex put the "Paxton" into orbit. He knew the computer system a little better, and it was easier than the first time, but he knew it wasn't a real stable orbit and he would have to do some adjusting over the two weeks.
They radioed Endron on the planet's surface. Dralkan talked to his two dads and to his brother. Trundall got a chance to talk to his dad who was in hiding with Endron.
Endron was excited to hear that the warp radio worked and they were able to make contact. He was even more excited to find out that a starship was only two weeks away.
When he found out about the warp enhancer, the Starr Drive, he also knew that things would change some for Hakaan. Earth was now six weeks away, and Earth would know they existed and where they were. No matter what happened in regards to The Ancients, Hakaan would be able to stay isolated from space no more. He could only hope that the humans from the planet Earth were as wonderful as the boys orbiting his home world in their starship.
It was time for the people of Hakaan to get their way of life back. It was time for the Ancients to retire and for Thraller to go back to his Shkah village. When the Earth starship finally reached them, nothing would be the same again. And when it got there, he was going to lead the rebuilding of his planet, and it would start with the election of a proper government. To make that happen he needed the coming of the Earth ship to wake up the people of Hakaan.
When the "Survivor" had returned to the "Paxton" from Hakaan, it had been loaded with food. Enough to last a couple of months if needed. If that ran out they would have to bring the boys down, and it would have been on Thraller's terms, because they would have to land at the old spaceport. Now that was all changed. They could be brought down at any place on the planet because the Earth shuttles could land vertically. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The "Paxton" finished its tenth day in orbit. In another two or three days the "Starfinder" would be coming out of warp and they could communicate again. The boys were sitting in one of the lounges enjoying each other's company when an orgy broke out. They all kind of sensed that this might be their last time alone together, and they quietly decided the love making would be long and hard and heavy. It was like everybody had to touch everybody in every way they could think of. Even the twins found themselves enjoying the sex and sexual attention of the older boys. Nobody kept track of who their partners were. It was like the night was a huge wet dream, with the dozen naked, horny boys making up one huge linked body. That night they couldn't get enough of each other. They couldn't get enough of each other's love. They were indeed a family in every way.
The next day sped by, Stevie and Travis staying by the radio waiting to hear from the "Starfinder". Scooter had just spent some time talking with Mike and Alex about what was going to happen when the "Starfinder" showed up, not only to them, but to the Hakaanen. Scooter realized that he hadn't seen Douglas for a while and decided to go looking for him. Scooter sent his thoughts floating through the Hakaan starship. Douglas's answer came into his mind. Scooter found Douglas in the big lounge, sitting on a big sofa looking out a window. Hakaan was floating below them, beautiful in its blues and greens and browns and whites.
Scooter could see Douglas was looking sad. He walked over and sat next to him on the sofa and put his arm around him.
"What's wrong my love?"
Douglas shrugged. "Nothing."
Scooter hugged him tighter. "You know that's not true, my sweetums. Something is bothering you."
"Yeah, I know. But it's a selfish thing and I don't want you to be bothered by it."
"Douglas, Douglas, Douglas. I love you more than anything. Whatever bothers we get through together. Tell me what's bothering you."
Douglas leaned his head against his lover's shoulder. "It's kind of funny, Scooter. When we were sitting there in the desert on our wrecked shuttle and you guys made me leader, all I could think about was some adult showing up and taking all the responsibility. I didn't want to lead, or make the decisions. I wanted somebody doing it for me, just like my parents and my teachers did.
"Only it never happened and I ended up having to make decisions. No adults ever came to rescue us. Even when we were with the Hakaanen on Inferno, they really weren't our rescuers. We still were in charge of ourselves. We still had to make our own decisions. All you guys helped me so much, Scooter. You more than anybody." He sat quietly leaning against the boy he loved so much.
"I think I know where you're going," Scooter said.
"By tomorrow an Earth starship will be here. Everything will be taken over by a starship Captain. A man trained to be a leader. You saw how he talked to us when we first made contact; like we were school kids. When tomorrow comes, what I think will mean nothing. Right now I am the Captain of the 'Jordan M. Paxton'. Alex is the Navigator, Jim is the Chief Engineer and it looks like the Astrogator, too. I mean everybody has some kind of title or role. We did things no group of kids should have done. We survived when we should have all died. And tomorrow we'll just be kids again. I don't know if I can go back to just being a kid again, Scooter."
"It won't be that bad, my love. Maybe it's what we really need. I know I want to see my dad in the worst way."
"Don't get me wrong, my sweetness. I want to see my parents badly too. But when I get home, I can't go back to being their little Douglas again. I'm not the same boy who got blasted into space months ago. Maybe I didn't really want to lead us before, but now it's like to take on huge responsibilities and I don't want to give it up. I don't want that Captain to come on board and say, 'Hi, kid', like I'm just some lame teenager. I want him to come respecting me for what I did. Hell, respecting US for what WE did!"
Scooter stroked Douglas's bare shoulder. His soothing thoughts flowed into his lover's mind. "I love you, my sweetums. I love your face. I love your body. I love you mind. I love your voice. I love your thoughts and your loyalty and your bravery. Nothing that happens can ever lessen my love. Nothing. My love and respect for you is infinite."
Scooter's thoughts filled Douglas with a tremendous feeling of love and warmth. He knew that no matter what happened he would always have Scooter beside him and inside him. "I think you earned his respect, my love," Scooter said aloud. "You didn't let him treat us like a kids. You forced him to treat us as equals. You stood up for Jim and for all of us. And when he comes on board, remind him you are the Captain of this ship, the leader of this crew. Make sure he talks to you Captain to Captain, and not adult to kid."
"I do love you so much. You know else I was thinking of?"
"What, my love?"
"Have you ever read of a book called The Lord of the Flies? It was written back in the 20th century."
"Yeah, why?" Scooter asked. Then he smiled. "They were like us. Stranded and cut off from adults.. Only they came apart. They became savages. They killed. We didn't go that way. We survived. We came through. We could have become savages and died. Robert Charles was heading us in that direction, only we had a leader we could all follow. And that was you."
"God, I love you, Scooter. The galaxy isn't big enough to hold all the love I feel for you. But it wasn't just me. We all had something the boys in that book didn't. We had love and respect for each other before we ever got lost out in space. We already were together. I don't think we ever would have become savages. But it was close. Robert Charles and Jordan were taking us that way, but we were stronger than them. Our love and respect for each other gave us strength."
"It was you. You were strong my love. Stronger than anything that came against us."
Douglas kissed Scooter hard and deep, holding him close, letting his love flow into his blonde lover's body and soul. I love you, my sweetness. Your sweetness and smartness kept me going all these months. I can't imagine my life without you in it. I want you to be mine forever.
And with that thought, they were reminded of something else. That when they returned home, they probably would be separated; Scooter returning to Earth, and Douglas being sent to his parents on Alpha Orion IV.
The boys were wrapped around each other, kissing and hugging. They were hard and excited. Douglas knew what Scooter wanted, he felt it in his being. He spit on his hand, rubbed his saliva over his hard cock. He slowly slid it into Scooter's tight rectum, letting his lover get used to the feel of him. Then he started humping him, setting up a slow rhythm, slowly riding along his sweet spot, making him moan from the pleasure.
The boys became lost in each other. Their thoughts of love flowing between them, their feeling of love making them one mind, one love, one body, one soul. Having Douglas's hardness inside him made Scooter feel like all of Douglas was there. And for Douglas, it wasn't that he was filling his lover's insides. It was more like he was filling Scooter's entire body. For the boys their souls met in their bodies and in their minds. As Douglas humped them closer to climax they became closer and closer to one.
I'm cumming...I'm cummmmming....their minds said together. Their bodies shook, Douglas humped, Scooter's back arched and his ass muscles squeezed on Douglas's ramming cock. Douglas felt Scooter's thoughts rushing through him, Scooter felt Douglas's. The boys couldn't remember who they were, couldn't sort it out. Douglas was Scooter, Scooter was Douglas, they were both, they were themselves, they were each other. As they came to their climax their minds truly became one, their orgasms almost doubling as Douglas filled Scooter with his boy cum and Scooter shot over himself, his first wad hitting his face, then his chest, and down until he had cum sprayed from his pubic area to his face. The orgasms brought screams of ecstasy, as they became overwhelmed by feeling more intense than their young bodies had ever felt before.
Douglas collapsed on top of Scooter, his hardness still inside him. They rolled over side by side, stuck together by Scooter's cum. Their minds were glowing from the intense love between them. They fell asleep on the couch, wrapped in each other's arms, the bright light of Hakaan reflecting off their naked bodies, making their skin look bluish green. Their overloaded minds slowly started to unwind as they slept peacefully into the night. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The "Starfinder" dropped out of warp the next morning. Lieutenant Shrader contacted the "Paxton" as soon as they were out of warp space. The "Starfinder" was a little less than a day out. A lot of the day was spent with Scooter on the radio telling the story of the "lost" boys. The entire crew of the "Starfinder" listened raptly, even those who were off watch.. Through it all the crew of the "Starfinder" sat amazed as Captain Parrish had the radio conversation sent through the ship's PA system.
After Scooter's talk was over, Captain Parrish listened to a recording of the entire conversation again. His respect for the boys and for Douglas had grown tremendously. He thought of them in a shuttle floating in space, alone and abandoned, hoping help would come back to them, but getting none. He thought how they found a planet and managed to navigate there against all odds. He thought of their daring space walk, and of the crash landing. The change in leadership fascinated him. He found it strange, but interesting, that the boy who was trained and raised to lead failed at it, and it was a boy who had it easy growing up who led them out of the desert, onto a starship, and now within hours of rescue.
He thought about his first talk with Douglas and how he treated the boy. He also thought of how the boy reacted. It took a lot of balls to talk to a starship Captain like that. It took a lot of balls to do the leadership job he did. A lot of Starship Captains and crews would have had a hard time surviving like those boys did.
Then he thought about a book he had read when he was in high school. The Lord of the Flies. It was a book about a group of boys who had become stranded on an island after a plane crash. They ended up becoming savages, and in the end killed one of the boys. He thought again about how the two boys who died were killed, and wondered how close those boys had come to the same kind of savagery. Any group of boys that can take a starship between planets certainly weren't savages, he thought. They were an extraordinary group of survivors.
He wondered what it was going to be like meeting those boys. He sat back in his chair thinking about how he should handle it. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ It was very early morning when the "Starfinder" entered orbit around Hakaan. It eased to within a few miles of the "Paxton". For the first time ever an Earth starship was in orbit around an alien world with sentient life on it. The crew that was awake looked at it in awe. It was a truly beautiful planet. When the rest of the crew awoke, they too looked at it awestruck.
They waited until the boys on the "Paxton" were all awake and arranged to come over by shuttle.
Douglas and Scooter were in their room. They both had their Hakaan shoulder belts strapped to them. What they needed to carry was in them and in their waist belts. Other than a pair of sandals they were naked. They were dressed like Hakaan boys, naked except for the sandals and the belts. They knew the image they would present might be one of savages, but this was how they were. Besides, other than their Hakaan robes they no longer had clothes. They had debated whether they should wear the robes, then decided to save the robes for another, more important occasion. Nudity was their uniform, and they would meet the crew of the "Starfinder" in uniform.
"You know, Scooter, I'm not even bothered about greeting the crew naked. This is our uniform now. I am proud to look like a Hakaan boy. I am proud of who we are."
Scooter kissed Douglas and they went to the air locks. All of the Earth boys stood there proudly at attention, naked except for their Hakaan belts. Standing with them were Dralkan and Trundall, ready to see their first Earth adults. They had already been prepared for the fact that the men would all be dressed.
The boys were cleaned, excited, and even a little scared. Their hair was long, but neatly combed. The Earth boys felt like Douglas felt. That they weren't kids any longer. They were survivors, and being rescued and taken back to Earth wouldn't change that.
The shuttle "Atlantis", named for an ancient Earth shuttle, docked against the Hakaan starship. The airlock seals were different, but using the information they received from Jim and Travis, they made their adapter work and made an airtight seal.
Captain Parrish, Dr. Rashad, Lieutenant Shrader, and Amahl were the boarding party. Amahl wanted to come badly, and Captain Parrish saw no reason to refuse him. In fact, he thought it was an excellent idea.
The airlock was opened. Captain Parrish stepped onto the Hakaan starship first. As arranged, Douglas was at the entry way to greet him, Captain to Captain.
Captain Parrish came through the outer door and saw a naked boy wearing two leather belts, one around his shoulder, and another around his waist. The only other thing he was wearing was a pair of sandals. For one brief moment, the thought raced through Captain Parrish's mind that this skinny, deeply tanned, naked boy in front of him could not be the same boy who he had talked to over the radio. He looked like a savage. He looked at the naked boys lined up behind him and thought that they were a group of savages after all.
Douglas saw the starship Captain in full uniform come out of the airlock. Douglas became suddenly more aware of his nakedness than he had been at any time since crashing on Inferno. He was standing naked in front of the Captain of a deep space exploration ship, whose impressive uniform made Douglas feel his nakedness all the more. Douglas barely had any pubic hairs. Suddenly he went from feeling the confident leader of a group of survivors, to being nothing but a skinny, naked, undersized, teenaged boy, who had barely reached puberty. He was ready for the Captain to say to him, "Hey kid, we're taking over now."
Captain Parrish walked up to Douglas. His muscular six foot three frame made Douglas seem even smaller and less important. His uniform made Douglas's naked body look like it belonged to a savage. The boys all stood holding their breath waiting so see how Douglas would be treated. Already they could tell they were doomed. This was the "Starkeeper", only worse. It was more adults looking down at them. Douglas and all of them were about to be humiliated and taken over.
Captain Parrish stood in front of Douglas and looked into the boy's eyes. Douglas looked right back at him and didn't flinch. What he saw was the look of an intelligent, alert boy. He saw eyes that weren't filled with savage anger. He saw eyes that were filled with intelligence and pride.
Captain Parrish stuck out his hand and took Douglas's. He gave it a firm grip and shook it. "Captain Daniels, I am Captain Parrish. I am honored to meet you and your crew. I am honored to be invited on board your ship. Welcome home."
A loud cheer went up from the boys behind Douglas. Douglas took a deep breath, fought back tears, and replied, "Captain Parrish, welcome aboard the 'U.S.S Paxton'," Douglas said proudly. "My crew and I are honored to have you on board our ship."
What Captain Parrish saw in front of him was not a group of naked, savage boys, but a crew. A crew of survivors. What he didn't see in the middle of the group, however, were two boys with pointed hears and golden manes running down their backs.
But Amahl saw them. Very little ever escaped his notice. Amahl had carefully scrutinized the entire scene before him. Douglas caught Amahl's gaze and smiled at the exotically cute boy. Amahl, smiling back, cocked his head up to look Captain Parrihs, standing in his full uniform, and then Amahl turned to look back at the naked Earth boys, and with the barest hint of a mischievous smile across his lips, asked, "Are those your dress uniforms, too?"
NEXT: CHAPTER 52 Kana