This story is protected under international and Pan-American copyright conventions. Please remember to donate to Nifty if you are financially able to do so.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: If you check my website link below, I now have THREE full color pictures of Jordan. One is in the gif image so that you can see how I visualize his appearance in THIS story.
The second and third are from the sequel to "Slipstream" called "Oculus" in which he is a year older and a freshman in college. You'll also find a link to a blog post I wrote on Kolin and killsuits embedded about halfway down the page. This blog post includes a sexy full color drawing of Kolin modeling in his armor. :)
"Wraith" uses the main characters featured in the science-fiction novel, "Slipstream," but is its own story that I will post in its entirety on Nifty. Both of these tales are based on the events established in the short story, "The Insanity of Zero" (also on the Nifty Archive). If you like Jordan, Kathy, and Kolin, please consider giving "Slipstream" a read.
If you are a reviewer for Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Fictionwise, or would just like to talk about my stories on your blog, please contact me for a complimentary "e"-copy of "Slipstream" in .pdf format.
Here is my author information: Website: http://slckismet.blogspot.com/p/books.html Email: kavrik@hotmail.com Twitter: @MichaelOffutt Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Slipstream/164452693676933
Chapter Eighteen
Kolin almost choked and he gripped Wraith's shoulders. "Listen to me. Is. There. Anything...?"
"That we can trade? No. Dr. Pestilence is the leader of the Camazotz. He said only that I owed him this one and that I'd better not back out, or I can kiss this laboratory goodbye. He is bringing a big truck full of equipment, fuel, and other supplies. He intends to give me humans they no longer want, but who are healthy enough to be able to assist me in my work. He will also be bringing food for my future employees."
Exasperated, Kolin slammed his fist down on the desk in front of the monitors. If the gesture rattled Wraith at all, he gave no outward sign of this to Kolin.
"Lastly, there has been a discovery in a network of abandoned mines under a working fuel refinery in the wastes of Colorado. I think it may be a power supply that perhaps got ejected in the aftermath of the explosion that destroyed the White Tower. It is described as a grotesque statue of some kind, and it cost many lives to retrieve. The people that touched it suffered severe burns."
"What does this have to do with the trade?" Kolin asked, tears brimming on his lids.
"Kolin, if I can tap into this power supply, I will no longer be dependent on the monsters. Dr. Pestilence has promised to deliver this thing to me. All of this in exchange for the boy who he claims he must taste. Consider this...IF you are Adam 516, I need this alien artifact to supply the spaceship that I intend to hold you in orbit for thirty years while the apocalypse device terraforms Avalon. It is imperative that we turn Jordan over, not only for what it means for the continuation of the human race from your loins, but because I can now destroy the monsters. You want them gone, right? I can now, start over. After Jordan is dead, no other boys need die so horribly. My full scale sterilization of Avalon will be swift and merciful."
"How can you call genocide merciful?" Kolin asked.
"You've seen the alternatives. You know that sometimes the journey to death can be worse than death itself," Wraith replied.
Kolin swallowed uncomfortably.
"If I don't trade the blond boy, the monsters will attack this facility. Kolin, they would ruin everything. They would kill you, your friend (who I might add is dead already), the formula, and Eve. Think of Eve, Kolin. She awaits you in stasis, her womb ready to receive your gift of life. This is a chance for you to start over. Think of yourself. But if not, think of every family out there that must live in fear of the monsters on a daily basis. You do realize that they are increasing their numbers? You have a chance to get rid of it all...to cleanse the world of evil."
"No. Killing innocent humans is not a solution." Kolin looked about wildly and put finger to chin. "You said you believed me, right? That you believed Jordan is good and that he saved me?"
Wraith nodded. "I do. I admit my mistake. I should not have contacted Dr. Pestilence. But it is too late to save him."
"It's not too late. I'm not turning Jordan over."
"But if you don't, then my mission is doomed," Wraith protested.
Kolin's hands shook. "It's already doomed. I'm sorry. But you can't go through with it. Even if I am who you say I am, if you destroy the world with some kind of Armageddon device, I won't want to live in it without my friend. And if you turn Jordan over, I refuse to take the formula."
"But you will HAVE Eve. She is your friend."
"I don't LOVE Eve!" Kolin said.
"Are you saying that you love the boy?" Wraith asked him. "Are you saying you either have or desire a homosexual relationship with him? I tested him, and he does not in any way demonstrate that he might have had intercourse with another human. I call your bluff, Kolin. Your statement and presumption that he would accept you is a gamble, only in this, the stakes are the entire human race. As I see it, he has demonstrated nothing to indicate he would at all be attracted to another man, let alone you."
"No. I-I mean, yes. Yes, I love Jordy. No, I don't have a relationship with him. And how can you test that?"
"It's complicated, but there are certain changes in physiology that can be measured. How can two men love each other? Does he love you? Have you had any sign from him?"
Kolin shook his head. "Jordy's a high school jock. I don't know how he feels about me. But that doesn't mean THAT I CAN'T love him. You sent me into the world to understand love. I'm telling you now that we don't have a choice in who we love. It just happens. And you can't force it. You can't MAKE someone love you. And I won't force him, but that doesn't mean I don't love him."
Wraith grappled with what Kolin said to him. "I know not what 'high school' is. I'm also confused why you could choose a boy who cannot bear you progeny over a perfect woman. But if what you are saying is true, if I destroy the world, and Jordan is not in it, that you will forfeit your own life, thereby causing my mission to fail."
"YES!" Kolin yelled. "You get it now. Yes."
Wraith's eyes darkened. "I understand now. The boy must be saved. What do you require of me?"
"My armor and a weapon."
"What do you intend to do?" Wraith asked.
"I'm a trained assassin. I have many skills, and I've killed hundreds of people. I guarantee you that these men coming for Jordan will be no match for me if you just get me my equipment."
"I will get them for you. What should I do with the boy? He is currently sedated. I learned some time ago that unconscious is best with those I turn over to the doctor. He seldom waits to cut into them, sometimes performing vivisections on the spot. I did not want Jordan to be in pain for anything the doctor might remove or examine. His sister is also sedated for the trip to the Cihuateteo. I will tell you that she is not disgusting like he is. Her room remains clean, though I believe she is equally as bored as her brother."
"Are their rooms secure?"
"Yes, but even a steel door an inch thick will not hold off the Butcher for long. The doctor and the Butcher have heightened olfactory senses. You'll understand when you see them. I will post my last remaining sentries in front of those doors to prevent his entrance should you fail in stopping them, but I suggest you think of something. They will smell Jordan the moment they enter. He has told me that teenaged boys give off a 'scent,' especially true of those he desires to mutilate.
"This scent is probably something I would not find pleasant. But it does something to their reproductive organs to smell these boys. It gives them both incredible erections that last for many hours. I can promise you that if you fail, they will rape the boy until he is incontinent. Also, know that if you fail, I will have no choice but to harvest your testicles to begin anew with my attempts to recreate an Adam, as fruitless an endeavor as that may be. I would prefer that you just took the formula and allowed me to fulfill my mission. I fear that the boy will suffer worse if you are defeated because the doctor will be enraged."
From somewhere in the complex came a loud booming noise.
Someone knocked on the garage door with a huge, meaty fist.
"What's that?" Kolin asked.
Wraith looked at one of the monitors. "Our guests have arrived. I shall get your weapon and armor. Wait here until I return." Wraith started to slide out of the room when Kolin stopped him.
"Where are Jordy's clothes?" he asked.
"I was going to dispose of them. They are filthy and smell strongly of him. Especially his shoes which are rank with his stink. My pheromone and odor detectors turn red in their presence. I labeled them as a biological hazard. That is why I furnished him with new sneakers from one of the boys that used to live here. Their feet were close to the same size--eleven."
"Perfect. Bring them with my armor. Can you use that ability that transformed you to project any kind of three-dimensional image?"
"I see. You figured out that I am a hologram."
Kolin nodded. "You said that we probably couldn't harm you unless we knew where to strike. And your instantaneous ability to shape change is beyond the capability of any machine I know short of Z.E.R.O. itself. As you admitted that you run on power and that you were created by another, I realized that you must be a projection of some kind."
"You are correct." Wraith transformed and became a small floating sphere the size of an orange. It was covered in reflective panels. "This is my true form. It's why I cannot defend myself against Dr. Pestilence and the Butcher, even though my outward appearance is intimidating."
"Well that's fine," Kolin said. "As it turns out, I think your abilities will help out more than you think. Go and get Jordan's old clothes and bring them back with you along with my armor and my sword. You're going to be key to distracting our guests. If they're as dangerous as you say, I'll need a distraction to get the upper hand." He paused for a moment. "You say their sense of smell is keen?"
"Very. Both Dr. Pestilence and the Butcher have three times the olfactory sense of a bloodhound. They tore apart your Hummer parked outside because it smelled of Jordan."
Kolin wiped sweat from his face. "I need ammonia. I'm going to wash down both Jordan and Kathy's doors. I don't want the monsters catching any scent that I don't intend."
"I'll have a droid bring a bottle into you as soon as I leave."
Kolin nodded. "I think that's it. Please hurry."
"I have something else to say. This thing that you're doing...it's romantic. You're risking everything for him, and you don't even know if he loves you or is capable of loving you."
Kolin wiped tears from his eyes but said nothing.
Wraith turned back into the half man, half serpent projection. "I will hurry." Then he left.
Kolin sat down on a chair and located a live feed into Jordan's chamber. The blond boy that had stolen his heart looked peaceful, chest slowly rising and falling, and eyes closed. He wore a red baseball cap on his head and still had his sneakers on over his sweaty bare feet.
I love feet, Kolin suddenly realized. I've gone barmy, but gods...I'd love to see his.
The camera had such resolution that Kolin could detect the faint freckles on Jordan's lily white skin.
The sleeping teen wore faded blue jeans, spotted here and there with a little dried cum stain and that same flannel shirt in the video clip Wraith had forced him to watch. Jordan had never bothered to button it back up. It lay parted, displaying an indescribably delectable chest equipped with trapezoidal pectoral muscles, a veiny abdomen, and a small, cute belly button. The lines of his Apollo's belt pointed straight to his crotch which lay hidden behind damp denim. He barely saw the top of Jordan's blond pubic hair, framed as it were between the boniness of Jordan's hips.
It's so difficult to believe that he's kept himself pure and untouched, Kolin thought.
The idea of being the first one to taste that skin with his tongue, even if a complete fantasy, made Kolin's dick hard.
"I have to protect him," Kolin said under his breath. "Even if it kills me."
The door slid open and a small droid rolling on rubber wheels carried in a jug of ammonia.
Kolin snatched it up. He flicked off the screen with his thumb so he didn't have to watch Jordan any longer and could focus on what he needed to do. As quickly as he could, he found the hall back to the main circular room where Wraith first greeted them. He splashed ammonia on both doors leading to Jordan and Kathy's rooms. The strong smell would kill any scent left behind by his teen companions. Then, he went back to the observation room to prepare for battle. He didn't turn the cameras back on. He didn't want to think of someone raping his friend to death.
Chapter Nineteen this weekend!