Survivors

 

 

 

 

The First Officer used the ship’s intercom to wake the Captain. The Captain listened to what he had to say and thanked him. If flashes were seen in warp space it meant a warp storm was somewhere close. It was the only warning a storm gave. But seeing a flash didn't mean the storm was ahead, it just meant it was close. If the flashes kept getting closer together then they were closing in on the storm. The Captain went to sleep confident that even if the storm was ahead the spacing of the flashes meant it was probably two days away.

 

Monday morning found Mike enjoying a feeling of freedom. His restriction was over—he could go to the games room tonight and relax and enjoy his friends. He could eat all of his meals in the dining halls. He was FREE!

 

Alex woke up next to his brother. He kissed him on the lips and wished him good morning.

 

"Are you ready for tonight, Stevie?"

 

"Yes I am; everybody is ready to go."

 

The other boys woke up in their rooms ready for another week. The “Starkeeper” was close to the halfway point of the trip. The boys were eager to get to AO IV. And yet they sensed that this was a very special trip because of the relationships they were forming, and having special friends helped the trip to fly by quickly.

 

 

Warren woke up early Monday morning and looked at the strong athletic boy lying next to him in his bed.  He snuggled up close to him, wondering how a sickly little boy like him could be so lucky.  Why did this big handsome boy choose him to be his boyfriend?  For now he didn't care.  He would take what he could for as long as he could.  He wanted to think this would last forever, but he knew that there was no way Jeremy could ever stick with a loser like him once they reached AO IV.  He wondered if he made some changes and broke away from this loser image would it help him with Jeremy.

 

Jeremy rolled over and smiled at Warren.

 

"Hey cutie.  You're already awake," he said with a smile.

 

"I just woke up.” Warren informed him with a yawn.

 

Jeremy was running his hand through Warren's hair, kissing him lightly along his face and neck and chest. Warren had never felt so warm and loved in his life.

 

 

On the bridge, Captain Fuller was looking at the view screen. Robert Charles's father was standing next to him.  Even though he wasn’t a member of the crew, his status earned him occasional invitations to the bridge by the captain. Every now and then the steady picture outside would flicker with a flash going by.

 

"So, what does all this mean Captain?"

 

"It means we are going to meet up with a warp storm very soon."

 

"Are the storms dangerous?"

"They can be rough, but these ships are built to handle them. We'll bounce around some; we’ve experienced that over the years of warp travel.  The most important thing we have learned is that a warp storm is only dangerous if we leave warp during the storm. The "Heinlein" disaster finally proved that."

"What happened?"

 

"Early in warp travel, six ships were lost without a trace. The prevailing theory was that they entered warp storms and broke apart in the storm. A lot of the ships that went through a storm got bounced around and sometimes sustained minor damage, but nothing serious happened to them. Scientists and engineers were trying to figure out why almost all ships would go through a storm with minimal damage, yet six ships had disappeared. They were beginning to think it was something other than a storm that destroyed those ships.

 

“Then the "Robert Heinlein" hit a storm just before getting to the Betaken system. The captain figured he was close to his destination, so he dropped out of warp. It tore his ship apart. There were only 150 survivors out of 2,000 passengers and crew. The investigation concluded that the ship was ripped apart by leaving warp in the middle of the storm.

 

"I was on the 'Galaxy Conqueror' when it had to go past its destination for two days and then turn around so it wouldn't drop out of warp during a storm. If we have to, we shut down systems to make sure the warp engines get all the power they need."

 

"Can't you drop out now and just wait it out?"

 

"No, because we don’t know its location…we could hit it once we're out of warp. And even if we left warp very early, it could still be close when we re-enter warp space. Warp storms are extremely rare, and we simply deal with them when we have to.  It's easier to get shaken up a bit than deal with the problems of leaving warp.”

 

"Thank you, Captain. That was very informative.”

 

"You're welcome, Governor."

 

The Captain watched the flashes get closer and closer together. Another day and we will feel the effects of the storm, he thought. Fewer than one trip in a hundred runs into a warp storm—this would be his first one as a captain.

 

When class started that morning, Mr. Z allowed Robert Charles to make a couple of announcements. The teacher left the room for his office, leaving his class leader in charge.

 

"This evening I have the gym reserved just for our class. I expect all of you to be there. No excuses. We all have been sitting around too much and need the exercise (Speak for yourself, Douglas thought). I told Mr. Z. that anybody who doesn't show up should get two days detention. He agreed with me, so everybody better be there."

 

"That's not fair," Douglas interrupted.

 

"Who asked you? Nobody. Who elected you leader? Nobody. I think the vote went my way, and that makes it fair.”

 

There was a chorus of moans from the class and Alex was fuming. He and Stevie had their surprise planned for that evening, and they weren’t going to change their plans now—too much work had gone into them. All he had to figure out was a different way to bring those plans to fruition.

 

"Maybe you can change it to a different day," Douglas said. "In case some of us have plans."

 

"Plans? This is a space ship, doofus. What kind of plans can you have, a night in the games room? Big fucking deal." His use of the expletive brought a few gasps, especially from the girls.

 

Alex spoke up. "You are saying we get detention for not going? What makes you our boss?"

 

"I was elected class leader. That does."

 

"Well, I didn't vote for you. Neither did my brother. And I'm sure Douglas didn't. In fact, according to Mr. Z, there were seven of us who didn't vote for you."

 

"Which makes ten who did, genius."

 

"Two things, RC," Douglas said.  "First, we elected you class leader, not class boss. You are supposed to help out Mr. Z. and us, not to go bossing us around."

 

"You don't need to bring up the second thing, because you're way out of line, Dougie. Mr. Z. is backing me up, which makes me the boss. And don't call me RC."

 

"And second, if you want to lead, you can do it without calling people names and putting them down. And if I'm Dougie, then you're RC."

 

"I gotta give you credit, Dougie, you're one funny guy. You lead by making sure everybody knows you’re better than they are. Didn't you learn how to lead by being president of that wimpy school of yours?"

 

"Maybe you should just shut up," Scooter said, face red and blushing.

 

Robert Charles stared at him. "And what do you want, little boy? You better treat me with respect or I will squash you like the bug you are."

 

"Maybe you should earn the respect," Jeremy said. "I voted for you and I'm getting real unhappy I did. Maybe we should ask the other eight how they feel. I won't even bother to ask you."

 

Robert Charles started to speak, but stopped when Mr. Z. came into the room. "See you all at the gym this afternoon guys," Robert Charles said and then he sat down.

 

"Like hell you will," Alex muttered to himself.

 

"I hear Robert Charles has set up the gym for you guys, and added a little penalty in for not showing up and getting exercise. I think Robert Charles is an excellent leader for this class."

 

"He makes me want to puke," Alex whispered to Mike.  Mike nodded yes.

 

Douglas raised his hand. “Why don’t we just have PE during school hours?” he asked the teacher.

 

“Because I need the class time for the things we need to cover on this voyage.” He glared at Douglas, effectively ending the minor rebellion.

 

Mr. Z then started talking about their papers on alien life forms. He talked about how some of them thought there was no other intelligent life and some thought there was but that space was big and we just haven't found them yet.

 

"Douglas, you think there is intelligent life.  Why do you think so when with all our exploring of the galaxy we have to bring Earth life to every planet we put colonies on?"

 

"Well, sir, we've only explored a few hundred star systems. And there are billions of them. So how can we say there is no intelligent life?"

 

"Jeez, Douglas, we haven’t found any simple life forms yet.  How can you even think there is any intelligent life like us?" Robert Charles asked.

 

"How can he possibly put himself in that category," Alex muttered to Mike. Mike almost laughed out loud.

 

The argument went back and forth. Robert Charles kept saying there was no way there could be life because they would have found it by now just by traveling in warp space to so many places.  And they couldn't even find simple life anywhere. Douglas argued that one of the reasons they were exploring space was to find intelligent life, so some pretty important people must think it's worth looking for.

 

Jordan said that Douglas was wrong. He stated that space was being explored to find new planets for colonies, not to find life because everybody knew there wasn't any. And he should know because his father had spent three years assigned to an exploration ship.

 

By the time they finished the discussion, nobody had really changed his mind. Brandon agreed with Robert Charles and Jordan because of his mother’s career. She was an expert on life in space. Deep down he wanted to disagree just because those two were big time assholes. Mr. Z finally ended the debate, complimenting the students on their well-thought-out arguments.

 

After the discussion the day seemed to drag on for everybody. When school was out for the day, most of them went to the games room. Mike noticed that Alex wasn't there, or Stevie either. When he asked nobody seemed to know where they were.

 

"Maybe practicing their music," Scooter speculated. 

 

After dinner, Ryan asked Mike to meet him in the games room.

 

"You said anytime I needed to talk you would be there."

 

"Yup, yup, I said that. You have something bugging you, Ryan?"

 

"I just need to see you. Maybe we can meet here after dinner and then find someplace private to talk."

 

"Okay. I'll see you here in the games room after dinner."

 

When dinner was over Mike went to the games room. He found only Ryan, Robert Charles, Lisa, Carmen, Jeremy, and Felicia there.

 

"Where is everybody?” Mike asked Ryan

 

"I don't know. Let's go talk," Ryan told him. "I want Jeremy in on this, too."

 

"I don't want to go talk to that big bully," Jeremy said.

 

"Please, Jeremy. It's important. Do it for me. And for Warren."

 

"For..um...Warren?"

 

"Yeah. He wants you to talk with Mike and get things straightened out.”

 

"Well....I don't know. But Warren…well…it’s okay, I guess."

 

Mike, Ryan, and Jeremy started out of the room. Robert Charles came up to them.

 

"You guys have a hot date?"

 

"No," Ryan said. "We're just going to talk."

 

"Yeah, right. Well, don't let your butts get too sore. Hahaha. Don't forget to be at the gym at 7:00. That's a half hour from now, so I guess it's gonna have to be a quickie. Hahaha."

 

"Shut up, RC," Mike said. "Quit being an asshole."

 

"The only asshole is you, Mike. I'm not the one punching defenseless kids. You are a fucking loser. If you're not at the gym I'll find a way for you to get restricted to your cabin again. And quit calling me RC, Mikey."

 

Mike took a step toward Robert Charles, but Jeremy grabbed his arm.

 

"Not now. Please, let's go."

 

"You're going to get what's coming to you, RC, leader or no leader.  And you're no leader in my book."

 

Jeremy glared at Robert Charles. He was wishing more and more he hadn't voted for the butthead.

 

Soon after Mike came into the games room Matthew and Jordan had also arrived and started playing pool.  Now, Matthew watched the three boys leave, wishing he could go with them. He bent over to hit the ball and felt Jordan rub his butt. As much as he liked the hand on his butt, he wished it was somebody else’s hand rubbing him.

 

The three boys went to the first elevator where Marie was waiting for them. Mike and Jeremy wondered why Marie was meeting them. They went into the elevator and Marie punched in a code. They went down past the first passenger deck and stopped a couple of decks below.

 

"Where are we going?" Mike asked. "What's going on?"

 

"Just wait," Ryan said.

 

The door opened and Mike saw they had stopped at a cargo bay. Marie told them to have fun and closed the door of the elevator after the three boys exited.

 

They walked around some huge cases until they came into an open space between cases. On the other side of the space they saw Alex and Stevie standing on the platform with their instruments. Their sound system was set up on the makeshift stage. All three boys were stunned to see that the brothers were naked   As soon as Alex and Stevie saw Mike, they started singing causing the entire cargo bay to be filled with sound.

 

When the first song ended Alex looked at Mike. "Mike, I know how things haven't been going great for you. But I want you to know I believe in you. You are the best friend I ever had. You had to miss our concert because of something you didn't do. Now you get to hear it with your friends." Alex blew him a kiss and started playing again.

 

Mike looked around the room.  Scooter, Douglas, Warren, Brandon, and Travis, all came out from behind a stack of cases with huge smiles on their faces. Mike felt warm all over seeing who was there. He could feel a lot of the hurt of the last couple of weeks leave. He realized more than ever that he had some of the best friends a boy, or even a Donkey, could have. Seeing the brothers up on their stage performing in the nude made him excited.

 

After a few songs Alex paused and called Mike up to him. He whispered something to Mike and Mike nodded yes. Alex smiled at Mike and started singing.

 

“Boy of my dreams, when you're not around I miss you, miss you like crazy.”

 

Mike could feel tears build up. This was so awesome, amazing, and incredible, he thought. When the song ended, Alex addressed them all again.

 

"You guys all see that Stevie and I are naked.  It's how we practice in here and it's how we want to play for you—the natural way. We couldn’t do that for the main concert, but tonight we can be ourselves. You've heard me sing about the boy of my dreams. Well, that is the boy I am doing this concert for. That boy is Mike. I love you, Mike."

 

"I love you, Alex,” Mike replied without hesitation.

 

Then Stevie talked. "I'm gay. My brother is gay. The one I love is Brandon. I love you, Brandon."

 

"I love you, Stevie." Stevie blew Brandon a kiss and Brandon returned it, telling Stevie he loved him, too. Brandon and Steve had set the scenario up in advance because they were ready to declare their adolescent love.

 

"This next song is a great dancing song. If anybody wants to dance, go for it," Alex said. He and Stevie started playing. Douglas and Scooter exchanged looks and that was all it took. They came together and started dancing.

 

"I love you, Scooter."

 

"I love you, Douglas."

 

The other boys saw them dancing and quickly grabbed partners. Ryan was dancing with Travis right away.

 

Jeremy walked up to Warren, but Warren backed away, turning red. Jeremy held out his hand.  Warren stopped backpedaling, but didn't take it. Jeremy moved a step closer.  Warren took a deep breath, took Jeremy’s hand and started dancing. They were awkward and inexperienced, but nobody cared.  Mike stood next to Alex and Brandon walked up to Stevie. Alex and Stevie started playing louder and better.

 

When the song ended, Douglas kissed Scooter. Travis witnessed the kiss and kissed Ryan. Then Mike and Alex kissed and so did Brandon and Stevie. Once again Warren got shy, and Jeremy didn't push it. He wanted Warren to do everything when he was totally ready.  Douglas got up on the platform. He waved Scooter up next to him. He looked around the room.

 

"I think we have something special here. I want you all to know I love Scooter and Scooter loves me.  I saw some awesome dancing going on. I'm gay and so is my sweet love." Douglas leaned over and kissed Scooter full on the lips "I'm gay and in love."

 

"I love you Douglas," Scooter said.

 

Douglas went on. "Like I said, I think we have something special here. I don't know if the rest of you are gay, and I don't care. I know some of you voted for RC. I mean he did get 10 votes. And I don't care about that either. All of you know what’s going to happen because we didn’t go to the gym, but I think none of us mind spending a couple of hours after school in detention instead of in the games room. I think today we proved we are the most awesome group of boys to ever travel in space."

 

Travis looked at Ryan. Ryan nodded yes. "Travis and I love each other too. And we're gay, just like you guys."

 

Jeremy looked at Warren. He shook his head no. I've danced with him and kissed him, Warren thought, but I'm not going any farther. Jeremy knew that getting Warren to really open up was going to be slow, but it would happen.

 

Now it was Alex's turn to talk. "I'm not criticizing anybody here, but I hope some of us have kind of figured out they made a mistake at election time.  Just listening to what Douglas just said, I can see I made the right choice when I voted.  We're all going to get some kind of detention tomorrow according to our fearless leader. I can't think of a better way to earn it than with you guys."

 

Alex blew them all a big kiss and he and Stevie started playing again. The rest of the boys danced. Warren saw what was happening, looked at Jeremy, and realized suddenly how much he loved him. He saw how much love there was in the room and suddenly looked at Jeremy and nodded yes.

 

When the song ended Mike went up on the platform.  "Thanks Alex. You're awesome. This whole thing was beyond awesome. I love you." Everybody could see the tears in Mike's eyes, and nobody cared. They all started cheering, even Jeremy.

 

Then Douglas said, "I think we are all behind you now, Mike. Let's dance!!" To add to the atmosphere, Douglas stripped off his clothes and Scooter followed his lead.

 

Alex and Stevie were starting to play and the dancing started up again. Suddenly two people came around the corner and around the freight boxes. It was Robert Charles and the Recreation Director.  The music and the dancing stopped. It was totally quiet in the big room.

 

After Robert Charles had seen Ryan, Jeremy, and Mike leave the games room, he went to the gym with Jordan and Matthew. They changed into gym clothes in the locker room. Robert Charles couldn't take his eyes off Jordan or Matthew when they stripped down to their undies and he started getting hard. Damn, he thought, I'm not a faggot like the rest of the boys in this fucking loser of a ship, so why am I getting hard?

 

At five minutes to seven they walked into the gym. Some adults were still there just finishing their workout. The RD was sitting on a chair on the sidelines. The only kids in the gym so far were him, Jordan, Matthew, Lisa, Carmen, and Felicia. At 7:00 it didn't change. At 7:05 it didn't change. At 7:30 it didn't change. Robert Charles was so angry he wanted to hit somebody.

 

The RD finally walked up to him and asked where everybody was.

 

"They all said they would be here," Robert Charles lied.  "I don't know what happened."

 

The RD went to a phone and made a call. He called Marie, but nobody answered the phone. He had left his radio in his office since he technically wasn’t on duty. He told the kids in the gym to have fun and he would find out where the rest of the upper class was. He told them he was certain this was just a miscommunication.

 

By the time he found Marie, it was past eight o’clock. Since the RD was her boss, Marie had to tell him where the boys were. She had told the boys she would eventually have to give them up, but that she would stall for as long as she could.

 

The Recreation Director returned to the gym with his radio and called Robert Charles aside. Robert Charles told everyone to wait and that he would be right back. He and the RD headed for the cargo bay.

 

As soon as they got off the elevator they could hear the music. When they entered the open area they saw Alex and Stevie, naked and sweaty, sporting young adolescent erections as they played their music loud and with love. They watched five pairs of boys dancing with each other. Mike and Brandon were dancing together. Alex and Stevie stopped playing as soon as they saw the intruders. The sound echoed for a few moments and then it got totally quiet.

 

"What a bunch of faggots!" Robert Charles yelled. "And to think I worked to get your votes and wanted to be your leader. Fuck, I can see that you guys need me more than you think. You're all a bunch of losers, and I'm going to see you straighten up. I don't plan on leading losers."

 

The boys were all sweaty and breathing hard. They knew they would be stopped eventually. Marie had told them she could stall for only so long. Besides, it was hard to hide on a starship. Mike, Brandon, Travis, and Ryan had agreed to strip naked for the next dance, but the interruption quashed those plans.

 

"The only loser in this room is you, RC," Alex said. "Now bug off, we're having fun here, and it all seemed to be happening without you."

 

"You were supposed to be in the gym and you all knew that. And if you and Mikey keep calling me RC I'm going to flatten one of you."

 

Douglas said, "Robert Charles and Alex, let's cool it. We were having a ton of fun. Let's not spoil the night."

 

"Yeah, you're right, Douglas, and I'm sorry," Alex apologized.

 

"Stay out of this fag boy. Nobody elected you to anything." In spite of what he said, Robert Charles couldn’t help but be impressed by his thirteen-year-old rival’s naked body.

 

"You are showing great leadership Robert Charles. You were elected to lead, not to boss us around. And not to insult us and call us names,” Douglas told him with an air of calm confidence. More and more Douglas was showing why he had been a student government leader at his school on Earth.

 

"I am leading, which you obviously don't realize. You guys were supposed to be in the gym tonight. Well, now it's going to be detention time. You will see how good a leader I am when that detention is enforced. But, I'll tell you what. I bet the RD will let me reserve the gym again tomorrow. If you all show up tomorrow,  I won't tell Mr. Z. about what happened tonight."

 

A voice in the room said, "Fuck you, Robert Charles."

 

He looked to see who it was. But he couldn't tell. All he knew was he had never been more angry in his whole life. The truth was Robert Charles had been prepared to lead a group of boys who were cowed by his power. Instead he was being challenged by a group of independent, headstrong boys who were not used to being pushed around.

 

The Recreation Director then said it was time for them to leave. While Alex and Stevie got dressed he walked up to them.

 

"I want to see both of you in my office after school tomorrow," he ordered them and then he walked away.  Alex looked at Stevie and shrugged his shoulders.  They'd been in all kinds of trouble during their lives and had always survived it. There really wasn't a heck of a lot the Recreation Director could do to them that was worse than anybody else.

 

 

Robert Charles was fuming all the way back to the gym. When he got there, only Lisa, Jordan, and Matthew were left. He told them they might as well leave and the three boys went back to the locker room. Robert Charles watched the two younger boys undress down to their undies. He had been sporting a raging hard-on since seeing the nudity in the cargo bay. Alex and Douglas, the two boys who pissed him off the most, also managed to turn him on beyond what any girl on board the ship had done.

 

"How about you guys getting naked,” Robert Charles implored Jordan and Matthew.

 

"Huh?" Matthew said.

 

"Take your undies off."

 

"Why?"

 

"Just do it."

 

Jordan was quickly naked. The idea of Robert Charles wanting to see him naked gave him an instant erection.

 

Matthew hesitated and backed away, but Robert Charles came after him. Matthew grabbed onto the waistband of his underpants when he saw Robert Charles make his move. Robert Charles grabbed Matthew and pulled down hard on his undies, ripping them off of the waistband. He heard Matthew start to cry, but he didn't care. He pulled his own shorts and undies down while he pinned Matthew against the wall.

 

He pushed his dick up against Matthew and started humping the smaller boy’s chest. He rubbed his dick up and down the ten-year-old’s smooth skin, grabbed Matthew's soft puppy dick and small tight balls and tried to get him hard. Matthew remained flaccid and cried harder, his sobs becoming violent.  He felt Robert Charles rubbing his cock up and down his chest. His cockhead almost hit Matthew's chin on the upstroke. He dragged Matthew to a bench and stuck his dick between Matthew's legs right under his balls.

 

Jordan was masturbating furiously as he watched Robert Charles assault the small boy.

 

"Squeeze it," he whispered.

 

Matthew squeezed his legs. Robert Charles humped the little boy, and when he was close to orgasm, he pulled out from between his legs and jacked himself off, shooting his teen semen all over Matthew's belly and chest.  Then he collapsed down to his knees. He heard a moan from Jordan, who kneeled down next to Matthew and started licking up the cum while he jacked himself off. Then he stuck Matthew's still soft dick into his mouth. But before Jordan could do anything, his body shook hard and he had a wild orgasm that produced two clear droplets of clear boy cum. He moaned loudly and fell on the floor next to Robert Charles, realizing he’d just had his first wet cum.

 

While the boys on the floor started getting their breath back, Matthew lay back on the bench sobbing. His chest was still wet and sticky from Robert Charles’s cum and Jordan’s saliva.

 

"Nobody gets told about this," Robert Charles said.

 

"You know you don't have to worry about me," Jordan said.

 

"Matthew?"

 

Matthew sobbed, unable to say anything.

 

"Matthew you know who my dad is, right?"

 

Matthew shook his head yes.

 

"He is a very powerful man, Matthew. If you go telling anybody he can make things pretty hard on your parents. You hear what I'm saying?"

 

"Yeah. I won't tell," Matthew finally managed to eke out.

 

"Good." He turned to Jordan. "Is he your boy, Jordan?"

 

Jordan smiled. "All mine."

 

Robert Charles smiled back and looked at Matthew. "Stick with Jordan and stay away from the rest. They're all a bunch of sissy fags."

 

And you guys aren't? Matthew thought.

 

Robert Charles pulled up his pants and left. Jordan looked at Matthew. "You are mine you know. You're my boy." Then he took Matthew and kissed him hard on the lips. Matthew didn't try returning it.

 

 

Before school the next morning, Robert Charles met with Mr. Z about what happened the night before. Mr. Z was disappointed, not with the class, but with Robert Charles. He told his class leader that he was going to lose control if he wasn't careful.

 

He thought that his idea about opening the gym that evening was a good one. To help he would have the games room declared off limits to the upper class for the evening. He also would make sure Alex and Stevie would not be able to use the cargo bay that evening.

 

He was certain it was Marie who had given Alex and Steve the elevator code. She was way too soft on kids, the teacher thought. They had no business being down in the cargo bay at all. It was a dangerous locale. He then told Robert Charles a good leader knows when to lighten up and back down a little.

 

“Maybe now was a time to lighten up,” he told the fourteen-year-old class leader.

 

When class started Robert Charles talked to the class first. "I guess I was kind of hard on you guys last night. Let's meet in the gym tonight and all have fun. None of this penalty crap. That was wrong of me. Just some good old fun. I'll see you then."

 

Alex leaned over and whispered to Mike, "What a big phony. Watch out for RC talking nice."

 

Everybody noticed Matthew being quieter than usual. Matthew had spent a sleepless night, crying often. His state-of-mind hadn’t been helped by his father smacking his bare bottom when he saw his tear-stained face. He spent one more night wishing he could just walk out of an airlock and be dead.

 

From there, the day went pretty normal. Every now and then though they could feel the ship shake a little like something hit it. That had them all wondering.  What could be shaking the ship in the middle of warp space?

 

Some of the boys talked about seeing the flashing lights from out of the ports in the viewing lounge. Mr. Z told them that there was a warp storm nearby. He explained warp storms and what was known about them.  Jordan said he had been in one when he was eight.  It had been a little scary, but nothing happened other than the ship shaking a lot and the lights going out a couple of times.  Everyone was now a little nervous, but Mr. Z assured them there wasn't a lot to worry about.

 

Up in the captain’s office behind the bridge, Captain Fuller was meeting with the Chief Engineer and Scooter's father.  They were discussing the warp enhancer.

 

"I think it should be shut down now," Scooter's dad stated, not for the first time.

 

"I don't see what difference it makes," the Chief Engineer said.

 

"It's never been used in a warp storm.  We don't know the effect our advanced rate of speed will have. We're going way faster than anybody has traveled going through a storm. I think shutting the enhancer down is a prudent thing to do." He pulled a small computer out of his brief case. “I’ve run some calculations and…”

 

The ship shook again.

 

"I don't think it will make any difference,” Captain Fuller said. “Besides, we're already starting into the storm and we all know what happens when you leave warp during a storm."

 

"But we aren't going to leave warp. Nobody knows the enhancer better than I do. Like I started to say, I have been doing some calculating, and it looks like having the enhancer on in the storm will enhance the effects of the storm. It will make it feel even stronger."

 

The Captain asked him if he was sure of his figures. Scooter's father said he was about close to one hundred percent sure since the enhancer had never been used in a warp storm.

 

“Otherwise I’d be one hundred percent sure,” Scooter’s father concluded. “But it makes sense that the prudent thing is to shut down the enhancer now.”

 

"It will cost us a couple of days," the Captain argued.

 

"So what? It's the safe thing to do. Remember, you said this wasn't the "Titanic". Now is the time to show that is true. Treat the storm like it’s an iceberg.  Shut the enhancer down and forget setting records." The ship started shaking again, and then again, and then it shuddered violently.

 

"I don’t need you to tell me how to run my ship, Gordon. I want your input, but don’t give me a bunch of crap about icebergs. That said, I think if we weren't on the edge of the storm I would do that.” The captain was all but admitting he had erred by not listening to Gordon Starr earlier. “I’m worried what would happen if we changed our speed when we were getting hit by a warp ball. So, I'm going to keep the enhancer on and keep our speed steady. The only time a storm has ever destroyed a ship that we know of is when it changed speeds, which it had to do to leave warp. And in the end we don’t know if it was changing speeds or leaving warp that was the culprit." He looked at the Chief Engineer and said, "Leave it on."

 

"I think you're wrong again, Captain. I want that placed in the log. I think leaving the enhancer on is more dangerous than turning it off."

 

"I understand, Gordon. I'm not totally sure this is the right decision, but I have to follow precedent, which is what our rules of operation are based on. Changing speeds in a storm is the only thing that has destroyed a ship."

 

Gordon Starr was very upset when he left the Captain's office.

 

The Captain then turned on the PA system. He announced everything was being canceled during the storm and all passengers should stay in their cabins.

 

Mr. Z. dismissed class as the ship shook two more times. Everybody left for refuge in a cabin. Robert Charles’s recreation time in the gym would again not be taking place.

Not everybody went back to his own cabin. Douglas got permission to stay with Scooter. His parents had read about warp storms and knew they were rough, but usually not dangerous. They were happy to have Douglas with his friend for mutual comfort. They were only five cabins away if something happened.

 

Marie wanted the boys who had their own cabins to be with an adult. Alex went to Mike's cabin, where Brad was the adult.  Stevie to Brandon's to be under the supervision of Brandon’s mother. The brothers talked about being together during the storm, but decided being with their new boyfriends was the way to go. Ryan went to Travis's cabin and Jeremy went to Warren's. All of the boyfriends were now together.

 

Each cabin had an emergency food supply.  The dining halls were closed for dinner. There was enough food for five days in each, and there was a microwave for cooking along with plates, glasses, and flatware. The microwave had a battery backup in case of a power failure. Most storms lasted less than a day, although the longest one on record had gone on for three days.

 

Scooter and Douglas sat on Scooter's bed making out. They talked about what Alex and Stevie did for Mike and about so many of them coming out gay and declaring their love in front of all their friends. They talked about how all their friends seemed to be the same as they were, gay and in love with another boy. They kissed and made out as the ship shook and bounced more and more.

 

Pretty soon they were just lying in bed holding each other. The ship shook and bounced harder and harder. It started shaking sideways and up and down and it was becoming harder to keep from being tossed on the floor.

 

Suddenly there was huge bang, a long loud shake, and the ship even started to spin. All of the lights went out except for the emergency lights.  Scooter and Douglas were thrown on the floor and the ship continued to shake and spin. They could hear crashing noise all around them. The ship spun again and they were thrown up against a bulkhead. Scooter started screaming with fear. Douglas grabbed him and held him tightly. The ship stopped spinning, but it continued shaking and bouncing back and forth.  It was impossible to stand up. The storm was becoming much rougher than anybody said it would be.

 

Scooter and Douglas crawled to the bedroom door and opened it. They went into the cabin living room where Scooter's dad was on the floor trying to make a call.

 

"Scooter. Douglas. Are you ok?" He had to yell to be heard.

 

"Yeah!"  Scooter yelled back. "Are you?"

 

"I think my leg is broken." Then he started talking into the phone. "Turn off the enhancer. We're being torn apart."

 

He listened. Then he said, "I've figured out a shutdown code that should solve that." He listened some more. "Okay, here is the shutdown code. It's one seven..." The ship shook hard and lurched. It felt like it was racing faster and faster with each lurch.

 

"Damn, the line is dead." Even in the dark room Scooter could see that his dad was in pain. The ship continued shaking and lurching. Scooter's father tried dialing some other numbers, but the phones were completely out.  There was another loud bang and all three were tossed into a bulkhead. They heard the alarm sound in the room.

 

Scooter’s father was moaning in pain. Scooter and Douglas crawled over to him. They saw his left leg sticking out at a strange angle.

 

"Scooter. Douglas. I think I have broken my leg or I would do this,” Gordon moaned. “And without power we can't call for help. Boys, this code has to go to Engineering or the ship is going to fall apart. The enhancer is making it speed faster and faster with each warp ball it hits. We're out of control. It's gotta be up to you, Scooter."

 

"Douglas has to go with me. I'm going to need him."

 

"It's going to be dangerous, Douglas."

 

Douglas was holding Scooter tight. "I don't care. I love Scooter and I would die for him. I won't let him go alone. And like you said, we have to shut it down to save the ship. So going isn’t nearly as dangerous as staying here doing nothing."

 

Scooter's dad didn't have time to think about what Douglas just said. He had to give the boys instructions. "I can't make you go."

 

"You're not. I'm volunteering."

 

Scooter's dad started writing. "This code is for the elevator, if it works. It goes on emergency power so it should. It will get you to the crew section. This code will get you into engineering.  Give this shut down code to the Chief Engineer. I told him it would be safer than the auto-shutdown, but if he has any sense he’ll use the auto-shutdown anyway." Gordon Starr was in great pain and it was becoming difficult for him to talk.

 

"Dad, what if something happened to them? What if they’re hurt and can't put the code in?"

 

"Hmmm. Good point, Scooter. We better be ready for that."

 

Gordon told them where the warp enhancer was. Then he gave them the code to get into the computer. "A screen will light up. Then you push the disconnect icon, and push manual shutdown.  It will ask you for the last code. You have only one chance at this code. It is six digits and you can't miss one.  Any mistake could throw the ship out of warp and destroy it. I can't tell you how important it is to get the code right. It will disconnect the warp enhancer but it will slow the disconnect way down and not take the ship out of warp, if my calculations are correct."

 

The ship shook and rattled and made noises. Scooter and Douglas used the manual door opener and went out into the hall. Only the emergency lights were on. The ship was shaking and lurching and sometimes spinning. They had to crawl up the hall to the elevator.

 

Douglas reached for the button. They hoped the elevator was working. They didn't want to have to climb the emergency stairs. The doors opened and they breathed sighs of relief. They entered the elevator. Scooter got on his knees and punched in the code for the crew section. The elevator started up, moving unsteadily as the ship kept shaking, tossing the boys against the walls. Both of them were bruised.

 

Suddenly there was a loud bang, the ship shook, and the elevator started falling. Scooter and Douglas felt almost weightless as it dropped down. They both were screaming. Douglas punched the emergency stop button and the elevator screeched to a stop. The boys sat on the floor shaking.

 

"Now what?" Scooter asked.

 

"Punch the code in again," Douglas said.

 

"No. We will crash again."

 

"We have no choice, Scooter. We have to get the new shutdown code up to Engineering. We have to see if this elevator still works"

 

Scooter punched in the code again. The ship shook, but the elevator didn’t move.

 

"Punch it again, Scooter."

 

Scooter punched the code in one more time.  They both held their breaths until it started slowly moving up. The ship kept shaking and they kept getting knocked around, but the elevator kept climbing. Scooter and Douglas held on to each other for support. The floor number light wasn't working so they had to hope that when the elevator stopped it would be on the right floor—if it made it up there.

 

Suddenly the elevator stopped. They both waited for it to fall again, but it didn’t move. But the ship shook again and again and again.

 

"What if we stay stuck here?" Scooter asked.  "Nobody is going to find us."

 

"We have to get out. We have to get that to engineering if we want the ship to make it."

 

Douglas desperately pushed the open door button. Scooter and Douglas both were surprised when it actually opened.

 

Douglas shined their flashlight on the floor number. It was the right floor. Now they had to go to Engineering. They headed the way Scooter's father had told them to go. They turned two corners until they reached the Engineering door, which they recognized from their tour. Scooter punched in the door code, but nothing happened.

 

"Shit," Douglas said. "Your dad said the cabin door codes weren't working. What made him think this one was."

 

"Maybe the crew doors work on battery power. Maybe I just keyed it wrong."

 

Scooter tried again and the door opened. Damn, Douglas thought, he better not put the wrong code into the warp enhancer or we're all dead.

 

The lights were on in the Engineering deck, but they didn't see anybody. The ship shook again, knocking them down. The ship started spinning and then stopped. The boys grabbed on to a railing as the ship started tilting from side to side. Their hearts were beating wildly. They both were sweating and were scared shitless.

 

They reached a ladder. In order get to the warp enhancer they had to go up a deck to a small landing, which meant going up the ladder. Scooter started up and Douglas followed. The ship shook and tilted yet another time.  Scooter felt himself slipping, but grabbed the ladder tightly with one hand.  His swimming experience was paying off—he was used to grabbing ladders.

 

They kept climbing the ladder, sometimes hanging on for dear life. Scooter finally crawled up off the ladder and onto the small deck. The landing was on top of the warp drive control board. Douglas reached the deck and felt relieved to be off of the ladder on the landing. Only a double railing was between them and the floor below. There was nothing blocking the opening where the ladder came up.

 

Douglas looked down at the huge main Engineering deck.

 

"Scooter, look down there!"

 

Scooter looked where Douglas was pointing. He saw two crewmen on the floor who looked unconscious. One of them looked like the Chief Engineer.

 

"Looks like it's up to us, Scooter."

 

"Yeah." Scooter was shaking. Both boys were so scared they were shaking.

 

The ship shook and knocked them down. Scooter started sliding under the railing. Douglas grabbed his wrist and slowed him down until the ship leveled off. They crawled over to the warp enhancer. A computer screen and keyboard was set up next to the enhancer.  Scooter got on his knees in front of the keyboard. He punched in the code.

 

Douglas was behind him holding him as the ship rocked and lurched.

 

Nothing happened. Scooter punched it again. Still nothing.

 

"Douglas. I can't do it. I can't get it right. I'm going to kill us all. You do it."

 

"Scooter, I'm bigger than you. I can hold you steadier than you can hold me. You have to do it.

 

"I messed up the door code and now I've messed up this code. I can't mess up the final code. I only have one chance." Tears were pouring down his face.

 

"You can do it, Scooter. I know you can. I love you. My love will be with you. I will be in your soul." The ship shook harder and harder. It shook something into Douglas's brain. "We're soulmates, Scooter. You're my soulmate!!!! We can do this together!"

 

Scooter punched the code into the shaking keyboard one more time and the screen lit up.  Scooter smiled. Yeahhhhhhhhhh, he thought, WE can do it.

 

On the touch screen he hit “disconnect.” A number panel lit up. The ship and the screen were shaking, making it hard to touch the icon. Douglas had his arms wrapped around Scooter holding him in place. He knew the six digits by heart.  He thought the first one at Scooter. Scooter punched it in. Then he thought the second.

 

Then the third. Another hard shake. The ship sounded like it was tearing apart. It screeched like big pieces of metal were rubbing together. Douglas’s arms were getting fatigued, but he held on to Scooter with every ounce of his strength.

 

"I can't do it Douglas!!!!!!" Scooter screamed.

 

"WE'RE doing great Scooter.  Put in the fourth one."

 

Douglas thought eight, eight, eight, eight—and Scooter punched it. Two more digits to go.  Douglas thought five, five, five, and saw Scooter punch it. One more to go. He could feel Scooter shaking in his arms. He watched Scooter's finger go to the screen and hover over the seven. Yes, yes, yes, he thought. He saw Scooter's finger head for the screen. Suddenly the ship dropped almost straight down as Scooter's finger hit the screen. He and Douglas slid back across the deck. Douglas lost his hold on Scooter. He tried to grab Scooter's hand as he slid by, but he missed it. Scooter was heading for the railing.

 

"SCOOTER!!!!  NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" Scooter's small body went under the railing and over the side. Douglas was still sliding. His head hit on something and everything went black.

 

Next: Chapter 16 Lost