Survivors

 

 

Robert Charles woke up with Vordkan draped all over him. He pushed the Shkah away from him. Sometimes Vordkan seemed like the kind of warrior the Shkah men were. And sometimes he seemed like a fag who was just like the fucking boys from the "Starkeeper". But Robert Charles thought having Vordkan as a friend was a way to power, so he would put up with anything from the older boy.  He wasn't sure how, but the Shkah were going to give him power, even if it was only over his fellow Earth boys.

 

Robert Charles rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. He thought about being a warrior, of riding a unicorn and swooping past Douglas and the Earth boys, whacking them with his sword. It would be much more adventurous than shooting them with a laser gun from far off. He wanted to look Douglas in the eye when he took care of his faggot ass and cut his head right off his body.

 

 

Douglas lay on the cot that had been put in the lounge. Travis, Ethan, Brandon, Stevie, and Jordan were all that were left of the boys he was supposed to be leading. Warren was in a hospital bed. Scooter was missing and probably kidnapped.  Two boys had been kidnapped for sure, and three others were away trying to find them.

 

Douglas looked up at the ceiling. He could hear one of the boys snoring. I really should turn off the lights, he thought. He thought about what he was like when he first boarded the "Starkeeper." He was angry and lonely. He had been taken from the school where he had been the student body president—where he was popular and was somebody.  He was on a spaceship going somewhere he didn’t want to go to and was bitter and sulky.

 

He found he liked being that way. But then he met Scooter, and Scooter reminded him of what he had inside of himself.  Scooter showed him love and touched his soul.

 

He also found the love of a group of boys who became the best friends he’d ever had. They were loyal friends who had picked him to lead them and keep them safe. His decisions were no longer about fund raisers and school dances. They were about life and death—about survival. He had led them across the desert on a strange planet and into a valley that seemed like a paradise, but was full of danger.

 

 He looked at the five boys in the room. He thought about the boys who weren’t there—about Alex, Mike, and Jeremy who were away on a mission; about Ryan and Logan who were kidnapped and lost; about Warren who was sick downstairs; and about Matthew who was dead and buried under the sand; and about his boyfriend and lover, who was hurt and missing. He loved each one of them--they were all survivors.

 

Douglas sighed and took a deep breath. He pulled back the covers and got up. He walked to the light switch and turned off the light. It was a little chilly in the room, which caused his naked body to shiver.  He leaned out of the open window and looked up at the night sky. He hoped to see stars or one of the moons, but he saw nothing but dark sky.  He felt a little breeze and a drop of rain on it.

 

“Scooter, where are you? I love you. Come to me. I am here for you.’

 

In the courtyard below Douglas, the cold was causing the energy to leave Scooter's body. A drop of rain fell on him, causing him to shiver. Hypothermia was setting in and his brain was starting to shut down. He thought he heard something inside of his head from an outside thought.

 

He lifted his head, his mind barely functioning. ‘Douglas?’

 

The incoming thought hit Douglas with a burst of energy. He had no doubt he had just received a thought from Scooter. But from where? He could be anywhere in the valley. Then he remembered what happened up on the plateau, how Scooter didn't get very far away before his thoughts started to fade. The one thought that hit him was very strong. That could only mean Scooter was close.

 

‘Scooter! Scooter! I heard you! Give me your thoughts.  Fill my mind; let me find you.’.

 

Scooter remembered hearing that Douglas was in danger. ‘Robert Charles, he's here. Danger. Robert Charles. I hurt and I can't think.’ Then Scooter's mind faded to black.

 

Oh my God, Douglas thought, Robert Charles has Scooter somewhere in the hospital. And now the bastard had Scooter in terrible danger. Douglas needed to find him—he woke up the sleeping boys.

 

"I think Scooter is close," Douglas said.

 

"How do you know?" Stevie asked.

 

"I felt his thought. It was a short burst, but it was very strong. I can only feel a thought like that when he is close. I need your help finding him."

 

"That's bullshit," a voice from one of the cots said.

 

Douglas looked over at Jordan. "What do you mean by that?" he asked.

 

"You can't read each other's minds. That's BS and we all know it. I'm not going to help."

 

"That's your choice, Jordan. I can't read his mind (Douglas knew he needed to lie some here, to protect the secret), but I can feel his presence. Are the rest of you going to help?"

 

"You bet we are," Stevie said. He glared at Jordan. "Jordan, I was actually getting to like you for a while, but now you're turning into a real asshole.  Come on guys, let's go."

 

"We need a plan first," Douglas said. "I think he's in the building. Let's check out this floor first, then work our way down to the bottom floor. Check each room and closet and door and hope we don't get caught snooping. I think Robert Charles or somebody has him prisoner, so if it looks dangerous don't go in. If you find him come back here and we'll meet. No matter what, everybody be back here in a half hour."

 

Douglas, Ethan, Brandon, and Stevie headed silently out of the lounge. Ethan stayed with Douglas.  He was so young Douglas didn't want him wandering off alone. They looked inside of rooms quietly, hoping not to disturb any sleeping patients. They had to watch out for the nurses and the attendants who worked at the hospital, since they would wonder what the Earth boys were doing sneaking around, and there would be no way to tell them.

 

After the room emptied, Jordan got up and went into the elevator and down to the bottom floor.  He had his backpack with him. He was going to start looking at ground level before everybody else got there. If Robert Charles was at the hospital like everybody said, then if he found Scooter he would find Robert Charles and Robert Charles would get him away from everybody. Douglas and his group never really liked him, not like Robert Charles did. He wasn't sure he believed all that stuff about mind reading, but he figured it wouldn't hurt to try looking for Scooter. Even if Robert Charles didn’t have him, there might be something in it for him.

 

Jordan was nervous about being in the hall alone. He pushed open the door to the courtyard and walked outside. He wasn't sure why he was looking outside, but there were a lot of hiding places, so who knew what he might find. It was cool and starting to rain, so he turned around to go back in. As he turned he caught a glimpse of something behind the bush on his right.

 

He stopped to look. The light from the hall windows was shining behind the bush and he saw what looked like legs and feet. He walked to the back of the bush and saw the feet and legs attached to a butt and the butt attached to the body of a boy. There was no mane and the hair was hard to make out, but it looked blonde. The boy was definitely human. 

 

He knew it was Scooter, and he looked close to dead.  He was blue and shaking and unconscious. The question in his mind now was, what was he going to do about this? He remembered how everybody was treating him, like he was nobody, especially Douglas.  And Scooter was Douglas's boyfriend—his fuck buddy.

 

Jordan got up off his knees, stood over Scooter and pissed over him, soaking him, just like everybody had done to Robert Charles. He then picked up his backpack, walked into the hall and to the elevator. He went up to the third floor, entered the lounge, and set his backpack down. He lay down on his cot, put the blanket over himself, and closed his eyes. Let them find Scooter for themselves, it wasn't his problem.

 

 

Matthew was lying in bed wondering what had happened to Scooter. Enghar was sleeping soundly. He heard it start to rain outside. He thought about how wonderful it was to be here in this green valley, alive, and loved by Enghar and his family. He snuggled up to Enghar and thought of their talk in the hospital courtyard that afternoon. It had been sunny and warm as Enghar helped him with his vocabulary. He was understanding more each day. And at eleven years old, without really knowing it, he understood love.  He loved Enghar more than anybody he had ever loved. Even more than his "brother" Mike, whom he missed terribly.

 

He thought about Enghar pushing his wheelchair into the courtyard and past the beautiful bush with the red flowers. The flowers smelled so sweet and fresh. He pushed up against Enghar tighter thinking about the scene, remembering the foot behind the bush.

 

He shook his head. Foot? He closed his eyes tightly. Did he really see a foot? He concentrated harder.  If he had seen a foot, then whose foot was it? And what was it doing behind the bush? It seemed small, the size of a boy's foot, and a boy was missing. Why hadn’t he reacted to seeing the foot at the time? Why did he forget he’d seen it? Maybe his brain still hadn’t recovered from the accident on the “Moonduster.”

 

He started shaking Enghar. "Enghar, Enghar, wake up, wake up!"

 

Enghar moaned sleepily.  "What?" he said in Hakaanen.

 

"Scooter. I know where he be," Matthew answered in broken Hakaanen.

 

"Sleep,” Enghar mumbled.

 

"No, get dad."

 

Enghar groaned, got out of bed, and padded out of the room and came back with his father. The doctor asked Matthew what was wrong, hoping the boy was capable of telling him.

 

"Scooter. Alive. Bush." It was all he could remember how to say.

 

Enghar’s father looked at him like he had lost his mind.

 

"Hospital," Matthew said getting frustrated. "Scooter. Hospital under bush."

 

The doctor wasn't totally sure what Matthew meant. "Mattoo, you want me to take you to the hospital?" he asked slowly.

 

Matthew nodded yes. "Scooter there."

 

"You know where Scootah is?"

 

Matthew nodded yes.

 

"How do you know?"

 

Matthew didn't know how to explain it. He just pointed to his eyes and then to his head.

 

"You just remembered seeing something?" the doctor asked.

 

Matthew understood the words remember and see, so he nodded yes.

 

The doctor helped Matthew out of the bed, got his crutches for him and gave him and Enghar each a jacket.

 

They got into Lokor’s car. Because he was a doctor he got one of the few electric cars that still worked. They headed quickly to the hospital. Matthew was sitting in the front seat wondering what Lokor and Enghar would think if this whole thing was just his imagination? And maybe it was, but he had to follow up on what had popped up in his mind. They would find out soon.

 

 

The boys had returned to the lounge. They had found nothing on their search. Douglas was angry with Jordan, who was lying asleep with his back to them. He wanted to wake him, shake him, scream at him, and punch his lights out. Scooter was in trouble and Jordan didn't care. He thought Jordan had been trying, but now he was the same old aloof and egotistical Jordan.

 

The boys agreed they had covered as much of the top floor as they could. Now they would try the second floor and hope for better results Douglas could hear the rain picking up outside. He was glad he didn't have to be out in it.

 

The boys left the lounge, leaving Jordan on his cot with a smirk on his face. They took the elevator to the second floor, splitting up again to look for Scooter.

 

Downstairs, Matthew, Enghar, and Enghar’s father entered the hospital through the doctor's entrance. Matthew was going as fast he could on his crutches—there was no time to get a wheelchair. He led them to the courtyard, wondering which bush was the right one. He closed his eyes and relived the moment and knew it was the first bush past the door.

 

He looked at the first bush in the dark, and then, just like Jordan, he saw the light shining on the leg and foot from the hall window. He hobbled behind the bush and saw Scooter, lying on his side, cold and wet from the rain. He called to Lokor.

 

Enghar's father replaced Matthew behind the bush and leaned over Scooter. The boy’s body was cold. The doctor checked his pulse and his breathing. His pulse was weak. The doctor knew Scooter had hypothermia, a rare occurrence in the Big Valley because the weather was controlled.  He knew that the boy had to be warmed right away. He quickly called for a gurney, carrying Scooter into the corridor while warming his with his hands. He had Enghar wrap himself around the Earth boy for warmth. An orderly brought warm blankets which were wrapped around Scooter. He then was loaded onto the gurney and wheeled to the emergency room.

 

Matthew and Enghar quickly dashed inside to escape the rain. Enghar led Matthew to the elevator and pushed the third floor button. They got off on the third floor and headed for the lounge. Enghar knew that the round-eared boys were there and decided it was time for him to bring Matthew to them.

 

He had been thinking about Matthew and his friends all the way to the hospital. He wished he could hide Matthew from them forever. There were two things about the meeting that scared him.  If they intentionally buried him, they might want to hurt him again. And if they somehow just lost him, Matthew would most likely want to get back with them. Maybe Matthew even had a boyfriend to return to. No matter what, Matthew would let him know.

 

If Matthew was going to go back to his boyfriend it probably was best he knew now before he got so close to Matthew he couldn't stand losing him. He really needed to know the situation before he decided to give his beautiful Mattoo his special love, to make him his Meshanna.

 

Matthew wondered where Enghar was taking him. The boys entered the darkened lounge. Enghar turned the lights on and found only one boy in the lounge.

 

"What the fuck...," Jordan mumbled. He turned to see a Hakaanen boy standing in the middle of the room. What was one of those ugly bastards doing waking me up? he thought. Then he looked at who was standing behind the Hakaan boy. He rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

 

"Matthew?"

 

Matthew said nothing. He took a step to hide behind Enghar, a move the Hakaanen boy quickly noticed.

 

Matthew didn't like Jordan. Jordan frightened him.  He remembered right away the things Jordan had done to him on the "Starkeeper". What he didn't remember was Jordan caring for him on the "Moonduster" when he was hurt and sick. Other than Robert Charles, Jordan was the last person he wanted to see, and now he was the only one here. Where was everybody else? he wondered.

 

As far as Enghar was concerned, Matthew stepping behind him told the story. The round-ears HAD left him behind to die. Right then he hated Jordan and all of the round-ears. He wished he had been able to leave Scooter to die in the rain like Matthew was left to die in the desert.  He wished he had never brought his Mattoo into this room.

 

Jordan got up and headed towards Matthew, but Enghar grabbed him hard and stopped him.

 

"Let go of me, you pointy eared fuck!" Jordan screamed. He yanked at Enghar's arm and pushed him into Matthew. The Hakaanen boy had never fought and Enghar was surprised at what just happened. There was no doubt that the round-ears, except for Mattoo, were evil beings.

 

Enghar didn't know what Jordan had said, but Matthew did. Both Enghar and Matthew had never fought, but Matthew was as angry as he had ever been in his whole life. Jordan had pushed the boy he loved and called him a nasty name. Matthew balanced himself and raised one of his crutches, ready to hit Jordan with it if he had to.

 

"What's wrong Matthew? It's me, Jordan. I love you. What have these bastards done to you?  Brainwashed you?"

 

"Stay away from me Jordan. Just stay away. And don't talk about my friend like that, or I'll beat you up."

 

"Ohhh, aren't you talking tough. They have brainwashed you."

 

Jordan took another step toward Matthew and Matthew raised his crutch again. He was ready to bash Jordan on the head. Then he heard something from behind him.

 

"Hey, what's going on!" Matthew turned around to see Douglas standing in the doorway. There were three other boys with him.

 

"Matthew?" he asked. Then he yelled, "MATTHEW!!!!!!!!" He came over and hugged Matthew so hard that he knocked his crutches down, but he held Matthew up with the power of his hug.  "Oh My God! You're alive!" Suddenly both boys were bawling. Stevie and Brandon looked on and started crying as well. They both wanted to get their hugs in. Ethan wasn't totally sure what was going on, but he had heard that Matthew had died in the desert, so he knew that something special was happening since Matthew obviously wasn’t dead.

 

Douglas guided Matthew over to a cot and sat him down. He saw the cast on his foot. Casts were foreign to the boys, because Earth medical machines could heal most bone breaks within a couple of days. Other than the cast and the crutch, Douglas could see that Matthew had a healthy glow. Then he noticed Enghar.

 

“Who is the Hakaanen boy?”

 

"That's Enghar. He's the doctor's son. I live with him. He's my lo...."

 

Douglas interrupted him. "How did you get out of the desert? We all thought you were dead. I thought that I had lost you."

 

The expression on Matthew's face changed. A look of anger came over it. "Why did you leave me there?"

 

 

The temperature was cold along the side of the hill. Some of the rain from the valley was falling there, but it was more of a drizzle than a rain. Ryan and Logan were getting wet. Ryan rolled over and covered Logan with his body trying to keep him dry.

 

"You okay, bro?" Ryan asked. Ryan wondered why the Hakaanen couldn’t have a warm rainfall since they controlled the weather. What he didn’t realize is that the weather wasn’t really cold, it just had that feeling because they had grown so used to the heat.

 

"Yeah. I'm cold,” Logan said through chattering teeth.

 

Ryan yelled at the sleeping Shkah who was supposed to be guarding them, trying to wake him up. He had fallen under a canopy that was set up on a small plateau on the side of the hill. The plateau was the reason they set up camp there. The Shkah were sheltered, while they kept the Earth boys tied up out in the open.

 

The Shkah were supposed to switch over every couple of hours. Even so, the guard had fallen asleep. Both boys had worked at the knots in the ropes, but they were tight and unyielding.  Right now they just wanted to keep warm and dry which was why Ryan yelled to awaken the guard.

 

The Shkah guard heard the yelling and woke up. He jumped up and glared at the two boys, seeing Ryan on top of Logan trying to keep him dry. While the Shkah saw the world differently from most of the Hakaanen, they were still alike in many ways.

 

The guard thought it was cruel to leave the boys exposed in the rain. He carried each boy singly to a dry spot under the canopy. He retrieved a blanket from his saddle bag and put it over them. He felt badly that they hadn’t given one to the round-ears, but the night had been very warm when they fell asleep and the cooling rains usually didn't come up to the hills. But tonight the winds had moved the rain into the hills. He woke up a new guard; it was now his proper sleeping time.

 

Ryan snuggled up to his little friend. They couldn't cuddle because their arms were tied, but they could touch front to front and keep each other warm. Logan enjoyed the feel of Ryan's body, but he could also feel Ryan's hard teen cock against him. He wasn't so sure he liked that.

 

What he didn’t know was that as much as Ryan liked the warm feel of Logan, he was confused because the boy he thought of as a little brother gave him a boner. What made it more confusing is that Ryan understood their lives were in danger.

 

With those thoughts in their heads the two boys finally fell asleep.

 

 

"We gotta talk more soon," Douglas told Matthew, "but I have to find Scooter. He's missing, but he’s near, I feel it."

 

"We found Scooter," Matthew said.

 

Douglas stared at him. "You did? When? Where? Why didn't I know?"

 

"Just a few minutes ago—in the courtyard behind the first bush."

 

Douglas sat down on a chair. "You mean he was there all day?"

 

"Yeah."

 

Douglas looked down at the floor. "But…but…I was around the courtyard all day. I should have known. I should have found him."  He looked up at Matthew with a look of concern. "How is he?"

 

"I don't know, but he looked bad. He's in the emergency room getting help from the doctors.”  Matthew told him what he had seen in the courtyard.

 

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go down there." Douglas got up and headed for the door.

 

"Douglas, wait." Douglas stopped. He had never heard Matthew be assertive before.

 

"What?"

 

"Enghar's father is Scooter's doctor. He knows where we are. He'll tell us what’s going on. Let's wait here and be out of the way."

 

"No. I can't do that. Scooter saved my life and I failed him today. I was right next to him and couldn’t find him.” He took a deep breath and went on. “I have to be with him. You guys stay here, I’m going to be with him." He walked out of the room to the elevator. He went down to the first floor and searched for the emergency room.

 

He wished he’d asked if Matthew knew where it was. He decided it had to be on the first floor, because that’s where they were in Earth hospitals. Plus the hospital wasn’t a large one by Earth standards.

 

It didn't take him long to find the ER. A couple of nurses saw him enter and tried to stop him. He asked for Scooter, but the nurses didn't understand him and told him to leave, which he didn’t understand. One of the nurses left to find somebody to help her get rid of him when Enghar came in through the door. He said something to the nurse who backed away.

 

Enghar took Douglas's hand and tugged on it.  Douglas resisted at first, but saw that it was Enghar, who had been with Matthew. It was  obvious that Matthew liked the Hakaanen boy. Douglas decided to follow him, hoping he’d meet his father, the doctor.

 

 

Enghar’s father had Scooter on the bed under electric blankets working to get him warm.  Scooter was weak and shivering. The doctor had only seen two of the alien boys, but they were mammals and humanoids and their anatomy was close to the Hakaanen.  He knew that the boy on the bed had been under a lot of physical stress. The doctor knew the boy was close to dead and there was little he could do to save him. He wondered how the boy ended up in the courtyard; he certainly didn’t seem strong enough to walk that far. He felt for the little one, dying like this away from his home, his family and his friends.

 

He had sent Enghar up to be with Mattoo and the boy’s round-eared friends. Maybe it was time to have them come and pay a last visit, if the round ears did that with the dying. He still wasn't totally sure about them and their treatment of Mattoo.

 

Even after getting Scooter warmed up, Lokor knew there was nothing he could do to save the round eared-boy this time. He had lost too much blood, had had too little food and water, and had been outside too long. It also looked like his wound was getting infected. He didn't know what drugs would help him, or if any drugs would.

 

He heard someone behind him.  It was Enghar and a round-eared boy coming into the room.  The boy stopped and stared at the bed, then ran to it. He looked at the pale boy on the bed, with an IV stuck in him and an oxygen tube in his nose. He had no color at all, looking like he might already be dead.

 

Enghar and the doctor stood at the end of the bed as Douglas found a seat and sat next to Scooter. 'Oh God, Scooter, what have I done?' he thought. `You stepped in front of me and saved me and I couldn't even find you when you were just a few feet away from me.  I've done nothing for you. Please forgive me Scooter, and please don't die on me.'

 

Matthew came hobbling in on his crutches; Brandon, Ethan, and Stevie were behind him. Enghar's father looked at the sad expressions on the boys' faces. He said something to Enghar, who  repeated it slower to Matthew.  Matthew could feel the tears dripping down his face.

 

He hobbled over to Douglas and put his arms around him from behind. Douglas felt a couple of tears drop on him.

 

"What's wrong. Matthew? What did he say?"

 

"He said Scooter would probably not live through the night and that there was no way he could help."

 

 

Ryan woke up suddenly. It was still dark out and the rain had stopped. He felt Logan pressing against him.  Somehow Logan had turned around so that he had his back to Ryan. Ryan felt Logan's arms tied behind him. Logan's butt was pushing up against him and he liked the feeling, but he scooted back and relieved the pressure between them.  If Logan was going to be his little brother, then he had to ignore those feelings. Besides he was too tired and too scared to try anything and he cursed his body for getting excited in a place and time where it had no business doing so.

 

Suddenly he had an idea. What if he used his teeth on Logan's knots? Could he untie them that way? He knew his teeth could do a lot. He remembered one time on the "Starkeeper" when he took Travis's pants and undies off using just his teeth. He got very tired doing it, but he managed to get them off. And while the reward was a good one, the reward here would be much better. The reward would be freedom.

 

He wiggled down under the blanket and found Logan's tied hands. He got his teeth around the knot and started working at it, trying to pull a piece of the rope through the knot. It took him a long time to make any kind of progress. For one thing his mouth was getting the knot wet, which made the rope swell up a little and become even tighter.

 

He persisted with his task, but his jaw was getting sore. A couple of times Logan moaned a little in his sleep and moved, one time bumping Ryan’s nose with his back. Ryan decided he was going to have to wake Logan up.  When he tried to give a really hard pull on the knot, all that happened was that he jerked Logan's hands up. He needed Logan to keep his hands steady so that the rope would move instead.

 

He started bumping Logan and whispering in his ear to wake him. After what seemed like hours, Logan finally woke up. He blinked and saw that it was still dark.

 

"What's wrong?" he moaned. "It's still night."

 

"Shh. Hold your hands tight. I'm trying something," Ryan whispered back. He hoped that the guard had fallen asleep again and hadn't heard them. He went back to yanking on the rope with his teeth. Something would have to happen soon because his jaw was getting very tired.  Just when he thought he couldn't tug at the rope one more time, it moved. He tugged again and felt the rope slipping and moving. Suddenly it started to move more easily.

 

"Are you getting it?" Logan whispered.

 

"Shh...yeah," Ryan whispered back. A couple more tugs and the knot was loose enough that Logan could wiggle his hands free. From there is it was just a matter of Logan untying Ryan and then both of them untying their ankles.

 

Ryan checked to see if the guard was awake. There was a new guard there, but he looked to be asleep.  Ryan decided they should leave now while it was still dark. He didn't know what time it was or how long it would be before sunrise. The boys slipped out from under their blanket and into the cool night.

 

Ryan led Logan uphill. While the valley was downhill, he deduced that was the direction their captors would think they would take for their escape. So they would go uphill until they could find another path or road to get down to the valley. Ryan was certain that their kidnappers would never think of looking for them uphill. They could find a hiding place, and if the kidnappers did go searching uphill, they could sneak down as soon as the men went by. Ryan took Logan's hand and led him quietly up the hill.

 

 

Douglas sat next to Scooter’s bed.  His face was pale and thin and Douglas could barely see him breathing. He was determined that Scooter would live to see the morning and a lot of mornings after that. In his mind, Douglas saw Scooter pushing him away and taking the arrow that was meant for him. He felt he had failed Scooter by not finding him in the courtyard. However, tonight, right now, he would not fail the boy he loved so much. He held Scooter's hand and squeezed.

 

`Scooter, my soulmate. I'm here. I'm sending you all of my love and strength. I am here for you. My heart and your heart are one. My soul and your soul are one. I am giving you life and strength. I would give my life for you, my love, just like you were ready to give your life for me. Only you won't be giving your life because I won't allow you to die. I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you. I will be with you forever and ever until the end of time and beyond. And you will be with me. I am sending you my song of love.' The thirteen-year-old boy gave Scooter every bit of his love, sending out thoughts he didn’t know he had.

 

Douglas maintained his hold of Scooter’s hand. Two hours went by and Douglas didn't budge. Douglas waited for Scooter to return a thought to him, but all he received was static and all he saw was Scooter's white face and tubes and needles attached to his body. Yet even looking as horrible as it did, Scooter's face was the most beautiful thing in the galaxy as far as Douglas was concerned.

 

Lokor entered the room. Stevie, Ethan, Brandon, Matthew, and Enghar were sleeping on the floor.  Douglas still sat by the injured boy's bed silently holding his hand. The doctor looked at the pale and skinny little boy who was fighting a brave battle for life. He looked at the boy holding his hand and at his friends sleeping on the hard floor, when they could have left for the upstairs lounge to sleep on a more comfortable cot.

 

He had thought that these boys were worse than the Shkah—that they had left sweet little Mattoo buried in the desert sand to die simply because he was hurt and sick. He had seen them as worse than evil. Now, after seeing how they acted around the Scootah boy and around Mattoo, he knew that wasn't true. And he remembered what the Mayor’s son, Bandar, had told him. He had related how Douglas had cried when he talked about leaving Mattoo behind, and how they had tried so hard to find him under the sand.  Whatever the reason why Mattoo was left behind, it wasn't because they had buried him intentionally. He looked at Mattoo curled up against his son, Enghar. He looked at the two boys holding hands on the bed. What he saw in the room was love as good as Hakaanen love and boys who were as good as any Hakaanen boys.

 

That made him think about himself. He had given up on the boy on the bed. He said he couldn't help the sick boy on the second floor. Did he do that because he was one of the round-eared boys whom he didn't respect? He didn't like the answer that popped into his head. He buzzed for a nurse. It was time for him to do his job and to save Mattoo's friend.

 

Douglas held Scooter's hand sending his thoughts of love like he had been doing all night. His head was hurting badly. It felt like it was about to burst, but he kept on sending.  He was determined to keep sending his thoughts, no matter how he felt, no matter how long it took. The nurse came up and showed him a needle and a test tube.  Douglas wondered what was going on, but he soon got the idea through his tired, aching brain.

 

The nurse swabbed his arm and took a tube of blood from him. She marked the tube insert and used a marker to place a symbol on his arm. She went through the same procedure with Ethan, Brandon, and Stevie. She didn't take any blood from Mattoo, because he had given blood the day before. She handed the tubes to an assistant to take to the lab. Then she went upstairs to take blood from Jordan. Stevie followed her, thinking that might be where she was going with the equipment. He didn't trust Jordan and wanted to be there to discourage him from making trouble.

 

Douglas went back to holding Scooter’s hand. He sent his thought into him. He doubted he could send another thought—he was losing the battle to keep awake. He waited for even the smallest spark from the pale, still boy in front of him. Douglas squeezed his cold hand and dozed off.

 

Somewhere, deep inside of Scooter's brain, a little light was flickering. The light didn't mean a thing to him, but it kept his mind warm.  His mind sensed love, along with the beating of his heart. His mind and soul knew nothing, except that Douglas was nearby and was touching his body and mind.

 

 

The nurse went into the lounge where Jordan was asleep on a cot. Stevie came in behind her and looked at the nurse and then at Jordan. She nodded. He woke Jordan up.

 

"What's going on?" he mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

 

"The nurse wants to take some blood," Stevie said.

 

"She ain't getting any of my blood," Jordon whined. "Why does she want it?"

 

"Scooter might be able to use it."

 

"Fuck Scooter!" Jordan shouted vehemently.

 

Stevie walked up to Jordan and slapped his face hard. The nurse almost dropped everything. This wasn't something Hakaanen children did, unless they were Shkah. She stared at Stevie with her mouth open.

 

Stevie grabbed Jordan.  "Listen to me. I don't know what's eating you, but you WILL give blood and you WILL NOT say anything else against Scooter or I'll cut you open and take the blood out myself!"

 

Stevie sat on Jordan’s chest, his legs straddling him, and faced him. He reached back and put one hand around Jordan's balls.

 

"Now, you're going to give the nurse a tube of blood. You're going to make a fist so she can get it. If you don't, then these are going to be squeezed." He squeezed Jordan's balls hard enough to make him squeal. "And if she ends up needing more of your precious blood you're going to give that too, and I hope it will be without me sitting on top of you! Do you understand?!"

 

Jordan nodded yes and started tearing up. He wanted back on the "Starkeeper" so badly. He was somebody important there. He was a nobody here on this awful planet. Everybody hated him and he couldn't figure out why.  Douglas, their so-called leader, totally ignored him and acted like he didn't even exist.

 

Jordan was angry and scared at the same time. He was mad at Stevie for treating him like some kind of criminal, mad at Douglas for ignoring him, mad at Scooter for getting more attention than he was, mad at Matthew for hating him, and afraid of Stevie who looked like he was ready to do just about anything to him if he didn’t do what Stevie wanted.

 

Stevie stayed on top of Jordan and was just as angry. Stevie didn't lose his temper much. He had usually kept an even keel through every bit of trouble, even after Robert Charles had forced him to have sex with him. He always had a quiet smile and a nice word for everybody. He left the getting angry business to his brother, Alex. He knew Alex would be ready to kill Jordan right now. But Jordan had made him angrier than anybody in his whole life. Even Robert Charles making him have sex wasn't as bad as what Jordan was doing. Sex wasn't life and death, but this was. Jordan was going to give his blood, like it or not.

 

The nurse stuck the needle in Jordan's arm and the tube started filling up with dark red blood. When she finished, Stevie got off of him.

 

"You better come downstairs with me," Stevie told Jordan. Stevie didn't trust Jordan and wouldn't put it past him to run away rather than give more blood if it was needed. The boys headed down the stairs and back to Scooter's room.

 

A half hour later the doctor was looking at the tests. His lab technician was great and he checked the bloods and discovered that like the Hakaanen the round ears had different blood types. But the tests showed what types would work together if the round-eared blood worked like Hakaanen blood did. From what he could tell, three of the boys could give blood; numbers one, two, and five. That wasn't bad. He sent his findings to the doctor. The doctor looked at them and decided that blood from two boys would be the best. The third boy’s blood would be used only if he absolutely needed it.

 

Boy number one was Douglas, number two was Ethan, and number five was Jordan. He decided that Ethan was too young, so he picked Douglas and Jordan. If the tests were correct, Scooter would get his much needed blood. Then, all he had to worry about was the infection.

 

Douglas gave his blood, and then it was Jordan's turn. Stevie glared at him, so Jordan made a fist and gave more blood. While Scooter was getting his transfusion, the doctor gave him medicine for his infection. Everything else I've tried has worked, so this should too, he thought.

 

Douglas kept sending his thoughts into Scooter's head. He thought he was hitting nothing with his mind because he was feeling nothing coming back. But he kept sending to the deathly still pale boy on the bed. He didn't know that his thoughts were touching the little spot of light deep in Scooter's brain.

 

`I love you....I love you...I love you...I'm here for you. We're all working to make you better. You are my soulmate and my love and my best friend. I love you, Scooter.'

 

His head hurt so badly he thought it would split in half. He waited patiently for an answer to his thoughts as he held Scooter's hand and kept sending his love. He was not going to give up.

 

 

The guard woke up as the sun started rising. He got up to check on the round-eared boys. What he came across shocked him. What he saw were the ropes that had bound them on top of the blankets, but no boys. How could they get away? he thought. They had been tied tight. He shook some knowing that the three other men would be angry when they          found out he had fallen asleep and had let the boys escape.

 

He woke up the other three men, and they indeed were very angry.  Two of them screamed at him, but the third had fallen asleep as well and he knew it could easily have been him who let the boys escape instead of the other guard. When everybody calmed down, it was decided that they would split up to find the boys. The boys could only have gone up or down the hill trail. They couldn't have more than an hour's head start. The two boys were on foot with no shoes, since they had taken their sandals away from them. They couldn't have gotten very far from the encampment.

 

The men mounted their unicorns with two of them going down the trail, while the other two started up.  The Shkah had no doubt that they would find the boys within an hour. How far could two naked boys wearing no shoes get?

 

Those two naked boys were climbing up the trail.  Their feet hurt and the sun was getting hot, as were the rocks they were walking on. They were hungry and thirsty. And they were going to have to figure out how to get back down before long, because they needed to get back to the valley.

 

"Listen," Logan rasped "I hear something."

 

They could hear the sound of hooves coming up the trail. They looked for a place to hide. The cliff went straight up the left side of the trail and straight down the right side. The hooves was getting louder. Ryan looked around desperately for a place to hide Logan. He was willing to give himself up to save his little bro. The clattering became louder. They were trapped with no place to hide.

 

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

 

Alex was cuddled up next to Bandar. He started stroking Bandar's mane, which felt almost like silk. He had found out last night that the Hakaanen loved having their manes stroked—they found it very erotic. Alex found stroking the mane to be erotic as well.

 

He shook Bandar gently, waking him up. Bandar opened his eyes and yawned and stretched. The two boys got out of their sleeping bags and woke up Mike and Jeremy. The boys rolled up their bags and lit their camp stove. Mike opened up some food packs and heated the water, putting the packs into the pot when the water started to boil. There were streams and lakes for water nearby.

 

After they finished eating and cleaning up their camp area, they started hiking toward the hills.  They were certain that they would find the boys either in those hills, or in the Shkah valley.

 

 

Ryan suddenly saw an opening behind a large rock just above the trail. He pushed Logan into it and saw there was room enough for him to squeeze in as well. The two boys pressed together tightly and listened to the unicorns clomping past them.  After the noise died down and the dust had settled, they crawled back out. Ryan looked up the side of the hill. It looked possible to climb up to the top at that point. It wasn't as steep as the rest of the cliff and there were more boulders to hide behind. They had to get away from the trail and find another way down into the valley. Ryan pointed up and Logan nodded.  The two boys started their climb in the blistering sun.

 

 

Douglas felt himself nodding off.  He was tired and hungry and his head hurt. He hadn't slept in almost two days. As much as he could he continued to send his thoughts to Scooter, trying to find some spark in his sleeping mind.

 

`I know you're there, Scooter. I know you're going to live now. The doctor says you’re getting better with the blood transfusion. I love you so much. I'm here for you, I will always be here for you. I love you.'

 

He squeezed Scooter's hand. Deep inside Scooter's mind the little glimmer that had been there started to grow.  The little spot full of Douglas's thoughts got bigger. It was like the sun was starting to shine in Scooter's dark mind.

 

'Douglas? Douglas...I'm so hungry.'

 

Douglas jerked totally awake. "Scooter! Are you there?" he said out loud.

 

Matthew, Enghar, and Stevie looked at Douglas and at Scooter.

 

'Douglas, I love you. You're here. I love you soooooooo much. I knew you would be here.  God, I love you.'

 

“I love you Scooter. I can’t believe you’re back!”

 

Scooter's eyes fluttered open. He moaned a little. He still hurt some and was full of tubes.  Enghar got a nurse who came in and then called for the doctor.

 

Enghar's father came in and started checking Scooter over. He had a smile on his face—the worst was over. He looked at Douglas and Scooter, giving them a nod. Douglas leaned over and kissed his boyfriend, forgetting about the oxygen tubes, which fell from his nose. The doctor laughed and reinserted them.

 

"I love you, Douglas," Scooter whispered.

 

"I love you, Scooter" Douglas replied. He crawled up on the bed and snuggled next to Scooter. They were soon cuddled up on the bed and sound asleep. Whatever needed to be said and done would wait until the next day. Right now sleeping in each other's arms was enough.

 

 

Robert Charles had spent the night learning how much a Shkah boy knew about sucking cock. It turns out he knew a lot. He and Vordkan sucked each other like they were a pair of faggots. Yet, for Vordkan blow jobs with the big powerful alien boy didn't seem like a fag thing at all.  It was the hottest sex he had ever had in his life, and that included all of the girls he’d fucked. He wondered what it would be like to go all the way with the round-eared boy.

 

Vordkan knew that if a Shkah man saw him doing the despicable acts that were accepted by the Hakaanen culture, he would be exiled to the Hakaanen valley. But he didn't care. He was suddenly totally in love with the round- eared creature with whom he shared his sleeping bag.

 

The two teens awoke together. Vordkan pulled two tubes out of his pack, one green and one blue. He gestured for Robert Charles to sit on the folding chair next to the cots. Robert Charles had a good idea of what was Vordkan planned to do and grinned with pride.

 

Vordkan rubbed blue and green dyes into the Earth teen’s hair. When he finished he led RC to a mirror. Robert Charles looked at himself and at his blue green hair. He looked just like a Shkah, except for his round ears and lack of a mane. Doing this queer stuff with Vordkan was paying off, he thought. He was now becoming one of them. What he didn't know was that his biggest test to be admitted as a true Shkah was yet to come.

 

When darkness set in, Ryan and Logan stopped. They were lost and hungry and thirsty. Ryan's idea of how to get down to the valley hadn't worked—there were no trails down from the mesa they’d climbed to. Even worse, he couldn't find the cliff they had climbed. Ryan cursed himself for not leaving rocks as markers in case they had to retrace their steps.

 

They found a flat spot behind a rock on the plateau. Ryan hugged Logan tightly. Logan buried his head in Ryan's chest and sobbed himself to sleep. Ryan kissed the little boy's forehead and kept him close even though the night was warm.

 

It looked like they had made a mistake in escaping. Their feet were cut and bleeding. They were hungry, thirsty, and lost. Ryan knew they couldn't hold out much longer. Poor Logan was completely out of gas and he was close.  Something would have to happen tomorrow, even if it was finding their kidnappers, because right now he could see that they wouldn't be able to make it on their own for more than another day. The mesa was above the controlled weather of the Big Valley and the next day would be blistering hot.

 

 

The sun rose over the mountains, blazing through the cloudless sky. Douglas woke up with Scooter in his arms. He kissed him lightly on the lips. Today was going to be a day devoted to getting organized. It would be a time to talk to Matthew and find out his story. And it was time for him to talk to Jordan and get things straight with him. He had been so worried about other things he knew he had been ignoring Jordan, not realizing how much Jordan had craved his attention.

 

Scooter opened his eyes. "Good morning," he barely croaked out.

 

"Good morning." Douglas gave Scooter his best smile. He could hardly wait for Scooter to become strong enough for some action in bed.

 

 

Matthew woke up next to Enghar. They had put their cots together and slept snuggled together. Matthew was happy he had found his friends, but he needed to find out more about why he got left behind. One thing he was certain about was that they had not planned to leave him buried inside the tent. He also knew, even after reuniting with his friends from the “Starkeeper”, was that his real love was snuggled up next to him. He hugged Enghar tightly to his small body. He had to let Enghar know that even though he was with his friends, his love for him hadn’t dimmed.

 

 

Robert Charles, Vordkan, and four Shkah men headed up into the hills just before dawn. Robert Charles knew they weren’t heading back to the village, but he didn’t know where they actually were going. He thought about his night with Vordkan and how he and Vordkan had traded blow jobs. He had liked doing it, but despised himself for doing it with an alien puke like Vordkan. The fact that he liked Vordkan didn’t change the fact the Shkah was an inferior being.  But if that was the road to Douglas, he would do whatever Vordkan wanted. He didn't even realize that in a way he was doing for Vordkan what Stevie had done for him, and he ignored the fact that deep down he might be falling in love with him.

 

The Shkah men and Vordkan knew they were heading for the cave up in the hills to the south, and that there they would meet the two boys who would be Robert Charles's test of loyalty. They would see if Robert Charles really deserved to wear green and blue in his hair.

 

 

The four boys on the tracking team got up early. They were close to the hills where it would be harder to track their prey because there were would be no broken bushes and branches to follow. They packed up and followed the trail left behind by the men on their unicorns. The trail left the woods and emptied into a meadow just before the hills. They emerged into morning sunshine. They were surprised when they saw two Shkah men mounting their unicorns on the other side of the meadow. The Shkah stopped and stared at the three naked round-eared boys and one naked Hakaanen boy who had suddenly walked into the tall grass of the meadow.

 

 

Ryan tried to get Logan moving.  But Logan's feet were too cut and sore to stand on, which was also true of Ryan, even if he wasn’t ready to admit it.

 

"I'm not going any farther." Logan sat down on a rock. He was too dry to even cry. "I'm staying right here."

 

"Don't give up Logan. I'll carry you." Ryan knew he couldn't do it for more than a few yards, if at all, but he had to say something.

 

"No, you go without me. I don't want to go any more."  Logan was shaking with dry sobs.

 

Ryan remembered Matthew and how they lost him in the desert. Well, Logan wasn't lost in any sandstorm—he was sitting right in front of him. Ryan would sit right here with him—he was sticking with his little bro no matter what.

 

Off to the north Ryan saw some dust rising. Soon he saw unicorns with riders. As they came closer he was able to count six mounted unicorns. At first he thought about hiding or running, but there was no place to hide and they were too tired and hungry to move.  Plus their feet wouldn't take them anywhere.

 

The unicorns stopped next to the boys. The riders all had the same kind of blue green hair as their kidnappers, which was visible even though the riders were wearing hats. One of the riders looked vaguely familiar, but Ryan was looking into the sun and couldn't be sure.

 

"Well, Ryan," the rider said in perfect English, "how interesting to meet you here in the middle of nowhere."

 

Next: Just Out for a Walk

 

Comments are welcomed.  E-mail me, Douglas DD at TheHakaanen@Hotmail.com