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When Douglas woke up he felt pain all through his left side. He looked for Scooter, but it hurt to even move his head. He moaned, rolled slowly on his left side and saw his lover. Douglas untied his feet and then crawled painfully to where he could reach Scooter’s hands and feet. Scooter was either unconscious or asleep. After untying Scooter, Douglas passed out.
When he woke up again, he saw that Scooter was awake.
“Good morning or whatever it is," Douglas said. “I’d kiss you but it hurts to move.”
"Good day," Scooter mumbled through his swollen lips. “It would hurt for me to kiss you.”
`Think it my love. Think it,' Douglas told Scooter. ‘That way it won’t hurt.’
Scooter’s thought came roaring into Douglas’s head. `I love you.'
`I love you, Scooter. You saved me.'
`You saved me! You kept him off of me. If he had done…that…rape…I…I…'
`Don't even think about it. He didn't do it to you—he never went that far. But my pain went away. I know you took it away.'
`Yes, I did'.
`Where did it go?’
Scooter's mind went quiet, but Douglas saw tears in his lover's bruised eyes. ‘You felt my pain yourself?'
‘Yes.’
‘Plus all of your own pain?’
Scooter nodded.
Douglas started to hug Scooter, then he moaned with pain. ‘Well, you didn't take it that time,’ he thought with a touch of humor.
Douglas smiled and Scooter started to, but he stopped because of the pain involved. The two boys simply faced each other and communicated their love. They didn't move—at the moment their entire universe was in that cave.
`Scooter?'
`Yes?'
`I wasn't going to try to save him. I wanted to let him fall to the bottom and die.'
`I know.'
“I hated him.'
`I know. I felt it. It was part of all your pain.'
`I'm sorry.'
`It's okay. I love you.'
They returned to their love trance. Douglas wished he could hug Scooter, but all he could do was touch him lightly, using his index finger to trace circles around Scooter's nipples.
`Scooter, did you...did you...you know...give like a mental command?'
`I don't understand.'
`Did you command me to save Robert Charles? I hated him. I wanted him to die, but I tried to save him instead.'
`No. I never did that. I don't even know if I can. Whatever you did came from your own heart.'
`Did you take away my hate when you took my pain?'
`Douglas, you're thinking too much. You know you could never let somebody just die, even somebody as evil as Robert Charles. If you did then you would be just like he was.'
Another long pause as Douglas rubbed his finger all along his lover's body.
`I love you, Scooter.’
`I love you, Douglas.'
`It's cold in here.'
`I know. There are blankets in one of the saddle bags. Let's go out and get them.'
They rose painfully from the hard ground. Douglas moaned—it hurt him to even sit up.
`Stay here, I'll go get them,' Scooter told him.
`Be careful—the ground is rough and rocky.'
Scooter took the flashlight and left. Douglas still had the light of the lantern, but with Scooter gone it suddenly seemed too quiet and too dark. He could hear his heart thumping in his chest. Then the quiet was broken by a noise coming at him. He hoped it was Scooter, but then who else could it be?
His heart thumped faster, but he could see the light coming at him. He knew it was his lover, yet he was still worried that it might not be. Scooter reentered the cavern carrying two blankets. Douglas shivered; the Hakaanen custom of wearing little or no clothing wasn't always a good one.
“The unicorns seem okay—I hung their feedbags so they could eat. Right now it is dark out. We can leave when it gets light.”
“Scooter, I don't know if I can leave.”
"What do you mean?"
“My side hurts. I mean it hurts bad. You might have taken away the pain for a while, but I think when I tried to pull RC up I injured myself worse. I don't know if I can get up on a unicorn. I don't know if I can ride it even if I can.”
“Then what should we do? I don't think anybody knows we're here except RC's two Shkah friends. We have to get back on our own.”
Douglas knew Scooter was right. He needed to test himself, so he could leave with Scooter when it got light out. He tried standing up. He felt a sharp pain in his side and he couldn't breathe. He sat back down. Scooter started to hug him and then stopped. He wanted to smile, but he knew his face would hurt even more, and he had to fight the smile. About all the two boys could do was to share a light kiss on the lips.
They decided that when it got light, Scooter would ride back to the valley and get help while Douglas stayed in the cave. Scooter was an experienced rider and should be able to reach the valley quickly. Even if Douglas had been healthy, Scooter would have been able to travel faster. There was food, water, and two blankets in the cavern.
`It should only take a few hours for help to come,’ Scooter assured Douglas.
`I'll miss you.'
They both tried sleeping, but the pain from their injuries made it difficult to do more than fitfully doze off.
Scooter eventually fell asleep. He awoke with a start—he wasn’t sure how, but he knew it was morning and time for him to leave.
`Douglas, wake up.'
Douglas's eyes flew open. `What? What's wrong?'
`It's time for me to go.'
`How do you know?'
`I just know. I love you.'
`I love you. Be careful.'
Scooter managed a painful giggle. “Yes, mother,” he mumbled aloud.
‘Somebody has to remind you.”
Scooter turned on the flashlight and then turned on the lantern. He gave Douglas a light kiss with his swollen lips.
‘I have the computer boards,’ he informed Douglas. ‘I’ll keep them in a saddle bag.’
Douglas nodded and Scooter headed up the passage to the entrance of the cave.
Douglas was now all alone. He almost hoped it was still dark out, so Scooter would come back. He quickly realized that wasn't going to happen. The other unicorn is still out there, he thought. I have a way out if I need it. If it became necessary to mount it he was certain he would find a way. He turned off the lantern to save the battery.
He wished he had a book. He wished the pain in his side would quit. He wished he was safe at home with his parents. He wished he could have left with Scooter. He felt one of his bruised ribs and the pain was so bad he stopped. He was certain it was broken. He tried fighting the pain but he couldn't, so he turned his mind to other things.
He thought of his old home on Earth. He thought of playing baseball at home. He remembered being seventh grade president, and getting elected school president the next year. In a way he wished he had never been elected. Then people would never have thought he was some kind of leader and he wouldn't be all alone and naked under a blanket in a dark and cold cave. He felt his mind drift off into sleep.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
After what seemed like hours he heard a noise and jerked awake. It sounded like rocks falling in the dark. He tried reaching for the lantern or the laser gun. He couldn't find them. The noise was coming from the drop off. There wasn’t a hint of light, but he could sense something moving. He heard more rocks fall, and heard them crash against the sides of the cliff and to the bottom of the crevasse, the sounds echoing through the cave.
Whatever was making the noise sounded like it was coming closer. He could hear breathing, and then he could smell foul, stinking air. Something touched him and he thought he shrieked. The lantern suddenly lit up, seemingly by itself. The light showed a face—the face of Robert Charles! Then he saw the teen’s entire body. He was naked and had a huge boner, bigger than he had ever remembered.
"Thank God for hidden ledges, Dougie—they are lifesavers,” Robert Charles rasped. “Now it's time for me to finish my business with you. It’s time for me to rape your tight faggot ass, then throw you over the side of that cliff so far that you won't hit anything but bottom."
Douglas was fixated at Robert Charles's huge erection—bigger than any fourteen-year-old should have. Douglas never noticed before that Robert Charles had shaved off his pubes—his pubic region was as smooth and bare as a two-year-old, making his gigantic erection look even larger.
"You let go of my wrists, Douglas. You wanted me to die. I felt your hands let go! Now you will pay for trying to kill me, you sissy faggot!"
He knelt down between Douglas's legs, his face lit by the lantern had a look of pure evil. He took his cock and rammed it into Douglas's ass as hard as he could, shoving it in all the way to his bare pubis.
Douglas let out a scream that filled the entire cave. The pain was bigger than anything he had ever felt in his life as Robert Charles's huge boner started ripping his guts apart.
"Douglas! Douglas! Hey, calm down. It's okay. It's okay, buddy."
He knew he should recognize the voice, but he couldn’t. The voice made Robert Charles change into somebody else. It wasn't Robert Charles at all, it was Mike.
"Mike?" Douglas choked out. "Where is Robert Charles? What happened to him?"
"No Robert Charles here. Just you. I think you were having a bad dream."
“It seemed very real."
"Speaking of Robert Charles. Where is he? Where is Scooter?"
"Didn't you see Scooter? Didn't he bring you here?"
"I did not see him. Douglas, what's going on—where did everybody go?"
Douglas told Mike about the kidnapping. He told them about the trip to the cave and about Robert Charles's attack on him and Scooter, about how Robert Charles tried to rape Scooter, about the fight, and about Robert Charles going over the side of the cliff. He didn't mention how Scooter took his pain for himself, or about his own hatred for Robert Charles.
"I tried to save him, Mike, but it hurt too much to hold on to him. I lost my hold on him and he fell."
"Well, he got more than he deserved then," came a voice in the dark. "I don't know if I would have even bothered. I would have let his ass go." It was Alex. "He was pure scum. He deserved to die."
"I feel the same way," Mike said. "I would never have tried."
"That's not true. You both would have tried something and you know it," Douglas protested. "He might have been evil, but if we don't try saving him then we're as bad as he is,” repeating what Scooter had told him. For a moment, Douglas actually believed it. Did he really let go because all of the pain came back to him, or did he let go because deep inside he wanted to see Robert Charles die?
Alex and Mike said nothing, but they knew Douglas was right. As evil as Robert Charles was, they wouldn't let him die without trying to save him first.
"How did you find me? I mean, I know it wasn't Scooter who brought you here."
"Well, the two Shkah kids Robert Charles knew suddenly got a conscience, I guess, especially after one of the guards he shot died.” Mike told him. “The big kid, Vordkan, or something, turned himself and the little kid in. He told where you were and said you were in danger. Looks like even Shkah kids can have a conscience."
"But how did you get here so fast?"
"The flier. Quan, the Chief Engineer, knows his stuff,” Mike said. “He took some spare parts from the other shuttle. He had what he needed to make some new computer boards, put Alex in the pilot's seat, and here we are."
"Alex flew the flier? Awesome."
"It was nothing compared to flying the space shuttle,” Alex said modestly. “The regular pilots were both an hour or so away, so we figured, what the hell, let's go now. We knew every second counted. We were worried big time. We were afraid of what Robert Charles would do to you."
"He was crazy,” Douglas said. “He lost touch with reality. We got lucky."
"It was more than luck," Mike said. "You guys did it together. Good and love defeated evil. Now, where is Scooter?"
Douglas didn't think it was that easy, but he let it go. He did know that without Scooter's mental help he never would have made it. They did indeed do it together. "He left to find help. We need to find him now."
"That should be no problem," Alex said. "We know where he is going. We'll find him fast from the flier."
Mike and Alex got on either side of Douglas and very carefully lifted him by his underarms to a standing position. It was very painful for Douglas for the first few minutes, but as he took a few tiny steps the pain became bearable. He let Mike and Alex help keep him steady on his feet as he took small steps to test his ability to make it out of the cavern.
They slowly and laboriously walked up the path and out of the cavern. Douglas stopped and looked back into the darkness. A chill went down his spine. Somehow it seemed extra cold back there in the darkness. But, he also felt relief that he was once again in the open, smelling fresh air, and that he no longer had anything to fear from Robert Charles.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
It didn't take them long to find Scooter. He was riding his unicorn at a quick gallop near the lake at the end of the narrow trail that wound down the cliff from the plateau. The lake was where the Earth boys had first made contact with the Hakaanen boys. He was very tired and his face was hurting.
Mike and Alex loaded Scooter into the flier, and Jeremy, who had come along for the ride and to help with muscle if they needed it, said he would ride the unicorn back. He and Warren had been doing a lot of unicorn riding where they were staying, and he said he was confident he would be able to ride the unicorn back to the valley. Mike and Alex had already radioed for someone to retrieve the unicorn that was left outside of the cave.
Alex flew the flier back to the airport. He and Mike told Scooter about Vordkan and Orzano turning themselves in and telling where Robert Charles had taken him and Douglas.
"So, in the end RC even lost his Shkah friends. He died without a single friend," Scooter said. "That is sad. That is very, very sad. He could have been a somebody, and he died being a nobody."
After the flier taxied to the terminal, and Scooter and Douglas were taken to the hospital, Bandar boarded the flier and was flown to the plateau to rescue the unicorn left behind at the cave.
Doctor Lokor and Doctor Kallama met them and quickly started to work fixing them up. Douglas had a cracked rib and Scooter had a couple of loose teeth and some bruises and cuts, but nothing serious. He was told his jaw would be very sore for a few days. It was milkshakes for him until it felt better. Kallama sent Scooter to a dentist to check out the teeth. One thing about the Hakaanen, even with all their problems, their doctors, medicine and hospitals were of superior quality.
But even in the medical field, things were wearing out. The Hakaanen knew that for them to survive on Inferno, the round-eared boys would have to make it to Hakaan, and hope the planet had recovered and was able to send machinery and supplies back to Inferno.
That was a big reason the boys were getting every kind of help possible from the Hakaanen. They hoped that if the round-ears made it to Hakaan it would be the start of a rescue mission of their remote planet.
Governor Andorn agreed the round-ears were the ones who would have to save them, but he hated to see them go. They had become very special to so many of the Hakaanen, including himself. Bandar was very fond of Douglas, Scooter, Mike, and Alex. Enghar and little Mattoo were Meshannas. He knew, however, that they all needed to leave together. They had parents, families, friends, and their own world, which he hoped they could return to. But, first, they needed to find out if the starship could even make it back.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Two weeks had passed since the tragedy in the cave. Douglas's ribs were sore, but healing nicely. The black and blue was almost all gone from Scooter's face, and all the swelling was gone. Matthew was walking normally and Travis's arm was in a soft cast. Everybody and everything was healing, including the shuttle. Petras had everything working perfectly.
All of the data downloaded from the "Paxton" showed the starship had the fuel and the air to make it to Hakaan. The navigation system was set for the return trip. All they had to do was load the starship with food and water, start the rockets and then the warp drive, and they would be heading for Hakaan.
They had been taking lessons on running the starship. Scooter still had to do a lot of translating, but it also helped that Orzano was available to translate, as well. It was decided that since he was a young boy and had helped to rescue Douglas and Scooter, if he helped the round-ears get to the ship and on their way to Hakaan, then they would drop all of the charges against him. Vordkan would have to serve some jail time, but the judge gave him a light sentence thanks to his cooperation.
A new adventure was about to begin for the boys of the “Starkeeper”. They would be returning to space. They would be flying a starship into the unknown. While they knew their destination would be the planet Hakaan, they had no idea what they would find there.
They were familiar and comfortable with what they had on Inferno, but nobody had a clue about what had become of the Hakaanen on their home planet. This would be their only chance to return home to their families.
Their trek through the desert and mountains had been to find safety. This time they were leaving safety for the unknown. The trip would either be their way home to Earth or it would be a dead end where they could be worse off than they had been when they stumbled into the Big Valley. Almost all of them were ready to take the risk.
Next: What is a Home?
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Douglas