Date: Thu, 27 May 2004 17:26:49 +0000
From: Douglas DD DD <thehakaanen@hotmail.com>
Subject: The Boys of Lady Lex Chapter 6

Greetings Loyal Readers,

If it's even, Douglas must have written it. That's the pattern we've kept up
to hear, and up to the chapter we're currently working on, which is Chapter
18. In this chapter, Nipper get's himself into a bit of trouble, but he
finds out that maybe it's worth it. For those of you wondering what happened
to Matt, the answer appears. And, for better or for worse, the characters
get to know more about each other.

Thanks for reading and enjoy.

Douglas and Ben

The Boys of the Lady Lex
Chapter 6
"Roommates"
Written By Douglas DD and Benjamin TC

Dr. Daniels walked into his son's quarters. Douglas was busily unpacking his
bags.

"Hello, son. Where's Nipper?" he asked.

"I thought he was with you?" Douglas said.

"What do you mean, with me?"

"You left a note saying there was an extra seat on the transport and he was
going with you."

"I never left a note, and I never took Nipper with me anywhere. I haven't
seen him since I last saw the two of you together."

A sinking feeling ran through Douglas's body. "Shit. Then were is he?"

"I don't know, but we had better find out fast."

Dr. Daniels turned and left the room, with Douglas trailing helplessly
behind him.

*****

"How could you not know you had a freighter with a working gravity generator
in your yard?" Captain Hatcher asked Mr. Chang incredulously.

"It happens. Lot's of ships. I rechecked the manifests. I said it was
working.  I didn't say it was reliable. I wouldn't go into deep space with
it. Plus, it doesn't have the capacity to give gravity to your entire ship.
But you can get your other work done, and I don't have to put up with
riffraff on my space station."

"Whatever you have, we will take," Ely said. "It will triple our work pace
if we have gravity. We might even have a chance. Now we just need a big,
powerful, reliable one, like the one on the `Excalibur".

Mr. Chang snorted and got up to leave the office. "It will be delivered to
you by the end of the day."

"Thank you, Mr. Chang," Captain Hatcher said. "Your efforts are
appreciated."

Mr. Chang snorted again, and left the office.

"Arrogant little bastard, isn't he?" Ely said.

"Yes he is. That's why  this thankless job out in the middle of nowhere is
perfect for him. The man and the job were made for each other."

"Well, by dinner I'll have gravity in the living quarters. I'll spread it
out from there until I've stretched the capacity of the generator. I think
the boys will be sleeping aboard the Lady Lex tonight."

*****


The boys of the Lady Lex stood at attention awaiting Captain Hatcher's
welcoming speech. Sergeant Flint had warned them of what their fate would be
if anybody interrupted the Captain while he spoke, impressing even Johnny
Cooper.

The Captain spoke to them about why they were on the Lady Lex. He spoke
briefly of his own experience at St. Joes. He told them of what was riding
on the success of the Lady Lex, not only academically, but as far as their
success in the Academy Olympics went. He knew some individual boys had
personal reasons for wanting the Lady Lex to succeed, but he wanted to point
out to them why the success of the ship was important to all of them. If the
Lady Lex didn't succeed, all of them would be returned to Earth, and it
wouldn't be to a school for boys of above average intelligence. It would be
to jails and work farms. While not making any promises, he pointed out that
if the Lady Lex succeeded, not only would they have defeated the cream of
the crop of Earth's youth, but they might even make a point that they
deserved a better fate then jail; any kind of jail. He encouraged the boys
to develop a spirit of cooperation to insure the success of the venture.

When his speech was complete he asked if there were any questions.
Immediately a roar came from the floor as seemingly every boy had three
questions to ask at once. Captain Hatcher raised his hand and glared at the
group. "One boy at a time. Raise your hands," he said authoritatively. The
room quickly quieted down.

He decided to call on an older boy first, and picked Johnny Cooper, not
knowing who it was he was dealing with.

Johnny knew he now had center stage, and was ready for it. "First, I want to
say that this whole thing sucks. There really is nothing in it for anybody.
Everything you said was just words and bullshit. I'm 17. When this joke of a
trip is over, I'll be 18 and adult and nobody is going to do shit for me. So
tell me, why the fuck should I bother cooperating with any of these weenies
here? I mean, I'm here to do my time, and then it's bye bye assholes."

His speech brought a lot of nervous titters from the assembled boys. Captain
Hatcher smiled at him and said with a quiet forcefulness. "Because the price
for not cooperating will be much higher than anything you ever dreamed of.
All of you are in this together, and the faster you figure that out, the
better it will be for all of you."

After answering a some other questions, such as when meals would be (three
times a day), would they have warm water for showers (soon), could they grow
their hair back (yes, it was cut to start everybody off on the same
footing), and when was snack time (depends on whether you earn it).

He was about to answer a question from a small boy in the back, who had
looked familiar earlier, though it was hard to tell with every boy's head
identically shaved, when he was interrupted by Colonel Stone, who whispered
something in his ear.

Captain Hatcher turned to the boys and said, "Something has come up.
Sergeant Flint will give you your instructions." Captain Hatcher abruptly
left the room, leaving Nipper with his hand up.

"Captain Hatcher!" he yelled, but he was too late. The room broke into a
cacophony of boy's voices, and Sergeant Flint and Colonel Stone quickly
worked to restore order.

*****

"Nipper is missing?" Captain Hatcher asked incredulously.

"Yes. He left a fake note for Douglas and disappeared. I need to find him. I
won't leave without him."

"Well, leaving isn't an issue at the moment, as you well know. We sure could
have used the parts AstroStarr was shipping to us. Ely has a lot of work to
do yet to make us spaceworthy. Larry, I will give you all the help I can to
find him, but he could be anywhere."

"I know. I'm going to try my wife's parents first on the radio. I think
that's where he would go first."

"Good luck. I have a feeling we'll find him soon. He's only 11. He's going
to turn up somewhere."

"I think you're right, IF nothing has happened to him."

Dr. Daniels walked away, worried about where his son was, and wondering how
he was going to find him.

Captain Hatcher stared at his desk. First the donated parts had been stolen.
They needed them desperately, especially the gravity generator. He didn't
believe for a minute that a Geldon raider just appeared out of nowhere deep
in SFA territory. There was more to that then what appeared on the surface.
Now the son of one of his best friends was missing, and he was the one who
had talked Larry Daniels into joining this mission and bringing his two
sons. A lot of little things were going wrong, and he didn't think it was
all coincidence. Somebody did not want them to succeed.

*****

Nipper couldn't believe it. How could Captain Hatcher not recognize him? It
never occurred to him how much having his head shaved had changed his looks,
and how it made him look so much like everybody else.

Andrew could sense what Nipper was thinking, and gave him a hard hug as the
boys waited for their instructions.

Johnny saw them and leaned over so they could hear him. "I love to kick the
shit out of faggots. Especially little faggots like you who think they're so
fucking cute." His smile was empty and menacing, and Andrew let go of
Nipper.

Sergeant Flint was about to lead all the boys to the hanger, where their
temporary beds would be set up, when Colonel Stone stopped him. He whispered
something to him, and the Sergeant broke into a big smile.

"Well, that will solve some problems, Sir, but probably create a few new
ones. All I can say is, I wasn't looking forward to having all those boys
all together in that hanger for even one night. We need the room list,
though."

Colonel Stone took some papers off his clipboard and handed them over to the
Sergeant. "All ready for you, Sarge. Good luck. I hope the work we put into
these pairings works out." Captain Hatcher pushed Ely to finish this. He
thinks it will avert a lot of potential trouble."

The booming voice of Sergeant Flint filled the room. "All right girls,
thanks to the best Chief Engineer in the fleet, you are now going to get
your permanent room assignments. Consider yourselves lucky, since in my
humble opinion you're getting way more than you deserve. Listen up to where
you go. You will all be escorted to your rooms on the Lady Lex. And if you
don't like your roommate, tough. Because you guys are joined at the hip so
you better learn to get along. Corporal Danzig will now read the list."

Corporal Danzig droned off the names in pairs. He didn't go into shuttle
assignments, class, or team assignments. That would be for later. Nipper
listened for his name. He couldn't figure out how his name even got on their
list, since he wasn't from any of the schools. What he didn't know was that
Sergeant Flint had just added it, figuring the computer had messed up and
he'd sort it out later. Nipper's pleadings that his being there was an
accident had no effect on him. He figured it was just some street wise kid
trying to take advantage of the situation.

"Mike and Scott Starr; cabin 412. TJ and Jeff; 414." The names droned on.
"Ben and Johnny 411....Trevor and RayJay 425....Nipper and Andrew..." Nipper
didn't even hear the cabin number, only that Andrew was his roommate, even
if it was temporary. He couldn't believe it. His one friend was his
roommate!

Andrew's smile when he heard the news melted his heart. As the two boys were
led to their cabin a thought hit him that knocked all the euphoria about his
roommate out of him. As soon as the mistake got straightened out, he would
be back with his dad and Douglas, and Andrew would be alone or put in some
other room with two other guys. Too many of the boys were just like he
imagined; the type of people he wanted nothing to do with.

On top of those fears, he was beginning to realize that he was getting some
strange feelings for Andrew. The kind of feelings in his groin he felt when
Douglas made him feel good that night on the bed, only now he was getting
them just thinking about the cute boy walking next to him. Even with his
head shaved he was so sexy looking.

Nipper's heart did a hard flip flop as that thought went through his head.
Yeah, Andrew was sexy looking. Does that mean I'm gay? he thought. Am I
falling in love? He couldn't answer either question. The thoughts were too
much for his 11 year old mind.

Their cabin wasn't as bad as Nipper had imagined it would be. It was much
better than the hell hole they had on the transport. The cabin had been
built for crew members taking a long space journey, so it needed some
comforts. The ones the boys were assigned to were all for enlisted men or
lower level officers, like Ensigns. The room had beds against each wall, a
stall with a shower, toilet, a small closet, and two dressers, although
neither boy had anything to put in them.

There was also a TV for movies and other functions, but the boys found out
right away that it didn't work. They didn't know it had been disabled by
Ely. Luxuries were for the future, and would have to be earned, but denying
decent available accommodations was possible trouble.

The boys were also given instructions on what to do if the gravity generator
failed. Ely could see that Mr. Chang was right. The generator was old and
underpowered, and Ely knew that in the next few days, the more he stretched
it, the more likely it was to fail.

The door closed, and Nipper and Andrew stood and stared at each other.

"I'm so glad we're roommates," Andrew said. "I was so scared who I might
get."

"I'm glad too. But it might not last long, you know."

"I know. And that scares me too." Andrew was trying to be brave in front of
his team, but he wasn't succeeding. Suddenly the tears started to flow, and
without thinking Nipper stepped over and put his arms around his friend.

*****

Ben was livid. How could they put him in the same room with that asshole,
Johnny Cooper. He wanted to cry, to throw things, to beat the shit out of
whomever made the pairing. As the door to the room closed he sat on one of
the beds. Johnny remained standing as a way of showing his superiority to
his younger roommate.

"And what's a nice kid like you doing in a hellhole place like this?" Johnny
asked.

Ben said nothing. Johnny might be his roommate, but nobody said he had to
like it or like him.

"Hey, asshole, I was talking to you, in case you're too fucking dumb to
figure it out."

Ben still said nothing.

"Or maybe you're just a faggot, like that cute little brother of yours.
Andy, is his name? Damn, I'd love to get my pecker up his ass. I bet you've
been up it. Is he a good fuck, Benjie?"

Ben was off his bed like a rocket, jumping on the older bigger boy and
knocking him to the floor. Before Johnny could react, Ben's fist was
pounding his face, tears of anger pouring down his cheek as he took out
every bit of frustration that had been building up in him. He hated what
Johnny said about Andrew. He hated being called Benjie. And he totally hated
Johnny Cooper.

As Johnny recovered from the surprise attack he was able to grab Ben's arms
and start to take control of the situation. He soon had Ben on his back and
was sitting on his chest, and Ben still tried to futilely hit the older boy.
Even though he was now pinned, Ben could see he'd done some damage. Blood
was dripping from Johnny's nose and mouth and dripping on to Johnny.

Johnny place his knees on Ben's arms, pinning them to the floor. "If I was
an asshole I'd be whining to some SFA puke about being attacked by my crazy
fucking roomie. But I'm not gonna do that, Benjie." Johnny slapped Ben
across the face, the sound echoing off the bare metal walls of the cabin.
Blood started to dribble from Ben's mouth. "This is my room, boy! And I'm
going to put up with you until I get one of my old gang banging buddies in
here and you can go find some piece of shit wuss to room with. You got that,
Benjie boy?"

Ben's answer was to spit combination of blood and saliva in Johnny's face,
hitting him on the chin. Johnny wiped it off with his hand and smiled. "Your
a feisty son-of-a-bitch, Benjie.I  like that. You go down fighting. Johnny
respects that."

"The name is Ben."

"What did you say?"

"I said the name is Ben, not Benjie. "

"Whatever you say, Benjie."

Ben hocked up another wad of spit and sent it at Johnny, this time hitting
him on his upper lip and nose. Johnny wiped it off and smiled his irritating
leer. "Nice shot, Benjie. I could end up liking you. You're a fighter."

Ben's mouth was drying out, but he sent another wad of spit Johnny's way.
This one fell short and landed on the older boy's shirt. Johnny reached
behind him and grabbed Ben's balls and squeezed.

"Nice try Benjie. Now you can say uncle and tell me from now on your name is
Benjie."

Ben started to work his mouth for another wad of spit, and Johnny relaxed a
little watching him. But Ben had other plans. The constant use of the hated
name Benjie and the humiliation of having his balls squeezed was too much.
Ben was a very easy going boy, which made him appear to be an easy target.
But he refused to take bullshit from anybody, and he was determined to get
the better of the bigger, stronger boy sitting on top of him, taunting him
and squeezing his balls. He sensed Johnny relaxing every so slightly and he
made his move. He arched his back and turned, sending the older boy toppling
off him. Ben immediately turned and kneed him in the groin. Johnny howled
with pain as Ben got on top of him and spit in his face one more time.

"The name is Ben, asshole! B-E-N! Ben!"

Johnny looked at Ben and smiled. "Hey, Ben. You and me are gonna get along
great roomie."

*****

Scooter sat on his bed, looking across the narrow cabin at his new roommate,
Mike. Mike was a big kid, like Jeff. He wondered if Mike was going to want
the same things from him Jeff did. He wouldn't mind it if he was as nice and
caring about him in bed and out as Jeff was, but he wasn't going to be
forced to do anything by some big goon.

Mike gave Scooter and friendly grin and introduced himself. Scooter did the
same and Mike held out his hand and they shook.

"What are you in here for, Scooter?"

Scooter told him. Mike frowned and said, "You got screwed."

"I know. I hear you're the head of some big gang."

"Yep. The Donkey Gang, of which I'm the head Donkey. The gang was started as
the Mustang Gang by Johnny Cooper. He was the leader until he got caught.
Since I've always been known as the Donkey, because of my Eeyore like
tendencies when I was younger, the gang became the Donkey Gang when I took
over."

"Johnny seems to be a real asshole."

"Don't let all that bravado fool you. He puts on a good show. But if you're
on his good side, there is nothing he won't do for you. He's very loyal to
his friends and the people he trusts. On the other hand, you don't ever want
to be on his bad side. You never want Johnny Cooper as your enemy."

"You seem awfully nice for a criminal."

"Hey. Running the Donkey Gang was a sideline. I got in it when I was 12
because my friend Zach was in it. I was bored, and it was something to do.
We only hit up people who deserved it. Not that we didn't mind making money
off it. Hell in my real life, I'm on the honor roll, play hockey and
baseball, and am a generally all around good Donkey," Mike said with a
laugh.

"I heard you got caught robbing a liquor store," Scooter said.

"Yeah. We were breaking RJ into the gang. We've never had anybody so young,
but he was big and strong and smart. Guess we had some bad luck."

"I thought your gang was way bigger."

"It is. Just me, TJ, RJ, and Ryan, my Dawg, did this job. Zach the Dick is
leading what's left of the gang. Johnny never ratted us out. And even though
it might have helped, none of us ratted out the gang either, not that RJ
could. He only knew the three of us since he wasn't officially in the gang
yet."

Scooter giggled. "Zach the Dick?"

"Eight and a half inches of meat. Let me tell you, taking that thing up your
ass is an experience."

"You do stuff like that?"

"I am a gay Donkey," Mike laughed, "And I love getting my ass fucked. I hope
that doesn't offend you, but it's the way it is."

"No. It's okay," Scooter said quietly.

"And I know what you're thinking. Don't worry, I will never make a move on
you. I'm not that kind of Donkey. But you're gonna hear me jerking off at
night. And seeing as you're what, 13 maybe, I know I'll be hearing you."

"I'm 14," Scooter said. "I just look younger. And yeah, I jerk off a lot
too."

"Cool. Then we won't have to hide that from each other."

Scooter was amazed and somewhat delighted by Mike's openness. He was tempted
to tell Mike he was gay, too, but decided to keep that fact to himself for
now.

"Why did the liquor store deserve it?" Scooter asked.

"Deserve what?" Mike asked.

"Getting robbed. You said you only robbed people who deserved it."

"Oh that. The dude was giving booze and drugs to younger kids. I don't mean
kids our age. I mean I love getting buzzed as much as the next 16 year old,
and I even bought stuff from him before. I'm talking really little kids.
Now, I don't mind getting drunk or high with some munchkin if he's a friend,
but this was different. He was doing it for sex. They suck his dick, he
gives them what he wants. We figured somebody needed to teach him a little
lesson." Mike chuckled, then said, "Guess we were the guys who got the
lesson."

Mike and Scooter talked some more, and found out that both of them had some
personal stakes riding on the Academy Olympics.

"Looks like you and me are made for each other," Mike said. "We're gonna
help each other kick some serious ass."

"I'm not that good at sports," Scooter said.

"You don't have to be. There's academic stuff, too. By the end of August
we'll be free and clear, dude. We're gonna kick those Junior SFA snots clear
to the next galaxy. Now what do you say we take advantage of whatever little
down time we have here and jerk some serious dick."

Without waiting for a reply, Mike kicked off his pants and started to work
on his six inch cock. Scooter noticed the healthy bush he had over the base
of it. There's a lot more there than I have, he thought. But, what the hell,
When if Rome.... He pulled down his uniform and revealed a hairless 4½ inch
boner. Both boys drifted off into their own world, taking care of their
urgent needs.

*****

TJ was impressed with Jeff's size as well. Jeff was a big kid, and looked
even bigger next to the diminutive TJ. The two boys hit it off instantly,
especially when they learned of each other's love for soccer and hockey.
While neither boy had ever played hockey, they both loved the sport, and
both boys had played some soccer when they were younger. It didn't take
either boy very long to find out each other's sexual orientation as well.

It was a different story with RJ and Trevor. RJ, though only 10 was bigger
than 12 year old Trevor. Both boys had a macho attitude about them. They
started out wanting the same bed, and after some obligatory pushing and
shoving, Trevor took the bed he wanted based on seniority. Both boys were
unhappy about where they were and why they were there. They had no intention
of finding happiness in friendship. While they waited for their down time to
end they sat on their beds glaring across the narrow room at each other;
intimidation by look. Neither boy intimidated easily.

*****

Matt was lying on a bed on a different ship. A working ship that was heading
into deep space. He fought back tears as he thought about how he had gotten
on it. His cabin was larger than the ones the boys on the Lady Lex had. He
was obviously a prisoner, but he had the run of the ship. The crew was very
nice to him, but nobody would tell him why he was on this alien ship, or
where it was going, or if his dad knew where he was. Matt was frightened and
lonely.

He remembered leaving Tim's house. He remembered the car stopping and the
man getting out. A man who knew his name. He remembered running and being
caught by the man. He remembered the man showing him his SFA ID card, and
leading him roughly to the car. The entire thing was a blur as he found
himself being put on a transport at an SFA spaceport. He asked about his
father, and was simply told his father was informed about what was going on.

The transport had taken him to a spacecraft. He knew it wasn't an SFA craft,
because he had the books on the ships of the SFA. The spaceship looked
different; alien and unearthly. Some time after leaving the rendezvous point
he watched from his cabin window as they caught up to two transports,
stopping them and taking them over without a shot being fired.

He also remembered an SFA transport docking with their ship not long after.
Since he wasn't locked in his cabin he decided to sneak out and see who was
on the transport. He turned the corner in a corridor, when he saw a group of
SFA officers coming down the corridor. He ducked into a side corridor,
pushing himself against the wall, hoping he wouldn't be seen.

The officers stopped momentarily where the corridors met. . He recognized
one as being an Admiral.

"We captured the transports as you asked, Admiral Whitaker. The are attached
to our hull at airlocks 1 and 2. They never knew until we actually took them
over that this wasn't an actual Geldon raider, but a raider we had captured
secretly two years ago."

"Excellent job, Captain."

"May I ask the purpose of the raid, Sir?"

"No you may not. It is a matter of utmost importance to the security of
Earth. Everything right now is on a need to know basis, Captain."

"Yes, Sir."

"And the diplomat's son? He is here?"

"Yes, Sir. I must say I am not happy about kidnapping the son of a ranking
diplomat. Or the son of anyone for that matter."

"Once again, Captain., this is a matter of global security. Just be sure the
boy is treated well. He will be serving a purpose, soon. And as far as the
captured equipment and instruments go...I'm sure a Geldon raider can find a
place on the black market to sell brand new equipment made by AstroStarr.
And I'm sure nobody will question where the profits end up."

Two Lieutenants broke off from the group and headed up the corridor Matt was
hiding in. He squeezed against a door, which opened to the pressure. He
ducked inside a room just in time to avoid detection by the two officers.

He saw he was in some kind of storage room. He paused to catch his breath
and get his heart rate down. Admiral Whitaker was one of the top Admirals in
the SFA. He was Tim's dad. He was behind the kidnapping, and behind the raid
on the two transports. But why? Why was he here? He overheard the Admiral
say he would be serving a purpose. What was it? I'm only 12, Matt thought.
Why do they need me? He sat on the hard metal floor of the room, put his
head between his legs and cried one more time. Oh God, how much he wanted to
get drunk or stoned. How much he wanted to drink and smoke himself into
oblivion and kill the fear that was eating him up inside.

*****

Tim was stunned. He had just been told he would be the roommate of Mark
Hatcher, the asshole he had met in the shower. His dad was a Captain. Well,
my dad is an Admiral. The Admiral. So no matter what he thinks, I guess that
makes me better than him.

He packed up his gear and waited to be escorted to his new room. Another
cadet helped him carry his bags and books. When he entered the cabin, Mark
scowled at him.

"I thought having a cabin to myself was too good to be true." Mark's
roommate had to leave suddenly when one of his parents became ill, and would
not return for the rest of the school year.

"I'm not exactly overjoyed at being with you either," Tim said.

"Just remember what I said in the shower. You get faggoty with me and I'll
kick your ass."

"Who said I was a faggot? Or are you just calling me that to hide something
yourself?"

"Fuck you. Look, I liked having a cabin to myself. I don't like having you
here. So just keep to yourself, okay."

"Whatever."

Tim stowed his gear and started to leave the cabin.. "I think I'll go
looking for some cute little boy to fuck," he said sarcastically. "Please
don't stare if I bring him in here." He left in a huff, leaving Mark to
stare at the closed door.

Shit, Tim thought. I don't want to be here. I can't get kicked out of here.
I miss Matt. I miss my friends. I miss the all weekend parties. The least
they could have done is give me some cute roommate who was interested in a
good time, instead of the Ice Queen.

He blindly turned the corner and crashed into a Junior Cadet, knocking him
over on his ass.

"Hey," the kid said in a high pitched voice, "watch where you're going."

Tim looked down at the body sprawled on the floor. He was wearing a tightly
fitting once piece uniform jump suit. His blond hair hung over his forehead
at the longest length regulations would allow. He looked to be 12 or 13 and
was almost oozing sexuality.

Tim lent the boy a hand and helped him up to his feet.

"Sorry about that," Tim said. "I was thinking about stuff and wasn't looking
where I was going."

"It's cool. Nothing hurt," the boy said in a voice that was so high, and so
sexy, Tim felt himself stirring just listening to it, not to mention what
this sexy looking boy was doing to him visually. "You're new here aren't
you?"

Tim held out his hand. "Kind of. I'm Tim. I'm 14 and a freshman."

The boy took his hand. "I'm Greg. I'm 12 and I'm a Level 1" Level 1 was the
beginning level on an SFA Academy ship. The youngest boys started at Level 1
and worked up to Level 5 before entering the high school program. It usually
took a boy two to three years to complete the 5 levels.

"Nice meeting you Greg. Are you close to getting to Level 2?"

"I should be there in a couple more weeks. Then I get a two stripe pin," he
said with a wide grin.

The two boys looked at each other silently, scoping each other out. Tim made
it very obvious he was interested in Greg. Greg was the cutest, hottest boy
he had ever seen. Greg didn't hide the fact he was equally interested in
Tim. Greg was just starting to experience serious sexual feelings, and the
looks Tim was giving him made him feel good and strange at the same time.

"I was heading to get a snack before study time," Greg said. "You want to
join me."

"Sure."

The two boys headed down the corridor, their bodies purposefully close and
almost touching.  Maybe this isn't going to be as bad as I imagined, Tim
thought.

*****

The boys of the Lady Lex stood at attention in the hanger. Sergeant Flint
was giving them "the look" that they were all getting used to.

"Well girls you know why you're all here on this ship. You're here because
you're all a bunch of LOSERS!" A loud groan emanated from the assembled
boys.

"That's right. You're LOSERS! If you weren't losers you wouldn't be where
you are right now, a bunch of disorganized pussies on a ship that's barely
held together with tape and glue. You're all soft, selfish, and spoiled. And
now you know what my job is. It's turn you from pussies into men, and doing
that from losers into winners. When we beat the pukes from the three academy
ships in the Olympics, every one of you will be walking with your heads
higher than you ever have in your life."

"What a loser he is," Johnny whispered to Ben. "They can't get this ship out
of the mothball yard and they expect us to win the Olympics."

"Do you have something to say to the group Cadet Cooper?"

"No, Sir."

"Then don't make it look like you do!"

"Yes, Sir."

The Sergeant surveyed the boys in front of him. He knew is task was almost
impossible. But he wasn't going to let them know that, because he also knew
if people worked hard enough at something, anything could happen.

"You have your cabins. As you've all probably discovered, there showers
don't work. Our Chief Engineer can only get so much water to the cabins
right now, There is enough to run your toilet, which is a vacuum toilet and
requires very little water, and to get a trickle from your sink so you can
brush your teeth and wash up some. Showers will be taken in the locker room
off the hanger. There are 12 showers there, and you will be brought here in
the morning six cabins at a time. You will shower, and then have breakfast,
then get your cabins in perfect condition for morning inspection. Oh, and
one last thing. We still don't have hot water for those showers."

Another groan came from the assembled boys.

"But the Chief Engineer assures me that when you get shower water in your
room, you will have hot water."

That brought a mild cheer. "But your showers are not at the top of his
list." Another groan.

"Dismissed. You will to directly to your cabins. Lights out at 9:30. That's
thirty minutes."

The boys all returned to their cabins. They had been given an extra uniform,
bedding, extra underwear, towels, and toilet items such as soap,
toothbrushes, and toothpaste after dinner. The time from dinner to their
meeting had been spent getting things in order and ready for morning
inspection.

Nipper and Andrew were both tired. Nipper had given up trying to get
anybody's attention. He figured when classes started in the morning he would
have his chance, and another reason was that he wanted to be with Andrew
another night.

Both boys took off their uniforms and stood clad only in the white briefs
that had been issued to them. Nipper couldn't take his eyes off Andrew's
beautiful body, and Andrew was having a similar problem. Both boys brushed
and flossed their teeth and washed their faces, clad only in their tight
white briefs.

"You gonna sleep in your undies?" Nipper asked after they finished.

"I don't know. Are you?"

"I kinda feel like sleeping nude. These are kinda tight on me."

"Yeah, me too," Andrew said.

"Then let's do it."

Nipper turned and pulled his undies down, hoping that Andrew wouldn't see
the almost three inch hairless boner that had been tenting out his
underpants. Andrew got a good look at Nipper's smooth bubble butt, and knew
he would have to turn and hide the almost four inch hairless boner that was
now tenting out his undies.

Both boys tossed their underpants in the drawers they had designated as
their dirty clothes drawer and climbed naked into their beds.

"Good night, Andrew."

"Good night, Nipper."

Nipper turned off the light over his bed and Andrew did the same. Andrew lay
on his back, thinking of the last few weeks. They were all a blur. One
minute he was happy living with his brothers and family. The next minute
something dumb happened and he was here on a spaceship with a lot of bad
kids. He felt he was like Nipper. He didn't belong in this room. He wasn't a
bad kid. He wasn't a loser, like Sergeant Flint had called him.

He missed Ben. He'd only been able to get glimpses of him at the assemblies.
Ben always looked at him and smiled, but Andrew knew Ben was as unhappy as
he was. Me missed his twin brother, Trevor, too, but he missed Ben more. He
missed being able to crawl into Ben's bed and cuddle up with him. He missed
how Ben loved him and made him feel good.

Andrew looked across the dark room. Well, he thought, I got into bed with
him before and he didn't kick me out. And I need somebody warm to cuddle up
to. And Nipper is my friend.

He pulled back his blankets and got up. He hesitated, wondering if he should
but his underpants on, but he know he would have a hard time finding them in
the dark. He got out of bed and patted over to Nipper's bed. Once again he
hesitated, then opened the blankets and crawled into the small open space
next to Nipper.

Andrew had lost  his hard-on while lying in bed, but has he snuggled up next
to his equally naked friend, he could feel his dick stirring again. He
pushed his hips back so Nipper wouldn't feel his boner poking him in the
butt.

Nipper had heard Andrew get out of bed. He know he was going to have
company. He had been hoping Andrew would come over, but was afraid to invite
him to sleep with him. He was afraid Andrew would take it in the wrong way,
somehow.

Nipper had his back to Andrew. He loved it when Andrew draped his arm around
his torso. He could feel himself getting hard. He was sure Andrew had come
into the bed for comfort and not for sex, but he couldn't help how he felt.
He pushed his hips back a little, and could feel Andrew's boner poke him,
which sent a shiver of excitement through him.

As soon as Andrew felt Nipper's butt touch his dick, he pulled back again.
But he had pulled back as far as he could without falling out of bed. Could
Nipper feel he was hard? He wanted to push forward so bad. Having Nipper's
butt touch his dick felt so good.

Nipper pushed his hips back again, once more touching Andrew's boner. This
time Andrew didn't move back. The boys held their position, both shivering
some, both breathing hard, both full of sexual feeling they couldn't control
and didn't fully understand.

Nipper turned around, so he was facing Andrew. In the dim light that leaked
from the corridor through the cracks in the door, he could barely make out
the features of the face he was getting to like so much. Andrew wrapped his
arms around Nipper and held on to him tightly. The two boys faces were only
inches apart. Neither boy had said a word since Andrew had entered Nipper's
bed, but they both seemed to know exactly what the other was thinking.

Nipper edged his face closer to Andrew's. Andrew edged closer to Nipper's.
Only a fraction of an inch separated them. The boys could feel each other's
breath on their faces. Their rock hard boners suddenly touched, causing
Andrew to gasp. Both boys seemed to be frozen in time. The room was silent
except for their heavy breathing. They had their arms around each other,
their faces inches apart, their incredibly hard boners barely touching.
Neither boy had ever been so turned on in their young lives.

They could stand it no longer. Preadolescent hormones were pouring through
them. As if on cue, the gripped each other hard, their lips came together,
their mouths opened, their tongues met and danced, and their hips ground
their boners against each other.

What had moments ago been quiet contemplation, suddenly exploded into wild
sexual passion. Both boys couldn't get enough of touching each other. They
couldn't kiss hard or deep enough. They couldn't grind their boners tightly
enough. Involuntary moans and groans issued from both boys as they got
caught up in a sexual passion light years beyond what either one of them had
experienced with their brothers.

Nipper's tongue was deep in Andrew's mouth. Nipper's boner pushed against
Andrew as Andrew pushed back. A loud wail came from Andrew, followed by one
from the younger boy, as they both convulsed and pushed and grabbed and
hugged and kissed and shook from dry cums light years past anything they had
ever imagined.

As they came down, neither boy wanted to let go, so they just hugged
silently and started to drift off to sleep. Just before sleep took him over,
Nipper whispered the only words to pass between the boys. Andrew heard the
whisper in his ear like the sound of a soft breeze. "I love you, Andrew."
Before anything else could be said, both boys were asleep, their bodies
tangled together.

*****

Douglas couldn't sleep he was so worried about Nipper. He wondered where his
little brother was. He hoped he wasn't alone, or lost, or kidnapped. He knew
his brother was in big trouble and wished he could be with him to help him
and save him.

*****

Admiral Whitaker heard his beeper go off. He got up from his desk on and
turned on his space radio. The voice of a teenager came over the scrambled
circuit. He said only two words, "Condition Blue". The Admiral knew that
meant the boys were on the Lady Lex and actually in their own cabins. His
reply was equally short. "Plan Seven."  Things were going too well on the
Lady Lex, and his young friend would need to take care of that. He had
created the Lady Lex to keep Captain Hatcher and Admiral Natter in line and
looking the other way regarding his SFA building project. But he also knew
the Lady Lex could not succeed. He had too much at stake personally and
professionally for that to happen.

*****

The closing door woke Ryan up. What had his roommate been doing out in the
hall? Well, he was kind of a strange kid. The only former SFA Junior Academy
student in their group. He had apparently robbed some of his fellow students
on board his academy ship.

Stan was 16. He was smart and handsome. His once long dark curly hair was
now all gone. He crawled back into his bed, hoping his roommate hadn't heard
him leave and enter the room.

TO BE CONTINUED