Survivors

 

 

 

 

Jordan saw Ryan and Mike walking together down the hall. Jordan didn’t like what he saw and knew that Robert Charles wanted to keep those two apart. Jordan quickly turned to look for Robert Charles and report on what he had seen.

 

What they really needed to do, Jordan thought, was to find ways to break up the budding friendships on the ship. If he and Robert Charles kept everyone split, then they would be the ones with power. As far as Jordon was concerned they deserved power because they were the ones going after it. The rest of them seemed to be wimps.

 

Knowing the ship and how it worked had always helped Jordan. And while there might only be twelve boys, he knew how to use people to get his way. He was latching onto Robert Charles because he knew Robert Charles was tough, a winner. He was going to be the leader and Jordan wanted to be on the side of the winner. Robert Charles's dad was the Colonial Governor and that gave Robert Charles power all by itself. Jordan knew that whoever became Mr. Z's leader had lots of power.  It always worked that way. Mr. Z had made Robert Charles his personal choice for leader, and, from what Jordan had learned, Mr. Z’s pick always won the election.  He and Robert Charles had to make sure that is what would happen in a week.

 

Most of the boys agreed to meet in dining hall # 2 for lunch. Douglas, Scooter, Mike, Ryan, Jeremy, Brandon, Alex, and Stevie sat at one of the large tables together.  Warren had gone back to his room, saying he didn’t feel well. Travis was sitting at a table with two girls. Jordan and Robert Charles were eating together in dining hall #4.

 

While they were eating the boys talked mostly about Mr. Z's choice of room leader.

 

"I can't see Robert Charles getting elected. I know none of us are gonna vote for him," Jeremy said.

 

"Well, who is going to run against him?" Mike asked.

 

"Why not you?" Ryan said. "It sure would piss off the teacher. And you know if I don't believe you hit me, then nobody else will believe it either."

 

"How does everyone feel about that?" Mike asked. "Do you all think I really slugged Ryan?"

 

The table got quiet. Then Jeremy asked, "If it wasn't you, then who was it?"

 

It got quiet again. "It wasn't me," Mike said quietly.

 

"Then who?" Jeremy asked again.

 

"It wasn't Mike," Ryan said again. "I don't know why I know, but I know. And look how nice he has been to me before and after it happened."

 

"And maybe he is scamming you," Jeremy retorted. "Look, I'm not trying to get on you Mike, but why would Robert Charles, Jordan, and Matthew all lie about what happened? And why would anybody hit Ryan anyway? The only guys close to him who talked to him a lot were Mike and Travis."

 

"You were close," Ryan pointed out.

 

"Okay, and me. Only I never talked to you. Mike and Travis did."

 

"So you think I slugged Ryan?" Mike asked.

 

"I don't know. I'm just saying you might have or somebody else might have."

 

Douglas had been taking this all in. Finally he decided to get them back on the subject. "Let's get on with the subject. If we don't like Robert Charles, then who is going to run against him and beat him?"

 

"Weren't you the president of your old school?" Scooter asked.

 

"Yeah. But that was because I had a lot of friends there and everybody knew me."

 

"But you have experience. Why don't you run? I don't know if Mike will get enough votes."

 

Mike looked sad. He was losing friends because too many people thought he hit Ryan. He was determined to find out who did hit Ryan because whoever did it had hurt Ryan and him both and he was tired of being blamed.

 

Douglas was thinking about what Scooter said. He was still unhappy about having to leave his school. Unhappy about not being president any more. Unhappy about losing his friends. Being the leader in Mr. Z's room was nothing compared to being president of an entire school student body. Douglas didn't want to get involved here. He liked most of the boys in the group, but there was too much weird stuff going on for him to want to get involved.

 

Scooter looked at Douglas. "Well?"

 

"I don't think I'm interested right now." Douglas saw the disappointed look on Scooter's face, which hurt him. But, he thought, I'm really not interested. And Scooter is interested in being Jordan’s friend anyway so why should I care what he thinks?”

 

"Well," said Alex. "If nobody runs, then Robert Charles wins."

 

"Maybe that's not so bad," Jeremy said. "The teacher likes him. He's kind of a jerk sometimes, but he seems okay other times. I mean, all he does is act like a big shot for the teacher. He doesn’t really have any power to do anything. It's not like he is running a government or something."

 

"Let's all think this over. We have a week before the election, but we need to decide earlier. I think Robert Charles needs somebody to run against him, just so he doesn’t win too easy,” Scooter told them.

 

Everybody agreed to think about it and got up from the table. Ryan was disappointed that Travis hadn’t joined them for lunch. Jeremy felt the same way about Warren not being there.

 

Travis had his lunch with two girls, Carmen, who was twelve, and Lisa, who was thirteen, like he was and was also Matthew’s sister.  They had invited him to lunch and he thought it was a cool idea. But while he sat there, all they talked about was the boys on the ship and why none of them except for him, Robert Charles, and Jordan seemed interested in them. They were talking about how fine all the boys were, and were mad because the boys almost totally ignored them.  They wondered if Travis knew why.

 

All Travis knew was that this lunch was boring him and he wished he was with the boys in the other dining room. But then that was wrong, because he was supposed to like being with the girls. He was supposed to want to pick out a girlfriend like he had on Earth.  But here he was sitting with two cute girls, and all he could think about was sitting with Ryan. He shook his head like he was trying to clear it. He smiled at the girls and said he had to go.  He said good-bye and abruptly left the table.  He walked back to his cabin wanting in one way to go back and talk with the girls, and in another way he wanted to find Ryan. He felt very confused inside.

 

 

Scooter's father, Chief Engineer Paxton, and Captain Fuller were in the Captain's office. They were discussing the warp enhancer. Scooter's dad told the captain about the chief engineer installing the enhancer backwards and what the dangers were. He told him he thought the ship should be taken out of warp and the enhancer turned around to the position that had been fully tested.

 

"Is the ship in immediate danger from running it this way?" the Captain asked.

 

"Not at all," Chief Engineer Paxton answered.

 

"I don't think so," Scooter's dad admitted. "But it never has been tested over long distance in this alignment. In ten short tests it started heating up twice and we had to shut it down."

 

"Was your test ship in danger?"

 

"Not that we could tell. It would heat up real gradually and never came close to a danger zone. We could see the temperature creep up and we would shut it down."

 

"And this happened only two times out of ten?"

 

"Yes. But they were all on short tests. We only did longer tests with it installed the other way around. So we don't know yet how it will work on a long test."

 

"But both times it heated up it was real gradual?"

 

"Yes."

 

"So if we got a heating problem with ours we could shut it down? We would have plenty of time to do that?"

 

Scooter's father thought a few seconds then told the Captain they probably would, unless something happened differently than on a short test. "I really think it should be tested first on a long test. Yes, we know the enhancer can generate more warp speed the way the chief engineer installed it, but it operated flawlessly under all conditions in its original position. We don’t know why the temperature rose on the two tests and until we do we shouldn't use it in the second position." He looked at Chief Paxton. "There are over 1500 passengers on here, including our sons.  This isn't the time to experiment. We know the first way has been safe on every test. The second way functioned properly only 80% of the time and  on short tests only. I am asking you to take the ship out of warp and turn the enhancer around."

 

"I disagree," Chief Paxton said. "It can save us an extra week of travel over the first position. We have important people, equipment, and food supplies to deliver to the colony. The quicker we do so the better for all involved. We will monitor the enhancer very carefully. I'm not about to risk my life, the passengers, or the life of my son."

 

The Captain sat gazed at both of them. "Here is my ruling and why.  We could take a week off the trip with the drive installed the way you want it. But we use more fuel than by having it in backwards while at the same time we travel slower. It's been turned around now, and that position works best for speed and fuel.  The enhancer lets us go faster on the same or less fuel. If we went a week faster we wouldn't prove a lot.  If we use it like in the current position we will save two weeks and amaze both the colony and Earth. Chief Paxton and his crew will watch the enhancer carefully." He looked at Scooter's dad. "And I know you will be right there checking on it too."

 

Scooter's dad looked right back at the Captain. "The Captain of the 'Titanic' was trying to set a record too."

 

"I don't plan on hitting any icebergs."

 

When Scooter got up to leave the lunch table Douglas got up with him. He needed to talk to him. He had to find out why he hadn’t been at dinner and about what had happened between him and Jordan.  He was afraid his new friend was slipping away and he didn't want that. He felt something very special for Scooter, and he somehow needed to find out if Scooter felt the same way.

 

"Hey, Scooter."

 

"Hey, Douglas."

 

"Do you have time to talk?"

 

Just then Brandon walked up.

 

"Well, I promised Brandon I would talk to him. We want to do some more catching up. How about after dinner tonight?"

 

"Yeah, sure. I don't think I have anything planned. I'll check."  Douglas watched Brandon and Scooter head down the corridor. Somehow right then he felt really empty. He decided to head for the games room. On the way he bumped into Travis.

 

"Hi Travis. Where were you?"

 

"Hey Douglas. Eating with some girls."

 

"Oh. I bet that was fun. With who?"

 

"Carmen and Lisa."

 

"Isn’t Lisa Robert Charles’s girlfriend?"

 

"Yeah, and he makes sure made sure everybody knows that. But we were just friends eating together, so I didn’t think it was a big deal."

 

"So, do you like girls a lot?"

 

"I had a pretty cool girlfriend back home. I miss her. But these girls were boring and the whole time I was thinking of....." Travis paused.

 

"Thinking of what?" Douglas asked.

 

"Never mind." Travis wasn't sure what to say now. All he knew was he was confused. He wondered what Douglas would think if he told him. He remembered when they were all getting to know each other he found out that Douglas had been the president of his middle school. He probably liked girls a lot. But still, Douglas was one of those boys the girls were saying never seemed to pay any attention to them. He also knew that Douglas used to be a peer counselor in his school. That he was somebody other kids could come talk to. And Travis needed to talk. Now. Badly.

 

Douglas looked at Travis and smiled. Both of them right then were feeling a little lost and lonely.  "Douglas, can we go to your room and talk. I need to tell you something.

 

"Sure." The boys headed for Douglas's cabin. His mom was in and said hi to the boys as they went into Douglas's room. Douglas secured the electronic lock and sat up on his bed. Travis sat in the chair.

 

"So what's up?" Douglas asked.

 

"Can I tell you something very private and secret? Something just for the two of us? You said today in class that you were like a peer counselor in your school. That means kids could talk to you real privately and you never told anybody right?"

 

"Well, that's how it was in my old school on Earth, yeah."

 

"So can I talk to you like you're one of those? Like totally privately and secretly...and you promise you won't hate me or anything?"

 

Travis knew he was taking a big chance. But if he didn't tell somebody what was on his mind he was going to explode.  He knew he wasn't gay or anything, he just wanted to know if anybody else had the same feelings he was having. And he trusted Douglas. He'd seen how he handled Mike and others in the games room. He saw how he had taken charge of the conversation at the lunch table. He saw something special in Douglas, something he could trust.

 

"Did you have a girl friend on Earth?"

 

"No...not really. I'm just not…um…into girls much."

 

Travis heard how Douglas’s tone changed when he answered, and wondered what it might mean.

 

"I had a girlfriend,” Travis confessed. “We were tight. We kissed a lot, and she even let me feel her boobs and stuff.  She even felt me....well...you know...."

 

"I get the picture," Douglas laughed.

 

"Well, now here on the ship I kind of fell for Lisa. But that asshole Robert Charles took her. And Carmen and Felicia are nice but kind of dumb. I don't know much about Michelle yet except she stays to herself a lot."

 

"Ok. And you're falling for one of those girls now?"

 

"Yes. No. I mean, I know I can’t have Lisa and the others just don’t interest me. Maybe that's the problem. Whenever I'm with one of the girls I'm thinking of somebody else."

 

"So it's like when you're with Felicia you think of Carmen, or maybe even Lisa?"

 

"No. That isn't the problem either. It's...I...well..."

 

Douglas gave Travis a smile. "It's okay. No matter what you say, Travis, trust me, it's okay."

 

Travis took a deep breath. It was dead quiet in the room. "I keep thinking about a boy," he whispered and hung his head.

 

The room became quiet. Travis's heart was beating so hard he knew that Douglas could hear it. Then Douglas smiled and said, "Is that all? Who is the lucky boy?"

 

Travis breathed for the first time in what seemed like hours. "You mean you don't care?"

 

"Hell no. I think it's great. Who is the lucky boy?"

 

"But I'm not gay. I've never thought about boys that way. Ever. Just girls."

 

"Just girls? Never boys? Not even in a JO fantasy or a wet dream?"

 

Travis's bright red blush told Douglas everything he needed to know.

 

"So who is the lucky boy?"

 

Travis laughed nervously. Douglas was making him feel good. "Ryan."

 

"Lucky Ryan. And don't worry about liking a boy. Hell, we're kids, so who cares who we fall for. Besides we have a lot of boys on this ship and not very many girls.”

 

“True.”

 

“I've fallen for a boy too,” Douglas confessed.

 

For some reason Travis wasn't surprised. "Scooter, right?"

 

Now it was Douglas's turn to blush. He knew a peer counselor shouldn’t ask what he planned on asking, but then he wasn’t an official counselor and life on the ship was already proving to be much different than life on Earth.

 

"Travis, can I ask you something real personal?"

 

"Sure."

 

"Do you jack off a lot?" Douglas would never have dreamed of asking that question if he were in this situation on Earth.

 

Another pause. "Yeah, I guess."

 

Douglas grinned "I do it two or three times a day sometimes. And all this talk got me kind of, you know...."

 

"Yeah. Same here."

 

"You...like...want to do it? You ever do it with anybody else?"

 

"No. Have you?"

 

"Yeah, lots of times. It's fun. And if you have these feelings about Ryan, it would be like...good practice."  Douglas wondered why it was so easy to talk about doing this with Travis, but so hard with Scooter. "So, do you want to do it?" Douglas could feel his heart pounding.  Travis was very hot looking.

 

"Sure...I guess."

 

"Let's do it here on my bed. It's more comfortable. Don’t worry, we don’t have to touch each other."

 

Douglas pulled off his shirt and Travis followed. Douglas loved the look of Travis's bare chest, and his hard stomach. Travis was starting to get some muscle on him, unlike his own skinny self.  They both pulled off their shoes, then Douglas unbuckled his pants and pulled them off.

 

Travis looked at Douglas’s tented briefs and knew he had to see more. He pulled off his own pants, and now both boys were standing in front of each other. Douglas’s white briefs were tented out as were Travis’s gray boxer briefs. The waistband on Doug's briefs was pulling away from his waist he was so hard.

 

Douglas wanted to pull Travis's briefs off in the worst way, but that would seem like sex, not having fun jerking off. Douglas pulled off his own briefs, and his boner slapped his belly.  Travis's boxer briefs came off just as quickly and the boys lay side by side on the bed.

 

They started jerking off at the same time, trying hard not to look like they were scoping each other out too much.  Their hands flew along their hard dicks; Douglas was hairless and his dick was almost five inches, while Travis had some fuzz at the base of his four-inch erection.  Pretty soon they both were close to orgasm. Their faces got contorted, their bodies shook, and within seconds they exploded, both of them shooting light cum over their chests and bellies.

 

Douglas got up and grabbed some Kleenex. What he really wanted to do was taste Travis's cum and eat his own, but he didn't think Travis was ready for that.

 

"Was it pretty good?" Douglas asked.

 

Travis blushed but had to admit it was. “Best kind of counseling I ever got,” he grinned. He was surprised what he’d just done didn't embarrass him more. In fact it hardly did at all. He cleaned himself off thinking of doing it with Ryan, while at the same time he wondered if Ryan would want to do it.

 

Douglas had his mind on one thing when he came---Scooter. Even with Travis jacking off right next to him, which was hot, the image in his brain was of Scooter. But Jordan said Scooter liked him better. And Scooter had picked Brandon to be with after lunch.  Travis admitted he was falling for Ryan, even though he thought he liked girls. And Jordan seemed to hint Scooter liked boys, and that he liked Jordan best. Scooter was going to be a dead end, even after their moment of being "special friends".  Douglas needed to find somebody to be his best friend.

 

 

Scooter sat on his bed and Brandon was on the second one. They both were naked, like they had been every time they were together up until Brandon had moved away. They were always naked since they both had been raised as nudists. Right now they both had erections and were just slowly playing with themselves.

 

"Why didn't you ever write me?" Scooter asked.

 

"I did. You never wrote back."

 

"How could I? I never got anything from you. I didn't know where to write you."

 

"Something strange is going on then. I'm going to have to find out what happened. I know I couldn't tell you right away where we were going because of that other company that was trying to hire mom. We had to be all secret and stuff. But I figured once we got to Mars it would be okay to write. I guess maybe it wasn't. After you never wrote back I gave up."

 

The two boys sat quietly for a while, stroking themselves. Scooter was hairless, but Brandon had a small bush of hair centered in his pubic area. That was something he didn't have the last time Scooter saw him. Scooter wondered how much cum Brandon shot now. They both were comfortable jacking off in front of each other, it was second nature to them. They had done it countless times before.

 

"Scooter, do you want to…"

 

"Yeah,” was all Scooter had to tell him.

 

Nothing else needed to be said. Brandon came over to Scooter's bed. They got into the 69 position.  Brandon worked the skin on Scooter's uncut cock. Then he licked the head, swirling his tongue on it, flicking the pee slit, then letting it slide into his mouth. Scooter moaned with pleasure. At the same time he sucked on Brandon's cock. It was a lot bigger than the last time he’d had it in his mouth.  The two boys bobbed their heads on the other's hard dick, licking and sucking, feeling each other's balls and ass. They were humping each other's mouths, loving the tastes of each other, tastes they hadn't sampled in two long years. Scooter was ready first, and he rammed Brandon's mouth with a hard dry cum.  About fifteen seconds later Brandon shot his own cum, surprising Scooter with the volume. Scooter couldn't handle all of the sweet boy cum, and some of it dribbled down his chin. Brandon saw it and licked it off. The two boys kissed and then cuddled on the bed.

 

"You know I love you, Scooter."

 

"And I still love you."

 

Brandon looked at Scooter. "I will always love you as my best friend and brother. But I heard you call Douglas your special friend."

 

"There is something about him. It's like I'm connected to him in some way. But he doesn't know it. I don’t know how to talk to him about it. It's all so strange." He looked at Brandon. "I don't want to hurt you my old best friend and brother."

 

"Scooter, when I got on the ship I met somebody. And he sent sparks through me just like Douglas did through you."

 

"Stevie."

 

"You know me pretty good too, Scooter."

 

"Brandon, maybe God meant us to be on the ship together so we could find our loves together."  The boys kissed deeply, old best friends and lovers, both knowing they were happy being together again, but that somebody different was going to become part of their lives in an important way if they could just find a way to make it happen.

 

 

Brandon left Scooter's cabin soon after that. Scooter decided to look for Douglas and see what he had wanted at lunch. He headed for Douglas's cabin but nobody was there. He decided to go to the games room. When he arrived Jordan came up to him and led him to a couple of chairs in the corner. 

 

Douglas entered the room wondering who he’d see there. He immediately saw Scooter; he could talk to him now. He took a few steps in Scooter’s direction but stopped when he saw Jordan grab him.  He stood there feeling jealous again.

 

"Scooter, I just wanted you to know that Douglas was talking smack about you again."

 

"How? What was he saying?" Scooter asked.

 

"Stuff about your dad. He and I talked about his invention. He said your dad didn't care about the ship; he just cared about his invention. Then he said he was just pretending that he liked you because he wanted to see you naked and stuff like that. He called you a little wimp. I just thought you should know."

 

Jordan walked away leaving Scooter hurt and confused. He saw Douglas walk up to him.

 

"Can we still talk tonight, Scooter?" he asked.

 

"Not tonight. I'm kind of tired. Maybe tomorrow or something." Scooter left the room fast before Douglas saw him fighting off tears. Scooter headed back for his cabin, feeling sick again.

 

Douglas stood there confused. He knew there was a special connection between them. He felt it. He felt it hard the night they slept together. Why couldn't Scooter feel it?

 

Jordan saw the sad look on Douglas's face. He walked up to him.

 

"Scooter just told me how he wants me to be his friend. And how he wished you would leave him alone and not bother him. If I see you bothering him, I'll protect him.  So take this from Scooter’s best friend...fuck with him, you fuck with me." Jordan walked away. Douglas was amazed how that cute little boy could act so evil when he looked so angelic. He was crushed by what he heard. He left the room too, feeling tears coming on just like Scooter had.

 

Mike had been talking to Alex while all this was going on. Both of them watched Jordan, Scooter, and Douglas. Both of them agreed something strange was happening.

 

In another part of the room, Brandon, Stevie, Ryan, and Travis watched the goings on. Brandon knew how Scooter felt about Douglas, and was having a hard time figuring out what he had just seen happening between them. He wondered if he should get involved somehow.

 

Douglas didn't see Scooter and his dad at dinner. He felt empty not seeing the little blond. That night Scooter didn't show up in the games room. Well, he would see him at school the next day. Tomorrow they would tour the ship. At least that was going to be interesting.

 

 

Most of the boys agreed to meet in dining hall #5 for breakfast before school. They were excited about the upcoming tour of the ship and were very chatty considering the early hour.  Scooter, Brandon, Mike, Douglas, Alex, Travis, Ryan, and Stevie sat at one table. Warren, Jeremy, Matthew, Jordan, Robert Charles, and Lisa sat at the other table.

 

Mike thought about who would run against Robert Charles and ran through in his mind how each student would vote. If the table seating meant anything he saw the vote as 8-6 against Robert Charles. There were also the three other girls in the class to take into account.  Depending on how they voted the election could be very close. The question was, who would run against him?

 

Warren didn't really want to sit where he was, but by the time he arrived in the dining hall the other table was full. Plus, Jeremy wasn't really sure about some of the kids in that group, like Mike and Douglas. Warren was afraid of both Jordan and Robert Charles, but he was wary of Mike too. He didn't understand why any of the boys talked to Mike. From all he had heard Mike was the one who hit Ryan on Mars.

 

Douglas sat next to Scooter. He wanted to talk to him badly, to tell him how he felt about him. But he knew it was useless. Scooter’s friends were obviously Brandon and Jordan, not him. 

 

Scooter wanted to talk to Douglas, too. He wanted to tell Douglas how he felt about him, but he knew Douglas didn't like him. Yet even knowing that, he could feel something coming from Douglas, something very powerful and lovely. Both boys sat next to each other, not talking and very confused. Brandon and Travis both noticed their behavior. They didn't know what was wrong between the two of them; they just knew that somehow they had to help fix it.

 

After breakfast, the class met with Mr. Z. in the ship's school. There were seventeen students in the class. Mr. Z told them that he and Robert Charles would be the ones in charge. He said he had talked to Robert Charles about what was going to happen on the tour. He instructed the class to obey Robert Charles’s commands.

 

Then he asked if anybody had decided to run for the position of room leader. A couple of eyes went to Mike. Scooter looked at Douglas, hoping to hear a yes, but nobody said anything.

 

"Remember, the election is Wednesday. If nobody runs, then Robert Charles automatically wins. Obviously since I chose him as temporary leader I believe in him. If he is who you want, then of course we won't need an election. I think he will do an excellent job."

 

Nobody had any comments to make, so Mr. Z started his lesson on the tour. He told them that the ship’s tour would cover the four main areas of the ship. Life Support, Passenger Services, Engineering, and finally, the Bridge.

 

The class started the tour in Life Support. Everything on the ship was recycled to make water and air. A lot of the machines and chemicals Brandon's mother used on planets were used on the ship so that there would be air and fresh water for everybody. Life Support took up a whole deck of the ship. The LS Engineer was Commander Jennings, a nice lady who was very proud of what she did and her enthusiasm made her part of the tour interesting.

 

From Life Support they went to Passenger Services. They got to see the stage where entertainers put on shows. Some of the entertainers were hired for each trip and stayed in the crew areas. Most of the entertainment was for the adults. Alex and Stevie asked if there was any way they could put a show on for the kids. Everybody knew they used to perform on Earth. Marie, who joined the tour with the class, and Mr. Z both thought it was a great idea and said they would see what they could do to set up a show.

 

The most interesting part, since almost all of them were hungry teens and preteens, was the ship's kitchen.  There was one kitchen for all five dining halls. The crew had its own kitchen. They saw the huge refrigerators and freezers that were used to store over two months’ worth of food. Mike was so interested in all the food around him that he missed the rest of the class leaving. He looked around and saw nobody, and had no idea which way they went. He was suddenly afraid of being locked in the storage area.

 

Robert Charles came back around the corner and yelled at him, "Hey, get your head out of your ass and join the group."

 

Mike's fist balled up. "Get off my case. You're not my boss."

 

"Somebody thinks different, and he's the one that counts."

 

"Well, somebody is going to run against you and beat you, then you won’t be anybody’s boss."

 

"Yeah, well, I hope it's you, loser. With your reputation I'll win easily. You're a big joke. Now get your ass moving."

 

Mike walked up to Robert Charles, fuming, ready to punch him out. Robert Charles looked at him and smiled. "Go ahead, hit the room leader doing his job. You're going to have a great two months being restricted to your room. Come on. Hit me, asshole."

 

Mike took a few deep breaths. His time would come. This wasn't it, but it would come. He wasn't going to take too much more from Robert Charles, that much he knew.

 

When they caught up to the group Robert Charles made a big deal out of finding Mike, embarrassing him, which made Mike even more determined to get even with him somehow, sometime.

 

They went to Engineering next. Jordan's dad conducted the tour and Jordan stood right next to him, making sure everybody saw how important he was. Chief Engineer Paxton explained how the warp drive worked, then bragged about the Warp Enhancer and how it was allowing the ship to travel much faster on less fuel.

 

"We're going to take two weeks off of this trip because of the great way we have the enhancer installed." He showed them where the enhancer was installed and explained the gauges.

 

Scooter was angry because his father was never mentioned and it was his father who invented the warp enhancer. He was mad that it wasn't his father who was there explaining it. He also knew that his father was against going after the speed record and taking an extra two weeks off of the transit time. He wanted to speak up, but he still felt too shy around everybody.  Maybe he would say something in class later. It wasn't right that Jordan's father was getting all the credit.

 

The boys looked at the gauges and machinery. It didn't mean much to any of them, even after the explanation. Robert Charles was at the end of the line. He stopped to look at the warp enhancer. He saw it as a boring piece of machinery with a bunch of   meaningless gauges. As he stared at it one of the of gauges suddenly moved quickly from a blue line close to a red line, stayed there, and then dropped back. The gauge said "Temperature". He wondered what that was all about. Oh, well, he thought, it's probably supposed to do that. He followed the group to the tour of the bridge.

 

The bridge was interesting. They saw the navigation equipment and all of the ship's controls. The Captain slowed the speed so the class could watch the dancing colors on the view screen change.  The Communications area was empty, because nobody had been able to figure out yet how to make radio work in hyperspace. Brandon, who loved science, had a fantasy about being the one to invent warp radio.

 

After the tour was over the class went to the crew dining room for lunch. The Captain, Chief Engineer Paxton, Marie, and the LS Engineer joined them. Robert Charles's father was there as well.  Scooter noticed that his father wasn't there, even though his father had everything to do with how fast the ship was traveling right then.

 

Robert Charles was sitting next to Lisa, running his hand along her leg. He wondered if he should bring up the sudden jump the temperature gauge made. Fuck it, he thought, it's supposed to do that. And even if it wasn't, the Engineering crew would see it happen again and figure what to do.