Published: 4 Mar 2019

As the sun set over the esplanade above the now deserted beach the lonely forlorn figure slumped a little further forward as he sat on the park bench, it’s faded green paint peeling from countless years of bright sun and strong winds, the steel bolt heads sending small runnels of rust down the weather beaten timbers.

Beside the slumped figure was an old army canvas knap sack, its sides bulging with his few possessions and an old worn and slightly dirty blanket was rolled up beside it, the young man’s head was hanging down, his hands loosely drooped in his lap, his whole posture was one of defeat and abject loneliness.

Had he lifted his head you would have been able to make out his features and would have probably thought he was somewhere between 18 and 20 years old, however this was not true for the solitary boy was only seventeen but hunger and the hard life on the street for the past two years had taken their toll on his innocence.

His tousled hair was lank and unkempt, it hung down to partially cover his face, it was cut short around the side and left longer on top, had he combed it out it would have shown a parting down the centre, the back of his neck showed a little grime from not being washed for two days and the yellow tee shirt was crumpled and had a few rips and ketchup stains on it, on the front of the shirt was the indistinct picture of some old movie star of the 20th century and the bold word once read “Commando” but the ‘O’ was now missing due to the tear just where it had been.

The jeans were well worn and hung down low showing a bit of bare skin at the rear between his shirt and the waist band, they were torn across one knee and there were grass stains on the hip and back, his foot wear was no better, the toes scuffed and the laces replaced with pieces of parcel string, no sock’s were visible, he just didn’t have any to wear and the dirt around his ankles again showed that the last bath was a long way past.

Standing upright he would have been about 5′ 7″ tall but slim and now a little undernourished, lifting his head his face was made quite remarkable by the eyes that showed above the high almost Asian cheek bones, the pupils were a very light shade of brown, so light in fact they were almost fawn in colour, the girls at his last school had called them “Come to bed eyes” not that he cared what they said, he was not interested in them anyway, his skin colour was also unusual in that at times it seemed to glow when the sun shone on him from a certain angle, the lips were full and moist, they covered a set of movie star pearly white even teeth, he had always been proud of them and even in these hard times made sure they were kept clean and white.

The chin was firm and slightly pointed, even at seventeen he still had no beard forming in fact he was almost totally hairless all over except for a very small almost invisible bush on his groin, it was a point of laughter with the other boys at school when they had to strip after phys-Ed to have a shower.

The boy realised again that his whole life had been one of ridicule and from his mother also verbal abuse due to her domineering and overprotective nature until that fateful day two years ago when she had returned from work earlier than expected and caught him and his best friend laying on his bed naked except for their briefs, clasped in each other’s arms kissing and caressing.

His mother had screamed at his friend about being a “Dirty Animal” and “Perverting” her boy, then she had swung full force and slapped his friend over the face before she set about doing the same to him, screeching and scream all the while about his filthy actions.

When the boy had finally been able to get to his feet and pull on his jeans she turned to him and although he was at that time only fifteen years old, told him to take his rubbish and get out of the house never to return and never to contact his younger brother or sister again.

The boy had managed to grab a change of clothes and his small knap sack that had belonged to his now dead father and with his mother still screeching in his ear he had run from the house, his face now red from the slaps and tears falling down his cheeks.

He had spent that first night sleeping under the cover of an overpass, curled up in a small ball as he cried himself to sleep, he knew he couldn’t go back to school now and he had no where to stay, no credits for food, no chance of a job at his age, his only companion was misery and hopelessness, how could he survive without the protection of his family, the streets were a hard task master and could swallow up a young boy without chewing first.

Through sheer determination and a lot more guts than he thought he had, he had survived the first weeks on the street and although he went hungry more often than not and his body odour sometimes got the better of him he persisted and eventually found out that older men were happy to pay a few credits for a young boy to keep them company on a casual basis.

In this the year 2025 most of the beaurocracy and government agencies had all but collapsed as far as looking out for the ordinary people and continued only to satisfy their own needs and aspirations for power, most of the law and order on the streets was nonexistent so that for older men picking up young boys had become somewhat normal and if the boy was found beaten or even worse dead, people would shrug their shoulders and say “He probably deserved it”

The young man had survived it all, the physical abuse by older and bigger men, the beatings, the hunger and the loneliness, now however he was at the end of his strength, the job he had at a fast food outlet was gone, his small room in the boarding house was now off bounds to him and everything he had in it except for his small knap sack had been taken by the landlord to be sold to pay the two weeks back rent.

He had on that night been out and after finding he had been dismissed from his job, he had wandered down to the park to find someone and get the few credits needed to bring his rent up to date, he had been lucky finding a man that paid him well for his servicing and as he made his way back through the park with the forty credits in his pocket to pay his rent, he was jumped by five older boys and after the beating they had taken every credit from him and left him bleeding and sore laying on the grass beside the walkway.

When he came to he slowly and stiffly made his way to the boarding house to explain what had happened but the landlord just glared at him then threw his bag and blanket to him and said he was keeping the rest to pay the back rent then bodily threw the boy out the door and into the street.

The marks of the beating he’d had were still fresh on his face had he looked up you would have seen the deep cut above his right eye, the streak of now dried blood down his temple, his cheek was bruised and scraped, a thin line of blood showed from one nostril and his top lip was cut and swollen, the beating had been vicious and sudden, unseen were the dark bruises on his rib cage and hip where they had used their boots to good effect.

A shuddering and anguished sob came from the downturned head as a tear fell from the tip of his nose and onto the dry and downtrodden grass beneath his feet, the pervasive air of hopelessness was like a blanket over and around him.

“Fuck Cameron, you’ve fucking had it this time boy” he mumbled to himself, the words were hardly distinguishable through the swollen lips, “you’ve fucked it up for the last time boy.”

A gut wrenching sob forced its way out of his chest as the situation he was in took full hold of his emotions and as the the last two years of desperation and hardship came upon him the tears fell ever faster accompanied by the chest wracking sobs as his body shook with the effort.

Too absorbed in his misery to notice, the boy was suddenly startled when a young voice broke through his self pity and heart wrenching sobs.

“What the?”

“I said are you the Commander Sir?”

The battered and beaten boy lifted his head to look up at the owner of the voice and was immediately shocked to see his own pale brown eyes staring unwaveringly back at him; the kid in front of him had also the same weird semi luminous skin that covered his own body.

“What the fuck you talking about kid?”

“Are you the Commander Sir?”

“You gotta screw loose or something kid, do I look like a fucking commander of anything.”

“Sir your uniform says that you are the Commander Sir.”

“You’re fucking nuts kid, go annoy someone else, go on piss off.”

“Sir you are the Commander and I can’t leave you Sir.”

“Look stupid, just what the fuck you want, I aint got nothing so you might as well piss off and look somewhere else for your fucking Commander.”

“I’m sorry Sir but you are needed and I’ve come to escort you to your command.”

“You’re fucking crazy kid, what the hell could I command.”

“Sir your staff and troops are waiting for your orders, please follow me and take charge, we are lost without you Sir.”

“Jesus H Christ, didn’t you hear me kid, I’M NOT THE FUCKING COMMANDER OF FUCK ALL.”

“Sorry Sir but we are waiting for you, please let me escort you to your station Sir.”

The boy thought to himself that this could go on all night and get nowhere so raised himself from the bench and shrugging his shoulders looked down at the kid before him, what the hell, might get a meal anyway before they found out their mistake.

“This way Sir you transport is over here.”

“How old are you kid?”

“In earth years Sir?”

“Of course in earth fucking years is there any other?”

“Yes Sir many other forms of time keeping Sir, but in earth years I will be two hundred and eighteen at the end of this earth year Sir.”

“FUCKING WHAT?”

“I’m very young to be your second officer Sir but in your command we are all young Sir, that’s why we were chosen for your special force Sir.”

“My special force, listen kid whats going on?”

“Everything you need is in your station Sir they will bring you up to date on everything.”

“Where’s this transport kid…uhm well…whoever?”

“Jopty Sir my name is Jopty, I’m your second in command Sir my rank is General in earth terms, this way please sir.”

“Shit some kid that looks about 15 years old is a fucking general, if you’re 218 years old how come I’m a commander and I’m only 17?”

“We will explain everything at the station Besat khamrune.”

“Besa what?”

“Besat Khamrune, Sir, Besat is our language for Commander and Khamrune is your Name sir is it not?”

“No uhm….er….General, it’s Cameron.”

“Yes Sir that’s right, Khamrune, it was your father’s name Sir, he was a member of the Gandule on Praemedes.”

“Wha…What, my father’s name was Bert and this other thing is double bloody Dutch to me.”

“The Gandule is the grand council as you would say here Sir and Praemedes is our planet Sir and your earth father was not your real father Sir you were sent here to be protected from others that would like to now take over this world and although we are three of your years early to alert you we have no option now as things are moving badly for this world and you are the Commander of this sector so we had to advance the normal time frame to get you ready.”

“Just how long have we got to get ready for this ahhhhmm invasion?”

“The invasion is from within this world Sir and you have only ten Metayan to do it and resolve the possible conflict.”

“What’s this Meta thing, how long is it?”

“One Metayan is the same as one of your years Sir so you have only ten years to resolve it all, now Sir if you will come over here we can get underway.”

The boy, Cameron saw the kid like figure press something on his wrist and a shimmering began just in front of them and then he saw with a startled expression on his face a vehicle like nothing he had ever seen appear from seemingly nowhere, it was about as long as a large limousine but lower and had no wheels, the front was a little pointed, not sharply but with a definite speedy look to it, a soft hum came to him and the side of the vehicle opened up without any doors or firm edges, the look alike kid smoothly slid in and beckoned him to follow.

‘What the hell, nothing else to do,‘ Cameron thought to himself as he tried to slide smoothly as the other guy had done, into the second seat beside his driver, the opening closed without a sound and with a small sinking feeling in his stomach Cameron assumed they were on the move.

“How far is this ‘Station’ ahh….General?”

“It is about two Pentyan Sir.”

“Pentyan?”

“You call it light years Sir.”

“Fucking what? I’m going to be a thousand years old by the time we get there, how long is this going to take…ah General?”

“One Setayan Sir.”

“Ok, ok, how long is that in real language?”

“One of your hours Sir.”

“Sheeit, one hour to go two light years, what’ve you got in this thing, double turbo’s or something?”

“No Sir this is your personal vehicle Sir, it is fitted with a Plasma Star Drive Sir, only Commanders are allowed to have them Sir.”

“So what do you guys get to jump around in, go karts?”

“We use the standard military issue Plasma Drive Sir.”

“And how long would it take you to do the two light years in those?”

“Oh they’re quite slow Sir, it would take us three Bitayan to get there Sir.”

“Ok, alright how long is that?”

“Three of your days Sir.”

“Three days to go two light years and they’re slow?”

“Compared to yours and the other Commanders Sir, yes very slow.”

“So how many of these Plasma Star Drives are there, you know, altogether?”

“Two hundred and twenty Sir, one for each Commander and the members of the Grandule, no other race has them Sir they are very secret and when you have full control of the station it will be configured to your biophysics so that no one else can use it, if they try the vehicle will destroy them immediately.”

“Hey you do realise that I’m only a kid don’t you, I mean all this star shit is way beyond me.”

“It’s all in your head Sir, everything you need to know was planted when you were issued by your father, we only have to open your biophysics links and you will understand everything.”

“What are these bio thingys?”

“They are all your, I think you call them Brain waves, the normal people of this planet use about 16% of their brain potential, we are able to use 65%, but you as a Commander will have at your disposal about 85% of your brain power to use when your links are opened.”

“Shit I couldn’t pass an exam in school and you think I’m going to be some sort of genius?”

“While you were earth bound Sir you only needed what they had but now it’s time to open your biophysics so you can run the station.”

“How far are we from earth now?”

Cameron watched as the driver flicked a switch and a lot of funny looking hieroglyphs came up in mid air before them.

“About .8 of a light year Sir.”

“WHAT, where is earth?”

“Wait please Sir, hmmm yes there we are Sir that star just over there.”

Cameron looked at the millions of stars that were now visible in mid air before them to see a small white light being pointed at by the Driver/General; it was no more than a pin prick of light amongst millions of others.

“Fuck we really are in space.”

“Of course Sir there’s no other way to get to the station.”

Cameron lay back into the seat, he was sure he felt it move under him until he was so relaxed by the position that the stunning amount of information he had been given didn’t seem so important after all, but he knew underneath that these idiots must have made a big ass mistake about him and when they found out for sure they would ditch him into space for good.

“Sir?”

The young voice startled Cameron; he had been dozing in the comfort of the seat without realising it.

“Yeah…ahh, General?”

“I have informed the station of our imminent arrival Sir, they will all be assembled in the main arrival bay to greet you Sir.”

“How long to go?”

“We have no time scale below that of a Setayan Sir; we don’t need anything less than that for our work Sir.”

“So you don’t know how long till we get there then?”

“Yes Sir it is Imminent, anything less than a Setayan is too short a time scale to bother with Sir.”

“Ahhm… one question ah…General?”

“Yes Sir?”

“Ahhm….. Just how long will I live for if you open this bio thing?”

“Your maximum limit is 25 Yan Sir; you will need to rejuvenate each Yan Sir.”

“Ok now English, how long is a Yan?”

“One hundred earth years Sir.”

“WHAT THE FUCK…..I’m going to live for two thousand five hundred years?”

“Yes Sir that’s standard for all commanders, that is unless they want you at the Grandule after your term as Commander Sir.”

“Ok so I get lucky and go to this Granule thing so how long would I have then?”

“Excuse me Sir but it’s Grandule, and you would be given the chance to have rejuvenation indefinitely Sir.”

“You mean a real job for life?”

“Yes Sir, the oldest Praedian, er council member Sir is now 97 Yan.”

“What happens if they want to quit and call it a day, you know give it all up?”

“Then they wait till the end of that Yan and go to the hall of Bridax where they give up their life force so that a new member of Praemede may be issued from them, that is how you were issued Sir when your father reached one hundred and twenty Yan he went to the hall of Bridax and you were issued from his life force and then sent to the earth planet to grow until you were ready for your biophysics to be opened at your age on earth of twenty years.”

“You mean that I’m my father…well sort of?”

“Not sort of Sir but completely, you have all his memories and experiences stored inside your head Sir, this is what makes us mentally strong Sir, we have the benefit of all those Yan of memories, here’s your Station now Sir, if you will allow me to land Sir then we can go to Stasis and bring your Biophysics open to you.”

“Sure General whatever you say.”

Cameron looked over at Jopty as he watched the strange hieroglyphs floating in the air before them.

“Ahm, General, why did you ask me if I was the Commander back on earth when you knew all along?”

“I didn’t want to alarm you Sir.”

“No really, so you just sort of fuck with my head instead?”

“No Sir, that was not my intention Sir, I felt it would be better to try to break it to you gently Sir.”

“Well if that was gentle then don’t get rough with me General.”

“Sir?”

“It’s a joke General.”

“Yes Sir.”

With that Cameron looked at the blank frontage of the craft just in time to see it disappear before his eyes, he let out a shout of shock and fear as the front of the craft seemingly vanished and he was suspended over open space, the feeling of vertigo took over his senses as the craft turned a little and he was looking into the maw of the largest cavern he had ever seen.

“What the f..?”

“Sorry Sir I should have warned you, that is the landing bay Sir, I have to take the ship in manually this close in.”

“If that’s the landing bay just how big is this bloody station?”

“It is two Braes long Sir and one Braes Wide, the total height including instruments is one Imbraes.”

“Look General can you use earth terms until I know what the hell you’re talking about?”

“Sorry Sir, the station is about two kilometres long and one kilometre wide, it is a total of 500 meters tall.”

“Shit that’s certainly no VW beetle, for sure.”

“It is the newest station we have Sir, it is specially set up for your task here, we have never done this before so it had to have a few things extra to what the normal station would have.”

“Hope you have a kitchen on it.”

“Yes Sir it has a fully operational Galley Sir.”

“It was a joke again General.”

“Yes Sir.”

Cameron watched as the landing bay became larger and larger as they got closer, it was lit up brightly and he began to see in the far distance of the bay rows and rows of stick like figures all in different coloured clothes lined up along the length of the landing area.

“This is bloody huge, is it the only landing bay here?”

“No Sir, there are nineteen more; we can launch one hundred fighters from them at the same time, if needed Sir.”

“How many fighters are there General?”

“You have two thousand single fighters and one thousand double fighters’ sir, there are four thousand ground attack troops, one thousand on board guards, one thousand five hundred personnel to run the station and the other five hundred are made up from your operational staff and personal guards.”

“Sheeit, this place has ten thousand people on it?”

“Ten thousand and one Sir.”

“One?”

“You Sir.”

“But that number will increase depending on how many intimates you would like.”

“Intimates?”

“Yes Sir your personal staff for your pleasure Sir, they take care of all your needs in private Sir, clothing, cooking, and any services you need as well as your bed Sir.”

“You mean I get some guys as well to ….well you know?”

“Yes Sir you can have as many as you would like for any favours you need from them.”

“Who picks them?”

“You have already Sir.”

“How, I haven’t seen anybody yet.”

“Yes you have Sir; we take them from your memories of boys that have been your favourites in your head.”

“In my head?”

“Yes Sir we take the images of boys that have impressed you in your past and developed them while you are in stasis, they will be ready for you when you awaken, all we need to know is how many you would like to serve you, and then we take them from your memory in the order of favouritism, that way we are assured of getting the best boys for you.”

“So you run up some robots for me?”

“Oh no sir, they will be real boys, we have the technology to produce them perfectly to your needs.”

“How long will I be in this stasis thing?”

“Five Bita…sorry Sir…days, Sir.”

The craft was now low to the floor of the huge hanger; Cameron could see that around the upper walls were suspended in what appeared to be mid air, hundreds upon hundreds of small silver craft, some with a larger dome than others, these he assumed rightly were the two man fighters, the others had a single dome, along the wall on the floor stood huge craft that had to be transporters, all of the craft just hung in the air or just above the floor, there was a faint shimmer under each craft but nothing else to hold them up.

Jopty settled the craft to the floor of the bay and reached upward to flick his finger at a small red dot near his head, the humming of the drive disappeared and the craft sat there as the front darkened again surrounding the two inside.

“What do we do now General?”

“I will just fill in a couple of things for you so you know what to expect Sir, then we go out there and they will greet you.”

“But I’m a bloody mess, wont they snigger or something?”

“Definitely not Sir, you are the Commander, they would never do that Sir, they all know the way you have had to live on earth, there will never be anything said about your appearance Sir.”

“So what now?”

“Well Sir the first ones to come to you will be your guard, they will have red tunics, they will kneel and give the oath to you, next will be the operational staff, they will be in green tunics, the rest of the crews will stay where they are and give the oath from there, the pilots will be in blue tunics and the troops in brown, the station crew will be dressed in grey tunics, we don’t use insignia except for yours Sir.”

“What will mine be?”

“You will see it Sir when you come from stasis, it will be attached while you are in there.”

“Hmm, well ok.”

“Are you ready now Sir?”

“S’pose so General.”

“I will translate for you Sir until your biosync is opened, the greeting must be in our language as well as the oath Sir.”

“Fine let’s do it General.”

The sides of Cameron’s craft disappeared and the two youngsters stepped out, Cameron heard a growing rumble like thunder as he stepped out and onto the floor of the bay, the rumble grew in intensity as he was escorted by Jopty to the centre of the bay to stand alone in an area that seemed to go onto nothingness forever.

The rumble became indistinct words as the ten thousand throats spoke out as one.

“KASON BEDAT BESAT KHAMRUNE, KASON TISAY OTA BESAT KHAMRUNE,KASON VENASAMAT BESAT KHAMRUNE.”

“We see Commander Khamrune, we stand for Commander Khamrune, we welcome Commander Khamrune.”

Everyone in the bay then knelt down on one knee bringing their right hand upward to their chin with the edge of the hand facing outward like a knife blade, their heads bowed.

What appeared to be about four hundred men dressed in red tunics and holding in their right hand a small short silver staff with a top like a pyramid about four inches across, marched in perfect step toward where Cameron stood with Jopty

Behind him, the troops turned to the right and then when they were all standing at attention in front of Cameron in four long ranks they went to their knee as the others were and laid their staff on the floor with the pyramidal tip facing Cameron.

“KASON BREY SEFIET ASMAN DOW MISTAN PITA KODURE ABA BREY KRAMADAL SIPI BESAT KHAMRUNE.”

“We the loyal lay our staff and life to the defence of Commander Khamrune.”

As soon as he had spoken Jopty stepped back and four of the guard picked up their staffs and approached Cameron as he stood alone, Cameron looked frantically about but no one was close enough to help as the four guards came closer, the staffs in their hands began to hum and as he watched the shafts grew longer until they were long enough to reach above his head, the guards then stood around him forming a square then tilted the staffs forward at the tip until they touched, there was a hiss and then Cameron found himself surrounded by a blue glow as the staffs formed a pyramid around him, the guards stepped back leaving the staffs in position.

Cameron heard Jopty’s voice clearly behind him.

“Besat Khamrune, this energy field cannot be broken by anything we know of, it will always be ready to protect you, after stasis you will also have your own field but this one is for the guards to make sure you are never harmed, there will be always thirty guards with you where ever you go except your private quarters which have their own field for your protection.”

Cameron watched as twenty eight more guards joined those near him, taking up positions the same as the others in the form of a square, the other guards rose from their feet and returned to their original place at the head of the rest of the station staff.

Next came the one hundred green tunics who also now knelt before him with the single hand salute.

“KASON BREY MILLIDAEMIAN DESTAP BRINAM SKOPMAN, BESAT KHAMRUNE.”

“We the officers await your commands, Commander Khamrune.”

At the last of the oath by the officers and as they went back to their places near the other of Cameron’s personal guards, the rest of the crew began with the thundering rumble again as they gave their oath.

“KASON BREY SOMATA SIPI TALIMATA KHAMRUNE DESTAP BRINAM SKOPMAN ABA PREFIS NINAL BRIDAXMAN SIF BREY GAND SIPI BRIDAX, BESAT KHAMRUNE.”

“We the crew of station Khamrune await your commands, to follow until reissue at the hall of Bridax, Commander Khamrune.”

Cameron heard a voice near to him but still outside the square of energy around him.

“Sir there is no need for you to speak to them, if you would be so kind as to nod to the assembled they will know you have accepted them and will then disperse to their duties, I will escort you to the stasis room and prepare you for your biosync opening.”

Cameron followed the advice and as soon as he had nodded the crowd began to break up and head out of the bay, Cameron now began to see the real size of the hanger area as the men went to their duties until only his personal guard and Jopty stood there alone in the vast space of the floor.

The four original guards stepped forward and took up their staffs and they began to quickly retract back to their usual length of about twelve inches, Jopty stepped forward.

“Sir would you follow me and I will take you through to stasis now.”

“Jeez General this is a bit much to take all in.”

“It will all be clear after stasis Sir, this way please.”

Cameron followed Jopty to a small silver circle on the floor noticing that all the guards were already standing on one of them, Jopty touched the small bracelet on his arm and the disc lifted without a sound carrying the two of them forward, Cameron tried not to show the shock of the movement and sudden lift to the others as it began to gain speed and whisk them along the length of the bay toward the far end where the wall disappeared and they passed through it without a door being seen.

Jopty almost let Cameron see a smile as he looked over at his Commander.

“The station is controlled by the bio-magnesium-mass, it is like a computer on earth but much more advanced, it is part living cells and part energy, when you come from stasis you will have a direct linkage to it at all times, you will only have to think a command and it will be obeyed or you can ask for assistance with a problem and it will give you the answers you want.”

“That’s some computer General, what if it gets damaged, what happens then?”

“It can’t be damaged Sir, it is protected as well as you are Sir, there is only one person that can go into its shelter, that’s you Sir, it will only recognise your biosync so that anyone else trying to approach it will be destroyed before they can get into the shelter.”

“What happens if the stations is destroyed though?”

“That would be most unlikely Sir, but in the event that it did happen it would be self contained and wait for you to join it and then take you to our home world to be given another station and crew to continue your command.”

“Wait a minute, you said another crew, why?”

“Oh if the station was destroyed Sir we would all perish and could not go to the Hall of Bridax to be reissued, but your survival will always be assured by the bio Sir, your life span must be protected until you have fulfilled your duties.”

Cameron noticed that regardless of where they went, up shafts or along halls, through walls or down long tunnels that the guards were at all times placed two in front and two behind him close enough to almost touch if he reached out with an arm.

The other twenty eight were in two lines either side of the four guards around him, half in front and the rest behind and so forming a phalanx of red as they moved about the station.

“General, are the guards always like this?”

“Yes Sir they take their duty very seriously, your protection is all they know and have trained for, it is all they live for, they can’t be bribed or coerced in any way, the only way they will leave you is when they perish or are sent to reissue.”

“What’s the youngest and oldest people here General?”

“The youngest is a mere boy of 80 earth years Sir, I am the oldest, most of your Staff are about 150 earth years old sir, because of your younger years and the need for many of us to go to earth later the Gandule selected the youngest people they could to follow you.”

“Damn, young boys that are 80 years old is going to be hard to take.”

“Now Sir how many intimates would you like to care for you?”

“Hell I don’t know, what about half a dozen is that about right?”

“Six Sir, is that all you will need?”

“How many do the other Commanders usually have then General?”

“Most of them have between twenty and thirty Sir, but don’t worry if the six is not enough you can ask for more when you are feeling comfortable and are used to the stations systems.”

“Well thanks General; yes I think six will be plenty to handle for now.”

“Very good Sir, they will be waiting for you when you come back from stasis.”

Jopty took Cameron into another vast room, it was lined with panels that looked a little like teak wood but shimmered like polished steel, in the centre of the room was a small metal cabinet laying on its side with the top open, looking inside Cameron could see what looked like pink jello half way to the top.

There was a faint smell of some kind of flower coming from it, not strong but just noticeable, at the strange look on his face Jopty spoke.

“We have made it smell like your earth lavender for you so it will seem familiar, if you would care to strip off your clothes and lay down in it, I will set it to your body state and then you will sleep and wake up in five days with full recall of your biosync.”

In somewhat of a daze Cameron stripped off his rags before he realized he was going to be naked in front of all these people, ‘to late’ he thought as his briefs hit the floor, shrugging his shoulders he stepped up and into the pink mass, much to his surprise he didn’t sink down into it but it but just seemed to flow away from his body then settle back around him until only his face was not covered, a soothing warmth engulfed him as he looked up at Jopty’s smiling face.

“In five Bitayan Commander Khamrune.”

The voice faded as sleep overtook him, his last thought was that he didn’t realise how tired he was, then blackness.

Cameron’s eyes opened to see his guards still standing beside the chamber and Jopty in front of them still smiling, Cameron’s forehead felt a little strange but apart from that he felt only fit and healthy, he stood up from the chamber and as he reached the floor he rubbed his brow and felt the strange roughness of three dots on his forehead.

“They are your insignia Sir.”

Jopty held out a gold coloured tunic so that Cameron could slip it on and cover himself, as he did so he glanced downward at himself and gave a start, his pride and joy had grown in length and thickness, where before he had only 5″ of normal thickness he now had a hard straight thick shaft of 7″, he looked questioningly up at Jopty.

“I hope you don’t mind sir but the Bio decided that you should be developed to enjoy your intimates a little better and the ahh…hardness is normal after stasis, your intimates will see to it for you if you will follow me I will take you to your quarters to rest.”

“Rest, I’ve just been asleep for five days?”

“Yes Sir your body has been resting but your mind has been very busy, it will need rest for a while and your…ahm… manhood needs to be taken care of as well.”

At the mention of the now new erection Cameron realised it was throbbing madly wanting him to get some relief quickly, Cameron followed Jopty to the nearest wall as it parted for him to walk down a short corridor to a wall that was decorated with many of the strange hieroglyphs he had seen in the space craft that brought him here five days ago but this time he could read them without trouble.

They told of his family’s history which seemed to stretch back millions of earth years into the past, as he neared the wall the guards and Jopty stopped a short distance from it.

“Whats the matter General, oh that’s right, my field, well thank you General Jopty for your help, I will see you later.”

“Yes Sir, your guards will wait here for your return.”

“Thank you General.”

Cameron turned and walked to the wall and as he neared it, it opened for him and for the first time he saw his quarters, even though he knew them intimately from his biosync he was still amazed at the first actual sight of them, the reception area was large enough to hold forty or fifty people at the same time and still have space to move around, but this time there were only six young boys standing there with huge smiles on their faces, they were dressed in sheer white tunics that were almost see through and as Cameron watched them with his rigid member pulsing at the added sight the Asian boy of about 16 came to him.

The first time Cameron had seen him was in an arcade playing games, he had not spoken to him that time but he had made a real impression on him with his flashing dark eyes and the lithe movements of his body as he twisted and turned at the game machine.

“Welcome home Besat, may I service you now?”

Cameron stood as the boy neared him and went down on his knees gently reaching for Cameron’s hard shaft, the delicate slim hands and fingers of this beautiful china doll like figure loosened the metallic cord holding Cameron’s tunic and slid the clasp loose then reached inside and eased out Cameron’s new boyhood.

Cameron was not sure if it was still all true but when the Asian boy had completed his efforts; Cameron looked at the other waiting boys as one of them spoke for the first time.

“Besat may we bathe you now?”

Still twitching from the almighty orgasm Cameron nodded his head in agreement as he wasn’t sure his voice would hold out long enough for him to speak.

The other five boys came to him and caressed his body as they removed his tunic fully and led him to the bathroom where the sunken tub was more like a large indoor swimming pool and spa pool combined, soaps and scents were arranged around the pool for the boys to use.

While the boys stripped off their tunics Cameron made his unsteady way toward the steps leading down into the pool, the first contact with the water sent a warm shiver through his body as he settled down in the water.

All the boys were in the pool in no time, each with something different in their hands, soft clothes, fragrant soaps, smooth warm oils, Cameron felt hands moving all over him in a twelve handed massage as they worked oil into his muscles then used the scented soaps to wash him all over, Cameron had no idea how long it took all he knew was that he had died and gone to the garden of Eden for gay guys.

An impish face appeared before his eyes, he recognised the face of the young guy he had seen at the railway station with a bag on his shoulder and ragged jeans with a torn tee-shirt last year, he was going to go and help the kid but he had been to slow and an older guy had taken him away before Cameron could get to him.

Cameron had seen him only once more after that, it was the next morning and he had found the boy laying in an alley with finger marks around his throat where he had been strangled and left naked near a dumpster for the street cleaners to take away, it was the first time that Cameron had really cried for someone else when he saw the limp little figure in the dirty morning light, now he was here with him alive and asking for a kiss.

Cameron leaned forward and accepted the soft sweet young lips onto his own, a small hot tongue tip poked askance on his own now demanding lips; they slipped inside to run over his teeth and further into his mouth tasting Cameron with desperate need.

Cameron lifted his arms and encircled the small blonde, blue eyed bundle and pulled him closer feeling his hard little 4″ nail pushing into his stomach as the impish figure thrust forward, the thought passed through Cameron’s mind as the tongue dove deeper.

‘Hell and I only asked for six of them.‘

To Be Continued

The Commander was Arthur’s first attempt at writing anything Sci-Fi. We hope you enjoy this little novela, as much as you have enjoyed Arthur’s other stories. You can write to Arthur at, Arthur at CastleRoland dot Net.