The Twilight Galaxy Motel
by Arthur
Chapter 1
Journal of Thomas Kilroy:
"Hi, my name is Thomas, I don't know how I ended up having to do this introduction but somehow the others have talked me into it, although in no way am I their leader or anything even resembling such a thing, you see, we don't have a leader of our small group, we are just a group of kids that happen to get along, others at our school call us many names but, the main ones seem to be, 'That group of misfits' or conversely 'Those Homo's' as well as many other less than flattering names that they think fit us."
"The reason I am here now is that "THEY" have asked us all to provide a Bio so that "THEY" can put it out on the general channel, sorry, more about "THEM" later, first I will have to explain how we got here in the first place, start at the beginning is what we have to do this time round, now where was I, right, school and our group."
"As I am sure you are all aware, the time of our lives when we find out we are gay is not an easy one, and, for it to become common knowledge at school just makes it that much harder as I am sure you must know or you wouldn't be reading this report. This all started with Marco, our resident butterfly, Marco will tell you more about himself in his own Bio but for now I will just say that he is a little flamboyant and very, very cute."
"It was on a Wednesday lunch break that Marco came up with the idea, he suggested we all pool our money and go to the next Hero Parade held in the nearby city, we all had a little money of our own, either by part time working or saving pocket money from our parents, for myself I worked after school at the local hardware shop, the others also had jobs in shops or take away places, there were also paper runs and lawn mowing, none of us were lazy, we all liked to do the best we could, even with the fact of being known gays in our small town."
"Well for us guys to get away for such an event brought us all instant happiness, all that remained now was for us to plan it all out, we had just over a week to get it all sorted, as the oldest, I had my driving license but no car or van to carry us all, this however was quickly fixed by the Twins, Barton and Baxter, wait till you see their Bio, their Father was the local car salesman, they said they would sort out a van to carry all of us, with their penchant for trouble making I was sure they would have no trouble and so, we had possible transport."
"Our next problem was where would we stay for the two days of the Parade and after party, we may be young teens but we were not stupid, we soon realised that this was rather a late time to be trying to organise something this big, it was also recognised that the Parade would cause a lot of the cheaper accommodation to be snapped up quickly, here Ivan came to the rescue, yes you will get to see his Bio as well, he was a good looking boy of European descent, more later, Ivan volunteered to look up Hotels and Motels on the internet and find us some accommodation at the right price."
"With most of the main things taken care of, we then had to decide if we were going to enter the Parade or just go to look, Romero, yes, yes, you will see his Bio as well, finally convinced us to just go and watch but to plan on wearing our most outrageous clothes just for the fun of it, the up coming trip was beginning to look new and exciting, we all finally agreed that we would cut the last class of school on the Friday afternoon and start out for the city right after, everything would have to be in the van the night before so we didn't have to mess about. As a final check list we all agreed that once we knew how much the accommodation was, we would all take an extra $100 for spending money, for those who didn't have this much we would all put in to bring them up to the same amount, it wasn't a lot of spending money for the prices in the city but at least we would all be on a level footing, it's just the way we were with each other."
"Over the next few days we finalised our plans, the Twins had asked their dad for a van, I don't know how they got him to agree but he did as long as I was the only one to drive it, it would seat all seven of us and have space left for our luggage he promised, there were only two of the boys that we had to help with their spending money, Romero gave most of his wages to his family to help them out but he had enough for the accommodation and if he held back his full wages next week we only had to put in $20, the Twins soon volunteered to do that as well as top up Marco who only had a paper round and spent most of his small wages on clothes, the Twins family were the local rich people of the town, their Father was also the Deputy Mayor, they never flashed their wealth around but were always the first to help one of us if we needed it, it was just in their nature, much like their penchant for making trouble."
"Ivan finally tracked down some accommodation, he told us that he had tried over thirty Hotels and Motels, most were full or just too expensive, I mean who in their right mind would pay $400 a night for a bed? He must have spent hours before he found one that had some free rooms, as it turned out it was one room but it would only cost us $20 a night each as it was a share room, so for the two nights we would be in the city it was only going to be $40 each, we couldn't believe our luck when he told us about the Twilight Galaxy Motel, it was evidently a brand new Motel just on the edge of the city limits, it meant we would only be about thirty minutes away from where the Parade was to be held, some things were just meant to be I guess."
"Our last member was Noah, just wait till you see his Bio, Noah was an African American, when you call someone Black then you better think of Noah, beside him even the darkest night looked like full sunlight, however you will have to wait for his Bio as well, Noah was one of the best organisers and finders of bits and pieces I had ever seen, it didn't matter what you needed, Noah could always find it or make it, in a way, Noah was really quite a genius, he was our Mr. Fixit man."
"Well, after the week wound its way slowly to Friday, we finally were ready to cut class and get under way, we all arranged to meet in the car park at 2pm. Sharp, by 2.05pm. We hoped to be on our way, of course as we all know, that bloody Murphy guy stepped in and it was not until 2.07pm. That we left, it seems that Marco suddenly realised he had on the wrong coloured laces and needed to change them, that boy will be the death of us yet. The van was really nice, I think the Twins dad didn't want them in some old piece of junk on a trip like this, I swear those two could talk the gold fillings out of Gods teeth. There was ample room in the van and the seats were large and comfortable, the transmission was automatic so I had little to do but keep the van on the road, by keeping strictly to the speed limit, we should reach our destination just before midnight, a long drive for me even with the stops for fuel and food, but one that was exciting and full of hopeful adventure as we were evenly split between virgins and non virgins but more of that later."
"I will not go into detail about the things that happened on the trip just to say it was interesting to say the least, mainly due to the Twins certain liking for fun and trouble, however we did make it to the Twilight Galaxy Motel at 15 minutes to midnight, one glance and we thought we had made a mistake, the Motel was all shiny glass and steel or something resembling steel, it had a central large dome with a number of short finger like off shoots placed around it in even spacing, it looked much like a cog wheel on its side, just the look of the place and I thought we had made a mistake about the price, there was no way a place like this charged only $20 a night. With a strange sinking feeling we decided to go on in and get the bad news, Ivan led the way as he was the one that had made the booking."
"When we entered the reception area, I got the feeling again that we had made a mistake, it was modern and reeked of luxury, the chairs around the reception were of real leather and the small tables were of some sort of opaque glass, the young man behind the counter looked to be no more than twenty one or so, he was well dressed in a pale grey fitted suit with a nice light blue tie with little silver stars on it, his blonde hair was brushed back and cut short on the sides, his eyes were the sort of blue that you see in an aquamarine gem stone, he had a wide smile on his face as we walked in, it gave me the feeling that we were expected."
"Ivan walked up to the reception desk and asked, rather nervously, if the young man had his booking for six under the name of Ivan Waleski, the man looked at the screen in front of him and smiled even wider then said, "Mr. Waleski, yes your booking is ready, would you like me to take you to your room, I'm sure you must all be tired from the long trip, please, would you all just place your finger on this plate and I will take you there." And that was all we had to do to book in to this luxury Motel, there was no mention of when we had to pay or how much it was really going to cost us, Ivan at one stage tried to mention it but the young man just said it was not a problem, they would settle everything when we were ready to book out on Sunday. We all placed our forefinger on the plate and then he led us through the reception and down a short, well appointed corridor to a silvery looking door."
"The young man flashed some sort of card at the door and it opened into a very large round room, it looked nothing like any idea of a Motel room I had ever seen or thought about, it was circular in shape and the roof was all clear glass, we could see straight up to the stars that were shining brightly down on us, the beds, if you could call them that, were more like reclining couches, there was a wide space between each one with a bulge protruding some three feet out from the wall, around the room were what I assumed to be twelve beds/couches, six of them were separated from us by some sort of opaque wall, our six beds were the only ones visible, stranger and stranger. Of course you will notice I said only six beds for seven of us, well you didn't think the twins would have separate beds did you?"
"The young man looked at us all and then said, "I'm sure you will want to clean up first, if you just place your finger on this small panel here on the wall, your private bathroom will open for you, it has its own toilet built in as well, your bags can be placed in the locker at the end of your beds and your personal items can be safely put in the bedside cabinet, you may leave your day wear in that basket, it will be cleaned tonight and placed on the locker ready for you to wear when you want it, I'll say good night and thank you for staying at the Twilight Galaxy Motel. With this said, the young man turned and left us alone, all we could do was look around with our mouths open in wonder, it was of course Marco, that made the first move, "I'm for a shower, lets try this all out. So saying, Marco shimmied out of his tight fitting clothes to reveal only a small thong under his jeans and then placed his finger on the plate by one of the beds."
"As we all stood and watched our resident butterfly strip, we heard a very soft hiss and the bulge on the wall slid sideways into the wall revealing a room just about big enough for four people, in the far corner, folded up against the wall was what looked like the underside of a toilet bowl, a small shelf filled with bottles ran down one wall and the rest of the room was covered in white tiles at the centre of which was a pale grey round disk, as Marco stepped into the room we just caught the sound of a voice as the wall closed once again, the soft hiss brought us all back to the here and now and so we all decided to take the same opportunity to shower before sleeping."
"When I walked into the small closet bathroom, the door slid shut with a quiet hiss, immediately a soft male voice came from somewhere in the room, "Good evening honoured guest, if this is your first time using our facilities please say 'yes' the voice stopped so I said 'Yes' it continued, "welcome again honoured guest, to use this facility, please place your finger on the small plate by the door then tell me what temperature you prefer, after doing this please remove all clothing and place it in the drawer provided." At this a small drawer opened in the wall waiting for my boxers to be put in, I did this and the drawer closed with another soft hiss. "Please stand in the centre of the room on the circle shown, the water will automatically start, you may use any of the bottled soaps and shampoos provided, when you have had as long as you desire, say 'stop, dry' and stay on the circle until you are completely air dried, thank you for using this facility" "What else could I do but follow the instructions, what followed was not only a very erotic type of shower, but one of the most satisfying as well, I found that by pushing down harder with one foot, I could increase the power of the jets and there were a lot of jets, I was showered from all directions, front, back, sides, top and even from underneath, at the end I called for the 'stop, dry function and was immediately washed over with warm air until I was dry, I now felt ready for a long sleep."
"When I stepped out of the shower, some thirty minutes later, it was to see my friends also had just come out, the look on their faces was one of stunned excitement, we all looked as though we were ready for sleep, it had been a long day, I went and sat on the edge of the strange bed, immediately another male voice spoke from the top of the bed, I had not even noticed that all of us were still naked from our shower, the voice began to explain the workings of the strange bed."
"Good evening honoured guest, as you are a new guest I would like to explain your sleeping platform for you, if you would lay down and pull up the cover provided, I will continue to explain."
"I did as asked and pulled the very thin silky type of sheet over my naked body, as my head hit the very soft pillow the voice continued."
"If you wish for privacy you may ask for the 'Privacy Panels" they will automatically lift into place around your area, if you wish to view the current TV channels please ask, to keep your bed and surroundings at the right temperature, I will now activate the bed covers."
"As the voice said this I heard another soft hum, from the foot of the bed a thin membrane of plastic started to unfold and move up the bed until it was just under the height of my shoulders, from over my head another thin clear membrane also moved into place until it was overlapping the lower one but not touching me, next a clear sheet came down and on it were the TV channels available, Ha, I had my own heads up display, just for fun I asked for channel 26, it was my favourite live cop channel, immediately the channel came on and the sound was just by my ears, by turning my head I could see the others playing around as well, only Noah had activated his Privacy Panels but they soon dropped out of sight as he smiled at the rest of us, I don't know when I dropped off to sleep, but I left the TV on somehow, but I do remember taking one last look above me at the wide expanse of the stars overhead before the sand man came to put me out."
"When I awoke, I felt more refreshed than I had ever been, the only thing I found disconcerting was the roof full of stars, surely I had not slept all through the day, that, even for a teenager is almost impossible, as I lay there wondering, the familiar male voice spoke up."
"Welcome honourable guest, do you wish to have a meal, if so you may rise and dress, your clothes are now clean and ready for you, please follow the red line outside the door to your dining room, all doors will be activated by your finger print on any panel provided."
"The voice switched off and I looked around as I lifted my naked body from the bed, the others were also now waking and getting ready to dress, my mouth felt the usual gumminess of morning, I needed to clean my teeth, after dressing in yesterdays now clean clothes, I palmed the bathroom door plate, it hissed open and I stepped in, as an experiment I said, 'toothbrush please' suddenly a small drawer opened in the wall and something round and slim lay in the drawer, that damned voice spoke up again"
"Honoured guest, this is a sonic tooth cleaner, please pick up and push the button on the handle, run it once over your teeth to clean them completely, thank you."
"I switched on the strange cylinder, it gave off a very low powered hum but with no evident light or bristles, taking the voices advice I ran it over my teeth both inside and outside, within seconds my mouth felt clean and, even after testing my breath, I found it to be flavoured with a minty smell, this little item I would love to take home with me, I wonder if they would sell me one although it probable cost thousands to make."
"I rejoined the others and made ready for breakfast, let's go eat guys, I called out to them, I also noticed that the other six beds were now open and empty, it looks as though the other guests were ahead of us. We all made our way out of the door and looked down, there on the floor was a wide red line I had not seen the previous night, following that, we all eventually came to the dining room and it was there that we saw our other guests, they also were six young teens, next to their table was another round empty one, it must have been for us, we waved to the other boys and went to sit down."
"The chairs were more like large office chairs than the usual dining chairs, the backs were high enough for us to lean back into, from mine, just close to my ear, came the voice again, I could see that the others were hearing it as well."
"Welcome honoured guests, to order please place your finger on the plate in front of you one at a time to order."
"The others looked at me for some reason so, shrugging my shoulders, I placed my finger on the plate."
"Welcome honoured guest Thomas, do you wish to order?"
"Thank you, I would like scrambled eggs with garlic chives chopped into it, four rashers of crispy bacon, two rounds of medium toast and a large fresh orange juice please."
"Please wait."
"There was a soft 'ding' and the centre of the table lowered only to rise again about ten seconds later, on the circle was my plate, exactly as I had ordered it, beside the plate was a set of cutlery laying on a white cloth napkin, I reached forward and pulled my order in front of me. Noah was next to me and placed his finger on the plate."
"Welcome honoured guest Noah, do you wish to order?"
"Yes thank you, may I have a medium rare topside steak with collard greens and griddle potatoes, also a large fresh orange juice?"
"The same performance continued, each order arrived perfectly within seconds, this was some Motel service, we all settled down to eat although I had doubts that Marco would force four very large waffles with maple syrup and whipped cream down into his small belly, how wrong I was, that boy could eat a whole cow and have room for ice cream."
"When we had eaten our meal and had sat for a few minutes to let it all settle, there came another 'ding' from over our heads and a voice said."
"Welcome all gests to the Twilight Galaxy Motel, as an added service to our honoured guests we invite you all to the main reception hall for a meet and greet in five minutes, to find the reception hall, please follow the blue line outside the dining room door, thank you for staying at the Twilight Galaxy Motel."
"Now that was strange, when we came in we had followed a red line and there was definitely no blue line there, after looking at each other as well as the boys on the other table, all thirteen of us rose and made our way to the door, on opening it, sure enough, the red line had disappeared and in its place was a wide blue one, how weird is that?"
"Before I go into what happened next I want to pause here and write down all our Bio's, it seems the right place to do it before I unveil what was to come."
Bio Entry of Thomas Kilroy:
"Well, as you know, my name is Thomas, Thomas Kilroy, I'm seventeen and doing reasonably well in school, I'm 5'9" not bad in the shoulders but my Mom, (I don't have a Dad) says I have a sparrows waste and small hips, my hair is dark brown and quite straight, I keep it cut short on the back and sides but a bit longer on the top, I have brown eyes and I suppose I'm not that bad to look at, well I'm not ugly anyhow, I used to love to be involved in all sports, football, soccer, swimming, baseball, basketball, anything and everything until they found out I liked boys, suddenly I was an outcast with all the friends I thought I had on the various teams, now I just concentrate on my martial arts which I have been doing since the age of six, I suppose I should not brag but I do hold second Dan in Tae Kwando and dabble a bit in Kendo which I suppose is not too bad for a white boy in his teens, in school I get the odd A- but mostly B+ but do ok none the less, well Mom's happy anyway."
"For many months after being outed by one of the soccer team members, I was alone and yes, quite miserable, I had no idea how I would get by for the remaining years in school, it was only my reputation and the knowledge of my martial arts that kept the usual bullying from happening, others were not as fortunate which is how we got our own little group going."
"I suppose you want to know about the personal stuff like my boy bits, well it's nothing startling, I'm about average, that's to say about 6" and average thick but hey, it's my toy not yours, I'm not a virgin but have really only had two experiences of boy sex, ok so I'm no slut but that's the way I am, now it's time for Noah to do his bit."
Bio Entry of Noah Washington:
"Hey, I'm Noah, Noah Washington, yeah cheesy but that's my name, I'm 5'10" and sixteen years old and slim, I'm into swimming in a big way, my Mama says I should have gills as if there is water around, hot or cold, I want to be in it, my hair of course is black and crinkly but I keep it cut really short, like a number one all the time, the others sometimes call me 'Shadow' because I am really black, Marco, our resident butterfly says if I don't smile at night they would never find me, he got a good tickle for that one, made his face all red and he nearly wet himself, I suppose I am above average in the boy department, well considerably above average if what I hear is true about a lot of the white boys, I work hard in school and do well, mostly A's and A- but Mama is happy and can see me going on to do good things although she was not too happy when she found out she would not be having grandkids from me, there is only her and I, the old man lit out some time ago and haven't seen him since I was five, unlike Thomas, I am still a virgin but, not for the want of trying, the guys I have been with were quite happy until they saw what they had to work with, and then that was that, well time to let our butterfly have his say."
Bio Entry of Marco Desilva:
"Uhm, hello, I'm Marco Desilva, my Daddy is European and my Mummy is Pilipino, I take after her mostly, I'm 5'1" and weigh about 40 Kilo's, that's about 85 lb's. In your world, I'm still having trouble finding my pubes yet and I know I'm really small down there, still I think I would like to be a bottom when it happens, and I hope that's damn soon, the others call me a butterfly a lot but really I'm not 'THAT' flamboyant, I just like bright colours and dressing really jazzy, when you're my size you have to do something to get noticed. I'm fourteen years old and still can't understand why the others pulled me into their group, but I'm real glad they did or I would be spending most of my school days in hospital, there are some really thick jocks at school, I really think they are only after my body though, Ha, I should be so lucky, my skin is that sort of golden colour with black straight hair, (I had to have something straight about me) and my eyes are like most Asians, sort of black and brown at the same time, Noah often says he could hold my butt in one of his hands so you can see I am no way fat but I am not going to say I'm skinny either, I'm just put together for comfort, well I have to go, it's Ivan's turn, bye-bye."
Bio Entry of Ivan Waleski:
"Ok, ahh, Hi, I'm Ivan Waleski, as you probably guessed, I'm of Eastern European descent, my grandparents came from Yugoslavia in the thirties, I'm sixteen years old and not really into sports much, I like the cerebral games like chess and believe it or not poker, I'm also into computers in a big way, I'm about 5'7" tall and weigh about 130lbs. So I'm slender but really fit, I do like to run a lot, helps when the bullies are after you because they found out I like boys, I'm still a virgin but not for the want of trying, my boy parts I suppose are about average but I seem to be hard all the time, not that I'm complaining but it would be nice to have the time and place to ease the tension, I don't do too bad in school, mostly in the B range but that's good enough for me, all I want to do when I finish school is go into design work, I have no intention of going to some overpriced university to waste five years of my life when I could be learning what I really need to know, well, it's time to let the rest of our little gang have their say, so I'm out of here for now."
Bio Entry of Romero Sanchez:
"Hola, my name is Romero Jose Alliende Caldera Sanchez, yep, that's really my name, Mexican parents have this thing about big names, it's the kids that have to suffer, I think that's their plan all along or its a catholic thing about suffering, well now let me get the details right for you, I am in this country alone, yep, no green card but that's another story, I am fifteen, 5'6" and slender, or thin if you want to be rude, I'm also a bottom, yep I've been there and done that, that's how I got here to start with, what can I say about my looks, I'm a young Mexican teen, what else do I need to say, now as to how I got here, well I was living on the streets of Cancun after running away from home at twelve, you can guess how I made my living, finally this really nice old gringo picked me up one night and, after a few days of fun and money, he asked me if I would like to come back here with him, where I was living, who would not say yes, so I came here, he paid a lot of money for me to go to school and learn to speak and read English until I started to get too old for him, but he was a good and fair man, he said he will pay for my schooling until I am sixteen, he has a new young boy friend now but lets me live in a small flat over his garage, when I got to the high school, I was in a big fight with some jocks and next thing I knew, Thomas and Noah were helping me and so I became a part of the group, I am very glad I did, they are all neat guys and look after me very well, ok so that's all from me, now it's the twins turn, I think I like Baxter the best, I would like to be with him some time if he wanted a homeless Mexican boy who is a good bottom ."
Bio Entry of Baxter and Barton Sutton:
"Well where do we start, I'm Barton and next to me is my twin brother Baxter, we do everything together except sex, well neither of us has done that yet, oh yeah we have a little hand session but that's all, I really think Pencil Dick (Baxter) has the hots for one of our friends but he won't tell me which one but hey, he's my brother so I have a pretty good idea, it's the way he stares at Romero, I'm sure that's who he likes but doesn't know how to go about it, ok that's his problem, now back to us, Baxter said I had to do this Bio cause I'm the youngest, come on, one and a half minutes? Right, well we are both fifteen, we look the same, we do everything together and just love to have fun and cause confusion, what twins don't, we are truly identical twins, if we want to have a game of guess who, we can pull it off real easy, we are 5'7" and really red hair and yes a lot, of freckles, my boy bits are about one inch shorter than Pencil Dick but way more thicker that's why he's got that name, he is about 6" but very thin, just like a long thin pencil, me? Well I got the handful, Ha, teach him a lesson, we both do well in school apart from playing around and we are both into computers and programming in a big way, our Parents are quite well off so we have few problems but, the best part of our days is being with our group of misfits, they all seem to have the same attitude to the world because of being pushed out of the regular groups but I think that is what makes us so strong together. Ok that's all of us so we can go back to Thomas; we sort of had a quiet vote and chose him to be our "leader" for this trip."
Journal Entry of Thomas Kilroy:
"Hi, it's me again, Thomas, well there's all our Bio's, we are now following the blue line along this wide passage, there seems to be a lot more teens joining us as we go, it's funny, when we booked into the Twilight Galaxy Motel, there didn't seem to be that many rooms, somehow I have a funny feeling, all is not what it seems, still we will have to wait and see what happens at the Meet and Greet. From here on I'm going to let the Narrator continue the story, my mind is starting to become confused with what's going on, so perhaps you will hear more from us later."
Narrator:
The boys walked along following the blue line, the groups of others joined them and it soon became apparent that there were many more boys in this Motel than they had at first thought. Finally they came to a wide metal door, beside the door stood another of the young well dressed men of the Twilight Galaxy Motel, he was in front of a small table, as each boy arrived at the table, the young man gave them a black polished box about the size of the average shoe box, he asked each boy to place his thumb on the small circle on top of the box and then enter the doorway.
Our seven boys followed the instructions and then entered, what they saw inside brought them to a halt in their tracks, they had entered a space that looked to be the size of the old Roman Coliseum, filing into the huge space were literally thousands of teen boys from all over the world, Asians, Africans, Latin Americans, Europeans and North Americans, there seemed to be a smattering of every racial mix on Earth, Thomas tried to estimate the numbers and gave up, there had to be more than 20,000 teens in the huge space.
The large space was tiered and there were many different entrances around the large circle, at the centre and down below on what could be called the floor of the space, was a small podium like structure, it was surmounted by a large round frame much like a screen but it was not solid just the circle of the outer frame, the boys finally found a place to sit, the seats were quite comfortable once they sat down, each place was well padded with a soft fabric of some sort.
After another few minutes and, as the last teens entered to take a seat, I single man who looked small way down in the centre of the large open space, stepped onto the podium and bowed five times to the boys seated around the outer edge, the man then stood up and did something on the podium, instantly the empty frame like circle filled out to be a hologram of the man below, it must have been a 360 degree image as everyone there gasped as the smiling face of the man filled the circle, slowly the man began to speak.
"Welcome honoured guests; my name is Cur Ketsika Kollidan Brassidian Messanian, or in your language, Father Ketsika, we all wish to welcome you here on the Rescue Ship Khaladasian 646."
There was suddenly an undercurrent of whispers and moans as this information came out, the man on the podium lifted his hands and then gently asked for quiet and he would explain it all for them.
"I know you all feel as though you have been fooled and in a way you have but it was for a good purpose, your world as you knew it no longer exists, before I go into a full explanation I would like you to open the black box you were given, by placing your thumb on the disc."
There was a muted shuffling as all the teens began to do as asked, once they stilled, the man continued.
"In the right hand corner is a clear disc with a red dot in the centre, this is a neural translator, if you would be so kind as to place this disc on your right temple as shown by the hologram."
All the boys in the place looked up at the hologram and saw a diagram of where the disc should be placed, as they placed the disc on their temples, they felt a small pinch then a warmth, within seconds it was no longer noticeable, they all looked down at the man once again.
"Thank you, you can now hear me in our common language of Khaladasian, it is easier than having to use all the translators for your many varied language groups from Terra 746 or Earth as you call it. Now, the reason you are here is we are a rescue mission, to make it clearer for you all, I will tell you what has happened on your own planet."
There was a pause while Father Ketsika let the boy's noise die down until it reached a level he could talk to them.
"Honoured guests, on the 26 th of March 2013 your time, a country you call Iran, fired nuclear devices buried in most of the oil fields of Terra, after the initial explosions and on the 2 nd of April 2013 another country by the name of North Korea, launched a nuclear attack on Japan, this lead to an all out war with the use of nuclear weapons by most countries, by the 17 th of May 2013, the war was over and most of the population of Terra746 was dead or dying from the fallout of the weapons, I am going to project a picture of the current status of Terra 746, or your Earth as it is today, which I must tell you is now 30 th of June 2585 if you were still on Terra 746."
The hologram changed and all the boys saw was a barren and lifeless planet, the oceans were still there and still blue but the land was nothing more than a barren desert waste, nothing grew and only the white polar caps made any colour in the vastness of brown dead land, from many places in the coliseum came the sniffles of weeping boys, none had yet fathomed that the man had said what the date was, the horror shown on the screen was too much for them to understand, only a few saw what religious bigotry, greed and ignorance had done to a once great planet and now, they were the only survivors.
"Honoured guests, I must continue, the hearts of all the peoples of Khaladasian go out to you, the last survivors of the Terra 746 race, as such our governing body has given you all the status of M.R.L.O., I will explain this a little later after I have detailed all you need to know. Firstly, the Khaladasian system is made up of 17 planets, in the cosmos there are some 786 worlds with life forms of varying degrees, however, Khaladasian has been a viable inhabited live planet for some 400,000 of your years, we as a people are very long lived, we are also what you would call, Hermaphrodites, that is to say we can be both male and female although our female side only appears once in 50 of your years, it is the only time we can conceive and give birth, however, over our long lives, we have found that our genetic codes are weakening, we need a new infusion of fresh DNA, when we found out about the impending disaster on your world we sent this ship to rescue as many of you as we could in the time remaining, there are some 17,000 of you boys here, that equates to 1,000 for each of our planets."
"As you can see, you are at present divided up into sectors, after we have finished here you will be able to all congregate in the common room and meet each other, now more on this ship first, it is 17 kilometres long, 5 kilometres wide and 1.5 kilometres high, when you are finished here you will have totally free rein to enter any part of the ship you wish to go to, all the crew will answer any and all of your question if you have any, there are twenty games rooms set up for your enjoyment through out the ship."
"Now the big question of where we are and how you have survived for 510 years, the beds you were in were stasis beds, we are now 156 light years from Terra 746, we have another 97 light years to reach Khaladasian Prime where you will be greeted as hero's and M.R.L.O'S, we have decided to let you have seven of your days to look around the ship and then we would ask you to return to your beds for the remainder of our journey."
"I am sure you are thirsty after listening to me for so long, if you would press the blue button on your arm rest, it will give you a refreshing drink then we can continue."
There was a rustling of movement around the large open space, very quickly, each boy had a tall glass of a light blue liquid, they were soon sipping it and found it to be refreshing and they were all soon relaxed and not as fearful of what was going on or what they were being told, there was soon a very relaxed atmosphere in the large coliseum.
"Yes, as you can see the drink had a very mild sedative in it to help you calm after all this terrible news, now on to other things, when we arrive at Khaladasian Prime, you will be met by the planet governors, over the next five or six days, you will be allowed to select which world you would like to go to and who you would like to go with, some of you are in small friendship groups and some of you are in pairs of alone, it will be totally your decision as to where and how you wish to remain, remember, you are the most honoured guests of Khaladasian and its people."
"Next is the contents of your personal boxes, next to where you took the translators from is another triangle disc with green letters on it, if you would be so kind as to place this on your right upper arm just at the shoulder, this is to show you are M.R.L.O's and are therefore very special, although your appearance would certify that, this way it is verifiable even by those of other planetary races and that you are under the full and total protection of the Khaladasian planetary system."
"Now next are the two cards, the grey one is your personal data card, it carries all your genetic coding along with your age, picture and other details you may need, the red card is your personal credit card, the credit is the common currency of all star systems that we have had contact with, each of you has a deposit of 10,000 credits to your name, you may use it at your discretion when we make planet fall, as M.R.L.O's you will receive from the people of Khaladasian a sum of 5,000 credits for each of your months for life, as our thanks for your helping us with our fertility problems."
"The next item in the box is two sets of clothing, they are the green packs to the left of the box, each is a Sirrillion Silk suit, it will settle on your skin and all you need do is look into a mirrored surface and imagine the type of clothing you would like to wear, Sirrillion Silk is a phsi fabric, it can read your thoughts and wishes and change into what you would like, it is also impervious to wear or dirt as well as being able to maintain your desired body temperature, I am sure you will find it a lot more convenient than you old style of Terran clothing."
"Now for the last item in the box, it is your body belt, in it you can carry your cards, it also has four differently coloured cubes attached, the belt will form fit to your shape and can only be used by its intended wearer or owner, the first cube, is black, this will give you access to any doorway on any of the 17 planets or any of its ships or conveyances, the green cube is for your private vehicle, you place it at the door to open the vehicle and then into the arm of the chair for you to operate it, the blue cube is your medic unit, if you have an injury or something affects your health, lay down on your bed and place the cube on top of your wrist, after ten seconds, place the cube in your personal medi-care unit at the side of your bed and, when you wake up you will be healed."
"Lastly the red cube is your priority cube, if you wish to go off planet, use this cube at any ship station and it will give you priority status and make sure you are settled into a full suite for the journey, if there are no vacancies on the ship then it will insure you have priority and a place will be cleared for you, any travelling you do within the Khaladasian system is free for you to use, please remember, you boys are very valuable to us and are being accorded the highest honours we can bestow on anyone. Now I am going to let you all go and look around as well as meet each other, I am sure you all have a lot to think about, if you would all follow the green line once outside, it will take you all to the common rooms where you can get to know each other and talk over what you have heard today, remember, you are all very special, if you have any questions at all, ask any of the crew, they are honour bound to answer anything you may want to know, thank you all for your patience and understanding."
Journal Entry of Thomas Kilroy:
"Well it's me again, Thomas, I'm not sure how I feel just now, or how the others feel, there has been so much told to us in such a short time, it is very hard to get my head around the fact that we no longer have a home or that there is no one left for us to go to, another fact is that I really don't feel over 500 years old, how did they do that, that's if it is all true and not some bloody stupid dream, somehow I don't think it is, this thing on my temple proves one thing as well as the strange triangle I now wear, neither are uncomfortable, I don't even notice they are there."
"We are all silent as we follow the green line on the floor, I can see the others are also thinking about what has happened, one question I want to know is, why did the guy keep saying we were now M.R.L.O's and what the hell does that mean, I'm going to ask the first crewman what it is as soon as I see one, I'm sure the others want to know as well. It's funny, little butterfly, Marco is silent for the first time in, like ever, the poor kid is the youngest of us, I better go see if he's ok."
"Hey butterfly, you ok?"
"Hi Thomas, is all this true, has everyone we love gone now, are we all alone here, what are they going to do with us?"
"Well Marco, if what they tell us is true then it must be right, we will just have to wait and see what happens from now on but, one thing I do know, we are going to stick together, wherever we go it will be as a group, if half of what he said is true then we only have each other, don't worry little guy, the rest of us will look after you, you know that."
"I know Thomas, but I still feel down, I mean, there's no one left, all my family are gone and I didn't even get to say good bye."
"I watched as tears began to fall down his young cheeks, the little guy really had been hit hard as we all had but for him being the youngest, it seemed to get to him more than the rest of us, Noah came over when he saw Marco's tears, he put his long arms around the little guy and hugged him close, no words were needed."
"Finally we came to a large metal door, it hissed open as we neared it, from the inside came a cacophony of noise, the first thing I noticed was that I could understand everyone, it didn't matter what language they were speaking, I could plainly understand every word, so that verified that the translators were real, therefore, the rest must be real, looking around I was suddenly struck by the fact that here, in this very room, were the last remaining people of Earth, 17,000 teen boys, it had finally struck home, we are the last of our race, now what?"
"Our little group of seven stuck together as we moved around the huge room, it must have been over half a kilometre long and nearly as wide, even though most of the boys we saw had a stunned look on their faces it was plain to see that they believed every word we had been told so far, around the room were many long tables covered with food and drinks of every kind, the drink that seemed to be most favoured by most of the boys was a tall glass filled with an orange liquid, taking one from a nearby table, I took a sip, the heady sharp tang of alcohol hit my throat, I'm not much of a drinker but from what we have so far heard, what the hell, I could either celebrate our survival or drown my sorrows at the loss we had suffered, even little Marco took a glass followed by a huge gulp, what else could we do but bust out laughing as he choked and spluttered when the drink hit his tender throat, mind you, it didn't stop him from finishing the glass, his eyes went starry and then he began to giggle like a little girl, one drink wonder, the little guy was drunk already."
"Even though we moved around the room and talked to many of the others, we stayed as a group, somehow it felt good to have something normal close to us and our friends were as normal as we ever got, eventually we found a crew man, he was young, about our age I would guess, he had just finished talking to a couple of young Asian boys, when I coughed to get his attention, he suddenly bowed low and asked."
"Greetings Most Revered Loved One, how may I help you?"
"All I could do was smile; he had just answered my question of what M.R.L.O. meant, I was left with a smile on my face and nothing to say, I felt a little foolish until he smiled and patiently waited. Uhm, I'm sorry, but you just answered my question, I was going to ask you about the letters M.R.L.O."
"Oh, yes Most Revered Loved One, Cur Ketsika should have explained that for you all, it is now your title, you will find that all the people of Khaladasian will address you as such, you must believe, you boys are truly the only ones who can save our race, that is why we have gone to all this trouble to make sure you are well cared for and that you have everything you want, we wish to make your new home as happy as we can for you."
"But we don't live for very long, Father Ketsika said you were all very long lived, what happens when we die in sixty or seventy years?"
"Oh, Most Revered Loved One, you won't die for much longer than that, those cubes on your belt will see that you are never ill or that you ever age, not until you want to, Father Ketsika left out so much, he does that now and again, he is after all getting on towards his old age and forgets things."
"Oh, really, then just how old is he if I may ask such a question?"
"Father Ketsika, well he is now about 1,400 of your years old, poor old man, he has only about 200 of your years left, it is the twilight of his life now."
"Can I ask how old you are?"
"Of course Most Revered Loved One, nothing you ask will ever be refused, I am just a youngster, something like a preteen on your world, I have only just reached 150 of your years, it will be another 100 years before I can even think of becoming a sexual partner, I am still way too young for such things but I do look forward to it as many young boys do on Khaladasian."
"Do you have to call us by that long name all the time, I mean you can just call me Thomas?"
"Oh, no, no that would not be right, Most Revered Loved One, if I were to call you by your name it would be the most disrespectful and insulting thing I could do on Khaladasian, I would be very harshly reprimanded for such disrespect."
"But surely there is a way, it seems so long and we are not used to that sort of thing on our world?"
"Well, there is one form of address that is permissible, but it can only be used if you give your permission, even the Elders would have to ask permission from you."
"So, what is it?"
"If you gave permission, and it would have to be done by each and every boy when the time came, it is Mirl, for instance, and please don't think I am being too forward or showing disrespect for you, but if you agreed, then I could address you as, Mirl Thomas, please excuse my forwardness."
"That sounds great, right from now on you can call me Mirl Thomas."
"Oh, a thousand thanks for such an honour Mirl Thomas, I will never forget this great honour you have given me, I am your servant should you ever need me."
"It was funny to watch the teen bow again as he said these strange things to me although it did make my head swell a little, god knows what Marco would get up to if he knew, still I think it's only fair I tell them, this guy seems a really nice 'kid' if I can use that expression, "So what's your name then?"
"I am called Stilta; I will not be given a full name until I am old enough for my first sexual joining, if I may enlarge on that statement for you Mirl Thomas?"
"Please do Stilta, as you know this is all new to us, the more we know the less chance of insulting someone."
"Oh, Mirl Thomas, you could never insult any of us, you are one of the Most Revered Loved Ones, anything you say or do is always the correct thing, no one would ever doubt you or consider that you form an insult, it is unheard of on any Khaladasian planet. It is the practice of the Khaladasian to give a young one a short name at his birth, when he is sexually mature he is then given his full name, the first name for myself will be of course Stilta, then will be my sires name, then my birth sires name then the clan name and finally my position in societies name. When I have a full name I will be able to travel the stars and the system to visit other Khaladasians."
"I noticed that you all look much alike as far as hair and eye colour go, do all the other planets look the same as you; Stilta?"
"Oh no, Mirl Thomas, each planet in our system has a different hair and eye colour although our bodies are all the same and we are much of a muchness in height and weight, it is the hair and eyes that tells us where a Khaladasian is from, as you can see, all of us on this ship are of light yellow hair and our eyes are all silvery, this shows we are from Khaladasian Prime, if for instance, you meet a person from Khaladasian Sega, you will see he has brown hair and brown eyes, if he is from Khaladasian Doge, he will have green hair and green eyes and so on, I am sure you will eventually see them all, Mirl Thomas."
"The others had been looking all around but had stayed close, I thought it would be a good idea for them to meet Stilta and let him have their permission to use the short version of address, I turned to them after asking Stilta to stay for a minute, I quickly explained everything to the others, they all broke out into smiles and went about telling the flabbergasted Stilta that he could call them Mirl instead of the long version, to say he was overjoyed was putting it mildly, there was much bowing and smiles from Stilta as he met each one of the guys, I almost wanted to break out into a giggle at how formal it all was, we just were not used to all this formality."
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