The G. M. Os. - 30. Chapter 30 - A New Boy

Chapter 30
Ship Clock 263234
Adetitus 95-498g
A New Boy

 

“That’s him over there,” Randall said, “the one with the blue apron.”

He and the other man, Doremus, were sitting in a small café three blocks off Central Ring Highway in Third City on Ring 5. Each was enjoying a light fruit-filled pastry and a dark roast coffee. Randall took his coffee with a little cream. Doremus didn’t need anything to lessen the sharpness of the coffee beans. His eyes went across the room and settled on a short, young boy of indeterminate age.

“Isn’t he a little young; how do they get away with having him work here?” Doremus asked. There was something about the boy that intrigued him, but he let Randall get on with the story.

“He’s just fifteen and can legally work, but puberty hasn’t started. He looks darling, doesn’t he?”

“If you’re into boys like that.”

“Personally, I’d prefer a young girl about that age or younger, but we’re here to talk about the boy.”

“Okay, what do you need me for?”

“Well, Doremus, I need your talents. I want you to grab him and keep him in a nice quiet location until I can arrange to move him to Central City.”

“And, if I may ask, why are you sending him to Central City?”

“He’s going to Kognogus for training. That boy will make us a lot of money, if you know what I mean.”

“Oh, that, yes, so how did you come across this little darling you’re sending to Kognogus to train for the sex trade?”

“His parents are selling him for fifty thousand credits, less the forty-seven thousand the father owes to one of my gambling houses.”

“What happens when the debt goes up again, buy his sister?”

“No, they’ve already sold her. No, if stupid dad can’t keep his hands off the dice, well, maybe he needs fewer hands. I’ve seen people with amputated hands; they seem to get on okay. If he qualifies for an artificial hand and still insists on running up gambling tabs, well, maybe he can get on with two artificial hands.”

“Always in it for the money, aren’t you Randall? How many pieces does dear old Dad lose before you cut off his dick? Don’t answer that, I don’t want to know. So when do you want me to nab him?”

“Oh, anytime in the next couple weeks is okay,” Randall said. He handed a piece of paper to Doremus. “Here’s all the details you’ll need: name, work hours, bus route, bus stops, and his home address. The parents included their work hours in case you want to grab him at home.”

“No, I don’t think that will be necessary. I just need to find a place for him and decide where I’ll pick him up.”

Fifteen days later, Doremus sat in his speeder waiting for bus number 75 come down Center Quad Boulevard to the stop at Second Alternate Ring Highway. He knew he was early, but that was a lot better than being late. He looked in the mirror and saw the bus coming. He got out of the speeder and stood on the sidewalk, waiting. The boy got off and walked toward Doremus.

“Adetitus?”

“Yes?”

“I have something for you,” Doremus said. He walked up to the boy and in a brief moment reached around the boy’s neck, then pressed an inverted ring on his finger against the skin, puncturing it; and, with his other hand grabbed the boy’s other arm.

“Ow! What’d you do?” Adetitus asked, momentarily startled by the assault. But the poison was quick and in a few seconds it had begun its intended effect. The boy went limp and sank against Doremus’s body.

The man slipped the ring off his finger and let it drop to the sidewalk. He supported the boy as he led him over to the speeder and lifted him up into the passenger seat. Doremus climbed up, fastened the boy’s belts, took his seat, closed the cover, and revved up the engine. The speeder took off, heading down the boulevard to a nondescript apartment building where it slipped down into the parking garage. Once in the assigned parking space, Doremus reversed the process, and led Adetitus toward the elevator. When it stopped at the thirty-third floor Doremus put his arm across the boy’s shoulders and half carried him to the apartment where he shoved the boy through the door. Inside, Doremus stripped the boy of his clothes and pulled his hands behind his back and tied them with plastic stays. Finally, he went over to a small table picked up a syringe and stuck it in the boy’s neck, injecting its contents under the skin. He let the boy lay on the floor undisturbed.

Doremus picked up the mini-module that had been lying on the table and set a message:

DOREMUS 88-543Y

RANDALLIUS 02-724K

HAVE PACKAGE READY FOR DELIVERY.

He hit SEND and then there was nothing to do except wait for the boy to wake up or for Randall to get back with the delivery instructions. He got up and went to make a sandwich. While he was doing that, he took a couple pulls on a new bottle of whiskey. He picked up the sandwich and whiskey bottle and went back to the sofa.

Being good at grabbing people off city streets, but bad about keeping them, Doremus finished the sandwich and continued to drink. By the time the bottle was empty Adetitus woke up, but didn’t move. He watched the man who was supposed to be watching him drop the whiskey bottle on the carpet and fall over on his side, blackout drunk.

Adetitus got to his feet and went over to the table. He looked at the mini-module and tried to picture the keypad in his mind, which wasn’t too difficult because it was the same model as his. He turned and put his hands down to the unit. Carefully he typed:

ADETITUS 95-498G

RSS RING 5

HELP

BEING HELD BY UNKNOWN KIDNAPPER.

UNKNOWN LOCATION.

He hit SEND, cleared the screen, and went back to where he had been and lay down on the floor.

After about an hour, Adetitus heard a rattling sound from the door. He looked over that way and saw a very tiny object roll into the apartment under the door. It continued to roll over to where he was lying and then flew up into the air. It seemed to be looking at everything in the room. There was a crash from the door and four security bots ran in. One undid the stays on Adetitus’s wrists and helped him to his feet.

“Dress yourself,” it said.

Adetitus put his clothes and shoes on. Two of the bots picked up Doremus and carried him out the door.

“How did the human apprehend you?” the bot asked.

“He poked my neck with something and then I passed out,” Adetitus said.

“A common poison used by criminal elements to kidnap humans,” the bot said. “See that syringe? It held the antidote. Your stepparents are in Robotic Security Services custody for illegally attempting to gain monetary reward by selling you to criminal elements in the sexual slave market. We will have to find you a new residential location. Come with us.”

Adetitus didn’t know what to think. Did his sister’s disappearance have anything to do with what had happened to him? Why did his parents need money? Both of them made many thousands of credits a month. What was the sexual slave market? And, probably now, the most important question was where were the bots going to find him a place to live?

********

RBTC SECURITY SRVCS HQ RING 5; RSSHQR5-01A-002B-3

ECOM 99X-6445C-4; FREDERICA 72-893B

HAVE 15 Y/O HUMAN MALE (ADETITUS 95-498G) THAT NEEDS NEW RESIDENTIAL SITUATION. EDUCATIONAL FUTURE IS LIMITED DUE TO MEDICAL LIMITATIONS. THEREFORE, FUTURE INVOLVING PHYSICAL LABOR WOULD BE APPROPRIATE.

PLEASE ADVISE IF YOU CAN ACCOMMODATE THIS HUMAN.

RBTC SECURITY SRVCS HQ RING 5

Freddy looked at the message on the module and wondered why the bots wanted Eden Commune to provide a fifteen-year-old boy a new residence when there had to be other more appropriate places on the ship, but, since the request came from the bots, she had to check; except, there was only one place where the boy could possibly live and that was with Don and Tom. She filed the message and walked out of her office. She would go to the clinic and speak with Don.

At the clinic, she went into the primary care section and told the receptionist she needed to speak with Don; and, yes it was important that she speak with him as soon as possible. Even though the receptionist told Freddy to have a seat, she remained standing at the counter. After a few minutes, she thought it might have been better to have sat down, but she was anxious to get her answer and send a reply back to the bots. After a few more minutes, she sighed and went over to the seating area and sat in the only empty seat between two children with the sniffles. Oh great, now she was going to get a cold, she thought.

It took even more minutes, probably close to half an hour before Don finally emerged from the hall. He handed the receptionist a piece of paper and spoke briefly with a farm worker who Freddy didn’t recognize, which was surprising considering how big the commune had become since she first arrived centuries ago. She saw the receptionist say something to Don and he turned toward Freddy.

“Did you want to see me about something?” Don asked.

“Yes, your office would be appropriate,” Freddy said. She got to her feet and walked over to him. They went into his office and Don shut the door.

“Well, what can I do for you?” he asked.

“Do you want a roomer?” she asked.

“What do you mean, do I want a roomer? What’s going on?”

“Bot Security sent me a message saying they have a fifteen-year-old boy who needs a place to live.”

“Why isn’t he in a university? That’s when young people start their higher education.”

“The message said that the boy has medical limitations that would prevent him from having an educational future and, therefore, they were wondering if we wanted a boy who would be more suited to physical labor of some sort.”

“Well, that rules out a physical issue such as being paralyzed, deformed, or blind. I wonder what his medical limitations could be. Well, we do have the room Tom rented so I suppose we could take him in. Of course, I will recommend that the boy get some education. Even Tom got his primary certificate in early childhood education, so I would see no reason a fifteen-year-old would have trouble getting a degree on the module.”

“Good, I’ll let the bots know.”

“Any idea when he’ll arrive?”

“No, none, but I would expect him to be here soon.”

“Okay, I just wonder what’s wrong with him. How about if I’m there when he comes in? That way I can see what’s going on and determine if he’s physically able to start work on the farms or if we need to do some sort of intervention first.”

“I’ll let you know as soon as I know. I’ll send you a message.”

“Good, thanks for checking, though. I hope we were the bots’ first choice.”

“I’m sure we were. I’ll see you soon. Goodbye, Don.”

“Goodbye.”

Freddy walked back to her office and sat down. She looked at the module and typed:

FREDERICA 72-893B; ECOM 99X-6445C-4

RSSHQR5-01A-002B-3; RBTC SECURITY SRVCS HQ RING 5

EDEN COMMUNE WOULD BE HAPPY TO WELCOME YOUR 15 Y/O MALE.

PLEASE ADVISE DELIVERY DATE AND TIME.

FREDERICA

She pressed SEND and sat back and waited for an answer. It came sooner than expected:

RBTC SECURITY SRVCS HQ RING 5; RSSHQR5-01A-002B-3

ECOM 99X-6445C-4; FREDERICA 72-893B

DELIVERY WILL OCCUR ON SECOND ARCHDAY CARLOSSETI 263234 AT 09:00.

PLEASE HAVE PHYSICIAN AVAILABLE TO EVALUATE SUBJECT.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE IN THIS MATTER.

RBTC SECURITY SRVCS HQ RING 5

Freddy filed the message and typed:

FREDERICA 72-893B

DONALDUS 00-893M

DELIVERY WILL TAKE PLACE TOMORROW AT 09:00, BUT PLEASE BE HERE AT 08:30 IN CASE THEY’RE EARLY. THEY SPECIFICALLY ASKED FOR A PHYSICIAN TO BE PRESENT TO EVALUATE THE BOY.

THANK YOU

FREDDY

The next morning Freddy, Don, and Tom were standing outside the commune office when a six place security speeder came in and landed in the parking area. The cover retracted and a young boy who looked no more than age twelve picked up a small clothing bag and climbed out. In the back, a security bot picked up another bag and flew down to the ground with it. The boy spoke to the bot and it flew up into the speeder, which closed its cover and flew up and away. The boy walked over to where the adults were standing.

“Hi, I’m Titus are you Frederica?” the boy asked.

“Yes, come on inside and we’ll get you processed into the commune,” she said.

“Okay.”

He followed her in and Tom turned to Don. He said, “He looks like what I would’ve looked if you hadn’t gotten me into the med center for that endocrine referral.”

“Yes, poor kid, we’re definitely going to have to do that for him. Shit! He’s too little to anything super physical out at the farms.”

“Oh, he can work out at the flower and shrub farms doing simple things like weeding and planting seedlings, but first you need to get him into the med center. He needs to get on the hormone regimen soon or he’ll never grow up. I wonder what his story is.”

“Well, I suppose in time he’ll tell us. Come on, let’s get his bags. At least he came with clothes. I wonder if he came from a farm.”

They went out and Tom picked up the bag the boy had brought out of the speeder. He said, “This one’s awfully light. How’s that one?”

“Heavy, like a bot would carry. Tom, this doesn’t look good.”

“No, I think his first stop is going to have to be the clinic where you can give him a physical.”

“Yes, definitely, today and then you can take him back to the daycare and he can help out there.”

“You know, Don, that’s a good idea. Megan will keep him busy. I still don’t know, though, fifteen and doesn’t look a year over twelve.”

“More like eleven. I want you in the room with me, just to keep the physical proper and safe. The last thing we need is another episode like you did when I tried to give you a physical.”

“Yeah, I was a stinker back then. Fuckin’ asshole Pablo really screwed my mind up.”

Inside Freddy’s office Titus sat in one of the chairs while she looked over a record of an interview the bots had given him at their facility in Central City. He looked around and was intrigued by what was happening outside in a field of small flowers. He’d seen bees in city parks flying among the flowers, but was surprised there were so many out there in that field.

“Excuse me, but why are there so many bees out in that field?” Titus asked.

“That’s clover, bees like clover, we sell the honey they make,” Freddy said. “This says your parents were arrested for trying to sell you. Could you tell me about that?”

“Well, it’s kind of embarrassing, so I really don’t want this to get around, but the bots told me my dad had lost a lot of money gambling and he owed that to organized crime, so he needed to pay off the debt. They’d done it before with my sister and now they were doing it with me. The criminals were going to make me a sex slave and force me to have sex with men. The bots told me there’s a lot of money in that so organized crime feeds on it and kidnaps kids all the time.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I don’t really know what to say to apologize for asking,” Freddy said.

“Those two men outside, am I going to live with them?”

“Yes, are you going to be okay with that?”

“Well, I guess I’m going to have to be, aren’t I? Where else would I go? The bots said I would be welcome here and they didn’t know what else they could do with me. Are they gay?”

“I can’t say. You will have to ask them. One doesn’t break a confidence. Just like what you said. No one outside of this room will ever know you told me. Okay?”

“Sure, that’s agreeable. I guess I’ll have to talk to them about how I feel about gay men. I think you can see I’m physically immature. I know my parents could’ve sent me to a doctor about not growing up, but they didn’t, probably because my dad spent all the extra money gambling.”

“Okay, Titus, I think we’ve covered everything. Come on, I’ll introduce you to Don and Tom.”

He followed Freddy out of the office and out onto the porch where the men were standing. Freddy said, “Guys, this is Titus, his formal name is Adetitus. Titus this is Don and Tom.”

“Hi, Titus, I’m Don and this is my husband Tom,” he said, just to get that out of the way up front.

“Hi,” Titus said. “Thank you, Freddy, for talking to me.”

“I’m very happy to have met you, Titus. I’m sure I’ll see you around the commune.”

“Come on Titus, we’ll be going over to the clinic where I’ll going to give you a physical before we send you into Central City to the med center where you will see an endocrine specialist,” Don said.

“Why is that?”

“Well, Titus, Freddy told me you’re fifteen, but to me you don’t even look like you’re twelve. You’re like Tom was at your age, but with treatments he was able to grow up. Does that sound okay to you?”

“Oh, sure, I knew something was wrong, but my parents wouldn’t do anything about it. Can I ask you two something? Don, you said that Tom is your husband. Are you two gay?”

“Yes we are, do you have a problem with that?”

“Oh, no, the owner of the restaurant where I was working before I was kidnapped was gay and he had a husband, too. He was nice, even though I’m small and had trouble clearing the tables.”

“Well, come on, let’s get you over to the clinic and then you can go over to the daycare to spend the rest of the day with Tom. Tonight we’ll be having a barbecue over at the neighbors. We do that whenever someone new comes into our little community.”

Don and Tom picked up Titus’s bags and they walked over to the parking lot between the clinic and the daycare where they put his bags in their speeder. Then they went on into the clinic. Don had already set aside time for the physical so Tom and Titus only had to wait half an hour before they were shown into an exam room.

“Tom, why are you in here?” Titus asked.

“It’s clinic practice for two adults to be in an exam room when a child is examined by the doctor.”

“Oh, okay, but I’m not a child.”

“You’re not an adult, yet.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.

Don came in, set a portable module on the counter, and said, “Okay, Titus, take off your clothes and get up on the table.”

The boy did as he was told. Don came over and checked the boy’s ears, eyes, and mouth. He felt around the neck and throat and then went over to the module and entered a few things in the module.

“Now, lay down on your back. Any pains in your chest or abdomen?”

“No.”

Don worked his hands down and across the boy’s chest. Then he did a standard abdominal exam and then checked the scrotum. He went over and entered some more data in module. When he came back he went down the legs to the feet and then told Titus to stand up. And, finally, turn your head, cough, and don’t mind the finger up your scrotum came and the exam was over.

“Okay, Titus, you can put your clothes on now,” Don said.

“Anything wrong, Doctor?” Titus asked.

“Well, you’ve got an inguinal hernia on your left side and that will be repaired at the med center. We’ll try to schedule your endocrine exam for the same time, preferably the same day. Okay, down to our vampire for a blood draw and a pee in the cup. Tom, will you come with me?”

Don introduced Titus to the lab technician and went into his office with Tom.

“So, what do you want with me?”

“Either he’s been severely abused or he has some serious problems with his bones. He definitely needs x-rays. We’ll do those before he leaves today and then I’ll send in a referral to the med center for radiological interpretation and recommendations. Once we get that back, I’ll set up scheduling for endocrinology, surgery, and whatever department should see him about his arm, legs, hips, and ribs. I hope we can get him seen all in one day, but I doubt that now.”

“Why is it always the little kids that catch the shit?” Tom asked. “Me, Stevie, and now Titus. I hope he has a good time over at the daycare. I wonder what his educational level is. Maybe his parents neglected his education, too. Maybe he’s been fucked over all his life.”

“I don’t know, Tom, but one thing is certain, we’re going to have to get guardian papers for us so you can take him to the med center. When we’re done here go back to Freddy and see if she can send a message to the bots for that.”

“Me take him? What about you?”

“I’ll have to be here at the clinic.”

“I have to be at the early childhood education room.”

“Then we’ll have to schedule all of this far enough in advance that both of us can be away or decide which one will do it, but we need those papers first.”

********

Tom took Titus with him as he walked back to the office. He wanted to talk to the boy about a few things, but wasn’t sure what to say. He wanted to know Titus’s education level and, maybe, a little about his story, but he didn’t want to appear nosy. So, he decided to let the boy talk if he wanted. He was sure Titus must have questions about the commune. From wherever Titus came was probably different from here or was it? Maybe, Titus had come from a commune or a farm of some size.

At the same time, Titus was wondering why Tom was being so quiet. Being from the city, he wasn’t used to people being quiet. He was used to people wanting to know your business and how it affected them. You couldn’t get away from it, but maybe it was different here. Maybe nobody would ask him about why the bots chose this place for him to live.

“Tom, where are we going?” Titus asked.

“To the office, Don and I need to get guardianship papers for you because you haven’t reached majority. We’ll need them when we take you to the med center.”

“Oh, okay. Can I ask you a question? When did you first have gay sex?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Well, promise not to tell anyone, not even Don?”

“Sure, your secret is safe with me.”

“Well, you see, before I came here I was kidnapped by a crook who was going to put me into the sex slave business to have sex with men and I was wondering if, maybe, you’d know what I would’ve had to do. You don’t have to tell me, but I was just wondering.”

“Well, Titus, I can only guess, but I would say that you would have been force to have anal sex.”

“What’s that?”

“Do you know anything about sex?”

“Well, a little, you know, just stuff from other kids, like having a girl suck your cock, which is nearly meaningless for me, and, well, fucking a girl, whatever that is. I suppose being gay you don’t know anything about fucking a girl. Do you?”

“Well, it involves your penis and her vagina?”

“What’s that?”

“That’s a part of the female body where men used to impregnate a woman and where babies used to come out of before the birthing process was changed by the bots.”

“Oh, I don’t have a vagina, do I?”

“No, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be fucked.”

“Where would those men put their cocks?”

“In your butt.”

“Oh, do you do that with Don?”

“The other way around, he fucks me.”

“Does it feel good?”

“With him it feels good, but it can also feel very bad. When I was younger than you I was raped by a man and that hurt a lot. I had to see a child psychologist for a long time because of what he did to me.”

“Do you think those men would rape me?”

“No, I think you would have been trained on how to let men do that with you and how to do it so it wouldn’t hurt so much.”

“Oh, that still doesn’t sound very good.”

“No it doesn’t, but it wouldn’t have been about you. It would’ve been about how much money the man was willing to pay to have your butt to do with as he wanted. Want to know anything else about sex?”

“No, I think that pretty much covers it, except when do you think I’ll know if I’m gay?”

“Well, Titus, you’re fifteen, you should have a pretty good idea by now, but maybe you don’t because your physical immaturity is affecting your view of sex.”

“Oh, then if I do think about boys more than girls, that’s not bad, is it?”

“No, nothing is bad one way or the other. It just depends on how you act on it.”

“So, if I asked, would you have sex with me?”

“No way, I’m married to Don and do not want to have sex with a fifteen-year-old boy, no matter how nice he is?”

“Oh, darn; do you think Don would have sex with me?”

“I’d kill him if he did.”

“Then who can I have sex with?”

“Titus, please, can we just drop this for now?”

“Why?”

“Because I’m not used to talking to a fifteen-year-old boy about having sex, that’s why.”

“Well, maybe you need more practice. What’s it feel like when Don fucks you? You said it feels good, but how? What do you feel? Can you feel his cock inside you? Come on, Tom; tell me what it’s like being fucked. I want to know, now!”

“The first time he did it it felt like something I’d never felt before. It was nothing like when I was raped by that pedophile. It was like something I needed to feel, something I’d been waiting for all my life, and it made a bond between us. It gave us meaning.”

“Did it hurt?”

“Titus, let me tell you a secret, I like pain. Don likes to hurt men he has sex with. That’s his thing and it just happens to be my thing to enjoy being hurt. That’s our thing. He gives a lot of pain and I take all he gives me. And it makes me feel very good.”

“Oh, I don’t think I’d like that. No, I don’t want it to hurt. I’ve been hurt before and I don’t ever want to go through that, again.”

“Okay, we’ll have to talk about this later because we’re here. You can wait out here or go inside with me.”

“I’ll go with you. I don’t know anything about this place, yet.”

********

When the speeder landed in the parking spot, Don got up, picked up Titus’s heavy bag, and tossed it out. Titus got up and threw out the lighter one. And Tom just got up and climbed down. Don and Titus carried their bags into the rez. Titus followed Tom down the hall and turned into what would be his bedroom. The bed had been made up and he started unpack the clothes the bots had retrieved from his parents’ apartment in Third City. He put them away in the drawers and hung up his slacks and shirts. When he was finished he went out into the living room where Don and Tom were sitting, talking.

Titus sat down in one of the side chairs and took on the instant air of boredom common to children. He was trying to follow the adults’ conversation, but, since it wasn’t about him, he got even more dissatisfied with being there. Unfortunately, he didn’t know what else he could do. He took out his mini-module and went out on the network looking for something interesting. He found a site that had books to read. As he looked through the list of genres he selected sci-fi and opened it. He scrolled down through the list of books and found something called Stars in the Unknown Galaxy. It sounded interesting so he opened it and started to read.

“Hey, Titus, how was your day?” Don asked.

Titus thought that was just the way adults were, always interrupting when you found something interesting to do. He bookmarked his place and exited the site.

“Oh, it was kind of interesting,” he said. “Me and Tom talked about sex. Would you mind if Tom showed me how to have gay sex? He said he would kill you if you had sex with me, but would you get mad at me if I had sex with him?”

“Tom, do you have an explanation for this?” Don asked.

“Well, I think we have a fifteen-year-old boy who thinks he might be gay and wants to find out all about it. I told him we’re married and I wasn’t going to have sex with him. Frankly, I really don’t know how to handle this. You’re the doctor in the family, you do something.”

“So, Titus, why do you think you’re gay?” Don asked.

“Because I don’t like girls or I don’t think I like girls. All the friends I had in Third City were boys, the few friends that I had, that is.”

“Did you know any girls?” Don asked.

“Oh, yes, there was my sister, Titia, my mother, and the woman next door, but I never knew her name. We said hi to each other when we passed in the building.”

“Any other girls?”

“No.”

“Well, Titus, I think you’re probably a little young to decide one way or the other.”

“So, you’re saying I’m probably not gay?”

“No, I’m not saying that. I’m saying you’re not quite at the point where you can say for certain whether you’re gay or straight. Basically, a person’s sexual orientation depends on who you’re attracted to. You’ll have a good idea whether you’re gay or straight when you look at a man or a woman and know you want to get to know that person at some deeper, personal level. Some say you’ll feel yourself sexually attracted to that person. You can know someone on friendly terms or sexually. Does that make sense?”

“Oh, okay, I think I can live with that, but I think I’d prefer getting to know a guy sexually and a girl as a friend. So, maybe, I am gay, right?”

“Maybe you are, but one day you’ll know for sure. Did Tom ask you about your education level?”

“Yes, I told him my parents only let me go halfway through my eights, but I read a lot. Are you going to make me go back to school?”

“Yes, our school here goes through the twelves so you shouldn’t have any problem getting back into learning. When we go in tomorrow I’ll go with you to the school and I’ll see about getting you tested so they’ll know where to start you out. Is that okay with you?”

“If you say I need it, I’ll do it. When is supper?”

“Yeah, Don, when are we going over to the barbecue? If we don’t go, I’ll have to fix something here.”

“Okay, I’ll stop talking. Let’s go on over the Ben and Peter’s.”

********

Titus didn’t know what to make of the barbecue. First of all, there were so many adults and there were only four children and they were a lot younger than he was. Probably the worst part was all the adults thought he was still a little kid even when he told them he was fifteen. He asked Don if he could have a glass of wine, but Don said no, which made him mad because he could drink wine at home. There was a lawn chair over by the barbecue grill and he stayed there, letting the party revolve around him. He took out his mini-module and went back to the book site where he brought up the book he was reading. After a short while it was if the party was on a different part of the ship. He didn’t even notice when Tom sat down next to him. He felt something bump his arm and he looked over at the chair next to him. Tom smiled.

“What?” Titus asked. “I’m reading a book.”

“People are wondering why you aren’t talking to anyone.”

“Who? They’re all adults. You said I was a child, so why should I participate.”

“Are you mad because Don said you can’t have any wine?”

“Yes, my parents let me drink a couple glasses of wine now and then. Why can’t I do that here?”

“How about I go ask?”

“Would you?”

“Sure, be right back. Oh, what kind do you like?”

“Burgundy.”

“I’ll see what they’ve got.”

“Thanks.”

Tom left and Titus went back to reading his book. In a moment he was again lost on a rocky planet somewhere in the unknown galaxy fighting the evil Galantinerans with flintlocks Jorge 83 brought down from the mothership. He felt something touch his arm. He looked up and saw a woman sitting in the chair. He sighed, bookmarked the story, and put the mini-module back in his pocket.

“Yes?”

“You probably don’t remember, but I’m Genie.”

“Oh, yes, Genie, you’re here with Willy. You watch Gene while everyone is at work up at the ornamental hort farms. Is there something wrong with Gene?”

“He’s had a number of strokes.”

“He doesn’t look old enough for something like that.”

“What do you know about strokes?”

“Oh, a little, I read a lot of stuff on my mini-module. My parents wouldn’t let me go to school. I only made it through half my eights.”

“Titus, here’s your wine,” Tom said. He handed the glass to the boy. “They didn’t have burgundy, it’s merlot. They raise it here on the commune.”

“That’s okay,” Titus said. “Thank you, Tom, for convincing Don I’m old enough to drink wine. I’m not that much of a child.”

“Well, Titus, you’re definitely not that much of an adult, either,” Tom said.

“Titus, how old are you?” Genie asked.

“Fifteen, just turned, if my parents hadn’t stopped me from going to school and my father didn’t spend all the money on gambling I would be in a university right now.”

“Do you consider yourself intelligent?” Genie asked.

“Intelligent? He can’t stop asking questions,” Tom said.

“I read a lot about different things and, yes, I do ask questions,” Titus said. “I ask a lot of questions, but I read a lot more.”

“What are you reading now?” Genie asked.

“It’s a sci-fi book called Stars in the Unknown Galaxy. It’s not literature, but it’s an easy, fun read. Yesterday, at the Robotic Security place in Third City I was reading an interesting paper by an astrophysicist named Eugeni 54 on dark matter coefficients of noble gases and how they could be used to boost the efficiency of the propulsion systems on Hercules III. It was interesting because noble gases are basically inert and temper the reactivity of other elements so you wouldn’t think that they could be effective in converting heavy elements into propulsive components of the overall mix of current fuel usages. But you probably don’t know anything about that kind of stuff because it’s so technically beyond the intelligence capabilities of normal humans.”

“I wouldn’t be so certain of that young man,” Genie said. “At one time, I was called Eugeni 54 and I worked in the dark matter lab here on Hercules III.”

“You did? Could you teach me more things about physics? The only things I know are what I read in published scientific papers and technical reports. If I hadn’t had to stop going to school, I might have been working in a place like that right now.”

“No, you would have to wait until you reach majority. The bots don’t allow humans under the age of eighteen to work in their propulsion systems.”

“Why did you stop working there?”

“I had a stroke and then they gave me a total brain erasure to eliminate all memory of the projects I was working on at the lab. Even though I’ve regained almost all of my knowledge of dark matter, they won’t permit me to work there again in fear that the stress might cause another stroke.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. So, what do you do with your intelligence?”

“Grade papers of physics students.”

“That’s all?”

“That’s all they’ll let me do. But I think I’ve found a new job for Hercules III that the bots just might be interested in.”

“What’s that?”

“Teaching you everything you need to know about nuclear physics, chemistry, astrophysics, and whatever subject you may be interested in.”

“You’d do that for me?”

“Definitely and I will notify the bots of your possible high intelligence. I’m sure they will conduct a number of tests to determine your intelligence level and your potential for serving the ship in a meaningful way. What do you think?”

“That sounds great! Hey, Tom, doesn’t that sound great?”

“You know, Titus, I think your life is going to turn out for the better from now on.”

“Yeah, I’m going to be a famous scientist just like Genie and I’m going to work in the dark matter lab, too.”

“But, first, you need to go back and finish at least level eights and maybe your nines, too, just to get a good educational foundation for your life ahead,” Tom said.

“Genie, do you think it’s important for me to go back and finish my basic schooling?”

“Yes, very, very important. If you want to be a physics genius, you have to have a basic education.”

“Oh, okay, just wanted to make sure.”

“Titus, are you going to drink your wine?” Tom asked.

“Oh, sure, but we’ve been talking,” Titus said. He took a sip of the wine and then half a mouthful. “Hey, this is pretty good, but pinot noir is better.”

“I thought you wanted burgundy?” Tom asked.

“Pinot noir is burgundy.”

“Oh, I didn’t know.”

“It’s amazing the number of people who don’t know, but then I suppose you don’t know that on ancient Earth the Merlot grape was used to make Bordeaux wines.”

“No, didn’t know that, either.”

“Well, it was, but it’s still makes a good wine here on Hercules III.”

********

The next day Titus was down at the school taking a test. To him it was a simple test with a lot of multiple choice, true and false, fill-in, math, and short essay questions. He went all the way through in about an hour and a half and then went back to review all of his answers. He took the answer sheets up to Tom who was his proctor and went back to his seat where he watched Tom go through the exam. After a half an hour Tom came over to where Titus was sitting and sat in the seat next to him.

“Well, Titus, I looked through your answer sheets and everything looks okay, but we’ll have to send them over to the local educational services district for grading,” Tom said.

“How do you think I did?” Titus asked. It hadn’t been a difficult test, but maybe he had gotten some of the questions wrong. There always was that chance.

“I don’t really know since I don’t have a key for the multiple choice or true and false questions, nor the answers to the fill-ins, essay questions, and math questions. But, you did answer everything, so that has to count for something. How do you think you did?”

“Well, to be honest, it wasn’t that difficult. I think I got everything right. I just want to learn as much as I can as soon as I can so Genie can start teaching me everything about dark matter.”

“What would you think about reading literature?”

“What era?”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you want me to read eighteenth, nineteenth, twentieth, twenty-first, twenty-second, twenty-third, or any other century? I’ve already most of that stuff, though the twenty-third and twenty-fifth centuries are pretty sparse in the bot databases. I don’t know if there wasn’t that much produced or if the bots weren’t able to procure it, which doesn’t seem quite right since they have so many documents from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Or, do you want me to study more mathematics. I’ve studied calculus, but there are higher mathematics subjects that I could study.”

“I don’t know anything about mathematics. You’d have to talk to Genie about that.”

“Okay, I can do that. What class are you going to put me in?”

“I don’t know Titus. We won’t know until we get your answers graded. Personally, I think you’re probably beyond the eights, but we won’t know at least until Marsday. Then we’ll need input from Genie and the bots. Maybe they’ll give you a course of study on the module. So, right now until lunch time, I want you to read something on your mini-module. You can even read that sci-fi thing you’ve been reading. I just don’t care.”

“Are you mad at me for being smart?”

“No, Titus, I’m not mad at you. I’m mad at myself for not pursuing a higher education degree when I had the chance. I could’ve gone to a university, but I wanted to stay here and farm. Unfortunately, I have a mutation that causes narcolepsy and caused me to have two strokes, so I might not have lived if I had gone to a university. I just look at you and hope you’ll do everything you can and go as far in education as you desire. Don’t settle for just enough. Strive to better yourself every day. Will you do that for me?”

“Sure, Tom, I’ll do that. In fact, I’ll read some old literature just for you.”

“But, remember, you can read for pleasure, too. As the old saw goes: All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”

“I like that. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Yes, I’ll have to remember that. Okay, I’ll read literature for four hours and pleasure read for two. How about that?”

“Sounds like a good plan.”

“Now, Tom, all we have to work on is how I’m going to get you into my bed because I really do think I’d like to get to know you a lot better sexually, that is.”

“No way, not going to happen. I’m a married man and I will not cheat on my husband.”

“Then how about I join the two of you in bed and then we can go from there.”

“Titus, stop talking like that.”

“Not until either you or Don has sex with me or teaches me how to have sex with one of you. I don’t care how you guys work it out, but I’m going to have sex with one or both of you.”

“We’ll talk about this tonight, okay?”

“Good, I’m glad you see it my way. We’ll talk to Don tonight.”

********

That night Titus sat at the dining table thinking back to earlier when he started reading The Memoirs of Archibald Craythan: The Hero of the Freedom Battle of the First Empire of New Calnevarizona. Archibald Craythan lived in twenty-fourth century New Calnevarizona an area of the old western States of America that combined the former states of Calneva, Arizona, northern Baja California, northern Sonora, south central Washoredaho, and the extreme southwestern portions of the Mormon States. The Freedom Battle of the New Empire was fought to end the tyranny of the ruling Christian families of the First Order. It was a protracted war that lasted nearly sixty years and killed over twenty million mostly innocent peasants. The preface to the sixth edition, which Titus was reading, said Archibald wrote his memoirs while in prison for the murder of William de Mentiana, reportedly a general officer in the Seventeenth Corps of Freedom Fighters Extraordinaire who was responsible for the massacre of eighty-eight hunter-gatherers in the Klamath Mountains in the latter stages of the Freedom Battle.

But, mostly his mind kept wandering back to the conversation he had with Tom about having sex with the two men of the house. Even though he knew Don was going to say that it wouldn’t happen, he felt he had to at least make an attempt to make his case. That was the least he could do. The two men were talking about when they were going to arrange to take him to Central City for a number of examinations and the hernia surgery, so he figure now was a good time to jump in.

“When do you plan on taking me to Central City?” Titus asked.

“In two weeks,” Don said. “But first I need to ask you something. Did either your father or mother hit you when you were younger?”

“Yeah, all the time when I was bad or did something they didn’t like. Why?”

“Because you have a number of bone deformities in your leg bones that are inconsistent with a disease process.”

“Oh, that, well, you see, we had a sitter for a while when I was twelve. She broke my legs, but the RSS arrested her when my parents had to take me to the hospital.”

“Titus, how many times did she break your legs?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Titus, the x-rays we took show that your arms, ribs, legs, and hips were broken numerous times in various places. Those breaks are consistent with severe physical abuse.”

“Oh, that, well, yeah, but you see I wasn’t bad all the time. Promise, I was good, too. Honest, I tried to be good. I did, but I’m little. I’ve always been little. It hurt when they did that to me. Even when they made Titia hurt me. She was bigger than me. It hurt when they broke my bones, but they wouldn’t take me to a hospital. I got to go.”

Titus pushed his chair back, got up, and ran away from the table. Don and Tom looked at each other. Tom got up and went out of the room. He went to Titus’s room where he found the boy lying face down on his bed crying. Tom lay down next to Titus and pulled him into an embrace. He continued to hold the boy as heavy sobs ever so slowly eased into soft weeping. He knew Titus needed to get this out and there was nothing he could do other than to keep him in a tight embrace to show he cared. That was all he could do. Finally, the crying stopped, but Tom didn’t let go.

“I’m okay, now,” Titus whispered.

“Hush.”

“I’ve got to go to the bathroom,” Titus said. “Please, let me get up.”

Tom released his arms and Titus climbed out of the bed and hurried out of the room. Tom got up and went back up the hall. Before turning to go into the kitchen, he heard retching sounds coming from the bathroom. He waited until Titus came out of the bathroom. He didn’t look good.

“Did you rinse your mouth?” Tom asked.

“Yes and I used some mouthwash,” Titus said. “I’m going to go into the living room and lie down on the sofa. Can you do the dishes for me?”

“Sure, Buddy, I’ll do the dishes,” Tom said, unsure why he was attempting to sound familiar, but somehow it seemed appropriate.

“Buddy? Why Buddy?”

“Don’t you like it?”

“No, it’s nice, thank you for caring. I’m going to lie down, now.”

Tom followed him into the living room to make sure Titus would be comfortable. He got two of the pillows and put them under the boy’s head and spread the crocheted coverlet over him.