Crios

Prologue

Running down the lane, eyes tearing up, he had to get to his place. He stumbled and tripped, struggled to stay on his feet. Where the lane ended at the back of the field, he kept running, cutting into the woods. Following the familiar trail, he made his way down the steep slope, splashed across the spring at the bottom, then climbed up the other side.

The grade rose forming a high hill. Ancient, once a great mountain, but now worn down after the passing of an eon. Near its highest point, one large rock jutted out like a monument. It was his place, and he finally stood atop out of breath and wiping the last of the tears. He looked across the rolling landscape of farms and woods and scattered houses, plumes of smoke rising from the chimneys of each one. He buttoned his coat for the wind was cold and it suddenly chilled him.

Sitting with legs dangling over the side, he surveyed the surroundings, all of it familiar. Every woodland, every field, and every house, barn, and silo. Despite his being part of this community, he felt like an alien. Someone who didn’t belong. He thought of his young brother and Jane, his girlfriend. Then there were his friends, Robert, Matt, and Jasper, and how they too now had girlfriends. There was even talk of marriage by two of them. Marriage and children and becoming a part of the community as family men. He wished he felt the same, that Mary Jane’s advances were appealing. He wanted to be like his friends, but he wasn’t like them.

He didn’t understand it, but he knew what it meant. To desire another who was the same. It terrified him to think of it, made him lay awake long into the night, feeling like a damaged soul. He thought of his father and how everyone said he was not the same since returning from overseas after the war. It changed him, and he knew it was not in a good way. He often found his father sitting in the den late at night, softly crying. Was he the same as his father, damaged in some way? Or was this desire for another boy a mutation, something passed to him from his father? Some chemical poisoning from the war that corrupted the body and made some children damaged.

He lay back staring up at the vivid blue sky, not a cloud in sight, and thought of boy from North Haywood High, the receiver for their football team. The one he met in town for the last two weeks. His skin itched where it had been touched. The hand on his thigh, then higher up. Then on his chest, then stomach, pushing up underneath his shirt. Or grasping the back of his neck, as lips touched his own. It was taboo, every touch, and the erection he grew from it.

But he wanted so much more from him.

Breathing back to normal, he suddenly felt exhausted. He lay on the smooth rock staring up until the sky narrowed to a slit, then darkness overtook him.

He woke with a start, quickly sitting up and looking around confused. It was dark, the nighttime sky brilliant with stars, not even moonlight to dim them. He looked at his watch unable to see the face, but knew it was getting late. He would be late for dinner again, and once again be in trouble with his parents. He seemed to always be the one who was in trouble, for his younger brother rarely did wrong in his parent’s eyes. Despite knowing the need to get home, he sat still staring at the sky. What would a few more minutes matter?

At first, he thought his vision was off, maybe his eyes had changed, and he now needed glasses like his mother. But then saw how it was a circular patch in the sky, the stars distorted around its black center. It grew larger and larger, and he stared in wonder, trying to determine what it could be. It seemed to be moving as it grew, but it was hard to tell for in the darkness looking up, his depth perception was off.

The circular patch did grow and move through the sky. It vibrated the air and he felt it when it drew near. By then it was too late. The disturbance passed over the rock and rose back in the sky, leaving no trace of him.

The Farm Boy

The Ford tractor struggled to pull the two-bottom breaking plow, as Thomas worked the lift trying to lessen its depth. He had the throttle wide open, the motor revving with all its might, but the plow was a heavy burden, and it struggled with pulling it.

Thomas had been in the field since daylight. His father wanted to get the field planted before the next weekend, so while his father tended to the small herd of cows in the pasture, he plowed the field. It was mid-afternoon, and he was two-thirds the way across it. It helped the field was on flat land, and not like the field at the back of their property, with much of it on a slope requiring him to plow it with the grade to keep down the erosion.

Thomas considered how their farm was one of the larger ones in the area, something his father didn’t talk about. His grandfather had expanded the farm, expecting it to be divided between two sons, not one. But when his father had been thirteen, his older brother, who had turned eighteen, disappeared. Everyone assumed he joined the military, but there had never been a record of James Thomas Freeman in any branch. James had simply disappeared. Thomas knew it had hurt his father, thinking James had left him behind.

At the end of the field facing the road, he pulled the plow out of the ground, turned, and eased along the edge to the place he was plowing toward the back. As he eased along, he looked across the road at the Dempsey farm. It was much like their own. A couple of fields for crops, a pasture in the back behind the barn, and by the road, a small two-story farmhouse. And like his own family, the Dempsey’s had two children, a boy, Kevin, his own age and a daughter, Susan, who was a year younger than his younger brother. It was Kevin that he thought of every waking moment, and far too often, even dreamed about him. He could picture the lanky body and dark hair that was allowed to grow out more than his own. His father made him get crew cuts, with only a little length on top, for any longer was considered something for sissy boys.

Kevin was his friend, someone who hung out with him whenever they had their chores completed. They fished in their ponds or down at Pine Hollow Creek, rode bicycles around the community, or just hung out in one or the other’s room. It was a torment, to be so close to Kevin, but unable to be even closer. He imagined what they could do, picturing the things the Curtis boys said in crude insults at school. The insult to suck a dick or to take it in the ass. Thomas wondered how they knew of such things, but more troubling to him, he imagined doing those things with Kevin. He knew he would do anything if Kevin would just be willing.

Kevin was walking from their barn toward their house, and Thomas watched him for as long as he could, then made the turn to go back across the field, his back turned toward the boy he desired to such a degree his chest ached.

It was only four-thirty when Thomas pulled the tractor under the lean-to on the side of the barn and parked it. He was filthy from the blowing dirt. It seemed to be everywhere. Lines of mud were inside each elbow where he sweated, and he knew the same would be around his neck. Every breath seemed to have dust in it. He could even taste it. He went inside to an empty house, his parents and brother gone to a community meeting about getting a volunteer fire department. Shoes left in the utility room he went upstairs to the bathroom. He didn’t bother getting clean clothes from his room, for he wanted to get in the shower as fast as possible. He left the door open, stripped off his filthy clothes and turned on the water in the tub. As he waited for it to get hot, he looked in the mirror. Beneath the dirt and sweat he saw an eighteen-year-old boy, one deeply confused and unhappy. He wondered how other boys felt. The ones that dated girls and had sex all the time. Did that make them feel like men? Or did they still see a gawky kid in the mirror, like the one staring back at him.

With his dad not at home to police him, Thomas left wearing only jeans and a white t-shirt, the sleeves rolled up. Despite how he felt, he wanted to look the rebel. He was heading to town to get something to eat. His mother had suggested he make a sandwich, but left a few dollars beneath the note, knowing he would prefer to go into town since it was Saturday.

Coming down the steps, the wind picked up, blew violently for a minute as if a storm were on the horizon. Thomas looked to the west, where the wind blew from and saw nothing but clear skies and the sun just above the horizon. He looked up and saw a few clouds swirling in a circular pattern. At first, he thought tornado, but it didn’t make sense. There was no storm front coming out of the west, or worse, the east. The winds died down just as fast as they began, and he looked up to see the clouds dissipating. It was odd, but the weather could do all kinds of crazy things, so he shrugged it off and walked over to his car.

Windows rolled down to let the heat out, he fired up the engine in his 55 Bel Air and waited for it to warm up and slow to an idle. Out on the highway, he shifted the column mounted shifter through the three gears, revving the engine with every shift. He was half-way to the main highway, a mile from his home, when a man stepped out into the road waving him down.

The first thing Thomas noticed was the man’s dress. Pants that were vivid blue and a shirt that was stark white and both fit close the body, much the way his jeans fit him, something his mother had made comment. Braking to a stop, he eased up next to the man.

“Hey, I’m sorry to bother you, but could you give me a ride into town?” said the man as he leaned down to look inside the car.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“Thanks,” the man replied. Once seated the man looked around the seat then smiled. “No seat belts,” he whispered.

“Excuse me?” Thomas asked.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I’m Jim by the way.”

“Thomas.”

“I appreciate the ride. I was afraid I was going to have to walk.”

“That would have been some walk. It’s sixteen miles to town.”

“I know.”

“You know?”

“Well, the map indicated it was about that far.”

Thomas came to the stop sign, and after waiting for a pulpwood truck to pass, turned right heading toward town. They rode in silence for a couple of miles, Jim looking at the surroundings as if he were trying to memorize them and Thomas glancing over every minute or so, finding Jim attractive but something was off about him, and it caused him to avoid thinking of it.

“You a farmer?” asked Jim.

“Yeah, with dad.”

“Got a girlfriend or wife?”

“Wife?” Thomas scoffed, then shook his head, “no girlfriend either.”

“Anyone special?”

Thomas stared ahead, then over at Jim. “Maybe.” It was a daring thing to say, but this was a stranger. What could he really do?

“That is the most important thing. To find something that is special to you. Someone you can imagine living your life with until you’re old.”

“Are you married?”

“Yes, and he is the love of my life,” Jim replied as he looked at Thomas to see how he would react.

“He?!”

“Not all places are so lacking in understanding. Did you know human sexuality can involve more than an attraction to the opposite sex?”

“No,” Thomas uttered, focusing on the road ahead, afraid to look at Jim.

“Right now, and for some time to come…I assume, things will be tough on those that seek a relationship out of the societal norm, but there will be a time when it is accepted.”

“You sound so positive about it.”

“Oh, I am.”

“I don’t know. The church says…”

“Forget what the church says. Its old dogma based on primitive notions of our humanity. And it’s wrong.”

“If some around here heard you say that they’d string you up.”

“No doubt. What about you? Do you think I’m wrong?”

“I…don’t’ think so.”

“Can you imagine it? To look at another boy about your age and desire him?”

“Yeah,” Thomas whispered, so low he hoped Jim didn’t hear him.

They passed a sign, welcoming visitors to Haywood and Thomas felt torn between speeding up to get Jim out of his car and slowing down to allow them to talk longer.

“Haywood…this place will not change for a long time,” said Jim. He settled back in the seat, arm on the windowsill where he could run a finger over the edge of mirror. “Thomas, I think a person has to follow their heart, even if doing so means they have to do it on the sly. No one has a right to pry in another’s life, and what two people do in the privacy of their own home…well, where’s the harm in it.”

“But two guys living together will draw attention and people will talk.”

“Yes, some will gossip as they always do, but until faced with the hard cold fact of the matter, it’ll just be rumor and for some, that is enough of a reason to ignore it. And there are some around here who abide by the ‘to each his own’ tenant.”

“But…” Thomas stuttered, then gripped the steering so tight his knuckles turned white.

“But nothing. A person can’t go through life trying to live the way others expect when they want something else. Hey, just pull off at Curtis’ Auto Repair and I can get out there.”

Thomas slowed, and when the oncoming traffic cleared, turned left into the gravel parking lot. He stopped and pulled the parking brake.

“Your serious. You live with a man?”

“Yes. When I was a teenager, I really thought I wouldn’t be able to do it, and…I was in a really bad place, but one day, I woke up in a whole new world and with it a different attitude. I know around here it’ll be difficult, but shouldn’t someone be able to actually pursue their own happiness instead of giving the idea lip service?”

“I guess,” Thomas whispered.

“Thanks for the ride,” said Jim, holding out some money folded up to where Thomas couldn’t tell what the bills were, knowing Thomas would assume it was a dollar to two, more than enough for the short ride.

“I don’t need that; keep it,” said Thomas.

“No, I insist. Put it in your social fund and take someone out to dinner on me,” Jim replied, laying the folded bills on the seat between them and exiting the car.

“Okay. Good luck getting your car fixed,” said Thomas.

Jim stepped back and watched Thomas slip the bills into his jeans, release the parking brake, and pull away. They waved at each other, then Jim watched Thomas turn out on the highway and head toward downtown.

He turned and walked to the building, but instead of going inside, he went to the far right, down an alley between the main building and one used for body work. He touched his wristband, rubbing a finger over the face of it. Air swirled around the alley, and he was gone.

Thomas parked on Main and stepped up on the sidewalk heading to the diner. He felt shaken by his encounter with Jim. It was as if Jim knew he was attracted to guys, could sense it in some way. He wondered if it were true, that gay guys had some aspect of their appearance that would give them away to someone who knew what to look for. He looked at his reflection in the storefronts as he made his way down the sidewalk, afraid someone in town would see it. The diner was three doors ahead when he remembered the money Jim gave him. He pulled out the bills, realizing there were more than just one or two. He unfolded them and nearly dropped them when he saw one was a hundred-dollar bill. Having never seen one, he stared at the image of Benjamin Franklin. He fanned them out enough to see the corners. Five hundred-dollar bills and five twenty-dollar bills. It was a small fortune and he quickly shoved them back in his pocket wondering what kind of person gave so much for a ride.

At the diner, he stepped into a busy dining room with waitresses rushing back and forth and someone shouting out orders from the kitchen. He looked for an empty table, eyes scanning the room, from the counter in back, along the booths on the far wall, the tables in the center, then along the tables at the window, where he saw someone waving. It was Kevin.

“Hey, Kevin, you bet me here.”

“Sit, sit, I’ve not ordered yet. Did you finish plowing?”

“Yes, and Monday one of us will disk it. Did you get your fields planted?”

“We have the Morris field to do,” Kevin replied, referring to a small twenty-acre field his family rents.

“What brings you out?”

“Mom and dad are in Montgomery visiting my grandmother. And you?”

“My folks are at that meeting about the volunteer fire department.”

“Oh, yes, dad said he hated to miss it.”

Thomas saw Kevin flip the menu to the sandwiches on back, and he wondered if they were like his family, financially tight until the crops came in.

“Hey, my treat,” said Thomas.

“What? No, it’s okay.”

“No, seriously, I came into a few dollars,” Thomas replied, slipping out the bills and showing a couple of the twenties.

“Shit, where did you get that?”

“I finally got paid for some side work,” Thomas lied. “I think we should celebrate. Steak and potato?”

Kevin laughed and it took Thomas’ breath away, as it did every time. The white teeth, slightly gapped in front and dimples that framed the mouth, and there were the eyes, so dark brown as to appear infinite in depth. Kevin pushed his hair back and Thomas watched as the hand combed it back, and the bicep bulged slightly with the movement. Then he saw Kevin was staring at him.

Plates pushed back and each sipping the last of their soda, Kevin leaned forward. He looked mischievously across the table, as if he were going to reveal a conspiracy.

“You want to come over and watch television?” asked Kevin. “77 Sunset Strip is on at eight.”

“That’s right,” Thomas replied, remembering it was Saturday night. “Suzy, can we get our check,” he called out when he saw she was nearby.

“Once we’re settled up, come on back to the house, and we can hang out until it comes on,” said Kevin.

“Okay,” Thomas replied glancing at his watch seeing it was only six-twenty.

Thomas pulled in behind Kevin’s old Ford truck, one that was older than his car. Kevin was already inside, and he headed in, crossing the screen porch, and entering the mudroom. He kicked off his shoes and entered the kitchen where Kevin was pouring them a whiskey.

“Dad will kill me if he finds out I’ve been drinking,” said Thomas.

“He’s not going to know. Just crash here tonight,” replied Kevin, holding out a glass with the dark amber liquid.

It was always like this, Thomas thought. The few times they had been alone at one or the other’s house, he had fought with his expectations for something to happen. It was like a tease, the way Kevin and he circled each other, and he had lain awake many nights wondering if Kevin was doing the same, thinking the same. Wanting the same. He took the glass and felt this night would be different. They were no longer high school boys, but now considered grown men, despite feelings to the contrary. But there was something in the way Kevin was acting and he wanted there to be something to it with every fiber of his being.

“I got that Ricky Nelson record that came out back in January. You want to hear it?” asked Kevin.

Kevin’s room was upstairs at the front of the house. The bedroom was originally the master, but years before an addition was added on the end of the house for a new kitchen and a master suite. The renovation and addition included a bathroom off Kevin’s bedroom, making the original bath for any guests using the other two smaller bedrooms. The room was high ceilinged with tall windows that looked down on the front and side yards, and walls in a soft blue-green color that made the pine furniture stand out. Over the bed a movie poster showing James Dean in a red jacket, white t-shirt, and jeans. Thomas had stared at the poster over the last two years, wondering who this person really was and why he felt such an attraction toward him. He often wondered if Kevin felt the same and if that is why the poster was giving such a prominent place in the room.

Thomas watched Kevin tilt the record player down from the vertical housing, revealing the turn table. A few albums were neatly arranged on a shelf above it and Kevin thumbed through them until he came to an album that was obviously new, the cover not marred or damaged. The vinyl disk on the turn table, it came on. As the vinyl disk spun around, Kevin set the needle on its edge. There was a crackle and popping, then “It’s Late” began to play.

Kevin came to the bed and eased down next to Thomas, who felt breathless once again. His hand wouldn’t fit between them, and he nervously leaned back on them, stretching out his torso. He looked at Kevin from the back, not realizing Kevin was looking at him, from knees up to crotch.

“Do you think we’re different…from the other boys?” whispered Thomas.

Kevin leaned forward, holding on the edge of the bed. The hand between them touched Thomas on the thigh.

“Maybe…yes, I think so.”

“Does it scare you?”

Kevin nodded and Thomas felt the rub of a finger on his thigh.

“I like you, you know,” said Thomas, his voice pitched wrong, too high, giving away how nervous he felt.

“I know,” Kevin replied.

The rubbing continued.

“I like you, too,” Kevin added, looking around.

Thomas sat up and the closeness between them no longer seemed unbearable. They stared at each other as Thomas felt the rubbing change to a hand on his thigh.

“Is this, okay?” asked Kevin.

Thomas didn’t reply, instead he leaned toward Kevin and kissed him at the side of the mouth. He didn’t know where he got the courage, but it felt good to finally act, despite not knowing how Kevin would respond. He pulled back enough they could look each other in the eye. There was a nervousness, but the fear was gone. Kevin leaned to Thomas and kissed him.

Thomas went to his back and Kevin was soon on top of him. They kissed while moving hands over the other. They were finally free. Free to kiss, to touch, and…

Thomas reached up and pulled Kevin’s t-shirt up the long lean torso until it bunched up under the arms. Kevin raised up and pulled it off. Thomas looked at the familiar body, a teenager becoming a man. Pecs starting to gain definition and a stomach flattening, the skin tightening, losing its softness. Then he reached up and ran his hand over the chest until he felt the hard nub of nipples rake across his palms.

“Damn…Thomas…” Kevin uttered, letting Thomas touch him.

Thomas felt the heat of Kevin’s skin as he rubbed fingers over its smoothness. He didn’t know why he did it, but he took each nipple and lightly pinched them. It made Kevin shudder, then grind ass down on his cock even harder. He was getting hard and unable control himself, pushed up against the firm ass sitting on him.

Kevin rose to his knees and began to undo his jeans pulling the front apart slipping each button free. The white boxers were tented, but before Thomas could react, Kevin pushed everything down, jeans and boxers, working them down each leg and off. Naked, cock angled out half hard, he stood on knees over Thomas. His eyes looked glazed over and he was breathing heavily.

“Will you touch me?” Kevin asked.

Thomas reached up, hand shaking, and slipped his fingers around the thickening cock. It fit snug in his hand and he stroked it, working his hand down over the flared head, then up to the base where pubic hair tickled the side of his hand. The cock grew longer, thicker, filling his hand. As he stroked it, he kept his eyes glued on it, watching how it became thicker and longer, and when he rubbed the head Kevin shuddered and the cock flexed thickly in his hand. Then he felt the slickness.

Kevin lay on Thomas, grinding cock into his jean covered crotch. There was something tantalizing about the naked body on top of him. He felt its heat, and the prodding of the cock as it pushed against his own. He grew hard while pushing upward and he cried out when lips touched his neck, moved up its long length until grazing the skin along the jaw. Then the lips touched his own and he opened his mouth to Kevin, moaning and undulating beneath him. He felt alive, his entire body sensitive to every touch. But he felt the constriction of his clothes and the confinement of his cock, pushing upward trying to get free.

“I want to take off my clothes,” Thomas whispered as Kevin tugged on his earlobe sending shivers down his spine. The earlobe released; the lips grazed over his ear.

“Let me,” Kevin whispered.

Back on his knees, Kevin tugged on Thomas’ t-shirt. Sitting up and raising his arms, Thomas helped Kevin strip him of it. He lay back and watched fingers work his belt loose, then tug roughly at the front of his jeans. The buttons popped free, one after the next until his jeans were spread open. White boxers tented upward, cock flexing up and down within. Then it slipped through the fly, revealing inch after inch. Thomas was already leaking, and he shivered when a hand took him and smeared the slick down his shaft.

“Let’s get you out of these jeans,” Kevin exclaimed as he moved to the side and tugged the jeans and boxers down each leg, then worked each foot free. He tossed them across the room and moved down between Thomas’ legs with his face right at Thomas’ cock.

“Your cock is so long…longer than mine,” Kevin whispered.

“But you’re thicker,” Thomas replied as he watched Kevin move up and hold their cocks together, stroking them.

Their cocks became slick and moved against each other smoothly, the rubbing stroking each one’s arousal. Thomas began to push upward, and Kevin rocked back and forth.

Aroused until both were shuddering with the stimulation, Thomas soon found Kevin lying on top of him again. It felt hot, the contact between their bodies and how they moved with slow subtle undulations. Thomas felt Kevin’s cock slip beneath his sac and rub along his ass. He raised his knees, spreading them further apart giving Kevin greater access. There was the rub from sac down to his opening, then the push against it and soon he was moaning and pushing back, wanting to feel Kevin breach it and penetrate him.

“Kevin…put it in me,” Thomas uttered as he clung to the lean body moving on top of him.

Kevin was on his knees again, holding one of Thomas’ legs out as he guided his cock to the tight opening. He pressed against it, feeling the resistance.

“Let me in,” Kevin whispered as he pushed harder.

Thomas pushed back and relaxed. He opened to Kevin, feeling the flared head penetrate him. He shuddered at the initial pain, then relaxed as Kevin pushed inch after thick inch into his hole. Soon there was a tug outward, then a push back in, slowly, over and over. He felt his opening loosen to Kevin and he threw his head back.

“Fuck me…harder, fuck me harder,” Thomas begged as he clutched at the bed.

Kevin began to work his hips faster, harder, hammering Thomas’ insides. He plunged deeper and deeper until smacking against the upturned ass, and he kept fucking.

“Goddamn…you’re tight,” Kevin exclaimed as he thrust inward.

Thomas felt every thrust inward, rocked with every smack against his ass, and he clung to the bed begging Kevin not to stop. The bed began to squeak, to rock noisily in its frame. Then it banged against the wall, hammering it in rhythm with Kevin’s fuck. Thomas became aware of the sound, how it aligned with the feel of cock plunging into his depths. Nothing else registered. The room shrank around them, the corners dim and out of focus. Only the sweating body over him and the light reflecting off it remained in focus.

“Fuck…too soon…” Kevin uttered and began to slow down.

“NO! Keep going. Pump it in me,” Thomas exclaimed, urging Kevin on.

Kevin leaned over Thomas, holding himself up on hands and feet, and he hammered cock into Thomas’ depths. The bed’s squeaked changed, no longer rocking against the wall. There was a bouncing motion, one that reflected Kevin movements, hovering over Thomas as he piston cock into him.

“Fuck; take it. Take it,” Kevin shouted, shaking with his release, as he shoved inward all the way and kept hammering his hips against Thomas’s upturned ass. “Take it,” he whispered one final time as he slowed, now grinding his hips against Thomas’ ass.

Kevin fell still, cock buried inside of Thomas. His breathing still labored but he lifted his head and looked down at Thomas. Sweat dripped into Thomas’s face and it made them giggle.

“That was awesome,” Kevin whispered.

Thomas looked up and smiled mischievously. “Don’t stop now. Do me again.”

Cartagena, Spain

He stepped out of a narrow alley, the smell of gas and oil still lingering around him. He knew it would soon dissipate. In this time and place, the smells were different. The shit of animals and the scent of their skin and coats permeated the streets. The smell of man laboring to survive, and the burning of fires, to cook, to light dark interiors, and to work metal into new shapes. He felt at the back of his neck, a habit developed since the implant, and he rubbed the outline of the device attached to the back of his skull that translated language and gave him an ability to speak and write it. It had frightened him at first, then amazed him at the the ability this technology gave him. He knew without such a device, he could never communicate with the people he met in different places and times, therefore would be unable to gain their trust.

He looked at the white face on his wrist and saw the data glow into legibility. 5:45 P.M., 3 August 1849, Cartagena, Spain. He tapped it once to make it go away, then removed the clothing hid among some boxes. The probe had been sent ahead to each of his destinations, this one the first official stop. He changed quickly, then strolled out into the street and followed those heading to the harbor. He saw the masts rising over a low building along the wharf and after a couple of turns, he saw the wooden pier jutting out into the bay. The Charlemagne was in dock and men were beginning to unload its cargo. 

He knew who he sought and hoped they had not left the ship already. He ambled down to the pier and sat on a crate watching men leave the ship and walk his way. He heard the talk of taverns and whores and food as the men passed. None were the one he sought, and he turned back to the ship waiting. He saw the captain come down followed by the cabin boy and he suppressed a smile, knowing the relationship that existed between them. The cabin boy was no boy, mid-twenties and muscular, and he knew the captain was the one who submitted, not the boy. He wondered if the boy knew he would end up in Africa with the captain in another few years.

Turning back to the ship, he saw him, the boatswain. Far younger than most, he knew the young man had been raised on one ship or another by his father. Few knew more about a sailing vessel than Edwin. He watched him walk down the gangplank to the pier, then head his way. Alone, something he knew was typical for Edwin, and he studied the young man as he approached. Edwin was average height, the probes said 173 centimeters and he had a lean muscular body, fit and strong from climbing the rigging and working on the ship. He also knew Edwin was a virgin, never going with the men to visit the whores, or accepting the advances of the young women he crossed paths with while in harbor.

Edwin was gay, a homosexual as it would be called by the end of the century, but no one was aware of it, for he kept to himself and never pursued his desires. But Edwin would soon need to act on it. It was important and his arrival to this time was to make sure it happened. The Charlemagne was to leave port in four days and when it set sail, it would have a passenger that Edwin was to become associated. A Spaniard by the name of Luis. It was just a small thing Luis would do, nothing of great importance in this time, but in later centuries, his artwork would inspire later generations, and among them there was one that was very important.

Luis needed to find himself. He needed to acknowledge his desires and act on them, and it was Edwin who was to give him the courage to do so. But first Edwin had to find his own courage.

He slipped off the crate and fell in behind Edwin. They left the pier and walked into the street, taking a left turn. He wondered where Edwin was going, for most headed straight into the city to the nearest taverns, inns, and places to meet women. Edwin wouldn’t try to pick up any of the women, but it was surprising to see him not head to the nearest places for food and drink or find lodging for his time in the city. Keeping back, he followed the young man down one street then another until they came to an inn with a tavern on the first floor. It was a small place tucked between a general store and a shop selling fabrics. A bell rang when Edwin pushed the door open and it had not closed when he pushed it open again, keeping the bell silent.

Edwin went to a table along the wall near the back and he took a stool at the end of the bar that allowed him to watch him. A man came from back, going to Edwin’s table. Edwin ordered beer, a plate of food and inquired about a room, hearing the man tell him the inn was full for the night. He smiled at the opportunity provided, and when the man came behind the bar, he ordered the same.

He finished first, pushing his empty plate and glass back, and looked over at Edwin finishing the last of his stew, then swallow the last of the beer. Not wanting to miss the opportunity, he moved across the room to Edwin.

“Excuse me, but I must confess I overheard you are looking for lodging. I’m afraid I have miscalculated my travel expenses and will be tight until I can meet my contact here in the city. I have enough for a room, but not a bath too, which I desperately desire. Would you care to split the cost of a room? I have enough to pay for half a room and two baths and could treat you to one as payment.”

“I…” Edwin stammered as he looked up.

He saw Edwin appraise his physical features. A young man, not yet twenty-six, in good health and neat in appearance. He knew Edwin would feel an attraction toward him, even if he felt anxious about him being a stranger.

“Forgive my manners. I’m James Thomas Freeman.”

“Edwin…Edwin Murphy.”

“Edwin, I know an inn that has clean rooms, a tavern and more importantly, a private bath. Would you care to share a room?”

“I guess so…I mean, it would be nice to stay somewhere the bed is clean and a bath would be nice.”

“Well, Edwin, let us settle up and be on our way.”

His internal positioning system led him back to the east a couple of streets over. It was a narrow lane, winding between the buildings with laundry hanging overhead, but after a short walk they came to an inn. It was small and tucked between a small tavern and a private residence. He knew without being told this was an area only someone of the region would know. There were no sailors or foreign visitors anywhere in sight.

Through the heavy wood door, they came into a small room, furnished as someone’s living room but along the opposite wall a counter with cubbies on the wall. An older woman came from the back, greeted them, asking how she may be of assistance.

“We’re looking for a room and hope you have a bath service too?” asked James.

“Yes, we own the private bath next door, and there is one room available,” she replied, looking from Edwin back to James. “But it only has one bed.”

“Just one bed…” James replied, pretending to consider the option. “Are you agreeable to sharing?” he asked Edwin.

Edwin appeared ready to say no, but his eyes roamed up and down James, then he nodded yes.

“We’ll take the room, and do we pay you for the baths?”

“Pay next door,” she replied as she took down a key and took the money James had set on the counter.

James led Edwin upstairs and found the room faced the street with a small balcony. There was a bed with small side tables, two side chairs that sat in front of a shelf unit. There was pottery and candles sitting on each one, except the top shelf where a few books were laying on their side. James picked up a couple to see the titles then laid them back in place. He turned to see Edwin standing at the narrow double doors to the balcony looking out at the street below.

“Not a bad room,” said James.

“No, it is very nice. The nicest I’ve ever been in,” said Edwin without turning.

“Shall we go get our bath before it gets late?”

“Yes, for I feel dirty after such a long voyage.”

“Oh, where did you sail from?”

“India.”

The bath had a small lobby then a series of smaller rooms along one side of a corridor. The doors were closed to most, but near the end of the corridor, the owner led them into a room with two tubs divided by a curtain that was pulled back.

“I’m afraid this is all I have at the moment, but seeing as you are together, I assume this will be acceptable,” said the owner. “Give us a few minutes and Soffia or Valeria will fill the tubs with hot water.”

“Thank you,” James replied as he moved to a side table and began emptying his pockets.

Standing in a position that allowed Edwin to see him from the side, he began to remove his clothes. There was no hesitation, no tease to the removal of each garment. He just slipped out of each item and laid it on the side table. He glanced over a few times seeing Edwin hesitate, then turn away and remove his own clothes. The lean muscular upper body came into view, then the round ass cheeks. Edwin was attractive, and naked, he was something to desire.

James smiled at how Edwin had not pulled the curtain between them. There was a desire to see him, no matter how shy Edwin was about it. Steam rose from both tubs, and he moved to the closest one and eased down into the hot water. It was almost instantaneous, the relaxing of his muscles. The soothing feel of the heat around his body was not only relaxing, but made him acutely aware of his sex. Looking over, he watched Edwin ease down into the other tub. A long flaccid cock, the sac behind it heavy with each orb, the narrow-tapered waist, and the muscular upper body, the form and shape of a man, Edwin was what one generation long into the future would refer to as candy for the eyes.

“Feels good, doesn’t it?” asked James.

“Yes.”

“How long have you been at sea?”

“It’s been four, no, nearly five months.”

“It makes time almost irrelevant. Out in that open water with nothing but a flat horizon, sky bleeding into the sea,” James uttered in a low voice.

“I lose track of time of the day or even the month all the time. If it were not for the captain’s journals, I afraid I’d never know it.”

“Yes, my journeys cause me to lose track.”

“Where are you from?”

“The United States; Alabama to be exact.”

“Alabama? Never met anyone from there before. What is it like?”

“What’s it like? It is a mess I’m afraid, destined for war against its own.”

“Civil war? You think the states will go to war?”

“Yes.”

“Is that why you left?”

“No. I left for other reasons.”

“James, thanks for helping me with a room. I didn’t have the coinage for anything that didn’t have bed bugs.”

“Remember, you’re doing me a favor too. We wouldn’t be able to have these marvelous baths otherwise. After this, I can’t wait to get into bed.”

“Me too.”

James turned to keep Edwin from seeing him smile. He thought of what was possible once he got Edwin in bed. He knew from the way Edwin looked at him it would be so easy. To give a man what he desired, especially something considered taboo. Something unobtainable suddenly made available. He was so eager to get back to the inn he was almost willing to abandon the still warm bath before it cooled.

James stood by the bed, fresh linens and blankets on it, pulled back ready for its occupants. It was inviting, promising a warm comfortable sleep, but first there was the promise of sex that aroused him. Turning, he saw Edwin at the French doors looking down at the street where a night’s revelry was echoing from below.

“You want to go down and see what is going on?” asked James.

“No. I just hope I can sleep with the noise.”

“I don’t’ think sleep will be a problem. Are you ready to turn in?”

Edwin crossed the room and stood on the opposite side of the bed and for a brief second, they stared at each other.

“Let’s get in bed,” said James as he began to remove his clothes, stripping down to his underwear.

The sounds from the street broke the silence of the room as James laid on his back sensing Edwin next to him. He merely needed extend his fingers out and he could touch him. Edwin was on his back still as a dead man, and James knew he was anxious, feeling his sexual desires. He was too, for his cock was starting to get erect just thinking of it.

“How do you cope with the loneliness?” asked James, breaking the silence.

“I struggle with it,” Edwin replied after a long silence.

“As do I.”

“How do you…cope?”

“I take pleasure where I can find it. I enjoy life when it affords me the opportunity.”

“I wish I were brave enough…” Edwin replied, letting his voice trail off.

James lay quiet, letting Edwin consider it. Then he rolled to his side facing him. All he could see was an outline of the body, but it was enough. He saw the head turn toward him and he reached out and touched Edwin on the arm.

“I think this is an opportunity,” James whispered.

“How can you be so sure? Do you think I would be willing to do such a thing?”

“I saw how you looked at me, especially at the bath. I know the look. I’ve seen it before. Do you deny it?”

James rubbed the arm, then slid his hand over until it rested on the stomach where it rose and fell with the heavy breathing of a man scared and anxious and sexually awakening.

“No,” Edwin uttered.

It was what James wanted to hear, and he moved to Edwin kissing him, feeling lips press back against his own. He let his weight bear down on Edwin, grinding his growing cock against a leg. He moved over him, undulated in the most primitive way stroking both of their desires. Reaching between them, he took Edwin in hand, felt the thickening cock grow until it more than filled his hand. He toyed with it, manipulated the head until Edwin moaned into his mouth and pushed up against him. He rose over him and pushed the underwear down, working it over the hard cock and Edwin helped, working his legs until the garment became lost beneath the covers at the foot of the bed.

James started to remove his own but felt Edwin hands on his waist, then his underwear sliding down, over his cock and ass, down the thighs until Edwin could no longer reach them. He worked his legs until the garment came loose from his feet, lost with Edwin’s beneath the cover.

Bare cock touched bare cock. Bare stomach and chest pressed down on bare stomach and chest. Lips pressed together and hands roamed along torsos. As James moved on Edwin, the covers fell back letting the cool night air caress their warm skin.

“You’ve done this before?” Edwin asked but James knew by the tone it was more of a statement than a question.

“Yes…and you will too.”

James slipped a hand down between Edwin’s thighs rubbing along that place behind the sac. The place most men considered taboo, but for men like James, and now Edwin, they knew it was just another place a man could feel pleasure. He gave it to Edwin, raking fingers along that place between sac and opening. He rubbed until he felt the thighs spread apart and hard cock push upward against his own. He rubbed down until he felt the tight puckered opening and he rubbed it until Edwin was pushing against his finger. Stroking Edwin’s arousal, bringing him to the point he would ask for the penetration, James circled his finger around the tight opening.

“James…please…” Edwin gasped as he pushed against the fingers.

James kissed the long neck, tugged on the earlobe, then tongued the ear as he breached the tight opening and buried his finger inside of Edwin. Twisting and turning the finger until the tightness slacked, James inserted two, then three fingers into Edwin’s virgin ass, manipulating it until he knew it was time.

On his knees, James held Edwin by the ankles, spreading him for his fuck. He scooted closer, rubbing his cock over the spread ass, then he held only one ankle, letting the other fall to one side, as he guided his cock to the loosened opening. He rubbed his leaking cock over it, then pressed against it until he felt the tight squeeze on the head as it penetrated him. Slowly, he pushed inward until half his cock was buried in him, then he began to fuck.

They were connected, man inside man, moving with the primitive urge as old as time. James drove into Edwin’s depths, going deeper and deeper until smacking against the upturned ass. He increased his pace, became more physical, as sex between men should be. The old bed squeaked and rocked beneath them, and Edwin moaned and uttered unintelligibly as he took every thrust.

James felt near his growing need for release, and he increased his pace. He wanted to come, to pump everything he had to give into Edwin’s depths. He was thrusting into Edwin’s depths all the way, hips smacking against ass, until he couldn’t hold back. He shoved into Edwin’s depths, making the bed hit the wall, and he came.

James fell on top of Edwin. He was heaving for breath feeling the sweat trickle down his back and around his face. He felt feverish from his exertions but knew he could go again. He began rise, but arms circled his torso and held him tight.

“Don’t stop,” Edwin pleaded.

James had no time to respond when he found himself rolled to his back. Edwin was on top, cock still buried in his ass. James smiled at the awakening of Edwin, this awareness of his own sexual desire. He felt him move on his cock, up, slowly, until the head almost slipped free, then down, just as slow, until completely seated on it. James felt a renewed arousal, his cock getting rock hard again. He held still, fighting the desire to do otherwise, letting Edwin set the pace. The slick, loosened hole moving up and down on his cock, messy with his first load. James knew there was nothing neat about sex, if it were done right. After getting fully erect and Edwin riding him to the point he saw the bare body glisten wetly in the dim light, he began to push upward, trying to get deeper inside the hole. It rocked Edwin, spurred him to fuck himself faster on James’ cock. Once again, the bed rocked and squeaked and this time James was aware of it, feeling how it moved rhythmically with Edwin.

Edwin was stroking his own cock, the right arm moving faster and faster. James began to thrust upward, harder, faster, driving cock into Edwin’s depths. Edwin cried out, threw his head back, torso stretched out, and cried out again. Then cum rained down on James. Thick wads roped up his chest hitting his chin, then large puddles formed on his stomach. He could smell it, Edwin’s sex. It overpowered all other smells. The smell of sweaty skin and burnt candles and the scents blowing in from the street below. All he could smell was the cum. It drove him over the edge, and he bear hugged Edwin and rolled him over to his back. He moved with determination, more forceful than necessary, for Edwin was willing, pliable, letting him position his sweaty body beneath his own. He took each leg behind the knee and folded Edwin in half, angling ass up for his cock. He speared the loosened opening again and fucked. Fucked hard and fast, hips bouncing off the upturned ass. He drove down into Edwin’s depths with a physicality only men could do. Cum smeared between their bodies making their movements slick.

James kept his pace even, made this fuck last. He wanted it to last to the point of utter exhaustion. He sweated until it rained down on Edwin and his muscled burned from his exertions, and yet, he kept fucking.

Edwin moved beneath him. Body undulated as much as it could in its tight confines. He felt hands move over his slick skin, along his sides and over his back. The back of the legs against his chest were hot, making him feel as if he were burning up. Then cum hit his chest and stomach. Edwin was coming again, shaking and shuddering beneath him with each ejaculation. Again, the smell of Edwin’s sex was overpowering. He thrust into Edwin’s depths and jammed his hips against the upturned ass over and over and over, until he too was coming. He pumped himself empty inside Edwin, then collapsed on top of him.

James woke to Edwin between his legs, his cock enveloped in a wet warm mouth. He combed his fingers through long hair, then balled them into fist holding tight to the head as he pumped upward, fucking the mouth until he came.

After a morning meal in the inn, James led Edwin out into the street. Edwin had to get back to the dock. There were preparations to complete before the passengers of their next voyage arrived. James knew of one but said nothing. He saw the changed expression, the increase in confidence, and knew Edwin would play his role. He would become the artist’s model, and he would be the artist’s confidant, lover, partner.

“This is where we part ways. Edwin, thanks for last night. It was important to me,” said James.

Edwin blushed but kept their eye contact.

“James…thanks for showing me. I wish we…”

“Edwin,” James interrupted, not wanting Edwin to go there. It was important he move on, for the time was near when the one would arrive. “Trust me when I say, there will come someone who will give you the greatest happiness, but you have to be the one to reach for it first.”

“What are you saying? What do you know?”

“Not much, not really, but I do know the ways of men, and in this age, too many can’t make the first move. Last night, would you have done so?”

“No.”

“But now, I know you will, when the time is right. I must be going. Edwin, take care of yourself, and let yourself enjoy life.”

“Thanks James, and safe travels.”

James strolled up the street in the opposite direction of the docks. He passed several shops, then looked back and saw Edwin was no longer watching him but was moving down the street heading to the docks and his destiny. He watched him move through the others in the street until finally lost from sight. He turned to a narrow alley and strolled down it until in deep shadow, then disappeared.

Cepheus

The station moved through space in orbit around the Earth. All along the long spans and bridging, small sparks lit up the darkness where crew were repairing and patching the stressed members. The station was old, and maintenance was in constant need. Windows were bright little squares along each section of the habitable areas, and at the far end within the docking station, two ships were held in place. One was under construction, the shell underway. Next to it was the Cepheus that was to launch in less than six hours.

Approaching the docking ports, a cargo vessel from Earth’s surface approached. It had a minimum crew, and in the hold supplies destined for the Cepheus.

James stepped out of the wave into the hold and checked the time, smiling at being right on time. The Cepheus would depart in two-hundred thirty-three minutes, on its way to the Mars Colony 10-A. It was the year 2076, and man was struggling to hold on to any sense of civilization. Down on the surface of Earth was total chaos. On the moon, two colonies were working tirelessly to create a livable environment. It would take another three decades before the technology improved enough to terraform such an unsuitable environment. On Mars the terraforming was progressing better where the planet’s greater gravity worked in their favor.

James moved to the loading hatch waiting on the vessel to dock. He was going to get on the Cepheus for there were two young men who would be the ones to solve the problems of the terraforming, first for Mars, then for the moon. But first they needed to defy public policy.

Sliding down the wall until sitting on the floor, he leaned back and looked up at the maze of duct, conduit and panels along the ceiling while considering the policy that determined who could travel to the colonies. The asinine nature of it. Humanity had fell into their usual fear mongering responding to the struggle to survive. The pandemic of 2020 should have been a wakeup call, but far too many politicized it and allowed the pandemic to spread with little control. They were lucky with the next one in 2023 for scientist quickly found a vaccine, then a drug to control it. But the virus of 2028 was humanity’s worst nightmare. It ravaged the population, destroyed societies and the economy of the world.

There was a rapid increase in support to work out the technology to create colonies in places off world. A rush to get them set up even when all systems still needed development. The colonies on the moon, then the ones on Mars. There was still talk of going to Enceladus, but the distance was intimidating to a society struggling to hold itself together. The colonies on Mars were finally settling down, but it was the terraforming on the moon that everyone at SEAT desperately wanted to solve. The system would be the one utilized on Enceladus. Little did anyone know, it would play a bigger role in renewing Earth’s atmosphere in the future.

James considered the two men stowed away at the docking station, Kaito and Aadne, the ones who would eventually solve the problem, but it would be together, not individually, and to get them in such an arrangement, there had to be a defiance of protocol. The fear of a dwindling population caused SEAT to establish only those who form contracts with the opposite sex and prepared to have children are allowed to live in a colony. It was foolish, setting up for the problem of humanity that has plagued them for centuries. Overpopulating an area until it can’t support them. Kaito and Aadne had to come together, then defy the protocol. It seemed superficial but the timeline bore it out. There was something special in the relationship that would come to fruition.

James was in this time and place to make sure it happened. Otherwise, his age may not happen as he remembered it.

He felt the ship slow, thrusters firing around its hull. After slowing down, the ship rotated, allowing it to align with the dock.

An abrupt stop and the air lock pressurizing, James climbed to his feet and waited for the door to slide open. He wondered if his plan was ideal or if there was another way. Anything he did would be chancy, but it was a risk he was willing to take. He had to take it.

The station was a hive of activity. Those working at open panels trying to keep the systems functioning, and others rushing from one place to another. James knew it was hectic due to the looming launch of Cepheus. He moved through the corridors with a confident stride that drew no attention. He turned on C23 then climbed up to E21 and moved through the curved corridor, not a curvature to one side, but always upward, circling around the central axis. He came to one of the lodging sections, the one he sought, and he entered the commons. There was only a dozen or so scattered around the room. Two men at the comms along one wall, and a woman talking to someone back on earth at another. On the other side of the room some ancient movie played, the digital image crude and pixelated, with four people lounging on the sectionals watching it. A few were in the middle of the room reading tablets, probably some latest novel release, although one guy was no doubt reading pornography by the way he tugged on the crotch of his coveralls.

At the back of the room sitting in the window, sat Kaito. He was staring out, watching men working on the Cepheus doing last minute service and checks.

James wondered where he would find Aadne when the door opened, and he strolled in carrying two lunch boxes and drinks from the canteen. James moved to the side of the room and took a seat where he could watch them. Aadne crossing the room and sitting opposite of Kaito in the window seat. He held out one of the lunch boxes then a drink and the two of them settled into a quiet lunch, or maybe it was dinner, depending on their hours on the station.

James watched them eat, then sit quietly, whispering back and forth too low for anyone else to hear. After some time had passed, the two men stood, and James stood too and headed to the door before them so as not to appear to be following. In the corridor, he stood to one side pretending to read a text message on his wrist unit and let the two men come out and pass him. Then he followed them.

Kaito and Aadne left the lodging area, and climbed down to the level A, commonly referred to as the ass level, for it was the level with the various mechanical systems that made the station habitable. It was dimly lit corridors with leaking pipes, and illegal lodgings tucked into every available space. Near the air circulation and filtering station, was the main business district that had been built to serve the workers on the level. Initially it had been places to eat, relax, seek medical attention, or find some entertainment, such as a movie or a band in a bar. But over time the place changed, for it was the least patrolled, the upper levels not caring what went on, as long as they had clean air and water, and the electricity keep working. It became the place for illegal trade and none more prevalent than the hustling and prostitution.. Their garish signs shined brightly in the dark corridors, a place that took on a nighttime feel from old earth at all hours.

Kaito and Aadne moved down the dimly lit corridor until they came to a sex hotel, with its signage in various languages, the ones at top the languages of the Asian region, where the sex hotels originated.

James followed them into the lobby and up to the bar where some patrons needed to build up their courage, or simply to find someone that gave them a reason to rent a room. He crossed the room and sat at the bar, only one stood over from Aadne. Kaito couldn’t help but see him every time he looked at Aadne. He watched them drink one round of drinks, then another, as he sipped slowly at the rot gut the bartender dared call whiskey. After their third round he decided the time was right.

“Excuse me, but I was wondering if the two of you would like to go upstairs and share a room,” asked James. It was a bold move, probably too bold, but he knew time was short.

“What? You…want to share a room?” replied Aadne, giggling. It was obvious he couldn’t hold his liquor well and would be the one to work the most.

“Yes. I think, we all know why we come here.”

“I don’t think so,” said Kaito, looking worried. He probably thought James might be undercover looking for an easy bust.

“Why not? I get the feeling the two of you want to go up, but are you hesitant? Do you worry about getting caught violating the protocol?”

“You’re funny,” giggled Aadne, then he turned to Kaito whispering something in his ear.

James looked at the two men. Kaito was thirty-one, born in Japan but raised in China. He attended the university for space technologies, then made his way up to the Orbital Living Station C-12 and finally to the docking station where he met Aadne. Aadne was thirty-five and a Norwegian but was born on the OLS A-4. He was an engineer specializing in terraforming technology, but he lacked an intuition that let him make his ideas a reality. It was where Kaito came in, and James was intent on making their relationship go to the next level where the two would depend on each other, in their work and in their life. He looked at how Aadne looked at him, then how Kaito was also looking at him. What did they see? A man a few years younger, tall and lean, and seeking companionship. He sipped the rot gut and smiled at them, then gave them a questioning look, pushing for a response to his suggestion. He saw their stare and knew they would soon be in a room somewhere in the back of this shithole.

The room was a cliche in every way. Red walls with a red curtain along one wall to give the impression there was a window where none existed. A king size bed with red linens and numerous pillows scattered over it. On the opposite wall from the bed a monitor playing porn and through a narrow door, a small bathroom with a shower, toilet, and lavatory. On a side table there were lubricants, speaking to the purpose of the room, if the purpose of the room wasn’t already abundantly clear.

“What are we going to do?” giggled Aadne.

James thought it was obvious, but he saw the nervousness of the two men and wondered if they had gone all the way before. The probes had seen them making out and groping each other and it was assumed they had gone further. But if not, it explained why the surveyors flagged them for interception. He changed the porn to a scene between two men, then tugged the zipper down on his shirt, feeling it fall open. He looked at Aadne then to Kaito as the shirt fell down his arms and to the floor. He undid his pants and tugged the zipper down feeling the warm air hit bare flesh. He hadn’t bothered with underwear, knowing it would only slow things down. He saw the looks from Aadne and Kaito and smiled. He was having the desired effect. He felt his cock flex with its freedom as the pants fell to his ankles. He stepped out of them as he approached Aadne and Kaito.

“What are you two waiting for?”

 They were standing close enough that when James moved to them, he could press against both. Along each side of his bare body, he felt them. Their stares were full of lust and desire, and he leaned to Kaito and kissed him, then to Aadne and kissed him. Taking each by the neck, he guided them to kiss each other. As their lips touched, he saw them close their eyes, then press lips tightly together. There was passion behind their kiss. As he watched, he began to tug down zippers of the coveralls they wore. There was no resistance, instead Kaito then Aadne helped him get arms free then lifted one foot then the other to free them of the coveralls.

James stayed on his knees, pressing his face into Aadne’s crotch feeling the growing erection against it. He mouthed the outline of cock then tongued the head until the briefs were wet. He moved to Kaito and did the same to him. He made them aroused until their fears and hesitations were forgotten. Then he tugged down their briefs and helped each one to step out of them.

He stood and watched them kiss and fondle each other, then he moved in close and kissed Kaito, then Aadne. He sensed Aadne was more willing, ready for what was next. He guided him back until legs hit the bed, and he kept pushing, guiding Aadne down on the bed. He moved over him as Kaito got on the bed and down next to him. As they kissed, he took each ankle and lifted the legs and spread them. Surprised at the sudden initiative, he watched Aadne take his cock and rub it up and down his own ass. James shuddered while his cock rubbed the spread ass until it was smeared its slick. When Aadne held him at the tight opening, he pushed, breaching it, sinking the head into the hot hole. He kept pushing until half of his cock was inside him, then he began to fuck.

“Kaito, let him suck you,” whispered James as he worked his cock in the tight opening, feeling it slowly loosen.

Kaito eased up on his knees, moved around to Aadne’s head, and raked his leaking cock over his lips, cheeks, and nose. He was too excited and aroused to be neat in his ministrations. As he raked his cock back across the lips, Aadne opened his mouth taking his cock.

James watched how Aadne took them. Kaito’s cock in the mouth, his own in the ass. He felt the slight push as he shoved inward. Together, Kaito and he fucked Aadne, pushed inward and tugged outward in a steady rhythm. They fucked slowly, eyes going from each other, then down at the prone body between them. Aadne’s cock was laying over his stomach, leaking, smearing its slick over the smooth skin. James took it in hand and stroked it as he fucked him. He knew the sensation of being fucked at both ends and having your own cock stroked. The overwhelming feel of it. He knew Aadne felt it too. The cock in his hand flexed and became rock hard, then it was slick in his hand.

Kaito cried out, shuddered with his release as he pumped Aadne’s mouth full of cum. James watched the Adam’s apple move up and down as he swallowed once, twice, then three times, taking Kaito’s load. He increased his pace, fucked harder as the taste of cum still lingered in Aadne’s mouth, hammering cock into the depths of his ass. The cock in hand flexed, thickened, then sprayed cum from Aadne’s face down to his stomach. As it dribbled out the last of its cum, James kept stroking it. Cum smeared down the shaft and Aadne shuddered and tried to pull away. The manipulation too much, his cock too sensitive for further stimulation. James smiled at how Aadne was a slave to his cock, consumed with the sensations it gave him. He thrust hard, slamming against Aadne rocking him on the bed. He jammed his hips against him and kept jamming against him until he came.

James lay on the bed, sated from their initial sex. He watched Aadne move over Kaito. The two lean bodies moving as one, in a dance of a sexual nature. Cocks rubbed together, then Kaito’s legs were on shoulders as cock sank into his ass. James watched with his perfect view from the side, as Aadne sank into Kaito’s depths. He watched them kiss then fuck. It was intimate, the pace slower. He knew this was more than just a fuck. It was the moment the two men would come to know how important the other was to them.

He climbed off the bed and quietly dressed as Aadne and Kaito fucked on the bed. He checked the room to make sure he was leaving nothing behind, no indication he had been there. One last look at the two men fucking, Aadne over Kaito, tugging his cock outward until it nearly slipped free, then the push back in, all the way until their bodies were pressed together, then James slipped out the door.

James moved down the filthy path, oily water leaking from a pipe overhead, and everywhere he looked the garish lights of sex clubs, sex hotels, and casinos, where the biggest wagers were one’s body. If he didn’t know what lay in the future, he would have thought this was the end of humanity. The deteriorating technology they were barely able to keep operating as disease and viruses burned through the populations. But the notion of the end was one that surfaced in man’s rhetoric all through time. It was the fuel of far too many religions, for it was a way to fear monger the masses. He remembered the time of his childhood and teen years, and the absolute conviction the end was near, for the Russians were going to take man’s freedom, then his life.

Shaking his head at how often in time this sense of destruction became a self-fulfilling prophecy, one made real by those who feared it. He brought up the next mission, and the time stamp glowed on his wristband. He rubbed his finger over it as he turned down a side passage, one dark and empty. He took a few steps and disappeared.

The Awakening

Smoke rose from fires and the labors worked tirelessly as they worked on the sloped land along the coast of the Sea of Galilee. They were building a new city where before were only scattered dwellings. It was in honor of the second emperor of the Roman Empire, Tiberius. A city in a land far from Rome. A place conflicted and torn between loyalties.

James stepped out from behind a wall, the top layers freshly laid. He strolled out in a traditional robe, wearing sandals that felt strange to his feet. He moved to a place away from the construction and sat down to wait. He wouldn’t have to wait long.

It was strange, this particular mission, for how it would take over eighteen hundred years to play out. In this time, it would seem such a trivial thing. An artist compelled to paint images that reflected his deepest desires. Images that would portray something acceptable in this time but would soon become demonized by humanity’s ignorance and their religious ideologies. The artist would create images of sex between two men. And near the end of the twentieth century, those images would be rediscovered, pulled out of archives of a museum where they were packed away, after their discovery in the nineteenth century. They would be influential in expanding the rights of the individual to include sexual orientation. Along with images from the artwork of the far East and ancient Greece, they would shed light on the past acceptance of sex between the same sexes, and thus give cause for acceptance in the future with greater understanding of sex, sexuality, and gender. But first the artist needed to have his own desires fulfilled and by someone who would encourage him to paint images that reflected the intimacy shared between them.

Walking along a path heading toward the new city of Tiberias, came the young man who would give this artist the freedom of expression. Someone who was heading toward his own destiny in this small insignificant timeline of this age, but one that held much more importance in the time to come. Someone who would board the ship in which the artist was also sailing, heading toward Rome. Even from the distance, the young man a small dot on the horizon, James knew his appearance. He had seen the ancient artifacts. The artist and his young apprentice in the throes of sexual bliss. The young man with the curly hair and dark complexion and lean muscular body. A young man who needed to be awakened to his own sexual needs and desires.

Shneur came to the construction site and marveled at how a city could just be built in such a short time. He saw the first dwellings and places of commercial enterprise, and the buildings dedicated to the seat of government that were rising from the ground. He came from fertile lands to the south of the sea on his way to Haifa. He thought of his home, a small village that was dwarfed by the city before him, even though it was far from complete.

He was the youngest of four boys, and knew their farm could not support them all, so he had told his parents he was going in search of work at the docks. Despite his mother’s pleadings to stay, he packed up his few belongings and headed out. As he left his home, he felt guilty for the lie he had told, the one seeking work at the docks. It was a half-truth, he had told himself, but one told to deceive. He was going to seek work at the docks but work that would let him sail the Mediterranean Sea and possible the great ocean beyond. He felt restless, confined in the place he called home.

Shneur walked past a wagon piled with small stone pulled by two oxen and followed a lane that forked off to the left climbing up the slope. He passed a few buildings that were complete, most dwellings, but a few commercial enterprises, and came out to open area reserved for construction of other building types. A warm wind blew from the sea and up the slope, drying the sweat from his brow.

He came to the next construction site, men digging trenches or laying stone. In front of him he saw a young man climb off a large stone and approach the lane. Clean shaven, short, neatly trimmed hair and a skin tone that was not of region. But the biggest thing he noticed was the dirty blonde hair. Then he noticed the attractive face and nice muscular body and felt the stirrings that haunted him. He looked upon this stranger with desire and felt confusion and shame. It was the reason he left home, hoping to find his place in the world and discover how to deal with his feelings and longings.

As he drew near, he knew the man was slightly older than his own eighteen, considered a man himself. He sensed a confidence he lacked in the man’s movement, by the way he carried himself. A few steps further and he realized he was closing the distance between them, soon to be along side him. He felt he should slow down, fall in behind him, but he wanted to get closer. He wanted to see him up close, and with heart beating fast, he continued with his pace until coming along side.

Shneur glanced over and saw the blue eyes, so foreign in this land, then he saw the smooth facial features. He nearly tripped while looking to his side and felt his face warm with his embarrassment. The man seemed not to notice but as they came to a fork in the lane, the man looked over.

“Excuse me, but do you know where someone might find lodgings?”

Shneur looked at the handsome man, for a moment unable to respond. It was the blue eyes and the way they stared back at him.

“I…huh…I’m not sure. I’m just traveling through on my way to Haifa.”

“Oh, I’m heading that way. Would you care to search for lodgings with me?”

James smiled when Shneur wasn’t looking for how easy he was able to get him to follow. They had introduced themselves and he told his fabricated story of traveling to Haifa to board a vessel to Egypt. He knew the mere mention of traveling by water would be the thing that captured Shneur’s attention.

“Oh, really, I’m looking to travel somewhere too.”

“Somewhere? Do you not know where you wish to go?”

Shneur looked away and shook his head. Without turning he uttered a low reply. “I just want to leave.”

“Things not good at home?”

“Well…it wasn’t bad but…”

“You couldn’t live your own life?”

“Yes, something like that.”

“Shneur, I don’t think we’ll find anything here for all the construction workers. Shall be head east as far as we can and find a place, maybe in Nazareth.”

“You think we could find something inexpensive?” asked Shneur.

“I’m sure we can find something affordable, although I’m prepared to pay whatever it takes for comfortable lodging. If you’ll accompany me, I would love to have the companionship.”

“I’d like that,” Shneur replied.

James walked quietly for a distance, letting Shneur grow comfortable with him. The construction left behind they crossed the rolling terrain until they came to Nazareth. The sun was low in the western sky and James was anxious to get Shneur alone. He sensed the possibilities, catching him glancing his way often during their walk. He saw how the eyes looked at him and recognized the lust and desire behind them.

Nazareth lay in the valley of the low mountains, a small town of only a few hundred. James looked at it as they descended the hill, following the footpath. The town was so small, he worried about finding accommodations.

“I hope we can find some lodging,” James uttered as they approached.

“Or at least get someone to let us use their stable,” said Shneur.

James chuckled at the reference to a stable, knowing the mythic legend on which one played in the writings yet to come.

“Excuse me, is there some place we could find lodging?” asked James to the first person they came upon, a woman carrying a basket.

“There is no inn but check with Salome. She has put up travelers in the past.”

“Where can we find this Salome?”

“The other side of the town, the house with two stables behind it and a pen with sheep at the left one.”

“Thank you,” James replied, and he led Shneur into the small town.

Most dwellings were modest, with crude structures for livestock or grain behind them. Near the other side they saw the house that had to belong to Salome. It was larger than most, and behind it were two well-built structures, one with a low stone wall creating a pen area to its side.

James approached the door to the dwelling which swung open just before he reached it. A middle-aged woman stepped out then stopped, surprised someone was approaching.

“Can I help you?” she asked.

“Excuse me, are you Salome?” asked James.

“Yes.”

“I’m James and this is Shneur, and we’re looking for lodging for the night. We were told to ask you.”

“Yes, I can put you up. The stable to the right is not in use and I let people stay in it. If that is acceptable, you can stay for two bronze coin.”

“That is acceptable,” James replied as he dug out his purse with the local currency. Manufactured back in his time, he, like the other travelers, were equipped with all the necessary items to function in the times they were visiting, including money. He pulled out three bronze coins and placed them in Salome’s hand. “Thank you.”

“Should you wish to bathe, there is a bath house. It is over there,” said Salome, pointing back to northeast.

“I could use a bath after being on the road,” said James, smiling at Salome, then over to Shneur. “What about you?”

“I haven’t the money for such a luxury.”

“But you must accompany me. I’ll pay. Come, let’s get settled and then go for a bath,” said James, putting his hand on Shneur’s shoulder in a friendly manner, leading him toward the stable.

The stable, for it to be a building not in use, was neat and clean. Each stall was set up with a platform for sleeping and in the central common area, water was brought to them in large vases. James took the last stall in the back, the one with the most privacy and he watched as Shneur took the one directly across from him. He left the stall gate open and as he laid out his few possessions, he looked across and saw Shneur had left his gate open and was doing the same.

“Are you ready for that bath?” asked James as he stepped into the common area. Shneur nodded, then stepped out next to him.

“Yes, I think so.”

In the bath, James quickly disrobed while watching Shneur slowly remove his own. Shy, back turned to him, James looked at the lean body coming into view. It was going to be easy to feel desire toward him. The shift of shoulder blades in the long torso, the round ass, and the long legs he imagined wrapped around his waist.

They went into the main room and began to bathe. James openly looked at Shneur’s body, letting him see his stare. As they bathed it seemed Shneur became bold, eventually standing to where he was fully visible to James. Partially erect cock, low hanging balls, and the long lean torso; the body of a teen maturing into a man. He stood facing Shneur while pouring water over his head, letting him look upon his own nudity. He felt his arousal with the beginning of an erection, he did nothing to stop it. ‘Let him look at the effects he is having on me’ he thought as he let water cascade down his body.

The stable was quiet and empty except for Shneur and James. James had extinguished his torch, leaving only the one in Shneur’s stall burning. He looked from the darkness into the light at the young man sitting, then pacing around. He saw the anxiousness, the restlessness, and he would soon use it to his advantage.

“Shneur. Shneur, can you come here?”

Shneur crossed the common area and entered the dark stall, his shadow blocking out James completely.

“Yes?”

“Come, sit. Talk with me.”

Shneur moved into the darkness and to James’ left letting light from his torch illuminate James as best it could. He sat next to James, about two hands apart. For a long time only the sound of Shneur’s nervous breathing broke the silence of the stable. One knee bounced up and down and James sensed how he could bolt like a scared rabbit at any minute.

“You know, this is an odd age. Some places accept things out of the ordinary, and others do not,” said James.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, some cultures are okay with marriages that mix religions or cultures, some royal families using it as a treaty between countries.”

“But there are some things no culture will accept.”

“Not true. The most radical thing I can think of is a relationship between two people of the same sex, but you know the Greeks and now the Romans are accepting of it, although the reason and degree is not based on the reason it should be.”

“I heard that, and father said it was pure evil.”

“I disagree with your father. I think if someone can find someone they love, someone they want to spend their life, supporting each other through even the most difficult times, then no one should disparage it.”

“You’re okay with a man having sex…a relationship with another man?”

James turned to Shneur and looked into the shadowed eyes, concealed from his own. He felt the light hitting his eyes and knew Shneur could see his eyes and hoped he saw what was behind them.

“Yes. In fact, where I come from it is considered normal, just another aspect of our sexuality, where not everyone is the same.”

“H-h-have you…been with a man?”

“Yes.”

Shneur shifted, appeared ready to jump up and run, then he settled back, and James knew he was contemplating what had been said, turning it over his mind.

“You know, if someone met another person they loved, there will no doubt be regret. Regret that they can’t go home and present this person to their family. But it may be the only way to achieve happiness, and it will be a greater regret, one that pierces the soul, if they do not follow their heart,” James whispered. “And before they find that special person, it is okay to explore their desires, to share themselves with another, if for no other reason, than to give comfort or find release to their desires,” he added, sliding his hand over until his fingers could touch Shneur on the thigh.

James felt Shneur flinch, but not pull away. He rubbed his fingers along the thigh, then moved his hand down to the knee and gave it a slight squeeze.

“Is this, okay?” asked James.

Shneur nodded his head slowly, then after what seemed an eternity whispered, “yes.”

James pulled at the robe, gathered it into his hand, tugging the bottom of it up until he was above the knee. Then he slid his hand underneath it until he felt hardening cock and loose sac. He toyed with the cock, tugged at the sac, and when Shneur unconsciously spread his legs, he leaned over and kissed him on the neck. He moved up the neck to the ear as he filled his hand with growing cock, slowly stroking it. Moving along the jaw, Shnier surprised him by not waiting for him to get to his lips, turning to him and kissing him back. He was pleased to see him open up so quickly and he slipped his hand out from underneath the robe.

“Stand up,” James whispered.

Shneur stood in front of him completely in shadow and he took the robe in each hand and stood, pulling it upward. Standing right in front of him, James realized he was a couple of inches taller, and when Shneur raised each arm for him, he easily slipped the robe up the arms and off. He kissed him, feeling the push back. He kissed the long neck and down the chest. He toyed with nipples, tonguing the hard nub in each, then he kissed his way down the stomach until dragging his nose through pubic hair, then lips along the hard curved shaft. He dragged his tongue along the length of it, kissed the head, licked it, then took it in his mouth and pushed forward.

Fingers dug into James’ shoulders and soon hips pushed forward sinking cock deeper in his mouth. He rubbed thighs, reached up between them and tugged on the sac until Shneur shuddered, then he moved his hands around the waist and over the curved ass cheeks. He slipped fingers down between them and as he took cock deep into his mouth, he raked them down between the cheeks until he felt the puckered opening. He rubbed it until Shneur moaned, then pushed one finger into him, penetrating as far as he could sink the finger, and Shneur shuddered again, then filled his mouth with cum. He sucked the spurting cock as he piston his finger in the hole.

When Shneur was spent, James sat back on his heels and looked up at the naked young man. He slid hands up the legs, then raked one over to the half flaccid cock, feeling it respond.

“You want to try something else?” asked James.

“Yes,” Shneur responded without hesitation.

James stood and pulled his robe off, tossing it the side. Naked, his own cock half hard, he moved up to Shneur, pressing his body against him. He pushed with his hips, making his cock flex and grow harder. He felt Shneur’s cock push back, then he felt soft tentative kisses against his neck, shaking hands move up his arms, then around his body, rubbing upward over his back. He felt the kisses move to his jaw and he turned to Shneur and kissed him back. Then he pushed gently on Shneur’s shoulders and watched him sink to his knees. He felt the kisses on his stomach, then after a hesitation, on the head of his cock. He shuddered as lips moved down it, always thrilled by the feel of a man’s mouth on his cock.

Shneur moved with irregular movements, at times struggling, but despite it all, it made James get rock hard, and so aroused he didn’t know how long he could hold back. As his cock rubbed over the tongue or across the roof of the mouth or pushed at the sides of it, he struggled with a desire to move his hips faster to increase the stimulation. His arousal increased until his mission was secondary, his own fulfilment of his desires becoming overwhelming. The mouth felt good, damn good, but he wanted more.

James reached down and helped Shneur to his feet, and he kissed him, passionately, physically, as he turned him and guided him back to the platform. When it hit the back of Shneur’s legs, he kept pushing, guiding him down on his back. With ass right at the edge of the platform, he took each leg, holding each by the ankle. He spread them until Shneur was laying before him open to his desires. With bent knees, he pushed his leaking wet cock against the spread ass and worked it up and down, at times pressing against the wrinkled virgin opening.

“You want me?” asked James as he pushed against the tight opening.

“Yes,” Shneur replied as he lifted his upper body on elbows. He looked down at James’ cock, thick, wet, and pushing against his opening, then he looked upward, eyes looking at the masculine body between his legs, then the eyes watching him. “Put it inside me.”

James pushed, feeling the squeeze on his cock. The head, then inch after inch of the shaft squeezed through the opening as he slowly pushed inward. He pushed until over half of his cock was buried in the tight hole, then he tugged it outward until nearly slipping free. He began to fuck with slow gentle pushes inward and tugs outward.

Shneur moaned and his body shuddered with the penetration. He threw his head back and cried out, begging James to fuck him. James smiled, shoved inward all the way, his hips banging against the spread ass, then he began to fuck harder, faster. Tightening his grip around the ankles, he hammered his cock in Shneur’s depths.

James felt fingers against his thighs as he fucked. It emboldened him to fuck faster, hips smacking against the spread ass. He brought the legs together and held them against his chest feeling the warm flesh as he kept fucking. Then he rotated Shneur around and moved onto the platform between the legs and shoved his cock back into his depths. He moved over him, pushing legs back until the knees were against Shneur’s chest, he folded him in half and fucked. And fucked. Fucked until he felt feverish, his body on fire. He sweated, sliding against the legs against his chest. He heaved for breath and felt his muscles burning with his exertion. He looked down that the prone body and watched as his sweat rain down on him.

“Fuck,” James uttered as he thrust into Shneur’s depth and kept slamming against the spread ass trying to get deeper as he felt the surge of release. He raised his head and cried out as he pressed tightly against the upturned ass and came.

It was still dark, sometime in the early morning hour when everything is so quiet James could hear his own breathing and that of Shneur. Shneur lay next him still naked, the two of them using their robes as cover. He pressed his hard cock against the round ass and Shneur stirred his sleep, pushing back against him.

“Fuck me,” Shneur uttered, half asleep, using the word he never used before this night.

James rolled Shneur to his stomach and moved over him. Soon, his cock was buried in the round ass, and he fucked in a slow steady rhythm. Kissing the back of the neck, then locking one arm around it, he fucked him with an intimacy. He wanted Shneur to feel the possibility, how one man could make another feel.

Shneur moaned and undulated his body beneath James. It increased their arousal, and James struggled to keep his pace slow. He ground his hips against the round ass with his cock buried all the way inside of him. Then he pulled outward as far as he could, hips swinging up, then he pushed inward, slowly, over and over.

“Fuck, you’re so hot,” James whispered in Shneur’s ear.

James nipped the left ear, kissed the neck, as he pumped his cock into the depths of Shneur’s ass. He felt Shneur working his own ass, pushing upward as he sank into his depths, and knew he was working his own cock into the soft fabric of the robe beneath him. After what seemed a long time, Shneur began to moan louder, then shudder with his own release. James held him tight around the neck and pushed inward all the way and came again.

As they neared the coast, James watched Shneur. At times nervous, unable to look at him. Other times there was a mischievous smile. What pleased James was how the smile happened with greater frequency as they neared the coast. They crossed over a hill and saw the old city laid out along the coast, and in the harbor the slow slung sailing ships.

“We made it,” James uttered as he stood looking over it all.

“Yes.”

“Let’s go.”

“James?”

“Yes.”

“Do you think…”

“No. I’ve got someplace to be and someone to meet. And you have your own destiny to fulfill.”

Shneur looked at James with a confused look.

“Destiny?”

“You own goals in life. Just remember, don’t be afraid to pursue them, and always consider your own happiness.”

Shneur smiled, then nodded his head.

“Let’s go,” Shneur stated as he began down the path.

James hid at the back of the restaurant, the smell of meat cooking in back blowing in and at the long table in the middle of the room the patrons were drinking beer from Egypt and Lebanon and eating locally baked bread while they waited on the main course to cook. At the end of the table, sitting alone was Shneur. He watched him, waiting for the moment of truth to arrive. He worried another intervention would be needed, unsure Shneur had the confidence to make events unfold as they should for the timeline. They had parted once near the docks, James lying about where he needed to be, then followed Shneur to make sure events fell into place.

The door opened and light spilled into the interior, then disappeared with its closing. A man walked in wearing a robe in the style of a Roman. He strolled into the room and looked around. James watched him, knowing he was the one. A Roman by the name of Aurelius who was an artist. In three days, he would be on a boat heading to Rome. He watched him, the way he scanned the room until his eyes fell on Shneur. It was the look of a man struggling with his attractions.

Shneur looked up and saw Aurelius staring at him and he stared back, more boldly than James would believe possible. Then he stood and James heard his voice clear and confidence.

“Excuse me, would you like to sit with me?”

James smiled seeing the connection made. He pictured the ancient paintings of a nude male, then images of two males having sex. He knew the two men stood before him, one the artist, the other the inspiration, the model, the one that would take the artist to a new level of confidence, both in his humanity and in his art.

James slipped out a back door and moved down a narrow alley. He pulled up the preset setting, one that would take him back to his first destination, the place not official for this mission. He checked the date, five years later than his first visit, rubbed his finger on the control and disappeared.

Last Stop

James stepped out of the woods, crossed the open ditch, the rough slag road, and eased up the dirt drive that approached the farmhouse. He knew it as the Widow Gibson’s house, but that had been years ago, eight for him, even more to everyone of this time. It was near dark, the time when everything began to lose its color, going gray, fading to black. One window in front was aglow, but the curtains were pulled, blocking out any activity inside.

He made his way around the house and at the rear eased up on the porch where he could look through a window. Inside he saw them. The new owners busy preparing dinner. Thomas at the range and Kevin at the table nearby chopping up onion. Thomas turned and said something making them laugh. Kevin raked the chopped onion in a bowl and moved to stand by Thomas where he spooned the onion into the pan. Steam rose from it and soon enough even James could smell the onion cooking.

He smiled at the simple domesticity of what was going on. A dinner in preparation and Thomas, his nephew, and Kevin his partner, happy. It wasn’t important to the passage of time. This would have no bearing on future events, but it made his nephew a happy person, and it was enough.

He eased off the porch, brought up the small panel on the wristband and rubbed his finger on the final setting. Back to the time he now considered his own. The place where he had made a life. He would be home by dinner, just another workday having passed since he left. A couple steps forward, moving away from the house, he disappeared. Far into the future, a time of renewal for civilization, he reappeared in the lab.

“How did it go?” Dr. Noqueira asked, stepping up on the platform to examine James.

“Good. No problems in any of the missions,” James replied, smiling at the old scientist.

“You want to tell me about that unauthorized first and last stop?”

“Not really,” James replied, seeing the doctor’s eyebrows rise in a questioning stare.

“Don’t let Dr. Huang find out. She’ll have your ass for it.”

“Believe me, I know. It’ll be our little secret,” said James as he followed Dr. Noqueira off the platform. “Any problem keeping it out of the mission profile and synopsis?”

“You have the clearance, so just edit it when you go in to make your report.”

“It still under the same name?”

“Yes. Crios.”

“Thanks. Now, if you’ll excuse me…”

“You have to get home, because Oscar will have dinner waiting,” Dr. Noqueira interrupted, smiling knowingly.

“Something like that.”

James strolled out of the lab and followed the sidewalk as it made its way across the glass dome. Purified air pumped around inside it, while outside the air that still contained contaminates from the wars of 2083 was being pumped through filters. He knew it would take another five years before going outside without a suit was possible, but he also knew humanity was finally finding the balance with the natural world it had never obtained before.

Ahead he saw the silhouette of the apartment building that housed the lab staff. He looked up the slim tower all the way to its top where it connected to the structure of the dome acting as a support column. Along the parapet of the building, the data screen flashed the time and date: 6:23 P.M., 4 July 2208.