Johann, son of Anselum, felt a change in the wind. It shifted from the southwest to the south gusting harder, kicking up dust. He looked to the south, over the ridge of the old mountains, at the dust cloud rising over it. He shook his head wondering how much more the land could take of it. The mountains had little tree cover left from the time before the wars, and what cover was left was mainly on the northern slopes, most of the southern slopes reduced to grass and shrubs, or worse, bare rock.
“Let’s get inside,” yelled Clara, daughter of Lily, one of the council members for the village.
Everyone tending the gardens moved quickly down the rows and rushed across the open ground to each one’s dwelling. Johann went into the dwelling he shared with three others who had no family left. Gunner, son of Pero; Liam, son of Jaco; and Antoine, orphan by the Red Moon. Gunner was preparing their evening meal as Antoine was washing clothes in the floor basin. A knock, then the door swung open to Liam coming in with cured meat for Gunner to use in his preparations.
“Looks like a bad one,” said Liam.
“What is it? A South wind?” said Antoine.
“Yes,” said Johann.
“I hope it blows through quickly, or we’ll lose more crops,” said Gunner as he placed a palm full of white onion into the clay pot sitting over the fire.
“I hope First Counselor comes soon. We need more fuel pellets,” said Liam as he laid the few strips of meat on the table.
“He’s due to arrive tomorrow,” said Johann, having kept track of the days since First Counselor Alwin’s last visit.
“Good,” Liam replied, going over to help Antoine with the washing.
The candles burned dimly in the dark room with the shutters closed against the dust, and Johann sat on his bed, legs crossed, as he watched the others. Since he worked in the gardens from first light until dusk most days, the others took care of the responsibilities of their dwelling. He looked at his friends, all young men who no longer had a parent to give them position in the village. His father disappeared on a hunting expedition, assume killed by some calamity. He had been six years old. Antoine came from the Lin Gorge Village to their northeast, one disseminated by the night cough, leaving him an orphan. First Counselor had rescued him and brought him to their village, Sacred Oak. First Counselor said Antoine was four years old when left with them. Gunner’s father, Pero, died from an infection from a foot wound he had concealed from everyone. Gunner was eight years old at the time. Liam’s father was an older man when he had been born and thus died of the diseases that afflict the elderly, taking his life at fifty-seven years of age, leaving the young six-year-old Liam alone.
Johann, now nineteen, looked at the others noting how each one had changed since they became the Lonely Boys of Sacred Oak. Antoine was eighteen, Gunner twenty-one, and Liam was seventeen. They were all lean in build, but Gunner had a body that showed a masculinity Johann tried not to think of. Young men were to take a woman and form a bond, then create a family, having as many children as the woman could endure. But he had no desire for any of the women in the village, and he wondered about Gunner who was the oldest, far past the age when most young men created a bond with a woman. But he knew it was them being orphans that contributed to Gunner’s hesitation in approaching one of the young women.
He considered their physical attributes, the things that made them different from each other. Antoine had black hair he wore pulled back and tied off, dark brown eyes and such a light skin tone he had to wear long sleeves when outside. Gunner had blonde hair, blue eyes, and a skin tone that Johann found attractive, one that looked healthy compared to the others. Liam had brown hair, green eyes, and a dark skin complexation that made him look exotic compared to most of the others. Sitting back against the wall, he considered his own characteristics. He had black hair and grey eyes and a skin tone between Liam and Gunner, made more pronounced by his exposure to the sun because he wore short sleeve shirts or when it was too hot for them, shirtless, despite First Counselor Alwin’s warnings the exposure was not good for his skin.
“When will those beans be ready?” said Gunner.
Johann watched Liam wring out a shirt then shake it out.
“Johann?” said Gunner.
“Yes, Gunner, what is it?”
Gunner smiled, looking over at Liam and Antoine, who were shaking their heads in a knowing manner. “I asked when the beans would be ready. The ones you planted at the Planter’s Moon.”
“They are putting on pods, so in a few days…if the dust doesn’t kill the plants.”
Johann knew he needed to be careful expressing his fears, for how it affected the guys, but sometimes he couldn’t help it. He looked around the small rectangular room, narrow enough the small logs could span the ram earth walls, with its clay fired floor tiles and wood framed window openings and shutters. It was like all the others, made with materials available to them in the valley. If only the trees grew as large as they once had. They had found tree trunks in the river when it nearly dried up a few years ago, trunks that a man could not put his arms around and were three times the length of any trunk of a tree growing on the mountains or in the valleys.
First Counselor
Johann was walking toward the barn when he saw Alwin, 3rd in Line, coming down the trail from the next valley. Alwin was their First Counselor who visited the village every New Moon to check the health of the people, administering medicine to the sick, and give advice or act as an advisor for any conflict among the village. Alwin had been their counselor since he was a young boy, a man who has naturally aged until he was grey headed and now walked slowly with a slight stoop.
He went to meet Alwin, coming up to him at the far side of the garden.
“First Counselor, welcome back,” said Johann.
“Greetings, Johann. How’s the village?”
“Good. As far as I know, no one is sick and the garden is doing well, despite the dust winds yesterday.”
“The dust winds are losing their poisonous levels.”
“Will they be safe soon?”
Alwin frowned. “Not for a long time. I’m afraid we must still be diligent.”
“Have any of you boys found a partner?”
Johann grimaced. He couldn’t speak for his three friends, but he had no desire to partner with a female to procreate.
Alwin smiled and moved closer. “Johann, you don’t have to do it, if you don’t desire it.”
“But the village will look down on me if I don’t.”
“We can talk to them about it, if you wish.”
“Not yet.”
“Very well, let’s go so I can see everyone.”
Over the course of the day, Alwin visited with everyone, all sixty-four residents. There were eight families with two to four children, then twenty-four who were widowed or orphaned by their guardian. He checked their health, administered health supplements, and for two he did some light procedure to correct their vision. Johann knew it was some technology that only the First Counselor had access to, something some considered magic.
At the end of the day, the village had their lunar celebration, laying out dishes of vegetables and precious meat. Children danced as two village elders played music. Once evening meal was finished and Alwin spoke to the village, then excused himself, and as he did each New Moon, and walked away until disappearing into the darkness. Some time later, they heard the rush of wind in the next valley and knew Alwin was gone.
Being Different
Gunner watched Eve pumping water at the well in the center of the village. She was seventeen and one of the most beautiful females in the village. Gunner wasn’t the only one who looked upon her with admiration. There were two others, Abbott, 17 years old, and Jetter, 16 years old, both from families, Abbott with both parents and Jetter with his father. Jetter’s mother died in childbirth with his youngest sister, Violet. Both were desirable young men, either making Eve a better husband than Gunner for he had no family. Johann told him time and time again to stop being so negative about himself, that he would be a good partner for any female. He was older, strong, and in good health.
“Go on, go talk to her,” said Liam, coming up next to Gunner.
“You think I should.”
“Yes,” replied Liam, pushing Gunner to move. “Go talk to her.”
Liam watched Gunner walk toward Eve, smiling at the way he staggered and walked crookedly, showing his trepidation. “Go on, Gunner, talk to her,” he whispered as if it would push Gunner to keep moving forward.
He wished he was like Gunner, a guy who knew what he wanted. He watched Gunner take over the pump, while talking to Eve, trying to imagine himself in the same position. He just didn’t feel an attraction toward to any of the women in the village. Hannah approached him all the time hinting at her willingness to be his partner. How to tell her he just wasn’t interested without hurting her feelings. To tell her would not only hurt her, but make the village view him differently. He heard Antoine call out to Johann and he turned and watched him walk toward the garden. The black hair tied back and the long sleeve top concealing the fair skin, and he felt an attraction that he knew should be aimed at Hannah or one of the other girls. He should be taking a partner even though some viewed him as still too young, but he was seventeen. But like far too many in the village, even Antoine and Gunner sometimes treated him as a kid.
Johann watched Antoine approach, and in the distance, there was Liam watching Antoine too. He wondered if Liam felt an attraction toward Antoine. It was possible, for he too felt some attraction toward him, but he also felt some attraction toward Gunner and Liam too. Then there was Abbott and Jetter, sons of two families, all handsome in their own way. But none of them really captured his attention to the point of it being an obsession, the way Gunner felt about Eve.
First Counselor
It was time for the New Moon, and Johann stopped at the end of the row of beans he was using the hoe to remove weeds sprouting amongst them. He propped his hands over the end of the long handle and looked up the trail the First Counselor would arrive on, thinking it was time. Alwin, 3rd in Line, should be there any minute for the sun was just above the eastern ridge.
Johann turned and began to work his way down the next row, occasionally glancing up to see what the others were doing. He had made it about halfway when he saw a couple of women in the next garden plot looking toward the trail and he turned and saw First Counselor coming down to the base of the mountain along the trail. He swung the hoe over his shoulder and went to meet him.
As he drew near, he noticed the First Counselor was walking different, more upright, not hunched over. When the First Counselor slipped the hood off the head, he saw the hair was not grey but brown. It was someone else, someone a lot younger. It excited him and he moved faster, eager to get to the new First Counselor, not stopping to consider why Alwin, 3rd in Line, wasn’t there.
“First Counselor?” said Johann when he was about twenty-five feet away.
“Yes, I’m First Counselor for your village. I’m Oscar, 5th in Line, replacing Alwin, 3rd in Line.”
“Welcome to Sacred Oak, but what happen to Alwin, 3rd in Line?”
“I’m afraid age has taken its toll. He is being taken care of, but he fell extremely ill a few days ago.”
“Will he be coming back?”
“I’m afraid not. I’ll be your First Counselor, until the time someone needs to replace me.”
Johann came to stand in front of Oscar, 5th in Line and despite everything, he sized him up. Taller than his own five foot eight, and with the sunlight reflecting off the hair, now saw it had red tints in it, a reddish brown, like the soil to the south.
“Are you Johann, son of Anselum?”
“Yes, First Counselor.”
“Alwin has told me all about you. Come, introduce me to the others.”
Johann tried not to think of it, this attraction he felt toward their new First Counselor. What was it that drew his attention at every turn. The angular face or the way the eyebrows could arc over the eyes in a questioning manner or the physical body, tall, lean, and when Oscar, 5th in Line, removed his outer robe commenting on the day’s heat, the short sleeve top revealed muscular arms. Or was it the unusual hair color, a reddish-brown, something he had never seen before. To be near First Counselor made him feel breathless. He could even feel his heart was racing.
During the day, Johann caught Antione and Liam staring at First Counselor with a stare that seemed to reflect his own feelings. Did they find him just as attractive? He wished they could talk openly about their feelings, express their attraction toward First Counselor, or at times, even toward each other.
When the day was coming to an end, the sun dropped below the western ridge, the First Counselor left them, and Johann was the one who stood at the foot of the mountain and watched him go up the trail until lost in the stunted woodland.
For three New Moons, Oscar, Fifth in Line, came to Sacred Oak as their First Counselor and each trip he was greeted by Johann, Antione, and Liam at the base of the mountain, the three of them eager to serve him in any way they could.
Johann knew it had to be obvious to First Counselor, their lurid attraction toward him. But nothing was ever said about it. No chastisement or admonishment about their stares or over eager willingness to give aid to him.
A Violation of Protocol
At the next New Moon, Oscar, Fifth in Line, came down the mountain to find Liam pacing in a circle. It was obvious, Liam was agitated.
“Liam, what is the matter? What troubles you?”
“FIRST COUNSELOR! Thank the sacred oak you have arrived. Please, come quick. It’s Johann.”
“What’s wrong with him,” said First Counselor, speeding up and falling in next to Liam as they rushed to the village.
“Something bit him and he is feverish and vomiting.”
“Something bit him?”
“Yes, First Counselor. Gunner killed it so you can see it is some kind of snake.”
“So, some survived,” uttered First Counselor to himself.
Liam pushed open the door and stood to the side, letting First Counselor enter. Gunner, Eve, and Antione were sitting at their table all looking worried. To the right, on his bedding spread out on the floor, lay Johann.
Oscar rushed to him, placed the scanner on the wrist and activated it.
“He was bit twice,” said Gunner. “Once on the ankle and when he fell from surprise of the strike, the snake bit him on the upper arm.”
“Twice,” Oscar uttered, knowing one small bite shouldn’t be fatal, but two, he wasn’t so sure. He saw the increased blood pressure, the rapid heart rate, and the increased body temperature. He didn’t have an antivenom. They had believed venomous snakes in this region were extinct, wiped out after the wars. He had nothing that would help Johann. Only back at the base did they have the equipment and material to create an antivenom.
But no one in a village was ever to be brought back to a base. There were no exceptions. It was deemed too distracting. Something that would unravel what they were trying to do. Create humans who had the autoimmune systems that could handle the chemical contamination of the planet. The toxicity of the dust had lessened, but it was still toxic and would be for a long time to come. Those at the base could not handle it, not for long anyway. It was why First Counselors had short terms of service. The exposure got to them, as it had Alwin, 3rd in Line.
“Gunner, can we talk in private?” said Oscar, looking at him.
Gunner looked at Antione then Liam. A nod was passed between them, then Gunner looked back at Oscar. “Will it help Johann?”
“Yes.”
“Gunner, listen to him. We’ll be outside,” said Antione.
When the door shut behind Eve, Liam, and Antione, Oscar sat back on the floor next to Johann and watched Gunner pull a chair close and sit.
“Okay, First Counselor,” said Gunner.
“I can help Johann, but it will break protocol.”
“Protocol?”
“No one is supposed to return with me, but if Johann is going to get an antivenom in time, he has to return with me.”
“Then you have to take him.”
“But you need to understand, I don’t think he can return.”
“What?”
“Once he is brought to the station, the protocol and…I think he’ll have to stay.”
Gunner looked worried and Oscar watched how Gunner looked at Johann, then toward the door. When Gunner turned back to him, he saw the conviction of the decision made.
“You can cure him if he goes with you.”
“Yes.”
“Then he must go.”
“I’ll need help getting him to the…shuttle.”
“Shuttle?”
“Gunner, you cannot repeat what we discuss or what you see with anyone. Do you understand?”
“Yes…I think so.”
“Help me get a stretcher made so we can carry him and, on the way, I’ll explain everything.”
Oscar was in the lead carrying the end with Johann’s feet with Gunner at the head. They were halfway up the mountain and out of sight of Liam and Antione, left at the base of mountain.
“You know about the wars and how they devastated the populations of the world,” said Oscar, not looking back.
“Yes, the elders say it wiped out half the population.”
“Half…if only. Gunner, nearly 95% of the population was wiped out. Governments collapsed, and…it was like nothing mankind had ever experienced, and they did it to themselves.”
“The dust is a punishment brought down on us—”
“No, that isn’t right. The dust is the fallout from using thermonuclear bombs. Some of the missiles even targeted volcanoes that were on the verge of eruption, triggering three of them, which spewed radioactive debris into the atmosphere.”
“The dust isn’t a punishment but the fallout from the wars?”
“Yes. Only small groups of humans survived in regions like this one. A place not targeted for attack and enough natural protection to shield people from the worst of the fallout. After several generations, with our aid, we’re getting your immune systems rebuilt.”
“You’re treating all of us?”
“Yes, have been for nearly eighty years.”
“What about your village? Is your immune system damaged?”
“Worse.”
“Worse?”
“When we get to the shuttle, I’ll explain it.”
They crossed over the ridge and headed down into the valley. It was like the one Sacred Oak resided, but no village occupied it. When they got to the base of the mountain, Oscar led them across the open ground until they were a hundred yards out.
“Set the stretcher down,” said Oscar. With Johann on the ground, he pulled out his control pad and with a swipe of the front, a place in front of them distorted like from an extreme heat rising, then suddenly a metal craft appeared, the image of the surrounding terrain faded from its surface.
“What is this magic,” uttered Gunner.
“It’s not magic, but a technology that transmits the surrounding terrain to the sides of the craft, rendering it virtually invisible to the eye.”
“And this shuttle will take you to your village?”
“Not exactly, Gunner. Our ancestors were not on earth when the last war broke out. They were in outer space on an orbiting station doing research and handling missions to the moon and Mars to colonies on each.”
“We have colonies on the moon and—”
“Not anymore. The Mars colony had catastrophic disasters until the few survivors were brought back to the station. The Moon colony needed too much support, support we couldn’t keep providing, so we abandoned it back in 2084.”
“2084?”
“The actual year. Your calendar is based on the time since the war. You call this year 98, since the great wars, but it is really 2140 based on the old calendar from before the wars.”
“It’s 2140. And this shuttle will take you…” said Gunner, turning to look at Oscar with confusion and shock, “it’ll take you…to outer space to a station up there?”
“Yes. And I need to get going if we’re going to help Johann. Help me get him on board, then I need you to go back and tell everyone you went with me to a…to a…cave. That’s it. A cave and I left with Johann. You understand?”
“Yes. I left you at a cave taking Johann for help at your sta…I mean village.”
“Good, good, this will work,” said Oscar to himself. With Gunner’s help, they got Johann on board and strapped down. “Gunner, go, head on back before it gets late. The others will be waiting to hear from you.”
Gunner was at the base of the mountain when he heard the shuttle start up, the engines making a whirring sound. He turned and saw it lift off, rising slowly into the air. As it rotated it became invisible again, then he only heard the rush of air from the engines as it climbed into the sky.
Awareness
Johann felt the movement. The rocking and bouncing of being carried by two people. He felt the heat of the sun making him struggle to open his eyes. He heard voices, Gunner one of them, and after some time, recognized the other to be First Counselor. He tried to speak but struggled to just take a breath. He drew shallow breathes and tried to relax for he felt like he could vomit again.
How did he get into this situation? He tried to remember. He had been at the garden plot near the base of the mountain working around the plum trees they had managed to keep alive. He was working around the base of one when he saw the flash of something striking out and latching onto his leg above the ankle. It was a snake, something that was supposed to be extinct, and it was biting his leg. He freaked out, stomping his feet trying to break free of it. It came off his leg, and he tried to run but tripped, falling next to it. It bit him again on the bicep.
Then he remembered running. Running as hard as he could, gasping for breath, assuming it was his fear. By the time he got to the end of the garden area, he was struggling to stay on his feet. Sweating and struggling to breathe, he stumbled across the open ground heading toward his dwelling. Halfway across the open ground, he vomited. By the time he got to his dwelling he had vomited three times, until just gagging with an empty stomach.
Then blackness. Nothing. Until he was being carried back over the mountain.
He listened to Gunner and First Counselor talk as they carried him.
“… will take you to your village?”
“Not exactly, Gunner. Our ancestors were not on earth when the last war broke out. They…doing research and … to colonies on each.”
“We have…”
“…catastrophic disasters until the few survivors were brought back… colony needed too much support, support we couldn’t keep providing, so we abandoned….”
“… time since the war. You call this… the great wars, but...”
The light changed and the voices seemed closer, and he opened his eyes enough to realize he was in some strange room with lighting that wasn’t natural. He saw First Counselor move past him and the daylight shining from his right suddenly disappeared, then he heard a whirring sound.
“Hold on, Johann,” uttered First Counselor.
Johann had an odd sensation of rising, then a rotation. It nauseated him, and he closed his eyes and drifted off.
Johann woke to the sound of voices, indistinct, too far away to hear them clearly. He tried to open his eyes, but the light was too bright. Was it the next day already? Was it noon with the sun high in the sky.
Two voices come near until he hears clearly.
“…this is a violation of protocol.”
“I know but what was I supposed to do.”
“Let events unfold as they would without you there.”
“But he was snake bit, twice. They have nothing for that.”
“The captain wants to talk to you when we finish.”
“I know. Will Johann be alright?”
“Of course, we created…”
Johann drifted off to sleep, unable to remain awake.
Johann wakes up and feels a dull ache in his leg and bicep. He remembers being bitten and sits up looking around. It is a long narrow room, beds lined up down one side. He is in the first bed, with two empty ones between him and the next person, a female with tubes going to her nose, mouth, and to one arm. He throws the blanket back to climb out of the bed and stops when he realizes he is scantily dressed, just some flimsy one-piece thing that barely covers him. He looks around for a robe or something else to put on.
“You’re wake.”
Johann turns to a young man dressed in white. A tag on the chest says Ken.
“How do you feel,” said Ken, holding something up and aiming at his forehead. “Your fever has broken. You must be hungry by now.”
“How long was I asleep?”
“Two days. Between your weakened system and getting bit twice, we kept you sedated.”
“And where am I?”
“Where? Don’t you know?”
“Nurse Ken, we’ll take over from here,” said Lynda, one of the head nurses in the ward, followed by Oscar.
“First Counselor, where am I?”
Oscar came to Johann’s bedside and looked at him closely, then nodded to Lynda. She stepped away, leaving just the two of them.
“I’m not sure where to begin.”
“What do you mean?”
“Are you hungry?”’
“Yes.”
“Then let’s walk to the cafeteria and talk along the way. That way you can see some of what I’m about to reveal to you. There is a change of clothes laying out in the bathroom. Go in there and get dressed and we’ll go to the cafeteria.”
Johann stared at the earth. The roiling brown clouds swirling over its surface, over land where much of it is brown and barren, over oceans with waters nearly as brown.
“I lived down there?”
“Yes.”
“And you live up here on the,” Johann turned to Oscar, “this station in space.”
“Yes.”
“Your ancestors were on board when the second war broke out, and you’ve had to live here ever since.”
“Your immune systems are compromised but you have shown some small degree of resistance to the fallout, but if we were to go down and try to live, most of us would be sick or dead within a few years. Our ancestors knew living in space was not good on our systems, so in some ways we’re weaker than you.”
“But you have managed to do so, and you have all this technology and medicine.”
“Yes, but not enough for everyone down there,” said Johann, turning to the window and looking at earth passing below them. “And the bigger problem is we can’t stay up here forever. The maintenance to keep the station operational is getting worse. We’re working with some terra forming equipment down on the surface, but…” Oscar doesn’t finish the sentence.
“I shouldn’t know this. I wish you had kept me isolated. When I go back—”
“But Johann, you can’t go back.”
“What?”
“You know the truth and right now we think that is not something anyone down there can know.”
“But what about my friends; my village?”
“Gunner knew if you came with me for treatment, you couldn’t go back. He knew you’d have to stay but choose for you to come to save you.”
“But…” said Johann, his voice trailing off. He wasn’t sure if he was really disappointed or not. The idea of living on the station seemed better than living back on earth.
“Johann, I have to go meet with the captain, so I’ll take you back to the medical ward. They want to watch you another day as they treat your radiation poisoning and some other deficiencies.”
“Your captain…he wants to talk about me?”
“Yes,” said Oscar smiling. “I’m in a bit of hot water bringing you up. But what is done is done, and now we just need to sort out the arrangements.”
For the next few days, Johann struggled with his new surroundings and the reality he was in space over the earth. He found his quarters claustrophobic, smaller than even the dwelling he shared with the guys. The food looked unappealing but tasted alright, and the filtered water was unbelievably good. So good, he couldn’t get his fill of it.
As directed by his doctor, he went everyday to the fitness room, jogging and doing resistance exercises on the machines. Some days he went twice, just to have something to do.
And each evening he dined with Oscar, most of the time with others of Oscar’s group, men and women who went to the surface to check on one of the other human habitations, but a couple of times they ate alone, and it made Johann nervous, for he felt more attracted to Oscar than before. He now knew Oscar wasn’t some mystical advisor, but just a man who knew the truth.
It made it worse.
He desired Oscar, felt an attraction toward the man that only increased as he came to know the real person, not some mystical being that visited the village just before each New Moon. He just wished the looks Oscar gave him or the occasional stammering some response meant the feeling was mutual. Or maybe he was just grabbing at someone familiar since he couldn’t go back down to live with his friends, those he considered family. With Oscar unable to return, replaced with someone else, it meant they both lost something.
Sitting in his room reading about the history of the earth during the wars, shocked at the horrors and cruelties of it, he wondered how any of them survived. A knock, familiar in its rhythm, and he went to it, swinging the door open to Oscar.
“I’ve not seen you in a couple of days. Are you okay?” said Oscar.
“Yes, just bored. What have you been doing?”
“Training for my new position.”
“What will you be doing?”
“Working in the plant factory.”
Plant factory? What is that?”
“Our version of a garden, only it has to use hydroponic lighting and uses an artificial growing medium instead of soil.”
“Plants for food?”
“Yes, only we process them to maximize the harvest and reduce waste as much as possible.”
“But you’re working with plants.”
Oscar smiled. “You want a job?”
“Yes! I mean if your boss will let me?”
“I’ll talk to the committee tomorrow.”
“Thanks, Oscar,” and without thinking, Johann hugged him. He felt Oscar stiffen in his embrace, and he worried he had gone too far. He slipped his arms from around the neck and went to step back when Oscar hugged him back.
“This is nice. I’ve not hugged someone in a long time,” whispered Oscar.
Johann couldn’t stop himself. He had to know if Oscar had any interest in him. He hugged him tightly. “I’d do more, if you wanted me to,” he whispered.
Oscar stiffened again, but this time Johann held tight. “Could you have some desire for me,” said Johann.
A heavy sigh, then the tilt of the head into the crook of his neck. An exhale, warm against his skin.
“Yes,” whispered Oscar.
Johann felt lips touch his neck, gently, tentatively, and he pulled back and looked at Oscar, seeing someone torn with what was perceived right versus what was desired. Did Oscar think it would be taking advantage of him? He started to reply.
“Do you not prefer to have a family?” said Oscar.
“No.”
Oscar smiled, one almost sad. “You sure?”
In reply, Johann leaned to Oscar and kissed him.
Johann didn’t know, not really, what it would be like to have sex with a man. But he wanted it, wanted it with such desire, he clung to Oscar, held the warm body as it undulated on top of him. He had cried out with the initial penetration, then moaned as he adjusted to it and Oscar pushed deeper and deeper until he felt a fullness that made his own cock flex between them. He slid his feet closer to his ass, knees higher and angled apart opening himself more to Oscar.
“Fuck!” Johann exclaimed, unable to hold back.
Hands slipped behind his knees and Oscar pushed his legs over until his thighs pressed against his chest. He felt how his ass angled upward, and he watched Oscar’s cock, long and thick, sink into it. The cock disappeared inside him, every millimeter of it, until Oscar was pressing against his upturned ass. Then Oscar began to fuck again, to tug outward until only the head remained inside him, then push inward, all the way, rocking him when their bodies smacked together.
“Jo-hann,” Oscar stuttered as he fucked.
Johann clutched the bed as he took Oscar’s fuck. Every shove into his depths. As Oscar increased his pace until the sound of flesh smacking against flesh echoed in the small room, Johann tilted his head back and closed his eyes. He focused on the feel of it. The way cock piston inside him and the sound of Oscar breathing hard, at times grunting and moaning, giving their sex such physicality his own cock drooled onto his stomach.
Then Oscar slowed, gently pushing inward and tugging outward, and he felt every millimeter of it move through his loosened opening. For too long, Oscar moved slowly inside him until he needed their pace increased. Increased until Oscar pumped cum into his depths.
“Oscar. Please. Fuck me,” exclaimed Johann. “Don’t stop.”
Oscar leaned down and kissed him as he increased his pace. Then Oscar pushed up on his hands, the body hovering over Johann and he fucked with an urgency. Hips smacked against the upturned ass and Johann rocked with the rhythm of it.
“I’m going to cum,” uttered Oscar, and he lost his rhythm, slamming cock into Johann’s depths, trying to push even deeper. Then he shuddered with his release.
Johann took it, relished the feel of Oscar’s spurting cock buried inside him. But far too soon it was over. The bliss of their fuck transitioned to the bliss of exhaustion from it, how Oscar’s sweaty body felt against him.
Johann didn’t know what Oscar would do for him, but he was surprised when Oscar moved over him, straddling his waist.
“My turn,” said Oscar in a playful tone.
Johann’s cock was dripping wet and so hard it ached for release, and when fingers rubbed over the slick head then held it up, he shivered. Then he gasped as he watched Oscar ease down on it. The tightness of the initial penetration then the feel of the ass sliding down it. He grabbed the thighs feeling the flex of muscle as Oscar began to move, upward, then back down, over and over. He didn’t know how long he could endure the manipulation before he came, but he watched with rap fascination and desire as the ass moved up and down on his cock.
Oscar’s pace increased, and it pushed Johann to his limits.
“Oscar; I’m going to cum.”
“Do it. Do it, Johann, pump it in me.”
Oscar moved with a roughness, ass smacking down on Johann’s abdomen until Johann couldn’t hold back. Holding the thighs in a death grip, he shoved upward and cried out as his cock erupted, shooting wad after wad into Oscar’s depths.
Johann noticed the look from the others, especially when having a meal with Oscar. There were nods and smiles, and occasionally a comment.
You guys look nice together.
You look happy.
We’ve never seen Oscar like this.
Congratulations.
They knew Oscar and him where having sex, and dare he think it, after nearly two months, in a relationship. He wanted it to be true and the way others responded to them made him think it was true. It was so unusual he didn’t need to hide it. That it was acceptable for two men to have a relationship, not worrying about some proclamation about couples forming to have children. Something that came about after the wars. He learned before the wars it took centuries for society to come to accept same sex relationships only for the wars to take them backward.
He also learned the truth. The history of the world from before the war, during the two wars, and the period since where humanity struggled to survive. In the plant factory, he saw varieties of vegetable and fruit crops that reminded him of those grown in the village, and some he had never seen before. Oscar told him their plants came from the station decades ago, and improvements were constantly being made to make the plants hardy enough to survive in the changed climate of the planet. It was not lost on him the irony of how the people on the station were being treated for the same purpose, for everyone wanted nothing more than to return to the surface. There were atmosphere measures underway, but the size of the program was too small to see immediate results. Some said it would take decades.
Johann tried not to dwell on it too much because it left him feeling confused and out of place. But each night, lying next to Oscar, everything became right again. Even the nights they just crashed into bed exhausted.
After a couple of months, Johann found himself rinsing the floor of one plant factory section when his time to stop beeped on his wrist, a faint glow of the bell visible through his skin, and shut off the hose, reeled it in, and headed back to the room shared with Oscar. It was becoming familiar, the long-curved corridor that circled the central core of the station, no longer sensing its motion to create .5 g of gravity. He passed people he knew by name, some they socialized with, going for meals or to one of the bars for drinks and maybe even to hear a band. He entered a lift and went up to Level 3, one of the residential levels, the one Oscar and he lived on. He came off the lift and strolled down the corridor until at their room, seeing a light indicating it was occupied. Oscar had beat him back, and he smiled as he waved his wrist over the sensor. The door slid open to reveal Oscar undressing, the coverall unzipped and down to the waist revealing the lean upper body.
“Just in time, I see,” said Johann.”
Oscar turned to him and let the coveralls drop to the floor. In just boxers, he stood for Johann to take in, then moved to him, cupping the neck and kissing him.
“You’re not tired, are you?” whispered Johann.
“No,” Oscar replied.
Johann kissed him again as he felt the zipper of his coveralls being pulled down. Soon the two of them were naked and Oscar squatted before him, sucking his cock. He sucked in air as the mouth moved on his cock. He was quickly fully erect.
Oscar sucked until he wanted to cum and he leaned back, resting shoulders against the wall and began to pump his hips. He worked his cock through the lips and over the tongue. He pushed into the mouth relishing the feel of the mouth, the slickness of it, the heat that enveloped his cock.
“I’m going to cum,” whispered Johann breathlessly.
He increased his pace, worked his hips in a steady rhythm of a fuck, until the surge of release shuddered him and he came, hard, filling Oscar’s mouth.
Johann lay on his back holding his legs behind the knees, legs spread wide apart, as he took Oscar’s fuck. He loved the feel of it, the fullness of every push inward and how the steady pumping of the cock stroked his arousal until his own cock drooled on his stomach. He was no longer timid with Oscar.
“Fuck me. Fuck me harder. Harder,” exclaimed Johann.
Oscar smiled as sweat trickled down his face and chest, and he fucked as hard as he could, slamming down into the ass.
“Fuck me…fuck my ass,” uttered Johann.
Johann looked up at Oscar and into the green eyes. He felt the connection between them, physical and emotional, one he had once thought didn’t exist for someone like him. “Oscar,” he uttered breathlessly.
“Johann,” Oscar replied as he pushed into his depths and shuddered with release.
25 Years Later
Johann sat next to Oscar in the meeting hall with a quarter of the station’s population in attendance. It was the third such speech, one explaining how the station was going to evacuate, everyone moving to the surface.
“…the atmosphere has improved substantially to the point the radiation of space is worse, and this station is old. Very old. The repairs are constant, and we could do them on most systems, but the overall structure has weakened to the point where it is becoming dangerous to remain. The space debris constantly damages it and the radiation from the sun has weakened the outer shell,” said the Governor.
“As you know preparations have been underway for some time, and over the next month, everyone is to pack the things most precious to them and enough personal effects for a week. We should have printers on the surface up and operational before then, to begin printing new clothing and other items everyone will need.
“As to the people living on the surface, we have been bringing them up to date on the situation over the last four months, and we believe most are ready to welcome us. There are some settlements that are unwelcoming, and we’ll leave those alone, but those that will welcome us, we’ll integrate into them.
“A lot has been done in the last twenty years to improve their lives, and we’ve made great strides that finally brings us to this moment. The first shuttles will depart on 4 May 2141, a date we should never forget, one more important than any other.”
The Governor stepped back from the podium as the audience clapped.
6 May 2141, and Johann sat next to Oscar, the two of them now older, graying at the temples, but the playfulness within each shined in their eyes as they smiled at each other when the shuttle descended into atmosphere, the darkness of space changing to the bright blue of earth’s atmosphere.
“Are Antoine and Liam really waiting on us to arrive?” said Johann.
“Yes, in fact they will put us up until we get our own place.”
“I can’t believe we’re going back. And I’ll see them again.”
Oscar smiled, knowing Johann still questioned it, the village accepting the coupling of Antoine and Liam, how it had done so for twenty-five years, ever since it became obvious after Johann was taken up to the station.
“And Gunner and Eve have a grandchild?”
“Yes.”
“I still don’t believe it. And they named her Johanna.”
“Are you okay?” said Oscar seeing Johann crying.
“Yes, yes, I’m fine. It’s just—” said Johann wiping his eyes.
“I know.”
The shuttle sat down, and everyone grabbed up their duffle bags and walked down the ramp to the ground and out into the sun. Johann looked up at it feeling its warmth for the first time in a long time, then he looked at the development. What once was a small village was now a small town, with a few central buildings where the village traded goods and services. Then he saw three men and a woman coming toward him. Despite the years, the changes from aging, he recognized them and he dropped his duffel bag and ran to them.
“I’m back,” Johann yelled, tears streaming down his cheeks, as he ran into an embrace with Liam and Antoine, then pulled Gunner into it.
“Welcome back to Sacred Oak, Johann. We have missed you,” said Gunner.
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