The following story will someday contain scenes of boys having sex with other boys and/or men, girls or women, depending on what I decided on by the time I got around to writing it. ;) It is science fiction and fantasy, and as such contains things which simply don't happen in real life... yet. If your imagination is not good, you won't enjoy it very much. As for the sex thing, if this stuff is against your personal moral codes, don't read it. If there's anything you don't understand, ask your parents or friends or whoever you think will. If you like the story, feel free to write me a letter at arin@mudnet.net.
You're allowed to do anything you like with my story with the following exceptions: 1. You may not place it on a system which charges people to read it unless you request permission from me first. I have no problem giving you permission, but there will be a slight one-time fee. ;) 2. You may not post alterations to the story, or write sequels to it, without my permission. Happy reading! .................................................................. October 10th, 2018
The five of us huddled desperately behind the broken shuttle, the clanging sounds of bullets piercing the shuttle's hull ringing through the air. It was over, desperately over. We were going to be killed, or worse, captured, and with our defeat the tactical advantage that the CLAW had possessed for so many years would fall into enemy hands.
Saddened, I turned my head to the boy I loved. He lay against the cold metal of the shuttle. Dark red blood, contrasting the bright red hair that even now, in this hellhole, gleamed against the midday sunlight, still dripped from the bullet wounds in his right shoulder. His youthful, freckled face had an aged, worn-out quality to it. His eyes, a bright and deep hazel-green, seemed to stare forlornly at the trees in the forest beyond, his mind rushing through possible escape routes for us. Even to the end, he was ready to fight. To lead.
"Sir," I began, prompting the turn of his head. "They seem to have us pretty well pinned."
Despite our grim situation, a small smile creased his young lips. "Ever the stater of the obvious, my adult friend." He arced his head past me, towards the young girl at my other side. "You got anything left in your bag of tricks, sis?"
"Three hand grenades?" the girl offered, a casual shrug of her shoulder as she rifled unnecessarily through a backpack that I was sure was almost empty. "We used up a lot of our arsenal back at the orphanage."
I took advantage of a break in the enemy's firing, raising my plasma rifle and firing a burst from behind the shuttle. One of my companions, the smallest boy in the group, fired along with me.
"Maybe they'd buy us a second," I commented. "Think that's enough to make it into the woods, sir?"
"No, Mister Blair," the red head commented. The remaining member of our party, a teenage boy that stood almost as tall as I did, was at his other side, tending to his wound. "Mister Forhart," the younger boy declared, "my arm is hardly a priority right now. You'd be best serving us up some of that prayer of yours. The Hand of God would be a good thing, right about now."
"People think better when they're not bleeding," was the teenager's only reply. Perhaps he'd have said more, but for the clanging of bullets against our shield flaring up again.
How did it come to this? I wondered, but I didn't dare speak it aloud. I just glanced between my companions, my comrades-in-arms. We were the dream team, the five of us. The CLAW's elite. We'd risked so much, for so long, and now it looked like the reaper had finally caught up with us. Some of us, perhaps all of us weren't going home. Quietly, discreetly, I took the redhead's hand in my own, offering him a sad smile, and remembering the first time we laid eyes on each other...