NOTE: This and all preceding and subsequent chapters are copyright 1993 by Milford Ray Slabaugh. All rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to post this story to other BBS'es, provided it bears this language. Permission to post to Star*Chat denied.
PLANET OF DESIRE
Chapter 24
"Burial, and a Bowl of Oatmeal"
Of the group of attackers, one had survived unwounded. He had done this by the luck of being in the middle of the group and reacting quickly by dropping to the ground. His comrade's bodies had fallen atop him and protected him from the other laser blasts. He was blood-covered, but none of it was his.
Ivan was furious when he saw the captive. He recognized the man; it was the black man who had been with McElby the time Ivan had been held in thrall to the "treestump" plant, the man who had been the first to shove his cock down Ivan's helpless throat. As a result, Ivan was pleased with an angry righteousness to interrogate him ruthlessly, slapping the man's face whenever he faltered.
However, little of it was helpful anymore, save as historical fact. McElby had indeed been in contact with them by sneaking back onto the base with the aid of confederates, now dead. The man insisted he had wanted no part of the entire affair, but had acquiesced when confronted with the Commander, alive and well instead of dead and lost.
As for how the Commander had survived, it was a simple matter. It had been preplanned; one of Angen's group was in on the trick. He had let the Commander go at a specified time, and he was the angel seen swooping down after him, to block any attempts by other angels to save the Commander. A confederate had actually been waiting at a low altitude and caught the Commander, lowering him to the ground just in time. The Commander had apparently repaid his saviors well in the normal coin of this planet.
After all was done, Ivan looked around, and saw that everyone was waiting for him to make decisions. Was he in charge of this group? Not any longer.
"Don't ask me for orders." He told everyone. "I'm back in the Space Scouts, as is Commander Martin. Who's senior around here?"
"That would be me, sir." came a voice. Ivan looked and saw the man wore serjeant's stripes.
"Good enough, Serjeant." Ivan said. "You're in charge of this prisoner."
"Yes, sir." the serjeant said. "Any instructions about the bodies?"
"I'm not your senior officer, damn it!" Ivan said. He was sick of the process.
"Sorry, Ivan." David said. "These men were all placed on adjutant duty, under us. If you'd rather I take over, I'll be happy to."
"That's okay." Ivan managed to calm himself, the way he did on a scouting run. "They weren't mutineers, you know. They were following the orders of the Commander. We're the mutineers. They deserve a proper burial under Marine law."
"Good enough, sir." The serjeant seemed to approve. "Shall we choose a burial detail, or return their bodies to the base?"
"What do you recommend, Serjeant?" Ivan recognized the tone. Serjeants were expert at offering advice while pretending to ask for orders.
"I think we should bury them here. You could say a few words and let that be the end of it. This is a nice place, sir, not too far from the base. It should make a nice cemetery in the future."
"Very well, Serjeant." Ivan said. "Pick your men and start digging the graves."
Ivan turned around, intending to go back to Andrew's body. The attention had shifted away from that place entirely, the place where, a few minutes before, they had made love (no, his memory reminded him irritatingly, it hadn't been Andrew he had loved there, but Gorman).
The scene disconcerted him. Jablonski was crouched over Andrew's body, weeping silently but strongly.
"Sir?" Gorman's voice was timid beside him.
"Jablonski was his friend." Ivan said, to himself as well as to Gorman.
"Yes, sir. Also, sir...." Gorman seemed to have trouble getting the words out.
"Yes?" Ivan said.
Gorman looked around, they were alone at the moment, equally distant from the grave detail and Jablonski. "Sir, I don't know how you'll take this."
"Spit it out." Ivan said.
"Jablonski was in love with Jackson. Always had been. It was one-sided, Jackson was friendly with him but nothing more. Hadn't you ever noticed how Jablonski tried to steer you away from Jackson whenever he could?"
"I hadn't noticed." Ivan realized it was Jablonski who had engineered the replacement of Andrew with Gorman on that last love-making episode. There were other times, Jablonski would step in whenever they made love, turning their coupledom into a threesome. It made sense.
"You two were rivals in love, except that Jablonski always knew he didn't have a chance with Jackson, and tried to be nice about it. He kept hoping though. Everyone else knew about it and kind of kept quiet. After all, what was there to say?"
"I see. Well, thank you, Gorman. It helps to know that." Ivan walked over to Jablonski, knelt down by him and put his arm around him.
Jablonski turned a startled, tear-stained face to his. "Oh, sir, I'm sorry, sir. You need me?"
"It's all right, Jablonski. You and I have some crying to do." Ivan said.
While the Marines dug graves (David stepped in and insisted that there be separate graves for each, rather than a mass grave), Ivan and Jablonski talked. Ivan coaxed from Jablonski the admission he already knew. Jablonski had been torn apart inside, first at Andrew's degradation at the hands of the Commander and fellow Marines, then at losing Andrew to Ivan at the very time he had gotten free of the Commander. After that, he had tried to keep close to the pair, to touch Andrew by sex if not actual lovemaking.
Ivan admitted the knowledge of Gorman and managed to turn Jablonski into a friend, at least, something like a friend. While the Marines dug (and broke sometimes for bouts of sex--the planet held sway even in this grisly scene), the day wore on, and the funeral was held in the dusk of the dying day.
Ivan said the words in a book one of the Marines handed him, and found comfort in his ability to do this for Andrew, even the others. None of them had asked to come to this planet, were some to blame if they couldn't handle what it asked of them? He also found that the brief wail of tears at first, and the talk with Jablonski had drained most of his emotion out of him. The heart is a cruel bookkeeper; it knows to the ounce how much any person or thing matters, and when it is gone, allows only the paying out of grief appropriate and no more. Ivan thought about faking grief to make it more seemly, but it went against his grain. Andrew and he had only been together a short while, and that was with Ivan still agonizing over what he had wanted.
Afterwards, sitting alone in the light of the fires the Marines had built, Ivan had to admit he didn't know what he wanted. If he could just keep out of bed long enough to think about it for a while, get his head on straight, maybe he could decide. But passion was too strong, it confused the brain and slowed the decisions. He was getting horny now. He stroked his cock and looked around at the forms, some sleeping, others obviously couples or more having their fun. Who should he join, or wake?
"Yahoo!" came a shout from the darkness. A sentry in trouble? Not with that call.
"What is it?" Ivan called.
"Sir, you all have got to come see this!"
There was a confused trail of men, Ivan and a few others leading the way, towards the guiding shouts of the man, brands from the fire serving as torches.
A young Marine was sitting in an odd depression. His clothes had been shed and lay limp and soiled at its brink. "Quicksand?" He asked the man.
"No, sir!" the man chortled. "I came out here to take a leak and fell in, and I thought the same thing. But then, well, sir, shed your clothes and come try this."
Ivan looked at it. It seemed on closer inspection to be some sort of plant, the way mildew or algae are plants. This stuff was a single, large plant in water, but it had completely taken over the small pond, and covered it with what looked like a bluish oatmeal.
"You want me to climb into a bowl of oatmeal, Private?" he asked. There were chuckles from the others.
"Yes, sir. You got to try this."
Ivan looked at the young man, he was quite good- looking. His hair was straight and black, and hung limp and wet over his ears. The face was clean and sharp, if a trifle longish. Ivan was reminded of Private Brown and his long schlong. That promised to make any lovemaking in this strange place quite good. He was supposed to be in mourning, but his heart had told him he was mostly done, and this would be excuse enough to satisfy everyone.
He shed his clothes (placing them where he knew there wasn't carnivorous grass this time!), and stepped into the pool. It was water, and the plant washed against his feet and ankles. It was a shallow pool.
"Feels like a bubble-bath." he explained to the onlookers. "The water is quite warm, but not hot." And Ivan didn't say it, the water had the pink mist in it, enough to stimulate his desire. He got an erection from the mere touching of his feet.
"Come on out deeper, sir." the private in the pool said. He was practically giggling.
Ivan waded out and realized it wasn't a bubbling action, it was the plant. Was this like the treestump? "David, this might be like that plant that captured me. Make sure some of the Marines stand by to rescue the rest of us if this turns bad."
"Right, Ivan." David said. "How does it feel?"
"Like a hot springs, only more--active." Ivan admitted. "This plant is pulsating."
And it was. Ivan stepped deeper, and the plant allowed him free movement, taking the opportunity of where it touched him to pulsate against him. Like a massage by a plant.
Ivan waded out deeper and as the plant reached his groin, it kicked into higher gear. Another cock-hungry plant on this bizarre world! It continued to massage and caress him all over, touching every part of his body at the same time, pulsating, rubbing him, warm and pleasing. The water temperature was just right for pleasure, the plant rubbed and caressed him with a touch that was wonderful. On his cock, these caresses were enough to be like mouths, warm and wet mouths, kissing and stroking his cock all over. Like a dozen men had crowded around him, and all of them had their mouths busy on his cock.
Ivan couldn't help himself, he uttered groans of pleasure as the plant enveloped him and he was deep enough, he sat down, ended up entirely covered and over his head by the plant, and it touched him in all places at once, even the soles of his feet, his armpits, his balls. He was surrounded by a body-stocking of massage.
He held his breath to let the plant do its work on his scalp, then remembered the men wondering what was going on. Reluctantly, he rose again to a semi-squatting position, and moved around to find a place to seat himself again. "I see what you mean, Private." He told the man near him in the pool. "This plant is downright terrific. It's like a massage I got once in Yokohama." But he wasn't going to tell that story here. "It's safe, and downright, ooh!" the plant had a firmer grip on his cock now. The pulsations were getting stronger. The plant gripped him tightly, and he was being rubbed all over, touched completely, buoyed up by the experience. A hundred, a thousand men were touching him, cooperating in giving him pleasure. Areas of his body he had neglected or ignored, revealed their ability to give pleasure to him. One stalk of the plant slipped into his ass and pulsated there, not fucking him, just touching him there as well.
Ivan lay back and let the plant take him. His arms and legs were moved back and forth, around and around. He let loose groans of pleasure, dimly aware that the men were laughing at his situation, but not caring. He was putting on a sex show, and he didn't give a damn about it!
The private sidled over and kissed him, and he kissed the private, sliding his tongue into the mouth and this little extra stimulation was all it took. He hit orgasm, and the plant went into a frenzy as he did so, stroking him hard and fast, all over, not just his cock. Now it felt like a thousand cocks were pressed against his body, their hot pulsating shafts rubbing him as they all ejaculated at once. Ivan's cock was just one of the crowd.
The orgasm lasted quite some time. Ivan realized that this plant was giving him a multiple orgasm, where climax hits in waves, again and again, and it was equally obvious to the men around him, who had stopped their mocking calls and were looking in awe.
When Ivan at last was done and could breathe again, he found the plant had reduced to a gentle stroking motion. It felt great. "What are you guys waiting for? It's great! Come on in!"
With yells and shouts, the clothes came off (mostly shorts, some men had been already nude) and the pool became crowded. Ivan realized it extended for some fifty feet in all directions, there was plenty of room, and plenty of plant to go around. He just hoped the friendly thing was up to it.
It seemed it was. In no time, the entire group were lying in the waters and plant, their faces like white raisins in blue oatmeal (Ivan laughed to himself, love in a bowl of oatmeal!), their bodies being moved and massaged. It was a terrific discovery.
He looked at the envious few still standing guard. Poor fellows. Best to be sure before letting them in, though.
"Where's the private who found this pool?"
"Over here, sir."
"Private, I want you to get out of this pool right now. If you can't, men on the bank get ready to rescue us all."
Ivan looked in the light of the brands and the moon overhead (one moon, heartbreakingly like Earth's in size and appearance) as the private grumbled, fought his way through men in the throes of passion, and waded up onto the bank.
"I'm out, sir."
Ivan looked him over. His body was white in the lights, not stained or abused in any way.
"I guess it's safe, men. You guards can come on in."
The guards were quick to obey, and Ivan settled back. The plant was working its magic on him again and he got ready for another frenzy of lust.
"What the hell is going on here!?" came an angry shout.
It was Jablonski, standing on the bank, hands on hips, looking and sounding like an angry mother.
"Come on in, Jablonski." He called, laughing. "This is great stuff!"
"Yeah!" "Come on in." "Terrific stuff!" the other Marines agreed.
"I can't believe you people! Marines died today, and you are all acting like nothing happened. What kind of monsters are you, anyway? Don't any of you have any goddamned feelings?"
Ivan felt vaguely ashamed, vaguely resentful. He left the waters and stepped towards Jablonski. That was a mistake, his cock proclaimed its tumescence loudly, protruding in front of him, engorged and almost twitching.
"And you, Ivan!" Jablonski was furious. "You lost the man you were supposed to love! Or can any of you even feel love?"
"Jablonski." Ivan said.
Jablonski turned and ran into the bushes, back towards the camp.
"He'll get it over it, sir." A Marine said.
"Yeah." Another contributed. "He was like Andrew. He'd never seen combat. You can't keep on crying about it. You have to keep living."
"He was in love with Jackson, you know." A third said.
"So was I." Ivan said. "But apparently not as much as Jablonski. Let him mourn. He'll get over it."
And Ivan waded back into the welcoming waters. The orgy of the plant went on through the night. The plant would buoy you up, Ivan learned, it was quite safe to sleep inside it. It would massage you to sleep, and awaken you for another session when you were ready. Practically the perfect lover. If sex was all you wanted.
When daylight came and the men went back into their camp, Jablonski was gone.
"Where to now, Ivan?" David said. "These men should return to base. They only came with me as a trap for the Commander and McElby."
"It's just the two of us, then." Ivan said.
"Three, sir." Gorman said. "If you don't mind my coming along."
"You're more than welcome." Ivan grinned at the big Marine.
"What about the angels and Slan, though?" Gorman asked.
David answered that. "Messages came in before we left. I was going to tell you earlier, but with everything, I just forgot. The angels aren't interested. They say they know the answer already. The Slan say they're interested, but not right now."
"Then we go on alone. Just the three of us." Ivan said.
And the men split up. Ivan walked over to Andrew's grave, where a stick held his helmet over his grave, and his dogtags proclaimed his name. A small bouquet of jungle flowers lay wilting atop it, probably from Jablonski.
"Andrew, I'm so sorry." Ivan said. "You deserved better than you got out of life. I just hope my grandmother was right, and there is a Heaven. I never cared about that until now. I hope you're there right now, finally getting the kind of man you wanted, and that you deserve. Someone better than me."
Ivan looked at Gorman and David, their faces concerned. "You were right, David. It wasn't love." Ivan sighed. "But it sure felt good while it lasted."
He didn't look back as their feet carried them on the path toward the Temple of Children.
END OF CHAPTER 24
TO BE CONTINUED