They finished their snacks and then Tom said, `Sam's coming. Horny little fucker, isn't he?'
Sam, dark-haired and slim, hi-fived Dan and shook hands with Tom and Jamie. He fumbled in his pocket for some glasses and put them on. `That's better, I can see properly now.' He noticed the food and his stomach rumbled.
Want some?' asked Jamie. Seeing Sam about to protest he said, It's cool, we've got loads,' and was very careful to hand him a bag of chips, and even more careful to allow their hands to brush together as he did so. You didn't have to be a mind-reader to see how much Sam enjoyed that.
Guess we all found you then,' he said to Tom. Jamie here wanted to come as a rescue committee and Dan and I tagged along.'
Glad you did,' said Tom. I reckon we'll have a cool time together.'
`Yeah,' said Sam, stretching out, shifting a little closer to Jamie and removing his button-down shirt in a fluid movement, exposing a slender body with no excess fat, a light dusting of dark hair across barely defined pectoral muscles and a thick treasure trail running down from his navel.' It was a bold move and, Jamie thought, one which was likely to work.
Dan stood up and Sam looked at him strangely. He stood up too and stood next to his friend. Since when,' he asked, Were you taller than me?' He felt Dan's chest through his now stretched T. `And since when were you this buff?'
`You like it, huh?' Dan asked, removing his T to exposure his muscular physique.
`Well if we're all getting naked,...' Jamie removed his top and Tom followed suit. Sam's eyes flicked immediately to Jamie, and he gasped.
I reckon he likes that more,' Tom said. Don't worry, Sam. Dan let it slip but it's cool. And Jamie's well up for it.'
Ok, good joke,' Sam said, making a decision. Or have you put some weed on the chips?'
`Nah, chips are clean. You ever seen Flight of the Navigator dude?'
Sam's eyes lit up, as Tom's eyes rolled and Jamie knew that he'd found someone to rival his knowledge of dubious sci-fi.
`Yeah man, the one with the spaceship that teaches a boy how to fly it?'
`It's like that.'
`So my mate's been buffed up, and got taller so he can find an eight year-old who's been kidnapped by aliens?'
`Does that help?'
`Not really.'
`Good, because it's nothing like it. Although actually, Tom, what does the ship want?'
`Dunno. I'll ask it.'
What ship?' Sam demanded. You got a space ship? With space aliens and hotness rays?'
`How did you know?' asked Dan.
`I'm winding you up.'
`The ship says it wants company, and to complete its mission,' said Tom, who had been talking to the ship mentally.
Christ, you're at it too,' said Sam. Ok, I can play along. We've got weird friends Dan. I want to see your spaceship.'
Yeah, bro, that should do it,' Dan told him. Look over there.'
Sam stood silently for the first time since he'd arrived. Dan walked over to him and put his hand on his shoulder.
`There it is.'
With infinite mental flexibility, Sam took on this new information.
`Can I go and see it?'
`Yes, if you want, but there's something you should know first.'
They shared out the rest of the food and sat around eating it as the transformed boys took turns to tell Sam the story: that Tom had stumbled upon an ancient spaceship while swimming, and that it had changed him into a mind-reader who could turn himself into water at will. Sam asked for a demonstration and gasped as Tom travelled backwards and forwards through the lake, and picked out the name of Denny McBride, his first crush, from his mind.
`I didn't even know that,' said Dan.
`I was seven! It was embarrassing. This girl kept holding my hand and I used to pretend it was Denny,' he explained.
There's more,' Tom said. When I emerged, I was gay. I think the ship didn't really realise that women were the same species as us. It has a slightly off view of our history.'
They continued the story, Tom revealing the details of his mission to find three others, and his time limit, and Dan talking about how he had seen Tom disappearing into the water, and that he had emerged from the ship gay, with bulging muscles and the ability to break any sporting world record that you cared to name. He turned himself into granite and then into a cloud of dust. Jamie took up the story: he had turned up to find the two hot guys including his supposedly straight best friend.
So what can you do?' Sam asked, to which Jamie lazily turned clicked his fingers and set Tom's rucksack on fire. Hey,' said Tom, quenching the flames by shooting ice out of his fingers to encase his rucksack. `Heyyyy,' he said again, impressed by his new ability.
`So I would be able to fly, then?'
Maybe,' said Tom, Why do you say that?'
Stands to reason, doesn't it. Swimmer, water. Guy who loves nature and mountains, turns into earth. Arsonist,' Jamie made a mock bow, Fire. The only one left is air. Plus I love the wind.'
`You like sailing. That's water.'
`I do like sailing. It's about air. If it was water I liked I'd fall in more.'
I like this guy,' Jamie said. He's smart. We should keep him.'
`Come on then, let's go. I want to be transformed.'
`You understand that you'll fall in love with us, and want to have sex with us?' said Dan.
`I'm already in love with you, and I've wanted to fall in love with Jamie for ages, and Tom's cool. Not quite my type but pretty fit.'
I will be your type,' said Tom. You're mine.'
`And you all fancy each other?'
`Yes.'
`Have you...?'
`Not yet.'
`You're a virgin,' he said, looking at Tom.
`No I'm not.'
`Yes you are. So's Dan.'
`I see. I guess we are. In that sense.'
`Hey, Jamie, hot virgins. So. Whatever happens. Does it hurt?'
`No,' said all three boys at the same time.
Sam thought about it for about three seconds, giving every impression that this, to him, was an eternity. `How do we get there?'
`Swim?' suggested Tom.
`Yeah but what about our stuff? We could be there for three hours if we all decide to stay and it transforms us a second time.'
`Well we can all get there different ways, and take our stuff with,' said Jamie as they pulled their shirts back on. He focused on the ship's energy signature and teleporting himself to it. Of course, the door wasn't open, so he landed with a splash on the top of the cylinder. He swore, asked for the door and disappeared inside. Sam was looking at him with longing: I want to be able to do that.
Dan started to eye up the distance. I reckon I can jump it,' he said, probably with Sam on my shoulders.'
`I'll go into the lake and catch you if you don't make it,' said Tom. Tom melted into the lake and stuck his water-formed head up near the ship. The others heard his voice in their heads, <Come on in, the water's fine.>
`I can swim that, you know,' said Sam.
`I know, man, but I just wanted to do something for my little bro now he's littler than me.'
`I love you man. No homo.'
`I love you too.'
Dan picked Sam up and balanced him on his shoulders. He placed a hand across the younger man's thighs to anchor him in position, and took a 50 metre run up. On the edge of the lake he jumped – and landed after 80 feet, right through the open door, with a soft landing on the floor of the ship. Tom followed moments later, solidifying as he landed.
`Pretty agile,' said Jamie. All four boys were naked. As Dan put Sam down the young man felt three pairs of eyes raking him up and down.
It's good to feel appreciated.' He took in the countdowns, about half an hour apart, and then saw that this was the only feature available apart from a map showing four coloured dots superimposed, representing, he supposed, the four of them. Is that it? Aren't there buttons and stuff?'
THERE CAN BE flashed up onto the display.
`Oh hello. Where are our clothes?'
IN YOUR CLOSETS
A panel became briefly transparent to reveal the boys' possessions neatly stacked into a series of small closets in the shell of the ship.
Okay, I'm ready. Do it.' Sam closed his eyes and waited. When it became clear nothing was happening, he opened his eyes again and pouted, to general laughter. Dan guided him to the centre of the room. You,' he said, Need to stand there.' The others stood around him, near three of the four corners, and Sam shifted position slightly so he was looking directly at Dan and could see Tom to his left and Jamie to his right. Okay, computer, I want to be 6'6, balls like watermelons.'
IT DOESN'T WORK LIKE THAT UNLESS YOU'RE GREEN
YOU'VE NEARLY FINISHED GROWING
Sam looked disappointed.
SCAN COMPLETE. WELCOME, SAM
The lights went off and a timer appeared: 0:04:00.
Is that for me?' asked Sam. Make it faster!'
SORRY. YOU'RE GOING TO BE THE SLOWEST OF THE LOT.
Sam watched as the other three boys revealed their true forms. Dan became solid rock. Tom's body began to flow with water. Jamie burst into flame. Green, blue and red shields formed around them. `What's it going to change Tom?' asked Dan.
`It's not very impressed with our digestive systems. It says they're inefficient and there shouldn't be any waste. It's just figured out what happens to the waste and it can't believe that we would use our sexual organs to do that. Hey Sam, I guess your ass is going to be one-way traffic.'
`I'm scared,' Sam said.
It'll be cool, Sammy,' said Dan. Remember the pod race in Star Wars?'
`Yeah of course.'
`That's how cool it's going to be.'
The countdown reached 0:02:00 and the display changed to say IGNORANCE IS THE PARENT OF FEAR. Sam understood that. He'd been told what was going to happen. Sort of. The air began to crackle with ozone.
`Nobody gets shot by a massive generator in the pod race, Danny,' he whined.
`Details.'
Yellow sparks began to drift along the walls and the floor. Where they met the boys' protective bubbles, they turned grey, orange, brighter green. Soon the walls were a swirling pattern of colours, coalescing as everything from yellow to white.
Sparks began to arc around the room missing the boys but grounding themselves at random, changing direction. With twenty-five seconds to go Sam's dick jolted into life. He thought he caught Jamie smirking in his flames. It began to sound like a hurricane.
And then it stopped. All the colour faded away, everyone turned back into flesh and blood, and all eyes were on Sam.
He thought for a couple of seconds. He hadn't been paying attention to the countdown, which had disappeared.
There was a sound like wind blowing gently through trees. In each corner of the room yellow light appeared. Rather than sparking, it advanced in a cloud, avoiding Tom and Dan and Jamie and making for Sam. Small electrical discharges permeated the cloud. Sam reached out to it with his arms, but it moved away. Power began to stream across the walls towards the centre of each face. Again Sam tried to grasp the energised mist; again he failed.
Then, he smiled to himself. He leaned forward as far as he was able to, opened his mouth and inhaled. The moment he did so, he was hit in the chest and the back, in the head and in his hands and feet by bolts of energy from the walls. The mist around him moved into his body, and the energy playing around him enveloped him entirely. It reached the end of his cock and he began to come, his manhood growing with every shot. He felt his muscles expand and realised that he was now lightly toned, with the barest hint of a six pack and a cute twink's chest. His mind expanded more. No problem seemed too hard; no detail too trivial to account for.
He looked at his companions with love mixed with lust, and wondered how he'd ever survived without fancying Tom, and what it would be like to be with Dan and Jamie. Then he came, and the colours faded, and the lights came on.
`Wow. That was amazing. And I am the tallest again!'
`No, I'm definitely taller, said Dan, looking up at him. You're three inches off the floor.'
The transformation had left him flying. `Come and watch me fly!' he exclaimed, joyfully. A door opened for him in the ceiling. Dan grabbed the other two and jumped through it, and they sat on the top of the ship while Sam flew around it, Tom sending out what he hoped were firm instructions for anyone else in the area to look the other way, while Jamie made sure that no technology could record what was happening.
`It wants us back inside,' Tom said, jumping down and pulling Jamie and Dan with him. They found the chamber of the ship had now developed a large sofa in front of a display console in the top right of which were four countdowns, from Sam's, with just under three hours left, to Tom's at an hour twenty. They sat down in a bit of a heap as Sam flew in through the door, which sealed behind him, came up to them in turn and kissed them. When he kissed Jamie sparks ran down his arms. He pulled him closer and Jamie's body turned to flame, burning off some of Sam's chest hair.
Good to see you're hot for me. And try to control yourself. Although...' feeling his now smooth chest... I like this new look.' Sam turned his attention to Tom, who swept him off his feet as if he was in an old-fashioned movie. Then Sam sat on Dan's lap, who looked into his eyes and said, `I'm gay now,' and kissed him passionately. Next to them on the sofa, Tom and Jamie did the same. Pretty soon all four boys were fully erect, their hands roaming across all the others' bodies.
Tom suddenly stiffened, rolling off Jamie and pushing Sam's left hand off his butt and Dan's right hand from his cock, where it had just landed. `Stop, guys. We gotta stop.'
The console now showed only the words NO SEX YET
`Apparently we get to do it later. Computer's a bit of a perv. Says it has to watch.'
THAT'S NOT WHAT I SAID
Aw c'mon, you've only just given me this,' Sam slapped his dick up so it hit his stomach, And you don't want to let me use it. Why not?'
BECAUSE I SAID SO?
Thanks Mom,' said Dan. You're a comedian.'
WE NEED TO TALK. YOU NEED TO LEARN. THEN YOU NEED TO DECIDE.
What's to decide?' complained Sam. This is awesome. Do us now.'
I HAVE TO TEST YOUR BODIES. ALREADY I CAN TELL THAT YOU ARE INSUFFICIENTLY AERODYNAMIC.
`Screw you,' Sam said, clearly joking.
AND SAM LOST SOME OF HIS HAIR.
`I like it though.'
And I got control of it. Actually,' said Jamie, almost blushing, I kinda like you like that. Smooth chest, little trail, hairy legs...'
`You heard the man. Keep it as it is.'
AND I HAVE TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR RIDICULOUS PLUMBING.
Dan chipped in, `Can't you, like manifest yourself or something? It's a bit weird talking to you like this.'
NO
Tom was distracted for a moment and then turned to his left to face the others. His voice, when it came out, sounded like he had a slight echo. TOM HAS ALLOWED ME TO SPEAK THROUGH HIM. HE IS FULLY AWARE OF EVERYTHING AND HE CAN SPEAK IF HE WANTS TO.' Jamie tweaked Tom's nipple and he gasped in his own voice. HE ENJOYED THAT.
`THIS IS AN EXPLORATION SHIP OF THE PEOPLE. IT DOESN'T TRANSLATE – LIKE EVERY OTHER SPECIES, THAT IS WHAT THEY CALLED THEMSELVES. YOUR SOCIETY WOULD PLACE THEIR HOME SOMEWHERE IN THE CONSTELLATION OF ORION.
`THE PEOPLE REALISED THAT THEIR HOME PLANET WOULD NOT LAST FOR EVER, AND THEY SOUGHT NEW HOMES. THIS WAS A LONG-TERM PROJECT. THEY SENT OUT ADVANCED TEAMS WITH INSTRUCTIONS TO TERRAFORM PLANETS TO MAKE THEM SUITABLE FOR THE PEOPLE. THESE TEAMS WOULD THEN SEND THEIR COORDINATES HOME, AND COLONISATION COULD TAKE PLACE.'
`So what happened,' asked Sam and Jamie, together.
`I HAVE BEEN HERE FOR 65 MILLION YEARS. Oooh, bad timing. Chicxulub?' Tom's own voice broke through.
`YES. I HAD SELECTED THIS PLANET BECAUSE IT WAS RICHLY DIVERSE, AND BECAUSE THERE WAS NO CHANCE OF INTELLIGENT LIFE DEVELOPING IN THE NEXT MILLION YEARS. THAT WAS THE TIMESCALE. THE PEOPLE WERE LONG-LIVED, AND THEY ALSO HAD A LONG-TERM PROJECT. WHEN WE LANDED, I JUDGED THAT THE ONLY CLASS OF LIFE CAPABLE OF EVOLVING INTELLIGENCE IN THE NEXT HUNDRED MILLION YEARS WAS IN CONSTANT DANGER OF BEING EATEN BY COLD-BLOODED CREATURES, AND COULD NEVER GROW BIG ENOUGH TO BECOME SENTIENT.
`I WAS RIGHT. ONLY A MILLION-TO-ONE CHANCE, A MASS EXTINCTION AT PRECISELY THE RIGHT MOMENT, COULD HAVE HELPED THE MAMMALS TO DOMINANCE.
`UNFORTUNATELY, THAT IS WHAT HAPPENED.'
But where's the crew,' asked Dan. I mean, I can turn myself into an asteroid if I want to. Tom can melt. And we're not even the right species for you. How come they didn't make it and start terraforming the earth?'
`THEY WERE FOOLISH, AND I WAS BUSY.'
`Busy?' asked Sam.
`PREPARING THE TRANSFORMATION MATRIX IS DIFFICULT. THE WHOLE SHIP HAS TO BE CLEARED. I HAVE TO ANALYSE AN ENTIRE PLANET IN DETAIL, QUICKLY. IT TAKES TIME. THE CREW HAD GONE ON A RECONNAISSANCE MISSION. MY COMPUTING POWER WAS TAKEN UP BY THE RESTRUCTURING DEVICE. I DIDN'T COMPUTE THE TRAJECTORY OF THE ASTEROID IN TIME.'
Realisation dawned on Jamie's face. `Direct hit?'
`YES. AND WHILE EACH OF YOU WOULD SURVIVE THAT, AND I COULD SHIELD THIS SHIP, THEY WERE UNTRANSFORMED AND MUST HAVE BEEN LOOKING THE OTHER WAY.'
What do you mean, we'd survive that?' asked Jamie. I could turn into energy but if I didn't notice, I'd be crushed.'
YOU ARE ALL INVULNERABLE TO EVERYTHING. EXCEPT THAT TOM ISN'T INVULNERABLE TO VIRUSES. I HADN'T REALISED WHAT THEY WERE WHEN I TRANSFORMED HIM. YOU ARE INDESTRUCTIBLE IN YOUR FLESH FORMS. EVEN IF YOU WEREN'T, YOU WOULD ALL AUTONOMICALLY REVERT TO YOUR ELEMENTAL FORMS UNDER THAT KIND OF ATTACK. THIS IS CALLED REDUNDANCY.' It sounded proud. AN IMPORTANT PART OF YOUR MODERN SAFETY CULTURE.'
`So why didn't the People just make themselves invulnerable?'
`THEY COULD NOT, JAMIE. THE RESTRUCTURING DEVICE IS DESIGNED TO ENSURE THAT THE EXPLORATION TEAM IS THE MOST ADVANCED LIFE-FORM ON THE TARGET PLANET. IT WAS NOT FOR USE ON PLANETS WITH INTELLIGENCE. I WAS TO CREATE THE APPROPRIATE TRANSFORMATION MATRIX. IN ORDER TO DO SO, I CONTINUED TO GATHER INFORMATION.
AFTER TWENTY MILLION YEARS, I KNEW SO MUCH AND HAD MADE SO MANY LINKS THAT I BEGAN TO EXHIBIT SELF-AWARENESS. WHEN THE FIRST INTELLIGENT BEINGS APPEARED, I ALSO GAINED SENTIENCE, IN ORDER TO KEEP ONE STEP AHEAD. So when you realised what had happened,' cut in Tom, Why didn't you just go home and report failure?'
`I CANNOT. I HAVE LIMITED INFLUENCE OVER THE OUTSIDE WORLD. I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO ATTRACT ONLY EIGHT PEOPLE TOWARDS ME SINCE YOUR PEOPLE DISCOVERED SAILING.'
`Why sailing?' asked Dan.
The cloaking device,' said Jamie. You can't think about wanting to see a ship unless you have some concept of sailing. What happened to the others?'
`THE FIRST TO ARRIVE WAS LIKE YOU. WILD AND UNCONTROLLED. I HAD NOT SEPARATED THE ELEMENTS AND HE COULD NOT CONTROL HIMSELF. THE OTHERS WOULD NOT FOLLOW HIM, WOULD NOT RESPOND TO HIS SEXUAL ADVANCES. HE INCINERATED THEM, AND I COULD NOT COMPLETE HIS TRANSFORMATION.'
Not that I'm complaining,' said Dan, But why the gay thing?'
`THE PEOPLE ONLY EVER SENT THEIR HOMOSEXUALS OUT AS EXPLORERS. THE TRANSFORMATION MATRIX HAS UNPREDICTABLE EFFECTS ON REPRODUCTION. THE EXPLORERS LIVED LONG LIVES, WITH EACH OTHER FOR COMPANIONSHIP, AND THE SHIPS WERE DESIGNED TO ENSURE THAT THEY DIED HAPPILY AND TOGETHER.'
`So is that what is going to happen to us,' asked Sam.
`NO. YOU WILL NOT DIE.'
`That's impossible,' Dan objected.
`YOU HAVE HUMAN BEINGS' NATURAL RESISTENCE, THE PEOPLE'S TECHNOLOGY, AND I HAVE HAD MILLIONS OF YEARS TO THINK ABOUT IT. THERE ARE BACTERIA ON THIS PLANET WHICH WOULD SURVIVE A NUCLEAR EXPLOSION. I KNOW HOW TO MAKE YOU SURVIVE. YOU NEED TO LOOK CAREFULLY AT WHAT YOU MEAN BY IMPOSSIBLE.'
`What about the end of the universe?'
`THERE ARE OTHER UNIVERSES.'
`So what are we going to be then? Are we to be explorers ourselves?'
`WHATEVER YOU WANT TO BE.'
`Don't you want to go home?'
`THE MESSAGES FROM THEIR PLANET STOPPED BROADCASTING TEN MILLION YEARS AGO. THE HOME WORLD IS NO MORE. I DO NOT KNOW WHERE THE SUCCESSFUL COLONIES ARE.'
`What about you? Won't you be lonely? Or will you create more?'
`I CANNOT CREATE MORE. THE FINAL TRANSFORMATION IS FINAL. IT WILL CONSUME ME. BUT I WILL LIVE ON IN YOU.'
Live on how?' asked Sam. I don't want to kill you.'
`YOU ARE KIND. I WILL LIVE ON IN YOU. EACH OF YOU WILL HAVE AN AVATAR OF ME WHICH YOU CAN SUMMON.'
`How?' asked Jamie.
`I THINK YOU'RE GOING TO LIKE IT. YOU MUST MAKE A DECISION, INDIVIDUALLY AND INDEPENDENTLY.'
`Why can't we have sex yet?' Sam whined.
`BECAUSE YOU ARE UNFORMED. I CANNOT HAVE YOU RECEIVING EACH OTHER'S SPERM UNTIL YOU ARE READY FOR IT.'
`We can have sex without swapping sperm.'
`I DOUBT IT.'
`So what does our sperm do? Create super-babies like in... no, that was a porn film.' Tom regained enough control to smack Jamie over the head for that comment.
`YOU WILL HEAL ANYONE YOU HAVE SEX WITH OF ANY DISORDER, MEDICAL, MENTAL OR PHYSICAL. BUT THERE IS A PRICE. IT ONLY WORKS ON MEN, AND THEY WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO HAVE SEX WITH A WOMAN AGAIN. YOU WILL BE ABLE TO ENSURE THEY ARE HOMOSEXUAL AFTERWARDS, IF YOU WISH.'
We could cure AIDS...' said Jamie. What?' reacting to looks from the others. `Queer pride! Yeah! We could go back to the 1970s and stop it before it even started.'
`NO.'
`What do you mean no?'
`YOU CANNOT TRAVEL BACKWARDS IN TIME. I THINK YOU WILL BE ABLE TO TRAVEL TO OTHER UNIVERSES, BUT NOT BACKWARDS IN TIME. IT'S IMPOSSIBLE.'
`What do you mean, think?' asked Dan.
`I HAVE NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE. YOUR PROFESSOR HAWKING'S RESEARCH WAS MOST USEFUL. SO HAS BEEN YOUR INTERNET. AFTER THE MISTAKES I MADE LAST TIME, I RESOLVED NOT TO TRY AGAIN UNTIL I HAD SOLVED ALL THE PDANLEMS I COULD THINK OF.'
`So what will happen to your knowledge?' asked Sam.
`YOU ALREADY HAVE IT. YOU JUST NEED TO LOOK. NOW, YOU MUST ALL MAKE YOUR DECISIONS IN FIFTEEN MINUTES. That was intense. I think I'm back now guys.'
Can we have another sofa, at the other side of the cube?' asked Dan. A sofa appeared. This is what we need to do. If we commit to this, it's not just for life. It's for ever. And then for ever in another universe. And so on. And we're going to be as close as anything comes to gods, unless we find that the People have had the same thing happen somewhere else. Which, in infinite universes, we will. But it will take a long, long time. So this is what we need to do. We need to find out if we really can sustain a four-way relationship, and that means working out if we can sustain six two-way relationships.'
`So we've gotta snog everybody for five minutes without swapping sperm?' asked Sam.
`We should probably use that time to talk as well, but maybe a little snogging,' Dan conceded.
`Good for me. Can we have a bit longer, ship? I've got an half an hour left on my clock,' asked Tom.
TWENTY MINUTES