The Telemachus Story Archive

Hunter of Hunters
Part 8 - Chapters 23-25
By F. M. Kitsune
Email: gin.no.kitsune96@gmail.com

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Hunter of Hunters

By F. M. Kitsune

Author’s Note:

This story is a continuation of the story, A Strange and Dangerous Game by Michael Randall. The story is continued with his permission, using characters who were about to meet an unknown yet likely otherwise dismal end.

There are elements and nods to prolific authoritarian author Pete Brown (petebrownuk), and a healthy dose of science fiction lined up in this work, and the author is grateful to Michael for his blessing.

Chapter 23

“Colonel?” A bassy, clear voice said. There was a gentle shake of his knee.

Mike opened his eyes to see Alpha kneeling before him. The man gave a ruggedly handsome smile.

“I’m sorry to wake you, sir. Mister MacArthur is ready to have you and the Captain in the room now.”

Mike nodded. He gently extricated himself from Matt and Bravo, and he carefully scooted Matt into Bravo’s arms. Delta pulled Riley down onto his lap when Marcus stood. Alpha sat next to Bravo and huddled next to him while Charlie gently pulled Delta’s head onto his shoulders, kissing the man’s hair.

“Alpha,” Mike whispered, “how long have we been here?”

“About two hours, sir,” the lead Prime whispered back. Mike nodded at him. He reached out a hand to Marcus. A new couple of men stood sentry, nodding at the Colonel and the Captain as they passed.

Hand in hand, the two passed through the two sets of doors. Ryan and Doc Eli sat in the midst of the chairs in the corner, conferring quietly. In the bed, the patient had moved onto his side, sleeping soundly.

“Mike, Marcus, this is Doctor Elijah Finn. He goes by Eli for short,” Ryan said, introducing the men to each other. “Eli, this is Colonel Michael Xavier Hamilton, and this is Navy Captain Marcus Raleigh. The patient was tangentially but significantly involved with their capture.”

Doc Eli nodded sagely. “I’m honored, gents, though I wish we’d met under better circumstances.”

“Thank you, Doctor. Likewise,” Mike said as he gave the man a firm but warm handshake. He detected an accent—German? Belgian? He couldn’t place it. As Marcus shook the doctor’s hand, he spoke.

“Were you in the service, Doctor?” Marcus asked. The man shook his head.

“Call me Eli, please. No, I was not in the United States Armed Forces. I was a forensic psychiatrist contracted through Interpol.”

“Interpol? That’s incredible! How did you end up here?” Mike asked.

“My skillset as a psychologist included hypnosis and working through subliminal suggestion,” Eli said. “It turned out that a certain collector of broken men,” Eli nudged Ryan, “was in desperate need of a surgeon when his chainsaws wouldn’t do.”

Sei nicht gemein, Eli, my work isn’t that bad,” Ryan scoffed with a grin.

Ja, natürlich hast du recht. Y ou do get results from a lot of people,” Eli agreed. “I don’t think I’d have the stamina to play both bad guy and good guy for so many people at the same time.”

“Eli is really good at recovering personalities from difficult cases such as Captain Jensen,” Ryan said. “I’m not quite sure what to call him, since he wasn’t among your friends when he was first involved.”

Mike nodded and turned to Eli. “Were you successful with Jensen?”

Eli nodded. “It took a while, as you men saw. The whole affair was recorded, and a transcript will be made. Captain Jensen was accosted by Grigori when the Russian’s connections realized what General Ashford was up to. The General had planned to sell at least one soldier all along, using the messenger gambit to cover his bases. To everyone else, it looked like enemy agents wanted to steal the important intelligence the Colonel was implicated to possess and sell it to his highest bidders. His higher-ups in Washington said two men would be sent out—one with the real information, and the other with the false information.

“The General knew Colonel Hamilton was selected to be the decoy, and he knew with one-hundred percent certainty that the Colonel would not be coming back. So he set him up to be sold for a tidy profit. When Captain Ranford and his men came, it was a healthy bonus for Ashford and the men he’d hired as both information extractors and slave handlers. Grigori sweetened the pot, sending a brainwashed Captain Jensen to the handler’s lair in his stead. Ashford directed the gang to throw him on the pile as well.

“The only thing new that we can add to this story, Colonel, is that your fate had been sealed for months before you set out on your trumped up mission,” Eli said sadly. “The General would have been kinder to you if you had just been shot. Ashford getting shot and his body being dumped into a tank of acid seems like ill-fitting justice.”

Mike let out a deep breath. “It’s done now. And despite his best efforts, I’m still alive, and I’m still my own man.”

Marcus pulled Mike close. “Damn right.”

“We’re now faced with a decision, Mike,” Ryan said. “General Ashford knew how your mission would play out, and he let slip certain details which led to your capture. It was Grigori playing the part of Captain Jensen for the four months the General knew of it. The actual Captain Jensen had been locked in Grigori’s basement, repurposed as you had been for Grigori’s pleasure. Grigori subverted the Captain, using sex and brainwashing to extract information. And before Grigori traveled to Stuttgart, he brainwashed the broken Captain into thinking he was Grigori so that when the bad news hit that Mike had no vital information on his person, Jensen would be the one to suffer in his place.”

Mike was at a loss for words. “What decision do we have to make?”

“Exile, integration, incarceration, execution.”

Mike thought he’d been hit in the gut with a baseball bat. “Wait—you mean I have to decide?”

Ryan nodded sadly. “His actions directly affected you—”

“No,” Mike said. “He wasn’t responsible. Grigori was. Jensen never had a direct say. He was—was mind fucked , and he was made out to be a scapegoat. We can’t kill him.”

A knowing smile slid across Ryan’s face. “I’m glad you see it that way, Mike. Any other thoughts?”

“What’s his status stateside? Do you know?” Mike asked.

“Not good,” Ryan answered. “Before Ashford headed for Germany the second time, presumably to collect his share of the money made off of selling good men to bad people, he filed paperwork declaring Jensen a traitor for selling secured documents that lead to the capture and enemy execution of a beloved Army Colonel. The General declared that Jensen had fled the country.”

“Then we can’t exile him,” Mike said. “He might be recognized.”

“Eventually, that’s a possibility. I could set him up in any remote location he wished, and he’d have to use my private jets if he wanted to travel long distance. But he’d have his mind wiped of anything relating to his old life anyway.”

“Still,” Mike thought aloud. His brain was wrapped around the fact the man himself was innocent. Any illicit acts on his end only occurred after he was taken and coerced. “Can you rehabilitate him?” Mike asked.

Ryan nodded. “Doc Eli is very good at what he does. It turns out that part of Grigori’s ‘training’ involved the same drugs used on you men. He was in Grigori’s control for months, and it seems like the man took his time breaking him. He didn’t have to beat him like they did you, Mike, but from his blood tests, it seems like he had been given about just as much drug over six months’ time as you had been given in the seventy-two hours the handlers had you in their possession.”

A boulder tore through Mike’s equilibrium.

“The man sitting in the room now is very much the lost Captain,” Ryan said. “The only thing we have to sort out is his suggestibility. And some of the residual training.”

“Then let’s fix him and meet with him after,” Mike said with finality. Ryan gave him a sly smile.

“Yes, sir, Colonel,” Ryan said. Mike’s eyes went wide. He buried his face in his big hands.

“Oh god, Ryan, I’m sorry—I’m not giving orders, I’d never… This is your operat—I’m sorry,” Mike said with a whimper.

Ryan knelt in front of the flustered man. “It’s not happened much before,” he said calmly. “You and Marcus are the highest-ranking servicemen that we’ve ever had the honor of working with. I imagine you’re used to giving orders and seeing them happen. It’s alright.” He leaned forward and kissed the Colonel on the forehead. “As long as it doesn’t hurt the men, I’ll go with any order you give me, baby.”

Mike huffed. “Thank you, sir,” Mike said, humbled. He shook his head. “I’ve been trying to remind myself I’m not… not…”

Ryan chimed in gently. “You’re not in the United States military anymore?”

Mike nodded.

“Mike, Marcus, there is something I want you both to understand. Your ranks are things that you’ve earned. They are the sum of your experience. Your experience is commensurate to your ranks, and despite what has happened to you both, no one should ever take that from you. Unless you tell them, my men will call you Colonel,” he said, patting Mike’s knee. He turned to Marcus, adding, “They’ll call you Captain. They may even salute you both if they’re in the open in like company. You deserve the respect that General Ashford tried to take from you.” Ryan stood up. “Consider the colony a cross-service base. Right now, men, when you think about it, you two are co-base commanders. I’m just the guy who owns the land and the buildings on it. In it. You know what I mean.”

Mike and Marcus shared a quick look. Given their different branches, Mike never thought that would ever happen.

Mike pinched the bridge of his nose. “What now, then, sir?”

“Per your request, Jensen will be worked with. I agree with you—he was innocent in what happened to him. Had Grigori not had his way with him, I doubt the Captain would ever have been involved,” Ryan said. He looked through the window into Jensen’s room. “When he comes around, we’ll give him the choice of what he wants to do.”

Mike nodded. Bravo’s leg bounced uncontrollably. Mike looked over at his Prime with a grin.

“What’s the matter, Baby-bee?” Mike asked.

“Are we done yet? I need to get up in you in like, three seconds, and I wanna do it in the sun chamber,” Bravo blurted out. He smiled without any hint of shame.

“Damn, boy, I get the feeling I’m only good for you to tap this,” Mike laughed, giving his rear a noisy slap. Bravo pulled Mike in front of him, curling around him like a child around a stuffed bear.

“No sir,” Bravo hummed. “I know you love it, too.”

Damn if Mike hadn’t been hard enough already. He tipped his head to the side and kissed Bravo’s jaw. “I think I love everything about you, Bee.”

“The frost run isn’t for another couple days,” Ryan said. “I figured I’d let you men have a run of the place, now that you have a Prime to guide you. Matt, Riley—am I to assume you two boys want to be assigned to our new friends?”

Both young men nodded and smiled.

“If it’s alright, sir,” Matt said.

“I know I can help the Captain with anything he’ll need,” Riley added.

“Then that’s settled,” Ryan said with a smile. “Mike, I’m assigning Bravo and Matt to you. Marcus, I’m assigning Delta and Riley to you. If you need to contact me, the colony knows where we all are at all times, so please, don’t hesitate.”

Mike pried himself away from an adorably clingy Bravo and stepped into Ryan, holding him close.

“There aren’t enough words, sir. Not enough to tell you how thankful I am for this,” Mike said. He could feel emotions clogging his voice like a mouthful of an all-too sweet drink. Ryan returned his embrace.

“That you’re staying is thanks enough, love. We’re the ones who are honored to have you,” Ryan returned. As he pulled away from Mike, he ended up in Marcus’ arms.

“You rescued us, even though you didn’t have to,” Marcus said, almost crushing Ryan in his arms. “I know Mike and I will do what it takes to repay you.”

Ryan kissed the side of Marcus’ head. “You don’t have to do that, my friend, my love. Let’s help each other. That will be enough.”

Ryan pulled away. With a slight gesture, Alpha and Charlie rose to their feet. Alpha gave Mike a deep kiss, and a smaller kiss at his temple. “Welcome to the family, sir,” the eldest Prime said. “You tell me if Bravo’s getting out of hand, and I’ll spank him for you,” Alpha snickered with a wink.

“I’ll let you,” Bravo razzed in return, laughing. Alpha crossed to the youngest Prime and kissed him deeply.

“Be nice,” Alpha said, holding Bravo close. Bravo simply nodded.

“Captain,” Charlie began, “Delta is probably the logistics mastermind behind us Primes. There isn’t a thing he isn’t aware of—from the inner workings of the automated biscuit generators to the interpersonal relationships of our youngest military men. He won’t tell you, but he loves absorbing and sharing information.” Marcus nodded, giving Delta an affectionate smile.

“How about you?” Marcus asked Charlie. “What’s your specialty?”

“Infiltration, espionage, assassination,” Charlie replied casually. “Alpha and I are both really good at that.

Mike stood between Bravo and Matt, hugging Bravo close at his waist. “What about this guy?” he asked, caressing his Prime’s hair and face.

“Surprisingly, he’s probably the best out of all of us here,” Charlie replied. “There’s not a thing he can’t do, aside from put some clothes on when we’re in the house ,” the fiery red-head said with a laughing smirk. Bravo puffed up comically.

“If you got it, flaunt it,” Bravo said. “Besides, clothes bug me. When I have to play bodyguard , I feel like they only hold me back.”

Alpha shrugged. “It’s true. We ran that test before. But I’m not sure if Bee was faking it or he genuinely couldn’t work as fast with clothes on.”

Mike gave a wry grin. “I guess we’ll never know, huh?”

Bravo stood up and tugged Matt to his feet. “Come on, little buddy,” he said to the short-haired twin. “We gotta get the Colonel some sun.” Matt nodded happily with the sentiment.

“Are you guys coming?” Mike asked Marcus.

“Actually, I wanted to get some swim time,” Marcus replied. “I was thinking of heading back to the gym in the master’s quar—”

“The troop pool was created for SEAL training,” Riley interrupted. “as well as Olympic length laps like in the master’s quarters.”

The smile that broke out on Marcus’ face was dazzling. He tucked Riley under his arm and kissed the young man’s forehead. “Then I guess you, me, and Dee are off for a swim with the guys,” he said.

“Dee?” Delta scoffed.

“What, you don’t like it?” Marcus said, grinning.

“Well I—I don’t know,” Delta said as his eyebrows furrowed slightly. “Some guys have tried it, but they weren’t anyone I went out of my way to spend any great—”

“Let’s go, Dee. Daylight is burning,” Marcus laughed. Delta snorted.

“And it’s gonna burn for a few more months, Captain,” Delta said with a brush of sarcasm. Marcus stood directly in front of him, looking up.

“Delta,” Marcus said.

“Sir?” The auburn Prime replied. Marcus motioned him to bend down. When the man did, Marcus grabbed his face and kissed him gently.

“It’s Marcus,” he said, looking Delta in the eyes.

“Yes si—Marcus,” the Prime responded. Marcus waved Riley over, putting their three faces together. He kissed the Prime, then the twin, and alternated until all three men were kissing each other. When the kiss slowed, he pulled away, facing Riley.

“Marcus,” he said, pointing at himself. Riley nodded.

“Marcus.”

Ryan cleared his throat gently, catching everyone’s attention. “It’s about noon now,” he said. “It’s easy to lose sense of time down here, or even up there. Check in with a control panel every now and then, alright?” He waited until the men gave a sign of acknowledgement. “Alpha, Charlie, and I have some work to be done with the recent set of men. When Doc Eli is done here, he’ll join me upstairs. I’ll see you all tonight?”

“Definitely,” Mike said. “You got it,” Marcus added. Ryan nodded, heading for the central lift. “There are other elevators, by the way,” Ryan called out. “This is in case we have beds to roll down or large amounts of people.”

Mike grinned. He turned to his pair of men. “Let’s go get some sun.”

Chapter 24

There were four additional elevators. Marcus and his men took one while Mike, Bravo, and Matt took another. Matt entered first, followed by Mike, with Bravo trailing. Mike felt Bravo’s heat radiating off him in the enclosed space. When the door closed, Mike laughed as Bravo wrapped his arms around him and attacked his neck with heated gusto, and Matt pressed in, lavishing Mike with searing hot, wet kisses.

Mike groaned. The men hadn’t even touched his dick, but he knew not only was he hard, he was leaking copiously. Words escaped him as his brain had fogged over with lust.

“Holy shit, guys,” he managed to squeeze out. “I can’t… I’m…”

“Go with it, sir,” Bravo said. “Let us make you feel so good.” The man’s hands roamed over Mike’s arms, his sides. Matt moved from Mike’s mouth to his dark pink nipples, sucking each one until they jutted out away from his body. The door chimed, and the men quickly moved to flank Mike, who was swaying in the wind in a haze.

“Colonel,” Matt said.

“Y—yes?” Mike drawled.

“We’re here, sir. The sun chamber is ahead.”

Mike fell out of his haze with a blush. “Yes, yes we are.” He stepped off the elevator and headed towards the light when he realized Bravo had fallen back. He turned to see his Prime trotting towards him with his lengthy meat flailing with each footfall.

“What were you doing, Bee?” Mike asked, narrowing his eyes at Bravo.

“Nothing sir. Oh—this way,” Bravo said, pulling Mike and Matt to him. They stood near the wall as about twenty men jogged down the large corridor towards the central lift, chatting animatedly about a swimming competition in the troop gym. Bravo put himself between his charge and the men, effectively blocking the Colonel from view. Mike raised an eyebrow at his Prime, who didn’t look the least bit ashamed of himself. “What?” he said. “I figured you’d want some privacy,” Bravo said with a ridiculous grin. Mike shook his head, laughing.

“You’re terrible,” Mike said.

“It’s worse than you think,” Bravo replied. He reached into an alcove on one side of the corridor and pulled a tensile cable free. The Prime crossed to the other side, latching the cable to a metal loop in an alcove there, creating a rope barrier. He then pulled out a plastic placard and let it hang from the center of the waist-high line.

The placard read: “Closed for security checks—sign up on v-board for entry”.

Mike gave Bravo side-eye. Bravo’s grin was even bigger and sillier than before.

“We got all the time in the world, sir,” said the Prime. He held up the cable and waved his hand beneath it. “Shall we?”

Mike ushered Matt through. He followed. He didn’t get far when he felt Bravo slip his arms around his chest, forcing them to walk comically close to each other like a lovesick teenage couple. Mike laughed when he felt Bravo’s hard-as-rebar cock pressing against his shorts-covered ass crack. “Walking’s a lot easier when you’re not rucking a two-hundred-and-thirty-pound muscle man-boy,” he mused aloud. He felt Bravo’s smile on his neck.

“Less talk, more walk,” the Prime growled. Matt grabbed Mike’s hand, and with a laugh, he pulled the Colonel into the sunlight.

It was a curious feeling, being one of three souls in a massive, otherwise empty chamber. Mike likened it to standing in the middle of a vacant helicopter hangar before the usual maintenance crews arrived or standing at the center of the fifty-yard line in an empty football stadium. If it weren’t for Bravo and Matt’s laughter, it might have been a little humbling.

The cavernous, glass-roofed space was filled with warm sunlight. It was a welcome change from the climate-controlled colony, which was kept on the cool side. The latticework of clear fiberglass girders caught rays of sun, causing them to glisten as the men moved towards one of the staircases along the edge of the wall.

Bravo took the lead when they reached the clear staircase. He strode ahead, opening the clear door that led into a platform surrounded by the same clear, hard material. The Prime pulled a mat from a slot in the wall. He unrolled a mat big enough for three men and spread it out over the platform as Matt opened the door for Mike.

“This is… cozy,” Mike murmured, glancing around the enclosed room. The walls went up to the ceiling, matching the square glass panel above.

“It’s a kind of sweatbox,” Bravo said, turning his eyes overhead. “Because of how small it is, and how it’s all clear panels, we get a greenhouse effect in each of these glass rooms.” Bravo pointed across the way at each room on their level. Mike stepped in closer to Bravo to get an idea of what the man was pointing at when he heard a loud sniffing sound behind him.

“Bee,” Mike whispered, “What are you doing?”

“Wanna remember what you smell like when you’re clean, sir,” Bravo said plainly. “Matt, do me a favor and lean up against the wall there.”

Matt obliged. Bravo took Mike by the hips and guided him right up against the younger man. Matt’s lips curved up into a little grin as he took in the closeness.

Mike felt Bravo’s movements behind him. Hands trailed down the sides of his arms, then came back up to firmly feel their way down his lateral muscles, to his hips. Thumbs hooked into his shorts, and with one swift tug, the shorts were down on the ground. Mike looked down as he stepped out of the shorts. His cock was pressing into Matt’s abdomen. With the same swiftness Bravo removed his only article of clothing, Matt’s shorts fell away under the Prime’s nimble fingers.

“This is so much better,” Bravo said. He pressed his hands against the glass wall and leaned in deep, kissing Matt slow, swiping his tongue over the black haired, crystal blue-eyed man. Being pressed between the two, Mike had front row seats to a hot show he had to get in on. Mike dipped his head down, and his lips met with Bravo’s lips, then Matt’s. Then their tongues fought for dominance on two fronts—their tastes mingling. A string of saliva dripped out between them, landing in the widespread thatch of coarse, black hair on Matt’s chest.

Mike shifted his attention from his men’s mouths to Matt’s neck. In that moment, Bravo took the other side, and the young man caught in the middle gasped and gulped hard at the assault on his sensitive flesh. He stifled a moan as Mike moved back to his mouth, grinding his billy club dick against Matt’s straining, hot flesh.

Mike felt hands on his neck slide down his sides, and then down to his butt. He felt Bravo’s breath on his ear.

“Tell me I can eat your ass, sir. I want it. I want in it right now. Want to taste you,” Bravo’s dirty talk made Mike’s rebar cock strain painfully.

“Fuck, Bee…”

“Tell me, sir,” Bravo said. “I won’t do it unless you tell me.”

“Eat my ass, Bee, Jesus,” Mike hissed. He placed his hands at both sides of Matt’s head as he leaned into him and tipped his hips back, giving Bravo a better view of the warm tightness that was beckoning him. As Mike’s mouth probed Matt’s, the young man grabbed hold of his head and gave back as good as he got. Their tongues fought for purchase in the other man’s mouth when the most incredible, strong wetness slid across Mike’s winking flesh.

“Fuuuuuuuck,” Mike panted. Matt pulled the Colonel back to him and kissed him breathless while Bravo’s tongue dug deep, flicking at every nerve ending that set Mike’s brain on fire with every pass. Mike moaned into Matt’s mouth and writhed against Bravo’s iron grasp on his hips, trying to get more of the Prime’s talented tongue inside him.

Bravo licked and kissed and nipped, slicking up Mike’s hole and loosening it up. He ran his fingertips over the tender, miniscule folds, forcing them to twitch involuntarily.

“Can’t wait, sir, I’m gonna fuck you,” Bravo groaned. “Want you now, so tight…”

Mike’s brain was in a haze. He pulled away from Matt long enough to say, “Do it, Bee. Fuck me now!”

With one searing, painful thrust, Bravo seated eleven inches of thick, rigid meat into Mike’s chute. Mike squeezed his eyes, shutting out the pain. Matt shushed him and kissed him softly, brushing tears away with his thumbs as they slid from Mike’s tightly closed eyes. Bravo ran his hands over Mike’s back as he waited for the inevitable.

The pain melted away. Mike just felt incredibly full. A warmth radiated from inside him just past his ring. He squeezed the muscles of his anal ring to gauge the hardness of the man buried deep within, and Bravo’s cock twitched.

“Shit, sir,” Bravo grunted. “Do that again.”

Mike summoned all the focus he could on the muscles inside him. He squeezed his ring, tightened the muscles just past it, alternating between the two. Bravo pawed at his chest, pulling him up to hold him tightly by the chest.

“So hot…” Bravo moaned into Mike’s ear. “So fucking hot and tight.”

Mike could only sigh when he felt a hand on his cock. It was slick with lube from a dispenser on the rock wall behind them. Mike looked down and saw Matt guiding himself onto his hot, red, swollen meat. With tight resistance, Matt slid on, gasping slightly with each excruciating inch he skewered himself onto.

Bravo nudged the two men forward. Matt was pressed against the glass. Mike was pressed into Matt. Bravo was pressed into Mike. Matt placed his hands on the glass wall at the sides of his head, bracing himself in any way he could for what was coming. Mike grabbed Matt’s hands, nuzzling his hair and tonguing his ear. Bravo placed his hands over Mike’s, connecting all three men at those points.

“Gonna fuck you,” Bravo said. Mike could only nod. He cried out as Bravo pulled out and slammed back into him, going from tip to base in powerful thrusts. Every slam into Mike thrust him into Matt, and the young man whimpered his pleasure, biting his lip.

“Need more,” Matt cried loudly. Mike didn’t know where to begin—but he didn’t have to. Bravo took his cue and jackhammered into Mike almost viciously. He felt Bravo’s mouth—the sting of his teeth on the muscles where his neck met his shoulders. Bravo sucked and worried and bit down. At some point, Mike would have worried that the Prime would break the skin, but somehow, the thought only made him harder instead of afraid. What Bravo did to him, he did the same to Matt. He could only imagine the younger man was feeling many of the same sensations as he was. Since the young man in front of him had no one to fuck, Mike loosed a hand and took hold of Matt’s straining length, hot to the touch. He desperately tried to time his strokes with the beating his own ass was taking from the Prime—which thrust him deep into Matt with every push and pass.

Bravo’s rutting rippled through Mike into Matt like beads on a Newton’s Cradle. Mike desperately clung to Matt’s body while Bravo held him tight, practically forcing Mike to fuck Matt up the wall. The windows had fogged over, and all three men were dripping with sweat from their exertions. Mike felt warm for more reasons than one. With the sun pouring into the room, the heat generated by three men locked in a desperate act to be united with each other, and the fact the heat was going nowhere, it was almost stifling.

Mike tipped his head back, grabbing onto Bravo’s head and pulling him for a kiss over his shoulder. “Gonna come,” he breathed. If he thought Bravo was rapid-fire fucking him, he was sorely mistaken. The Prime fucked harder and faster like a man possessed. Mike thought he’d go blind from all the pleasure of Bravo pegging his prostate at each pass. Matt had been reduced to whimpering and pleading, clawing at the glass wall with sweaty hands. It was unclear what he was pleading for, but it was a drug to Mike, hearing him drunk with pleasure.

The tingle started in Mike’s toes as a rush of warmth and spikes of shock flooded upwards through his groin, to his heart, to his head, then back down to the base of his spine and into his groin once more. Mike cried aloud and bit down hard on Matt’s left shoulder as his orgasm tore through him like a sledgehammer through a hill of snow. Hot jets of release splattered Matt’s insides as the younger man fired wet bolts of his own semen onto the glass wall in front of him upon Mike’s bite. Bravo’s assault on Mike’s ass hadn’t ended. It was as if he wanted to fuck every drop of cum out of the men in front of him. Mike panted against Matt’s wet skin when he felt Bravo’s breath on the back of his neck rising hot and heavy when suddenly a distinct, sharp, pleasurable pain clamped down on the right side of his neck. Bravo scream-groaned into Mike’s flesh as he filled the Colonel with his seed. The pain and pleasure gave Mike an unexpected jolt as he came a second time into Matt’s ass.

The three stood, breathing heavily. Bravo licked where he bit down on Mike’s neck, and Mike kissed and licked where he bit down on Matt. Matt writhed against the wall, smearing his cum into his groin, his lower belly. His dick was still hard, now slathered in his own release.

Minutes passed before anyone moved. Bravo pulled out of Mike. The young Colonel felt a dribble of cum slip from his well-used fuck hole as it slid down the inside of his thigh. Mike gently withdrew from Matt. Out of curiosity, he watched as Matt turned around. The same had happened to him.

Bravo grabbed Mike by the hand and pulled him onto the foam. The Prime laid down and maneuvered Mike to sit on his face. When Mike thought there was no more pleasure to be had, he was pleasantly surprised and mistaken. Bravo’s tongue had invaded Mike once more as he tried to lap up every ounce of semen he’d just deposited.

Mike’s cock bobbed on the center of Bravo’s incredibly cut chest. But what surprised him was the view of Bravo’s eleven inches waving through the air. Matt stepped into view. He gave Mike a smirk.

“Hold me up?” the young man asked. Mike nodded, unsure of what to do, when Matt put his hands on the floor, lifted his body over his head, and hand-walked over Bravo’s length. With impressive control, Matt lowered himself, and split his legs, spreading his crack wide open. Mike was amused and amazed when Matt bent his legs in a manner that put the younger man’s knees on his shoulders. While Matt used his upper body strength to go to town on the Prime’s meat, Mike lovingly lapped at the apparent gymnast’s recently ravaged hole with gusto, tasting himself and the unique musk and flavor that was Matt leaking with spunk.

It seemed like an infinity of pleasure as the three men remained locked as they were. Sounds of tongues in motion bounced around the small room, completely steamed over from wall to wall. Matt lifted his knees and tucked them, shifting his pelvis forward so that he could lower his legs in front of Mike and at Bravo’s sides. When his feet had planted, he raised himself up, vertebra by vertebra until he was standing. The young man turned around and got to his knees, kissing Mike with warm, delicate licks. Mike’s brain had long since been overwhelmed by pleasure. He was running on a kind of happy autopilot, content to be in this moment with two men who couldn’t get enough of him and each other.

Mike looked behind him and caught Bravo’s eyes. The Colonel reached down and ran his fingers through the Prime’s hair, grabbing a tuft and gently pulling his face and hungry mouth away from his quivering hole.

“I think you got it all, baby,” Mike said.

“I know,” Bravo replied. “I just like tasting you.”

Mike smiled. He nodded at Matt and motioned him to lie down. As Mike lay back, Matt came to his other side. It seemed the two men “assigned” to him would always put him in the middle.

Bravo and Matt propped up on their sides, looking down on Mike fondly. The Prime traced his fingers down to Mike’s pubic mound, stroking firmly and deeply. The attention had Mike’s cock at half-mast. Matt’s hands brushed over Mike’s chest. Mike shivered at the feel of Matt’s rough palms over his nipples—a new sensation he processed as a serious threat to his sexual sanity.

Mike laid there, his eyes barely open. He let his mind wander through the peace and quiet of breathing, being. The scent of sweat and cum was thick in the air, but it didn’t phase the Colonel. He took inventory of the things in his head.

His position as a high-ranking officer put him in the midst of many soldiers—so he was constantly surrounded by people, whether he was on the field or at the office. Mike never gave pause to that feeling, but he realized that despite being adrift in a sea of people, he was isolated. He hadn’t been at a want for sexual companionship, but the entire lifespan of his intimate interludes was nothing compared to what he was a willing participant of in the past two days.

Fingertips traced over Mike’s forehead, his eyebrows. Bravo’s face came into view. Mike watched the Prime scan his face as his fingers skimmed his skin. The sensation of a mouth sealing around his nipple made Mike shiver.

“I can hear you thinking, sir,” Bravo said.

Mike chuckled. “How can I think when you two keep me aroused all the time?” He hissed when Matt bit down slightly, reverting to sucking and licking. “Matt… Matty…”

Matt acknowledged Mike’s pet name with a smile and a loud sucking sound. Mike saw Matt’s length straining, brushing against his leg while the younger man’s mouth took ownership of the sensitive mound of flesh.

“We don’t have to leave here for a while, sir,” Bravo said. He closed the distance between his face and Mike’s, drawing a small, soft circle on the tip of Mike’s nose with his. Mike could smell Bravo’s sweat—the scent smothered Mike’s brain like a warm, heavy blanket.

Bravo got to his knees. He tapped on Matt’s shoulder, pointing somewhere behind him. Matt nodded and got to his knees, shuffling behind Bravo, out of Mike’s sight.

“Matt and I just want to make you feel good,” Bravo said. “What do you want us to do?”

Mike studied the earnestness in Bravo’s face. He smiled.

“I wouldn’t mind Matt inside me while I suck you off,” Mike said plainly. Bravo nodded.

“I figured,” Bravo said, grinning. “Matt—let’s do it.”

Mike felt his legs lifting, gripped by Matt’s big, warm hands. Bravo inched forward, resting his semi-hard meat on the Colonel’s chin. Matt tipped one of Mike’s leg forward into Bravo’s care at the Prime’s silent request. He brought Mike’s foot to his face, and Mike could feel Matt’s breath on the sole of his other foot.

Bravo gave a nod. Mike realized it wasn’t for him, it was for Matt, as the next thing he felt was the young man’s thick, blunt head slide through his well-fucked hole. Mike almost sighed when he felt his big toes sucked into warmth and wetness. The Colonel groaned deeply. Bravo’s turgid cock waved in Mike’s face, so he reached for it, sucking the head into his mouth, giving it such caring, wet treatment.

Bravo gazed down on Mike with a warm glint in his eyes. After a few minutes of Mike’s mouth on him, Bravo pulled back gently. He handed Mike’s leg back to Matt, who continued to slide back and forth at a decidedly measured pace, drawing out the pleasure.

Mike’s senses were flooded. The fullness he felt speared on Matt’s dick, the sweat dripping off Bravo onto his own slicked torso, the heat and musk in the room, and now… Bravo taking Mike’s thick, angry-looking dick into his own tight, warm hole.

It seemed both Mike and Bravo’s breath hitched at the same time. A satisfied smile broke out on the Prime’s face as he rocked onto Mike, timing his movement against Matt’s thrusts. Both men took it slow, and Mike’s heart could barely contain the feelings.

“Bee… Matty… oh fuck,” Mike rasped. Bravo put a finger on Mike’s lips, then traced them with a touch.

“Feel, sir. Let us give this to you. Just feel,” Bravo rumbled. He rocked deep, pulling off of Mike to the edge of the head of his cock, then sitting so deeply Mike could feel his balls tighten as they were pressed with Bravo’s weight. Matt changed tactics, pulling out slow, but thrusting into him fast and hard, so much so that Mike could feel Matt’s balls slapping against his ass.

“Please,” Mike whined breathlessly. “I need…”

Bravo slid a finger into Mike’s mouth. “What do you need, sir?”

Mike gulped. He sucked on Bravo’s strong, lengthy finger, moaning. The men were pushing him up to a precipice, ready to throw him off the edge into climactic bliss. But they were working him frustratingly slow and steady. The wire that was his threshold was drawn so tight that a puff of air would snap it.

Hands slid up the expanse of his torso, his chest. Rough palms slid over Mike’s sensitive buds, already pert from the men’s advance. A sudden squeeze on both of them made Mike open his mouth to groan in that now all-too familiar pleasure-pain when Bravo’s mouth sealed over his. The man drank in Mike’s sighs, his whimpers.

It must have been a cue. Matt began thrusting faster, harder. He never went a second without sucking on some part of Mike’s soft, smooth soles or his toes, tonguing between each digit. Bravo fucked himself harder on Mike’s rigid heat. He alternated his pinches on Mike’s heaving chest, teasing and twisting one nipple, pressing and squeezing the other, switching things up to keep Mike completely off balance.

And his mouth. Bravo’s wet, velvety mouth, with the Prime’s tongue sliding over his own, sucking and teasing more. Mike’s breathing had now been erratic for the past few minutes when he arched his back, screaming into Bravo’s mouth as a hard fought, hard won orgasm ripped through him, shredding his heart and his brain in waves of indescribable warmth and release. Within moments of his climax, Matt cried out, bracing himself on Bravo’s back. Mike felt his insides marked by the younger man—in the same way that Bravo owned him earlier.

Mike focused on Bravo, who had pulled back, jerking his long, rapidly reddening cock over Mike’s chest. Bravo’s eyes rested on Mike’s gaze. A look of such want, earnest and sweet, mixed with the heat of the moment, had been etched onto the young Prime’s face. Hands slid from behind Bravo as Matt groped his chest and placed his talented mouth on the corded muscles of where the Prime’s shoulders met his thick, strong neck. A flush started to rise. Mike watched it redden Bravo’s chest, his neck.

“Bee,” Mike said. Bravo didn’t speak, but he dipped his head in acknowledgment as he continued to push himself to his own explosive conclusion.

“Want to taste you,” Mike whispered. Bravo’s eyes widened slightly. His pace quickened and he tipped forward, bringing his shiny, slick head closer to the Colonel’s mouth. Mike leaned up, licking his Prime’s glans, fanning the man’s fire. A small gasp and a full body shudder told Mike that Bravo was at the edge. Mike took him further.

The Colonel seized Bravo’s length with both hands, stuffing his mouth full of hot, slick cock. He sucked and laved on it like a man in a desert thirsty for water. Bravo’s head tilted back and his pleasure spilled out of him with a wall-shaking roar. Mike tasted Bravo’s release—a little salty, a touch sweet, but distinctively the young Prime. A bit spilled out of the sides of Mike’s mouth—but there was no doubt Bravo was more than satisfied.

Bravo came down beside Mike, and Matt once again fell to the other side. They shared languid kisses, cleaning the spilled cum off of Mike’s face. Despite the heat in the room, the three were close together, sweaty, breathing heavy, and sated.

“I… I’m…” Mike began to speak, but realized he was completely out of words. He was never good about communicating feelings—his intimate interludes in the past hadn’t merited in-depth conversations of that nature. But the three men had marked each other—or at least, both of his men had marked him, and in return, he laid claim to them.

Bravo laughed. It was a kind but impish laugh. “Cat got your tongue, sir?”

Mike put his arms underneath his men. The two others curled into Mike—their hands tracing lightly over the film of sweat and sex that covered the Colonel’s chest and abs. Matt’s hand came to rest splayed over Mike’s heart. Bravo’s hand covered Matt’s.

Mike felt a stirring of want yet again. It was subtle, warm. He planted a kiss on both men’s heads. “I’ve never had it like this before. Yeah, I’ve had the odd threeway, been with two gals, on one occasion Marcus was there with a girl I brought home from a military ball. You guys… I feel… So… Free.”

“You don’t have to hold anything back, sir,” Bravo said. “Matt and I—we’re supposed to be your guides, your assistants. But we three, we can be lovers.” There was a twinge of hopefulness in Bravo’s voice. Mike saw it in his face. He switched over to Matt, who’s eyes said much of the same.

“I think we could be of use to you, Colonel,” Matt began. “I’d do anything to make sure you’re happy—”

“Matt,” Mike said, “let’s pull back a minute.” He slid his hand over Matt’s firm back.

“I’m sorry, sir. If I was out of line—” Matt looked as if he was ready to retreat, to run down the stairs and down the corridor leading back to the colony. Mike caught him by the hand, holding on firmly.

“Stay, baby,” Mike said softly. “Lay back down. Want you next to me.”

Matt gave both Mike and Bravo a look before laying back down. He snuggled against the Colonel, relishing in the scent of their encounters in the hot air of the room. The younger man slid his hand beneath Bravo’s hand, reestablishing the connection they made over Mike’s heart.

“If we’re together,” Mike said, “It’s because we want to be, okay? Not out of some obligation. I don’t want you to feel like you have to do anything you don’t want to.”

Bravo leaned forward, kissing Mike deeply. The feel of their tongues sliding over each other made Mike moan into Bravo’s mouth. Matt moved next, pulling Mike’s face away by the chin. He laid claim to the Colonel’s mouth sucking and nipping his way from Mike’s tongue to the base of his neck beneath his Adam’s apple.

“Then I want to be with you,” Matt said. “Both of you.” Matt took Bravo’s hand in his, lifting it to his mouth to kiss the Prime’s fingers and the inside of his palm. Bravo took Matt’s face in his hand.

Contentment settled into the room. The intense rounds of climactic pleasure wore all three out as the sun arced overhead. When it lowered close to the horizon, there was still daylight, but the small room, like the whole chamber, was kept at a warm eighty-five degrees. Mike smiled and squeezed his men close. The three held each other tight as sleep overtook them.

Mike woke up looking into Matt’s sleeping face. He looked peaceful. His lips had parted slightly as he gave a little snore. A shifting at Mike’s back told him where Bravo was. The Prime had an arm under his head while the other arm was draped over his waist. Mike felt Bravo’s half-hard cock between his legs.

It was warm, like everything else about his giant.

Mike shifted quietly, subtly. He rubbed his thighs together, rubbing against the sides of Bravo’s length. The reaction Mike hoped for was evident as Bravo’s cock grew full and hard. Without waking either man, Mike shuffled until he felt the blunt, slick head push past his anal ring, still limber from their actions hours ago. He kept his groan in as he pushed back onto Bravo. Bravo grunted, gripping Mike tighter against himself.

Matt woke up in the move, watching Mike skewer himself. Mike motioned for him to roll over. Matt obeyed. He allowed himself to be shifted into place with Mike’s tumescent cock burning past his winking flesh.

Mike sucked on Matt’s ear as he began fucking Matt and himself. Matt’s breathing went shallow while Bravo’s breathing picked up on Mike’s ear. Mike felt Bravo’s hand slide down to grip his hip.

“You feel so tight and warm,” Bravo sighed. Mike couldn’t respond. So much pleasure was channeled through him. The pleasure began ramping up as he felt his temperature spike.

“Ohhh, fuck,” Mike moaned. Bravo leaned up and took a look at his Colonel.

“Matt, he’s in a heat,” Bravo said. Matt felt Mike pull him closer as the man ranted feverishly.

“Need it… need it in me,” Mike pounded out into Matt, then thrust back to peg himself on Bravo.

“Hang on, sir,” Matt said, whispering over his shoulder as Mike drove into him. Mike whimpered his needs into Matt’s back.

“Bee, fuck me, please,” Mike whined. The Prime pulled off of him. Mike rolled onto his back, carrying Matt with him. Matt rolled around with Mike still in him. It was a position they were in before as Bravo knelt down at Mike’s spread legs.

When Bravo entered him, Mike sighed. It felt complete. He felt complete. Even with the heat overtaking him, this was how things were supposed to be. Matt rode him slowly, and Bravo pumped into him at Matt’s pace. Mike’s heart pounded, and he tried to force his men to go faster. They silenced him.

“We’re helping you ride out the heat, sir,” Matt sighed with Mike’s cock filling him. “When you get the heats, we’re supposed to keep you calm and happy.” Matt’s hands slid along the sides of Mike’s chest, thumbing his nipples into rubbery stiffness. Mike threw his head back as the additional stimulus shocked his brain.

Mike thought the fire would consume him. The warmth heated his brain, egged on the pleasure receptors in his head, his body, wherever he was in contact with his men, or where they were in contact with him. He reached up and pulled Matt down, kissing him passionately. Matt gave what he got while Bravo’s rhythmic thrusts maintained their excruciating drive.

Matt held Mike’s hands down while he possessed the Colonel’s mouth. He rocked back onto Mike as Bravo rocked into him. Mike whimpered, whined, begged. He was riding the crest of pleasure as Bravo hit the spot on each pass. The look on Bravo’s face said that the giant knew exactly where Mike’s buttons were. The Prime was happy to exploit them to drive Mike over the edge.

Mike clawed at Matt’s back as he screamed into the younger man’s mouth. His climax ripped through him with only light friction between himself and the man on top of him. Matt moaned. He could feel the Colonel’s release warm and coating his insides. Mike kept going this way until he had nothing left to fire. His own insides were slathered in Bravo’s jizz, and his front was glazed with the heady scent and taste of Matt’s cum all over him.

Mike panted into Matt’s chest while Matt ran his fingers through the Colonel’s hair, gently shushing him and kissing him calm. As Bravo withdrew, Matt tugged him over by the hand. He took the Prime’s meat, slathered in Mike’s juices as well as his own, and took him as deep as he could. Bravo groaned and began facefucking the young guy. Within moments, another load had fired off from within the Prime into Matt’s waiting mouth. The black-haired muscle-boy took every drop. He then cleaned off the Prime’s ramrod hard dick from base to tip.

Matt pulled off Mike and did the same for him. He went to the base in one go, massaging Mike’s cock deep in his throat. All the cum that slicked the Colonel’s dick was cleaned away.

Bravo lay next to his ward, watching him sleep off the high that overwhelmed him. Matt sat at Mike’s feet, giving each of them a massage. Bravo did the same with the Colonel’s hands and arms.

“Colonel Hamilton is… insatiable, isn’t he?” Matt asked. Bravo smiled quaintly and nodded.

“His programming was hard. Drugs cut down the time his handlers needed to brainwash him, but they used a lot of drugs. We have to keep watch over him until the heats end.”

Matt nodded. “We’re with him for a year, right?”

Bravo nodded. “That’s the assignment. One I don’t mind.” Bravo ran the back of his fingers over Mike’s stubbly cheek. He turned back to his massage. “Are you alright with this?” Bravo asked. “I know it’s hard being split from your brother.”

Matt gave a little sigh. “Riley and I talked about it. We’ve rarely been assigned apart from each other. I know we’ll bump into each other here and there, but it won’t make me miss him any less when we’re—”

Bravo tipped his head. “When you’re…”

“Everyone knows we pleasure each other,” Matt murmured. “We were the only ones who were… loving—in our touch. Our handlers were not kind. So when we were alone, we tried to remember what it was to touch with love, to be touched without pain. And it’s nothing that I blame anyone for in thinking it’s too weird or taboo. I know Ryan’s been good about enforcing any anti-phobic rules here. But outside of you Primes, Ryan, Jack—no one else wants to share a room with us.”

Bravo reached out to Matt and ran his hand over the young man’s shoulder. “There are some things Ryan won’t do when it comes to deprogramming us. If it would damage us more than heal, he’s happy to leave things be to adapt to what we have. I’m sorry the men aren’t terribly open minded.”

“It’s not your fault,” Matt said as he switched over to Mike’s other leg. Bravo stood and walked around to the other side of the unconscious Colonel’s body. When he sat down, he began massaging the man’s incredibly thick arm.

“You know when you two are around us, you can do whatever you want, right?” Bravo asked. “It may seem weird, but you’re not hurting anyone. And since neither of you can get pregnant,” he smirked, “it’s not like there are biological reasons you two can’t be together.”

“After the last couple of days, it’s a miracle I’m not pregnant now,” Matt snickered.

“We could keep at it until Ryan figures out a way to make it happen,” Bravo said with a grin. Matt leaned over and gave the Prime a kiss.

“I’m always willing to give it a try until then.” Matt ended with the Colonel’s thighs. He didn’t want to arouse him any further. Bravo kissed the hand he was working on and stretched out alongside Mike’s slumbering body. Matt stepped around to the other side and curled into him.

They were right back to where they started before Mike’s heat took over. Matt softly stroked Mike’s chest when his next question hit him. “How many do we have in the colony now?”

Bravo was quiet for a moment. “One hundred, fifty-four men, not including Ryan and Jack.”

“Including the men we just took in?”

Bravo nods his head. He gently slicked his fingers on the Colonel’s sweaty chest. Mike’s smell on his skin threatened to get him hard all over again. He decided to embrace the idea, dipping his head down to swipe his tongue over Mike’s nipple, and his chest. The man’s taste shot straight to his prodigious cock.

“I can’t get enough of this guy,” Bravo whispered. “He’s like a drug. If I’m away from him, I literally feel cold.”

Matt nestled his head under Mike’s sculpted arm. His nose was near the Colonel’s neck, damp with sweat. For Matt, the musky tang poured off Mike’s skin. He closed his eyes and continued to breathe the heavily muscled Colonel in.

The three lay together in a comfortable heap of tangled limbs, sleeping in the never-setting sun.

Chapter 25

Ryan sat with his back against the lush, padded headboard of his bed. He had a Prime under each arm, each man lavishing his nipples with love and tender licks and grazing teeth. Jack was between Ryan’s legs, idly sucking on his straining cock. However, Ryan wasn’t engaged. He was focused on the big screen across from the bed. Using a pair of wearable wireless mouses, he manipulated programs and data. His men were fueling his mind with their ministrations—a constant reminder of the pleasure he could allow himself when the work was done.

“Jack,” Ryan said, “what do you think of this new compound the handlers used on our latest batch of rescuees?”

Jack flipped over, resting his head on the inside of Ryan’s thigh. He playfully kissed the stiff and swaying cock next to his face as he studied what was on the screen.

“I know it pisses me off,” Jack sighed. “The initial studies Forrest, Ray, and Sam pulled up showed they were about triple the strength of the drugs used on Colonel Hamilton. The fact the men’s brains hadn’t been turned into pudding amazed them.”

Ryan nodded. “The only good news is the men aren’t prone to heats like Mike, or Marcus and Guillermo, Chase and Gordon. The bad news is that they are easily susceptible to commands from those they consider their betters. And in this place, that could be anyone.”

“No one here would mistreat them,” Jack said.

“I don’t doubt that,” Ryan replied. “But accidents can happen, and the wrong words can set us back months, even years.” He sighed as he caressed his Primes’ faces while they continued to pleasure him. “I’m just concerned that their rehabilitation may take longer than I care to admit.”

“Where do we begin?”

“Let’s talk with the docs. Have them meet in the atrium.”

***

It would be mere minutes before the meeting was in full swing. Ryan sat in one armchair while Jack occupied the other. Each longer sofa touted two doctors apiece, while Doc Sam preferred to stand behind his two cohorts in Forrest and Ray, along with Eli, who rested against the back of the sofa that held Fisher and Marty. Alpha and Charlie hovered near the entry of the long hall that led into the master’s quarters, standing casually, yet ever on guard.

“I hate how much the agent changed from when it was used on Col. Hamilton to the men we just brought in,” Ryan ground out in frustration. “It means someone was sharing notes as they were developing their drug.”

Sam’s fingers fell hard on his tablet as he furiously hammered out his words. “That’s more likely than it was a possibility,” his voice said from the speakers hidden about the room. “They had notes on hand, and Marta was quick to use her new findings to take Grigori off the board.”

Forrest’s typing hand moved quickly across his own tablet. “That means there was a chemist on-hand with the twelve new arrivals,” his voice added.

“But we got to Marta before she could sell off the second half of that formula, right?” Jack sighed as he sat back into his chair. “Otherwise, there’s probably some sick bastard out there right now testing her drug out on more slaves.”

Eli raised his hand and awaited Ryan’s acknowledgment. “I’ve had a chance to look over at the twelve,” he said. “If I’m reading them correctly, patients one through four were test subjects. Patients five through eleven were administered the new compound, and patient twelve was in the initial stages of receiving the new compound when the Crimson Team arrived.”

“What differences did you see in the first four patients?” Ryan asked.

“You probably know that better than we do,” Eli replied. “When you brought them in, I’m assuming they were brought out in no particular order in the reception hall, yes?”

Ryan scanned his memory. Indeed, he made no specifications on how the men were to be brought in—other than they were to be brought in an orderly fashion—not in any given order. “That’s right.”

“So when you went and spoke with each man, did you mark their reactions? It’s alright if you didn’t—I went over the recordings and they corroborate my findings.” Eli pulled out a tablet of his own. With a few swipes of his finger, one of the black reflective panels that beforehand construed a hallway wall lit up, becoming a large monitor that the men could turn to. Eli continued tapping and swiping until he accessed the videos. “You can see that many of the men did indeed react to your words, your deprogramming. Some men cried. Some men’s faces showed signs of recognition, hope, I want to say. But there were four who simply stared ahead, vacant.”

Ryan remembered. It seemed like one in four men hadn’t even shown any signs of acknowledgment.

“The ones who were still, the ones who showed no response—those were the first four patients. I have already asked that our doctors administer the same treatment we gave the Colonel and his friends. It will have to be spaced out, much like Colonel Hamilton’s—as there was a lot of trial and error in the months they were imprisoned. The conditioning our new officer friends received was compacted and augmented with physical stimuli—”

“The beatings, the rapes,” Jack intoned. Eli nodded.

“That’s not to say that the first four patients weren’t beaten or raped. It is likely those things were not in conjunction with the psychotropic conditioning,” the psychiatrist said, further elaborating his point. “Part of the desired effect is that the men are responsive to the abuses. But I think, the first four patients could be violated with a meat tenderizing mallet and still remain unresponsive.”

Ryan winced, as did many of the men in the room.

“For them, I think we might be lucky. The treatment for the Colonel, while only the first dose, would be our in for rehabilitating the patients who were test subjects. They were likely working with a version of the compound used on the officers before the mental and physical stimuli were added to their conditioning. And because it was primarily the chemical aspects and not psychological, we would have less trauma to work through to bring those young men back from the edge.” Eli swiped at his tablet with finality, and the monitor powered off, leaving behind nondescript wall once more.

“That works. Has their treatment already begun?” Ryan asked.

“Yessir,” Doc Marty replied. “Four patients, four stations, four initial doses. We briefed some volunteers who helped with the, uh… protein.”

Ryan grimaced. “Thank you for being delicate with that,” he said. Marty politely waved him off.

“It’s the nature of this business,” Marty said with a tone of resignation. “Sometimes the problem is part of the solution. We know how they administer the drugs, so naturally, we get effective treatment by going the same route.”

Jack shifted in his seat. “So how do we deal with patients five through eleven? That’s seven men who were hit with version two-point-oh of this compound, right?”

Doc Fisher piped in. “That’s right. The news is a little bad, but there might be some good in that.”

Ryan’s forehead creased in confusion. “Explain.”

“We did bloodwork comparisons,” Fisher began. “Between the new men, between the Colonel and his crew. Patients five through eleven metabolized the drug completely. It absorbed into them and took down all the noted receptors fast.”

“How can there be good in that?” Ryan asked.

“Because now that they’re completely susceptible to suggestion,” Doc Marty spoke up, reentering the conversation. “…We can reverse engineer that susceptibility—with Doc Eli’s help.”

Doc Eli nodded. “I want to try this slowly,” he said. “I’ll work with two of the affected patients in isolation. It may take a few days, but what I learn from them, I will try to replicate. When I can craft the right routine, the series of questions that help to reconnect the broken and redirected lines, we may be able to bring these poor boys back from the woods. I have asked Doc Forrest to take scans of Colonel Hamilton’s brain while he was being treated, as well as Major Weston. Forrest will then compare those scans to those of the first four patients, as well as the next seven.”

“We’ll add Roman Flint to our list to scan,” Forrest’s voice added. “It couldn’t hurt. If we can see which receptors were broken down, we can try to create a counter-compound to fill in the blanks. Marty, Fisher—I’d like to take scans of your brains as a control, a baseline. Ryan, if you could send us maybe eight more men from the group you personally hired on, they would be useful.”

“Because they weren’t traumatized or drugged,” Ryan said. Forrest nodded in response.

“We are aware that physiology will be different from person to person,” Ray’s voice came in after a series of taps on his own tablet. “But we can locate common foci, compare patterns, and see what is potentially missing and what can be fixed.”

“This sounds like we have a plan,” Jack sighed with a twinge of hope in his voice. Many of the doctors’ heads bobbed gently in affirmation.

“How has Ro… How will Roman be treated?” Ryan’s heart sank a little at the nickname the young Sailor gave. Jack’s eyes darted over to Ryan, but the older man gave him a near imperceptible headshake, warning him off.

“I have asked that he be treated along with patients one through four,” Eli replied. “If the compound can be countered at the early stages, then we know that it’s at least effective then. Petty Officer Flint is susceptible to suggestion, but not nearly as far gone as the others. His conscious thinking can be interrupted by suggestion and keywords—something I think the compound builds upon as it disintegrates the necessary receptors.”

“Has he shown signs of heat?” Ryan asked.

“His vitals have fluctuated significantly every few hours,” Fisher replied. “But since he’s been under sedation, we didn’t have to bring out the big guns, so to speak.”

Ryan huffed at the inference. Jack snickered softly. From where he sat, Ryan saw the Primes smirk, yet they schooled themselves quickly.

“I think we’ve got enough guns on the floor running around already with Mike and Marcus,” Ryan sighed. “At least they’re in good hands.” The man stood, running a hand through his greying hair that eventually came to rest on the back of his neck. “Thank you, my friends. I’m glad for all the news. And the plan of action. If you need anything—”

“No worries, sir,” Doc Marty said as he stood. “It’s all taken care of. You’ve got the officers on your plate. That’s some excellent new blood, new experience, maybe even new training we can add to our collective?”

Ryan tapped his nose. “You know me too well. I want to maximize their use. The more useful they feel, the more of their lives they can take back.”

A general murmur of approval rippled through the room when the monitor Eli used powered on. Delta’s face filled the screen.

“Sir, I have intel on a series of upcoming auctions. The Captain and I are en route to your location.”

A groan of frustration escaped Ryan. “What’s the timeframe we’re looking at?”

“The good news is it’s going to be at least a couple months out,” Delta replied. “The bad news is that with Marta off the field, buyers and handlers are nervous.”

“Think it’ll make them harder to find?” Jack asked. Delta shook his head.

“If anything, they’re going to pour money into resources to try and hide their tracks. We’ve got plenty of eyes on the field looking out for anything out of the ordinary.”

“Still,” Ryan murmured. “We’ll see you here soon. Does Bravo know?”

“He and the Colonel are on their way.”

***

“Mike.”

The Colonel grinned sleepily. Someone’s tongue darted over his nipple, sending little shocks to his brain and his dick.

“Sir, Mr. MacArthur wants us to head back to the master’s quarters.” Matt’s voice drifted into his ear on a whisper, followed by the brush of fingertips over his chest and the nipple that wasn’t in someone’s mouth.

Mike opened his eyes and found Bravo sucking and licking away. Matt’s face moved into view. The young man pressed his mouth against Mike’s, sharing a deep, wet kiss.

“Bee,” Mike groaned. “We’re not gonna go anywhere if you keep on me like that.”

Bravo sighed. “I know. I wish we could keep going, but duty’s calling.”

“Duty?”

“Delta’s got some news. We’re all heading back to meet up.”

Oh. Mike took stock of his surroundings. The glass chamber they occupied had cleared up significantly. While the air was still warm, the scent of their sweat and sex had cooled on their skin.

“Do we have time to clean up?”

“There’s a shower hall near the elevators,” Matt offered. “We can stop there.”

Bravo ushered his company out of the glass room and down the stairs. Matt carried the pad they had used with him, depositing it in a bin marked “dirty” with other mattresses that needed cleaning. A dozen other men had entered the massive chamber, stretched out, sunning, enjoying the company of the others they were with. Mike garnered a few appreciative looks, but with a glare from the otherwise adorable Bravo, the men schooled themselves and ripped their eyes from the newest additions to the colony.

Bravo entered the shower bay first—and with a few shouted commands, a small handful of men left in a hurry in various states of wash. Some still had soap foam on their skin, some were toweling off frantically. They darted past Mike and Matt without a backwards glance. Mike entered the bay and found a strangely serious Bravo waiting with his hand out.

“Let’s get you clean, sir.”

It was as if a switch went off in Matt, as well. Mike sensed urgency in his two companions. He went with it, letting Bravo lead the way. They moved against the wall where spigots overhead sprayed water directly down onto them. Both Bravo and Matt did all the work—when Mike reached for soap, Bravo gently took his hand and guided it away, washing the arm and hand himself.

“We’ve got you,” Bravo whispered over the water. The look on his face, on Matt’s face as well, was markedly different. They were reverent, but solemn. Their ministrations were efficient, but while Mike remembered kisses and licks and laughs in the times he shared water with these men just hours before, this moment was almost clinical, sterile, and devoid of the fun he remembered earlier.

Mike stored that thought away. Clearly, this was something important. When Bravo and Matt finished with him, they tended to themselves quickly.

“Do you want to put anything on?” Matt asked. The question surprised Mike. He shook his head in reply.

“I’m guessing there’s no time to dry off?”

Bravo gave a grin that looked a little uncomfortable.

“Mr. MacArthur’s patient,” the Prime said, “but we don’t want to keep him waiting.”

Mike simply nodded. “No clothes. We’ll air dry.”

At that, Bravo chuckled. Matt smiled. Mike stifled a sigh. From the small but positive response, he didn’t sense his men were in any trouble.


Author’s Note, part 2:

If you’ve followed along this far… What direction do you see this story going? Taking an unofficial poll at this point! Feel free to email me at gin.no.kitsune96@gmail.com with your thoughts!