To call the Excelsior Bar a dive would be an overstatement. And an extremely generous one at that. The grey-tinged windows - probably not cleaned since MacArthur left Mindanao - kept the seedy interior dark and nondescript. Some of the regulars sat at the bar, slowly nursing drinks; others sat at worn and broken tables pouring themselves into oblivion one shot at a time. The door to the establishment creaked open, admitting a brilliant shaft of light into the darkened room. Bloodshot eyes from around the bar looked up to see a pair of tall shadows scan the room and then quickly stride over to a table near the back wall. The two men sat down."Thanks for coming, Puma. ('Puma' is the SEAL Commander's military handle. -ed.) Sorry for the short notice. I take it this is the talented young man I've been told about?"
Christian Vincennes nodded. "Travis, this is Colonel Stuart Flint - Army Rangers. He's going to be your CO on this assignment."
The two shook hands.
"May be his CO, Chris. It's going to be up to him whether or not he gets selected."
The young SEAL had a muscular gymnast's physique which was framed by the white tank and open khaki shirt he wore. The sleeves were rolled up to expose powerful arms and around his neck he wore a pewter necklace of seabird's wings. His brown hair was cut short and spiky, and intelligent blue-green eyes took in every detail of the room and of the man in front of him. Flint had a hard, rugged look and although his voice was soft and deep, Travis could sense the power of command in it."Before I forget, Shayn said I needed to show both of you this." Flint withdrew an unadorned brass object and placed it on the table between them.
It was solid and heavy, oval in shape with a stubby protuberance in the back with a squared hole in its center."What's that?"
"It's a doorknob. From a closet."
The two SEALs looked at each other and grinned.
"Shayn always had the damnedest sense of humor." Chris chuckled. The slight tension between the three men vanished almost immediately.
"Well, I did teach him everything he knows." Flint replied. He rolled up the sleeve of his thin shirt to reveal two highly detailed banded tattoos - one just below his elbow and one around his rock-hard bicep.Chris gave a low whistle. "That's quite an accomplishment for arm-swallowing ... I'm impressed."
"Is that marking what I think it does? God-damn ..." Burke whispered as he laid a hand on his commander's arm.
"Got it in one, Travis." Flint smiled. The young SEAL blushed. "Let's see you in action. Puma and Pumper (Shayn's military handle - ed.) spoke a great deal about you."
"Go ahead, Shadow - show the nice man what you've got."
"Sir, would you mind if I got something to drink first? I've still got trail dust in my throat." Travis' voice was a clear, deep tenor and his shy smile made the Colonel begin to grow uncomfortably hard in his jock. Flint could barely restrain himself from reaching over to cradle the younger man's face in his hands. There was an ineffable something about the young SEAL that made his heart pound and his pulse quicken. He turned to the bar to gesture for a waiter and when he turned back to the SEALs, Travis was no longer there.
"Where did he go?"
"I didn't go anywhere, sir." All of a sudden, Flint noticed Travis again. This time, the young man's grin was electric.
"Jesus Christ Almighty! How did you do that?"
"I really don't know. It's a talent that seems to show up in my family from time to time. Always on the male side. Unless someone concentrates really hard, or they bump into me, I just don't get noticed if I don't want to."
Flint chuckled. "Shit, we're going to have to put a bell around your neck, kid."
"Can I ask anything about this assignment, sir?"
"Not right now. We need to get to a secure location for that. All I can say is that there is a great deal of risk, but also high reward associated with it. Once you've been briefed, you won't be able to leave the facility until the operation is over, even if you're not selected. You okay with that?"
Burke nodded.
The three men stood up. The two SEALs held each other tightly and Chris gave Burke a long, but gentle kiss.
"Take care of yourself, Shadow." He turned to the Colonel. "Keep him safe, sir."
"I will, Puma. C'mon kid, we've got a long trip ahead of us."
* * *
The flight to the briefing center lasted well over two hours. When the two men arrived, they were ushered through a maze of corridors. SEAL and Ranger were stopped at the junction of a short hallway by a pair of strikingly handsome MPs, who again checked their identification.
“You’re the last one Colonel -- go right in. They’re expecting you.”
As they passed the midpoint of the hallway, Travis shivered. Stuart noticed the slight movement from his companion. He raised his eyebrows, but said nothing.
Burke and Flint entered a briefing room full of electronic equipment. Present were six other men. The colonel gestured for the young SEAL to a seat and strode to the front of the room. Travis noticed a gleaming chrome orb the size of a large softball on the front table.
“Thank you all for coming. I assume that all of you were briefed about the nature of your participation? Once the details of this operation are revealed, none of you will be able to leave this facility?”
Four heads nodded.
“Good. This is a Level 4 operation, gentlemen. We are facing a threat to the security of this nation that is unlike we have ever seen before.”
“This…” Flint picked up an ingot of dull, silvery metal, “… is refined plutonium-239. In it’s natural state, this material is highly radioactive and has a half-life of over 24,000 years.“
He threw it onto the flat surface. It made a loud thump. Travis noted a slight motion at the other end of the table. The silvery orb had sprouted duck feet and was sitting on the edge of the desk, swinging them back and forth. He rubbed his eyes, thinking that he was hallucinating. The silvery duck feet were still there. He smiled. Damn, now I've seen everything...“We obtained this sample from a location in a non-so-friendly country in the Mideast. It’s completely stable and inert. In other words, gentlemen, it's now a fucking paperweight.”
Of the four recruits, only Burke seemed to grasp the implications of that statement. His eyes widened in horror.
“Sir, what does this do to our deterrence capabilities?”
“Excellent point, Shadow. If we don’t eliminate this threat, we’re dead meat. Our nuclear bombs will be so much scrap metal, our carriers will be dead in the water and our subs will be dropping to the bottom of the ocean.”
I’m going to turn over the rest of this briefing to one of the strike force team members. LOKI, will you please continue?”
“Sure, Colonel.” The silvery orb – now with normal legs and arms - proportional to its size - walked across the table.
“Hi fellas. As the colonel mentioned, my name is LOKI. And no, I'm not a new flavor of M&M. Or a space alien."
Nervous laughs sounded in the room.
"I'm a fourth generation supercomputer, and I'm self-aware. There are three of us on the mission. We bond to a human host for the duration. Marsh and Jamil ..." the computer pointed to two of the men in the room. "... have already bonded with THOR and TYR - my partners in crime on this expedition."
The computer paused.
"You're here because I'm interviewing for my host."
Two of the mission volunteers paled. One of them muttered, "I'm gonna be sick..." and rushed to the exit. The other man fainted. A medic entered the room and one of the bonded soldiers - Jamil - Travis thought - helped the unconscious man out of another set of doors. The computer turned to Burke and the other remaining volunteer. Even though there was no face to speak of, the young SEAL had the distinct impression that the computer was looking straight at him.
"Travis, Rusty - why don't you get settled and we'll talk some more later. I want to make sure the other two guys are okay."
With that, the computer hopped off the table and followed the unconscious man out of the room.
The first briefing was over.
* * *
"So what do you think of the remaining two candidates?"
Flint sat in his office. LOKI relaxed on the top of his desk, small chrome legs out in front of him. He was twisting paper clips into various shapes and linking them together.
"Travis really impressed me. And I like the kid. D'you know he was the only one in the room that noticed - other than Jamil and Marsh, but they don't count - when I moved and he gave me a big grin when I extruded the webbed feet?"
The colonel grinned. "Leave it to you to figure out a way to pick your host." He gestured to all the paperwork on his desk. "All this psychographic information - and you decide on the basis of turning into the AFLAC duck?"
"Well, who did all that information recommend?"
Flint looked chagrined. "Burke."
"I rest my case. Ask him to come in and let's see how he feels about it."
* * *
Travis had felt a slight change in the atmosphere when he and Flint passed the midpoint of the corridor. He knew something had happened, but the reality was still dizzying. He had traveled by what could only be termed as a "wormhole" to a completely hidden facility somewhere in the Middle East. He was amazed at the layout of The Castle, and from what he had been told by his escort, the facility was run by LOKI's progenitor, ODIN.Because of his indeterminate status, Burke was ushered around the facility by a strikingly handsome Ranger named Winston Sharpe. The two had spent the night together and Travis was further amazed by Sharpe's disclosure regarding the orientation of all the Castle personnel. After breakfast, Winston escorted the young SEAL to the infirmary. He trailed a hand around Travis' square jaw.
"I'll be right here waiting for you."
He gave him a soft kiss and knocked on the door.
"C'mon in!"
Siddig bin Talal wore a tight faded red t-shirt untucked over pale blue jeans that hugged every curve of his muscled legs and tight ass. His dark brown eyes sparkled and his full sensuous lips were surrounded by a dark, designer stubble. Travis' breath caught in his throat. The handsome Arab doctor gave him a thorough physical and the young SEAL found himself rigid with lust and aroused beyond description. He wanted to wrap his arms around the doctor and feel those sensuous lips pressed against his own. Trail his hands over that rock-hard chest. Run his fingers through the sleek, dark hair. Sid sensed the other man's discomfiture and stroked a hand gently down his arm. Burke bit his lip and stifled a moan.
"Travis, what you're feeling is completely normal in this facility. I doubt that you are going to have any difficulty finding someone here to enjoy yourself with ... if you haven't already." He gave the SEAL a knowing look. "Winston?"
Burke reddened.
Sid chuckled. The doctor then cocked his head as if hearing someone. "Your presence is requested by Colonel Flint and LOKI. Get dressed, stud, and I'll bring you up to them."
* * *
Doctor and SEAL entered the office. LOKI was standing on the desk and despite the smooth blankness of the silvery sphere, Travis had the distinct impression that the supercomputer was looking directly at him and smiling.
"Travis, Colonel Flint and I have come to a decision. I'd like you to be my host. I know this entire situation comes somewhat as a shock to you, so I want to answer any questions I can. And ... you have the final say. I would never force myself on someone - this is a partnership between equals."
"How do you move around the way you do? How did you make those duck feet during the briefing?"
The computer turned to Flint. The colonel coughed, putting his hand to his mouth to stifle a laugh. He turned back to the SEAL.
"I'm composed of a liquid metal alloy. I can extrude anything I want in any shape that I want. Also, if you can put your mind around it, I'm much larger on the inside than on the outside."
Travis raised an eyebrow. "Compactified? Like a Calabi-Yau manifold?"
LOKI sounded very surprised. "Quite so ... part of me exists in Rheinmann space ... but since when did SEAL training involve multi-dimensional mathematics? Hold on ... you're THAT Travis Burke?"
The young SEAL blushed and nodded.
Flint looked confused. "LOKI, what the hell are you talking about?"
The computer turned to him, tapping a silvery foot. "The mathematician Travis Burke who won the Fields medal for uniform holomorphic functions on Rheinmann surface geometries. The guy whose work ODIN developed the wormhole technology with?"
Flint's jaw dropped. "Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the donkey! Son, what the hell are you doing as a SEAL?"
"Sir, I wanted to serve my country. Particularly now. There's more important things than formulas and theories. Those I can do in my head while there's some downtime on a mission. LOKI, can I ... can I touch you?"
"Sure, go ahead. I'm not ticklish..."
Burke reached out to LOKI. His hand sank into the surface and the silvery material closed around his wrist. It was like dipping into a calm pool of warm water. With a quiet "plop" he removed his hand and again, the surface was smooth and unbroken.
"Wow ... how are you powered up?"
"Vacuum energy. My dad still uses old-fashioned fusion generators. We're working on converting him over."
"How are you going to bond with me? What's going to happen?"
"I basically sink into you. There may be a little bit of pain as I make the initial neural connections, but after that, you won't even notice I'm here. Of course, you're going to hear voices in your head, but that'll be me, or TYR or THOR. You'll also find that your physical abilities are going to be rather enhanced as part of the bonding, as well as having a direct coupling to ODIN through me. What do you think? Are you willing to be my host?"
He nodded. "Yeah, I'll do it. When do we start?"
Travis jumped when a pair of hands settled lightly on his shoulders. Sid. He had forgotten the handsome doctor was in the room with them. The prince gently rubbed the neck and upper back of the young SEAL. "First things first, guys. Let's get Travis relaxed. He's been going non-stop now for at least eighteen hours. I think he could use a good deep massage before you start turning him into a Borg." He could not see the doctor give the other two a knowing look.
"You're the medical professional here, Sid. Whatever you say."
* * *
"Good. Then before we go to the briefing, why don't I ask Winston to stop by for some fun? I still think you need a little more R&R."
Travis' eyes flew open. He looked around the room for LOKI, but couldn't find him.
"Where are you?"
"Take a look in the mirror."
Travis got up from the table and padded over to the floor-length mirror in the room. His eyes widened in surprise. Snaking down and around his upper arm and down one side of his torso, a silvery set of tribal tattoos adorned his muscular body.
"Oh, fuck ..." Burke breathed in amazement. He turned around to admire himself and grinned.
"I take it you like what you see? TYR and THOR formed some muscle shirts on Jamil and Marsh. I wanted to give you something a little more distinctive."
At that point, a knock sounded on the door and Winston entered the room. He stared slackjawed at the young SEAL and his newly developed chrome tats. Travis grinned and beckoned him inside.
Travis pulled the Army Ranger close to him. He kissed the side of his neck and began to unbutton his shirt. Winston responded by loosening the towel around Burke's midsection and letting it drop to the
floor.
He kicked the door shut.
* * *
"Marsh, Jamil, I want you to meet Travis Burke. He's the final member of our team." The three members of the strike force and Flint were seated in a conference room.
"Hey man, nice to meet you ... " Jamil Dyson's voice was a purring bass and was a perfect match to his dark skin and flashing white smile. His head was shaved smooth and he wore a large diamond stud in his ear. Burke could see a bit of chrome peeking from underneath the V-neck shirt that stretched across his heavily muscled physique. His brown eyes swept over Travis in appreciation.
"Same here, Travis. Welcome to the team!" Marshall Hasegawa had glossy, deep auburn hair. Delicate skin and slightly tilted eyes hinted at a combined Causasian-Asian ancestry. Hasegawa had a swimmer's lithe body and his black string tank was in stark contrast to the silvery film covering his muscled torso.
" ... how'd your bonding go? LOKI behaving himself?"
"I didn't even know it happened. I got a massage, fell asleep and I woke up with him talking to me."
The two bonded men looked at each other. "Massage?"
LOKI's voice laughed. "It was Sid's idea, not mine."
"Show them the tats, Travis." LOKI spoke privately to the SEAL.
Burke stood up and shrugged out of his shirt. The other three men were speechless at the silvery artwork that was now a part of him.
"Goddamn, LOKI ... that beautiful!" The black man traced a gentle finger around Burke's ribcage. The SEAL shivered. Despite the huge hands, Jamil's touch was extraordinarily gentle.
"Hey TYR - why the hell didn't you do something like that for me?"
Another voice, similar to LOKI's but more brusque entered the conversation. "One, it isn't efficient. Two, you didn't ask me, and three, my little brother is a show-off."
LOKI snickered.
Flint cleared his throat. "OK, guys. Enough of show and tell right now. Playtime later. Mission details now."
He handed out folders to each of the men.
The first photo showed a heavyset, ordinary-looking man in his fifties.
"The man you are looking at is Dr. Raheel Izmadi. Educated at Oxford and CalTech, he is the driving force behind the nuclear stabilization project. The foreign government has used a substantial portion of their petrodollars to fund his research and build him his own little enclave in the middle of the desert.
We believe that the stabilizer process involves some sort of particle beam. Underneath the facility is a large accelerator. The rings stretch out about 40 miles, with the facility in the center.
Our mission is three-fold. Remove Izmadi from his ivory tower, extract all the information we can from him, and sabotage the facility to prevent them from rebuilding it."
LOKI spoke up. "Part of the information gathering and sabotage involves me. Once we get access to their computer systems, I'm going to invade and spread throughout their network. I'll transmit the data back to ODIN and meanwhile, start providing wrong information to them. Imagine what is going to happen to any other projects that they plan and use a computer to store or validate data. A little tweak here, changing a sign or two there and it'll blow up in their faces."
Flint continued. "The facility is manned by mercenaries. Highly paid ones at that. So well paid that Izmadi doesn't need to worry about their loyalty. The doctor is a radical Islamist, but holds himself above the crowd. He doesn't trust any religious fanatics around technology. He often refers to the terrorists as 'Allah's cannon fodder.' "
Hasegawa spoke up. "So what are we going to be doing there, sir?"
The colonel grinned. "You and Jamil are going to be assigned to the general security division at the facility. It's going to be up to both of you to physically sabotage the collider and undermine the infrastructure. Burke..."
Stuart paused. "... is being assigned to Izmadi's personal guard. He will be responsible for getting the doctor out and planting LOKI's viruses. We have ... a friend ... in the facility, and he's assured us that Travis will be perfect for the position."
He turned to the other strike force members. "I'm going to use my flashing wit to seduce him."
LOKI chuckled. "Personally, I think those brutal thighs are going to do the trick ..."
A knock on the door and a striking young Arab soldier entered the room. He had a square jaw with a deep cleft, a bright white smile and deep brown eyes. He too wore expertly trimmed designer stubble on his handsome face. The other two team members recognized him and smiled."Is this a good time, Colonel? I will return if it is inconvenient ..."
"Not at all, Gabril. This is a great time. Travis, this is Captain Gabril Aziz. He's going to be your Arabic teacher. It's important that you understand everything that is being said at Izmadi's installation. Marsh and Jamal have already been taught."
"Welcome, Travis. It is my pleasure to meet you." He gave the SEAL a slight bow. "May I have a seat?"
"Sure, Captain. I'm not sure how much I'll be able to pick up, though ..."
Aziz smiled as he sat down next to Burke. He reached out with gentle hands and began stroking his thumbs across the other man's temples.
"Breathe deeply, my handsome one." He laid his forehead against Burke's and softly cradled his head.
"That's right. Match me, Travis. Close your eyes." Soon the two men were breathing in unison. Gabril continued to stroke the SEAL's head.
Burke felt an opening of his mind and a stream of images, thoughts, cognates and other information swirled around him in a silken caress. The flood of information continued to pour into him, finally slowed to a trickle and then stopped. He felt Gabril's hands again stroke his temples and opened his eyes to see the captain smiling at him.
"Captain ... Wow ... that was amazing!"
"Gabril is quite a teacher, isn't he?" Jamal grinned. He had spoken in Arabic.
"!اللعنة! هذا امر لا يصدق" Burke responded in wonder. (Damn! That's incredible! ed.)
"May the Gods stand between you and harm, in all the dark places you are destined to walk, habibi." Aziz gave him a soft kiss on the lips. He looked at his watch. "I'm due on patrol in a short time. If you need anything from me before you leave, do not hesitate to find me." He stood up and gave the men a slight bow as he left the room.
* * *
It took Travis several days to adjust to his enhanced physical capabilities, as well as the conduit to ODIN. Speed. Strength. Vision. Hearing. Healing. It was incredible the information the supercomputer had gathered and at night, he, LOKI and ODIN would delve deeper and deeper into the arcana of Rheinmann space. The SEAL also found the bonds with his teammates and Flint grew stronger as they trained together.
After a particularly intense session with Winston, the two soldiers lay spooned together in Travis' bed. Burke still had his eight-inch rod buried deep within the Army Ranger and a muscled arm was thrown protectively over the other man. Sharpe snuggled closer to him and Burke traced gentle fingers over the other's hard, smooth chest, down the sculpted ridges of his abs and ran his lips over the Ranger's neck and across the large cross tattoo on his chiseled shoulder. At that moment, LOKI mentally cleared his throat.
"Travis?"
The young SEAL was now accustomed to the computer speaking directly to him.
"Hmmmm?"
"I hate to disturb you, but it's time. Colonel Flint wants everyone in Conference Room 2H on the double."
Travis disengaged himself from Winston and padded into the bathroom. Soon after, Sharpe followed. He grasped the Navy man around his trim waist and turned him around. Burke brushed the bangs back from the Ranger's forehead while the other man caressed SEAL's torso. The men exchanged a kiss which sent shivers down both their spines.
"ODIN told me you're off on your mission soon. Come back safe, Travis. I'm gonna miss you..."
* * *
Travis arrived at the conference room to hear some muffled voices within. He knocked on the doorframe and entered. Three sets of eyes looked up - Flint, ODIN - as his regular avatar, and an unknown third man. The stranger had a buzz cut and deep blue eyes. A livid white scar snaked from the outer edge of his left eye and down his cheek, but did little to detract from his looks. He gave Burke a lascivious and intense once-over and a slow smile spread across his ruggedly hewn face."Gents, you didn't tell me he was this handsome ... my, my, my ... he's going to be highly prized back at the facility... I'm cracking a fat just looking at him!"
His Australian accent came somewhat of a surprise to the young SEAL. The man got up from the table and put out his hand. "Dean Locksley... it's a pleasure to meet you!"
At that point, Jamil and Marsh entered the room. Like Burke, they were dressed in their civilian clothes.
"Ah, the gang's all here - Jamil and Marsh, I presume?"
The other two strike force members were also somewhat taken aback by Locksley's straightforwardness. They nodded.
Flint spoke up. "Dean is going to be bringing you to Izmadi's facility. He's responsible for the transporting the new 'employees' into the compound."
"Thanks to ODIN, here ..." Locksley paused. "I'm still supposed to be on my way back from Persepolis. That gives us a bit of time for me to brief you on what to expect."
The supercomputer spoke up. He was dressed in the Castle's black fatigues and his long blonde hair covered part of his face. "I'll open up a wormhole about 10 miles from the facility and you guys can drive the rest of the way in."
"After you get billeted, you're to get a physical - nothing too extensive, but I assume your passengers can manage to hide themselves?"
ODIN nodded.
"Good. After that, you two ..." he pointed to Jamil and Marsh. "... will get assigned to the Security Division. Travis, here is going to be interviewed by His Highness."
Locksley continued. "During my weekly supply runs, I've been bringing back mylar shirts from Persepolis. Great to wear under the uniform armor at night. It gets COLD in the middle of nowhere. No one is going to think anything out of the ordinary if you come in wearing tight silver shirts. One thing you need to know about Izmadi -- he's got a damn strange phobia about people looking at him. Really more about him seeing your eyes. Everyone in the facility has to wear something to keep their gaze hidden. Be it Igaaks, a hood, glasses, etc. With the exception of his own guards, of course. He wants to be able to see them at all times."
He lit a cigarette and tilted his head back to blow smoke into the air. "I mentioned armor. That's another peccadillo with him. Everyone - and I mean everyone - wears body armor."
"Ballistic level?" queried Marsh.
"Nah. Mostly soft armor or motocross quality. I think he likes seeing stormtroopers clomping about."
"Anything else we should be aware of?"
Dean shook his head. "Your covers are all well-traveled soldiers of fortune. We've had your personnel records doctored only slightly. For Travis and Marsh, their military careers ended in dishonorable discharges and they've been mercenaries for a while. Africa, Venezuela, Colombia, Namibia, you name it. Your partners can fill in any information on the fly. We didn't need to do anything for you Jamil - your record speaks for itself."
The black man smiled. "Aww, man ...You're making me blush."
Burke spoke subvocally to LOKI. "What did Dean mean by that?"
"Jamil and Dean belong to another organization. You can trust Jamil with your life, but never get on his bad side."
"Which one?"
LOKI paused. "I can't tell you that. At least not yet, Travis. I'm sorry. Appearances are deceiving. All I can say is that they're on the side of the good guys."
The briefing continued, with Dyson, Burke and Hasegawa gathering additional information from Locksley; meanwhile, their baggage was being prepared and loaded into the Australian's lorry. The bonded supercomputers also participated in the discussions, providing the men with descriptions and instructions on the various devices and equipment in their arsenal. After a quick meal, the four men were ready to leave. It wheezed into life and drove off. About a hundred yards out, a darkly glittering portal opened into the desert air. The vehicle disappeared into the wormhole and the vortex winked out.
Flint stood outside watching the departure. "God speed, guys. Good luck..." He turned and slowly walked back into the Castle grounds.
* * *
The ride to Izmadi's facility was soon over. The truck pulled into a pre-fabricated warehouse and the four men exited the vehicle. Dean pulled a black lycra hood out of his pocket and pulled it over his head. The only opening in the hood was for his mouth. He presented a featureless, black face to the others."Let's get you processed, then!"
He brought the three men and their baggage further into the building and rapped on a door.
"It's open."
The group entered a brightly-lit room. Seated at a desk was a man dressed in black impact armor, with a similar hood pulled over his head. A respirator mask further covered his face and a pair of gloves lay next to the keyboard of the computer he was using."Hey Ben, here are the new recruits. Can you take care of the processing? I've got to get changed."
His voice was muffled. "I'll take care of it. You'd best get moving before Security catches you out of uniform. You don't want another little souvenir on your face for disobeying rules, do you?."
Dean gave the men a wave as he exited the room. The man called Ben began tapping rapidly on the keyboard.
"Which one of you is Burke?"
Travis raised a hand.
"You stay here with me. You two ... " he opened a drawer and fished out two pair of wraparound visors.
"... put these on and wait in the hallway. I'll have someone to get you settled in."
Jamil and Marsh put their bags on their shoulders and left the room. Ben got up and walked around the young SEAL. He wore black MX boots which thumped loudly in the now-quiet room.
"Mmmmm .... Dr. Izmadi is going to be very pleased - provided there aren't any surprises. C'mon, kid - you need a physical first." Ben picked up his gloves and pulled them onto his hands.
"You got sunglasses? Put them on."
Burke fished a pair out of his pocket and slipped them onto his face.
The two men exited the room via another door. They passed several other mercenaries as they walked to what Travis assumed would be the infirmary. As Dean had mentioned, everyone had their eyes covered. He saw men with goggles, visors and in a few cases, respirator masks like his escort. As they made a final turn into a short corridor, a man without any eye coverings approached them from the other direction. He was tall and muscular, a fact that only accentuated the armor he was wearing. Two red pips were on the collar of shirt and his face was craggy and harsh, bordering on the cruel. He glared at Burke.
"Hey, Piet. What brings you to this neck of the woods?"
He pointed to Travis. "Him."
"I was bringing Burke for his physical and then over to you."
"Well, I just saved you a trip. Get out of here." Piet had a slight cadence to his voice that Travis could not place.
"His name is Pieter De Jager. South African. One mean sonofabitch. Be careful with him. He's a contract killer with a bad temper and a psychopath to boot."
LOKI displayed a short bio of the other man in the SEAL's field of vision.
Ben left the two men outside the infirmary.
"Well, get the hell in there - I don't have all day!" Pieter opened the door and pushed Burke through. Travis stumbled and caught himself before he fell. He turned and glared at De Jager. The other man gave him a thin smile.
Another man in armor and mask similar to Ben looked up at the intrusion. Must be the standard issue.
"This is the new guard candidate. Give him a once-over. Doctor Izmadi wants to see him as soon as possible."
Faceless as he was, Travis felt the other man had a deep dislike of De Jager. He took the young SEAL by the arm and brought him into an adjoining room. The guard attempted to follow, but the doctor slammed the door in his face.
"I'm probably going to get punished for that, but fuck him. Insufferable prick. Okay ...?"
"Burke. Travis Burke."
"... Travis. Strip and let me take a look at you."
Burke pulled the thin shirt off of his torso. There was a rushed intake of breath from the medic as he saw the glittering tattoos running down his arm and the side of his torso.
"My God! Where did you get those done?"
"Antwerp."
"Antwerp."
The medic seemed shaken and distracted as he examined the young SEAL. Travis, despite the circumstances, also found himself growing hard. The medic reached out to gently stroke the now-huge tool in front of him on the examining table. Burke stopped him with an iron-hard grip on his wrist. The man gasped. For a moment he had forgotten the enhanced strength from his bonding with LOKI. He let go and gave the other man an apologetic smile.
"Sorry, doc ... we haven't been formally introduced ...."
LOKI chuckled. "Those pheromones I'm manufacturing seem to working fine..."
Well, they're working on me, too. Burke subvocalized to the computer.
"That's the general idea - but they don't affect you to the same extent as the people around you."
The medic shook his wrist. "Damn, there's nothing wrong with you! I like your attitude, Travis. Just remember one thing -- don't let Izmadi intimidate you. And don't let De Jager goad you into anything. He loves to inflict pain, so don't give him any excuse, okay?"
"Who is he, anyway?"
"He's the chief of Izmadi's personal guard ... and your new boss."
Burke began to dress. He got as far as his low-rise trunks and khakis when Pieter pounded on the door. "Come on! Come on! We don't have all day!" The medic cracked open the door and De Jager pushed himself in.
"You finished?"
"Yeah, he checks out fine."
De Jager took in the silvery tattoos on the other man's body and his nostrils flared.
"Let's move."
Burke was about to pull on his shirt when Pieter grabbed him by the waistband.
"Just take your glasses ... move it!"
Barefoot and shirtless, Travis was hauled out of the infirmary and off to meet the infamous physicist.
* * *
Across buildings and up several levels, the two men traveled through the complex. LOKI was mapping their progress and was giving Travis a running commentary as they entered an elevator.
"We're in the highest building in the facility and it looks like you're heading for the penthouse."
The doors opened. De Jager and Burke moved to a heavy door at the end of a short corridor. The guard captain put his hand on a dark glass panel and the lock disengaged. He pushed Burke in front of him.
"Doctor, here's the new recruit. He passed his physical."
"Excellent! Let me take a look at him."
The man - supposedly Izmadi - was NOT whom he had expected. Instead of a slightly overweight, older man, Burke was looking at a far younger, half-naked stud that unwound himself from a chair. All he wore was a pair of dark jeans that rode low on his trim hips; they accentuated his muscular torso, powerful arms and tight stomach. His eyes were shadowed by a baseball cap.
"Who the fuck is that?"
"Voiceprint analysis confirms Izmadi. I also just ran a reverse-aging algorithm on him. That IS Izmadi. Or what he would look like if he were about twenty-five and a bodybuilder. I don't know what's going on Travis, but the stakes here just got a LOT higher."
The physicist circled about him. "You are a very ... unique ... man, Burke ... do you know that?"
"I've been told that, sir. Thank you."
" 'Doctor' will do, Burke."
Izmadi trailed fingers along the silvery tattoos. Burke shivered.
He turned to De Jager. "You may go, Piet."
"But Doctor ..."
"Leave." Izmadi's tone brooked no argument.
"Yes, Doctor." Travis could see his jaw clench as he left the room.
The physicist watched the guard captain exit. He turned back to the SEAL.
"Piet is very protective of me. That is his job. That will be yours as well, I hope. He did nothing ... unpleasant ... to you?" he asked huskily.
He stroked Burke's arm as he was speaking. Travis could see that Izmadi was growing rigid and that his member was making a large impression down the leg of the tight jeans.
"Score one for the phermones, LOKI."
Izmadi lifted Burke's chin so they were looking at each other - eye to eye. The physicist removed the other man's sunglasses and seemed mesmerized by the blue-green orbs staring back at him.
"If you would see another sunrise, you should keep your eyes down when I speak to you."
Travis gave the other man a wicked smile. "That kind of defeats the purpose of removing the glasses, doesn't it, sir?" He grabbed the brim of the baseball cap and pulled it off Izmadi's head. Cognac brown eyes - surmounted by strong, straight brows - stared back at him. Shocked.
The SEAL reached out and stroked the other man's face. His hand continued downwards, caressing the space between the rock-hard pectorals. The physicist seemed surprised, but did not pull away. Raheel slowly put up a hand to enclose Burke's. The two stood for a moment - unmoving - facing each other - touching.
Travis made the next move. He snaked an arm around the other's tight waist and pulled him close. He began to nuzzle the golden skin of the physicist's neck. Burke could taste the spicy sweetness of the other man and could feel the hardness of his crotch grind into his own. Izmadi moaned.
Their lips met. Raheel pulled himself closer to the SEAL. "You live dangerously, Burke."
"I like danger, sir."
Travis slipped a hand past the waistband of the tight jeans and grasped the physicist. Squeezed.
Izmadi hissed in surprise. The SEAL continued to feather his neck and jaw with soft lips.
"I should have you punished for such impudence."
Burke gave a low laugh and tightened his grip. He delicately licked the hollow of the other man's throat. The physicist trembled.
"You are a demon!"
"Does this mean I get the job?"
"Yes! By Allah and the Prophet! Yes!"
* * *
After the "interview" - De Jager was again summoned to Izmadi's aerie. He was told - in no uncertain terms - that Travis was to be given every accomodation. Burke was to get himself kitted out and was show up for duty at 4pm that afternoon.
Raheel had regained his composure after his encounter with Burke and again wore the cap pulled low over his eyes. "Until later, Travis."
The guards - captain and new recruit - left the penthouse. Once in the elevator, Travis cleared his throat.
"Captain - I don't know if I remind you of somebody you hate, but I want to get things straight between us. You're my CO and Doctor Izmadi hired both of us. Can we work together?" He put out a hand.
"I'm adding some psychotropics to the pheromone mix. That should take his edge off."
DeJager blinked. The SEAL could see that his pupils were beginning to dilate. He grasped the outstretched hand.
"Yeah. Sorry about being such a fucking tight-ass. Doctor Izmadi can be very unstable sometimes. I guess that comes with the genius territory. He can fly into a rage at the drop of a hat. And he was getting quite twitchy about seeing you. It's not pretty when he's in one of those moods."
"He's scared of him. Interesting. And the fact that he's a nutcase himself speaks volumes of how batshit crazy Izmadi must be."
"Any ideas of what's going on?"
"A bit. I'm analyzing some of the spit you two swapped. I'll let you know in a little while."
The elevator reached the ground level.
"Let's get you uniformed, Travis. I'll explain what your duties are going to entail."
* * *
De Jager brought Travis to what looked to be a post exchange and was measured for his uniform armor. Like the guard captain's, it was composed of tight black material over firm urethane foam. Two red pips - which he found out signified the area of specialization - adorned the collar of the shirt. Black MX boots and half gloves completed the outfit. The captain also gave him a combat mike/earphone combo. As the two headed to Izmadi's laboratory, other mercenaries at the facility gave them a wide berth."We're like the SS, here. Security works for us. It's great having a secret police - as long as you're one of them!" De Jager clapped him on the back.
"You're still pumping out those pheromones, aren't you?"
"Uh-huh. Why?"
"Don't stop. This guy gives me the willies."
The men arrived at the lab. Pieter motioned him to open the door.
"Put your hand on the optical reader, Travis. Let's see if all the security protocols have been updated."
Burke put his hand on the dark glass. A bar of light traveled down, reading the fingertip information. With a 'click' the door opened. Both men entered.
Izmadi was working furiously at a large whiteboard. He had thrown on a short-sleeve plaid shirt over the dark jeans. He clenched his hands, threw back his head, and bellowed.
"Coos okt al laglesh!" (Fuck all this shit! - ed.) The Arab tipped the whiteboard, crashing it to the floor. He then sank to the floor himself, weeping and pounding it with his fists.
"Oh Christ ..." De Jager whispered. He diplomatically cleared his throat.
Izmadi sat up, manic rage blazing in his eyes. His pectorals were framed by the open shirt, the rifts and valleys of his abs heaving with his rapid breathing.
"What are you doing here??!!" he screamed.
De Jager took a breath. "You wanted Burke here at 4pm, Doctor."
The physicist blinked. It was as if a light had been switched off. "So I did. Thank you, Piet." He became unnaturally calm.
The guard captain gave him a casual salute and turned to leave. With this back to the doctor, he spoke quietly to the young SEAL, "Be careful, Travis..."
The door clicked shut. Travis approached the doctor. He righted the whiteboard and turned to offer a hand to the young man sitting on the floor.
"Do you need help getting up, sir?"
Izmadi looked at him with wide eyes and took the proffered hand. Burke pulled him to his feet.
"Burke?"
"Yes, sir?"
"Hold me."
Travis gathered the other man into his arms and rocked him gently. He was shaking like a leaf. The physicist laid his head on the SEAL's well developed shoulder and eventually, his trembling quieted and stopped. Burke continued to stroke the dark hair of the man in his embrace.
"You may let me go now, Travis." He turned back to the whiteboard. "I need to finish these equations."
Travis looked at the formulae scrawled across the board and began to trace them along. "Why don't you ..."
LOKI hissed. "Careful!! You're not supposed to be able to understand those !!!!"
"... use a different color marker? This looks too hard to follow all at once, sir."
"I never thought of that ... I could see where I left off, couldn't I? ..."
The doctor turned around and began to erase parts of the equations and slowly rewrite them.
"Damn it, Travis! You nearly blew your cover!"
"Sorry, LOKI. I could see where he was going with those formulas ... thanks for being there and shutting me up."
"No problem. I also got the results of that saliva sample. There's some pretty strange organic compounds floating around in our esteemed doctor. Expert opinion back at the Castle is that it's some type of extremely powerful rejuvenation elixir with some really nasty psychotic side-effects. We also need to see if we can get a sample. Can you move over towards that console with the computer on it?"
"Excuse me, sir. May I get a drink of water?"
Izmadi looked back over his shoulder at the guardsman. "Certainly. There's a pitcher on the desk. Help yourself."
"Thank you, doctor."
The physicist grunted something and turned back to the whiteboard. Travis sauntered over to the desk and poured himself a glass of water.
"Put your palm flat on the desk."
From the sleeve of his uniform, a chrome ooze began to pool on the surface. Like an amoeba, it stretched itself towards the computer. It crawled over the keyboard and down the back of the desk into the system unit.
"LOKI, you still there?"
"Yep." He heard the voice of his bonded supercomputer with a slight echo.
"There are two of us now. One is still mated to you..."
"... and the other is infiltrating the systems here. I'll let you know how we're doing..."
* * *
Of the three super computers, LOKI was the only one capable of replication. He could literally 'eat' any non-organic material and reshape it to his own use. It was an ability that was discussed over and over again at the Castle, and it was deemed too dangerous for all of the mobile computers to possess. To that end, the other two units also did not possess the totality of self expression as LOKI. As he traveled deeper into the rogue facility, LOKI used his capabilities to assimilate processors and replace them with slightly modified versions of his own design. He finally reached the main core of the facility and broke through the security protocols and encryption as easily as walking through a spiderweb. He settled in and began to pore over the information.
* * *
"Dad? - You around?"
LOKI had established a communications link through Rheinmann space to ODIN. The Castle's supercomputer answered.
"You okay, LOKI? Everything going according to plan? I thought I'dve heard from you earlier. I was starting to get worried."
"Uh-huh. I've broken through all the firewalls here and the encryption protocols. There's some really interesting stuff these morons have developed."
"Like what?"
"They've found out a way to do quantum encryption, for one. Not using it yet, though - lucky for us. There's also that rejuvenation serum ... I've found the formula for that, too. There are some very slight parallels to the effects of the Castle nano-virus, but this stuff is very powerful and extremely unstable. Plus I've got the data on the stabilization process. It's funny - it's so simple, once you know how to do it. I'm surprised no one else has figured it out. This would be perfect for nuclear waste disposal."
"How's the rest of the infiltration going?"
"Pretty well. There have been some communications from here to Pyongyang - I'm busy setting up house there, too. I'm running on a lot of 386's in North Korea ... I guess we know where all those old PC's wound up."
"Anything special going on there?"
"Not much. Here's the locations of all their missile sites and nuclear facilities."
A packet of data was deposited in ODIN's receive buffers.
"I'll probably be getting into Bejing and Moscow later this week. How's Winston doing?"
"He's fine. Keeping himself extra busy. He misses Travis terribly. Those two are made for each other."
"Tell him Travis misses him too ... "
LOKI laughed. "Hey - gotta go for now. I have some data from a couple of accelerator runs to fuck up ..."
* * *
Days turned to weeks. As time progressed, Izmadi became more and more dependent on his young mercenary guard. Travis did nothing to discourage the relationship; in fact, when the two were alone, he would often come up behind the doctor and nuzzle his neck, or if he were hunched over his computer, would gently massage his tense shoulders. The physicist would often reciprocate. The other guardsmen commented that the number of "incidents" had decreased dramatically since Burke had joined their cadre.
De Jager assigned Burke more and more responsibilities Security rosters were one of them. This gave the young SEAL a perfect opportunity to meet with his fellow conspirators without attracting undue attention. The Security contingent - like himself - wore the same urethane foam armor, but the distinguishing feature were the yellow pips on the collar instead of red, and the requisite eye coverings.
"I see that the job is agreeing with you."Jamil smiled. He wore a visor over his eyes which had a thin opening running across its length. It was heat-treated steel with acetylene blue in the front, fading to yellow at the temples. Marsh wore an identical visor.
"That it is. I've got a mean streak, but I keep it under control. Your boss is big on torture. Any infractions, get you worked over by one of us ... or worse."
"What do you mean?"
"Do you know why there was an opening in Izmadi's personal guard?"
Travis shook his head.
"The last guy who had your job poured some boiling water down a drain. Izmadi started screaming that the 'Djinn's babies' lived in the sink pipes and they were scalded. He ordered the guy killed."
"What?!"
Jamil nodded. "Yep, killed. Seems that he's under the impression that the Djinn gave him this knowledge and they will punish him if he does anything to upset them. Or doesn't punish anyone who offends them."
"Damn!"
"I told you he was a crazy bastard. That rejuvenation serum is like a narcotic. It needs to be taken constantly for the effects to be maintained. It's also making him more nuts every day."
"How's he reacting around you?" asked Marsh."He insists that I stay with him most of the day. He wants us to work out together now."
"How's the, uh ... you know ..."
Travis grinned. "I think he's nearly ready. I was pretty aggressive with him during the interview, but it's been mostly pretty innocent so far. I don't want to rush him. He's got to come after me."
Burke switched gears. "What about the sabotage? How's that coming?"
THOR spoke up. "We've disabled a number of failsafes on the collider magnets. Combining that with LOKI's control of the accelerator itself, we're ready for a massive explosion with about 20 minutes lead time."
Jamil was tapping his chin as the three spoke. "Since you two haven't done anything yet, can I make a suggestion?"
"Sure. What do you have in mind?"
"A PA. A big one. LOKI, could you manage that?"
LOKI was silent. "That shouldn't be a problem. I can extrude 316L surgical steel. Travis, you okay with this?"
It was Burke's turn to turn introspective.
"I won't do anything without your say-so. But for what it's worth, I think Jamil may be right."
The young SEAL let out a deep breath. "Okay. Let's do it."
* * *
The next day, Burke changed out of his uniform, put on a pair of sweat shorts, a tight sleeveless shirt and headed to the elliptical machines in the doctor's personal gym. Izmadi was lacing his shoes and gave the mercenary a wide grin. He watched as the physicist took the machine next to him.
The young SEAL finished his cardio and did a little stretching in an area directly in front of the other man. The doctor was watching the guardsman far more lasciviously than ever before. Burke then proceeded to the free weights and started lifting. He kept glancing at Izmadi in the mirror and was becoming aroused himself ; Raheel was similarly affected. His erection was all the more intense with the piercing that was now a part of him. The physicist stared hungrily at the other man's silver tats rippling across the muscles beneath them. Travis eyed the rock hard pecs highlighted against the other man's sweaty t-shirt. This continued until the workout was finished.The guardsman headed to the showers to get ready to go back to work. He stripped down and headed to the shower. As he was soaping down and lazily stroking himself, he felt hands on his ass.
Startled, he turned around. Burke was staring at the golden-skinned scientist. Buck naked, he had an even more amazing body than the SEAL had thought. He actually had 8-pack abs, pretty wide shoulders, fantastic thighs and a perfect cock - Burke couldn't have wished for anything better. Eight inches of condom covered (had he planned this??), heavily veined, thick dark hardness bobbed in front of him.
Raheel smiled. "I could not contain myself any longer, Travis..." He gasped when he saw the thick silvery piercing through Burke's member. "By Allah and all His prophets..."
He dropped to his knees and started running his tongue over the other's engorged pierced head before going all the way down to the mercenary's shaved balls. The scientist was an amazing cocksucker, never once banging his teeth on the 2 gauge Prince Albert. Burke grabbed his hair and thrust into his face till he was ready to erupt.Sensing this, Raheel let go of Travis' dripping cock before he unloaded down the physicist's throat and started working his large shaved balls while running hands over the other's ass and massaging the tight, smooth pucker.
Izmadi stood up, grabbing the SEAL's head and kissed him deeply - still without saying a word. Burke was becoming excited by the physicist's aggressiveness. The two exchanged several deep kisses for what seemed like an eternity before the scientist stopped and spun the other man around. As Travis had done many times before, Raheel started lightly biting his neck and grabbing his hair. Still, no words were exchanged, just the two muscular studs breathing heavily.
Raheel pushed Travis up against the wall, and reached down for a bottle of lube which just happened to be on the nearby bench. Slowly, he worked his rock hard tool into the SEAL's waiting hole. Being versatile with his other SEAL team members, Travis was no stranger to taking cock - or a fist. The physicist's girth however, did bring an audible gasp from him as he pushed past his tight ring. Burke began to moan and Raheel quickly covered his mouth with his hand.
"Shhhhh!!! We mustn't let the Djinn hear us!"
"Are you okay?"
"Fine. I hate to say it, but I'm enjoying myself."
LOKI chuckled.
Raheel held still while the guardsman got accustomed to his pillar. Inch by veiny inch he plunged his entire length into the other man until his balls were resting in Burke's crack. Still never saying a word, Izmadi held still - sensing that the mercenary was ready to take what he could give him. The doctor started sliding in slowly and deeply, which made Travis groan aloud; he started thrusting back on that amazingly proficient tool.
Raheel was slamming him hard -- pushing pearly fluid out of the SEAL's hard cock and onto the wet tiled floor. He reached back over Travis' head and grabbed it, bringing their mouths together again while he brutally fucked the guardsman.
Izmadi then reached around and slowly stroked the other's cock while picking up the tempo of his long and deep thrusts, driving Burke insane with desire. His breathing became ragged as the physicist began whispering obscenities in Arabic, which brought the session to an entirely new level. He buried his amazing cock as deep as he possibly could and held still while it jerked and swelled even larger, unloading his spunk into the SEAL.
The doctor stopped stoking Burke's cock as he slid out of the other man. Raheel spun his guard around, dropping to his knees once more. He worked the mercenary's balls with his mouth while fisting his dick. He slid up the shaft, engulfing the engorged head and taking him all the way down his throat. The physicist worked Travis' dick with his hot mouth, never banging into the jewelry while sucking him off.Suddenly, Raheel forced a couple of fingers up his ass, which sent the SEAL's huge load shooting down his throat. He then backed off a bit to take the rest into his mouth. He held Burke's cock in his mouth till his near buckling legs regained strength.
Izmadi got back up and grabbed Travis by the hair. He shared his cum with the young mercenary as their tongues fought each other. He removed the cum-filled condom, tied it in a knot and proceeded to slowly wash himself and the other man under the shower. Burke caressed Izmadi's amazing body while he washed, staring at his uncut tool bobbing in front of him.
"I shall be damned to Janhannum for this ... but I could not help it. I could not see you - day in and day out - and not possess you as I have done. You inflame my blood, my handsome one." Izmadi pulled him gently into an embrace and gently bit Travis' lower lip.
"Jackpot..."
* * *
Jamil and Marsh entered their room after an interminably long watch. Today, they had been outriding the facility, looking for any trespassers or Bedouins that had wandered onto the grounds. The muscular black man tossed his visor onto the bed and sighed."Damn, that was a nice change of pace to get out of this goddamn facility, even if it was in middle of fucking nowhere!"
Marsh closed the door behind him. The other strike force member sidled up to Jamil and laid a gentle finger over his lips. He still had his visor on.
"While the walls don't have ears anymore, you still need to be careful - we're not in a position to be looked at too closely, you know."Jamil pulled Marsh closer to him and nibbled along the other's square jaw. "Know what, Marsh? I've always liked playing rough, but this assignment is really getting to me. De Jager is a sadist - and I'm ... I'm ... starting to get off on his brand of violence..."
"Let's see what I can do about that ..."
Marsh knelt down and began to pull down the black man's leggings. He was staring at a rock hard thickly veined cocoa-brown dick, nine inches long that was as thick as a coke can at the base. Jamil wore a double chrome cock ring to keep it up. His nuts were absolutely huge and snugly tucked against the base of his cock. The Ranger held onto the muscular hips and was about to begin a slow laving of the massive tool in front of him.
Someone cleared their throat. "Ummm ... before you get any further, guys - we've got a problem on our hands."Two heads spun around to see Travis leaning against the wall, his handsome face split by a faint grin. He had an assault rifle slung over his shoulder.
"Travis, How the FUCK did you do that? This room was empty!"
"I'm not called 'Shadow' for nothing, guys... but we've got to move the schedule up. Raheel's come up with something else."
"Raheel?" Marsh raised an eyebrown beneath the visor.
Burke blushed.
"I've been altering his equations - slightly - so he's not aware of what he's accomplished, but he's actually uncovered a process just as damaging as the nuclear stabilization project in the wrong hands."
"What's that?"
"Ready, LOKI?"
"As ready as I'll ever be."
Burke strode towards the two men and walked through them to the other side of the room. Jamil and Marsh stared openmouthed at their comrade. They felt a chill run through them as Travis made his transit.
"Jeesus-fucking Christ!!!"
"There are certain fundamental constants in the universe. One of them is called 'h-bar'. That determines how 'solid' solids are. Izmadi has found out how to alter that constant over a small area - he just doesn't know it yet. And that's why we have to get him out of here now. Imagine a bomb - or even a man - able to pass through walls like they weren't there? What would happen?"
"What do we need to do?"
"I've had LOKI get Locksley assigned out for a reconnaissance run in one of the copters. We're gonna be on it. He's also initiated a run with the accelerator. When the beams reach 95 percent strength, he's going to drop the containment field on the antimatter stream. At the same time, thanks to your work, we're gonna detonate the supermagnets. The explosion is going to be massive."
"What's our timeframe?"
Travis looked at his watch. "Ninety minutes for the beams. We need to get out of Dodge in an hour. I don't want to be anywhere near here when all hell breaks loose."
He winked at the two men. "Meet me at Izmadi's lab in 45 minutes." He gave Jamil and Marsh a casual salute as he walked out of the room. Through the wall.
Marsh smiled as he removed his visor. "Where were we?"
The two men quickly stripped off their uniforms, leaving only the the silvery film of their supercomputers on their muscled torsos.
Hasewaga looked up at him as Dyson placed his hand on the back of his head and with the other hand placed his cock in Marsh's open and eager mouth. The Ranger worked hard to get enough spit to shine that impressive shaft. Jamil made the other man look up at him as he attempted to push more of his cock into the kneeling man's throat. Drool and spit were hanging from his mouth and chin as the black man pumped his horn in and out of Hasegawa's aching mouth. Dyson pulled him up onto his feet and Marsh put his arms around the other's neck and shoulders. He bent down and kissed the other man very gently and probed his mouth with his long tongue.
They kissed deeply, Marsh's hands running all over Jamil's exquisite body. The black man laid Hasegawa down on the bunk and Marsh pulled the enforcer on top of him. He kissed him passionately, his legs immediately in the air and wrapping around Dyson's ass. He could feel the black man's huge head bump against his asshole, teasing him. Jamil serviced the Ranger, sucking his cock with gusto; he was eager to please as well. Marsh then felt a wet wiggling tongue in his ass as the darkling mercenary proceeded to shove his tongue deep into the other's pucker like drilling for oil. He couldn't believe how good it felt. Then he felt Jamil stick his finger in his hole with some lube. It felt rough and he liked it. He liked it a lot.
The Ranger cried out as Dyson stuck two fingers in his ass. Then he felt it, a great pressure in his asshole as Jamil pushed the fat ebon head into him. His cock was huge. Slowly, slowly he pushed further into the other man. Marsh moaned and thrashed as that dark huge tool drove deeper and deeper into his guts. Finally, he felt the other man's balls rest against the cheeks of his butt. The black man pulled out and drove himself back in. Marsh screamed. Soon, he was pistoning in and out of the other mercenary and with a bellow himself, unloaded himself into the man below him; he collapsed atop of the other stud. Hasegawa ran his lips across the black man's lantern jaw and kissed down his neck.
TYR cleared his throat. "Excuse me guys. You have 30 minutes to meet Travis at the lab."
* * *
Travis let himself into the lab. "Doctor? Are you here, sir?"
"Uh-oh. Take a look at the whiteboard."
Travis' eyes widened. The equations had been rewritten in full and rewritten correctly.
"Oh, shit..."
A blur from the side knocked him down, his rifle clattering away into the room. Izmadi sat on his chest and took handfuls of Burke's hair as he proceeded to smash his head against the floor.
"Ghaban! Bastard! You son of a whore! Kalet!" The physicist screamed. "You have been destroying my work!"
Travis was beginning to black out. Dark stars swam in his vision. Dizzy, he saw one of his arms push the doctor back, and of its own volition, he saw his hand clench into a fist and connect with the crazed man's jaw in a right uppercut. Izmadi's head snapped back and he collapsed into a heap.
"Travis! Are you okay? TRAVIS!" LOKI was screaming in his head.
The young SEAL blinked and raised himself on his elbows. He was still dizzy, but could already feel the supercomputer repairing the hammering he took from the physicist.
"What happened?"
"Izmadi gave you a concussion and a hairline skull fracture. I'm repairing those now. I took control of your nervous system to get him off of you. I'm so sorry, Travis - that's against the rules - but it was an emergency. It's my job to keep you safe."
Burke was feeling stronger by the minute. He looked at the scientist sprawled on the floor. "Well, that screws the pooch on getting him out the easy way. Any other ideas?"
"Yeah. Plan B."
* * *
Marsh and Jamil were adjusting their visors when their vision blinked blood-red for a moment."Guys, you need to get to Travis in the lab now. We've had some unexpected complications, and LOKI needs both of you there ASAP."
Jamil gave his partner a worried look. "Let's move."
* * *
The two mercenaries arrived shortly at the lab - the door opened on its own as they approached. Marsh took in the haggard-looking SEAL and the physicist on the floor.
"Is he dead?"
"Unconscious. He figured out I was altering his equations and attacked me. We can't walk him out like we planned. LOKI says he's got another plan."
Both men winced in pain as their supercomputers disengaged from their torsos. Two large silver orbs rolled across the floor and stopped about a meter from the unconscious Izmadi. THOR formed a large torus on the floor while TYR rolled over the silvery ring and filled it in. A glittery pool - shot through with rainbow sparks - now lay on the concrete.
"Help me get him up. Marsh - grab his feet."
Burke held Izmadi under the shoulders and the Ranger had his feet.
"Okay - on three, we toss him in. One... Two ... Three ..."
The body disappeared into the chrome pool as its surface roiled then smoothed. The pool itself then shrank and disappeared, leaving the concrete floor pristine once more.
"Travis, what just happened? Where are THOR and TYR?"
"They created a wormhole back to the Castle. Actually part-way to the castle. ODIN met them at the halfway point. Dr. Raheel Izmadi is now in custody." He looked at his watch.
"Let's get the hell out of here!"
* * *
Burke's red pips cleared the way to the small heliport adjacent to Izmadi's apartment. Locksley was already in the chopper, it's blades turning slowly. He was dressed in black impact armor and his face was covered in a black mask under a respirator hood."Ready, gents? Where's our little friend?" His voice sounded flat through the built in microphone.
Jamil spoke up. "Safe and sound and where he belongs ... Dean, let's haul ass!"
The three men entered the 'copter and buckled in. Locksley applied power to the rotors and the machine rose smoothly into the desert air.
* * *
An accelerator is a powerful, yet delicate piece of machinery. Particles moving a nearly 99.9% the speed of light need to be watched carefully or the damage could be tremendous.Which is exactly what was about to happen.
LOKI began to introduce oscillations into the superconducting magnets around the accelerator ring, which forced the particles to jiggle and jerk. He then began to shut down the magnets themselves. This introduced further instabilities which frantic technicians were attempting - without success - to correct. The replicated supercomputer then cut the power to the storage vessel storing the anti-protons. Without their magnetic containment, the particles drifted towards the edge of their physical container and made contact.
With a force to rival a thousand suns, Izmadi's facility exploded.
* * *
ODIN opened up a wormhole in mid-air and the copter containing the three mercenaries and pilot was back within the Castle in under an hour. Flint was present as the machine landed.
He hugged each of the infiltrators, although his embrace of Travis was somewhat more intimate.
"Great work, men! You've done everything we asked for and more! The information we retrieved through LOKI is going to go a long way in putting these sonsofbitches on the run!"
"Thank you, sir. Could I make a request?"
"Travis, anything you want, you can have! What is it?"
"Sir, could I please get out of this lousy armor and back into some real clothes?"
* * *
Burke was the last strike force member to undergo his post-mission physical. Sid's handsome face looked concerned as the young SEAL related the beating at the hands of Izmadi and LOKI's emergency actions.
"But, Doc - I'm fine. LOKI took care of everything! Nothing's wrong."
"Uh-huh. Humor me, Travis, okay? Just lie back on the table." The prince pushed the other man flat onto the examination pedestal. He attached several electrodes to various areas on the young SEAL's head and torso.
"LOKI, please disengage from Travis."
"Sure, Doc."
Nothing happened.
"Hold on ...."
Slowly, the silvery tattoos started to move onto the table. Burke arched his back in agony and screamed. Monitors wailed. The tattoos quickly reasserted themselves and Travis collapsed back onto the table - ragged breaths making his rock-hard chest heave with exertion.
"What the hell happened?"
Sid looked grim. "LOKI bonded too deeply with you to save your life. When he took over your body, he lost the ability for him - or you for that matter - to operate independently. Separating you now would kill you."
"I'm sorry, Travis. I guess we're stuck with each other... but I can't say I haven't enjoyed every minute being with you."
Travis gave the supercomputer a mental smile. "Don't worry about it, LOKI. I think we make a great team. You've become like the brother I never had. Partner?"
"Partner!"
The young SEAL looked at the doctor. "We're fine with it, Doc. I've got abilities now that people would kill for, I can walk through walls, and I've got access to computers that I could only dream existed. There's so much more I can do now to protect the people I care for."
He paused. "You know, on the way back, I was going over the wormhole math with LOKI and ODIN. There are temporal extensions to the spatial equations. Their normal values are unity, so time elapses when you cross the threshold of the wormhole. But I've been able to prove that you can alter those terms."
"What does that mean?"
"Wormholes have the ability to move you through space ... and through time."
"Christ Almighty...."
* * *
Raheel Izmadi did not fare as well. Despite obtaining the formula for the rejuvenation serum, the product recreated at the Castle did not agree with his physiology. Without a supply, the doctor rapidly aged. Obviously, moving the biological clock so far back encouraged additional aging - the doctor became a wizened husk that survived only a few days. Travis looked at the corpse of the man."Do you miss him?"
"No. I don't know, LOKI. I did what I was sent there to do. I don't know what I feel right now. But I certainly didn't want him dead."
LOKI was silent. "Hey, dad want's to start playing with your temporal adjustments to the wormhole. You up for some experimentation?"
Travis perked up. "Let's roll!"
* * *
I've been wanting to do a "Mission: Impossible" type story for a while. When I first starting writing "Strike Force" I thought I would have this done fairly quickly. I was wrong. Life always seems to throw some monkey wrenches into things. We had a reorganization at work, and while I'm basically doing what I was doing before - I've had far less time to write. More projects, more meetings, more "education" - sheesh!I also want to thank my friend Brad for providing some excellent insight into some military behaviors. His input added that 'extra' to the story to really make it come alive.
Finally, I've also been itching to use my Crashpads Armor for a shoot, and I decided to have that become the basis of a shadow Castle" - so to speak - another hidden facility in the desert, only this time for bad guys. I actually prefer the Forcefield armor I got - perhaps this will go up on one of the auction sites.
The part of the story regarding the hot water and the Djinn's babies does have its basis in fact. This is a well-known superstition among the lower classes in Morocco. I learned this from a friend whose housekeeper would never use hot water to wash dishes. He finally started doing it himself, at which point she became hysterical and told him about the 'babies'.
Travis was created using the "Artist" mask and a real-hair wig I found in a place near me. Jamil made another appearance using the "Jim" mask, and Marsh Hasegawa using the "Sony" mask. The visors used are called "Igaaks". These are often used in high-stakes poker tournaments to keep as blank a facade as possible.
I also try to bring in some educational material. "H-bar" is a real value, based on something called the reduced Planck length. For those intrepid souls out there, H-bar is based on the value N. N≈1036: the ratio of the fine structure constant (the dimensionless coupling constant for electromagnetism) to the gravitational coupling constant, the latter defined using two protons. In Barrow and Tipler (1986), this ratio is denoted α/αG. N governs the relative importance of gravity and electrostatic attraction/repulsion in explaining the properties of baryonic matter. Baryonic matter is everything you can see and touch.
I've always enjoyed "hard" science and even though it is not my specialty, I do keep up with it. And yes, I am good in abstract math. Adding a column of numbers without a calculator is beyond me, though.
And as far as wormholes go, according to Stargate SG-1, they can (and do!) transport people through both space and time!
