The Transliners immense engines rumbled in response to the slowing speed. Tavis Ren could feel the vibrations in the deck plates of the maintenance corridor that he had stowed away in. Rapid footfalls above told him, the crew was getting ready for final approach to the space station Teran One.
Chills of excitement coursed through his body, he was here or would soon be. Too bad that he couldn't see the station from space. Small matter, as he would soon be on the station. For months he had planned this little vacation.
A great grinding noise echoed through the corridor. Tavis had to cover his ears.
Must be the landing gears, he thought. Then he could feel the huge vehicle shudder and bounce. He braced himself by placing hands on either side of the 32-inch wide corridor, they must have entered the station and passed through the gravitation fields.
Moments later the Transliner lurched and contact to the wheels was announced by ear-piercing squeals of the massive brakes. After a few more jolts and wobbles the behemoth rolled along smoothly.
"The eagle has landed," Tavis chuckled to himself, as he gathered his backpack.
Tavis lay quietly just below the passenger cabin access hatch listening to the muffled activity of the passengers as they disembarked the Transliner just waiting for the perfect chance to slide out of his hiding place.
He hoped he would have no more trouble sneaking off than he had sneaking on. All it took to get on was send the maintenance crew away from the hatch by using his palmputer to send a bogus alert to the nose of the transport and then climb in the tail maintenance hatch. Slick and easy.
Lying there for 20 minutes or so, he waited till he could hear less movement above. Popping the hatch that led to the passenger cabin he lifted it just enough to peek. Passengers were still disembarking and the last one was several feet down cabin from him. Tavis then quickly and quietly opened the hatch and squeezed his small 5-foot, 6-inch frame into the cabin and closed the hatch.
He was now just a disembarking passenger. He schooled his face to not look as nervous as he felt, his heart surely could be heard aloud. It was nearly deafening to his ears. As the line progressed to the main hatch to where the serving crew wished each passenger a nice stay and Blaugh blaugh blaugh, he felt a brief moment of doubt.
When he passed the pretty crew member closest to him, he tried not to look at her and to keep his eyes looking over the heads of the people in front of him, like he was looking for someone to greet him, or was excited about the station. No act there. The crew member looked askance at him, like she was wondering why she hadn't noticed him during the long flight.
"Not much coffee, tea, or me, served down below," he mused to himself. He didn't give her much chance to think more about it, as soon as she turned to point him out to another crewman, he had disappeared in the crowd and was changing his shirt to another one of a different color from his small backpack, just in case. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Teran One."
Tavis could hardly believe he was here. "I did it. I pulled it off," he congratulated himself. Sore stiff muscles from lying in such cramped quarters for nearly 24 hours were a small price to pay for the adventure.
The station was beyond belief in its size. If he didn't know better he was in any other city. Once away from the Transliner port, the station opened up to a bustling Mecca of commerce and mass pedestrians and oops, law enforcers. Best steer clear of the black suits.
Monitors posted on nearly every beam displayed all means of information on the space station. Connecting the palmputer to a terminal he downloaded copies of the information. Tavis soon had his own personal station guide. Where to sleep, eat, entertainment, etc. Teran One was mostly a military station, a global training academy and base for the Earth Alliance Force that took up two thirds of the station. The rest was for commerce to feed and entertain the military and to host delegates and tourist. EAF cadets could be seen all over in their khaki jump suits. Soldier's stood out in sharp contrast in navy.
"One day. One day that will be me," he said aloud to himself as he studied the EAF's with unrestrained admiration.
For a couple of days, Tavis roamed around the station. Just in awe of its vastness. The views from the observation deck were mind blowing. Earth was just a blue and white marble and the moon was huge, a big ball of glowing dust and massive craters. He had managed to avoid most of the station cops, always making it look as if he was with someone if he was near a black suit. Easy enough done with so many people. Not sure if his parents had found him missing yet. Tavis checked the monitors for any possible news. He was to have been on a fictitious school outing. He felt bad about lying, but not too bad.
He had begged and pleaded for them to let him come to Teran One or bring him. But he was always denied for one reason or another. His older brother, Jasper, was a corporal in the EAF. That was the main reason Tavis came. Jasper had told him about the station and academy over the vid-phone. Told him so many details and stories that he had no trouble finding his way around. He missed having his brother around. He hadn't been home but maybe twice since he joined 4 years ago.
Tavis really idolized his big brother. They were close and from a close family. Jasper had been a pretty wild child and had really changed since joining the force. He was following in Jasper's footsteps, even some of the stumbles. His record was far from clean, but not so bad to keep him out of the force when he was old enough to join in two years when he turned 17.
Tavis was just cruising the main promenade of the station when the whole station shook with violent force. Clarions sounded off, great geysers of steam and oxygen vented out of pipes and walls. Items of every description fell and bombarded the crowds. People screamed and ran for shelter. Merchants scrambled to save their wares from breaking and falling off shelves. Black suits were everywhere trying to calm the crowds. Cadets and officers alike popped out of no where to man oxygen leaks, support injured personnel, and contain the crowd. Tavis got caught up in a brutal stampede. He was pulled and pushed along the human river. People bumped and jostled him. His quick teenage temper flared and he had to fight himself not to strike back, as he was painfully shoved and pushed along.
In a break in the flow of panicking bodies he saw a small girl go down and was in real danger of being stomped to death. Trying to move against the flow was impossible. Salmon's fighting waterfalls had better results. Then inspiration hit. Tavis used his small size to his advantage and literally climbed on and walked over the crowd like the backs of sheep, to where he thought he saw her go down. He could here her screams. He dived the crowd there and was promptly dropped close to her.
The little girl, no more than 5 or 6, was terrified. She was so far unhurt, but staying that way was rapidly becoming iffy for the both of them. Tavis wrapped her tightly in his arms and tried to stand, but was immediately pushed back down. The child screamed in his ear and had a death-grip on his neck and waist with arms and legs. On the second try the station heaved one last time and he lost his balance. Time after time they were knocked back down under the crunch. Yelling for help was not possible with the air choked out of him by tiny arms. He was taking most of the blows from the crowd's feet and was beginning to tire and get more than a little worried.
Just then a khaki and navy wall surrounded them protecting them from the pounding waves of knees and feet. Strong hands grabbed him under the arms that still held the screaming bundle and hoisted him to his feet.
Shocked, familiar blue eyes locked on to dazed, his gray ones.
The girl was ripped from his arms and thrust into the arms of a cadet, while he was nearly lifted off his feet as the living barricade moved out of the crush of people.
Once out of the path of danger, Tavis was left in the care of the cadets with a firm order to stay put. While the soldiers returned to the fray and began to contain the crowd. His eyes were riveted to Jasper, as his big brother sprang into action.
Worship clearly displayed on Tavis' face while he watched as Jasper bodily moved panic stricken people, shoved others off of fallen bodies. He was commanding, calm, brave. He was amazing.
"What happened?" he asked the cadet closest to him.
"A Transfreighter hit one of the external docking ports. No real damage to the station, sure shook us good though, what a mess."
"New pilot I bet. We're _d_a_m_n_ lucky it was a external port," piped up another cadet.
"What about the freighter?"
"I don't know, maybe space junk now."
" I heard that the pilot is okay."
For the better part of an hour Jasper and others worked to get the crowd calm and back to some order. Shops were ordered closed, all out-going visitors sent to their ships, a lock down was ordered for the Teran One, for repairs to be made. All nonessential personnel were ordered to quarters for the rest of the evening.
Corporal. Jasper Ren escorted his baby brother to his quarters on base. He had been issued special permission by the quartermaster, not an easy thing to do, to get a civilian on base, but under the circumstances it was quickly approved.
"Lights," he ordered the domestic computer.
A comfortable level of light lit up the 14 by 14 room revealing small but livable quarters. A food dispenser, sink, couch and small coffee table with a vid-phone and wall beds. A small bathroom with a sonic shower.
"Cool flop, bro."
Tavis looked around appreciatively. Jasper didn't answer, he just grabbed him by the arms and shoved him on the couch.
"Hey!"
Jasper was mad, he got the shock of his life when he pulled his own brother out from underneath the stampede. A brother who was supposed to be home, or at school, anywhere but here.
"Just what the hell are you doing here mister?" he barked in what he hoped was his best D. I. voice, not having much practice in barking, just being barked at. But he did have plenty of practice yelling at Tav.
Tavis started to spin some bogus excuse on how and why he was here.
"Taaaaavviissssss," dragging his name out in warning.
"Jassssssperrrrr," Tavis echoed, defiantly staring down his brother in a manner that no cadet would dare.
Jasper just shook his head. "Kitchen table," he ordered the computer again. A small table and two chairs slid out of the wall.
"Great! Do Mom and Dad even know where you are?" Gone was the stern soldier and the exasperated big brother took over.
Tavis looked away, hoping that they still didn't know. He really wouldn't want them to worry and have them upset.
"I'll take that as a no. So what DO they think, Tav?" Jasper asked as he spun a chair around and straddled it so he could rest his arms on the back. Little did he know how intimidating that stance was.
"Huh? They think I'm on a school outing. We don't need to tell them, Jaz. Really!" "We'll get to that later. How did you get a ticket for the Transliner? You're too young to get one on your own." Intense blue eyes narrowed their beam.
Tavis began to squirm a bit, he could tell his brother was not happy with him and was worried about their parent's reaction to his impromptu visit. He didn't want to tell him how he got here. He would really be mad then.
Just as he opened his mouth to try to come up with something, the door beeped.
"Enter."
Jasper immediately came to attention as a Lieutenant walked in the room. Tavis followed suit or he hoped he did.
"At ease boys." Saluting.
Lieutenant Clarke smiled at Tavis, noting the family resemblance. Wondering if it went more than skin deep. He laid odds it did.
"I heard you had company, Corporal. I wanted to meet him. Not every day you rescue your brother, while he is rescuing someone else. Eh, Ren?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Relax, Ren., relax."
Jasper did relax some. Lt. Clarke didn't come by very often. Not anymore. Lt. Clarke was a man of good size. In his mid-40's with slightly graying hair. Keen, ice blue eyes that missed nothing, looked over the room. He is, or was, Jasper's mentor during and after his cadet training. There to keep him on track, like a surrogate father, in EVERY way.
"So, son, Tavis right? You do have the look of your big brother here. What do you think of Teran One?"
"She's a bute, sir."
"Yes, she is that. I thought you would like to know that the girl you rescued is safe with her family, no small thanks to you, young man. Good work, today. Your brother told me you kept your cool in the middle of all that ruckus."
His eyes flew to his brother's face, "You did? Really?"
"Yes, really. That was very brave of you, reckless too, little bro, but I'm proud of you. For THAT."
Uh oh. God, not in front of the Officer his eyes begged.
"Well now, son, what I am wondering is how you got in that position."
"Yeah, Tav, me too!" This was really not good. Not at all. Looking from brother to older man he new he was dead in the water. Lying to the EAF Officer just was not something he could do. Not if he ever wanted to come here as a cadet. Oh well, he did get here, he did get to see almost everything.
Time to fess up. Deep breath.
"ItoldmomanddadIwasonaschooloutingandstowawayedonatranslinersir!" There done. Over. right?
"Oh, Tavis."
Jasper just sunk down on the chair and ran a hand over his face real tired like. The EAF just stared at him in stunned silence.
"I see. And just how did you manage that, young man?" in a dangerously calm voice. That all too familiar tone caused chills to run down Jasper's spine. "Tread lightly, little bro," Jasper thought to himself.
Might as well get it over with. So Tavis told them about how he read up on the tech manuals and found out about the maintenance corridors, how he used his palmputer to trick the crew and how he got out at the station. Everything right up to now.
Both men just looked at him. Amazement on their faces. Then both began to blast him at the same time about how dangerous that was and how irresponsible he had been, how selfish and on and on.
Tavis just placed his elbows on his knees and rested his chin on his hands and listened to the two men rant awhile.
"Well, young man, I think I have made my point clear on this matter," the lieutenant said, putting his hat on to leave.
"Corporal Ren."
"Yes, sir!"
"Would you say that Tavis is a lot like you when you were younger?"
"Uh..sir?"
"I was just wondering if young Tavis here is much like you were, when you joined."
Jasper was at first confused by where the older man was going with this. Tavis is a lot like he was at that age. Two handfuls of trouble. He inwardly cringed, thinking back to all the trouble he got himself into when he first got here, and how he was pulled back in line.......
Ah..catching on now. "Yes, sir. I'd say we are a lot alike there."
"I thought so. I'd say he has earned himself a set of stripes for today's work. Wouldn't you, Ren?"
"Oh yes, sir!!
The light dawns. "Yes! Lieutenant, sir!!
Tavis was surprised. "Stripes? How could I get stripes? I'm not a cadet yet.
"Young man, you could call these "honorary stripes," the Lieutenant said.
"Well, men, I have some damage to inspect. Corporal, I'll leave that to you to deliver. Fitting. Yes it is fitting that you award the stripes. Tavis. Can't say that I approve of your travel plans. But you are quite a bright and resourceful young man. I hope to see you here at the academy. WHEN you're older." With that said he shook hands with a beaming Tavis and he and Jasper exchanged salutes and he was gone.
"Wow! Am I really gonna get my own stripes?"
"Oh, yeah, little bro. Yes, you are. You have more than earned them."
Jasper turned his chair around and motioned his brother to come closer. Once Tavis was within reach and still beaming stupidly, Jasper grabbed him and sat down with him over his knees face down.
"Hey! Jaz, what are you doing?"
"You heard L. T. Let me clue you in on a little academy tradition," he said patting the upturned bottom.
"Stripes are a code word for...well, the marks this leaves on your butt." Jasper reached in his top zipper pocket and retrieved a small rectangular object about an inch and half wide. Touching a button it grew in length about a foot long. A ruler! It dawned finally on Tavis that his hind end was in jeopardy, grave jeopardy.
"No! Jaz, don't!"
Struggling did no good, Jasper had a good eighty pounds on his one hundred ten and arms hardened by military conditioning. He was divested of his pants and boxers in short order.
"Jazzzz....No don't. I'm sorry, okay?"
"No, little brother, it's not okay. You're only sorry that your ass is over my knee. But no matter, you will be truly sorry in a few minutes," Jasper cheerily said and began to administer the stripes. No warning, no mercies as he brought the ruler down hard on the wiggling white globes.
"Owwwww! Don't! Stopitjazz. ouchouch!" Sympathizing with the howls he was drawing from his little brother, Jasper continued with the full swing blows.
"Cutitout! That hurt!!!!Stop!!!! Ouch"
Many, many times he had been in just this position with his mentor,
Lt. Clarke. He knew firsthand, or butt rather, how much this hurt.
Tavis had it coming.
Crack...crack.
"Owwwwwww..Jasper..enough..no more, pleeeeeease."
Tavis struggled wildly against the hot sting. It hurt so badly.
"Enough! Enough"
"No, Tavis, not dad. Jasper. I know exactly how much this hurts."
He flicked his wrist to administer sharp stinging swats with the ruler.
Painful swats, but with no bruising. He would never harm Tavis like
that. Not intentionally.
Tavis bucked and squirmed all he could. Little good it did. Soon he
was spent and could only lie there and cry out loudly. He hardly recognized
his own voice as he begged and pleaded. The sting continued to grow
to a full burn.
"No! Owwwwwwie!"
"Yes, you can. I know just how much you can take and you are going
to get every bit. Not one stripe less."
Crack...crack....crack..the ruler covered every inch of cheek. He
felt the sobbing boy on his lap go limp and give up struggling. He
was nearly done. Yet, not before he was sure Tavis had learnt and
would remember this lesson well.
Crack! "Okay, Tav, this is the last of it and I want you to promise
never to do these things again. Out loud. Do you hear?"
Crack..crack. "That is for lying to Mom and Dad."
These stung so bad, he could hardly get the words out.
"Owwww!"
Crack. "That's for stowing away, that is stealing!" Crack. Crack.
"Owwww! No! Owwwwwie. I won't steal, won't ever again. Please,"
"Not just yet, Tav."
The last swats were particularly brutal and aimed right at the sit
spot. The curve where the buttock met the thigh, full force. Jasper
didn't hold back on these causing bright red welts from the ruler's
edges. "Stripes."
Tavis came alive from those swats. Bucking and kicking so wildly he
nearly dumped them both on the floor. Jasper still delivered them
fast and furious.
"Ahhh!..No! Jasp!.Jasperrrrrr stooooop!
"That is for putting yourself in danger, hiding in that corridor was
foolish and very dangerous. What if something had gone wrong? How
do you think Mom and Dad would have dealt with that?"
Tavis just bawled even louder.
"How do you think I would have felt if something happened to you?
You came here to see me. Just think of the guilt I"
His own voice broke on that horrible thought. Spurring several more
very painful blows.
Tavis was practically screaming now. Just when it couldn't hurt any
more, it did. His butt bones even hurt. Never had he been punished
like this. Please never again! He was truly sorry.
Jasper stopped. Tavis's butt was displaying several red raised stripes
and some purpling was forming, too. A pang of guilt pulled at him
for that. He pulled up the bawling form and gave it a good shake.
"You didn't think of any of that, did you? Of what could happen, how
we would feel?"
"No,. Jasper. Owwwww,"
"Okay, it's over now. I'm sorry too, little bro. Sorry I had to do
that. Stripes aren't easy to wear. I know." Jasper pulled Tavis in
tightly and let him cry. He had been very hard on him. Maybe too hard.
but he had to make the point of how selfish and dangerous his actions
were. After his brother started to calm down some he disengaged himself.
"Oh, no! No rubbing or I will start over. I want your hands on your
head and your nose in that corner while I call Mom and Dad."
Fearing any further swats, Tavis's hands flew on top of his head and
he shuffled over to the corner and did just what he was ordered with
a tearful and respectful, "Yes, sir."
He could here the vid-phone ask for the home ID code.
"Jasper! What a wonderful surprise?" It was his mother's voice. He
just leaned his head on the wall. Soon her surprise was going to be
ruined.
"Hi, Son. What's the occasion? Is it Christmas so soon?" His fathers
booming voice teased. Tears began to flow again at the knowledge that
soon that warm voice would turn icy and no doubt be raised to him.
"He did what!" in stereo.
Yep, he was right. Jasper turned the vid-phone so they could see his
handy work standing in the corner. Vivid red stripes stood out on
the duller red butt.
"Ahem. Well, I see. Now that is a job well-done, son. Well done, get
it?"
Tavis rolled his eyes. Great, he thought to himself. Just great. For
the next couple of hours his parents and brother chewed him out and
had him in tears, promising never to do anything like this again.
His dad really had him crying like a baby, when he said that stunts
like this could keep him out of the EAF. He had never thought about
that.
After the call to home was over, it was a very contrite Tavis who
now stood in the sonic shower. The unseen waves pulsed against his
sore body...not a pleasant sensation to his now throbbing bottom...staying
in just long enough to get clean and not one second longer. Stepping
out of the shower into just Jasper's boxers, several sizes too large
for him, but the only thing he could stand to wear just now. Little
as possible contact with the punished skin.
"Tav, come and eat. We need to hit the sacks," Jasper had placed a
plate of food on the table and pulled out a chair for Tavis who stood
there looking disbelievingly at the chair.
"Jaz, I..uh. I can't..um."
"Sit?" Jasper finished for him. Watching as the boy's face flushed.
"Yeah."
"Well, you're going to eat, so I guess you will just have to stand.
"
"You're all heart, Jaz, thanks," he snaped back.
The larger man walked over and thumped him hard in the bare chest.
"I'm gonna be all hand if you don't check that attitude ASAP."
Tavis quickly changed his tone and looked his scowling brother in
the eye. "Sorry," and walked to the table.
A plate of his favorite foods was there, a ham steak and Mac & cheese,
a huge glass of soda. "What's this? My last meal?" His shy grin softened
the sarcasm and saved him another thump.
"No," Jasper chuckled. Consider it a peace offering. They ate with
an uncomfortable silence around them. Tavis was engrossed in feeling
very sorry for himself. Dinner done, the dishes returned to the food
dispenser. Jasper ordered the domestic computer to stow the table
and chairs and asked for the beds. Two beds slid out of the far
wall with a quiet hiss...one above the other like bunk beds.
"Sack time kiddo. I'm hitting the shower and I want you in that top
rack when I get out. Clear?" His deep blue eye's clearly conveying
the "or else."
Tavis nodded his head. Awkwardly climbing up the bunk, his baggy boxer
clad rump stuck out. "S-W-A-T!!!! Owwwha!!!!!hey!"
Jasper couldn't help but deliver a sharp smack to that clear target
to help propel it onto the top bunk.
It was a lucky thing that Jasper didn't hear the expletives Tavis
hissed as he tried to rub the rekindled fire out of his butt.
The next morning a cadet delivered a message from the Lieutenant.
Jasper was given some leave to escort Tavis home and spend some quality
time with his family. That was a surprise to all of them...a very
welcome one. Tavis hoped that Jasper's home-coming would squash any
further punishments that may await him at home.
On the flight home Tavis got the window seat so he could see what
he missed on his last flight. In a way he wished he was in the maintenance
corridor. He would not get to see space but he could be on his stomach.
His butt was making sitting very unpleasant and it would take 14 hours
to reach earth.
He and Jasper didn't talk any about what happened yesterday. What
his dad said about loosing his chance to join up was eating at him.
"Hey, Tav. What's bugging you? Butt hurt'n ya? Space sick?"
"No. Um. Dad said that a stunt like that could keep me out of the
academy. Will it Jasper? I just wanted to see the station. I want
to join so badly, I don't know what I'd do if I can't."
Tears were gathering in his eyes.
"Dad said that to get you to think about what you could be damaging,
other than your tail. Here this is for you. It's from Clarke."
He took the disk from his brother like it was the Holy Grail and loaded
it into the palmputer.
From the desktop of Lt. F.Clarke
To Tavis D. Ren.
Tavis.
I understand that you are concerned about your actions placing your
academy application in jeopardy.
The EAF does frown on delinquents but has in the past taken in such
and trained them to be model cadets and soldiers. I do not believe
that you are a "delinquent" and admire your bravery in helping to
save the Danver's girl. The talents you have can be harnessed and
used to make a good EAF soldier. I have made notations for recommending
your application to the academy in TWO years time. You will need to
keep your grades up, and enjoy the time you have to be a kid. Two
years is not a long time Tavis and once in the academy free time will
be rare and precious. Ask you brother. Who by the way is very proud
of you and has urged my recommendation.
You do have the advantage of the cadets you will be joining with.
You have knowledge of a private tradition. And you I hope will avoid
earning any new "stripes" in the future.
Sincerely
Lietenent F. Clarke
E. A.F.
Tavis looked over and smiled at his brother who had drifted off to
sleep. His butt hurt, still, a lot. Shifting in his seat to place
a pillow under him, he thought to himself that it was all worth it.
Even the spanking, to have had such an adventure and have his brother
take him home and stay for awhile and the letter, that was a cake
topper. Yeah, definitely worth it.
Yet given the chance, he would not repeat the adventure.
No. One set of "stripes" was more then enough.
The End
More stories by Frost Spinner