Deven's Leap of Faith

by Alyssa Hope

  ‘Oh, go ahead and scream, sweet one.’

  ‘This is ... like nothing … I have ever felt … my beloveds …’

  ‘Nothing?’

  ‘No, I touched myself sometimes, but my father would have beat me … I have never … Gods this feels good… Far better than good.’ He was getting incoherent, but no-one seemed to mind.

  ‘It’ll just get better, sweet one, trust us. It’s all good, and all better. This is love, this is what love is about … This is new to us as well, you have to remember that. We are newly morphed, the final stage only began when we found you …’

  That made Deven feel even better, somehow. They were all exploring together. A whole new territory of loving each other, and only each other.

  He found himself rolled over and kissed thoroughly, with one of those long agile tongues exploring his mouth. Agile fingers wrapped around his hard length and stroked, and he arched up into the loving hand. Suddenly needy, he rolled over again and settled down between Eva’s strong blue legs, and probed at his leaking hole with his straining erection.

  ‘Beloved? Eva? Are you ready?’ He wasn’t sure how he could tell.

  ‘Oh yes, please, ready …’

  He pushed in gently, and then harder, and Eva gasped and tried to pull him in tighter. Eva’s arms and legs went around him, and hips bucked up under him, and Deven couldn’t last very long with so much sensation overwhelming him. He drove in harder and harder, and climaxed, trying to get right inside of his lover.

  He heard Nevi laughing behind him, asking the same question.

  ‘Beloved? Are you ready?’

  He could only say yes, and brace himself for whatever was to come. It was everything he hadn’t expected, and didn’t need bracing for. Gently and sweet, Nevi easing into him, rocking back and forth and truly loving him. He was still buried in Eva, and every move of Nevi’s pushed him a little bit further in, until all three of them were moving in an age-old dance of love, and then Nevi cried out and climaxed deep inside him.

  Deven could feel the bond beginning to form between the three of them, like nothing he’d ever felt before. Acting on instinct, he pulled out of Eva and urged him up so that he could take Eva’s sweet blue erection into his mouth, so that Eva could have the pleasure of release as well.

  ‘I’ve always wondered what this would feel like’, he thought at his lovers, sucking and licking at the blue length, caressing the dark sac at the base with his hand, relishing the sweet nectar taste of the drops at the tip. ‘And what it would taste like. Good, so good, like honey.’

  ‘All good, all one,’ someone thought back, and he wasn’t even sure who it was. It didn’t matter, they were all one, and he could feel everything that the others felt. Eva exploded down his throat and all of them cried out with the shared joy of becoming adults together.

  ‘All three are one now.’

  That much he understood. And then the bond clicked fully into place between them, and he cried out in ecstasy. He hadn’t really understood what they were talking about before, but now he did.

  ‘All one, we really are all one!’

  ‘Yes, clever human, darling human, we three are one. Always will be.’

  ‘Beloved!’

  ‘Beloved!’

  ‘Beloved!’

  ‘Gods! The universe had it right when you came to rescue me. I’ll jump into your arms or your bed anytime.’

  Nevi laughed again, although he was gasping for breath. ‘We can practice more anytime you want. As much as you want.’

  ‘We have to practice a lot?’

  ‘Oh, not too much. Maybe just always and forever, because that’s how long we’ll have together … to cherish each other.’

  Deven rolled Nevi over onto his back and smiled down at him. ‘You caught me, beloved. I jumped and you caught me.’

  Eva looked a bit aggrieved. ‘I told him to …’

  Deven rolled to pin Eva as well, so his two blue lovers were side by side and he was spread-eagled on top of both of them, even though they were both bigger than he was. He belonged to them and they belonged to him, and he didn’t know how it could get any better.

  ‘Better, sweet Deven, always better. The loving, and the passion, and the belonging to each other, always. Made for each other. It’s very simple, really, isn’t it?’

  The thinking hurt Deven’s head, and he gave up and pulled both of his beloveds into him, kissing first one soft blue throat and then the other.

  Nevi smiled up at him. ‘While you are there – the formal bond, a bit of blood from each of us …’

  Deven must have looked appalled, so Nevi did the honors on Deven and Eva, and then Eva nipped Nevi carefully, and each lapped up a drop of blood.

  ‘That leaves a small scar, and our three scars will be identical. We all belong to each other, forever.’

  Deven smiled. ‘I can live with that. And maybe with some of the other … uh … stuff that Tad told me about …’

  Nevi grinned. ‘Really? We’ll have to explore that, once we all get our breath back ...’

  Chapter 6.

  Nevi and Eva were assigned some work in processing the newly freed slaves, who were all in the large transport bay for now. It had been outfitted with mattresses and stocked with food and drink, and all the collars had been cut off. The young men, still in shock, were being checked and treated by the Medical staff, and they didn’t need any extra help in there.

  Deven wandered around the ship until he found himself on the bridge. This time he was able to appreciate all the many things that were going on, and it didn’t take long before someone recognized him and offered to show him how one of the stations functioned.

  It turned out that he was not only Deven, beloved of Nevi and Eva, but also Deven who had just helped rescue two of their Lost Children. As such, he was more than welcome on the bridge, or anywhere else on the ship.

  He worked his way through the basics of communications and star mapping and navigation, and was generally having a good time when Nevi and Eva finally caught up with him.

  ‘Beloved? Are you planning on taking over the ship?’

  ‘Not today. Is it lunchtime already?’

  Suki, the smaller blue person who the Captain addressed as ‘beloved’, appeared, and he was laughing at all of them. ‘Very clever human you have here, almost as smart as our Caleb. Have you asked Oki about sponsoring him to the Academy?’

  Deven perked up. ‘Can you tell me about the Academy over lunch?’

  ‘And efficient …’

  ‘It’s a Cerulea school? Can humans go there?’ Deven was still feeling his lack of education, and how it had limited his choices before.

  ‘Several have already, and there will be more every year. They don’t care about skin color anymore than we do. The Academy is where fleet officers are trained. Nevi and Eva both went there, and may be eligible for some up-grading, so you wouldn’t have to be separated. You never know …’

  ‘Good. Lunch?’

  ‘And after lunch, training, if you want to attend the Academy. They only accept the best.’

  Lunch was good, and the physical training was exhilarating. They started off slowly, and worked their way up – literally.

  Deven was getting a thrill out of working his way up the climbing wall in the gymnasium, one handhold and one foothold at a time, enjoying the pull of muscles and the developing strength of his body. There were mats underneath which would cushion any fall, but it would still be painful, not to mention embarrassing, so he was careful. He was about twenty feet up when he became aware of a group of new trainees that Kaji was working with underneath him.

  They were learning to work together and trust in each other’s abilities. Vital things for young soldiers, although they were new enough to think that speed and accuracy with weapons were more important.

  “You have to trust, unconditionally.” Kaji told the rookies. “Your lives will depend on each other. See that young human up there?”

  They all
looked up and murmured assent. Deven looked down and smiled at them, wondered what was coming.

  “Nevi here is his team leader. Nevi, what happens if you order him to jump?”

  Deven could hear the laughter in Nevi’s voice as he calmly gave the order, “Deven, jump.”

  Deven didn’t even hesitate. He pushed away from the wall and jumped, hearing the recruits all gasp. He was thinking, in the time he had to think, that Nevi would somehow catch him, but he was surprised when that didn’t happen. Out of nowhere, Eva, who had been playing on the swinging ropes, tackled him in mid-air, wrapping him in strong arms while his legs kept a grip on the rope.

  Deven swung back and forth in the arms of his beloved, and when he got his breath back he twisted so that he was straddling Eva’s waist. He wrapped his legs around him and smiled up at him, thinking how far he had come in such a short time.

  “Hey, no sex,” Kaji called out to them, laughing. “You’ll scare the rookies.”

  “Scare them? No, just showing them how much they have to look forward to! Good food, exciting careers, first rate training, and love. And did I mention good food? Everything they could wish for. That should be your motto. ‘Take a risk and jump into love.’”

  Kaji just shook his head and yelled at the trainees to give him a couple of laps of the gym. “Train first, love second!”

  Deven nuzzled into Eva’s neck, and sucked gently at what he could reach of his barely visible earlobe. ‘Maybe I did it backwards, but it worked out for me. For us.’

  Nevi came flying out of nowhere and joined them in midair, swinging on the rope, wrapping around both of them. ‘Love, sweet ones. That’s why we do anything, in the long run. Love of each other, of our friends and our teams, of our people and our planet.’

  From below, Kaji laughed and shook his head. ‘You all need something to do to keep you busy. Report to the bridge, please. We have an assignment for you.’

  Deven was considerably sobered up by the time he was back on the bridge of the Valdez, downloading their records, and looking for names that he recognized. So many young men reduced to numbers and sold into slavery. And so many who had inconveniently ‘expired’ before they could be sold. He was able to work backwards from his own line in the records – date, planet number, slave number, purchase price, ‘escaped’. He thought it was a pity the slavers weren’t still alive to go back to his father and demand a refund.

  He transferred all the files to a tablet, keeping one part of his mind connected to Nevi and Eva as they and several other teams searched the old ship for evidence and tried to decide if they could retrofit it to move the rescued young men to Veria. He kept getting a bad feeling about being on the Valdez, but thought maybe that was because there had been so much pain and death on that ship. He tried to concentrate on doing the job he had been assigned to. He needed to prove himself worthy of the Academy.

  In one part of his mind he suddenly became aware that there was something very wrong, something in the vibrations in the ship that had changed. He didn’t even bother thinking beyond that, and yelled in his mind.

  ‘Transport! Get all beings off the Valdez right now!’

  They landed in a jumble of bodies on the floor of the small transport bay, and Nevi and Eva weren’t the only ones staring at him in astonishment.

  ‘What the …’ And then there was a muffled ‘whomp’ from behind the Crusader, from where the Valdez was – or had been? The Crusader shook a little bit, but settled down, and no alarms went off, although they were still all lying there waiting for something else to happen.

  ‘What the hell?’ Nevi and Eva looked at Deven.

  Kaji and Oki both charged through the door to the bay and stopped in relief when they realized that their crew was all alive and well.

  ‘What was that?’

  ‘I don’t know, it just felt wrong, and you told me to trust …’

  Oki managed a sigh of relief. ‘And we’re glad you did. Good call, Deven. When they got your order our bridge officers took it one step further and pushed away from the Valdez while throwing up full shields between the two ships. That’s why we’re here to have this conversation – the Valdez just blew up. But who is your little friend here?’

  Deven looked around and realized that a small naked child had inexplicitly transported with their group. He recognized the posture of one who was trying very hard to be invisible. A very thin, young, human child, who must have been locked up in the captain’s quarters? Thank the gods he had phrased the request for transport the way he had.

  Kaji asked the question that was on everyone’s mind.

  ‘Was it a trap or just an old ship falling apart?’

  Deven was still clutching the tablet he’d been downloading all the info onto, and he passed it over to Oki before he slid across the floor to sit next to the child.

  ‘I don’t know. They maybe had a self-destruct mechanism? We can talk later?’

  “Hey, little buddy, what’s your name?” he asked the child.

  The child tucked his head down further into his arms, and Deven and Oki exchanged glances over his head.

  Deven peeled off his tunic and handed it to the child. He spoke to him as he would have to one of the neighbor’s children, before those boys had disappeared.

  “Here, so you don’t have to walk around with your bare ass hanging out. Do you want to go and get something to eat?”

  The head came up a little bit, but the child didn’t make eye contact. After some thought, and with obvious concern about Deven taking his shirt off, the young one took the shirt and pulled it over his head.

  “We’ll get you some clothes that fit, but first lunch, alright?” Deven got to his feet and held his hand out, and after a long pause the child took it and stood. It wasn’t anywhere near lunch or supper time, but Deven was fairly sure the cooks would understand.

  “What would you like for lunch? I like hamburgers, myself, and ice-cream. You like ice-cream?”

  Everyone else considerately backed off and gave them room, still more concerned about what had just happened to the Valdez – and almost happened to them. The two of them ambled up the corridor towards the dining hall.

  ‘I’m Deven. Who are you, little one?’

  He got no response. Could the little one not understand mindtalk?

  “I’m Deven. Who are you, little one?”

  Still nothing.

  “Well, we have to call you something, especially when it’s time for meals. How about Win, short for winner? Cause you’re a winner for surviving that ship, for sure.”

  He got a very small nod, and was relieved to get that. This could have been him. How much trauma had the little one suffered? Had it been this little one whose nightmares he’d picked up last night? He shuddered. The child would have a lot of healing to do.

  In his head, privately, he heard Oki.

  ‘Deven? He should go to Medical.’

  ‘Yes, he will, but first a hot meal and clothes that fit, so he goes there as a person.’

  He wasn’t sure what he meant by this, but it made sense. The little one had to get control of his life again before he could start to heal.

  ‘Agreed. Suki will meet you in the dining hall with some clothes. And shoes, he shouldn’t be going barefoot. We are going to make you our ship counselor.’

  ‘What’s a counselor?’

  ‘You. You’d better look it up so you know what you’re doing. Or why you’re doing what you’re doing.’

  ‘I know what I’m doing. Sometimes. And I know that I always have back-up, and Nevi and Eva to catch me … I think that’s what the little one needs, maybe.’

  Chapter 7.

  Dasu was the one who should be the counselor, he thought. By the time they got into the dining hall one of the tables near the kitchen was set, including a fancy table-cloth with a star-ship and galaxy print that looked brand new, and even a vase of flowers. He’d never seen flowers on the ship before, but then he’d only been there a couple of days. Dasu
was standing there smiling at them. He was a very large and well-rounded blue person, never seen without a smile on his face.

  “A special guest for lunch! Excellent. And who is our friend, Deven?”

  “Well, until we know his real name, we are calling him Win, because he’s a winner.”

  “Excellent. He looks like a winner! For him today, we have my special soup, delicious, with all kinds of things in it. And, for those who eat their soup, ice cream for dessert. You don’t mind company? Our beloved Ivan and our little Tula need to eat as well, to get their weight up. They both came from bad places”, he explained cheerfully, “but they are with Suna and me now, and much loved, and well fed.”

  Ivan, an elderly human with a gentle smile, came out of the kitchen leading a toddler by the hand, and Win cautiously raised his head to look at them. They didn’t look at all threatening, and they had obviously suffered as well. He didn’t seem to be as scared of them.

  Ivan nodded at Win but didn’t speak, and the toddler just stared as he was sitting down. Finally he blurted out, “Brown hair. Brown hair like me.” Then he went around the table. “Red, gray, brown, blue.”

  Having happily exhausted his head color choices, he settled down to eat his soup. Dasu laughed. “He is just learning his colors. Very clever, isn’t he?”

  They all finished their soup, which was indeed very good, and Tula took great pleasure in pointing out to Win all the different shapes that things were cut into. He made a row on a piece of bread of star shapes, flowers, diamonds and space ships, and many other things. Win seemed as fascinated as Tula was, and did the same, and when they were done they both ate their gravy soaked bread as well.

  “My fathers, very clever!” Tula slurped the last of his soup, looking somewhat guilty at making the rude noise. Having got away with that, of course, he took it a step farther.