The story is a work of fiction and has no basis in reality.

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Gaylactic Knight

Chapter 8

The following morning, Peter climbed out of his bed and showered. Everything that happened the last few days was racing through his mind.

"Ok, so I am the descendant of a powerful family. Well at least they were powerful a long time ago. I am expected to follow the family tradition and be the defender of those that are suppressed and weak. What about me? I am suppressed and weak, well maybe not weak but I am suppose to be serving a life sentence for standing up for myself, if that isn't suppressed, I don't know what is. Today I start training to become one of those defenders. It is almost like training to be a Knight. Yes! I will be a gallant Knight. I will defend the weak and the suppressed. I will stand up to the corrupt powers of large corporations like Epsilon. I will defend those that are wronged. I will be the defender of all that are Gay like me. I will be.....I need a word for this. Something that will stand out in the minds of those that suppress Gay people throughout the Galaxy. Galaxy....Hmmmm. What is another word for Galaxy. I will be gallant as a Knight should be. I am Gay. The Galactic Gay Knight. That doesn't sound too bad does it? The Gaylactic Gay Knight. Ooops! Hey wait a minute. Gaylactic. That's funny. Gaylactic Knight. YES! That's it. The Gaylactic Knight to the rescue of all suppressed Gay persons throughout the Galaxy. Damn I am brilliant aren't I!!"

Peter, very impressed with himself, he finished dressing and headed for his first class of the day, Quantum Physics.

(Authors Note; Although I could go into the details of the class, I don't feel that they would benefit the story at all. Besides, how many of you understand Quantum Physics? Here is an example of what first level (elementary) students study.
Particle Parameters;
Energy = 3.000e0 eV,
Mass = 9.110e-31Kg,
Charge = 1.602e-19 C.

Barrier Parameters;
Barrier = Square,
Width = 2.000e-10 m,
Height = 4.000e) eV,
Right Level = 0.000e0 eV.

Planch's Constant; 6.625e-34 JS.)

Peter was exhausted by the time Diablo got through with him, four hours later. His mind was filled with high level Quantum formulas beyond anything that he had ever studied before. Diablo informed him that tomorrow's class would be Political Science.

"I hate politics." Peter thought to himself as he walked toward the cafeteria.

His stomach was telling him that he hadn't eaten today. Maybe that was why he had such a bad headache. "How could sitting on your ass all morning thinking take so much energy?" He said out loud.

"Maybe it is because you were sitting on your brain." A voice answered.

Peter looked around and didn't see anyone.

"Am I going crazy. I keep hearing voices but I don't see anyone."

"No Peter, you are not going crazy. As soon as you have finished eating, come to my office." The voice said again.

"Who the hell are you? How am I suppose to know where to go if I don't know who you are and how you got inside my head." Peter yelled.

"Calm down Peter. I am your uncle. Alexander Benoit. I will explain when you arrive." The voice said once more.

Peter scarfed down his lunch, he was not only curious but frightened by this new revelation. What was going on? Could they have planted some type of transceiver in his brain when he was asleep? He ran to Uncle Alexander's office. Sliding to a stop outside the door, breathing heavily, he knocked.

"Come in Peter." Alexander's voice said, this time verbally.

Peter opened the door to his uncle sitting at his desk.

"Come in, come in. Sit please."

"Yes, sir. Thank you." Peter replied as he took the chair in front of the desk.

"Peter, I know that you are puzzled with what I have just revealed to you. So, I will explain." His uncle said as he rose from his chair and walked around the desk. He moved another chair next to Peter and sat.

"Peter, what I am going to tell you now is something that has been a family secret for generations. This secret has never been revealed to anyone outside of this family. We carefully screen everyone, even family members before they are told this secret." Alexander said, looking directly into Peter's eyes.

"For generations now, the Benoit family members have had a very rare talent. A talent that if discovered by anyone outside of the family, would cause us to be hunted down and murdered one by one. More so than is happening today. Do you understand what I am saying Peter?"

"Y, Yes sir." Peter said nervously.

"Peter what I did earlier was telepathically communicate with you. Do you understand what that means?"

"Yes, I understand what telepathy is. But how?" Peter asked.

"We don't really know how, we just know that the Benoit family has this special ability. It seems that only descendants of Delany Benoit have this ability. Delany Benoit was your great, great, great grandfather. The ability was first discovered in his sons. They were twins and at first it was believed that this was the reason that it was so strong with them. As the two matured, they married and had children of their own. As soon as their children hit puberty, they too acquired telepathy and so on down through the generations. We don't know why or how this came about but as that branch of the family grew, they discovered that all of the relatives of the DElany Benoit family could communicate with each other. We are not able to read minds. We have to mentally project to the person that we want to communicate with and send the message to them."

"But I didn't do that when I answered you earlier."

"That is because you are untrained. You didn't realize that you were directing your responses to me. Once you are properly trained, you will be able to communicate with any family member or all of us at once if needed. Even if you haven't met them personally. I would like to start your training right away. Peter, your telepathic abilities are very strong, I would like to find out just how strong they are."

With that his uncle sat back and let Peter absorb everything that he had been told. Peter's mind was bogging down with the impact of this revelation. He couldn't think straight. Well, he had problems thinking "Straight" anyway but this really sent him over the edge.

"Uncle, I need to work all of this out. I can't think straight right now. Would you mind if I went back to my room? I need to be alone for a while."

"That is exactly what I was going to suggest. Before you do, I need to spend a few minutes teaching you how to control the transmission of your thoughts. They have been broadcasting very strongly the last couple of days."

"Oh no! You mean everything that I have been thinking? Everyone heard me?"

"Well, not everything but most of it. Not to worry Peter. There isn't anyone here that would use those thoughts against you. We are a very accepting, open minded family. Besides you aren't the first in the family."

"First what?" Peter inquired.

"The first Gay person." Alexander replied.

"Oh, not that too?"

"Yes my Gaylactic Knight. That too." Alexander laughed. "Your secret is safe with us. We are your family and we love you no matter what."

Peter's face turned six shades of red. He was so embarrassed that they knew about his fantasy. Not so much about his being gay but that he had that childish thought.

"I, I need to go." Peter said as he stood to leave.

"Peter, wait please." Alexander asked.

Peter stopped and turned.

"Peter, I know you are upset but we really need to work on your control now, so you can go and have your thoughts to yourself."

"Yes, I guess you are right." Peter agreed.

They worked together for almost an hour until Uncle Alexander was satisfied. The mental exercises that Alexander taught him seemed to work very well. Peter was able to keep most of his thoughts to himself, it was only when he got excited that they escaped. He eventually let Peter go.

Peter shut and locked the door to his room. He was almost in shock. He sat and ran over the afternoon's events. There was too much happening too fast. "Hell, I'm only 16, no wait. I'm 17. Shit, I forgot that I had my birthday on the ship. Well, it wasn't a birthday, it was just another day. Another year older.

Peter sat in his room for several hours thinking about everything when he heard a warning voice. This warning was in his mind. `Alert everyone. There are two ships approaching orbit. Everyone to their assigned stations.' Peter didn't know what to do. He didn't have any assignment. He quickly went out the door and into the street. People were running every which direction. Quickly going to their assigned duties. `Peter, come with me. Look to your left.' Peter looked to his left and his Uncle Alexander was standing next to a flutter. Peter quickly went to his uncle.

"Get in Peter. It looks as if the lead ship is being perused by a Federation patrol ship."

Peter got into the flutter and they raced to the far end of the village. As they approached the last building, a door opened and they flew through it and suddenly the flutter dropped down an incline. Deeper and deeper they went, finally screeching to a halt in front of a large fortified door. Alexander jumped out and ran to the door. Pressing his hand against a reader, the door slowly swung open.

"Come on Peter." His uncle ordered.

Peter followed him in the door and down a long hallway. He heard voices getting louder as they approached a door on the left.

"The Federation ship is firing on the smaller ship."

"They missed."

"The lead ship is using evasive maneuvers. They are entering the atmosphere."

"The Federation ship is firing again."

"THE SHIP HAS BEEN HIT. RESCUE TEAMS STANDBY."

"Peter, let's go." Alexander said.

Peter followed his uncle as he rushed back to the flutter. They sped up the ramp and out toward the south. Alexander pushed the little flutter to its maximum speed. Peter stared hearing the same voice in his mind that was detailing the ships pursuit in the control room.

"The Federation ship has veered away from orbit. It seems to think it has destroyed the other ship."

"The outlaw ship is headed toward sector S37. It appears to still have some control."

"Firing ATOL burst in the ships vicinity."

Peter didn't know what an ATOL was so he asked his uncle.

"The ATOL electronically produces the same patterns that an exploding ship would create if it crashed and exploded. Providing the ships sensors with evidence that the ship was totally destroyed. It has proven useful on many occasions." Alexander explained.

"The ship has crashed in sector S39. I repeat the ship has crashed in sector S39. All rescue teams respond." The voice announced.

"We aren't far from there. Maybe ten minutes." His uncle said.

They sped south for another ten minutes, Peter could see smoke just ahead. Alexander veered the flutter toward the smoke racing between trees as he went. Suddenly they were upon the wreckage of the ship. It wasn't as badly damaged as Peter thought it would be. There was a large gash along the lower side. The smoke was pouring from that gash. His uncle brought the flutter to a stop, grabbed a large hammer and jumped out at almost the same time. Peter quickly followed him to the ships hatch.

Alexander took a large hammer and banged on the ship's hatch. No response. He banged again. A whirring noise began and the hatch clicked open. Smoke poured out of the hatch as it opened, causing both Peter and his uncle to cough. Their eyes watering. They had to back away from the hatch to avoid the smoke.

As Peter's eyes cleared he saw more flutters approaching. The rescue teams had arrived. The men quickly donned hoods that matched the suits they were wearing. They ran to the hatch and pulled it open. One by one they entered the ship. Peter sat outside anxious for the people inside. He was hoping that they were not injured seriously.

The first to be brought out was an older man. He looked to be in his 40's.

"He looks familiar." Peter thought to himself, but it was difficult to tell because his face was black with soot from the fire. They laid him down and started administrating oxygen. The man coughed a few times and sat up looking frightened. One of the rescue team members told him that he was safe. As the man calmed he looked at Peter, his eyes widening with recognition.

He ripped the oxygen mask off and yelled.

"Peter? Peter is that you?" Said a familiar voice.

"Vic? Vic Rawlings? Is that really you?" Peter yelled.

Peter ran to Vic, throwing his arms around the man. "Vic, I am so happy to see you. What are you doing here? What happened?

Still coughing a little Vic responed. "Things got worse after you left Peter. You had made a lot more friends than you knew the short time you were on Epsilon. There was a small rebellion at Energy and a few at Planet Security sided with the rebels. One of them was your Josh."

"Vic? Is Josh ok? Is he...is he still alive?" Peter cried.

"I certainly hope he is." Vic said looking back at the ship.

Just then two more rescue team members came out of the ship carrying another person. Peter looked with disbelief at who he saw in their arms.

"JOSHUA !!! JOSHUA !!!" Peter screamed.


Copyright S. John Holder 2000

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