Date: Fri, 4 Apr 2014 13:37:32 +1300
From: arthur carkeek <artcart65@gmail.com>
Subject: chevalier de la croix noir chapter 1

			      CHEVALIER DE LA
				CROIX NOIR


				 CHAPTER 1


				 BY ARTHUR



AUTHORS NOTE:

This story is pure fiction and has no relationship to any person living or
dead, it contains some sexual content, well this is a gay site so what did
you expect; any comments should be directed to the Author through the email
address listed below.

Artcart65@gmail.com

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Looking around the yard with its high metal walls and the mass of heavy
weight convicts did not really faze me; after all, there was little they
could do to me that I could not counter.

The sameness of their blue plastic jump suits did little to tell you who
was built and who was just fat, as usual I was the odd one out, they, being
the authorities, had tried to get me to put on one of their ridiculous jump
suits, the results of that was ten days in solitary and I was still wearing
my suit of Skerrit hide and, although I stood out like a sore thumb among
the other convicts, I was not about to lay my life on the line with a piece
of cheap plastic.

How did I end up on a prison yard, well it had a lot to do with the times,
Terra, Earth to you, was the home world, 300 years ago the wealthy and
powerful had formed a number of very large conglomerates, the whole world
was ruled by the forty or so of the most powerful financial institutions
that had ever been put together.

Terra was divided up between them but, as with all greedy people, they
wanted more and, as the resources of the planet dwindled, they began to
have small fights and bickering amongst themselves, of course the general
population had by now been put in their proper place, that is to say that
they were now little more than low paid slaves to the mighty.

The battles and infighting of the conglomerates got worse as the resources
grew less and less, finally they took note of the vastness of space and
what could be out there, it developed that again profit dictated who they
would take and where they would go.

The advent of new and improved propulsion system for interstellar travel
made it easy for the large conglomerates to go out and search, once a
planet or large asteroid that contained viable metals or minerals was
found, they formed teams of miners or families to be transported there and
begin mining, fifty years ago it was my family that boarded one of the
ships for a new planet designated as Sega 7, Sega being the conglomerate
that owned the ship and now the planet.

To maximise the number of people they could send in one ship they preferred
to choose those of a smaller build, what happened to those sent did not
concern the mega companies as long as they got their product, too this end
I am a second generation Segan, it was my Grandparents that had boarded the
ship to the new planet.

Sega 7 is nearly twice as large as Terra, of course this meant that its
gravity was also twice that of the home planet, those first settlers and
miners had a hard time of it and, even though they worked hard they could
still not produce enough of the minerals to satisfy the demand of the Sega
Corporation.

The corporation eventually took notice after the manager asked for more and
more miners, the heavy gravity was taking too much of a toll on the smaller
bodies of those sent, bones and joints used to the lighter gravity of Terra
could not work properly on Sega 7 and it took its toll, many died before
the age of thirty five, to this end the corporation invented the Exo's,
these were exoskeletons that were worn by the miners to give them added
strength and save on the medical expenses that had built up due to the
gravity damage.

The first generation born on the planet were still small framed but they,
as nature will, fared a little better although they still needed the Exo's
to work in the mines, it was not unusual to have married couples at the age
of fourteen or fifteen, an old man on Sega at that time would be no more
than late thirties, the conglomerate had to do something to get their
investment back with a good profit on top.

With the use of micro technology, Sega Corp created the use of nanites;
previously they could not be used in the human body but, with a little bit
of creative thinking and a few lost subjects, they came up with the right
ones, for those of us of the second generation, it was a true godsend.

When the first of the nanites arrived on Sega, I was just a baby of two,
the year I had been born, there had been a total of 356 new borns, a new
record for the planet, so it was twenty six years ago that the nanites
arrived and now, at twenty eight, here I was in a Terran prison run by one
of the conglomerates that was an enemy of Sega, not a good place to be for
a person like me.

You may wonder what I consider to be a slightly smaller person, well here
it is, as I stated earlier, I am twenty eight years old, that's Terran
years not Segan years, on Sega I would be about seventeen years old, I am
5'7" in the old Imperial measure of Terra and I weigh in at 275 lbs, I know
I can hear you ask now, 275 at that height, you have to be a fat round
butter ball, not so, my actual flesh weight is 135 the rest is the nanites
workmanship, you see the nanites slowly change your bone structure into
what is much like titanium steel.

My hair was a sort of tawny colour and hung in loose curls over my ears, my
eyes are what I think the Terrans call hazel, to me they are a pale green,
I had no beard or much other hair at all, again the nanites were
responsible for the lack on all of us, we were all about the same type of
build, that is to say, slender but wiry, in other words we were a lot
tougher than you would think.

From the age of two I had to take a special pill that was high in metal and
other vitamins, for the next twelve years I never had a single night's
sleep in comfort, the working of the nanites made our bodes ache as they
replaced our natural bones with parts of the minerals we had to take in the
pills, it was twelve years of continuous aches and pains, when we turned
fourteen we were put in line for selection as to what our life time job
would be for the Corporation.

I have no idea what the criteria were for the different jobs but the
company seemed to know what it was looking for at any one time, the year of
my selection was like any other, none of us knew what we would be doing or
where we were going, it was understood that most would be miners, just like
their forbearers had been.

The thing that was most notable was that all of the boys lined up were
within a fraction of an inch, the same height, this was the work of the
nanites, only boys went into selection, all girls were made to work in the
household or bare children for the continuation of the new city that was
slowly growing, Sega 7 was no place for women's rights, their place was to
produce the new generation and, hopefully in time, mother nature would help
produce an offspring that could handle the heavy gravity of the planet.

In the compound where we were all lined up, were four large tents, each was
a different colour, green for miners, red for mechanics, blue for drivers,
the last tent was purple, no one seemed to know what this was for, in all
the years of going to watch others to be selected, none of us had seen
anyone go inside the purple tent.

The Sega managers, there were three of them and one stranger, would walk
along the line with some sort of hand held machine, this they would run up
and down the boy and then tell him which tent he was to go too, most went
to the miners tent, as the four men got closer, my stomach began to get
twitches of apprehension, in my head I could hear a voice saying something
like, "Get me out of here" without realizing it I took a step forward as
though compelled to get as far away from this selection as I could.

I shook my head and stepped back into line just as the four men came to a
halt in front of me, each man ran his black box up and down my body then,
the fourth man, who had no box, looked me in the eyes and said in what was
not much more than a whisper, "Purple tent, go now"

I did not realize I was shaking as I took off for the purple tent, nor did
I see everyone else looking at me with wonder in their eyes, I was the
first selection they had seen going to the purple tent, once inside I saw a
single chair in front of a small table, not knowing what to do I stood and
waited for something to happen, after some time I got bored at looking at
nothing but the round sides of the tent and so, I thought I would just sit
and wait, hey I was a teen, why waste effort when you could sit and take it
easy, besides in my mind I was sure I could hear the reason for sitting.

I don't know how long I was sitting there but, after a while I began to
doze off even though the chair was solid wood and quite uncomfortable, when
I woke up I was somewhere entirely different, to this day I don't know how
I got to the new room, I was lying on my back in a white room with a hard
steel bed under me, I was also naked under the sheet, sitting in a chair by
my side was the stranger from the selection, he had a small smile on his
lips as he watched me awaken.

"Hello, I'm Doctor Grant and your name is?"

"Uhm, Silas, Silas Grosvenor."

"Well Silas Grosvenor, welcome to the hall of the Croix Noir."

"What's that, why am I here and not at the mines?"

"Because you are special, from here we will train you for some very special
work, now the first thing you need to do is pick a new name, from now on
you will never be Silas Grosvenor again, that old life is over and
finished, now you are a special part of Sega Corporation, so, what new name
do you want?"

"I, uhm, I don't know."

"Well, if you like I can pick one for you that will be more in line with
your new life, would you like that?"

"Uhm, well I suppose so."

"Ok then, let me see, from now on you will be known as Sargasso."

"What does that mean?"

"It means the one who is alone."

"Well, ok but what happens now?"

"Now we are going to put you back to sleep, during that time we will be
adding a few things to your body and at the same time you will be learning
some new things via the dream teacher, now lay back and relax, when you
wake up you will be ready to start your training."

What could I do, I lay back and my eyes closed faster than I thought,
during my sleep I was sure I could feel things like pain and hunger, at the
same time I was also aware of a continuous voice in my head telling me
things I knew nothing about, lots of bright colours would flash in my head
as the voice droned on and on.

When I finally awoke, six months had passed, on Terra that would be almost
one full year, my head was full of all sorts of strange things, like how to
kill people silently, how to use the extra things implanted in my arms and
legs and operated through a new set of nanites they had inserted but, the
most amazing thing was my ability now to hear other people thinking, all
this of course really scared the shit out of me, what had they done too me.

My many questions were soon answered by the appearance of the good Doctor
Grant.

"Well, it's good to see you awake Sargasso, how do you feel?"

"I'm not sure Doctor Grant, but I am surely full of stuff I didn't have
before."

"That you are my young friend, now tomorrow we are going to let you up and
about, the day after you will begin you true physical training so you can
handle all of those things you now have, when we think you are ready you
will be joining a very elite group known as The Knights of the Black Cross,
or as we call them, Chevalier De La Croix Noir, what you now are my young
friend Sargasso is one of our elite assassins."

"But how, I mean why me?"

"Simple really, you have the gift, we don't find many with the gift, those
we do find come here and join the Knights, you will find you have now got a
very special life, one that very few ever get to have, you will never need
for anything, you will travel in special ships made just for you and go to
places no one else ever sees."

"And for all of this, what do I have to do?"

"Oh, just kill those who would want to see the Sega Corporation fail; you
can expect to live a long and very lucrative life from now on."

"What of my parents?"

"Because they birthed a gifted one, they will now be given special
treatment in the hope that they can do so again, your Father will not have
to work down the mines anymore, from now on all he has to do is try to
birth another gifted boy."

"Ok, so what do I do now?"

"Rest, tomorrow as I said, the real training begins."

And so it did, I was trained in the use of my special gift as well as in
the use of my very special weapons, which as it turned out were now part of
my body, thanks to the nanites, as my bones were already enhanced with the
strong metal it was easy for the scientists to attach my blades in my
forearms with my gift of mind control I could see what an enemy was going
to do before they knew and react to those thoughts, as an added aid they
had used the nanites to replace most of my skull bone as well, I could now
take a very heavy hit on the head and not be affected by it in the least.

After two more years of training in the physical arts of being an assassin
I was finally given my armoured suit of Skerrit hide, this hide could only
be worked while it was still green, once it dried it set like a steel plate
although still pliable enough to wear and move in, as a last piece of the
puzzle, I was introduced to the hall of the Black Cross and the other
Knights, there were nine of us.

The ceremony was rather simple but for us very meaningful, the full meaning
of the oath was in the last line which I had to say before they gave me my
new Skerrit armour.

"Death before Failure, Death before Treachery."

This was to be our mantra for the rest of our lives, we were trained to
never stop until our mission was complete or we were dead, of course Sega
were not the only Corporation with assassins but they were the only ones
that had gone out of their way to find only the gifted for their special
Knights.

All this of course leads to why I was now a convict in the private prison
of the Chase Corporation, I was here because it was the only way for me to
get into their presence, in time the overlords would get inquisitive and
come for a look see, especially as I was going to start enough trouble to
pique their interest but, first I had to get a little army together, it was
not the sort of job you did alone, even as good as I was.

I had been given one Terran year to carry out this little job, I had 49
weeks left to do it so there was little hurry at this stage, most of the
time would be used getting my little army ready, and where was I going to
find them, well right next door in the juvenile area, they are easier to
train and much nicer to look at, or use, oh yes I liked boys, just like all
of the Knights, they are not like females who are too much of a mystery to
be trustworthy.

Around me in the prison yard were all the usual factions you see in any
prison, the lines were drawn up on ethnic grounds, by far the largest group
were the Hispanics, which were divided up into two smaller groups, next
were the Asians followed by the Blacks and then the Whites, for the best
effect I would have to have at least one of each group on my side.

As this was an adult prison only on this side of the high walls, I would
have to do something special to get a few nice looking Juvies in here with
me, after all they were only on the other side of the wall, they did not
get promoted to this side until they reached their twentieth year and then
they started out as fresh meat for the older ones, I had no intentions of
waiting for sloppy seconds, besides I like my meat young and fresh.

As this was my first day out of solitary, I decided that it was a good idea
to start as soon as possible, oh yes, I was sure the big bosses knew what I
was but, the fact I had not tried to get too any of them had caused them to
think about why I was even here in their territory, well I had plenty of
time to let them worry about my person being in their midst.

It does not take long to find out how things work in a prison, there are
those who run things and others who follow along in the hope of being on
the right side if trouble starts, there are also unwritten protocols to
follow when wanting to see someone or get something, none of which I was
about to follow.

Like all prisons, the inmates were searched at every opportunity, of course
with my metal skeleton and the fact I was from Sega 7, made it easy to get
my weapons through the checks, after all they were a part of my makeup, my
blades were inside my forearms and rested inside my bones as part of my
skeleton, added to this were the hidden weapons in my Skerrit armour many
of which could only be found if I told the guards about them and even I'm
not that stupid.

Taking one more look around at the yard, I fixed the positions of all the
factions in my mind so I would not have to waste time looking for each man
I wanted, it was not difficult to see who was the boss man of each faction,
they were usually surrounded and guarded by a large group of nobodies all
showing off their muscles and posing for the enemy.

I moved quickly to what I thought was an underdog of the Hispanics, the
tension in the air was already high and my move only went to increase the
feeling of something waiting to happen, moving to the first in line I said.

"I wish to speak to your Patron, tell him it is important for his health."

The answer was about what I expected.

"Who the fuck are you Puta, I don't know your face so move or I move you."

I moved in close so no one could see too much, with a thought I let one of
my blades slip out of my wrist and pushed it hard up through his chin until
I felt the top of his scull stop it, with a grunt and a sigh he collapsed
onto the yard as I pulled the blade back into my wrist, there was a sudden
silence throughout the yard as the man slumped to the ground.

The other factions stayed still and watched as five other Hispanics made
towards where I stood trying to look as innocent as a new born,
unfortunately not innocent enough for the five who saw one of their own
bleeding profusely on the ground, they all made the mistake of stopping to
think about what they could see, of the guards there was no sign, not
unusual in these times, it was only if the guards got attacked that they
interfered, if it was con on con then they sat back to watch the show.

I waited until all five were too close to back off, not that they were ever
going to in this situation, I then let both blades come out and started to
do what I did best, I must have been half asleep as it took me nearly a
full minute to dispose of these thugs, underfoot it was now getting
slippery so I thought it was time to move.

Noticing that the one I had picked out as the Patron of the Hispanics
started to look around for reinforcements, I moved in quickly and smiled at
him, there was now only a few feet separating us, his close in body guards
did not look as assured as they were before, with my smile working
overtime, I called out to their leader.

"Patron, I would like a word with you, I assure you it is in your best
interest, as you can see there is another way I can get what I want, but
honestly I am not a violent man by nature, would you join me over there in
the corner away from the others?"

I turned my back and walked to the far corner that was vacant, turned
around to face the yard and waited as the leader talked to his minions, it
didn't take long, there was now a matter of face saving to be done, if he
showed fear of me he would soon have a war on his hands with the other
factions.

Surrounded by six others, the leader slowly made his way to the corner,
while he tried to keep any emotions from his face, I could detect the fear
deep inside, there was more than one reason for this, firstly, he did not
know who or what I was, second, how did I get two long blades into the
prison undetected, thirdly, how come I could dress in such a way without
causing problems with the guards, this also raised the possibility that I
was there on behalf of the Chase Corporation that owned the prison, none of
the possibilities were good for him if he refused to join me.

He stood about five feet away from me as I leant back against the wall
totally relaxed in the face of his six minions; I had already proven they
would not be enough if he started trouble.

"So what do you want, hommes?"

"A mutual understanding Patron."

"So?"

"For the promise that I will not attack any of your men again, I want you
to get one or two of the Juvies sent here, they are to be unharmed and
given to me as, shall we say, a gift, they will have to swear allegiance to
me and me alone, if they do that I will teach them things and give them a
life they could not hope to have in here."

"You want a bitch, I got plenty here that will bend over for you."

"I don't want some old well used bitch, I want one that is unused but knows
the score."

"What makes you think I can get a Juvie in here, it's not that easy, even
for me."

"I'm sure you have your ways."

"You talk about taking him or them away from here yet here you are locked
up like any con?"

"Believe me, I can leave any time I want, it would only take a little
blood."

"So if I do this for you, my men get left alone and you don't take no part
in anything with the other factions, right?"

"Not unless they start something with me, I'll tell you now, I plan to go
ask each of them to supply me with one boy same as you, I came to you first
because you have the biggest faction, I figured with your pull you could
easily get one or two Juvies for me."

"Ok, say I can do this, how long have I got?"

"Day after tomorrow, I need that much time to convince the others."

"Ok, hommes, we got a deal, oh one thing more."

"What?"

"Just who the fuck are you?"

"My names Sargasso, I'm a Segan."

As I said that he turned a little pale and just nodded his head as he
walked back to his corner of the yard, as you can tell, being a Segan had a
certain reputation to it, those few seen on Terra were of course Brothers
of mine so their reputation for toughness was known in most strata's of
society, especially in the criminal part.

As I was about to walk towards the Asian section, the bell for lunch rang
loudly, there was a sudden increase in the chatter around the yard and so I
turned towards the open air mess area, I knew that by the time lunch was
over, I would be known about throughout the whole prison, it would save
some time and I was interested in how I would be greeted after lunch by the
others.

Lunch was barely edible, these private prisons, which they all were
nowadays, were run for profit not comfort, the security was maximised but
the conditions were minimal, it was little for me to get used to, my
training had put me in worse places than this shit hole.

After lunch I went back to the corner I had used to chat with El Jefi, as I
settled down to watch and wait I saw movement in the Asian area, at first
it was overt and would have made little impression on someone not looking
for it.

He was an overweight Asian, his large arms were covered in dragon tattoos
and his head was shaven smooth and shone in the bright sun light, trying to
look as casual as a snake in the grass, he slowly made his way to my
corner, from the cuff of my Skerrit hide pants I slipped the micro thin
wire into my hand, a quick flick and he would be mine before he could
think.

I stayed with my eyes on the ground just in front of me, I waited until he
stopped about three feet from where I waited then sent the wire out faster
than he could blink, with my enhanced strength it took little to pull his
feet out from under him and lay him on his back, in my other hand I held a
thin blade that was held in my belt, it was enough to make him think twice
about moving.

"What do you want, chubby?"

"Boss wants to talk to you."

"Then tell him to come next time, I don't run errands."

"Let me go and I'll tell him."

It took about ten minutes before the one I had picked out as the leader of
the Asians began to work his way towards me, like all Asians he looked
about twenty, I knew by a quick read that he was in fact in his thirties, I
sat and waited patiently, it would not be long before he finally got too
me.

I looked up into his young face.

"Yep, you want something?"

"I'm told you're a Segan and you looking for some young company?"

"Could be, what did you have in mind?"

"I can get one of my boys in here for you, how come you didn't come see me
first, those Spiks don't have any manners."

"I didn't see you coming to greet me first, thought as how you might want
someone else to break the ice."

"Uhuh, so what you want?"

"Just one, got to be here and willing day after tomorrow, if you have a boy
like that then he has a good chance of being free sooner than later but he
has to swear to me and no one else, if he tries a double cross I will know
and he won't want to see what happens when you cross a Segan."

"I hear you man, ok, one boy, day after tomorrow, he'll be clean and clear
only you got to leave my boys alone, fair enough?"

"Works for me."

He turned and walked away, I wondered how long it would be before the
others tried for a piece of the action, private com units were fast but
nothing is as fast as a prison grape vine, by the end of the day I had the
other two factions ready to supply my wants, I only hoped they weren't
silly enough to try to cross me, I really hate to take the life of anyone
younger than I was and in these circumstances it would be very messy as an
example.

The next day I spent watching the guards, it was common knowledge that
there were always one or two that would like to make some extra income, by
late afternoon I had searched out the one I wanted, from his mind I pulled
his facts, he was a gambler and was in the hole for a large amount of money
to some very nasty people, I set about working out how to get him alone for
a quick chat.

It turned out to be easier than I had at first thought it would be, it was
a very simple matter of walking up to him and asking if he wanted help to
settle his gambling debts, the startled look on his face said it all, it
took less than five minutes to get him on side, the arrival of my Juvies
the next day would go without a hitch, and so it turned out.

At first light on the next morning, the gates opened and five very scared
looking teens were ushered into the adult yard, they had been dressed in
the blue plastic jump suits of the adults, Juvies usually wore yellow,
their suits were obviously too big for them and hung on their smaller
bodies like escape shutes from a shuttle, their fear and anxiety was
palpable in the morning air, I lifted one hand to get their attention and
signalled that they should come to me.

With their heads down and trying not to look at the adults who were staring
at the young meat, the teens shuffled as fast as they could to my little
corner of the yard, as they stood in front of me I looked up and then
indicated with one hand for them to sit down in a half circle in front of
me.

I looked each of them over, well at least the gang leaders had done the
best they could, these five were very nice pickings for someone like me,
and they also had good prospects for what I wanted of them.

"Do you know why you are here boys?"

A nervous nod of the head from each of them gave me my answer.

"Right, from today you work only for me, any one of you try to screw me in
any way or not listen to my orders will be a puddle on the ground come
morning, you know I am from Sega 7 so you also know what I am capable of,
if you follow my orders and do what I want, you will be free from this
place faster than you thought possible, cross me and you're dead, the
choice is yours."

I watched the five of them as what I had said sank into their stunned
brains, while they were thinking about things, I looked around for my
guard, he was standing in a far off corner, a slight nod of his head told
me everything was arranged for myself and my little army of Juvies, it was
going to be an interesting week.

With a signal to my tame guard I got the boys on their feet and led them
towards where the guard was waiting for us, once there he led us off
towards the main prison block, our deal had been for an eight man cell, not
easy to come by in this overcrowded prison, he had tossed out the inmates
to make room for us.

The new cell had a full complement of bunks in four tiers, I indicated that
one set could be taken away, once the guard had the single tier removed I
told him to leave and only come back if I called, I then told the five
Juvies to pick a bunk each, once done I told them to strip completely and
lay down on their bunks.

They had not been allowed to bring anything with them from the Juvie yard;
it was part of the agreement, once stripped and laying down, I told them
what was going to happen.

"I'm going to give you three pills each, you will swallow them, once that
is done I will give you an injection, for the next two days you're going to
feel like shit but, at the end of that time you will be something special,
it's then I will teach you what you will need to know, if you do well you
will be out of this place by the end of next week, got it?"

All five nodded and watched me with trepidation on their young faces; they
were going into the unknown with a man from the Sega system and all that
that implied, a very scary thing for young teens, the reputation of the
Sega system was well known throughout the solar system, our heavy gravity
and augmentations made us faster, stronger and very much more deadly than
any other system could provide.

From the inner lining on the left hand side of my jacket, I took a thin
black plastic box, from this I distributed the green, blue and yellow
pills, replacing the box, I then took from the right hand side another one
similar but this contained a gas hypodermic along with six small clear
vials of silvery liquid, I would only need five of them.

Once the boys had swallowed the three pills each, I went to them one by one
and gave them the injection, the thick viscous liquid took a few seconds to
flow into their arms, the last thing I had to do was place their teaching
disc, these I took from my high collar, they were fixed to another thin
plastic strip, I placed one on each of the boys foreheads and then stepped
back as the first nanite changes began to take place, a sudden sharp gasp
of pain and then small whimpers told me the changes had started.

I watched over them for the next two days, while they were unconscious from
the influence of the teaching discs, they could not be free of the pain of
the nanites and so they groaned and whimpered as the changes took effect,
when done, they would have their arm bones up to and including the clavicle
replaced the same as mine, they would also have a blade in each arm, I had
watched as the puckering of the skin on the inner wrists took place to make
sure that the nanites had been properly programmed to my specifications.

The boys would not have the full skeletal change like mine, we just did not
have the time for that, but the added power and weapons of their arms would
be all I needed, the discs would take care of teaching them what they now
had but it would also take live physical training to make them any good
with their new weapons.

The Asian boy and one of the Latino's had fighting skills, the other three
had only those skills they had picked up in the mean streets, they would
all have to be taught how to use what I had given them.

On the third morning, the moans of pain had subsided, slowly they all
opened their eyes with a startled look, the discs dropped from their
foreheads and I picked them up and replaced them in my collar.

"So boys, how do you feel, ready for some action?"

I was met with more groans and moans as they lifted themselves from their
bunks, fortunately for them I knew what sort of condition they would be in
when they awoke, I had had the guard bring a large amount of food for them
and some new clothes, not the prison outfits but specially purchased
clothes from a dealer I knew here on Terra.

At this stage I did not want the boys in Skerrit hide, apart from being
very hard to get it was also very expensive, not beyond my means but I
could get it cheaper at its source, the boys boots, long black pants and
black shirts were Kevlar Fibre, enough protection for now, even though a
bullet would badly bruise them, it would not kill them outright although I
did not think it would get to that stage.

"Ok boys, get up and eat all you want then get dressed, we don't have a lot
of time to waste."

After being on their backs for two days, the boys were a little slow in
moving and a few groans escaped as they moved to the table to eat, once
they had eaten, I had them dress and move about a little to get used to the
new clothes.

"Alright boys, now we are going to give you new names, from now on you will
never use your true names, you are to be a part of my personal army, where
I go, you go, what I do, you do, clear?"

They all nodded, it was time to name them and then take them for their
first training exercise, I expected the young Asian and the older Latino to
pick it up quickly, the others would be slower but I would work them
harder, I lined them up with the Asian at the front, next the older of the
two Latino's, next the Jamaican, the other Latino and finally the white
boy, who was English.

Going along the line starting with the Asian boy, I gave them each a name.

"Scorpion, Snake, Spider, Tiger, Panther, those are now your names,
remember them, from now on any mistakes you make will be painful, Scorpion,
tonight you share my bed, you others can do what you like but no fucking
each other, that's my privilege not yours, now time to start your
training."

I looked at the young faces turned up too me.

"As you now know you have been given some augmentations in your arms, the
extra muscle needed has been added by the nanites, that's why your arms now
feel stronger, the discs told you about your blades but, knowing about them
and using them are two different things, to get them out, raise your arms
until they are out in front of you, now for the first time this is going to
hurt a little but, after this you will hardly notice it."

I waited until they each had their arms outstretched in front of them.

"Ok, lift your hands up so the bottom of your wrists is clear, now, look
inside your minds, get an image of the blades being outside your skin."

I had to hold back a snort of amusement as, one by one the blades slid out
of each wrist to the accompaniment of loud yelps of pain; they would have
to learn to suppress pain at another time.

"Good, just reverse the process to put them away."

I waited for them to follow my orders, once done; I got them to repeat the
exercise over and over until they could bring the blades out without pain
or much thought, being young they learnt very quickly, they were ready for
the next step.

For the next two hours I taught them how to use the blades to the best
effect, as I first surmised, the Asian and Latino boy had little trouble
adapting to the newness of their hidden weapons, the other three I had to
spend more time with but, by nightfall, all five were very efficient, I now
had my own personal little army, if they lived through this first
assignment they would become a good little addition to my lone existence,
the fact that I could bed any of them when I desired also went a long way
to making them part of my new group of assassins, it was something I had
been planning for a long time, oh yes, I had a secret agenda hence the
boys.

Perhaps at this stage I should explain the blades, I am so used to them I
had not thought to mention them to you earlier, the blades are made from
Titanium, the same as my bones structure, they are twelve inches long with
an additional five inches rounded off at the wrists end, this is the
handle, once the blades are clear of your skin you can grasp the handle
firmly for use, the blades are of course, razor sharp and will slice
through most things except solid metal plates, I do carry other weapons
within my Skerrit armour but they are for another time.

Within my plan I had worked out that, if the boys turned out well and good,
I would take them with me and continue their training and augmentations,
over the years working for Sega Corp, I had amassed a respectable amount of
credits, I also now owned an old and disused hunk of space rock far out in
the belt, it had been mined for its metal and then left, it was too
expensive for the Corporation to break down the mining camp so they just
left it all there, for a small price I bought it for myself, it was now my
home when I was not out on assignment, it was just the place to take the
boys after this was over.

On the morning of the fourth day I took the boys out into the yard, it put
a smile on my face when I watched the adults eyeing up the newly dressed
boys as they gathered around me in their new black clothing, it also went
unnoticed that Scorpion was moving a little stiffly, it had been a long
time since I had someone as small and petite as he was, it had been a tight
fit, tight but thoroughly enjoyable, even his grunts and squeals had been a
turn on.

For the next five days I set the boys to practicing their moves, quicker
than I thought, they picked it up and were becoming very proficient in the
use of their blades and other skills, it was time for the next part of my
plan, the assignment was simple but dangerous, I had been ordered to
eliminate one of the CEO's of Chase Corp, alone it would have been
difficult but with the five boys it would almost be a walk in the park,
with their newly acquired skills they could take care of the security
guards while I went after the big boy.

It had always been an understanding among the Corporations that the CEO's
and other board members were untouchable, lesser ranks were open season,
this was the first time a direct hit would be made against one of the
ruling elite, with luck they would not be expecting it, it was on this
premise that I felt assured of success.

At last the day had arrived to leave this prison, from the waist band of my
pants I took the small thin com unit; quickly I punched in the numbers I
required and set the time, turning to the boys I gave them one last order.

"You're all as ready as you ever will be, now for the true test, I want all
of you to go out into the yard then go to each of your home boys groups,
you have five minutes from the time you start the fight, to finish it, and
get back here, you have to kill off at least three of them before you come
back, any longer than five minutes or less than the three kills, then you
get left behind, ready? GO."

I watched as the boys left at a trot, the grim look on their faces told me
all I needed to know that they would complete this first mission, whether
they did it on time or got the three kills was another matter, it would
remain to be seen, exactly on the five minute mark the last boy, Scorpion,
arrived back in the cell, he was panting and short of breath but he did
make it in time although I had expected him to be the first back, not the
last.

Slamming the cell door shut, I turned to the boys.

"Ok, starting with Scorpion, how many kills?"

"Seven Sir."

"Snake?"

"Six Sir."

Spider?"

"Six Sir."

"Tiger?"

Five Sir."

"Panther?"

"Nine Sir."

"Nine?"

"Yes Sir, they were just too slow Sir."

"Well done, now we are going to get out of here, I want you all to grasp
hands, Scorpion; you will hold my hand, the rest hang on to each other."

I took out my concealed com unit and hit the button; this is the part I
hated the most, the gut wrenching surge as your body disintegrated into
particles and then reformed at the desired location, this was not a
generally known mode of transport, it was one of the best kept secrets of
the Chevalier De La Croix Noir and only the highest echelon of Sega Corp
knew of its existence.

We all arrived in the apartment room I had booked before getting myself
sent to the prison, it had been paid in full for two months so there was
little worry about having staff come looking when not needed, the boys
stood in awe as they looked at their new accommodations, it was not a top
line place but it was comfortable, in my line of work you had to have the
occasional luxury.

I waited until the boys had their heads in the right place, their first
time being transported in such a manner had disoriented them, it was too be
expected, once they were back with me, I issued my orders.

"Panther, as you got the highest count, you will come with me, you others
will stay here, do not leave this apartment, there's plenty of food and
drink, you can clean up and take a well earned rest until we come back, do
not go into my bedroom, you are in the other two over there, right,
Panther, go to one of the bedrooms, in the closet you will see a selection
of modern clothing, dress yourself so you look fancy and a little rich,
keep your Kevlar on underneath, you may need it."

I waited while the other four boys went to look for something to eat,
Panther was back in a couple of minutes and was dressed like any modern and
averagely wealthy teen would be, only if you looked at his booted feet
would you know he was something else, fortunately his overly long shirt,
much like a robe that was belted tightly around his slim waist, hid his
boots and his Kevlar pants.

"You look good Panther, now here's a purse with one thousand credits, take
my hand, we're going to meet someone and then onto a place you should
enjoy."

Grasping his hand I pressed the buttons for the other co-ordinates and we
disappeared from the apartment, almost instantly we reappeared in a dark
alley to the side of a towering accommodation block, at the entrance to the
dark alley stood a large figure, his hands deeply in his pockets as he
looked left and right for us to appear, placing my finger to my lips to
tell panther to move quietly, we stepped towards the waiting figure.

"We're here."

The startled prison guard jumped as my voice came from behind him, I'm sure
he will never work out how we got behind him in a dead end alley.

"So tell me what we are going into here."

"Uhm right, well they play in the basement of building 1205, the game is
Skaat, there are usually four other players as well as the dealer, the big
boss sits off to the side with two body guards, their usual method is to
let you win a lot until they think you are past caring, they then start too
hit you with losses until you are well behind, once that happens they give
you the chance to borrow enough for a couple more hands, by then they have
you, I since found out the other four players are also part of the gang,
it's a set up of course but I was in too deep to notice it at the time."

Skaat is a card game, it had its roots somewhere in the past when public
gambling was in vogue, Skaat is played with three cards in your hand and
three face down on the table, the object was to avoid getting either the
Ace, King or Queen of spades, if you got any of those you automatically
lose, if none are turned up then it is the best highest hand that wins, you
get one chance to change any card in your hand for one of the hidden cards.

If for instance, you have Ace King of Spades, you are fucked as you can
only change one of them from the middle, you may get rid of the Ace and
hope that one of the others picks it up from the centre but you are still
holding the King and that is not good, as you can see it is not too hard to
set someone up when you own the table and all the players work for you.

"Ok, can you get my boy in, tell them he is some rich kid with too much
money and likes to gamble, I'll be close by but you won't see me, just get
him in then leave, after that your troubles should be over and we are paid
in full for your help earlier, deal?"

"Yes, deal, hey thanks, my family would be out on the street without your
help."

"Just give up the gambling; besides I hate cheats, right off you go, get my
boy in and leave the rest to us."

I reached behind and pulled the cowl from my collar and covered my face, I
then hit my com unit in the right sequence and the stealth ability of my
Skerrit suit kicked in, to all intent and purposes I was now invisible to
anyone looking in my direction, it is times like this when you had better
be able to move silently or you can be easily placed.

I followed the two ahead until they came to one of the towering blocks that
made up the downtown area, the guard led Panther by the arm down the steps
to the lower levels, I stayed back in the shadows and waited while the
guard knocked solidly on what was obviously a metal door.

It took only a few seconds before a hatch slid back and then I heard the
rattling on a heavy set of bolts being pulled back, as the two went inside
I moved up to one side of the now closed door, the guards instructions were
to leave the boy there and leave as soon as possible, that's when I would
go in and watch over my protégé.

I waited outside for almost five minutes before I heard the sound of the
bolts being drawn once more, as the guard walked out I slid past him and
went in, not an easy task but doable for someone like me, inside the room
was dim except for the kidney shaped card table, Panther sat in the middle
with two players either side of him, the dealer sat in the hollow made by
the shape of the table, at the far end of the room sat a large very fat
man, behind him stood two giants, all muscle and, after checking them
mentally, very little intelligence either.

I stood in the shadows not far from the table, Panther had got his
instructions and was to follow the play as the gang set it out, of course
he was winning hand after hand, his stack of credits had almost tripled in
the short time they had been playing, the hands he lost were always small
ones with little money in the pot but he was allowed to win the big ones.

I took another hour before the cards began to turn in the houses favour, at
first it was just small losses but over the next hour they grew larger
until, eventually they had to offer the new boy some credit because he
wanted to keep playing, just as I told him to do, I must admit they had a
very slick operation and a lot of patience to go with it, when it got to
the stage of Panther now owing them over ten thousand credits, I gave the
soft click with my tongue that was our signal to end it.

It was almost beautiful to watch, Panther, after losing the last hand,
stood slowly too his feet and stared at the men around the table, with a
steady voice he said.

"You guys should know; that for a gang of amateurs you don't know much
about cheating; now you had your fun, give me back my thousand credits and
you will stay alive."

I was actually proud of the boy, his voice was steady and he sounded very
sure of himself, it also took the gang by surprise, I watched as the two
heavies moved towards the table and the big boss sat up too watch the fun,
the four players and the dealer looked at the boy with faintly amused
looks, as though to say, "This kid has got to be joking"

Still hidden in the deeper shadows, I switched off my stealth mode and drew
back my cowl, in a voice to match that of Panther I said to the gathering
gang members.

"You should really listen to him, including your boss over there, and
there's only eight of you, this morning he did away with nine guys he
didn't like, now why don't you be good guys and give him back his money,
oh, and by the way, why not give him everything on the table for his hard
work."

My voice coming from the deep shadows startled the gang, just as I had
planned, while they were trying hard to peer into the shadows, Panther had
stood and braced himself, his two blades now barely visible in the dim
light, the two heavies reached behind their backs, obviously for guns, the
four at the table began to rise from the chairs and the dealer just sat
back with a smile on his lips just like the boss was doing as he sat in his
overstuffed chair.

I had little to say, the heavies were mine, the rest were Panthers.

"Panther GO."

I left the boy to his fun and turned on the two heavies who by now had
their right hands coming towards the front grasping a large pistol, it took
little effort to part their heads from the shoulders and then I was on the
move towards the boss, his big fat ass was too slow to get out of the chair
by the time he did I was standing in front of him, with five to take care
of, Panther was still in action but it did not last long as he sliced both
ears off the dealer and then stood glaring at him.

The boy definitely had a mean streak in him, a good thing for the type of
life he was going to be leading from now on, letting one of my blades come
out, I rested it on the fat neck of the gang boss, the stink of his sweat
filled the room as I stared at him.

"Where do you keep your cash, don't try to lie to me, it might get
unpleasant for you."

The fat man pointed with a stubby finger towards his feet, there under his
right foot was the door to a floor safe.

"Open it."

He heaved his large bulky frame down and knelt on the floor, within a
minute the safe was open and he sat back on his fat butt as I looked
inside, it would be a very nice haul, I could not be bothered wasting any
more time so slashed him across the throat and pushed him out of the way as
he fell back and began to empty the safe.

"Ok boy, finish the job and let's get out of here, I'm hungry and want some
sleep, you can keep me warm tonight, you did a good job."

It was only minutes later and we were back in our apartment, the other four
boys were paired up and fast asleep, the boy and I got cleaned up and then
I took him to my bed, even after the big night he had had, he was still
full of energy, tumbling him that night was a good work out, even his
groans and grunts were energetic, he had only pleasure in mind as he thrust
back up at me when I buried every inch I had inside him.

The sun was well up by the time Panther and I awoke, the other boys were
trying to move silently around the apartment so they did not wake us, it
was little use as I was well aware of them the moment they awoke even
though I was still sleeping, my gift was such that nothing happened around
me that it did not take note of, it was like an early warning system.

After a quick meal it was time to tell the boys why they had been selected
to be my new companions, it was also time to tell them a little more of
what their future held for them.

Firstly I went into the broad details of whom and what I was, this seemed
to be of little surprise to the five boys, they just sat and nodded their
heads as I told them what they needed to know, next came the details of our
first job as a group, they would have the next five days to train for it
and then it would take place.

As soon as the job was over we were all leaving Terra for my small hidden
home, there they would receive more nanites and a whole lot more training,
there were still five places to be filled but they did not need to know
that part yet, when they were having their new nanites and changes taking
place, I would be away too find my last five boys, I would need all ten of
them for my final plan.

I grouped the boys around the model of the Chase compound; I had already
done my research on the location and had checked the routine for all the
guards, it had been the same for what must have been the best part of
twenty years, it was that long ago since any attempt had ever been made on
a leading family.

For the next five days and most of the nights, I worked the boys hard until
they knew every inch of the compound and every step the guards took, it
would be their job to eliminate the guards to the last man, I would do the
inside work, it was one of those jobs where I could not afford for the
least hesitation or it would be a disaster, every man, woman and child
inside the main building would have to be eliminated, it was the orders
from on high.

I did not enjoy having to do away with children, although from my reports,
those inside the compound were older teens, but this was to be a hard
strike against the Chase Corporation, Sega had plans of its own which did
not include the Chase Corp.

At the completion of the job I would transport the boys to my home, my ship
was well hidden and disguised, the ship was another benefit of my position
and the same secrecy surrounded the workings of the ship as it did with
most of my equipment, at the last count there were only seven of us left
from the original nine, there had been no more gifted found for the last
fourteen years, eventually there would be others found at the inspections
but for now we seven were the last, it did not leave me much time to carry
out the plan I had been working on almost since I was selected fourteen
years ago.

The days passed quickly, the boys improved by the hour and their retention
of the details of the compound and guards was very good, by the time it
came to move out and finish with this plan, they were at their best, I had
also had time to test each one of them in my bed, the younger of the
Latino's had turned out to be the most adventurous of them all, although he
told me he was from some place called Mexico and not Brazil like the older
teen, still, he was a real delight in my bed, it was almost like trying to
tie down a jumping bean when he got in the mood.

The compound walls were no joke, while it had been decades since any
attempted attack on a lead figure, they were still conscious of their
vulnerability should it be attempted again but they and their guards had
grown a little lax, it was only small things but for a man like me, it made
all the difference.

Entering the compound was made a little easier by some frayed connections
to their security cameras, there were also four infrared cameras out of
action in different parts of the wall, close to the tall metal walls, they
had planted shrubs and bushes, they were now well established and gave a
lot of shadow and cover in the dark of night.

Using every skill I had taught them, the boys slipped over the wall one at
a time once I had secured the thin wire to the top of the wall with an
electro bolt and checked the faulty wiring, within minutes the boys were
well concealed in the dark bushes, leaving the wire in place, I slid close
to Scorpion.

"Ok, set your boys out as we planned, when you hear my cough clear the
compound, no prisoners and no witnesses." To my whispered orders, Scorpion
just nodded and began to pass his instructions to the others although they
well knew the overall plan.

I set off in the deep gloom, moving silently from one shadow to the next, I
had my cowl up and was now no more than a shadow moving among other
shadows, as I reached the rear door of the huge mansion, I sent out a
gentle cough, to untrained ears it would sound much like a wild animal in
the bushes, it was also loud enough for Scorpion too hear.

I knew there would be five more guards on the inside of the mansion, it was
late enough in the night that most would be tired and bored, the Chase
family would have been in their beds for more than an hour and, barring any
late night wanderings, should all be asleep.

Using a disruptor key, I slid inside the mansion, from behind me there was
not a sound, the boys should be working as I trained them, and as long as
there was total silence then all was well on their end.

Ahead of me was a dimly lit hall that lead to a grand double staircase,
large wood panelled doors led off both sides of the hall, in one of these
would be at least two guards, in all likelihood they would be sleeping or
at least dozing, there was little to do in such a well guarded mansion, I
slipped inside and took note of the two guards laid out on a sofa each,
their mouths open slightly as they softly snored, two fast stabs and they
were silent for evermore, I moved back to the hall and began the silent
climb up the wide staircase.

At the top of the stairs another guard was propped in a chair with his feet
on the banister, his chin was on his chest as he dozed in front of a narrow
door, I knew that behind the door were the last two guards, they were in
charge of the security camera monitors, using my belt blade I slipped it
into the back of his neck and severed his spinal column, he did not even
grunt, leaving him their I used my disruptor key and once again I had the
door open and was inside before the two guards had time to turn from their
monitors.

Ten seconds later I left the room after making sure every alarm was
switched off, next were the bedrooms along the top passage, the first one
held a girl of somewhere between eighteen and twenty five, with my better
eye sight I could see what others did not and they were the very fine,
almost invisible scars of a lot of corrective surgery, I gave her an
injection of 1cc of Clytherol, she would be out for an hour unless I gave
her the antidote, which is what I planned once I had all the others under
my control.

Next was the bedroom of the oldest boy, he lay in his bed and looked like
you would expect one of the elite to look like, slightly overweight and
soft, he had been living the good life for a long time, he was about
nineteen, his softness was easy to discern, 1cc took care of him, I now had
only the youngest boy and the parents.

The third bedroom held the youngest boy, he looked to be about fourteen or
fifteen, none of the softness about him, the good life style had not yet
caught up to him, he lay on top of his bed totally naked, it took no time
at all for me to decide this one was coming home with me, he got 10 cc, it
would keep him out for a good twelve hours, plenty of time to be far away
from here.

The last bedroom was large and well appointed, it was a room of luxury and
privilege, in the huge round bed laid the figures of the two adults, a
injection in each and I was ready to carry out the final instructions of
Sega Corp.

With my enhancements, it was easy to lift the sleeping forms one by one and
take them downstairs to the main hall, there I tied each one to a stout
heavy chair, going to the front door I looked out and whistled for my boys
to come inside.

Once the boys had joined me, I set about explaining what the Clytherol did
and how to use it, I then went into details about what our boss, the Sega
Corporation wanted done, after looking at each boy to gauge his reaction to
what was about to be done and seeing only interest, I set about waking up
the four eldest of the family, the youngest one I left asleep, he did not
need to see what happened to his family, the less he knew the easier it
would be to have him join us.

I administered the antidote to the four senior Chases then stood back and
waited until they could clearly see and understand what was going on around
them; the father was the first to notice something wrong as he tried to
fight against the bonds holding him to the chair.

"What's going on here, release me this instant, do you know who I am?"

"Yes, I know who you are; you're Macklin Chase, senior VP of Chase
Corporation and eldest son of Hamlin Chase, CEO and owner of Chase
Corporation."

"You have no right to be here, we will hunt you down and kill you and your
young friends, now release me this instant."

"Not going to happen, this is a message from Sega Corp to your father,
Scorpion, set up the camera; Snake take up a position behind the young fat
boy; Spider, behind the girl; Panther, the mother, the father is mine,
Tiger watch over the youngest boy but don't hurt him unless I say so,
Scorpion, are you ready?"

A nod from Scorpion and all was ready.

"Everything is going to be recorded and sent to your father as a warning,
if he doesn't do what he is told too, then it will be his second son Simon
next."

I checked around to make sure all of them were wide awake, this was going
to be messy but it was the way the Sega Corp wanted it to be, no I did not
enjoy this sort of thing, I preferred a quick clean kill but my bosses had
demanded an example be made, it was for this reason I was going to build up
my own little army in secret.

I will not go into all the gory details but let me just say the fancy
mansion was like a charnel house when the boys had finished with the three
others, the father I spent some time on, he was going to be allowed to live
but not in any form where he would have much of a life, by the time I
finished with him, he was unable to ever walk again, breed again or even
talk as a last lesson I told him to take a final look at his youngest and
told him the boy would be filling my bed for a few years to come then took
away his sight, finally I place a tourniquet on each wrist and took his
hands, he would be nothing more than a vegetable and have to be cared for
by others for the remainder of his life with the last thoughts being of
watching his family destroyed in the most horrible way.

I nodded to the boys and, after throwing the youngest son over my shoulder,
we went outside where I set the third co-ordinates on my com unit and got
us out of there, the recording would be sent from my ship just before we
left in about five minutes, they should reach the mansion in time to save
the father.

As the seven of us materialized in the small grove, I hit the com unit and
my ship shimmered into being as it hovered ten metres above the ground, it
was a beautiful sight, long and slim, coloured in a matt black, it could
carry ten passengers as well as the pilot and observer, they were seated
one behind the other at the front of the round nose, the passengers were
seated in the main body, the ship was powered by duel pulse engines and
could outrun anything in space, each of us working for Sega Corp had been
given one, they were the only ones known to exist.

I got the boys onboard and lay the still unconscious boy in one of the
seats and strapped him in, Tiger wanted to join me in the control cabin so
I let him follow me up there while the others strapped themselves in,
reactivating the stealth mode, I turned on the twin engines and got ready
to leave the planet, first I quickly sent the recording off to the main
offices of Chase Corporation then hit the power switch, we were well into
the stratosphere before they even got the message, the end result of that I
had no idea, I had carried out the orders of Sega Corp just as they wanted,
it was now time to head for home and then find the last four members of my
new little army.

If I had been made to use the normal interstellar transport system, it
would have taken nearly four months to get to the asteroid belt where my ex
mining home was, with my little ship it took only five days, the twin pulse
engines were capable of speeds far in excess of anything known to the
general transport modes, with the added use of the stealth mode I was also
invisible to anyone, including the Sega Corporation, the position of my
private home was unknown too anyone in the corporation or anywhere else.

I had made the purchase of the asteroid with the use of a proxy buyer who
was a very old man at the time and was now dead, he had lived his last
hours on the planet of Cosmo 6, a planet owned by HSBC Corporation, as far
as anyone was concerned, the asteroid was now abandoned and no longer in
use, it was a perfect place to have a hidden home.

The boys had been fed on Space rations, a gooey mass of vitamins and
minerals eaten from a plastic bag, they were sufficient for the short trips
I made but I would not like to live on them for long periods, The Chase boy
had awoken after the drug had worn off and I had let Tiger drive the ship
while I went to tell him where and what he now was, too my surprise he
nodded enthusiastically, it seemed he was one of those sons of the wealthy
and powerful that had been nothing more than an afterthought to his
parents, much like a mistake, the boy seemed glad to get away from his
home.

As we travelled, I began the boys transformation with the last of my nanite
injections, once at home, all the boys would be going through a lot more
transformations until they were as well protected and capable as I was
although they would not have the mental talent that I had, once rested and
the boys were into their upgrades, I would leave in search of my last four
boys after I reported my success to Sega Corp, although they would probably
know by now as the news casts would be full of the attack.

Each boy had his own room, as I put each one to bed I set the nanites for
upgrade, they would all be out for the next six months while they were
brought up to the same standard as my own nanites, it would give me plenty
of time to search for the other four boys, it was going to be an
interesting time, I knew I could not return to Terra for the others but I
had no intention of getting them from that planet anyhow.

After checking on the boys I set about getting everything ready for my
trip, all weapons were checked and, after making a call to a man I knew who
could supply ten Skerrit suits when called for, I set out for my ship, Sega
Corp were not stupid and had inserted tracer chips in the ships, of course
it took all nine of us little effort to find and disable them, it had
caused a little trouble with the Corporation but we sorted that out in
quick order, the loss of the Knights to the Corporation would have been a
death knell for them, they could not risk us working against them.

I left my asteroid home and set course for Gana6, it was there I was sure I
could find at least two of the boys I wanted, the planet had been a food
producing planet, its similar weather conditions to Terra made it a true
bread basket of the planets, it was also well known as a pleasure planet
for those who liked boys, for some unknown reason, the women of Gana6
birthed five boys to every girl, with the odds like that it did not take a
genius to know what would happen with so many boys and few girls around.

It was a flight of ten days, most of which I spent in one of the stasis
pods with the ship working under the eye of the Positronic Brain installed
by the Knights workshop, another little addition the Corporation knew
nothing about, one day out from Gana6 and I was awoken with the usual sexy
voice of the PB in my ear, I had had it programmed to sound like a thirteen
year old boy, it was something pleasurable to wake up too.

A bribe of four hundred credits allowed me to pass through the immigration
station, being Segan I was always under suspicion of carrying weapons,
which on Gana6 was totally illegal, four hundred credits was about a year's
wages for an immigration officer, my passport disc was marked and I walked
through the doors and out into the fresh smelling air of Gana6.

I did not want to waste time on the planet and so set my direction for the
Concourse, this is the well known area for picking up boys, on Gana6 there
was no age limit, the credits earned by the many, many boys on the
Concourse went to build up quite a treasury for the planets owners, some of
the boys were so young they should have been home in bed but their eyes
told of experiences that would have driven other unprepared boys into an
insane asylum, for the Gana6 boys it was just natural to work the Concourse
when they felt they were ready.

The boys on the Concourse were not the pushy type unlike so many other
places where a boy's favours could be purchased, here on Gana6 they knew
that their charms were looked for and those who could provide the best
experience were the ones who got the credits in their belts, most boys
dressed very much alike, very short shorts that showed off their fine
coltish legs and fine body structures, many went without shirts or
coverings of any kind on their slim torso's, haircuts varied for each boy
and their bright smiling faces filled the Concourse with a sunny
disposition.

As I strolled through the many boys, I kept my eyes open for the ones I
wanted, using my mind skills I searched each boys head as I walked past, of
course a man walking the Concourse was an object of possible credits for
the boys so it was not difficult to circulate amongst them, I had been
watching and talking to the man boys for no more than ten minutes before I
found the first boy, he was about fifteen and had the brightest blue eyes I
had ever seen on any boys, he also had a hidden streak inside him that was
of more import to my needs.

I looked at the boy and gave him the normal nod of desire, he smiled widely
and the other boys around started to drift away as he stepped up by my
side, his smile now wider than ever, I quickly read his thoughts and kept
the smile to myself as his desires came into my head, his most over riding
desire was to leave Gana6, he was one of those boys that wanted more than
to be just a street boy working the tourists.

"Hi, my names Sargasso, what's yours?"

"Balik, what do you like to do?"

"Well Balik, I like a boy who likes adventure, I also would like another
boy along as well, do you know of any boy who would like to get away from
Gana and experience new adventures?"

"I might, Sargasso is a funny name, is it really your name?"

"Yes it's really my name, now what about another boy to join us?"

"What's it worth for both of us to go with you?"

"For you and another boy, more than you could ever dream of, you would have
travel, credits, new clothes and lots of bed time."

"Hmm. This is not a come on is it?"

"No, I always keep my word, now what about this other boy?"

"If you wait right here and don't go away, I'll go look for him and bring
him here so you can see him."

"Ok, I'll stay here and wait for you, by the way, how old is he, I don't
want a baby?"

"Same as me, nearly fifteen, I should be back in ten minutes."

Balik gave me a last look over to make sure he was not being fooled by some
mark and took off in a fast walk towards the far end of the Concourse which
was at the opposite end from which I had come from, as the time passed I
boy watched and waited for Balik's return, hoping that the friend he was
bringing would fit my needs.

It was a little over ten minutes before I saw Balik walking back through
the crowd of boys, with him was a real cutey, flashing green eyes, a mop of
black curls on top of his head and a slim tanned body, he was a similar
height as Balik and, after a quick read, had the same need to get away from
Gana6, he also had a touch of blackness in the back of his mind, just what
I was looking for.

Balik saw me leaning on the metal wall that went the length of the
Concourse, he smiled and waved then said something to the other boy, the
boy lifted his head and looked in my direction, he said something to Balik
then smiled in my direction, his step seemed to lighten as they both drew
closer, once beside me I looked at Balik, there was no need for questions.

"His name is Mikos; he's my best friend and wants to go with us, if it's ok
with you?"

I looked the boy over while I read deeper inside his head, he was just what
I was looking for, the two of them would be perfect and the fact that both
of them had a very mean streak hidden deep inside was even better.

"Hi Mikos, my name's Sargasso, so you want to come on an adventure with
Balik and I?"

"Sure, anything to get off this planet, there just isn't anything but the
Concourse for us here."

"Ok, do you have anything you want to collect before we leave?"

"What time do you leave?" Balik asked.

"Just as soon as you have everything you want to take with you."

"There's nothing here for us that we want to take, so, we're ready now."

"Nothing; What about clothes and private things?"

"You said you would give us clothes and everything we wanted."

"Ok, that's right and I will, so let's leave this place and get a move on,"

The two boys smiled at each other and just followed along behind as I led
them towards the space dock, an hour later and they were both in stasis
modules and I was on my way to the next stop, Kramer 04, this was a planet
with a very nasty reputation, just the place to find my last two boys, the
planet was owned by Lloyds Corporation, it was truly a frontier town, the
Corporation Police worked fully armoured and armed at all times, the miners
here were not known for good behaviour, it was estimated that a miner was
murdered every three hours over one thing or another, it also held the
reputation of having more single mothers than any other planet.

The boys on Kramer 04 were known to be almost feral in their ways, the only
outlet they had when older was the mines, a planet of broken families,
murder and mayhem was just the place I would find the two boys I was
looking for to complete my little private army.

There was no immigration checks on Kramer 04, most of the ships visiting
were either Corporation or cargo, this was not a planet for casual tourists
looking for a good time, I landed the ship in a dirty part of the port and
set my security system, the other two boys were left in stasis for their
own safety, I had been on Kramer 04 twice before to do a job for the Sega
Corporation so knew it fairly well and its dangers, I left the ship lock
with all my wits on full alert.

I had gone no more than two hundred metres before the first thug decided
the new boy was a good target, three Police were standing only a few metres
away and showed little concern about the confrontation until the thug was
on the ground bleeding his life away, they then looked at me more closely,
taking full note of my Skerrit suit, they turned and walked away, even way
out here on the rim, they knew better than to try to take down someone
dressed as I was.

In half an hour I was in the middle of the down trodden business district,
everything here was owned by the Corporation, the signs of poverty were
everywhere and the faces of the people showed the little hope they had of
ever seeing anything better, the whole place was ripe for some form of
revolution, it was doubtful if it would ever happen as the Corporation held
a very tight rein on everything related to the planet.

I kept a lookout for the type of boys I wanted, it was not difficult to
find boys but to find the right ones was far more of a task, most of them
had the deep seated hunger for something else but few had the hardness I
was looking for, that was until I came to an alley off the main street, it
was coming onto night and the street was lit only by a low light every
twenty or so metres, most back alleys were dark and there lay the danger
or, in my case, the hope.

The two boys hiding in the alley had thought they would be invisible,
perhaps they would have been if I had not been a Segan, they both held what
looked like an iron bar in their dirty hands, their hair was a mass of
tight dirty curls that had not seen water in a very long time, their
clothes hung on their underfed bodies barely covered by their rags, their
feet were bare and also dirty, with a quick read I knew they were at their
wits end, they were also brothers, the older was just sixteen and the
younger was fourteen.

I stopped just at the entrance to the alley and waited for the boys to work
up their courage, it took a little longer than I thought it would but
eventually they started to make their move, as they tried to sneak closer,
I called out.

"It's not worth it boys, lay down your pipes and come talk to me like young
men should, you never know, there may be something in it for you without
you getting your heads busted."

I watched as the boys faces took on a look of fear, how had I not only
heard them but seen them as well was beyond their comprehension, slowly
they lowered their pipes and then took a couple of careful steps towards
where I stood waiting, by the smell of the two boys they had not seen water
for a very long time, just like their clothes.

When they had finally got to within five feet of me I put my hand up to
stop them, given time and a lot of hot water, they would have been quite
cute, they would also need a lot of food to build them back to something
resembling good looking boys.

"Is this the life you guys want, if so you should be dead before much
longer, however, if you want to come with me I can give you a new life, it
means leaving this planet but I will guarantee you will never have to rob
anyone again just to survive, the decision is yours and you have two
minutes to make up your mind."

I stood and waited while they whispered to each other, of course I could
hear everything they said but thought it better to let them tell me when
they were ready, the older of the two looked at me with narrowed eyes.

"Are you going to sex us?"

"Probably later but not before you have had a chance to get some meat on
your bones, if you don't want that to happen then you can walk away now and
I'll find some other boys, if not then tell me you're in and we can get off
this planet right away, it's up to you."

The older boy looked at his brother, with a slight nod of his head the
younger one agreed to go, the older asked one more question.

"You only sex my brother if I'm there, I don't want no damage done to him."

"Fair enough, if you're ready then let's get off this place."

The boys slumped a little but then were happy to follow along behind as I
directed my steps back towards where my ship waited, once there I got them
aboard and settled into the stasis beds after explaining everything to them
about where we were going, I would wait until we got back to my home before
giving them a good long hot bath and starting the regime of nanite
treatment.

The trip home took just over fifteen days in my little ship, by the time I
got there, the report from Sega Corp was waiting for me, they had paid in
full with a nice bonus for a good job and done well within the time frame,
there was also a report on the fall out of the job, the Chase Corporation
was in an uproar, they had never had such a high up manager taken in that
way without any knowledge of who had called for the hit, it also meant that
from now on it would be doubly difficult to get to the owners as they would
up their security at any cost.

Once docked at home I did not wake the four new boys but just transferred
the stasis beds to one of the rooms and set the program of nanite changes
to start, once the new boys were settled I checked on the others, they were
well underway and I left it to the system to watch over them as I went to
finally have a long hot shower, if another job came up while the boys were
being upgraded, I would be able to get away, my system was good enough to
look after my little army for years if anything happened to me.


TBC


Artcart65@gmail.com