Disclaimer: If you're under age to read stuff about guys having sex or if you find it offensive, your society finds it offensive or illegal then stop reading now! This story is completely fictional, as are all the characters.

There was a break of almost ten years between writing chapters 34 and 35. Because of this there may be one or two inconsistencies between the old and the new chapters. I've tried to compensate so it would work anyway, but I hope you don't mind too much.

Unlike the original chapters I edit and rewrite before I post the new ones, and I also planned the story ahead, I don't know if you can tell. I took a break from editing during November 2011 while I wrote a novel, my first year doing NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). Now I'm back on track editing Going Home.

This is the sixth new chapter, and the fourth one to be set on the moon orbiting the planet. I haven't written as far, but I intend to move them off this moon and out into the galaxy soon enough.

For those who may be new to this story, you shouldn't start here. If you do anyway: It contains some disturbing imagery and violence. But no matter what happens to the narrator and his friends, they always come back.

Hope you enjoy!


Going Home, Part 40

In front of me was two swords on the stand and opposite me another boy that I didn't recognise had two swords in the stand in front of him too. The voice told us to use the swords to kill the other or be killed. And then the bell sounded. My opponent had quite a high serial number so he could either be a completely new boy or a copy of somebody else.

We started circling each other, one sword in each hand.

`Nothing personal' I said.

`What?' the other boy said.

`Nothing personal. Have you got this far in the games and not heard that before?' I said.

`Actually everybody keeps telling me those two words, I don't understand why' the boy said and came at me swinging his swords one after the other repeatedly. It wasn't just mindless swinging of the swords either. He was able to make complicated series of moves with each sword individually.

`I've got nothing against you. I don't even know you. I don't want to kill you but I'm expected to, so I will try my best. Nothing personal, but I will do my best to kill you' I elaborated, parrying his sword blows consistently and without much effort.

I discovered I could also make complicated series of moves with each hand individually. This made patting your own head with one hand and making a circle over your chest with the other seem like child's play. And we were both doing these moves without putting any thought into it. We Terrans slaves had always been able to do things that the Masters programmed into us that had surfaced occasionally down on the planet. Now that we had been drafted these abilities were becoming available to us permanently. The ability to sword fight, making intricate moves with each arm individually and simultaneously was apparently one of those abilities. There was some effort involved though since the boy used quite a lot of force in his swings and thrusts I had to do that as well in order to block them.

`Really? Well this is personal. I had this great collection of severed Terran cocks, but because you and your whiny boyfriend, I was turned into a Terran and now I'm forced to fight for my life in this fucking arena' the boy said. He pivoted round on his left foot while he brought his other foot up and kicked me in the chest. I was knocked off my feet and the sword I held in my left hand was flung away from me several meters.

What he said didn't make any sense. I did see the collector pretty close up after he became a Terran, and this boy fighting me now looked nothing like him. I couldn't see what he could possibly hope to gain by claiming to be the collector, seeing as the collector wasn't very popular among his own species even.

`You're saying you were the Master who collected cocks?' I said.

`Yes. I even had one of yours, I believe. I was going to get another of yours and your heart if the fucking MPs hadn't rushed in and stopped me. What do you say to that, huh? Let me hear it before I kill you again. In fact, I think I'm gonna take your cock and then your heart here and now' the boy said. Before I had a chance of getting up or getting to my second sword the boy put one foot on my belly. The boy bent over to my groin area. As I lay on the ground the front of my loin cloth lay against my belly and my involuntary erection was exposed. The boy put one of his swords next to my cock and balls and clearly intended to cut it off while he held the tip of the other sword just under my sternum just where the collector had stuck his knife in to remove my heart, the day before.

`You're a rotten liar' I said and swung my remaining sword so the one against my chest was knocked aside and in the process gave him a nasty cut on his leg.

He took a couple of stumbling steps away from me, without making any cuts on me anywhere. I quickly got up off the ground and picked up my second sword.

'My leg! This won't go unpunished. Fortunately for you it's only a scratch and won't stop me from killing you. And why do you call me a rotten liar? I'm not lying' the boy said.

`I called you a liar because that's what you are. I said rotten, because you're not even good at lying. You're right about one thing, the MPs turned the collector into a Terran. But that was after he cut my heart out and then cut my cock off a second time. I also saw him after he became a Terran and he looks nothing like you. Finally, according to the MPs, the method they used to turn him into a Terran would prevent him from retaining his memories of being a Master' I said as I started fencing again.

This time I was on the offensive forcing him to parry my swings and thrusts. Well not forcing really, I didn't move my swords for him to parry the blows, I was aiming to kill him. Normally in the arena I accepted the fact that sometimes I won and sometimes I lost and died. Now, with this jerk I decided losing wasn't an option.

`I was the collector' the boy insisted and made an attempt at kicking me the same way as he did earlier. This time I saw it coming and was able to duck the kick. While crouching I stretched one leg out and pivoted so I knocked the leg he was pivoting on from out under him. He fell hard on his back.

`No. I have no doubt you were a Master. You have the arrogance of one of those who liked to torture and kill Terrans, but you were not the collector. I don't know why you persist in claiming that. I think you're that one guy who claimed he had reformed after putting me on the wall of fame and then killed another Master in order to be made Terran. Either you lied when you said you were reformed or being Terran wasn't all you'd hoped for and now have changed your mind. I think you're K'chakt'aa' I said as I stood up again. I guess I could have finished him there and then, but I wanted the satisfaction of hearing him confirm my theory of his identity.

`It's pronounced, K.... Ow, my jaw!' the boy said getting up.

`K... Ow, my yaw? Wow, we were way off in our pronunciation' I teased.

`Damn, I can't even say it anymore' the boy said and then started a new frantic attack against me.

`Have you got a Terran name yet, or is it okay if we call you Ow My Jaw?' I said as I parried his moves again.

'I have a Terran name, but I'm not going to tell it to you' Ow My Jaw said and intensified his attack. I managed to make a circular move with my right hand making his left sword fly out of his hand.

He looked at my two swords and his one remaining. He then glanced over to where his second sword lay at the very edge of the platform.

'Why keep it secret?' I said and threw my left sword aside. I didn't want to lose against this jerk, but I still wanted it to be a somewhat fair fight.

'So that when you do learn my Terran name you will be devastated as you realise how I've hurt you' Ow My Jaw said and then dove for the sword I had just discarded.

I instinctively kicked at him, hitting him the side of his ribcage with an audible crack from a couple of ribs. He still got hold of the sword though and got back up on his feet quickly enough. He put the back of one hand against the place where I had just broken a couple of his ribs and it was clearly painful to him.

`I'm gonna get you for this' Ow My Jaw said pointing at his ribs and at the cut I made earlier on his leg. 'You're gonna pay with your life' he added.

'What? For a couple of broken ribs and a superficial cut on your leg? Your ribs and your leg will be perfectly fine in your next body. These are things that happens in the heat of the moment. I've been trying to kill you and so far you've gotten away with a couple of blemishes that aren't even life threatening. I have half a dozen cuts that you've given me during this match but you don't hear me complaining about that. These things are unavoidable when fighting with swords and wearing nothing but loin cloths' I said.

'You don't get to kill me! I kill you! Don't you know who I am?' Ow My Jaw said. He had been self absorbed before, when he was a Master but nothing like this. Now he seemed to suffer from megalomania.

'You're Ow My Jaw, former Master. "Former" is the key word here. You're a Terran now and sent into the arena to kill or be killed. The Masters don't care who you were before. They just want to see one of us kill the other, they don't care which one dies unless they've bet money on one of us' I said. This sent him into a rage and he came at me swinging the swords wildly. The impressive, individual moves from earlier in the match were gone, replaced by frantic waving of the swords.

I parried his blows the best I could. It was easier now that he was in this rage, but I was still at a disadvantage with only one sword. He kept advancing on me so I had to keep stepping backwards and suddenly there was just air where I tried to set down my foot. I started falling backwards but quickly turned in the air and with my free hand I got a hold of the edge of the platform. I noticed the edge was a bit like a slight rounded rim that went up a bit from the real base of the platform just in order to keep the sand from falling off too much. This gave me something to hold on to as I, with my arm stretched out, "ran" with my feet along the side of the platform in a sort of a pendulum move until I came flying up onto the platform while I swung my sword at Ow My Jaw and ran him through.

I got up on my feet and stood facing Ow My Jaw who had my sword sticking out of his belly slightly to one side. He dropped his swords and sank to his knees.

'How dare you kill me?' Ow My Jaw gasped.

'I haven't killed you yet' I said. I looked at him. He looked frightened. It suddenly struck me that he hadn't gotten used to getting killed over and over again. It might be possible that he refused to let himself get used to it. In his mind he was still a Master and the one who did all the killing while we were the ones doing all the dying. I crouched down next to him so I could look him in the eyes as I talked to him. 'I would probably have been content with being killed by you if you hadn't started spewing your hate against me and my friends. Had you just not revealed who you were this could have been an ordinary match. But once I figured out who you are and because of the hatred you showed me, I became determined not to lose this match, no matter what. I probably don't have much time, the Masters tend to get impatient when one is mortally wounded and they just wants the other player to finish the other off. I'll try to be quick because I don't want you to suffer either, and that's the big difference between us. When you were a Master, it seems to me you were never or rarely content with just killing us, we had to suffer each time before death came. True, you're suffering now, but I actually don't want you to suffer, I just want to tell you something before I give you a quick and painless death. What did you do? Let's see, you've bolted me and my friends to walls and vehicles, you've stabbed, decapitated and shot us and the only quick death was the decapitation. I'm gonna kill you now, and this I do out of kindness. A mercy killing. I'm putting you out of your current misery and it will be quick' I said as I picked up the sword that I made fly out of Ow My Jaw's hand earlier.

`Ah, vengeance. It is personal after all' the boy said.

'No, nothing personal. No vengeance for the way you've killed us before. I just pointed out the difference in the type of death you will get' I said. 'Weren't you even listening?' I said a bit exasperated.

'Don't you fucking kiss me or anything' the boy said.

`Don't you worry, I only do that to people I like. People close to me' I said and then I made a quick cut on the side of his neck, severing the carotid artery. He bled out in seconds. On the HUD I got another 500 points.

I gave the body a slight push so it fell over the side of the platform. I was again instructed not to leave my own corpse behind. This time I removed the rod from my collar and then stood on the very edge of the ellipse with only the pad of my foot and my toes still on the platform. I felt my heart quicken as well as the other symptoms and then my heart was blown to bits and I squirted my semen onto the sand while I no longer could support myself on the platform like that so I fell backwards. I was dead before I reached the spikes.

††â€

Next I found myself standing on a much smaller platform. It was round and just over a meter in diameter. About half a meter away was another platform just like it with Kenny on it. We were just close enough so I reached out my left arm and Kenny did the same and we held each other's arms like we did the night before. My tattoo didn't glow at all, while Kenny didn't even have a tattoo.

`I had the tattoo this morning. Actually, I had it just now in my previous match. The smart tattoos were programmed so they would stay on always except on a new copy of that clone. This can only mean one thing, they've made another me and I'm not the original' Kenny said as we let go of each other's arms.

`You're still a Kenny and that means a lot to me' I said. Kenny smiled at this.

As the ear piece voice started talking two rods with padded endings came down from above. We took one each.

'You have one minute to push your opponent from his platform. If both of you are still standing after that time the padding comes off' the voice said and the bell sounded.

'Nothing personal' we both said. I felt a wave of relief from hearing it again after the last match.

We swung at each other and tried to knock the other off his platform. I didn't enjoy the prospect of killing Kenny, even if it wasn't my Kenny, and I'm sure he felt the same way about killing me. But we both knew better than to refuse to fight. Both he and I were close to falling at different times. After one minute springs inside the rods made the padded endings fly off and drop to the spiked floor below. Now there was a foot long sharp blade on each end of the rods.

'This seems a bit superfluous' I said.

'How so?' Kenny said making a few swings with his rod.

'The loser gets impaled down there anyway. Is it really necessary to cut me open first' I said jumping over his rod as he swung it low.

'Good point. Don't assume I will be the one winning this match' Kenny said using the rod as a lance, trying to run me through. I leaned aside while parrying.

'It was only an example' I said swinging my rod. Kenny ducked under it.

'But still, we're both trying, right? Best not to disappoint the Masters that are watching. Anyway, there is a way to kill the other before he gets impaled' Kenny said as he swung the blade at neck height.

'How?' I asked and leaned back as much as I could without loosing my balance but enough to avoid being decapitated. It still wasn't far enough and the blade made a very small cut at the front of my throat, just over the larynx, merely scratching my skin.

'I tried to demonstrate it, but you leaned back' Kenny said and made a full turn with his rod so the second blade came at my neck. I made a jump like a cartwheel without putting my hands on the ground, I simply spun sideways so the spear passed where I had been standing and then moments later I landed back, almost in the same spot. I had no idea I could do that, but I was certain that this was another move that was part of the programming that now surfaced. I had thought that these abilities would be available to me the moment I was drafted but it seemed now it was a gradual process. In spite of this fancy move the blade still nicked my ear. Also, the platform wasn't really quite big enough to make this kind of move and I was close to falling, but I managed to regain my balance. Kenny looked quite impressed by this move in spite of my nearly falling.

`You were trying to decapitate me? You mean like this?' I said making a similar swing with my rod which Kenny either wasn't prepared for or actually counted on and let me kill him, for in one swift move the blade on my rod decapitated Kenny.

Kenny's head more or less flew off from the force of the blow and landed somewhere out of sight below. The ECG on my HUD showed Kenny's heart kept pumping for a few seconds before it stopped. Jets of blood came shooting up from the carotid arteries for those few seconds. Meanwhile Kenny's body collapsed and fell off the small platform to the spikes below.

'I'm sorry, dear' I said and felt a tear roll down my cheek for Kenny.

`Congratulations, you have passed the single combat part of the games. You will be transferred back to the common area for lunch. You've also been granted a promotion, once more congratulations. For transfer to the common area, kill yourself in any manner you see fit' the ear piece voice said in my ear.

I wasn't too happy about having just killed Kenny, even if it was just a Kenny and not my Kenny. It was still in a way the boy I loved. I decided I didn't deserve the quick, easy and slightly pleasurable way of the heart charge. I threw myself forward off the platform and fell with my arms stretched out, seeing the spikes getting nearer and nearer until I was impaled upon them. There was pain in several places for a few seconds before I died. Right next to me was Kenny's headless corpse. I found some comfort that my corpse would be close to his. And moments later I died again.

††â€

I found myself standing on my platform and stepped off it, right away. I looked around. It seemed I was alone in the common area, for now. I decided to walk over to the tables and stopped halfway there. At every table there were dead bodies. We had all just died and been sent to the arena and nobody had bothered to dispose of the corpses. I thought the tables were automatically lowered into the matter reclamation units while we were gone, but this disproved that hypothesis.

I walked over to where I had been the same morning and there my body still was, lying on it's back on the bench with a big hole in it's chest and the fly of the shorts completely undone. I couldn't see the corpse's cock, but that was because Kenny's head was in the way. I leaned forward to look from the side. Kenny was sitting astride his bench still and leaned forward, to where he had my cock in his mouth.

Suddenly the section of tables I was on started lowering into the floor. I hurried towards the walkway, but it was difficult as it wasn't much space between each set of table and benches and with a corpse on nearly every bench it was very tight. By the time I reached the walkway it was just at eye level for me. Kim came running towards me.

`Jack, don't stay down there! It's really painful to die that way!' Kim cried. Then the secondary floor panel slid into place above my head.

There was a reddish glow as the flesh began ripping off the corpses turning into what looked like dust. I noticed I felt pain all over my body and raised my right hand to look at it. The flesh was being ripped off me too. I didn't see any more than that though as everything went dark. I still felt the searing pain and came to the conclusion that the reason everything went black wasn't because I died, I didn't, but because I went blind as I guess my eyes had been atomised the same way as the rest of me. I felt the pain of being ripped apart for a few seconds more and then I materialised on my platform again right next to Kenny.

We immediately stepped off the platforms and I hugged and kissed Kenny. Meanwhile Kim came running over to me.

`That was horrible, wasn't it? I should have said something about that last night when it happened to me, so you wouldn't have stayed behind voluntarily now' Kim said.

`That's okay. I don't blame you. I didn't want to remain down there but I couldn't make it to the walkway in time. It was a pretty painful death, but I'm okay now' I said and then Kim and I hugged and kissed as Kim seemed quite keen on comforting me that way after this painful death.

`Matter reclamation while still alive? I haven't suffered through it, but I've heard stories from other guys I've met in the arena' Kenny said.

`Yes, try to avoid it if you can' I said and then hugged Kenny again.

'I second that' Kim said and Kenny ruffled Kim's hair as a response.

`I'm sorry!' I said to Kenny suddenly as I felt a pang of guilt.

`For what?' Kenny said.

`I killed you in the arena not too long ago' I said.

`I would remember that' Kenny said.

`Well, it wasn't you... it was another copy of you, but still. I feel awful for having killed a copy of my boyfriend' I said and then I remembered and corrected myself; 'husband.'

`Oh. I understand completely. I'm also feeling kind of guilty for having killed a copy of you in the arena just now. Did the other me suffer?' Kenny said.

`No. I cut your... his head off, so it should have been pretty instantaneous. How did you kill my double?' I said.

`I put two swords in his belly and then pulled one out and stabbed him through his heart' Kenny said.

`Oh. Did he have a tattoo on his left wrist?' I said holding out my left hand.

`No. So they must have made another copy of you... and one of me too, I guess since you asked' Kenny said holding his hand next to mine causing our tattoos to glow green.

`There are now four of me, one copy of the original and one of the first copy' a voice said suddenly.

Kenny and I looked around and saw three copies of me standing a bit a way. One of them had a tattoo on his left wrist. That was obviously the first copy of me. The one made yesterday and who fucked me on a table last night.

`There's also four of Kenny' one of my new doubles said.

Three copies of Kenny had been standing directly behind my doubles but now walked to where they were all visible. One of them had a wrist tattoo just like my Kenny did, while the other two doubles didn't. I looked at both new copies of Kenny and tried to figure out which of them I had just met in the arena. Fairly quick I was certain it was the one standing furthers to my right so I looked at him as I made my apology.

`Sorry for killing you, just now' I said. The Kenny I addressed pointed at himself and raised his eyebrows in surprise.

`Thanks. You know, if it's okay, I would like to have make up sex with the original Jack as a way to make up for killing me' the other Kenny with no tattoo said. I had been mistaken after all.

`I guess I should have make up sex with the Jack I killed then' my Kenny said.

`It seems lunch isn't ready yet. Why don't we sit down on the couches and talk' I said. Suddenly the first copy of me, the one who still had a wrist tattoo, groaned and put one hand over his eyes. He seemed quite exasperated for some reason.

`Oh come on! I can be so terribly thick sometimes! Kenny is talking about having make up sex and I change the subject to talking! I say we switch Kenny with each other and fuck! I say we have that make up sex right now' my first double said and this was met with sounds agreement from other doubles of me.

`Are my copies mutineering?' I joked.

`Yes, but in this case you should just go with the flow' a Kenny said. I realised he was the one I had killed earlier. He grabbed me by the wrist and dragged me over to the couches where he quickly removed my trousers.

`It's just that we did this last night' I said.

`Shut up, dear' another Kenny said and I realised that this was my version of him. He had just undressed one of the new copies of Jack, presumably the one he had killed in a match just now.

The first doubles of me and Kenny, that were created yesterday each took a new copy of their respective boyfriend and also undressed each other. It seemed they too had met their copies in the arena at about the same time. I guess it had happened to a lot of people at the same time, just not me and Kenny and our copies.

The Kenny I had fought in the arena removed his own shorts and then started kissing me while we laid down on one of the couches. The other couples of Kenny and Jack doubles took one of the remaining three couches each. Moments later I had Kenny's cock inside me and like before I couldn't really tell the difference between this one and the original.

Kim stood behind the couch I was on and looked on for a moment, with his right hand in his trousers, jacking off. But then another Kim turned up with two versions of Mark and soon each Kim walked away with a version of Mark to have sex.

Four versions of Kenny were synced so they fucked a version of me at exactly the same rate and tempo taking us to the brink of coming at the same time over and over again until eventually eight hearts were blown to pieces at the same time, four asses of Jack were filled with cum of Kenny while my doubles and I sprayed a Kenny each with our cum.

I rematerialised next to my Kenny and we let the corpses of ourselves and our doubles lie there as we walked past them and crossed the walkway to the three tables that belonged to the eleven of us that shared the same alcove in the hall and were on the same landing ship. We got in line for the food slots.

As we sat down to eat the conversation turned to my match against Ow My Jaw. Without thinking I kept referring to him as Ow My Jaw.

`"Ow My Jaw"?' Kenny said.

`Remember K'chakt'aa?. He killed a Master back in the brothel yesterday in order to be made Terran. He turned up as a Terran in the arena claiming to be the collector Master' I said. `I called him on it and when I figured out who he really was he tried to correct my pronunciation of his name and ended up hurting his jaw in the process, so I suggested his Terran name should be "Ow My Jaw"' I continued.

Even though they could easily just have watched the recording of the match, Kenny, Brian and Paul who also sat at our table, preferred having me tell the story instead. It did also give me some satisfaction telling them how I finally got to kill the Master that had plagued me so since my first death back on the planet, even though he now was in Terran form. I basically gave a blow by blow re-telling of the match with every word that was spoken between Ow My Jaw and me. By the time I finished my story we had also finished the meal.

`This is unusual' I said.

`What?' my Kenny said.

`Before, on the planet we only got to eat when we'd died and been given a new body. Now I'm eating my second meal today' I said.

`How many times have you died since breakfast?' Brian asked.

`Seven' I said without even having to think about it.

`So you've actually eaten fewer times than before. Before they shut down the canteen yesterday you would have eaten seven times if you had died seven times' Paul said.

`Damn. I hadn't thought about that' I said.

The other doubles of me and Kenny had obviously also finished their meals and now joined us in the vicinity of our table.

'Have any of you seen Jim since we came back to the common area? I still want to meet this Charlie who shares Jim's bed' one of my doubles said. This was the same one that my Kenny had met in the arena and apparently shared my memories up to and including the fight with Ow My Jaw.

`No. But neither of their pictures are on the bed anymore. I checked just now. It seems that this Charlie arranged a new bed assignment which also means they're assigned to a different ship' Mark said sitting at another adjacent table with Kim, Ike and Andy.

`That's weird. Couldn't he have talked to me first?' I said.

`Or me?' the other Jack said and then that was echoed by the other two copies of me.

`I'll try to find him later and talk to him. The other three of me stay out of it please. I don't want to confuse the boy too much' I said. My doubles looked really disappointed at this, but nodded their heads in agreement. The previous mutinous streak was gone in this case.

`I hear Ike got himself pardoned by a Master yesterday?' my Kenny said.

`Yes. That was quite unique! Unfortunately I blew it by saying we were going to the brothel' Andy said.

'Stop saying that. I don't know about you, but I didn't particularly like working the brothel having to have sex with Masters. Thanks to you, they shut down the cloning facility on the planet so everybody defaulted to this place. It may not be that fun to have to fight each other to the death all the time, but at least we can have sex with whomever we please. You did good, dear' Ike said and then kissed Andy.

`I also heard they killed every Terran in the court room. Did they just shoot everybody? Or did they sweep the room with a trigger field?' I said.

`Trigger field like you said. Only, instead of sweeping from one wall to the other or in a circle, like they do this hall, the field started from the floor and went to the ceiling' Ike said.

`And since everybody is the same height there was a lot of nothing happening until the field reached our chests and then every single heart charge in the room went at the same time. There were a lot of us making out while we waited for it to happen' Andy said and got a laugh from the rest of us out of this while Ike kissed him again which in turn inspired Kenny to kiss me.

`And once they did the court room, they did the entire city, which means the entire continent. They simply mounted the field generators on hundreds of transports and flew along every street in the city getting every single Terran that was outdoors. Inside the buildings they had put the generators in strategic locations so they could sweep entire buildings from the ground floor up to the roof. I was just minding my business stacking bodies in the stair well when my chest burst and I became another corpse. Next thing I knew I was standing on my platform over there by the bunk bed. To my joy Jack had given the officer on the landing ship my serial number so I could be with Scott here. And I made sure that Jack got to share a bed with Kenny, and Brian with Paul, Tim with Stan and Kim with Mark. The only one who didn't seem to have a partner was Jim. Apparently this Charlie guy made sure to get that bed with Jim and then transferred them both out' Alex said.

I was about to ask Alex if he had seen Charlie in daylight, but then the PA came back on. It was a Master apparently, from the slightly distorted sound the translator creates. Or it could just be bad speakers, of course. I did recognise the voice from the ear piece, as well as the previous announcements, though. This time it called out clone serial numbers and ordered them to stand to attention. There was 40 individual serial numbers that the voice called out. My number was among the first. We got up and stood in groups forming rows and lines.

In my group was all of us who had been on the landing ship down on the planet. All except Jim, of course, but with the addition of Alex. I glanced over and noticed that the group a bit further away to my left consisted of the first copies of me and Kenny as well as copies of all the others in my group. I glanced to the right and there were two more groups, that also was copies of my group.

Next the voice called out four serial numbers from the ones it had called out before and I was once more included. We were told to take one step forward. I took a step forward as instructed, as did all three of my doubles.

A Master in uniform came walking down the circular centre walkway that was between the beds and the tables. Coming from my right he stopped at the group farthest from me on my right. He put something on my copy's upper arms, just under the shoulders. It was transparent strips like the ones put around mine and Kenny's wrists yesterday evening. The group standing behind that Jack applauded and then there was something I had never seen before; the Master saluted my double who saluted back. Then the Master took out something that looked like some kind of medal, except it had a point, like a thick needle sticking out almost ten centimeters on the back. The Master stuck the medal onto the chest of my copy and shortly after that double fell over dead.

The Master continued on to the next group and put tattoo strips on the shoulders of that Jack, while saying something. When the strip fell off by itself there were several tattooed stripes on his shoulder. That group applauded and the Master and that Jack saluted. And then that Jack too was killed by his medal.

My group was next in turn.

`All Terran soldiers are divided into groups like yours that will be together on a landing ship, and one of them is chosen to be their commanding officer onboard that ship once you leave this moon. Since we have noticed that your friends respect and follow your lead in any case, we have decided that you and all copies of you will be the leader of the group and the copies thereof' the Master said as he applied the tattoo strips.

There was a brief burning sensation and then the strips fell off by themselves leaving a group of lines forming a tattooed rank insignia on both arms.

`Congratulations Lieutenant' the Master said and saluted me and I saluted back. Behind me my friends and my husband applauded.

`And here's your medal' the Master said and brought out another giant pin.

At this point I knew what was coming and knew there was really nothing to do about it. In fact it sort of made up for the weirdness of being saluted by a Master. He used his left hand to feel where my ribs were and where there was a gap between them over my heart, and then he stuck the pin there with his right hand. I thanked him for the promotion and the medal.

I tried to stand to attention for as long as I could. My feet and legs started becoming numb and it travelled upwards fast. My ECG was getting irregular. There was a slight tingling sensation in my fingers before they too went numb, but by then I was already falling. I was lying completely limp on the floor, my ECG was just a straight line now, and I could see the Master's boots turn and walk away just before I died.


I'm interested in your feedback and suggestions. Is there some story thread that you would like me to explore further or turn into a spin off? ... Write me at my_evil_twin47@yahoo.com and tell me what you think of this story!