Journey of Ric Heiden

All Rights Reserved © 2018, Rick Haydn Horst

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

A minute later, we slowed as we drew near a giant wall of black emptiness on the water. It appeared as if we sat on the precipice of a black hole that had opened just for us. We had met the ship, but we couldn't see it. We motored to the far side of it where several crew members helped us board the vessel in silence with militaristic precision.

As we walked with a hand on the shoulder of the person before us, we could see nothing, except a faint outline of ourselves and one another, against a stark depth of blackness like none I had ever experienced. After a few yards, the captain led us through a door to a cramped room, and once inside with the door closed, we stood in abject darkness. Dupré opened the door before him, which led to the inside of the ship. Light poured through the opening to a hallway. Crew personnel escorted us to a lounge where they offered us salty biscuits to settle our stomachs. The captain seemed fine, and of our group, only Cadmar had sea legs. I glanced at David. He ate the crackers too, showing pallid skin and half-lidded eyes.

"Why isn't Cadmar ill?" I asked.

"He's a limnologist and often on the water," he said, "but Magnar said he was on the rowing team in college."

"I see. Well, at least this ship's more stable," I said.

"Wait until we get moving before you say that."

A crewman gave us little bags, just in case, but Pearce needed it most. I felt terrible for him; he suffered more than any of us. Out of the dinghy, we began to get better. Had the nanos worked to maintain even our constitutional equilibrium? If so, I wanted to embrace them one by one to thank them. I could cope with many things, but bouts of nausea were not one of them.

Dupré returned to the lounge, where we sat in various positions allowing ourselves to return to normality. He and his crew dressed in all black. Captain Dupré, a man in his early thirties, looked handsome, with suave, 1930s hair and a clean-cut appearance. All the other crew members wore a tightly fitted, black wool skullcap with the rim warn so that it more resembled a modern bycoket of Robin Hood fame, minus the comical pointy crown, of course.

"

Bienvenue à bord Le Vide Noir

(Welcome aboard The Black Void), I am Captain Rocke Dupré. We shall get underway in a moment, but I wanted to make sure you were alright. A rough sea is unsettling for those unaccustomed."

A voice sounded over the intercom, "

Nous sommes prêts à partir, Capitaine

(We're ready to go, Captain)."

"

Procéder

(Proceed), he replied. Then he said to us, "I bid you to, please, hold on." The sofa had a curved metal bar along the back to steady us.

I found the absence of engine noise disconcerting. At first, we felt little forward momentum, but as it increased, we could feel ourselves rise as one does in a lift.

"This feels strange," said Aiden.

"What kind of ship is this?" Cadmar asked.

"The Black Void is not a ship," said the captain. "Among other things, it is a hydrofoil. We will be off the coast of France in less than an hour."

"This craft must be new," I said to the captain.

He sat down. "It is a year old," he said. "When we reach France, the second in command will relieve me, as I will join you on your journey to Japan."

"Why you?" David asked.

"I will assist with transportation," he said, "and I am aware of your situation. When the guard from the British laboratory secreted away what they were obtaining from Cadmar, he brought it to me in London as its courier to France."

"

Obtaining

," Pearce said under his breath, "that's one way to put it."

"You used it, didn't you?" David said.

"Oui, I did," said the captain, "and in less than a week, it cured me of the cancer of the pancreas. I'm sorry how they treated you, Cadmar. They went about it all wrong, but please forgive me if I am conflicted. I wrestle with it, but I only desired to live."

"I understand," said Cadmar. "There's nothing to forgive. I would have done the same."

"I appreciate that," he said.

"So, what happens when we get to France?" Maggie asked.

"We can get closer to the coast in France, so don't worry about that, but we reverse the procedure. When we get to the beach, a van awaits us in a nearby car park. Only Monsieur Le Gal knows where we go from there."

Julien picked up from that point, "We drive three hours to the south of Paris to a hotel waiting for us in Melun. I will receive further instructions there from the home office."

We skimmed across the channel far faster than I anticipated. We readied ourselves to disembark about the time we had gotten over our seasickness. They brought The Black Void only a hundred yards from the beach. We exited through the lightlock, analogous to an airlock in many respects. A crew member used an unusual light for us to see in the dark, not that it helped much. The designers had covered the surface of the vessel in a substance made to reflect no light of any kind, and its design rendered it undetectable by radar or any other means. I found the experience of walking on the hull frightening. We couldn't see what we walked on. The eye had no references on which to focus except our shoes. As we climbed into our little boat, I looked back. The details we could detect by touch, and the door we exited through had vanished into a mass of black whose appearance lay indistinguishable from any other part of itself. As before, it had transformed into a black void in the water, and as we motored away from it, the blackness vanished into the darkness surrounding it.

When we had boarded the boat on the beach in England, I managed to stay dry. On this occasion, despite that we had reached land, the movement of the waves had rocked the boat as I moved to the front; I lost my balance and fell into the freezing Channel water where a wave washed over me. David moved to help me, but I stopped him; I saw no sense in wetting us both. My hydrophobic clothes and boots would remain dry, but water leaked beneath them, and my feet stood in two boot-shaped buckets of seawater.

Everyone waited for me on the beach, and upon joining the others, Captain Dupré said to us, "On behalf of the good people of this nation, I welcome you to France."

Everyone seemed enlivened by our successful departure from England. We picked up our things, and I slogged behind the group up the hill to the parking lot. David had kept me company, laughing as my feet squished with every step.

A different kind of passenger van awaited us. While stowing our bags into the back, I retrieved the hand towel I took from Maggie's flat. Everyone else had settled into the van. They watched me in the glow of the interior light from the fully open side door. I took off my jacket and unbuttoned my shirt.

"Rick, what are you doing?" Maggie asked.

"As contradictory as it may sound," I said, "my clothes feel quite dry, but I have soaked my skin beneath them, and seawater has filled these boots. I need to dry off and dump the boots. I will hurry, I promise."

"We are in no rush," said Dupré from behind the wheel.

Before I met David, I would have considered it improper to stand about naked before all my friends, including my best female friend. By that point, I found it liberating. Knowing my past, David, Maggie, and Aiden performed a golf clap, followed by everyone else, as if I'd sank a hole-in-one the instant my pants came down, and of course, Maggie couldn't let her surprise at my size go without comment. Its lack of shrinkage surprised even me. The cold water and the chilly air swirling about me hadn't shrunk it much, dangling nearly three-quarters the way to my knees. I just looked at them all, smirked, and made a mocking bow. I wanted to dry myself to minimize the salt left on my skin, and I did the best I could with what little towel I had.

"You should hurry," said David.

"Nearly done." I shook the water off my clothes and stuffed the towel into my boots to get the residual water out. I handed my clothes to David, who sat on the forwardmost bench seat, and I hopped in. I would put my pants back on when my skin felt warm and dry. I closed the door behind me, and we drove off.

"Captain Dupré, could you turn up the heat for a bit, please?" I asked.

"I set the heater to maximum earlier. You will have to let the heat build in the cabin. Oh, and everyone, please, call me Rocke."

"Very well," I said. "How did you end up with the unusual name of Rocke?"

"Rocke is not uncommon in France," he said. "It was my father's middle name."

"What's your middle name? If you don't mind my asking."

"My middle name is unusual. My full name is Rocke Lancier Dupré."

"

C'est beau. Vos parents ont eu du bon goût en euphonie

(That is beautiful. Your parents had good taste in euphony)," I said.

"

Merci

(Thank you)."

I inverted my pants to check the insides, and I noticed a fine powdery grit of recrystallizing salt in between the fibers. Unlike my boots, the hydrophobic treatment applied mostly to the outside of the garment. I would have to rinse them in fresh water to remove the salt. I concluded I could take care of that in the hotel shower. Until then, I couldn't wear them again for long without chafing.

"I'm glad my bag didn't fall into the water with me," I told David.

"Your skin feels dry now, why don't you take my jacket?"

"Thank you, but no, my skin has as much salt as these clothes. I wouldn't want it inside your jacket." I leaned against David, who wrapped his arms around me.

I noted a lot of darkness on that road, and a few towns off in the distance, for quite some time. The traffic started getting dense, even at almost 10 p.m., and I knew we were getting close to Paris.

I enjoyed the unique experience of riding through France wearing nothing but David's arms to keep me warm. Unfortunately, the salt made my skin feel dry and uncomfortable, and I longed for a shower.

Once we passed the Charles De Gaulle airport, we changed roads heading south. It took forty-five minutes before our arrival forced me to don my salty pants and slip into my shirt, which I refused to button. David carried my bag for me while I barefooted into the hotel, holding my coat and boots.

From the outside, I expected nothing much of the hotel, but the inside appeared far more respectable. The prudish balding man behind the check-in desk gave me the impression that I had snuck from the back seat of my boyfriend's car, leaving the seam of my nylons an utter scandal. As Julien checked us in, the man gave me a scathing glance.

Julien received and divvied up the keys to six rooms, all on the fifth floor. David and I had one, Maggie and Aiden had one, but everyone else got a private room. Cadmar held the case with the drone, and Aiden kept its remote. We all carried up our bags and packs.

The proprietors decorated the hotel in a modern style; they chose tan and beige with a black carpet. It seemed decent for a three-star hotel. It imbued a sense of well-maintained, potential cleanliness.

David and I ended up with a corner room, number 506. When the door shut behind us, David hadn't proceeded with his habit of taking me into his arms. Instead, we both stood at the door, staring into the room, scrutinizing the hell out of it. The decent-sized room contained a queen size bed, table with chairs, windows on two of the walls, and they had decorated it on the cheap side of the spectrum.

David turned to me. "Are you alright with this room?"

"I'm not sure," I said, "I have one reservation so far."

David looked down. "The black carpet...it's repulsive, isn't it?"

I looked at him and smiled. "You do know me, don't you?"

"I understand why they used it," he said. "You can't determine its level of filth by sight alone, but that makes it off-putting. An establishment of this kind calls for some form of hard-surface."

I glanced at David. "The ultimate test." I dropped my things and walked to the bed. I tousled the bedding --ensuring not to get any of it on the floor. We then proceeded to inspect the mattress for any sign of that bane of hoteliers everywhere: the bedbug. We found nothing, but it was better to remake a bed than get bitten.

Once having inspected the bathroom, we stood before the sink and mirror with David's arms around me. "I will accept this room if you will."

"I do," I said, and a series of hugs and kisses went on for some time. We had to find time for one another. I missed having my arms around David, the feel of his muscular back beneath my hands. He felt dense and for as odd as it may sound, tangible. For years, I experienced a sense of the intangibility of human intimacy for myself. I had learned to keep potential suitors at arm's length because, without exception, it ended in sorrow. So, rather than let someone hurt me, I kept them out of reach and didn't allow my feelings of loneliness to drive my actions. I understood that with David, I didn't have to do that. David's patient determination told me I didn't have to want him and make him want me. He wanted me of his own volition. I regretted none of my decision to let him in.

Later, I took my clothes into the shower and rinsed them off, inside and out, including my boots. I washed our socks in the sink and hung everything up to dry. David liked to talk as I showered; I believe he enjoyed the captive audience.

"What do you think of Monsieur Dupré?" he asked, feigning an exaggerated French accent.

"He's a competent man," I said. "He seemed polite and thoughtful. Why? You're not thinking of inviting him to come with us to Jiyū, are you? I'm not sure how many more people the penthouse can hold."

"It's too early for that sort of decision."

"Oh? It took less than an hour, and you wanted to bring Aiden with us."

"Aiden is special," said David. "I knew he would do well with us. The reason I ask about Rocke is due to the connection that he will now have with Cadmar. Cadmar will have a connection to others, of course, the same as Pearce, but that only works across the first generation. It gets blended out after that."

"Yes, I surmised as much," I said. "What's the problem?"

"Most people of the first generation will never meet Cadmar or Pearce," David said, "so their connection will never manifest itself. Instead, it will lie dormant, but Rocke has met Cadmar."

I turned off the shower. "Oh, I see," I said. "That's interesting. I guess we'll have to see how things go. I doubt Cadmar will show any interest, though; he has Tamika."

"Well...I just thought I would point that out. How does your skin feel?"

"Clean and salt-free," I said. "My clothes better be ready to wear in the morning; I think I scandalized the hotel desk clerk earlier. I don't care to repeat that during checkout."

A sudden knock came upon our door, and someone slipped a note beneath it. David picked it up and read it aloud. "It's from Julien."

I have received the details of our next stop. We must leave early to reach our destination before dark. The hotel will accommodate our departure time and have breakfast ready for us by 4:00 a.m.

"Four o'clock doesn't give us much time for sleeping," I said.

"Or anything else," said David with a smirk.

"We could always sleep on the way tomorrow."

I pushed him onto the bed. He had already removed his clothes, so I had easy access to what I wanted. I loved the enhancements he had gotten. His rapidly growing erection dripped precum, and it came in quite handy just then. I straddled him, and with a few lubricating attempts, I sank onto his shaft with ease. I felt full and enjoyed every moment of David's cock inside me.

After a few hours of playtime, we had fallen asleep, but at 2:00 a.m., from our door came a persistent light tapping. David, exhausted and comatose, hadn't heard it. I got up to check, and I saw Cadmar through the peephole. He wore only his pants and carried the case with the drone inside.

I opened the door and whispered to him. "Is something wrong?"

"David's asleep." Cadmar then smiled at me and glanced down at my cock. "Worn him out, have you?"

I almost laughed, but instead, I decided to own it. "Yes, I did. So, what's up?"

He gave me a mild look of surprise but pressed on. "It's Julien," he said, "he's not in his room. I looked around for him, and I think I saw him with someone in a room on the sixth floor."

"Fascinating. Is he still there?"

"Yes."

I paused to think for a moment. "Is he with a woman?"

"Yes, I think so," he said, "but I couldn't see them clearly at that angle.

I nodded. "You can relax. It's most likely Julien's wife. He's about to leave on a long trip, and he would want to see her."

"I'm sorry," Cadmar said. "I thought it looked suspicious since we just got here."

"That's alright. Did you have trouble sleeping?"

He smiled. "I'm next door to Aiden and Maggie."

"We'll be eating breakfast at 4:00 a.m. Surely, they're not still..."

I should have known better the instant I said it. Cadmar just looked at me with raised eyebrows and widened eyes, tipping his head in feigned disbelief.

"Still? You're kidding," I whispered.

"I don't know what enhancement gave him that kind of energy, but I want it."

I laughed in silence. "David needs to sleep," I said. "We could talk in your room."

"Would you mind? I figured I could sleep in the van. I get bored while riding."

I quietly put my pants on and wrote David a note with the little pad and pen that came with the room. I told him I had left with Cadmar, that I would explain later, and I would see him at 3:45 a.m. I gazed upon David before I closed the door. He was sleeping so soundly. I couldn't help but smile to myself.

"You love David, don't you?" Cadmar asked as we walked down the hallway.

"Yes, I do. I imagine you miss Tamika a lot. Have you ever stayed away from her this long?"

He shook his head and slipped his key into the lock. Cadmar's slightly smaller room had just one double window, but it had the same dining set. We sat at the table, and Cadmar turned a chair around and sat backward upon it. The silence told me Aiden and Maggie had finally fallen asleep.

"Tamika thinks I'm dead, doesn't she?"

"I'm sorry, but yes," I said.

"Did you meet her?" he asked, smiling. "What did you think?"

Usually, people who ask that sort of question want to hear something positive, and while I could have accommodated him, it seemed odd to ask me. I shrugged. "What's my opinion worth?"

"It's true, I barely know you," he said. "We could remedy that if we could Share with one another. I see you are wearing the Trust ring."

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said. "This ring is yours. I've meant to give it to you." I licked my knuckle, preparing to remove it.

"No, don't take it off," he said. "I'm not worthy of it. It's all my fault. If I thought to look both ways before crossing the street, this mess wouldn't have happened. Such a stupid mistake for me to make."

As I looked at him just then, I felt sorry for him. "So, who taught you to be your own worst critic? Was it your father? I can hear it now. '

Why can't you be more like your brother, Magnar?

'."

His face held a look of complete astonishment and suspicion. "Tamika didn't tell you that. How did you know that? I've never told anyone that, but Tamika."

"I'm sorry," I said. "I don't mean to upset you. That's a frequent problem on Earth, so I just guessed. I use abductive reasoning a lot. David calls me an intuitive empath, and maybe I am, I don't know."