Into the Maelstrom

[The_arch_vile]

-Rocks, rocks, rocks, rocking with rocks- mocked Lambert as he tosed yet another martian rock to his side.

Decades had passed since the hellish invasions of earth, and everything was well again. The UAC recovered near miraculously from an inmense loss of trust from both the goverments of the world and the people in general that almost lead them to bankrupcty having agreed on a higly secret deal with the highest orbs of power. The many new societies of the rebuilt earth manifested against the Corporation's recovery, but the liberation and comercialization of the Teleport technology closed their mouths for good, now almost all civilized households having their own teleporting modules to move from the office to their bedroom in a matter of miliseconds.

No real information about the obtention of such technology ever leaked out to the public, being the only real witnesses corpses in Phobos.

As the years went by, the UAC recovered what territory it had lost and pretty soon it was back on Mars doing experiments and investigations even unknown to their investors.

[GGG]

As the investigations grew in size and scope, a new lead investigator was transferred from the military. His name was Chesters. His personal assistant, Brad, oversaw all of his work and kept him on track. This was no small task, of course. These UAC investigations were the most complicated in Mars' history.

On a cold Saturday in alpha station plexian, Chesters enjoyed a rare break in the action by painting a marvelous canvas. Chesters hummed quietly as his paintbrush ran against the canvas of his painting. He carefully manuevered the bristles to fill in a particularly intricate part of the work. He was so immersed in it, that he hadn't noticed Brad watching from the airlock controls.
"Are you done yet?"

Chester was startled and almost dropped his paintbrush. He looked over the easal to see Brad pacing toward the couch. Chester had agreed to let Brad keep him company in his quarters. He decided that finishing his painting at the same time would kill two birds with one stone.

"I'm not the one who got put under room arrest by Maysun and Sogaird. You should know better than to sneak out alone." Chester teased.

Brad pouted and crossed his arms in front of his chest. He heaved a huge sigh and flopped on the couch. Chester returned back to mixing some paint.

"Chester?"

"Yes?"

"Do you ever question the meaning of everything?"

Chester looked up from his mixing. He was sure that his face had a look of sheer shock plastered on it.

"Sometimes. Why, are you having a moment of doubt?"

Brad grinned and turned his head to look at Chester.

"Nah, I was just thinking there's so many things that I haven't done yet. I haven't been near a real body of water in ages. I haven't seen my world in forever. There's a lot of things I want to do yet, and it just doesn't seem that I'm ever going to get them done."

"So, that's all you were thinking about?" Chester bated Brad.

Now, the flirting began.

"Why?" Brad asked slyly. "Do you think that I have something else on my mind?"

Chester calmly cleaned a dab of red paint off his hand. He nonchalantly flipped his long strands of hair back from his eyes.

"It just seems to me that a guy like you who rarely has deep thoughts would suddenly come up with a very deep one. I know you brad. You are wanting to bring up something else."

Brad shifted on the couch so he faced the other way. He relaxed on his stomach and rested his feet on the cushion. Brad rested his head on his folded arms, propping his chin so he could still see Chester.

"Have you ever been kissed?" Brad casually asked.

Chester stirred a little green paint around on his mixing tray. He nodded.

"Of course. Why, haven't you?"

"Of course I have!" Brad feigned a look of mock insult.

Chester smiled and dabbed some of the green paint onto the canvas.

"So, why did you ask?" Chester couldn't resist leading the conversation on.

"Well, you know, it was just something I was thinking about."

Chester stood back from the canvas and studied the painting.

"I think a few more swipes with the blue and it'll be done."

"Are you changing the subject?" Brad sarcastically questioned.

"No, not at all, it's just an artist's thing. What else were you thinking about?"

Brad couldn't help but get a mischevious smile on his face. He moved some of his golden hair from his good eye. Chester had returned to the painting and was adding the last touches of blue to the picture.

"Have you ever kissed a guy?" Brad asked slyly.

Chester set down his paint brush and wiped his hands on his pants. He didn't respond immediately to Brad's question.

"There. I think it's done."

Brad couldn't believe that Chester seemed to have ignored his little proposition. He frowned and began to pout again.

"No, I haven't." Chester finally responded.

Brad was stunned to hear him speak. He looked up at Chester who was looking quite amused behind the easel. He was rinsing out his brushes and closing up his paint jars.

"Have you ever wanted to?"

Chester gave a very mysterious smile.

"Why, have you?"

"I've thought about it sometimes. You know, see if it was any different from kissing a girl."

Chester picked up the sheet he used to cover his art with. He draped it over the painting and straightened the sheet out.

"Hey, I didn't get to see it yet!" Brad complained.

"You can't until it's dry."

"How long will that be?"

"Oh, two hours, maybe ten years." Chester teased.

Brad raised an eyebrow and felt a huge smile pull at his lips.

"So, Chester, do you think it is different kissing a guy?"

Chester approached Brad and knelt in front of the couch. His nose rested tip to tip with Brad's nose.

"Why? Did you want to try?"

"You have paint on your cheek."

Chester wiped his cheek and a streak of red paint came onto his finger. He sighed.

"I was never good at staying clean."

Brad and Chester were still nose to nose. They were both smiling.

"Well, I guess we could." Brad finally responded. He wondered how much excitement came out of his voice. He was trying to stay cool and disconnected about the whole deal.

Chester smiled and chewed on his bottom lip.

"So, who makes the first move?" he quietly asked.

"Um, I don't know." Brad felt a flush of anticipation touch his cheeks.

"Well, since I'm on the floor, I guess I will."