Cryo was like sleep, but also very unlike it, in all the important ways. There was always rest, in the beginning, and a fair few bright and colorful dreams, but where it differed was when the dreams faded into darkness. It imposed a strange sort of fugue state that Captain Frederick Anderson had only ever heard described as not-consciousness.

That was what made coming out of cryo so disorientating. It was much easier to come back from unconsciousness to consciousness than it was to be not-conscious one moment and then conscious the next.

It often took a while for identity and memory to come percolating back through the darkness of the void of non-consciousness, but the dizziness and faint nausea was always a relief from the abyss. Even the gnawing hunger and the feeling of bile in the back of one’s throat was preferable to being adrift as a blob of nothing in a sea of nothing.

Hiss. The sharp sound shattered the darkness that Freddie had been drifting through as a disembodied non-consciousness. Light broke through as he opened his eyes for the first time in gods knew how long, and he took in his first breath of stale concentrated oxygen that had probably been stagnating in a tank for even longer.

Freddie coughed and waved away the mist that billowed into the pod when the seal cracked open. It was hard to think through the fog that was still clouding his mind, but he’d been in cryo enough times to know how to deal with it.

A slow displeased rumble shook through Freddie’s stomach as he swallowed down the bile he felt in the back of his throat. He closed his eyes again, taking a few deep breaths of the oxygen, wriggling his fingers and toes as sensation returned to his limbs—as his mind got reacquainted with the notion that he even had limbs.

The fuzzy, cotton-stuffed feeling Freddie had in his skull subsided with every deep breath. It retreated to the edges of his consciousness but didn’t disappear. It would take a few hours if not a day or so to reacclimate to being up and about, but at least he was functional.

Freddie reached up and brushed away the frost and condensation on the window panel of the pod door. Everything looked to be in order in his quarters, not a thing out of place.

Another sharp hiss preceded the pop of the latch on the pod door. Tentatively, Freddie pushed against it. Satisfied that it hadn’t gotten jammed, he leaned into the pod door until it swung open on its hinges and let the cool air of the cabin wash over his naked body.

The feeling of the gentle draft on his skin made Freddie tingle all over. It tickled his balls, in particular, and made his hard cock twitch. Gods, he was horny. Though that wasn’t all too surprising. It was one of the big side-effects of cryo.

When the Methuselah left Earth, scholars had still been pretty deep into debating why coming out of cryo stimulated such a powerful state of arousal. Scientists had theories ranging anywhere from the temperature gradient causing arousal to hormones building up during cryo-sleep. Freddie had his own theory: blue balls.

"Fuck." Freddie’s limbs felt like soggy noodles, but he wasn’t going to let that stop him. He traced his hand down the front of his chest, lingering briefly over the cobbles of his abs. He took a deep breath as he brought his hand lower, the tips of his fingers grazing the base of his cock.

Freddie couldn’t help but moan. His back arched off the backing of the cryo-pod. Even that light, tentative touch was enough to send a bolt of pleasure rocketing up his spine. He didn’t think he could ever get used to how sensitive he got every time he came out of cryo.

Unbidden, Freddie’s thoughts turned to his junior astrogation officer, Vincent Rayburn. On most days, he wouldn’t be one to label people but Vincent was absolutely the archetypal twink and did not even the slightest thing to hide it.

Nothing happened aboard the Methuselah without Freddie’s knowledge, at least while he was on active duty. The stories that had reached his ear about Vincent had given him a certain impression of the twink and, if he was being honest, had given him a bit of an obsession with that fat twink ass.

A quiet gasp escaped Freddie as he rubbed his thumb in slow circles over the first couple inches of his cock. This was the most that he could do. If he wanted to hold on to his load for more than a few seconds, anyway. Even then, he felt like he was teetering dangerously close to the edge.

Freddie chewed on his lower lip. He figured that the responsible thing was to stop, get out of his pod, and proceed with his post-cryo duties before taking some personal time but he doubted anyone could blame him for taking a few minutes to reacclimate.

As much as it was rumored that Vincent got around, the one person who’d never so much as been approached was Freddie. It was frustrating, especially since the only reason he knew the rumors had any truth to them was that he’d once caught Vincent coming out of his first officer’s quarters with a wobble in his gait.

A small smirk tugged at the corners of Freddie’s lips. Maybe he could make neglecting one’s captain a disciplinary matter onboard the Methuselah. With punishment to be administered by the neglected party—in this case, Freddie.

Freddie moved his fingers up his cock and sucked in a sharp breath. Pacing himself until he got used to the sensation again, Freddie stroked his cock. He closed his eyes. Having spent so much time there, he could conjure a perfect image of the Methuselah’s bridge in his mind’s eye. It even came with the target of his current fantasy.

---

The door to the bridge opened with a hiss. It didn’t have to, since it didn’t use a pneumatic mechanism, but pop-culture had been so suffused with the notion of starship doors opening with a hiss that the designers had just put the noise in, anyway.

The Methuselah crew was just a few hours away from the next round of cryo. Most were taking some time off since most of the work was already done and the last checks could be handled solo by the respective department heads. Freddie didn’t have that luxury.

As he strode into the bridge, Freddie noted that the only person there was his junior astrogation officer. Perfect. He’d been meaning to have a one-on-one chat with Vincent for a while. And gods that ass was looking fantastic, clad in that skin-tight flight suit.

Even though word on the street was that Vincent got around, there was no denying that he was a hardworking member of Freddie’s crew. People had nothing bad to say about the boy, least of all the head of the astrogation department. The fact he was in the bridge, checking and re-checking the astrogation calibrations was proof enough of that.

When he’d first heard about Vincent’s activities, Freddie had raised some concerns that the boy was just trying to sleep his way up the ranks. His first officer had tried to disabuse him of that notion but he’d remained skeptical. He only found out it was true when after weeks Vincent still hadn’t approached him.

Freddie cleared his throat, making Vincent jump. His gaze was riveted to that tight, bubbly twink ass as it jiggled. "Junior Officer Rayburn," said Freddie, as Vincent slowly turned around to face him, a faint tinge of pink on the twink’s cheeks. "I wasn’t expecting anyone else to be here."

"O-Oh, S-Sorry I didn’t see you there, sir," Vincent stammered. Freddie thought his bright blue eyes were so pretty. It was only unfortunate that Vincent averted his gaze to stare at the space between his feet.

"How come you’re not out there enjoying the next few hours before cryo with the others?" said Freddie. The faint whisper of his fingers across the top of the railing as he descended to the middle ring of the bridge was almost deafening in the silence of the normally-bustling room. "I thought astrogation was done with its calibrations."

Vincent shifted his weight from one leg to the other. "I-I thought I’d give the figures one last look over just to make entirely sure that everything was right," he said. "The Methuselah is the first ship of its kind, so it never hurts to be extra sure."

Freddie walked up closer to Vincent, almost right into the twink’s personal space. "You really are a good little hardworking junior officer, aren’t you?" said Freddie. The corner of his mouth curled upward, pulling his lips into a thin smirk. "I like that about you, Vincent. "

The junior officer’s bright blue eyes seemed to glimmer as his gaze swung up to meet Freddie’s. "T-Thank you, sir," Vincent stammered. The pink tinge in his cheeks took on a richer reddish color. "T-That means a lot to hear c-coming from you, s-sir."

Freddie could have almost laughed. This was the guy going around seducing all the hot men on his ship? He didn’t think he’d ever talked to anyone more intimidated by his presence than Vincent. It was adorable, if he was being honest. He supposed he’d finally found the reason that Vincent hadn’t approached him yet. If he wasn’t mistaken, the junior officer had something of a crush on him.

"Am I too close?" said Freddie, his voice low and husky. Vincent’s gaze hadn’t yet left his, and the color in the boy’s cheeks was only getting deeper. "Or… Maybe… Am I not close enough?" he said, taking another step toward Vincent.

Vincent took a step away from Freddie. "I-I don’t know what you mean, s-sir," he stammered. The boy tried to take another step back when Freddie got even closer but Vincent had backed himself into a corner. The boy briefly broke away from Vincent’s gaze, looking over his shoulder, as his back collided with the edge of his console.

"I’ve been meaning to have a talk with you, Vincent," said Freddie. "I hear that you’ve been getting to know the rest of my crew pretty well over the last few weeks," he drawled, taking a step to block any escape for Vincent.

Vincent’s cheeks instantly took on a bright scarlet hue. "I-I don’t know w-what you’re talking about s-sir…" Vincent whispered, voice so small that Freddie could barely hear him talk. "A-And even if it was true… W-We can’t… Y-You’re the captain a-and I-I’m just…"

Freddie relished the way that Vincent shivered as he traced his curled index finger up along Vincent’s Adam’s apple. He let Vincent’s chin rest for a moment on his finger before he pulled it up to tilt the boy’s head backward. He leaned down and kissed the junior officer before he could complain any more.

Vincent seemed to melt into the kiss, the tension in his shoulders just evaporating as his body relaxed. He even leaned forward, chasing after Freddie’s lips when Freddie pulled away. "It didn’t look like that was a concern when you slept with my first officer," Freddie said, with a smirk.

Still slightly dazed, Vincent stammered, "B-But you’re the captain… I-It’s different."

"How?" said Freddie. He placed his hands on Vincent’s hips, enjoying the way that the boy trembled at his touch. "It’s just sex, isn’t it? Or… do you want to do something more than just sex?"

Vincent let out a few incoherent, stammering sounds as he tried to find the words to respond. Freddie didn’t give him the opportunity to get his thoughts together. "If you’re going to be doing something nice for the rest of the crew, you had better not be leaving your captain out," said Freddie. "Honestly, I’m a little bit disappointed."

A low whimper escaped Vincent. "I-I’m sorry, sir," Vincent murmured. "I-I didn’t mean to… I-I just thought… A-And I wanted…" Vincent’s voice broke. "Y-You’re right… I-I wanted to be with you, s-sir, a-and I know Confederation Fleet policy d-doesn’t allow relationships with your superior officer…"

Freddie traced his thumb down the side of Vincent’s face. "And who would tell us otherwise?" he whispered, gently pressing his lips against the line of Vincent’s jaw. "I’m the highest-ranking person on this ship. If I say you can be with anyone you want, who’s gonna stop me?"

"B-But," Vincent protested, though he didn’t fight Freddie’s advances. If anything, he encouraged them, tilting his head back, baring his neck as Freddie moved down to kiss the curve of it. "I-I don’t want to g-get you in t-trouble, s-sir," Vincent moaned, as Freddie’s teeth grazed the tender skin just over his collarbone.

"The only one who’ll be in trouble if you don’t stop complaining is you," said Freddie. He looked up into Vincent’s wide eyes with a smirk. "I’m starting to think that maybe you’re just not as into me as I was thinking… Which would be disappointing…"

"N-No, I-I am, s-sir," Vincent stammered. He braced his hands against the edge of his console for a moment before he reached up and placed his hands on Freddie’s shoulders. "I-I just want to make sure everything’s a-alright," he murmured, closing his eyes in a bashful little display that made Freddie want to ravish him then and there.

"Good," said Freddie. "Because I was getting mixed signals from this little guy right here." A pretty little moan escaped Vincent as Freddie cupped his crotch and gave the twink’s package a quick squeeze.

"Mmph…" Vincent moaned, thrusting his hips into Freddie’s hand. "F-Fuck, s-sir," he stammered. Freddie grinned, palming Vincent’s hard little cock through the fabric of his flight suit. He could feel it twitch with every squeeze. After rubbing his thumb over the engorged head, it came away slightly wet, a dark spot growing at the tip of the outline of Vincent’s cock.

Freddie grabbed Vincent by the hips. He leaned in to whisper in Vincent’s ear, feeling the boy tremble from the proximity. "Have you ever fantasized about doing it in the bridge?" he murmured. In one swift motion, he pulled Vincent away from the console and turned him around.

"Ever thought about getting railed on top of your station?" said Freddie, gently nibbling on the lobe of the junior officer’s ear. "Having this fat ass split open on the captain’s chair?" he whispered, reaching between Vincent’s legs to tug on the boy’s erection.

"Fuck, captain, please…" Vincent moaned.

"Please, what?" said Freddie.

"Please, fuck me!"

Freddie chuckled. He moved his hands down from Vincent’s hips to cup the boy’s thick, bubbly cheeks, digging his fingers into the meaty globes and giving them a squeeze. "We’ll get there, boy," he said. "But you need to answer for avoiding me, first."

"W-What?" said Vincent, trying to twist around and push off the console to look at Freddie. That wasn’t going to happen, though. Not under Freddie’s watch. He removed one of his hands from Vincent’s ass to force him back on top of the console.

A loud yelp escaped Vincent as Freddie delivered a sharp swat to one of his supple ass cheeks. The sound echoed in the quiet bridge, the flesh rippling from the impact. "You should never neglect your captain," said Freddie, as he delivered another quick spank. "You should have at least talked to me about your concerns."

Vincent whimpered as Freddie rubbed his hand in slow circles over the area that he’d spanked. "I don’t mind that you’re a horny little slut. Actually, I like that about you. It tells me that you know how to work your way around a thick cock. It’s just not nice to leave someone out of your slutting around."

"That hurts, you know?" said Freddie, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. "For a while, I thought you just didn’t find me attractive." Another spank, on the other side, elicited a low moan from Vincent.

"No more hesitating, yeah?" said Freddie, pressing his lips to the sensitive patch of skin just behind Vincent’s ear. "The next time you want to have your tight little ass filled with your captain’s cock, you come to me. I’d even fuck you in front of the entire crew if you ever wanted that… Understand?"

"Y-Yes, sir," Vincent stammered, moaning as Freddie delivered one final spank to his juicy bubble. "I-I’ll go to you t-the next time I-I want you to fuck me, s-sir." Vincent’s breath caught in his throat as Freddie rubbed his twitching hole through the fabric of his flight suit.

"Good boy," said Freddie. "Fuck. I don’t think I can resist this ass for one second longer." He grabbed fistfuls of Vincent’s flight suit in either hand and twisted the fabric around his fingers. With all the strength in his arms, he wrenched his hands apart and tore a massive gash into the back of Vincent’s flight suit.

"Mm. Fuck, boy. Your ass feels so much better without that stupid suit in the way." Freddie grinned as he palmed Vincent’s ass cheeks and gave them a squeeze. He pulled the two mounds of meat to either side, revealing the twitching, pulsing pink hole buried between them and licked his lips.

Letting go of one cheek, Freddie fished inside his cock from inside his flight suit. He tapped it against Vincent’s ass, leaving a smear of pre-cum on the hot, sensitive skin. He grabbed Vincent by the hips and slid his cock into the crack of the boy’s ass.

"You want this, boy?" Freddie grunted, rolling his hips so that his shaft slid up and down the warm crevice. "You ready to take your captain’s big cock? Want captain to breed you like the needy slut boy you really are?"

"Yes. Oh, gods, yes" Vincent moaned, inching his legs apart, back arching, hips bucking into Freddie’s thrusts. "Please, sir! Split me open!" he practically screamed.

Freddie grinned. He was all too happy to oblige. He lined the head of his cock up with Vincent’s tight, pink hole and snapped his hips forward.

---

Freddie moaned. His fingers pumped up and down his shaft so fast they were almost a blur. His back arched off the backrest of the pod, his toes curling in the leg restraints. He humped his hips into the circle made by his fingers, fucking his hand even as he tugged on his cock.

How Freddie wished that the scenario could be more than just fantasy. Given half the chance he really would do it. He was the captain. Nothing short of a mutiny could stop him. He could walk over to the navigation section of the bridge, bend Vincent over, and shove his fat cock into that thick ass and no one could do anything about it.

"Fuck!" Freddie shouted. He could feel the load churning in his balls. He’d wanted to edge some more, wanted to fantasize about how Vincent would take his cock, but it was too much.

With a guttural roar, Freddie thrust his cock one more time into his fingers and exploded. Thick ropes of musky white cum spurted out of the tip of his cock, splattering across his stomach, chest, and face. A few globs even caught the back of the pod and the side of the lid.

As frustrating as it was to Freddie, not being able to savor the jerkoff session as much as he might have wanted, it was probably for the best. He had duties to attend to, and on a normal day, he could probably edge for the better part of a couple of hours.

Now that the strength had mostly returned to his limbs and he wasn’t as wobbly as before, Freddie lifted his fingers to his lips and slurped the jism off. He was more of a top, but he’d never objected to the taste of cum, least of all his own.

Instead of wiping himself down with a towel as he knew was probably the norm, Freddie scooped up the cum dripping from his face and torso. He sucked it all up and savored the tangy, salty, musky taste that coated his tongue.

After a few deep breaths to settle the rhythm of his heart, Freddie bent down to unclasp the restraints around his ankles. Once that was done, he stepped out of the pod and gave his entire body a nice long stretch.

As Freddie was doing a couple of shoulder rotations, the lights in the room flickered. It wasn’t entirely uncommon to happen on a starship, so he dismissed it at first. A second flicker raised some concern, but Freddie didn’t feel any alarm until the lights flickered a third time within ten minutes.

That wasn’t supposed to happen. Freddie snatched the polyglass tablet from his desk and held his fingers against it to log into the ship’s computer system. Still naked, he opened a line of communication to engineering, or at least he would have if engineering had picked up. He stood there, waiting, for a good minute before the call terminated, indicating that it wasn’t received.

"Enoch," Freddie called out. There was a certain degree of urgency in his voice. A thousand worst-case scenarios flashed through his head to explain the silence from engineering, and he was hoping that the Methuselah’s managing AI would have some explanation for him. He didn’t think anything could be worse than what he was already imagining.

The image of a handsome young man appeared on the polyglass tablet. "Yes, Captain Anderson? How may I be of assistance?" said Enoch. The faint jitter in the projection of his image was even more cause for concern. That wasn’t supposed to happen, either.

Freddie placed his hands on the screen of the tablet, holding his fingers there until a wireframe box surrounded Enoch’s projection. He flicked his wrist from the screen toward the wall and the embedded nanomechanical diodes produced a faithful real-time reproduction of the projection, roughly where the flicked box would have landed had it been a physical object.

"Are you able to put me through to engineering?" said Freddie, as the lights flickered yet again. "I’m concerned that something might have happened to the main reactor core and I want someone with boots on the ground to tell me what’s going on."

Enoch paused for a moment, a thoughtful expression crossing the AI’s projected face. "Negative, Captain Anderson," said Enoch. "engineering bay is currently unreachable."

Freddie would have cursed but Enoch, following protocol, continued down the chain of command. "Attempting to reach Senior Engineering Officer Su-yin," the AI intoned. A few seconds later, Enoch reported, "Attempt failed."

Worry continued to mount. "Reason for failure?" Freddie muttered as he turned his attention back to the tablet he held in his hands. He tried to access the engineering bay camera feeds but only a handful of hallway cameras were active. The whole place was dark.

"Senior Engineering Officer Su-yin is deceased. Cause of death: total organ failure likely consequential to cryo pod malfunction," said Enoch. Freddie looked up, eyes wide. Enoch’s expression was somber. "I am sorry, Captain Anderson. I am aware Senior Engineering Officer Su-yin was your friend. As she was likely unconscious at the time, there is a high probability that Senior Engineering Officer Su-yin suffered no pain in her passing."

Freddie swallowed the lump in his throat. "Thank you, Enoch. That helps." His fingers trembled as he scrolled up the camera feeds. "Please continue. Try and get ahold of anyone from engineering if you can."

"Of course Captain Anderson. Attempting to reach Junior Engineering Officer Compton," said the AI. After a few seconds of silence, Enoch reported: "Attempt failed. Junior Engineering Officer Compton’s communications device is unattended."

Freddie looked up. "Unattended? What is that supposed to mean?" he said. His heart skipped a beat when he realized that one of the cameras in the main reactor chamber was still broadcasting. What he saw did little to temper the panic rising in Freddie’s gut.

There was no reason for the reactor room to ever be dark. The fusion reactor itself was particularly bright. On this occasion, though, much of the room was shrouded in shadow no thanks to the strange fibrous growth that had surrounded the reactor casing. The structure of the growth looked like tree roots, but the appearance of it hinted at a more fungal sort of nature, at least, as far as Freddie could tell.

"Unattended means that Junior Engineering Officer Compton is not currently in proximity to his communicator and cannot be located," said Enoch. "It is likely that the same phenomenon interfering with inter-sector communications is blocking my ability to track the crew."

"Shit," said Freddie, under his breath. He raised the polyglass tablet and showed Enoch the footage that he’d just perused. "Have you seen this, Enoch?" he said.

"I shall refrain from making the discourteous step of pointing out that your question is redundant and further noting that it should be obvious that the footage in question would have been viewed by the CSS Methuselah’s managing AI the moment that it was first recorded," said Enoch. Freddie bristled. Not that he had anyone to blame but himself for the AI’s sass.

"Alright, then," said Freddie, "if you’re so smart, Enoch, have you figured out what this growth is?" He scrubbed through the footage again and realized that it was worse than he’d initially thought. He’d been so tunnel-visioned on the core itself that he’d failed to notice the carpet of growth that covered the floor and pretty much every other surface in the chamber.

"Regrettably, Captain Anderson, attempts to discern the nature of the growth have so far proven less than fruitful," said Enoch. "Multiple remotely activated mechanical drones sent to procure samples for analysis have failed to make it out of the engineering bay."

Enoch drew a red circle over a small lump on the floor of the main reactor chamber. It looked largely unnoteworthy to Freddie until he looked closer. He was just barely able to make out the features of a drone buried underneath a carpet of growth.

"Drone E-9077 was the most successful of the drones, managing to approach the main reactor core to within 10 meters. It was able to record ten minutes of footage before being deactivated by unknown means," said Enoch. "It was sufficiently overgrown to prohibit mobility when I was able to regain control fifteen minutes later."

Freddie tapped his thumb on the screen of his polyglass tablet. "You said there was footage. Can I see it?" he said. Enoch said nothing in response, merely nodding as a player with the footage was pulled up on Freddie’s tablet.

Trepidation stayed Freddie’s hand from the "play" button for a moment. The mission had accounted for the possibility of extraterrestrial life but nothing could have prepared Freddie for an encounter of this magnitude and this gravity. He swallowed his anxiety and pressed play, thinking he’d prepared himself enough for what he was about to see.

Freddie didn’t think he’d ever been so wrong in his life. The footage started normally enough. It was dark. After a second, the drone emitted a soft light that illuminated the interior of the drone docking station. The door slid open noiselessly and the drone flew out.

The hallway adjacent to the docking station was a scene unlike anything Freddie had ever seen. It reminded him of a jungle, only one made of fungiform lifeforms. The floor was covered in a soft carpet of delicate fungal bulbs that swayed in the downdraft from the drone’s propellers.

Fleshy creepers clung to the walls and large bioluminescent mushrooms displaying a spectacular array of patterns dotted the length of the hallway. The sight boggled the mind. It was as if an ecosystem had magically manifested onboard the Methuselah. Freddie couldn’t even begin to grasp at a meaningful answer to the conundrum that it presented.

The rest of the drone’s journey was relatively similar. It flew down overgrown hallways in the engineering bay. It flitted past crew quarters. Some doors were closed, but most of them were open, the rooms as overgrown as the hallways, the rooms empty with no sign of the crewmembers that should have been in suspension in their pods.

The drone reached the reactor chamber and flew in through a curtain of tendrils hanging off the bases of glowing mushrooms attached to the ceiling. The thrum of the reactor core washed over the video footage as the drone approached it.

Freddie caught movement in the periphery of the clip. Enoch must have caught it too because the drone turned toward it. All the drone managed to see was a faint ripple in the bulbs that carpeted the floor. After lingering for a few seconds to make sure there was nothing there, the drone continued toward the core.

The footage cut abruptly a few seconds later, jumping from one scene to the next. The camera was angled along the floor, half of the frame covered by the bulbs that seemed to act like the grass-equivalent of the strange fungal ecosystem. There was less there than Freddie would have liked to see. Not one frame of the video explained anything.

As the clip neared its end, Freddie heard the whine of the drone’s propellers’ motors trying to wind up and failing. The noise continued for a good minute, sounding more and more distressing with every passing moment until there was a loud pop and a hiss. The video cut out shortly afterward.

"An appearance-based comparison with known earth species was conducted based on the drone footage. The results indicate a very high probability that the organisms involved are of extraterrestrial origin," said Enoch.

"I could have told you that," Freddie grumbled. He set the tablet down and ran his hands through his hair. He couldn’t even begin to think of how such a thing could have happened. As far as he knew everything had gone according to plan.

"Apologies, Captain Anderson," said Enoch. "I merely thought that your lack of expertise in astrobiology meant that you required my assistance."

"Why didn’t you wake me earlier?" said Freddie. Something of this magnitude couldn’t have possibly escaped Enoch’s attention. The fact that he, as Captain, wasn’t roused from cryo the moment Enoch noticed something anomalous did not sit well with him.

"With all due respect, Captain Anderson, every attempt was made to rouse you from suspension," said Enoch. Freddie froze. Oh, no. He didn’t like the sound of that. "Your pod refused to respond to emergency protocols and the emergency override."

Freddie sat on his bed, clutching the edge. "Enoch," he said, slowly. He wasn’t even sure he wanted to ask the question. He didn’t know if he’d be able to take the answer if he got it. "Enoch, what date is it today?"

"It is 14:04 April the 5th in the year 2312, Captain Anderson. It has been 102 years, 9 days, 4 hours, and fifty-five minutes since the projected end of the CSS Methuselah’s colonization mission," said Enoch.

Freddie’s blood ran cold as he looked up at Enoch, jaw having dropped to the floor. A hundred years?! Suddenly, the alien ecosystem in the engineering bay didn’t feel as outlandish as it had at first.

---

Knowing that the mission was overdue by a hundred years shifted Freddie’s priorities dramatically. "Enoch. Are we in any danger of losing power right now? Should I prioritize fixing whatever’s going on with the main reactor core?"

"Barring extenuating circumstances, Captain Anderson, there’s a less than 1% chance of total power failure to the entire ship as of this moment in time," Enoch reported. That was a relief. "The secondary reactor core is stable and has managed to fill in the deficit caused by the main reactor core’s output fluctuations."

"That’s good. That’s good…" Freddie mumbled, to no one in particular. Next order of business would be checking up on the integrity of the ship’s systems. "Catch me up, Enoch. How’s the ship looking?" he said.

"Defense grid and radiation shielding systems are nominal, Captain Anderson. Life-support systems are fully functioning in the forward crew sections. The forward medical bay and the bridge are fully operational, as well," Enoch reported. That was good. even if Freddie was the only one awake, he still had access to the med bay if he needed it.

"And the rest?" said Freddie, looking up at Enoch’s projection on the wall.

Enoch nodded and continued, "Life-support systems for all sections astern of the forward crew section have failed. Automated activation of redundant life-support systems has failed. Manual activation has likewise failed. All crew and passengers to the rear of the forward crew section are considered indefinitely incapacitated."

Not dead, at least. The cryo-pods were all self-contained. As far as Freddie could remember, the models on the Methuselah were supposed to be able to maintain suspension for at least 1000 years without issue. There were bound to be a few glitches like Linda but it was better than nothing.

Enoch had more to say, though. Without prompting, he added, "As a precaution, all sections to the rear of the forward crew section have been sealed off for the time being to protect the environmental integrity of the forward section."

It was hard to argue with that. Freddie would have given the same order if Enoch hadn’t already done so. "Am I the only one awake?" he said. Nothing in the manual or the training that he’d received covered a situation like this. Having even just one other person to help navigate the current circumstances would be a major boon.

"Negative, Captain Anderson. Chief Medical Officer Simms has been awake for the last month…" Commander Maximilian Simms was one of Freddie’s buddies from the academy. It was good to know he at least had a friend to rely on through these trying times. If Max was the only other person awake onboard the Methuselah, Freddie was sure he could make do.

"Anyone else?" said Freddie.

Enoch nodded. "Senior Medical Officer Singh has been awake for the last two weeks. Chief Defense Officer Maxwell has been awake for the last two weeks…" Carter Maxwell was another one of Freddie’s friends from the academy. If he was awake, then there was a very good chance that Freddie would be able to mount an expedition into the rear of the ship to figure out what the fuck was going on.

"Defense Crewman Michaels has been awake for the last two weeks." Another member of the defense section. That was good news. Three people was a good number for a single expedition, but there was no hope in hell three people would be able to fix everything in any reasonable amount of time.

"Finally, Junior Astrogation Officer Rayburn has been awake for the last five days," said Enoch. Freddie’s heart skipped a beat. Vincent was awake. His cock twitched, but he ignored it. He couldn’t let his horny brain think for him. Not in the middle of an unprecedented crisis.

Five people were awake, apart from Freddie. The question was, why only five? "Enoch, was my pod the only one that you couldn’t access? Or is the problem more widespread across the ship?"

"Negative, Captain Anderson," said Enoch. "As per protocol, I attempted to wake First Officer Jacinto upon failing to wake you. As far as I have been able to discern, all pods on the Methuselah have been experiencing the same malfunction."

"It was only in the last two months that certain pods have spontaneously broken suspension, starting with Chief Medical Officer Simms’ pod," said Enoch. "He attempted to wake you with the manual override codes but also failed to do so."

"Chief Medical Officer Simms proposed using a ‘physical override,’ which he later clarified to be a euphemism for a crowbar." Freddie shook his head and stifled a chuckle. Of course, Max would go there. "I was able to dissuade him by pointing out that breaking suspension in such a fashion would likely kill you instead of waking you."

"Thanks, Enoch," said Freddie, wryly. He was glad to be alive, but the fact of the matter was that without more men, trying to get anything done was going to be problematic.

The only other option was to wait and see if any more of the pods would spontaneously open in the forward crew section, but if pods here could pop open without warning… Freddie didn’t want to think about what would happen to the poor saps whose pods had spontaneously opened in the absence of life support.

"Alright. Thank you, Enoch," said Freddie. "I’ll take it from here. Keep monitoring the situation, please, and let me know if anything major happens or anything changes." He clapped his hands on his knees and got up from the bed. There was plenty of work to do.

---

"Yeah, I don’t care if this is your ship, Freddie, this is my med bay," said Max, pushing Freddie back down onto his chair. "Don’t get me wrong. I’m glad you’re awake, Captain, but you’re not going anywhere until I’ve given you a full examination."

Freddie looked up at Jonah Singh, Max’s direct subordinate, for help. Instead of offering any assistance, Jonah just shrugged and stifled a chuckle. "It’s no use fighting, Captain. Commander Simms has always run the med bay with an iron fist. More so now that the rest of the medical team isn’t here to moderate him."

Vincent was sitting on a nearby cot, his legs swinging off the side of the bed. "It’s probably for the best if you just go along with it, sir," said Vincent, the corner of his lips curled into a little smirk. "He’s going to tie you down if he has to. Believe me."

"Oh, I wouldn’t doubt it," said Freddie, shivering as Max stuck a probe in his ear. "Max was always fiercely protective even back when we were still at the academy. He once locked Carter in a broom closet because Carter was frothing at the mouth for a fight after breaking his leg the day before."

"Call it what you will, Freddie, I just don’t like it when idiot muscle-heads waste all the time and effort that I put into making them better," said Max. He walked around to Freddie’s other side and stuck the probe in that ear.

"Why are you here, anyway, Vincent?" said Freddie. The sight of Max raising an eyebrow at him gave him pause. He realized what he’d said a moment later. "Sorry. I didn’t mean to be too familiar. May I call you Vincent, Lieutenant Rayburn?"

The small, knowing smirk that Max gave him made Freddie want to smack the chief medical officer across the face, but he knew that would only attract unwanted attention. "Oh, yeah, I don’t mind, sir," said Vincent. "And I’m here for a follow-up. Commander Simms insisted. I wasn’t in the mood to get dragged to med bay by the ear so, here I am."

"Right," muttered Max. "I guess I got all caught up in the excitement of seeing our dear, beloved captain up and about that I completely forgot about you. Jonah, could you take care of Lieutenant Rayburn for me? I want a blood test and a quick physical just to make sure everything’s on the up and up."

"Dammit. I shouldn’t have said anything," said Vincent. "I’m blaming you for this one, Captain," he added, the tone of his voice surprisingly light despite the dire circumstances. Though Freddie supposed there was no point to being glum about the state of the Methuselah.

"You’ve got nothing to blame but your big mouth, Vincent," said Jonah. He pulled on a pair of gloves and picked up one of the all-in-one phlebotomy kits from the autoclave. "Arm," he said, holding out a hand.

A smirk tugged at the corner of Vincent’s lips. "Yeah, you’d know just how big my mouth is, wouldn’t you, Jonah?" said Vincent, as he placed his left arm in Jonah’s hand. Maybe the bashful, innocent image that Freddie had of the junior astrogation officer wasn’t quite accurate to the real-life Vincent. "I don’t recall you ever complaining about it."

Freddie’s cock twitched. He wasn’t above a little voyeurism. He could see how Vincent and Jonah would make a good pair in bed. Hell, given half the chance, he’d bed both. His libido was indiscriminate.

"Yeah, because your mouth was stuffed too full with my thick brown cock for anything stupid to come out of it," said Jonah, rolling his eyes as he pressed the phlebotomy kit against the crook of Vincent’s elbow.

"Ow, fuck!" said Vincent, when Jonah pressed the button to activate the kit. "I’ll never get used to that damn thing."

"Open your mouth," said Max, drawing Freddie’s attention back to his own examination. Since it didn’t look like he was getting out of this any time soon, Freddie figured it was best to comply. That didn’t mean he couldn’t have fun with it if he wanted.

"Good," said Max, as Freddie opened his mouth and let his tongue loll out. "Now, say ‘AAAAH’… Not that loud! Jesus Christ." Freddie fought back the urge to laugh as Max grabbed his chin and shined a light into his mouth.

In a low, conspiratorial voice, "I can see why he’s got your attention," said Max. Max’s eyes briefly darted to the side, where Jonah and Vincent were lightly ribbing each other during Vincent’s examination. As if there were any question as to whom Max was referring to. "Oh don’t look at me like that, Freddie. Everyone in our class knows you’re a bit of a slut. But everyone in our class also knows that you have a type."

"I do not have a type, Max," Freddie whispered, a hint of indignation creeping into his voice. "I don’t even know where you’d get that idea."

"Get up," said Max, tugging on one of Freddie’s arms. Freddie reluctantly stood up, bristling on the inside as Max gave him a quick pat-down. "I’m not saying there’s a certain type of person that you sleep with more often than any other," Max murmured, "but we all noticed that there was a certain kind of guy you always ended up staring at."

Freddie rolled his eyes. It was probably better if he didn’t dignify the statement with a response. He did not pine after cute twinks with big bubble butts like Vincent. He really didn’t.

Max walked up behind Freddie and tugged on the collar of his flight suit. "Strip," said Max.

"Is this really necessary?" said Freddie, as he brought his fingers up to the seam by his neck. Graduating from the academy and serving on a few smaller starships had beaten every last speck of modesty from Freddie, so it wasn’t necessarily the nudity that was the problem but rather the time that Max was wasting on this farce of an examination.

"Yes, it is," said Max. "We have no idea what happened to the cryo-suspension system. I’m sure you know by now that Su-yin died because of a pod malfunction. I have to make sure you’re not just going to drop dead because the pod did something screwy in the hundred years we’ve been asleep past schedule."

"Ugh, fine," said Freddie, tilting his head to one side and coughing when Max told him to. "For the record, I feel perfectly okay." He tilted his head to the other side and coughed again.

"Yeah, and Su-yin was sleeping perfectly well when her body just gave up and she died," said Max. He gave Freddie’s balls a quick squeeze just to punctuate his words. "It’s better to be overly cautious than not cautious enough."

A hand on Freddie’s back, in the space between his shoulder blades, gently guided him over to a nearby cot. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Jonah and Vincent had just finished their examination. "Alright already, Max. Sheesh. I’m just saying, this is a bit paranoid."

"Yeah," said Max, patting Freddie on the back. "And you’ll thank me later when my paranoia saves one of your crewmembers from dying to an embolism they developed during cryo-sleep. Now, bend over."

"Here, Max?" said Freddie, as he bent over the edge of the mat. He propped himself up with his elbows on the bed, edging his legs shoulder-width apart. "Right in front of another patient? Wow. I didn’t know you were that forward."

Max shook his head as he pulled on a pair of gloves. He smacked Freddie’s ass with one hand and said, "You joke, but I’m going to need a semen sample out of you."

"Oh my gods, Max," Freddie groaned, ducking his head between his shoulders. He could feel heat prickling at his cheeks, slowly spreading to the tips of his ears. He didn’t even know why he was so embarrassed.

Freddie suppressed a grunt as he felt something cold trickle down his ass-crack. He felt one of Max’s gloved hands rest on one of his muscular cheeks just as Max said, "Let me show you the way to the captain’s cock, boys."

Before Freddie could so much as protest, he felt a finger delicately swirling around his pucker. He hadn’t been touched back there in so long and had become so sensitive thanks to just coming out of cryo that he had to choke down the urge to moan. Not that his resistance mattered one whit as he moaned anyway when Max’s index finger slid in.

The mere stimulation of Max’s finger moving in and out of his hole to loosen him up made Freddie’s cock chub between his legs. Pinned between his hips and the edge of the cot, the only way that it could grow was down, perfectly framed by his legs.

A second finger entered Freddie, fucking in and out of his hole with practiced precision. His ass was loose enough that Max didn’t need to spend so long on stretching him out but Max did it anyway, scissoring his fingers opened and closed to make his ring more pliable.

Freddie grunted through his teeth as Max’s fingers curled inside of him, finding his prostate in one quick motion. His back arched and his toes curled, his thighs flexing with every stroke as Max gently rubbed his button. The first few touches Freddie could have understood, but the exam had just turned into a full-blown prostate massage.

"Can someone help me with this? I think he’s about to blow," said Max. Freddie heard footsteps approaching, and a short while later, the sound of a package being torn open.

Something about being treated as if he wasn’t even there, or as if he didn’t have any say in the proceedings, made a strange heat simmer in Freddie’s belly. It was demeaning, but he quite liked it. He’d always had a side that was a bit of a glutton for humiliation, even something as comparably tame as this.

Freddie’s breath caught in his lungs as he felt slender fingers wrap around the base of his cock to hold his endowment steady against the involuntary bucking of his hips. He felt the rubbery membrane of a condom on the tip of his cock, fitting snugly around his member as it was rolled down his shaft.

"Geez, Captain," said Vincent, his voice suspiciously close-by. "I didn’t know you were this big," he said, just as Freddie felt a quick squeeze around the middle of his cock. Between the horniness of being fresh out of cryo, the assault on his prostate from Max’s fingers, and the sneaking suspicion that the guy handling his cock was Vincent and not Jonah, Freddie couldn’t have hoped to hold on to his load even if he wanted to.

A low grunt escaped Freddie before he felt the tightness in his nuts snap free. His cock pulsed as he deposited spurt after spurt of thick, rich cum into the reservoir of the condom that had been slid onto him, and didn’t stop until a good thirty seconds later.

"Think that’s enough, Commander?" said Vincent, as Max pulled his fingers out of Freddie’s ass. "The Captain came like a fucking horse!"

Freddie turned around, chest rising and falling heavily. He rested his arms on his elbows on the bed as he tried to catch his breath. Vincent was on his right, tying off the condom. It was fuller than even Freddie had anticipated. It looked like he really had cum like a horse.

Max, on the other hand, was standing to Freddie’s left, pulling off his gloves. "Are you done?" said Freddie, in a deadpan voice. "Because if you don’t mind, I’d like to regain at least some dignity."

"Yeah," said Max. "You’re free to go. But don’t do anything too strenuous. Walk around if you want, but you wait to do anything serious until I give you a clean bill of health, understand?"

"Ugh. Fine," said Freddie, brushing past Max and Vincent to retrieve his flight suit once the condom had been passed along. "I wasn’t planning on heading to the rear of the ship without some sort of strategy meeting anyway."

"Yeah. Do that. Do rounds. Strategize. Just don’t go running around until I tell you it’s fine," said Max. Max gave Vincent’s results a quick read as Jonah handed them to him. He turned to the junior astrogation officer and said, "You’re fine. If the Captain gets any stupid ideas and it looks like you can’t convince him otherwise, you do it for him, yeah?"

Vincent chuckled, gave Max a quick salute, and said, "Yes, sir, Commander Simms, sir!" Freddie rolled his eyes at the display, though he wasn’t complaining about the chance to ogle Vincent’s tight ass while the junior officer’s back was turned to him.

Together, Freddie and Vincent made their way out of the med bay. "Where to next, Captain?" said Vincent.

"Wherever Carter is," said Freddie. "We gotta start planning how to get to the bottom of this."

---

Freddie came out of the meeting with Carter with a little bit of a headache. The logistics of what they wanted to do was mind-boggling, and the equipment that they had on hand was quite limited.

There was enough in the backup food stores of the forward crew section to last the six of them that were awake for another few months. If, however, more of their crewmembers woke up before they could secure a food supply, what they had in the stores wasn’t going to last. Water wasn’t as much of a concern since it could be recycled indefinitely.

It was never pleasant to think about having to drink recycled piss, so Freddie mostly just pushed it out of his mind. If him, Carter, and Crewman Michaels could clear a path to the next nearest crew section, there was every chance they could raid the food stores there as a short term solution.

The real prize, though, would be the agriculture bay toward the middle of the ship. Enoch had confirmed the integrity of the greenhouses, cell cultures, and aquaponics, so if they could secure the agriculture bay, the food problem would be solved for the foreseeable future.

The problem was equipment. There were general repair tools in the forward section, and they also had access to the armory for anything they might need to cut through the infestation in the rear of the ship. Anything more specialized, though, they’d find only in the engineering bay which was much further than the agriculture bay.

Freddie rubbed his temples. "One problem at a time, Freddie," he muttered to himself. "One problem at a time." There was no use speculating about how to get to engineering since there would be no way to get there without getting to agriculture first.

"Getting a headache, Captain?" said Vincent. He placed his hands on Freddie’s shoulders, his thumbs rubbing slow circles around the base of Freddie’s nape. Freddie didn’t have the energy to stifle the groan that escaped him. Vincent’s fingers felt good. "My grandmother always told me I had magic hands."

"Oh yeah? I bet…" said Freddie. He could feel the tension in his muscles practically melt away under Vincent’s expert ministrations. He almost couldn’t suppress the moan that threatened to spill out of him. "Fuck, Vincent, you’re a master at that."

"There’s something else I’m pretty good at doing with my hands, Captain," said Vincent, murmuring the words in a low, husky tone right into Freddie’s ear. The sheer sultriness of his voice sent a chill down Freddie’s spine, a tingle of pleasure that shot straight to the tip of Freddie’s cock.

"What would that be?" Freddie responded, in a gravelly tone. His breath caught in his throat as one of Vincent’s hands wandered down from his shoulder. It cupped one of his firm pecs, the fingers then moving to delicately tug at and rub his erect nipple. "You do know Max said nothing strenuous for a few days, right?"

Freddie moaned as he felt Vincent’s teeth nibbling on the sensitive skin of the crook of his neck. "You wouldn’t have to do anything, Captain," said Vincent. "You’d just lie back and let me do all the work… I could even tie you down just to make sure you don’t tire yourself out too much."

"Fuck," Freddie hissed, as Vincent pinched his nipple. His cock swelled to half-hardness in his flight-suit as Vincent’s fingers traveled down his side, caressing the cobbles of his abs. "You never approached me before… Why now?" he breathed.

Vincent reached down between Freddie’s legs, gave his package a tender squeeze, and then pulled away. He walked around in front of Freddie, straightened the Captain’s collar, and said, "I wanted to do this right, Captain. Once the mission was complete and we were technically discharged from the Confederation Fleet, I was going to make my move."

Patting Freddie’s collar flat, Vincent’s hands wandered down Freddie’s torso once again. As his fingers lingered, his touch feather-light on Freddie’s stomach, he continued. "I didn’t want people to think I was trying to sleep my way to the top…"

"But these past few days, knowing that we might not get out of this alive, I’ve been thinking that if you ever woke up I’d finally make my move," said Vincent, flashing a toothy grin at Freddie, definitely nothing like the meek little flower that he’d fantasized Vincent would be. "And when I saw your thick cock up close for the first time I just knew I had to do it, one way or another."

Freddie groaned as Vincent’s fingers drifted down past his waist. His breath caught in his throat as he felt them playing along the length of his rock-hard erection, tracing the bulge of his manhood through the fabric of his flight suit.

"So, Captain… What say you we get out of here and have a little fun? Maybe get that headache of yours taken care of with a nice flood of endorphins?" said Vincent, his thumb rubbing slow circles around the head of Freddie’s cock.

"Fuck, yes," Freddie breathed. He felt weak in the knees and he didn’t know if it was from excitement or from having just come out of cryo, but it wasn’t altogether unpleasant. He reached down and grabbed Vincent by the wrist. "Your place or mine?"

"Mine," Vincent murmured, the corner of his mouth curling up in a little smirk.

---

The two of them had hardly entered the room when Vincent pushed Freddie up against the wall, fingers fumbling with the seam of the Captain’s flight suit. The little noise of surprise that Freddie would have made died in his throat as Vincent’s lips locked onto his.

Given the way that Vincent acted on the bridge, all nice and accommodating, Freddie would have never pegged him to be so assertive. Not that Freddie didn’t like it. It was just incongruous to the image of Vincent that he’d constructed in his head.

The kiss was far more sizzling than Freddie could have anticipated. He melted into it, moaning as Vincent’s fingers worked the flight suit off his shoulders. Vincent’s touch on the skin of his torso left trails of tingling heat that made his cock twitch.

When the two of them pulled apart, Freddie had to catch his breath. Chest heaving, he reached up to take Vincent’s flight suit off, but the junior astrogation officer caught his hands before he could. "Not tonight, Captain," said Vincent. "Tonight’s all about you."

Vincent pulled Freddie’s arms down to his sides as he lowered himself to his haunches. He let go of Freddie’s wrists and grabbed the sides of Freddie’s flight suit, yanking them down in one smooth motion. The cool air hit Freddie’s turgid cock at the same time that it sprang free of confinement and smacked against his navel, leaving a smear of glistening pre-cum.

"Fuck, Captain, you’re huge," Vincent grunted. His fingers wrapped delicately around Freddie’s cock as he gave it a few light tugs. Mercifully, Freddie had already cum twice since waking up from cryo. Otherwise, he didn’t think he would have been able to hold his load.

Vincent grinned as he leaned up and pressed his lips against the spongy head of Freddie’s cock. It jumped in his grasp, leaking a glob of pre-cum that dripped to the floor. The droplet left a glistening strand in its wake, which Vincent licked up as he dragged his tongue over the slit of Freddie’s cock.

The feeling of Vincent’s hot breath ghosting over the sensitive skin of his cock was enough to make Freddie leak. A moan spilled out of him before he could stop it, and the light touch of Vincent’s fingers on the underside of his shaft made him shiver.

Instead of making good on his teasing, however, Vincent pulled away. He pulled the chair out from the desk in the corner and placed it in front of the bed. His fingers drummed over the top of the backrest as he locked gazes with Freddie. "Come take a seat, Captain," he said.

Freddie took a deep breath to steady himself. Pushing himself off the wall, he walked toward the chair, cock swinging. "Don’t mind if I do," he said, planting his naked ass right down. The cushioned surface was just warm enough to be comfortable.

"You don’t mind a little rope, do you, Captain?" said Vincent, as his fingers lightly brushed across the back of Freddie’s shoulders.

"Not at all," said Freddie. He craned his neck and watched Vincent’s ass as the twink bent over to rummage in his nightstand. He had to up his game. He couldn’t very well let Vincent run the whole show. "Especially if it’s from a hottie like you," he said.

"Aw, that’s sweet, sir," said Vincent, straightening up from his nightstand. He turned to face Freddie and pulled a sizable loop of rope taut in his hands. "Hands behind the back of the chair, please."

"Do you do this to all your conquests, or am I a special case?" said Freddie, as he folded his hands behind the backrest of the chair. He felt a tingle up his spine as the coarse rope draped over his wrists. Vincent looped it around his hands and knotted it pretty tightly.

"Not all of them," said Vincent, as he continued up Freddie’s arms, eventually lashing the rope across Freddie’s chest and pulling him tight against the back of the chair. "But you’re the only one I’m doing this as a treat for, Captain."

Freddie shivered as Vincent lightly dragged his fingers over his chest. They drifted up along the ridges of his washboard stomach and across the shelf of his firm pecs, delicately circling his nipples before continuing up and over his shoulders. "You keep that up and there won’t be much need for the ropes," Freddie murmured, as Vincent’s fingers lifted from his skin.

"I wouldn’t worry about that, Captain," said Vincent. "I happen to be very good at what I do." He retrieved another length of rope from his nightstand which he used to bind Freddie’s legs to the legs of the chair, giving Freddie hardly any slack to move in.

Vincent pulled the knot tight. "This isn’t too restrictive, is it?" he said.

Freddie strained against the ropes. Despite his size, he couldn’t get the bindings to budge substantially. "No," he said. "Actually, it’s surprisingly comfortable. Well, snug would be the right word, I guess."

"That’s good," said Vincent. He retrieved one more thing from the nightstand, a black silk scarf that he folded right in front of Freddie’s eyes. "Blindfold?" he said. "To spice it up a bit more?"

"Sure, why not?" said Freddie. Vincent leaned forward and planted a kiss on his lips. It was nice and quick, not quite as passionate as the one they’d shared upon entering the room. While their lips were pressed against one another, Vincent laid the blindfold across Freddie’s eyes. He tied it off when they parted.

Vincent’s presence had been so compelling ever since he made a move on Freddie that its absence was stark. Vincent was still in the room, of course—Freddie hadn’t heard him leave—but he was being silent and motionless. There was a mild sense of panic in the back of Freddie’s head, but more than that, anticipation that built with every moment that Vincent stayed away.

Freddie jolted against the ropes tying him to the chair when he felt the light touch of delicate fingers on the inside of his thigh. The contact was electric, making his cock jump and leak.

Unable to see anything but the darkness behind the scarf tied around his eyes, everything else was heightened. He shivered as he heard the rustle of Vincent’s flight suit, the quiet thump of something hitting the floor.

Another touch, this time on the inside of his other thigh, sent Freddie’s arousal into overdrive. "Fuck," he muttered, under his breath, as Vincent’s slender fingers traced their way up the curve of his legs. They stroked up and down the inside of his thigh, tantalizingly close to where he wanted them to be and yet so, so far at the same time.

Freddie sucked in a breath as Vincent cradled his balls in his fingers. The touch was like molten heat, spreading up through his groin, making him tingle. He couldn’t help but moan as Vincent gave his nuts a quick squeeze, a thumb gently rubbing over the sensitive pair.

"Like this, Captain?" Vincent murmured.

"Fuck. Yeah," Freddie grunted. A moan bubbled up his throat as Vincent’s finger coiled around his cock in a loose ring. Light, gentle strokes up his rigid shaft made him twitch and groan. He’d have pumped his hips if he could, but the ropes made sure that he couldn’t.

A hot whisper of breath ghosted over the tip of Freddie’s cock as Vincent leaned in. "You look so tasty, Captain," he said, fingers tightening a touch around Freddie’s erection. Up and down. Up and down. Faster and tighter with every stroke. "Nice and juicy…"

Freddie shuddered as pre-cum trickled freely from the tip of his cock, tingling in the base of his spine. Vincent’s fingers on his cock felt like heaven. It was scary how masterfully Vincent did it. Vincent tugged on him, his breath coming in shorter, faster bursts as the pressure built up in his groin.

Just as he was about to crest that edge, Vincent pulled his fingers away. Freddie’s cock bobbed in the air, throbbing with frustration at the denial. "Gods. You really do know how to tease a man," Freddie grunted. He wanted more. Needed more. Just a little more and he could blow, but Vincent’s hot breath wafting over the sensitive head of his cock wasn’t near close enough.

"What can I say? I like to know my way around a man," said Vincent, pressing his lips lightly against the side of Freddie’s cock. A quick flick of the tongue along the crown of Freddie’s cock head brought him so tantalizingly close to cumming, but Vincent stopped just short yet again.

As Freddie slowly slid back away from the edge of orgasm, Vincent’s hands went elsewhere to play with his body. Vincent rubbed his palms all over Freddie’s stomach, kneading the hard muscles that made his stomach tense and release with every pass. It was good, but it wasn’t enough.

As Vincent’s hands migrated up to his chest, squeezing the firm slabs tightly, Freddie couldn’t help but groan. Hot breath wafted over the head of his cock, before a different, wetter heat, enveloped him.

A sharp, guttural cry tore from Freddie’s lips as Vincent’s locked around his hardness. His cock pulsed, pre-cum spurting from his tip as Vincent’s tongue traced circles around the sensitive head. He wanted nothing more than to thrust his hips, to grab Vincent by his head and fuck that throat until he blasted his wad down it, but the ropes made sure he couldn’t move even a little.

Smooth as silk, Vincent sank down on Freddie’s cock, swallowing him all the way to the root without so much as a wince. It felt so good Freddie could scarcely contain his moans as Vincent’s head bobbed up and down in his lap. Up and down, pumping his cock down that tight, vice-like throat. Every moan, every hum, sent vibrations shivering down the length of his cock into the base of his spine.

Vincent kept at it, slurping on Freddie’s hard cock, faster and deeper each time for the better part of an hour. It felt like an eternity. Every time he felt that he was going to blow, Vincent pulled away. It was frustrating. It was torture. In the most exquisite of ways.

"Ready to blow, Captain?" said Vincent, as he delicately swept his tongue back and forth across the slit of Freddie’s cock.

Freddie moaned. Vincent had sucked the words out of him long ago. His cock twitched as Vincent chuckled against the side of his erection. "Get ready Captain," said Vincent. "Here you come."

Vincent licked one long stripe along the underside of Freddie’s cock. Freddie tensed, his toes curling. Vincent swallowed him in one long stroke and he almost lost it. His hole twitched, his back arched, pushing him as far off the chair as the ropes would allow.

And then Vincent hummed. The dam broke. All Freddie could see was white as pleasure ripped through his body. He shook, cock pulsing and throbbing and swelling as the cum surged up out of his balls. It was rapture. Spurt after spurt of cum blasted into Vincent’s eager throat, the waves of pleasure blurring one into the other until Freddie though the orgasm would never end.

It did, eventually, as Vincent sucked the last few drops of cum from Freddie’s cock. Sweat trickled down the side of Freddie’s face the moment Vincent took the blindfold away, no longer impeded by the cloth.

Freddie grinned, his cock slowly deflating, feeling better than he’d felt in hours. He squinted in the bright light of Vincent’s quarters but he adjusted quickly enough. He panted, chest rising and falling heavily as Vincent undid the knots that bound him to the chair. "That was… Something else," he breathed. "Thanks."

"Glad you liked it, Captain," said Vincent. Once Freddie’s legs were free, Vincent grabbed him by the wrist and said, "Wanna lie down with me?"

Freddie got up. "More than anything," he said, as Vincent tugged him toward the bed. The two of them curled in, the narrow mattress clearly meant for one person. But Freddie actually liked that. It was more intimate.

Vincent curled up against Freddie, seemingly happy to be the little spoon. Freddie’s cock ended up nestled between Vincent’s pert asscheeks, which sent him right back to half-hardness despite having just cum. For once, though, he was happy to just lie there.

Well, not exactly just lie there. Freddie draped his arm across Vincent’s midriff, his hand gently stroking the junior officer’s taut stomach. His touch eventually wandered a little downward, his fingers dipping down past Vincent’s navel. He found what he was looking for as he touched the outline of Vincent’s cock in the fabric of the flight suit.

Vincent was packing some serious meat for his size. Freddie could scarcely believe how disproportionately big it was as he traced his fingers along the sides. "Don’t start something you might not be able to finish, Captain," Vincent murmured.

"It’s just a little helping hand," said Freddie, burying his nose in the back of Vincent’s neck. "Max can’t complain about that, can he?"