The intense rancid smell of industrial sanitizing cleanser permeated through the air. His nostrils flared at the repulsive odor. The young man struggled to sit up on the thin mattress. His bed was suspended along one wall by hinges and chains. The single bare light bulb hung precariously from a frayed wire in the center of the twelve foot ceiling with its unchecked glare throwing harsh shadows across the bare concrete walls. There was no window, just the rusty steel door.

"They probably had it better in San Quinton," he thought to himself. He wobbled over to the toilet and pissed. Then he turned on the faucet. Putting his hands together, he gathered as much water as he could and dumped it into the toilet bowl. The process was repeated until the stainless steel bowl finally emptied itself of the rank urine. The young man eased himself back down on the tattered sheets, which barely covered the poor excuse of a mattress. His once fine physique was slowly dwindling to skin and bones. The meager meals provided him left much to be desired. But that was the good part. Everyday he was dragged into 'the room.' God, how he hated that room! The cattle prod was pressed into his testicles and he was repeatedly asked about the software. With each 'I don't know" his scrotum received the shock intended for steak on the hoof. How much longer he could endure the agonizing torture, remained in question. His medical training told him that his time was growing short. The agony of the shocks was reinforced with the meager meals so callously shoved under the door of his cell. Yeah, his cell. He could think of it as nothing else. The memory of discussions with his dad's friends that were once held captive in Vietnam haunted his conscious mind. At least his captors spoke English, even though they repeatedly asked the same question about the software.

Footsteps could be heard coming down the hall. He had no perception of time, but his stomach told him it must be mealtime. The footsteps stopped at his door. The next sound was that of tin scraping across concrete. The young man looked down at the floor as it skidded to a stop.

He reached for the tin plate that held his evening meal. Thankfully, it consisted of a sandwich, complete with lettuce. Usually, it was just stale bread. On rare occasions, they tossed in a piece of Spam. It only made him sick. Oh, how he wished for vegetables, but the lettuce would have to do, even if it was wilted. Upon close examination, he learned the cruel truth. The sandwich did indeed have lettuce, but there was nothing else. Just lettuce. No ham. No mayonnaise. No cheese. Nothing. Just stale bread and a leaf of old lettuce that was already turning brown on the edges.

He chewed slowly, savoring each bite. When the sandwich was gone, he put his index finger in his mouth and wet it. Then his finger passed over the tin plate, gathering up the crumbs, which were brought back to his mouth. This process was repeated until there was nothing left.

Daniel sunk his teeth into the "melt in your mouth" prime rib sandwich. He followed it by stuffing his mouth with a fork full of potato salad. The creamy garlic taste excited his taste buds. Washing it down with a swig of Dom Perignon 1959 didn't even faze the young man as he joked with his new, and his old friends.

"The manager is gonna shit when he finds a bottle of this bubbly on his tab," said Timmy.

"I don't give a shit," responded Teri, as she took another sip.

"So, Timmy, you're unemployed," noted Cody. Timmy nodded and grinned.

"It would seem so, but I really don't care. They never gave me any hours, but they expected me to be available at the drop of a hat."

"Would you like to play tour guide?" asked Daniel.

"Tour guide?"

"Yep. We're just here for tonight and tomorrow we're off for Belfast. We're interested in visiting an Internet Café called 'The Electric Camel.' It's supposed to be near here. Ever heard of it?"

"Sure, I've been there before. It's right across Trafalgar Square."

"Great." Then Timmy turned to Cody.

"So you blokes have never been to London?"

"Nope."

"And you have until tomorrow?"

"Yes. In fact, we need to book a flight to Belfast and we should probably do it soon," Cody said looking over at Daniel.

"We'll walk to Trafalgar Square. It's the center of London, you know. Just across the square in Soho is a restaurant called Titanic. Since you're headed for Belfast, I think that's appropriate. Titanic is really cool and trendy and they have very nice food, reasonably priced. It's only about two miles and the walk will be really refreshing. We'll have dinner there and then hit the café for a Latté," suggested Timmy.

"Sounds good," said Teri.

"By the time I'm through with you Yanks, you're gonna be knackered!"

"Cool," Daniel said as he slid his chair back and stood up. "Let's go to the room and book a flight, then we can take in the sights."

"What's knackered mean?" asked Teri.

"Tired," answered Cody.

"My, my. You sure are the answer man," she said as she stood up. Cody grinned. The trio and their new friend headed up to the room. Teri chuckled at the huge new arrangement of fresh cut flowers on the coffee table. And she burst out laughing when she noticed the bottle of champagne chilling in the sterling stand. Cody and Daniel sat back on the love seat, while Teri and Timmy sat back on the couch.

"Timmy, are you gay?" asked Teri. Cody dropped his mouth open at such a blatantly direct question. He looked over at Timmy for his reaction. The expression on Timmy's face gave nothing away, but his blank look slowly gave way to a slight smile.

"Actually, I'm straight, but I don't mind an occasional romp with a mate." Teri cooed. Timmy blushed. Cody and Daniel burst out laughing.

"You better watch out," Daniel said, still chuckling. "Teri will turn you every which way but loose!" Timmy blushed even more

"Hey!" said Teri in mock disgust. "I'm not that bad!" As soon as the laughter settled down, Daniel stood up.

"I've got to make some flight arrangements."

"You haven't booked your flight?" asked Timmy.

"No, we're kinda taking this one step at a time," answered Daniel.

"That's a pretty expensive way of traveling."

"Yeah, but when you don't know where you're going next, it makes it kinda hard to plan ahead."

"Pardon me, mate, but you're not really making a lot of sense."

"Sorry, Timmy. It's a really long story. Just suffice it to say we're kinda on a mission," Daniel explained. Timmy frowned.

"A mission. Wait a tick! What kind of mission are you on?"

"Like I said, Timmy, it's a long story."

"Look mate, I have resources. You seem to be on the up and up. I'll make you an offer. You tell me what you're up to and I'll see what I can do to help you out."

"NO!" said Daniel loudly as he briskly walked into the bedroom. Timmy was stunned.

"What did I say?" Cody shook his head, stood up, then followed Daniel into the bedroom. Teri smiled an uneasy smile.

"Daniel is really sensitive about getting more people involved. Look, Timmy, don't take this personally. A lot of people have been hurt and Daniel just doesn't want to see you get hurt. You saw how he reacted when he thought Stan had killed you?" Timmy nodded. "Well, Daniel just doesn't want anything bad to happen." Timmy pondered what Teri said, sighed, leaned back on the couch and put his hands behind his head.

"I own a Lear Jet," Timmy said softly as a grin spread across his face.

"Excuse me?" Teri asked.

"Ever heard of Air Royal International?"

"No."

"Well, it's one of the biggest private jet charter companies in the UK. And it just so happens that my dad was one of the founding partners." Teri started to grin. "Mum and dad died in an auto accident last year. They left everything to me. I own just a little over half of the company. Of course, all that's in trust with the lawyers, but I can go anywhere I want to anytime I want to." Teri burst out laughing. "What's so bloody funny?"

"Timmy, I like you. But that has to be the wildest tale I've ever heard," Teri said as she continued to laugh. Timmy crossed his arms on his chest and took an indignant stance. With all the laughter in the room, Daniel and Cody came back in from the bedroom.

"What's so funny?" asked Daniel. Teri was almost hysterical as she pointed to Timmy.

"He said he owns a Lear, a jet, ah, well, he said he owns a jet charter company. Can you believe that shit?" Daniel took one look at Timmy and immediately made up his mind that their new friend was serious.

"Timmy," started Daniel. "Is this true?" Timmy nodded, then stood up.

"Like I was telling Teri, my mum and dad died last year. Auto crash. Really bad. Anyway, my dad was a really good business man. He made good investments and, well, I'm very well taken care of."

"Then why the job at this hotel?" asked Cody as he sat down next to Teri.

"It was one of the conditions of the will. My dad wanted to make sure I understood human nature. He believed there was no better way than to work in the hospitality industry."

"So you really do own a Lear jet?" asked Daniel as he sat down on the loveseat.

"No, that's not entirely true. I own a little more than fifty percent of a company that charters, ah, fifty-five hundred aircraft." Cody let out a low whistle.

"Fuck me," stammered Daniel.

"Sorry, mate. Seems you already have someone to take care of that," Timmy said as he gestured toward Cody. Daniel and Cody both blushed.

"You're for real?" asked Teri.

"Yeah. I don't like to brag or show off. It's just not my nature, but when you talked of a mission, it tweaked my curiosity."

"I-I don't think ..." Daniel started, as he stood up.

"Listen, mate. I get the feeling you blokes are into something over your heads. I've always found that when I'm in one of those situations, it's best to have people around that can help. So the way I see it, you're in one of those situations and I'm in a position to help. So shut up, sit down and fill me in." Daniel slowly sat down.

"I like this guy," said Teri.

"'Course you do," said Cody. "You're both alike." Daniel chuckled, then turned serious.

"Timmy, you're right. We're in a world of shit. You could really give us a hand with transportation, but wouldn't that be pretty expensive?"

"Not for me. Now, are you gonna fill me in on this mission?" Daniel sighed. He knew that having a private jet at his disposal would be invaluable. But the thought of involving someone else went against every fiber of his being.

"Daniel," Teri said softly. He turned to look at his best friend. She smiled and nodded approvingly. Daniel glanced at Cody. He too nodded his approval. Daniel turned back to look at Timmy.

"OK." Timmy grinned as he sat down in the chair next to the love seat and across from the couch. For the next half hour, the three friends filled Timmy in on what had happened. They left nothing out. Daniel even included his past, so Timmy would truly understand how evil Stan could be. Timmy sat back and quietly took it all in. When they were finished, Timmy sighed, then leaned forward in his seat.

"Count me in." Every face in the room had a grin on it. "Now, let's do some site seeing."
The ringing of the telephone suddenly took the center of attention. It was on the table right next to Daniel. He picked it up.

"Hello."

"Daniel, it's Jevic."

"Hey bud!" said Daniel, initially happy to hear from his friend, but then he frowned. "How'd you know I was here?"

"I'm very resourceful, besides, you said you were going to London. But that's not the reason for this call," Jevic said in a very serious tone. The sound of his friend's voice caught Daniel's immediate attention.

"OK, Jevic. What's up?"

"It's about Javan."

"Is he OK?"

"I can't honestly say, Daniel. But I do know he's being held prisoner by some rogue NSA agents."

"Oh God, no." Daniel's friends looked at him and listened intently to the only side of the conversation they could hear.

"I have a feeling they're the same agents that took you," said Jevic.

"What makes you say that?" asked Daniel.

"They're rogue agents, Daniel. The agency fired them, but now they're working on their own. The word I hear is somebody made them look really bad. Well, that pissed them off. In their efforts to get the guy, they got carried away, innocent people got hurt and eventually they were fired from the NSA. They're out to find that person and damn the consequences."

"Why in the hell are they after me and now Javan?"

"I have no idea."

"This doesn't make sense, Jevic. Do you know where they're holding him."

"Not sure exactly, but from what I understand, it's probably the same place they had you."

"I've gotta go get him."

"They'll be expecting you."

"I'm counting on it. Thanks, Jevic. I'll be in touch."

"OK, bud. And, Daniel, don't do anything stupid."

"OK, see ya." Daniel hung up the phone and turned to his friends. "We've got a problem."

"So those fuckin' NSA freaks have Javan?" said Teri as she stood up clenching her fists. Daniel nodded in confirmation.

"Fuck," said Cody as he buried his face in his hands.

"Sounds like one of your friends is in a bit of a muck," Timmy said.

"Yeah, you might say that," said Daniel who suddenly looked up at Timmy and smiled. "And I know what we're gonna do about it." Cody lifted his head and looked at Daniel. Teri slammed her right fist into her left palm.

"We're gonna kick ass!" she exclaimed.

"Damn right we are," said Daniel as he stood up. He looked over at Timmy. "How soon do you think you can get us to Jacksonville, Florida?" Timmy walked over to the telephone without a word. He calmly punched in a few numbers and waited.

"Hi, Richard. It's Timmy. I need to get to Jacksonville, Florida as fast as humanly possible. Is the newest addition to the fleet ready??"

"Yeah, it is, Tim. What's the rush?"

"I just need to get there fast. How soon can it be ready?"

"It'll be flight ready, complete with crew in under an hour."

"Great! Thanks Richard. Can you send a car round?"

"Certainly."

"I'm at the Trafalgar Hilton."

"I'll have David bring the car. Give him half an hour."

"Perfect, see you at the office." Timmy hung up the phone and turned to his new friends. "What time is it?" Cody glanced down at his watch.

"Umm, a little after six?"

"You must still be on States' time," said Timmy as he did some quick calculations in his head. Suddenly he broke into a grin. "Excellent! It's only a little after one here. That means we can be in Florida in time for supper." Daniel's mouth dropped open.

"W-what are we taking? A fighter jet?" asked Teri, still not believing Timmy's story about Air Royal International. Timmy smiled.

"No, we're taking the Concorde."

"This shit has gone far enough," said Teri as she stood up.

"Teri!" said Daniel sharply. She glared at his terse inflection. "Let's not dismiss this totally. I think we should at least give Timmy the benefit of the doubt. After all, you and Cody convinced me to trust him with everything we have going on. So give the guy a break, OK?" Teri frown disappeared and her eyes turned toward the floor.

"Sorry, Timmy. Daniel's right."

"That's OK. Come on, we've gotta get a move on. The car will be here in twenty minutes."

"We're forgetting something," Cody said softly. Everyone turned to look at him. "The Electric Camel. What are we gonna do about the black box? More importantly, what are we gonna do with one very pissed off Stan if we don't install his box? Remember what he did to Jevic. He could do that to somebody else."

"The Camel is open until one," said Timmy. "We'll be in Jacksonville by six. It's a four hour flight back. If we plan to get back here by midnight, you will still have time to put the box in. The only problem is that only leaves two hours to rescue your friend."

"I know exactly where he is," said Daniel with a gleam in his eye. "Let's do this!" They all stood up and headed toward the lobby. As they walked toward the front door, they overheard the manager arguing with the restaurant manager about a complimentarily bottle of Dom Perignon. Teri chuckled to herself, but the smile drained from her face as they walked out the front door. A long, black limousine was parked directly in front of the hotel. When the driver saw Timmy, he immediately smiled and opened the door.

The ride to the airport was fast and quiet, with hardly any conversation. The driver bypassed the main entrance to Gatwick and circled around to the business jet complex. Daniel glanced up as they passed through the gate. The sign overhead read Air Royal International. The driver pulled the limousine up to the front door. He hopped out and opened the door. Timmy thanked him and the group of young friends walked into the front door.

"Timmy! Hi, how are you?" a young lady sung out as they walked through the door.

"Great Marlene. How's Ray?"

"I think he's busy getting your plane ready. He likes a bit more notice, you know," she said, but still continuing to smile.

"Yeah, I hated to do this, but something came up suddenly." Marlene looked at the people with Timmy. "Oh, how rude of me. Marlene, this is Cody, Teri and Daniel. They'll be coming with me to Florida. Do you have my passport?" She reached into her desk drawer and handed the passport to Timmy.

"Timmy," called out a male voice. He turned to see a big burly man, about six feet tall with salt and pepper hair coming out of the elevator. He wore a flight uniform and had a huge smile.

"Hey, Ray!" Timmy called out. "Are we all ready to go?"

"Just gotta file the flight plan. By the time you get settled on board, we'll be ready for take off."

"Cool, come on guys," Timmy said motioning for the others to follow. Ray left for the flight operations office. Timmy led his friends to the elevator.

"This is unreal," said Teri. Timmy pushed the button for the second floor.

"No, I'll show you unreal," said Timmy chuckling. The elevator stopped and he motioned for Teri to follow him to the window. Parked on the tarmac on the other side of the glass was a sleek Concorde SST Jet with the Air Royal International Logo on the side and tail.

"Wow," was all she could say. Timmy motioned for everyone to follow. They walked down the jetway and entered the jet.

"Hi, Timmy," a beautiful young woman said with a smile.

"Hi, Amy. These are my friends Cody, Daniel and Teri."

"It's very nice to meet each of you. Go ahead and make yourselves comfortable. But no drinks until were airborne. The jet has a pretty intense acceleration and I wouldn't want to see anybody wearing a drink." The group chuckled politely and headed for the main cabin.

The luxurious interior was a sight to behold. It was a sight reserved only for the ultra rich business executives that spare no expense for top of the line travel. Flawless hand polished mahogany tables, beautiful furniture including couches, love seats and single chairs. There were brass lamps on the end tables and an extensive bar off to one side. A large oval meeting table with an inlaid design was off in another area. Near to the table were several computers, a fax machine and a couple of printers. Plush carpet ran throughout the main cabin. The ceiling was breath taking. There was an oval shaped recessed area with mahogany wood trim in the middle of the cabin. Within the recessed area was stained glass, back lit with a soft glow. The scene was a beautiful sky with puffy white clouds.

"Oh my God," stammered Teri.

"Come on, let's get a seat. I want us to be ready when Ray gets back. Oh, and be sure to get a seat facing forward. You can't sit in the others until we're at cruising altitude," said Timmy as he motioned for Cody, Daniel and Teri to follow.

"Ah, Timmy, all this isn't necessary," said a very humbled Daniel. "A simple plane would have been fine." Daniel sat down in the love seat and Timmy chuckled.

"I've been around this all my life, so it's no big deal to me. I guess I sometimes forget that most people never see this side of air travel. After we get airborne, I'll show you the suites." In the background of the conversation the sound of the engines powering up could be heard.

"Suites?" asked Cody as he sat down next to Daniel. Teri sat down in a leather chair next to the loveseat.

"Yeah, there's a suite in the rear with two bedrooms, a full bathroom and a sitting area. It's really pretty cool," said Timmy as he sat down in the chair next to Teri. "This is one of the last projects my dad completed. He was very proud of it."

"Excuse me, Timmy?" Everyone looked up to see Amy standing at the door. "The flight plan has been filed and we've been cleared to taxi to the runway, so you need to put on your seatbelts."

"OK, Amy. Thanks." After fastening their seatbelts, they watched Amy secure the door. A quick moment later, the lights flashed momentarily as the external power supply was disconnected. Amy made a quick check to make sure everyone's seatbelt was fastened.

"As soon as we get in the air, you can get comfortable and I'll bring out some snacks."

"Sounds great, Amy. Thanks." She smiled.

"No problem" she said as she turned to take her seat. The Concorde was pushed smoothly back from the jet way and turned to face the taxiway. A few seconds later the engines revved up and the plane moved toward the runway.
Daniel unconsciously grabbed Cody's hand. He need the physical contact for support. His mind had been cluttered with thoughts of that horrid place he escaped from ever since he learned about Javan. The warmth of Cody's hand gave Daniel the strength to relive the memories of his kidnapping. While he had only been there a few hours, those hours were forever etched into his memory.

"It's gonna be OK, Daniel," Cody whispered in his boyfriend's ear. Then he gave Daniel a lingering kiss on the neck. Daniel smiled at the warmth, but then blushed as he noticed Timmy watching them.

"Well, go ahead then. Have a good snog," Timmy said smiling. Cody grinned as he snaked his hand behind Daniel's neck and pulled him into an erotic lip lock. They stayed that way as the Concorde pulled onto the runway, stopped and poised for take off.

"Ah, you two might want to come up for air. The take off is really exhilarating," said Timmy. The words no more than left his mouth as the powerful Rolls-Royce/Snecma Olympus engines powered up. The jet moved quickly down the runway with the afterburners producing an awesome sound. Everyone sunk back into the luxurious seats from the g-force of the acceleration. Reaching 250 miles per hour, the Concorde lifted into the cloudless afternoon sky. As they climbed toward cruising altitude, Teri turned to Timmy.

"How fast and how high?"

"Mach Two and sixty thousand feet."

"Mach Two?"

"Thirteen hundred fifty miles per hour."

"Wow!"

"We should be in Jacksonville by six." Teri sat back and smiled smugly. Truth be known, she really thought Timmy was telling a lie. She wanted to believe him, but the whole thing had seemed too good to be true. Now she found herself looking around the luxurious interior of a privately owned Concorde. Everything oozed money. It was more opulence than she had ever seen in once place before. Hand carved cherry wood made up the frame of the chair she was sitting in. The soft leather was more than comfortable. Yes, everything about the interior said money. Every single thing except one ... Timmy. She watched him as he joked with Daniel and Cody. Anyone not knowing the truth would say Timmy was just another ordinary teenager. Teri found the money thing hard to accept. After all, he didn't look like money, but Teri still didn't associate Timmy with all the extravagance that surrounded her. She still considered him a teenager with a part time job, well, now without a part time job.

The Concorde leveled off at its cruising altitude and Amy appeared again. She was carrying a tray loaded with tea and crumpets.

"I think it's tea time," she said with a smile as she sat the tray down on a nearby table. "Please do help yourselves."

"You yanks ever had 'tea' before?" asked Timmy.

"First time for everything," said Daniel and he stood and walked over to the table. He picked up a crumpet and sunk his teeth into the yeast cake. "This is pretty good." The others joined him at the table.

When 'tea' had been cleared away, Daniel turned to Timmy.

"So, you say there's a suite in the back?"

"Yeah. Dad really plushed this baby out."

"Mind if Cody and I have a look?" Daniel asked with a quite suspicious grin. Timmy immediately picked up on the inference.

"Please do. Everybody needs to be a member of the mile high club," he said with a smirk. Cody blushed. Daniel's grin turned into a full fledged smile. He grabbed his boyfriend's hand and pulled him up.

"Come on lover. Let's check out the bedroom." Teri rolled her eyes and couldn't help but snicker.

The light knock on the door softly stirred the boys awake. Timmy poked his head in the door and smiled at the couple on the bed.

"Just thought I'd tell you we're in American airspace. We'll be landing in about forty-five minutes."

"Thanks, Timmy," Daniel said calmly as he turned on his side and wrapped his arms around a blushing Cody.

"There's towels in the bathroom if you want to take a shower," Timmy said just before closing the door. The boys untangled their legs and headed for the shower.

"I won't be able to sit down properly for at least a week. What got into you?" asked Cody.

"Maybe you should be asking what got into YOU?" Daniel said with a wink. Cody grabbed Daniel by the stiffening appendage between his legs and squeezed.

"Perhaps this had something to do with it."

"And I would have to agree."

"But it looks like he still wants to play," Cody said as he sank to his knees.

Just as Daniel and Cody walked back into the main cabin, Amy walked in from the flight deck.

"Excuse me, Daniel. You have a phone call," she said.

"Huh?"

"You have a phone call. You can take it over here," she said, pointing to a desk beside the conference table. Daniel looked and saw a phone with line one blinking.

"Oh, OK." He looked at Timmy and frowned. Timmy shrugged.

"Somebody probably called the office and Marlene gave them the number." Daniel walked over to the phone, pressed line one and picked the phone up.

"Hello."

"What the fuck do you think you're doing? You've got boxes to install. Do you want more people to get hurt you little shit?" The blood drained from Daniel's face.

"S-Stan?" Cody, Teri and Timmy all gasped at the same time. Cody got up and started toward Daniel.

"That's right. We had a deal and you're screwing it up. I'm left with no choice but to teach you a lesson! And, by the way, if you ever steal a piece of ass from me again, it'll be the last thing you ever do." The connection ended with an abrupt click. Daniel stared at the phone as Cody slid his arm around him. As Daniel's knees weakened, he leaned against Cody.

"H-How did he know?" stammered Daniel. Cody gently took the receiver and hung it up. He helped Daniel back to the couch.

Moments later a US Air Force F-16 Fighter appeared just off the left wing. Another one moved into position off the right wing. Amy walked in from the flight deck with a very worried look on her face.

"We're being diverted."

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