The Flying Eunuchs Part 6: A Plan Becomes Reality

“You really owe it to your parents to tell them you’ve won a medal, you know,” Jeff said when they were settled in the Officer’s Mess, each sipping on a bottle of coke.
“You know I can’t,” Steve replied. “I’d rather they be told I was killed in action.”
“They almost were,” Jeff said as he recalled the dreaded task he almost had to perform. “But Steve, I know your dad. Sure, he’ll be disappointed. I know you’re disappointed. Dammit, man, I’m disappointed! But I still love you more than a brother; surely you can’t think your parents would love you any less just because... because of what happened. It’s not like it was your fault.”
“If I’d only taken my pants off, and my briefs. It hurt and burned so fucking bad I thought about it, but... well...”
“You had no way of knowing, Steve. How could you possibly know that oil would fry you like that? Your folks will understand.”
“Just the same, when they find out it’s gonna be from me, and face to face. I can read their faces, Jeff. I’ll know just by looking at them what they really think. Now can we please talk about something else?”

“So what are your plans?” Jeff asked. “I mean, there’s talk about ground troops going in pretty soon, and the captain thinks our job’ll be done here in another month or two. What’re you gonna do then?”
“I’m goin’ back to school,” Steve answered. “I thought that was our plan all along.”
“That’s not exactly what I meant,” Jeff countered. “I mean... uhh... sexually, what are your plans?”
“You’re kidding, right? You saw, Jeff,” Steve said somewhat bitterly. “So what fuckin’ sexual plans are you talking about? I have no sex! So how the hell could I have sexual plans?”
“Please don’t get mad,” Jeff defended. “I just want you to know I’m not gonna leave you, and I wanna be a part of your future, and I’m planning to do whatever... whatever it takes to make it... to... Dammit, Steve, I dunno what I’m trying to say.”

“Ok, here’s the deal,” Steve said, a little more calmly now. “I had a long talk with the doctor, several in fact. He offered to start feeding me hormones as soon as I was healed and back on duty, but he recommended against it. You see if I take testosterone, I’ll have the same sex drive I’ve always had, maybe even more, but no outlet for it. He said that could get horribly frustrating for me.”

“No outlet”? Jeff questioned. “None at all?”
“There’s only one way I can get off now. The doc told me that some men can have anal orgasms, in fact lots of men who still have all their parts prefer it that way.”
“You mean... like...”
“Yeah, that’s what I mean. They’re gay men, and they call themselves ‘bottoms.’ They like getting fucked up the ass. I told him that’s not an option for me”
“Why not, Steve? I mean, before you decide, maybe you should try it.”
“With who, Jeff? You know the rules in the Navy. I can’t just walk up to someone and tell them I wanna get fucked, can I?”
“You wouldn’t have to ask,” Jeff offered. “If you want to check it out...”

Steve eyed his friend strangely. He didn’t say anything for several minutes while his mind processed the information he’d just received. It’s true that not very long ago he and Jeff had decided that they were gay and in love; but even back then they’d done nothing except touch and fondle, kiss and hug. It wasn’t that they were afraid; they simply did not want to do those things they knew most gay boys do, at least not yet. And that hadn’t changed. Besides, that was a long time ago. Jeff had a girl friend now, and Steve knew that they were sexually active. Steve had gone through a period of jealousy, or perhaps envy, but had put those feelings aside as selfish and foolish. He had come to the point that he was happy for his friend, albeit still somewhat envious. He knew that his love affair with Jeff was over, that they would go their own way eventually. He wasn’t particularly pleased with the situation, but it was for the best, and he was happy for his friend.

“Jeff,” Steve said presently, “I think you know as well as I do that we can’t do that. I appreciate the offer, but we can’t.”
“I don’t understand why not. Some drastic things have happened to you, and that calls for drastic measures.”
“In the first place, I find the idea absolutely repulsive. In the second place you have a girl friend now, and unless I miss my guess things are starting to get serious. In the third place, I want to make a career in the Navy, and I can’t do that if I’m being fucked in the ass by someone, whether it’s you or someone else. They don’t like gays in the Navy, remember?”

“But you can’t just do nothing,” Jeff admonished. “What kinda life is that?”
“I won’t be the first eunuch to go through life without sex,” Steve replied. “The doc provided me with all sorts of references to other eunuchs. They used to castrate slaves, you know. And in Italy they used to castrate young boys so they could keep their high voices. The Romans did it, lots of other cultures did, some of them still do. There’s lots of evidence that some Arab countries still castrate the men that take care of their harems. The point is, all I gotta do is work out regularly to keep my muscle tone, maybe even take small doses of steroids. I’m already getting so I don’t think about sex that much.”

“You’re not a slave,” Jeff pointed out. “You’re not a Roman, you’re not a small Italian boy, and you’re certainly not an Arab. You’ve gotta do something, Steve! You can’t go through life alone!”
“You just got through saying, I’ve got you. I won’t be alone.”
“You got me as a friend. That’s not enough and you know it. Not you, as loving as you are. You know you’ll go nuts without someone to take care of you, for you to take care of. Maybe... I mean... I really think you should try anal sex, ‘cause I suspect there’s lots of gay men who would find you attractive, and you might even get so you like it.”
“You’re trying to fuck me,” Steve accused. “Tell me that’s what you want, and I’ll let you try. Look me in the eye and tell me you really want to spend your life fucking me in the butt, and I’ll try it, for you. But you need to know up front unless I learn something more than I already know, that’s not what I want”

Jeff tried. He really tried to say the words, to convince his buddy that he did indeed want to do that, but he couldn’t. There had been a time when the thought of mutual sex play with Steve was not at all unattractive to him; but for Jeff to always be the aggressor, always be the “top,” always be the one to gush his sperm, to cum, while his partner, his best friend, his soul mate, had to be content with an anal orgasm, assuming he could achieve such a thing, was not attractive to him at all. He knew if he said the words that Steve would bare his butt and bend over for him; but that wouldn’t be an act of love; not in their cases. “I’m trying to come up with some compromises here,” he said weakly. “I just can’t stand the thoughts of you going through life as a... a...”
“A eunuch?” Steve filled in for him. “I really don’t see that I have a lot of choice here, Jeff. But it’s a hell of a lot better than being dead!”

“What if... what if I was a eunuch too?” Jeff asked suddenly. Steve looked at his friend in disbelief.
“I’ve often thought of that, believe it or not,” Steve answered. “We’d be equals then and I think it might work, but I can’t ask you to do that. Besides, you’d never get a doctor to do it anyway.”
“I know that,” Jeff said. “But you never know what might happen.”
“Jeff, you’re not thinking of doing it yourself! Surely you’re not...”
“Are you crazy?” Jeff retorted. I could never do that to myself! I’m no expert on human anatomy, but I know enough to realize that’s a good way to bleed to death. But things happen, Steve. I mean, it happened to you, didn’t it?

“I just want you to know, if you go cutting anything off I’m gonna be really pissed! I know we can never be lovers and I’ve come to grips with that; but not having you around at all, even as a friend, is just not acceptable. I need you, Jeff!”
“I need you too, Steve,” Jeff said as he fought tears. “But I need you happy. The thing with Becky isn’t going anywhere because I’m still in love with you, Steve! My only concern is that our sex drives are so lopsided it could become a point of irritation between us. I’m just trying to find some way to level the playing field.”

“Does Becky know her thing with you is dead-ended?” Steve asked with concern.
“I think she knew it before I did,” Jeff replied. “She told me she was hoping she was wrong and she’s disappointed she wasn’t, but she understands.”
“But... the things she said tonight in the mess hall... it didn’t sound to me like she was giving up on you.”
“She’s not. But she knows how I feel about you, and she’s pretty sure you feel the same about me. But as long as we’re all over here she’ll keep trying.”
“You think that’s fair to her?”
“She knows the score, Steve. I haven’t misled her. When we went to Africa I honestly believed we might have a future; now I know we don’t, and I’ve told her that also. My future is with YOU, Steve! I’m not sure what that’s gonna look like or how it’s gonna work, but I want to spend my life with YOU!”

“The doctor offered me one other option,” Steve said with a distant look in his eyes. “He told me that he could probably get the Navy to pay for surgery to... to make me a woman down there. Then with the proper hormone treatments...”
“NOOOOOO!” Jeff yelled so loudly he got the attention of several other officers sitting some distance away.
“Jeff, they’re doing it all the time these days. With hormone treatment I would even grow my own boobs.”
“I know they do it all the time,” Jeff answered urgently. “But they do it to men who should have been born women! They do it to men who are not comfortable being a man. That’s not you, Steve! You’re as male as anyone I’ve ever known, balls or not.

“I remember reading about a little boy, a baby, who had his penis horribly mutilated when they tried to circumcise him. They said he’d never be a man in the sexual sense so they castrated him and turned him into a girl. He grew up as a girl, Steve! He’s never known anything else! But still he says now that he was never comfortable being a girl. He’s grown up now and he said he’s always known, even when he was a little girl, that something wasn’t right. They couldn’t change him, and they can’t change you! You can’t possibly be considering such a thing!”

“To be perfectly honest, I have thought about it,” Steve admitted. “If I was a woman, you and I could be lovers and the Navy wouldn’t say a thing about it. I’d be a woman and you’d be a man, and the last I heard the Navy has no rules against men and women getting together, long as we don’t do it on the ship. Shit man, we could even get married! We can never do that as two men, even if one of us is a eunuch.”
“But you could never be a woman,” Jeff countered. I know such things happen and that’s fine; but it’s not you! You’re a man, Steve. You’d never be happy as a woman, and you know it as well as I do. All we’ve gotta do is figure out how you can live happily as a man with no balls. You said yourself you’re not the first and probably won’t be the last. But PLEEASE, don’t even think of getting them to put a pussy on you!”
“Since you put it that way, It does sound kinda grotesque,” Steve said with a grin.

“Promise you’ll work with me?” Jeff pleaded. “Just don’t shut me out, ok?”
“I’m not shutting anyone out,” Steve replied. “But I’m not gonna let you keep nagging at me either. I’ll do what I have to do, same as we both always have. You know I love you and I’ll do anything for you; but please, unless you have another idea, don’t keep on me about it, ok?”
“Fair enough,” Jeff agreed. “I got a couple ideas, but I’m not ready to share them yet. Just so’s I know we have a future and you keep your mind open.”

In February 1991 the Internet as we know it was in its infancy. It was available to very few individuals, and it was certainly not available aboard an aircraft carrier. And even if it were available, there wasn’t near the amount of information available then as there is now. There were few medical web sites, no Eunuch Archive or other such sites; indeed, very few people outside the academic community thought of the Internet as a source of information at all. So the Internet was simply not an option for Jeff. There was a small library aboard ship, but it didn’t take him long to learn there was very little information on the subject of sexuality, and certainly none on the subject of castration. So Jeff had to make his decision based on the general information he already had, plus what little he could glean from the ship’s doctor. That was easy, he discovered, because the good doctor was as concerned about Steve as was Jeff; and everyone aboard the ship knew of the two boys’ close relationship. So Jeff hugged his friend briefly and said good-night; there was one more thing he had to do before going to bed.

When Jeff slid into the pilot’s seat in his Tomcat the next morning, he did it very gingerly. His entire groin was on fire with the most excruciating pain he could ever imagine. Before going to bed last night, he had wrapped his genitals tightly and carefully with several layers of absorbent gauze bandaging material stolen from a first aid kit, ripped up and old T-shirt and applied several layers, then soaked the entire package with the only petroleum product he could find in ample supply: jet fuel. A simple visit to the hangar under the deck of the huge carrier was all that he needed to fill a small container to take back to his quarters. Then to keep down the odor he enclosed the entire package in two layers of plastic bags, held firmly in place by two strong rubber bands. Jeff had no way of knowing this, but the addition of the rubber bands had constricted the blood flow and consequently reduced his genitals’ chance of survival as much as the kerosene he’d applied liberally.

At first he didn’t feel anything except the sensation of tightness provided by his wrapped parts. Then after an hour or so his doomed balls began to itch and tingle, then burn; before two hours had passed the burning had been so excruciating it was all Jeff could do to keep from screaming. Naturally he hadn’t slept at all, but lay on his bunk in the tiny cubicle he loosely called his “quarters,” in absolute agony as the fuel began to work its way into the pores in his skin. It had taken every bit of will power he could muster to keep from tearing the bandage off his package, but somehow he managed.

He thought of taking some pain killers, and had even hoarded a few he had pilfered as discreetly as he could; but the entire squadron had one rule above all others: they would not fly a mission if their minds were clouded by drugs, any drugs. Jeff didn’t know if he could concentrate on his flying or not, but this was billed as a rather safe mission, so he decided to take the chance. But as the big jet engines revved up to full power and the steam catapult thrust the plane forward roughly, he again found that he had all he could do not to scream in agony. He had never realized before how many jolts and jostles, vibrations and bumps barraged their bodies while flying these magnificent aircraft. But as he reached cruising altitude and joined the formation of the five Tomcats, the ride thankfully smoothed out. That’s not to say the pain was gone; that was a constant thing now, and one Jeff was determined to live with for at least a week. That’s how long he estimated it would take to kill the flesh of his genitals.

“You ok, Jeff?” Marty asked from the second seat as they escorted three bombers out of Iraqi territory. The mission had been a long one - five hours so far, and they weren’t done yet.
“I’m fine,” Jeff grunted. “Why do you ask?”
“I dunno, you just sound different.”
“Different? Different how?”
“Just not your cheerful self. You haven’t made a single comment about how nice a day it is for flying... actually when I think about it you haven’t said anything at all really, except what you’ve had to say.”
“I don’t feel very talkative,” Jeff answered irritably. “I’ve got a bit of a... a headache and I guess it’s affecting my mood. Is that a crime?”
“No, I guess not. But something’s bothering you or you wouldn’t be snapping at me.”

“You want a reason?” Jeff snarled. “We gotta do an inflight refuel, then head back and get rid of some o’ these missiles before we go home. That’s enough to piss anybody off!”
“I thought you liked doing inflight refuel.”
“Not today I don’t. I thought we could just escort those bombers home then go home ourselves. But no, we gotta go give the ground troops some support. With our shitty luck today the Marines’ll probably fire at us!”

Jeff was in no mood to admit it, but this extra long mission was precisely what he needed, in spite of the constant pain and burning in his crotch. The inflight fueling had gone well, and in spite of his mood Jeff couldn’t help feeling elated every time he connected up to that filling station in the sky and watched his fuel gauges rise in mere minutes. But the best part of the entire exercise was that the process of filling his tanks at twenty thousand feet gave him an idea; an idea that would hopefully save him from the court martial that would be inevitable if the brass learned the truth about what he had done.

Perhaps Jeff’s senses were more keen in general today because of his pain. He didn’t know for sure the reason, but he noticed for the first time that the refueling tube passed very close to his seat. He could actually feel the vibration as the fuel gushed into his tanks at high pressure. He finished the fueling process with a grin, then peeled off toward the ground troops that were awaiting his arrival, much more cheerful in spite of his pain.

For the next week the entire flight crew aboard the ship had little time to think of anything but flying planes and reloading ones that came in. They were on a constant rotation now: They all flew at least one mission in formation every day, then flew ground support for two or three more tankfuls of fuel. Jeff was in the air so much he began to feel weird when he was on the deck. They had all molded into a pretty good team now, all having flown with all others so they knew what to expect from each other.

Jeff had not planned this intense activity, but it had worked into his plan perfectly. No one questioned not having seen him in the showers for over a week; no one thought anything of never seeing the young pilot dressed in anything but his flight suit, which was heavy and bulky enough to hide the slight bulge in his crotch. The fact that he was walking a little strangely hadn’t been noticed by anyone; all the fliers were tired and sore from so many hours in the cramped quarters of the F-14's and F-16's.

After three days of the worst imaginable agony, things had begun to die down to a dull ache. Still Jeff did not remove the wrappings to examine the damage. He had planned to remove the rubber bands and plastic bags once a day to add a little more jet fuel, but the area was just too sore, so he just let the concoction do its work.

Timing was everything in this mission. Jeff knew, or at least hoped, that he would eventually lose all feeling in his genitals. That would be his signal that the nerves and tissue were dead; then one more day of complete numbness to make sure, and he could safely go to sick bay. Gangrene would more than likely be getting a start by that time, but he dared not let it go too far or a simple amputation wouldn’t catch it all. On the other hand if he reported to the doctor too early, his genitals might be saved. After the pain had subsided, he had pulled the plastic bags away from his skin just enough to pour a little more fuel into the area. He had no desire to look; he knew it wouldn’t be a pretty sight.

Steve and Jeff continued to drive themselves to the brink of exhaustion, reasoning that they were, in the family sense, expendable. Their captain watched the two young Lieutenants closely for signs of fatigue, probably thinking they wouldn't have enough sense to stop when they'd had too much; but he was wrong on that score too. Their training had drilled into them what signs to look for, and they watched themselves diligently. Perhaps their youth, together with their absolute love of flying, worked in their favor to keep them awake and alert; so between the two of them they flew as much as any three of the others pilot. Jeff also recognized the added benefit of all this intense activity. He simply had no time to dwell on the aching in his groin. He would be quick to admit that, had he simply been wandering around the ship with nothing to do, he probably could not have withstood the intense pain. But there was precious little he could do about it at thirty thousand feet flying at over twice the speed of sound. He also had a little chore to perform during the peaceful times while they were flying to and from their battlefield.

Each time he refueled in the air, Jeff took the little bottle of fuel he’d smuggled on board and spilled it over the filler tube, making sure he got a little in the crotch of his flight suit. Marty noticed the smell and commented on three different occasions, to which Jeff replied that there might have been a little spillage during the refueling. Then after six days, the pain stopped as suddenly as it had begun. Time to implement the next phase of the plan.

He went again to his supply of jet fuel and soaked his briefs with it, after removing the dressing around his genitals. They were ugly and angry looking, and were almost black. He hoped that the marks of the elastic bands would disappear in 24 hours; but even if they didn’t, the irritation around the rest of his mid-section would hopefully draw attention away from the fact that the entire thing had been engineered. He wasn’t stupid enough to think they wouldn’t know, but knowing and proving are two entirely different things.

“What in the world were you thinking?” Captain Adams demanded when the appalled doctor had called him to sick bay. It was now a full ten days since Jeff had first applied the death poultice to his genitals.
“We were flying so much, I guess I didn’t think that much about it, sir,” Jeff replied. He had no feeling in his personal parts now, and a visual inspection had confirmed what he had suspected, what he had hoped for. His genitals were dead, and gangrene was beginning to set in. “I guess some fuel got on my seat somehow and I sat it in,” he added. “I didn’t really feel anything till after I had launched, and there wasn’t much I could do about it then. After I landed I kinda forgot about it.”

Captain Adams watched aghast as the doctor withdrew some fluid samples, trying desperately to save some of the tissue. “I know what you’re doing, you know,” the captain said after the doctor had taken his samples to analyze, to confirm what he already knew.
“I don’t know what you mean, sir,” Jeff said innocently.
“Don’t fuck with me,” Adams said sternly. “This has to do with Price, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah, right, sir,” Jeff answered sarcastically. “What does Steve have to do with this? You think I want my balls to hurt like hell, just because Steve doesn’t have any? I’m not that stupid, sir.”

“Enough with the sir stuff, Jeff! I know you’re not stupid. You’re too smart for your own fuckin’ good! You did this to yourself, didn’t you?”
“If you knew how much it hurt, you would never accuse me of such a thing,” Jeff countered. “Besides, what possible reason could I have?”
“I haven’t figured that all out yet, sailor, but I will. And when I do, you’re gonna be sorry you ever had male parts in the first place. God, man! What on earth could have been in your head?”

“They’re gonna have to come off,” the doctor announced when he returned. “I’m setting up for surgery right away. I’d appreciate it if you’d get Dr. Hammond over here from Bahrain right away. He did Price so he’s done it once already, and I’ve never done what I’ve got to do as soon as I can. Gangrene spreads really fast, you know.”
“Consider it done,” Adams said as he prepared to leave. “Just don’t let anything happen to this crazy idiot. I want him in perfect health ASAP, so he’ll be perfectly conscious when I put him over my knee and give him a damned good spanking!”

There was one flaw in Jeff’s plan. He had wanted Steve to be with him when he had his surgery, but as he was heading for sick bay Steve had been called on yet another mission. It was a long one, involving an overnight flight with two midair refuelings. By the time Steve arrived back on the carrier, Jeff had already had his surgery and was in recovery. “My God, Jeff, what happened?” the concerned but exhausted pilot said when he entered the room where Jeff was recovering.
“Same as you,” Jeff replied groggily. “I guess we know now, that freakin’ jet fuel is as hard on the nuts as crude oil.”
“But how?” Steve demanded. “How did you get exposed to that much jet fuel? And why didn’t you say anything?”

Jeff didn’t answer his friend’s questions, he merely grinned sleepily, but it was enough; Steve recalled the conversation he’d had with Jeff ten days ago, and he understood it all. “You did that for me, didn’t you Jeff?” he accused.
“For US, Steve,” Jeff replied happily. “I really had no choice, you know. I felt I was losing you, and that was simply not an option. It would never have worked, me having everything and you having nothing. It was either you or my nuts, and that was a no-brainer.”

Steve tried valiantly to be angry as hell, but he failed. Having just been through it he realized what a sacrifice Jeff had made for him; he could also see the method in his friend’s madness. They were two of a kind again, just as they’d been before they’d ever set foot on US Navy property.

“But why everything?” Steve questioned. “Couldn’t you have achieved much the same thing by a simple castration? You’ve gotta know you’ll have to sit down to pee now for the rest of your life, and frankly that’s a pain in the butt.”
“I thought of that,” Jeff whispered. “But to make it look like an accident, I couldn’t very well treat only part of the package. And besides, you’re dealing with it, so I can too.”
“You’re absolutely out of your mind,” Steve declared. “I woulda never done that voluntarily in a thousand years! If I’d known that was your ‘other idea’ I’d a gone ahead and let you do... you know...”
“It would never work, Steve. Neither of us wanted that, and I don’t think that’s the sort of thing you can make yourself like. You’re either gay or you’re not, and I don’t think we are, at least in the usual sense of the meaning.”

Jeff made a remarkable recovery, but even so he was grounded for over a week. That time lying in sick bay with nothing to do but read and entertain visitors, his fellow flyers, was almost more torture for him than having his now gone genitals wrapped in fuel soaked gauze. During that time he made a full confession to Adams, with the understanding that he was talking son to surrogate father, not Lieutenant to Captain. “But I still don’t understand why,” Adams said in his confusion. “How can your getting yourself nullified possibly help Steve?”
“Because we’re lovers,” Jeff explained. “I realized that I’d been right all the time when I saw Steve facing a life without sex, and more than likely without anyone really close to him. It was just so unfair! Here I was romping around having sex with Becky, and Steve had never had sex, and never would! Then it dawned on me, like a brick hitting me on the head. I would rather live my life with Steve, and no sex, than a life with Becky and sex every single day. I really am in love with him, Sir!”

“Jeff, you know I have to act on that. You know the rules. I hate to do it... God how I hate to do it! But the Navy says...”
“The Navy says no homosexuals,” Jeff said defiantly. “Define homosexual, Captain!”
“Well... err...”
“Sex with one of your own gender!” Jeff supplied. “You’re a homosexual if you’re a man and have sex with another man, or you’re a woman and have sex with another woman. How the hell can we have sex? That rule is pretty clear to me, and it doesn’t apply to us.”
“You’re splitting hairs,” Adams observed.
“You’re damned right I am,” Jeff agreed. “I split hairs every day in the cockpit of that Tomcat and nobody minds. That’s why I’m an ace pilot at 20! That’s why I’m a Lieutenant on a carrier in the Gulf instead of being a student in North Carolina, because I can split hairs with a jet plane. And I’m abiding by the Navy’s own rules! So if you want to have me court martialed, then you go right ahead, and we’ll see who comes out best. I haven’t broken any rules and I’m not going to as long as I’m on this ship. I thought that’d be good enough for you.”

“Haven’t broken any rules? What about the rule that says you’re supposed to take care of your body and not abuse it? During the time you’re active in the Navy, the Navy owns your body, you know.”
“Who says I abused my body? I know there’s gonna be an investigation, and I think that will show that I was a victim of circumstance.”

Adams sat and eyed his favorite junior officer for all of three minutes. Even though Jeff was dressed in nothing but a hospital gown, his groin bandaged, he was still defiant and full of fight. He knew what he wanted, as usual, and he was willing to go to the wall for it.

As usual.

“You conniving little shit,” Adams declared, still not sure whether to be angry or amused. “I’ve got a good mind to make good on that spanking I promised you.”
“If you don’t mind, sir,” Jeff said smugly, knowing he had won, “would you mind waiting a few days? I’m kinda sore already down there.”

There was an investigation, of course. They found traces of jet fuel in the cockpit, seemingly centered around the pilot’s seat. There were also stains and even a little fuel on the filler pipe that went from the inflight fueling nozzle directly past the pilot’s seat. They could find no leaks, no evidence of where the noxious fluid could have come from; but it was after all a very complex machine, and one that required frequent maintenance. The results of the investigation were inconclusive but the fuel, the report stated, was more then likely spilled during one or more inflight fueling maneuvers. That was at best a very poor explanation, but no one on the investigating team could bring himself to believe that anyone, especially a young twenty year old, could possibly have done such a thing to himself; no one, that is, but Captain Adams, who knew better.

As a precaution Jeff’s plane was taken into the hangar and all joints and gaskets were taken apart and cleaned thoroughly, then new gaskets and seals were applied. The mechanics found absolutely no evidence that there’d been a leak anywhere, but as any experienced mechanic will attest, the fact that they didn’t find the leak didn’t prove there hadn’t been one.

Back in the air, the two eunuchs soon demonstrated that a lack of genitals or hormones was certainly no impediment to getting the job done. On the contrary, as the hormones drained from their systems they seemed to become more calm and controlled, less volatile, always in control no matter what their situation. Neither of them had ever heard the expression “eunuch calm,” nor, for that matter, had anyone else on the ship. But all who worked with them or flew with them soon learned that the affects of castration are not all bad. Both young pilots had lost the one characteristic that could be considered undesirable: in a crisis they could remain calm and cool, and deal with whatever predicament they found themselves with a cold logic that was almost frightening. They could control their tempers now a lot better than they ever could before. They still had emotions and feelings, opinions and values; but they were much more in control of those things than they had ever been before in their lives.

By the end of February, the war was over. Jeff and Steve stayed on the carrier for another month, helping out patrolling the “no fly zone,” trying to enforce the conditions of the coalition’s cease fire. Finally, in late March, the two young officers, along with four other pilot/second seat crews, flew their Tomcat’s back to home base in Langley, Virginia. Jeff and Steve said good-bye to their comrades and returned to school at NC State, having been removed from active duty and placed back into the reserves.

On their way home, the two young eunuchs finally got a chance to consummate their relationship. They lay together in a moderately priced hotel on the outskirts of Richmond, Virginia, and they made love. It was certainly not the hot sex scene one might expect from two healthy young men, but it was no less rewarding for two eunuchs who loved each other intensely.

They didn’t have penises so there were no erections; neither of them had hormones so there was no urgent desire to cum. Neither inserted any part of his body into any cavity of the other, unless of course one counts their tongues. Yes, they still had tongues and mouths, hands and feet. Even without all the equipment one normally expects to be used when making love, the two eunuchs did just fine. Despite what they didn’t have, what they did have was a love so deep, so intense, so sacrificial, they simply couldn’t get enough of each other. For over an hour they lay together, just kissing, relaxing, relishing the fact that they could finally be together with no worries about being discovered or reprimanded or accused of breaking rules. Then they began exploring.

Jeff found to his absolute delight that Steve’s groin was exactly like his, and at almost the same time Steve made the same discovery: the same oil that had killed their genitals had obviously destroyed the hair follicles in their groins. Both boys were completely, totally smooth and hairless. They also discovered that the nerve endings in the area had either survived or regenerated. Thanks to their exhausting schedule on an aircraft carrier that had included working out every day, they both had bodies to die for; yet the two groins, both devoid of hair, one a chocolate brown, the other white, were as soft as velvet and as sensitive as raw nerves, in an erotic sense.

Some time during the night, Steve had an orgasm. Neither had expected it, nor even cared really, but there it was nevertheless and an added bonus for him. Jeff didn’t, and Steve felt badly about that until Jeff assured him that it could be considered payback for all the times he had cum inside Becky while Steve did without. “But I gotta tell ya,” Jeff said as he kissed his lover yet again, “lying here with you, orgasm or not, is sweeter than making love to Becky all night long. I really loved Becky in a way, and I hope someday to see her again; but I’ve got what I want. I love you so much, sailor!”

To be continued...