The Coffee Shop Pt. 05

"Do you know the code that opens that door, Marine?" I asked him. I figured it was worth a shot trying the simple straightforward approach.

"Yes, sir. I do," The Marine answered in a calm voice that reeked of control and self confidence.

"Would you be kind enough to tell me what that cod is, Marine?" I asked.

"I am not authorized to provide that information to you, sir," the Marine answered, the tone of his voice not changing one iota.

"So how am I supposed to open the door then?" I asked the Marine.

"That is your problem, sir. I cannot help you. I have been ordered to refrain from assisting you in any manner, sir," the Marine answered.

I couldn't help but wonder what his orders were. There was only one way to find out, which was to ask him. I needed information and the Marine was the only possible source. I know, I could have just walked up and read his mind in a matter of seconds and gotten everything I needed. I would have been out of the room in a flash. I did not want to do that unless I had no other choice. It wasn't that I was afraid of the Marine, rather I had a genuine respect for all the men who serve in uniform. Part of that respect entails leaving them the privacy of their minds. Besides, I had an hour to get the code, so it wasn't like I was rushed for time.

"Can you tell me what exactly your orders are regarding me and this room?" I asked.

"Yes, sir, I can do that," the Marine replied.

I looked at him for a second when he did not continue speaking. "Well?" I prompted him, letting some of the irritation I felt creep into my voice. The Marine didn't react to my tone of voice. He was most definitely in control of himself.

"I have been ordered not to assist you in any way. I am not to hamper you or hinder you in any way. I may defend myself as required, should it become necessary. I am permitted to answer your questions as long as they do not conflict with my mission, sir," the Marine answered.

"Okay. So what exactly is your mission, Marine?" I asked him. Maybe a blunt question would give me some idea as to what was going on here.

"When that counter reaches zero, I am to open the door, sir," the Marine said as he snapped smartly about, raised his left arm and pointed to the table that was now in front of him.

I walked over to the table, passing the Marine, who had lowered his left arm and was standing there at ease. I had not noticed the small gray box that was sitting on the table. It was a countdown timer of some kind. The LCD display showed 60, and as I watched it changed to 59.

"You have the code, but you won't give it to me, is that the idea, Marine?" I asked him. I wanted confirmation of the situation.

"You could put it that way, sir," the Marine answered. I turned back and faced the Marine. Damn he was handsome. I blinked my eyes a couple of times as I struggled to remain focused on the task at hand. I am a gay man, and when I see a handsome man, especially in uniform, it tends to distract me somewhat. Suddenly I realized that this Marine was an intentional distraction as well as an obstacle. The Council of Coins had done their homework all right. They knew me well. Maybe just a little bit too well. That was not at all a comforting thought. I tuned my attention back to the Marine.

"So unless I beat it out of you, I'm not getting out of here until that timer counts down," I said with a slight grin on my face. I wasn't going to beat it out of the Marine. I was going to take it, and the Marine would never know it. It would be a simple matter to use my super hypnosis on this hunk and have him take a nap for about an hour. Oh, how I would have like to have stayed and watched him as he sat there sleeping in one of the chairs. We were probably being observed by some hidden camera somewhere. I hadn't seen anything that suggested a hidden camera. For me to think that the Marine and I were in fact alone during one of the Council of Coins' tests would be to greatly underestimate the Council. I wasn't that stupid.

"No offence sir, but you lack the power, skill and experience to accomplish such a mission," the Marine commented. There was just the slighted hint of amusement in his light blue eyes.

"Don't I know it. Well then, I'm screwed unless I can charm the code out of you, Marine. Something tells me that even if you were gay, which I am sure you're not, you'd never let yourself be charmed, because then you would fail in your mission. From what little I know about Marines the mission is everything," I responded with a slight smirk on my face.

"I would have to agree with that assessment of the situation, sir. And yes, you are correct regarding how a Marine views his mission. Dolly Parton has two of the biggest hits in country music, and even she couldn't charm the code out of me, sir", said the Marine with a grin.

At least he was starting to warm up to me, and seeing me as less of a threat. He also had a sense of humour. It made him seem more human. His guard was far from being down, but now I had a bit of wiggle room. (Damn, but he was good looking in that Blue Dress Class C uniform. Wiggle room. Oh those words caused some very naughty thoughts to blossom in my mind. I got my hormones firmly under control and kept my mind on the business at hand. It wasn't easy, believe me.) I'd be able to make eye contact or better yet skin contact with him and lift the information from his mind. He was suggesting that he was heterosexual. Well, nobody's perfect. Not even a Marine.

"If it is not against your orders, Marine I would like to shake your hand and thank you for your service," I said to him.

"Sir?" The Marine said in a puzzled voice.

"Nothing else is going to happen here. I know when I'm beat. I have always respected Marines, and now that I have the rare opportunity to show you the respect you and all other Marines deserve, I would like to do so," I said earnestly. I didn't look at him with sad puppy dog eyes, because I knew if I did that he'd probably knock my block off.

"I suppose it would be okay, sir," the Marine said reluctantly. He walked over to the table and placed his uniform hat on the table top. I gulped as I caught a brief glimpse of the back of his uniform, and especially those uniform pants. Damn they were snug fitting on his ass. I didn't have more than a half a second to look though. I would correct that situation soon enough. He turned about to face me, cutting of my view of his assets. He walked over to me and held out his right hand and arm towards me in the classic handshake pose.

With a genuine smile on my face, I clasped his right hand with my right hand and shook hands with him. I looked him right in the eyes as I sent a mental probe into his mind. 'Think of the code', I silently commanded him. This would take only a second, if that.

I waited for a heartbeat or two but nothing appeared in my mind. I didn't see the code. I didn't see anything of his mind. A few seconds passed but nothing happened. I took a few calming breaths and increased the power level of my thought projection. I sent the same command again and waited. A few more seconds passed and again nothing happened. Apparently this Marine was of something out of the ordinary and resistant to my super hypnotic abilities. That wasn't a problem. People were different. Some people are more susceptible to my abilities and some people are less. This Marine fell into the second category. Since I was under a time constraint, I decided to use my full power and establish the control I needed. While these thoughts had been shifting through my mind I had never stopped looking into the Marines eyes and shaking his hand. I started sending the same command again. I started out with low power and repeated the command increasing the power level step-by-step. I didn't want to hurt the Marine, just get some information from him. After about thirty seconds I was projecting the command at my full power. I hammered at the command into his mind with all the power of my disposal. Nothing. No reaction. Not even a twitch. His body did not even twitch. The Marine was immune to my powers, just like Andy. This was not good. I was in trouble now.

"Thank you, Marine," I said as I released his hand and smiled at him. It was unlikely that he had any idea of what had just failed to happen, since it only took about thirty five seconds. I decided I would have to sit down and think my way out here.

"You're welcome, sir," the Marine said, still slightly puzzled at my wanting to shake his hand. "What are you doing, sir?" He asked me as I turned away from him and walked towards the chairs.

"I don't know about you, but I'm going to sit down and make myself as comfortable as possible while I wait. As I said before, I know when I am beat," I said calmly. I followed actions to words as I sat down. I had come here right after work. I was a bit tired from work and it felt good to sit down again. I closed my eyes and took a few deep relaxing breaths. Maybe an idea would come to me. if all else failed I could think about Andy to pass the time.

I had come to The Coffee Shop right from work, so I was still dressed for work. My light gray single breasted two button two piece business suit wasn't anything out of the ordinary. It was right off the rack from one of the local men's stores. With a few minor alterations, such as getting the pant legs hemmed, it fit me well enough. I was wearing a black long sleeved dress shirt and a white silk tie with a subtle striped pattern on it. Black cowboy boots and a plain black leather dress belt with a simple silver D buckle complete my outfit. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary, but I did look good in it, and the outfit was comfortable. In case you are wondering, I try to wear my black cowboy boots to work as often as I can. I find them more comfortable than dress shoes, and very few people notice that I'm wearing cowboy boots. It's not like I go around pulling up my pant legs to show off the shafts of my cowboy boots, or anything.

The room was quiet. The Marine was not trying to engage me in conversation. Sitting here with my eyes closed trying to think wasn't getting me anywhere. The thought popped into my mind that if those floor slave boys of mine who worked for the Council of Coins knew about this test, they would be over here in a flash to try and rescue me. I knew how much they cared about me and the thought of me coming to any harm was very upsetting to them to say the least. I was fairly certain they knew nothing about this though. Consequently I couldn't expect the cavalry to come riding to the rescue. I was on my own. What to do? Maybe if I had some new superpower I could get out of here. All I had to do was stun or paralyze the Marine and I could slip out the door. Problem was I didn't have any abilities like that. Now one thing was for certain as I was sitting here silently thinking, if I wanted to pass this test I was going to have to take some type of action.

I opened my eyes and looked about the room. Within seconds my eyes were drawn to the Marine who was standing a few feet away from me. There wasn't anything else in the room to look at, aside from the countdown timer which now read 56. Given a choice between the two, which would you spend your time looking at? (Don't lie to me, Dear Reader! I know you'd be ogling the Marine! The drool would be flowing out of your mouth, like water over Niagara Falls, as you thought about what you'd like to do with such a handsome man in such a well fitting uniform! So why wasn't I drooling? Partly due to self control, and partly due to the fact that I had a serious problem to deal with.)

I studied the Marine standing in front of me since I really didn't have anything else to do, and it would help to pass the time. It might not help me come up with a plan to get out of this situation but studying him would be entertaining.. The man standing in front of me was gloriously good looking. I couldn't help but notice how good looking he was, since he was standing only a few feet in front of me. He was wearing a U.S. Marine Blue Dress class C uniform. For those of you not familiar with Marine uniforms, the US Marine Blue Dress class C uniform starts with a pair of black, polished to a blindingly brilliant shine, shoes, followed by a pair of medium blue uniform pants that have plane fronts with side angle pockets and two button flap pockets in the back. I would add at this point, that on this Marine those uniform pants were close fitting, to the point of boarding on snug fitting. If the Marine is an Officer, Staff Non-commissioned Officer, or Non-commissioned Officer, then there is a scarlet "blood stripe" on the outside seam of each pant leg that goes all the way from the waist to the cuff. Encircling the trim waist is a khaki belt with a highly polished plain gold belt buckle. Tucked into those snug fitting uniform pants is a long sleeved sharply pressed khaki dress shirt with two chest pockets that have button flap closures. A Khaki dress tie, knotted expertly, and held close to the khaki shirt with a gold tie clip is another element of the US Marine Blue Dress class C uniform. The final piece is the hat (called a 'cover'), which is white with a midnight blue visor and a gold band on the base of the hat just above the visor. The US Marine crest sits squarely in the front of the hat. Basically, if you've ever seen a US Marine recruitment poster, you've probably seen this Blue Dress class C uniform. The uniform hat was resting on the table beside the Marine. I guessed that Marines did not wear their uniform hats indoors.

The Marine wearing this uniform was young, slightly muscular, trim, fit, handsome and sexy as hell. He was also as intimidating as hell. I suppose the fact that I couldn't not use my super hypnosis powers on him, and turn him into a playful puppy is part of what made this Marine so scary. I already mentioned his blue eyes. Unnerving thought they might be, they were still attractive. Those eyes were in a youngish, handsome, rugged and well proportioned clean shaven face, with a strong chin, firm nose, and slightly taunt cheeks. This was a face that meant business, and was unlikely to take no for an answer regardless of the question. In other circumstances as I would've gone ga-ga over this Marine but when that person is giving off strong body language that says 'if you know what is good for you, you will not challenge me', it kind of lets the air out of your tires if you know what I mean.

His black hair was cropped in a buzz cut hair style that added to the toughness that the Marine projected. His body, well I've already described that suffice to say that if you've seen one Marine in uniform you've seen them all. I would've loved to have gotten my hands on that uniformed body and explored just how well that uniform fit him. Now was not the time. I had other less desirable things to deal with, like the clearly hostile attitude he was projecting at me.

I stood up and slowly walk about and around the Marine so I could get a good look at him from the left side and then from the back.

"What are you doing, sir?" The Marine challenged me as he turned about so that he was keeping me squarely in front of him.

"I am trying to get a look at your uniform, Marine, from all sides," I answered honesty as I stopped moving and looked him in the eyes.

"Why, sir?" The Marine asked cautiously, eyeing me with distrust.

He was starting to get curious, and that just might work to my advantage if I played my cards right. "I've heard that Marines take a lot of pride in their appearance. I've never seen a Marine in uniform close up and I'd like to see just how well a Marine does wear his uniform," I answered.

"You may do so, sir, but only if you keep your distance, sir. Approach any closer than you are now and I will consider it an assault and respond accordingly," the Marine warned me.

"You're afraid of little old me?" I taunted the Marine, and flashed him a grin.

"Don't insult my intelligence, sir. You could have some concealed device that you might use to drug me, while my back was turned. The Marine Corps does not train idiots, sir," the Marine snarled at me.

I gulped at the intense look of hostility on his face. I'd gone too far, and broken the rapport that had started to develop between us. It was a boneheaded manoeuvre on my part. I'd have to do some hasty repair work if I wanted to attempt what was now a dangerous and daring plan. If what I suspected was true though, the plan was a lot less dangerous and daring, that I had originally thought.

"I apologize, Marine. Such a possibility never occurred to me," I admitted. "If I talk while I walk about and look at the fit of your uniform, you should be able to determine my location relative to you, and that I am not approaching you. Is that satisfactory to you, Marine?" I asked him as I tried to come up with an action to appease him.

"As long as you keep the tone of your voice even and calm, as well as keeping the volume the same as it is now, then yes sir, it is acceptable to me," the Marine answered. He took a few steps to his right, moving sideways and away from the table. "That should be enough room for you to walk around me, and get a good look at me sir," the Marine said coolly. The hostility in his voice had dropped a few notches, but it was still there.

"Thank you for granting me this honour, Marine," I said as I stood in front of the Marine and looked him over. His uniform was as I had described earlier, but I noticed that he had some service ribbons above the left pocket of his khaki shirt. I have no idea what those ribbons represented, but there were a lot of them, which suggested that this Marine had seen a lot of active duty. The Marine was watching me as intently as I was looking at him. He wasn't saying anything. He didn't need to. The stern set look on his face was all the warning I needed to watch my step, as it were.

I slowly started to walk around the Marine so that I could see his left profile. I caught my breath as I got an eye full of him standing there at ease. His flat stomach and trim body were emphasized by the snug fit of his shirt and those sexy uniform pants. The button flap pocket on his left back pocket lay flat against the sexy curve of his left buttock. While there wasn't any nice wallet bulge for my eyes to feast upon, there was a blood red stripe running down the seam of those uniform pants. Now that only added to the handsomeness and sexiness factor of the Marine. If he was in a gay bar, guys would be literally falling at his feet. With some difficulty I quickly jumped off that track of thought and back to the matter at hand. Damn, but this Marine was a powerful distraction.

"Impressive. Most impressive indeed," I said. I knew I needed to keep talking so that the Marine would not feel threatened. The last thing in the world I wanted was to have that Marine throw his body at me and attack me. Okay, so that's not exactly true. I would not have minded having the Marine throw his body at me. Catching his body would have been a delightful experience. I knew full well though that the only way this Marine was going to throw his body at me, was if he was in the process of attacking me. At least that is how things were for the moment. I continued my slow walk around the Marine.

I was now directly behind the Marine looking at a full rear profile. It was all I could do not to moan out loud. I knew that if I did that, it would give away the fact that I was gay, which was very likely to upset the Marine. That stupid "Don't ask, don't tell" policy of the United States Government's Department of Defence was a real pain right now. If the Marine even suspected I was gay, or that I was interested in him sexually, I was sure to have even more problems. I gulped a few times as my eyes drank in the sight of those two full hard killer buns wrapped up in those butt hugging dark Navy blue dress pants. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that this Marine must have had those uniform pants of his tailored to show off his assets, especially from the rear. Both of the back button flapped pockets were buttoned down, and the flaps look like they had just been ironed smooth. In fact, as I flicked my eyes about the entire back of the Marine's dress pants the creases looked razor sharp. Clearly this was a Marine who took a lot of pride in his appearance.