After Mark and Toshi had ended their phone conversation with Red Mall, they whispered with each other for an hour. Then Toshi had an idea. She took out the small penlight Hannah had given her from the ACE Hardware store, and then sat face to face with Mark, the small light shining between them. They locked eyes and began sharing their minds.
Such a wonder. The time acceleration was profound. While linked with Mark, Toshi sensed her heart beating at a perceived three beats per minute. Mark and she both guessed they were achieving a factor-of-twenty speedup over true elapsed time, perhaps as high as Mark achieved with Stanley during their brief link.
Such a wonder. They went their first hour of perceived time just chatting, learning how to be gentle with each other's mind and how to trust the extra presence inside their personal inner thoughts. With tender affection, they explored passing their childhood memories back and forth, achievements and frustrations, joys and sorrows, the deaths of their grandparents, the love of their parents, their proudest moments and some incredibly deep embarrassments.
Mark was stunned with Toshi's openness. She allowed him complete freedom to explore her desires, something Mark could not quite match. He tried several times, but each effort resulted in the building of a hiccup that would break the connection, and after his third failure, Toshi gently asked him to postpone his efforts for another time.
Toshi's mind, it was so beautiful! The songs of her childhood, the elaborate traditional silk clothes her parents would dress her in, the social customs, such incredible politeness. She showed him everything, from her first memories of gasping at the beauty of the Tokushima beach as a toddler to growing up through high school and the development of her deep love of Noh and Kabuki, two forms of traditional Japanese theater. Toshi ended by showing Mark her emotional thrill when she got her first kiss by a new American boyfriend shortly before Christmas.
Mark tried to offer his own memories in return, sharing emotionally important moments from all stages of his life. Toshi was very still as he did this, until he showed her a naked Ashley standing in front of him, offering to shower with him.
"Ah, she's very pretty. Thank you Mark. I never realized how intense a man's reaction could be, how strong and immediate the desire. Thank you Mark, for letting me understand what it's like to be on the other side."
And then, the plea. They both knew it was coming. It was pure urgent desire. Words were totally unnecessary. Mark accepted at once. Ashley's words were ringing in both their minds. Perhaps they wouldn't call it marriage, but they could still have children together. So much of the future was unknown, but at least one issue was settled. Toshi's child would have two parents.
And the mind link continued, almost twenty minutes of actual time. They discovered two fascinating things. The first was that their minds needed to sleep. Over six hours of perceived time had past, and it was the mind's perceived time between sleep cycles that determined the need for sleep and dreams.
The second fascination was truly remarkable, almost miraculous in nature. They could fall asleep while still maintaining the link. Their eyes were still open, but the image processing slowed and then stopped. Some deep residual brain activity kept the focus and the mind link active. They shared a strange dream full of wonder and full of danger. They shared a dream and learned to comfort each other through some of their deepest fears.
And then the dream and the eye contact ended. The sensations afterwards were similar to what they had both experienced their first night on this planet, drunk but not drunk, sexually aroused but also floating in a sea of peaceful and loving thoughts. Toshi lay down and bumped her rump against Mark, encouraging him to curl around her. Mark lay down and petted her, finally pressing his hand over their new child before falling asleep.
After a deep rest, Mark woke up, spending a long moment enjoying the warmth and softness of Toshi's body until he felt her stirring, sensed her coming out of sleep. He nestled his nose into the clean hair in front of him, kissing her lightly. "Toshi," he whispered, "I'm guessing it's past midnight. I think we should make a break for it, move away from here on the surface. Do you agree?"
Toshi nodded. "I don't think we have a choice. Trying to fight our way through the house and then through Black Mall would be suicidal. And we can't stay here. We need to be very careful. Frida might still be in danger if we're seen."
Mark nodded. "I'm going to call our group and tell them our plans."
"Okay." Toshi sat up, pulling Mark's hand from her pubis and kissing his hand before letting it go. As she pulled up and zipped her pants, Mark turned on his phone and was surprised to see it was still a few minutes before midnight. He made the call.
Jada answered on the first ring. "Mark?"
"Yeah. You still up?"
"I'm just finishing an observation shift at the coin store. You two okay?"
Mark briefly told Jada their plans.
"Good choice. You have all our prayers. We relocked Esau's. I should tell you, we discovered something interesting at the hub. There's a second trap door at the 360 degree mark of White Mall. None of the other four spirals seem to have them."
"You tested it?"
"Yah, we took the risk, thought it was worth it. The White Mall closet brings you right back to White Mall's home lounge in a completely empty carriage. We let the door close and then reopen. The keyboard control was back, but the elevator was still inactive."
Mark nodded in the darkness. "That's a relief."
"You think so? If the Black Mall elevator were active, it could be your route back here." Jada pondered Mark's point. If Mark and Toshi's trip had activated the Black Mall elevator, Party #5 would have an escape route from the great trap they were in. Jada got back to her report. "We also have a full double set of sensors running from the White Mall sky-bridge, everything from 18 km to 63 km is covered."
"Excellent. So all the malls have at least one sensor net."
"Exactly. We'll be working on hub-half of the net from Yellow Brick's sky-bridge tomorrow morning. And we still have the Green Mall sky-bridge to do. Afterwards we might run some nets from the terminal stores, or perhaps from the White Mall trapdoor location."
"Huh? But you won't be able to jump there."
"True. But we'll be able to jump FROM there. It'll give us the option of monitoring another spiral near the hub." Jada sighed. She knew she shouldn't be draining Mark's battery, but it was so painful to say goodbye. "I love you. Before we sign off, I should give you an update. About 8 PM, Uno and two compadres and two muchachos arrived at their mall campsite. They stayed for about an hour, and then the group split up. Uno, Gilberto and his girlfriend Nadine, and Alfredo and his girlfriend Tiffany returned towards their home complex, everybody else at the site started traveling the locked portion of the spiral. "
"Wow. How many people?"
"Still eighteen." Jada read off all the names for Toshi's benefit. "Chico is obviously in charge with Alfonso next. Their two girlfriends are also with them, Jessica and Brandi, and six women slaves, four compadres, and all four muchachos. It's a very sizable force and about half their firepower. In the last three hours, they've covered about nine kilometers of spiral. Right now they're about one hundred meters past our sensor at…" Jada paused for a second as she looked at a map in front of her. "Spiral mark 53,776."
"They're only making three kilometers an hour?"
"Well, they're dragging two heavy sleds loaded with supplies. And it's not just the slaves who are pulling, the compadres and muchachos too. Ann said it's an indication of the leadership difference between Uno and Chico. Uno would have left the women in harness and whipped them to move faster, drove them until they dropped dead in harness." Jada took a deep breath. "Mark, before they left, our audio picked up a bit of conversation. Uno's party was heading to the Mex Grocer at the end of the mall. They expected to be home around midnight. Why don't you get going before they show up? I love you."
Mark agreed and gave his love back and then shut off the phone. He was just about to ask Toshi to turn on her penlight so they could gather their things when the closet door began to slide open, blinding them with the bright light of the white diodes.
"Damn!" thought Mark frantically. "We waited too long!"
Chapter 26.
Time: Thursday, January 17, 2019 12:02 AM
Frida dashed into the closet from the vestibule and wrapped Toshi in a bear hug. She was trembling and whispering, "Thank you, thank you Toshi! Thank you for coming back to rescue me!" That wasn't exactly how or why they got here, but before either Mark or Toshi could explain, Frida continued, "Neto went down to open the mall for Uno. That's how I managed to slip away. We only have a few minutes. We've got to leave! We've got to leave now!"
Toshi nodded in agreement and Frida released her from the hug. The three of them quickly went through the vestibule and to the east-northeastern vertex point of Black Mall's home complex. Frida looked uncertain by the choices before her. She pointed with hesitation to the northeastern path and looked to Toshi for approval.
There were three directions for the walkways. Black Mall's home complex was attached to its hexagonal perimeter at the east-northeastern vertex. One walkway led due south, with the wide open fields to the east and Black Mall's home complex to the west. Mark dismissed that possibility immediately. At best, it would simply circle the home hexagon. The outside temperature was just too cold to contemplate going into the open fields without heavy clothing.
Their current vertex was also the southern vertex of the right hexagon in the next row of two hexagons in the great diamond array. They could turn left and walk between this hexagon and Black Mall's home hexagon, or continue straight and walk directly away from the Black Mall complex, go east-northeast and begin walking along the outer edge of the diamond array.
The diamond array of hexagons. Black Mall's home complex is the bottom hexagon.
Mark frowned. There really wasn't much of an option. He hated making such an obvious choice, but he concluded it was unavoidable. Hoping there would soon be forks in the corridor to slow down and confuse their pursuers, he began jogging east-northeast directly away from Black Mall, wondering how far a head start they would get. Frida and Toshi followed as they ran single-file in the lit corridor. The door at the vertex closed behind them, locking them out of the home complex.
Mark tried to remember the satellite imagery of the area as he ran. The layout here was very different from his home complex of Red Mall. Black Mall's complex was at the southernmost tip of a large diamond-shaped array of hexagons that stretched two kilometers north and barely missed connecting to the northwestern section of the great perimeter wall. There were forty-nine hexagons layered in thirteen rows, in a diamond pattern of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 hexagons. Outside the diamond pattern were kilometers of open fields on three sides and the perimeter wall to the north.
On thing Mark was certain of, they would be staying inside the diamond array. Even if they found a way to exit to the outside, they were completely unprepared to weather the brutally frigid air for a multi kilometer hike, especially when there was no guarantee they'd find quick access into a building on the other side of the fields.
Time: Thursday, January 17, 2019 12:06 AM
Uno felt bone tired and was looking forward to sacking out, not minding at all that there was no one from the pussy barn to keep him amused for a while. He and his party were just reaching the second floor and the top of the spiral staircase when Compadre Bambino burst through the door from the bedroom corridor. "Frida! She's missing! I was making the rounds. She was in her bed just a few minutes ago. Somehow she slipped away!"
"That Toshi shit!" Uno yelled, remembering Frida's strange cry earlier this afternoon. It had bothered him when he heard it, but he looked around the lounge and found nothing, never realizing he had missed by two seconds the closing of both the elevator and the vestibule door.
Uno stared at Bambino, wanting to ream him out for letting Frida escape, but he couldn't quite find the excuse to do it. Uno himself had left the home base very lightly staffed. Pancho and Berto were the critical two-man unit guarding Jacob's Bar and Grill. Uno didn't what some unknown enemy to simply close the door and lock them out of the mall. That left Neto and Bambino upstairs to guard the bitches.
It just wasn't enough, not when Neto had to come down to open the mall entrance to the surface and take over guard duty from Berto. That left Bambino as the only guy left who was guarding the bitches, and they were allowing the women the full run of the house. Stupid!
Uno looked at the door Bambino had come through. In the archway stood Amber, Whitney, and Cassidy, the girlfriends of Neto, Pancho, and Bambino. The women were standing around in their pajamas looking sleepy and confused, but was it all an act? Uno had tried to be sweet to them the last couple of days, and this was how they repaid him?! "Well bitches," he thought darkly, "you had your chance!" He yelled out loud to the men, "Fuck! I knew that Frida bitch was up to something! Come on!"
The group drew their guns and raced northeast a hundred meters through their home. They went through the lounge and vestibule and then paused at the northeastern vertex, looking at the three perimeter paths and considering. It was obvious Frida had to have come through here.
Gilberto was livid. "That slimy bitch Toshi! Frida would never have the balls to run away on her own. She must have seen Toshi for real this afternoon. That slimy bitch Toshi! She somehow found another way to get here!"
Uno nodded and looked thoughtfully at Gilberto and Alfredo. Currently they were the number four and number five men of the gang, with the number three slot being open. Advancement in rank was not automatic. Gilberto and Alfredo would have to compete for the slot. "I need a volunteer," Uno said, "someone to lead a posse and capture those errant bitches."
"I'm your man," Gilberto said immediately, before Alfredo could speak. Uno looked at the two men. Gilberto looked raring to go, while Alfredo looked glad someone else had volunteered. Uno made his decision. "Gilberto, you're in charge. Take Berto and track the bitches down. They can't get far. When you catch them, show them what men of balls do when they get angry. Just be sure Toshi can still answer questions when you bring her back here."
Gilberto replied with a wicked laugh. "Piece of cake! We've got the bitches boxed on the track. They have no place to go!"
Nadine laughed too and turned to her boyfriend Gilberto. "Can I come along? I can hold Toshi down while you men of balls do what you men of balls do." Nadine turned and noticed the other three women had followed them quietly. They were standing in the archway between the kitchen and lounge. Nadine bared her teeth at them and then laughed when they shied away.
Gilberto smiled at Nadine. She was a jealous vixen and he loved it. Part of the fun of rutting on Toshi nonstop for a week was getting such a rise out of Nadine. "Sure. You want to hold wrists or ankles?"
Nadine thought for less than a second before answering. "Ankles. I get a better view of the action that way." She turned to taskmistress Tiffany. "Want to come along? The two of us can help Toshi do the splits again, slutty Frida too."
Tiffany replied with a wicked grin. "Yeah, okay, Frida with her extra long legs, hah! Should be fun." She then growled, "I bet Toshi squeals like a stuck pig!"
During the past week, after Gilberto had tired of Toshi, Tiffany's boyfriend Alfredo had taken Toshi for several nights, rutting on her passive body without mercy. He even cracked jokes about it, telling the other compadres in front of a silently fuming Tiffany how much he enjoyed eating sushi, or was it Toshi? The lewd remarks had silently driven Tiffany up the wall. She felt intensely humiliated and was eager for some payback.
Gilberto paused for a moment and turned to his boss. "Speaking of splits Uno, I need to cover both walkways. Let me take another two gunmen. This way we'll have two guns on each branch."
Uno stared back. It suddenly occurred to him that Gilberto wasn't remembering the three missing pistols of Santos, Fidel, and Alberto. Uno had no intention of reminding him, and regardless, what Gilberto was saying made a lot of sense. "Two extra gunmen? Okay. You want Alfredo and Bambino?"
Gilberto shook his head. "Pancho and Neto from downstairs. They make a good team and besides, they're the pair that explored all the way to the other end." He made a curt hand gesture for Alfredo to go down to the mall and send them up. Alfredo bristled for a moment at being ordered so casually, but it was not the time to protest, not with Gilberto in charge of the mission and Uno standing two meters away. Alfredo stomped off, unhappy he had been demoted to being the lone guard of the downstairs Grill.
Uno stretched while they waited. After the brief rush of adrenaline from Frida's disappearance, he was back to feeling bone tired. Amber, Whitney, and Cassidy were still with them and still looking very hesitant. Uno decided the time for sweet-talking these fence-sitting bitches was over. "Gilberto," he said flatly, "Don't spare the rod with Toshi."
Gilberto grinned and moved his hand and lewdly squeezed the front of his pants. "Don't worry. My rod is already primed for what it has to do."
Uno nodded. "Uh huh. Well, you and your men sink that Toshi shit as deep as you want, but remember, you need to bring her back here in a condition where she can still talk. We need a lot of questions answered."
"Yeah, okay, I'll remember. She'll still be able to talk."
Uno glanced to his side and noticed the three women in pajamas were still present, standing still and witnessing the planning of Toshi's rape. He decided he didn't care. Perhaps these bitches had even helped Frida escape. They certainly hadn't stopped her.
"Fuck these bitches!" he thought. "The time for sweet talking is over! It's time to show them whom to fear again!" He gestured wildly with his arms and said loudly, "And that Frida shit! That Frida shit I'm less concerned about!" He gave Gilberto a wicked grin. "I know what you like Gilberto, what you like the most."
Gilberto licked his lips and nodded as Pancho and Neto arrived. Gilberto interpreted Uno's comment as permission to mount full bore and blow out Frida's anus. What Gilberto liked the most was the danger of mortal injury to the fuck whore beneath him, and he had just received clearance to risk it.
The posse of six left the complex about five minutes later, four armed compadres and two taskmistresses. They broke into two equal parties at the vertex and then moved at a slow and deliberate pace along the two perimeter walkways. There was no need to hurry. Gilberto was correct. The errant bitches had no place to go.
Time: Thursday, January 17, 2019 12:17 AM
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