It's My Party

Mandy was still smiling. "Think of your banquet the day you first got here."

Madison shook her head. "We had nothing like that. I would remember."

Both Mandy and Tom were very still for a moment. "That's interesting," said Tom. "We did. It's not just the appearance. Mandy and I both recognized the smells, and we've also tasted the plants too. They're so delicious, it was hard not to."

Madison walked over and sniffed the orange plant. "It does smell interesting."

"It's like a spicy sweet carrot," said Mandy showing off the plants. "And this one makes a fabulous salad, and this is brown fruit tastes like a cross between a fresh fig and a soft-shelled walnut. I love these things! You eat the entire bulb, shell and all."

Madison was very curious. "These plants were growing in the forest? That seems a bit odd. I would have guessed the climate was too cold for such ripe development."

Tom spoke up. "Not exactly in the forest. They're growing high in the foothills, almost adjacent to where the rocks meet the sky. There are some terraced beds up there with warm soil, warmer than the air."

Jada stared at the plant, considering what Mandy and Tom were saying. Yes, the bulbs were about the size of walnuts. "And you've eaten these things now?" she asked.

Many replied, "Uh, yeah. But Jada, I know the plant. I've eaten it before. Tom has too." She looked at Jada closely. "Do you think we made a mistake?"

Jada sighed as she looked at her two teammates. "I don't know. Probably not. I certainly hope not. Let's just head back. If either of you starts feeling sick, or anything unusual, tell me immediately."

Tom and Mandy acknowledged the order. Their party of four disembarked a few minutes later.

Time: Thursday, February 14, 2019 6:34 PM

With their familiar boathouse visible and only one kilometer away, Jada finally allowed herself to relax. What a day! They had came so close to losing Maddy. Jada felt extremely fortunate to have Tom on her team. There was the shot that saved Maddy's life of course. But there was also his woodsman experience. He was calm throughout the entire episode with the Dinofelis, simply accepting the existence of the dangerous creature as natural part of the environment. In comparison, Jada felt very nervous after the attack.

Jada turned and watched Mandy and Tom paddle for a moment. They were all tired, and these two had towed spare kayaks over forty kilometers today. That was a major piece of work. Jada's own arms were complaining from the exercise. She allowed herself to smile though. Kayaking was fabulously enjoyable!

Jada took another close look at Tom and Mandy and thought to herself, "They seem healthy. From what I know about food poisoning, you don't exercise afterwards for three hours and not notice you've been poisoned. I guess they're okay."

Jada allowed her thoughts to run as she paddled. "What's the bigger issue here? Have I watched too many horror movies back on Earth? Was I worried about alien parasites? If the entities wanted to infect us, have our bodies explode with baby spiders or something, they certainly could have infected us before now."

Jada took a deep breath before her next stroke. "It's such a critical question though, when to be cautious and when to be bold. Fortune favors the bold, but you can't be bold if you're dead. The question becomes, how do you strike the balance? What principles do I use to guide my decisions? When should I be bold?" She paddled another few strokes. "Come on Jada! You should be able to come up with a few answers to that."

"Principle #1: The intelligence of the builder entities is vast, but somehow they seem to have only a limited ability to understand our emotions and how we make decisions. Gifts that may have been designed in a spirit of generosity can still be dangerous, even deadly."

"Principle #2: For all its dangers, the Great Hexagon is a lifeboat, not a prison, not a zoo. The gift of the mind linkage is just too beautiful to think otherwise… My gosh! The pain I had when I rode in the elevator for the first name. It felt as if my mind were being torn apart. And then I took a big gulp of that hot chocolate, and the pain disappeared. Maybe… Yes! Maybe the original human mind could not survive the journey. I had only taken one very small sip before. With everything else that's been happening, I had forgotten. I have to tell Mark about this, Fatima too."

"And I remember how thirsty I became when I walked the corridor. Didn't Emily comment how thirsty she was too? Could there have been something there to make us thirsty, something in the air maybe, something to make us drink? What does that imply? I guess that the entities have a vast and detailed knowledge of human physiology. But from the drugs that boosted our minds, we already know that. But perhaps the mind boost was secondary. My gosh. Perhaps the primary purpose of the drug was to allow our minds to survive the journey. Maybe it was as simple as that."

"And it's interesting how Tom and Mandy found some of their banquet food down here. It's not just six different parties. Sometimes it seems to me as if there were three different pairs of parties, each pair with its own gifts. Red and Green Malls, complementary colors, opposite positions on the hexagonal spirals, they both have the same distance of the home complexes from Hex Hall. Only 6.7 kilometers, what an advantage! And we shared the same banquet. All our conversations with Aggie, the first day we found her. After that we just assumed. We never bothered to ask Black Mall about their banquet."

"White and Black Malls, complementary colors, opposite positions on the hexagonal spirals, the same distance from Hex Hall, over 70 kilometers, what a disadvantage. But they had compensations. Black Mall has the black diamond complex with the bees, White Mall controls the white diamond complex and an entrance to a whole new world. But they would need to cooperate with Black Mall to explore it. That's where all the kayaks were, only a few kilometers from Black Mall's home complex. And what about Blue and Yellow Malls? What are their special gifts? And what are their special dangers?"

They soon reached the boathouse and Jada postponed further exploration of her thoughts as she helped store their precious boats inside. She then took a moment to check in with mission control. Lynn sounded quite cheerful over the phone and said there were several pieces of good news to share. But Jada asked her to hold off until Jada's team had safely returned to their sanctuary. The four made in there a few minutes after sunset.

Jada gave a big sigh of relief as she closed the transparent door for the night. There were simulated displays of thick, heavy clouds moving in rapidly from the north. Jada saw a flash of simulated lightning. It looked as if it might be another stormy night. And Jada was not the only person admiring the view. Tom and Madison were by her side, and Madison quietly put her arm around Tom's waist and hugged him as they watched the weather move in. Jada wasn't too surprised. The two had become quite affectionate with each other, and Jada thought she would feel grateful too if someone saved her life. Tom returned the hug and gently petted the side of Madison's hip.

Tom and Madison… Jada had to smile as she watched them. The teams had been designed with the idea of keeping lovers on different teams. The standard was first suggested Mark and then implemented by Fatima when she became leader. True, Charles and Brandi were with Amber on Aggie's team-four, but Charles and Brandi usually acted more like close friends than people who were dating, even though they often slept together.

But there was no choice regarding Madison being on team-two and exploring the underground world, and Tom was too perfect a match for the team's needs to be excluded. And so far Jada had no complaints at all with the budding romance within her team. Both Madison and Tom were being admirably disciplined about it. There was no horsing-around when they were outside on a mission. Mandy had even commented to Jada in private that she thought it was very sweet how innocently Madison and Tom were approaching dating each other. After all the forced copulations and stressed relationships within their society, Mandy found the simplicity Madison and Tom were seeking with each other wonderfully refreshing.

The team's next hour was very busy, spent on unpacking gear, cleanup, and the planned exchange of their filled memory sticks with new blanks. The quick exchange by the elevator also left Jada's team with as many supplies as their four unseen visitors could carry. Emily's team had devoted their afternoon hiking down the great stairwell with many extra supplies, and they did it without the benefit of a Leophone. Jada's group exchanged a few notes with them before their return journey up the stairs, telling them a little of what they had found and that all was well. Jada also gave them samples of the local foodstuffs.

Jada's group just had time to gather around the Leophone for their planned 8:30 PM conference call. They brought their dinner with them, fresh milk and sandwiches kindly dropped off by Emily's team, a welcome change from all the concentrated food they had been stockpiling in the sanctuary. But now it appeared there might they might also have a local source of fresh fruit and vegetables. Jada was eager to share their discoveries with all the other teams.

And so she was very surprised when Holly announced at the beginning of their debriefing that Holly and Toshi were the only two people on the bridge. The two pregnant members of their society sounded very happy. Toshi broke the first piece of good news.

"Expect another away-team to be at your elevator, maybe in another hour or so. Aggie's team-four is coming down. They're carrying something that you'll find very useful."

"More Leophones?" guessed Madison.

"Actually, we have a little progress to report there too, but no. This is from Mark's team. He was returning to his engineering sphere around 4 PM for a jump home, very shortly after our big conference call ended."

"Yeah?" said Jada. Her team had already been informed of Mark's earlier find during that call.

"Well, they were only about 300 meters from the sphere and they still had about twenty minutes to sunset. Mark decided they had just enough time to check out one more warehouse that they were passing. What a find! It's something that's been conspicuously absent around here. They found a type of firearm that seems to be made of orange plastic, long rifles with enormous bores."

"My gosh," replied Madison, who had some knowledge of archaic weapons. "Plastic flintlocks and matchlocks?"

"No!" laughed Toshi. "I shouldn't tease you any longer. They found flare rifles! Aggie's team is bringing two of them down to you, plus over sixty shells. They're quite heavy, almost a kilo each."

"How do they work?"

"I've fired one," Holly replied with a hint of a boast. "They work great! The shell is breech-loaded and the rifle is designed to be held against the ground. Then you release two safeties and jerk down on the outer tube. There's a very simple firing pin at the bottom of the tube that sets off the flare. It's a brilliant light. The flare lights at around fifty meters and goes all the way up to about 200 meters. Then it starts to float down. You get almost a ten-second burn, brilliant blue-white turning to yellow in the last second. Mark thinks the shell casing is some sort of aluminum-magnesium alloy. It burns too. There's nothing left at the end."

"Could it be used as a weapon?" asked Mandy.

"It's possible I guess," Toshi replied slowly. "Are you thinking against Dinofelis or against other people?"

"Either."

"Well, at long range, firing a flare at a cat might frighten it off. But we're thinking of these guns mostly as signaling devices. The projectile velocity never gets very high. As a weapon, the impact wouldn't hurt a human much."

"But getting burned by the flare might," replied Mandy.

Holly agreed. "Yes, true. And in a Mall corridor, if there were no cover, a barrage of the flares might inflict some injuries. But it would be a cumbersome weapon. It's single shot, and you have to set the safeties back on before you can open the breech and reload."

"This is great news," commented Jada. "I take it we should be on land to fire this thing?"

"Oh, I would think so, yeah. Firing from a kayak would be very tricky. Let's see, what else should I tell you? Right now everybody except Toshi and me is out transporting the shells to more accessible storage locations. All the away teams will be using them. Mark is acting as master of ceremonies with the sphere's elevator. And the census counter is unchanged, still 010:090. At least we haven't lost anybody today."

"Holly," Toshi whispered as she gave her friend a playful nudge, "tell them about the Leophones."

"Oh yeah!" Holly gave Toshi a friendly bump back. "Lynn and Akiko think they might get a fourth Leophone operational, hopefully sometime tomorrow."

"Just one?" asked Jada.

"Yeah. Turning them on is a lot more complicated than they first thought. There's seems to be a number of registration steps that are not repeatable with the other phones. At least I think that's what Akiko said. They'll have to do a lot of custom configuring for each phone."

Jada next gave a brief report on her team's findings, and then they signed off for the night. It would be another very busy day starting before daybreak tomorrow. Madison and Tom volunteered to stay up and greet Aggie's team when they arrived and unload the flares from the elevator. Jada and Mandy gratefully accepted the offer, and the two women took quick showers and headed off to bed. In spite of the stressful day and worries about the decisions that might be on her doorstep tomorrow, Jada was fast asleep minutes after her head hit the pillow.

Chapter 52.


Schematic of the central island of the Mississippi. Hexagonal island measures 100 meters on each side.

Chapter 53:

Time: Thursday, February 14, 2019 9:35 PM

Madison found Tom in their large, multi-purpose room. They had both taken showers about an hour ago and dressed for bed, but had stayed up to unload the flare equipment from the elevator before turning in. "You still up?" Madison called out.

Tom looked at her and grinned. "Just about to turn in. I was looking at this flare rifle. The back wall of the breech has a very interesting reinforcement, some sort of thin clear coating, but it's as hard as a diamond."

"Uh huh. There's a really neat thunderstorm going on right now. Want to watch it with me?"

Tom smiled happily and followed Madison to her windowed bedroom at the end of the sanctuary. A moment later they were sitting close together watching the storm's fury. Madison sighed and leaned her head on Tom's shoulder. "It's funny, isn't it? To see the rain lashing against the windows like that, but to hear absolutely nothing."

Tom nodded. "Yeah, I know. It seems spooky. I wonder if Jada has gotten used to it." Their team leader had the other windowed bedroom on the other side of the hall.

Madison didn't reply. They sat again for a while in silence, leaning up against each other. Madison moved her arm and brushed the back of her hand against Tom's pajamas near his knee. A moment later they were holding hands. Madison gave out a big sigh.

"It feels so different," Tom whispered. "Tomorrow will be the start of a new month. It really drives the point home, how new and strange everything is."

Madison nodded. "Yes, and yet, some things are still the same. I feel so fortunate I still have my brother and my two best friends. And now I have you too, if you want me."

Tom gave a playful laugh. "Hey, you're my girl. Of course I want you."

Madison tilted her head up and kissed his cheek. "You saved my life today. I feel I owe you something."

"Hmmm? Huh? No you don't."

"It's what I feel though. Tom?"

Tom lightly returned her kiss before replying. "Yeah?"

"Your shot was incredible today. How did you do it?"

"Ah. I take it your target practice has been at a pistol range?"

"Yep."

"Well, my dad has been taking me hunting since I was… hell, I can't even remember how young I was when I first fired a gun. But I've eaten lots of rabbits that I shot myself. It's just a different skill, firing at a moving target. I'd love to teach you, but we don't have the ammo for it."

"Does Charles know how?"

"No. I think his experience is with pistol ranges too. He's a pretty good shot though." Tom's hand came up and stroked Madison's head, caressing her cheek and ear. "Ah, you're so pretty Madison," he whispered and then he sniffed. "And you smell delightful!"

Madison giggled. "It's just my shower soap. I found a new kind down here I really like." She paused. "Do you really think I'm pretty? I have so many freckles…"

Tom stretched and switched on a nearby light and then offered eye contact. A moment later Madison gasped and turned away blushing. "My gosh Tom! I knew you liked me and all but… My gosh!"

Tom chuckled. "You're really surprised, aren't you? Maddy, you're so pretty, gorgeous in fact. Hasn't anybody ever told you?"

"No! I've dated, but you're the first one!" Madison gave him a fierce squeeze around his waist. "Oh, I wish we had lots of time, time to get excited and get sexy with each other. But if we start that now, there'll be hell to pay tomorrow."

Tom kissed her and sighed. "Agreed. We need our sleep. But I think I'll dream of you." Another sigh. "It's so nice to be able to dream again. A month ago, everything was nightmares."

"Don't feel guilty. You did what you had to do to survive."

"I was an incredible coward. I look back on it and I'm horrified."

"Of what?"

"Of what I didn't do, of what I almost became. I had no idea, how…" He shuddered and remained silent, never completing the thought. "Oh, I don't know."

"Hey mister!" Madison hissed. "Don't think like that! You're my hero! You are the person who saved my life. You are the person who thinks I'm super sexy! You are the person I'm thrilled to be dating! Tom?"

"Yeah?"

"Really, I am thrilled to have you as my boyfriend."

"I know. I saw it in your eyes."

"And I saw how you think of me. I hope I can live up to all your expectations. Your fantasies about me..."

He petted her for a while and then whispered playfully, "Uh oh. I didn't realize I was letting that out."

"Ah, but you were." Madison gave a soft laugh. "And we really need our sleep now. But someday soon, I promise, we'll have some free time together. Then we can play. Until then…"

Madison hugged him and tried to kiss him goodnight. But the kiss lingered, and their arms and hands drifted from hugging to caressing. It was done in great gentleness, at least at first, but then a warm hand cupped Madison's breast through her soft pajamas and she whimpered for more. Her hand groped and found his penis, so stiff and erect. She popped it from his pajamas bottoms with one silky motion of her hand, and then her head dropped, engulfing his desire for her and sliding it to the back of her throat.

Tom cried out in his pleasure, his hips making small, jerky thrusts upward into the warmth and moisture of Madison's mouth. Madison's eyes were wide open in semi-shock at what she had just done, but she kept his erection inside her mouth, pulling back a bit in order to suckle and running her tongue along the shaft, trying to lick the penis inside her mouth. Madison felt Tom's entire body tense up and she lifted her lips to his penis head just as he started to orgasm. Tom was shaking and moaning and thrusting his hips and Madison as she suckled and gulped felt overwhelmed with her own emotions.