Notes From The Underground

Putting the communicator down, Gloria picked up a second communicator. Dead. And so was the third, fourth, and fifth. "Shit, shit, shit!" cried Gloria, throwing down the last device.

"What's wrong?" asked Elaine sticking her head inside the tent.

"They're all dead" said Gloria.

"What?" said Elaine.

"They're all dead" repeated Gloria. "Every damn one of them."

"It's not possible" said Elaine stepping inside the tent and picking up the communicator Gloria had thrown on the ground.

"See for yourself" said Gloria.

But it was true they were all dead. "Carman's going to be pissed" said Elaine.

"She not the only one! said Gloria wondering if they would ever get out of the woods.

Outside in the trees Pam smiled, listening to the frantic banter of the two women. She would have to tell Stacy, too bad she wasn't here now. Oh well, time to get going. As much as she would have liked to stay and enjoy the show, Pam knew it was best to get going while the going was good. Picking up the cylinder, she walked deeper into the woods, away from the two frantic women in the tent, towards home and her own destiny.

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Prudence rubbed her face and stretched slightly in her chair. It was late and she was tired. The Varinia affair had been keeping her up almost around the clock and it had been a good 36 hours since she last slept. Using India and Echo had been unavoidable, and she disliked involving, as Katrina put it, 'non-operational' staff in such a project. Still one need to use the tools one had; the luxury of choosing ones agents rarely, if ever, presented itself in such matters. Of course, this introduced an additional element of risk into the project and this is what kept Prudence up nights. Katrina was also concerned since the Varinia affair represented a long awaited and not soon to be repeated opportunity to remove this pesky thorn in Zax's side.

Looking at the virtual Katrina she said "Everything is in place Mistress; all we need do is wait."

The persona looked at her and said "Always the most difficult part. And our agent?"

"On site Mistress."

"Good. They suspect nothing?"

"No" said Prudence.

The virtual Katrina looked at her, unblinking for several minutes and then said "And the others?"

"Alex's scouts are also on-site waiting for the signal and a detachment of our security force is prepared and ready to go. Echo is here on the Island, standing by."

"She understands her role?"

"Yes Mistress, thoroughly" said Prudence.

"Excellent" said the persona. "Non- operational personnel are always problematic even when highly motivated; their actions are always difficult to gauge. I wish to avoid any unnecessary drama".

"Yes Mistress" said Prudence. "Alex's staff is also prepared to assist her, if necessary."

"Good! You better get some sleep then, you look tired."

"Yes Mistress, I will, soon."

The virtual Katrina looked at her again and nodded. "Later" she said vanishing.

"Later" repeated Prudence to herself. Later.

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They landed on the roof along with the last supply shuttle for the evening. The transport looked small and insignificant next to its much larger cargo carrying cousin, like a fish next to a whale. As they stood on the roof Erin could hear the humming of the automated machinery inside the storage facility and the cargo carrying machines that were offloading the contents of the carrier. So much the better she thought. Although it was unlikely that their tiny group or the transport would be spotted, the noise of the large industrial machinery was comforting for the masking it afforded them.

Everything had gone perfect and they were exactly on-schedule. The flight had been tense, but uneventful, as had their landing on the roof. When the transport had stopped, Stacy had opened the door and the five women had stepped out onto the roof of the storage facility, checking their equipment and surroundings. Around them, the city shimmered under the glow of its lights. The dark air was cool and crystal clear and Erin could see her breath when she exhaled. Looking around she spotted the emergency exit and pointed in its direction. The others nodded and the five women moved towards the exit. The storage facility and the adjacent courthouse and detention center were relatively older structures, and as such the emergency exits were rather crude in places. This was especially the case for the storage facility roof; the exit had probably never been used in its long history and the designers of the building in all likelihood had deemed it improbable that it ever would be utilized for an actual emergency. As such, the 'exit' consisted of a simple metal tube with metal rungs running along its interior. In essence it was a ladder strapped to the side of the building. Fortunately the automated maintenance machinery had kept the escape exit clean and in good repair. Erin had read accounts from ancient times about how people had died when infrequency used emergency exists had been allowed to fall into disrepair and she was relieved to see that the exit was in pristine condition.

Stacy was the first to reach the emergency exit, followed by Kelly and India, then Cathy and Erin. "OK" said Erin. "Stacy you go first, then Cathy, India, and Kelly. "I'll bring up the rear."

Stacy nodded and stepped into the tube, quickly making her way down. Erin nodded at Cathy as soon as Stacy's head disappeared from view. Cathy gave Erin a quick glance pausing for a second as if she wanted to say something, but then apparently changing her mind, she stepped silently into the tube and followed Stacy down to the street. India watched Cathy disappear into the dark tube and said "It's awfully dark in there."

"Yes" acknowledged Erin putting her hand on the other woman's shoulder. "Your turn."

"Do you think it's safe? It's so…so…long."

"It'll be fine" Erin reassured her. This was no time to get anxious. All they needed was for India to give them a problem now. "You're not afraid of heights are you?"

"Well, now that you mention it…" said India.

"It will be OK" said Kelly. Just take it slow, one rung at a time. You won't be able to see down anyways. I'll be right behind you."

India looked at her friend skeptically as Erin griped her shoulder tighter. "OK" she said finally, stepping into the tube. As soon as she was in, Erin motioned for Kelly to follow her. Better block her exit, just in case she had second thoughts again. This way she would be forced to go down.

But there were no further problems and as soon as Kelly disappeared into the darkness of the tube, Erin followed her down. The decent turned out to take longer than Erin anticipated. After a hundred or so rungs, Erin lost count, and it seemed to take forever to reach the street below. When Erin emerged from the tube she found her companions standing quietly waiting for her.

"Whew! I thought I'd never reach the end" said India waving her hand back and forth across her face.

Erin frowned and said "Let's go".

But Stacy was already at the entrance, using Echo's code to open the door. After a few seconds, the door opened and the five women stepped inside the cavernous building. The room was dimly lit by dull red night lighting typically used during the evening in large buildings. In the distance Erin could make out the glow from green and blue lights marking exits and emergency communication stations. Twenty feet above her head pipes and tubes ran horizontally across the length of the building, their vertical branchings disappearing into the darkness above. The soft hum of automated machinery was audible, but otherwise the only noise was the sound of their breathing. Stacy looked around the room and pointed. "It's over there" she said.

Erin nodded and the group moved in the direction Stacy had indicated. It seemed to take a good fifteen minutes to reach their destination, but in reality only a few minutes passed. "This is the one" said Stacy pointing at one in a long line of identical containers. Erin looked at Cathy and both women watched as Stacy moved on ahead towards the end of the row where they stood. When she reached the end, she turned right and vanished from sight. Erin held her breath until Stacy's voice whispered in her ear. "I'm in position. It will be a minute or so; I'll let you know when I'm ready."

"OK" said Erin looking at the container in front of her. Cathy stood ready to unlock and open the door as soon as Stacy gave the signal. It would then be a simple matter to scan each memory block and return it to the container. There were 10 blocks and Erin and Cathy had practiced this portion of their mission numerous times at the Ranch. At most it would take a minute to copy the contents and close the door. Plenty of time.

"Ready" said Stacy.

"Ready" said Erin. "On your mark."

"OK" said Stacy. "On my mark. Three. Two. One. Mark."

There was a slight flicker in the lights along the row of the containers where they stood then everything returned to normal. "Ninety seconds" said Stacy.

"Ninety seconds" repeated Erin. Cathy moved to the door and opened it, revealing the contents inside. Ten memory blocks stacked neatly in the center of the container, exactly as expected. In a few seconds the contents would be copied into the block in Cathy's hand and in a few hours into the system at the Ranch. Then in no more than a few days they would know, as would Zax.

Erin reached into the container and gently grabbed the first block. Behind her she could hear Kelly and India breathing softly. Cathy looked at her, a spark in her eyes. Erin picked up the first block and as she moved to hand it to Cathy all the lights in the building went out, plunging them into total darkness.

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Kourtney pushed her nightgown down and pulled the bed covers over her body. Closing her eyes she waited in the darkness of her room for her breathing to return to normal, so she could fall asleep. Rubbing her pisshonie was not something she did regularly, and although it always relieved the tension that seemed to continuously occupy her body and mind, it was not an activity that she truly enjoyed since it left her feeling guilty and anxious. Kourtney could not really remember when or how she had discovered that touching herself in this embarrassing manner would bring both physical pleasure and mental relief from the natural tension that was such an integral part of her makeup. And tense she was; her petite body was slim and wiry without an ounce of fat and she kept her muscles perpetually coiled and tight and her mind equally alert and ready, as if she needed to be constantly ready to flee or defend herself from some unseen but persistent threat.

This is not to say that Kourtney was paranoid or insecure, for nothing could be further from the truth. Rather the perpetual state of physical tension and mental alertness was as natural to her as it was to a deer. And calling Kourtney deer-like was not a bad analogy. Physically she was both quick and agile and could easily and consistently out run and out maneuver her four (now three) companions on the play-fields of the Schoolhouse. Even more impressive than her physical agility was her mental prowess, for Kourtney was without doubt the smartest and most intelligent of the five girls under Headmistress Echo's tutelage. Although Kourtney was well aware of both these facts, she rarely demonstrated her abilities to her peers. By nature she was quiet, reserved, and almost shy. A loner, she preferred her own company to that of others. She was not antisocial but given the choice she would simply rather be alone. The reason for this was quite clear to both the Headmistress and anyone who cared to converse with the petite young woman: her slim body housed a mind of the first rank. Kourtney would have been surprised to know that her Headmistress often pondered and regretted her intended fate, knowing that given different circumstances, she could have achieved great things.

For her part, Kourtney did not bother herself with such musings. Uninterested in sports, and for the most part, her companions, she spent her time reading and studying. Mathematics was her favorite subject and in this she was well ahead of the other four girls at the Schoolhouse. In fact, she had already mastered university-level material on her own and hoped that she might one-day (after getting married and leaving the Schoolhouse), pursue her studies. Of course Headmistress Echo was well aware of these facts and not at all surprised knowing the occupation and background of Kourtney's mother. However, knowing her young charge's ultimate fate, she found little reason to encourage her, which Kourtney found puzzling. On more than one occasion, Kourtney had inquired about her future to the Headmistress.

"Must I get married? At least right away?"

Headmistress Echo had eyed her coolly and replied "Yes, of course you must."

Kourtney bit her lower lip, hesitating, and then said "But why, Headmistress?"

"Because, that is the proper social convention, and with good reason. When you are finished with your education here, you will be at the ideal age for marriage and raising children. Postponing these things only leads to problems and difficulties later in life."

"But what if I don't want to get married at all?"

Headmistress Echo waved her hand dismissively and said "Nonsense. Such a decision would only bring unhappiness and regrets. You are young and I understand your hesitancy, but you still have time before you need to worry about such things. By then everything will become clear."

Kourtney looked at the Headmistress skeptically, pondering her reply. It was true, that she was young and marriage was still a ways off. Still, it was not something that she thought about or was excited over like the others. In fact, given the choice she would rather spend her time thinking about math than marriage. "Still, if I wanted to pursue a career in math, perhaps go to university, couldn't I do that instead?"

"It's not a choice of either or" said the Headmistress. "It's possible to do both. However things must be done in the correct order and at the proper time."

Kourtney thought this over for a moment. What the Headmistress said did make sense. "OK" she said at last. Perhaps she had been too hasty in thinking about her choices. Still… But that's where matters had remained. She had broached the subject with the Headmistress a few more times, but the result was always the same.

As she lay in the darkness, the situation took on new urgency. Kathryn was married and gone, and soon so would Karolyn. That left Krystyn and Krystal, and then her. In fact, there was talk that Headmistress Echo had already found a possible partner for Krystyn. Soon it would be her turn. Kourtney pulled the bed covers up higher, and although her breathing had returned to normal, she could feel her heart beating fast. The entire idea of marriage made her anxious and the thought of wasting her time homemaking with another woman, angry. Why must she be forced into something she did not want or care for? Even the others were anxious about the whole thing. There seemed to be so much mystery surrounding the entire subject and Krystyn and Krystal seemed to spend much of their time (and energy) discussing and contemplating it. This was especially true of the "Wedding Night' thing. Although Kourtney was just as in the dark as her peers, the entire subject evoked endless discussions and speculation. For her part, Kourtney found that the topic only made her anxious and ultimately left her bored and she tried to avoid such discussions whenever she could. There was clearly some physical aspect of marriage which (by either design or convention) they were ignorant. Kourtney had speculated, in private, about this but lacked any firm data or information upon which she might form a realistic hypothesis or reach a plausible conclusion.

Recently, she had speculated in the most tentative way, that perhaps pisshonie rubbing might somehow be involved. Of course, this was strictly private speculation, for she dared not even think of mentioning it to the others. In fact, even thinking about it in private was embarrassing. As for the act itself, well Kourtney, preferred not to ponder it at all, nor did she (at least most of the time). When and why she had started touching herself like this was something she could not say. For whatever reason, it remained a 'blind-spot' in her otherwise flawless memory. However, one night after 'relieving the tension' as Kourtney liked to euphemistically refer to this clearly forbidden and shameful act of rubbing herself, the thought had popped into her mind. What if, for some unknown and admittedly bizarre reason unbeknownst to her, marriage and the Wedding Night involved pisshonie rubbing? The idea seemed incredulous but it did explain, at least in part, some of the mystery surrounding the topic as well as the hushed and embarrassed manner employed in its discussion. For that matter, even the Headmistress was reluctant to talk about this topic, and when she did, it was always dismissively saying "don't worry about it, when the time is right all will be clear." If, by some strange chance, the touching and rubbing of pisshonies was in fact involved it would explain the Headmistress's reticence as well as a great deal else about this 'mystery'. For what woman would (or even could) discuss such a thing? Worse, Kourtney found it hard to believe that two women could even do such a shameful act with each other. And this of course, was the sticking point in the entire hypothesis. How could anyone do such a thing? The idea of touching herself in front of another woman was beyond Kourtney's imagination. She knew it would be impossible for her to do such a forbidden and shameful thing in front of anyone else. As a result, she was forced to dismiss her theory as the fanciful and wildly outrageous idea that it was.

This however left Kourtney with another problem. Why did she keeping doing this forbidden act? Yes it was clearly pleasurable, intensely pleasurable. And, yes it did relieve the tension, clearing her mind and leaving her physically relaxed. Still, such a thing could not possible be normal or good. On the other hand, it seemed to have little or no ill effects. Besides leaving her a bit sleepy, Kourtney could discern no adverse consequences, either physical or mental. Lacking information and unable to discuss the matter with anyone, she had remained perplexed and a bit worried. However as time went by, and nothing changed, Kourtney lost interest in speculating further about the matter and eventually dismissed any concerns she might have as unfounded by fact or experience.

Kourtney's guilt still remained and as such, she tried to control her urges, and for the most part she was successful. Although she was unable to realize it because of her enforced naiveté, any knowledgeable women would have immediately understood that she processed (relatively) a rather low interest in sex. A psychtech like Echo would have also understood that sex (under normal circumstances) for someone like Kourtney (who in addition to being inhibited was also prudish) would always remain an intensely private matter engaged in only with a partner she was emotionally and intimately involved with. Her enjoyment of the physical pleasures associated with such sexual activity would be extremely satisfying, but only in such a context. Masturbation would remain relatively 'unimportant' to her and engaged in only as 'necessary' i.e. for hormonal and tension release. For her part, Kourtney was unaware of any of this. She would rub herself a few times a week whenever she 'felt the need or urge'. Tonight had been one of those nights.