• Sign up or login, and you'll have full access to opportunities of forum.

No Trespassing!

Go to CruxDreams.com
NO TRESPASSING – AFTER THE STORM (1).
“Strange!”
Tom did not understand. What was happening here?
The beach was dead. The previous beach sections all showed plenty of life just within ten centimeters from the surface.
He needed an auger to find out what is going on.
Tom and Lena were a couple. But they were also professional biologists. Their field of research was the life in coastal environments. It was summer on the northern hemisphere, and hence winter in the southern, where they actually were. So they did not come for the good weather. In fact, Tom and Lena were working on a project about the recovery of beach life after severe storms. So they needed to be stand-by during the storm season and hope there would come one. They had an open airline ticket ready, and when a storm was forecasted, they hurried to the airport, as usually they had at most a four day window to travel and to be in place. Fortunately, arrangements had been made to have a jeep with material standing by in the scientific institutes of their destination.

Now it had been so far. They had arrived just in time to see the storm rage in all its force on the coast. From the ten meters high elevated cliffs, they had watched its fury. The waves broke against the cliffs and splashed the water as high as they stood. Hard wind gusted over the land.

Then it became quiet. Relatively quiet. The sea was still agitated and full of white breaking wave crests. The wind had not gone down completely. But it had stopped raining and the cloud cover became broken up, allowing the sun to shine from time to time. It was safe now to enter the beaches. Tom and Lena knew they had no time to waste. Storm waves caused tremendous erosion of the beach and foreshore sediments, and ravaged the ecological communities living therein. They knew that, once the storm had calmed down, recovery would start. They intended first of all to map the maximum damage situation, in order to have a sound uniform baseline to start with the investigation of the recovery.

They had planned to investigate six beach sections. Lena reminded Tom that section 2 was located right in front of the last building along the coastal road. They parked their jeep at the dead end of the street, went to the beach and set out their quadrats. In order to speed up things, they sampled each of the six beach sections separately. It meant, at least two sections were sampled simultaneously. Tom and Lena had preferred to have assistance, so that all the beach sections could be sampled at the same time, but due to the storm, the local ecological institute needed all its (scarce) hands for other investigations and for repair of damages in survey sites. So they did simultaneously section 1 and 2, then section 3 and 4 and then section 5 and 6. Tom surveyed the pair numbers.

Fortunately, Tom found out that sections 2 and 4 showed comparable results. He knew the results of surveys from just before the storm, so the difference before and after was clear. And it became clear that recovery took more than a few hours before showing significant differences with the maximum damage situation. It was a relief, as no hurry was needed.

At noon, he entered section 6. Lena started section 5. At this pace, he realized, at least a second survey of all the sections could be carried out, and possibly even a third one before dark. But section 6 yielded a surprise. Instead of the wet, water soaked sands typical for the previous sections, these were dry, loose sands without any life form. Tom decided to shift his survey quarter slightly more seaward, but he obtained the same result. He decided to use the auger, in order to find out what was going on. He had to go back, around the protruding limestone cliff that separated sections 5 and 6, to get the auger form Lena. When he arrived, Lena herself was using it. She had done the same observation. They did not have to wait long. Soon she struck a hard surface. Concrete. They made a second hole. Concrete! And a third one! Concrete!
Tom suddenly realized something. During a previous stay, years ago, he had been warned not to enter certain beach sections, beyond section 6, as these were private property. Could it be..? He took the map and looked around. They were right, weren’t they? They had taken the last building, standing landward of section 2, as a reference point. And there, in the distance was the last building. And by the way, the entrance to the prohibited area had always been indicated by barbed wire running down from the cliff separating the beach sections. So, Tom was convinced they were right. He asked Lena’s opinion. She too was convinced they were on the right beach section. Anyway, they were finished here. They were in advance to their scheme now, so three surveys that day were still possible. Tom decided to return to section 6 and collect his remaining material, disgusted that concrete had also been poured over these beaches, which were public territory. Then they would return to sections 1 and 2 to start the next surveys.

As he returned to section five, he saw Lena waving to him. She apparently had climbed the cliff, and now she was returning, a little agitated. She showed him the map. From the cliff. She had seen the lighthouse, standing far right. The lighthouse, invisible from the beach, stood behind the actual section 6, the one they had erroneously sampled as section 4. Furthermore, she had seen a fence above the slope. They were definitely at the wrong place. They were on the private beaches. Worse, their observations had been offset two beach sections, and they had a delay now, because they would have to survey the real sections 1 and 2 as quickly as possible. A closer look on the map now revealed the cause of their mistake. The last building on the map was not anymore the last building standing. Some had been added since.
“I’am sorry, Tom, I did not notice.”
Tom knew that generally, Lena was good in map reading. But he knew too that even a good map reader could get confused by the actual field circumstances. He had made such mistakes too. They had been here before, but clearly, he could not rely solely on his memory. Anyway, he knew they had to leave the private sections as quickly as possible, before they would get into trouble.

But it was too late. Two terrain vehicles descended the ramp towards the beach. They split apart, cutting off Tom and Lena’s both exit ways.

(to be continued)
 
These scientists. So focused on their research, their specimens, oblivious to the intentions of the world around... until it's too late... so educated but in some ways so naive - and then, easy victims to collect ;) They are bound to make discoveries in a different discipline now...
 
NO TRESPASSING – AFTER THE STORM (2).

Gadolinium (Gd), Samarium (Sm), Niobium (Nb), Praseodynium (Pr), Lanthanium, (La)…Exotic names of chemical elements, havy metals, a long time hidden behind an apparently meaningless symbol, concealed in remote rows of the periodic table. New technologies changed it all. Economically valid deposits of these metals, so rare that their market price surpassed that of gold, had been discovered by ore prospectors of the Tilburne Mining & Concession Company Ltd, London (since 1845).

Tilburne greedily protected that treasure for its own profits. Tilburne practically had the monopoly and set the market prices for these metals. Many countries, industries and speculators, annoyed by this, closely scrutinized and spied on Tilburne, even by taking samples illegally. In order to protect its claim, and to avoid erosion of its concession, the company had simply covered entire beach sections with layers of concrete. But the seal could not be made entirely tight, otherwise, the cost of the seal would exceed the gain on the marginal five percent of ore that was still exposed. Tilburne meticulously dredged the sea bottom in order to recover as much as possible of these losses. But this margin of exposure attracted ‘free-lance’ ore diggers, and industrial spies, and the company therefore guarded its beaches well.

The site office of Tilburne was established in a seven story high building, although it was well integrated into the slope grading down towards the coast, thanks to the terrace-like construction. The main entrance level was at the landward side, on the top floor. The entrance hall was large and well decorated, with a magnificent view over the coast. Along the building ran a road downward to the lowest floor, towards the entrance for supplies, technical and survey patrol cars. There was an extra entrance gate at the third floor. Through this entrance, Tom and Lena were driven into the complex. Each of them was sitting in one of the terrain vehicles, naked (after having been ordered to strip on the beach), cuffed and blindfolded. So, they were brought into the third floor, in a corridor that was located deep inside the building, leading to cells without windows. They were each locked up in a separate cell.
After a long and uncomfortable night in a cell, Tome and Lena were interrogated separately for a long time. Then, only clad in a long shirt, they were brought to the company’s prosecutor. They were accused to have trespassed forbidden area. Probably, the barbed wire limiting the beach sections of Tilburne’s territory had been washed away by the storm, but that was no excuse, as the entrance restrictions were legally established in the country’s regulations. These regulations gave the company a full concession for the area, including delegation of legal (and penal) rights, as long as the company took up the costs of them.

Tilburne had the full authority to prosecute trespassers and people trying to steal ores or committing other crimes, within the territory of its concession and when the suspects were caught there. Tom and Lena were shown the official decree that transferred this power to the company. Ignorance was no reason to be exempted from prosecution.

For Tom and Lena, their case was bad, as they had been caught on concession territory, with material to take soil samples, and in the possession of soil samples from the concession area. Normally, trespassers were simply sent away after having paid a fine. But in their case it was either theft of company property, or industrial spying they were to be prosecuted for.

Tom and Lena requested a lawyer. They got one. Just to explain them that the company was right. He made them clear that they would be given the opportunity to accept a plea bargain. The company would charge them for trespassing, theft and espionage. If they would plead not guilty, they would be delivered to the country’s justice for all three charges. The point was, that the country considered the company’s interests as its own interests, and that the country’s justice considered the company’s allegations as a proof of guilt. And the country took industrial espionage as a serious crime. They risked a sentence of lifetime imprisonment, without chance for parole. In this country, a life sentence is a life sentence, the survival chances in prison averaging about five to ten years. If they pleaded guilty on two of the charges, the third one would be dropped, and the company would fix the sentence herself. The lawyer advised to plead guilty for trespassing and theft, two charges they had been caught in the act for. Then the company would drop espionage.

What could they get? By pleading guilty, they eventually could get away with a fine. The worst case was, that the company could keep them in custody as long as the fine was not paid. The company was entitled to do that. During their stay, they could be put at work. Cleaning offices or so, or lavatories. No heavy mining work. The very worst case, the lawyer made them clear, was that additionally, the company could give them a whipping. This meant, they would be stretched, belly down, on the ground or on a bench, and given at most ten lashes on their naked bodies. Ten strokes was the legally fixed maximum the company was allowed to give on a plea bargain. Lena shivered by the prospect, but she, and Tom knew that anything was better than risking life imprisonment. So they agreed to follow the advice of the lawyer and they would plead guilty when brought before the company judge.

But the next day, things did not go as expected. Neither for Tom, nor for Lena.

(to be continued)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
This Tilburne corporation sounds like an even darker twin of Glencore...
Loxuru said:
their case was bad, as they had been caught on concession territory, with material to take soil samples, and in the possession of soil samples from the concession area.
Click to expand...
Such innocent intentions but they've perfectly implicated themselves as guilty...they should have studied more closely how the world works outside of their ivory-tower scientific community... research in rogue states can be risky...
 
NO TRESPASSING – AFTER THE STORM (3).

“I am sorry, Tom!”
Tom was didn’t understand. Instead of what the lawyer had said, he and Lena were taken separately before the company judge. Lena went first. And when she came out, she was not alone. She came out together with three men. One of them, Tom recognized as Max, a scientist who got regularly dispatched to the ecological institute by his home university. But Max was not supposed to be here at the time. Lena and the three men were handcuffed and attached to a chain. Her eyes were nearly in tears, she was biting on her lower lip. She could hardly speak out the words of apology when she passed along Tom, and she clearly avoided to look him into the eyes.
Completely puzzled, Tom was brought before the judge. As advised by the lawyer, he pleaded guilty for the first two accusations. The third one, industrial spying, was dropped. The judge said some words, but Tom hardly noticed what he was saying. He was wondering all the time what had happened to Lena. And what was Max doing here?

The judge accepted the plea and convicted Tom to ten lashes and a fine. Then he told Tom what he was entitled to know. While he was working on the pair sections, Lena had been taking samples, but not only for their scientific projects however. Inevitably, the storm had also stirred sand from the sea bottom on the beaches. Storm waves throw sand and ore on the beach, but the backwash is too weak to carry the heavier ore with it, so its gets separated from the sand. It turned out that Lena had been taking samples in order to have them investigated on the precious metals. It had been Max who had asked her to do. Their ecological research on storm recovery of beach life was an ideal cover, and the circumstances, just after the storm, were perfect. Tilburne had storm damage to be repaired, the waves were too high to send out their patrol boats and the wind was blowing too hard to launch drones. For a short while, the beaches had remained unattended. Lena, while she was at work in the alleged section 5, had taken samples in the foreshore area and she had brought them to the edge of section 4, outside the forbidden area. There, she did hide them to have them picked up later by Max, who had just arrived the evening before without reporting to the institute, and who had intended to fly out again immediately. He would hide the ore samples between scientific samples and would have them shipped on his plane, using the customs credentials attributed to the ecological institute. Two employees of Tilburne were also involved. Employees were forbidden to have sampling material within the perimeter of Tilburne’s concession. So an external hand, apparently entering by accident, was needed. It had been a matter of minutes, but Tilburne’s security was alert, and had intervened just in time, when the samples were picked up. Lena’s presence, her material and her fingerprints on the sample containers were a sound proof against her.

The two other men in Lena’s coffle were the employees of Tilburne. They and Max had spied for an Asian competitor of Tilburne. Tom found out that, in fact, Lena had lured him. She had not made a mistake, she knew that more buildings had been erected along the coast, and that the last building of the row was now standing in front of section 4 instead of section 2. She had deliberately mislead him, abusing the confidence he had in her map reading capacities. And when the sampling had been finished, she had pretended that she had just then discovered that they were on the wrong beach. In fact she knew it all the time. Tom also learned that she had been promised 3000 dollars for handing over the samples. But instead of easy money, her acts would bring her hard times.

Because of the severity of their crimes, committed within the concession, Lena, Max and the two employees were denied a plea bargain. They had been condemned to death. The sentence would be carried out in a way to make an example.

Lena’s ordeal took place the next day. The condemned were brought from the main office building to a crossroad where all the main roads leading to mining sites came together. Ahead lay the mining area, the right road led to the refining plant, the left one to the maritime terminal. Tom had to witness it, sitting cuffed in a jeep. He saw how Lena and the three men were taken from a van, all linked together by a chain attached to their wrists. The event drew the attention of workers passing by, who stopped to watch the spectacle. Tom saw how Lena, wearing a short cotton dress, was detached from the chain, and like the others, ordered to strip naked. Then they were put on the ground near the road bifurcation, and, belly down, attached to wooden logs with their hands and feet. Stretched out like that, they were each given twenty lashes with the whip, ten for trespassing, ten for stealing company property. Tom saw how the two men from the company underwent the punishment rather stoic. Then, to his pleasure, he saw Max suffer and cry, begging to stop. In vain of course. Finally it was Lena’s turn. By every stroke, she shivered and shrieked. Her face was all tears and despair. But the ordeal went on, pitiless. At the end she did not stop shrieking and crying.

Tom wondered how he could stay so quiet seeing his wife and years long companion in science being punished so severely. He felt pity with her, but he had also a lot of resentment against her. That she could have done such a thing. He still could not believe it. He felt betrayed by her. Even more, Tom felt betrayed by Max, the man he had always considered an esteemed colleague. They had done research together. He had trusted him. Now it had turned out that he had just been a spy, who had drawn Lena into his vicious activities.

The convicts were detached from the logs. One by one, they were brought to the other side of the road. Meanwhile, more crowd had gathered. A truck and a dumper had stopped too, as the bifurcation was temporarily closed. Tom saw how, one by one, the condemned were nailed to a cross, first their wrists to the horizontal beam, then their ankles on the sides of the vertical beam. Then the crosses were put upright. The nailing caused an agonizing pain, the crying and hurling of the condemned was terrifying. But they raised no empathy among the onlookers. They watched the scene with pleasure and satisfaction. It did not bother them that two of them were former colleagues. They had potentially brought their jobs in danger. Of course the most popular attraction was the naked Lena, hanging with all her intimate female parts well exposed. But Tom did not bother her humiliation either. He saw her squirm on the cross, crying desperately for pity. But Tom only thought of what she had destroyed. Their common future as a successful couple and as successful, brilliant scientists. They were well underway, they had already gained much esteem. Their research was published in top scientific magazines. They could have reached the top.

He was still thinking of it, when he was led out of the car, to the bifurcation. He was thinking about it when he approached the crosses and saw her, hanging somewhat stabilized by a small sedile between her legs, moaning, crying, sweating, shivering. He was thinking of it when they stripped him and put him down on his belly and tied him to logs so that he laid stretched on the ground.

He heard her once more say, half weeping : “I’am sorry,Tom.” But he did not pay attention to her words. He was still contemplating it all when the first of his ten strokes hit his buttocks and he cried and shivered from the intense, pain it caused. And on every stroke, he cursed Lena and Max.

Lena would be left on the cross. She would stay there, together with the men, and slowly die. They had been sentenced to death. Tom would be tied to a post the other side of the road and stay there, naked, until sunset, facing the four condemned to the cross. Traffic on the roads resumed.

It was all over. Lena had ruined it all. She had ruined her own life, their cooperation and also his reputation. She, with Max, had ruined the reputation of the ecological institute, as neither the country nor the company would ever trust it again. Max had abused the privileges granted to the collaborators of the institute for entering and leaving the country, and for shipping scientific materials. A promising research project was ruined. She had ruined his reputation as a husband, because, Max’ reputation of a scientist was only equaled by his reputation as a womanizer, and while watching Lena and Max on their cross, it had become clear to Tom that they had made up their plan together between the sheets. She had ruined his social reputation, as everybody would know what had happened to them here. Anytime he would appear in front of students or of a scientific conference, his audience would imagine him being humiliated here, stripped of his clothes, whipped and tied to a post. Tom, would from now on be known as the scientist who was on the wrong beach. The scientist who did not know where he was. The scientist who had not verified the information he got from his treacherous wife. He could forget the lectureship he had aspired so profoundly.

So Tom did not bother the suffering of Lena, in front of him.

(to be continued)
 
NO TRESPASSING – AFTER THE STORM (4).
It was Lena’s second day on the cross. It was terrible. The sun burned without pity on her naked body. She was thirsty. Her thirst was even worse because of the dust thrown up by the tens of dumpers, trucks and other vehicles that had passed by. Dust had mixed with her sweat, aggravating the irritation of the sunburn all over her body. Dust was in her mouth and in her nose and felt like an unbreakable dry crust. Dust was I her eyes, irritating them constantly. Dust was in her hair, stiffened by dust mixed with dry sweat, causing terrible itch of her skull’s skin Dust clogged her ears. She could not speak anymore and she could hardly hear anymore. Until the morning, Max had talked to her, encouraged her. Now, they were both silent. They were silent all four. At first, she had been angry with Max, but she soon had realized that she could have refused his offer. She was here only because of her own greed.
One of the most terrible tortures during the first day had been the presence of Tom at the other side of the road. There had only been reproach in his looks.

The first year she knew Tom, she absolutely did not like him. She thought of him as a terrible selfish and complacent narcissist. He had clearly showed interest in her, and others had noticed that. But she had kept saying to the whole world that Tom would be the last man she would ever start a relation with. It was a bold statement she would be confronted with more than once, as things had gone differently.
Lena had convinced herself that Tom’s narcissism had just been a pose, as part of a survival strategy in the highly competitive scientific community, and that deep inside, he was different. And she had thought that she could bring up that difference, and shape the real Tom. For years, it seemed to work, as they were both as a couple and as scientists a brilliant team.

It had been Max who had confronted her with a reality, that her relationship with Tom had been fundamentally based on pragmatism, and that she and Tom needed each other merely to realize their own ambitions.
She received Max’ allegations about her relationship with Tom with suspicion, as she knew Max was likely trying to play her and Tom apart, just in order to satisfy his own sexual desires.
Nevertheless, Max had confused her deeply, when he had asked her “Someday, you and Tom will be applying and competing for the same academic position! What are you going to do then?”
She had not yet found an appropriate answer to that enigmatic question. She knew Max could be right, and that, when Tom would really unchain his ambitions, she would be no match for him! But meanwhile, Max had drawn her into his plans to take samples from the Tilburne beaches. It appeared he needed money to sustain his luxury lifestyle. Her part would bring some easy money for her. There was little risk when sampling would be done just after a storm, he had told her. And meanwhile there would be nothing wrong with a little bit undermining Tom’s self-confidence by making him sample the wrong beaches. It was mainly a game for her, secretly testing both Tom and Max. But she also had agreed to cooperate, because she knew that Max was one of the few persons who could provide counterweight in case it would come to a rivalry between Tom and her about a promotion. An ally like Max could be useful.

During the whole trial at Tikburne, she still had felt guilt towards Tom. But from her first hour on the cross, she had to endure Tom’s looks, piercing through her like another nail. He had said no word all the time. She knew he would not accept any more sorry. She knew, the old narcissist was back. He had never been away in fact. Tom clearly bothered only about himself! And his attitude had driven her straight to the support of Max on the cross next to her. It was a relief when Tom finally had been untied and brought away.

So, a long while, Max had talked her through the ordeal, until exhaustion had silenced him. As she moved her head, she saw him and the other naked men hang almost motionless. She had accepted them as her companions in agony. Still aware that she was naked and exposed (the tens of workers in the mine that had passed by, had reminded her every time), she did not bother her nudity anymore with respect to the men she was crucified with. They gave her a feeling of solidarity. Even some glance of comradeship, dying together, slowly, naked. During the moments when her pain was bearable, she had watched them, as she used to study animals, with a biologists eye. She had seen them suffering like her, squirming, writhing, moaning. She had seen them breaking down, and then recovering, getting hope and strength again. It was almost dying in beauty! Inversely, she had accepted their looks, aware that these men had still enough vitality to get aroused by her. She too had occasionally her vitality revived, but she did not bother these mutual exchanges of sensuality. She even took pleasure from it. After all it was all they had left in their common fate. But now, on the second day, that the men were almost motionless, she got bothered by other thoughts. She had to think about a long time ago.

A dumper passed by, one of these huge vehicles, with wheels almost as high as her cross, carrying another load of ore to the refinery plant. The dumper threw up a big cloud of orange-brown dust. It was so dense that she had difficulty to breathe. The dust settled, it dissolved, inevitably depositing another thin layer on her naked body. The cloud became pale brown, then grey brown and, as the blue of the sky appeared again, grey blue.

And once more, from the settling dust cloud, they merged. These black dots. Hundreds! Thousands it looked like! A horror!

Lena was thinking about the butterflies and other insects she had collected as a child, just to pin them on wooden boards. Her very first steps in discovering the science of biology. How proud she was of her collection! She had showed them to her family members, her parent’s friends and relatives, her own friends and classmates Over and over again. Now, she was pinned to a piece of wood, while thousands of insects were scrutinizing her, flying around or sitting on her body,. They came by numbers, bringing their friends and relatives with them, they were flying around her, with their annoying buzzing sound, they were siting and crawling on her naked body, constantly tickling her. Insects were all around, particularly on the body fluids she had released the last twenty-four hours. Then, the same monsters started to explore her body cavities, her dry mouth, her nose, her ears. Only a dust cloud from a vehicle passing by could chase them away temporarily, making them search for the sunlight. But once the cloud had settled, they returned, always by even larger numbers than before, as it looked like. They returned to her smelling, soiled, sweating body, devoid of the power to chase them away. Lena was a huge feast for them. With a pleasure, they enjoyed Lena’s slow agony.

Lena pinned to wood. To the pleasure of insects. How fate can turn!

THE END
 
Loxuru said:
NO TRESPASSING – AFTER THE STORM (4).
It was Lena’s second day on the cross. It was terrible. The sun burned without pity on her naked body. She was thirsty. Her thirst was even worse because of the dust thrown up by the tens of dumpers, trucks and other vehicles that had passed by. Dust had mixed with her sweat, aggravating the irritation of the sunburn all over her body. Dust was in her mouth and in her nose and felt like an unbreakable dry crust. Dust was I her eyes, irritating them constantly. Dust was in her hair, stiffened by dust mixed with dry sweat, causing terrible itch of her skull’s skin Dust clogged her ears. She could not speak anymore and she could hardly hear anymore. Until the morning, Max had talked to her, encouraged her. Now, they were both silent. They were silent all four. At first, she had been angry with Max, but she soon had realized that she could have refused his offer. She was here only because of her own greed.
One of the most terrible tortures during the first day had been the presence of Tom at the other side of the road. There had only been reproach in his looks.

The first year she knew Tom, she absolutely did not like him. She thought of him as a terrible selfish and complacent narcissist. He had clearly showed interest in her, and others had noticed that. But she had kept saying to the whole world that Tom would be the last man she would ever start a relation with. It was a bold statement she would be confronted with more than once, as things had gone differently.
Lena had convinced herself that Tom’s narcissism had just been a pose, as part of a survival strategy in the highly competitive scientific community, and that deep inside, he was different. And she had thought that she could bring up that difference, and shape the real Tom. For years, it seemed to work, as they were both as a couple and as scientists a brilliant team.

It had been Max who had confronted her with a reality, that her relationship with Tom had been fundamentally based on pragmatism, and that she and Tom needed each other merely to realize their own ambitions.
She received Max’ allegations about her relationship with Tom with suspicion, as she knew Max was likely trying to play her and Tom apart, just in order to satisfy his own sexual desires.
Nevertheless, Max had confused her deeply, when he had asked her “Someday, you and Tom will be applying and competing for the same academic position! What are you going to do then?”
She had not yet found an appropriate answer to that enigmatic question. She knew Max could be right, and that, when Tom would really unchain his ambitions, she would be no match for him! But meanwhile, Max had drawn her into his plans to take samples from the Tilburne beaches. It appeared he needed money to sustain his luxury lifestyle. Her part would bring some easy money for her. There was little risk when sampling would be done just after a storm, he had told her. And meanwhile there would be nothing wrong with a little bit undermining Tom’s self-confidence by making him sample the wrong beaches. It was mainly a game for her, secretly testing both Tom and Max. But she also had agreed to cooperate, because she knew that Max was one of the few persons who could provide counterweight in case it would come to a rivalry between Tom and her about a promotion. An ally like Max could be useful.

During the whole trial at Tikburne, she still had felt guilt towards Tom. But from her first hour on the cross, she had to endure Tom’s looks, piercing through her like another nail. He had said no word all the time. She knew he would not accept any more sorry. She knew, the old narcissist was back. He had never been away in fact. Tom clearly bothered only about himself! And his attitude had driven her straight to the support of Max on the cross next to her. It was a relief when Tom finally had been untied and brought away.

So, a long while, Max had talked her through the ordeal, until exhaustion had silenced him. As she moved her head, she saw him and the other naked men hang almost motionless. She had accepted them as her companions in agony. Still aware that she was naked and exposed (the tens of workers in the mine that had passed by, had reminded her every time), she did not bother her nudity anymore with respect to the men she was crucified with. They gave her a feeling of solidarity. Even some glance of comradeship, dying together, slowly, naked. During the moments when her pain was bearable, she had watched them, as she used to study animals, with a biologists eye. She had seen them suffering like her, squirming, writhing, moaning. She had seen them breaking down, and then recovering, getting hope and strength again. It was almost dying in beauty! Inversely, she had accepted their looks, aware that these men had still enough vitality to get aroused by her. She too had occasionally her vitality revived, but she did not bother these mutual exchanges of sensuality. She even took pleasure from it. After all it was all they had left in their common fate. But now, on the second day, that the men were almost motionless, she got bothered by other thoughts. She had to think about a long time ago.

A dumper passed by, one of these huge vehicles, with wheels almost as high as her cross, carrying another load of ore to the refinery plant. The dumper threw up a big cloud of orange-brown dust. It was so dense that she had difficulty to breathe. The dust settled, it dissolved, inevitably depositing another thin layer on her naked body. The cloud became pale brown, then grey brown and, as the blue of the sky appeared again, grey blue.

And once more, from the settling dust cloud, they merged. These black dots. Hundreds! Thousands it looked like! A horror!

Lena was thinking about the butterflies and other insects she had collected as a child, just to pin them on wooden boards. Her very first steps in discovering the science of biology. How proud she was of her collection! She had showed them to her family members, her parent’s friends and relatives, her own friends and classmates Over and over again. Now, she was pinned to a piece of wood, while thousands of insects were scrutinizing her, flying around or sitting on her body,. They came by numbers, bringing their friends and relatives with them, they were flying around her, with their annoying buzzing sound, they were siting and crawling on her naked body, constantly tickling her. Insects were all around, particularly on the body fluids she had released the last twenty-four hours. Then, the same monsters started to explore her body cavities, her dry mouth, her nose, her ears. Only a dust cloud from a vehicle passing by could chase them away temporarily, making them search for the sunlight. But once the cloud had settled, they returned, always by even larger numbers than before, as it looked like. They returned to her smelling, soiled, sweating body, devoid of the power to chase them away. Lena was a huge feast for them. With a pleasure, they enjoyed Lena’s slow agony.

Lena pinned to wood. To the pleasure of insects. How fate can turn!

THE END
Click to expand...

Memo to Tree... remember to check property lines and borders!!!
:beer:

Tree
 
Loxuru said:
NO TRESPASSING – AFTER THE STORM (4).
It was Lena’s second day on the cross. It was terrible. The sun burned without pity on her naked body. She was thirsty. Her thirst was even worse because of the dust thrown up by the tens of dumpers, trucks and other vehicles that had passed by. Dust had mixed with her sweat, aggravating the irritation of the sunburn all over her body. Dust was in her mouth and in her nose and felt like an unbreakable dry crust. Dust was I her eyes, irritating them constantly. Dust was in her hair, stiffened by dust mixed with dry sweat, causing terrible itch of her skull’s skin Dust clogged her ears. She could not speak anymore and she could hardly hear anymore. Until the morning, Max had talked to her, encouraged her. Now, they were both silent. They were silent all four. At first, she had been angry with Max, but she soon had realized that she could have refused his offer. She was here only because of her own greed.
One of the most terrible tortures during the first day had been the presence of Tom at the other side of the road. There had only been reproach in his looks.

The first year she knew Tom, she absolutely did not like him. She thought of him as a terrible selfish and complacent narcissist. He had clearly showed interest in her, and others had noticed that. But she had kept saying to the whole world that Tom would be the last man she would ever start a relation with. It was a bold statement she would be confronted with more than once, as things had gone differently.
Lena had convinced herself that Tom’s narcissism had just been a pose, as part of a survival strategy in the highly competitive scientific community, and that deep inside, he was different. And she had thought that she could bring up that difference, and shape the real Tom. For years, it seemed to work, as they were both as a couple and as scientists a brilliant team.

It had been Max who had confronted her with a reality, that her relationship with Tom had been fundamentally based on pragmatism, and that she and Tom needed each other merely to realize their own ambitions.
She received Max’ allegations about her relationship with Tom with suspicion, as she knew Max was likely trying to play her and Tom apart, just in order to satisfy his own sexual desires.
Nevertheless, Max had confused her deeply, when he had asked her “Someday, you and Tom will be applying and competing for the same academic position! What are you going to do then?”
She had not yet found an appropriate answer to that enigmatic question. She knew Max could be right, and that, when Tom would really unchain his ambitions, she would be no match for him! But meanwhile, Max had drawn her into his plans to take samples from the Tilburne beaches. It appeared he needed money to sustain his luxury lifestyle. Her part would bring some easy money for her. There was little risk when sampling would be done just after a storm, he had told her. And meanwhile there would be nothing wrong with a little bit undermining Tom’s self-confidence by making him sample the wrong beaches. It was mainly a game for her, secretly testing both Tom and Max. But she also had agreed to cooperate, because she knew that Max was one of the few persons who could provide counterweight in case it would come to a rivalry between Tom and her about a promotion. An ally like Max could be useful.

During the whole trial at Tikburne, she still had felt guilt towards Tom. But from her first hour on the cross, she had to endure Tom’s looks, piercing through her like another nail. He had said no word all the time. She knew he would not accept any more sorry. She knew, the old narcissist was back. He had never been away in fact. Tom clearly bothered only about himself! And his attitude had driven her straight to the support of Max on the cross next to her. It was a relief when Tom finally had been untied and brought away.

So, a long while, Max had talked her through the ordeal, until exhaustion had silenced him. As she moved her head, she saw him and the other naked men hang almost motionless. She had accepted them as her companions in agony. Still aware that she was naked and exposed (the tens of workers in the mine that had passed by, had reminded her every time), she did not bother her nudity anymore with respect to the men she was crucified with. They gave her a feeling of solidarity. Even some glance of comradeship, dying together, slowly, naked. During the moments when her pain was bearable, she had watched them, as she used to study animals, with a biologists eye. She had seen them suffering like her, squirming, writhing, moaning. She had seen them breaking down, and then recovering, getting hope and strength again. It was almost dying in beauty! Inversely, she had accepted their looks, aware that these men had still enough vitality to get aroused by her. She too had occasionally her vitality revived, but she did not bother these mutual exchanges of sensuality. She even took pleasure from it. After all it was all they had left in their common fate. But now, on the second day, that the men were almost motionless, she got bothered by other thoughts. She had to think about a long time ago.

A dumper passed by, one of these huge vehicles, with wheels almost as high as her cross, carrying another load of ore to the refinery plant. The dumper threw up a big cloud of orange-brown dust. It was so dense that she had difficulty to breathe. The dust settled, it dissolved, inevitably depositing another thin layer on her naked body. The cloud became pale brown, then grey brown and, as the blue of the sky appeared again, grey blue.

And once more, from the settling dust cloud, they merged. These black dots. Hundreds! Thousands it looked like! A horror!

Lena was thinking about the butterflies and other insects she had collected as a child, just to pin them on wooden boards. Her very first steps in discovering the science of biology. How proud she was of her collection! She had showed them to her family members, her parent’s friends and relatives, her own friends and classmates Over and over again. Now, she was pinned to a piece of wood, while thousands of insects were scrutinizing her, flying around or sitting on her body,. They came by numbers, bringing their friends and relatives with them, they were flying around her, with their annoying buzzing sound, they were siting and crawling on her naked body, constantly tickling her. Insects were all around, particularly on the body fluids she had released the last twenty-four hours. Then, the same monsters started to explore her body cavities, her dry mouth, her nose, her ears. Only a dust cloud from a vehicle passing by could chase them away temporarily, making them search for the sunlight. But once the cloud had settled, they returned, always by even larger numbers than before, as it looked like. They returned to her smelling, soiled, sweating body, devoid of the power to chase them away. Lena was a huge feast for them. With a pleasure, they enjoyed Lena’s slow agony.

Lena pinned to wood. To the pleasure of insects. How fate can turn!

THE END
Click to expand...
No Trespassing - After The Storm - Loxuru.jpg
 
Loxuru said:
confronted her with a reality, that her relationship with Tom had been fundamentally based on pragmatism, and that she and Tom needed each other merely to realize their own ambitions
Click to expand...
"Beziehung mit Sollbruchstelle" ;) - a relationship with a predetermined breaking point...
 
malins said:
It seems Tom is able to let go of Lena surprisingly easy. Estrangement must have crept ever deeper into the daily life routine of the scientist couple for some time. Now did that division begin before, or after Lena and Max made up their plan between the sheets...?
Click to expand...
You have the intuition for what is about to come!:)
 
“You have trespassed city property! We need a compensation for that!”
“I am not interested to discuss the city’s spatial planning policy here!”
Suppose there would be burglars hiding in the house?
“You’ve never paid a penny of tax in your whole life yet!”
“Do you know what a ticket for the dance festival costs?” “Find yourself a job, then you could buy one!”
“This is a public space!”
“You are not going anywhere!”
“Officer! They are threatening me! They want to rob me!”
“We do not want these things happening in our city!”

Eighteen people that don’t get home. Could this pass unnoticed?
“Kevin, stop those silly games, will you!?”
“It is for your own good! Suppose drug addicts would ransack your car while you are away!”
“I never offered them money for sexual favors!”
These men used to talk about money, about gains and profits. Their body language talked winning. But they had themselves get abducted, stripped and tied by a bunch of loafers!?
“Get out of my house!”

The white walls of the room became alive, with a halo of bright colors that flickered constantly, as if millions of colored ants were crawling on it.

“So, what? They got free access in exchange!?”

Protective assertiveness? Rather call it self-indulgence!

Rainstorm! Thunder! Lightning! A wet soaked cross planted into the ground! She was nailed to a huge lightning rod!
“How birds were picking on them and they had no more strength to chase them! And at night, those torches in front of the crosses. Absolutely creepily scary!”
Clearly you can’t even trust the police anymore!!

**********

Coming soon: No Trespassing : VIA APPIA.
 
NO TRESPASSING – VIA APPIA (1).

Another working day was over. I had stepped out of the 17:34 train and climbed the stairs leading from the platform to the footbridge over the tracks. It had been one of these typical summer days at work. Holiday time. Only one in three of the staff was present. Empty corridors, empty offices, empty desks. Easy and quiet working. Fortunately, it had not been too warm. Just for the last three quarters, when the late afternoon sun had started shining into my office, I felt it was time to go home.

I had made the train ride with Ellen. About 46 years old, she had a senior human resources position in a communications enterprise. Usually, I accompanied her to the parking, as she did not like to go into that wide open space alone, particularly during dark winter days. Today, she had something else to do. Ellen had a living apart relationship, and lived in an apartment alone. Recently, she had bought a house, for putting it for rent. It needed some refurbishment first. She wanted to look for a contractor, but she waited until the end of the holidays. Meanwhile, she regularly went to inspect her house before driving home.

With some regret, I saw her go the other way. I had liked to accompany her to her car. I even had proposed her already to give her a second opinion about the works she had planned in her house, hoping she would ask me to have a look there. But I know, she is in a relationship, she often tells me about him. But sometimes, I notice doubts in her voice, in her words, about the future of that relationship. Is it wishful thinking of me, or is she throwing a thin line to me? Whatever, now it was back to daily routine at home.

Like many railway stations located at the edge of the town, the area behind it was once occupied by factories of all kind. That was a long time ago, during the rail age. They all had gone, and what was left was an open space, badly managed from the viewpoint of spatial planning. But it offered abundant and free parking space, which was particularly used by commuters. From the footbridge, I could oversee the area well. It was nearly empty. In the distance, I could see a few people, who had taken the tunnel under the tracks on the way to their cars. On the other side of the parking stood the remnants of the last factory remaining in the area. A 1960’s industrial hall, once belonging to a metal construction enterprise. It had been abandoned since about ten years ago. Now, it became slightly hidden by years of spontaneous growth of bushes and small trees.

Near the base of the stairs, I saw a group of youngsters that was always dwelling around here. They were always three or four. Two girls and two boys, all about 18 years old. Just normal kids of that age, it appeared to me. One girl had pale, curly blond hair, the other one straight black hair. The blonde always wore a jeans and some kind of a top, usually in pale colours like pink. The other one was also mostly in jeans, but she dressed darker. Jeans seemed to be their common dress, as the boys mostly wore one too. For some reason, these two boys appeared to be two brothers. Apparently born within a year. They just looked normal, skinny, guys. No long hair, or tattoos, or gothic or stuff like that. Neither did I ever had seen them smoking.

Any time I had encountered them on my way to the parking, they were very ignorant regarding to the people passing by. They did not seem to notice the people passing by. They were always busy with each other, talking or walking. Although they were always together, they never revealed any sign that they were two couples. It rather looked as they were merely chasing away holiday boredom.

Again, they were ignorantly sitting on the steps and talking. The girls and one of the boys. As I approached, they stood up and starting walking. I had descended the stairs and entered the parking space. I figured out if I would better sit in the back of the train, as it would bring me closer to the tunnel and to the place I used to put my car. But the front carriages of the train were usually less crowded. So, if Ellen did not accompany me, I could get a window seat, where, leaning with my head against the inner wall of the train, I could sleep a while during the ride. It cost me a longer walk to my car, but I did not bother.
“Sir!?”
I heard a voice of a girl behind me.
“Sir, can we ask you something?”
They stood behind me.
“Yes, what is the problem?”
“Are you from here, Sir?”
“No, I am not, I ‘ll take my car to get home.”
“Do you know who owns this space, Sir?”
“No, I don’t. As it is offered as a public parking, I guess the owner allows it?”
“The city owns this space, Sir!”
“Oh really, then why do you ask?”
“As a non-inhabitant, and hence no taxpayer of this city, you are trespassing private property, Sir!”
“Don’t be ridiculous, it is offered as a public parking, so it does not matter.”
“For us, as citizens of this town, it does Sir!”
The situation started annoying me. I knew there was a lot of discussion going in on in the city, about the use of this abandoned space. Some people referred to it as ‘the shame of the city’, or ‘a spatial cancer’. They wanted to have it urbanized properly, developed for housing shops and offices. They wanted the old buildings and the parking away. They were annoyed that space was offered for people foreign to the city, to allow them to take the train, without benefits for the city, while parking space in the city was scarce and often expensively paying.
“Come on, be serious! Did all of you ever pay one penny of tax already in your life?”
“Our parents do, Sir, and the pennies they pay to offer space like this to people foreign to the city, cannot be used by them for other purposes!”
“Listen, I am not going to discuss the city’s policy on spatial development, all right? I just put my car here to take the train, because I am allowed to do so. If you want to have it otherwise, then you, or your parents, should address your mayor!”
“Good, Sir, By the way, do you like dance festivals, Sir?”
“Actually not, thank you. I don’t like to go to such crowded events.”
“We do, Sir!”
“So, what?”
“Tickets for such festivals are expensive, Sir. We cannot afford it. Our parents can’t because they have to pay tax to keep up your parking space! Could you please provide us a little, please? Twenty to forty euros, Sir, as a compensation for the use of this public space, and we forget about the trespassing?”
“Oh, now I understand, you are just robbing me, or racketing? Come on, leave me alone and go away, before I call the police.”
“We don’t want to rob you, Sir, we just ask some financial support. As a compensation for the free use of city owned parking space.”
“I am sorry, people, if you need money for a festival, don’t hang around here, just find some work! There are plenty of temporary jobs during holiday. But it is not my problem! I am going! Goodbye! And leave me alone, please!?”
I turned around to go away, but my way was blocked, by the second boy, who must have approached me from my back without I noticed. And he had a small revolver pointed on me.
“Follow me, Sir! This is not a toy! This thing is loaded!”
He had completely surprised me by drawing a gun. On the first sight, it looked ridiculous, that kid threatening me like that. The trouble was, that the gun did not look like a toy. It looked at least as if it could be real. It had no blank stop or red cap on its muzzle, and its caliber looked too large for an air gun. I considered to ignore the gun and walk. But could I take the risk? In that deserted open space, no one would hear the shot, and the ramp to the footbridge was hiding the scene from the view from the station.
“Do not try to run, Sir! No one would notice if I would shoot!”
He made me hesitate…

“What is going on here!?”
Above the stairs to the footbridge stood two police officers, a man and a woman.
“These guys wanted to…”
“I see, Sir! Kevin! We told you a thousand times to stop these silly games frightening bypassers. Someday, someone will make a formal complaint against you folks!”
“OK, OK!” the guy with the gun said and he put the weapon into his pocket.
“It is all right Sir, you can go now, it is safe! We will give these youngsters a reprimand!”
“Officer, they just pointed a gun at me! They wanted money from me! Are you leaving it like that?”
“Show me that gun, Kevin! You see, Sir, the barrel is plugged! They were just fooling you!”
“Just fooling!? I consider this as a serious threat, plugged or not!”
“Calm down, Sir, please! If you wish, you can always settle things in our patrol car! You can make a statement about what happened here. Then you still could consider filing a formal complaint within seven days, if you want. But just think about it! If necessary, come to talk about it first at the police station.”
“I think I am at least entitled to make a formal statement! And I strongly suggest you take the identity of these youngsters too!”
“No problem, Sir, follow us to our car.”

Their car had been parked next to the abandoned factory building. As the officer explained to me, they patrolled regularly near the parking, in order to prevent drug addicts using the abandoned factory building. So far, they assured me, there were no problems about that, but the city council preferred preemptive security measures, in order to keep the area behind the station safe. The youngsters on the other hand, he emphasized were rather an insignificant problem of holiday bore-out. But he understood they could behave disturbingly.

I figured I could do nothing than following them. I looked around, but I was alone with those people, on the huge, deserted parking space. I immediately could see that no one was close enough to see what was going on. There were some people on the station platforms far away, but they were too far and they were likely unable to perceive what was going on here.

We approached the old factory hall. Behind the bushes stood a police car. We went through a gap in the bushes around the building. Just before reaching the police car, we went along an iron door.
“Get inside!”

(to be continued)
 
NO TRESPASSING – VIA APPIA (2).

The huge empty hall of the abandoned factory must have been at least ten meters high. Light was pouring in from the ceiling and from rusty brown coated matte windows high above the floor. One boy closed the door, while the police officers brought me to the middle of the hall.
“Underway, I thought about something!” the female officer said.
“Well?” the female officer then asked the girls.
“He is one of them!” the first girl said.
“Yes, he is one of them!” said the other girl.
“One of whom?” I asked.
The male officer addressed to me:
“Now listen! We have a problem around here about elderly men offering money to have sex with those girls! Even though they are eighteen, that is illegal! In case you would try once more, you risk to be charged as a sexual offender! Is that clear?”
“This is ridiculous! I never offered anyone money for sex!”
“They just stated you did! That is enough for me!” he said.
“That is a false accusation!”
“Do not make it worse for yourself, Sir!”
“But, officer, I never…!”
“Silence! The acts of these youngsters, holding you, were justified as a citizen’s arrest!”
“Citizen’s arrest? What…?”
“According to regulations, they have got the right to search you! If they will find anything that may incriminate you, then you will have to answer some questions!”
“I protest! hat is illegal!”
“We are the law here, Sir! We decide what is legal or not!”
“You will hear from this! I will complain to your superiors!!”
“Do as you wish, Sir! But it is you, who is in trouble here! Carry on, Kevin! And I warn you Sir, do not try anything, our guns are loaded!”
I realized that I was in some trouble now. I got confused between the police offers, imposing themselves as the law, and the fact that something was wrong here. I considered just to walk away…
“Stop! Put down your wallet!” said one of the boys.
I put it down.
“Hands in the air! Step forward. Halt!”
Behind me, the girls opened my wallet and emptied it.
“Nothing special in here!”
“Search him!”
The girls started searching my pockets. They reported anything they found. A mobile phone, my wallet, my train card, my keys, four euro and seventy-three cents.
“There is only five euro in the wallet!” The boy named Kevin addressed me.
“Is that all you have?”
“I never told you I had twenty or thirty euros! Let alone more money to offer for sex as you accused me for!”
“Here is a bank card!”
This is it, I thought, they will try to get my pin code from me.
“Any identification?”
“Here, an identity card : Mister Humblebum, fifty years old!”
“Switch off that mobile phone and put it with all the stuff in his wallet. Just keep the money apart!”
I heard them busy for a while, behind me. I still wondered what they were up to. Anyway, all the time it went through my head ‘I am being robbed’. I was just being robbed. By some gang of youngsters, aided by two accomplices disguised as police officers. The unbelievable had become real. I had always been so self-confident that being robbed would never happen to me, as I considered my personality as too assertive, to appear as a potential victim for robbery. But now, it happened anyway. Still, I considered the situation of talking myself out. If they would do something to me, they would be the first suspects. So many people must have seen them already, sitting there near the stairs. They could never get away with it.

Then the girls approached me. They took my cardigan off. Then they opened the buttons of by shirt and took it off too. Then they pulled of my undershirt.
“What are you doing!?”
“Shut up, old man, they are stripping you! Don’t you notice! Arrest procedure!” the female officer shouted!
“But…”
“Shut up, I said!”
Meanwhile, they had untied the laces of my shoes.
“Step out!” While I stepped out, they took of my socks too. Then they opened my trousers.
‘Old man!’ That was it! In their eyes I was old! In their eyes I had lost my protective assertiveness. In their eyes, I had been an easy target!
“Step out!” In their eyes, I was an easy target to rob and to strip! The girls took down my underwear and I stood stark naked, in the middle of this hall, scrutinized by six strangers, clearly satisfied about how they got me. Protective assertiveness? Forget it!
“Put all his stuff in the box there! We’ll take care of it!”.
One of them put away my possessions. I started wondering again. Fears came up to me. Were they going to torture me to obtain my pin codes? They had my bank card and my mobile. They had the keys of my car and of my home. They knew where I lived.
“Hands behind your back!”
They put a belt around my waist, tied my wrists together and attached the rope to the belt. Then they additionally secured my upper arms around my chest.
“What are you…?” I noticed my own voice sounded more and more unsure.
“Shut up!” Then they but a ball gag in my mouth and secured it around my neck.
“Move!”
My situation started to appear more and more perilous. I wondered what they were up to. Torture me for my pin codes? Worse? They brought me to the side of the hall. We went through a double door, apparently once the worker’s entry. Then we went just to the right, through another, largely worn out, double door into what had been the dressing room of the workers. Behind it was the former shower room, a space of about ten by five meters. And there, waited another surprise.

On the shower floor, which was, like the walls, remarkably clean, sat two rows, of naked people, tightly tied and gagged just like me.
“Here is a new friend!”
They pushed me between the rows and put me down at the end of a row. Like the other captives, my ankles were securely tied, with an extra restraint just above my knees. Then, they went on and barred the door.

I looked around. The old shower room was slightly lit through some high matte windows. All these naked people, tied and gagged, what were they doing here? I tried to observe them, making at least eye contact. Some of them looked at me, with that strange facial expression of a mouth kept forcedly open by a gag, and with both wonder and fear in their eyes. Through our looks we asked questions no one heard and no one could answer. One thing was sure. They all had been abducted on the parking area by these four kids, and this was not an ordinary robbery, as far as a robbery could be ordinary, by the way. Including me, I counted fifteen people. Mostly men, but there were also three women among the prisoners, all of about my age. No really young people. Several of them, I recognized from having seen them on the train before.

There was a remarkable silence in the room. Only some breathing and an occasional grunting or sobbing was heard. Curiously. I had seen or heard some of these men talking on the train. They had banking or insurance jobs. They took the train dressed in suits. They used to talk about money, about gains and profits. Their body language talked winning. But they had themselves abducted, stripped and tied just like that!? They got themselves lured, the same way as I had been lured. By a cunning combination of a play of juvenile innocence and imposing police credibility? Unbelievable, seeing these people sitting naked and tied, silently contemplating what happened to them, and anxiously looking forward to what more could happen after this.. Protective assertiveness? Rather call it worn-out self-indulgence!
(to be continued)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom