[TheMFile]

Hi all -

Well, I've been working on this story for a while now, and as of yet I hadn't shared it with anyone. I'd like to put it out there for some feedback and input, so here goes. By the way, those of you expecting a non-stop, balls-to-the-wall sex story might be just a little disappointed - but I hope you'll give it a shot anyway.

Anyway - here goes!

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Chapter 1



*Beep, beep, beepbee. . . *

My hand slams down ontop of the alarm clock sitting on the nightstand next to me - the luminescentgreen lines working their way through my blurred vision to reveal the hour.

5:30 am.

I groan somethingincoherent and settle back into my pillow - relishing the next 9 minutes ofsleep that I'll get. In the bed next tome, my wife wiggles and throws her arm around my shoulders. It doesn't take long for me to return to theland of the dreamers.

*Beep, beep, be*

I'm faster on thedraw this time - reaching over and shutting the alarm off for good. I blink rapidly and rub my eyes in an attemptto clear out the cobwebs of sleep that still linger in my vision. After several minutes, I decide that, for thesake of my job, I should get out of bed and get ready.

I toss my legs offthe side of the bed and slide into my slippers while retrieving my navy bluerobe from its place on the bedpost. As Ishuffle toward the shower, I glance at my wife - still blissfully snuggled deepin our bed - her chestnut hair falling across her face in the most adorableways. A smile breaks my lips, and Icontinue to stagger off towards the bathroom.

Midway through mymorning shower, the hot water goes out. "Fantastic . . .", I mutteras I turn off the water and proceed to dry myself with an equally coldtowel. I don my robe once again and headdownstairs to the kitchen to see about breakfast.

I'm halfway throughcooking up a massive cheese, tomato, and mushroom omelette when the stairsabove me start to creak. I reach intothe cupboards and pull out silverware and plates - somehow finding time tostart the morning pot of coffee as well.

"Gooood morning,my love", my wife purrs into my ear as she sneaks up on me from behind andwraps her arms around my waist. I turnaround and kiss her lightly on the lips - "Good morning yourself. Have a seat - breakfast is almostready." She sits down on one of thechairs surrounding our table and hugs her knees to her chest. I find myself staring at her (something thathappens quite often) as I finish cooking our omelettes.

I've often wonderedjust exactly what it is that makes people beautiful. Is it symmetry of features? A particular feature itself? A combination of many things - tangible andelusive? Whatever the true answer is, mywife had it all. Long wavy brown hairthat stretched well past her shoulders, and green eyes that caught the lightand sparkled and danced with a hidden song. As far as the rest of her body goes, well - a man couldn't find a moreperfect figure if he looked for it.

"Hellloooo,earth to my husband!" I snapped outof my stare with a start, feeling a lot like a schoolboy that had been caughtstaring at his hot teacher. A smile playedat the edges of my wife's mouth as she waved and adjusted the dark green robethat draped her form. A sheepish grinsnuck across my face as I scooped out our omelettes and brought them to thetable.

We turned on the TVas we ate - watching the news about a mega retail chain going out of business,some German scientist claiming he had invented a time travel device, and thelatest political scandal involving big drug shipments across the Mexicanborder.

As I was pouringmyself a second cup of coffee, I felt my wife's toes rubbing against myleg. This was nothing new - we werequite the affectionate couple, and enjoyed playing 'footsie' no matter where wewere. Her feet massaged mine and weinterlocked toes - laughing at each other when we couldn't get themunstuck. Then, however, her feet startedmoving up - rubbing up and down against my calf, then higher, to the top of myknee.

I glanced over at herto see if she would visibly admit to what she was doing, but she continued eatingthe remains of her food - watching the TV casually as though nothing washappening under the surface of the table. And still her toes continued to climb - crawling their way up the top ofmy thigh and ever so smoothly rubbing me on the inside of my legs. It was about this time that I realized myrobe offered absolutely nothing in the way of resistance to my growingerection, and I realized that my wife knew it to.

My face flushed as Ifelt her toes graze the underside of my shaft - the tips ever so gently movingup and down like a feather's touch. Herfeet came together at the base of my hardness and rubbed my balls gently inbetween them. I looked at my wife againas her foot pressed firmly on my penis and pinned it against my stomach. She was no longer watching the TV - juststaring at me with a lusty, mischevious look in her eyes. Her robe had fallen open and was resting justover the tops of her breasts - covering the nipples, but exposing the soft, creamyvalley in between.

Her big toe crestedthe head of my cock and circled around it - collecting the pre-cum that hadoozed its way from the tip. Slowly, shedragged the slickened toe down my shaft - massaging in little circles the arearight below the tip on the underside. Igasped out loud at the pangs of pleasure that shot through me as her feetcontinued to work their magic. Glancingat her across the table, I watched as she slipped a finger into her mouth andsucked it gently before releasing it and moving it on a slow path down her neck,between her breasts, and out of sight under the table.

Her breath caughtwith a gasp, and the pressure her feet applied to my cock increased as herfingers found their mark. Her feet weremoving faster now - one pinning the top of my hardness to my stomach while theother slid up and down its length. Herfree hand moved quickly to her chest, and I gazed as her fingers slidunderneath the side of her robe and clutched at her breast. Slowly, the robe began to slide down hershoulders as her body wiggled and squirmed with pleasure. Soon, her entire breast was uncovered and Iwatched as my wife tweaked and pulled at her nipples - the buds hardening withevery machination of her hands.

My cock was nowleaking copious amounts of pre-cum, which only served to further lubricate thesliding motion of her silken foot as it moved faster and faster up and down mylength. I could feel the beginnings ofan orgasm welling up within me, and knew it wouldn't be long before I came. My wife, knowing the look on my face andhearing the pace of my breathing increase, threw herself into a frenzy - bothfeet sliding furiously up and down my penis as her hand beneath the tablerubbed harder and faster on her place of need.

As the first pulse ofcum shot out from my cock, her feet slid to the top and clamped me hard betweenthem - the silky ropes of cum pulsing their way out and onto the soles of herfeet - which continued to rub the tip in a maddeningly pleasurablefashion. My wife cried out and archedher back against the chair as she reached her own climax. Her body stiffened for what seemed like ages- her breasts jutting into the air as the waves of her orgasm washed throughher body.

Slowly, her feetrelaxed as the last throbs of my orgasm faded into nothingness. Her body slowly slumped into the chair to thepoint where it seemed she would slide right out. My breath struggled to return to normal, andI felt as though the flush on my cheeks would never go away. I leaned forward and rested my head on thetable as the room slowly stopped spinning.

When I opened myeyes, my watch was the first thing I saw.

"Holy . . . it's6:45!"

I jumped up from mychair, collecting my robe about me and bounding upstairs to clean up and getdressed. My wife giggled and shouted afterme, "You don't want to be late - today of all days!"

I knew she wasright. Today was going to be somethingelse indeed. A day that I would neverforget - and the fun hadn't even started yet.

Ok - it's doing a weird thing with the spacing of some of my words, and I really don't feel like going through and changing them all after I copy/paste. Anyone know a fix for that?

On with Chapter 2.

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Chapter 2



I pulled into myparking space at work a few minutes before 8:00. Straightening my tie in the rear-view mirror,I saw the massive glass and steel building in front of me rise into the sky. Grabbing my coffee and briefcase, I left mycar and strode inside - taking the elevator and ascending to the 54th floor.

'Etherton Science andDevelopment' was one of the world's leading technology research and developmentfirms. They were the masterminds of somethe most groundbreaking technology of the past that was now taken forgranted. Laser disc players, theprinciples of cellular wavelengths, and some leading military and medicalequipment could be directly attributed to the work done at Etherton.

Leaving the elevatoron my floor, I walked through the glass doors into the Experimental Developmentwing of Etherton's R&D branch. Ourreceptionist, a curmudgeonly old lady named Mrs. Harvel peered up at me throughher half-rimmed glasses. "Mr.Malloy, your wife called for you. Youleft your wallet at home, but she said she'd bring it here for youshortly." Sigh.

"All right,Maylene, thank you. When she gets here,just send her to my office.", I responded. I had noticed the feeling of forgetting something on the drive to work,but I chalked it up to the excitement about what was going on in my officetoday. Today, we here at Etherton werepoised to make history yet again. And I,Thomas Malloy, VP of Experimental Development, was going to see it all happen.

I spent the firsthour of the morning responding to various emails and conducting meetings withvarious members of my staff to make sure all our responsibilities were takencare of and correct preparations were made. I had reached a brief lull in the action when my phone rang. "Mr. Malloy, your wife just arrived - Isent her to your office."

Sure enough, a rap atmy door sounded just seconds later. Mywife's face peeked through the crack in the door - her bright smile lifting myspirits and washing my cares away. "Heyhun - you forgot something this morning . . ." she giggled as she tossedme my black leather wallet. Catching andstowing it away in my jacket pocket, I watched as she stepped inside - noticingher somewhat strange attire. She had aknee-length trench coat on, and calf-high black women's boots. Which might not be so strange, if it weren't70 and sunny outside.

"Uhhh . . .whythe coat, darling?" Iquestioned. "Ohhhh, you know . ..", she replied, "I just thought I'd bring you a little surprise tomake your day better." As shespoke, she undid the belt around the middle of her coat, allowing it to fallopen just a little. I'm not sure why Iwas so surprised, but my mouth fell open at the sight that greeted me. Under the coat, she wore . . . nothing. Absolutely nothing. I was granted a view of her naked form infront of me from collarbone to just below her bellybutton - where she held thecoat together, teasing me. I gulped asshe coyly sauntered over to my desk and perched on the veneer surface rightnext to me.

"I take it youdon't mind too much.", she said, as she grabbed my shaking hand from mychair arm and guided it to the silky smooth flesh of her leg, just inside thecalf. I chuckled and shook my head asher hand continued to shift mine slowly upwards, underneath the cover of thecoat - my fingers moving in slight circles as I felt the heat of her thighsupon them. Ever so slowly my fingerscontinued to creep up the inside of her legs - sensing the excitement thatradiated just inches away from them.

A sharp inhalation ofbreath sounded above me as I felt my fingers graze against the moist lips of mywife's pussy. I gently traced the tipsof my fingers up and down the aroused slit - feeling the wetness grow upon themas they traveled. My hand lingered atthe top of her mound, massaging gently in circles and feeling the nub of herclitoris grow firm underneath my touch. Slowly rubbing from side to side, I pinched and pulled gently as mywife's breathing intensified and her groin started arching firmer into myhands. Knowing what she desired, I slidmy fingers down slowly until they were positioned for me to--

*BANG BANG*

The sharp knocks onmy door startled me, making me jump slightly. My wife's eyes sprang open in shock, and she quickly refastened her coatbefore realizing that the arousal on her face and the smell in the air wasunmistakeable. "I have tohide!" she whispered fiercely, and, without warning, pushed my chair awayfrom my desk and crawled into the space below the middle drawer - where mychair could slide underneath the desk. Irealized it was futile to argue with her at this point, so I quickly slid backinto place and tried to look as normal as possible.

"Comein!" I yelled toward the door, moreout of anger than anything. The dooropened, and my lead technical advisor for today's project, Harlan Childs,strode in with a stack of printouts in his hand and a worried look on his face.

"Boss! We've got to look at these numbers - theyjust aren't matching up!! I don't haveto tell you how important it is that these are right, Sir, but - I think Lennythe temp jacked these things up good! Look at these and tell me what you think." Harlan dumped a stack of papers filled withequations and theorems on my desk and sat down in the chair across from me, cradlinghis head in his hands.

About midway throughthe first page, I felt a pair of hands slowly moving up my legs. 'Oh nooo . ..' I thought, as I felt my wife's talented hands rubbing the tops of my thighsand slowly moving towards my belt. Ofcourse, I was still quite aroused from the excitement of minutes before, sothere was little I could do to resist her scheme. I struggled to continue looking nonplussed asI felt my belt come undone and the zipper of my pants slowly pulled down. I grabbed a highlighter and started markingpages furiously - attempting to seem captivated by what I was doing and notwhat I knew was about to happen under my desk.

I held my breath as aslender hand reached inside my pants and grasped my rock-hard erection -fishing it slowly through my boxers and through the fly of my pants until itwas completely uncovered. I swallowedhard and coughed nervously - erasing some gibberish I had scribbled on thelayout in front of me as I felt the wet, silky tip of my wife's tongue slowlylick me from the base of my shaft to the very tip.

"Do you see someof the problems I noted, there, Boss?" Harlan questioned, looking up atme. "Uh . . . yeah . . . you should. . . uhm . . . take these back to Lenny and make sure he corrects the . . uh .. . problems." I stammered as mywife slipped my cock completely inside her mouth - her tongue moving in circlesaround my length like a whirlpool of warmth. I heard Harlan rambling on about 'the incompetence of temps nowadays',but all I could muster was an intense stare at the pages in front of me as Itried not to focus on the pleasure that was shooting up and down my body as mywife continued to massage my stiffened length with her pursed lips.

She took mecompletely in her mouth again and started bobbing up and down - slowly atfirst, then faster with each stroke. Hertongue rubbed up and down along the underside of my shaft as she did, making mylegs stiffen and breathing become harder. Harlan continued to ramble on, even as I piled up the stack of papersand literally threw them at him. Hestood up, finally making as if to leave, which made my wife only increase thefervor of her mouth. She seemeddetermined to make me come before Harlan left - which I was doing my best tomake sure did not come to pass. Shecontinued furiously bobbing her mouth up and down on my cock, and reached up togather my balls in her hands as Harlan finally stepped out and closed the doorbehind him. And just in time.

My wife's mouthclosed tightly around the head of my penis and she sucked vigorously as thefirst pulse of cum shot out. Her fingerssqueezed my balls tightly as my cock continued to jump and pulse in hermouth. I cried out - grasping the edgesof my desk with both hands, squeezing until I thought my knuckles mightcrack. The warmth of her mouth continuedto milk me dry as I melted into my chair - feeling all tension leave my bodyuntil I was a quivering mass of flesh.

I peeked under thedesk and saw my wife's eyes sparkling as they looked up at me with amischeivious glint. "I'msooooory," she cooed. "I wasjust so bored under here - I had to have something to do!" I couldn't wipe the smile off my face as sheslowly slid out from underneath, standing next to me.

It was about thattime that a crazy idea popped into my head.

"Darling,"I said, "how would you like to have a little adventure?"

Chapter 3



"What kind ofadventure?", my wife asked with a dubious look in her eye.

"I'll tellyou," I replied, "but you may want to have a seat first." She sat down in one of the plush leatherchairs across from my desk. "Do youremember anything we saw on the news this morning?"

"Notreally," she replied. "I wassomewhat occupied during breakfast, if I remember right." I tried to suppress the grin that creptacross my face, and held up my hand to prevent her venturing any further."Okay, okaaay!" Irelented. "Well, let me fill you ina little about what exactly is going on here."

"If you weren'tso 'occupied' this morning during breakfast, you would have seen a story abouta Professor Heinrich Hilder - a German scientist quite famous for his work as atheoretical physicist. For the past 12years, he has been on the payroll of Etherton S&D - although it is quitethe well-kept secret, mostly because of the nature of the project that he isworking on. It isn't uncommon forEtherton to fund some far-out research out of the public eye - it allows us tosweep the failed experiments under the rug and preserve our reputation as acompany that does nothing but productive research. When they do pan out, however, we have thepaperwork and proof that show Etherton was 'behind this project one hundred percent'."

My wife's face hadcrinkled into a disapproving frown as I divulged some of the less ethicalpractices that went along with our day-to-day operations, so I decided to cutstraight to the substance.

"Honey,Professor Hilder has finally done it. It's unbelievable, is what it is!" I milked the punch line for as long as I could - enjoying theanticipation and slight annoyance build on my wife's features. I paused for a moment - pursing my lips andfolding my hands under my chin, as if deep in thought. Finally I raised my eyes to meet hers.

"Timetravel."

I watched as mywife's expression went from a mixture of confused amazement to amusement tooutright hilarity. She started laughinghysterically, her face buried in her hands - obviously convinced that I hadplayed my last card. I sat there,silent, knowing that this was the reaction any normal person would have tohearing such news. After severalminutes, the laughter died off, and she sat - studying my face this time, withmore intensity.

"You . . ." she slowly uttered, "you aren't joking . . . are you?"

I smiled and shook myhead slowly from side to side, my eyes watching intently as the knowledge ofwhat I was telling her began to sink in. "But, time travel is . . . impossible! Totally theoretical!" sheexclaimed. "That stuff is onlypossible in Terminator movies and crappy Sci-Fi channel movies." I simply smiled once again, saying"Would you like to see it?"

"What? You mean. . . you have a time machine. Righthere." she deadpanned, obviously doubtful. I smiled wider, rising from my chair and walking around the edge of mydesk. "I can show it to you,"I said, "but you have to come with me right now. The engineers that are putting the finishingtouches on it are probably all at lunch. Obviously, I could get in some trouble for showing this to you before wego public with it, but you have been extra good today . . ." My voice trailed off into a chuckle as I heldmy hand out for hers - leading her out of my office and to the elevator in thehall.

Once inside, I pulleda special key from my pocket and opened a small metallic door located in thepanel below the floor buttons. Insidewas a button marked 'B6'. I pressed itbefore closing and locking the door, as the elevator started its slow descentof over 60 floors. My wife stared at meas if I had just told her I was, in fact, an agent with the CIA. "Thomas Carlton Malloy," shesighed, "I don't ever want to hear about your work after this."

My constant smileremained affixed to my face as I wrapped my arms around her waist - pulling herclose and kissing her lightly on the forehead. She looked up at me with her radiant green eyes, searching mine for thelove she had always known existed within them. "I suppose I can forgive you for this," she said slowly,"but you'd better take me out to a nice dinner tonight." I laughed and pulled her close, enjoying thewarmth of our embrace as we continued our descent.

"So tell me howit works." she said, pulling away and leaning against the wooden railingof the elevator wall. I sorted out mythoughts, and began the explanation as best I could.

"Well, man haslong postulated that time travel was possible under certain conditions. The idea of time as the '4th dimension' wasbrought about by Einstein, and leading scientists have extrapolated that into anunderstanding of something more like 'space-time'. The idea that the two are linked is somethingdebated by leading physicists today. Oneof the most intriguing and tangible evidences of that is the existence of blackholes in space. It has always beenhypotesized that, because of the amazingly high density and gravitational pullof black holes, time itself, or space-time, could not escape, and therefore, ina black hole, time would either cease to exist or stand completely still."

"ProfessorHilder, with the aid of three of the largest particle accelerators, spent sixyears trying to create a black hole in a controlled environment. There were a few mishaps, and one scaryincident that probably endangered half the planet, but he finally did it. A little over five years ago, he managed tocreate and sustain a black hole that did not increase in its appetite foraccumulating more matter. That blackhole is located 2,000 feet below us, in an underground cavern."

My wife's face turnedpale with amazement and worry - she opened her mouth to speak, but I raised myhand and continued.

"It iscompletely safe, I assure you. Thisparticular black hole has been in existence for five straight years now, andthere have been absolutely no incidents or problems. Nothing to worry about. But back to how this works . . ."

The elevatorindicator shot past the 10th floor and continued down.

"So, once we hada working black hole, the experimentation could begin. Nobody actually knew what happened when youreached the event horizon - the boundary in spacetime inside which eventscannot affect an outside observer. Sothe next few years were spent conducting various experiments and attempting todebunk myth from fact. What was discoveredwas absolutely incredible."

The elevator slowedto a crawl, then clunked to a stop at floor 'B6'. The doors slowly slid open, and I peered outinto the hallway before grabbing my wife's hand and hurrying her down the hallto a door marked 'Experimental Test Chamber 1A'. I punched in a 7-digit code on the lock nextto the door, and quickly slid my wife and I inside, closing the door behindus. Feeling the wall to my right, Iflipped the light switches that were held there into the 'on' position.

Soft flourescentlight slowly flickered and snapped on throughout the room - eliciting a gaspfrom my wife as she took in the chamber for the first time.

It was a hugestructure - at least 200 yards long and 150 wide. Spartan cement walls stretched nearly 150feet into the air, creating the feel of being in a giant underground bunker. Various lab instruments and desks litteredthe floor along the walls, but the real captivating feature of the room wasflush against the far wall, nearly two football fields away from us. I took her hand in mine as we walked towardsit.

A massive greycylindrical shape rose almost 75 feet into the air - wires and cables emergingfrom the sides like some sort of electrical spaghetti. A small door was chisled out of the front,and as we walked closer, the interior was visible. Inside was one cock-pit like seat, a panelfilled with instruments and dials, and something that seemed entirely out ofplace.

A rabbit, grey andbrown, sat in a cage on the floor of the cockpit. Around his neck was a strange-looking collarwith several flashing lights and a blue numbered tag punched through hisear. He munched on a piece of stalelettuce that adorned the bottom of his cage, and looked up at us as we peeredinside.

"Strange,"I said, "I didn't hear anything about a rabbit . . ."

I was about tosuggest that we depart and grab some lunch where we could talk some more, whena loud beep echoed through the cavern.

"Oh no . .." I breathed. "The door isopening!"





Ok - I've written all the way through Chapter 11, but I can't find Chapter 4!!! I'll do some searching and see if I can drag it up. Don't want to leave any of you in suspense!

[Sickpuppy]

I'm in, feed me more, I MUST HAVE MORE!!

mostly I want to know about the bunny

[TheMFile]

Found Chapter 4 - posted here are some more in the chain. Enjoy!

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Chapter 4

A loud metallic click echoed through the cavernous laboratory as the solid steel door at the entrance swung open. Upon realizing that the door was opening, I quickly grabbed my wife's hand and pulled her around to the opposite side of the giant cylinder - quietly opening an access panel built into the side and stepping into the outer shell of the time machine. I beckoned for my wife to follow, and I slowly eased the panel back into place after she had ducked into the hatch.

Looking around, I assessed the area with scrutiny - looking for the door that I knew existed somewhere on this contraption. The time machine itself was built in two seperate cylinders. The outer cylinder was made of a new material that was constantly undergoing different states of atomic and magnetic flux. This allowed for that cylindrical shell to effectively contain the massive forces of molecular distortion that occured when the forces of the black hole were funneled into the space between the inside of the outer cylinder and the outer surface of the inner cylinder. My wife and I were standing in that space. It was bedecked with various antennae, what seemed like thousands of cables and wires, and sensors that monitored all phases of the operation.

I hurriedly searched the outer walls of the actual 'cockpit' cylinder - looking for the maintenance access panel that was built for the event of hydraulic failure at the main doors. "Darling," I breathed, as calmly as I could, "we have to find a small panel on this surface that says MAINT-1A, ok?" She looked at me with a puzzled expression, but started looking as she whispered back, "Why? Why don't we just chill in here until they leave and then we can get out of here?" I swallowed hard, dreading the answer that I had to give.

"Because . . . the first official substantiated test of this machine is occuring today . . . in-", I glanced at my watch, "3 minutes." I saw the wheels in my wife's brain turning as she processed the emotion that had risen in my voice as I spoke. "And, if we are still in this outer circle when they start the process . . ." I let my voice trail off and continued searching the walls, wiping off the beads of sweat that had suddenly appeared on my brow.

"What?! What happens?" she demanded, with a more urgent quality to her whispered tones. "Well," I said, not turning to match her gaze, "the black hole that is created in this space will . . . tear us apart." I sighed and looked down, knowing what I would see if I turned to look at my wife. "Thomas!" A quick whisper, full of urgency and fear. "I know, my dear, I'm sor-" I started, but was cut off as she repeated, "Tom! I think I found it!"

My head snapped to the right and I hopped over bundles of copper-plated wires and blue-wrapped cables as I closed the distance - fast. I glanced at my watch. 1:58. Two minutes. I quickly flipped the retaining clips on the access panel to the side, and grasped the airlocking handle and twisted hard to the left. With a hiss of air, the hatch slid open and outward. I quickly pushed my wife through the space and into the main cockpit, before sliding in myself and turning around to pull the hatch behind me. The green glow of my watch blared the time through my eyes. 1:59:25. Thirty-five seconds to spare. I pulled hard on the panel, feeling the hydraulic pistons resist as they slowly started the process of locking back into place. I silent curse flew through my mind as I watched the seconds tick by - waiting for the hatch to seat itself and pressurize the cabin. 1:59: 46 . . . 47 . . . . 48 . . . 49 . . . click!

I twisted hard on the pressure valve on the center of the door - hearing the air rush around the cabin as our cylinder was treated to the same process commercial airliners go through before taking off. I breathed a sigh of relief and wiped my forehead once more before turning towards the center of the cockpit. My wife sat in the center seat - her knees tucked up towards her chest, with her face blankly staring forward at nothing. I noticed that, perhaps as a stress reliever, she had freed the captive rabbit from its cage, and it now perched in her lap as she numbly stroked the soft fur of its back.

I moved in front of her and leaned against the wall - sliding down until I was sitting on the floor of our new prison. I looked up at my wife's face and saw the glimmer of a tear in the corner of her eye. "What . . " her voice faltered momentarily, "What is . . going to happen now?" The worry in her voice was palpable, and, at that moment, I couldn't blame her.

"Well, now, they'll start to siphon the black hole through a transfer device until an adequate mass of its energy is surrounding this cylinder. That will take about 5 minutes, and then . . . well . . . nobody really knows. The test today was supposed to attempt to send an object back in time three weeks to this exact location. But this was the first test of its kind, and -" I gestured to the rabbit in her lap, "the first one to concretely measure the effects of time travel on a living organism."

As those final words left my mouth and the scientific side of my brain finally gave way to the reality of what was about to happen, I felt hot tears sting the corners of my eyes. The knowledge that my decision would most likely be the death of my wife and I crashed down upon me in that moment, and my voice broke as a mournful cry slowly rose from my throat. I buried my face into my arms and sobbed silently, attempting to make peace with whatever manner of doom awaited me in the next few minutes.

I felt my wife slide down against the wall next to me and lean her head against my shoulder, her body shaking with silent fear. Her hand gently moved to the side of my face and pulled until I was looking into her eyes. "I just want you to know," she sighed with a surprising amount of calm, "that if this is it, there is nobody else I would rather be with when I die." Her lips found mine in a moment as the bittersweet flavor of our tears mingled together on our tongues.

We nestled into each other arms, both of us enjoying what we had resigned to be the last few minutes of our lives. The room slowly began to spin, as the noises outside started to increase. I felt a growing amount of centrifugal force press me flat against the wall at my back. I struggled to turn my head and grasp my wife's hand in mine - catching her eyes with mine and mustering a weak smile.

*KLANG-G-G*

A Klaxon horn rang out through our chamber, and a red LED display appeared on the wall in front of us. Displayed there was a series of numbers: 20071021. My mind slowly processed the significance of those numbers, eventually realizing that it was a date display - October 21, 2007. Exactly three weeks ago. A glimmer of hope flashed through my mind, but what happened next would destroy that hope entirely.

*POP*

An eruption of sparks and flame, accompanied by a small explosive sound, shot out from the opposite side of the cylinder. My eyes shot across the space - searching through the red air to find the source. A smell of seared flesh and burnt hair reached my nostrils as my eyes caught a horrifying sight.

The rabbit, or what was left of him, lay in a smoking heap near a bundle of loose wires that hung down from a brightly illuminated instrument panel. Hanging above him, still shooting sparks into the air, was the remains of an inch-think copper wire, coated in green rubber. Unfortunately for us all, it was currently in two pieces. Apparently, the captive bunny hadn't been to fond of his stale lettuce leaves, and decided that green cables were much tastier.

A groan of despair escaped my lips as I saw a myriad of warning lights immediately illuminate all sides of the machine. I stared straight ahead and watched as the red date display on the wall go haywire. Numbers sped up and down with breathtaking speed - reminding me of a slot machine in action. The force pushing us against the wall continued to increase and the roar of noise outside grew to near-deafening levels as the numbers continued their madcap rush against the wall.

My eyes grew heavy, and I felt myself teeter at the edge of consciousness. With a searing struggle against nature, I tilted my head to the right and saw my wife pressed up against the wall like me. Her eyes were closed, and she appeared to be unconscious. I opened my mouth and breathed the last of my energy as the darkness overtook me.

" . . . i . . . love you . . . "

Chapter 5

Blackness.

I slowly blinked my eyes and rubbed them with the edge of my palm. Still nothing. Complete blackness. Various scenarios ran through my head: I was dead, I was having a very lucid dream, This was what being in a coma was like. I slowly moved my right arm and brought it towards my face - eyes furrowing and squinting in the darkness in an attempt to see it waving in front of my face.

No dice. I slowly staggered to my feet - arms reaching out in any direction to find a handhold or indication that I was not just floating in a black void. The fingers on my left hand grazed something metallic, and I collapsed against the surface, feeling knobs and levers depress underneath my body. Soft blue lights burst to life from the ceiling above me, temporarily blinding me. I collapsed on the floor and hid my eyes from the sudden brightness, slowly feeling my senses adjust to their surroundings.

My mind began to piece together what it knew and remembered, gradually coming to the realization that I was, in fact still alive, and still inside the Etherton/Hilder time travel machine. I stumbled over something on the floor, tripping and falling to lay beside the still form of my wife. Rolling her onto her back, I looked for vitals and was relieved to feel the warm, steady pulse of her breath against my hand. I gently shook her shoulders and rubbed her arms, holding my breath, then letting loose a smile when her eyes finally fluttered open.

"My head . . ." she murmured, as she looked up at me with bloodshot eyes. A grin crept across her face as I leaned in and kissed her cheek. Tears of relief welled up in my eyes as I helped my wife to her feet and held her close. We embraced tightly for what seemed like hours - the beats of our hearts thudding collectively slower as we grew calm.

Finally, I pulled away, and made my way to the hydraulic door that opened into the outside world. My wife clung tightly to my arm, apprehensively, as I punched in the 4-digit unlock key and held my finger over the red button marked BREACH. I smirked, "Well, I suppose the worst case scenario is that we landed in the same place three weeks ago - although I think they'll be more excited to know it works than mad at their stowaway time travelers." And with that, I pushed the button.

The door slowly swung open with a a pneumatic hissing noise. As we stepped outside, we slowly turned - taking in our surroundings. We were in what appeared to be a large room; the walls were pieced together with jagged stone and mud,and the flickering light of several torches danced shadows across the giant cylinder behind us. I felt my breath catch in my throat as I continued to turn, and noticed the putrid stench of human waste permeating the air. A muted cry sounded behind me, and I whirled to join my wife as she pointed at an object in the corner.

A human skeleton lay curled up in the inky blackness - the dull white of its bones just barely visible, but all too recognizable in shape. I was no expert, but it looked to have been sitting here stagnant for quite a while. I grabbed my wife's hand, pulling her away from the grisly sight. "C'mon - let's go see if we can find some help . . . or even where we are."

"Or when," my wife muttered - voicing the thought that had run through my head just moments before. We approached a large iron door at the far end of the room, and I pulled out my cell phone as I walked. "Battery is dead," I said, as I attempted to power it on. "Mine too", my wife replied, as she slipped her blue Motorola back into her coat pocket. Reaching the door, I grasped the rough handle and pulled, feeling the massive weight slowly give as the door swung towards me.

We walked through the threshold and into a long stone hallway lined with metal torch mountings - the wooden bundles inside flickering and smoking in the dim, damp air. Seeing a stairway in the corridor to our right, we turned and started towards it. My wife and I clasped hands, betraying our nervousness at our current situation. "Hopefully, we can find a phone somewhere around here," I said - more in a vain attempt at self-assurance than some actual belief that we would.

We had just reached the bottom step, when I heard a shuffling noise behind me. I spun just in time to see the wooden club descending towards my face - the scream from my wife the last thing I heard before . . .

Blackness.

I awoke to a sharp pain in my arms, a thudding in my head, and a bright light piercing through my vision. I blinked furiously, struggling to bring my hands to my face. Only they didn't move. I wrestled with my arms before realizing they were bound - chained behind my back. Against my spine I felt the rough grain of a wooden trunk, and on my feet the coarse grit of sand. My ears slowly opened and processed the chaos of sound around me. It sounded something like a carnival, with loud voices projecting through the hubbub - hawking their wares. A voice quite close to me boomed thunderously, as I felt my torso prodded with a stick. "Who will pay for these fine Nemedian specimens? One man, built for housework and labor. One woman, built for anything your heart could desire. Who would own these fine pieces of flesh? Let us start the bidding at fifteen denarii for the pair!"

My eyes finally registered my surroundings - the glare of the sun finally diffusing into my vision. My heart stopped in my chest as I took in my surroundings.

"Oh my God," I breathed in amazement,"we're in ancient Rome."

Chapter 6

The market in front of us buzzed in activity. Vendors of all types stood next to their wooden carts, proclaiming the superior nature of their wares. The crowd in front of the platform I stood on shouted their bids to the massive slave trader that stood next to me.

"Seventeen denarii!" "Nineteen." "Twenty-two denarii right here!"

The Aquilonian slave master incited the crowd even more as he moved past me towards the figure on my left. I craned my head and saw the figure of my wife, clothed in a plain white robe, bound to a similar wooden post just feet away. "Look at this beautiful maiden of Aphrodite here," he sneered, pulling the top of my wife's robe down to expose her breasts to the leering crowd. "Such a slave would do well to please your men!" I struggled fiercely against my chains, as hot tears of rage crested in my vision. My outburst succeeded in catching the attention of the slaver, as he turned and lashed his whip fiercely across my torso.

"Look at this sculpted creature here," he continued. "Such a man would make a formidable gladiator in the arenas, or a worthwhile house slave for any maid or master." A ragged welt grew across my chest as the bids continued to roll in. I turned once more to look at my wife, seeing her looking back at me. A fire blazed in her eyes, and she stared daggers at the tattooed figure that continued to provoke the crowd into a buying frenzy.

The bids had crested at around forty denarii, offered by a corpulent merchant in the front of the crowd. His gaze was fixed on my wife - seemingly prepared to pay for the both of us just for the opportunity to sate his desires with her. My mind raced to develop a plan for escape once the purchase was complete.

"Going once . . . Going twice!" the slaver proclaimed. The greasy merchant started moving towards the podium to claim his prize.

"One hundred denarii."

The voice rang out over the crowd, stunning the throng into silence. My head snapped to the edge of the crowd, where an ornate shoulder-borne litter sat on the ground - the servants to carry it standing guard around the gold and scarlet frame. A well-groomed servant stood with his hand in the air, identifying the source of the bid.

"For the Lady Antonicus, the bid is one hundred denarii."

The slave master wasted no time. "SOLD! The winner is Lady Antonicus." He motioned to his assistants standing behind us, and our chains were released from the posts, and they roughly pulled us off the wooden platform and towards the litter. Our chains were affixed to a rod behind the spectacularly ornate carriage, and we followed as the servants lifted and carried the litter down the cobblestone street.

"So," my wife said, "it would appear that your time travel device works." I chuckled mirthlessly, and nodded my head in agreement. "Well, we're obviously not going to find a phone out here, and we're obviously not going to find anyone that understands anything we say. I do have a small piece of good news,though." she said. "I was conscious when they dragged us from that underground hallway, and I saw exactly where our time machine was located. I'm not quite sure what good that does us, but it has to count for something."

"It most certainly does," I said. "You see, built into the time machine is a fail-safe recall device. If, after 48 hours, a predetermined passcode is not entered, the machine will attempt to recall itself to the last known time and location. It was determined that was necessary in case something happened to the operators, and they were unable to return. This type of technology in the wrong hands would be catastrophic, so a fail-safe of that nature was installed to prevent such an occurence." My wife furrowed her brow and continued my thought, "So we have to get back to that machine within 40 hours."

"Correct." I answered, setting my jaw as the chains around my wrist pulled tight momentarily. The sun had crested the horizon before us as we rounded a wall and moved through a gate to enter the outskirts of the city. Brilliant red streaks of sun-scarred fire burned their way across the velvet sky. I bemusedly allowed myself the thought that it was a beautiful sunset - even if we were slaves in ancient Rome. I continued to process all possible avenues of escape, and had developed a tentative plan when our procession turned into a lane edged with exotic flowers and towering palm trees. We continued down the lane towards a sandstone villa that grew ever larger with each step. The walls shone in the dying rays of sunlight, and the marble pillars that ringed the outer corridor gleamed with a reddish glow.

We trudged through the threshold and into an impressive courtyard. In the center was a large marble statue of a woman's figure, and it was ringed by a pool of crystalline water. Various plants and figurines populated the area, adding to the already lush environment of the villa. As the litter stopped momentarily, the servant that had placed the bid for us at the auction came and unshackled our chains before leading us through a marble archway underneath an enormous set of stairs. We continued through the passage before coming out into a large room that appeared to be a bathing area. Steaming pools of water lay out before us,and floral scents hovered in the air.

As he undid the manacles that bound our wrists and ankles, the head servant ran through a list of house rules. His droning voice echoed in my head as I continued to stare at the room around me in awe. Wooden benches and tables littered with towels, oils, and perfumes of every kind were placed evenly across the room. There were several smaller pools of steaming water, as well as an enormous pool located in the center. Dark red and blue pillars sprung from locations throughout the floor and stretched to the ceiling above. There appeared to be only one entrance, which we had just come through, and it looked like it was secured with a very heavy wooden door.

"Here are your new clothes," the servant said, handing us each a clean white robe with scarlet trim. "Proceed and clean yourselves, for the Lady Antonicus will join you shortly." And with that, he turned,removing from his robe a key that he used to open the door before leaving. The rattle of the bolt sliding into place and the click of the lock turning echoed throughout the chamber moments later.

I slowly turned, noticing that my wife had already stripped off her robe and stepped towards one of the pools. "No sense not taking advantage of a free bath!" she called over her shoulder as she stepped gingerly into one of the warm marble pools. I chuckled to myself and marveled at my wife's ability to adapt as I started walking towards the pool, shedding the cloth that hung around my waist as I moved.

The water was fantastically warm as I sank down below the surface -allowing it to cleanse me entirely and relaxing my body from the stress that had burdened it for the past several hours. My wife stepped out of the pool momentarily, and I stared as rivulets of water ran down her back and over the curves of her bottom before reaching her shapely legs. She walked to one of the tables and studied the vials at the end before returning with several. I unabashedly gazed at her as she settled back into the tub and opened one of the flasks, pouring some of the scented oil into her hand and proceeding to wash her body.

I was about to ask her if she could 'take some time to clean me, too', when we heard the rattling of a key in the doorway. The lock clicked once, followed by the metallic rasping of the bolt being drawn back, and then the door slowly swung open. A figure, accompanied by a guard on either side, stepped into the room and motioned for the guards to wait by the door. The figure began walking towards us, and as it drew closer, feminine features came into view. She wore a dark green satin robe, with a velvet sash of crimson bound across her waist, holding the robe together.

The Lady Antonicus.

She stopped several feet away from our pool, and motioned for us to come closer. "Welcome," she said softly. Her voice was tinted with the slightest hint of an accent, and breathed a lush sensuality as she spoke. "Welcome to the House of Antonicus. Step out of the pool." I made to reach for some towels that sat near the edge, but she chided me, "No towels. Do as I say,servants. Step out of the pool." Grudgingly, my wife and I ascended the marble steps until we stood, naked and dripping wet, in front of our new master. Her eyes ran up and down both of our figures, drinking in our nakedness - the sight eliciting a slight raise of her eyebrows.

"I have purchased you for one reason," her voice breathed out in front of us, as her fingers slowly began to undo the crimson sash that was tied at her waist. "The goddess Aphrodite has blessed me with a desire to please her - and she has commanded that I only allow communion with the highest quality of man . . . and woman," she said as her gaze floated to my wife. "I have brought you here so that you may be my instruments of pleasure - the fulfilment of all the desires that the goddess has placed in my being. If you resist, my guards will kill you." She spoke this plainly, as if it were only logical.

My heart was thudding in my chest as I realized the specifics of our current situation. I glanced sideways at my wife, who was staring at the Lady Antonicus with amazement in her eyes. Her face turned towards mine, and a slight nod of her head was all that I could see. Realizing that now was not the time or place to discuss this entirely, I turned to the front again and faced our captor. "Of course, my lady," I said, with a nervous bow, "we live only to serve you."

With a smile, she finished untying the cinch of her robe, allowing it to slowly fall open - shrugging slightly and causing it to fall from her shoulders. She stood there, as naked as my wife and I. Obviously pampered, her skin was a creamy display of sensuous thought. Her breasts, though small, stood firm and high on her chest - the dime-sized areolas a darkened pink contrast to the skin around them. Her legs were smooth and void of any hair, as was the space between her legs. It crossed my mind that this would be considered an odd practice for ancient Rome, but my mind was unable to ponder it further as she slowly stepped towards me.

Sliding her naked form up against mine, she brought her chin up and pressed her lips against my chin, then kissing higher until her lips found mine. I resisted the kiss, hating the idea that my wife stood just inches away and was forced to see this. Lady Antonicus must have sensed my reluctance, because she pulled away and stared fiercely at me. "You will participate, or you will die." Her voice was sharp and crystal-clear, sinking my heart with the realization that she was in no way bluffing. My wife touched me on the shoulder, prompting me to look at her, and she simply nodded again at me.

Resigned to my fate, I stepped towards the Lady and wrapped my arm around her waist - pulling her towards me and seeking out her lips with mine. We kissed for several minutes as her hands roamed around my chest, my stomach, and traced patterns across my back with her nails. As our intensity grew, and I began to feel myself giving into the passion, a second set of hands joined at my back as my wife embraced me from behind. I felt the soft cushion of her breasts press against the skin of my back, and was surprised at the hardened nipples that poked themselves into my flesh.

I felt one of my wife's hands reach Lady Antonicus's, and guide it slowly towards my groin. Hand upon hand, they slowly reached my ever-hardening erection. I gasped as each one wrapped their fingers around my hardness - squeezing tightly and wiggling their fingers in unison. Ever so slowly, their hands started moving back and forth - fingers closing around the head of my penis and then sliding back towards my testicles and massaging them before repeating the pattern.

Suddenly, Lady Antonicus released her grasp and stepped out of my embrace, moving towards one of the cushioned wooden benches that sat nearby. She lay back slowly, stretching the entire length of the bench, with her feet hanging over one end and her head at the other. "You," she said, gesturing at me, "come to my head. And you, woman, will pleasure me." I walked towards the end that her head rested on, my cock bobbing just inches away from her face. My wife positioned herself on the bench so that she could lay between Lady Antonicus' legs, and began to slowly kiss the insides of her thighs. The Lady reached out and grasped my penis, pulling me closer to her and slowly licking me up and down with the tip of her tongue.

She slid the tip of my cock into her mouth, beginning to moan as my wife's tongue finally found its mark among the moist folds of her slit. I reached down with one hand, grasping at an erect nipple and pulling it firmly - eliciting another moan from the mouth that was wrapped around my firmess. Her head began to bob back and forth, and she wrapped a hand around my penis and slid it up and down in time with her lips. Incredible feelings of warmth shot up and down the length of my erection as she moaned fiercer - the vibrations causing shooting bursts of pleasure inside me. I looked at my wife and saw her lips wrapped tightly around the erect nub of a clitoris, while one of her fingers slithered in and out of the sweet pussy beneath her.

Lady Antonicus's hips began to thrust upwards into my wife's ministrations as her lips and tongue continued their assault on my cock. She broke her mouth away momentarily to catch her breath and let out a ragged cry of passion as my wife brought her closer towards the brink of orgasm. Her hand, slick with a mixture of her saliva and my pre-cum, was a blur as it stroked my entire length furiously. Gritting her teeth, pointing her toes, she began the headlong dash towards eruption. My wife lifted her bottom entirely off the bench and supported her from below as she clamped her mouth around the Lady Antonicus' pussy and sucked for all she was worth.

Screaming, thrashing about madly, the Lady crested her orgasm with a wild yell, the increased fervor of her hands causing me to come to my own orgasm. My cock jumped in her hand and started pulsing as the first strands of glistening white cum shot forth from the tip and landed across her breasts. She wailed more and thrust herself harder into my wife's mouth as the waves of orgasm washed over us both. My cock continued to spew its seed across her body as her hands gripped my testicles, squeezing the last drops of my passion out until there was none left.

Collapsing into a heap on the table, the Lady Antonicus breathed an epic sigh as her limbs quaked with the ferocity of her afterglow. My wife, having seperated herself from the Lady's slit, lay back against the bench, and I could see from the sparkle of wetness on her vagina that she, too, had enjoyed quite an orgasm. Trying to control my breath, I started thinking to myself, and realized that this may have presented an opportunity for escape.

Moving quickly, I decided it was now or never, and I sprung into action.

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That's all for now - I've got more chapters ready, just no time to plug them in and edit them right now. Soon!
Thanks for reading

[TheMFile]

Continuing on . . . Don't fall asleep!

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Chapter 7


Don't ask me why it was there. Don't ask me how I was able to decipher the writing inked on the vial itself. But there, sitting on the table just to the left of Lady Atonicus's head, was a bottle marked 'ETHR'. My mind raced with the possibilities.

It was a long shot. A very longshot, in fact. If it didn't pan out, my wife and I would probably be dead within a matter of minutes. But if it worked, then this was our ticket out of the House of Antonicus. I had no alternatives; I had to give it a shot.

Lady Antonicus continued to lay there, eyes closed - still floating in a state of post-orgasmic bliss. I reached down under the bench and retrieved a towel, doing my best to be quiet. Reaching around and retrieving the flask that caught my eye, I cracked the cork stopper that sealed the top and ran it quickly under my nose - attempting to verify my suspicions.

'Here goes nothing . . ', I muttered to myself, as I upturned the bottle into the towel in my hand, allowing a copious amount of the powerful liquid to soak through. I slowly manuevered my body so that what I was about to do would be invisible to the guards that stood across the room. Lady Antonicus's eyes flashed open as my arm firmly grasped her shoulder and my left hand brought the chemical-laden towel over her mouth.

My wife held the Lady's legs as still as possible while the sleep-inducing chemical worked its way into her system. Her hand shot up to grab my arm for a fleeting second, then I watched as her eyelids flickered closed. Placing my fingers on the side of her neck, I ensured that she was still alive, then placed the towel and bottle back in their positions.

"What are you doing??", my wife whispered furiously in my direction. I gestured for her to be quiet before responding, "I'll explain later - just follow my lead." Her eyes displaying grudging consent, she retrieved two towels and wrapped one around my waist before wrapping herself in the other. Covering Lady Antonicus in her discarded robe, I reached underneath and scooped her into my arms, then headed towards the guards - and the door.

As we drew close, I noticed the suspicious stares of the guards. "Lady Antonicus has been overcome with passion", I said firmly, "and wishes for my lady and I to take her to her chambers, where we will continue to make our offerings to the goddess Aphrodite." I held my breath, knowing that this moment would make or break our chances for escape.

It may have been that this kind of event happened with some regularity, or it may have been the fact that my wife was showing quite a bit of leg. Whatever it was, the guards took this declaration of mine surprisingly well. "This way," one assented, as he turned and unlocked the door. Still carrying the unconscious lady, we followed the guards back through the archway and up a set of marble stairs flanked by hanging bushes and flowers.

We walked through a long hallway with open ceilings that showed glimpses of the moon and stars as they shone above. Tapestries and trinkets decorated the walls and hung from every nook and cranny. I was so busy gawking at the ornate surroundings that I almost ran into one of the guards as he stopped near a cherry wood door, and pulled one of the massive gates open - allowing my wife and I to enter.

As the door closed behind us, I heard my wife gasp in awe. The room was opulently furnished with various drapes of exotic fabrics - detailing all kinds of statues and sculptures that stood along the outer edge of the room. Incense burned in a corner, filling the room with musky spices and a slight haze of mystery. In the center of the room was a large round bed, covered with velvet pillows of purple and scarlet - the satin sheets shimmering with the flicker of candles hanging from the ceiling. It was, in a word, breathtaking.

I set my living burden down upon the bed, and covered her nakedness. I felt slightly guilty for my violent turn, but reassured myself that we were in a desperate situation - and that called for desperate measures. I stood and scanned the room, my eyes finally alighting on what I had known all along would be present.

Draped across hooks set into the walls over a large portcullis were enormous tapestry ropes. As thick as my wrist, the braided cords were mixtures of purple and silver fabrics, with flecks of gold inlaid throughout the length. As I pulled a large lounge chair towards the window in order to reach them, my wife finally spoke. "Thomas. Stop moving, and tell me what we're doing, or I'm not going to get up from this chair." she said as she deposited herself on a plush green seat.

I stopped what I was doing and moved to the seat beside her, taking her hands into mine and holding them tightly. "Okay, darling. By my reckoning, we have about thirty-five hours left before the time machine starts the fail-safe recall. So we're going to get out of here, while it's still night, and make our way back to where you saw the time machine. Once we're there, we'll just sit tight until the clock runs out. And," I continued, as I stood and moved towards the window, "we're going to use these ropes to get out of here."

"I knew there was a reason I married you," my wife said as she joined me in unfastening the wall-hanging cords from their hooks. We spent the next several minutes fastening together the 12-foot lengths until it stretched nearly 50 yards. Firmly affixing the end to a granite pillar near the window, I trailed the opposite end out the open window and watched as it came to an end just several feet above the rocky ground outside. The courtyard outside was silent and empty, save a handful of birds that had nestled in the trees for the night.

I tested the rope first, pulling sharply on it with several tugs, before deciding that it was a sturdy option. I stood on the window ledge, then slowly lowered myself down - walking the height of the villa hand-over-hand until I felt my feet touch the bottom. I turned my gaze upward to see my wife repeat the voyage I had just made - catching her feet and lowering her down as she came within arm's length.

We turned swiftly, sprinting to the wall that edged the courtyard of the expansive villa. Hiding in the shadows,we moved quickly along the sandstone structure - looking for any available exit. Finally, our efforts were rewarded. A small grate in the wall, designed to allow water to flow out, lay propped against the dusty wall over a small canal dug into the dirt. It wasn't large, by any means, but it was just big enough for a man to fit through.

I hurriedly picked up the grate, setting it to the side and pushing my wife into the space. She scurried forward, and I followed behind as fast as I could move. Finally, we were rewarded as the tunnel through the wall gave way to the crisp fresh night breeze that hit our faces. Sighting a path towards the city lights in the distance, we ran. We ran until our sides hurt; until the raspy taste of blood built up in the back of our throats.

We reached the outskirts of the city just as the gatehouse doors began to close for the night - pushing our way through the crowds and inside to safety. We mingled with the citizens as they moved through the slowly dying streets - my wife continuing her search for a landmark; a sign to indicate we were on the right track.

As we passed through the food area of the marketplace, I noticed my wife gazing longingly at a fruit stand and realized that it had been almost 20 hours since we had last eaten. Now, normally I was a decent law-abiding citizen, but I suppose time-travel and the necessity of sustenance can change certain things. Doing my best to be nonchalant, I walked past a fruit cart and reached my hand out - swiping a cluster of grapes as I went.

Unfortunately for me, I wasn't nearly as sneaky as I had imagined, and my actions did not go unnoticed. Strong hands gripped my wife and I as we walked away, and we whirled to find ourselves in the arms of two of the most enormous African men I had ever seen. Between them stood a skinny little runt of a man, very well dressed, and obviously in charge.

"So you want to steal food from Antonio, yes?" He asked, without a hint of mirth. "It would seem the gods favor me . . . I have need of such people. Clap them in irons."



Chapter 8

I lost count at 30 people. The cell block I was located in housed close to three dozen men - some young, some old, some heavily muscled, and some weak and frail. In the cell next to ours, seperated by a thick metal grate, sat a score of women - my wife among them. After being apprehended by the man in the market, we were marched to a holding cell, then blindfolded and taken by cart to our present location. None of us had any idea what was going on, but the theories floated around the cell like wildfire.

A basket full of stale bread sat in the corner, along with a dirty bucket full of suspicious smelling water. I stood near the wall, reaching my fingers through the grate to hold my wife's hand on the other side. "Thomas," she whispered towards me,"what are we going to do?"

"Well, I figure we have about 24 hours left before time runs out. It's possible that we have more, but I'd rather be early than late." I pursed my lips and rubbed my eyes - my brain running out of ideas. "I've looked around this cell, and there doesn't seem to be any way out. So, we just have to hope that an opportunity presents itself. Whatever happens, stay close to me, okay?"

Nodding her assent, my wife leaned her head against my hand and wiped away the trickle of a tear that had coursed its way down her cheek. "Hey . . .", I said softly, lifting her chin, "I love you. We're gonna get out of this." She managed the crack of a smile, and nodded once more. A ruckus at the door outside our cells caused us both to turn.

The man from the market appeared in front of our cells, flanked by his bodyguards. They rattled large wooden clubs along the cell gates, causing a solemn silence to break out among the inhabitants. The merchant stood on an upturned barrel and addressed us - his captive crowd.

"You are here," he began, "because you all have committed some offense against me; you have all slighted my name! By all rights, I should have delivered you all to the local Roman Magistrate to pay for your crimes. I am, however, an opportunist in every event, and turning you over to the government to be killed profits me nothing. I am also a generous man, and I am presenting each and every one of you with the chance to walk away a free man. You need only accomplish one small task."

As if on cue, the ceiling above us started to shake and the roar of a massive crowd echoed through the cell block. My heart plummeted towards the coarse sand on the floor with realization. "You need only SURVIVE!" The gleeful expression on the merchant's face as he boomed the knell of our doom was sadistic in every aspect. "You men shall be pitted against an identical number of gladiators fielded by my peers. Those of you lucky enough to survive the fight - meaning you have killed all warriors of opposing teams, will be granted your freedom. The women. . . well, I have something special in store for them."

I felt my veins pulse with a murderous anger as the fat bastard's eyes settled on my wife and a lecherous sneer crossed his face. I continued to stare daggers at him as I felt my wife clutch my arm fiercely in fear. "Thomas! What . . . How . . You can't -" her protests faltered towards tears as the weight of the situation pressed heavy upon her. I turned my head away from our captor and towards her - reaching my hand through the grate to caress her face and wipe away the tears that were forming in the corners of her eyes.

"Hey . . . look at me," I said, lifting her fallen chin with my fingers until she was looking into my eyes. "We're gonna get out of here. We're going to be alright. I promise you." She looked deeply at me, nodding slightly and setting her chin. "Atta'girl," I said softly, holding her face in my hands one more time.

The door to the women's cell rattled open, and the burly guards muscled their way inside - grabbing the female inhabitants and shoving them roughly towards the door. "Come along, precious ones!" the merchant sneered as he stood by the door. As each woman filed past him, he reached out and groped at their forms. As my wife neared him, and he reached out his offending hands, she leaped forward with a pointed knee - catching him squarely in the groin. The merchant doubled over in pain, coughing and wheezing, while the guards apprehended my wife and stood holding her in front of him.

"Well, you're a fiesty whore, aren't you!", he roared as the back of his hand whistled towards my wife's face and caught her on the cheek. She cried out and the right side of her face turned instantly red. "I was just going to throw you in with the rest, but I can see that's too good for you. I'll make sure you scream before you die," he menaced. I dashed to the front of the cage, livid with rage - grabbing the cell door and banging against it in futility. "You dog! I swear on my life I'm going to kill you!" I screamed through the mesh, pointing a bloodied finger towards the merchant.

He stared at me for a moment, then beckoned one of the guards over, whispered in his ear while pointing at me, and then proceeded to walk off with the procession of captured women behind him.

When they were well out of sight down the corridor, the remaining guards turned towards our cell and opened the door. They brandished swords and whips, making sure that an uprising was out of the question. We prisoners were a motley crew - old men, teenagers, sick peasants, and the odd career criminal. I could only hope that our competition was similarly composed.

We were shuffled down a long, damp tunnel that ended in a giant underground armory of some sort. Racks of armor and weapons of all types littered great wooden tables and racks, while armed guards stood watch all along the wall. "Arm yourselves.", the mammoth that had been leading our march called out. "Except for you," a voice whispered in my ear as the rear guard grabbed my arm. "You get to fight with this," he smirked, as he uncoiled the whip that hung from his belt. He handed it to me, smiling with the satisfaction that he had just ensured my imminent doom.

I held the whip, looking at the 10-foot length incredulously. So much for going in there prepared, I thought to myself. No armor, no weapons. Just a whip, my white slave robe from the House of Antonicus, and my brain. Who am I, Indiana Jones? This was going to be fun.

As our team of gladiators finished outfitting, we were lined up in front of a massive wooden gate. From the other side we could hear the roars of people as whatever spectacle playing out in front of them neared a climax. The floor trembled slightly with the eruptions of noise, and I steeled myself - looking to the left and right. On my right, a strongly muscled man with a scar cut down his face nodded at me. He held a spear in one hand, and a longsword in the other - making the weight and length of the weapon seem like nothing.

"You have the look of bravery. You will need it in there," he said, the low baritone of his voice grating with a certain gravity. "I am Aeschylus. Stay with me in the fight." I looked at him quizzically as he pulled down the visor on his helmet, but my attention was quickly drawn to the door in front of us. With a huge grating noise, the pulleys on each side began to shift, and the bottom of the door slowly lifted itself off the floor. As it reached chest level, the men around me and I ducked under the wooden gate; dashing forward into the sandy floor of the Coliseum.

What I saw took my breath away. I could only manage one word.

"Holy . . . "



Chapter 9



The arena was spectacular. As I staggered forward into the open stadium floor, I gaped at the grandeur of my surroundings. Every depiction I had ever seen of this setting didn't measure up to the awesome spectacle of the real thing. Hundreds of thousands of people packed the marble benches set inside the circular structure, the noise of their revelry crashing over the center of the pit in waves.

My awestruck stupor was shattered as my teammates poured past me onto the battlefield. My gaze leveled out, and for the first time, I looked at the sandy pit surrounding me. The arena was an enormous circle that stretched nearly 100 yards from wall to wall. The retaining walls were nearly 20 feet tall, and the top of the ledge was ringed by Roman Centurions. At two spots along the wall across from us, wooden gates receded into the ceiling and crews of men staggered forth to join us on the battlefield. I started to size up our competition, and formulate what my best shot at survival would be.

Then I saw it. The sight that made my blood run cold.

There, in the very center of the pit, was a towering wooden pole. The log stood upright in the center of another pit, which I judged to be almost 30 feet in diameter. From my position, I couldn't see what was inside the pit, but that wasn't what caught my attention; what had made my heart stop beating. There, bound to the top of the pole with thick hemp vines, was her. My wife.

Think, Thomas, think! Ok. Prioritize. I glanced again at my wife, sure that there was something here that I was missing, but realizing I couldn't afford to plan for every eventuality. She seemed safe for the time being. Priority one: stay alive. Priority two: rescue my wife. Priority three: get to the time machine in less than 20 hours. Alright, Thomas. Let's get started.

I unspooled the whip in my hand, holding it nervously and glancing at the men around me. There were, apparently, three competing squads of us 'gladiators' in competition today. All three teams congregated together for the most part, while a few contestants had abandoned the confines of their team and attempted to distance themselves from the impending combat. I looked at the man who had talked to me in the tunnel, Aeschylus, and attempted to draw some courage from his apparent strength.

He stood, tall and strong, jaw set as he stared across the sandy terrain in front of us - evaluating the forces set before us. The murmurings of fear started to sound among the men behind me, at which point Aeschylus bent down to one knee, holding the flat of the sword to his head and muttering something to the earth below, before rising to his feet and turning to face our ragged band.

He held aloft the spear in his left hand, calling for our attention as the blare of trumpets announced the entrance of dignitaries and honored guests. The men at my side grew quiet with a reverent respect and unspoken belief in the strength that exuded from Aeschylus. As the crowd continued to prawn at the regal proceedings, our impromptu leader began to speak - his voice amazingly clear above the unceasing barrage of noise that surrounded us.

"I know you have fears. ALL men will fear. The courageous man is simply he who will own that fear, and use it. The gods have placed us here to test us! For it is when man is faced with death that he is reduced to who he truly is - and I tell you today that I see much courage among you. So stand with me today, my brothers! We have been granted a gift; an opportunity to achieve our freedom, and there is no greater god of war than the valkyrie of freedom. So come, my brothers! Embrace the fear that now binds your hearts, and fight with me for the blessed gift that awaits us!"

As the final tones of his voice sounded forth, a mighty roar erupted from the throng of men around me - our hearts bolstered by the commanding presence and imperial might of our newfound leader. "We fight in a circle - archers and slings in the center, spears, swords, and shields will encompass them! The young and the old will remain in the center of the formation. Form up!" Aeschylus boomed out commands and took up a place near me just inside the shield-bearers that ringed the outside of our circle.

He glanced down at me as I held my whip at the ready, a smirk crossing his face as he placed a firm hand on my shoulder. "That is your wife, yes?" he asked, nodding towards the figure bound atop the cedar pole. I merely nodded, not finding the words to express the myriad of feelings racing through my mind. "Worry not, my friend - I shall aid you in her rescue. For the time being, though, she appears to be safe. Keep an eye on her once the fight starts. I am sure our captor has something special in store."

I nodded once more, tightening my muscles and taking deep breaths to control my rampant nervousness. The procession of royalty entering the Coliseum had just ended, and I saw, in my periphery, the lounge that held the merchant and the female prisoners from the cell downstairs. The ladies were all chained,and presented in various states of undress. It appeared that the merchant was using each of them for nothing more than sexual gratification - presenting me with the small comfort that my wife had been spared that experience. What in the hell is he planning with her?!

A roar erupted from the crowd as a giant red pennant hanging on the wall fell, and was replaced by a green banner. "That is the signal - stay together!" Aeschylus roared with fire as the band of fighters to our right scattered across the field with no semblance of order. It appeared that the group to our left was content to cluster together until the initial burst of carnage had passed, and then swoop in and clean up the scraps. All the members of the remaining group had dispersed into small, solitary bands of one or two men, and they headed towards our formation in a desperate fury.

The archers in our midst popped up periodically and sniped at the onrushing opponents, felling several with well-placed shots. A few of their front-runners collided with the shields at our perimeter, only to be struck down with spear thrusts from the row of men right behind them. Feeling rather useless, I grabbed a large stone from the ground beneath my feet and sighted on a brute of a man charging towards us with a cumbersome battle-axe held high above his head. I flung it forward just as he swung down - the stone connecting with his temple and stunning him mid-swing. Aeschylus saw him falter, and lunged forward with his longsword - parrying the downward axe slice just in time to save a young shield-bearer. He continued the lunge with a brutal stab of his spear, catching the assailant in the ribs and opening a large gash across his chest. The man fell to the dirt. One more down. This is going well

That comforting thought was silenced in seconds. First, the spearman on my left went down in a heap as an arrow pierced his shoulder in a shower of blood. Second, our circle had shifted enough to allow a clearer view of what was inside the pit in the center of the arena. Bile rose in my throat as I heard the dull roars emanating from the six beasts that paced inside the hole. Tawny manes and blood-matted fur was overlaid on thick, powerfully muscular feral forms. My mind processed in a second what I knew was coming next - just as the flash of movement caught my eye.

The wooden pillar moved. More accurately, it started . . . sinking! With a grating slide, the beam slowly started descending towards the bottom of the sandy floor. I watched in horror as my wife's eyes caught mine - the stark terror in her eyes shooting me a desperate plea for help. Spellbound and unable to think for what seemed like an eternity, I finally moved - clutching Aeschylus' arm and yelling out "Look!".

I estimated that at the current rate of movement, my wife would be within range of the snarling beasts in just under two minutes. I started a mental countdown in my head: 1:58. . . 57 . . . 56. Our force commander moved towards my side, sizing up the situation in an instant. "You must get to her," he barked. I balked, "How the hell am I going to do that? It's a deep trench full of damn lions, and it's a perfectly smooth log!" Think, brain, THINK!

A band of rugged marauders came flying at our ranks, one aggressive fighter launching himself up and over our outer circle - flying towards me with a blood-curdling roar. I ducked as he flew over and into a brutal blow to the skull from a mace-wielding combatant behind me. The fallen warrior's trident lay on the ground, along with a small hand axe with a sharpened 'pick' point on one end. In an instant, I formulated a plan. It was crazy - almost ludicrous, but it was all I had. 1:20 . . . 18 .. . 17.

"Aeschylus! Throw this into the log!" I screamed, tossing him the haft of the trident. He gripped it in a tight fist, eyeing the distance to the log. "We must move closer," he bellowed, crying out commands to our tight circle of fighters and slowly shifting our formation towards the pit." 00:59 . . 58 . .57. My wife's feet were now about 12 feet above the floor of the pit and the snapping jaws of the lions. Judging that the range was right, Aeschylus rose from a guarded crouch and hurled the trident towards the wooden pillar with all his might. The flanks of our formation continued to wage war with the oncoming hordes of men, but I only had eyes for the weapon flying through the air.

With a THUNK, it embedded itself deep into the wood mere inches from my wife's feet. I breathed a quick sigh of relief and heard the crowd start to catch on to the drama of the dangerous rescue underway. We had closed to the edge of the pit, and I stared across the chasm towards my wife - now only 9 feet above the floor. It was much too far for me to just jump - even if I had a running start. 45 seconds . . 44 . . 43. "Semi-circle! Protect the outboard!" I cried out to the brave band of men around me as they continued to bleed and sweat on the dusty soil. They formed a guard protecting outwards, as I took Aesychlus by the hand and quickly explained to him what I had planned. After a brief moment of thought, he agreed, and took the whip I held in my outstretched hand.

He wrapped the small end around his fist several times, then handed me the large handling end. Holding the small axe in my left hand, I gripped the end of the whip with my right and looked at the chasm in front of me - knowing that I only had one chance to get this right. I backed up as much as I could, then took off running - Aeschylus standing at the very edge of the pit with his feet set firmly, swinging the whip that connected us with a taut purpose.

35 . . 34 . . At 33 seconds, my feet left the ground. Passing Aeschylus on the ledge, I hurled myself into the air - hearing the massively strong commander roar with ferocity as he swung the whip with his arm - launching me out into the open air above the pit!

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There are the next 3 chapters. Hope you enjoy. Will post the next few chapters soon.

[bright yellow]

this is great! pls continue asap!!!