AG Brief

"AG Brief" stands for "Altered Genesis Brief," which are short pieces set in the wonderful world of DorineHighcoven's Femme-dominated future. I hope to post a few of these as we go along. My heartfelt thanks go to that visionary Literotica author for her help, approval, and inspiration.

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Eden came to the breakfast table and surveyed the other boys -- they were all present and accounted for, and filling their faces. Through the large picture window behind him the barren plain stretched away to the north; the sun would punish it again today. A dry gale swept across the expanse, raising dust devils and picking up papers and scorched brush. A few of the youngest boys winced as packets of pebbles pelted the plate glass window in sporadic bursts.

Eden frowned as he watched Loni reach for a small waffle on the plate from the boy next to him. Loni -- named for his butter-like colouring -- suddenly looked up and met Eden's eyes. He gave a little shiver and dropped his hand away from his neighbor's food. Eden gave him a look that Loni knew to be indulgent and warning both.

After a few hurried bites of his own, Eden stood and after taking his plate to the scullery counter, left.

He headed down the circular flight of concrete stairs at the front of the building, past the floor where he slept, going so as not to attract attention. He even took his slippers off to go down the cold steps in his bare feet. He knew this was forbidden, but like most of the rules the femmes tried to impress on him, he ignored it. The rough steps were dusty and the pale paint peeled in a number of paces. It was neglected, with some of the corners cracked or broken. He crept down the toward the entry hall landing, an area absolutely off limits. Whenever he asked why it was forbidden, the femmes always said it was because it was too dangerous.

He sat in the empty, neglected entry area, or what had once been the entry. Now it was simply a bare rectangular space, thirty feet in length, with ruined doorjambs and mangled hinges in the door at the at the far end that had faced outside. What remained was stainless steel, and hadn't rusted -- in that way it was unique around the compound. Wherever there had been metal -- part of an air conditioning unit, or water tank, or iron pipe -- had rusted long ago. A heavy duty blast door had replaced the original flimsy door and had been there for years. Eden rose up on his tiptoes to look through one of the portals in the current door, which faced the world. The dust picked up and Eden could see it swirl in the wind. He shook his head -- he fully intended to go outside -- also against the rules. And he hated the constant gale-force winds as much as anyone. But his mind was made up.

Loni crept up behind Eden, as Eden knew he would. It'd been several months since Eden had gone anywhere in the compound without Loni shadowing him. The wall had a solid ledge along its length, about a foot high. Eden sat on it and Loni parked right next to him. Loni rested a hand on Eden's shoulder, a familiarity that in that moment got on Eden's nerves. In a warning, he said, "Loni ...!" After Loni moved his hand away, Eden said, "I'm trying to think."

"Think about what?" came Loni's quiet question.

"I know we're not supposed to go out," Eden said. "But I saw a new vehicle out there this morning. Out in the courtyard. That's what I was trying to see."

He walked in a crouch to the opposite end of the entryway away from the door. He pulled a large screwdriver from a pocket and after glancing around once, pried open the door at that end. It opened onto a stairway. This door was half window, and the window had steel mesh reinforcement. Once he got the door open, he held it for Loni to come through. "Watch your feet," he said, glad to see Loni had his slippers with their hard soles. They descended narrow industrial metal stairs; the single bulb flickered a couple of times. They could feel it was cooler in the basement as they arrived in it. Their nerves were heightened; they listened intently for anything that might indicate they'd been discovered. Snooping around here was strictly forbidden, and both boys knew it.

Light came in through the small high window, which Eden approached.

Loni broke the silence: "Eden, what --"

"SH!" said Eden -- a quick, impatient hiss. He walked toward the window, until his raised chin almost touched the gray cinderblock wall. He looked at Loni. "Come on," he said, "help me pull this over by the window." He walked to a decrepit but heavy bookcase and pushed its contents carelessly to the floor. Only the lowest shelf held anything, and these were forgotten memory disks and a few rags.

Together they dragged the heavy wooden piece next to the window. He shoved it firmly against the wall next to it, took his screwdriver into his hand, and tentatively started to climb the bookcase/ladder. Finding that the shelves would hold his weight, he continued until he reached a point where he could reach the lower level of the window. After looking for several long moments at the lower frame, he guided his screwdriver to a spot only he could see. Pushing and twisting his tool at the spot, wrenching it back and forth, he finally popped the window open, swinging inward on its hinges at the top. "Ah!" he said.

Loni added "Yesss!" to the achievement, although he wondered if it were a good thing.

The noise of the steady wind came in, along with a spray of sand and dirt that had built up against the window.

Eden carefully climbed back down and shifted the shelves a bit closer. He climbed back up and, stretching out his arm, propped the window open with his screwdriver. He shifted himself closer to the window, and brought one foot slowly and carefully onto a higher shelf of the bookcase. Straining his head and upper body toward the propped-open window, he began to ease his head and shoulders outside. He jostled the screwdriver and it fell, but he was already past the window, and it simply dropped on him as he climbed out.

Loni exclaimed, "Eden...!" in a questioning, horrified tone. "Be careful! Goddess Dibella ..."

Eden was no longer in the basement when Loni finished. As he shimmied his way out, he was hit by the unrelenting wind that carried the hard particles of the sandy soil before it. He squinted and gritted his teeth against it. Turning sideways against the elements, he spotted the heavy black vehicle parked in the courtyard. He raised his arm up to his face to try to keep the grit from blasting his eyes and teeth.

He approached the van, or whatever it was, and began to suffer the sand-blasting on his wrists and ankles now. He pushed ahead more quickly and soon arrived at his goal. He crouched in the lea of the wind, behind the dark bulk -- Eden couldn't decide what it was. It was like a solid black block, but now up close, he could tell it was a vehicle because of its three axles, one in front and two in the rear. It was twenty feet long, he estimated. One end of it sloped back slightly in the upper half, and Eden thought this must be the windshield, even though it was opaque. Maybe the glass was one way -- that you could only see out from inside, but not the other way around. He searched with his hands and found no levers to open a door or window; the side he was huddled against didn't show any windows either. He edged his way back to the apparent rear of the coach, or carrier, but was met with an angry gust and its bitter ammunition of grit. With a small yell he turned and jogged back to the building.

Perhaps 20 feet up and inside the building, Miss Aurora, a tall, imposing elderly femme stood from her desk to stretch and walked over to the window. She was quite surprised to see someone skulking around the transport van. Her surprise only lasted a second, though, because she knew it had to be Eden out there. "No respect for the rules ..." she thought. She shook her head and wondered again what she should do with him. If anything. Well, with today's secure email, their imminent future would be common knowledge soon enough.

She waited at the top of the basement stairs, arms crossed. As Eden and Loni came up they saw her and hesitated. She stood aside to clear the way for them and they trudged up. Eden predictably was insouciant as ever, while Loni with his head lowered, was abashed enough for them both.

Miss Aurora said, "Come with me, you two. Into the dining hall." They walked up the next flight and she announced to Miss Adams who was supervising a small group of boys on scullery duty: "Miss Adams, please assemble everyone. All staff, and all boys." She led Eden to her office across the hall and made him sit. After seating herself behind her desk she glared at him. It surprised Eden, and more than anything else, made him curious.

His surprise deepened: "What onEARTHwere you doing out of doors during that windstorm?" she demanded. "You probably damaged something in the basement to get out there, but --" she sputtered; "this is beyond alarming. It could have been catastrophic! I'm trusted to look after the boys growing toward enthrallment age here. If anything had happened to you --" She left off for a moment. More quietly she said, "My life would have been over, Eden. I would have been sent away, out of here, to fend for myself." She spoke to him and he could hear her fear for herself.

After a contemplative moment she stood and escorted him back to the dining area. "Come on," she said, "let's join the rest. There's nothing I can do now."

After patiently waiting for the dozen staff and all six boys to arrive and settle, Miss Aurora said, "There is news that everyone must hear. We will spend today finishing up all laundry tasks and packing all our clothing. Pioneer Compound is closing, by order of Exalted High Gynarch Lady Anna Gloria. We're transferring to the main facility of the Great Plains Coven."

She let this announcement settle a moment. She said, "All right, everyone. Get to it!" She set a hand on Eden's shoulder, keeping him at the table. "Loni," she said to the younger boy, "you will launder and account for all of Eden's things in addition to your own. Eden will stay here." Loni looked in surprise at Miss Aurora for a moment, and left.

In a conversational tone, she told Eden, "I'm still aghast at your behavior. You are one of the most important assets at Pioneer -- a prize bespoke boy on the cusp of enthrallment. I'll ask again, why did you go out in this miserable cyclone? I don't understand you at all."

Eden dropped his eyes before Miss Aurora's height, bulk, and withering gaze. Eden said, "I saw the van, Miss Aurora. I wanted to get a closer look."

"That's no excuse, Eden!" cried Miss Aurora. "You've no business setting foot out of doors when the cyclone runs high, like it is today."

He looked down. "I know, Miss ..."

"I mean," Miss Aura went on, "what would Lady Sita think? She asks me about you every other day; she's impatient to have you near so she can keep and safeguard you herself. You did a very foolhardy thing, going out there."

"I know, Miss Aurora," Eden said apologetically. He looked up. "It is a transport, isn't it? I don't think I've seen a new one like that. It looks totally sharp!"

She pulled out a chair and sat beside him. "Eden, forget the transport van for a moment," she said. "You heard what's happening. We're moving to the Great Plains Center. We're moving underground. We're moving because our little outpost is too remote now, it's too time-consuming and expensive to get food and water here."

She placed a hand on Eden's shoulder and said, "Honestly a main reason for the move is to get you safely into Lady Sita Lahiri's entourage. Within weeks you will officially be her tribute, and after that, given to her in wedlock. When I saw you out by the transport, out in that gale, my heart went into my throat. You are clearly a trial, young male, and I have to admit I'm glad we're moving, so that I can get help watching over you."

If you asked her, Lady Aurora would readily repeat that Eden had been a handful, especially in the last year. Exploring areas of the rundown facility which had been expressly forbidden. He'd been out to the shed where all the out-of-use mining equipment had been dumped; he climbed around on tanker vehicles and heavy drilling equipment. Before that he'd walked more than a mile to the fence line, where the rusting farming combine and tractor had been abandoned. Only last week, Lady Lahiri succeeded in ferreting out of Miss Aurora what a handful he was. Lady Lahiri's mind was quickly made up, and they were all ordered to move.

Another part of her regretted the move. Eden was a bright boy, with quick eyes, a terrifically cute impish smile, which always flashed at the thought of some misadventure or other, and his physical development was coming along just fine. In the last six months, he'd grown almost an inch, become noticeably more broad-shouldered and had, seemingly effortlessly, had become lighter on his feet, more nimble. It hadn't seemed possible. Miss Aurora was sure he'd be assigned to dance classes, something that the Pioneer outpost couldn't offer. His wardrobe would improve, certainly. No one could see him in his usual faded hand-me-downs without wanting to upgrade his wardrobe. He never complained about his clothes, though. Miss Aurora knew she would no longer be in charge of his activities, and honestly admitted that she would miss him after the move. He'd been a handful, certainly, but he was never mean, or cross, or recalcitrant, he had grown so handsome -- all the staff agreed, he was just lovely with his blond hair and big blue eyes. Yes, thought Miss Aurora, she would deliver the goods to old Lady Lahiri, and he would become her problem. Or the problem of someone on her staff.

The outpost was a hive of activity the rest of the day. Laundry and the packing of clothes; accounting for belongings (although this was not an issue for the boys); hasty triage for which effects to bring and which to leave behind. The entire staff was to be moved to the main compound, but the High Gynarch's office had informed Miss Aurora that she should keep her staff's luggage to the barest minimum. She went back and forth with various staff members whom she had to remind that everything they took had to fit into two cases.

By mid-morning the following day, the outside door had been opened to the calm and pleasant day, and the loading could begin. Since the arrival of the van Eden had investigated, two more -- and larger -- stealth-like vehicles had arrived. One was an extended passenger transport, like the first van, but much longer, and owning a fourth axle, and the other was a truck with a large box-type body for carrying bags and belongings. Naturally Eden found his way out into the courtyard to get a closer look, until a tall, uniformed femme with a soldier's helmet and a rifle accosted him. "What are you doing!? Shouldn't you be inside?"

Eden gasped and his heart pounded at the sudden challenge. "I -- I only wanted a closer look, ma'am." He started to back away from her.

She said, "You want a closer look? I'll give you a closer look. Come here."

Eden stood his ground, unsure of what to do. The soldier knelt down and beckoned him over to her. "Now, just come over here for a second. I'm not going to hurt you. There's something you need to see."

Eden walked to where she knelt. As he arrived she stood, put an arm across his shoulders, and said, "See up there? The top of the first rise?" She pointed at a spot that had to be three quarters of a mile away.

He gazed in the direction she indicated, but saw nothing. He looked up at the soldier. "I don't see anything, ma'am."

She knelt back down and lifted her binoculars off and gave them to Eden. "Now look," she said, "just to the right of that long line of trees. You might have to adjust the fit and focus of the glasses."

Following where she'd pointed, Eden suddenly found the edge of the trees. Next to it, a little farther to the right, he saw a couple of pickup trucks and figures walking back and forth. One figure had binoculars and Eden thought she was looking straight at him. He gasped and held the field glasses away from his face. He looked again. There seemed to be more movement, like pickup doors opening and closing. As he watched he could see the heat shimmering in the distance between them.

He held the glasses up for the soldier, returning them. "Who are those people?" he asked.

"They're the people who want to come down here and take you away," she said. "They want to capture you."

"Captureme?Why? What do you mean?"

She continued watching through the binoculars. She said, "No femme group feels like they have enough boys." She looked down at him. "You're fair game, young male." In a moment as he stared at her, she said, "You'd better make sure all your things are packed, and get in the van and stay there." She walked off rapidly toward the compound building.

The inside of the van was remarkable. Its tan leather and matching pile carpeting were sumptuous compared to what the boys were used to at Pioneer Outpost. A soldier, Miss Heather, was in the driver's seat, and Miss Aurora rode with the boys as they sped east along the ruts and potholes of the old highway. The femme who'd shown Eden the binoculars was Miss Teresa. She sat at the rear and watched the road behind them, and the landscape to either side. She seemed to know Miss Heather and spoke to her from time to time in curt monosyllables. A few times the van ran over a deep hole with a rough shudder and Miss Heather glanced back in her rearview mirror, in a kind of reaction to it. The boys, nine in all, were mostly silent as they watched the miles of flat landscape speed by.

After more than an hour Miss Heather yelled out, "T! Blockage attempt!" and Miss Teresa rushed to the front of the van. She looked at a screen on the dash and said, "Hold steady on your speed. I'm going to dislodge the lighter pickup on the left." Eden watched as they rapidly approached something apparently blocking the highway. He couldn't make it out, it was still too far away. Miss Teresa quickly opened a cabinet below the dashboard and pulled out a long rod with a shoulder stock at one end. It was longer and heavier-looking than her rifle. She quickly hit another button and although Eden couldn't see it, an aperture opened at the base of the windshield. She sure-handedly affixed a bulbous item to the front of what was apparently a launcher. She watched the monitor intently as she held the launcher to her shoulder, and with a hissing Whoosh! something flew forward ahead of them and in a bright flash and a thud that rushed through Eden's insides, something ahead of them exploded. Miss Heather accelerated, looking at a monitor. She said, "Overpass intact. Good job, T!" Miss Teresa pulled the weapon back in and stowed it. "Hold on, everybody!" Heather called out. In a few seconds a jolting shock ran through the van as she rammed into the flaming wreckage that was once the pickup and it went flying off the low bridge. After their impact they barely slowed at all. The other vehicle which had been parked in the way had been quickly driven to the end of the overpass and off into the brush to get out of their way.

Heather picked up a comm device and spoke into it: "Wedge to Train. Obstacle at marker two eight zero cleared. Second vehicle removed itself. All is clear, no delays. Maintain speed." She replaced the comm unit on its hook.

Miss Teresa patted Miss Heather on the shoulder a couple of times, but said nothing. But to Eden, who witnessed all of it from a front-row seat, she said, "And that, Eden, is how you clear an obstruction when transferring important cargo." Eden watched her with wide eyes as she returned to her post at the van's rear.