Planet of the Titans

Chapter 15

Nolan struggled to hold his breath while he was treading in Zima's chyme. He felt that if he only took a breath once or twice a minute, he would conserve his air more efficiently. He wondered if Zima loved him, he was confident that she did, but even if she wasn't going to release him from his murky doom, Nolan felt it was a better fate to die within the savage depths of the belly of his mistress rather than to go on living knowing she didn't love him.

Before two minutes elapsed, Nolan felt a surge of movement within Zima's stomach. He was forced upwards along with some chyme, so he held his breath; there had been a pocket of air within her belly, but as he cruised up her esophagus there were no air pockets. He glimpsed light as he streamed out of Zima's mouth and downwards into the sink in Zima's bathroom. Nolan was covered in vomit.

Zima picked him up and rinsed him off, then spoke to him when he was clean.

"I'm sorry I had to do that, I was just mad."

"Where's Adonis?" Nolan asked.

"I re-enlarged him and asked him to leave," said Zima. "I told him that from now on, he has to be shrunk down to your size when you're shrunk, or you have to be enlarged to our size if he's around you."

"Why?" Nolan asked.

"I don't want him to hurt you, he's jealous of you because he knows I like you!"

"Like?" said Nolan. "Are you sure you're not in love with me?"

Zima smiled. "That's for me to know and you to find out!"

Later that evening, at Melina's house, Leo and the other eleven fugitives who were part of the underground resistance movement were eating a dinner that had been prepared by Melina. There was a giant-sized table where Melina sat, and a smaller table built to the scale of Leo and the other fugitives that sat on the larger table; Leo and the others sat at this table and ate.

"I've got another mission for you guys tonight!" said Melina.

"Two missions on the same day?" said Logan between bites of food. "I'm still recovering from the last mission!"

After dinner, Melina gave them the specifics of their mission. There was a sorority house not far from the University where Darian and Zima attended; Leo noted that this was probably the same place where Mason had almost been captured the night they had escaped from Darian. There were several men who had been captured by the sorority girls, and Melina wanted them rescued. Jake held the device that contained the map that showed them how to get there. Leo memorized the information in case the device containing the map was lost or stolen.

Just like before, the men set out through the tunnel under the house and made their way under cover of darkness through the gutters toward the neighborhood where the University was located. They were equipped with pneumatic firing tubes and rope and grapnels just like before. They had several close calls from women out walking their dogs or exiting a shuttle cruiser, but within three hours they had made it to the neighborhood where the sorority was located. Jake pointed out the address to Leo, and they both saw that it was the same address on Melina's map.

As they walked up the driveway, they could hear noise and music coming from the mansion; it was obvious that the women who lived here were having a celebration of some type. Leo was the first to spot an open window on the first floor. One of the men fired his pneumatic tube, and the rope and grapnel flew over the edge of the window and latched on. Apparently, there was so much noise coming from the party inside that none of the titan women heard the noise of the grapnel seeking purchase on the window ledge. The man climbed up the rope, and when he was on the window ledge, Leo followed him, then Jake. Soon, all twelve men were on the window ledge, hiding behind a curtain.

There was a large group of attractive women socializing. There were a large number of blondes, brunettes, and Hispanic women; there were also a couple of Asians, and a couple of black women. Leo uncoiled some rope he had with him and tied one end to the control console that opened and closed the window. It jutted from the edge of the ledge, leaving an area just right for tying a rope around it. Leo tossed the other end of the rope to the ground, and climbed down. Jake and the others followed him. Once they were gathered together on the floor, Jake gave orders.

"I want us to split into two groups of six. Leo, you lead the first group, and I'll lead the other. We need to find the bedroom where the captives are being held. According to Melina's map, it's down here on the first floor, so we're in luck!" Jake pulled out the device with the map, and showed the group the layout of the mansion. "There's two different ways to get to our destination!"

Leo and Jake split into teams and split up. Leo led his team along the back wall that led toward the dining room. Leo could remember the map as he walked along the wall, the women were in and out of the dining area, so there was a good chance they wouldn't get caught there.

"I think once we get to the hallway, when the coast is clear, we should run as fast as we can to the bedroom!" said Leo.

The other five men on his team did as he suggested, and they ran down the hallway. They passed a bedroom along the way, and Leo noticed that there was two feet of clearance under the door, just as there had been at the house they had invaded earlier that day. That left enough room for any man Leo's size to get under the doors without any problems.

"This is it!" said Leo, as they stopped in front of a second bedroom. "We got here before Jake did! I'm crawling under the door to see what's happening in there!"

When Leo crawled underneath the door, he saw that there were no titans in the room, and there was a large jar on a table on the other side of the room. Leo crawled back underneath to inform the others, and he guided them into the room. One of the men fired his pneumatic firing tube and a rope shot out, and a hook penetrated the top of the table. Without being directed to do so, the man began climbing up onto the table to perform the rescue. Once he was on the table, Leo climbed up and joined him, then the others followed, until all six of the team members were on the table.

Before they could go any further, the closet opened and three titan women came lumbering out. One was a brunette, one was a blonde, and one was Hispanic.

"You fell right into our trap!" said the brunette. "My name is Stephanie, and I will be your captress tonight!"

Leo tried to climb down the rope, but he wasn't fast enough; Stephanie jumped in front of the rope and pulled it up in one hand, until Logan was dangling in front of her face.

"So small, yet so agile! We plan on playing a drinking game here tonight, and you're all invited!"

The blonde high-fived Stephanie, and the Hispanic woman and the blonde woman high-fived each other. The blonde unscrewed the jar, and Stephanie dropped Logan inside after removing his escape equipment. Stephanie did the same to the other captives who had just been re-captured.

"You're little lives involve getting captured, escaping from the hands of your mistress, then getting re-captured all over again!" said Stephanie as she screwed the lid of the jar back on tight. This jar was very deep, unlike the shallow jar Darian had kept Logan in back at her dorm. Even if three of them stood on each other's backs, there would be no way to get enough leverage to unscrew the jar, despite the fact that the air holes were large enough to fit their fists inside of.

Stephanie carried the massive jar to the living room, where the party was in full swing.

"We have visitors, ladies!" said Stephanie, holding the jar aloft. Another woman came in with another jar, and Leo noticed that Jake and his team had also been captured. The two jars were placed side by side.

"Who wants to play a drinking game?" Stephanie asked, and the crowd of women went wild. Stephanie unscrewed the lids of both jars, and pulled out a captive from Leo's jar. He was one of the men who had been rescued from Victoria and Charlotte's house earlier that day. Stephanie grabbed a mug of beer, and dropped the captive inside. A stout blonde with nice legs grabbed a captive from the other jar, and dropped him into another mug of beer.

"Whoever swallows their captive first and finishes their beer has the heart of a conqueror!" said Stephanie, and both women lifted their beer mugs. "Three, two, one, go!" and both women started guzzling their beers.

Stephanie was obviously a regular drinker, because her beer was half empty by the time the blonde had taken two swallows. Stephanie swallowed her captive, and slammed her empty mug down on a counter while the blonde was still drinking.

"Finished!" Stephanie shouted, and the women in the room began cheering for her.

"Again!" shouted the women in unison. "Again! Again! Again!"

Stephanie responded by pulling Jake out of the other jar as another woman refilled her beer mug. The stout blonde grabbed a captive from the jar that housed Leo. When both mugs were full, the women dropped their respective captives into their mugs, and the countdown began anew.

At "Go!" Stephanie plunged the beer to the back of her throat and swallowed her helpless captive, then finished her beer in record time. She finished sooner than she had finished her first beer. She slammed her empty mug down on the counter, and the women started cheering again.

Leo wondered if any of them would survive the night, when there was a knock at the door. One of the sorority women opened the door, and Leo was shocked to see Melina enter the mansion! At first, he was overjoyed, thinking that she had come to rescue them, but then the truth set in: Melina had double-crossed them, it was the only explanation! How else could she know so much about the layout of the mansion?

"I hope you don't mind, we're using them for a drinking game!" said Stephanie.

"No!" said Melina. "When we sell these captives back to their original owners, we'll split the money! I don't want you swallowing any more of them!"

Melina approached the jars, which were open because the lids had been taken off. Melina could easily hear the captives if they tried to speak to her.

"Melina, how could you betray us?" Leo asked. "The resistance trusted you!"

"And they still do!" said Melina with a smile. "I'm going to report your capture, and it will look like it wasn't my fault! This time next week, I'll have half a dozen more captives just like you! In the meantime, your mistresses will pay a pretty penny for all of you!"

Meanwhile, back at Zima's dorm, Zima was finished with her homework and was feeling a little frisky. She pulled out her shrink-ray pistol, and set it to the neutrino transfer protocol, and Nolan was enlarged. When he jumped down off the dresser, Zima hugged him and gave him a kiss.

"Can you give me a massage?" Zima asked. "I've got a stiff neck from doing a lot of homework."

"Only if it has a happy ending!" said Nolan, and Zima smiled.

Zima laid down on her stomach on her bed. As Nolan gave her a massage, she said "Adonis knows you didn't die when I swallowed you earlier today."

"What do you see in that punk anyway?" Nolan asked as he worked on Zima's neck muscles.

"I really don't see anything in him," said Zima. "You're the one I love!"

Nolan's heart swelled with pride, as his greatest desire was met: he had Zima's love. The love of this titaness!

"There's just one problem!" said Zima.

"What's that?" Nolan asked.

"I made a promise to Adonis, and he told my parents about it, so I have to honor it."

"What promise?" Nolan asked, his mind drawing a blank.

"I will marry whichever one of you makes a greater sacrifice for me!" said Zima.

Nolan had mixed feelings. On one hand, he knew he was in like Flynn because he had Zima's love. On the other hand, he felt a small amount of anxiety, because what sacrifice could he possibly make to prove his love to this mighty giantess from another world?