When he returned, she was motionless. Panicked, he slid to her side and shook her.
“Hey, what are you doing?” she asked.
“Sorry. I thought you’d...”
“Died? I told you, that’s not going to happen. From now on, you’re stuck with me.”
Joseph smiled. “I didn’t have the exact location and I can’t find a flare gun. I’m going to check the boat.”
She propped herself up on her elbows and looked around. “We need a big fire to help them find us. When you’re done looking around, you can restart the fire on the boat. I don’t see anything else we could burn quickly.”
“Good idea.”
As he got closer to the shore, the smell of the professor’s and Peter’s charred remains overwhelmed him. With so little in his system, Joseph leaned over and dry heaved. He pulled his shirt over his face and regained his composure. Each time he bent down to sift through the debris, the smoke would overwhelm his lungs, and he would climb out of the wreckage to breathe the clean air. After half an hour of this routine, he gave up and went to work on the fire.
Having done all he could, Joseph came back to Laurel’s side. “I couldn’t find anything,” he said, out of breath, “but I made the fire as big as I could.” He kicked off his shoes and felt the cool, soft sand between his toes. Then he plopped down, opened a can of peaches, and fed her. After he drank a little of the syrupy fruit, he propped her head up, resting it on his stomach. As they relaxed to the rhythmic crash of the waves, he undid her ponytail and stroked her hair until he drifted off.
An hour later, Joseph woke to near perfection. Laurel continued to rest on him, their hearts beating in concert, the gentle ocean breeze kissing his cheeks.
“How are you doing, sleepyhead?” she asked.
“Great. How about you?” He resumed stroking her hair.
“I’m a little weak, but otherwise me, too. What are you thinking?”
“That this is paradise.”
“And all we had to do to get here was get kidnapped, break a naval blockade, and kill two people.”
Joseph shook his head to try to forget he’d killed his mentor, then reminded himself why he’d done it. “True, but now I’m on a deserted island with the most beautiful woman in the world.”
She turned her head, pulled up his shirt a little, and kissed him on the stomach. He didn’t think he could feel more alive than he already did, but the breeze had nothing on her lips.
“Look,” he said. “There’s the helicopter. I guess it’s paradise lost.”
“Maybe not.”
“What do you mean?”
“Where’s your favorite place?”
“In the lab...with you.”
“Me, too...with you. I spent the last two years as part of my comrades’ plan to bring the smartest minds to the Soviet Union.”
“But why? I don’t get it. There are plenty of intelligent people there.”
She laughed. “As smart as you are, we have to work on your common sense.”
Joseph blushed.
“Remember what the professor said? It’s all about balance. They want all kinds of fields—military, medicine, agriculture, transportation— to flourish there. Then the superior Russian intellect will dominate the world.”
“That’s crazy.”
“Like the professor said—both of our countries did the same to Germany at the end of the war when they took the top German scientific minds.”
He didn’t want to break this near perfection with their first argument. But he couldn’t help himself. “It wasn’t exactly the same. None of them came to the United States against their will.”
She caressed his cheek. “We can debate that later. Anyway, that’s not my point. I was thinking about what the professor said to you…about you becoming a Renaissance man.”
“I’m no Da Vinci.”
“You could be. In fact, you’re closer than you know. The professor’s statement got me thinking about something.” She paused. “You’ll probably think it’s ridiculous.”
“What?” He waited. “Come on. You can tell me.”
“Maybe, the professor’s plan’s not bad…if it’s for the right reasons…and people join willingly.”
“To what? Make the United States more powerful?”
“No. Not necessarily.”
“Not the Soviets.”
“No, I’m done with that. Think of the situation right now. What would happen if there were a nuclear war?”
“Most of humanity would be killed.”
“And the survivors. What would happen to civilization?”
“It’d be thrown back into the dark ages, or worse. So...”
“So, we could start our own program of geniuses. We might not be able to stop the war, but at least if one or a few of our team survives, they can continue civilization and humanity will quickly thrive again.”
“A bunch of nerds protecting humanity’s past and future?”
“A bunch of Renaissance men.”
“And women,” he said, interlocking his fingers in hers.
”It’s a silly idea. Isn’t it? Maybe it’s the drugs talking.”
He smiled. “Project Renaissance Man.”
“Project RM.”
“I like it. Especially if we’re doing it together.”
The wind from the incoming helicopter scattered sand and debris. He shielded her face with his hands and stared into her eyes, exhilarated at what they might accomplish together.
Project RM: The Code—The Genesis Serials Book 2
Don’t miss the next serial in the Genesis series, Project RM: The Code.
Rescue or another abduction. Will Joseph or Laurel break under intense
interrogation? How quickly can Joseph adapt to the spy world? Will they help
prevent a nuclear holocaust?
The Code is available for free at projectrm.com.
You can purchase The Code at www.amazon.com.
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