by Jamie Davis
The flight took off without incident and the plane landed in the Bahamas in the late afternoon. After they collected their bags, Shelby connected into the local network and found a ride for the six of them to their resort.
While they waited for the van to arrive, Shelby said, “Cass, I’m accessing the local map and the resort activity schedule now. You won’t believe all the stuff that we can do at this place. They have all sorts of excursions and activities we can sign up for. There are horseback riding jaunts down the beach each day and ATV trails through the central part of the island. There are even things like kayak and jet ski rentals that we can take out directly from the beach in front of our hotel.”
“I like the thought of taking out the jet skis,” Cass said. “I’ve seen my parents ride them, but I’ve never been on one.”
“Me neither.” Shelby said with a smile. “I guess that settles it. We’ll make jet ski rentals our first item of business in the morning.”
Katie shouted out in agreement. “Woo hoo! That sounds like fun. I think we’re all up for a jet ski race tomorrow. Right, ladies?”
Lisa, along with Alison and Molly, all chimed in about how they were excited to join in as well.
Shelby smiled and nodded. “Good, then I’ll go ahead and reserve us six of them first thing tomorrow morning. It looks like they’ve got a few courses laid out with buoys across the lagoon. According to the map, we can pick out one of the courses and reserve it.”
Cass smiled. “That sounds like a lot of fun. I will have to beat you in that race, you know. You’re so good at everything else, I have to be able to best you at something.”
“You’re the best of both of us in many ways, Cass,” Shelby said. She leaned over and put her head on Cass’s shoulder. Their fingers interlaced and fell onto Cass’s lap.
“This has all progressed so fast. I still don’t know what I did to deserve you, Shel,” Cass whispered. “I didn’t think we had a chance to even be friends after that first day. Now we’re—” Cass stopped and looked at Shelby. “I always thought I’d find someone new in my life while I was at college. I didn’t expect it to happen this way and with you.”
“Me neither,” Shelby answered. “I guess we’re both lucky that we stuck it out after that first day.”
“Will you two cut it out,” Katie said from the seat behind them. “We’ll all be in our rooms soon enough.”
“You’re such a prude,” Lisa said, poking Katie in the ribs from the side. “I don’t know what I see in you sometimes.”
Katie laughed as she backed away from the tickling fingers. “I know exactly what you see in me. Usually I have to wait for you to get my clothes off to see it, though.”
Lisa blushed and all of the others laughed.
Katie smiled and hugged Lisa. “Look who’s the prude now.”
Cass smiled, listening to the byplay between the other couple. Shelby’s friends were all great. They’d accepted Cass without question which made her question if Shelby had told them anything about her background and family. Each of them had at least one implant or enhancement of one sort or another. They each sported v-tats along with a cerebral implant similar to Shelby’s to control them.
Cosmetic enhancements like these were quite popular among the more progressive students at the college. Cass still didn’t understand why anyone would want to submit to something like that, but she’d come to accept it in Shelby over the last few weeks. She saw these new friends in a similar light.
As she considered the shift in her mindset, it struck Cass how much different her opinion was now when she thought about cyber-humans. She still shuddered at the thought of getting anything done to herself like that, but she didn’t begrudge the others for their choices the way she might have at the beginning of the semester.
Checking into the condo took only a few minutes. Lisa had already confirmed their rooms via her connection to the Mantle on the island. Everything was ready and waiting for them. This type of resort was all new to Cass. She’d never stayed in a hotel of any kind before.
When she’d traveled before, her family always stayed in other Sapiens enclaves with local families from the movement. Staying here was very different from staying in someone’s home on vacation.
Lisa beamed the room code to everyone’s implant so they could get into the room. She asked at the desk for a manual key card for Cass.
“She’s not able to process the codes with a cerebral chip. She’ll need to open the door herself.”
The clerk behind the front desk smiled and nodded. “Of course.” She rummaged around in a drawer next to her and then smiled. “Ah ha, here it is. Let me just run this through the reader and get it programmed for you, Miss.”
She swiped the chip card and handed it to Cass who slid it into the pocket of her jeans.
“Thank you,” Cass said.
“Come on,” Shelby said. “Let’s go up and check out our rooms. I’ll bet it’s way nicer than our dorm.”
“It’ll be nice to have our own bathroom for a change instead of having to share one,” Cass remarked. “Some of our neighbors are so gross.”
Shelby smiled and reached out to take Cass’s hand as they walked to the elevators with the others. When they arrived upstairs and opened the door to the three-bedroom condo facing the beach, Cass marveled at the view out the window. It looked out to the Caribbean Sea beyond the beach below. It was beautiful.
“Shel, this is amazing. I’m so glad you made me come on this trip with you.”
Shelby came up behind Cass, wrapping her arms around from behind and hugging her tight. “I’m glad you came. Let’s get unpacked in our room, then we can head downstairs. I think we can get drinks at the bar. The drinking age is only eighteen here.”
Cass shrugged. She wasn’t much of a drinker. Her parents weren’t teetotalers but they weren’t partiers either. She didn’t want to miss out on any of the fun, though. She knew they’d have other things to drink at the bar, too.
After the two got settled in the room, Shelby beamed a message to the others in the group and told them she and Cass were heading down to the pool bar in their suits for a swim and a drink.
Cass didn’t have a connected device to listen in on the conversation the way Shelby did. She chatted with all four of the others at once in a group call. It took Cass a moment to realize Shelby wasn’t talking to her when she responded from a question from one of the others.
“Yeah, we’ll be right down. See you there,” Shelby said. She smiled at Cass. “Come on, we can head on down. The others will be there soon.”
They both went down to the pool. It resembled a crystal blue river winding around the entire resort. It was nothing like the rectangular backyard swimming pools Cass was used to. She stripped off her t-shirt and shorts revealing her green two-piece suit underneath.
“Very nice,” Shelby said, hooking an arm about her waist and pulling her close. “We should go to a tropical paradise more often.”
“Stop,” Cass said, hugging herself in an unconscious attempt to cover up a little bit. She was not ashamed of her body, but also not used to such a public display of affection from a partner. Shelby had broadened Cass’s experiences quite a bit over the last week. When she was in high school, most of her sexual experiences with Susan had been pretty tame and limited.
Shelby stripped down to her suit. It was even skimpier than Cass’. It also revealed the rest of the v-tats on her body. She had one on her upper thigh running from her hip halfway to her knee on the right side. Currently it was a bright image of a spiked Dragon with golden and red scales. Every now and then, its tongue flickered in and out of its mouth followed by a brief burst of flame. Shelby caught Cass staring at her leg. “You like that, Cass? I just downloaded it on the plane. Pretty cool, huh?”
Cass just nodded and smiled. She had to admit, her girlfriend was pretty awesome and nothing like the person Cass expected to end up with.
Shelby ran to the edge of the pool and dove in, su
rfacing a few yards away and gesturing to Cass. “Come on in, it’s perfect.”
Cass walked to the edge of the pool and climbed in slowly, lowering herself into the water to chest level. It wasn’t too cold at all. Cass dunked her head under and swam out to Shelby in the middle of the crystal, clear water.
After they’d floated around for a few minutes taking in the atmosphere, two of the others arrived at the poolside. Alison, tall with her blonde hair pulled back in a pony tail, and Molly, a tiny girl with short, spiked orange hair walked along the pool deck nearby. Molly waved at them and pointed to the bar at the end of the pool. “Come on. Let’s go over to the pool bar and get something to drink.”
Alison had already climbed in and headed that way. “Look, they have stools under the water you can sit on.”
Cass and Shelby swam over and sat on two of the stools. Cass leaned forward with an elbow atop the bar. She reached for one of the drink menus. The holographic pictures of the fruity drink concoctions intrigued her.
The bartender, a guy only a little older than they, walked over to them from the other side of the bar, where it was dry. He asked in a slow, easy island accent, “What can I get for you ladies?”
“We’ll both have a strawberry daiquiri,” Shelby said.
“Uh, virgin for me, please,” Cass added at the last instant.
“Come on, Cass. You can let your guard down and live a little while you’re here.”
“I’m living just being here with you, Shel. We don’t need me getting drunk on top of it.”
Shelby laughed. “I’m not sure. Maybe you’d loosen up a little bit with a few drinks in you. Who knows? You might even end up picking up an enhancement or two while you’re down here.”
Cass shot Shelby a glance, her eyebrows lowered. “Don’t say that. I’ll do nothing of the sort.”
Shelby started to say something then shook her head and closed her mouth.
The two of them sat in silence for a while, listening to the others chatter around them.
Cass realized her quick denial against any enhancement or implants probably rubbed Shelby the wrong way. It was the last thing that separated the two of them and they still found it to be an awkward subject for conversation.
Cass had told Shelby she accepted her just the way she was, but Cass couldn’t help but think Shelby still felt like Cass thought differently of her because of the additions she’d made to her body. It was something she hoped to work through while they were down here together.
“Hey ladies,” Katie and Lisa arrived in the pool area and waved from the water’s edge.
Shelby’s expression lightened as she smiled and waved back. The bartender arrived with their drinks and Shelby and Cass turned on their stools while sipping at their daiquiris.
Shelby pointed at the lounge chairs with their clothes and towels. “Go ahead and put your stuff down there with ours and come on over. The water’s great.” She lifted her glass. “These are delicious.”
Both girls stripped down to their suits and swam over to join Cass, Shelby, Alison, and Molly at the bar. Soon all six of them sat laughing and sipping on their frozen tropical drinks without a care in the world.
Cass wondered how different hers tasted without the alcohol. It was delicious without it but she couldn’t help but feel a little left out. She wondered again if she shouldn’t have let Shelby order her one just to try. She smiled and decided to try one with alcohol tomorrow after their jet ski outing.
One drink at the bar soon turned into more drinks until Cass was the only sober one sitting there. She perched on her stool and laughed at the antics of the others as they set their drinks down and drifted out into the water to toss a beach ball around. It seemed the game had more to do with splashing each other than catching the ball.
After a bit, Shelby came back over and joined her. The sun was setting over the trees to the west. Shelby raised her hand to get the bartender’s attention. “Hey, can we order some food here or do we have to go to the restaurant?”
“I can order something for you,” he said. “You’ll have to go sit at one of the tables by the pool to eat it. There’s a special on jerk chicken and Caribbean fruit salad tonight.”
“That’ll be awesome,” Shelby said. “Order six and send them to that table over there.” Shelby pointed to a round table near where all their clothes were laid out on chairs.
The bartender nodded and moved away to place the order.
Cass called out to the others, “Hey, we just ordered dinner for us. It’s going to be over there at the table near our stuff.”
Alison gave a thumbs-up from the pool just before she was dunked by Molly from behind. Cass laughed at the expression on Alison’s face as she went under.
Lisa and Katie slipped up behind Molly and grabbed her by the legs, flipping her over until she went under as well.
Both Molly and Alison surfaced sputtering and spitting water. After a few seconds of gasping, they all fell into another round of laughter and headed for the edge of the pool. Cass slid off her stool and looked at Shelby, “how do we settle up on our bill?”
“Don’t worry about it, I attached everything we ordered to our room up here.” Shelby tapped the side of her head where her implant was visible by her ear.
“Oh, yeah, I forgot you could do that,” Cass said.
“Seriously, Cass, you need to get over it and just get a chip for yourself. You can get one that’s completely internal. You’d have access without any external evidence to give you away. Your family would never know.”
“You don’t know how paranoid people in the enclave are. They have sensors at the gate that detect anyone entering with a connection to the Mantle. All packages get delivered to the gate for scanning before people pick them up on their way in and out. No one without prearranged access is allowed in unless they have a specific invitation from a resident.”
Shelby smiled and shook her head. “I can’t even imagine what that’s like. I suppose police have access, too.”
“Only with a warrant. We’ve had to deal with the harassment of the authorities. Some of them think we’re bad people just because we want to live apart.”
“You know, Cass, there are people who subscribe to your parents’ beliefs that do horrible things to people like me.”
Cass nodded. “I’ve heard rumors about it. Those people are just crazy fringe types. My parents aren’t like that, neither is my sister. They may not accept what you’ve done to your body but that doesn’t mean they’d hurt you because of it.”
Shelby shrugged. “I guess we’ll find out eventually. You know they’re going to find out about us at some point. You can’t keep me a secret from them forever. What are you going to do when winter break comes and they come to take you home?”
Cass shook her head. She’d been thinking about that since the two of them first kissed. “I don’t know. I’ll figure something out. I figure I can get away from the enclave often enough to call you at least a couple times a week.”
Shelby didn’t reply. A sad look crossed her face. She turned and waded the rest of the way to the far side of the pool where the others waited for dinner to arrive. Her departure left Cass alone by the bar.
Cass didn’t know what she was supposed to do. She’d told Shelby she cared for her whether her parents did or not. Somehow, Cass got the feeling that wasn’t going to be enough for Shelby at some point.
Cass shook her head and put it behind her for now. The waiter had arrived at their table with a tray of food. Maybe dinner would keep Shelby from bringing it up again tonight. Cass waded over to join the others and enjoy the rest of their first night in paradise.
Chapter 7
Cass woke up first the next morning. The sun streamed in the window and a chorus of tropical songbirds warbled in the trees outside. It looked like a beautiful day. She turned and leaned over Shelby’s sleeping form, curled up next to her.
“Wake up, sleepyhead,” Cass crooned in Shelby’s ear.
&n
bsp; Shelby rolled away from Cass and groaned, pulling the pillow over the top of her head.
Cass laughed. “Come on. You’re the one that made the reservation for the jet skis first thing this morning. We need to get some breakfast and then head down to the beach.”
“Leave me alone. I feel awful.”
“It’s your own fault. You kept drinking all night while we were at the club dancing. If you get up and get something to eat and drink, you’ll feel better.”
Shelby mumbled something unintelligible, sat up, and leaned over with her elbows on her knees. She rested her head in her hands.
“Did you say something?” Cass asked.
“I said, how would you know?” Shelby groaned. “Seriously, you don’t drink.”
Cass laughed. “I’ve seen enough holovids to know what happens when you drink too much. Come on, let’s go downstairs and get something to eat. We’ll all feel a lot better with some food in us. I don’t want to be late and miss our time on the jet skis.”
Shelby groaned again but got up and changed into her suit then pulled a T-shirt and a pair of shorts on over top. Slipping into her flip-flops, she opened the door. “After you.”
Cass smiled and caressed Shelby’s face with her fingers as she passed by. Together, they headed down towards the condo entrance. The other four girls surprised Cass. They were already awake and dressed in the living room of the suite.
“Geez, Shel,” Katie said. “You look just like I feel.”
“Wow, thanks,” Shelby said. “I’d make a comment about how you look but everything’s a little blurry right now. I’ll save it for later.”
That set all of them laughing together as they headed out towards the elevators. The doors opened as they arrived, and they all stepped inside and headed down to grab some breakfast on the way to the beach.
Cass enjoyed a hearty breakfast including eggs, bacon, and some sort of spicy island home fries. Everything tasted delicious. The other five women opted for blander buffet options along with mugs of coffee to help them wake up.