She looked at me and shrugged her shoulders before allowing herself to sink into the lake for a few moments. She came back up and looked at me. “I’m going to work on my tan. Want to sit with me and talk? Otherwise, feel free to swim all you want. Don’t worry about anyone coming around and saying anything. This is my property. In fact, I’ve got signs all around it saying that people are welcome only if they enjoy it naked.”
“I didn’t see one at the road,” I said.
“It probably fell down. We’ll stop on the way out to put it back in place,” she said as she stepped out of the water and lay down on the grass covering much of the island.
I kept learning things about her, such as her claim to own the land and lake we were enjoying. For once, I was thinking about doing some research just to see how much she said was true. Just for the heck of it, I went ahead and stepped out of the lake and sat beside her on the grass.
She said, “Don’t block the sun. I don’t want to look like I’m two-toned.”
I went ahead and lay down beside her. “Have you ever heard of a company not being listed in the directory?” She ignored my question as if she knew the answer and couldn’t tell. I went ahead and asked, “Well, how about a person not being listed in the directory?” She still ignored my question as if she also knew that answer.
Both times, her facial expression gave that much away. There was no surprise about such a thing to her. Anyone else I had mentioned it to had registered some surprise on their face when I mentioned it. If nothing else, she was guaranteed of having my company for the next few days because of what she knew, even if she wanted to come out here everyday and walk around naked. It wasn’t going to bother me. I could walk around naked with the best of them.
After awhile, she turned over on her stomach to let her back get some of the tanning rays of the sun. She said, “You better turn over now or you’ll get a sunburn that you’ll regret.”
I followed her advice and rolled over onto my stomach. I wasn’t sure how she timed herself, but eventually she sat up and slapped me on the ass.
She said, “Time to get up or you’ll be in pain all night. You’ve had enough sun. Go get dressed.”
She got up herself and went over to the hover and dressed. I took her advice again and got dressed in my clothes. It was then that she surprised me by pulling a picnic basket out of the storage compartment. She walked over to some trees on her island and set the basket down in the shade. I followed along. By the time I caught up, she had lunch for two set out. We ate lunch together, silently, each of us alone with our own thoughts. Was she trying to make me fall in love with her? Or was she merely wellprepared in order to get and keep attention? I noticed that she hadn’t bothered tying the blouse. It fell beside her breasts so that her nipples showed. If nothing else, it was distracting as I tried to think everything through.
* * *
We drove back to the base as the afternoon got hotter. The breeze felt good and I envied her ability to wear her clothing in such a manner. She didn’t bother tying the blouse together until we were just a short distance from the gate. I decided not to comment on what she did or didn’t do as to her appearance. The sentry snapped a sharp salute at me as we entered onto the base.
We went to supper together and the conversation was light for the most part. Then I drove her home and walked back to my quarters, stopping by a terminal on the way. I looked up her name. Truthfully, I was just a little surprised to find that she did own the property she said she owned and on which I helped her re-erect a sign stating nude visitors were welcome. She wasn’t wealthy, but she did own that and some other property, enough that she could be said to be well-off. She certainly wasn’t going to wondering where her next meal would be during her life.
Then, out of curiosity, I looked up Sergeant Clark. Everything she said about him was true. His decorations exceeded even what I had earned so far. It was very interesting reading to find out about the Sarge.
I don’t know what made me look up the retired Admiral, but when I tried, he wasn’t listed. Even his son wasn’t listed for some reason. I also wasn’t able to find the Sarge’s wife’s name listed, either under the Sarge’s or the retired Admiral’s last name in the directory listing.
For some reason, the mystery I stumbled into was getting larger instead of solved. It had expanded to where there were four people I knew of who weren’t listed in the directory as well as the one company. Out of curiosity, I looked up Fleet Admiral Reason’s directory listing and everything appeared to be normal.
Then I looked up my own and spotted an oddity. I was listed all right, but there was no reference to my being an employee of Pennyweight Shipping Company. It simply showed that I was a civilian with a temporary commission on duty with the Navy.
I next thought to look up the Thurman. Perhaps there was a cross-reference by way of the old Rust Bucket. It wasn’t listed, not even as a ship drafted into the Navy. When I looked up the Edmund and the Theodore, they were missing from the registry of ships in the directory as well. Other ships from other companies were fully listed showing their company names, crew and officer lists, and other information such as tonnage and so forth. But there wasn’t a single reference to the Pennyweight Shipping Company or any of its personnel except those of us who were serving with the Navy. Each of us was listed as a civilian on duty with the Navy.
I wished I had thought to look up myself before the war began. Would I have been listed then? Was I invisible to society for awhile without knowing it? If I was, then why was I invisible then? Why were these other people, ships, and the company invisible?
It didn’t make any sense. None of the business we conducted was done surreptitiously that I knew of. I had seen cargoes loaded and unloaded, just like other ships at the ports. No special precautions, other than what the other shipping companies did, were used by Pennyweight. People didn’t come on board for only one trip and disappear. The only people we got rid of were those we believed unsavory, but mostly we felt were untrustworthy. We hadn’t been issued any secret codes or weapons. Our weapons were just like all the other companies. Our building was about like the other companies. Some of our people had worked for the other companies and some of ours later worked at some of them. It seemed like an ordinary business, except that it wasn’t listed in the directory.
I finally went on to my quarters and fell asleep with most of those same questions attacking me. I must not have slept well at all that night. Annie noticed in the morning.
* * *
When I got up and walked out of my quarters, Annie was waiting with her hover next to her. “Want a ride to breakfast? You look tired, like you could use a lift.”
She handed me the ignition card and took her place in the passenger seat. She was dressed much like yesterday, except the clothing was of different fabrics and colors. As well off as I knew her to be, I reckoned that she could afford to wear whatever she wanted and have as many wardrobes as she wished. I powered up the hover and drove carefully to the Dining Facility.
“Did you check to see if what I told you was true?” she asked.
I replied, “I won’t lie to you. I did.”
She said, “Good! I like a man who speaks honestly when he can.”
It didn’t take long to reach the Dining Facility where I stopped the hover. I wondered what Annie was going to do while I went in to eat, but she took my arm and went inside with me. There were lots of stares, but no comments as we walked together to the serving line where I found out that she was eating in the facility as well. She produced a card to the cashier and had no problem getting served. We sat down together at a table and quietly ate. At least I tried to. I almost choked on some of what she said.
“I suppose you found more missing people, didn’t you?” she asked as I almost sputtered a mouthful of food onto the table. “I’m sorry. I guess I should let you finish eating first. Did you check your own name?” she continued saying anyway. I started to sputter again. She finally shut up
like she said she would and we managed to finish eating. We left the facility and got back into the hover.
“Where to?” I asked.
“Same place, if you don’t mind,” she answered.
I drove us off base, finding the highway where I put the hover into high speed. She went ahead and removed what she was wearing instead of just untying her blouse. I had to work extra hard to keep my eyes and mind on driving.
With a few reminders from her about the turnoffs, we reached her property again where she bounded out of the parked hover to dive into the water. I didn’t wait to be reminded by her to join in, removed what I was wearing, and dove in after her a few moments later. She came along beside me a few moments later and asked, “How many people did you find missing?”
“Four,” I answered. “I suppose there’s probably more. I also didn’t see my employer listed with my name. I’m just a civilian on duty with the Navy.”
“So?” she replied as if that was nothing new to her.
“So, can you tell me anything about it all?” I asked.
“No, I can’t. But if you want to fuck, I can do that!” she exclaimed as she tried to change the subject.
“Would that make a difference?” I asked.
She replied, “No, but it would feel good to both of us.”
That day and the next few days of my shore leave were the same. She didn’t get me in bed. I didn’t get any answers from her.
* * *
Annie dropped me off at my quarters in the evening after we spent almost another entire day on her private island doing nothing other than swimming and sunning ourselves, besides having a picnic. She slid over into the driver’s seat. “You know you’ve only got tonight and tomorrow night before your leave is over. I’d gladly sleep with you and there’d be no obligations incurred.”
I finally surrendered as I lifted my hand and pointed with my thumb towards the door.
The hover dropped suddenly to the ground as she yanked the ignition card out. She bounded out of the hover onto the porch and into my room. She was barely inside the room when what little she was wearing flew off in different directions across the room before she leaped onto the bed and turned over to offer herself.
I was far behind her as I entered the room and went about undressing more methodically after shutting the door.
* * *
In the morning, we lay in each other’s arms as light from the windows filtered through the curtains so that we could see each other’s naked body fully. If nothing else, she was good in bed. But she was something else, though I wasn’t sure what or why. She apparently knew the answers to questions I had and wouldn’t answer them.
“Well, how was I compared to Majel?” she asked innocently.
I felt my blood boiling almost immediately. Majel had been a long time ago. I hadn’t mentioned taking her to bed at all. It was something that wasn’t listed in a directory, either. Just how long had Annie been watching me?
She seemed to sense immediately that she had said something she shouldn’t have as one hand went to her mouth. Annie started to get out of bed in a hurry.
“No, you don’t! Now you’re going to answer some questions,” I said as I grabbed at her and kept her on the bed.
She lay back down and looked up at me as if deciding whether to tell me something or yell rape.
“It’s not going to do you any good to yell rape as often as we’ve been together and because you were seen entering my quarters freely last night and taking your clothes off to jump into bed,” I stated. “You ought to wait until the door is shut before doing things like that.”
“I suppose so. You want answers and I can’t answer them. Haven’t you gotten that through your thick skull yet?” she replied.
“Maybe, but you went too far when you asked me to start comparing you to Majel. How do you know of Majel? That was a long time ago, supposedly long before you researched me, wasn’t it?” I asked.
She answered, “Not really. You caught my attention then, but I waited to see how far you were going at first.”
“I think that I would have noticed you around then if only for the way you dress. I know I watched everyone around me then because of how things were. I never saw you. So, how did you know?” I asked.
She said, “I’ve got my ways. This base is full of information to anyone wanting it. I didn’t have to observe you directly to learn about you. You’ve been the talk of the base since you got here.”
“Is that so? What do people say about me?” I asked.
She said, “They wondered about you since you’re the only temporary commissioned officer in the Navy.”
“What? Weren’t any of the other shipping company gun ships drafted?” I asked.
She replied, “No. Only yours.”
“What else was said about me?” I asked.
She said, “Oh, some people thought at first that you had it in for the officers. Then they saw the change in the officers serving with you and what you tried to do for Bleyer. They even thought you had it in for the Navy until you started winning all those battles. Some thought you only wanted the glory and fame, but you didn’t say a word about your victories and that deflated them. You didn’t even go around chasing after women. A few people thought you preferred men until you bedded Majel. I was glad you didn’t. Now, most of them don’t know anything for sure about you. Only a few of us really understand you. So, of course, I’ve heard about you and kept up with your career. I’m also surprised I have so little competition.”
“Okay, so there’s a gossip net through the base. So, why did you wait to see how far I was going? What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.
She said, “I wanted to see if you were going to remain true to yourself or fall apart over feet of mud. Hey, if I’m going to offer myself up for more than just casual sex, I want the man to be as close to my ideals as possible. You want to be a father? No problem. Just tell me and I’ll stop using protection. I’d love to have your child. You don’t want to marry me because I’m wild? No problem there, either. You decide that you do, I can live with that as well. In fact, I’d prefer it. I’m not stupid enough to get in the way of a juggernaut and expect it to change course, so I’ll accept what I can get. Hell, I got more attention from you this week than from anyone in my whole life!”
I asked, “What’s your father think about this? I mean your wanting to have a child of mine out of wedlock?”
She said, “He’s got nothing to do with it. I’m my own person and I live as I please. Now are you going to do something now that you’re on top again… or are we going to get up out of bed, which I hope we don’t since it took me so damn long to get you here in the first place!”
I acceded to her wishes and made love to Annie once more before we finally got up and went to breakfast. We didn’t go to her property that day. I wanted to check into things and get a head start on the next day when I would be back on duty.
Chapter 18
A week later, I was once again in space with my new Mad Dogs Squadron as we left port to take our turn patrolling the border. As we approached the border, a single enemy scout ship spotted us and started leaving in a hurry while broadcasting our position to the rest of its fleet. We managed to pick up two words the scout mentioned that we could understand. The scout was saying something about the “Rust Bucket” over and over again. To me, the voice saying it sounded frightened.
Nothing approached our sector during the entire week that we patrolled the border. My squadron returned to base, having performed numerous drills and practices of battle tactics while on patrol. We spent a week on the base before we shipped out again to the border on patrol.
Again, a solitary enemy scout spotted us as we approached the border. He left in an awful hurry broadcasting something about the “Rust Bucket” over and over to his fleet. The second time it happened, an idea formed in my mind about how we could sucker the enemy and another one for how we could fool him into trying something stupid.
* * *
When we returned to port, I went immediately to Headquarters to speak with the Fleet Admiral. He was pleased to see me.
“How is the new squadron performing?” he asked.
I answered, “Well, but they haven’t been battle tested yet. The enemy keeps running off before we can even get close enough. That’s part of why I’m here. I have a few ideas I want to pitch to you.”
“Sure. Have a seat. Care for a drink?” he asked.
I shook my head.
He said, “Anyway, go ahead and light up. I understand that you charmed the pants off Annie during your shore leave.”
My face must have given me away for the Admiral said, “I’m sorry. That was a poor choice of words on my part. I’m not worried if you two fooled around or not. That’s between you and her. I just meant to say that she’s still floating on cloud nine or whatever because of the attention you gave her. She hasn’t brought another man home or looked at one for all I know. She still walks around naked at home, but at least she puts a robe on now when I have visitors. Whatever you did to her, I appreciate it. Go ahead and give me your ideas.”
I began my pitch, saying, “Sir, I noticed that when we approached the border the last two times for our patrols, the scout didn’t hang around just out of range like they did before. He got the hell out of Dodge, so to speak, when he saw my ship. I’m fairly certain of it because the scout was broadcasting both times and saying something. There were only two words that I was able to distinguish that he repeated over and over again. He said ‘Rust Bucket’ and there was fright in his voice. Anyway, since my ship is the only ship around that’s ever been openly called a Rust Bucket…”
He said, “I hope you’re not offended by that. If so, I’ll…”
I quickly replied, “No, Admiral. I call the Thurman a ‘Rust Bucket’ myself in an affectionate manner. It doesn’t offend me at all. Nor does it offend any of the other personnel with me from Pennyweight Shipping Company. We called her one there, too. But it does seem to be the only ship openly called that. That’s what gave me the idea. I’m suggesting that some of the other ships might be allowed to rust or be painted to look like rust. It would confuse the enemy. He wouldn’t know which ship was the Thurman. It might also give me more of a chance to slip up on him if he can’t recognize my ship so easily.”
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