by Robert Boren
“The Nanos will escape, although if we’ve got a full battle situation, it’ll be best to strip out of the clothes and put on the helmets as fast as possible.”
“I’ll bet clothes will restrict the speed,” JJ said. “What’s it like running that fast?”
“Insane. Can’t wait to ramp it up.”
“Helmet, remember? Something nasty about brain matter.”
I chuckled. “Butch does have a way with words. Yes, I’ll wear the helmet next time, and you should too. I think we ought to get used to the full suits as well.”
“The arms and legs are invisible, and there’s gloves and feet. Did you notice that?”
“No, I didn’t un-roll mine. I just stashed it in my stateroom.”
“I looked at mine. Wasn’t expecting that. I would’ve tried it on if we weren’t just dropping things off. Might be better to wear those if we’re in the danger you think we are.”
“I could be completely wrong about that. Just a feeling.”
“What does Butch think?” JJ asked.
“He thinks we ought to investigate. And by the way, the private conversation was initiated by him, not me.”
JJ froze for a moment. “And there I was, hammering you on it.”
“You were right to do that, and remember that I control Butch, not the other way around. Not keeping secrets between us is important to me, too.”
“Why’d you want to come here instead of the New Jersey stateroom?”
I thought about it for a moment. “To be less predictable. Nolan has this ship under surveillance. It’s the safest place on the New Jersey. Why do you think he’s still sleeping here?”
“Any other secrets you haven’t told me?”
I chuckled. “Yeah. I’m having a hard time sitting across the table from you.”
“Really? We can do something about that. Are we spending the evening here?”
“What would you like to do?” I asked.
“Get out of these suits and get into bed.” She stood, peeling off her outer clothes, hands going to the zipper on her neck as I watched. “What are you waiting for, sir?”
I snapped out of my trance and stood, practically ripping my clothes off. We stood before each other in our suits.
“Come here,” she said. “In front of the mirror.”
I laughed, getting next to her, and we gazed at ourselves, side by side, JJ’s arm going around my waist. The suits sculpted us, looking like Grecian torsos in black marble.
“Wow, we’re looking good, aren’t we?” JJ asked.
“I like looking at you naked better.”
“Even with the saggy 40-something breasts and the tummy?”
“You’re still so beautiful,” I said, turning towards her. She stared into my eyes as she pulled the zipper down from her neck, stepping out of the suit in seconds, her soft round curves showing now.
“Do I have to keep prompting you?”
“Oh,” I said, pulling down my zipper, stepping out of the suit, not self-conscious in my nakedness anymore.
“You’re ready,” she whispered, moving into my arms, the skin on skin feel hitting both of us hard. She released me, and pulled the covers back on the bed. “Get in.”
I got on the bed, trembling with excitement as I laid on my back. She looked me over, smiling as she got next to me, moving on top, resting herself, finding my mouth for a kiss, our passion taking us in an instant.
“It’s time.” Her voice was husky, barely above a whisper. She reached between us, finding me ready, moving her hips, putting me at her entrance.
“You don’t want any foreplay?” I whispered, moaning as we made contact.
“Later, we’re both ready,” she said, sinking onto me. “Oh, God, that’s better than I expected.” She settled all the way down, shuddering.
The feeling of her was too much for me, my eyes glassing over as she slowly rose and fell a few times, my hands roaming all over her as we were in a different world, focused only on each other. My hands grabbed her hips, pulling her down harder, lifting her, the shudders leading to screaming, urgent thrusts. I rolled her onto her back.
“Yes, take me hard,” she cried. “Don’t hold back. We’ve got all night.”
That pushed me on, and I took her hard and fast, both of us blasting through a climax, then settling, kissing and caressing.
“That was amazing,” I said, watching her eyes, kissing her gently. “Sorry I didn’t last very long.”
“Stop saying sorry,” she said, a smile on her lips. “I needed that hard and fast. I needed to know.”
“Know?”
“That you’ve taken me. That I’m your woman.”
“Keep talking like that and I’ll be back at it,” I said, feeling myself swell, still inside her.
“Oh, I was counting on that,” she said, bucking back at me.
We made love for more than an hour, slowly, then hard and fast, then slowly again, drifting off to sleep, both out until my PA buzzed. I freed my arm from JJ and looked. It was Butch, asking when I wanted to start the training sessions, sent as a text. I mind-dictated three hours. He sent a thumb-up sign and disappeared.
“Duty calls already?” JJ asked.
“Butch. He’s trying to plan the day. Wanted to know when the first training session would be.”
“What’d you tell him?”
“Three hours. Think we’ll be ready by then?”
“It’s possible,” she said, rolling on top of me. “We need to work up an appetite for breakfast.”
We were in bed for almost an hour, and then got into the cleansing unit together. Then we dressed and headed for the eatery nearby, loading up with breakfast.
“It feels different now,” JJ said, eyeing me as I finished eating.
“What?”
“Duh. Us.”
I washed my last bite down with orange juice. “Different how?”
“I don’t know. It’s like you’ve moved from a friend to part of me.”
I smiled. “We’re in the early stages of our relationship, and just got past an important milestone. We’ve been intimate.”
JJ laughed. “Talk about a wet blanket.”
“Oh, I’ve got very romantic feelings about you,” I said, “but you asked me a question. I was answering it logically.”
“Uh huh. You said I’d give you a run for your money. I’d say that one is mutual.”
I grinned. “Okay, you’re right. We’re different. We’ve taken the next step, and all we can think about is getting back to it.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“No, but if I took you back to my stateroom again, you’d be all over me.”
Her face flushed. She was getting ready to fire a snarky comment, but stopped. “You’re right, and you’d be all over me too.”
“Shall we? I can put Butch off again.”
She stared at me silently for a moment. “No, we’ve got stuff to do, but once we’re off, you’re all mine. Got it?”
“Oh, yeah.”
We finished up and went to the New Jersey Bridge. Nolan was there, with Skip and Sondra.
“How we doing?” I asked.
“We’re a little faster in this natural worm hole than I expected,” Nolan said. “My initial calculation was three weeks. Now I’m thinking it’ll be more like two and a half weeks.”
“Good. Think that will translate into additional fuel savings?”
“Of course,” Nolan said. “Less days of burn, less fuel used.”
“We’re on a month-long impulse cruise after that, right?” JJ asked.
“Probably closer to three weeks,” Skip said.
“Anything we can do to burn less fuel or speed it up?” JJ asked.
“Not really,” Nolan said. “We’ve optimized that capability a couple hundred years ago, and there’s only so much you can do.”
“It’ll be good enough,” I said. “Have all of you gotten invites for training with the Nanos?”
“I was gon
na ask you about that,” Sondra said. “All of us are getting that?”
“Everybody in the cell will go through it,” I said. “Including the fighter pilots we’ve already given the capability to.”
I glanced over at JJ, who was staring at me. I smiled, and she seemed to break free of the trance.
“Sorry,” she whispered after getting next to me.
“I’m enjoying this. Want to go back to the mustering room for a little more training? We have just enough time before the first students show up.”
“Sure, but after I get the speed training done, I need to go back and work the refinery equipment. I just lost half a week.”
I chuckled. “You did, but don’t forget to use Emerald as much as possible.”
“I doubt I could get it done any other way,” JJ said.
“You guys are going down to the training room?” Nolan asked. “I think I’m in the first group.”
“You, Tim, and Izzy,” I said, reading the schedule that Butch put up before me. “Staggered, though. Tim is first, then you, then Izzy.”
“Can’t wait,” Nolan said.
I nodded. “See you there.” With that, JJ and I left the bridge, going back to the transport station and grabbing a tin can to the mustering room. Emerald ran JJ through the initial speed training as I grabbed a helmet from the equipment locker.
I glanced up at JJ, who was running through the mustering room at incredible speed.
I pulled on the helmet, and it sensed the size of my head, adjusting, locking on. There was a moment of panic as it tightened, and I tried to take the helmet off.
I tried to relax, and the helmet finished sizing, a heads-up display showing through my optic nerve.
I dictated the release command and pulled off the helmet, sitting down on a bench against the wall, watching JJ speed around the room, looking like video fast-forwarding. The four minutes passed quickly, JJ stopping, walking slowly towards the bench I was on.
“That was fun,” she said, her breath still coming fast. “I could use a rest, but I feel like I could keep going if I had to.”
JJ chuckled. “This is called the low-speed mode?”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” JJ quipped, looking nervous.
I put the helmet back on and it fitted immediately, the heads-up display visible after a split-second. “Okay, I think I’m ready. Do I just run?”
I looked at the far wall, which was nearly three hundred meters away, planning to stop under the basketball hoop on the wall.
I did that, and within two seconds I was standing under the basketball hoop.
“Holy shit!” JJ yelled. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine. That was really strange. I’ll return at the next speed. The destination is locked in.” I dictated speed 3, and before I knew it, I was next to JJ. “Hey, baby.”
I did the dictation, and just as I was finishing the thought I was already there.
JJ ran over to me, using the fastest speed she could. “You just disappeared and reappeared here.”
“What did the other two speeds look like?” I asked.
“The first one looked like a blur. The second one looked like a streak. Both would look pretty damn scary if you were being hunted by something that fast.”
“I’m anxious to watch you do it,” I said.
“Can I try that now, instead of going down to the lab,” JJ asked.
I laughed. “That’s right, all of our students have their AIs
now. Wonder what Tim named his?”
{ 17 }
Transmissions
T im took to the training well, not wanting to leave when he was done with the day’s lesson. Nolan analyzed every detail, the conversation between him and Dojo sounding like two brothers. Izzy was bewildered, but took to it well. I had the sneaking suspicion that all of them wondered why I was being so aggressive with the training. I had to tell them, but wasn’t ready yet. Then there was Vermillion. Should I say something to him about my fears, or let Butch find evidence first?
I leaned back on the bench, my legs feeling sore from my own workouts.
My PA buzzed, and JJ’s pretty face showed.
“Hey, how’s it going?” she asked.
“Finished with Nolan, Tim, and Izzy. Just sent a message to the next three, to see if they can do this afternoon instead of tomorrow morning.”