“I’m not sure I’m ready.” Mike flipped through the pages. “There is so much to know.”
“You’re the one who wanted to take this path. Now you have to finish it.” Shauna gamely patted him on the shoulder and left the room.
“Shit,” Mike murmured. “What have I gotten myself into?”
Chapter Five
Mike raked his fingers through his hair for the umpteenth time. The dog, now named Rover for his forays around the island, lay at Mike’s feet while he studied. He’d nearly finished the test but was stuck on a question. “At what altitude and heading do you fly your skycar in traffic when emergency vehicles are signaling to get by? And how do you maneuver the skycar out of the way of the approaching vehicles without getting in the way of other traffic? Explain your maneuvers and reasoning in detail,” he murmured. “Shit. That’s a tough one.” He drank some funny water, as he called it. Whatever it was fortified with he felt an immediate energy boost and knew he needed the help. He lowered his head and flipped through the skycar flying manual.
“How’s it going?” Shauna interrupted.
“A reason to stop. Thank God. Come here, woman.” Mike rose and pulled Shauna to him. He nuzzled her neck and ran his hands up and down her sides. “Mmm. Fantastic. I could eat you up, you smell so good.”
“I’m not food, Mike, I’m me. And the reason I smell good is because I’ve been helping Camille make chocolate chip cookies.” Mike’s stomach rumbled. Shauna laughed. “Take a break. We’ll have a snack, the cookies are still warm.”
“Sold.” Mike twined his fingers through Shauna’s and led her from the room. He needed her touch. Her fingers tightened and he gave her a gentle squeeze. Something inside him shifted and Mike felt a sense of completeness. A lump formed in his throat along with a knot in his stomach. Would he have to live without her? He didn’t think he’d survive a lifetime without Shauna.
“Why are you so quiet?” Shauna asked.
Mike wondered if he should tell her but knew it was too soon. “I’m stuck on a question and it’s bothering me.”
“Which one?”
“One hundred seventy-three.”
“Oh, that one. It’s always been one of the hardest to answer. It’s also one of five that if you get it wrong you automatically fail the test and have to study for another year before you can retake the test. That question is so important because there are a multitude of sky accidents and the emergency vehicles have to get to the victims before they fall to the ground.”
“Great. Thanks. Nothing like adding a little more pressure.” Mike dropped into the chair at the table. When Shauna let go of his hand he felt alone, bereft. How could a touch do that to him?
“Don’t worry, Mike. You’re not sending the results to the Global Guardians. For you it’s not a wait-another-year situation. Oh good, here comes our snack.”
“The Global Guardians score the test?” Mike looked down in astonishment at his plate. “This is a snack?” The platter had a pineapple cut into the shape of a canoe filled with chunks of mango, raspberries and blueberries, two types of apples, three kinds of cheese and an assortment of crackers. Camille put a plate full of chocolate chip, sugar and oatmeal cookies in the center of the table.
“I thought you’d need to shore up your strength.” Shauna dug into her food.
“Didn’t you tell me there was a food shortage?” Mike couldn’t believe how sweet the pineapple was. He placed a piece of a yellow cheese on a thin wafer and chewed. “This is fantastic.”
“Yes, there is a food shortage. The population explosion has intensified. People live well into their hundreds, babies don’t die much anymore, cancer, AIDS, Parkinson’s and most other diseases are eradicated. The Fearsome Foursome has decreed that we eat more grains, fruits, vegetables and less meat, poultry and fish. They don’t give us any place to grow our crops because they won’t sell or lease land to the farmers.” Shauna shook her head. “It’s really sad. We fly to other cities and see all of the open space. But all land not previously owned by individuals is controlled by the Corporations and they won’t give it up, even to nurture the world’s population. Plus, they snatched up land from individuals at below cost just after the war in the Middle East. We’re stuffed into skyscrapers and our cities are walled, yet we can fly right over the tops of those walls and into wide open spaces.”
“No wonder everyone hates them.” Mike reached for a still warm chocolate chip cookie. “This is delicious. Did you really make them?”
Shauna’s head snapped up. “Of course I did. My mother taught me to cook and bake when I was a child.” She waved a cookie at him. “Just because I don’t get to do it much doesn’t mean I don’t know how. Humf.”
Mike laughed at the false hurt in her voice. “Well I thank your mother from the bottom of my heart.” He finished the cookie and reached for an oatmeal raisin one. “So why all the food here?”
“Oh. Well, this is a private island. The owner grows all his own food. He has cows, pigs, chickens and a private area to farm fish. It’s a real treat to be here. I don’t get here often enough.”
“So who owns this place and how do you know him?”
Shauna turned a dull red. “I do.”
The cookie that Mike held in his hand fell to the table. “What?”
“Well, George and I do. We make good money, Mike. I’m the head of my division. George travels the world doing hazardous jobs and we both are well compensated for it. There’s no law against buying property, just property that’s owned by the Fearsome Foursome. About five years ago I met this older gentleman who couldn’t care for this island anymore. He liked me. When George and I approached him about buying, he sold and was glad of it.”
While Mike digested that bit of information a thought occurred to him. “If you own an island it’s recorded somewhere, right?”
“Right. Ownership of anything from skycars to apartments to islands is on record. Anyone can access those records, they’re public information. Why?”
“Our faces are on the front page of every digital newspaper in the world. Won’t the Global Guardians have access those records and think you came here to escape?”
“Sure. But there’s one law, thank God, that the people fought for. I mean through demonstrations and publicity. The law states that no Global Guardian can access an owner’s personal property without his or her approval. Or approval from one of the four CEOs.”
“Then how can they do a smash and grab of your parents’ office and your apartment?”
“My parents only rented the space in that building and I rent my apartment. Don’t need to own it when I’ve got this.” Shauna cleared the table. “Want to do the dishes?”
Her grin was infectious. “Sure.” Mike gathered the linens and napkins and followed her into the spacious kitchen. He loved the open area with ultramodern walls. Everything was recessed with nooks and crannies throughout the room. A large, opaque, blue, free-standing cabinet graced the center of the room. Three large white sinks were the focus of the cabinet. It had a futuristic faucet made of something silver-colored that didn’t look like metal. If he hadn’t been told, he wouldn’t see the drawers cleverly hidden in the structure.
They placed the items in the dishwasher and Mike said, “Dishwasher clean.” Nothing happened. “Dishwasher turn on.” Nothing. Shauna stood off to the side a grin stretching her mouth. “Dishwasher work.”
She burst out laughing. “Maybe you ought to take a test for this too. It’s ‘dishwasher on’.”
He heard a click and a slosh as water poured through the dishwasher. “Smart aleck. Well, I better get back and find the answer to question number one hundred seventy-three.”
“I have faith.” Shauna kissed him lightly on his lips.
“Thank you.” He kissed her again, deepening it and swirling his tongue with hers. Pineapple, mango, cinnamon and sugar melded together into a heady taste. Mike pulled Shauna to him. He wrapped his arms around her back and nuzzled her neck. Int
ense need shot through him, weakening his knees. No woman had ever done that to him before.
But no woman was like Shauna.
* * * * *
“Congratulations! You passed,” Shauna said the next day. “Now you get to study for phase two. Here.” She dumped five thick books on the table.
“Why aren’t these digital?” Mike asked.
“I couldn’t answer that. Some things just never change.”
Mike thumbed through the manuals to see if he could get an idea of what was to come. He groaned when he saw sections on advanced aerodynamics pertaining to skycar flyers, weather and wind patterns and a section on intense sky lane maneuvers. “How did you ever learn all this?” He glanced up at Shauna.
“The same way everybody else does. A little at a time. You, on the other hand, are working on the accelerated course. Normally, this phase takes six months to complete. You’re smart. Let’s see if you can get it in one month.”
“Shauna, are we going to stay holed up here for a month while I study for the test?”
“No, you are. I want to look for Mom and Dad.”
“I’m not letting you go out there alone,” Mike said. “The Global Guardians will be hunting for you. Stay here with me.” Mike strolled around the desk and pulled Shauna to him. He stared into her eyes.
Shauna nuzzled his nose with a light laugh. “My protector. No one’s ever wanted to protect me before. Thank you.” She squeezed his hands and kissed the tips of his fingers. Then she patted him on his rear end. “Now get studying. I’ll wait two weeks, that’s it. It’ll give me time to dig deeper into the computer and see what I can find out about SubCorp.” She flounced out of the room, leaving the scent of citrus and honey in her wake.
* * * * *
“I’m ready,” Mike said a week and a half later. “Give me the test.”
“You sure?”
“Yup. Come on, woman, get the test.” Mike had studied day and night. His eyes felt like grit, he hadn’t shaved in days and his clothes were rumpled. Actually, he’d slept in them more times than he could say. But he felt he knew the material and wanted to pass this test. He had cabin fever too. Even though danger resided outside of Isla Atlantica, he needed action.
They’d been here for six weeks and even though Mike loved it, he needed to move, to do something. He’d missed Christmas with his brother and they hadn’t celebrated it here. Mike knew Scott was worried about him. They always spent it together and he was probably frantic about his disappearance. Plus, the warmth just wasn’t conducive to celebrating the holiday properly. Palm trees, plumeria bushes and protea paradise plants were not good substitutes for noble pines, douglas firs and poinsettias.
Shauna brought in a two-hundred question test and plopped it on the table. “There you go. Come up for air now and again and food is always available.”
Mike stared at the pages but his mind was still on the fact that he hadn’t tried to contact Scott. “Uh…there’s something I just thought of.” He fiddled with the pages of the test.
“What?” Shauna came closer and touched the frown lines on his forehead. “I know you’ll pass, you’re very smart.”
“No, it’s not the test.” He looked up at Shauna and rose from the table. “I can’t believe I missed Christmas with my brother. He’ll be so worried about me.”
“Oh. Well, why don’t you send him a note and tell him you’re safe?”
“I can do that?” Mike felt his spirits lift. “I wish I’d known that.”
Shauna sat on the edge of the table. “Mike, we’ve been running from the law. At first there wasn’t time. Now we’re hiding but you’ve been so busy. Don’t brood. Here.” She pulled out her all-purpose black device and tapped the side of it. A virtual keyboard popped out and she scribbled a note. When she finished she turned it around, tapped the other side of the device and showed Mike a holographic picture of the text.
Scott, I know you’re frantic and I’m sorry for the delay in reassuring you that I’m fine. I’m working on a project with a friend of mine and will be back as soon as I finish here. Sorry I couldn’t get this message to you sooner and I’m sorry I missed Christmas with you. I’ll explain when I see you. Much love, Mike.
“Good,” Mike said.
Shauna said to her device, “Send. Okay, the message will show on Scott’s computer. He should have it now.”
Relieved Mike blew out a breath. His hair flew up and he raked a hand through the rumpled mess. “I can’t believe you can communicate with the past. If I let myself think about this whole situation, it’s really unnerving.”
“So far I can only communicate and travel to the time I have set in the traveler’s device. That’s what I named this.” She waved the two-inch square device. “One day I hope to be able to set it to communicate with any time that the owner wants to learn about.”
“Pretty incredible, Shauna.” Mike shook his head. He finally processed the fact that he was living in 2110. Oh, he’d seen the changes, lived them for a short time. But communicating with his brother back in 2004 while he lived in the future was bizarre.
A beep sounded.
“What’s that?” Mike asked.
Shauna looked at her device and a huge smile split her face. She pulled up the hologram and said, “Look.”
Mike stared at the message flashing back at him.
It’s about time you got back to me, bro. Even Dad was showing signs of concern. That shocked me, that’s for sure. Whatever secret project you’re working on better keep you safe and alive or I’ll come after you and beat you to a pulp! Next time don’t miss Christmas. Love, Scott
Mike laughed. “That’s Scott. Well, thank you, Shauna. I feel much better now. First a shower and shave. Then food. After sustenance I’ll tackle this test.” He pulled Shauna into his arms and hugged her. Then he stroked his finger down her silky cheek. “Thank you, love. I needed that connection to home.” He kissed her lightly on her lips then left her standing with her mouth gaping open.
Love. He called her love. Did that mean he loved her? Shauna pushed the thought aside and left Mike to his shower and test. She left a platter of fried chicken breasts, broccoli and rice on the table next to his textbooks and headed back to her computer and her search for her parents. She had made progress in the last few days. She’d traced the email back to a hand-held device that was registered to someone who didn’t exist. But they were her parents, she knew. Only they would use the name Roverdale. That was their secret name since her Springer Spaniel Rover had died.
Happy to know they were alive, Shauna sat at her desk. Tracking the device that sent the message was a problem. She knew that they’d fiddled with the hand-held to make it illegally untraceable. She would have done the same thing. But there must be a way to find them.
She stared at her parents’ original message. She’d followed the encrypted words back again and studied the pattern they showed. Nothing. She couldn’t see how she’d get any further than she had. She spiked her short hair not realizing that she looked like she’d stuck her finger in a socket. “Damn. Where are you Mom and Dad? Show me how to find you.” Shauna knew they wouldn’t have contacted her if they didn’t want her to find them. “I need to clear my head,” she muttered. She worked on the program for her time travel device, refined it, smoothed it. She sent the revisions to Nate Ridge, her boss. Thank goodness TravelPlanetCom had its own internal system. The joys of working for a communication corporation. The Global Guardians would need an emergency directive to tap into their system. One they’d have to get from the Fearsome Foursome. Emergency directives were hard to get, even for the cops of the world.
* * * * *
“Here’s the finished test.” Mike said a few days later. He dropped the pages on Shauna’s desk, startling her. “Oh, sorry. I thought you heard me come in.”
“No problem. I was pondering the mysteries of the universe.” She laughed at Mike’s quizzical expression. “I’m stumped. I’ve traced Mom and Dad’s message as f
ar back as I can.” She rose from her desk, grabbed the papers and said, “Okay, I’ll grade this now so you don’t have to wait.”
“Where do you get the answers?”
“Oh, they’re on the worldnet. Anyone can access them. But don’t think you can get them before you take the test. You have to register to begin your skycar training, then each time you complete a section you get access to the next section of training.”
“Well, that leaves me out. Since you’ve already taken the test, how can you access the answers?”
Shauna grinned up at Mike. “I have my ways…”
“Okay, mysterious woman,” Mike laughed. “Grade the test. I need to grab a shower and food.” Mike leaned toward Shauna and kissed her deeply on the mouth. He tickled her lips apart and pushed his tongue inside her mouth. “Umm. You taste good.” With a tender swipe across her wet lips, he arched an eyebrow and left the room.
What a kiss. The man sure knew how to unbalance her. A moment ago she’d been deep in thought and now she wished she were deep under the covers. Had it only been a month and a half ago that she’d met this incredible man in 2004? Standing in the middle of the room, Mike’s musky scent still teasing her senses, Shauna knew that Mike had come into her life for a reason. She didn’t know what that reason was but she suspected it would change her whole world. A shiver raced up her spine. Premonition? Hopefully a good one.
“Computer, on.”
The computer blinked a blue light and said, “Welcome back, Shauna,” in a very male voice.
“Can you patent your voice, James?” Shauna sighed. She always loved the low, melodic sound of her computer’s voice. Nowadays you could download hundreds of voices to personalize you computer and Shauna chose the voice of some old actor from the twentieth century named James Earl Jones. She’d found no voice more perfect than his.
“It already is patented, my lovely human,” James said to her. “Now, what can I do for you?”
“Grade this test, please. Don’t send the results to the Guardians. It’s just a practice test.”
No Future Christmas Page 7