“I can’t.”
“Can’t” never accomplished anything. You’re a man, Diet. You just need to prove it to her, but most especially to yourself.
“I can’t.”
You can and you will, or so help me... I swear the first thing I’m gonna do when I crawl out of that stasis chamber is to Jap-slap the cowboy shit right out of you!
* * * *
Chapter-35
The decision to kiss for the first time is the most crucial in any love story. It changes the relationship of two people much more strongly than even the final surrender; because this kiss already has within it that surrender. -- Emil Ludwig
The Alliance Planet Massa, City of Bostin
August 10th, 3865
Noreen felt sad and hollow inside. Even that flaming guilt trip she’d put herself through the past several days had finally died down, to softly glowing embers of regret. She hadn’t even tasted that supper-in-a-box she’d nuked for herself earlier. She might as well have eaten the container, for all that she could tell the difference. She’d completed a few minor cleaning chores she had been putting off, while she’d been busy wallowing in self-loathing. A load of laundry done, folded and put away, whatnots dusted. She’d even scrubbed the toilet, not that it really needed it… more an exercise in self-flagellation, than anything. The maid service will certainly be surprised when they come in tomorrow.
She flitted around her apartment like a restless spirit, more haunting the place than actually living in it. What thoughts that did float through her mind this evening had been about Diet — not about how badly she’d treated him, as before, but how she felt about him as a person. I liked him. I really liked him. I didn’t think I would, or even that I should… but I liked him. He made me laugh.
After finally admitting this to herself, her regrets turned away from how cruelly she’d treated him, and towards regret for lost opportunity. He really was a nice guy. I didn’t know they even made that model anymore… and I blew it.
She’d even tried watching a movie on holovision to keep her mind occupied. It had been a rerun... a girly flick that was one of her traditional favorites, but she’d had to turn it off because the male lead had a beard that reminded her all too much of a certain someone, whose memory blew gently on those embers, fanning the banked heat of regret a bit higher than was comfortable.
She showered, changed into her nightgown, brushed her teeth and turned down the bed, knowing that sleep would be elusive again tonight. She tried reading the book that she’d started, but couldn’t maintain her focus. After reading the same page for the third time, she finally put it down, admitting to herself that she still had no idea what that page had said.
Only 9:15… Wow, you are some party animal, girl.
Just as she reached for the light, there came a soft, but definite knock on her front door. What the hell? The doorman hadn’t called to announce that she had a visitor in the lobby. She wasn’t afraid, exactly, but this was damned odd. She grabbed her robe and slipped it on, as she hurried to the door. She tried accessing the hall camera on the monitor next to the door frame to see who it was that was out there, but it just showed an empty hallway, just as it usually did.
Weird.
Girding her courage, she opened the door and there stood… “Diet!”
Diet put his finger to his lips to shush her, and stepped forward. He enfolded her in his arms and without saying a word... he kissed her. Boy, did he kiss her! When he allowed her to catch a breath, she stammered, “Diet, I’m so…”
“Shh…” And he kissed her again. As their lips parted this time, her toes curled.
* * * *
“I’m really, really glad you came back, Diet,” said Noreen Lucado.
“Hal thought your mistaking me for a Casanova type was one of the funniest things he’d ever heard,” said Diet.
“I’m still really embarrassed about all that,” replied Noreen. “How did you talk to Hal? Is he here on Massa too?”
Yeah, he’s our resident computer geek, and he’s been monitoring the data transfer to the lab from the other end. I hadn’t thought about the hall monitor camera. Hal probably hacked the system so you couldn’t see it was me, before you opened the door. e’s very detail-oriented and always had a flair for the dramatic.”
“That was a little strange… I almost called security and didn’t open the door, but…”
“I’m glad you didn’t.”
Noreen laughed. “Me, too!”
“You know, if Hal hadn’t ragged on me so hard, I don’t know if I’d have ever worked up the courage to do something like that.”
“Then I definitely owe Hal one…” replied Noreen. “…or three, actually.”
Diet reddened and Noreen giggled. “Not that I’m complaining, mind you. I’m really glad you saved all that up, just for me!”
Diet reddened even further and Noreen laughed again. It felt so good to be snuggled up next to this masculine hunk of man-child, on her big, empty bed. Not empty anymore. Diet was definitely a puzzle. He was so authoritative and confident about almost everything, yet so shy and awkward when it came to boy/girl stuff.
Well, not awkward at quite all of the boy/girl stuff, thank God!
Diet had literally swept her off her feet, when he showed up unexpectedly at her door last night. What followed had been… well, world-shattering was the only phrase that really came to mind. Noreen’s mind was awhirl, as she lay there enfolded in his arms.
If this isn’t love, it’ll certainly do in the interim.
She really wasn’t all that experienced in the physical side of things and she certainly wasn’t the type that went jumping into bed with a man after one date, but after all the emotional wreckage of the past several days, it had just felt so right to jump his bones when she had the opportunity… an opportunity she’d all but given up hope of ever having again.
Truth be known, Diet hadn’t been quite the “expert” lover that she’d mistakenly envisioned him to be, but instincts being what they are, they’d gotten the job done… repetitively. Perhaps it was Diet’s distinct lack of polish in the bedroom that had finally convinced her that he really was, what he portrayed himself to be. Not that it had been bad, oh no… it had been fantastic! But she smiled inside when she envisioned future times like this when they could both learn from each other, as they explored the nuances of amore. Now they relaxed together in the afterglow, endorphins flooding through her system.
Gone were all previous thoughts of “why this can never work,” blown out of her head by the sweetness of his kiss, the gentleness of his touch and the ferocity of his passion.
I’ll make it work. Even if I have to quit my job and bum around the universe with him, as he goes off on all of those mysterious errands for the Baron. We’ll make this work, somehow. I’m not letting this one get away.
“I’d like to meet him.”
“Meet who?”
“Hal. I’d like to meet this roommate of yours, who I owe so much to, so I can thank him in person.”
“What, and give him the opportunity to steal you away from me? I don’t think so!”
Noreen laughed again, “Fat chance, you’re stuck with me now, big guy.”
And I do mean, big… Wow!
“After last night, I’m absolutely ruined as far as other men go, so you’d better get used to having me around.”
“Promise?”
In response, she tilted her head and kissed him again... and again.
Is he rousing again? My God, this man is insatiable! How’d I get so lucky?
* * * *
Diet’s communicator chimed softly in the early morning glow of the just rising sun. Noreen was sleeping deeply beside him, exhausted from their last event in bedroom Olympics. Diet felt, well… drained, but never better in his whole life. He had never had an experience like that before, and certainly never with anyone as beautiful and exciting as Noreen Lucado. He understood just how easy it is for a lonely man to suddenly
believe he’s in love after an event like that, but damned if it didn’t feel that way.
Diet slowly disentangled himself, as to not disturb the beauty sleeping peacefully beside him. God, she looks like an angel, lying there like that. Diet rose silently, grabbed his communicator off of the nightstand beside him and padded naked into the kitchen area where he would not disturb her rest. She’s certainly earned it. Diet thumbed the answer icon and said, “Yes?”
She didn’t care about the grubbies, did she?
Diet chuckled softly. “She never mentioned them, no.”
Told ya… So how’d everything go?
“Probably the best night of my life. I definitely owe you one, buddy… four, if truth be told.”
Four? You dog, you... Woof, woof, woof!
“No, seriously… I needed that kick in the ass that you gave me, to get me to come over here last night. I seriously owe you for that.”
Good, you can pay me back by getting your ass over to the lab and getting me out of that damned stasis chamber. The download is complete and everything seems to have checked out as being totally successful. I can’t wait to feel what’s it’s like to experience and navigate in the real world, like all other life forms do.
“Keep your pants on, amigo. ‘You’ won’t actually know what’s it’s like until after you get your first update from your mobile self anyway.”
I know that, but I’ve waited so long, Diet... I’m excited as hell.
“Computers don’t get excited, Hal. They don’t get happy, they don’t get sad… they just run programs.”
You really like that line, don’t you, asshole? You don’t sound very grateful for my kicking your butt into gear last night.
“Oh I am very grateful, Hal. But I’m NOT going to screw this up by not being here when she wakes up. That would wreck everything we built last night.”
Oh, all right. Just don’t forget to come back to the plane and pack a bag on your way back to the lab.
“Pack a bag?”
You told me to keep my pants on… I don’t have any. You’re gonna have to bring me some clothes.
“Oh, right. Yeah, it might be a bit awkward to have you walking around naked, huh?”
Not to me. I’d just tell everyone that I was you.
“You would, wouldn’t you? Listen, Hal, I really think it would be a really good idea if we had you delivered back to the spaceplane, still inside the stasis chamber, before we get you out of it.”
Why?
“Because walking and talking are learned responses. It’s going to take you quite a while to learn how to control that body. You’ve never done anything like that before. Besides, all the muscles in that body are brand-new, and equivalent to those that have atrophied. They have no inherent strength in them yet, because they’ve never been used before. They wouldn’t respond properly, even if you knew how to maneuver them.”
Damn… I knew that. Guess I just got a little over-anxious, finally being this close to completion of the project.
“Sounding more human all the time, compadre. It’s called a brain-fart.”
* * * *
Diet took Noreen out to a late lunch, after they awoke from their sexual marathon the night before. After eating, they went back to the lab and oversaw the crew loading the stasis chamber back into the armored vehicle it had arrived in. Diet then rode with Noreen on their trip back to the spaceplane.
“Will you be leaving soon?” Noreen asked softly.
“Not soon, I still have several days more work here on Massa. Trying to get rid of me already?”
“No, definitely not that,” said Noreen. “I’m just not sure I want to give you up when it does come time for you to leave.”
“That’s good to hear, because I don’t think I want to give you up, either.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really… and it’s not just the fantastic sex, either,” said Diet. “I’ve never met anyone like you before and I’d really like to ride this pony until I fall off, or it just dies out from under me.”
“I won’t let you fall off, Diet. As great as the sex has been, I doubt it’ll be fatal, so you can ride this filly as much as you want to, while you’re here,” Noreen said with a laugh.
Diet reddened again. “I don’t suppose there’s any way I could talk you into going with me when the time comes, is there?”
Noreen smiled and looked over at Diet speculatively and asked, “Think you could afford me?”
“Easily.”
Noreen laughed. “I don’t know what the baron is paying you, but I doubt it’s as much as he’s paying his CEO’s. You think you could handle being around a woman that makes more money than you?”
Diet pursed his lips, and surprised her by reaching for his communicator, instead of answering.
“Hal?”
Yes, Diet?
“Ms. Lucado seems to believe that she makes considerably more money than I do. an you check on that for me?”
Noreen yelled, “Hal, this is Noreen Lucado… Nice to meet you, but don’t you dare tell Diet what my salary level is!”
Nice to meet you too, Ms. Lucado.
“Call me Noreen, please.”
All right, Noreen. As much as I’d really like to oblige you, I’ll have to tell him if he insists… Diet’s my boss.
Noreen glanced over at Diet as she drove. “Diet told me that you two were roommates. You live with your boss, Hal?”
It can be awkward sometimes.
“Well, I’d really like for you to join Diet and me for dinner, so I can thank you properly for that little kick in the pants that you gave him, that motivated him to pay me a visit last night.”
You’re welcome, Noreen. I’m sure the experience was good for Diet too.
“So, you’ll join us this evening.”
I’d really love to Noreen, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask for a rain check. y boss is a slave driver and he’s got me shackled to overseeing the next phase of this project.
Noreen glanced at Diet and asked, “You won’t give Hal enough time off to allow him to have dinner with us?”
Diet grinned at her and said, “Someone has to keep his finger on the pulse of this project at all times, so we can’t both be away at the same time. That’s one of the perks of being boss… I get to say which one of us gets to have dinner with you — and I’m voting for me!”
I’m afraid I’m going to have to borrow Diet back from you for a couple of hours or so, after the stasis chamber is secured in the cargo bay of the spaceliner, Noreen.
“Not a problem, Hal. I can hang loose for a while,” answered Noreen. “We had a late lunch, so I’m nowhere near hungry again yet.”
I have those figures you asked for, Diet.
“Hal, don’t you dare!” yelled Noreen.
I won’t tell him, Noreen. Suffice it to say that Diet’s income is considerably higher than yours…
Noreen was startled by that revelation.
…by more than a factor of four.
Now she was stunned. She turned to Diet and said, “The baron pays you more than four times what I make?”
Diet shrugged. “I’m very good at what I do.”
Noreen snorted. “Yes you certainly are… you proved that last night.”
Diet reddened yet again and Noreen snickered in delight.
I told Diet that he needed to get laid. I appreciate your taking pity on him, Noreen.
That made both of them blush fiercely and, after an awkward moment, they both burst out laughing.
* * * *
As security oversaw the loading and securing of the stasis chamber into the cargo bay of the big spaceliner, Diet escorted Noreen through the luxurious “common areas” of the big plane, and up the stairway into the “hump” just behind the cockpit where the flight crew normally resided. Noreen had been stunned when she first saw the giant spaceliner. t was a jumbo, and she hadn’t known that any company used them to ferry executives around. Most bought 20 passenger
GulfMaster executive spaceliners and just a few bought larger 100-passenger spaceliners and modified them, but this… this was simply unbelievable. This monster was the largest spaceliner humanity made… over 850 passengers could be fit into its single class configuration, with an average price tag of over $3.7 billion — and that was before it had been customized into a space-going palace.
As they reached the top of the stairway, Diet palmed a customized palm-lock pad that opened the door to the executive suite with an audible electronic click. Diet bowed and with a flourish of his hand, indicated that Noreen should proceed him. “Welcome to my humble abode, Noreen.”
Inside was luxury on a level that Noreen had never seen on holovision, or even in electronic magazines that specialized in making the general public dissatisfied with their lot, by their in-depth coverage of the toys enjoyed only by the richest of the rich. As her head swiveled side-to-side, she was awed… no other word for it. Pure, unadulterated awe.
“Diet,” she said, “This is the baron’s personal spaceliner, isn’t it?”
“One of them.”
“One of them?” she asked incredulously.
“Yeah… TBG owns several others.”
“But surely not like this one.”
“Well, not exactly,” said Diet. “There are three others this size, all having different interiors and furnishings, of course, but all comparable. I kind of like this one the best of the big ones, as it’s less ostentatious than the others.”
“Less ostentatious? You’re kidding?”
“Nope, the others are downright gaudy.”
Noreen’s head was spinning. Just who the hell is Diet, that the richest man in all humanity would delegate a spacecraft as magnificent as this one, just for him to run errands in... and also pay him more than four CEO’s?
“Wow! Damn nice digs… just how the hell did you manage to land this gig, anyway?”
“The baron and I are, uh… close. We grew up together.”
“You travel around in this all the time?”
“Not all the time,” Diet replied. “This was the only one available that had a cargo bay the stasis chamber would fit into comfortably. I usually use one of the smaller corporate liners, as I’m not really into all this opulence. My tastes are much simpler.”
Defying the Prophet: A Military Space Opera (The Sentience Trilogy Book 2) Page 35
