The Freezer (Genesis Endeavor Book 1)

by David Kersten

  Before the passion could build, she broke off the kiss and looked at him. “So, you aren’t mad that I stole your diary and kept it from you? And you aren’t mad that I wasn’t honest and was pretending to not know anything about you and just looking to take advantage of you?” She appeared flabbergasted that he was reacting this way.

  “I’m furious, actually, but I wanted to get laid tonight.” He said it deadpan and she had to do a double take. She punched him in the chest and he laughed. Then she kissed him passionately again.

  When the kiss ended, Wendy looked into his eyes. “Jack, please tell me that this thing between us is not just a mixture of loneliness and raging hormones. I feel like this is all too good to be true. Too convenient. I was so lonely when I found your diary, and in reading it I fell in love with someone who didn’t exist. How can I be sure that you are the man I fell in love with? How can I even trust my own feelings here? How do we know this isn’t just a hot romance that will burn itself out in a few weeks?” She had worked herself into tears again.

  “Wendy, I don’t even remember writing in a diary, so I can’t tell you much about the person that you read about. I’m a simple man. I was never one to sleep around, and I feel that I’m a pretty good judge of character. I have to be honest with you when I say that I haven’t felt this way about anyone since my wife died, but at the same time, maybe I just forgot what it was like to just be with a woman. I’ve enjoyed my time with you, and not just the intimate time, the chemistry between us seems to extend way beyond that. I want to spend time with you, get to know you, and you can be assured that I won’t run around behind your back and have sex with every woman I meet. Besides, I’m under the impression that there will be one more reason to be with you before long.”

  Wendy smiled. There was little doubt that a baby would be on the way soon, if not already. She put her head on his chest and sighed. “Jack, I’m sorry about being so emotional about this. I certainly don’t want to put any pressure on you to have feelings for me. I appreciate your honesty, and I think you’re right, we need to just spend some time and see where this is going. I’m sorry if this ruined our date. I just didn’t want you to go all the way up to Montana and discover an empty lock box. What can I do to make it up to you?” She looked back up at him, this time with a mischievous grin on her face.

  “This date was perfect. If I died tonight I would have to say that I went out happy. As far as making it up...” He leaned in and kissed her again.

  Suddenly she broke off and said, “Oh, I almost forgot.” She ran into the other room, then came walking back out. Music filled the room. He couldn’t identify its source, but it sounded fantastic, as if just around the corner there was a piano player. It was a classical piano piece, but not one he recognized. His taste in music leaned toward orchestra and symphony. Country Western was enjoyable if the mood is right, and when he was younger he loved rock and roll from the likes of Elvis or Buddy Holly, but nothing beat a good piano solo.

  The music was fairly slow, and perfect for some close, romantic dancing. Wendy’s eyes were closed and her hips swayed to the music. He stepped up to her, took her hand in his and wrapped his other around her waist. They slowly danced around the room for at least a half hour, bodies moving in perfect unison.

  Wendy was smiling, staring into Jack’s eyes. “I wasn’t sure how you would react to the music, or if you would even be interested in dancing. I always liked going out dancing on a date, and I figured this date wouldn’t be complete without some. You make a fine partner Mister Taggart.”

  Jack put on his smoothest smile, spun her around slowly and then dipped her. “You’re not so bad yourself, Miss Roberts.” With that he kissed her deep, and she sort of sunk into him. They broke off the kiss and settled back down on the couch. He took the lead for a while, and they made out like a couple teenagers on the basement couch. Wendy finally stopped and stood up, holding Jack’s hand, urging him to follow.

  They made their way to her bedroom. He stopped at the end of the bed, and kissed her neck, then slid the shoulder of her dress down and kissed her shoulder. He slid the other shoulder off and kissed the nape of her neck. Working his way down her body he slowly peeled the dress off and kissed each inch of her body. He paused at her very erect nipples and gave them a little extra attention before continuing down her body. When he reached her hips, the dress slid the rest of the way to her ankles by itself. He kissed just below her navel, then slid back up her body, sliding his hands up her thighs, over her hips, landing finally on her breasts as he kissed her deeply again. A little moan escaped her throat and she backed up to pull his shirt off. She kissed his chest as she slid his pants and boxers off, then embraced him and kissed him deeply on the lips again. He picked her up, her legs wrapping around his waist, and carried her to the bed. He laid her down and went to work again with his lips and tongue, working his way all around her body. He brought her to orgasm with his tongue, and she screamed out his name. He then slid back up to kiss her on the lips, and finally entered her. He worked slowly and with perfect rhythm, until she was practically screaming, gripping at the sheets, wrapping her legs around him. He released when she peaked and they shared a long, intense orgasm.

  They lay there for about five minutes, him on top of her, just gazing into each other’s eyes as if communicating telepathically. Finally he slid off to the side, and lay on his back. She cuddled up to him, one leg draped over both of his, pressing her warm body to his. “My God, Jack, that was incredible.” She was still a bit dazed, the remnants of the intense orgasm tickling her spine.

  Jack didn’t feel the need to say anything; he just held her tight and closed his eyes. They lay like that for about an hour, drifting in and out of sleep, totally at ease in each other’s arms. Two more times that night they repeated the performance, taking the passion to new heights, and by midnight they were completely spent and both sound asleep.

  * * *

  Wendy woke up in Jack’s arms. The lights in the apartment had slowly gotten brighter, simulating a rising sun. The effect worked as intended and soon she was wide awake. Jack was still sound asleep, so she carefully extracted herself and climbed out of bed. The clock on her datapad showed just before six a.m. Standing up revealed a stiffness in her legs that was a little painful but completely welcome. It reminded her of the evening before, and a smile made its way onto her face.

  She used the bathroom, and then went to the kitchen. While she dug out the diary, she thought about the night before. Ever since he called her earlier in the day, she had been nervous about that evening. She knew that at some point in the evening she would have to confess about the diary. Although she didn’t feel good about the motives behind the meal and the dress, it did give her great satisfaction to make him happy.

  At some point during preparations for the date, she came to the conclusion that she was being too hard on herself about the whole thing. There should be nothing wrong with a woman doing what she can to please her man, even if part of the reason is because she did something she feels bad about and doesn’t want him to be mad about it. It had been a complete surprise when he reacted by grabbing her and kissing her. At that moment she would have done anything for him. In retrospect, she felt a little guilty about the date and dinner, but since she genuinely cared about him, it was all acceptable.

  She got the diary out and headed back to the bedroom to watch him sleep for a little while before waking him. They nearly collided as she rounded the corner. “Oh shit! You scared the hell out of me Jack!” She smiled and kissed him. They were both buck naked standing in the middle of the doorway.

  “Good morning. What time is it?” He looked worried that he had overslept.

  “It’s only 0600. Plenty of time. Here, I was digging this out for you. It is yours after all.” She handed him the diary. He took it, looking at it in reverence as if it held all of the answers to life’s greatest mysteries.

  “Thank You. You have no idea what this means to me. I was hoping I
could find something like this to give me some insight into how I died.” He walked over to his pack and put the diary in it. Wendy figured he would read it on the flight this morning. He paused after he stood up, looking down at his pack. “Say, you didn’t by chance change my computer file after reading that, did you?”

  It was an oddball question, but the fact was, she had. There was an entry in the diary about how he had changed his birth certificate to get into the military, and she figured that having his correct age in the system might make a difference in bringing him back. Of course, she hadn’t been able to just tell Teague without revealing the diary, so she snuck into his office and made the change. She blushed and said, “Yeah, actually, why?”

  “Oh, just clearing up a mystery. Teague will get a kick out of that.” He chuckled, shaking his head.”

  “Wait, you can’t tell him, it might get me in trouble!”

  Jack seemed to think about that for a second. “True. Don’t sweat it, it isn’t a big deal anyway. I need to use the bathroom, then take a shower.” He patted her on the butt as he walked past. She admired the view as he walked into the bathroom. After using the toilet, he started the shower and said, “Any chance you want to wash my back?”

  She smiled, went into the bathroom, and climbed into the small shower stall with him.

  Chapter 22

  Jack stepped off the elevator on level one and made his way down the hall to a small locker room that was next to a loading dock for the rail line that ran five miles away from the complex to an underground air field. He had called Chuck ahead of time to find out where on level one they would meet. Chuck was nowhere to be seen, but a new face was there putting on his combat gear. He was a fairly light skinned African American, just under six feet tall, lean body, and appeared to be about thirty years old. His hair was cut to the nap, and his features were sharp. When Jack walked in, he looked up from lacing his boots, and smiled. “You must be Jack. I’m Emmet Johnson, nice to meet you.” His voice was about that of a tenor which seemed to fit his size and stature, and there was a hint of southern hillbilly accent. He held out his hand and Jack shook it. The grip was firm and his hands were well calloused.

  “Pleased to meet you Emmet. I assume you are the third team member?” The question was rhetorical. Jack put the pack on a bench and pulled out his gear. He started getting undressed. “So tell me Emmet, are you a reborn or a native?”

  “Reborn, actually. One of the first. I have been here for just about four years now. I was a staff sergeant in the Army when I died in ‘97 from lung cancer.” Jack was pulling his under suit on, and the word Cancer had stopped him dead.

  “I’m sorry to hear that, I know what it’s like to learn you have cancer. Thankfully I don’t remember the year that I spent getting treatment or having to deal with it...” Their eyes locked for a brief moment and it felt like a bond passed between them. Jack resumed getting dressed.

  “I knew you were going to be short on memory, but damn, a whole year?” Emmet had a very expressive face, and his eyebrows did as much of the talking as his mouth did. He wrinkled his brow and said, “Of course, I was surprised that Teague was able to do anything at all, given how early you had been frozen.” Now his eyebrows went up and he closed his eyes as he said, “It was a miracle, my man, God himself must’ve had a hand in it.” He had finished securing his armor, and was putting his webbing on, making sure he had all his gear.

  “I sure feel like I was blessed. A week ago I was told I had cancer and was going to die, and here I am, healthy as can be, younger than I was, a beautiful woman to keep me warm, and one hell of a rifle to keep me safe.” They both laughed. “So I imagine you have kids, but are you married?” Jack was at ease with Emmet, he seemed to wear his heart on his shoulder.

  Emmet pondered the question for a moment, his face visibly working as he thought. “The first couple years, I went from woman to woman, having the time of my life. But after a while it felt a little lonely. I dated one woman here steady for about a year, but Teague told her she had to have a baby with one of the new guys we brought back, and it kind of pissed me off when she jumped right in the sack with him. I told her I would rather she did the artificial thing, but she blew it off and told me not to be silly!” His eyebrows were all over the place as he told his story. “Can you believe that shit? Those women can be cold about sex, Jack. Just some friendly advice, have fun with the natives but don’t get involved.” The last sentence ended with his eyebrows in a flat line across his brow, signifying that he was dead serious. Jack was surprised that he had opened up like this. Most military types would keep this sort of thing to themselves, and just pose and posture when asked about women. He decided he liked Emmet. “You about ready?”

  Jack was just securing his last piece of body armor and he nodded. He grabbed his pack and said, “Lead the way.”

  They stepped out of the room into the loading dock. There was a small rail car there, the shape of an egg if you stretched it to about twice its length. The door was open and inside were some benches. They climbed in and Emmet pressed a button next to the door. It slid shut and the car accelerated very quickly. Jack’s ears popped as they rode along, and he figured they were not only moving away from the complex but also climbing in elevation. In about two and a half minutes they slowed down and the door opened.

  They exited into a huge cavern-like room with natural rock walls and ceiling. The room was basically a large dome, perhaps four hundred feet by seven hundred feet, lit with an orange tinted light, reminding Jack of a warehouse lit with mercury lamps. On one wall there was a giant set of doors, easily eighty feet high.

  Chuck was holding a datapad and a flashlight and was inspecting inside a panel on a small aircraft that looked like a sleek helicopter with short wings on either side and no blade on top. It was painted in desert camouflage, had a door on each side, and the cabin was surrounded with large windows. The short wings had small propeller blades inset in them, but Jack couldn’t see any engine or turbine. Chuck closed the compartment he was looking in, and made a note on the datapad. He dropped the datapad and flashlight on a cart next to the aircraft and turned to the men walking toward him. “Good morning gentlemen, your ride is checked out and ready to go.” He said it with a smirk on his face, and without waiting for a response, opened the door and climbed in the front seat.

  Jack went around to the other side with Emmet and climbed into the back seat, stowing his gear next to him where Chuck’s pack already rested. Emmet handed him his pack and climbed in the front. When the door closed, Jack felt his ears pop again. He asked why.

  Not turning to look at Jack as he was busily flipping switches and getting ready to fly, Chuck said, “The cabin is pressurized. We will come out of those doors up ahead and shoot up to an altitude of about forty thousand feet. The ride will take about two hours, and according to my weather info, should be pretty smooth.”

  Jack was surprised when the aircraft suddenly lifted about ten feet off the ground. “Holy shit! I didn’t even hear you fire up the engine!”

  Concentrating on flying, Chuck said, “Yeah, it’s driven with electric motors so it’s quiet, but also the same technology that went into those ear plugs I gave you is used in the cabin here to keep it quiet. If you were outside right now it would be loud, but nothing like an old chopper or plane.”

  Jack nodded. Emmet was fiddling with his PDP up front, and Chuck was busy flying, so he sank back in the seat to enjoy the ride. The large windows to either side gave him a nearly three hundred sixty degree view. The giant doors opened up and the aircraft shot forward. He held his breath as they cleared the doors with about a foot to spare.

  Sunlight filled the cabin and they were surrounded by red and brown desert, with little clumps of grayish green brush dotting the landscape. The sight was quite stunning, and as Jack took it in, he realized he could not even spot the camouflaged door they had exited. The morning sun was coming in from the east at a steep angle, suggesting that sunrise had only
been in the last hour or so. That likely meant it was late fall or early spring. Jack had never asked what season it was, but now that he was outside, it all of a sudden felt relevant. “What time of year is it?”

  Emmet turned around and said, “Early spring, about March I would say. It was a long cold winter, brother.” He was smiling when he said it as if he was happy to have it behind him. His eyes narrowed slightly and his brow wrinkled just a bit as he said, “So tell me Jack, did you have a family back home? Any kids?”

  A thread of sorrow made its way through Jack’s heart, followed by a little guilt. He hadn’t thought about his wife or daughter for two days, and with all that had happened, it felt like two months. He softly sighed and said, “I had a wife and daughter, but they died in an auto accident about two years before I, uh, passed.” Jack still felt weird referring to his own death as a point of reference. “I was just getting over it and about to start trying to find a nice woman to date when I was told I had cancer.”

  Emmet nodded slowly and his brow and mouth both scrunched up. “Sorry to hear that Jack. A man should never have to bury his child.” The way he said it suggested that he knew from experience what he was talking about. His expression changed as fast as his topic and he asked, “I know you haven’t been here long, but tell me what you think so far of the whole female situation. You mentioned you had a warm body to keep you company?”

  Under normal circumstances, Jack would hardly be discussing his sex life while making small talk with a stranger, but he felt a sort of camaraderie with these men. They were both military, and it was obvious to Jack that both had seen heavy combat at some point in their lives. He also understood that the community was small, and everyone would know most of the details of his life sooner or later. “Actually, I met someone that I think I could spend the rest of my life with.” To his surprise the reaction from the two men was not at all what he expected.