“What a terrible experience. I’m so shook up, I’m still shaking.” Michelle said, as she helped Ronnie up. “I’m going to take him to the medical center.” She looped Ronnie’s arm around her shoulder and they slowly started walking. Ronnie was so weak and unstable it was all she could do to keep him upright and moving.
“Michelle, do you want me to help?” Harry yelled.
“Thanks, I’ve got him. Eso es la mia.”
The medics came in and checked Marc.
“Dr. Anthoni, we need to take you to the hospital. That shock you took could have caused severe neurological damage. As they carried him out, Marc yelled, “I’ll see you all later. Get some rest,” he said.
“I’m going to hang around for awhile to make sure everyone is tended to, and try to get this mess cleaned up. Looks like Sherman’s army marched through this place,” Harry replied.
After Ronnie’s treatment by the medical facility, Michelle helped him back to his quarters. He was still unsteady on his feet. It was the first time Michelle had been in Ronnie’s quarters.
“Where’s the bedroom?”
“Through that door.”
“Chiquita, I’m going to help you get cleaned up and into bed. I don’t think you can make it on your own. I sure don’t want you to fall and hurt yourself.”
“You’re probably right. I feel dopey. That shot the doc gave me after he stitched me up sort of knocked me for a loop. At least I don’t hurt.”
Michelle helped him undress and get in the shower. She had never seen him without clothes before. She enjoyed looking at his nicely sculptured male physique. She turned on the water and adjusted the temperature.
“Wow, that’s too cold,” he yelled as he leaned against the wall and grabbed a towel bar to keep from falling. “Michelle, I’m getting dizzy. Sorry, but I think I’ll need some help. I feel like I might pass out. My legs are rubbery. I’m about to go down.”
“Hold on, mi bebe, I’m coming in.” Michelle quickly stripped off her clothes and went into the shower to help him. “Hold onto the towel bar. Will you be okay until I get you washed off?”
“I think so. I’m so embarrassed about this. I’m really sorry,” he said. “This whole thing has me so shook up. I know the physics, and I know what could have happened, and still could. I wouldn’t say this to anyone else. I was terrified, and I’m still scared to death. I thought we were all going to die.”
“That’s all right, mi amor. I understand. So was I. Ronnie, if this thing has you so spooked, maybe you should leave. Maybe we both should.”
“We can’t. This is where we belong. Besides, Harry needs us and I need you.”
The warm water and the silky soap made her hands feel very sensuous to Ronnie. It felt especially good as she washed his private parts with the soapy water. He was getting very hard.
What she did for him did not take long. He let out a soft moan and his body jerked involuntarily as he ejaculated. Wow! It has been a while, she thought.
Ronnie’s legs were like rubber and Michelle had to help him out of the shower. She dried him off then helped him into bed. “I’m going to stay with you tonight. Where do you keep the extra blankets and pillows? Do you have an extra bathrobe? I’m a bit chilly.”
“Yes, in that closet. You could sleep in here with me. I could keep you warm. You sure wouldn’t need a bathrobe. Besides I love to look at your beautiful body.”
“That would be very nice, sugar, but you’re a big muchacho, so I don’t think the bogie man will get you. Besides, you need rest more than anything. I’ll check under the bed before I leave.” I want to get in that bed with him so much. He excites me more than any man ever has. I’m afraid I might be too much for him right now. She took a deep breath then tucked him in and kissed him on the forehead. She wanted him so bad she had to drag herself from his room. When she got to the door, she turned and smiled. “Goodnight, mi novio. I would have been devastated if anything happened to you. I love you so much. Call me if you need me, amado.”
“Michelle?”
“Yes, mi amor?”
“I love you, too. Thank you for helping me. What you did was very nice.”
“It was my pleasure, mi bebe. Sleep tight. By the way, you have a beautiful body … all of it.”
“So do you,” he replied.
She smiled, turned out the light and headed for the couch. Michelle tried to sleep, but tossed and turned. She couldn’t quit thinking about Ronnie and was getting very excited. She masturbated twice but that didn’t help. Finally, out of frustration, she arose and went back to his bedroom. She entered his door, turned on the light. “I couldn’t sleep.”
“Neither can I.”
“Mi amante, I hope you’re up for this.”
Ronnie smiled, pulled back the covers and extended his hand. Michelle slid the bathrobe off her shoulders and let it fall to the floor. Her heart pitter-patted as she took his hand and eagerly joined him in his bed.
Harry escorted Pepper back to her quarters. When they got to the front door, she turned and wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly.
“Harry, I thought I had failed and killed everyone. I really expected to die today. I’ve never been so upset in all my life. It was horrible sitting there. Waiting to feel the terrible pain of having your body ripped to pieces. I hope none of us ever have to go through that again.”
“If it hadn’t been for you and Wanda, we’d all be dead. I’m very proud of you. I think you acted like a real hero. I owe my life to you two. How do you repay someone for saving your life?”
“You can buy me a couple of margaritas the next time we go to dinner.”
They both laughed. It was good to laugh, to relax a bit. Harry looked deeply into her eyes and slowly and deliberately kissed her on the lips. It was something he had wanted to do since the first day he met her. The emotion of that simple kiss ran deep within him.
Pepper wrapped her arms around him and lovingly rubbed the side of his face with her hand. She looked into his eyes, and then kissed him tenderly. “Thank you for bringing me home. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She wanted him and almost asked him to stay with her, but decided against it. She wasn’t sure why.
She smiled, then went in, sat down and cried. She wondered how she had gotten herself into this situation. First, someone tried to kill her, and now she and all her friends had almost died.
What in the world’s next? I wonder if ‘I’d be better off quitting and going to some university to teach. I don’t know how much more of this I can take. If it wasn’t for Harry, I’d leave tomorrow. She fell on the bed and cried herself to sleep.
When Harry got back to his quarters, Scooter came up to him immediately. “Welcome home, big guy. Wanda gave me the scoop. Sure glad you made it. Want a drink?”
“Thanks, Scooter, I could use a couple, and don’t go light on the rum.”
“What about dinner?”
“Surprise me.”
“Coming up.” Scooter turned and went to the kitchen to prepare Harry’s drink and start dinner.
Harry heard a fishing show playing on the kitchen monitor. I really have to take a day off and take Scooter fishing. Wanda interrupted his thoughts.
“Harry, I’m so pleased you’re okay, bro.”
“Pepper told me what you did. I owe my life to you and her. In fact we all do. Thank you.”
“The last thing Mom told me when she sent me to you was, ‘Take care of my baby’.”
Harry chuckled and rolled his eyes.
“Harry, the battle with the op system was the most difficult thing I’ve ever done. Every decision I made had a high probability of error and might have caused all of your deaths. I’m not sure I could have lived with that.”
Harry smiled. “You did a great job. I’ve never doubted your ability to do anything. When you deal with dangerous technology, you make decisions that, by their very nature, are risky and sometimes life threatening. It’s just the nature of the game. You have to accept that
if you want to play.”
“Were you scared, bro?”
“I was scared silly.”
Wanda giggled then frowned and asked, “What happened to your eye?”
“A crazy man jumped on me in the tunnel when I was driving the cart.”
“Does it hurt? It looks bad.”
“As the old saying goes, only when I laugh,” he remarked.
Scooter came in with Harry’s drink. “Here you go.”
“Thanks, Scooter.”
“Hey, Harry. Nice shiner. Looks pretty cool. Did you give him the old one-two?”
“He jumped me before I had a chance to do anything. Marc cold cocked him though. The guy was a total fruitcake.”
Scooter chuckled, in his little computerized voice, all the way into the kitchen.
“Hey Scooter, hurry up I’m hungry,” Harry joked. “Bring me another drink.”
“I’m working faster than a one-legged man in a butt kicking contest. You want fast or good?”
Harry smiled broadly, took a sip of his drink, leaned back and put his feet on the coffee table. This drink sure hits the spot. I needed it.
“Wanda, you’ve been in-and-out of the system. Do you have any recommendations as to how we might fix this thing? I don’t want to go through anything like that again. I’m going to delay the project until we get this thing corrected. It’s just too dangerous.”
“I absolutely agree with that.” Wanda leaned back in her chair and placed her chin on her closed fist. “Yes. I’ve gone through the physics, and compiled a paper that shows the recommended modifications to the simulation program field equations. In addition, the data compression algorithms need improvement, and I have a change for them. I’ve also included the rationale so you guys can decide what to do. The analysis has been downloaded to your Qtab.”
“Thanks, I’ll look it over tomorrow and discuss it with the team.”
“I still haven’t dismissed the idea of a virus component or perhaps a system coding error,” Wanda said. “Actually, I’m leaning towards both.”
“I’ve asked Pepper to make this her primary focus and work with you on it.
Have you talked with Mom?”
“Of course. As a matter of fact, we’ve had some very interesting conversations.”
“I’m all ears. Scooter, where’s that drink?”
“Hold your horses, Harry. You thirsty?”
“Worse than a sex starved camel coming off a twenty day trip through the desert.”
Chapter 25
STL
Wormhole Development Facility
New Mexico
The next afternoon Harry walked into the MCC conference room. Marc was already there, going over his agenda and drinking a cup of latte.
“Morning, Harry. Great to be alive, huh?”
“You can say that again. How do you feel?”
“Okay,” he replied in a subdued tone. “I spent the night in the hospital. They released me this morning. I feel like a pin cushion.” Marc looked at Harry with a serious expression. “Thanks again for giving me CPR. You saved my life.” He stood up and shook Harry’s hand. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I’m just glad that’s over. I never want to face something that crazy again.”
“Ditto on that.”
“You seem a little down. Are you sure you’re all right?”
“Physically … yes. My wife called this morning and chewed me out for not letting her know I was in the hospital. Mary said she feels left out of my life, and if things don’t change, she’s going to file for a divorce. I think I calmed her down. I’ve never seen her that upset.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“That’s okay. I’ll get it straightened out.”
“I hope so. By the way, I have a white paper file I want to release to the team today. It has some recommendations for changes we might consider. You should have it on your Qtab.”
Marc sat down, and took a drink of his latte. “Yes, it’s here.” He quickly scanned the analysis. “This looks like a great piece of work. I’ll download it to everyone so we can discuss it.”
Harry nodded, and then walked to the buffet table to get a cup of coffee and a roll. He needed caffeine, and the roll was sweet and to his liking. A few minutes later, the team straggled into the conference room. Pepper was the last to arrive. Harry thought she looked a bit worn and stressed. She needs some time off, he thought. He entered W234 on his Qtab and Wanda appeared in the conference room.
“I want to start this meeting by giving special thanks to Pepper Martin and Wanda,” Marc said. “There’s no doubt we owe them a debt of gratitude. Without their cool nerves in the face of certain death, we would have all died. I’d like to say thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
Everyone in the room stood and applauded. The gesture overwhelmed Pepper and she blushed. Wanda just smiled. Harry gave them both an approving wink.
Marc continued. “Harry and I have decided to delay the program. We have three serious problems we have to solve before we go any further. First is the system shutdown issue. For some reason, the system shut us out and refused to recognize the normal shutdown sequence. If we hadn’t incorporated a backdoor for Wanda, we wouldn’t be here discussing this. I see this as our top priority. Harry has asked Pepper and Wanda to focus on this and also thoroughly scour the system for a virus component. It’s possible one caused a metric change that contributed to the bandwidth problem. Next, we need to analyze the system bandwidth limitations, which I believe led to the instability in the first place. Scott, you made some great changes to the compression algorithms, but we think you need to expand this work. I’d like you to press ahead and make this your top priority.”
“No sweat, Marc. I’ll examine the recommendations in the white paper you downloaded. It appears at first blush to be a good solution. It’ll take some time to review the algorithm and simulate it before we commit to code.”
“Ronnie, the metrics changed and for no reason. We want you to look at the physics and gravitational field equations to make sure we haven’t made mistakes in the software coding. Please collaborate with Wanda and Scott.”
“Roger that, Marc.”
“Lars, since you’re our simulation czar, we’d like you to design and code the simulation,” Marc said. “Please coordinate your efforts with Pepper and Scott as you design it, so we can test once they have their work ready.”
Lars nodded. “I’ll start immediately.”
“One other thing … the technical paper Harry’s submitted recommends some potential changes to the field equation formulation. Ronnie, I want you to spearhead this analysis and get Kimberly and Wanda’s input. Unless there’s something else we need to discuss, let’s adjourn.”
Harry turned to Marc and whispered, “Let’s give the team a three-day weekend. They need it.”
“See everyone Tuesday,” Marc ordered. “Have a nice weekend. You’ve earned it.”
The next morning, after he showered, Harry wandered into the living room. Scooter rolled in and gave him his coffee.
“How are you today, Harry?”
“A little burnt out.”
Wanda gave him a few minutes, and then appeared. “You look tired. Are you going to take a little time off?”
“As a matter of fact, I have the weekend off,” he said as he took a drink.
“Great. What are your plans?”
“I thought I’d go fishing,” he said, giving Wanda a wink.
Wanda grinned. She knew what Harry was thinking. Scooter had gone back into the kitchen.
Scooter heard and re-entered the room as fast as he could. “Harry, are you really going … serious?”
Harry and Wanda both smiled. “Yes, Scooter, and you’re going with me.”
“Wowee! This is the coolest thing you could ever do for me!” His little head bounced up and down to show his excitement. “I’ve got fishing lures I’ve made, and I’ve studied all of the great fishing spots around
here. I can be ready in thirty minutes. All I have to do is gather up my tackle, and I’m ready to hit the road! Man, am I ready! I’ve dreamed about this day.”
“Where do you want to go?” Harry asked.
“I’ve looked at all of the good spots, and Lake Ramah is a great bass lake. They have excellent fishing marinas, and the access is easy. It’s only an hour from us.”
“Ramah it is. Do you mind if I call Pepper and invite her?”
“Gosh no, I’d like that. I wish Wanda could go.”
“I do too, Scooter. I do have an idea though.”
Wanda appeared. “Thanks for remembering me, guys.”
Scooter was so exhilarated he almost ran into the doorframe on the way back into the kitchen. Harry opened his video link and rang Pepper.
She had just gotten up and answered in a sleepy voice. “Hello.”
“Good morning, Pepper. If you don’t have plans, would you like to go with Scooter, Wanda and me to Lake Ramah to do some fishing? We’re planning to camp overnight, so it should be fun sitting around the camp fire and telling scary stories.”
“When are you leaving? Is Wanda going?”
“In a couple of hours, and yes, Wanda’s going.”
Pepper didn’t respond for a moment, and he was afraid she was going to say no. Since that day in Albuquerque, they hadn’t spent much time alone. He so wanted to spend some quality time with her.
“Thanks, I’d like that very much. I haven’t been fishing in years. Can I bring the food and snacks?”
“Sure. We’ll have everything else. Pick you up in two hours.” Harry was delighted. His feelings for her were growing stronger every day. For the first time he knew how he really felt. I think I’m in love with her. Rules be damned, I want to marry Pepper. I wonder how she feels.
Lake Ramah
New Mexico
Harry borrowed an STV van from the STL pool. It was equipped with a pick-up platform for Scooter, a satellite communications link, and a remotely controllable video camera for Wanda. The computer pulled the vehicle up to Pepper’s quarters and she came out immediately. Harry admired her as she walked out to the STV carrying a large bag of food items. She was wearing old jeans, a blue work shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, and a silly-looking straw hat. She was gorgeous!
Wanda Page 16
