Finding Time 06

Playing to win

Karen picked up the phone and dialled.

"Frank, take Dave and Julie off the Fleming case and get them to research Lutner's and Marshal's contacts. We're looking for someone who might let them hideout."

...

"No. What's the latest word from Algy?"

...

"Okay. Well any developments -,"

...

"Yes," she replied wearily then hung up.

She slumped back in the chair, her elbows on the arms, her fingers interlocked in front of her and her eyes closed as if in thought. Sally's fingers played over the keys as she stepped us five minutes forward.

Karen kept her pose through the next two jumps and it occurred to me that she might be meditating. When she did stir she returned to the mundane paperwork she had on her desk.

We ended up two minutes behind her in real time before Sally finally paused it.

"No, let it play on, we've got nowhere else to go for the moment," I directed her.

She pressed the key and then turned to me. "We could go visit that Smythe guy."

"Mm, I don't think he'll have anything new. We've got an hour or so before we meet Carol for dinner, we could just relax," I replied, leaning forward to grab the Subway bag.

"Pass me my can," she asked as I leant back.

"I'll swap you for the flask and milk," I replied, retrieving it from the bag.

She laughed as she stretched and grabbed my flask first.

"We could watch a bit of history," she suggested.

"Take your pick. We could even fire up your astronomical program and visit the rings of Saturn."

"That's an idea, we could get close ups of the particles," she said enthusiastically.

I chuckled. "And here was I thinking they'd make a romantic backdrop for us to cuddle up to later on," I teased.

My grinning face gave me away, evincing a chuckle from her.

"If you want something spectacular I should take you to see Shoemaker–Levy 9 crash into Jupiter, that's guaranteed to excite any astronomer," she said as I bit a chunk of my roll off.

I gave her a shake of the head as I chewed on. Smiling at me she took a sip from the can and turned back to the screen. As I ate she closed the spy program and opened her astronomical one.

I felt a lot safer now; they were a lot further back with their tunnel and didn't have the manpower to flood the campus looking for me. They'd be able to detect and trace my card use but that would only tell them I was in the area, not where I was staying.

"Steve look!" Sally exclaimed, digging me with her elbow.

I glance up at the glittering screen. "What is it?"

"The B Ring of Saturn," she said cheerily.

I watched as the sparkling drops of fiery ice drifted down the screen against the black backdrop. In the far background I could see the dimmed glare of our sun.

"What are we actually seeing?"

"Not what I expected. These are frozen globules of water, I expected more shards and irregular lumps. That makes them more exotic than were thought," she replied

"So we're looking at some ones future doctorate explaining it," I remarked.

She gave a short laugh. "As long as no one beats me to Europa they can have it."

"We'll make that our first priority for Monday morning."

"I need to check my emails, see if there's been any developments."

"If you know who and where you could use the Tunnel," I suggested, leaning forward to refresh my coffee.

"Mm, that's something to keep in mind for the future."

"There's another use for it. With its invisible camera it would make an excellent video phone," I said turning to her.

She smiled and shook her head then turned back to the screen, as I watched she zoomed out, the curve of the ring getting more and more pronounced until we could see an arc of forty five degrees or so.

"Jupiter has got faint rings as well; we can't see them because we're aligned with its equatorial plane."

"Mm," I chuckled. "Facts like that belong in a pub quiz."

She gave a little chuckle back. "We could team up as geeks anonymous."

"I'll save that experience till I'm ready for my pipe and slippers."

"Spoilsport, I was already planning where to put the trophy,"

"That's something else we'll have time for when all this is over. Looking for a house."

"I can't wait for that, moving into our own place," she said reflectively.

"Mm, with a nice double bed," I said teasingly.

"And a nice long couch with a fire to cuddle in front of."

I slipped my arm around her as I leant forward to put the cup on the desk. "How about a quick cuddle now?" I said softly.

She slid her arm around my back as I straightened and leant back to swing her legs over mine. Dropping my hand to her arse I helped her onto my lap, looping my other hand around her as she nestled her head on my shoulder.

Her arse cheek pressing on my cock was enough to stir it into life, she giggled and gave a little wiggle as it stiffened and made its presence felt.

"Mm, that feels nice," she said softly as she lifted her face to look at me.

"Mm," I replied stroking her back.

She gave a soft sigh as she laid her head back down. I left my hand stroking her back as I moved the other from her hip to rest on her tummy. She responded by shifting the hand holding my arm to cup my cheek and let her fingers brush over my ear.

There was comfort and contentment in the feel of her warm body pressed to mine, the warmth of her breath on my neck. My thoughts drifted to an imagined future of domestic bliss with her and the cosy couch before the fire.

She stirred after about five minutes, tilting her head up and planting a kiss on my chin. "You need to shave," she said, twisting away slightly. "It might not show but I can feel it."

"Mm," I replied. "Shopping."

"Can I shave you?" she asked, struck by the idea.

"If you want," I agreed, intrigued by her request.

"And you can shave my little beard off where it sticks out over my thong."

"Mm," I said appreciatively. "That's a good swap."

"Do you think a little landing strip would look sexy?" she asked in a quiet voice.

"Waxing is better than shaving for that sort of thing," I answered, dodging the question.

"What turns you on? I could go bald if you like."

"If you're asking for my preference I prefer you natural, I think the tuft could go and if you think a strip looks sexy you can have one," I replied, trying to make it not sound like a lecture. "I'm happy if you are."

"It doesn't matter, it was just an idea," she replied.

I gently urged her closer to me. "I love you and everything matters. You don't have to change for me. I associate bald pussies with porn and celebrities and besides shaving is high maintenance."

"It's alright, I thought it might please you."

"I don't want to sound trite and spoil this tender moment but let's explore the kinky stuff when we get bored with real sex."

"It'll be granny sex by then," she retorted with a chuckle.

"Ah, so you have got a kinky side," I said, seizing on the implication.

"I've got my fantasies, yes," she replied, a defensive edge to her voice.

"Mine are about having great sex, I haven't bothered with them lately."

"Mine are a little more exotic than that. You feature in them now," she confessed softly.

"Now you've got me curious, are you going to tell me?"

"If we can get a vibrator at the shopping centre I'll show you," she said with a giggle.

"Ah," I said cautiously.

"I'll pretend to be tied up and you can tease me till I beg you to make love."

"I don't need a vibrator, I can use my tongue for that," I said confidently.

"Wait till we get it and I'll show you what I mean," she replied. "It would sound silly if I tried to explain it now."

"That's okay, it sounds like fun. Wellingtons might have them; you can nip in there after we've been the supermarket."

"No!" she said sharply. "You can buy it. I want one of those round headed ones with at least two speeds."

"Yes, I know what you mean."

"Thanks," she said, tightening her arm around my back to hug me.

I smiled for her though she didn't see it.

"So are you going to tell me yours?" she asked.

"Mine are school boyish compared to yours. In mine I win the lottery and I'd be in Vegas or Hollywood, seducing starlets or entertaining thousand dollar escorts in penthouse suites."

She laughed and popped her head back up.

"Well you asked," I said, offering an excuse.

"It's alright, just picturing you in Vegas," she replied, stretching to kiss my chin.

"Mm," I acknowledged. "You're all I need now."

"And you're my Mister Right," she said, laying her head on my shoulder and snuggling in.

"We should make one final check on Karen and pack it all away," I said, giving her hip a squeeze. "We'd be more comfortable waiting in the library."

"Mm," she agreed straightening up.

She slipped onto her feet and I slid across into her old chair and began to close her Astronomical program and restart the Earth one. I tuned into Karen's office and started the little five minute hops.

The second one took us into the middle of a phone conversation and I jumped backward two minutes to catch the start of it. We had a minute of her chewing the end of her pen as she read something on the screen before the phone rang.

"GS17," she answered.

...

"Yes, you can deploy the pair of them to the university. They can keep an eye on the Students Union building and see if they turn up there."

...

"No we can cover that if we get more men."

..."Right report back to me when they're in place."

...

"Okay."

She replaced the receiver and I almost paused it when she lifted it again and dialled an internal number.

"Harold," she said. "Karen here. Just to keep you up to date, I've sent two of our American friends to keep watch on the Union building."

...

"Yes, two more would be useful to keep an eye on her dorm. I don't think they'll be foolish enough to show up but it's better to be prepared in case they do."

...

"Yes thanks. I'd be grateful if you could arrange that."

...

"Goodbye."

I waited till after she put the phone down before I paused it.

"They're closing in on us a bit," Sally remarked.

"Yes, I don't like the idea of them being on campus, but at least we know where they are."

"Ah ha," she replied.

"There's another ten minutes or so till we catch up, let's hope she doesn't have any more surprises," I said tapping the key to restart it.

"Mm," Sally agreed.

Happily she returned to studying her screen as I stepped through a series of two minute jumps to take us up to near synchronous time. I glanced around at Sally as I hit the pause key again.

"Anywhere else before we pack it away?"

"Not that I can think off," she replied.

I turned back to the keyboard and started shutting the computer down. It took us another fifteen minutes to pack everything up and five more to get across to the safety of the Library.

We walked through to a deserted reading lounge and sat on one of the double seater settees. She kicked her shoes off and curled up next to me.

"Steve?"

"Mm."

"Do you think we'll find advanced life out there?"

"Yes, there's probably intelligent life out there as well. I doubt we'll find any in our little bubble but it would be interesting if we did."

"Finding life nearer home would be more interesting; at least we could get there and study it. It would be nice if we could find a habitable planet, even one that needed a bit of terraforming."

"We'd have to send multigenerational arks, or find a way of inducing suspended animation to get there. It would also need a technological leap in reliability. It wouldn't happen in our lives."

"It's more fun looking than going; I'll willingly leave that for the children," she replied cheerfully.

"Aye," I agreed.

I glanced up at the clock on the wall; it read a quarter after twelve. We had a half hour to idle away here, then we could walk through to the theatre and meet up with Carol. There was a lot she needed to be brought up to date with.

My thoughts turned to what might happen after. Sunday was going to seem the same except for my name and face being plastered all over the news. I wasn't really happy at losing control of the message, all depended now on how the pundits were going to spin it.

My second line of thought was about how long it would take for the religious aspect to rear its head. It wouldn't take a genius to figure out we could go back and witness biblical events. How many religious leaders were going want to go back and see the truth of history?

The greater number were going to be preaching against it. I could see them pushing the privacy angle, moralising on 'what about the children' and the 'sanctity of the marriage bed'.

That was also the line I expected the government to follow, playing on the fear of voyeurs and under age access. Together they made a formidable foe with a bully pulpit powerful enough to drown us out.

Our most urgent task was getting the tunnels made and distributed. The hundred I had on order would be a drop in the ocean compared with the demand. Despite my earlier thoughts the best option now would be putting them in the hands of the activists and let them flood the internet with the antics of the great and powerful.

Releasing the Wiki password would also let those who could, build their own. The file needed updating, something I could do using Carols laptop. We had an uphill battle in front of us to be sure but it was one I thought we could win.

"We should be going," Sally said, breaking my reverie.

"Mm," I said, looking up at the clock.

I reluctantly released her as she swung her legs around and stretched. I let her stand before I got up then I took her hand as we strolled of to keep the lunch date. Carol, who was sat at the bar, waved us over as we walked through the door.

"How did your research go?" Carol asked as we got to her.

"Oh fine," I replied, giving Sally a glance. "We discovered more than I thought we would."

"Do you want a drink first?" she queried.

"Sal?" I asked.

"No," she replied with a shake of the head.

"Me neither," I replied.

Carol picked up her glass. "Shall we take the table in the corner then."

"Ah ha," I answered as I turned to look.

Carol led the way as we threaded our way through the tables. It was my first time there and I was quite impressed with the setting and ambiance of the place. Almost as soon as we took our seats the waiter appeared and gave us all menus.

"Carol?" Sally asked. "Could you give us a lift to the supermarket after, there are a few extras we need to get."

"Ah," she answered. "I've still got a lot to organise yet." Turning to me she asked. "You got fully comp insurance?"

"Yes," I replied, knowing what was coming next.

"You can borrow my car then, I won't need it till later."

"Thanks," Sally said a split second before I could answer.

"You're welcome," Carol replied. "Now what are we going to order."

I brought Carol up to date with our discoveries and she in turn told us that she'd had more acceptances than refusals and we should have at least one TV news team covering the event as well as a good selection of the foreign press.

I was pleased but apprehensive. If they'd been a class of students I'd have no problem stepping in front of them but the reporters were going to be much more of a challenge. They would have questions I wouldn't know the answers to.

We swapped car keys as we walked back to the admin building and with a warning from Carol to 'Drive carefully' we climbed in and were off. I parked in the corner of the car park, as far as I could from the cameras just in case.

We did our shopping, buying a pay as you go phone in addition to the other things on the list. I also drew out two hundred in cash, just in case things didn't go well. As I expected, we found a paucity of vibrators, this led to me promising to take her to a sex shop in the very near future.

Carol's keys let us into her flat and we both headed straight to the bedroom.

"I'll let you sort things out while I get shaved," I said, putting my bag on the bed and extracting my new toothbrush and razor.

"I thought you were going to let me shave you," she complained.

"Oh sorry I forgot, alright, what do we put where?" I replied, dropping the things back on the bed.

"Half of these," she said, holding up the box of condoms. "Are going under the pillow, the rest go in my bag."

"Shall I put one in my wallet as well?" I asked, chuckling as I tipped the rest of my bag out.

She joined in with my chuckle. "You can have one to wear now," she said as she opened the box.

I took it from her and tucked it into the waistband of my shorts while she slipped a handful under the pillow. I added the shampoo and body wash to the pile I was taking to the bathroom and then scooped them up.

"I'll take these through. At least I can brush my teeth on my own," I said as she packed her things into a drawer.

"I'll be with you in a second," she answered.

"Okay," I replied as I turned to leave.

Carols shelves were already crowded so I laid out the shampoo and things on the rim of the bath to unwrap the toothbrush. Sally came in as I was putting the toothpaste on; she was carrying clean towels and gave me a happy smile as I turned to her.

"I've put clean clothes on the bed for us," she announced, closing the door to behind her.

"The shower here is big enough for two," I remarked with a twinkle in my eye.

She grinned back. "I know," she said, brushing her hand up my arm as she passed behind me.

As she picked up the toiletries I started brushing my teeth. I saw her step behind me in the mirror and then felt her arms slip around my waist. "Mm," she sighed. "I glad we've got this time together."

"Mm," I mumbled back through a mouthful of toothbrush.

She began unbuttoning my shirt, pausing only for a few moments while I rinsed my mouth. I dropped my arms to let her pull it from my shoulders and took pleasure from the kiss she planted in the middle of my back.

I turned around and caught her in my arms, pulling her in as I bent my head to kiss her. She caressed my back as she returned the kiss, her fingers giving me goosebumps as they played up and down my spine.

She broke the kiss and leant back. "Time for your shave."

"Alright," I said, releasing her.

She twisted and picked up the pack of razors I'd bought. "How do you shave?" she asked breaking the pack open.

"Ordinary soap."

"Well go on then."

I gave her a little smile as I turned back to the sink to start lathering up. she watched me in the mirror and moved to my side when I finished.

"You know what you're doing I hope," I said as I turned to her.

"Sit down on the side of the bath," she requested. "And yes, I shave my armpits so I know how to do it."

"Okay, just making sure," I said as I turned and sat as she asked.

She put a hand on my forehead. "Tilt back a little," she ordered applying a little bit of pressure.

I arched my neck until the pressure eased then watched as she tilted her head to the side and brought the razor up. My worries were allayed when, after the second stroke, she paused to rinse the razor in the sink.

The extra care she took had the shave lasting longer than it would have taken me, allowing me to enjoy the attention she was paying to me.

"There," she said when she finished.

I reached out to her waist and moved her aside as I stood then stepped to the sink to turn the tap on and rinse my face. She handed me a towel and I quickly dried myself as she cleaned the sink.

Draping the towel over my shoulder I slipped my arms around her waist. She looked up to face me in the mirror, her wet hand arching back to rub over my cheek and linger on my chin.

"My turn," I said grinning at her over her shoulder.

"You get one of the kitchen stools while I go and get the thong," she replied, her hand dropping down to take the towel.