The Problem With Immortality Ch. 05

Anson looked down and saw Jennifer form up into a beautiful swan dive. She hit the water with a splash, and then disappeared.

Her body did not surface.

Not for five seconds.

Not for ten seconds.

And then-

Jennifer came to the surface, splashing and flailing her arms.

Anson, not realizing he had stopped breathing, allowed himself to exhale.

"You see, there was nothing to worry about," said Jessica, grabbing his arm.

Suddenly Garrick Sanduval came running over, his wife Shelley not far behind.

"Did she make it? Good. Where did she jump from? Where did she jump from? It was here, right?"

"Dear, you're not going to have a truly near death experience if you jump from a place you know is safe," Shelley said.

Garrick looked down at the hundred foot drop. "Trust me. I still think I'm going to die." And then, gathering up the courage, he jumped.

He screamed all the way down. His scream was only cut off when he hit the water.

And then, a few seconds later, he surfaced, splashing near Jennifer.

"This is no fair," said Robert Dalton, pacing back and forth. "The danger is so small. Only two feet out of 200 feet of coastline. How am I supposed to get a thrill out of that?"

"The later experiences will offer you increased opportunities for danger," Henri assured him, as he twirled his moustache. He was starting to like Robert Dalton.

"They will? All right," he said. And then, "You wouldn't want to hint where the rocks are, so I can jump near them, would you?"

Henri started to indicate with his eyes, but Layla pushed him aside. "No, we can't, Mr. Dalton, that's against the rules. Pick a spot, and jump, please."

"Oh, all right."

Dalton chose a spot seemingly at random, and then turned to face them all, and then, yelling out, fell backwards.

By the time they got to the edge and looked down, they saw him splashing into the water.

The other members of their group started to jump.

"So, are you doing this, Anson?" Jessica

Anson nodded. He walked to a random edge and looked down. If he chose the wrong spot, it would all be over for him.

But what was there to live for anyway? His commission from Francisco Odour? He didn't care about that.

His work had long since ceased to interest him. And he had destroyed the only perfect thing he ever had in life, his relationship with Jennifer. Why should he fear death? Indeed, perhaps he should welcome it.

Anson nonchalantly took a step over the cliff.

He felt the rushing of air around him, and his heart pounded as the water rose up to meet him all too quickly. In those few seconds before he hit, only one thought permeated his mind.

Jennifer... Jennifer... JENNIFER!

And then he felt a slap as his body hit the water, and he was cold all over, and plunged deep down in the dark waters of the English Channel.

For a moment he wasn't sure if he was alive or dead. But then, as the shock of the impact started wearing off, he started to feel himself floating upwards. He felt his lungs starting to burst, and he swam upwards frantically. He gasped for air just as his head broke the top of the waves.

********

They all sat shivering in the old fashioned tugboat that had been sent to pick them up. Even warm towels were not enough to erase the icy cold of the blue sea.

"That was the scariest thing I've ever done," said Garrick Sanduval, shivering, and not just from the cold.

"And it's only going to get scarier after that," Shelley chuckled, giving him an affirming hug.

"It was nothing. Really, I didn't feel a thing," said Robert Dalton woodenly. "It was like taking a dip in a pool."

"Maybe the next one will be better, more scarier," said Gladys, looking worried as she handed him another towel.

Anson looked at Jennifer. She sat sullenly with a towel wrapped around her, staring blankly at the wall of the compartment she was in. He wished he could talk to her.

"How was it?" Jessica snapped, still looking stunning in her tight labia-pink bathing suit.

"It was fine," said Anson quietly. He had come here to shock his system and help him forget Jennifer. It was obvious that wasn't going to happen.

"Is this something we can recommend to Odour?"

Only at the mention of Odour did Anson remember the ostensible reason they had come here. "I'm not sure yet. We'll have to try the other trials."

"There is no we, Anson. I'm not risking my neck," said Jessica. Then she brightened. "You know, this place reminds me of a British man I once dated. He was tall, good looking, brown haired... kind of like you. Reginald, that was his name. He was professional surfer. He competed in all the competitions. Reginald was quite good, actually. We took a vacation once around here, yes, it was here, in Dover. That's why this place looks familiar to me."

"How long were you with him?"

"A few months."

"What happened to your relationship?"

"I got a job offer in Kansas City. He refused to go with me."

"He was a professional surfer. How could he compete in surfing in Kansas City?"

Jessica looked at him scornfully. "They have a river there of some kind. He could have floated on it, or whatever. Anyway, it was probably for the best, I was already tiring of him. And then when I did move to KC I met the most handsome young-"

Her voice gradually faded in the whirl of Anson's thoughts. He only had eyes for Jennifer. For a moment, she turned and looked at him, and he saw the vulnerability, the hurt in those baby blue eyes. And then she turned sharply away, and a door slammed shut in his heart.

********

They were in spacesuits, in an atmospheric rocket that was going to the outer edges of the Earth's atmosphere.

Garrick Sanduval was nervous even before they had begun. "I don't want to do this," he whined.

"Of course you do, dear," said Shelley. "You signed up for this, remember?"

"If Mr. Sanduval doesn't want to go atmospheric surfing, he doesn't have to," said Layla, one of their guides, worried for his safety.

"But I know he really wants to, don't you, Mr. Sanduval?" said Henri, their other guide, who really wanted to see someone flame out.

"No," said Sanduval promptly.

"Dear!" said Shelley, grabbing his hands.

"All right," said Sanduval reluctantly.

"Trust me, you'll love it," said Henri. He raised his voice. "What we are about to do had its origins in an obscure 20th century Earth Film called Dark Star."

"In the film, a spaceship in orbit around a planet explodes, and the sole survivor is a man in a spacesuit. He knows he's going to die. But he finds a piece of the spaceship, and he rides it into the atmosphere like a surfboard."

"What happened to him?" Sanduval asked.

"He burned up when he hit the atmosphere."

"Oh no!" Sanduval cried.

"But what a way to go," said Robert Dalton admiringly.

"Of course, your trip will be much safer," Henri assured them. "You will be given heat resistant surf boards capable of withstanding thousands of degrees of temperature. And your spacesuits will be secured by towlines to this shuttle."

"So where is the risk?" Dalton asked.

"The risk is twofold. Your feet will be clamped into the surfboard. But if they should somehow become loose, you will lose your heat shield, and burn up in the Earth's atmosphere."

"Oh no," Sanduval groaned.

"The other risk is that the tow cable could snap. If it does, you will plunge out of control into the atmosphere, and you will also burn up."

"I don't want to do this!" Sanduval cried. His wife had to spend several minutes working him over before he changed his mind again.

Anson looked over at Jennifer. She was in a spacesuit, like him. She had a grim, unreadable expression on her face. She never once turned to look at him.

They heard a buzzing sound in the passenger cabin.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we've arrived at the 60 mile mark above the atmosphere," said Henri. "Everyone put on their helmets and get ready."

Anson went over to Jennifer.

"Jennifer," he said.

With a visible effort, she slowly turned her face to look at him.

"Good luck," said Anson.

Her face was impassive.

Henri and Layla checked the seals on each of their spacesuits, then helped them onto the exit ramp, where they each snapped into their "surf board", the incredibly heat resistant shield which would protect them from the Earth's atmosphere.

"Have fun, Anson," said Jessica, smiling at him.

He nodded.

The aft section was sealed off. The area slowly depressurized, and with a roar, the outer door opened.

They all gasped as one when they saw the bright, shiny shape of the Earth below them. A gentle force field behind them started to push them forward. Within seconds, they were outside of the ship, each dangling from a slender cord which was attached to the back of their spacesuits.

"We're heading into the outermost layers of the atmosphere," came Layla's voice over their suit radios. "Turn your surf boards in the direction of Earth. Remember, you always need to keep the surf board between you and the Earth, if you want to avoid a burnout."

The shuttle jetted ahead of them, but slowly. It started to turn towards the Earth. They all started to be pulled downwards.

"Mr. Dalton, your heat shield is still not in the proper position. Make sure it is between you and the planet," said Layla.

"All right, I'm trying," said Dalton. He pushed down with his feet to change the angle of his board. "Better?"

"Much better," came Layla's voice. "Miss Spaulding, raise your board's angle just a bit higher."

Anson looked anxiously over at Jennifer. He saw her raise her board higher.

"Better. Everyone looks good now. All right, here we go!"

"Let's hope no one has a burnout!" Henri cackled.

"Henri!" said Layla scoldingly.

The shuttle angled downwards, pulling them with it. When they had achieved an acceptable velocity, the shuttle braked, letting all the surfers go past them, so the shuttle was behind them now. When it was time to pull them out, the shuttle could simply pull up and retrieve them at its leisure.

Anson started to see increased frictioning as he entered the outer layers of the atmosphere. The view was glorious from up here. He could see North America and Western Europe quite clearly. He felt his heart beating rapidly.

For a moment he forgot all about his problems, his depression, and even Jennifer. It was a tremendous experience.

His heat shield started to glow red. The ride on his "surf board" started to get bumpy. He had to continually adjust his footing to keep it angled between him and his downward descent.

After a few minutes he heard Layla's voice on the comm. "You're all doing well. We're at 55 miles, the halfway mark. We'll pull you up at 50. Here's where things start to become interesting."

Things become interesting.

The frictioning of the air grew stronger, and Anson's heat shield started to turn a cherry red. It became much bumpier now, and harder and harder to control. Anson was acutely aware that if he let his heat shield slip out of place for more than a moment, he would burn up in the heat of the atmosphere.

And then it did slip, for half a second, and he felt a terrible heat, and he angled his legs to get it back in place.

"Whoa, Anson. Careful there!" said Layla.

"I think I got it," said Anson, breathing heavily.

"Kayla, the angle of your board is too low. Raise it up, Kayla, up," Anson heard over the comm.

Kayla Anbinder, the sole heir to the Anbinder fortune, raised her board by pressing down with her legs.

"Good Kayla, you're right in the grove."

Anson's board started to get really bumpy now. The heat shield, which had begun to get cherry red in the center of it, was now bright red all over. The heat was starting to spill over and Anson's suit was beginning to have problems compensating.

"This is getting to be too much!" said Garrick Sanduval, panic clearly in his voice.

"You're almost there," said Layla. "We're 52 miles up. Only two more miles to go!"

"I want out now!" said Garrick.

"Just a minute," said Layla. "Kayla, what's happening, you're shifting out of position. Kayla? Kayla? Oh my god! Her cable's snapped!"

Anson turned to look right, and saw Kayla Anbinder, and her surf board, spinning helplessly in circles. Kayla's spacesuit, no longer protected by her heat shield, started to glow.

"Help!" She screamed in agony, clearly out of control. "Help me, please!" she cried again. Her space suited figure turned a cherry red. They heard her scream in agony as she burst into flame, and winked out.

"Abort! Abort!" Layla yelled. "Henri, pull up, pull up, bring them aboard NOW!"

Anson heard screams all around him as everyone realized that one of them had died. Could he be next? Only a slender cord connected him to the shuttle. If it snapped...

The shuttle pulled them all up.

"Not so fast, Henri! You don't want their cables to snap!" s\he heard Layla say.

"It's all right," Henri grunted.

In seconds they were all out of the Earth's outer atmosphere. With the danger over, the shuttle slowly started to reel them in.

********

"What happened?" was the question everyone asked.

"Her cable... must have snapped," said Layla, looking stunned.

"Has that ever happened before?" Anson asked.

"No. Never," said Layla.

"Do you check the cables?"

"Henri," said Layla. "He's in charge of checking the cables."

They turned to Henri. He gave them a reassuring smile as he twirled his moustache. "I checked each cable personally with a microscanner. They were entirely whole. But you have to understand, these cables go through an incredible stress. Such incidents like this, while tragic, are to be expected." His smile grew broader. "After all, this is what you paid for, is it not?"

Anson wanted to punch him in the face. The others looked shocked and stunned.

Anson went and found Jennifer. "Are you all right?"

She nodded. But she was trembling.

Anson hugged her through the spacesuit. Tentatively, she hugged him back.

"Please don't do this anymore. Please," said Anson.

"You're not my keeper," said Jennifer. "I'm doing this to get rid of you. To get you out of my mind."

"Please Jennifer. I'll leave. Just promise me you'll drop out of this."

She shook her head. She saw the beginning of tears in his eyes, and for a brief moment, the briefest of moments, her heart thawed. Then she remembered who was consoling her. The man who had betrayed her after 311 years. She pushed him back, and turned away.

********

That evening, everyone reflected on their situation.

The experience had been terrifying for Garrick Sanduval. He wanted to quit the program immediately. But his wife Shelley kept imploring him to continue. "It will make you happier, Garrick."

"I think this experience will make you happier," Garrick snapped. "Not me."

"Garrick, please! I want us to travel the world, to visit other planets, to do things! But you're always too depressed!"

"I'm not depressed. I'm just a homebody. I don't like to travel."

"That's your depression talking," said Shelley. "Please, Garrick, for me, give it another try. There are only two more experiences to go."

Garrick looked at Shelley. He had never been able to refuse her.

********

"Did you see the way she flamed out? That was incredible!" said Robert Dalton.

"That was horrible," said Gladys, his wife. "What a terrible way to die!"

"But so eye catching. So visual!'

"For us. But there's a difference between watching fireworks, and being fireworks," said Gladys. "I wish you wouldn't do this, Robert."

"I feel more energized than I've felt in a hundred years," said Dalton.

"Really?"

"Really," said Dalton. "Let me prove it to you!"

He reached for her clothing. He was a snarling, passionate animal. He made wild love to Gladys. She immediately saw the difference. Before this, lovemaking with Dalton had been a quiet, timed affair, like a slow dance where each partner knew all the moves and had danced those particular steps many times before.

The man she was with now was a stranger, a wild man, banging her excitedly as he ramped up for an orgasm. And another one after that. And still one more after that. And in between, Gladys stole an orgasm or two of her own.

********

"It's terrible what happened to that poor girl," said Layla. She was having dinner with Henri.

"Yes, terrible," he agreed.

"Then why are you smiling so broadly?" she demanded.

"It was terrible... but she flamed out so wonderfully. She was like a giant firefly, exploding in the heavens. I've never seen anything like that. I may never again," he said, almost wistfully.

"You did check the tow lines, didn't you?"

"I always do. But this time I even received special orders from Mr. Klobuchar himself reminding me to check the tow lines right before liftoff," said Henri, in a soothing tone. "Rest assured, everything was done as our employer mandated."

Layla nodded, trying to relax as she forked her food. "I suppose occasionally things like this will occur. I've just never seen it happen in the atmospheric surfing before."

"It can happen at any time," Henri grinned. "That's what Death, Incorporated is all about."

"And Kayla was the heir to, what, half a trillion credits? Mr. Klobuchar is going to get a windfall out of that."

"Yes, I suppose he will," said Henri, chewing another piece of steak. It was medium rare, just as he liked it.

Delicious.

********

Jennifer Spaulding didn't know how she felt. At first, she had felt exhilarated, to be traveling high above the earth on a "surf board". All thoughts of Anson had finally been cleared from her mind.

But then, when Kayla Anbinder was killed, she didn't feel the thrill of life, the preciousness of existence; she simply felt upset, and sad for the poor woman. The only time she had actually felt anything, was when Anson-

NO!

Was when Anson-

NO!

Was when Anson had come over and hugged her, with tears in his eyes.

No! She couldn't allow herself to fall into that trap again. Not again!

********

"So, is this something we can recommend to Francisco Odour?"

"It's too soon to tell," said Anson, playing with his dinner. "I want to check out the other two experiences."

"Are you sure that's why you want to continue?" Jessica asked.

"What other reason could there be?"

"To watch over your wife. Your ex-wife," said Jessica.

"That too," said Anson.

"I think this is an excellent idea for Odour. It will give him thrills like he's never experienced before. I think we've finally stumbled on the answer," said Jessica.

"We will see," said Anson. For a moment, he thought about Kayla Anbinder and her snapped tow line. He frowned, shook his head, and took another forkfull of dinner.

********

"A crocodile infested swamp? Are you serious?"

They were in bathing suits again. This time Jennifer was wearing a teal blue two piece which was simply gorgeous. She had a towel wrapped around her waist to deflect Anson's prying eyes from her tight ass and vagina cracks.

They were in a bayou in Louisiana. Layla had just told them that they were going to swim across a lagoon.

"You're not getting me in a lagoon full of crocodile!" said Garrick Sanduval.

"Please be reasonable, Mr. Sanduval," said Henri, with a broad smile. "There's only one crocodile in the entire lagoon."

"Has anyone reasonable ever been eaten by this single crocodile?" He asked. Since Kayla Anbinder had died, it seemed a necessary question.

"Well... once. But that was two years ago. And it really is quite a big lagoon. Chances are the crocodile will be quite, quite asleep as you swim across."

"Doesn't sound like much of a challenge to me," said Robert Dalton.

"Ah, but here's where the challenge gets interesting," said Henri. "We can add as many crocodiles as you wish for your individual challenge. Up to five total."