Anna's Mystery Plan Pt. 07

Karen observed, "That's at least a month's additional work, considering that we must accomplish it without observation. Perhaps we should see if Anna wishes to join the conversation."

Chelsea went to work on a link and shortly Anna was on Karen's phone, which was on speaker.

"Thank you for calling. I see the problem. We cannot assume our forces arrive and immediately depart. Please proceed with plans and implementation immediately, but do the weapons and vehicle storage as the highest priority. If there is an attack soon, no one will be staying with you long. By the way, if there is an ambush in the very near future, our people will just camp out on your hillside. You can prepare, more or less, for that to happen?"

She finished by thanking us and asking Rupert to take the phone to a distance for some private conversation about troop movements.

I stared at him walking away, irked yet again by Anna's strict compartmenting of her information flows. Karen poked me, "Relax, she has many things on her mind and still hasn't gotten to the bottom of the desert attack on you."

Carolyn and Sophie had arrived, and the junior professor perched on my lap, saying that a gazebo was required on the hill, where secret rendezvous could take place. "Under the deck there will be potable water storage, propane grills, and some sort of latrine for emergency use."

The rest of us laughed and a returning Rupert pointed a finger, "Jeremy, your helpers are very creative."

Chapter 22 - The Unnormal Normal

In the morning, Rupert was gone, having departed as silently and secretly as he had arrived. Breakfast was tense, as all of us dealt with an ever more complicated situation. Until recently, we had been Anna's reserve force, hidden in our Silicon Valley retreat and pursuing whatever Anna threw at us from time to time. Now, it seemed we were like National Guard troops, being called to active duty, but not leaving our civilian careers behind. Worse, we were required to cloak our work in the best disguise we could devise.

As everyone stood up from breakfast, I said, "Here is a homework assignment for today. We may need an emergency hideout in case there is conflict here. Once the other side discovers what is going on, our little piece of paradise may become a hot zone. We will talk about it tonight, but ask yourselves, where do we want to go, regardless of what Anna wants, and for how long does the location have to be prepared to hide us?"

I had to rapidly shift gears to prepare for a face to face session with Greenberg on the latest DARPA interest in our work as applied to secure communications for tactical applications. Within a week, we were expected to come up with a research proposal to explore one or more ways of deploying secure, affordable, and practical systems. My professor and I were a little hot under the collar at what was really a system development idea and not a research topic. When we talked the other day, I had expressed a mild grump about going out of scope. But Greenberg had a typical comeback.

"Jeremy, the assignment is a pain, but look at it this way. If they had a team on the development side to take this on, they would have done so. It is a compliment to our good reputation with the program officers that we are getting leaned on." After a minute of silence, he added with a laugh, "For an instant, we can pretend to be in the research big time."

This morning, it felt like a very fleeting instant. But I had some ideas to suggest to my super bright professor. When I got to his office, the door was open and he was sipping a cappuccino while going through his morning's online mail.

"Come in, Jeremy. I haven't had a minute to spare on this DARPA business, so I am assuming you have it under control?"

"Yes sir. Right away, sir." I grinned at him. He waved a finger at me, "This better be good. I think someone back east is out on a limb with us."

I dove into my basket of ideas. "The keywords are off the shelf, affordable, deployable, and sufficiently advanced to have a five to ten year life in the field."

He was jotting notes but looked up and said, "Continue."

"Need lots of compute power to handle the encryption algorithms and laser drivers. Something like the NVIDIA high end gaming GPU's, which also have lots of software that can be adapted to this application. Build the software architecture on top of one of the secure Linux distributions."

"Need a good servo package to provide quick laser localization under tactical conditions in the field. If ordinary grunts are going to use this stuff, it has to go in a backpack at no more than fifty pounds, including power supply. Maybe use one of the oil field services companies like Baker Hughes for help with ruggedized packaging."

He looked up from his notes with a smile. "If you had nothing else to do but run this project, how many months to a working prototype, and how much money?"

I smiled back and mouthed "Asshole."

He frowned, "Answer, please."

A very deep breath, "Five million, ten months, and lots of serious help here and there."

He was back to a smile. "If the old timers at the agency asked Lincoln Lab or Battelle for a quote, what would they get?"

Damn, I was in way over my head. "That's not a fair question for your very junior research associate, but I think 24 months and $20M and a lot of caveats."

"Bravo, Jeremy. Right on the mark."

I said, more aggressively than I should, "You are, I dearly hope, going to find a way to dodge this bullet without wrecking our working relationship with the agency?"

"Ha! The undergraduate has a few other items on his plate, like getting decent grades in his other courses, and sustaining a house full of ambitious females?"

My stomach clutched. He had been poking into my personal life.

Listening to his next words, I felt my world crumbling.

"She would not like to know that I told you, but since we are working so well together, and since this DARPA business may get more complicated, you should be aware that I am one of Anna's special technology advisors."

I was frozen in place. Everything I had achieved with him was now in question. I stumbled to ask a question.

"When... when did you discover I was related to Anna?"

"Your grandmother, as you know, juggles balls freely. When she learned you were headed to our engineering school, she was on the line to me immediately about the possibility of your becoming my assistant and protege. In case you are interested, I do not have the power. One of her helpers appears when that capability is needed. One reason I am telling you this is that our partnership, if you will, might benefit from your ability to use the power as we work together."

There was a minute of silence as he allowed me to recover. I finally said, "She will have a fit about any of this getting loose. It is a dangerous time for her, as ancient conflicts are back in play. She is very zealous about compartmenting her activities, so you probably have not been consulted?"

He smiled faintly, "Your expression means she keeps you in the dark as well?"

"Yes, damn it. When I get sufficiently upset, my mother points out that I am very young and am still in the process of earning Anna's full confidence."

He stood up, "We both have commitments, so must wrap this up. As you suggest, I will work on dodging the R&D bullet without getting us cut off. You and I will keep our new relationship under tight wraps. Given the pressure you are under, is it possible not to speak to your mother about it?"

"Yes, certainly. But as Anna's daughter, she may already be aware of what is going on."

He smiled, "I am sure your mother is a wonderful woman. Am I allowed to scheme for an innocuous way of making her acquaintance? By the way, when we are alone together, would you mind calling me Josh?"

I took a deep breath, "Josh, you innocuous SOB, I will be happy to do that."

We walked out together into sunshine. I had lots of homework, but felt my mental map for the day had been destroyed and walked to Carolyn and Sophie's office in search of company. What if I offered lunch with refreshments?

Their door was partly open and I strolled right in. They looked up in surprise.

"Ladies, I find myself at liberty on this fine day. Might you consider a luncheon invitation? My treat?"

Carolyn smiled. Sophie frowned.

"He never does this. There must be a bad motive."

I reached for a Shakespeare line and made do with, "My invitation is pure as the driven snow!"

Carolyn was across the room, grabbing me for a hot kiss. "We do not turn down free lunches!"

She added, in a whisper, "Especially from lovers!"

Sophie stopped teasing and gave me her own hot kiss. "Bad."

In a few minutes, we were seated on the sunny terrace of an off campus restaurant with good food and prices to match. I quickly ordered an expensive bottle of imported Pinot Grigio and toasted my companions, "Here is to the dynamic duo that will take down the other team."

They both frowned at my words. I added in an audible voice, "We are sure to win the soccer tournament with you on our side!"

Sophie kicked me under the table. "Double bad."

I tried to switch topics but Carolyn interrupted, "Sophie has been telling me about her dissertation adventures with you. Says it was the worst experience of her life."

Sophie grumbled in a low voice, "I am still not over it. He took me apart and made me put myself back together. And somehow, there was a pile of pages of a completed dissertation."

Carolyn added, with a smirk, "Yes, and the poor student has a teaching appointment without even the degree!"

Sophie looked fierce, "I am beating both of you when we get home."

I changed the subject. "What about a hideout?" There was no one at adjoining tables so I felt we could discuss the subject where we were.

They looked at me, "We aren't ready to talk."

"Give me some crumbs. A few insights."

"There are thousands of acres of open space in the hills above us."

"Must be able to communicate with Anna."

"Can't give off a radiation or heat signature."

They stopped talking to dig into the sea food salads before them. I waited a moment and responded, "Hard to do anything without attracting attention. What about a university research project? Something that could be fenced?"

I tried my own salad, which was delicious. My brain was leaping ahead to my conversation with Josh. Sounded right up his alley. The Dean would approve it in a minute, with DARPA money on the line. But it meant opening up more of Anna's secrets to my Professor Greenberg.

I gave them a smile, "I've just had a thought, but can't be shared here. How is your afternoon looking? Could we possibly have a meeting at home in an hour or so?"

Sophie frowned, "I knew it. He is nothing but trouble."

Carolyn asked, "Did you get out of the wrong side of the bed this morning? What is all the grumping about?

Suddenly, the new professor was all teary. "I'm sorry. It is so stupid. When he gets like this, there is a little voice inside me screaming about trouble. About a lot of work and stress."

She looked at me, using her napkin to wipe away tears. I broadcast a calming message.

"Oh you. Let's have them wrap these salads and go home now." What she didn't say but I could hear in my head was an urgent need to get naked with me. I gestured to the wait person and handed over my credit card along with a request for the takeaway.

Carolyn made Sophie drive and climbed in back with me. A hot kiss turned into a touching forehead question about whether I was being too tough on Sophie. I bent her down, pretending to attack, and responded that Sophie was one tough customer who was still uncertain about her place in Anna's hierarchy.

My foxy professor put a knee in my crotch and turned us over. A tough voice said, "Who do you think you are, young student?" Keeping her forehead to mine, she asked directly, with a giggle, "And where does Carolyn fit?"

My fingers reached up under her skirt and invaded panties to pinch tender places. Not touching anymore, my tongue darted here and there.

"No! You beast!" She tried to swat me and then collapsed full out, making little happy noises.

Sophie looked over the seat, "That is entirely too happy!"

At home, I put Sophie on my shoulders and ignored her cries to get down. I asked Carolyn to make a large pot of tea and bring it to the bedroom.

"Sophie and I will round up the others."

When I finally let Sophie down into my arms, she was smiling, "You are so awful, I can't be mad. Tell me everything is going to work out."

I nuzzled into her neck and whispered, "I thought you were looking for Cassandra, not Pollyanna?"

"You are impossible, never letting me stay in the dumps."

I served tea for everyone, while curious eyes wondered what was going on at two in the afternoon. Carolyn disappeared and came back with the brandy bottle.

"He has super serious things to talk about. We may need some of this with our tea."

The two professors got out of their school dresses and slipped under a duvet. Karen and Talia stared intently, mouthing "Serious?"

I nodded and gestured for them to relax on the bed so I could begin my tale from a chair.

"I discovered this morning that my nanotech professor has been working for Anna since before I became his student. He doesn't have the power and seems not to know anything about the current difficulties."

Talia burst out with "Damnation! You must have been creeped by that. Why did he tell you?"

"I am not entirely sure, but he is relying on me more and more for work on the DARPA project and there is a fuss about new assistance they are asking for. He said my having the power might be useful."

Karen said, not smiling, "My devious mother is keeping us in the dark about another of her schemes."

I said, "Let me add one more thing. I walked to the office of our two professors and invited them to a free lunch. We got to talking about my homework assignment and something clicked. Sophie says I am a totally bad actor, so she should fill you in on what we discussed."

She stood up, looking glamorous in lavender underwear. "He has built up a mountain of punishment points, but that is for later. What we got into was the idea that our emergency hideout should be in open space in the hills above us. Far enough away to be safe, but still accessible. Which creates the problem of how to hide a refuge for six people in an area where there are frequent hikers and rangers. He came up with the notion of having Professor Greenberg request an area for research work in the forest. One that could be fenced, and where our activity could be camouflaged as research, if we ever need to escape our facility here."

She walked over for a kiss, after which I bent her over my knees and went to work on tense back muscles while resuming the story.

"Following this approach to our emergency hideout means bringing Greenberg into our current plans. That complicates his life, our life, and Anna's life, so I thought we needed a group meeting. Maybe this is too complicated and risky?"

Karen was at my side, raising Sophie. "This one is going back under the covers. You are going to the sofa over there, and I am going to sit in your lap."

Mom was taking charge. I dutifully did as ordered, grabbing a comforter to wrap her in.

Karen had the bit in her teeth. Life had suddenly gotten more complicated and more dangerous. I thought to myself that she wasn't going to say it, but what she was thinking was we were in serious shit and needed to up our game, so to speak.

"We need to flesh out Jeremy's idea. Given the circumstances, there aren't going to be perfect solutions to an emergency requirement. As he said days ago, agility is what may save our necks if guns are going off."

My hand was inside the down wrap, firmly gripping the fine breast that had nourished me years ago. She nestled tight, kissing my cheek and mumbling, "Yes. Thank you."

Talia commanded, "Come over here under the duvet with all of us." She smiled evilly, "This is serious."

Suddenly, I had five tense female bodies to work on. In a few minutes, life was better. Chunky Chelsea gave me a knee between my legs and said, "He led us out of trouble before and he will do it again."

I put my hand in the same place Karen received it and said, "In a fight, we want Chelsea in the front lines!"

They were warming up and I realized sex was in the air. Somehow, screwing did not seem the solution to our problem, however nice it might otherwise might be.

Smiling, I sat up. "This is a strong team. It would be fun to take our clothes off and spend the rest of the afternoon in a little loving. We'll get to that, but not for a while. Instead, I am going to the kitchen to start a pot of hearty Irish stew for dinner. If you stay here in each other's arms, some brilliant ideas about our predicament may emerge."

I had hardly started chopping vegetables when a black arm went silently and swiftly around my neck into a choke hold. "Devil! Your grandmother has got us in a perfect mess." She emphasized "your."

I thought to myself that if she was making a real attack, I was already dead. I maneuvered to her front for a kiss. "You are right, but I suspect her current plan puts us in worse shape, not better."

I seated her on the counter as Karen arrived for her own kiss. "I am not defending her, but we are just a small piece of her present troubles."

They rested their heads on mine and I was surprised at the softness of emotions floating among the three of us. Karen said directly, "Things can't be all bad, I guess."

Suddenly, three more bodies pounced. "This isn't fair! No secret plotting"

I grabbed Sophie, tossing her high. "I'll plot you!"

(Continued in Part 8)