Dark as Daylight Ch. 01

"I wanted to fuck you on the table in the restaurant we went to. Does that answer your question?"

"Why didn't you?"

"I thought George would kill me. Oh how wrong I was."

Laura started laughing so hard she lost her balance and fell on top of him. While she was there, she started licking his ear, biting his neck, and kissing his jaw.

"I know you've had a terrible day, let me see if I can make it better."

As he was being heated up by her kisses, he said to her, "You are making me feel much better, but you have to unbuckle me to accomplish your task. The part of me that I like very much is swelling, and is in danger of being cut in half by the strap, which is holding it against my thigh. I don't want to be emasculated, without the benefit of anesthesia."

"Why don't you wait here for a few minutes, while I put on one of the nighties Anna brought me. She told me you would not need an aphrodisiac to remove my virginity if I wear it."

"You could be wearing a potato sack and I would have no trouble separating you from your virginity. I will have no trouble loving you for the rest of your life. I am not only in love with your body, I am in love with your mind as well. You are the smartest person I have ever known, and I want to learn from you. I have already started to learn, and you know it. I will never be a genius, as you are, but I want you to be proud of me, as your husband. I don't want you to be married to the village idiot. I want you to be married to someone, who can keep up with anyone's conversation. Please unstrap me, I am about to lose my mind and my penis, I'm not sure which one I will miss most."

Laura laughed as she took one finger, and opened clasp that held the strap, which was holding his prick to his thigh. It was right under his right hand, and it was the only one he never tried. When she placed his hand on it to show him where it was, he locked his mouth closed, because he did not want the words he was thinking to escape from his mouth.

When he cooled down he said, "Thank you dear, I will remember that for the next time. I believe I can get the rest of them now."

"Why don't you let me do them Adam? Your back and legs must be very stiff again. I want to help you walk around before you start bending. I don't want you to get dizzy and fall to the floor. It would mean a visit to the infirmary, and they may have to keep you overnight. I have plans for you tonight, and I want you in bed with me. It's the only way my plans will work, because it takes two of us to get me pregnant."

"I promise I will keep my Texas end up as long as you need it."

"I expect you to show me every possible way a woman can accept a man to get pregnant. All the other things you can do for me will come after a positive pregnancy test. I want to send my mother a message, on one of the rockets, telling her I'm pregnant. She will be thrilled, and so will we."

"We forgot to bring a Clydesdale."

"That's okay, we will use you instead. Are you ready to stand up yet?"

"Stand on my right, so I can put my arm around your shoulder."

"No nipple pinching."

"I had a feeling you were going to ruin my day."

"It's nighttime. We can go to the fourth floor to get something to eat, or to our room, and start fooling around."

"I choose option number two."

"I do to. We win, let's go, but we are going to go very slowly."

"There you go, ruining my evening."

"You are no good to me, or yourself, if you get hurt. Listen to your body Adam; could you run 20 feet, and not fall on your face?"

"I could give it the old college try, but I never went to college. So I would fall on my face."

"We will take it slow, and save your energy for our bedroom."

"I can live with that, baby. I love you so much."

"I love you Adam, with everything I am, I love you."

"Why don't we go for a nice slow walk, just as lovers do?"

"What a wonderful idea, why didn't I think of that?"

"You are a young bride. All you can think of is getting pregnant, and telling your mommy. It will happen, baby, because we're so much in love."

****************

"Calle, This Is Doctor Luck. At our current approach trajectory to Mars, which area has not been thoroughly investigated by satellite, or man-made probe?"

"The Southern Polar region, Doctor Luck."

"I studied those maps myself, and I can understand why they aren't investigated thoroughly. There is nothing to see or do there. It's mostly chemical ice made up of chlorine and fluorine, and useless for drinking purposes. Considering our speed at the time of passing Mars, how much of a trajectory change would we have to make now to take us over Doctor Sharp's Mountain, in the Gale Crater?"

"How low would you like to be Doctor Luck? At 246,956 miles per second, if Curiosity is on the ridge, and we are at 5,000 feet, you are going to blow it to the other side of the crater."

"Are you reading Gray's mind again?"

"Yes. He knew you were going to do something to punch NASA in the nose, six months before the spacecraft was completed."

"Did he tell my daughter what I was going to do?"

"Is Doctor Thyme capable of keeping a secret from his wife?"

"No, she can read him like an open menu. Would 20 miles above the surface give us a clear close-up of Curiosity?"

"Doctor Luck, with a slight course correction, and a 2% increase in our speed, we can have pictures of Curiosity crossing Doctor Sharp's Ridge, and you can have close-up pictures of ESA's Mars Express, the USA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and a long-distance shot of India's Mangalyaan satellite."

"What happened to Odyssey?"

"Who's getting greedy?"

"Remind me to smack Gray, the next time I see him."

"Gordon increased nuclear engines to 68%."

"Nuclear engines powering up to 68% dad. Miles per second is an unbelievable speed factor. No one ever dreamed about going this fast in a man-made object before. They failed to take into account there is no wind resistance."

"I had nothing to do with it Gordon. It was your sister, and you. Don't you ever forget it? The two of you designed the three engines; all I did was design and build something to house them in. Would you like to know where I got my idea to build a round spacecraft, instead of something shaped like an airplane to go into space?"

"At a symposium at MIT?"

"You're not even close."

"You were at a bar drinking, and fell on your head?"

"You know I don't drink."

"You were a spy during the war, and you weaseled it out of an enemy agent?"

"Are you sure you are the person that invented the nuclear fusion engine?"

"The patent has my name on it. However, I gave it to my brothers and made them promise to do the right thing with it. How did you come up with the design dad, this has to be something special?"

"I went to a movie, and you never..."

"Doctor Luck."

"Yes Calle?"

"They are preparing the rocket to send information back to earth. Everything is in readiness, and they are awaiting your arrival. However, I believe you wanted to add the pictures of Curiosity, and three satellites to the disk being sent back. Am I correct?"

"Yes you are, I'll have them put the disc in the nearest computer terminal, and you can upload the information into it from there. As soon as we pass Mars, I'll go down and join them."

"As you wish Doctor."

"Everyone's taking their time coming back from dinner."

"I know dad, I told them not to hurry back, because there's nothing to do. This is the one thing we are going to have to fight every day: Boredom. You don't want to sit down at your position and do nothing for 8 to 10 hours a day. We have to start our training regimen immediately. I don't think there's anyone that will complain about it. Even the new young mothers will enjoy getting away from their babies for several hours a day, and the teenagers will enjoy babysitting during that time, while they take a break from doing homework. It will all work out just fine, but we have to start now."

"Calle, I know you listened to Gordon's conversation with me, so here's what I'd like you to do. I need five student plumbers. Men and women who showed any aptitude for mechanics. I want Hannah to be trained continuously, until she becomes a doctor and surgeon. Search our records and see if anyone else qualifies to be trained upwards first to nurse, and then to a doctor. I don't care how many years it takes to get there. We don't know how long we will be out here, but we are going to need physicians and surgeons eventually. Start out with a group of 4 to 6 of our best, and we will go from there. Each of our engineers will take one person under their wing and train them at their position until they become fully qualified. The same will happen at the bridge. Every person will have someone under their wing until they become fully qualified. At his own request, Gordon wants Monty as his trainee. I will make sure there are no sharp instruments around while he's training her. As soon as you make up the list, I'd like to see it, and then I will post it around the ship."

I should know better, because as soon as I finished talking, the printer started spewing out paper. It was finished before I was able to get out of my chair."

"Thank you Calle."

"You're welcome Doctor Luck."

As I looked down the list of trainees, I nodded my head, because I knew each of them personally. I believe all of them would do well at their assignments.

I saw that Gordon had Monty, and then I said, "Oh my God, there's going to be a war on the bridge."

Gordon asked, "Why dad, who did you get as your trainee?"

"I couldn't have gotten anyone worse."

"Come on dad you're killing me."

"I got Janet as a replacement Captain."

Gordon cut down on his knees in front of me. "Dad, I'll do anything you want, please let me tell Monty that Janet is going to be her captain."

"She will kill you both Gordon. We are going to do this my way. You will have Monty at your station teaching her everything she needs to know, when Janet and I will walk onto the bridge. Someone will say, "Captain is on the bridge."

Janet will reply, "At ease, return to your stations."

If Monty's head does not come off her shoulders when she turns to see Janet sitting in the captain's chair, we will know we are approaching heaven, or hell is full for the moment."

"You are truly a visionary dad. I think it's a marvelous idea. However, if you are going to be standing near the captain's chair, under your flight suit, you should be wearing body armor. You don't want Janet's body parts to hurt you as they come flying by."

"I heard you were training with Janet."

"You heard correctly."

"I heard she has improved greatly under your tutelage."

"Yes she has. However, she's not in a class with Monty?"

"Very few people are in a class with Monty dad."

"Jeff said you are."

"Jeff has a big mouth."

"Jeff said you are as good as he is."

"No one is in a class with Jeff dad, not even Colonel Canyon."

"Colonel Canyon is 73 years old."

"How old?"

"Colonel Lucius Canyon is 73 years old."

"Dad, I would have put that man in his early 50s. I have never seen anyone with as much energy as he has. He is always at the front of his men. 73 years old, I hope I looked that good when I reaches age."

"Lucius and I were at the Academy one year apart."

"Hello Jack, getting bored already?"

"No, not at all, just doing what I do. I'm a structural engineer, and I like knowing every nook and cranny of a ship. If it gets hurt, I don't want to have to think about it at that moment. I want to know how to fix it before hand, and not while I'm looking at it damaged."

"Jack, you are 78 years old, and Lucius is 73. How did you get to the Academy one year ahead of him?"

"Lucius was born to the military. I had to be convinced. Vietnam convinced me it was where I belonged. I had the grades, I got the Senator to sign off, and I wound up with Lucius right behind me. That man never got a gig. His bed refused to get a wrinkle on it. His friends all swore he slept on the floor, dressed. His uniforms were always perfect, you could see your face in his shoes, and he never got less than an A on an exam. He should have been a general officer, but he couldn't follow the rules. When he got out on the field of battle he realized the rules killed men, and he would not allow his men to get killed. It was a religion with him. Life was too precious for him to lose anyone under his command. He knew everyone in his battalion by name. Up to 800 men at any one time, and he knew each of them by name because he trained each one of them himself. His sergeants helped, but he was there at every training exercise, and if his sergeants fucked up, there was hell to pay. He never lost one man he trained. He lost men, but never one he trained himself. He was always upfront, command could never get a hold of him, because he was always leading from the front. His goal was to capture an enemy officer, treat him with kindness, and then warn him what would happen if he didn't give him the information he wanted immediately.

In the Balkans, it was easy for him to do. He showed them pictures of open graves, and dead babies. He told him that in 24 hours that would be him.

"I'm not going to shoot you; I'm not going to lay a hand on you. I am going to fillet you, as I would've fish."

Then he would give them a hot meal, something to drink, and asked them if they made the decision. If they made the wrong one, he would strip them, tie them to a tree and begin fileting them from the chest down. He would never let his men do it. He was the ultimate authority. It was his job not theirs. He got the best intelligence of any officer in the field, but there was one general that didn't like the way he got it, and had him kicked out of the Army. God knows how he and Dan ever became friends again."

"It was Margaret Jack, they both loved her, and if Dan had not kept pursuing her, Lucius would have asked her to marry him the next day."

"I thought Lucius gave up on women. I thought he at least gave up on marriage."

"I think Lucius is an old-fashioned type of guy. He believed you didn't bed a woman, unless you are married to her."

Gordon said, "What; dad that went out in the 70s."

"Son use your fingers if you have to, but Lucius is 73 years old. During his formative years he was taught manners, and how women were to be treated. He was not part of the 60s and 70 countercultures. He was at West Point during those years, and they reinforced that into his brain. Can you recall anyone in our family that live by that motto? Take your time now, I don't want you to rush into anything."

"Dad have I told you lately you are a pain in the ass?"

"You probably have, but I've been extremely busy, and I haven't noticed. By the way, where is your lovely bride? I know where mine is."

"I don't know. I haven't seen her since we boarded."

"Permission granted."

"I haven't asked the question yet."

"You want to sit on the rocket and go back to Earth to get her."

"No, I just want to search the ship to see if she's alright."

"As I said before, permission granted."

"You are a pain in the ass dad."

"There it is, I heard you say it that time."

"I swear you going senile."

"Are you attempting to take over my spaceship? If you are that's mutiny, and it's punishable by death."

"I'm leaving the bridge in an attempt to find my wife. We will continue this conversation at a later date, when you are feeling more capable of having a more cogent conversation."

"Is that like cogent, sine, and cosine?"

"Yes dad, it's exactly like that, only completely different."

"Fantastic, now find your wife, I'll see you later."

****************

"Even you are going to confuse that boy all to heck."

"There's not a chance in hell that I could confuse that boy Jack. He was smarter than I was in math when he was four years old. When I put him in front of a computer the first time, it was like he owned the thing. He was so good that he had Gray ready to cry. I had to tape everything he put into it so we could diagnose it later. Initially we didn't understand what he was doing. He was doing linear algebra at four years old, and he had no idea he was doing it. He thought he was playing, and we did nothing to change that feeling."

"Doctor Luck."

"Yes Calle."

"Our approach course to Mars is correct. Our altitude is 22,650 feet. Forward speed 446,584 m. /second. The Mars Rover called 'Curiosity' is on Doctor Sharp's Ridge, and we are no danger to it. We will pass within 600 miles of the ESA'S Mars Express, 1776 miles of the USA's Mars Odyssey, and 17,230 miles from India's Mangalyaan Orbiting Space Laboratory. We will be on site in three minutes."

"Thank you Calle. Jennifer Luck to the bridge immediately, Jennifer Luck to the bridge immediately."

"Jack until Jennifer gets here, you and Calle have the bridge."

"What am I supposed to do Even?"

"The opposite of what you were trained to do. Make sure the ship does not blow up."

"I think I can do that."

"I know you can Jack, I have full faith in you."

I passed Jennifer who was running towards the bridge.

"What's going on Even?"

"The bridge needs a captain, and you are it. I have to help launch a rocket."

"Go, go, go husband."

I kissed her and said, "I'm gone."

I didn't wait for the elevator, I ran down the two flights of stairs, directly to the area of the main freight elevator, where our clean room was. I took off my flight suit, and Frank helped me into my tethered spacesuit. The four of us who were stepping outside for the first time were not taking any chances. I was going to be the first man out. I would hook up to the hard point just outside the door. The next three men would hook up to my cable, walk to their positions and then hook up to their hard points. The door where the rocket was stored would open and we would roll it out to its launch position. When everything was secured the elevator would be lowered into open space. It might sound like nothing, but when you're moving at 445000 m./s, your mind believes you're going to be blown to hell and back if you're lucky. What you can't fathom is that you're in a vacuum. There is no air moving around you, and you feel like you are standing still."

"Are you ready Doctor Luck?"

"If my spacesuit smells funny when I come back in, don't worry about it. I'll clean it out myself."

"That's mighty kind of you Doctor. Here we go."

The bottom portion of our spacecraft dropped out, and we could see stars all around us. It was a dazzling view.

McKinley said, "Just think Doc, we're getting paid to look at that."

"We're getting paid? I didn't know that. Would you sign me up please?"

"I'm sorry Doctor, all paperwork had to be finished before we left Earth. Since it was only a few hours ago, I guess we could go back and do this all over again."

"I don't think so. I don't believe Adam would want to find another bomb before we take off."

"Do we know who put it there?"

"I believe I know who put it there, but that's not who we want. We want the people that paid them to put it there. Then we want them to pay dearly for doing it. Colonel Canyon knows, and he will see to that personally."

"In that case, I would not want to be them."

"The only place they would be safe is if they were on this spacecraft, and I know they're not here."

"Here we go, let's launch this thing."

The rocket was held in place exactly like a torpedo is held in place in a submarine. You would think it would take hours to deploy one, but it only takes seconds. Being in space helps, because the 1200-pound rocket doesn't weigh an ounce. As soon as you release the clasps, you have to make sure it doesn't float away on you, although that is the way we intend to launch it.