Home » The Archives » Chapter 7 » Trouble Under the Hood
| Re: Trouble Under the Hood [message #1866 is a reply to message #1865] |
Sat, 28 July 2012 17:26   |
Lillehafrue
Messages: 478
Registered: July 2012
Location: Northeastern USA
Karma:
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TB Pilot
Evil Genius |
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From: Tikatu Sent: 4/12/2006 5:40 PM
Monday, July 9, 2068, 11:30 p.m., Tracy Island
Jeff stretched and yawned as he padded off to his suite. With the kids gone, I hardly know what time it is anymore. I miss the school routine and the bedtime routine. It'll be great to have them back home again.
He fully expected Dianne to be waiting up for him in their sitting room, or perhaps their bedroom, but when an examination of both showed she was in neither, he frowned. "I wonder where she is?" he murmured. "Should I go looking?" He thought about this for a moment then nodded. The lack of routine messes her up, too.
Leaving their suite, he sauntered downstairs and poked his head into the dining room. There was a light on in the kitchen, and he stepped through to see who was in there. His mother was, fixing herself a cup of herbal tea.
"Hello, Mom," he said with a smile. "Can't sleep?"
"No, not really. All the excitement with Tin-Tin and Kyrano today, I guess," she said. "It's been a while since we've had to deal with that creature, and for him to target poor Tin-Tin... it just makes my blood boil!"
"Mine, too, Mom," he admitted. "I hope he doesn't try again. By the way, have you seen Dianne anywhere about?"
Emily shook her head. "No, son. I haven't. But there's been someone in the games room, using the home theater this evening. Perhaps she's watching a movie."
"Hmm. She might be, though I'm puzzled as to why she wouldn't watch it on the plasma screen in our room."
"Maybe it was something to share with the boys," Emily suggested, taking a sip of tea. "Just pop your head in and find out. I'm going to take my tea back to my suite."
"I will." He kissed her on the cheek. "Goodnight, Mom."
Returning the salute, she said, "Goodnight, son. Sleep well."
As she walked off, Jeff noticed that there was a light on around the pool area. He walked out the dining room door that opened onto the flagstone veranda that surrounded the whole of the lower level. The air was chilly, but obviously not chilly enough. Gordon and Scott were sitting in the hot tub, laughing and trading jokes.
"Hey, Dad!" Scott said, waving to his father. "Come join us!"
"No, thanks, boys. The air's a bit too nippy for my taste tonight. Perhaps some other time." He looked out at the pool itself, but it was empty. "Have either of you seen Dianne lately?"
Both of them shook their heads. "No, Dad, can't say I have," Gordon told him. "Why?"
"She wasn't in our suite, that's all. Sorry to bother you, boys. Don't catch cold, now."
Scott chuckled. "We won't, Dad, promise."
He smiled, and stepped back inside, heading for the games room. He slid open the door and stepped inside, passing by the pinball machines, the pool and ping pong tables and opening the door to the small room that made up the home theater. There he found Virgil sharing popcorn with Elise and John. There was an old action movie on the big screen, with little fighter space ships zooming all over the place.
"Will you look at those crappy special effects?" John was saying. "It's a pity that no one's remade this thing."
"But it's a classic!" Virgil cried. "This was state-of-the-art at the time!"
Elise was laughing. "Look at those tactics! Couldn't they have hired someone from the military to give them some guidance there? They're going to lose half their squadron with that kind of dog fight!"
Jeff cleared his throat. Instantly, three faces whipped his way, their eyes wide at being startled.
"Hey, Dad!" Virgil called. "What's up? Want to join us?"
Jeff smiled. "No thanks. Just wanted to see if Dianne was in here."
"Last time I saw her, she was in the infirmary," Elise said.
"When was that?"
Elise consulted her wristcomm. "About an hour and a half ago." She grinned. "We're playing a double feature here."
"Well, enjoy," Jeff said, smiling back. "I'll check in the infirmary. Thanks."
"Goodnight, Dad," John called as Jeff left.
"Goodnight," Jeff replied as the door slid shut. He stepped backwards and turned around... to find himself face to face with his wife, who was coming out of Tin-Tin's suite. He smiled. "Just the woman I want to see." He motioned toward Tin-Tin's door. "How is she?"
"Still feeling a headache. She gave me a call and I brought her some painkiller and a light sedative. She needs the sleep." Holding up the hypospray, she added, "Let me dispense with these."
He nodded and followed her down the hall to the infirmary, and watched as she disposed of the empty hypospray ampules, then put the device itself into the sterilizer. She smiled at him as she washed her hands. "What brings you down here?"
"Looking for you, actually," he admitted. She went into her office and he followed her. On her screen was a freeze-frame shot of the sheik from their latest rescue. "What's this all about?" Jeff asked, gesturing toward the screen.
"I keep coming back to this sound bite from the sheik," she told him as she sat in her chair and began to put the computer on standby. "It's amazing that we made such an impression on him. I wish we could follow up somehow and see what comes of it."
"It would be interesting," Jeff said. "But impossible, I'm afraid." He rested a hand on her shoulder. "I know we've made a difference in a lot of lives over the years, but very, very seldom do we get to see or hear what those differences are. We've had to content ourselves with the knowledge that we did. Getting feedback like this is gravy."
"Yes, it is," Dianne responded. The computer screen went blank, and she stood up. Putting her arms around Jeff's neck, she smiled as their eyes met. "Do me a favor?"
"What?" he asked, surprised.
"When you finally get around to replacing Christopher, please consider hiring a woman," she said. "It would be nice to be able to field a completely female team when necessary."
"Hmm. I'll keep that in mind," Jeff said, lowering his face to touch his lips to hers. "And thank you for reminding me about hiring another pilot. It's not exactly been at the forefront of my mind lately." He sighed. "And it should have been, especially with the pressure that we've put on Elise."
"Well, consider yourself reminded," she said with a sly smile. "Now, Mr. Tracy, what am I going to do with you?"
He gave a glance in the direction of the sick room, then turned back to her with a raised eyebrow and a husky tone to his voice. "We could... you know... have a repeat of our first encounter..."
"An interesting idea," she said, brushing back his hair, "But I think I'd rather indulge myself in the privacy of our own boudoir... or maybe even our Jacuzzi."
"Suits me fine," he replied, kissing her deeply.
98% pure evil...and loving every minute of it.
 
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