Chapter six
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."
