Author's Notes:
I've developed a rep for writing long stories. Really long stories.
This is NOT one of those.
It's perhaps the shortest story I've ever written and was born of a writing exercise I did with some fellow writers.
I gave it a little polish and released it... like an appetizer while you wait for my next tome to drop.
It's just meant to be a fun little pick-me-up.
I hope you enjoy it.
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All characters engaging in sexual relationships or activities are 18 years old or older.
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Intimate Adversary
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As these things always do, it began with sex.
Professor Raul Alfaro Hernandez was having a late evening interlude in his office at the Ciudad Universitaria in Mexico City with Gabriela, one of his grad students, when the eureka moment came to him, multiple ways.
The idea was so bold and outrageous, he almost dismissed it, but something was... intrinsically perfect about the theory which clung to his brain. He suddenly shrieked with excitement and pushed the young beauty from his desk so he could begin scribbling furiously on his notepadโa notepad, which only moments earlier, had cushioned the exquisitely lovely ass of the student.
Fortunate for the professor's immediate survival, the furious Gabriela recognized his rude act as the excited reaction to a profound scientific epiphany and stopped herself from gutting him with his letter opener.
He spent the next week locked in his office, hammering out the details, and occasionally hammering Gabriela, who also ensured he was fed, got rest, and wasn't otherwise disturbed.
By the beginning of the second week, Raul had his Theorem of Rapid Evolutionary Transition in his hands. He made some calls, excitedly arranging to present the paper before his peers at a hastily organized gathering in Geneva.
Raul never made it to the peer review as he and his lovely assistant were snatched away on the way to the airport by CIA agents. They were hustled to a private airstrip and loaded into a sleek executive jet with very plush seats. Raul and Gabriela's emotions quickly went from outrage to panic. As they flew to their secret destination, their fear became excitement as their captors explained they were simply being helped to prove the theory before he presented it. Raul would be able to build his dream team to support this effort.
To sweeten the deal, a grossly large sum of money was offered as a reward for participating. Raul and Gabriela weren't so blinded by the promise of riches to miss the subtle suggestion that their involvement, while desired, was also mandatory. They shared a look and smiled.
Now entirely on board with this new plan, Raul and his pretty assistant took charge of the American team. The talented scientists Raul identified were offered a chance to join the experience, and all leaped at the opportunity, except for Professor Jean-Pierre La'Rond from Quebec, Canada, who'd been chosen to be their lead electrical engineer. He finally, but reluctantly, agreed once he was promised his daily lunches would continue from Smoke Meat Pete in รle Perrot, Quรฉbec.
Seeing this flurry of activity by the CIA, the head of China's state intelligence agency concentrated
his
team's efforts on building a corresponding team and had their operatives in the States infiltrate the Americans to siphon off information on Professor Hernandez theory. In the US secret base, a copy of his paper went missing. The cleaning staff was suspected, as they always are, so they were replaced.
Soon the experiment was being prepared in absolute secret in undisclosed underground labs on two continents. While their efforts were independent of each other, they aimed to be the first to achieve the goal, no matter the cost. The spies from the Chinese team left backdoor access to watch the progress of the Americans. They got a good chuckle over that.
The CIA watched the Chinese agents laughing through their own hidden cameras and felt secure they'd have the last laugh.
Smoke Meat Pete's owner laughed all the way to the bank, as the large and growing lunchtime takeout orders fed record profits.
Both teams selected a candidate to undergo the evolutionary transition. There was significant danger involved, so they chose from their most elite branches of military personnel.
For the US, Captain Brick Johnson, a decorated Ranger, Black Ops Special Forces, and Seal Team officer, was selected by the military brass.
Commander Wang Hung, Leader of the Special Strike Force of the People's Army, was chosen to be the Chinese candidate.
Both men went through rigorous physical and mental preparations while the scientists rushed to complete the Transition Chamber's construction.
Both facilities were directly linked to nuclear power generation stations, which would run at maximum output to meet the power requirement.
Then came the fateful day when both teams announced they were ready.
Now it was time for the intelligence agencies to shine. Both had contingency plans in play to ensure their competitor's team failed. The sabotage was launched.
Raul and his counterpart in China, Fang Shee Ping, congratulated their teams and began the countdown.
Wang Hung's final pre-Transition meal had been spiked with a rather horrific concoction from the minds of the CIA science team. The elite soldier locked himself in the toilet and crapped himself into a coma.
Brick Johnson was slipped a hefty dose of Viagra in the hopes of causing a brain embolism from a sudden spike in his blood pressure. Intense training and excellent genes saved him from this fate.
When the scientists from each team arrived to collect their candidates, they were shocked at what they found.
