Globe Trotting – Tokelau P2
Note: Thanks, as always, for the kind reviews. I am glad people are enjoying the story!
***555***
Once Barber and Annie were done hugging it out the mission was on. Calder had assured that the weather would clear by morning and Auggie and Barber would be able to intercept the satellite in question.
"Why is this satellite such a big deal?" Annie asked.
"We're not actually sure that it is, but it keeps passing over this island and no one can figure out why. It is a major source of confusion at NASA. They were going to send a team and the Agency got a whiff and figured it should be us in case it is a big deal," Barber explained.
"So we could be intercepting baseball scores or something?"
"Technically yes," Auggie said.
"But you don't think so?" Annie sensed he had his own ideas.
"Tokelau has the lowest GDP of any country in the world, why pass by it at all?" Auggie began.
"To get somewhere else," Annie reasoned.
"True, satellites don't jump around to the hot spots, they orbit, but there is nothing for hundreds of miles around, there are much more effective orbits to use. This one is unique and we need to find out why. Also, we cannot determine the origin of this satellite," Auggie continued.
"Do you think it's a UFO?" Annie said with glee.
"No Mulder, calm down, we think it is a spy satellite," Auggie teased.
"Oh," Annie pouted.
"I missed this," Barber rocked back on his heels with a smile on his face.
"What?" Annie asked.
"You two, bantering like the old days, it feels so 2011," Barber grinned wider.
"The point is, if it is a spy satellite, what in the world is it looking for in the middle of the South Pacific?" Auggie glared at Barber good-naturedly.
"The sunken remains of a UFO, of course," Annie stated emphatically.
***555***
The team assembled as much of the equipment as they could and Annie made a simple supper that benefited from the wine Barber brought with him.
"Joan's baby is super cute," Barber reported.
"I hope we can do a video chat with her and the baby when we are somewhere more secure," Auggie noted.
"Well, until you get video," Barber produced a small photo of Joan and Arthur and baby, "they sent this."
"So sweet," Annie gushed.
"Arthur still has a sling on, but he looks good. Joan looks beautiful and the baby is, as most babies are at this point, mostly a pile of blankets, but he has a sweet little face. His eyes are open and his mouth is so tiny," Annie described for Auggie as she snuggled into him and placed his fingers on the picture.
"Joan officially comes back next week," Barber reported.
"Really?" Annie asked.
"Two months is ridiculously short for maternity leave, but that's what she has and with the agency in such flux she doesn't want to push it.
"Two months?" Annie said confused.
"McKenzie will be 2 months old in a week," Barber reported and watched as Annie's face displayed several different emotions at once.
She turned to face Auggie, he was looking sort of halfway between Annie and Barber, so Annie turned his face towards hers.
"It's been two months?" she asked incredulously.
"Eight weeks the world has been a safer place, thanks to you," he tried putting it in perspective and it must have worked because she kissed him then.
The kiss was soft at first, but Auggie tilted his jaw to let her lips fall perfectly against his and escalated it quickly. Just when Barber thought they might start disrobing in front of him Annie stopped, but not because she remembered they weren't alone.
"Thank you," she said, her voice ragged.
"For a kiss?" Auggie queried.
"For the past 8 weeks, for saving me, for keeping Annie Walker alive," her voice was so raw.
Auggie couldn't respond he just nodded and buried his face in her hair. Barber wished they had just had sex in front of him, it would have been less intimate than what he was watching. He was afraid to move, as if he might wake them like sleepwalkers, but he couldn't stay there watching the communion of their souls like this, so he began clearing the dishes from dinner.
The hut had a small kitchenette at the back, not separated from the main room at all, but it was far enough away that he could not understand what they were whispering to one another. Barber might have been a spy by trade, but he didn't want to eavesdrop on his friends, so he did the dishes quietly and then slipped into the bathroom and washed up.
When he emerged from the bathroom Auggie was at the computer and Annie was sitting on their bunk swinging her legs and flipping through a magazine.
"Should we flip for who is going to climb the tree and mount the satellite receiver tomorrow?" Barber said to break the tension.
***555***
"Auggie, please tell me that is your hand," Annie mumbled against his chest as she awoke the next morning.
"Huh?" he mumbled back.
"On my shoulder, please tell me that is your hand on my shoulder," her body tensed against him and her voice got panicky.
"What are you talking about?" he asked sleepily as he took his index finger from her shoulder and investigated the hair behind her ear.
Annie jumped off of him and launched herself off the bunk in a vault that would have made the Olympic team jealous and began to flail and jump. Barber walked into the cabin, this time followed by sunshine and warm air to find Annie hopping around in a tee shirt and not much else.
"What's going on?" he asked concerned.
"Is there a spider on me?" she stopped jumping but could not control he shudders that wracked her body.
"Not big enough for me to see," Barber assured her.
"Annie…." Auggie drew out her name from the bed.
"It WAS you?" she turned on him.
"If there are spiders this big in the cabin we are in trouble," he said holding up his large hand and wiggling his fingers.
"Seriously blind man, you are going to play practical jokes on me, knowing how much I really detest the idea of a spider crawling on me, you are going to start something," she said as she stalked back to the bunk and scaled the ladder.
She crawled over the bunk and held herself in plank form over his body, her face right up against his, nose to nose.
"You're going to mess with me on this?" she finished with a laugh.
"Usually you like my fingers…" Auggie began and Barber interrupted before he knew more than he wanted to know.
"OK, prank time is over, you two need to get up and put a few more items of clothing on and help me mount this receiver," Barber attempted to get them back on track.
"OOOh, I'll climb the tree," Annie jumped from the bunk again and grabbed her clothes.
"What if there are spiders up there?" Auggie teased.
"I'm fine when I know they are there, that is the problem with spiders, they sneak up on you," she reasoned.
"I haven't climbed a tree since I was 10, so if she wants to do it I am not fighting with her," Barber ended the debate.
TBC…