A/N, I know I haven't done notes in a while, but I just don't see the point right now. There are about 5 to 10 of you across the planet reading this. Anywho, it's time for the story to go dark. It's been something of a cushy ride for Anna and Michael other than the initial shock of meeting for the first time. Oh,...and falling out of a tree.
Fair Warning, it gets juicy in this chapter. I was going to an M rating, but I have so few readers I figure if you've made it this far, you're mature enough to handle some sexploits. I doubt I've ever got the mods attention. To those few, thanks for reading!
"This will be the high point of my day,... it's all downhill from here."
Lester Burnham
Anna had finally been given clearance for all activities and she was bursting at the seams. She was dancing around bouncing on the balls of her feet, showing her usual amount of restlessness.
"When we get it done, I want to put some planters up there for flowers, maybe some mums, carnations, or crocuses. Roses might be a bit too formal. Then some rope lighting up the spiral staircase. We are doing the spiral staircase, right?, I mean we could do just a switch back or maybe..."
I put a finger up to her mouth, when she got on the ramble, she might not stop for an hour.
"Anna, settle down. Let's enjoy the process. If we just wanted the finished project, they could replicate the whole thing, but what fun would that be?"
"I'm sorry, Michael. When my brain starts to thinking, sometimes it just runs amuck."
"So I've noticed."
Olaf had managed to acquire the materials we needed, and they had sat in the back yard for a week. He also managed to calibrate the replicator for something that was really beyond his comprehension.
"They're called screws, Olaf."
"Is that because they use rotational force to anchor into the wood?"
"Yes, Olaf. That about sums it up."
"Fascinating." He also came up with a power pack that would outlast the drill it was in.
It took a bit of convincing to the Masters that we weren't building something to climb the shield wall- which was dumb- it was two hundred meters tall, then had an opaque shield on top of it, or some type of medieval weapon. Olaf himself had overseen the replication of the 'wooden' pieces. He couldn't for the life of him understand why we didn't want pre-cut pieces, or why we wanted to build it at all.
"Michael, I could have this project done within an hour, why do you wish to labor so?"
"Idle hands, Olaf. We're bored, and I want Anna and I to do something together."
"I've heard that phrase used before."
"Idle hands are the Devil's workshop. It was something our slave masters back on Earth used to make us work harder- in other words- it was in the Bible."
"I though slavery was abolished on your planet."
"HaHaHa! Olaf, that's very funny. Slavery never stopped- they just switched to finances- instead of chains. On Earth, they were the same thing."
"When we removed their power grid, did we remove their chains?"
"I hope so for their sake, Olaf."
After breakfast, me and Ms. Ants in the Pants got to work. We'd start with the staircase. We picked the straightest 'maple' we could find and spiraled around the trunk. The device we used to cut the planks was actually a type of medical scalpel. It looked like a small flashlight with an adjustable pencil lead thickness beam of light that came out about thirty centimeters at its maximum length. It had been re-calibrated for our use. If it got within one centimeter of flesh, it would automatically shut off. Good thing too. It would cut anything I passed the beam thru.
Then the geekazoid had a 'me' flashback. Anna in her best Darth Vader voice; "No, I am your father!" then I picked up the other one; "I'll never join you." All the while making the lightsabre noises during our faux duel. What made it even funnier was the fact we were using actual lightsabres, on an actual spaceship. This woman truly was my soulmate. We got the staircase done when the ship finally rotated out of the starlight.
"Can we bring out some lanterns so we can keep working?"
"Let's just call it a day, Anna. We've got plenty of time, patience."
"Race you inside!"
"Anna, we must clean up first, and I don't want tools laying about overnight."
"Ughhhh!" There's still a lot of child in there, and I really want to have a physical relationship with her, but she is damn sure making that choice difficult.
Once we got inside and finished up with dinner, It occurred to me the Masters have slipped a little. Those medical lasers are made to be used by humanoid hands, and approximately our size. Finally, a small clue as to who, or what they are.
"I'm kinda' tired, so I'm headed to bed." She bent over and gently kissed me on the head. As she backed up she slowly opened her eyes. What a pleasant image that was, like the wings of those butterflies.
"Goodnight Anna, I'll be up soon."
Once she was upstairs, I put some jazz on the turntable, then called out for Olaf. Something had been festering with me all day.
"Olaf, what all did your people do to Earth before we left?"
"I can't tell you everything of course."
"Of course." Using as much sarcasm as I could muster.
"All power grid devices, such as step up transformers, generator windings, capacitors, and all telecommunications antennas and satellites were destroyed. Anything with a circuit board or solid state device was rendered inoperative."
"EMP?"
"Yes."
"Is that why you were so enamored of my tube gear?"
"Besides its primitive construction, yes."
"OK, so why did you destroy it all?"
"You prayed for help for your world, as did many others. Some of those others are here. We took away their ability for 'enslavement' as you put it. Without technology, they'll revert to a simpler, more manageable existence. It will be the struggle you eluded to earlier. Yes,... many will die, but nature will be brought back into balance."
"I had always thought that it would be best for the earth to depopulate, I just never could think of a good way to do it."
"Neither did we, Michael. The method we used was rather cruel. But in a few hundred years, they will look back and remember us as liberators."
"You do realize Olaf, that speech has been used before, and the ones who said it were anything but."
"History will be our judge, Michael. We had to try. The bad news is we had little time before we had to leave, this was the best we could do in such a short time frame."
"What about all the nuclear material? That stuff needed electricity to keep it under control."
"All nuclear material on Earth was confiscated, and sent into the Sun."
"Well,... at least that's a relief."
"Leaving those materials behind would have caused the extinction of all life on Earth."
"Alright Olaf, I'm sufficiently bummed out. That will be all."
"Goodnight, Michael. Pleasant dreams." Not a chance in hell for that. I wonder if that was an attempt at sarcasm?
I went upstairs and just watched Anna sleep, then I stroked her hair. While back home they were smashing in each others skulls for a can of soup on a filthy street somewhere. Most of them doomed to extinction,... but not all of them. I lay here in this comfortable bed, ten times better off than the richest man on Earth, and I can't help but wonder how lucky I am. I have to make this work. I have to have twenty children, raise them properly, teach them to love, to be good to each other, and be good stewards to the world in which they live.
Debt.
I've racked up the biggest debt in history. If a dollar amount were placed on what's happened to me so far, it would be in the quadrillions. For one man, who was a simple worker, doing an ordinary job, his days numbered by a biological death sentence. On a dying world.
All the money in the world couldn't save them, those who ran Earth- the true Masters- were now on equal footing with the slave class. They couldn't just buy a ticket to come on board this vessel.
Jesus said; "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of the needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." His statement now weighing true. Humans spent every waking minute of their day counting money, every decision, every product, every service deemed it's worth based on how much money could be made by it.
This whole project would have never got off the ground on Earth, even if the sun was going supernova. There'd be no profit in it. That basically grounded the space program back home. It was just a giant hole that swallowed money. It was not seen as destiny, or an expansion of the human condition. It was just numbers on a screen, and those numbers just didn't add up. Maybe they deserved to die, the human stench being cleared from what was once a shining beacon floating in space.
It's fate now sealed.
I now have a giant headache from this barrage of thought, and it's not like I can go to the medicine cabinet and grab something, "Oh Olaf?"...
We spent the next two days putting up the deck. It was a octagonal affair with enough room to lay down on, the trunk running thru the deck offset so we had space. We also positioned the deck so it was in a thin part of the tree, that way we could see the sky. Anna was the better drawer of us two and her plans were easy to follow. I helped her with the bracing, however. Olaf looked at this and was concerned;
"I afraid this design doesn't look entirely stable."
"OK, Olaf. when we're done you can shore it up however you see fit."
"That would make me feel so much better." He was concerned about our welfare, and it seemed as if he had feelings. He was obviously concerned about Anna, and got her a sling for some of the deck mounts that she insisted on installing herself.
She was one of those 'Get back on the Horse' kind of people, and while I felt some trepidation from her swinging around in that tree, I knew if I stopped her, it would have created some friction between us. Hopefully the Masters have seen fit to make her some more body parts, just in case. While I was trimming some of the deck timbers I dropped the cutting tool, it whizzed right by her arm. Luckily the safety worked...
"Hey!, I just got this thing put back on!"
"Sorry!" Ugh,... now I'm trying to maim her.
We were just finishing up when the ship jumped to the next star. They always brought the ship in the same daylight position so our schedules wouldn't get mixed up. Always fourteen hours of daylight and twelve hours of night. I assumed it matched the planet we were going to. Olaf popped up and said; "We have a special treat for you tonight so be sure to watch the sky."
"Wouln't be a problem Olaf, we're sleeping out on the tree house deck tonight."
"Are you sure that's wise?"
"It'll be fine Olaf, I'm sure we'll survive." Little did I know how close I'd be to being wrong.
As we rotated into night, The habitat became lit up in color, we had parked next to a nebula. Hundreds of baby stars beaming their first light, making the gas glow in a myriad of colors, breathtaking didn't even begin to describe this.
"Look Michael, the sky's awake." And a dream unfolds before our eyes.
How many people would give their very lives to see what we are seeing right now?
"I'll go get some sheets and pillows."
"OK, Anna, I'm on the snacks!" Then we climbed the stairway to heaven, and starred out into space. Umm, salted caramel chocolate chip cookies, and nebula. They go so well together.
We stripped off our clothes, laid down on the deck and got under the covers. Anna's normally teal eyes turned this beautiful green color in the light of the nebula. Her hair looked like fire in its orange glow.
"It's so beautiful, Michael."
"I know."
"But you're looking at me."
"Exactly. You're a thousand times more beautiful than that nebula out there."
"Oh Michael..."
I was laying beside her, slowly running my fingers from nap of her neck to around her breasts, then down between her legs. She was very ready. I could feel the energy pass between us as she arched her back and squirmed enough to knock the covers off.
We started kissing each other softly, but that lasted only a for a few moments.
Now our kissing had turned to inflamed passion, our tongues finally meeting for the first time. She slipped her arm underneath me and pulled me on top of her. There was no need for any more foreplay. I could chisel granite and a river flowed underneath her. The wave of adrenaline shock nearly made me pass out as I slipped inside her.
Grinding ever so slowly, it was like being sucked into a black hole, as you cross the event horizon, time nearly stops. I was hoping my event horizon would hold out for a little while longer. When she finally climaxed, I heard her scream echo off the hull.
Her orgasm was so powerful she clamped me and I couldn't move. Then she rolled on top and gentle passionate love making went straight to animal lust. She was pounding me as hard as she could, moaning with every breath. I could hold back no longer, and it was my turn to start screaming. My vision had clouded from the rush, and I could barely get enough oxygen.
I had completely forgotten what that was like.
She leaned in and kissed me, then pressed her lips to my ear and whispered; "Do you want to go again?" I needed at least a few minutes to recover.
"Can you give me ten minutes?"
"Sure."
I think she got minutes and seconds mixed up, as she was back on top of me in no time. It was a very long night...
Dawn was breaking when I woke up. Holy shit!, did that actually happen? Oh ya it did, there was barely a dry spot on the deck, and I wasn't in one. Note to self, bring towels next time, lots of towels. I guess youthfulness has it's advantages, but it only goes so far, I had no idea how we were gonna' get down those steps. We might need Olaf to rescue us.
Then I heard the voices; "Anna, Mike! Are you ready? We're burning daylight!"
Oh, shit! I forgot we were supposed to go running with the Zahir's. However, walking was going to be an issue today.
"Oh, hey Abzari. Looks like we misjudged our evening and we wouln't be able to go running today."
"Nice tree house Michael, but when..." That's when supernova hair popped her head up.
"Oh hey guys, what brings you here?" Hers eyes barely open.
I said to her out the side of my mouth; "We were supposed to run with them today, dear."
Anna said rather loudly; "Oh FUCK that idea!" Then she laid back down.
"She's really not a morning person." The look of shock on their faces was priceless.
"OK,... next week then?"
"We'll be ready, see ya soon!" Then they turned and ran, quickly.
We're going to have to burn these sheets and hose the deck down.