War of the Worlds 2030 (17 page)

“You aren't. I…I never started anything without hoping it would last.”

“Good, because I want that chance.”

She grinned, kissed him and wiggled against him suggestively. Richard gasped. Pushing off the covers, she took his penis into her hand and pulled back the foreskin.

Richard groaned and tried to roll onto his back but a tug stopped him.

“No, I like how we woke up.” She pulled a condom off his night stand and unrolled it over his manhood, making sure to leave room for the ejaculate at its end. Finished, she slid up his body and spooned with him. His right arm slid under her slender chest and gently squeezed her breast while his left hand stroked the area around her clitoris.

“You are so wet,” he whispered into her ear.

“Hmmm,” she reached down and positioned him at her vaginal lips then eased onto his penis. At first she only took in the tip, teasing herself then gradually she allowed him to penetrate more deeply.

“Oh, Gods.” Richard, nibbled the back of her neck.

“Yes. Oh, Richard. You feel so big. I've wanted you for so long. This is better than I ever dreamed.” Ashley's voice took on a silken huskiness it lacked in everyday life.

“Oh, Gods. I'm going to come, stop for a moment,” he begged.

Her response was to push down harder, snuggling into him with all the strength in her lithe form. Richard groaned and she felt him twitch. His finger pressed a little harder against her clitoris and her own orgasm welled up. For a second the room was lost in a wash of sensation then she lay still.

Ji-Yeon reveled in Ashley's feelings. She'd learned to accept them for what they were, a new form of art to be appreciated. She no longer feared being unfaithful to her husband in this odd world of memory. She enjoyed the warmth of Richard's embrace and let the memory roll on.

Ben settled on the Cyber couch.

“Ready for another session?” asked Carol.

“Not really, but one does what one must.”

Carol paused holding the IV. “What's up, you're normally pumped to get into Ashley's head?”

“Got a dear John last night. My girlfriend from collage dumped me to take up with some 4 F draft dodger.”

“You never mentioned you had a girl back home.”

“I…I'm kinda private about things like that. I…My parents weren't the most supportive. They teased, a lot, anytime I had a girlfriend, so I just stopped talking about them.”

“Most parents tease.” Carol started the IV and began checking the monitors beside the couch.

“Not like mine. Trust me on this one.”

“I'm sorry about your girlfriend.”

“Me too, but hey, it could be worse.” Ben shrugged.

“How?”

“It could have been me writing the letter. I…I kinda' have my eye on someone. I couldn't do anything about it as long as Susan and I were together.”

“Ashley is just a cyber ghost, Ben.” Carol shook her head and rolled her eyes.

“It's not Ashley. She's a fantasy, not a reality. No, the girl I'm looking at is very real. Now I just have to build up the courage to ask her out.”

“She'd be crazy to say no!” Carol looked dejected as she finished checking the equipment.

Ben smiled. “Good. How about dinner this Friday?”

“Really? I'm not crazy.” Carol smiled back at him.

“Good, now to work.” Ben activated the cyber feed.

* * * *

Upload monitoring/ Ashley Hinkly /Index 23:35/ 4/11/2033

* * * *

Ashley sighed as Richard rubbed her shoulders. She sat in front of the microscope. “I suspected as much. Tannal said the yellow color was natural, but I never believed him. Oh you could do that forever.” She scanned the compact but efficient lab. She didn't even know which part of the country the facility was in. Lights blinked on pieces of equipment around the room and a computer screen glowed on the other work table.

“It is comforting that the viral implant they used to give immunity didn't stick,” agreed Richard.

“Certainly means Earth won't be overrun with alien life forms. Oh, hmm, work the latisimus dorsi a bit more please?”

“Of course, love. Such a common mold. The only place they wouldn't have to deal with it is the poles.”

“Hmm. How did they get the samples anyway?”

“Green Peace. Some of the protesters are agents. They raided the facility a few hours ago. Spray painted slogans on the building, that sort of thing. While they were in the compound the agents snatched the samples. It's a perfect cover.”

“Betty will be pissed if she ever finds out.”

“So what! Frankly, I've had just about enough of my daughter. I worked hard to give her a decent life, and all she does is insult me. I feel like I've lost her.”

“You haven't. She'll come around. It's just she believes in things and is an extremist.” Ashley caught his hands in hers.

“Perhaps. You know that is something we haven't discussed.”

“What?”

“Children.”

“Richard you know about my uncle.” Ashley stared sadly at the counter top in front of her.

“I checked the DNA of the identification sample you gave. You don't have the recessive gene. There is no chance of you passing on the condition.”

Ashley sighed and smiled then an annoyed expression crossed her face and she swiveled her chair to face her lover. “You should have asked my permission!”

Richard smiled. “Why make you sweat and worry about what the tests might say? This way you get the good news without the stress.”

Ashley grinned. “I'm too tired to ball you out right now, Mister God complex.”

Richard stood back in mock offence. “I do not have a God complex. I haven't tried to control the lightning in weeks!” He smiled, pushed Ashley's chair around and returned to rubbing her shoulders. “So what about them?”

“What?”

“Children?”

“I think it might be nice, someday.”

“Good, I'll enjoy the process of bringing that about.”

Ashley caught his hand pulled it forward and kissed it.

* * * *

Upload monitoring/ Ashley Hinkly /Index 20:43/ 21/11/2033

* * * *

Ashley nestled into Richard's side, his arm around her shoulders. They sat on his battered couch and each held a file folder.

“No!” said Richard.

“All the animal studies came back positive.”

“Ashley, you are not Doctor Jekyll. We do not experiment on ourselves.”

“Richard, we need to do this. The
Darmuks
are pulling farther and farther ahead. You said yourself that you can't reverse engineer as quickly as they create. The anomalies in their actions are getting worrisome. The only hope we have of keeping up is if we can interface human and machine intelligence.”

“We'll get a volunteer.” Richard pulled away to look her in her eye. “I…I don't want to lose you, Ash. I love you. The procedure is untried. Let's find someone who will die without it, like we did with the cancer cure.”

Ashley cupped his cheek in her hand. “You know the system will only work with a person trained in mental discipline. Long-term mediators, creative visualizers. Us Pagan types fit the bill.”

“Still—”

“Whoever does it needs a background in biology if they're going to help catch us up to the
Darmuks
.”

“I can't disagree. Okay, when do I go under the knife?”

Ashley felt a chill run through her. “Richard. No!! It's my research.”

“I'm your facility advisor. I got you involved with the committee. Ash, you know the interface better than I do. If anything goes wrong, who's better qualified to deal with the problems?”

“Richard, I don't want to lose you either.” Her voice was small.

“Then be sure your implant works.” He kissed her brow.

* * * *

Upload monitoring/ Ashley Hinkly /Index 10:02/ 02/12/2033

* * * *

Ashley watched as Richard opened his eyes. He lay on a gurney at the committee facility, connected by a wire that snaked from behind his right ear into a computer.

“How do you feel?” she asked.

“Like someone shoved a bunch of wires through my skull,” he replied.

“All the preliminary tests show green. Close your eyes and focus as if you were trancing out at one of Doctor Godfrey's lectures.”

“I only did that once.”

“Richard!” Ashley looked stern.

“Okay, I always do it. The man is as interesting as porridge.” Richard smiled.

Ashley grinned then her expression became serious. “Try it.”

Richard closed his eyes. A second passed then the computer screen lit up with letters. “How's this?”

“Excellent,” said Ashley.

Richard's brow wrinkled. The screen blanked then slowly colors and lines pulled together. After several minutes a perfect nude of Ashley lying on a sheepskin filled the screen.

“Magnificent, in every sense of the word,” remarked Andrew's voice.

“Richard, we aren't alone.” Ashley blushed crimson.

“Oops.” Richard allowed the image on the screen to dissolve into random pixels.

“Impressive,” remarked General Flanders.

“It's not as easy as it looks. It's similar to blocking physical pain, but far more detailed. I'm sorry, Ash.”

“Don't worry, Richard. I'm sure I'll be implanted soon. ‘Rubber Ducky you're the one, makes my testing so much fun'.” Ashley sang the altered children's song.

“Oh, Bloody hell, you will too won't you?”

“Doctor, Ashley, while it is delightful to see the interaction between the two of you. We have work to do,” said Andrew.

“Of course, general.” Ashley checked several read-outs at the head of Richard's cot. “Vitals look good. Richard, try the data retrieval. It should be similar to a memory enhancement trance.”

“On it.” Richard closed his eyes. The EEG showed an alpha rhythm. He looked peaceful for a second then screamed.

“Richard, can you hear me?” demanded Ashley as she disconnected the interface.

“Oh, g…g…gods,” he groaned, tears streaming from his eyes.

“What happened?” General Flanders moved to Ashley's side.

“I don't know,” she said.

The door flew open and a middle-aged woman burst in. “His EEG went mad. His electrolyte mix is plummeting. IV. Lactated Ringers. Blood sugar is falling like a rock. 300 milliliters d fifty w IV push. Start a second line D5W.”

Richard opened his eyes and whispered. “Bohr, Aage Niels, Danish physicist and Nobel laureate, born in Copenhagen. The son of Niels Bohr, he assisted his father on the atomic bomb project at Los Alamos, New Mexico, during World War II.”

“What?” Ashley bent close to hear. She turned to her computer screen. “Goddess,” she swore. “Give him any brain chemicals in stock. Pump up his blood sugar.”

“What?” demanded the female doctor.

“Every file on the computer's been opened and copied. His brain is exhausted.”

* * * *

Upload monitoring/ Ashley Hinkly /Index 09:04/ 4/12/2033

* * * *

“Zulu, Bantu-speaking people of southern Africa living mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. In the past their economy was based on cultivating millet and raising cattle. Traditionally the Zulu lived in beehive-shaped huts grouped in a circular compound, or
kraal
. Today most Zulu are dependent on wage labor from farms and mines.” Richard quoted from memory.

“Richard, that's amazing.” Ashley sat across from him at a table in a sealed examination room.

“It's strange. I have the knowledge if I reach for it, but it has no context. I can't picture a krall but I know the statement,” he replied.

“So, Ashley, what has happened to him?” asked General Flanders.

“He absorbed every piece of data in the computer. The entire encyclopedia. I'd thought maybe he'd take the information on the ram., but he accessed the disk drive. I just thank the Gods I kept the files on the machine low. Any more would have killed him. Richard, I'm so sorry.”

“Ash, I insisted, remember? Besides I always wanted encyclopedic information. Now I have it.”

“Will it last and what good is it,” demanded the general.

“I don't know and incalculable, in that order,” answered Ashley.

“General, imagine being able to copy the experience of a top fighter pilot, who's aged past his prime, and download it into a up and comer,” explained Richard.

“You can do that?”

“Give us four or five years. For now. I think we need to work out a buffer to keep the brain from over loading.”

“Darn tootin'! I'm not losing you,” said Ashley.

* * * *

Upload monitoring/ Ashley Hinkly /Index 23:35/ 7/2/2034

* * * *

“We're finally gaining ground on their technology,” observed Richard. Ashley felt him staring into her computer screen over her shoulder.

“Slowly. Zane's work is going well,” she remarked.

“He's good, but nowhere near your level.” Richard placed a hand on her shoulder. She leaned her cheek against it.

“He's better.”

“No one's better. Are you ready for your Doctoral presentation?”

“Almost. I've modified the implant to get around some of the feed rate problems. I just need to test it.”

“On who?”

Ashley swiveled her chair around. “Richard, I can't keep up with you and Zane for the research anymore. It has to be me.”

“No,” ordered Richard.

Ashley took his hands. “The technology is safe, you proved that. Richard, I love you, but it is so disconcerting to be with someone who can quote the encyclopedia on any topic. It makes me feel stupid.”

“Ash, I never meant to. It's knowledge, not intellect.” Richard looked stricken.

“I know that, up here.” she tapped her head. “But here,” she tapped her chest. “It's like when my mother would grill me and make me feel dumb when I got the answers wrong.”

“I love you, Ash. I…”

She placed a finger over his lips. “Then let me do this. Besides the Doctoral presentation will be much better if I can show duplicable results.”