Chapter Twenty Six
Karl didn't know what time it was when he awoke the next morning, but the single small cloud he could see through the windows was just showing signs of the morning's dawn in an almost perfectly clear sky. Karl stretched slowly, carefully rolling away from Ely's warm form, only to be surprised by Evinrude's meow of protest as he was disturbed.
"Well old son, if you're gonna sleep in my bed, you're going to have to learn that you might get bumped." He murmured at the cat.
"Are you playing with another pussy while you're sleeping with me?" Ely chuckled softly in a low tone and rolled to slip an arm across Karl's chest.
"Nope, just explaining about the facts of life to Evinrude. He's got to learn that I always seem to manage to bump into any pussy that sleeps with me." Karl grinned.
"You'd better watch out Evinrude, sometimes he does more than bump them too." She snorted. "I'm surprised he'd be interested in an old bachelor like you though."
"You're awake and chipper awfully early woman." Karl laughed softly
"Mm hmm. Sorry I fell asleep on you last night, you should have woken me."
"You looked so comfortable I thought I could wait for a better time." He smiled, gently stroking the skin of her arm. "And I don't understand why, but I fell asleep almost right away myself."
"We were both suffering from relief." She chuckled. "I wasn't really all that aroused anyway, not like the night before when the girls interrupted us. Were you really disappointed?"
"A bit, but like I said, I was tired as well." He leaned over and kissed her bald pate, rubbing his nose on the smooth skin of her head and making her giggle.
"Mmmm, you send shivers down my spine when you do that." She shivered, hugging him tightly.
"It used to do more than that." He chuckled.
"It still does." She giggled, her hand sliding down to his crotch. "It gets me all warmed up and I see that it still gets you going, doesn't it?"
"A bit." He laughed, drawing his hand slowly across her hip and finding she had a hand in his way to touching her anywhere near her pussy. "What's the matter? Don't you want to play around a bit? It's still early."
"Mmm, not right now, do you mind?"
"Well, I suppose I can last another while, but I thought that this was a great opportunity."
"It might be except I know you were all ready to get up." She chuckled. "Besides, I'm betting we'd just get started and some damn thing would disturb us."
"Yeah." Karl sighed, "I'm expecting that damn klaxon to sound any minute. I don't think I told you last night, but on the last dive before they had to stop yesterday, they found a box."
"The box?" She instantly tightened in anticipation or fear.
"They think so. The chief diver said they still had to test it for radiation with a Geiger counter, but he thought it was the one."
"I thought there was an undercurrent of some sort going on last night." She sighed. "Neither you nor Don seemed to quite manage to relax."
"I suppose." He said quietly. "To change the subject, is it just me, or is Keri recovering awfully fast? She was almost her old chipper self yesterday."
""Well, lots happened for her yesterday and it was all good news." Ely smiled. "She got Linda to back off a bit, then she got told she didn't have HIV. After that she got to ride in a helicopter and at the hospital they told her that both she and the baby were doing fine. Then after she got back here, she fond out she has a place to live that she can share with Linda. However, I think the biggest thing is that she's on tranquillizers for now."
"Dr. Baker put her on tranquillizers? Even though Keri is pregnant?"
"Yes, she thinks it's for the best right now and I agree with her. I would have thought she would have mentioned it to you."
"I think both she and I have been running too fast to get a chance for her to say much about Keri." Karl sighed. "Actually I haven't even had a chance to worry about the fact that I'm going to be a father again."
"Well, you did say one time that you wanted kids." Ely chortled. "I can't think of a nicer guy to be a daddy."
"Oh thanks." He snorted. "Just what we need right now, more kids when our world has been turned on it's ear."
"Oh come on, we're doing just fine and we'll make out in the long run too. Even Linda seems to have become less of a pessimist lately."
"Well, she's different. I'm not sure what it is about her, but sometimes she really makes me wonder."
"Um, it's not my business to say, but I think you should know, she has a touch of a learning problem, I think."
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah, at times she forgets things. It's like she switches off."
"Hey, I do that. I'll tell someone something and then forget I told them and repeat the same thing again later in another way."
"Yes but we know about that, you told us before that you have a slight case of dyslexia. We know that, Linda is different than that though. It's like she hears you and then forgets almost instantly."
"That could be just stress."
"Perhaps, but I don't think so." She shook her head and shifted to get more comfortable.
"Mmm." He gave a noncommital grunt, then he shifted as if he was uncomfortable as well.
"You need the can, don't you." She giggled.
"Um hmm, but I don't want to get up." He chuckled softly. "Just laying here talking feels too damn good."
"So, go pee, you could always come back." She suggested.
"The problem is that once I get up, I always feel. . . ?"
"Yeah, I know, you want to go do things, so roll out dear, I don't want you to pee the bed and if you lay here holding it you'll just be uncomfy."
"Bossy wench." He kissed her forehead, then rolled away and hurried to the bathroom.
As he was standing in front of the can and sighing softly in relief, he heard the klaxon sound and then he heard Ely, it sounded almost as if she whimpered loudly. He quickly finished and hurried back to see if she was okay and found her crying softly.
"What's wrong Ely?" He asked as he bent over and hugged her.
"Thank God. They found it." She whispered softly and she was actually shaking. "I was so scared that we'd have to leave home forever."
Then she was clinging to him, almost at the same second he heard Trudy call him from the bottom of the stairs. Karl felt Ely quiver then begin shaking softly.
"Yes Trudy." He called. "What is it?"
"What was that horn about?"
"They found the box. That was a warning for us not to come close because it might be dangerous."
"Oh, I see. Thank you."
"You're welcome."
Ely was still holding Karl tightly, but now it seemed like she was shaking even harder.
"Oh Karl, one more thing . . . ?"
"Yes Trudy." He was trying his best not to lose his temper now.
"Umm, George wants to know, does this mean we have to stay inside again?"
"I don't know!" Karl snapped. "I doubt it, but if he wants to stick his nose outside to find out, it's fine with me."
And then he realised that now Ely was actually giggling and the shaking he had been feeling was her laughing.
"Oh for cripes sake, I thought you were crying." He said softly. "And here I got pissed off at Trudy and, well, to be honest, I got more pissed off with your dad because they were disturbing us."
"I am crying, but I'm happy crying." She giggled inanely. "It means we can stay here on the island."
She hugged him tightly, using her weight to pull him down onto the bed.
"Besides, sometimes Daddy needs someone to tell him to fuck right off!" She giggled in his ear.
"Yeah, but Trudy doesn't deserve it." Karl mumbled into her shoulder where she had his face crushed.
"She'll live." Ely sighed softly as her giggles died. "I'll bet she knows you were annoyed with Daddy for having her ask. Now, you do realise that you and I do have to get up, don't you?"
"Yeah." He sighed, slowly lifting to look at her. "I guess. I'm going to be glad when we can just play around a bit when we feel like it though."
"You're going to be glad?" She laughed softly. "Do you realise that since we got back here, we've hardly made love at all, maybe a couple of times? This is the longest time we'd even had to really snuggle and even then we were disturbed."
"Well, I'll tell you what, we just have to make time then."
"Yeah, but not right now." She sighed heavily. "You have to go calm down the troops and keep an eye on things. It seems to be your job and I have to be right behind you to support your decisions. So get your pants on and get going."
Then with that statement made, she slid out of bed and went to the bathroom herself. Karl sighed and dressed, then went downstairs. Trudy was in the kitchen and before he could say anything she smiled at him.
"I'm sorry to disturb you all the time Karl. It's just that . . . well, you seem to have your ear to the ground on everything." She said quietly. "We've all gotten to think of you as our man in charge."
"Well, it wasn't that I was really annoyed." Karl sighed. "And I'm sorry for sounding so grouchy, but sometimes I'd just like to let someone else have all the answers so Ely and I could have a little time to ourselves."
"Is Ely upset?"
"She was, I think it's getting better now and once they get this mess cleared up and that box out of here, it should be fine." He poured a coffee for himself and headed for the porch to have his morning think session.
Outside he was met by Bruno, the dog, who seemed to need attention and then he saw Fran standing at the bottom of the porch steps.
"Good Morning." Karl said as he looked at her in surprise. "Why didn't you just come in?"
"He wouldn't let me!" She pointed at the dog. "I was on my way over here as the klaxon went off and he leaped to his feet then stood at the top of the steps and growled at me."
"The noise probably upset him, I guess." Then he looked at her closely. "I can see why he reacted to you though."
"Why?" She asked in surprise.
"You're wearing your gun belt and a pistol exposed and you're even carrying yourself differently. Today you're acting like a soldier, not a doctor. He'd notice that difference more than anything." Karl sat down and patted the dog on the head. "It's okay Bruno. She isn't a real danger to us."
"So, do I dare try to go inside?"
"He won't bother you." Karl said shortly.
She came up the steps almost tentatively and looked down at Karl.
"You do know what's going on don't you?"
"Yeah." He sighed heavily. "The divers found a box which gives a reading on the Geiger counter. They've cleared off of the dive boat by now so Springfield and Winchester could take over and guard it. Those two will have to put in a call to be relieved by a hazardous materials team. They'll stand guard waiting for the haz-mat team to come in and remove the box. While all of this is going on, you and the rest of the military staff are on guard duty to prevent possible dangerous people like me and my family from doing anything stupid, like getting close or even looking at the damn box."
"Quite good, except for the last part." She sighed. "I and the military staff are here to protect you, just in case someone else causes a snafu. If you think, I enjoy this part of my job. . . ."
She left the rest of her statement unfinished and went to the door, tapped lightly and then went inside.
"Damn." Karl sighed. "Bruno, today seems to be my day to say the wrong thing."
At least the dog didn't criticise him.
The sun was just peeking over the horizon and it looked like it was going to be a decent day, at least weather wise. Karl hadn't heard the weather forecast for the day yet and he sighed again. He suddenly realised that he'd been so involved with the happenings in his immediate surroundings for the last few days that he really hadn't listened to any of the news from around the province or around the world. There was at least some reason for that, he'd been staying away from his radios because they were in the room that George and Trudy had been using and he had wanted to give the two of them as much privacy as he could.
He'd been expecting George to keep him posted and he realised that George hadn't really been passing any news along unless he was asked directly. He decided that he'd brace George about that later. Contemplating that, he thought it might be an idea if he moved the radios back into the corner of the living room where he'd had them before. That way as well as putting the radios out in 'common' territory for now, when George and Trudy moved back to their house, David could have that room as his own.
Shifting slightly, he glanced around and noticed that the grass in the goat yard was showing signs of darkening in colour just in the day or two that the goats had been in the lower pasture. Thinking about that, and about the fact that Raymonde had felt the cow was going to calve soon, he decided that the cow and calf should be moved back into the goat yard. As soon as she calved, they would have milk from the cow and no one would have to worry about having to try to catch and milk a nanny goat when they wanted fresh milk. He realised too that he was going to have to do some calculating about the feed situation. There were so many animals now that he didn't think there was going to be enough hay from George's meadow to feed them all through the winter. He sighed deeply, maybe keeping the cow and calf weren't such a good idea at all.
He paused then, thinking about the fact that he was worrying about mundane everyday problems and he felt a surge of relief. At the moment others were doing the worrying about everyone's safety and it felt good to relax into the mundane for a moment.
The door behind him opened and he turned to glance back. It was Fran, carrying a plate and cutlery.
"Pancakes and your morning arthritis medication." She said quietly.
"I'm not really hungry." He replied.
"Karl, right now, I'm your doctor, whether you like it or not." She sighed. "You've been driving yourself very hard, mentally if not physically, although you haven't exactly been sitting still. You need the calorific intake of the food and you need the pain relief from the medications, so eat please."
Rather than argue, he swallowed the pills and began to eat the pancakes. Fran walked over and rested her hands on the porch rail, leaning out and sighing softly.
"Something wrong?" He asked between bites.
"Nothing I can do anything about." She whispered. "There are times when I dislike my life choices though."
Karl couldn't help but smile. "I think at one time or another we all get to that place Fran."
"Even you?" She turned her head to look at him. "I mean, look at you. Of all the people I know it seems to me you have your life set out so well."
"Oh my. Every day there seems to be more to worry about. I imagine you've noticed yourself that once people find they can rely on you, they start to do it more and more, simply because they know they can. Well, like you, that's what has happened to me. It seems to me at times that I get called in to help people make even the smallest decisions and at times like right now it get's to be a bit much." He shook his head. "I'll be honest, I've been quite happy to have had the military here, yet I've found that they've asked me my opinion a fair bit too."
He waved a hand toward the bay. "I was just sitting here and realising that this action right now is a relief for me. I don't have to worry about what's going on and I'm actually happy with that. I know that I'm not going to be consulted, so I can completely relax for once."
"I never looked at it that way, but I suppose in a way you're right." She looked at him strangely for a second. "And in a way, you've hit on what's bothering me. I'm doing two jobs and sometimes they conflict."
"I suppose." He made a wry face. "On one hand you're making people feel better, healing them and in effect giving them more freedom, but occasionally your other job is insisting that you restrict people's freedom and force them to follow the government's wishes."
"That's an oversimplification but it does give you an idea." She smiled wryly as well. "Look at the other day, I was holding a weapon on a man with one hand while saving his life with the other."
He looked at her quizzically.
"Oh, you didn't hear about that?" She arched her eyebrows. "When Springfield and Winchester found Chenkovich, he looked to be in quite bad shape. So I rapelled down to tend to him. I'd started to set up an IV when he came alive and grabbed at me, knocking me back into a weak sandstone outcropping and it broke free. Of course it was big enough to have killed both him and me. But Springfield knew what to do, as always, even if he got hurt while saving Chenkovich and me from being crushed. From that point on, all the way to the hospital, I kept one hand on my gun while the other hand was working on saving Chenkovich's life."
"That's a fair example." Karl smiled. "So, what do you plan to do about it?"
"I don't know." She sighed. "My enlistment is up in another three months. At the moment I'm not planning on re-upping. However it's hard for a military doctor to make it in the outside world, people think all we treat are gunshot wounds and they don't want to trust us."
"Oh I think folk would learn to trust you soon." Karl smiled. "I haven't noticed you treat but one gunshot, at least not since you've been here. Other than that, you've treated us and done it darn well."
"There were two gunshot wounds and has anyone ever told you that you're a smart ass." She snapped and spun around to go inside.
"I did it again Bruno." Karl sighed deeply as he looked down at the dog. "And this time, I don't even know what the hell I did."
After petting the dog for a moment or two, he was about to get up and go inside when Ely came outside with two cups of coffee.
"Hi slugger." She smiled, handing him the second cup. "I think you should stay out here for a while longer."
"Yeah." He sighed heavily. "It seems that today is my day for putting my foot in my mouth."
"Oh, I don't think you said anything wrong so much as you said too much right."
"Whoa, run that by me again." He turned to stare at her.
"Well, basically from what I've heard Fran say, you agreed with her that she shouldn't be in the Navy and that she's a damn good doctor."
"Yeah, so?"
"So, didn't you realise that the Navy paid for her education, they put her through med. school?"
"Ah, I see, so she feels an obligation to them?"
"Right, and of course her superiors are playing on that to try to get her to reenlist."
Karl chuckled softly. "Well of course they are."
"Karl, it's not funny." Ely said firmly.
"Oh, but it is, don't you think the Navy has accountants?"
"What has that got to do with this?"
"Let's go back to basic economics on this. A trained doctor is worth X dollars an hour and she has worked as a trained doctor in the Navy for Y years. I'd be willing to bet that X times Y is a lot higher sum than the cost of educating her was or the Navy would never have done it in the first place. In other words, by serving out her full term of enlistment, she has already paid back their investment and a reasonable amount more. Anything she does for them as a doctor from now on is a pure profit on their investment."
"Well, economically perhaps." Ely frowned.
"I'm sorry but I see it as not only economically right, but ethically sound as well. There's something else you ought to think about as well, the government probably got a discount on her education because the government funds the schools that teach medicine in this country. The person who really put in the investment in her education is Fran. She's the one who studied and worked and slogged out the time. Besides, in the months that she wasn't in med. school, I'll bet she had to work twice as hard as the other people around her, just to learn how to be a decent officer in the Navy. Why don't you ask her that too?"
"Hmm." Ely stared at him quizzically, her right hand drifting up to play with the lobe of her ear. "Would you mind if I told her all that?"
"Nope." Karl grinned. "I'm satisfied that you agree with me."
"Oh I wouldn't go that far, but I do think it makes enough sense to repeat it to her and see her reaction. That will tell me if she agrees with you, which is the important question." Ely smiled as she stood up.
"I'll tell you what, ask George to do some research on it for her. I'll bet that by asking a few of his professor friends, he can find out exactly how much the actual cost of her education was. Then she can relate that to how much money a doctor makes in the real world and she can see what's what."
"You're that confident?"
"Yep." He grinned, handing her his two empty cups and the plate that Fran had brought him. "As for me, I'm going to take my dog for a short walk and check out the lean-to that Lyle and Raymonde want me to put the cow in."
"Is it okay for you to be walking around?" She asked. "I thought we were under orders to restrict our movement."
"I wasn't told that directly, but I'll find out, won't I?" He grinned and before she could say anything more, he and Bruno got up and stepped down off the porch.
He'd only walked a few steps when he saw movement on the porch of the old cabin, then realised that it was Gillian Mathews and that she was coming toward him.
"Good Morning." He called as she approached, still walking fairly stiffly from the pain of her sore ribs.
"Good morning." She said quietly. "I'm sorry Karl but I have to ask, where are you planning on going?"
"Well, I was going to check out the work that had been done yesterday at the goat shed and around that area." He smiled at her. "I promise I won't go attack the guys down on the bay. I won't even go out to the edge of the gorge and peek."
"Oh. Well, like I said, I had to ask." She giggled. "Do you mind if I come along? I was supposed to keep an eye on the small cabin and the two young women there, but. . . . Well, from the sounds I heard, I don't think they'd like to be disturbed right now."
"Oh." Karl laughed, then paused and looked thoughtful. "You know, if it weren't for your ribs and the present situation, I'd give you a hug for telling me that. That's really good news."
"It is?" She stared at him in surprise. "I was almost worried that it might upset you."
"Yeah, after Keri got attacked she didn't want anyone touching her." He said in a very low voice. "From what you just said, I jumped to the conclusion that they might have been . . . well, perhaps 'getting to know' each other better?"
"Oh." She broke into a giggle. "Well, I don't know for sure, but when I knocked on the door a few moments ago they ignored me and from the sound of things, someone was sure 'getting to know' someone else, quite well!"
"Well, consider yourself in my debt for one big hug." He grinned. "Some time when I'm not afraid to touch you for fear that I'd be encroaching on a guard on duty."
"I'll take you up on that later, like you said, right now wouldn't be a good time." She giggled. "But let's wait for my ribs to heal, huh? If all I'm going to 'get physical' with you for saving my life I want to have it be comfortable, not painful. If you even hugged me a little bit now I might scream in pain and we might both be sorry."
He just grinned and began to walk slowly toward the goat shed. They looked inside it when they got there and Karl was amazed at how organised it looked, then he moved on to check the lean-to that the 'boys' had built. It wasn't fancy, but it would keep a cow or two out of the weather and from the looks of it had been built from scraps of lumber and short timbers that he'd had lying around. Actually, when he looked closer he could see that five of the uprights holding the walls were actually small trees that had been topped and used as is. The roof was made up from the upper lengths of the same trees, trimmed and covered with an old tarp that was held down with branches and ropes.
"Well, they did say it was temporary, but considering that it's made out of old junk, it's pretty damn good." Karl chuckled as he looked it over.
"It is, isn't it." Gillian grinned. "So where else do you plan on going?"
"Well, I don't suppose Don, I mean Commander Davis, is in the command tent is he?"
"No, I'm afraid he left almost an hour ago to be near the dive team." She smiled.
"Well then, I suppose I should actually go back to the house so you can carry on with your guard duty." He grinned. "I suppose you know that the ladies may not be out for a while."
"That doesn't bother me. Actually I should head back there though. You are heading right for your house, aren't you?"
"Yeah, why?"
"I'm being lazy is all." She smiled. "You see I'm only on limited duties because of my ribs and . . ."
"And mean old Karl had you walking all over hell's half acre." He sighed. "I'm just not using my head today."
"Oh no, don't think that." She protested. " I can walk, it's just that I'm slow and it does hurt a bit. Do you think Lieutenant Baker would let me do anything if she felt that I'd hurt myself?"
"No, I guess not." He smiled at her. "However, now I insist on walking with you back to the little cabin. I wouldn't want to have one of Fran's patients come to harm because I screwed up."
"Hey, who's guarding who here?" She grinned.
Oh, you're guarding me of course and Bruno is guarding both of us." He smiled and pointed at the dog. "Actually, I've never had him spend so much time around the house before."
"As I understand it, he was injured though. I can see he's still limping."
"Yeah, but he's usually a very independent dog." Karl explained. "Generally he doesn't even eat the dog food I give him, in fact I don't know what he lives on. Look how close he's staying to us, that's not normal even for the last few days. He knows something is up."
"I just hope it's not a presentiment of problems." Gillian sighed as they reached the steps to the smaller cabin.
"Oh, I doubt it." He responded. "I think he's just pretending at being a tame dog right now while he heals, as opposed to the half wild dog he usually is. Now, here you are safe and sound. I'll see you later."
With that, Karl turned and walked back toward his cabin. He'd hardly reached the bottom steps when he heard the sound of a helicopter. From the sound it was actually a very big helicopter so he turned to look for it. He couldn't see it though and decided it wouldn't be worth his while to try because he knew it would be going to the lower area rather than landing up where he was. Instead he climbed the steps and went inside the cabin.
To his surprise he found that George was the only person he could see and he was sitting at the kitchen table.
"Morning George, where's everyone at?" He asked.
"Oh, David was upstairs looking out your bedroom windows and called down about the big helicopter that he could see. Mary-Beth immediately wanted to see it as well and I suppose the women just followed her out of curiosity." He smiled. "By the way, please accept my full apologies for disturbing you and Ely this morning, there are times when I simply forget that others do not live by my own schedule."
"I guess that happens to all of us George, but it wasn't just you." Karl sighed, then glanced around feeling sheepish. "It's just that in the last few days it seems to me that I'm getting screwed out of . . . well, out of enjoying life."
"Oh, I understand that. But, indeed, last night was certainly an early enough night for everyone, and you were alone upstairs for the first time in days, I would have thought you would have taken advantage of that circumstance."
"Hah, Ely and I were both so damned exhausted by the last few days that we fell asleep." Karl snorted, interrupting him. "But that's not important right now, have you heard the weather forecast this morning by chance?"
"Yes, actually there is a clearing and warming trend. It seems the low pressure area that was bringing us all the rain and stormy weather is moving off and we should have several days of fine weather." George smiled. "As well, I heard that Mt. St. Helens has stopped rumbling and is now only smoking, but there have been severe mud slides and massive flooding in the downslope areas of the rivers that drain that area."
"Anything further in the way of earthquake activity?"
"Well, there are minor aftershocks, but nothing major for several days. I'm of the opinion that the tectonic plates have settled into a relatively stable attitude. Of course how long that will last is anyone's guess." George sighed deeply then. "However on the medical front, things have degraded even further. It would seem that the influenza is running rampant. It seems that it is spreading even to nations that closed their borders as best they could. I have fears that this is becoming a pandemic."
"A pandemic?" Karl questioned.
"Yes, pandemic, in other words a world wide epidemic. It seems that Canada has been the only country which has produced a vaccine which has any effect on reducing infection, unfortunately even that is only effective in the range of fifty percent of the time. On top of that, they can't seem to discover why Canadian procedures are producing a somewhat viable vaccine and the efforts of other countries are failing."
"Aren't the procedures the same everywhere?"
"They are relatively similar. However, each country's labs and production facilities do vary." George sighed. "The last news I heard, the scientists were suspecting that there was a difference in the feed used for the hens that produced the eggs which were used in culturing the original viral agent. I'm afraid I am at somewhat of a loss as to understanding why that would make a difference however."
"I'm surprised you aren't on the radio trying to find out." Karl said quietly.
"To be honest, after several days of hearing bad news from all over the world, I have decided to take a short break." George said quietly. "Even I can only stand hearing of so much in the way of depressing news."
"Well, that's good news for me then." Karl smiled. "I was going to suggest that we get the radio's and that desk moved back out into the corner of the living room by the fireplace. That way everyone can get at them while you and Trudy can have a room of your own for now and it will be clear so that when your house is ready, David can have it later. Since the military would probably prefer us to stay inside until they're done fishing for the box, I thought today would be a perfect day for it."
George looked at him thoughtfully for a moment and then smiled. "Karl, I do believe you have hit upon a plan. That will give our minds something to be occupied by and neither of us will be so inclined to worry. In fact I believe that is a marvellous idea."
For the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon, Karl kept the two of them busy shifting, moving and changing things slightly in the room that George and Trudy were using as a bedroom. Of course in also meant that they had to move some furniture in the living room as well and then Ely got into the mood too. By drafting everyone else in the house, she had them go through the whole place, changing the layout of the furniture slightly and doing a thorough cleaning. Even Fran got involved and seemed to love the change of her status from doctor to house maid. However she did take one break to run over to the other cabin and see Keri for a short time.
Keri awakened and for a moment she felt disoriented, where was she now? And who was snuggled tightly against her back? Then in only seconds, she realised she was in Karl's old cabin, but it was so clean! Linda had done that and she'd done so much more. She wondered if Linda knew just how much it meant to her to be here and not under everyone's eye. Say that was funny, she hadn't realised before that she'd felt pressured by being in the other house but now she realised she had. Actually she felt so relieved in so many ways now, it seemed almost like it had been weeks ago that she'd been attacked. For a moment she wondered if that was because of the medications she had been taking or if it was just that yesterday had been such a good day for good news for her and everyone else.
Meanwhile at her back, Linda was wide awake and didn't dare move. She was worried what Keri's reaction would be if she found that Linda was cuddling her so closely. Cuddling her hell, she had Keri wrapped tightly in her arms and her left hand was on Kari's left breast, her right hand on Keri's lower tummy. She knew that she had been awakened by some sort of noise and she'd heard Keri's breathing change, was Keri awake or was she still asleep enough that Linda could move?
Keri made the decision that she had to move, either that or she was going to pee the bed. Maybe it was because she was pregnant or maybe she just shouldn't drink anything late at night. Whatever it was, lately as soon as she awakened, she just had to run to the bathroom.
"Linda, are you awake?" She whispered and felt Linda tense and her hand tighten on her breast for just an instant then start to slip away.
"Oh, I was wondering the same thing. Sorry I'm holding you so tight, I know that . . . "
"Honey, I don't mind." Keri giggled softly. "But if you don't let me go, both of us are going to get peed on."
"Oops." Linda squeaked and joined Keri in giggling as she freed her. "I wouldn't want that."
Keri slipped out of bed still giggling slightly, she ran on tip toe to the bathroom and Linda started to laugh.
"Why tiptoe?" She snorted with laughter.
"The floor's cold." Keri squawked just as she closed the door on the bathroom.
"Oh." Linda chuckled and then her feet touched the floor as she slipped out of bed herself.
"Aiie, you're right." She protested. "We need slippers or else we'll have to get some rugs. What will this place be like in the winter, if the floors are cold now?"
"Tea or coffee?" She called as she slipped on her shoes and a bathrobe.
"I can't hear you." Keri said, her voice muffled. "Just a minute, I'll be out."
When she did come out of the bathroom, Linda rushed in giggling wildly.
"Sorry, but I've gotta go now too, dammit."
"Because I went?" Keri laughed then realised that Linda couldn't hear her.
"What was that?" Linda asked a few minutes later when she came out of the bathroom.
"Oh nothing." Keri was laying back in bed and covered up.
"Aren't you feeling good?"
"I'm feeling really good, but I decided it's too early to get up, it's not even six in the morning."
"But we're wide awake, so . . . what do you want to do?"
"Well, let's see, what was that line Karl said you used on him? 'I can be a good sleeping pill.' or . . . well, it was something like that wasn't it?"
"But I thought . . . ?"
"Stop thinking and com'ere. Waking up to that cuddle felt really good." Keri smiled, her eyes bright. "I can't promise how long I'll feel this way, so you'd better take advantage of me while you can."
"It's not fair." Linda giggled as she tossed of the robe and kicked off her shoes then slid into bed.
"What's not fair?" Keri sighed as they wrapped each other in their arms.
"You're feeling better and I'm still on the rag." Linda sighed. "I like sharing everything with you."
"Well, it might be a good thing." Keri kissed her ever so lightly. "I want to start out slow anyway."
"Well, that kiss was a little too slow." Linda sighed as she initiated another.
It was Linda's voice squealing that Able Seaman Mathews heard a few moments later as she approached the door. She recognised it for what it was so she was letting the two of them have a bit of privacy when she saw Karl walking across the yard. Inside the little house Keri was grinning as Linda slowly calmed down.
"See, and I didn't even disturb your precious rag, only it's a tampon, I felt the string." She chortled as she sat up, then bent to kiss Linda on one breast.
"Damn, where did you learn to do that?" Linda sighed. "I feel like I got run over by a truck."
"I had two good teachers." Keri giggled softly. "Don't tell me that Karl and Ely haven't shown you that."
"I never let Karl get that far. I get too impatient. If you'd been a man, and were playing my clit like that, I'd have yanked you up so you could . . . well, drive me home." Linda laughed softly. " As far as Ely and me, well we've never . . . "
"Not yet?" Keri looked at her in surprise.
"One day, there's no rush." Linda sighed, then decided it was her turn to make Keri squeal.
For several minutes, she gently worshipped Keri's face with her lips and tongue, then she began to work her way south. It was moments later when she paused at breast level. As she gently caressed both of Keri's breasts, she looked up into Keri's eyes.
"When you get closer to your due date, I guess I won't be able to suckle you, will I?"
"I guess not in the last little while." Keri whispered. "Will you still want to? By then my tits will probably be all stretched and bloated."
"I'll still love 'em." Linda declared and sucked on first one nipple, then the other.
"Oh damn, you do that nice." Keri sighed.
Linda didn't respond. She was too busy. Keri felt she was having her breasts worshipped and didn't think there was a square inch that Linda missed kissing or licking. After that she slowly worked her way downward. Several minutes later Linda was flicking her tongue rapidly across Keri's clit when she thought she heard someone outside the door but she never even paused.
Able Seaman Mathews' knuckles were just poised to knock on the door as Keri squealed in delight at Linda's attentions. Instead of knocking, she paused and stared at its blank wood surface.
"Damn, do they ever stop?" She whispered, then grinned to herself.
Shaking her head, she backed away to take a seat on the steps.
"I refuse to disturb anyone having that much fun, Naval orders or not." She giggled to herself.
That was where Keri found her sitting sometime later when she came outside with a cup of coffee in one hand.
"Oh, hello." Keri said in surprise. "Why didn't you knock? Were you waiting for us for some reason?"
For several seconds Able Seaman Mathews was speechless, then she blushed and Keri began to giggle.
"Linda, we're being busted by the navy for making too much noise. Pour this woman a cup of coffee and maybe we can bribe her into silence." Keri said quite loudly.
Linda came outside too and when she saw Able Seaman Mathews' red face, she blushed slightly herself, then broke into laughter and held out her hand.
"Hi, I don't think we've met. I'm Linda and this joker is my lover, Keri. Come on inside and make yourself at home."
"Uhm, I'm Able Seaman Gillian Mathews and that isn't the idea, I'm just supposed to . . ."
"I know, the navy is up to something and we need a guard." Linda smiled as she interrupted. "Now a good guard would want to see that we weren't up to anything nefarious. After all the noise you heard, you might think we were torturing someone and I don't want to leave you with the wrong impression so you should come inside and check for yourself. I promise I won't bite and I won't let Keri bite either or at least not hard."
"It's not the biting she's worried about." Keri giggled. "She heard us so she knows we weren't in pain."
"Oooh." Linda snorted, then grinned at Able Seaman Mathews. "I promise not to approach too closely or do anything that might upset you too badly and if Keri starts, I'll hog tie her."
From the way Keri's giggles stopped very suddenly, Linda knew she'd stepped out of line.
"Oh, I'm sorry Keri, I . . . "
"It's okay, really." Keri said quietly. "It's just that I guess I'm not as close to getting back to normal as I thought I was."
Able Seaman Mathews got slowly to her feet, "Are you injured Miss?" She asked Keri.
"Obviously not as badly as you are, or at least not physically."
"Oh shit, are you the woman that the bastard attacked? He's the son of a bitch that busted my ribs too. At least I got to see the prick get his."
"Oh, I saw that too." Keri smiled sadly. "I just wasn't as close. I was on the deck at the house. I guess you were the one he jumped on when he escaped the helicopter aren't you?"
"He didn't jump on me." Gillian Mathews answered. "The best I can figure, he kicked me and I flew backward right out the door, landing on top of Lieutenant Baker, then he jumped out afterward."
"From the house it looked like he jumped onto the two of you. Then Karl and everyone else shot him."
"Yeah, one shot in the eye, one in the shoulder and one in upper back, just under the left shoulder blade. The one in the shoulder was a military round and the one in the back was a pistol shot. Since the one in the eye passed out through the opposite ear and no bullet was found, the guard is officially listed as the one shooter and the pilot the other. Officially, there were supposedly only two shooters."
"I think you and I know better." Linda broke in.
"Yeah!" Gillian grinned sardonically. "I owe someone big time and it isn't the guard! Of course since the guy I'm talking about seems to have a harem, paying him back the way I'd like to might be a little bit of a problem."
Linda laughed out loud and even Keri grinned.
"Probably a bigger problem than you realise." Keri said after a few seconds, still smiling. "All of us had to bust our butts just to seduce him, but let's go inside and we'll talk it over."
Once they were inside it didn't take long before the two older women had Gillian at ease with them as they discussed Karl and their involvement. As they talked, they set about rearranging the inside of the cabin more to their convenience, even after just one night they found things they wanted to change slightly. All in all, the time seemed to pass relatively quickly as the three of them became friends. They were sitting at the table having a cup of tea when Lieutenant Baker came to see Keri.
Commander Don Davis had started his morning early, long before first light he had been up and around. Yet inside of a few moments he'd been speaking to the whole camp about the possibilities of what would happen that day. As orders were passed out to the various people about each person's assigned station, he realised that the camp would be almost empty. The only person actually remaining in tents would be Leading Seaman Peacock who would remain on duty as Communications Chief and Radio Operator. Lieutenant Baker would be in left charge of the base camp, but she was being stationed in a guard/advisor position with Karl and would actually be in or around his house. Meanwhile Able Seaman Mathews, who was on limited duty, would be stationed at the smaller house. The rest of his contingent would be either on patrol, on guard duty at key points, or with him down at the lower camp as second line guards or secondary workers.
Since they were in such close proximity to the residences, he emphasised the need for them not to disturb the civilians until such time as it was absolutely necessary. Since he was positive that the divers had actually found the box that contained the radioactive materials, he dispatched those people who had guard duty at the most-distant places early, warning them to listen for the sound of the klaxon. Since each person had been issued a portable radio to link them to base camp, he also passed on the warning that they should maintain radio silence unless there was an essential reason to break it. As well he passed along distinct orders that related to specific details for each individual's guard detail. Soon, only he and the group who would be at the lower area were left in camp. As they filed out of the tent and down the path toward the dock area, he relished the feeling of being on the move.
When they reached the dock and the moored inflatable boats, the mist lifting from the water in the predawn light was eerie, to say the least. The fact that the boat that loomed on the other side of the dock was steam powered and looked like it had just cruised in out of history added to the effect. As much as Don Davis liked Karl as a man, he found his penchant for owning a steam boat somewhat strange and anachronistic, yet at this time of the morning that boat seemed to suit the situation more than the modern gear the Commander's men used. As his men prepared the inflatable boats for use, he paused to speak briefly and quietly to Springfield and Winchester who had remained on guard aboard Karl's boat all night.
"I don't suppose I have to ask you if you're prepared to act in the case you hear the sound of the klaxon?" He spoke quietly.
"We're ready Sir." Springfield said brusquely. "At the sound of the horn we'll be on our way. I do have one question though; are all regular duty personnel to be ordered off of the dive vessel or do we retain an operator for the crane equipment?"
"All regular duty personnel are to be off the vessel and ashore. The haz-mat crew will be taking over those duties when they arrive and they've been fully instructed on the operation of all controls."
"Thank you, Sir." Springfield came as close to a salute as Davis had ever seen.
"Carry on then." Davis couldn't resist saying, then he winked and walked off.
As he slipped aboard one of the small inflatable boats, he wondered quietly what Springfield's actual name and rank were, then realised that it was unimportant. Springfield and Winchester were specialists, tools meant to do a job as far as he was concerned. He might never know more about them but he could appreciate their abilities and he was certainly glad they were here at this time.
The inflatable he was in carried him over to the dive boat and as he stepped aboard, he was greeted by the captain.
"Morning sir."
"Good Morning Captain. Is everything ready?"
"Yes sir, we have the divers ready to go down now."
"Very well, carry on."
Davis watched as two men made their final preparations and then dropped into the water. To his surprise, he saw a glow underwater almost instantly and then realised that they had switched on lights to try to see in the dark murky water.
"Not the best conditions for a dive." He commented.
"Actually, since there are no fast currents and it's such a shallow dive, it's quite good sir." One of the men said quietly. "If the visibility was better, it'd be a great place to dive. Well, except that everything is covered with a coating of muck from the mud in the water and if you touch anything, the visibility gets even worse."
"It's surprising that the water's so muddy." Another diver added. "It just doesn't look like that sort of place."
"There was a mud slide that dropped right into the stream a few days ago. Karl tells me that it's normally quite clear." Davis explained. "How long do you think the divers will be down?"
'I doubt if it will be very long, in fact it looks like they're well down already, the lights they're using barely penetrate from that depth."
For several moments it seemed everyone was breathing softly and just watching the bubbles from the divers break the surface. Davis and one or two of the others actually jumped as a buoy suddenly popped to the surface amidst a flurry of large bubbles.
"Another marker buoy? Why would they do that?" Davis asked quietly.
"If you look sir, it's a few feet from the original, that one will be right on the box. Since they sent it up, I think they've found radiation but we'd best wait for them to surface to be sure." The captain of the boat said quietly.
The captain ordered his men to get a small boat ready just in case and to Davis' surprise he noticed one seaman move to the cabin, then come back and hand the captain a portable air horn.
"I have an open connection to Esquimalt just in case sir." The seaman said quietly to Davis.
"Thank you." Davis answered.
The next few moments were a flurry of activity as the divers surfaced, telling Davis and their captain that they had gotten a reading of radioactivity from the box but that it appeared to still be locked, closed tightly, and relatively undamaged. The captain raised the air horn and blew one long blast, Davis moved to the radio to signal back to Esquimalt that they needed the haz-mat team and he sent a warning to all his people on guard duty in case they hadn't heard the klaxon. After that all of the people on the dive boat prepared to leave. By the time that Springfield and Winchester had arrived to take charge of guarding the boat, the two divers that had been underwater had changed into regular uniform. All of the regular navy forces moved off in inflatable boats, leaving the two men from JTF2 as the only people on board the dive boat.
To Davis, the wait from the time they had signalled Esquimalt, until the time the helicopter arrived seemed interminable. His composure wore thin and he found himself checking his watch constantly. He knew he had to maintain his calm as an example to his men, so he tried to sit patiently but he realised that most of the men around him knew that he was fidgeting in impatience. He tried to think of a reason why he was feeling so anxious about this situation after having been in many somewhat similar situations, but could come to no conclusion other than his long friendship for Karl and his desire to help a friend in need.
When he finally heard the sound of the incoming helicopter, he sighed in relief. For the next thirty or forty minutes as the chopper landed, then as the haz-mat team unloaded their gear and they headed out to the dive boat, he felt relatively calm. However since he had to wait on the shore and watch from a distance, the time the haz-mat team took to prepare, to dive, and finally to return to the shore with Springfield and Winchester along seemed to take forever. The members of the haz-mat team simply rushed straight to the helicopter. At least Springfield stopped at his side and watched as well.
"What's up?" Davis asked, worried that something had gone wrong.
"Oh, it should be simple now." Springfield grinned at him. "This was a fast recovery, particularly since it's the first time all of us have been involved in a recovery of an actual submerged radioactive item. So far everything has gone like clockwork."
"Good, I've got to admit it's the first time I've been involved with something just like this myself, although I've been involved in simulations of similar jobs. So, what's going on now?"
"Well, from what the divers said, the box was laying on its side and they wrapped it in a protective blanket of some sort, then they worked a net around it while rolling it slowly onto it's base. Now they've got a cable from the net to the surface and they plan on lifting it straight up with the chopper winch. After that, they're taking it directly to a more secure site to investigate just what is in the box."
"Isn't that dangerous, moving it out in the open like that?"
"They're the specialists, not me." Springfield grinned, holding his hands up in a motion as if to ward off other questions. "As I understand it, while it's underwater it's relatively safe. Now supposedly, using that blanket with the net on the outside, they've sealed in the water around the box and they're hoping to keep most of it in there. In addition they say that there's some protection in that blanket thing. Oh, and they said that they're hauling it only a short distance, so they must have some arrangement already made for a marine pickup. I really didn't ask anything more. Once they tell me the bay is clear, my job is over."
"I understand." Davis attempted to smile. "You've done an excellent job by the way. I imagine your talents are needed other places though."
Springfield didn't comment, instead he turned and walked away.
"I'll 'pologise for him Sir, that's a touchy subject." Winchester, who had been standing nearby, said quietly.
At that moment the helicopter started and for a few moments they were more interested in watching it move off, than they were in talking over the noise. Then after it had moved out over the dive boat, they watched that operation as it happened too.
The helicopter hovered about a hundred and fifty feet up, dropping a cable to two divers who were still in the water. From the shore it looked quite simply like they fed a hook through a pair of eyes in the cables coming up from below and then swam away and signalled for the lift. The box lifted up and the helicopter simply lifted and flew away.
"That's it?" Davis asked.
"Not quite sir." Winchester smiled. "The two haz-mat divers who're still in the water will stay here for several days an' work with t'other divers to comb the bottom. Sorta on the off chance that there's more radioactive junk down there and to try to recover those machine guns that they think are there. 'Sides, I understan' the divers 're going to hafta blow up part o' that slide afore they try to take the dive boat out again."
"I see, and what was it you started to say before about Springfield and a touchy subject?"
"Oh, not really my business, but I understand that the powers that be wants him to start sittin' at a desk, 'stead of workin' in the field. He's been hurt a couple o' times too many for 'em to be happy an' they look at the calendar, sayin' he's too long in the tooth to keep up." Winchester shook his head. "Idjits couldn't find their ass with both hands if they was in a dark room. Ev'ry time as he's got hurt, he's saved somebody else's life."
"I'd certainly be willing to put that in my report if it would help, at least in this particular case."
"Would ya sir? That'd be great."
"I'll do just that and I'll have Lieutenant Baker's written report on the incident included. She was rather glowing in her praise of his abilities." Davis smiled. "It's the least I can do for someone who I feel did an excellent job."
"Thank you sir. I'd appreciate that, he's a good partner."
"I imagine he is." Davis answered, "Now, where is the dive boat captain? I need that air horn of his."