No Future Christmas (4 page)

“It’s a combination of central heating and radiant heat.
Don’t ask, I’m not really sure how it works.
I grew up with it and it’s just
there.
The shower’s in the back, through that door.” Shauna pointed behind her.
“I’ll get you some more clothes.”

Mike stepped into the bathroom but this one was vastly
different from the one in Shauna’s apartment.
When he entered the bathroom a
light automatically blinked on.
Silver sinks of some new metal were sunken in
an opaque cream-colored cabinet of some plastic material.
At least he thought
it was plastic.
He saw no showerhead sticking out of the wall, no knobs to turn
on water but a square space was set apart from the toilet and sinks and riddled
with holes on the ceiling and three walls.
A window over the possible shower
area let in fresh air but was closed at the moment.
Baffled, Mike turned in
circles trying to figure out how to turn on the shower.

He stripped off the dirty shirt and pants and left them in a
pile on the floor.
That was some strange material too.
It looked slippery, had
veins of cream and blue color running through it.
But with his bare feet he
could feel that it was some kind of material that gripped so a person wouldn’t
slip on a wet floor.

He rummaged through the medicine cabinet and found what
looked like a wrapped toothbrush.
He didn’t know how to open the package at
first but soon figured it out.
The toothbrush had toothpaste on it.
He brought
it to his lips and it began to hum and vibrate.
He couldn’t help grinning at
the device.
It pulsed and hummed until he moved his hand away to look at it
more closely.
It stopped humming and quit moving.
He brought it back to his
mouth and it started moving again.
Well, I’ll be
.
He scrubbed his teeth
to get rid of the bad taste in his mouth.
Since there were no knobs for the
sink he placed his hands under the faucet and warm water poured out of it.
He
rinsed his mouth and felt like a new man.

“Here are some—” Shauna stopped dead in her tracks.
“Why
aren’t you in the shower?”

Mike felt her eyes rake his body.
He wore only his boxers.
Once again he reacted powerfully to her desire-filled eyes and hardened
instantly.
“Quit looking at me like that,” he croaked.
“You look like you want
to devour me—not that I mind.”

“I…I… Why aren’t you wet?” Shauna’s hand flew to her mouth.

Mike laughed and moved toward her.
When they were eye to eye
he placed both of his hands on her neck and slid them up to cup her face.
Her
eyes widened, then she looked down.
He chuckled and her eyes flew back to his
face.
“Do you want to shower with me?” He’d lowered his voice to a whisper.
Shauna tried to step away but he pulled her closer.
He watched her lick her
lips and knew he could drown in that sexy tongue.
Wrapping one arm around her
he pulled her close.
Their bodies fit perfectly.
Mike felt as if they were
suctioned together where they touched.

He ran a hand down her neck and over her shoulder to her
small waist.
At first she stared into his eyes but then she watched his hand
caress down her arm.
Mike shifted his hips so he could fit his hardness between
her jeans-clad legs.
They both moaned.
“God, Shauna.
You excite me like no
woman has ever done before.” He caressed her waist and moved slowly up to her
breast.
Mike felt her heart thudding and little breaths puffed out of her
mouth.

“It doesn’t take much to arouse you, it seems.” The sharp
words belied her body’s reaction.
She moved closer to him and her arms circled
his neck.
“I’m not one to ignore an invitation.”

Mike lowered his head.
Mouth to mouth, lips almost touching,
he smelled the earthy scent that aroused him.
“Kiss me,” he demanded.
Before
she could answer he lowered his head and kissed her full, luscious lips.
Need
pulsed through him.
He pulled her even closer and wrapped both of his arms
around her.
But that still wasn’t enough.
He thrust his tongue inside her mouth
and their tongues danced erotically.

Shauna’s body softened against his as she molded herself to
him.
He rubbed her backside, his hands roaming around her tight bottom.
Desire
raged through him and all he could think about was getting her undressed.
He
pulled her closer stepping backward.
He needed her naked, fused to his hot
skin.
“Take a shower with me,” he murmured next to her ear.
“I want to see you
naked.” He licked the shell and lightly blew in the center.

“Okay.
Shower on.”

A blast of cold water sluiced down on them.
Water poured
from holes all around the square enclosure.
Mike jumped away from Shauna
sputtering, “What the hell?
Why’d you do that?”

Shauna laughed a lilting, deep throated sound of delight.
“Because, you asked me to.”

Water poured on them from three walls and the ceiling but it
began to warm.
Mike hadn’t noticed a clear, plastic-type barrier come up from
the floor to enclose them on the fourth side.
It kept the water from spraying
into the rest of the bathroom.
He rubbed his hair off his face and looked at
their sorry appearances.
“Well, you’re dripping wet and fully clothed and I’m
soaked and almost naked.
I’d say we’ve had one hell of a first meeting.”

Shauna burst into laughter.
“Forrester, you’re great.
Quick
to catch on, not quick to panic in an emergency but too quick to throw up at
the first sign of speed.
I’ll have to cure you of that little problem.”

Mike threw back his head and laughed.
“I like you,
Wentworth.
You’re a no-nonsense, fast thinking fugitive and you look like a
drowned beauty queen right now.
Nothing I’d like more than to dry you off with
some good old-fashioned body heat.
Wanna give it a try?”

“No.” Shauna stepped out of the shower.
“You clean up, I’ll
dry off by myself,” she raised her eyebrows at him, “and then we can regroup.
We have some time.
No one will expect us to come here.”

“Where are we, anyway?”

“At my brother’s apartment.
He’s in Australia on assignment
for the global newspaper,
Worldwide
.
He’s a reporter.”

“But what state are we in?”

“Besides being in a state of confusion, we’re actually in
California.
Didn’t you see the sun when we landed?”

“No.
All these cities look the same.
Tall, gray, brown and
tan buildings that block out any bit of sunshine.
How does a person breathe here?”

“Oh, we have no emissions, our air is pure.
Has been for
over sixty years.” Shauna tweaked Mike’s cheek.
“You just have to learn to look
up.
That’s where the sunshine is.”

* * * * *

The black and white plastic chairs creaked when Mike sat
down.
He placed his Venti double-shot cappuccino on the bistro table.
The table
leaned toward him, rocking the cup and causing some of the precious liquid to
slop over the side.
Mike wiped it up with one of the funny napkins that he was
beginning to like.
As soon as the spill was mopped up the napkin became dry
again.
Nice.
“Starbucks.
At least something survived.”

“Not just Starbucks.
World Starbucks.
They’re the only
coffee shop allowed anywhere in the world.
I wonder why they even have signs
up.
Nowadays we only need to see the word coffee and know it’s a Starbucks.
Oh
well.” Shauna shook her head.

They’d come downstairs after their showers and grabbed a
couple of coffees and a digital newspaper.
“Newspapers as you know them don’t
exist anymore,” Shauna told him.
Trees aren’t cut down to make them.
Buildings
are brick and an industrial plastic, chemically fortified to survive natural
disasters like earthquakes and hurricanes.” Shauna placed a one-inch disk
inside her tiny portable device and scanned the news.

“Anything interesting?” Mike asked.
He really didn’t care.
He sat at a Starbucks table in Los Angeles, California and for all he knew he
could still be in New York.
If it weren’t for the warmer weather, he’d not know
the difference.
This century fascinated him and he wanted to see and learn all
he could about it.

“Nothing we can’t handle.
There’s a front page article and
picture about two fugitives from New York.
A man and a woman.
Here, read it for
yourself.” She handed him the device.

“How does this gadget work?” Mike had always liked
electronics.

Shauna took a gulp of coffee and a bite of some pastry.
She
leaned across the table and pushed a spot on the black box.
A holographic
screen emerged above the box.
Mike gasped.
The four by six picture was clear
and crisp and he stared at Shauna and himself sitting next to each other in her
skycar.
“How’d the Global Guardians get a picture like that?”

“Oh, every skycar has cameras in it, for our protection you
know,” Shauna snorted.
“All they had to do was push a remote button and voilà.
We do look good together, don’t we?”

“How can you say there’s nothing we can’t handle with so
little concern?
For God’s sake, Shauna, we’re front page news!” Mike glanced
around, fearful that people were already looking at them.
No one paid them any
attention.

Shauna leaned across the table.
She shook Mike’s hand to get
his full attention.
“I know we can handle this because no one is going to call
the Global Guardians if they see us.
Everyone hates them.
If anything, they’ll
come to our aid.
Hide us, feed us, give us anything we need.
Now relax.
Enjoy
your coffee.
How is it, by the way?”

Mike frowned at his cup.
The style was the same, even if it
wasn’t made out of paper.
The logo was the same except for the addition of the
world behind the familiar green name.
“The coffee’s the same as I remember.
Thankfully.
But where do we get real food?
I’m starving, now that my stomach
has settled from Mr.
Toad’s Wild Ride.”

“Huh?”

“It was a children’s ride at an amusement park when I grew
up.
Disneyland.” At Shauna’s quizzical expression Mike added, “Never mind.”

“Well, drink up.
Then we’ll go to the supermarket.” Mike
gulped his coffee and was about to put the cup in the recycle bin when he heard
Shauna say, “Uh-oh.”

He glanced behind him and saw two men in bright green
uniforms come around the corner.
“Global Guardians.
Let’s go.” He casually got
up and took Shauna by her arm.
They started to leave when the Guardians looked
at them.
Before they could get a good look at their faces, Mike pulled Shauna
to him and kissed her.
He heard a few people mutter about indecency but no one
said anything outright.

The kiss started out as a ruse but soon became passionate.
Mike never noticed when the Guardians passed them going into the coffee shop.
He pulled Shauna closer but a man coughed right next to them.
“Better get
moving, buddy.
Don’t want the Guardians to see you.”

Mike ended the kiss and looked at the man.
Early forties, he
had the look of a computer nerd.
“Thank you for the heads-up.” Linking their
fingers together, Mike pulled Shauna down the street, walking like young lovers
on holiday would.

They rounded a corner and began to run.
People stared at
them and a few whispered, “You go, we’re with you.”

No one tried to stop them.

* * * * *

Shauna stepped into the supermarket.
Ralphs.
The name had
survived for over two hundred years.

“Amazing,” Mike said as he glanced around the huge interior.
“But nothing looks like twenty-first century supermarkets.”