No Future Christmas (9 page)

A huge smile creased his face.
He felt a rush of excitement
race through him as he grabbed Shauna’s hands to kiss them.
“I agree.”

Shauna’s eyes lit with mirth.
“You don’t know the terms
yet.”

“I accept.”

She laughed.
“Fine.
Consider yourself a student flyer.” She
got up to leave the room.

“Wait, what are the conditions?” Mike laughed.

“Why do you want to know?” Shauna teased.
“You already
accepted the contract.”

“Come on, sweetheart.
Spill.” Mike sat back and crossed his
arms over his chest.
He placed one leg across his knee and settled in for a
chat.

With a large, exaggerated sigh Shauna said, “One.
You must
follow my directions at all times.
Two.
You don’t complain.
Three.
You study
the basics before you ever sit in the flyer’s seat.
Four.
I take over in any
emergency and five, you don’t fly without me in the skycar.
Ever.”

“Agreed.”

“Then, Mr.
Student, it’s time for some studying.”

* * * * *

Mike studied day and night for two weeks.
It was a
complicated process but he found it fascinating.
Aerodynamics played a large
part of flying a skycar but the rules of the road were harder for him to understand.
Even though the rules were the same worldwide, he found it difficult to
understand how skylanes were designed and where they actually were.
He grew a
deeper appreciation for the poignant ballet that ruled the sky when millions of
people flew their vehicles.

“Test time.” Shauna strolled in bringing with her a
feminine, flowery fragrance.
She wore tight, peach-colored shorts made of some
slinky material.
Her white top left her shoulders bare but hugged her beautiful
body leaving two inches of her sun-tanned waist exposed to his sight.
She
glowed with health and vitality and for an intense moment Mike wanted with her
with every fiber of his being.

“What?” He didn’t realize he’d stepped up to her but somehow
she was in his arms.
Their attraction sizzled and he devoured her mouth.
Mike
tasted mint and cinnamon along with coffee.
Flavors he would always associate
with Shauna.

She pulled back and licked her lips.
“Quit that,” she
grinned.
Shauna scraped a hand through her short hair, spiking it.

“No.” Mike playfully pulled her to him.
He ran his hands
over her shoulders, circled his finger in the hollow of her collarbone and
trailed his finger up her neck.
He felt Shauna shiver and watched her eyes
darken.
“You want me as much as I want you.”

“Now’s not the right time, Mike.”

“It’s never the right time to fall in love.”

“What?” Shauna stepped back to stare at Mike.
“You’re not in
love with me.”

Mike didn’t hear her.
He stood stunned at the revelation.
How could he be in love with a woman he’s never made love with?
What was it
about Shauna that screamed permanence?
He mentally shook his head and took a
tactical retreat.
“I’m talking generally, Shauna.” But his heart pounded and
his palms were sweaty.

“Oh, well then…” He saw her chest rise and fall and heard her
suck in a breath.
She turned and slapped a ten-page test on the table next to
him.
“Here’s the first phase of the three-phase skycar test.
Normally you’d
take one a year for the required three years of studying.
But you’re on an
expedited learning pace.” She laughed.
“There’s no time limit.
You are allowed
to use study materials.”

“I’m not sure I’m ready.” Mike flipped through the pages.
“There is so much to know.”

“You’re the one who wanted to take this path.
Now you have
to finish it.” Shauna gamely patted him on the shoulder and left the room.

“Shit,” Mike murmured.
“What have I gotten myself into?”

Chapter Five

Mike raked his fingers through his hair for the umpteenth
time.
The dog, now named Rover for his forays around the island, lay at Mike’s
feet while he studied.
He’d nearly finished the test but was stuck on a
question.
“At what altitude and heading do you fly your skycar in traffic when
emergency vehicles are signaling to get by?
And how do you maneuver the skycar
out of the way of the approaching vehicles without getting in the way of other
traffic?
Explain your maneuvers and reasoning in detail,” he murmured.
“Shit.
That’s a tough one.” He drank some funny water, as he called it.
Whatever it
was fortified with he felt an immediate energy boost and knew he needed the
help.
He lowered his head and flipped through the skycar flying manual.

“How’s it going?” Shauna interrupted.

“A reason to stop.
Thank God.
Come here, woman.” Mike rose
and pulled Shauna to him.
He nuzzled her neck and ran his hands up and down her
sides.
“Mmm.
Fantastic.
I could eat you up, you smell so good.”

“I’m not food, Mike, I’m me.
And the reason I smell good is
because I’ve been helping Camille make chocolate chip cookies.” Mike’s stomach
rumbled.
Shauna laughed.
“Take a break.
We’ll have a snack, the cookies are
still warm.”

“Sold.” Mike twined his fingers through Shauna’s and led her
from the room.
He needed her touch.
Her fingers tightened and he gave her a
gentle squeeze.
Something inside him shifted and Mike felt a sense of
completeness.
A lump formed in his throat along with a knot in his stomach.
Would he have to live without her?
He didn’t think he’d survive a lifetime
without Shauna.

“Why are you so quiet?” Shauna asked.

Mike wondered if he should tell her but knew it was too
soon.
“I’m stuck on a question and it’s bothering me.”

“Which one?”

“One hundred seventy-three.”

“Oh, that one.
It’s always been one of the hardest to
answer.
It’s also one of five that if you get it wrong you automatically fail
the test and have to study for another year before you can retake the test.
That question is so important because there are a multitude of sky accidents
and the emergency vehicles have to get to the victims before they fall to the
ground.”

“Great.
Thanks.
Nothing like adding a little more pressure.”
Mike dropped into the chair at the table.
When Shauna let go of his hand he
felt alone, bereft.
How could a touch do that to him?

“Don’t worry, Mike.
You’re not sending the results to the
Global Guardians.
For you it’s not a wait-another-year situation.
Oh good, here
comes our snack.”

“The Global Guardians score the test?” Mike looked down in
astonishment at his plate.
“This is a snack?” The platter had a pineapple cut
into the shape of a canoe filled with chunks of mango, raspberries and
blueberries, two types of apples, three kinds of cheese and an assortment of
crackers.
Camille put a plate full of chocolate chip, sugar and oatmeal cookies
in the center of the table.

“I thought you’d need to shore up your strength.” Shauna dug
into her food.

“Didn’t you tell me there was a food shortage?” Mike
couldn’t believe how sweet the pineapple was.
He placed a piece of a yellow
cheese on a thin wafer and chewed.
“This is fantastic.”

“Yes, there is a food shortage.
The population explosion has
intensified.
People live well into their hundreds, babies don’t die much
anymore, cancer, AIDS, Parkinson’s and most other diseases are eradicated.
The
Fearsome Foursome has decreed that we eat more grains, fruits, vegetables and
less meat, poultry and fish.
They don’t give us any place to grow our crops
because they won’t sell or lease land to the farmers.” Shauna shook her head.
“It’s really sad.
We fly to other cities and see all of the open space.
But all
land not previously owned by individuals is controlled by the Corporations and
they won’t give it up, even to nurture the world’s population.
Plus, they
snatched up land from individuals at below cost just after the war in the
Middle East.
We’re stuffed into skyscrapers and our cities are walled, yet we
can fly right over the tops of those walls and into wide open spaces.”

“No wonder everyone hates them.” Mike reached for a still
warm chocolate chip cookie.
“This is delicious.
Did you really make them?”

Shauna’s head snapped up.
“Of course I did.
My mother taught
me to cook and bake when I was a child.” She waved a cookie at him.
“Just
because I don’t get to do it much doesn’t mean I don’t know how.
Humf.”

Mike laughed at the false hurt in her voice.
“Well I thank
your mother from the bottom of my heart.” He finished the cookie and reached
for an oatmeal raisin one.
“So why all the food here?”

“Oh.
Well, this is a private island.
The owner grows all his
own food.
He has cows, pigs, chickens and a private area to farm fish.
It’s a
real treat to be here.
I don’t get here often enough.”

“So who owns this place and how do you know him?”

Shauna turned a dull red.
“I do.”

The cookie that Mike held in his hand fell to the table.
“What?”

“Well, George and I do.
We make good money, Mike.
I’m the
head of my division.
George travels the world doing hazardous jobs and we both
are well compensated for it.
There’s no law against buying property, just
property that’s owned by the Fearsome Foursome.
About five years ago I met this
older gentleman who couldn’t care for this island anymore.
He liked me.
When
George and I approached him about buying, he sold and was glad of it.”

While Mike digested that bit of information a thought
occurred to him.
“If you own an island it’s recorded somewhere, right?”

“Right.
Ownership of anything from skycars to apartments to
islands is on record.
Anyone can access those records, they’re public
information.
Why?”

“Our faces are on the front page of every digital newspaper
in the world.
Won’t the Global Guardians have access those records and think
you came here to escape?”

“Sure.
But there’s one law, thank God, that the people
fought for.
I mean through demonstrations and publicity.
The law states that no
Global Guardian can access an owner’s personal property without his or her
approval.
Or approval from one of the four CEOs.”

“Then how can they do a smash and grab of your parents’
office and your apartment?”

“My parents only rented the space in that building and I
rent my apartment.
Don’t need to own it when I’ve got this.” Shauna cleared the
table.
“Want to do the dishes?”

Her grin was infectious.
“Sure.” Mike gathered the linens
and napkins and followed her into the spacious kitchen.
He loved the open area
with ultramodern walls.
Everything was recessed with nooks and crannies
throughout the room.
A large, opaque, blue, free-standing cabinet graced the
center of the room.
Three large white sinks were the focus of the cabinet.
It
had a futuristic faucet made of something silver-colored that didn’t look like
metal.
If he hadn’t been told, he wouldn’t see the drawers cleverly hidden in
the structure.

They placed the items in the dishwasher and Mike said,
“Dishwasher clean.” Nothing happened.
“Dishwasher turn on.” Nothing.
Shauna
stood off to the side a grin stretching her mouth.
“Dishwasher work.”

She burst out laughing.
“Maybe you ought to take a test for
this too.
It’s ‘dishwasher on’.”

He heard a click and a slosh as water poured through the
dishwasher.
“Smart aleck.
Well, I better get back and find the answer to
question number one hundred seventy-three.”

“I have faith.” Shauna kissed him lightly on his lips.

“Thank you.” He kissed her again, deepening it and swirling
his tongue with hers.
Pineapple, mango, cinnamon and sugar melded together into
a heady taste.
Mike pulled Shauna to him.
He wrapped his arms around her back
and nuzzled her neck.
Intense need shot through him, weakening his knees.
No
woman had ever done that to him before.

But no woman was like Shauna.

* * * * *

“Congratulations!
You passed,” Shauna said the next day.
“Now you get to study for phase two.
Here.” She dumped five thick books on the
table.

“Why aren’t these digital?” Mike asked.

“I couldn’t answer that.
Some things just never change.”

Mike thumbed through the manuals to see if he could get an
idea of what was to come.
He groaned when he saw sections on advanced
aerodynamics pertaining to skycar flyers, weather and wind patterns and a
section on intense sky lane maneuvers.
“How did you ever learn all this?” He
glanced up at Shauna.

“The same way everybody else does.
A little at a time.
You,
on the other hand, are working on the accelerated course.
Normally, this phase
takes six months to complete.
You’re smart.
Let’s see if you can get it in one
month.”

“Shauna, are we going to stay holed up here for a month
while I study for the test?”

“No, you are.
I want to look for Mom and Dad.”

“I’m not letting you go out there alone,” Mike said.
“The
Global Guardians will be hunting for you.
Stay here with me.” Mike strolled
around the desk and pulled Shauna to him.
He stared into her eyes.

Shauna nuzzled his nose with a light laugh.
“My protector.
No one’s ever wanted to protect me before.
Thank you.” She squeezed his hands
and kissed the tips of his fingers.
Then she patted him on his rear end.
“Now
get studying.
I’ll wait two weeks, that’s it.
It’ll give me time to dig deeper
into the computer and see what I can find out about SubCorp.” She flounced out
of the room, leaving the scent of citrus and honey in her wake.

* * * * *

“I’m ready,” Mike said a week and a half later.
“Give me the
test.”

“You sure?”

“Yup.
Come on, woman, get the test.” Mike had studied day
and night.
His eyes felt like grit, he hadn’t shaved in days and his clothes
were rumpled.
Actually, he’d slept in them more times than he could say.
But he
felt he knew the material and wanted to pass this test.
He had cabin fever too.
Even though danger resided outside of Isla Atlantica, he needed action.

They’d been here for six weeks and even though Mike loved
it, he needed to move, to do something.
He’d missed Christmas with his brother
and they hadn’t celebrated it here.
Mike knew Scott was worried about him.
They
always spent it together and he was probably frantic about his disappearance.
Plus, the warmth just wasn’t conducive to celebrating the holiday properly.
Palm
trees, plumeria bushes and protea paradise plants were not good substitutes for
noble pines, douglas firs and poinsettias.

Shauna brought in a two-hundred question test and plopped it
on the table.
“There you go.
Come up for air now and again and food is always
available.”

Mike stared at the pages but his mind was still on the fact
that he hadn’t tried to contact Scott.
“Uh…there’s something I just thought
of.” He fiddled with the pages of the test.

“What?” Shauna came closer and touched the frown lines on
his forehead.
“I know you’ll pass, you’re very smart.”

“No, it’s not the test.” He looked up at Shauna and rose
from the table.
“I can’t believe I missed Christmas with my brother.
He’ll be
so worried about me.”

“Oh.
Well, why don’t you send him a note and tell him you’re
safe?”