“Well, it looks like the participants were a lot more successful than I was.”
“Rubbish, Doctor. I'm sure you did a fine job. Go on and get cleaned up. We'll talk more later.”
Archer left down the hall and not a moment too soon: a few moments later, the group of armed men arrived with a large container in tow. All of the men appeared more hardened than before and many were out of breath. Roger stepped forward to greet them.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Barely,” the team leader answered. “We faced more resistance than we expected, but we got the device.”
“And just in time too,” Roger said.
“I'm sorry, sir. We faced resistance on the moon.”
“No need to apologize. Job well done, men. I want the device placed in my quarters.” The men nodded and began to exit the compartment. Roger smiled and called out after the troops: “Get yourselves cleaned, gentlemen. We aren’t finished yet.”
The team of volunteers gathered in the conference room, laughing and sharing stories of their adventures. As they talked, the engines of the ship sped up and the craft began moving away from Earth. Val looked out the window and waved goodbye to the planet as it drifted away from them. James set his gear on the floor and took his boots off.
“So did you have fun?” he asked Val.
She nodded enthusiastically.
“Let’s just hope everyone else did – or more to the point, let’s hope they were more successful than us.”
“You don’t think we did a good job?” Val asked.
“It’s not that,” he said. “The real work for us is when we get back; when we have to lobby the government to accept our suggestions. Then some real good can come of this whole thing.”
Val shook her head. “So you just wanted the fun part and none of the work, huh?”
He grinned. “Few people would have it any other way.”
Val smiled at James warmly. “At least you won’t be doing it alone, James.”
James smiled back at the young girl in recognition of her sentiment. However, he was also well aware of her real intent. Over the last sixty days, and despite her best efforts, Val had grown quite attached to her partner. They became fast friends, but it didn't take long before her initial ruse led to a real emotional connection. Before long, she could no longer contain her emotions and made several romantic advances toward him. James always firmly rejected her kindly. He never explained his real purpose in going on the expedition and never spoke of Genesis for fear of revealing too much. His silence, though, only encouraged
Val
to try harder to win his affections, which she assumed would eventually be won from his wife. She didn’t know his wife was in coma; she assumed she was dead.
He resisted her on every occasion, although it took all of his willpower much of the time. During their travels, they pretended to be a husband and wife tourist couple. They shared hotel rooms, shared a bed, and on more than one occasion, and in situations beyond his control, were forced to shower together. Val hoped that these instances would arouse feelings in James for her. She certainly didn’t make it easy for him to resist her, as she often insisted on undressing in his view, spending much of her free time in the nude – even sleeping naked next to him when they had to share the same bed. James was proud of himself for not giving in to the temptation. It would have been easy to reason that Genesis might never awake and their mission to save her could fail, but James was still very much in love with her. Even in his weakened state, in need of comfort and affection, James saw his celibacy, not as rejecting Val, but being faithful to Genesis. “I have to go report to Archer,” he said.
James left Val behind in his quarters on the ship while he went to Archer’s office to plan for their return. Archer was seated behind his desk, had a pen in his hand, and appeared to be in deep thought. “Sir,” James said, “do you have a moment?”
Archer looked up and smiled when he recognized James. “Of course. Come in.”
He entered the office and took a seat in front of Archer’s desk. “I know you have much to do for our return, but were we successful with the other thing?”
Archer smiled warmly. “My friend, I was just about to come find you. The medical team tells me that we were able to locate the drug your wife needs.”
His enthusiasm level increased suddenly. The change in his expression and demeanor was so intense, Archer felt like he was meeting him for the first time.
“As for the rescue,” Archer said, “we’ll plan on getting you transported to the hospital in plenty of time to satisfy my end of our little deal. Will that work for you?”
James’s smile stretched from ear to ear. “Oh, absolutely! Thank you so much!” He jumped to his feet and shook Archer’s hand profusely. A moment later, he was practically skipping out of the office. Just outside the office door stood Val eavesdropping, finally accepting that her attempts would never succeed. She had failed too; Genesis was still alive.
James went back to his room and climbed into bed. He lied on his back and let his thoughts drift to his future reunion with Genesis only hours away. As his mind cleared of all anxiety from his trip in the future, Val entered the room, a sad look drawn on her face. He ignored her entrance, although not intentionally so; his mind was dwelling on other things. Val stood silently over him for a moment before deciding to make her most desperate move for his attention.
She lowered the light in the cramped little bedroom. James’s eyes were wide open but he was staring at the ceiling and didn’t appear to notice the newly dimmed lamp. Val proceeded with her next move: she removed her blouse. Still nothing from him. Within a couple of minutes, she had removed her slacks, her bra, and her panties; each time an article of clothing was removed, she studied James for a reaction. There she stood over him, naked as she often was in his
company
, the soft light from the light reflecting off her bare, silken skin. She raised her arms behind her head and pulled her hair back. If she didn
’
t know better, she would have concluded he was blind. Still, what she revealed now was nothing new to his eyes. Therefore, she tried something more desperate. As he daydreamed of Genesis, the sly, nubile woman climbed slowly into bed beside the man and gently started to kiss his neck.
Immediately, James came to and realized what she was doing. He turned to Val with a shocked expression across his face as though screaming for a reason for her actions. Val only smiled and glanced down at her body, welcoming James to take advantage of her. He sat up, bumping his head on the bookshelf and night lamp above him, and climbed over Val and out of bed.
“What are you doing?” he shouted.
Val sat up on the bed and sunk her head in shame, although she did not attempt to cover herself. “I want you, James,” she said softly.
James shook his head and huffed in desperation from pushing her away. “I figured as much. The last dozen times you stripped for me made it pretty clear, Val.”
“But why don’t you want me? I love you,” she pleaded.
James turned away out of respect for her indecency.
She sat still a moment, trying to figure out whether she should give up her seduction. “Is it your wife?” she whispered carefully.
James didn’t move an inch.
Val stood up and walked up behind him. She tried to wrap her arms around his midsection to console him but he nudged her away. “Why won’t you talk to me?” she asked.
He shook his head. “I don’t want to talk about it.” He turned to face her. “You’re a beautiful girl, Val. And if I wasn’t so in love with Genesis, I would never have gotten out of that bed with you.” She smiled. “But I don’t think I’ll ever get over her, at least while there’s hope.” He nodded firmly in an attempt to punctuate his thought without hurting her feelings. It didn’t work; she was devastated.
He turned from her again, but this time he left the room, leaving Val standing naked and alone.
I can’t do anything right
, she thought.
Roger sat behind his desk hovering over a titanium case. Inside was a small device that at first glance looked like a bomb. A security guard entered the office and approached Roger from behind. “Sir,” the guard said, “you wanted to see me.”
“Yes,” Roger answered, closing the case. “I just wanted to make sure you can still be trusted with the organization’s plan. Are you?”
“I am.”
“Good. We also need this weapon ready for use as soon as possible. Do you know how to work it?”
“Yes, sir,” he said. “I have the manual.”
Roger looked at him curiously, missing the joke.
“Sorry, sir. Yes, I know how it works. Will the operation be carried out immediately?”
“As soon as I give the final word. Imagine society when we are done: No more money, no greedy corporations, and no disharmony with the environment.
“Of course, to get to that point, we need to do some pretty ugly things.
”
Roger stood from behind his desk and stepped in front of the guard.
“
I
’
m afraid we find ourselves in an unusual circumstance here. Should we fail, there
’
s no hope for any of us.
”
The guard’s eyes met his glare. “We understand, sir. We’re committed to the end.”
Roger smiled. “I know. The next few hours will be emotional for all of us. We will be ripping a very sticky Band-Aid off a fresh and bloody wound - seven billion lives will be destroyed. I just wanted to make sure the men are committed.”