The Angels of Destiny (4 page)

He pulled her into him until he filled her and she cried out. He sucked her nipples and her hands closed tightly on the soft leather sofa behind them, then McPherson felt her whole body tremble.

Panting heavily she cried out, "Oh Rob I
’
m going to come
…
Hold me
…
I'm coming.
”
She screeched, as an orgasm burst through her body, taking away her strength. For a moment she stayed upright and quite still before collapsing into his willing arms. They kissed again passionately and McPherson rolled her onto her back.

Opening her legs for him he entered her and his hard thrusts felt so good.

It's been too long, she thought. Vicki was watching his hard glistening shaft as his thrusts and breathing quickened. He sensed her pulling him closer and spasms of pleasure ran through his body in pure ecstasy as they orgasmed together.

"This is good shit, man." said the first security officer, watching their every move on a computer screen in the security office at the entrance to the complex.

“
Yeah. My chick's definitely in for a good fucking tonight, if she wants it or not,
”
said the second officer, holding his groin and laughing loudly.

"We have to send this stuff to Samuel Black," replied the first officer, remembering the instructions sent to him by email.

"Dirty mother fucker." said the second officer, smiling broadly.

Later that evening, Samuel Black was at home alone, slumped in a chair and barely conscious, unaware that the video had finished. On the floor lay an empty bottle of Bourbon.

Vicki Stark had decided early in her career that she was not the marrying kind. Putting most of her energy into her job meant that her love life had always come second. It was out of character for her to do something like that, so impromptu. Sure, she
’
d made love to men before, but never without taking the time to really get to know them. Her relationship with Rob, before that night, had been a purely professional one, and after, she felt cheap and ashamed of her actions.

Rob
’
s continued attentions encouraged her though, and she decided to work at the relationship. Her feelings for him were growing stronger by the day and she felt excited; her stomach tightened with each nerve tingling thought that now occupied more of her mind than M13. Her appetite had gone and he
’
d sparked feelings of sensuality within her that had lain dormant for too long. She was visibly more relaxed in her day to day work and the problems with the encryption system had been resolved.

Vicki was enjoying life again, especially the evenings spent together with McPherson, exploring the abundance of Houston restaurants to enjoy Mexican, French, Italian and Indonesian cuisine, always accompanied by plenty of good wine. It was an exciting time in their relationship and most nights they made love before falling asleep in each other
’
s arms. McPherson had assured Vicki that they both needed that first night. It was necessary to release the pent up stress they
’
d both felt. Stress, that weeks of adrenaline and pressure had produced. Now, though, there was more meaning to their relationship. The ensuing nights had allowed them to explore each other
’
s bodies and cultivate their sexual techniques. There was more meaning to their lovemaking
—
more passion and more tenderness.

At six o'clock McPherson awoke from a restful nights sleep. He smiled when he felt the slight pressure of Vicki
’
s arm resting across his chest. She was still asleep and breathing gently. Even in the morning, with no make up, he thought how beautiful she looked. They had been inseparable ever since that night, over a week ago.

Still half awake his thoughts drifted back to his home in Washington, in his mind he moved from room to room like a potential buyer viewing the property, perhaps, subconsciously, looking for Amanda. They had spoken by phone a couple of times in the past month but Amanda
’
s tone was always cold and conversation was strained. McPherson knew he still loved her and her abrupt attitude hurt him.

Emotionally, McPherson was now unstable; he was quickly falling in love with Vicki, yet still yearning for Amanda. Sex with Vicki was wonderful but was it just too convenient? Would he want her if they were apart, like he wanted Amanda?

Samuel Black was first into the office that morning, looking remarkably fresh, considering he had spent the night in a hotel room with a prostitute and taken alcohol and performance enhancing drugs, that by now should have given him a
‘
downer.
’
His wife Kim always obliged him but being on the golf circuit she was often away from home for long periods and Samuel Black just wasn
’
t able to wait. He knew he was wrong to do what he did; but it never stopped him. His excuse for satisfying his over active sex drive was based on the unfounded assumption that she was probably being screwed on a regular basis by some young stud on the tour.

Vicki Stark looked decidedly pleased with herself after signing the acceptance certificate for DGATE. The latest version of the encryption code had performed faultlessly for more than a week. The entire network loading tests had been passed and the speed of operation was impressive. She immediately walked down the corridor to Samuel
’
s office. The door was open and she noticed Samuel was busy checking the latest project schedules as she walked in without knocking. His face by now had become drawn and pale. Dark bags were visible under his eyes.

"Good morning, Samuel, I have some good news,
”
said Vicki, not waiting for a reply to her greeting. "I
’
ve just signed off DGATE," Vicki said, proudly.

“
Oh. Thank God for that. I
’
m going to call a project meeting immediately. We need to define the next course of action," said Samuel, in a relieved voice.

"I thought you
’
d be pleased."

"Pleased.... I
’
m bloody ecstatic. You don
’
t realize the pressure I
’
ve been under from Hunter."

"Maybe not, but I
’
ve got a good idea,
”
she replied, with a hint of irritation in her voice.

“
Yeah
…
Yeah
…
of course, I
’
m sorry. I know that it
’
s not been easy for you either."

Surely not recognition from Samuel Black? Vicki thought.

Within twenty minutes everyone had gathered in the project room on the eighteenth floor. Yuri Klyushin, Walter Rottenburg and Jerzy Rozanski were stood in the corner of the room, discussing things astronomical. Rob McPherson was talking to Raymond Strong about last night
’
s meal and Vicki Stark and Linda Washington were talking women
’
s talk, occasionally reinforcing some point, by touching the other. Their conversations were always deeper and more personal than any of the men in the team, because they were able to express their feelings without embarrassment.

Nobody noticed Samuel Black walk into the room and he was thankful.

“
Let
’
s make a start please,
”
he said, causing the chatter to stop abruptly and heads to turn in his direction.

McPherson looked at him and noticed the black rings under his eyes, worsened by his sallow complexion.

"Please take your seats and switch on your laptops, we have a lot to do this morning." Samuel Black managed a small smile, feeling a little better, now that he was in control again. "The good news ladies and gentlemen is that DGATE is now fully operational. That means we can, at last, start to analyze data from M13. I would like to record my personal thanks to Vicki for all the hard work she
’
s put in these last few weeks. We didn
’
t need the delay but it
’
s behind us now, so lets get on with the task ahead."

The double-edged compliment made Vicki blush slightly; and McPherson guessed it was more in annoyance than embarrassment. She
’
d worked bloody hard to resolve the problem and a simple thank you was all that was necessary, but no, he had to stick the knife in. McPherson was beginning to dislike Samuel more with every working day.

In reality all the team members had worked hard and no time had been wasted in setting up their particular tasks. Yuri Klyushin
’
s team had commissioned the ten transceivers and the data link to Earth was working fine. Positional co-ordinates had been sent to the transceivers during a one-week test and feedback from the on-board computers had shown nine of them were responding. The tenth was operational but not as sensitive as the others, due to a minor problem with its positional retro-rockets, not meteor damage as first thought. Rob McPherson
’
s software had been installed and tested against simulated data and the results were good, with a higher than expected signal-to-noise ratio.

"Would you like to explain the latest situation to the team, please, Vicki?"Asked Samuel Black.

Vicki stood up before beginning to talk. She was holding a pen in her hands, something she often did when speaking.

McPherson glanced at her and felt a warm contentment knowing he was in love with a very special woman indeed.

"Only this morning I signed the acceptance certificate for DGATE. It has been under rigorous test for just over one week and zero failures were recorded. Also all communications links from the transceivers through to Houston have been tested. In short, we
’
re looking good."

"Excellent news," interjected Samuel Black. "Thank you, Vicki, please be seated. I suggest we start listening ASAP. So, this afternoon we all meet in the control room because I want to start analyzing data by fifteen-hundred hours. At sixteen-hundred hours I have to report our progress to Hunter, who, likewise at seventeen-thirty hours, has to report to the President. Yes, ladies and gentlemen
—
The President.
”
Samuel Black quickly glanced at each member of the team, in another attempt to reinforce the importance of his statement..."Lets think of today as... Day One. Good hunting everyone.
”

At precisely four o
’
clock, Linda Washington showed Samuel Black into Hunter
’
s office and closed the door behind him before walking back to her desk. She looked uncomfortable after the short walk with him. His innuendoes, the way he looked at her and touched her was so repulsive and so unnecessary. If Rob had paid her attention, that would have be different. She often had fantasies about making love to Rob, something she never mentioned to anyone except to her closest girl friend, about how he would tenderly tongue her most private parts driving her wild with excitement and then forcefully take her over an office desk. Sometimes her fantasies involved Rob and Vicki, but it was her that he chose to have. All the while Vicki just standing and watching their gyrating bodies, until they ultimately fell into each other
’
s arms
’
through sexual exhaustion.

It was now five o
’
clock and Samuel Black had left Hunters office some ten minutes before. Hunter was always slightly nervous before a conversation with the President, even though he had done it many times before. The good news, relayed to him, had helped to calm him somewhat and he wished he had been there when the first data had arrived to hear the cheers from his team, the team he had chosen, and the team he was proud of.

The videophone buzzed and asked for a code number. Hunter must have known it was the President. Composing himself, he entered the code and spoke his name. The screen came to life and Hunter could see the President
’
s impassive face on the videophone.

"Good afternoon, Colin, how are things in sultry downtown Houston?" he said, in a detached manner.

"Good afternoon, Mr. President...Things are finally going well."

“
Excellent. Tell me more, Colin."

“
Well, sir, we started collecting data from M13 today."

"That
’
s good news. It
’
s difficult to say how far behind the Skywatch Project we are now, but we are behind at the moment; so intelligence informs me. Don
’
t know whether to believe that or not though," commented the President in a dull tone. Hunter laughed, making the President smile.

"We have to get there first, Colin, it
’
s important to this great country." His tone this time was more serious.

"I realize that, sir. Thankfully our methods are far superior to those of the Chinese. We estimate that we can analyze data one-thousand times faster than them and more importantly, twenty-four hours a day. It shouldn
’
t take long before we
’
re in front, Mr President."

"That
’
s what I want to hear. Keep me informed of any progress will you? I want to be the first President of America to talk to a Martian." Both laughed loudly before saying their farewells and signing off. Hunter sat back in his chair, raised his head and exhaled. He knew that behind the lighthearted comments and the friendly facade of the President, there was a more serious message.