The Freezer (Genesis Endeavor Book 1) (6 page)

“NO! Um, I mean, please, don’t go.”

Wendy had tensed like she was going to stand up, but at his
quick outburst she paused and then settled back into the chair. The look of
concern on her face was more sincere than warranted. She seemed to struggle
with something in her mind before speaking next. “Look, I’m not a doctor, and I
sure as hell am no scientist. I can, however, tell you that I watched you grow
from a few chemicals in a jar to a full grown man. Whether you understand it or
not, Doc wasn’t lying to you.”

They sat in silence as minutes passed. The chemistry he felt
at first sight of her was still there but now it was mixed with the tension of
disbelief warring with his desire to believe that she would not be dishonest. He
wasn’t ready to accept or dismiss what she had said. Some part of his mind knew
that if didn’t put this issue aside for the moment it might all start to come
apart. He had reached his limit in understanding and accepting, at least for
the moment. He tried to just clear his mind, filing away the issue for another
time. The tension eased and he visibly settled back into his bed, unsure of
whether he wanted to continue talking to Wendy or if he should just go back to
sleep.

By the time he let his eyes meet hers again, she tensed as
if to get up. She was clearly distraught over his reaction to her words. He
decided quickly that he didn’t want her to go quite yet. “Wait, it isn’t that I
don’t believe you, I just don’t understand it. My emotions are all over the
place, and it doesn’t let me think clearly enough to process something like
this. I… I can’t think about this right now but...” He paused to consider what
he might say to keep her here a little longer, and decided to just keep it
simple. “Please stay.”

She smiled and settled back into the chair, sending another
wave of warmth through him, flushing away any thoughts or concerns about how,
why, or where he is. “I understand how hard it can be to come to terms with
this. I… It took me a lot of time to understand, to believe. I don’t want to
rush you here, I know you will understand soon enough. Whether you understand
or believe, the fact is you have the body of a twenty five year old, and the
accelerated growth… uh… the process that got you here has left your body filled
with all the side effects of puberty.”

He simply had to take her word for it. He was no longer
processing the ‘how’ of coming to be here, but he
was
filing away the
information on some level. Words that stuck out, like ‘grown’ went somewhere in
his brain for later consideration.

Despite his inability to comprehend what she was saying, he
was aroused by such an attractive woman talking to him about science that he
could barely understand. Whether or not she even understood what she was
talking about, she sounded incredibly intelligent to him at that moment, and
again he felt the sudden need to woo her with his quick wits and strong
intellect. “So my body is young, and full of hormones, so... what, you came in
here to take advantage of me?” He closed his mouth quickly, not having intended
to say it exactly that way. Or that way at all.

Wendy looked surprised for a moment, then embarrassed again.
She bit her bottom lip like she was trying to decide something important. Like
everything else, he found it attractive, almost sensual. She then looked him
straight in the face. “I… have to admit that some of the reason I am here is…”
she paused as if looking for the right words, then started again. “I knew that
you would be, well, as horny as a sixteen year old, and I
was
curious to
see how you would react around me.” She sort of nodded at her own statement,
looked first down at her knees then again directly at him, and said, “If you
are uncomfortable and want me to leave, I will.”

“No!” Jack exclaimed too loudly and perhaps too quickly.
Good
God what is wrong with me!
he thought to himself. “I mean, no please, I am…
enjoying our conversation.” She smiled again. “What an incredible smile.”
Oh
Shit I just said that out loud
! “Uh…” was all he could manage as his face
flushed again.

“Nothing to be embarrassed about. I do admit I’m enjoying
this at your expense.” She sat up in the chair a little, and a mischievous grin
crept onto her face. “I’m actually very nervous myself. I am not normally this
forward with anyone.” While she talked she placed a few fingers on his leg, and
was running them up and down his thigh. The whole time she did this her gaze
never left Jack’s eyes. This of course was getting the natural response she was
looking for, and he shifted again in the bed.

The conflicting forces in his mind shifted. Up until now, he
was torn between the anxiety of not understanding his situation, the overwhelming
curiosity it brought on, and the incredible attraction he felt for this woman. The
confusing yet perfectly clear signals he was getting from Wendy turned the
hormonal maelstrom from a distant but raging desire into a possible conclusion.
With the real possibility of something happening between them, his guard went
up and he considered that he had not been with a woman since Jenny died nearly
two years ago. His body was practically screaming at him to make a move, but his
mind was not sure he was ready for it. On the one hand it was a little
disheartening that she knew he was in a vulnerable state right now, but on the
other hand she was damned beautiful and she was touching his leg! He closed his
eyes, swallowed hard, and then looked at her, “Listen Wendy, I am almost 40
years old, and I am – er – was, married. I’m way too old for you, and, well, I
haven’t been with anyone since my wife passed two years ago.” It all sounded
reasonable to him.
What the hell are you doing Jack?

“Jack, your body is about the same age as mine, and it has
never
‘been with a woman’. Furthermore, while your memories tell you it’s
been two years since your wife passed, it’s actually been more like three
hundred and fifty years.”
Damn, can’t argue with that.
“You sound like
you’re not attracted to me Jack.” She put a little bit of a pout on her lips,
which melted any resolve he had left.

He practically snorted, forcing himself to look away from
her eyes. There was no need for him to answer, the truth was standing on its
own by this point. He wracked his brain for some logical reason that he should
ask her to leave. Nothing came to mind. Their eyes met again and she seemed to
be looking for something in his gaze.

She seemed to find what she was looking for, and stood up
from the chair in a fluid movement stepping closer to the bed. “Last chance to
send me away, Jack.” Her hand went to the buttons on her shirt and she began to
unbutton it, starting at the top. He just lay there rapidly losing the ability
to reason as blood flowed to other parts of his body. Wendy finished the first
button, and was working on the next. Jack’s heart rate was climbing rapidly,
and his breathing became shorter. She finished the second button, and Jack
caught a glimpse of her cleavage. He practically shivered with excitement and
nervousness.

Trying to break the tension he said “Wendy, if I didn’t know
better, I would think that you were trying to seduce me.” He put a dumb looking
grin on his face, and she laughed. Her hands now worked the fourth and final
button and the shirt opened up, revealing an incredibly flat stomach. The
blouse slipped off her shoulders, framing her breasts before falling to the
ground. He took in every aching detail as she slowly started working her pants
loose. He had never seen a body quite like this. She was fit and toned but not
skinny like a magazine model. Her firm looking breasts were not large, not
small, and fit her frame perfectly. The pale glow of the monitor contrasted
against her smooth and light flesh, highlighting the smallest changes in
texture. Her nipples, just a shade darker than the rest of her skin, were
standing erect, the areolas dimpled with goose bumps. She pushed her pants and
underwear down to her ankles and stepped out of them. Standing straight up, she
looked at him, her chest rising and falling to her rapid, excited breath. It
was as if she was giving him a chance to admire her statuesque figure. He took
advantage of the brief pose, confirming to memory every detail. Her legs were
long and flawless, transitioning smoothly from her thighs to her hips to her
waist. The shadow cast by the pale light drew a tall ‘V’ starting where her
inner thighs touched moving up around her delta to the top of her hips.

He looked into her eyes for a moment, seeing a hunger there
that was unmistakable; it was obvious she wanted this as much as he did,
although for what reason, he had no idea. Perhaps later he would wonder if the doc
had sent her to him as part of this whole... thing, but right now he was only thinking
about what was about to happen. He scooted over in the bed and
lifted up the covers. For the first time, he realized that he was not wearing
anything under the blanket. He had not thought to check. “Holy shit I’m naked!”
he exclaimed as he dropped the covers back down.

Wendy giggled and simply said, “Perfect” as she climbed in
next to him.

Her body was like a furnace, and his hands instinctively
found their way to her various parts very quickly. One hand landed on a firm
breast, and one on her equally firm ass. As they embraced fully, his heart was
beating so hard he felt like his chest would explode. Staring into her eyes, he
used his hands to feel what he had already seen; a confirmation that he wasn’t
just hallucinating. If this was a dream, this would be the part where he woke
up.

He leaned into her and they kissed, softly at first as if
both were a little nervous to bring their lips together despite the fact that
they had already had intimate contact with each other’s body parts.

The kiss turned passionate and they frantically explored
each other under the covers. After what could have been a minute or an hour, she
climbed on top, reached down, and slid him into her. She was very wet, and
somewhere in the back of his mind he registered that it was further proof that
she was a willing partner. She pressed her breasts to his chest as they slowly
started rocking back and forth, getting a rhythm going. He kissed her deeply
then put his lips to her neck, then shoulder, then down to her breasts as the
rhythm gained speed. A soft moan escaped her lips and their breathing became
heavier as the passion built. The pace quickened until finally, with an
explosive groan, he came, triggering the same reaction in her.

As the mutual orgasm subsided they held on to one another as
if one of them would be ripped away from the other if they loosened their grip.
Over the next few minutes, they relaxed, and finally she moved so that he
slipped out of her. She lay on her side, breasts pressed against him and one
leg draped over his, for quite a while.

It was hard to tell how much time the whole thing had taken,
but Jack didn’t think it could have been too long. He was a bit out of
practice, and as aroused as he had been he would be surprised if the whole
experience had lasted two minutes. Normally he would have drifted off to sleep
afterward, but now that his body had had a shot of endorphins and the hormones
had subsided, he couldn’t keep his mind from churning.

Three days ago I was waxing my mustang all alone, and here I
am, like some kind of crazy dream he thought. Looking at Wendy, he expanded on
that thought. Make that some kind of wet dream.

More time passed, as they lay there intertwined. Finally,
Jack said, “That was... incredible. I hope it wasn’t too – uh – quick for you.”

They locked eyes and she smiled. “Trust me Jack, you
satisfied my every desire.” She kissed him long and tenderly, then snuggled her
head against his chest and drifted off to sleep.

He lay there for quite some time, reflecting on the details
of what he had learned just since waking up. While he still wasn’t ready to
decide if he believed he was dead and reincarnated somehow, her words made some
sense. It rationalized everything he was feeling. His quick temper,
uncontrolled emotions, the raw chemical need to be with this stranger in such
an intimate way, and his inability to filter his thoughts before speaking all
would make sense if he had the hormones of a teenager.

Then there was the consideration of what had just happened. For
the last two years of his life he had not been able to think about other women
without thinking about his wife. There was more to his desire to be with this
woman in his arms than just chemistry. He felt somehow disconnected from the
love he knew he felt for his wife. There was no other way to describe it. A few
days ago he still couldn’t think about his future without a feeling of anxiety
and a sense of loss. The death of his wife had shattered his identity and he
didn’t know his own role in his future. People had told him that it was normal,
that the death of a spouse would turn your world upside down and only time
could heal things. After two years he hadn’t made enough progress to do much
more than think about introducing another woman into his life. He had been
starting to feel like it was necessary for him to move forward but it always
stopped there. As soon as he thought about another woman in the same way he had
seen his wife, the anxiety of losing her would take over. Yet here he was,
pressed up against the warm naked body of a woman he just met. There was no
guilt. There was no sense of wrongness to it. If anything, he felt a connection
to this stranger that he hadn’t felt since the day he met Jenny. What had
changed in him that allowed him to feel this way again?

He explored the emotion, wondering if it was real or just a
result of having shared such an intimate moment with her. He knew the next few
days would tell him the answer. Thinking about it and feeling the woman
sleeping in his arms began to arouse his desire again. He held her just a
little tighter, pressed against her just a little more, and savored the
feeling. As thoughts of waking her for more of what they had done earlier
formed in his mind, exhaustion swept through him and he settled into a deep
sleep.

* * *

Jack woke again, maybe three hours later, and discovered himself
alone in bed. He was disappointed, but not surprised. She had come to him in
the middle of the night, and while she hadn’t explained her motives, obviously
she chose to do it at a time when there would be no possibility of being seen. He
thought again about whether the doc, or whoever was in charge, had sent Wendy
to be with him. Unless he had completely lost his ability to read people, she
was there for her own reasons. He smiled at the thought of the previous night,
not really wanting to think about the motives behind it.

Unfortunately, the train of thought brought him right back
to the original situation. He had to face this head on. They had told him he
was ‘cloned’, that he had died and been reborn three and a half centuries
later. It was such a departure from reality that he was more inclined to
believe he was in a mental institution. However, everything Teague had told him
rang true. The woman in his room last night had backed it up with information
that made perfect sense, if he could just make the leap from insanity to
reality. Could it possibly be true?

He took a different track. If he assumed what he had been told
was in fact true, then he was in a world where things were completely
different. What happened last night was not just unusual to him, it was
downright impossible in his world. Incredibly attractive women didn’t come to
you in the middle of the night while you were in a hospital and have sex with
you for no understandable reason. It just simply didn’t happen. Unless they
were crazy and this was indeed a mental hospital.

That didn’t feel right though. He admitted to himself that
he didn’t have a single bit of experience with the clinically insane, but aside
from the explanations coming out of their mouths and the actions they were
taking, they seemed completely normal. This couldn’t have happened in 1966,
because people didn’t act this way. A different time, a different world, made
sense to him though. He recalled the social changes just from after the war to
the mid 60’s. So many things had changed in such a short time, imagine what
would change in hundreds of years. It was not a big leap to think that perhaps
in this world, it was perfectly normal for a woman to come into a man’s room at
night and seduce him then slip away while he sleeps.

The questions were piling up. He was not fully convinced
that they were telling him the truth, but he was ready to learn more and decide
for himself. It was time to ask some of these questions to the doctor.

He reached over and pressed the button on the monitor. There
was a faint ‘ding’ in the background, but he couldn’t tell if it came from the
monitor or from outside the room. Furthermore, when he rolled over to press the
button, he became aware of another sensation. He had to pee – bad.

Within two minutes, Teague walked into the room. He was
wearing green scrubs like you would find on a surgeon.
Is that what he was wearing
yesterday?
So much happened yesterday, during most of which he had been
practically blind, he never noticed. “How are you doing this morning?” Teague
asked him.

“Is it morning? I wasn’t sure. I have to pee.” Jack was not
sure if he could stand, but he didn’t want to pee in a bottle. Then he realized
he didn’t even have clothes. Then he started wondering if they have bathrooms
in the future... so many questions!

“Of course! Yes, it is morning, about 8 a.m. Here are some
clothes, do you think you need help getting them on?” Teague asked as if
reading his mind.

“Um... Let’s see.” Jack pushed himself into a sitting
position. He was a little dizzy for a second but it passed. He swung his feet
over the edge of the bed, prepared to lay back if he swung too far. He found
that he was exactly where he wanted to be, sitting on the edge of the bed. “Doc,
I think I can handle it.” He started getting dressed. Twenty years in the
military took away any notions of embarrassment when it came to dressing or
even using the toilet next to other men. However, Teague left the room to give
him privacy. The shirt was actually pretty simple, and Jack was surprised at
how well he could work his hands and arms. Yesterday he could barely move, and
today he felt like there wasn’t anything he couldn’t do. The pants were also
simple, with just a fly in front and a cord to tighten the waist. He realized,
however, he would not be able to pull them up without standing. After a moment’s
hesitation he decided it was worth a shot and slowly put his weight on his
feet.

He let go of the bed to see if he could balance. It took a
second and he wobbled a little, but he steadied out pretty easily. His first
thought was how cold the floor was. He pulled up the pants and fastened them,
then took a step forward. “It’s like riding a bike I guess,” he said out loud
as he took a few steps and turned around to walk back to his bed. The bed
rushed up to meet his face as he completed the turn. His head bounced off the
mattress before he could regain his footing and catch himself with his hands. “Okay,
maybe not.” The fall had not hurt very much but he was seeing stars. He stood
there holding the edge of the bed until the urgency to pee started to overwhelm
him again. He decided to try the walking thing again. As long as he didn’t turn
too quickly, he seemed OK. He called to the doc. “Teague, I’m ready to use a
bathroom, where is it?”

Teague entered the room again and said, “Right over here.” They
left the room, and entered a hallway, dimly lit by what looked like miniature
fluorescent lights that cast everything in a slightly bluish tint. The walls,
floor, and ceiling were all concrete. They walked a dozen feet down the hall to
a small door.

Teague pointed and said, “You can go in here. Holler if you
need help.”

Jack smiled and said confidently, “I think I can figure it
out.” As he stepped into the small room the light automatically came on and the
door closed behind him. “That’s convenient.” He looked around. There was a
sink, a small mirror, and what looked like a toilet in the corner. He rushed
over to the toilet, lifted the lid, and saw there was no water in the bowl. “Hey
Doc! There’s no water in the toilet!”

Through the door, he heard Teague’s muffled voice say, “The
bowl is made of a frictionless material, no water necessary, just go, you’ll
see.”

Jack shrugged, opened the fly on his newly acquired pants,
and started peeing. It was quite an amazing thing to watch the first droplets
hit the bowl and rapidly swirl around before dropping into the drain. He
watched in awe as the steady line of urine swirled three times around the bowl
and disappeared without a trace down the hole. He was actually disappointed
when he was done. He reached down and swiped a finger in the bowl to check for
himself that there was no residue that needed to be rinsed away. His finger
glided across the bowl surface as if it were warm, wet ice, yet came away
totally dry. “Amazing.”

Jack moved to the sink to wash his hands, but the water
spout was only about a quarter inch in diameter and there was no lever. Embarrassed
to call again for help he put his hands under the small tube, and to his
surprise and glop of jelly like liquid dropped onto his hands. He shrugged,
rubbed his hands together as if washing them, and as the jelly sloughed off his
hands, it swirled around the sink in the same manner as his urine in the
toilet. He shook his hands in the sink and a few remaining jelly beads danced
around the sink as they spiraled into the small black hole of a drain. It
reminded him of watching water dance on a hot griddle. When he finished, he
looked for a way to dry his hands, before realizing they were already dry. “Amazing.”
he repeated.

As he began to exit the room, he caught a glimpse of the
mirror. It must have been a window, not a mirror, because the man on the other
side of the glass was not him. A rush of adrenaline and amazement raced through
his body leaving goose bumps over his whole body and the hair on the back of
his next standing straight. Knees weak, he turned and stared into the glass. There
was no way to describe what he felt when looking at the man staring back at
him. It wasn’t him. But it was. As a matter of fact, he had seen this man
before, in pictures from his youth. That wasn’t right though. He had never seen
this man. This man wasn’t just younger, he was
flawless
. Since he was
fourteen his nose had been slightly crooked, but this man’s nose was perfectly
straight. There were no war scars on his face, no pock marks from acne, and his
two day beard was a perfect shadow. Although he didn’t have much hair, in fact
nearly bald as if freshly shaved with an electric clipper, his hair was
uniformly growing everywhere it should be. Jack moved again, to confirm that it
wasn’t a window. The movements reflected his own. There was no question this
was a mirror. The man in the glass was him: a roughly twenty five year old
version of him, only better, with none of the history of his life written on
his face.

For the first time, he began to truly believe that they had
been telling him the truth. The realization was overwhelming. He spent a few
more minutes studying his face, exploring it with his hands. He touched the
various parts, making sure they were real flesh and bone. He smiled and admired
his perfectly straight teeth, looking for the silver scars of cavities filled
over the years. It was no longer a surprise to discover there was only white
enamel, no silver.

When he exited the restroom, Teague saw the look of wonder
on his face, and smiled. “It is quite cool the first time you see it, isn’t
it?” Jack didn’t know if he was referring to the frictionless bowl and sink, or
the face. He simply answered with, “Yeah.” Everything that had happened since
he woke up yesterday was about as overwhelming as it could be, but oddly
enough, all he could think to say was, “I’m no longer ruggedly handsome... does
that mean I’m just handsome?” Jack laughed at his own statement mostly because
he felt giddy with the discovery and the acceptance that seeing his own face
had given him. Teague laughed along mostly because he found the remark amusing.

Teague led him to another room, one with a table and about a
dozen chairs. Nobody else occupied the room at that moment, but it was obvious
it was a small mess hall or kitchen of some kind. They took seats at the table,
and Teague asked if he was hungry. “Ravenous,” he replied. He was fed the same
sawdust Jello that he had the previous night, but this time it tasted like
apples. Once again, it left him very satisfied, and he reserved any questions
about the food until a later date.