"What's the matter, Mandi?" asked Andrea.
"Oh, I think my watch has been fried," said Mandi. "Its screen is blank."
"Open it," said Cade. "If the battery isn't swollen, it may just need to be
taken out and put back in to reboot the watch."
"Would that really work?" asked Andrea.
Tapping his own watch, Cade said, "It might. It does when a computer power
supply's field blanks my watch."
Mandi fussed with the watch for a few seconds, then said, "There's a notch
on the back, but I can't get my fingernails under the edge."
Cade stirred the instant coffee as he walked toward her, then he put the
coffee on the desk, reached for her watch, and looked at the back. Flicking his
knife open, he used the tip to pry up the back of the watch and tickle the
battery out of its holder, then he slid the battery back into place and checked
the front.
Showing it to Mandi, he said, "There you go, ma'am. You've got numbers
again," then he handed her the watch and its back and said, "I'm afraid to
squeeze it back on. You do it," and slapped his knife shut to return it to its
belt sheath.
"Thanks," said Mandi. "I never would have thought of that. I thought the
battery was dead."
"May I see that knife?" asked Andrea.
Cade handed it to her closed. She took it and looked it over, then --
holding it rather gingerly, he thought -- unfolded the blade until it locked
open with a loud 'whack' that seemed to startle her a little.
She looked up and asked, "Why didn't it sound like that when you opened it?"
"I was holding it like a tool. You're holding it like a delicate antique.
Things make more noise in a light grip."
Mandi snickered as Andrea studied Cade as if wondering if she were being
teased, then her eyes fell back to the knife. She still held it rather gingerly
as she studied the brass bolsters, the wood between them, and short serrated
region on the stainless blade.
"It looks as if you must have put those serrations on the blade yourself.
Why?"
"They're better for cutting rope and thick stuff and I can use the last two
notches to strip insulation off wires."
She glanced up again and said, "They make the knife look mean. Nasty."
Leaning on the desk, Cade sipped coffee and said, "Only if you're viewing it
strictly as a weapon. Do you feel that way about serrated kitchen knives, too?"
Andrea shook her head. "No. I guess I don't. How long have you been carrying
a knife?"
"Since I worked on a ranch when I was a kid. This knife or one much like it.
Back then oil came in cans and beer cans didn't have pull-tabs. I had to be able
to dig things out from under horseshoes, pound wire staples back into fence
posts, and cut rope and leather. Got a wild dog with it once when he came at me
by the barn, and I got to where I could throw it and nail rats in the feed bin."
Making an 'eeewww' face, Andrea handed the open knife back to him as Mandi
laughed and Andrea asked, "I trust you clean it really well now and then?"
Nodding with a grin, Cade said, "Yup, sure do," and put the knife away.
Mandi was poking buttons on the watch, setting the time and date. She looked
up at the alarm clock, then pushed a button a few more times.
"Done," she pronounced. "Only time will tell if it'll still tell time. I
need to get moving, people. Cade, I'll turn you over to Andrea now and drop in
on you next weekend if I can't find time during the week. Andrea, he's all yours
if you're sure."
'Sure?' thought Cade. He'd thought it was a done deal.
"I wasn't absolutely sure before," said Andrea. "I'm sure enough now, I
think. Enough so to deal with him for a week, anyway. Besides, if I have to, I
can always dump him back on you and come back to Atlanta."
With a short laugh, Mandi said, "Oh, no. He's yours. I have to get an
antique missile base ready to receive guests."
She stood up and held out her arms. Andrea got to her feet and Cade did
likewise as she went to Mandi and hugged her.
"What?" asked Mandi, looking at Cade. "I don't get a hug from you, too?"
Going over to her, Cade said, "I just wasn't sure you'd want one from me.
I've been a bit difficult about things."
After she hugged him, Mandi held him at arm's length and met his eyes for a
moment before speaking.
"Ed, I was worried about having made a mistake by converting you right up
until you grabbed a stick and tried to save that woman. You kill people a little
too easily to suit me, but you're just as quick to put yourself in harm's way
for them. We'll work something out, I think."
Pulling him close, Mandi kissed him, then released him and turned into a
blur for a moment. The blur became mostly red and white before she solidified
wearing her uniform.
"You two stay put," she said with a grin. "I can find my own way out," then
she blurred to the door, opened and closed it in a split second, and was gone.
"It still amazes me how she does that," said Andrea.
"Yeah, she's quick," said Cade.
As he picked up his coffee and moved to sit on the bed, bolts of agony
coursed through his shins and thighs. When he leaned to rub them, more agony
shot through his chest. He froze for a moment to let the sensations pass.
Moving to stand in front of him, Andrea said, "I saw that. I'm not asking
you now, Ed. I'm telling you. I want to see how badly you were hurt."
Cade looked up into her eyes and got momentarily lost in them, as before.
She reached for his shirt buttons and he leaned to set his coffee on the night
table, then stood up and started undressing.
"I think I'm probably just bruised a bit," he said, opening his shirt.
Andrea gave him a mildly exasperated look and said, "As if you'd know," then
sucked in her breath as she saw his chest.
Her reaction made Cade turn to see himself in the mirror and he saw the
bruising that covered nearly all of his chest.
"Well, damn," he muttered. "It got me good, didn't it?"
"Mandi said it hit your legs, too," said Andrea. "Off with the pants, too.
Do you know what electricity does to muscle tissue? It forms a cone of damage
below the skin and..."
"Yes'm," said Cade. "I know. I was a medic once."
He toed off his boots and unbuckled his pants, then let them drop and
stepped out of them. Andrea studied the livid bruisings on his legs, reaching to
touch his thigh.
Cade asked, "Um... Will you be getting naked, too, anytime soon, do you
think?"
With a small smile, Andrea said, "I want to check you out first. Does that
hurt?"
"No, but it probably won't hurt for a while, anyway. I expect to really
start feeling them later tonight or tomorrow, when I'm on the road back to
Florida and don't have anything else to think about."
Andrea's gaze narrowed slightly. "You drove here?"
"Yup. Thought I might need my car and I don't want to go through the
anti-terror hoops and barrels at airports."
She seemed to consider matters -- particularly the matter in the middle of
Cade that was stiffly pointing at her by that time -- for a few moments, then
she said, "We could stay here another night or two. I'd rather not take you home
with me because the neighbors... well, I'd just rather not take a man home with
me."
Shrugging, Cade said, "Yeah, here's good. Or I could drive halfway back and
get a motel room, then finish the drive Tuesday. That will get the car and me
home and still give us plenty of time to work on enhancing my conversion."
"Why use euphemisms?" Andrea asked irritatedly.
Cade stopped in mid sip and looked at her as he said, "I didn't. Isn't
enhancing my conversion the reason she called you in on this? You don't know me
from Adam, so..."
"Yes," snapped Andrea. "Sure. You're right. That's why she called me."
Striding to the desk chair and sitting down, she continued, "But it isn't the
only reason I'm here now."
She leaned to reach in the fridge and took out a soft drink, opened it, and
eyed Cade as she sipped for a moment before speaking again.
"You see, Cade, I like having sex. I mean, I really like it. Finding ways to
get enough of it is a problem, because none of the converted men are near enough
to just drop by when I'm horny and unconverted men are a waste of time. My women
friends do more for me than unconverted men."
"Ah..." said Cade with a nod. "Okay. Gotcha."
"No, not yet, you don't. When Mandi told me that you'd -- achieved
conversion -- and all on your own merits, as it were -- I was instantly
interested; interested enough to take a week off and take over supervising your
conversion for that reason alone. Then I met you and you gave me reasons to like
you immediately. That doesn't happen all that often, either."
"Um. Andrea, I still don't quite understand what happened in that shower.
How did I get converted? I mean, I realize it had to be from nibbling on Mandi,
but... then what? How?"
"She didn't tell you?"
"I'm asking, aren't I?"
Grinning, Andrea sipped her drink and simply gazed at Cade for some moments,
then asked, "You really brought her off all by yourself? No... 'help'... from
her?"
Tiring of the delay in receiving a useful answer as well as being the only
naked person in the room, Cade said, "Yeah. All by myself. It's Standard
Operating Procedure, ma'am; get 'em all wet and wound up and then lick 'em 'till
they holler 'stop, please stop, I've had enough'."
For a moment Andrea's face was somewhat stern, then her small smile became a
small grin and she snickered. The snicker became a giggle, then an outright
laugh.
"I'll bet that last part can take a while sometimes."
"Yeah," said Cade. He shrugged. "Some women never seem to wind down. Can't
tell you how many times I've damned near sprained my tongue trying to get to a
woman's very last one."
Laughing again, Andrea said, "Tenacity. I like that."
"Great. If you aren't going to tell me what happened or at least get as
naked as I am any time soon, I think I'll head for a hot shower."
"A shower might help those bruises. I'm getting to the answer, Ed."
"So what happened to me?"
"You triggered the release of a retrovirus. All women like Mandi have a
small special gland that produces the stuff."
"Converted women, too?"
"Yes. We develop the same gland."
"So when I nibble you off I'll get another dose. What then?"
Shaking her head, Andrea said, "Nothing then. You've already been... dosed,
as you called it."
"Then why will having sex make the conversion better?"
"Energy, Ed. Sex seems to help a convertee soak up energy and makes the
process better somehow. A convertee who just sits on his ass during the first
week will end up with maybe half the ability of one who screws his way -- or her
way, of course -- through that crucial first week."
Cade decided that he'd waited long enough for her to join him in nakedness
and said, "Thanks for the info." He thumbed toward the bathroom and added, "See
you in a while, unless you want to come get wet with me."
Setting her drink can on the desk, Andrea smilingly said, "Sounds good. I'll
be right there," and took off her jacket to hang it on the chair. Her skirt came
next, then her blouse, then her half-slip and stockings, then her earrings and
watch.
"You women sure do wear a lot of stuff," said Cade.
Mandi stood on the roof and watched Andrea poke Cade's bruises as she asked
if her activity hurt.
'They seem to be getting along fairly well,' she thought.
Leaving them to their own devices, she lifted upward at barely subsonic
speed until she reached fifty thousand feet, then she poured on the coal.
A scant few minutes later she backed her speed down to subsonic again for
her arrival in Las Vegas and had a good look around the city as she landed.
'Well, nothing seems to be missing or broken,' she thought as she landed on
the roof of a friend's office building and changed into the dress she'd been
wearing in Atlanta.
A woman without a purse doesn't look out of place in an office building.
People tend to assume she works there and is just out of her office for a few
minutes.
Mandi strode to the elevators, rode it five floors down to Lew "Jackie"
Jackson's office, and waved as she entered.
"Mandi!" said Jackie. "You're back!" then he muttered, "Not to mention your
front..."
Grinning as she sighed at the remark, Mandi said, "I heard that. Been
watching old Groucho Marx reruns again?"
"Are there any other kind? The guy hasn't been on TV for quite a while,
y'know. How was Atlanta?"
Reaching into the fridge, she said, "It's still there."
"All because of you, according to WNN."
"Oh, there were a few others involved."
"They didn't show anyone else hauling cars into the sky. Hey, some guy
called me about setting up a Mandi Steele look alike contest. Was that your
idea?"
"No, but it worked in Atlanta. You'll meet the guy who thought it up in a
week or two. He's busy converting, and I'm going to call him out here to help
with fixing up our new digs."
"Converting, huh?" He shook his head. "Shoulda known. Let you run off to
Atlanta and you meet some young cutie and..."
Sighing again, Mandi said flatly, "He's fifty-three, Jackie."
Shrugging, Jackie continued, "Okay, then, some old cutie. How many is this
one? Six?"
"Only five. Don't try to make me sound easy, you putz." She sipped her drink
and said, "Anyway, if he doesn't develop flight, I'll fly him out here and we'll
get things started."
Indicating the 'in' basket on his desk, she asked, "Any messages for me in
that pile?"
"Oh, all of 'em. Of course. Nobody ever calls for me."
"You poor thing. But if I recall correctly, they aren't supposed to call for
you."
"Still... It'd be nice, just once in a while, y'know?"
Parking her butt on the edge of the desk, Mandi began pawing through the
pile of pink 'While You Were Out' slips and said, "Pooor Baaaby. Being my
secretary isn't enough for you anymore, huh? Don't I pay you enough?"
The phone rang and he answered it, then held it out to her as he said, "John
again. I'll see you later, Mandi. It's closing time and I'm shooting league
tonight."
Nodding, she said, "Thanks, Jackie. Have a good night."
Grabbing his coat as he headed for the door, he grinningly said, "Always
do."
Perching the phone on her shoulder as she riffled through the messages,
Mandi said, "Hi, John."
"Hi, Mandi. Alan's in charge of the Mandi contests now. You'll be hearing
from him soon."
"Already have, John. Thanks."
"You talked to Cade?"
"I did, and he's in Andrea's hands until the conversion is finished."
"That woman can handle him, Mandi. Cade's a sucker for eyes like hers."
"I saw how you looked at her, John." She snickered and added, "Sucker."
Laughing, John said, "Yeah, all right, she got me, too. Any hitches or
glitches?"
"A few, but I think they'll work out. Unless you need him for something, I'm
going to bring him out here to work on the base in a couple of weeks."
"You know us. We don't always know if we'll need somebody 'till we need him.
Or her. Thanks again. Oh, and I covered your butt about those melted video
tapes. The report now says a machine malfunctioned and overheated."
"You didn't have to do that, John. Those tapes were a message to some
people."
"Oh, your message got through, Mandi. I just fixed the official report so
there couldn't be any official flak later. Is there anything else?"
"You called me, John. That's my line."
"Ah, so it is. Well, there's nothing at this end of things. Keep me posted
about Cade, will you?"
"Will do."
"Thanks, Mandi. Later. Bye."
Before she could say 'you're welcome', he'd disconnected.
Mandi tossed the handful of messages back in the basket and left the office
to return to the roof. A quick change later she was in uniform and lifting into
the sky again for a cruise around the city before going home for the evening.
At the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Lake Mead Road she dropped
out of the sky to push a stalled truck to the side of the road and half an hour
later she helped a Cessna land in one piece when the pilot passed out.
When nothing else seemed to require her attention by one in the morning,
Mandi headed home to see if a certain someone she was rather fond of had
finished tweaking her website.
-- End, "An Encounter in Atlanta" --
Other titles by Ed Howdershelt
*
SCIENCE FICTION
"3rd World Products, Inc., Book 1"
"3rd World Products, Inc., Book 2"
"3rd World Products, Inc., Book 3"
"3rd World Products, Inc., Book 4"
"3rd World Products, Inc., Book 5"
"3rd World Products, Inc., Book 6"
"An Encounter in Atlanta"
"Assignment: ATLANTA"
"Bitten and Smitten"(Vampires!)
"Hunt Club"(Vampires!)
"In Service to a Goddess, Book 1"
"In Service to a Goddess, Book 2"
"In Service to a Goddess, Book 3"
"In Service to a Goddess, Book 4"
"STARDANCER"
*
FICTION-EROTICA-ROMANCE
"ANNE"
"Dragonfly Run"
"Field Decision"
"KIM"
"MINDY"
*
COMING SOON:
"ANSEN"
"Crystal River Witch"
*
An index to articles and ebooks
may be found on our website:
http://www.AbintraPress.com
Other articles of interest may be found at:
http://www.wiccaworks.com/