AL:ICE-9 by Charles Lamb Read Free Book Online Page A

to address Nu Tau Beta himself.

Chapter 4
     
    After Patti’s presentation was completed, and with all questions asked and answered as best as they could be, Jake, Sara, Patti, Linda, and Sandy all retired to Jake’s room. It was larger than most of theirs, but they really chose it more for Jake’s comfort as they could have gone anywhere. On the way to his room, they all gave Patti a bit of grief over her overly dramatic oration.
    “Really Patti,” Jake started, “it was great, but I was expecting more visuals and……”
    “Less you!” Sara completed with a laugh.
    Patti and Sara were very close. When Patti discovered her genetic relationship to Jake, Sara was the first person she confided in, besides her brother. Sara had guided her on how to approach Jake and the two became friends. That bond had grown stronger since.
    “That’s not what I was going to say,” Jake inserted before Patti could reply.
    “Oh yes it was,” Sandy contributed.
    “Look you guys,” Patti countered, “there really wasn’t a lot I could do for visuals, have any of you ever seen a video of a power containment field?”
    As they reached the door to Jake’s quarters, he asked, “OK, Patti, answer me this, do you even know what MPLS stands for?”
    Patti stopped dead in her tracks, the distinct look of panic on her face.
    “I thought not,” Jake said, answering his own question. With a laugh, he opened the door and guided her in while motioning for the others to follow, all joining in the laughter.
    Once everyone had grabbed their beverages of choice, that being wine for everyone but Jake, they all settled into seats in his sitting room. Jake was the first, grabbing one of the overstuffed chairs, as Sara had pointed him to it while handing him a soft drink, and saying, “no alcohol with the pain pills.” He was not a big drinker anyway, so there was no loss there.
    While all the other maneuvering was going on, Jake noted Sandy was wearing the same dress she had the first night she first came to him about the rotation. She looked every bit as good in it now as she had then.
    With all the craziness of baby arrivals, the before and after of the battleship fight, the departure of the five Treaty ships and the recent incident in ALICE-4, any rotation activity had been all but halted over the last two months. Oh, he got the occasional whining of neglect from Becky, but the rest of the women had not uttered a peep. He wasn’t quite sure if he should feel insulted or flattered as that meant they either respected his space and need for focus or had found other entertainment.
    At that last thought, he actually laughed aloud. He was absolutely the last person on earth who could fault any of these women for finding another man. If anything, the fact that he was the father of their children had most likely condemned them to his exclusive company for the rest of their lives. If any of them should be so lucky as to find love, he would gladly dance at their wedding! Well, anyone but Sara that is.
    The laugh, however, had drawn the attention of the others.
    “What’s so funny?” Sandy asked as she settled in at the end of the couch next to Jake’s chair, tucking her bare legs under her, the movement expanding the gap exposing even more cleavage.
    Recovering quickly, Jake replied, “I just had a vision of two naked girls, both sprawled out on my bed in the next room.”
    As the others laughed and Sandy turned bright red, Patti blurted, “Multi-Protocol Label Switching!”
    “What?” Linda asked, confused.
    “MPLS” Jake offered with a bigger laugh while Patti nodded.
    For the next 30 minutes they all talked about anything but work, Linda glowing when Sara asked about the baby and then updating Jake on his daughter’s latest developments.
    It was during a pause in the conversation, when Jake turned to Patti and asked, “So what don’t you want to tell me?”
    “How did you know?” Patti asked, as the surprise was evident on her