“I have to stop,” he said between laughs, “I’m the President and I have to have some…” he never finished the sentence when he started laughing again.
The entire time Abby sat, frozen in place with her hands over her mouth. Finally the President wiped the rest of the tears from his eyes and clamped his teeth and lips together.
“Well. Doctor Montgomery. I have to admit that I have never seen an entrance quite like that in the Oval Office before.”
Abby couldn’t speak. Her face was so red it was taking on a purple hue. She was totally mortified.
“Mr. President I am so very sorry. I had no idea you were here. I thought we were the only ones in the room,” she managed to choke out.
“It’s okay, Abby. May I call you Abby? After all, not many women come bounding in and land on the couch like that.”
She was beet red and shaking so badly she could hardly get a word out.
“Relax. It’s okay, honest. The look on your face when I turned around was worth every second of it. How refreshing to have someone come in and act like a real human.”
“I’m not like that really. I am a professional. I don’t know what overcame me.”
“Abby, it was priceless. Honestly. I haven’t laughed like that since I became President. Actually I should be thanking you. Everyone needs a good belly laugh once in a while. By the way, thank you for coming,” he said.
“Anything I can do to help,” she said gathering her composure.
“I understand the basics from talking to Dan. It seems that Doctor Metzler has a machine that is capable of moving objects but not enough to do what we need it to do. Your two young men are going to help him get it done. Our job is to find a platform to get it into space. So far, indications are that the space shuttle is not going to be ready in time. We are currently trying to find an alternate way of getting it there. Assuming that can be overcome, Admiral Kincaid and General LaForge need some information of what to do, and what is needed in the way of movement,” he said, becoming serious.
“When will they be here?”
“Actually they are waiting. I just needed to brief you on what they needed so you wouldn’t be caught out. Are you ready to see them or do you need some time?”
“No, I’m ready. I did everything on the plane. I figured it would be something like this,” she replied.
“Of course you did,” he said and pushed the intercom to have Kincaid and LaForge brought in.
They re-introduced themselves and got right down to business. They needed to know how far the ‘package’, as they called it, needed to be moved for safety. Where should the E-JEPs be located? How far from the package did they need to be? Could they be used to reflect rocks and debris from the earth if KA5 did hit the moon.
Abby was able to answer all of their questions. When they got to the payload, she handed them the specifications that Metzler had written out along with precise measurements, weights, strong points and everything else needed to move and load them onto a rocket.
“Doctor Montgomery, I have to say, we could sure use you in the military. When we ask these kinds of questions, about half the time we are told they will have to get back to us. It is a real pleasure to work with someone of your caliber,” Admiral Kincaid told her.
“That’s very kind of you Admiral. I really appreciate that.”
“Mr. President. I think that covers what we need. If you don’t mind, we would like to get these into the right hands to start finding a suitable delivery vehicle,” General LaForge said.
“Excellent. Thank you both for coming,” the President said shaking their hands as they left.
The President gave a brief thought to spinning around suddenly and saying he was just checking to see if Abby was bouncing on the furniture but decided she had been embarrassed enough for one day.
“Are you hungry?” Dan asked as he was driving her back to the airport.
“Yeah, just a little I guess.”
“Me too. How about we make a quick stop and get a bite to eat. I’ll let the pilot know we will be a little longer.
“Works for me,” Abby replied.
Dan took her to an off the beaten path eclectic restaurant in Georgetown that he frequented from time to time. They ate and talked about a wide variety of things including their relationship. Abby more or less played with her chicken strip salad and Dan had ordered a hamburger and fries.
“Abby, I want to ask you a personal question if I may,” Dan said.
“I guess that would be alright. Go ahead; shoot,” she said sitting her fork down.
“You aren’t married and as far as I can tell, you don’t have a steady guy.”
“Yeah so?”
“Why? I mean you are smart, brilliant actually, and beautiful. Why are you still all alone?”
“I have my work. Believe me, no one understands how much goes into teaching. People that have never taught think they know but they have no idea. Do you know that it takes a good three hours of preparation for every one hour of class? I mean if you are good at what you do. People say, well they only work a few months a year and they get all that money. That is a crock. You try standing on your feet in front of a hundred plus students all day and having to be totally ready for everything thrown at you. All I can say, if you have never taught, then keep your criticism to yourself,” she said passionately.
“Whoa. I just asked about you being all alone,” Dan said looking at her wide-eyed.
“Sorry. I kind of get on my soap box about that subject. Not why I am alone but teaching. It takes so much more effort than anyone realizes,” Abby said.
“So you are saying you don’t have time for a relationship?” he asked, sitting back in his chair.
“I guess I am saying, that I have let myself become emerged in my work. I haven’t found anyone that has come along that would make me want to change how I am.”
“No one?” Dan said.
“Until now,” she said and blushed.
“Ah. So a relationship isn’t totally out of the question?” Dan pushed.
“No Dan, it isn’t. I look forward to us getting to know each other better,” she confessed.
“As do I,” Dan replied.
“But Dan there is one problem.”
“Ah, the ‘but’ part.”
“Look, I really like spending time with you. You’re fun, good looking, obviously very highly regarded and easy to talk to. But…you live in Washington and I live in Arizona. That is a recipe for disaster in a relationship. I mean long distance relationships work for a short time but seldom over the long haul.”
“I realize that Abby but look at the situation we are in. Not just us but the entire world. How long is long? I’m not trying to rush you but I feel the same way about you. You are the most amazing woman I have ever met. Fun, smart, beautiful, and I feel I can talk to you about anything. I don’t want us to just go back to our separate homes and let everything slip away.”
“I know Dan. I do. But I don’t want a fling either. I get enough of those kind of offers from the faculty several times a year but that isn’t what I need or want.”
“I’m not talking about a fling. A one night stand. But we have to start someplace at some time,” Dan said.
“I realize that but I guess I’m just not ready. It’s not you, it’s me. I just need to know there will be a tomorrow with the person I give my heart too.”
“We have time. At least I hope we do. I’ll call you often and we can talk some more. I just don’t want to let this die.”
“I don’t either,” Abby said, reaching across the table and putting her hand on his.
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
KA5 was a chunk of a much larger planet that had collided with an even bigger one many thousand years ago. The two massive worlds hit with a velocity approaching 36,000 miles per hour.