“First thing I need is a cold shower and fresh clothes,” Emily said, kicking off her shoes. “This is a really comfortable suite. Doesn’t look at all like anything one would expect in a military base.”
With nothing but a towel wrapped around her head like a turban, Emily came through from the bathroom. “Where did the beer come from?” she asked, looking at Nathan who was sitting on the couch.
“They treat their guests very well,” he said, raising his bottle in salute. “The refrigerator is stocked with beer, wine, soda and water. Can I get you a beer?”
“Water, actually. I’m still a bit parched from the heat.”
Nathan stood up, strolled to the kitchenette and got hold of a bottle of water from the refrigerator’s door while Emily picked up her travel bag and rummaged around for some undies.
“I hate sitting naked on strange furniture,” she said.
Nathan unscrewed the top off the bottle and handed it to Emily as they sat down. She put her legs up on his lap and he massaged her feet.
“Don’t get too carried away,” she said. “You know what happens when you play with my feet.”
“I’m just massaging them for you.”
“And that always leads to other things,” she replied, with a knowing smile. “Come on. We have about twenty minutes. Finish your beer so that you can shower and get dressed.”
Nathan downed the beer on his way to the bathroom.
Emily dried her hair and put on a casual blouse and loose jeans. There he goes again, Emily thought, listening to Nathan singing quietly to himself, sounding like a Sistrum; that ancient Egyptian instrument designed to ward off evil spirits. She didn’t have the heart to tell him.
The dining hall was cool and spacious with soft lighting, but very little décor. Much to Emily’s surprise, three tables being served were occupied by intimate couples.
“There are quite a few married people at this facility,” Uri said. “We find that the technicians, scientists and many of the officers are in a much better state of mind, knowing their wives are with them. Or, as is the case with the couple by the window, their husbands. She’s an engineer in the design centre located beneath Hangar-12.”
A young man dressed in slim-line camouflage with boots polished to a mirror finish came to their table and handed out single-sheet menus of tonight’s three-course meal.
“Ma’am, sirs,” he addressed them with the typical military courtesy afforded to civilians. “May I bring you something to drink while you decide on dinner?”
They all settled on water and their host marched back through the swing doors leading into the brightly lit kitchen.
“Is everyone working here dressed in camouflage?” Emily asked.
“The kitchen staff, yes,” Uri replied. “If the food is bad, they can hide from the patrons in the corner among the plants without being noticed.”
For a moment, Emily thought he was being serious.
The food was anything but bad. The generous portions were absolutely delicious. Emily and James had the vegetable soup followed by roast chicken with spicy rice and assorted greens. Uri and Obadiah skipped soup and went straight onto roast beef, garlic mash, carrots and broccoli. They skipped dessert but completed their meal with freshly ground coffee.
“That was delicious,” Emily commented. “I didn’t expect this at all. I thought we’d be coming into a canteen and lining up with our mess-trays.”
“Is it a fixed cost for the meal?” James asked. “I didn’t see any prices on the menu.”
“No,” Uri said. “All paid for with your tax dollars.”
“Well, I’m glad to see that the government is putting some good use to it,” James said. “Do we at least leave a tip?”
“No, that won’t be necessary. They pay the military staff quite well. It makes up for having to live and work in such a miserable place.”
Only miserable outside, James thought, but he left twenty dollars under his empty coffee mug when they got up to leave.
On their way through the dining hall, a sudden unexpected and deafening blast shook the entire building to its foundations.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The Mojave Wasteland, as hostile as it gets during the merciless daytime heat, becomes equally disagreeable at night when temperatures plummet. There is, however, a short period about two hours after sunset when conditions are ideal, and the silent stillness of the desert is suddenly disrupted. A distant observer would have seen peculiar criss-crossing lights being pursued by dense clouds of fine desert dust rising up from the ground.
Moving as fast as they could through the shallows, and leaping over dunes, teenagers riding small four-wheeler ATVs were getting their adrenalin rush for the day. With an abundance of troughs and steep inclines, Lanfair was an absolute haven for young thrill-seekers on their all-terrain vehicles.
Had it been going any slower, one of the ATV’s soaring over a small hillock, would have landed directly on top of the motionless body of César Kubacki. The rider, not too sure what had just caught his peripheral vision, hit the front brake and swerved to a halt, almost tipping over in the process. He removed his helmet, climbed off the Honda and went to investigate.
Curious as to what he was up to, three of his companions came to have a closer look.
“He’s alive, I think, but barely,” the squatted teenager said, looking up at his friends. “It looks like he’s been shot.”
With the help of two of the other riders, Kubacki was carefully laid face down over the back of the ATV and taken to Lanfair. If Kubacki had been a regular passenger, he would have experienced one of the most cautious rides the conscientious teenager could muster.
No one in the community recognised Kubacki, and his parched, sunburned face didn’t help matters either. Now in the hands of the teenager’s capable parents, an air ambulance had been despatched from Henderson, just south of Las Vegas. It was less than twenty minutes away. The teenagers were back on their ATVs, not wanting to waste any more of what remained of the day.
“What the…” James said, glaring at the others who stood paralysed in stunned silence.
“Sorry, I should have warned you,” Uri said, eyeing their shocked expressions. “Sonic boom. You’ll hear those quite often around here.”
“My God,” Emily said, hand on her chest, heart racing. “I thought a bomb had been dropped. I’ve heard all about sonic boom’s but had no idea they were quite so loud or intense.”
“Was that one of your experimental jets?” Nathan asked.
“No,” Uri said. “Probably one of the older F-18’s doing a flyby. I think they do it deliberately just to rattle our curious onlookers before they come in to land.”
“Well, they certainly rattled us,” Nathan said, still a little shaky.
“I’m surprised the windows didn’t implode,” James commented, looking around.
“Plexiglas,” Uri explained.
Although only eight thirty p.m., the SkyTech team decided that an early night would be in order. Their internal clocks were still running three hours ahead on New York time.
Nathan, wearing only loose underpants had his back propped up against the headboard. On his left, Emily lay naked on top of the sheets perusing through this month’s issue of Vogue which she had brought with her. Not that she was too attentive, letting her mind drift rather, on how much she loved this man. With her previous encounters, few and far between, she just let her lovers do what they wanted without complaint. Lacking experience, even after two failed marriages, Emily simply assumed that this is what sex was all about. With Nathan, Emily discovered that she could let some of her inhibitions go, something she wished she had known on an all-girls vacation a few years ago. A vacation that left her with a closely guarded secret she’d never disclosed to anyone. Sooner, rather than later, Emily would have to confide a vital element of her past to Nathan. Something he deserved to know about.