The next day started with a whole new outlook for me. I got up from my cabin in the Rust Bucket and was able to eat in its Dining Facility since our cooks were already back in place. I looked forward to some of the best food on the planet and several others, too. I was in civilian clothing and looked forward to the day. Most of my thoughts from the day before were neatly stored away where they would let me do other things instead. For the time being, I would only recall them as they were needed. Nothing had resolved itself in my sleep. As well, I knew that those were the things that would take time.
For that day, I only had two things planned. One was so easy, I figured that it would only take a few minutes. The other, I wasn’t sure I wanted to do. I had no idea why I wanted to see Annie.
I finished my breakfast and went out of the ship and through the building to the street. I didn’t have far to go to find a public terminal in order to check the directory. I stepped up to it and spoke my name, expecting to be given a message that there was no listing. Instead, my name came up listed as a civilian who served as a Captain in the Navy during the Ape-oid-Human War. My decorations were listed along with names of the skirmishes or battles, depending on one’s view of such things, in which they were earned. A few things about me were unavailable as being classified defense information. The most glaring things listed as classified were the ships on which I served. It was a perfect hero’s directory listing. My address was given as the address of the building in which the Pennyweight Shipping Company was in.
To say the least, I was surprised to see that I wasn’t invisible. Nor were Frank and a lot of other people I looked up. Only three people remained invisible to my inquiries. I wondered how many other people were invisible whom I hadn’t met yet.
If nothing else, that convinced me to go ahead and take a Yellow over to the base to see if Annie would admit me as a visitor. She had information about things and a way of looking at things which I didn’t have. If she would see me, then maybe she would let something carelessly drop in her inimitable way. Perhaps, I would be able to discover if I felt any different about her.
I turned away from the terminal and was about to walk down the sidewalk to find a Yellow when I realized that Annie was in her hover at the street looking at me. She was apparently waiting for me to finish using the terminal. My curiosity was itching with a burning sensation that demanded I seek relief. Why was she there?
“Hi there, sailor! Need a lift?” she asked as I approached.
“Annie! I was just going to grab a Yellow and see you at the base, that is, if you would have accepted me as a visitor. How are you?” I asked.
“I’m fine. You’re looking good. Want to go for a drive?” she asked.
“Sure!” I got into the passenger seat.
Annie hadn’t kidded me before about her driving. She drove recklessly, just as she said she did. I was gripping the seat enough to turn my knuckles white.
“You look like you’d rather drive. I’ll pull over and let you take the controls,” she said as she did just that.
I got out and went around while she slid over to the passenger seat. Then I got in behind the controls. “Where to?” I asked.
“Would you mind going to the island?” she asked.
“Okay, the island it is.” I knew where it was by then, so there was no need for her to give me directions as I drove. “I wanted to see you, but I wasn’t sure why.”
“You are now?” she asked as she untied her blouse to let the wind flail away at her.
I said, “Not really. I’m still unsure why I want to see you. I thought you were pregnant. You don’t look it.”
“Oh, silly! I won’t get fat for a few more months. Then I’ll blow up like a balloon for a few months before I give birth. But, don’t fret. I’m definitely pregnant. I throw up about half of everything I eat. I don’t regret it either, even though you didn’t marry me. How about you? Do you regret it?” she asked.
I said, “I’m still not sure if I did right at the time by not marrying you when I kept to part of our understanding of no obligations. I thought then that it might influence my career unfairly. I’ve since learned that it wouldn’t have, at least not as far as your father is concerned. I understand that your father doesn’t pull strings for anyone. I can respect that.”
She said, “I guess I should have told you that, but I thought then that you wouldn’t believe me since I lied to you about some other things.”
I replied, “I imagine you’re right. I probably wouldn’t have believed you on that. I’m glad that you didn’t try to dissuade me then on that basis. Anyway, you saved me from hiring a Yellow to get over to the base and cleared up my mind about whether you’d see me again.”
She said, “I’m glad about that. I’ll show you a secret when we get to the island today.”
“Oh? What kind of a secret?” I asked.
She replied, “I don’t want to spoil the surprise. I found it by accident myself or almost by having an accident.”
I said, “This sounds like an interesting story.”
She said, “It is, but it will have to wait until we get there. I don’t want to spoil the surprise.”
“Okay,” I agreed.
The sun was up enough that the heat was beginning to bake the ground. I parked the hover and was only a little bit behind Annie as she dove into the water after removing the last of her clothes. She had helped me some by loosening the seals on my clothing after I took the last turnoff. We swam a bit before I remembered that she had a surprise for me.
“What about the surprise?” I asked.
She exclaimed, “Oh yes! Come on. Back to the hover. That’s the only way to get there.”
She ran and jumped into the hover without picking up any of her clothes. I reached out to pick up mine and put them on.
She said, “Don’t! You’ll only get soaked. Leave them there and get in.”
“Naked? Are you sure?” I asked.
She said, “We’re not leaving my property. Come on. You’re going to like this.”
I got into the hover, feeling a little self-conscious for the first time in a long time about being naked. Knowing Annie, she was daring enough to take the hover back off her property with both of us naked and cruise the highways just for fun.
She drove over the water, picking up a little speed. “I was basically driving fast on the lake for the fun of it and because I was bored when I glanced away to look at a strange bird.”
“Hey, don’t look at me!” I said. “Keep your eyes on your driving!”
“Anyway, I glanced away and went right into the waterfall just like this!” she said merrily.
She drove straight at the waterfall. I expected us to be crushed into the lake or to hit the cliff behind it. Instead, we went right on through because of the hover’s speed and into blackness instead of a cliff.
She said, “That’s how I found this cave! I thought I was done for, but I found this cave instead and stopped. I wasn’t sure how deep it went in. Anyway, I didn’t want to survive just long enough to hit the end of the cave.” She turned on the headlights and continued to drive into the cave. “Anyway, I finally realized that I could turn on the lights and take a look without getting out of the hover in case it was real long. It goes on for a long distance, almost two kilometers and then you wind up here!”