There's nothing I enjoy more than having an illogical, irrational rant about something I know fuck all about. I've got opinions on almost everything. If I haven't I'll just make one up off the top of my head. Like everyone else does. Well I say that. Most people simply pick an off the shelf opinion they find on the internet. That delusion looks like something I agree with, I'll pretend I've thought this through after careful consideration of all the facts. It works for every other uninformed whiner on social media after all. You don't need originality of thought or any sense of logic. You just need to regurgitate large tracts of nonsense, some moron you agree with wrote. No thought necessary. Well I've got that off my hypocritical chest now. On to far more important things. Like curtains or blinds? I'm undecided. I've got blinds now. Should I replace them with curtains? Even though that would mean making alterations, including installing a curtain rail. I could go to all the trouble of having curtains only to discover I preferred it when I had blinds. They can be a pain in the ass though. They're far more complicated so they malfunction more frequently. You get a malfunctioning blind and you've got problems. The malfunctioning blind springs to mind. They're fine for the moment, but I've had them for years. Every day I delay making a decision is one day closer to a malfunction. That could lead to curtain remorse. There may be worse things that can happen, but I can't think of any. I'm tearing myself apart here with indecisiveness. I wish picking curtains was as easy as picking political views and judging world events.
(The copyright to this image is the property of Johnson Blinds.)
Right. She hadn't laughed politely at his little joke about her erasing all his friends. More worryingly she hadn't dismissed it either. She'd ignored it. No. That would be perverse. Exacting revenge on his colleagues, merely because he'd beaten her? Tandy seemed to be a reasonable woman. Psychopath's were really good at pretending to be harmless. Stunning how quickly he'd slipped back into his old misanthropic ways. His paranoid projections were every bit as inventive as they'd once been. She was looking at him. Expectantly if he was any judge. Oh God. If she'd asked him a question he was doomed.
"Sorry. Did you say something? I was miles away there."
"Indeed I did Jake Halliday." She was smiling at least. Unless that was a triumphant leer. "I'm not used to being ignored."
That went without saying. She was an extremely attractive woman. That stripe of white hair, striking. Attention grabbing. Tall and slim with great legs. As far as he could remember. As mesmerizing and charismatic as Scarlet, in her way.
"Sorry. My mind's all over the place as usual. I apologize."
"No need to apologize." She took his hand in hers. "Being ignored is actually quite intriguing. Makes me wonder what I have to do to attract your attention."
"You've got it now. I promise. I'm all yours."
She looked away. Hiding her reaction to that. Was she being coy? Impossible.
"As I was just saying. Loomba privately messaged me to keep an eye on you during the game. He left a few rounds after you joined. Other commitments. I have to say I dismissed it. And you. I'd found you a more than useful distraction to keep my opponents off balance. Your unorthodox approach bemused them. Then one by one it defeated them. By the time I realized you were a threat it was too late. You sneaked up on me Jake Halliday. Now I need you to explain your rationale."
She shifted her chair towards Jake. Her legs touching his as she came even closer. Tandy smelled lovely. Quite intoxicating. He found talking to her very easy. In fact he was enjoying working out why he'd done the things he did during the game.
Tandy had all the games stored. Right from the moment he'd joined at the very least. They went through a couple of the early ones first. Where he was getting a feel for the game and its rules. Then they skipped a few and went into far more detail on the ones she was most interested in. Considering he hadn't encountered her forces in some she must have studied those games in as much detail as when they did clash. They had a toilet break or two. Ordered another meal and continued talking things through while they ate and drank. She even took down notes. He assumed they were notes. He'd noticed her tapping at her wide wrist bracelet. As he'd stolen a few quotes from his own earths military philosophers. Such as; he who seeks to defend everything defends nothing. The People didn't have anyone equivalent to Sun Tzu then.
By the time they'd finished with the post mortem of the final battle, it had to be evening. Having picked his brains she remained with him. Making polite conversation. They'd adjourned to one of the chill out areas. Sitting in comfortable chairs as they chatted. A few times someone came over to her to whisper something in her ear, before departing without any reply. Jake intuited there was some secrecy involved here. The general had communications devices. They'd be encrypted. She didn't say a word to her subordinates. What was being kept secret and who from? Did it matter? He'd pretty much discarded the theory she was hell bent on retribution for being defeated. He still hadn't seen anyone from the ship for some time though. Hardly surprising. If Scarlet had achieved her aims she would be at it for hours with her new bed friends. Half a day at least, he smiled to himself. When she went for it, she dived straight in with 100% commitment. He was more the type to stick a toe in first, then slowly acclimatize himself.
She leaned against him. Pulling her long legs up onto the sofa. Jake moved his arm so it wouldn't look like he was trying to put it round her. She moved it back with a smile. Was she....? No. That was ridiculous. Tandy was a professional soldier. The highest ranking officer in the defense force. She wasn't going to cheat on an entire army. Just two people of the opposite sex being comfortable with each other. Yes she was stunning, but his mind wasn't thinking anything sexual. Apart from those bits that kept wafting in when she shifted her limbs or gave him a glimpse of her cleavage. Or ass. Or slim waist. Fleeting moments, he swiftly pushed out of his head. He was simply appreciating the company of a woman. One he'd only met within the last 24 hours and formed an immediate connection with. It happened all the time. Never to him, but he was sure it happened to other men on a regular basis.
Tandy sat up, smoothing her dress. He thought he might have done something to provoke that. He hadn't moved as far as he could recall. She checked her portable Shahmay case, then placed something glowing on the low table before them. Using her index finger she slid it across until it was right in front of him. Jake scrutinised the card. It was her contact details with a number and an address. He tried to pick it up. Was confused when his fingers encountered nothing but table top. She laughed at him and grabbed his arm. Using the controls of his wrist computer she got it to scan the details. As soon as that was done, in less than a second, the glowing card disappeared. Picking up that case she winked, gave him a finger wave and left. He watched her delightful bottom sashay across the room until she was out of sight. Jake looked at the display on his arm. Until we meet again, it said. It blinked out of existence. Was that cryptic? She hadn't said goodbye. Tandy hadn't said anything. He sat back with a chuckle. It stopped as he spotted Scarlet standing a few feet away. There was something different. That was it.
"You've changed." He observed.
She huffed, stamped over and dropped down beside him. With another huff.
"You're telling me." Scarlet groaned. "By all rights I should have been spit roasted at least half a dozen times by now. I'm meant to be up to my eyebrows in a four way. That's what I'd planned. Instead I've just warmed them up for someone else. That's not like me at all."
His chest shook with suppressed mirth. He put his arm along the back of the couch behind her. Patting her on the shoulder comfortingly, he hoped.
"No you've got a different dress on. There are parts of your body I can't see. They're the best parts, but that's beside the point."
Scarlet laid her head on his shoulder.
"I was getting the wrong kind of attention."
Surely he'd heard that wrong. She'd been wearing an outfit that screamed take me now before someone beats you to it.
"There's a wrong kind of attention?"
Twisting her face she looked up at him, her eyes mournfully sad.
"I know, it surprised me to. Half the people I spoke to were more interested in the dress than me. That's wrong in so many ways. I've gone over it for the last hour or so. I did everything right. Played the tables. Absolutely crushed it by the way. Made sure I kept them interested and that they knew I was more than available. Hot to trot and permanently moist." He winced, chuckling again. "There was a lot of stroking and fingering, let me tell you. They knew there wasn't a hole on my body they couldn't fill. Stop laughing. This is serious. Then I thought, I haven't had my brains fucked out in zero gravity for a long time. That would be fun."
"So they've got a zero gravity setup then?" He interrupted.
"Yes. Now shut up. I'm lamenting here. This is me lamenting. They'd never attempted intercourse in zero gravity. So I knew I was on a winner. Me guiding them through the intricacies. We booked our own room for the event. Then while we were waiting something awful happened."
"Oh God. What?"
She slapped his leg sharply.
"I'm telling you. So shut up and let me. I'm losing my thread. Oh right I was waiting with them and we were all over each other. It was impossible to tell whose hand was probing whose intimate places. I was almost there for the second time in that session. And I knew it was going to be a long and a loud one. Then I thought, zero gravity sex. It's not all it's cracked up to be. There's going to be a lot of bodily fluids floating about in that room. Sperm or sweat, it stings like a bitch when you get it in your eye. Is it really worth all that effort? Let's give it a miss then. We can get hot and messy in a nice bedroom. Then no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get back in the mood. All those fingers were doing nothing for me. So I extricated myself from them and left. Went to our room and got another dress. Because I was sick of people asking me if they could copy the design."
"Did they mind? The participants I mean. In your sex pile."
"Not that much. They were boiling away so hard they wouldn't have noticed a herd of trombone playing elephants joining in. After a minute I bet they didn't even remember I was ever there." Scarlet flopped forward at the waist, resting her torso on her legs and palming her face. "Oh Christ. What is wrong with me?"
He pulled her up into his arms. She wriggled around petulantly before surrendering.
"It's not that long since you and I found ourselves transported to that empty settlement. Which wasn't more than a couple of days after you escaped from your memory palace. I couldn't contact anyone from the crew for a few hours and I was already heading back to becoming a cynical loner again. I went into privacy mode and no one was looking for me. They still aren't. I mean were you looking for me?"
"Not really. I spotted you when I came in an hour ago. I need a pick me up. So get your ass upstairs to our bed right now. It's time you did your duty."
"I'm not a sex object you know. I'm a person with real feelings and needs. You can't just use me for sex whenever you want."
Scarlet cupped his face in her hands. Looked into his eyes.
"Oh baby. I understand. I know all about your feelings and needs. I care about them deeply." She soothed. "Now get your ass upstairs you worm. I want you naked in our bed in two minutes."
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