The Soldier

Jon and Logan arrived back at the camp outside of Cape Canaveral. Caitlin and Larry had returned to the space center with instructions from Logan to return to the nightclub in two days if they had not otherwise heard anything.

“Exactly how the hell do you plan to get that chip out of Kennedy,” Jon said as they dismounted. “Even if you can find a way inside, they’ll surely nab you before you can get close enough to the chip. Don’t you think Caitlin can just sneak it out on her own?”

“Hardly,” Logan said as he tended to his horse. “She says she’s being closely watched, I doubt she would have the opportunity.”

“I take it you have a plan?”

“Quite. I find a way to get into that facility undetected and get close to the chip. You and your lads create a distraction, and in the ensuing confusion I grab the chip and along with Caitlin make my escape.”

“You’re kidding, right? You think you’re going to find a way to just waltz into one of the Fed’s most secure institutions? Hell, getting onto a freighter back to England would be easier, which is still an option, you know.”

“Perhaps,” Logan said. “But I have this slight personality flaw. I never leave anything I start unfinished, and I’m not going to start now.”

Logan looked evenly at Jon.

“The problem is, my American friend, that this plan will not work without you. You are quite right that I can’t just waltz in, nick the chip and waltz on out again, I need you to create a diversion. And this is not without some risk to you and your people, and I understand that this is not your problem at all.

“So, will you help me?”

Jon frowned and put his hands on his hips and whistled softly.

“Don’t see as we have much choice, seeing as how far we’ve come already.”

The American freedom fighter looked at Logan.

“What’s that saying you Brits use: in for a penny, in for a pound?”

Logan laughed. “That would be it.”

“And besides, we never pass up on a chance to tweak the Feds, and this looks to be one hell of a tweak.”

“That it will,” Logan said with a laugh.

After they left the nightclub, Larry walked Caitlin back to her apartment.

“Interesting friends you have,” He said as they stood outside her door.

“That’s one way of putting it,” Caitlin said as she keyed her code into the touchpad by the door. “Logan’s really a nice guy once you get to know him. He has his issues, like all of us I suppose.”

“And are you one of his ‘issues?’”

“Don’t be silly, we’re just friends.”

“Seems like a pretty big risk to take for someone who’s just a friend,” Larry said. “I mean, stowing away on a freighter for a one-way trip to America.”

“It wasn’t supposed to be a one-way trip.”

Caitlin’s voice choked up and a tear rolled down her cheek.

“Hey, look, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.”

Larry pulled her into a hug, holding her close.

“It’s OK,” Caitlin said and kissed him on the cheek. “Listen, do you want to come inside for a bit.”

“Sure.”

Inside the apartment, Caitlin slipped off her shoes and tossed her purse on the couch.

“Make yourself comfortable,” she said as she walked over to the counter. She took picked up an MP3 player, fiddled with the controls to select a playlist and then placed the device in a docking station so the music would be played through the apartment’s sound system.

“Would you like something to drink?”

“Sure, whatever’s hand.”

Caitlin opened the refrigerator and peered inside. “Beer OK?”

“Wonderful,” Larry said as he sat down on the couch and stretched out. “This has been one heck of a day. Are there any more surprises hidden in your past that I need to know about?”

“Depends,” she said, handing him a bottle of beer and sitting down next to him, “on what you generally find surprising.”

Larry chuckled. “After today, probably not much. The government has been telling us for years that The Wall is impenetrable and no one can sneak through, and then you and your friends show up to prove them wrong. It makes you wonder what else they’ve been lying to us about.”

Caitlin edged a little closer and leaned against Larry. “It’s hard to say, but based on what I’ve heard since we arrived, they aren’t outright lying, but giving you half-truths mixed with healthy doses of propaganda.”

“To keep us in line.”

“Exactly,” Caitlin said.

“So what’s it like out there, in the rest of the world? Is it really as bad as they tell us, is it chaos?”

“No, it’s not chaos, not quite. Things are not as they once were, that’s for sure, but a lot of it was caused when American walled herself off. The U.S. provided a lot of world leadership, and a lot of the world’s economy and you can’t cut all of that off without some consequences.”

“So the world blames us for how things are?”

“Some do, but not all,” Caitlin said. “There’s a movement out there to try and get the United States to rejoin the world community. They helped us get in here, gave us the basic intel and connections that allowed us to get onto that freighter in the first place.”

“Really?”

“Really,” Caitlin said. Then she sat up and took a big swallow of beer. “But I’m growing tired of talking about world politics.”

“OK, then, what would you like to talk about.”

She rolled ontop of Larry so she was straddling him.

“Actually, I’m all done talking.”

She leaned in and kissed him deeply, her hands at first on his face before moving down to his neck, gently holding his head as one hand traced down his neck.

She gently pulled back from him, her hand resting gently on his chest.

“About those surprises – that was one.”

“Was it a pleasant surprise?”

Caitlin grinned as she began to unbutton his shirt.

“Oh trust me, it was. Remember, not many second dates.”

Caitlin giggled as she finished with the buttons. Larry leaned forward so Caitlin could remove the shirt than he lay back down, his hands intertwined in hers.

“So I guess I’m won’t be making it back to my place tonight?”

Caitlin pulled dropped Larry’s hands and quickly pulled her blouse up over her head, then he reached up behind her and undid her bra, which she slipped off.

“Feel free to say you want to leave at any time,” she said as pushed her arms around him and pulled him close. He reached behind her and pulled her down to him. When her breasts touched his bare chest, Caitlin felt a shudder course through her body.

“Are you cold?”

“No, just warming up,” Caitlin whispered. “I haven’t had a good tumble in quite some time, and I’ve been wanting to do this almost since the day we met.”

“So why now?”

Caitlin rolled onto one side so they were laying next to each other on the couch.

“I had to be sure I could trust you. If this were going to happen, I didn’t want to be keeping any secrets from you.”

She gazed at him and played with his chest hair.

“If we hadn’t run into your friends at the bar when were you going to tell me?”

“I was actually going to tell you tonight, and then Logan goes and shows up and steals my thunder. I was so looking forward to the ‘Larry I have something to tell you’ conversation where I came clean and you were so amazed at my honesty that you promise to love me forever.”

“Well, there’s a problem there,” he said.

“A problem? With what part?”

A sense of panic tore through Caitlin. She didn’t normally get physical with just any guy, and she thought she had a real connection with Larry. Suddenly she wasn’t so sure.

“Well first, the love part. It’s not that I don’t think I can love you, that’s a very real possibility.”

“Go on.”

“It’s the forever thing. You’re planning on going back.”

“That’s not looking very likely.”

“Maybe not now, but Logan seems like the kind of guy who doesn’t give up on things,” Larry said. “I wouldn’t put it past him to figure out a way to get you all back at some point.”

Caitlin looked at him.

“He may figure out a way, but that doesn’t mean that I will be going with him.

“Or maybe you could come with us? What would keep you here?”

Larry thought, stroking her hair and gazing at her.

“Honestly not much. And if Logan figures something out, it would be something to think about. But what if I don’t want to go and you decide not to stay. As long as The Wall is there, if you go back that will be goodbye forever -- and not loving forever.”

Caitlin paused. Her body was aching for his, even if it were only for whatever time she remained in America, or even if it was only for this one night. She needed him.

“I’m willing to cross that bridge, or Wall, when we come to it. If you are.”

“As long as we understand each other, I would never want to hurt you,” he said.

“I know, and I’m glad for that.”

She stood up and slipped off her jeans before turning out the lights.

“But right now, I’m tired and going off to bed. Which leaves one question – there are two doors, which one are you going to choose.?”

Larry grinned and stood up.

“I’ll take what’s behind door number 1,” he said as he picked her up, kissed her and carried her into the bedroom.