Insurance - part 21

[miriam_e]

(4053 words)

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Woo hoo!
This chapter is finally done!
I was supposed to go out to a meeting today and stayed in to write. Although I feel guilty about not going, I am really glad I stayed in.

Remember how I said near the beginning that near the end of the book there was going to be a big sex scene? Well, I absorbed that chapter into this one and wimped out a bit, yet at the same time I think I handled the sex scene rather well. See what you think.

Only a little bit to go now. Hold onto your hat!

Let me know what you think of the story.

Note that what follows contains adult concepts.
The love of two females for each other is central to this story so if you are offended by that stop reading now.

21 - sailing

Sally and Rachel, arms linked, both in dark blue bikinis and matching sandals, walked along the beachside promenade. It was lined with tall palm trees. Dot ran ahead, sniffing around bushes, pausing at the base of some trees, then galloping after seagulls and barking delightedly when they easily took to the air. Sometimes Dot would stop briefly to talk with people.

The day was overcast, but bright, warm, and almost windless, and many other people were out for a stroll too. Most were couples, with occasional family groups. Children were almost a rarity, proof of the old observation that birthrate declines with standard of living.

Unlike most of Australia, many seaside communities had remained largely aboveground. This was especially so at the beachfront where old-time shops gave out icecreams and iceblocks for visitors.

There was a small group of old houses and shops near a long jetty which jutted out perhaps 100 meters into the bay. Rachel guided Sally to a small building, nestled between a few of the old shops and houses. It was half overgrown with a passionflower vine and above the front door was a sign "Boat Hire". Sally raised her eyebrows, but Rachel said nothing; she simply smiled. Dot returned to them and lay down, panting, to wait on the grass outside the shop. Inside was a large man with bald head and hairy chest. He wore red briefs and was lounging back in a reclining armchair laughing at something on a screen. He paused whatever he'd been watching, stood up, and welcomed the girls with a happy smile as they entered. "Ladies. How may I help you?"

Rachel smiled in return and said, "Good morning. Rachel and Sally Moon here for 9am," and held out her hand.

He shook her hand, giving a nod to each of them. "Rachel. Sally. It's still being prepped, I'm sorry. Could you give us another hour? It should be ready by then." He suggested a few interesting local spots to see while they were waiting.

She thanked him and said they'd be back in about an hour then.

Outside on the footpath Sally asked, "What's being prepped? A boat?"

Rachel smiled and patted Sally's arm. "You'll see. Just be patient, my dear."

Dot ran down the beach to the water's edge and ran back to the girls. Sally and Rachel walked over to the beach, took off their sandals, leaving them on the lawn, and walked down the white, squeaking sand to the hard, wet sand where low waves swept up and washed back with a hissing sound. They strolled, getting wet feet when the cold waves raced up to them, and feeling the tickle of the sand being tugged from under their feet when the water streamed back.

Sally was beaming. "This is wonderful!"

Rachel gave Sally a kiss, saying, "Nothing is too good for my Sally." She noticed that Sally found it hard to relax in public. "Don't worry, honey. You have full rights now."

She smiled, a little embarrassed. "Just because the law has changed doesn't mean people's attitudes change overnight too."

Rachel shrugged. "So, they just have to get used to the fact that the world has changed."

Sally was puzzled. "What's with that anyway? Not that I'm complaining, but one minute we are simply machines with zero rights and cyborgs were struggling for justice, and the next minute we are full humans. Why the sudden change?"

Rachel laughed. "Maybe of the lawmakers was in love with an android."

Sally still looked unsatisfied, "Maybe."

"Hey! You're supposed to be enjoying yourself."

Sally lightened. She noticed a piece of driftwood and picked it up. She held it out and called, "Dot! Dot!"

Dot came galloping back and jumped for the stick. Sally was surprised Dot could jump so high and hooted with laughter, barely lifting the stick high enough to keep it out of reach. She threw it into the water and yelled, "Fetch it Dot! Fetch!"

Dot ran down into the receding water a little way and barked twice. She looked at Sally and said "You fetch. You throwed. You fetch." Then barked again and took off down the beach after some seagulls.

The girls laughed.

The three of them explored the length of the beach, Dot racing ahead and returning. By the time a bit over an hour had elapsed and they had returned to the long jetty, Dot was more sedate, walking alongside the girls. As they walked up the soft, dry, squeaking sand Sally asked Rachel if she knew why the sand made that squeaking noise. Rachel had no idea.

Sally explained, "The beaches here are so old the sand grains have been worn rounded. You don't get the sound on young beaches where the grains still have sharp edges."

Rachel asked, "Why do the rounded grains make the noise and the sharp ones don't?"

Sally laughed. "I haven't a clue."

They reached their sandals where they'd left them and walked over to the boat hire shop. The big guy within happily told them it was ready, and came out to walk them down to the jetty. Dot ran ahead, stopping to sniff at things along the way. They walked out along the jetty, almost right to the end. Their guide stopped and indicated a large circular, grey craft, mostly submerged. It had the name 'Wanda' painted in big white letters near the center. He called out "Carrie?"

An android woman presently popped up out of the central hatch of the craft and waved. She'd clearly been modeled upon a particular human whose features, while not unattractive, were not the standard beauty of androids. Her nose was a little long and her lips a little thin and freckles covered her cheeks. She had short brown hair, wore a black, old-style, one-piece bathing suit and over that, a synleather tool-belt around her hips. On her hands were short, very scuffed, synleather gloves. She scampered up the ladder from the edge of the craft to the jetty and offered her hand and a wide smile. "Rachel, Sally," getting their v-cards wirelessly "I'm Carrie. Everything is ship-shape and ready to go. It's good that one of you is android because the manual is long, and at times a little overly complex. If you need to know anything at any point here's my contact," she sent her net address, "and here's the address for the enthusiasts group." She sent another address. "You'll find both in the manual anyway, along with a lot more, but in practice that should be all you need." She stepped back to the ladder. "Let me show you around."

The big guy said, "I'll leave you to it, honey." He turned to Rachel and Sally, "Nice to meet you ladies. I hope you have a great time. The weather is beautiful this time of year," and headed back along the jetty.

Carrie had climbed back down the ladder and was standing on the grey disk. Rachel asked Dot if she wanted to be carried down, but she didn't, and jumped down to the grey disk instead. The girls followed down the ladder. Carrie smiled bemusedly at Dot and said that the craft was not really designed with dogs in mind.

The disk was about 15 meters across and stood above the water by only a few centimeters. Waves more than that height invaded its surface for a meter or so. The disc looked flat from above, but standing on its surface it was obvious it sloped up to the center very slightly. There were grooves running around the perimeter and radially that looked like hand-holds. Carrie indicated the name painted in meter wide letters between the two large solar panels inset into the surface. "'Wanda' is a bit of a pun." She smiled.

Carrie opened the hatch at the center of the disk and held it open for the girls. She said, "The hatch is spring-loaded and self-locks closed. Don't ever prop it open. If it stays open for more than a minute without the handle being gripped an alarm will sound. That's very important. Leaving this hatch open is about the only way to sink the craft... though even if the interior fills completely with water, if there is power the flotation tanks should still bring it to the surface."

Sally lifted Dot, put the dog's front legs over her shoulder and holding her to her front, climbed into the hatch, down the ladder and into the craft. Dot looked very uncomfortable. Rachel followed and Carrie came last, letting the hatch close gently behind them. It snicked shut above them.

The interior was beautiful, neatly furnished all in a pale apricot color. The floor had a smooth, soft, shiny, silicone rubber surface, doubtless for ease of cleaning. The low ceiling was only half a meter over their heads and had softly glowing light panels at many places. It was all one big room except for a small bathroom/toilet. Off to one side was a large double bed. On the other side was a small kitchen area with replicator. Around the edge were several large windows looking out into the blue green water. They could see a number of fish swimming lazily around the barnacle-encrusted pier pylons.

Rachel whispered in awe, "This is beautiful!"

Carrie grinned, "Yeah. I love these craft. They are the height of luxury, pretty-much self maintaining, and very reliable. The only thing they can't do is get anywhere fast."

She continued, "There won't be any storms this time of year, but safety requires I make sure you understand that in the event of a big storm you should submerge completely and ride it out on the sea floor. The craft will let you know when that's required. Wanda won't let you go beyond the edge of the continental shelf, or into any really deep water. It can actually handle depths to a kilometer down, but coming up again from those sort of pressures is not kind to humans and we don't have helium-mix bottles to avoid nitrogen narcosis in any case. So. Remember. Storms should be spent on the bottom where things are calm. The ship will know what to do. One of the nice things about this design is that even in fairly rough weather you will have a nice smooth ride because it floats at the surface under the waves instead of over them."

Next she indicated a wall panel and asked the ship to display a map overlaid on an aerial photo. "Navigating is easy. All you need do is tell the craft where you want to go. It will operate the tail or the kite as they're needed. You don't need to worry about reefs or other craft as Wanda will negotiate all those for you. If someone should fall overboard or go swimming, Wanda will refuse to leave the area. It's for your safety, so don't override it."

She walked back to the ladder at the center of the room and said, "These craft are incredibly safe and you shouldn't ever need it, but this," she indicated a large red button behind a small glass sliding panel, "releases a signal beacon. The beacon transmits an emergency signal so that rescue can find you. It will float to the surface if you're submerged.

"Come up top and I'll show you how the kite deploys." She climbed the ladder, opening the hatch ahead of her and holding it open for the girls. Dot watched from below as the hatch closed again.

Standing on the circular top, Carrie indicated a white dome, a couple of handspans in diameter, near the hatch, two grooves running from each side of the dome to the edge of the craft, so that it was a line dividing the top deck in half, and a third groove running at right angles to the other, also going out to the edge of the craft. She said, "You need to stand away from the dome and the grooves or else the sail won't deploy. Wanda won't do anything that could endanger you. You can override most things, but you shouldn't. I'll show you how the sail works." She said aloud to the ship, "Wanda, deploy the sail, please."

The ship said in a soft female voice, "I'm sorry Carrie, I am too close to the pier."

Carrie said, "Override. Deploy the sail."

The dome in the center lifted, expanding as it did, pulling cables out of the grooves. It rose in the air, inflating and taking on a triangular shape. The long cable attached across the top of the sail and the bottom corner was attached via the other cable.

"OK Wanda. Stow the sail again. Thank you," Carrie said, and the cables immediately began reeling back in. To the girls Carrie said, "Wanda will know what you mean if you refer to it as a sail, or a kite, or even a balloon. It's all those things. It uses vacuum buoyancy to raise it like a balloon, it's strung like a kite, and it's the ship's sail. Using this you can put the sail up into winds a few kilometers up above the surface and get propulsion even on still days. The sail has a camera too, so you can use it to see things you can't from down here. It's great for whale-spotting." She smiled.

She walked over to the edge and squatted, putting the gloved fingers of a hand into one of the many grooves in the surface. She beckoned to the girls to come and do the same. When everybody was safe and watching over the edge she asked Wanda to move to the end of the pier. Under the water a pair of flexible tails, each a bit over two meters long, stirred. They turned the craft silently and propelled it gently and smoothly to the end of the pier, where it slowed and stopped. At that point Carrie stood and shook their hands. "Well, ladies. You can take it from here. If you need anything just give us a call." With that she walked to the edge, jumped to a ladder at the end of the pier and climbed up. At the top she waved and called out, "Have a great time!" and strode off back along the pier.

Sally, grinning, asked Rachel, "Where to Cap'n?"

---

Dot was asleep on the floor. Rachel was curled up asleep on the bed. Sally was stretched out on her back beside Rachel, her eyes closed, reading the ship's manual. From time to time she'd send questions to the craft, and its AI, Wanda, would answer.

They were on their way to a resort island, but to get there they'd had to skirt part of the reef that was a marine park. They would not to enter it.

Worldwide, fish populations had begun to regain their original health, though there was still a long way to go. At the beginning of the 21st Century people had depleted the oceans of 90% of their fish. By the time replicators had become available that number had increased to 99%. The popular media were fond of blaming the third world for this obscenity, but in truth it was the wealthy nations who had done it. They'd used massive factory ships to sweep through the oceans, taking all in their path. And for what? For fertilisers, because it was 'cheaper' than recycling human waste. For high protein meal to artificially boost plant-eating livestock. For hyper-expensive, status-proving meals like Orange Roughy and shark-fin soup. Greed powered by the collective insanity of free-market economics plundered all in a frenzy of consumption. For this, people made the world's oceans into wet deserts.

Now people respected marine parks. They sailed around them instead of through.

The resort they were headed to was built underwater. It was anchored to and burrowed into the rock of the island. It also opened out onto the surface of the island too. The resort was completely self-contained and made very little impact upon the island or the waters around it. Even during the construction it was acclaimed as a feat of engineering. Before any underwater digging began the section of ground was first sealed off, the water pumped out, and digging proceeded in air. This made it much easier to collect and remove the silt which was then fused and recycled for solid construction within the resort.

Sally gently eased off the bed and walked quietly to one of the windows. There was nothing to see except blue water with golden shafts of sunlight lancing down into it. She had noticed that as they moved further from the land and closer to the reef the water had become clearer and she could see further.

She silently asked Wanda how long till the resort. Wanda sent back that they were almost there -- it would be just a few minutes more.

Sally had seen images of the reef and she knew Rachel would not want to miss this, so she set the replicator to make some hot tea and took it to her lover. She stroked the side of Rachel's lovely green face and the sweet almond eyes opened. Big yawn. "Are we there yet?"

Sally chuckled. "Nearly. Cuppa?"

Rachel sat up. "Thank you honey. Oops. Hang on a moment." She padded into the small toilet/bathroom.

Sally noticed Dot now had her eyes open and was watching. Sally smiled. "Have a nice sleep Dot?"

The dog, still lying on her side, stretched her legs out in a yawn that curled her tongue. She then wagged her tail twice thumping the floor. "Yes. Good sleep. You good sleep?"

"No." Sally smiled. "I don't sleep."

Rachel came back out looking more awake now. "We nearly there?"

Sally answered, "Wanda said we'll be there soon."

Rachel got her cup of tea and they walked over to the front of the craft. They sat at the windowseat, looking out into the blue. Dot joined them.

Presently they began to see shapes looming out of the foggy blue, gradually growing in contrast and color as they approached. It was the edge of the reef, and the colors were brilliant. Purples, reds, white, blues, yellows. Bright, undiluted color that was almost a shock to the eyes. There were large mushroom-shaped corals, smaller fan-shaped ones; every size and shape in a riot of dazzling color. For the twenty minutes it took to cross the edge of the reef to the resort the only things spoken were oohs and aahs and "look at that one" and "over there". It was magical.

Finally they came to some deeper water and Wanda dropped down below the surface several meters to dock with the resort, which appeared to bud from the dark rock of an underwater cliff. Until Wanda stopped they'd not really noticed the craft had been in motion.

Rachel put her bikini back on and Sally picked up Dot. Rachel preceded her up the ladder and held the hatch open for her. Sally let Dot off onto the floor and clambered up, herself.

The docking pod was a round room, mostly transparent above and front, and bare except for a dark blue couch running around most of the curved wall. The floor was dark blue too. They walked through a sliding door into the tunnel leading through the rock. The walls here looked like shiny black glass. Small, point lights in the ceiling dimly illuminated the way.

The short tunnel opened through another sliding door into a large area which looked like it was built to handle crowds of hundreds of people. Rachel could see two people talking to an android receptionist on the far side. Dot and the girls walked over to them.

The couple had been engaged in a conversation with the attractive female android. They welcomed Rachel and Sally and cooed over Dot. They seemed very nice people, and looked initially to be young, but close up it could be seen that they were fairly old -- perhaps in their nineties -- and had had body reconditioning. Rachel noticed that their smiles faded a little and they needed to be elsewhere when she put her arm around Sally's waist and answered the receptionist's questions by saying that they were here on a late honeymoon.

The android thought it was wonderful that they were a couple and told them if they wanted anything at all, just to ask for her: Ramona. She gave them directions to a large suite Rachel had booked online yesterday. The honeymoon suite. They thanked her, but before leaving, Rachel asked how many people were here. Ramona answered that there were just six. When Rachel asked how many the complex could cater for Ramona told them that in its heyday it was not unusual for the resort to have five hundred guests. Sally and Rachel were astonished. They looked at the enormous room, imagining it bustling with people. Ramona added that now androids had full human rights perhaps they'd see more visitors. Rachel asked when the busy season was.

Ramona smiled and said. "This is the busy season."

---

The girls and Dot walked up to the island's surface. It was mid-afternoon and Savannah was due to arrive soon to pick up Dot. They decided to take a walk along the beach to fill the time.

Sally said, "This is like paradise."

Rachel agreed that it certainly was.

Dot didn't hear because she was too busy running along the beach chasing little crabs that popped into their holes in the wet sand. She probably wouldn't have understood what a 'paradise' was anyway.

Eventually they wandered back in time to see Savannah arrive in an airboat. She enthusiastically hugged them and kneeled to say to Dot, "You're coming back with me, Dot."

When Dot answered that she didn't want to, Rachel and Sally knelt too and promised that they'd try to take her out again soon.

Reluctantly Dot left, and Rachel and Sally waved to Savannah and Dot as they flew over the trees, heading back to the mainland, the two long tails of the airboat propelling it silently away.

---

The girls went for a walk along one of the paths up into the island. It was still, and cool, and quiet except for birdcalls echoing among the trees. They hardly spoke; just happy in each other's company.

On the walk back down toward the resort Sally suggested that perhaps they should save Dot from a life of boredom at Savannah's and get her to spend more time with them when they get home. Rachel agreed, noting how quiet it seemed without her.

Walking back down into the underground resort Rachel suggested they eat in their room instead of the main resort restaurant.

The honeymoon suite was as big as Rachel and Sally's entire house and seemed very luxurious, but Rachel hardly saw it as, with hungry eyes, she guided Sally to the bed. Standing by the bed she looked into Sally's eyes and felt tears well into her own. Sally looked concerned, but Rachel shook her head and said, "I just... just.." She sent Sally the feeling and Sally's eyes widened then half closed with pleasure. Sally returned the pleasure to Rachel and she gasped.

They dropped their clothes and got onto the bed. Rachel ran her hand lightly down Sally's side and could feel the sensations through the cap. She gulped, aware of the unexpected feedback effect. She could feel Sally sensing her, feeling the touch on Sally's skin. Behind it all was a giant wall of want suffusing everything. She couldn't distinguish if it was her, or Sally, or both blended. She kissed Sally and she felt her loins heat, her nipples tighten, and her skin become alive. She felt sure that some of that feeling was Sally, some her, but it was all mixed together. She wanted her desperately as thighs pushed between legs and necks were nibbled. Their minds joined in a torrent of desire! There was nothing else, just this raging maelstrom of emotion.

Time stood still and ran into hours until, exhausted, at peace, Rachel fell asleep, snuggled in Sally's arms.

Sally was the happiest creature in the universe.

---

Comments

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

Thank you :)
Originally it was supposed to be a really hot sex scene where their love and the lust combine with the telepathy cap to produce a feedback effect. But in the end I wound it back and decided to imply a lot of it. (I get embarrassed writing sex scenes.) I think maybe I wimped out a bit too much and in the rewrite I'll probably boost that part quite a bit. It is important for the end of the book. A single paragraph just doesn't give it the weight it needs.

[rpeate.livejournal.com]

Then I say GET IT ON!

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

heheheheh :)
You nut. :)
Whew! Lots to write today.
2 chapters to go.
Eeeeeeek!
(Miriam has a melt-down.)