Chapter 29: Love

March 19^th, 2022

At Rachel’s twenty first birthday party, Cat gifted one of the Gopher bots, GB3 to Rachel. She had started its AI Programming on cleaning since her lover was a natural slob. What she did with him after that was up to her Rachel’s imagination.

Cat had been working the last two months with their programming. Having a template along with my classes and notes boosted her results significantly.

“It’s still dumb as a box of rocks. They make Adam seem bright.” Cat complained, comparing Rachel’s cousin’s solid but uninspired mind to her new bots.

“At least the new ones can climb stairs. That was a pain,” my student complained while her lover went off somewhere, running an errand for her grandmother.

“Neither her mother or aunt look all that happy now that their daughter has turned twenty-one.”

“They don’t. She is getting pressure to date a guy, not play around with me.”

“Ah.”

“Yeah. Since you haven’t touched her nor does it look like you will marry her, you don’t count anymore. I don’t know what they are worried about. Her brother Will is okay. He even has a brain.”

“This is between you two. I have no suggestions.”

“Coward.”

“See that man over there hiding from the women. He doesn’t seem too happy with what her family is doing to the two of you. How about talking to him?” Rachel’s father was discussing something with two men in suits, each holding a tumbler of whiskey.

Bob wasn’t all that pleased with his wife and mother-in-law. We had discussed this very topic a week ago at dinner while the girls were out dancing. The reasoning behind his passive behavior was understandable, I thought. If the girls could not survive the stress behind Rachel’s family trying to separate the two, then they wouldn’t last through a true test they were bound to face later.

Adam was a fan of Cat’s but wasn’t sure if he wanted his cousin dating her. Will thought it was none of anyone’s business and said so repeatedly in family discussions, not that he was home very often. The USC senior, studying mechanical engineering, was currently dating a cute Asian computer engineering major. Both were in their final semesters and the fair-haired older brother seemed to dote on his current girlfriend, April.

This gathering was the largest of the Kresge’s so far that we had attended. Almost a hundred people, a third comprised of relatives and the rest friends of the family with a few business associates mixed in.

I sat in the shade, watching Catherine stalk Robert with a determined expression. Poor guy. Cheerfully, Cat took hold of Rachel’s father’s hand and excused him from his associates, leading the father of her lover away for a quiet talk.

“Smith, this is Brice McLeary with...”

...

“They are all assholes.” Cat emoted once off the estate, on the way home.

“Even Robert and Will?”

“Will talks big but won’t get in the way. He doesn’t want them to start on his love life. Robert doesn’t say anything one way or the other. He told me to ‘do my best’.”

“You know how I feel.”

“Yeah, ‘it’s up to us to make it work or not’. That isn’t helping either.”

“What about Abigail. What side is she taking?”

“She is the fucking instigator behind it all. Rachel as a wildchild could date anyone she wanted as long as she abided the family rules. Rachel as the Adult,” snort of contempt, “Needs to settle down and raise a family.”

“I noticed that Abigail didn’t spend much time talking to either you or me tonight.”

“She avoided me like the plague. Thinks I will corrupt her precious granddaughter.” Snort.

“What do you two plan on doing about it?”

“Swoop down and blast them all with my Gauss gun.”

“The rational method, I see.”

“Don’t you start.”

“Rachel is moving out this week. She already has an apartment close to work. It’s not like she can’t afford it with what we pay her.”

“What does Rachel say?”

“She’s fed up listening to their stupidity.” I could tell by Cat’s demeanor that she was worried.

...

“Slacks and a thicker shirt today. We have an appointment this morning.”

I received the LooK, Cat was not in the mood to go and play after yesterday’s debacle at Rachel’s birthday party.

“AFB? Which one is that? Oh. Why are we going there?”

“Do you have your log book?”

“Thank you, Master,” she replied quietly, knowing she had been irritating the last few days with the Rachel situation.

“You need twenty hours of instructor assisted flight time for a private pilot’s license.”

...

“Miss Larkin welcome to Edwards Air Force Base. I’m Captain Quinn and I will be your instructor today,” introduced the twenty-six-year-old, suave pilot. “Would you give me a tour of your experimental aircraft?”

With a smile at me, not for thanks, but for his recognition of the Car being hers, Cat lifted the hood, kicked the mythical tires and showed the officer the instrument panel while I was led away to meet his superior by an aide.

“Smith, have no fears, Quinn is our best test pilot.” I was led to a coffee maker with a window seat in the control tower.

“It’s not her I worry about, Colonel Swindon, the Car comes equipped with an exclusion field and ejector seat.” Not really, but it was fun to say.

For form’s sake, and the instructor’s, Cat asked her passenger to read off the checklist while she manually started the Car. The bright red ‘Start’ button was ignored in this case.

“AFB tower this is Shuttle2 requesting clearance for takeoff, I have a passenger and I was told to be nice to him. No one minds if I have a bit of fun, do they?” She inquired sweetly over the mic.

“Shuttle2 Cleared for takeoff on runway seven, winds at ... Miss Larkin, please be gentle with Captain Quinn. He has not paid me back the twenty he owes me from last night’s football game.”

“Runway seven. Shuttle2 Clear, I’ll be good. Promise.” Vroom! “OOoopss. I forgot to turn on his inertial dampeners. It’s only six G’s for a bit, I hope that wasn’t too much, Captain.” An impish grin flashed across everyone’s mind in mic range, “Sorry.” She was so not sorry.

Apparently, my student still had some rage to work off from Rachel’s party.

“Intermediate destination of 33.78 x -129.08 altitude of seventy-five thousand feet at 500 knots. Back in a while guys. Don’t wait up.”

“Where is she headed, Smith?”

“Didn’t ask. I hope your instructor had lunch.”

“Christ man, this was supposed to be a two hour up and down.”

“No one told Catherine that.”

“Balls.” The Colonel stormed off. I opened my case and started reading up on the latest Quantum entanglement research.

“Does this thing do anything besides fly in a straight line, Miss Larkin?”

“Call me Catherine, wait until we get past the eleven-mile barrier.

...

“Check your buckles, Captain. Let’s see what she can do.”

Narrowing his eyes, the officer routinely checked his five-point harness, feeling set up.

Checking to make sure she was out of any air lane, Cat put Shuttle2 through its paces; up, down, backwards and forwards, even at angles and three-dimensional movements. I watched all of it from my computer via GPS locators I had installed. I hoped she had turned the inertial dampeners back on for the officer or I would hear about it later.

I winced at the sudden Z acceleration from the ocean’s surface, slowing at a hundred thousand feet before spelling her instructor’s name in the Nacreous cloud layer before pulling a long slow lazy eight. “Woot!” was broadcast across the base’s speakers as she pulled a power dive exactly two hours later returning to base to do some touch and gos.

I wondered how long she had planned out this scenario. Sixty minutes of perfect landing and take offs later, Shuttle2 came to a stop at the concourse, in almost the exact spot that they departed from.

The base Colonel was not too happy at her showboating, but had no choice but to acknowledge her expertise. She would still need sixteen more hours before getting her private pilot’s license, but it was a good start.

Captain Quinn’s self-assured grin was strained but not from her skills or the vehicle’s lack of performance.

The two sat in the Car discussing something before he accepted her log book and signed off on today’s hours. Doors opened and the tall pilot exited, she followed seconds later and began taking readings, ignoring the rest of the spectators.

“No spikes in the power plant this time. Getting better Master.” She ran over showing me the readings.

“Did you have fun?”

“Yeah. Captain Quinn was great. He gave me tons of pointers.” Giving the man face, she shook his hand publicly, thanking the officer. The Colonel too.

“Thanks guys. Work hard to keep us safe!” She cheered saluting the crowd and posing for the cameras before running back to the Car making me sit in the passenger’s seat again. The assembled Air Force men and women cheered at her salutation.

The whole way home we discussed the performance of Shuttle2 in the different altitudes and what she thought it needed.

‘Stars and stripes’ had a picture of Cat saluting the Air Force personnel and a short video of her practicing touch and gos in Shuttle2.

General Mayhew was not pleased and relayed an even less pleased Colonel Swindon’s remarks. Stars and Stripes request for an interview was pushed back, though she did acquiesce to a thirty-minute online video chat which drew rave reviews.

Air Force recruiting sent a hat and silver wings along with a thank you letter by some General that neither of us had ever heard of. Cat rode her high for the week while Rachel grumped and whined about her family even after moving out of her carriage house apartment.

The dichotomy between the lovers’ week didn’t sit well with the older of the two.

...

Friday night, we arrived at Rachel’s new apartment with gifts, I brought with me a few strategic security Devices and Cat brought typical housewarming items, such as a full set of towels and sheets. I kept out of the way, installing the protective items while the two went off and talked while unboxing books.

Troubled waters were ahead. I was shooed out of the apartment shortly after completing installation, in the guise of getting some wine for Rachel since Cat was officially too young to drink and would be for another three years.

To be less conspicuous, I drove the Audi to the city this time. Finding a store to purchase wine was not difficult. This part of town had numerous party stores. Finding a place to park and read for a couple hours needed the assistance of the net and GPS.

Upon returning, I was shown the third bedroom, which consisted of a new leather overstuffed chair and a floor lamp. I accepted the hint, shutting myself in, allowing the pair to work out their problems.

With a lessening of tension, the three of us spent the weekend shopping for furniture and everyday goods. The time together did wonders for their outlook, especially Rachel’s.

...

“Rachel is going to take night classes to get her master’s.”

“What about travel for her job?”

“She says that most of the legwork is done with the main auto companies and if any are really interested in our product, they should be willing to come here. She might have to fly to wherever once in a while, but nothing too bad.”

“You don’t sound happy for her.”

“She is doing this only to get away from her family’s nagging. She doesn’t like school.”

“That’s not all, is it?”

“Less time for us. She knows it too, but said it wasn’t so.” Feeling the air of defeat, I reached across the front seat and held Cat’s hand for the remainder of the drive home.