Chapter 18

Chris' parents were very gracious, and both of them managed, in the face of our demonstration that a relationship really did exist, to avoid anything embarrassing. Chris had been right. My appearance in a bit of designer dinner wear and snugly tucked under his arm completely disarmed the both of them. Still, the evening wasn't without its potential pitfalls.

"Well, my dear," Mrs. Kimble asked over our roast duck and seasoned potatoes. "Where did you disappear to for such a long while?"

<Here we go, > I sent to Chris. "Oh, I had an idea bouncing around in my head so I went off to see if I could work it loose."

"That's pretty uncommon for a high school student, isn't it?" Mr. Kimble asked.

"Yes, it certainly is. Even my parents weren't exactly enthused," Well, they weren't, but about my not coming back to Arbor, not about my dropping out of high school. It was a small lie. "But I invoked great-great grandpa Dave."

"But he had been home schooled, hadn't he?" Mrs. Kimble countered. "He had his high school degree when he disappeared."

"True enough, but I never claimed to be as good as Grandpa Dave," I said with utter honesty. "And my idea's a lot smaller than his."

"We'll see," Chris stood and picked up his plate, motioning for mine. I handed it to him. "I'm probably the only person, other than Skye, who has any clue what her idea is really about. I think she's right in that it is a smaller idea than Dave McKesson's were, but its also a much more personal one."

He had it pegged, but I wasn't surprised. I hadn't been trying to hide it from him for quite some time, and Chris was the only person who knew what all the components were. I appreciated his insight and his defense of me, so I stood and kissed him, very thoroughly.

"Who wants pie?" Mrs. Kimble asked from the kitchen behind me when we came up for air. I think I almost gave poor Chris a hernia from his attempts to stifle his laughter at the raised eyebrow I gave him Where his mom couldn't see it.

Dessert was as nice as dinner had been, and we did spend a couple of hours sitting and visiting with Karl and Abbie, as they began insisting I address them. I insisted I not, for the time being, but I threw up a crooked grin to show them I wasn't being stuffy or pretentious.

"I'm sorry, but for now I'm still somewhere between high school dropout and McKesson success story," I explained. "I can be a bit of an irresistible force when given enough room to get going, and you don't want that Skye McKesson yet. You've got to have a chance to get used to the well behaved one first."

Mr. Kimble laughed, hard. "Sorry Skye, but your description matches what I thought when I first met Chris' mom. She too was an irresistible force, and I knew I'd be in trouble if I gave her room to be."

Mrs. Kimble gave him an angry look, and appeared to be winding up to have a word or two when he stepped over and slid his arm around her waist. "The thing was," He kissed her cheek. "Two days after having met her, I'd decided that I wanted to experience life in the company of an irresistible force. I've never regretted it."

After their kiss was over, he winked and patted Chris on the shoulder in one of those father/son gestures. "Well, almost never."

They made a graceful exit shortly after that, and soon after we did as well, headed back to the condo in Dorchester Heights.

The morning began with a little sex. Good, good sex, followed by a run on the beach and omelets for breakfast at a little outdoor café at the end of G street. I needed a little time after breakfast to get my act together for the afternoon's unveiling, so I kissed Chris and told him to come back at two for a late lunch.

I mucked around with the results from yesterdays debugging and simulator runs, making a few decisions on some things that just needed deciding, not fixing, and then spent a couple of hours tying the finished programs into the framework I'd already built for it within the pod's code. So far it was all software level changes, but my idea required two pods, so I broke out the second pod, the one that had been completely modified and tied it into the first, integrating the two systems through a built in shared q-node. The dedicated q-node essentially made a single circuit out of the two pods. I added the four bands that assisted in the control point formation for the array of grav fields, one for each wrist and ankle, and added the helmet.

I had thought long and hard about the helmet. Strictly speaking, it wasn't necessary for me, or for anyone with a Q-tap implant. For those without an implant, something was needed though, and the helmet, with its retractable face shield and built in heads up display, just was going to feel more secure than a simple headband or goggles.

Since this was my prototype, I had some extras as far as the holographic overlay was concerned, so I added them to the mix, making sure they were selectable from my HUD controls. That was something I could test without activating the serious, has-to-work-or-you-die parts, so I did, and asked Ava to display a video feed from the living room on the room's holoscreen. From what I could see, it looked really, really good.

'I guess I'm ready', I muttered to myself. I checked the time and still had thirty minutes until Chris would be back for that late lunch. Time enough for a shower and a thought about where to have that lunch. I thought about it a moment and then it came to me. I'd been thinking about restaurants, on Earth or elsewhere, preferably elsewhere, as that's where I wanted to do the first tests anyway. Somewhere off of Earth where I was less concerned about who saw it. It was probably too late for their own lunch, but it would be a good bet there were leftovers. I sent out a thought.

<Grandma Ginny?>

<Skye? Is something wrong dear?>

<No Gram, just looking for someplace for a late lunch. Your leftovers are usually better than most folks, so thought I'd check.>

<Well of course you can come by for lunch. I'm sure I can scrape up something suitable. Who are you bringing?>

So I got things squared away with her, said we'd see her in about half an hour, and went to get my shower. Chris was holding my towel for me when I got out.

Over they years, Grandma and Grandpa's house on Meadow had come to be known simply as 'The McKesson house'. Someday it would probably take on the trappings of a shrine, but the two of them managed to fight off all efforts to do it prematurely. 'Not until we're dead and gone.' they insisted, and I agreed. Still, it always feels very special to be there.