Authors: H Ryder
“There’s a short supply of clean water out here, and after discovering the underground stream we decided to pipe it to the surface for drinking water and to irrigate the villages. We began simply in our own garden, after a complex filtering process to remove all the lead poisons and impurities, it can now be drunk, and that’s what you're drinking now.” We all look at the beakers in our hands instinctively, and put them down, just in case.
It's perfectly safe,” and Graham drains his cup to the bottom.” With a laugh.
“We're ready for the next phase in our development,” explains Barbara, “increasing the pipeline to one village as a trial, then the plan is to pipe it all over the region.” She has the monomaniacal expression of a Bond villain, someone so wrapped up in her own plans and Chanel no.5. Everything else is secondary, and futile because life interferes with plans, and so do people. Obviously sons aren't immune to that lifestyle choice either. Suddenly I vow not to groan at my Mums requests for our appearances, she loves us, which is very clear. These boys? Poor buggers.
In my mind I picture her sitting in a padded swing chair with wing armrests stroking a fluffy white cat, but something tells me she wouldn’t like cats, its then I decide I probably don’t like her.
“We'll be giving drinking water to people, livestock and animals, and irrigation water for crops, they’ve never had this before.” I am deciding whether I believe her or not, glance at Daniels rapt face I decide I will, for now, she did mention animals.
“Once the water is successfully in place,” she looks to me with an expression of someone trying to gain access to my thoughts, “the remote villages should prosper and we can help them develop into healthy places to live.” Graham pours himself more water from a giant glass pitcher standing central on the table. Barbara brings over hot bowls of noodles to everyone and we eat, so hungry, we barely say a word all meal. Slurping sauce from around our lips as we endeavour to eat slippery noodles with decorum and elegance. Try it, it's harder than it looks.
Barbara strikes me as the type of woman who judges a person by their table manners and etiquette. If I had a bread roll I’d cut it with my knife, and neatly fold my napkin, just to test my theory! Sounds mean? I would only consider such drastic tactics with care at selecting my victim, and be certain she deserved it.
“This is where you have been Dad? All this time?” Daniel looks at his Father, pain and confusion clear in his expression.
“Yes son, keeping all this danger from your doorstep, so you can get on with your life.” He looks around the table, “at your lives.” He looks happy with himself, “besides, I like it here.” My suspicions are that he just wanted to work alone and his children would just have gotten in his way, the idol, the gold, all adding a layered authentication to his story. But the truth, I suspect, is they both just wanted away from their lives, for a while. I’m suddenly cross with these people for leaving their sons without a word or a sign. It’s selfish, but this isn’t my family. I find myself needing to speak to my own Mum, she cares so much, and though her constant digs at my appearance are wearing, she isn’t wrong about my hair, it’s a mess, I check out my reflection in the side of my beaker, yep, she’s right.
Note to self, get my hair sorted, and actually do it this time.
“You’re thinking about your Mum?” Pete whispers to me, “I can tell.” I wink at her. “And yes, your hair is messy,” she smiles at me, “but I like it.” And spoons another delicious forkful of noodles in her mouth delicately, Barbara looks pleased, yes, Pete would be her perfect choice for a daughter in law.
Returning my head to the conversation, I find myself cross at all the loss of life for this.
“Danger,” I pause for a sip of water, not able to still my tongue any longer, “it came anyway. “ I say finishing a mouthful of noodles, I’m taking my time. “Like a hammer to a nail, banging the heads down, trying to bend us all to its will, I for one, fail to see how a pit of gold, a little golden idol and water is worth all these lives.” I take another fork full of sprouts, quite pleased with myself.
“Because it's worth millions of dollars, that’s why.” Barbara snaps. Clearly angry, but at herself, so I remain silent. She's sorry for leaving the boys in the dark about their Father I can read it in her eyes as she looks at me, it’s not telepathy, it's just instinct. But it's still not good enough, she should be sorrier.
Note to self, call Mum.
“Is the kettle on Barbara?”
Chapter thirty-eight, Tuesday
:
5thnovember2013 the h2o
“This all sounds incredible Barbara,” Pete adds trying to diffuse a fraught moment, a skill which serves her well in her job I have no doubt. Enjoying her meal, being suitably complimentary about the cooking and looking incredible too, bloody hell. Our knives and forks have long stems that end in a point, so used upside down they offer chopsticks option, most of us are using them this way. “Why stop here?” She asks. Barbara's face lights up instantly, finally someone has asked the right question, yes, she'll love Pete that's for certain.
I look over at Daniel, he remains passive and quiet, he just chews in rhythm, thinking.
“Exactly,” Graham is animated. “Once we perfect the process we can transport the design anywhere, we are working on portable desalination units, so we can clean and pipe seawater too.” sounds incredible.
“If our process works, we can bring water to practically anywhere on earth.” Adds Barbara, “and that my friends, is the real treasure.”
Clearly she doesn't have horses then, they are the
true
treasure.
We all agree it sounds interesting, and finish our meal accompanied by a chilled bottle of Cloudy Bay. It seems to have lost a little of its taste, must be the sterile air down here pumped from a unit high on the wall. We chatter over dessert, dark rich chocolate cake, finally relaxing, asking questions leaving everyone drinking coffee and chattering. I’m not allowed to drink coffee it fires my synapses, so I take the opportunity to leave the room, hugging my cup of tea as a prize.
I wander out to the main 'hanger' and marvel at the amount of work that must have gone into building this water processing plant. Its then I hear a scratching at the door, a sliding like someone's leaning against it, a popping sound then aloud crash from outside the double doors. Someone out there is still alive and pissed as hell. He's banging on the five inch thick metal sheet door, I can hear muffled cries, shouting, and then silence. Daniel comes out behind me wraps his strong arms around my waist and holds me close nuzzling the back of my neck. Is now the time, really. I'm enjoying his hot breath on my neck, it's been too long.
“I’m going to fuck you so hard the second I get the chance.” and kisses my face. Hardly Mills & Boon I’d have to admit, but nice all the same.
Then we both hear it, a mechanical sound, like drilling or sawing.
Bugger, I’d like to have heard the rest of Daniels plan.
We hear a loud 'pop', and a hiss and pressurised water from the hydraulic door arms escapes into the room, it snakes and spins it’s free end as the pressurised vapour is released. I begin to wonder how long it’ll take whoever it is to get through that unbreakable door. “They're breaking through the unbreakable door!” I yell, deciding not long.
Stan is immediately at my side, “they won't get through that.” He sounds convinced but his eyes show another emotion entirely. He checks his firearm again and the rounds in it. He returns it to its holster and goes to check his bag, for the fortieth time today. Its obsessive compulsive.
Nigel is quiet, this kind of municipal sparkle clean, static free environment is very far from his natural environment. There's nothing here for him at all, so he sits silently, cleaning his glasses and reading the extensive notes he made in his notebook.
Liza is worried about Kurt clearly, she hasn't left his side since we arrived down here, she flips her hair at him and he seems happy with her attempt to lift his spirits. He seems fine actually.
Pete and James sit opposite each-other at the table, perfect manners the pair of them. Chatting politely with Graham and Barbara.
Stan, he is checking the batteries in his torch.
Like me but different, his need to be in control of himself completely, to be ready, to be standing by, learned during training in the military but predisposed by personality. It calms him to check and double check his equipment and it calms me a little to know that he’s here at our side. A need to feel calm, I’m the same with tea, and the mechanics for making it and drinking it, it soothes a complex mind at least for a little while, its routine and ritual for me.
Thump! Our heads spin to the door. We hear another bang, and more hisses from escaping vapour emanating from the frame holding the doors in place. Sparks appear down the seam where the doors meet, spiralling into the air like an indoor firework, white hot and orange particles of burning door land around us and fade to black as they cool.
“The elevator, quick!” Shouts Graham.
A fucking elevator? You've got to be kidding me!
“There's a lift?” Asks Pete in amusement, “doesn’t it go down as well as up?” I could kiss her, such a brilliant question. But she
is
the girl with all the clever questions.
And?
We see where she's going with this thread but ignore her and follow.
“It comes out away from the house.” Barbara tells us packing a USB and a small plastic box, in her backpack. Without asking why we needed to climb into that not so fun-fair bucket lift into Devils Pit. Now we know. Pointing her remote all around the room and all the benches, equipment and doors disappear into the walls.
It’s a sizeable service lift, shiny polished stainless steel sides and only one destination button, Kurt punches a blank screen, once we're all inside, a small shiny unit on the side of the door with his fist and it jerks quickly to life and ascends smoothly and quickly. Silence falls on the group in our own heads we are all relieved to be heading top side, there's no department store piped music in here, but there should be. A map of the floors and where the restaurant is too.
Daniel makes the most of our close proximity and pulls me backward to him, soon I feel his cock in my back, is there anywhere this man doesn’t get turned on? I ask myself.
That's his mechanism.
“Can you feel what you do to me baby?” He whispers hot Daniel smelling air into my ear, sending ripples of pleasure right through me, stopping
there
. That’s all I need, in a lift full of people I’m horny for this quiet, complicated man. We are incorrigible. He presses his hard cock into me to possess my brain, letting me know I’m his. Involuntarily I grind into him slightly with my arse, and he stifles a long moan, I feel the vibration through me. He grinds back into me and his silent groans vibrate through my whole body.
His fingers are sliding up and down my arse, between my legs, forward and back, while he kisses my neck. I need to grab him, but of course I can't, it’s a lesson in control.
Sending little kisses of pleasure all through me with his soft lips to my neck. Then 'Ping!' Lift has stopped. Luckily we’re first in so last out and nobody is looking our way as Daniel fidgets in his jeans because we arrive at the surface in a blaze of yellow sun. A deep sense of relief overwhelms me and I stop and take a deep breath of freedom, a little dramatic? Yes, but this part of the story demands a little drama. The lift has brought us out about quarter of a mile from the house in a ram shackled little shed, “it's great cover,” Graham tells us, “nobody thinks to look in here.” Looking at it I'd have to agree, I wouldn't keep my gardening tools in there, we all concur in a collective mumble. “We just walk from here.” We all start heading toward the house.
I hear Nigel ask Pete, “Do you think it's too soon for more tea?” An excellent question.
Pete laughs and pats him on the arm, “It's never too soon for more tea Nigel, let’s get the kettle on as soon as we get indoors.” An excellent answer.
“We won’t be a second, don’t wait for us,” Daniel fakes looking around him for something lost, patting his pockets, very unconvincing I decide, and we're going to miss the tea. “We'll be right behind you.” he says. They don’t seem to care or notice the devious expression on his face as I do, and my sex is throbbing and I am wet already, god this man can switch me on like a light. And I love it. Watching them walk off out of earshot, Daniel has grabbed me and my top is already over my head. He pops my breasts out of my bra and his teeth are chewing and sucking on my nipples, whilst undoing the fly of my jeans, celebrating survival, it’s only natural.
I have unbuckled his belt, and the button fly is open. I almost audibly gasp as I see the raw huge throb of Daniels cock for what has been too long. The purply bulb of its end points directly at me and falling to my knees I take the whole thing hungrily deep into my throat, Daniel fists my hair and groans deeply. I work my tongue like I have been starving for too long, I hollow my cheeks and suck hard. He grabs handfuls of my hair and it hurts but I don’t care. I consume him with deep plunges of my throat, then withdrawing and licking him like a popsicle and humming in pleasure at the taste.