Skin Deep II - Chapter 15 free porn video

Chapter 15 A Final Waltz One year later, July 18th 2103 AD Michelle stood on the balcony of the Sheraton Rio in the newborn Brazilian morning, now not two hours old, still another four hours from sunrise. She looked up at the vast hillsides covered with specks of light for as far as the eye could see. When Gary suggested they take a small vacation, it seemed to her to be an ill timed idea. She would have leapt at any chance to stay at home, to hide from the feelings that were festering within her like a cancer. William was still adjusting to her new existence as Beth and Michelle felt certain she was going to have as hard a time struggling with the loss of her male life as Michelle had done all those years ago, perhaps an even worse time of it. Michelle had argued they needed to stay, but when Beth overheard the dispute she would not have any of it. "Mom, I'm not going to be the center of your denial. I'm fine. Randy is coming back for the summer, he'll be here tomorrow. Besides, I've got plenty to keep me busy. Do I have to remind you I start school in the fall? I have to go shopping and get clothing for the Florida weather. I've got to get my advanced study chips for my dorm VID. I've got to have that all shipped down to Gainesville. Randy and I are going to go down and take a look at the campus and then maybe head over to Jacksonville for a little quality time. I'm busy Mom. I don?t have time for you to hide behind me. Go? have a good time. You and Dad deserve it.? To Michelle?s selfish disappointment William had indeed moved on. The girl that had replaced him was much like him, and why not? Beth was very much in touch with the person she had once been. She played organized co-ed baseball with a league in town and although she seemed to have lost the talent that William had for pitching, she was a very quick shortstop/second basewoman, perhaps the best one in the league. If her fielding abilities were hot, her batting abilities were even better. William had been a horrible batter, protected for the sake of his pitching arm. He had loved pitching but scoring runs and batting them in was what he longed to do. Beth on the other hand was a switch hitter. Now William could have the satisfaction of finally getting to hit. And hit she did. She was nearly a .500 batter, .532 with runners in position. At the end of the year she even had 17 homeruns. Beth also didn't seem to have had any identity crisis. She was a woman due to an accident and advanced genetic technology. She still had the memories from when she had been William. However, her feelings had changed as a result of the change in her body. She would not argue this and refused to go insane over it. William was not dead. He had been forced to evolve into a person that was as influenced over her body as any person was. She was Bethany Wright Shipley now, the adopted daughter of Michelle and Gary Shipley. Michelle was crushed at her daughter's attitude. It was not that Beth was being mean but she had unwittingly exposed the real reason Michelle didn't want to go. She wanted to hide behind Beth. She wanted to hide-period! Most of all she wanted to hide from Gary. It was only when she had no place else to hide and had run completely out of excuses that she had relented to allow Gary to take her to Rio de Janeiro. Michelle should have been excited. Her stomach was filled with butterflies, but it was fear she felt, not excitement. They left out of Washington on an afternoon Orbit JumpShuttle the evening of June 17th. JumpShuttles were the answer to a diminishing fuel problem that was predicted not to occur for another 300 years. However, explosive population growth, mass migrations of people escaping either war or famine or both, and three major armed world conflicts; one of which nearly destroyed the Middle Eastern oil fields in the first quarter of the last century left fossil fuels an expensive and impractical fuel source. Commercial travel was crushed under the weight of the cost, as were all aspects of the transportation industry. The supply lines for institutions such as grocery stores, agricultural producers, medical providers, equipment everything were brought to a stand still. It created a worldwide crisis that brought on the worst economic depression and food shortage ever known. It was this world into which Erin and Mike Vello had been born. It also allowed states under the control of powerful warlords to be taken as territories. Without transportation to move troops, troops needed at the front of the Canadian Conflict, there was no reliable way to defend the boarders of states like Montana, Colorado, North and South Dakota and Idaho from survivalist warlords that had been established and had flourished there since the latter half of the 1900s. Necessity breeds innovation and economy. The need to travel and to transport forced to major inventions toward the end of the 21st century. The HOV reestablished reliable transportation without the use of fossil fuels to the American roads at first, then as flaws in the drive system were discovered, particularly when forced over water, they were modified to take the America Roadways. This American invention had started to put Americans back to work, back in the grocery stores (thanks to Sam Benton), back in the money and back in control of their country. However it would be another 60 years before the American West would be completely reclaimed. The JumpShuttle was another invention that put Americans up front. Now in control of all the world?s international travel, the world?s economies were inexorably linked with trade to the fractured Federal United States. The US was guarding their newfound technology viciously. No one else possessed this technology and access to these crafts was restricted to strongly worded agreements of noninterference by other governments, large amounts of cash and other commodities and most importantly a solidarity pact that would bind nations permitted access to aircraft to membership back to a rejuvenated United Nations Council. JumpShuttles worked on the principle that a particle beam of the highest concentration of light could be gathered and focused to drive an object free of Earth?s gravity. If driven at an angle, contrary to the rotation of the Earth, with a north or south drift, one could very quickly rise and descend to any position on the planet and do it just as fast as a commercial airliner would. Photo collectors were built to gather the most readily available source of light, photons from the sun, and put in to use as launching mechanisms for huge capsule-shaped aircraft. By 2100, JumpShuttle service was widely used for passenger travel and service was provided by five major companies all of which were raised from the ashes of the largest US Airlines prior to the Middle Eastern wars. The Shuttle rose in the sky and stood suspended in space with a southerly drift until the west coast of South America lay poised beneath the craft. The Shuttle began its drift down across the South American continent and touched down lightly in Rio in the morning of the next day. Gary was deeply concerned about his wife. Over the past few months Michelle had become more and more withdrawn. She had finally given up coming to the store. More often than not, she was asleep when he got home. In the past she had been eager to wait for him, anxious to be awake since the kids had usually gotten to bed long before and they would have a little time to themselves. A new trend had begun. Michelle was starting to sleep not in their bed but in Shelly's, claiming that Shelly was suddenly afraid of the dark and insisted on wanting her mother to stay with her. Gary however felt something more ominous had entered their home. Something he could not fight because he could not see it, he could not get to it and he could not kill it. This something was depression. The kids had not seen it at first. During the day Michelle was usually her normal happy self. As time wore on however, the girls had seen the first signs of Michelle's already developed withdrawal. Twice, Gary had come home early, unannounced to surprise Michelle and take her out for a night on the town. The first time she took ill very quickly and retreated to her bed encouraging Gary to sleep in one of the guest rooms to avoid catching what she had seemed to come down with. His attempts to care for her and nurse her were met with stern warnings and rebukes. The second time she flew into hysterics claiming that the stores could not run themselves...that if Gary was going to be forever on vacation then perhaps it was time for her to run the stores, or if he was going to be at home to care for the children, then perhaps she could finally tour with Tidewater. Gary had gone back to work confused and hurt. His marriage was disintegrating before his very eyes. His wife, it seemed, was going insane. Michelle on the other hand, spent a year of nights weeping to herself about a love she had killed, or might as well have. She had done something to Gary she could now, not reverse. She had trapped him with her in an immortal and yes, damned existence. She told herself that she had been desperate. She had not wanted to loose him, not yet. But no matter what she did to rationalize her actions, she could only see accusing eyes. As a result she had done the one thing her deceit had been designed to avert. She lived in mortal fear of the day he would discover what she had done. She wanted to tell him but she knew that the minute she did, the minute Gary found that he could never be free of the SKIN that held him captive her marriage was over. She would spend the rest of her long life not only without him but knowing that she had sentenced him to the same loneliness. The knowledge of her guilt was crushing her. She could not live with it and yet she could not die. She was spinning out of control in her mind and soon she knew that she would become totally insane with it all. So she started avoiding Gary. That move was worse than the knowledge of what she had done to him. Once started, however, she could not retreat from this path either. She had burned all her bridges. Fear impacted fear and she felt safe away from him, safe from the truth. When he was there, she always felt as if he was there for one thing, to expose her betrayal. Now separated from him, she could only watch from the opposite bank of that river as her husband looked on in pained confusion. Michelle could only hope she could make the admission she wanted so desperately to make. She knew however, she would never be able to face those eyes of his when they were filled with hate for what she had done to him. She loved those tender eyes too much to ever allow herself to see them filled with hate. She didn?t want to go to Brazil. She would have to suffer through her guilt while he looked on in the same room they would share. When they arrived however, the landscape of the city distracted her from her worries for just a while. In Brazil, Michelle understood at once that things were not as she had perceived. On arrival at the Rio Shuttle Port, the night had been cool and the lights had speckled the hillsides. A car not a HOV had been arranged for them. Rio's hilly terrain was not suited to HOV traffic so consequently HOV's had never been introduced on a wide scale. In spite of the new found wealth of world wide agriculture brought to this continent, a wide swath of Brazilian citizenry were impoverished beyond the imagination of anyone who had not seen the horror with their own eyes. The unwillingness of the residents to let go of cultural traditions and modernize had left the entire country of Brazil in more of a Third World state than it had been in during the first 100 years of the 20th century. Even Lima and Bogot? were now considered centers of world trade with large sprawling metropolitan and international cities and populations that were benefiting from modern industrialization. But Rio had only been globally known by most of the world?s people for it?s beaches and clear South Atlantic waters. Here the thing known as the Barrio had never been taken down. The population of the area grew and modernization passed by to other countries that had agreed to cooperate with world leaders, leave behind their history of militant government takeovers and conformed to a more recognized form of doing business worldwide. But Rio and Brazil still had charm and that's what Michelle had hoped would distract her enough to let her regain some of her old self. As they threaded their way through the sea of cab drivers all of which seemed so hungry for the money they must have known the couple had with them, they drove the 22 miles from the Shuttle Port to the hotel past a limitless vista of hand built hovels and shanties that stretched for as far as the eye could see. These small shacks, one stacked on top of the other, as many as four high were horrible dwellings. Each one was poorly constructed of stolen cinder brick and scrap wood. Openings for windows without any protection from the outside day heat, evening cold or the rain. The upper-floors rarely had roofs. Most of them were falling apart. Narrow alleyways wound between them and disappeared out of sight. The smell from the city?s system of canals told Michelle all she needed to know about the Barrio's plumbing system. Dogs, chickens, cattle and even the occasional mule meandered about, loose and seemingly without pen or owner to either claim or care for them. Everywhere there seemed to be confused young girls with hungry screaming children they tended to. Rough and dangerous men, young and old hung from every eve, window and rooftop looking for a victim or a girl or perhaps some drugs. Wires that carried stolen power to homes drooped and hung from every available roof corner. Even now that she could not see them clearly she wondered about the people who lived in each small square living space. The idea affected the way she looked without her even realizing it. As she looked out over the hills from the 12th floor balcony, her face became slowly drawn in a look of sad desperation. Behind her, Gary was watching her slip deeper in to her depression. Now, she stood on the narrow balcony of the hotel. The Atlantic to her left the Barrio in front of her. It was time now. He would have to make her see things for what they were. He was going to have to reveal a few secrets of his own. He slipped up behind her and slid one arm around her waist. She encircled her own waist with one arm over his, tightening his embrace. She inhaled deeply and closed her eyes. "Don't be afraid of me,? he whispered. "You know me. I'm not going to hurt you. I love you. I want to know about it." Michelle hung her head. She was caught, but she had known all along that Gary would see. She had not ever been able to hide anything from him since she had been changed into Michelle. She had never wanted to. She had tried, but only in the depths of her desperation to become Mike again. "About what?" She hated herself for the defensive posturing she showed him. "Let it go, Michelle." "I can't Gary. It was all those hovels out there." She lied. Gary rested his head next to his wife's and looked out at the hilltops in front of them. "That's not it. This has been going on for a long time now." "Not right now Gary," she answered, seemingly lost for words. "I know, you're tired, you should be, but I'm not going to let you go to bed just yet. This is not a bed where you can hide from your problems." Gary stepped forward and tilted his head down and locked eyes with his wife. Even in sadness and grief she was the most beautiful creature he could ever remember seeing in his entire life. He took her hands and gripped them gently. "We've gotten off the path Michelle. I'm lost without you." Michelle nodded, believing him. "I don't know what I expect to find here. I thought it would be something, a distraction maybe, I? I don't know." She turned back to the view of the hillside. Gary brought his face closer to her. The smell of his skin was sweet to her nostrils. Why do I have to feel like this? I love him so damned much. Please God? She could feel his breath on the tops of her breasts and she almost allowed herself to fall in to his arms. "Please come back to me my wife. Please, I can't do this alone." I remember those words? Except last time it was you that said them. After what you've done to him, are you now going to leave him hanging too? Gary now put his plan in motion. "I found something I want you to see," was all he said. He stepped off the narrow balcony and back into the room. She turned to see what he wanted her to see but instead of getting something he grabbed his jacket and started slipping it on. Noticing that she made no move to follow him he stopped. "It's not here. We have to go out there to see it." "I can't go out there Gary. I don't want to." Gary went to her and took her hands. He looked into her eyes and asked her: "Please. I think this will make you feel better. Just come with me for a couple of hours, then we can come back here if you want or we can go home." Without further discussion she followed him. A half an hour later they were at the Rio International Airport. The place was old and outdated with abandon antique aircraft littered about airfield. Only one hanger appeared to still be clean and sound enough to still be in use. Out in front of it was a restored 2030 Piper Sentinel. There was no one else in sight. The hanger doors were shut; in the distance were some ground base vehicles moving around the taxiways. Gary was walking toward the airplane as if he belonged here. "What is all this Gary?" "Just follow me. I'll show you when we get airborne," he said without looking back at her. "Airborne?" she asked surprised. "Yes," Gary confirmed. She ran to catch up with him. Clearly, this was another one of his gags to cheer her up but with Gary, one never really knew for sure. Their anniversary in Paris came to mind once again. When she caught up with him she first looked in his eyes. It was hard because he showed no sign of slowing down. He was of single- minded determination, his face set and stern as he plodded toward the Piper. "Gary?" "Yes?" he finally looked at her. "Stop? she asked. "Why?" he returned "Because I want to see something? Stop!" she pleaded Gary stopped, turned and looked at her. She stared deep into his eyes but saw no clue as to his intent. Maybe the transparency had affected his brain some how. SKINs were a strange technology. She was thinking once again of telling him what she had done. Now she might have to do it before he did something foolish. Something he may not even be aware he can't do. She tried reasoning with him first: "You can't fly that Gary, you don't know how." Gary shook his head and made for the airplane again and Michelle ran after him. He reached the aircraft and climbed in and shut the door. Michelle ran up on the door and tried to open it. He had locked it from the inside. She pounded on the glass to get his attention. "GARY! Get out of that plane. You don't know who it belongs to?" she demanded, then asked. "You don?t, do you?" Gary had already donned his headset and turned to Michelle who was jerking on the handle trying to open the door. Gary tapped on the glass to get her attention. Michelle looked up and shouted: "OPEN THE DOOR." Gary pointed at the headset and shrugged apologetically indicating that he could not hear her and mouthed the word ?Sorry.? He then pointed at the other door but Michelle animatedly shook her head tossing her silky reddish-brown hair back and forth around her head. Gary shrugged again and started the Piper?s engines. The engines roared into life blowing Michelle's hair and clothes all around. Michelle squealed and jumped in surprise as the prop flew into life. She pounded on the window and shouted something at Gary that even she couldn't hear over the noise of the engines. The words were blown behind her and out on to the tarmac where they were lost in the wind. Now terrified that Gary was going to actually try to fly this plane she raced around behind the plane?s stabilizer to the passenger side. There she found only one door about halfway down the fuselage. She tried it and it opened easily. She shouted into the plane: "GARY, PLEASE TURN IT OFF, I NEED TO TELL YOU SOMETHING." She could see the back of his head as he appeared to check the instruments of the aircraft. He made no indication that he had heard her. He continued with his work undisturbed. She was convinced that the SKIN she had put on him had done something to his brain. She had to do something. She had to stop him. Michales had said that it would be hard to kill some one in a SKIN like hers or Gary's but not impossible. She had a suspicion that falling out of the sky in a big heavy machine might just do the trick. She climbed into the aircraft and the wash from the props slammed the door closed behind her. There was an audible click from the door and Michelle knew that very second she had been tricked. She spun around and jiggled the handle but it was locked just as she had suspected it would be. She moved between the seats behind the pilot?s left seat and moved into the right seat. "Gary, you're not well. Please turn off the engine!" she pleaded. "I'm fine. What I want to show you is up there. Don't worry and buckle up." Gary popped the brake and revved the engine. The plane lurched from its stationary position in front of the hanger. Gary pointed the nose toward a taxiway, pressed a button on the yoke and spoke into the mic in the headset: "Piper Eight- Niner-Zero, ready for taxi." A voice with a heavy Portuguese accent came back over the radio: "Good morning Piper Eight-Niner-Zero. Piper Eight-Niner-Zero, cleared for taxi Lima Zero Five to Runway One Zero, Standard departure north on departure 145, cleared for departure to Sao Paulo. Enroute, contact Sao Paulo center on 137.4." "Roger Tower, cleared for takeoff One Zero, standard departure 145 and enroute with Sao Paulo Center 124.24. Have a good morning and we'll see you in a couple of hours." The Piper made its way down the taxiway and to the mouth of the runway. "OK Gary, I'm impressed. Please, let's turn around before you get caught stealing an airplane. This thing has to be 80 years old! It can't be safe." She had to shout to even hear herself speak. "One hundred and forty years to be exact and fully restored. Beautiful isn't it?" Gary yelled over the roar of the engine. She stared straight out the windshield and said glumly: "I feel much better, thanks." She turned to her husband as he pointed the planes nose down the runway. "Please Gary, give me just a minute to explain something." "When we're up there" Gary said and pointed up. In the distance Michelle could see the top of Sugarloaf Mountain as Gary pointed out and above it. "NO!" Michelle shouted and grabbed onto any projecting handle she could find as Gary throttled the craft up and the plane advanced down the runway. Michelle gripped with her hands, white knuckled to the dash and squeaked, "Gary?" in a meek and subdued voice that he could hardly hear. The plane rose evenly and smoothly with the touch of a pilot with thousands of hours of flying experience. Michelle had her eyes pinched shut. She was lamenting herself for allowing herself to be tricked into coming on board. Her kids would be orphans soon and it was going to be her fault. After a while, however Gary had said nothing and she noticed that the ride was smooth so she dared to chance a glance around her. What she saw was stunning beyond her imagination. You just didn't see this kind of detail on a JumpShuttle. To her right, before Gary swung the craft west, Michelle could see the ocean dimly lit from a thin band of orange that was just breaking on the horizon. She could see it slowly spread in length over the horizon of the Atlantic before her very eyes north and south. Gary saw that she had opened her eyes and commented, "Beautiful isn't it?" "Very!" she whispered. All of her fear was gone. "You haven't seen anything yet." Gary was vectored around to the west then to the south. Michelle squealed as the plane pitched to the left as Gary swung it around to the south. The Plane hummed onward. Gary hoped that he would be able to turn northbound again before this days sun itself made its debut over the distant eastern horizon. In a short time the large mass of lights on the coastline of South America had shone the way to the city of Sao Paulo. Gary skirted the enormous city and began the northern approach just as the sun, pregnant and red began to dance on the horizon. It bulged up and out of the ocean in a great hump. The lines of deep red to the north and south had reached out as far as she could see. They were a deep angry red at their outer most points and lightened to almost yellow where they met a now orange sun. As the sun broke free of the water, its complexion lightened and it pushed back the black veil of night across the western sky. Now the line of light cast long shadows on the land, created by tall mountains that obscured greater valleys to the west. To the east of those long fingers of tall terrain were smaller ripples of mountain range after mountain range running north east to south west from the coast to the larger range west. Invisible in the dark on the southbound leg Michelle could see plainly the rainforest laid out below her. She was about to say something when a piece of paper she had not noticed fell from the visor above her head. She picked it up out of her lap and unfolded it. She read: "My Dearest Leese, ?" Her heart froze, she was caught, really caught. This was the thing he had wanted to show her up here. Gary knew. She felt him looking at her. Her face suffused with blood as she blushed in embarrassment. She wanted to speak; she wanted to explain how desperate she had felt. How absolutely alone she was. That he was the only thing she could think of and he hadn't been there for her. That her head had been spinning and the time they had together had been too short. That none of what had happened had been fair or right. She had just about found the strength to say those things when Gary started speaking: "When I got shot, I thought everything was going to be OK for you and the kids. I really did. You remember I told you in the MediHOV that your sister Erin had come to me. I didn't want to believe that everything you had told me when we finally got together was true. I wanted to believe that it had been the stress of learning to deal with your new body, your new life or even your hormones. But it was true, she's out there somewhere watching over you." She was afraid to speak. He's going to get to the point an the point is going to pull out an emotional knife and it's going to cut my heart open when he says he's leaving me for what I?ve done. "I discovered a few things?" he continued but Michelle finally found her voice and interrupted him. "Gary, before you say anything else? If you'll just let me explain a couple of?" Gary held up his hand and silenced her without saying a word. She slumped in her seat. That's it. I'm alone. I'm exactly where I didn't want to be. He's going to leave me. "As our time together passed, the one thing in this life I was afraid of was living without you. If you had never come around in the early days, then I would have gone on. I would never have been happy but I would have gone on." He suddenly looked about, "God isn't it beautiful up here?" He looked at her waiting for a response but she said nothing. To Gary she looked like someone waiting for an ax blow across her neck. He blundered on wondering if he was going to be able to pull the pieces of this picture together for her. He continued, ?Erin tried to keep me where I had gone after I died. I did die Michelle. I died and I went to heaven and Erin told me I would never see you or Beth again.? He paused. ?I was in heaven and I didn?t want to stay there. I would have done anything, ANYTHING to get back to where you were.? Michelle was silent and brooding, miserable at what she felt certain was coming. Gary paused and then ran one hand over the dash of the aircraft. "I wanted this?" He gestured at the Piper, "to be a surprise for our anniversary. But I was a little inconvenienced being dead and all." He chucked but she only sighed a miserable sigh and started to curl into a little ball and lean against the window on her side of the plane. Then a sight caught her eye. It was so stunning that she could not ignore it in spite of her fear and desperation. "Oooooh!" she said surprised. "Yes," Gary said. "That's it! That's what I wanted you to see." She looked at him and blinked, and Gary nodded. "That's right, you heard me." She looked back out the window. What she saw as a series of narrow crisp valleys. Some were filled to the top with what appeared to be flowing rivers of clouds. She could tell that these 'clouds' were very close to the ground because at the tops of the ridges that formed the top most limits of the valleys she could see the tops of the rain forest poking out. She could see the rivers flowing south toward more valleys in the geography below to the south. Then Gary was speaking again. "My greatest fear was outliving you. It always has been. Then I aged and you didn't and at first I was grateful. I wouldn't live without you. I would go and then you would join me. But as I got even older you didn't age a day and my fear changed. I was afraid that I had led you to a fate where everyone you knew would die before you eyes leaving you totally alone. I didn't want you to be alone. Then something worse happened. I was still very much alive wherever it was that I went, be it called Heaven or whatever. It felt more like Hell without you." "Erin told me that a sacrifice was going to have to be made. I thought she meant someone's life. Funny how people think in such narrow terms isn't it? She never made it clear what the sacrifice would be. Did you make it? Did I in getting shot? I don?t know. I think maybe it might be Heaven though. I?ve never pretended to be a spiritual man, Michelle, you know that. But I?ve been there. I know it?s real so God must be real. He?s probably pretty mad at me for some of the things I said before I was kicked out.? Gary chuckled. ?I think that the sacrifice was one you made a long time ago. I believe Erin was compensating again for your sacrifice by making sure we could be together.? "Gary, really, what does that have to do with what you wanted to show me and what I did? If you're trying to teach me a lesson or leave me or punish me for using a SKIN on you then you're only confusing me." Gary sighed. "What did you see when we got to Rio?" "Terrible suffering," she said. "What do you see now?" he asked. She seemed confused. "Look back down there." She did as he requested. Beautiful isn't it? His words echoed in her head. But it was Gary that answered for himself. "I see what you did as the most wonderful gift you've ever given me." "What?" She was stunned. She had been certain that he was going to be furious. She understood too well how Gary felt about SKINs. "I know how you see things Michelle. You tend to dwell on the details. You rarely look at things from any other perspectives. All you could see was your part in putting me in a SKIN. You couldn't see what was down the road. Same as the poverty in Rio, once you had seen it, it's all you felt that could be seen. Unless it was gone it was going to dominate your thoughts. This is what I see. I see a bigger, prettier picture. The details are still there. We'll deal with them when they come up for us to deal with. But for now, I wanted you to understand what I see when I think about what you've done for us? for me." "It's the same thing with me. All you've been able to think about is the small act of what you've done. Let me tell you that from where I was... all I saw was how did you put it, terrible suffering? I was totally alone without you. Even with others there, I was totally alone. I?ve never felt worse in my life. Not even being shot hurt more than the knowledge that I might never see you again. From here... I don?t see all that suffering. From this perspective, I find hope and I have something to live for. And if I?m to live forever, then I can do that from this perspective.? Gary pointed down at the ground where to valleys divided the valley mist into what looked like a wishbone. It was the confluence of two valleys out of which flowed two streams of clouds into a single stem at the base. The vision was clear, it could be mistaken for nothing else. It was a wishbone. Gary said. "I had a wish once, a long time ago in fact. To find someone who could make me care about something, anything. My wish came true March 4th, 2081, the day you were born. Now I don't have to say goodbye to that dream, ever! I want you to make a wish now." Michelle ran the back of her hand gently over Gary's rough unshaven cheek. "All my wishes have come true. I'm all out wishes." She worked hard to control the tears of joy. She didn't want to cry, but then noticed that this time Gary was crying. She wiped away several streams of water flowing down his cheek and asked. "What's wrong, Gary? Please don't? don't cry my love, tell me what's wrong." "Nothing is wrong. In fact everything is right. I just realized that there will be problems in living forever. I guess those are the details you're so famous for seeing, but for now all I can see is this?" He looked down at the mountains that were clearly lit now that the day's sun had risen. "For now, my life is perfect. Now I get to spend the rest of it with you." Michelle hooked her arm into her husband's. She sat there in silence happy beyond her ability to comprehend it. When she spoke much time had passed. "Gary?" "Yes my love?" "I have a wish," she said, peace filling her head. "Please tell it to me?" Gary asked. "I wish we could stay up here forever?" Gary checked the gauges. "We have about two hours fuel left." "That will do," Michelle whispered. -*- On the first 21st day November, Randy sat in the JumpShuttle?s first class tube and thought deeply on the change in attitude he had recently noticed in her. Her mood and behavior was of concern to him. Especially considering it had been some time since she had gone through what Randy had considered her confidence crisis. Randy deepest sorrow was that he hadn?t been able to share her anguish then. Now there was else something going on related to the SKIN and he couldn?t tell if it was physical, metaphysical, emotional, spiritual or all of the above. Randy reasoned that anything that could rearrange your molecules at such a basic stage as to physically turn you into another person, then there must also exist the potential for error. Randy doubted there would be much medical information available to the general public. The government obviously felt it was doing a good job hiding the existence of SKINs from the general public. This delusion was supported by the idea that no matter how many public cases of what had in the last ten years been known as ?SKIN contamination? were exposed, the government continued to deny their existence. If Beth was suffering the ill effects of some sort of genetic programming error then the best they could do, would be to treat the symptoms. There was reason for Randy to be positive. Of the two SKINs from the batch created for Michales? family, at least one seemed to be working perfectly and had been for over 20 years. No, Randy reasoned that it was more likely that there was some sort of mental fall-out from the stress of everything that had happened the past year and a half. He allowed his mind to wander back to that time and he felt it was an amazing thing that they were all back almost to where they had been the day after Carrie had changed her. His mind drifted forward to the beginning of the school year. Beth had graduated with honors at the end of her senior year. As September moved into October, she applied to and registered her credits to the University of Florida in time for winter classes. If she plowed through a summer semester, she reasoned she and Randy could be on track to graduate together. Now the seasons were about to change again and Beth wanted this Thanksgiving spent alone. Their first real holiday alone was almost on them. She had started suggesting that they spend Thanksgiving together at the lake over a month ago. He was not put off by the idea of spending it without the families. In fact, he looked forward to it, but had not committed to the idea. Their parents would be hurt. Although the idea was a pleasant one, the situation of telling everyone was one he was not looking forward to dealing with, so he procrastinated. Her suggestions had become urgent however as Thanksgiving grew closer. Two weeks ago he had agreed telling her about his belief that their parents would be disappointed. She had surprised him by saying she had cleared the use of the house with her father months ago and had planned on inviting the families up the following Saturday. ?I just want some time alone with you Randy. Some special time.? Randy felt there was more to it however but didn?t press. The shuttle arrived seven minutes late. Beth was there at the gate waiting for him. There had been a fast kiss on the cheek and she hurriedly rushed his bags out to the waiting HOV, tossed them in with what looked like bags of groceries and a frozen turkey and then raced around to her side of the vehicle seemingly not wanting to get involved in casual conversation. She lifted the HOV into the outbound HOVWay and sped away north. Beth seemed nervous and on edge most of the fight up. Her attitude stood in stark contrast to her excitement only days before. ?Is something wrong?? he had asked finally after several minutes of uncomfortable dead air between them. ?When we get there. I?ll explain everything when we get home.? ?Home, that has a nice ring to it,? he said smiling to himself. ?A place where we can call home, if only for the weekend.? Beth exhaled a little and said: ?I?m glad to hear you say that. It will make what I have to do somewhat easier to say.? Randy, now concerned, turned to Beth. ?Should I be worried?? He noticed that she still wore the engagement ring he had given her. ?Not you... me maybe but not you.? She tried to smile but what came out was more of a grimace. ?Well, talk to me...? She turned to look at him. ?Don?t make me do this now, please. I want to wait when we are in a better place. I want... I want you to kiss me before I say it.? ?Are we breaking up?? he asked her flatly. The emotion in his heart caused his voice to break before he could get the whole thing out. ?Oh God I hope not. I really do. Because if we are, then... well, There?ll be no hope for me,? Beth moaned. ?If the choice is mine, and it sounds like you think that it is, then I?ll never leave you,? he insisted. ?We?ll see after I say what I have to tell you. I hope you?re right. But I just don?t know Randy.? Randy fed the fingers of his left hand into those of her right. He tightened his grip slightly but said nothing. Beth navigated the HOV for another half an hour and set the machine down in the old driveway of the lake house. There she sat for a moment, it seemed as if she were almost in shock, her hands folded in her lap. She stared out at the quiet serene peace of the lake through the hemlocks and did not speak. ?Well?? Randy asked and Beth turned and looked out the driver?s side window, opened the door and stepped out without saying a word. Randy followed with his eyes as she went to the back of the HOV and began to unpack. Randy joined her there. ?So you?re legal to fly now?? ?Yeah, Dad took me down for the test a week ago. How was everyone at school?? ?As far as I know everyone?s gone home,? Randy said with a smile. ?I?m sorry I didn?t wait to come home with you. I had some things to take care of,? Beth turned and collected her bag and his and asked: ?Can you get the groceries? I?m going to put our clothes away.? ?Sure,? he confirmed leaving the issue she had tossed out there alone for some later time. Beth took the small lightweight bags upstairs while Randy made the three trips to the HOV to unload the bags of food, a turkey and other various grocery items including a small box sealed with poloytape that sounded as if it had glass bottles in it. Once the groceries were unloaded, Randy tried his best to put the items away and succeeded only in stowing what needed to be refrigerated. The locations for the other items were a mystery to him. Then a thought occurred him. Beth had not returned from unpacking. It was commonplace for people to come to their hideaways in the woods to find that there were squatters or criminals in their homes. Randy climbed the stairs in the dining room to the upper loft of the old house to find her and make sure she was alright. He walked down the hall and came to the master bedroom where a wondrous sight stood before him. It was Beth. She stood in a satin teddy. When he stepped into the room he saw her visibly blush. Then she said: ?I wasn?t sure I was ready for you to see me like this.? She gestured to herself with her hands, hands that seemed to be having a problem finding a place to be. ?After more than a year, can you believe it, I?m shy.? At first Randy didn?t say anything. He took his time and allowed his eyes to wander over the girl that had dressed this way for him. When his eyes met hers again hers were pleading for a response. ?God, you don?t like it!? she said terrified. She turned and began to search for something to cover herself with. Randy crossed the room in three steps and took her by the shoulders and spun her around. ?Don?t you dare,? he said and then kissed her passionately. She stiffened in his arms for only a moment, her uncertainty getting the best of her and then she relaxed. When he had finished she was more relaxed. ?You?re beautiful,? he said to her. ?I only wanted to look longer that was all.? ?You wouldn?t just say that?? she asked. ?Only if it were true,? he assured her. ?I was just about to change back into my clothes when you came up. Then I heard you coming and I froze. I feel so exposed in this thing. The girl at the store said that you would like it. I wasn?t sure.? She smiled a weak and innocent smile to Randy. ?I do. More than that, I like the girl in it,? he confirmed. ?Good. That?s good because I feel like I have to do anything I can to keep you Randy. And I?m afraid it won?t be enough once I?m done saying what I wanted to tell you.? Randy raised his eyebrows and Beth said: ?Yes, I?ll tell you now.? ?Most people, everyone in fact is born, lives and dies. In between we all find things to do. Most of us get married and have families. Others have careers, some have both.? Randy nodded. ?This sounds terribly simplistic doesn?t it?? she asked and Randy nodded again. Beth exhaled a deep long breath and then drew in another again. Randy reached and pushed a lock of her long blond hair off her shoulder and away from her neck, brushing her neck with his hand as he did. Beth gasped with surprise and pleasure and closed her eyes to savor the moment. Randy smiled and allowed his hand to glide down the satin gown on her left side, his hand softly brushing the left most portion of her left breast. As his hand came to rest on her hip she reached up and held it there. She opened her eyes and kissed him. Then she said: ?If you keep that up then I won?t be able to finish what I need to say and you?re going to be a father.? She smiled and blushed again. Randy smiled at the idea. Seeing the smile Beth added: ?Oh, that makes you happy? The thought of me stretched into an oversized basketball?? ?It makes me happy to think of you with our baby growing inside you,? he admitted. She smiled and blushed again, saying: ?Now what was it you wanted to tell me?? ?Remember when I asked you to let me have that night, prom night? Not to ask why I was afraid?? Randy smiled softly and nodded that he did remember. Beth drew a deep breath and somewhere found the courage to continue. ?Randy... If my Mom is right, then I?m going to lose you in the not too distant future...? Beth started and soon she had unraveled the entire tale to Randy. He had moved her to the bed where they sat side by side, hip to hip. There were times when Beth cried and became terribly upset, and then there were times when she became placidly calm and relaxed as if resolved to her fate and knowing how the future was going to play out. She told Randy about her father?s amazing recovery, most of which Randy felt he knew, and that it had been due entirely to a set of SKIN?s Michales had deposited in their home to make a mends for the mess he had created. ?And so about three months ago Dad gave me this.? She pulled the polybag from beneath the pillow where she had hidden it. She held it in her lap, her eyes cast down at the bag her hands folded on it. ?He felt it would be fair that you should be given the chance to choose.? Beth began to ramble. ?I?m not even sure if mom knows about this. He just kind?a took me into his study and said, honey, you don?t deserve to be alone all your life. He said that if I wanted,? she looked at Randy. ?then I could give this to you.? She smiled a sheepish smile. ?What is it?? Randy asked curious. ?It?s a... It?s a...? she stammered. ?God, why is this so hard?? ?Let me see it.? He said but she wouldn?t release it when he tried to ease it off her lap. ?Randy... it?s a SKIN.? Randy?s eyes got wide at the mention of the word. ?Oh.? was all he said. Beth?s heart sunk. It was not the enthusiastic response she had, perhaps na?vely hoped for. ?Randy, daddy gave me this so that we could be together.? She waited. When nothing came she plodded on, hoping that enlightenment would sway him. ?Mom says that as along as I?m like this, I won?t get much older than about 22 or so.? Again she waited. ?Don?t you see?? she finally asked not wanting to say out loud that she was in all likelihood immortal. ?I?m supposed to put that on?? he asked flatly. ?Only if you want to.? She said still not looking at him. She fiddled with the bag, straightening out the wrinkles and occupying her hands. ?And what happens if I do?? he asked in a rather solemn tone that worried Beth. ?You?ll be stuck. I won?t be able to get you out of it and you will live... for a very long time.? She said. Then added hopefully. ??but we?ll be together.? Randy smiled at her. It was a smile that broke her heart. She felt she understood his apprehension. ?There?s time... You don?t have to do this right away. You can think it over.? She was stalling for time now and she knew it. She was sowing the seeds of doubt just as her mother had. Giving him an out without walking out. She knew that she couldn?t do this. If he had doubt then she should let him go and be happy that she had not made him suffer. ?Randy, you don?t have to do this. If this is going to make you unhappy, then don?t. I couldn?t stand that. I couldn?t stand knowing I had done something that had made you miserable. Randy wordlessly stood. He went to the bureau and began searching for something. Beth was becoming more and more discouraged. ?What you are you looking for baby?? ?My bag.? was all he said. He did not turn around to face her he just kept looking... ?My things.? She almost could not speak. Her throat was so tight it kept her from breathing freely. She managed: ?I put it in the other...? she choked, ?...other room.? He turned and looked at her, then wheeled on one heel and exited for the other room. ?Oh God,.? she whined. ?Oh God! Oh my God!? her voice was small and pathetic. She rocked herself on the bed. The SKIN proposed for Randy to wear on her lap, hands clutching it. She was going to cry but not before she dropped Randy off in town. She would then spend the weekend up here alone. She would beg Randy not to say anything when she dropped off. She wouldn?t be able to stand that. She would drop him off in Wilkes-Barre so he could take a public car. She would ask that he give her the time she needed to come to grips with this end. She would ask for her dignity and she knew he would give her that much. Randy returned and stood in the doorway of the room. Beth wiped her face and said: ?If you?ll give me a moment, I?ll get dressed and drive you to town.? Randy walked in the room and placed his bag on the dresser wordlessly. He unzipped it and began putting his clothes in the bureau draws. Still he said nothing. Beth stood and came over to him watching him curiously, sniffling and feeling sorry for her self. The polybag containing the SKIN hung clutched in on hand by her side. ?What are you doing now?? ?I?m putting my clothes away.? ?Yes Randy I can see that.? she asked confused. ?I thought ...? ?I know what you thought.? He turned to her and took her face gently in his hands. ?But if we are going to be married tonight, then I should at least be given the privilege of sleeping with my wife on our wedding night.? ?Married?? she squeaked. ?What would you call it?? he asked. He reached down and took the bag from her hand. ?You look so incredibly beautiful dressed the way you are. I can?t think of a nicer setting or a better outfit for you to get married in. If what you say is true, then we?ll be stuck with each other. If I?m going to do this then I need to know that in three hundred years or so you aren?t going to get tired of me and go after some younger man.? Beth?s eyes were flooding, threatening to spill over the brims, but they were also bright and alive and full of fire for Randy. She threw her arms around him knocking breath out of him in her ferocity and zeal. ?I?ll take that as you?ll keep me.? ?Yes, I will. I do... Oh God I do, I will, I do, yes Sir. I do.? She babbled. ?Then here. Hold this.? he handed her the polypack and he began to unbutton his shirt. She watched in dazed amazement as he recited the standard marriage vows as he undressed. ?I Randall Benton, Take you Beth as my lawfully wedded wife.? He dropped the shirt on the floor. ?To have and to hold, for richer for poorer. In sickness and in health...? He shed his shoes, socks and pants. ?So long as I may live.? He shed his briefs and stood before her nude and humbled. ?Your turn.? Beth took a deep breath. She withdrew the SKIN from the poloypack and then began to dress Randy. ?I Beth Shipley,? she said and smiled to Randy. ?Take you, Randy as my lawfully wedded husband.? Randy smiled at the way she continually blushed as she spoke the vows. With each verse she would sleeve one leg or an arm until she was ready to place the head sleeve over his head. ?I promise these things for as long as I live.? She said. Trembling she began to touch the then touched the two points of the contacts together remembering what Carrie had told her over a year ago in her bedroom. Her hands were shaking so badly she couldn?t get the points to touch. Her fear of what she was asking Randy to do for her was getting the best of, causing her hands to shake more as the considered the irreversibility of it. Then Randy placed on SKIN gloved hand over hers and steadied her trembling. She was able to touch the contact point and the SKIN melded into his body as if it had never been there. They stood for a second in shock and surprise at how quick it had been. Then Beth smiled and said a little out of breath: ?You may kiss the bride.? He swept her up in his arms and walked her to the bed. He was able to rip the covers from the bed with one hand and he gently tossed her on the mattress. She squealed with surprise and delight with the brief fall and he landed next to her. He whispered in her ear: ?I now pronounce us Man and Wife.? ?You did it!? she said amazed. ?Yes, because I couldn?t let you go. Not alone, not down that road.? ?What did you say?? she had a quizzical look on her face. ?I couldn?t let you go in to the future alone.? He smiled. ?No you said something about a road,? she said and pinched his bottom. ?Did I? I hadn?t noticed,? he said and grinned. ?You really love me don?t you?? The words came out in utter amazement as if she were just now aware of his feeling for her. ?I mean you really love me. They?re not just words. It?s not just the body, you love me.? She sounded to Randy like she still was trying to convince herself of this fact. ?Yes, I really love you, and now I will always be there to do just that. I?ll be there for all time because now nothing can take you away from me.? Beth did weep at those words. She held him close to her and when she was done she pulled back and kissed him.? After a minute of silence she said: ?I?m not really sure what to do now.? ?Oh I do,? Randy said with a smile as his left hand began to slowly creep up the front of her teddy toward her breast. ?Don?t you worry, I know exactly what to do next.? -*- Thursday morning, Thanksgiving Day, Randy sat in the living room of the big old house. He felt no different than he had the night before when they had arrived. He felt like Randy. He caught himself stopping and trying to feel the SKIN he knew had changed him and was unable to. In the short time since his commitment to her, what he called their marriage, he worried that he had not been affected and therefore would not live as long with Beth as they both had hoped. Several times this thought had attacked him in the course of the morning. Only time would tell them if he had, indeed, been changed genetically. He knew Gary had been. Hell, he had even been brought back from the dead. It was thoughts such as these that reassured and caused Randy to have more confidence in what had been done. No, he couldn?t feel how it had changed him, not directly. In years to come however he would know that it was working. He had nothing but time now, time to be with Beth. As he sat and thought, Beth made breakfast. He had offered to make the meal and let her get some sleep but she would have none of it. She would make breakfast for her husband on their first full day of marriage. How could he disappoint her? She seemed so happy and brilliantly lit as she woke and then went about her work in the kitchen. She wore the sweetest smile on her face. Randy could tell that she was more than simply contented. He had tried to sneak in and offer to help and once she had even gone so far as to swat him on the rear end with a broom and tell him to scat. In addition to breakfast she started the turkey for their Thanksgiving meal that night. The first of many to come, she took extra care in making sure that all the traditional elements of the meal were there. She prepared the stuffing, ignoring the ageless warnings and stuffed a well cleaned bird with her father?s recipe: Apple, sage, sausage and cornbread stuffing. She set the old traditional oven for 350 and closed the bird up inside. She then served breakfast. Breakfast was substantial. There would be no other food until the Thanksgiving meal and she wanted to make sure that Randy would not be hungry until right before that was served. Breakfast it consisted of a local cereal with peaches, some lightly brazed strips of seasoned beef, Roasted Rosemary potatoes, eggs, juice and toast. After breakfast they both went for a brief and icy swim in the lake and then as the sun rose higher in the shy and did it?s best to warm the day, they sat together and watched as a family of beavers laid in a store of succulent limbs and twigs for the upcoming winter. Beth was helplessly attached to Randy?s arm. She followed him from the lakeside to the hammock. Beth rocked him gently as he dozed in the early afternoon sunshine. When he woke, she babbled happily about everything and nothing, following him, touching him, pressing against him. She even planted herself on the arm of the couch outside the bathroom when Randy went there to relieve himself. She would talk and talk and talk and was only quiet when they both decided to take a long walk around the narrow footpath that circled the lake. The walked arm in arm peacefully, much of the time Beth would lean her head against his arm and she would just listen to the rhythm of his body as he walked. At one point, when they were almost back at the house, the came upon a female Black Bear and her cubs. She was foraging and trying to feed her cubs before winter forced them into hibernation. Randy put his arm out to stop Beth and Beth let out a small eep of surprise and then settled in to watch as the bears foraged. As the bears got closer it was clear the bears had not seen them and if they got too close the mother would most likely assume a defensive posture rather than trying to retreat. Finally, Randy coughed and the mother bear groaned in fear as she stepped between her cubs and Randy. Randy did the same with Beth, stepping between her and the bear. After a moment the mama bear saw her route of escape up the boulder strewn glacial field that had formed the lake. She turned, her cubs in tow and loped up the boulder field and out into the deep Pennsylvania woods of the Pocono Mountains. Beth stepped out from behind Randy, looked after the bears running away then looked up to him and smiled. ?That was beautiful.? ?That was something all right. I?ve never been that close to bears before.? He was out of breath and sweating. ?You need to spend more time up here then. They?re all over the place. They come for the blueberries up here you know? You?ll see next spring. The berries are everywhere.? ?How nice,? he said ?You weren?t scared were you?? she asked timidly. ?Only for you.? ?Mr. Benton. I love you so very much. You are just too precious to me.? She leaned up to him and kissed him pressing her breast firmly into his chest. He wrapped his arms around him. Randy?s hands explored the firm young body that was pressed to his and she began to squirm in his hands. ?What are you doing Randy?? She breathed. ?I would have thought that was fairly obvious.? ?Not now, not here. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh Randy please.....? ?Yeah right here, right now.? Randy?s hands worked her body over her clothes until he could feel the moisture of her desire. She buried her face in his neck partially from embarrassment of what he was able to do to her but mostly out of passion. She bit at the skin on his neck. She whispered to him. ?Randy...? Randy looked about. Through the trees near the lake there was a small dock that jutted out into a small inlet hidden from the view of most of the lake houses. He lifted her and carried her through the woods and to the dock. ?Randy, here?? Randy nodded and slipped out of his shirt and let his trunks slide to the deck. He knelt next to his wife. She understood that she was his. She could be no one else?s. Her heart was so deeply entwined with his now she would never free it. She slipped out of her one-piece bathing suit and loved him there in the golden November sunlight. Sun dappled explosions of light danced on the water all about as he entered her body and they joined and became one. The dock rocked with the fluid motion of their bodies. The water slapped at the pilings of the dock with this gentle motion. Her breathing was heavy and she clutched the boards of the small dock her own father had built one summer day when she and her sister had been children. The idea that she would be laying here, loving a husband as his wife was not even a remote possibility in those days. Those days had been filled with baseball and hockey and fishing. This dock, hidden from view of most of the houses on the lake was a special place. Now it held an even more special meaning for both of them. It would always be the place they would go to without fear of who might be watching to publicly undress each other with a modicum of privacy. Randy clutched her and worked her body with one hand as he steadied himself with the other. She had received him last. The moment had been unexpected. Never in his life would he have dreamed of making love in public view like this, but there seemed no question of what they had to do after it had begun. He rocked her back and forth gliding in her with great ease and wonderful beauty. The friction of their love this moment was impulsive and impetuous; the love of youth long denied and brought fully to bear once released. He exploded within her and on that day, on that pier a child was conceived. Beth would complete the transition to womanhood in nine months and one week to the day with the birth of their son Arron Terrance Benton. When they finished, both lay out of breath on the dock hold each other?s hand staring up at a bright blue fall sky. Randy swallowed. ?Wow.? ?Yeah!? Beth said. She rolled over on him and smiled at him, her hair cascading down over him creating a blonde tent concealing his face. ?I love you Mr. Randall Benton Esquire.? Randy let his hands run over her smooth body. His hands traced the contours of her thighs and legs and snuck in between her legs. She quickly closed hard on his hands and wriggled as he slid his fingers deeper between her legs. The warmth and moisture there was incredible although much of it he had deposited there himself. ?Don?t start something you can?t finish. If you?re not careful, I?ll eat you alive.? She grinned at him. ?Hope you?re hungry...? Randy said with a grin. Then a look washed over her face. ?Oh my God! Hungry. Randy... Dinner... we have to go... Hurry!? She leapt up and pulled on her suite, grabbed her towel and wrapped it around her waist and ran back out to the path. ?Oh hurry Randy, please.? Beth vanished down the narrow path between the blueberry bushes that lead to the walking path around the lake. Randy was busy trying to pull on his shorts hopping about on one leg. ?It?ll wait... Hey, let me get my shorts on!? he said as was laughing. She wanted everything so perfect and what she couldn?t see is that it was. ?A little burned food isn?t.... Oooop!? Randy lost his balance and fell into the lake with a tremendous slash. ?Randy?? Beth burst back in between the bushes that lined the path to the dock. ?Randy!? He was floundering in the water his shorts down around his knees making it hard for him to swim. ?GLUG!? he exclaimed as his head disappeared beneath the surface. ?RANDY!? Beth screamed and dove in for him. The water was clear and Randy was not in that much trouble but he let her help him to the dock. Once there he pulled up his shorts and caught his breath while small brim and pickerel nibbled at their legs. ?I?m sorry,? She said. ?What are you sorry about. I should thank you. You saved me.? ?You were in five feet of water. You could have just stood up,? she said laughing. ?I just wanted dinner to be perfect. It?s a holi