Night of the Crane | By @WendyyWolfe

26. L. I. N. D. A.

"Hello. My name is Linda. Linda is the acronym for Locomote, Intelligent, Non-combatant, Displace, Armament , a top secret government entity developed by Dark Money engineers in Nineteen Ninety Eight for the purpose of defining and destroying intergalactic threats against the United States of America. I will now take over all the inert systems in the control room infrastructure and work with you to define and defeat any known or unknown threats to civilization."

Everyone in the room sat transfixed, their faces mirroring each other in various stages of disbelief and shock. Reese was the first to find his wits.

"What the high hell?!"

"Holyyyyy shit, Sarge! Did you know about this?!" Macenna asked dumbfounded.

"That's just plain insubordination Macenna! Do you think I'd be sitting here with my thumb up my ass if I'd known about this!" Reese shouted looking between Macenna and Silas with a little less than an accusatory stare.

Silas held up his hands in total innocent submission.

Reese narrowed his eyes at Silas.

"Look I know I've been little more than a drunk for the last several years but I swear Ramrod, I know absolutely nothing about this. I was part and parcel but I swear to Mother Mary I knew nothing about any of this!"

Reese sighed.

"It makes sense Sarge," James added. "You know as well as I do the government does a lot of secret things we never know anything about."

Carolyn, who had been sitting quietly up to now agreed with James. "That's lock step James," she said now standing up. "It's just sad that it was as easy as asking Alexa. I'm not even sure that was supposed to happen. We just got lucky. Now, what are we going to do with this info?"

"What can we do? You heard her. She said the program was taking over the comms infrastructure. Macenna this is your ballpark, honestly. I say we get into the comms room now and see what happens. Maybe Macenna will be able to communicate with this 'top secret' AI, program. To what end I don't know but we have to see and it's not like we have many other choices to fight intergalactic enemies."

Everyone stood up and followed Reese, Silas and Macenna out of the room and they headed over to the comms room.

It was really a tight squeeze in there and several of the group sat on the couches and chairs scattered around the main room and talked.

The mood had lightened considerably and no one mentioned the silliness of Krisslyns little outburst anymore. It seemed, for all accounts, her outside the box thinking had won the day.
Which really wasn't the case, as the people closest to her already knew, Krisslyn was just well, Krisslyn.

Either way. Just maybe, they now had some help. Even if it was artificial intelligence.

Macallan plopped down on the couch next to Lacy and Dylan. Krisslyn sat with Carolyn and they talked about what they might make for dinner of all things. James came back from the comms room asking Dylan to come and sit with them. He wanted to talk to him about any other things he may have seen out there.

Macallan felt Lacy stiffen up beside him. She pet Tibbs and played aimlessly with him trying to ignore being left alone with Macallan.

To say it made her nervous was an understatement because she really had no desire to entertain what would certainly come with being left alone with him but then James reached down and handed her that pack of cigarettes from earlier and she looked up at him with a questioning glance, taking them from him almost hesitantly.

"You want to smoke?" James asked her matter of fact. "Macallan can take you downstairs. There's a vent in the wall under the stairs. Open it up and have your smoke. Then the two of you high tail it back here ok?"

She nodded giving Macallan a side eye.

Macallan got up and she followed him to the door bringing Tibbs right along with her.

The two of them left quietly and walked in silence down the long semi lit hall to the stairs, descended the stairs along the side wall. Macallan walked around behind that staircase and sure enough as James had indicated was a closed vent.

"Now how did he know this was here?" Macallan mused outloud.

"Powers of observation maybe?" Lacy answered low key sarcastic.

Macallan didn't bother to answer that as he worked to open the vent. It was a simple slatted A/C vent with a tiny little knob arm and Macallan peered through the slats trying to look around but to his dismay it was a little metal tube which he figured led up to someplace above them.

Lacy lit up a smoke and took herself a long drag, closing her eyes and reveling in that lost comfort. It enveloped her nerves and the calming aroma reminding her again of her dad. She just couldn't get him off her mind today.

When she opened her eyes Macallan was watching her, bemused. He held out his hand.

"Sharing is caring," he quipped.

Reluctantly she gave over her coveted one smoke and he took it, drawing a long drag himself.

"You know, we could quit this, while we're here. I mean it would be much easier because these are bound to run out," he chuckled.

"Speak for yourself Macallan Crete. You go right ahead. Leaves more for me," she retorted blandly.

He smiled. One of those damn, sexy Macallan Crete smiles that always made her heart miss a beat and cause her breathing to hitch in her throat.

She lowered her eyes waiting for him to hand the cigarette back and unconsciously played with her hair. Tibbs was off on a smelling adventure sniffing everything he came across and Lacy could not stop her heart beating, inner turmoil.

Ugh why? Why did he have to be so damn adorable and stir up her senses when all she really wanted was a moment not to feel or think?

"I'm sorry I didn't return your calls Lacy."

His murmured confession jolted her senses in a wicked sort of way and she bit her lip, sucking her bottom lip almost entirely into her teeth.

"You'd bring that up right now Mac?"

"Of course I would," he grinned and his features softened reminding her of his boyhood days.

They had been almost inseparable when they were kids. Meeting at the local Youth Rodeos sponsored by the National Horse Riders Association. He was seven. She had just turned six.

Her eyes, taking on that dreamy, far away, penny for your thoughts expression that always left Macallan speechless but managed to heat up his insides and smoulder just beneath the surface.

"God Lacy, I want to kiss you so badly," he admitted tenderly, dropping the forgotten cigarette at the floor by his foot and smashing it out with one smooth motion.

Lacy smiled. "Come and kiss me then."

Macallan bent towards her, reaching for her arms to pull her into his body and she grabbed his arm pulling herself forcefully against him, feeling the hard proof of his desire for her.

He groaned, a gutteral sound that came from deep within his soul and his lips crashed down on hers, devouring every hot inch of her mouth.

Lacy seeped into him, moaning against her will, pressing against him and her arms slowly travelled up his arms to his neck and into his blonde mess of hair.

She pulled him deeper into the kiss, the moment, as he wrapped an arm around her waist and the other hand behind her neck. He drug his lips away from her tender mouth, whispering in her tiny shell ear and her gasp almost undid him.

Lacy's thoughts raced along with her heart betraying every logical emotion she had concerning him, but at that moment she didn't care. He was all she had, and her heart told her, he was all she wanted.

They could talk about phone calls later.