Chapter 18: Conflict and Consequences

"So, Paul, are you working on anything new and exciting?" Richard asked as we settled into the hot tub. Snow was just starting to fall but the warmed flagstone melted it as soon as it touched the ground. The peaceful quiet of the mountain was a pleasant contrast to the chattering discussions taking place inside the house. We had both opted to escape as mothers and daughters reconciled and discussed the past.

"Nothing significant. I've got some long-term plans, but need some other foundational research to make some progress first."

"Foundational research?"

"I need some better materials to work with. I sponsor about a half-dozen university research projects in the areas I need. How about you?" I knew from the security background check that he was a banker at his father's family bank.

"Not much. We're doing some real estate investing that has me pretty busy checking out properties."

"What sort of properties?"

"Mostly upscale apartment complexes and condos. We finance the builders. We do a little land speculation as well, but try to keep our exposure to risk at a minimum."

I nodded and then leaned my head back and let the hot water relax me.

"What made you pick Park City? From what Jeryl said, I would have thought you would build in Tahoe."

"I thought about it, but really enjoyed the mountains here when I visited last year. We'll be able to fly here in about the same time as driving to Tahoe, so there isn't much difference for travel. It's also easier for family and friends to fly into Salt Lake City."

"Well it is definitely a nice place. I can't believe it was built in less than six months."

I laughed. "I paid for it, believe me."

I heard a door open and turned to see a bevy of beautiful women hurry across the patio with towels in hand to join us.

"Brrr," Jeryl said as she dropped her towel on a nearby chair and stepped into the hot tub by my side. "I'm glad the water is nice and hot or a girl could catch a cold."

Kelly, Jordan, Jyl, Trisha, Karen and Olivia made similar comments as they squeezed in next to us.

"Paul," Kelly said. "You might need a bigger hot tub."

I laughed and splashed some water at her. "This one is sized for twelve. I think it will be plenty big enough."

"I can make some more room for you, Kelly," Jeryl said as she scooted onto my lap. "I like this seat better anyway."

The other girls laughed and I noticed Trisha making a similar move onto Richard.

"How are the moms doing?" I asked.

"Great," Jordan said. "It is kind of strange to find out I have three new cousins, though."

"Enjoy it while you can," Karen said. "From what we've heard about grandmother, we might be disowned all over again when she gets here."

"No way," Jyl said. "She can either gain three grandchildren or lose three. I'm tired of her attitude. The harangues I've had to listen to because my little sister had sex were the last straw."

"Yeah," Richard said. "If that is a problem, she won't appreciate Trisha and me at all, let alone my promiscuous sisters."

"Hey, we're not promiscuous," Olivia insisted. "But we are sensual and loving women. Mom raised us right."

Richard snorted. "Like you gave her much of a choice. I remember a fourteen-year-old asking her big brother to buy condoms for her."

Olivia blushed. "I just wanted to be prepared."

We all laughed and conversation turned to college and then life in Chicago. By the time we were starting to wrinkle and ready to get out, everyone seemed happy and comfortable with their new family members.

"Dibs on the shower," Jyl said as she hopped up and headed for the door.

"I'll take the second one," Kelly said as she stopped drying herself off and headed inside. The bathroom off the bunk room had two nicely appointed showers.

"I guess that means I get to share with you, Paul," Jeryl said.

"It might be a tight squeeze," I said. The shower in the office bathroom was the smallest in the house.

Jeryl gave me a hug. "I sure hope so," she whispered in my ear.

It took almost forty minutes for everyone to get showered and dressed. We congregated in the great room and waited for the taxis that were scheduled to take us into town for dinner. Cynthia Morgan's flight from Detroit had been delayed due to weather, so Sanford was planning on taking her directly to the restaurant for dinner. He had just called to let Alison know that the flight had landed.

Jeryl and I made sure everyone was situated in a taxi and on their way before climbing into the Range Rover along with Olivia and Kelly. Alison refused to let me drive or ride a taxi for some reason. I wasn't going to argue, since I thought our ride was much more comfortable.

We were mingling in the private room I had booked with cocktails or soft drinks in hand when Cynthia Morgan finally arrived. I watched her through the window as she tried to tip Sanford, who waved it off with aplomb as he handed her down from the car and took her to the door of the restaurant.

She was regal in bearing as the hostess escorted her into our room. Everyone fell silent as she entered. I hurried over to play the dutiful host. Jeryl seemed to have slipped out of the room with her aunt.

"Mrs. Morgan, thank you for coming. I'm sorry your flight was delayed and you didn't have time to freshen up before dinner. Can I get you a drink?"

She pulled her gaze from Janet and Richard and finally focused on me with a hint of panic in her eyes. "Who is that?" Helen had told me that Richard was almost the spitting image of his father.

I stepped closer to her and moved to help her take off her coat as people shifted around to greet her. "I think you know who it is. If you are ready to forgive a few people, I think you'll find they are anxious to meet you."

I stepped back with her coat and motioned to Janet. Richard approached with his aunt, looking nervous for the first time since I had met him.

"Mother," Janet said with steel in her voice. "I'd like to introduce you to your grandson, Richard."

Cynthia's hand went to her mouth as Janet continued. "He's here with his sisters, Karen and Olivia."

Cynthia's wide eyes blinked as she stood in stunned silence.

Janet pursed her lips. I had seen the same look of displeasure in her eyes once during school when a student talked back to her. It was not a pleasant look. "Paul located them along with my sister." Helen stepped back into the room with Jeryl by her side.

Helen stepped around her mother and looked at the smaller woman with tears in her eyes. "Mother, I'm sorry I disappointed you so, but I hope you can soften your heart and embrace your grandchildren."

Cynthia seemed to wilt. It was only Helen's quick hug that kept her from slumping to the ground. Tears flowed from mother and daughters as Janet joined the hug. Jeryl grabbed my arm and pulled me away as Richard stepped around them to close the door to the private room. It took a few minutes for the ladies to regain their composure, but finally Cynthia was able to accept a hug from her new grandchildren. By the time Trisha was introduced, Cynthia's reserved nature was almost restored.

We moved to sit down and soon were having almost normal dinner conversation. Jeryl joined Jim, Mom, Kelly and me near one end of the long table while Cynthia, Helen, Janet and Jerry were at the opposite end.

"That went much better than I expected," Jeryl said in a whisper as soup was served.

I nodded. "Now I just wonder if she'll soften toward us."

"I hope so, but I'm not counting on it."

"Me either."

Dinner was elegant and refined, but I think Mrs. Eccles would have made more flavorful fare. With the single long table, we were a little cut off from conversation about the reunion. Instead, we talked with Kelly about the offices near Stanford and what sort of space she should look for next week.

It wasn't until dessert was served that we were pulled back into the fuller conversation. Helen stood and waited for everyone to quiet down.

"I know Thanksgiving is a couple of days away yet, but I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for coming out here this week and letting us start to put the past behind us. I want to thank my loving children for their support now and always, my sister for forgiving me for abandoning her, and my mother for agreeing to set aside our long history of differences."

"Hear, hear," Jim said as he raised his wine glass to Helen at the other end of the table. Everyone joined in and then took a sip of their drinks.

"Finally, I want to especially thank a very generous and loving young man who made this all possible. Paul, thank you from the bottom of my heart."

Everyone turned their gaze to me and toasted me as I sat blushing. Jeryl leaned over and gave me a kiss on my cheek.

Helen sat down and Janet stood up. She had tears in her eyes. "Paul, I want to echo my sister's thoughts and feelings. I know I have wronged you in both deed and thought. I apologize for those deeds. I hope you can forgive me someday. Thank you for believing enough in family and my daughter to bring us all together here." Janet toasted me in the awkward silence and then sat as Cynthia stood.

"To my daughters and grandchildren, I apologize. I wish I could explain myself, but I'm not sure even I understand what was going through my mind all those years ago. Perhaps I'm just a silly old lady now, but once I was a loving wife and mother. I'm sorry I pushed part of my family away and risked alienating the rest of it over relationships that were probably none of my business. In my defense, I always wanted the best for all of you." She looked at each of her grandchildren before continuing.

"Paul, I'd like to also apologize to you. I treated you poorly from the first time I met you and risked my youngest granddaughter's happiness trying to prove you were not suitable for her. You proved me wrong at every turn. I won't say I like how modern relationships seem to be carried on, but it is clear that you love Jeryl deeply enough to face any obstacle for her. You may never be good enough in my mind, but I can't believe she will ever find someone better. Please, forgive my behavior and continue to love my granddaughter."

Tears were on her cheeks as she looked down the table at Jeryl and me. I stood up and picked up Mom's wine glass. Water seemed inappropriate. I raised the glass in toast to the far end of the table. "Mrs. Morgan, there was never anything in your power to prevent me loving your granddaughter. I accept your and Mrs. Salaway's apologies and everyone's thanks." I took a sip of the wine before returning the glass to my mother. "I feel blessed that our families could come together. I'm glad that some of the money I've earned with my family's support can be put to such good use and I hope everyone will feel free to relax and get to know each other better, as families should, over the next few days. Thanks for coming."

Everyone applauded as I sat back down. Jeryl wasted no time giving me a sound kiss on the lips as Jordan and Jyl teased her about chasing a sugar daddy. Soon, we were on our way back up to the house.

"Thank you again for making this all possible, Paul," Helen said as we sat at the kitchen counter enjoying a quiet breakfast. I had left Jeryl in bed as I did an abbreviated morning workout and was surprised to see anyone else up when I came up to the kitchen. Helen had been sitting quietly with a cup of coffee when I joined her.

"Believe me, it was my pleasure. I was surprised at how well things went last night."

Helen gave me a sad smile. "Mother's pride was her biggest enemy. Once we took the first step, she could let her own pride go and forgive me. I've seen it hundreds of times in my practice."

"I'm not sure I would be as forgiving if I were in your shoes."

She arched an eyebrow at me. "Really? You would let your mother drive you away, or Jeryl's mother?"

"No, but I'm not sure I could make the first move either."

"But you did. You brought us all together. Just because the move is not a direct or verbal apology, doesn't mean it is not the first move in a long series of adjustment and forgiveness."

"I just hope it has a lasting effect."

Helen laughed. "Oh it will. After you went downstairs last night, Janet, Mother and I stayed up and chatted some more. We heard Jeryl or someone go into the office during a lull in the conversation. If Cynthia and Janet were not reconciled to the reality of your two's love, there would have been fireworks."

I blushed. "Well, I'm glad they only heard footsteps and a door."

Helen laughed again. "Yes, I believe you have very good sound insulation in this house, lucky for you."

I refilled her coffee after I took our plates and put them in the dishwasher.

"So what are you ladies going to get up to today?" I asked.

"We might go into town and see the sights. Maybe do a little shopping before the party tonight. How about you kids?"

"I have a couple of calls to make this morning according to Kelly and then we may go check out the slopes downtown."

"Olivia would probably enjoy going with you. She picked up skiing her freshman year in school and has enjoyed it ever since. Karen and Richard will probably give it a pass."

"Well, once the lazybones are all up, we'll see who wants to go." I glanced at the wall clock. "I guess now is as good a time as any to return a couple of phone calls. I'll see you later."

In the office, Jeryl was up and out, probably waking the others in the bunk room. We had worn ourselves out last night but fallen asleep with a promise of skiing today. I grabbed the note pad Kelly had given me last night with two numbers to call. The first was an international call. I had wondered how long it would take before Land Rover called me about the conversions we had started doing and selling to security firms around the world.

"Good evening, Mr. Taylor," a lightly accented voice said as the connection was made through his secretary.

"It's early morning here, Lord Harold, but thank you for the sentiment." Kelly's note had indicated that Harold Thompson was entitled to the title of Lord in the British peerage, so I had decided to flatter him. It was also one of the reasons Kelly had insisted that I return his call personally. We did not yet have an agreement for licensing with Land Rover.

"Yes, well, thank you for calling me back so promptly. I appreciate you taking time out of your holiday plans for this call."

"Think nothing of it. What can I do for you and Land Rover today?"

"Straight to the point. I like that. We wanted to see if you were interested in selling us your conversion kit plans and possibly partnering on manufacturing a line of Range Rovers specifically for security services."

It was what I expected.

"Well, I'm always interested in partnering with successful firms."

"Good to hear, young man. Would it be possible to arrange a meeting to discuss details and terms? We've had some of our boffins looking over your modified Range Rovers that you've resold recently and are very interested in talking further."

"I think we can arrange a meeting. Which side of the pond would you like to meet on?"

"We'll come to you, of course. We understand how busy you are with still being in school."

"Well, I have some time off over the holidays. Perhaps we could meet then." I flipped open the calendar on my desk and looked at when school got out for Christmas break. "I'm free from the sixteenth of December until the third of January."

"Things are pretty quiet over here during the holidays. Any chance we could have a preliminary discussion before then? Maybe meet in New York or Chicago?"

"Chicago would be excellent, if we schedule for Friday evening through Sunday."

"How about I fly over next weekend? We can meet and decide if further discussions are warranted."

"That sounds like an excellent plan. I recommend the Hilton downtown and will arrange meeting rooms there for us as well as accommodation if you'll let me know how many people will be in your party."

"Oh, I'll handle this myself along with a couple of our engineers and one solicitor. So, four rooms, if you please."

"I'll have the arrangements made and send your office the details."

We finished the call with another exchange of pleasantries and I jotted notes down on the tablet by his contact information.

The next call was to Ford. I was surprised that they insisted on me calling them back personally.

"Banister," the gruff voice on the other end of the phone said after a short wait on hold.

"Mr. Banister, this is Paul Taylor returning you call."

"Ah, Mr. Taylor, thank you for getting back to me this week." His voice had softened some immediately.

"What can I do for Ford this morning?"

"We'd like to talk to you about the Range Rover conversions you're building and selling and see if we can possibly do something similar but built here in America."

I smiled. "Funny you should be calling on that. I just had a call with Land Rover for a similar discussion. They seem interested in doing a line for security work."

"Well, we're interested in something a little bit bigger. We've got some pretty bright engineers who have been playing around with your coating on pre-formed body parts. They think we can make a unibody vehicle out of it, but wanted to meet with you before we move to building a prototype."

A unibody car eliminated the traditional ladder-type frame used in most cars. It made the body part of the actual structure instead of just a protective covering.

"That's interesting."

"It is. It gives us both greater safety in the vehicle and cheaper manufacturing processes. What we aren't sure of, is if we can apply your coating to the entire unibody or are going to need to do it as sub-assemblies."

I thought about it for a moment. "That's a good question. We might have to do a little research to determine that. The electrical field will align the coating perpendicular to the metal, but in a complex shape you might get misalignment and lose strength. Also, we'll want to account for crumble regions to collapse in a crash, otherwise, it would be too rigid and strong. It could be a pretty tricky challenge."

"That sounds similar to what my engineers said. That's why they want to talk to you. Since our deal has a pretty hefty consulting fee for your time, it landed on my desk to make it happen. Any chance we can schedule a visit?"

I looked at the calendar and saw my Christmas break evaporating. I shook my head. I had taken most of the fall off from business, so I guess this was the price I had to pay.

"I can fly up to Detroit on the 17th for the weekend and a couple of days. Can you make something in that timeframe work?"

"How about the twentieth through the twenty-second? I imagine you'll want a little time off over Christmas."

I jotted down the dates. "That will work. If we need a follow-up meeting, we can set something up in January."

"Okay. I'll mail out details to your office today. Thanks again for getting back to me so quickly. Have a happy Thanksgiving."

Jeryl wandered into the office as I finished jotting down some notes. She was fresh out of the shower and dressed in tight ski-pants and an ivory sweater. She looked at the tablet in front of me and shook her head. "Why are you working? I thought this fall was going to be a break for you."

"It has been. But now it seems a few people want some of my time over the holiday break." I explained my first two calls. I pointed to the last name and number Kelly had given me. "Now comes the fun call."

Jeryl frowned, and then grabbed the chair on the other side of the partner's desk and pulled out a pad of paper and pen to make notes as she motioned me to get dialing.

A few minutes later, I heard a familiar voice pick up the phone. "Special Agent Johnson."

"Good morning, Special Agent Johnson. This is Paul Taylor returning your call. How can I help the FBI today?"

"We need to move this facility into a secured environment," General Haverston insisted for what seemed like the tenth time of the day.

"Under what legal principles?" Jim asked.

We had flown down to Austin two weekends after Thanksgiving and finished a half-day tour of our production facilities for the general, Special Agent Johnson, and a half-dozen Air Force and Pentagon officials. Two of them were reviewing our materials audit processes in addition to the security audit they had insisted on.

"Something this sensitive has to be protected."

"It is being protected, as we've shown you today," I insisted. "In fact, I would venture to say it is more secure here than on a military base."

The general scowled at me. "You don't know anything about the security we would put in place."

I was tempted to tell him about the procedures I had learned a lifetime ago for the protection of nuclear weapons, but decided on a different tack instead. "So you would guarantee two-person integrity for the process as well as material delivery? You would have an outside audit every month for both access and material controls? You wouldn't rotate your guards to new assignments where they would blab what we were making?"

"Well, no on the guards. We would have to rotate them naturally."

"Then you're introducing a security risk that does not exist today," Alison stated in her clipped British accent. "We have very tight physical security. We control access to the manufacturing process as well as the raw and finished materials. Spreading knowledge of either serves no security purpose."

"Besides which," Jim said. "You have yet to tell me the legal basis for your demand. We are selling materials to a contractor with the U.S. government. You have no cause to pierce privity. We gave you this tour as a courtesy and in compliance with our contract with Lockheed. Until you can show just legal cause for relocating our operations, I believe we will have to decline."

The general started to speak but Jim raised a hand to stop him.

"Additionally, if you force action we will invoke our cancellation for cause section of our contract with Lockheed. Once that contract is canceled, we can sell to anyone on the open market. Rather than make the people that know the process targets to international espionage, we would publish the process and the detailed characteristics of the material to remove any incentives for violence to our principal researchers."

"That's treason," the general shouted as he stood and slapped the table we were seated around.

Jim looked up at the thickset man impassively. "No, General. That is a promise to secure our own safety. Moving our manufacturing actually increases the risk to Paul and his researchers as we have explained. Until such time as we have probable cause to believe this facility has been compromised, we are safer keeping things here."

The general opened and closed his mouth for a moment, obviously trying to reign in his anger. I did not think he was used to people talking back to him. Finally, he found his words. "We'll see about this. I'll be briefing the Secretary of Defense on Monday. Don't be surprised to be presented with an executive order classifying this operation, regardless of your contract with Lockheed."

Jim smiled. "I suggest you review Section Four, paragraphs A through H in our contract before you make that recommendation, General. You won't like the outcome."

Jim, Candace, and Kelly had spent considerable time on the termination section of the contract to protect both my ideas and my privacy and security. It had been a major sticking point on the contract negotiations.

"I've always wanted to argue a case before the Supreme Court. If you force Lockheed into breach with an executive order, that will be the venue to resolve the issue." Jim's demeanor was as stony as I had ever seen it.

The general stared at him for a moment and then turned and left. Several of his entourage followed, but Special Agent Johnson stayed behind. Once the door closed, he actually smiled.

"I told the general it was not a good idea to confront you like that."

"Isn't he your boss?" I asked.

"No. I finished my rotation with the DOD. I'm back in the field office officially now. I told him your security here was tight, but he didn't want to listen."

"Really?" Alison asked with an arched eyebrow. "Would that be the explanation for the three attempts at the keypad on Dr. Wilkerson's key card last week?"

Special Agent Johnson blushed. "I didn't think that looked like the doctor in the video surveillance tapes."

"Shit. We didn't see any records of video being installed."

"Special Agent Johnson, is that a confession of attempted felony breaking and entering?" Jim asked.

"Uhm, no. We did pull public records to help assess the security of this installation, nothing more." We all knew he was lying.

Alison smirked at him. "If you want a complete briefing on our security, I suggest you call Lockheed and ask them to arrange it. Even if you had guessed his key code, you would not have made it past the timed lock on the inner door. In fact, you would have been trapped in there until the morning when staff arrived."

Special Agent Johnson paled. An FBI agent caught in the conduct of a felony would face a lot of questions. "Perhaps I should request that full review with Lockheed if there is continued interest in your security," he said finally.

He sighed and then looked at me. "In the meantime, I'm the bearer of some bad news for you, Paul. Some of the powers that be would prefer that you not travel to England over the holidays."

"What?" Jim asked.

"We know you are in talks with Land Rover. The general has raised a stink about national security. If you try to fly out on a commercial airline, you'll be turned back for 'your own safety'."

"You're kidding me." I said flatly.

He shook his head. "Your techniques and knowledge are highly sensitive even if they are not officially classified. You hold a Top Secret clearance now. With that, there are some well-documented legal restrictions on travel outside the country."

"It's England, for Christ sake," Jim said.

Special Agent Johnson raised his hands. "I'm just the messenger. If the general had his way, no one would have mentioned it until you were at the airport and turned back."

"The prick."

"No need for that, Paul, even if it is the truth."

"Why don't we just see if they can meet us here again?" Jeryl asked as I paced back and forth in my office. I had been happy to see her when we got home from Austin, but was still too keyed up after telling her about the visit to actually relax with her.

"We could, but it's the principle of the thing that pisses me off. I've done everything I can to do the right thing by our government and this is how I'm treated. It's not fair."

"Since when has that stopped you?" Jeryl asked coldly. "It wasn't fair what my family put us through or the FBI put you through last year, or when you got hurt in football. Every time you're faced with something that's 'not fair', you turn it to your advantage. How is this any different?"

I stopped my pacing and looked at her.

"I'm sorry. I don't know why my temper is so frayed. I guess part of it is that I had to make that stupid trip and miss your birthday." I stepped closer and gave her a hug and kiss. "How can I make it up to you?"

"Well, the business cards with my new title on them were nice," she said with a smile. "Now, if you could just figure out a way to make love to me in London on New Year's Eve, I might forgive you for missing my eighteenth birthday."

"What about your ski trip? I thought you wanted to go with your sisters and Mom and dad."

"I'd rather be with you. In London."

I held her and thought about it. "Do you want to go to Detroit with me before Christmas?"

"Why?" She had caught my tone of voice.

"It's only a three or four-hour drive from Detroit to Toronto. You don't have to show a passport at the Canadian border. If we fly in and out of Toronto, we could still go to London."

"Won't you get into trouble for that?"

"What can they do? Pull my security clearance? At this point I'd be glad for that. What will your parents say if you don't go skiing?"

She hugged me. "I'll probably get some disappointed looks, but Aunt Helen and Olivia are going so I'll probably be forgotten anyway. I'm more worried about causing trouble for you."

"Well, I think a few nights at the Savoy would be a perfect belated birthday gift for you, kitten. And for that, I'm willing to take the risk if you are."

"Do you really think this is a good idea?" Sanford asked as we passed over the Canadian border on our drive to Toronto.

"Probably not, but I refuse to be a prisoner in my own country." Jeryl squeezed my hand and gave me her wonderful, shy smile.

"Miss Wilson is not going to be happy," he said.

"That's why I didn't tell her about it. You can call her after our flight leaves. If she tries to blame you, I'll take care of it. Besides, this is low risk from everything you guys have taught me. We've secured seats and have the cancellations in those names and the re-booking in ours. No one knows our plans, so they can't guess them. You'll take us straight to the airport. We'll check-in and be in the air before anyone knows we're still going."

"What about the other end? Lord Harold knows you're coming."

"He knows someone is coming. We said we'd send the particulars tomorrow, before the holidays."

Sanford shook his head. "I still don't like this, but you're right that it should be low risk for your security."

We settled into silence for the remainder of the drive. Jeryl managed to doze a little while I thought over some of the problems I had spent the past two days discussing with Ford's engineers. It looked like we had a solid plan to test out the unibody fabrication, but it wouldn't be until we could actually do some crash tests that we would know for certain. I wished for greater computing power for the hundredth time this week.

Sanford parked and escorted us to the first-class ticket counter of British Airways. While our transaction was unusual, it was not unheard of, especially for celebrities. The agent did not recognize us, but had obviously been through the process before. Soon we had our boarding passes in hand and were off to the first-class lounge to await our flight. Sanford stayed close and insisted on escorting us to the gate when our flight was announced. We waved goodbye to him and headed for our seats.

Jeryl settled into the wide seat and surprised me by accepting the glass of champagne the hostess offered us. I took one as well. Jeryl smiled and clinked her glass to mine. "To great adventures, love," she said.

"To great adventures with my love," I replied. We sipped the champagne and then settled back for the flight. I could imagine Sanford waiting until we took off and making his phone call to Alison. I did not enjoy imagining her greeting us at Heathrow.

Once the cabin lights were dimmed after a light dinner service, Jeryl snuggled under a blanket and pulled my hand into her lap. I stoked her thigh through the wool skirt she was wearing.

"You do know that you owe me eighteen orgasms on this trip, for my birthday, don't you?" She whispered.

I inched my hand down her leg to the bottom of the skirt as I nodded. "And I know that you want your first one before we get there, right?"

She smiled and leaned over to kiss me as I slipped my fingers beneath her skirt and was soon stroking higher along her silk covered thigh. I was pleased to feel the warmth of her pussy without any obstructions as I traced one garter up her leg. Gently, I dipped a finger in to brush against her clit and begin stoking her softly. She purred and laid her head on my shoulder. I fingered her slowly, enjoying her growing frustration as she fidgeted in her seat. Twice, I stopped abruptly as the stewardess walked down the aisle checking on the passengers. On her second pass, she gave me a knowing look and a saucy wink. Jeryl pushed my palm against her as soon as she was gone.

"Please, Paul. I'm so close," she whispered. I got back to work.

Jeryl's orgasm hit her suddenly. I loved the flush that spread down her neck as I felt her stomach and pussy clench and spasm around my finger. I continued to stroke her slowly and quickly built her back up to a second orgasm. She gasped for that one, and pulled my hand away. She gave me another kiss and then seductively lifted my fingers to her mouth and licked them clean of her spend.

"That's two down, sixteen to go, lover," she whispered after giving me another kiss. "If we get the chance, I'll take care of you before we get there, too." With that, she snuggled against my shoulder, slipped her hand below my blanket, cupped my erection gently, and then fell asleep.

Jeryl did not manage to make me cum during the flight, though she came close a couple of times. Unfortunately, each time the nosy stewardess walked the aisle at an inopportune time. By the time we landed and got off the plane, I was as frustrated as Alison looked standing at our gate.

"Paul, I cannot believe you did this," she said without preamble as we stopped by her.

"Alison, we did it, so please let it go. We are here for a week. We will meet with Land Rover. We will enjoy the city and sights, and then we will fly back to Toronto, drive back to Detroit and deal with whatever the government decides to do."

She was taken aback by my forceful tone. I don't think she had ever heard me use it before. Jeryl hugged my arm.

"I'm sorry, Alison. I didn't want to risk alerting you before we were in the air in case big brother was monitoring me. You know their restrictions are asinine. If you feel we need to sever our relationship because of this, I'll understand." I tried to sound sincere.

Alison frowned at us both. "We'll discuss this further, but not in the middle of the airport. I've arranged transport. Let's get your bags and go."

"We have reservations at the Savoy," I said.

"I know." She turned and started walking down the concourse, leaving us no option but to follow. Soon we had collected our bags and were hustled into a Range Rover. It was obvious that it had been modified according to my specifications. Alison saw my smirk. "Yes, my firm has purchased several of your modified Range Rovers. If you must know, Land Rover approached us first after we used them on a few jobs over here."

"Thank you for the introduction, then."

Alison frowned again and made a harrumphing sound. She looked over her shoulder at me and then shook her head. "I guess I forgot you're still both teenagers, and all the poor judgment that entails."

I was ready to argue, but Jeryl stopped me with a firm squeezing of my hand. "Alison, if the British government told you that you could not meet with Paul or provide security for us, would you drop us as a client?"

"It would depend on their reason."

"What if it was because Paul refused to share information with the British companies he wants to do business with?"

"They would never do that."

"But if they did, would you drop us?"

Alison was silent.

"Liberty, once lost, is lost forever." I quoted softly. "John Adams said that before our country existed. What sort of person would I be if I let them dictate where I could go and whom I could talk to?"

Alison shook her head. "I can understand the thinking, but I can't condone the actions, Paul. I'm responsible for your safety. I think there is a real risk of them arresting you when you return."

"I hope not. But if they do, they are not going to like the headlines they read afterward."

London was cool with clear skies and Jeryl and I took great advantage of it. Alison made sure we were safe in the Savoy after we promised to not go out without an escort. Jeryl wasted no time after her departure from collecting on orgasms three through ten and giving me a few along the way. It was a wonderful, languishing lovemaking session that lasted well into the night. The room service staff probably assumed we were honeymooning.

The next day, Christmas Eve, we went out for some last minute gift shopping and then paid a premium to the concierge for front center tickets to Cats in the West End. It was a fairy tale day in the city that ended with a late dinner back in our room.

Christmas day was quiet. We stayed in the hotel all day and I finished paying my sexual debt to my delightfully erotic girlfriend. We did make an appearance in the luxurious art deco dining room for a traditional English Christmas dinner. We even enjoyed a bottle of wine before heading back up to our suite. Before bed, we called home to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

Boxing Day was another new experience for us. Lord Harold had insisted that we join him and his family in the country for the day. Alison took us herself, refusing to detail any of her staff on the holiday. Lord Harold was a large man with ruddy complexion and cliché mutton-chop side burns, but he was a charming host along with his daughter, Catherine.

Catherine kept us busy with questions about life in America and our plans for school. She had just started at Cambridge and cornered Alison once she learned she was a graduate of the school. Jeryl and I took a slow stroll around the country estate's grounds after lunch and all too soon headed back into the city with promises to see Lord Harold the next day for our meetings.

By the time we met with Land Rover, we had a very solid agreement in principle in place. I provided them plans and contracts for materials at cost to start doing factory conversions of the four door range rover. They would sell these modified vehicles at our agreed upon price and both parties would split the profits.

Lord Harold smiled as we initialed the draft agreement. "Our preliminary research says we can get a hundred thousand U.S. per vehicle, Paul. What do you think of that?"

"What sort of profit margin?"

His eyes twinkled. "Seventy-five percent. We think we can modify the production line to build this version and actually drive cost out of our production. I've talked to sales and marketing quietly, and they are estimating demand at over one-fifty in the first year."

"One fifty?" Jeryl asked.

"Thousand," he clarified.

"Over five million cleared in the first year," I said. "Not bad for a holiday trip abroad."

Lord Harold laughed. "And that's just the start, my young friend. We want to continue discussions on licensing your whole portfolio. If our cost savings play out, the higher ups in the company may very well insist we license it. The boffins are pretty keen to keep adding your technology to some of our other offerings."

"I'll always take your call, Lord Harold."

We shook hands and headed back to the Savoy. Jeryl jumped me as soon as the door to our suite closed. "You would not believe how horny watching you work with them got me," she said between kisses. We were both in business attire, but moved quickly to rectify that situation.

"You weren't any too shabby yourself, love," I said as I slipped her skirt off her and admired the red garter belt and black stockings framing her delectable sex. "If they knew what you were wearing under that suit, they would probably have dragged discussions out for days hoping to catch a glimpse." I bent over and kissed her nipples before grabbing her and heading to the bed.

I lost myself in her tasty snatch for minutes, licking her to multiple orgasms before sliding up her body and slipping my raging hard-on into her.

"Oh Paul, fuck me good," she moaned.

I did my best, barely squeezing another orgasm from her before filling her with my seed. Afterward, we lay in each other's arms and I slowly stroked her shoulder and arm with occasional detours to tweak her nipples.

"I'll give you an hour to stop doing that," she teased.

She was true to her word.

The remainder of our week was filled with shopping and sightseeing. We took in a few more shows and many nice dinners before retreating to our suite to privately usher in the New Year. Jeryl coaxed four orgasms from me, three before midnight and the last, in her delightful rear-end just after the New Year arrived.

We were both exhausted from our adventures by the time we arrived back in Toronto on the first of January, 1983. Sanford was waiting for us. As I helped him with the bags, he thanked me for making sure Alison knew he was given no choice in the planning of our little adventure.

We were surprised to see Kelly in the Range Rover waiting for us.

"What's up sis?" I asked as we climbed in.

She glared at me. "Dad thought it might be a good idea for you to be travelling with an attorney when you get back into the U.S. We had a few calls from some irate officials last week."

"Really?" I asked, trying to sound innocent. I reached into my briefcase and pulled out some papers. "If they stop us, give them this." It was a copy of the U.S. Constitution. "And make sure Sanford snaps lots of pictures." I knew they kept a high-end camera in the car for any surveillance they needed to document.

"Don't you think that's a bit melodramatic?" Kelly asked.

I shrugged. "I thought about this a bit before going to London. I can't afford to let them win or I'll essentially be a research slave for the military. Title 49 of the U.S. code guarantees U.S. citizens the right to travel through our own airspace. No foreign power has denied my right to enter their country. What that general is trying to do is unconstitutional."

Kelly patted my arm. "We have a few more concrete arguments as well, if it comes to that."

Of course it did. We stopped at the border checkpoint and were immediately waved over to a white building alongside the road. Two men in suits were waiting for us inside.

"Paul Taylor?" The first asked. I nodded. "We have been sent by the attorney general's office to take you into custody for violations of Title 50 of the U.S. Code relating to your security clearance."

Kelly stepped forward and held out her hand. "I assume you have a warrant? I am Mr. Taylor's attorney."

The men exchanged glances and then handed some paperwork to Kelly. She flipped through it quickly. "This writ does not satisfy your burden of proof of wrongdoing and is inaccurate in the particulars of my client's clearance application."

"We'll let the judge decide that."

"I'm sure he's in his chambers on New Year's day," Kelly said with a sneer. "If you hold my client without bail and in violation of his rights, your names and faces will be plastered on every news broadcast in America."

"I'd like to make my phone call," I said to try and keep things from escalating too fast.

"When we get you down town, kid."

I shrugged and kept my mouth shut which seemed to surprise Kelly as well as Jeryl. Soon I was in a government car with the two agents while Sanford followed with Kelly and Jeryl. At the federal courthouse I was taken into an interview room rather than a holding cell.

Kelly joined me a few minutes later. Her cheeks were red and there was fire in her eye. "Have they given you your phone call yet?"

"No. They said I was not yet officially charged and since my attorney was present, they did not need to allow a call."

Kelly snorted. "Well, I'll go make a few then. Don't say anything to anyone until I'm back in here and don't sign anything."

"Like I would."

"I know, but I have to warn you."

She tapped on the door and left. I knew who she was calling. Before I had left, we had planted a few seeds with some news agencies. She was going to sprinkle a little water on them. Nothing that would violate any security agreements or reveal any secrets, but would probably light up several switchboards with reporters asking for comment.

I was left alone for about an hour before she returned. One of the surly agents accompanied her.

"Paul, I've filed for an immediate hearing regarding the validity of this warrant. Given that the judge who signed it is not available, we're going to see another judge who pulled the weekend duty."

"That paper is sound, lady." The agent growled.

"Hardly. And as you said, we'll let a judge decide. Oh, by the way I hope your boss doesn't mind the calls he's getting right now," she said with a smirk.

He started to ask what she meant by that when his partner opened the door and called him out.

"What was that about?"

Kelly smiled. "It's my understanding that Senator Dixon was calling on the Attorney General at home asking for an explanation of why one of his constituents was being detained and forbidden his constitutional right for unencumbered travel. Dad was working on your other senator and your representative as well. Cynthia is reaching out to our Detroit connections, but I think that will take a bit longer to filter through the switchboards. Finally, a dozen reporters received tips that the DOD was persecuting an eighteen-year-old high-school student. It's a slow news day, so you can bet the reporters are looking for a good scoop."

I shook my head and smiled. It was what I had planned, but it was still amazing at how quick Kelly and Jim executed it.

The goons came back into the room and told us the judge was ready to meet with us in chambers. We got up and followed them through the building.

Judge Zimmwalt was an older black man with silver hair around his head. He was in casual clothes in recognition of the holiday and did not look any too pleased to have to turn off his television with a football game playing to listen to our case.

Once we were all seated, he cleared his throat and spoke in a soft, but resonant tone. A court reporter was in the corner with a stenography machine. "At the request of the government, we are meeting in chambers rather than open court due to the sensitive nature of the discussion regarding classified material. However, you should all treat this as an extension of my courtroom, so act accordingly. Is that clear?"

"It is, your honor," Kelly said.

"Yes, your honor," the taller man from the government said.

"For the record, who is before the bench?"

"Kelly Daniels for the defendant, Paul Taylor, your honor."

"Terrance Prescott for the government, your honor."

"Very well. I have the brief before me, but Mr. Prescott why don't you summarize the government's position for me?"

"Yes, your honor. The government has probable cause that the defendant did violate his security clearance agreement by willfully traveling outside the United States without prior approval by the issuing agency, to wit, the U.S. Air Force. Travel restrictions were clearly delineated in the security clearance application he completed this fall."

Prescott handed a copy of the security clearance application to the judge and another to Kelly. Kelly flipped to the second to last page, and then closed the file.

The judge took a moment to look over the file as Prescott continued. "Section Twelve, Paragraphs A through G clearly state the prohibitions on the holder of the clearance once it has been granted. Paul Taylor's clearance was granted on December 11th of last year, your honor. He was bound by this agreement."

The judge finished reading the document and looked at Kelly. "This does seem pretty clear, Miss Daniels."

"If that were the application my client completed and submitted to the government, I would agree. However, here is a notarized copy of the paperwork actually turned over to both Lockheed and the U.S. Air Force." She pulled a copy of my original application from her briefcase and handed it to the judge. "I apologize, but I was not given access to a copier to make additional copies for the government. If you look at Section Twelve, you will see several strike outs and initials in my clients' own hand. He also hand-numbered and initialed each page to ensure the complete document was included in the agreement. Finally, to clearly state his position on the matter, he added the addendum as the last page of the document stating that should his modifications not be acceptable to the government, they should consider his application for a clearance to be withdrawn."

"Given that the government has stated the clearance was granted, they have agreed to his changes on the application. Please note that the stricken paragraphs include seeking permission to visit or interact with foreign nationals for business or tourist purposes."

The judge actually smiled as he looked up at the clearly uncomfortable Mr. Prescott. "Counselor, is it true that this is the agreement Mr. Taylor submitted to the government for his clearance?"

Prescott paled further. "I don't know, your honor. I was not given the complete file."

"And just what secret of Mr. Taylor's is so dear to the government?"

"I'm not cleared to know, your honor."

The judge arched an eyebrow.

"Until such time as the government can present evidence that this copy of the application is not the one that was processed for the granting of the clearance, I rule that there is not cause to detain the defendant. Case dismissed."

Kelly smiled and gave me a quick hug. I thanked the judge with a nod and Kelly and I made our exit from chambers.

"Victor, I don't care what your timeline calls for. We have provided the initial quantity of material governed by the contract. So long as I have to deal with the idiot general, I'm going to shut down the production line. You have no guarantees of volume in our agreement. I've checked with Candace on this. We are in the clear. I won't sell to anyone else, but nothing says I have to produce anything beyond your initial order, which has been filled." Two weeks had passed and if anything, the harassment from the DOD had increased since Detroit.

"Paul, let's just calm down. Yes, the general has a hard-on for you for some reason. He sees our program as his path to a third star, but only so long as he is clearly in control of it. Our boss, Ben is talking to some folks in the Pentagon this week. He may be able to get things under control."

"Good luck with that. We had two attempts at breaking and entry at our Austin plant. I'm pretty sure they were not simple crooks. The general believes he can give us a breech and then force me to move production under his control. If the line isn't running and the process is dismantled, there can be no breech even if they get inside. That's what I'm telling my staff to do. Shut down."

"Shit." Victor said. "Okay, shut things down and I'll send the message up the chain. You do realize that you may be ending that man's career, don't you?"

"He's doing it to himself. You know our security is tight. He just wants control and credit. I'm not giving that up."

"Okay. I'll keep you posted on any developments."

Our call ended and I looked around the office for something to throw. Instead I saw Jeryl smiling at me from her desk.

"You make me so hot when you get demanding," she said as she stood and closed for a kiss and hug. "If Jim weren't next door, I'd be fucking you silly right now."

I kissed her and let the anger drain from my body. After a few minutes, we parted. "Thanks, I needed that hug. I don't know what I'd do without you here to calm me down."

Jeryl laughed and stoked my chest. "Well, I don't want you too calm," she said.

Just then, Jim came into our office with a soft knock. "Hey you two, how is it going?"

"I just told Lockheed we were shutting down production. Victor was none too happy."

"I imagine not. I'm not sure what you'll think of this, Paul, but you've been subpoenaed to appear before the Senate Armed Service Committee."

"What?"

Jim pulled out an official looking letter. "It looks like they would appreciate you testifying in closed session regarding classified materials relating to a contract with Lockheed."

"Wow. When do we need to go there?"

"It looks like next week. I was wondering if we wanted to kill two birds with one stone so to speak."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you know Candace is talking to Gulfstream about some of our materials work. The aluminum doped coating is of specific interest to them. They offered to fly us down to meet with them in Savannah, but I bet they would fly us down there and then up to D.C. if we asked."

"No fair," Jeryl said with a pout. "You get to miss school and fly a private jet all over the country?"

I laughed and hugged her. "Trust me; I'd rather go to school than testify before Congress."

The Senate chamber for the Armed Services Committee was intimidating even when it was mostly empty. Since I was testifying in a closed session, only the senators and a couple of staffers were in the room. Everyone's full name was read into the record and we were admonished that this session was classified top secret, not to be discussed without written approval and punishable by up to ten years in federal prison. It was intimidating.

Jim sat next to me and gave me an encouraging smile as I was sworn in. The chairman opened the questioning.

"Mr. Taylor, we have been briefed on the Lockheed project you are associated with and understand that it is your compound that provides significant low-observable characteristics to the aircraft."

"That is correct, sir."

"And that you developed this compound on your own with no government assistance."

"That is correct, sir."

His questions droned on for several minutes, essentially putting the past six months officially into the record. Finally he got to the meat of the meeting.

"Now then, it is this committee's understanding that you have unilaterally stopped producing this special compound, effectively stopping development of a significant capability for the U.S. Air Force that it needs in these uncertain times."

Jim jotted a note on his legal pad and pointed to it. It said, "Timing". We shut down the same day we were subpoenaed. This could not have been their original line of questioning. I quickly gathered my thoughts.

"No sir, I did not stop production unilaterally." Several committee members leaned forward with the first signs of interest. "Pursuant to the agreement I have in place with Lockheed, we stopped production due to a material security risk. My plant in Texas experienced two attempted break-ins in the week prior to ceasing production. Our contract clearly states that PT Innovations bears sole responsibility for the protection of the materials manufacturing process. Given the evident security threat, I stopped production to safeguard both the finished product as well as the process for manufacturing it."

"If security is the issue, why have you refused to move your plant into government facilities as the Air Force requested."

"It is my belief that the break-ins were attempted by the Air Force, sir."

A murmur ran through the chamber.

"Can you substantiate that claim, young man?" One member asked.

"Sufficiently to prosecute? No. But the circumstantial evidence is quite compelling. On the evening of January seventh, an intruder attempted to access the outer area of our facility. Access to this area requires a keycard as well as a key code that is known only to the card holder. The card that was used in this attempt was reported missing earlier that day after a joint Lockheed and Air Force team had conducted their monthly material audit. No other people had access to the individual whose card was stolen. That attempt failed when the key code was incorrectly entered three times in a row. Our system locks out access and notifies our security team if a key code is entered incorrectly three times. Our video surveillance of the area does not provide sufficient detail of the person's face to gain a positive ID, but the height and body characteristics match those of one of the Air Force auditors."

"The second attempt was better organized, but also failed. This effort penetrated the outer area of our facility by removing ventilation covers from the roof and accessing the duct work inside the building. Our facility is designed so only the outer area where we package product is ventilated directly outside. All of the sensitive areas are in-turn ventilated into the outer area. Once the perpetrators gained access to the outer area, they attempted to circumvent the key-card and key-code locks on the inner secure area. What they did not know was that our ventilation ducts were monitored as well. My security team notified local law enforcement of the break-in. The perpetrators received a radio call aborting their attempt and fled the building before law enforcement arrived. Both of the men involved in this attack were masked and not recognizable on our surveillance feeds. However, one of them removed a glove during the attempt to circumvent the keypad system. My security team captured the print. It matches that of the Air Force sergeant who was part of the security audit the week prior to this attempt. While the sergeant had no reason to touch the key-pad during his official visit, we cannot rule it out, so this is still circumstantial evidence at best."

"And why would the Air Force want to break into your facility?"

I recounted our visit with them in December and then the border incident. "General Haverston has been antagonistic ever since we initially refused to move production to a facility under his control. Our inquires to the Attorney General's office indicate that the request for a warrant for my arrest originated from his offices as well."

Several senators traded looks. It was clear this was a different story than they had been told. The chairman leaned over to whisper to the senator on his left. The other man nodded and then motioned for his aide. The aide listened for a minute and then hurried from the chamber. The chairman returned his gaze to me.

"And what are your reasons for refusing to move your production facilities?"

I went over my arguments for the record. When I was finished, Jim stepped in. "In addition to those practical arguments, our contract is with Lockheed for the supply of a specific material. Neither they or the Air Force has purchased the rights to the process for creating that material. Forcing production to move to a government controlled facility would be de facto theft of that process that could be conservatively valued at over a billion dollars."

That number got everyone's attention.

"Given my client's interest in protecting his intellectual property, he has taken measures commensurate with the value of that property."

There were a few more questions before we were dismissed. As we exited the chamber, I was surprised to see Victor from Lockheed in the hallway.

"How did it go?" he asked after shaking our hands.

"As well as could be expected," Jim said. "What brings you out here?"

"I'm on their docket today as well. Ben is going over the entire project budget with them, but I'll need to speak to the impacts your production stoppage will have on the budget. I heard you were here and thought I'd try to catch you real quick."

"About what?"

"Haverston. He is trying to blame you for all the cost overruns on the project."

"Really?"

Victor nodded. "Ben is royally pissed at him. My testimony will show that the low-observable coating is the only area under our original estimates. Your coating saved us a ton of money in R&D."

I smiled. "You shouldn't have told me that. Candace might insist on a price increase to offset our growing security costs."

Victor groaned, but did it with a grin. "Well, Lockheed wants you to know that we are very happy with our relationship with you. We will stand behind you."

Jim and I got back home, compliments of Gulfstream. I was excited about our talks with them. Application of our coating to specific parts of their jet could have dramatic benefits in terms of weight reduction and improved wear. I had offered to host them in Deer Valley over spring break. I had promised Jeryl a ski trip then and wanted to kill two birds with one stone again.

A couple of weeks after testifying, I got another call from Victor.

"You should be safe to start up production, Paul. You favorite Air Force General has been forcibly retired."

"Really?"

"Really. The Armed Forces Committee takes a very dim view on senior officers who lie under oath. Especially when they are testifying before them."