The getaway special by Jerry Oltion Page B

more.
    Besides, he was kind of cute, and making the great escape with him had somehow made him even more attractive. Judy had no idea if he felt the same about her, but she supposed there was one direct way to find out.
    "One bed is fine," she told Donna.
    When Allen came into the room a few minutes later, he paused in the doorway and said, "Are, uh, are you sure you, uh, want company tonight?"
    Judy had already undressed and slid under the covers. She raised up on one elbow, holding the sheet over her breasts with her free hand in a way she hoped looked both modest and sexy, and said,
    "Look, if nothing else, we need to talk. We need to come up with a plan."
    "Yeah." He stepped on into the room and closed the door behind him. Judy watched him undress until she realized she was making him self-conscious, so she lay back and watched the shadows on the ceiling until she felt him slide in beside her. He lay straight as a board, careful not to touch her.
    "So," he said. "What sort of plan did you have in mind?" She laughed, and rolled over to face him. She didn't bother to keep the covers tight against her body this time. He glanced over at her, then looked back at the ceiling, but she'd seen his pupils dilate. Business first, though. "Well," she said, "let's look at the situation. I don't know about your career as a scientist, but my shuttle piloting days are pretty much over. We're halfway across the country from anyplace familiar, we have practically no money, no clothes of our own, and we're probably the most wanted people in the world right now. What do you suppose we ought to do first?" He crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, when you put it that way, maybe we ought to go undercover. Get jobs. I could probably flip burgers somewhere, and you could wait tables. Or I could charge batteries at a service station and you could clean windshields."
    "Why don't you clean windshields while I charge batteries?" Judy asked him.
    "Because you'd get better tips than I would, and nobody tips the battery guy."
    "Oh."
    Allen looked over at her again. "Or there's one other possibility."
    "What's that?"
    "We could build ourselves a spaceship and explore the galaxy." Judy shivered. "Yeah, we could, couldn't we?"
    "I think so. It probably wouldn't even cost that much to get set up for it. What do you think? You want to?"
    "Yes," said Judy, so fast her response had to have been reflex. She shivered again. Allen laughed softly. "Sounds like we've got a plan, then." He let his gaze drift downward for a moment to where the sheet had fallen away from Judy's breasts, then he looked back into her eyes.
    "What else did you have in mind?"
    The bed squeaked. They made love slowly, deliciously, at first to keep from embarrassing their hosts, but they soon forgot all about their surroundings in the pleasure of exploring each other's bodies. That, as much as anything, had been Judy's true intent when she'd decided to seduce Allen. She needed an escape, however temporary, from the immensity of the changes in her life. Afterward, when they lay back against the pillows and Judy rested her head on Allen's chest, she whispered, "Thank you. That was nice."
    "Mmm hmm."
    "It was a good way to end a really strange day."
    Allen didn't say anything for a long time, and Judy had just decided that he must be one of those men who don't talk after sex, when he said, "I have to admit, when I woke up this morning, I didn't really expect to wind up quite like this."
    "I hope you're not disappointed," Judy said.
    "Only that we didn't try this in free fall when we had the chance. Our starship is likely to be a little cramped."
    Judy snuggled closer, sighed. "Free fall is good for acrobatics, but it's hard to just hold someone there."
    "Oh." He was silent a while longer, then said, "I wonder what other myths about spaceflight we're going to wind up disproving once we start doing a lot of it?"
    Judy had been drifting toward sleep. She surfaced just long enough to consider his