Kelly, recognizing a good idea when he heard one, did what she said. The water was cold, bordering on icy, but it felt good anyway. After cleaning up, they helped each other to apply sunscreen on areas that are easiest reached by another. It also included some areas that just felt better when reached by another. They put on their hiking shoes and explored more of Candy's 100 hectares.
They found the source of the spring. It came out of the mountainside about 50 meters above the clearing. They walked into the woods until they reached the cliff edge to the east and to the west. They found a pathway up the mountain side and walked up until they came up onto a large granite outcropping. The outcropping formed a shelf about 12 meters by 20 meters on the top of the mountain.
They stood on the crest of the mountain and stared at the panorama before them. They could see 40 to 80 kilometers in all directions. They just stood there for the longest time staring at the beauty of the forests and meadows and lakes all around them. It was an awe inspiring view.
Candy hugged Kelly around the waist, stretched up, and kissed him.
“As much as I’d like to throw you down and have my way with you in my mountain aerie, I have to get back for an appointment with the builder. Come on. Let’s get the area secured. We can leave everything here. I’m coming back after the appointment. I want to fly around the area some and see what might be around.”
Kelly followed Candy back down to the clearing. They secured the camp and then both dressed in casual clothes appropriate for a meeting with the builder. They hopped in the air car and headed back to base. In a short 30 minutes, they were slowing down to transition from flight to road operations. The wheels touched down and Candy directed the vehicle into a parking space outside a large industrial building.
They walked into the building and were met by Klaus M. Krallen, the general manager of Antares PreFab, Inc. He sat down with Candy and Kelly and pulled up a hologram of Candy’s design.
“Ms. Craddock, I’ve taken your ideas and worked them through our designers, and this is what we’ve come up. We have taken your design and broken it into these five transportable segments. We have hover ships that can carry these segments to your property. Our crew assembles the segments and bonds them together. When we're done, you won’t be able to pick out the seams. The house will be guaranteed to withstand winds of 250 kph. The building will be earthquake resistant. It will be heavily insulated and will be equipped with all the latest and most sought after features.”
Kelly and Candy watched as the five segments were moved about in the air above the table, pushed together, and finished inside and out. The hologram continued to show a walkthrough from the outdoor room and front door to the rear, up the stairs to the second floor, and out through the master bedroom onto the balcony. It was very impressive.
“I’d like to take you back into the shop and show you some of the projects we have in process. It will give you some idea of what we can do for you.”
They both followed Mr. Krallen out onto the shop floor. There were about three or four houses in various stages of construction in the shop. Because they were modular, it was hard to pin down exactly how many.
He walked them through one house that was being built in two sections. It was almost completed. The fit and finish was quite good. Kelly could see the workmanship in the joinery. All appliances were installed and the bath fixtures were in place. They walked over to one project that was just getting started. Kelly could see the plasteel framing and extra bracing used to keep the section in one piece for transport. He could see how it would be able to withstand such high force winds.
They walked around for a bit more until Candy announced she had seen enough to decide to have her house prefabbed. Candy and Mr. Krallen went back to his office to discuss details and financing. Kelly tagged along. At the end of an hour, a contract had been drafted, checked, and authenticated and thumbed. In three months time, Candy would be the proud owner of a mountainside home.
Kelly and Candy thanked Mr. Krallen and headed back to the mountains. Thirty minutes later they were back on the hill. Candy stripped out of her clothes and climbed back into her air car, carrying a couple of towels.
Kelly asked, “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to check out those lakes we saw from up top. I might want to go for a swim. Want to join me?”
Never one to turn down a good offer, Kelly stripped and joined her. When he got into the air car, Candy had already lowered the top.
“Hang on lover, here we go.”
They lifted off the mountain and dropped down into the valley. They flew the north side of the valley from east to west and the south side from west to east. They saw no sign of habitation or evidence of human presence. The scenery was breathtaking, both inside and outside the air car.
Candy gained altitude and turned the air car northwest to the larger of the two lakes they had seen. She flew up to the lake and then made a pass down the center of the lake. The trees were so thick that there were no beaches or shoreline wide enough to set the air car down.
She made her way to the other lake to the northwest. This lake had two islands, one with a large central clearing. There were plenty of places along the shoreline big enough to set the air car down. They cruised along at about ten meters elevation above the lake looking down into the crystal clear water.
She looked over at him and said, “I’m going to set down on that island with the big clearing.”
In a moment, they were down on the island and climbing out to explore. Kelly led the way through a break in the trees to the water’s edge. A warm breeze blew across the lake, causing small waves to slap upon the shore. Some sort of bird was singing in the distance across the lake. Candy walked down, shucked her shoes, and waded into the water. Kelly did the same and joined her. They both kicked off and swam a way from shore.
The water was cool. Candy stopped a short distance from shore. Kelly swam over to her. Colder water from deeper in the lake swirled up around their legs. It felt marvelous.
Kelly and Candy swam back into shallower water. When Kelly could touch bottom he stood up. Candy swam into his arms. Her warm body felt good against his in the cool water. Her lips met his. The kiss went on, but before it went any further she broke away and said, “Come on, let’s get back to camp. I’m not ready to be landing this thing in the dark yet. Besides, it will be a lot more comfortable on the sleeping bags than here.”
Kelly and Candy went to the air car, dried off, and then flew back to the camp.
They awoke in each others arms the next morning, tired, but sated. Kelly led her to the spring and they freshened up. They soaped each other up and took turns pouring cold water over each other to rinse off. It was exhilarating. Then they got dressed in anticipation of heading back to civilization.
Candy made breakfast while Kelly tore down the camp and put things away. He was not as good at packing as Candy, so everything didn’t quite fit back into her duffle. Kelly packed everything into the trunk of the air car. Candy called him over for a breakfast of french toast and freeze dried fruit.
They ate while gazing at the scenery. When everything had been cleaned and cooled down, they packed the rest of the gear away. Reluctantly, they climbed into the air car and headed back to base. Candy let him off near the dry dock holding the Vigilant.
She helped him get his duffle out of the trunk and gave him a big hug and a kiss.
“I suppose I’ll have to wait my turn with all your other girlfriends now before I can see you again.”
Kelly chuckled, “I guess so. I have no experience in how this all works. Why don’t we just play it by ear? You aren’t going to get jealous on me, are you?”
“Jealous, no. I don’t think that will happen. Let’s just see how things work out. I’ll still be living with my folks for the next three months until the house is built. As much as my Dad likes you, I don’t think we could be very intimate at his quarters.”