"Frankly, it looks like the best shot we've got in the locker," Jennlynn said to the rump meeting of senior shareholders in Stan's office two months later. As usual, there was no clean place to sit in any of the chairs but Stan's; some chairs had been shoveled off, a few people sat on tables, not minding what they messed up. Jennlynn had learned the hard way that sitting in Stan's office was a minefield at best, but fortunately the moldy chocolate bar had been cleaned out of her skirt without leaving a spot. Nowadays, when she had to do anything in Stan's office, she stood up. "But, I don't think it's very good."

"That's about how I read it," Sam agreed. "It's a different approach, granted, but the chances of success? Better than on the Mark 7, but I don't want to guess how much better."

"I agree," Stan snorted. "But the Project Office in the Pentagon wants us to give it a try. I'm very reluctant, because I don't want another failure hanging around our necks. On the other hand, it's their money, after all."

"It just doesn't feel right to me," Griz agreed.

"I guess that makes it just about unanimous," Stan nodded glumly. "But I'm getting phone calls every day putting the pressure on us to test. Hell, I'm willing to if they want us to. But there's no point in testing if there's not a reasonable assurance of success. It's almost Christmas. What do you say we declare a few days off? Maybe the rest will help us come back and look at things with a little fresher eye."

"It sounds like a good idea to me," Jennlynn agreed. "But is that going to do anything about the Pentagon bugging us?"

"Not really," Stan sighed. "Look, Jennlynn. What do you say we fly to Washington the first part of the week and try to put some fires out? Tell them to get off our backs for a while? The chances of success are slim, I know, but I'm wondering if it's not worth a try."

"I suppose," she shrugged. "I hate to talk in terms of hindsight, but we never should have renewed the contract last fall."

"I know," Stan agreed. "But we had a new approach that showed signs of working. I guess we got over optimistic. I hate to have to give up, but maybe we should do some preparation. Look, tell you what. Let's blow out of here Monday afternoon or early Tuesday morning, if I can get the right appointments set. It's Christmas the end of the week, people aren't going to want to drag it out over the holiday."

"It puts it off for a while," Jennlynn agreed. "But if we're going to dump the project, I think we're going to have to blow up one more core, just to make our point. Maybe two. If we're going to even bother to go to Washington, I think we need to go with the goal of dumping the project, not just dragging it out for a while."

"You're reading my mind," Stan told her. "I wish I'd never dreamed up this albatross. All right folks, I guess that does it for now. Jennlynn, hang on for a minute, I've got something else I need to talk to you about."

In a minute, the office was cleared of senior shareholders, except for Stan and Jennlynn. "I'm sorry, Stan," she said as soon as the door closed. "This thing going bad is as much my fault as it was anyone else's. After all, I'm the one who came up with Helotes and Greenlee."

"And I'm the one who told you to let them run with the ball," he snorted. "Jennlynn, don't let it eat you; it's as much my fault as it was anyone's, and more. Lambdatron will survive. Our core civilian business is still out there, and this project has taught me all over again how much I don't like doing government work, especially military work. But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. Do you have any plans for Christmas?"

"Not really," she said. "Go up to the Redlite again, I guess. They usually put on a pretty good dinner; we have a nice little party."

"Sounds pretty bleak to me," Stan nodded.

"It won't be the first time," she sighed. Her Thanksgiving hadn't been bad last month, since she'd always spent that holiday out at the Bar H Bar ever since helping rescue Will. She'd picked up Shirley and they'd flown to Ely, where Duane and Ellen had picked them up at the airport. But the family held Christmas down at Chuck and Dorothy's in Las Vegas, and Jennlynn felt out of place there, so she'd only done it a couple times over the years, and then just when Will was there. He was still in Saudi Arabia and wasn't planning on being home, so it looked like another bordello Christmas for her. Things could have been worse; at least she had friends there.

"You hearing anything from Jon and Tanisha?" Stan asked.

"Very little," she said. "We talked a couple weeks ago, Hadley-Monroe discovered a little bug in the die cutter software, and it was easier to just call them up and ask where to look in the code than it was to back engineer everything."

"How are they getting along?"

"Their studies are going great," she said. "Of course, they're lying pretty low around campus, just like last year, so none of their parents can track them down."

"That can't be a lot of fun," Stan nodded. "It's got to be pretty bleak for them. Those are two valuable kids, and I hate to have them think we've forgotten them. I really need to be back here for Christmas with my family, but how about if I fly back commercial? You pick them up and take them somewhere for a few days, just to perk them up. They need to be reminded that they're a part of Lambdatron, and I for darn sure don't want to lose them now."

"I could do that," she said. "They're good kids, and they’ve been handed a tough row to hoe. But where would I take them?"

"Oh, hell, I don't know. Maybe somewhere where it's warm, where there's a beach. Talk to Angela, she has better ideas than I have."

Jon and Tanisha weren't easy to reach; among other things, Jennlynn knew that they only had one phone line into their apartment well off the Georgia Tech campus, and usually there was a computer plugged into it. They never had a phone plugged into the line, since they were never sure who might call and didn't want to be caught anywhere.

They could be reached by e-mail; they checked it every other day or so, and a message could be left for them to call the office. When Jennlynn got back to her desk, she sent a quick e-mail to both jchladek@lambdatron.com and tblythe@lambdatron.com: "If this gets to you before about noon on the 21st, give me a call at the shop. -- Jennlynn." A quick check of the server showed that neither had logged in over the last two days, so there was hope that they might be on pretty soon.

Jennlynn had things to do in the back shop, but spent some time exploring destination ideas with Angela. Afterwards, she told her where she would be and mentioned that for once she wouldn't get pissed at getting a phone call. Several hours later, she got a call from Jon, who said Tanisha was on the line, too.

"Glad I got to you in time," Jennlynn said. "Do you two have anything planned for the holidays?"

"Not really," Jon told her. "We thought about hopping into the Monte Carlo and driving out there, to sort of touch Lambdatron, just to make sure it's still real, but we decided to save the money. Just hit the books, I guess, and watch the second hand go around on the clock until break is over with."

"Yeah, Stan said he thought it would be pretty bleak for you two back there," she told them. "Look, I've got to fly east Monday afternoon, consult with a customer Tuesday and Wednesday, and there may be a session scheduled for Thursday morning. I thought that maybe after it breaks up, I could stop off in Atlanta, pick the two of you up, and we could go someplace warm, lie on the beach and kick back for a couple days. I don't have to be back out here until the first of the week. Sound good to you?"

"Jennlynn," Tanisha said. "I don't think I've had a better offer since I got the letter from Griz saying, 'Why don't you come out to Lambdatron for the summer?'"

"Absolutely, we're up for it," Jon agreed. "Jeez, it'll be good to see you again."

"OK, plan on meeting me at Combs Aviation at Fulton County Airport about one PM Thursday," she told them. "I might be running late, so hang around if I'm not on time. If I run real late, I'll message you on company e-mail before noon."

"Thanks Jennlynn," Tanisha said. "We really appreciate it. Thank Stan for thinking of us, too."

"No big deal, I'll tell you about it when I see you," Jennlynn replied. "Pack your swimsuits, sunscreen, and tasteless T-shirts. You won't need passports, so if you don't have 'em, don't worry about it. I've got a suite sort of lined up, I'll confirm it. Glad you caught me when you did; we might have been playing phone tag until it was too late. See you Thursday."

It was gray and nasty in Atlanta Thursday afternoon, but nowhere as bad as Washington had been. It was nowhere near bad enough to keep Jennlynn from filing IFR and flying in with Skyhook. She taxied the plane up to the fuel pumps, shut it down and told the yard man to top it off while she stood and watched. It was damp and chilly; she wished she'd put on a heavier jacket, but she knew it would only be a few minutes, and it would be warmer where they were headed.

With the tip tanks topped off and a visual check of the filler caps made, she headed inside to discover Jon and Tanisha waiting, with each of them reading cheap thriller novels to kill time. "There you are!" she said. "I figured you'd be out on the ramp, ready to sprint for the plane."

"Guess we didn't see you come in," Jon smiled at the sight of their friend and co-worker, wearing a sharp-looking pants suit. "But, damn, Jennlynn, it's good to see you again!"

"Oh, hell, it's good to see you, too," she smiled. "I've got to file a flight plan. It should only be a few minutes, then we can head for the sun."

It was close to fifteen minutes before Jennlynn had paid for the fuel, spent some time checking weather, filing the flight plan and doing several other things. "Guess that's it," she said. "Grab your stuff, let's go."

Jon and Tanisha hadn't packed very much in the way of luggage, just a couple of small duffle bags, not having any idea of how much they could take. But then, swimsuits, shorts and tasteless T-shirts didn't take up a lot of luggage space. Jennlynn led them out through a side door, through a gate in the fence, and toward the plane sitting at the pumps. As they drew closer, they could see lettering on the nose: Skyhook Aviation LLC. "Uh, Jennlynn," Jon said, not believing his eyes. "I don't know much about airplanes, but I know from hearing you the last two summers that a Cessna 310 has propellers."

"You're very observant," she smiled. "But that's not a 310. That's a Learjet."

"Jennlynn . . ." Jon stammered, eyes goggling. "What . . . I mean, when . . ."

"Neat bird," she said. "One of the older ones, before they hung a bunch of crap on the design that cut the performance. A '64, in fact, but with enough range to cross an ocean. Sort of the classic sports car of business jets."

"Jennlynn," Tanisha said shaking her head. "How . . . how did this happen?"

"Long story," she said. "Let's not stand out here in the cold and yap about it, though; I have a flight plan filed. I'll fill you in when we get up on top of this gray crap. Tanisha, tell you what. I'll let you ride the right seat on the way down; Jon can have the jump seat. You can switch for the trip back, but you gotta promise to keep your hands off of everything."

The Learjet was small inside the cabin; there wasn't even room enough to stand up, but not much standing was needed. Tanisha was soon settled in the right seat, wearing a seat belt, while Jon was in a seat between and right behind the two. Jennlynn slammed and locked the door, settled into her own seat, and started throwing switches.

A few minutes later, they were at the end of a runway, and Jennlynn had clearance for takeoff, "All right," she said to the still amazed pair, "Let's put a few bucks in some Arab sheik's pocket."

She cracked the throttles open, turned onto the runway, then smoothly took them all the way forward. Behind them, they could hear the pair of jet engines spool up to a roar, and they felt the acceleration of the Learjet jam them back in their seats. Jon and Tanisha knew what that felt like, they'd been on airliners -- but this was even harder. After a few seconds, the runway was rushing by at a furious rate; Jennlynn eased back on the wheel, and the nose came up, and up, and up . . . she threw a switch, and they could hear the "clunk" of the landing gear folding up under the plane as the nose kept pointing higher and higher. Up ahead, they could see some texture in the cloud deck overhead, rushing closer quickly. All of a sudden, they were there, things went gray, but Jennlynn calmly guided the plane. Thirty seconds went by, perhaps, and things got lighter. All of a sudden, they burst through into the open, the blue of the sky above them, the clouds laying in patterns falling swiftly below, the warmth of the sun shining in the cockpit. "I don't know about you," Jennlyn said conversationally, "But for me, that's damn near as good as sex."

"Not quite that good," Tanisha smiled. "But pretty good."

"All right, we can talk, now," Jennlynn said. "We're cleared up to Flight Level 330, that's about six miles up. We'll be there pretty soon, and I'll have a few things to do, but no big deal. So how do you like my new toy?"

"This is something," Jon said. "They don't give these things out in Cracker Jack boxes."

"No, they don't," she smiled. "Actually, it's worth something like half a million on the open market, maybe a bit more, but I got a real deal on it."

"What'd you do?" Tanisha asked. "Find some real generous Arab sheik?"

"No, it's a long story, like I said," Jennlynn smiled, and proceeded to give them a short version of how she'd acquired the Learjet the previous fall.

"Never heard a word about it," Jon commented as she finished the story.

"Guess not," Jennlynn smiled. "It came down just about the time you two would have been heading back, and it came down pretty quick."

"Just out of curiosity," Jon asked. "Where are we headed?"

"Gonna do a little over-ocean," Jennlynn smiled. "We're headed for St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands."

Tanisha shook her head. "You know," she said. "When Jon rescued me from my family, I knew I was going to go places I'd never dreamed of, do things I never dreamed of." She let out a sigh and went on, "But I positively never, ever, figured I'd be going on a Christmas trip to the Virgin Islands on a Learjet half again as old as I am, owned and flown by a millionaire prostitute."

"I'd have had trouble believing that when I left home myself."

"Well, thanks for having us," Jon said. "It would have been a damn lonely Christmas without you."

"I knew that," Jennlynn said, rather subdued. "Believe me, you two, I know exactly what it's like. I didn't want to spend Christmas alone either, so I'm glad you're with me."

"Jennlynn?" Tanisha frowned.

"I can get in this plane," Jennlynn said sadly. Tanisha thought she could see a tear forming in her eye. "I can fly it almost anywhere in the world. Hell, we could just as easily be going to Hawaii as the Virgin Islands; I'd have to make one fuel stop. But you know where I can't fly it?

"You can't fly it home, huh?" Jon said understandingly.

"Yeah," Jennlynn nodded bitterly. "God damn, I wish my folks lived out in the country, rather than right in the middle of town. I'd take this thing over the house ten feet over the roof, balls to the wall, then call them up on my cell phone. I'd tell them, 'Hey, you know what that was? That was your never-do-well daughter who you threw out of the house on her ass.'"

It was not a traditional Christmas morning. Tanisha was wearing only sunglasses and a tiny orange thong bikini, lying on the beach in the sun, Caribbean waves were breaking easily in front of her, a drink involving rum and sugar and lime juice and ice at her side, hand in hand with her white lover. She let out a snicker at the thought; it turned into a downright laugh.

"What's so funny?" Jon asked.

"I was just thinking that if my family saw me now, they'd go up faster than the Learjet," she grinned.

"Dad, too," he smiled. "It's almost too bad. It'd be a damn good payback. Ho, ho ho," he added sarcastically. "Mer-r-r-y Christmas."

"Tanisha, working on your tan?" they heard Jennlynn say with a smirk.

"Just letting the sun bake Atlanta out of my bones for a bit," Tanisha said, looking up at their friend, who was wearing a moderately cut, red-patterned one-piece swimsuit. Jennlynn would be a knockout in a bikini, she thought, but who's dressed like the prostitute here? "I don't tan, at least not that I can notice. The tanning booth places have never made a cent off me, and I don't have to mess around with sunscreen."

"Lucky you," Jennlynn said. "I need to keep up at least a little tan, and it's hard to do working inside at Lambdatron."

"I'm really looking forward to being back there," Tanisha nodded. "Only four more months, and a few days. I mean, the end of the tunnel is in sight, now."

"You really do like it there, huh?" Jennlynn said as she sat down in the next lounge chair.

"Very much," Tanisha agreed. "It seems like such a haven from the real world. Jennlynn, when Jon and I got together, we knew we were going to be facing shit from people about the color difference, but it's just not an issue at Lambdatron. I mean, it never comes up. If anything, we're pretty square, considering some of the people running around there."

"Present company included?" Jennlynn smiled.

"Present company especially included," Tanisha grinned. "I mean, I don't want to sound in the slightest bit critical, but, well, we're pretty quiet and straight next to you and your reputation."

"It is a little wild," the tall, black-haired woman said. "Of course, that's a little how I want it. I try not to be too flamboyant about it around Phoenix, and of course, never with a Lambdatron customer outside of Phoenix. In Nevada, of course, all bets are off -- now that I've got the Learjet, it's even wilder. At Lambdatron, yeah, the atmosphere is a little different. I think people there are a little proud of me, if for no more reason than it adds a touch of exotic. But yeah, that reputation can be something of a pain in the ass around town, or on company business. How about you? Do you ever get any feedback on the black and white stuff outside the company?"

"All the time," Jon said. "Usually, nothing much is said, but, well . . ."

"What's unsaid speaks even louder," Tanisha agreed. "Actually, that's the one good thing about Atlanta. We're almost always in sight of each other on campus, just in case someone from our families should show up, and it's clear to others that we're friends, but there probably aren't even three people on campus who know that we live together. There's a few more off campus -- not many -- but we know a lot of people don't approve."

"That's why we tend to stay pretty much together and don't get involved with other people a lot," Jon said. "Of course, we were both pretty much loners anyway, even before we met each other, and it was a miracle we ever found each other, let alone fell in love."

"God, even with that horseshit, I envy you," Jennlynn frowned. "At least you've got each other. The two of you are just so close it isn't funny. I've never seen another couple so close, and I can't imagine what it would be like to let someone else into my life the way you two have. Tell me, do the two of you read each other's minds?"

"What do you mean?" Tanisha asked.

"I've seen the two of you working," Jennlynn said. "God, you two can have a major technical discussion and not exchange twenty words, most of which aren't related, and you leave me way the hell back in the dust in the process."

"I don't know," Tanisha said. "Jon and I usually think pretty much alike on most things, but I don't think we read each other's minds, at least not that I'm aware of. Discussions like that, we're mostly just confirming that the other one is on the same track, or maybe we're guiding each other a little."

"If it's not reading minds, it's damn close," Jennlynn shook her head. "Like I said, I can't imagine what it would be like."

"You don't have a boyfriend?" Tanisha asked. "Maybe thought about getting married?"

"Not for years," Jennlynn sighed as the thought of the guy her parents tried to force on her crossed her mind. "The closest I have to a boyfriend is a guy I see every couple years. We have some good times together, but it gets old if we stay together too long. I guess I'm pretty much a loner, too. Most of the time, what I'm working on or what I'm doing is of more importance to me than any guy would be. I like to put my full attention to things and not get distracted." She paused for a moment, looking out over the Caribbean as she thought. "That's probably why the Redlite is such a good deal for me. It cuts out a lot of messing around and pain, I can give what I'm doing full attention, have a good time doing it, but when I crank up the bird and fly away, it's pretty much behind me."

"I have to say, I can't imagine what it would be like," Tanisha said. "I don't think I could do it."

"I have to admit, it was a little scary the first time I did it," Jennlynn admitted. "And that was after being the champion easy lay at Caltech. It's what I like, and what I am. I don't pretend to understand it. Maybe this is getting a little personal, but tell me -- have either of you ever partied with anyone but each other?"

"No," Tanisha said. "I wouldn't want to, either."

"Me either," Jon admitted. "She's all the woman I care to handle."

"Yeah, you probably wouldn't understand," Jennlynn said. "I guess it's sort of how I'm hardwired, like you two seem to be hardwired to each other. But yeah, that's why I like Lambdatron. I don't see how I could work anywhere else, considering."

"Me either," Tanisha agreed. "The place is incredibly cool, and Stan is pretty cool, too. I owe him a lot. And now, we owe both you and him for getting us away and letting us recharge. We may be loners, Jennlynn, but it was getting damn lonely there."

"It's hard at Christmas," Jennlynn agreed. "Ever since my family threw me out, well, I do miss it a little. If I weren't with you two, I'd be having a Christmas dinner at the Redlite this afternoon. Sarah usually puts on a pretty good feed, and the girls who are around, usually we don't have anyplace else to go, anyway. I may like the Redlite, but a whorehouse Christmas is a whorehouse Christmas; there's no getting around it."

"I guess we've always known you're as much on the outs with your family as we are with ours," Jon nodded.

"If anything, it's a little less for you than it was for me," Jennlynn said, the bitterness floating near the surface, and trying to be reasonable about it. "In a few months it will have been nine years since I was thrown out on my ass. I mean, physically. You two left of your own free will. I wasn't given much choice. And from what I can find out, they don't seem to care. Last fall, I flew the Lear to my tenth high school class reunion, just to show off how well I've done to the kids I went to school with."

"The ultimate dream reunion," Tanisha giggled. "It must have been fun to show off like that."

"It was," Jennlynn grinned, savoring the memory. "And I made no secret about the fact of being a prostitute. It's a small town, I figured the rumor mill would get the story to my parents and let them know that everyone in town knows about it. A few days later I called up the one girl there I know who won't put me down for being a hooker, because she's been one herself, although she keeps it covered up. She said the story was all over town, but she didn't know how my folks had reacted to it. That's really rather disappointing, but I can have my dreams."

"You really want to rub their noses in what they did to you, right?" Jon asked.

"Damn right," she said. "In a way the two of you are lucky. You have each other, and you just fear your families. I hate mine for what they did to me. There's a difference."

"Yeah," Tanisha agreed. "I seem to recall your father is a minister, right? So's mine. I've sat through so many sermons about God's forgiveness that I'm amazed at how hypocritical they are."

"Been there," Jennlynn said. "Done that. I can't speak for you, but they had no forgiveness for me, so I have none for them."

"I really have hope that some day we can at least be civil with our families," Tanisha sighed. "But I don't see it happening any time soon."

"Yeah," Jon sighed. "There's unfinished business to be dealt with there. Maybe someday."

"I've got unfinished business, too," Jennlynn said. "The thing is, I don't know if I want to finish it. And while I don't want to seem rude, talking about it is just going to get me in a bad mood. That's the last thing we want on a Christmas of the exiles."

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