Saving The Mission, page 6
part #1 of The Race to Space Series
Ed hung up and put the phone down. Well that wasn’t as bad as he expected. He had calmed the dragon for now, but Andrea and Tim would be a clash. Two big egos battling it out for the limelight but he could act as a mediator to make them get along. It could work.
Ed dialled Sarah. “Yes, Mr Dayton.”
“Sarah please block out my calendar, I will be at an out of office meeting all morning and possibly afternoon.”
Sarah replied, “You do have the board in tomorrow.”
Ed wondered how he had yet another meeting with them. It seemed to be a daily occurence. Ed hated the relentless meetings, he now knew the reason why he didn’t manage to get any productive work done was that he was always stuck in meetings. “Reschedule it, Sarah, this is important.”
Sarah replied politely, “no problem, I’ll reschedule it for the day after. Where shall I say you’ll be?”
Ed replied sharply “You don’t.” He hung up.
Ed began to process the day. He felt like it had been a good one, he had found a way out, a way to commit to a final push. Ed knew that this was his last chance to make this work. He would lose the race and most importantly his business if it failed. Ed began to prepare for his meeting ahead, which mainly consisted of preparing to battle with the two egos, trying to please them both. He looked out of the window as it was beginning to get dark outside. Through the glass, he could see all the twinkling lights of London and at the same time, he could see his own reflection. Looking like a ghost in the night sky. He looked like he had aged twenty years in the last couple of months. He could see all his lines under his eyes. He ruffled his hair to try to get some style back into it and sighed. He decided it was time to go home and rest for the big day ahead.
11.
As Ed climbed the stairs to his apartment, his thoughts pondered the day’s events. On reflection, he felt somewhat conflicted as to if it had been a good day. On the one hand, he had secured the mission’s short term funding so he was in a better position than a couple of days ago. However, something about Ruth’s words played on his mind. Ruth was never normally wrong about these things, she had a good business instinct and could always see when someone was flogging a dead horse. Regardless, he had no choice, he had to take the gamble. If he didn’t, then it was all over anyway, so Ed didn’t believe he had much to lose. As Ed entered his flat, he heard Lanette’s voice coming from the bedroom.
“Ed? Is that you?”
Ed wondered callously if she had gone back to bed after he left and had only just woken up. “Hi, Lanny.”
She bounded through into the passage wearing her skinny jeans and short sleeved blue top, which was baggier than her normal clothes, but she still looked beautiful.
“Your home early.” She smiled and skipped up towards him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “I was thinking of spag bol tonight, what do you think?”
He doubted it was cooked from fresh and most likely shop bought but tried to make the effort. “Sounds lovely. I’m going to the gym first.”
Ed went into his bedroom and got changed into his gym shorts and a baggy running top. He then put on his running trainers and looked in the mirror and thought to himself that if he didn’t go to the gym now, he probably wouldn’t bother again. He left his phone upstairs but still proceeded to wear his smartwatch and wireless headphones, just in case someone called. He then went downstairs to the gym area. The gym was small but very modern. Everything was equipped with electronic screens which could be synchronized with your mobile phone to keep an eye on progress. Ed smiled to himself as he knew there was a reason he had left his phone upstairs. He doubted that ‘you haven’t even tried’ was a setting on the app. He walked in and saw two other men, several years his junior, who looked like they used the gym frequently.
He started on the treadmill and proceeded with just a light jog. He could already feel his extra bit of belly fat that he had gained recently wobbling but started to feel better already. As he jogged, he listened to an upbeat dance track to try and keep a quick rhythm. Just as he felt his heart rate quicken, his watch suddenly started to buzz on his wrist. He looked down and saw it was a number he didn’t recognise. He turned off the treadmill and swiped towards the green icon on his watch to accept the call. “Hi, it’s Ed” he answered questioningly.
“Ed Dayton? It’s Stan Swift. I’ve heard you prefer to be called Ed the knobhead. Bit of an inside joke here at NASA.”
Ed thought to himself that Felix was right, this guy certainly was an all American jackass. Stan had a Texas twang to his accent, although Ed could tell that he had tried to hide it. Ed wondered if he’d gained the accent whilst at NASA or if he really was born and raised in the deep South. The accent made Ed mentally picture Stan as a man in a spacesuit with an American flag draped around his shoulders saying “ye har!” Although the mental image made Ed almost burst out laughing, he snapped himself out of his own humorous thoughts. Ed proceeded to walk out of the gym to the questioning stares of the other two younger and fitter men in the gym who had clearly heard some of the conversation. Ed waited in the reception area where the doorman was waiting, “Hi Stan, I’ve heard a lot about you.”
He heard a hearty laugh. “Well Ed my man, we have sure heard a lot about you. We’ve heard that you have some crazy idea you can take a civilian into space by winning a TV show. I remember the good old days when you used to win a speedboat playing darts. The world's gone mad. You remind me of a President we once had; all talk and no idea how to put his plans into action. In fact, maybe they all are a bit like that. Anyway, Ed, Felix told me of your plan and said you were crazy. I’ve got to say he came to the right man. Folk around here think I’m all kinds of crazy but I know how to get the job done. Anyway, it’s a good job that one of those good men you killed was my good friend Zak otherwise we wouldn't be having this here delightful conversation. I feel I owe it to Zak to not let those god damn Russians win this race of yours. I’ll help you Ed the knobhead, on one condition.”
Ed was intrigued and elated at the same time. He knew this guy would be a nightmare to work with but no-one else would go near Ed after the test flight and Stan could thus demand exactly what he wanted and that position of power made Ed nervous. “Name your price Stan my man.” Ed could only imagine the demands that would come next. He waited with bated breath.
“Well there is my obvious fee of $1m, which I would want a downpayment of say $250,000 before this whole shindig starts, but that is a given, right Ed? From what I’ve heard that’s a drop in the ocean for a big shot like you.”
Ed looked up the spiral staircase, everyone always thought he had plenty of spare money. If only they knew the truth about how much Dayton Space had taken from his capital. Thankfully that was one thing Ed had managed to keep out of the headlines.
“My main condition is that I choose and design the tests solely with Brady. He’s in by the way too. I guess he’s too young to know a doomed mission when he sees one, that’s one thing Felix can’t teach you. Not that he doesn’t try. We want no corporate input, no staged arguments or fake news. This will be controlled by us and only us. We are not going to make this project another ‘The Group’ knock-off, this is going to be about the science. That my friend comes with a sub-condition.” There was a pause. “That we will choose the candidate. I don’t care for your voting system, we are not having some wannabe who can sing real good but would throw up all the way and want to go home the minute we left Earth’s atmosphere.”
Ed paused, it was nothing he didn’t expect and yet it made him nervous all the same. He was giving control of his project away to someone who sounded like a loose cannon. He knew that he was getting intriguing looks from the doorman who had heard part of his conversation and glancing looks from the residents in the corridor passing him. “I don't know Stan. The whole concept is based on the fundamental principle of public choice. If they can’t vote for the winner, that kind of defeats the object. Channel 3 wouldn’t allow it.” Ed knew he was fighting a losing battle, Stan had him by the balls and could play him like a violin, hell if Stan wanted him to, he could make him sing the American National Anthem in his pants on the first show to make this project go over the line and he knew it.
“Well Ed, it’s up to you my man. You could hide the truth about the vote of course. Perception is key. If people think they are in control then who is to say they aren’t. Not that I would advocate that course of action of course.”
Ed already knew the answer to this “There are regulations over here Stan, we have to release voting information.” Ed was pacing up and down in the corridor outside the gym. Ed was sweating more than if he was in the gym. This was a crucial moment in getting the project over the line and a crucial moment in the potential fraud of millions of votes. Ed could hear Stan’s tone and the growing impatience in his voice.
“Well, Ed you need an insider to tidy it all up then. I’m sure a man like you has contacts for that kind of thing. Do we have a deal?”
Ed knew his answer. It was the only answer he could give, but let a bit of silence hang in the air to try to grab some of the power back he seemed to be constantly giving away lately. “Ok, I’ll sort something. Pleased to have you onboard Stan.”
“Alrighty then Ed the knobhead. I will see you in a week’s time at your office to begin the plans. Make sure I get a decent hotel in London, you know something swanky. It’s not often the Dayton’s pick up the tab I hear but I’m sure you’ll make an exception. Send the details to Felix.”
Ed swiped his watch to end the call. It always came together in the end. Ed proceeded to walk back into the gym, passing the questioning stares of the younger, fitter men around him and went back to the treadmill. If he ran long enough he could feel like he was running away from all his problems. Ed felt like he was making progress but at the expense of moving two steps forward and one step back. Each time an issue got resolved another two would appear. Ed was also aware that his desperation to get this project moving meant that he was sacrificing a piece of his soul to the devil. Agreeing to a new level of criminal activity. People used to be able to rely on his word but after this project was done that would be meaningless. Ed knew that if people found out that the voting was rigged, the whole country, the whole world, would know a bit more about who Ed Dayton really is.
12.
That night Ed slept the best he had slept in months. He always did when he wore nothing to bed, it gave him a sense of freedom. He woke up at around 6am next to Lanette and for the first time in months, he woke up feeling refreshed. He looked over at Lanette as she slept peacefully. She was wearing a light blue silk nightdress but nothing else. He stroked her hair and took a lone strand of hair behind her ear and kissed her cheek. She let out a light moan and Ed could feel his heartbeat quicken as he realised that the blood was being pumped to his penis. He then proceeded to kiss down her long neck and she moaned and woke up and turned to him. Ed bent down and kissed her deeply with his tongue caressing hers and feeling the moisture pass between them.
He then proceeded to kiss down her neck and chest and reached over to caress each of her breasts as he did so. Ed could feel that his penis was hard and that his arousal was overcoming him. He then mounted Lanette and guided his penis between her legs. She was moist and ready. Ed slipped inside of her and the sensation overcame him. He swayed at a gentle pace with their moans in perfect synchronization. She turned Ed over and mounted him. She took off her nightdress to reveal her beautifully curved breasts which had been moulded that way and her slim figure. She moved up and down him and he loved the way she looked as she moaned and her cheeks turned rosy. He could feel himself ready to climax and turned her over and began to quicken the pace until he came.
Ed then slipped himself out of Lanette and lay next to her. She turned on her side and looked at him. “Well good morning to you too!”
He looked at her and kissed her again. Ed thought, when she looked like this, she looked so youthful and carefree. This was the Lanette he had fallen in love with. The act of love always connected them despite their differences. He looked her up and down and kissed her from her belly button up her body to her mouth and said “Morning.” It was amazing how different he felt. He realised that with all the stress, he had not paid any attention to Lanette and how much he missed their intimate relationship. She kissed his neck while caressing his arms and feeling for the muscles that used to be there.
“Do you have to go in this morning, Ed?”
He tilted her head up to meet his eyes and said “Yes Lanny. I’ve got a big meeting today, it’s all coming together. All thanks to you.”
She looked surprised “Me? How do you mean?”
He stroked his hand on her arms gently and looked at her. “Let’s just say you gave me a good idea.”
She laughed and leaned closer to him and hugged him. “Well, then I guess you owe me.” She guided his hand down between her legs and Ed started to tease her gently but then pulled away. She let out a frustrated moan and lay on her back beside him. Ed pulled back the covers of the duvet and put his legs over the side of the bed and prepared himself to get up and get ready.
“What’s your meeting today? With the board again? I honestly don’t know how you put up with it Eddy.” He felt her arms close around his chest and he turned to face her. He held her close to him and stroked her back feeling his fingers down her spine so he could almost feel each disc in her back.
“No, it’s with a TV studio this time Lanny. It’s quite exciting.” She looked up at him and into his eyes searching for information.
“It’s with that Andrea woman, isn’t it? You know she’s always had a thing for you.”
Ed carried on to stroke her back “I know, but could you imagine!” Ed put on his best smoke filled raspy voice “Oh Ed I want you” at that he could hear Lanette laughing. “I’ve got to get ready now Lanny. I’ll see you tonight. If it goes well, I'll take you out for dinner.” She smiled and looked into his eyes “Oh Ed, I would love that.”
Ed released her grasp and climbed out of bed. He walked across to the bathroom and got in the hot shower. He felt so much better after his run, even when putting his body wash on, he felt that there was less belly fat than yesterday. It was all psychological but it still felt good. As he closed his eyes and wiped his face and let the hot water wash over him, he felt a presence next to him as Lanette walked into the shower. She kissed him each under the hot shower and he could feel himself getting hard. They had sex there and then again up against the shower wall. Ed felt himself again. He felt alive.
13.
Later that morning, Ed left his apartment and walked down the spiral staircase to attend his meeting. Before he left, he had looked at himself in the mirror. He had done his best to make himself look handsome for Andrea by wearing his favourite light grey suit which fit Ed well and hugged his figure. The suit was a slim fit and particularly tight-fitting around his arse. He had matched it with his light grey tie. Wearing grey always made his blue eyes stand out and catch the light. He needed to make a good impression in this meeting and playing on Andrea’s emotions was a good way to get a head start. Ed entered his Audi, which glinted with a silver shine in the sunlight as if to match his general appearance. In important meetings, Ed knew those first impressions where everything.
Ed made the journey to Channel 3 headquarters which was another tower block located in the Holborn area. The area was quite picturesque and away from the main areas of London. Having been there before, Ed knew that at the very top of the tower you could see into inner London and the majority of the bends of the River Thames. The headquarters was located near Lincoln’s Inn park and through his darkened windows of the Audi, Ed could see young people (probably students) reading in the park in the early morning sunshine. Ed thought how good it would be to be young again. To have the ability to do what you pleased and when. With a taste of resentment, Ed thought about how lucky those people were to have age on their side. They could have more than two glasses of wine and still think clearly the following morning. How time catches up with you. You can try and defy the effects time has on the body but it still affects the mind all the same and we all get to an age when we just feel tired.
As Ed’s car approached the headquarters, he let out a grown. Ed wondered how this could have happened again? Only a select few people knew about this meeting and yet as he looked out of the tinted window he noticed that a huddle of press were gathered outside yet again. Ed wondered if it was Andrea trying to increase public speculation already, but even then that was unlikely given that at the moment, any connection to Ed Dayton would only give one kind of publicity. Ed decided that it was likely to be Tim. However, would Tim want all this attention before he had anything agreed? Would he want to be seen doing a deal with Channel 3 when his own company FriendFinder had aspirations to branch out into their own online entertainment, it seemed doubtful. Tim was right about one thing, they had a mole and a big one. Ed knew he had to keep his cards close to his chest from now on. One publicity slip he could allow for but continuously battling the press was a bad sign.
As he made his way through the press he heard shouts of “What’s the deal with Channel 3 Mr Dayton?” “Are you and Andrea having an affair?” “Is this the last straw Mr Dayton?” His chauffeur assisted Ed to fight through the crowds and he made his way into Channel 3 headquarters.
14.
Ed looked at the reception area around him which was very similar to his own. It had a long reception desk near the lifts, with big glass windows and doors at the entrance. However, unlike Dayton Tower, the outside walls were blocked out. The building was quite old in style, like office blocks used to be. Ed approached the desk with two receptionists sat behind it, one female and one male, greeted him with a smile. They both wore Channel 3 uniforms with the female receptionist wearing a necktie and the male wearing a matching tie. They must have both been in their early twenties. The male receptionist greeted him with a light voice for a man. He had short brown hair and was very immaculately groomed. He expected as much from an office run by Andrea who expected the best.
