Sisterhood Of The Smoker Babes, Part 15

Writers Note---Those that enjoy a good science fiction story know that they
need to suspend their beliefs of the real world and allow for the possibility
of things that are out of the ordinary. You will need to do that when you
read this story. With that being said, while the science fiction stuff is
mostly a product of my imagination, many of the smoking scenes are in fact
based on real encounters and sightings that I've experienced throughout
my life. Some have been modified to fit the context of the story but others
remain mostly intact as they actually occurred. Lastly, when reading this I
suggest that you pay attention to the timeline as it is critical to how
you'll draw your conclusions over the story's ending. My email address is
hotelcalifornia14@hotmail.com if you wish to discuss or comment on the story.
I hope you have as much fun reading this as I did writing it.


          SISTERHOOD OF THE SMOKER BABES-THE SMOKING WAR CHRONICLES

CHAPTER 15 - June 8, 2011 - A Major Shakeup at RJT and a Surprising Alliance 
    Cray was furious. He didn't have to say anything, the beet red color of
his face said everything. I arrived with Erin and within five minutes he was
barking at me to follow him to his office. Erin gave me a worried look but I
squeezed her hand and after handing her an ashtray, told her to wait for me
outside Cray's office. I could see her through the window from inside the
office and tried to reassure her with a smile. I sat down and braced myself. 

    Cray didn't waste anytime with his "I'm going to get right to the point"
line. 

    "Goddamnit godddamnit, goddamnit," he screeched and pounded his meaty
fist on the table. He took a sip of water. "Goddamnit, goddamnit, goddamnit,"
he repeated again as he tried to figure out where to begin.  "You've really
put me - us - in a tough position here." I started to say something and he
cut me off.  "The number one rule we have here is to not change anything -
ANYTHING!!" he shouted. 

    "Well I didn't actually change anything--" I started to say. 

    "YOU BROUGHT A FUCKING GIRL BACK HERE FROM 1979!" he screamed. "YOU'VE
CHANGED EVERYTHING!" He took another sip of water and calmed himself down to
a low boil. "When Falconeri and the senate committee hear of this, both of
our asses are going to fry!" 

    I made a motion asking if it was ok to smoke. I took a quick look out the
office window and saw Erin dragging nervously on her cigarette. I felt bad
that her first moments in a strange place were being spent this way. 

    "What the hell were you thinking?" he went on. "Do you know what you've
done? THAT girl ain't supposed to be here. There's no telling how much you've
fucked up the order of things." He paused for a second. Again I started to
say something. "Goddamnit, your profile never indicated you would do such a
thing." 

    We sat there for what seemed like an hour but was probably only a couple
of minutes. "Consider yourself suspended, and by the time the president finds
out about this we'll probably both be fired!" It continued. For the next ten
minutes he continued to rant, and rant, and rant. I'm not sure exactly when
but at some point I began to tune him out. He was an idiot, a figurehead that
as far as I concerned had no real role in what we were doing. I wasn't sorry
for what I'd done. I looked out at Erin and saw that she was lighting another
cigarette with the butt end of the one she was finishing. Chaining like that
was even unusual for her. I was just getting ready to get up and walk out on
Cray when the door burst open. 

    "CRAY, ENOUGH FUCKING ALREADY!" It was Cameron, and Falconeri was right
behind her. 

    Great, I thought, More people to read me the riot act. 

    "Mike, can you wait outside?" Cameron said, "We'll be with you in a bit." 

    I went outside and hugged Erin. She had a worried look in her eyes and I
told her not to worry. For the first time I felt like an ass however. She was
still an 18 year old kid and this had to be scaring the hell out of her. Even
though I was still in my 18 year old body, I'd had the benefit of
experiencing 30 more years of life and all of the corporate bullshit that
comes with being fifty years old. I briefly wondered if bringing her here was
the right thing to do. 

    After what seemed like an eternity, the door opened and a visibly shaken
Cray stormed out. As he passed us he flashed me what seemed to be a hostile
look and headed to the elevator. 

    Erin looked at me and I looked at Cameron and she motioned for both of us
to come in. "Cray's an ass," Cameron started, 'Don't worry about him." She
turned to Erin, "I'm Cameron, and this is Decker," she said as she pointed to
Falconeri. They both shook Erin's hand and offered her a drink and we all sat
down. 

    "Cray's been reassigned," Cameron started as she lit up a cigarette.  "Go
ahead if you want, it's ok," she said to Erin. For the first time since
Cray's tirade I saw Erin start relax as she lit up. "Anyway, I was saying,
Cray's been assigned to another post in the organization, away from the
project. It was going to be done sooner or later so it may as well be sooner.
Decker has appointed me in charge of the day to day stuff around here so the
first thing I want to do is to apologize to Erin for Cray's behavior." Decker
and Cameron exchanged a glance and Cameron nodded and said, "I got it from
here," and Decker left. 

    "Cam," I started, "I'm sorry if this put you in a bad position. I didn't
set out to break any rules or change the natural order of things, stuff just
happened and we fell in love and it seemed to be the only way." 

    "Hey, don't worry about it, I peeked in every now and then." Erin and I
exchanged a quick, rather horrified glance. "Don't worry," she said with a
smile. "I didn't see anything inappropriate. Truth is, from what I saw from
the two of you, I would have done the same thing." 

    "Well, it was actually my idea," Erin started. 

    "Of course it was," Cameron said smiling. "Women are always the ones with
the brains, aren't they." The two exchanged a grin and the mood lightened
further. 

    "There's this idea I have." Cameron said and looked up in the air as if
she was looking for the right words. "See, I'm thinking the two of you could
make a great team. You know what we do here Erin, right?"

    "Yeah, Mike told me everything, I think it's kinda cool, actually, though
I'm still not sure how all this works," Erin reached for another cigarette,
Cameron pulled out her lighter and after first lighting up Erin, lit herself
up as well. 

    "So, my idea is this. The two of you go on some missions together, that
is, if you're interested, and we see how it goes, though I have a feeling the
two of you are going to be amazing," Cameron said. 

    The two of us looked at each other. Erin flashed a beaming smile. I knew
she was in. 

    Cameron went to the computer and started punching something on the
keyboard.  "There's this girl... Mike, she was going to be your next mission
anyway but she was going to be a difficult one to bring over. But see the
thing of it is, the ones that are the hardest usually end up being the best
once they come over to the our side." She finished typing whatever she was
typing and something was coming off the printer. It was a picture. "That's
her, your first mission as a couple," she said, sliding the picture over to
me. 

    I stared at the picture for a few seconds as all kind of thoughts ran
though my head. I recognized her immediately. And all of a sudden, something
that seemed to completely defy logic when it happened a couple of years ago
made perfect sense. 

    The meeting was over and we got up to leave. Erin started to shake
Cameron's hand but Cameron hugged her instead. At first I thought she was
trying to make her feel welcome but then she hugged me as well which I
thought was a bit odd, although I did enjoy the intense smoky smell that
seemed to be a permanent part of her body. 

    Erin and I walked out of the office and got on the elevator. Cameron told
us to take a week off so Erin could get acclimated to her new surroundings. A
lot had changed in thirty two years. 

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