Home » The Archives » Chapter 12 » Playing with Fire
| Re: Playing with Fire [message #447 is a reply to message #446] |
Mon, 23 July 2012 20:58   |
artisticrainey
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Registered: July 2012
Location: Northern Ireland
Karma:
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Field Commander
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Friday, October 12, 2068, just before 2 p.m., Tracy Island
Reaching into the box, Cassie took the last few books out and placed them on a shelf on the bookcase she had bought last week. In between her training, she had managed to find time to put the bookshelves and desk together. Luke had come over to help put the two wall shelves up, as well as helping her with the curtains in the living room. As she was still in the process of painting the bedroom wall, she hadn't put up the curtains in the bedroom yet.
Picking up the empty box, she placed it near the door. The things she had shipped from the city had arrived today, which meant she had boxes sitting in various places around the apartment.
There were two boxes sitting on the kitchen counters which held the bake pans, utensils and decorating tools she had accumulated over the years. The saucers and dessert plates she had bought to go along with her teacups were in one of them, too. She had managed to find saucers and plates that had matched the red of the cups three years ago.
There were still three boxes sitting on the floor near the entrance where she had told Virgil, Gordon and John to set them when they had brought the stuff up to her apartment. One of the boxes she knew had the CD's and vid discs she had packed away. The second had her cheerleading trophies and plaques from high school, her high school diploma, and NYU degree, as well as a few stuffed animals she had saved over the years. The third box sitting there was a mystery. The return address was that of her parents, which meant her mom had probably sent her something to keep herself from worrying.
Two boxes containing the rest of the clothing she felt she would need on the island was in her bedroom. One was her winter clothing, which she planned on just simply sliding into the closet until needed. Virgil and John had also placed the vanity in its spot against the wall near the bathroom door. The box holding the mirror was leaning against it. They had offered to put it together while they were there, but she wasn't sure where the screws and brackets had gotten packed. She and Mark had gotten the vanity packed and ready for shipping and then she had discovered the brackets and screws hadn't been packed with it. Instead of opening it and repacking it, she had packed them away in another box but she couldn't remember which one. Gordon had promised to come back later to help her attach the mirror as at least two people were required to accomplish that feat. As for her guitar, she had taken it into the second bedroom to keep it out of harm's way.
I'm going to be busy tonight if I want to get this stuff put away before Tin-Tin comes over for tea tomorrow, Cassie thought as she looked at the boxes sitting near the entrance. She glanced at her watch. Well, I'm not going to get anything else done right now as it's time to meet with Virgil.
Grabbing her laptop, which held her notes and sketches for her proposal and was already in its carrying case, Cassie left the apartment and headed toward the monorail. She met up with Nikki who was leaving the Cliff House area too. The two women shared small talk while the monorail moved along its track. Remembering the invitation she had received on Wednesday, she brought up the subject, telling Nikki she'd be there and that she'd bake some holiday theme cookies for the party.
When she reached her destination, Cassie said good-bye to Nikki, who continued on toward the Villa. Cassie arrived at the simulator before Virgil. She walked over to a table near the one wall and got her computer out. To pass the next few minutes while she waited, Cassie glanced through the notes and sketches she had created in some last minute preparations. She wanted to make sure she presented her ideas well to him.
"I was hoping you wouldn't get too involved unpacking and lose track of time," Virgil said lightly, as he came into the room a few minutes later, causing Cassie to look up.
"Are you kidding? I was glad for an excuse to put it off. I hate packing and unpacking."
"Doesn't everyone? You ready to begin?"
"Sure. I've also got that proposal for you ready," Cassie said, indicating the laptop in front of her.
"Great, let's go over that first. I'm curious to see what you've come up with," he replied as he walked over to stand beside her.
Cassie nodded, glad to get this over with before the training session so she wouldn't be preoccupied. "My idea is actually a mixture of some traditional firefighting equipment and what IR already uses," Cassie told him as she brought up her first slide of the presentation. "Current aerial firefighting techniques include the use of dropping chemical fire retardants or water from the air, like shown in this picture of a airplane filling up the Bambi Bucket, which has been in use since 1983. These buckets have the advantage of being able to refill while the aircraft is still in flight whereas with the chemicals, once the supply runs out the plane needs to return to base."
"Properly used, chemicals can be more effective against a fire than water which is why I suggest we use a gun type design, like the rear gun on the Firefly." Cassie switched to another slide. "The gun, mounted underneath Thunderbird 2, would be able to shoot the dicetyline onto a fire from the air. Now, I'm no engineer so exactly how this would be accomplished is beyond my expertise."
"Are you suggesting using both the gun and the Bambi Bucket?" Virgil asked her.
"No. The drawback to using the dicetyline is we can't keep an endless supply of it on board Thunderbird 2. This is where the inspiration from the Bambi Bucket comes into play. If we design another feed for water, which both the Firefly and Fire Truck are capable of, and some kind of pump design so a tank can be filled with water from a nearby source of water while still in flight, we have back-up ammunition if the dicetyline runs out."
Virgil asked a few more questions, all of which Cassie answered. Some of them covered details that she hadn't thought about in her initial planning, such as where to place the dicetyline tanks on board Thunderbird 2, but which would be necessary to see the project through.
"I think it will work," Virgil said, impressed with the effort Cassie had put into the brief idea pitch. "The engineering details will need to be worked before we present it to my dad but I think this would be a great addition to our arsenal. I'll get to work on the execution part of the idea when I come back from, Paris," Virgil told her. I'll get Brains involved in it too, he added silently to himself. "Meanwhile, why don't we get started on today's training session?"
Cassie nodded as she closed the open programs on her laptop and put the computer into hibernate. That done, the two headed over to the simulator.
Posted by starrynebula on February 27, 2008
  
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