Home » The Archives » Chapter 12 » Playing with Fire
| Re: Playing with Fire [message #496 is a reply to message #495] |
Mon, 23 July 2012 21:17   |
artisticrainey
Messages: 1228
Registered: July 2012
Location: Northern Ireland
Karma:
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Field Commander
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Saturday, October 20th, 2068, 10 a.m. Tracy Island
"So have you ever been on a boat before?" Brains asked Cassie as he handed her a life jacket.
After discussing the issue several times since Tuesday morning, the two of them had decided it would be best not to hold the live fire training exercise on the main island. Instead, it would take place on one of the smaller islands in the area. Brains had taken Cassie on a fly-over of the islands on Thursday as she was unfamiliar with the area. They had used that trip to narrow down the choices. Today, they were taking a boat out to get a closer look of the terrain on two of the islands.
"Other than a ferry, no," Cassie told him, taking the life jacket from him. She put it on and looked at the motorboat they were standing in front of. "Somehow, I don't think this is going to be anything like that experience though."
"Well, you're definitely right there," Brains replied before going over some basic boating safety with Cassie.
When he was done, Brains climbed on board the motorboat. He then turned and extended his hand to Cassie to assist her on board. Cassie took the hand offered to her and stepped from the dock to the boat, feeling slightly apprehensive and excited at the same time.
As Brains untied the boat from the dock, Cassie took a seat in one of the seats. When he was done his task, Brains took his place behind the wheel of the boat. "Are you ready?" he asked, looking over at his passenger.
"Ready as I'll ever be," Cassie replied.
Brains nodded as he started the boat. He stated to maneuver the motorboat out of the boat pen and into open water.
"Atoll number 2 is closer. I know that was our second choice, but I figured we'd check that one out from the boat first and then go on to Neverland. If you want to take a closer look at either of them let me know and we'll go ashore."
"Okay," Cassie replied, with a nod as she looked around her taking in the scenery. With the sun glaring off the water she was glad she had remembered her sunglasses and FDNY cap, which she had secured to her hair with clips to help keep it from blowing off in the wind.
Other than a few fluffy white clouds here and there, the sky was clear. "You know Brains, I'm a bit concerned with how dry everything is," she commented, looking over at the scientist. "If it doesn't rain before then it wouldn't be wise to do the live fire exercise as it will just increase the chance of it getting out of control."
"The thought has crossed my mind as well," he admitted to her, having come to the same thought himself when he was in Kyrano's garden the evening before. "It's unusual to go this long without rain here and I'm sure the trend won't last too much longer. There's no point in worrying about something we can't control. If things are too dry when we go to set up on Tuesday then we scrub the exercise."
Cassie nodded, knowing he was right. However she didn't get a chance to reply as Brains pushed the throttle forward, speeding up the boat. After her initial surprise, she sat back in the seat to enjoy the boat ride.
xxxx
"We're approaching Neverland," Brains called out, shouting to be heard over the sound of the boat and the wind.
They had already checked out atoll number 2. Cassie had found the island less suitable from sea level then when she had seen it from the air. She was hoping that this island, which had been her first choice anyway, wouldn't turn out to be the same way.
She lifted the binoculars they had brought with him to her eyes, even as Brains slowed the boat down as they approached the shallower waters around the island.
Not for the first time, Cassie wondered about the island's name. Deciding there was only one way to satisfy her curiosity she decided to ask the question that had been on her mind since first hearing it.
"How did the island get the name Neverland? That's the name of the island the Lost Boys from the Peter Pan story lived on isn't?" She asked thinking about the story her dad's father had told her when she was little. It had been quite some time since she had heard the story.
Brains nodded as he started to answer.
"The island officially just has a number designation, but as we tend to use the island for some extracurricular activities, Gordon decided that was boring and wanted to give the island a name. He liked the Lost Boys' concept of never growing up, so he picked the name Neverland." Taking one hand off the wheel, he pointed to the shore. "This is the side of the island where we usually have our paintball wars," he informed her as they approached the east side of the island. "The forests on the island and the heavy brush make it a good location for the game. As you can see, the island has quite a bit of rocky shoreline. However, there are locations on both the east and west shores that Thunderbird two can land on as well as being able to get close enough with a boat. The southern shore doesn't have much of a coastline, while the north end of the island is all cliffs."
"Well, let's check out the western side of the island," she suggested, dropping the binoculars. "The others might not appreciate it if we burn their paintball playground."
"You've got a good point there," he replied with a grin as he maneuvered the boat to the south end of the island.
Cassie saw what Brains meant about the southern shoreline. There was only a thin strip of beach before the brush and trees started taking over. Large areas of the shoreline were also very rocky. As they came around to the west side of the island, she lifted the binoculars again to scan the terrain.
This looks like it would be a good place for the live fire exercise, she thought. "I'd like to go ashore and look around," she called over to Brains without lowering the binoculars.
"Sure," he replied, turning the wheel to head the boat toward the island.
Posted by starrynebula on April 25, 2008
  
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