International Rescue: The Next Phase


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Re: Playing with Fire [message #498 is a reply to message #496] Mon, 23 July 2012 21:18 Go to previous messageGo to previous message
artisticrainey is currently offline  artisticrainey
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Registered: July 2012
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Luke and Alex made their way through the jungle, Alex often pausing to show the older man a bird, insect, or other bit of island wildlife. Rommel trotted alongside them, nose quivering at all the new scents.

They continued down the path, Luke content to stay quiet and listen to Alex's chattering. The sound reminded him of his nephew, who was also around Alex's age. Smiling to himself, he let Alex lead him towards what looked like a small pool. As they got closer and the foliage parted, Luke realized it was actually a good sized lake, complete with waterfall at one end.

"See! I told you it was big!" Alex piped up.

Luke chuckled. "Guess I owe you my cookies then. Why don't we have lunch now, then see if we can catch any fish." They sat down on a group of rocks and Luke doled out the lunch Grandma had made. "These are great!" he said as he bit into his.

Alex grinned. "Grandma Tracy makes the best sandwiches. And you should taste her chocolate cake!"

Luke paused mid-bite. "Did you say chocolate cake?" The boy nodded. "I'm a sucker for a good piece of cake." Rommel whined, and Luke tossed him a bite of ham.


The two finished their lunch, then Luke unpacked his fishing rod. He reassembled it and then glanced at the water for a few moments. He selected a fly from his case, and cast out over the water. He had a few hits, but nothing took the bait. Frowning, he reeled in and chose another fly. Still no luck. "That's really weird," he mused. "I should have at least had a few good bites."

Alex nodded. "I'm not surprised. Most of the freshwater fish here are in the catfish family. Or the types you find in aquariums. There are a few species of perch in Australia though."

Luke looked impressed. "Wait a sec, what about all the trout fishing in New Zealand?"

"I think the fish were brought in sometime around the beginning of the century."

"Stocking." Luke nodded thoughtfully. "You know, this would make a good trout pond. There's enough aeration with the waterfall, and see this?" He knelt down and parted the weeds at the edge of the pond. There were some grayish tubes in the water, attached to the plant stems. "Do you know what these are?"

The boy thought a moment. "Mosquito larvae?"

"Right! So that means there's plenty of food for the fry and the larger fish."

"But there aren't any larger fish."

"But if we stocked this ourselves, there would be. It would take a couple of years to get the population up enough for them to support themselves, but it could happen. And, it would take care of the mosquito population too."

Alex leapt to his feet. "Great! Let's do it then!"

Luke chuckled. "Hold on there, sport, it's not that easy. First of all, we need to do a little homework."

"Homework? Yuck!"

"Yes, but we have to. OK, say we just throw some brown trout in here. Suddenly, what local fish there are there, start disappearing. And, what if there aren't any other fish like that anywhere? Or, what if the mosquito larvae that the trout eat are actually supporting something else?"

Alex sobered. "I never thought of that."

Luke nodded gravely. "A lot of people don't. That's why I'm here. Well, one of the reasons anyway. While I was primarily hired to be part of International Rescue, my 'official' job is to survey the impact Tracy Industries has on the environment. Whether that's building a new facility, or checking on an existing one. All it takes is a shift in one part of an eco-system to destroy it." Then he smiled. "Tell you what, why don't you help me? We can do some studies together and if we think it'll work, we'll approach your dad and get some real fish in here."

Alex brightened. "Sure! We can take water samples, record what wildlife uses the pond, keep a record of water levels, all kinds of stuff!"

"That's the way." Luke glanced out over the water again then grinned down at the boy. "Right now, last one in is a rotten egg!"

With a yelp from both, and a bark from the dog, they leaped into the water.

Posted by lillehafrue on May 3, 2008

Dom plainclothes heartbeat Luke plainclothes

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