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Post by ebonyviper on Nov 18, 2008 16:39:39 GMT -5
"This will take time too," said Shale, nuzzling Bree in return.
*****
"Let's just enjoy the races for now," said Delfina, "We'll have time enough to be gloomy later on, alright?"
*****
"Okay, Dad," said the twins as they helped their father to put all of that stuff in his trunk.
*****
Ebony could see that Doris was business with a group of other children. Having an idea, she gently nudged Artemis over to listen to the story that was being read to the others.
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Post by Evangeline on Nov 18, 2008 17:59:54 GMT -5
Doris smiled to them as they entered. She had just started reading a story about a seagull that wanted to fly to the moon, and was trying just about every stratagem to get there, steadily increasing in complexity and absurdity.
"OK." Dawn turned her attention back to the races. The second one was just beginning, with conventional powerboats in Randy's size range. How did I ever get into this conversation?
"Well, that's taken care of." Kendall closed his trunk lid and lifted his rear. "Now let's go back to the races. We'll have to get through some crowds, so stick close to me and don't run off anywhere."
Bree leaned her head against Shale's. "But whatever it is, we'll deal with it."
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Post by ebonyviper on Nov 18, 2008 18:14:26 GMT -5
Ebony settled with her daughter and listened to the story.
*****
'Because Freda mentioned her father,' Delfina sent, having picked up Dawn's thoughts, 'Did that set something off with you?'
*****
"Okay," the twins said with a nod, deciding to stick close to Kendall for now. But they wanted to see that Elsie girl again.
*****
"I know," Shale said with a slow nod, half-closing her eyes.
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Post by Evangeline on Nov 18, 2008 18:33:17 GMT -5
'Some things I just can't forgive or forget.' Dawn ducked and lifted her head. 'But everyone's right, I have to put it behind me.'
It took a while for Kendall to herd the twins to the pier's edge, where the crowds were already accumulating. He pointed out to the docks. "Look, there's Erika and Randy."
"Hi again." Another voice chimed in. Elsie wriggled her way through the larger cars to join them.
Bree gave her husband-to-be a gentle nibble. As a thirtysomething who'd seen all flavors of good and bad in the people she dealt with, she had few illusions or unrealistic expectations. But the problem of Tanaree just couldn't be left to itself. "The next leave I get, how about we go to the interior again, and get them to come with us?"
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Post by ebonyviper on Nov 18, 2008 18:55:09 GMT -5
'Well, the only way to do that is to talk about it,' sent Delfina, 'Get everything off your chest so you don't have to worry about it anymore.'
*****
The twins turned to see Elsie, "Hi."
*****
Shale smiled, "That sounds like a plan."
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Post by Evangeline on Nov 18, 2008 19:28:38 GMT -5
'It hurt when I was on the school basketball team and Dad just didn't show up at our games anymore.' Dawn said. 'It was a huge betrayal. What did that other woman have to offer that he'd just turn around and leave us?'
"There's Tiffany." Elsie pointed to the workboat girl who was moving amongst the small craft gathered in the viewing areas. "You wanna meet her too?"
"We can make plans once we get this taken care of." Bree sighed. She was starting to get tired again and would have to lie down for a while.
As the second race progressed, Erika waited at the staging dock with the other two she would be competing against. She avoided the temptation to size them up, as she was pretty sure they were in the same range of capability, and both vee-hulls like herself. Randy gave her an encouraging nuzzle, and it seemed to her like she could almost feel his mind as well. The sense of euphoria that had followed their early morning interlude had moderated to a sense of being a charged-up battery, which the fifteen-mile trip from Phantom Cove to Villa Hermosa did not mitigate. But what really made her wonder was the feeling, that increased with every time they shared their bodies, that they were sharing thoughts as well.
Finally, the competitors for the third amateur race were called to the starting area. Randy nudged Erika one more time, and gave her a kiss. That, in itself, was almost more intimate than the most private acts of love, but they could do it anywhere. For an instant, the mental rapport flared back, bright as a flame.
'Give'em hell, Babe.'
She didn't break away until the second call.
From her spot at the pro teams' docks, a turbine skater watched the three amateurs take to the course. A strong westerly wind sent ripples across the surface of the bay, and also carried the competitors' scents back to her nostrils. Her light brown eyes studied the #3 boat, finally locking on the girl's own set of orbs. They were a deep violet, not a common color in any species. Her sister had such eyes, and such a build.
That same sister had also been missing for a number of years.
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Post by ebonyviper on Nov 18, 2008 19:54:50 GMT -5
'Well, he might've had the excuse that this woman he ran off with was younger and prettier,' Delfina said, 'It might've been one of his insecurities and one of the reasons why he couldn't stay faithful to your mother. A number of men are like that. Their lust is usually much more stronger than their loyalty to their girlfriends or wives. If that was that was your father's line of thought, than he really wasn't worth it.'
"Excuse me if I am intruding," said Raven, leaning inbetween the two women, "But I think that Erika's race is just beginning."
"Thanks, Raven," said Delfina. She looked at Dawn for a moment, 'We'll talk about this later.'
*****
"Sure," nodded the twins.
*****
Shale noticed that Bree was getting tired. "Do you want to go lay down?" he asked her.
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Post by Evangeline on Nov 18, 2008 20:28:55 GMT -5
Dawn stood up and leaned over the rail, waving to Erika, who looked quite keyed-up and alert as she followed the others to the start line. The race marshal, a dignified-looking yacht type, met them there to give them last-minute instructions. From there, they were lined up between two green buoys, waiting for the 60-second flag to drop, at which point they could start their engines. Jet turbine boats needed somewhat different allowances from those for the piston-driven crowd.
"Tiffany!" Elsie called again. The workboat girl alerted at the familiar voice and threaded her way through the spectators over to the pier.
"Hey," Tiffany grinned. "Are these your new friends?"
"Yeah, these are Falcon and Kestrel." Elsie answered.
"Hi, how ya doin?" Tiffany smiled to them.
"For a little while." Bree nodded. "I'm really getting to hate this, but what can I do?"
Doris finished the story and allowed the gathered children to go off and find books for themselves. She smiled to Ebony as she came over. "So this is Artemis?"
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Post by ebonyviper on Nov 18, 2008 20:39:43 GMT -5
Delfina and Raven stood on Freda's dock, watch.
*****
"Hi," Kestrel and Falcon greeted Tiffany, "We're doing good."
*****
"There's no other way to recover from this," said Shale, "Here, I'll help you back."
*****
Ebony nodded, resting an antenna on her daughter's roof. "Yeah, this is Artemis, my daughter. She's uh... a bit shy. It takes her awhile to warm up to others."
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Post by Evangeline on Nov 18, 2008 20:57:28 GMT -5
"That's OK." Doris nodded. "Quite a few people are like that." She motioned towards the children's section, which had lots of inviting nooks and alcoves and comfortable-looking mats and cushions. Stuffed toys also had a considerable presence. "We've got a pretty good children's library here, and lots of places to sit and read."
"I'm doin' good too." Tiffany showed a half-empty box to Elsie. "Sold lots of stuff."
"Tiffany makes lanyards n' stuff and sells'em." Elsie said to the boys.
At the 60-second mark, the three racers went to full power and started to pull away from the starting line, down a long straightaway to the first buoy of the first turn. They were just about even during this phase, but began to separate as they took the turns. Erika was a close third behind the second boat as they completed the first of forty laps around the 5-mile course, not wanting to expend too much of her energy too fast. She had gone a little wide on the first three turns, but the skills she had learned in childhood were starting to come back by the time she entered the third lap.
From the TerraSearch pit, Dagmar continued to watch, keeping an eye on every move.
On Freda's deck, Dawn followed the racers with her head and upper body as they passed. "She's not doing too bad for having been away from it all that time."
"Thank you." Bree leaned into Shale as they went back to the hangar and her mat.
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Post by ebonyviper on Nov 18, 2008 21:25:30 GMT -5
Artemis looked at her mother, then slowly went forward, as Ebony followed Doris to the children's section.
"I think that's a good idea," said Ebony as her daughter rolled up to the low shelf of books, "Artemis is just like me that she loves to just find a quiet place and sit and read a book."
Her daughter was looking at the books on the shelf.
*****
"Really?" asked Kestrel, "Our Mom gave us some lanyards just last night when Dad brought us over."
*****
"It's like the skills she's known long ago is coming back," said Delfina.
*****
"You're welcome," Shale said, helping Bree back to the hangar and gently lowering her down on her mat, then lay down beside her.
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Post by Evangeline on Nov 18, 2008 22:07:45 GMT -5
Bree responded to Shale's attention by licking his cheek affectionately before drifting off. Greg came and put a shade over her eyes to block the sun.
"I'm sure she'll find something she likes." Doris nodded.
"Yeah, I made those." Tiffany nodded. "I came up with that bead pattern myself."
"She's really focused now." Dawn noted. Erika had passed into second place at the twenty-ninth lap, surging and cutting ahead of the red-and-black male who had previously occupied that spot. At this point, the audience was showing considerably more interest, especially the men. Racing and displays of speed, agility and vitality also figured prominently in powerboat courtship behavior, as dancing was a courtship ritual for humans and cruising for the cars of this world. But this was not a flirty love game. It was for all the marbles as Erika came within stern-nipping distance of the leader and held on like a bulldog for the next eight laps.
"I think she could do it here." Dawn said.
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Post by ebonyviper on Nov 18, 2008 22:28:45 GMT -5
Shale nuzzled Bree and stayed with her even as she drifted off.
*****
"Give her some time," said Ebony.
*****
"Our sister says she likes the one Mom got for her," said Kestrel.
"Now she wears it around her mirror wherever she goes," added Falcon.
*****
"She's doing real good," said Delfina.
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Post by Evangeline on Nov 18, 2008 23:05:41 GMT -5
Guy came up and gave his daughter a gentle paternal nuzzle. For the first time, he smiled to Shale. "Take care of her."
Doris excused herself, turning her attention to the mother of another child.
"I'm glad to hear that." Tiffany smiled again.
"Look at Erika, boys." Kendall nudged them. "I think she's gonna make her move. I can feel it."
"She's very pretty." Tiffany remarked.
"She's wipin' the floor with those guys." Elsie giggled.
Erika took the last turn of the thirty-seventh lap as the opportunity to make her move. She'd noted that the leader, another male in shades of bright green and yellow, tended to go outside on his turns and frequently risked striking the buoys in that direction - that could incur a penalty. The last turn was longer and not so sharp, coming just before the straightaway. A move to the inside had its risks, but somehow she remembered practicing it from childhood. When she saw the leader drift to starboard into that turn, she swerved in the opposite direction and throttled up, catching the surprised male as she steered out to compensate for the yawing that would result. She came within two feet of an inside buoy, but struck nothing. For the next two laps, they were neck and neck, engines keening, mouths foaming, eyes flicking between the course and each other. The third boat wasn't really in it any more.
In the last lap, Erika's rival made a desperation move, swerving towards her to try to put her off her race. She had been reading the signs that he might do this, and she did move alright... forward. He'd had the bad timing to try this on the straightaway, which gave Erika room to turn safely with her additional speed at the end. Still, they were running a very close race all the way to the finish line, with Erika ahead by half of her length when they crossed the finish line.
A wild yell went up, much of it from the humans on Freda's deck.
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Post by ebonyviper on Nov 18, 2008 23:31:16 GMT -5
"I will," promised Shale with a nod.
*****
Ebony watched her daughter look through the books on the shelf.
Artemis finally pulled one out and brought it over to her mother. "Can I have this one, Mama?"
"Honey, this is a library," said Ebony, "I just can't buy it for you. It can only be borrowed and brought back after the a limited time."
"Okay, can I borrow it, then?" asked Artemis.
"We don't have a library card here and because we're out of town," said Ebony.
"Aww..." Artemis had a sad face.
*****
Delfina cheered with her fellow humans. Raven was still a little confused and didn't understand the concept of the boat races.
Freda and Nerisa blew their horns in response after Erika won the race.
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