Post by Evangeline on Dec 22, 2008 21:40:36 GMT -5
This is a snippet of a larger work, taking place very early in Bree's Coast Guard career, years before she met Shale. It's about her "first time" with a man.
***********
As Lou made his exit, heading into the corridor that connected Lowell's quarters to the rest of the camp structures, Bree turned her gaze back to the Sikorsky. "You said that VCR didn't work?"
"The heads are completely screwed." Lowell snorted. "It'll eat my tapes. Not that they haven't already been played to death anyway."
Bree sighed. Her gaze turned to the game table towards the back. "Is that busted too?"
"I dunno, never really played it." Lowell went over and blew the dust off the table's top glass with a metallic snort. He then bumped the ON switch with his nose, and a 16-bit display lit up the surface. "Well, glory be." The menu offered a selection of sixteen games, amongst them poker, blackjack, checkers, crokinole and backgammon. Bree nosed at up-down buttons along the table rim to move the selector to BACKGAMMON. "I used to play this with Dad."
"I never tried it." Lowell admitted, but the storm still raged outside. "OK, you're the expert, show me."
Bree smiled a little. "The object is to bear all your pieces off the board before your opponent does. They're all scattered different places at first and you can block or hit your opponent's pieces. It doesn't take long to do a round, so it's often played in matches where the win goes to the first player to reach a certain number of points. It's a very old game, actually."
Lowell fluffed his blades in anticipation. "I never actually had anyone to play against before, and just going against the machine didn't appeal. OK, I'll give it a go."
Bree took into her teeth one of two control wands nested on the left side of the table surface, and tapped the touch-sensitive glass over the START GAME graphic. The backgammon board immediately appeared, set up for play. "I guess I have the red side. We each start by rolling one die." She tapped the ROLL circle on her side. "Now yours. Higher roll gets first turn." Bree had rolled a 3.
Lowell rolled a 5. "OK," Bree smiled. "You go first with the numbers on each die. 3-5 or 5-3. You move 3 points, then you move 5, or however. You can use the same checker for all eight points, or move one for each number."
Lowell pondered, then his stick swept one black checker from his homeboard, moving it five points. He then selected another checker to move three points elsewhere. The player pieces each moved in a horseshoe pattern to their respective ends to be gathered and borne off the board.
Bree rolled next, getting 3-3. She started to move her checkers out, keeping an eye on Lowell's. She had the impression that he'd catch on rapidly to the strategy of blocking or immobilizing the opponent's checkers, and set her mind to working on countermoves. Lowell, in the meantime, scanned all the possible positions and noted that Bree had left a point with but a single checker that he could send to the bar if he rolled another five. He licked his lips, then finally pressed the "roll" button.
The dice came up 4-2, which didn't give Lowell the move he wanted, but still enabled him to block a couple of Bree's pieces. Bree rolled a double 4, and moved two other pieces over, bumping one of Lowell's to the bar, the dividing area between the two halves of the board. Since Lowell was just learning, there would be no complicated betting in this match.
"You'll have to play the piece on the bar before moving anything else." Bree informed him.
"OK." Lowell rolled 3-2, and moved one piece two and then three points closer to his homeboard and the bearing-off area. Each player would have to get all of their pieces in their respective homeboards before even one could enter the slot to the side. A round of backgammon goes fast; it wasn't long before each was close to getting all of their pieces in.
"That was short." Lowell remarked as he brought his last piece in. Bree had borne three off the board.
"The rounds generally are." Bree answered. "Generally, you play several or more at a time." She rolled 5-5 and bore off another one.
"I don't think I have much of a chance in this one." The Sikorsky admitted.
"You're improving." Bree smiled slyly. "Everyone's a virgin at something."
Lowell rolled a 2-5 and bore off a piece for the first time. "Touche." Bree continued her lead, and won that round handily when Lowell had four pieces left on the board. They played several more rounds, with the S76 gradually catching on to the tactics and possibilities. By the conclusion of the fifth round, the two were just about even as they bore off pieces. It was then that Lowell rolled a double 6 and won his first.
"See, it's not so hard." Bree was not preturbed. "And there's other variants, like Acey-Duecy and one-point matches."
"Maybe a little later." Lowell pondered the board. "Lou should be back again, with our chow."
***********
As Lou made his exit, heading into the corridor that connected Lowell's quarters to the rest of the camp structures, Bree turned her gaze back to the Sikorsky. "You said that VCR didn't work?"
"The heads are completely screwed." Lowell snorted. "It'll eat my tapes. Not that they haven't already been played to death anyway."
Bree sighed. Her gaze turned to the game table towards the back. "Is that busted too?"
"I dunno, never really played it." Lowell went over and blew the dust off the table's top glass with a metallic snort. He then bumped the ON switch with his nose, and a 16-bit display lit up the surface. "Well, glory be." The menu offered a selection of sixteen games, amongst them poker, blackjack, checkers, crokinole and backgammon. Bree nosed at up-down buttons along the table rim to move the selector to BACKGAMMON. "I used to play this with Dad."
"I never tried it." Lowell admitted, but the storm still raged outside. "OK, you're the expert, show me."
Bree smiled a little. "The object is to bear all your pieces off the board before your opponent does. They're all scattered different places at first and you can block or hit your opponent's pieces. It doesn't take long to do a round, so it's often played in matches where the win goes to the first player to reach a certain number of points. It's a very old game, actually."
Lowell fluffed his blades in anticipation. "I never actually had anyone to play against before, and just going against the machine didn't appeal. OK, I'll give it a go."
Bree took into her teeth one of two control wands nested on the left side of the table surface, and tapped the touch-sensitive glass over the START GAME graphic. The backgammon board immediately appeared, set up for play. "I guess I have the red side. We each start by rolling one die." She tapped the ROLL circle on her side. "Now yours. Higher roll gets first turn." Bree had rolled a 3.
Lowell rolled a 5. "OK," Bree smiled. "You go first with the numbers on each die. 3-5 or 5-3. You move 3 points, then you move 5, or however. You can use the same checker for all eight points, or move one for each number."
Lowell pondered, then his stick swept one black checker from his homeboard, moving it five points. He then selected another checker to move three points elsewhere. The player pieces each moved in a horseshoe pattern to their respective ends to be gathered and borne off the board.
Bree rolled next, getting 3-3. She started to move her checkers out, keeping an eye on Lowell's. She had the impression that he'd catch on rapidly to the strategy of blocking or immobilizing the opponent's checkers, and set her mind to working on countermoves. Lowell, in the meantime, scanned all the possible positions and noted that Bree had left a point with but a single checker that he could send to the bar if he rolled another five. He licked his lips, then finally pressed the "roll" button.
The dice came up 4-2, which didn't give Lowell the move he wanted, but still enabled him to block a couple of Bree's pieces. Bree rolled a double 4, and moved two other pieces over, bumping one of Lowell's to the bar, the dividing area between the two halves of the board. Since Lowell was just learning, there would be no complicated betting in this match.
"You'll have to play the piece on the bar before moving anything else." Bree informed him.
"OK." Lowell rolled 3-2, and moved one piece two and then three points closer to his homeboard and the bearing-off area. Each player would have to get all of their pieces in their respective homeboards before even one could enter the slot to the side. A round of backgammon goes fast; it wasn't long before each was close to getting all of their pieces in.
"That was short." Lowell remarked as he brought his last piece in. Bree had borne three off the board.
"The rounds generally are." Bree answered. "Generally, you play several or more at a time." She rolled 5-5 and bore off another one.
"I don't think I have much of a chance in this one." The Sikorsky admitted.
"You're improving." Bree smiled slyly. "Everyone's a virgin at something."
Lowell rolled a 2-5 and bore off a piece for the first time. "Touche." Bree continued her lead, and won that round handily when Lowell had four pieces left on the board. They played several more rounds, with the S76 gradually catching on to the tactics and possibilities. By the conclusion of the fifth round, the two were just about even as they bore off pieces. It was then that Lowell rolled a double 6 and won his first.
"See, it's not so hard." Bree was not preturbed. "And there's other variants, like Acey-Duecy and one-point matches."
"Maybe a little later." Lowell pondered the board. "Lou should be back again, with our chow."
