Other:
This has no real point, just a bit of fun.
Special thanks to Keafers for beta'ing this for me!
Tim
O'Neill answered the incoming message. It was from Admiral Noyce, so it
went to the Captain. Captain Bridger took the call in his quarters.
"Bill,
what's going on?"
"Nothing
much Nathan. I have something you and your crew have been needing for quite
some time."
"Please
don't send anymore psychologists. The last time psych evaluations came
in I had a headache for the next 2 days."
"I
saw the same evaluations. You gave the psychologist the most problems."
"I
don't like someone in my head. I have enough personalities with out someone
trying to figure out who is who in my head."
Bill
just laughed. Nathan was supposed to be an example for his crew...he certainly
had been. The head psychologist Dr. Smith had been very irritated at
the
crews non cooperation. Her exact comment was 'I've had kindergartners cooperate
more.' Everyone had been fine, just not very nice to the specialists.
Nathan
had been told that he and the crew were to be more cooperative.
"Nathan,
I have just the thing to help everyone relax."
"What
would that be?"
"There
is a new amusement park opening. They would like the senior crew of the
SeaQuest to come on opening day."
"What's
the catch?"
"No
catch, they have a ride named after the ship, so they feel it's only proper
that you guys attend."
Nathan
smiled, but was still curious what was going on. It sounded fun, but nothing
was ever just that simple.
"Ok,
but when do we have to be there?"
"It
opens next Tuesday at 0800. There will be a special ribbon cutting ceremony
you have to attend, but other than that, your free to have fun. I'll send
the information to you."
"Are
you going to be there?"
"Of
course. I get to see the expression on your face when you ride the CDR."
"The
what?"
"It
takes you 100 ft in the air, then drops you straight back!"
"You
need the psych evaluation, not me!"
They
both laughed. Bill saw a light flashing, telling him he had another call.
"I've
got to go Nathan. I'll see you and the crew on Tuesday."
"Lucas
too?"
"Of
course. He's part of the senior crew."
"Don't
let him know that, or he'll be demanding a large salary."
With
that Bill ended the link. Nathan sat back, wondering what the park was
like. It would be fun to see the crew relax. Darwin was nearly exhausted
by the stream of people coming to see him after the evaluations. There
was only one person that liked the psych evaluations, but that was just
Ben. The man had sat with Dr. Smith for at least 3 hrs. It had nothing
to do with him needing help, he just liked to sit near the young, pretty
doctor.
Nathan
turned to the computer and opened up the files Bill had sent. The park
was set up like most parks. It had a water park and a normal ride park
together. The rides ranged from a simple Ferris wheel to the CDR. He could
just see Ben dragging Katie on that.
The
park would be paying for all their food and they each got to pick out 2
gift shop items. It seemed ok. Darwin would want to go, but he'd probably
settle for something from the gift shop.
Nathan
called the bridge and had Jonathan assemble the senior crew in the conference
room.
The
crew wondered why they had been called together. They knew Admiral Noyce
had just called. Katie looked at Jonathan then said "I hope this isn't
about the psych evaluations."
"I
doubt it is. No one did anything to terrible."
Lucas
walked in, followed by Nathan. Lucas's hair was sticking up in a funny
way and he still had pillow lines on the side of his face.
"Look
it's sleeping beauty!"
"Shut
up Miguel. I went to bed at 0730 this morning."
"It's
1400, you've had 6.5 hrs of sleep." Migs shot back.
Kristen
shook her head, then said "Play nice boys."
Both
men looked at her, then said "No wannah!"
Nathan
just laughed. Lucas took his seat and smiled up at Nathan.
"What's
going on?"
"We
have been invited to the opening of the Ultimate amusement park. We have
to do a ribbon cutting ceremony, but other than that, we're just supposed
to have fun."
Nathan
noted several peoples eyes light up. He read them the rest of the information.
He finished, then asked if anyone had questions. Lucas raised his hand.
"Yes,
Lucas?"
"So
basically we are getting a day to do anything we want there?"
"Yes,
but we have to leave at 2200 when the park closes."
"Cool"
Katie
looked up at Nathan then asked "What about the water park?"
"What
about it?"
"What swim suits are allowed?"
"Any.
They have lockers for your other clothing. It will be warm enough for the
water park. It's supposed to be 90 with 70% humidity."
Tim
groaned at the temperature. He was used to cold weather, not hot. Miguel
didn't mind. He was raised where the normal humidity was near 80%.
Nathan
looked up. "Any other questions?"
"When
do we leave?" Lucas asked.
"The
launch leaves at 0530 Tuesday. Anything else?"
No
one raised there hand.
The
crew filtered out, back to their original duties. They had an extra bounce
in their step, knowing they were getting some much needed leave.
------------------------Tuesday
0530--------------------
The
crew assembled in the docking bay with their bags. They looked excited,
but slightly tired. Lucas and Ben were bouncing, while Crocker and Nathan
were much more subdued. The launch got underway, with Katie piloting the
craft. Lucas had printed out maps of the park for everyone. They had the
times and places to meet marked on them. Kristen made sure that she brought
sun block. She really didn't want to be listening to everyone gripe about
being sun burnt.
They
arrived on time, meeting with the park officials and Admiral Noyce. They
were each given an arm band for their free meals and gift shop items.
The
ribbon cutting ceremony went as planned. The park was very impressive.
It had something for all of them. They decided to ride the SeaQuest first.
It twisted and turned, taking the people upside down. The only thing holding
them in was a seat with a harness, your legs were free to dangle. Nathan
and Bill had to drag Crocker on it. It wasn't bad. Hearing Jonathan
scream "Why did I let you talk me into this!?", followed by Ben's laughter,
made Nathan laugh. They rode the dry rides until 1030. It was starting
to get somewhat hot, so they went on the Ravaging River and the LumberJack.
Kristen was put at the front of the LumberJack. She ended up getting soaked.
Lucas made the mistake of laughing. When they went on the River Queen,
Lucas got even more wet than Kristen. The final ride had soaked all of
them. Nathan, Crocker, Bill and Jonathan had sat in the front. That had
pretty well soaked them. Katie had been smart and sat in the back, so she
wasn't hit directly with water. That would have been fine, except she'd
announced it to the group. Tim and Migs made sure she got soaked on the
bridge that spanned the ride. The wave of water soaked everyone, but they
made sure she got wet. They continued to ride the water rides until
noon. They really did look funny, not one of them was dry.
They
decided to take a break and eat lunch. Kristen watched with growing dismay
at each person's lunch choice. Lucas chose the pizza, Nathan got a chili
cheese dog with fries, while Kristen got a salad with chili cheese onion
rings on the side. Ben got a cheese burger, Tim got just a foot long corn
dog, Migs got the spicy beef sandwich, and Katie got the cheese sticks
in ranch dressing. Jonathan got a ham and cheese sandwich, Bill got the
bacon double cheese burger, and Crocker got a hot dog and spicy fries.
They all got pink lemonade for their drinks.
After
lunch, they walked around to some of the shops, then decided to go to the
water park. Nathan almost fell down laughing at the sight of Lucas and
Tim's legs. They could almost have glowed in the dark.
"Look
at your own legs! I have an excuse, I'm a computer nerd."
Tim
looked at Migs, then said, "Don't even start!"
"But
why? I get to see your lovely pale legs every time you get up!"
Bill
looked at Nathan, then said "Nathan's legs weren't always this tan. He
had legs about as white as Ben's"
Ben
looked at them "I'll have you know, I have beautiful legs!"
Jonathan
and Crocker laughed at the thought of the Captain looking like Ben.
Things
weren't much better in the women's change room. Katie and Kristen were
both in 1 piece suits.
"How
did I get this pale?"
"The
same way I did. Hiding inside on shore leave instead of getting sun."
"I
feel naked without a wetsuit."
Both
women laughed at their conversation.
The
group met at the bridge. Kristen made sure that everyone had sun block
on. They then split into pairs and trios. Nathan, Kristen, and Bill went
to the Lazy River, while Migs, Ben, Lucas, and Crocker went to the various
slides. Jon and Tim went in the wave pool.
Ben
looked at the slides, then asked "Which one do you guys want to go on first?"
"I
don't care, how daring are you feeling?"
Migs
laughed at Lucas. "Daring? I say we try The Quake."
"The
Quake sounds good. It has a raft that you go down in." said Crocker.
Ben
looked at the group, "How about The Slingshot after that?"
"Sounds
great! Lets go!" Lucas said as he turned and ran towards The Quake. The
guys ran after him, glad to see Lucas so energetic.
Kristen
sighed as the gentle rays of the sun warmed her and made her sleepy. She
could have fallen asleep, except that Nathan kept tickling her foot. She'd
nearly fallen out of the raft 3 times because of him. Bill had just laughed
at her.
"Why
are you laughing?"
"I
knew better than to let Nathan near my raft. He would have had me flipped
over in no time."
"I
would have done nothing of the sort. It's not my fault that you can't balance."
"My
balance has nothing to do with flipping anything over near you. You nearly
drown me when we went canoeing."
"You
fell out. What did I have to do with it?"
"You
tipped the canoe."
"No,
you tipped it trying to grab that stupid bobber."
"Well,
at least I didn't flip the entire canoe trying to save my cigarettes. God,
that water was cold. I almost got pneumonia from that little swim"
Nathan
laughed at the memory. They had only been 17.
"What
time of year did you two go canoeing?"
"We
decided to go on April 1. We knew the water was cold, but I hadn't planned
on swimming."
"Like
I had! Nathan, my mother had a fit when I got home. She asked what fool
things we'd been up to!"
"We
got back in one piece."
Kristen
laughed at their bickering. "Do you two always bicker this much?"
Both
men looked at her, then Nathan nodded. Bill smiled back.
"Oh
no you two don't! I'll make sure at least one of you drowns."
"What,
we just smiled at each other."
At
that moment, Kristen's raft flipped. Bill and Nathan tried to get clear
of her raft before she surfaced. She came up sputtering, then grabbed her
raft. Hopping back on, she looked at Nathan and Bill.
"Pay
back is going to be rough." Kristen said smiling.
The
pair just smiled at her, then said "Yes, Kristen."
Tim
and Jon found where the figure eight rafts were, then headed to the pool.
"How
far out do you want to get, Tim?"
"As
far as we can. I love to let the wave carry me back in."
Jon
looked at Tim, then asked "Where are your glasses?"
"I
have them in a pouch that is tied to my swim suit."
"Won't
they get broken?"
"No,
if they can survive Miguel knocking them off the desk and occasionally
stepping on them, I don't think this will hurt them."
"He
stepped on them?"
"Twice.
One time really wasn't his fault. I used to leave them hooked on the side
of my bed. I guess they fell off during the night. He stepped on them,
screamed like a girl, then made sure they weren't broken."
"Screamed
like a girl?"
"Yeah,
it was really funny. He made me swear not to tell anyone."
Jon
laughed at the smile Tim had on his face. It was one of complete innocence.
"Let's
go, before you get both of us in trouble with Migs."
"I'd
never do that..." With that statement, Tim grabbed the raft and took off
toward the water.
The
group met back at the bridge at 1750, having been through the water park.
They headed back to the change rooms and met back at the entrance of the
water park.
"Did
everyone have a good time?"
"Yes
Sir!" was the shouted answer.
