CH 74
On the evening news, the picture of a mer beside a boat showed in a smaller window beside the news anchor.
"The question of whether mermaids are real or not had been answered by the Florida International DNA center. A Marine biologist known only as Dana, sent in DNA samples of what she is calling 'Homo Aquaticus'. Dana had done DNA sampling and testing herself, but sent samples to the International DNA testing center to verify her results. Scientists say that Chimpanzees are our closes relatives at 98% the same as us, but Homo Aquaticus has shown to be 99.98% similar to us. Basically, they are the aquatic version of us. From the reports, they can also speak as we do also, which no land ape can do.
As to the location of where these mermaids were found, that is secret information at the moment to protect the members of this species that have been located. From what we understand, the area is not safe for people. Possibly that is why these mermaids are there, where I understand the pollution level is very low, or non existent.
The discovery of these Homo Aquaticus also puts into question the entire human ancestry the way modern science portrays it. Where these mermaids come into the human tree of evolution will certainly be interesting to see.
And now, let's look at the weather..."
John was waiting for the flack to come.
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Joan wasn't thinking about informing people of mermaids, she was waiting for the LA VS Denver game. LA was their next opponent, and she wanted to see how they played in the field. The whole week, she studied, practiced with Allison at her house and OK, they fooled around with Bob a bit too.
Friday night, Joan got a call.
"Joan."
"This is Coach Baker, is Allison around too?"
"She's right her, put her on?"
"No, put your phone on speaker."
Joan did. "OK, Coach, Allie's listening too."
"I want both of you to watch the upcoming LA and Denver game. We'll be LA's next opponent. Pay special attention to the LA offense and defense. I want to hear what you think of them, especially any players that stand out. The rest of us will be watching also. After the game, think about it, then call and tell me your options of them, and where you see strengths and weakness. If they have the same teams as last year, I expect LA to walk all over Denver. That may or may not happen."
"Will do, we were going to watch anyway," Allison said.
"Good. Call me back later, I want you know what you both think. See you at the stadium."
"Bye Coach." they chorused.
Allison grew a big grin, "He wants to know what we think about their team!"
"Let's give a complete of a report as we can," Joan replied. "We need to watch it with no interference."
"Bob's house, he can take notes for us."
"YUP!"
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Bob set up the living room for serious TV game watching. Thankfully, his mother wanted to see one of these games also. What frustrated Joan was there was only one game per week, so They would play a week and go as long as a month and a half before they had their next game. That also meant that for the regular season, they would only play 5 games, then IF they got in the playoffs, and If they won to go for the Cup, that was only 2 more games. With such a schedule, the number of wins and the amount of points they got mattered. If they and another team won all their games, but the other team had a few more points, then the other team would go to the playoffs.
Chips, dip, wings, soda and Cheese puffs were on the table, as was Bob's note pad when Joan and Allison came over. Of course, they came by lake in their tails and Joan didn't even get bitten along the way. She was careful about that now. Bringing their light robes in waterproof bags, Joan and Allison sat center couch, waiting eagerly for the game to start. Bob sat to the left by Joan, Claire sat by Allison.
Once the ridiculous amount of commercials were over, Jack an Jay came on to announce the game.
"Jay, I haven't seen any turnover on the LA team, have you?"
"No, Jack, Denver only has one new player, a running back. I fear it's going to be last year all over again. I think if Denver can grab a couple touchdowns, they will be doing good. Last year they got ran over."
"They did. A 82 to 6 score is not good. They have gotten some new coaching staff, let's hope that helps them against the LA offense."
"They needed offensive help also," Jay added.
At the kickoff, LA kicked the ball hard and high. By the time a Denver player got it, she caught it in the end zone and took a knee. That put them in their 15 yard line. "Joan, look a the two LA centers." Allison pointed out.
"I'd say five seven, five eight and muscle bound," Joan said scrutinizing them. "Line breakers."
At the hike they did. The pair called the 'Jackson twins' all but pushed the defenders aside. A fast pass by the Denver quarterback got the ball off to a receiver, then got tackled by both. The runner made two yards before she was brought down.
"Ouch," Bob said with a wince.
"She threw the ball, they tackled her anyway," Allison noted. "They aren't suppose to do that."
"Hurt the quarterback, I bet that's their strategy," Joan said.
Three more downs and Denver managed five yards. Joan also noted their quarterback had gained a limp. "This ain't good."
Jay said, "They are outside the 15, so Denver can't even punt."
Denver tried an pass, the quarterback got the ball off before she was bowled over again, but a LA safety caught the ball. With some blocking, she ran it into the end zone. Touchdown LA, score 6-0.
LA they went for the two extra points back at the ten yard line. A pass and the receiver caught it. 8-0. It was Denver's turn to try again, still on their 15 yard line.
"Joan, those Jackson twins are staying on the field every play," Allison noted. "The safeties are also switching from Safety on defense, to receivers on offense."
Watching Denver's feeble attempt to gain yardage in the next four plays and only get 8 yards, Joan noticed something. "Watch the Jackson twins, they always stay beside each other to break the pocket. On offense, they do the same, but pretty much stand in place to keep the Denver defense back. They are not super fast, but they are strong.
"I see that. The receivers / safeties are always hot on the ball also," Allison added.
Watching the painful first quarter as Denver got pummeled, Joan said, "Line jump."
Allison eye her. "Over the Jackson twins?"
Joan pointed and said, "Not over them, to the side. They are always pushing hard through the line. Look at the right side defense, they try to get through, and get held up. Shotgun position, I meet the ball running, jump right over the line, You go out our left side and cover that safety. I land and next stop, end zone!"
"Yeah, OK, I can see that working," Allison agreed.
"Bob, did you get that?"
"Got it."
"They are also using the same four players all the time on the field. We keep them running and tire them out." Allison said.
"By the third quarter, they will be exhausted," Joan agreed.
Joan felt bad for the Denver team at the and of the game. 77-0 was a humiliating loss. After the game was over, she called Coach Baker and told him the things they noticed during the game, including LA's pocket was never close to being broken. She made some suggested plays and personnel shifts for the LA game. Including she thought he should keep her and Allison out on the field the whole game. At least for the first quarter if not for the first half.
He told he he'd take her ideas into consideration. Joan was pumped.
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They were coming into May, and the sheriff was being asked about the pig hunt they usually did in the spring. The trouble was, he couldn't find any. Aliana went searching, if she found a small pack, she just killed them. Either they had obliterated the pig problem, or the pigs were getting smart enough to just not come around the area.
Some good news was the young Littleton's knew they needed lots of help fertilizing and getting arbors reconstructed if they were going to have a good crop. They were eager to hire the migrants workers and whoever else wanted to to help. JJ, Peggy, Louise and Jackie helped on the weekends. Cameron's bank supplied the Littleton's with a promissory note for payment after harvest, for 7%, which covered the cost of the workers they needed.
The sheriff was also surprised how well Aliana was acting. A couple weeks ago, he stopped by the church during the day when only the priest was around, and lit a candle. He knelt down. "My Bonnie Heather, I know it's not your birthday, I just have to confess I'm ... with someone else now. Who knows, I might not even got to Hell. I'll never miss your birthday, but I'm finding having someone is ... well, I need to. I hope you understand. Ramirez, make sure you take care of her, you overstuffed Haggis."
He got up and went out to see Aliana in human form, waiting by the car. She gave him his hat, and a kiss.
"You are a very sweet man, Connor," she said with an impish smile.
"And you are too damn sexy to leave alone."
"Why thank you!" she beamed.
.
With help, the repairs and fertilizing was done except for the daily requirements. Sunday, instead of going to the BBQ and swim party on the lake, JJ and Peggy partied with the Mexicans at her younger parent's place by the buses. They ate Mexican food, learned and danced around a couple bonfires with the Mexicans and Peggy's younger parents, drank a tequila mix and had a wonderful time. After Jackie came and drove them home, they got in some good loving before they passed out.
The only thing that sucked was they had school in the morning.
The next day, Mika went out to survey their land, just to look at it. She did note their long straight rows of arbors, as well as saw some of their older mate's arbors that still had places that needed repairs. Looking at their new, smaller house, she ached to go over and knock on the door to ask if they wanted help. She knew what the response would be though. Hate and insults. It was a crying shame they were like that.
On this side, in their 40% of the land, they were ready to grow tons of grapes all the way down the lines. On the other side if the fence, with damaged arbores and some vines sagging, and looking brown, Mika thought they might get maybe half the harvest in. It used to take all of them with the kids to get a good harvest in. On this side, they had help. They had friends and workers. It really was a crying shame the older ones would not see the light and change their ways. The only ones they were hurting, were themselves. She sniffled her way back to the house, feeling bad for her ex-mates.
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Daniel was at the fencing center and saw poster for the tournament coming up mid June. He was hoping Jackie could come enter. Finding an instructor, the man assured him everyone was welcome to enter. He filed this information away and went through his exercises Jackie had shown him. At first, he thought they were silly, hop in place using only his feet and calf muscles. This did tighten up his calves and his lunges were a little faster. Another was moving, staying on the balls of his feet and not letting his heels touch the floor. Again, this helped build up his calf muscles. He also found if he got used to doing this by habit, it was easier to stay on the balls of his feet.
Everyone here was still talking about Jackie's bouts. That she beat the girl's champion quickly, then faced one of the best fencers with her off hand, switching to attack with her right hand only at the end, showed great skill. Montgomery himself was impressed. Usually no one was able to fence very well, if at all with their off hand. Word of her fencing got around, and the better fencers all wanted her to come back to have a bout with them.
Daniel wanted Jackie to come just so he could spend time with her. He still listened to the song Jackie had made for him. It was a beautiful song by his beautiful Jackie, a girl one did not want to underestimate.
Besides his normal studies and practicing swordsmanship, Daniel was working on the official 'lineage' of humans. He noted through the ages there were changes in apes, but they still had the low foreheads and thick bones. even the real tall one called Homo Erectus, had a bit more human shaped skull, but the thicker bones and extra arm length was still there. Homo Erectus was also a giant, much taller that humans. There was not one specimen that looked all-but human. This was the missing link that all the professors digging in the dirt were trying to find. He had to do an essay for this year, so he did it on this, and put pictures in the paper, as well as his determination on why humans may be related to apes, but as cousins, not direct lineage.
After he wrote about why humans were not directly related to apes, he put his own theory down. Why humans have the thinner bones, are able to speak have the long hair on our heads and very little on our bodies and why the PH and salt content of human blood matches that of sea water.
Proudly, Daniel turned his paper in. His teacher read it and grew a smirk. "Daniel this was suppose to be factual," she told him.
"It is. Everything I put down is true," he replied.
"So, you think we came from these Homo Aquaticus?" she asked with a smirk.
"The ... what?"
"I saw that news piece. Living mermaids, they are called Homo Aquiaticus." she told him.
Daniel sat up. "That was on the news?" he asked.
"You do know there are many who think it's an elaborate hoax."
"No, they aren't a hoax, I know," he said defensively.
"Now how you do know?" she asked.
"Because I saw one!" he stated. "They can speak and besides having a tail, kinda different face and gray skin they do look like us!"
The teacher rolled her eyes. "So, can I go see one of these myths?"
Daniel paused and frowned. "No." he grumbled. Pointing to his paper, he said, "Still, everything I put down there is TRUE. You can look it up for yourself if you don't believe me."
"You do know the fact we descended from apes is a proven theory."
"No, it's what people believe. There's no proof and many discrepancies to that theory," Daniel countered.
"Daniel, we are the next step in the evolutionary chain."
"Not the ape chain. Show me one ape that can speak. Show me one ape that does not have the thicker bones or is not munch, much stronger that we are. Show me a single ape, that does not have the heavy brow ridges and low foreheads that we don't have."
"There is no need to become combative," she said sternly.
"There is no need to disregard proof when it is supplied," Daniel countered.
The teacher rubbed her forehead. "I'm about to send you to your room."
Daniel sat back and eyed her. "So that is how you deal with facts you don't like to hear? Prove that one thing on my paper that isn't right. Just one, an I'll apologize and shut up."
"Very well then," she said and got up. "Begin your math work, I'll return shortly."
.
Daniel did his math, not that he liked it. It was something to concentrate on to not think about his stubborn teacher. He was doing the last problem when she came back in. She sat down, not bothering him until he finished.
"I called a University in Boston, a professor I know there," she said evenly. "He told me that Chimpanzee DNA is 99.1% the same as human DNA. He also told me the samples they did of this Homo Aquaticus is 99.98% the same as Human DNA, there is very little difference between them and us. He is thinking about calling it an offshoot of human that took to the sea, most likely during the ice age. He will not say that it is our ancestor. Still, this find is real, and very closely related to us."
"Told you."
"You said you saw one?" she asked.
"I did. It was talking with Jackie. I was right there."
"Where was this?"
"Jackie made me promise not to say."
"I can see why you would believe these creatures are our ancestors. For your research and effort, I'll give you a 100 on this paper. You did well."
Daniel beamed, he'd won a disagreement with his teacher.
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Dana was waiting for the run on her door or Cameron's door now that the word was out that mermaids, or rather, Homo Aquaticus was real. While scientists discussed it, there was only the one blurb on the news. Politics seemed to over shine this amazing discovery like it did with everything else. That was fine as far as she was concerned. She got the word out with no major problems.
Eye sore from making the complete PH and temperature map of the lake, Dane decided to got for a walk. Heading for the door, she noticed Chomper coming over. OK, so he wanted to go too. She went out on the porch, Chomper came out the door then followed her to the gate. Before she opened it, she took a close look around the yard, scanning for any other alligators of snakes. What she didn't do was look up.
She heard a thump of something hitting the porch floor. Chomper hissed. The Rat snake behind then was big, about six feet long. He struck and grabbed Chomper's tail. Chomper swung his head back and bit down on the middle of the snake.
Dana backed away from the animal fight. The snake let go of his tail and bit Chomper behind his eye. Chomper shook his head and tried to drag the snake. He stepped on the body and shook his head again. The snake was bleeding. It let go and tried to crawl away briefly. Chomper opened his mouth some and leaped along the body of the snake to get part of the snake body deeper into his mouth, and bit down hard. The snake struck him again, on his shoulder.
Chomper turned his head side to side, then rolled over. The snake held on, now squirting blood. The snake body behind Chomper's grip was limp. The snake again tried to crawl away, then tried to strike again, this time slower. Chomper opened his mouth enough to clamp down hard again.
Dana then saw how an alligator eats a snake.
Chomper bit the snake in half. A shake of his head separated the front half of the body and spilled more snake blood on the floor. The front part of the snake tried to crawl lethargically away and stopped. Chomper tore the piece in his mouth away from the rest of the body and tipped his head up to swallow it. He went over to the now limp part of the front and tipped his head sideways to get it in his mouth. After he ate that, he turned around and ate the rest of it. The blood on the floor was smeared over the area the fight had taken place in.
Chomper was a messy eater.
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The end of May saw the Connor kids getting ready for far-flung summer adventures. JJ and Peggy were going to spend more time at 'the farm' to help her young parents do some improvements. Jackie was going to visit Daniel to join the Fencing tournament and Joan was going to go start her football career with Allison and Bob. Louise wasn't leaving, but she would spend most of her days in advanced piano classes, and near the end of the summer, would be performing in a concert.
John just had to get used to the fact their kids were growing up. This was stressed to him when Joan came home from school with 'Big' news.
Running in the back door, she cried, "Moms, Dad!" Beaming a big smile at her mothers who came out to see what the excitement was she asked, "Where's Dad?"
"I'm here Joan," John told her as he walked in.
Clenching her fists in excitement, she proclaimed, "I am going to be the lead quarterback in our game against LA! Jesse has a broken leg and will be out for the rest of the season! See, Gina isn't bad, but she can't pass the best or has the speed I have. She will stay as second string, but I have the lead position!"
"That's great!" Cameron cheered.
"That is great," John agreed.
Delilah pumped a fist. "YES!"
.
The beginning of June was studies for the final exams. Joan, Bob and Allison studied together at the dinning room table so the parents knew they were studying school work and not just each other's biology.
Jackie came running downstairs with a letter. "This is GREAT!" she cried. "I got a letter from Daniel, he says that Montgomery is willing to do the PB fight on the cliffs with me for an exhibition before the tournament begins!"
"You've got to send us a copy," Joan said. "I wish I could be in that."
"Me too. Montgomery is a little slow, he wants to do Indigo. That's fine, I don't mind being the Man In Black," Jackie beamed.
"But, you're a girl," Bob noted.
"Glad you noticed," Jackie replied and stuck her tongue out at him.
"Actually, at that point in the movie, Wesley doesn't say who he is. He might well be a girl," Joan pointed out.
"Wouldn't that make the rest of the movie a little odd?" Allison asked with a giggle.
Jackie snorted. "A little embarrassing during the Pit of Despair scenes."
They all chuckled.
"I bet guys would like it," Bob said offhand, then noted he was getting three sets of stares. "What?"
"Boys, thinking with the little head," Allison said with a smirk.
"Yeah, the little head thinks too hard and it explodes," Joan said in a mussing tone. This time, the girls laughed.
Jackie announced, "You watch the little head explode, I'm going to go get my Man In Black costume together."
Cameron poked her head out of the living room. "What's going on out here?"
"Nothing, Mom," Joan and Allison chorused.
.
While the rest of the students were studying for their finals, Joan and Allison were taken to empty class room to take theirs.
Impatiently waiting the results, Mrs. Hughes waited for the tests to be graded and they final scores calculated. Upon getting them, she went back to the class room and announced. "Congratulations, Joan, you passed with a 93 average for the year, Allison, you passed with a 92. Good work!. Next period, bring your books to the office and turn them in. By then, your graduation certificates will be printed. I have to go tell your coach you both graduated, he is biting his nails, hoping you passed."
"Doesn't he have any faith in us?" Allison asked.
"He does, otherwise you wouldn't be first string. He just wants to make sure you'll be there."
.
No matter how happy Joan was at leaving to go play football, returning to her desk with no books was really strange. It was hitting her that for her, school was over. Everyone in her class, her friends, she was going to be leaving. Mr. Nader made the announcement that Joan Connor and Allison Young had graduated, and were going to Austin to be the lead quarterback and left wing receiver for the Austin Acoustic football team to play their first game on the 15th. It would be on the NFL channel, starting at 7 PM.
Leaving school turned out to be much more teary eyed than Joan thought it would be. She and Allison hugged everyone in the class room, including Mr. Nader and Mrs. Hughes. She promised a few of them she'd go kick LA's ass.
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John got tickets for the whole family for the Austin / LA game, Including Carol and Bob, since he knew Bob wanted to be there too. By the schedule, they had time to make the game, then go north and go watch Jackie in the Fencing tournament. That didn't start until a week later, and Jackie could still get there early to practice the exhibition beforehand.
The next morning, Joan got packed up early, she she was ready to go at breakfast. She went down to feed the alligator one last time before they sat down to eat. John questioned her to be sure she had everything she needed. After breakfast, Cameron made sure.
At the door on the way out, Joan's lip trembled. She turned and plowed into John to hug him. "I'm going to miss everyone!" she cried. She hugged both her mothers, Louise, JJ and Peggy.
"We're coming to watch, so you better play your best," Cameron told her.
"I will! Did you get front row seats?" Joan asked.
"We did, we don't want to miss anything," John told her.
"See you at the game!" Joan said, waved and left before she had another crying fit. She had gone to Austin before, why was it so hard leaving now?
Joan drove to pick up Allison to find her clinging to her parents s they said goodbye. Allison got in and wiped the tears off her face. "They are coming to our game."
"We'll have a full cheering section," Joan said with a grin.
That was more true than Joan knew. Being the first football stars from Driftwood, so many people were coming, two charter buses were scheduled in town to pick people up game day.
A final stop at Bob's house where he was waiting for the bus to get out and give him some hugs and kisses, and they were off.
.
The trip didn't seem quite as long this time. Being late morning when they got to Austin, the traffic wasn't quite as bad either. Since they were on the team now they could stay in the team dorms. The man at the lobby counter gave them side by side rooms and told them they were expected out on the field right after they changed into their workout clothes.
The moment they got their things put away in their hotel type rooms that included a bathroom and their own desk and chair and a sitting area on a balcony, they got dressed in workout clothes and went down to the field.
At first, it was the routine stretches and warmups. After a run around the outside of the field, The coach blew his whistle and called everyone together.
Once they gathered, he announced, "Listen up! Our new quarterback is here, this is Joan Connor. Our new left side receiver is Allison Young. We have a tough game coming up in couple days. LA is a tough team. They also love to get their opponent angry. Snide comments, pushing, they try anything allowed to get good players kicked out of the game especially if they are behind on points. DO NOT fall for it! They will try to get you to fight. Joan, once they see you perform, I am sure they will try anything to get you booted, or taken out. Watch yourself!"
Holding up his clip board, he said, "Joan has a coupe plays she thinks will be game winners. I looked at them, and they could be if they work. We all know about the Jackson sisters on the LA team. They are big, they are strong. Joan's ideas are designed to bypass them completely. We are going to give those ideas a try here. Patty, Carla, you're defense centers. Make like the Jackson twins, try your best to sack Joan. All right, line up on the field here at the 20."
Joan got the offense together in a huddle. "We take the shotgun position. Tight front line except for Allison. Allie, left side, run your ass off in the hike and watch me. Everyone else, set up to block."
"Joan, we do that and their left side safety will be coming at you."
"Yup, that's what I want. If Parry and Carla get through, they do."
Another girl giggled. "You are so gonna get run over."
Joan winked, "that's what I want them to think. "let's go!"
They got in position. Joan, back five yards from the line, yelled, "Hike!"
The ball came at her, she ran towards it, Patty got through. Joan raced at the line to the right. Patty was about to take her down and Joan jumped. Legs spread, she hurdled the line and ran, Allison covering her.
"SHIT!" Patty spat as she grabbed at air. She forgot Joan could do that!
In the clear, Joan raced to the end zone, Allison behind her watching for pursuers. They went 30 yards before the defense even realized what happened.
The coach laughed with glee. There were no rules about jumping over people.
They set up again, everyone cheered this new play. They knew LA would not be expecting it. On the next setup. Joan was tight behind the line. She told them she was going to run back as Allison ran for the end zone. On the hike, Joan took off and ran back to the five yard line as fast as she could. Skidding to stop and turning, she cocked back to throw and saw Allison in the clear and Patty bearing down on her. She threw, then caught Patty when she ran into her. At the other end of the field, Allison caught the ball and managed to stop in the end zone before she hit the barrier.
"Damn!If I couldn't catch you, no way will the Jackson sisters! They are strong but not super fast," Patty beamed.
They were simple plays, but would get them points on the board, and leave LA confused on how to stop them.
Gathering his team back together, Coach Baker decided three players would be offense and defense for part of the game. Joan wanted to play defense also, but he stated, "I'm got going to risk my primary QB on defense. Your job is to get the ball to the end zone, period. You do that well, and you can carry us through the season."
"Coach, I'm pretty tough."
"I'm glad, but you aren't playing defense."
.
In Driftwood, so many people were going to the Austin/LA game, school and graduation was delayed a day so everyone could make it to the game. As people gathered, the Sheriff found out who was driving, and who was going to pay the ten bucks for a bus ride. They were paid charters after all. As people came, there wasn't enough room for everyone. Sonya and Mark took a full load in their Excursion. Daniel and Claire filled up their back seat, The Jenkins had a minivan they piled people in.
Driftwood looked like a ghost town as the long caravan moved out for Austin to watch their girls play football.
.
The LA team got off the plane to the waiting Airport minibus limos. The primary coach and his defense coach talked.
"I'm thinking this game is in the bag," the defense coach said. "Austin's primary quarterback is out for the season, and their secondary is mediocre. We put on a strong offense, I'm sure we can rack up another high point win."
"That's the way it's looking, but watch out for any more tricks," The primary coach told him. "They fooled Chicago with that 'collapsing the line' trick. Even a mediocre quarterback can score points if she learns deception. Also, at no time has Austin been a cake walk. They are a good team. Don't underestimate them."
"Good, yes, we will need to play hard, but I'm sure we can beat them."
"Just focus on not letting them get any goals."
"I'll have them figured out after the first few plays."
