Chapter 18: in which there is actual evidence of a mission. Go figure.
Tonight they would complete the scuba assignment using one of the coordinates acquired during from the intel. To Vaughn's relief, Syd appeared on the beach in a plain black one piece swimsuit. She didn't look as rested as he might have hoped, but when he asked, she just shrugged and said she was fine. They donned the scuba gear and set out. Their goal was to locate an abandoned small boat, in which the contact said were waterproof containers with some kind of objects. Vaughn had never even asked what the objects were, he realized later.
The contact referred to the op as "message in a bottle." Vaughn knew where he wanted to shove that bottle. He asked Weiss about the contact. Weiss' only comment was, "The guy is known as a joker, he likes to have fun with--- "
"His victims?" Vaughn commented dryly, then continued, "YOU'RE calling the guy a joker? Pot, meet kettle."
They had thought it would be an easy job. That was a joke, a bad one. There were three containers, all deeply embedded into the ocean floor and detritus. Their initial attempts to remove them were completely unsuccessful, even with both of them working at it. Syd and Vaughn realized quickly that it was going to be exhausting and on their next surfacing, looked at each other and sighed.
Weiss asked, "What's the problem down there?"
Vaughn explained, "The stinking containers are wedged so tightly, so deeply, into the sand and all this other crap down there, it's like digging in cement. And it's hard to get good torque in the water. This sucks."
"How can they be so badly stuck? I mean..."
"What?" Syd asked suspiciously.
"Well, I mean, didn't the contact just recently put them down there? At least that's what he told me." Weiss frowned. Then smirked, "But Vaughn, seems to me you need the practice of extricating something deeply wedged into a hole. You know, dig yourself out of a hole? Hmm?" Then squawked when his friend shot a huge splash in his direction.
Syd scolded, "Boys, boys, this is supposed to be a clandestine operation, remember?" She rolled her eyes.
Weiss sobered up slightly, enough to tell Barclay to get suited up and help them. Barclay looked with some trepidation at Vaughn, who laughed and apologized, "Sorry, for earlier, Barclay. I was a little."
"Out of his mind," Weiss finished. "But we've got him back on his medication now. Did you know they sell salt peter in Lahaina. Not so surprising, I mean, this being an old whaling port and all. You know, those sailors out for months at a time.."
Syd giggled. Barclay and Washington both coughed to cover their laughter. The sound of teeth grinding was audible in the night air. Vaughn grabbed Syd and dove. Barclay scrambled into the water to follow them.
Even with Barclay's help it was a nightmare. They had to return to the agents' ship several times for different tools to prise out the containers. Barclay innocently commented on one of their surface forays, "Bristow and Vaughn - you're a good team, if what I saw down there and on the rest of this mission is typical. You compliment each other and anticipate each other's needs and movements." They both nodded and avoided looking at each other. In the silence, Barclay continued, "I don't know why you two don't work together all the time. Seems a waste to me." Weiss looked superior. Vaughn gave Barclay a dirty look and refrained from responding. Syd looked away.
Finally, they extracted three containers. Later, the five of them stood on the dock, talking softly about the dive. Syd threw on a cover up, while the men donned t-shirts. In the warm breeze, their suits would dry quickly, so no one bothered to change into street clothes before heading back to the hotel. Gathering up some gear, Syd commented, "These containers look more interesting than anything else we've seen yet and I wanted to...." As she talked, she stepped onto the beach and stumbled a little.
Barclay, who was closest, grabbed her elbow and then moved away quickly as Vaughn came over and took her arm.
Weiss shook his head, "Whoa, Syd, you're tired. Didn't you get enough sleep this afternoon?"
"How could I?" Syd protested. "You used up most of the time talking to me about board games, remember?"
"Oops," Weiss said cheerfully.
"Thanks a bunch, Weiss," Vaughn hissed. Sydney stepped away for a moment to brush sand off and paid them no attention, having learned that sometimes it was best to ignore Weiss and Vaughn for her own peace of mind.
Weiss hissed back, "You need to tell her how you feel first, you dope. Then you need some sleep too, if you want my opinion. I'm doing you a favor. You don't want her to remember your first time together as a lackluster performance, do you?"
"Some favor! And this is not a team effort! But, eh, you're right," he said in disgust. "Again." He looked away. Then his brow wrinkled, "Board games?" he echoed in puzzlement.
"You know, Risk, Chutes and Ladders?" Weiss said.
"I hate Risk," Vaughn said flatly. "That game gives me a headache. Boggle's good though. And I like Taboo." He stared in puzzlement as Syd and Weiss began to laugh.
Weiss sobered and said to Sydney, "You don't need to do anything else tonight. I can handle analyzing the intel just like I've been doing all along."
"But -- I'm curious about those containers. And what's our goal on this mission, anyway? I keep forgetting," Sydney asked.
"You can see them tomorrow. It's sure to be no big deal, anyway. This is not Rambaldi stuff after all. Why don't you--"
Vaughn interrupted, "When we get back to the hotel, why don't we just sit on the beach a while and relax?"
Everyone seemed to hold their breath waiting for her answer. Syd shrugged and said, "Sure, that sounds.....nice and....relaxing." Everyone sighed happily. Syd looked at the men curiously, but no one offered any explanations.
Weiss warbled, "Good idea, nice night."
Barclay added, "Beautiful night. Warm, tropical breezes..."
Washington continued, "Gorgeous night. The scent of flowers in the air."
Vaughn finished, "Perfect night. Absolutely perfect night for just relaxing on the beach."
She stared at them, "What are you? Some barbershop quartet for the Travel Channel?"
As they all just grinned at her, she thought, 'What was with these guys, tonight?' First they had the giggles over Chinese food and now this? Clearly, she needed to monitor their MSG intake. Either that, or they had been spending way too much time watching Lifetime Television.
Tonight they would complete the scuba assignment using one of the coordinates acquired during from the intel. To Vaughn's relief, Syd appeared on the beach in a plain black one piece swimsuit. She didn't look as rested as he might have hoped, but when he asked, she just shrugged and said she was fine. They donned the scuba gear and set out. Their goal was to locate an abandoned small boat, in which the contact said were waterproof containers with some kind of objects. Vaughn had never even asked what the objects were, he realized later.
The contact referred to the op as "message in a bottle." Vaughn knew where he wanted to shove that bottle. He asked Weiss about the contact. Weiss' only comment was, "The guy is known as a joker, he likes to have fun with--- "
"His victims?" Vaughn commented dryly, then continued, "YOU'RE calling the guy a joker? Pot, meet kettle."
They had thought it would be an easy job. That was a joke, a bad one. There were three containers, all deeply embedded into the ocean floor and detritus. Their initial attempts to remove them were completely unsuccessful, even with both of them working at it. Syd and Vaughn realized quickly that it was going to be exhausting and on their next surfacing, looked at each other and sighed.
Weiss asked, "What's the problem down there?"
Vaughn explained, "The stinking containers are wedged so tightly, so deeply, into the sand and all this other crap down there, it's like digging in cement. And it's hard to get good torque in the water. This sucks."
"How can they be so badly stuck? I mean..."
"What?" Syd asked suspiciously.
"Well, I mean, didn't the contact just recently put them down there? At least that's what he told me." Weiss frowned. Then smirked, "But Vaughn, seems to me you need the practice of extricating something deeply wedged into a hole. You know, dig yourself out of a hole? Hmm?" Then squawked when his friend shot a huge splash in his direction.
Syd scolded, "Boys, boys, this is supposed to be a clandestine operation, remember?" She rolled her eyes.
Weiss sobered up slightly, enough to tell Barclay to get suited up and help them. Barclay looked with some trepidation at Vaughn, who laughed and apologized, "Sorry, for earlier, Barclay. I was a little."
"Out of his mind," Weiss finished. "But we've got him back on his medication now. Did you know they sell salt peter in Lahaina. Not so surprising, I mean, this being an old whaling port and all. You know, those sailors out for months at a time.."
Syd giggled. Barclay and Washington both coughed to cover their laughter. The sound of teeth grinding was audible in the night air. Vaughn grabbed Syd and dove. Barclay scrambled into the water to follow them.
Even with Barclay's help it was a nightmare. They had to return to the agents' ship several times for different tools to prise out the containers. Barclay innocently commented on one of their surface forays, "Bristow and Vaughn - you're a good team, if what I saw down there and on the rest of this mission is typical. You compliment each other and anticipate each other's needs and movements." They both nodded and avoided looking at each other. In the silence, Barclay continued, "I don't know why you two don't work together all the time. Seems a waste to me." Weiss looked superior. Vaughn gave Barclay a dirty look and refrained from responding. Syd looked away.
Finally, they extracted three containers. Later, the five of them stood on the dock, talking softly about the dive. Syd threw on a cover up, while the men donned t-shirts. In the warm breeze, their suits would dry quickly, so no one bothered to change into street clothes before heading back to the hotel. Gathering up some gear, Syd commented, "These containers look more interesting than anything else we've seen yet and I wanted to...." As she talked, she stepped onto the beach and stumbled a little.
Barclay, who was closest, grabbed her elbow and then moved away quickly as Vaughn came over and took her arm.
Weiss shook his head, "Whoa, Syd, you're tired. Didn't you get enough sleep this afternoon?"
"How could I?" Syd protested. "You used up most of the time talking to me about board games, remember?"
"Oops," Weiss said cheerfully.
"Thanks a bunch, Weiss," Vaughn hissed. Sydney stepped away for a moment to brush sand off and paid them no attention, having learned that sometimes it was best to ignore Weiss and Vaughn for her own peace of mind.
Weiss hissed back, "You need to tell her how you feel first, you dope. Then you need some sleep too, if you want my opinion. I'm doing you a favor. You don't want her to remember your first time together as a lackluster performance, do you?"
"Some favor! And this is not a team effort! But, eh, you're right," he said in disgust. "Again." He looked away. Then his brow wrinkled, "Board games?" he echoed in puzzlement.
"You know, Risk, Chutes and Ladders?" Weiss said.
"I hate Risk," Vaughn said flatly. "That game gives me a headache. Boggle's good though. And I like Taboo." He stared in puzzlement as Syd and Weiss began to laugh.
Weiss sobered and said to Sydney, "You don't need to do anything else tonight. I can handle analyzing the intel just like I've been doing all along."
"But -- I'm curious about those containers. And what's our goal on this mission, anyway? I keep forgetting," Sydney asked.
"You can see them tomorrow. It's sure to be no big deal, anyway. This is not Rambaldi stuff after all. Why don't you--"
Vaughn interrupted, "When we get back to the hotel, why don't we just sit on the beach a while and relax?"
Everyone seemed to hold their breath waiting for her answer. Syd shrugged and said, "Sure, that sounds.....nice and....relaxing." Everyone sighed happily. Syd looked at the men curiously, but no one offered any explanations.
Weiss warbled, "Good idea, nice night."
Barclay added, "Beautiful night. Warm, tropical breezes..."
Washington continued, "Gorgeous night. The scent of flowers in the air."
Vaughn finished, "Perfect night. Absolutely perfect night for just relaxing on the beach."
She stared at them, "What are you? Some barbershop quartet for the Travel Channel?"
As they all just grinned at her, she thought, 'What was with these guys, tonight?' First they had the giggles over Chinese food and now this? Clearly, she needed to monitor their MSG intake. Either that, or they had been spending way too much time watching Lifetime Television.