AN: This chapter is kind of like the "calm before the storm" chapter. I don't feel its my strongest chapter by any means but hopefully you'll still like it. It is a filler chapter so it doesn't have a lot of action and jumps around quite quickly. It mainly details the characters during their last peaceful moments during the trip. Enjoy!
Chapter Nine: Vibes
Two months later…
The late evening sun was dipping lower in the sky as two figures dressed in white fencing clothes dueled back and forth across the forecastle deck with their foils as a third figure watched from the railing. When one of them would begin to gain ground on the other, the other would step their game up a notch and battle back, retaking the ground they had lost. They seemed very evenly matched. Eventually, one of them lunged and their foil stuck into the shirt of the other one.
"Well done Cody! Well done indeed" The man at the railing said.
Cody pulled off his mask revealing a red face and soaked hair. He smiled at his instructor.
"Thanks" he said sheepishly.
Zack ripped off his mask and threw it down frustrated.
"Lucky move! I had you for sure!" Zack said.
"It's called skill, not luck" Cody replied.
Zack was about to lash back but their instructor, Mr. Zahn, intervened.
"Boys, you both did very well…it is my opinion after watching you two spar over the last few months that you are each as equally skilled as the other. Having said that, Zack…you know that in athletics, when two evenly matched players face off…someone still eventually looses. Perhaps you will win the next one" Mr. Zahn said picking up Zack's mask and handing it to him.
Zack and Cody both liked the way Mr. Zahn talked. He spoke and acted more like an old fashioned martial arts sensei from Japan then he did an SAS PE teacher. Cody had noticed that, because of this laid back style of teaching; Mr. Zahn was able to calm Zack down quickly when he became frustrated.
"Okay, were done for the night, go hit the showers" Mr. Zahn said turning the twins loose.
As Zack and Cody made their way to deck 5 carrying their equipment, neither of them spoke. It became too much for Cody.
"Zack…are you mad at me?" he asked.
"Not mad at you, I just don't like loosing, you know that" Zack said as they descended some stairs.
"Are you sure, 'cause I've been getting this vibe lately, like your mad at everyone…or just me…I can start loosing more if it'll make you happier" Cody said.
Zack finally smiled and laughed.
"Ha! I don't think so little brother, I'm just going to have to step up my game some more so you can't beat me" he said.
"You can try" Cody said feeling glad he had managed to cheer his brother up.
Although sharing his feelings was something Zack rarely did, he felt he owed it to Cody to explain why he'd been acting a bit more moody than usual.
"I'm sorry if I've been kind of a jerk lately, I've just had a lot on my mind…Max and I had a small tiff in Pago Pago and I'm trying to think of ways to fix it…" Zack said.
"You never told me you and Max had a fight" Cody said surprised.
"Yeah, well, I didn't really want you to know…cause you like to try and fix things for me and I wanted to handle this myself" Zack said.
Cody's eyes fell slightly, it wasn't like Zack to keep anything from his twin.
"Oh" he said quietly and moved off to a shower stall and turned on the water. Moments later, Zack got in a nearby stall and turned his shower on too.
As they so often seemed to do to each other, Zack seemed to read Cody's mind and quickly tried to mend any hurt feelings.
"Look buddy, it's not that I don't appreciate it when you try to help, and I know we never keep anything from each other but…with Max and me…I don't know, it's different…" Zack stammered.
"How so?" Cody said, raising his voice slightly so it could reach Zack several feet away over the noise of the water.
"Well, think about it...would you want to share with me everything you and Barbara say and do because you felt you had to?" Zack asked.
"No, I guess not…" Cody said.
Hearing the downcast tone in Cody's voice suddenly made Zack feel guilty about not telling him about his and Max's spat sooner, despite having just said he'd rather keep their affairs to himself.
Why's he so upset, it's not like I withheld something super important from him…and now that I think of it he's been acting strange ever since we rounded the Horn…I'd better get to the bottom of it Zack thought.
Once they were done drying and dressing in their stalls, they met back in the main section of the locker room to put away their fencing gear.
"Cody, I'm getting a vibe of my own…have been for a few months now. I can tell something big is bugging you…and don't try and tell me I'm wrong because you can't fool me…" Zack said in a serious tone that he rarely used.
"What do you mean?" Cody asked suddenly acting fidgety and nervous.
"Look, not telling you something about me and Max is one thing, but you not telling me something that's been bugging you for 2 months…that's different" Zack replied.
For once, Cody, the sensitive wears-his-feelings-on-his-sleeve type, felt backed into a corner and he clamed up.
"Do I have to tell you right now" Cody asked in a soft voice, his eyes pleading with his brother not to push it at that moment.
Naturally, Zack read that immediately and nodded his head.
"No, but soon okay?" Zack said.
Cody nodded a yes back.
They finished cleaning up then left the locker room for the dinner hall.
Over the few months they'd been at sea Cody had made it a point to see every part of the ship. He had gotten to know the chief engineer, Harold Linville, who Cody discovered was actually a distant cousin of Arwin's. Harold, through Cody's engineering SAS class, had shown him and his fellow peers where the various systems on the ship were housed, what they did, and even how to operate some of them. Cody, being much more interested in all of it than the rest of the class, often used his free time to tag along with the barrel-chested, grey haired Harold as the engineer made his daily rounds.
Because of this, after dinner that evening, Cody set off to find Harold. He updated the student tracking system and headed down to the lower decks.
He found Harold strolling through Deck 12 headed for the entrance to the engineering decks below.
"Ah, Cody, your just in time, I was just about to inspect the ballast tank system…seems the closer we get to Australia the heavier the chop is going to get so we'd better be sure we can level her out if we need to…care to join me?" Harold said.
"Sure!" Cody said.
They began descending the crew only stairs to the first of three engineering decks. Harold noticed that Cody was not as chatty as he usually was.
"Something wrong?" Harold asked.
"My brother…he knows I'm upset about something and he wants me to tell him about it" Cody said.
"And you don't want to?" Harold asked.
"No, not about something as stupid as this" Cody replied.
"People tell me I'm a good listener, you want to tell me?" asked.
"You'd probably think it's just as lame as he would" Cody said.
"You insult my good nature young man…I'd never do such a thing!" Harold said.
Cody smiled at Harold's mock anger, thought about it for a moment, then figured what the hey.
"I'm afraid of the future" Cody said.
"The future?" Harold asked puzzled.
"See, it's always been him and me…we do everything together…but I know someday it's not going to be like that" Cody said.
"I see…well Cody, that is certainly not a stupid thing to be upset about. It's a legitimate fear…you're wondering what life is going to be like when you each go your own ways and have your own lives…it scares you because its something that has never been a factor as of yet…am I right?" Harold said.
"Exactly…" Cody said and then chuckled "…you said people say you're a good listener, do they also say you may have missed your calling as a psychologist?" Cody said.
Harold burst out laughing.
"In fact, some do say that yes!" he said.
The mood turned serious again as they neared the first inspection site.
"I know how it is to be close to your siblings. I may not have had a twin but I grew up the youngest of three brothers. I always wanted to be around them, I admired them, looked up to them. We got along okay most of the time. Of course there were those inevitable times when they treated me like a pest they wanted to be rid of…but overall we had a loving, close relationship" Harold replied.
Harold bent down low with Cody to look at some computer read outs from the ballast system. They were silent for a few moments before Harold spoke again.
"What is it that you are most afraid of if you two go your separate ways?" he asked.
"Well, twins, as you may know, supposedly have the closest bond any two people can have…and we do…and I guess I'm afraid that…" Cody began but faltered.
"You're afraid living life apart will cause the bond to break." Harold finished for him.
"Well no, I don't think anything could break it…but…change it…make it weaker" Cody said.
"Well, I'm no expert, even if I inadvertently sound like one, but I would say pretty confidently that you two are going to be fine as you grow older. Yes, some things will change, but I can tell you that my brothers and I are still close, even though they have their own lives and families and live in different parts of the world and I'm here on Poseidon. Our bond hasn't weakened, if anything I'd say its as strong as ever, but it has changed. If I had to use a word to describe how its changed I guess I'd say its...matured" Harold said.
"Matured?" Cody asked.
"Yeah, it grew as we grew, changed but didn't go away...does that make any sense?" Harold asked.
"A little" Cody said.
"It'll all work out Cody you'll see...there's no use fretin' about it. You just gotta make the most of each day you get to spend together" Harold said giving Cody a pat on the shoulder.
The way Harold spoke made it so Cody couldn't help but believe it. Aside from being, in Cody's opinion, the best chief engineer in the world, Harold was proving to indeed be a very good listener and advise giver.
The two of them then turned their attention fully to the ballast system and Cody soaked up even more information on the ship he now called home. He decided that he wouldn't worry about him and Zack anymore and just let the future be what it was going to be.
Poseidon reached Sydney during the overnight hours. Harold had been right, a departing storm system had made it necessary for the ship to take on ballast as it neared the island nation.
Sydney had one of the few docks that was big enough to accommodate Poseidon so when Zack and Cody woke up in the morning they were surprised to look out their porthole and see that they were in a harbor tied up to a dock. They would not need the ferries as they had in Pago Pago and New Zealand.
At breakfast, Cody entered the hall with a smile and a spring in his step that had been missing for far too long. The talk with Harold had been just what he needed but Cody knew in the back of his mind that he'd eventually have to talk with Zack himself about it.
He sat with Barbara, Max, Zack, Bob, and Mark who all seemed to take notice of his peppiness.
"Someone looks happy this morning" Max observed.
"Well, why not, were in Australia, and it looks like a great day for touring yet another funducational locale with all my friends" Cody said.
The others raised an eyebrow at Cody's choice of words but Zack seemed to have an almost relieved look as he seemed to sense his brother was somewhat back to normal.
As the mealtime came to an end the tables were cleared and the SAS students lined up by home room teacher to await disembarking and field trip instructions for Sydney. By now everyone knew the drill.
Throughout the day they would periodically meet back at the ship to switch classes and head off for another site in a different class.
Cody and Barbara's orchestra class was headed to the Sydney Opera House while Zack, Max, Mark, and Bob's history class was headed to the Australian National Maritime museum. Later, Zack and Cody, in their shared botany class, toured Sydney's Chinese Gardens.
Cody was mesmerized by the garden's beauty. As he and his brother walked through, completing the tasks on their assignment sheet, Cody would excitedly chatter about this plant and that while Zack found each and every bench along the way to sit on.
"Isn't this place awesome!?" Cody asked, sitting next to Zack and marking things on both their sheets.
Zack had to admit that the gardens were truly spectacular but he had his mind on what still awaited him that day.
"It's nice, but are we almost done? My next class is going to Fox Studios where they filmed Mission Impossible 2 and Superman Returns!" Zack said.
"Yeah, we just have three more species of plants to find" Cody said.
"Good" Zack said and they headed off again.
When the school day had ended and the students got their free time to explore Sydney, Cody decided he wanted to take Barbara back to the gardens.
The two walked hand in hand past the Teahouse down the narrow paved paths.
Although Barbara was actually Japanese, she still appreciated and admired the ornate Asian style of the gardens. They walked under a Chinese styled gazebo and stood at the railing looking out over a small pool of water in the center of the gardens. There, surrounded by lush foliage, the tranquility of the gardens relaxed them and they shared a kiss.
Across town, Zack and Max decided to do the bridge climb across the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It proved to be quite the exercise as they were given climbing gear and were led, along with other tourists, to the summit of the bridge and back down. At the top, where they could see the entire skyline of the city, Zack pulled some roses out from under his shirt and gear and finally managed to get Max to forgive him from their squabble and allowed Zack to give her a quick peck on the lips.
Bob and Mark, meanwhile, were still without a girlfriend of their own and walked along the shores of Sydney Harbour seeing some of the old forts there.
"You know, why is it Zack and Cody each have a girl and we don't?" Bob asked.
"Well, I do have a girl, she's just not here" Mark replied.
"You mean that ditzy model who thought the twin's dad was an actual Viking?" Bob said.
"Yeah, so?" Mark said assuming a defensive posture.
Bob sighed and leaned back against the wall of the fort they were touring. Just then a couple of SAS students walked by...female SAS students. Bob saw an opportunity and went for it.
"Hey ladies, nice evening for sightseeing eh?" Bob said to them as they passed.
"Yeah, wanna sightsee with us!?" Mark asked.
The girls agreed to Mark and Bob's astonishment and walked off with them arm in arm.
Finally! They both thought.
That night Carey and the gang, including Bob and Mark's new friends, had dinner at the top of the Sydney Tower. The buffet was just what Zack needed after the long day of walking and climbing the bridge with Max.
After dinner they all walked out on the Skywalk platform and got an unparalleled 360 degree view of the city, its lights sparking like diamonds below.
"Look there's the ship!" Cody said spotting it down at the dock as he and Barbara huddled together in the slight breeze.
Everyone was at peace and content as they took in the sights. What they didn't know was that it would be one of the last tranquil moments of their trip.
On the bridge of Poseidon, Captain Bradford was sitting in his command chair sipping a cup of coffee when his communications officer entered carrying a piece of paper.
"Thought you might like to see this report sir, from the seismic station in the Philippines" the officer said.
"Thank you" Bradford said and began reading as the officer returned to his post.
Minimal seismic activity being detected in the region, at this time no cause for alarm for land or sea interests but ships traversing the shallows to the west of the Philippines should monitor the situation in case of larger quakes which could lead to the possibility of rouge waves...
Captain Bradford set the message on the desk before him and continued sipping his coffee. He decided he would have his communications officer keep in close contact with the seismic station but that he wouldn't worry too much about it.
As the rest of the SAS students and other passengers returned to the ship by 11pm he got his ship ready to leave port for the journey to Hong Kong.