Book Two, Chapter Seven: Interlude

[albatross]

As Jeckle sits in the shade, a small rodent she doesn't recognize hops up. It looks almost like a miniature kangaroo. It pauses to sniff the air, searching for food.

******

Meanwhile, Bel opens up some beers with Dante. "Dante it is. So you could read my mind right now? No fair," she says slyly. "I think you should have a few beers to put us on even footing."

***********

Tiger grins in reply, "I'm sure you'll come up with something." She tosses her bikini top out of the water and onto a rock and a raises one eyebrow at Kris as if challenging him.

[ooc: camera fade? heh.]

[Dome]

"I could, but I wont. Not without your permission," Dante says while opening a beer.

[dakota]

Khris slid towards Tiger, a grin forming. " I bet I can." He said as he moved towards her, cupping his hands and splashing her.

(OOC a fast forward is fine by me)

[shiivster]

Jeckle sits back and her eyes narrow as she watches the strange rodent.

'you wont get me on some trick of a bunch of your little buddies being hungry. shoo .. go away'

*She shifts and kicks dirt at the creature's head to chase it off.

'baby Skippy alert ... ' *the only comment she'll make to the others as she looks about the area with her glasses in place to get a fix on other little monsters massing to attack.

[albatross]

Tiger and Shroud return hours later, at sunset and Dante and Strongbow have a pile of beer bottles. Laughing and talking.

Tiger thinks about starting a bonfire, but remembers Jeckle and thinks better of it. Turning to Kris she says, "Why don't you find Jeckle and ask her to roast us some marshmellows." Tiger would leave it to Jeckle to decide how.

[shiivster]

Jeckle, isn't in view. the contraption is made and sitting on her open coat. she herself is off down the shore poking about at the shoreline.

*she's picking up broken shells and examining them before setting them down. there is a faint squeal as the shell drops and she's observing from 5 feet back. her attention is totally taken up with the crab inside the shell heading for deeper water.

*its clear to anyone watching her, this is a totally new experience for her. one she's actually enjoying. think 6 year old first visit to beach and fear of creepy things in the water being explained and overcome followed by the excitement of exploration afterward.

*of her earlier visitor, there are tracks, but nothing else. she had startled the thing away and made her sat-uplink. then the air and the lull of the water lured her down the beach and has entertained her for the last 45 minutes or so

[dakota]

" Sure" Khris nodded. He started off to where he had last seen her and found her device. He started to wonder where he spotted a lone figure down the beach. He walked towards her, smiling as he approached. " Hey kiddo, did you have a good snooze in the shade? Everyone is getting together for the evening. Tigger thought you might have a gizmo to roast marshmallows." He teased a little, beckoning her to follow. " Come on. I saw your thingey under the tree was done. I'll go get my laptop and we can put it to use."

[shiivster]

Jeckle looks over the shoulder and studies Khris' face as her shock fades from hers. what caused it is unknown, but whatever she was looking at intently is not in view.

'propane torch? ... i don't got marshmallows tho. might be able to dig up some crackers and a hersey's from somewhere tho'

*she dusts off the hands, and sand falls to the beach as she moves back toward her coat and gadget. 'it's got a roll up keyboard .. well there should be one in a pocket if it's not there ... '

*her eyes study the forest with suspicion. 'strange visitor earlier ... didn't like it. hope it doesn't have friends ..... '

[dakota]

" Visitor? Good you're making friends without us around." Khris kidded. " Got the mallows I think. C'mon, the others are waiting." He gave her a careful look," You okay kiddo?"

[Dome]

Dante is having a genuinely good time talking with Bel. He really is enjoying her company. He looks over at Khris and Tiger as they walk up to them, not needing telepathy to know what they have been up to. He smiles at them and winks. Turning back to Bel he says, "I can't believe we've drank that much. Bel I have to admit, I"m having a great time."

[shiivster]

'if you think strange looking rodents are friends ... you're welcome to them'

*she looks at the water one last time and shudders once. Jeckle then calmly continues to follow Khris away from the scene of the runaway crab [oh my .. ]

'it will have a three hour working time before the solar batteries fade. it had a good charge stored already. enjoy .. '

[dakota]

" That's okay, my laptop is old enough I only get about a half hour out of the battery." He replied with a smirk," Probably time for a new one, or an upgrade. Come on, the others are waiting. You can tell them about your rodent problem. and I asked you a question. I mean it Jecks, you allright?"

[shiivster]

' ... yeah .. i'm fine. not everyday you learn you're twice lucky and live again .... '

*a shrug and a look over the shoulder at where she was, shows that she's worried or puzzled about something* 'i'm fine. not used to doing my own field work. used to the challenge of building something for him to check out and report back. kinda miss his feedback. still waiting for it on 3 items i built for him. really hope it wasn't what got him ... '

*her attention is again on the 'present' as she continues to follow along and watches the sand. 'don't know what itches more ... salt water or sand ..... ' *she pulls the shirt she was wearing off and exposes the patchwork of skin grafts and some melted flesh. her hand rubs at one spot for a bit before moving to the next. 'still feels like its on fire at times. funny huh?'

*wrapping the shirt about the waist she pauses long enough to grab some tinder from the ground and heads to the others as Khris putters about on the sat-uplink. she has a fire going shortly and then steps back into the shade and replaces the glasses as she studies the forest again.

[dakota]

Khris sat down with Tiger when he returned with his laptop, and connected Jeckle's uplink. while it was connecting, he glanced over to Jeckle. " If it makes you feel any better, you can build toys for me for the time being." He smirked.

Turning back to his computer, he went through a series of phoney websites that served as blanket security for the one he was looking for. A black screen with a simple login request came up. his eyes shifted to Tiger for a moment as he spoke," Remember I said I wasn't always one of the good guys?" He entered his passcode and a screen displayed, listing what were referred to as targets of opportunity, each of them having an amount of money attached to them. Khris scrolled for names he recognized, particularily his own, before speaking, " Okay Jeckle, I need to know your brother's real name, and any aliases he might be using. If he got in trouble and someone wanted him out of the way, he'll be in here." His tone was serious, simply because this was something that just wasn't done in the circles he had once operated.

[shiivster]

*Jeckle lowers the glasses to study Khris for a moment. a sigh and an eyeroll later she responds with 7 names all spelled out. one 'Heckle' is obvious. the last name on two are odd. the last 4 are 'normal' .. all things considered.

[message to GM]

'that's it. that's all i know. other than an account in a certain 'Merc' rag that he uses to let me know he's okay. there's been no action on that one yet .... ' *body language shows that she's hiding nothing