[Kessep] Living the Life [Riary]

[Quantum]

[Six weeks before Earthfall]

Quantum quietly slipped from his room, but not unnoticed.

“Hile, Quantum!” burst Hans “What are thee up too?”

“Ah! Hans! I’m about to take a short trip o . . . to the machine shop.”

“I may be old, but no fool. The way you’re dressed. Off for a spin on the yacht I assume?”

“Aye, just this once? If my parents ask for the whereabouts of me tell them I’m working on something. Oh, and keep them away from the Boathouse! Please?”

“Ha! All right, but don’t go getting into any trouble.”

“Thanks Hans. I’ll see you a little later!”

“And no drinking!”

“Okay . . .”

So Quantum walked down to the boathouse, while at the same moment, mapping out his course in his head. As he reached the Boathouse, Quantum removed a set of jangling keys from his pocket and inserted an antique, brass skeleton key into the lock. A loud “Click!” was heard from within the mechanism of the lock, and Quantum entered the Boathouse.

Standing a whopping 26 ft. tall and 84 ft. long was the massive luxury cruise yacht. “Yeah, uh no.” He thought, and turned to the left and began walking. Seemingly, a miniature toy beside the cruise yacht, floated a much smaller (14 ft. tall and 38 ft. long) lounge yacht. Usually just used for the occasional fishing outing. Quantum walked up the mahogany plank leading to the stern of the ship and made his way up the stairs to the wheel house. Out of his back pocket, Quantum pulled a card key and swiped it in the console. The Boathouse doors opened with precision and timing, while the yacht’s engine rumbled to life. “All right, all systems go? Engine temperature normal, pressure, normal, outboard norma,l and inboard normal. All right! Lets roll!” he screamed. And the yacht sped out of the house, with the doors closing behind it.

“I wonder what’s out here.” Quantum wondered aloud.

[Riary]

Riary stifled a sigh as Melinda finally fell asleep. Mrs. Quincy was out with her friends on one of their Spa dates, leaving Riary home alone with young Melinda yet again. Although when she slept might be sporadic, how long she slept was like clockwork. Riary knew, after caring for the little girl as long as she had, that, as long as her father wasn't home, Melinda would sleep exactly one hour, right down to the minute. She took her job and her duties very seriously, but that one hour of sleep every so often was Riary's only break.

Walking on her toes so as not to wake Melinda, Riary rushed back to her room and slipped into her swim suit. She could hardly believe that it had taken her this long to take to the water. Then again there hadn't been many options as far as swimming on Duhrma. As she ran down to the dock and slipped into the water, Riary watched her internal clock carefully. She would swim out and swim back just in time to be there when Melinda woke, like she did at least once a day.

The water washed away the daily worries that Riary built up around her. Worries about her family, her job... Worries about Melinda, growing up with two absent parents. The water cleared them all away, luckily for her. On the other hand, perhaps its soothing qualities weren't quite so... perfect. After all, who can hear anyone or anything approaching when all they're listening to is the sound of the water?

[Quantum]

Drawing the throttle down to stage six, the yacht slowly chugged along in the bright sunlight. First through a field of smaller mansions and then into the rare sight of open water, which incidentally didn’t last very long, until Quantum reached another field of mansions. He snorted with a savage dislike.

“These fields of mansions! Atrocious!” He cried.

He continued on a path weaving through various docks and homes, awaiting something that might catch his eye. Thoughts were kept to a minimum, the only thought was:

“Don’t run into anything!”

Quantum shrugged his shoulders to release a bit of tension, still maintaining his weaving course. Glare began to engulf his vision. Rubbing his eyes, he attempted to remain on his current course.

“Mansion!” He screamed, and jerked the wheel to the right.

“Dock!” And jerked the wheel to the left.

Glare continued fill his eyes with salty tears. He wasn’t aware of proximity to the dock . . . and a young girl.

[Riary]

The water on Kessep was the perfect temperature for an afternoon swim. Perhaps it was the field of floating mansions, each heating the water just a bit, that made it just right. Riary floated carelessly, barely noticing the increased currents coming from a yacht that was headed her way until it was too late. Somewhere above on the massive ship, she heard a guy's voice yelling as the yacht flailed wildly. No matter how hard she tried, Riary couldn't fight the ship's currents as they dragged her under the surface.

Just when she felt like she'd never break free, Riary emerged from the water, gasping wildly for air as her hands wildly searched for the edge of the dock. Slowly, she pulled herself up out of the water. "What the hell?" she yelled at the ship between water-filled coughs. Somewhere on that yacht, an idiot had nearly drowned her, and although she couldn't see who it was, she was thoroughly pissed off. Once her lungs were cleared of everything but air, Riary stood up, using her hand to shield her eyes as she tried to catch a glimpse of the driver.

[Quantum]

After hearing the small sound of a voice saying "What the hell?" Quantum cut the engine of the yacht, feeling very frightened. Thoughts raced through his head. "Somewhere in the water, someone was either A. Drowning, B. Dead, or C. Really, really pissed off." Quantum thought. Quantum felt distressed, confused, running from the wheel house, he began to panic. "Hello!" he yelled in a distressed voice. Rushing to the stern, he whipped out the life preserver and threw it into the water (not even close to the girl). Quantum shrieked with fear, and threw himself into the water.

Quantum gasped and opened his eyes. "Shit." he said. "The fishing deck is up." He looked for the source of the voice and found it. A girl, standing on the dock, yelling. She couldn't have been much older than Quantum. He made his way toward the dock, aware that the girl may be . . . hostile.

[Riary]

Riary tried to keep breathing and level her head when she saw the driver. It was a guy, probably a bit younger than her. Probably a rich kid out for a joy ride on daddy's yacht. She gently rolled her head, trying to release some of the tension she was holding. After all why should she be tense? She was just nearly drowned by a boat, but no big deal right? The more she thought about it, the more she realized that staying calm was going to be a bit harder than she thought. Perhaps, she thought, it would be better if she just didn't think.

Slowly, she took a couple steps toward him. "You nearly drowned me," she told him calmly as she pushed her dripping hair back out of her face. She hoped, for her job's sake, that this kid wasn't a friend of her employer, because she wasn't sure just how well she was going to be able to control her temper. In the end, she decided to let him respond before she said something she would later regret. Instead, Riary letting her eyes do the talking for a moment, and if they said anything at all, it was most likely 'you're in deep shit...'