The Secret Beneath The Waves

Chapter 5: The French Team

*Picture of Jane at top of page

Chapter Five - The French Team

"Your dead Parker!" Adri yelled, slamming her hands down on the table. Shawn grinned victoriously, the game board showing a horizontal line of red markers. "Maybe you guys shouldn't play that game anymore" Oliver said, from his perch on the table, his eyes still trained on the magazine. "Adri," Shawn started, his eyes still smiling, "you are the only person that could lose Connect 4 that many times. And consecutively." Adri rolled her eyes, getting up and going back up on deck.

Spencer was at the helm, sitting silently. "Feeling left out?" Adri asked, sitting next to her. Spencer shook her head, turning to face her. "Shawn beat you again?" she questioned, Adri's slumped figure gave a very clear response. Smiling, Spencer pulled out the laptop again. "Call everyone up here" she said, pulling up various maps on the screen.

When everyone was gathered, she began. "When we get to Nassau, we will leave the boat on the docks." she pointed to an area on the map. "We will then be traveling inland, by jeep to Lake Killarney, where we will run the water samples first, before the sun goes down." The group nodded as she gestured to the second point. Spencer continued to run over the plan, before Oliver went back down to get the gear. The outline of sparse trees soon came into view, and they prepared for the trip.

Slipping the laptop into a backpack, and fitting some food and first aid in as well, Spencer grabbed the gear. Securing the rope that held the boat, she joined the rest of the group at the jeep. A man greeted them a few minutes later, before proceeding to drive them to Nassau, where they were greeted by the rest of the team.

"Hello, I'm Jane Lelièvre" a woman with rich blonde hair and a slight French accent greeted them enthusiastically as they stepped off of the jeep. Her green eyes sparkled happily. Paying the driver, Spencer turned to the rest of the team.

The "team" consisting of Jane, and two guys-who looked suspiciously like twins. "This is Maxence and Aidan Marceau" Jane introduced. The two boys had dentical builds, and eyes. The only thing that set them apart was the hair. Maxence had dark brown curls, while Aidan's was straighter and slightly longer. "They will be the ones that analyze the samples, and write the reports." She continued, looking over at Oliver and Shawn, pointing a finger at both of them. "Who analyzes the results in your team?" Adri elbowed her way to the front of the group.

"Actually," Adri began, "That would be Spencer and I." "Well" Jane genuinely smiled, "that's nice for a change." She pointed towards a brown minivan, "That's our ride" she called, already walking towards it, the twins following. Spencer hoisted her pack over her shoulder, gripped the gear bag, and followed after her.

"So" Jane began. "You're Spencer Evans? The leader of this?" Spencer nodded, fishing through her bag for a bottle of water. Currently, Oliver was driving, Adri beside him, quietly listening to some radio station. Jane and Spencer had taken the middle row, the bags all spread around their feet. Shawn was in the back with the twins, trying to get them to speak, but failing greatly. "I see that you have everything planned out" Jane said, looking over her shoulder at the plans she was reading over. Spencer nodded, "Yeah," she sighed. "I'm in charge of the diving team too apparently." She looked over at Jane, "can you take over that part?" Sheepishly, Jane shook her head, "I barely passed the swimming course" she said. Nodding, Spencer looked over the plans again.

Sipping the water, she regarded Jane again. "You'll be in charge of analyzing the results, and the reported analysis on each one." Jane nodded. A skidding in the dirt signaled that they were there. Oliver turned to look back at Spencer. "What now?" he questioned. Spencer flipped a few pages in the manifesto. "We go to Carlson's boat rental shop. He should have a boat ready for us in-" she checked her watch, "two hours."

"This is....unexpected." Jane said, looking perplexed. Carlson's Boat Rental shop looked more like Carlson's dump. The shop was more of a pile of junk surrounded by a wire fence. "Go" a voice came from behind them. A man stumbled towards them. "Go" he said again, his voice scratchy and raspy. A clear gold tinted glass bottle swung lazily in his left hand. He staggered forward, before puking on an old bike wheel. "Bad...place...go!" he managed. He swung an arm towards the store, almost losing his balance, before lurching forward and proceeding to puke on a lampshade, tottering away.

Shawn glanced at the rest of the group, before shrugging and going up, knocking on the door. He waited a few seconds and after no response, pushed it open, to reveal a man, with a bushy white beard and tanned skin, behind a wooden desk. The only negative was that he was slumped over the table. Covered in blood.