The next day, Jia and I were back in town to get the last-minute supplies for our guests. It was a trivial task, but with Toby back on the island with preparations that still needed to be completed, someone had to do it. I was never the shopping type, but with the smile on Jia's face, it seemed that she was.
Maybe I could pawn a few of my stops to her.
"So I was wondering if you'd be willing to take on a few of the things on my list since I have several places that I need to go that aren't on the list," I said.
The warmth of the sun was cooled by the morning ocean breeze, and it flipped Jia's hair over her face.
"I wish that I could, but I'm a little—" She pushed her hair out of her face. "I have a lot of shit I need to get done."
"Oh, then don't worry about it. I just have to get some flies for Racecar and Blue, since they're starting to turn a little yellow. I'm worried about their nutrition intake, so I thought I'd buy them some carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus."
Jia smiled. "What a thoughtful plant parent you are."
"Logan would kill me if I let his Racecar die," I said as Jia stole a glance at her phone.
I had no idea where everything was in town, so some directions would help us find our way in a timely fashion. The faster we finished up our errands, the faster we could get on the boat. Although humans were suited for land, life began in the ocean, and that was where I belonged.
I waited for her to pull up Google Maps or something of the like as we continued down the sidewalks of Bar Harbor. We passed an ice cream shop, and if it weren't eight in the morning, I would have asked if we could get some. Instead, coffee seemed like a more logical choice.
Jia looked up at me. "Do you want coffee?"
Before I could form a rational thought, my mouth fell open. "Did you just read my mind?"
That was impossible, of course, unless it somehow wasn't. I had to ask for scientific purposes.
She nodded. "Yep. I'm a mind reader. It's one of my many talents, including, but not limited to, yoga, photography, and snake charming."
"I don't think I've ever seen you do any yoga."
"Ah, fuck, you caught me." She laughed.
I laughed too. Even though we were about as similar as whales and sharks, she brought an interesting, fiery light to every conversation. I wanted to be more like her.
"Oh, look. Coffee shop," Jia said.
We opened up the door, and inside was a quaint resort away from the tourist lifestyle. Dirt smudges contaminated the dark tiled flooring underneath us, and the smell of espresso filled the air. It was a different kind of espresso than I was used to, though. It smelled like a reward for waking up rather than a punishment for letting life run ahead without a leash.
All coffee brewed with 100% organic water, a sign read, and I took a second glance at it. There wasn't any carbon in H2O, and it wasn't grown, so either it was a gimmick to raise the price, or I was missing something.
There was only one person waiting, so Jia and I took our spot right behind him.
"Do you know what organic water means?" I asked.
She shrugged. "No pesticides or run-off, probably."
"To me, it just makes it sound like it's alive, which technically, it's filled with all sorts of living stuff, but—" I said, but I trailed off when Jia's attention fell elsewhere.
She looked over my shoulder and past me to the door, and when I turned around to see, there stood the guy from the bar that she liked.
A gasp escaped her lips, and all she said was, "I can't—you actually—" She laughed.
"I realized I forgot to document a few of my findings, so I had to come back. For research purposes," he said.
What was his research project now? Jia's anatomy?
It wasn't any of my business, and from what I knew, they had matching grandiose personalities, but we had plenty of things that needed to get done and not a lot of time to do them. I shook my head. Distractions were the last thing we needed.
But at the same time, there was something about them that I wanted. Jia didn't have to care what everyone else at Paradise City thought, and she didn't waste that opportunity. She just did whatever made her happy.
I smiled at them instead. "You two are so cute."
"Blaine and I've met twice, Reagan." Jia laughed. "Anyway, you're not pissed?"
I shook my head. "As long as you get everything done that you said you would, there's no reason to get upset."
Other than the fact that I was pretty sure she only wanted to come with me to spend time with that guy, of course.
"I like you. You're much more rational than my usual crowd," Blaine said to me.
"Okay," I replied, unsure of what else I could possibly say, and he laughed.
"You're perfect. Never change," Jia said. "I'll see you back on the boat."
Jia gave me one last nod of the head, and just before it was our turn in line, they both left the shop to hopefully go shopping for our supplies.
They really couldn't have a more different dynamic than Logan and me, and while I wasn't sure that whatever they had was the norm, it was probably closer to it than us.
Hm.
I was next in line, and before I got to my order, I just had to ask, "So what exactly is organic water?"
***
Back on the Millennium Osprey, Jia met up at the time we agreed upon, and she offered a hand to each of her new recruits as they climbed aboard as well. All in all, there were eleven people on board, including Nastasya, Robbie, Jia, and me, and the college students interested in Paradise City, and a little girl no older than four.
"This is my niece, Alexa. Say hi to Reagan," Nastasya said, and the little girl gave a little wave but said nothing.
Her little brown ringlets made her look even more related to Nastasya than a niece, but her timid gaze couldn't have been more different.
The next generation Paradise City-ers shuffled into the cabin of the boat, where they all sat down and waited for us to say something.
Robbie started us off. "Hi, everyone. I'm Robbie, and I'll be your captain today, and if you choose to continue this project, I'll remain your captain for all time and eternity."
"Ignore him," Nastasya said.
"Don't ignore me. I'm about to go over important safety procedures. Okay, there's a bathroom down those stairs there, turn to the left, and you'll see it. If you don't, ask Reagan. She's more patient than me and Nastasya." He pointed over to me, then continued. "If you fall overboard, or if it suddenly gets stormy for no real reason, we have life jackets, and if the boat catches on fire, just accept your imminent death. I think that covers everything."
"Now, if you'll excuse us, we have something very important to do. We recently lost a valued crew member, who fell into the ocean and died," Nastasya said, dressed in black just like Robbie, Jia, and me.
"What the hell?" one of the applicants said.
"It was a drone, not a person. It's okay," I said. Normally, it was Nastasya's job to make Robbie seem less insane, but that wasn't her best performance.
"Is—is this the general type of person this program attracts?" the single girl among the group asked.
I nodded. "Yep. It's great."
"That's the last word I'd use," she replied.
"I, uh—well, it's not for everyone, but if you give it a chance—" I stammered, and fortunately, Nastasya's niece Alexa tugged on my sleeve. I looked down at her.
"Aunt Nastasya said you're smart," she said.
I smiled. "I just know a lot about science."
"Why do we have feelings?" she asked, and I hesitated for a minute.
Where did that come from?
"Well, there are chemicals in your brain that tell you that there's something to feel, and then the rest of your body listens," I replied.
"Is that why Aunt Nastasya is crying outside?" Alexa asked.
"Yeah. She misses her robot friend," I said. "It fell into the ocean and broke."
"Oh. Did you know that the biggest animal is blue whales?"
Yes. Yes, I did.
"Wow, that's a cool fact," I said instead. "Wouldn't it be cool if we saw one today?"
"Are we going to?" Her eyes lit up.
"If we're lucky," I said, then pointed up to where Nastasya usually sat. "Why don't you take a seat there, and in a few minutes, I'll tell you some other cool whale facts?"
She nodded and scrambled up onto the seat while I headed out back to see Nastasya's ceremony for her drone.
"But overall, you were a faithful servant to our cause, and you died a martyr. May you always rest in peace," Robbie said.
Nastasya sniffed. "That was beautiful."
And I thought Logan's coping skills were bad.
Jia looked up at me, pressed a finger gun to her temple, and pulled the trigger. I nodded.
"Reagan, do you have anything you'd like to say?" Nastasya asked.
"Uh, sure. You were a great drone, and even though you never brought us any footage that wasn't of fog, you did your best, and that is the best quality I could ever ask for in a coworker. I wish everyone was a little more like you were. RIP," I said, then looked to Nastasya for approval.
"Thank you," Nastasya said, and I gave a nod before heading back into the cabin to introduce myself formally to the next gen and to talk to Alexa about whales. She showed a seed of interest, and I wanted to grow it into a forest of knowledge, even if she was maybe three years old.
I moved my hair away from my face, and I was reminded of the exact reason I usually kept it braided on the Millennium Osprey. With the slightest breeze, the loose strands ended up in my mouth.
"So, you guys are interested in the rock next year?" I asked, and when one person nodded, I continued. "I'm Reagan, and I work on whale identification and monitoring their overall health. We'll actually be heading north for a while before getting to Paradise City, just so you guys can see what kind of exciting stuff we get to do around here."
"So you just sit around and wait for whales?" the girl asked, the one who also asked if we were all as crazy as Nastasya.
"What was your name again?"
"I'm Hailey," she replied,
"Well, Hailey, that's part of it. I also raise awareness by documenting the whereabouts of whales that people so kindly adopt in exchange for a small donation, make sure they're healthy, and give them encouragement that they probably don't understand. But yeah, most of all, I do nothing."
She glared at me for a moment through her oversized glasses, then tucked a stray brown strand into the bun atop her head.
I put on a smile. "There are also other cool things people do, like recording bird sounds so we can better understand their meanings. The baby birds are almost ready to start flying according to Darrell, who you'll meet soon, so maybe you'll see that. Oh, and Carter loves looking at diatoms, copepods, and plankton under the microscope, so if you're interested, I'm sure he'd be glad to show you."
I was sure he'd be less than glad that someone was distracting him, but he'd survive.
"What else?" one of the new guys asked.
"Well, Logan does a study about seals and tides, which is pretty cool. He and I count them twice a day, every day for an hour, but it's not boring at all. The seals are so cute and vivacious, and—" I trailed off and searched for something else to say. "Oh, and Brett studies food. He's a ridiculously good chef, and he said he has something special in mind for dinner tonight."
I looked over to the bags of stuff I had bought, and separated from the flies for Blue and Racecar were the chocolate, squash, miso, and avocado he had requested. He had to be a true artist to put all of that stuff together.
"So all he does is cook?" Hailey asked.
"Yes. It's required to live, and it's a thankless job that gets overlooked, even though it's one of the most important ones." I shook my head. "Look, there are times when people just know something is right for them. That's the way Brett feels about food. There are also times that people know something isn't right for them. If you feel that way now, then you might want to think about getting off this boat."
She didn't move as Nastasya, Robbie, and Jia all headed into the cabin, and Robbie started up the boat.
Maybe I should have given her the benefit of the doubt, and maybe she wasn't trying to be ill-mannered to me with every comment she made, but the more parsimonious choice was that she was rude.
Science liked parsimony, and therefore, so did I.
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Hi! Thank you so much for reading, and especially thank you for 1k reads! You are seriously the best thing ever, and that's science, so you can't argue with it.
So there seems to be a little bit of tension between the visitors (well, one of them, at least) and Reagan. How is she going to manage? How will everyone else react to Hailey?