Johann Quisumbing

A Fictional Series by J Quisumbing

Chapter 15

Tess was just laying out the silverware on her balcony table which was set up for three. There was a knock at the door.

She called out, “Come on in, girls!”

“Good morning, Tess,” said Mae. “I brought biscuits hot from the oven and Bryce just gave me a fresh jar of honey from his bee hives.”

“Oh, fantastic! Where’s Laura?”

“I’m here!”, said Laura just coming through the door. “I’ve got omelets.”

“With cheese?” asked Mae.

“Four kinds.”

“Yum…”

“Come on, breakfast on the balcony beckons.”

Tess got her dish of sausage from her galley and brought it out to the table. 

“Tess, I’m so glad it’s your turn to host our breakfast club,” Mae said. “Your balcony has the best view. Look at that ocean!”

It is a sunny day with a steady cool breeze. The waves are moderately calm. By the look of it, Tess estimates that waves are about 20 feet. Not bad for the Pacific at this time of the year. A ship’s horn sounded below. Tess and the others looked down. It was Belinda floating some distance from the gate. The captain was waving at them from the wheelhouse then sounded the horn again.

“Oh, look! It’s my hubby,” said Laura. She waved back

“Laura… when are you and Cap’n Diego leaving for Guam?” asked Tess.

“In about two days… It all depends on your husband producing 20 more plasti-blocks. Diego wants to haul a full load.” 

Tess looked down to watch Ito’s boat exiting the main gate. He was towing 3 large bright yellow plasti-blocks with large numbers painted on top. Each plasti-block is a 6 cubic-feet sealed plastic shell filled to the rim with plastic pellets. These tiny, disc-shaped granules were the final product of Oceanus’ processing plants. Ito is towing them to the three-o-clock side of the outer ring where 280 of the plasti-blocks were already assembled and waiting for hauling to Guam.

“Are you kidding, Laura?” asked Mae. “Diego wants to haul 300 all the way? Can his tug handle all that?”

“Well, he said Belinda can do it and a lot more. You know he’s hauling double so that I can have a couple more days of shopping in Guam,” Laura said with a chuckle. 

“Oh, I wish I could go with you guys. I really appreciate Cap’n Diego agreeing to bring Bree and the school kids to Guam, as well.”

“Mae… which of your kids are going?” asked Tess. “I know Robby Jr. is looking forward to it. However, Larissa wanted to stay and video-talk to her friends in Hawaii.”

“James is going. I think he and Robby Jr. are combining their saved allowances to get some new gaming something-or-other. The girls are staying with me and Flipper.”

“Oh… I thought all your kids were going with us?” asked Laura, a little surprised. “Is that a good idea? I mean… in two weeks from now, Oceanus will be way too far from any civilization. Guam might be their only chance to go shopping or go to a movie.”

“It was Lara’s choice to stay,” Mae said. “She wanted to complete diving school and Katrina didn’t want to go without her big sis.”

Mae talked about what she and the girls were going to do for that week, when Tess noticed Laura with her head bowed and playing with her food. “Laura? Hey, Laura! You ok?”

Laura’s head shot up, saying, “What! What?”

“You looked like a million miles away.”

“Oh sorry… I just remembered that I have a chore to do before we leave.”

Before anyone could press, there was a knock at the door and a voice, “Hi Tess, it’s Alicia…”

All three women’s eyes looked up at the same time.

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