Surf’s Up!

Posted on Mon Sep 14th, 2020 @ 1:58pm by Lieutenant Avery Paxton III

Mission: Once Upon A Time on Risa.
Location: Risa

ON:

After turning the pool into a complete zone of mayhem, Avery followed Einir back to the beach, in the direction where Einir had last seen Nyysa and the XO. They could see the pair swimming out in the distance. Avery looked at her watch. “I promised to meet another friend for dinner in a little over an hour, but I think we could swim out there and back in that amount of time. What do you think?” She asked Einir. Nyysa had also planned to meet them for dinner and Avery didn’t think she was the type to lose track of time so she figured it was a safe bet that Nyysa and Archer would be headed back to shore soon too and they’d probably end up meeting somewhere in the middle of the watery expanse.

“We could definitely make it there and back in that time.” Einir answered as she started to strip off her uniform tunic and her trousers. “Orions are excellent swimmers. Its not a very known fact, but we swim almost as well as the fish do.” She continued to remove her clothes until only her underwear remained. She waded into the water until the gentle waves were coming up to her navel. “Are you coming in Avery?”

Avery was usually pretty modest in her choice of clothing, including swimwear, so she was slightly taken aback at how quickly Einir had stripped down to just underwear without a care in the world. She snapped back into reality when Einir asked if she was coming in and ran towards the waves. Luckily she hadn’t changed since this morning and was still wearing her board shorts and top.

The pair swam quickly to get beyond the break of waves, duck diving as they went to keep from getting pummeled. Once they made it past the break, the waters calmed some and it was easier to swim. Avery had been swimming her whole life and was good at it, but Einir wasn’t lying when she said she could swim as well as the fish. It was almost difficult for Avery to keep up.

Stopping up for a moment to make sure they were still headed in the right direction, Avery searched for Nyysa & Archer. They should have been close by now, but she couldn’t see them anymore and she was starting to get concerned. She looked over at Einir who had stopped as to not get too far ahead of Avery. “Do you see them?” she asked.

“Not at the moment,” Einir replied, catching her breath, “The height of these waves has certainly increased in the last few minutes. I can’t see more than 5 metres ahead of me.”

Einir was starting to become concerned. They should have come across the two officers by now, even by accident. She wondered if they had gotten tired of swimming and drowned? She removed that macabre thought from her head almost as quickly as she had allowed it to enter. “I’m going to dive down a short distance and see if I can spot them under the waves.”

Einir waited to see Avery nodding in acknowledgement before she took a few deep breaths and dived under the water. The visibility under the waves was better, but not perfect. Despite having famed crystal clear waters, the currents were kicking up the sand from below, making it harder and harder to see with each passing moment. She returned to the surface and exhaled loudly, before taking in a big suction of air. “No sign of them.” She said in a defeated tone, “They may have been picked up by someone?”

Avery wouldn’t admit it, but she was relieved to finally get a break as Einir dived down. I hope they’re okay, and I hope Scott forgives us for missing dinner, she thought as she realized there was no way they’d make it back in time at this point.

“Maybe, but I haven’t seen anyone,” she responded to Einir’s question. “Perhaps they’re over there by that rock formation somewhere? It’s not that much farther, let’s check it out.” Einir nodded in agreement and they swam. It took another ten minutes of hard swimming before they reached the rock face jutting from the water, but there was still so sign of Nyysa or the XO.

“Let’s split up for a minute. You go to the right, I’ll go left. We’ll look for about 15 meters and see if we can find them. Yell or signal if you see something. After that we should probably head back, otherwise the sea might be too rough for us to make it.”

Einir moved away from Avery and started swimming to the right of the rock formation. It was mostly jagged, and would probably hurt like hell if a rogue wave pushed her onto it. She rounded a corner and was just about to turn back towards Avery when she saw Nyysa and Andrew entering a small cave mouth approximately 300 metres along the rock formation. “At last!” She called out to herself. She spun around 180 and made it back to Avery within minutes. “They’re around that corner of headland, approximately 300 metres away. I saw them swim into a cave.”

Avery sighed with relief, at least they were still alive, but why were they swimming out here to a cave this late in the day? A knot was growing in her stomach, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. “Lead the way, let’s find out what they’re up to,” she said.

Einir turned and swam back towards the cave with Avery following suit. It was getting darker and the sea was getting rougher, but eventually they reached the cave opening. Avery’s eyes immediately lit up with a sense of adventure and exploration as she eyed the cave, wondering what they would find inside.


OFF:

Lieutenant Avery Paxton III
Chief Propulsion Officer
USS Sunfire

&

Ensign Einir Gwanwyn
Astrometrics Officer
USS Sunfire