On a Pontoon Part 1

Posted on Wed Apr 2nd, 2025 @ 10:21am by Lieutenant JG Daisheliss "Lissa" Kerr & Captain Gary Taylor & Lieutenant Colonel Azhul Naxea & Lieutenant Commander Rin & Lieutenant JG Damien Blackford

Mission: MISSION 0 - History Speaks
Location: Holodeck
Timeline: A lazy afternoon, after A Church Beyond the Heaven
1947 words - 3.9 OF Standard Post Measure

Lissa had been fine tuning the program for a few weeks. She wanted to make sure it was at least pretty good before she invited people into the respite she'd created, but one of the things she missed the most about Earth was taking a boat out on one of its many gorgeous lakes on a hot summer day. She'd chosen Geneva Lake in an area that used to be known as Wisconsin for its crystal clear waters and gorgeous scenery. The boat was a medium sized pontoon boat with a small upper deck. It had taken some tweaking to get the sun and the breeze just right, but she was pleased with the final outcome. She'd been thrilled when some fellow crew that she only knew casually were interested in checking it out. It would certainly be one way to get to know her colleagues a little better outside of work.

Lissa carried a cooler of drinks to the holodeck and started up the program a few minutes before she was expecting anyone to arrive. The doors would open to the dock, and arrivals would be able to walk just a few steps before getting on the boat.

Naxea entered, wearing a two piece black and purple swim suit and a towel tossed over her shoulder. She stopped as she took in the scenery. It was very nice and judging by the landscape and skies, she was guessing this was somewhere on Earth. "Hello," she waved.

"Hey!" Lissa waved back. She was wearing a one piece white bathing suit and bright orange shorts that clashed beautifully with her green skin. Her red hair was piled into a messy bun, and she had her sunglasses propped up on her forehead. She popped up from her seat and walked over to the gate and swung it open for Naxea to board. "Watch your step."

"Thank you," Naxea replied as she stepped through the railing gate and onto the primitive and simple designed boat.

Gary arrived next, he had on sunglasses, swim trunks and a Hawaiian shirt of bright colors and a towel draped over one shoulder and a New York Yankee baseball cap, He smiled as he saw Naxea and Lissa. "Hello ladies, a gorgeous day is it not?" He looked over to Lissa, "Beautiful setting Lissa, where are we?"

"Geneva Lake, the town is..." Lissa smirked slightly, "Lake Geneva actually. On the American continent, Earth. It's a spring fed lake, so the water is crystal clear too. It's one of my favorite spots."

Gary nodded, " Geneva Lake, Wisconsin, correct? And yes, it is beautiful." He replied taking in the scenic landscape.

"I'm glad you like it. I've been playing with the program for a few weeks, but I'm open to suggestions," she replied. "Come on aboard and grab a drink if you're thirsty. I brought some snacks too. We're just waiting on a couple more people."

"I do, very much. You did an incredible job. Did you also include Yerkes Observatory as well Lissa?" Gary asked as he continued to look around the lake.

"If we take the boat toward the north shore you can definitely see it," Lissa said. "We can go that way if you want. I didn't have a particular plan on where to go, I thought I'd let you all decide. To keep it more realistic, I thought we'd wait to start pulling the tube until we get out of the no wake zone, and if people just want to float, I've got a lily pad strapped up top."

"Of course, we can always swap out things later, but you know for realism sake," she added with a grin.

"It is a nice program," Naxea agreed as she placed her towel down onto a chair.

Rin showed up with a breezy blue beach shrug over a fairly modest two piece black and blue swimsuit. The implants on her left arm were visible as the shrug fluttered in the wind. A couple more could be seen beneath the skin of her torso. She had a pair of plain sunglasses on and carried a towel as she stepped onto the pontoon. "Hello, everyone. Thank you for the invite."

"Hello Rin." Gary greeted the Elysium's Intel chief pleasantly.

"So glad you could make it," Lissa said enthusiastically. "We're just waiting on Damien and then I can get the boat fired up. Make yourself comfortable."

"I'm kind of surprised to see you here, Rin," Naxea said, grinning. "Nice to see you relax."

Gary smiled at Rin; he was glad to see her here. Hopefully their relationship was improving and would continue to improve.

Damien smiled as he headed to the Holodeck. Having seen the invite to join a few other officers for a relaxing day off, he quickly indicated his interest. And so, here he was. Dressed in a bright Hawaiian shirt and matching swim trunks, with a towel slung over his shoulder, he walked briskly into the room, whistling in appreciation at the location, before raising a hand at the already assembled gang. Walking down to the Pontoon, and stepping on, he smiled. "Hey everybody. Thanks for inviting me." He nodded in turn to each of the assembled, resisting the urge to salute.

Gary saw Damien arrive and nodded at the younger officer. "Glad you could join us. Mr. Blackford." He greeted pleasantly.

"Yes, welcome aboard," Lissa said gesturing to the modest pontoon as if she actually owned the boat and they weren't in a program. "Hopefully there's a little something for everyone out here." Lissa was smiling widely as she was beginning to notice the smell of the lake water and fresh air start to permeate in the program.

"Everyone ready to head out?" Lissa said as she tapped a screen that turned on the engine for the boat. She waited to make sure that everyone was sitting down before backing the boat out of it's slip and turning out toward the open lake. Even though it was just a program out of habit and good practice she kept the boat nice and slow for the 'no wake signs" and once they had cleared those she opened it up creating a nice breeze as she headed to the north side of the lake.

"If anyone wants me to stop so we can get out the inner tube, just holler. I'm happy to take you for a fun little ride," Lissa said with happy laugh as she sat up on one knee in the captain's chair.

"Speaking solely for myself Lissa, let's do a little sightseeing before we do any tubing." Gary replied as Lissa opened the throttle up once they had cleared the no wake zone and thereby creating a nice breeze for all aboard the boat. "This is really nice." He said more to himself than anyone else and he knew he could do with a nice relaxing boat ride with friends. He was relatively sure the others felt the same way.

"Why does my presence surprise you?" Rin asked Naxea as she took a seat, drink in hand.

Naxea shrugged. "I didn't think you enjoyed these types of holodeck programs and activities," she said sitting down next to Rin.

"Who doesn't love a little sunshine and water," Lissa said with a smile as she rounded a bend in the lake. The shore here was thick with trees. Lissa slowed the boat down to a crawl as she noticed turtles resting on a felled log, and several ducks with black and white heads and brown wing feathers fishing for food.

Gary nodded, "Can't disagree there Lissa. "It is beautiful. Nice, peaceful and quiet." He observed. "A nice change of pace and just what we all need, I think. I can definitely enjoy myself here."

"I think the turtles are my favorite." Lissa gestured over toward the shallow water near the tree line where a large group of them hag found some floating logs that were stuck along the shore. "We should see some cranes possibly. Hawks too, they like this area."

"They have the right idea, Lissa. Just sunning themselves and relaxing. Not a care in the world.' Gary answered, his eyes taking in the spectacular grandeur and beauty of the lake and it's surroundings.

Lissa sped the ride back up after clearing the animals and continued toward the north shore since Gary had mentioned the Observatory. "So do any of you plan to get in the water today or are you just in it for the ride?" Lissa asked the group.

"I don't know about the others, but I plan to get in the water Lissa, its why I wore a bathing suit." Gary joked. "However," He continued, "I wanted to hear any ideas the others have."

"I plan to swim," Naxea added from her position on the bench.

Gary nodded, "Excellent idea Naxea. You're in the right place for it." He smiled at her.

"Let's find a spot to 'drop anchor' then," Lissa said cheekily. "I for want to plan to tube at some point. Gary, you know how to drive this thing?" Lissa asked.

Gary nodded, "I believe I can safely drive this boat to everyone's satisfaction and safety Lissa." He said with a smile.

Lissa had been headed toward the Observatory, which also happened to be a popular swimming spot. Locals could drive to a beach there, or drop anchor out in the open water and enjoy time out there, or even swim up to the beach if they liked. When the illusion of the white domes started coming into view, Lissa cut the engines and started idling them into a good spot.

"Commander Rin, you've been pretty quiet. Are you having an okay time?" Lissa asked now that they were slowing down.

"Absolutely," Rin assured her. "Thank you for the invite. I'll get into the water with the others."

Naxea moved to the front of the boat past the railing and sat down on the deck, letting her legs down into the water. The water was cool and felt good against her skin. It had been too long since she last went swimming.

Seeing Naxea at the front of the boat. Gary called to her, "You are going to do more than get your feet wet aren't you Naxea?"A bright smile on his face.

"Just testing the water," she replied, half turning her head back at Gary. After a moment of inhaling and exhaling several deep breaths, she got up and dived headfirst into the water. The shock of the cool water soon wore off and she continued to dive down. There was only a minor current that she could feel as she swam past the anchor chain. The water offered good visibility as she continues to swim.

"That certainly answers my question." Gary said to no one in particular as he watched Naxea dive into the water, doing her very best fish imitation.

Rin, having removed her beach shawl, moved to the back and simply stepped off the boat, falling straight down into the water before bobbing back up to the surface. It wasn't graceful, but neither was it awkward. It was just practical. She turned over to float on her back so she could still talk to the people on the boat.

"That's two in the water. Anyone else? Lissa? Damien? You going to dive in?" Gary asked from behind the wheel of the boat. "Anyone for tubing?"

"What is tubing?" Rin asked.

Gary was about to reply when Rin was suddenly pulled under water. He was about to dive in when he caught a glimpse of Naxea swimming under water and grabbing Rin.

~TBC~