The river catamarans are bigger than the ones we used in Hawaii. Each one has two bedrooms and a larger deck where we can stage constructions. They’re more comfortable than the smaller ones too, which is good since we’ll be living in these for a month. I feel my bots building the improvements that the dev team made to the small kitchens, each boat now equipped with basic appliances and other essentials. As my many small metal hands finish up the other boats, my fleshy fingers open the small fridge in mine and start stocking it with the drinks and snacks that Mek had ready for us on the dock. I don’t recognize the brands on most of them, but I’m sure she got us something good.
The guides’ cat up ahead will act as the master for the fleet, with the rest set to follow automatically in a convoy unless we manually disengage. They’re out on their deck organizing the large wooden crates that crowd it. Thao is checking something on his tablet and Mek is looking at a large folding map. I glance over and see Evan building the second of a pair of small speedboats attached to the back of the guides’ cat. They’ll be hauled along when we don’t need them and will let us or the guides break off of the group for errands like getting meals for us.
I look over at Andrea and Louise’s cat. They’re helping Valerie carry her boxes of medical supplies in. Over on Chad’s boat, Chad and his girlfriends already have everything loaded except for the backpacks each of them are wearing now. The Geologist girls look like they’re going to have a crowded cabin. I think they all went a little nuts yesterday at the markets and they’ve barely got standing room with all the bags marked in Vietnamese scattered around their deck. Maybe I should have set a limit, but it probably wasn’t too expensive as long as the guides kept everyone out of the high end stores like I told them to. The Geologist boys’ boat is almost loaded, with all of them busily floating the last of their gear over from the truck. In just a few minutes, they’re done and we’re ready to go.
Mai and Thao look my way and I wave the go-ahead. They start untying the lines mooring their cat to the dock and I start doing the same with mine. I reach out with my bots and untie the rest of the cats while I’m at it. As the guide’s boat pulls out, the other five follow like a choreographed dance. I wait until they straighten out and I can see everything is going well, then pop on my flight suit and jet back to Chad’s boat.
I land next to the deck chair where he’s reclining next to Keeya. He’s already got his shirt off and Keeya is sporting a white bikini that makes a stark contrast against her dark skin. I can’t deny that he’s got good taste in women. She’s got an amazing body that I’m trying very hard not to look at now.
“Hey, Noah,” she says cheerfully as I touch down.
“Hey, Keeya,” I greet her with my eyes on my brother as my flight suit melts away. “Chad, are you ready for your update?”
“Oh, yeah,” he says casually. “We’re due for that today, aren’t we?”
Apparently his plan for today is to pretend we didn’t have our conversation last night. Fine, I’ll play along.
“Yeah, slide over and give me your appliance.”
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He sits up, digs into the oversized pockets of his cargo shorts, and hands me the device. I reach into my satchel and fish out mine and the connection cable.
“This will just take a couple of minutes,” I say, sitting down next to him and plugging his box into mine. I kick off the update.
Lucie comes out in a bikini even smaller than Keeya’s with a drink in each hand. She’s also stunning, though her figure is on the very lean side. I guess I don’t have room to talk there; the girl I’m into wasn’t much more than skin and bones when I met her.
“Oh,” she says. “I see we have company. Noah, can I get you a drink?”
I suddenly realize that despite all the humidity in the air, the busy morning has left me parched. “Sure, something cold would be great.”
“Beer or soda?” she asks.
“Soda, please. Cola if you have it.”
“Coming up,” she says, handing Keeya one of the drinks and Chad the other. Beer, by the look and smell.
I really want to lay into Chad about drinking. We don’t know anything about the effects of alcohol when using bots. Father was a teetotaller, and we were all underage when he was around, so it never came up before. If I didn’t already have one battle with him underway, I’d open my mouth about it. But the other fight is much more important, so I don’t. Chad apparently doesn’t notice or care as he sips his cold one. I put it on my long list of things to talk to Louise about. She’ll have better medical insight and might do better than me at talking to him about it.
Lucie brings out a glass with soda on ice for me and another beer for her. After handing me my drink with a smile, she settles in on the other deck chair opposite Keeya’s and puts on a pair of sunglasses.
UPDATE COMPLETE
“There. I think we’re good,” I say. “Tell me if this works.”
To Chad: Hey, brother. Are you seeing this?
His face lights up. “Yes I can. That is amazing. Evan built this?”
“Mostly Evan, but it was part of Father’s designs that he left behind for us, so he should really get the credit. Try sending a message back.”
From Chad: Is this working?
“It is. You’re all set.”
I disconnect the devices and stow mine back in my bag along with the cable. I hand Chad his and finish my drink before taking the glass back into their kitchen.
“You mind taking mosquito duty today?” I ask him as I return to the deck. “It’s one of the new functions you got with the update, fully automated like our old threat scanner.”
“Sure thing, brother,” he says, already reclined again with his hands clasped behind his head.
Keeya rolls over and the swimwear she’s wearing leaves very little to the imagination. I don’t know why it’s even registering for me. With my cloud vision, I see around and through clothes pretty often. Not like I even try to, but when someone walks into part of my cloud I feel whatever part of them touches it. But it’s different when I see things with my physical eyes, not sure why. Anyway, with the three of them tanning and drinking like this is a tropical vacation, my job is done here. I’m going to go find better company.
“Thanks. I’ll talk to you later,” I say.
I suit up and jet back to my boat. Evan and Marc are already settled into deck chairs there with one left empty for me. I take it and get comfortable. It’s a long ride down the Saigon river to the South China Sea, then up into the Mekong where we’ll finally get started.