Sunday Week 2 of shipyard.
Allen was halfway through his first cup of coffee when Rachael and Cindy came in and got some. Allen wasn’t ready for breakfast, but it smelled good, so he decided to top off his coffee and go for a walk until he was ready to eat. There weren’t any people scheduled to work today, and it would be for the best. Everybody was burned out. He walked over to the shipyard and surveyed their progress, and then up the catwalk to look at the BYU progress through the boarded up windows. Their ship was a cheery shade of red. It became obvious that it was intended for the Utes to have the red ship. There ship was supposed to be the BYU ship. It was definitely pale bleached bone color but when Allen thought about it he recognized that it had a blue hue to it. Progress on the red ship seemed to be regressing. moving backward. He was certain they would change the rules as soon as the rest of the schools started to complain. He just wanted it to be a fair competition.
Titus did the flag ceremony after the boom of the cannon. There was a cheer from the fence when they finished the Utes fight song. There were nearly a dozen fans of the show that had gathered there to watch. Shupe was all about the ladies, so he went to talk through the fence with them. Allen yawned and went into the Dining Facility to snack some more and work on his studies. His mind wandered as he sipped his coffee, and absently picked at a cheese quesadilla. A nap seemed to be in order. He decided to work on his “across the chest” holster. He wanted to get it so that the 2 new guns would fit.
Cindy and Todd came into the Dining Facility glistening with sweat. They had been sword fighting with the practice dummy, and against each other. They were in high spirits. They grabbed a couple of beers and sat back to talk. It perked Allen out of his drowsy state, but only for a moment. He decided that he could take a nap this afternoon. He went to work on his holster while it was Sunday, and he had free time.
For lunch they had sandwiches, soup, hamburgers or hot dogs, and salad. There was sour kraut for the hot dogs. Sword competitions continued throughout the day. People were tired but enjoying a change of pace.
The Dining Facility had footage from the show playing along with crowd reactions around the country. It looked like it was back dated for a week, so they couldn’t get a good bearing on the other schools ship building progress. Sandoval assured them that they were leading. Most of them were under the impression that things would be easier once they got on the ship and were at sea. A few of them were more skeptical. There had to be a reason there were so many people on the crews of these massive ships when these things ruled the ocean. It must be hard work. “Probably be harder.” Allen said absently to himself, but thankfully nobody seemed to hear him.
They had Chinese food for dinner that night. Egg foo yon, egg rolls, stir fry, moo goo guy pan, and these little pillow shaped things with meat in them. Allen sat with his best buds, and they talked about their families, and the things that they missed back home. The vacation was over a long time ago for most of them. It was like an extension of boot camp in a lot of ways. They were all willing to do what it took to win, but they all wanted it to move to the next phase. The common consensus was that they all seemed to want to have this experience in the rear view mirror. As neat as it was, they longed for normal. Normal was a thousand miles away. They had only been gone for a month. When you looked at the video footage of the auditions you could see how fat and out of shape everybody was. They were all leaner now. Tougher. They all had tanned skin and callouses. Everybody had changed so quickly.
Allen looked into Cindy’s eyes while she laughed and talked with her new family. She was drop dead gorgeous, but not an unattainable cheerleader like she had been. She looked even better as she grew familiar. But now she seemed somewhat… Sisterly. Allen never had a sister. He didn’t know how to feel toward her anymore.
Monday Week 2 of Shipyard.
Allen and Maddux were up first again. Maddux had an espresso while Allen got some coffee. He had the cook prepare a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich with 3 eggs over medium. It was messy, but Allen would wash his hands after eating it. He put too much pepper on it before he took a bite, but it was still superb. The yolk oozed between his fingers and Maddux laughed at him as he ate his French toast and hashed browns.
“Would you like the latest intel?” the cook asked. Allen and Maddux turned to see if he was talking to them. “On the BYU team? My Son’s been keeping tabs on them.”
Maddux and Allen went over to the cook to investigate.
“What kind of tabs?” Maddux asked.
“He looked at their boat last night, and he watches them work on it when he’s not watching you.” He pointed at Allen, who blushed when he was reminded about the kid who idolized him.
“Sure, where they at?” Maddux asked.
“They just barely started putting the wire in. They don’t have any weather or satellite stuff in. They have cameras and lights, but little wiring is done to it. They don’t have any of the rigging in, and the fuel lines to the cannons aren’t even started.” He looked over each of his shoulders to see if his valuable intel was being watched by unwanted prying eyes. Allen thought that was funny since everything they did was on camera, so he looked over his shoulders as well. There were several dozen prying eyes on everything they did, and millions of prying eyes on the stuff that they aired.
Maddux nodded his head a few times while his thumb and forefinger rubbed his chin. “All good things. Thanks.”
The Utes worked on the sleeping quarters, and the captain’s quarters, as well as continuing with the rope work and rigging. Not just the items, but the unnoticed things like mood lighting, button cameras, cabling, detail work, storage compartments, and power outlets. You wouldn’t see a power outlet unless you were looking for it. They were disguised. And there weren’t any cameras or microphones in the captains quarters. They also found out that there was a small officer's quarters for important ship people. It was by the engine room though, and it would be noisy in there if the main engine was running.
Everyone worked hard on the ship, and worked long hours, but it was obviously paying off. The mood of the shipwrights and other people working on the ship was jovial and upbeat. It seemed like they would taper off near the end of the day, but it didn’t matter too much at this point.
The producers of the show wanted the engineers to have a sense of ownership for the galleons. They gave them an opportunity to put suggestions in a box for naming the ship that they were going to be asked to convey them into battle. Upon review the best name would be put on the ship. Allen liked the name his mom used on the only MMORPG that she ever played so he entered Fluor Marie for his entry. He put the name in the box with a bunch of other names in it. He thought it would be kind of neat to have the name he picked be chosen. He wished there was some way to get extra credit if it was chosen, and then he laughed at his own greed.
It was amazing how much fiberglass resin, carbon fiber, aluminum, steel, rope, and hardwood it took to put this techno retro pseudo replica together. The sails weren’t even made of canvass. They were made of a composite that was stronger and lighter than canvass. They had a spare set of sails that were made of canvass that they would have on board for emergencies. Allen thought that was a waste of weight. Why not run the heavy ones, and use the Caterpillar for emergencies? This ship had the appearance of an original, but there was only a tiny bit of wood visible from the sea. The lion's share was carbon fiber and fiberglass formed, and even textured to look like wood. The amount of wood that the originals used must have caused deforestation. The resin had dye in it so that scratches and gouges would be hidden.
Allen wanted one.
They did sextant training from longboats again for class. They were rowing fast and hard instead of in circles, but there were big waves, and a squall moving in. Some of them got seasick. They didn’t get back to work on the ship until 2:00. Dr. Lyons felt bad for keeping the class after school. Especially when a third of them were sick when they returned. The sick ones took it easy while the rest of them got back to work.
“Could I have everyone’s attention please?” Edward said from one of the observation decks that the camera men used to observe the progress. He must have rolled in recently. No one had seen Debby, and she tried to be everywhere in the action. She was probably trying to be a movie star.
“It’s obvious that you feel that getting on the water first is important, and it is. But getting done first isn’t always better. Any problems that arise with the team that finishes first will need to be immediately communicated so the other teams don’t make the same mistakes.” Edward said. Allen and Mr. Montoya exchanged looks when he said that. Montoya made Allen believe that he was giving the information the following day. Allen wondered if that was true.
“If you are out on the ocean and you find a problem we need to get the problem fixed on the other crafts before they set sail.” Edward said as Debby appeared by his side.
Everybody was sure that the Utes team was in the lead now. Otherwise he wouldn’t have come down here to chew them out. Allen wondered if the shipwrights would get in trouble for going the extra mile. He hoped not. That was out of his control. It seemed like a punishment anyway. They would only do that to punish him, right?
Debby wasted little time getting chummy with the Utah students. Shupe ran interference and took little time getting all of Debbie's attention. Shupe was a regular Casanova. Thank goodness he wasn’t seasick.
Edward, Mr. Montoya, and some others sat at Allen’s table. Debby and Shupe completely ignored everybody else in the area as they sat at the table at the other end of the building. They enjoyed chicken broccoli and rice with cheese casserole, and stew. There were plenty of other veggies, and even mashed potatoes and gravy and soft dinner rolls. Allen had iced tea with his dinner, but most of them drank beer, or soft drinks. Edward had wine with his and he shared it with any that wanted it. Mr. Montoya was one of them that did. He talked about the big christening party for the boats which was to be held the Saturday after next. It would have a carnival type atmosphere, and signature party with demonstrations, and activities for the little ones. It had been advertised heavily in Utah near BYU and Utah’s campuses, so they expected a big showing, and everyone needed to be their best. When he showed sympathy toward Allen for his fight with Todd, It disturbed him more than he would like to admit. The sympathy was genuine, but it also reminded him of a time that he couldn’t compete or be his best. But he did give it his all. Allen gave everything his all. The fact that he lost was due to him not being good enough, or tough enough to beat Todd. The combination of that memory, and his inability to do better was what made him feel bad. He knew that his dad would be proud of him because he always had been, but he had great difficulty reconciling with his own disappointment in himself.
“No worries.” Allen said as he was brushing the memories off.
Montoya read him through the facade and decided not to bring it up again.
The memory was painful, but he wished it would go to bed and let him forget about it for a while. Edward mentioned that the cuts to the cast planned for next week were bumped up to the end of this week.
“But we’re short staffed now.” Allen said louder than he would have liked. The place got quiet as Allen tried to express his opinion on Edward. Hopefully he could make a difference. He wished he had more time to prepare a rebuttal. “We lost people right after Gomer left.” He explained. Edward got a confused look on his face.
“Trent.” Todd corrected. Allen looked at him for a second to try to figure out why he said Trent, and then it dawned on him.
“We lost people right after Trent left.” He corrected more quietly. “We’re down to 15 people. You can’t expect us to compete with a diminished crew.”
Edward looked at him with an expression that said Oh yes I can. He didn’t seem to be moved by the sense of fair play. He wiped his mouth with his napkin and narrowed his eyes. His expression changed to one that was even more smug. That’s when Allen figured out what was going on. There wasn’t any way to talk his way out of this one.
“I want a copy of the rules.” Allen said as he shook his head. “A printed copy of all the rules.”
He looked at Edward and was disappointed by his own ambition getting in the way of the team’s success. This was a terrible blow that he wouldn’t soon recover from if ever. He looked over to Sara as he talked deliberately into his microphone. “Sara, could you please get me a complete copy of the rules?” Allen looked at her as she nodded her head. Edward’s look changed from smug to angry. He was used to getting things his way. Not to having the little people mess things up. Allen knew he had to act fast before the rules changed. “Can you have them for me by the end of supper?” Sara nodded again, but this time she looked up at him. She had a look on her face that somewhere between sad and worried. Her chin was crinkled up like she was trying not cry. Edward was a dickhead. From now on Allen would have the kid gloves off.
Allen looked at the rules with a few of his friends around him. He would have liked to have Mr. Montoya there to use as a sounding board, but he wasn’t willing to risk his skin over a negotiation that only partially pertained to him. He checked out how many pages of rules that they had. It included the points system that would be used for the competitions, finishing early with the ships, how the battles would take place, how teams would recover lost team members from a battle, some target ships that they would shoot at to practice with the state of the art ships shooting fake artillery at each other, and even how to get the paintball guns at shanty town. They explained about the boundaries of the fight zone for the ships, penalties for using the engine while navigating or in battle, how many of the non-engineering students could compete in the armed combat on the ships, and what authority the captains would have. Apparently, they were going to get a captain that they were to follow orders from. “I wonder when he is going to get here.” Allen mused. But the item that caused Allen his immediate grief was the parts that already been changed. There were rules on how many shipwrights could work on the ship, and how many hours they could work. “The rules, they are a changin.” Allen stated to himself. Now that he had a written copy of the rules they would have to follow their side of them. He looked at them for another hour before locking them in his gang box.
Tuesday Week 2 of Shipyard.
Maddux was at the Dining Facility sipping an espresso as Allen came sauntering in and grabbed a coffee and a bagel. They sat and shot the breeze about being a smaller crew, but better trained. Then they talked about Edward changing the rules to punish them until it was time to do flag. They teamed up and did it together even though the whole crew was there before the echo of the cannon had completely died down. There was a commotion on the BYU side of the fence, but they couldn’t make out what it was all about, so they ignored it.
Mr. Montoya took Allen away from his coordination efforts between the shipwrights and the crew.
“How does the schedule look?” He asked. Allen pulled up the clipboard with the legal paper schedule that he used in lieu of a computer for scheduling. The critical path items were underscored with thin red pencil. He moved the columns to adjust for this morning’s progress and rechecked the items on the back pages. That’s where he put the items that were originally forgotten, or on the back burner. He knew that he would have to redo the schedule sometime today. “At our current pace we finish on Friday.” Allen said tentatively as he looked to Montoya for approval. He was slow to respond. “I calculated some slip on Thursday and Friday for people wanting the weekend to start blues. If we can avoid that then we are setting sail on Friday morning. What do we do about the christening? Can we head out early and come back?”
Mr. Montoya looked at his computer screen, and then back at Allen. “That’s pretty good. What things have you considered, and what things have you forgotten?” He asked, ignoring the question.
“I hope I haven’t forgotten anything. Would you like to look at my manifest?” Allen offered.
The supervisor took the clipboard and looked through its pages. He seemed to consider each item on the list, and its current location on the schedule. “That looks good actually.” Montoya said. “But you don’t have the anchors on the list. Have you ever worked with any scheduling software?”
“We got trained on it, but I haven’t had to rely on it yet, so I don’t know if I like it or not.” Allen replied.
“You will both love and hate scheduling software.” He assured him.
Just then Debby came in and got chummy with Allen. He left the drawing table and started toward the ship to consider the anchors, and avoiding Debbie. He wondered how he could have missed them. Shupe took the initiative to run interference again with Debby. Her face lit up when he came walking over. Shupe gave her a hug.
There turned out to be more sail rigging than Allen had thought there was. He wondered how tough it would be to do while under way. It was tough enough with the ship holding still. Work also continued on the shuttles that the cannons sat on. Allen was busy witnessing bolt tensioning when there was a commotion in the shipyard. He looked out one of the gun ports on the starboard side at what caused it, and he saw Mr. Remington.
“Mr. Remington!” Allen yelled, and he started toward the top deck and out of the ship.
He gave the instructor a man hug when he greeted him, and everybody seemed to be in a good mood as he presented Allen with a gift.
“What’s in the box?” Allen said as he took it and cut the string with his pocketknife.
“Open it, and see?” he said as he laughed at how quickly the knife appeared in Allen’s hand.
The brown paper was flying toward an open garbage can an instant later, and Allen had the top of the box open and was pulling the packing material out when he found the first of the 2 blunderbusses inside. He pulled it out with a sort of reverence and turned it around in his grasp to view it from every angle. “It’s beautiful.” he said as he looked up into the instructor’s eyes. It had wooden grips made from the heartwood of redwood. It had a depiction of a Spanish galleon carved deep in the wood where your left hand would grip it. There was a shark on either side of the pistol grip with its mouth open near the top. You could just see the nose and teeth while holding it from the grip. It was slightly lighter than his replica, and a little shorter. He pulled one of the decoys out of his chest holster and tried the new gun in its place. It would take a little finesse to get it to fit properly. There was time for that later. He didn’t want to hurt it.
He took the other blunderbuss out and gave it an examination like the first. It was just as magnificent. It had a depiction of a marlin on either side of the stock, and an octopus on the rest of the pistol grip. It had an interesting feel to it that would take some getting used to. He worked the action and looked in the barrel and removed the ramrod and returned it to its bracket, and then handed it to London.
“I don’t have a need for that. You love guns. You keep it.” London said as he refused to take the gun from Allen.
“What are you talking about? One is for you.” Allen said as he looked at Remington who nodded in agreement.
“I’ll use the plastic ones. You keep these.” London offered.
“Are you sure bro?” Allen asked earnestly. London nodded. “If you ever change your mind just let me know. I’ll hold it for you, but it’s yours.”
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Allen tried it in his holster as well. He tried them both at the same time. It was awkward, but it could work. He would have to practice swords while carrying his 2 decoys. He would make the decoys heavier so that he’d get used to it better. He didn’t want to hurt these.
Allen and some of the Utes gave Remington a tour of the new digs. He was excited to see the ship and the cannons and everything. He even commented on the oversize bore of the cannons for the show. They shared a laugh.
London asked about putting an extra set of Ethernet and power nodes next to each of the cannons. Mr. Montoya agreed that it would be okay if it didn’t impede production and the christening of the ship. They also need to be out of view of the cameras in the area.
“The BYU students are complaining about the swords you are using.” Edward said as the Remington entourage was getting back to work. “And they are upset by your continual use of the cannons twice a day. It’s causing quite a disturbance to the local wildlife.”
“What local wildlife?” Mister Montoya asked of nobody in particular. “The fish don’t even seem to notice.” He laughed.
“So, I’m going to have to ask you to stop with the cannons every morning, and every evening.” Edward concluded.
Allen looked at Montoya for some sort of appeal, but he didn’t get the backup that he was looking for. He thought that the cannon signaling of the flag ceremony was cool, but he would follow the rules. It gave the impression that they were trying to just make everybody mad.
“Well that bites.” Allen said at last, and some of the rest of them laughed which lightened the mood some.
Another shipment of pirate gear was on people's beds when they got to them. It was somewhat obvious who wasn’t going to make the cut. They decided to have a big cut party for the ones that were being released. They tried to calculate the money they had earned as the wind left their sails. After showering they mingled their way into chow. Allen brought Remington to the big table to sit by him. Shupe and Debby were conspicuously at the other end of the place again, but Edward kept his attention over there as much as he could. They had even better food when Ed was in town, so it helped ease the sting of his presence. Steak and lobster tonight. Allen wondered how much it cost to put on this sort of spread.
At the end of dinner Shupe leaned over the table and kissed Debby. Then he went around and took her by the hand, and they scurried out the door. Edward’s face reddened as he jumped up and went after them. He was furious.
“Well, I think Shupe just made the list.” London said to the laughter of everyone in earshot.
Wednesday Week 2 of Shipyard.
The morning breeze had scuttled the usual rancid fish stench from the area which was a nice surprise. Maddux was eating a bagel with cream cheese on it when Allen entered the room. He grabbed a coffee and a toasted bagel with cream cheese on it and sat by Maddux to talk. They discussed what it would take to defeat the Y. Todd must have heard them as he walked in because he joined in the conversation without skipping a beat.
“We should just avoid the Y for the first week.” he said as he got a cup of coffee and a couple of cookies and sat by them. “We should have enough points to win the first week with no confrontation since we are going to get out early.” They considered it while they wondered about what the captain would want to do, and how much leeway they had to do what they pleased. They doubted that the captain would side with Edward, but you never knew about these things.
“I just want to completely humiliate them.” Allen stated flatly while fanning his too hot coffee. In part because of the cannons at flag, but mostly because they were BYU. The captain would most likely do what the people paying his salary asked him to, and that wasn’t them.
“Well, if that’s the case then we need to take the booty 3 times a day.” Maddux suggested.
“I agree, but not until the second week.” Todd added.
The rules stated that they got double points after the first win, and triple points after the second win. 3 times a day would be 6 times the value of singles.
“Let’s just get practice on the ship while we gain our sea legs. We can pop shots off at the target ship, increase our accuracy, practice trimming the sails, tacking... You know, sailing.” Todd suggested.
They all just sat and enjoyed the morning until the flag ceremony. Each of them wanting to hurry and get done, but not wanting to get started.
Shupe and Todd did the flag ceremony. It wasn’t the same without the boom. And then the team did the modified and slowed version of the Utes fight song that they had been practicing. It made for better video footage. Rachael and Todd showed enough enthusiasm to kick the rest of the crew in the butt, and they started their day.
At class they fired the propane cannon props on gimbals and tried to hit a target. The props used the same technology as the ones on the ship. It was nearly impossible to fine tune the targeting since the report was electronic. There had to be a way to see where the shot hit so that you could make corrections. There was nothing like that on the ships, so you would be shooting blind. You couldn’t compensate for errors if you didn’t know what they were.
The sails were completed and hung just after lunch. Workers raised and lowered each one several times as they checked clearances and rigging lengths. They fine-tuned the rigging and exercised it several times while the electronics were checked out and the engines were tested. They would be exercising the rigging for days to get it right. They did all the work by hand too. Everybody would know what each sail did, and how it was used by the time they hit the sea.
After working another extended day, they all got cleaned up and over to dinner. Allen and his buds gave up the big table so that Shupe and Debby could have more room. Shupe didn’t mind playing with fire. He must be taking one for the team. It certainly did make Edward mad. It looked like some kind of awkward thanksgiving with the in laws when viewed from the cheap seats.
They had chicken and dumplings, veggies, Brussel sprouts, and stew. There was also cheesy bread and garlic bread. Allen sat with Cindy and the rest. Cindy was across from him. She looked good in the poufy sleeves and tight waist. Every once in a while, she would laugh, and her entire countenance would brighten. It made him smile to see her happy.
In the evening meeting Allen talked about the history of pirates. He wanted to be merciless, but they needed to also promote a degree of mercy and fair play. He wanted everybody to remind each other when they were getting too ambitious. He didn’t want there to be mob mentality. All of their actions needed to be controlled.
Thursday Week 2 of Shipyard.
Maddux Martinez had become a regular morning fixture in the Dining Facility. He was picking at some thickly sliced ham and eating it. It looked like he had finished off a plate of hash browns and a couple eggs already. Allen looked at the clock before getting his breakfast. He wasn’t late, but Maddux was getting early. They talked about swords and being devious. Maddux was in to MMA fighting, and he liked a quick, clear-cut victory. Power and speed usually prevailed.
“You know this is fake, right? It’s like playing flag football.” Allen reminded him. “You have the strength and angle to tackle someone, but they spin or jump, and you miss the tackle. You have to be good at all aspects.” At the end of his conversation he noticed that he was looking in to a camera so he gave it both barrels with his decoy blunderbusses and then blew the imaginary smoke from the barrels before replacing them in the holster. Maddux turned to look in to the camera that he had just shot and smiled.
“I wonder if you would have really hit that thing.” Maddux mused as they shared a laugh together. When he turned back toward Allen he noticed Sara nodding her head. He got up and went over to look at the footage on a small monitor that the AV guy was using. He cued the footage back up and they watched it together a couple of times. It was uncanny how well Allen pulled the 2 decoys and quickly aimed down both barrels and shot a simulated shot into the lens of the camera.
Upon completion of the cannon carriages, they were swiveled and moved around both by hand, and the computer. It was obvious that they were able to swivel more forward than aft. With the oversized gun doors the big guns were able to come to bare strait ahead so that the volley fired to the front would bring the most firepower. When the angle of the ship would be turned slightly to either side it could bring some of the firepower from the broadside for a completely devastating barrage. 4 big guns facing directly forward, or 2 big guns and 8 smaller guns to the sides. Mister Montoya explained that the authentic versions of the ship didn’t have as much freedom to aim at these extreme angles. The ancient ships were most deadly directly to the side. A broadside attack would wreck your day. They rarely needed to aim in other directions. Not to mention they wouldn’t venture out on their own. It took a team effort to defeat a team.
There were 60 beds in the main cabin, plus the officer's cabin had 4, and the captain had 1. They had a cargo net that you could fasten in place so that you wouldn’t fall out in rough weather. While work on the beds was being completed there were people working on the detail work. There were tons of work that needed to be done, and some millwork crews worked on that fine finish work and tried not to get in the way of the rest of the work that was a beehive of activity.
Swordfights became more of an ambush game as it evolved. When the alarm sounded everyone suddenly had heightened awareness. Allen thought of Pavlov and his dogs when he noticed how everybody reacted to the signal.
Everyone was grateful when it was finally time for lunch. They had cheesy bread, and tomato soup, or French dip sandwiches. They ate while Dr. Lyons showed them the best place to shoot a Spanish galleon to slow it down or make it so that it couldn’t maneuver. They didn’t necessarily want to sink the ship, but cripple it so they could board and loot it. In the old days they would take hostages, or Shanghai help using a sinking ship as motivation. That tactic seemed like it would be quite motivating to the Utes.
Some of the heavier items that were needed for proper buoyancy were loaded into the bottom of the boat near the keel and secured. Provisions and bedding and some of the other items would be loaded from the pier after the ship had been placed in the water. Mister Montoya had a list of things that needed to be onboard before, and a list for post launch items. Neither list held provisions. Those items weren’t determined by the shipwright foreman, but by the captain, and cook. Each item that was loaded was moved to the proper area and secured, and then marked off the list. Allen was personally doing the check work for a while until he discovered that he would lag behind so he got Travis to help. The 2 of them coordinated all the work nicely.
After they got the practice equipment loaded and secured, they knocked off for the day. They went in and got dinner after cleaning up. Allen gave the big table up to Shupe again who sat with Debby. He seemed to like the conflict. Allen wondered what his life had been like growing up. There must have been a lot of drama. They had swordfish and shrimp. Allen ate more than he should have. He went for a walk with Cindy afterward to try to get his dinner to sit better in his stomach. He liked being around her.
They walked on the crappy beach that had been in an industrial area for more than a hundred years. It didn’t matter that the beach was crappy. Allen liked to be with her. This time they held hands as they walked. Allen’s heart raced as he touched her skin and they swung their arms nonchalantly as they walked. He completely forgot about how the shrimp was sitting in his stomach until Cindy asked about it.
“Oh, it’s much better now.” He assured her as he looked at his chiseled chest, and not entirely chiseled abs. He pulled his shirt closed underneath his blunderbuss props and did up another button when he noticed how much of his belly was showing. Cindy laughed, and then the hand holding resumed.
“Who do you think will be cut from the show?” Allen asked.
Cindy considered the question for a moment before answering. “The pessimist in me expects that it’s going to be me.” she stated at last. “We don’t have many people getting the boot on this ship. We lost those people when Trent left.” She put her arm around him and tugged on his shirt to slow his pace. “It doesn’t matter who gets booted really. So long as the Utes win in the end. But they have the best chance of winning if Stephen, Fish, and Titus leave.”
Allen stopped walking and they looked into each other's eyes. Artificial light glittered in her eyes as she looked from one of his eyes to the other in quick succession. Her hair was escaping the claw that was holding it. Her shoulders were covered, but her neck seemed to beckon for him to bite it. “What about Rachael?” Allen asked.
“They need to keep her and I for viewers. The men watching the show like some eye candy, and the women see us as independent and inspiring.”
“Well, you do inspire me.” Allen whispered.
Friday Week 2 of Shipyard.
Friday started out like any other day since recording for the show. Allen went in for breakfast and was talking to Maddux Martinez about life on the ocean. He told him what Mr. Hoopes had told him about there being big water on the big water as they had cheesy eggs and biscuits and gravy, and they shared a laugh about it. They had the morning flag ceremony with no cannon going off, and people were becoming more jovial.
“Misery loves company.” Allen said absently as he witnessed the cheerful participants. When he was talking with a small group of them. “We’re going to be such good pirates. We’re going to rule the sea. We’ll have Utes flags flying from all of the boats by the end.” Everybody laughed when he mentioned it. He didn’t expect anybody to take him seriously.
They put finishing touches on the ship and were tying off loose ends. The last 10% were slow. Allen wouldn’t have believed how difficult it was until he witnessed it firsthand.
They mounted the placard on the stern of the boat. The name Fluor Marie had become official. Allen beamed as it was secured in place. The scroll work was good, but he wished it was shaped more like calligraphy, and the letters were deeper and more pronounced. Maybe if they were red it would be better.
“This one’s for you mom.” Allen said as he pointed at the placard and blew her a kiss.
They mounted a tastefully done mermaid on the prow of the ship. The coloring was under a translucent finish that appeared to be an eighth inch thick. She was wearing a headband with feathers that draped just behind her left ear. She bolted on with stainless steel bolts that were disguised so that they were invisible. Her hands were swept back, and it looked like she was holding herself out of the water by grasping the keel at the front of the ship.
At class they shot the cannons from the gimbals at a target ship that was in the harbor. The target boat had sensors all around but didn’t look like a Spanish galleon. The continuing problem was that you couldn’t see where you hit the thing, so you would have a hard time lining up the next shot. Your brain couldn’t log the mistake and automatically correct your aim for the next shot. Only the person looking at the monitor could see where the shot hit the target boat. It made for an inaccurate portrayal of cannon fire. London knew a way to take care of it, but he didn’t want to implement it until he was away from prying spies. This information would be best discussed in the captain's quarters while at sea, and they still hadn’t met the captain.
By the end of the day they were nearly ready to launch. Nearly a whole week ahead of schedule. According to the hard copy of the rules they will get 100 points per day ahead of schedule. When there is a second boat in the water, they will each get 50 points per day, and there is a 3rd they will each get 25 a day until the last boat is in the water. Being behind schedule won’t cost anything except the out of bounds infraction for days that they aren’t in the combat zone by midnight.
The entire crew enjoyed fish and chips, and salad and some also enjoyed Michelob for dinner. Some of the shipwrights had their families there to enjoy the company of the Utes. Edward and Debby were gone. Everyone seemed to be relieved when they noticed their absence. Everybody but Shupe. He appeared to be pining. Allen had him sit at the big table with him and his closest friends.
“So, Allen, how do you plan on taking over the rest of the ships like you boasted?” Shupe asked as they sat and talked about the show. The place got quiet as people awaited his response. Allen had a worried look on his face. Nobody really thought he was serious, did they?
“I don’t think Edward wants you to steal the show. He thinks this is his show and not yours.” Shupe continued.
“I was just kidding about that. Nobody took that serious, did they?” Allen asked.
“Edward did. He even watched the rerun several times before leaving town.” Shupe said. “I’m not sure you’re going to make the cut.”
Saturday Week 2 of shipyard.
Allen and Todd were at breakfast when Maddux came in. They were talking stratagem with the galleon at sea, and how to defeat BYU. Occasionally they talked about the plans for when Allen was booted from the show, and they were going to take on the other ships as well. They meant it in good fun, but it gouged at his feelings when they talked that way. He wondered if the golden goose analogy was still in effect, but he said nothing about it. Cindy came in and joined in on the discussion. She was squeezing the exercise things as they spoke. She was committed to doing her very best.
Inspired by Cindy’s commitment Allen had a small breakfast, and Maddux and Todd followed suit. They discussed the points and strategized accordingly. The first week might be a cake walk like Todd had suggested. Everybody wanted to go into week 2 with a commanding lead.
Titus did the flag ceremony solo. He was happy to be working and learning in a US University. He was so short that the flag nearly touched the ground a couple of times, but he reverenced the flag like a true patriot.
They did some final additions on the ship which took late into the evening, and then they hauled it out of the shipyard on a big machine that had hundreds of wheels. When it was fully out the big hangar type doors it towered over the stupid little construction fence that was erected between them and the BYU shipyard.
They hoisted a huge American flag to the top of the mast. It was 5 feet tall, and more than 25 feet long. It was a big triangular flag like the old galleons had. It had to be held by 3 people to get it to unfurl properly as it was raised. Just beneath it there was a big Utes flag that was nearly as impressive. It was shaped the same, but was lower, and slightly smaller. It had the U in a circle, and feathers on the leeward side. It was stunning. Everybody on the team was proud of their colors as they were raised.
“I’m going to need 5 more of those red ones.” Allen said to Sara when they were both within view of the camera. Allen had decided to make good on his boast. They would be foolish to boot him if the viewing audience would rebel. Sara looked up at him to see if he was joking and saw that he wasn’t.
“Seriously?” she asked in amazement.
Allen brushed the underside of her chin with his index finger to get her to look up at him. When she realized what he was up to her countenance brightened.
“Oh yeah I’m serious.” Allen confirmed. “I’m gonna be a regular Black Beard.” He said with a smile. Then he gave her an over the top wink and pulled the prop blunderbuss from its holster with his left hand and pretended to fire it at her. “Bang.” He said. Then he blew the imaginary smoke away and replaced it in its place on his chest. The problem with revealing his intentions was that they would all be alerted to it. There’s no reality in reality television. But the other problem was that they had to win both competitions leading to the final portion of the contest. They had a commanding lead on BYU, but they had to beat the winner of the other 2 schools in order to follow through. His calm demeanor wouldn’t betray his terror of failing. “We will be triumphant.” He said absently, and then he smiled his biggest smile.
They were destined to be the first on the ocean. There was no way that any of the other teams could change that now. They would be able to fight the target boat without sharing it with the Y. Probably for a whole week, perhaps longer. They took the flags down as the sun began to set. It took a crew to get it stowed properly. Once at sea they could keep it up. This was probably the only time they would take it down.
That night the commercial was projected on the wall of the dry docks. There were some fans there to be near the cast of characters, but there was minimal coverage for the event. The big event would be the following weekend. Most of them could hardly wait.
Commercial #5. Country wide.
The commercial showed some ship building for all 4 schools.
Sextant training for all 4 schools in longboats.
Propane cannons firing at each other from gimbals. All 4 schools.
Allen and Todd sword fighting clips, Allen defeated and kneeling, panting, backlit. Blood from mouth.
Allen still wasn’t too keen on getting his butt kicked on the commercial. Todd and the rest teased him every time the new commercial came out. For some reason it didn’t bother him though. He would just roll with the punches and say “Yeah yeah yeah.”
There were a few sword fights. The BYU folk seemed to be in a sort of awe of the expertise of the Utes. One wanted to have a duel with Cindy, but she didn’t want to humiliate just one of them.
“If you want to tussle then you better get a couple of friends to help you.” She said. 2 more stepped up to be part of the scene. They must not have been aware of what Cindy was capable of. Why would you call out a girl? That’s like picking on a kid 3 years younger than you. Even if you win you didn’t win. He’s 3 years younger than you.
When they stepped up to the plate it was apparent that they thought they were going to take on her and 2 other Utes. Cindy saw the uncertainty, but she chopped one down before he had his sword all the way out, and then she poked the second one 4 times in rapid succession before he could react to his friend being taken out so quickly.
“That’s what you’re signing up for matey.” Cindy smirked. “Come and get some.”
The fellow lunged at her quickly, but she deflected his sword with her left hand, spun, and slashed him hard across the abdomen as she moved in. She had her swords put back away before he regained his footing. She expected a rebuttal, but they were deflated by her skill and went to pout on the other side of the courtyard. The small crowd laughed and cheered. Allen took note of the entire BYU team. They would be more wary in the future, but they wouldn’t be able to keep up with the dervish that Cindy had become.
The shipwrights joined in on the festivities, and when they were nearly ended, a horse drawn carriage similar to a stage coach entered the area with oil lanterns for headlights. The buggy swayed when it stopped, and the footman opened the door for a large fellow with short cropped beard that was dark but had some greying at the sideburns like chops. The mustache was not as well cropped and looked quite unruly. The man brushed an oversized hat with a plume on to his balding head. The fairylike feather took a moment to find its place when the swish of the hat had completed its arc and landed atop his head. The man had an oversized eye patch that pressed a crease in his forehead where it lay. His hair wasn’t all pressed down where it crossed, but went over the thong that held it in position, and gave the appearance that it wasn’t just thrown on in the coach. He had a billowy bow tie that seemed to be made of ruffles. The man straitened it when his foot hit terra-firma. He looked right through the crowd of bystanders and gawkers as if he was looking for someone in particular. He had a stern look on his face and didn’t show any joy in being at the shipyard. Sandoval and an intern that Allen didn’t know went over to greet him as the footman grabbed 2 old scuffed up trunks from the top of the coach and carried them over to the Fluor Marie. Allen looked over to Sara and asked who it was, but he already had a good idea. She looked at him and mouthed the word Captain, and threw in a salute. He left the area without worrying about the fanfare. Allen was impressed. “There is no reality in reality television.” He reminded himself.
Everybody was dead dog tired as they headed off to sleep. Allen slipped off to talk to Cindy in the night. She was awake, and they went for a walk on the beach. No cameras followed them. They walked a long way from the camp and kept turning back to see if Danny or one of the others was there, but they weren’t. There was a reflective light from the city lights reflecting off of the pollution in the air. Cindy’s hair had a soft luminescence from it. It was slightly out of sorts from her lying down before Allen disturbed her and Rachael. She didn’t just have a cheerleader beauty to her, but a sort of beauty that went clear to the bone. She even had a great personality and was easy to talk too. She was everything Allen would have wanted in a girlfriend.