Under Normal Circumstances

All Over the Map

After Jack left, I threw myself on the cot San hadn't chosen for herself. There was a little timer by the head of it and I set it for a half hour and closed my eyes.

"Just a half hour," I assured San before falling into a deep sleep.

I awoke to a hand gently rubbing my back.
"Pardon my intrusion, but did you want that alarm to wake you up?"

My heavy eyes shot open and my sleep hangover sobered up immediately at the unfamiliar, yet gorgeous British voice that spoke to me then. I rolled over to have it confirmed that the voice belonged to an equally gorgeous face. Bright blue eyes and amused brows looked down at me. He straightened up when I didn't say anything and I sat up as well.

"Sorry, I was on my way to the meeting when I heard the alarm going off," he said with a small smile.

"Oh," I said, finally comprehending reality. "It's ok, thanks. What time is it?" I rubbed under my eye to see if I had smudged my makeup. I was probably an absolute mess.

"The meeting starts in 10, if that's what you're wondering," he said.

"Right, thank you. Um, I'm Maybelle," I introduced awkwardly.

"James Conrad," he said, shaking my hand.
"I'll see you there," he said before leaving my room.

Once he was gone I flung myself off the bed and over to the mirror to see what the damage was. Not too terrible, I was lucky. I fixed myself up to be presentable for the meeting and then cautiously stepped out of my room, closing the door behind me. I remembered my way to the stairs and went up, voices trickling down from the floor above. My level was relatively empty when I'd left my room and I saw why. Everyone was up here, filing into the conference room.  I made my way inside and saw Jack nearby. He caught my eye and nodded to me to come over.
I wove carefully through the crowded room and stopped by his side. He smiled and put a hand on my shoulder.

"Alright boys, this is my sister in law, Maybelle," he introduced me to the guys he had been talking to before I arrived.

"This is Cole," he said about an older man who nodded to me.
"Mills," a young black man who grinned at me.
"Reles," a tan and stout man who gave me a wink.
"And Slivko," a tall skinny young man with a puppy dog face who smiled politely.

"Oh that reminds me!" I said, pulling out from my pocket the picture Billy asked me to pass on. 
"You have a puppy and he was named after Slivko," I said handing it over to Jack.
"It's nice to meet you all," I said to the men I'd just met.

"Maybelle sure is a pretty name," Slivko complimented.

"Isn't that the town Andy Griffith is the sheriff of?" Cole asked.

"No, that's Mayberry," Glenn corrected with barely contained frustration like this happens all the time.

Jack was happily looking at the picture Billy had colored.
"My boy is becoming a real artist," he said. "Don't know why he'd choose to name him Slivko though."

"He asked me to help him find the names of your army buddies in your letters. He thought if he named the dog after one of them, you wouldn't miss them so much when you came home," I explained.

"Awe," Mills and Reles intoned together.

"Well I guess Slivko is like a puppy, it'll suit just fine," Jack teased him, ignoring the others.

"Yeah but like, a Rottweiler puppy, right?" Slivko said, causing the others to laugh at him and shake their heads negative.

"More golden retriever," I suggested. He was pretty cute I supposed.

"Yeah, there you go," Reles agreed, slapping his shoulder. "Golden Boy."

I caught his eye and gave an apologetic look but stilled smiled.

The guys got to talking again and I noticed out of the corner of my eye, a tall man in a dark shirt enter the room. It was James Conrad, the British beauty that had been in my room. Jack noticed me looking and the red tinge on my cheeks.

"Hey, the door to my room locks, right?" I tried to ask him so the others wouldn't hear.

"Yeah, why?" He asked.

"No reason."

Just then we were all called to find a seat and pay attention. My science buddies were on the other side of the room and I thought about fighting my way through the Landsat teams seats to get over there but Jack led me to a seat by him in the middle of all the soldiers. Jack was to my right on the aisle and Slivko sat to my left.

A man named Victor from the Landsat team began explaining about the island which I had all heard from Randa and Houston earlier, but he showed slides. I was surprised to see the island actually looked like a Skull.

"Charming," I mumbled to myself and heard Slivko chuckle beside me.

Soon Houston was up there and said something he hadn't mentioned before, seismic charges.

"You're dropping bombs?" Came James Conrad's voice, giving me a shiver.

Houston faltered.
"Scientific instruments."

"You hear that boys?" Slivko piped up. "We're scientists now!"

The military side of the room laughed at this while the Landsat team scoffed.

"You're not scientists," one remarked snidely.

I wasn't so sure about this now and had a look of concern on my face aimed and Mr Randa and San across the room. I was startled a little by Jack getting up, missing that he had a speech to make as well. He pointed to the north side of the island and said a team would be there in three days time and to please not miss it.

"What happens if we miss it?" I leaned over and whispered to Slivko.

"Don't worry, we won't," he assured me, dodging the question.

Just what the heck kind of mission was this?