Linked (7 page)

A
couple hours later we were out on the water cruising through the San Juan
Islands in an 18 foot speed boat. A blue and white Bayliner to be precise, one
kept at the smaller dock on the west side of Towhead Island. I’d gotten a good
look at Shaw, Lopez, and Orcas Islands as well as some background information
from Jason. According to him, amenities on Shaw were minimal, whereas Lopez was
a personal paradise for bicyclists and beachcombers. Orcas, the largest of the
islands, boasted numerous restaurants, bed and breakfasts, cabins, campgrounds,
and Rosario Resort. The spectacular 5,000 acre Moran State Park was home to
Mount Constitution, the highest point in all the San Juan’s. I was quietly
contemplating to myself, whether or not he’d ever considered being a history
teacher. He was like a walking, talking textbook.

Clouds
still dotted the sky, but the sun had taken over, and bright sparkles shimmered
across the ocean’s surface. We were traveling about 35 knots, roughly 40 mph,
and I was grateful Jason had suggested wearing a windbreaker, because the air
blasting across the bow of the boat was nippy, and the occasional water sprays
were unpredictable and cold. Standing confidently at the helm with a huge grin
on his face, his royal blue jacket rippled in the wind. He looked as much in
his element out here on the water as he had up in the mountains.

He
turned and smiled. “We’re heading around the southern tip of San Juan Island to
the west side and into Haro Strait – where hopefully, you’ll be in for a
surprise.”

I
stepped a little closer to him, so I didn’t have to yell so loud. “What sort of
surprise?”

He
crinkled his nose. “Wouldn’t be one if I told you, now would it?”

I
stuck out my tongue.

“Now,
now, patience is a virtue,” he teased.

“Fine.
Then tell me instead more about the gatherings at the Retreat. I want to know
when the next one’s scheduled.”

Pulling
back on the throttle, he cut our speed in half, so it was easier to talk in a
normal voice. “Well, there’s not much to tell, other than we’re set to host one
on New Year’s Eve this year. Should be lots of drama,” he added with disdain.

“Why’s
that?”

He
took his eyes off the water and glanced at me. “This year, December 31
^st
also
brings with it a full moon. So…”

“So,
there’s gonna be a ton of unlinked Guardians roaming around,” I finished with a
smile. Scratching my head, I said, “I fail to understand the drama part.”

He
whistled. “A bunch of young Guardians celebrating and dancing – a bunch of
unlinked
Guardians – some of whom will be looking for a mate and others who might
decide to link with someone they aren’t supposed to. There’s bound to be
trouble.”

“You
mean excitement,” I said and laughed.

“Hardly.”
He looked at me cross-eyed.

“Well,
why don’t the Senior Guardians mandate that everyone re-link with their
original partners immediately before attending the party?”

He
shook his head. “Most people will be arriving on the 29
^th
or 30
^th
and will already be here when their links break, and it wouldn’t be right.” He
paused, but I didn’t say anything so he continued, “First off, some of us need
that break, even if it’s only for a day or two. But secondly, there will be
more Amethysts present this time. They’ll actually have a chance to dance and
interact with Guardians, rather than being isolated and left out as usual.”

“Oh,”
I said and pondered that bit of information.

He
looked at me seriously and said, “You’ll be in high demand Alex. You and
Jessica. You’ll have Guardians wanting to dance with you all night long,
because it won’t hurt when they touch you, but the flow of your Essence will
still give them the energy boosts. Energy boost that are better than any buzz.
It’s a win-win situation I suppose,” he mumbled and looked back out at the
ocean’s small swells.

“Can’t
say that sounds overly enjoyable,” I said, nervously tugging on the loose
strands of hair that had escaped my ponytail.

“Don’t
worry, Jessica will look out for you. You’ll have a chance to meet lots of
people – other Amethysts too.”

“Are
there male Amethysts?” I asked curiously.

His
eyes narrowed very subtly. “Yes,” he said in a neutral tone. “This would be a
good time to meet one and make a connection.”

“A
connection?” I repeated with confusion.

“Look
Alex, by now you must have figured out that eventually you’ll have to find a
companion—”

“Excuse
me, did you say companion?” I interrupted scornfully.

“A boyfriend,
a mate,” he said irritably. “One who is either an Innocent or an Amethyst.”

“You
mean because Amethysts don’t grow up and marry Guardians.”

“Yes.
Those are impossible relationships.”

“Well,
I’m not interested in making any
connections
or meeting any
companions
right now,” I said indignantly and inadvertently stomped my foot. Dang, he
could be completely infuriating. Could he really not tell how strong my
feelings for him were? Or was he trying to ignore that and steer me in a
different direction? Staring out over the waves, I saw a congregation of about
five boats drifting all together in one area.

“Jason?”

“What?”

I
touched his arm, and he looked down at me guardedly. “Will you be there?”

“Of
course.”

“Promise
me a dance.”

He
sighed deeply, while gazing back and forth between my eyes. “I don’t think…” He
stopped talking when I crossed my arms and glared. Finally, in a low voice he
said, “Yeah, okay.”

Breathing
easy again, I smiled. I’d been holding my breath and hadn’t even realized it.
Now I had something to look forward to. As we drew nearer to the group of
boats, something flashed out in the waters just beyond them. “Hey, what was
that?” I asked excitedly.

He
smiled and said, “This is Haro Strait, and that was your surprise.”

As he
spoke, an orca whale breached the ocean surface. The black and white body
propelled upwards a good eight feet before crashing back into the water leaving
white, surface waves splashing in its wake.

“That
was incredible!” I said, jumping around the boat to get a better view.
Animated, I grabbed his shoulder and said, “Wasn’t that beautiful?” I could
hardly contain my excitement.

“Yes,”
he laughed as I almost knocked him over. “I’ll get you a little closer, then
we’ll just sit still and give them some room.”

“Perfect,”
I said and put my hand against my forehead as a visor to block the sun’s glare.
I didn’t want to miss anything. Watching eagerly, I was rewarded when three
whales surfaced together simultaneously, just long enough to show their backs
and dorsal fins. “Holy smokes! There’s a bunch of ‘em.”

“Several
resident pods live here; I think they’re the J, K, and L pods if I remember
correctly. There’s somewhere around 80 whales in this local community.” He came
and stood next to me. “Each whale has a white saddle patch right behind the
dorsal fin. Since no two killer whales have the same patch, it’s like a
fingerprint.”

“That’s
awesome,” I said. “How did you know they’d be here?”

“I
didn’t. But I’d heard there’d been several sightings out here in the last week.
Plus, they tend to favor the waters here on the west side of San Juan Island
because of the salmon runs.”

Watching
with pure delight, I counted at least 13 orcas swimming together, breaking the
surface and exposing their unique dorsal fins. As water sprayed from their blow
holes, loud bursts of air broke the silence, and a couple of them started
slapping their tails.

“They’re
playing,” Jason said and pointed. “See how they’re coming vertically out of the
water and staying above the surface?”

“Yeah,
like they’re treading water.”

“Mmm
hmm, that’s called spyhopping. Sometimes you’ll see one get almost half of its
body above the water.”

One of
the whales emerged slowly, the dark waters running over its smooth body. With a
gentle exhale, the orca blew a fine mist that drifted through the air. “I wish
we could hear them talking,” I sighed.

“Oh,
you don’t ask for much do you?” Jason narrowed his eyes and looked at me, but
he was smiling. “In order to impress you, sounds like I’ll need to spend my
next couple paychecks on a fancy hi-tech hydrophone so that next time we can
listen to the whales singing.”

I
erupted with laughter and punched him in the arm. “Yeah, get on that will ya?”

Several
“Oooohs” and “Ahhhhs” drifted across the water from thrilled spectators, as one
whale shot out of the water in a full breach. The mammals put on quite a show.
I don’t know how long we watched them, but I know I was mesmerized the entire
time. I was disappointed when they finally started swimming south and we had to
head back to the Retreat.

For
dinner Jason made stuffed chicken breasts with basil, mozzarella cheese, and a
spicy, red sauce, which we ate over rice. In the evening we talked and played
the board game
Ticket to Ride
, and then went to bed fairly early.

Thursday
afternoon I found myself being humiliated in a game of pool as I knocked solid
balls into pockets when I was supposed to be taking out the striped ones. Jason
laughed heartily, enjoying my every mistake. Ultimately, he raised his cue
stick in the air and reveled in victory. What’s worse, he’d already beaten me
soundly right before that in ping-pong on the top of the line Kettler table. I
hadn’t seen this side of him and found his competitive nature amusing, but his
hotshot, show-off celebrations were starting to grate on my nerves.

The
game room was bright and airy with plenty of light pouring in through the
arched windows. Sage green, textured walls and cream colored Berber carpet gave
the room a comfortable feel, but an eclectic assortment of light fixtures made
it fun. Hours could be spent in there without ever running out of things to do.
In addition to the games we’d played, there were also dart boards, old pin ball
machines, a shuffleboard table, two air hockey tables, a gaming table for
poker, a roulette wheel, and a big juke box over in one corner, which was
playing the old Beatle’s song,
I Wanna Hold Your Hand.

He
smiled brightly as we stepped over to the foosball table. I arched one eyebrow
and grimaced, but that was all an act. What he didn’t know was that I loved
foosball, and I was a master. Having grown up with a table, I’d had years to
perfect my game. My brothers would play on my team but hated playing against me
one on one. I smiled back weakly, trying to look more resigned than delighted.
Finally, I had an advantage and I planned on using it. I was bad! Sneaky bad! I
let him score a couple points before I started slamming in goals with
incredible speed and force. Minutes later, I was leading eight to three. He
shot me an evil eye, but I just held up my index finger and flaunted my
superiority.

With
as straight a face as I could muster, I said, “Hmm…are you a little rusty or do
you just need some pointers?”

He
turned bright red. “Oh, suddenly sassy are we?”

“Nope.
Just better than you,” I giggled and pretended to dust something off my
shoulder. “But,” I glanced up at him, “if I do seem a little cocky, I recently
learned it from someone else in this room. I won’t mention names or anything.”

He
laughed. “I suppose I deserved that. Go ahead, you might as well finish me off,
and then we can grab a snack and hang out on the patio.”

“Your
wish is my command.”

“Hey,”
he said excitedly, as I hammered the ball in for the winning goal, “you and I
have to play doubles against Trevon and Shelby sometime. They are the reigning
champs, and nobody can beat them. But I have a feeling,” he slapped the edge of
the table, “you and I could decimate them.”

The
rest of the day was casual and fun. We lounged around on the patio, went for a
walk, and made spaghetti for dinner. Well, he did most of the cooking, I just
chopped the peppers and onions – more like an assistant chef.

When
the darkness of night settled over the island, we decided to go in the hot tub.
Self-conscious in my bikini, I raced to the third floor balcony so I’d be in
the water before he arrived. Bubbles bounced wildly around me, and the forceful
jet streams massaged my back. Although it was almost pitch black outside, I
enjoyed watching the outline of his body before he sunk down into the water.

“Don’t
suppose you’d tell me more about your biological dad?”

Gazing
into the dark shadows, I contemplated. At long last, I decided to share a
little more about that very personal part of my life. I couldn’t see his face,
and that would make it easier to tell the story. Without city lights to
interfere, the heavens were illuminated with millions of tiny lights all trying
to outshine each other.

“According
to my mom,” I began, “my biological dad was prone to depression, and eventually
he turned to alcohol and drugs to dull the despondency.” I cleared my throat
and sat up taller. “One night, when I was about three years old, he’d been
drinking heavily and was pretty smashed. Apparently, I’d been having a full
blown tantrum, like most toddlers do. Anyways, when he couldn’t get me to stop
crying, he smacked me across the face, and I went flying across the room.” I
heard a snag in Jason’s breathing, but he didn’t utter a word. “Luckily, I
wasn’t hurt, and I don’t even remember the incident. The physical violence was
the last straw. My mom was seriously scared for our safety and wasted no time
in leaving him. She packed up Greg and me and asked her parents for help. We
moved in with my grandparents, and my mom divorced my dad.” Sighing, I gently
slapped the water in front of me.