|
The Gulf and the Horizon Part Four of The Gulf Series by Rick Beck Prologue "The Horizon" On to Chapter One Chapter Index Rick Beck Home Page  Young Adult Drama Sexual Situations Proudly presented by The Tarheel Writer - On the Web since 24 February 2003. Celebrating 21 Years on the Internet! Tarheel Home Page |
Look as far as your vision takes you and you'll see the horizon.
The Horizon is also a state of the art research ship.
Bill Payne doesn't customarily take his research ship to the same reef two years in a row. Advances in technology now allows him to measure more accurately the condition of a coral reef. Armed with that technology, he will see if it measures change on the same reef he studied last summer.
The marine biologist, college professor, and now explorer of the seven seas, Bill is betting there will be change and not for the better. He is inviting Clayton Olson, the best marine biologist he's trained, to accompany him on this year's research trip into the Pacific Ocean.
He wants Clay to see what he has been seeing and once he sees it, he wants Clay's opinion on what it means. He intends to show him the results of last year's research before they arrive at the reef this year. He won't give Clay his conclusions until Clay gives him his own. There is one obstacle in the way of what Bill wants to do. His former student, now Senator Harry McCallister, keeps his marine biologist hopping in the Gulf of Mexico.
Bill understands how important his protege's work is. He also knows that Clay needs to see other bodies of water if he is going to make informed decisions about what he is finding in the Gulf of Mexico. He is seeking Clay's assistance because he needs it now.
Bill has been a marine biologist for thirty years and he's been an environmentalist for at least that long. He's been teaching marine biology since SCUBA gear allowed a new breed of marine biologist to gain access to the underwater habitat of the creatures they study.
Harry took Bill's courses because one day he'd inherit the responsibility for the Sanibel Island Conservancy. He wanted to know more about the environment and the Gulf of Mexico. He heard Bill Payne could teach him what he needed to know.
His father's sudden death puts Harry's plan to enter politics on hold. What he needs is a crash course in running the family business. Experience being the best teacher, Harry starts learning.
Hiring John Olson early in his tenure, he is a handyman who keeps the lights on at the Conservancy, John soon becomes an indispensable man. He keeps the ancient building from falling down around Harry's shoulders.
To keep up with his growing list of duties, John employs several of his sons to empty the trash cans and pick up trash on the beaches. Harry didn't care if he hired his entire family as long as people didn't start complaining to him.
It wasn't until John's youngest son came to Harry's attention that John's true worth is revealed. Clay, John's youngest son, didn't work at the Conservancy. Clay worked on one of the fishing boats in Captain Popov's fishing fleet, but everyone knew about Clay.
Clay gained a reputation for examining anything unusual coming out of Nick Aleksa's fishing nets. Sketching each oddball creature, if it's alive he puts it carefully back into the sea. If it's dead, he has bottles and chemicals to preserve it.
Harry is too busy to worry about stories of a kid drawing pictures. He fails to see the significance until he pays attention to what the pictures are depicting.
Harry begins to investigate the rumors. He didn't need to go far. When he finds out the kid is an Olson, he goes straight to John.
It turns out that the bottles with dead sea creatures are on shelves John made for them in his Conservancy workshop. The sketchbooks are in John's desk. Harry isn't sure what his next move should be. He decides to call his college professor and friend.
He phones Bill and tells him about Clay.
"Harry, the boy is a marine biologist. All he needs is a degree. Think of how much more influential the Conservancy becomes by having its own marine biologist on staff. You better have a talk with this kid before he gets away."
Fifteen years later, Harry keeps Clay busy in the Gulf and by this time, Harry has been a congressman and is now a US senator. He's been dubbed the environmental senator and Clay appears in front of Harry's environmental committee whenever Harry needs him.
Clay's speaking engagements stretch around the Gulf states where he tells his environmentally conscious audiences about the conditions in the Gulf of Mexico.
As the voice of the Sanibel Island Conservancy, Clayton Olson's stature as a marine biologist is growing and he is in demand.
Bill, knowing Harry only too well, needs to find a way to convince him that allowing Clay to go on next summer's research trip into the Pacific isn't just a good idea, it's necessary if Clay is going to see the conditions in other major bodies of water. Eventually anything in waterways around the world is likely to end up in the Gulf.
"If you're the environmental senator, act like it," Bill told Harry.
Senator Harry McCallister isn't a man to be easily swayed but the fact Bill Payne is a major contributor to, and supporter of, the Sanibel Island Conservancy means Harry listens to his one-time college professor and full time friend.
Harry is willing to give a little but he isn't giving Clay's services to Bill for an entire summer and that's final.
Bill understands that minds are made to be changed and he intends to change Harry's as soon as he can meet face to face with him. He needs Clay's eyes on this summer's research and he intends to get them.
Wanting Clay to accompany him on the 1983 research voyage into the Pacific has become like a game of Whac-A-Mole, but Bill refuses to be denied. He needs Clay on this year's trip.
But Bill's trouble don't start and end with Harry. Clay has his own reasons for being reluctant to spend a summer in the Pacific Ocean. With the date of departure fast approaching, and with Harry agreeing to let Clay go for half the summer, Ivan is on the phone telling Bill about Clay's defection.
Clay says to Ivan, "'I can't go with Bill. I can't leave Dylan."
Ivan sees a solution to Clay's situation a few minutes after Clay leaves the Dive Shop. He picks up the phone to call Bill, who has been assisting Ivan in getting good photography equipment for Dylan. He tells Bill what Clay told him.
Ivan isn't thrilled Clay is going away either. The solution is simple enough, take Dylan along. It means Ivan doesn't get to spend the summer with his son, but Ivan knows Clay needs to go on this trip. It will give him a better understanding of what is going on in other major bodies of water.
There will be other summers to share but an opportunity for Clay to take a research trip into the Pacific Ocean might never come again. It's a simple solution Ivan isn't sure Clay will go for.
Bill doesn't know either but it was worth a try. He'd invite Dylan to go along before Clay tells him he isn't going. He'd head Clay off at the pass. It just might work.
Having a youngster go along was one way to add excitement to an otherwise routine research voyage. Explaining his reason for inviting Dylan to go at the last-minute sets Clay wondering.
How did Bill know to call and invite Dylan to go along? He'd only told Ivan a few hours before and the next thing he knows, Bill is on the phone inviting Dylan to go along before Clay even tells him he can't leave Dylan.
Clay smelled a rat and Ivan has cheese on his breath.
Send Rick an email at quillswritersrealm@yahoo.com
On to Chapter One
Chapter Index
Rick Beck Home Page
|
Suggested Reading | Suggested Viewing | Links Privacy Policy | Terms of Service Send a Comment All Site Content © 2003 - 2024 Tarheel Writer unless otherwise noted Layout © 2003 - 2024 Tarheel Writer  |