========================================================================== UNTITLED Rachel Brody ========================================================================== Timeline: SeaQuest DSV (Season 2) Author's E-Mail: bi185@freenet.buffalo.edu ========================================================================== AUTHOR'S NOTES: I'm thinking of writing more of a story to go with this, but wanted to know if it would "work" first-- _please_ send me your opinions on this so I'll know if I should run with this idea... ========================================================================== Untitled By Rachel Brody "That one," Brody said, pointing at the striped ball, "In the corner pocket." Lucas nodded and watched as Brody lined up his shot, checked the aim, and drew back his cue. The lieutenant's arm moved forward, and the cue hit the white ball. A moment later, the cue ball hit the nine, propelling it into the corner pocket with a sharp clacking noise that meant only one thing. "You did it. Again." Brody nodded as he chalked up his cue. "Guess I did..." He looked at the green felt that covered the table. "For my next trick..." He trailed off, gesturing toward the another ball, "I will hit the eleven into the side pocket." "Which side?" Lucas asked. Brody looked up for a moment from lining up his shot. "That one," he said, nodding toward the opposite side of the pool table. "Oh." Brody hit the cue ball again, but this time missed the eleven by just less than an inch. Lucas hopped off the stool he'd been perched on and moved toward the table, looking it over. This was his first turn since they'd begun, and things didn't look good. The cue ball was stuck behind the eight ball, and it was at least two feet before one of his balls was clear. His aim wasn't that good, and he knew it. Forming a picture of the tabletop in his mind, he tried to determine the angle and speed that he'd need to hit the ball with in order to sink one of the solid-colored balls. Brody had already sunk the fourteen, ten, and nine on his first turn, and had only four balls left on the table. Lucas still had all seven. He looked up at Brody, trying to decide if there were some way he could get out of this game at this point-- he hadn't realized that Brody was such a good pool player when he's agreed to play for money. "Hey, uh, lieutenant, do you think we could maybe forget about that `call it before you sink it' rule?" Brody shook his head good-naturedly, knowing he had Lucas in a spot the teen wouldn't be able to get out of. "Not a chance," he said. "No way, no how." Lucas sighed and looked back at the table, still lost as to how the hell he was supposed to make a shot. "Any tips?" Brody chuckled. "Tips? You gotta be kidding me, Mr. `Pool- can't-be-that-hard-all-you-do-is-hit-the-ball-with-a-stick'. Now, take your shot." Lucas sighed. "Fine." He picked what he knew was the most likely shot. "The two in the corner pocket," and made his shot. He watched as the cue ball hit one bumper, then another, evading the two as though there was someone steering it. He looked up at Brody when it came to a rest. "You rigged the table," he accused, only half-joking. Brody took it in stride. "You wish. Thirteen in the side pocket." He shot. To Lucas' dismay, he made it. "Eleven in the corner." But again, he missed the eleven by barely a hair's breadth. Lucas looks over the table. This time, he had an almost clear shot. "The six, in that pocket." He gestured with his cue to the corner pocket next to where Brody was standing. He lined up his shot and shut his eyes for a moment. *Please, let me make this shot so I don't look like a complete fool.* He opened his eyes and shot. It went in. "Yes!" Brody looked on as Lucas grinned, a bemused expression on his face. "Which one are you gonna shoot in now, O mighty Billiards Champion?" Lucas looked up at him, realizing his "celebration" might have been a touch premature. He glances back at the table, feeling like he was finally getting the hang of this. "The, uh, three." He made his shot. For almost a second, it looked like there was a chance of the ball going in. But it rebounded off a bumper the barest instant before it would've gone in. Lucas watched as Brody proceeded to sink both the eleven and the fifteen, then missed on the twelve. But the lieutenant had succeeded in making one thing impossible. Namely, any sort of chance for Lucas of hitting a ball into a pocket. He took stock of the situation and took a hesitant step toward the door. "Hey, uh, I think Captain Bridger wanted me too--" "It can wait." Brody was obviously enjoying watching Lucas realize that he'd made the mistake of acting like he knew something about something he knew nothing about. Lucas took a deep breath. "Fine. He went back to the table and lined up a shot with the eight ball. *Might as well get this over with...* Even though he knew less than nothing about pool, he knew that sinking the eight ball before you'd sunk the rest of them was how to lose a game, and lose it quickly. Brody looked at him, confused for a moment, then realized what he was going to do. "Hey! You can't--" Lucas hit the ball, praying that just this once, he would make the shot. He didn't. He supposed he shouldn't've been surprised. Brody shook his head. "You're dead meat, Wolenczak." Had the lieutenant not been grinning when he said it, Lucas might've felt some form of fear. But he knew enough to know that while Brody might be a pool-shark-in-the-making, he most certainly wasn't the type to hold a victory over the head of a teenager who'd never played the game before in his life. Thankfully, Brody made his next two shots, and the game was over. "Good game. Next time, don't say you know something you know nothing about. Right?" -The End- ========================================================================== 1996, Rachel Brody Comments! Please!