Summer Camp.P2 Conclusion

Summer Camp.P2 Conclusion (Ein, Eric, Lukas, Vicky, Jack, Ace)

Friday, June 20^th: The rest of the day’s scheduled activities were disrupted by the aftermath of the canoe race incident. Ein was the talk of the camp, having rescued Jenny. “Weren’t you scared?! We saw Eric also fall in… so brave of you Ein to save him too.” Eric knew better but kept his thoughts to himself. As for Vicky, no-one seemed to notice the 1^st-place ribbon she wore. “What did you get that for?”

That evening around the campfires, it was Jack’s turn to tell ghost stories:

Saturday, 21^st: Finally! Ace was released from the clinic to join his friends. “What did I miss?” At least he had time to get to know Gunhilda who checked in daily on his progress (a Contact).

Take a Hike: After lunch, they gathered at the boys’ central cabin for hiking lessons. Gertie began the lesson, “OK kids, today we are going to learn about stride and count and compass reading.” After measuring and realizing their stride (one normal step) was about 2-feet in length, they were tasked to walk 400 feet “due east or a compass heading of 090 degrees. To help keep track of your steps, use a string to tie a knot for every 20 steps. You are correct Jack, for 400 feet, you should have 20 knots.”

[Comprehend 4] Eric seemed a natural at it (Indian heritage). [Comprehend 2] And Jack also caught on quickly. [Calculate 2] Ein was the first to grasp the compass, and thus able to correctly read 217 degrees got them back to the starting point. Vicky and Ace wound up at the latrines.

Gertie began the next lesson as she handed out maps and Garmin calculators (used by hikers to read coordinates), “Now this time, I’ll have you program coordinates for various destinations to find. There is a treasure at each. The team that collects the most, wins.” Gertie leaned over Ace’s shoulder, “The first number is Latitude (x): north or south, up or down. The second number is Longitude (y): east or west, left or right.” Again, Eric came in first with 3 stuffed animals and 2 coins found on stumps. Ace was second with only 3 items.

Survival Training: That evening, Benny was their instructor, “I will teach you how to: make a fire [Move], find eatable berries [Investigate], and build a wind shelter [Tinker].” Ace and Jack correctly started with small kindling to then build their fires bigger by slowly adding larger then larger pieces of wood. 

Eric and Lukas correctly identified wild huckleberries and blueberries. Benny paused to re-read his instructions on how to erect a tent. The kids laughed when his tent collapsed. They cheered when Ein and Lukas stood beside their tents, “Is this what you meant?” 

[Investigate 0] And that’s when Jack began scratching. Gertie quickly realized, “Oh my! You got into some poison ivy while hunting for wild berries. Let’s get you to the clinic to wash your skin with soap and water to then apply ointment.”

The Pin: That evening, the kids gathered at the barn, “We need to talk about what happened yesterday.” Ein showed them the lapel-pin he found sinking in the water. [Contact] Ace spoke up, “I bet Gunhilda might know what it is.” Eric suggested showing her a drawing instead of showing the real thing. [Charm] Vicky showed Gunhilda the drawing and mentioned the man who caused the canoe accident. “This is the Russian ‘hammer and sickle’ symbol. Now that you mention it, I did hear that man curse at you in Russian."

"Oh, isn’t this neat. Are you creating your end-of-camp skit already? Is your skit a re-enactment of the movie ‘The Russians are Coming’?”

Sunday, 22^nd: A free-day in camp with Jack finally released from the clinic, pasted in white ointment. Eric wanted to try to find that rubber motorboat while Ein wanted to check out the junkyard, “Remember that old man we saw there? Maybe he is the Russian in the rubber boat.” Thus, Ein and Jack grabbed camp bikes to ride up the road as the others checked out 2 canoes and lifejackets to paddle south.

Junkyard: Ein and Jack parked their bikes and crept closer. They saw Rut carrying a handful of junk metal as he entered the workshop. Behind him, the robot carried larger junk parts. [Sneak] Ein caught Jack about to trip on a root. They climbed atop a box to peek into a window. They watched at the man began welding parts together. All kinds of military ideas flooded their imagination. 

But then they realized the man was only creating art pieces. And that’s when he saw them, “Hey kids, wanna come help?” The boys stumbled off the box in fright and began to run away. Rut was at the door calling after them… his voice decreasing in volume as they got further away, “But I thought you would want to meet my robot. I named him Parts Unlimited.”

[Had they stuck around, Rut (Rutherford) would have let them program the robot. And even encouraged them to build whatever they wanted. Rut could have become another Contact.]

Shoreline: Lukas paused rowing to scan the shore with his binoculars, “I saw something reflective.” Eric suggested they row past and walk back, “Just in case the man is around.” It wasn’t long before they found the rubberized boat partially hidden under cut branches. “He must be up to no good if he tried to hide his boat.” 

And that’s when Ace found a plastic sleeve with paper inside, “Some kind of note with weird writing. I bet Russian. Maybe Gunhilda could help translate.” [Scared condition] Now Eric was even more paranoid, wanting to sabotage the boat. He thought about poking a hole, but they settled for adding water to the gas tank.

“Calling all SNOOPS, come in. Lucky Chicken (Ein’s and Jack’s callsigns), come join us. We are south of the camp. Guide in on the radio directional marker to find us.” The boys turned off the road back to camp and took a dirt road leading south. They watched their radio directional marker swing from south to finally east to know they had to be close.

Cabin: Rabbits broke from hiding as they walked their bikes across yellow grass and pine needles. They walked, keeping the marker due east. [Investigate] Ein was the first to see a thin wisp of smoke to the side. Jack pointed out the low “humm” of a motor. They creep closer, coming upon a cabin. They saw a silhouette pass across a window, “Someone’s inside.” Ein crept closer and turned off the generator then dashed for the trees. They hid as a man finally came out, pondered what could have turned off the motor, flipped it back on, and went back inside.

Regroup: Ein and Jack couldn’t wait to find the others and report, “We saw him! The man in the boat. He’s in a cabin inside the treeline.” Eric recognized the numbers on the paper Ace found as coordinates, “Just like we used in our hiking lesson. Let’s get a camp Garmin and hike to the spots listed. [Contact] Vicky thought better, “We don’t know what the words say. Let’s ask Gunhilda to translate.”

Back at camp, after lunch, they approached Gunhilda. “More of your spy-games skit?” Vicky described bits and pieces of what they knew. Just enough to sound like a skit. Gunhilda wrote out the translation. When they got breaks from camp activities, they ‘borrowed’ a Garmin to plot the coordinates on a map used during their survival lessons. They also stayed near the docks to watch for water traffic, in case the rubber boat happened to come by.

Tuesday: “Happy birthday to you! Make a wish and blow out the candles.” Ein took center-stage as his best friends gave him presents: Eric’s arts&craft card, Lukas pointed out the cake, “I made it myself.”, Vicky gave him candy “I bought at the store when we stopped for the bathroom break.” Ace and Jack collaborated on a song: Ace strummed his guitar while Jack sang. As the party continued, Eric slipped out to make a call to his grampa to find relief from his scared condition.

Wednesday: They ‘borrowed’ bikes to ride to Echo Bay, “We should checkout the grocery store before tomorrow’s rendezvous listed on that note.” They were at the junkyard intersection when they saw the Russian riding his own bike, turning up the road, also headed towards Echo Bay. “Split up. Vicky/Ace/Ein follow him to see what he’s up to. We’ll ride back to his cabin to check it out. Call us when he starts to head home.”

Market Basket: The trio tried to peek thru the drug store window to watch the Russian but too many tall shelves blocked their view. Ace walked inside as if he was supposed to be there. Close enough to see Otto (store clerk) eyeing the man suspiciously. The Russian had a basket and was shopping. Vicky and Ein stayed outside on watch. As Ace placed a candy bar on the counter along with cash, she asked Carol, “Does that man come in here often?” Carol reacted, “Only been her a few days. Probably one of the hunters that come up for our fishing. Is he bothering you? Should I call the police?”

Cabin: The trio easily found the cabin and noticed the clothesline where a rubber diving suit was hanging to dry. While Lukas and Jack went inside the cabin, Eric searched the shed out back. He lifted a blue tarp and found a large drone (23 pound) underneath! Looked expensive with its 4 rotator blades and fancy camera.

Inside the cabin, the boys found: shelves lined with canned goods, a cast-iron wood-burning stove, and a table where they found: local maps, a shortwave radio, and a slip of paper that read AM1345. Jack and Lukas continued into a back bedroom where they found a battery-operated controller (with a small view screen) on the nightstand. Jack gasped when he looked inside the clothes closet, “There is an ammo can! The man has a gun!” When they compared notes with Eric, they realized AM1345 was the radio frequency to control the drone.

And that’s when their walkie-talkies crackled with news, “Calling all SNOOPS. The rooster is on the move. I say again, the chicken has left the coop. Not you Jack. I mean the Ruskie’s on the move.” Eric grabbed the drone and placed it in his bike basket and covered it with a cloth. Lukas grabbed the note and controller.

Bad Luck: They mis-timed their moment to hide in the woods before the Ruskie arrived. Lukas and Jack broke for the trees while Eric continued on, [Empathize] trying to remain calm. He called out to his friends, “Hide and seek. I’m it! Coming to get you.” Only then did he consider: does the man even speak English? As the man rode past, he gave Eric a wicked sneer.

CLIMAX

The horses nickered late at night at the kids gathered at the barn to make a plan. “I say we get to the market early to stake out different locations in the store to watch what happens.” “We could use the drone to spy on him.” “We could call the police.” THAT got a response, “Yeah, right. When has the adults ever believed us?!” But just in case they needed help, Vicky gave her walkie-talkie to Gunhilda, “In case we need more Russian translated.”

2pm, Thursday: They got to the drug store early as planned. Problem was: so did the Ruskie! So much for Eric’s idea to enter the store and start asking the employees, “Where is the chicken ravioli?” At least he was able to hide out near the rack where the ravioli was stacked. [Sneak] They tried to hide. The Ruskie recognized the boys on the trail, “U. U steal my drone! Geve it bak!” Jack stood defiant, “I don’t know what you are talking about. Back away or I’ll yell out ‘stranger danger’.” Lukas- took off running out of the store.

The Ruskie approached Carol, “That boy, he steel from me. Call police. Where I find cheekin ravoli?” Carol was caught off guard, “Chicken ravioli? I think it’s on aisle 3 but you should ask the stock boy.” The Ruskie approached Otto and asked the same. Otto eyed him suspiciously before answering, “We are expecting a delivery next week. But here is some beef ravioli instead.” Eric watched Otto hand the man a can from the shelf. [Investigate 2] More importantly, he saw the slip of paper also passed! As the Ruskie walked back towards the checkout stand, he paused to read the note, then placed it in his pocket, put the can on a random shelf, and walked out empty handed.

Unbeknownst to all, Lukas had let the air out of the man’s bike tires. Thus, as the Ruskie got on his bike, he realized the flats. He calmly took one of the kids’ bike instead and road off. “Hey, he stole our bike! Call the police!” 

And that’s when Eric noticed the crumpled piece of paper on the ground when the man changed bikes. They made a quick radio call to Gunhilda, “Come in Swede. Let me spell it out. The first symbol looks like an altar, then epebo. Tree? Thanks."

After Him: Whatever was going down around a tree that plotted near the junkyard, they only had 23 minutes to get there. And the Ruskie had a head-start! Ein offered, “I’ll stay back and fly the drone against him.” Thinking Jack the fastest, he carried the Garmin. “Remember, the coordinates will only get us close, say within 100 feet. We need to look for conspicuous trees. Maybe spray painted, or a ribbon, or a trunk hole.”

[Move + Luck 3, needing only 2] Jack was closing on the man, with Lukas close behind. They heard the “buzz” of the drone flying overhead as it swooped past them and towards the man.

[Calculate 1] Ein tried to hit the man with the drone, but he swerved out of the way, while swatting at the drone. Eric called in over the radio, “Account for the wind.”

[Calculate 0, needing 2: Ein took 2 Conditions (Upset and Exhausted) for automatic successes] Ein flew the drone in a loop and aimed for the bike. He crashed it into the front wheel. The man tumbled head-over-heel, while cursing in Russian.

[Investigate: need 4 successes of 2] Jack stopped at the designated coordinates, “Fan out and look for the tree!”

• Eric (2) thought he saw a red tag, but it was only a red-tailed squirrel climbing around the trunk.
• Jack (1) found a tree with a hole but got stung by wasps that had made a nest. [Condition- Upset for another success = 2]
• Vicky (1) found a potential tree that proved wrong. [Condition- Scared for another success = 2]
• Eric (2) yelled out, “I found it!” As he pulled the package out of the hole in the tree, its wrapping caught on the bark and tore, revealing a hard-drive. But the Ruskie also heard his yell. And drew his pistol as he charged!

The Hard-Drive: Eric took off running towards the junkyard shack, “Rut, Mr. Rut! We need your help!” As he ran, he tossed his own Kindle (iconic item) trying to bluff the Ruskie, “Here, it’s all yours. Just don’t hurt us.”

• [Move 0] Ace tried to help by slowing the man: she tried to trip him. He easily jumped over her outstretched legs.
• [Force 0] Lukas also tried to interfere, swinging his skateboard at the man. He dodged it and kept after Eric.
• [Force 1] Jack threw his soccer ball, hitting the man squarely in the head. The Ruskie paused to threaten Jack with his pistol, before resuming his chase of Eric.

By now, Rut appeared outside the shed with his robot at his side, “What’s going on out here. Why all the yelling?”

[Comprehend 2] And that’s when Lukas remembered, “Our hair standing on end as we rode thru the junkyard on the bus. The magnet! Mr. Rut, PLEASE, activate the magnet.”

As the large magnetic disk lay on the ground, Rut climbed into the tracker and started it up. All of the kids’ hairs angled toward it. Even the robot (Parts Unlimited) had to brace its feet to keep from being pulled in.

Eric let go of the drive and watched it drawn to the magnet. “THUNK!”

The Ruskie screamed, “NYET! Whut u do?!” He too was close enough to feel the tug of the magnet which yanked the gun out of his hand. The Ruskie ran away.

EPILOGUE

All of the kids stood over the magnet, now turned off and gazed at the drive. “What’s that label? Oh my gosh, it says ‘Property of the Loop’.”

All of the kids’ parents were called in early because of the trauma the kids went through.

It took a half hour for the local police to arrive. And another 2 hours for Vicky’s step-mother (FBI agent) to arrive by helicopter. She took over the scene, “We have others searching for the store clerk you kids mentioned. We sent others to the coordinates to the north that proved to be an island with an airstrip. The owner of that airfield said a plane took off an hour ago with a man fitting the description you gave.”

When Jack’s parents (both Loop engineers) arrived later that day, his mother was shocked to learn that the hard-drive came from her office. In private, she told the FBI agent, “It contained coding and diagrams for hardware to support the government’s Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). We didn’t even realize it was missing. Otto? You mean Otto Franks? Yes, he works in our department, but he’s been on vacation. What does he have to do with this?”

FADE AWAY- back to everyday life

Ein (Joey): Even his sister Petal and younger brother Slack arrived for the end-of-camp skit. They watched Ein fly the repaired drone over the stage as he recorded everything. Gasps when a rotor blade broke, and the drone came crashing to the ground. Thak goodness no one was hurt. Slack teased, “Yeah, my brother fixed that good.”

Eric (Mike): After his cabin’s skit, his mother came up to give him a big hug and then apology, “When you get home, you have a few upset paper customers. Apparently, gramps threw their papers either into flowerbeds or the bird-feeder. And I’m sorry, but when I was cleaning your room, I accidently knocked your Rubic Cube off the table, and it broke.”

Lukas (Aaron): As Lukas was about to get in the car for the ride home with his parents, one of his skateboard wheels fell off. Randy appeared at his side, “Oops, what happened?” He snickered as he walked away, holding a monkey wrench.

Vicky (Lily): As Vicky packed up her things from the cabin, Erika made an appearance, “I’d thank you for helping me win the race, but then we both know it was all my leadership that got us across the line first.” Vicky threw a shoe at her, just as Vicky’s mother walked in, “VICTORIA! What are you doing young lady?!”

Jack (Leo): His dad beamed with pride at his son’s heroic actions at camp. “And to think your mother is in charge of the investigations. Um, I should tell you before we get home. David (your cat) ran away…again!” Jack would have been more upset if he wasn’t having to scratch his legs so much.

Ace (Whitney): As Ace packed his clothes, he noticed his Van Halen t-shirt torn. Only now did he remember snagging it on a branch while searching thru the trees. And while packing his guitar… “Twang!” A string broke. “Just my day. At least it wasn’t yesterday when I needed all the luck I could get.”

BACKGROUND

Experimental weapons research has been stolen from the particle accelerator known as the Loop. It is to be smuggled out of the country by Soviet spies. What Soviet intelligence did not count on is that a summer camp is located near the extraction point, with bored and curious kids just waiting for something exciting to happen.

[Had you pulled the memory card out of the drone camera, and used either Ein's laptop, the Echo Bay library computer, or Mr. Rut's office computer, you would have found aerial view images of Boulder City with zoom-in pictures of the Loop facility to close-ups of ventilation shafts that could be used to secretly gain entry. There was also a night view of the island landing airfield used in the get-away.]

The Space Race between the USA and the Soviet Union escalates when rumors emerge that the US is researching something they call the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), a space-based defense system against intercontinental ballistic missiles, commonly called Star Wars. The introduction of SDI would change the established balance of mutually assured destruction (MAD) in NATO’s favor. The Soviet Union aren’t about to be left behind and the theoretical research into a “supersonic rail-gun” seems very promising. The rail-gun functions like a miniature particle accelerator and Soviet spies have discovered that applied research regarding this has been completed, but then abandoned, at the Loop. After an audacious secret mission spies have managed to secure a hard-drive containing the blueprints and related research, and plan to smuggle this out of the country via submarine. A Soviet agent, Mikhail Koroljov, is at this very moment on his way by floatplane to pick up the package and will be landing near the kids’ Summer Camp when the mystery starts.