Flame
Trail Stop #4
Japan to Australia With the Queensland Racers
April 3, 2004
The phone rang and rang in the GSR Barn office. The noise woke
Nextbonus who was asleep in a chair, his feet propped on the desk.
"Where is Ts1442 when you need him?" he grumbled sleepily as he reached
for the phone. "GSR Barn, Nextbonus speaking."
"Hey, Next! It's Barndog!" The GSR's leader's voice crackled out of the
phone.
"Hey, Barndog! What's going on? Are you still in Japan?" Nextbonus
reached for the coffeepot on the file cabinet next to the desk and
filled his cup.
"Yeah, we are. And we're supposed to hand off the Flame but
Queensland's not here!" Barndog's exasperation came through quite
clearly, even on an International phone line. Nextbonus waited to hear
the rumbles from Fabman that usually accompanied any snafu. There were
none, which puzzled Nextbonus.
"So what are you going to do?" Nextbonus asked as he carefully sipped
his hot coffee.
"I'm sending you a plane ticket to Japan is what I'm going to do,"
Barndog said briskly. "According to Fabman, you're a member of
Queensland Racecourse. Which means you can just get your butt out here
and pick up this Flame before Snowchief and Ldyssecret go ballistic."
Nextbonus sighed. Trust Fabman to remember all the little annoying
details of life in the sim. "Yeah, I am a member. And I could come and
get the Flame, but then what?"
"Then we put you on a plane for Perth where, according to Snowchief and
Yochem, the Flame is due to arrive no later than the 10th," Barndog
told him.
"I have a whole week to get the Flame to Australia?" Nextbonus
exclaimed. "I could take a cruise ship!" His face lit up as he
envisioned a party cruise complete with bikini clad women, a full
buffet and a bar that was open 24 hours a day.
"There's a plane ticket waiting for you at the airport," Barndog went
on. "Foxon will pick you up at the airport on this end and bring you
out to the racetrack where you will officially pick up the Flame from
GSR. After that I think you may be on your own. Although, if you're
confused about what to do, Snowchief can get you going in the right
direction."
Nextbonus finished his coffee and set the cup down decisively. "Oh, I
know what to do, don't worry Barndog. I'll be there as quick as I can!"
After hanging up the phone, Nextbonus took out the phonebook and began
making phone calls. Three hours later he was boarding a plane for Japan
with a fist full of cruise brochures and a cellphone.
April 4, 2004
Nextbonus was greeted in the Japanese airport by Ladysierra and Foxon.
He looked around suspiciously in case Fabman was with them. "You didn't
bring Fab, did you?" he asked with narrowed eyes.
Lady laughed and Foxon chuckled. "No way," Lady said with a shake of
her head. "He's busy at the racetrack."
Foxon nodded. "Let's just say that he's in charge of clearing up a
little mess with a geisha and Richgins."
When they arrived at the track, Nextbonus discovered that pretty much
everyone was gathered around listening to a geisha cry while Richgins
stood there with a long face and Fabman waved his arms angrily. Barndog
slipped away from the messy situation and came over to the SUV as they
stepped out.
"Nextbonus! It's so good to see you!" Nextbonus slipped his cruise
brochures into one of his bags as Barndog reached out to shake his
hand. "I'm so glad you came to take the Flame. We haven't been able to
reach any of the Queensland residents. We've left Graywolf a bunch of
messages but his office just keeps telling us he's busy with work and
will get back to us."
"Oh, it's ok," Nextbonus said easily. "I'll take care of it." He looked
around, studiously avoiding the circle of GSR residents around
Richgins, Fabman and the crying geisha. "Er, where is the Flame?"
"Right here," Avondale says as he brings out the Flame. "We cleaned up
the handle."
Nextbonus took the Flame, turning it around. "I've got Sabalou coming
out to meet me. He should be here in the morning. Then we're boarding a
ship for Australia. It's supposed to get us there on the 9th."
"Ooooh! A cruise! How cool is that?" Ladysierra exclaimed.
Nextbonus shrugged. "At least there won't be any sabotaging of
airplanes or riding Ray of Pye into Australia."
Foxon nodded. "Better off not taking the horse. Let Pye pick him up and
take him home now. The old boy deserves a rest. Not that he knows what
that is."
Lady smothered her giggles at that and Barndog hid a grin. Even
Nextbonus, whose mind was completely on the cruise ship, smiled a bit.
Just then Fabman came over. "Nextbonus! Good to see you, man!" He shook
Nextbonus' hand. "When are you leaving?"
The giggles escaped Lady this time and Barndog coughed to hide his
laugh. "Good to see you too, Fabman," Nextbonus said warily. "I'll be
taking off on a cruise ship tomorrow morning with Sabalou."
"A cruise!" Fabman's face lit up like it hadn't the whole trip. Barndog
had his hand over his mouth now to hide his grin and Lady had turned
away to pet a horse. Foxon just laughed out loud and walked away to the
geisha group. "All that lovely free booze!" Fabman looked delirious at
the thought and Nextbonus looked scared.
"C'mon," Barndog told Nextbonus. "Let's go find some food and
entertainment. Ever been to Japan before?" They walked off with Lady in
tow, leaving Fabman daydreaming about the open bars on cruise ships.
April 5, 2004
Nextbonus sat in an airport bar, clutching his cruise brochures and
waiting for Sabalou's flight from Australia to come in. He'd already
checked his watch about a thousand times. He could feel the cruise ship
calling him. He took a sip of his soda and thought about the night of
fun he'd had with Ladysierra and Barndog. They'd had some great
Japanese food and an even better massage. As he was thinking about how
great the massage had been, he heard a voice call his name. He turned
to see Roys coming toward him.
"Hey, Roys!" he exclaimed, standing up to greet her. "What are you
doing here?"
"Sabalou called me and let me know you two were taking a cruise to
Australia," Roys said. "I thought I'd tag along. Cruises are a lot of
fun!"
Roys had just sat down and ordered a beer when Sabalou showed up. After
greeting each other, they all had a drink together. "To The Flame!"
Sabalou said, holding up his glass.
"To The Flame!" Nextbonus and Roys echoed. They finished their drinks
and left the airport for the docks. Once on the cruise ship, with the
Flame safely stowed in their cabin, the three set out to explore the
ship.
When they got to the biggest bar on the ship they were hailed by none
other than Barndog and Ladysierra.
"Lady told me we needed a vacation after all our flame trail work so
here we are!" Barndog explained.
"Did Fabman come along too?" Nextbonus asked looking over his shoulder.
Barndog shook his head. "He really wanted to but someone had to be in
charge of getting everyone home."
A ripple of chuckles went through the group. They took over a corner of
the bar, commandeered some appetizers and began to relax. Barndog and
Lady told tales of the GSR adventures and Roys told about Nexis'
adventures. Nextbonus and Sabalou laughed so hard tears streamed down
their cheeks.
Later in the day, they all went out to the pool for more drinks and
some lunch. They munched sandwiches and made Lady and Roys put
sunscreen on all of them. Lady put thick coats of neon green sunscreen
on all the guys' noses. "I don't look very attractive like this,"
Barndog complained.
Lady grinned. "Sure you do," she assured him wickedly as she reclined
on her lounger.
"If you don't like it Barndog wear a hat like me!" Roys pointed to the
floppy straw hat she wore over her head. "Works better than a t-shirt
that's for sure!"
By late afternoon the group split up to go to their cabins. Sabalou
passed out on his bed, the time changes taking their toll on him.
Nextbonus was too wired to sleep so he showered and went looking for
the casino. That was where he found Barndog. "Don't you ever rest?" he
asked the GSR leader with a laugh.
"Oh, sure," Barndog said. "This is very relaxing. Much better than
being in the GSR Barn keeping the residents from killing each other!"
Nextbonus joined in laughing with him and they sat down to play some
cards. It was the dinner hour when Lady and Roys appeared. "Hey! We're
dining with the Captain!" Roys said excitedly. "He wants to know all
about the Equinics!"
Nextbonus, who'd met the Captain earlier, thought perhaps he was more
interested in looking down the front of Lady's low cut dress but he
didn't tell Roys and Lady that. Sure enough, the Captain sat Lady where
he could gaze at her dress all he wanted. It was an animated
dinner as the simsters told the Captain about the Equinics. Not that
the seafarer knew squat about horses, but he was a good listener.
Nextbonus thought he needed to keep his eyes in his head a bit more but
the ladies didn't complain so he kept his mouth wisely shut.
Partway through dinner Barndog received a phone call from Fabman
telling him that all the GSR residents had made it home safely and that
Richgins was still longfaced about the crying geisha. Tuffguy and
Fastvett were getting checked out for possible international diseases
and Yochem had caught a hacker. Then he told Barndog about the drunk
horses in the GSR barn. Nextbonus waited for Barndog to explode but he
didn't. He said goodbye to Mr. Fabulous and accepted another glass of
wine from the waiter. "I love being on vacation!" Barndog sighed.
"Shall we hit the club for some dancing, Lady?" They took their wine
and left.
Nextbonus looked at Roys. "Do you think this part of the Flame Trail
will be uneventful?" he asked.
She shook her head. "None of it is uneventful. It's an event in and of
itself! C'mon let's go to the casino."
Nextbonus wondered at her words but didn't argue. After being stuck in
the GSR barn with drunk horses, the cruise ship was a lot of fun. It
was just too bad that Sabalou was passed out asleep this first night on
board...
April 6, 2004
Nextbonus and Sabalou lounged by the pool checking out all the bikini
clad ladies. They'd had a sumptuous breakfast in one of the buffets and
hadn't yet come across Barndog, Ladysierra, or Roys. Sabalou was more
himself after having slept for many hours. Nextbonus was happy to be
sitting exactly where he was, enjoying the hot sun, sipping a tropical
drink, watching hordes of gorgeous women in skimpy bathing suits
strolling around the pool, swimming, and taking dips in the hot tub. He
could hardly believe he was on the Equinics Flame trail. It felt like a
luxury vacation not a trip halfway across the world with a Flame in a
horse snot stained torchiere.
The two Queensland residents spent the better part of the day on bikini
watch. It wasn't until the sun began to dip low in the sky that
Nextbonus and Sabalou returned to their cabin to shower and dress for
dinner. While Nextbonus was in the shower, Sabalou spoke with Dowelly
and let him know when they were due to arrive in Perth. Dowelly
promised to have residents waiting there for the arrival of the Flame
in Australia. As he was hanging up the phone, Nextbonus came out of the
bathroom.
"Talking to a 'troublemaker'?" he joked.
Sabalou shook his head. "No, to Dowelly. He and Marto are busy
arranging things for us to do once we arrive."
Nextbonus held up his hands. "Leave me out! I gotta get back home. You
Aussies can handle it just fine once the Flame is there!" he chuckled.
Once again they dined with the Captain who had taken a shine to
Ladysierra and Roys. He laughed and yukked it up when Roys told him
about how they almost got arrested in the United Arab Emirates until
she tied a t-shirt over her head. After dinner they all went to the
nightclub where some very attractive Asian ladies latched onto
Nextbonus and Sabalou. Barndog could be heard mumbling something about
crying geishas as he observed how one lady couldn't take her eyes off
Nextbonus. Roys and Lady were playing a drinking game and they seemed
pretty well matched so Barndog had no idea who would win. The disco
lights were flashing and Nextbonus was giving a good impression of John
Travolta on the dance floor. Barndog wondered how he could be having so
much fun on this part of the Flame trail when the other parts had been
so stressful.
April 7 - 8, 2004
It was water polo day on the cruise. Barndog, Lady, Roys, Nextbonus and
Sabalou were up against some bikini clad lovelies from the South Seas.
The guys had a great view of the opposing team jumping up and down in
the water and occasionally losing their tops, something which they
truly didn't seem to mind. "We shoulda got on a topless cruise,"
Sabalou told Nextbonus, who wished he'd thought of that when he'd
booked the tickets.
They spent the evening gambling and drinking and woke up the following
morning with bad hangovers. When they discovered there was a wet
t-shirt contest on the uppermost deck they donned their sunglasses and
grabbed their Bloody Mary's and headed off to watch. Even the bright
sun didn't dampen their enthusiasm for the contest as the Bloody Mary's
took away their hangovers.
Although it was their last night on the ship, they were not sad. All of
them were looking forward to arriving in Australia. They dined with the
Captain one last time and he got his last look down Lady's dress.
Afterward, Roys took Nextbonus and Sabalou into the casino for a night
of gambling leaving Lady and Barndog alone. Barndog was glad they
weren't to be subjected to another revival of Saturday Night Fever.
Near midnight, they looked in the casino and found Nextbonus and
Sabalou surrounded by Asian lovelies once again and this time they were
winning! They had a huge stack of chips in front of them on the craps
table and the crowd of ladies was cheering them on. When they saw
Barndog and Lady though they played one last round and cashed out.
"Well, at least you're not arriving broke," Barndog joked.
"Speak for yourself," Roys grumbled as she joined them. "I need a
Coors."
They all decided to meet up in the morning with the Flame so they could
debark together and meet the rest of the Queensland Residents.
April 9, 2004
It was a sunny morning as the cruise ship sailed into the port of
Fremantle in Perth, Australia. On the southwestern coast of Australia,
Perth is perched on the coast of the Indian Ocean on the sweep of the
Swan River. The simsters stood at the rail of the ship watching as they
drew into port. Sabalou held the Flame aloft and down on the dock a
cheer went up when the waiting simsters saw it.
Nextbonus and Sabalou took the Flame to meet the rest of the Queensland
Racecourse members. Waiting on the dock were the residency founder
Dowelly along with Biz, Kingcugat, Railrider, Trot, and Corza. More
residents would be joining up with them as they made their way to
Brisbane but for now, it was time to get to the Western Australia Turf
Club for some fun!
Barndog, Ladysierra, and Roys joined in as the simsters climbed aboard
a bus to the Turf Club. Once on board, Dowelly told them that the Turf
Club was preparing for a big raceday on the 10th - the Healthway
Karrakatta Plate with another big raceday on the 12th - WATC
Derby Day! He told them that the Turf Club had two beautiful tracks,
Ascot and Belmont Park, and that there was a mini casino in addition to
regular betting. It was nearing the end of the summer race season, so
races were held at Ascot. Belmont would begin it's winter racing season
in the beginning of May. Dowelly passed around a map of the Turf Club
and explained that the Queensland Equinics festivities would be taking
place at Ascot. After a tour of the racecourse, the simsters were to
have their festivities in the gazebo area.
"Wow!
This sure is a nice racetrack!" Lady whispered to Roys who nodded. "And
it's only one of two they have here!"
"Must be nice," Roys muttered. They flipped through a brochure and
noted how many pictures of women in hats and fancy dresses there were.
"Kinda posh."
When they arrived at the track they were greeted by the stewards and
taken in golf carts on a tour. Everyone was very impressed at the
luxury and attention to detail at the track. However, by the time they
arrived at the gazebo they were all hungry and thirsty. The
arrival of the Flame in Australia was heralded by a fanfare of trumpets
as Nextbonus and Sabalou carried the Flame into the Gazebo area. They
stood with it while Dowelly introduced track stewards and local
officials. The press was also present and their cameras were flashing.
Barndog, Lady and Roys kept to the background while the Queensland
residents had their day with the Flame.
Later, Nextbonus caught up with them at the gazebo bar. "Whew!" he said
as he sat down with them. "I'll be glad to go home. All
this partying is getting to be a bit much."
Roys grunted. "Good beer though." She held up her bottle. "Cheers!" She
clinked bottles with Nextbonus.
As the party wound down and the sun with it, Dowelly came over with
Sabalou and the other Queensland residents. "We'll be heading back to
Freo for the night, then tomorrow we'll be heading out on a special
expedition," Dowelly said.
"What kind of special expedition?" Nextbonus asked.
"A trip across the Great Australian Bight!" Corza explained. "We'll be
taking a boat trip across the Bight to the Bass Straight and then we'll
dock in Melbourne. This is a great time of year for a trip across the
Bight. It closes down on May first so we're in time to enjoy it."
"Maybe we'll see some Southern Right Whales since it's their breeding
area!" Railrider chimed in.
"Railrider and Trot are the breeding gurus in Queensland," Nextbonus
told Barndog. "Guess their interest in breeding extends to more than
thoroughbreds!" Barndog chuckled but turned to listen as Dowelly went
on.
"We have a special permit that allows us to take our chartered boat
across the Bight and up to Melbourne. After that we'll be going by bus
to Canberra where we'll meet up with Marto. Then we'll get on our way
up to Brisbane to complete our journey!"
The Queensland residents all cheered and clapped one another on the
back. They all finished their drinks and headed back to the bus which
took them back to the port city of Fremantle, called Freo by the
locals. The residents all decided to party in one of the local clubs
but the travelers all went straight to their hotel for dinner and
sleep.
April 10, 2004
The next day the little band of simsters climbed aboard a luxury boat
and set off across the Great Australian Bight on
the way to the Bass Straight and Melbourne. They did indeed see
some Southern Right Whales and everyone ooh'd and ahh'd at the beauty
of the landscape and the marine life.
It was afternoon by the time they made it into Melbourne. Now they had
a drive of 655 kilometers or about 407 miles to reach Canberra. After a
quick lunch of fresh seafood, they piled onto a hired bus and set off
for Canberra. It was quite late at night when, seeing the exhaustion in
his fellow travelers, Dowelly made a quick call to Marto. The next
thing they knew, the bus was stopping at a small town. Dowelly and
Sabalou herded the simsters into a litle cafe for a quick meal and then
to a small motel for some much needed rest. Marto's fun would begin the
next day when they reached Canberra.
April 11, 2004 - The Dash Through Canberra
It was very early when Sabalou got
everyone back on the bus for the remaining hour drive into Canberra.
The sleepy simsters used the hour to wake up and prepare to meet the
rest of the Queensland residents in Canberra. The bus stopped at the
hire
company yard just inside the city limits of Canberra. In the lobby,
they were greeted by an excited Marto. He took special pride in
welcoming the non-Queensland residents to his town. "Welcome to
Canberra, the home of the Black Opal, Canberra Raiders and
the
Brumbies. I'm Marto!" he told them.
After a night's sleep Roys was back to her normal self. "Nice to meet
you Marto. I'm Roys. Let me introduce you to Barndog and Ladysierra."
There were handshakes and welcomes all around.
Roys pointed to where Dowelly, Sabalou, Corza, Railrider, Trot, Biz and
Kingcugat were standing with Nextbonus. "I notice Sabalou still has the
torch," she said to Marto.
"Yes, he's taking a lot of pride showing off Australia and making
sure
everything goes well before we hit Queensland," he admitted. "We've got
a few things planned, tours and the like, and a presentation
night tonight. The Canberra based trainers are honouring Holyghost as
the
winner of last season's premiership. What better time than now?"
The simsters soon found that Marto always did things with style. Six
limousines and a truck were waiting for the
entourage and whisked them away to the Canberra Hyatt Hotel to check in
and
freshen up. A detailed agenda was given to each member of the
group. Barndog pointed to his agenda. "There seems to be a lot of
visits to
clubs and restaurants,
Marto. What's the story?"
Marmto shrugged. "That's just the way things are done around here. They
sponsor our
sport
and some of our major races so we feel obliged to support them when we
can. It's a shame we will probably have to sample some of the good
stuff
along the way, a few beers here and there." He chuckled and Roys licked
her lips in anticipation.
Holyghost laughed at the expressions on the visitor's faces. He'd been
to Canberra before, sampled the hospitality, and suffered the hangover.
Barndog wondered just exactly what they were getting into. Roys hoped
it was what she was thinking! Meanwhile, Latio, Animal, and Dukka,
other Queensland residents, were stopped by security at the hotel
foyer.
They were trying to get to the 'Meet and Greet' session which was the
precursor to the day's events. Apparently, Nextbonus had left Animal's
photo
with security as being a troublemaker and totally undesirable and for
him
not to be allowed in under any circumstances. It was clear that
Nextbonus' quiet cruise to Australia was now over and he was again
showing his true colors!
The meet and greet session went well with most Queensland trainers
taking
time out from their busy schedules to have a beer with the visitors.
Even
some gatecrashers from Victoria and NSW were spotted. And somehow
Animal
managed to sneak his way in. The lure of free beer was obviously too
much
for him to miss.
|
Canberra Racecourse
|
Our View Of The Racecourse
|
Soon the tour began with a quick trip across the city to the Canberra
Race
Course precinct where Marto was able to show off his high tech training
and
veterinary complex. Barndog was impressed with the long Canberra
straight.
He hadn't seen too many clockwise tracks in his
lifetime
and he and Lady commented on the finish post appearing to be at the
wrong
end of the stretch. "Where are you clowns from?" expressed Animal.
"Geez,
they all run this way in NSW and Queensland." Apparently, in addition
to his ability to sneak into places, Animal was not one to
hold
back either.
Kamberra
Winery
The simsters were then taken to Kamberra Winery nearby. "Hey
Roys,
bet you like a red or two!" Marto exclaimed with a laugh. "These are
the best cold climate wines in the
country, if not the world." Roys agreed that she was partial to the odd
one
or
two but after seeing how much beer flowed first thing in the morning,
was on a mission to stay sober until at least mid afternoon.
The next stop was for a Civic reception. Receptions were held in the
middle
of the city and usually reserved for special occasions such as the
Raiders
or
Brumbies winning their grand finals or when torches of any description
came to town. The Chief Minister and local Minister for Sport both had
an
opportunity to welcome the torch and the simsters. They were heckled at
one
stage by a couple of drunks in the crowd. When Marto looked, he was
shocked to see that the hecklers were Animal and Harold40. He quickly
quelled the
disturbance by giving them each $50 to lose themselves at the casino.
That made it the ideal opportunity to move on to the next event.
Lake Burley Griffin
|
Parliament House
|
The Queensland residents carried the Flame along a well planned circuit
of the city centre,
taking in the Australian National
University, War Memorial, a lap of Lake Burley Griffin, and then the
Parliamentary Triangle. Then they were off to another reception. This
time it was a lunch at Parliament House itself. Unfortunately, the
Prime Minister
John
Howard was unable to attend, but Queensland resident JohnHoward showed
up! Although similar in some ways, he didn't make too many friends with
security when he tried to take Acarigua and Hawk5 for an unauthorised
tour.
When Marto went to check on the non-resident simsters, he found Barndog
surrounded by some female parliamentary
staffers and media types. Marto whispered to Roys, "HOW DOES HE DO
IT?" Roys was impressed by the turnout at Parliment House. Even
the Governor General, who it turned out was a very keen racegoer, was
there. He took a shine to Roys and they
were seen chatting for well over an hour although Roys didn't seem too
keen on him. Soon after making her escape, she suggested they probably
should
kick
onto the next venue.
The torch was next scheduled to do a small circuit in the Woden Valley.
This part of the tour was sponsored by the Hellenic Club which is one
of
the biggest clubs in Canberra. It also turned out to be the venue for
the special
reception for Holyghost. Surprisingly to Marto and the rest of the
residents, well over 500 tickets had been sold.
Hellenic
Club Ballroom
Dowelly, who had left the tour earlier for an undisclosed reason, and
Zariz were late arriving at the reception. Apparently, they'd
both
had problems with their apprentice jockeys, J Dowell and Z Zariz. Both
were
wonderfully talented jockeys but J Dowell seemed to have a sleeping
problem, waking up crying at all hours of the night wanting to be fed.
According to Marto, Dowelly
had had many sleepless nights worrying about her. Z Zariz, who had a
great
strikerate and could challenge Wyatt as Queensland's premier jockey in
the future, was giving Zariz trouble because he felt
there were better rides elsewhere. Go figure!
The reception began with a huge meal and, as always, a few beers.
Several key members of the group started to look a bit seedy,
including Roys and Nextbonus. Acarigua gave a rousing speech and
presented
Holyghost with 'The Golden Thong' in recognition of winning the
residency competition. After the speeches, some simsters decided
it was their opportunity to get back to the Hotel. Those who slipped
out included a rather
sick looking Nextbonus and an even sicker looking Roys. Others went
into the
Sportsbar for a bet and a few beers, while others moved into the poker
machine area for a bet and a few beers. Barndog and Lady noticed this
trend. "Hmmm," Lady murmured. "Seems everything in Australia comes
complete with a few beers!" Barndog chuckled.
April 12, 2004
The next day saw many of the Queensland residents wandering the floors
of the
Hotel,
looking for a pick me up, whether it be vitamin B or just
breakfast. Sabalou was found asleep outside his front door, still
nursing the Flame. Marto told the others that someone probably glued it
to his hands while he was passed out. Dukka was
seen
giving away pamphlets on the newest sim site in the game. "Check it
out!" he advised. "You
can find a link if you visit the Queensland track!"
The bus was back and this time it would be a no holds barred dash up to
Brisbane in Queensland where the final festivities were scheduled to
take place at the Brisbane Turf Club. All the Queensland residents
piled onto the bus for the ride to the airport. Barndog, Lady, Roys and
Nextbonus squeezed into seats near the back. They were all looking a
bit frayed again, even after the vacation on the cruise ship.
In the airport, security gave Animal the once over and started to
heckle Nextbonus too but Dowelly and Sabalou stepped in and saved the
day. They were soon flying over the eastern coast of Australia, headed
to Brisbane. The flight was about three and half hours, just long
enough for the non-Australians to take a nap. The Aussies, meanwhile,
were having a great time with the stewardesses, whom they invited to
the Turf Club Flame festivities.
By the time the plane touched down in Brisbane, most of the residents
had a date for the big celebration. They got off the plane, most of
them arm in arm with a lovely stewardess, and Sabalou held the Flame
aloft. The residents cheered and yelled. Waiting for them was another
bus, which whisked them away to the beautiful Brisbane Turf Club. At
the Brisbane Turf Club's Doomben Racecourse, everyone was met by the
key officers of the BTC. Sabalou and Dowelly shook a lot of hands and
then everyone walked toward the racecourse itself. There on the track,
by the winning post, was Amanda Jane, Dowelly's prize mare who was
known as the 'Queen of Queensland.' Astride her was jockey Graphite.
Once they'd checked in, Nextbonus' cellphone rang. Since it hadn't rung
more than a half dozen times in the past week, they were all startled.
"This is Nextbonus," he answered.
"HA! Found you!" came Fabman's voice from the cellphone. Nextbonus
cringed and everyone smiled. "Have those Queensland party animals
hooked up with Shagger and Dkyoung yet? Ldyssecret is getting kind of
antsy here."
"I'm one of those Queensland party animals too, you know Mr. Fabulous,"
Nextbonus reminded Fabman.
"BAH! You're an American. You don't think or drink the same." Fabman's
voice was dismissive. Then his voice became a bit sly. "Did you take
any pictures on the cruise? Make sure you send me some..."
Nextbonus choked back a laugh. "Sure Fab," he said. "And no. I haven't
seen Shagger and Dkyoung yet but that doesn't mean they aren't in
contact with Sabalou regarding the hand off of the Flame."
"Well, Ldyssecret can't get hold of them and she's very worried. She
doesn't want a repeat of Japan and she's not feeling too secure about
the Aussies right now after all the partying that's gone on and the
missed hand off in Japan," Fabman said crisply. "She gave them your
cellphone number a few days ago and told them to call you today. If you
don't hear from them by morning you're gonna have to call her!"
Nextbonus sighed. "Ok, Fabman." He looked at Barndog and pointed to the
phone. Barndog shook his head vigorously NO and when Nextbonus turned
to Roys she pointedly turned her back on him, refusing to talk on the
phone too. "We'll keep you and Ldyssecret posted, Fab. Gotta run
now. Buh bye!" Nextbonus turned off the cellphone. "Well, Barndog since
you belong to the Internnational Sim Club, if Shagger don't show you're
gonna get a phone call from ME, like I got one from YOU!"
Startled, Barndog looked at Nextbonus, who mimed holding the Flame
aloft, and they all burst out laughing.
Written by
MARTO and Winterheart
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