Dr Katrazyna "Katska" Nadezhda Kowalewska
United Kingdom to Main Island
“Dr Kowalewska” called out an unsure looking secretary as she read the name out loud, “Katska, just get in there the boss needs to see you” She said with a small smile to the dark haired woman reading a romance novel on a sofa. Lilly Ortega has been roommates with the Polish now Doctor when they were grad students, though she had chosen to work the office side after finding her boyfriend and now fiance wanting a more stable life, Katrazyna had chosen to remain out and yet to put down solid roots, renting, expeditions and so. She had risen higher but Lilly was honestly in her own mind happier taking choices she made.
“You been able to say it since we got our masters” Relied the taller dark haired Polish woman who was wearing a normal corporate safe outfit skirt suit with a tailored waistcoat at first glance, except for more chunky leather boots, the little bats in pale grey on her white blouse closer up and a long dark deep red coat that rested next to her, it was still England…even in a meant to be warm day it was raining. She could express her style and still fit the dress code.
“Meet you at lunch, down by the Poseidon statue? Old Jims?” “True enough, sure, but I have to call my florist to make sure they got the right shade of yellow. Marcus thinks they're all the same… Closed for redo, The Huntsman does a good meal.” She said with fake sigh and gestured to the office door as was sitting in for a secretary with an emergency vet appointment and had a quiet morning of paperwork despite her higher job title.
“Dr Kowalewska thank you for coming in, We have to explain a change of plans. What do you know about Azul or the SS Vika”...
D-11 - Flight to AzulAzul, her first sights was a small island nation in distance, bright blue sees, the main Island she guessed by the larger buildings though the pilot had taken her on a little bit a of a diversion saying that there was an bad current, a side wind today and needed to swing about to land on a new approach after a short radio call. A distant island looked far more green, less concrete and so anyway as she looked out windows of a sea plane that was slowly turning and banking to come into land in maybe 5 minutes once the ferry was clear as wake dissipated safely. Everyone seemed not to mind and her bags were packed down in the hold under a cargo net. She was not the only passenger but it only sat 6 and you were pushed up against someone or something. It rattled a little but the Pilot said that was normal mechanical controls and aircraft being a character all of their own.
Kat had already waited, the flight had taken off at…”Island time” after a last minute parcel of mail was loaded, something about the mayor dying, and something about people sending more mail to relatives. She just wanted to take a cold shower that afternoon, flying from the arctic to the UK and then the Gulf of Mexico was certainly a change of climates. She would enjoy an iceberg right then.
“We will be landing soon, make sure your passports are ready. Customs will meet you at the dock, you can collect your bags after. Please remain strapped in till we are safely tied up at the dock. Thankyou for flying with us today.” A cool male voice came over the head sets as they dropped lower and faster to the bright blue ocean. The flight was hardly luxurious but the plane was clean, and the pilot quietly confident as any pilot she had flown with.
D-0 - Early Morning.Island life took some getting used to, a lot in fact for the woman used to working long hours, ship based rotations and shifts. No one was in a hurry and that she had to accept though it was not natural to Katrazyna to just… be well, alone with her thoughts. Pink trainers sounded softly beneath her feet as she ran along the beach boards, dressed down to a Skort and a sports bra. It was too warm even at this time for her to keep pace in more having found a good route a few days ago to exercise. It was otherwise Yoga on the deck of her “home” , a chartered boat in the Marina. Sunscreen she had by the bucket load though. Maybe beach Yoga tomorrow for some variety.
The paler woman slowed as she hit sand, long back hair was tied back and her prescription sunglasses reflected the light. Upon landing she had found out the Mayor had died, it was a strange mood and people seemed to have stopped entirely across the island or at least paused. Just finding the person to talk to at “city hall” was slower, it took a week to locate the 1944 records she requested as old enough to forget and one assumed she was after the far older and more famous wreck to begin with and brought wrong information. The Mayor's death however meant she could only access the public archive and her application for other information was stuck with heads of department and others who seemed to be less willing to make decisions right now. From what she gathered the man had been Mayor for a long time and this was a massive potential shift in local politics. Major decisions were on hold and people waited. There was little gossip and most were content to wait for people to announce more.
Kat had made more progress on her fitness routine than her mystery and suspected that was by design. They had badgered her to take time off, easy jobs or spend a year or more on a “home” assignment and she had stayed on expeditions. So, they had…sent her to Azul!
She did feel better running in the sunshine of a morning with a sea breeze on her skin was an amazing way to start her day she had to admit. Azul might not be the worst enforced holiday for the now local independent researcher.
Waving to a passing person as she made her way on her lap, the loop earbuds she wore pumped out a mix of 90's dance, rock and Tatu today. The fact they were bright hot pink was a joke of her brother to his well known goth sister, she wore them anyway just to prove him wrong and he had got her some really good ones too that made up entirely for the colour. She had a matching set of headphones with light up cat ears, regular Earbuds courtesy of others. They knew what to get her but gave shit as good as they got like siblings tended to do.
The lack of large cars on the island was nice for her runs, yeah she had a E bike with panniers on boat if needed like shopping but it was safe to go for a run and not be choked by exhaust like London was. Passing preparations for some kind of event Kat took her turn past a beach side cafe that was yet to open and headed back to the Marina for a shower and breakfast. The fruit was really good here with some local yoghurt and bits n bobs she had found at the shops.
D0 - Evening. As evening rolled round Kat rubbed her eyes and adjusted her glasses, putting the large reference book entitled “American Convoys, 1st June 1944 to December 31st. down on a large map of the area, US Military weather charts from 1944 and more scattered all over the table along with several pages of notes, notepads etc. only confirming what she knew and what they expected to be there. It was a start that the SS Vika could be out in the blue. Closing down the laptop as her music still played over the boats internal speakers pumping out Romanian pop music she had randomly found on Spotify.
Deciding she did not want to be on her own tonight, too much thinking and thoughts that she did not want to face. Kat got up stretched as much as the boat allowed. It took some getting used to sleeping and living on the boat, waves lapped gently against the Hull and it rocked softly all the time, never still. You could tell just by watching the top of your mug of coffee.
Remembering she purchased a dress the week before, the island was more traditional than some places but did not entirely lack modernity either. Her mobile phone worked and she got netflix on the Internet even if it was a little slower and lower definition than used to. Dark blue with lemon pattern, it was cute and she had got it on a whim from a shop run by an old lady who made them. Even better it was technically expenses due to cost and fact she needed to acclimatise to the local climate. The woman had even for a small sum had her stand up on a raised platform and picked it up the next day when she tucked the waist in a little and adjusted the hem and straps a little to suit.
The old woman had commented on her tattoos but she had replied they carried a meaning, an achievement, an aspect of herself and her heritage than just mere ink on skin like some. That had been least taken without further comment.
Her bracelet was a little less traditional as a darker goth skull on a paracord bracelet, her red traditional necklace and a silver Pandora charm bracelet that had been a gift from her former partner and she had added to it over the years after. Flats added she dropped down off the boat only bothering with light makeup, it was still warm to go out bare armed even if a little cool later on, she was far more used to that than the heat.
Heading out into the wider town, Kat looked around and wondered what to do. She recalled having spent a night or two at a small ad hoc bar of foreigners that had told her about events locally though as they said she chose a hell of a time to arrive. Deaths, future elections, she just wanted to find a shipwreck and avoided getting stuck into the theories, though she did say it felt a strange kind of tense at times and they tried to hide it but it was notable regardless.
An older hotel manager who had been on the island for a decade did say however quietly and without gossip that tensions seemed higher than they had been between major families since he arrived. Like the tingling feeling before a storm broke. it might miss them entirely or slam home if one could predict it.
adventure awaited however as she left the Marina feeling better for the fresh air after being cooped up confirming research.
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