Chapter Five

Day Five, The Companies First Jump

The team was all up by the time Ray and Dona appeared downstairs, they had eaten breakfast in their room, brought up by Oscar and were now ready for whatever the day may bring. Everyone was now ready, they all moved into the Jump Room (the name had stuck) and sorted through the gear they wanted to check out. Ray and Dona were ready to go, all they needed was a phone number and the gear the others were at the moment sorting through.

It took quite some time before they were ready to go but eventually they had what they needed, well what the others decided they needed. Ray was now wearing glasses and an earpiece, the glasses were a camera and sound devise, the earpiece was for instructions. Dona had the same gear but hers was a lot better looking, according to Ray anyway.

The destination for the jump was decided, Ray had quite a lot to do with this, they were off to Belgium, Bruges in fact and they were now almost ready to go. Terry had something for them though, he gave them a shopping bag and some Euros, the others all looked at him.

"We are only practising" he said "getting some beers for us all isn't a big problem is it?"

Oscar was willing to let things go for now but only as they were only doing practice runs, later may be a lot different.

"No, its not a problem, not for today" he said "but only so long as it doesn't get in the way of getting all of our gear working. In fact it could be part of our first test, we will seriously have to see how it all goes."

Oscar gave the phone number to Ray and they were all ready to go, Ray took hold of the Artifact, Dona took her hold as well, then with a flash they were gone.

....................

They appeared in a quiet street not far from the town centre, as they were only doing a practice run, Ray had chosen the destination. He had picked Bruges because he and Dona knew it so well and they were now stood in a quiet part of Peerdenstraat, a street not too far from the centre.

Oscar was the first to react and asked Ray if they could hear him, Ray's replied that he was loud and clear and asked back how the video was coming through.

"We can see but could you pleas just look around for us" said Anna.

"Oh sorry" said Ray and paned round, so that they could all see just where Ray and Dona were.

"Thanks" said Anna "that all seems to be working fine" and she then tried zooming in and out "yes that looks fantastic".

"All seems to be working very well, can you please make your way into the town centre now and we will try and keep as quiet as we can" instructed Oscar.

"Will do" said Dona "I just wanted to say something"

"Ok" replied Oscar laughing "can you please lead the way Dona"

Ray and Dona made their way over the canal and turned left on Hoogstraat and walked towards the main square, in the centre of town. First they passed Stadhuis the City Hall, then many shops, lots of them selling very good chocolates. Dona stopped and went into one of them.

"What are you doing" asked Oscar.

"Don't ask me" said Ray "but I assume it has something to do with all the chocolate"

"I know that" said Oscar "I can see exactly what you are doing Dona, remember that Dona, remember"

As Dona came out of the shop she said "If you boy are going to get beer here, then Anna and I deserve something as well and as Belgium is as famous for its chocolate as it is its beer, we now have chocolate."

"Thank you very much" said Anna.

Oscar sighed "Lets get on with this test please, once in the main market square, wander to the centre and have a look right around. Then make your way inside the Belfort, and have a wander round inside and then this should then be enough for today."

Ray and Dona did exactly as they were told, they had a good wander around the square and stood in the middle and looked about to test the cameras. They then went into the Belfort, they had to pay to go up the tower and struggled to the top. Back in London the other were all getting as much information as possible and checking out all of the equipment. It mostly worked and Oscar was quite pleased with the way it had all gone, especially the way it all worked indoors.

"That's it" said Oscar "a very good test, you can make your way back any time you want."

"Ok" said Ray "but can we have a bit of time here before we come back, Dona and I would like a bit of time for a drink"

"I think that would be ok" said Oscar "do not be too long though, we have plenty to discus here but we need your input sometime today."

Ray and Dona said thanks and wandered off away from the busy centre to a very little bar that they liked very much. They soon found the Cafe Bistro Terrastje, and wandered in for a drink, only they had not brought any euros with them. They did however have the company credit card with them and Ray though I was worth asking at the bar. They were in luck they could use it but only if they had something to eat so they ordered a bowl of soup each and a couple of beers. Ray had Bruges Zot or Bruges Fools, he had had it before but it was nice, Dona had a large glass of white wine. As it was still early they had another beer before moving on, Ray had a Westmalle Tripel and Dona had another wine. Ray's beer was a bit strong but it was well worth it for the slightly sweet strong alcohol taste. As Ray was drinking he heard a voice in his ear.

"Are you two coming back today" said Oscar.

As there were people sat near them, Ray couldn't reply to Oscar, so he said to Dona "I think we should move on after this beer Dona, no real rush though."

"Yes good idea" replied Oscar "this is only a test and we are finished our work now, so if you don't mind"

"I will not be too long dear" replied Dona "just finishing my wine."

"Thanks" said Oscar "I will see both of you soon then, try not to be too long."

When they finished though, they didn't jump straight back, but wandered off to a large supermarket, where Ray stocked up on beers. Now it was time to jump back, around the side of the supermarket they took hold of the Artifact, Ray set his phone and then they were back outside the house.

....................

It had started to rain since they had left and they rushed straight inside the house to the others. Oscar welcomed them back and Terry took the bag from Ray and started to rummage inside, he was amazed that they had found beers he had never heard of. Ray had even bought some of the Westmalle Tripel they had had earlier.

With the beers they sat down on the couches and started to discus the whole day with Ray and Dona in detail, including how they had found the gear to be. Anna said that another camera would be good, the ones in the glasses were good but one that didn't look round when its owner did would be good as well. They all agreed that the sound was very good and besides a back up, they were spot on there. So the night went on, tomorrow would be another test day and it would be much further a jump.