Having executed a perfect train transfer and double back, Nancy and I use our transfer token to get on the bus heading to Treasure Island. It is the W bus, I think that is the one we would take if we were heading to Wally’s World of Wicker. I think wicker really would look nice in the three season room even if Nancy doesn’t agree.
“Dad, dad, are you thinking deep thoughts about wicker again?”
“How did you know that?”
“Well, we are on the W bus and we all know that is the bus you take to get to Wally’s World of Wicker and you were also mouthing wicker, wicker, wicker for the last minute.”
“Good point, It looks like we are on the Bay Bridge now, I can see Treasure Island out the window and just past that Alcatraz.”
“Looks like we gave the man and woman following us the slip, I definitely did not see them on the bus.”
“Me either, we have to think of a better way to refer to the man and woman that were following us than the man and woman that were following us as it is getting tedious.”
“We should give them a cool moniker like “Chaos Agents” from Get Smart.”
“How about Dudes Undercover Chasing Kevin?”
“What? Who’s Kevin?”
“I’m not sure; I really just wanted to make it spell Duck, so we can say cool things like we just gave DUCK the slip and beware the Agents of DUCK..”
“Dad, if I didn’t know you were this strange before you got amnesia, I would be worried about you, but this is actually pretty normal for you.”
“Thanks, I think. So are we good with DUCK?”
“Yes, that just sounds ducky.”
“It’s funnier when I do the bad dad jokes, you should stick to being snarky.”
“Fine.”
With no further discussion of Ducks or Kevin, we exit the bus at the Treasure Island Flea Market.
“Nancy, sorry about the snarky comment. If I remember correctly we should just follow California Avenue North East until we get to Avenue H and then follow that back North West until we get to the corner of 9th Street and we should be right at the TI#3 softball field.”
“Dad, that sounds right. And, I really do like the DUCK thing, I know calling it ducky was a quack too far.”
“Nice, love it.”
We walk for about five minutes on California Avenue and sure enough run right into Avenue H and I do mean run into, Nancy wasn’t looking where she was going and walked right into the Avenue H sign.
“Nancy, watch out there is the Avenue H sign.”
“Ouch.”
“Uh Nancy, I have a suggestion.”
“What dad?”
“Don’t do that!.”
“Uh, thanks dad. Great advice after I already ran into the sign.”
After a few more minutes walking, we end up merely adjacent to the sign for 9th Street.
“Look Nancy, I see the field.”
“Me too, looks like no one is using it, let’s head for home plate and see if there is anything interesting about it.”
We cross the field and head for home plate watching to see if agents of DUCK or anyone else is watching us.
“Nancy, see anyone that looks suspicious?”
“Nope, how about you?”
“Me neither. Let’s see what this home plate is hiding.”
Nancy and I get to home plate and it really does look like a normal home plate. It doesn’t look like there was a game today as the batter’s box is all trampled and no one has swept off home plate as it has a light covering of dirt.
“Nancy, got anything to brush off the plate?”
“Yes, my hand.”
“Great idea.”
“Dad, on the edge of the plate I can feel a little slot that does not seem like part of a normal Home Plate.”
“Here, let me feel.”
I feel the slot on the base. I think it might just be the right size for a flash drive. Why anyone would plug a flash drive into a home plate is beyond me, but it must be there for a reason.
“Nancy, I think it is a USB slot, do we still have the flash drive that had the map with the back door entrance to the Tuba Building?”
“Yeah, here it is, let me try it in the slot.”
Nancy inserts the flash drive into the USB slot, a duck quacks and the ground starts to shake. Nancy falls back and I pull her away from home plate. Oh no, not another aftershock, I thought that radio guy said no more significant aftershocks. Well, I guess he is a radio guy and not a geologist.
“Nancy, it looks like it is not an aftershock, the ground only shook around home plate in the shape of a circle.”
“Yeah, thanks for pulling me away, it is still moving, I think it is making a way down, I can see rungs on the side of the hole. Yup, definitely a way down. The base slid to the side and I can see down about twenty feet. There are rungs all the way to the bottom and a faint glow to the North, maybe a tunnel.”