Bandits and Buccaneers
By JSRobertson
It was late afternoon and
Admiral Harriman Nelson was sitting at his desk in his office at the Nelson
Institute of Marine Research. He was
mulling over an invitation to a luncheon from Mrs. Harriet Abernathy, one of
He knew she liked when he,
Lee and Chip attended her fundraising projects as it always brought in more
money. It seems the ladies of
“Angie, would you please come
into my office and bring Wanda and Janet with you,” he asked as he took the
invitation and sat down on one of the two couches that faced each other in his
office.
“Yes sir,” she replied
quickly and got up to get the other two women.
The three women stood outside
the door of the admiral’s office. “What
does he want with us,” Janet asked quietly.
“I don’t know,” Angie replied
as she knocked on the door.
“Come in,” the admiral
responded. “Please sit down.” Angie and Wanda sat down on one leaving Janet to
sit with the admiral on the other one.
He looked at the three women, all of them with concerned looks on their
faces, “You haven’t done anything wrong, and there is nothing wrong,” he
snorted. “I would like you to attend
this luncheon in my place,” he said handing Janet the invitation to look over who
then handed it to Angie and Wanda. “Lee
and Chip are also unavailable and I don’t want to offend Mrs. Abernathy so I’ve
decided to send the three of you. I’m
sure you know who Mrs. Abernathy is?”
Angie spoke up, “Yes sir, she
does a lot of fundraising and always comes up with a unique way of getting
people to contribute money. She’s held
auctions, dances, fairs among other things.”
“Yes, she has and we have has
participated in some of those when we’re in port.”
“But sir, who’ll take care of
the office while we’re gone?” Janet asked curiously. “You know Chip and Lee can’t handle the
phones. They can pilot a huge submarine
but one phone call sends them into a panic,” Janet chuckled. The admiral also had a grin on his face
knowing that has happened a few times.
“Angie, make arrangements to
have Dorothy from accounting fill in.
She’s done it before and I know Lee and Chip get along with her. Also, please RSVP to the invitation and give
them your names.”
“Yes sir,” Angie replied as
the three women stood up and left the admiral’s office.
“Have you ever seen her
mansion?” Wanda asked after noticing the luncheon was being held there. “That place is huge and right on the
ocean. She has almost as much ocean
front property as the admiral does.”
“I guess we better make sure
we look out best,” Angie replied. “Black
suits and heels,” she announced as the Wanda and Janet shook their heads in
agreement.
The women returned to their
desks to finish what was left of the work day.
Angie and Wanda headed out at 1800 hours but Janet would wait for Lee to
return from Seaview. He and Chip
came up from the sub pen a little while later.
Both were covered in dirt and grease.
Janet was surprised even Chip had dirt on his uniform.
“Don’t you have men that
could take care of the engines?” Janet asked looking over the two men.
“Yes, if you think we’re
dirty, you should see them,” Lee laughed.
“Let’s go home. I’m tired and
hungry as well as dirty.”
“Yes sir,” Janet replied
giving him a two finger salute. She got
her purse and put on her jacket. Even
though his hands were clean, she went to Lee’s office to get his jacket and
cover so he didn’t have to touch them.
The three of them walked out of the institute together.
“See you tomorrow,” Chip said
as he got in his car.
“Bye Chip,” Lee and Janet
replied back as they got into their car.
“I can’t wait to take a shower,” Lee said as he drove home.
“I can’t wait for you to take
one too,” Janet answered back having never seen her husband that dirty from
working on the boat. “I’ll get dinner
while you shower and change.”
“You could join me in the
shower,” Lee remarked deviously. “I’d
rather have dessert first anyway.”
Janet looked at her husband,
smiled and shook her head as they pulled in their driveway. Janet took Lee’s jacket and cover and put
them in the closet while he took his uniform off before heading upstairs and
put it in the cleaning bag they forgot to take that morning. He ran upstairs while Janet put dinner in the
oven. She went upstairs to change her
clothes and saw Lee was still in the shower so she decided to join him and
engaged him in some romantic fun.
As they toweled off, Janet
told him about the luncheon. “Did you
know the admiral was sending us to Mrs. Abernathy’s luncheon?”
Grinning as he pulled on a pair of jeans, “Yes, he told us and we’re very happy the three of you are going. She’s a very nice woman but she can be very persuasive when she wants something and the admiral can’t say no to her. I actually think she’s got the hots for him,” Lee said pulling his shirt on as Janet put on her top and jeans as well. Janet broke out in a huge grin when Lee told her about Mrs. Abernathy and the admiral.
They walked down the stairs
and into the kitchen where Lee took a beer out of the refrigerator for him and
poured a glass of wine for Janet and went out to the patio. He sat down at the table while Janet brought
out dinner. Even though it was a cool
evening they sat outside for awhile before going into the house. When they finished cleaning up the kitchen,
they watched TV before going to bed.
((()))
The day of the luncheon had
arrived and Janet was up early making sure she had enough time to get
ready. She hopped in the shower with Lee
joining her just as she was finishing up.
She took extra care doing her makeup and hair. She put a pink shirt on with her black skirt
and high heels. She was just getting
ready to put on her jacket when Lee came up to her and kissed her very gently
on the lips as he ran his hand down her back.
He felt her shiver.
“Lee, please,” Janet pleaded
resting her head on his chest. “Don’t do
this to me now.”
“Do what?” he asked as he
kissed her again with more passion. On
any other day she would have given in and jumped back into bed but not today.
“Lee,” she said as she
wiggled out of his arms. “Can we
continue this tonight? I don’t want to
have to redo my hair and makeup.”
“Okay,” he conceded with a
grin, “to be continued later.”
“Thanks,” Janet replied as
she gave him a hug and patted his butt before putting on her jacket. “Do I look okay?”
“Sweetheart you look great. What are you so nervous about? She’s not going
to bite,” he laughed as he walked downstairs to the kitchen and poured them
both some coffee.
((()))
They arrived at the office
just as Angie and Wanda were getting out of their cars. Lee looked at the three of them and chuckled. They all had on black suits only with
different colored tops. “Well ladies I
see you have your uniforms on today.”
Angie gave him a dirty look,
“It’s easy for you men to dress everyday as you wear the same thing. Only some days it’s blue or white instead of
khaki. Women don’t care what you wear
because all they see is the uniform but...”
Lee quickly apologized before
she could finish, “Sorry I didn’t mean to offend you. The three of you look very nice as
always.” Angie smiled at his compliment.
Janet whispered, “Nice
recovery.”
Lee took Janet’s hand and
they walked into the institute with Angie and Wanda. The admiral and Chip were already there when
they arrived. They both noticed they
were all dressed alike. Lee was walking
behind them and saw Chip about to say something and gave him a look. Chip saw the look and said nothing but the
admiral missed it.
“Why are you all dressed the
same?”
“Sir, we have that luncheon
today and want to make a good impression,” Angie responded nervously.
“Well you all look lovely and
I know you’ll make a good impression on Harriet.” The admiral shook his head conceding he
would never understand women and their clothes.
Before he walked into his office he turned to Lee and Chip, “Could we
meet in ten minutes? I’d like to discuss
how the engine overhaul is going.”
“Yes sir,” they replied.
Before Lee went into his
office, he heard the women discussing who was going to drive. They decided Janet would drive as her SUV had
more room and it was easier to get into the back seat. He went to his computer, booted it up and
printed out directions to Mrs. Abernathy’s mansion. He handed them to Janet. “Did you bring your keys?”
“Yes, I have them and thank
you for the directions,” she answered giving his hand a squeeze and walked to
her office. She took off her jacket hung
on the back of her chair and pulled out the work she needed to do as Lee and
Chip reported to the admiral’s office.
((()))
It was 1045 hours when Angie entered
Janet’s office. “We better leave soon. I
know it’s not too far away but we don’t want to be late.”
“I’ll be ready to go at 1100
hours,” Janet replied as they heard the elevator doors open and Dorothy from
accounting was standing at Wanda’s desk.
“Hi Dorothy,” Wanda said and explained to her what the schedule was for
the day. “We should be backing around
1500. The admiral, Lee and Chip are in
the admiral’s office so take a message if anyone calls,” she told Dorothy as
she put on her jacket
“Will do,” Dorothy said
happily.
Angie and Janet had their
jackets on, grabbed their purses and were getting ready to leave when the three
men came out of the admiral’s office.
“Hi Dorothy,” the admiral said. “Thanks for helping out.”
“No problem sir. Does anyone need anything right now?”
“Not me,” both Lee and Chip
replied. Lee walked over and gave Janet
a quick kiss. “Good luck,” he said
softly. He looked at the women and could
tell for some reason they were nervous.
Janet and Angie had been to other luncheons before but this one had them
rattled. They got on the elevator, into
the car and drove to the Abernathy mansion.
((()))
When they arrived at the
mansion, a gentleman greeted them at the gate.
“We’re here for the luncheon,” Janet said handing him the invitation.
“Yes, ma’am. Just follow the road to the front of the
house. Have a good day,” he told them.
“Thank you,” Janet replied
and followed the road to the front of the huge mansion. There were a few cars ahead of them so as
they waited in line the three women stared at the house.
“Oh my goodness,” Wanda
murmured, “I’ve never seen anything this big.
It looks bigger than in the pictures.”
Angie and Janet just shook
their heads as they stared in awe. It
was Janet’s turn to have her car parked and two valets opened the doors and
helped the women from the car as a third one jumped in the car and drove it
away. A woman dressed in a black dress
greeted them. “Welcome,” she said
politely, “just follow the path around on the side and it will take you to the
back of the house where everyone is meeting.”
“Thank you,” Angie said as
she led the way to the back.
When they got around back
they stopped and stared at the view of the ocean. The house was on a hill that overlooked the
ocean. “I thought the admiral’s view was
great. This view is fantastic,” Janet
said as they continued to the back where quite a few people had already
gathered.
A server with a tray of
champagne walked over to them. They each
took a crystal flute of the pink drink.
They were a little nervous as they knew no one and noticed most of the
attendees were men. They saw only a
handful of women. They walked over to
the rail that surrounded the patio and looked down at a huge pool and another
patio. Before long, Janet heard someone
calling her name. She turned around to
see Tom Allerton walking over to her. Finally
a familiar face, she thought.
“Hi Tom,” Janet said warmly. “This is Angie Pearce and Wanda Carston. I’m sure you’ve talked to both of them. This is Tom Allerton of Allerton Valves.”
“Yes many times but it’s
finally nice to put a face to the voice,” Tom replied with a smile shaking hands
with the two women. “Where are the
admiral, Lee and Chip?”
“The admiral’s involved in a
project right now and Lee and Chip are overseeing an overhaul of Seaview’s
engines so we came in their place,” Angie replied recognizing his voice.
A couple more men joined the
group wanting to meet the three nice looking women Tom was talking too. Tom introduced Scott Lansing and Timothy
Steel from Royal Electronics to the women.
They all realized they had talked on the phone a few times as they all
had dealing with the admiral, Lee and Chip.
After talking to them for a few minutes, the men excused themselves as
they needed to talk about a project Tom was helping them with. Two young women stopped in front of them as
they stood there watching the people.
“I don’t see them,” the
blonde said to the brunette. “They
always come. I’m going to find out from
Aunt Harriet if Lee Crane and Chip Morton are attending. I can’t wait to check them out. They’re gorgeous and I want to see them
again. Maybe this time they’ll be free
to go out.”
Janet almost choked on her
champagne. Wanda and Angie could barely
contain their laughter. The two women
noticed the three of them standing there but had no idea who they were until a
nice looking well dressed elegant woman came over to them.
“Hello,” she said
pleasantly. “I’m Harriet Abernathy and
you must be from the Nelson Institute. I
was very sorry to hear that Harry, Lee and Chip wouldn’t be attending but I’m
glad he sent you.”
Angie spoke up, “I’m Angie
Pearce, and this is Wanda Carston.”
“I’m Janet Crane,” Janet said
as she shook her hand. “It’s a pleasure
to meet you. The admiral, Lee and Chip
send their apologies that they couldn’t attend.”
“I hope you enjoy
yourselves. Lunch will be served shortly
after a brief meeting,” she told them as she walked away to greet other
guests.
The two young women stood
staring at Janet, Angie and Wanda and quickly walked away. The three women smiled as they left. Angie and Wanda took another glass of
champagne when the server came by again but Janet declined as she was driving. Before long the attendees were asked to take
their seats so they could begin the meeting and lunch. Each table sat six people and had pink and
yellow roses as centerpieces with purple tablecloths and napkins. Janet, Angie and Wanda found an empty table
and sat down. They were joined by Tom,
Scott and Timothy.
“Thank you for attending the
luncheon today,” Harriet said and continued, “The first and only item of
business is this year’s charity fundraiser which will benefit the food bank for
the senior citizens of
Everyone groaned as Harriet
told them the theme. “Bandits and
buccaneers,” Tom chuckled. “Wonder where
she got that idea.” Wanda, Angie and
Janet didn’t know how to react as they weren’t sure how this affected them.
Harriet then outlined the
cost of the tickets, contests for best costume, best couples, and such, and the
prizes to be offered to the winners and door prizes from supporters. She solicited suggestions on how best to
advertise the event to increase attendance and also increase donations. Once key bits of business had been addressed,
a gourmet lunch was served to reward their attention and attendance.
“I can see why the men don’t
want to come for the meeting but the food was excellent,” Wanda commented after
lunch was over.
They were having a nice time
talking with the gentlemen at their table and didn’t notice the time. When
Angie finally checked her watch, she couldn’t believe it was already 1530. “Wow, I had no idea it was so late; we
definitely have to get back to work,” she said as she stood up, quickly
followed by the rest of those at the table.
“Thanks for the most
enjoyable lunch,” Tom remarked, the other two men nodded their heads in
agreement. “Maybe we’ll see you at the
party.”
“You’re welcome and we also
enjoyed talking to you,” Janet replied as they gathered their purses and
started for the door.
Before they could leave,
Harriet stopped them. “I’m going to put
the institute down for a table of twelve as usual,” she told the women. “Harry always makes a donation. Hopefully he’ll be around to attend this
year’s fundraiser. He always seems to be
gone on that submarine of his. Please
try and come as it will be a fun time.”
“Yes that’s fine, Mrs.
Abernathy. I’m sure he’ll try and make
it this year,” Angie replied hesitantly as they said good byes and exited.
“Angie, I hope the admiral
doesn’t mind you committing him for a donation?” Wanda said, as they waited for
Janet’s car. “Does he always make such a
large a donation?”
“Yes, he does make a donation
every year but I never see the amount only the tickets. The tickets are generally donated as well to
people associated with whatever the cause is, I think he’s only attended once
or twice since Seaview has been gone the last few years. I think this year is a first for a costumed
affair. I’m sure the admiral will just love that,” Angie replied with a chuckle
as she pictured the admiral dressed as a pirate or desperado. The car brought
round, they got in the car and drove back to the institute to report to the
admiral what had taken place at the luncheon
((()))
The admiral, Lee and Chip
went to the cafeteria for lunch. “I
wonder what the ladies are eating for lunch,” Chip said as he looked at his
turkey sandwich and soup.
Lee looked at Chip and grinned. “Maybe you should have gone. I could have taken care of the overhaul by myself. I’m sure Mrs. Abernathy would’ve loved to see you,” he teased as she really liked Chip and would grab his butt every time she saw him.
“No, that’s okay,” he
responded as he took a bite of his sandwich.
“I can do without the bruised “assets”.
I always feel like we’re meat on the hoof at her events.”
The admiral sat there
grinning at the banter between his men.
He wondered what Harriet had conned the women into and knew it would
probably be expensive. He didn’t mind
making the donation as it did go to a worthy cause. When they finished lunch, the admiral went to
the sub pen with Lee and Chip to check on how the overhaul was
progressing. They would only stay a
couple more hours as they wanted to be back when Janet, Angie and Wanda
returned from the luncheon.
((()))
They were back at the office
by 1600 hours, much to Dorothy’s relief. The phones had been ringing almost
constantly and she had a huge stack of messages for them all.
“Sorry we’re late. Are Lee and Chip still down at the sub pen?”
Janet asked as Wanda sat down at her desk.
Wanda was a little tired after three glasses of champagne and was glad
she only a couple more hours to work.
“Yes, the admiral too but
they should be back any minute. They’re
anxious to know how the luncheon went.” she replied as she handed the stacks of
messages to the appropriate AA.
“Thank you Dorothy,” Angie
said.
“You’re quite welcome. I never realized how much phone traffic there
is down here. I’ll be more than happy to
get back to the peace and quiet of accounting after this little exercise,” she
replied which elicited chuckles and nods of agreement from the other ladies.
Angie went to her office, sat down and looked through the messages. She sorted out the ones she would handle and
put aside the ones the admiral would have to take care of.
Janet also went to her
office. She sorted her messages into
piles and sighed. She could handle most
of them and only a few would go to Lee and Chip. She also checked the calendar and Seaview’s
schedule. If no missions came up, they
would be in port on the day of the fundraiser.
They had only been back about
fifteen minutes when the three men exited the elevator. “Hi Wanda,” Chip said, “How was the food?”
“Food was great,” she replied. Knowing the only reason Chip generally went,
besides being ordered to go, was the meal.
“We were treated to salmon with rice pilaf, green beans almandine and a
luscious cheesecake for dessert,” she said as she licked her lips taunting him
just a bit.
“Sure beats my turkey
sandwich and soup,” Chip responded with a slight frown.
Lee headed to Janet’s office
and found her on the phone. She smiled
and nodded her head when he mouthed hello.
He sat down in the chair in the front of her desk and played with her
stapler. He was very curious about how
the luncheon went.
The admiral went to his
office as Angie was just hanging up the phone.
“Did you enjoy yourselves?”
“Yes sir, but I think we
committed the institute to a large donation.”
Smiling, “I’m sure you did,
knowing Harriet. Why don’t you get Lee,
Chip, Janet, and Wanda so we all can hear the details?”
“Yes sir,” Angie replied and
rounded up the rest of them.
When they made themselves
comfortable in the admiral’s office, he asked, “I know Angie said she had a
good time but how about the two of you?
“Yes sir,” Wanda replied “and
the food and drinks were excellent. The
mansion had a fantastic view of the ocean too.”
“Figures,” Chip mumbled under
his breath.
“Yes, I’ve seen her view,”
the admiral remarked, “it is breathtaking.
Anything else we need to know about?”
Chip, Lee and the admiral had been to enough of her luncheons to know
that she would have roped them into a donation.
“She wouldn’t let us leave
unless we confirmed a table,” Angie replied cautiously. “She’s put you down for
a table of twelve. She said you always reserved that many.”
“No problem Angie. She feeds
you and then grabs your money,” he chuckled.
“What’s this year’s theme?”
“Bandits and buccaneers,”
Janet answered. “It’s the week before
Halloween and everyone has to be in a costume.
She was very adamant about that.
If you don’t come in a costume, she will give you a costume that she chooses.”
“Bandits and buccaneers?” Lee
questioned, “That’s a very interesting combination. “Hopefully we’ll have a mission
at that time.”
Snickering Janet said, “So
far we’re clear unless there’s a problem on the mission to test out Seaview’s
engines after the overhaul. We should be back in time for the party. I know no one likes costume parties but it
could be fun and it is for charity.”
Lee and Chip groaned loudly
while the admiral snorted. “If you can
find us costumes that don’t make us look ridiculous we’ll go provided we’re not
on a mission. I’ll leave the three of you in charge.”
“Yes sir,” the ladies
answered and they all left the admiral’s office. Angie stopped at her desk and winked at Janet
and Wanda. Lee and Chip continued on to
Lee’s office.
“Let’s discuss this tomorrow
so we can get the costumes right away.
There’re going to be a lot of people attending the fundraiser so we need
to make sure we get the good costumes,” Angie told Wanda and Janet who nodded
their heads in agreement. “Do you think
Lee could ask Kowalski, Riley, Patterson and Chief Sharkey if they would
participate?” she asked Janet, “And I’ll ask Jamie.”
“I’ll check with Lee
tonight. I’m sure they won’t mind
dressing up.” Janet answered as she and Wanda left her office and returned to
their work.
((()))
As Janet walked by Lee’s
office he called, “Sweetie, can you come in here?”
She stopped, went into the
office and sat in the chair at the front of Lee’s desk while Chip sat on the
corner of his desk.
“What else happened at lunch
today…sit with anyone we know…meet any new people?” Lee questioned.
She gave them a wry
grin. “Well you both were missed by two young
ladies. They were looking all over for
the two of you. They were hoping you
would be free this time,” Janet laughed.
Furrowing his forehead Lee
looked at Janet, “Two ladies were looking of us?”
“A blond and brunette.”
Smiling Chip answered, “Those
two. They’re Mrs. Abernathy’s nieces and
always come to the luncheons with her as they help her run the
fundraisers. You’d think they’d get the
hint we’re not interested.”
“We did sit with Tom
Allerton, Scott Lansing and Timothy Steel.
They were very charming and nice to talk to,” Janet told them noticing
Lee sat a little straighter in his chair.
He knew all three of them. They
were their age, good looking and single.
“What did they have to say?”
Lee asked trying not to show he was a little jealous.
“Nothing much. They were glad to meet us as they now could
put a name to a face when they called,” Janet replied coyly. “If there’s nothing else, I have a lot of
work to finish before I can leave for the day.
I’ll talk to you later.” She got
up and walked out of Lee’s office while Chip stayed there to talk to Lee.
((()))
Janet finished up the reports
she needed to get done and went to Lee’s office to see if he was ready to leave
for the day but Chip was still there going over the schedule for the next few
weeks so she returned to her office.
“The overhaul is coming along
and Chief Sharkey assures me everything will be good to go in three weeks,”
Chip reaffirmed.
“Great, so we’ll leave on
Tuesday and return on Thursday at the latest,” Lee replied looking at the
calendar. “I guess we’re done here. Want to go to dinner?”
“No Julie has made plans for
us,” Chip said with a smile.
Lee grinned back, “I hope
Janet has some plans for us as I’m hungry.”
They both rose and walked to the door.
“Night Lee, see you
tomorrow,” Chip replied as he left Lee’s office and went into his retrieving
his jacket and cover.
Lee shut down his computer
and put the paperwork left on his desk in the drawer. He liked to start the morning with a clean
desk. He went to the closet, grabbed his
jacket and cover and headed out the door.
He walked out of his office
shutting the door and making a beeline for Janet’s. As he entered he found her still filing and
didn’t notice him come in. He came up behind her and put his arms around
her waist.
“Sweetie, are you ready
leave,” he asked pulling her towards him when she turned around.
“I’ve been ready for the last
hour. What do you have in mind for this evening?”
she asked mischievously wrapping her arms around his neck.
“I thought we would continue
what we started this morning,” he answered deviously.
“What are we waiting for,”
she replied as she quickly grabbed her jacket and purse and they headed out the
door.
((()))
Once at home, Lee hung up
their jackets and they retired to their bedroom to pick up where they left off
that morning. Sated and delightfully
exhausted after their activities, Janet nestled in Lee’s arms and he kissed her
the top of her head.
“Sweetie, I’ve worked up an
appetite. How about I grill some
chicken?” Lee suggested as he got up and
put on a t-shirt and shorts.
“I’m a little hungry too so
I’ll make a salad while you grill the chicken,” she replied also putting on
some shorts and t-shirt.
Before long they were
enjoying their el fresco dinner on the patio.
Taking a drink of wine, Lee
asked, “Have you, Angie and Wanda decided about the costumes for the Halloween
Party?”
“No, we’re going to talk
about that tomorrow. Do you think
Kowalski, Patterson, Riley and Chief Sharkey would dress up? I don’t know who’ll they be but we need
twelve people to fill our table. We still need one more person but I don’t know
who we could ask?”
“I’ll ask Bobby O’Brien. His wife is going out of town for a few weeks
to visit her parents so he’ll be alone.
I’m sure he’ll join in.”
“Thanks honey,” Janet replied
kissing the top of his head as she gathered the dinner dishes and brought them
in house. Lee followed behind with the
rest of the items she couldn’t carry.
After they finished cleaning
up, they went back upstairs to bed.
Janet somehow had gotten ready for bed before Lee so she pulled back the
covers and climbed in. Lee removed his
shirt and shorts and slid under the covers pulling Janet close to him. He kissed her gently as they laid there close
together until they fell asleep.
((()))
Lee and Janet got to work
early the next morning with Angie and Wanda coming in right after them so they
could discuss the party before starting work.
They sat around Angie’s desk with a cup of coffee deciding which bandits
and buccaneers they would be, and who was going as whom.
“Since we have twelve people
going how about we make six people bandits and the other six buccaneers,” Angie
suggested. The other two women nodded
their head in agreement.
Wanda piped up, “I think Lee
should be Robin Hood and Janet you’ll be Maid Marian.”
“That’s fine,” Janet said.
“We’ll have Chip be Robin’s right hand man, Little John.”
“Let’s make Jamie Zorro. He’s tall, thin and would look great in a
black cape,” Janet remarked. “Patterson
and Riley could go as the outlaws, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.”
“That works for me,” Angie
replied, “those costumes should be easy to get.”
“Now for the buccaneers,” Wanda
commented. “I think the admiral should
be Barbarossa, AKA “Red Beard” it will go with his reddish hair. Chief Sharkey would make a good Sir Henry
Morgan, he was known as the greatest pirate the
Janet and Angie stared at
Wanda. “How do you know so much about
pirates?” Janet wondered.
“Well, I didn’t have anything
to do last night, so I did some research on bandits and pirates,” she confessed
with a shy grin.
“That only leaves you and
Angie without costumes,” Janet said looking at Wanda’s face and knew she had
already made a decision.
“We’re going to be famous
women pirates. Angie’s going to be Anne
Bonney and I’m going to be Mary Read.
They were best friends and known for their violent tempers, ferocious
fighting and had a reputation as ‘fierce hell cats’, Wanda told them. “The costumes won’t be hard to get as they
dressed as men.”
Angie and Janet snickered as
Janet replied, “Those two women are so out of character for you two and it will
be fun to see if you can act like them.”
As the women were discussing
the party, Chip had arrived at work. Lee was waiting for him so they could go
down to the sub pen. Before they left,
Lee went into Angie’s office to tell Janet they were leaving.
“We’re going down to the boat
for a few hours. If you need anything
just call my cell.”
“Okay, Lee,” Janet answered,
“please ask the men if they’ll come to the party.”
“Yes ma’am,” Lee responded
with a grin. “I’ll call and let you know
as soon as I find out so you can get the costumes.”
He and Chip headed off to the
boat.
Just as they leaving Angie’s
office and start their work day, the phone rang on Angie’s desk.
“Yes Lee,” Angie
answered. “That’s great news,” she
continued nodding her head at the other two women. “See you later.”
“Lee asked the men and
they’ll all do it,” Angie reported to Janet and Wanda just as the admiral
walked in.
“Who’ll do what?” he asked
suspiciously seeing the three of them together.
“Some of the men have agreed
to go to the Halloween party,” Angie told him as she handed him some messages.
“Oh that,” he muttered
looking at the messages and went into his office.
“He doesn’t seem too happy,”
Wanda said quietly.
“He’ll come around,” Angie
reassured her. “I’ll get the costumes. I
know this great shop that carries all kinds of costumes. If they don’t have them, I’ll find somewhere
else.”
“Thanks for taking care of
this,” Janet said as she and Wanda they left her office for theirs. Angie quickly called the shop and got
everything they needed.
((()))
With Seaview’s engine
overhaul complete it was time they tested them out. It was early Tuesday
morning when Lee, Chip and Janet reported to the sub pen to get ready to
leave. This mission would only be three
days long so they would be back in plenty of time for the Halloween party on
Saturday.
Lee and Chip were in the
conning tower and watched as the deck detail threw the lines to the men on Seaview’s
deck. “Why don’t you take her out
this time,” Lee told Chip. “I want to
concentrate on the engines to see if I can pick up on any problems at the
outset.”
“No problem, Lee,” Chip replied as he directed
the engine room to slowly reverse the engines so they could leave the
dock.
Chip had no problems taking
her out and once they cleared the breakwater, he and Lee returned to the
control room where Chip ordered maneuvering to dive the boat and take her down
to two hundred feet. They would
seriously test her engines once they were a few hundred miles from NIMR.
((()))
Lee was putting Seaview’s
engines through her paces. He started
with angles and dangles to make sure she could react to the sharp turns, figure
eight’s and random depth changes. Janet
missed the announcement that Lee was going to do them and as she was walking
down the passageway to the spiral staircase, Seaview made a sharp turn
that sent her into the bulkhead. She
fell to floor just as the admiral was coming out of his cabin. Seeing her on the floor he made his was
quickly to her side and helped her up.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
“Yes sir,” she replied, “I
just wasn’t expecting that turn and lost my balance.”
“I thought Lee announced what
he was going to do,” the admiral said with grin.
“If he did, I wasn’t paying
attention,” Janet answered sheepishly.
The two of them went down the
staircase to the control room where Lee continued to test the sub’s
engines. He heard the soft footsteps on
the stairs and looked up from the plotting table to see Janet and the admiral
entering the control room. Janet was
rubbing her shoulder.
“What happened?” Lee asked
worriedly.
“She fell against the
bulkhead when you made that last sharp turn,” the admiral told Lee.
Before Lee could ask Janet
said, “I’m fine. I wasn’t paying
attention when you announced you were going to do the angles and dangles so I
wasn‘t prepared.”
Lee looked at her and shook
his head. He continued the tests with
Chip relaying the orders as Lee gave them.
Janet took down any notes or
changes Lee thought needed to be done after he finished putting the engines
through their paces. After a couple
hours, Lee was satisfied with the engine overhaul and only had a couple of
items that needed to be rectified. Since
he still had some time left for tests, he decided to run some torpedo
drills.
“Missile room prepare tubes
one, two, three and four for firing,” Lee said into the mic as he looked at his
watch timing their response. As he waited for Chief Sharkey to let him know the
torpedoes were ready for firing, he heard Sharkey on the intercom.
“
Lee looked at Chip and
Janet. “Chip report to the missile room
and let me know what’s going on down there,” Lee ordered. Lee called Sharkey on the mic, “Chief what
happened…who’s hurt…how bad?”
“It’s Kowalski, sir. He got hit by the torpedo rack when one of
the rack chains failed. He’s unconscious
and has a bad gash on his head. Doc’s here now.”
“Mr. Morton is on his way
down there. Report to him what
happened.”
“Aye, aye sir,” Sharkey
answered back as Lee stowed the mic. He
took a deep breath and hoped the Kowalski would be alright. He tapped his pencil worriedly on the
plotting table while he waited for Chip to return to the control room.
As Lee and Janet waited in
the control room for Chip to report what happened, the admiral called, “Lee,
what’s going on in the missile room? I
heard Sharkey call for Jamie.”
“Sharkey reported one of the
chains on the torpedo rack failed. I
sent Chip to the missile room to check things out and I’m waiting for his
report and one from sick bay. I’ll inform
you as soon as I know anything.”
“Okay Lee,” the admiral
replied and severed the connection.
((()))
Responding to the captain’s
order to load torpedo tube, the crew began lowering the torpedo rack into
position when suddenly one of the chains suspending the rack began to
fail. Kowalski immediately noticed the
rack listing to one side. He called out
a quick warning and pushed Patterson out the way before it could fall on
him. As he moved to get out of the way,
the chain snapped dropping one corner of the rack catching him in the side of
the head. He fell heavily to the deck unconscious
and bleeding profusely from the huge gash on his head.
Patterson and Sharkey were at
Kowalski’s side immediately checking on his condition. As they tended to Ski, the rest of the men
were able to raise up the rack so Patterson and Sharkey could pull him to
safety. Once he was safe they lowered
the rack to floor.
Working quickly Patterson
broke open a first aid kit and grabbed a gauze pad and pressed it firmly
against the wound to Kowalski’s head.
The pad was quickly soaked with Ski’s blood and as he moved to grab
another pad, Jamie and Frank ran into the missile room followed closely by
Chip. Jamie rushed over to Ski’s side
and kneeled down to examine man. Chip was also bending down next to Jamie
looking at Kowalski and could see he didn’t look good.
“Get him to sick bay on the
double,” he instructed Frank and Patterson as they put Kowalski on the
stretcher.
“Doc,” Chip started to say
when Jamie cut him off.
“I’ll let you know as soon as
I check him out,” he said as he followed the men out of the missile room.
“Chief, what happened?” Chip
asked urgently.
“Mr. Morton, we were lowering
the rack when one of the chains snapped.
Kowalski pushed Patterson out of the way or it would have fallen right
on him.”
Chip and Sharkey surveyed the
rack and the support chains and quickly found the link that had broken.
“Chief, I want all those
chains replaced,” Chip ordered.
“Aye, aye sir but I don’t
think we have those chains on board.
We’ll have to wait until we return to port,” Sharkey informed Chip.
“Okay, leave the rack on the
deck until they can be replaced. We
shouldn’t need to fire the torpedoes on this mission.”
“Yes sir,” Sharkey
replied. He looked at Marco and
Riley. “What are you two yahoos waiting
for, police up the area,” he told the men who grabbed mops and buckets and
began cleaning up.
“I’m heading to sick bay, if
you need anything you can reach me there,” Chip stated as he started for the
hatch.
“Mr. Morton, mind if I go to
sick bay with you to check on Ski?”
Chip nodded in agreement,
knowing Sharkey and Kowalski were good friends. ”Come along Chief.”
((()))
Frank and Patterson took
Kowalski off the stretcher and gently placed him on the gurney in sick
bay. Patterson stood off to the side
while Frank and Jamie went to work.
“Frank, get me a suture
kit. He’s going to need quite a few
stitches,” Jamie ordered. Frank went to
the one of the cabinets and pulled out the kit Jamie needed. Kowalski was still unconscious and Jamie was
pretty sure he had a concussion. His one
pupil was larger than the other and reacting sluggishly. As he started to clean up the gash on his
head, Chip and Sharkey entered sick bay.
“How is he, Doc?” Chip asked
noticing he was still unconscious.
“He has a concussion and
needs some stitches to close up that gash to his forehead,” Jamie told
them. “You can all leave and let me do
my job. I’ll let you know when he comes
around.” He closed the curtains that
separated the examination room from his office.
Sharkey and Patterson returned to the missile room while Chip headed to
the control room to make his report.
((()))
“What happened?” Lee inquired
as he spotted Chip entering the control room.
“One of the links on the
chains that support the torpedo rack snapped.
Kowalski pushed Patterson out of the way but didn’t clear of the rack
when it dropped and was hit in the head and knocked unconscious. Jamie said he’s going to need quite a few
stitches and has a concussion. I’ve
ordered Sharkey to replace all the chains but he said it will have to be done
once we’re in port since he doesn’t have the chains on the boat. I’m going to have Janet put them on the
inventory list so we can make sure we have them in case they need to be
replaced again. I’m also going to make
sure they get inspected after every mission.”
Lee ran his hand over his
hair, “Thanks Chip. Those are great ideas and we should implement them right
away. Why don’t we head home? We’ve done
all the checks I wanted to do on the engines and I’m sure Jamie would rather
have Ski in
“Yes sir,” Chip replied and
plotted the course.
“Take over Chip. I’m going to check in with Jamie and then
report to the admiral,” Lee said. “I’ll
meet you in the wardroom in an hour,” he told Chip and Janet. Chip nodded his head and continued to plot
their course.
“Okay, Lee,” Janet replied
and watch Lee as he left the control room via the aft hatch leaving Chip at the
plotting table giving maneuvering the new course. She could see Lee was upset that a crewman
had gotten hurt on the job. As soon as she got to her office she would change
the inventory sheets once Sharkey gave her the numbers for the chains and add
it to the mission inspection sheets.
((()))
Lee arrived in sick bay and found
Jamie wasn’t at his desk. He opened the
curtains and saw him and Frank putting Kowalski in a bunk. He walked over to them and stood by the bunk
resting his hand on the top bunk rail.
“How is he?”
Frank left the two men to
talk and went into the examination room to clean it up.
“I had to put in fifteen
stitches to close the gash and he’s still unconscious. Hopefully he’ll wake up soon,” Jamie
responded standing next to Lee noting the worry etched on his face.
“Okay if I sit with him for
awhile?” Before Jamie could answer, Lee had
pulled up a chair next to Kowalski’s bunk.
He sat there for thirty minutes and was getting ready to leave when he
started to come around. He opened his
eyes but closed immediately then barely cracked them open to fend off the glare
of the lights.
“Hi Skipper,” Kowalski said
trying to sit up but Lee gently eased him back down.
Jamie heard Ski talking and
walked to his bunk. “Hi Ski. How are you
feeling?” he asked looking into his eyes noticing his pupil was still more
dilated than the other. He quickly
looked beneath the bandage and found the stitches were doing well.
“I have a terrible headache,”
Kowalski replied rubbing his head feeling the bandages. “What happened...the last thing I remember is
pushing Patterson out of the way of the torpedoes...is he okay?” Ski asked
anxiously.
“He’s fine thanks to you,”
Lee answered. “Doc had to put fifteen
stitches in your head though.”
“No wonder I have a
headache,” Ski replied. “How soon can I
get out of here?”
Sighing deeply, “You have a
concussion,” Jamie explained to him.
“You’ll be in here until we get back to port and then you’ll go to
“But Doc...” he started to
say but Jamie cut him off. “You’ll stay
here, and like it.”
“Kowalski, do what Jamie
asks,” Lee told him, “and that’s an order.”
Jamie rolled his eyes and
smirked at Lee as he walked away; Lee was the worst patient he had when staying
in sick bay and the last one to obey orders about staying put.
“Yes sir. I really am tired,”
Kowalski said yawning and closed his eyes.
Lee followed Jamie over to
the medicine cabinet. “Will he be okay?” he asked. Ski was his dive partner and
his ‘go to’ man for special missions and he was genuinely worried about is
condition.
“Yes, he’ll be fine with some
rest. I’ll give him some medication for
his headache.”
“Thanks, Jamie,” Lee said as
he walked to the door. “Did you eat
dinner yet...I’m going to meet with the admiral to give him a report on what
happened and then go to dinner. Why
don’t you join us if you can?”
Smiling Jamie replied, “I’ll
be there in thirty minutes.”
Lee left sick bay and walked
to the admiral’s cabin to make his report on the incident in the missile room
and Ski’s condition. Finished with
ship’s business for the moment, they headed to the wardroom; Lee via Janet’s
office to collect her for dinner. By the
time they arrived Chip was already seated and eating and Nelson was giving his
order to the galley steward. They were joined by Jamie a few minutes later who
reported that Kowalski was still sleeping, much to the relief of all.
((()))
The
next morning Lee and Janet visited
”How’s
he doing Jamie?” Lee asked after Jamie was finished.
“He’s
doing fine but as soon as we dock I want him taken to
Jamie
looked at Kowalski. “I’m going to do a
CT scan and you will be staying overnight.”
“Yes
sir,” Kowalski replied. He knew better
than to argue with him.
“If
you’re fine in the morning, I’ll let you go home provided you’re not alone.”
“He
can stay with me Doc,” Patterson volunteered.
“I’m off until next week so I’ll keep an eye on him.”
“Thanks,
Pat.” Kowalski smiled at his best friend.
“I’ve got to report for duty. I’ll stop by after my shift,” Patterson said
and left sick bay for the control room.
((()))
Lee
and Janet were the only people in the wardroom.
The mess specialist served them breakfast. Just as they started to eat the admiral,
Jamie and Chip entered the wardroom and joined them.
“How’s
Kowalski?” the admiral asked.
“Doing
fine but I’m going to make him stay in
Looking
at Lee, “How are the tests going on the engines,” the admiral asked taking a
sip of coffee.
“So
far there are only minimal adjustments to be made. I’m going to put them through some more tests
today on our way back to
“Okay,”
the admiral replied as he finished his breakfast. “I’ve got some report to finish up so I’ll
see you later.”
“Yes
sir,” Lee answered. “I’ll let you know
if we have any problems.”
“Sounds
good,” the admiral replied as he got up from the table and left the wardroom.
((()))
Lee ran some tests on the
engines and only had a couple more issues that needed to be resolved. He also
ran some more drills. “Great job, men,”
Lee said into the mic. “Those drills
were better than the last time.” Lee
stowed the mic as Janet wrote down the time and date. He was pleased with the way everything turned
out.
Seaview docked early Wednesday afternoon. After Kowalski was taken off the boat, Chip
dismissed the rest of the crew except for those who were on security and
maintenance since Lee and Chip would be meeting with them. Lee and Chip stayed on Seaview while
Janet went to the office. On one of his
walks around the sub, Lee found a few things he didn’t like and wanted
maintenance to take care of them. They
also wanted to make sure the torpedo rack was repaired. Lee had checked it out before they docked and
was very upset that the chain snapped.
He instructed Sharkey to get a heavier gauge chain. He and Chip met with the men in charge of the
engine overhaul to explain what Lee wanted done to the engines. They would spend the rest of the day on board
supervising the changes.
((()))
Janet went to the office to
check in and see what was awaiting them on their desks. Even though they weren’t gone very long, the
work seemed to pile up. The admiral was
already meeting with Angie finding out what he needed to take care of right
away and what could wait until tomorrow.
“Hi Wanda,” Janet said as she
got off the elevator.
“How’s Kowalski?” she asked
anxiously. The admiral had checked in as
usual with Angie and mentioned to her what had happened to him.
“He’s better but Jamie is
going to keep him overnight just as a precaution,” Janet replied as she stood
in front of Wanda’s desk.
“You’re also back a day
early,” she said as they normally never came back early.
“I know we’re early but Jamie
was anxious to get Ski to Med Bed and Lee was satisfied with the engine
overhaul so we didn’t need to stay out any longer.”
“Will Ski be able to go to
the Halloween party?”
“I don’t know. It depends on how he feels and if Jamie will
let him go. Have the costumes come in?”
“Yes, they came this
morning. Now that Seaview’s back,
Angie’s going to call the men to come and pick them up.”
Janet smiled. “What’s Maid Marian’s like?”
“The costumes are in the
extra office. Let’s go, I’ll show them
to you.” Wanda got up from her desk and
they went to the office where the costumes were hanging on a portable
rack. Janet looked at the costumes for
Anne Bonney and Mary Read and knew Wanda and Angie would look great in
them. Her costume was a long blue plain
dress with a white collar. She looked
over the rest of the costumes and noticed a picture accompanied all of them so
you could see what they looked like.
Lee’s Robin Hood costume had tight Lincoln green pants, a tunic, belt,
brown boots and a sword. Chip’s costume
also had the tight green pants and tunic.
“Lee and Chip are not going
to be happy putting on those pants,” Janet chuckled as Angie walked in the
office. “I hope the tunics are long
enough to cover certain private areas.”
“Well at least there wasn’t a
cod piece,” she snickered. “I think the admiral’s going to like his. He’ll make
a good looking pirate. Do you think you could convince Chip not to shave from
now until the party as Little John was pretty scruffy looking? I know it’s out of character for him but he
would look more like Little John.”
“I’ll see what I can do,”
Janet promised, “but I can’t guarantee anything. None of them are too thrilled with this
party.”
“The pirate costumes are
really neat. Some of them have britches,
shirts with belts and puffed sleeves, vests. tri-cornered hats, scarves and
cutlasses,” Wanda remarked.
Going to a black costume,
Wanda took it off the rack and held it up for Janet to see. “Here’s Jamie’s Zorro costume, he’s going to
make a great Zorro.” They looked at the
rest of the costumes and were impressed at how authentic they looked.
“I sure hope the men won’t
mind wearing the costumes of the people we picked for them,” Angie wondered
with a worried look on her face.
“The men will do whatever you
tell them,” Janet told Angie with a huge grin.
They all laughed and headed back to their desks.
As Janet walked by the extra
office after dropping off some correspondence for Chip she noticed the admiral
looking through the files in one of the cabinet drawers. “Admiral, is there
anything I can help you find?’ Janet asked.
“No thank you. I know where the file is. Which one is my costume?” he asked looking at
the rack.
Janet went over to the rack
and took off the pirate costume, “We thought you could be the pirate,
Barbarossa,” she told him.
“Not bad,” the admiral
replied looking at the costume. “I can
be a pirate.”
“Thank you sir,” Janet
answered relieved that the admiral didn’t mind being a pirate.
He looked at the other
costumes on the rack and spotted the Zorro one, “Who’s going to be Zorro?” he
asked.
“We thought Jamie would be
Zorro.”
Smiling, “Good choice,” and left the office
with his file.
She took the costume off the
rack and put it in her office. She’d take it over to him when she went to see
Kowalski.
((()))
Lee and Chip came up from the
sub pen thirty minutes later, both had some grease and oil on their
uniforms. Janet looked at the two of
them and smiled. “You had to help,
didn’t you?”
They smiled back, “Yes we
both helped,” Lee told her. “Is the
admiral still here?”
“Yes, he’s in his
office. Will you be ready to leave
soon? I want to stop in and check on Ski
and I’m really hungry.”
“Give us fifteen minutes,”
Lee answered patting her hand.
“Okay,” Janet replied as she
went back to her computer as they went to the admiral’s office.
They came out fifteen minutes
later. Both of them had loosened their
ties and undone their top buttons on their shirts. They looked tired.
“Where do you want to go for
dinner,” Lee asked Janet.
“How about pizza...its
fast...and the two of you don’t look like you’re going to last too much longer.”
“Works for me,” Chip
said. “Julie’s still out of town so I
hope you don’t mind if I come with.”
“Chip you know you’re always
welcome to join us,” Janet told him as she took her purse out of the drawer and
went to the office. She came out with
Lee’s and Chip’s costumes and handed them over without paying much
attention. She also had Jamie’s and
would drop that off with him when they visited Ski.
As they were leaving the office
Janet stopped and looked at Chip, “Chip, I do need a favor from you though,”
she asked sweetly. “Could you not shave
between now and Saturday as Little John was scruffy and we thought you would
look the part if you didn’t shave.”
Hesitating for a moment he
nodded his head yes. “Yes, I suppose I can do that.”
They made their way over to
“How is he?” Lee asked with
concern.
“He does have a mild
concussion but is feeling better. Betty
and John will keep an eye on him tonight and I’ll release him in the
morning. He has to rest so I hope you
haven’t scheduled him for any duties,” Jamie responded.
“No, he’s not on duty until
late next week. If he needs more time
off, just let me know and I can adjust the schedule,” Chip told him.
“That should be fine but I’m
only going to release him for light duty.”
“Okay Jamie,” Chip said as
the three of them walked into Ski’s room
((()))
“How are you feeling?” Janet
asked Kowalski as he sat in the chair next to the bed.
“Better but Doc won’t let me
out of here until tomorrow and I’m only going to be cleared for light duty,”
Ski said disgustedly. “I’m sorry
Skipper, Mr. Morton.”
“Ski, don’t worry about
it. You are lucky though, maybe you
won’t have to go to the party on Saturday,” Chip told him.
“Doc’s leaving it up to
me. I’ll see how I feel and I can ride
with Pat if I go,” he added yawning.
“We better leave you to get
some rest,” Lee stated and patted his shoulder as they left the room.
Janet had left Jamie’s
costume in the waiting area. She picked
it up and was walking down to Jamie’s office when he saw her from the nurse’s
station.
“Please tell me that’s my
costume,” Jamie asked excitedly seeing it was Zorro.
Janet looked at Jamie and
couldn’t believe he was actually excited about the costume.
“I’ve always wanted to be
Zorro,” he said as he picked up the sword and made ‘Z’ in the air.
Lee, Chip and Janet could barely contain their
grins at Jamie’s enthusiasm. “Well at least someone is going to have a good
time,” quipped Chip.
((()))
It was late Saturday
afternoon and time to get ready for the party.
Janet turned on the shower and hopped in. Lee joined her as soon as he
removed his clothes. He started to wash
her back but before he could finish, she grabbed his hand and they ended up in
bed enjoying each other before they decided they better finish getting
ready. As Janet was putting on her make
up, Lee took his costume out of the bag and looked at the pants and then at
Janet.
“I have to wear these?” he
asked seeing that they looked a little tight.
“Yes, Lee. That’s what Robin Hood wore. Don’t worry Chip has the same pants. The only difference is your tunic has white
on it while his is all green.”
Lee struggled to get into the
tight pants. Janet stood there watching
him trying hard not to laugh. He finally
got them on and she had to admit he looked pretty damn good in those
pants. When he put the tunic on she
breathed a sigh of relief that it covered his private area. He put on the belt and brown boots then looked
in the mirror and had to admit he looked just like Robin Hood. Janet put on her blue dress with the white
color and black boots. Lee looked her
over.
“You look beautiful Maid
Marian,” Lee told her taking her in his arms and giving her a kiss.
“You don’t look too bad
yourself,” she replied returning the kiss.
Lee put his wallet and phone
in his boots and grabbed the sword while Janet took a small purse and put her
wallet and phone. They went downstairs
just as Chip pulled in the driveway. Lee
opened the door before he could ring the bell.
“Do you believe these pants,”
Chip said grinning as he walked in the house.
“They sure are tight but I’m real glad that the tunic is long if you get
my drift.”
Both Lee and Janet started
laughing but agreed with him as Janet grabbed her coat before Lee locked the
house and they got in the car. Chip backed out of the driveway and headed for
the Abernathy mansion where the party was being held.
((()))
They arrived at the mansion
and Chip let the valet park the car.
There were quite a few people in buccaneers and bandits costumes but so
far they hadn’t seen too many Robin Hood’s or Little John’s.
They entered the large foyer
where Chip and Lee looked around while Janet removed her coat. Lee took her coat and hunted for the coat
room.
“Just wait here while hang up
your coat,” Lee told Janet and Chip.
“Okay and thanks Lee,” Janet
replied as they looked at the pictures of the Abernathy ancestors.
Lee was greeted by two people
dressed as Bonnie and
“Hi Skipper,” Kowalski said
as Lee walked towards him after he hung up Janet’s coat. “Nice costume. You really look like Robin Hood. I like the sword tucked in your belt. It’s a lot easier to carry around than my
cutlass.”
Both men broke out into huge
grins as they turned to face the strange looking bed. “How are you feeling Ski?” Lee asked noticing
he looked a little tired. “Where’s
Patterson...you didn’t drive here did you?” he continued.
“Better...I still have a
slight headache but I needed to get out of the house. Patterson drove me and
Sharkey here in my truck. I’m not sure
where they are,” he said. “I just came
in to hang up Angie’s and Wanda’s jackets.
Where’s Mr. Morton and Mrs. C.,” Ski asked.
“I left them out in the
foyer,” Lee replied as he saw Janet and Chip walking towards them.
“What’s taking you so long?”
Janet asked grabbing Lee’s hand. “Hi
Ski,” she said, “I love your costume.”
Chip looked at what Ski was wearing,
“Ah Kowalski, that costume looks like the one you wore when Blackbeard made you
his first mate on Seaview.”
“Yes, it sure does Mr.
Morton,” Ski agreed with a wry grin.
Janet looked at the three men
with a perplexed look on her face.
“Blackbeard on Seaview...isn’t he dead...why was he on Seaview?”
she asked.
Chip and Kowalski looked at
Lee and knew he had never told her about the mission with Blackbeard.
“I’ll tell you later,” Lee
promised.
“That bed is sure big and it
really doesn’t fit the decor in the room,” Janet remarked.
“Maybe the bed is where a
famous buccaneer or bandit slept on one of their adventures,” Lee guessed.
Chip, Janet and Kowalski
looked at Lee with skeptical looks on their faces. Just as they started to walk away, a skeleton
dressed in a pirate’s hat, jacket, and sporting an eye patch popped out of the
bed causing the four of them to jump.
“Good evening and welcome to
the party. I hope you have a good time,”
the skeleton said and retreated back into the bed.
Catching her breath Janet
asked, “How does that work?”
“I have no idea,” Lee
answered as he flexed his hand after Janet nearly broke it when the skeleton
came out of the bed.
Chip looked down on the floor
and saw a white X on black mat and noticed a wire running under the rug the bed
sat on. “X marks the spot,” Chip
quipped. “Janet stood on the X and it
triggered the ghost.”
“Very clever,” Lee remarked
as the four of them left the room. They
walked out of the coat room and down a short hall towards the ballroom.
The ballroom had floor to
ceiling doors on one wall and windows on the other. The doors were open so guests could go out on
the patio that had torches and heat lamps to ward off the chill of the
night. There was a beautiful view of the
sunset over the ocean. The tables had
light and dark brown tablecloths with fall flowers of red, yellow and gold. There was a bar in the corner with the
bartenders dressed as buccaneers. The
servers were dressed as wenches and bandits and walked around serving appetizers.
As Lee, Chip, Kowalski and
Janet surveyed the room the admiral and Jamie walked into the ballroom. They saw the four of them and walked over to
them. Janet saw them approaching and
noticed the admiral looked great as Barbarossa as the costume brought out his
reddish hair. Jamie looked very handsome
as Zorro. Just as the admiral and Jamie
got to the table Harriet walked over to him along with the blond and brunette
Janet had seen at the luncheon.
“Harry it’s so great to see
you,” she exclaimed kissing him on the cheek.
“I’m sorry you couldn’t make the luncheon but the ladies you sent were
very charming.” Janet noticed she was
also dressed as Maid Marian.
“Thank you, Harriet,” the
admiral replied returning her kiss.
“Have you met my nieces?”
Harriet asked as she introduced Suzy, the brunette and Gina, the blond, to the
people from the institute. They were
dressed as wenches and their costumes were cut so low it left nothing to the
imagination. Lee grabbed Janet’s hand
and gave it a squeeze as she tried to keep from laughing.
The admiral introduced,
Jamie, Chip, Lee and Janet to the two women who couldn’t stop staring at Lee
and Chip.
“Excuse me Harry, I need to
greet some other guests,” Harriet said and walked away leaving the five of them
with her two nieces.
“Your aunt does such a nice
job on these parties,” the admiral said to them not knowing what else to
say.
“Yes, she does work hard to
help the less fortunate in
“Excuse us,” Lee said trying
to avoid the stares of Suzy when he saw the rest of their group come into the
ballroom. They walked away from the two
women who were still ogling Lee and Chip.
Angie and Wanda walked into
the ballroom dressed in their pirate costumes.
The admiral, Lee, Chip and Jamie just stared at them as they were
dressed as men.
“Why do they look like men?”
Lee asked confused.
“Honey, they’re dressed as
Anne Bonney and Mary Read. Women pirates
dressed as men back then so the men wouldn’t know they were women,” Janet
explained to them as Angie and Wanda joined the group.
“You look fantastic,” Janet
told them. The admiral, Lee, Chip and
Jamie nodded their heads agreeing with Janet.
The rest of the group entered
the ballroom. Patterson and Riley looked
great as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid as did O’Brien and Chief Sharkey in
the pirate costumes with the Tri-cornered hats, breeches, and shirts with the
puffed sleeves that were worn when they were on land.
“Skipper did the skeleton jump
out at you?” Sharkey asked. “That was
pretty scary.”
“Yes, Chief it did,” Lee
answered trying to hide a smile
“Come on Sharkey,” Kowalski
teased, “you were afraid of a skeleton?”
“No not me,” Sharkey smirked.
“Ski, is everything okay?”
Patterson asked hesitantly noticing he was sweating in the cool room.
“Just fine, Pat,” Kowalski
replied rubbing the sweat off his brow as they joined the rest of the group at
their table.
((()))
Before long everyone was
asked to sit down so they could serve dinner.
Harriet came over to the admiral and linked her arm in his. He escorted her to her table and noticed that
his table was right next to hers.
“Now Harry you must save me a
couple of dances,” Harriet told him as he pulled out her chair and she sat
down.
“Yes of course,” the admiral
replied and made his way over to the table as the rest of the group sat
down.
Angie spoke up, “Admiral, I
think Harriet likes you.”
The admiral was a little
embarrassed but knew she was right. The
rest of the group could barely contain their smiles. Nelson was thrilled when the servers entered
just then with the first course of their meal as it drew the attention away
from him and further discussion on that topic.
After dinner was finished,
and before the band started to play, Harriet stood up and with the admiral’s
help walked up on the stage.
“I want to thank everyone for
coming to the Halloween party tonight.
Your generous donations will help stock the food bank that will feed the
senior citizens of
Chip took Angie out on the
dance floor and Jamie asked Wanda to dance with him. The rest of the men went
to the bar to get some drinks. Patterson
was still at the table along with Lee and Janet.
“How’s Kowalski doing?” Janet
asked as she thought he didn’t look quite right.
“He’s not sleeping well,
irritable and depressed because he can’t go to work and when he does only light
duty. Not like the Ski I know. I guess he’s still suffering from the
concussion. I told him he didn’t have to
come tonight but he said he was tired of being home.”
“If he doesn’t get any better
you should take him back to
“I’ll do that Skipper if he
isn’t any better by tomorrow.”
The rest of their group
returned to the table so topic of conversation shifted to something else. The band started playing a slow song so Lee
took Janet’s hand and led her out to the dance floor. As they were dancing, Lee chatted quietly as
they moved across the floor. Janet
looked at him with a smile and whispered in his ear, “Honey, could you please
just shut up and dance with me.”
He looked at her and smiled
back as he wrapped his arms around her waist and drew her close as they
danced. When the band finished the song,
they returned to their table. Chip,
O’Brien and Kowalski were there having decided to sit out the next few dances.
Ski sat there quietly rubbing
the side of his head as his headache was getting worse and the music was
starting to irritate him. As they sat there Tom Allerton came over to
the table
“Lee would you mind if I
danced with Janet?” Tom asked.
Before Lee could answer Janet
replied, “Sure, I would love to.” She shot her husband a quick wink and smile
and let Tom escort her out to the dance floor. Now he knows how I feel when
women hit on him, she thought as she danced with Tom.
Lee sat at the table glaring
at the two of them. Chip chuckled as he
watched Lee. “A little jealous are we?”
“Watch it Morton,” Lee said
with a grin. “Someday the tables could
be turned and we’ll see how you feel.”
Tom brought Janet back to the
table when the music stopped. “Thanks
for the dance,” Tom said as he left her with Lee. When the music started again, Lee made sure
Janet was in his arms. While they were
dancing, they noticed the admiral was dancing with Harriet again.
Snickering Janet said, “The
poor admiral just can’t shake Harriet.”
The admiral caught Lee’s eye
as he and Janet were dancing and rolled his eyes. Lee just grinned back.
“When does Julie come home?”
Janet asked Chip as they danced while Lee talked with the president of Royal
Electronics.
“Not soon enough,” he
answered, “she should be back on Tuesday.
I can’t believe how much I miss her.”
“I know the feeling,” Janet
sighed. “It’s hard when the one you love
is not around.”
“You know, you’re right. I never realized how just hard it must be for
you when Lee leaves,” Chip said quietly.
“I guess if you miss her that
much, you must love her,” Janet remarked.
“Yes, I do,” Chip admitted
letting a side of him show that very few people ever see.
They finished their dance and
walked back to the table. Before they
got to the table Chip felt someone tap his butt. He turned around and saw Harriet with a sly
grin on her face.
((()))
Before the next song started,
Janet told Lee, “I’ll be right back. I
need to use the ladies room.” She gave
him a quick kiss before she left the ballroom.
Kowalski sat at the table and
rubbed his forehead. He looked up and
saw a woman dressed as a wench standing by the door. He was tired of sitting at
the table so he got up and walked over to her.
“Would you like to dance?”
Kowalski asked politely taking her hand.
Shaking off his hand, “Thanks
for asking but I’m waiting for somebody,” she replied coolly looking out the
door.
“Sorry to bother you,” Kowalski
mumbled as he stepped away but didn’t get too far before he leaned heavily
against the wall when a crushing bolt of pain lanced through his head. He screwed his eyes shut and rubbed furiously
at his temples hoping the ache would subside.
When he opened his eyes, he felt dizzy as his vision blurred. He crammed his eyes shut once more waiting
for the vertigo to pass. Feeling in
better control, he reopened his eyes to see Blackbeard entering the room and
made a beeline towards him and the wench who had dismissed him.
It was obvious now why the
wench had been so cool to his invitation; she was the Cap’n’s woman. He smiled as the man approached and moved
forward to greet his leader.
“Blackbeard, are you ready to
for pillaging, plundering and brawling across the Seven Seas,” Kowalski asked
as he waved his cutlass.
“Hey buddy, I don’t know what
you’re on but get away from us,” the man said pushing Kowalski away.
Kowalski approached him
again, “But Cap’n, your first mate is ready to go.” The man was getting angry and ready to take a
swing at Ski.
Lee saw what was happening
between Kowalski and the man dressed as Blackbeard and walked over immediately
to defuse the situation. He gently took
his arm, “Come on Ski, let’s sit down,” Lee coaxed and led him back to the
table.
“Git ye hands off me,” Ski
sneered and waved his cutlass in Lee’s face.
“No one touches Blackbeard’s first mate and lives.”
“Blackbeard?” Lee said softly
his hand on his arm, “Are you okay?”
Waving his cutlass, “Nobody
stops Blackbeard’s first mate. I challenge
ye to a duel, ye scurvy rat,” Kowalski hissed and grabbed Lee’s sword off the
table and threw it at him. Lee caught it
by the hilt and stepped back wondering what the hell was going on.
Kowalski swung his cutlass at
Lee. He had to swing back to block the
blow and before long the two men were dueling much to the delight of the
crowd. Lee didn’t want to hurt Ski so he
let him back him into a corner but wasn’t expecting to trip over the raised
dance floor so he dropped his sword. Once Lee was on the floor, Kowalski placed
the point of the cutlass on Lee’s chest.
“Ye were lucky this
time. I’ll let ye live,” Kowalski
snapped as he stood over Lee.
When they were finished, the
crowd broke out in enthusiastic applause thinking that the duel was part of the
evening’s entertainment. Kowalski
proudly raised his sword overhead and bowed to the crowd.
Janet entered the ballroom to
see Lee and Kowalski dueling. She saw
Lee fall and ran over to help him up but before she got there Kowalski grabbed
her by the waist, threw her over his shoulder and ran out of the ballroom. The admiral, Chip and Jamie were outside on
the patio and heard the commotion and ran back in to find Lee on the ground and
Kowalski running out of the ballroom with Janet over his shoulder.
“Lee, what happened?” the
admiral asked urgently as Chip helped him up.
“Kowalski saw a man dressed
as Blackbeard and must have flashed back to our visitor on Seaview and
thinks he’s Blackbeard’s first mate.
When I tried to calm him down, he challenged me to a duel. I didn’t have much of a choice as he started
swinging at me,” Lee replied as Mrs. Abernathy walked over to them.
“Lee, thank you very much for
the great entertainment but I wish you would have told me about it,” Harriet
gushed excitedly.
“Harriet, this wasn’t planned,”
Harry replied seriously as he saw Lee running to the door and left Harriet
standing there while he chased after Lee.
Lee quickly made his way to
the entrance of the mansion with the rest of the group following close behind. He ran outside looking to see if he could see
Ski and Janet. All he saw were the tail
lights of Ski’s pickup truck as he drove down the driveway.
((()))
Kowalski ran to his pick up
truck, unlocked the door and threw Janet in the truck. He peeled down the driveway, past the guard
at the gate and drove away from the mansion.
He was rubbing his forehead
as he drove down the road, “Ski, stop you’re going to hurt someone,” Janet
pleaded as she held on the grab bar on the glove box. “Let me drive. I’ll take you wherever you want to go. Please stop.”
He just ignored her and
mumbled about Blackbeard...dueling... and a headache.
They had driven a few more
miles when Janet looked in the side mirror and saw a police car with it’s
lights on coming up quickly behind them.
“Kowalski, stop now,” Janet
said sharply but he continued to drive erratically.
With the police car on their
tail, Kowalski pressed down on the accelerator.
He took the winding curves at a high rate of speed causing Janet to hold
on tightly thankful they both were wearing their seat belts. “Ski, please stop,’ Janet desperately
implored.
He just kept driving,
speeding through the curves until they came upon a straight stretch of road
with a shallow ditch on the side. The
police car finally caught up to them and turned into Ski’s truck forcing it off
the road into the ditch. As the truck came to an abrupt stop, Kowalski bumped
his head on the steering wheel. Janet
sat there catching her breath, thankful she didn’t hit her head on
anything. She looked at Kowalski who
rubbed his hand over his head and face and noticed a huge bump forming on his
forehead. He glanced over at Janet
making sure she wasn’t hurt.
“I’m so sorry Mrs. C.,” he
apologized embarrassed at his actions. “I
don’t know what came over me,” he said realizing the bump on the steering wheel
triggered his mind back to normal but he still had a bad headache.
The police car stopped next
to the ditch blocking the truck so they couldn’t drive away. Two officers cautiously got out of the squad
car; one went to the driver’s side while the other went to Janet’s side of the
truck. The officers looked at the two of
them and they way they were dressed.
“Coming from a Halloween
party?” the officer asked Janet.
“Yes sir,” she replied,
“there was a charity fundraiser at the Abernathy mansion.”
The officer on Ski’s side of
the car looked at him, “Can I see your license and registration, please.”
Kowalski fumbled around as he
took his license out of his pocket. He
reached over and opened the glove box taking the registration out and handing
it to the officer who looked it over.
“You were driving very erratically and at a high rate of speed. Have you been drinking?”
“No sir,” Kowalski replied
irritably.
“Officer,” Janet said
quickly, “He’s not feeling well. He
suffered a concussion earlier this week and has not been drinking,” she stated
emphatically.
“Can I see your ID,” the
other officer asked Janet. She reached
for her purse but she realized she didn’t have it.
“I left it at the mansion. My name is Janet Crane. We work for the Nelson Institute.”
The officer looked at
Kowalski again, “Please get out of the car.”
Kowalski got out of the truck
and leaned against the side barely able to stand. Janet also got out of the truck and went to
Kowalski’s side.
“Officer, please let me take
him to the
“Ms. Crane, you don’t have a
license on you so you can‘t drive him anywhere.
Mr. Kowalski can barely stand so we’re going to call an ambulance so he
can be checked out at the hospital.”
“Please let me call my
husband. He’ll come and get us. Ski, let me use your phone.”
Kowalski reached in his
pocket and it wasn’t there. “I must have
dropped it when I ran out of the mansion.
Sorry Mrs. C.”
“Its okay,” Janet answered
patting his arm. I’ll call from the
hospital.”
After making sure the truck
was locked, the two officers walked Kowalski to the police car and had him sit
in the back seat while he called for an ambulance. Kowalski was still rubbing his forehead and
rested his head on the back of the seat when they got in the police car.
((()))
Lee stood outside watching as
the truck approached the entrance to the street and saw the tail lights getting
smaller. He turned to the rest of the
group, “We’ve got to find them,” Lee said worriedly knowing Janet didn’t have
her phone as he had seen her purse on the table and grabbed it before he left
the room. Lee noticed an object on the ground
and went over to it and picked it up. It
was a cell phone. He checked it out and
it was Ski’s. “Damn,” he mumbled under
his breath. He knew they were going to
have to search for them as Kowalski had too much of a head start to catch up
with them now.
“Angie, Wanda, you go to our
house and see if they’re there. Call me
on my cell if they are. If not you can
go home.”
“Yes Lee,” Angie replied,
“But we’re not going anywhere until we find them.”
Lee looked at the two women
and gave them a wry grin, “Meet back at
“Pat, Bobby go to
“No, Lee. I had no reason to keep anyone on duty,”
Jamie lamented. “Wasn’t Kowalski feeling
well?”
“Patterson told me earlier he
wasn’t himself...irritable...not sleeping...depressed. He was going to take him to
“I wish someone had told me
this,” Jamie replied concerned by what Lee had just told him. “He could be suffering from post concussion
syndrome. It can occur days or even
weeks after concussion. We have to find
him.”
“That’s a given Jamie, Bobby
head over there anyway,” Lee ordered.
“Yes Skipper and we’ll stay
there just in case they show up,” Bobby replied as he and Patterson ran to
Bobby’s car.
Lee looked at Sharkey and
Riley, “I want you two to go to Kowalski’s house. You never know they may be there.”
“Aye, aye Skipper,” Sharkey
said, “We’ll head back to the
“Thanks, men,” Lee answered
as he watched them run to their cars.
“Lee, I’ll check the
emergency room at the hospital just in case they’ve admitted anyone matching
their descriptions,” Jamie said.
Running his hand through his
hair, he responded, “Thanks Jamie. We need to alert the police and also check
if they’ve maybe been picked up. If
Ski’s driving, he’s probably not doing the best job. I just hope they don’t have an accident and
wind up injured. Chip, give security a
call at NIMR and make them aware of the situation. If they show up there, tell them to let Ski
through the gate.”
“No one as been admitted to
the emergency room,” Jamie reported as he caught up with them.
“Thanks Jamie,” Lee replied
even more worried than before. Chip was
busy on his phone alerting NIMR and Lee opened his phone but before he could
dial 911 to alert the local police of the situation his phone rang. He looked at the number and didn’t recognize
it but answered the phone anyway.
((()))
It didn’t take the ambulance
very long to arrive at the scene. After
a quick assessment, the paramedics loaded Kowalski into the ambulance. One of the paramedics helped Janet into the
front seat while the other one stayed in the back with Kowalski. When they arrived at the hospital, he was
taken to a room immediately. They made
Janet wait in the waiting room while they got Kowalski settled in a bed and
took down his information as the paramedics had already started an IV before
they left for the hospital.
While she waited for them to
let her in, she went over to the nurse’s station. “Excuse me, could I please use the phone to
call my husband. I don’t have my cell on
me,” she asked anxiously.
“No problem,” the attendant
at the desk said as she turned the phone to face Janet.
“Thank you,” Janet replied as
she dialed Lee’s cell number.
“Lee,” Janet said softly.
“Sweetheart, where are you…are
you alright…is Ski with you?” Lee rapidly fired the questions.
“Yes, we’re at the
hospital. We were in an accident so they
brought us here.”
“An accident...the hospital,”
Lee said loudly. “We just checked there.” Lee figured they arrived after Jamie’s call.
“Ski’s not feeling well,
please bring Jamie,” Janet pleaded.
“We’ll be there as soon as we
can,” Lee replied calmly as not to upset Janet but his heart was pounding.
“Okay but please hurry.”
Lee heard Janet hang up the
phone and disconnected his. “They’re at
the hospital. I don’t know all the
details. Jamie, come with me. Janet said
they were in a car accident and that Kowalski is sick.”
“Yes of course,” Jamie
responded as he ran to the car with Chip and Lee. Once in the car Jamie would call the hospital
to find out what the status was on Kowalski.
“Lee, I’ll follow you in my
car,” the admiral told him as he hopped into his car.
“Okay, sir,” Lee replied as
he got in Chip’s car. He sped down the
driveway of the mansion and headed to the hospital.
As they were driving, Lee’s
phone rang, it was Chief Sharkey calling, “Skipper, we checked Ski’s house and
they aren’t here. Do you want us to
wait?”
“No Chief, they’re at the
hospital. Please call the others and let
them know where they are,” Lee asked quickly.
“Aye, aye sir,” Sharkey
replied sharply. “We’ll be there
shortly.”
Lee hung up the phone and
smiled as he knew they would all show up to support Kowalski.
“Lee, have you considered
putting a chip in Janet’s arm like they do with dogs and cats. We could program your phone so you would be
able to track her down,” Chip teased knowing Lee wouldn’t be mad at him because
he knew Janet was safe.
“Chip, I know you’re teasing
me but that’s not a bad idea. She can
get herself into more situations,” Lee admitted.
“She’s almost as bad as you
are,” Chip answered with a smirk as they pulled into the parking lot of the
hospital. Jamie sat in the back seat
with a smirk on his face too.
((()))
The three men got out of the
car and ran into the emergency room where Jamie hustled over to the nurse’s
station leaving Chip standing there as Lee was already pacing the corridor.
“Dr. Jamieson,” the nurse
said, “What are you doing here?”
“They brought a patient of
mine in here a little while ago. Last
name Kowalski,” Jamie told the nurse.
“Yes, he’s in exam room one
with a Mrs. Crane.
((()))
Once they had Kowalski
settled the emergency doctor came out to talk to Janet. “Hi, I’m Dr. Jordan, Mr. Kowalski’s ER doctor. I understand you were in a car accident
earlier this evening.”
“Yes Doctor,” Janet
replied. “Can I see him...is he
okay...what’s wrong with him?” she asked urgently.
“Yes, you can see him as he’s
asking about you. Are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m fine, where is he?”
Dr.
“Ski,” Janet said softly not
wanting to disturb him.
Opening his eyes he asked, “Mrs. C., are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m fine, don’t worry
about me,” Janet told him as she sat down on the chair next to his bed. “Dr. Jamieson should be here shortly with the
Skipper. Just rest.”
“My head still hurts but they
won’t give me anything until Doc gets here and fills them in on what’s wrong
with me,” Ski reported to her.
Kowalski closed his eyes as
Janet waited for Jamie and Lee to come.
She hadn’t been sitting there too long when they rushed into the
room. Janet got up and gave Lee a hug
and kiss. “I’m sorry I didn’t have my
phone, I wasn’t expecting to leave.
Jamie, Ski’s had a headache ever since we left the party and he bumped
his head on the steering wheel. He was
mumbling about Blackbeard and duels before we went off the road.”
“Why don’t you and Lee wait
outside while I examine him,” Jamie said quietly. “I’ll let you know how he is shortly.”
“Okay, Jamie,” Lee replied as
he took Janet’s hand and they walked out of the room.
Once in the waiting room, Lee
led Janet over to an empty chair next to Chip.
Before she sat down he gave her another hug. “Are you sure you’re alright...you didn’t
bump you head...or hurt anything else?” Lee asked with concern.
“I’m fine. I had my seatbelt on and the ditch wasn’t
very deep,” Janet replied as she sat down next to Chip and Lee sat down next to
her.
“Ditch?” Chip
questioned. “How did you get into a
ditch?”
“Maybe I better start at the
beginning,” she replied looking at Lee then Chip.
“Sweetie, maybe you better,”
Lee answered as the admiral walked in and sat down next to Chip.
Taking a deep breath, Janet
explained, “I was just coming back into the ballroom and saw you and Ski dueling. I went to help you up when Ski grabbed me and
threw me over his shoulder. I had no
idea what was going on...he threw me in the truck and drove away. Lee, I was afraid he would get hurt or hurt
someone else. He was driving erratically
but he wouldn’t stop. He was mumbling about Blackbeard and dueling. We
drove a little further when I saw a police car behind us but instead of stopping
he sped up so they pushed us into a shallow ditch to stop us. They
wanted to know if he had been drinking as he could hardly stand. I told them he
had a concussion and I wanted to drive him to
“I’m glad you went with him,”
Lee remarked squeezing her hand.
“Sweetie, where’s Ski’s truck?” Janet
told them where the truck was. Lee would
send Patterson to fetch it later on.
As soon as Janet finished
telling the men what happened the rest of the group rushed into the emergency
room. They saw Lee with Janet, Chip and
the admiral and went over to them. Lee
explained to them what had taken place and that they were waiting for Jamie to
report to them on Ski’s condition. They
all sat down taking up the last few chairs in the waiting room.
((()))
When Jamie went into
Kowalski’s cubicle, Dr.
“Hi
‘Hi Jamie. I understand Mr. Kowalski is a patient of
yours,” Dr.
“Yes, I treated him earlier
this week for a concussion and gash on his head,” Jamie replied. “
“No not at all,” Dr.
“Please stay
“Kowalski, tell me what’s
wrong,” Jamie asked as he checked his chart for his vitals.
“Right now my head is killing
me. But I’ve had a headache for the last
couple of days. Doc, I just haven’t felt
myself. I’m
depressed...irritable...tired...what’s wrong...will I ever get better?” he
asked worriedly. “While I was at the
party I saw a guy dressed up as Blackbeard.
I thought I was back on Seaview and working with Blackbeard again.”
Dr.
“Let’s take another CT scan
just to make sure they’re no other problems after the accident,” Jamie told him
with Dr.
While the technicians took
Ski for his scan, Jamie and Warren conferred on what to do about Ski. They decided if there was nothing on the
scan, he would be released to Jamie and go to
“I better report what’s going
on to Ski’s friends before one of them, meaning Lee, storms in here wanting to
know what’s going on,” Jamie told Warren as they walked to the waiting room.
Lee quickly stood up and went
over to Jamie. “What’s going on...is he
staying...can I see him?” Lee asked urgently as the rest of them got up and
surrounded Jamie and Dr. Jordan.
“They’re taking him for a CT
scan right now. If nothing shows up, Dr.
Jordan, his ER doctor, will release him to me and he will go to
They all returned to their
chairs except Angie and Wanda who went to the cafeteria and brought back coffee
for all of them while they waited for Ski to return to his room. Jamie went
over to Janet and Lee before going to the nurse’s station with Dr.
“I’m fine,” Janet replied
testily. “I had my seatbelt on...I
didn’t hit my head or any other part of my body.”
“Just checking,” Jamie said
as he patted her hand.
“I’m sorry Jamie. I know you’re just concerned,” Janet
apologized. “I’m just worried about
Ski.”
((()))
Ski was gone for an hour
before he was returned to his room. Dr.
Jordan and Jamie walked into the room and Kowalski slowly sat up and looked at
them intently.
“There’s no bleeding in your
brain,” Jamie told him, “You have post concussion syndrome. Kowalski, it’s just
going to take time for your brain to heal.
You’ve had previous concussions so it’s going to take awhile. It could take a couple of weeks or longer. You’re going to need to rest so Dr. Jordan and
I have decided to let you recover in Med Bay where I’m going to keep you for a
couple of days. We’ll prescribe some medication for your headache and then get
you ready to leave.”
“But Doc...” Kowalski started
to say but Jamie cut him off.
“I’ll report my findings to
the Skipper and Mr. Morton and I know they’ll agree with me. You can go back on duty later next week
provided you feel up to it.”
“Yes sir,” Kowalski conceded
and laid back down on the bed. Dr.
((()))
Jamie went to talk the group
while Dr.
“Yes, he’s going to be
fine. He can leave here and go to
“That’s good to know,” Lee
said exhaling deeply. “Can we see him?”
“Why don’t you wait until
he’s in
((()))
Two hours later Ski was
settled in
Jamie went into the waiting
room and looked at the ten faces staring at him. “Okay you can see him but only three at a
time and only for a few minutes,” he stressed.
“Angie, Wanda and Bobby, you
go in first,” Lee told them as they quickly walked past him and into the room.
They only stayed a few
minutes and were followed in by Patterson, Sharkey and Riley. The admiral, Chip and Janet entered the room
but Lee stayed behind to talk to the rest of the group.
“You can all go home. It’s early in the morning and we’re all
tired. Pat, Riley, here are the keys to
Ski’s truck would you mind picking it up and driving to Ski’s house?”
“No problem Skipper,” they
replied as Lee told them where the truck was parked. They left patting each other on the back
knowing their friend was going to be alright.
The other three bid good bye
to Lee and headed out the door. Bobby
would follow Angie and Wanda home as they didn’t live to far from his house.
Lee watched them leave and
went into Ski’s room just as the admiral was saying goodnight. He patted his shoulder before leaving.
“Goodnight,” he said
yawning. “It’s been a long day.”
“Goodnight sir,” the trio
replied as the admiral left the room.
“Skipper, I’m sorry Mrs. C.
was in the car accident,” Kowalski apologized.
He looked over at Janet, “I’m so sorry I grabbed you and put your over
my shoulder. I didn’t know what I was
doing. I saw that man and I thought Blackbeard had come back.”
“Don’t worry about Ski. I’m glad she was there to help you,” Lee replied
knowing he was going to have to explain what Ski just told Janet.
“No problem, Ski. I’ve never been put on anyone’s shoulder
before. It was kind of fun,” Janet said
as she patted his hand letting him know she wasn’t angry with him. She was very curious as to what he meant by
Blackbeard had come back.
Jamie returned to the room as
Kowalski let out a yawn. “Everyone needs
to leave. He’s tired, I’m tired and I
see the rest of you are tired too. You
can check on him tomorrow.”
“Goodnight, Ski,” they said
and walked out of the room as Jamie would check him out one more time before he
left.
Chip, Lee and Janet walked to
the car. Janet didn’t even bother to
try and stifle her yawn. “What time is
it?” she asked.
Lee looked at his watch,
“0300 hours. Well past our bedtime,” he
chuckled as he opened the door for her.
Chip dropped them off at
their house and left for his. He too was
exhausted and planned on sleeping until
((()))
Lee turned out the light in
the living room as Janet waited on the stairs for Lee to come up. She was so tired she could hardly walk. They removed their costumes, washed up and
climbed into bed.
“Lee,” Janet said sleepily as
she laid next to him with her hand on his chest. “You never did tell me about your meeting
with Blackbeard.”
“Sweetheart, remind tomorrow
to tell you about it,” Lee replied yawning but his comment fell on deaf ears as
Janet was already asleep. Good she’s
asleep. I’ll have time to think up a story, Lee thought as he closed his
eyes and fell asleep.
The End.
Happy Halloween!!
Thank you Christy for your
invaluable help and suggestions.