Part VI

Chapter 49

Callahan was sitting in the front office of a new Beechcraft 1900c turboprop, listening to another salesman’s pitch – after Pattison advised that this might be the perfect choice to start a new fixed-wing airline service with.

“We’ve gone over your load factor analysis,” the salesman added as he would up his pitch, “and feel that, frankly, you might have underestimated demand once you guys are up and running. We’d recommend you consider starting off with two units the first month of operations, with one in service and the second as a back up. Still, our biggest concern is the mail service you guys have committed to.”

“Oh? Why’s that?”

“Well, it’s just a simple question of customer demand versus available payload. If a sack of mail weights a hundred pounds and you end up with two or three, well, you can handle that with the 1800c. But what happens if you get 15, or even 20 sacks? You’ll have to drop payload somewhere, but if you’re under contract to the Post Office you’ll be obligated to haul the mail. So you drop passengers, but as a result you piss off customers.”

“So, what you’re saying is we need bigger aircraft…”

“Well, yes, but wait before you jump on that bandwagon. You guys will be operating under SFAR 41C, so not the same standards as, say, United or American. Once you move up to bigger aircraft you’ll move up the FAR ladder to big-boy standards, and pretty soon you’ll look at capitalization requirements that’ll make your head spin. A logical aircraft would be the Avroliner, but to start off with even two or three you’d be looking at an initial outlay of at least a hundred million…and yeah, the Fed Regs will overwhelm you.”

“What about a lease arrangement?”

“Possible, but almost as costly – and if you need to get rid of a jet and the market’s soft, well, the penalties can really add up fast. For a new start-up, the 1900 is hard to beat, and we have a new model coming out next year with standing headroom. Could be a real game changer for you, too. And the thing is, if you decide you want to convert future deliveries from the -C model to the newer -D, well, no penalty so no big deal.”

“Well,” Callahan said, “I’ve been over the numbers with my CFO and I talked to Pattison last night. Both seem to think the 1900 is the way to go for now.”

“So, you’re thinking two to start off with?”

“No, more like six, and the -D model is definitely on our radar. We want to start off with the coastal route, a central valley route, and alternating flights to Santa Barbara in the fall and spring, and South Lake Tahoe and Mammoth Lakes in the winter.”

“Good plan. Keep everything in-state. I’ve got two spots on the line reserved for you so you’ll get those aircraft next month; the next four will take another six weeks after that. How are you set for pilots?”

“We’ve got some Navy C-2 drivers getting their tickets in order.”

“That’s right…I heard you guys are hiring ex-military only. Good for you, man. I mean it, way to go!”

“Too many vets lost in the stateside shuffle. Those C-2 drivers can rarely get on with a major until they build a bunch of hours, so that’s our plan. Get ‘em up and running, then help them get a type rating on the 732 at Southwest. That’s the plan, anyway.”

“You’ll help them get a type rating…so they can move on? Why?”

“We can hire more pilots that way; getting new hire pilots into higher paying jobs at the majors is a core part of our mission statement.”

“Holy shit, Callahan, that’s just un-fucking-believable. Well, you need anything you let us know. Uh, I hear you’re flying line, too. How do you find the time?”

Harry shrugged. “Being single helps.”

The salesman laughed at that, but only because he wasn’t looking at Callahan. “You heading to Redding later today?” the salesman asked.

“Yeah. Big fires up in the alps.”

“I’d be happy to fly you up?”

“Thanks, but I’ve got to shuttle one of our Hueys up there. Maybe next time, though,” Callahan said, holding out his right hand.

He walked back to his office in the Cathouse and found Frank sitting in is office.

“Hey, what’s up with you?” he asked Bullitt. “Haven’t seen you around here in a while?”

“Oh, you know, got a couple of cases at the department, that kinda thing.”

“Hear anything from Cathy lately?”

“No, not a peep. What about Fujiko? Heard anything?”

Callahan shook his head. “No, not since she moved into her apartment.”

“She’s still planning on going back to school?”

“As far as I know,” Harry added. “So, what brings you ‘round today?”

“Oh, I need to go up north, up to Redding first, then over to Eureka.”

“The new terminal?”

“Yup. The new radios.”

“So, how do you like living in Potrero Hills?” Harry asked.

“Close to work, that’s for sure.”

“Yeah, I know. Just give her time, Frank. She’ll come around. That was a heavy load, ya know?”

“I don’t know, Harry. I think she became genuinely afraid of us after all that crap came out.”

“It wasn’t us, Frank.”

“Oh yeah? Well, you try telling that to her…”

“I did, remember. And you do recall how well that turned out…?”

Bullitt looked away, remembering Fujiko’s violent reaction. “Yeah, Harry. I do. I sure the fuck do.”

“So, I’ve got to go up and relieve a crew in Redding. Wanna hitch a ride with me?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Got your bag packed?” 

“Yup, everything’s in the Mustang.”

“Well, go get it and let’s roll.”

____________________________________

There were two large fires running in the Trinity Alps region in Northern California when Callahan arrived in Redding; the Coffee Creek fire was largely contained, while the Holland Lake fire was just ramping up – so not even one fire line was fully manned and active yet. He checked in at CATs temporary line shack at Redding, got his fuel load-out and manifest from their new dispatcher and made sure Bullitt had a place to stay, then supervised fueling before talking to the pilots heading back to the Cathouse from the fires.

“It’s hot up there, Skipper,” Mickey Rooney said as he walked up. “Be careful, willya?”

“How bad is it?” Callahan answered.

“Ninety-plus degrees at 9000 M-S-L, so watch your density altitude calculations.”

Callahan shook his head. “Yikes. Where’s the fuel depot located?”

“South ramp, Trinity Center airport. You’ll pick up your firefighters there, too. There’s a PBY dipping from the lake, so keep an eye out for him on final.”

“Got it,” Callahan replied. “You headed to the barn now?”

“Yeah, I’m two hours past legal right now, and I’m working Palo Alto this weekend.”

“We’re going to need to pick up a couple of new pilots if this keeps up.”

“Yeah? Well, I got a couple in mind if you do.”

“Let DD know when you get in.”

“Will do. Say, I hear she’s got a new boyfriend. That true?”

Callahan shrugged. “If she does it’s news to me. Who’s riding shotgun with me today?”

“One of the new guys. Richard Chapman, the guy we picked up from Fort Benning.”

“The kid with the leg?”

“Yeah.”

“How’s he holding up?”

“Better than expected. Good attitude, too. Guys on the line love him, he lays it out there to get ‘em out.”

“That him?” Callahan asked, pointing to a pilot walking out of the line shack.

“Yup.” Rooney picked up his duffel. “Any word on the Beechcraft deal?”

“Yeah, we’ll start with six, two will get here in a month.”

“You mind if I start working on my fixed wing ticket?”

Callahan seemed surprised. “You? What’s the deal?”

“Change of scenery, I guess.”

“Well, go for it, Mickey. Put in the paperwork with DD, let me know the upfront costs.”

“Thanks, Harry. Appreciate it, man.” 

Callahan turned to Chapman, now listening to the last part of his conversation with Rooney. “Richard?” Callahan asked, extending his right hand.

“Yessir,” Chapman replied. “Nice to finally meet you, Skipper.”

“Thanks. Feel like handling the right seat today?” Callahan asked, handing over the dispatch papers.

“Really? Hell yes, sir!”

“Yeah, I hear you’re doing real good, so log this one as PIC.”

“Thank you, sir!”

“Mickey? Seeya in the city on Friday, and let’s talk, cue me in on what you dig up about flight school.”

“Right. Seeya, Skip.”

Callahan turned to the new guy. “I’m gonna follow your walk-around, so try to impress me.”

Airborne ten minutes later, the smoke plume from the Holland Lake fire was visible for most of the flight into Trinity Center; once back on the ground at the little airport there, Chapman supervised topping off the tanks while Callahan got the fire-fighters situated in back. Minutes later they climbed to the west and headed towards the thickening plume – and the first cries for help came in over the radio net. They dropped off the relief crew and turned towards the fire-line, the air already full of sparking embers and ash falling like snow. Callahan called into the fire commander to update their position:

“Cat-3 to line-able. Clear drop at Sawyer’s Creek Campground.”

“Able to Cat-3, can you divert to the south fork of the Salmon about 500 yards down from timberline. Got a crew trapped there, they’ve cleared a pad for you and they got green smoke going. Call sign Baker 21.”

“Cat-3 heading for the green, Baker 21.”

“So, you were in ‘Nam?” Chapman asked.

“Yeah, I seem to remember a place called Vietnam. I did one tour in Germany before that.”

“Oh, where were you in Germany?”

“An FOB near Bamburg.”

“Yeah? I did time there too. Weird duty.”

“Yeah…okay, I see their smoke,” Callahan said, getting on the radio. “Cat-3 to Baker 21, you guys ready to bug out?”

“Cat-3, expedite expedite expedite!”

Chapman dropped the nose and added throttle, Callahan automatically began calling out torque and pressures. 

“Okay, I got the clearing,” Chapman said, then: “Shit…they’re surrounded!”

“Baker 21, get ready!”

“Ready!” they heard over swelling cries for help.

“I’m going back to secure the doors,” Callahan said.

“Hook up your line.”

The air was roiling this close to the main fire line, and Chapman was having trouble holding his line; the Huey bounced and yawed but Callahan managed to get both doors locked into the open position and back to his seat in less than a minute.

Ten men were huddled in the small clearing, the surrounding flames were now less than 10 yards from them as Chapman began his hover. Callahan couldn’t see anything but flames everywhere he looked, and smoke was pouring into the open cabin, then the Huey began rolling from side to side as men jumped onto the skids. He looked at Chapman then: the kid was struggling but holding it together so he turned and counted bodies as the team slid and clambered onto the floor.

“Okay,” Callahan shouted, “that’s ten – let’s beat feet!” 

Chapman eased the collective up and added more throttle, and when they were clear of the flames he nosed over and turned north, then east.

“Line able, Cat-3,” Callahan called in, “where are the nearest paramedics?”

“Cat-3, Coffee Creek is back online.”

“Cat-3, got it!” Callahan replied. “You need a heading?” he said to Chapman.

“No,” Chapman said. “Got it.”

Less than ten minutes later Cat-3 flared over the little pasture behind the volunteer fire department building and seconds later paramedics took the wounded on stretchers to waiting ambulances… just as new cries for help started pouring in over the radio net…

__________________________________

Frank was inside the new CAThouse in Redding, working with techs from Motorola and ICOM to get the new communications console ready to go, when he heard the radio net at the Holland Lake fire come alive.

“Is that the Fire-Net?” Bullitt asked.

“Should be,” one of the techs replied.

“Cat-3 to Line-Baker, we have two code-60s onboard and are almost outta gas, we are RTB, repeat, we are RTB.”

“That’s Harry…” Bullitt said, more to himself…

“Baker received, you better call in reinforcements. Looks like a bad night headed our way. Forecast is 45 knots out of the east, gusts to 60, repeat 6-0.”

“We got an active phone here yet?” Frank asked the techs.

“Yeah, the red one on your desk should be active now.”

Bullitt went to his desk in the little dispatch office and called the Cathouse at the Presidio. “This is Frank,” he said to the receptionist there. “Are any pilots still there?”

“Rooney and Pattison are still in the hanger, I think,” the girl said.

“Call ‘em and tell ‘em Callahan has run into a shit-storm, get ready to round up some air-crews.”

“Will do. Hang on, I’ll get them.” 

Bullitt waited, knowing Harry would call as soon as they got back to Trinity Center, and that Callahan would update him on the status of the fire mission.

“Pattison here. What’s going on, Frank?”

“This new Holland Creek fire is growing fast; Harry’s inbound with two dead onboard and it looks like a call for reinforcements is going out. I wanted to give you a heads-up in case you need to start rounding up folks.”

“Got it. I’ll get one bird up from base right now, and I think I can get one from Yosemite that way too. So yeah, tell Harry we got two inbound, willya? That’s all we can do tonight.”

“Okay, got it. Thanks, Pat!”

“Roger, I’m headed your way now.”

Bullitt hung up and seconds later the line buzzed: “Harry? That you?”

“Yeah, how’d you know?”

“We’ve got some radios active here now, and the phone from the temporary line shack is active in the main building now.”

“So you heard?”

“Yeah. Pattison is on his way up now. Another crew from Yosemite will start your way as soon as they’re notified.”

“Damn, Frank…this is outstanding! Way to go – your system works! Alert the line shack and get the fuel truck ready for them. I want them both up here as soon as they can.”

“Is it a bad one?”

“Worst I’ve ever seen, Frank. We’ve had five -60s today, and I think that’s a record. Really rough terrain and the wind is outrageous, fire is at twenty thousand acres and building fast. I think they’re calling the Governor for a disaster declaration.”

“Five dead already? All firefighters?”

“Yup. There are a couple of little towns in danger of being overrun, too, but no word on casualties yet.”

“How’s the new kid? Chapman, is it?”

“Great instincts on the stick. We might want to keep this kid around a while.”

“Good news there at least.”

“So, Frank, does it look like we’ll have that terminal up and running within the month?”

“Yeah, looks that way. Lots of progress since my last trip up here.”

“Okay, call DD, let’s think about hiring staff for the ticket counter and ramp duty.”

“On it. And – Harry?”

“Yeah?”

“Be careful, willya? I got a bad feeling about this one?”

“Yeah, me too. Never even heard of a fire this big before. It’s just so hot for this time of year, ya know?”

“Yeah, okay – just be careful. Later…”

“Later…”

Callahan hung up the phone and walked over to the Red Cross food tent; he picked up a sandwich and some bug juice and saw Chapman talking to a nurse and grinned. ‘Some things never change,’ he sighed.

“How do you like the sandwich?” he heard a voice say, so he turned to find it.

His eyes found a woman about his age smiling at him. “You know, this is actually really good…I just wish I wasn’t so hungry. I’m not sure I bothered to taste it!”

“Could I get you another?”

“If you wouldn’t mind, that’d be great.”

She came back a moment later carrying another sandwich on a paper plate with some potato chips. “Here you go. This one just came out of the oven, so it might be better…”

Callahan took a bite and smiled. “This tastes just like New Orleans,” he said between bites.

“Yes, it’s our muffuletta. Homemade sourdough, and the olive tamponade is ours, too. Are you one of the pilots?”

Callahan’s mouth was full so he nodded.

“My husband was a pilot in Vietnam,” she said, and Callahan could see from the expression on her face that this story didn’t have a happy ending.

“He didn’t make it back?” he asked, and she shook her head. “Sorry to hear that,” he added.

“What’s your name, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Harry Callahan. And yours?”

“Jeanie Post. Say, you related to this Callahan Air Service thing?”

“Yes Ma’am.”

“So, everyone flies, is that it?”

Callahan nodded. “No favorites. Everyone shares the load.”

“Yes, that’s the word around you guys. Hiring ex-military, helping lift up more than a couple of broken souls, that kinda thing.”

“That was the plan from the beginning. You live around here?”

“Yes, I came back up after the war. My family was from here, but my dad spent most of his career in the Navy so we moved around a lot. Still, this was home, so…”

“Did you remarry?”

“No. We had a little boy just before he deployed, and he’s kept me busy ever since.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, that’s him helping out behind the counter over there,” she said, pointing.

“He doesn’t look that little to me,” Harry said, grinning.

“That’s my Tim; he’ll graduate from high school this year.”

Chapman walked up then. “Skipper, we’re gassed up and we have a new crew to drop. I hate to ask, but could you take the right seat for a while?”

“I was going to ask,” Harry said. “You’ve done enough heavy lifting for one day, and we have two birds inbound. Why don’t you go find a tent and crash for a while.”

Chapman shook his head. “I’m not that tired, Skip. Come on, let’s go.”

Callahan turned to this new Jeanie and held out his hand. “Hope our paths cross again,” he said.

“Yes. That would be nice.”

They walked out to the 412 and Chapman got the new fire-team seated while Callahan completed his walk-around, yet as they lifted off a few minutes later he looked down and saw her standing just outside of the food tent, waving at him before they disappeared into the fire, and into the fight. He waved back, not sure she could even see him…but it felt like the right thing to do.

Working the stick hard in the strong wing Callahan looked at the line of peaks dead ahead – and the fire now just beyond these jagged spires – and he thought that in this fading late evening light, the sky already bathed in bloody reds and purples, it looked like they were flying into the Gates of Hell.

© 2020 adrian leverkühn | abw | and as always, thanks for stopping by for a look around the memory warehouse…[but wait…how about a last word or two on sources: I typically don’t post all a story’s acknowledgments until I’ve finished, if only because I’m not sure how many I’ll need until work is finalized. Yet with current circumstances (i.e., Covid-19) waiting to list said sources might not be the best way to proceed, and this listing will grow over time – until the story is complete. To begin, the ‘primary source’ material in this case – so far, at least – derives from two seminal Hollywood ‘cop’ films: Dirty Harry and Bullitt. The first Harry film was penned by Harry Julian Fink, R.M. Fink, Dean Riesner, John Milius, Terrence Malick, and Jo Heims. Bullitt came primarily from the author of the screenplay for The Thomas Crown Affair, Alan R Trustman, with help from Harry Kleiner, as well Robert L Fish, whose short story Mute Witness formed the basis of Trustman’s brilliant screenplay. Steve McQueen’s grin was never trade-marked, though perhaps it should have been. John Milius (Red Dawn) penned Magnum Force, and the ‘Briggs’/vigilante storyline derives from characters and plot elements originally found in that rich screenplay, as does the Captain McKay character. The Jennifer Spencer/Threlkis crime family storyline was first introduced in Sudden Impact, screenplay by Joseph Stinson, original story by Earl Smith and Charles Pierce. The Samantha Walker television reporter is found in The Dead Pool, screenplay by Steve Sharon, story by Steve Sharon, Durk Pearson, and Sandy Shaw.  I have to credit the Jim Parish, M.D., character first seen in the Vietnam segments to John A. Parrish, M.D., author of the most fascinating account of an American physician’s tour of duty in Vietnam – and as found in his autobiographical 12, 20, and 5: A Doctor’s Year in Vietnam, a book worth noting as one of the most stirring accounts of modern warfare I’ve ever read (think Richard Hooker’s M*A*S*H, only featuring a blazing sense of irony conjoined within a searing non-fiction narrative). Denton Cooley, M.D. founded the Texas Heart Institute, as mentioned. Of course, James Clavell’s Shōgun forms a principle backdrop in later chapters. The teahouse and hotel of spires in Ch. 42 is a product of the imagination; so-sorry. The UH-1Y image used from Pt VI on taken by Jodson Graves. Many of the other figures in this story derive from characters developed within the works cited above, but keep in mind that, as always, the rest of this story is in all other respects a work of fiction woven into a pre-existing cinematic-historical fabric. Using the established characters referenced above, as well as the few new characters I’ve managed to come up with here and there, I hoped to create something new – perhaps a running commentary on the times we’ve shared with these fictional characters? And the standard disclaimer also here applies: the central characters in this tale should not be mistaken for persons living or dead. This was, in other words, just a little walk down a road more or less imagined, and nothing more than that should be inferred. I’d be remiss not to mention Clint Eastwood’s Harry Callahan, and Steve McQueen’s Frank Bullitt. Talk about the roles of a lifetime…and what a gift.]

Chapter 10

The first blast slammed Time Bandit so badly that Dina lost her footing and fell to the galley floor; she pulled herself up and the first thing that registered was the smell – ‘what is that…kerosene?’ She had dropped a mixing bowl full of dry ingredients to make bread and now the entire galley looked like a winter landscape…but her medical training kicked in. ‘Assess yourself,’ she reminded herself as she felt her joints, then her head. Her left hand came down covered in blood.

She dashed into the forward head and found a minor laceration on top of her head, so she sprayed some hydrogen peroxide on the cut and tried not to scream when the burn hit. She daubed some Neosporin on a gauze pad and smeared the ointment into the wound – when the realization hit her…

‘Where is Henry…?’

…then…

‘…and Rolf?…Where is he?’

She made her way to the companionway steps and saw Rolf bent over Henry’s unconscious body before she started up the stairs…

…when another colossal roar hit…

…followed by another blast…

This time she just managed to hang onto a rail, then she pulled herself up the steps into the cockpit…

…just as the roaring began again…followed by three or four more blasts…

Yet these didn’t seem as intense, like they were further away.

Then a four engined turboprop flew by, but this aircraft was flying low, very low, like maybe twenty feet above the surface, and it wasn’t close at all.

Then the roar again, only this time off to the left – and she turned in time to see two small jets – were they fighters? – ripping through the sky as they headed south.

“Henry!” she heard Rolf say, “can you hear me?”

She made it to Henry’s side, saw blood coming out of Rolf’s right ear, then…out of Henry’s right ear, too. Clyde was on his side too, inert – but breathing.

‘Sonic booms,’ she told herself, but the aircraft had to be very, very close overhead to do this kind of damage. She looked up the mast and saw that the mainsail was scorched near the masthead, and the instruments clustered up there were simply – gone.

She turned her attention to Henry just in time to see his eyes fluttering, then opening a little. 

“Help me get him up,” she said – before she realized that Rolf couldn’t hear. She tapped him on the shoulder and got his attention: “Can you hear me?”

He shrugged. “I can’t hear! What happened?”

She started pulling Henry up to a sitting position and Rolf pitched-in.

“Henry?” she said, “Henry, can you hear me?”

“A little…it sounds like you’re miles away…what happened?”

“Aircraft,” she said loudly, “sonic booms…knocked us down…you hit your head.”

Taggart pushed himself up onto the seat behind the wheel and began taking a mental inventory of things he had to do quickly, then he manually scanned through several VHF frequencies looking for an explanation…Then, on channel 16 they heard: “All civilian vessels head to the nearest port, repeat, all civilian vessels head for the nearest port immediately…”

“What the fuck?” Taggart said as he moved over to look at the chart plotter. “Warning, loss of signal…” was prominently displayed in the middle of the screen so he instinctively looked up at the masthead. “Okay,” he sighed as he took in the damage, “off we go into the menu system, now where was that page…there it is: go to secondary GPS antenna…”

The display fluttered for a second or two, then came alive…the signal appeared good and he could navigate with confidence until he updated his paper plot down below at the chart table.

“Rolf?” he asked, but the boy pointed at his ears and Taggart nodded. “Dina, go down and check the bilge for any running water.”

“Alright, I’m on it.”

Taggart patted the seat next to him when Clyde lifted his head and looked around, but the old boy wasn’t having anymore of this bullshit – and with his tail planted firmly between his legs he ambled down the companionway steps and disappeared into the aft cabin. Dina came up and flashed him a ‘thumbs up’ and he nodded as he picked up the radio’s mic.

“Pan-pan-pan, this is Sailing Vessel Time Bandit, position North 58 53 22 East 18 37 22. We have been overflown by supersonic aircraft at extremely low altitude, two injuries onboard as a result. Pan-pan-pan-any station-out.”

“Time Bandit, make for safe harbor at Lervassa, be advised medical personnel will meet you that location. Stay off the air and do not proceed any further south from your current location. This is HMS Helsingborg, please acknowledge.”

“Helsingborg, Time Bandit is en-route Lervassa, received advisory to proceed no further south. Over.”

“Helsingborg receives, out.”

Taggart tried to shake the cobwebs out of his mind, tried to think what could be going on…

Then he saw Dina had the binocular out, and that she was looking intently at something to their south…

“What do you see?”

She turned and handed him the binoculars, her expression grim. “Look around 170 magnetic,” she advised.

He adjusted focus, then looked at the compass readout and swung it to 170 degrees, and what he saw left him breathless…

“Are those depth charges?” he whispered.

“Look up a little, in the sky.”

There was some kind of dogfight going on thousands of feet above the sea, only with missiles being fired instead of machine guns, and as he watched he saw one aircraft simply explode and cartwheel into the sea.

“What the Hell,” he whispered, “is going on down there?”

“There have been many reports of Russian submarines trying to penetrate this area, many in 2014…” Dina said.

“Yeah, I remember something about that.”

“Well, Sweden has been making more noise about joining NATO ever since, and the Russians have said they would retaliate…”

“But Russian fighters overhead? I thought I read those Russian sub reports were bogus?”

“Well, those on the left thought they were. It seems they might have been wrong.”

“See if you can pull up the BBC World Service down below…”

“You’ll have to show me how.”

“Never mind. You better get Rolf below and look him over, and see if Clyde will stay with him.”

“Okay.”

Taggart stood and grabbed Rolf by the arms and pulled him into a hug, then he tussled the boy’s hair before Dina led him below. He turned his attention to the chart plotter and began laying out a course through the maze of rocky islets, then turned on the autopilot. With that done he went to the chart table below and pulled up the plot on the duplicate display, then he flipped on his SSB radio and hit preset 2 – and the voice of the BBC came in loud and clear.

“The Russian advance into Ukraine appears to be just a first move, Brett. We now have reports that Russian troops have been massing on the arctic borders of Norway and Sweden. Estonian troops have reported at least one Russian incursion…”

Taggart turned off the radio and shook his head as he made his way back to the cockpit; once back behind the wheel he picked up the binoculars and scoped out the scene. One surface ship was on fire, two other ships were dropping depth charges, and he guessed the action was taking place less than ten miles away…

Dina came up, still looking upset. “The cellular phones are down; no signal.”

“I managed to get the BBC…”

“Yes, I heard. Someone has apparently called the Russian’s bluff – and now they have responded.”

“You seem unusually well-informed.”

“My ex-husband works in the Ministry of Defense.”

“Oh?”

“This kind of thing. This kept him up all night. I thought it was just paranoia.”

Taggart sighed. “It is – until it isn’t. Then everyone goes around pointing fingers…”

“I hate politicians,” she said.

“How’s Rolf?”

“I suspect both his ear drums are perforated. You? Just the right ear. Rolf must have turned and been facing the sonic wave as it hit.”

“Can it be fixed?”

She nodded. “With ease, assuming we can get you both to a competent medical facility.”

“Okay, so we go to this port, Lervassa, then we…”

“I looked at the chart,” she said, “there are no facilities there. This is okay, but I suppose they just want us out of the way for now.”

“Yeah, well, I want out of the way too.”

“We could go back to Stockholm, get across to the new boat by car…?”

“We’d lose a lot of gear from this boar if we do,” he advised.

“Okay, we go to this Lervassa and if medical people meet us then we see what they can offer. If nothing effective we continue south, but we stay very close to coastline. There are bigger cities, better hospitals further south.”

“Okay. We should be there in less than five hours…depending on what speed we can make through all these rocks.”

“I need to go below. Very big mess in the galley.”

“Are you okay? I see you have a scrape on your head.”

“It is alright, but we have no fresh bread tonight.”

Bathed in a sudden blinding flash, they both flinched then turned towards the sound of several large explosions – they saw the sea erupt behind one of the Swedish destroyers, then two missiles streaking along just over the sea…headed for the two Swedish ships. One missile missed and continued towards the coast, the second exploded in the air just above the destroyer closest to the Bandit; when it emerged from behind a curtain of swirling black smoke half the ship seemed to be on fire.

“Turn off the radar when you go below, would you?”

“Yes, but why?”

“Some missiles seek out radar signals.”

Her eyes went wide as she disappeared below; he confirmed the radar on his console was set to off then relaxed. He scanned the way ahead – first on the plotter then through his binoculars – until he noticed his hands were beginning to shake. He looked at his watch and dashed below, grabbed his meds and a Coke and slammed them down, then got back to the wheel just in time to watch the autopilot signal ‘Approaching Waypoint’ – before it settled in on the new course.

Three hours later he turned into the inlet where the chart indicated Lervassa should be, and moments later the situation came into sharp relief. A field hospital had been set up and helicopters were bringing in sailors plucked from the sea; he approached the long finger pier in the middle of the inlet and several sailors grabbed their dock lines and helped get Rolf up to the nearest medical tent; Dina left with him as a naval officer approached Bandit…

“Excuse me,” the man said to Taggart. “You are the captain of this boat?”

“Yes,” Taggart replied.

“Could you come with me, please?”

“Uh, look, I don’t want to leave the boat alone…”

“These men will guard your property. Now, please, this is most important…”

Taggart followed the officer to some sort of hastily set up operations center, and all conversation stopped when Taggart walked in. One of the men, an older sort with the insignia of the United States Navy on his jacket, walked over to him:

“You Taggart?”

“Yes indeed. And you are?”

“Not here.”

“Okay, Mr. Not Here, what can I do today to make you angry?”

“Just tell us what you saw out there.”

“At least one aircraft downed by a missile, and a ship hit by another missile.”

“The missile that hit the ship? Could you see it?”

“Of course…”

“What I’m looking for here, specifically, was the missile subsonic?”

“Definitely. I looked like some sort of cruise missile.”

“What did the impact look like?”

“In the terminal phase, the missile went from sea-skimming to about a hundred feet above the ship, then it detonated.”

“Terminal phase…sea skimming…you seem to know a little about these things.”

“I write code, sir.”

“Oh, I see. You’re not in the reserves or anything like that, are you?”

“No sir. Actually, I’m ill…”

“Yes, yes, I know all about that stuff. What are your plans now…?”

“I want to get around to the coast just north of Gothenburg, pick up some property there, then we’re…”

“Yeah, I read about that in my briefing paper on you.”

“On me?”

“Just routine, once we knew you were a U.S. registered vessel we pulled up your information.”

“Ah, yes. Total Information Awareness, wasn’t that the name of the program? Know everything about everyone? Wherever they may be?”

“Yup, that’s the one. Your tax dollars at work, Mr. Taggart.”

“Well, I seem to have a blown-out ear drum. If you don’t need me anymore, my I leave now?”

“In a minute. What are your plans now…?”

“Head south as soon as possible. I have a medical check-up scheduled in Copenhagen next week.”

The man shook his head. “I wouldn’t go there right now. As a matter of fact, I’d keep away from the Baltic generally now…”

“What about the Kiel Canal?”

The man shrugged. “You know, if Ivan decides he wants to roll into Poland or Finland, this thing is gonna turn real ugly, real fast. I’d suggest, strongly, that you head back to the states. Failing that, get as far west as you can, maybe think about the Caribbean, someplace like that.”

“What are you suggesting?”

“That if the Russians won’t stop this bullshit and come to the negotiating table, things might get seriously fucked up. We’re already flying re-supply missions into Germany and the UK, the Germans are invoking Article 25 and mobilizing their reserves…well, you get the picture, right? All things being possible at this point, Europe may not be the best place to hang up your spurs, Mr. Taggart.”

“I see.”

“Well, my aide will see to it that your ears are taken care of. After that, if you decide to head south just keep as close as you can to the beach, and report anything that looks, well, funky.”

“Funky?”

“Like it doesn’t belong there?”

“Ah, that kind of funky. Got it.”

Two hours later he walked out the pier to Time Bandit, and he found Dina setting up plates on the cockpit table, Rolf sitting there with his ears packed in gauze.

“How’s the spud?” he asked as he came up the stern steps.

“His ears will heal in a week or so, but I am not so sure about his mind.”

Taggart nodded. “It’s a lot to take in.”

“What about you?”

“Same. Doc said to give it a few days, no rupture.”

“And…what about you?” she repeated, trying to get him to open up.

“Me? I’m copacetic. What’s for dinner?”

“Are you hungry?”

“Sure, why not? Nothing like a little world war to whip up an appetite.”

She stopped what she was doing and looked at him. “Do you think there will be war?”

“Seriously?”

“Yes, of course seriously.”

“No chance. Why? Because there’s just no money in it – for anyone. The Russians will thump on their chests for a few days, demand relief from sanctions, then – when that doesn’t work – they’ll figure out that sanctions are infinitely preferable to nuclear winter and then everyone can get back to swindling one another for fun and profit.”

“I don’t know why I even bothered to ask.”

“So…dinner?”

“Salmon bisque and a salad. Do you feel like eating tonight?”

“A half a bowl of soup sounds good. Any bread left?”

“A few pieces from yesterday.”

“Sold! – to the bald, skinny guy in row one!”

She sighed, then shrugged her shoulders: “All life is a joke to you, isn’t it?”

“No, just everything that happens outside our little world here.”

“So, we are not a joke?”

“You and I? We are most definitely not a joke. Neither is my little spud,” he said, looking at Rolf – who looked decidedly depressed. “Man, I wish Astrid was still here right now.”

“I think he’s happy she’s gone,” Dina said.

“Give his nuts a few weeks to recover…he’ll be good to go after that.”

“No, that isn’t it…”

“I know. He wanted things to get serious, but she wasn’t having any of it, was she?”

“How did you know that?”

“Because I was sixteen once.”

“You? Sixteen?”

“I know. Hard to believe, isn’t it?”

“Yes. I could’ve sworn you were twelve.”

“Ouch.”

“Anything to drink?”

“Maybe a Coke, and my eight o’clock meds if you can get to them.”

Rolf slid close and put an arm around Taggart’s waist, so he wrapped an arm around the boy and held him close – until Dina came back carrying a tray loaded with soup and salad…as well as a few slices of bread. Taggart felt hungry so after Rolf sat up and moved away, he took a spoonful…

“Man, what did you do to the soup tonight?”

“You like it?”

“Yup, it’s great.”

“A pinch of curry and ginger, and a few cardamom pods,” she said, grinning. “I know how you two love Indian food, so I thought why not give it a try.”

Rolf shot her a thumb’s up after he tried to soup, so she was happy.

“We will have a little darkness tonight, not much, but a little,” she said.

Taggart flipped on the plotter and pulled up the tide chart, saw the high was at 0400. “Well, we’ll pull out of here around four, head southwest – towards the coast – then go straight to Ellös.”

“We are not stopping in Copenhagen?”

“We’ll have to see what’s happening. Maybe after we pick up Bandits.”

“The right side of your face…it is burned.”

“Yeah, it feels like it’s a little burned. Tight, kind of.”

“I wonder how close that airplane was?” she asked.

“To fry the masthead like that? Man, I’d say he had to pull up to avoid hitting us. A few of those other jets were almost touching the water when they passed.”

“I want to get out of here,” Rolf said.

“Hey – it speaks! Can it hear?”

“A little,” Rolf said. “It is hollow, you sound far away.”

“You’ll be good by morning.”

“It is grandma-ma’s soup – it will cure anything. So good tonight,” the boy added before he yawned and went below.

“They gave him something to help him sleep,” she whispered.

“Better get him another bowl. We’ll need him ready to roll in the morning. Well, looky here. I do believe that’s Captain Ahab, coming in search of the great white whale.”

“What?”

“US Navy captain, headed this way. Better get the boy below before they conscript him to a life of servitude.”

“Should I?”

Taggart shook his head, then turned to the captain. “You’re welcome to come aboard, Captain.”

“Thanks,” the man said as he hopped up through the mid-ships boarding gate. “Uh, you’re Doctor Taggart, right?” he said to Dina.

“Yes?”

“We got word through to your daughter in Bergen that everyone is okay here. She asked that if there was any danger to her son that he come on home. I can get him over to Stockholm tonight if you’d like.”

“Thank you, Captain,” Dina said, “but I think he should stay here for the time being. Is there any further news about our Russian friends?”

“No. They seemed to have underestimated NATOs response to the incident here in Sweden; their forces are pulling back right now, though not in Ukraine – but that was to be expected, I guess.”

“So, history will record this one as the One Day War?” Taggart said, smirking.

“More like the Fifteen Minute War, if anyone still cares a year from now.”

“How many lost their lives today, Captain?” Dina asked.

“I don’t know,” the officer sighed, looking away. “Maybe a hundred, maybe…if we’re lucky. Ma’am, I hate to ask, but that soup smells bodacious…”

“Would you like some, Captain?”

“If it’s not too much trouble, yes Ma’am, that would be great.”

She smiled and disappeared below.

“Have a seat, Captain. Need anything to drink?”

“You have Coke onboard?”

“Coke and Dr. Pepper.”

“DP! Now you’re talkin’!”

Taggart smiled. “Yeah, I loaded about three cases in Connecticut; down to the last case now so I ration my intake.”

“Hard to beat an ice cold Dr. Pepper,” the captain said as he took the bowl from Dina.

“Uh,” Taggart said to her, “looks like we need a DP up here, too.”

She nodded, then brought two up and put one in front of Taggart, as well as one for the captain. She sat and finished her salad, then helped Rolf to his bunk when it looked like he was going to nod off. A minute later Clyde came up the steps and barked – twice – and Henry stood and got the leash.

“Sorry. Duty calls,” he said as he hooked up the leash.

“I’ll walk with you,” the captain said.

“Sure appreciate you getting word through like that,” Henry said. 

“Figured it might help.”

“So, you think this thing is going to cool down?”

“About a fifty-fifty chance right now. I still can’t recommend a stop in Copenhagen until things clear up a little. Other than that you should be good once you get out of the Baltic. Oh, and just so you know the score, the reason that jet got so close was that an inbound missile had targeted your radar signal. They had to get that close in order to fuck up the missile’s track.”

Taggart blinked several times as the information registered. “Could you thank the pilot for me, for us, I mean.”

“I think I can handle that, Mr. Taggart.”

“Henry, please.”

“Okay, Hank. We’ll see you around the neighborhood. Y’all be safe out there.” He started to turn but stopped and sniffed the air. “Goddam Hank! That dog’s shit stinks – bad!”

“His farts ain’t much better.”

“I can only imagine. Later, muchachos!”

“Yeah. Adios, amigo.”

Taggart watched Clyde as he walked along on his appointed rounds, as always – still circling and sniffing from bush to bush – only now he couldn’t get the idea of an inbound missile tracking Time Bandit out of his mind. Just how close had the damn thing come? How close, really, were they to death? Would anyone have ever known – if war had started, for real – about their demise?

But Clyde had been there with him, he thought, so he wouldn’t have died alone – and for some reason he knew that was important.

He bent down and scratched behind the pup’s ears, and then Clyde’s eyes turned to meet his. Deep brown, full of understanding, yet he wouldn’t have known what happened, either. “Yeah, Bud, I know. Your shit stinks, but I still love you.”

And that was worth a couple wags of the tail.

“And I think someone saved you some salmon, too!”

And that was all Clyde needed to know. What was unconditional love compared to a bowl full of salmon scraps!

+++++

On the seventh morning after leaving Lervassa, Time Bandit passed the island village of Gullholmen; Ellös – and the Hallberg-Rassy yard – lay waiting just three miles ahead…and Taggart felt a keen parting of the ways coming-on. Saying goodbye to Time Bandit would, almost certainly, be a final affair. There would be no coming back, no return just for old time’s sake. He looked around at everything on deck and memories flashed by in his mind’s eye, and soon an inevitable sadness colored the day. He’d been in touch with the salesman, updating their progress as they bypassed Copenhagen, then Gothenburg, and all the modifications and additions he’d requested had been carried out. Now he called the salesman one last time – to let the yard know that the Bandit was just about there.

It had been a nervous week for the world, as well. It had seemed for almost 48 hours that the world was racing towards the precipice once again, but Swiss diplomats brokered a peace conference in Geneva and hostilities as quickly seemed to be at an end. And just then word broke that the People’s Republic of China launched what at first appeared to be an all out assault on Taiwan; these reports were soon discredited and great confusion followed after China announced the so-called invasion had merely been a long announced series of exercises. 

Russia had promised to move back to pre-outbreak lines but their forces in Ukraine continued their advance on Kiev, sparking a renunciation of the Geneva Accords by EU members of NATO. Diplomats shuttled back and forth between Geneva, Moscow, and Brussels while the world looked on nervously.

In Ellös, Taggart and Rolf moved gear from the old to the new, leaving Dina to sort through the gear and place it in new storage lockers. At the end of their second day at the yard they formally moved aboard Time Bandits. On the third day, Taggart and Dina went grocery shopping, and it took hours to get all the new provisions stowed. A new life raft was fitted and stowed in the cavernous stern locker; new EPIRBs – or emergency locator beacons – were installed next to the life raft, and individual EPIRBs were mated to foul weather gear after the beacons were registered.

And then the inevitable happened.

Britt and Eva arrived, both now showing modest growth from their pregnancies. Dina was experiencing morning sickness now, though she was just barely showing. Rolf helped Eva and his mother stow their gear, keeping a watchful eye on Eva in particular, as to his unpracticed eye she seemed the most fragile.

Taggart gave the yard a list of things to repair on Bandit, as well as instructions on who to contact for financial arrangements. On their last full day in Ellös he and Dina went back to the oncology clinic in Gothenburg for lab work; based on these results he was transfused, given a bag of white cells to bolster a low white count, and new medication to counter a worrisome new anemia. His Parkinson’s medications were strengthened. On the drive back to the Bandits he tried to put a light spin on things – but failed.

“How bad is it?” he asked Dina.

“More or less within the predicted range.”

“So, Christmas is still doable – more or less?”

She nodded. “Yes. We’ll have a wonderful Christmas together, just you wait and see.”

“Yeah, assuming the world doesn’t go crazy and jump off a cliff in the meantime.”

“What is it you said about the noisy tire?”

He smiled. “Ah yes. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.”

“That is what this is all about, no? Russians want sanctions relief and China wants to be taken seriously as world power, no?”

“Oh, Hell, who knows,” Henry said. “We could put an end to all this bullshit in a half hour – just require that all male leaders submit to castration. Get rid of all the testosterone and within a week the world would turn into an instant paradise.”

“Hah! What about Mrs. Thatcher? She was a warmonger too, correct?”

“And her testosterone levels were probably higher than either Reagan’s or Gorbachev’s.”

“That would be an interesting journalistic assignment, I think. To compare testosterone levels of world leaders.”

“It would make for good reading,” he sighed. “File it away in the humor section…”

“So, with the new transfusion you will feel better in the morning. You still want to depart for the Kiel Canal?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I really don’t want to tackle the North Sea, not with three pregnant mothers onboard.”

“So,” she added, “tomorrow morning – we depart early?”

“Yup. No reason to linger here any longer than we need to. Besides, the sooner we make Holland the better I’ll feel. I want to get as far away from this madness as we can.”

“It really does feel like madness, you know?” she said, a note of faraway sadness in her voice. “With so many other problems facing the world, now we have to deal with crazy men and their atom bombs, too. It hardly seems fair.”

“It probably never felt fair to the people of Hiroshima or Nagasaki, and my guess is it didn’t feel right or fair in 1939, or even 1914. War seems to be a human constant, yet just like a bunch of lemmings off we go, racing for the cliffs time after time.”

“What if we get to Paris early,” she said, looking away. “Do you think we could return and pick up the old Bandit?”

“Why would you want to do that?”

“Move her south to Paris or to London, then, when the weather is warm again, take off for Tahiti…someplace like that.”

“If that’s something you want to do, why not take the new boat?”

“Oh, I don’t know – I was just thinking out loud. Perhaps I am just attracted to the idea to maybe just see the world while there is still a world to see.”

“Dina, the squeaky wheel…”

“Yes, yes, I know. It gets all the grease. You have an unshakable faith that the human race will just go on and on, don’t you?”

He shrugged. “Maybe…I guess I do because the alternative is so hard to accept.”

“Henry, what happens when the world runs out of grease?”

He sighed, held up his hands as he looked out the window. “You know…just two weeks ago we were in these canals. Nothing but us and the Swedish countryside and the rest of the world seemed so far away.”

“Yes, but these canals feel so far away now, almost like it happened in another lifetime.”

“Maybe it was, Dina. Maybe it was…”

+++++

After an hour at the wheel, Taggart announced that Time Bandits was a completely different experience… “Rolf, come and take the wheel! Now, pinch up a bit, take her into the wind…”

Bandits heeled a bit, but the speed jumped from eight to almost ten knots, and the feeling of controlled exhilaration was impossible to deny – and Rolf smiled. “Yes, I feel it. It is almost the sensation of big mass, yet the sense of control is, well, it is exciting!”

Taggart nodded. “I think…potential is the word I’m looking for. To me it feels like a racing horse in the starting blocks – and the gate has just been flung open! I love it!”

The wind was right out of the west and blowing a steady ten knots; Bandits’ course was 180 degrees magnetic and would take them just off the east side of Læsø Island en route to the so-called Great Belt, the strait between the Danish islands of Sjælland and Fyn. The entrance to the Kiel Canal lay about fifty miles further on, and Taggart had figured on an early the next morning arrival at the canal. Now, watching Time Bandits’ speed inch up to ten knots, he knew he’d have to revise that estimate.

The radar screen turned to a haze of black snow and he shook his head.

“Why is it doing that, Henry? Is it broken?”

“No, some asshole is jamming all radar frequencies.”

“Jamming? What does that mean?”

Taggart smiled. “There’s this game navies play, Rolf. Kind of like ‘Hide and Seek,’ they try to hide their ships and aircraft from each other while one side tries to sneak around and surprise the other side by showing up where they weren’t expected.”

“You mean…this is going on right now?”

“Yeah,” he said, pointing at the display. “See how the snow looks darker over here? That’s where the jammer is.”

“So, down by Oslo?”

“That’s right. And that means the other side is either up here, by Copenhagen, or somewhere out in the North Sea.”

Three jets appeared a few moments before their sound caught up with them, and they passed Time Bandits off their left, or port side, headed towards Oslo while almost skimming the waves.

“Whose are those!” Rolf said, pointing at the jets.

“Russian. Sukhoi-34s.”

“What do they do?”

“Strike fighter. Go after things like ships, I think.”

Rolf looked at him and gulped. “What do you think it means, Henry?”

“That things aren’t going too well in Geneva, for one. Probably a bunch of Russian ships coming out of the Baltic now, too.”

“What should we do?”

“Let me take the wheel now,” he said, then he pinched up a little, brought his course up to 200 degrees. “Bring in the sails a bit, Rolf.”

 Bandit’s speed jumped to eleven knots and Taggart grinned… “Oh, Dad, I wish you were here, because I would love to see the expression on your face right now. Remember Merlin and Kialoa – on our second Transpac…?”

Five Euro-fighters appeared off their starboard bow, heading for the Russian Sukhois, and Taggart instinctively pinched up a little more, driving Time Bandits for all she was worth now. He looked at his instruments and grinned…11.2 then 11.4… ‘Oh damn, but this is getting fun…’ he thought as he looked at the blackening radar display.

“What is that island, Henry?”

“Læsø,” he said – pointing at the chart plotter. “About twenty five miles to go…”

But just then the radar screen cleared up, and soon surface contacts appeared on the display.

“Okay,” he said to Rolf, “it looks like cooler heads prevailed this morning.”

Eva came up the companionway steps and sat down beside Clyde.

“Sorry, I need some fresh air.”

He smiled at her. “How did you sleep?”

“Very well, thank you. Did I hear jets fly by?”

“Yeah, but nothing to worry about. Have you had breakfast yet?”

“No, not yet, but Dina is making pancakes, with lingonberries I think.”

Rolf started drooling. “My favorites!”

“I got it here, Rolf. Why don’t you go down and see if you can give her a hand?”

Once Rolf was below he turned to Eva. “So, what’s on your mind?”

“Dina. Why did you marry her?”

“And not you? Isn’t that what you mean?”

She nodded, looked away.

“It was more a matter of legal practicalities than anything else, so don’t try to pull me into a drama we really have no time for, okay?”

“Okay, but…”

“No buts, Eva. We have a lot of people crammed on this boat right now, and we’re in a little bit of a hurry, in case you haven’t noticed. Everyone has to get along right now, and I want you to do this for me.”

“Dina told me…is it really this bad, Henry? This sickness?”

“Not my department, Eva. I just drive the boat, okay? Get us where we need to get. Your job is to take care of those babies, and to get along with Britt and Dina. Understood?”

She nodded. “All I’ve ever wanted was to be with you.”

“Well, I am happy you are here.”

“You are? Really?”

“Yes, I need you here, just like I need Dina and Britt, and even Rolf. You are all my family now.”

She looked at him and smiled, then she nodded. “I understand.”

But he knew she didn’t, not really. Not yet, anyway.

He looked at the chart plotter and fell off the wind a little, then – with the push of a button he let out the sails – and Bandits slowed a bit, but her motion eased more than a little, too.

“Ooh, this feels so soothing,” Eva sighed. “To sail like this, forever and ever…that would be something.”

“Wouldn’t it, though?”

“Is that why you bought this boat? For all of us?”

He nodded. “Something like that. Something for the kids to grow up with, I think.”

“Is this important to you?” she asked. “This connection you have with the sea?”

He looked at her and smiled. “Yes.”

“I felt this when we were in the water together, with the whale.”

“You did?”

“Yes, and I think he did, too. I think that is why he came to you, why he helped you get us back to the boat.”

He looked at her but kept quiet, wanting her to work it out for herself.

“This is why I wanted to make love with you. This feeling, this connection, was so strong; I felt pulled to you, like there was a force inside you I could not resist.”

“Actually, I think that was my cologne you were experiencing. I call it Eau d’ WD-40.”

“You make people want to laugh, Henry Taggart, yet you hide behind the laughter. Why? Why do you do this – when everyone understands you do this to hide?”

“Everyone? Really? You mean, this has all been in vain?”

“Even now you try.”

“Old habits die hard, I guess.”

“What are you hiding from, Henry?”

“Girls like you asking me questions like this.”

“So…you are afraid of girls? Were you always shy?”

He looked away, then nodded. “I think so, yes.”

“But no longer?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I still am.”

“I think not…not with all these babies coming so soon.”

“No, I think maybe I still am. Even with all the babies.”

“Please don’t be shy with me, Henry Taggart. Please do not waste our time together with that extra distance.”

“Do you think you will be a good mother?”

She nodded and grinned. “Yes, I do. I want little Henrys to take care of, to share the sea with. So yes, very much!”

Britt came up the steps just then, carry several plates of food – and she just managed to get them onto the cockpit table without a major spill. “I could not eat below,” she sighed. “I need air, I think.”

“Feeling seasick?” Henry asked.

“Maybe it is just the babies,” she said, patting her distended belly. “Anyway, I am hungry, so that is good I think.”

Rolf came up the steps similarly loaded, then Dina came out into the sunlight carrying the rest of her huge breakfast, and soon everyone was seated around the cockpit table.

Taggart looked at the scene and smiled. This was what he had wanted to see…everyone gathered around a table – at sea – while they enjoyed the day. It was as simple as that. He watched their smiles most of all.

He heard jets flying high overhead from time to time but these he tried his best to ignore. If they proved to be a constant during the remainder of his time here, well then, he’d just do his best to ignore them until that proved impossible. All he knew that morning was that happiness was an ethereal creature, but you could hold her for a moment or two – if you kept your heart open to the possibility.

After breakfast was cleared away, the two girls went below – leaving Rolf and Dina alone with Taggart. She nuzzled in close until he wrapped an arm around her, then she pulled herself closer still.

“That was wonderful,” he whispered. “Thank you for all you do.”

“I’m glad you had some time with her this morning,” Dina said, meaning – he assumed – Eva. “She has been very, oh, what is the word…clingy, I think?”

He smiled. “I think she must still be fairly young. Either that or she loves the feeling of being dependent on someone.”

Dina nodded. “Yes, exactly. She will never stand on her own, only with someone close by her side.”

“I think she’s cute,” Rolf said.

“Heard from Astrid?” Taggart asked, grinning to no one in particular.

“Yesterday, she texted me. She wanted to know how you were doing.”

“I see.”

“Oh, she said she is pregnant, too.”

“What?” Dina cried.

“Why…you sly guy,” Henry added.

“Oh, no, I am not the father. It is, she thinks, someone she was with before she met you.”

“Ah.” So that explains the long face this morning, Taggart said to himself. “Did you check the bunks down there? Is there anyway Eva could roll out of her berth?”

“No, there is a lee-board already installed, and I have shown her how to use it. But – do you think I should go and see if she needs help?”

“Good idea.”

“You are a devil,” Dina whispered after Rolf disappeared below.

He shrugged. “I want him to get used to the idea of taking care of her,” he said – matter-of-factly. “Of you all, if he needs to.”

“That’s a lot to put on shoulders so young, isn’t it?”

“We shall see,” Taggart sighed.

“You are like an architect, aren’t you? Putting together your creation – piece by piece?”

“Hardly. I’m not half as devious as you think I am.”

“So, what island is this?”

“Læsø Island. We’ve traveled almost fifty miles already.”

“So fast?”

Taggart nodded. “This would be a decent boat in a race.”

“Rolf said he heard you talking to your father earlier.”

He nodded. “I do – from time to time. I think he misses my dirty jokes.”

“No doubt.”

“Anyway, I like to keep him up to date on things.”

“I’m sure he appreciates your doing so.”

He turned and looked at her. “I hope you will too.”

She closed her eyes for a moment, then she took a deep breath. “What kind of bread shall I make for us today?”

“Something nutty,” he said, then he started laughing.

© 2020 adrian leverkühn | abw | this is a work of fiction, pure and simple; the next chapter will drop in a week or so.

Part VI

Chapter 48

Delgetti was, as promised, waiting for them at the gate; Carl Stanton drove them around the airport to the general aviation ramp – where a CAT Huey – piloted by ‘Mickey’ Rooney – waited. Everyone boarded the Huey; Callahan went to the front left seat, while Fujiko sat in a jump-seat behind Rooney. After taking off, the helicopter made for the coastal range and crossed over the Pacific Coast Highway on its way to the beach. From there, the Huey turned north and flew directly to Sea Ranch; Rooney landed in the street in front of Callahan’s house. Dozens of CHP officers and the county sheriff were waiting for them, and they walked up to the Huey as its rotors spun down. Bullitt was the first to emerge from the Huey…

“Okay, what do we know?” Frank asked the gathered law enforcement officers, apparently led by a captain from the California Highway Patrol.

The CHP captain spoke first, and because of this, Bullitt assumed the captain was in charge: “First thing, the suspect is either not real smart or she wants to be caught.”

“How so,” Frank said.

“Well, she’s using charge cards, usually the same Visa card, for one thing. And she’s driving north on I-5 and not making any effort to hide.”

“Is anyone following her?” Callahan asked.

“Yeah, a guy from your outfit, Pattison I think is his name. He has her, and he’s following in some new kind of helicopter. Lots of range. Someone from the San Francisco PD is with him.”

“Who?”

“Al something, starts with a V; anyway, the suspect is in Portland right now. Been there two hours, just checked into a hotel south of the city.”

Callahan turned to Rooney: “Okay, the three of us will head north now…”

The CHP captain interrupted: “Uh, not so fast. This case involves a kidnapping across state lines, so the FBI is in charge, gentlemen. You’ll need to clear any-and-every-thing with them before you take any action, and I repeat – any action at all, including a move north on your part.”

Callahan looked at the captain: “Gotcha,” he said, smiling, then he turned back to Rooney: “We can gas up in Redding, then head north from there. We’ll contact Pattison when we cross into Oregon.”

“Here’s the agent in charge’s information,” the captain said, shaking his head. “You need to call him, really, I mean it…”

“Don’t worry about it,” Bullitt said with brooding malice in his eyes – a menacing enough display to make the captain take a few steps back. “Harry, would you go and take a look at the house? I’m not sure I want to go in right now.”

Callahan nodded, then walked over to someone in a dark suit. “You the CSI?”

“Yeah. Who are you?”

“Callahan, SFPD Homicide. I need to go look at the house.”

“Okay, come with me.”

There hadn’t been much of a struggle, but it had all gone down in the living room. Cathy had eventually gone down on the hardwood floor by the sofa and bled out there; there were other tell-tale signs, too…end tables knocked askew, and books knocked from a bookcase were on the floor…

“Did you find a murder weapon?”

“Large kitchen knife. Some defensive wounds on the hands and arms, five wounds on the torso, two were most likely fatal, unrecoverable.”

“What, do you mean the aorta?”

The Investigator nodded. “I don’t think she suffered too long, if that’s what you’re getting at.”

Callahan nodded. “Anything else I need to know?”

“Suspects fingerprints are all over the place, and, well, she tried to get into the house at the end of the street.”

Callahan turned and looked at the investigator. “Show me.”

They walked past Frank and Fujiko, still standing beside the Huey, on their way to his house, and the investigator showed him three places where someone had tried to force their way in. “She used a mason’s trowel to try and defeat the locks; apparently she gave up. Do you know who’s house this is?”

“Mine.”

“Oh, really? They must pay you guys pretty good.”

Callahan took out his key and they walked inside; everything looked in order – or did it? “Could you sweep the place for prints?”

“You sure? Doesn’t look like she gained entry…”

“Something doesn’t feel right. Like…”

“Yeah? Like what?”

Callahan went to the piano and looked around; everything looked okay, nothing appeared disturbed – but he could feel that something was wrong. He pulled out the music to his mother’s Second Concerto and sat at the piano…then he took a deep breath.

“Come here, would you?” he said to the investigator. When the man was beside Callahan he took another deep breath. “Put your hand on my shoulder and close your eyes.”

“What?”

“Just do it.”

He felt the man’s hand resting on his upper arm and took one more deep breath. “I’m going to play a few chords on this piano, and I want you to think of the crime scene in the other house while I do. Then I want you to imagine, in your mind, that you can somehow follow the suspect…while I’m playing the piano. Understand?”

“No, not really…”

“Okay, here we go. Clear your mind, then think of the murder scene…and no matter what you think you see, don’t panic, and don’t say a word…”

Callahan closed his eyes too, then played the first chord…

Evelyn, at the front door, ringing the doorbell. Cathy coming to the door, not wanting to let her in. A man is with Evelyn, army field jacket, rough looking, maybe in his forties, hispanic. He pushes the door open. Cathy tries to flee, the man chases her into the kitchen. Evelyn goes towards Elizabeth’s bedroom. The man takes a knife from a block on the countertop. Cathy runs. He catches her in the living room. They struggle. Cathy is wounded but she has a gun now. She shoots the man once in the abdomen. Evelyn returns, still alone. She takes the knife from the man and attacks Cathy. Cathy falls to the ground. Evelyn stabs Cathy two more times, in the upper abdomen. The man staggers outside to a van. Evelyn takes something from the man, then she runs down the street. She tries every door, then looks under the front door mat and finds a key. She opens the front door and comes into the house. She and another man put a black box under the bed in Callahan’s bedroom, then the man runs a wire between the mattress and the box springs…

Callahan stopped playing, then he slumped over the keyboard.

“What the fuck!” the investigator cried. “What the fuck did you just do to me?”

Callahan shook his head, tried to clear away the lingering fog…

“Goddam! What just…” the investigator shouted.

“Get a hold of yourself, man,” Callahan said, standing. “Let’s go check the bedroom.”

Callahan grabbed a flashlight as they walked back to the bedroom; there was a bomb under the bed, and a sophisticated looking wiring harness from the device disappeared under the mattress.

“You mean to tell me we just watched the murder?” the man said. “Like…in real time?”

“Yup. And this is what you call proof, isn’t it?” Callahan said, pointing at the device. “Now, I suggest you go and call the bomb squad before this thing goes off in our face.”

“Jesus…I can’t use any of this shit in my report, can I?”

“Not unless you want to get locked up inside a rubber room. But now that you know what happened, you know what to look for, don’t you?”

“How’d you do that? I mean…”

“Yeah, I know what you mean, and I have no idea how I do it. All I can tell you is what you just experienced stays between you and me. Got it?”

“Fuck. Yeah, man. You and me, got it.”

“Bomb squad. Go.”

“Yessir!”

“And send Captain Bullitt in here, would you. Alone.”

“Captain Bullitt. Yessir.”

Callahan walked through the house, retracing her steps – and – he could still feel her presence in the house, an impossible feeling he’d never experienced before. She lingered in the air just like the pure, concentrated evil he’d felt so many times on the street, only this time it was coming from Evelyn…

“What the hell did you do to that tech, Harry? He looks as white as a sheet!”

“Because he’s just seen a ghost, Frank. Come along, follow me.” They went back to the bedroom and Harry showed him the device under his bed.

“Looks like C4 hooked up to a pressure switch. Sit on the bed and boom. Lift the mattress to get at the switch – and boom again. How’d you…oh no, let me guess. You gave that poor bastard a piano lesson, didn’t you?”

Callahan nodded. “Evelyn. She had at least two men with her. Cathy shot one of them in the gut, and Evelyn – well, she committed the actual murder. They were in a navy blue panel van, no markings, a rental plate.”

“Where’s the wounded man?”

Callahan shook his head. “I’ll have to go back in. Deep, this time.”

Frank shook his head. “No way, man. You’re going to do this one time too many, Callahan, and you ain’t gonna be able to get your ass back out of there.”

“Yeah? So? We gotta find out who was behind this, Frank. The men were hispanic, so what if Escobar got Evelyn out? What if the men with her were Escobar’s people? What then, wise guy?”

“Jesus.”

“Leave him out of this, would you?”

“You don’t have any time to waste,” a familiar voice said, and…

…Callahan wheeled around, and there he was – with his cane in hand. “What do you mean?”

“Don’t worry about Escobar right now. Focus! What’s the most important thing – right now?!”

Frank stepped closer to the Old Man: “Elizabeth. She’s the most important thing.”

“They’re not going to ask for a  ransom,” the Old Man in the Cape said. “They want you, Harry.”

“How do you know that?” Frank asked.

“You’re wasting time, Frank. And – oh, before I forget. That California Highway Patrol captain? You can’t trust him, so tell him nothing. Same with the FBI.”

“Why? Are they connected to…”

But the Old Man disappeared…

“Damn, I hate it when he does that.”

“He only shows up during, well, in a crisis,” Frank said. “At a point, like maybe a fulcrum. Why?”

“Frank? I hope you’re not asking me?”

“He’s guiding us, Harry. Keeping us on a certain path. But…why?”

“Well, Elizabeth seems to be the important thing to him right now…”

“So…he came here to protect her?”

“He said ‘they want you, Harry,’ didn’t he?” Callahan asked.

“Yeah. So, they’re using Elizabeth to get to you. Which means they’re using Evelyn.”

“Which means, Frank, that somehow they found out we took out their boats. Yeah, we took out the boats, and then we killed their men. This has revenge written all over it.”

“Okay,” Bullitt sighed, “and now we assume the CHP and FBI are both penetrated…?”

“Well, we know the department is…”

“Which leaves us…alone,” Frank said.

“Not quite. We’ve got assets in CAT, and right now we have Al with us.”

“You’re leaving out one critical thing,” Frank added. “Fujiko is here now, and once they figure out who she is, and what she means to you – then what? Tell me, what’s going to keep them from going after her too. And guess what? She’s out there with that CHP captain, isn’t she?”

Harry sighed. “Okay, so we take her back to SFO and put her on the plane home – until this is over…”

“Harry, you do that now and you’ll never see her – or hear from her again – and rightfully so.”

“Okay, what are you thinking?”

“Let Dell take her to the city, move her around. If they find her and close in, get her to the Presidio and onto a flutterbug.”

“Okay, go talk to Dell and Carl. I’ve got to wait here for the bomb squad.”

“Right, I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

“Lock the front door behind you as you leave, just ring the bell…”

Harry walked back to his bedroom, and the Old Man in the Cape was just standing there, like he’d been waiting impatiently for Callahan’s return.

“What’s on your mind,” Harry asked as he walked into the room.

“This didn’t have to happen, not this way. In fact, it shouldn’t have happened at all.”

“What do you mean…it shouldn’t have?”

“There’s not much I can tell you in this time, but you need to get Frank, and the girl.”

“Who? Fujiko?”

“Yes, go get them – then…bring them both in here.”

“Alright.”

“And find me some paper, and perhaps something to write with.”

Everyone was gathered in the room five minutes later; Frank wasn’t too surprised to find the Old Man in the house again, but Fujiko looked at the Old Man like he was some kind of mad sorcerer.

“Harry? You and the girl – Fujiko, is it? – you go over there. Frank, I’ll be back for you in a moment. Stay right here and don’t leave.”

And as Frank started to protest, Harry and Fujiko – and the Old Man – simply vanished…yet before he could even register surprise the Old Man was back in the room.

“Where are they!” Bullitt shouted.

“You’ll be with them presently, but first – I need you to write something for me…”

________________________________

Fujiko literally slammed into him, wrapped her arms around his waist; they were both shivering now, and Callahan could feel ice melting and running from his scalp down his neck. He felt her hair just to make sure, and ran his fingers through more fine ice on her scalp. He looked around, and he thought he recognized the room – but no! How could it be?

“Where are we?” Fujiko asked, her voice a scratchy, injured whisper. “Have we been here before?”

Callahan nodded. “The hotel room, in Osaka,” he said. “Yesterday, I think. Before we left for the airport…”

And in the next instant Frank was standing next to them. “Harry! Call DD, NOW!” he cried.

He knew that voice, knew the urgency it implied, so without question he moved to the phone and dialed DD’s number at the Cathouse.

“DD? It’s Harry…”

“Harry! Good – it’s you! Look, we got Frank’s note; Cathy’s with us here at the Cathouse. Dell and Carl staked out the house with some deputies from the Sheriff’s office…they have Evelyn in custody, they’re bringing her to the city for evaluation. There were two men with her, one was killed while trying to flee, the other is behind bars at the county jail…”

“Frank and I will need to interview him as soon as we return. Do you have our flight information?”

Harry wrote everything down, then rang off.

Frank was standing right beside him, his head and face awash with melting ice…

“Well, did it work?” Bullitt asked.

Callahan nodded. “Yeah. It worked.”

Bullitt grinned, then walked to the window. He leaned a little, put his outstretched hands on the glass and looked down at the world on the other side of the window. 

Harry and Fujiko walked over to him: “What on earth did you do, Frank?”

“He had me write out a note. Basically, I told her what was going to happen, where to go and who to call.”

“You mean,” Fujiko asked, “that you went to Cathy before she was murdered? That you have stopped the murder from happening?”

Frank turned and looked at her. “I have no idea what happened. And neither do you, Fujiko,” he said, looking directly into her eyes. “What happened before? Well, it never happened, so if you speak about it no one is going to know what you’re talking about. Do you understand?”

“So,” she added, “Cathy is alive? Is that what you are saying?”

Bullitt nodded. “And please, don’t ask me to explain anything, because I don’t understand what happened either, let alone how or why. Okay?”

Fujiko turned and looked at Callahan. “Do you know what happened?”

Callahan shook his head, then he went to the bed and sat on the edge. He put his face in his hands, then lay on his side. A moment later he felt Fujiko come onto the bed and lay next to him, and a moment later he felt himself sliding towards sleep – then it hit him…

“We have an airplane to catch in a few hours,” he said.

“God damn!” Bullitt growled. “I’m jet-lagged from the last flight – and my butt’s still sore, too – and you’re telling me we’ve got to go and get on the same goddam airplane and do it all over again?”

“So it seems.” Callahan sighed. “But I don’t think I’m going to have any trouble falling asleep this time.”

“I am not so sure,” Fujiko whispered, “that the old man is not a sorcerer.”

Callahan nodded. “I wish I knew the answer to that one…”

_________________________________

Callahan walked through his house – and this time nothing was wrong. There were no trip-wires, no C4  – though he did remove the key he’d hidden under the front door mat. Everything now was – like nothing had ever happened – because…it hadn’t. 

Time’s script had been erased, and then re-written – and the Old Man in the Cape had done it.

But Fujiko had walked right through the house and gone to her tree, the tree that looked bent by the wind coming in off the sea. She didn’t stop to speak to Callahan. She didn’t want to visit Cathy, or Frank. She seemed – to Callahan, anyway – to have been shattered by the actions and reactions she had seen in the past several hours, and when Harry went to her he found her sitting under the tree, her knees pulled up to her chest, her arms around her knees – and she was slowly rocking back and forth, almost like she was soothing an unseen infant.

He sat beside her, studied her face. Angled down, yet her eyes were focused on the horizon – as if she was looking for Japan somewhere across the wide Pacific. He did not speak, because he had no idea what to say, so he sat and watched her, waiting for her to come back to him.

“Nothing is real,” she whispered at last.

“What?”

“If this moment can be undone, if everything you and I see and do in this moment can be rewritten on a whim, what is real? Can you not see that?”

“I can.”

“I do not understand this world, Harry Callahan. I do not understand your world.”

“This wasn’t my doing, Fujiko. Not at all.”

“Oh, really?”

“No, it isn’t.”

“You could have stopped it…”

“I didn’t know what was happening. No one told me what was happening. The Old Man has never done anything like this before…”

“I am afraid, Harry Callahan.”

Callahan nodded. “I understand, but I don’t think it will happen again.”

“How could you possibly know? And if it does, again, please, how will you know? It is like we are trying to swim in quicksand, Harry. The more we struggle with the truth of this existence, the deeper we sink, and reality slips from our reach. I can run and dive off this cliff onto the rocks below, and what will happen? Will I suddenly reappear here, sitting as I am now, yet at the same time will I relive the onrushing rocks in my mind, in memory, and if so, will I feel my body hitting the rocks, feel my death again and again?”

“I don’t know.”

“I feel my mind slipping away, Harry. What will I see next? Will I see fish swimming by in the air? Can reality be so easily reshaped? And…what about love? Can love be reshaped?”

“Again, I don’t know. All I can tell you is that right now, right here, I love you. I’ve never loved anyone as much as I do you – right now.”

She turned and looked at him, and he saw the smile.

“Even if everything else is – conditional – my love for you isn’t,” he added.

She nodded. “I know. This I feel, too.”

“Is anything else as important?”

“Truly? No, I think not.”

“We have a life to live together, Fujiko. You and I. Should we not at least try to do that now?”

“Yes,” she said, “but first, I want to go see Cathy. I want to feel her and hear her now. I want to know that she is real – again – and that this is not some kind of dream.”

He stood, then he helped her to her feet. “You like this tree, don’t you? I remember you said something about it…”

“Yes, before all this happened. How strange. It is like things that happened before a certain point remain unchanged.”

“But, it’s almost like the layers of an onion. Memories of two different chains of events, from two different timelines – superimposed one over the other.”

“Yes. Just so,” she sighed. “But which is real?”

“Both. They are both equally real, just different.”

She shook her head. “Logically, this cannot be true.”

“Tell me, please, what the hell is logical about any of this?”

“Well, because existence, at some level, must abide by the rules of logic – unless all existence is mere delusion. But Harry – if this experience was not a delusion then it follows it must be real. Also, I am not so sure a delusion like this one could be – ‘shared’ – by more than one person, but it is here that my logic falls apart. Temporal existence becomes, as I said, almost meaningless when you think of existence as having more than one layer – yet this is exactly what we have just experienced.”

It was almost dark by the time they decided to walk up the street to Cathy’s house, but already Callahan was growing hungry. 

“You know, I can’t remember the last time I had something to eat.”

“It was on the airplane,” Fujiko said.

“Yes, but we ate on the first flight we took, not the one we just got off of. So, the food we ate…”

“Probably does not exist, at least not as far as our bodies are concerned.”

“Now I’m confused,” Callahan sighed. “If we ate food, it should still be there. Shouldn’t it?”

“So, you understand the dilemma better?”

He nodded. “Yeah, but I’m still hungry.”

“Of course you are. You are a man, after all – so you think with your stomach.”

“Look, I’m not the one who ate three cheeseburgers – in under an hour.”

“Oh, yes. I forgot…”

“Yup. Thought you might…women have a way of forgetting inconvenient facts like that.”

“We do not!”

“Of course you don’t.”

“What?”

“Never mind.”

Frank seemed lost inside a stoic’s funk. He looked at Cathy from time to time like she was some kind of spectral apparition – not the flesh and bones Cathy he had known almost all his adult life. She walked around the house, putzed around in the kitchen none the wiser, too, and yet he was simply terrified to bring it up. When the doorbell rang and he saw it was Harry and Fujiko he let them in and hugged Fujiko before he turned to Harry…

“You hug me, Frank, and we’re gonna have a serious talk out back.”

“Man, Harry, I need a serious talk out back.”

“Yeah, I know. How’s Cathy?”

“She’s…Cathy. No differences, period. Memories intact, too.”

Callahan shook his head. “This is fucked up, Frank.”

“Granted, but she’s alive.”

“And Evelyn is in custody. Have you checked on Elizabeth?”

“Big turd in her diaper. In other words, situation normal.”

“You have an interesting conception of normal,” Fujiko said as she walked off to the kitchen.

“It’s amazing what you can get used to,” he replied to her departing backsides. 

“Something’s been bothering me,” Callahan said, his voice not quite a whisper. “When the Old Man found out that Cathy was dead, he said something like ‘This isn’t the way it’s supposed to be.”

“Yeah, so?”

“Well, if her death was, let’s just call it incorrect, doesn’t that imply there was a correct way?”

Frank looked away, and Harry could tell he was lost in thought. “Yeah, and it also implies time has been tampered with…”

“Which also implies that the Old Man knows how things are supposed to turn out, right?”

“That follows, yeah.”

“But the only way he can know one way or another is if he has access to knowledge that’s…well…beyond anything we could understand…”

Frank scowled. “Every time we’ve seen him he appears to be about the same age, no?”

Harry thought for a moment: “Yeah, now that you mention it, I think you’re right.”

“So, while our lives have played out, and even your mother’s life as well, he might have been intervening over the course of just one night – one night wherever he’s from, I mean.”

Then Callahan looked at Frank. “I think you mean whenever he’s from, Frank.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“The only way he could know most of these things…”

“Yeah, okay, I see where you’re going with this. And…so, yes, that’s the only way he could know whether or not something is – wrong.”

Callahan nodded his head. “The only thing we don’t know is why.”

“Ya know, Harry…I don’t think I want to know why. We’ve been opening doors we have no business going through with that piano trick you do, but so far we haven’t been able to do anything like what the Old Man just did.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, we’re observing things that have already happened, right. Yet we’re gaining access to knowledge that we wouldn’t otherwise have. Now the tricky part: we’re manipulating outcomes, changing the future in some way…”

Callahan sighed. “But that’s exactly what the Old Man is doing too.”

“Assuming we’re in – ‘his’ – past, yes, that’s true,” Frank added. “But…wait…that means…”

“Exactly! If Cathy’s death was wrong that means someone else is playing this game, too…!”

“Someone who wants to change outcomes…” Frank said, suddenly lost inside a thought. “So, someone in the future who is or might be related to someone now, in the present?”

“Or a chain of events that leads to…I don’t know, a certain outcome.”

“Or,” Frank whispered, “a certain link in the chain. Why Cathy? Could it be because of Elizabeth? Is Elizabeth the link? Is she the key?”

“We have no way of knowing, Frank. None. And if I could ask him, I’d want to know why he was constantly intervening in my mother’s life.”

“That’s just what I’m getting at, Harry. What if someone, or some other group – in the future – wanted to stop an outcome, and they’ve traced it back to a couple of people…in your case, a mother and her son. So they go back and break the chain of events, but they have to do it subtly, draw no attention to their actions.”

“Frank? We can sit around and think about this shit until the cows come home, but we’re just going to drive ourselves crazy. At this point I say we just get on with what we were doing, forget about all this – stuff.”

Bullitt sighed. “Because I can’t get what happened to Cathy out of my mind, Harry. I think it’s gonna be a real problem, too.”

“Okay, so what do we do about it?”

Bullitt shook his head. “I’m not sure there is anything we can do Harry, because – well, think about it. What we’ve lost is a sense of finality, that when something happens the result just ‘is’. Now, if something happens to one of us, who’s to say the Old Man won’t somehow just come along and undo it?”

Harry heard something and turned – and he saw Cathy and Fujiko staring at them. Then Frank followed Harry’s gaze – and he found Cathy’s eyes locked onto his.

© 2020 adrian leverkühn | abw | and as always, thanks for stopping by for a look around the memory warehouse…[and a last word or two on sources: I typically don’t post all a story’s acknowledgments until I’ve finished, if only because I’m not sure how many I’ll need until work is finalized. Yet with current circumstances (i.e., Covid-19) waiting to list sources might not be the best way to proceed, and this listing will grow over time – until the story is complete. To begin, the ‘primary source’ material in this case – so far, at least – derives from two seminal Hollywood ‘cop’ films: Dirty Harry and Bullitt. The first Harry film was penned by Harry Julian Fink, R.M. Fink, Dean Riesner, John Milius, Terrence Malick, and Jo Heims. Bullitt came primarily from the author of the screenplay for The Thomas Crown Affair, Alan R Trustman, with help from Harry Kleiner, as well Robert L Fish, whose short story Mute Witness formed the basis of Trustman’s brilliant screenplay. Steve McQueen’s grin was never trade-marked, though perhaps it should have been. John Milius (Red Dawn) penned Magnum Force, and the ‘Briggs’/vigilante storyline derives from characters and plot elements originally found in that rich screenplay, as does the Captain McKay character. The Jennifer Spencer/Threlkis crime family storyline was first introduced in Sudden Impact, screenplay by Joseph Stinson, original story by Earl Smith and Charles Pierce. The Samantha Walker television reporter is found in The Dead Pool, screenplay by Steve Sharon, story by Steve Sharon, Durk Pearson, and Sandy Shaw.  I have to credit the Jim Parish, M.D., character first seen in the Vietnam segments to John A. Parrish, M.D., author of the most fascinating account of an American physician’s tour of duty in Vietnam – and as found in his autobiographical 12, 20, and 5: A Doctor’s Year in Vietnam, a book worth noting as one of the most stirring accounts of modern warfare I’ve ever read (think Richard Hooker’s M*A*S*H, only featuring a blazing sense of irony conjoined within a searing non-fiction narrative). Denton Cooley, M.D. founded the Texas Heart Institute, as mentioned. Of course, James Clavell’s Shōgun forms a principle backdrop in later chapters. The teahouse and hotel of spires in Ch. 42 is a product of the imagination; so-sorry. The UH-1Y image used from Pt VI on taken by Jodson Graves. Many of the other figures in this story derive from characters developed within the works cited above, but keep in mind that, as always, the rest of this story is in all other respects a work of fiction woven into a pre-existing cinematic-historical fabric. Using the established characters referenced above, as well as the few new characters I’ve managed to come up with here and there, I hoped to create something new – perhaps a running commentary on the times we’ve shared with these fictional characters? And the standard disclaimer also here applies: the central characters in this tale should not be mistaken for persons living or dead. This was, in other words, just a little walk down a road more or less imagined, and nothing more than that should be inferred. I’d be remiss not to mention Clint Eastwood’s Harry Callahan, and Steve McQueen’s Frank Bullitt. Talk about the roles of a lifetime…and what a gift.]

Before we start the story, a few housekeeping items first.

Back in March, when I started on The Eighty-eighth Key, the thinking went something like this: let’s write a short story and wrap it up in about 10 to 15 chapters. Then a funny thing happened (well, actually, not funny at all): the virus hit and like many of you I went into hibernation mode. What’s relevant here and now about that? Well, I now had a lot of time on my hands and what better way to occupy said hands than by writing. Ten chapters turned to twenty, then thirty, and now 88 is headed for fifty. C’est la vie, I guess. Same with this story; the original outline I came up with looked like a simple three to four chapter story in the making, but here we are, lost in Pandemicland, so why not stretch it out a little? I’d like to wrap up 88 in the next month or so, so maybe up to fifty chapters, but keep in mind that little short story is now over 400 pages long! Come Alive won’t be that long, I promise. I’m thinking somewhere between 15 and 20 chapters. Hopefully.

Anyway, a few divergent thoughts. Movies and music…the two most potent elixirs we turn to most often here in Pandemicland.

Seen any good movies lately? If not, consider a few classics to get you through these long winter nights. Try The Barefoot Contessa, the original with Humphrey Bogart and Ava Gardner. This film came out during the height of 1950s censorship, and keep that in mind when you look at the subtexts in this one: a beautiful woman with what we might call ‘animal passions’ goes from Spanish dance floor to Hollywood, then from the French Riviera to the Amalfi coast – where she meets the man of her dreams. Finally. The end of this film ought to leave you breathless – if you get into the storyline, anyway.

Another classic to see you through a winter’s eve: The Petrified Forest, with Leslie Howard, Bette Davis, and Bogart again. Nothing hotter than the desert southwest in the depths of the Great Depression, the action in this one takes place inside a gas station/diner, and Howard’s performance is one for the ages. Possibly the greatest romance story ever put to celluloid.

The last classic I’ll mention this time out is Dodsworth, a classic in every sense of the word. With John Huston, William Wyler directed this adaptation of Sinclair Lewis’ novel. This is a gut-punch to watch, a slow motion train wreck if ever there was one, but it has a happy ending (hey, this is Hollywood, right?) worth wrapping your heart around. If you’ve never seen this one you have missed the boat, literally.

Got Netflix? Check out Our Souls at Night, with Robert Redford and Jane Fonda together again (go back to Barefoot in the Park to see their first effort together). This latest effort finds a soft spot in us older folks, but what starts out as a simple dilemma turns into a complex symphony of choices and consequences. Powerful stuff.

Also on Netflix, The Highwaymen. Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson chasing Bonnie and Clyde, and while we all know how this one ends, the sparkling thrust and parry between the two leads in reason enough to catch this one.

Got Amazon Prime? Here are a couple of sci-fi flicks you might have missed that provide a good reason to reignite your passion for popcorn. The first is titled, simply, Cosmos, and it revolves around three amateur astronomers out in the woods with their telescopes who run across something strange. This one is the complete opposite of what you’re thinking right now, too. More cerebral than anything else, it’s worth a watch.

Also on Prime, The Vast of Night. Weird from start to finish, this movie breaks a lot of new ground from a cinematographers standpoint, and took home more than a few honors from indie film festivals last year. Set in the 50s, this film latches onto the vibe created by many classic sci-fi films from that era and doesn’t let go – til the very end. Interesting and fun at the same time.

Music matters, right? You’ll find a brief mention of this piece in the beginning of this chapter of Come Alive, and if you’re into the group Genesis you’ll be familiar with the work of Tony Banks, the long time keyboardist in the group. Well, Mr Banks also writes classical music, and two years ago he released an album called Five (and its on iTunes). The first track is called Prelude to a Million years (and you can give it a listen on YouTube). Talk about soft. Talk about chords I haven’t seen or used in decades. Sumptuous, sensuous, airy, breathtaking…or all of the above. The introductory chords leave me reeling in the years.

Now, on to the story. This is a long chapter so get a cup of tea, pull up the ottoman and settle in for a while. Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 9

At five the next morning Taggart slipped the dock lines from their cleats; he hopped back onboard and into the cockpit, and there he put the transmission into reverse. Using the bow thruster, he kept Time Bandit centered in the slip as he backed-down into the marina’s entrance channel, then he pointed the bow upriver and motored towards Gothenburg’s city center, running at 1900RPM and making almost seven knots through the water. Running with the tide and an hour before slack water, he hoped to be free of the city and its heavy shipping traffic before the morning crush.

And once again he didn’t wake Dina or Rolf. Truth be told, he admitted to himself while standing up at the wheel as he motored through the city, he liked being out here alone in the early morning. He usually sailed while listening to Gregorian chant, but he’d picked up a new album by Tony Banks and listened to a new track – Prelude to a Million Years – as he looked at the old town and its ancient church spires as they drifted by.

A few minutes later Dina came up the companionway steps carrying two cups of cinnamon tea and a few orange/walnut scones she’d baked late the night before.

“You are a miracle and I love you,” he said as she handed him a cup.

“I should take this as a compliment, no?”

“Yeah, but don’t let it go to your head.”

“I’ll do my best,” she sighed. “It seems very quiet out this morning.”

“Yes, it’s lovely out.”

“What is this music?”

“Tony Banks. Keyboardist for Genesis. He seems to be writing classical music these days.”

“It’s peaceful…” but she stopped speaking when she saw the look on his face.

He was scanning the river ahead, watching a small freighter backing into the main channel. “Damn, I forgot to set the radar to stand-by,” he said, shaking his head and flipping a switch, then pinching off a bit of scone and sipping some tea. “I heard a weather forecast an hour ago; it’s going to be very hot as we move inland, but it should be cooler on the lakes.”

“After the last few days of this cool weather I think hot would be most welcome. Their is a chill when the air is damp that makes me feel wretched.”

He nodded. “I feel it here,” he said, pointing to the incision on his breast, and his left armpit. 

“Have you taken your medications yet?”

“Not supposed to until six.”

“I’ll go get them…”

“No…sit with me, please. It’s gorgeous, you know…” but he choked up, looked away.

“What is it?”

“The city…you…all of it. Just the moment, I guess.”

“I love you too,” she said, rubbing the top of his hand before she turned to look over the world beyond the confines of Time Bandit’s little cocoon.

There was enough wind to dapple the surface of the water, and even a few gulls were flying along above their wake, crying for fish, he assumed as he gauged the conditions around him. He turned the radar on and checked the way ahead for unseen traffic; the freighter was turning into the river but keeping to the correct side of the channel, and that was it…

“How far to the first lock?” she asked.

“About 50 kilometers, at a small town called Lilla Edet.”

“Do you plan to go all the way there today?”

“Not if I can help it. The first cute village we come to I’m shutting down the engine and tying off to a tree…”

She smiled, shook her head. “Stop and smell the roses, I think. Isn’t that the expression?”

“It is, indeed.”

They approached a massive bridge and Taggart eyed it nervously – as his mast height was almost 17 meters – but as the bridge was 22 meters he motored on. Still, both he and Dina stared at Time Bandit’s masthead as she went under the bridge, and he felt a moment of stark terror that passed as soon as they cleared the span.

“It always looks so close, closer than it really is,” he said.

“I guess you learn to trust the charts,” she added.

“There’s another big one just ahead, supposedly lots of cruise ships dock there.”

“Yes, the Götaälvbron. The bridge over the Göta älv river. Many tourists visit here in the summer.”

Rolf’s head popped up in the companionway; he was yawning and still wiping away the night from his eyes. “Where are we?” he asked.

“Coming up to the center of the city,” Dina said. “Get some clothes on and come rejoin the human race!”

He nodded and disappeared below.

“God,” she moaned, “they were at it all night again.”

“You should get some headphones for your phone. Music blocks it out nicely.”

“I swear that girl is insatiable, Henry.”

“Good for him. Valuable training for all life’s adventures.”

She shook her head. “Incorrigible. He will be ruined for life.”

“I think I need more coffee.”

“I have cherry scones in the oven,” she said, smiling.

“You’re assuming Rolf hasn’t already eaten them all.”

Her eyes went wide and she scurried down the companionway steps.

The Götaälvbron’s height was 18.3 meters so even lower than the first bridge, and this time he was sure the Vhf radio antenna scraped along the underside of the steel latticework. He visibly shuddered just as Dina came up the steps…

“Do you need your medicine?” she asked – then she saw the bridge and how close it was and her eyes went wide again. “That was much closer, wasn’t it?”

He nodded. “Close enough to just about make me shit my britches…”

She passed his cup to him, then she came up with a platter loaded with hot scones and put them on the cockpit table. “Well, I am happy you did not do this. Very messy.”

“Me too. No better way to ruin the day.”

“Are there many more such bridges?”

He shook his head. “Most are so low we have to radio ahead so they can be raised, even a few railway bridges. The next one is a railway bridge, the Marieholmsbron; I have to call them now.”

They had to wait for several trains to pass, then the bridges swung on a center-pivot to let them pass, and then the way ahead was clear.

“Is there a speed limit?” she asked.

“Ten knots here. Which is a lot faster than we can go. A few miles on it drops to five knots.”

“How fast will we go?”

“Five. No reason to go fast, is there?”

“I saw a control below for air conditioning. Does this boat have that?”

“Sorry, but yes, it does. I used it in Florida a lot.”

“How hot is it supposed to get today?”

“High 80s, Fahrenheit. The next several days could see days in the low 90s.”

She scowled. “This is unheard of so close to the sea.”

“The shape of things to come, I’m afraid.” He picked up a scone and held it under his nose. “Smells a little like heaven, ya know?”

“How warm is it now?” she asked.

“78F. Why?”

“It is stuffy down below.”

“Well, we can open some hatches or I can fire up the a/c.”

“I will try hatches first.”

Clyde stepped into the cockpit then and barked twice. “Sorry, boy…you gotta use the Astro-turf this morning…Dina, can you take the wheel?”

He led the pup forward and pulled out an Astro-turf door-mat and tossed it down in the deck. Clyde looked up at him with disgust in his eyes, but he dutifully circled twice and dumped a load on the ‘grass’, then peed for good measure before he walked back to the cockpit. Taggart cleaned up the mess, scooping up the brown and washing away the yellow, then he went back to the cockpit. Clyde was eating his breakfast by that point, then he jumped up onto the seat next to Taggart and fell asleep.

They were just passing through the outskirts of Gothenburg – with industrial warehouses on one side of the river and parklands on the other – when Astrid and Rolf came topsides. Astrid said hello before moving up to the bow pulpit – her favorite place on the Bandit – while Rolf sat down and munched on a scone. He yawned and stretched, revealing a huge purple hickey on the side of his neck.

“Looks like you saw some real combat last night,” Henry said, pointing to his own neck.

“Oh, I got her back, inside her thighs.”

“Good man. Give as good as you get, I always say.”

Rolf leaned close, spoke with his voice just above a whisper: “She is not a so very interesting person, Henry. She is very, how do I say this, interested too much in music and sex.”

“I’m curious; did she bring any drugs on board, Rolf?” he asked, though he was suddenly quite serious. 

“Yes, some pills, and I think some sort of stuff she injects.”

“What…like heroin?”

“I think maybe, yes, but I don’t know.”

“Okay, that’s a problem, Amigo. Police or the Coast Guard can confiscate this boat if illegal drugs are found onboard. And I am the one responsible, understand?”

“Yes.”

“So my rule about illegal drugs is a simple one; either the drugs go, and I mean all of them, or she goes.”

“Understood. I’ll take care of it right now.”

“And Rolf, if you think she is dishonest, that she is lying about where she is keeping her drugs, she has to get off. I will pay for her to get home, but she has to leave.”

“Henry, I would think she should leave too, if that were the case.”

“Why do you say that, Rolf?”

“I think she is addicted. She has to go below and inject this stuff several times a day…”

“Where, Rolf?”

“What?” 

“Where does she inject herself?”

“In the stomach.”

Taggart relaxed. “Can you bring her back here for a little talk?”

“Of course?”

She came back and sat next to Clyde and scratched behind the pups ears. Clyde, of course, moaned before rolled onto his back – inviting her to scratch his belly.

“Rolf, why don’t you go below and help Dina for a moment.”

When Rolf was out of range he turned to Astrid. “I’m just curious, but are you a diabetic?”

She looked down and seemed quite embarrassed, but she nodded. “I didn’t tell Rolf – how did you know?”

“He told me he saw you injecting yourself in the stomach. He doesn’t know what that means, and he thought maybe it might be heroin.”

“Oh-my-God, no!” she whispered. “No, it’s not like that at all…”

“Type one or type two?”

“Type one, for almost fifteen years now.”

“The pills? For diabetes, too?”

She nodded.

“The Coast Guard has a rule…”

“Oh, Henry, I know all these rules. I have a letter from my physician authorizing me to have these things with me…”

“Okay, so you brought nothing illegal on board, right?”

“Yes, I promise this is true. We get checked at the hospital all the time…”

He nodded. “Ya know, I think Clyde loves you just a little.”

“He is so sweet.”

“Astrid, kids Rolf’s age are a little like pups. They are curious and can be empathetic, but they thrive on the truth.”

“I know, but many of the boys I have known have been turned off by me giving myself shots, even if it is just insulin…”

“Rolf isn’t like most boys, Astrid. You might keep that in mind before you think about moving on. And if you need to keep your supply in the fridge, go right ahead.”

“He’s a very special person, Henry. I could feel that right away.”

“Yeah, well, so are you. And I could feel that right away, too.”

“I keep wanting to tell you how much I appreciate being here, for you thinking about me enough to do this for me.”

“I’d say you’re welcome but the pleasure has been all mine. I thought you and Rolf might become  friends, good friends, and maybe because I hoped something nice would work out between you.”

She nodded. “I think maybe I should go and have a talk with Rolf, don’t you?”

“I think so, but you should always do what you think is the right thing to do, Astrid. Follow your head and your heart, because that usually leads to the best outcome.”

As she went below Dina came up the companionway. “What was that all about?”

“Oh, nothing much. She’s type one and has some insulin with her, probably needs to put some stuff in the fridge.”

“Oh.”

“What are you cooking down there? It smells outrageous!”

She smiled. “You’ll see, however I think we will be having an amazing lunch,” she said as she handed him his medications.

“Thanks. About five miles to a place called Agnesberg. That’ll be the last of the big city scenery for a while. Hopefully!”

“You know, in a way this is exciting. Settled and peaceful, yes, but what is around the next bend? You never really know, do you?”

He nodded. “In a car zipping along you’d never give this landscape a passing thought, but out here…? Nature feels invitingly raw when you drift along like this. How is it down below? Still stuffy?”

“There is a nice breeze coming through now. It is worse up here in the sun.”

“I’ll rig the bimini when we stop for the evening.”

“Is it this thing?” she asked, pointing at a large canvas rolled-up on some aluminum struts.

“Yup.”

“Can I do it now?”

“Sure,” he said. “Might be better to sit in the shade, I reckon…”

“I think so too,” she said, grinning. He put on the autopilot and helped her set it up. “This is very, what? Formidable? Like it was made for heavy storms?”

“Yes, but it’s a little too short for me to stand up all the way. I need to get longer struts measured.”

“Ah yes, I see. How tall are you?”

“Six-three. Short by American standards these days.”

“Well, at least everything is in proportion,” she said, smiling at him – in reality, now trying just about anything to get him to laugh. He was becoming so serious now, so unlike himself…

He smiled a little, then looked up at her. “Tonight, maybe?”

“Yes, we must compete with the olympic screwing team up front!”

“Maybe I should get a testosterone shot and some Viagra. That would put us back in the running, wouldn’t it?”

And that made her laugh. “I think maybe my labia are not so tough as hers. Now, I must go tend to my lunch…”

He switched off the autopilot just as Rolf came up into the cockpit. 

“Well, did you straighten her out?”

“I am so embarrassed,” he said. “And a little ashamed.”

“Why? What happened, Rolf?”

“Her shots are for diabetes, even all her pills. I should have known.”

“Oh? Why?”

“Because I assumed she was hiding things from me.”

“Oh, well, that happens. Ya know, I learned an old saying when I was about your age. ‘Smart people get their exercise at the gym; not so smart people get their exercise by jumping to conclusions.’”

“I was not so smart, Henry.”

“Did you apologize?”

“Yes.”

“Then you move on from here. You accept her – even if she has diabetes. Love is just love, after all; love isn’t magic, but it is real or it is nothing at all.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you can’t be just a little in love, or even too much in love. Love is just love. You either feel that way or you don’t. There’s nothing else like it, maybe not even anywhere else in the universe.”

“I think,” Rolf added, “it might be the scariest thing in the universe.”

“Love can be very powerful, but I’ve found that hate and anger can be as powerful, too. And all three seem to be related, somehow.”

“How so?”

“Well, love can turn to hate or anger in a heartbeat, and once it does something very strange and powerful happens. People lose the ability to think rationally.”

“Maybe it is better to never fall in love, Henry.”

“Maybe so, but then you’d miss out on one of the big things that makes us human.”

“Do you think only humans can love?”

“No, I didn’t say that. Remember those Orcas? I think they love one another, and dolphins do too. Lots of birds mate for life – so why can’t we call that love? What makes us different, Rolf, is that we write poetry and music about love, we build monuments to love, and we have created elaborate ceremonies all around the very idea of love, so obviously we think love is a very big deal. It’s a feeling, true, but it is so much more than that. When you get right down to it, we’ve organized our societies around a stable precondition of love…”

“Maybe that’s why we’re getting so fucked up, Henry.”

He smiled. “You know, maybe you’re right. What would you organize a new society around?”

“Money, I think.”

“Okay. So…what happens to poor people in that society?”

“No, no, there would be no poor people. Everyone would make the same, no matter what they did.”

“I think that’s been tried before.”

“Oh? Where?”

“The Soviet Union, for one, but pretty soon little breakdowns began to occur. Like everyone was equal, right? – but even so pretty soon some people were more equal than others. These people starting making new rules to benefit people just like them, and pretty soon you were right back to square one and the Soviet Union fell apart. So…love might actually be a pretty good organizing principle…if we can ever figure out how to really make it work for everyone, that is.”

“I think I will have a hard enough time making it work for just me, Henry.”

Taggart nodded. “Truer words were never spoken, Rolf. Love is a mystery, and one with no easy solution, no real answer. My God but that smells good. What is she making down there?”

Rolf grinned, but he shrugged at the same time.

“Ah, yes…love loves a good secret,” Henry said, smirking.

“Well, one thing is certain…she loves you, I think…but…”

“But what, Rolf?”

“I think she is not the only one,” the boy said, perhaps a little defiantly.

“What’s on your mind, son.”

“I think there are two other women who love you…did you call me son?”

“I did, yes.”

“I don’t know, but I think I like that.”

“Okay. Now, what about your mother?”

“And that girl Eva; my mother thinks she loves you most of all.”

“Most of all? Rolf, remember something important. There is no most of all, there is only love.”

“But cannot some people hurt more than others? If this is so, aren’t you saying that all pain is alike, or that none is worse than another?”

“I don’t know, Rolf. I really don’t know the answer to that one.”

“I talked to my mother last night. She wants to spend time with you. But my mother says that Eva appears lost without you. She says Eva must come soon, and she asks that you consider this.”

“Have you told your grandmother any of this, Rolf?”

“No, I haven’t, but I asked her to call my mother.”

“When?”

“Just before I came up now.”

“Well, fuck.”

“Henry?”

“Yup?”

“What shall we do?”

“We? Rolf, this is my problem, not yours…”

“No, not so. You have already told me that these will be my brothers or sisters, and that I will be the one taking care of them one day, so is this not my problem too, Henry?”

“I’m not sure I’d be in such a hurry if I were you, Rolf, but that was spoken like a man, not a boy.”

“But I can help. At least I can if you will let me.”

“You know, I really wish you were my son.”

“Henry, you are the only father I have now. Please remember that.”

Taggart sighed, nodded in understanding. “Okay. But I know at least one thing now, Rolf.”

“What is that?”

“We’re going to need a bigger boat.”

+++++

They tied up just north of Agnesberg and had lunch in the cockpit, a fantastic spread of salads and soups and freshly baked bread, and though Dina tried her best not to appear confused Henry could tell that she was. But not angry, he told himself, and that was a good thing, right?

Rolf, on the other hand, seemed nervous, constantly looking between Astrid and his grandmother, then looking to Henry for reassurance – like ‘our little world isn’t about to come crashing down on our heads, is it?’

Yet try as he might, Taggart just couldn’t get the food down. It was delicious, it smelled like heaven, but after getting a bite or two down he completely lost his appetite, and within a few minutes Dina was focused on Henry – like she was gauging his reaction to the food as if she alone knew what was happening.

And perhaps that was because she alone knew what was happening. Worse still, she alone knew what lay just ahead.

She went below and poured him a nutritional shake, then she prepared an injection. She went up and asked him to roll up his sleeve, and when that was done she had him sip on the shake while they ate. A half hour later Henry ate a slice of bread, then he finished his soup and announced that the world was still a very splendid place indeed! There was a main railway line just along the right side of the river here, and passenger trains whooshed by every ten minutes…but other than that the river seemed peaceful enough…

“You know, we could almost tie up here – but I think the trains would keep us up all night.”

“We’ll find something up ahead,” Dina said, glad the medication had kicked-in so efficiently. “Besides, it is too early to quit for the day.”

“Okay. Rolf, let me get the engine going then you can cast off the lines.”

And a minute later they were underway. They slowed when they met a small freighter coming downriver, and everyone whooped when Time Bandit bounced on the passing ship’s large wake, then they came to a small marina near the village of Nödinge and tied up for the night. But as soon as Bandit was secure, Taggart went down to his bunk and fell into a deep sleep.

Rolf, Astrid, and Dina sat in the cockpit and snacked, though Dina seemed intent on not talking about her conversation with Britt earlier in the day. Astrid carried dishes down to the galley, leaving Rolf to find out what had happened.

“I will talk to Henry when he awakens. This is very complicated, Rolf. More so than anything I might have imagined.”

“This Eva…she sounds…”

“Like a lunatic! I’m having a hard time believing the girl could put on such a show!”

“What did she do, Grandma-ma?”

“Rolf? It is time you stopped calling me that. You are too old for such things, and it is making me feel older than I already am.”

“Yes, Grandma-ma.”

She smiled. “I am sorry. I should not have said that.”

“What did this Eva do?”

Dina turned away, looked at the river. “She is acting like a child, Rolf. Terrible, really, but it is better not to talk about such things now, as she might be joining us soon.”

“Alright. What about mother?”

“She has the morning sickness now. It is better that she not travel for the time being. Then…we shall see.”

“How do you feel about all this, Grandma-ma.”

“Oh, a little sad. Sad for Henry most of all, but sad for these girls, and for all these new children.”

“Henry has talked to me about that. He says it might fall to me one day to take care of these children.”

“True. It may. What do you think of that?”

“It is strange to think about such things. Being a brother is one thing, but to take on the role of parent is quite another. I can hope to be good at both…”

“Be a good brother, Rolf. Doing that will take care of all the rest.”

“It is a good thing you are not pregnant, isn’t it?”

“Why do you say that?” she said, a little too defensively.

“Three children? What would Henry think about that?”

“I don’t know,” she sighed.

“Can you still have children, Grandma-ma?”

“I thought not, but…”

“Oh my God, no. You too?”

She nodded. “Yes. Me too.”

“Oh, no. Three babies…all at once.”

“It is not three, Rolf. Your mother has twins, Eva too.”

“What?”

“That is four. Then, heaven forbid, perhaps I will have two as well.”

“Fuck!”

“Yes, fuck indeed. Please, tell me that Astrid is on birth control?”

Rolf shrugged.

“Oh dear God. We will need an entire maternity ward before this winter is over.”

“Six brothers and sisters,” Rolf said, his eyes lost in contemplation. “It boggles the mind.”

“I wonder,” Dina sighed, “if he would object to a vasectomy while he is asleep.”

“A what?”

“Never mind. I was saying silly things.”

“Six, Grandma-ma. Six! Think of that!”

“And he will not live to see even one of them born. Think about that, Rolf. Not one of them.”

“I think he would find that almost funny, Grandma-ma.”

She smiled. “Yes, perhaps that is true, yet I think he will be happy, even so. I hope so.”

“I hope so, too. Do you know, he called me ‘son’ today.”

“Does that surprise you?”

“I think it did, yes.”

“When he looks at you I see pride in his eyes, Rolf. Sometimes we come to our place in life from very different stations. His road to you, perhaps, was like this. When he first arrived in Bergen, what if he had walked in another direction? Away from your mother’s clinic. What then? We, you and I and your mother might not have ever seen him. We wouldn’t be here right now. All because he went to the left instead of the right.”

“So, it was all a happy accident?”

“Ah…that is a very big question, Rolf. A happy accident? Or…the road he chose was destiny, part of a plan.”

“You mean God, religion, all that?”

She nodded her head.

“What do you believe, Grandma-ma?”

“Me? Well, if there is a God, Rolf, I think He believes very much in happy accidents. The world and our lives can unfold in many different ways, ways no one can foretell, perhaps not even God.”

“But don’t people believe God has a plan…?”

“And what would be the fun in that, Rolf. Perhaps even God enjoys watching the decisions we make, or perhaps He despairs when He sees us making regrettable decisions.”

“Or perhaps there is no God?”

“Perhaps. But it is unimportant what I think, or Henry thinks. What is important is what you think. The choice is yours.”

“What about medicine? Can medicine coexist with God?”

“Why not? I doubt God would mind one way or another. What might matter to God is that we are true to ourselves, and to our own beliefs. As a physician I believe in a set of paradigms, but it would presumptuous for me to say that the structure of medicine, or of science, precludes a belief in God. Again, it is more likely that God watches how we treat one another, that we love and respect each other, that we cherish life in all forms, even the earth.”

“Is it wrong for me to feel love for Henry?”

“No. How could that be?”

“Well, because he is not my real father.”

“Your father is no longer here, so you do not forsake the memory of him by embracing the present. Henry is an important part of your life now, and I suspect he always will be. Love, respect, even duty…those are the things you embrace now.”

“But…”

“Rolf…think of it this way. If your father could in some way be looking down on you right now, do you think he would be disappointed?”

“I wish that was possible, Grandma-ma.”

“Yes…but perhaps it is possible, Rolf.”

He nodded, then turned to face the heavens. “I think it is getting cool out now. Could I make you some coffee, Grandma-ma?”

“Yes, please. I am going to check on Henry, then I will see you here. And please, might not Astrid join is?”

+++++

He woke up early the next morning and made coffee, then he went up to the cockpit with his iPad and started planning their day. He woke up the chartplotter and looked at potential stops along the way, then he thought about the conversation he’d had with Dina sometime in the night. About Britt and Eva needing time with him, about the twins…and then the real news…that she too was pregnant.

“How is that even possible?” he remembered asking.

“I thought these things were over, but apparently they were not. Anyway, that doesn’t matter now. I am and that is that.”

He had kissed her, asked her how she felt, but she had answered with oblique references to her age, and of trying to be a good mother again, but all in all what he witnessed was a very profound insecurity taking flight.

How could he help her manage that, he wondered?

Eliminate known sources of insecurity. Let her focus on the child or, heaven forbid, the children. Yet the first thing he knew he had to do was open up all lines of communication. He was beginning to feel that she was already sheltering him, keeping things that might upset him out of sight, and so out of mind. She was, in other words, protecting him – and he loved her that much more for it – yet he also knew he had to have her understanding. He had to be kept in the loop if he was going to be effective at helping everyone navigate the rough waters ahead.

He nursed his coffee for a while, lost in thoughts about the future when out of the blue he thought about Doris Day. Growing up with her in the house next door had always been kind of surreal – going to see Pillow Talk at the movie theatre then coming home and seeing her on the  porch overlooking Newport harbor, every now and then waving at her and seeing her smile… Coming in from a long trip on Bandit with his father and her calling out “How’d y’all do?” in that magic voice of hers. Her smile…oh! the memory!

Clyde came up the steps and barked twice, indicating his need was getting extreme, and Henry grabbed the leash and took him ashore. Clyde took his time finding just the right bush to hose down, then circled twice and dropped a dump truck load on an ant hill. Taggart groaned. “Damn, boy, they’re getting stinkier!” That was worth a wag or two of the tail, then they made their way back to the Bandit. Taggart settled behind the wheel, so Clyde sat next to him and waited for his head rub, which was none too soon in coming.

Then he heard Dina down in the shower so he finished his coffee – and without warning he vomited – and he saw streaks of blood in clear fluid that almost looked like mucous…

Dina heard the noise and was on deck before he finished cleaning up the mess.

He told her what had happened, then…

“What did it look like?”

“Blood streaks, thick clear mucous looking stuff, no food in it.”

She shook her head. “If you can’t get more food down this will get worse. Understood? You have to eat more!”

“But I’m not hungry, Dina?”

“It does not matter. Three times a day, even a little. You have to keep your body nourished or it will not be able to fight. Clear?” She sighed. “Next town we come to we will need to get a blood count. Did you drink coffee, too?”

“Yes.”

“No, Henry. Not without food. You’d do better with herbal teas, too. Now, let me get you a scone, then I’m going to fix you some eggs. Will you eat some ham or bacon?”

“You’re the doctor. You put it down in front of me and I’ll eat it. Promise, okay?

He ate her breakfast and a half hour later it came back up; he bent over the rail and let go right into the river.

“Henry, next time that happens I need to examine the contents for blood, okay? This is important, alright?”

He nodded. “What about that shake you gave me yesterday? I held that down okay.”

“You should not be vomiting so soon…”

“Let me try the shake again, and I have some antacid tabs in the medicine cabinet above our sink.”

She disappeared down the companionway and he disconnected the shore power cord, then started the diesel. He pulled in their dock lines and backed out of the slip, then turned into the river – still heading generally north. Dina came up and handed him the canned shake and he tossed it down, then shivered just a little.

“That is a taste I don’t think I will ever get used to,” he grimaced.

“Do you like salmon?”

“Yup, in all its forms, but not in a milkshake.”

She grinned. “What about sushi?”

“Especially sushi.”

She nodded. “Do we have to transit a lock today?”

“Yeah, assuming we make it there in time; it’s only about 20 miles.”

She sighed: “I wish you would speak in kilometers…”

“Yeah, okay, call it 32 clicks. What do you think about maybe getting a bigger boat?”

“What? Are you serious?”

“Yeah. The way things are shaping up, if you guys had a boat big enough to handle all of you, well, it might help to, you know, bring all of you together on a regular basis.”

“I’m not sure I can talk about the future right now, Henry. Not that future, anyway.”

“Sorry, and yeah, I understand. Probably better if I just handle things while I can.”

She turned and looked at the passing landscape – pastures off to the right, some rugged low hills to port, the rail line still there, trains whizzing by now and then. “Are you thinking about such things often?”

“Yeah, more or less. I have ideas, some I pass them along to Sigrid.”

“The lawyer?”

“Yup. When I’m, well, you know, just get in touch with her.”

“What about your holdings in the States?”

“Everything has been transferred into a trust. In Bergen. She’ll lay it all out for you.”

“What about the boat?”

“It’ll belong to the trust for the time being.”

“I like this boat. If you got something new that would mean getting rid of this one, no?”

“No, not at all. I can put the new boat into the trust and leave Time Bandit to you. Would you prefer that?” She nodded her head but looked away, he could tell she was crying and trying to hide it from him. “I suppose you’ll take care of her, right?”

“Of course. I may even take her on a long trip. Would that be okay?”

“Of course? Where would you go?”

“Wherever you tell me to go.”

“Ah, so you intend to keep talking to me even after, eh?”

“Of course. Every night before bed.”

“I feel like such a flake. Bugging out without changing even one diaper. Sheesh, the nerve of some people’s children…”

“I hope we have a bunch of boys – and that they have your humor.”

“Dearie me. You do have a pretty wide masochistic streak, don’t you?”

“A little, maybe yes.”

“Well, enough of this crap. Get out the guidebook and lets figure out the day…

+++++

Dina and Astrid whipped up a salmon bisque to go with fresh bread and Taggart enjoyed the soup, and when he kept it down Dina relaxed a little. ‘I just have to find things he can tolerate,’ she said to herself. ‘And fill him with nutrients when I can…’

They approached their first lock, right inside the village of Lilla Edet, and it was a big one; the guidebook said it was often full of commercial freighters and small passenger boats, as well as small pleasure craft. Today was, unfortunately, no exception. A big, red-hulled freighter had already pulled into the cavernous lock, and a white passenger boat came in right behind them…so their first attempt at trying a lock would be a trying affair. And one with an audience.

“Let’s get Clyde down below,” Henry said as they approached the entry. “Rolf, you stand by with the bow line; I’ll handle the stern from here,” he added as he maneuvered Time Bandit into a space indicated by the lock-keeper. The red bricked wall looked to be about thirty feet tall, and bronze bollards were recessed in the wall at regular intervals; the trick would be to secure the Bandit to one bollard, and, as it started to rise, to get another line rigged on the next bollard – that was now too high to reach.

The white passenger ship came up behind them and then the lock’s gate closed behind them. When it was secure water began filling the lock chamber, and the water rushed in with incredible velocity, creating a turbulent wash that made holding onto the lines a real chore. The commercial ships had heavy lines and specialized equipment to handle the load, while Time Bandit had Rolf and Henry…

“Okay Rolf, get your line on the next bollard!” he called out when they’d risen about eight feet, and then he scrambled to get his line secure on his next bollard. But…in the end it proved an easier than expected transit, and when the gate opened they motored out of the lock behind the red freighter, then the little cruise ship motored out. Then, all three of boats motored along in a spontaneous parade, with the passengers on the liner behind standing on the bow taking pictures of Taggart & Company. 

The landscape was more rugged now, hills flanked both sides of the river here, and the river itself bent more frequently to accommodate the hilly terrain. And with each new bend little villages popped up unexpectedly, each sporting at least one church steeple, many with bakeries and markets near the water, so stopping was always a temptation – and a handy option if supplies ran low.

“This is so different from an ocean passage,” Henry said…to no one in particular. “All we need is a chocolate factory…”

“And a golden ticket!” Astrid added – making Rolf smile.

Clyde chose that moment to jump into Taggart’s lap, and sitting there with his front paws draped over Taggart’s shoulders, and with his snout resting beside Taggart’s neck he promptly fell asleep – and started snoring. Taggart wrapped his arms around the pup and scratched his back, and he soon felt a moan of contentment come from deep inside. Of course, Rolf took another picture with his iPhone…

After a brief snooze Clyde jumped down and went off in search of a water bowl, and Henry turned the wheel over to Rolf. He walked forward and pulled out his own phone, then he called Hallberg-Rassy, a boat builder on the Swedish coast just north of Gothenburg. He explained what he needed and his time constraints; they advised they usually built on a semi-custom basis but had had a recent order cancellation just before delivery was to be made. It was a new 57 footer, and the rep went over the details; Taggart was intrigued enough to want to see it.

“We’re on the Trollhätten Canal, actually approaching the town of Trollhätten,” he advised.

“Ah, that is very close to here. We could send a car for you in the morning, if you like. Would that work out for you?”

“Yes, I think so. I’ll let you know where we moor for the night.”

The rep made a few recommendations for places to tie-up overnight and then rang off.

“Who did you call,” Dina asked, standing behind him at the mast.

“Feel like looking at a boat tomorrow?”

“You are serious, aren’t you?”

“Yes, of course.”

She shrugged. “Okay. Is it far from here?”

“No, I don’t think so. Maybe an hour away.”

She sighed. “Are you always so – decisive?”

“Well, circumstances have changed, haven’t they? I want to get it right, and I don’t want to waste time, so I have to move fast. How far are we from Trollhätten?”

“About seven miles…”

“Miles! You used miles, and after telling me to…”

“I know, I know,” she grinned, “but that silly machine only gives a readout in miles.”

“Nautical miles, Dina. The same unit of measurement on all my nautical charts. Look, just multiple miles by 1.6 and you have clicks…”

“Clicks? what is it with this clicks-thing!”

“Just a bad habit I picked up when I was an American…”

“Bosh! You are an American through and through…”

“Look! A Burger King!” he shouted, pointing at a little castle on a hilltop. “Let’s go!”

She shook her head as she muttered her way back to the cockpit.

“And the crowd goes wild, Ladies and Germs! Team Taggart scores again!”

+++++

The Hallberg-Rassy yard was immaculate, and the 57 was tied up just below their main offices. Taggart looked at her as he walked up, admiring not only her lines but the apparent simplicity of the rig. The cockpit was amazing, with literally everything electrically coupled to the helm. You could, the rep explained, adjust everything from the wheels: furl the sails, adjust the sheets, raise or lower the anchor, or operate the thrusters…

“Did you say thrusters, as in more than one?”

“Yes, bow and stern.”

“Hell, even I could pass the parallel parking test with this rig.”

Dina had already gone below and she was calling for him now – almost urgently.

“What’s wrong?” he asked after he’d made his way down the companionway steps. 

“There’s a dishwasher in the galley!” she cried.

“And a washing machine in the owner’s head,” the rep advised.

“On a sailboat?” she said, wide-eyed, then she turned to Henry. “Have you ever!?”

“I think she likes this boat,” the rep said, smiling now.

He showed them around for two hours, going over literally every system onboard at least twice. Then: “Shall we go for a sail?”

“No thanks,” Taggart said, and the rep looked crestfallen, so did Dina. “I think I’ve already made up my mind.”

“Oh?” the rep and Dina said in unison.

“Let me get you my attorney’s number. You can call her in an hour to arrange for transfer of funds and registration information. We’ll swing by here in about three weeks to pick up the 57. At that time I’d like to drop off my current boat and leave her in dry storage here in your yard. We’ll arrange for pickup next Spring. During that time could you winterize the boat’s systems and perform whatever maintenance you think necessary?”

“Of course,” the rep said. “Shall we paint a new ship’s name and port on the stern?”

“Yes, please. Time Bandits, plural, out of Bergen, Norway.”

“I’ll see to it personally, sir.”

+++++

They made it back to Time Bandit in time for a late lunch, then they transited the Trollhätten locks – as in more than one. These were once again huge commercial affairs, sized to accommodate smaller ocean going freighters and, once again, they transited with large ships. After the second lock they motored through the city center, waiting for two bridges to be raised, before they stopped for the day at a purpose built lagoon off the Spiköstigen. It was early enough that Dina wanted to get Henry to the local hospital’s lab for a round of bloodwork, so a taxi was called and off they went.

“Nice having my own personal doc, ya know?”

“Don’t let it go to your head,” she said as she filled out the paperwork the oncologist in Gothenburg had provided. “Now go! The vampires await!”

“Did I mention I hate needles?”

“Only ten times on the taxi ride here.”

“Oh. Well…I hate needles.”

“Go!”

He went to lab then ambled back to her ten minutes later. “They got it on the first try this time.”

“Lucky you. They will call me with the results this evening, so let’s go.”

“Yeah, hospitals give you the willies, huh?”

“The what?”

“The willies. You know, like a shiver that runs up your spine when you watch a horror flick?”

“You watch horror films?”

“No.”

“You confuse me too much, Henry Taggart.”

“Excellent!”

“How would you like a nice proctologist’s exam?”

“I don’t know. Hum a few bars and maybe I’ll recognize it.”

“You are going to drive me mad!”

“And the crowd goes wild!” 

+++++

And so it went. A seemingly endless idyll motoring across Sweden by river – interspersed with two long days sailing across lakes Vänern and Vättern, two huge lakes in Sweden’s interior. More villages, bakeries and ice cream shops, summer crowds – with many gathered along the edges of the various locks watching the action.

Astrid began to emotionally separate from Rolf the closer Bandit got to Stockholm, intuitively knowing their journey of the heart was coming to an end. Rolf did his best to show a stiff upper lip, but he too began to withdraw. Sensing that something was wrong, Clyde stayed with them the night before she was scheduled to fly back to Oslo. Taggart sent the two of them by taxi to the airport, and when Rolf returned a few hours later he clambered back onboard and disappeared into his cabin. Taggart decided to let him be. Clyde did not; he went forward and stayed with Rolf…

He spent a day at yet another hospital and yet another oncologist ‘gave him the bad news’ – and Taggart began to suspect that some physicians actually got into the role of telling some people they were going to die, rather like medieval priests relished their role as gatekeepers to the afterlife. Maybe it was a power dynamic, he thought, though he dared not bring up the subject with Dina.

After transiting almost sixty locks many of Bandits lines and fenders were worn out, so Taggart took Rolf shopping at a marine supply store; afterwards, they spent the rest of the day organizing the new goodies while discarding the old. Bandit spent another day getting her engine serviced, and the three of them played the tourist game and wandered around Stockholm for a day. After that, all that remained was a daunting 400 mile run down the Baltic Sea to Copenhagen, then a sedate passage through the Kattegat – passing Gothenburg on the way to Ellös, where the new boat waited. Of course, a stop in Copenhagen was mandatory – at least according to Dina it was – because ‘the best oncologists in the world’ could be found there.

Stockholm was, Taggart soon discovered, called the Venice of the North for a reason. Almost every neighborhood in the city was located on an island, and there were marinas everywhere. And…people everywhere, too…

“Everyone in this city must own a goddam boat!” he growled as they waited for yet another bridge to open. “It’s like Los Angeles at rush hour…only on the water!” It took a day and half just to wind there way through the maze to the open sea, but by then he’d decided the rocky coast was the most enticing sailing grounds he’d ever seen. “You could sail here and never see the same island twice!” The charts for the area were a condensed blur of astonishing detail, as even what appeared to be large rocks had anchorages listed.

Still, while open water beckoned they ran into the same intemperate weather they had experienced in Gothenburg: a huge high pressure system had parked itself over Northern Europe and the region was baking under temperatures reaching the high 90sF. Sailors had to deal with winds most charitably called ‘light and variable’ – which meant breezes so light and capricious that sailing became pointless. Which meant the engine was doomed to power most of Bandit’s trip to Copenhagen. The air conditioner would work overtime too, and when they’d first gotten underway in Stockholm, Dina had ordained that no one spend more than an hour at the wheel while temps remained so extreme.

Taggart detested running the engine – Bandit was a sailboat, after all – but making two knots over the bottom was simply not feasible now. He found that now he was constantly modifying his itinerary to squeeze in new routes that would take them by ‘something they just had to see’ – at least according to this or that guidebook, or according to fellow sailors they met at locks or when berthed at marinas. But August was looming now, which left two – or possibly three months to get to Paris, given his oncologists prevailing timeline, anyway.

But, he reasoned, the bad weather couldn’t last all summer, could it? Whatever, the new boat would be fast, potentially much faster than Time Bandit. With those factors working in his favor, the plan was to pick up Time Bandits and leave Ellös – only heading back towards Copenhagen. Then they’d cut south, making for the eastern entrance to the Kiel Canal, a shortcut that could save a potentially punishing first crossing of the North Sea in an untested boat. The plan from there was, so far at least, unchanged. Duck into the Dutch canal system and head south to Belgium and France. Somewhere along the French coast he’d unship the mast and proceed down the Seine to Paris, then put his feet up and bask in the glow of a handful of memories until…yeah, well…until Shit Happened.

So…leaving the Stockholm Archipelago in their wake, and as the Bandit found the open sea again, Taggart turned to the south and set the autopilot. With that out of the way, Clyde jumped into Henry’s lap and assumed the position, and the pup was soon snoring away. Dina was down in the galley preparing some sort of soup and Rolf was sitting on the bow, lost in wonder no doubt, pondering the meaning of existence without his one true love sitting there by his side…

…when he heard a thunderous roar…just after a concussive blast knocked him to the cockpit floor…

© 2020 adrian leverkühn | abw | this is a work of fiction, pure and simple; the next chapter will drop in a week or so.

Part V

Chapter 47

It is early autumn on the Izu peninsula, and summer’s leaves are in a desperate, if futile, rush to soak up the last warming light of the year. Those usually first to let go and fall to the ground, the red leafed maples, have turned a deeper red, and some limbs have already been stripped bare by cold gales coming in off the nearby sea. Still, many trees along the forest trail still cling to the sun’s light, and summer’s greens and golds stand in stark contrast to the reds and deep orange notes of the changing seasons.

Callahan followed Fujiko along the path to the Inn of the Enchanted Spires one autumn day – as Frank had taken to calling the place – though Frank had remained in Ajiro, the village where he’d experienced his first living epiphany from Clavell’s Shōgun. 

Callahan had his Nikon out as he walked, and he had been shooting leaves and rocks as he walked along in the silence, though every now and then he had taken a shot or two of Fujiko. She stopped just ahead now and waited for him to catch up, and he found her standing on a tall granite outcropping with her arms outstretched to the sun – as if she too wanted to soak up the last warmth of summer.

Her long black hair was pulled up in a tight bun this morning, and now, instead of the more traditional clothing she had worn on their first trip here, she was wearing hiking shorts and low-cut boots, as well as a light fleece jacket over a gray turtleneck. She looked, in other words, like any other Californian – and Callahan had noticed the same divergence of character ever since he and Bullitt had arrived four days ago.

She had begun to set herself apart from Japan, he thought at first, because – perhaps – she had decided she was leaving Japan for good, but on their second day she had taken Frank and Harry to meet her older brother at his house outside of Osaka – and she had presented herself as the epitome of traditional Japanese culture when in his presence.

So, he assumed she was as yet undecided, still caught up in the vacuum of ‘finding herself’ – whatever the hell that meant. Yet she was different now, inescapably so. She had been taking language classes, and not English – but French. She had hinted in her letters about wanting to find work as a translator, and possibly in the diplomatic arena, and yet now that he was with her she didn’t want to talk about any of that.

At one point he had become convinced that she was trying to let him down gently, but then she told him she had made reservations at the spires – and for several nights. One room, not two. He teetered on the edge of confusion, until Frank said that by putting him a confused state she was only strengthening her negotiating position.

“Negotiating position?” Callahan barked. “What the hell…”

“Yeah, Harry, everything in life is a negotiation, from deciding where two people go for dinner to even to what color socks you alone decide to wear. My guess is she’s reserved a room out there for several nights to feel you out, then present her terms. The problem right now is she has no idea what kind of life you’re leading right now. You’ve gone from being a relatively easy to understand ‘cop’ to being the owner of two successful corporations, and the problem as I see it is she probably thinks she’s still going to be negotiating with the easy to understand cop she met last time. In other words, she has no idea of the changes you’ve undergone over the last year and a half.”

“Okay, I can buy that…”

“Yeah? Well, there are two parts to this equation, Callahan. You have changed. You deal with people from a position of real strength now, and that position can come through as decidedly and uncompromisingly direct. So in other words, you don’t suffer fools very well, not anymore. You had to when you were a cop because that was part of the game. You know – ‘to protect and serve.’ Well, you serve customers now, and your approach has changed. You’re much more concerned with the well being of your companies now and you tend to act decisively as a result. Just try to remember she has no idea of how you’ve changed, let alone the why of things.”

“So, how should I proceed?”

“Let her lay it out there. Don’t try to react until you’ve had a chance to think about things, especially if what she has to say seems to force a lot of compromises on you – but not on her. Step back from yourself if you can, and try to think one or two moves ahead. And don’t get boxed in by emotionally overreacting.”

He looked at her now, standing on the rock with her arms outstretched as if she was expecting to fly, and he brought the Nikon up to his eyes. He studied her for a moment – as objectively as he could – and he tried to think of her as a stranger might…walking down this trail and running into this scene. She was – objectively – beautiful. She looked almost like a statue standing there, a monument to man’s idea of irrational beauty – outstretched arms turned into the sun and the seaborne wind, muscles quivering as she teetered on the edge of the outcropping. It was, he thought, impossible not to overreact to her symmetry and beauty.

Then she turned and looked down at him, and he thought her eyes looked different now. No longer soft and inviting, they looked feral, almost predatory in this setting…then she jumped and landed at his feet.

“I love this place,” she whispered. “The wind through the trees and the sea in the distance, each competing for dominance, each beautiful in their own way. But here, right here, you don’t have to choose. Both can reside inside you – just here!”

She took a step closer and paused, looked into his eyes and he saw the soft, inviting warmth he was used to…

“Just outside your house on the cliffs there is a tree,” she said, “and one morning I sat there listening to the sea and the tree and I could see my life unfolding there – with you. But now I can see that you have grown old in the last year. You are now consumed with the twin ideas of money and power, and I must admit, Harry, that I did not see this happening to you. Even Frank has changed, but not as much as you.”

“I thought we, you and I, were over. I had nowhere else to turn.”

“Yes, I see that. Now the question is an even simpler one: do you have room for me in the life you have chosen?”

“You know, I could say ‘of course I do,’ but that would be presumptuous. People work for me now. A lot of people, people who depend on me every day to make good decisions – decisions that impact their lives. And the really unexpected thing, Fujiko, is how much I enjoy this new life. It turns out I’m actually pretty good at this stuff, but more than that…I have been able to create something that lets a lot of very talented people do a job that makes them happy. What could possibly be better than that?”

“You see?”

“I do. But there is still one thing missing, one very important element that would make my life complete.”

“Yes? And that is?”

“You.”

“I see.”

“Do you? I’m not sure that’s even possible, Fujiko. Once you said we should be patient, that we should take the time to get to know one another before we took our first steps together…”

“I remember.”

“Well, that didn’t work. It didn’t because it couldn’t. There was nothing to lose, nothing on the line. It was too easy for you to walk away, and too easy for me to let you.”

“So, what do you propose?”

“That’s a loaded word, Fujiko, isn’t it. Standing out here in the wind by the sea.”

“Yes, it is.”

“Is that what you want now?”

“It is an interesting possibility.”

“I see,” he said, smiling even in defeat. “Are you sure you want to go to the inn?”

“Yes, of course,” she answered, puzzled. “I just watched a very serious change come over you, and now I do not recognize this person.”

“I’ve grown used to negotiating with people…”

“Is that what this is? A negotiation? Am I a commodity now…”

“What I saw was a continuation. You left California telling me you needed time, and when you say something like marriage is an interesting possibility you are negotiating for more time. Isn’t that true?”

“I would not call something so…”

“I would, and I would do so because it feels that way to me.”

She reached out, took his hand and pulled him towards the inn – but he did not budge an inch. She looked at him again, even more puzzled now. “I do not recognize this new man, Harry-san. There are great changes people face, true enough, but something deeper has changed within you.”

“I want you, Fujiko. And I want you because I love you. But in my three days here you have not mentioned those words once. Why?”

“Because I am afraid.”

“Are you afraid of me?”

“Yes. A little. These things in your eyes, they are so very different now.”

“Some things change, Fujiko. Some things never do. Are you saying your love for me has changed?”

“No, I am not. I am saying that we have three days ahead of us to find the answer to these questions.”

“Alright. Then please, lead the way.”

And that, Callahan said to himself, is what you call negotiating from a position of strength.

________________________________

“So, how is he doing?” Cathy asked.

“I don’t know yet,” Frank said over the long distance connection. “He seems unsure of himself one minute, then overconfident the next.”

“How did Fujiko look?”

“Look? She looks the same. I think she’s really unsure of herself now that she’s seen Harry.”

“Frank, I don’t know how to say this but I’m unsure of myself around Harry these days. And maybe because everything he touches turns to gold. Three high-rise apartment towers under construction in a year and a half. Five small apartment buildings knocked down for new condo projects, and now he’s got both CAT and the new airline. He’s going to be on the cover of next month’s California Magazine, too…”

“Really? I hadn’t heard that.”

“Yeah, well, it’s happening. And what I said when I saw him last still bugs me. He doesn’t look well. More than that, he looks, uh – I guess the word I keep thinking about is ‘wrong’ – he looks all wrong to me right now…”

“Sometimes I think money does that to people. Money imparts a visible confidence, Cathy. I’ve seen it on the streets for decades, too. When you’re poor it’s something you can see in people’s eyes. Call it insecurity, call it fear, but the opposite holds true for really wealthy people. You can see wealth in their eyes, even in the way they smile…”

“Frank?”

“Yes?”

“What have you been smoking over there?”

“Cathy, I’m being serious.”

“I know you are, and that’s what bothers me. And I’m saying that Harry doesn’t just look different, he looks all wrong, too, like this isn’t the way he’s supposed to be…that something very fundamental within him has been altered.”

“Cathy? What have you been smoking?”

“Okay Frank, okay. But I need to ask you something, and please don’t take it the wrong way.”

“Okay.”

“That thing he does with the piano…”

“Nope, doesn’t work that way, Cathy. We’ve only been able to see into the past.”

“Yeah, but…what if that’s not all he can do?”

“Cathy? You’re barking up the wrong tree, and besides, even if he could, Harry wouldn’t do it. And anyway, he can’t – so whatever it is you think you’re seeing, put it down to stress and working too much, okay?”

“Oh, speaking of…I finally met that new CFO…”

“DD?”

“Yeah. She’s a hoot, too. Pure brainiac. Man, did he luck out with that one.”

“I told you, didn’t I?”

“Yes, you did. Oh, and that reminds me. The other Didi called. Evelyn checked herself out of the clinic in Davos and apparently she’s flown back to Boston.”

“What?”

“You heard me, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, I heard you, but what’s her status? You said she checked herself out. What exactly does that mean?”

“There wasn’t a lot more than that she could tell me, Frank.”

“Boston, you said?”

“Yup.”

“That doesn’t make sense. She doesn’t know anyone there, not anymore. Or does she?”

“Not that I know of.”

“Well, hell,” Bullitt said. “That’s a fly in the ointment.”

“Why?”

“Well, the last reports we had stated she was becoming increasingly more violent. Now she’s flown the coop and we have no idea what her mental state is. That could be a real problem.”

“You think too much like a cop, Frank.”

“Yeah? Well, I find I live longer that way.”

“Well then, maybe you should call Didi, or even the clinic, ya know?”

“You have the numbers handy?”

“No, but I bet Harry does.”

“I have a bad feeling about this, Cathy. She’s never really been all that stable, but she was never violent before.”

“Aside from trying to hurt herself, you mean.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, maybe she’s externalized all that anger now.”

“What does that mean?”

“Maybe she, oh hell, Frank, I don’t know. Maybe she just got homesick and wanted to come back to the states.”

“Yeah. Maybe.”

“So, what’s next for you two?”

“I guess that depends on Fujiko,” Frank sighed. “Anyway, we should be back in Osaka tomorrow night. I’ll call you when we get to the hotel. How’s the spud?”

“She’s good, but I have no idea how you manage changing diapers without…”

“I do. Every time.”

“I’ve never smelled anything like it,” she added. 

“The joys of parenthood never end, I guess.”

She laughed at that. “Okay. Well, I’ll talk to you tomorrow sometime.”

“Yup. You two sleep tight. Talk to you tomorrow, babe…”

__________________________________

She seemed happier now, more at ease than she had been since their reunion in Osaka, and perhaps because Callahan had decided to let Fujiko set the tone and pace of their time at the inn. He was struck most by the gradual transformation that occurred the longer they stayed in this soothingly atmospheric enclave, too: she reverted to her more formal self, to the much more traditional Japanese mannerisms he had seen on their first visit here, discarding her more western approach like she was shedding a layer of  skin. They spent most of their time in the hot springs, occasionally diving into the sea to cool down, but on the last afternoon she decided she wanted to do some rock climbing and off they went…

…To a cliff-lined stretch of coast close to the inn. She chose an easy hundred meter climb for their first ascent – easy because there were solid crags all the way up the face so an enormous variety of abundant hand and footholds. Still, a hundred meters without ropes was something Callahan had never tried before, so he was a little uneasy as he stood at the base of the cliff, looking up the sheer face at blue sky and scudding clouds.

She led the way but he picked his own route up, and he soon found the challenge, and the inherent danger, fundamentally exhilarating. At one point as he neared the summit he paused and looked down – and he felt a sudden tightening in his groin…as if his testicles had decided they’d had enough and were opting to sit this one out. He shifted his focus to the way ahead and finished his climb moments after she did.

They walked down a narrow trail littered with rocky scree back to the sea, then she made her way to a more difficult ascent. This face was smooth in places, though long, vertical cracks slashed deep channels in the rock near the top. Callahan looked at the cliff and shook his head.

“You sure you want to try this one?” he asked.

“Oh yes, very much so,” she said as she grabbed a handhold, beginning her ascent.

Callahan studied the rock face, saw Fujiko was headed up a dead end route, that she needed to be about ten feet to the right to gain the cracks that were the key to this face, so he started up this way…soon overtaking her as she ran out of easy hand holds.

“You need to get over here,” he said, “or you’ll run out of maneuvering room.”

“I will manage,” she said through gritted teeth, but he could tell her arms were stressed now, and that she was more worried than she put on.

He gained the first crack and began his final ascent, reaching the top in a few more minutes. He looked down, saw she was still fixed to the rock – in the same place – so he found the trail and ran down to the sea then out to the cliffs.

When he found her he climbed as quickly as he could to reach her, and when he got to her he could see that she was clearly terrified now.

“I’m here,” he said gently.

“I am tired. Not sure I can climb anymore.”

“We’re going to go down now, and I’m going to guide your feet, put them onto footholds. Fujiko, look at me. You can do this…”

“I am not so sure.”

“I am. Now, listen to my voice.”

“I will.”

He took her right foot and moved it down several inches.

“Okay, ease your weight off your left foot and onto your right foot, and do the same with your hands.”

“Alright.”

“Remember…try to keep weight on three points at all times. Two hands and one foot – three points. We’ll take weight off the descending foot first, the other three will support you.”

“Got it.”

“Then get your weight on the new foot and move the other down. Okay?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, move down to the new foot, but keep your hands secure on their holds.”

“Yes, please. Stay with me.”

“I’m right here…”

It took a half hour to reach the rocks below, and Fujiko was a trembling, nervous wreck by then. When her feet hit solid ground she flew into his arms and held him close; he could feel her arms trembling, her legs too, so he carried her to a large rock and helped her sit…

“Why did you want to climb today?” he asked.

“I wanted to feel close to the edge.”

“The edge…of what?”

“Of existence, perhaps even to death. I wanted to tempt death, and to cheat death.”

“Well, I guess we did.”

She nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, very much so. I feel wonderful, don’t you?”

“I’m not sure wonderful is the word…”

“You must let go, Harry. You must feel the limits of your existence…”

“You clearly have never been a cop before…”

She smiled. “Yes. So sorry, I forget this part of you. To have lived so close to death for so long. I could manage one afternoon only. You must please forgive me for bringing you to this place.”

“I enjoyed…”

“What did you enjoy? Saving my life?”

“Not exactly. I enjoyed helping you find the strength to find a way out of the dilemma you were in.”

“You told me I was not taking the correct way, and I willfully chose not to listen to you.”

“You live and learn.”

“If you are lucky,” she sighed.

“I’m not sure there is such a thing, Fujiko. I think people make choices, some good, some bad.”

“Perhaps so. Harry?”

“Yes?”

“I am ready to go now.”

“To the inn? Okay…”

“No, so sorry. I was not clear. I am ready to go to California with you. To be with you always. You have proven to me that you are a trustworthy partner, that you will be trustworthy always. I am ready now.”

“We have the tea ceremony tonight, correct?”

“Yes. a master will provide for us tonight, and after this night we will be together until time itself unties the cords of our existence.”

“I see.”

“Is this what you wish, Harry? Truly?”

“It is, yes.”

“Then this shall be. We shall become as one tonight.”

He followed her back to the inn and they soaked in hot spring water, then played in the sea. They had a small dinner, then they went to the outermost spire for the tea ceremony. This ceremony was different from the first, however; very stylized and rigid. Very little was said; the ceremony was more a ritual of movement, graceful movement, but there was a solemnity to the words and movements that entranced Callahan, and there was a marked difference in the way she made love to him after they returned to their spire. She was submissive one moment, then utterly possessive the next, and when they were ready for sleep she lay next to him with a contentedness he’d never felt before.

They picked up Frank in Ajiro the next morning then drove to Osaka. They dropped fujiko at her brother’s house and drove into the city, to their hotel. There was a message from DD waiting for Callahan, and as soon as he was in his room he called her.

“DD? Harry. How are…”

“Harry, there’s been some trouble here.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. Apparently Frank’s sister left Switzerland. She went to Boston, then made her way here. Is Frank with you now?”

“No. He’s going to his room now.”

“Well, Cathy’s gone.”

“Gone? What do you mean, gone?”

“Murdered, Harry. The baby’s not at the house, either; she was taken, and apparently by Frank’s sister…”

Callahan sat in rigid silence, his eyes wide open, and it felt as though the world had simply stopped moving.

“I have you on a flight out of Osaka at eleven tonight. One stop in Honolulu, then direct to SFO. A Captain Delgetti will meet you at the gate on arrival; Mickey will fly you up to the ranch.”

He tried to speak but the words wouldn’t come. Then he just managed to say “Three of us coming.”

“Yes, I made reservations for three.”

“I-uh-okay. I’ll call before we leave for the airport.”

“Yessir. If there’s anything new I’ll update you then.”

He hung up the phone gently and went to the sink and washed his face, tried to clear away the tears and the agony of the moment, then he heard a knock on the door.

It was Frank.

He let his best friend into room – then told him their world had just stopped and come undone.

_________________________________

Fujiko sat with Frank on the airplane until he fell asleep, then she joined Callahan.

“I have never felt such anger,” she said. “His heart has turned to cold stone.”

“Can you imagine being betrayed by your sister, by your own flesh and blood?”

“No, in truth I cannot, but his spirit is far from broken. He has become death – cold, vengeful death.”

“Have you ever seen a murder scene?” he asked.

She shook her head.

“There’s an ugliness, a brutal sense of violation when you look at someone who has been murdered. Like the time you spoke of after the tea ceremony, only time has been purposefully violated there. Worse then that, the violence of the scene is usually indescribably grotesque. Blood belongs in the body, not splattered indiscriminately over floors and walls and ceilings. When you look at a bullet wound or a knife wound you are looking into the eyes of madness, and that’s something most people never have to contend with.”

“What you are describing is horrible.”

Callahan nodded. “Then consider that Frank has investigated over two hundred murders. Think of how many times he has looked into those eyes, all the madness he’s seen. To solve a murder you first have to understand the madness behind the crime, so that’s several hundred varieties of madness Frank has had to come to terms with. And do you know – Frank has solved every case he’s been assigned.”

“He is a good police officer, is that what you are telling me?”

“Not good, Fujiko. Frank is the best of the best.”

“Yes?”

“But now he will have to sit back and watch other people try to find his sister, and his daughter.”

She shook her head. “This he will not do.”

Callahan smiled. “No, this we will not do.”

© 2020 adrian leverkühn | abw | and as always, thanks for stopping by for a look around the memory warehouse…[and a last word or two on sources: I typically don’t post all a story’s acknowledgments until I’ve finished, if only because I’m not sure how many I’ll need until work is finalized. Yet with current circumstances (i.e., Covid-19) waiting to list sources might not be the best way to proceed. To begin, the ‘primary source’ material in this case – so far, at least – derives from two seminal Hollywood ‘cop’ films: Dirty Harry and Bullitt. The first Harry film was penned by Harry Julian Fink, R.M. Fink, Dean Riesner, John Milius, Terrence Malick, and Jo Heims. Bullitt came primarily from the author of the screenplay for The Thomas Crown Affair, Alan R Trustman, with help from Harry Kleiner, as well Robert L Fish, whose short story Mute Witness formed the basis of Trustman’s brilliant screenplay. Steve McQueen’s grin was never trade-marked, though perhaps it should have been. John Milius (Red Dawn) penned Magnum Force, and the ‘Briggs’/vigilante storyline derives from characters and plot elements originally found in that rich screenplay, as does the Captain McKay character. The Jennifer Spencer/Threlkis crime family storyline was first introduced in Sudden Impact, screenplay by Joseph Stinson, original story by Earl Smith and Charles Pierce. The Samantha Walker television reporter is found in The Dead Pool, screenplay by Steve Sharon, story by Steve Sharon, Durk Pearson, and Sandy Shaw.  I have to credit the Jim Parish, M.D., character first seen in the Vietnam segments to John A. Parrish, M.D., author of the most fascinating account of an American physician’s tour of duty in Vietnam – and as found in his autobiographical 12, 20, and 5: A Doctor’s Year in Vietnam, a book worth noting as one of the most stirring accounts of modern warfare I’ve ever read (think Richard Hooker’s M*A*S*H, only featuring a blazing sense of irony conjoined within a searing non-fiction narrative). Denton Cooley, M.D. founded the Texas Heart Institute, as mentioned. Of course, James Clavell’s Shōgun forms a principle backdrop in later chapters. The teahouse and hotel of spires in Ch. 42 is a product of the imagination; so-sorry. Many of the other figures in this story derive from characters developed within the works cited above, but keep in mind that, as always, the rest of this story is in all other respects a work of fiction woven into a pre-existing cinematic-historical fabric. Using the established characters referenced above, as well as the few new characters I’ve managed to come up with here and there, I hoped to create something new – perhaps a running commentary on the times we’ve shared with these fictional characters? And the standard disclaimer also here applies: the central characters in this tale should not be mistaken for persons living or dead. This was, in other words, just a little walk down a road more or less imagined, and nothing more than that should be inferred. I’d be remiss not to mention Clint Eastwood’s Harry Callahan, and Steve McQueen’s Frank Bullitt. Talk about the roles of a lifetime…and what a gift.]

Part V

Chapter 46

The valet at Trader Vics pulled up in the Rover and Callahan helped Linton Tomlinson into the passenger seat.

“Are you sure you’re okay to drive?” she asked.

“Yes. I’m good..”

“I don’t understand. How could you drink so much and…?”

“Because I was drinking pineapple juice, on the rocks.”

“I, well, I don’t understand…”

“Then let me explain it for you. We bring all potential new-hires here, and we let ‘em do what they want, no restrictions. We get to see a live demonstration of their sense of responsibility, their ability to handle themselves – and we also get a little peek inside with all your defenses down. The waiters know me, and they know Rooney, so they bring us juice or tea. And that’s the plan, each time we do this.”

“So, what you’re saying is this was a test, right?”

“Right.”

“And I failed, right?”

“That’s right. And just for your information, the alcohol was bad enough, but trying to hit the sheets with a potential CEO was a really bad call on your part. As my CFO, I’d rely on you for objective information and advice, and after sex that would go out the window, wouldn’t it?”

“You’re not going to mention this to anyone, are you?”

“God knows I should, but no. You’re somebody else’s problem, not mine.”

She got out of the Rover when she hearing that, then she flipped him off after she slammed the door shut.

He rolled down the window: “Ya know? I think I will call Herb. You have a nice night,” he added as he drove off. Then he got on the two-meter rig and called Mickey.

“Did you tell her, or do you want me to in the morning?” Rooney asked.

“No, I think she got the picture.”

“Did she come on to you, too? I didn’t want to see that…”

“Yeah.”

“Goddam! I had hopes for this one.”

“Maybe we ought to focus on old guys from now on, ya know?”

“Well, you ain’t gonna like it, but I got a gal from San Diego coming up first thing in the morning.”

“Really? What time?”

“Eight-thirty, and she’s the one from PSA – remember – you liked her resumé. Said she’d take a cab in from the airport, so call it nine or a little after.”

“Mickey, any more pineapple juice and I’m going to turn into a fuckin’ diabetic.”

Rooney chuckled. “You have time to fly her around in the morning?”

“Yeah. I need the hours, and Pattison says that new 412 will be ready to go in the morning, so I’ll take it up for the final acceptance flight. Uh, I forgot…what’s the girl’s name?”

“Deborah something. Starts with a D, anyway. Sorry, that’s all I remember right now.”

“Yeah, well, get some sleep. See you when you finish up tomorrow.”

He went to the old apartment for the night – and noticed the For Sale sign was now marked Sold – and he smiled. He really noticed how run down the place was that he didn’t call it home anymore. Funny…how perceptions change.

_______________________________________

Her name was Debra Dorsken, and she said she liked to be called DD.

“Oh, swell,” Callahan moaned.

“What’s wrong with that?”

“I have a PA in Switzerland that goes by that handle.”

“Oh, well, then I guess Debra works.”

“No, no…DD it is. And I’m Callahan.”

“Are you, like, THE Callahan?”

“Yup. You ever been in a flutterbug?”

“A what?”

“A helicopter.”

“Good God no!”

Harry looked at her, his eyes almost crossed now. “You do know this is a helicopter service, right?”

“Yes, of course. Do I need to fly in order to be your CFO?”

“Well, we only have a handful of people around here who can’t fly, and most of those are taking classes now. Still, it’s not a requirement.”

“Look, I hate flying and the idea of riding in a helicopter scares the fucking shit out of me…” She looked at Harry and realized what she’d just said. “Oops, sorry, but I grew up with five brothers and I can guarantee you I know more four letter words than you do.”

He took a good look at her then: about five feet tall, weight just shy of an NFL linebacker’s, no ankles and short, stubby fingers with nicely manicured nails. Glasses that went out of style in the 50s. A red plaid skirt and saddle oxfords, red sweater with white blouse under. She did, however, have an MBA from Stanford and five years under her belt working for PSA. And…she was a Californian, from Santa Cruz.

“Well, bad news, DD. We’re taking a brand new flutterbug from here to Palo Alto, then up to Yosemite and then back here. You still interested, or do you wanna bail out now?”

“Is this, like, part of the job interview?”

“It is, yes.”

“Then…let’s do it.”

The new bird was a Bell 412SP, basically a 212 but with four rotor blades instead of two; this model could also carry more people, and carry them further, and had been a recent success story for Bell, especially with military operators. Callahan wanted to put this new model to work carrying fire fighters in the coming fire season, then they’d see about passenger operations in the Bay Area – if the bird proved economically viable. He laid all this out to DD as he helped her into the left seat and got her buckled-in, then he and Pattison did the final walk around. 

With that out of the way he climbed into the right seat, leaving Pattison to sit behind the girl – though he did the call-outs for the checklist from back there. Once the 412 was ready to take off Callahan looked at her once again, noticed the white-knuckled death grip she had on her armrests. He grinned at the possibilities.

They flew out to the Golden Gate then turned south, taking vectors from ATC all the way to Palo Alto. “If I had to make this drive, from the Presidio to Palo Alto, it would take at least an hour – and in good traffic,” he said. “It just took us a little over ten minutes.”

“Wow! This is a lot smoother that I expected, too. You could actually get some work done in here.”

“That’s the four blades,” Pattison said. “Smoother, and quieter, too. Harry, take care on your approach…this thing reacts faster to pitch commands than the 212.”

“I love the way this thing handles!” Callahan said. “More like the -76 than the old Hueys. Maybe we ought to think about replacing our older Hueys with this model?”

“I agree,” Pattison added. “I think passengers will appreciate the extra comfort.”

“Don’t do anything until I work the numbers,” DD added. “Uh…assuming I get the position, that is.”

They walked her around the Palo Alto operation and let her soak in the atmosphere, then she looked at them. “Do you have any air ambulance units?”

“No?”

“Why not?”

“Well, cities and counties handle those,” Pattison said.

“Oh yeah? Well, only a couple can afford it, and you guys are surrounded by counties that are just crying out for some kind of air ambulance service. With a couple of strategically located bases, you could cover almost all of northern California, the Sierras, and probably most of the Valley, too. Those contracts are pretty lucrative, too…”

Callahan looked at Pattison – who nodded. Both smiled.

“You think you could handle that?” Callahan asked her.

“As soon as you give me the go-ahead.”

“What are you handling at PSA?”

“Equipment purchasing and leasing. I mainly work with Boeing, spend a lot of time up in Renton.”

“You okay with living in the city?”

“Yessir.”

“I read you’re still working on your CPA. How’s that coming along?”

“Two years if I keep going part time.”

“What kind of money are you looking for?”

“Fifty if you can help with moving and school. A bonus would be nice when I get my CPA.”

Callahan got airborne and headed to Mariposa-Yosemite. “Our next base is near Yosemite National Park, our primary fire fighting base in the region right now…”

“Perfect place to start ambulance operations,” she said. “You could transition to year round ops, too. Probably all kinds of tax credits and write-offs as well. Are you looking at any other places?”

“Mammoth and South Lake Tahoe,” Pattison said, smiling at Callahan.

“Just be careful to keep everything in California. Once you move to an interstate operation the red tape is gonna get out of hand.”

“What do you think about profit-sharing?”

“Tricky. It can bite into your overhead and acquisition models if you miss forecasts. If you’re thinking about it, I’d wait until you have a solid five years of operations under your belt. And five years of rock-solid profits, too.”

“You married? Got a boyfriend?”

“Not yet, but I’m still looking!”

“Smoke or drink?”

“No to both, sir.”

“Which sounds better? Turtle soup or a cheeseburger?”

She laughed at that one. “No contest, sir. I’m a burger addict.”

“From now on, call me Harry – okay…?”

“Yessir!”

________________________________

Frank, now solidly in remission and enjoying fatherhood, had taken several months leave from both CAT and the police department, and while he detested changing diapers as much as the next rational human being, he positively enjoyed playing with the baby – and all the time, too. Cathy, on the other hand, had tried working from home – unsuccessfully – and soon needed to go back to work – part time. She had been juggling several pressing projects before she gave birth – Callahan’s apartment-to-condo project being just one among many – but now her partners were suddenly growing impatient. “I have to get back to work, Frank,” she told him. “Full time. Maybe more than full time.”

“The department needs me on Saturdays, probably nights,” he advised, meaning deep nights, or midnight to eight in the morning, “and starting this coming weekend.”

“What about Harry? Can’t he take it?”

“He already is, Cathy.”

“You’re kidding, right? You two will be working the same shift again?”

“Looks that way, yeah.”

“Dear God. Look out citizens of San Francisco…the two amigos ride again! Yeh-hah!”

“Stop it…we’re weren’t that bad…”

“No, you were worse.”

“Balls! Anyway, you just need to be here Saturday.”

“What about CAT? You going back?”

“Yeah. Harry’s not pushing, though.”

“He’s your friend, Frank. He wouldn’t push and you can’t take advantage of that, ya know?”

Bullitt looked down, nodded. “Yeah. You’re right.”

“On the bright side, when I saw Harry last week and I mentioned employers needing to get child care facilities into the workplace and, well, you should have one at the Cathouse in another month or so…”

“You know, Cathy, for some reason having a childcare facility in a Cathouse sounds a little weird.”

“No kidding. But you know what gets me?”

“Hmm?”

“Harry. I always looked at him kinda like I looked at you back in the day. You know, a neanderthal cop, misogynist from the get-go. A real redneck, I guess.”

“Me? You thought I was like that?”

“No, not really…but the point I’m making is that Harry isn’t like that, either. You know, maybe when we first knew him he was, but not now. He’s changed. A lot, I think…but I’d have never pinned him as a guy who would get behind putting a childcare facility in the workplace. I mean, think about it, Frank.”

“It’s that new CFO. Have you met her yet?”

She shook her head. “No. What’s she like? Besides drop dead gorgeous…”

Frank laughed. “Cathy, the last thing that girl is – is gorgeous. Homely would be a compliment.”

“No kidding?”

“Rooney told me she’s become something like his conscience, though. Apparently he runs everything by her, too. And I mean everything.”

“Wow. I’ve got to swing by and meet this one. I take it there’s nothing going on between them?”

“Nothing, at least as far as I know.”

“Do you really think you’re ready to hit the streets again?”

“Well, I have to go to the range Saturday and re-qualify. Beyond that? I guess so.”

“You still look thin to me, Frank. You’re just not eating enough.”

“Now…that’s a first.”

“Boy, don’t I know it. I’m up to a size ten now.”

“You’ve never looked better, Cathy.”

“Sweet of you to say so, but I feel like a blimp…!”

The front doorbell chimed.

“You expecting anyone?” Frank asked.

Cathy shook her head.

“Okay…I’ll go…oh, it’s Harry!”

Frank went to the door and let Callahan in, then they went back to the kitchen.

“Hey, Harry. Long time no see,” Cathy said. “You staying in the city all the time now?”

“Pretty much, unfortunately. I don’t think I’ve been out here in three weeks.”

“Where are you staying?”

“Dad’s. In his old bedroom.”

“So, Sam finished the remodel?”

“Yeah. I wanted to thank you, too. Great idea for the kitchen. It looks stunning!”

“You are so welcome! I understand the old apartment building is coming down on Monday.”

“Yup, and that’s what I wanted to talk about, in a roundabout way.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I heard a prime lot up on Cathedral Hill became available last week, zoned multi-family thirty stories plus. Anyway, as of yesterday I’m under contract. You interested?”

“Am I interested? Are you kidding! Am I interested? Jesus, Harry, I can’t believe it!”

“I take it that means yes?”

“YES! That means a very big yes!”

“Great. Well, I’m going to let my new CFO handle the details this time around. Start a property management company, lot of stuff I don’t understand yet, so she’ll be handling the day to day details until I can get up to speed.”

“Oh? What’s her name?”

“Debra. She goes by DD, but she’s not related.”

“So, I just call the main number and ask for DD?”

“Yup. And thanks for the heads up on the child care thing. And, oh, that reminds me. We’re looking at the possibility of opening up a large base in Redding, mainly air ambulance services with both fixed wing and rotors.”

“You mean, like with real airplanes, Harry?” Frank said, surprised.

“Yeah.”

“That’s quite a change in operations, isn’t it?”

“Well, we’re already chartered by the state to do it, and the need is there. DD wants to take it a step further and up our certificate to scheduled passenger operations. Hit the small towns up the northern coast, link ‘em to SFO. We’ll be using the right equipment to do both, so might as well look into it. Anyway, Cathy, it’s more work for you – if you want it.”

“What about you, Harry,” Cathy said, now suddenly very concerned by what she saw on Callahan’s face, “what are you doing to take care of yourself?”

“Me? Hell, I don’t know, and I don’t really care. What I do know is…I’ve got about fifty ex-Army pilots on the payroll, and that up until a year ago they were stuck selling cars and working at car washes. I’m taking care of those guys first; I come next.”

“Yeah, okay, I get that, but think about something for me, will you? If you don’t take care of yourself this whole thing falls apart. Then what?”

“What are you getting at, Cathy?”

She hesitated, then went ahead on a hunch. “Do you still hear from Fujiko?”

He nodded. “About once a month.”

“And?”

“And…what?” 

“What do you think is going on with her?”

“I have no idea, Cathy. She’s vague about the things happening in her life.”

“Do you think she might be waiting for you to come for her? To prove your love for her?”

Callahan blinked rapidly. “No. Not really. Do you?”

“Harry, I think it’s time you found out one way or another what’s going on with her. Because ever since she left you haven’t been the same. Something inside of you went out, a spark, something like that. You need to go to her, talk to her, and figure this out.”

Callahan went to a window and looked out at the sea. He stood there for minutes, working things out in his head, then he turned to Frank. “If I go, Frank, you’re coming with me.”

“Why?”

“To keep me from doing anything stupid. Besides, you got me into this mess.”

“Who? Me?”

“Yeah, and don’t give me that ‘who-me’ crap. It was you – and that goddam book.”

“Yeah,” Bullitt nodded, “okay, Harry. Just let me know when and where.” 

________________________________

The 747 lined up on the runway, then the pilot ran up power to 40% and paused. The jet began to lumber down the runway, then power jumped to nearly 100%. He was in seat 1a and so could see right down the runway; Bullitt was across the aisle and he too was peering down the runway – then the nose rose and suddenly there was nothing but water below. One gentle turn to the north and Callahan looked at the city as it glided by, then the jet was following Interstate 5 north towards Oregon.

He could see three big fires burning from up here, and he knew his guys were down there in the thick of things, carrying fire fighters and supplies to camps all around the Trinity Alps, and for a moment he felt guilty…

‘I should be down there with them…’ he thought, but then his mind drifted to Fujiko and the way she sounded when he called her. Excited. Happy. 

‘So, Cathy was right after all. She was waiting for me the whole time. Damn!’

The stewardess was dressed in traditional Japanese attire, and Callahan realized how much he missed Japan – everything about it, as a matter of fact – and when she brought charcoal broiled vegetables and raw fish his mind went back to the spires of Izu…to the very moment he had fallen in love with Fujiko.

The sun was setting when the jet cruised past Mount Rainier and Seattle off the left wingtip, and just then he looked across to Frank – just finishing his dinner. According to his doctors just last year, he should have been dead – four months ago…and yet now, here he was. He looked at his friend and more than anything else he felt glad they were doing this together. At almost every turn, Frank had been there for him over the last fifteen years, and he was really more like a brother than he was ‘just a friend’…

And right now, Harry realized, he needed Frank more than ever. 

So much loss. After Sara he’d lost his dad, and then, in a way, he’d lost Fujiko too. But now that Frank was still alive? That was a blessing, wasn’t it? That had turned things around for him. Frank’s life was a gift, because he couldn’t really imagine what life would be like without Frank ‘just next door…’ And within the past week, after talking with Cathy, and then with Fujiko, he understood now that he felt the same way about Fujiko. He didn’t want to go through life alone, but more than that, he didn’t want to go through life without her.

Everything else had fallen into place this year, he thought as he watched the setting sun? He was successful now beyond his wildest dreams, doing everything he’d ever wanted to do. Yet something was always missing. Her soft eyes, the gentleness in her voice, the ever-patient harmony she seemed to exude.

But now that he knew what that something was, he wasn’t sure that he could live without it. That’s what this trip was all about. Coming full circle once again, and this time it would last.

© 2020 adrian leverkühn | abw | and as always, thanks for stopping by for a look around the memory warehouse…[and a last word or two on sources: I typically don’t post all a story’s acknowledgments until I’ve finished, if only because I’m not sure how many I’ll need until work is finalized. Yet with current circumstances (i.e., Covid-19) waiting to list sources might not be the best way to proceed. To begin, the ‘primary source’ material in this case – so far, at least – derives from two seminal Hollywood ‘cop’ films: Dirty Harry and Bullitt. The first Harry film was penned by Harry Julian Fink, R.M. Fink, Dean Riesner, John Milius, Terrence Malick, and Jo Heims. Bullitt came primarily from the author of the screenplay for The Thomas Crown Affair, Alan R Trustman, with help from Harry Kleiner, as well Robert L Fish, whose short story Mute Witness formed the basis of Trustman’s brilliant screenplay. Steve McQueen’s grin was never trade-marked, though perhaps it should have been. John Milius (Red Dawn) penned Magnum Force, and the ‘Briggs’/vigilante storyline derives from characters and plot elements originally found in that rich screenplay, as does the Captain McKay character. The Jennifer Spencer/Threlkis crime family storyline was first introduced in Sudden Impact, screenplay by Joseph Stinson, original story by Earl Smith and Charles Pierce. The Samantha Walker television reporter is found in The Dead Pool, screenplay by Steve Sharon, story by Steve Sharon, Durk Pearson, and Sandy Shaw.  I have to credit the Jim Parish, M.D., character first seen in the Vietnam segments to John A. Parrish, M.D., author of the most fascinating account of an American physician’s tour of duty in Vietnam – and as found in his autobiographical 12, 20, and 5: A Doctor’s Year in Vietnam, a book worth noting as one of the most stirring accounts of modern warfare I’ve ever read (think Richard Hooker’s M*A*S*H, only featuring a blazing sense of irony conjoined within a searing non-fiction narrative). Denton Cooley, M.D. founded the Texas Heart Institute, as mentioned. Of course, James Clavell’s Shōgun forms a principle backdrop in later chapters. The teahouse and hotel of spires in Ch. 42 is a product of the imagination; so-sorry. Many of the other figures in this story derive from characters developed within the works cited above, but keep in mind that, as always, the rest of this story is in all other respects a work of fiction woven into a pre-existing cinematic-historical fabric. Using the established characters referenced above, as well as the few new characters I’ve managed to come up with here and there, I hoped to create something new – perhaps a running commentary on the times we’ve shared with these fictional characters? And the standard disclaimer also here applies: the central characters in this tale should not be mistaken for persons living or dead. This was, in other words, just a little walk down a road more or less imagined, and nothing more than that should be inferred. I’d be remiss not to mention Clint Eastwood’s Harry Callahan, and Steve McQueen’s Frank Bullitt. Talk about the roles of a lifetime…and what a gift.]

Chapter 8

With Astrid now onboard, Taggart’s sense of humor slipped into overdrive. And now, when he was alone with Dina he referred to the boy as ‘the tripod’ – yet these little references were innocent enough. Astrid was ten years older than Rolf, so this was going to amount to an innocent ‘crush’ – and nothing more – yet even so, the whole thing interested Taggart. Maybe because he could see echoes and elements of his own misspent youth in Rolf’s reactions to the girl, or maybe what he was watching was more like a universal construct: young man sees attractive girl; young man talks constantly about his life and accomplishments; young man walks around with a banana in his shorts…

So, the Astrid situation was a net plus, at least as far as he was concerned. Only good things could come of shaking things up a little…

For Dina, however, Astrid was another matter entirely.

She was convinced the girl had decided to come in order to bag Taggart, to wrap him around her little finger and string him along – or worse, a Gold Digger. She was, in other words, cynical about the girl’s motives. Taggart saw this as the inevitable ‘female bullshit’ that accompanied any territorial challenge like this, and so he ignored it.

Rolf moved his gear from the forepeak to the tiny, coffin-like cabin on the port side opposite the galley, and he seemed happy as a clam in his new digs. What mattered now, as far as Taggart was concerned, was that Astrid was onboard. And he hoped that as far as Rolf was concerned, that would be all that mattered, too. Such is the addled mind of a teenager whose brain is basking in a sea of testosterone, Taggart thought, Rolf’s focus would shift from his own medical condition to Astrid’s more than ample charms. 

True to her word, Astrid brought along several bikinis in her duffel bag, and as the summer had been, so far at least, exceptionally warm, a bikini was on full display from the very beginning of the next leg of Time Bandit’s journey.

So, with Taggart’s nausea now under medicinal control and his next appointment already scheduled in Gothenburg, the Bandit left Oslo on a sunny July morning with the brightest prospects percolating away in Taggart’s mind. It was time, he thought, to have some fun, and Astrid might just be the key ingredient… Even Clyde seemed amused by her presence.

Oslo proper was at the end of a long fjord so it was a fifty mile journey just to get back to the open sea, a trip best made under power unless the winds were ‘just so’ – and of course they weren’t. Taggart laid out a course on the chart plotter that would keep them on the periphery of the main shipping channel as they departed the city; with that done he engaged the autopilot and sat back, content to watch the coming fireworks with a knowing grin plastered all over his face – because after watching Rolf’s reaction to Astrid, Taggart’s goal for this leg of Time Bandit’s voyage was changing. Now his objective was to get the kid well and truly laid.

Of course, human nature takes cues from mother nature, so more often than not the best laid plans do oft go astray. What could go wrong?

+++++

Leaving the fjord and turning southeast in the Skagerrak, Taggart had been expecting more in the way of weather – but that was not to be, at least not today. Sitting at the chart table down below, he began his latest midday log entry:

‘Oslofjord to Kattegat, about one hundred miles to make the entry channel at Gothenburg. Noon readings: OAT: 89 degrees F, sea temp 67F, winds calm, sea state calm, mirror-like. COG 165 degrees magnetic, SOG 5.7 knots, apparent speed 6 kts. Under power, all sails furled. Yanmar now has 400 hours total time. Making approx 6 kts at 1800rpm. Water and fuel tanks on departure: full. Skagerrak is THE main shipping channel for heavy traffic into and out off the Baltic. Radar on, guard zones set at 10, 5, and 1.5 miles, alarms active. Right now we are tracking more than 20 targets on radar, plotting sheets at the wheel, DB making entries and working plots.”

He went down to the galley and poured some mango juice, then went to his cabin and took his noon medications. He looked at his hands, satisfied, because he hadn’t had a jerking twitch in over 24 hours. No nausea, too – and that was a welcome relief…

He found his Tilley Hat and slipped it on, then made his way topsides. Rolf was on the wheel, Dina was working a potentially troublesome radar plot, and Astrid was…? 

“Where’s the girl?” Taggart said as he slid onto the cockpit seat next to Dina.

“Forward,” Rolf said, grinning.

Taggart stood and took a look. She was standing inside the bow pulpit, one hand on the rail, the other on the forestay, and he thought she looked rather like Ursula Andress coming out of the sea in Dr. No. The bright yellow bikini she had on was barely covering anything – and Rolf was totally mesmerized at the sight of her perfect…well, everything looked perfect, Taggart had to admit.

‘Excellent!’ Taggart thought. ‘Everything going to plan.’

He moved over to the wheel. “Rolf, you better go up there and make sure she doesn’t slip and fall, I’ll take the wheel for a while.”

“Sure thing!”

And he was off like a heat seeking missile. Just like any raging tripod could or would.

Dina scowled as she watched Rolf’s launch. “I have never seen a bathing suit quite like that one,” she whispered, her voice barely audible over the engine noise. “There’s almost nothing covering her pubic hair, and those little wisps of fabric over her breasts!? One could hardly call that a bathing suit!”

Taggart looked from Astrid to Dina and back to Astrid again: “Doesn’t leave much to the imagination, that’s for sure. From what I can see though, you’ve got better tits.”

“Henry! Don’t speak in such vulgar terms!”

He looked at her, then looked to the bow again. “Still, her ass may be a little tighter than yours.”

Dina slammed the plotting board down and stomped down the companionway.

“And the crowd goes wild!” Taggart said, holding up his hands in an imaginary ‘high five.’

Rolf was pointing out ships up ahead and land features off to the left – in Norway – and seemed to be enjoying himself immensely – when Dina came back up the companionway…

…wearing her idea of a bikini…

It was shiny black and didn’t leave a whole lot to the imagination, either.

Taggart stared at her, then shook his head.

“What’s wrong, Henry?”

“The kid takes one look at you and he’s gonna pop wood. Sure you want to do this?”

“His mind is elsewhere right now.”

“Mine sure isn’t.”

“Good.”

“You know, women your age aren’t supposed to look like you. You’re like, I don’t know, perverting the laws of nature or something.”

She smiled, drinking his words up like a peach daiquiri.

“Turn around, would you? I wanna check out your ass.”

Her expression turned to cold stone.

“No? Well, I guess you have to know your limitations…”

That did it. She whirled around.

“Well? What do you think?” she sneered.

“Looks good enough to eat.”

She shook her head and sat down, picked up the plotting board and reviewed her work, then looked at the radar. “I’ve been plotting this target for a half hour. It’s going to come close, maybe in about ten minutes.”

Taggart looked at the plot, then at the horizon. “Still too much haze to make anything out.” He ran a VBL, or variable bearing line, to the target and locked onto the blip; the computer in the set painted the target and displayed its course and speed, as well as its point of closest approach and time to closest approach. “Too close for comfort, Dina. Let’s raise the main and sheet it in, and pull the traveller to starboard. I want to increase our visibility a little…”

She went to the winch and pulled the main out, then sheeted the sail flat. Once positioned where Taggart wanted it, she walked up to the bow and spoke to Rolf, then came back to the cockpit.

“What did you tell him?” he asked.

“Just that we might be making a few turns.”

“Okay.”

The radar alarm went off; the target was now on a collision course with them.

“Okay, that’s it.” He cupped his hands and called out to the two up on the bow: “Rolf! Hang on, we’re turning now!” He pointed to the left then he turned hard to port, turning directly towards the shoreline, now only two miles away. When the conflict alarm turned off he turned back to their original course. “Now…let’s see what they do…”

“Looks like they’re altering to port, as well. Moving away from us a little now.”

He relaxed. “So, wanna make a bet?”

“A bet? What about?”

“That Rolf nails her today?”

“Henry! Is that all you ever have on your mind?!”

“Pretty much. Yeah.”

“You’re acting like a teenager!”

“Thank you. Very much, as a matter of fact.”

“Are you still horny?” she whispered.

“Yes, of course. You’ve awakened some dark, hidden beast in me. What about you?”

She nodded. “Yes. So sorry, but I am too.”

He shook his head. “We’ll have to do something about that,” he sighed. “But we won’t get into Gothenburg until midnight or so. Can you wait that long?”

She shook her head. “What about right now?”

“Now? You mean…right here?”

“Yes…stand up…”

He stood and she stood in front of him, then she pulled him free and backed down gently.

“Houston…I do believe we have contact,” he whispered.

She started moving around, doing her thing, and he held on to her hips.

Rolf turned around and looked their way – and his eyes popped wide open. Henry waved and the kid waved back; then he whispered something in Astrid’s ear. She turned around and looked, then she grinned and shot Henry a thumb’s up!

“Houston, I do believe we have a fully engaged tripod on the bow…” Henry said, trying not to laugh.

“I feel pretty full too, Henry,” Dina said as she began shuddering.

“Uh-oh,” Taggart said.

“What?”

“She getting on her knees.”

“Who? Astrid?” Dina looked up but the wheelhouse blocked her line of sight now…

“Yup. Shorts are coming down…and yes, bingo…Houston, the docking probe is in full contact with the tripod!”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“Be still, would you? You’re messing up my rhythm.”

“Sorry…”

“Whoops, I do believe we’re witnessing a case of premature…whoa…Houston, looks like we have spontaneous eruption! Repeat, the tripod is erupting!”

“Are you out of your mind!?”

“Just hang on, would you? I’m hitting the short strokes now.”

“Sorry…”

“I think we’re gonna have a daily double, ladies and gentlemen. Yup, thar she blows!”

And that was when a Danish fishing boat, the potential conflict Dina had been tracking on her plotting board, went by – about a hundred meters off their port side. And in an instant her entire crew was at the rail, shouting and waving and whistling at the floor show presented by a bunch of sun-drenched Time Bandits…running from time as if their lives depended on it.

+++++

The last mile of this leg was tough.

One in the morning and Gothenburg’s harbor was wrapped in heavy fog: Taggart could just make out the glow from his red and green bow lights in the mist, and now he was grateful the water was still a sedate mirror-like calm. Under engine-power alone, he was relying solely on electronic sources of information to work his way in; even so, he was cross checking depths as he passed numbered buoys, confirming his position indirectly as Bandit crept into the harbor, and then towards the marina where he’d reserved space for a week.

The state of the art of Bandit’s electronics allowed Taggart to lay out a route that would take him directly to the slip in the marina, and though he hated to do so, that’s exactly what he planned to do. Rolf and Astrid were below, hopefully sound asleep by now, and Dina’s eyes had shut an hour ago – so he decided to let her sleep. He slipped the transmission into neutral and rigged his docking lines, then he set out his fenders, the big rubber bumpers that would cushion the hull from any unexpected blows if he messed up his approach. With all that done, he kept his speed close to one knot and crept ever-so-slowly into the marina. He followed the chartplotter’s course-line through two turns – and still he couldn’t see beyond the bow of the boat – and then he was where the slip was supposed to be…

He made a wide, gentle turn, then he saw pilings ahead, maybe five feet beyond the bow, and yes, he was relieved to find an empty slip right where it was supposed to be. He sighed, let Bandit’s momentum carry them forward, then he slipped the transmission into neutral and let her drift into the slip. At the last moment, he slipped into reverse to slow their forward progress to a stop, then back to neutral – and then he stepped off the starboard rail onto the pier and tied off the bow and stern. Once his spring-lines were set he went back to the cockpit and got the shore power lines connected, then he shut down the engine.

He ran his fingers through Dina’s hair, tilted her head back and kissed her forehead.

“Hmm?” she moaned. “Need me to do something?”

“We’re here. Go below and get some sleep.”

Her eyes popped open. “What do you mean, we’re here?”

“We’re at the dock, already tied off…”

She stood and looked around. “How did you…? What…?”

“I’ve been doing this for a while. I’m actually pretty good at it, too.”

“You let me sleep? Why?”

He kissed her on the forehead again. “You looked comfortable. I didn’t want to disturb you.”

She wrapped her arms around him. “You do love me, I think…maybe just a little?”

“Maybe just a little,” he said before he kissed her again, this time not on the forehead.

They both heard it then. A gentle slapping sound, very rhythmic, the Bandit moving from the motion just a little…

“You know,” Taggart said, “either she’s a nymphomaniac or he’s got the biggest nuts in Europe. How many times can one guy get off in a day?”

“You’re just jealous…”

“You’re goddam right I’m jealous!”

“You do pretty well for…”

“Yeah, I know. Don’t say it.”

“Say what?”

“For someone my age. If I hear that one more time I’m gonna go postal on somebody…”

“Go postal?”

“Yeah. I’m gonna mail ‘em a letter.”

She shook her head. “I’ll never understand you, Henry Taggart.”

“By golly…I sure hope you don’t.”

“Would you mind if I loved you? Maybe just a little?”

“Right now? Up here? Again?”

“Why not?”

He looked around and now the fog only seemed thicker. “Why not, indeed…”

+++++

Dina woke him two hours before his appointment: “You’d better shower. And…put on some clean clothes this time.”

He sat up, yawned, then stretched. “God-dam that hurts! What’s with the whole burning leg thing?”

“It’s the Avastin. Circulation in your legs is being compromised.”

“Oh, man, does that sound not fun. What happens if it reaches my…you know…my tripod?”

She shook her head. “We’ll deal with that when and if…”

“Right.”

“Now…get in the shower.”

“Right. Where’s Rolf?”

“I stuck my head in the cabin. They’re still going at it, as you call it.”

“Goddam…I want a testicle transplant. Two of ‘em, as a matter of fact.”

“Henry! Shower!”

He went to the head and turned on the water. “Dina, if she keeps doing him so often his pecker is just gonna fall off…”

“All I can say…she must have the labia of a rhinoceros. Is the water warm enough?”

“Yeah, fine. You wanna join me?”

“I wish we had time.”

“Well,” he said, looking down at his crotch, “that sure spoiled the mood.”

“Aw, did Captain Woody lose his…”

“Captain Woody? Where the hell did that come from?”

“Get dressed! Clean clothes! I’ll see you up on deck…”

+++++

The Sahlgrenska University Hospital was on the east side of the city and not at all far from the marina; it was so close it was hardly worth the ride in the taxi. Red brick, copper roofs green from standing up to the moist sea air, Henry took one look at the sprawling complex and decided he didn’t like the place. More to the point, he had a bad feeling about the day ahead and had already decided he was going to hate everything about this hospital. By this point, however, Dina could see the flashing red warning signs in his eyes, but she was getting used to his moods. Like all men – she told herself again as they walked up to the main entrance – Henry Taggart was reasonably predictable. And like most of us, she sighed, he was afraid of death.

They made it to oncology with little time to spare and she went in with him to meet his latest oncologist. She went over his charts and orders – his most recent had already been faxed over – and Taggart was sent off to the lab for bloodwork. When that was over and done with he went to get an MRI. An hour later he met with the oncologist again. This time without Dina.

The physician looked grim.

“Mr. Taggart, the radiologist reports metastasis to the lungs and lymph nodes. I’m not sure what you expect right now…”

“To make it to Christmas.”

The oncologist sighed. “Yes, your friend told me as much. Well, in the most aggressive case we could go in and remove the affected lobe, perhaps dissect the impacted nodes away from healthy tissue…it would be heroic but in the end the outcome would be unchanged. I’m afraid at this point that even chemotherapy will be ineffective. As for December? It is still possible, but I wouldn’t count on much more than that.”

He nodded. “I think I was expecting this,” he said. “Still, the finality is unsettling.”

“I’ve read about a few of the things you have done in Norway. You are living a big life right now, a life that only a few ever get to experience. I hope you cherish each moment. And frankly, I’m quite jealous. I would love to break away and do these things myself.”

“So…why don’t you?”

“Perhaps, in a few years.”

Taggart nodded. “In my experience people keep saying that to themselves until it’s about half-past too late, then they sit down in an easy chair and dream about all the things they never got to do.”

“Yes. Sounds perverse, doesn’t it?”

“It is perverse. Regardless, I’m grateful for your honesty.”

The physician nodded. “If I were to move on from here, I would try to be finished with this journey by October. Beyond that, I think the discomfort will become too much for even you.”

“By October?”

The physician shrugged. “Maybe sooner, maybe not. Where are you headed now?”

“Through the canals to Stockholm.”

“A wonderful trip, though crowded this time of year. You will enjoy every minute, I feel sure.” Then the man stood, held out his hand. “It was a great pleasure to meet you, Mr. Taggart.”

“Yes, and again, I appreciate your honesty. In this day and age it’s a rare thing.”

Dina met him in the waiting room, and he could tell she had been crying – though she had put on her bravest face for him now. She came and fell into his arms, and he kissed her forehead again and again. 

“What is to become of us, Henry Taggart?”

“I think we should go find a preacher and get married,” he said gently.

She pulled back, looked into his eyes. “Would this make you happy?”

“I think I’d be the happiest man alive.”

“Then we should go do this, but could we do so in Bergen.”

“Alright. Fine by me.” He called Sigrid the Lawyer and asked if she could facilitate things, and she said she’d be happy to, as long as she was invited to the ceremony. 

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he said before she rang off.

“What do you want me to tell Rolf?” she asked. 

“We’ll focus on the happy things right now. Let’s leave all that other stuff alone for a while.”

“I need to call Britt,” she sighed, a tear rolling down her face.

“And I need to call SAS. I hope there’s a direct flight from here…”

+++++

There were no printed invitations, just a few phone calls made to friends and associates. 

The dress code for the ceremony would, however, be rigidly enforced: sailing shorts, polo shirts, boat shoes with no socks, though baseball caps were considered optional. 

Sigrid the Lawyer secured a civil magistrate to officiate the game, and Rolf stood as Henry’s Best Man, while Britt and Eva stood beside Dina. The ceremony lasted ten minutes, the reception was held down at the open air fish market; it went on until long past midnight. The local lobster population was seriously depleted, aquavit was rumored to be in short supply for days after the event.

It was decided that Rolf would take the semester off from in-person classwork, that his teachers would provide learning materials and that Dina would help with instruction. It appeared by then that Astrid would remain with him for the time being – to help with his continuing education, she said. 

Britt and Eva were perplexed by the whole affair, though Britt was happy for Dina – to a degree. But, Taggart remembered, Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

Before the little group returned to Gothenburg, Taggart met with Sigrid the Lawyer in her Bergen office. They talked for a few hours, as a matter of fact.

+++++

Their first order of business, on the group’s return to Sweden, was to pick up Clyde at the veterinarian’s boarding kennel, and he seemed none the worse for his break from shipboard routines. By the time they made it back to Time Bandit Henry was breathless, pale, and his hands were rattling; even Clyde sat up and noticed in the taxi. After Henry made it to the cockpit Clyde came up and started sniffing him, starting at the ankles and working his way up one appendage at a time. When his nose hit Taggart’s chest he stopped what he was doing and started whimpering, then his tail slipped between his legs…

“I know, good boy, I know. The news wasn’t all that good, I’m afraid.”

That warranted a lick on the face, and Taggart leaned into the unsolicited affection, grinned at the purity of his friend’s love, and then he scooped up the pup and held him close. Clyde usually moaned at the close exchanges, but when he draped his front paws over Henry’s shoulders in a kind of canine hug, an astonished Dina stopped and looked at this overt display; Rolf had his phone out and snapped a few pictures of the moment – because Clyde’s feelings seemed to perfectly sum up the flavor of this afternoon. In fact, Dina thought Clyde and Henry seemed to be joining symbiotically, like they had some kind of spiritual connection with each other.

But Henry felt different now. ‘Maybe,’ he thought, ‘because everything feels like it’s changed after getting married. Like…a couple of days ago I was still like Rolf…I was still just a big kid. No real responsibilities, no binding ties to another person. But now? I’m not so sure what I am, or even who I am now…but I am no longer alone.’

No longer alone…

Dina helped him below to his cabin, got him under a blanket and his head propped up on a pillow, then Clyde hopped up and cuddled-in beside him. Yet Henry was asleep in an instant, and Clyde didn’t no what to make of this sudden change.

“How bad is it, Grandma-ma,” Rolf asked her while they washed down the Bandit’s deck and hardware, clearing away several days worth of grime and soot.

She looked at him and shook her head. “Henry will tell you. For now, just spend as much time with him as you can.”

Rolf nodded, but his shoulders sagged, his frown deepened. “I can’t imagine what he must be feeling.”

“Well, I do know that he loves you, and perhaps now nothing is more important to him.”

“Why did you marry him, Grandma-ma?”

She stopped what she was doing and looked up. “It’s funny, but the moment I saw him I knew this moment was coming. You and I, sitting out here just like we are now and you asking me this question…”

“Mother says you see the future.”

She shook her head. “No, that’s not true.”

“Then why do think you felt what you did.”

“I saw heartbreak, Rolf, when I first looked into his eyes. Mine, and yours – not his. Even your mothers, I think. And all of it…bound up in Henry’s eyes, and in his smile. I knew what was coming…”

“Then…why?”

“Because sometimes life just comes at you, Rolf. And you either come alive to the possibilities, or you just whither away inside the rot of lingering fear…and then you make for yourself a life not quite lived, if that makes any sense. Henry ran from that rot, Rolf, and I think that is what he hopes for you.”

“I’m afraid.”

“Don’t be. That is not what he wants, and it is not what you want. Not really, Rolf. Still, the choice is yours now, today, as it will be for the rest of your life. You can choose to live, or you can choose to embrace fear.”

“So, when you decided to marry him, you chose…”

“Yes, exactly. And the choice was a simple one.”

“I understand.”

“Good, now we must get all this grime off the deck.”

“It’s funny to think of Time Bandit in a river, crossing a meadow…”

“Well, that is the beauty of a boat like this. It is a magic carpet that can take you almost anywhere you’d wish to go. Now, I haven’t had a chance to ask you about Astrid. What is going on with you two, Rolf?”

“I think it is just as you say, Grandma-ma. It was a simple choice.”

“I see. But Rolf, please consider this: you are young, and this is your first experience with love. Do not rush things. Take your time, get to know this girl.”

“She says many of the same things to me.”

“She is a good soul, I think.”

Rolf nodded. “I think so too.” 

Astrid came up, back in her bikini again but now with a t-shirt on, and she watched Rolf at work, a gentle kind of smile warming her face.

“I think Henry just got in the shower,” she said, and startled, Dina looked her way.

“Oh? He was sound asleep a few minutes ago?” She moved to go down the companionway steps and check on him, and found he was indeed in the shower. “How are you feeling?” she asked.

“My mouth tastes like roadkill, but maybe that’s because Clyde’s ass was about two inches from my nose.”

“You were snoring a little. Is your mouth dry?”

“Yeah. Big time.”

“You are dehydrated, probably from the airplane. Are you hungry yet?”

“Not really, but I know I need to eat something today.”

“You can’t take those medicines on an empty stomach, Henry. You will get sick to your stomach if you do.” She could hear his sigh, deep and full of frustration. ‘I have to back-off,’ she told herself. ‘How would I feel if he admonished me all the time…?’ “Does anything sound good to you, at all?”

“Maybe some soup.”

“What if I bake some fresh bread?”

He stepped out of the shower and began drying-off. “We should go out tonight; who knows where we’ll end up tomorrow.”

“We should go slow,” she said. “Stop when we find a village that looks interesting.”

“You got my vote on that one.”

“Does Thai sound good tonight?”

“Sure. Good soup. How’s Rolf doing?”

“Worried about you. We talked a little. Let him think about things for a while.”

“Okay. Is it cold in here, or is it just me?”

“It’s cool out this evening. You might bring a coat.”

“You know, I don’t think I have any long pants onboard.”

“Really?”

“Just my offshore overalls and some kind of fleece under-layer.”

“Maybe we should shop in Stockholm, get some woolen slacks?”

“Well, we better get going. I can hear his stomach growling form here…”

They rode into the old city center to a highly recommended Thai place, then after dinner they walked a long shopping boulevard before riding back to the marina. Taggart’s hands were shaking badly by the time he walked onto the aft deck; still, he sat at the wheel and looked around the deck.

“Rolf, you did a great job today. Bandit looks great.”

“I had a good teacher,” he said, grinning. “Feel like some company?”

“Sure, sure. Have a seat.”

“Henry? How about some tea?” Dina asked.

He nodded. “Sounds about right.” After the girls went below he turned to Rolf. “You ready for the canal?”

“I think so. I was reading more about it today. Some of the locks sound challenging.”

“With four of us it ought to be okay.”

“Grandma-ma said something interesting this afternoon. She called Time Bandit a kind of magic carpet machine, a companion to take you anywhere you want to go.”

“I never thought of her life that, but in a way I guess she is. So, if you could go anywhere on her, where would that be?”

“Tahiti, I think. There seems to be something magical about those islands.”

Taggart nodded. “Good choice. This would be a good boat for that trip, too.”

“Why did you decide to come to Norway, to Scandinavia?”

“After my dad died I found a bunch of books about sailing around here. He’d even made a few notes on things he’d like to do once he got here, and the things he’d need on a trip like this.”

“So, in a way you made this trip for him?”

Taggart sighed. “Maybe. Maybe not for him, but to be with him – in spirit. For many years we didn’t talk much, I kinda lost track, dropped the ball. My life became one long pursuit – chasing money, making as much as I could.”

“Did you make a lot?”

Taggart nodded. “Too much. But the price I paid was too high. If I would have kept my head out of my ass I’d have known what my dad wanted to do…that he needed me.”

“So, you think he wanted to make the trip with you?”

Taggart nodded. “Yeah. I know he did, and I think that’s why he taught me to sail. Hell, he taught me about life while he taught me to sail. And he knew everything, too. About the oceans, sharks, whales, you name it. And navigation. My God…he knew absolutely everything about navigation!”

“Where did you sail with him?”

“Oh, up and down the Pacific coast. Washington and Oregon on one trip, and south to Mexico several times. Places like Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, Manzanillo, Acapulco. We raced to Hawaii twice, did pretty well, too. There used to be a race to Tahiti, but it took too long so we never did it.”

“What’s your best memory?”

“From sailing with him?”

“Yes, please.”

“When I was a kid, I mean really little, I used to watch his hands – on the wheel. Unless it was really rough out he usually steered with just a finger or two on the wheel. He said he could feel the water better that way. I thought it was magic at first, because, well I was pretty small at the time and I could barely turn the wheel. Not him. He made everything look almost effortless.”

“You still miss him, don’t you?”

“Every day. Some people define who we want to be in life, Rolf. They point the way. For me, that person was my dad.”

Dina and Astrid came topsides with tea and cookies, and Taggart put his arms around Dina’s shoulders. “So, do you feel married yet?” he asked.

She nodded and smiled. “Very much so,” she added, kissing his forehead. 

A group of kids was gathered on the grass, a couple of guys were playing guitar and singing – and they sounded pretty good. Henry looked at Rolf and Astrid; both were looking that way.

“Why don’t you two go check it out,” he said. “Might be fun, and look! No old farts!”

They laughed, then they skipped off the stern like a couple of rocks across a pond.

“Fun to be that age again,” he sighed.

“I’m enjoying this one right now.”

“Yeah? Well, me too, as a matter of fact.”

“What time do you want to leave in the morning?”

“Oh,” he said, “the tides look good around six, six thirty. If not, we’ll burn a ton of fuel getting through the city.”

“Well, the slower the better, as far as I’m concerned,” Dina said, a slight tinge of sadness in her voice.

“Oh?”

“I don’t think I want this to ever end.”

He nodded. He understood. Time was the real enemy now, a predator – closing in for the kill.

© 2020 adrian leverkühn | abw | this is a work of fiction, pure and simple; the next chapter will drop in a week or so.

Part V

Chapter 45

‘I need time to think, Harry.’

‘To think. Time to think.’ Her words kept echoing inside his mind as she left the boarding area and walked down the Jetway, getting on a Japan Air Lines 747 bound for Tokyo.

He still didn’t know what to say, what ‘to think.’ He didn’t even know if he’d lost her or not.

The ending she’d crafted was so ambiguous, and so…unfair. To both of them. Couldn’t she see that? Or…was that part of the plan?

When the big Boeing left the gate he went to the end of the concourse and watched it lumber out to the runway, then he just stood there and watched as she disappeared into the early morning sky. With his hands in his pockets and his head hanging down, there was nothing left to say, nothing to do, really, but to get on with getting on.

There was one dangling thread that needed his immediate attention, however, so he left SFO and drove over to the old house in Potrero Hills. Lloyd Callahan was in the front yard, on his knees by the flower bed picking weeds, when Harry drove up in his freshly repaired Range Rover. The old man looked up when he heard the door slam, and then he stood and walked up to the porch and sat in the shade, waiting for had to be the inevitable showdown.

“Well, well, the prodigal son returns. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Harry sat beside his father, his steepled fingers bundled on his lap. “I just dropped Fujiko at the airport. I think she’d had enough of me after a few days.”

“Different life, different expectations. Their culture is based on an enforced harmony; ours on pure, unmitigated chaos. What did you expect?”

“She was always telling me to be patient, to be open minded and willing to accept change.”

“Some changes are simply too much to accept, Harry. How did she leave it? Did she break it off?”

“No,” Harry sighed, “she wants some time to think.”

“And she’s left you dangling. How nice of her.”

Harry shrugged, his shoulders sagging in defeat. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Stand up and dust off your britches, Harry!” Lloyd yelled. “Stop feeling sorry for yourself. You’ve lived the life you wanted, the life you chose, and if she can’t or won’t accept who you really are, then fuck it and get on with your life!”

Harry nodded. “So, how do you like retirement?”

“I fucking hate it. The company called me a few days ago, told me they’d take me back on a part time basis if I’d just take one or two trips a year.”

“You gonna do it?”

“Hell, yes, I’m gonna do it.”

“What about the model trains?”

“Oh, I’ll have plenty of time for all that. What about you? You’re officially retired now?”

“Yeah, but one of the assistant chiefs called Frank a couple of days ago. The department wants us to stay active through the reserves. Minimal pay, but we’d keep our badges, all that jazz.”

“Of course you’ll do it, right?”

“With Fujiko gone, I reckon so.”

“Gone? That’s pretty final, Harry. What if she changes her mind, comes back?”

“Well, we’ll just have to see what happens, I guess. How’s the house doing?”

“Oh, fine, fine. Your contractor took care of everything, though I found some paint splatters on the dining room windows. I was thinking about gutting the kitchen next. New cabinets, appliances, all that crap. Keep it up so after I’m gone you won’t have any problem unloading it.”

“I doubt I could sell it, Dad.”

“Well, whatever you do, don’t rent it out. Renters will just trash it up, ruin it.”

“Okay.”

“How’s Frank?” 

“Starting his second round of chemo today. I’m picking him up at noon, running him back out to the ranch.”

“Your new place finished yet?”

“Yup. Moved in while Fujiko was here.”

“I’d like to see it someday. So, how do you like that Rover?”

“It’s a tank.”

“Great gas mileage, I bet?”

Harry snickered. “Nine in the city, twelve on the highway.”

“Ouch. I’m gonna need to get something pretty soon, myself.”

“What? After twenty years, you’re going to ditch the Ford? That’s a travesty, Dad. A few more years and she’ll be an antique!”

“Oh, I’ll keep her, but I want a pickup now. Something big.” 

“Another Ford?”

“Nothing but, far as I’m concerned.”

An uncomfortable silence followed, then Lloyd stood. “Well, you better go get Frank. Good to see you,” he said, holding out his right hand.

Harry took it, though in a way it hurt to do so. “Yeah Pops. You take care.”

He drove to the hospital in silence, and Frank was waiting curbside, looking a little irritated.

“I’ve been out here a half hour, Harry.”

“It’s not even noon yet, Frank.”

“Can we go down to the department, look over those reserve contracts?”

“You feel up to that?”

“No, not really, but if I’m gonna be puking my guts out for the next couple of days I’d like to have something funny to read between heaves.”

“Funny, huh?”

“Yeah, same job – for a tenth the pay. Funny, Harry. As hell.”

“Yeah. Well, I meet with a bunch of lawyers tomorrow morning about the helicopter thing.”

“Really? Can I come along?”

“If you promise not to barf all over the place, sure.”

“Cool. I hate kicking around that house all day by myself.”

“If you’re throwing up, you won’t…”

“I gotta question.”

“Shoot.”

“The girl. In the alley. Dell hasn’t get any leads, no witnesses.”

“I was wondering when you were gonna ask.”

“Well? Should we?”

Callahan took a deep breath, looked at his hands as if they were the guilty ones – because in a way, they were. “What do you think?”

“I’m not sure…that’s why I’m asking you.”

“I don’t know, Frank. At some point a judge is going to ask us under oath how we came up with the evidence, and we may get away with ‘an anonymous source’ one time…”

“We can swear not to do it again after this one.”

“I think we’ve already used that line once,” Callahan smirked. 

“Yeah. I hate to see the pricks get away with it, though.”

“You think I don’t?” Callahan said as he pulled into the department’s visitor parking lot. “Man, this really chaps my ass.”

“What?”

“Visitor’s lot. Man, twenty years and bam! Nothing! It’s like we never worked here, ya know?”

“Well, once we’re in the reserves…” Frank said as they walked into the main building.

“Yeah,” Harry growled, “I know. We’ll at least have our feet halfway back in the door.”

“I feel fuckin’ naked without my 45.”

“Tell me about it. What’s with Delgetti? I thought he was gonna retire too.”

“Couldn’t make the numbers work. Five more years and he thinks he’ll have enough to live on.”

“What about another job. Did he try that?”

“He’s like all the other cops I know, Harry. He’s blue, through and through, can’t see himself doing anything else.”

“Hell, he could teach at the Academy, couldn’t he?”

“I don’t know. I’ll mention it, though.”

“He’s patient, would probably be good at it.”

They went into the main personnel office; their papers were ready and just like that they were back on the payroll. As detectives they had to remain available for calls on weekends and two nights a week, and they had to be available for emergency call-outs, but they were legal again. Their old badge numbers reactivated, their firearms permits renewed, they were real cops again.

“Sorry, Harry, but I’m going to need to stop at the head.”

“Gonna puke?”

“Yeah, think so.”

They ducked into the patrol division locker room and Bullitt lost a few pounds, then Callahan helped him out to the Rover.

“Man, I’m glad the suspension on this thing is so soft,” Frank said as he settled back in the right seat. “Can you give me some A/C?”

Callahan looked at his friend…pale, sweating, his hands trembling a little. “Wish it wasn’t so far. Would you rather go to the apartment? I had it cleaned, stem to stern. New sheets on the bed, too.”

“No, no way. Let’s head to your house, see what we can see. Just drive slow, would you?”

“I may faint.”

“What? Why?”

“Frank Bullitt…telling me to drive slow. This has to be a first.”

“I’m gonna beat this shit, Callahan. You watch and see. I’m flat-out gonna beat this shit.”

“You know, I think you will too. Attitude is everything, right?”

“Damn straight. Callahan, back off…you’re following too close…”

Harry rolled his eyes. ‘Hell,’ he thought, ‘who needs a wife…when I got Frank…’

Even driving slow, Callahan made it back to the ranch by half past three, but Cathy wasn’t home yet so they went to his house instead. And the piano was sitting there, waiting, crying out to them like a naked accusation.

“Well,” Frank said, “what’s the verdict.”

Callahan went to the piano, and he stared at the keys for the longest time. 

But…it didn’t take long for them to have all they needed to take care of the situation.

________________________________

It proved easiest to have Don McCall move into Callahan’s old apartment until the service’s new helicopters started arriving, while ‘Mickey’ Rooney and three other ex-military Huey drivers went off to Connecticut to go through a two-month Sikorsky S-76 school. Everyone, including Callahan and Pattison, would have to get current on helicopter IFR operations, as well as upgrade their ‘tickets’ to FAR airline transport ratings.

The new company’s name was Callahan Air Transport, or CAT, and Harry applied for and received an appropriate toll-free 800 number: CAT-CALL. It was easy to remember and made people smile, so a win-win situation as far as Callahan was concerned. Cathy designed the company logo and Harry was surprised at the results: a standing tiger…flashing a huge grin and sporting two fingers held up – making a ‘peace sign.’ She said it would be perfect for the San Francisco market, and it was.

The Presidio was slated to close soon, so Rooney and Pattison arranged for CAT to take over three helicopter maintenance hangers, as well as an operations building that, as luck would have it, had all the necessary radio antennas they’d ever need. Frank had to take a courses to become an FAA certified flight dispatcher, as well as a licensed radio operator, and those two courses occupied almost all his free time for the first two months – at least when he wasn’t taking chemo or puking his guts out.

Bell Helicopter offered a great deal on four new 212s if CAT would also buy two low hour Hueys they’d recently taken in on trade, and those six ships were the first to arrive at the CAT House, Frank’s chosen name for the Presidio base. One hanger was sealed off and the old helicopters repainted to match the new 212s: silver with deep maroon lowers topped with five pencil thin stripes in navy blue. Flashy Tiger decals were applied to the undersides and tails, and everyone agreed the Hueys looked pretty good decked out like this.

Callahan arranged to take over a large hanger at Mariposa-Yosemite airport (KMPI), and Cathy designed a small bunkhouse – operations center to house air crews during the long California fire season. By the time Pattison brought the first S-76 back to San Francisco, Callahan was looking at facilities in South Lake Tahoe and Mammoth Lakes. Cathy thought Silicon Valley would be a prime market and convinced Callahan to look at a small operations center at Palo Alto’s small general aviation airport, and that turned out to be the third base in the network.

It was, Callahan thought when he looked back on this period of his life, the busiest and most fulfilling time of his life, and by far the most successful from a financial point of view. 

It was also, when he cared to think about such things, the loneliest time of his entire life.

_________________________________

The first letter from Fujiko began with the news that she had decided to go back to school. She wanted, she wrote, to become a certified translator, perhaps work at the United Nations or at an embassy abroad. She made no mention of a future together, and Callahan accepted that at face value; from that point on he assumed the relationship was over.

He heard from Didi every month or so, primarily regarding the state of his investments but he also received a summary of Evelyn’s progress at the psychiatric clinic in Davos. What he heard about Evelyn was routinely negative; she had become progressively more disorganized mentally and was exhibiting increasingly violent tendencies. Didi had visited her at the clinic just once; she came away shaken by what she’d seen. Callahan never told Bullitt about this, fearing it might interfere with his treatment and recovery.

Frank did give Delgetti all the information they uncovered about the murder in the alley, but Dell simply would not move on the information without knowing the source. That left Callahan and Bullitt in a quandary; they could tell Delgetti the truth behind the information and risk humiliation, or worse, or he and Frank could simply take care of the matter themselves.

“Yeah, I know,” Harry said. “And if we do, what’s the difference between us…”

“And the vigilantes. I know, and we’ve had this conversation before,” Frank replied. “But here me out. If we know this is the type of offense that might warrant the death penalty…”

“Don’t even go there, Frank. Our system is built on a foundation of due process, and you know that. We circumvent that and what are we left with? We’re right back at Lake Shasta, aren’t we? It’s murder, pure and simple.”

“Yeah? Well the death penalty is murder too, isn’t it? I mean, once you brush aside all the niceties like ‘due process’ and ‘mandatory appeals’ what are you left with? A dead body on a gurney, that’s what. You can dress it up any way you want, but the end results are just the same.”

“Assuming guilt, yeah, that’s right. And – assuming all the appeals go against the perp.”

“And how many guilty mobsters have we dealt with who ‘got off on a technicality,’ Harry? Can you see taking this to court and the defense getting to Delgetti? Asking him about his probable cause for arrest? And he tells the court that Inspectors Callahan and Bullitt have some kind of magic piano that allows them to see into the past. Right! You know what happens then, Harry? They wrap us up in straight jackets and file us away in a little room with no windows and padded walls…!” 

“So…the choice is…either we do it – or we let the goons walk.”

“Unless you can think of a third option, then yeah.”

“We could plant some bogus info with someone inside the Threlkis mob, insinuate…”

“Same outcome, Harry, only our hands would be a little less bloody. Because it would still be murder, pure and simple. Remember the statute? To intentionally or knowing deprive a person or persons of their life… And we got four people in that car that knew what was going down, right? You want to fade the heat for that if we get some kind of screwball mistrial?”

Callahan sighed.

“And let’s not forget, Harry, according to the girl these clowns are gunning for you. Maybe they crawl out of the woodwork when you head into work one morning – and they pick you off on the PCH. You wanna wait around for something like that to happen?”

“Sounds like you’ve made up my mind, Frank. I still don’t like all the moral ambiguity.”

“Jesus, Callahan, since when did you grow a fuckin’ conscience?”

“After Shasta. That’s been burning a hole in my gut ever since.”

“Really? I thought that was kind of clear cut to you?”

“It was until I read about the kid finding her dad’s body on the porch. That kid is never going to know the reason why her father was killed. She’s never going to know about all the bad shit he did. All she’s going to remember is seeing her father’s shattered face sprayed all over a patio floor. So…what did we do to her, Frank? She’s blameless, yet she’s going to pay a helluva price for the rest of her life.”

“How many murder victims leave behind family in similar circumstances…?”

“You nailed it, Frank, right there. How many murder victims? Murder, Frank. Pure and simple.”

“And what did that fucker do to his daughter, Harry? To his own flesh and blood? Murder. Pure and simple. And if he nails you tomorrow? And gets away with it?”

Callahan looked down, shook his head.

“How do you think I’ll feel, Harry? Knowing we could have prevented your murder?”

Harry looked up, looked Bullitt in the eye. “Okay,” he said. “I don’t like it, but okay.”

________________________________

Bullitt did what he did best: with the information on hand he located the suspect’s vehicle. He photographed all the people coming and going from the suspect’s house. Then he tapped the phones and planted bugs in the house. He listened to the phone calls and developed a good idea what the people there were up to, and then…one evening just before an Oakland A’s game got underway he picked up a new recording from one of his bugs:

“We located Callahan’s place. Up north of here, place called Sea Ranch.”

“I heard of that. Bunch of pinko artists live up there.”

“When can we hit him?”

“After the next delivery. Benavides don’t want nothing to interfere with that, so nothing happens ’til that’s out of the way.”

“I heard this is gonna be a big one.”

“Yeah, it’s big alright. No helicopters this time. Morales is gonna use the big boat.”

“Sheesh, what are they bringing in? Ten tons again?”

“Bigger, or so I hear. And get this…the stuff is coming up by submarine!”

“No way!”

“Yeah, way. Them fuckin’ Colombians think of everything, man.”

“So…when’s this going down?”

“Next Tuesday, man. We meet up at the place in Sausalito. The boat will pick us up there…”

Bullitt made copies of the tape and then went to meet Callahan at the CatHouse. Rooney was there too when he played the tape.

“So who is this shithead?” Rooney asked.

“The guy gunning for Harry? Name is Raymond Salmi, until recently a resident of San Quentin. He killed his daughter a while back, because she put him in Quentin after he beat the living shit out of her. Harry here then proceeded to beat the shit out of Salmi, sending him to Quentin with about seventy stitches on his face.”

“Good job, Harry! You say he killed his daughter?”

“Yeah. He’s a real model citizen, now into drug running.”

“A submarine?” Rooney said. “Man, you guys need to tell the Navy.”

“Nope,” Callahan said. “This one is strictly off the books.”

“So, what are you going to do?”

Bullitt spoke up next. “I say we wait for them to board the boat and hit ‘em with some kind of bomb once they get out past the Golden Gate.”

Rooney frowned. “No way, Frank. Coast Guard would be all over you in thirty seconds flat.”

“So, you got any ideas?” Callahan asked.

“Yeah. Follow me.”

Rooney led them across the grounds to a hanger; he took out a key and unlocked a side entry and took them inside.

“What the fuck is that?” Callahan asked, his eyes registering both fear and lust.

“The Agusta-Bell AB-212-ASW variant.”

“The what?” Frank asked.

“An Italian built 212 Huey, specifically modified for anti-submarine operations, as well as over-the-water search and rescue ops. The Navy was conducting trials with this one off the coast for a few months. We’re keeping it here until reps from Italy come and pick it up.”

“What are those?” Callahan asked as he walked up to the port-side weapons pylon.

“ASROC, SUBROC, something like that. Apparently you launch the thing and it drops a homing torpedo onto the target. The thing is, you got to drop sonobuoys in a pattern around the target for the thing to work.”

Callahan stood on the skid and peered into the cockpit. “Looks like any other 212. What gives?”

“Check the back. There’s a dual sonar rig where we’d put a flight engineer, and a sonobuoy tech handles the drops. There’s also a dipping sonar.”

“Man, you’re speaking Greek now,” Frank said.

Callahan turned to Rooney: “Did you say there’s a dipping sonar installed?”

“Yup. And something called MAD gear.”

“Then we wouldn’t need a sonar operator,” Harry said.

“What’s MAD gear?” Frank asked.

“Magnetic Anomaly Detector,” Harry replied. “Depending on the set, you can pick up a sub several hundred feet beneath the surface.”

“How do you know about this crap?” Bullitt asked.

“I read a lot,” Callahan replied, smiling. “What about the torpedos? Those are green-heads, right?”

“Yup.”

“Where could we find a couple of war-shots?”

“In those crates,” Rooney said, pointing. “They sent those along just in case world war three broke out.”

“And the mini-guns?”

“Thousand rounds per minute, two thousand rounds per gun. Ammunition is right over there…”

“In those crates, huh?”

“Yup.”

“Harry?” Frank said. “What are you thinking?”

“Well, Frank. There are a lot of Great Whites around the Farallons. I think it would be too bad if those hoods had engine trouble while they’re out there, don’t you?”

“I’m more worried about the sharks, Harry.”

“Oh. Why?”

“Well, think about it…with twenty tons of cocaine in the water, those are gonna be some seriously fucked-up fish, Harry…”

As the three walked backed to the Cathouse they saw Delgetti waiting for them in the parking lot, and he walked up to Harry when they got close.

“Harry, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but it appears your father had a stroke earlier today, at least that’s what they think…”

“Where is he? How is he doing?”

“I’m sorry, Harry. He’s gone.”

Frank helped him inside and sat while his friend came to terms with the moment, but it was only the second time he’d seen Harry cry and the sight shook him up. It wasn’t too hard to think what was going through his mind, too. This last stretch of their life together fouled by the Fujiko thing, their last precious stretch of time together ripped away – not by circumstance, but by choice. And now, here he sat with no one to hold, no one to understand or share the moment with, no sheltering love to call his own. Just an empty house on a cliff overlooking the cold heart of the sea.

________________________________

They used encrypted handsets that night. 

Bullitt followed the Threlkis crew to Sausalito, his only real concern that he had been made, that they were springing a trap. But no, the crew met up at an Italian restaurant overlooking the bay and a little after ten that night a Zodiac motored up to the docks below and they hopped in. Frank called it in to the Cathouse.

“Cat Baker to Able. Mice are on the loose, as planned.”

“Able copies.”

Callahan and Rooney were both up front that night, Harry on the stick and Mickey handling the weapons systems. Rooney had dug up the Navy sonar operator used during the evaluation flights of this helicopter, and the kid was sitting just behind them – currently with nothing to do. The plan was to hang back and get a rough heading on the boat, then head north a little before turning out to sea. They’d circle around, come in from the west, and that way avoid detection until the last possible moment.

The bird was an Italian made twin-engined Huey, but all the instrumentation was pure American made stuff on this bird, because she was meant for export. And this was the first time Callahan would get his hands on the newest night vision gear, too.

They headed out over the Golden Gate with all their anti-collision lights going, not making any effort to hide, and they watched the boat as it cleared land and hit the open sea – on a heading of 240 magnetic – a course that would take them just south of the Farallons. Callahan turned to the northwest and flew up the coast about ten miles, then all the Huey’s lights went dark and he put the helicopter about a hundred feet above the water as he turned to the west. Ten minutes later the jagged rocks of the Farallons came into view…

“Those rocks are going to make a lot of noise,” the sonar operator said over the intercom. “Head a couple of miles south and we’ll dip there.”

“Got it,” Callahan replied.

“It’ll take that boat about five hours to get all the way out here, Harry. We ain’t got the gas for that.”

“Anyone on the south island?”

“A caretaker, maybe. It’s not shark season so all the researchers should be on shore.”

“Okay, let’s take a couple of readings, see if we can pick something up.”

The dipping sonar sensor was on a reel, the idea being to work along an imaginary ‘picket line’ then to ‘stop and drop’ the sensor along this line and – hopefully – pick up a target and triangulate its position, in the process working up a course and speed on the sub as it moved through the water.

On the second dip the operator spoke up…

“Okay, I’m picking up engine plant noise. A diesel boat, pretty small too. Really noisy, like a Chinese boat. Man, I wonder how they got by San Diego? Okay, pull her up and let’s move…”

Callahan moved the ship a mile to the south and they dipped again…

“Shit! We’re right on top of her! Pull it up!”

So, another mile to the south and Rooney dipped the sonar again…

“Okay, same boat, got a turn count, making five knots, no, slowing now, some hull noises now, a little popping, she’s coming up to about fifty feet, no, wait…she’s surfacing…”

Callahan hovered while Rooney reeled in the sonar, but as soon as the sensor was out of the water he turned south and slipped even closer to the surface of the the water, putting some real distance between the sub and the Huey.

He turned back towards the sub and, using the night vision goggles, saw a few people walking along the curved surface of the gleaming black hull, then he saw someone pointing in their direction, then men scrambling for the conning tower…

“Okay,” Callahan said, “they’ve made us. Looks like they’re gonna dive.”

“You gonna take it out?” the sonar operator asked. “Man, the Navy will hear that shit from SanDiego to Puget Sound…”

Rooney looked at the operator. “Arm ASROC One.”

“Arming One,” the kid said, and Callahan appreciated his professionalism. “They’re blowing tanks, turn count increasing rapidly now.”

“How close do we need to get?” Callahan asked.

“We can fire anytime you want, range is good.”

“Fire ASROC One,” Rooney said, and the rocket leapt from the rail, went up to 500 feet AGL, and thirty seconds later a torpedo, dangling from three small parachutes, slipped into the sea.

“Torpedo in acquisition mode, no countermeasures, call it ten seconds to impact…”

Callahan looked at the surface of the sea, saw a momentary bubbling on the surface then a vast column of water erupted.

“Target is destroyed,” the operator whispered. “Dude, whoa, that was my first hard kill.”

“Yeah,” Rooney added, “mine, too.”

But Callahan was all business now. “Mickey, work up an intercept heading for the boat.”

“Call it 7-5 degrees magnetic, say about 10 to 12 miles to PCA.”

Callahan swung to the new heading and accelerated to 140 knots. “How’s our fuel?”

“Two hours if you throttle back a little. About an hour fifteen at present speed.”

“Okay, I think I see ‘em,” he said five minutes later. He flew right down the port side of the boat and several men started shooting at the Huey as it passed. “Will that torpedo work on a surface contact?”

“Sure. Just set the target depth for zero. Want me to light it up?”

“Go ahead,” Callahan snarled.

“Arm ASROC Two,” Rooney said.

“Arming Two. Two is ready, programmed to zero depth. We are in range, come to best heading of 2-5-0 magnetic.”

Callahan swung around, and he could see frantic action on deck through his night vision goggles, then someone with what looked like a small missile launcher stood on the fore-deck…

“Missile launcher,” Callahan yelled.

“Countermeasures to pulse and active,” the operator said calmly. 

“Fire ASROC Two,” Rooney said.

“Firing Two.”

Everyone on the boat stood transfixed as the rocket leapt from the rail, and the guy with the missile on the foredeck wasted his shot firing at the torpedo. Twenty seconds later the boat erupted in a huge fireball…and a minute later there was nothing left but an oil-slick on the waves.

“I’m picking up a narrow band search radar,” the operator said. “Probably a P-3 coming to identify the explosions.”

“Gimme a course for the Bridge,” Callahan said.

“Eight-five magnetic, eighteen miles.”

“Fuel?”

“We’re good. Pour it on.”

________________________________

When representatives from Agusta-Bell arrived to pick up their 212ASW they were surprised to find small red submarine icons painted on both sides of the hull…indicating the craft had made a hard kill. More troubling were the four bullet holes just aft of the rear door…

_________________________________

After the services for his father were over, he went to the house in Potrero Hills and walked through the old place. A couple of neighbors dropped by and offered condolences, then a real estate agent dropped by, asking when the house was going on the market. She fled the house in terror when she saw the look in Callahan’s eyes.

He found the stash of model trains, as well as rough plans for a layout, in the basement, and he shook his head. “Hell, I really didn’t know the guy, did I,” he said as he made a quick inventory of the contents of the house. He had his contractor coming at noon to go over a few ideas, so while he was waiting he mowed the lawn for the millionth time, then watered the flower beds.

He was waiting on the porch for the contractor when an old man walked up the steps and joined him. Callahan barely recognized him, a captain at the same company his father worked for, one who had trained his father right after the war.

“You’re Harry, right?”

“Yessir. And I’m sorry, I recognize you but I can’t remember your name.”

“You’d probably know me as Captain Leighton. Ben to my friends.”

“Yes, I remember now. Nice to see you again, Captain.”

“I wish it was under better circumstances. Your father wanted me to give this to you. I have no idea what it is, but he entrusted me with it a few years ago. I thought I’d better get it over here before age catches up with me, too.”

“Thanks. Could I get you something to drink. Some water, or maybe some iced tea?”

“No thanks. My wife is waiting in the car. Sorry about your loss,” he said as he walked back down the stairs.

Callahan sat and opened the envelope. Inside was a smaller manilla envelope, sealed, and with a bank’s address and a safety deposit box access code printed in his father’s neat script on the flap.

His contractor arrived and he slipped the envelope into his coat pocket, then took the contractor inside.

“We’ve got four bedrooms in here, three up and one down. I want to update the bathrooms and kitchen, refinish the floors, and turn the basement into a sort of den. I’ve also got plans for a model railroad that I’d like you to rough in down there, too.”

“What are your plans for the house?”

“Kind of a dormitory, really. I’ve got a small helicopter taxi operation starting up and a bunch of pilots that may need short term accommodations, and this old place will do for now.”

“The basement?”

“Just a place to unwind. A TV room, maybe a pool table…”

“And a model railroad layout?”

“You got it. Why don’t you take a look around and work up some plans and an estimate for me.”

“Will do, Mr. Callahan.”

He hopped into the Rover and drove across town to the bank listed on the envelope, then went to the safety deposit desk. After he finally got to the box he found an insurance policy and a couple of passbooks to linked savings accounts – and a letter.

He sat and read through the letter once, then a second time before he folded the paper and put it in his coat pocket. He wiped away a tear then closed the safety deposit account. He cashed-out the savings accounts into one cashiers cheque, then went to the insurance company and filed the necessary paperwork to cash-in the policy. With that done he went to his own bank and deposited the cheques.

And that was that. One man’s life condensed into three pieces of paper and then – poof! Almost all trace of his existence was wiped from the ledger.

And now, sitting in the Rover in a parking lot jammed full of empty cars, he felt just as empty inside, like the last of the lines that had tethered him to the past – his past – had just now been unceremoniously cut – and now, all that was in the past was simply gone, like a chalkboard wiped clean. And now, only faint traces of chalk remained on a vanishing board, echoes of what was fading from view, vague traceries of lives that only he could see and feel now.

The house? Well, Saul Rosenthal had bought that, hadn’t he? Or, in other words, his real father had bought his stand-in father the house he had grown up in, and the sensation he felt was more like being unmoored from existence than anything else he could think of. Everything he had taken for granted as a kid was an illusion, wasn’t it?

…but then another thought crept in…

‘And just how many people did I kill three nights ago? I’ll never really know, will I? How many people were inside that black metal tube now resting on the bottom of the sea? And on that boat? Twenty? Thirty? Fifty? So, how many ledgers did I close that night? How many hopes and dreams did I wipe away, consign to oblivion?”

Then another thought hit him, a thought that left him breathless and confused…

‘How many people have I killed, really? Vietnam? Call it a hundred? On the streets here in the city? Call it twenty, maybe twenty five over the years. And three nights ago? Let’s split the difference and call it forty. That’s a hundred and sixty five people. That I’ve killed. Me. A hundred and sixty five slates wiped clean. And how many people go through life without ever hurting anyone, let alone killing someone? What does that make me? A serial killer? A mass murderer? But…I never wanted to hurt anyone. I never set out to kill anyone – at least not until this year. Has death become too easy for me to justify, and to accept?’

He just sat there in the Rover for a while, but in the end he drove back to the Cathouse. All the pilots would arrive next week; the last Sikorsky would arrive this weekend. Frank was finalizing the radio installation. The Agusta-Bell people wanted to talk to him. The Navy, too. 

“We’re going to need a receptionist here,” Frank said as Harry walked in. “And some kind of reservation system.”

“Can we tie into one of the major airline reservation systems? Seems like more than half of our projected calls are going to be for flights to-and-from SFO. Maybe we can tie into American or United’s system in some way?”

“I’ll get to work on that,” Frank sighed. “What about a receptionist, and someone for reservations?”

“Any ideas?”

“I do,” Rooney said, walking out of his office. “I have two people in mind. Just give me the go ahead.”

“Do it.”

“Pay? Minimum wage ain’t gonna cut it, ya know.”

“Ask ‘em what the want. If it sounds reasonable go with it.”

Rooney nodded. “Any ideas on housing? Rents are too steep here in the city.”

“Yeah. My dad’s house, over in Potrero Hills. Rooms for four, being rehabbed right now. Get em rooms in a hotel around here for now, until the house is finished. That’ll be rent free, give ‘em time to save up and find a place of their own.”

“Sounds fair. What about Mariposa?”

“No way do I want someone full time out there. One week rotations during fire season. Same with Tahoe and Mammoth. We’ll rotate crew…”

“What if someone wants to be stationed out there?”

Callahan shook his head. “Not yet. Let’s focus on Bay Area operations first. If the Sierra operations suddenly look that intense we can work something else out then.”

“You want me to deal with the Navy and the manufacturers reps?” Rooney continued.

“Set up a time when we can both be there. No lies, just the truth, and see if the DEA can send someone, too.”

“No shit? You gonna own up to that?”

“Outside the line so no one has jurisdiction, right? And I’ll fill them in on the rest. Beyond that, fuck ‘em.”

Frank looked at Rooney; both shook their head in despair.

After Rooney left the room Frank went into Callahan’s little office. “You feeling okay, man?”

“No, not really. Thinking about Dad all day, wrapping up some of his affairs. I guess I’m feeling down about all that family crap.”

“I’m gonna meet Cathy at The Shadows. Want to come along?”

“Yeah, if you don’t mind the intrusion. Sounds good.”

“Can you drive?”

“Yeah. You ready now?”

“Yup.”

“K. Let’s go.”

Callahan made his way to the Coit Tower neighborhood and parked, and they walked down to the restaurant and got a table. Cathy got there a few minutes later, and she looked totally beat. At seven months pregnant she was showing all the signs now: her face and ankles were swollen, her eyes puffy, even her fingers looked different, but because he knew she was self-conscious about her appearance Callahan tried not to show undue concern.

“What’s up with you, Harry?” she asked.

“You know my apartment building?”

She nodded.

“Well, the building is going up for sale. What do you think about picking it up, tearing it down and putting up some condos. Kind of up-market, maybe ten stories, something like that.”

“I don’t remember what the height restriction is down there that close to the water, maybe six stories. That’s why so many of those places haven’t been torn down. Too hard to cram enough units into six stories to make a new project viable.”

“Why?”

“Units would have to price out at close to a million a pop, that’s why.”

“Five blocks from the water? What would it take?”

“Probably four units per floor, one point five million per unit. You could make a nice profit at those prices.”

“Got a realtor who can make some inquiries?”

“Yes, if you really want to try it. You’ll tie up some serious assets for two or three years. You okay with that?”

“Yeah. Just make sure the damn thing is earthquake proof!”

She nodded. “Everything is nowadays. We’re overdue for a big one, too. And Harry, I have to ask, but do you want me to design it?”

“Hell yes! Why do you think I’m asking you?”

She smiled. “I didn’t want to make any assumptions.”

“You think about it. We’ve got time to spare, and you’ve got more important things to take care of right now,” he said as he looked at her belly.

“Okay, but I’ll get someone from the office on it right away.”

“Good. Now Frank, I feel like some wine tonight. Think you can manage the drive back to the ranch?”

_________________________________

The next year was a blur, a constant exasperating blur.

CAT took off, literally, and demand exceeded supply by a factor of two. Rooney recommended they order at least two more Sikorsky S-76s; Callahan ordered four. Demand at SFO was about as expected, but San Jose International was an unexpected bonus that made expansion of the Palo Alto base an immediate priority. Two big fires between Mammoth and Yosemite meant that three Hueys were in constant demand moving fire crews, still, Rooney realized they needed bigger helicopters so he began by asking the Air Force if they had any big Sikorsky S-64 Skycranes they wanted to unload. CAT purchased two and sent them into action hauling water and chemical retardants into terrain too remote for large ground teams to reach. The Forest Service contracts were beyond lucrative.

CAT then had to bring on two accountants to handle cash-flow and taxes. Both American and United allowed CAT to codeshare, so more people were brought onboard to facilitate that process. Then they needed ticket counters at SFO; San Jose and Oakland soon followed. When CAT’s payroll approached one hundred people Callahan realized he was getting in over his head; he approached a headhunting firm to recruit a CFO and they found one at Southwest who liked what she saw and wanted in on the action. Callahan liked her resume and flew her out.

Frank took her around the Cathouse, then Rooney flew her to Palo Alto and Mariposa before returning to the Presidio. She was impressed.

“I’ll go talk to Harry,” Rooney advised when they returned to the Cathouse. “Do you have a hotel booked?”

“Yes, at the Stanford Court,” Linton Tomlinson said.

“Well, just so you know, the tradition here is new-hires go to Trader Vics…”

“Let me guess. Suffering Bastards, right?”

“Ah. So you’re familiar?”

“We have one in Dallas.”

Rooney nodded then went to see Callahan.

“I think she’s a keeper, Harry. You should go meet her.”

“Yeah? Well, see if any pilots are free for Vics. I’d like some reaction-input.”

“That’s a no-go, boss. We’re still two down. Coburn with appendicitis and Tompkins has a busted collarbone.”

“How’d he do that?”

“Playing basketball at the Y.”

“Fuck. We need to put a gym in one of the hangers. We’ve lost two pilots to these bullshit injuries so far this year.”

“Daniels over at TWA told me they’re going to sub-lease one of their hangers out at SFO. Are we interested?”

“Fuck yes.”

“Roger that. If we’re gonna do Vics with this girl it’s gonna be just you and me.”

“Alright. I’ll be out in a minute. Let me put on a fresh shirt.”

“Try some deodorant too, Callahan. You’re drawing flies again.”

“Screw you, Rooney.”

“And guess what? It’s your week to stay at Mariposa, starting Friday.”

Callahan sighed. “Already? Feels like I was up there just last week…”

“Yeah? Well, that was two months ago, Ace.”

“Any fires up there now?”

“Two, both almost contained, but conditions are ripe for an outbreak.”

“What do we have up there right now?”

“One Skycrane, one Huey.”

Callahan shook his head. “Better find me another Huey, Mickey…”

“Navy has some of those 212s they want to offload, but the hours are up there…”

Callahan shook his head again. “Too much corrosion on those birds. See if you can drive the price down. Way-fucking-down. Now, get out of here, willya?”

When he walked into the waiting room and took one look at Tomlinson his heart skipped a beat. He looked at her left hand – ‘no ring…’ – then he remembered ‘single’ listed on her resumé. Not too tall, maybe 5’8” and a little stocky, she looked kind of like a college athlete. Blond, green eyes, great legs…oh, yes…

Then he realized she realized he was staring at her.

“Mickey tells me good things about you,” he said, trying to get back in the game.

“I’m impressed,” she said. “Y’all have done a lot in one year, come a long way for a start up.”

“Well, I sure hope you’re hungry…because I haven’t eaten all day…”

“Let’s do it,” she said. 

He’d made the drive up the hill to Vics so many times this past year he could do it in his sleep, and tonight was no exception. He handed the keys to Rover over to the valet attendant and they went inside. CAT had an account here and they bypassed the line, went right to a prime table. Rooney had to fly in the morning so he had an iced tea; Callahan asked Linton if a Suffering Bastard would suffice…

“I hope you’re not limiting me to just one,” she cracked, smiling a little.

They talked business for an hour and Callahan made up his mind. She’d do.

Then she asked a question he wasn’t expecting. “The scuttlebutt on you guys is that you took out some kind of submarine last year. What’s that all about?”

Callahan shook his head. “What did you hear?”

“Just that. You guys went out one night and took out some kind of sub.”

“I love rumors,” he said to Rooney, “don’t you?”

“Yeah, I’ve heard that one too,” Rooney added.

“So, it didn’t happen?”

Callahan shrugged. 

“So, that’s it? You ain’t tellin’?”

“Ma’am, I never kiss and tell,” Callahan said. “Need another Bastard?”

“Yup.”

“Garcon!” Callahan called out, holding up two fingers and pointing at their drinks. “So, where you staying?”

“The Court.”

“Ah.”

“Ah?” she asked. “Is that Ah, good, or Ah, bad?”

“It’s ah, I may need a room there myself, because I sure ain’t driving back to the ranch tonight.”

“The ranch?”

“Sea Ranch. It’s a development about an hour or so north of here, on the coast.”

“Yeah, I think I saw something about it once. Nice place.”

“What about you? You live in Dallas, right?”

“Yeah, grew up there so Southwest was right for me.”

“So, why San Francisco?”

“You ever get tired of looking out over the bay?”

“No. Never.”

“Well, I’m tired of Dallas, and I’m tired of Texas.”

“No entangling relationships?”

“No. I was engaged two years ago. That didn’t work out too well.”

“Sorry.”

“I’m not. What about you?”

“No one.”

“Never been married?”

“No one,” he repeated.

“Well guys,” Rooney said. “I’m signing off. Gotta be on the ramp at seven.”

Harry stood and shook Rooney’s hand. “Be safe.”

“Yeah, you too.” A knowing glance and a little smirk said it all.

“One more for the road?” he asked after he sat down again.

“One more and I’ll be sleeping in the road. And you don’t need a room there,” she said, grinning. “My room has a king.”

© 2020 adrian leverkühn | abw | and as always, thanks for stopping by for a look around the memory warehouse…[and a last word or two on sources: I typically don’t post all a story’s acknowledgments until I’ve finished, if only because I’m not sure how many I’ll need until work is finalized. Yet with current circumstances (Covid-19) waiting to mention sources might not be the best way to proceed. To begin, the primary source material in this case – so far, at least – derives from two seminal Hollywood ‘cop’ films: Dirty Harry and Bullitt. The first Harry film was penned by Harry Julian Fink, R.M. Fink, Dean Riesner, John Milius, Terrence Malick, and Jo Heims. Bullitt came primarily from the author of the screenplay for The Thomas Crown Affair, Alan R Trustman, with help from Harry Kleiner, as well Robert L Fish, whose short story Mute Witness formed the basis of Trustman’s brilliant screenplay. Steve McQueen’s grin was never trade-marked, though perhaps it should have been. John Milius (Red Dawn) penned Magnum Force, and the ‘Briggs’/vigilante storyline derives from characters and plot elements originally found in that rich screenplay, as does the Captain McKay character. The Jennifer Spencer/Threlkis crime family storyline was first introduced in Sudden Impact, screenplay by Joseph Stinson, original story by Earl Smith and Charles Pierce. The Samantha Walker television reporter is found in The Dead Pool, screenplay by Steve Sharon, story by Steve Sharon, Durk Pearson, and Sandy Shaw.  I have to credit the Jim Parish, M.D., character first seen in the Vietnam segments to John A. Parrish, M.D., author of the most fascinating account of an American physician’s tour of duty in Vietnam – and as found in his autobiographical 12, 20, and 5: A Doctor’s Year in Vietnam, a book worth noting as one of the most stirring accounts of modern warfare I’ve ever read (think Richard Hooker’s M*A*S*H, only featuring a blazing sense of irony conjoined within a searing non-fiction narrative). Denton Cooley, M.D. founded the Texas Heart Institute, as mentioned. Of course, James Clavell’s Shōgun forms a principle backdrop in later chapters. The teahouse and hotel of spires in Ch. 42 is a product of the imagination; so-sorry. Many of the other figures in this story derive from characters developed within the works cited above, but keep in mind that, as always, the rest of this story is in all other respects a work of fiction woven into a pre-existing cinematic-historical fabric. Using the established characters referenced above, as well as the few new characters I’ve managed to come up with here and there, I hoped to create something new – perhaps a running commentary on the times we’ve shared with these fictional characters? And the standard disclaimer also here applies: the central characters in this tale should not be mistaken for persons living or dead. This was, in other words, just a little walk down a road more or less imagined, and nothing more than that should be inferred. I’d be remiss not to mention Clint Eastwood’s Harry Callahan, and Steve McQueen’s Frank Bullitt. Talk about the roles of a lifetime…and what a gift.]

Chapter 7

Taggart winced when the IV was mated to the port in his chest; the snapping sound it made unnerved him, the sharp sting on insertion was just icing on the cake.

He was sitting in a large room with what he guessed was a dozen or so other patients – people of all ages – all getting one kind of chemotherapy or another. Each and every one of them was laid out on brightly colored overstuffed recliners, and Taggart looked at all the others in the room feeling an underwhelming mixture of revulsion and self-pity. Their feet up, their eyes closed, he felt a passing wave of nausea as he imagined embalming fluid passing into all those veins.

‘We’re dead, all of us in this goddam room. We just don’t know it yet…’

The nurse hovering over him adjusted the drip on his IV and disappeared. There were a couple of cheerful magazines on a cheerful little table by his cheerful recliner but one quick glance confirmed his first impression: nothing in English so nothing cheerful to read. He pushed a button and laid back, closed his eyes…

‘Just like falling off a log,’ he remembered thinking…

Then he was walking down a dirt road. In a forest. Light snow falling. Wispy tendrils of snow on gray-brown leaves. Footsteps and the sounds of his breath the only music in this air. This air…? So far away, so long ago.

He searched memory, looking for this passage of time, this slice of life.

Yosemite. He was seven years old, his first trip to the park. Thanksgiving vacation. Walking through the woods with he father, only now he was alone. 

He turned, looked around, realized he was alone in the forest and he felt that same sudden panic every child experiences when ‘alone’ and ‘lost’ become the first words that come to mind.

Should I run? But where to? Where would I run? There’s no one here…

No, I’ll just keep walking. Got to keep moving. Forward. Always forward.

He heard a snapping twig, turned to face the noise. A fawn was circling aimlessly, the falling snow blending with the spots on his back. 

Then he saw a rattlesnake. Huge. Preposterously so.

And another careless fawn, wandering in circles with not a care in the world, comes face to face with death. In an instant the snake is coiling around the fawn, then squeezing tighter and tighter until life leaves the eyes of both predator and prey. The snake takes the fawn by the head and slowly begins to devour him.

He wants to run now but can’t, because he has to stop and watch this, look at one more pointless death. But no, is that right? If death is pointless, isn’t life pointless too? Aimless, wandering circles we must call our own?

He felt a presence by his side and opened an eye, watched as Dina Bauer talked to his nurse while a new bag of poison was fitted to the pump that was squeezing pure unmitigated shit into his veins. He turned away, closed his eyes – welcoming the looming darkness once again.

Then he felt the chair lurch, his feet lowering, his head coming up.

And Dina was beside him now, looking into his eyes. “How do you feel?”

“Like I just swallowed a squirrel.” Pointless. Another pointless joke. But that’s who I am…the Joker.

She smiled. “This dose was a little different than the first. You will feel some nausea this time.”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

“Oh?”

“It just wouldn’t be chemo without vomiting and losing all my hair, ya know? Like my very own red badge of courage.”

She shook her head, smiled at his irreverence. “I wish you could experience saving just one life, Henry Taggart.”

“You mean…the people in the water don’t count?”

She hesitated, looked away. “No, I meant from a medical perspective. That you could experience saving a life through medicine. Then you might understand what it is I feel.”

“What makes you think I haven’t, Dina.”

She tossed a smug, sidelong glance his way. “Oh, truly? Well, this I’ve got to hear…”

“You want me to tell you? Here, now?”

“Of course. Please.”

He closed his eyes, found the memory…

“I was in graduate school. Working a couple of nights a week over at Hewlett-Packard, spending time with Steve Jobs on the weekends. I was living in a dorm that year. We were having a party, in the dorm. I’d brought some silicon blanks and a small laser…”

“What is this silicon blank?”

“Almost pure silicon, very thin and formed into a circle, three inch diameter. More reflective than a mirror.”

“Okay.”

“Anyway, we took the covers off a set of hi-fi speakers and I glued a blank on the dome of a woofer…”

“A what?”

“Woofer. It’s the speaker that reproduces all the bass notes in music.”

“Yes, okay. The big one, correct?”

“Yes. So, once the glue set we tilted the speaker and fired the laser into the blank, then we put on some Iron Butterfly. In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida. The drum solo…”

She shrugged.

“Yeah? Okay, no biggie. So, anyway, the laser is bouncing along to the music and making all kinds of cool looking patterns on the ceiling…”

“This is going somewhere, I trust?”

“Yeah, it is. So, then we’re listening to Dark Side of the Moon and the first song, Speak to Me, starts out with this long recording of a heartbeat. So bingo, I’m gluing a blank on my roommate’s chest and I bounce the laser off that – and what’s on the ceiling? Well, it ain’t random, Dina. It looked almost exactly like an EKG tracing. Anyway, the idea hit me…let’s bounce the laser off a bunch of hearts, see if we could reproduce the results.”

“Did it work?”

“Yup. So, yeah, one of the people we did this to was a girl, and yes, we glued a blank on her chest, right between two of the most glorious, uh, well, you know…”

“Indeed I do. So, what happened next?”

“Well, we get a tracing but it looked different. Really different. Like one trace on top of another. So, it hits me, right? This is a girl and girls can have, well, you know, two hearts beating in there…”

“What?”

“You know, a fetus?”

“Ah.”

“So I put a blank on her belly and bounce the beam and pick up a fetal heart beat…which was really kind of cool because she didn’t even know she was preggers.”

“Preggers?”

“Pregnant.”

“Ah.”

“Still, we kept picking up subtle traces of the mother’s heartbeat, even on the belly. That was a problem, I guess, that I wanted to solve. I talked with some of the guys over in the medical electronics division about what I’d found and they were all stoked because at that time you couldn’t pick up a good fetal rhythm with a standard EKG. We started doing these laser bounce sessions over in the OB clinic at Stanford, and to make a long story a little less long I developed the very first working fetal ballistocardiograph. I hold the patent, too, though H-P made the rig. You guys could, with my little setup, diagnose major heart valve problems in-utero for the first time, and all because of Pink Floyd and little old me.”

“Pink who?”

Taggart shook his head. “Damn, Dina! And I take it you’ve never heard In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida before, right?”

She shook her head.

“That figures.”

“Well, I see you aren’t feeling too bad. If there are no…”

“Wait a minute, doc. You mean to tell me I just told you this whole tale about how I…”

“Oh, I’m very impressed, Henry. You amaze me, really.”

“Yeah. Right. So, you were saying?”

“You can make the afternoon shuttle down to Stavanger. I won’t need to see you here until next week.”

“So, I can make it to Oslo in a week, right?”

She seemed shocked. “You surely are not going to keep going, Henry.”

“Places to go, Dina. People to see. Paris by Christmas, remember?”

“I’m sorry, but I cannot go with you now.”

“I understand.”

“Is Eva going to stay with you?”

“I think so, for another week or so, then she’s going to stay with her parents.”

“How is the Parkinson’s?”

“Still manageable.”

“Is she a sailor?”

“No, not really.”

“You’re putting both Eva and the baby at risk, you understand?”

He sighed. “She doesn’t want to leave.”

“She doesn’t know you are ill, does she?”

“I told her a couple of days ago. She seemed overjoyed.”

“I’m certainly glad you didn’t knock up that reporter, too.”

“Don’t think she can doc, but would you like me to try?”

“Frankly, Henry, I’m not sure Britt could take the heartache.”

“Heartache? You’re kidding, right?”

Dina shook her head. “I do not know what she sees in you.”

“You mean, besides my dashing good looks and boundless charm?”

“Precisely.” She smiled, then turned suddenly and walked back into the hospital.

“Well, what a charming conversation that was, Henry. So glad you could join us today.” He looked down at his hands, saw the faint tremors and knew it was time for his other meds. 

+++++

Eva was below in his cabin when he got back to the Bandit; Clyde was snuggled up under her chin and didn’t even look up when Taggart stuck his head in the cabin and took a quick inventory of the state of the union onboard. With that score settled, he stepped down to the galley and put on some water and got his tea ready, then put a couple of pieces of bread in the toaster…

The flight to Stavanger on that hideous Dash-8 Q400 turboprop had, he felt, just about finished him off. The pencil shaped behemoth twitched and bounced on every little air current, and their final approach into the little coastal airport had felt like a ride on NASAs famed vomit comet. The flight was so nauseating that as soon as the wheels were firmly on the runway everyone onboard had burst out yelling and clapping, and for the first time ever he’d joined in.

Still, by the time his taxi had made it back to Egersund his legs had begun the violent jerking twitch that signaled medication time, and as soon as he got some toast down he took his evening dose. And almost immediately he regretted it.

This latest round of chemo had barely begun playing with him these last three or four hours, just hinting at the nausea to come; now, with his Parkinson’s med stuck about halfway down his throat the real fun seemed about to begin. He put on a heavy coat and a wool watch-cap and crawled up into the cockpit, settled in behind the wheel with his tea and looked at the docks.

His phone chirped and he saw it was Sigrid the Lawyer. “Hello…?”

“Are you at the boat? Still in Egersund, I hope?”

“Yup, still tied up – same place as last week.”

“Good. I’ll see you in a half hour.”

“Now…what’s this all about? Dropping off her bill, perhaps?” He heard the tikki-tik of Clyde’s nails on the companionway steps and a moment later his graying snout slid into view. “I bet you’re ready to go take a crap, right, Amigo?”

“Bark, bark…”

“Understood. Let’s get your leash on.”

They walked to the end of the marina grounds and Clyde circled twice then dumped a city-sized load on the grass. “Geeze, Clyde, you been eatin’ road kill? Man, that shit stinks…” He’d picked up the mastodon turds with a poop-sack and dumped them in the appropriate litter barrel – just in time to see the Lawyer-mobile skid to a stop in the parking lot. As before, her driver got out a wheelchair and she’d just motored down to Bandit’s stern as he walked up.

“Hello, Clyde,” she said, then she looked at Taggart. “Excuse me, but you do not look well.”

“I do not feel well. I feel like green eggs and ham, as a matter of fact.”

“Chemo today?”

He nodded.

“So, what are your plans now?”

“I’m going to head for Oslo in the morning.”

“Is that the best course of action?”

“I want to make it to Oslo in a week, so yes.”

“You will continue with the therapy there?”

“Sort of. I’ll keep moving – to Gothenburg the week after, maybe Copenhagen the next, then we’ll have to see how much of the candle I’ve burned.”

“Excuse me?”

“Well, the plan is Paris for Christmas so I’ll be counting back from there. I’d like to go to Stockholm, take the Gotä Canal back to Gothenburg, then it’s the Kiel Canal to the German North Sea coast with a stop in Norderney, then the inland waterways in the Netherlands and Belgium, if time permits, on my way to the Seine.”

“That’s a lot of water under the keel, Henry. For anyone.”

“I hear you.”

“Do you? Anyway, I understand this other girl, Eva, will be staying with you until Oslo?”

“So, Dina is keeping you advised of my progress, I take it?”

“Yes. She is quite concerned.”

“Yes, well, that’s the plan.”

“I would advise against such a voyage. That is needless endangerment, and that violates the agreement you made with the Coast Guard.”

“Assuming they know, you mean?”

“You may assume they do know.”

“Ah, the lovely Dina strikes again.”

“Yes. That is why I rushed down here this evening. They have been advised. Given Eva’s lack of skill and the nature of the body of water you plan to traverse, you really should reconsider this – even without the agreement.”

“It’s that bad?”

“You know, Henry, just the fact you have to ask me that is a good indicator you have no idea what you are up against. But yes, it is that bad. And single handing around the cape is simple negligence…”

“So was single handing across the Atlantic.”

Sigrid nodded. “Point taken, however very few laws pertain to Atlantic crossings, while there are volumes of law concerning passages between countries in Scandinavian waters. Laws that date back more than 500 years, as a matter of record – just so we are clear. If you undertake such a voyage I will not be able to represent you.”

“So, what you are saying is…”

“In your current condition, you will need competent crew to undertake this voyage.”

“Uh-huh. And who do you recommend I call? Crews-R-Us?”

“No. Dina and Rolf.”

“But she told me…”

“She is waiting for your call, Henry. But she will not come with Eva onboard.”

“Oh, I see.”

“You are inside the eye of a hurricane, Henry. A very dangerous hurricane.”

“You know something, Sigrid. That woman keeps telling me she loves me, but she’s more like a Praying Mantis. She bites off her mate’s head after doing the deed…”

She shook her head. “Henry, there are three women in your little hurricane, and the hopes and dreams of a fifteen year old boy are bound up in all this, too. In some respects I do not envy you, yet from another perspective I find your situation most enviable.”

“You want to trade?”

She smiled, then shrugged. “Call me when you get to Oslo. I’d like to visit with you one more time before you leave Norway.”

“I will.” He took her hand and watched as she motored up to her Sprinter and disappeared inside, then he took out his phone and called Dina.

+++++

Taggart opened the Logbook to the last entry and read through it, then turned to a new page and began writing:

“Noon. Position N 57 46 by E 7 31, SOG 7 knots last two hours, COG 90 degrees mag., OAT 68F, Sea temp 55F Wind out of the west at 12 knots. Running with spinnaker on calm seas. Know I’m tempting Poseidon but you couldn’t ask for more benign weather to make this ‘dangerous’ trip. Rolf is beside himself flying the spinnaker for the first time, and Dina is doing a good job on the helm. I’ve been relegated to sitting in the shade as too much UV exposure is apparently not a great thing for chemo patients. Typical. Shipping traffic is heavy as we are in the shipping lanes so on constant watch, both visual and radar.”

He looked up from the chart table, first ahead then off to port – where he could just make out Ryvingen Lighthouse, now about ten miles away. He went down to the galley and grabbed a Dr. Pepper, then made his way up to the cockpit.

“Did you take your noon dose, Henry?” Dina said, smiling.

He shook his head. “I’ll get it next time I go below.”

She scowled and put Bandit on autopilot, then went below and got all his noon medications and brought them up. She handed them over and went back to the wheel, resumed scanning the horizon.

“You must’ve been a ship’s captain in your last life, Bauer.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah. The HMS Bounty.”

Rolf laughed as he eyed the spinnaker sheets. “Why is it so hot, Henry?”

“Well, think about it. The wind is coming directly from behind at about 10 knots, and we’re moving along about 7 knots. That means the wind over the deck is really only 3 knots, and the sun is directly overhead. So…if you don’t put some sunscreen on, you are going to look just like a boiled lobster tonight. Worse still, you are going to feel exactly like a boiled lobster.”

“Okay, okay. Can you watch the lines, please?”

“Sheets, Rolf. They’re called sheets.”

He grinned and ducked below.

“So, no submarines yet?” he asked Dina.

“And no whales. Very boring for you, I should imagine. No damsels in distress to rescue, or…”

“Yes, I think I see where you’re going with this.”

“I’m sorry.”

“For what? Being angry and bitter, maybe even a little vindictive?”

“And what do you expect? In the course of one week you impregnate my daughter – and then, another woman…”

“Too bad you’re in menopause, eh? Could have had a trifecta.”

“You are incorrigible, Henry Taggart.”

“I do try.”

“Anyone want something to eat?” Rolf called from the galley.

“No thanks,” they both replied.

“God, to be fifteen again,” he sighed. “To sit in the sun and eat three cheeseburgers – guilt free. Those were the days.”

“I was never so lucky. Things were very difficult here after the war, until the oil boom, anyway.”

“It’s going to be very difficult for you this evening if you don’t put on some lotion.”

“I need some sun.”

“Dina, you’re past well done right now.”

“Okay, take the helm.” He flipped on the autopilot and scanned the horizon, saw a blip on the screen and pulled out the binoculars. A huge container ship, light blue hull and white superstructure, was on their reciprocal heading, heading right for them, so he adjusted their course a little to the right and adjusted the spinnaker sheets, then he tagged the ship on radar and set an variable bearing line alarm. A minute later the ship altered course to its right and he relaxed a little. A few minutes later they passed port-to-port, and then that target was gone, probably headed for Baltimore.

Dina came up a minute later with a bottle of sunscreen. “Would you do my back, please?”

“Sure. Did you check on Clyde?”

“Sound asleep, snoring a little.”

“That dog could sleep through the Second Coming of Elvis.”

“I could sleep through the Second Coming of Elvis,” she sneered.

“You don’t like Elvis?”

“No, not at all.”

“Figures. And yeah, I liked the movies, too.”

“I can see why. ‘Girls! Girls! Girls!’ What an imaginative title for a movie.”

“Succinct, to the point…what’s not to like?”

“I will never understand this male fascination with breasts. They are just udders, for crying out loud.”

“Well, I’ve seen a few that remind me of udders, but by and large…”

At that point Dina untied her bikini top and flung it into the sea. “There! See? What is the big deal?”

Taggart was mesmerized, entranced. 

“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked.

“Because they’re perfect. In fact, I’ve never seen better.”

“Really? You like them?”

“Like them? Hell, I could get lost playing around right there,” he said, pointing at a nipple.

“Could I tell you something? A little secret?”

“Sure.”

“I’ve never had an orgasm,” she said.

“What? Never?”

“No, not once.”

“When’s the last time you had sex?”

“When Britt was conceived.”

“You never, uh, played a solo on the bone-a-phone?”

“What?”

“You know, like, uh, did the deed by yourself?”

“Good God No!”

“It’s not a mortal sin, you know?”

“It’s disgusting!”

“Disgusting? Really?”

“Yes. Completely.”

“Wow. I thought all you people died off in the sixties.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Prudes. I thought the sexual revolution took care of all you people.”

“I am not a prude!”

“Yes, you are.”

“I am not!”

“Are too.”

She put on a t-shirt and stormed off to the bow pulpit; a minute later Rolf came up carrying a huge sandwich. Taggart took one look at the thing and felt nauseated. 

“What is grandma-ma doing up there?”

“Looking for prudes.”

“Prudes? What is this?”

“Rare deep sea creatures, related to mermaids, I think – only with better knockers.”

“Knockers?”

“Tits, Rolf.”

“Ah. You know, I’ve never understood why some people are so fascinated with what is, really, just a milk gland?”

“Really, you don’t say? Well, tell Princess Leia up there I’m feeling a little under the weather, and I’m going below to take a nap.”

“Princess Leia…I like that!”

“I’m sure she will too.”

+++++

When his head hit the pillow he felt sleep racing inward, and he could just feel Clyde laying along his back, then Clyde’s face draped over his neck, and Taggart fell asleep with the pup’s nostrils beside his ears, the sounds of the dog’s breath filling his mind as sleep came to him. He was only vaguely aware of the spinnaker coming down, and within seconds he fell back into a deep sleep once again.

He felt a hand slipping inside his shorts a while later, and when he felt the quiet motions of a cool fondling hand his eyes jerked open. His cabin was in dim light, and then he felt his shorts sliding down his legs, a mouth drawing him inside that nether warmth. He looked down, saw Dina between his legs, and he watched her mouth bringing him close to the edge. She sensed the moment and he just knew she would pull away, but no, she took him all the way home, taking all he had to give, holding him inside her swirling ecstasy as he fell away.

She looked up, looked into his eyes.

“I was about to start dinner,” she smiled, “and I wondered if you might enjoy something to eat.”

He nodded, helped her straddle his face, and he took her all the way there. He felt the first tremor begin in the thighs, then as a fluttering in her belly. She was still shaking when she imploded and the remnants of her moment fell on him like a cool rain on hot pavement.

She was beside him in the next moment, her hands cupping his face while she said the most amazing things, words like rain to a soul as parched as Taggart’s, and when she left to make their dinner he knew something profound had passed between them. Something elemental, some kind of awakening he had never experienced before and, he knew, something that would never happen again.

He lay there listening to the sounds of the sea on the other side of the hull, to the gentle gurgling of water passing as Time Bandit made her way into the night.

‘What the hell just happened?’ he thought as he stepped into the shower and soaped away the evidence. He brushed his teeth then looked at himself in the mirror, all the while wondering who and what he was looking at. Then he brushed his hair and clumps came loose, clinging to the bristles as if they were clinging to life. He ran his fingers through his hair and more broke free…

“I am not going to cry,” he said as the shedded evidence of his death drifted free and settled on the floor.

He saw Clyde out of the corner of his eye and turned to face his newest friend. “Don’t worry, boy. I’m not going anywhere.”

But Clyde wasn’t buying it. He looked at Taggart for a while longer, then curled up on the bed and closed his eyes.

+++++

 The channel that led to Oslo was, essentially, a very long fjord. An almost sixty mile long fjord. 

Yet the city was surrounded by low, rolling hills, and not the jagged spires he’d found north of Bergen. The city itself seemed spread out along the shores of its massive harbor, yet, as Time Bandit approached the port Taggart could not see any of the industrial blight that surrounded most ports he had seen or been to before. Instead he saw the ramparts of old forts, ornate copper spires of church steeples, and an incredible array of sailboat marinas almost everywhere he looked.

“Man…this is a big city,” he sighed as they sailed past a cruise ship terminal in the city center. “I wasn’t expecting cruise ships…”

“A sign of the times, I suppose. I went to medical school here,” Dina added. “Oslo is a great city, but there have been growing pains. Still, I feel reborn just being here again.”

“I can see why,” Taggart said, eyeing the row of cruise ships with misgiving.

“Mom hardly ever brings us here,” Rolf added, looking at Henry. “There’s a great Indian place, though.”

“When is my appointment?” Henry asked, checking the boy’s expression.

“The day after tomorrow, at 0900.”

“Okay, Rolf, Indian it is, but – you’re buyin’!”

At the west end of the cruise ship terminal, Bandit approached the Kongen Marina and tied up outside the office. They were two days early for their reservation; Taggart hoped they’d have space available because the location looked decent for easily getting around the city. They were in luck, and Taggart arranged for an engine inspection and oil change while they were here. Bandit ended up tied off near a restaurant, a rowdy waterfront party-hearty place with loud music and tourists in Hawaiian shirts. Rolf and Dina worked on hosing down the deck and rinsing the sails with fresh water while Henry got shore power running, but he went below when his right arm twitched violently. When he came topsides again a genuinely huge motor yacht, complete with helicopter and two Donzi ski boats, pulled into the space located at the end of the T-shaped pier; several uniformed deck hands jumped onto the dock and began tying off the monster, while an engineer hooked up their own version of a shore power cord – which was about as big around as a sumo wrestlers thigh.

Taggart looked at the ship and shook his head. The thing had almost completely obscured the sun and now, instead of a nice harbor view, he now had a great view of the ship’s side mounted exhaust ports. And, as the engines were still running, he suddenly realized he was being gassed by the mega-tons of diesel exhaust spewing from those very same ports. He dove below and closed all the hatches and port lights, then the companionway hatch after he got back into the cockpit. He turned to Dina and Rolf, motioned to them to get clear of the fumes and they jumped to the dock, coughing all the way, while he carried Clyde. It took a half hour for the ship’s captain to turn off the engines, but by then the entire marina was awash in diesel fumes, and Rolf had to wash the decks again as diesel soot now covered everything.

“Let’s change and get out of here,” Taggart said, and they all went below to wash off the grime and change clothes, then they took a taxi into the city.

“You know,” Dina opined, “there are better restaurants here than Indian…”

“Probably so,” Henry tossed back. “And you get to choose tomorrow.”

Mollified, she sat back and looked at the city as they made their way to dinner.

“Do all big yachts stink so much?” Rolf asked.

Taggart shrugged. “I’ve heard the quality of the engine installation makes a big difference, also the quality of fuel, too, but I’ve never been docked next to one like that before. If we were asleep down below I’m not sure we’d survive without those carbon monoxide monitors. Which reminds me, I need to replace those back-up batteries tonight.”

After dinner, Dina took them to the old town and they walked the tourist trail for a while – until she looked at Henry and decided it was time to get him back to the Bandit and medicated. At one point his left leg jerked and he almost lost his footing, though Rolf caught him that time, and by the time they made it back to the marina his hands and head were jerking badly.

“I feel like one of those plastic dog statues with the bobbing heads people put on their dashboards,” he sighed. “Bet that makes a pretty sight.”

“I could hardly notice it,” Rolf said, now concerned.

“Nicely put, Amigo. I’ll make a liar out of you yet.”

Dina shook her head at that one.

He put his arms around Dina as they walked out the pier to Bandit, and the decks were once again coated in thick, oily soot. “Must be the cruise ships,” Taggart said, looking at the now empty terminal. “Four of those foul things leaving at one time must really crucify the air quality around here.”

By the time they were halfway out to Bandit he could see the Russian flag flying off the mega-yacht’s stern, and the interior of the upper saloon was pulsing with strobes and grinding heavy metal.

“Oh, this is just priceless,” he sighed as they stepped onto Bandit’s deck. “Anyone wanna dance?”

The music was blaring out here, next to the yacht, and there looked to be about two dozen people up there dancing – and snorting cocaine – but then Rolf laughed and pointed…

Taggart followed the finger to the ship’s flying bridge…

A guy and two girls were up there screwing, and another girl was filming the action. Dina stared wide-eyed at the display for a moment, then she told Rolf to go below…

“Bullshit,” Henry cried. “You’re depriving the boy of a decent, well rounded education. C’mon, Amigo. Find a good seat and I’ll give you the play-by-play. Dina? You wanna grab a couple of beers and join us?”

Scowling, she ducked below – but a minute later she came topsides carrying three bottles of non-alcoholic beer – and two bottles of medicine.

One of the girls was on her knees working the guy over pretty good; he was holding the second girl inverted so he could ‘eat at the Y,’ and the girls were yowling like alley cats in heat as they passed the guy’s tool between their waiting mouths. Then the girl on her knees hit the short strokes, commanding the guys full attention, and he returned the favor to the inverted girl – which produced a series of screams that sounded like a wailing air-raid siren…

Rolf was bug-eyed by that point, though he’d crossed his legs after a minute or so of the performance.

He whispered to Dina: “We need to get that boy laid. He looks like a tripod…”

Dina, taking a sip from her beer at the time, snorted and coughed – spraying the cockpit with beer before she ran below. He heard her down there: ‘is that laughter?’ he said to himself, grinning.

“That’s quite a show they’re putting on, ain’t it?”

Rolf nodded and grinned salaciously.

“You done the deed yet?”

“What?” 

“You know…the hunka-chunka…?”

“What is that?” the boy asked.

“Well, not to put too fine a point on things, but that…” Taggart said, pointing to the triptych on the boat next door, “is the hunka-chunka.”

“You mean, sex?”

“I mean sex.”

“No, no, not yet.”

“Not interested?”

“What? No…uh, I mean yes,” Rolf said, now completely flustered. “Excuse me? What was the question?”

“The hunka-chunka. You not interested in that stuff?”

“I’m interested,” he said, now looking at the world through very uncertain eyes.

“Ah. Well then.”

“What?”

“Oh, I was just thinking.”

+++++

They found out where to do laundry early the next morning and hauled a weeks worth of stuff up to the machines. They took Clyde to a park across the street and let him get reacquainted with all things leafy and green, and when that deed was finished Dina took them out to lunch at a place near the medical school. They gorged on smoked fish, cold salads and warm bread, all finished off with a beer for Dina and Coke for those either too young or medically disqualified. She led them on a short tour of her old stomping grounds, and Rolf seemed to get a little more than interested in all things ‘medicine’ after that. Taggart wanted to get a new sailing jacket and overalls – because his old set was gradually getting a little too large…

So, they found a Helly-Hansen store and he picked up a new set – that made him look just like a giant Norwegian flag, though maybe not quite flapping in the breeze. Then he found a knitted wool ski hat that actually looked just like a Norwegian flag flapping in a breeze, so the look was now complete. After a brief stop at a nautical chart store they made their way back to the Bandit – and just in time for the afternoon edition of ‘Let’s Go Screw on the Flying Bridge’ – Russian language edition. This broadcast included three men and at least a half dozen naked women – and one guest participant whose gender neither he nor Dina could readily identify. Rolf stared – really bug-eyed this time – as the show got underway, but Dina grabbed Taggart by the belt and hauled him below…

“Watching all that stuff is making me so horny,” she whispered in his ear.

“Well, okay, but do you wanna do it down here, or go up top and really get into the spirit of things?”

…but she was ripping his shorts off by then… 

“Right,” he said. “I keep forgetting you’re the shy, retiring type…”

…and then she got to work…

“And into sword-swallowing too, I see…”

+++++

The IV snapped into his port with a startling crack, then the gorgeous nurse set flow rates and helped him lay back in the recliner. Here – as in Bergen – the infusion room was packed with patients getting chemotherapy, only there must’ve been fifty chairs in this one. And almost every chair was occupied.

“What’s going on here?” he asked the nurse. “Some kind of cancer epidemic?”

She turned and looked around the room. “It’s not so bad today. Most mornings every chair is taken. All of these will have someone in them by ten. Then the afternoon appointments start at 1300.”

“Jesus…how come so many?”

She shrugged. “Maybe because there are so many cancers – different kinds, I mean. And now so many people are exposed to things they weren’t a hundred years ago.”

“What’s the cancer you treat the most here?”

“Oh, breast cancer, by a large number. This is what you have, no?”

“Yes, I drew the lucky number and got it too.”

“Not so lucky, I think. You look pale, but your numbers do not look so bad. They added Avastin to your series today. Did they discuss side effects?”

“Briefly, yes.”

“Then you know what to expect, no?”

“Nothing good.”

“You won’t feel bad today, maybe tomorrow, as well. You are American, are you not?”

“I am.”

“Why here, and not at home?”

“My sailboat is my home.”

“Really? How amazing. You sailed here?”

“I did.”

“I was watching on television about an American who rescued a member of parliament near Bodø…”

“Yup, that was me.”

“Really? You are a great celebrity, then!”

“That, on the other, is not me.”

“What?”

“I am not a celebrity, great or otherwise.”

“Ah, yes. I see. But, you keep on sailing?”

“Yup. Kind of like The Flying Dutchman.”

“I do not know about this.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Are you depressed?”

“Depressed? No, not at all. In fact, I’m having the time of my life.”

“You are joking, yes?”

“No, I am serious. I am having a great time.”

“But…”

“No buts. I just am. Sorry if that sounds obtuse…”

“Obtuse?”

“Insensitive. Nobody lives forever, darlin’. Might as well go out with a bang, ya know?”

“But, the treatments…”

“Yeah, I got the gist of all that. Say, why don’t you come down to the boat tonight. There’s someone down there just dying to meet someone like you?”

“Like me? Really?”

“Yeah. Let’s call it a blind date…if you’re not doing anything, I mean.”

“No, no…I can come.”

“Excellent. What time can you come?”

“After work…maybe around 1800?”

“Perfect. What kind of food do you like?”

“You know, Indian is my favorite.”

“Really? How ‘bout that.”

“Excuse me?”

“Oh…nothing. I was just thinking…it’s been a while since I had decent Indian. Do you know a good place?”

“Yes, there are several in the city.”

“Well, I can’t wait.”

+++++

He felt like Hell warmed over, and for some reason his calves and ankles hurt most of all.

“It’s the Avastin,” Dina told him. “It cuts off vascularization around tumors, so with no blood supply they can’t grow. The down side is that it seems to effect healthy veins too, especially in the peripheral vascular network…”

“I think it’s charming that you assume I know exactly what you just said.”

“But…you do, do you not?”

“Yeah, I mean in a general sense. The mechanisms behind all that…? I doubt I’d understand that.”

“And I won’t bore you with the details. How is the nausea this time?”

“That new drug seems to be helping.”

“Good. Are you sure you want Indian food again?”

“Yup. The truth of the matter is, well, my chemo nurse is coming down to join us?”

“What? Why…?”

He pulled her close and whispered in her ear. “I just thought Rolf could use the distraction, ya know? After the performance our Russian acrobatic team put on last night…”

“You are terrible…”

“Thank you very much,” he said, grinning. “Besides, if Rolf strikes out, well, I’ve always wanted to try a three-way.”

She shook her head, then ducked below to put on some tea. She came back up to the cockpit a few minutes later with two cups and a plate of scones.

“Did you bake these?”

“Yes, of course. Blueberry and walnut.”

He broke off a corner and halfway expected a wave of nausea to hit – but no, nothing. He ate an entire scone and had two cups of tea, and still with no reaction, so he felt hopeful the night would go as planned.

Her name was Astrid and from first contact Taggart could tell that Rolf was smitten. Meaning: Rolf turned into a typical fifteen year old, which is to say he turned into a tongue-tied clumsy oaf. He tried to impress the girl with stories of his exploits on the sea – showing off, in other words – and Taggart could tell Astrid was amused but not impressed – and for all the wrong reasons. At one point she got up to go to the WC and Taggart went to work.

“Rolf, you got to ease off, man. Be yourself but don’t lay everything out there. Ask her about the things she likes, because girls get really bored listening to guys talk about how great they are.”

“Okay, got it…”

Taggart had to give the kid credit. Rolf listened. He asked questions. He found common ground, and as a result the second half of their evening turned kind of fun.

“So, where are you going next?” Astrid asked Rolf.

“I’ve got three more weeks of vacation, then it’s back to school time. Henry, are we headed to Gothenburg next?”

“Yup. Round three of chemo there, then we are going to transit the Trollhätte Canal, then the Göta Canal on our way to Stockholm.”

“That sounds amazing,” she said. “I wish I could go on a trip like that.”

“Me too,” said the fifteen year old – now experiencing a flooding tide of testosterone.

Taggart bit his lip, Dina put her hand on his thigh and squeezed.

“When are you leaving Oslo?” Astrid asked.

“The day after tomorrow,” the suddenly hopeful fifteen year old said, testosterone now oozing out of his eyes and ears.

“I’d have to call and ask my supervisor.”

“Perhaps you could call her now?” Taggart asked; he felt Dina’s fingernails digging into his flesh.

“You wouldn’t mind if I came?”

Rolf was now sitting in a spreading puddle of the stuff, his eyes spinning like saucers, drool forming at the corners of his mouth…

“No, of course not,” Henry added. “We’d love you to come.” Dina’s fingernails were now drawing blood.

Astrid pulled out her phone and called into work. “I know it’s short notice, but it is such a wonderful opportunity…”

Rolf’s eyes rolled and disappeared from view.

“I can! Really! Ooh, thanks very much…”

Taggart looked at Rolf, wondered if his Parkinson’s meds would help control the kid’s sudden tremors…

Astrid put away her phone. “Well, I can come!”

“Excellent!” Taggart cried. “What do you say to that, Rolf?”

“Uh, may I be excused, please?” the kid said as he bolted for the head.

“Oh…this is just excellent!” Taggart added. “And Rolf is such a good teacher, too. You’ll be a great sailor in just a few days!” He turned to Dina and leaned close, whispered in her ear: “Any harder and you’ll hit an artery.”

She smiled, batted her eyes a few time while she nodded. “You are a devil, Henry Taggart,” she whispered – in Latin.

“Be careful what you ask for,” he replied in kind – and in Latin, as luck would have it. Then he turned to Astrid: “Do you have any sailing gear?” he asked.

“A bikini. Does that count?”

“Excellent! That’s just – perfect!”

Leaving Dina to smile before she spoke up: “Perhaps you could swing by tomorrow. We’ll need to pick up a few things for you before we leave.”

Rolf returned to the table, his face red, his palms sweaty.

“You feeling okay there, Sport?” Henry asked.

“Yes, very much so. Thank you for asking.”

“Excellent!” Taggart said to the world, smiling once again – just for the hell of it.

They dropped Astrid off at her home and made it back to the Bandit in time, hopefully, for one last performance by the Russian acrobats – but the yacht was gone and Rolf was devastated.

“This has been a real educational trip for you, hasn’t it?” Taggart asked.

“I suppose so, but could I ask you a question?”

“Fire away.”

“How old were you when you did it the first time?”

“Oh, geez, I think I was in college…or maybe I was still in high school. That’s funny…I really don’t remember.”

“If it was a big deal you’d remember, right?”

“Well, it can be a big deal, Rolf, and in a good way, or you can take a devastating emotional hit and that’s a lot harder to get over.”

“What was yours like?”

Taggart shook his head. “Like I said, I really can’t remember, so it must not have made much of an impression on me. The truth of the matter is, Rolf, I never really did it all that much. I think I convinced myself that I was just too busy to be bothered…”

“Do you regret that now?”

Taggart thought for a moment then nodded. “Yeah. You know, I think I do. I missed out on a lot by keeping to myself, but on the other hand I was able to stay focused on my work. Maybe that was a trade off I was willing to make, and maybe because it just never seemed fair to me to have a parent who was focused on work all the time. The kid takes second place, and that’s not right.”

“Your dad was a lawyer, right?”

“Yeah.”

“What did your mother do?”

“She was a doctor, a physician.”

“So, like my mom, right?”

Taggart nodded. “Yeah.”

“She works all the time, hardly ever gets home while I’m still up.”

“It’s gotta be hard being a single mom.”

“I guess. Still, I sometimes feel like she’d be better off if I wasn’t around.”

“Really? I never got that impression.”

“Henry?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you going to die soon?”

“Well, not tomorrow, but yeah, pretty soon.”

“I’d like to stay with you. Until, you know…”

Taggart looked down, shook his head. “Yeah. I know what you mean. Still, you’ve got a responsibility to yourself now, Amigo, and not just to your family…”

“But you’re a part of my family now too, Henry. I mean, think about it. My mother is going to have your baby, and that baby is going to be my brother or sister. See what I mean?”

“Yeah. I’ve been thinking about that a lot myself.”

“My father is gone, Henry. Now, you’re the closest thing I’ve got to having a father in my life.”

Taggart nodded. “Here’s something to think about, Rolf. After I’m gone, you are going to be the strongest link your little brother – or sister – has to me.”

“Then that’s another good reason why I should stay here with you.”

“Maybe. So, tell me…what did you think of Astrid?”

“She’s hot, man. I mean, really-really hot.”

“As a firecracker, Amigo.”

Then the boy was in his arms, holding on for dear life, deep sobs muffled through layers of clothing…

Then his words hit, like a body blow: “Don’t die, Henry. Please don’t die…”

He felt himself choking up, and through tear-rippled eyes he saw Dina in the shadows of the companionway, maybe halfway up the steps – but she stopped just then, and suddenly she was staring at Henry. He held the boy to his chest, felt the hot anguish in the boy’s tears and he closed his eyes.

When he opened them a moment later Dina was gone. He heard her down below, talking on the telephone, and he could only guess what was coming next. 

© 2020 adrian leverkühn | abw | this is a work of fiction, pure and simple; the next chapter will drop in a week or so.

Chapter 6

Sigrid Grieg was a whirlwind, a real force of nature. She arranged for a hearing with Coast Guard officials and the matter was settled in a couple of hours. Still, the whole affair left Taggart with a sour feeling in the pit of his stomach. Even so, the entire incident was, oddly enough, hardly the most hard-to-swallow event of his week in Egersund. No, that honor belonged to Eva Forsgård, the woman who had fallen off Time Bandit and who he had rescued – after their little swim with Killer Whales.

He was a little curious when Dina Bauer handed Eva’s contact information over to him, but had thought little about it until Sigrid left in the wee hours after their first meeting. He looked at the number, then at his watch, and decided he’d call her in the morning. And he did call, just before noon the next day. She asked how he was doing, then she wanted to know if she could visit with him on the boat. She had, she said, something she needed to talk to him about.

As it happened Eva Forsgård arrived a few hours after the Norwegian Coast Guard rendered their verdict and freed Time Bandit from her shackles. Henry had felt like celebrating until he saw the woman walking down to the marina; Eva seemed careworn and vaguely depressed – and she was alone. He stepped off the Bandit and helped her up the swim steps, and she accepted his offer of tea. When he came back up to the cockpit he found that she had discovered Clyde, or maybe it was the other way around. She had bent over to say hello and Clyde had promptly sat in front of her and started licking her face.

“Well, that’s a first,” he said as he passed a cup of tea over the pup’s head. “I’ve never seen him take to someone like this before.”

“He wasn’t here when I was aboard last month, was he?”

“No. He found me in Bergen.”

“He found you?”

“Yes. He was alone, wandering the streets. That’s how he found me.”

“I see.”

“Do you? Excellent!”

“I keep forgetting…you are the comedian.”

“I hope you’ll pardon me saying so, but it sure looks like you could use a comedian right about now.”

She nodded. “You are right. I could.”

“Okay, look. I’m not a mind reader. Please come right out and tell what’s the matter.”

She looked away for a moment, at least until Clyde licked her on the chin again, then she smiled and rubbed the pup’s neck for a moment. “You are a good boy, I can tell already,” she said, and Clyde promptly laid down and rolled over, presenting his belly.

“That’s amazing,”Taggart said. 

“What is?”

“When they lay down in front of you like that they want their belly rubbed. It’s like the ultimate sign of acceptance.” Eva began rubbing Clyde’s belly and the old boy groaned, and this caused taggart to smile. “Man, have you made a friend today,” he added.

“I could use a new friend, Henry.”

He heard the words, felt the pain behind them. “What’s happened?”

“Peter has left me.”

“What? Why?”

“I think because we, you and I, made love after the encounter.”

“But how could he possibly know that?”

“Because I am pregnant, and it turns out that Peter cannot have babies.”

Taggart scratched the tip of his nose and blinked a few times as he reacted to the news. “And you’re saying that I’m, like, the father, right?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“Anything positive would be greatly appreciated.”

“Well hell, better late than never, darlin’!” he said, standing up and grinning like a madman. “Goddam!” he screamed at the top of his voice. “I’m gonna be a dad! Fuckin’-A! Alright!”

“You are not angry?”

“Angry? Are you kidding me? Damn, woman, stand up and hug me! Fast!”

And she did, too.

The three of them walked up to the Thai restaurant for some soup (and sliced steak) and he let her talk and talk. Peter had been grievously offended by the whole affair, she told him, then he had asked that she make arrangements to live someplace else. The problem was therefore quite simple. She wanted to see how Henry felt about the baby before she decided what to do about it.

“What do you mean, what to do about it?”

“It is still time. I could terminate this now with little risk of harm to myself.”

“Well, yeah, but the kid might not like it so much.”

She nodded. “True, but I am not so sure I want to raise a child by myself. I know that may be considered selfish, but…”

“But it is your decision. And I understand.”

She nodded. “What was most important to me was your reaction. What you want. Because I have always thought that the father should help choose in a situation like this.”

“You do know that I am ill, right?”

“No? You are with illness?”

“Yes, very much. Cancer.”

“You are being treated, correct?”

He shrugged. “A little, but mainly to prolong my life a little.”

“A little? what does that mean?”

“It means I hope to make it to Christmas.”

He could see it in her eyes, on her face. As in: Balloon, meet Hatpin. 

Her eyes turned red first, then the skin over her nose went through the visible spectrum to crimson. Her left eye began twitching, then the left margins of her lips. Tears repressed gave way to a sudden, deep gulping-sob, and he realized that not once since his diagnosis had anyone reacted quite like this, but the other patrons in the restaurant looked at him like he was Satan incarnate, which somehow only made the moment that much more confusing. Then Clyde got in on the act and stood with his front paws on her lap – and the real slobber-fest got underway.

There was nothing he could do now so he sat back and waited for Clyde to finish, then he paid the bill and helped her out of her seat. Once she was out in the fresh air she calmed a little and Clyde walked along pressed into her thigh – as if he alone was capable of holding her up, of helping her face the gales of human folly.

Once back onboard Taggart ran below and put on his favorite Sinatra-Jobim CD, then he dashed topsides and held her up – until she felt him dancing. She put one hand around his waist, the other on his shoulder, then she leaned into him, her face on his chest…and there they danced around the deck under their very own dome of starlight, just a little bit of stardust ready to fuse in the night.

Clyde looked at them and smiled at the unavoidable consequences of being human. Oh, how he loved life that night.

+++++

“What was that song you sang to last night?” she asked as they lay together the next morning.

“Dindi, I think.”

“I could have danced all night,” she sang, smiling to a tune all her own.

“Ah. My Fair Lady. And yes, you are indeed.”

“Am I?”

He rolled over and kissed her again. “I’ve always wanted to do that,” he whispered.

“Do what?”

“A little moonlight serenade all my own. To dance the night away on the foredeck with the most beautiful woman in the universe right there in my arms.”

“I wish you weren’t joking with me now,” she sighed, still smiling.

“I’ll let you in on a little secret,” he whispered in her ear. “I’m not.”

She kissed him. Again and again and in all the right places. “What will become of us, I wonder?” she asked.

He waved his hand over the bed and laid back, content. “Stardust, darlin’. We go on to infinity through the night.”

“Is it really so simple?”

“Clyde? What do you think?”

The pup jumped up on the berth, his tail wagging.

“I know that look, Clyde. You ready to go for a walk?”

That got two barks.

“Yup. Better get your clothes on, darlin’. Nature’s calling in the worst way imaginable.”

He snapped the lead onto Clyde’s collar and led him up the companionway steps, then across the aft deck to the steps, and he saw the little VW sedan just then.

Right behind Time Bandit.

Britt behind the wheel.

Alone.

And then Eva came up the steps and into the full light of day.

He stood, transfixed. Suddenly unsure of himself and of his place in this muddy little corner of the universe. But there was nothing to do now: he let Clyde follow the path of least resistance and simply went along for the ride. He heard a car door open and close and watched Clyde as he went from tree to tree, spreading his scent as he made his way along his anointed rounds. Clyde circled once and squatted and Taggart looked up at the sky, watched clouds racing along and that was where he wanted to be in that moment. Free as a bird to dance among the clouds…

They were waiting for him when he and Clyde returned. He walked right past them, took Clyde below and put kibble in his bowl, then he turned to face the music.

“So, what brings you here today?” he said to Britt.

“Henry, Eva and I have already spoken about her situation…”

“Her situation?”

“Her pregnancy, Henry. There is, however, one thing we did not get a chance to talk about.”

“And…that is?”

“I too am pregnant, Henry. And you, too, are the father.”

Taggart tried to smile. He tried to think of some kind of pithy comment that would help him evade the essence of the moment, but for once he came up dry.

“You didn’t, by any chance,” Britt continued, “screw my mother, too? Please, Henry, tell me that you did not do this, because I’m not sure I would know how to understand this.”

He stood there – mute and motionless – trying to understand the hostility in her voice. “You’re going to have my baby?” he just managed to say before his eyes began filling with tears. “Really?”

She nodded. “Yes, I am having your baby, my poor, dear Henry.”

“And you,” he said, now looking directly at Eva, “you’re going to have my baby, too?”

“Yes, Henry. This is the truth.”

“Well, well, well…don’t that beat all. I go sixty some-odd years firing blanks and then all of a sudden I’m shootin’ bullseyes.” He looked up at the sky and grinned. “Hey, Dad! Grandkids! You got that? Two of ‘em coming right down the chute!”

He walked over and scooped them up, held them both as close as could be, under the circumstances, anyway.

Clyde chose that moment to amble up the companionway steps, and the first thing he saw was an additional woman wrapped around Henry and that probably confused the old boy. In any event, Clyde walked up to Henry and lifted a leg. 

Taggart had heard the tikki-tik of Clyde’s claws on the steps so knew he was standing there. He did not, however, expect the stream of hot piss running down his legs and into his shoes.

“Thank you, Clyde. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that.”

+++++

He was sitting in the Oncology waiting room, waiting.

A nurse called his name and took him back to Dr. Bauers office.

Once there, he waited some more.

And then Dina came. Lovely, furious Dina.

“I’m surprised to see you, Mr. Taggart.”

“Oh, are you?”

“I am. I thought you might have fled directly to Paris.”

“Sorry to disappoint you.”

“So, what can I do for you today?”

“Well, it appears that I’m going to be a father. So, I’d like a little more life, please.”

“I see. Just like that. Please, Doctor Bauer, I want to live.”

“Something like that, yes.”

She laughed, turned away from him as she shook her head. “How very small you are, Henry Taggart. And here I thought you were content to joke your way through the few remaining breaths of your life, but no! Life has finally come to you, hasn’t it, Henry Taggart? And only now do you want to live? When before…?”

“Can you help me, Dina?”

“Of course I can help you, Henry. I’m hopelessly and helplessly in love with you, you stupid fool, but I’ve told you that a hundred times already. And I can’t do anything now but help you. I’ve been away from you for a week and I feel myself dying a little more with each passing moment. So yes, Henry Taggart, I will do everything I can to help you live. To help you see your children, to hold them and love them.”

He was too stunned to breathe, to even blink an eye, though he did start crying.

She came to him, kissed away his tears.

“There’s just one little problem, my dearest Henry. In order to buy you a little more life, I am going to have to kill you just a little…”

© 2020 adrian leverkühn | abw | this is a work of fiction, pure and simple; the next chapter will drop in a week or so.