Comparing Notes
Jake’s plans for an early start the next morning were derailed when he came down to the Monkey Bar to grab a quick breakfast and pick up his lunch supplies. Two Malay mercenaries flank the door, keeping an angry Sarah from entering the bar.
“This is ridiculous!” She stormed to their impassive faces. “I live here. You can’t keep me from my breakfast.”
Wordlessly, the two mercenaries continue to block the door. Jake walked up.
“Jake, they won’t let me go in the bar. That witch is in there, and I’m only calling her a witch because I’m too polite to spell it correctly!”
Jake peered over the batwing doors to see Louie and Princess Koji chatting casually at a table near the bar. Todo is standing at attention near the piano where Jacques is seated on his stool. He’d turned his back to the keyboard and appeared to be watching the discussion. From the slight angle to his head, Jake is pretty certain that Jacques is watching Todo out of the corner of his eye. With his elbows on the closed keyboard cover, both hands are close the black grips of the MAB-D’s in their holsters.
“Jake?” Sarah asked for guidance.
Jake smiled at both guards, snap-kicked the right-hand guard in the groin, caught his sword right handed to block the sword stroke of the left hand guard; who found himself staring into the black stovepipe that is the barrel of Jake’s .455 Webley revolver, extending steadily from his left hand.
A feminine voice barked “Todo! Hold!”
Jake looked over his shoulder through the doors to see Todo about four steps from the door, his sword half drawn. Behind him stands Louie with one of Jacques’ MAB D’s in his hand. Clearly he was about to shoot Todo. The only two people to not move during this altercation, were Sarah and Koji. Sarah because she was rooted to the spot where she stood, and Koji, because she was amused to see how the drama played out.
“Todo, you’re slipping. Look behind you.” Koji stood, moving to place a hand over Louie’s extended arm. “Magistrate, please do not shoot my chief of security.”
Louie watched carefully to see Todo return his sword to its scabbard, then turned and bowed to Koji. Todo is clearly distressed. Louie smiled and lowered his arm. “But of course, Princess Koji. Sarah, Jake, come on in to my establishment.” He returned the pistol to Jacques, still seated on the piano stool, with a polite “Merci.” Jake holstered his pistol, straightened his jacket, and escorted Sarah into the bar, still carrying his captured sword.
Todo dropped to his knees and bowed to the Princess. “Honorable Princess, I am dishonored. Request permission to …”
“Permission denied. You are too valuable to me. You will, however, spend the night meditating on the dangers of underestimating your opponents, and how you will revise our training, accordingly.” Koji’s voice was sharp. “You will also deal with those two. I do not wish to see them again.” She looked at Jake as he and Sarah enter the bar around Todo. “Jake, darling, the Magistrate and I were just talking about you.” She looked him up and down as she returned to her seat at the table. “I have need of your … services.”
Sarah looked furious. Jake just laid the sword on the bar. It was a nice, light blade with a good balance. He found himself liking it. He turned to the table. “What did you have in mind, Princess? I’m pretty busy right now.” Sarah nodded emphatically.
“This may be life or death. Two of my ships have reported being attacked day before yesterday. Both reported heavy damage. I’d gotten here as quickly as I could, when it dawned on me that your seaplane could get there more quickly than I could. I have their radioed coordinates.”
Louie looked thoughtful. “Princess Koji, when you say attacked, do you mean by pirates? Operating in French waters?”
Koji tugged down on her bush jacket to straighten it. “I don’t know, Magistrate. Morning Glory merely radioed that they were being attacked. Dawn Lily’s radio operator was babbling something about a giant bird. He seemed quite confused. Kept babbling about flames from the bird’s eyes and loud screeching as it dived on the ship.”
Louie looked at Jake and Sarah, his face impassive. “This sounds quite serious.” He turned back to Koji. “You are quite certain of that last transmission, Princess?”
Koji appeared to tense. “I’m not in the habit of having my words questioned, Magistrate. I have reported his words accurately. I wish it investigated.”
Louie permitted a slight, wintry smile. “But of course, Princess Koji. It is my responsibility to investigate all reports of wrong doing in my jurisdiction. I trust you will approve of my appointing Captain Cutter and Miss White as my representatives in this preliminary phase of the investigation?”
Koji took a deep breath. “I know the capabilities of Captain Cutter, but I don’t understand how he could have much use for the limited talents of a screeching bar maid.”
Sarah leaned across the table. “Now you listen here, sister …”
Jake quickly placed a hand gently on Sarah’s shoulder, slowly easing her back to her seat. “She’s flown with me before and has excellent eyesight. She’ll be quite useful in the search.”
Koji looked unconvinced. “If you say so. It is your aeroplane and you can clutter it up however you please. However, I wish to go as well.”
Jake held out a hand to forestall a protesting Sarah. “The Goose isn’t a transport, Koji. If we’re to be able to recover potential crew, I can’t haul a bunch of passengers. It defeats the purpose.”
Koji sniffed. “I won’t be any problem, Jake, and I’m at least as good a spotter as she is. And, I’m paying for your time.”
Jake looked to Louie and shrugged. “OK.”
Sarah whirled in protest. “Jake, we can’t have her along on a miss …”
“Missing person search? Sure we can. And, it’s my plane. The decision is mine.” Jake reached for the map in his pocket. “Princess, let’s see where your coordinates are on this map.”
As Jake unfolded his chart on the table top, Louie looked at Jacques. “Jacques, please go to the church and ask the good reverend to come over. I wish to compare his notes with those of Princess Koji.”
Jacques almost, but not quite snapped to attention. “Oui, Magistrate.” He hurried out the door.
Jake put his hand over the marks of his sighting as he leaned over the table. Koji traced a long red lacquered fingernail along a printed meridian line until it stopped about 25 nautical miles off a cluster of island. “Morning Glory radioed this position.” She moved her finger about 100 miles south east. “Dawn Lily’s radio operator reported these coordinates.”
Jake pulled a grease pencil out of his flight jacket pocket and marked both locations. He tapped the map with the blunt end of the pencil.
“Louie, what are the prevailing currents in that area?”
“Hard to say, Jake. If I were to search, I would sweep to the north east.”
Jake looked grim. “That’s what I was afraid of. Fuel will be a problem.”
Gushie rolled in with a large tray across the lap of his wheel chair. “I’ve brought out some breakfast. Princess Koji, I brought some fresh fruit for you.”
“How very thoughtful. Thank you. Magistrate, as usual, your hospitality is superb.”
Louie merely smiled as Sarah and Jake helped Gushie load the table with food. Jake put his coffee cup over his earlier marks, freeing his hands.
Koji pretended not to notice the ploy as she placed a finger on one island. “Here. My people keep a cache of supplies here on this island. It has been useful to have a place to offload cargo when encountering violent storms. We have some generators that burn your petrol. You could refuel here and then start your search.”
Louie looked at the map. “I was not aware, Princess, that you maintained what I can only call a base, in French waters. You should have reported this. This should be part of a treaty agreement.”
Koji smiled. “But, Magistrate. I am reporting it. I was merely testing the feasibility before going through all the bother to negotiate a treaty. All that messy paperwork. Besides, you know I can’t negotiate a treaty, as that is a matter between two governments. I’m merely a poor business woman trying to make an honest dollar.”
Sarah choked as she sipped her juice. Jake covered his smile with his napkin. Louie merely smiled. “Then, perhaps, Princess, we should consider a simple business agreement among friends. I’m certain we can reach a mutually beneficial agreement.”
“But of course, my dear Magistrate. I’m certain we can find a mutual interest.” They smiled at each other. Jake thought it looked like two sharks trying to decide how to eat each other.
The moment ended as Reverend Tenboom came through the batwing doors looking drawn and pale. He stopped on the threshold when he saw Koji. Koji glanced at him, smiled and went back to studying Jake’s chart. Louie looked concerned.
“My dear Reverend. You have been working much too hard. You need rest. I regret to have disturbed you, but I must ask some questions. Perhaps I may repay you with some breakfast?”
Willi ran a hand through his hair. “Danke, Magistrate. I feel a need for sustenance.” He staggered to an adjacent table and fell into a chair. It creaked, protesting the sudden weight.”
Louie placed a cup of coffee in front of Willi. “Blessings can be exhausting, can they not.”
“Nein, Magistrate. This vas no blessing. Ich verked hard vor mine Vat … er … Church last night. I did my duty as best as I could.”
Koji almost purred. “I’m certain, Reverend, that you did your very best. But is it not a blessing to serve?”
Sarah carried a plate of food over and placed it in front of Willi. “This will help you get your strength back.”
Koji looked concerned. “Perhaps you could find him some oysters. In my culture we believe them to have certain restorative powers. He’ll be back to giving blessings in no time.”
Willi seemed to turn even more pale. “Nein. My flock is wery devout. They will not need blessing for some time. It will give them a chance to focus on prayer.”
Jake, only half understanding the situation, nodded. “That’s right. Teach them the meaning of ‘no bless oblige’.”
Louie looked pained. “Reverend, as reluctant as I was to disturb you, I must ask your assistance. From your conversations with your flock, where on this chart would you say the attacks occurred?”
Willi hastily downed a bite of toast and stood to look at the chart. He moved to keep the table between himself and Princess Koji. He carefully looked at island names, drew lines with his fingers between islands. Finally, sounding confident, “der stories reported attacks here, here, und here.”
Jake quickly marked the positions on the map. “Princes, please repeat your coordinates.”
Koji pointed to her two locations.
Louie studied the results. “They are less than seventy-five miles apart. C’est tres interessant. I would suggest you check this out immediately. Whatever arrangement you make with Princess Koji will be of no concern to the French Government.”
Jake nodded. “Corky and Jack have the Goose primed and ready. Let’s saddle up. If there are men in the water, they’ve had a long soggy wait already.”
Gushie had rolled into the kitchen during the discussion and rolled back out with a box on his lap. “Jake, here’s some food, hot tea, and a bottle of cognac for warding off the chill.”
Jake smiled his thanks as he lifted the heavy box to his right shoulder. “Let’s go.”
Rescue
At the dock, all goes well until Todo strode to the dock. “Princess, I do not like you going alone with this barbarian.”
Koji laughed. “I’m hardly alone with him – although that could be more fun. I assure you that I will be quite safe.”
Jake turned from his preflight. “Besides, there isn’t room if we hope to pick anyone up. We will be fully loaded. I’ve tossed a couple of life rafts in the hold in case we need them.”
“True. Todo, go back to the junk and set sail at best speed for the locations we discussed. We will give any survivors the means to stay afloat until you arrive.” With that, Koji took Jake’s proffered hand and climbed into the Goose. Jake followed her and waved at Todo as he closed the hatch.
To maintain peace, sort of, Jake installed Corky in the co-pilot’s seat and made certain that both women were safely strapped in to the new wicker seats. He moved forward into the cockpit to see Todo standing just off the port engine’s prop. He shrugged and completed the pre-flight. Finally, Jake shouted through the open window of the cockpit “Clear!”
Todo refused to move. Jake shouted “Clear” again. Todo stood firm. With the ignition off, Jake used the starter to crank the engine. Radial engines had a tendency for the oil to collect in the lower cylinders and if you didn’t crank the engine a few times, you could blow a cylinder during start up. The starter on the port engine whined as it turned the engine crank and spun the big prop. After a few turns, Jake flicked on the ignition. The engine coughed a few times, then with a big burst of smoke, caught and settled down to a ragged roar. He almost caught Todo as the big blade came around. Jake grinned as Todo glared. This was one time Jake was perfectly willing to match blades with the tough little samurai. He eased the throttles forward and the little seaplane moved obediently, even eagerly away from the dock. It was time to fly.
In all the hustle and bustle of taking off, nobody noticed that Reverend Tenboom had left the bar and instead of going to the beach had hurried to his church. Securing the front door, and making certain that none of his parish had slipped in to wait for a blessing, he opened the space under the pulpit and dropped into the small room under the church. The radio batteries were fully charged and the tubes warmed quickly. Soon he was on frequency and transmitting a coded message about how he had sent the Magistrate’s agents on a wild goose chase to the south east.
Miles away in a crude grass hut along a rough airstrip, Rolf and his radio operator decoded the message. Rolf held the flimsy sheet in his hand. “Der womanizing fool and der Japanese whore are trying to lead the American spy on a vild goose chase.”
The radio operator nodded. “Ja, with them being that far off course, dey vill never find us. Ist gut plan.”
Rolf spat contemptuously. “Bah, idt is too complicated. Dis spy is very clever. He could still upset our plans. Ist better dey meet an unfortunate end. Some where far away. Send der transport. Make sure dey return nicht.”
The radio operator nodded. “I vill inform the Kapitan of our plans.”
“Nein, dumpkoff! Let der fool remain ignorant. Der less he knows, der better.”
Unaware of events unfolding to the north, Jake flew directly to Koji’s island supply cache. If you didn’t know it was there, it was perfectly concealed. Next to a stream, a small cove of trees concealed a camouflage net of woven grass over a small building. Inside there were tools, a couple of sleeping pallets, and behind the building, drums of lubricants, diesel fuel and gasoline.
There, he and Corky topped off the tanks. It was good to be out of the plane. The two women, relegated to the passenger compartment radiated hostility. Jake thought that the Chinese individual who pictured trouble as two women under on roof, should try them under or on one wing. It didn’t matter that the day was a hot summer day, Jake kept expecting ice to form on the wings.
While the tanks were filling, Jake unfolded his chart and laid out a search grid over the coordinates. He was still curious why Koji wasn’t using her own considerable resources for this search. Why was it so important that Jake be involved in the search? Mentally shrugging, he created a diamond grid with a point extending in the general direction of known wind and currents.
Once preparations were complete, Jake took off for the first reported position. The ocean was bare. Jake wasn’t surprised. He simply oriented the Goose on his search grid and started the fist leg. He carefully trimmed the Goose to maintain altitude at 1500 feet. He adjusted the throttles for best rate of cruise and carefully leaned the fuel/air mixture to extend his time aloft as much as possible without overheating the engines.
Two hours of hot, tiring, and boring work, just flying back and forth, squinting into the light reflected off the water gave everyone headaches. Everyone except Jack. After a while he had simply gone back and composed himself for a nap. Sarah had just taken a sip of tepid water from a canteen filled in the supply depot creek when a flash of non-white color caught her eye.
“Jake, what’s that?”
“What? Where?” Was his only reply as he looked back to her seat on the starboard side of the Goose.
Sarah leaned back in her seat to extend her arm to point at the viewport. “I saw something over there.” She leapt out of her seat to stand in the doorway, looking past Corky’s seat. Her stance blocked Koji’s view into the cockpit, and through the small window at the same time. She leaned back, a venomous look on her face.
Jake had a hard time keeping his eyes forward. He felt Sarah’s warmth and caught a scent of her perfume. A light, fresh scent. His eyes strayed to the blouse beside his head, stretched tight. He forced himself to look out Corky’s window. A moment later there was a second flash.
“There,” she squealed triumphantly. “I did see it.”
“You sure did,” was all Jake had time to say as he banked the Goose toward the glint. The sudden move caused Sarah to counter balance to the left, and she bumped into Jake, her side brushing his cheek and knocking off his cap. He quickly put his right arm around her hips – to steady her, he told himself. Remembering Koji in back, he quickly let go, but not before Sarah looked down and gave him a friendly smile. He smiled back and used his right hand to pull back on the throttles. He then adjusted the fuel mixture for a richer feed as he pushed the engines for more power.
“Make sure you’re strapped in. Landing on open water can be a little rough.”
Jack, awakened by the tumult barked twice in agreement.
Sarah moved back to her seat, buckled in, and gave Koji an innocent, happy smile. Koji attempted to appear indifferent.
“I think we found some of your crew.” Sarah quipped.
“There were twenty people on that ship. I only saw three below.”
“OH, I’m sorry.” Sarah looked crestfallen. “But, at least two are better than none, aren’t they?”
Koji smiled thinly. “While I … appreciate … your effort, I must now face telling the families of the rest of the crew that their men won’t be coming home. Some will wonder why these two were the ones who survived.”
Sarah turned to look forward. “Oh. I’d think they’d be glad at least someone survived.”
The Goose was soon circling 500 feet over a raft with two figures waving frantically in it. Jake recognized the ornate sunburst design stenciled on the raft as one matching a tattoo on Koji’s shoulder. He didn’t need to be close to know the rest of the design was a Celtic knot made of two snakes devouring each other, wrapped around a two-edged dagger.
Jake instructed Corky to drop a smoke flare to check the wind direction. Usually, he just watched the wave tops, but this time he wanted to be absolutely certain. Once the flare touched the surface and the plume stabilized, Jake circled down wind and set up to land into the wind. The Goose floated down to the surface and taxied to within fifty yards of the raft. Corky was stationed at the rear hatch with a crossbow. When Jake shut down the port engine, Corky fired a bolt over the raft. When it hit the water, the light line attached to it lay across the center of the raft, between the two sailors. They grabbed the line and pulled a heavier line to them. Corky made the near end fast to a cleat just outside the Goose’s hatch and they pulled their raft to the Goose. Corky helped both of them into the small cargo area behind the seats. Koji had risen and was standing in the aisle to greet them. They immediately fell to their knees and bowed. She fired off a series of rapid-fire questions. They both answered without looking up from the floor. Corky watched as he retrieved the line and quarrel. They were still talking when he finished stowing the line and clipping the crossbow to the back side of the aft cargo hold bulkhead.
When finished, both men scuttled backward to sit on the floor against the rear bulkhead. Koji moved forward to sit in the co-pilot’s seat in the cockpit. Sarah moved forward to stand in the doorway.
Koji never gave Jake a chance to ask a question. “These two are deckhands from the Morning Glory. Apparently they are the only survivors. They say a huge roaring bird attacked their ship laying eggs of destruction. When the crew moved off from the ship in the life boats, the bird spat fire at them. These two were in the water and were missed. They found the survival raft floating in the wreckage and waited until they were sure the bird was gone before inflating it. There was the third sailor, but the sharks got him.”
Sarah shuddered. “How awful.”
Koji merely shrugged. “It was his karma. Just as it was their karma that kept these two alive.”
Jake stalled Sarah’s protest. He had pulled out the chart when he shut down the engines to mark their location. “I’d have thought they would have drifted further during the night.”
Koji gave another graceful lift of her shoulders. “Perhaps the wind and current ran counter. They are too dazed to know.”
Corky peered over Sarah’s shoulder. “Jake, I gave those two some water. What do you want me to do with the raft?”
Jake looked at Koji. “It’s your raft, but I really would prefer not to take on the extra weight.”
Koji nodded. “I have several. It has little actual value. Sink it.”
Jake looked at Corky and he nodded and headed aft. As he went back, he pulled a folding hunter’s pocket knife from his dungarees. The razor sharp blade made short work of the air chambers of the raft, and a chunk of lead ballast aided its journey to the depths. He watched it for a second and then closed the hatch.
“All secure, Jake.”
The whine of the port engine starter was Jake’s only reply and the Goose was soon taxiing across the water to resume the search. With no need to continue the search for Morning Glory, Jake shifted positions to begin the search from Dawn Lily’s last known position. Soon they were engaged in the mind numbing back and forth search for survivors.

Current Mood: distressed
Current Music: Ghost Riders in the Sky - Heavy Metal version from the movie Ghost Rider