My Journal by Harriman Nelson- Lean on Me

17
Home
89
90
91
92
88
93
87
86
85
84
83
82
81
80
79
78
77
76
75
74
72
73
71
70
69
68
67
66
65
64
63
62
61
60
59
58
57
56
55
54
53
52
51
50
49
48
47
46
45
44
43
42
41
40
39
38
37
36
35
34
33
32
31
30
29
28
27
26
25
24
23
22
20
21
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2

My Journal

By Harriman Nelson

17

“It’s on, sir,” O’Brien called out to Chip and me in the Observation Nose, as he joined us and turned on the monitor.

CNN was reporting news around the world and to date there was no mention of Ozno. Not one iota. But that wasn’t exactly what we were watching for.

“Earlier today, in an unexpected move,” the reporter said against the montage of images on the screen behind her, “the King of Norway surprised tourists, among them Captain Nelson-Crane, by joining them on a tour of the Viking Ship Museum. Included in the tour were the many artifacts, from shields, oars, jewelry, to human remains discovered from unearthed burial mounds, including three Viking ships. Forensic findings have been greatly disputed on the relationship of the two women buried within one of the ships but it is known that their ship was from about the 800’s. There had been long held belief, when first retrieved, that the women were mother and daughter, but DNA ruled that out.

“It is unknown if Captain Nelson-Crane was asked to do ‘hands on’ investigation of his own by the curators, or what the king and captain discussed as they walked alone together, lagging behind the guided tour. They also went to a private room, one of the king’s security officers standing guard outside the closed door. It was noted, that Captain Nelson-Crane did not reappear or catch up to the tour group later after the king had departed. Nor did he join the group afterwards for a buffet lunch at a nearby restaurant. The captain missed such specialties as Lutefisk, Sheep’s Head, Braised Lamb & Cabbage, and Smoked Salmon & Scrambled Eggs. However, his traveling companion, who did not accompany the captain on his chat with the king, saved him some cookies.

“When asked what the captain’s plans were for later this afternoon, Commander Jackson said they’d planned on exploring some of the hiking trails, and looked forward to tomorrow’s sailing aboard a replica Viking ship in one of the fjords.

“And now in other news....”

“Where the hell is he then?” Chip asked as he turned off the monitor.

“Grabbing a bite at McDonald's?” I couldn’t resist saying. (Surely there were McDonald's in Oslo? But then, I really didn't know. They don't have franchises everywhere.)

“Sheep’s Head? It boggles the mind.”

“Can’t be  worse than Lutefisk. The Lamb & Cabbage sounded good though. I wonder what they talked about….”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he and the king discussed  a certain fugitive.”

“Excuse me sir,” Cookie approached, “I’m sorry, I really am, but I can’t make those fancy cookies the skipper had yesterday. You gotta’ have a special iron and cone thing....”

“That’s okay, Cookie,” Chip said. “There’s no law that says we have to eat what he eats. Besides, we just got the news that he skipped lunch, and all the specialties.”

“But don’t worry,” I added, “he won’t go hungry. Commander Jackson’s got cookies waiting for him.”

“Hey, I can bake other kinds of cookies.”

“You really don’t have to go to all this trouble,” Chip said.

“Oh, it ain’t no trouble, sir. None at all,” Cookie said and whistled happily aft.

“Well, at least he’s happy...want me to call Jackson?” Chip asked.

“I think it may be warranted, though...Lee will probably kill us for checking up on him.”

“Seaview takes calculated risks all the time, sir.”

Indeed. And so here I am hours later munching on some really heavenly Butter Cookies and wondering just how much weight I’m going to have gained when this is all over.

 

Entry #18