My Journal

By Harriman Nelson

83

I was trying to enjoy the view through Seaview’s viewports as we sliced through the North Sea, only a little ‘under’, but my mind was on other things.

“Any word yet?” I asked Chip as he handed me a cup of coffee and sat down next to me.

“Nothing. You know as well as I do that when Lee doesn’t want to be found by the press or even by us at times, he won’t be, unless,” he smirked, “he’s hiding in plain sight. In fact, I’d bet he’s doing just that.”

“The BBC, sir,” Sparks’ voice called out and the monitor came to life, revealing a suspension foot bridge across a deep gorge.

“We’re here at Carrick’s Rede Rope Bridge in Northern Ireland,” the BBC reporter was saying. “It’s a popular attraction for the adventurous and one of the ‘must see’s on Mrs. Piccadilly’s Culinary Tour....”

The camera panned to the parked tour bus. Just then the doors swung open and the reporter, one of many, barged forward.

“Captain Nelson Crane? Captain Nelson Crane?”

“Why can’t you leave the boy alone?” Mrs. P. said, the first off the bus. “He has this wonderful gift and you keep pestering him about anything and everything he senses or does. No wonder  he’s left us.”

“He left the tour as well as the hotel?” CNN asked,"that doesn’t sound much like Captain Courageous.”

“Can’t you understand? He did it for me. For the culinary tour. All this hounding by you reporters, again and again, well, it’s disruptive. Now, please, leave us alone so we can enjoy ourselves.”

“Where did he go, then?” Fox World News asked.

“I don’t know. And if I did, I wouldn’t tell you.”

“You heard the lady,” Thorndike took a position in front of her, menacing, “beat it.”

“The captain,” BBC reporter said, turning toward the  camera, “hasn’t been seen since last night. Since apparently he’s left the tour, it’s possible that he’s already returned to California. One thing we do know, is that the captain’s DNA, on file in the Madrid Museum, does not show any family link to King Brian Boru of Ireland.”

The newscast went on to other topics and Chip had Sparks turn off the monitor.

“The skip’s really got em’ riled,” Sharkey said proudly as he approached Chip, handing him a report. “Er, you do know where he is, don’t you, sir?”

“Not yet, Chief.”

“And you, sir?” he asked me.

“Afraid not..”

“Excuse me Mr. Morton,” Kowalski neared, holding Maleficent in his arms, “she was sitting outside your cabin door yowling her fool head off.”

“Damn, I forgot to come visit her again this morning,” Chip said, reaching for her. She began to purr as soon as she was in his arms.

“Won’t the kittens miss her?” I asked Chip.

“Of course, but even she had to answer the call of nature or relax a bit. Don’t worry, I won’t keep her from them long. Besides, she’ll let me know when she’s ready to go back.

“Mr. Ames on the videophone for you, Admiral,” Sparks called out, and I reached over the table to turn it on.

He was calling from Lee’s office. I noticed even more file cabinets. Some were placed along the walls, others here and there, and on each side of Lee’s desk.

 Ames was seated at the desk, using the built in computer monitor.

“Have you heard from Captain Nelson-Crane?” he asked urgently.

“Not yet. I was hoping you had,” I answered.

“Swell,” he sighed. “Neither he nor Joe are answering their cells, and Joe hasn’t been online.”

“Anything I can help you with?”

“Well, sir. The hotel sent him a fax care of NIMR. Seems they let him borrow some housekeeping jumpsuits. They wanted to let him know that he could keep them, no charge, compliments of the manager.”

“Janitorial uniforms?” Chip asked.

“That’s right.”

“Jumpsuits,” Chip said, shaking his head, trying hard not to laugh, “they got out disguised as housekeeping staff!”

“Since he’s not on the tour anymore, when’s he coming back to NIMR?” Ames asked, “we have several proposals that need more than the standard ‘we’ll get back to you.’”

Just then the cat interrupted by meowing.

“Lee hasn’t said,” I told Ames. “We’ll be in touch as soon as we know. Nelson out,” I said ending the call as the cat began to yowl and fidget in Chip’s arms.

“Well,” he said, “I’d better get this little mama back to her babies. By the way, the latest salinity report is smack on what it should be. No known changes due to pollution, global warming, or Acts of God.”

“We might as well quit. They were just a ruse, anyway. Head to Ireland and the Cliffs of Moher.”

“Aye sir. But, er, you sure Lee still wants to go to Ennis with you?”

“He  hasn’t called to say that he’s changed his mind. Besides, I doubt a cemetery has too many residents who’d be disturbed by the press. In fact, just in case the press decides to check on the abbey, have Ames let it slip that the captain has already left the Emerald Isle for a U.S. Navy base in Greenland. That’ll keep the press busy for awhile anyway. Give Lee a little breathing room.”

“Aye sir.”

“By the way, what’s on the menu for lunch?”

“Good old fashioned American Grilled Cheese Sandwiches.”

“At last.”

“You know, sir, I’ve been thinking. What if I get sick or something. That way Lee would  be sure to resume command and….”

“Thank you, Lad, but he’d know it was a ruse and he’d never let us hear the end of it.”

Just then the cat yowled loud enough to wake the dead.

“Okay, okay,” Chip said, “keep your fur dry. I’ll take care of those calls as soon as I get this young lady back to her matronly duties.”

It wasn’t long before the press was reporting from ‘reliable sources’ that Captain Nelson-Crane was on his way to Greenland, and I was hoping for his call about my ruse. In the end, I tried calling, but Sparks said his phone was ‘out of service’ as was Joe’s, but it hadn’t been an error on their server’s part. So they’d probably disabled the phones themselves.

I’ll have to have a little talk with him later about not letting me know ahead of time. But then, maybe he hadn’t had a choise.