Chapter 10 Massi pulled another framed photograph down from the wall and looked at it. “He sure did like to scuba dive,” said Massi. “Yeah, he’s the one that got me into it,” said Bae as he sorted through the stack of photographs Massi had already taken down. “Are you keeping any of these pictures?” asked Massi. “Just the ones with me and Governor Baestar,” said Bae. “The rest goes to the museum archives.” Bae was sitting next to the bay window of the Governor’s private office in the big brown leather chair he had always liked. His leg with the sprained ankle was propped up on a footstool. Massi brought him the next framed photograph to look at. It was a photo of the Governor handing Bae a blue ribbon for a grade school science fair. “This was for that volcano I made,” said Bae. “Everyone made volcanos,” said Massi. “You cheated.” “I didn’t cheat,” protested Bae. “Then why was yours the only one that worked?” said Massi. “Because I actually read the instructions,” said Bae setting the photograph aside and picking up the next one. “I read the instructions,” argued Massi. “Oh please, I saw you put sugar in yours instead of baking powder,” said Bae. “This monkey is weird,” said Rin. “She won’t eat.” Rin was on the floor trying to feed the monkey Bae had found the night of the tsunami. Captain Sal was still on Maliki Island delivering supplies, so hadn’t been around to make Bae turn the animal over to the zoo yet. “I never see her eat anything,” said Bae. “I don’t know where she’s finding food.” Massi dropped another stack of photos next to Bae. “It just sits in that box all day,” said Massi. “Maybe Captain Sal is right and it needs to go to the zoo and be with other monkeys.” Mrs. Hansson walked through the door carrying a plate of cookies. Rin jumped up and ran to the plate and grabbed a handful of the cookies. Mrs. Hansson looked at the walls and frowned, the boys weren’t even halfway done clearing the first wall. “Bae, if this is too hard for you, I can have someone do this,” said Mrs. Hansson. “No, I’m fine,” said Bae. “The curator is supposed to be here this afternoon,” Mrs. Hansson reminded him. “I want to take my time,” said Bae. “It’s not like I’m going anywhere on this ankle.” Mrs. Hansson sighed. “Okay, I’ll call him and schedule pickup for tomorrow.” Bae shook his head. “I’m not going to be done then either. Tell him I’ll call when I’m ready for the boxes to get picked up.” “Bae, Hon, it’s not healthy to dwell over all this,” said Mrs. Hansson. Bae’s temper flashed and his face turned red. He was getting tired of everyone trying to erase Governor Baestar’s memories. It felt like they were trying to erase any sign that he’d ever lived. “This stuff doesn’t belong to the museum,” said Bae. “It belongs to me, I’ll tell the museum what they can have when I’m ready.” “Mrs. Hansson’s just trying to help,” said Massi. “I know, but I’m tired of the museum taking everything,” said Bae. “She already let them steal everything out of his room.” Mrs. Hansson sat the plate of cookies down. “I’ll tell the museum to bring the boxes they took back so you can go through them. I’ll be downstairs if you need me.” Massi glared at Bae as Mrs. Hansson left the room. “That was mean,” said Massi. “Yeah, that was kind of mean,” agreed Rin, picking up the box with the monkey and chasing after Mrs. Hansson. Massi set the photograph he was holding down on the table. “I’m going downstairs, you can do this yourself.” Bae’s anger only grew as Massi left the room. Why couldn’t they understand how he felt? He hadn’t even been able to say goodbye to the Governor. Bae looked around the office with its walls covered in photos and mementos, and the wall with the bookshelves that went all the way to the ceiling. How many times had he climbed up the ladder to retrieve a book for the Governor? The Governor had never said he was too little to do something, he’d always encouraged Bae to take risks. The first time he’d climbed the ladder he’d been scared, but the Governor had gently coached him, telling him he could do it. Just take it one rung at a time he had said. It was the Governor that had taught him courage – the courage to do anything. Bae sat the photograph he was holding aside and picked up another. It was another photo of the Governor on the beach with some men. Bae narrowed his eyes and held the photo up to the light to see it better. The image turned his blood cold. He shoved the photo inside his shirt and grabbed the crutches. A tentative test of his weight on the ankle brought a stab of pain. No, he wasn’t ready to walk on it yet. He shoved the crutches under his arm and hopped out of the room and down the hall. He stopped at the stairs and looked down, sighed, then holding the crutches in one hand and the banister with the other, hopped down the stairs one step at a time. By the time he made it down the three flights of stairs he was covered in sweat and panting. Voices were coming from the kitchen. He burst through the door and drew the glares of Massi and Rin. Mrs. Hansson frowned. “You shouldn’t have come down the stairs on your own, you could have hurt yourself,” scolded Mrs. Hansson. “I’m sorry for what I said,” muttered Bae. “I know, Dear,” said Mrs. Hansson. “You’re grieving, and grief can make a person say things they regret.” Bae retrieved the photograph from under his shirt. “Look at this.” Mrs. Hansson put a pair of glasses on and peered at the photo. “Oh yes, that was taken the year before you were born. Everyone was out with the fishing fleet and the Governor wanted to go out to the atoll, so he hired them to take him. I don’t know where he found them, but they were a rough looking bunch and I didn’t like them much.” “Somethings been nagging me ever since that day with the pirates on North Beach,” said Bae. “I knew they looked familiar.” Bae pointed at one of the men next to the Governor. “That’s the pirate that hit me, and that one there is the pirate I saw at the Marina when we got back.” Massi came over and looked at the photo. “Which one is the pirate you saw?” “That one,” Bae tapped on the photo. Massi took the photo. “Okay, Trey is out in the gazebo with Lord Lothan having a glass of lemonade, I need to show him this so he can watch out for the guy also.” “I’ll go with you,” said Rin. “Me too,” added Bae. “Oh, no you’re not, young man.” Mrs. Hansson took Bae by the arm and led him over to a chair. “You’re going to sit right here while I put some fresh ice on that ankle. What were you thinking hopping down the stairs?” Massi pushed the screen door open and stepped outside with Rin following. The sun wasn’t quite at noon yet, but the day was already warm and humid – a typical summer day on the island. Rin jumped down the porch stairs like a kangaroo. “Maybe we can go get ice…” Massi didn’t hear the rest of Rin’s sentence. The barest reflection of light from beyond the yard caught his attention. Time slowed. It was just like Tath had said it would be. His hearing, sight, and even his sense of smell narrowed and focused on the spot where the glint of light had been… and he saw it, the barest irregularity in the shadows of a bush at the property line. Years of intense training and conditioning at Tath’s hands fell into place in a single moment. Massi spun around and shielded Rin with his body while simultaneously pushing the startled boy to the ground, but they were still in the open and exposed. Massi grabbed Rin’s collar and pulled him behind the porch stairs. He wished he had his 9mm sidearm, but Tath had locked it up before leaving for Maliki Island. He did have his lungs though. Massi shouted, “SNIPER!” He heard a chair fall over in the kitchen above him and hoped that was Mrs. Hansson dragging Bae somewhere safe. Trey had been sitting facing away from the Manor and hadn’t seen Massi reacting to the sniper, but he had seen Lord Lothan’s expression changing and knew something was wrong. Less than 2 seconds after hearing Massi’s warning, Lord Lothan was on the ground with Trey kneeling over him, and his own 9mm searching for the threat. Trey followed the direction Massi was staring and cursed silently to himself. He pulled the small radio from his pocket and held it to his ear. “Is that you he spotted?” Trey asked into the radio. “Yes, I took the cap off the scope for just a second to get a closer look at his face and he spotted me, nobody has ever done that before,” replied Chief. “That boy has the reflexes of a cat. I counted three seconds from the moment he spotted me to getting Rinathian out of my line of sight.” Lord Lothan turned his head and looked up at Trey. “You have a sniper out there?” Trey nodded. “I always put a second gun on every flight you’re on.” “Why?” asked Lothan. “If the plane is ever hijacked, they’ll go for me first,” said Trey, “and by the time they realize there’s a second gun, it’ll be too late.” “Why didn’t you tell me?” Trey got off Lothan and stood. “You would accidently give it away with just a flick of your eyes towards the second gun.” Trey stepped off the gazebo. “Stand down, he’s one of mine,” Trey called out to Massi. Massi turned his attention to Trey. “What? Why do you have a sniper out here?” “Daddy,” Rin called out and started crying. Massi got off Rin and let him up. Rin sprinted for his father. Trey raised the radio in his hand. “He needs to see you.” A man rose from the bushes and held a rifle over his head. “You should have told me you had someone else out here,” shouted Massi, his face turning red with anger. “Tath would throw you off the island if you did that to him.” “You’re right, I should have told you,” said Trey. Massi turned away and leapt up the stairs to the porch. He pulled the door open to go in and check on Bae, and saw the glint of metal just in time to jump away from Bae swinging a butcher knife at him, only to be swatted several times with a broom from the other side by Mrs. Hansson. “Hey, it’s me!” shouted Massi. “Stop, stop.” “Geez, I almost cut you in half, say something before you come charging in next time,” said Bae. “Did you get the sniper?” asked Mrs. Hansson in a shaky voice. “It was a misunderstanding,” said Massi. “Trey has a sniper covering the house, but he didn’t tell us.” Mrs. Hansson set her broom aside and grabbed Massi into a bear hug. “Oh my, oh my, oh my.” “I’m okay, except…I…can’t….breathe,” said Massi. Mrs. Hansson suddenly released Massi. “Where’s Rin, where’s Rin?” There was panic in her voice. She pushed past Massi and nearly tore the screen door off its hinges in her panic to find Rin. She found Lord Lothan sitting on the ground holding Rin in his arms. Mrs. Hansson screamed. Lord Lothan looked up and instantly recognized that the woman was in shock. Trey saw it also and remembered the other day at the riot when she had broken down sobbing at the thought that Bae was injured. She was not made for this kind of stress, but that made sense, she was a teacher and very sensitive towards children being hurt. One piece of the Bae puzzle fell into place for Trey, this woman was where Bae had gotten his sensitive side from – but his temper probably came from Captain Sal. Mrs. Hansson fell to her knees next to Rin and scooped him out of his father’s arms. She saw the tears in Rin’s eyes and started patting him down looking for injuries. “Where does it hurt, where did he shoot you?” Lord Lothan gently put a hand on her arm. “Mrs. Hansson, he wasn’t shot, it was just a misunderstanding, Rinathian got scared, and that’s all.” Mrs. Hansson rocked Rin in her arms, and Rin not one to reject attention when it was offered, ate up every bit of it. Rin wiped his eyes and looked up at Mrs. Hansson. “I’m okay now.” Mrs. Hansson closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Mr. Strum.” “Yes, Ma’am,” said Trey. “Do not ever bring someone onto this property again without my knowledge, or do anything that puts the boys in my care in danger, is that understood?” “Yes, Ma’am, and I apologize,” said Trey. Lord Lothan stood and brushed the grass off his suit. “Trey, do you have any further concerns about my idea for Rinathian.” Trey knew he was standing on paper-thin ice. One wrong word and brother or not, he would be on a guard post in the Antarctic. “No, Sir,” replied Trey. “Mrs. Hansson, if my son and you are favorable to the suggestion, I would like to leave him here on Altain Island for the Port Operations phase of his training,” said Lord Lothan. Rin's eyes widened at the unexpected news. “I want to stay, I love it here,” said Rin turning his best puppy eyes up at Mrs. Hansson. “Can I stay? please, please, please, can I?” “Of course, Dear,” said Mrs. Hansson. “With the harbor in the terrible state it’s in right now, this would be an excellent opportunity for you to see how a port is built from the ground up.” “Can I have the blue room?” asked Rin. “The one that has a bed that looks like a pirate ship?” “That bed originally belonged to the Governor’s son,” said Mrs. Hansson. Rin’s smile faded into worry. “Is he going to want his bed back?” “No, Dear,” said Mrs. Hansson. “Terrence had polio and died very young. After Bae was born, the Governor had the bed brought out of storage and Bae used it for a few years. I think the Governor would be pleased to know the bed was going to be used again.” Rin wiggled out of Mrs. Hansson’s arms. “Dad, can we have my stuff from my room back home brought here?” “I can take care of that,” offered Trey. “We can have your things here in a few days.” Lord Lothan’s expression made it clear that it would take a lot more than that for Trey to get out of hot water. “I own a fleet of planes, have his things here in 24 hours.” “Yes, Sir,” said Trey.