Come Alive Ch. 23

"Good. Is your ground tackle up to snuff?"

"I've anchored out a few times without any problem, why?"

"Just in case things get sideways on us. Best to be able to get your anchor down in a hurry if you lose an engine in a narrow channel."

"Nice. I like the way you change subjects."

"Do you? Good."

"So, my mom's sophomore year? Ready to talk about it, or is that a subject changer too?"

He shook his head. "No, not ready."

"I see."

"If your mom shows up maybe we can cover some of that ground, because maybe it's just not fair to talk about all that without her around to stick up for her point of view."

Tracy nodded. "You're right."

"The other reason, if I may, concerns you."

"Me?"

"Yeah, you. Look, you may be twenty-something years younger than your mother, but you just have to understand that there's a history between our families."

"What has that got to do with me?"

"Well, first of all, you're drop-dead gorgeous, and I'm still a male with a pulse and that means I recognize little things like that. Second, your mom and dad - and I - do have a history. A complicated history."

"So, Dad wasn't exaggerating..."

"No, he wasn't, but also, well, look - it's the reason I left LA for Seattle. And why I had to stay away."

"So...you and my mom...?"

"It wasn't a simple thing, Tracy. I was falling apart and she kept me from falling all the way down, but in a way, she was still a kid. Worse still, to this day there's no way I can look at her and not see Claire."

"I figured it was something like that, but why Seattle."

"Because..."

But Henry drifted on the crest of the word, lost in a wave as strings of memory pulsed into and out of view - but the pain was real, and the cost to all their lives too high.

She watched the change come over him and reached out, took his hand. "We don't have to talk about it, Henry. I just thought that..."

"Someday, Tracy. There's just too much I haven't thought about in a long, long time."

"If my mom comes will things get weird between you two?"

He looked at her and shrugged. "I don't know. I really don't know what will happen. We were always an unstable compound, you know? Never meant to last, I guess."

"You weren't expecting all this, were you?"

"What? You mean, like you - and your mom..."

"And all those memories. They were behind you, weren't they?"

Henry shook his head, then he looked her in the eye once again. "You know what, Tracy? It feels like everything is coming full circle right now, yet I'm not really sure why. I'm closing in on the end of this journey, this return to Paris, but Honfleur was always going to be a part of that story, too. Now, here's the weird part. In a way, I think it was almost inevitable that we were going to meet up when and where we did. I know that sounds more than a little nuts, but think about it. Like, what if you'd decided to go to a different restaurant that night, or if I'd been a day late arriving. Think of how many things had to go 'just so' in order for us to meet when and where we did...and from the day I left California right up to that moment. And from the day you left, too. One little hiccup and we'd have missed each other - but that didn't happen, did it?"

She nodded. "Kismet?" she grinned.

"Or...karma."

"And there are a million possible explanations, Henry. It just happened, like these things do everyday, for everyone - everywhere."

"Are you listening to what you're saying, Tracy?"

"I'm a rationalist, Henry. Sorry."

"Yeah, well so am I - but this was kind of a slap on the face."

"Most people, especially when the end of life approaches, reach out for comforting explanations to perplexing questions. There's nothing unusual about it, Henry, nothing new or unusual about your feeling this way right now."

"I think you're missing the point, Tracy."

"What point is that? Your talking about ultimate causality, right? Things like predetermination, la Forza del Destino..."

"I'm not in any kind of a hurry to slap labels on these observations right now," Henry replied. "Still, if I could ask just one thing of you right now, it would be that you try to keep an open mind about what you're going to see between now and Christmas."

She seemed to pause, to hold back for a moment, then she smiled. "I can do that."

"Good. Now, what do you think of these snails? Too salty?"

+++++

They walked back to the harbor, a good, solid half-hour walk in a chilly breeze, but there simply weren't too many options available yet. Only a few taxis were running around the city so far, and while there was a train scheduled to depart for Paris in the morning, air service still wasn't an option - anywhere. The magnetic pole had re-stabilized - only now it appeared to be loitering over eastern Siberia - and the night sky was still alive with geomagnetic storms, and so for the time being the major airlines were limiting operations to very short-haul overland sectors only. With almost thirty aircraft lost when the first storm hit, and with a final death toll more than twice the 9/11 tally, no airline seemed to be in a hurry to resume transoceanic operations.

They turned into the old port area and started for the quay where their boats were tied-off, with Clyde finally stopping here to shed a few unwanted pounds of salmon, but as they approached the quay Henry saw two navy blue Land Rovers idling there, just above Time Bandits.

"Well, Hell," he sighed as he recognized the same French Navy markings he'd spotted two nights ago, "this I was not expecting."

"What?"

Taggart motioned with his head, indicating the Rovers parked ahead.

"Who are they?" Tracy said, now a little anxiously.

"The Bad Guys."

"What? You mean, like mafia types?"

"No...worse. Naval Intelligence types."

As they walked up a door opened and Captain Mike Lacy, USN, stepped out. Dressed regally now in navy blue sweats and a yellow ball cap, Lacy waited by the Rover while Taggart took Tracy down to Karma.

"Are you going to be okay?" she asked as he helped her aboard. "Or should I come with you?"

Henry shook his head. "No, stay here. I don't know what they want, but I'm no threat to them now and they know it."

She sighed. "Okay, but come get me after they leave."

He nodded and turned to walk back up the ramp to the Rovers, but he stopped and turned to look at her again, measuring her every move as she went below, then he turned again and resumed walking up the ramp.

"So, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company, Captain?"

"They want me to make the trip up the river with you, Henry. Sorry, I know this is going to be uncomfortable, but the alternative would probably be a helluva lot worse."

"Well, I was wondering why you left clothes in your locker...?"

"I brought along a little inducement, too. If you don't put up too much of a stink we'll release Anton, providing he stays with you for the time being. By the way, who's the dame?"

"The dame? Are you kidding? You trying out for a part in Casablanca, Mike?"

"Who is she, Henry?"

"Why don't you tell me?"

Lacy shrugged. "She's not on our radar, Henry."

"She a psychiatrist from California, left the US in April, came over by way of the Azores."

"Uh-huh. You know her?"

"I do now," Taggart said, grinning salaciously.

"You dog...I shoulda guessed."

"Where's Anton?"

Lacy walked over to the other Rover and knocked on the glass, motioning it was okay to come out.

Anton stepped out into the night, and even in the shadows Henry could tell his face was heavily bruised, and he walked over favoring his right leg.

"That's just great, Lacy. What the fuck did you do that for?"

"Some Air Force intel guy did it before we could stop him. Apparently, he was pissed off about the F-15 Anton waxed."

"War...the gift that keeps on giving," Henry sighed. "Like things weren't bad enough already."

"Look, Henry, Anton asked for political asylum and the French are willing to go along with that - provided you keep him off the streets."

"That's not a problem, Mike. I told Anton he was welcome to stay with me as long as he wants, and that still applies..."

"Henry, again, he has to stay with you..."

"Genry," Anton grimaced, "they afraid I spy. I stay. I make no problem here." Taggart held out his right hand and Anton took it, but then the Russian pulled Henry into a tight hug.

"Good to have you back with us, shipmate," Taggart said.

"Good be back, my friend."

"I'll help you down."

"No. Better I do alone, Genry. That way bastards get no satisfaction."

"Fine by me."

"Want I should take Clyde?"

"No, just be careful...the ramp is a little slippery."

Henry watched the aviator limp over to the handrail before he turned to face Lacy, then he would up a haymaker and let it fly, his fist catching the captain off-guard and knocking him to the ground.

And when all the doors on both Land Rovers flew open, and as the heavily armed intel types raced to take him down - Taggart simply smiled.

© 2020-21 adrian leverkühn | abw | this is a work of fiction, pure and simple; the next element will drop as soon as the muse cooperates.