High Seas Series : The Mary Joyce

Wil had not known that his Uncle spoke Chinese, he was fluent in the Mandarin Dialect and was able to speak with John O'Toole in his own language. They were chattering away and, suddenly, Joe screamed and grabbed hold of the boy for all he was worth. Both were crying, sobbing great heaving sobs with tears running down their faces. Joe carried the boy up to the house and laid him in his own bed (Joe's) and sat with him until the child had fallen asleep. Wil and Pat were waiting, with little patience, outside the door for Joe to emerge. Joe put his finger to his lips to silence them and led the way out to the back patio. He turned to Wil and said, "That boy has been raped repeatedly by the soldiers on that boat! He is frightened that you will no longer want him, that he is damaged goods!" Wil sat down on the lawn chair with a thud and held his head in his hands, "My God, what else had that child been put through?" Pat said, "Dad, I'm going back in there and sit beside my brother, John Patrick until he wakes up. I want him to know that he IS wanted and that I will NEVER abandon him, EVER!" Wil said, "I will sit with you son, BOTH of my sons need me!"

Darkness had fallen when Pat peeked out of Uncle Joe's bedroom, he spotted his Dad, Wil, sitting patiently on a chair. Pat slipped out of the bedroom and asked his Dad, "Have you been out here the whole time?"

Wil replied, "Yes, when I have a son who is crying and worse, he has been hurt, whether it is physical or emotional, I'm gonna be here for him, FOREVER!"

Pat said, "Thanks Dad. Johnnie is awake now and I think I have convinced him that you still love him and want him to stay with us. Come in quietly and just sit with us for a while before you say anything."

Wil let himself be led in by Patrick and he slowly sat down on the bed, beside a wide-eyed boy who was trying to edge away from him. Wil reached carefully and hugged Johnnie to him and slowly rubbed his back, while the boy put his head on Wil's shoulder.

After a while, a frightened little voice asked, "YyyYou PppPapa mmme wwwant?"

Wil put his lips on Johnnie's ear and replied, "Yes me want you very much. Me love you, Johnnie, me love you."

Wil rocked back and forth with the frightened child, just holding him and saying nothing except, "I Love you Johnnie O'Toole, I love you."

Wil thought the boy had fallen asleep, but when he looked down, Johnnie was staring at him as if trying to fix his features in his tormented soul. The boy gave a gasp and grabbed Wil's neck, crying his heart out and repeating, "Me Papa, me love me Papa, me Papa love me."

When the boy had cried all his tears, he started to hiccup and both he and Wil giggled. Johnnie had a grin on his that went nearly ear to ear and Wil asked, "Are you hungry little man, you didn't get any supper?"

The boy nodded his head in a yes and rubbed his tummie. Wil picked him up and carried him into the kitchen, where Uncle Joe was sitting, with a wet towel trying to mop up his own tears.

Johnnie smiled at him and said, "Me hungee Unca Je, me gots hungee!"

Joe jumped up and started grabbing plates and pots, soon there was the salty smell of frying bacon and eggs were being scrambled. Joe poured a large glass of milk and set it on the table in front of the child, the eggs and bacon came next.

Johnny recognized the eggs, but bacon was something new to him, he reached out his finger and snagged a small piece to taste, they all laughed when Johnnie grabbed the plate and wolfed the bacon down in one swipe of his tongue!

He scooped up the eggs with his fork and they disappeared almost as quickly. He held out his plate and asked, "Mor pease, pease mor." The child went through a quarter pound of bacon, several glasses of milk and a half-dozen eggs before his tank was filled!

Johnnie sat happily on Wil's lap. He grinned up at Wil and burst out in a song, his voice was pure and sweet and Joe had to sit down, again in tears. He said to Wil, "That is the Morning Willow Song, the song a young man sings to his intended. It is one of the most beautiful songs in all China!"

Johnnie's song was heard all over the house, the boys were standing in the doorway, their emotions in overload at the beauty of the song Johnnie was singing, even though they could not understand the words!

Wil looked up at Joe and said, "Uncle, this boy's gift is too precious to be wasted, we must find someone who can nurture that voice."

Joe replied, "I know just the woman who can do it, Madame Lo Chi. She was an Opera Singer in China before she fled the Communists. She is quite elderly, but I'll bet if she hears this boy sing, she will be ready to move in with us!"

Joe went immediately to the telephone and was heard speaking part in English and part in Mandarin. After a long conversation, Joe came back with a smile on his face, "She is coming right over, when I described Johnnie's voice to her, she screamed and actually wanted me to put him on the telephone so she could hear him!"

Joe sat down and spoke in Mandarin to Johnnie. Asking him how it was he spoke the "Exalted Language" and knew of the Morning Willow Song." Johnnie spoke back to Joe and bowed his head before and after he spoke to Joe.

Joe was having a very hard time keeping himself all together, he told Wil and Pat, "Johnnie was from an exalted family, like royalty, and the Communists came and killed all his parents, his older brothers and sisters. The younger sisters were forced to be street whores and he was thrown into prison until the boatmen needed a slave."

Wil nearly lost it completely and Pat had to go outside and scream his anger, where Johnnie would not think he was angry with him!

Emotions were running very high when a knock came at the door, a very dignified young Chinese man bowed to Joe, who had answered the door, and he asked in rather rough English, "Is this the house where the young boy who sings lives?"

Joe replied in perfect Mandarin, "Yes, the boy lives here, is Madam Lo Chi with you?"

The young smiled and replied, "You speak the Exalted Language very well, yes, my Grandmother is in the automobile, I will go get her."

He returned with an elderly Chinese woman, exquisitely dressed in a beautiful Chinese silk robe and headdress. Joe showed the lady into the house and brought her to where Johnnie was being held by Wil.

It was obvious the child had been crying as he introduced Madam Lo Chi to the boy. Startled, Johnnie wiped his tears away as he jumped up and bowed very low and spoke to the Honored Lady in his most respectful Mandarin.

Joe was translating, and he said, "Johnnie just introduced himself to Madam Lo Chi, he is from a very high-class family, on par with Madam Lo Chi. Madam Lo Chi just asked Johnnie to sing the Morning Willow Song for her."

Johnnie smiled and did so. Madam Lo Chi was in tears herself and her grandson sucked in his breath and said in English, "Oh My God, not since we fled China have I heard anything near like that!"

The woman turned to Wil and said, "This precious child is a national treasure. I will teach him all I know and will not charge you if you will only let me hear him sing. His voice is a gift from the Gods, never have I heard a male voice so sweet, so clear and so in perfect tune."

She continued, "His Mandarin is perfect, he speaks better than I do myself, and his elocution and syntax are perfect, you must make a tutor available to him so that he does not lose that. Your friend here would be perfect"

She was looking at Joe and Wil said, "Madam Lo Chi, this is my Uncle, Joseph O'Toole and Johnnie here is my legally adopted son. We recently rescued him from The Chinese Communists and brought him home with us."

Madam Lo Chi spoke again with Johnnie for a considerable length of time and Wil worried, he saw all sorts of emotions cross the boy's face. Uncle Joe was grinning, but Wil could see he was holding his tongue.

Madam Lo Chi smiled and turned to Wil, "Captain O'Toole, this boy, whose Mandarin name is translated as Little Eagle That Flies High, loves you very much and refuses to be taken from you. He knows that his big brother, Patrick, will always protect him and that Mr. Joe will also protect him. He wishes to be taught more of his singing and I will come here twice a week to tutor him. Hopefully, he will be ready in a years' time to participate in our New Year Celebration, it is very beautiful and you are all invited."

Johnnie got down and walked over to Wil and said, "Me yu papa, me yu luv. Me here live not nomore nasty chinamens, people bads! Sing me for yu alltime."

He then bowed to Madam Lo Chi and spoke to her in Mandarin, Joe translated for them, "He just asked her to teach him to sing and to remind him of his people's language and culture."

Joe said softly to Wil, "Nephew, that is an amazing little boy, to have been through so much and still be able to remember his manners and that voice of his, I cannot fathom how it survived!"

It would take a few years, but John Patrick O'Toole would be invited to study at the Julliard and he would become the first bilingual Chinese Opera singer in the United States. By that time, he would be a completely American boy who would put even the birds of the air to shame with his voice!

Patrick applied for the next entering class at the Naval Academy and was selected on the first round. Wil did not know if it was the Admiral's doing or that his grades were really that high. His report cards had all been 4.0 and higher and Pat made it a practice to assist his younger brothers in their studies. Wil had been informed that Patrick Wilson O'Toole had organized an after-school study program for students who were in danger of flunking, every student he had helped not only passed all their courses, they passed with C's and B's!

The next Plebe entering class would be the next July and Wil told him that he would come with him and watch as he entered the "Gate" to a new life.

Just as school was letting out, Captain Jenkins called and told Wil of a problem up in the Aleutian Island Chain that needed checking on. Two large fishing boats had gone missing and a Crabber was found drifting, with no crew aboard.

Wil called all the boys and his adult crewmembers and told them to standby for a meeting with Captain Jenkins the next morning. He went and asked Johnnie if he wanted to go also, and the boy was adamant that he was going with his Papa! Just in the few days of instruction with Madam Lo Chi, Wil could see a difference in the boy, he was more poised and assured of himself and his English was improving by leaps and bounds. He suspected Patrick had a lot to do with the latter!

The next afternoon, Captain Jenkins arrived with his new aide, Ensign Phillip Carmichael. The first words out of Captain Jenkins' mouth were, "Captain O'Toole, you keep your hands off my new aide, you stole the last two from me!"

Just as they were headed to the dining room, where they usually conducted the mission briefing, they heard Johnnie practicing his scales that Madam Lo Chi had given him. Then, he burst out in everyone's favorite, The Morning Willow Song. Everyone just stopped, entranced by the boy's voice.

Ensign Carmichael had tears in his eyes as he asked, "My God, sir, whoever is singing that song must be an angel! I have never heard anything so beautiful and moving!"

Wil explained about his son, Johnnie and now, Madam Lo Chi. The Ensign replied, "Sir, can you afford to send him to Flat Rock, North Carolina this summer?"

Wil replied, "Certainly, why?"

Ensign Carmichael explained, "That is where the Julliard Summer Music Festival takes place every summer and this year they are featuring "The Music of China"

Wil replied, "I will check with his tutor, Madam Lo Chi and get her input on this."

They all went in for their meeting and Captain Jenkins laid out the charts showing where the boats had disappeared and where the crabber was found. The crabber had been found crashed on the rocks of IIak Island and the wreckage of the two fishing boats had been discovered floating in the bay off Middle Ledge on Tanaga Island. There were no signs of any survivors nor any clue as to what had caused the boats to be wrecked.

The crabber, The Billy Jones, had been recovered intact, there were no indications of a fight or that they had been boarded, the ship was completely empty and there were no crab pots on board, nor were there any crabs in the refrigerated hold, which was still operating when the Coast Guard boarded the ship. It was presently being towed to Adak for further inspection by the authorities there.

After all the discussions had ended, Wil looked at his crew and said, "Well, what do you think, guys?"

Pat said, "If you leave right now, I have to leave before you will be back, so I will have to remain behind."

Pedro said, "I will stand in for you, Pat."

Oscar looked at the charts and said, "If it is competing Russian Crabbers or fishermen, they almost have to be coming from the Kamchatka Peninsula. There are no permanent villages on any of their islands in the Bering Sea."

They studied the charts closely and could find no logical place any raiders could have been based, the distances were just too far.

Juan asked, "What about a ship, a fish factory ship? Could they support whoever did this?"

Ensign Carmichael replied, "Yes they could, but it would be an awful mess if they ever got caught. Everything in the Bearing Sea is handled by treaties between the Russians, ourselves and the Japanese." He thought for a few seconds and continued, "But, I think you may have a possibility there, Juan, a factory ship would be a perfect hiding place from which to steal a catch or a load of crabs!"

They then moved on to logistics and timing, Wil told them that they could not sail before the last week in July, he WAS going to be in Annapolis and he and Pat had a date with the Corps of Cadets.

Captain Jenkins looked up at Patrick, "You got accepted then?"

Patrick grinned with a blush and said, "Yessir, I need to thank you for your recommendation, sir."

Captain Jenkins smiled and replied, "Think nothing of it, son, the Navy NEEDS young men like you, those that can think and act on their own and are not afraid of getting their feet wet and their hands dirty!" The senior officer was thinking of his own son, who was lost to him. His wife had run off, taking the boy with her and he had never been able to locate him. He had not seen the boy since he was a toddler.

Patrick blushed bright red at the praise, but he held his head up and participated in the general discussion regarding the assignment for the Joyce. It was decided that departing at the end of July might have some advantages, the raiders would not expect anyone looking for them that late in the season. Bill asked about weapons and was told to make his list and get it to Ensign Carmichael by mid-June and he would have it delivered to the Joyce right here in Daly City, all in unmarked boxes and crates.

As the two Naval Officers were walking out, Ensign Carmichael asked, "Could I meet the boy whose singing was so wonderful when we arrived?"

Pat replied, "Sure, I will bring him down, he is probably resting now, Madame Lo Chi is an exhausting task mistress!"

Pat slipped upstairs and brought a shy little boy down the stairs. He introduced Johnnie to the two visitors and was startled when the Ensign began speaking to the boy in Classical Mandarin.

Johnnie's eyes lit up and he began speaking rapidly to Ensign Carmichael. The Ensign spoke as rapidly as Johnnie was speaking and then he bowed very low and said in good English, "I thank you for your kind words of encouragement, I shall try to do my best."

Johnnie hugged the young officer as they went out the door, his face was a happy smile.

After the two had left, Wil asked Johnnie what all that was about and Johnnie told them, "That officer lived in my country when he was a child. His daddy was some kind of diplomat representing my new country in Peking. He speaks very good talk of the exalted ones and he is very kind me."

The child was so happy, he burst out in another song, only Uncle Joe recognized it and he had to sit down, he was breathless as the boy's voice started hitting the high notes with absolute clarity. The boy's song sparkled off the chandelier and flowed around the room like a warm breeze!

Wil watched his son in admiration and wondered, "How does so much sound come out of a small boy?"

Joe hugged Johnnie and thanked him for the performance of Empress Mita's Death Song!

As Johnnie went off with Pat to get some cookies, Joe said, "Wil, that boy is priceless, not only has he perfect pitch, he also has a perfect memory. He is singing completely from memory, he has no scores and no music, it is all from memory!"

Wil made an instant decision, "Joe, are you busy this coming August?"

Joe replied, "Not really, just stay home here and worry about you up in Alaska." Wil said, "Would you come with me as I take Johnnie to North Carolina, there is a music festival at Flat Rock, near Charlotte and it is going to feature the music from China."

Joe said, "Yeah, I would love to go and listen to Johnnie sing, how do we sign him up?"

Wil said, "That young Ensign, Toby Carmichael gave me the phone number, I will take care of getting him registered."

They began the labor of getting the Mary Joyce O'Toole ready for sea, Wil sailed her over to the dry dock to have her hull sandblasted and painted, they had been in tropical waters and the marine growth was like a forest on the hull. He had all her machinery gone over to make sure everything was working. Knowing they were going into a cold climate, he had another bulkhead tank installed for additional oil to fuel the heaters. He didn't want ship's heating system to be pulling on the same supply that the engines ran on.

The enginemen checked the engines out and decided to put new rings in both engines. By the time Patrick was ready to fly to Washington, almost everything was ready on the ship. Joe was getting ready to take Johnnie to Flat Rock and both Wil and Patrick agreed to fly into Charlotte to see Johnnie get started in the Music Festival before continuing on to Washington. The fact was, neither Father nor son could have been restrained from going to hear Jonnie sing, wild elephants could not have kept them away!

The night before they left, Johnnie gave them a treat, Madame Lo Chi had given him the score for the male lead in a Chinese Opera and he was to practice the part. He sang the principal music of the opera, he had all three of his family in tears, the music just poured out of the boy and his face glowed as he sang the part! He was the part, the boy lived his music!

He looked at Wil and asked, "Why cry you Papa?"

Wil hugged the youngster and said to him, "My son, your voice is so beautiful, I cannot help but thank you for coming to us, you are such a blessing, a gift truly from God!"

The next day they flew to Charlotte and got a room at the local Marriot Inn. Joe took the boy to the campground at Flat Rock and checked him in, telling him Wil and Pat would see him early the next day as they were leaving for Washington. Johnnie began plotting, he would surprise his big brother with the "Joyous Goodbye Song"

The next day, Pat, Wil and Joe went up to Flat Rock to say goodbye to Johnnie. The two brothers hugged each other and then Jonnie stood on a log and sang his song for his brother.

They drew a crowd, many of the onlookers were weeping, the song trilled and swirled around them, carried in the clear notes of a young boy's voice. When he had completed the song, he hugged Patrick and told him to do well at the academy.

Johnnie then ran off to join his new friends, he didn't want his big brother to see him crying. Patrick could not have seen him crying, his own tears were flooding his face!

The Camp Director came up to Wil and said, "Mr. O'Toole, I want you to know that having your son, John here is the crowning highlight of my twenty-five years of directing this camp. If I don't do anything else for the rest of my life, I will always have the memory of that child singing to his big brother! My God, what a performance, only once in a lifetime may I hear such a voice!"

Joe decided to remain in Charlotte while Wil took Pat to the Academy to begin his Plebe Year. Wil and Pat were quiet on the airplane, each deeply engrossed in their own thoughts. Each was thinking how they had found Johnnie and how they had become so attached to him and how easily he could have slipped through their fingers and died.

Wil found it difficult to say goodbye to his eldest son, they had been through so much together and they had become so close ever since Wil had returned from the war. The man who had said that parting was such sweet sorrow, didn't know the half of it!

They stood at the gates that Wil had entered himself so many years earlier, father and son hugging each other, not wanting to let go. Finally, Pat walked in, searching for his "Beast Company" and did not see his father standing at attention at the gate, holding a salute to his oldest son.

When Wil returned to Charlotte to pick his Uncle up so they could return to San Francisco, Joe looked carefully at Wil and said, "Hard, isn't it?"

Wil shook his head in a "yes" and the two men walked back to their motel for one more night before they left for home. Neither spoke, both were too choked up to be able to speak clearly, it was enough that they were walking besides each other. When they got back home, they had to dive into the work getting the Joyce ready for sea, they had only three days before they were scheduled to depart.

Chapter 4 - A MISSION NORTH

While Joe and Wil had been gone, Pedro had stepped into Pat's shoes and had organized the final clean-up of the Mary Joyce. There was a large bundle of papers in a sealed carrier sitting on the dining room table addressed to Wil and a stack of delivery receipts beside it. All the food, fuel, and ammunition had been delivered and Juan was seeing to filling the water tanks.

While Wil was going over the paperwork, the enginemen were rolling the engines to make sure they were working properly and the rings had seated properly. They had started the generator earlier for its test and put a full load test on it before shutting it back down.

Bill had climbed all over the ship, checking the running lights and made some minor changes to the fifty caliber machine gun stands. They now had a piece of armor plate placed in front of the stand to help protect the shooter from being hit by bullets or shrapnel.

Oscar had checked the compass and both radios and the loud hailer, and he had the navigational radar up and running so he could check the system out. As soon as he had completed the radar checks, Oscar came up to the house to tell Wil that they were ready to sail the next morning.

He sat down at the table with a cup of coffee and looked at Wil. He said, "Was it hard, bro, leaving the boys behind?"

Wil replied, "Yeah, it was. As Pat walked into the Academy, I saw myself and wondered if he was as scared as I was."

Oscar said, "Well, I guess I am next, Juan wants to go to the Maritime Academy next year!"

Wil looked at his closest friend and replied, "Good Grief, he IS a senior this year, isn't he!"

Oscar laughed as he responded, "Yeah, doesn't time fly when we are having fun?"

Wil laughed and said, "If it gets any funnier, we won't be able to stand it, I figure this trip is going to show us just how much our boys do for us. Pat is busy learning to be a Warrior and Johnnie is singing for other people now. Next thing we know, Jose and Juan will be gone too, maybe you and I are getting too damned old to be doing this anymore?"

Oscar laughed and replied, "Speak for yourself, old man!" He then whispered to Wil, "I guess we will just have to grow old together, just you and I." Wil grabbed him and gave Oscar a brief kiss on the cheek. Oscar seriously contemplated never washing that cheek again! Those who had witnessed the kiss thought only that it was about time!

Joe fixed everyone a big supper and, after making one more round through the ship, everyone was in bed by nine.

The alarm went off before even God had gotten up and Wil could smell corned beef hash and fresh coffee floating up the stairs. Joe had gotten up early to make sure his BOYS had a good breakfast before they sailed.

Bill had been schooling his own son, Bobby, in navigation, he let the boy plot their course as they headed for the Golden Gate. Bobby was a slender Indonesian boy who had been rescued on their last time out, and was progressing rapidly. His English was careful and precise and his mathematics for the navigation were painstakingly accurate. The big secret was that he had needed glasses and, as soon as Bill had gotten them for him, the youngster bloomed.

Bill finally turned all the navigation over to Bobby, he was better at it than Bill would ever be and he could use the sextant with greater accuracy than anyone else on board the Joyce! His precise Navigation notes were easy to read and almost no course errors ever took place again on the Mary Joyce!

They sailed north up the coast of Western America and on, into Canadian waters. A week saw them off the coast of Vancouver Island and heading into Queen Charlotte Sound, where the island protected them from the rough waters of the North Pacific.

The farther north they went, the colder the water became and, even in the sunshine was thin during the day and everyone was wearing light jackets. At night, they had to break out the heavy winter coats!

When they entered the Gulf of Alaska, Wil got on the radio and contacted the Machinery and Delivery Office for any change in their instructions and any last-minute Intel. He was told that the pirates had struck Dutch Harbor on the island of Unalaska and twenty people had been killed or wounded!

Bobby laid out each reported location of the attacks and used a compass to draw circles around each point. The circles seemed to converge at Savoogna, on St. Lawrence Island in the Bearing Strait. Their Mariner's Almanac indicated that the village had been abandoned and only the small Coast Guard station remained in operation during the summers, only.

They decided to check it out anyway.

They approached the island from the west, if there were anyone there, the island would hide their approach. They came around the north side of the island and found the tiny Coast Guard Station at Gambell already closed for the winter so they sailed down the east coast of the island and tried to reach the station at Savoogna, where their circles had all coincided. They got no answer and they all surmised that Savoogna was also closed for the approaching winter.

As they neared the point where the station was located, they saw lights. Wil ordered their course to be changed to take them further offshore, where they were unlikely to be seen.

They again tried to raise the Coast Guard Station and still got no reply. Wil sent off a coded message to the Machinery & Delivery Office, telling them what they had discovered and requesting instructions.

They received an almost immediate reply from Captain Jenkins to try and check the situation out, even if they had to land and travel overland to the village. They MUST find out what was going on!

Wil eased the Joyce in closer and spotted two large sailing vessels anchored in a small cove immediately to the north of a tiny native village. They could see smoke coming from a couple of the houses, but Oscar got up on the top of the wheelhouse with his binoculars and shouted, "There is a burned-out airplane sitting on a runway just behind the village! There is something terribly wrong here!"

They all agreed that something was very wrong and they were concerned about the fate of the villagers who had lived there. They pulled into the cove and anchored the Joyce. Leaving the youngsters on board, Wil, Oscar and Bill went ashore to look around.

They had not seen anyone moving, so they were not overly concerned about any danger, both of the boats in the cove were American-registered fishing boats and did not appear to belong to anyone raiding along the Alaska coast. It was obvious that neither vessel had moved in some time and one of them looked like it had sustained some damage recently!

As they walked into the village, they spotted lights in a larger building that they later found out was the town's meeting house and City Hall. They could hear voices inside, so Wil knocked on the door and the inside of the building went still.

A young woman edged the door open and asked, "What you come here?" The young woman seemed angry and threatening.

Wil replied, "We came to check on you folks, we tried reaching you on the radio and got no answer."

The girl screeched and then said, "In come, hurry you in."

They stepped inside the room and found men lying on blankets spread out on the floor. They had obviously been hurt and many had bloody bandages wrapped around their heads.

The girl asked, "Americans, you?"

Wil said, "Yes, we are Americans and we work for the United States Navy."

The girl looked very happy and asked, "Yous help us, please! Bad mens attack ours fishermens and two boats they sinked. Six mens ours dead un theses mens hurt bad. We doctor no gots, they die soon."

Wil replied hotly, "No they will not die if we can help it!"

He pulled out his handheld, and called Pedro on the Joyce, "Pedro, we have lots of hurt people here, bring some help and all the medical supplies you can carry. Bring the Radio Log, maybe we can get their base station working and call for help. Make it fast, son, these folk are bad off!"

Pedro arrived with one of the seamen and all the boys helping him lug a huge case of medical supplies in the door. They set up an emergency surgery and started to work on the most seriously injured. Pedro had studied all the medical manuals he could find and he already knew that was going to be his calling. He just hoped he could convince his Papa.

Pedro had to fish the wounds for bullets and Mike examined them. They were Russian AK-47 bullets! Wil gritted his teeth, so the Ruskies were involved in this? He needed to get that information to Washington as fast as he could.

Bill asked, "Has anyone checked that burned-out airplane for an emergency radio, this radio here is smashed beyond my ability to fix it."

Nobody had even thought of the emergency radio, so he and Pedro crunched snow outside and climbed up, into the airplane. They found the cockpit relatively undamaged and the radio was stored in a locker immediately behind the Flight Engineer's station. Pedro stuffed his pockets with Emergency Medical Supplies from the locker before he assisted Bill in extracting the Radio.

It took both of them to lug the heavy boxes back to where everyone was. Bill opened the box and found the radio undamaged and both battery packs appeared to be fully charged. He set the radio up and ran the antenna out a window that had a chunk broken out of the glass. He went outside and fished the antenna up to the roof and fastened it to the top of a sewerage vent pipe. Pedro had already returned to helping the villagers, he was up to his elbows in blood.

When he got back inside and had thawed out a bit, he connected one of the battery packs and checked the radio out, he shouted, "IT WORKS!... I think..."

Bill asked for the Radio Log and picked out the frequency for voice communication with their contact in Washington, DC. When he got them on the horn, he explained what had taken place and was told to hold on the line. The Radio Operator in Washington recognized the urgency of Bill's transmission and he had alerted Captain Jenkins of the developing crisis.

In a very few minutes, Captain Jenkins was on the line, "Bill, you gotta hold on, the Coast Guard is sending a relief team up from Bremerton, and the Navy has two rescue planes leaving now from Adak. They should be there in two hours or less, son. They will have Marines on board to hold off any further attacks and enough food for all you guys and the villagers." He added, "I will tell them to load out on medical supplies."

Bill was choking back his tears, he replied, Thanks, Dad" and he signed off before the startled Captain could reply.

Bill Quinn had been born William Jenkins and his mother had changed his name when she had remarried, telling a young Bill that his father was a monster and a no-good sailor! Captain Jenkins had searched for his son for years and had given up when no trace could be found.

On the other end of the conversation, a startled Navy Captain was asking himself, "Is it possible?" The older man began to shake and he had to sit down before he fell down!

As soon as he had himself under control, he went charging out of his office and told the Pilot of one of the relief planes to wait for him. He hitched a ride on a fighter, headed to Bremerton and was there in two hours. He had told the pilot to cram his "foot to the metal"! The Pilot cleared the Captain's request through the Air Controllers and he was given a direct flight path to Bremerton. He was sure he was exceeding flight regulations, but the look on the Captain's face told him that it was necessary.

Captain Jenkins ran across the tarmac to the waiting plane and the second relief flight took off, practically seconds after the door had closed. The Co-Pilot leaned out the Flight Deck door and said, "Captain, it's gonna be a rough flight and will take us at least four hours to get there."

Captain James Leighton Jenkins told him, "Lieutenant, if you can get me there even fifteen minutes sooner, I will find a way to get you another half stripe!" (Author's note - Lieutenant Commander)

Captain Jenkins sat in his seat quivering and tears running down his face, hoping against all hope that Bill Quinn was, in fact, his long lost son, William Jenkins!
The Flight Engineer came by and saw the older man was in severe distress, he knelt down and said, "Sir, can I do something or get you something?" The old officer looked up at the young man and replied, "Pray for me and my son, please!"

The Flight Engineer returned to the cockpit and related what the Captain had said.

The pilot said, "Well I dunno what it all means, but let me see if I can't get a few more knots out of this old crate." He pushed on the throttles and the airspeed did come up a bit. He had pushed his throttles into the "Redline" and the aircraft was shaking and shuddering in protest.

It was getting dark as the second rescue plane eased down on the icy runway. The pilot saw the burned-out hulk and the first rescue plane that had left before them, there was no sign of the Coastie yet. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he saw bullet holes in the burned-out plane and he grabbed his sidearms, both were 40 caliber Walthers, and he shoved them in his pockets as he leaped up to escort the Captain to his destination.

Captain Jenkins was waiting at the hatch in his eagerness to get off the plane, the pilot, Major Richardson, USMC, told him to be careful and that he would help him across the icy runway. He caught the Captain as he slipped on the ice at the foot of the ladder before both of them took off for the Meetinghouse at a dead run.

The two men came into the Meeting House as the crew from the first flight was unpacking medical supplies. They had brought two doctors with them and they were checking the field surgery that had been done on the victims. Pedro's face turned bright red when one of the doctors said, "This is one fine piece of field surgery, this guy is gonna be ok!"

Captain Jenkins asked for Bill Quinn and Oscar took him over to where they had set up a coffee and sandwiches table. The Captain spotted the man he knew as Bill Quinn and came up behind him, Tears were already flowing down his face as he asked, "Mr. Quinn, are you actually William James Jenkins?"

Bill turned in his seat and said quietly, "Yes sir, I AM your son. I had to be sure before I told you, I didn't want to hurt you or myself."

He grabbed the older man in a tight hug and they both bawled on each other's shoulder. Bill said, "I wanted to tell you before this, but I just couldn't find the right moment and Mother always told me what a monster you were."

At last, a grieving father has found his son and a once-lost boy may have found his calling, that of a Doctor!