Vacation Blues…and Blacks and Purples and…

By Lori Belle

cenedra2@aol.com

Fandom: Sentinel

Category: Gen

Rated: PG-13

Summary: Jim and Blair go on an expedition but of course nothing goes as planned

Disclaimer: Don’t own, don’t plan on owning them either. *Sigh* Oh well, I’m sure Petfly and those other people like them just fine…but I can borrow them, right? *grins*


Vacation Blues…and Blacks and Purples and…
By Lori Belle

“Jim!” Blair Sandburg called out as he yanked open the loft door. “Jim, are you here?”

Jim Ellison, detective to Major Crimes, looked up from his newspaper. After living with Blair for longer than he’d lived with his wife, Jim was still stunned and amused at the amount of energy Blair was able to produce. “Chief, I’m right here. What’s going on?”

You’ll never believe it! I got it. I got it. Eli told me today. The group’s leaving in three weeks and we’ll be gone for a month. I can’t wait. I’ve never been there, Costa Rica, yes, but not there.”

Jim, who had gone back to his reading, threw up his head and growled. “What are you talking about? Where are you going? You’re leaving me?” Jim’s voice sounded plaintive. “You know I need your help – my reserves are gone and it’s going to be a busy month. I can’t believe you’d do that to me!” Jim finished his rant at a roar.

Blair, who had been almost glowing with excitement until Jim started shouting, seemed to shrink into himself. “I thought you’d be excited, Jim. When I first brought it up, you were all for a vacation. I already talked with Simon, with your permission, I might add, and he’s given both of us the time off. You had to use up your back vacation time or lose it and now is the best time to go. Yes, it’s been busy, but things have started slowing down at the station. I told you about this expedition to Nicaragua with Eli. He wanted me along to help lead. I have the most experience and we work well together. I told him from the start that I’d only go if you could come with us. We had this conversation two weeks ago. Remember?”

“Chief…”

“Don’t ‘Chief’ me. You completely overreacted because you forgot. I got us an all expenses paid trip to an area we both enjoy but have never been and I’m tired of you yelling at me for helping you out.” Blair slammed down his book bag and stormed into his room, slamming the French doors behind him as well.

Jim knew he had messed up. He vaguely remembered the conversation with Sandburg and realized he had tuned out his roommate’s talking in favor of listening to the Jag’s game on TV. He knew that he’d probably agreed with everything Blair had said. Jim also knew that it would take major sucking up to Blair to change his mood now that Jim had disappointed him. It was all his fault and the worse part was that all joy had left Blair over the trip and no matter how much Jim would try to make it up to Blair, that joy would be tainted by Jim’s temper tantrum and not be as complete as it once was. Jim also knew that this trip was something he would enjoy. Nicaragua was a place he had always wanted to visit and he had always felt the inequality between himself and Sandburg. Blair worked with Jim daily in Jim’s place of work. Jim had never made the effort to visit his favorite anthropologist in his native environment and this trip would give him the perfect place to observe the observer. Sandburg seemed well respected in his field and while at the police department he wasn’t treated as a valuable member, Jim knew that Blair was considered one of the top up-and-coming anthropologist’s of his time.

Jim got up and walked over to Sandburg’s door. He rested his head on the frame and started talking. “I’m sorry. I forgot that we had talked about going. It sounds like something we’ll enjoy a lot and I’m looking forward to seeing the country with you. I’d enjoy hearing more about it – will you come out and talk? Forgive me?” With those words, Jim Ellison knew his life had forever and irrevocably been tainted by Blair’s influence. He had apologized AND asked for someone’s forgiveness. The old, hardened Jim Ellison would never have done either of those things if threatened much less willingly. Jim shook his head and dismissed those thoughts – now was not the time for deep introspection about his life changes, now was the time to grovel like his life was on the line, which it most likely was. Sandburg had saved his life more times and ways than he could remember and the least he could do was let Sandburg plan their vacation. Hey, they might even have fun. Maybe they might not even run into any trouble. Jim snorted at that thought. The two of them couldn’t even go fishing without running into criminals.

Jim heard small rustling sounds emerging from the room. Blair was moving around, playing with the books and papers that cluttered up his room. He’d go near the door, hesitate and move away. He did this several times, until he seemed to gain control of his anger. Blair grabbed the door handle and threw open the glass doors. “I can’t believe you! You still don’t trust me! What’s it gonna take, Jim?” Giving up my life to serve you and only you? Wait, I seem to already have done that.” Blair sighed and stood there staring at Jim.

“No, Blair. I trust you. It’s me that has a problem…”

“You got that right,” Blair muttered under his breath.

“I know I wasn’t paying attention when you brought it originally and then you scared me. I thought you were leaving me and I don’t know how I’d ever survive without you, even for a month. I didn’t want you going anywhere without me.”

“Jim,” Blair started, “Don’t you know by now I’d never leave you alone like that? I’m not your father, I’m not your mother – I’m not going to leave you or desert you. Have I ever given you any indication that I’m going to leave? Hell, I turned down Borneo for you – note I didn’t hide that offer from you – what makes you think I’d leave without discussing it with you? You’d get plenty of advanced notice if, IF, I’d go anywhere.”

“I know, Chief, but my heart is still learning what my head knows. I know you won’t leave, but so many people already have. Many didn’t want to go, but they left anyway.”

“Jim, we’re connected on a deeper level than most. You’d know if something happened to me. I’m sure the spirit plane wouldn’t let me go without a fight. I’m your guide. I’ll guide you in this life and the next. I’ll guide you wherever I am. Did Inchacha leave after he died or does he still help you from the plane he’s on now? He still helps, doesn’t he?”

“Yeah, he does.”

“Then I will too. No matter what, we are connected, in this life and the next, and you can’t get rid of me that easy.”

“I’m glad. I want you to stay,” Jim whispered, blinking rapidly.

Blair clasped Jim’s shoulder and maneuvered him over to the kitchen table. “So are you okay with our vacation? Can we start planning or should I start finding something else we can do? Together, of course.” With that, Blair smiled at Jim and waited for an answer.

“No! Your plans sound great – warm weather, culture, my favorite anthropologist in his native environment…what more can we want?”

“Nothing, man, nothing except each other.”

Two Weeks Later

“Thanks, Simon. I know it’s busy at work and you could use our help, but we really need this break.”

“Jim, you two have been working non-stop for longer than I can remember. Blair needs an opportunity to spend some time on his own life. I’m sure his department resents all the time he spends with us at the precinct. Anyway, it’ll make the others finally do their own paperwork and give them a chance to catch a few criminals on their own.”

“Yeah, Sandburg and I both have been carrying you all for years!”

“Jim, if you want to keep your vacation time, I’d leave now.”

With a final smirk, Jim walked out of Simon’s office, closed the door and made his way over to his desk. Along the way, he said his final farewells, before picking up his coat. As Jim entered the elevator, he felt a chill descend upon him, and shivered. Somehow he knew that the next time he entered this building, he would be a changed man.

After shaking off the odd feeling, Jim went down to his truck and started driving over to the University. Tonight would be the final meeting of Blair’s travel group. In the end, it was decided that Jim had enough experience with the rainforests and Spanish, that he would help lead the group to the final destination along with his roommate and his roommate’s advisor, Eli Stoddard. Jim pulled into Rainier University, parking in what was rapidly becoming his personal spot. As he entered the building, he ran into a familiar looking student.

“Hey, Detective! Looking for Blair?” the brown haired girl asked.

“Yeah, I just got here. Is he in the meeting room?” Jim asked, finally remembering that the girl, Stephanie, was going to be traveling with the group.

“Yeah, he and Dr. Stoddard are putting together final details before we leave on Thursday.”

“Thanks. I’m running a few minutes late, so I should hurry. See you at the airport.”

“’Bye, Detective.” Jim watched as the girl ran down the steps and into the parking lot. She definitely had a lot of energy that he hoped would help her keep up during the trip.

Jim continued into the building, aiming for the small conference room that he knew he would find the two anthropologists. He paused to buy a candy bar and pop from a vending machine, sure that his roommate would have forgotten to eat lunch, and as it was late afternoon, knew that Blair would need some sort of energy burst soon. Jim walked to the conference room, and paused outside the door, listening to the men within.

“But Eli, if we stay the night in Managua, we can leave at daybreak and still be able to see when we get to our destination.” Blair’s distinctive voice could be clearly heard outside the door. Even if Jim didn’t have exceptionally good hearing, people could hear Sandburg’s voice throughout the hall.

“Blair, if we continue onto Leon after we land, we can have significantly more time to explore the area around our camp. I’d rather go as far as we can the first night and be able to press on the next day,” Eli’s voice sounded tired, like he had been fighting over this topic for too long.

Jim decided that it was time to make his presence known. “Hey. Sorry I’m late, but Simon held me up. Wanted to make sure that we really were leaving town so they could throw a celebration party. He also wanted to know if we wanted part in the betting pool on who would get injured, and when. I told him that we’d already placed our wagers and that we’d be collecting when we got back.

“Oh hey, Jim,” Blair responded in a distracted voice. “Did you hear what we were talking about before you came in?”

“Yeah, it’d be kinda hard not to. I could hear you all the way down the hall. What’s the problem?”

“Eli wants to continue on as far as we can after we land on Thursday. But I think it’d be better to stay in the city until the next day. Truthfully we don’t have that much further to go and I think the students will be tired and to wound up to be able to continue on. We’ll be taking the buses to at least Leon, and they are a tiring experience for someone who’s not used to them. After traveling for several hours—that layover really gets us—they aren’t going to be alert enough to keep an eye on all our luggage and equipment. What do you think?” Blair looked at Jim with his patented puppy dog eyes, waiting for the answer to his question.

“Well, I do think that it’d be wise to stop in the city. I think that we’re getting in late enough that we wouldn’t be able to take the buses till the next day anyway. And isn’t this the first expedition for several of the students? Have they left the country before?”

“Yes, this is the first traveling several students have done. You might be right. Fine, we won’t lose that much time, and between the three of us, we can make sure that the camp is set up quickly and efficiently,” Eli gave in with good grace and started packing up. “Jim, you got here just in time to drive Blair home. That was the last detail we disagreed on. Everyone’s meeting at the airport three hours before hand in two days and I’ll see you then. I’m sure Blair can give you the rest of the details.”

“Sure, Jim come on, let’s go. I’ll pay for take-out, don’t feel like cooking tonight. I’ll tell you the details on the way,” Blair jumped up from the chair he had just sat in and started packing up himself. “I just have to stop in my office to pick up some last minute paperwork and few books, and then we can go.” Blair started walking towards his office, not checking to see if Jim was following him. “Good night, Eli, see you at the airport!”

Eli paused, chuckled at his student’s exuberance, and replied, “Good night, Blair, Jim. I’ll see you soon.”

Jim responded to the professor and then followed Blair further into the building. After a quick stop at the office, the two got into the truck and, after arguing the benefits of Chinese versus WonderBurger, decided to go for Italian. Blair filled Ellison in on the details he missed at the meeting and Jim decided the group was finally ready for the trip. While not a truly long expedition, only a month long, there were hundreds of details that needed to be decided on before they left; otherwise the whole trip would be one of confusion.

The two men, after dinner, spent the rest of the evening preparing for the trip. Between the two of them, they knew that they wouldn’t forget anything. Packing two days before they left also gave them some time to pack anything if they discovered they missed something. The rest of the night was spent discussing the exact itinerary of the trip. This would be more of a data gathering trip, rather than a multi-discipline expedition. The students would be traveling around the country, seeing many of the artifacts and ruins that were available to most visitors. The rest of the time would be spent talking with the natives about fairly recent events in the government and the impact the civil war had on the country. Some time would be spent in the rainforest searching for a lost city rumored to exist that some guerilla fighters had rediscovered in their hiding out in the north. However, Eli and Blair were not expecting to find anything significant in the forest.

“So, Blair, do you think you’re ready to go? Got everything packed? Cash, passport…teddy bear?”

“Funny, Jim. I should be asking you the same question. I’ve packed everything, and my passport is with my ticket. You have everything? Your white noise ear plugs, eye mask, and all that stuff? Once we get into Nicaragua, I doubt I’ll be able to replace those things, so you’ll have to do without.”

“Yeah, I got everything. Don’t worry so much.”

Blair gave Jim a look at the last remark. “Me? Worry so much? Hello, kettle? This is the pot. You’re black.”

“So how long did that take you to come up with?” Jim decided that it really was his duty to give his roommate a hard time.

“Like I said, funny, Jim. Why don’t we go to bed, it’s late and we have a lot to do tomorrow. Night, Jim,” with that, Blair headed into his bedroom and fell quickly asleep.

“Night, Blair,” Jim went up the stairs and got ready for bed. However, he did not fall asleep as quickly as his roommate. He spent a while going through the checklist in his head, making sure that he had remembered everything. Medicine chest, check. Extra food, check. Extra survival supplies, check. Jim knew that he hadn’t forgotten anything important, but with the luck he and Sandburg had on vacation, he knew that before the month was up, they’d need some of the extra equipment he was bringing. With that though, Jim fell asleep and dreamed of a vacation free from drug lords, guerilla fighters and gun shots. He wouldn’t mind the lizards though…

The Next Day:

“Hello, this is Captain David Claire speaking. We’re currently cruising at 35,000 feet and are just reaching California. We’re still on time and will reach our destination at 7:30 P.M. The seat belt sign will be turned off in just a moment; feel free to move about the cabin at that time. Thank you. Hola, me llamo es Capitán David Claire hablando…”

“Jim, you okay, man?” Sandburg’s voice cut through the voice, barely discernable, filtering through the speakers on the plane. “You’ve been grimacing since we got to the airport. Where’re your dials?” Blair whispered to his partner.

“Dials? I have dials?” Jim closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the headrest. “Everything’s too loud and the smells. Make it stop. Now.” Jim’s face continued to pale as he finished talking with his partner.

“Okay, take a deep breath, another and one more. Good. Now, I want you to picture the dials. I’m going to try something new. Hopefully it’ll give you a bit more control. Sound good?”

“Yeah. So I can see the dial, what should I picture instead?” Jim asked quickly, just wanting the pain to end and not having energy to argue with his enthusiastic friend.

“Okay. I saw you playing with that new music program on my laptop. Picture those electronic dials – they have a lot more levels than the basic ten we started with. Let me know when you’ve got it in mind and tell me where it is set at.” As Blair waited, he continued to think rapidly – ‘Jim must be in pain if he’s doing this without protest.’

“Jim, doing okay? It doesn’t usually take this long for you to find the dials.”

“Sandburg, I think the pressure is affecting how I handle things. Can’t picture the new dials. Can’t picture the old dials. All I can see are the inside of my eyelids and they ain’t pretty,” Jim spat, in a fit of anger.

“Okay, swallow, see if that helps. We need to relieve the pressure before we go any further. I’ll try to find some gum; I should have thought about this earlier but I keep forgetting that we haven’t flown on a commercial flight since your senses came online.” Blair continued searching through his pack, looking for the gum and the earplugs he had in his bag. “Ah, here we go. Chew on this; it’ll help reduce the pressure in your ears. After we do that, you should have more control. Once we get you under control, you can use the plugs to help block the sound of the engine.”

Jim hastily put the gum in his mouth and chewed rapidly. He sighed as the pressure released and his pain levels were reduced immensely. He quickly searched for the dials, found them and adjusted them as far as he could, which wasn’t much. “Chief, found the dials, but they aren’t moving much.”

Blair reached out and grabbed Jim’s arm gently. “Okay, keep up your breathing and on the exhale picture all your stress, all the pressure, all the noise and smells just vanishing. I want you to breathe, release and dial down. Breathe, release and dial down. Again. And again. One more time. Good.” Blair’s soothing voice droned on for several minutes, calming not only Jim, but passengers in the rows around him. Several children stopped screaming. Their parents looked at Blair with gratitude.

The lines of pain around Jim’s eyes faded away and he felt aware enough to straighten up in his chair and look around. Even through the lingering pain, Jim saw the effect Blair had on the people around him. Even on a plane with no connection to any one, his guide helped to calm not only himself, but the people around him. “I feel much better, dials are around 3. The pressure really got to me.” Jim tried to thank his guide without saying the words.

“Here, put these in and dial up enough to hear me but not enough to hear the engines.” Blair handed Jim the white noise generators/ear plugs he had rescued from his bag. Jim took them, placed them on his ears and dialed up a notch. He sighed and said, “Much better. Thanks.”

And Jim really was grateful – he no longer had any pain at all. He knew that he’d never have been able to fix this by himself.

Blair knew that if he didn’t make light of this situation, Jim would get too worked up in this own self-pity and fear based reactions. “Wow, you actually thanked me! I think that’s a first. But it was nothing. I got Larry meditate, I can get you to do the same!”

Nobody wanted a grumpy Jim.

“I still think it’s funny that you got searched at the gate,” Blair continued. “The expression on your face when they made you take off your shoes. And then the look on the inspectors’ faces when they saw how organized Mr. Anal Retentive Detective made his carry on.” Blair continued to snicker. He knew Jim was upset that his white socks got dirty from the concourse floor.

“Hey, watch it with the monkey references, Hair Boy. It’d been you striping down but they heard you being referred to as ‘professor’ by one of the students. Then that last inspector who showed up late had taken a class with you and vouched that you weren’t a terrorist, even with that hair style,” Jim shot back at his barely controlled roommate.

“Whatever, Jim.” Blair quickly turned serious. “They’ll be serving dinner soon. Watch out for any chemicals put in the food that they’d use to keep it fresh. While you have no problems with Wonder Burger, I’m not sure how you’ll do with this stuff.”

“Yeah, I know. It shouldn’t be too long after that, that we’ll be landing.”

“I’m looking forward to some of the views from the plane. Once it gets dark, you can see the city lights all the way down to Managua and it is really beautiful. You’ll have to tell me what you see.”

“Sure, sure, whatever you say,” Jim answered quickly, hoping to get out of a series of tests from his scientist of a friend.

“Nice try, Jim, won’t work and I’m STILL going to ask you how far you can see.” Blair knew that if he didn’t keep his Sentinel’s leash short, and make him aware of who was in charge, Jim and his furry spirit guide would walk all over him.

The two settled down into their seats and started watching the in-flight movie. They were interrupted by the dinner cart, which didn’t turn out to be too awful and both men quickly consumed the meal. Blair managed to fall asleep and Jim semi-zoned on his partner’s breathing. Blair was woken up by the pilot announcing the time and temperature in Managua. The time was only slightly different from their time zone, so luckily they wouldn’t have to worry about adjusting to local time. The temperature, however, was much warmer and much more humid than at home. It was even raining slightly as the plane readied itself for landing.

“Jim, dial down, the noise the wheels make on impact might be too loud for your generators. Once we’ve touched down and stopped at the gate, give them back to me and I’ll keep an eye on them so you don’t lose them. I have the case right here. Once we’re in the terminal, we’ll be meeting up with the students outside of customs. The building isn’t very large at all and the only problems should be the crowd outside the airport waiting for their friends and family. Even with the rain, it’ll still be crowed. We won’t have much trouble finding a taxi; the key is not to lose anyone.”

Jim nodded and replied, “Yeah, I’ll try to keep track of the students. After meeting with them over the past few weeks, I can identify most of them fairly quickly.”

Ellison and Sandburg remained quiet until the doors of the plane opened. They were in the back, so they stayed seated until they could actually move up the isle. The trip through customs went quickly and they managed to gather all the students without any problems. One of the students, Karie Plahye, was missing a bag, but the airline was able to track it to an earlier flight and retrieved it from the storage area it had been placed in. As a group, they stepped outside to the damp air of Managua, Nicaragua. The students’ excited voices cut through the air and several taxi drivers approached the group.

Blair and Eli, who had been letting Blair lead, stepped forward and started negotiating with two drivers for the price of the group to be taken to the hotel. As the two anthropologists shook hands with the drivers, the students started getting into the taxis. Blair made sure all the drivers knew where to go and got into the last taxi with 4 students. Jim had gone with another cab and Eli with another. Luckily only one group of students didn’t have a group leader with them, but one of the students spoke fluent Spanish and had, at one point, lived in Nicaragua for a brief period of time and was familiar with the customs.

Blair sighed. They had arrived safely and hadn’t lost anyone yet. He hoped they all made it to the hotel in the same condition. He watched the passing scenery with a tired interest and only really focused when a student asked him a question. Within 20 minutes, the taxi had arrived at the hotel and the students exited the cab and joined their fellow travelers. The last taxi containing Eli Stoddard and 3 students pulled up. Eli, Jim and Blair left the students by the gate and walked into the small lobby where several cats surrounded the trio.

“We have reservations under Stoddard.” Blair spoke in Spanish.

“Of course, here we are,” the night clerk replied. “The rooms are just around the corner. Here are the keys.”

Eli finished signing in the group while Blair and Jim distributed keys. “Guys, we’ll be waking up at 8 in the morning. One of us will walk around and knock, but that’s all you get. Be packed and ready to go by 9. Remember, you can drink the water, but it’s probably safer not to. See you tomorrow.”

Blair and Jim nodded good-night to Eli and opened their room. It was simply furnished with two single beds and a T.V. There was a small bathroom with a shower. The men quickly stripped down and hopped into bed, saying good-night. Morning would come quickly and it would be a busy day trying to arrange the last minute details of the trip.

**************

“Wakey, wakey, Jim. Time for eggs and baccy!” Blair Sandburg’s cheery voice rang out in the small hotel room. He moved about the limited space quickly, repacking the few items he had unpacked the night before. He turned on the TV, hoping to catch a local weather station. Noticing that his partner was still sleeping, Blair took this opportunity to get back at Jim for all the times Jim had very forcibly woke him. Blair grabbed the edge of the thin sheet covering his co-leader, and pulled. Other than a small grunt, Ellison didn’t move.

Blair decided this called for drastic measures. He filled a glass of water from the sink. Taking his life in his own hands, he moved back to the other room. Quickly making sure the door to the outside was open; Blair flung the half-filled glass of water on his partner.

“Wha…!” Jim fell out of bed with a bellow. He got to his feet and caught sight of his manically grinning friend. “You’re dead, Sandburg!” Jim growled out.

Blair took the opportunity to run for the door, escaping only with inches to spare. “You have to come back here sooner or later, Sandburg!”

Blair didn’t slow down—he knew that if he did, Jim would get his revenge. He quickly reached the lobby of Los Felipes, the hotel they were staying in, and decided to buy a bottle of pop. The clerk placed the soda in a plastic bag, tying the opening around the straw. Blair had exchanged a small amount of dollars to Cordoba the night before at the airport so he could pay in local currency. Though he knew that he could have easily paid for the soda in dollars, the anthropology student knew he’d need smaller coins and that he’d need American dollars for leaving the country.

As he was paying, the clerk started talking. “¿Eli Stoddard forma parte de su grupo, sí? Tengo un mensaje para él.” (Eli Stoddard is part of your group, yes? I have a message for him).

“Sí, Eli es uno de los líderes del grupo. Yo me cercioraré que él recibe su mensaje. Estoy seguro que él estará en escogerlo en breve arriba. ¡Gracias!” (Yes, Eli is one of the leaders of the group. I will make sure that he receives your message. I am sure that he will be in shortly to pick it up. Thank you!) Blair started walking towards the patio.

Pausing to pet the kittens that seemed to be living in the lobby, Blair moved back to the courtyard to start knocking on doors. The hotel had been fairly empty, so the students had all been placed next to each other quite close to the lobby. He started with Eli’s room quickly determining the man was awake and almost ready to go. Informing Eli about the message, they each wished each other good morning and made quick plans to meet in an hour. Blair started walking to wake the other members.

He knocked on the students doors. Everybody was already awake. Several had to finish packing and dressing but everyone still had plenty of time to finish. He delayed going back to his room until the last moment, knowing that Jim would have had time to clean up and would be waiting for him. When he did approach, Jim swung the door open and stared at Blair.

Blair approached cautiously, “Jim, truce man, okay? We have to meet with Eli soon.” Blair hoped Jim would wait for the revenge, but then again, the anticipation would be bad—having a specially trained roommate was a challenge sometimes.

As Sandburg approached the door, Jim came running out. By the look on Jim’s face, Blair knew he didn’t have a chance and took off running.

Jim herded Blair through the trees on the smooth path; the small open aired area was filled with tables, chairs and coaches. These slowed him down and Jim gained ground just as Blair reached the pool.

“Don’t think about it, Jim! It’d take forever to dry these clothes out with this humidity. Please!” Jim, however, was not in the mood to be merciful. Blair continued backing up. Within a step or two, he reached the bridge that was crossed the widest part of the pool. He stepped up and turned around, hoping that by taking the bridge, he could avoid Jim.

Jim saw this, and ran even faster to the other end of the pool. Slightly slipping, Jim reached the end just as Blair did. He reached out, grabbed Blair’s arm, and swung him around. Putting just the right amount of pressure on Blair, he managed to tip him over into the pool.

Blair came up spluttering. “Jim! I’m going to get you for this! And tests, lots of tests are in your future!”

“Uh huh. Right. Come on, Sandburg, there isn’t that much time before we have to meet with Eli. You’re going to make us late with your swim.” Jim grabbed Blair’s hand and helped swing him over to the pool stairs. Not waiting for Blair to finish exiting the pool, Jim walked slowly back to the room. Blair followed quickly, telling Jim that the students were up and mostly ready and that they were meeting with Eli after he picked up his message.

20 minutes later, Blair had changed and had hung his clothes out to door as much as they could before leaving. He’d ask the front desk later if they had a plastic bag he could use so the rest of his clothes wouldn’t get wet as well. He didn’t have much hope that they would dry anytime soon, though.

Blair and Jim walked over to Eli’s door, which was slightly open to catch a breeze. They knocked and slowly opened the door. Eli was sitting on one of the beds, his head in his hands. He looked up and started speaking, “Bad news guys. The message, Blair told you I received a message, yes?” Jim nodded. “Well, the message was from my contact in the government. He asked me to call him back, and I just got off the phone with him. The area we were planning on studying had a major earthquake yesterday afternoon. The entire area is in shambles. He said that aftershocks were felt throughout the country, but that the mountain area we were going to was devastated and that he was recommending that no one go near there, much less study. I have no idea what we’re going to do for four weeks!” Eli started pulling at his hair. He knew that the tickets would be very expensive to change and the students would be incredibly disappointed. They had planned on studying a very unique culture and now that opportunity would be lost.

Jim and Blair looked at each other. They were just grateful that they weren’t involved in the earthquake; knowing their luck, they would’ve been at the center of the thing and have terrorists to contend with as well. “Look on the bright side, Eli; at least we weren’t up there already with the students. Our original plans had us up there two days ago.”

Eli looked up with an expression of disbelief on his face. He started laughing, and soon sounded almost hysterical. “Oh god, with your two’s luck, I’m surprised that didn’t happen! You’re right. We’re here. We’re healthy; everything else will come out in the wash.”

“You know,” Jim started out slowly, “we had planned on showing the students around the country anyway. We were only going to be up in the mountains for part of the trip. Nothing we planned was written in stone. We could do the touristy stuff first and then when we’ve run out of places to see, we could have a discussion then about where to go. Let’s get the students together, check out the Lonely Planet Guidebook and see what other places the students would like to go to in addition to the ones we’ve already picked out. I know that there are islands in either Lake Managua or Lake Nicaragua that cater to tourists. Maybe we could spend some time there.”

“Good idea. Blair, why don’t you round up the students. Get their perspective on events and go from there.” Eli gestured out the door, and waited for Blair to follow his directive. Sandburg walked out the door and started knocking on doors. He grew concerned as no one was answering the door at any of the rooms. He turned around when he heard laughter from the patio around the pool. Walking quickly over to them, he rapidly told them about the earthquake.

“Don’t worry; we’re planning on making the best of this situation. In fact, Eli, Jim and I are holding a meeting in Eli’s room…well, actually it’s kinda nice out here, let’s have it here. Anyway, we’re holding a meeting to see what you guys want to do. We’re here; we might as well stay here and see what the country has to offer. Go get whatever guides you brought with you and we’ll meet back here in 10 minutes. I’m just going to go get Jim and Eli.” Blair watched the students go back to their rooms and walked back to Eli’s. “Hey, I told the students to meet back by the pool. It’s cooler than the room and there’s more room there. Sound good?” Eli and Jim nodded. Eli picked up the room key and the three men started walking towards the pool. “I told them about the earthquake and they are grabbing their guides. They seemed disappointed, but glad that we weren’t just scrapping the whole trip.”

Soon the entire group was sitting around pool, lounging. Blair was tracking suggestions, which were being rapidly flung around. Jim was very impressed at his partner’s ability to keep track of the ideas. He knew that he would never have been able to keep up. Jim was grateful that the students were taking their disappointment so well. No one was complaining and a couple had even suggested that they go up to the disaster area and help out. Eli had turned the suggestion down; he stated that he had already asked, and his contact had said that there were enough people already and that the group should enjoy themselves.

Plans quickly formed up and immediate plans were to explore Managua for today and tomorrow go up to Leon for several days. Students were kind of shocked at how little there was to do in the capital city of Managua. They planned to spend another day at the end of the trip in the city but other than that, not much other time there.

By noon, the group had a tentative schedule worked out. Changes would be allowed with the full agreement of the group. After a quick group cheer, another decision was made. What to do for lunch. Knowing there wasn’t a lot in the area; Eli went to the lobby to see what was in the city. He also confirmed that they could have the rooms for one more night. Fortunately, the group could stay in the rooms they were in, but they would have to leave by noon the next day. The clerk told him that they’d have to take a taxi to the downtown for restaurants otherwise they could go to a market. He also told them about a Mexican restaurant within walking distance to the hotel.

As the group planned to go to shore of Lake Managua, as well as the president’s office, a museum and a couple other archeological sites that the city had, they decided to save some money and walked to the Mexican restaurant. After lunch, the Rainier group attracted the attention of several taxis. Finally, the studious part of their trip had begun as they made their way toward the Palacio Nacional, an art museum in the old palace that still contained government offices on the upper floor.

*****

As the group planned to go to shore of Lake Managua, as well as the president’s office, a museum and a couple other archeological sites that the city had, they decided to save some money and walked to the Mexican restaurant. After lunch, the Rainier group attracted the attention of several taxis. Finally, the studious part of their trip had begun as they made their way toward the Palacio Nacional, an art museum in the old palace that still contained government offices on the upper floor.

*****

The taxis dropped the group off two blocks from the museum. The students started chatting excitedly about what they were about to see. Walking past a fairly small park with monumental statues, the group decided that on the way back, they would take a closer look. Within a few minutes they had reached the museum, just in time to avoid the small rain shower that had started. An ice cream vendor called to them, asking if they wanted a sweet, but as they couldn’t take it into the museum, everyone turned the offer down.

As they walked into the building, they were greeted in heavily accented English. “Please, it is 20 cords per person and you will get a tour guide as well.” The worker asked for the admission price, waiting for the money before calling over a guide.

The tour guide led the students through the museum, stopping briefly in each room, pointing out national artists and contributing some basic facts of the country. The museum comprised mainly of modern art; however, it contained some ancient statues and even some animal skeletons of creatures native to Nicaragua.

Blair was walking between two of the rooms when he suddenly stopped. “Jim, get over here!” Jim and Eli walked over to Blair who was staring at a very weather beaten statue. “Do you know what this is?” Blair excitedly asked.

It’s a stone guardian statue that was usually located on the boundaries of the tribe to warn foreigners away,” Eli responded, pushing his glasses further up his nose as he peered at the stone blob.

“So it’s a sentinel?” Jim’s blue eyes sparkled with repressed humor as he made eye contact with his partner. “Weren’t sentinels human?”

“Mostly, but this could be a warning that the tribe had a human guardian. I wonder if the guide would let me photograph this?”

“Probably not. We didn’t get an option at the beginning to pay to take pictures. And Jim, Blair’s told you about sentinels?” Eli looked over his shoulder as he talked.

“Of course, who hasn’t he told; first words out of his mouth the first time we formally met were all about those tribal guardians.” Jim eyed Eli wondering how much he knew about Blair’s dissertation. Eli had been Blair’s advisor for years, after all.

“Blair was planning on writing his dissertation on the subject but he couldn’t find a subject with all five senses enhanced. We, the faculty that is, were relieved when he finally gave up and changed to the police society’s topic. We knew that while two or three enhanced senses were frequently found in nature, that in all likelihood a full sentinel has been breed out of society; they just aren’t practical anymore. Blair can always keep searching, but it’s time to move on and get the doctorate. Hey! George, Salia! Don’t get too far ahead of the group. Excuse me, gentlemen, I need to catch them before they decide to run off again.” With that, Eli Stoddard walked off leaving a stunned Jim and an embarrassed Blair.

“What’s this? Dissertation on Police Societies? Something you want to share with me, Sandburg?” Jim growled as he focused piercing blue eyes on his partner.

“Jim,” Blair started, “I was gonna tell you, I swear.”

“Right and when would that have been?”

“Um, soon? Before I finished? Listen, we both know you’re relieved that I changed topics. There was no way I could keep your name out of the document and even if I did, it would have been way easy to figure out who you are. Plus, you remember why I didn’t go to Borneo?”

“Yeah,” Jim grunted.

“It’s about friendship, Jim. And well, it IS and that means I’m already too involved with my subject to maintain the proper impartiality needed between research subject and tester. I’m too personally involved. Damn it, I live with you! I’ve saved your life; you’ve saved mine. With police work there’s enough there to keep a professional distance from it all. I can focus on the other members of the department. I can avoid you in my dissertation if I need to. And I told you before, I had enough research to do ten dissertations; not all that information I gathered was just on you and your senses. A lot of it fit in with the police society theme. Just admit it – you’re relieved, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I guess I am relieved. But what happens after?”

“After? After I get the PhD? I’ve been talking with Simon. The academy isn’t that long and afterwards he thinks that I could get a profiling type job; nothing I’m not doing now, except you might have to share me more. I’d get paid AND I’d get insurance. Simon says that I could probably skip half the written courses. I’d be able to test out. The rest would be physical training and self defense type courses. But Jim, let’s finish this later. The group is way ahead of us; later tonight we’ll talk it over and get you over the fear that I’ll leave you. I promise I won’t. O.K., Jim?”

With a sigh and a grimace, Jim replied, “Yeah that sounds good. But we WILL talk about withholding information from your partner.”

“Whoa, Jim Ellison wants to talk? Will wonders never cease?!”

With a snort and a swat at Blair’s head, Jim moved after Eli and the students. “Hey watch the hair man, watch the hair!” Blair jogged slightly to keep up with his very non stone faced guardian of the tribe.

*****

The rest of the tour finished quietly, without great shock or revelation. The students and their teachers topped briefly at the museum store, but held off on buying until they came back at the end of the trip. No one wanted to carry books and pottery around for three weeks. “Though guys? You might want to pick up some postcards. Until we get to Granada, it’ll be almost impossible to find any. If you want to send some out before the end of the trip, now’s the time to pick them up.”

“Why’s that, Professor?” Salia asked.

“While Nicaragua is trying to become more of a tourist country, it still is gaining the traditional tourist feel and gifts, such as postcards.”

“Huh, that’s interesting.”

A few minutes later, standing on the stoop of the Palace Museum, they took in the square they faced. Opposite of them was the governmental office building and beyond that was Lake Managua. To the right was an old church, the municipal cathedral, which was being rebuilt. To the left was an elaborate fountain that was a focal part of the square itself.

“Okay, everybody, what next? I don’t think visitors are allowed in the church, but we can certainly take pictures of the outside. The guards (and their guns) make it seem like avoiding the governmental building is wise. But we could walk down to the beach. I’ve been told we can see one of the volcanoes from there,” Blair finished his speech and waited for people’s reactions.

Everybody nodded and started for the church which was very beaten up and in the process of being restored. A few took pictures by the fountain, posing and playing around with the brightly colored gargoyles on the base. Within ten minutes the group headed past the government building. They had to pause as a car exited the driveway just as they were passing, but it didn’t contain anyone famous so they quickly moved on. Within another ten minutes, they had crossed the road; Blair narrowly being missed by a speeding ex-school bus used for public transportation.

“Watch it Chief!”

“Thanks, BP. I knew you had my back!” Blair smiled sweetly up at Jim, twinkle in his eye.

*****

The group walked down the slight grassy slope, down to the beach. Though it was slightly overcast, everyone could still see fairly far, though the other side of the lake was too far away to see the edge. However, to the left, they could see mountains and a volcano in the distance.

As they stood around, in the distance, they could hear the traffic from the busy street. They were still in full view of the government building they passed. Several students started sitting carefully on the ground, while the rest of the group finished taking their photographs. Blair, Jim and Eli joined the group on the sand and started getting impressions from the students about their reaction to the country.

“Professor Sandburg,” started one of the sophomore girls, Allison.

“Please, it’s Blair, he’s Jim and Eli?”

“Call me Eli; Dr. or Professor makes me feel old.”

Allison smiled, “Blair, it’s so different here; I can’t believe we’re in a major city and there were farm animals in the street. And those taxis – I’ve almost gotten run over twice!”

“Yeah. Dangerous roadways here. And the sidewalk – I almost fell in a hole because I tripped on a crack by the hotel.” Sean, a junior anthropology major, added.

“Yup, you have to watch out for those tricky sidewalks; the traffic here is very non-structured. Taxis are out to make money and it’s hard to do when it’s only a few cents to travel from one end of the city to the other,” Blair commented.

Eli and Jim both nodded their heads, agreeing with Blair. By this time the rest of the group had joined them, arranging themselves in a circle.

Blair glanced down at his watch. “Oh, hey, it’s 2 o’clock already. Are you all hungry?”

Cheers greeted his question.

“Okay, why don’t we grab on of the ‘killer’ cabs and go to TGIF’s. It’s pretty good and will give you all a chance to try out your Spanish while still being able to recognize the food. But wait, Jim, do you have the guide?”

“Yeah.” Jim handed it over to Blair.

“It says here that the Huellas de Acahualinca closes at 4. Can you wait until we see that? It’s a very small site – it’ll only take us 30 or 40 minutes. Then we could have a late lunch/early dinner. From what I’ve heard, there are only the footprints and a small room with some information about them to see.”

The group held a mini conference and decided to go for it. “But after lunch/dinner could we go back to the hotel and swim?” Allison and Sean asked in tandem.

Eli, Jim and Blair shared a look and agreed. It was hot out and the students weren’t used to the humidity. The swim would do them good. They all got up and started walking back to the road. As they approached the street, rapid gunshots were heard in the distance. Jim and Blair immediately dropped to the ground, shouting for the rest of the group to do the same. A couple students stayed standing, stunned. They were grabbed by the knee and dragged down to the ground by Jim, Blair and Eli, who was used to unusual situations when he traveled.

Jim kept a look out for the shooter, but couldn’t see anything. Blair grabbed his shoulder as Jim stretched out his hearing and sight, piggybacking sight to see where the shots had come from. He quickly zeroed in on the government building that they had passed. The driveway had a car half in and half out, the gate open. He could see guards on the ground, not moving. He stretched his eyesight even further. Jim caught movement on the far side of the building; a man was fleeing the scene. The man was stuffing a gun into the gym bag he was carrying.

Jim knew that he’d never be able to catch up with him and he hadn’t caught sight of the face. “Blair, Eli, we need to get out of here. Guards were killed. We don’t want to get involved with the police over here. The students don’t need that. We didn’t see anything; we wouldn’t be of any help anyway. I can hear sirens, but if we go back to the shore and walk up to that park over there, they’ll never know we were here.”

“Jim,” Blair whispered, “did you see who did it?”

“No, I saw someone running away, with a gun, but didn’t see his face. We’d be useless and most likely get harassed for being American and in the area. Let’s go.”

The three chaperones quickly and efficiently forced the frightened students back towards the lake. Once headed in the opposite direction of the shots, the students seemed to come out of the shock they were in. “What was that?” “What happened?” “Those were shots!” All the undergraduates seemed to be in a daze and were trying to find an answer to the violence they had just experienced. As the group ran away from the scene, Jim and Blair tried to check the students to make sure no one was hurt. Fortunately, no one seemed to be.

After a few minutes, the group was far enough way that Jim felt that they would be safe from the authorities. He slowed them down and when they reached a small park area, had everyone sit down so that they could catch their breath and make sure that everyone understood what had happened and that they couldn’t act rashly.

Blair managed to calm down Allison who was hysterical. She had never even been near a gun before and she couldn’t believe that someone had been shot. “Allison, it’s okay. You have to calm down. We need you to be calm and rational so we can decide what we’re going to do. Please?”

“O o okay, Blair. But I can’t believe that happened!” Allison was so upset, she was stuttering.

“It’ll be okay, I promise.” Blair patted Allison on the shoulder and turned around to look at Jim who was comforting George what seemed to be hyperventilating. As he moved to go help, George seemed to have calmed down enough to function.

Once everyone had calmed down and stopped fluttering around, Jim turned to the group. He asked, “What did everyone see?”

After looking around at each other to see who would talk first, Sean finally spoke up. “I didn’t really see anything. The fence that surrounds the building was in the way and it was too far to see. I heard the shots and screams. My face was planted in the ground so I didn’t see anyone afterwards, either.”

Mumbles agreeing with Sean came from the rest of the students. “I think someone shot someone coming out of the building. I got us out there because we didn’t really see anything…only heard the shots. If we had stayed around we would have had to talked to the authorities and I didn’t really want to chance that. Probably it would have been all good, but it would have taken ages and we don’t really have a lot of time to stay around Managua waiting for the police to talk with us. Also, whoever did it, would have found out that there were witnesses. As it is, no one except us, realize that we were there.” Jim’s speech was met with concerned glances and whispers.

“But the guards saw us pass!”

“But it was almost an hour before the incident. They’ll maybe report that several Americans walked by and never returned, but it’ll be assumed that we walked back this way. Which we did. I don’t want anybody to worry. No one realizes we were there. The police will be taking care of the matter and none of us are in danger.”

The students quickly glanced around and tried to let Jim convince them that they were safe and that they weren’t going to be killed at any minute. “Um, Professor? I don’t think I really feel like going to the museum right now, I don’t know if there is even time,” Allison spoke up hesitantly.

Blair looked at his watch and grimaced. “Yeah, it’s getting late. We should stop to get something for dinner and then go back to the hotel and relax. Process this and move on.”

Eli gave himself a shake and seemed to come back into the present. “I agree with Blair. We’ve all had a shock and we need to get some food in us. We can finish seeing the sights either tomorrow or at the end of the trip when we come back through. Let’s go eat, then go back and relax at the hotel.”

Everyone gave agreeing noises and started to walk toward the road. Several taxis passed by and as they got closer, the taxi drivers started calling out. Eli called out in Spanish and a few cars stopped, waiting for directions. Eli rapidly found out the price to take them to the restaurant and arranged for the cabs to all meet at TGIF’s. He had prearranged the price and made sure the students knew how much to pay at the end of the trip.

He gave one last look back toward to the government building where the shooting took place before getting into the cab and shutting the door.

****

Interlude

Back Home:

The busy bullpen rang with noise. The casual observer would assume that chaos ruled this office on a regular basis. However, the more informed observer would realize that this was a controlled and contained chaotic mess that the men and women of Major Crime created and used to keep their high solve rate high.

Occasional lulls in conversation and movement around the bullpen did happen. One of these lulls was being experienced as Captain Simon Banks entered the room – heading for his personal office at the back of the room. Before he walked too far in, he had been ambushed by two detectives, one inspector, one secretary and one former bomb squad captain. On the way through the police department building, several officers had also way sided Banks, causing him to be several minutes late and Simon Banks was not a man to be late.

“What do you people want!” growled Banks, who hadn’t had the chance to have his first cup of coffee that particular morning. An early call from his son, Daryl, had interrupted his morning routine as well as a call from his vacationing dynamic duo.

While the fierce growl caused the mob to proceed cautiously, as the elite of the department, they didn’t let their captain’s tone of voice control their next move. Voices demanded, “Have you heard from Ellison and Sandburg? Did they call yet? Did they get into trouble yet? Has the bet been won?”

And that was the crux of the matter. Much money was riding on Sandburg and Ellison’s vacation. It was widely known that the two couldn’t take a vacation without running into trouble.

Those that worked with the duo placed bets on the welfare of their comrades. These were not stupid men and women who worked the toughest cases in Cascade. While smart, they had an addiction to trying to predict the occurrences their fellow detectives (Blair was one in all but name and paycheck) usually ran into. They enjoyed taking advantage of their workmates’ vacation jinx to gain themselves some easy money. The more unusual and unique the situation the two found themselves in, the more dough was paid off to the winner.

Simon sighed, “Who had 30 hours after take-off?”

“OOOHH HAA!” yelled a very happy Henri Brown. “Pay up people!”

Simon shook his head as the rest of the department groaned, Rhonda being the exception. The captain’s secretary quickly headed for her desk. Once there, she reached into the top drawer and pulled out a flat book. Taking a pen, she made marks on one of the pages towards the back and made to speak, “Okay, people, who’s up for an injury at 72 hours into the trip at 3 to 1 odds?”

Back to Nicaragua:

After quickly gathering the group, Blair, Jim and Eli brought everyone back to their hotel. Blair and Eli quickly took orders and walked to a nearby grocery store and managed to buy bread and cheese and pop to make supper out of. The small meal was finished off quickly and many went to bed early. Some students stayed out relaxing at the pool before bed. Blair and Jim stayed out with them; watching and making sure no one drowned or needed someone to talk to about that afternoon.

The next morning, Eli and Blair made an executive decision and hired a bus for the day. While not one of the old school buses used for public transportation, it was large enough to hold the students and their luggage. Rounding up the group, everyone climbed aboard after receiving some of the last pieces of bread left from supper the night before. Eli had decided that they should still go to the Huellas de Acahualinca before they left Managua so that the students could get a perspective on how long people had inhabited the Americas.

The drive from the hotel was not long and they quickly arrived. After arranging to meet the bus driver in an hour, the entrance and photo fee was paid for in the small one room building. After walking straight through the room, the students were herded outside by their guide—a student from the university that had a working knowledge of English. He took them across the small courtyard to a covered pavilion. They all went down the stairs and lined up along the chest high wall, staring down at the grey mud that contained several thousand year old footprints of humans and animals. The guide informed them that a volcano had erupted and the mud was the result of the eruption. As the full footprint was visible, it was likely the group was migrating and not escaping the volcano. Other proof of this was the animal prints going the other direction.

One of the students asked, “Were these cracks always there?” as there were major flaws running throughout the slab of mud.

“No, there is so much volcanic activity the tremors cause the mud to break up.” The guide reminded them that there were several volcanoes close by and that they were still active.

The next stop on the tour was a small room where explanations in Spanish and odd pictures were on the wall. Nothing else, except a case with a few pieces of pottery, was in the room. The guide proceeded to explain the room, “A few years ago, the police came in and took measurements of the footprints. Using the size of the feet, the distance between the steps and even the depth of the footprint, they came up with profiles of the people that created the prints. There were a man and woman and even a young child. The ruler on the wall shows how tall the people likely were. As you can tell, even the man was a significant amount shorter than the average man today.”

The students were all appropriately impressed from the guide’s knowledge. “Wow, can you tell us what the police got out of the depth of the prints?” blurted out Blair, who had spent a lot of time with the forensics unit of the Cascade PD.

“Well,” responded the guide, “they think that they were carrying food and other essentials on their back. The child’s print was not as deep as the adults, so logically, the child was not carrying as much as the older ones.”

“Ah,” wisely replied Sandburg, “that makes sense.” Jim took the opportunity to smack Blair’s head. “Hey! What was that for?”

“Because you deserved it.” Jim walked away and went outside to look at the complex once more.

“I didn’t!” Blair protested. “Hey, isn’t anyone going to defend me?”

“Nope,” Eli relied and started moving the rest of the students back outside. “We’re supposed to meet our bus in five minutes. Let’s go back to the front and wait there.”

Once standing outside the front of the gate, they didn’t have to wait long for the bus. Once everyone was aboard, Eli asked them, “So what does everyone want to do? It’s almost lunch time. We have the bus until 2, so we have plenty of time to go get lunch and then go to the bus station. We could go to the place we were going to go to yesterday or someplace else. The driver told us about a TGIFriday’s in the area as well as the Mexican place.”

The bus rang with comments and suggestions, and in the end, they decided to go to the Mexican place and hold off on TGIFriday’s until the end of the trip when they were desperate for American food. The bus took off and they quickly reached the restaurant. Food was consumed and everyone agreed that it was good that they had gone there. After making sure everyone had used the restrooms, the leaders instructed the driver to take them to the bus station where they would grab a bus to the next destination, Leon.

Once again herding the students, Eli guided them to the right bus. Blair grabbed a hold of Jim and made sure his Sentinel was prepared for the noise and commotion. Venders and travelers were everywhere. Shouts trying to get the travelers to buy their wares filled the air. Smells of food, of waste and other uncountable scents filled the air and it made it incredibly easy to offend the sensitive Sentinel’s air passages. Jim smiled at Blair, grateful that his guide was there to help him through this minefield.

“Are you good, Jim?” Blair double checked with his partner, knowing that Jim would rather pull his own teeth than admit he was in pain.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t be if you weren’t here, but I’m good,” Jim elaborated. “I would never be able to live a normal life without you.”

“Sure you would, Jim, if I wasn’t here, you’d find someone else to have helped you.”

“No, I wouldn’t have, Blair. No one else has your knowledge, not even Eli. And even if he had your knowledge, he doesn’t have your genius with coming up with ways of handling my senses. And even if he did, he’s not you. Everything about you, even your scent is designed to help the Sentinel out. Without you, Blair, I would be in a hospital or dead. No one else would have been able to help me like you have and will in the future. Do you get that, Chief?”

“Jim, I don’t know what to say…”

“That’s a first, a speechless Sandburg!”

“JIM! Thanks, man.”

“Yeah, well, come on, I’m sure Eli is wondering where we are.”

The two men walked over to the bus and got on in silence. Eli looked up from his seat and smiled, he knew that these two men would always be close and while they may have their ups and downs, the two would remain friends until their deaths. A more unlikely pair of soul mates he had never met, but they were.

____

The group had gotten to the bus about 20 minutes early, so they were able to choose their own seats. Luckily there were overhead racks where luggage could go and the students had taken advantage of it. Blair told the students to double up as all the seats were usually filled and if they weren’t in Managua, by the time they got half way there, they would be and that they’d probably rather share with themselves than with someone they didn’t know. A quick shuffle and the students were arranged in their seats. They were fascinated with the people and the sights outside the windows. A few students even bought snacks, reaching through the windows of the old school bus to pay and receive the food. They thought the pop being sold in the plastic baggies wrapped around a straw was quite odd. Many of the students had never seen pop in a bottle, much less served in a baggie before.

15 minutes later, the bus slowly pulled out of the station, vendors hurrying to get the last of their orders finished. The bus slowly picked up speed as it headed north out of town. Run down buildings covered with graffiti slowly turned into green covered fields and hills. Mountains and a volcano were seen in the distance. The rough road was extremely bumpy and the students all held onto the back of their seats to make sure they weren’t thrown in the sharp turns. Two of the students who were opposite the open back door, looked to be reconsidering their choice of sitting by the door.

Occasionally the bus stopped to pick up people carrying loads of goods and other things. In a very short time, the bus was filled to the limit—or so the students thought. The bus driver did not stop picking up people. The newcomers to the bus just stayed standing, holding onto the racks and the seats to maintain their balance.

By the time they reached La Paz Centro, approximately an hour, hour and a half from Managua, the bus literally had no room, even standing room left. People were packed in from one end of the bus to the other. Fortunately for the students who were becoming a bit claustrophobic, many people got off the bus at this fair sized city, known for its pottery. After the bus started up again, Blair turned to the students, “We’ll be visiting La Paz Centro in the next day or two. Leon Viejo is just a short distance away, but there aren’t any hotels in the city we’d be able to use.”

“Could we stop at the shop we passed?” one of the students requested.

“Sure, it did look very colorful. The town has several brick factories and is known for making pottery. It’s a good place to get it, but you have to remember we’ll be in the country for a while so be careful what you buy! You’ll have to carry it and you don’t want it to break.”

Blair turned back to his seat partner and started practicing Spanish with a student. He and Jim had switched when Salia had requested help. She knew some of the language but wanted to increase her working knowledge of the language. “¿Qué mira usted adelanta a ver en Leon, Salia?” (What are you looking forward to seeing in Leon, Salia?)

“Um, quiero ver que los frescos de Sandinista pintaron para la revolución y yo quiero ver las iglesias coloniales. Yo me preguntaba también si nosotros’D tiene una oportunidad de ver una película en el español. Yo’a semejanza de D para ver si ellos son semejantes a los cines americanos.” (Um, I want to see the Sandinista murals painted for the revolution and I want to see the colonial churches. I also was wondering if we’d have a chance to see a movie in Spanish. I’d like to see if they are similar to the American cinemas.)

“Nosotros’ll ve acerca del cine, pero acerca de nosotros’ll ve definitivamente varias iglesias y por lo menos uno de los frescos.” (We’ll see about the cinema, but we’ll definitely see several churches and at least one of the murals.”)

The two practiced, drawing several of the other students and even a couple passengers into the conversation. The native passengers even suggested places to visit while in town. Once in Leon, the students were led to their hotel, which was not very far away at all. Some of the rooms had a balcony that overlooked the street. Some of the students started talking to each other while on the balconies, causing Jim, who was in his own room, to laugh at their antics.

Everyone was relieved to be away from Managua. No one was quite comfortable in the city where their peace of mind was so cruelly taken away from them in a few short minutes.

After allowing everyone to unpack and relax in their rooms for a minute, Eli led them all to the market place. As it was supper time, he and Blair advised the students to try to eat something that was native to the area, rather than something they could get in Cascade. Many stayed with simple fruits; dried plantain was popular, while others were a bit braver and tried something wrapped in a banana leaf. Inside was a pork, rice and vegetable mix that was boiled after being wrapped in the leaf. While disgusting looking, it was actually quite good.

Most of the students bought bottled pop from a vendor and were surprised to learn that they either had to drink it at the stand or have it placed in the plastic baggies like at the gas station. What they found out was that the glass bottles are recycled and reused after being cleaned at the factory.

After eating, everyone wondered around the marketplace. Blair and Jim went in one direction; Eli went in the other. Blair had asked Jim to keep a Sentinel ear and eye out for students in trouble, but that didn’t mean that the two of them couldn’t explore for themselves either. Blair found the perfect gift for Naomi, several brightly colored scarves and enough matching material to have a dress made for her as well. Jim took Blair’s idea to heart and bought similar scarves for Sally, his father’s housekeeper. While she wasn’t quite as much as a scarf person as Sandburg’s mother, he knew that she’d appreciate them for decorating and occasionally using them to keep her hair out of her face while cleaning.

The rest of the time, the two just looked around. Pointing out a few items of interest to each other, but both holding off on buying until later in the trip.

“Professor Sandburg! Professor Sandburg!” Salia called out to Blair as she hurried toward him.

“What’s wrong, Salia? You know that I’d prefer you calling me Blair.”

“Sorry,” Salia blushed, “I’ll try to remember. George and I found a movie theater and I wondered if we could watch a movie tonight?”

“Sure, and if people don’t want to, they can go back to the hotel. We were planning on having a free night tonight anyway. Nothing much is open at night. Why don’t you gather the rest of the group around and see who wants to do what.” Blair gestured to an empty corner. “Why don’t you tell people to meet there? Oh, there’s Eli, I’ll grab him, you get the rest.” Salia ran off to gather her fellow travelers and Blair and Jim walked over to Eli.

“On the bus, Salia made a request to see what a movie was like here. Those who didn’t want to go could go back to the hotel or wonder around. The city is pretty safe and they’re old enough to be out on their own. Sound good?”

“Sure, I don’t feel up to the movie, so I’m willing to bring the students who want to back to the hotel. I think I saw a bar open nearby if they wanted to spend time there…because none of OUR students would ever sneak out to go drinking, now would they?” Eli grinned at his old student.

“Hey! We were asked to go out, and if you remember, I asked your permission. It just wasn’t for what we ended up doing,” Blair’s face was red by the time he finished explaining.

“Sure, Blair, whatever you say.” By this time Eli’s smile was a bit evil looking. “So, what does everyone want to do?” The students had gathered around by this time and had been told by Salia what was going on. A little more than half decided to go to the movie and the others decided to go back with Eli.

Eli made sure to point out the bar to those that went with him, though no one went in right away. They wanted to go back to the hotel and change into night clothes first.

Those that went with Blair and Jim enjoyed the movie. They had picked one with English subtitles, so that those students whose Spanish was rusty or weak could understand each it as well as those who spoke the language well.

“Well, that was interesting…” Salia didn’t seem impressed with the experience.

“Oh?” Blair asked her with a grin.

“Yeah, that was just like back home, except with Spanish. It was kinda like we went to a foreign film festival at the Civic Center or something.”

“Pretty much. But now you can say you’ve been to a movie in Nicaragua!” Blair tried to make the girl feel better.

“Yes, I can certainly say that.” Salia grinned and started walking quicker to catch up with her friends.

The group walked slowly back to the hotel, chatting about the movie along the way. As they passed an open restaurant, a recognizable figure ran out the door. “Hey, guys, come on in, we’re in here!”

The group stopped, and came back towards a member of their group. “Sure, we’ll be right in,” Blair answered for them.

“Professor Sandburg!” “Blair!” “Chief!” Several cries called out at the same time.

“What?” Blair was confused at the groaning around him.

“Chief, I highly doubt that these kids want us old fogies around them when they were having fun. I saw a store just a block away from our hotel; we’ll pick something up there. Okay?”

“Fine,” he sighed, “I guess I can tell when I’m not wanted.”

“Professor, it’d be like drinking with our parents!”

“I know, I’m not upset, just didn’t realize that I had turned into the authority figure.” With that he grabbed Jim’s arm and walked towards the hotel. “Just don’t stay up too late, we’re still meeting at 8:30 and you should have grabbed breakfast before then as well,” Blair called over his shoulder, “And don’t drink too much and get into trouble. We won’t come bail you out until morning!” To Jim, he whispered, “If I’m considered an authority figure, might as well act like it.”

Jim snickered and pulled his arm away from Blair’s grip, “I doubt you’ll have to worry too much about it, Chief. You’re the most unlikely authority figure I’ve ever seen.”

Chuckling the two walked to the story, picked up a bottle of Flor de Cana Rum and a bottle of Coke along with a package of plastic glasses and finished walking back to the hotel. Knocking on Eli’s door, they held up the bottle of rum. Eli opened the door and waved them inside. “To what do I own this pleasure? I assumed you two would join the students and have a drink with them.”

Jim burst out laughing. “Hey! There’s no call for laughing,” Blair was very indignant.

“He got pushed down, Eli, they called him an authority figure and shoved him out the door!”

“Oh, poor Blair. It finally happened, did it?” Eli tried to repress his own smile, but wasn’t too successful.

“Gee, I see how it is; perhaps I’ll take the rum and leave!” Blair grabbed the 21 year old aged rum and started for the door.

“Put the rum down and back away from the door,” Jim barked out. Blair turned around, laughing and started to open the bottle.

“So who wants a bit of something?” He grabbed the glasses and started to pour.

***

The next morning the entire group met up with each other at the hotel lobby. The entire group was reaching for their sunglasses in an attempt to dull the piercing rays of the sun. After the night before, they were all a bit touchy this morning.

They trudged through the door and out into the sunshine. After a few painful minutes of adjustment, it seemed as the group shrugged as one. With that, they started walking along to the first item on their to-do list. This was the largest cathedral in Central America; it also had the tomb of Nicaragua’s best known poet, Ruben Dario. After seeing the tomb, the students were looking forward to visiting the museum, museo Ruben Dario and walking past the house in which he died.

Other churches were to be visited as well as the Galería de Heroes y Mártires, which contained photos of those who died fighting for the FSLN in 1978-79. They also were going to pay attention to the murals and monuments throughout the city dedicated to the Sandinista party and the revolution.

All in all, they had a busy day planned.

***

For the next two days the group crossed off every tourist spot they could find off their list. On the third day, Blair and Eli made arrangements to rent a bus and driver so that they could go down to León Viejo, by La Paz Centro and afterwards go over to Momotombo and see the cloud forests and climb the volcano.

Gathering by the bus, the students counted off as they got on; an old fashioned way of keeping track but Eli didn’t want to accidentally leave people behind. After a short trip (by Nica standards) the group arrived at the site and arranged a meeting with the bus in two hours at 12. They walked through badly formed streets to arrive at the one room museum. Crowding in, the guide gave a short explanation of the pottery shards and statues in the cases. Leaving time to take photos, Blair and Jim paid at the gate for the group and arranged for a guide. However, unlike at the museum, this one did not speak English, so translations would have to occur for those students with weak language skills.

Soon everyone gathered and they were off, learning about the early history of the country. The ruins left were of a church – the altar clearly visible – and of several houses. Human remains were taken and buried together under a statue of a popular Spanish conquistador in one spot. Another monument was erected to the Indian resistance, past and current. Finally, they climbed a small overhang with a beautiful view of Momotombo and a smaller island that mimicked the shape of the volcano. It was a perfect picture taking point and they spent a fair amount of time there. Even getting a group picture taken by the guide.

Several students commented on the low amount of tourists at this spot, but Eli was uncertain as to the lack of foreigners. He figured that it might be too far into the rainy season, even though it hadn’t really rained so far on their trip. It had been extremely hot and humid and that also, may have driven the tourists away.

After thanking the guide and walking towards the bus, Blair started a debate about the Spanish influence on the cities and people of Nicaragua. Finding the bus, the discussion continued even when they started traveling towards their next destination.

After traveling for over an hour, the bus had reached a fairly unpopulated area. Not quite in the mountains, the bus was still gaining altitude and foliage outside the windows. Many students had cameras out, trying to capture the views. No one was prepared when the driver slammed his brakes and many were thrown from their seats to the floor of the bus. The only thing that had saved Blair from a bad fall was Jim, who had grabbed him by the back of the shirt before he could tumble to the ground.

“What’s going on?” yelled Jim from the middle of the bus. Eli and Blair spoke in tandom with, “Is everyone okay?” and “Anyone hurt?” A chorus of ‘no’s’ came from the front and the back, while a yelp came from the seat across from them.

“Salia, what’s wrong?” a concerned Blair asked gently. Jim moved past him and towards the girl.

“I think I hurt my wrist when I landed on it wrong,” Salia’s voice sounded worried.

Jim took a hold of her wrist and gently felt around the bones of her hand and arm. “I don’t think anything’s broken, but we’ll find a bandage to wrap around it to support it and we’ll get it checked when we get back to town. Does it hurt much?”

Salia looked into his concerned eyes and replied, “No, just when I put pressure on it.”

Jim smiled, relieved, “Okay, be careful and let us know if you need anything for the pain, okay?”

“Sure, I have some aspirin I’ll take now anyways but if it gets worse, I’ll speak up.”

Jim nodded and made a mental note of checking her wrist that evening at the hotel. He walked up to the front of the bus to figure out why they suddenly stopped. After a quick discussion with the driver, Jim looked outside and decided to go out and check the surroundings. He called Blair over, “Chief, I could use your help here.”

Sandburg walked up the aisle and rested his hand on Jim’s shoulder. “What do you need, man?”

“Someone blocked the road. The tree didn’t fall naturally, there hasn’t been a storm here for several days and someone else would have found it by now. The break looks cut and they look fresh. I’m sure there are people out here and the driver says he’ll need to go out and check out the bus before he wants to move it again. Plus this is a really bad place to turn around in. Help see if I can see anything out of place.”

“Sure. Deep breaths and tell me what you see.”

“Green, trees, wind is blowing, flowers, several animals.”

“Ok, you’ve registered those and now block them out. Is there anything that shouldn’t be in the forest? A color, a movement not natural to the outdoors.”

“No,” Jim said slowly, “I don’t think so.”

“Okay, let’s try smell. Take the bus smell, the oil and gas and tune it out. You don’t smell it anymore. Ignore the smell of me and the other people. All you can smell is the outside. Fresh and fragrant with the flowers. Is there something that stands out? Another source of gas? Of oil? Cologne that isn’t from our group?”

“No, I don’t think so… Wait! That’s it. I can smell cologne.”

“Can you focus on the direction it’s coming from? The wind may have carried it. Once you can find the scent, piggyback your sight to it and see if there is a person attached to the scent. We’ll try hearing next if that doesn’t work.”

“Yeah, I see some colors. I think we’re surrounded, Chief.”

“Okay, dial down, Jim. Use your hearing to find out the numbers. Find and ignore those heartbeats in the bus. Got it? Okay, now extend it outside the bus. What do you hear?”

“Several men…ten maybe 12. I can hear them talking. They weren’t expecting this bus. A group of government officials were supposed to be going through this area now as well. They’re debating whether or not to use us anyways. Wait!” Jim seemed to still at this point. Blair worried that Jim had entered a zone out and started to rub his hand up and down Jim’s arm and started to speak softly.

“Jim, I know you’re in there, come on man, now is NOT the time to zone!”

Jim quickly came out of it and shook his head. “Everybody sit down and be quiet!” To Blair he whispered, “They’re coming this way. I can smell gun oil, Chief. They have weapons; I really don’t think they won’t use them if it’s useful for them.”

“Oh god, why does this happen to us, Jim?” Blair sighed and rubbed his head, a headache starting up. “So, Jim?”

“Yeah, Sandburg?”

“Who has guerillas, end of first week in the betting pools back at CPD?”

Jim snorted, “Actually, I think I do.”

“Cool, at least we get something out this.” Blair quickly quieted as a heavily armed native grabbed the edge of the bus and swung himself inside, pointing his weapon at the driver, Jim and Blair.

“¡La calma! Nadie mueve. ¿Quién es usted?” (Quiet! Nobody move. Who are you?) The man looked at Jim as he spoke.

Jim responded, “Somos un grupo de estudiantes Americanos de universidad aquí para clase. ¿Qué quiere usted?” (We’re a group of American University Students here for class. What do you want?)

***

The silence that filled the bus was palpable. The only noise came from the back of the bus from where more guerrillas entered the bus. The students realized the seriousness of the situation and remained silent. The silence was drawn out as the man in front decided what he wanted to do. Jim and Blair grew uneasy, feeling there was something they were both missing. When two more men, one older than the rest, came in, they knew what it was. THIS was the leader, the one that would decide their fate. A quick conversation between the original gun welder and the new man. He glanced over to Jim, accessing the danger. A quick command had Jim covered by one soldier. Jim asked again, “¿Quién es usted y qué usted quieren? Nosotros no tenemos nada usted’la necesidad.” (Who are you and what do you want? We have nothing you’d want.)

The man with salt and pepper hair responded, “No, usted se pone’T. Sin embargo, yo podría obtener todavía algún uso de usted. Bien, no usted, pero algunos de sus compatriotas.” (No, you don’t. However, I could still get some use from you. Well, not you, but some of your compatriots.) With this he quickly shouted commands to his men to take two hostages. His men moved to follow his orders and reached for some students.

“NO!” Shouts came from three directions. All three adults had raised their voices and objected. Blair spoke alone, “Tómeme – los niños son de ningún uso – la mayoría de Los ’T habla el español y sería más problema que ellos’D vale. Yo’ll hace cualquier usted quiere.” (Take me – the kids are of no use – most don’t speak Spanish and would be more trouble than they’d be worth. I’ll do whatever you want.) He made to move forward but was held back by Jim.

“No, Blair puede controlar los niños, me toman en lugar. Yo’D vale más en el comercio.” (No, Blair can control the kids, take me instead. I’d be worth more in trade.) He too was cut off by another.

Eli spoke up last, “No, usted podría obtener más nota para cualquier su objetivo es del mundo académico con mí. Yo’ll va con gusto si usted sale todos más sólo.” (No, you could get more notice for whatever your objective is from the academic world with me. I’ll go willing if you leave everyone else alone.)

The leader chuckled, “Tan muchos héroes. ¿Qué lo hace piensa yo’D permitió que usted escogiera quién yo tomo? Aunque usted tiene un punto.” (So many heroes. What makes you think I’d let you choose who I take? Though you do have a point.) With this he rapidly gave orders to his second in command in a low voice. Jim could not dial up fast enough to catch what he said and in doing so, missed the command calling for him to be shot and Eli and Blair to be taken. Number 2 made the appropriate hand signals and Blair and Eli were taken and pulled off the bus. For a few seconds, only sobs from one of the students were heard.

Breaking the silence, a shot rang out, with a tortured, “Jim!” from outside.

Still no one moved on the bus until the rest of the gunmen left the bus. Then several students moved to the tall, blue-eyed man who was bleeding from his right shoulder. Those with first aid skills quickly accessed the situation and bandaged the bleeding Sentinel. Jim had blacked out with the unexpected assault on his senses.

“Wha, what happened? Blair?”

“Mr. Sandburg and Dr. Stoddard were taken. They left right away.”

Jim struggled to his feet, making his way towards his supplies. Salia and George ran after him and tried to get him to explain what he was doing.

“Mr. Ellison! Mr. Ellison! JIM!” Salia called as she grabbed his arm. “What are you doing? You’re injured and need to rest.”

“Let go of me,” Jim growled, fully in rescue the guide mood. He shrugged off the shocked girl’s arm. She let it fall as she had never seen Ellison be mean before.

“Mr. Ellison, don’t be an ass.” George knew Jim was distressed because of the loss of Blair, but he didn’t feel he had the right to growl at innocents. Salia was only trying to help and nothing would be accomplished by taking out his frustrations on her.

The crude, frank language seemed to snap Jim out of his mindless rescue zone. Jim’s head came up and he glared at George. “I am going to rescue Sandburg. Stoddard, too. I am getting the supplies to do so. You two will stay here with the bus. Actually, I’m going to send you back to the hotel where you will do nothing. You will wait for me or instructions from me. If it’s not me personally, the instructions will start and stop with a code word – panther – and you’ll follow those directions down to the letter. Any other instructions that you receive you will ignore. Do you understand?” Jim’s cold voice carried throughout the bus, filling the students with a mixture of hope and trepidation. No one wanted Jim on their bad side, but he seemed like the best hope to get their professors back.

George made agreeing noises but Salia spoke up, “How? You’re hurt and need a doctor.”

“I’ll be fine, I’m not hurt that bad.”

“How will you follow? They could be miles from here and you don’t have transportation.”

“Don’t worry. I am sure they have a hideout somewhere nearby and I’ve lived in the jungle before. My tracking skills are better than most. Now go and get the driver.”

George and Salia looked at each other and shrugged. They realized the futility in getting Ellison to change his mind. George went and got the driver, bringing him to the back of the bus.

He and Jim conversed quickly while Jim finished preparing. He told the driver the instructions; bring the children back to Leon and the hotel. The driver agreed (he’d already been paid and that was the original agreement anyway).

Jim picked up the pack he’d fill with food, water and weapons and walked to the front of the bus. “Listen up. You will stay together. Stay on the bus and it will take you back to the city. I’m putting Salia and George in charge. Listen to them, they’ve been told what to do. I’m going after Blair and Eli. We’ll try to be back by tomorrow or the next day. I’ll contact you if I’m not back by then.”

With that, Jim hopped off the bus and blended into the jungle quickly. He waited until the bus turned around and headed back to civilization. He followed Blair’s trail for several hours, relieved that the guerrillas never took to vehicles. Blair had successfully left a subtle trail that only Jim could follow. Scent marks splashed throughout the jungle as well as some of Blair’s jewelry, infused with his scent.

Eli’s fear came through as well and Jim had great concern for the older man. This was rough traveling and Jim hoped that Eli could keep up for awhile longer. As the night wore on, Jim took a quick break, eating and drinking to keep up strength. By now, he looked more like the man in the spirit realm than the detective he was. Jim blended in well with the jungle, so much so the animals treated him as one of their own and not as a man. The jungle noises kept Jim focused and on track, eliminating much of the danger of zoning. By this time, Jim had caught up to the outlaws, but he stayed well behind, to keep an accidental premature discovery of himself from happening.

Close to dawn, the jungle fell silent. Jim extended his hearing and determined that the group he had been following had stopped in front of him. He had reached the camp. He heard scattered conversations and determined he friends would be safe for the day while Jim planned their escape.

With this in mind, Jim faded back into the jungle, mentally preparing for the day and night ahead. He’d need rest to be able to pull the maneuvers he had started to plan off.

Meanwhile:

Blair and Eli had been pulled through the jungle. Neither talked or made any threatening moves. Blair made sure to touch everything he could. He dropped his earrings, necklace and bracelets, trying to make sure Jim could follow the trail. He saw Eli eyeing him and hoped that Eli realized what he was doing. He assumed so as Eli was not a stupid man.

Once or twice Blair could have sworn he saw a black jaguar in the trees, but he purposely showed no signs of recognition. Once they reached the clearing filled with tents, the kidnappers threw the two men into a tent alone. Shortly after, they were brought food and water and then led to the privy. Back in the tent they had their hands tied to a metal ring in the ground with rope. They had enough play in the line to move around, but not enough to go outside.

After an hour passed, Blair took the opportunity and told Eli, “I saw Jim. He followed us from the bus. He’ll get us out.”

“Of that, Blair, I have no doubt. When should we be prepared to go?”

“About sunset. It’ll give him time to stake out the site, come up with a plan and get some rest. Us too – we should get some sleep.” With that, Blair got as comfortable as he could and encouraged Eli to do the same. Within a short time, both men were sleeping lightly, neither fully comfortable in and with their surroundings.

Around dusk they awoke to someone entering the tent. One of the soldiers from the night before was bringing them water and food. Blair and Eli silently took the offerings and ate and drank. The man waited until they were done and retrieved the utensils and dishes they had used. He called out and another man, one they hadn’t before seen, came and untied them from the ring. The two were taken to the privy and then quickly back to the tent. Blair kept an eye out for Jim, but didn’t see him. Eli and Blair made it back to the tent without a problem.

“When do you think your friend will come?” Eli nervously asked, as he had half expected something to happen while they were outside.

“Soon. Right after dark. Jim’ll try to get us out without them finding out. I’d think anytime now, actually. He’ll try to get in and out without being noticed.”

Eli settled down and mentally prepared himself for a quick burst of energy he’d need to help him escape. In the background he heard Blair mumble to himself; Eli only caught a few words. “Jim,” “tent,” “get your ass” were some of the phrases he heard. He smiled to himself. While suspecting the true relationship between the two men, having confirmation was good for his anthropologist’s soul.

Back in the Jungle:

Jim had settled down for the day near enough to the camp to hear it, but far enough to stay out of sight of the patrols. He awoke about an hour before sunset. Quickly eating from the supply in his pack, Jim moved towards the camp. He reached the perimeter and stretched his ears towards the area he last heard his partner. His sensitive ears picked up Eli’s and Blair’s voices and he made sure to tag them and their location.

When the guards came in for food and bathroom privileges, Jim decided to wait until full sunset. His plans, if carried out correctly, would allow him to get in and out without notice. He continued to follow Blair’s voice when he was talking to Eli and managed to keep track of his partner. He was starting to focus better when Blair started talking directly to him.

“Jim, we’re in a tent. We’re ready to go when you are. I hope you have a knife; we’re tied with a rope to a metal ring in the middle of the tent. Come on, Jim, I’m getting bored. Get your ass over here. We need to get back to the students soon. Rainier will not be impressed with this little snafu. So Jim, did you know that astronauts claim that the moon smells like exploded firecrackers, and that one out of every three snakebite victims is drunk? Yup, that’s right. One out of every three.” (From game show, Cram.) Blair continued to talk, grounding Jim until he finally made his way to the tent. On the way, Jim made several strategic stops, planting numerous devices along the way. Even with the stops, he quickly reached where Eli and Blair were being held captive. Taking his knife, Jim sliced his way into the tent from the back.

“So, did you miss me, Chief?”

“Jim, it’s about time. Eli and I were about to settle down for a nap before you came in.”

“Sure you were, Chief. Want out of here? Or do you want your nap?” Belying his words, Jim took the knife and started cutting the rope that tied the two professors to the floor.

Blair rubbed his wrists; his ropes were tied tight, causing a lack of circulation. “So how do we get out of here?”

“Same way I got in. But I’m going to take a small detour. Got some business to take care of, but you two need to be safe first.”

“Jim, you’re not going after the leader, especially alone. If you’re sense of justice is that strong, I’m going with you.”

“No, you’re not; we don’t have time to do this right now. Come on, argument over, let’s go. Jim led the men out the back and managed to escape the compound without encountering any guards.

Blair gave in gracefully, when they reached the campsite, he’d make sure his Sentinel knew that he wasn’t going anywhere without him. Who knows how much he would get injured without him. Blair gasped, “Jim! The gunshot at the bus! Who did they shot? Was anyone hurt?” Blair had blocked the event from his mind; anyone under his responsibility being hurt would devastate the young man and make it impossible for him to function under the harsh conditions he was being subjected to.

“Relax, Blair, everybody is fine. They shot at me, but it was just a graze. It hurt worse because I wasn’t expecting it and the dials went haywire on me.” Jim, belatedly remembered Eli’s presence, but mentally shrugged. He was sure that Eli knew the truth and as he hadn’t said anything yet, doubted he ever would.

“When we reach the campsite, you will let me take a look at it and judge for myself.”

“Whatever, Chief. It’s fine.”

“You will let me look at it James Ellison, or…” Jim interrupted him.

“Or what, Sandburg? You’ll put me in time out and place me in a corner?” Jim snickered at his partner’s expression, but Blair soon recovered.

“No, or I’ll make sure that Simon knows who replaced his super deluxe, 10 dollar a pound coffee with decaf.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Oh, wouldn’t I?” Blair knew he had his Sentinel between a rock and hard place. Jim would submit to the guide’s care whether he liked it or not.

“Fine,” Jim grumbled, “when we get to the campsite, I’ll let you look.”

The rest of the walk to the campsite was undertaken in silence. Jim was pouting, Eli was trying not to laugh at the two men, and Blair was smug that he had gotten his way again. Nobody was going to ignore his Sentinel, not even the Sentinel himself.

When they reached Jim’s campsite, Jim instructed his guide and Eli to rest and get some food in them. Blair insisted on checking Jim’s wound and after pronouncing it infection free, re-bandaged it. Then, and only then, did he accept Jim’s offer of food.

After eating the snacks and drinking the water Jim provided, the two fell asleep. Jim smirked to himself. He still had it. He had put sleeping pills in the water that put his guide and the professor out. He really needed to neutralize the threat and his guide would never have let him do his job. Hopefully Blair would never realize that Jim had drugged them. The pills would work for several hours, but wear off naturally by dawn. Jim would be back by then and hopefully, Blair would never find out about the extra journey Jim took. Jim winced, thinking what Blair would do to him if he ever found out. However, the pills Jim had slipped him shouldn’t leave any residue hangover alerting Blair to Jim’s deception.

After camouflaging the site and making sure that his guide would be safe in his absence, Jim quickly rearmed himself and quickly marched back to the compound. Jim had already marked where the leader stayed and after making sure the camp was still quiet and not alerted to the escape of their captives, broke into the tent. The old man was sleeping on a cot. Covering his mouth, Jim placed the knife to his throat and shook him awake.

The man opened his eyes and tried to sit up. After realizing someone held him down, he tensed up, but didn’t struggle.

Jim whispered in the man’s ear, “Who are you and who do you work for?” The only thing visible was the glint from the blade and Jim’s eyes, which seemed to glow in the darkness.

“My name is Juan. I work for no one. I fight for the freedom of my people!”

Jim carefully registered his reaction and was convinced that he was scared, but telling the truth. “I’m taking my friends with me. If you try to do anything while we escape, I’ll kill you. I want you and your group to stay out of sight for two months; otherwise, I’ll kill you. Do you understand? If I even think I see you, I’ll come back and make sure you and your entire entourage is annihilated.”

“Sí, sí, I understand. I’ll do nothing. Just leave.” While his words at first encouraged Jim, the quickening heartbeat gave the old man’s thoughts away. ‘But the minute you leave the tent you’re a dead man and so are your friends.’ The man was not about to let Jim go without a fight.

“You should know,” Jim started, “I lied. I already got my guys out of here. You won’t be able to find them, they’re safe.” With that, Jim took a small box out of his pocket and pressed the button. Immediately an explosion occurred.

“What did you do?” the man yelped.

“That was your supply tent,” another explosion occurred, “that was your communications tent.” Jim got up and walked towards the entrance. “Those were your warnings. You try anything, anything at all, and your whole compound goes up. Understood?”

“Sí, I understand.” The man’s voice was resigned. He knew he had met his match. He could not afford to lose more supplies or men to this mad American. He had seriously underestimated the man when they met on the bus. He would lay low until this American and his tribe left the country. He could not afford anymore set backs than had already occurred and he was sure this steel-eyed American would make good on his promise of destruction.

Jim slipped out of the campsite, please that his threats had worked and that no alarm had been raised. He hoped that would be the last time he would see these people again. He made his way quickly through the jungle to reach his sleeping guide. After making sure that Blair and Eli were unharmed during his absence, Jim settled down next to his chronically cold guide and lent his body warmth to the shivering young man. Jim stayed awake, keeping guard and reveling in the feel of his guide next to him and safe. A safe guide made for a happy Sentinel, and a happy Sentinel was what Jim was at that point in time.

Jim watched the sun come up with a satisfaction that all was right in his world. He soon noticed signs that Blair and Eli were waking up and began to prepare the camp for breakfast. He started a fire and put a pot of water on to boil. He knew that his guide was not a morning person and coffee was first on the list to do. After breakfast, they had to start making their way towards civilization and it would be a long walk for the men.

Jim waited until Blair was fully awake and had had a cup of coffee before asking him for help with his senses. He wanted to extend them further to see which way would be the easiest to get out of the jungle. A town may be closer to the other side of the camp than the way they had come through the jungle.

Blair helped to ground Jim. Jim concentrated on the feel of Blair’s hand on his arm; this and Blair’s voice helped Jim to split his focus and extend his abilities until he could hear for miles. After dismissing the noise from the guerilla camp, Jim went past it and discovered they were really not that far from a small village. Hopefully, once they reached the village they could hitch a ride either back to Leon or back to a bigger city where they could catch a bus to the city.

Jim withdrew his senses and for once, thanked Blair for his help. “Thanks, buddy, I think that saved us a couple days of walking. There’s a village about 5 hours walk on the other side of the camp you were held in. Otherwise, I’m not sure how close the nearest encampment of people was other than the camp. We should get started soon though; otherwise we’ll end up having to stay the night there.”

Blair was momentarily stunned that Jim thanked him. He chalked it up to the idea that Jim thought he had gotten away with leaving last night. Blair knew that Jim had done something to the food he and Eli had eaten last night. They had fallen asleep to quickly for anything else to have happened. Blair had also woken up in the middle of the night and Jim had been missing. He was okay in letting it go, as he knew that Jim needed some assurance that his guide would not be a target again and he also knew that Jim’s Sentinel instincts had been calling out for justice. No one hurt or took the guide without punishment.

“Okay, give us ten minutes to clear the site and we’ll be ready to go.” Blair raised his voice, “Eli, ten minutes till we start walking.”

“Okay, I’ll be ready.”

The next several hours were fairly quiet as the three made their way around the encampment and towards the small village. They saved their energy for walking, and took several breaks, making sure they didn’t over extend themselves. The jungle was no place to be injured in.

Several villagers were startled when they came out of the jungle. Luckily for them, a truck was headed for Leon that afternoon and they were able to catch it to the city for a small fee. All three men were grateful that they would be able to take a break from walking and were looking forward to indoor plumbing. They were filthy from all the walking they had done in the last couple days. And after the shower, all they were interested in was a soft bed to collapse in.

The drive was fairly short; they reached the city in just 3 hours. The truck passed within blocks of the hotel and as they walked up the street, they heard their names being called.

The students had waited on the balconies of the hotel, waiting and watching for their guardians. The past two days had been hard on them, as they were all worried about Jim, Blair and Eli. As Jim’s deadline had begun to wind down without word from Jim, small fights had occurred. No one knew what to do and they needed reassurance and instructions in this extremely stressful situation. When the men turned the corner and were close enough to be recognized, a cheer went up.

The students were extremely relieved when all three men walked in, relatively unhurt and un-traumatized. Blair and Eli quickly reassured the group that everyone safe and that the guerrillas would not be coming after them. They reassured them that the trip would go on and that after a day or two of recouping, they would go on traveling. With that, Blair, Eli and Jim made their way to their rooms and took the showers they had been craving and fell into bed. None of them woke until the afternoon of the next day. They awoke refreshed and ready to go.

Gathering the group together, the guardians asked for ideas on what the group wanted to do. The students had three more places they wanted to see for sure, and everyone agreed that they wanted to go somewhere where they could sit on a beach and just relax. Masaya, Granada and the Corn Islands were the last three places on people’s lists and the islands were the perfect place to be tourists. The resorts on the islands catered to tourists and were perfect for rest and relaxation that the group needed after the past two days.

*****

Blair and Jim were up before Eli. After indulging in another long shower, Blair went outside the hotel searching for “breakfast.” He found a food stand nearby and bought enough for all three chaperones. Bringing back his spoils, Blair stopped and checked up on the students. Finding everyone still dazed but okay, Blair dropped Eli’s food off in his room. Eli had just woken up and very much appreciated the courtesy Blair had shown by bringing him food.

Blair walked to the door of his and Jim’s hotel room. Walking in, he heard the water of the shower still going. “Jim, I’ve got the food. You almost done?”

Jim answered as he shut the water off. “Yeah, I’m getting out now. Just leave me some!”

“Hey, I can have whatever I want. I, the mighty hunter, went out and hunted down our food at great danger to myself and my wallet. Then I had to traverse the treacherous halls of our current residence, filled with hungry teenage monsters.” With that, Blair collapsed on the bed, placing the back of his hand to his forehead.

Jim burst out laughing, which was Blair’s goal. Jim had still been brooding about the rescue and Blair knew he’d never talked about it. So Blair moved on, talking Jim with him.

“Hey, do you want to call Simon? It’s your turn.

“Nope. Your turn.”

“Is not. I called last time.”

“He likes you more. You call.”

“Are we talking a bout the same guy here? No, you call.”

“How about neither of us calls. He never needs to find out.”

“He’ll know. He always does. Plus, I think I really did have terrorist’s in the pool and I’m sure that there’s a lot of money in there. I need to replenish my bank account after this little adventure we’re on.

“Yeah, I guess we really should. Plus I got shot. That’s high enough odds that I might admit that it happened.” Jim’s voice turned hopeful.

“So, we’re agreed? We both call.”

“Yeah,” Jim sighed and looked at his watch, wincing when it hurt to move. “He should be at work by now.”

“How is your arm? Let me look at it.” Blair reached for Jim’s arm that had drawn his attention when Jim had looked at his watch.

“Hey,” Jim pulled away. “It’s fine. I cleaned it out this morning. Leave me alone.”

“Jim, let me look at it. Tell me where your pain dials are and then I’ll leave you alone.”

Jim recognized the expression on Blair’s face. It was the one he wore whenever Blair was injured and he knew that he didn’t stand a chance against it. He sat down by Blair and let him look. “The dials are fine. At normal levels. It just aches a bit; nothing major.”

Blair reapplied the bandage, and said, “Now was that so hard? It does look red but its fine. Just keep an eye on it. It’d be very easy to get an infection here.”

“I know, I know. Let’s just call Simon.”

“Here’s the phone. I’ll dial.” Blair slowly dialed the bull pen’s number. It rang twice before Rhonda’s perky voice came through.

“Major Crimes, Rhonda speaking. How may I direct your call?”

“Hey Rhonda, its Jim and Blair. Can you put Simon on the phone?”

Rhonda’s squeal of pleasure (though no one that knew Rhonda would call it a squeal to her face) caused Jim to flinch. “How are you guys?”

“Good, good. We’re good. Right Jim?”

“Just transfer us to Simon,” Jim covered the receiver with his hand. “Calm down, Chief. Do you want to give us up without even trying?”

“Sorry, sorry; it’s just… We never get a break and I may joke about it, but sometimes it really bugs me that we can’t go a block without having some psycho killer after us.”

“Yeah, I know. It’d be nice to be able to go somewhere without something major happening.” Jim was interrupted by his captain answering his phone.

“Banks here.”

“Hey Simon.”

“Blair, Jim. You guys okay? How’s the trip going?”

“We’re okay now. You might want to get everyone in and put us on the speaker phone.”

“Oh? That good, huh?” Simon pressed the speaker phone function and then bellowed for his detectives and secretary to come into his office.

For once everyone was there—H, Rafe, Rhonda, Joel and Megan all quickly filed in. They had been waiting outside the office when they heard Rhonda squeal Jim and Blair’s names.

“Jim, Blair; we’re all here. What happened this time?” Simon informed his friends of what was happening in his office.

For the next 20 minutes the two wayward members of Major Crimes informed their friends of their trip so far. At the end, Blair asked Rhonda who had what in the pool. She sputtered for a moment and then said, “What pool?”

“Rhonda,” Jim’s voice rang out, “We know about the pool. Hell, we’ve joined the pool. So we’re curious who won?”

Rhonda spluttered some more, but looked at her clipboard anyway. “Well, Rafe won a bit on the dates. Joel won on location. And finally, we have detectives who used code names who won on injury and activity.

“Code names?” Simon asked.

“Yup, some people do this anonymously. Panther won on injury.” Rhonda was interrupted by a “yes” through the speaker phone. Rhonda paused for more commentary but none occurred. She continued, “and Wolf won with great odds on terrorist activity.”

Another “yes” came through the speaker, this time by a different voice than the first.

“You two are Panther and Wolf? Simon half stated, half asked. “I don’t know that that’s part of the rules…after all you two are the people the bets are about.”

“Simon, there’s nothing that says we can’t bet on ourselves. But we’ll argue this later—our bill will be huge enough as it is. We’re planning on moving South to Masaya tomorrow, then to Granada and finally spend the last week in the Corn Islands.” Jim finished speaking and waited for the response from his captain and friend.

“Okay, have fun and DON’T get into trouble,” Simon gruffly signed off.

“You know us, Simon,” Blair chipped in. “We never get into trouble.”

Jim hung up to the sound of Banks choking on his ever present cigar and snorts of laughter from the people in the captain’s office. “Sure, Chief, make them doubt our ability to not get into a mess.”

“Hey, it’s not like they think otherwise!” Blair snorted. “Anyway, I think it’s time we met with the rest of the group. We should decide the rest of the trip today. That way we can just relax and experience instead of planning at the last minute.”

“Yeah, let’s go.” Jim made for the door; waiting at the exit for his partner to grab the hotel key.

Blair grabbed it and smiled at Jim. “You know we make a pretty good team, Jim. We may get into trouble, but we always get ourselves out of it as well.” With that Blair smiled at Jim and pushed him out the door, while closing it at the same time as they exited.

Jim smiled back and took hold of Blair’s shoulder. “Yeah, Chief; we make a great team.

Jim and Blair walked over to Eli’s room and knocked. Jim turned on his ears after they had been waiting for several minutes. “Blair, he’s still in the shower. Let’s round people up and have this meeting in our room. I’ll let Eli know the change of location.”

“Sounds good.” Blair left and started knocking on doors. Several minutes later, everybody, including Eli, had gathered in the room. The first few minutes were spent chatting and reassuring the students that everyone was okay.

“Okay, so has everyone thought about what you’d like to do with the rest of the trip?” Eli inquired. “I think we could do with some non-dangerous sight seeing. We really only have two more cities that we should see; Granada and Masaya. I have suggestions on what we should see, but you guys have the final say in anything we do,” Eli finished speaking and sat down.

For a few minutes, the students all spoke together and compared notes and travel guides. Finally Salia spoke up. “Can we keep a private bus for traveling? It’s a lot easier than catching one filled with Nicans.”

Blair and Eli exchanged glances. “Sure,” Blair replied. “We can do that. We won’t have to fight with crowds that way and are more on our own schedule that way.”

“Cool. Then I think we’re decided. We’d like to go to Masaya tomorrow. We want to climb the volcano and there’s supposed to be a cool cultural center there as well, with good shopping. Then we’d like to go on to Granada for a day and spend the rest of the trip in the Corn Islands on one of the beaches there. We just want to relax and not get into any trouble. Then, we could go back to Managua and spend a day there before leaving. Is that okay? Will we miss any big sights that way?” Salia’s voice showed concern at the thought of missing something important.

“Nope, we’ll hit the major places that way,” Blair responded. “Is there anyone else who wants to add any destinations? Speak up now or forever hold your peace!” After a short pause, Blair spoke again. “Cool. It’s too late to start off today. Why don’t you all go exploring. Eli and I will organize our bus and then we’ll meet tomorrow at 9 a.m. in the lobby. Be packed and checked out by then. Either have had breakfast or bring it with you; it’s a long way to Masaya from here. Several hours, in fact. See you tomorrow people!”

With that Jim started kicking kids out the door. “You too, Eli. Take a nap. I’ll organize the bus for tomorrow.” He closed the door behind Eli and turned to Blair. “That goes for you as well. Take a nap and when you wake, I’ll have gotten everything organized.”

“Okay, but wake me for dinner. I don’t want to get my days and nights switched around.”

“Sure thing, Chief.”

Blair climbed into bed and was soon fast asleep. Before Jim left, he pulled the coverlet up over Blair. The air-conditioning was on and it was chilly in the room. His Guide always got a bit chilled when asleep and the Blessed Protector in Jim would not let him leave without making sure the Guide was comfortable and safe.

Jim went out and was able to find a driver and bus for the next several days and even phoned around and made reservations at the Hotel Regis in Masaya. While not a 5-star hotel, it would be fine for one night. Jim went ahead and researched hotels in Granada as well, but decided to hold off on calling until he talked with Blair.

At this point, Jim decided it was time to wake Blair up. “Wakey, wakey, Chief! Time for eggs and baccy.”

Yeah, yeah. I’m up; I’m up.” Blair half snarled and stumbled into the bathroom to freshen up. He came out in a much better mood than the one he had when he went in. “Let’s go, Jim. Time’s a wasting!” Blair grabbed the key and started for the lobby. Jim followed and started telling Blair the details of the arrangements he had made and told him about the Granada plans as well. By the time they finished discussing the plans, the two were back at the hotel and preparing for bed.

The next morning, both men were up early and Blair finished off the hotel reservations for the next night. He also picked up information on places in the Corn Islands to run by his students on the way to Masaya.

At nine a.m. on the dot, Blair and Jim met the group in the lobby. The bus was on time and ready to go. Bags were quickly packed on the bus and students were loaded on. Within minutes, they were at the city limits and headed away from Leon.

________________________________

A few hours, and a discussion about Corn Island later, their bus pulled into the Parque National Volcán Masaya. Eli paid the nominal admission fee and the bus slowly trudged up the volcano. The bus stopped at the Centro de Interpretación Ambiental, which had an exhibit of pre-Columbian history, but it was closed that day. Blair did, however, buy tickets for the bat cave at the top of the crater.

Climbing back into the bus, Blair instructed the driver to pick up any hikers, as many tourists try to hike the several kilometers to the top from the Center. The driver did pick up several grateful tourists along the way; two Americans and three Canadian missionaries.

They spent about an hour looking into the smoking crater and the beautiful countryside before heading to the bat cave. Once there, everyone agreed it wasn’t that impressive and headed back down to the crater site. Blair was disappointed that the stairs to the cross were blocked off. They were unstable following an earthquake that occurred earlier that year.

He had hoped to see how far Jim could see from that high point, but he decided that he could live without the results. Anyway, Jim could probably see just as well from the parking lot they were in…

Jim, however, was already nervous. He could feel the minute movements from the active volcano. He knew there was no immediate danger, but his sentinel sense was telling him to get his vulnerable guide off the mountain.

Seeing several students get on the bus, Jim herded the rest of the wayward anthropologists to the bus where they headed down to the entrance. Within a few minutes they arrived at the gate and dropped off their extra passengers. Two actually stayed on as they were going to the town as well.

Within a short time, the bus had found their hotel where Jim and Blair checked in the group. They had filled the small hotel completely up. The students were okay with sharing the bathroom but were stunned that the walls didn’t quite reach the ceiling.

“It’s just for one night,” Blair encouraged. “I just hope no one snores.” Blair tried to joke. “You at least can dial it down,” he whispered to Jim.

After everyone settled in, they got back on the bus and headed towards the walled in Mercado de Artesanía. This series of shops sold everything from pottery to hammocks to hand carved wood boxes. Eli advised them to get most of their souvenir shopping done here as it was the best opportunity to shop they’d get. Blair reminded them to haggle with the shop keepers as the final price was never the FINAL price. They split up, each group going their own way. Eli decided to stay with a group of students with poor Spanish skills while Jim and Blair headed in the other direction. They had decided to go in together on prezzies for their mutual friends so were looking forward to shopping for them.

The first two stalls had hammocks. After a fierce discussion Blair bought one. He had plans for the summer with the hammock and the roof of the apartment.

Getting that first purchase out of the way, Blair and Jim decided to shop around then buy. Jim was looking forward to haggling with the shopkeepers.

After shopping for a time, Jim dragged Blair back towards the entrance which had a series of food stalls. “Come on, Chief; I’m hungry. What do you want to eat?”

“The fried plantains look good. So do some of the tamales. Hey, use your nose; which is the best place to eat? The cleanest, freshest food?”

Jim’s nose twitched and Blair shot out his hand to ground him. Jim turned in a circle and eventually pointed to a stall towards the middle of the line. Blair smiled and started to drag Jim with him. They ordered and took their food with them to sit at one of tables set up for that purpose. Both people watched while they ate. Blair pointed out some native Nican Nuns, dressed in white habits with blue trimming. Several students and Eli filtered past, and most either stopped by or waved. Unexpectedly the squeal of a microphone filled the air. Jim winced and dialed his hearing down. Blair quickly checked to make sure Jim was okay. “You okay, man?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. They’re making an announcement.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, you’ll like this. It seems that they’re holding a native dance presentation starting in an hour or so. Full costumes and everything.”

“Very cool! Come on; I’m done. Let’s finish up our shopping and then come back and watch the dancing. We’ll let people know as we see them about the entertainment.”

The two left the table and continued with walking around the site. Blair bought a very pretty hand painted picture of Nicaragua and Jim found very reasonably priced leather goods that he was able to use his bartering skills on. He bought hand worked wallets for his brother, Steven and his father. For Sally, he found a hand sewn tablecloth with embroidered fruits on the edges and matching napkins. He was especially pleased with this purchase as it was under 25 American dollars. Blair picked up a beautifully carved wooden decanter set that had a tray and individual cups to go with it. For Megan, he decided that she would love the carved kangaroo puzzle box.

Walking around, Blair bounced from stall to stall. “I love bargaining! I think Americans lose a valuable part of their culture by not experiencing the thrill of the hunt, the thrill of bargaining until both members reach a mutually agreeable price… The interaction between the buyer and the buyee promotes friendliness and…” Blair continued to talk about the psychology of bargaining prices as he walked from one stall to another.

Jim just smiled and patted his friend on the back, getting lost in the sound of Blair’s soothing voice. He was doing fine in the noisy shopping center, but he was getting tired and Blair’s voice helped to keep him centered and focused. “Well, I think we’re good here. Why don’t we go and get good seats by the stage. It looks like the chairs will fill up fast.”

“Sure, sounds like a plan.” Blair started walking back towards the stage in the middle of the building.

On the way, they ran into several groups of students and Eli. They joined the two and the group was able to find seats in the same area. The music came on and brightly colored men and women danced out. Bright greens, yellows and reds flashed across the stage as all ages of dancers from children to adults performed national dances.

Blair kept his camera flashing, knowing he’d be able to make slides and use them in classes. Jim was impressed at how graceful some of the dancers were. Dancing was not one of his fortes.

The show lasted for two hours and at the end, the announcer invited the spectators to join them on stage for a dance contest. Jim saw his bouncy partner next to him and had an idea. Eli must have had the same one because he tapped Jim on the arm and pointed to Blair, then the stage. Jim nodded and mouth, “Partner?”

Eli thought a second, and then pointed to one of the female students, an older graduate student that was working on her masters at Rainier. She had traveled almost as much as Blair and was also a bouncy type, though quieter.

Jim nodded. Smiling to himself, he whispered to Eli, “You grab Sarah and I’ll grab Blair.” Eli nodded and leaned over towards Sarah.

It took a few minutes of persuasion but the two agreed and walked up to the stage. Blair talked to the announcer and climbed up onto the stage. He then pulled Sarah up with him. Blair had taken off his glasses and h ad removed his hair tie. Now his shoulder length hair hung loose and free and bounced when he did.

Jim saw his partner converse with Sarah and knew that this would be worthy blackmail material for years. As the fast paced, modern music started up, Jim readied his camera. He started snapping as his uninhibited partner danced to the beat. Sarah quickly followed Blair’s lead and the two were obviously having fun. Several other couples were on the stage and while one or two others matched Blair and Sarah’s enthusiasm and skills, they were the best dancers up there. Of course this WAS in Jim’s biased opinion, but listening in to other conversations about the dancing; Jim figured they were a shoe-in for winning.

Within a few minutes there were only three couples not tapped out of the contest. By this time, the Rainier students were using the heavy drum beat to perform some type of tribal dance. The audience was cheering the couple on loudly.

When the song ended, the room rang with the loudly cheering audience. When it quieted down enough to be heard, the announcer rapidly asked people to cheer for their favorites. The first couple got a good cheer, but the second was louder. Finally, when he pointed to Blair and Sarah the crowd went wild, shouting, cheering and clapping. The two students stood panting and blushing. As a reward, they were handed a case of Pepsi Twist, which had just been released in the country. The couples were given one last celebratory dance and then sent back to the audience. When Sarah and Blair reached the group, Eli and Jim started clapping and cheering in their honor. Jim didn’t think Blair or Sarah could go any redder.

“Okay, stop it!” Blair cried. “We’re embarrassed enough already. We danced, we won, now let’s go!”

Sarah nodded; she really wasn’t used to being the focus of so many people. Her fellow students kept on congratulating her and patting her on the back. A few high fives were also seen.

“That was some great dancing! Where did you learn that?” Salia asked. Others nodded and reiterated the question. Sarah blushed again and said, “Well, I don’t know about Professor Sandburg, but I traveled in Africa a lot. One of the tribes I stayed with taught me some of those moves. Rather, I watched several dances and picked up the technique. I saw that it was a great way of dancing and tried it out at a few dance clubs.”

Blair, who had overheard the question, agreed with her. “Yup, that’s about how I learned it too. Though I did have a tribal member teach me so that I could join in on one of the dances after a hunt I participated in. The trick is to be relaxed and loose and follow the beat. After a while, it’s like the music is dancing for you.”

“Do you think you could teach me how?” Salia knew if she could dance like that, she would never leave a club by herself again. She loved to dance and any new steps she saw, she learned.

“Sure,” Sarah replied. “It’s not that hard.”

The group packed up and started moving toward the exit. At points during the show, the rest of the group had found those sitting and watching the dancing, so they could leave immediately after the show without waiting for stragglers.

Within a short time, they had left the market and were back at the hotel. Most fell asleep quickly and slept the sleep of the just.

The next morning, everyone met for breakfast and loaded up the bus. By mid-morning, the study group had reached Granada. The first order of business was to find a hotel. This was quickly done, but it was still noon by the time they were checked in completely.

“Are you hungry?” Blair asked. Mumbles of agreement answered him. “Cool. What would people think of having pizza for lunch? I was told of an excellent place quite near to the lake and the main square we’re seeing today.”

The students cheered and George and Salia grabbed Blair’s arms and dragged him out the door. They were very tired of Nica food and wanted pizza. Blair looked over his should and quipped, “I guess they’re eager to see the lake!”

Jim groaned and followed the group out the door. The restaurant was small but easily accommodated the group. When the pizza arrived, everyone groaned at the wonderful smell that accompanied it. The pies were quickly devoured.

Afterwards, Blair and Eli led them towards Lake Nicaragua. Eli lectured on the way, “Lake Nicaragua is the only known fresh water lake that contains sharks. However, because of heavy fishing, they are low in numbers and stay quite near the middle.”

Reaching the shore, students took the required pictures, using the volcano in the distance as a good backdrop. This was quickly done and as the water was extremely polluted, they made their way to a small park like square. At one end there was a statue of a conquistador. Blair asked, “Pop quiz. Where else have we seen or heard about Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba?”

The group conversed and George ventured, “In Leon Viejo?”

“Yup. He founded both Granada and Leon some time near 1524 and was eventually beheaded in 1526. Of course, he head was placed on a stick and paraded around the town square before being buried in the church we saw at Leon Viejo. You’ll notice the heavy Spanish influence all over Nicaragua and much of it was because of Cordoba. In fact, if you turn around, you’ll see one of the most prominent ones here in town.”

The group did and saw a white dome of a church above a sea of green trees. Blair spoke up, “Here will be a good place for pictures. Once we get closer, it’s impossible to get a good picture of the church. That’s where we’ll be heading next, though, if you want to wait till then.”

After a few more minutes, the group headed over to the main square. There Blair pointed out the Cathedral built in 1712. He pointed out the Bishop’s Residence and several other houses that were considered historic. He also pointed out a gazebo and some monuments. He also made sure to point out the Casa de los Leones which was built in 1724 and was now a cultural center. It was known as the Lion House because of the stone lions that were on either side of the door, at the top. He also showed that the edges contained stores and set the students free to explore.

He requested a meeting that night after dinner to make sure all were okay, and went off by himself to look and shop. For once he was on his own; Jim having decided he wanted to go off on his own. At the Casa de Leon, Blair found a perfect gift for Jim – a beautifully worked painting of Granada. Blair thought it’d look great on a wall in Jim’s bedroom or maybe the kitchen. Afterwards he decided to ride in one of the horse drawn taxis just to see the city at a slow pace.

Blair enjoyed taking the slow, scenic route around the city. The Spanish architecture was beautiful and Blair could almost feel the history that drenched the town. The tour took a couple of hours and Blair was dropped off back at the square. It was still fairly early and Blair took the opportunity to explore the shops without Jim.

He found some beautiful pottery that was typical to the area. Blair took the opportunity to have it shipped. One of the pieces was quite large and would have been impossible to take on the plane. Eventually Blair became hungry and picked up some fast food. Granada was used to catering tourists and food stands were common. By the time Blair had finished eating, he had made his way back to the hotel.

In the lobby he bumped into George and Salia. They had also taken one of the carriages around the city. After comparing rides, they all agreed that it was the best way to see the city.

After wishing them a good evening, Blair walked to his room. He had found brochures in the lobby about the islands and he wanted to study them and finalize the plans for the rest of the trip. He had a small choice in hotels and he wanted to make sure he picked the best one with the most to offer.

Blair spent the next couple hours organizing the trip to the Corn Islands. They’d take their bus to the coast and then take a ferry from Rama to Big Corn Island where they’d stay at the Casa Blanca. The trip would take most of the day, 9 hours, beginning at 5 a.m. in the morning. Blair knew that the students wouldn’t enjoy that, but they’d be able to sleep once on the ferry. He just hoped for calm waters.

By the time he finished making reservations, it was time for dinner. Blair had made plans with Jim to meet in the lobby. Gathering his wallet and camera, Blair made his way downstairs to the lobby where Jim had just entered from outside. “Hey Jim!” Blair called across the room.

Jim altered his trajectory, aiming for his partner. “Hungry yet?”

“Yeah, do you mind if we eat here at the hotel though? I don’t really feel like going anywhere else tonight.”

“Sure. What did you do?”

Blair detailed his day, ending with his reservations. “The Casa Blanca is right on the beach and has fans in the rooms. They also have mosquito nets, so we don’t have to worry about buying any and the best part is that every verandah comes complete with a hammock.”

Jim agreed that this would be a great place to relax. After dinner the two men met the rest of the group in the lobby. The students and Eli seemed happy with Blair’s reservations and quietly talked about what they’d be able to do on the island.

Blair enthused about the good seafood Corn Island was known for. Little Corn Island was a short boat ride away and was known for a black-sand beach it had. Snorkeling expeditions took place daily. There was even a Spanish galleon wreck nearby to view underwater. There was also even a dance club in another hotel for those students who wanted to experience the night life.

George asked him how they were traveling to the islands and Blair replied, “By ferry of course. Hope people brought their Dramamine! But don’t worry, the day we leave, we’re going to fly back to Managua the day before we leave the country and that is just an hour long flight back to civilization.”

The students seemed relieved that they’d only have to take a long boat ride once. Everyone was extremely anxious to get there and just relax for a while before traveling back home.

Back at home:

Simon placed the phone receiver back into the cradle. He had just finished talking with Blair and Jim. They had just checked in to reassure him that they were still alive and kicking. For now, those two were okay and not in the middle of a situation. Those two had the worse luck of anyone he had ever met.

Simon shook his head. He had no idea how either of them were still alive and healthy. Simon stood up and walked to his office door. He reached for the door knob and snorted. He took his hand off the door before opening it. While removing his glasses with one hand, he rubbed his eyes with the other. Sandburg would be the death of him yet.

It seemed that Blair had gone shopping and had shipped a few purchases home to Cascade. To Simon’s house. After all, “Simon, it’ll get home before we do! I don’t want them sitting outside our door for a week and where else would I send it?” Truthfully, Simon didn’t have a problem helping out his friend, but it wouldn’t do for him to go lightly on the kid.

Snorting again, Simon pledged to never let Blair know he’d thought any of that. With that, and a change to a more upbeat composure, Simon opened his door and strode firmly into the bullpen. All eyes were drawn to this tall, charismatic leader of men. Simon could feel the power behind the gazes. He knew about his power and his ability to command a room and used it to the best of his abilities.

“Listen up! I just got off the phone with Jim and Blair. They’re doing okay. No major catastrophes – in fact, none at all since the last time we talked with them. Yet. They’re still planning on staying another week and have been shopping the last couple days. Today they’re in Granada and will stay until tomorrow. Then they’ll go to the Corn Island for a while.”

Simon had been making eye contact with his men and finally rested his eyes on Rhonda. “No injuries, no problems. Not even a hangnail.”

Rhonda nodded her understanding. The pool would be updated. She knew of several people would be disappointed at the lack of action and one person who would be ecstatic at this detail. However, she couldn’t remember who had bet for the boys.

Simon turned back to the rest of the bullpen. “They’re not expecting any trouble and are planning on just relaxing on the beach for awhile.” Simon paused and thought about what he’d just said and realized that he’d pretty much given all the information he had. “They didn’t say much else and are planning to call when they get to the next hotel. “If you have any questions, let me know.” With that, Simon turned around and walked back into his office.

Sighing, he slipped behind his desk and sat in his specially designed office chair. He relaxed his tense muscles and reached for his half-filled coffee cup. He grimaced as he realized it was cold. He put the cup aside, swiveled around and poured himself a new cup. He glanced at the clock and turned back to the desk. He picked up the phone and dialed a familiar number. He was answered by a “Hey” and music. Loud tribal drum music. Simon smiled. Sandburg had more influence than he knew. Thank God he was on Simon’s side.

“Hey back at you.” The music was immediately turned down and he was greeted properly by his son.

“Dad! Hi, what’s wrong? Is everything okay? Someone hurt?”

Simon cut off his son’s rant before he became too upset. “No! Daryl, everything is okay and no one’s hurt. I just got a call from Jim and Blair and knew you’d want to hear about it.”

“Good, okay. Yeah, how are they doing? Any more trouble?” Even Daryl was realistic about the Sentinel and Guide’s chances for a peaceful vacation.

Simon laughed, knowing his son had his men pegged. “Nope. No troubles; no lost baggage; no injuries or terrorist kidnappings.” Daryl’s cheer sounded over the phone line. “What’re you so happy about?” inquired Simon.

Daryl took a few minutes to answer as he was celebrating his new windfall. “Dad, go have Rhonda check the pool but I think I won. After their last phone call, I placed some dough on them. No one else was willing to bet that they’d not run into trouble before the next check in. The odds were awesome!”

“Daryl!” Simon was shocked at his son’s antics. “What has your mother told you about gambling?

“Not to make a sucker bet?”

“Daryl!” Simon’s shock turned to horrified amusement. He couldn’t really tell him that gambling was wrong. After all, Simon had several bets placed himself on the troublesome duo. “Fine, do you have time to wait or do you want me to call you back?”

“I can hold.”

“Okay, I’ll be back in a minute.” Simon placed his son on hold and pushed the intercom. “Rhonda, could you come here with your clipboard?”

“I’ll be right there.” Rhonda grabbed the board and walked into the office. “What do you need me to check?”

“Who had a no injury/no trouble bet from the last call to this one and what was the winnings?”

Rhonda checked and as she found the place, her eyes widened. “My God.”

“What?”

“Daryl just won about $1000 bucks.”

“What?!”

“Yeah, it seems that people were so confident stuff would happen to Blair and Jim that they upped the odds and bets.”

Simon was stunned. That was a lot of money. He picked up the telephone and ended the hold. “Daryl?” His voice was a bit strained sounding and Daryl picked up on it.

“Dad, everything okay?”

“Yeah, um, you won.”

“I know I did. How much?” Daryl was very curious at what could affect his father that badly.

“$1000.”

“What!” Daryl was stunned. He had no idea that he had won that much money.

“Yeah. I’ll bring it over tonight but we will discuss what you’ll do with it then.”

“Sure; I have a suggestion that I think you’ll approve of.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, there’s a class trip to Europe that I’d like to take.”

“That sounds okay. You, me and your mother will talk later about it.”

“Thanks, Dad.” Daryl finished the call and hung up. He’d just won $1000.

Simon was still stunned. He dismissed Rhonda, who went back to her desk. He stared into the distance before he gave himself a shake and went back to his reports. There’d be time for contemplation later.

***

Blair arranged for the bus driver to take them to Rama in time for them to catch the ferry. The city was quite a distance away, so they had to check out quite early in the morning, even earlier than Blair had thought. He quickly informed the students of when to meet and let them know that they could sleep through most of the trip. He checked to make sure everyone had their sea sickness medicine. The ferry ride could get quite bumpy at times.

Early the next morning, sleepy students and professors left the hotel. The ride seemed like it took very little time as almost everybody slept their way through it. They arrived at the docks with a bit of time to spare. They were one of the first people to arrive so they were able to pick out their own spots on the boat. They found an open cabin with a window for some fresh air and settled in. There were enough of them that when people did climb on the boat, they didn’t bother the sleeping group. Jim made sure he kept an ear open while he snoozed so that nothing was taken from their bags.

Blair had made a quick stop before climbing on and had bought some bottle water and fruit for the trip. When people woke up around 9 or so, he passed around the fruit and made happy campers out of his students.

Within an hour or so, they had reached Bluefields. From here they caught another ferry to Big Corn Island. This leg would be the last one before they reached their hotel and it too passed fairly easily and without problems. When they reached Casa Blanca they checked in the hotel and settled into their rooms.

Eli had suggested that they meet for an early supper. Everyone met at the lobby of the hotel while Blair and Jim talked to one of the hotel clerks to find out the best place to go. The clerk recommended several places along Brig Bay and everyone was enthused about finding someplace with good seafood. They decided to pass up the Red Lobster for another place called the Paraiso as they wanted to try out the hammocks the restaurant had to offer. It also had more food that they recognized. They would go to another place a different day, but for today, after traveling so much, they just wanted some comfort food.

Later that night, the group all agreed that the Paraiso was the best place they could have gone. Everyone had a good time just relaxing and enjoying the food and each other company. During the trip, Eli, Blair and Jim had talked about how they would let the next week play out. They had decided that as long as the students were responsible and checked in twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening, they would let them do whatever they wanted. They just wanted to know if they had plans and make sure that everyone made it back again okay at the end of the day. They explained it to the students who were all very enthused about this plan. It gave them a lot of freedom and not everybody wanted to go snorkeling and not everyone wanted to just stay on the beach. This way, everyone was happy.

They did recommend that everyone, especially the female students, went out in pairs. No matter how safe a place was or looked, it had inherent dangers and there was no use in inviting trouble. The students agreed and Sarah suggested that people signed out. That way Eli, Jim and Blair would be able to see at a glance where people were and with whom they were with and what they were doing. That would give the leaders a place to start looking if someone was missing or if there was an emergency. Blair, Eli and especially Jim were all very impressed with this suggestion. The other students all realized that this was a good idea and no one complained. In fact, a few complimented Sarah on her idea. They had experienced enough trouble on this trip without inviting it upon themselves.

With this, the group agreed to meet for breakfast and then split up and went back to their respective rooms. Eli wished the two men a good night and went into his room. Blair and Jim hung outside on the patio and enjoyed the evening breeze and they swung on their hammocks. They didn’t talk but instead just let the peaceful silence surround them. Jim extended his eyesight to gaze out at the ocean and was happy to see nothing but the occasional bird and jumping fish. He couldn’t see another person or manmade object and this pleased the Sentinel’s sense of territory. He loved his city, but something in him made him seek out uninhabited spaces to rejuvenate something inside him. He was fortunate enough to have found not only a Guide, but a friend that understood that about him and helped to make this possible. Blair often picked vacation spots that were far from civilization because he knew that that was what Jim needed. The stress of modern living was hard on a Sentinel and as a Guide he knew that a break was often needed.

After an undetermined amount of time, Blair spoke up. “Jim?”

“Yeah?” Jim didn’t even open his now shut eyes.

“Can we stay here? No men with guns shooting at us, no Simon bellowing “Ellison! Sandburg! My office. NOW!’ No terrorists threatening us with total annihilation…”

Jim snorted and asked, “Don’t you think they’d find us? They’ve found us a couple times so far this trip.”

“Hey, man, don’t jinx us! And they haven’t found us here.”

“Yet. We haven’t been here that long.”

Blair sighed. “I know. You’re right. But it’s just so peaceful and how can anything interrupt that?” His voice, pleading at the end, faded off.

Jim just smiled. He got to his feet and extended a hand to his partner. Pulling the younger man up to his feet, he replied, “We can only hope. Maybe our luck will hold and nothing will happen for the next week or so.”

“Yeah. We can hope!” Blair got to his feet and smiled brightly. “Let’s go in. It’s time for all good Sentinels to be in bed.”

Jim just snorted and swiped at Blair’s head. He ducked and Jim missed, but Jim was expecting this and caught him on the second time. Blair just laughed and went in the room. Jim followed and the two slept soundly, secure in their relationship and in their lives together.

The next day dawned quickly and brightly. The group all met up at breakfast and plans were discussed. Most wanted to explore the island, but a few decided to go back to bed and sleep some more. Everyone agreed that the hotel was a great place for relaxing and that they were glad they had decided to stay here.

This would be the set for the next several days. Most of the students arranged snorkeling trips through the Hotel Paraiso Club and took the opportunity to explore some of the coral reefs and the wreck of the Spanish galleon. Many also walked around the island as it only took a few hours. Everyone took advantage of the beautiful swimming conditions the island had.

One day, Blair arranged for a boat transport over to Little Corn Island which has a black-sand beach. The difference between a black-sand beach and a normal white sand one was something that everyone would always remember. Only one or two students, who had been to Hawaii, had ever even seen one.

Soon, though, the peaceful break from reality ended and it was the day that the group returned to Managua. They had bought tickets for the plane, and the ride back to the capital was only an hour long. The view out the window was wonderful—they were able to see the two major lakes of the country, the volcanoes of Ometepe, mountains and even some of the shacks of the farmers. They reached the city quickly and didn’t have problems at all. Jim joked, “Huh; that was a bit unreal. If that trip was fine, I’m really not looking forward to tomorrow’s flight home. Something’s going to happen for sure!”

Blair only answered him with a swat and a glare. He did not want to anger the gods of travel and the easiest way to do that was to make fun of them. With their luck, they couldn’t afford to anger anyone!

The night passed quickly, they had decided to stay in their original hotel. The students took advantage of the pool and swam after dinner. Everyone went to bed fairly early as they had to be at the airport by 4:30 in the morning. The hotel was quiet by 9 as people went back to their rooms and took advantage of the TV set. Most watched American shows that were translated into Spanish while others just watched the one channel that was in English.

The next morning they arrived at the airport, enjoying one last look at the quiet, pre-dawn city. Even at 3:30 a.m. the city was not completely still, people wandered around. They reached the airport safely and Jim, Blair and Eli stood at the entrance and just looked. “Well.” Blair stated.

“Yes. Well.” Eli looked over and he seemed to twinkle.

Jim just looked at the two of them and sighed. “We survived and earthquake. A shooting. A bus hijacking and a kidnapping. I got shot. Are all your expeditions like this?”

“No, but all our vacations are.” Blair looked over at Jim and smiled. “At least Daryl made a few bucks off of us.”

Jim snorted, “Yeah; you know we’re going to get hassled by the guys at work, right?”

“Yup, but such is our life.”

Eli just laughed at the two men’s antics and drew them into the airport. They paid for their exiting fee, 30 bucks American, and took the escalator up to their departure gate. The last thing that was heard as the doors closed behind the group was Jim’s voice. “Sandburg, you know I didn’t forget the fact that you changed your dissertation to your “Closed Societies” idea.” And Blair’s answer, “Aw, Jim, it’s no big deal…”

***

Several hours later:

“Say Jim, do you think Simon will have remembered to pick us up at the airport? We forgot to call him confirming our arrival time.”

“Knowing Simon, I’m sure he called ahead and made sure we got on the plane in one peace.”

“Yeah, I’m sure you’re right. Well, the luggage claim is over here, it looks like they’ve started off-loading it. Can you tell if any of our bags have been off-loaded?”

Jim looked but didn’t see anything. “Nope, don’t see anything. Do you want to wait for the rest of the group?”

“Naw, they’re probably right behind us. Let’s see if we can get a decent spot at the caracal.”

“Okay.”

The two made their way over just in time to see a new batch of bags to arrive. Blair’s bag was one of the first to go onto the conveyor belt. Jim’s were no where in sight. Jim just sighed, realizing it could be quite a wait before they were delivered to him. Several students smiled with sympathy and walked past him with their bags. Jim followed them with his hearing and heard happy exclamations when the students were greeted by their family and friends. Soon, it was Jim and a few other passengers waiting for their bags. Nothing had come out of the machine in while, but the conveyor was still moving. Finally, a few last bags fell out of the exit hole. Jim’s were part of the grouping and he smiled at Blair, grateful he wouldn’t have to deal with a missing baggage claim.

Jim grabbed the bags and walked over to Blair who had been sitting on the floor waiting for Jim. “Come on, let’s go.”

Blair looked up at him and nodded. “Okay, just let me get up.”

Blair stood up and stretched, trying to remove the kinks from his back. He grabbed his luggage and walked behind Jim, trying to catch up. At the doors to the outside, they heard a familiar bellow. “Ellison! Sandburg! I’ve been waiting for hours!”

They turned as one, “Simon.”

“Sir, the plane was delayed in Texas because of a sudden rain storm. We were stuck on the plane for over 2 hours. Then my bag was the last one off-loaded.”

Simon just grinned at his smart mouthed detective and grinned. He chewed on his cigar and looked the two men over. “Well, you two don’t seem to be injured. How was the last part of your vacation?”

“Perfect. It was great, relaxing and nothing bad happened. Not even a hangnail!” Blair’s voice was full of enthusiasm.

Simon winced. Even after being trapped on a plane for hours the young man had enough energy to run a small country. “That’s good Sandburg. Glad to hear that. So, you want to head home?”

Jim and Blair both just looked at Simon. “I’ll take that as a ‘yes’ then. Let’s go. The car is over there.” He pointed over to the parking lot and started walking.

The car ride was quick and Simon dropped the men off in front of the office building. “Sandburg, your crates arrived two days ago. I dropped them off inside the apartment.”

“Cool! Thanks Simon! I have a great present just for you!”

“Whatever, Sandburg. Just don’t let it happen again, I am not your post office delivery man.” Simon’s dry comment just made Blair laugh a bit more.

Jim just shook his head at the two. “Simon, I still have another couple days off. How about you and the rest of the gang have poker night over here? That way Blair and I can hand out all the spoils at once.”

“Sounds like a plan. Friday night at 7:00 then? And Blair, you’ll have your chili?”

“Sure, Simon. Anything else?”

“Nope, I think that’ll do.”

“Goodnight, Simon!” “Goodnight, Sir.” Blair and Jim thanked their friend for picking them up and dropping them off. Exhausted, the two men walked up the flights of stairs to their apartment and opened the door. Crates were stacked by the couch but Jim chose to ignore it for the time being. All he wanted was a shower and a good night’s sleep in his own bed. “Dibs on the first shower.” Jim made sure he’d get in first.

“Sure, I’ll make us a quick dinner while you shower and then it’ll be my turn.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Jim made for the bathroom. “Blair?”

“Yeah, Jim?”

“This was a great vacation. Even though we had some rough times, I have to say this was one of the best vacations I’ve been on. Thanks for letting me come.”

“Jim. I don’t know what to say…”

“Speechless? Blair Sandburg’s speechless? I guess this had to come sometime…”

“Smartass. I had a really good time too. Maybe next time will be completely calm and painless.”

Blair and Jim looked at each other, and at the same time snickered, “Yeah, right!” They knew that while they may have vacations in the future, they would never, ever be dull. And the odd thing was, they both looked forward to it. A vacation just wouldn’t be a vacation anymore without their special brand of excitement.

The End