Date: 10/6/2000
From: SouthernSlider

IT'S FRIDAAAAAYYYYY!!!!!! WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOO. Love those weekend days. Hope you guys have a blast for the next three days. Be sure to stop by the Halloween Party a few posts up from this one.
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United We Slide, Divided . . . We Disappear

Chapter Nineteen

Maggie stared out the small window as the
plane slowly made its decent. “Oh, Remmy. Just look
at this place. Blue water, white sand, palm trees.” The
delight on her face suddenly turned solemn. “Too bad
we’re not here to enjoy it all. Do you think we’ll have
any luck?” she said, turning to Remmy.

“I hope so, sweetheart. Seeing those two at
each other’s throats is enough to make the “Cryin’
Man” cry real tears again. We need something good to
happen.” Maggie half-smiled and patted his hand.

“We’ll find them, Remmy. We’ll find them
both, and handcuff them together until they can play
nice.”

They arrived at the hotel after a short ride from
the airport. Again Maggie daydreamed about enjoying
this wonderful fantasyland, but knew there was a
tremendous job ahead of her before she could do any
relaxing.

“Yes, ma’am. As far as I know, he’s still
around. He hasn’t checked out, but he’s not here right
now. He left early this morning, headed back to
Tanner’s. I haven’t seen him return.” The desk clerk
told them all he knew when questioned about Quinn’s
whereabouts.

“Tanner’s? What’s that?” Maggie asked.

“Tanner’s Commercial Flight Service. It’s a
local outfit. They rent out small planes. That’s what
this guy’s brother was on when they disappeared. He’s
been scoutin’ around the outer islands looking for signs
of them,” said the clerk.

“We need the address.” She shoved a piece of
paper toward him.

They arrived at the small airport some fifteen
minutes later with fingers crossed that there would be
some good news. Unfortunately, there was not.

“I . . . I’m sorry to have to tell you this, ma’am.
But, uh, your friend and our pilot found someone on
one of the outer islands earlier today. It wasn’t your
friend’s brother, but another passenger aboard that
flight. I’m afraid there were no other survivors. Your
friend left with the ambulance, headed to the hospital.”

Maggie’s heart skipped a beat, and she closed
her eyes. Remmy lowered his head in anguish, tears
filling his eyes. Maggie took a deep breath and
regained her composure.

“Are you sure? Are you absolutely sure?” she
asked in an angry tone.

“They were sure, ma’am. They found no one
else. Just one unconscious body and a raft. That was
it.” He paused and fidgeted under her glare. “I’m real
sorry, ma’am.”

“What hospital?” she asked.

“Honolulu General, ma’am.”

She grabbed Remmy’s hand and pulled him out
the office door. When they reached the taxi, she gave a
quick order to the driver to get to the hospital on the
double. The scenery that had been so pleasing to the eye on the way over, was now a blur.

“I just can’t believe Farm-boy is dead, Maggie.
After all we’ve been through. It just can’t be,”
Remmy lamented.

“We’ll find out soon enough when we get to
the hospital. Maybe Quinn has some different news.”
Her voice was hard, and without emotion. She
swallowed the lump in her throat as she thought about
Quinn and how he would react if what the man at the
airport had said was true. She clinched her teeth and
her fists as she fought to control the tears trying to
spring forth.

When they arrived at the hospital, the nurse at
the desk tried to tell them their friend had gone, but
they wouldn’t be put off.

“Look. I want to see the man he brought in,
and I want to see him now.” Maggie growled.

“Ma’am, he’s still unconscious. It will do you
no good.”

“I want to see him now. This is a matter of life
and death. It doesn’t matter that I can’t talk to him; I
just need to see him.”

The nurse saw it wasn’t going to do any good to
argue the point. “Very well, ma’am. He’s in Room
211. Please, only stay for a minute.”

“Fine,” Maggie said with a glare in her eyes.

When she and Remmy arrived at the door, she
pushed it open gingerly and they stepped inside. The
man laying there was not Colin. Her heart sank. She
released the hopeful breath she had been holding and
ran her hands over her face.

“It isn’t him, Remmy. What now?” When
Remmy didn’t answer, she turned to look at him. He
was staring at the prone figure in the bed with a frown.
“What, Remmy? What is it?”

“I know that guy,” he said. He walked over to
the bed for a closer look. “That’s . . . that’s . . .” He
snapped his fingers as he tried to recall the name.
“Conrad Bennish! He and the professor saved
Asteroid World by making an atomic bomb. On
Q-ball’s world, he and Conrad were students of the
professor. We've run into his doubles occasionally. Q-ball’s spoke of him many times. And to
think Farm-boy hooked up with him.” Remmy shook
his head.

“Yeah, well, I wish he hadn’t. He might not be
dead now if he hadn’t,” Maggie said.

“We don’t know he’s dead, girl. Right now,
it’s just a vicious rumor. We have to think positive.”

Maggie wanted to believe him, but her
instincts were telling her otherwise. The man at the
airport had said they returned with no others. If there
had been signs of others, Quinn would have never left
that island without finding him. And he certainly
wouldn’t leave here unless he were upset. He was
wondering around somewhere out there alone. Alone
and afraid, she knew. He had fought with his brother
in their last hours together. And now there was no way
to repair the damage.

“We’ve got to find Quinn, Remmy. He’s in
trouble,” she said.

“What do you mean, girl?”

She repeated her morbid thoughts to him. No
sense in tip-toeing around the issue. There was a
difference in being pessimistic and being cautious.
They had to find him in a hurry. Her gut told her there
was trouble.

Back on the mainland, Maggie’s fears were
materializing. Quinn sat, despondent, on the cot. He
had thrown the meal they brought him in the guard’s
face and had taken a beating for that little tirade. His
shoulder was bruised and his left eye swollen shut. He
sat there contemplating his own death. Would they
shoot him if he tried to escape? Could he confiscate a
piece of cloth or rope and hang himself? He had to do
something to end the pain. He raised his head and
looked skyward with his one good eye.

“I’m coming Colin . . . Wade . . . Professor.
And I’m going to make it up to all of you.”
--------------------------

What a way to leave you hanging! And sorry to have to tell you this but there won't be another chapter until sometime Sunday afternoon or evening. Super busy day tomorrow. Leaving very early, won't be home until very late. Gotta go cheer on the DAWGS. I'll get to Kelly then. And it's going to be a doozy! Party hardy, boys and girls.

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SS

Well, with Maggie on the case....

Date: 10/6/2000
From: DieselMickeyDolenz

.... they're in big trouble. Maybe if she shakes her *cough* *cough* in the plane owner's face he'll take her for another look 'round the islands.

DMD

P.S. Good luck this weekend. I guess I should be pulling for Tennessee to give the Dawgs a second SEC loss, but I just can't bring myself to do it. Wasn't someone asking for a 0-0 tie earlier in the season? ;)

Whoa!

Date: 10/6/2000
From: dellyone

Can't believe it. Maggie didn't pull out a gun or grab the collar of that guy. ;-) Poor Quinn. Well, have fun SS. I can't wait til the next part.

dellyone

ok yeah.....um... sure...

Date: 10/7/2000
From: weeeezr

ill uh ... just do somethin to keep me busy until the next
post.....yeah.. (confusion sets in)...

Pause for effect...

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Nominated by DieselMickeyDolenz