'Let us do something, while we have the chance.'
Just something for the fun of it. Hope you enjoy. I don't own Warehouse 13.
"What really matters is what you do with what you have."
- H. G. Wells
During Season3
Chapter 1—Teams in the Field
B&B
Day 1
Myka's smile was apparent, "So you got him the Tee-shirt?" She and Claudia were together at the dinning room table waiting for everyone else to come in for breakfast.
"Yeah, it seemed the right thing to do. You know, Pete told me. You were the one that said he was an official agent, now that he had been almost killed by an artifact," Claudia smiled back and shrugged.
"Well, it was nice." Myka remembered back to her Man Ray's camera Christmas present. She loved it. "So, what are we up to now?"
"Artie still has a…" Claudia started.
"Here you go," Leena came in with a bowl of fruit. "Where are the guys?"
Pete and Steve came next running to the chairs. Peter exclaimed, "See got you. The man with the plan."
Having almost knocked the apple out of Myka's hand, "Pete, will you watch what you're doing?"
"Sorry Myks, it was a thing of honor." Pete bowed and then sat down.
"What? To see who can play a better game of musical chairs?" Myka asked.
Artie came in the room, "Okay people, just a minute." He got their attention. Reaching into his case he pulled out two folders. He gave one to Myka and then to Pete, "A little problem up near your home town, Myka, at a place called Victor, Colorado."
Myka remembered when she was little and her mom would take them on a drive to see the aspens. Some of the best stops were behind Pikes Peak and in the towns of Victor and Cripple Creek. Victor was still a sleepy little mountain town. While not as big as Cripple Creek in its hay day, Victor was still a nice place to visit.
Artie continued, "There was a small plane accident. The pilot and passenger were killed. One witness said there was a lighting bolt coming from the ground that hit the plane."
"Somebody have a beefed up Tesla?" Claudia asked.
"Well, that's what I want them to find out. The passenger was one of the Regents," Artie added.
Claudia was still wondering, "That's a bit close in time to that boating accident, isn't it?"
Myka looked at Claudia, "What?"
"Oh, you know Artie went to a funeral for a Regent up in Manchester," Claudia responded.
"Yes, a boating accident. Mrs. Frederic wants," he reached down to pick out two more folders, "us to take a closer look at that." He gave the folders to Claudia and Steve. "You will be heading up to Portsmouth. The boat was registered to Ralph Halder and docked at Portsmouth's Sailing Club. And before you go, you all need to know they will likely be watching."
Pete asked, "What, the Regents?"
Artie nodded, "You could say they have an interest in this."
Pete was shaking his head, "No Artie. That's like a really bad idea."
Myka remember their training on dignitary protection and the signs of threats. Pete had to be thinking of the same thing. "Pete is right Artie." Myka went on, "If we had more of us, they should be out protecting the Regents until we figured out what was happening."
"Well, the faster you figure this out," Artie held up his hand. "Look, got to go." He put down the airplane tickets, grabbed a bagel and headed out the door.
Near Victor, Colorado
Day 1
Pete was pointing at the scorch marks on the plane, "Looks like it did a job."
A man with an NTSB jacket came over to Pete and Myka, "Actually not for distribution, the electronics on the plane are fried. Still does not explain the crash, this type of light plane should have been able to glide over to the field at Florissant. We both need the autopsies on the victims."
"Yes, thanks for the information. So, where were they taken?" Myka asked in a nice sweet manner.
The NTSB man smiled back at her, "Well, they did not go the county, because of the NTSB being involved, they went to the FBI lab up in Denver."
"Oh great," Pete stepped back from the plane and shook his head.
"Don't worry. I'll cover for you," Myka smiled remembering FBI Agent Sally Stukowski.
Pete looked at the NTSB man, "Was there anything else?"
"Nothing, flight from Farmington headed to Denver. It was a normal flight. It would have been in Denver airspace in another twenty minutes. There was nothing unusual about that and nothing from the controllers on the route," the man finished.
Myka smiled at him, "Well, thanks. Could you give us the name of the person who saw the bolt of lightning?"
"Sure, it was Vern Cooper." He flipped through the pages of his notes. "He lives a little out of Victor towards Cripple Creek on route 67. Turn off at Beacon Hill. Here's the address."
"Wow, thanks for all your help." Pete said and shook his hand.
"Sure, hope you find what you are looking for. If you can, let us know, especially, if it is related to flight safety and the investigation." The man shook Myka's hand and walked off.
Myka looked at Pete, "We should have time to get the witness."
"Okay," Pete nodded and started toward the car.
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Day 1
Steve parked the car by the sign for the sailing club. Claudia was happy that they made it before the club closed, at least there were plenty of people around and the doors to the building were open. Steve said, "See, loosen up. We made it in time."
Claudia looked at him. He had been bugging her ever since they left Denver late. While Pete and Myka headed out for Victor, they were stuck waiting for a plane that was delayed coming into Denver. "Okay, Poo…"
His forehead scrunched as he frowned at her, "I said…"
"Okay Jinksey," she smiled at him. "Let's see what we can find out." She got out of the car and headed toward the doors. Steve was following.
The building was an older wood structure with grey planks for siding and a dark gable roof. It held the offices for the club on the right side, which overlooked the south side of the docks. The right side was a store that sold the normal last minute snacks for a cruise and some navigation and fishing equipment. Straight head was the restaurant.
Claudia went to the club offices. Steve pointed at the sign with the times they were open. There was another 30 minutes left. "See."
"Okay, come on," Claudia pushed the door open. Steve got it and Claudia walked in first. She went to the counter.
The middle age lady seated at a desk in front of the counter, looked up from her paperwork. "Hi sweetie, what can I do for you?"
Claudia smiled back at the lady, "Hi, we're federal agents doing a follow up on the accident and loss of the boat, the Manchester." Claudia held up her badge. She was happy that Pete and Myka made sure she got a real Secret Service agent badge. Since she had CLEPed out of several courses, she easily finished course requirements for a degree in information technology. She knew that she hadn't completed all the training as an agent, but there was no Warehouse 13 badge. Apparently every Warehouse agent as far back as anyone could remember was a part of some agency or service that had a badge. Before that they were mainly prior military and still carried their rank or nobility with them. Artie and Mrs. Frederic agreed it was best for her to be able to show some badge.
"Oh yes, she was a beauty. An Oster 625, it was a luxury sailing boat. The Parker's owned the boat and the son and his guests were on it that afternoon. It was a terrible loss," the lady said with sad eyes.
Steve asked, "Was everyone lost?"
"Yes, the son, his two guests and crew of three. I knew the crew. Manny, Ken and Ron were good kids. They had been sailing since they were teenagers. They knew their way around boats. It's hard to believe they are gone," the lady continued.
"So does anyone know how the boat was lost? Or what happened?" Claudia asked.
"Oh well, there is the official report. It is posted over there." The woman pointed to a clipboard with several papers.
"You don't exactly believe that, do you?" Steve could tell she did not agree with the report.
The man from the back of the office appeared. "Excuse me, Diane, I need you to help with Robinsons."
Diane got up, "Sorry, we have been waiting for them all day. I have to go help."
The man added, "Sorry, we will have to close early. I need to help too." He pointed them to the front door and Claudia and Pete went out. The man turned off the open sign.
Claudia watched out the windows of the office as the man went with Diane to the side of the office. Claudia nodded to Steve to follow and they went around the building. There was a big van pulled up to the docks. Diane was already helping with a wheelchair. They could see one of the van's occupants get out of the van and get into the wheelchair. There followed a procession of wheelchairs. They were taken aboard one of the bigger yachts tied up by the clubhouse. The man and Diane went with them aboard the yacht. In just a few minutes the crew had them underway.
"Well, that was unexpected," Claudia remarked. She was a bit upset that her fount of knowledge had just left and had no idea when she would be back.
Steve agreed, "Yeah. Well, let's try the restaurant. I could go for a good piece of Cod or whatever they have."
"Yes, some lobster would be good too." She took his arm and proceeded to the restaurant.
Near Victor, Colorado
Day 1
Myka got out of the car. She looked at the cabin. The building was not much more than a trailer house that had a log frame around it. She waited for Pete.
Pete walked with Myka to the door and knocked on it. An older man with dried skin and grey, almost white hair, came to the door in a plaid shit, blue jeans and hunting jacket. "Hello, what can I do for you?"
They both held up their badges. Myka began, "Are you Vern?" She saw him nod his head. "Pete and I are doing a follow-up on the plane crash. What can you tell us about it?"
"So, did you see the plane?" Vern asked.
"Yeah, we just came from there," Pete replied hoping the old man would open up.
"Anything unusual?" he kept pressing.
"You could say that. There was a scar along the outside of the plane like a bolt of electricity had gone through it." Pete asked again, "Can you tell us about what you saw?"
"Well, I've been thinking about it. I keep trying to think whether there was a cloud in the area, but there wasn't. Did you get a weather report from this afternoon?" Vern asked.
"No, we hadn't been able to do that," Myka was growing impatient.
"Well, it was clear. The bolt of lightning really did come from the ground, actually the side of the hill, and went right at the plane." He looked around, "You know there was something like that here before. My granddad said he was a little nuts. I don't remember his name. But he was working with electricity."
Myka tried to figure out how long ago that would have been. "Tesla?" Myka asked.
"What, no. That's the car company. Those tree huggers down the road have one of those." He shook his head in disgust. "No, they wouldn't be doing this." He smiled, "Listen is the Army doing anything new down at Ft Carson? Maybe someone got off the range and missed."
Myka realized this was just going downhill. He really didn't know anything more than seeing the lightning bolt. "Well, thanks. I don't think we have anything else."
Pete shook Vern's hand, "Here's our numbers if you see anything else."
On the way back to the car, Pete commented, "You know that car Jinksey has gets 50 miles per gallon. I mean it really works. Wonder what his problem was."
"Been alone too much. You get like that," Myka off-handily replied.
"Yeah, I know," Pete had a flash back to when Myka had left.
"Pete, I said…" Myka started to look at him.
Pete held up his hands, "Yeah I know. We're good. Double rainbows and all."
Myka thought about it, "Yeah, it was hard."
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Day 1
Back at the restaurant, the hostess was showing them to their seat. "Fred will be your waiter. He'll be over in a minute." Claudia and Steve sat and picked up their menus to see what was offered.
An older gentleman by the bar had been watching them come in the room. He was dressed in a light yellow polo suit, white slacks and deck shoes. His hair was mainly white with a little gray and black. He walked over to their table with his drink.
After weaving through the table he came up between Claudia and Steve. He smiled, "Good evening, I am John Dawes. I believe you're Claudia Donovan and Steve Jinks." He held out his hand to Claudia, "Artie would have mentioned that we would be checking in?"
"Yes," started Claudia and then the real recognition started in, "Yes of course." She shook his hand.
He turned to Steve. Steve stood up and shook John's hand. John smiled and turned to Claudia, "Could I join you?"
"Certainly, please do. You look like you could offer some ideas on what we are looking for?" Claudia motioned to the seat next to her.
John smiled at her as he sat, "Well, I do recommend the clam chowder and lobster tail. They are excellent here."
Fred came to the table just after that, "Good evening, could I get you drinks to start?"
They agreed to let John handle the orders based on his knowledge of the restaurant. When the waiter left, John remembered watching their reaction to his earlier statement. They knew something. "So, what have you found?"
Claudia paused for a second trying to put things together and determine how much she would tell John, "Yes, he solved it again." She turned and smiled at Steve. His eyes got bigger in return. Claudia went on, "We were talking to Diane the clerk at the sailing club offices. She believes there was something fishy about the accident. But we did not get to follow up. She and her boss had to leave."
John smiled thinking back to seeing the boat leave, "See, that's the Honor Cruise. Those boys and I think a girl this year have come back from being in harm's way. Portsmouth arranges a little cruise every year for those returning veterans needing a little boast. They'll be out tomorrow fishing, then return the next day."
The waiter came back to the table and served the drinks and clam chowder.
Claudia was watching John. She thought Jinksey would be able to confirm this, "You already know there was something not quite right with the accident. That's why you called us."
"Very good, you're right of course," John replied.
Steve knew he needed to let Claudia know John was telling the truth, "So if you know there was something fishy, why…"
"Got it, but they wouldn't." Claudia turned to Steve, "You remember Mrs. Frederic?" She saw him nod. "He's her boss." She smiled as his eyes got bigger. Then she remembered what Pete and Artie had said about the Regents having everyday jobs, "So John, do you live here?"
"Not quite, I'd come out for the occasional cruise. But I missed the last one. No, I am a banker from Philadelphia." John barely said that and he saw Steve's head pop up from the bowl of clams.
"That's right. I saw you at the hotel. You were at the meeting with the other bankers," Steve declared.
Claudia was getting out her Farnsworth. She knew this was important. But she wanted the whole story, "Okay John, why don't you tell us the whole story?"
John smiled. He knew they were good and it was nice to see Mrs. Frederic's opinion confirmed. "Yes, I was out at the conference. Like you, we try not to call attention to ourselves."
Claudia was have kidding when she said, "I bet you were to be one of the speakers."
"Well, yes. But I was called away when the accident occurred," John explained.
Steve could tell all of this was true, but it wasn't everything. "Were you supposed to be on the podium that night?"
"Yes, but I cancelled out and left before you, Pete and Myka saved the day. You know, Myka was really amazing remembering the last lines from those plays." John paused while the waiters changed their plates for the lobster, corn, potatoes and sauces.
Claudia thought she heard enough. Pete and Myka were right. She flipped opened the Farnsworth, "Artie, hi."
A/N Please leave a review. Would like to see what everyone thinks with the new guy this season. I did bring back John Dawes for this story, but as you can see this is a different story from that of Ben's Key. I am trying to get back in sync with the new season.