The Major Redemption

Chapter 2

The cruise terminal at Port Canaveral was busy, the concrete dock side seemingly stretching for ever. The terminal building sparkled in the hot sunshine as the acres of glass and chrome beckoned the cruisers towards it.

'Wow, will ya look at the size of that sucker' Hutch craned his neck up to see the full height of the cruise ship. A gangway stretched from the dockside up the fifth deck entrance. Another lower entrance with its own gangplank was located at the stern of the ship, from where crew members embarked and disembarked like ants running over spilt sugar.

Two days ago, Starsky and Hutch had dutifully gone to see Minnie, who had explained that the welfare fund had been contacted by the police surgeon and granted an amount of money to be given to the two detectives for a period of complete rest and relaxation. Minnie had been given carte blanche to pick out the appropriate vacation, and so she had booked an outside cabin on the MV Adonis, bound for two weeks in the Eastern Caribbean out of Canaveral. Never the sort to pass up on sun sea and pretty ladies, the two men had taken the tickets and once they'd seen Marvin at the docks (a false lead), returned home via a department store to stock up on shorts, tee shirts and sun cream.

So now they had completed their flight from LAX to Orlando International and had taken the complimentary shuttle bus along the Beeline expressway and across the vast expanse of the Banana River. To their right they could see way off in the distance the vehicle assembly building of the NASA space centre, standing tall and white.

Starsky had been silent for long parts of the journey. He had seemed stressed on the plane, his knuckles showing white as he gripped the armrests during take off and landing. Hutch was amazed at the dichotomy of his friend. He had recently learned that Starsky had been a Major in the army and had been dropped behind enemy lines in 'Nam by a HALO jump. And yet, here he was terrified on the Airbus 320. Although, thought Hutch, the last time he'd been on a plane he'd been airlifted from Gautemala to Florida with a hole in his side and more bruises and burns on his body that anyone could count – go figure.

Lost in his thoughts, Hutch suddenly realised his partner was talking

'We have a perfectly good cruise terminal in LA at San Pedro. Why'd we have to fly clean across the country to Florida? And call this a bridge?' he huffed as they passed over the Banana River Bridge 'This is an apology for a bridge. At least in LA we……..'

He was cut off by the blond man digging him in ribs. 'First, Florida is a flat state, so bridges don't need to be high and second, Canaveral is an easier way to get to the Eastern Caribbean. Will ya shut up an' just enjoy?'

Secretly Hutch worried at his friend's lack of enthusiasm, It was usually the blond who saw the pitfalls in everything, whilst Starsky looked at the world through childlike eyes, finding wonder in everything from fancy watches to guinea pigs. Hutch sighed. It had to get better then this.

So, they queued with the rest and eventually found their way onto the ship which was enormous, opulent and white. Finding their cabin on deck eight, they unpacked, locking their shields and weapons in the safety deposit box and headed for the sail away party on the sun deck.

Hutch had watched his buddy closely, still worried that Starsky wasn't his normal self. Oh sure he looked reasonably relaxed in his red tee shirt and cut off blue jean shorts, but he was certainly downing the Mai Tais fast, and the laughter was brittle, his smile not the usual dazzling, lop sided grin.

The party lasted until the ships sirens had blasted three times for departure, the screws started turning and mooring ropes were cast off. As the breeze on deck started to pick up, the guys headed back to their cabin to get ready for their first night on board.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

'I look like penguin' Starsky whined as he stepped out of the bathroom dressed in his dinner suit, crisp white shirt and black bow tie. He tried to insert a finger between the skin of his neck and the collar of the shirt, but gave it up and flopped down onto his bed

Hutch appraised him. What he saw was a tall dark handsome man. Certainly the face looked a little drawn to anyone who knew Starsky well, and the suit hung a little too loosely off the frame. But the cut of the jacket was good and the formality of the clothes suited the dark haired man. He was reminded of the James Bond films and could almost see the indigo eyes looking up from a glass filled with a martini – shaken, not stirred.

He glanced down at the feet. 'Well, ya look the part' Hutch replied. 'Glad you took Dobey's advice' he chuckled, as he saw black leather lace ups in place of the ubiquitous blue Adidas. He took his turn in the bathroom as he heard his friend's 'Hmph'.

Hutch emerged ten minutes later dressed in his own dinner suit and standing behind his partner to look in the mirror, he put a hand on the smaller man's shoulder. 'Well we scrub up fairly well'. He paused. 'What is it Starsk? I thought you'd be ripped by a chance at a free vacation. You've earned time to relax, just go with the flow an' maybe when we get back ya can kick Cabrillo into touch once and for all'.

Starsky's reflection stared back at him. 'Sorry Hutch. You're right. I'm gonna quit griping an' enjoy myself. Sharpe's gone and we survived. Its just that every time I close my eyes at night I see you hanging there an…. Well, you might have forgiven me, but I can't forgive myself'. He smiled a sad smile that didn't light up his eyes. Squaring his shoulders he went on 'This is just what we both need. Rest, relaxation and not a psychopathic murdering son of a bitch in sight. Come on. I'm suddenly starving. Let's go see what posh people eat'.

The men left the room, heading for the dining room. Silently, the cabin steward entered their cabin. After turning down their beds, tidying the bathroom and putting a chocolate on each pillow, he proceeded to check all the drawers, before opening the safety deposit box with a master key. Lovingly fingering the shields and guns, he smiled a little.