Doc Takes Charge

"I'm amazed Hartford. There hasn't been one murder since you lot left last year and not even an hour after you arrive there's a dead body! You sure you don't know the deceased?" Sheriff Michael Chang asked Doc. The Galaxy Rangers, Mook and Waldo were at the barn. The police had come to take the body away and do an investigation.

"Never saw him before today," Doc said. "Should I know him?"

"Bobo Bling the Pedulant," Chang looked at his report. "He's one of the circus performers. Used to be a jockey that worked at the stables in Paradise Bay until he got caught trying to sell horse tranquilizers as drugs."

"Horse tranquilizers?" Waldo asked. "For horses?"

"For humans," Chang said. "You'd be surprised how many stupid and bored rich teenagers and adults do that. Didn't go to jail though. Ratted on his supplier and cut a deal so he walked. Did a bit of informing on other criminals in order to make a fast buck."

"Really?" Doc asked.

"To be honest I'm amazed this guy lasted this long," Chang grunted. "Seems like every other scumbag I met had a reason to hate this guy. He had a bad habit of double crossing a lot of people for a quick buck. Sooner or later…He was gonna get it. Guess it was just bad luck it happened here. Pretty ironic though. I would have thought he'd get shot or something. Not trampled to death by a horse."

"Wouldn't a jockey know better than to be that close to a spooked horse?" Niko asked as she looked at the horse that had been moved to another stall.

"Ah horses can be pretty unpredictable, especially ones that are in the circus," Chang said. "Sometimes they get beaten up. Or they get spooked by another animal or just anything. It happens."

"Maybe…" Niko narrowed her eyes.

"Boy you really got the bad luck for this," Chang said. "What is all this for anyway?" He indicated the circus tents and everything around him. "This place is more of a zoo than the last time you were here."

"Circus actually," Doc said. "We're celebrating my godchild's first birthday."

"You have a god child?" Chang asked.

"My niece," Shane explained. "She's turning one year in two days."

"The same day as the end of the Civil War?" Chang raised an eyebrow. "Wait, I remember hearing something about this. Isn't she like the very first Supertrooper not born in a lab or something?"

"Yes, she is," Shane said. "She's very important to me. She's very precious."

"You have a picture?" Chang took out his wallet. "I got a kid myself. She's in junior high now but she's still my baby." He showed the picture to them.

"She's cute," Shane said. "Don't have it on me. But…She just happened to be born right at the end of the Civil War."

"That's not all that happened during that day," Chang said. "Must be a hell of an anniversary for you Gooseman."

"Yeah," Shane frowned. "It is."

"That's why we all decided to get away for some peace and quiet," Zach remarked. "So much for that idea."

"And we're kind of having a small get together with a few ambassadors as well," Doc admitted. "Mostly those with children."

"Anyone else I should know about?" Chang asked. "No more of your mob buddies?"

"No, but Governor Walski is," Doc referred to the governor of the Islands. "Commander Cain. A few generals. Some senators. The former captain of the Augusta will be here too. Eugene Trembaly."

"I thought that was the captain of the Atlantica?" Shane blinked.

"No that one's last name was spelled Trembley," Niko corrected. "This one is Trembaly."

"That's the guy who turned against the Black Rose isn't it? That's a pretty impressive guest list for just a kid's birthday party," Chang snorted. "Well at least I won't have to question them as suspects."

"You won't?" Doc asked.

"It's pretty obvious," Chang said. "Guy was sneaking around to steal some stuff. One of the horses freaks and he gets trampled."

"Hold on Sheriff, I'm sensing something," Niko said. She touched the horse on the muzzle. "This horse…It was deliberately tormented."

"What?" Zach asked.

"It was tormented," Niko said. "The blinders are on so it didn't see who was doing it but it was definitely goaded into kicking. I think…I think someone put Bobo in there and…"

"What you're saying that the horse might not have killed him?" Chang asked. "That he could have already been dead?"

"Or near dead," Niko said.

"Only way to know for sure is an autopsy," Doc said. "This could be a murder."

"Or a cover up," Chang gave him a look.

"If I was trying to do a cover up why would I ask you to do an autopsy?" Doc asked.

"I'll check it out but I'm afraid I am going to need more than a psychic intuition to change my verdict," Chang sighed. "Besides there are dozens of people here now. And Bobo made a lot of enemies. What's most likely is that some hired thug of one of the crime bosses dressed himself up like a performer, knocked Bobo out, killed him and took off. How many boats or planes left this island in the past hour?"

"Before the call was made a few dozen planes and boats were flying back and forth carrying supplies and ferrying performers all day," Mook told him. "Then again someone could have taken off in a boat in the private cove without anyone noticing."

"Well there you have it," Chang said. "I'm guessing Bobo's been dead at least a couple hours. If it is a mob hit odds are the guy didn't stick around. We'll do an autopsy and get a list of all the ships and planes that came and went to the island. And we'll ask around but odds are we won't find much."

"You're giving up pretty fast aren't you?" Shane asked.

"I'm only being realistic. Just because we haven't gotten any murders don't mean we don't see our share of crime on these islands," Chang gave them a look. "We get a ton of racketeering, petty theft, drug busts…Look I'm just saying this guy made a lot of enemies and usually people on this island who do just disappear. The fact we found a body at all is pretty amazing. Usually they end up in the ocean and the current takes them out to sea."

"But you can't just brush this death aside…" Niko said. "We can always…"

"We're not brushing the death aside but this is my territory Galaxy Ranger," Chang said.

"But…" Niko began.

"No, this is a local affair," Doc told them. "He's right. We have bigger things to worry about. Like this party. I'm thinking we should hire some security."

"DIE! DIE! DIE!"

"A lot of security," Doc groaned. He ran to the sound of the noise and to everyone's shock there were two chefs engaging in a knife fight in the middle of a flower garden.

"You die! You gonna die!" One chef screamed at another.

"No, you die! You die!" The other chef screamed. He lunged, missing a chef but slicing several branches of a small tree.

"Knock it off you…" Sheriff Chang pulled out his blaster.

BEEP BEEP!

"WHAT THE HELL?" Sheriff Chang screamed as Shane barely yanked him out of the way in time. A small old time car driven by monkeys roared by. "Was that…?"

"Monkeys driving an antique car? Yes," Doc sighed.

"Somebody get those damn things before they…" Chang shouted.

CRASH!

"CHEEE! CHEEE! CHEEE!"

"Crash into something," Chang winced.

"Oh well I never liked that statue anyway," Doc shrugged.

"DIE! YOU DIE! DIE! YOU…AAAAAAAAHH!"

"WAK! WAK! WAK!"

A flock of swans had charged through the two dueling chefs, causing both of them to fall off balance. "AAK! STUPID SWANS! I KILL YOU! NOT IF I KILL THEM THEN YOU FIRST!" The chefs screamed. A few people took advantage of the chaos to grab and disarm the chefs and pull them apart.

"Dive! Dive! Dive!" Bubblehead cheered as he chased the swans.

"Bubblehead stop tormenting the swans!" Waldo shouted.

"What's that smell?" Niko sniffed. "Is that smoke?"

"Oh crap don't tell me the swimming pool is on fire again!" Doc groaned. He ran to the back. "It is."

"How the hell do you set a swimming pool on fire?" Sheriff Chang shouted.

"For starters you fill it with alcohol instead of water," Doc sighed. "WHO FILLED THE SWIMMING POOL WITH ALCOHOL AGAIN?"

"Sorry sir there was a miscommunication," Jenkins sighed. "And one of the performers was smoking and got careless…"

"Cool! A fire!" Noah cheered. The kids were watching the flames from the safety of the house balcony.

"Burn baby burn!" Mata cheered.

"I didn't know swimming pools could catch on fire," Amy blinked.

"WAK! WAK! WAK!"

"CHEE! CHEE!"

"ENOUGH! EVERYBODY KNOCK IT OFF!"

Everyone turned around and saw an infuriated Doc. "That is it! You two are both fired! I can't have knife fights at a children's party!" He shouted at the stunned chefs. Then he barked orders at everyone else. "Someone corral the monkeys and the swans! Fix that mess with the statue! You take the car back to the garage! Don't worry about repairing yet. Just clean up the mess! You start taking notes from the witnesses! As of now everything is going to be under control and go according to plan! No one and nothing is going to mess up this party!"

At that moment one of the swans waddled over and made his own comment on messes right on Doc's shoes. "Right after I change my footwear," Doc groaned.


The next several hours were a flurry of activity for Doc. He spent much of his time on the phone, handling security precautions, trying to find new chefs that weren't inclined to play with knives and deal with the preparations of having a large children's birthday party.

"No, I don't think it's a good idea for the clowns to do a knife juggling act," Doc winced at the recent memory. "Something a little less violent. Yes, pies will be fine. All right thank you."

Niko walked in. "Okay fine. And yes I think it's definitely a good idea to not let the monkeys do their driving act while the party is going on! I don't want any more of my vehicles to be wrecked," Doc waved her to wait for him to finish.

"Busy?" Niko asked.

"What was your first clue?" Doc groaned. The phone rang again. Doc answered it. "Walter Hartford's…What do you mean you can't find the guest list? I gave you three copies of it this afternoon! What? There were revisions? Who…Cain. I should have known. No, no…I'll call him. Yes, Yes…I will. Bye."

"Doc I know you're busy right now but…" Niko began as Doc hung up.

"Niko any other time I would gladly go off on a hunt for a murderer. But as you can see, I'm a bit busy," Doc indicated. "We already did enough. Let the local police handle it."

"Doc…"

"In case you haven't noticed, Niko! I'm swamped!" Doc interrupted her. "Not just with the kid's party but making arrangements with all these stupid ambassadors. I can't just drop it all to investigate a murder even if it was on my doorstep."

"Doc…"

"Even if I wanted to do it, and I'm not saying I am!" Doc went on, slightly frazzled. "I can't I just can't! And no, I don't feel responsible just because the guy died in my stables! I'm don't!"

"That usually means you do feel responsible," A dapper Jamaican man dressed in white with a neatly groomed beard and hair walked in.

"Dad?" Doc's jaw dropped.

"Actually what I was going to say is that your father's here," Niko smirked.

"That's my boy," Harrison Hartford snorted. "Always leaping before he looks."

"Dad!" Doc laughed and gave the man a hug. "It's good to see you!"

"Same here!" Harrison laughed.

"I'll leave you two alone," Niko smiled and left the room.

"Dad, sit down! It's good to see you," Doc said.

"I take it you had some visitors this morning," Harrison sighed as he sat down.

"Besides a slight case of murder? Yes….Mina and her mother," Doc sighed.

"Walter you have gone above and beyond the call of duty where Mina and your other sisters are concerned," Harrison sighed. "And me."

"Dad…"

"And I'm afraid I need to ask for your help again," Harrison sighed.

"Why do I have the feeling this has to do with Mina's little visit this morning?" Doc asked.

"Helena…Oh let's be frank, Helena is trying to blackmail me," Harrison sighed.

"Dad," Doc gave him a look. "What did you do?"

"Look keep in mind that this happened before I married your mother and she knows all about this," Harrison told him. "She forgave me a long time ago. Never would have married me if she hadn't."

"Who did you sleep with?" Doc winced, fearing the answer.

"The governor's wife. His first wife. The one who died," Harrison sighed. "I'm not going to go into details…"

"Thank you."

"Long story short she had a diary which detailed…our brief relationship and many others that she had," Harrison explained. "Along with the Governor's…liaisons. Somehow Mina and her mother got a hold of it."

"Knowing Mina she probably found a way to steal it," Doc groaned. "Let me guess, they're hitting both you and the governor up for cash?"

"Got it," Harrison said. "If it was just me I wouldn't even consider it. But George is a friend of mine…"

"The governor whose wife you slept with is your friend?" Doc asked.

"I only slept with his wife after he slept with my sister and my mother," Harrison protested.

"I thought you promised me you wouldn't go into details!" Doc winced. "Wait he slept with Grandma Hartford? And Aunt Shirley?"

"No, Grandma and Aunt Mabel."

"Aunt Mabel the Preacher?" Doc shouted. "Not Aunt Shirley the…?"

"I guess Mabel had more of our mother in her than she cared to admit," Harrison shrugged.

"What?" Doc was stunned.

"Oh good lord Walter why do you think there were so many men in black crying at her funeral?" Harrison gave him a look. "It wasn't exactly a secret that my mother had a very robust love life."

"It was a secret to me!" Doc yelled.

"As you may have figured out Walter if this gets out it won't be just me that suffers," Harrison sighed. "There were a lot of things like that in that diary. Nearly the half the county will be implicated in one way or another."

"So what do you want me to do about it? I'm not paying her off!" Doc barked.

"I don't want you too," Harrison said. "We've been talking…"

"You and the Governor?"

"Yes, and we just want you to…scare her a little," Harrison said. "That's all. Explain to her that blackmail is illegal. And get the diary back."

"You want me to intimidate Mina's mother?" Doc groaned. "As appealing as that idea is…"

"Walter please if it was just me I'd say damn it all and let Helena publish the diary until it was on top of the best seller list!" Harrison said. "But there are other people involved! The Governor and his family, my grandmother and sisters…Nana…"

"Nana? What happened? Why is she in the…?" Doc was startled. "Dad please tell me you didn't sleep with…"

"No, it wasn't me," Harrison said quickly. "Oh I don't want to tell you this. Let's just say…She was with someone close to us. And she's always been close."

"Why do I have the feeling I don't want to know?" Doc groaned. "Oh all right Dad, I'll see what I can do."

"Good," Harrison let out a sigh of relief. The sound of something scuffling in on padded feet caught his attention. "What…?"

Baby Dawnstar had crawled into the study giggling. She looked cute in her pink and blue romper and a pink bow holding her white hair in a ponytail. "Looks like we have another visitor," Harrison grinned.

"Hey there Sweetie-Pie," Doc laughed as he picked up the infant. "How are you doing? Come to see your Uncle Walter?"

"Gahh!" Dawnstar chirped. "Hya!"

"I take it this is your goddaughter," Harrison held her finger.

"Yes she is," Doc smiled as he held her. "This is the birthday girl!"

"And she is getting trickier and faster every day," Darkstar walked in. "There you are! Honey, don't bother Doc!"

"Oh she's no trouble at all," Doc said as he held her. "Darkstar this is my father Harrison Hartford. Dad, Darkstar."

"Nice to meet you," Darkstar smiled.

"Likewise," Harrison smiled. "Walter has told me so much about you. Your daughter is beautiful."

"She's also a little stinker who likes to sneak away," Darkstar said as she took the baby back. "Who's a little troublemaker? Yes you are!"

"Trust me Darkstar," Doc groaned. "Out of all of my relatives she's the most well behaved!"


"So let me get this straight," Shane said as the Galaxy Rangers went to a high rise apartment at Paradise Bay. "We're going to scare your sister's mother into giving back the diary detailing sexual escapades of your family and half of high society?"

"That's the plan," Doc said.

"How do we end up in these stupid messes?" Shane asked.

"I'd say it was part of the job but I don't remember this in the Ranger Handbook," Niko told him.

"Good thing we have Nana and Eliza finishing up planning the party," Doc said as he rang the doorbell. "I'm frazzled. As if this didn't play on my nerves enough! Taking on the Crown Empire would be more soothing to anyone's nerves than to deal with my family!"

The door opened. "Walter what are you doing here?" Mina blinked. She was wearing a dazzling cream colored dress and large diamond earrings.

"We're here to talk to your mother," Doc said as he walked in past her. The other rangers followed him.

"Ah I take it you are Walter and these are your friends the Galaxy Rangers," George, a tall dark skinned man with a fancy suit and a suave smile grinned as he stood at a nearby bar pouring himself a martini. "Please make yourselves at home. We've been expecting you."

"You know for someone who is pretty hard up for cash, you sure live in rather ritzy surroundings," Shane remarked. Indeed the apartment was rather opulent and filled with fancy furniture.

"Which means you don't need to bleed Father or anyone else dry," Doc finished.

"Are you kidding? Do you have any idea how much upkeep a small apartment like this costs?" Mina stiffened. "We've had to let go of the servants because they wouldn't take a pay cut! Little ingrates ran off to the first person to offer them an extra twenty a week! For the past two weeks we had no choice but to run our own dishwasher ourselves!"

"You poor deprived child," Doc mocked. "What hardships you've had to put up with in your life."

"Do not make fun of my life, Walter!" Mina snapped. "You have no idea how hard it is to stay on this island day after day, trying to hold your head up when all everyone wants to do is to shove it in the mud! Most of my former friends won't even talk to me! And when I do get invited somewhere or go out to a club I'm treated to a night of slights and insults! All because I have the misfortune to be related to or married a bunch of reprobates!"

"Okay obviously I'm not going to get through to you," Doc turned to George. "George. Where's the diary."

"Quite frankly I don't know where my wife hid it," George smirked. "You'll have to talk to her about that."

"Well where is your wife then?" Niko asked, getting quite annoyed.

"I don't know really," George sighed. "Shopping I suppose."

"Shopping with money she doesn't have? That should be a short trip," Shane said.

"Actually she's been gone for quite some time," George noticed. "Well you might as well stay here until she comes back."

"What do you mean, stay here until she comes back?" Mina gave him a look.

"Why not?" George asked casually. "She has to come home sometime."

"But, but…" Mina looked back and forth between Shane and Niko. "George! The Neighbors! We have enough problems with them as it is! What if they find out there are a couple of…" She stopped herself.

"A couple of what?" Niko growled as she folded her arms.

"It would be hard to explain to the neighbors why there were so many members of law enforcement in our apartment for such a long time," Mina chose a different tactic.

"Oh I'm sure it won't be that hard if they know you," Doc quipped. "You are aware that blackmail is illegal, right?"

"I am not involved in any dealings with my wife or her…friends," George told him.

"But you have no problem profiting off of her deals don't you?" Shane asked.

Before George could answer, Zach's communicator went off. "Hmm, seems I have a message from the local police department. May I use your phone?" Zach asked. The communication systems of course were different between the Ranger's equipment and the local law enforcement.

"By all means," George waved and showed him.

Zach dialed the number. "Foxx here! Sheriff Chang? What are you…What do you mean dead? Oh man…"

"Who died this time?" Shane asked.

"Mina…Your mother's dead," Zach said. "She's been shot."

"Shot? No!" Mina gasped.

"What how?" George gasped.

"Where?" Doc asked.

"At your father's home Doc," Zach said.

"WHAT?" Doc and Mina shouted.

"Apparently she was visiting your father for some reason and she was shot," Zach said. "They're holding your father as a suspect!"

"THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" Mina wailed. "Daddy is a murderer! What will the neighbors say now?"

"Oh well this is just dandy," Doc groaned.