"I think I'll name him Boris!" Gilligan exclaimed, referring to the dog.

"Thats a good name for a Russian, Little Buddy," laughed the Skipper.

"I've never known a dog named Boris," Mary Ann added good-naturedly.

"I did," Ginger replied sultrily, "but he was a producer."

"Thurston, how can a dog produce a movie?" asked Mrs. Howell.

Mr Howell answered, "I believe she was speaking metaphorically, Lovey."

Gilligan contributed, "I bet Boris is smart enough to produce a movie," which earned a laugh from the group.

The Professor, meanwhile, was deep in thought. You could almost hear the wheels in his brain turning as he stared up at the wreckage of the Russian balloon up in the tree. The Professor noted several large tears in the balloon. He then looked at the cracked canine carrier and expended rocket propelled ejection apparatus. Then the Professor had an idea.

The Professor made his first request, "Gilligan, can you get Boris' gondola down?"

"Sure Professor," Gilligan replied, already halfway up the tree.

The Professor went on, "I'm going to need the heaviest bamboo you can find, strong vine, the sewing kit, and the tool kit. Also, we need to be digging a fire pit, and gathering driftwood."

The castaways complied, not bothering to ask why. They've been with the Professor for a long, long time, and they know eventually they will get their answers, when he is good and ready. The Professor likes to keep things to himself until he's fairly sure of his plan.

Gilligan and Skipper were working the bamboo plants. If one didn't know better, they were swear they were watching an old Abbot and Costello routine. Gilligan would grab a long stalk, and just miss the Skippers head by inches. This went on three or four times.

"Gilligan..." Started the Skipper.

As soon as the Skipper said his mate's name, Gilligan turned around. The problem was, Gilligan was carrying a nine foot bamboo stock, which squarely hit the Skipper in the head. The Skipper went down, Gilligan dropped the stock, and ran to his commander. Once Gilligan helped up his companion, he was rewarded by the Skipper hitting him square on the head with his cap.

"Lets get these stalks back to the Professor," ordered the Skipper.

Once the crew made it back, they saw the other five were gathered together. Mary Ann and Ginger had gathered some driftwood, and the Howells had the sewing kit ready, along with some pretty heavy vines. And the Professor looked as if he were ready to lecture a group of eager graduate students.

The Professor started, "What I intend on doing with the bamboo and vines is to build a scaffold up to the canopy. We need to carefully extract the balloon from the trees to avoid damaging it even more. The sewing kit is for repairing the balloon, while the driftwood is for a fire to fill it with hot air. The balloon won't fly as high as originally intended, but should reach the shipping lanes. Gilligan, our new canine friend has the most critical role of all. Out of respect to the Russian scientists that sent him on his aeronautical voyage, I feel we should send him back on his way. That way the Soviets can see the results of their high altitude experiment. In any case, Boris is a cosmonaut of sorts, and belongs to the Soviet Union. But, he will help us by acting as a carrier pigeon. We can attach a message to his collar, and Boris can lead the rescue boats back to us. I for one, don't care if we are rescued by Russians... as long as we are rescued."

Now it was the castaways turn to be deep in thought. The idea of being rescued was appealing... but by Russians? It was a hard thought to grasp, especially by the two former cold warriors, Skipper and Gilligan. The patriotic farm girl Mary Ann and world renowned capitalist Thurston Howell weren't to pleased either. Ginger Grant had done her share of USO Tours and had first hand experience with the "Red Scare" in Hollywood. It was hard to fathom that the realization of their biggest dream may be at the hands of people that they viewed as 'the enemy.'