Aikane and Adrian are my characters; please don't take them from me…Thanks again to my readers, and much hugs to my reviewers. They do mean a lot :loves: Only one more chappy to go!
My Sixth Sense
"Ideals are like stars: you will not succeed in touching them with your hands, but like the seafaring man on the ocean desert of waters, you choose them as your guides, and following them, you reach your destiny."
Carl Shurz
Fingertips (Touch)
Part 5/6
As Sam watched the imaging chamber door close with a loud shwump, Sam allowed himself a brief moment to contemplate if he was ever going to be able to hug his best friend again. To be with him and his family…Mom, Katie…Tom.
It was a constant nagging question, and sometimes certain leaps brought the question forward. He then obsessed, and he tried to recall formulas and procedures, and found that he could not.
It was just as well, he was in paradise so to speak. The lovely little island of Hawaii Big Island. It was during the sixties, so his family had yet to move here, and tourism hadn't over run it completely yet.
It truly was a tropical paradise, and the air was so clean and so fresh. The colors of the land so vibrant and cheerful. Sam took a deep breath and allowed himself a smile.
It was still unclear what his mission was at the moment, and he had sent Al back to try to locate more information from Ziggy. Sam wondered how Al managed to do that…it sounded like a futile attempt, and yet they both managed to come through when it really counted.
Sam walked slowly across the beach, watching as he left his footprints behind in the sand. The tide came in and slowly captured his feet and Sam tingled with childlike glee. Slowly Sam began to trot, after a few minutes he went into a full run, laughing as he did so.
Some may think that the man had gone insane, but those truly wise would have known that the man had found the magic of Hawaii. The bond between man and the earth. How the earth had so much passion and love to share if you would just let it. Sam finally slowed and sat down heavily upon the sand.
The cool water still tagged him and before Sam could grasp it with his hand, the water retreated, leaving his hand to fall flat against the wet sand. Sam clutched it and let it ooze between his fingers, and the water came back in jealousy. Sam let his other hand slowly hover above the water.
He felt his hand slide across the water, the cool liquid feeling so real…so real.
Each time he met up with Al, he found a strong desire to touch someone or something afterwards. It was a form in which Sam could test his sanity, to touch something that had a distinct feeling. For example, rather than touching a smooth wooden surface, he would run his hand against a wall with many ridge. His fingertips would glide across each high and each low, he would take in every detail, and he'd know it was real.
It was real, and he was real.
How he wished he could tell if Al was real. Each time he leaped, he sometimes wondered if it was never-waking dream, and he just wanted some reassurance that the man he called his best friend was real too.
Of course Al was real…but there was still that what if?
So maybe he knew that Al was real, after all kids and animals could see him, but wouldn't God-Time-Fate-Whatever let him hug his best friend if he-she-it knew that his-her-its soldier was questioning his sanity?
All he was asking for was one leap where he could really be with his friend, that when he felt victory swell in his chest he could give the Admiral a high five or a pat on the back.
Anything.
"Hey Sam, having fun?" Sam turned with a small smile to stare at Al who had his trademark cigar placed firmly between his lips.
"Yea, I guess I am."
"Well that's good, Ziggy figured out what you're doing here."
"Yea? That's good, I've been wondering…it's so peaceful here…"
"Yea…well, there's a hotel here, about a mile off, you work there, your name is ah…Pedro Gonzalez…I guess you're out of uniform…says here you're one of the hotel's managers…and today is your day off." Sam smiled.
"Lucky me."
"Yea, yea, lucky you, but not so lucky for Aikane."
"Aikane?"
"Yea, the hotel's dolphin…one day she was happily swimming in her pool, the next she was poisoned, she lingered for two days before she died."
"I'm here to stop a dolphin's murder?"
"Yea, Aikane brought the tourists from all around, she's the reason why this hotel was so famous, when she died…the hotel stayed, but it was never the same…her murder angered and depressed many of the Hawaiian people. Boy, a dolphin…I've never gotten real close to one. I've always wondered what they felt like."
"So, when does she get killed?"
"Ah, well the exact time isn't stated, but it was sometime today. Boy, what kind of nozzle would kill an innocent dolphin?"
"I don't know, how would I know?" Sam cocked his head and thought. "I mean, it's not like a dolphin can be a witness to a murder or a crime…wait, hold on you said that Aikane was the main attraction?"
"Yea, ripped the competition to shreds…" Al's eyes widened "You don't think…"
"It wouldn't be the first time…Did they ever find who killed her?" Al rapidly pressed some buttons on the handlink.
"No, they didn't charge anyone…although like you, they suspected the competition got her, but they weren't able to charge anyone."
"All right, look up all of this hotel's main competitors and have Ziggy figure the odds which one is more likely to kill Aikane. Aikane, I wonder what that means anyways…" Al looked up at Sam, then down at the handlink and he smirked.
"Aikane is Hawaiian for…"
"Yea?"
"Friend." Sam smiled, and was lost in his thoughts before the tide reminded him where he was.
"Oh jeez, that's cold. Ok, so you go look that stuff up, and I'll go to the hotel." Al nodded and turned to leave through the imaging chamber door when Sam stopped him with a couple of words.
"And Al, hurry…please…" Al winked.
"Anything for a friend."
-o-O-o-
Sam couldn't help but wonder why everyone was giving him odd looks, and was about to question this when another body stepped next to him and began shoving Sam with his shoulder.
"Pedro…" the voice hissed. "Are you crazy? I know it's your day off and all, but you're dripping sand everywhere!" Sam looked behind him and he noticed it was true, a nice thin trail of sand could be seen on the clean tiles of the extravagant hotel.
The person next to him appeared quiet young, maybe in his early twenties, and he was wearing the uniform of a bellhop, he was also wearing a frown, and Sam meekly realized it was directed at him.
"Leia is going to kill you. She just cleaned, oh boy…what are you doing here anyways?"
"Me? Ah…I'm here to see Aikane. I promised I'd visit her today…"
"I don't doubt that. I mean she's been moping about all day, do you have your keys with you?"
"My keys?"
"You know keys to open the door? She's kept in her pool on Sundays, you know that…"
"Yea, I did…I mean, I don't have them." The boy leaned his head and rolled his eyes at his boss.
"Come on, I'll take you, I need an excuse to leave anyways." The boy then proceeded to walk at a fast pace, for which Sam was thankful as it meant he could follow rather than lead the way. He gaped at how open the hotel was, letting the breeze to flow freely into the lobby.
They walked for about five minutes before the boy, Henry as the name tag read, proceeded to go down the staircase, and got out his keys to open the door. Sam thought it funny that a bellhop had so many keys, but at the same time the kid seemed pretty close to Pedro, and perhaps that meant he was a person to be trusted.
The first thing he heard, aside from the noise of rippling water, was a quick screech.
"Intruder! Intruder! Intruder!" Sam jumped and looked around wondering if they accidentally tripped some sort of alarm, however, Henry didn't look frightened, just annoyed.
"Adrian, hush will you?" And Sam finally noticed that the source of the harsh screeching was no other than an African Grey parrot, looking directly at him.
"Intruder! Intruder! You have three seconds to vacate the premises! Intruder!" the bird squawked, taking very short pauses in between each word. Henry just shook his head.
"Boy Pedro, Adrian must be real upset with you, what you forget his mangos?" Henry sighed as the bird would not shut up, and he handed the keys to Sam, who took them absently and he neared the bird cage in amazement. As Sam neared, Adrian began spreading his wings as if he was just daring Sam to attack.
"I'm out of here, Adrian's being a loud mouth today, if Pono finds me, it'll be my hide. Aloha Pedro."
"Intruder!" The bird cried and finally quieted as Henry left, the bird glaring suspiciously at Sam. "Intruder." He said quietly, and Sam had to respond.
"I know I'm an intruder, but it's just for a little while, I'm here to help…" Sam looked and saw the pool lit with a bright blue light and the dolphin was swimming frantically in circles in response to Adrian's cries. "Aikane."
"Help Aikane." The bird repeated, and Sam could swear it had the tone of a question. But that was impossible. The bird then squawked again, much louder, as Al stepped through the imaging door.
"Intruudeer!!!" Al looked surprise and then smiled at the bird.
"Would you look at that? An African Grey…boy I haven't seen one of these in years, oh Sam these are one of the smartest type of birds. I actually used to have conversations with one, well arguments really…"
"Arguments?"
"Yea, all he said were insults…it was the funniest thing…"
"Did you find anything Al?"
"Oh! Yes! Guess what? Ziggy predicted less than a fifty percent chance of any of the hotel's competitors being the murderer of Aikane."
"Aikane!" The bird repeated, he then began clinging to the cage, picking at the lock.
"Less than fifty? How can that be?"
"I don't know, that's what Ziggy said."
"Wait a minute, Adrian!" The bird looked up at the mention of his name, and then slowly began sliding down the cage. "Al see if there's any info on Adrian."
"Ah, let's see…the hotel brochure from this year had Adrian and Aikane's friendship as one of the main attractions, apparently, they couldn't bear being apart from one another…and later, when Aikane was killed, Adrian died only a couple of days later…huh…"
"Does it mention if they heard him shouting intruder at any point?"
"No, none…huh…"
"Don't you get it Al? Adrian practically bit our heads off because we're strangers to him. Which means that if no one heard him cry out…"
"Then the killer had to be someone he knew?"
"The walls are paper thin Al, Henry ran out of here in fear of being caught because Adrian was being so loud. It had to be someone who Adrian knew." At this the door opened and a short man in a white t-shirt came walking in with a bucket of fish. Automatically Sam's eyes narrowed and Sam turned as he heard the clicking excitement of Aikane from behind him.
The man looked up and actually took a step back when he saw Sam, and his lip twitched as if trying to smile.
"P-Pedro, ah I wasn't expecting to see you today…your first day off in five years…" the man chuckled nervously. "And you're here, of course you're here…" Al typed some buttons onto his hand link and glared angrily at the man.
"Sam this is Martin Rizz, Aikane's veterinarian…Ziggy says there is a ninety-two percent chance that Martin is the killer."
"Killer!" Adrian spoke up, and began pacing back and forth upon his perch. Martin flinched and he slowly dug his head into his shoulder in what Sam believed to be guilt. Sam nodded toward the fish bucket and he looked up at the vet with hate.
"What's in there?"
"Fish…for Aikane, for being such a good girl…"
"Killer!" Adrian yelled again, and Al nodded an agreement and yelled at Martin.
"You nozzle! You're trying to poison Aikane, Sam! Stop him!"
"Why are you doing this?"
"Because she likes fish…Pedro are you-?"
"Why are you going to poison her?" Martin's surprise showed in his eyes, and then he looked to his left, avoiding Sam's gaze.
"Nonsense, why would I hurt Aikane?"
"You tell me."
"You nozzle! You killer!" Adrian yelled in desperation and he began clawing at the cage door. Martin looked equally shocked as he was also being accused by the bird he had treated for many years, and he looked to Sam with hurt in his eyes.
"I could never kill Aikane…she's such a sweet creature…"
"Then why are the fish poisoned?"
"I-I…"
"Nozzle!!" The bird cried rattling the cage still harder.
"I just want her to get sick…"
"What?" Sam questioned and followed the vet as he neared the pool, the bucket of fish getting closer to Aikane.
"She's been here for so long, she deserves to be free…don't you see? If I can get her sick…I can convince everyone that she has to go back to the ocean…but no…" he spat out angrily. "You want her to stay here." The vet tensed, and years of fighting Sam realized he was about to get hit. Sam found himself by the edge of the pool, and knew that he could easily fall in as the vet continued on…
"SAM! Be careful!" Al cried, and then very quickly gasped out "Adrian?" As Martin was about to strike Sam with the bucket of fish, Adrian flew forward and clutched at Martin's head, pulling his hair back, causing the man to react with pain and fear, and he dropped the bucket of fish into the pool.
Aikane began to head towards it, but Sam was faster, and he reached up and scooped up the bucket before the dolphin had a chance.
"Stupid bird!!" Martin cried, his hands flailing as he tried to shoo Adrian away, Sam took his chance and tackled Martin to the ground. There was a brief struggle before Martin finally broke down and sagged, sobbing pitifully.
"I just wanted to help her…" Sam stood up and stared at the broken man, and then turned to look at the open cage, and searched for his savior who standing next to the edge of the pool cooing at Aikane.
"Pretty baby, my pilialoha" The bird spoke quietly, and the dolphin poked her head out of the water and clicked and chattered away and neared her feathered friend. The bird shifted and rocked, and Sam looked up to see Al staring at the scene with fascination.
"Wouldja look at that Sam? The bird is giving the dolphin a kiss!" Sure enough, Adrian was doing just that. The little bird was touching its beak up against the dolphin's nose, who looked pleased at the contact.
The little bird then turned towards Sam and Al, he began flapping his wings and landed upon Sam's shoulder, and he began picking at Sam's hair.
"Thank you." The bird then bowed his little head, and Sam looked to Al in confusion.
"He wants you to pet him, go on, pet the little guy…" So Sam did and he grinned at how soft and gentle his feathered friend was. He saw how Al was staring at Sam with envy, however, when Al caught Sam's gaze he grinned.
"Soft huh?"
"Yea…"
"Oh Sam! You have to pet the dolphin before you leave! Hurry!" So Sam obeyed and went towards Aikane. He glanced back at Martin who was still crying. He wouldn't be any trouble. Sam looked back to the chipper dolphin. She seemed to be able to tell what Sam wanted and she lifted herself up from the water as high as she could without having to jump.
Sam let his hand touch the dolphin's side, and Al looked to him expectantly.
"Well, what does she feel like?" It was hard to describe, she was smooth, and almost felt like water, and yet she was firm. It was a unique feeling; his fingertips tingled at the difference amongst the feathers and the dolphin's slippery body. Yet amongst them both there was a warmth of life…
"Like a friend." And Sam reached up, hoping to place a hand on his friend's shoulder, hoping that Time-God-Fate-Whatever had finally decided to give him a chance…but as Sam noticed with disappointment, his hand passed through Al as many times before. And with bitterness and regret Sam leaped.