"What happens if he wakes up before we land?" Mad Dog asked Face as he gazed over at B.A. whose head had slumped to one side and he was snoring now.
"Then he'll try to kill us, that's what," Face said.
"Not to worry," Hannibal said as he sat down again, "I've got an extra dose of his bedtime drink on hand for that."
"Bedtime drink?" Frankie repeated curiously, "How often do you have to go through this routine?"
"Only every time we fly," Hannibal answered, "Which is quite often considering how many of our missions involve leaving the state of California."
"Alright Hannibal, now that we don't have to worry about B.A. objecting to the plan, what's the name of this island where we're going, when should we get there and what's it like?"
"It's called Blue Skull Island, what it's like I'm not exactly sure though it's to my understanding they do have some of the modern conveniences like air conditioned hotels and cold beer. As to how long it'll take us to get there, I'm not sure because I left the coordinations with Murdock."
"Oh great idea," Face said, "Knowing him he probably folded it up into a paper plane and tossed it away."
"Face, you've got to learn to have confidence in Murdock," Hannibal told him.
Frankie looked to the curtains separating the aisle from the cockpit and she asked Hannibal, "Can I go up there and see what he's doing?"
"Do anything you've a mind to," he said, and cynically added, "And being a woman, you will."
Frankie got up from her seat and walked up towards the cockpit and as she neared the curtains she could hear Murdock singing; straining to hear before she entered she was able to make out some of the words, "I asked my pappy why he called his brew white lightning instead of mountain dew, I took a little sip and right away I knew, as my eyes bugged out and my face turned blue."
Frankie drew back the curtains and stepped into the cockpit and saw Murdock with one hand on the control column and the other drumming his fingertips against the control panel as he continued singing in a slightly deeper voice than usual, "Weellll, T-Men, G-Men, revenuers too, searching for the place where he made his brew, They were looking, tryn'a book him, but my pappy kept a cooking," he sputtered and hiccupped, popped his lips and finished, "White lightnin'!"
"Hey Murdock," Frankie spoke up, and he about jumped out of his seat.
He turned around and said, "Don't tell me B.A.'s waking up already."
"No, he's out cold," Frankie said as she walked up to him.
"Good," Murdock said, "Because if I gotta land us now we're going right into the ocean."
"Murdock, where're the flight coordinations Hannibal had drawn up for you?" she asked.
Murdock reached over to the far side of the control panel and picked up a paper airplane and handed it to her.
"How long do you think it'll take to get there?" she asked as she sat down beside him.
"Well it'll take us the rest of the day to get to Florida, that much I know," Murdock said, "If I read Hannibal's directions right then we're going to be going down somewhere close by the Bahamas."
"That's down by Haiti, isn't it?" Frankie asked.
"Yeah, why?"
"Ain't you heard about that zombie potion they give people down there?" Frankie asked, "They act like their dead and their minds are completely destroyed."
"Sounds like Democrats to me," Murdock said.
"Murdock, have you ever heard of this Blue Skull Island?" Frankie asked.
"Can't say as I have but like Hannibal said it's a private little place, not exactly a tourist attraction though the locals do seem to be working on that," Murdock answered.
Frankie gazed out the plane's windshield and asked him, "How high up are we?"
"Well we must be clearing 10 thou..." he looked over at her and said, "You afraid of flying, ain't ya?"
"Must be," she said as she leaned back and strapped herself in, "I never flew before so I'd have no way of knowing."
"Well don't you worry, I am the best pilot there is, I've only crashed my plane once…well twice…well, if you count the time they shot a hole in the fuel tank…"
"Murdock," Frankie said.
"Yah?" he asked as he looked to her.
"Stop talking, you're not helping," she told him.
"Sorry, well don't worry, I've flown thousands of times, I know what I'm doing," he said, "And you were there when we got the plane, it's in tip top condition, what could…"
"Don't say it," Frankie warned him, "Something bad always happens when you do."
"Well anyway it's going to be a long flight," he told her, "So why don't you just try to relax?"
"Maybe I ought to ask Hannibal if he got a spare batch of B.A.'s bedtime drink," Frankie said as she stood up and went back to join the others, "I could stand a few hours of blissful unconsciousness."
Well so far the plane trip was off to a roaring stop; of the five passengers aboard, only two were conscious. Frankie had asked for a dose of whatever they'd given B.A. to knock her out for the rest of the flight, so if the unexpected should happen she wouldn't have to see her own death coming. Face had had his doubts about giving something so powerful to her, but he had told Frankie that he did keep some sleeping pills on hand, apparently that had been a mistake; Frankie had grabbed him by the collar and shook him until she got the pills and he had found out firsthand just how much upper-body strength a skinny woman could possess, then he couldn't wait for her to be knocked out.
After a few minutes the pills took effect and Frankie was dead to the world; thankfully Mad Dog didn't need the help of any pills to achieve the same effect, he passed out due to his own exhaustion, so it made for a very quiet flight.
"I don't know about you, Hannibal, but I'll like it when this is over and we can get rid of these two," Face said.
"What's the matter, Face, don't you like their company?" Hannibal asked jokingly.
"No, to be quite frank about it, I don't," Face said as he adjusted his collar, "Geez, now we got two of them like boa constrictors."
Hannibal just chuckled and took out a cigar to light.
"Hannibal, I've been thinking…"
"Congratulations, Lieutenant."
"Hannibal, I'm serious," Face said, "I think there's a problem here. I don't know about you, but it seems to me that ol' Mad Dog here isn't too bright, he seems to be more like a ventriloquist dummy, you know? If Frankie isn't talking for him then he's saying what she says…"
"What's your point?" Hannibal asked.
"Hannibal, you remember Of Mice and Men?" Face pointed over to the two sleeping passengers and said, "I think we got something similar here," he pointed at Frankie and said, "George," and pointing to Murdoch he added, "And Lenny."
"Well you have to remember, Face," Hannibal said, "Murdoch's been in a mental hospital for two years, about all that he can talk about is what goes on in there, and let's face it, not only is that not anything we want to hear about, we're not equipped to deal with his memories, that's Murdock's field of expertise."
"Yeah, well, maybe you're right, but I've got a bad feeling about this whole thing," Face said.
"Well that's your problem to deal with," Hannibal told him, "In the meantime we have other things to worry about."
"Hannibal," Face jerked a thumb towards Mad Dog and Frankie, "You think they have a chance? I mean do you really think they could make it?"
"If we can clear Murdoch on this murder rap, I don't see why not," Hannibal said.
"Ladies and gentlemen we are fast approaching Blue Skull Island and if you will look out the right side window you will see our final destination down below. Landing is estimated to occur within the next 10 minutes," Murdock's voice came over the loudspeaker in the cabin.
Face and Mad Dog got up from their seats to have a look down below.
"Whoa, it looks like a skull," Face said.
"Probably why they named it that," Hannibal said.
"Look at all those trees," Frankie said as she craned her neck to see.
"Looks like Vietnam," Face realized. He did a double take and then turned around, "Hannibal."
"I'm going to go speak with our pilot," he said as he got up from his seat and stepped down the aisle.
He pulled the curtain open and stepped in and saw Murdock bobbing his head from side to side and drumming his fingers on the controls as he hummed "Cambodia".
"Murdock," Hannibal said, "How fast can you get us landed? I think B.A.'s going to wake up soon."
"I'm looking for a runway," Murdock explained, "I'm not seeing any."
"Figures," Hannibal said, "But if Masterson chartered a flight here from Los Angeles he had to come in a plane around this size too. Don't you see an airport or anything down there?"
"I'm keeping my eyes peeled, Colonel, but I'm not coming up with anything," Murdock said.
Hannibal looked down at the island they were quickly approaching and couldn't see any fitting place to land either. Then, all of a sudden Murdock practically shot up in his seat and said, "Hey Colonel, I see it!"
"An airport?" Hannibal asked.
"No, look!" Murdock pointed.
Hannibal turned his head to see what Murdock saw, and he couldn't believe it. Up on the shore, just a few yards in from the surf.
"An aircraft carrier!" he couldn't believe it.
"How fortuitous for us," Murdock said, "And it's empty too!"
"Yeah, I just hope nobody's using it," Hannibal commented.
"Hannibal, what's going on?" Frankie asked as she came into the cockpit.
"Get back there and get strapped in!" he yelled at her, "We're about to land!"
"Oh yeah? Is he going to crash us?" Frankie asked.
"No."
"Then I'm staying here," Frankie said as she stepped further into the cockpit and looked out the windshield, "What's that?"
"Didn't you ever play Battleship?" Hannibal asked her, "That's an aircraft carrier, that's where we're landing."
"Now there's irony," she said, "Are we going to fit?"
"Good question," Hannibal turned to Murdock and asked, "What do you think?"
"Well those things are about 850 feet long, that should be enough room for us to touch down and stop," Murdock said, "That looks like a chopper carrier, assault version at that, those were built to hold 20 or 40 copters at once depending on the model, especially those big Sea Knights, it ought to hold one little ol' Gulfstream."
"I'm going back to the cabin," Frankie said with a groan, "I suddenly feel a need to say my prayers."
"Yeah, say one for me too," Hannibal told her as he sat down beside Murdock.
"Keep your fingers crossed, Colonel, I never tried landing on one of these babies before," Murdock said.
"Murdock, my toes are crossed," Hannibal told him.
"Here we go!" Murdock announced as the jet dropped at a considerable speed. Even Hannibal, who was always known as being unshakable, had a white knuckled grip under his gloves.
"Alright, here we are," Murdock said.
Hannibal realized that he'd closed his eyes, he opened them again and saw that indeed, Murdock had gotten them landed on top of the ship.
"Alright," he said, "Open the hatch, put the stairs down, and let's get out of here before B.A. wakes up."
"You got it, Colonel," he replied.
A local woman somewhere in her late 20s with dark hair, wearing a blue tie dye top and a green snake pattern sarong skirt came up to the six newcomers who were trying to make their way off the carrier with one unconscious member in tow.
"Can I help you?" she asked.
"Oh excuse us," Hannibal called down to her, "Is this your aircraft carrier?"
The woman smiled and shook her head, "It's the island's you might say."
"Then you don't mind if we use it, do you?" he asked.
"No," she said with a small laugh, "But it's a rather unusual place to land."
"Well we couldn't find the airport," Hannibal said by way of explanation as he made his way down with B.A.
"A lot of people say that when they come here, so that platform was put in to help people get down when they made the same mistake you did," the woman told him.
"Well that was very kind of whoever did it," Hannibal said, "Is there somebody here that could give us a tour? This is our first time here, obviously, and we'd like to know our way around."
"Yes," she said, "Once you come to the hotel I can get somebody to show you around."
"What hotel?" Face asked.
The woman turned and pointed to a building a couple hundred yards back behind them, "The Hotel Coconut."
"Sounds like my kind of place," Murdock said.
"I'll bet," Frankie said as she tapped him on the back of his head.
"Is there a place around here to rent cars?" Face asked.
"Not so many cars around here because we're a ways off from the city," the woman told him, "But we have a jeep for bringing in people from this landing point, and we do have a place to rent dune buggies to get around on the beach."
"That'll be close enough," Hannibal said, "And what's your name, miss?"
"Shelia," she answered, and looking at the unconscious man Hannibal was lugging she asked, "Is your friend alright?"
"It's always a choice of airsickness, or this reaction to the pills," Face explained, "We choose this."
"I see," Sheila said with a smile.
They got B.A. and their bags loaded onto an old jeep that Hannibal guessed would've been new when he was in Korea. It was a very tight fit and they'd have to make a second trip to get the rest of their luggage but everybody managed to squeeze in and Sheila drove them up to the hotel, which was a very impressive sight from close up. The Hotel Coconut was seven stories tall and made to look like it was constructed of grass and bamboo when in reality it was made from fiberglass, vinyl sidings and construction plaster.
"Very nice," Face said as he looked at the building, "Very…" he craned his neck at some of the bathing beauties in their swimsuits and added, "Impressive."
He felt a hand on the back of his head and it jerked him back around to face the others.
"Come on," Hannibal told the others as he put B.A. down in a chair in the main lobby with a pronounced 'oomph', "Let's get checked in."
Sheila resumed her post behind the front desk and Hannibal told her as he signed them in under an alias, "We're going to need three rooms with double beds, is that doable?"
"Certainly, sir."
From behind them, everybody heard B.A. grumble and groan as he started to wake up.
"Uh oh," Face said.
"Battle stations everybody," Murdock told the others.
Hannibal went over to the sergeant just as he started to open his eyes and realize where they were, or rather where they weren't.
"Hannibal!"
"Be quiet, B.A.," Hannibal hissed into his ear, "We're already checked in and Masterson is already here in this hotel, now I know that you're smart enough to realize how vital it is to our mission that we don't give ourselves away."
B.A. was quiet for a second and then added in a quieter tone, "I'm gonna get you for this, Hannibal, you drugged me and put me on another airplane!"
"You knew we were going to fly, that's why you took those airsick pills," Hannibal said, "You had an adverse reaction and fell asleep, now be quiet and behave yourself while we're here."
B.A. was still murmuring vague threats to Hannibal as they went and joined the others and got on the elevator to go up to their rooms on the fourth floor.
"We're each going to take two to a room," Hannibal explained, "B.A. and I'll take one room, Face, you and Mad Dog are going to take another, and Murdock and Frankie will take the third."
"Why don't we switch?" Frankie asked, "Mad Dog and I'll take one room, and Laurel and Hardy here will take the other."
"No dice," Hannibal told her, "Masterson is checked into this hotel and if he finds out we're here, or if any of the MPs come over here on a boat or a plane, if they manage to catch one set of you, the other will still have a chance to get away, and one of us and one of you making an escape will be better odds for all of us."
"What room is Masterson in?" Mad Dog asked.
"He's two floors under us," Hannibal said, "If he's paranoid then it makes sense because two floors up are easier to make an escape from than four or five, or seven."
"So when're we going to get him?" Frankie asked.
"Whoa," Hannibal grabbed her by the neck of her shirt, "You can't just go busting in there like the SWAT Team, if we're going to catch him we have to be smart about it, and that includes making sure he doesn't have any friends with him, and that he's not meeting anyone here, and if he is we need to find out who and where they are, and what their business is with him."
"Yeah but Colonel," Murdock said, "While we're here we can still have some fun, can't we? I mean did you see the size of the pool in this place? I want to go swimming."
"You can't swim, crazy fool," B.A. told him.
"I can't?" Murdock replied, "Well I sure thought I can, is that like the time you said I couldn't drive?" As B.A. opened his mouth to respond, Murdock got in his face and asked him, "Then who was it driving when we went to Mexico and you slept the whole way?"
"We didn't drive to Mexico fool, you drugged me and flew me out then too."
"Well I drove us from the airport anyway!" Murdock insisted.
"Children, please," Hannibal got between them, "Now Murdock, while we're here it's important that we blend in, so we'll be engaging in some of the usual hotel activities, so yes you'll be able to check out the hotel's pool."
"Oh good," Murdock said as he picked up one of the duffle bags, "I brought my swimming suit and I want to get some use out of it."
B.A. grumbled and said to himself, "Lord help us all."
They got off on the fourth floor and found their rooms; they were all decorated the same in the usual tropical island motif, though everybody was relieved to find the rooms had plenty of modern conveniences: adjustable thermostats, minibars and fridges, hot and cold running water, and telephones that rang down to the hotel staff and outside lines leading to local areas.
"They even have TV in this place," Face said, slightly amazed.
Murdock turned the knob on the set and fiddled with it and said, "Yeah, but it only gets one station and that seems to be the all Gilligan's Island channel."
"Oh that show was always so ridiculous," Face said, "Imagine them creating all those things out of bamboo and coconuts and spare parts from the boat every week, making all those wild contraptions out of absolutely nothing but whatever was laying around at the time, whoever heard of such a thing?"
"I know," Murdock said, "Crazy, ain't it?"