"Kinchloe! Where is Sergeant Kinchloe!" Meghan came running down the tunnel in search for the radio expert. "Newkirk!" She grabbed his arm. "Have you seen Kinch?"
"No, I haven't." Newkirk disentangled himself from her grip. "What's up?"
"It's the radio. They want to talk to you guys, and since we're not allowed to touch it..."
"Okay, I'll come."
A moment later they entered the radio room. Katie was still sitting by the equipment, with one hand hovering over the switch they had seen Kinch use so often in these past weeks. "Where is Sergeant Kinchloe?"
"Upstairs somewhere. I'll take the call," Newkirk decided. He moved the young lady out of the way and took the mike. "Papa Bear here. Go ahead, Goldilocks."
"Papa Bear, is that you? Thank heavens we can still reach you!"
"Why, what's up?"
"The Allies are pushing for the diamond this week. Everyone is run off their feet; all the radio frequencies are overloaded as we're speaking. There is no way we can do the Papa Bear awards this weekend."
Newkirk's eyebrows had quirked up at this. "The diamond? That sounds good, mate!"
"Yes, we're hoping for the best. But the Papa Bear awards will have to be delayed a bit. The new scheduled deadline is for next Friday, April 10th. Can you please pass this on to everyone concerned?"
"Sure. No worries. And good luck!"
Author's note: yes, due to a job interview in the city of diamonds (Antwerp), unfortunately the PBA schedule got a bit messed up. New deadline for your votes is Friday next week, April 10th, at 23.59:59 Hawaii time!
And keep those votes coming - they have been trickling in since February, but we really could do with some more input! And with an extra week to make your decision...