Missions of the Retrieval Team - The Girl with the Silvery Smile

[davedove]

Scene 6


Grand Dining Room, Great Hall of X Marks the Scot


After the meal, we all left the tables and gathered to mingle. I was talking with Riverkilt, introducing him to the members of my team when Todd came up to me.

“Have you noticed what the California members were wearing?” he asked me.

“Yes, I did,” I answered. “What do you make of it?”

“Oh, I think it’s a marvelous idea,” he answered. “I had my reservations at first, but after talking to one of them, the idea began to grow on me. I think everyone ought to be wearing them tonight.”

“But it’s not at all traditional.”

“No, but don’t you think it looks great.”

“I guess,” I answered. Todd then moved away to talk with some others.

Todd’s behavior seemed strange to me. He normally was fairly traditional in his dress. Sure, he would never criticize anyone else, but such things weren’t for him. To want to adopt such non-traditional dress as his own was completely out of character.

I motioned for Ms. Starling to join me. “Have you noticed anything about the California members?” I asked her.

“I assume you mean besides their headgear. The couple I have talked to seem very enthusiastic about the hats. I’ve also noticed a few of the other guests seem to feel the same way.”

“Yeah, I was just talking with Todd and he seems ready to get one for himself.”

“Todd, but he’s a pretty strict traditionalist, at least for his own attire.”

“That was my thought as well. I think something is going on here. Pass the word among the team and have them keep alert. I’m going to talk with Mike and see what he thinks.”

I made my way over to Mike, who was standing with Panache. Both were talking to Hamish.

“But Hamish,” said Panache, “You simply must get one of those caps for your formal attire. And the pink feather is an absolute must have.”

“Panache,” Hamish replied, “Those hats are simply not something I would wear. They look like something a re-enactor would wear, not something that would be worn with formal highland attire.”

“I agree with Panache,” said Mike. “You have got to get one. In fact, I think all of the members should be wearing them.”

Something was definitely wrong here. I quickly moved in.

“Gentlemen,” I said. “I hope you don’t mind if I steal Hamish for a bit. I would like to introduce him to the rest of my team.

“Of course,” Mike answered. “I need to mingle a bit more anyway.”

“And I do too,” said Panache. “Hamish, we will speak some more later.”

I quickly began to wheel Hamish’s chair away. “Hamish,” I said, “I’m sorry for being so abrupt, but I think something strange is going on around here.”

“I assume you’re speaking about the caps that the Californians are wearing?”

“That’s it exactly. People who would never consider wearing such a thing with their kilts are suddenly extremely enthusiastic about getting one of their own.”

“What do you think is causing it?”

“I don’t know, but I wanted to get you away before whatever it is affected you.”

I put a quiet call out to my team over the ear receivers we always wear and asked them to meet me in the library. We had to figure out what was going on.