Scene 5

Aboard the Cruise Ship Ceilidh


Finding Panache turned out to be a difficult task. Anyone who has ever been on a cruise ship knows that they are big, with lots of rooms tucked away in the strangest places.

Ms. Stork and I were passing the ship’s casino when we again encountered Coemgen. He came up to us when we greeted him.

“Mr. Coemgen, maybe you can help us. We are looking for Panache. Have you seen him?”

“Ah, no, so sorry,” he answered. “I have not seen honorable Panache-san.”

“Well, if you do would you tell him we need to speak with him.”

“Of course, honorable Dove-san.” He continued on his course.

“I’m not sure,” I said to Ms. Stork, “but that seemed like a Japanese accent.”

“Yes,” she answered, “a bit over the top, but definitely Japanese.”

We continued our search of the ship. Since it was nearly time for our ship to embark on its journey, we headed up to the top deck. Perhaps Jaime would be there watching our departure.

As luck would have it, Jaime was indeed on the top deck with his family. Also there, in deep conversation with him, was another of the Moderators, David.

I quickly walked up to them.

Jaime noticed me first. “Hello again Dave. David here was giving me his opinion on where exactly to mount cannons to arm this ship.”

“Yes,” said David, “although this is obviously not a warship, it would not be too difficult to turn her into one. A few cannons with the proper reinforcement to the ship’s structure and this ship could be quite deadly.”

“Err, right,” I said. “Jaime, I need to talk with you. David, you too, since you’re here.”

“Oh yes,” answered Panache, “I saw Coemgen and he said you were looking for me.”

“That’s right. What was it with his accent? Japanese, wasn’t it?”

“Actually, he sounded very Italian to me. Strange, isn’t it?”

“Yes it is. Anyway, I think you need to know that Grant is on the ship. Plus, he has at least Big Mikey with him.”

“I wondered if he might show up,” Jaime said. “This cruise is open to kilt enthusiasts, and Grant is a kilt wearer, unbalanced though he may be. If he signed up, there’s no way to keep him off the ship.”

“We could always throw him overboard once we set sail,” David casually added to the conversation.

Panache and I looked at David, then at each other, each of us considering the suggestion.

“Naaa!” we both said, in unison.

“Let’s just keep an eye on him,” said Jaime. “If he causes any trouble we’ll deal with it when it happens.”