Missions of the Retrieval Team - A Kilt By Any Other Name

[davedove]

Scene 1

Mountain Chalet in Colorado

I relaxed on the deck of my chalet, looking out over the mountains.

Ms. Stork sat in the chair beside me. She read the book in her lap, something about pre-Roman highland mythology.

I didn’t comment on the topic of her reading. Her knowledge of obscure subjects had saved the team more than once.

I heard the gunfire from the firing range down the hill. Ms. Hawk had her own idea of relaxing after a job.

I heard both swearing and yells of joy from the room just inside the doors to the deck. Ms. Swan and Ms. Raven were playing some sort of video game. From the sound of it, they were pretty evenly matched on this one.

Ms. Starling and Ms. Thrush were reclined in the hot tub on the deck. “Thank you Jonathan,” Ms. Thrush said as our butler brought drinks to them.

As Jonathan went inside, he passed Ms. Falcon on her way out. She was wiping her hands in a rag and had a bit of grease smudged on her cheek.

“How’s it coming?” I asked.

“I’m all done. If I’m right, we should get about an eight percent increase in speed from the engine now.”

My other associate, Ms. Wren, was on an extended leave of absence from the team. It seemed that her reunion with her husband had a welcome consequence. There would be a little wren coming soon.

Jonathan came back out with the phone. “Phone call for you sir,” he said to me. Mr. Panache.”

“Thank you Jonathan,” I said, taking the receiver. I spoke into it, “Hi Jamie, what can I do for you?”

“You can get here as soon as possible is what you can do,” he said. “We have a situation here at the Great Hall.”

I immediately sat up. The ladies all saw my expression and began moving themselves. Ms. Starling spoke into the radio she always kept handy, “Hawk, come back now.”

“What is it Jamie?” I asked. “Is it Globo-Fashion again?”

“No,” he answered. “But it’s something just as serious. Just get here.”

“We’re on our way,” I told him and hung up the phone.

“Jonathan,” I said. “We need to depart as quickly as possible. Help whoever needs it to pack up a quick bag and load it into the car. The chalet is yours until we return.”

“Yes sir,” he said, spinning around to make the preparations.

“What is it?” asked Ms. Starling.

“He wouldn’t say, but it’s big. I want everyone ready to go in ten minutes.”