Date: Sun, 20 Nov 2005 10:42:09 EST
From: Jetjt@aol.com
Subject: Empire Chapter 45

The following story is a work of gay fiction. If the subject matter is
offensive to you or you are too young, please exit now. This story is the
property of the author and cannot be reproduced without permission.
JETjt@aol.com


				  EMPIRE

			    Chapter Forty-five

Friday the week after Thanksgiving, 9:45 AM, Ron's office

Matt was the first to arrive for the meeting that Ron had scheduled for 10
AM. After fixing himself a cup of coffee and warming up the one that Ron
had not finished, he carried the cups to Ron's desk and sat down.

"You look tired," Matt commented after placing Ron's cup on the coaster
that lay next to some papers that he was working on.

"Yes Babe, I am. It's been a long week. We've accomplished a lot though."

"Before we get all caught up in business this morning, we need to talk
about Christmas and New Year's," Matt said.

"You're right," Ron agreed. "I've been so busy with our energy thing and
the Tegano Constructors reorganization that it completely slipped passed
me. What do you have in mind?"

"Do you think we can get some help from Parker with the smaller gifts for
everyone? We'll still need to talk about the larger ones."

 "Parker will be in heaven," Ron laughed, "although gifts of new clothes
aren't much of a treat because he never lets anyone get down at the heels."

"I think we should ask the boys for a `want list'," Matt
suggested. "Sometimes we get so busy that we just don't see their needs,
and while they're not shy if they really need something, I'm sure they're
reluctant to ask for something they just want."

"I agree with that and with what's happening with the company, it's hard to
devote as much time to them as we'd like."

"In the way of larger gifts I think we should buy two more cars; another
one for the Ronnie-Jerry duo, and one for the Nathan-Carl pair."

"Yes, I agree," Ron said. "I know that since Tyler and Dan moved, the use
of just the one by both Ronnie and Jerry has become inconvenient, though
they haven't complained. Would you talk to Dan and decide who should get
the new one? I think we should buy a pick-up for Carl too. With his
construction job a pick-up would be more appropriate, plus it would be
convenient for us to have around. I'm not sure though, what we should do
for the ones that keep the old cars."

"Maybe we could get new stereos for the existing cars," suggested
Matt. "Let's get the `want lists' before we decide. I think we could buy a
new laptop computer for Eddie. That would take care of our boys but we
should get something for Zack too.  I'll discuss this whole thing with
Dan. Maybe he has some ideas."

"Thanks Babe. I appreciate it. I really apologize for not being more help."

"Not a problem Love," Matt said smiling. "We just can't get so busy that we
take the boys for granted."

"I'm worried about that," Ron said. "They're such good guys that it's easy
to forget that they have needs too, at times."

"Let's go to Lake Mead this weekend," Matt suggested. The weather is a bit
cool, especially for swimming, but we have a perfectly good houseboat that
we rarely use."

"Great idea hon," Ron agreed. "We'll invite Tyler and Dan and Carl can ask
David if he wants to come along."

"I'll call Dan and ask them," Matt offered, "then Parker and he can make
the arrangements and get Mary going on the food. We could leave for the
lake about 10 tomorrow morning, and come back Sunday after lunch."

"Sounds like a plan," Ron said as he saw the door to his office open and
Tyler and Dan enter.

"We were just talking about you," Ron said to the newcomers.

"Something good I hope," said Tyler with a smile.

"We were just talking about Christmas and about plans for the weekend,"
Matt said turning his chair then standing to greet the pair. "I told Ron
I'd get with Dan about gifts, and we were talking about going to Lake Mead
tomorrow and coming back Sunday. We want you guys to come with us, of
course."

"We'll have talk about it and let you know this afternoon," Tyler
offered. "I'm so tired, I can hardly think."

"We are too," Ron sympathized, "That's why we wanted to go to the
lake. It's very relaxing and we thought we'd like to spend some quality
time with the boys. I just hope I don't spend the whole time asleep."

"If we go," Tyler rejoined, "I'm sure a nice nap will be in order for me."

Ron's phone rang and he picked it up while Tyler and Dan helped themselves
to some refreshments at the coffee bar.

"Everyone is here," Margaret announced.

"Bring them in," Ron said. "We need to get started."

The door opened and the invited people came in. Ron motioned for everyone
to be seated at the conference table. He stepped to the head of the table,
and asked Tyler to take a seat at the foot. Matt sat on one side of Ron and
Margaret on the other. Dan took his place beside Tyler and the other
invitees took the remaining chairs."

"It's good to see you Richard," Ron said with a smile to Richard Adams, the
father of Ron's friend Bryan and the President of Construction
Leasing. "Glad you could join us too," he said to Jeff Davis from Chicago
and Jack Smith from New York. Jack and Richard had flown only that morning
from New York, stopping on the way in Chicago to pick up Jeff.  "I guess
this is everyone then?" he asked Margaret.

"Yes," she replied. "The Presidents of all your companies and the others
you wanted me to invite."

Ron looked around the table. He gave a special smile to Robert Cantwell,
the young staffer who was developing into such an asset to the
company. Robert looked just a bit uneasy to be in such august company. He
also gave a smile to Wes Harper who was wondering why he had been invited
to the meeting.

Ron began.

"I've asked you all here for probably the most important meeting since I
became active in Turner Holdings. In the past couple of months we've had
two events that will drastically affect our organization. The first is the
acquisition of Tegano Constructors. The acquisition has quadrupled our
construction capabilities, but more importantly, has brought with it vast
amounts of real estate that have been ignored for years. The Tegano
acquisition alone will increase our assets by 5 times, but will also cause
debt which we've never had, unless we choose to pay off the acquisition
early. This week we received a preliminary appraisal of the land. I'm
pleased to report that the value of the land alone is worth many times more
than the cost of the acquisition, so I suspect that we'll sell off the
least desirable pieces that we don't plan to develop to pay off the debt
obligations that we've incurred. I believe that most of you are at least
aware of the Tegano acquisition.

The second event occurred this week. We have entered into an agreement,
which was finalized yesterday, that will allow us to develop two new patent
groups. One will allow for the production of low-cost hydrogen, and the
other will purify water economically, most importantly seawater, to
drinking water quality.

A rumble of murmured surprise circled the table.

"For those of you who don't realize the importance of those two things,
I'll explain. Hydrogen has for the last few decades been considered the
fuel of the future. The biggest drawback to its use has been its cost to
produce. Right now, the cost to produce a gallon of hydrogen suitable to
vehicular use is around $5.  This new process will allow its production for
less than one dollar."

A bigger rumble of surprised comments erupted. Ron held up his hand until
quiet resumed.

"The second process can convert sea water to drinking water quality for not
much more than the cost to transport water for much of a distance. For
example: We could provide water to Los Angeles from the sea for about the
same cost as to transport water from the Colorado river. This discovery
could have a huge impact in the West especially. California currently
receives more than 60 percent of the lower Colorado River
allotments. Arizona gets most of the rest, with Nevada receiving only about
7%. The majority of the water for California goes for farming in the large
Imperial Valley along the Arizona border east of San Diego. The excess
water from that irrigation has created the Salton Sea, a brackish,
artificial saltwater sea east of Palm Springs, south of Indio. Instead of
using Colorado River water, treated water for that use could come from the
Sea of Cortez also called the Gulf of California, and water for L.A. could
come directly from the Pacific Ocean. With the new process 100% of the
water now used by Southern California could be provided at only slightly
increased cost over its present cost!  Water in Nevada, particularly here
in Las Vegas, has nearly tapped out the State's share of the Colorado River
allotment. Development of future water supplies for Nevada, for example are
extremely expensive!  Let's take another `for instance'. Let's say that the
Water Authority here were to build several desalinization plants on the
west coast and provide water to Los Angeles at today's rates for river
water, then trade that water now taken from the Colorado River for use in
L.A. for our use here. Our water problems are solved, and at a fraction of
the cost we're currently facing in the future. Our company could license
the process to the Water District and make a penny or two a gallon and our
construction company could build the plants!  All of this could be done at
no cost to our company and in fact we'd make profits from the beginning!
Guys, we're talking about many tens of millions of gallons daily and that's
only the beginning! The possibilities are endless!  We could turn the
Salton Sea and the Great Salt Lake into drinking water!  We could turn
Mexico and Saudi Arabia into desert oases. We could turn the Dead Sea into
"the Live Sea"! We could turn the Sahara Desert into lush farm land"

"The water side of the discoveries is the easiest to exploit. The hydrogen
side is more challenging. The reason is that at present there is little
developed market for hydrogen. I remind you though, that once the first oil
well was successfully drilled in Pennsylvania, and it was found that
kerosene was easy to distill from the crude oil, the market for that
product blossomed, then exploded when the refining process developed,
producing gasoline and all the other products based on crude oil. Many of
those products can be easily converted to use hydrogen. I'm told that both
automobile gasoline and kerosene used by jet airliners can be easily
replaced with hydrogen."

Robert Cantwell raised his hand.

"Yes Robert?" Ron said recognizing the young staffer.

"Uh^Å doesn't hydrogen have to be kept cool or pressurized or something to
be used as a liquid?"

"Yes, but our guys have a hydrogen derivative that can be kept in a liquid
state and used as fuel. Good question!"

Robert smiled at the compliment.

"Now what does that mean to us now, and why are we having this meeting? The
ramifications of these discoveries and our acquisition of Tegano, with the
exception of Turner Construction, don't seem to have much direct effect on
what you do presently. I'm sure you'll agree nevertheless that the
possibilities are stupendous. Folks, Turner Holdings, of which you all are
a part, plans to capitalize on these events and our present company will be
the springboard to vault us into the stratosphere! To make that reality two
things have to happen. First, we need to reorganize, especially at the top,
and secondly, you who are not directly effected will need to do your
current jobs better than ever. We stand to make unlimited profits and you
won't be forgotten, I can promise you, whether you're directly effected or
not."

"Matt, Tyler, Dan, Will and I have met several times this week to discuss
this opportunity. We have verified that the processes we've bought into are
real. We are now making some changes in our organization, which I'm sure
will be the first of many over the next couple of years. First, I'm
relinquishing my current position as President of Turner Holdings, I will
continue on as Chairman, but not as President. That position will be held
by Will Nuggent, who we all know runs the place anyway."

The attendees all clapped, congratulating Will who blushed at the
compliments.

"Next," Ron went on, "we're creating new companies to develop the
discoveries. The first company is to be named Genesis Energy and will be
headed by my brother, Tyler Turner. The Second, headed by Dan Barnes will
be called `Eden Water Resources'."

Another round of applause circled the table. Tyler took the floor
momentarily.

"I'd like to name the new President of Aztec-Turner Security, now. He's
proven himself in the past year over and over to be fully capable. I give
you the new President of Aztec-Turner, Wes Harper."

More applause, then Tyler regained his seat and Will Nuggent stood to
address the group.

"I certainly thank the Turners, Matt and Dan for their confidence in me,"
Will said. "In my first official act as President of Turner Holdings, I'd
like to announce my choice for Executive Vice President, Jan Bounett."

"I'm totally shocked," said Jan, once the applause died down. "^Å.. I guess
I accept!" she said to laughter from the meeting's participants.

"Me too," Wes stammered in shock to more laughter as Will sat back down in
his chair.

"Several other people in the room are also affected by these moves," Ron
continued as he took the floor again. "I'll make the announcements, and if
you'll hold your applause until the end it would be appreciated. I may seem
to be beating around the bush as I make these announcements, but I believe
an explanation is in order. "

"I know you wonder what I'm going to be doing as Chairman. Of course I'll
be overseeing everything, but making fewer direct decisions," Ron
explained. "The other thing is that both our new Tegano land acquisitions
and our new ventures in energy and water will require sites. For now I plan
to head up that effort until we find or promote someone for a new land and
development company that we plan to call, Turner Real Estate and
Development Company, or TREADCO.  As my Executive Assistant, I'm appointing
Robert Cantwell, and, of course I'm taking with me my Executive Secretary,
Margaret Hunsaker. Sorry Will," Ron said smiling. "Now I'd like to announce
that Jeff Davis and Phil Thompson, who head our Chicago offices of Turner
Consulting will be joining Tyler as Operations and Development Vice
Presidents of Genesis Energy, and that Jack Smith and Lonnie Austin, who
head our New York offices of Turner Consulting will be joining Dan in
similar positions at Eden Water Resources. Let's congratulate these
people."

A huge round of applause filled the room and as the clapping died down,
Charlie Parker, the President of Turner Consulting complained with a
feigned expression of displeasure, "Doggone Ron, you took my best guys!"

Laugher replaced the applause.

"We won't let you hang, Charlie," Ron promised. "Those four guys have
assured me that they have some excellent candidates for their positions."

"What about Robert?" Charlie asked.

Robert piped up with, "How about Jeffery King? He's as smart as I am."

Everyone laughed, as Robert blushed when he realized what he'd said.

"Good suggestion," Charlie replied as Ron nodded in agreement.

"What's Matt gonna do?' asked Robert after he regained his composure.

"Matt's going to stay the head of the Turner Trust," Ron replied. "The
Turner Trust has always been somewhat autonomous from the other Turner
Companies and will be the recipient of an immense amount of money from both
the Tegano acquisition and the new energy and water companies. The Trust
also owns, in its own right, much of the land from the Tegano purchase, so
I'll be working with Matt to maximize the returns on that."

"I might have figured," Robert said with a grin as more laughter erupted.

"One last thing," Ron said. "It's obvious to me that we're quickly going to
run out of office space. This week, we've acquired 120 acres of land near
the intersection of Sahara and the 215 loop; we intend to move our
headquarters there with most of our operations. We'll also be moving the
entire Tegano Constructors operation here to merge with Turner
Construction. They will occupy our present buildings and the rest of us
will move to our new site, once it's built. That will take about two
years. In the meantime, we'll probably establish Tyler and Dan's operations
elsewhere, and perhaps even Turner Construction. There is a lot to do."

"Were you really serious about building a mile-high skyscraper?" Matt
asked.

Ron laughed. "I'd like to," he replied, "but I'm afraid that it's a target
that Al Quaida couldn't resist. They love tall structures."

A strange look came over Ron's face as he finished speaking.

"Uh Wes^Å.. after lunch could I meet with you?" he asked.

Wes looked at his handsome leader and replied, "Sure, no problem."

"I guess that's all for now then," Ron said wrapping up the meeting. "I've
reserved a section of the company dining room for lunch, so if there are
any comments you wish to make we can address them there. I'd like to thank
you all for the wonderful job you've done for our company, and
congratulations again on the promotions we announced today. I look forward
to a very bright future."

The room again was filled with applause, then when it died down everyone
stood and began heading for the dining room, engaged in conversations with
their compatriots.


As Ron put his notes back on his desk before departing, George Devereaux,
the President of Turner Drywall Products approached Ron.

"Hi George," Ron said as he saw the man come near.

"Ron, you surprised the hell out of me today and I'm sure I'm not alone."

"Yes, I think most everyone was with you. What can I do for you?"

"Well, I thought this was going to be a regular meeting, so I had something
I wanted to bring up. It sounds minor compared to the news you sprang on
us, but I'll mention it anyway."

"Sure George, go ahead. Do you want to sit?"

"No thanks, I'd just like to tell you so you can think about it."

"Okay," Ron said still standing.

"I think we should sell Turner Drywall Products. I know it sounds like I'm
cutting my own throat, but it's still the smart thing to do. I have an
offer for $550 million that I received first thing this morning for the
company. Our assets in the company right now equal about $50 million. It
would give you a half-billion dollars in cash, and it would take us more
than 20 years to make that much in profits. As you undoubtedly know, Turner
Drywall is the poorest performer of all your companies."

"I appreciate your input, George. What do you personally want to do?"

"I've been offered the same position with the new company that would buy
the plants, but I'd rather stay with you if you can find room for me."

"We'd be happy to have you stay George. There are tons of
possibilities. You could go with the new combined construction company, as
there are a number of vacancies; you could go with either Tyler or Dan in
their companies; or you could stay with me in doing land and construction
deals. I won't ask you to decide now, just think about it.  Anyway, I
really appreciate your advice and I'd like you to take the sale up with
Will. You can tell him that you mentioned it to me if you'd like, and that
I think that it sounds like a good opportunity. By the way, if he agrees
with your advice, there will be a nice bonus in it for you. I know we can
use the money that the sale would produce."

"Thanks Ron," George said with a smile. "I'll talk to Will either at, or
right after lunch."

"Good," Ron said smiling back. "Let's eat."

George preceded Ron out of the office headed toward the lunchroom, and Ron
joined Matt who had waited for him outside Margaret's office.

"What took you so long?" Matt asked.

"I'll tell you at lunch Babe," Ron promised.

			* * *

Saturday morning, Noon, Lake Mead The large houseboat moved out from the
Marina past the `no wake' buoys where Ron, who was at the helm, pushed the
throttles forward to bring the two V-8 engines to their 3500 rpm cruising
speed. The 24' x 70' double-decker craft responded, slicing through the
water at a leisurely 8 miles per hour. Behind the craft a 22' run-about,
tethered by a stern line to the large vessel, bobbed along in the
houseboat's wake.

The four adults plus their `kids', along with David ben Sharif were
aboard. All of the other adults and all of the kids, except David, had
moved to the top deck observation lounge where the view of the lake spread
like a panorama from their lofty perch. David had remained below on the
main deck with Ron, observing the older man's handling of the piloting
task.

"Would you like to take over?" Ron asked.

"Uh^Å I've never driven a boat before," David replied. "I'd like to
though."

"It's not hard," Ron assured the young man. "You just have to keep track of
where you're going and watch out for other boats which can come from
anywhere. Since we're going so slow and not towing people, it's not so
important to see what's behind you, just ahead and to the sides. I'll stay
here with you, then if you want we can transfer the piloting after while to
the bridge on the upper deck."

"Okay, I'll try for as long as you'll stay here or at least until I know
what I'm doing," David accepted.

Ron offered David the wheel, then explained the controls and gauges that
controlled the boat's power and steering.

When he'd finished explaining about all the engine and steering details, he
moved to the navigation instruments. "On that screen there," Ron said
pointing to a 5" screen, is our GPS navigation screen. It superimposes our
location on a map of the lake and can be zoomed in and out with this
switch. It locates us to an accuracy of 5 feet. With this switch," he
pointed to another control, "you can superimpose the bottom topography to
see how much water is beneath us. This boat has only a 4 foot draft, which
is fairly shallow for so large a boat, but the propellers stick down
another foot," Ron explained. "Over here, he said pointing to another
screen with numbers and a jagged line superimposed on a grid, is the
sonar. That gives us direct confirmation of the water's depth below us."

"One of the problems with a boat this tall and this shallow," he continued,
"is that the wind will try to push the boat off course, so, unless you're
on autopilot, you have to make constant corrections."

"This boat has autopilot?" asked David in surprise.

"Yes, and radar too which is helpful, especially at night, or when another
boat is approaching. The GPS is pretty accurate, but it won't tell you
about other boats. The radar right now will give you a series of warning
beeps of any boat or land within 500 feet. You can turn the beeps off, but
I'd not recommend it unless you've visually located the other boat or the
shoreline. The radar will show you where another boat is. See that boat
there?" Ron asked pointing to a blip on the screen."

"Yes," but it's been there for quite a while," David replied. "I looked out
the window. It's just a small boat, but it's moving slowly at the same
speed we're going. I wonder why? It can go a lot faster than we can."

Ron looked out the side window.

"Oh that's just our security boat," he said nonchalantly.

"Security boat?" David questioned.

"Yes, we have security guards that are there to protect us."

"I don't understand," admitted David.

"David, when you have great wealth you are always a target. I agreed to
have security, after someone tried to shoot me down once and another time
planted a bomb on our plane. They almost succeeded in killing me. The world
is full of bad people. There are crazies, terrorists, and a lot of people
who either have something to prove or simply think they can get rich by
kidnapping or killing someone I love. Right now our home and offices are
protected and when we go somewhere together we also have protection, but
unless there is a known threat, we don't have constant security around
everyone. For instance, Carl doesn't have protection at work or even coming
and going. Everyone has been trained to protect themselves if possible, or
better yet to escape, but no one, not even the President of the United
States can be completely secure, yet we learn to live with it. The
apprehension we might have is offset by our desire to be free. To do as we
choose."

"I understand," David said, before changing the subject. "I notice the wind
trying to turn the boat's direction," David said as he turned the wheel to
make heading corrections. "How do you land this thing at a dock when the
wind is blowing?"

"It's a bit tricky," Ron admitted, "and something you're not ready for yet,
but I'll explain. The propellers are at the stern of the boat of course,
and can handle the rear adequately even when going slowly. The problem is
the bow, which wants to go where the wind pushes it. Up front we have a bow
thruster that is mounted in a small cross tunnel in the bow. This small
stick here controls the thruster, which will push the bow sideways. It's
only used when docking or going at very slow speed. If you want to go to
the right, you push the stick right, if you want to go faster to the right
you push the stick further. It works the same way if you want to go
left. It's powered by an electric reversible motor which is far less
powerful than the main propellers, but it works well in cross winds up to
about 35 miles per hour."

"What happens if the winds are higher than that?"

"Hopefully you've stayed home," Ron said with a grin, "but you can stay on
the water, attempt a dock landing using forward motion for control, or
beach the boat until the wind dies down."

"Thanks for the lesson Sir. I really appreciate you letting me drive the
boat, and explaining all this stuff to me," David said almost timidly. "No
one else has ever really cared about me enough to do anything like that. Do
you mind if I ask you a question, sir?"

"Ron," corrected Ron. "No I don't mind. What would you like to know?"

"Why are you doing this? I mean, I'm nobody. Why do you trouble yourself
being nice to me?"

"First of all you're not `nobody,' not to me, not to Matt, Tyler nor Dan,
and neither are you `nobody' to the boys, especially Carl, who thinks a
great deal of you. Second, and particularly important when we first met
you, you're Carl's friend. Our boys are special to us. All of them came
from tough backgrounds, so we treat them and their friends, with special
kindness. Finally, we've come to love you for yourself. You have the
makings of a fine man with a good future. If we can, we'll help you realize
your dreams."

"I^Å.I^Å.I just don't know what to say," Carl stammered.

"You don't have to say anything," Ron offered. "Just know that whatever
your past was, it's gone. You're you, we love you, and we care about
you. I'm sure you'll make us proud of you."

"I'm not too sure of that," David countered with tears forming in his eyes.

"Do you mind my asking why you think that?"

"Uh^ÅI^Å. I really want to tell you," David said sadly, "but^Å I can't"

"That's alright Son," Ron said kindly. "I won't press you. Just know that
if you want to talk to me at any time all you have to do is ask."

"Some day you might not believe what I'm saying, but I'll say it anyway. I
really do love you guys. You're the best people I've ever known."

"Thank you David," Ron said with sincerity. "Know that we think only the
best of you too."

"Uh^Å. Ron^Å. I hate asking this since you've been so nice, but I will
anyway. Would you mind driving?  I have some thinking to do."

"Sure," Ron said smiling. "Would you stay here a minute while I run
topside?  I'll take control over from up there. When I call down on this
speaker, press the red button next to the throttles and make sure the light
goes off. After that, I'll have the control from the upper bridge."

"I'll be ready," David promised, "and Ron, thanks again."

"You're welcome Son," Ron said smiling. "Just remember what I said. You're
part of this family now."

Ron quickly left the room headed topside. A couple of moments passed, then
Ron announced over the speaker that he was ready. David pressed the button
as instructed, and over the speaker he heard Ron say, "Got it!"

David slumped back in the captain's chair, his mind in turmoil. `What am I
going to do? How can I hurt the only people who have ever cared for me?' he
thought. Shaking his head as if to clear his muddled thoughts, he stood,
wiped his eyes and headed for the small stateroom that he'd been
assigned. He knew he was unfit now to be good company to anyone. His mind
was torn asunder by the conflict of his predicament.

On the upper deck, Ron was joined in the small pilothouse at the front of
the tall houseboat by Matt, Tyler and Dan. The four younger boys were in
the rear observation lounge that opened through sliding glass doors to the
open rear deck where two personal Seadoos sat in cradles next to davits
which could hoist them over the side and let them down into the water. Carl
and Nathan were examining the highly powered jet boats while the younger
guys had chosen teams and were excitedly challenging their opponents to a
game on the boat's Play Station.

"Let's get a snack from the lounge's refrigerator," Nathan suggested when
they had tired of poking around the speedy craft. "I hope we beach this big
puppy pretty soon, I'd sure like to try out one of those babies."

"Yeah, me too," Carl said, following his lover toward the sliding glass
doors. "We should look in the equipment locker too. Dad said there were
some wetsuits in there."

"Let's eat first," responded Nathan. "We've only been on the lake for an
hour. I suspect it's going to be at least another hour before we get to
where we're going to camp. There's plenty of time to get ready."

"You got it Baby," Carl agreed. "That stuff's all downstairs anyway so we
can check it out later."

An hour and a half later, in the upper pilothouse.

"Hi guys," Nathan said along with Carl as they stepped into the wheelhouse
where the four older men were engaged in conversation.  Ron was sitting in
the pilot's chair watching the craft as the autopilot steered the large
boat slowly up the narrowing channel. "When are we going to stop?" Nathan
asked. "Carl and I want to try out the Seadoos."

"We're probably 30 minutes or so from our destination," Ron reported. "Have
you guys checked out the wetsuits yet?  You might also check the fuel and
oil levels in the personal watercraft too. By that time we should be there
or close. I'd like your help when we beach the houseboat. I'll show you how
to do the mooring lines."

"We're glad to help," Carl replied. "Where's David?  I thought he was with
you."

"We were down on the main deck and I showed him how to pilot the boat," Ron
replied. "We talked for a while too. Maybe you and I can chat later alone
about it. He may be in his bunk taking a nap or snacking. I really don't
know."

"Okay Dad," Carl said smiling. "I'll check on him. Don't want him to feel
alone. Nath, would you check the fuel in the Seadoos?  I'll go below and
dig out the wetsuits."

"There are two `shorties' in the locker as well as full coverage suits,"
Ron reported. "As warm as it is today I suspect that the `shorties' will be
sufficient. They're a lot easier to put on and take off too."

"Thanks Dad," Carl said as the two older boys left the small cramped
wheelhouse.

"You wanna take over Bro?" Ron asked.

"I've never run one of these before," Tyler reported.

"There's no time like the present to learn," Ron admonished his brother.

		* * *

Down below Carl had opened the locker and pulled out the two short wetsuits
that his Dad had recommended. Laying them in the shade, and unzipping them,
he looked to see if Nathan was coming down. Not seeing him, Carl decided to
go find David.

Stopping by the small cabin that had been assigned to David, Carl saw
evidence that David had mussed up the covers, but he was nowhere to be
seen. Looking down the hallway into the main cabin, he saw no trace of his
friend. He had just decided that David must be in the head, when he heard a
large thump from down the hallway. There were two heads off the hallway and
he grabbed the door handle on the first, swinging it open as he called to
David. The room was empty. Moving quickly a few feet further down the
hallway that not only served 5 of the 6 cabins on the boat, but also served
as a major front-to-rear passageway, he reached for the knob of the second
head's door.  He again called "David," as he grasped the handle. The door
was locked. Knocking, then calling the third time, he got no response. He
had heard the loud thump and guessed that David might have passed out
inside, so becoming alarmed about his friend, he started to turn to run for
help. In doing so, his eyes looked down glancing at the floor. From under
the doorway blood flowed.

			*	*	* 	*	*