Algeria Here I Come
by: E Walk
(© 2008 by the Author)
 

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Chapter 17

Allie Saves the Day

We were awakened by a knock on the door, “Dad and Brahim, we’re hungry.  We’re getting ready to dock.  We’ll be on the veranda when you’re ready to go.”

I hugged Brahim, “I guess we just got our wake up call.”  I looked at the clock and it was only 6:45.  I thought we weren’t supposed to dock until nine.  We took care of the morning duties and went to join the guys on the veranda.  They were watching all of the activity on the dock.  People were scurrying about and some people were standing there with luggage.

John yelled, “There’s our parents and our snotty sister.  How did they get her out of bed this early.  Look, there are two other gentlemen with them.  I wonder who they are?”

Allie looked at me and winked,  “Oh, they’re probably some more entertainers coming on board to keep the old folks happy.  I’m starving.  Let’s go eat.”

We stopped for Kate and Jocelyn and made our way to the dining room.  Philippe took us to a table for eight and we had just sat down when Dr. Roberts joined us.

After we finished breakfast, we were passing the photo shop area where they were displaying the photographs from when we were boarding the ship and the pictures that were taken the night before while everyone was dressed in their formal clothes.  There was a big sign that read, ‘Who Says Cruising Can’t Be Fun?’

There was a big crowd around one of the display boards.  As an older couple was walking away, they turned to us and the gentleman commented, “That’s you beautiful people in the those pictures isn’t it?”

Allie shrugged his shoulders, “We have no idea, because we haven’t seen the pictures yet.  My names Allie, this is my Dad Ed and my brother Brahim and these are our friends, John, Jim, Miss Kate, Miss Jocelyn and Dr. Roberts.”

The gentleman shook Allie’s hand, “We’re Ruth and Craig Adler.  I hope we see you around the ship, so we can be reminded of what it was like to be young once.”

We finally got to get a glimpse of what everyone was looking at and it was an enlargement of the picture of the three of us as we had posed for the formal photo as Allie had wanted.  The only problem was that the outlines of Brahim’s and my sexual appendages were definitely apparent in the picture.  I wanted to make a comment but decided that silence was golden.

Dr. Roberts announced that he needed to go get ready for his presentation on Stockholm which was scheduled for ten o’clock.  Allie wanted to go hear what he had to say, but John and Jim begged off saying they wanted to go swimming.  Kate and Jocelyn wanted to go get a massage.  We agreed to meet at 11:30 at the entrance to the dining room. 

Allie, Brahim and I went to the theatre to hear the talk.  We listened as Dr. Roberts described the things to do and see in Stockholm.   Allie decided that we had to go see the Viking Ship Museum.  We stopped at the shore excursion desk to see if the tour that included Viking Ship Museum was still available.  It was, but the young woman suggested that we should decide quickly if  we wanted to go since the number of seats was limited.

When we got to our cabin, the message light on the phone was blinking.  Allie picked up the phone to retrieve the messages and put the phone on speaker. 

The first call was from Amir.  “Hi guys, Khaly and I are in suite 1000.  Give us a call when you are alone, so we can come talk to you.”

The second message was from Doctor Sorenson’s nurse,  “Doctor Sorenson would like to check on Allie’s and Brahim’s injuries before  they go on their tour.  He’ll be in his office until noon.”

I called Khalid and Amir’s suite.  Khalid answered, “Khalid here.”

“This is Ed.  Just the three of us are in our suite.”

“Great, Amir and I will be right there.”

A chime was ringing and Allie went to answer the door,  but there was no one there.  He stepped into the hallway and still nobody.  He was about to close the door when the chimes sounded again.  We realized the sound was coming from the door to the veranda.”

Allie went to let Khalid and Amir in, “How did you get to our veranda?”

Amir chuckled, “We walked through the wall.”

Allie put his hands on his hips in disgust, “I may be dumb, but I’m not stupid enough to believe that you can just walk through a wall.  Next you will be telling us that you can fly.”

The two guys were enjoying giving Allie a difficult time.  Khalid nodded, “You already know we can fly.  Don’t you remember that’s how we got you to London.  We had Albert open the partition between our two verandas so we could talk to you without anyone knowing that we know each other.  We’ll be around you as much as we can, but just ignore us.”

I intervened, “Guys, go see Doctor Sorenson and I’ll meet you in the dining room.  I’ll tell you later what's happening.”

After the Brahim and Allie had departed, I looked at Khalid and Amir.  “Guys, something serious is happening, isn’t it?   Should we cancel the tour this afternoon?”

Khalid answered for them, “The President of Algeria is very concerned for your safety and that’s why we’re here.  Our mission is  to make sure that the three of you get back to the states safely.  What tour are you scheduled to be on and we’ll arrange to be on the same tour and on the same bus as the three of you?  Just don’t let on you know us.”

After Khalid and Amir disappeared through the opening on the veranda wall, I went to the bathroom and departed for the dining room.

I was surprised that even Brahim and Allie were already there.  Allie looked at me and smiled, “How come you’re late Dad.  We’re starving.”

We walked in and Philippe led us to a table for twelve and  announced, “This will your assigned table for dinner during the remainder of the trip.  Josef and David will still be your servers. They threatened they were going take me and drop me overboard if they weren’t assigned to your table.”

We were just about to order when Philippe returned, “Mr. Waller, Dr. Whitney has asked if he and his wife might join you for lunch.”

What was I going to say, “We have four empty seats, please have them join us.”  I had no sooner said that than Khalid and Amir arrived and they were ushered to the table.  They introduced themselves to us as if they had never  met any of us before.  I was so proud of how Allie handled the situation. 

It really turned out to be an extremely fun meal.  It turned out that all of us were going to be taking the same shore excursion at 1:30 so we gathered at the entrance to the theatre so that we could all be on the same tour bus.

The tour guide did a credible job explaining the sites of Copenhagen as we drove by them, but the three young guys were getting fidgety.  When we stopped at Tivoli Garden, the young tour guide handed us each a ticket so we could get into the park.  It was so exhilarating to watch Allie, John and Jim.  They were eager to try anything and everything and I swear they made the most of the three hours we were in the park because my wallet felt a whole lot lighter after the experience.

We arrived back at the pickup point at the appointed time and I noticed that Khalid and Amir were always close by but stayed in the background.  The bus transported us back to the ship.  Brahim, Jocelyn, Kate and I were the last four people to exit the tour bus because the three young guys wanted to sit in the back.  As I stepped down from the bus, a shot buzzed by me.

Khalid yelled for everyone to get down, but for some reason Dr. Roberts raised up in front of me and the next shot caused him to slump to the ground and blood was appearing on his shirt.  Another shot hit Dr. Whitney who must have thought he wasn’t in any danger, and he slumped to the ground.  Allie stood up and fired a stone with the slingshot the he had in the pocket and hit one of the would be assassins in the eye and that diverted the second assailant long enough so that Allie could get off another shot and the second assassin was writhing on the ground.

Khalid and Amir started running toward to the two downed gunmen. They were joined by the local police and the two gunmen were quickly  immobilized.  While that drama was unfolding, two ambulances arrived and carried Dr. Roberts and Dr. Whitney away.   

Needless to say, there were some very shaken people on the pier.  As we went through the security checkpoint, the chief security officer confronted Allie.  “Mr. Safi, I believe that you have a weapon that we need to confiscate until you get off the ship the next time.”

When we got to our suite, Allie sat down and started to cry, “Dad, I just want to go home.  I don’t want anyone else to get hurt because of me. I’m not getting off the ship again.”

I was holding him when the door chime rang, Brahim answered and Mr. and Mrs. Thomas were standing there with John and Jimbo.

I looked up, “Hi boss, what can I do for you.  I apologize that your sons were endangered this afternoon because of us.”

I stood and shook his and his wife, Nancy’s, hands and introduced them to Brahim and Allie and invited to them to  enjoy some of the snacks that Albert had brought, and offered them a drink.

Allie had perked up when John and Jim arrived and the three of them grabbed a plate of snacks and a drink out of the refrigerator and went out to the veranda so they could watch the activity that was happening on the pier.  There were police and security people everywhere.

Jim, Sr. dropped a bomb, “Ed, I’m not your boss anymore.”

I was really confused, “Jim, are you telling me that I’ve been fired?

Jim was noncommittal, “Ed, all I can say is that I was told that you would no longer be working in my division.  I know nothing about what the headquarters has in mind for you.  I’m as curious as you are about what is going to happen when we get back to Houston.  After what happened today, I am wondering if we are all going to make it back in one piece.”

Our conversation was interrupted by three excited ten year olds.  Allie spoke for them, “Dad, Dr. Roberts and Dr. Whitney are getting on the ship.  Dr. Roberts has his left arm in a sling and Dr. Whitney is walking with a crutch.  Come on, we need to go make sure they are okay.  Dr. Roberts might need some help since he’s traveling by himself.”

I excused myself as I was practically being pulled out the door by Allie.  He yelled back as we were leaving.  “Jimbo and John, we’ll see you at dinner.”

We went to the nearest elevator, but we missed the two gentlemen and Allie led me to the information desk, “Could you please tell us the cabin number for Dr. Darryl Roberts?  We want to see if we can be of any assistance to him.  We know that he is on the ship because we saw him boarding.”

The young man at the desk was very firm, “I’m sorry sir, we can’t give out our passenger’s state room numbers.”

Allie looked at the young man, “May I please use your phone?”

The young man handed Allie the phone not knowing what Allie had on his mind because I sure didn’t know what he was doing.  Allie dialed a number and some one answered because Allie was talking, “Hey Pietro, this is Allie.  May I please speak with the Captain?”

 

Allie was quiet, but all of a sudden he perked up, “Hi Captain Brower, could you please explain to this gentleman that it’s okay for him to tell us Dr. Roberts’ room number so we can go check on him?  We saw him coming on the ship and his arm is in a sling.  We want to go see if he needs any help. … Okay sir, I’ll put Mr. Rhodes on.”

Allie handed the phone to young man, “The Captain would like to speak to you.”

The young man looked a little white, but he took the phone. “This is Rhodes. … Yes sir.  I understand sir. … Yes sir, I will sir.”

 

The young man opened a screen on the computer and announced, “Dr. Darryl Roberts is in cabin 603.”

Allie started to say something but he thought better of it and instead said, “Thank you, Mr. Rhodes.”

We went to Cabin 603 and rang the bell.  Dr. Roberts opened the door and motioned for us to come in with his good hand.

Allie started, “Grandpa Darryl, we came to help you change clothes for dinner.  I’ll sit beside you tonight so I can help you cut your food if you need help.  Now, why don’t you let Dad help you change clothes for dinner.  We don’t want you here by yourself.  We want to make sure that you are going to be okay, so you can tell us about the rest of the places we will be visiting, plus we love you.”

Dr. Roberts hugged Allie and he definitely had tears on his cheeks.  I helped Dr. Roberts into the bathtub and waited until he was ready to get out.  We were blown away when there was a clean change of clothes waiting for him as he exited the bathroom. Allie yelled, “Dad, bring the Doctor to our suite.  I need to change clothes for dinner and so do you.”

I helped Dr. Roberts as best I could, but he was a very proud person.  He finally admitted, “Ed, I wish so very much that Tom could be here to help me, but he had some things that needed to be done that precluded him from making this trip with me.  It is very uncomfortable for me to have a stranger and his young son taking care of me and having you see my body.”
 

“Dr. Roberts, neither Allie nor I want you to be embarrassed  Please just let us help you at least until you are feeling better.  I think you better be prepared to be pampered at dinner, and we’ll just have to wait and see what Doctor Allie has planned for you.”  

To be continued...

Editor's notes: I'm feeling much better now that my arm has healed. You can't imagine how difficult it is to type when you have a sore arm.

Allie is pretty darn good with his sling shot.  I think it might be prudent to remain on the ship till it docks at the home port.  If they have assassins waiting at every port of call, it could get a bit gruesome  when Allie turns them into a screaming bloody mess. He might just rock them to sleep.

I am ready for the next chapter.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher    

Posted: 02/27/09