Episode One - Scattered to the Four Winds

Episode Two - Everybody Comes To Alban's

Episode Three - Trouble on Pirate Island

Episode Four - Wrong Turn

Episode Five - Mr. President

Episode Six - The Eagle Has Landed

Episode Seven - An Ill Wind Blows

Episode Eight - Couldn't Stand The Weather

Episode Nine - Well, Blow Me Down

Episode Ten - Reaching The Peak

Episode Eleven - All Roads Lead To Aruba

Episode Twelve - The Last Sunset

"She'll fire me for sure!" Pullman yelled to Tony Vincent over the roar of the twin props. As if to accentuate his prophecy, a clap of thunder reverberated off the thin aluminum skin of the large amphibious sea plane now under his control. He pulled back on the throttles, trimming his ailerons as he sent the Silver Bird into a steep, westerly dive. Up ahead, the dock leading out into the water from the waterfront warehouses of Glenlake's shipping district appeared.

Lightning raced across the pallid gray skies, and rain continued to pelt the windscreen as Pullman leveled off and began his final descent along the water's edge. Off to his right, near the edge of the dock, sprawled the two main buildings of ASD, his employer -- or soon-to-be-former employer.

"You shouldn't have taken your time," Tony advised as he gripped his wheel in the co-pilot's chair. He gripped it more out of nervousness than a need to help Pullman navigate the seaplane. Pullman's penchant for recklessness haunted Tony's memories. Add a strong summer thunderstorm and the fact that Pullman was late for his appointment with their boss, Ginnie Burgess, and Tony had more than enough cause to be nervous. "What's Ginnie want now?" he asked. "I thought we had the weekend off? What, four shipments picked up in a day, from across the Caribbean, is not enough for the lady?"

Tony referred to four shipments they had just picked up the previous day, spread out amongst the smaller islands of the Caribbean, and brought back to Glenlake for their owner, an eccentric millionairess known only as Suaste. The cargo, statues which represented the four elements - Air, Earth, Fire and Water - were said to contain magical properties when brought together in a single location. Apparently, Pullman guessed, Suaste had a need for such Merlinesque mumbo-jumbo. Millions of dollars wasn't enough. She had to have power, too.

"Nothing's ever enough for Ginnie Burgess," Pullman managed to grin. "Slavedriving's in her blood. Her ancestors used to run the slave trade here with the pirates who worked the Caribbean back in the 1700s."

Another clap of thunder, followed by the white-blue cast of electrical energy, coincided with the Silver Bird's drop into the water. She pushed up a large wake on either side of her inflated pontoons and within minutes was dockside, being tied to one of several cleats used to secure her, by her mechanic, Ben Worwood. Beside Ben stood ASD's reigning "monarch", Ginnie Burgess.

As Pullman and Tony disembarked down the lowered gangway, the look in Ginnie's eyes made them both wonder why they didn't simply turn around and take off again. The fury of Mother Nature had nothing on Ginnie's. But, like the dutiful underlings they viewed themselves to be, Pullman and Tony marched off the gangway onto the weathered and wet dock, coming up to Ginnie and Ben. As was her style, Ginnie got right to the point. She had to yell to be heard over both the engines powering down behind her, and the winds picking up all around her. "The Four Elements have been stolen, Pullman!"

Pullman grinned. At least she wasn't angry with him for being late.

"Suaste will blame us!" Ginnie continued to yell. "She'll own us over this!"

Ben went about securing the Silver Bird, tying more ropes to her to keep her from being pulled out to sea. Yanking the oily rag he always had riding in the right hip pocket of his gray dungarees, Ben next went about wiping the water off "his" plane. Pullman and Tony exchanged raised eyebrows, and Tony shrugged. The rain had not stopped, they noticed, but Ben will be Ben.

Facing their boss, Pullman responded to her concern. "Why would 'her majesty' blame us? We were hired to bring them in. Security was her issue. You said so yourself."

"I realize that!" Ginnie glared. "But they weren't stolen from our warehouse. They were
shipped out, using our documentation, and scattered to the Four Winds!"

"The Four Winds?" Tony asked. "Can you be more specific?"

"If I could be more specific, Tony, I wouldn't be so worried about this," Ginnie shot back. "I'd just send the two of you to go pick them up from wherever." She turned back to Pullman. "Whoever pulled this off knows how we operate."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning not only did they use all our proper documentation, but they were picked up and flown out of here using your own plane."

It was Pullman's turn to glare. "The Brown Hound? They took the Brown Hound? Now you're getting nasty."

"I didn't say you were involved. It wasn't just any 'they' pulling this off, Pullman." Ginnie
hesitated, knowing she had pushed a few of Pullman's buttons already. "It was Russell
Gridley and his lot."

"Gridley?" Pullman exploded. "Those lousy air pirates?"

"Suppose this means you and I are going after the statues, Pullman," Tony observed. The pilot's glare spoke volumes more than words. Tony shrugged in resignation. "When do we shove off?"

"I'm getting my plane back, Ginnie," Pullman stated. "She cost me too much to just give her over to a bunch of second-rate sky jockeys."

"Just be sure to bring back the Four Elements, too," Ginnie said. "Suaste expects them for a ceremony she is holding at Mountaintop next Saturday."

"Fine," Pullman growled. "Tony, let's mount up. We've a plane to catch." He motioned for Ben to undo the lines again. Ben saluted. "How far a head start does Gridley have?"

"Ten hours," Ginnie answered.

"I'll stop at Alban's. He'll know where they've headed." Pullman started back up the gangway, Tony in step behind him.

Ginnie called from the dock as Ben came up beside her, waving to Pullman and Tony. "And Pullman, one more thing..." Pullman turned to Ginnie, straining to hear her over the wind and rain. "You're late one more time when I call on you, and you're
gonna get it!"