During the two years Hans labored on the little liner he spent much of his spare time studying for his officer’s papers, even though he knew that part of his dream would be well into the future. He was bound and determined to get his wish when the appropriate time came, and he wanted to be ready.
Over the next ten years, he managed to get employment on a variety of ships doing every task from deckhand and oiler all the way up to chief engineer. He had crossed the Atlantic in good weather and bad more times than he could count.
All of that time, one thing kept coming back to him. His uncle Ge had told him many times about the bulk carriers on the Great Lakes and how those waters could at times make the North Atlantic seem as docile as a newborn puppy. Storms were sudden and, more often than not, unpredicted. The seas could be extremely high, and the wave frequency was such that a seven-hundred-foot ship could have several of them to contend with at any given time. Many a seasoned ocean sailor became a victim of mal de mer on the lakes. They are a decidedly different sort of venue.
Hans wanted to give that a try. As soon as they could arrange a sponsor, he and Miep applied for resident visas to come to the Midwest and try their luck. When they arrived, he arranged to take the appropriate tests, and before long, he qualified for a position as third mate on the William R. Jammison. As it turned out, that would be the one and only Laker he would ever sail on. As time went by, he moved up the ladder to second mate, then first and finally to captain, a position he has held for the last three years.
It seems that he has succeeded in accomplishing nearly all of his dreams. Today, he is thinking about how determination and, yes, some good luck, too, have gotten him where he is. The voyage he is preparing to take will be his last for this season and, in fact, his last aboard the Jammison. When he returns, he will retire from the inland seas and go off with Miep to a small plot near the Ontario coast. They have no wish to cultivate the five-acre farmette. Most of it is forest. The Wests bought the property when Hans got his promotion to captain, and they have been chomping at the bit ever since then to be there full-time. He will miss his old ship, and he will also miss the frequent struggles with the often turbulent waters. The time is right to begin to spend more of it on shore with Miep. Maybe he will write his memoires. He certainly has some stories to tell.
III
During their drive to Meadowwood Airport, Phil and Jana are decidedly more upbeat.
It is always a pleasure to ride in the little Beech Baron they will take to Terre Haute. It is comfortable and fast, and Jana always thinks of it as being cute. Over the years, she has become very accustomed to flying. Actually, Jana has learned to fly herself and is now a licensed pilot with a multiengine instrument rating. She is also the driving force in PD’s office, handling charter scheduling as well as the books and the accounts.
When they arrived at the airstrip, Walt Thomas, one of their charter pilots, was just getting ready to fly to Detroit City Airport in their newest acquisition, a Piper Twin Comanche. Jana always liked seeing Walt. He had been her first flight instructor because her own dear Phil did not have the patience to deal with primary training, even for her. Phil has a tendency to want everything perfect, even with a brand-new student. As she advanced from the J-3 Cub to more sophisticated equipment, Phil took over and has been pleasantly surprised at how she has progressed. He should never have had any doubts. Jana has always been a quick study at anything she ever took on.
Several others were in evidence including Billy Cromwell, PD’s chief mechanic, and Mike Johannsen, the other pilot on the team. They took special notice of Jana when she came on the scene. They always did, but they were accustomed to seeing her dressed for business. Today, she is wearing sleek black bell-bottom hip-huggers and a short tee shirt that hides very little of her fabulous figure. They are admiring her, and she is enjoying their attention. Though she does not have a big ego, she is well aware of who she is and what she has. The only one missing is Phil’s business partner Don Swanson. He is off somewhere making money for the group.
Walt is the first to greet them.
“So I hear you two are going to leave us for a couple of weeks. The whole place might collapse without you, especially you, Jana. Our office usually runs like a well-adjusted clock. Now it’ll seem more like an egg timer.”
“What’s the matter, Walt?” asked Phil. “Don’t you have any faith in Don? He was here before any of us, including me. Without him, there’d be no PD Express. Anyhow, he plans to stick around as much as he can while we’re gone.”
“You know I’m joking.” Walt laughed. “By the way, Jana, how’s my old student doing these days? With all the travel, I hardly ever get around when you’re here.”
“Just great, Walt. I’m still trying to get Phil to check me out in the new twin, but so far, no luck. His schedule has been horrendous lately. That’s a big part of why we’re doing what we’re doing. He promised me to give a lot of thought to backing down into partial retirement soon. He’s not getting any younger, you know.”
“Hold on there, princess,” Phil retorted. “I’m only forty-nine, not quite ready to line up an undertaker yet. I may slow down a bit, but as long as I can fly, I’ll never be stuck completely on the ground.”
“Just wait until you have a couple more of those bad weather trips and see what you say then,” said Jana. “Besides, I’d like to see more of you in our beautiful house.”
“This much I’ll promise. I will try to cut out at least half of my charters as soon as humanly possible. I may have a line on another pilot. I don’t know anything for certain yet, but it looks good. That will take some of the pressure off and give me more time to work on our aircraft brokerage business. It used to be easy to spend two or three days a week looking for buyers and sellers, but lately that’s been almost impossible.”
“I’m just pulling your leg, Phil,” said Jana. “With your libido, I’d never get any rest if you were home all the time.”
“But you’d love every minute of it, wouldn’t you?”
“I think it’s time for me to get scarce,” said Walt as he strolled away toward the Comanche. “I don’t want to get involved in anything quite that personal.”
“Do you think we made him nervous?” asked Phil as he began the preflight on the Baron.
Jana chuckled. “I doubt it very much. He’s got Mariann at home to keep him happy, which I’m sure she does. Anyway, I think we should get moving before we lose half of the day.”
“Not to worry, princess. It shouldn’t take us much more than an hour to get to Terre Haute. Why don’t I just ride along and you can take us there? I know you love this little bug.”
“You know my answer to that. Let’s get the show on the road—or I should say, in the air.”
When the walk-around was completed and everything was copacetic, Jana climbed into the left-hand seat and Phil to her right. After firing up the two Continental 520 engines, Jana headed to the run up circle at the end of the active runway where she conducted the usual magneto, instrument, and control checks. She set the altimeter to field elevation, then made a complete circle to look for incoming traffic. She knew Phil was watching her. She was not about to make any mistakes prior to takeoff.
While turning onto the runway, Phil commented, “Don’t forget to compensate for torque.”
“I know you’ve been doing this since I was a little girl, Phil, but I do know a little about these things,” she snapped, a bit perturbed. No matter how well they got along on the ground, he still became Mr. Know-It-All in the air. He was unaccustomed to being a passenger instead of being in charge.
“Sorry,” he said. “I’ll keep my mouth shut except for normal conversation. I know you know what you’re doing. I’ll say it again, so sorry.”
Jana shoved the throttles to full power and applied a little left rudder to take care of the torque problem Phil spoke of. She was up off the ground in short order,