Chapter 23

A hole in one?

Dar and Inga had been off relaxing for 14 days.

They got word to John that they needed a week to visit all of Dar’s properties, then they would be ready to take on a project or two.

Dar still did not know who this Ben guy was. He was in his eighties and he usually shot 1 to 5 under for a round of 18 holes consistently. Chet knew the Ben guy was one of the best that ever played the game of golf. Brien was averaging gaining a pound a day. He had his father punch some holes in his belt, so he could keep his pants up. He had lost 6” around his middle. Dar was losing two pounds a day and with a loving wife, he was having the time of his life. He had not come close to beating Ben yet. Dar’s best score for eighteen holes had been a three over par. Brien with Ben’s coaching had added 50 yards onto his drives. Dar had added 20 yards to his drive.

This day Chet played as partner for Ben. Brien was able to beat Chet in a head to head match by 1 or 2 shots but was still a little erratic with his consistency. It would take some lucky shots by the Tripp men to beat Ben and Chet together. The game was on with Dar laying down an ounce of gold and Brien laying down an ounce of silver. Ben and Chet took the bet and matched the coins. Inga was with them. She too had gotten her weight right where she wanted. Inga held the purse.

They got to the fourth hole with Dar and Brien both down two shots.

“Think you can hit the green?” Dar asked his son. Chet hit first and ended up a hundred yards from the green in a sand trap, “We may be able to even the score.”

“Yah dad, I think I can.” Brien said.

“Break a leg!” Dar was in good spirits.

Brien just relaxed and let it fly. The ball landed just in front of the sand trap that was in front of the green. It then bounced over the sand trap onto the green.

Chet had the binoculars and was giving detail info, “OMG it’s two feet left of the hole.”

As Dar looked through the binoculars he asked himself, “Can I make a hole in one shot?” He got “Yes!” for an answer.

Ben hit a very good shot. It took an odd bounce and went just to the right of the green into a sand trap. For Ben that should be an easy 3.

Dar looked to the sky and asked God for help. The ball flew straight bouncing over the sand trap just like Brien’s.

Chet and Ben were together when Chet announced another of his OMG’s. He turned to Dar, “Sir, I am very happy to tell you that you just made a hole in ONE!”

Dar’s jaw dropped then he went to his knees then hit the ground face down. He was laughing and screaming.

Inga came running over, “What’s wrong?”

Chet moved quickly to Inga, “He’s fine First Lady, he just made a hole in one.”

Inga knelt next to Dar and started kissing him, at his ear, his cheek, even his nose. Dar rolled over and pulled Inga down, “Did you see it? Did you see it?” Dar was still laughing.

“Yes, I saw two very beautiful shots.” Inga laughed.

“I learned from our son how to do that. That’s what children are for isn’t that so?” Dar asked.

“What are you thinking?” Inga had said this very slowly, word for word.

“I hope to love you forever.” Dar was very serious when he said this.

Inga had been concerned with Brien’s affliction. But that issue was gone. She looked at her son seeing the big smile on his face. He loved seeing his parent’s PDA’s. “Let’s talk to God.”

Chet hit a very good second shot after the horrible first shot. He ended with a bogie four on the par three hole. Brien could get even with him and realized he could actually play with the man. Ben messed up his sand trap shot and left himself a twelve-foot putt for par. He missed and also ended up with a bogie four for the hole. There were several pictures of Dar retrieving his ball from the hole. Everyone was having a great time with Dar’s success. The last to finish was Brien. He had a two-foot putt for a birdy on a Par three hole.

“Do you want help?” Ben asked him.

Brien had a look of desperation on his face.

Ben showed him how to look at the layout and what he was seeing. He even pointed to where on the hole to aim. To the right of center and hit it nice and easy.

Brien hit the ball. All four men held their breath. The ball stopped on the edge of the hole. Many seconds went by then it fell in. Brien had his birdy on a par 3 hole. All four cheered and Inga looking on from the shade begun to see the benefits of golf as Dar gave Brien a high 5 then grabbed him, pulling him into a hug, “I’m glad you’re back.”

“So am I. I have learned more about my wonderful son and am very proud at what I have learned.” Dar said loud enough for everyone to hear.

“Thank you, dad.” Brien said with a big smile.

A hard fought three hours later:

Brien made a 10-foot putt on the 18th hole. It barely caught the rim of the hole but instead of racing by, it fell into the hole. Brien dropped the putter and looked to the skies, “Thank you God!” That gave Brien a birdy for the hole and only four over par for the eighteen holes.

Brien had tied Chet and the two had a good laugh, “Well done Captain!”

Ben was up next with a fourteen-foot putt. The ball died about six inches from the hole. He tapped it in for a bogy.

“What do you think Ben?” Dar asked him. Dar had a sixteen-foot putt from the other way and it was slightly up hill.

“The grass has dried out and the greens are running a bit fast. Plus, you have that uphill action. You’re going to have to hit the ball as though the hole is twenty feet away.” Ben advised, “Looks like a straight in shot, but look out if you overshoot.”

Dar hit the ball hard. It looked like it was going to be close. Brien was getting ready to yell then he let loose with a whopper as the ball disappeared into the hole. Dar looked towards Ben, “Thank you Ben! How did we end up?”

“You made par Mr. President.” Ben laughed, “So did I.”

The two men were walking towards Inga, “How did you four, end up?” Inga was handing out large bottles of water that had been sitting on ice.

“Chet and I tied mom.” Brien smiled.

“Captain, in the months ahead, you’re going to be a force that needs to be reckoned with!” Chet came to attention and saluted Brien.

Inga reached out and pulled her son into a hug, “Mr. Hogan, how did my big man do today?”

“HOGAN?” Dar asked, “BEN HOGAN?”.

“Who is Ben Hogan dad?”

“Mr. Hogan is one of the top three or four best golfers Planet Earth has ever seen!” Dar explained to his son, “Maybe even the best our world has ever seen.”

“Thank you, Mr. President for the nice compliment. I was much better at it when I was younger. I truly enjoy the game and plan on playing at least a round every day.”

“Today was my best round in ten years and as lady luck smiled on me, I was able to shoot par with you on your worse day. You have taught all of us how to improve our game in a very gentle manner. We thank you sir.” Dar had taken the two gold coins from Inga. He handed both to Ben, “It is our honor to be able to play with you. Please take this. What are your plans?”

“With your permission, I’d like to hang around, maybe play some golf in the morning and run the Pro Shop in the afternoon every day.” Ben said.

“Yes.” Dar shook hands with Ben, “We are going into Funston and see what we can do there. I have the 500,000-room hotel figured out in my head.” Dar turned to Brien, “Captain are we ready to leave?”

“Yes, Sir. The ship is waiting on us.” Brien saluted his father.

Back in Omak:

“Good morning Sam.” John looked at the clock. 7:46 AM was on the display, “Where is the Admiral?”

“Keven from Lockheed called. He has another delivery of ships today, possibly 147 of them. Mary is trying to find space for them. She’s thinking we may have to send many of them to the 82nd.”

“Nice problem to have.” John laughed as he filled his coffee cup.

“Mary and your son Johnny met at 7:00 at the airport. She is sending out the rest of the 335’s and 445’s today to bring the total of six each on each of the nine air craft carriers. Mary is also bringing Johnny up to speed on what the reports are concerning the two Nimitz Class Aircraft Carriers that are underwater.” Sam shared.

“How are the two of you doing?” John asked.

“Excited, we are looking forward to the wedding.” Sam shared.

“Have you talk to God lately?” John asked.

“No, Why?”

“God says we have one more attempted take over of earth by a Robert Payseur.” John informed.

“French?” Sam asked and when John nodded, “Any relation?”

“Didn’t think of that.” John contemplated.

“Who is he?” Sam asked.

“Possibly the richest man on earth.” John said.

“How?” Sam asked.

“He owned a railroad and he started Western Union which started a company called AT&T.”

“Well that explains how.” Sam laughed.

At Lockheed in Texas:

Bruce, one of Lockheed’s long-time engineers was standing in front of Kevin, “Sir they have our signature on their transponder and they are speaking in English. All three of them. They look like something we would build. They look like the ship Discovery on Voyager. Best guess is they could hold 200 to 300 people each. Sir they are over 300 meters long and about half as wide with 20 or so levels. They are asking for your father”

Lockheed had been thirty times bigger under Kevin’s Father and every day he was finding out about what had gone on in the past. It looked as if his dad was willing to do anything for the old corrupt system for a price. The billions he had made doing those things were all gone. This looked like one or maybe three of those type of things. The three ships took up a mile of runway. Kevin looked to the sky and asked, “God is this the next step?” In his mind he heard “Yes!”

Time to call John. Keven thought. He pulled out that fancy satellite phone John had given him and hit some buttons.

John answered, “Hello Kevin?”

“Yah, it’s me. John, I have in front of me three very large spaceships. Did you ever see Star Trek Voyager?”

John could tell Kevin was excited. He usually was very good at proper English. “Yes, all the time, I was a fan for sure.”

“Somebody just landed with three ships that are certainly of the Voyager Class. They probably weigh 70,000 to 80,000 tons each.”

“What does the Patricia weigh?” John asked.

“One hundred or more tons.” Kevin answered, “John the Voyager was one class down from the Enterprise. They used the same drive train and the same saucer layout and size.”

“Give me ten minutes.” John said.