Chapter 19

After six weeks in Hawaii, Dewey, Steve, and Michael were getting ready to head back to the United States. The original plan would have been to go from Hawaii to Japan, which would have been about twelve to thirteen days, then down to the Philippines. But just coming back to the states from Japan would have been between fifteen to seventeen days. Coming back from the Philippines would have been about twenty-five days. The group felt like they may plan the trip to Japan as a direct sailing adventure in the future but this summer, because of all the interruptions, the Hawaiian vacation was more fun and more profitable.

Sue and the mothers thought we would have plenty of time to get back through the canal and to Tampa in time for the kids to start school with their friends.

Our journey back toward the mainland was the same as from Alaska, Dewey's boat in the lead, with Steve in the middle and the Irish Bell trailing. I was swapping boats every other night, spending two nights on each boat. Michael had imported another lady from Ireland, Sinead Hubar, with medical and nanny experience, as well as experience serving within a home. She was older than Gloria had been, about Wanda's age.

My first night on board the Irish Bell, on our way toward San Francisco, Lucille, Margaret, and Serene insisted Sinead give me a thorough looking over. They explained what had occurred and Sinead looked at all of my old wounds and checked to make sure all the recent ones had healed properly.

Sinead was very friendly and had a gentle touch. While she was examining me, my mind was thinking that it would be good to listen to what she was thinking. I closed my eyes and concentrated on Sinead and heard her think, "This man has too many scars to be so gentle. He continues to be dangerous even with only one leg and foot. I think he's nice looking but he's not a big handsome Irishman. I'd bet the ladies on this boat would like to enjoy him, I wonder if they have?"

I was surprised to sense the rapid thoughts of another person. She kept flashing back to a brother who was in the military in Afghanistan serving his country. She kept hoping that he would return home to Ireland safely. Somehow I knew he would and put those thoughts into her head. I could feel her relax as she checked each of my bad spots.

That night, in bed, after I had just turned the light off, Chanda and Serene came into the room. The two ladies slid into bed nude, hugging me from both sides. Chanda was kissing me, holding and stroking me. She whispered, I want you to enjoy me first, but save all you have and put it into Serene. She wants to present Michael and me with children. This will be perfect; all our new children will look alike. You and Michael are about the same size and even resemble each other. You are a good choice."

Our time together was slow, relaxed, and sensual. Chanda was a very active lover, stimulating me to a point before preparing Serene to readily accept me. Serene was equally active, pushing onto me as I thrust, quivering under me as I filled her.

Chanda was immediately keeping me firm with her mouth, then rode me to enjoy me filling her until once again it was time to fill Serene with my sperm. We fell asleep with Serene still wrapped around me and Chanda hugging my back. I was alone when I awoke in the morning, but there was a gift box on the other pillow with a note. "Please wait to open this until you get home. Your Irish Family"

The children from the three boats migrated back and forth between the boats every other evening as we three boats would tie together for an evening of socializing before resuming our journey. This did extend a seven or eight day sail into a nine day enjoyable journey.

We docked in San Francisco where Steve and Dewey said they had docked several years ago when Sue and Steve met Mercy. We spent three days sightseeing and visiting with Merlin. We were able to have dinner at his restaurant and nightclub where I watched Merlin do a variety of tricks along with all of his junior apprentice magicians.

Missy and Mercy put on an astonishing demonstration of mind reading with the patrons. They had the ability to listen to people and to suggest they do all kinds of normally embarrassing things. She had a lady who said there was no such thing as hypnotism or mind suggestion come to the stage area. They had her stand in front of the crowd and remove her very large bra in the manner women do without taking off their clothes. She didn't show anything intimate, but when she was shown a video playback of the activity, she didn't believe it.

While they were performing, both ladies kept tickling me with their thoughts. Missy announced, "We have a new mentalist among us that is just beginning to find that he has these same abilities. Please welcome our dear friend, Chuck Johnson."

Steve, Dewey, and the wives made me go to them on their raised platform stage in the round. Mercy said to me, "Select someone in the audience that is sending you thoughts. When you feel them, talk to them in your head, let them tell you their name. Listen for it. It may be a soft voice or even a reluctant voice."

I closed my eyes and heard voices from several parts of the room. One that sounded interesting kept saying, "I want to meet you, pick me, please, I want to meet you."

With all the force I could use mentally, I asked her, "Come here, but tell me your name. Tell me your name and come up here."

I began hearing, "Michelle Downs, Michelle Downs" over and over until I said out loud, "Michelle Downs, won't you come join us on stage. You want to come, so come."

An average sized lady in her twenties was being pushed by her friends to come up. She walked to the stage where I took her hand and helped her step up. Missy told me to ask her why she was reluctant after she asked me to come up. I looked at Missy, realizing she was talking to me without words.

I took Michelle's hands in mine and looked her in the eye and said, "You were talking to me loud and clear. You even told me to pick you. Why were you then hesitant to come up?"

Michelle said, "It scared me to hear you speak my name, that you could actually hear me thinking."

"I promise not to look into your mind to find your secrets. I won't use our time together up here in front of people to embarrass you or to take advantage of you."

Michelle very loudly and very plainly said, "But I might take advantage of you."

Now it was my turn to be embarrassed.

Michelle had her hand over her mouth and said, "I didn't mean to say that."

I smiled and said, "I think these two women with us up here might suggest you do some things you might not wish to say or do. I promise not to let you get out of hand."

I asked her to think of the name of her grade school, her high school, and what college she had attended. I listened then said, "You went to grade school at Lincoln out in Oakland and high school at Dermont High also in Oakland. For college, you went to Chico State University. You speak very clearly with your mind."

Mercy asked Michelle, "would you like to know about Chuck? I can tell you about him, but tell you by putting the answers in your head. Go ahead, ask me some questions."

Michelle and Mercy were looking at each other a while then Michelle stepped back from me and frowned. Mercy said aloud, "Well, you asked, I'm not going to lie."

Michelle's jaw dropped and mouth was wide open. "How do you do that? How can I hear you so clearly?"

Mercy said, "Tell the audience what you asked?"

Michelle said, "I asked if he had any pets and he said not really. I asked if he played a musical instrument and he said guitar, bass, piano, and drums. Then I asked if he had a girlfriend and he said he thought he had six. That's when I didn't want to have anything to do with him. If he has six girlfriends, he must tell them all stories."

Missy said, "I've met all of them and I can assure you that he is very honest with all of them. They just came to Hawaii to surprise him for his birthday. All six of them were there with him at the same time."

Mercy came over to Michelle and said, "Relax for a few seconds and let's see if I can give you something you wanted."

Michelle's eyes closed when Mercy told me in my head to take Michelle into my arms and kiss her. I couldn't refuse, I gathered the girl into my arms and we kissed until her friends were hollering from their seats, "Get a room."

When we separated, Michelle clung to me until Mercy told her that it was probably time for her to sit with her friends. As Michelle was reluctantly walking back to her table, I told her through her mind, "I will remember you Michelle, enjoy your friends and good luck with the man you are with. He cares for you a great deal."

That even surprised me. Michelle turned and grinned at me, waved, and went to sit down; hugging the arm of a guy she sat next to.

Mercy said to me and the audience, "It takes years and years for a mentalist to learn what they are capable of. They can hypnotize easily or use a form of mass hypnosis to convince a group of people to act a certain way. What you've just seen is a new mentalist's first encounter in direct communication with a stranger. Very exciting isn't it?" Mercy and Missy began applauding and the audience followed.

I left the stage to go back to our tables while Missy and Mercy did some mass hypnosis, convincing people they were standing in air or flying to their table. Merlin came out and entertained the crowd with a few more tricks followed by his apprentices entertaining again.

This was our last night in San Francisco and Missy was planning on sailing back to Florida with us. Merlin said she shouldn't leave again so soon, but would bring Missy to the yacht club in the morning.

That night, Dewey, Steve, Michael, and I said our good-byes as Dewey was going to head home, while Steve and Michael were heading south to go back through the canal.

The trip back to Tampa was going to take about fourteen days with decent winds, no storms, and no problems going through the canal. The ladies had filled the boat with fresh vegetables, meats, and re-supplied the juices, soft drinks, liquor, and beer. Since it was the first week in August, we needed to get a move on so the kids would be back in time to start school.

Our trip south was great until we were off the coast of Guatemala. Steve told me that the Guatemalan Navy had come way offshore to stop him as they had a report of a drug boat. They had searched the boat and not found any drugs but were not happy with his weapons. It took two full days for the Guatemalan government to find out that Steve was not a bad guy and that he was a well respected citizen.

The plan was to be about two hundred miles offshore as we passed by the area making a big arc to enter the canal. The plan after the canal was for the Irish Bell to take off and go east of Puerto Rico while the Mercy Mercy went north passing west of Cuba on the way home.

Our trip to Panama was uneventful. There were a couple of days of some windy weather, with some heavy seas, but nothing terrible. The ladies had resumed sunning themselves on the bow each day. This was a daily treat that I looked forward to. Kathy's older boys had joined us, so we had a boat full of people. The older boys used the crew's quarters for sleeping but spent the rest of the time with us.

Steve said that I could pass the exam for my Captain's license now. He said when he got his, Dewey was able to sign off for him but because of some newer Coast Guard regulations, I would need to take an exam. I thought that might be a good thing to do, so I did plan on it.

Going through the canal was really impressive. We didn't have to wait for any of the big canal ships and were able to go through the locks in the regulation time, making the entire trip in a little over ten hours. Almost the entire trip was done under our own power except where you had to be pulled along by train engines.

On the east end of the canal, the two boats tied up together out in the open water for the last time. We had a gala feast and party on the Irish Bell. It was at that party that both Lucille and Margaret announced they were "with child" and would look forward to presenting their new offspring to the world in a little over seven months or so.

Later, Chanda privately gave me a kiss and said, "You and I did not have much opportunity for intimate times, but I do thank you for helping Lucille, Margaret, and Serene to present us with children. You will probably be called upon to assist Serene again when it is time. Thank you, Chuck."

The three ladies each spent a few minutes with me saying about the same thing. They assured me they were very happy to bear my child and said they would be all Michael's and they would only know Michael as their father. They each gave me a kiss and hoped to see me soon.

We began our trip north, heading home. Just about the Cayman Islands, Ben noticed a boat east of us, pacing our speed but slowly angling toward intercepting us. He had the long range radar marked, showing distances and the path of the other vessel.

Steve used the GPS to estimate the closing time and saw that they would intersect with us between midnight and two in the morning. Steve ordered all adults to take naps and prepare for an all night watch.

That night around ten thirty, after the kids had all been put to bed, Steve started the engines and lowered the sail. He said that he could maneuver the boat easier with the engines. Steve did call the U.S. Coast Guard to see if there might be a patrol boat out our way. None were around and they did report there had been several boats that were missing throughout the last month.

We broke out our weapons and made sure they were all loaded. We tested the spotlight, shining it away from the incoming vessel. Our defense was made up of Steve, myself, four women, Barbara, and the three young men. I had to agree with Steve, ten well-armed and wary crew would be a formidable force for any group. Steve instructed all the women with the shotguns as to what he wanted to happen as far as when to shoot and what to shoot at. Between the women and the boys, the eight shotguns should be devastating on any attempted boarding.

Steve and I were going to set up to pick off as many as possible from a distance, first using available light scopes, then shining the spotlight on the boat to pick out more targets. If they launched boats to board us, they would just use the explosive shotgun shells on the boats first, then switch to buckshot, followed by handguns.

To make the boat even more difficult to spot, all lights were out so there wasn't even a glow from below decks.

It was about twelve forty-five when the boat was about a quarter mile away that we were able to see them. The new moon was not very bright so there would be no real long distance shooting. Using binoculars, Steve could see the boat was lined with fenders all around meaning they were going to attempt to board us by tying up to us.

I told Steve that with the swells being what they were, our best opportunity to shoot would begin at about four hundred yards and in. He agreed, so we set up so we would have the most stable firing positions. That's when Sue came to us and said, "They're flying a U.S. Coast Guard flag with a U.S. Flag above it. I'm going to call it in and tell them we are about to fire on them."

Sue was at the outdoor helm while the boat kept getting closer. We heard over the speaker that the Coast Guard was scrambling a C-130 to have a closer look and was having the Navy send a couple of fast recon aircraft over our site as soon as they could get here.

I waited as did Steve until we could acquire good targets. At about three hundred and fifty yards, we both fired our first rounds. My target dropped as did the second, third, and fourth targets, and then there were no targets to be seen.

Steve said he was going to switch the spotlight on the main mast and did. Sue used the remote to direct the beam directly onto the boat. Steve and I must have had the same idea as we both began firing at the enclosed helm of the large power boat. Steve hollered that the boat was at least fifty feet and was very close to what a Coast Guard cutter would be.

The intensity of our two rifles made the big boat pause in the water and actually turn away, possibly to regroup. When they turned, they presented Steve and me with the entire boarding party, about twenty men, none with rifles, all with handguns.

Steve and I began shooting as fast as possible, hitting as many as we could. Considering we both changed thirty round magazines twice, we were really pouring in the fire. The men tried to hide but had nowhere to go and didn't think about trying to climb around the main cabin on the skinny walkway.

When they were back to about six hundred yards, Steve hollered, "I'm going to need more ammo. How are you doing?"

"I'm on my fourth magazine so I will need more soon," I said. Ben came running up with boxes of ammo, and with the help of the boys and Barb, we quickly loaded our magazines while watching to see what the powerboat would do.

Just as the boat seemed to be turning back toward us, a low flying pair of fighters passed over us, went straight up, and circled to come back at a much slower speed. We shined our light on the boat, but the distance was pretty far.

The boat turned in our direction and looked as if it picked up speed. Steve and I began pouring the fire into the helm area and upper cabin. One of the kids hollered, "There's someone up on the flying bridge."

Steve and I sighted in and began firing. It took both of us several rounds before we were hitting the man consistently. He toppled over the side and the boat continued, but Sue had turned toward them to keep them from broadsiding us. With Carl using the remote on the lamp to keep it directed at the boat, Steve and I kept pouring round after round into the boat and at any moving target we saw. The boat went past us doing probably close to twenty knots and just kept on going. It was possible there was no one on board capable of operating it.

I had Carl sweep the water around our boat to make sure there wasn't anyone in the water. We looked for a half-hour to make sure. We radioed the Coast Guard to tell them that the boat had left the area and may not be manned. We gave them the last known coordinates, heading, and estimated speed. They said to give the C-130 a flash of our light when it went over.

A few minutes later the C-130 came over and we gave them the spotlight as they headed off in the direction of the boat.

Sue came to us with a couple of mugs of coffee and said, "Good shooting boys, but you may have to do that again. The whole time we've been watching these guys, a smaller target is heading directly toward us. I've called the Coast Guard back with the positions and they assure me they have nothing out here."

Steve asked, "How far away are they?"

Sue answered, "About ten miles, so they'll be here within twenty minutes."

Steve turned to Ben, "Get four more boxes of shells for these ARs and send J.J. to get another AR. I think we need a third firing position."

It was different to see these sweet women carrying shotguns with a holstered pistol. These were mothers, and some of their kids were out there with us. It made me proud that I was with them.

Steve said, "With a smaller boat they may think they can just come along side quickly and jump aboard. All of you with shotguns, if they don't launch boarding boats, as soon as they are in range, fire the shotgun exploding shells at the bridge area and into the rear of the boat. As soon as you shoot your exploding shells, reload with two more buckshot. You know what to do with the buckshot. Stay behind something, point and shoot at anyone trying to board."

He looked at me and J.J. and said, "We'll do the same as before except a smaller boat is going to come in fast trying to tie up to us quickly. Watch for grappling hooks, as they will try to pull up close, fast. I'm not going to put out fenders and will have to pay for scratches later, but I don't want to make it easy on them if they don't have any out."

As soon as we were able to make out the boat, we could see it was about a thirty-five footer that did slow down considerably about a quarter mile out. J.J., Steve, and I were positioned to give us our best stability to shoot when we could get a target. The women and other boys were stationed up and down the boat to be able to fire at the boat if they tried to tie up to us and board us. Everyone was concealed, so it would look as if there was no one on deck. Sue was at the unlit outdoor helm keeping us moving north at a steady twelve to fourteen knots.

The incoming boat was still coming, but very slowly. It seemed to take forever for it to get within our range. Once they were within about three hundred yards, we began seeing targets. J.J. was to shoot at the bow, Steve aft, and I was to shoot in the center and cabin area. I saw a guy leaning out a window on deck with a rifle. I sighted in on him and fired. It must have been a head hit as he just slumped down with his rifle toppling over the side.

Steve and J.J. were firing as well. Since I didn't have anymore distinct targets, I began pouring round and round through the helm area of the enclosed cabin area. I even shot out the port holes on the front side of the bow. While loading my third magazine, I saw the downed guy that had been leaning out the side window being pulled in. Another body appeared in the window with a rifle using a scope. I fired four times at the guy, hitting him at least three times. His rifle toppled into the water too.

The oncoming boat was not moving very fast and Sue was able to steer us away from it. She turned our boat so we would remain parallel with it but separated by at least fifty meters.

Boom, boom, boom came from the rear of the boat. Steve was off the top of the lounge in a flash heading to the back. I didn't hear anymore guns go off but watched as the other boat slowed and stopped, slowly drifting in a circle.