Episode 3

Ralph poured himself another scotch as the waves pounded the rocks seven stories below.  He had always loved the beach, but had never made it to Hawaii before everyone left.

Now that he had the hotel to himself, he counted himself lucky for that.  The sun was slowly settling down towards the ocean when his alarm went off.  He slapped at his watch and took another sip from the glass.

'I'll be damned if I'm going to miss the sunset again.'  The phone rang as if in response, chiding him for his wants.  Grumbling, he walked off of his patio and into the spacious suite to pick up the phone.

'Sir, we need to leave now.'

'Dammit.  Just...'  He turned to look at the sun.  '.... I dunno, 30 minutes.  I want to see the sun set.'

'Sir, if we had stayed on the other side of the island, we wouldn't have to hurry to the 'scope this early.  We need to leave.  Now.'

'If we had stayed on the other side of the island, I'd hardly be watching the sunset!  I spent my life on the east coast watching the sunrise.  Damned if I'm going to do that here and now!'

'Sir.  You told me you wanted to get there on time, I am doing what you ordered me to do.  We leave.  Now.'

'Fine, fine.' 

Ralph sighed.  'He's a good aide,' he said to no one in particular, adding '.. and a damned son of a bitch.'  He made to finish the scotch in a single drink but, thinking better, simply walked out of the room with it, down to the lobby and the valet station.  Nobody was around.  All told, there were probably 20 people left in the islands, and that included the ten people he was headed to meet. 

Settling into the passenger seat, he turned to face the driver.  'I hate you, Tom.'

'I know, Senator.  Now buckle up, the roads aren't great to the summit and we have a drive.'  He paused for a moment, sniffing the air.  'Opened the 21 year old?'

'Yes.  18 year olds are just too young for me now.  I'll open those in 3 years.'

'Sir, did you forget the weather advisory?'

'Weather?  It's not cloudy up there, is it?'

'No, sir, but it is a bit... well, cold.'

Ralph stared at the sun, the A/C turned to max.  'Cold?'

It was Tom's turn to sigh.  'Don't worry sir, I brought you a jacket.'

The drive was uneventful, but slow.  No traffic on the roads anymore, but, without careful maintenance, they simply weren't as good as they were back in the day.  Couple that with a few windings that'd stymie an F1 racer, and they were almost late pulling into the visitor's station at Mauna Kea.

'Why are we stopping here?  Hell, why are we here so early?'

'As the telescope station is at such a high altitude, we need to rest here for a short time to acclimatize to this mid-level altitude.'

Tom got out of the car, closing the door and muffling the 'What?' that he knew was coming.  Muttering softly, he walked to the trunk, pulling out the long parka before opening the Senator's door.  'Your coat, sir.'

'I still don't get it, Tom.'

'Sir, please, just lets step over to the bus.  See, the telescope is so high above the ocean, if you don't go up slowly, you get that thing that divers get when they go to the surface too quickly.'

'Well why didn't you just say so???'

Tim looked inward, thinking that he only spoke that simply to his nephew.

Silently, he opened the door to the bus.

The crowd turned to look at Tom and Ralph.

'About time, Ralph.  We have about 60 minutes to zero hour, and it takes 30 minutes to get up there.  And it was your idea to come here to see it in person.'

'Well, who could resist Hawaii, Bob.'

There was a murmured agreement amongst the gathered.

'Well, true, true.  So.. I'm told we can start up the hill in 20 minutes with probably no side effects to the late comers...'

'.. probably?...'

'... so, who's up for another round of cards?'