It Was 1993
Arch Patton finds himself fired from the CIA in 1993 and is looking forward to a peaceful respite and write his first novel. Finding a PROMIS file shatters those plans and life becomes embroiled in cloak and dagger with a bunch of ‘misfits’
Other events of note in 1993:
- January 20: Bill Clinton is sworn is as the 42cd President of the United States.
- January 31: The Dallas Cowboys defeat the Buffalo Bills 52 to 17 in Super Bowl XXVII.
- February 26: Six people are killed at the World Trade Center in New York City when a bomb in a van explodes in a parking garage.
- April 19: The siege of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas comes to a close. A fire breaks out in the compound as FBI and BATF agents began moving into the compound. The fire consumes the compound and seventy-six Davidians are killed including twenty-seven children and leader David Koresh.
- June 13: Original Seven Astronaut Deke Slayton passes away at the age of 69. He died from complications with a brain tumor.
- June 19: President Clinton announces his “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy about gays in the military.
- December 2: NASA launches space shuttle Endeavour on mission STS-61. The goal of this mission is to fix an optical defect on the Hubble Space Telescope. The crew of this mission is Dick Covey, Ken Bowersox, Story Musgrave, Jeff Hoffman, Kathy Thornton, and Tom Akers.
It Was 1993
1993, Arch Patton, Chapter 1
Arch was on the beach across from Hanalei, kicking sand, and listening to a small battery powered radio belt out House of the Rising Sun, when his life came apart at the seams. Fired from the CIA for cause, again. Unable to pay for the room…….
Arch Patton, It Was 1993, Chapter 2
It wasn’t to be him or Arch Patton. It was only going to be him. Arch wasn’t a knuckle dragger and he’d never been one. You don’t fight a force of nature and when such a force materialized outside his room on the lanai the thing appeared…
Arch Patton, It Was 1993, Chapter 3
Arch searched the house. The dog paid close attention, but never moved from his sitting position in the small great room, as if his view of the sandy beach and pounding surf beyond was not to be surrendered. There was nobody in the house.
Arch Patton, It Was 1993, Chapter 4
Arch slept deeply for the first time since the classified file had appeared out of nowhere to give him his life back but also to offer him death once again, in a life controlled by unaccountable serendipity. He awoke next to the woman who lay just like he’d left her many hours before, with Harpo the Dingo lying across her feet…..
Arch Patton, It Was 1993, Chapter 5
Arch waited, backing up slowly each time he was sucked toward the cloying grasp of a swelling wave about to break. He had to get it right. He picked up a slight ‘crumping’ sound that was different from what he’d been hearing, as the waves broke in front of him, one after another without let up
Arch Patton, It Was 1993, Chapter 6
Somehow Amelia Earhart was a name that appeared to have some importance in Arch’s life. Once back inside Cynthia’s home Arch spread the file out so it could dry completely, and also to give him time to lay out a rough plan of escape from the island….
Arch Patton, It was 1993, Chapter 7
Arch was stuck trying to cross a stretch of dark beach with a woman and a dog, with his rental car about to explode behind them. The dog was not going to fit under the blanket, that was for sure. Time was of the essence…..
Arch Patton, It Was 1993, Chapter 8
After the long climb up from Secrets Beach and arriving at the outer edge of the Princeville Resort parking lot, Arch took a few minutes to catch his breath. The sea beat up the dark cliff face from down below..
Arch Patton, It Was 1993, Chapter 9
Arch Patton IT WAS 1993 Chapter Nine by James Strauss Arch awakened with a start that quickly turned into a demand that he pay attention to Harpo. The dog’s joy at being out for the night with Cynthia and Arch in the bush was as obvious as it was infectious. Dawn was...
Arch Patton, It Was 1993, Chapter 10
Atlantis led them down the stairs to the basement of the Princeville terminal building. The basement consisted of one long corridor with closed doors lining the walls on both sides. Mid-way down she opened one door and stood to allow them to pass.
Arch Patton, It Was 1993, Chapter 11
With fear and trepidation on his mind, Arch raced up the concrete and steel stairs to the entrance into Amelia Earhart’s Restaurant. Giving a large quantity of drugs to strangers wasn’t like slipping somebody a “Mickey” in an old mystery show on television….
Arch Patton, It Was 1993, Chapter 12
Arch stared down at the little radio he held in his hand. A team player at the other end had asked for a communications check, apparently from Ringo. Arch was being given a chance to hold the enemy off or blow the whole thing completely…
Arch Patton, It Was 1993, Chapter 13
Arch had never flown the particular model of Beechcraft they would be inside. He knew, whether he flew the plane or not, he was about to once again endanger the only three beings on the planet who seemed to give a damn whether he lived or died.
Arch Patton. It Was 1993, Chapter 14
Arch Patton IT WAS 1993 Chapter Fourteen by James Strauss It was 1993, and Arch was flying a King Air over the island of Kauai. Cyn was laying across the unconscious pilot to help guide the plane while Arch tried to accustom himself to the controls (like figure out...
Arch Patton, It Was 1993, Chapter 15
Lihue was a small town, and the airport even smaller, so Arch presumed that everyone noticed almost everything, but nobody did much of anything. Doug was popular in his way, or he wouldn’t still be flying……
Arch Patton, It Was 1993, Chapter 16
Arch knew that in order to get their small band of damaged souls on board the SS Independence, Doug needed to do exactly what he had said he might be able to do. So Arch and the pilot needed to head over to the dock to figure things out. Cyn wisely decided it would be best…..
Arch Patton, It Was 1993, Chapter 17
The elevator went several floors down. Harpo and Arch got off where they’d gotten on. There was nothing to do but wait. Arch walked Harpo back out through the opening they’d driven the van into. His message to Doug had been unclear…..
Arch Patton, It Was 1993, Chapter 18
Arch Patton It Was 1993 Chapter Eighteen by James Strauss Arch was on hold for the 911 dispatcher, making the most unlikely call he'd ever made in his life. The wait was less than a minute. "Nine one one, what's the nature of your emergency?" the woman at the other...
Arch Patton, It Was 1993, Chapter 19
Harpo heard the police car before Arch did. His ears perked up and his muzzle pointed toward the only place the car could enter the pier dock area. A very slight mewl came out of his throat, which surprised Arch. What do you know, in his way the dingo could speak. “Got it,” Arch assured him, patting Harpo’s side…..
Arch Patton, It Was 1993, Chapter 20
Arch Patton It Was 1993 Chapter 20 Arch was aboard the S.S. Independence, supposedly heading for the Island of Maui. Vibrations emanated up through the deck, as he made his way along a lower corridor to reach a stairway. He knew the smooth harbor sailing was about to...
Arch Patton, It Was 1993, Chapter 21
Arch Patton It Was 1993 Chapter 21 They all took off on their respective errands, the most important thing being to get them out of the cabin and immediately away from the German who was, by now, likely stalking them. It wasn’t until they were three decks up that Arch...
Arch Patton, It Was 1993, Chapter 22
Arch Patton It Was 1993 Chapter 22 The pilot had wangled a small bolt cutter from somewhere. The advantage of the thing was how easy it was to conceal (being less than the length of a normal man’s arm), the disadvantage was in its diminished cutting capability. And...
Arch Patton, It Was 1993, Chapter 23
Arch Patton IT WAS 1993 Chapter 23 by James Strauss The pilot moved all the electronic stuff that was built up against the bulkhead, and then plopped down in the German’s desk chair. That was followed by a loud crack as he dropped the small bolt cutter onto the desk...
Arch Patton, It Was 1993, Chapter 24
Arch tore the tape from the German’s mouth. The entire affair, since finding the top secret supposedly by surprise, had been one of risk. Risk to people. Still Cyn, Atlantis, the pilot and even the dingo had gone along, and they’d been at high risk, all of them…..
Arch Patton, It Was 1993, Chapter 25
Arch knew that their only hope for surviving getting into Maui, and possibly beyond, lay with the radio operator. They had to have a ‘front’ aboard the Independence, and then some sort of protection when getting off the ship at the port in Maui…..
Arch Patton, It Was 1993, Chapter 26
Doug, the pilot, was wrong about one thing. Arch had traveled the islands very extensively but as a youngster, bumming along aboard his father’s Coast Guard cutter. Maui was an inhospitable island for beaches and for ports. …..
Arch Patton, It Was 1993, Chapter 27
The first thing Arch noticed, while walking up the pier toward downtown Lahaina, was the clouds surrounding the very top of the mountain that was the center of the western lobe of the island. They were huge, slowly billowing, and beautiful in the morning light…..
Arch Patton, It Was 1993, Chapter 28
The first thing Arch noticed, again, were the clouds surrounding the very top of the mountain that was the center of the western lobe of the island. They were huge, slowly billowing, and beautiful in the morning light. Good signs for a rigorous hike………
Arch Patton, It Was 1993, Chapter 29
Arch woke up wondering where he was. The cold was penetrating every pore of his body. He shivered awake, sitting up quickly, survival driving adrenalin into his system. And he couldn’t see anything except a thick grayness. He looked down…….
Arch Patton, It Was 1993, Chapter 30
Arch, Cyn and Harpo sat in the bushes by the side of Hwy. 30 on Maui. It was warm and dry, a welcome relief from the cold windy mountaintop on the Lahaina Pali Trail…
Arch Patton, It Was 1993, Chapter 31
Only Harpo reacted, walking toward the police officer standing in front of them with a grocery bag in one arm. The officer reached down to stroke the only part of the dingo’s head that he allowed anyone to touch. Harpo first wagged his tail, and then sat down to enjoy some more attention.