With apologies to Dr Cussler for borrowing his hero. Everything in this story is fictional. Well except for Doxa and Omega, they are real watch companies. And Fedex is real too. And there really is a NUMA, but it's not the same organization. And Jack and IWW are certainly real. Hmmm, OK, maybe not everything here is fictional after all. Hope you enjoy this wee little tale!


Dirk Pitt looked down into the box, a slight crease of anxiety on his forehead. 'This is ridiculous' he thought to himself. 'It's only a damn watch for Christ's sake'. His beloved orange faced Doxa lay in the box, battered and beat up but still ticking away. It was way past time to have the old work horse serviced and cleaned up. Since he was currently between assignments this seemed like the perfect time. He and that watch had been through an awful lot together. He noted a deep gouge on the outer edge of the case, just above the 12:00 marker. He remembered how that gouge got there. Floating on a battered raft (the remains of the Wallowing Windbag Hovercraft) under the Sonoran Desert, on an underground river no one knew existed. He came around a bend and nearly crashed headlong into an outcropping of rock, which was barely visible in the near total darkness. His left arm flew up reflexively and he fended himself off from the rock, but as he did he heard a sickening metallic scraping noise. By the faint glow of his dying light he saw a fresh, deep gouge on the top of his watch. "Damn" he said out loud. Then thoughts of the watch were pushed from his mind as he concentrated on surviving this water park ride from Hell.

Pulling the watch back out of the box, he noticed for the thousandth time the scratch on the crystal from the 1 straight down to the 5. The saphire-coated crystal is the second hardest substance known to man, but unfortunately it met the hardest: a diamond. This brought back memories of Maeve Fletcher and, unfortunately, her evil father Arthur Dorsett. And of course her sisters, Deirdre and Boudicca. Well, he always thought when these two came to mind, sister and brother! He remembered the fight with Arthur and Boudicca in Dorsett's office on Gladiator Island. Sometime during that fight, before he and Al killed Arthur and Boudicca, his watch crystal got scratched. Had to be one of the diamond rings worn by one of them. As usual, thoughts of Maeve made him both sad and angry. Angry at what her own family had done to her, and tried to do to her twin sons. And sad because he missed her spirit and .....? 'This is getting me nowhere' he thought as he put the watch back into the box.

He saw again the other most noticeable damage to the watch, a deep scrape along the bezel at the 7:00 position. THAT was courtesy of Foss Gly, one of the toughest sociopaths he ever had the displeasure to meet. In a hidden Soviet spy facility on an island near Cuba, Gly was torturing Pitt to reveal how and why he and Jessie LeBaron had arrived there. The watch damage occurred when Gly threw Pitt into a cement wall, minutes before Gly threw a sink at him. He was one strong S.O.B.! But a few days later Pitt got his revenge. Between Pitt's thumb jammed in Gly's eye, AND 3 slugs from an automatic pistol fired by Jessie, they sent Gly to meet his maker. And good riddance!

Pitt sealed the box with packing tape and double-checked the address. 'I sure hope Jack and the guys at IWW are as good as I've heard' he thought. Grabbing his coat and the box, he headed into town towards his office. On the way he stopped at a Fedex store and over-nighted the box to Industrial Watch Works at their North Carolina address. Absurdly he kept glancing at his now naked wrist as he drove downtown. When he got to his office at NUMA, he pulled his old Omega out from the back of the bottom drawer of his desk. Giving it a few shakes he was glad to see it started ticking right away. He carefully wound it about 40 turns and set the time and date. Putting it on his wrist, he leaned forward and started sorting through the paperwork piled on his desk. He put the Doxa out of his mind for the time being.

A couple of weeks later there was a knock on his office door. "Come on in" he said. A Fedex delivery man walked in with a small package and an electronic clipboard. "Are you Dirk Pilt?" he asked. "No, I'm Dirk Pitt, not Pilt" Dirk replied. Looking at the package again the delivery man said "Oh yeah, sorry - I misread the label. Please sign here". Taking the clipboard and glancing at the return address, Pitt's heartbeat quickened. 'Damn that was fast' he thought as he signed it and took the package. As the Fedex man left Pitt went to his desk and sat down. Pulling out a sharp letter opener he carefully slit the packing tape along the edges and opened the box. He didn't even look at the packing slip, in his hurry to open the smaller box inside. He pulled a rounded lump out of the smaller box and gently unwrapped it. His eyes widened at what he saw. His Doxa looked practically brand new! Gone were the scratches, gouges, dings and nicks from the case and the bracelet. The crystal was brand new and flawless. They re-lumed the hands and dial to restore the glow-in-the-dark ability he had relied on so many times. He also knew they had taken apart the guts and completely cleaned, oiled and adjusted the movement. He hurriedly undid the clasp on the Omega and slipped it off. It was a great watch but not his favorite. He slid the Doxa onto his wrist and snapped the clasp in place with a satisfying sigh. 'Welcome back old friend' he thought as he returned to work.

Sweet Paul!! I hope the happy ending parallels your Doxa adventure. Does it? :)

Thats very clever and well written.Keep it going th:

Aw, what a sweet story! Especially the last line beer: Keep up the good work!

th: Great stuff, Paul!!!

Very nice Paul. I enjoyed it. One of these days we'll have to get together. beer:

Thanks, everyone, for the kind comments. Julie, with my lifestyle I don't think I'll ever have to worry about this happening to my Doxas! Sandecker, maybe after the 'season of madness', a.k.a. the Holidays, we can meet for a brew somewhere. I have another idea for a story rattling around in my head, sort of a sci fi - fantasy twisted short. After things settle down for me a bit I'll try to put it to paper (or keyboard I guess!). Thanks again!! :)

Paul

Oh no Paul, what I meant was I hope you are the luck getting your Doxa fix that Pitt did.

Sometimes the sweet but short really applies to something like this tale by Searambler. Good going there!!!! I do believe we have another talented writer on our hands and I cannot wait for a story from our Searambler friend!!!! w:

Very good! Though there's no love lost for ol Foss Gly, it seems!
Heh. Dirk Pilt.

Julie, Doxaholism (or orangitis as it is sometimes called) is a serious disease where people get a Doxa, then feel this overpowering need to get another, then another, then another, etc. There are documented cases of guys having over a dozen Doxas in their collection, and still wanting more! I currently own 4, not including the one I just sold on eBay. I suppose there are worse things to be addicted to!!! ;)

Paul

Just don't overdose Paul ;)

We are looking forward to your next story and it would be a shame for us all to miss out cop:

Don't worry Kelly - it isn't a life-threatening affliction, just a wallet-threatening one !!! :lol:

Paul

I hear ya ;)

Searambler, glad to hear it's only your wallet being threatened. I'd need to take out a second bond on the house. :P

Hi Paul,
Well I'm flattered to be mentioned in your story to say the least!!

I have vivid memories of trying to find DOXA dive watches on ebay 6 or 7 years ago and coming up empty.

I've read a bunch of Clive's books and have received as gifts from a watch client, a autographed Cussler novel and several first editions. Needless to say, I'm a fan of Dirk and DOXA!

Great story and very clever!!

Thanks again.

Best,
Jack Alexyon
Industrialwatchworks

Welcome to the board, Jack! Good to have you here!
Great story, eh? Hits close to home, so to speak!

The story makes me recall my great past experiences of reading all the Dirk Pitt books. I really appreciate you did this Paul, because otherwise, I might've forgotten the people who made these adventures truly exciting!! :)