“So what’s up for tomorrow?” asked Dorothy Collins, one of four elderly tourists visiting Hawaii for the first time.

“Ron thought maybe we could take the Pearl Harbor…Hey! Watch it man!” said Doug Collins trying to keep his footing having been pushed from the back as a group of men shoved their way through their little group.

“You gon’a do somethin’ about it man?” replied one of the men.

“Yeah, you gon’a do somethin’?” shouted another man, his tone insultive and abusive.

“You don’t need to be so rude, young man,” retorted Sandra, the wife of Ron.

“We belong here! You don’t! This is ‘our’ land…our aina…not yours. Get off this island if you don’t like it!” shouted the first man who pushed the woman back into her husband.

“Hey! There’s no cause for that!” said Ron who stepped in front of his wife to confront the man.

Three other men stepped between Ron and his wife while several others surrounded the other couple.

“Leave us alone,” begged Grace Niles. She tried to get next to her husband, but the men pushed her back.

Hearing his wife’s plea, Ron turned around to confront her attackers, but as he did, he felt a sharp pain in his back just before falling to her feet. He never heard his wife’s scream nor saw what direction the men took as they left their harried victims. Minutes later, the quite Hawaiian night was shattered by the sounds of sirens.

*****

A roadblock at Kalakaua Avenue effectively diverted traffic onto Seaside Avenue clearing the area in front of the famous market place so the emergency personnel could do their job. By the time Chief Dann arrived a member of the medical team was closing up the back of the ambulance. Standing next to his cruiser, he watched the vehicle leave. There was no lights - no sirens - its only patient was already beyond their help.

Sighing, Chief Dann pushed his way through the gathering crowd of gawkers. “Okay folks, let’s move it along. There’s nothing here for you to watch anymore. Don, you and Jarrod get over here. Keep these people back.”

“Sure thing, Chief.”

Satisfied his men had the crowd on the move, he walked over to the senior officer working the case. “Kimo, whatda got?”

“Hey Chief. An elderly male tourist - killed with an odd looking knife,” replied Officer Kimo Kalenie.

“Whatda mean odd looking?”

“Well, if I didn’t know better I swear it was a pahi knife.” He handed him an instamatic photo the crime lab that had taken earlier.

Chief Dann didn’t speak for a moment as he looked at it. “Are you sure this is a pahi knife?”

“It’s been awhile since I’ve seen one, but yeah, I’m pretty damn sure,” said Kimo.

Gina Lucas, a reporter for KHON, was already on the scene and asking questions but getting very little information. She just happened to be walking by the two officers when she over heard what they had said. “What is a pa…?”

“A pahi,” finished Kimo. “It’s an old Hawaiian wooden knife.”

“How do you know it’s a pahi?”

“We’re not - yet. That’s what the lab will determine,” said Chief Dann. “Five-0 will be taking over this case so you’ll have to go through them to get any more information.” Chief Dann smiled inwardly as the disgruntled expression on the reporter’s face. He knew Steve McGarrett wouldn’t give them any information as long as the case was still open.

*****

The paperwork on this current killing had already started to pile up. There were no connections, so far, between the tourist and the unusual knife. Nothing filed about a missing artifact and none of the anti-tourist groups claimed the deed. The shrill ring was a welcome interruption. Steve McGarrett reached over and picked up the receiver on the third ring. “McGarrett.”

“Steve, I think you need to come down here. I think I’ve got something for you,” said Che Fong, the forensics expert for the state police unit.

Taking this chance to get away from it, he grabbed his coat and went down to the lab. “Whatcha got?”

“Over here. I was able to get a partial print - it’s a small partial but it’s better than nothing. Also, this knife isn’t as old as it looks. The carbon dating test indicated this wood is only ten years old and the composition of the finish is a gloss poly-ox polyurethane,” said Che as he handled the highly polished odd-looking knife.

“That’s a modern day finish,” said McGarrett who had seen many different things used to kill people before. He also knew something about the old Hawaiian weaponry thanks to Kono Kalakaua, one of his detectives.

“Any way of knowing where it was made?” asked McGarrett having taken the knife to examine closer.

“We’re working on it. We’re compiling a list of companies who supply it,” replied Che as he watched the tall dark haired man handled the odd-looking weapon.

“Good. Send me a copy of it and we’ll start checking them out.” Setting the odd weapon down, he looked over the other items on the table. “Anything else?”

“Maybe. One of the stores in the area had a security camera going. It was facing their front door. We’re hoping the incident might have been taped.”

“Ok, keep me informed,” said McGarrett leaving to go back up to his office taking the knife with him.

*****

“No man, someone is trying to make it seem like the old ways are trying to be brought back,” Kono told Chin as they walked into the Five-0 office. “There is no way that old kanaka would encourage anyone do something like this. No, he’d try to get them to do it in a more peaceful way.”

“Could be Kono, but it looks like someone wasn’t listening. We’ve had two other reports of tourists being roughed up and now they’ve escalated the violence. They need to be stopped before they cause tourists not to come here,” said Chin as they stopped at his cubical.

The outer door of the Five-0 office suddenly opened as Steve McGarrett entered. Rapping his knuckles on Chin’s cubical, he continued on to his office. Leaning against the open doors of the lanai, he looked out at the pristine park below while the two men settled into the seats in front of his desk. “Whatda ya got gentlemen?”

“Kono and I went over to Paxton Kolumi…” Chin Ho Kelly started to say.

“Isn’t he the kahuna and religious leader for the ‘Kahiko Ano’? McGarrett asked turning around a little but stayed leaning against the ancient woodwork.

“I don’t know if he’s the actual religious leader. Damien Sanders is the top dog there and he’s the one who’s been spouting off on how he thinks tourists are the reason Hawaiians have lost their lands and culture,” replied Chin Ho.

“Dat bruddha don’t know what he’s talkin’ about. I’ve heard him talk and he’s papule,” commented Kono who knew how vital the tourist trade was to the islands.

Damien Sanders. a rich man who owned several stores and warehouses that sold replicated versions of Hawaiian artifacts, claimed to have bloodlines going back to an aunt of Princess Victoria Ka'iulani Cleghorn.

“Paxton didn’t exactly agree with Sanders, but he does feel pressure from other cultures will be the demise of the old Hawaiian ways and he’s telling those who still listen that it is up to them to make the changes,” said Chin Ho.

“Yah, but he’d never tell ‘dem to become violent. I’ve heard him talk and he encourages learning the old ways so it can be past on to their kids. He knows ‘dat’s the only way to preserve our heritage,” said Kono a bit defensively. As an avid defender in preserving the old ways, he kept up with all the different facets going on within the Islands.

“So you think Sanders is the instigator to these latest violent attacks?” asked McGarrett. He respected the big Hawaiians feelings on the mixed cultural diversity that made Hawaii what it was.

“Very much so, he’s also got the money to back him. And I’m positive ‘dat Paxton isn’t behind any of these attacks - just not his style.”

“But you have to agree, Kono, that the history of Hawaii was bloody and violent,” Chin Ho said.

Walking around his desk, McGarrett started snapping his fingers listening to his two detectives banter. “Okay, okay. Chin, I want you to get some help from HPD and follow Damien Sanders. Dog him. Let him know he’s being followed.”

“You ‘want’ him followed openly? Why?” Chin Ho said incredulously. He wasn’t in the habit of questioning McGarrett’s orders but he didn’t understand what his boss was up to this time.

“Yeah, tail him openly. I want him to know he’s being watched. It might stop some of the attacks for the moment. Kono, bring in Paxton. I want to question him myself. Anyone hear from Danno lately?”

The second-in-command had been following up on the histories of the last two tourists attacked. One of them was still at Queens in coma in ICU. The other victim, Miles Silvers, had recovered enough from his wounds to go back to his home in Los Angeles, California, and that’s where Danny was now.

“Yeah, he’s finished talking with Silvers and should be back by 4 PM today. Said Silvers’ given him the descriptions of all the guys who jumped him,” said Kono.

“Anything more?” asked McGarrett hoping for more.

“Just ‘dat he took a police artist with him when he questioned Silvers and now have some composites of those involved,” replied Kono.

“Good, good. Gentlemen, you’ve got your assignments. I’ll pick up Danno and we’ll meet back here.

*****

The airport was packed with tourists coming and going. For a man who walked with long strides, it was disconcerting to have to keep varying his step as he made his way through the throng of people. That he had arrived a little later than he wanted irked him too, which didn’t help his attitude.

Exasperated, he finally made it to the gate. Only a few passengers were still coming down the gangway. Grunting a little at the thought of having missed Danno’s departure from the plane, McGarrett was about to turn and leave when he heard a familiar laugh. Smiling, he realized his young friend had probably been flirting with one of the flight attendants and was just now leaving the plane with her.

“Danno!”

“Oh, hi Steve,” replied Dan after hearing the familiar voice. “Sorry, Stacy, looks like business is calling me sooner than I thought.”

“That’s okay. I’ll catch you later maybe,” said the petite stewardess taking her travel case from him before heading towards the cabs.

“Another one?” teased McGarrett.

“Uh, well…I…” A brilliant crimson flush traveled up from Dan’s collar at being so openly predictable to his friend.

McGarrett shook his head and smiled. He was always surprised at the apparent ease his young friend was able to pick up a date at a moments notice. “I don’t know how you do it? What was it, a four or five hour flight at the max and you already hooked another one?”

“Well, not exactly. I knew her from before,” said Dan. Smiling, he knew his amorous ways would always be the source of amusement to his friend.

“So how did it go?”

“Great. The police artist did a great job from what Silvers’ gave him and I’ve got a written statement from him saying he’s positive he saw Sanders in the group who attacked him.”

“Good enough to hold up in court?”

“Yep, even before the artist started Silvers gave me a good description of the guy. He’s even willing to come back and testify against him.” Dan’s actions became a bit animated with his excitement as he gave his report. Everyone had worked long hours on this case and it finally looked like they might be able to wrap it up soon.

*****

“As I told you before, McGarrett, I don’t condone violence. I’m just trying to get my people to learn and live the old ways and pass them on along to their children,” said Paxton. “It’s the only way our heritage can survive.”

“Then taking over the Islands isn’t one of your goals?” McGarrett kept his tone even, not accusative and yet not indicating he believed the man he was questioning.

“Get real McGarrett, even I know the government is not going to relinquish its hold on these Islands. It’s too valuable as a strategic military base and it’s the number one reason why the government came here.”

McGarrett didn’t say anything to that. He knew the man was right as far as the military and the islands. While he didn’t agree with the take over of the islands, he knew it was beyond his ability to change what had happened. What he did know was his job, and that was to keep the current laws, investigate crimes and to bring in those who broke the law. Looking over at Kono, who had positioned himself to the left of his desk, he saw a mixture of emotions on the burly Hawaiian’s face.

“Then who is inciting our people to become violent?” asked Kono, his arms crossed in front of his chest.

Hissing in a breath, Paxton stood up suddenly to face the burly Hawaiian. “The majority of ‘our’ people don’t want the violence. Open your eyes Bruddah…look at who is doing this, but then you wouldn’t know. You’ve become just like these haoles. Your mind has been poisoned by their thoughts and beliefs from being around them for so long,” Paxton said in Hawaiian. His eyes had an iridescent quality to them, almost as if his pupils had turned to a fiery red and then turned back to obsidian blackness.

Angered, Kono eyes narrowed to mere slits. Stepping over to face Paxton face to face, he struggled to control his heated feelings before he spoke in a very low tone back to the man in Hawaiian. “You dare to speak of the feelings of our people. You do not know to whom you are speaking. I am of royal blood, going back to King David Kalakaua himself. Who are you to claim I do not understand what is happening to our people?”

Paxton paled upon hearing this. He lowered down upon his left knee, bowing his head down. “Forgive me. I didn’t realize. In my vigor, my mouth spoke words of disrespect.” Standing back up, he now spoke in English, “It just didn’t seem to me that you would know what is being done to our people. I thought your mind poisoned by McGarrett’s beliefs. After all, how could he understand? He is only a haole.”

“You would be surprised at what ‘he’ understands of our people’s plight. He may be a ‘kana o papa'a hao’ (man of iron) but he is also someone who listens with an open mind.” Kono looked over at his boss and smiled. “He’s been one very good student. He really ‘wants’ to know about our culture.”

Paxton nodded his head and then turned back to McGarrett. “Mr. McGarrett, please accept my apologies. So many have come from other lands without any desire to learn about our culture. They just assume because the native Hawaiians are now in the minority that we will adapt their ideals and give up our own.”

McGarrett quietly stood listening to the man. He heard this viewpoint many times since he came to Hawaii. Straightening up, he walked around his desk then sat on the corner of his desk. “Mr. Paxton, I ‘do’ try to understand all points of view. What I don’t condone though is when ‘anyone’ breaks the law trying to enforce their beliefs on others. And what some of those who are members of the ‘Kahiko Ano’ are trying to do just that.”

Standing, he walked back around his desk and picked up the odd-looking wooden weapon. “This was found in the back of a tourist. That tourist died! While not a citizen of this state, that tourist deserved the same consideration as anyone who lives here. And, the ‘Kahiko Ano’ had better realize that fast. It is the tourists who make it so many of your people can make a decent living.”

McGarrett tossed the weapon to Paxton who caught it with both hands and held it close to his chest. “Take a good look at it.”

Frozen with fear, Paxton didn’t move.

“Look at it!”

Trembling, Paxton looked down at the knife. He fingered the smoothness of the wood and touched the sharp point. He was scared to look directly at McGarrett whose eyes had a cold steel look to them.

“Do you know who might have one of these?” demanded McGarrett.

Kono hadn’t said anything during this time. He knew to stay away from the flames of the McGarrett volcano when it went off.

“I…I don’t know,” Paxton said weakly, his voice trembling. He looked at the knife again, turning it over several times. His gaze stopped though at the butt of the knife. There was something vaguely familiar there to him. He couldn’t place it though.

McGarrett eyes narrowed a little when he noticed something in the man’s face that registered a thought. He leaned forward resting both hands on his desk. “I don’t believe you. I think you do know. I think you know exactly who has access to such a weapon.”

Paxton looked up at McGarrett and then over to Kono who had stepped over to his side. “You seeing something man?”

“I…I think so. I didn’t see this before. Look.” Paxton handed the Hawaiian detective the knife butt end first. “Look at how the grain of the wood is, how it has been…enhanced.”

McGarrett stepped around his desk over to see what Paxton had found. Kono’s eyes narrowed then opened wide at what he saw. “Boss, take a look at this. You have to hold it just right, but that sure looks like a name to me.”

McGarrett took the weapon back. At first he didn’t see what they were talking about until he held it just right. That’s when he saw the name. ‘Damien.’

*****

The white Mercedes turned down the warehouse road, pulling to a stop at the building numbered eighteen. Slowly the tall metal doors rolled up. Three men walked out to the car where the taller of them reach forward opening the back door of the vehicle.

“Hi Pete,” said Damien stepping out of the air conditioning interior into the humidity. Leading the way inside, he walked over to a stack of fifteen boxes all marked ‘crushed pineapple’.

“Haven’t you packed them up yet?” asked Damien ignoring the men who were standing around as he looked at the boxes. Damien knew they should contain the most recent shipment of Saturday Night Specials. These cheap guns were easy to buy and sell.

“Yeah, they’re in the old truck under the fake bedliner. James is going to deliver them to our people tonight. As you instructed, each gun’s going for twenty bucks. Soon we’ll have our people armed,” said Pete Sanders. He and James Olohana had spent most of the night getting the illegal weapons ready for dispersrment. Their sale would net them several thousands of dollars on the black market.

“Yeah, then we can step up our attacks on these damn haoles. Hurt and scare enough of them and they won’t want to return.”

“Only problem is, you scare enough of them away it will hurt our own. No monies coming in and such.” Pete had just lost his job as a busboy for one of the major hotels, which relied upon the tourist. The hotel had hired a new hotel manager from the mainland who didn’t understand how the locals were when the tides were up. Fired because he would rather surf than work, Pete felt nothing but anger towards all mainlanders now.

“Oh, I don’t mind the tourist themselves, it’s those mainlanders that come here and take our bread and butter from us.”

“How is hurting tourists going to help us then?” asked James.

“Easy, we get the tourists to stop coming for a while. The haoles’ businesses close down because they go broke. Once they gone, we take over. The tourists come back but we’ll be in charge. We can charge higher prices too because they can easily afford it.”

“But what about the military? How you planning on getting rid of them?”

Damien looked at the others inside the warehouse as he formulated his idea. “I figure we get our own people in office and then we vote to renounce this falsified government and get back our kingdom.”

*****

“Steve…Damien’s just pulled up to a warehouse located at the Pearl docks,” said Chin Ho.

“Good going Chin. I’ll get Chief Dann to send you some back up, but don’t move in on him yet, just keep watching. Danno’s got some excellent descriptions and drawings of two of Miles Silvers attackers. We’ve also got a partial fingerprint match off that knife and it matches of Damien’s men…a James Olohana, whose got a rap sheet a mile long for assaults.”

“That creep! He’s one bad dude and from what I heard, he doesn’t like anyone who isn’t Hawaiian.”

“Yeah, that’s what Kono said too. What’s the warehouse number?”

“Eighteen.”

“Good, keep out of sight and we’ll be there soon.”

Twenty minutes later the black Mercury’s tires squealed as McGarrett took the turn onto the roadway leading to the docks. Behind him was Kono’s brown LTD and five more HPD cruisers, each with four officers inside. The fifth cruiser stopped at the entrance to seal off the dockside warehouse complex.

“Where are you, Chin?” asked Danny as they approached the first building.

“On the mauna side of the docks.”

“Good Chin. We should be there in a second. We’ve also some reinforcements with us and the Coast Guard is sending a Cutter to stop any escape by sea,” said Danny. He looked down the various docks, as they drove by, but so far, no boats.

Nearing the end of the row of warehouses, Danny pointed to Chin’s car. As McGarrett pulled up next to the brown LTD, Chin got out and walked over to his associates.

“There’s another gate down this road,” Chin informed his boss, who instructed one of the HPD teams to go and secure it.

With the only ways out secured, McGarrett walked over to the corner of the warehouse and cautiously peeked around the corner. Warehouse Eighteen was the third building from the end. An unoccupied white Mercedes was parked out in front of the closed doors of the building. Located to the right of the big door was a smaller one. McGarrett noticed it had a small window in it.

He watched for several minutes, and just as he was about to turn away the small door opened up and two men walked out.

“Hey, no way. James and Damien know what they’re doing. Sure, it’s going to be difficult, but we’ll pull together and outlast the haoles. Like Damien said, once they leave we’ll take over,” said a man in a blue and white flowered Aloha shirt.

“Well, I agree with James. We don’t have the luxury to wait around. We’ve got to force them out now even if that means someone dies,” the other man said, he voice rising as the two continued to debate the problems of those on the islands. They were walking down the dock road towards the cars parked in the lot.

Neither of them saw the four men who silently made their way around the backside of the warehouse and were now approaching them from behind. When the two men turned to walk between a set of warehouses they came face to face with two men in business suits.

“Gentlemen,” said McGarrett with Danny by his side, whose drawn weapon stopping from any arguments from their captives.

“What the…?” said the man in the Aloha shirt, but before he could react or say anything else, his arms were pinned behind his back as handcuffs were clicked into place.

“Hey! Who are you?” demanded the other man, who tried to struggle with the two officers holding him.

“The name is McGarrett, Five-0. I’ve got some questions for you and what you are charged with could be determined by the information you do or don’t give us.”

The two warehouse workers looked at each other. Their eyes betrayed their fear. The Aloha shirted man looked back at McGarrett and took a deep breath. “We ain’t done nothin’ man. What you beefin’ with us for, man?”

The menacing glare from McGarrett’s eyes cowed the man. “Let’s just say that after we’re done here, you might want to consider a different type of occupation.” He didn’t say anything for a moment to allow his words to sink in. “Now…how many are still in there?” asked McGarrett, his head nodding in the direction of the warehouse.

“Just the two of us,” lied the man. He looked as his partner who doing his best to avoid anyone’s eyes. “Right Kimo?”

“I ain’t saying nothin’. I know my rights,” the man replied.

Taking in a deep breath, McGarrett straighten up a little more, his imposing height subconsciously intimidating the weaker of the two men. He looked over at Kono who nodded his head.

“Hey, Bro, listen to The Man. Believe me, he no pullin’ your leg. Come clean and answer and it will go easier on you. You no want to spend time in the box,” Kono told the men in Hawaiian.

“He’s nothing but a haole. He not my ruler and ‘is against our people,” shot back the man in the shirt.

“E’…you couldn’t be more wrong, Bruddha. He does understand and that makes him different. Your best bet now is to give him what he wants,” said Kono giving McGarrett a smile.

The two captives held their heads down, giving their captives a sideway glance. The man in the shirt was obviously mulling over what Kono had said. Several minutes went by without any indication of either of them complying.

“Okay, you sure we get treated fair?” asked the other man.

“He do what he says. Give him what he wants and he’ll talk to the DA for you,” said Kono.

“Man, I don’t know. It ain’t Damien who scares me. It’s James. He one bad dude,” said the man.

“How so?” Kono shot a look over at his boss.

“He’s pupule - way worse than Damien.”

McGarrett remained silent while his Hawaiian detective conversed in his native tongue. Watching the men’s body language, he caught a word or two, but his uncanny senses told him Kono was getting through.

“So talk story to me,” said Kono.

“Man, Damien, he no have control like he thinks. James is the real power. He brag about how he and Pete fix this one haole and how he fixes it so it look like Damien did it.”

“What he do?” asked Kono.

“He and Pete were suppose to only rough up some tourists, but instead he puts a ‘pahi’ in their back. He then tells how they got away. Damien no know this happen. When he finds out ‘kaka’ hit da fan,” said the man in the Aloha shirt.

“Who else was with ‘hem?” Kono knew he was getting the information they needed so he kept pushing.

Both captives looked at each other. Neither saying anything. Kono glanced over at McGarrett how had remained silent while they talked.

“Who else?” repeated Kono, his tone for forceful.

“Dan Kahanu, Kimo Manaba, Niki Nagano and Stan Nappi.” The man wasn’t happy giving out the name of his friends but the look McGarrett gave him scared the shit out of him and he didn’t like the idea of spending any time in a cell.

Kono straightened up as he turned to McGarrett to give him a brief report on what the man had said.

“Good going Kono. Looks like we’ve got enough on Damien and the others to be able to book ‘em. What about what’s going on within the warehouse?”

Giving his boss a smile, Kono turned back to the two men. After several minutes of going back and forth with both men, Kono had the prisoners put into separate HPD cruisers and then informed McGarrett of what was going down. 

Smiling, McGarrett walked over to the corner of the building and took a quick look. The area still didn’t show any activity going on. ‘Damien must feel secure enough not to have any guards posted outside,’ Flattening himself along the wall, he motioned to his men to join him.

“Kono, you and Chin take some men to the back. Danno, take two men with you and see if you can gain access from the roof. There’s got to be some skylights and some sort of ventilation shafts up there. Maybe you can gain some access that way. We need that big door open so we can get in faster.”

“That’s going to be noisy when it rolls up,” reminded Danny.

“Can’t be helped. I’m hoping the noise you, Chin and Kono will make will be enough for us to open that door.”

“We can make a lot of noise if you want. Sort of draw them to the back…pulling their attention to us,” offered Chin.

“Good plan Chin. That will also give Danno some cover so he can get inside. Danno, take your men and get going. Radio Chin when you’re in place and needless to say, be careful. These men have an unlimited supply of weapons and ammo,” instructed McGarrett as he took another peak around the corner. He noticed no one was near the white Mercedes. “Danno, before you go up see if you can’t disable that vehicle.”

Danny peaked around the corner to see if there was a way to get to the car unobserved. Smiling he quickly ran back to his car and opened his trunk, rummaging around for a second before finding what he wanted. With the needed tools in hand he stealthily made his way to the back side of it. Cautiously, he slide under it and after a bit made his way back to the others.

“Okay Steve. That car’s not going anywhere very soon.”

Perplexed McGarrett took a fugitive look at the car and nodded his head smiling. “You’ve been reading too many James Bond type of stories, Danno.” Both Chin and Kono took turns looking and had a hard time not breaking out into loud laughter.

“Only Danny could have thought of using a jack and raising the rear end off the ground high enough for the tires not to be touching the ground.”

“Hey, I could have put a tow chain there and secure the end to a post, but I didn’t have a way of hiding it. They’d of seen it and would know it had been tampered with. This way, they can press down on the accelerator all they want and all they would do is spin the tires.” That said he motioned to two officers to follow him after reminding Chin to give him time to get into position.

The clear sky and bright sunshine made the metal roofing very hot. Cautiously, the three officers made their way towards the third warehouse. There were numerous skylights and vents. Two of the vents didn’t have a lid on them and they could see inside of the warehouse.

Along the wall and in neat stacks of three were rows of crates – some wood and some a heavy cardboard. Two stacks were immediately above the vents with no lids and these vents were large enough to admit a man.

“Steve, we’re in position. We found two spots to slip through from, one along the right side and the other near the center, but just to the left. There’s…four…no, make that five men in there besides Damien, Sanders and Olohana. Damien and Sanders are examining the old truck which is close to the roll up doors.”

“What about weapons?”

“Two men have rifles, but the others seem to be unarmed at the moment. I’m sure Damien has one tucked in his belt.”

“Good going Danno. Chin, did you read that?”

“Yeah Steve. We’re ready to go on your word.”

McGarrett didn’t reply but looked back around the corner, then motioned the others to follow him as he approached the doors. He indicated to two of the men to make their way to the other side of the roll up door and two more to the other side of the smaller one. “Go for it Chin,” he said into the radio, tensely waiting for the needed diversion.

Chin raised his pistol up level with the locking mechanism and shot twice into it. It was followed immediately by two swift kicks sending the door slamming into the metal sides of the building. As soon as it opened Chin and the officers rushed inside, keeping low and spreading out with their weapons drawn.

Two of the workers closest to the door were knocked out almost immediately, dragged out of the line of fire, and cuffed. The explosive entrance didn’t go unnoticed by the others who were now grabbing for whatever weapons they could as they ran to the source of the noise.

“Niki, Stan…go around that way. Kimo, you go with Pete. Dan and John were in the back,” shouted James as he took the lead to defend the cargo.

Damien staying near the truck had drawn his gun as he watched his men search out the trouble.

Within seconds of Chin’s diversion Danny and his men dropped down through the vents and flatten themselves upon the crates, the noise from their landing muffled by the bang of the door.

Hearing the steps of those below, Danny made sure he was far enough away from the edge before signaling the other officer to make his move down.

McGarrett also heard the bang and went through the unlocked door in the front. Quickly he moved over to the switch would raise the metal door. No sooner had he flipped the switch with his left hand, then he had to duck as a slug slammed into the wood crate near him.

“Pete! James! Get over here! We’ve got company!”

“Tell me somethin’ I don’t know!” shouted Pete as he ran back to Damien. As he ran he noticed a movement from above. Realizing there was someone up there he took several shots at the officer but Danny was a better mark as he took the man out with only one shot.

Seeing Pete getting hit, Damien took several shots in Danny’s area, but the second-in-command was no longer there. Cussing up a storm, Damien crouched down using the truck to hide behind.

All of the officers were now on the ground working their way around the warehouses. Shots rang out in fierce blasts as the criminals fought back. Chin, followed by two officers worked their way around two men. Signaling an officer to go around a box they waited as the men tried locate them.

Smiling, Chin stepped out as soon as the two had passed him. “Freeze! Drop your weapons!” ordered Chin as the other officer stepped out trapping the two between them.

One of the men reacted by trying to take a quick shot, but was shot in returned by the third officer. Seeing his companion doing down the other quickly surrendered, throwing his gun down and raising his hands above his head. Chin nodded to the officers who quickly cuffed him, then escorting him back to the others as they dragged the wounded man back with them.

“Give it up Damien! You’ve got no way out!” shouted McGarrett as he took a quick look around the box, but had to duck back again as slugs again slammed into the crates. There was a furious return of fire from that, driving the shooters back. Taking the advantage McGarrett ran from the crate over to another set. There he saw Olohana. Knowing this was the man responsible for the death of the tourist he was determined not to let this man get away.

“Drop the gun Olohana,” demanded McGarrett keeping his gun leveled at the killer.

Olohana fired at McGarrett, a useless move, but he was desperate. McGarrett fired almost as the same time hitting Olohana in the chest. He didn’t stop to check the fallen man because a bigger pray was what he was after now.

Hearing an engine start up, McGarrett raced back to the front of the warehouse with Danny close on his heels.

When Damien saw Olohana go down, he didn’t wait around. Having surprised on of the officers guarding the front, he knocked him out with a savage blow to the back of the head from his gun. Seeing his car, he raced for it. The remaining officer came out trying to stop him, but was shot and killed in a brief fiery shoot out. Reaching the driver’s side door, he yanked it open and slipped in behind the wheel. Grabbing the keys from his pocket, he started the engine, put it into gear and floored the accelerator.

McGarrett and Danny reached the door just as Damien did this. Both men looked over to each other and smiled. The rear tires spun around fast but since they didn’t touch the ground, they didn’t propel the car forward.

“Give it up Damien! As I said, you’re not going away where,” shouted McGarrett as he and Danny had their guns pointed at him.

Damien floored the gas petal again in one last desperate attempt, then hung his head and looked down at the floorboard.

“Come on out Damien, with your hands above your head,” ordered McGarrett. Chin and Kono had joined them by now and had positioned themselves at the other end of the car.

Damien didn’t move. Glancing to the right of him, he looked at his gun resting next to his leg.

“Damien, give it up man,” shouted Kono in Hawaiian. “You’ll lose for sure if’n you try anythin’.”

Slowly Damien moved his hands down, off the steering wheel. Without lifting his head, he reached over with his left hand to open the door while his right hand picked up his gun, but he didn’t make any type of move to leave the vehicle.

“Come on Damien! It’s over! You’ve lost. Give it up and I promise you won’t get hurt. You’ve got no chance!” McGarrett shouted again. Cautiously, he and Danny worked their way around the front of the car as Kono and Chin did the same thing from the rear.

Looking up at the rearview mirror, Damien saw the two Five-0 officers in the back. His hand still covered the gun next to him, but he still didn’t move.

McGarrett took a few more steps nearer the man until he was right next to the car door. Slowly he walked around to the open side of the door and then reached down to grab Damien’s arm. “You’re under arrest Damien.” But before he could anything else, Damien tightened his grip upon his gun and brought it up to his temple, pulling the trigger before anyone could do anything.

Stunned, McGarrett jumped back and watched as Damien’s body fell out onto the blacktop.

“Steve! You okay?” shouted Danny as he raced to his friend’s side.

“I didn’t think he’d do something like this,” said Chin as Kono and he reached their boss’ side.

“I’m not surprised. He thought himself a kahuna and above us. He was determined not to be taken into custody, admitting defeat like he thinks all Hawaiians have done since a long time ago,” replied Kono, shaking his head in disgust, he turned his back on the dead man and walked away.

*****

McGarrett had just finished signing all the final paperwork to the case when he saw Kono and Danny talking at the second-in-commands desk. Getting up, he walked over to them.

“Good work guys. Especially you Kono. Without you talking to those two it might have turned out very differently,” said McGarrett in a rare moment of praise for the burly Hawaiian.

“Mahalo Boss. You know we found crates full of those fake ‘pahi’ knives and even more crates loaded with cheap Saturday Night Specials.”

“So I saw in your report. So what’s the story with these knives? Why would they use them?” asked McGarrett. He was always interested in learning about ancient Hawaiian traditions.

“The ‘pahi’ is designed for close in fighting to do as much damage as possible. The warrior could spear, poke, cut or club someone with a single motion. The knife could be made out of whalebone with shark teeth embedded into it or of teak wood and carved in such a way to use the strength of the wood. These knives we found are not of quality. They are tainted by the way Damien had them made. They ever were to be massed produced,” said Kono as he handled the knife Danny had put on his desk earlier that evening. “The Gods were against him from the beginning for doin’ this.”

Both McGarrett and Danno remained quiet as Kono looked over the knife. Suddenly with a burst of anger and disgust, the burly Hawaiian threw the knife into the metal wire waste basket, it’s tip stabbing into one of the openings, breaking it off as it bounced around before coming to rest at the bottom signaling that the case was over.

PAU