Stranded

Prologue

In the earliest hours of the morning, when the moon hid behind a cloud, the ocean looked like polished black glass. Silence (the absence of wind) was not as large a threat to this ship as were the small, muffled sounds that took its place. A bullet fired through a specially-crafted attachment and the quiet splooosh of a body hitting the water were not enough to awaken the blissfully slumbering passengers.

Jaime had been the first to fall asleep. She was so excited to finally be free from the hospital, and a vacation on a well-appointed and staffed (OSI-owned) mini-yacht had her giddy with joy. Steve and Rudy were exhausted just watching her. She had rebounded so beautifully from the car crash that had nearly killed her! While her memory had done a rapid-rewind back to the day of her skydiving accident, she could do any necessary re-learning in Steve's arms, and Jaime was finding there was nowhere else she'd rather be.

There was so much to relearn! Jaime had only the most basic, rudimentary knowledge of bionics and how they worked, and most of the time period between her skydiving accident and the car crash (including her work as an operative) was still a mystery to her. It was hoped that this trip would allow her questions to be answered gradually, in a more relaxed, peaceful setting and that she would grow closer to Rudy as well, since she and Steve often had to entrust him with their very lives.

Steve and Rudy, sharing the other cabin across the hall from Jaime's, made sure she was settled in for the night then had a martini together on the deck before lying down themselves. They'd been asleep for several hours when the body hit the water. They didn't notice the ship's drastic change of direction and never heard the engine rev harder as the ship began heading at full speed away from the land and out into the open ocean.

The captain didn't notice, either; he was beyond seeing anything at all, after his unwilling swan dive and unceremonious splooosh. The was a stranger at the helm of the ship, navigating through the endless black glass toward his own destination.

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