It was Friday afternoon, and Jay Halstead found himself reclining in an uncomfortable metal seat inside Seattle's bustling cruise terminal. The last six hours had been painstaking, to say the least. Jay had been jolted awake at quarter to five and had hastily gathered up his things and driven off to pick up Erin before the sun had even slit the horizon. The pair had spent the ride to the airport lamenting about their exhaustion and teasing each other ruthlessly- mostly on the topic of Jay's army neatness and immaculate suitcase vs. Erin's half a dozen bags of frantic last-second chaos. Once they arrived at O'Hare coffee made things better, and soon Erin and Jay had united with their fellow officers at the pre-planned rendezvous point just before security.
Everyone had been in decent spirits up until that point, when the events of the security checkpoint made the morning much more stressful. Mouse had had a heck of a time explaining his mother lode of gadgets (two suitcases' worth) to the security personnel, and came close to being detained until Alvin stepped in with his badge and some smooth-talking. Jay had almost gotten himself into a similar situation by nearly losing it on a young guard who was a bit too touchy-feely with his screening of Erin. Ruzek had stalled the entire security line by forgetting about the abundance of forbidden edible goods he had stashed in his carry-on. Strangest of all encounters had been Voight's stand-off with the gruff officer-in-charge. Apparently the sergeant had somehow attained a dozen firearms and a permit to carry them with him in an armoured suitcase for the duration of the trip, though the head of airport security was understandably suspicious about the stash. Somehow Hank had convinced the security personnel to let him pass and keep the guns, though neither Jay nor any of the other detectives had any idea how.
"As always, Voight has his own agenda. We just have to trust him." Antonio had whispered quietly to the group as they waited on their sergeant beyond security. When Voight was released, no questions were asked.
After security the morning was simpler; Platt led the group with an iron fist and ensured that all went smoothly from the moment the officers boarded their plane to Seattle until they arrived at their ship's wing of the cruise terminal.
Now Jay was enjoying his first moments of downtime, and the rest of the group was in a similar state. It was a group which consisted of Voight and the six detectives of intelligence, plus Mouse, along with Trudy and her three chosen officers. Or rather, two chosen officers. Unsurprisingly Platt had offered two of the vacation spots to her most highly regarded patrolmen, Burgess and Roman, though yesterday she had announced that the third spot was not to be filled by an officer, but rather by her husband, fireman Mouch. Trudy insisted that none of the other patrolmen had been able to clear their schedules to fit in the vacation, but Jay suspected that Trudy just wanted to take her husband on a free vacation. No one objected, since no one wanted to deal with the inevitable wrath that would follow. A happy sergeant Platt was an agreeable sergeant Platt.
An hour or so remained until the eager group would be able to board the ship, so Erin and Burgess had gone off to find something to eat in the busy terminal. Platt and Mouch were bantering about something involving parkas and hats. Roman, Atwater, and Antonio were watching some sort of sports event on a tablet. Ruzek and Olinsky had wandered off some time ago, and Voight was catching some shut-eye several metres away. To Halstead's right was Mouse, tinkering with a laptop.
"What do you know about Arthur Penn?" Mouse interjected suddenly, pulling Jay out of his fervour.
Mouse had pulled up several pages of information about their generous host on his laptop's screen, and was rapidly flipping through the information.
Jay shrugged quizzically. "The 21st recovered his property, so he sent us on a cruise."
"Except it wasn't the 21st." Mouse mused, pausing on a web article. "It was the 19th precinct that executed that particular bust."
"Maybe he made a mistake."
Mouse eyed Jay thoughtfully. "If he did it was a pretty damn expensive one."
Jay watched his friend pull up a picture of Arthur Penn. He was a burly grey-haired man with a close cropped but bushy beard and a large birthmark on his neck. In this particular photo, Penn was shaking hands with the mayor of Chicago.
"Platt said this whole offer was screened- how come no one noticed he got the wrong district?" Jay quipped quietly.
"Beats me." Mouse muttered.
Jay sat back and crossed his arms. "This whole thing's really weird."
"I'm not complaining; we're getting a free vacation after all." Mouse mused, shutting the laptop. "Besides, if something's up, I'll know. Why do you think I brought all this party equipment." He added, patting his large suitcases of tech supplies.
Jay smiled at his friend's foresight. He tried to relax, and reminded himself that nothing bad could possibly happen with Voight and Platt around to supervise and Mouse looking after everything. He shut his eyes and dozed off to the buzz of people milling about around him.
Several minutes later, Jay felt a sharp elbow against his side.
Mouse's familiar voice flooded his ears with a sharp whisper. "Rise and shine, Beauty's back."
Jay cracked his eyes open and groaned. He perked up when he saw Erin heading his way with two paper bags and a pair of drinks.
"Hey, I got you a sandwich." She said exasperatedly, flopping down on Jay's left. He took the bag gratefully, glancing at Mouse with both thanks and playful mocking.
...
As Erin followed the long procession of passengers travelling up the gangway to board the Borealis, she was struck by how large and imposing the ship was. A huge white monstrosity flanked by lines of regal purple and Penn Pacific decals.
"The Borealis is one of the biggest ships in the world- over a thousand feet long." Mouse chimed from behind her, seeing Erin gazing out the gangway's windows. "There's eleven restaurants, four pools, three spas, two theatres, a skating rink, a casino, sixteen lifeboats -"
Jay abruptly cut him off and slid in beside Erin. "-and that's enough of that."
"The goal is not to make Erin feel like we're walking onto Titanic." Jay stated with raised eyebrows.
Erin glanced at him quickly, anxiety flashing in her eyes, and recalled a conversation they'd had on the plane about her lack of experience on boats and around water.
"It's like a giant hotel, then." Mouse quipped with a forced smile.
"Better." Jay muttered.
Soon the group arrived at the top of the gangway, and stepped into the grand lobby of the ship. Hundreds of eager passengers filled the lavishly adorned room and crowded the sweeping marble staircase. With the added inconvenience of luggage, the result was pure chaos.
Erin suddenly found that Kim was on her arm. "Platt said we've got adjoining rooms on deck eleven. Apparently they're suites!" the officer exclaimed happily.
Erin smiled and her heart pounded with excitement. "So we really are getting some kind of star treatment! Let's go!" she called, grabbing Burgess' arm and dragging her toward the elevators.
Suddenly she stopped, almost sending Kim careening into her back. "What about the others?"
Burgess shrugged. "They're somewhere on the same deck- we can meet them up there." She added, pulling Erin through the throngs of people once more. As the two backed into a crowded elevator, Erin found she had lost complete sight of the rest of their group. Oh well, she thought. We're all going to the same place.
...
"Look at this view!" Kim called from her adjacent room. She and Erin had flung the door attaching their suites wide open in their eagerness to share the room-exploring experience.
Each girl had her own king-size bed, spacious living area, mini-bar, balcony, and fully-equipped bathroom.
"I'm not sure what I expected, but it was not this." Erin called happily as she wandered out onto the balcony. Their suites were nearly at the top of the ship; only two or three decks were visible above. Erin smiled to herself, finally feeling pleased about the whole experience.
She strode over to Kim's room, a mirror image of her own, and joined Burgess on her balcony.
"So where do you think the others are?" Erin wondered aloud, noting that she hadn't seen anyone from their crew since they excited the elevator (which had emptied gradually as they passed through the lower decks).
"They're on this deck apparently, and there aren't many rooms up here...it's all suites." Kim said with a smile. "They're probably on the other side of the ship."
"Who booked the rooms?"
"Voight."
"Ah." Erin sighed.
"What?" Kim prodded.
Erin chuckled a little. "He's trying to keep us away from the guys. Typical."
"No way." Kim teased, elbowing Erin playfully.
"Yes way- you should have seen what he was like when I was a teenager."
Burgess laughed. "Something tells me you didn't let him stop you." She added with a wink.
"You could say that. He certainly won't stop me on this trip." Erin mused.
"I believe you." Kim nodded. "Whaddaya say we put something nicer on and go find the others- including Mr. Overprotective?"
"Sounds like a plan."
...
A few minutes later the girls were stalking the hallways in comfy spring dresses, Erin in night-sky blue and Kim in forest green, looking for a familiar face. Toward the front of the ship, where the doors were the most spaced apart- suggesting the largest rooms- they suddenly ran into Mouch, who was exiting he and Trudy's enormous Glacier Suite. He offered helpful information on the whereabouts of the rest of the group.
"Voight's in the next suite over, the rest are around the corner." The fireman suggested.
"So they are on the other side of the ship." Kim whispered giddily.
Mouch continued, "It's Olinsky and Antonio, Atwater and Ruzek, Roman and Mouse, and Halstead, in that order I think."
"Halstead's alone?" Erin questioned, emitting a faintly detectable smile.
"He won some sort o' bet and got the room to himself." Mouch chuckled.
"Thanks Mouch!" Kim exclaimed, grabbing Lindsay and continuing down the halls.
The girls could hear the shufflings of the other officers unpacking, and decided to grab whoever wanted to go and explore the amenities on board the Borealis.
Olinsky, Antonio, and Mouse opted to stay and finish unpacking, but the rest joined Lindsay and Burgess' expedition.
As the group of six headed for the elevators Erin fell into stride beside Jay.
"Heard you've got a suite all to yourself." She whispered, taking his hand. "How would you feel if I wandered by your door tonight at, say, sunset?" Erin breathed, letting she and Jay fall back a few paces from the others.
Jay looked startled and gazed at Erin longingly. "You don't know how badly I want that...but I'm worried about Voight."
"You're scared of getting in trouble?" Erin joked.
"Honestly yes, a little, since I don't know what he would do if he found out."
"Then he doesn't have to find out." She mused, planting a light kiss on Jay's cheek. "This is our vacation too." She whispered.
Jay caught his heart thumping heavily as he and Erin stepped into the elevator with the others, and hoped he wasn't flushed.
...
The sextet of officers wandered the ship, passing hordes of luggage-laden families and couples already dressed for dinner. They quickly found that there was an indoor pool and several hot tubs overlooking the sea on their very own floor which were reserved for suite-stayers only, in addition to an excellent bar called The Crevice at the stern. They passed multiple spas which Erin and Kim vowed to visit as soon as possible, as well as the ship's casino, which the girls had to essentially drag their male counterparts away from in order to keep exploring.
They also passed a skating rink, an arcade, a greenhouse, a chapel, and a multitude of restaurants. As evening approached the group decided to focus on dining options, and noted several places that could serve. There was an Italian-style pizzeria called Bellino's, a sports bar called Spectators At Sea, a Mediterranean Grill called Poseidon, and a family-style buffet called Port 51, to name a few. However, when the officers passed the grand dining room, with live music and floor-to-ceiling windows, the decision was made to dine there.
"Luxury it is." Kim announced cheerfully as the group came to a consensus.
"Let's grab the others and meet at the elevators on our deck in half an hour." Jay suggested as they headed back to deck eleven.
Erin gave him a sideways look. "That's not enough time." She said plainly. "I need at least an hour."
"Same." Kim added.
Jay sighed in mock frustration, but he was smiling. "Fine. One hour- but no later."
"Hope you brought your suit." Erin chimed with a sly smile.