A thousand miles away, in California, a bald man ordered a glass of unusually stiff scotch in a bar. He received his drink and thanked the bartender, distractedly staring through him into the space far behind. The bald man was Interpol Secretary General, Charles Gull. He was about to go to sea to investigate reports of piracy in the northern Pacific.

Charles loved being at sea, but undocking always made him uneasy. The love of his life had been swept overboard during a boat launch when a ship flying a pirate flag sped past her boat and created a huge wave. He had been at sea at the time, unable to save her. This seemed especially poignant today, given his mission to investigate piracy on the high seas. The official report of her death stated that she had sunk to the bottom and drowned. No body had been recovered because no one at the scene had been wearing their swim suit.

Her parents had named her Nautilus, due partly to their own love of the sea and partly because of their love of Captain Nemo's famous submarine. She hadn't particularly taken to the name, and instead went by Nautalie, which made everyone happy. She and Charles had married as soon as they could, on her 18th birthday, and had been madly in love until the tragic accident several years later. Every year, on her birthday, Charles threw a bouquet of flowers into the ocean.

Their wedding had been beautiful. Their friends and families had come to celebrate, dressed in deep blues and greens. Ted, his best man, had given a lovely speech to accompany his toast. Nautalie, still too young for champagne, had been poured a champagne glass full of heroin. Charles was older, but joined her in drinking heroin anyway, rather than the traditional bubbly wine. Just as many couples have a song, heroin became their drink.

Remembering that he was miserable, he shook off the memory. He downed the rest of his scotch, paid his bill, and stumbled out of the bar. On his way to the dock, he removed a 12 oz. can of heroin from his handbag, popped the top, and began to drink the sweet familiar liquid. He missed her with all his heart.

Upon reaching the crowded dock, he fell to his knees and looked out at the ocean and screamed, "Sweet vengeful Poseidon! Spare us today the horrible wrath of your icy clutches!" He threw a bouquet of daffodils into the water.

His crew applauded, and everyone went on board. Charles went deep inside the boat before they shoved away from the shore. He wouldn't be swept overboard today.

Minutes later, they were speeding out into the vast blue ocean in search of pirates.