VOYAGE TO DISCOVERY – Chapter 4

Author's Note: We continue with Mark and Princess preparing for their mission. Conversations with friends reveal new details about their feelings and plans.

Many thanks again to my good friend and collaborator "Summer39". Yes, GF we are completely lost in this obsession, but I wouldn't have it any other way! Thanks also to all of you who have read and reviewed. I really appreciate your time and feedback. Thanks for sticking with this story! Many great moments are ahead!

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"You've given the word "geek" a whole new meaning!" Jason stated as he stared at Mark who was wearing a light blue Oxford cloth button down shirt, khaki trousers, and freshly shined brown loafers. "All you need now is a pocket protector and a calculator to complete the look!"

"Very funny!" Mark replied as he continued to pack his suitcase. Jason had arrived few minutes ago to brief him on the details of the cruise ship before he and Princess were scheduled to board that afternoon. Mark was hoping that Jason would bring information to help plan their strategy, but apparently his sarcastic comments were an added bonus.

"Who cut your hair, by the way?" Jason continued. "It looks like they used a lawn mower!"

Mark winced as he quickly ran his fingers through his newly shorn locks. His hair turned out shorter than he'd expected, but he had to admit that it did improve his resemblance to Elliot.

"I went to a barber this morning whose shop is just outside the airfield. Apparently the old guy is used to giving military haircuts. I actually had to pay him extra to stop before he shaved me bald!"

"Definitely not regulation, but you came close," Jason commented. "Try to grow it back by the end of the cruise or the Chief may order all of us guys to get a haircut."

"If you keep up the wise comments on this trip, I may just order you to get one myself!"

"Hey, no need to pull rank! I'll be too busy working to pay attention to your hair and wardrobe," Jason stated as he reached into the front of his jacket and removed a set of documents from the inside pocket.

"What have you got so far?" Mark asked as he briefly turned away from his packing to focus on the schematic blueprints of the ship that Jason laid out before him.

"We've done a thorough search of the entire ship and it came up clean," Jason stated. "No weapons or devices were found that could potentially cause harm."

Mark considered that to be a good sign. If Spectra were planning an intensive attack in order to capture Dr. Shea, they surely would have tried to smuggle something on board by now. It was also a priority of G-Force to protect innocent civilians during the course of their missions. Mark didn't want this decoy operation to put any additional people at risk. The less enemy firepower around, the better for everyone.

"Well, it doesn't sound like they are bringing out the big guns yet. Have you reviewed the list of passengers and crew? Does anyone look suspicious?"

"We've done background checks and identified a few people that we need to watch out for," Jason replied as he handed a sheet of paper to Mark. "You and Prin should be especially careful when you interact with anyone on this list."

Mark scanned over the names with small photos beside them and tried to commit them to memory. He didn't immediately recognize any of them and no one appeared particularly sinister. Then again, looks could be deceiving. He'd share this information with Princess when they met up later.

"The Captain and his First Lieutenant are the only crew members aware of our mission. They are fully on board to support us in every way possible," Jason continued. "We will also have two ISO agents with us to act as bodyguards for Dr. Shea and his wife."

"Bodyguards?" Mark asked with confusion.

"Of course you and Princess have more than enough experience to defend yourselves," Jason explained, "But Elliot and Sabrina do not. Spectra is obviously aware that the government is trying to convince Dr. Shea to work for us. The Chief thought it would look more realistic if we provided visible protection for them. This way Spectra will most likely assume that you are their well protected target instead of a set of imposters."

Mark had to admit to himself that this was a good plan, but he certainly didn't relish the thought of two burley body guards shadowing them for the entire cruise. After all, he had his own personal agenda to attend to and having an audience wouldn't help matters any.

"Hey buddy, I know it's a blow to the ego to have someone babysitting you," Jason continued, "But at least they won't be sleeping in your room."

God, he hoped not!

"Speaking of your room, we checked that out too," Jason said as he pointed to its location on the blueprint, "It's quite a honeymoon suite!"

"That's nice," Mark said trying to sound as uninterested as possible as he kept his eyes focused on the documents, analyzing the room's location to other key points on the ship. He didn't want Jason to know about his plans to win back Princess.

"Private balcony, Jacuzzi, King size bed….." Jason said watching closely for a reaction. The thought of pretending to be Princess' husband had to be having some sort of effect on him!

"Yeah, sounds typical," Mark returned betraying little emotion in his voice.

Jason sighed, giving up his attempts to fluster the apparently unshakable Commander.

"Anyway, like I said, you and Princess will have the suite to yourselves. We are not installing any surveillance equipment in the room due to concerns about having the signal intercepted."

Mark's thoughts perked up at this piece of information. So we will definitely have some moments alone on this cruise.

"We already scanned the room for bugs and cameras. You and Prin will have to do the same each time you return to make sure no one installed anything while you were away," Jason explained, "There will be a camera outside the room so we will be aware of anyone who enters and leaves."

Hmm….complete privacy, Mark thought to himself. This definitely opens up the realm of possibilities.

"Tiny, Keyop, and I have less than luxurious accommodations located here," Jason continued as he pointed to their room locations, "And you'll see us around the ship of course, working hard as usual!"

"Yeah, I'm sure mixing drinks for beautiful women in bikinis will be quite a challenge for you." Mark returned.

"I'm studying up on my "bartending" skills as we speak," Jason replied with a smile as he reached into his jacket and pulled out a set of note cards.

"You won't believe how complicated these drinks can get!" he said as he scanned through the recipes, "I mean, what if someone asks for "Sex on the Beach" and I give them a "Fuzzy Naval" instead?"

"Something tells me that you wouldn't make that mistake," Mark replied while stifling a laugh. Jason didn't know how lucky he was. Mark only wished that his biggest concern on this mission would be screwing up a drink order!

"Well, you have it easy," Jason responded, "Pretending to be married to Prin will be a piece of cake for you."

Jason knew that Mark had feelings for Princess. At one point he had even encouraged him to pursue a relationship with her. Yet despite all the obvious sexual tension between them, they never appeared to cross that line….at least Jason didn't think they had.

"It's not that simple Jase" Mark countered as he set aside the ship's blueprints and returned to packing the suitcase on his bed.

"Well, I have to admit that you and Prin haven't seemed to be on the best of terms lately," Jason consented, recalling the distant looks and uneasy behavior they appeared to exhibit lately, "If I didn't know better, I'd say the two of you have been making an effort to avoid each other!"

Mark didn't immediately answer, but instead made his way to the bathroom to begin packing the items that he had stored there. Jason started to wonder if he was stepping a little to close to the truth for Mark's comfort.

"You guys didn't tell me that she was seeing someone," Mark replied back to Jason who began to wander through Mark's bedroom, mindlessly picking up nick knacks as he waited for his friend to return.

"Didn't know that it mattered," Jason answered. His response was met by silence.

"For all its worth, Princess seems happy," Jason added, "For the past few weeks, she's been practically glowing!"

The silence was soon replaced by the clattering sound of bottles and cans crashing to the floor.

"Uhh…do you need help in there?" Jason shouted out to his friend.

"No, just lost my grip for a second, no damage done!" Mark hastily replied.

As he continued to wander through Mark's room, Jason came across a stack of photos on Mark's dresser. Most of them appeared to be from a Navel air show. Jason knew that Mark often observed such events to stay up to date on new flying tricks and techniques. As he made his way through the pictures he noticed a few of casual shots of Princess as well as a few of Mark and Princess together. They seemed quite….cozy for lack of a better word. Hmm….this is certainly interesting! Jason thought to himself. He quickly returned the photos to their original location as he heard Mark head back towards the bedroom. There was definitely something more going on here.

"Jeff really is a nice guy," Jason commented, knowing that this would get a reaction from his friend, "Good looking too. You know from Prin's point of view. Part American Gladiator, part Brad Pitt. Big difference from you."

"And the point of you telling me this is...?" Mark replied as he tossed his toiletries into his suitcase and slammed the cover shut. He turned to Jason, folded his arms in front of him and frowned.

Jason smirked knowing that he had finally hit a nerve.

"Just to let you know that they're having a good time,"he continued, "But to tell you the truth man, I don't see it lasting forever."

Mark's interest peaked, "Not that it matters, but what makes you think that?" he asked.

"Jeff is very hands on. He's a real, "white picket fence" sort of guy. I know that Princess has always wanted a normal life and family someday, but I thought she valued her independence too. I can't see Jeff letting her out of his sight for long."

Mark thought about what Jason said. Maybe he had an even better chance of getting her back than he originally believed.

"Speaking of letting her out of his sight, how does she plan to explain this trip?" Jason asked curiously.

"Don't worry about it. We've taken care of that," Mark replied. He and Princess had thought of a good excuse, but from the sound of things, Jeff definitely wasn't going to like it. Mark secretly smiled to himself as he thought of his reaction to the news. Yeah, Jeff was definitely in for a challenge, and Mark wouldn't have it any other way!

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"Oh, how I envy you!" Jill stated as she found a spot to sit on Princess' bed, tossing her bags aside as she watched her friend pack. Jill had just returned from a shopping spree down town and wanted to share her finds with Princess. Upon her return, she had discovered that her young friend had won an all expenses paid cruise to the Bahamas.

"It took me by surprise. It all happened so suddenly," Princess said. "I hope that you can spare me from the diner for two weeks."

Jill Stephens was not only Princess' employer, but good friend. A vivacious woman with caramel colored skin, curly brown hair and espresso colored eyes. She was very outspoken, recently divorced, and in her mid 30's.

"Some of the staff owes me some favors. I'm pretty sure that they'd be glad to cover for you."

Princess continued, "When Mark and I entered our names in that contest a few months ago, we never had any idea that we would win. Imagine my surprise when our names were announced, but the stipulation was that we had to leave right away."

"Wait a minute, back up a second," Jill requested as she raised her arm in the air, palm facing outward. "Both you AND Mark won this cruise. As in you're going TOGETHER."

Uh, oh I'm going to have a harder time explaining this than I thought. Princess said to herself as she watched her friend's dark brown eyes stare at her intently. She should have known that Jill would immediately assume that there was something romantic going on between her and Mark.

"Jill, we're not exactly together. I've told you a hundred times. We're just friends."

"Uh huh…..," Jill murmured through pursed lips as she crossed her arms in front of her, "If I had a friend who was that gorgeous, he certainly wouldn't be just a friend for long!"

"Well, I know you don't believe it, but that's just the way things are between us," Princess stated as she quickly turned back to her dresser to remove more clothing. She could no longer look Jill in the eye fearing that her friend would grow even more suspicious of her story.

"O.K., if that's what you want me to think," Jill conceded, "But what about Jeff? I know that something is going on between the two of you. You can't deny that! You told me yourself that the two of you were dating. How does he feel about you winning this trip?"

"Oh, he's completely fine with it," Princess assured her.

"He's fine about his girlfriend going on a cruise with another man?"

"He knows that Mark and I are practically like siblings"

"Has he met Mark?" Jill said skeptically.

"Well, not exactly," Princess said, "But he has met Jason, Keyop, and Tiny. He knows that we're just friends, and I'm sure that he'll feel the same way about Mark."

Jill shook her head and laughed to herself. Her friend was in way over her head! There was no chance that Jeff would believe that Mark had only brotherly feelings for Princess. There was a smoldering volcano of emotions that had always threatened to erupt between Mark and Princess. The tension between them was subtle, but visible to those who knew them. Jill had tried to squeeze out the juicy details of their relationship for ages, but Princess just wouldn't budge. She revealed very little about her personal life. Jill was even surprised that she told her about Jeff, although not as much as she would like to know. Her friend was a tough nut to crack, but Jill wasn't about to give up.

"Speaking of Jeff," Jill said, "I saw him leaving your room early the other day when I was setting up for breakfast. So…..how was he?"

"What do you mean?" Princess asked somewhat exasperated.

"I mean, how was he in bed? He obviously spent the night here! So spill it!"

Princess' face turned bright red, "There isn't much to tell. He did spend the night, but we were just up late talking. Eventually the two of us fell asleep. Nothing happened." Not that she was disappointed and it wasn't because Jeff hadn't tried.

She didn't lie about being up late talking. She and Jeff had developed a strong friendship based on their common likes and interests. They could spend hours discussing a favorite book, having fun jogging on the beach, or enjoying in their favorite guilty indulgence, hot fudge sundaes. Falling for Jeff had seemed so natural. When she was with him, it was like the rest of the world disappeared. For awhile Princess could forget who she was, forget about her responsibilities to G-Force, forget about the painful break-up that she had recently experienced.

She could not deny that she was attracted to Jeff. What girl wouldn't be? His All-American good looks took her breath away. It started with a few innocent kisses at the end of each date. As they continued to see more of each other, things began to progress further. At first Princess enjoyed their passionate play. Jeff's kisses were easy to respond to; his mouth was so warm and tender, his touch gentle, taking her only where she wanted to go. On this particular evening, she could sense things were moving up a notch. She could feel the heat begin to surface between them. It would be so simple to just let go and get lost in this moment. She was with a man who cared about her, someone she could trust, and someone who was willing to make a commitment to her and their relationship. Being with Jeff made sense. Isn't this what she wanted? But through the haze of seduction, another man came to mind. One whose startling blue eyes haunted Princess in her sleep and whose touch awakened desires in her she'd never known existed. With Jeff, it felt good, but at this very moment, it didn't feel right. It was enough to draw Princess out of her sex induced stupor and push Jeff away, mumbling a regretful "No, I can't do this," against his seeking lips and hands.

Jeff had been disappointed but understanding saying that maybe he had been moving too fast. Unable to provide a worthy explanation, Princess used that to her advantage. She needed time to think.

"Nothing happened? What's the matter with you? He's heterosexual, gorgeous, looks like he's well equipped if the way his pants fit are any indication, and I know he's about ready to climb Mt. Everest about now. He'd probably have you screaming at the top of your lungs! Girlfriend all you have to do is reel that big fish in!"

"We're…I'm just not ready yet," Princess replied indignantly. She didn't like the direction this conversation was going in. Granted, she was over 21, but she had only come close to sharing herself with one other person. Jeff had been extremely patient, but she wondered how much longer he would hold out. Truth be told, she still had unresolved feelings for Mark, feelings that she wasn't ready to share with Jill.

"We've been over this before Princess," Jill argued, "There is no sense waiting for the perfect man before you have some fun. If I had known at your age what I know now, I wouldn't have wasted so many years."

Jill and her ex-husband George divorced about five years ago. Jill purchased the diner shortly afterwards with her divorce settlement. They had been high school sweethearts and as far as Princess knew, he had been the only man in Jill's life, that is until she caught him cheating on her. Jill had spent the past few years making up for lost time. From the stories that she had told Princess, she certainly didn't have any regrets about it.

"Prince Charming doesn't exist," Jill explained, "You've got to take what you can get, when you can. Princess, you have two prime opportunities right in front of you. As a good friend I cannot sit here and watch you pass them by. Either chose one or play them both!"

As Jill was speaking she happened to catch a glimpse at the contents of Princess' suitcase.

"What are you thinking?" Jill exclaimed as she pulled out a high necked, long sleeve nightgown, "This is not the kind of clothing that you bring on a cruise. This is not a good look for you."

"Well, I heard it can get kind of chilly at night on the ship, don't you think? No one is going to see me in it." Princess said.

"And no one would want to! No man is going to warm up to you when you are wearing that thing!"

"I told you, we are just friends!" Princess insisted once again as she shut the suitcase and headed towards the bathroom to get more items to pack in her make-up bag.

"You know, you are being awfully defensive about this whole Mark thing. If you really are just friends, my comments wouldn't faze you as much"

Princess chose to ignore her as she continued to gather her things.

"Is this all that you are bringing?" Jill asked as she opened the suitcase and stared at its minimal contents.

"Well, part of the prize is a full wardrobe for the trip. It will be waiting for me on the ship," Princess explained while still in the bathroom. The Chief had told her and Mark that clothing which matched Elliot and Sabrina's personal styles would be provided for them. They only had to bring a few personal items. Knowing what she did about Sabrina's style, Princess tried to pack her most conservative clothing hoping that it would keep things between her and Mark on a purely platonic level, at least when they were alone together in their room.

"Well, let's hope the things they give you are better than this," Jill said as she sifted through the contents of the suitcase and pulled out some plain cotton underwear and a pair of wool knee socks and shook her head, "If this isn't an Ugly Betty wardrobe, I don't know what is!"

I don't think that I can count on someone else to fix this. Jill thought to herself. I need to take matters into my own hands. After glancing at Princess' frightening choice of clothing in her suitcase, she began to rummage through the contents of her shopping bag. Jill decided to provide her with a few select items to make her trip even more memorable.

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Thank you for reading…..

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