CHAPTER 3

The next morning found the ship docked. Disgorged from its stylish interior were hordes of would be treasure seekers intent on finding that one thing/place/person that would make the vacation experience complete. Among them were two whose mission was of a different nature.

"I still feel underdressed," Hank complained, as he and Jan made their way down the dock.

Dressed in a Hawaiian shirt, some shorts, and a pair of sandals, he looked just like any other tourist. "We're usually in costume for this sort of thing."

Jan dismissed her lover's complaints.

"You said it yourself: it's a working vacation. And I intend to emphasize the vacation part. Besides, I don't think we need to worry about Kang showing up down here."

After boarding the bus leaving for town, the couple soon found themselves in front of the cruise line's regional office. As they entered, a woman behind the counter turned to them.

"May I help you?"

Jan took the lead. "Yes, thank you. I'm Janet Van Dyne, this is Dr. Henry Pym. I believe you were told to expect us."

"Ah, yes. Right this way." She led them behind the counter to a hallway that ran to the back of the building. At the end there was a door marked 'Employees Only'. Opening the door, the woman ushered the couple inside.

"Everything you need should be here. But if you need any assistance, you can just buzz me up front." She pointed to the intercom on the wall.

"Thank you," Jan said. The woman nodded and closed the door behind her.

Looking down at the long table piled high with manila folders, Hank drew up a chair.

"Well, let's get to work."

Several hours later, Jan pushed back from the table and rubbed her eyes, yawning.

"All this stuff is beginning to look the same."

She looked over to see that Hank wasn't listening. He was pouring over a map.

"You do realize," Jan said wryly, "that you are enjoying this far too much."

"Hmmm?" Hank mumbled, looking up.

Jan smiled and made her way around the table. Relaxing, she draped herself over the back of Hank's shoulders.

"Find anything interesting?"

"Not really," the founding Avenger admitted. "All the disappearances have happened here." He jabbed his finger to a point on the map. "But there's nothing there to indicate what may have caused them. No electromagnetic fields, no geothermic emissions, no archeological sites, not even local legends that refer to it as being a bad place."

"A new age 'Bermuda Triangle'?" Jan suggested.

"That suddenly sprang up within the last month?" Hank shook his head. "And anyway," he went on, "that still wouldn't explain how the vanishings are happening."

"Maybe we're looking at this the wrong way," the lithe brunette proposed. "Instead of figuring out how it was done, why don't we concentrate on why? If we can figure out a motive, then maybe a list of culprits will come to mind."

Hank twisted around to look into his gorgeous date's face. He grinned.

"You know, we make a good team."

"I know. I was the one who pointed it out all that time ago."

Laughing, the scientist tilted his head up and kissed her.

"So," he said, turning back to the papers before him, "I guess that means a little more research. Such as what common links all three ships had."

Night began to fall as the two superheroes continued to scrutinize the mound of paperwork. Seeing the sun sink lower and lower on the horizon, Jan got up and buzzed the front counter. The woman they had met earlier promptly entered.

"Can we keep these?" Jan asked, gesturing to the strewn out papers. "We'll bring them back, I promise."

"Of course."

Jan thanked the woman and set about the task of collecting them.

"What are you doing?" Hank asked, looking up. He'd been so absorbed that he didn't know it was almost dark.

"The office closes soon, and we have to be back on board the ship before nightfall. Don't worry, we'll be able to spend plenty of time pouring over these files in our cabin," Jan added playfully.

"Sorry. Guess I just got caught up in all this. Here, let me help you." Hank got up and relieved Jan of her burden.

Having gotten all the files they'd need, they headed back for the ship. After getting everything situated there, the couple had to hurry and get ready for dinner.

"Come on Hank," Jan said, slipping a red strapless number over her head, "we don't want to be late."

"Surely the Captain can't expect us to put our investigation on hold just to eat dinner with him."

"He may not, but I do. We came on this cruise for a vacation. And so help me Hank Pym, I'm going to see we get as much fun out of it as possible. Whether you like it or not."

Hank stuck his head out of the bathroom. "Whether I like it or not? If the stated goal here is enjoyment, isn't that a direct dichotomy of…" he trailed off upon noticing the look in Jan's eye. He cleared his throat. "Never mind."

"That's better."

A short while later found the duo hurrying through the ship's corridors towards their destination.

"If we're late…" Jan threatened.

"I hardly think they'll make us walk the plank."

Jan would have responded had she not seen out of the corner of her eye a figure down one of the side halls glancing around furtively before darting through a doorway.

She thought the act peculiar, but shook it off. She'd been in 'The Game' too long. She was starting to see sinister doings everywhere.

Fortunately, they weren't late for dinner. Everything went smoothly, and the two enjoyed the evening.

When they headed back to their cabin, Jan couldn't help but glance down the corridor she'd seen that man in earlier. As expected, it was empty. Chiding herself for being silly, she redoubled her grip on Hank's arm and laid her head on his shoulder.

The next day, Jan was up early. But apparently not early enough. As she opened her bleary eyes and stretched, drawing her nightgown up in the process, she saw Hank hunched over the desk, absorbed with the stack of files before him.

"Hank!"

"Huh? Oh, good morning, hon," the scientist said absently, focused on his work.

Jan could only sigh and shake her head. Hank had always been a workaholic. But, she reminded herself with a smile, it was that 'absent minded professor' behavior that she found to be one of his endearing points. While she may carp on his excessive work schedule, she was enormously proud of what he had accomplished.

Jan had never been too 'science savvy', but being around one of the world's preeminent scientists has a way of rubbing knowledge off onto one. When they'd first met, she hadn't even been able to set her VCR. But now she could work the Avengers' supercomputer like a pro.

"Find anything yet?"

Hank answered without looking up. "Unfortunately, no. But I've still got plenty of information to work through. This is going to take us all day."

"Oh, no it won't," Jan said adamantly.

Hank looked up, confused.

"I'm not going to let it. We'll do our research, and then we'll go sight seeing. Then we'll do some more research, and then we'll go to dinner—"

"Then we'll do more research," Hank cut in. "Really Jan, I think we need to—"

"No, we will not be doing more research," Jan interjected. "What did we do last night when we got back to our cabin?"

"We went to sleep," Hank replied, puzzled.

"Exactly. Because we were too tired after all that research. I do not intend to waste another night on sleeping…"

"Waste? But how—" he stopped as it dawned on him what Jan meant.

She smiled. For being so smart he was absolutely slow at times. "Let me get dressed, then I'll help you with that pile."

Together, they searched through the files all morning in an effort to find an indelible link between the disappearances. Having had enough, Jan rose.

"Time for a break."

"But—"

"No 'buts'. Out, out." She ushered him out of their cabin.

Taking their break, the two strolled around the deck, hand in hand.

"You know what," Hank said, "this was a good idea."

"I know."

As she looked around aimlessly, she spotted the same man she'd seen acting so oddly the night before. Turns out that he was a ship's purser. Yet, if he had a perfectly legitimate reason for being in that hallway, why'd he look so nervous?

Some sixth sense must have alerted him, for at that moment he looked around, puzzled. Then, frowning, he went back below decks.

Curiouser and curiouser, Jan thought.

"Hey, a shuffleboard tournament! I haven't played in years," Hank's child like glee cut through Jan's musings.

"Come on, let's give it a go!" he continued, gesturing to the group of people gathered around to try their hands at the game.

"Shuffleboard? Hank, old people play shuffleboard!"

A couple nearby turned to give her a dignified look. Chagrined, Jan made apologies. Hank hadn't even noticed.

"Nonsense. Shuffleboard's a sport for all ages." He pulled Jan along to sign up.

"Shuffleboard, a sport?"

Before long they were signed up and in the thick of the action. While Jan was decent enough in her play, it was Hank who soon had the crowd 'oohing' and 'ahhing'.

Jan had to ask: "How did you get so good at this? I've never seen you play."

"Oh, it's simple really," he said, lining up his next shot. "It's all a matter of mathematics. You take the surface area of the deck and then factor in the weight of the cue and shuffle, then you take into account the amount of energy it takes to move an object at rest—"

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry I asked," she laughed.

Hank and Jan were proclaimed the winners of the tournament. The prize was two free tickets to a local theater at the ship's next port of embarkation.

"Well, that was certainly fun." Strangely enough, she meant it. "But I suppose," she went on reluctantly, "that we should get back to work."

Soon they were back below decks on their way towards their cabin. However, when they got there, Jan noticed that the door was open, and she didn't remember leaving it that way.

Turning, Hank asked a silent question to which Jan shook her head. The duo slowed their tread and cautiously approached the open doorway.

Standing at the threshold, Hank gave a nod—that was the signal.

In a blink of an eye the two showed why they were called the Wasp and Ant-Man, shrinking to the size of those respective insects. Being so small, anyone who may have been in the room was sure to not notice them.

Taking care, the pint-sized heroes entered to see—no one. Nobody was there.