Life aboard the QE 2 during its heyday must have been great. The ship is the epitome of luxury. Their first day at sea was more of a relaxing one. Martin nor Maya and Natalya had left their suites.
The next morning, they had all decided to have a lite brunch and hit the ship's boutique for swimming apparel.
"So, Natalya what do you think of this swimsuit?" Maya asked her.
"Maya, don't you think that this blue bikini would be better?" Natalya suggested pointing to the two pieces hanging from the rack.
"You know Maya I tend to agree with her. That swimsuit would bring out the blue in your eyes. Martin said
"I can't believe you two, one is worse than the other. Thank you no, but I'll be sticking with the one piece."
For a second Maya caught a look of disappointment on Martin's face. What was he thinking she wondered? Did he want to see her in a two-piece bikini? She's not sure what he wants, maybe later tonight after Natalya is asleep she'll slip into his suite and they will talk.
By the time they get back to their suites, it's close to two in the afternoon. They decide to skip the swimming lessons since Maya has never been in a swimming pool before and take a walk around the Promenade deck of the ship. They started at the stern and walk towards the bow and it takes a half hour but they make a full circle around the ship. Each view is breathtaking in its own way. The sun is low in the sky and it's almost setting by the time they complete their second lap.
Xx
"What do you mean they're gone?" Boris Kuznetsov asked his incompetent agent assigned to finding their target in a Russian accent.
"Just that sir." He said in even a heavier Russian accent.
"Where did you have a location for them last?" He asked.
"In Germany at a roadside fruit stand. The last sighting of them was about 24 hours ago. They could be anywhere."
"We need to recover her. She is the only one who can access the information that comrade Turner had placed in her care."
The inept agent shook as he thought about what it would take to extract that information from an eight-year-old.
"Sir, you do realize that once this information is recovered this girl will be useless, a vegetable at best."
"Yes, I understand this. But Sophia Turner should not have had this child to begin with. We are always taught never to have liabilities, and this is probably one of the biggest liabilities known to man. So, we can either do one of two things once we get her back. First, we can train her in the program that will guarantee our way of life will live on, or second, we will extract the information we need and let her live the rest of her life in a hospital bed somewhere in Siberia."
"Neither sound like options that will be acceptable to the father."
He even gave a stern look to his subordinate and said,
"I could care less about Richard Castle. He is rich, he is arrogant, and if he tries anything against this agency by trying to recover his child he will end up dead."
"Sir, I'm not sure that he isn't already involved. The CIA agent, the orphanage director, and our target have seamlessly escaped the country. If they were last spotted in Germany all indications point to them moving in a Westerly direction."
"Have you heard from the new agent we have in England?"
"We have. He reports nothing out of the ordinary, and he still at the dock well-hidden among the dock workers I might add, but he has not seen nor heard anything resembling our target."
"This agent you have in England, he's new to the agency, isn't he?"
"Yes, sir. And since we thought England was such a far stretch for someone to go to escape he is by himself."
To say that the director of the agency was pissed off would be an understatement. He could tell because his face had started to turn blood red and his nostrils were flaring widely.
"What I want for you to do now is to request from the lead agent in London the camera and security footage from Heathrow, Gatwick, Birmingham, Newcastle, Liverpool, and Bristol Airports. Then start on the National rail service and finally Grimsby & Immingham on the east coast, Port of London, on the River Thames, Milford Haven, and Southampton for the last 48 hours. I want you personally to go over these tapes and make sure that they haven't left by air, sea or rail."
"Yes, sir."
The agent quickly left his office fearing for his life. Because if he knew anything Viktor's time in Southampton will be coming to a close very quickly.
Xx
Martin sat at the desk looking out the window to see the ocean moving slowly by. His thoughts went to Maya earlier today and he was thinking about her now. Could he start something with her romantically? Was she receptive to becoming something more? He knew there was no way she could go back to Russia. And when they arrived back in New York he would be done with getting them there safely. He did have retirement to look forward to but he was always a man who could not sit still he always had to be doing something. When he was younger he had his work to keep his mind occupied. But maybe now he could take up some type of hobby, or start a business of his own. He didn't know what to do. Just as he was starting to think more about what to do about Maya he heard a soft knock on the door connecting their cabins.
What he sees when the door opens is a disheveled Maya looking so small exposed. Maybe she was thinking about him as well.
"Martin, can we talk?" She asked.
"We can. What's on your mind Maya?"
"I have a question for you about earlier when we were in the boutique. Why did you say what you said about the bikini that Natalya liked?"
"Maya, you are a very beautiful woman. You should be wearing a bikini like that because you would look great in it."
Maya blushed and said,
"Martin, do you or could you possibly like me?"
Martin thought about so many things with her question that his mind swam. But two points bothered him. The age difference was the first thought he had considered. Maya had to be at least in her mid-thirties and he was topping the end of his forties. He had to be fifteen years her senior. He never had a specific woman to be with. He was not a monk, but he did not go out and have meaningless affairs with women either. To him, sex with a woman was something that needs to be a special and intimate experience between two people. But besides the fact that his job took up much of his time he never found that one woman to be with.
"Martin are you okay? Or was my question too personal for you?"
"Maya I do think that we could possibly have something together. I'm not sure how to move things forward if that's what you want because I was never very proficient in the mating ritual. So yes, I am attracted to you and if you're on board with this I would like to see where we could go with it, if anywhere. I don't want to be forcing you into anything that you don't want to do…."
Before Martin could finish what he was saying Maya had somehow moved next to him without him realizing it and was leaning in to place her lips upon his. They were both lost in the kiss and it felt so right. Needing air before the passion could continue they separated and looked into each other's eyes. What they both saw was longing for each other that they would have never imagined existed before they became involved with trying to save Natalya.
"Maya, before we get carried away with each other I think it might be better if we slow down, just for tonight. Only because Natalya will be scared if you are not there when she wakes up in the morning. I promise that we will talk more about this tomorrow."
"Martin, are you sure about this? I mean about us?"
Maya did not want to risk her heart only for it to be broken later. She needed to know if she is what he really wanted.
"I am sure Maya. We will have a lot to talk about and don't worry we'll figure it out."
"Okay, Martin. I'm going to go to sleep then."
Maya walked away from him never breaking eye contact. She quietly closed the door between their suites and as she got into bed she couldn't wait for their talk tomorrow.
