Naomi

I caught Effy as she crossed the corridor to the fire exit. I knew that 'just fucked' look all too well. Too many drunken and drug fuelled nights out with her when we shared an apartment for that. The next morning seeing her smirk as she left another satisfied customer flat out and comatose. The girl was a sex machine when she wanted to be. Man, boy, woman, girl, all toast if she set her sights on them. Many a confused soul had exited our place with a puzzled smile on their faces, not quite believing what had just happened to them. I had personal knowledge of her many and varied bedroom talents. Frankly she was a mint shag, pure and simple (Not that I would ever let that fact sully Emily's beautiful mind) and although I was never going to be sampling her wares again, at least as long as I inhabited the same universe as Emily Fitch, I could still appreciate the fact that the Effy Stonem's of this world are few and far between. Come to think of it, her value as a hot dyke just went up several degrees of magnitude, seeing as most of the rest of the female population were now circling the atmosphere in microscopic dust form.

But I digress. As I said, I captured her crossing the landing. I didn't bother with asking for a potted history of last night. Unlike my darling Emily, I sleep with one ear open as it was. By the sounds of it, Anna was a very happy bunny now. I just smirked,and Effy smirked back. We shared a look that only people with very happy sex lives can. Sort of 'lottery winner' happy... We had both hit the jackpot, even if she does lust after the unattainable Katie still.

"Good night then Eff? " I tried, but no dice. She just shrugged and said "Peaceful"

Peaceful. Fuck me, I think they're gonna have to rewrite the Oxford Dictionary, if that was the new definition of peaceful. Not that anyone would be doing that for the next century or two...

Just then, as we reached the kitchen in comfortable silence, both intent on getting some Java down our necks before supplies ran out, Jake burst into the room with a look on his face that spelt only one thing...trouble.

"Chinese" he said, and after that the whole hotel turned into Camp Bastion after a mortar alert. I raised Cook from his pit, he also had that just fucked look on his face. Jesus, Effy had mown them down like corn last night huh? Jake scurried around getting Emily, Harry and Mauricio (from the cottage) up. And I finally raced across the Post Office courtyard to where presumably Katie and Fausto still slumbered in post coital bliss. The fact that were in full evac mode stopped me from saying anything after I burst in on them, but what I saw certainly wasn't domestic bliss, that's for sure. When I got inside, Katie was sitting on the bed crying, and the lurid marks on her bare arms and upper body definitely weren't love bites. I set my jaw as Fausto glared at me, swearing in Portuguese.

"Interrupting anything?" I said caustically.

He just shrugged and zipped himself up. Thank God I came in now, I thought. An erect cock may come in useful sometimes, but its an ugly fucker to look at, and I had no desire to see this wanker's morning glory.

"Up and out kids" I said briskly. "Chairman Mao is in town, Time to get the fuck out of Dodge.

Fausto certainly didn't get the obscure English references, but Katie did. She looked at me uncertainly for a second, but then jumped out of bed quickly, looking for her clothes. 'Forgive me father for I have sinned', I told myself as her nakedness temporarily blinded me to her bruises. She was certainly fucking fit. I mean, I love her sister to bits, but Katie had at least a cup size more upstairs, and what's a healthy lesbian to do about unclean thoughts. It's not as if I intended to perv, is it?

I did turn my back as she dressed, but saved a nasty glare for Fausto. I couldn't let it lie, even if we were in imminent danger.

"When we're out of here, and away from the Chinese" I said to him coldly "You and I will be having a chat about boundaries and domestic abuse lover boy"

He just smirked at me dismissively, and went to walk round me to grab Katie's arm. What can I say? Training took over, your honour. I didn't want to disable him permanently. For one thing, left here for the Chinks to discover, he might spill all he knew just to get back at us, before they killed him that is. But some form of temporary pain was in order, I think you will agree?

I stamped downwards hard, catching the front of his shin with my desert boot and finishing up in his ankle. I know from painful experience how agonising that is. The shin strike breaks the skin and gives a lot of instant pain. The blow to the join between the foot and leg isn't instantly as bad, but it fucking hurts for longer. He screamed like a fucking baby, which was what I expected.

Katie went to shout at me, then looked again at my expression. The 'who me' look mixed with genuine puzzlement, usually works at the time, and this was no exception.

"Come on Katie" I said, turning away from the cursing Portuguese, who was busy trying to stop himself screaming long enough to shout at me. Fuck him. "Time to go sugar tits" I said, throwing her a wink. "I'm fucking impressed by that bod. No wonder Effy wants to jump your bones. If I wasn't taken by your lovely sister, I might have a try myself"

She blinked at my comment, but self preservation is a wonderful thing. I knew that remark would be stored away for future reference, but for now, she was moving in all the right directions, stuffing a bag of essentials and making for the door. I think she must have realised how it had looked when I burst in, and she only looked briefly at Fausto as she passed me.

Within ten minutes, everyone was packed up and ready to rumble. We boarded the extra long electric golf cart, which we had kept charged up with the small genny out the back, and threw everything we needed inside the trailer at the back. Harry and Emily got into trailer too, being the smallest of us, and Cook started the motor. Being electric also meant it was almost silent, so not alerting any advance party that there was a vehicle on the road. It was just one small advantage, but we needed everything we could get. We had to get to the boat, which was well hidden in a small cove a mile away, shielded by some rock columns and a fierce rip tide. If we hadn't had Jake with us, it would have been useless, but years of navigating these waters as a boy had taught him everything he needed to know about rough water. Jake had spotted the Chinese fanning out across the island from Old Grimsby, so we had at least 25 minutes more before anyone arrived at our hotel. But that was fucking tight, so we gunned the old cart as fast as its tired old motor would go.

We arrived in 10, and immediately jumped out. We had practised this several times before, Cook and I being as anal as ever about group safety. The boat was fully stocked with supplies, water and fuel, and Jake came here every day to check it was seaworthy. Luckily the weather was with us. By that I don't mean it was flat calm and sunny. Far from it. There was a healthy swell, which made Emily swallow hard when she saw the white-caps, and a fair bit of October sea mist. Perfect for us to slip away. I grinned at Emily's expression, which didn't improve her mood much. I reached into my pack and pulled out a scopolamine patch. Now we were on an island, lots of these were in the deserted chemist, unlike back on the mainland when we sailed the first time. I stuck the patch behind Emily's ear, lifting her hair and kissing the nape of her neck. Not because that was essential to the drugs efficacy, but just because her neck was fucking irresistible. She grinned at my unprofessional interest in her anatomy and forgave me for grinning at her weakness. The patch would keep her happy and upright for up to 24 hours, being slow release, so we should be fine (or dead, my inner demon growled unhelpfully) by then.

Our destination was Ushant (or Oiussant, as the French call it). That's if we manage to slip away from Tresco without being blown out of the water by the destroyer currently on the other side of the island. I was gambling that even if we did appear on their radar, it takes up to an hour to get land-side troops back on board and then get the engine up to speed for a pursuit. A destroyer may be fast, but its still a big ship, compared to ours, and it would have to navigate round the whole island before chasing us. On the open sea of course, we would be toast in no time. Our 14 knots was OK for weekend sailors on our small diesel boat, but even if it was an old destroyer, it would certainly be capable of doing 30 knots, easily outrunning us. They probably wouldn't waste a ship to ship missile on us, but the 100mm deck gun would reduce this slowcoach to matchsticks in seconds. Our only hope was stealth.

Once we were all one board, and Cook flashed me a small grin as Fausto hobbled aboard, favouring his bad leg, Jake started the diesel and we slipped out into the sea.

An hour later, which put us at least 10 miles away from the island, I started to breathe a little easier. Not because we were safe, far from it, but every minute made us a tiny bit safer. The sea was quite rough, which slowed us down to 11 knots, but it was still good progress. Cook and Jake stayed in the wheelhouse, sharing the steerage and poring over the maps. They said it would be an overnight trip, so I settled in the stern next to Katie and Effy, trying to get some rest. Once night came, we would be running without lights, so I knew we would need a watch on all night. Emily was already getting the benefit of the seasickness patch and grinned happily at me as she stood on the small flying bridge above the wheelhouse, watching the horizon. Harry and Anna were entertaining Mauricio, in between trying to cook some hot soup in the galley. Fausto was staring broodingly over the side, still stewing no doubt from my small bit of punishment. I decided then to talk to Cook about it. No point in saving it for later.

Ten minutes later, I slipped out of the wheelhouse after giving Cook the full details. I saw his mouth settle in a hard line when I got to the bit about bruises, and a tiny, almost infinitesimal part of me pitied Fausto. Not for long, just a millisecond. But hey, it proves I'm not a complete robot, huh?

Ten seconds later, Cook emerged and slid a 'friendly' hand round Fausto's shoulder. The guy tried to shake Cook off, but I saw his grip harden, and wisely Fausto complied with the unspoken threat. They spoke for no more than a minute, but when Cook came over to me, I saw Fausto's face and it was naked fear I saw on in.

"What'ja say to him Cookie Boy?" I said quietly as Cook reached me, settling himself on the seat and folding his arms.

"I told him that he had two choices. Ditch Katie before we get to Ushant, gently and gentlemanly like. Or..."

"Or what?" I said innocently, making Cook smile genuinely at my expression,

"Or I would cut off his balls with my tactical knife, slowly and painfully, before throwing him overboard to drown. I think he believed me" he chuckled darkly.

"Would you?" I said, knowing the answer before I heard it.

"In a heartbeat" he said. And do you know what. I believed him too.

XXX

Ten hours later, with the early dawn light illuminating the wave tops as they crashed into us, a huge dark shape grew out of the water in front of us.

"Jesus Christ on a bike" I said under my breath. If Tresco had been a sub tropical paradise, this was like the fucking Falkland Islands, cold forbidding and bleak. The waves were pounding the steep rocks in front of us, sending plumes of cold spray metres into the air. If this was gonna be home for the next few months, we would need more than good luck to save us...