Chapter Two
Steve never lost consciousness, but when he landed in the water, he thought, for a few seconds, that he had. There was nothing but darkness all around him, and he struggled to open his eyes, gradually realizing that they were, in fact, already open. Find the radio, he thought to himself, gotta send a distress call! Feeling around in his ominously dark new world, he found nothing but a few very small pieces of debris. His voice - and his heart - called out for Jaime, but he heard nothing but silence. At least she's a strong swimmer; that means she'll have a chance. He had no way of knowing she was floating, unconscious, in the main debris field, less than a quarter-mile away.
Determined to summon help, Steve dove under the water, feeling blindly for anything - the radio, flares, the boat itself - that might help save them. He came up empty-handed, and dove again, over and over, until he was forced to lie back in the water and float, searching in vain for strength, for hope, and...for Jaime.
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A bobbing piece of what used to be a boat struck Jaime's face, and she opened her eyes. At first, her mind couldn't absorb or process what she was seeing. Water surrounded her on all sides, but...where was the boat? All she saw was debris, wooden planks, clothes, and then...an empty wine bottle. Steve! Where was he, and what the hell had just happened?
She called out to him, softly at first, then with increasing desperation, hearing only the echo of her own voice in return. Her body was tangled around and through something wooden that she thought might be a deck chair, but although she could brace with her arms, she was unable to pull herself free. Her initial shock and disbelief turned to horror and panic; Jaime couldn't move her legs.
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Back in Washington, Russ was preparing to leave OSI Headquarters and head home for the night. He was turning the key in the second lock of the radio room door when the scream of an alarm, loud and insistent, called him back to his post. He took one look at the printout and hit the intercom button for Oscar's office.
"Yes?"
"Oscar? You need to come down here, right away."
Oscar found his assistant with the readout still in his hand, waiting for something - anything - else to come over the wire. Russ handed him the paper without looking up. "It's Steve and Jaime - they're in trouble," he said grimly. "That's the fail-safe alarm from their boat. It's programmed to sound only in cases of collision, or..."
Oscar's eyes widened as he swore softly to himself. "Did you try calling their radio?"
"No response. Nothing."
"Did they send a distress call?"
"Nope. We've got a fleet of boats on their way to follow the trip map Steve filed. If they stayed on course, maybe we'll find them that way. I've also sent for Rudy Wells," Russ added. "Hopefully, if all else fails, he can track their whereabouts from their emergency chips. If not..."
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Jaime was growing more desperate by the second. Although she could move her arms, she was tangled in a way that made propelling herself by paddling next to impossible. Tears were now stinging her eyes even more than the salt water, and as she began to lose strength, she gave one more plaintive cry before surrendering to the ocean: "STEVE!" When the debris that was holding her flipped, turning her face toward the water, Jaime had no energy left to turn herself face up.
Steve came up from under the water - still having found nothing useful - just in time to hear Jaime's last cry. He instantly began swimming in her direction, calling her name and hearing no answer. He forced himself to remain at least somewhat calm, searching methodically with his hands and feet as he paddled rapidly through the water. He felt hair, splayed out upon the surface of the water, and knew he'd found her, but his relief turned to horror as he moved to embrace her and found that the love of his life was drifting face down.
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