A/N: On we go! Not putting the character substitutions up here 'cause well... spoilers ;)

"The Day the Titania Nearly Sank"

3. Murder on the Titania

Three days out at sea, the Titania was midway through its journey, and so the shine on the experience had worn off for most except maybe the Davidsons, who still went around like excited kids in a candy store. Most everyone was going around the 'deck', mingling, talking… All except two, who had gotten a tap on the shoulder, leaving the dinner table, and knew what that meant. Even if the others were not meant to 'see' this, there was a visible shift in all of them, like they were adjusting both what they knew up until then, and preparing for what was soon to come.

For two of them, one directive in their envelopes started to make sense, and George and Lara shared a look, sneaking off from among their guests, perhaps off to find a discreet place to…

When they went around the stairs, Lara delivered a scream worthy of the best drive-in horror classics, backing away while George, with a cooler head, knelt down. The sound had drawn the guests and the Captain to come running. There were more screams as each of them came upon what the singer and the dancer had found… the two bodies huddled together, on the ground, half covered by a blanket but decidedly dead, 'blood' dribbling down their foreheads.

"It's the Jensens, oh my, it's the Jensens…" Clare Davidson heaved, turning to her husband for comfort. The Captain crouched and felt for a pulse at each of their necks. He coughed to cover what he faintly heard from the dead Amelia Jensen when he put his fingers to her neck.

"Dead… murdered," he declared, and there was a chorus of gasps. "Alright, everyone back in the dining hall, and no one leaves. Mr. Avery, make sure of that," he nodded, and the dancer agreed silently. As everyone headed off, the Captain pulled two envelopes from his pocket and placed them near James Jensen's hand before joining the others. A few seconds later they would get up and sneak off into the nearby 'changing room.'

"It tickled," Brittany defended herself to Mike, out of the blue.

"Don't worry about it," he told her. A moment later, Santana ducked in as well.

"Awesome scream," Brittany grinned at her.

"Well that was part dramatics, and part…" she paused, shaking her head and abandoning the end of the sentence to pick up a cloth nearby, wiping at the fake blood on the blonde's forehead.

"I wonder what we're going to be next," she spoke, cringing at the effort Santana put into wiping her forehead clean. Mike had been wiping his own fake blood off, but he reached for the envelopes. He opened one and read.

"Joel Cook… Barman," he revealed.

"Good," Santana chuckled, though she didn't know whether actual drinks would be made available to them. "What about…" she asked him, indicating Brittany. He opened the second envelope.

"Cate Parsons, maid," he read out.

"I played a maid last time, after my death," Santana recalled.

"That was good," Brittany remembered as well.

"We better get dressed and get out there," Mike went to get the clothes already waiting for them.

Meanwhile, back in the 'dining hall,' things were not quiet by any means. Everyone was speaking at once, addressing the Captain with a rightful amount of panic and outrage at the idea of their safety being put in jeopardy.

"What kind of crew do you run, Captain Cartwright?" Stewart Stevenson asked.

"The very best, I assure you," the Captain turned to him, trying not to be rude to his guest.

"What are you saying then, that one of us could have done this?" his wife piped in.

"I never said that," he insisted.

"I was in here, the whole time," Teresa Thomas suddenly added, and they turned to look at her. She only had eyes for the Captain, and he nodded.

"Yes, I know," he promised. "Now as for everyone else's whereabouts, it will be harder to confirm…" This only got him another earful from the gathered group before him. At the same time, the singer, the barman, and the maid rejoined them. Seeing this, the Captain pulled out his whistle and gave it a blow, silencing them, leaving the air silent to catch something of a snort escaping the singer… "Thank you," the Captain spoke, ignoring this. "A terrible thing has happened here. Unfortunately we are still, at best, three days from our destination and turning back wouldn't save time. So we're going to address this, right here, right now, and hopefully we can get everyone's minds at ease before we reach land."

TO BE CONTINUED (Saturday)