The saying phrase ‘smooth sailing.’ is put to life in our journey.

We boarded the vessel, successfully found and occupied out cabin and have already been fully confirmed as a passenger with the second hole punctured in our tickets. And are now being served a full course meal by the crew.

I sit next to Paige as we dined at a set tables of the ship, the waves barely a bother. Wind in her hair and sun illuminating, Paige looks absolutely gorgeous in her winter white coat, in the odd sails and bops of the ship. She looks right where she belongs.

Free, untethered and joyous. The bright smile on her lips pierces me.

Entranced, I watch as her lips flutter in movement, “What do you want to do when we get out there?” she asks, her eyes dancing between me and the tightening of her dark leather gloves.

Burrows furrowed, I mumble incoherently and annoyed at the sight of them. She doesn’t notice, stretching them over her slim hands. Those should be mittens.

“I haven’t decided.”

She gives me a look, an odd one, as though asking if I really never thought of freedom in such luscious quantities before.

And the truth was, I hadn’t. I’d never given much care to hope so carelessly before. I’d never imagined a life this much higher than the one I had. Sure, I envied the people I saw above me, but the people above me weren’t much better than it went around where I grew up.

They were simple folk. Miners. The career as a miner bore no gender discrimination in that part of Xoxia, being a miner, till today, is the surest path to getting some form of income.

But my challenges growing up by myself were a hurdle enough to keep me from daydreaming too long, it meant I envied the people, the miners, but I never had such loathsome greed to hope.

“What do you want to do? If you tell me I could get an idea of what I like.” I offer, desperate not to linger on myself too long.

She smiles and warms up to her tea, hugging the warm cup in her hand close to her lips, “Alright then, but you better think of something, and you can’t choose my thing either.”

Grinning, I nod, agreeing to her terms.

“Good!” Her cheer dampens and her eyes fall to the side, she mutters, “Back home...I mean...back home, my neighbourhood had this man, over on the corner leading out to the pharmacist, the one with the funny mustache. And this man, he...he performed these wondrous acts of disguise and play with his other self on a large screen beside him.”

“Otherself?”

Pausing she quints as she tries to figure out a way to describe and possibly translate her time periods culture to me, “Uhhh, it was this thing where people would get like...videos of themselves doing and talking about things and then reference it themselves in real time with an audience.”

I give an understanding hum and sip.

“Arggh! Forget that, the point is, it was fun to watch and fun to try and do. I’m sure there’s some history lesson of it in schools or something. So I’m going to bring it back in this century.”

Chuckling I ask, “I do understand, to an extent at least, aren’t you saying you want to be an entertainer? Like an actor or something?” A majority of this guess comes from her avid desire for those boring showtellers on the TV.

She gives me an unsure nod followed by a shrug, “Maybe, but worry not, better shown than told so I’ll give you quite the show once I find a way to set it up in this time. Now, any thoughts on what you want to do?”

I am immediately overcome with the urge to say I want to do what she wants.

Instead I say, “I think I’ll have a nice, long nap.”

“Ah...pitiful.” she lets out an exasperated sigh at me while I laugh.

We spend some more time above the ship trying out the buffet they set aboard the deck with other patrons. Normally I’d feel out of place, fallen out of stack or lost in this kind of place. My skin would itch and crawl and all I’d want to do is get out of there but...with my hand grasping hers I feel at ease basking in the sun.

The odd large body of water holds little care for the frost that plagues the city, blossoming flowers and grass on its sides. And so the fog of cold that always lingers and hovers in the air is lifted here.

With such clear skies, it doesn’t take long to spot another ship cruising by.

It begins to slow and so do we. Eventually the two vessels get close enough that the passengers on the edge can have a conversation with one another.

Paige draws on me, rushing to the edge to grab a spot, same as the others. Excitedly, I run over with her.

Standing at the edge goes against the rules it seems, as several uniformed crew members begin to urge people away from the rails.

But much of that comes to a stop as the crew members attention is immediately diverted to what’s happening on the ship, or rather, what’s about to happen.

Chaos ensues on the other vessel as people are forced to make way for two men wielding a ladder.

Jaws drop and hands wave as the crew on both sides try to get the men to stop, but for some reason, the crew on the other ship drop to the floor the moment one of the men so much as glances their way.

Clang! Clang!

The ladder is set and quietly, with steady, heavy breathes passengers on both ships are forced to bear witness to the spectacle before them, watching as the two men cross over to the ship. Our ship.

But something rubs me the wrong way, I squeeze on Paige’s hand causing her to glance at me, worried. “What’s wrong?”

I’m not afforded the chance to answer, a loud round of applause and cheer erupts, the men have boarded the ship.

Mirth, cheer and fun comes to a crashing halt, a scream lurches out of a woman, a woman now held by her neck.

Bang! Bang!

Two shots ring out from a smoking barrel and the deck clears, people spilling to the floor and screaming.

“Silence!” the man holding the woman yells, he tosses her away and walks up to his partner.

We spend a moment in the silence, only the sounds of our hearts and the swaying waters are heard, and I stand, paralysed with fear.

The man with the gun speaks, his voice as shrill and cold as I remember, “We’re looking for a twerp, about this tall and of course, wanted by the Xoxia Police, we’re looking for The Kneecapper, or as we know him...Vern Braxwood.”

***

Air is thick. Breathing is like trying to force down a bowl of jello down my throat as I would water.

“Vern?”

I hear Paige and I give my reply, only it comes out more of a choked gasp from my lips. My eyes fixated on the two men holding everyone's attention.

But worst of all, me, after all, I’m the one they’re looking for. Vern Braxwood, The Kneecapper the entire city has in their minds when they go to sleep. The dreaded criminal of the underworld.

However, T.V and Neil are far worse vagrants than I am. They’ve killed untold numbers of innocents, of men and women working for justice and security. All because they stood in their way.

I guess I’m not much different from these two, everyone I’ve killed, I killed because they got in my way, in the path to my goals. But despite sacrificing everything that used to be me, my innocence, my safety, my morals...I’m right back where I was.

With T.V and Neil towering over me, with Steve’s frightening shadow illuminating their presence. Trapping me.

“Vern.” Paige hisses, pinching me out of my reverie and shock.

“Huh?”

“Let’s go, they haven’t spotted us yet.” She whispers under the whimpering's of the newly acquired hostages on deck.

We crawl across the deck, trying our best to remain unseen, moving out in a random pattern through terrified patrons and onto the nearest exit. The door leading down to the cabins.

Glancing back at the two, I find them doing what they do best. Neil is in his element, torturing and oppressing everyone he can get his hands on. Already the psychopath has his entire weight resting on the backs of two unfortunate men in tuxedos.

If I wasn’t so scared I’d be amazed at how fast he finds his way to torment.

T.V would be the trouble it seems. True to his reputation he’s all business, pulling men and women alike by the scruff of their clothes to take a look at the tablet in his hand. A tablet I’m sure has my wanted poster on it.

So far it seems no one has given me up, although I doubt they would have seen me. Many of the passengers now held hostage were far too preoccupied with themselves and the appearance of the other ship to notice a short teen like me skulking beside them.

If T.V wants to get some headway, he’ll need to find a crew member, a worker, a simple waiter even. Or merely spot Paige and I crawling away from this mess each time he picks up a person.

Sighting where we're headed my heart leaps, we’re almost there. While I’m not sure what happens once we escape the deck I find myself ecstatic at the thought.

Paige comes to a halt and so do I. Lying flat on the floor I beckon to her in whispers, “What’s wrong?”

She doesn’t need to answer as the very reason for our stop burst out of the door. Several men wearing light body armour and wielding handguns troop out of the exit, they line themselves up in front of us and aim.

“On the floor, both of you!” One of them screams out to Neil and T.V.

Fuck!, I curse at the foolishness of the man. Why not just shoot the two of them dead right on the spot?

Another one of the calvaries is quick to spot us shuffling away to the door, he squats next to Paige, “Are you alright? Here let me help you up.”

His helping hand gets swatted away like a putrid pest. Only then do I notice Paige’s state.

Her eyes linger on the man’s weapon, a rifle hanging over his shoulder, dangling in her face.

“I’m sorry,” I tell the man, taking firm hold of Paige even as she shivers at my touch, “She’s sensitive to strangers like that.”

The man begins to nod when a cruel laugh echoes through the deck.

“What is this? Is this a joke? What sort of joke is this?!” It’s Neil, he kicks off the men he’d been standing on and lands on the deck, scarcely missing a child, “Look at them, they think they can threaten you.” He says to T.V who is rigid, holding a man in his grip.

“Is that so.” T.V’s cold voice rings out. I’ve never known the man to be much of a talkative and good thing too. His tone and vibe have always been far more terrifying than any other I’ve met, even Steve himself.

He tosses the man to the side and steps over a few people before-

Bang!

“That was a warning shot! Take another step and you and your associate will be full of holes before you can even blink.” At the guard captains word, the rest of them fall in line, straightening in their formation with their pistols and rifles pointed straight at the two.

T.V pauses in his approach, even taking a step back, his shoulders rise and fall with deep breaths and then, “Very well, I take it you want us off your vessel.”

The security nods and a bit of hope dies within me, At least shoot him in the knee and book him!

Despite my internal protests I know the ship's security has no interest in apprehending criminals, all they're concerned with is getting their clients to the other side of Xoxia safely. The authorities can handle anything else.

And although Paige and I are their patrons, I highly doubt they’ll give up the safety of the others for us.

T.V smiles at this, a thin, crooked smile, “That much I can comply with...but you have to do me a favour first.”

“And what is that?”

T.V’s head tilts, scanning across the gap between he and the guards to land on me. Even with his shades on, the shiver that runs through my skin is all I need to tell that I’ve been had.

“Him. The one behind you, the one with the girl.”

Defeated, I set a frozen Paige to rest on the wall. She mutters and murmurs incoherently, her hand squeezing around mine. But not tight enough, she’s still far too weak to protest this.

Standing to my feet I walk past the wall of men in front of me and face my pursuers.

“I can’t say it’s good to see you two again, Neil, T.V.”