Alex Archer - Phantom Prospect

Annja took a deep breath of salt air and felt herself yawn. A nap would do her some good. She made her way down to the crew compartments. The corridor led her back to her room and she pushed the door in, falling into the bed with a muffled sigh. The pillow cradled her head and, within a few seconds, she felt herself falling into a deep sleep.

As she slept, her body seemed to relax, her muscles almost melting into the bed. Annja realized that she was truly exhausted and needed the nap badly.

Until something made her start and come awake.

A noise.

She kept her eyes closed. Her stomach knotted up and she risked cracking an eyelid. She could just make out a shadowy form rummaging through her bag. The daylight had faded outside the porthole and the coming evening made it difficult to see exactly who it might be.

Annja frowned. She hated thieves. There was one way to solve the mystery and she steeled herself to suddenly surprise the invader.

Adrenaline flooded her system. Annja checked to make sure her sword hung where she could pull it out if need be. It was ready, hanging in the dim mist that waited between her awake and dream worlds.

Annja steeled herself and then, with a shout, she came fully awake and launched herself off the bed.

She felt something crash into her from behind. A bright explosion of stars caromed around her head as tears flew from her eyes. Blackness rushed to greet her and Annja sank back onto the bed, consciousness already a vague memory somewhere far off in the recesses of her mind.

“ANNJA?”

Annja opened her eyes. The bright light made her wince. “Ouch.”

“Kill the light.”

Darkness returned and Annja blinked her eyes open again. “What the hell happened?’

“You tell us.”

She recognized Cole’s voice. “I was napping. I heard something. Someone was in my room. I was going to surprise them and, when I did, something or someone else clocked me from behind. That’s the last thing I remember.”

Hunter growled. “This isn’t good. A shark attack and someone attacking a guest on my ship. All within two days.” He paused and looked at Cole. “We can’t afford this kind of distraction.”

“I know it.”

Annja put a hand to her head. “Any chance I can get some water?”

“Yeah, yeah, sure.” Cole handed her a glass of something cold. “Take it slow, though. That’s a nasty bump you’ve got on your head.”

Annja ran her hand over the growing bulge on the back of her skull. “Concussion?”

“Can’t really tell. Maybe a mild one.”

“Add it to the scorecard,” Annja said. “I’ve had more than a few in my time. Every time I do, it only reminds me how much they suck.”

“Are you nauseous?” Cole peered into her eyes. “You might be sick.”

“You get any closer and I will definitely.”

Cole leaned back. “You can’t be that badly injured. Your sarcasm has remained intact.”

Hunter chuckled. “You always did have a way with the ladies, bro.”

Annja took a sip of water. The cold liquid hit the back of her throat and she winced. Her stomach rolled once or twice but she fought it back and swallowed the water. When she was done, she handed the glass back to Cole.

“Who did this?” she asked. “Was it Jax?”

Hunter shook his head. “Couldn’t have been. She was in the wheelhouse, remember? It wouldn’t be like her to come down here and take you out.”

Annja nodded slowly. “Fair point. I don’t think she’d mind just going straight on at me if she felt the need.”

“That’s more her style,” Hunter said. “I’ve seen her hold her own in a bar fight outside of Norfolk, Virginia. That chick can rumble with the best of them.”

Cole sat down in the small chair. “So, who else is on the ship that would want to see Annja get hurt?”

Hunter sighed. “I don’t know. I mean, are we assuming that Annja was the actual target?”

“I seem to have been,” Annja said. “As my skull will testify.”

Hunter smirked. “Not what I meant. Obviously, you got injured. But were you the primary target? Maybe they were after something that you have and you just got in the way. I don’t think it would be too hard to see that, if they wanted you dead, they could have easily killed you without much effort.”

Annja frowned. Hunter had a point. She would have been incapacitated and an easy mark if they’d really meant to harm her. So what did they want? What did they think she had that could prove useful to them?

She shook her head. “I have no idea what they could have possibly been looking for.”

“Only because we don’t know who they are,” Cole said. “Maybe they think you have something. Did you bring anything with you?”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know.”

Annja gestured for the glass and Cole handed it back to her. She took a longer sip this time. “Listen, you guys are the ones running this operation. Apparently, I haven’t made some people very comfortable. Maybe the best thing would be for me to leave.”

Cole shook his head. “Unacceptable. I invited you to come along with me. I need you here.”

“You don’t actually need me,” Annja said. “Fish aren’t really my specialty. I’m more into digging in sandboxes, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

“I appreciate that,” Cole said. “But your perspective is what’s required. Someone who thinks outside of the box.”

Hunter nodded. “Cole’s right. We don’t know what it is that we’re dealing with. Could be a shark, could be something else. But the presence of people meaning you harm on this ship is an indicator that something bigger might be going on here. That means trouble any way you look at it.”

“Which means,” Cole said, “that we all must make sure we have one another’s backs.”

“And not get on one another’s nerves,” Hunter said.

Annja smiled at them. “Nice to see you guys have made up.”

“We never stay mad at each other for long,” Hunter said. “Must be a brotherly thing.”

“Whatever,” Annja said. “Just so long as neither of you is plotting the untimely demise of the other, I think we’ll be okay.”

Annja finished the water. “So, where do we go from here? I’ve still got a killer headache. And there’s a fan of mine on board the ship apparently.”

“You rest,” Cole said. “Leave this other stuff to me and Hunter for right now. We’ll start checking things out, seeing where folks were earlier.”

“You don’t know when this happened, do you?” Hunter asked.

“Only that it must have been late afternoon or early evening. I couldn’t make out too much. The lighting was dim.”

“A good hit you took there,” Cole said. “You’ve probably been out for a few hours, then.”

“You feel okay now?” Hunter asked. “One of us can stay with you if you need us to.”

Annja shook her head. “I’ll be fine. And besides, I think you guys have some more important work to do than babysit me.”

Cole stood. “We’ll be back later to look in on you. In the meantime, lock the door behind us and don’t let anyone in. We’ve got to check on Tom, anyway.”

“Why? What’s wrong with him?”

“Seems like lunch didn’t sit well with him. He’s been vomiting and on the toilet ever since. Might be a touch of food poisoning. Anyway, he’s down for the count right now. But I want to make sure he’s all right or see if we need to evacuate him back to the mainland.”

Annja tried to stand and the room spun. “Whoa.”

Cole caught her. “You okay?”

Annja took a breath. “Yeah. I’ll be okay.”

Hunter and Cole left the room. Annja slid the bolt in place and then collapsed back into bed. Her head throbbed.