***** Vol.1 Chap.23 A friend’s visit and warning *****

The word of Kristin’s confinement spread like wildfire. Some claimed that she deserved what she got. Others thought she was screwed by the captain. For fear of the captain, most passengers never openly spoke about her predicament. Soon, everyone seemed to have forgotten about her heroic act, though many rumors surfaced. One thing was for sure, everyone seemed to avoid her during those times that she ventured out quietly to the mess hall to get a cup of coffee.

Only Chandras came on the last day to see her in her quarter.

“Hi, Kristin. May I come in?”

“Of course, Chandras. Come in.”

“We missed you in the mess hall lately.”

“Me too. Tell me, what is going on around the ship right now? How are the two survivors? Did they make it? Who are they? …” She fired off the questions like a fire hose.

Chandras held up his hand.

“Hold on. Ask me one question at a time. Now, let’s see. What is going on around the ship? Well, not much really. We are steaming back to port. No more research projects are being conducted for the time being. Things have been pretty quiet lately. Nothing is exciting or adventurous like your daring rescue.”

“What has the captain been doing?”

“Not much. Haven’t seen Jonas much either. He seems to be quite busy. He had orders to all his officers not to bother him. In the meantime, he kept all his crew quite busy. No one knows what he is up to.”

“How are the two survivors? Did they make it?”

“Yes, a man and a woman. The woman was slightly in shock and suffered some minor bruises and some suffocation symptoms. She is fully recovered now. The man must have fallen and hit his head. He has a severe concussion and is still in the infirmary. He can talk a little, but mostly resting for the better part of the day in bed.”

“Do we know who they are?”

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“Yes, the woman told us the man is no less than the US Senator John Hatchings from Texas. They were just having a quiet outing for the weekend.”

“Did they recall what happened?”

“Yes, she gave a full report to the captain. The rest of us knew bits and pieces. I think she said that they were having a quiet morning breakfast that day. Suddenly, gas bubbles surfaced all around them, rocking the yacht from side to side. They immediately hid inside the cabin and sent out the SOS signal with their coordinates. A giant bubble burst near the bow of the boat, causing the bow to be lifted into the air and the boat sank immediately in its vertical position. When the bow was thrown up, the Senator lost his balance and hit his head on the table and was knocked unconscious almost immediately.”

Kristin sat listening intently. While she had heard of the mysterious appearance of the gas bubbles in the Bermuda Triangle before, this was the first time that she heard the actual account of someone being through the experience of the bubbles. The account somehow left a bone-chilling and lasting effect on her. The bubbles appeared at the same time as her dream the other morning. Somehow, the image of the gas bubbles conjured up a chill down her spine. She shuddered involuntarily. She felt paralyzed for a minute. There was just something about those bubbles, but she could not put her finger on it.

“Is something wrong?” Chandras was shocked as Kristin sat quietly listening to the account. “You have the most awful look on your face.”

“Oh, nothing. That was an interesting account. It must have been frightening to the boaters.”

“To say the least!”

“Did the captain say anything about me?”

“I haven’t heard. The captain has not made many appearances with us at all. All we guessed was that he was preparing for a major media event about the entire rescue operation as soon as we arrived and docked in a few hours.”

“What about me? What was being said about me?”

“Well, plenty of rumors circulate about you.”

“Yeah, go on.”

“You sure you want to know?”

“Lay it on me.”

“Some said that you had a fallout with the captain. Others said that you are being screwed.”

“Go on. What else?”

“Some officers said that you will be thrown into the slammer after we dock. There seems to be a general agreement that something quite bad is going to happen to you and everyone is afraid of getting too close to you for fear that they may be implicated somehow.”

“Well, thank you for sharing all the rumors with me.”

“Hey, that’s what friends are for. But do be careful.”

“Thanks for the warning, Chandras.”

“Okay, I’d better be going.”

“Thanks for stopping by. You should be careful, too.”

After the visit, she was quite unsettled by the conversation. The captain planned for a major media event and yet not involving her. That concerned her greatly. She could not help but ponder what would happen to her next. Her fate hung in the balance held by Jonas’s hand.

She looked out the porthole and recognized the familiar coastline of Miami. Time to pack. Just when she pulled out her suitcase, she heard a knock at the door.