Leanna O’Regan was leaning over the edge of the battleship, hearing the crashing waves of the blue-green ocean far below. Dante Valderez was holding the base of her head with his black-gloved hand, pushing and lifting her over the railing of the massive ship, the metal pressing into her stomach where she bent over. Her yellow hoodie was protecting her from the grey-painted metal, and the hood was over her head, her long black hair tucked in behind her face. Even though she had closed her eyes, they were tearing from the stiff ocean breeze.

“Sir, General Thompson wishes to speak to the Princess, er, prisoner again,” a voice behind them said, with some uncertainty. The office from the bridge repeated himself, this time with a little more bravado. “He wishes to conduct further questioning after receiving new information.”

Dante, breathed sharply behind his respirator, “What new information? Tell me!”

“It’s, ah, hightly confidential. He wishes to question the prisoner in private,” the officer answered, speaking as if his throat were constricting.

“Guards! Leave us and return to the holding cell level. I will bring the prisoner with me after returning her to General Thompson!” Dante commanded the two guards in light-grey armor standing behind him, who had assisted in bringing Leanna down from the bridge to the lower the decks. As they turned to leave and with him still holding Leanna over the railing, he barked at the bridge officer, “Come here and tell me now this new information you have!”

The officer stood beside Valderez and the prone Leanna, who had now turned her head slightly to peer at the young man from the corner of her hood. The officer glanced at Leanna, and blinked nervously to address Dante, the tall, black-uniformed man in the respirator covering his nose and mouth. The young man hesitated a bit, and Leanna noticed that he wasn’t much taller than herself and was likewise dwarfed by Dante. The officer’s mouth started to move, and he was clearly very pale in the bright afternoon sun shining down on the massive gray battleship, bristling with guns on its heavily armoured, multi-level decks.

“I’m waiting… what is the new information!” Dante roared at the pale officer, who had sprays of blonde hair poking out from under his cap.

“Um, ah- PAB reports indicate that Rosa Jardine has been located in Joshua Tree Park with one Kenji Nobu,” the young officer said quickly.

“Kenji Nobu?” Dante repeated, slowly with introspection, as if were hearing a name he had not heard in a long time. “Return to the bridge and inform General Thompson that I am returning with the prisoner!”
The young officer hesitated a bit, then saluted, “Yes, sir!” and left Dante and Leanna on the deck. On hearing the officer re-enter the ship, Dante loosened the grip on Leanna’s head and stepped back.
“What do you know about Rosa Jardine and Kenji Nobu? What are they doing in Joshua Tree Park?”

Dante spoke in a low, steady voice, “And don’t lie to me… Princess. I know more than you think about CIMs and their precious ideals,” he snarled.

Leanna calmly stood up from the railing and turned around to look squarely into Dante’s black eyes staring down at her over his respirator’s mask. She shot her hand out to grab one of the hoses from the gas cylinders on his back feeding his face mask, but Dante swatted her hands aside and pushed her hard against railing. Leanna dropped to the deck and rolled away from Dante’s grasp, deftly standing up again and sprinting away from him, down the side of the ship. Dante quickly followed her, and soon cornered her against the hull of one of the life rafts hanging over the edge of the deck. Leanna jumped up over the railing and climbed up one of the supports holding up the life raft. Dante continued after her, without hesitation, pressing her back further, making her hang over the ocean, dozens of feet below them.

“Tell me what you know about Rosa Jardine and Kenji Nobu? Do they have the stolen plans with them?” Dante said again to Leanna in a low, steady voice.

Leanna clung to the life raft support, eyes wide open and tears streaming down her face. “I have nothing to tell you, you monster! And you can relay that to your master, General Thompson and his dear friend, the President!”

“Listen to me carefully, young woman,” Dante growled at her, reaching out with his black-gloved hand. “I can guarantee your safe return to Ojai.”

“I have no reason to believe that or to even trust you!” Leanna shouted back, losing her grip for a moment on the life raft support. She re-positioned herself around the support, so it was between her and Dante, now leaning towards her, hand outstretched.

“I will tell you this: I knew you were not Rosa Jardine the instant we captured you in Joshua Tree Park and brought you aboard. I knew this, because I am her father.” Dante said quietly but distinctly over the roar of the water below them. “I took those pictures in the slides. The gold you were transporting was mine.”

“No! That’s a lie! You are not Jesus Jardine! He was a virtuous, good man! He died in battle in the SEA War!” Leanna shouted back, almost screaming. She slipped on the edge of the lift raft, now holding the support with one hand. “You are not Jesus! You would never be an accomplice to the destruction of ‘Paraiso en la Tierra’! You are not the founder of the California Independence Movement!”

Dante lunged forward to grab Leanna’s loose arm, holding tight on to it and roughly pulled Leanna towards him. Leanna frantically struggled against his grip on her arm, wriggling it free from the hoodie. In the process, she lost her hold on the life raft support with her other hand and fell away from Dante. The arm of the hoodie tore off as she fell, making her twist around to face the water below. Leanna tumbled down along the side of the gray hull of the massive battleship in a free fall, but was able to pull her hands around her head, bracing for impact into the roiling ocean surface. Just before plunging into the cold, dark deep, she was facing upwards to see far above her Dante looking over at her with a limp patch of yellow fabric in his hand.

*** This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. ***