Leanna O’Regan pressed herself as far as she could to back away from the entrance of the orange, conical inflatable life boat. The raft was bouncing violently on the ocean surface as it was buffeted by the downdraft of the large black helicopter not far above it. A spotlight was beaming from the helicopter into the raft’s door, lighting up the interior with a harsh white light. Leanna shielded her eyes from the light, putting her bare arm across her face, and at the same time trying to make herself as small as possible. The light suddenly moved away to the roiling ocean outside of the raft, lighting up the inky waves to reveal Lucretius bobbing among them, and reaching up to a cable lowered to him. Leanna scowled at the young man as he was pulled up, and then was surprised to see a figure fall into the water nearby, making a splash not far from the raft.

The light from the helicopter went out, and the helicopter began to lift quickly into the starry night sky, soaring away and the loud thumping of its whirring blades quickly fading. In only a few minutes, it was gone and Leanna could only hear the lapping waves against the life raft and the wind rushing around the orange cone. She let out a sigh of surrender, and relaxed a bit, leaning towards the entrance of the raft to look out. She fell backwards in surprise when a hand shot out of the water and grabbed one of the cords on the circumference of the raft, and a head surfaced, sputtering and coughing.

Leanna hesitated for a moment, unsure about what to do with the young man clinging to the side of the raft. She crawled over to the side of the door, and peered out over the edge to look in the dim light of the crescent moon at the young man treading water and hanging onto the raft’s cords. He had a look of shock on his face, like he was trying to make sense of his surroundings. Leanna still didn’t reveal her presence, staying out of sight of the young man, but crouched and pushed herself back onto the raft’s wall, ready to pounce. The man struggled to pull himself out of the water, but couldn’t grasp anything inside the raft and fell back into the water. He spat out sea water, and in a frustrated, panicked voice, cried out, “I know you’re in there! Give me a hand! Please!”

Leanna leaned out the entrance of the raft and only stared at the man looking up at her against the orange fabric of the raft. “Give me one good reason why I should help you!” she growled.The man looked up at her, and said to her, pleadingly, “I don’t have one. All I know is that I’m supposed to guard you.”

Leanna continued to look at the young man with suspicion, seeing only the top of his head, his curly black hair glistening, and his dark hand grasping the cord “What’s your name?” she asked, unmoved.
He looked up at her, the whites of eyes almost glowing in the dark. “Stockard. James Stockard. Now pull me up, ma’am.”

Leanna laughed. “At least you’re respectful, Mr. Stockard. Here, grab my hand.”

James reached up to Leanna’s outstretched hand, and she braced her knees against the edge of the raft to pull James up through the entrance. He awkwardly fell onto the floor of the raft, and while he was laying prone,

Leanna jumped on top of him, pulling his arms back, and shouted at him, “Now tell me why Dante left you here!”

James groaned, “I don’t know what you are talking about,” and then yelped when Leanna pulled his arm back sharply. “Ow! Believe me, I don’t know! Wait with you until he comes back, I guess!” 

Leanna held onto his arms a bit longer and then released them, got off his back and sat down again against the side of the raft. She kicked the used flare gun at James, and muttered, “Your compatriot, Lucretius, has used up any chance of being found tonight.”

James got up off the floor of the raft and sat opposite of Leanna, propping himself up near the edge of the door. His light grey uniform was soaked with sea water, and he began to shiver in the dark, picking up the used flare gun and dropping it back onto the floor of the raft. “These life rafts come with a radio and beacon-“

“Resting on the ocean floor right now,” Leanna said, and laid down again, resting her head on the rolled up jacked Lucky had left behind. She continued to glare at James, but pulled her bare legs up to lay in a fetal position. She slapped her hand against the bottom of the raft, sending ripples across the undulating floor. “You don’t happen to have some fried chicken with you? Or some iced tea?” she asked.

James blinked at Leanna and took off his uniform jacket, twisting it up and squeezing it outside the raft’s entrance. He spread it out on the raft’s floor and did the same with his pants, only wearing his undershirt and boxer shorts. Leanna watched him sit down again with slitted eyes, and wrapped her arms around her and started shivering again in the cool ocean breezes.

“What is this all about, anyway?” James asked. “Are you a part of the California Independence Movement?”

“Yes,” Leanna answered quietly, “Are you?”

James didn’t answer right away, but after a pause, he looked out at the crescent moon outside the raft and answered, “Would it surprise you if I said I were?”

Leanna closed her eyes, and asked faintly, “What are the five Principles of the Cooperative?”

“Love, Respect, Justice, Peace and Equality,” James answered without hesitation, “They’re the five petals of the silver rose.”

“That’s not exactly the order, but good enough,” Leanna murmured, her voice drifting into sleep. “And how will the Principles be achieved?”

“Through collaboration, perseverance, positivity and empathy. The four points of the Gold Star of the Cooperative,” James answered, pulling out the gold necklace from under his shirt and letting the four-point star rest on his chest and sparkle in the moonlight.

“Well done, James. I noticed your necklace while I was holding you down. Your assignment tomorrow is to make sure we are never found by Dante Valderez and General Thompson,” to which James nodded silently.

Leanna closed her eyes, and said, “Now, you will tell me all you know about this secret battle station you were stationed on, and where it was heading.”

*** 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. ***