Barry's voice caught in his throat as he slowly sagged down, one hand reaching for Heidi's back. Suddenly Ernie's foot came up and kicked at him, knocking him onto his back in the lounge. Ernie roared in anger and shoved Sandra's inert form off of him and clambered to his feet, looking frantically about for the gun.

When he saw it he moaned aloud, and put his hands over his face. The roar seemed deafening in the cabin and he toppled backwards, following the bits of his head that sprayed across the side window.

Ted rolled over onto his good elbow and gaped at the blank face of his wife looking at him with disgusted surprise. Blood ran down through his eyes and he tried to blink it away.

"Whatta you staring at, Gwen? Did you think this was some kind of game? Did you think you could just screw me over and I wouldn't mind?" There was no answer, just the same unforgiving stare.

He yanked his foot free from the pile and worked himself into a sitting position in the doorway. Blood sopped down his face into his shirt, plastering the material to his neck, and he tentatively touched his swollen eye, wincing at the pain in his arm as he did.

"What about you, bitch?" His foot nudged Sandra but she didn't respond. "Playin' dead won't get you any marks from me, babe." Ted waited. Nothing. He squinted and stared more closely at Sandra and sucked in a startled breath. A tiny hole below her eye puckered outward like a miniature crimson rose. He toed her head with his foot and it fell loosely to one side exposing the red matte of dark colour in her hair.

"Oh Jesus!" Ted flinched back, looking around at the others. "Oh good Jesus!"

"He won't help you now, Hollinger!" Ted looked up in surprise as Barry snatched the gun from his hand and held it against his head.

"Barry! For God's sake!"

"No, you little chiseling worm, for her sake." He jabbed his chin toward the figure of Heidi spread over Gwen.

"I didn't do this, Barry! Look at me. Look at my head!"

"You shot me, you little prick, and I just watched you shoot that other jerk." The gun pressed into Ted's hair.

"That was- I had- it was self-defence."

"So's this." Barry squeezed the trigger and flinched away as blood splattered off the wall onto his hand. He sagged back, feeling his stomach turn over and a sour taste creep up his throat. Leaning on the door frame, he began to weep, his eyes caressing the back of the woman he thought he had, in a very short time, come to love and admire. As he watched, he blinked and wiped his eyes. Was that a movement?

"Heidi?" He knelt slowly, grunting from the pain and the effort. His hand rested on her back above the knot in the apron and slid down over her smooth buttocks. "Oh, Heidi."

"Is that you, Mr. Stein?"

"Holy shit!" He fell back and screamed in agony as he fell on the gun and it pressed against his wound. There was a rustle of movement and a second later he was gazing up into the angelic face of Heidi van Rugel. "Heidi, I thought you were..."

"There, there, Mr. Stein. Let me get you back to our boat. I am so impressed you came to rescue me."

Barry surrendered to her manoeuvring and only caught a glimpse of Gwen before she carried him out of the lounge. The image of the tiny sailboat stuck between her breasts on a sea of red made him close his eyes in regret.

ööööö

He opened his eyes and stared at the mirrored ceiling not too far above his head. The rocking sensation puzzled him and he tilted his head to see that he was in the famous Iron Tulip master cabin. His image assaulted him from all directions and Barry saw that he was bandaged across his chest and under one arm, the arm that was secured in a sling.

The rocking continued as he carefully tossed back the lightweight comforter and swung his feet over to the floor. The image this time was not all together pretty. He was nude, and the features that were preserved in memory did not match reality.

He glanced around and found a silk, knee-length robe in a red tulip pattern. Gathering it about himself with one hand, he made his way out of the cabin and down the companionway to the lounge steps. Soft music greeted him as he emerged into the brilliant glare of sunshine on the side windows, and he squinted his way aft to the canopied deck.

Barry supported himself on the rear rail and gazed about. Nothing. Nothing but water for three hundred and sixty degrees. The boat swayed gently on the swell, and Barry suddenly experienced a knot of fear in his stomach.

He wandered up the side to the bow and saw the taut anchor line extending straight out into the grey blue water. He made his way to the bridge door and peered inside. Again, nothing. The knot tightened and he began to panic.

"Heidi? Heidi, where are you?" Barry ran to the opposite side and looked aft. Still nothing. He hurried back down to the lounge calling her name with increasing frequency and fear.

"Up here, Mr. Stein." The voice came from topside, and he scrambled back up to the aft deck just in time to see her towelling off her nude body.

"I was swimming, Mr. Stein. I didn't think you would wake just yet." She strolled to a lounge and lay down, tossing the towel on the deck.

"Heidi, where the hell are we? I can't see any land. What happened?"

"We are taking that trip you spoke about in my office, Mr. Stein. Remember?"

"But- but the others. Hollinger and his wife and- and-"

"Tut, tut, Mr. Stein. They are all behind us now." She slipped on a pair of huge red sunglasses and rested a forearm across her brow. "From now on it's just you and I and our fantasy travels."