Brian and Danilo sat in the crew mess hall, on either side of a white plastic table. They were slowly nursing paper cups of stewed coffee. Fluorescent lights above reflected off of the polished linoleum floor. Their guns were balanced on the edge of the table, muzzles pointed toward the ceiling. The walls were painted an institutional tan. They had been debating their next move, but had fallen into a minute of stuck silence.

To their left, two women from the spa were eating dinner after a long shift. They were still in gray uniforms. They were talking about a stubborn client with yellow nails. "They were like the color of butter, I'm not even kidding. I told her, you have foot fungus. I tried to be nice about it, you know? But it's gross as hell." She paused to tear a chunk from her dinner roll. "The old cow told me her toes always looked that way, so what's wrong with them? I can't believe some people." She rolled her eyes and pushed pasta sauce around on her plate with her roll.

To their right, a maintenance worker in a navy blue jumpsuit was eating the same meal, as a lunch break on his swing shift. His eyes were bleary. His face was covered in gray stubble. He had a plate of pasta and a cup of coffee.

Brian's phone buzzed in his front pocket. He was surprised he had reception in the metal recesses of the ship. He pulled it out and started to read the text message. His face dropped. "Shit."

Danilo leaned forward. "What? What happened?"

Brian said nothing. He continued staring at his phone.

Danilo swatted his shoulder. "Hey, tell me what's going on."

Brian set his phone down on the table with a small clunk. "The kidnappers just texted me ransom instructions. They threatened the rest of my family if I don't comply."

Danilo leaned forward. "Hesukristo. You OK?"

"No. How could I be?" He hung his head forward and leaned his forehead on his open palms. He rubbed his eyes, and then sat straight up. "It just... makes it more real. We both knew what was happening, but to get a message from the fuckers. I'm looking at words they typed, you know?" His face stiffened and his brows furrowed. "The nerve."

"What did they ask for?"

Brian blinked. "A hundred million. By wire transfer."

"Damn. I knew you were rich. I didn't know you were that rich."

"That's the thing. You didn't, but they did. They made a reference to my company in the message. They must have done the same for everyone. They tried to figure out what all of the passengers were worth before the kidnappings, and before the ransom." He pushed his coffee to the center of the table. "The amount of planning this took, and the amount of insider information. They knew exactly who would be there, and when."

"Can you even give them a hundred million?" The three employees around them had now whipped their heads around to listen, intently.

Brian shrugged. "Sure. But I would have to sell stock, and there are insider trading windows. It can't happen right away. It would be in a few weeks, after quarterly results come out. It has to be publicly disclosed, too." He shook his head and waved the thought away. "But, there's no way. Juni is still on the ship. We know where she is." He leaned closer and fixed Danilo in an iron stare. "We need to finish this."

Danilo smiled. "Sure. I was waiting for you to say that." He pushed his seat back with a scrape, and stood up.

Brian did the same. They leaned forward and picked up their shotguns by the straps and slung them over their shoulders. The maintenance worker stared blankly at them. He put his hands in the air and slowly scooted his chair away from their path.

The two men walked out of the mess hall, and toward the waiting freight elevator.

—-----------

Dmitry heard the freight elevator spool up and start to move. The freight space was large and empty. The mechanism of the elevator echoed and boomed. He caught Pavel's eyes and let out a short, mirthless laugh. "Not much element of surprise."

Dmitry was sitting on a steel support structure. He leaned forward and reached behind his feet. He fished out two tangles of black webbing, and handed one to Pavel. He untangled his bundle and slipped the webbing over his head. At the back was a battery pack, with a small black wire tracing forward to what looked like a set of binoculars.

He nodded to Pavel. "Go throw the switch."

Pavel jogged to a small electrical sub-panel. He swung the green steel door open, and flipped the breakers off with his thumb. One by one, they flipped with a loud clunk that echoed in the open space. He saw the lights flip off, section by section. First the hallway, then the load area. They were completely in darkness.

Pavel jogged back to the steel support beam. He and Dmitry flipped the contraptions in front of their eyes and turned them on. The load space flipped from pitch black to bright green. The image stabilized, and they saw green outlines of everything in sight. It looked like daylight, but monochromatic, alien, and green. They spun their rifles on their slings, and pulled the charging handles. Practiced, smooth, and fast. They settled in behind the support beam for cover, and one by one flicked off their safeties. In front of them, the load area was quiet and empty. The hallway jogged away, not fully in view.

The freight elevator, just out of sight, stopped its whining descent. There was a still quiet.

—------------

Brian and Danilo waited as the elevator lurched to a stop. They stood on either side of the door, facing each other. They were hidden from outside view, braced against the solid corner of the elevator. The door opened slowly. Each got a slow, gradual reveal of the space.

They were perplexed for a moment. Outside of the doors was pitch black. They stood with their guns at low ready, hidden behind the small interior corners of the elevator. Brian held the 'door open' button while they tried to understand the situation. The puddle of light from the elevator spilled weakly into the hallway.

Wordlessly, Danilo fished a flashlight out of his belt and handed it to Brian. He clicked it on and juggled it to his left hand, holding his shotgun against the crook of his shoulder with his right. Brian slowly scanned the hallway ahead. The linoleum floor glinted and cast reflections on the walls. There was no sound.

Brian nodded across the open door. Danilo stepped forward and swept his gun into the doorway. He raised it into his line of sight and swiftly walked into the side of the large hallway. Brian followed behind him and spun himself into the other side of the hallway, hugging the wall.

They walked slowly, straddling either side of the open space. They hugged their backs against the walls as they walked. They kept their footfalls deliberate and gentle, to control their echoes on the hard floor. Brian held the single flashlight beam low, and scanned it back and forth. Danilo came to a doorway and paused. Brian walked quickly to the opposite side of the door frame. The metal door had a small window. Brian eased closer and shone the flashlight inside, keeping the bulk of his body out of the door frame. A smaller target. Inside, there was a tangle of nondescript shadows. There was no sound in response. No feet scuffed away in a scramble for cover.

Brian looked appraisingly at Danilo. He kept his voice to a rough whisper. "Are we sure about this? Are they even here?"

Danilo nodded. "I think they're still here." He jerked his chin to the right. "We're still a ways from the cargo area. It's huge. We need to be careful."

He reached his hand out, and gestured for the flashlight. Brian handed it to him. He flipped the bulb against his thigh and clicked the small switch to cycle through the modes. He found the lowest light setting, and handed it back to Brian. The light was now a sliver of moonlight. "Keep holding it low. If they're holed up, they'll see us coming way before we see them. Their eyes will be used to the dark."

Brian nodded. They split up again, hugging sides of the hallway. At each doorway, they played the flashlight beam inside. All of them were empty. It was slow, agonizing progress.

The hallway ended, and the large cargo area came into view. It spanned the width of the ship. The flashlight beam faded to nothingness in the center of the space. Danilo jerked his chin to the left, and pointed along the perimeter wall. Brian jogged over behind him. "Let's cut around the outside first, and then circle inward." Brian nodded.

One behind the other, they made their way around the outside of the space. The air was cold but stagnant. They could smell the funk of decomposing food scraps in the distant garbage room. The floors in the cargo area were painted metal. They slowed their steps even further to keep silent. The walls were bare steel. The ship was rocking, and in the large open space they could hear creaks and groans as the structure flexed.

They soon found the large cargo door at the side of the ship. Outside, there was nothing but churning dark sea. At one end, a massive hydraulic lift sat dormant. The oversized buttons and green and red lights on the small control pedestal were dark.

They reached the far wall and turned right. They were halfway through the perimeter when Brian stopped. Over the steady creaking of the ship, he could hear something. He held a hand up, palm out, to Danilo signaling him to stop. He pointed to his ear. After a moment, they heard it again. It was hard to hear, but it was a low whimpering cry. It was coming from their right.