32.

Maria finds herself walking down a very familiar corridor. How she got there or why she is there at all oddly does not seem to matter. The questions to how and why she is where she is are due to the fact that Maria is not passing through a corridor on The Pathfinder ... no, she is somewhere else entirely.

Familiar faces pass her by, some nodding an hello while others speak an hello to her, some even greet her by name and all who pass her by are female and young, that would be until two ladies wearing nun's clothing begin to walk in her direction. When these two ladies come close enough to Maria, they both greet her by name, and by her original name at that.

'Where are we?' ask a male voice, a voice which stood behind Maria.

This place where Maria is, it is a place unaccustomed to the presence of males of any sort. It is only when Maria turns that she realizes that she is somewhere she could not possibly be.

'Brandon, how are you here? How long have you been here? And what is going on?'

'I am just paying you a visit, that's all, and I only just got here too so don't worry, I haven't seen anything I am not supposed to ... at least I don't think I've seen anything I'm not supposed to. Anyhow, you are obviously asleep, and I somehow have been drawn right into your dream with you rather than either of us ending up by our regular crossroads spot or by where you actually are. So, are you gonna tell me where it is we are right now?'

'It is so much more than just a where, it is a when too. This is the convent boarding school I more or less grew up in; remember I told you about this place.'

'Oh yes. The place run by nuns and by Sister Maria, you know I will get your original name out of you sooner or later.'

'Sure, you will.'

Both Maria and Brandon smile, Brandon hadn't heard Maria's original name be spoken a moment or so ago, had he? Maybe he hadn't though Maria couldn't be sure. Just because he is no longer living doesn't mean he should give up on discovering her name and neither does it mean that she has to offer it up to him.

'I left here when I was eighteen ...,' continues Maria, 'the place was destroyed just one year later and unfortunately it also took Sister Maria's life too.'

'And that is when you took the name Maria as your own.'

'Right, Sister Maria meant so much to me and she always will. Look straight down near the end of the hall. There she is talking to that little girl.'

'That little girl isn't you by any chance?'

'No, no. Sister Maria meant a lot to more than just me ya know, I am sure that there are others who feel as strongly as I do about her.'

Sister Maria looks up and recognizes who she can see down along the hallway; she smiles a smile which suggest a longing, a kind of wanting which may suggest she really wants to have a kind of catch-up moment with who she sees so she soon begins to approach. Before the Sister was able to get close enough to speak with, and before this moment could be thought of as anything other than a dream, a change of scenery would come.

'No' ... Maria both thinks and speaks out loud for she would love nothing more right now than to once again speak with that lady who took such good care of her. Of course, if this is no more than a dream then the two ladies would not be able to actually speak with one another, any conversation which could have occurred would have done so only in Maria's mind.

Now, however, due to that change of scenery both Maria and Brandon are no longer standing in a hall at Maria's old boarding school. They both so happen to have come to be in a classroom aboard The Pathfinder. It is the science class that Maria teaches, and she instinctively goes about teaching it without considering what has just happened, without considering what it is that is actually happening.

Brandon stands in a corner invisible to all except Maria. He remains quiet as if he were nothing more than an observer making sure he was of no distraction to Maria, for in this moment it is quite possible Maria was reliving a memory rather than being in the mists of a dream but then again, can he be sure of that? Can he be sure of anything at all? The class comes to its natural conclusion and all the students bar one leaves the room. One of the more mature students has stayed behind.

'Miss Flores.'

'Yes Philippe, is there something I can help you with?'

'I was just wondering, if you weren't too busy that is, would you like to go get a coffee or maybe even a bit of lunch? I have many questions I would like to ask of you and there are many topics too I would love to have the opportunity to discuss with you.'

'I am sorry Philippe, it is a nice offer, and I am sure we would have plenty to discuss but I don't think it would be an appropriate, besides I have my hands very full at the moment.'

'I understand' speaks Philippe who then hesitantly begins to move to leave the room.

'What was that all about?' asks Brandon while making his way towards Maria.

'What? You don't think anyone could find me attractive?'

'On the contrary, it has been something I have considered, asking you out for lunch with myself that is, and without having to discuss anything ship related too. If only I was still alive and a few decades younger.'

The two smile once more.

A bright white light fills the classroom all of a sudden almost blinding both Brandon and Maria. This light was what would force Maria to wake in that darkened cold room she had been taken to only that darkened room of course was now no longer quite so dark. A light shining strong into her face indeed has brought Maria out of unconsciousness. Brandon had also been brought out of the dream and back into the land of reality.

'Oh, my good holy God' is Brandon's initial reaction.

Maria, as it quickly becomes clear, is in a lot of trouble and Brandon being a ghost of his former self is left to only stand idly by, unable to do anything other than be right where he is.

Stanley being the ship's doctor, had been sent for to come see Cindy in relation to what happened to her in the mess hall. Cindy is exhausted and certainly needs to eat. She more than likely had eaten very little if anything at all since she was told about what happened to David. Is this the reasoning behind what had happened?

Was that fellow she had been talking with nothing more than some sort of vivid hallucination? To Cindy, it felt as real as anything she has ever experienced, and it was this coming together with a strange fellow that had her feeling as sickly as she does.it has eased slightly but still ...

With there being no sign of Maria's arrival, Stanley uses the com system to contact the command center to inquire as to her whereabouts. Simon responds to inform the doctor that Maria had left quite some time ago with the intentions of going straight back to her quarters to see Cindy.

Unfortunately, and obviously, that was somewhere she did not get to arrive at. The first thoughts of both Stanley and Simon were that it may be quite likely that if it has not already happened then Maria might just become the next victim of the ship's very own serial killer.

A search quickly gets underway almost immediately with word of what was happening spreading fast and wide among the ship's crew, gathering into small groups, beginning to search the ship calling out for Maria in the hopes of not only being lucky enough to find her but find her before it would become too late. It now seems too that the plan which had been organized to draw out the actual killer had got underway without it having actually been planned at all and with Maria not Rory facing the immediate danger.

'This is going to be fun' speaks Philippe placing the sharp tip of his knife in the center of Maria's torso just below the rib-cage, 'I am literally going to take the heart of a beautiful woman.'

Maria's clothing had been tied up to indeed reveal the bulk of her torso. There is nothing sexual about what it is that Philippe is doing, sure his first two victims aboard The Pathfinder have been male. Yeah, sexual preferences do not necessarily always tend towards one gender or another but for Philippe, he has an addiction, and it is not sexual in nature.

An addiction is definitely what all this is for Philippe. The smile on his face comes with the territory he has taken and that smile also sends Brandon into somewhat of a panic. He knows that there quite possibly is very little time left before this fellow has his way with Maria and there virtually is nothing that Brandon can do to help.

The nearing, searching calls and shouts of Maria's name coming from just outside this place of detainment were loud enough to create a slight distraction to Philippe and in this moment of slight distraction he is close enough to Maria for her to raise her knees and try something. Even though her ankles were bound together, and her body has been left to dangle from above, she was able to gather enough force in a brief spell of movement to hit Philippe in the groin hard enough to make it hurt.

She created enough momentum in her own brief spell of movement that it could pay off two-fold. The hit to the groin could be quickly followed up to a point where Maria could physically connect with Philippe for a second time and this second knock would be powerful enough to knock him to the ground.

'Yes', shouts Brandon, but unfortunately Maria is the only one who can hear his gleeful cry. 'Come on Maria, you need to make some noise, quickly.'

She does begin to call out, but her cries were not loud enough to draw much if any attention her way for as it is, Maria is locked inside of Philippe's quarters and the searching calls of her name are indeed coming from the corridor outside. With the speed search parties got together and without time for them to be properly organized by security, keys had not been arranged to open random rooms and quarters for any kind of thorough search.

Brandon, with all that he can do, encourages Maria to keep calling out. Being what he is, Brandon can easily manoeuver in and out of the quarters without needing to open any locked door. He soon could see a group of searchers coming down the hallway just outside coming in the direction of where Maria is being held and with that, he makes his way towards them with the knowledge that none of the approaching group would be able to either hear or see him, still he tries to tell of what he knows.

However, even with that knowledge that he cannot be seen or heard; Brandon's presence must have had some effect. Just as Brandon was about to despair at the fact that the group had passed the room by, the person at the very back of the group speaks out.

'Hey, anyone hear that?'

A young lady was sure that she had heard something, and she was right. Whether it was Maria or Brandon she could hear would be in some way something Brandon might be able to offer up for debate at another time. Maybe Maria is not the only sensitive soul on the ship.

When asked as to what she had heard the lady responded that she wasn't sure but whatever it was it had come from the nearby room or at least close to it. Another group member manages to forcefully break into the room, after at least making a few calm attempts to gain access first, and access is gained just in time too as Philippe had made it back to his feet with the knife he so happens to be most fond of, still in hand.

Even though he has yet to be apprehended, Philippe right away seems to take joy in the fact that he has been discovered. He begins to laugh, and this laugh definitely comes across in a chilling manner. The laugh as it sounds out, along with the way it is being delivered, suggests that its owner is not playing with a full deck. It sounds frightening, it sounds evil, maniacal even.

This group of five quickly surround Philippe and begin to circle him, none of them know who the man they have gathered around is or what he may be capable of, apart from possible double murder that is and the possible attempt to turn that double into a treble or more.

Philippe, with that hunting knife of his, manages to get a few swipes away. Luckily enough none of those swipes manage to catch anyone. Despite his own confidence and that maniacal laugh of his, when it is five against one, no matter who or what the one is, the five generally always tend to win out and on this occasion numbers did just that for the group of five would get the better of Philippe and he would quickly be apprehended without any further harm being caused.

No time is wasted with ensuring Maria's release out of her restraints. If anyone can manoeuver within restraints, then as we know that would be Maria. She would soon be reunited with her daughter but not before she is taken to the medical center first and there in the medical facility both mother and daughter would spend the night. There are to be no lasting injuries, still Maria had received a blow to the back of the head. Wellness comes first over ship's business though try telling Maria that.