"What's your name?" Tracy heard coming from a voice that she had hoped would never be asking her that question.

Tracy sat there looked at the floor for a moment, as she was considering to try and continue with the charade.

"And don't even think about trying to lie about it this time." She heard him say right as she was getting ready to talk.  "We already know what you did to the real Sarah."

Tracy slowly glanced up and looked at Bob as he stood in front of her with his arms crossed in front of him. She could feel the full weight of his stare as she sat handcuffed to a chair that was sitting in the middle of the Wardroom. 

This was not how I had pictured this evening would head. She thought as she could feel everyone's eyes on her, as she sat there.

"Sara, the real Sara.  Told us that she had been choked, robbed of her glasses, coat, hat, and badge. Then apparently tossed off the pier."  Bob said as his eyes never left her.

"Wait? Are you serious?" Tracy heard Faith say from her right as she sat with Misty and Jen.

"The authorities just reported back and told me that they had found her in the hotel you had booked for three weeks. Under the assumed name of Cindy Sophiar."  Bob continued as Tracy dropped her head again.  "I suppose I should thank you for not killing her instead.  Based on what I saw last night, I have no doubt that you have the skills to do so."

"I would never hurt anyone like tha, unless I had to."  Tracy said in a quiet voice.

"Then prove it.  Tell us your real name this time."  Bob said in a harsher commanding tone.  "And why you're on our ship?"

Tracy dropped her head further as she swallowed.  She knew that she was up against a wall now.  But they did have the right to know the truth.  She just wasn't sure if they were going to believe it or not.   Considering the true story sounded crazy.  And was way more outlandish than a simply stowaway situation.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. This will end up with me either being released to the police, or turned into the looney bin.  Both of which will be nothing compared to the harsh treatment that I can more than likely expect from them from here on out.  I guess I might as well get use to the ship's brig cell from last night.

Well. Here goes everything.  Tracy thought as she slowly exhaled as she straightened up as she opened back up her eyes and looked Bob in the eyes as she spoke.

"My name is Tracy Sullivan.  I'm an Insomnia Secret Intelligence Field Agent."  She answered firmly as she looked right at him.  "I secretly boarded your ship so that I could safety travel to Altissia. Nothing more."

"Where were you at that you had to secretly stowaway to get back?"  He asked as everyone in the room seemed to be holding their breath.

"I was trying to report back to Insomnia after escaping from being captured and held hostage by Nifelheim for nearly two months."  Tracy said in as steady of a voice that she could muster, considering her heart rate was starting to increase.

"Where's the rest of your team?"  He asked as Tracy could see Misty shift in her chair out of the corner of her eye.

Tracy dropped her gaze for a moment as she fought to keep her emotions from starting to play a part.  "Dead."

 "What about your rescue team?"  He continued as she saw Rick shift on the other side of her.

"I don't know."  She said in a softer tone.  "I can only assume the same.  Since no one came for us.  If one was sent at all."

"Why do you say that?"  He asked.

She slowly looked back up at him as she felt her whole body start to shake now.  

"Because the Nif had killed everyone else."  She replied in a shaking voice.

"So you have no one who can vouch for you?" Alex, the ship's CO, asked as he leaned against the table beside Bob as he looked at her with his brown eyes that were accented perfectly by his short dark brown hair.

"No one whose alive."  She said as she dropped her head.  "But I do suppose that you could always try to get a hold of the Intelligence Department in Insomnia."

"We may just do that.  But for now, you will remain in confinement." Alex said in a commanding tone.

Tracy kept her head down.  She had known that that was going to happen.  But what she didn't expect was the loudspeaker interrupting everything.

"Captain!  We need you to the bridge!  We have just received an emergency call!  Another ship is in trouble off the coast of Gralea."

"I'm on my way."  Alex said out loud as he started to stand up.  "Jeff, take her down and lock her back up."

"But sir?  What if it's the Nif this time?" Jeff asked as he stood up with his well toned, dark complexion, and tight lined cornrows.  "She might be of some use to us?  I think it's the least she can do."

Tracy kept her eyes down as she knew that everyone was staring at her.  But when she didn't hear anything, she slowly looked up.  She saw Alex studying her very carefully as she sat there. But then he stood up and walked away from her without a second glance.

"We'll continue with this later."  He said as he walked out.

~~~~~~~~~~0~~~~~~~~~~

Tracy wasn't sure what was going on after Jeff had locked her back up. Since no one stayed with her after he locked the door.  Not that she blamed them.  She had a feeling that she was going to have a quiet trip for the rest of the time.  Since she knew that they were all very upset with her.  And no doubt didn't trust her anymore.

Several hours later, Tracy sighed as she sat on the bed with her knees up to her chest.  She felt lower then she had ever felt in her life.  She had actually gotten use to everyone and was starting to like them.  Even if they were a bit crazy.  But still, the last thing that she ever wanted to do was to hurt any of them.

She dropped her head to her knees and remained silent as she listened to the water moving along the outside of the hull that was right beside her.  

"Did you really lose your entire team?"  Tracy heard Jen ask through the door.

Tracy dropped her head more as she fought to keep her head as she quietly responded.  "Yeah.  I did."

"Did you care about any of them?" Jen asked in a quiet voice as she seemed to be leaning on the door.

"More than you know."  Tracy quietly responded as she dug her nails into her hands as she tightly gripped them as she fought to keep from crying again.  "To me, they were my family." 

"And what about us?"  Jen asked after a long pause.  "Do you even care about any of us?"

Tracy dropped her head.  "I do.  And I'm sorry I deceived you.  Out of everyone, you are the one that I regret hurting the most.  And I never meant to hurt you or anyone in anyway.  You have been nothing but kind to me.  And I am truly grateful for that.  But I understand if you don't trust me anymore.  In fact I would be more surprised if you did."

"I hate you for what you did to Sara."  Jen said in a harsh tone.  "She didn't deserve that you know."

Tracy felt her heart break from her words.

"But I understand why you did it."  She softly returned.  "And I can't say how I would act if it was me.  Besides just being a total basket case."

Tracy slight laughed at her comment.  "But that's what makes you great.  And I think you would surprise yourself.  You're much stronger than you think you are."

"Thank you."  Jen said after a long pause.  "Well, I just mainly came to give you your lunch.  But I'm glad we talked."

"Me too." Tracy quietly responded.

Then suddenly the door slowly opened up and Jen popped her head around the side of the door as she set the tray on the bed opposite of Tracy.  Both of them slightly smiled at each.  Then Jen stepped back out and locked the door back up.  Tracy then slowly slid up to the tray to eat.  But as she did, she felt a deep dull cramp in her abdomen.   

She took a deep breath and rubbed her stomach.  She sat still for a moment as she rubbed her stomach.  She was starting to get a bit worried, until the pain died back down again.

I'm just stressed out. And heck. I did just fight off some pirates.  She thought to herself as she dropped her hand and started to eat.

 She couldn't help but to slightly smile to herself at the thought of how she could now actually say that she had fought and beaten actual pirates.

~~~~~~~~~~0~~~~~~~~~~

"Sir, I'm not implying that we aren't prepared." Rick was saying to Bob as they stood on the bridge as the ship sailed straight towards the other boat's distress signal.  "I'm just suggesting that we have a back-up plan in case this gets hairy. You and I both know that the last couple rescues here were from creatures that we had never seen before.  Hell that last time, we barely escaped."

"I'm well aware of that Rick.  But I also can't ignore the laws that she has broken by doing what she did." Bob said as he stared out the bridge windows as he scanned the waters.

"But think about her circumstances.   There's got to be some type of law that protects secret agents when they find themselves in situations like hers."  Rick said as he carefully watched Bob.

"Look, I won't take any actions until I have heard back from this Korn guy in Insomnia. Apparently he is the head of the Intelligence department over there.  But I don't know.  It was a bit hard to understand his message through his accent."  Bob said as he suddenly spotted the distressed boat.

Bob stood back up straight and stared straight at the other boat.  "There she is.  Bring us around to the starboard side.  She looks like she's listing to the port side pretty heavily."   

"Yes sir." Rick said as he started to slow the ship down as they started to make their approach.

Bob then picked up the hand mic for the overhead speaker system and tuned it to the CO. "Captain, we have her in our sights."

"Good. I'm on my way." Bob heard Alex call back before he turned the system over to the interior of the ship.

Then Bob picked up the mic again. "Prepare the VBSS team for boarding.  We will rendezvous in 15 minutes.  Muster on the boat davit for departure."

Right as he hung the handset back up, Alex stepped into the bridge area. "So what have we got?"

"I'm still not sure. We haven't been able to get them to answer on the bridge-to-bridge."  Bob said to Alex.

Alex stopped by the window as he looked at the cargo ship that was right in front of them.  He didn't like the look of the ship this time. It looked more like it had been abandoned then just the usual looted and ditched.  Usually there would still be a small boat near it or it would be moving so that the pirates could unload its cargo before using it to transport more goods.  But this one was different and the sight was a bit unnerving as he looked at it.

Alex grabbed the bridge-to-bridge handset and stared at the ship for a moment before he pressed the button.  "Unidentified cargo ship baring 275, this is SS Atlantis, come back."   

The bridge was silent for a moment as everyone on the bridge seemed to hold their breath.  "Unidentified cargo ship baring 275, this is SS Atlantis, is anyone there?"

Once again there was nothing but silence.

Alex hung up the handset and turned back around and faced Bob.  "This one isn't like the others.  And my gut tells me that there is something else going on here."

"I had gotten the same feeling."  Bob replied as he met his brother's eyes.  "But we need to find out what happened."

"Agreed."  Alex said as Rick slowed the ship down even further.  "But I don't want everyone over there this time.  I want you to only take a team of four.  And I want Tracy to go with you."

Bob stopped in his tracks as he felt his heart leap for a moment.  "Why her?"

"Because she knows more about the Nif then any of us.  And I won't have us caught off guard by anything onboard this time."  Alex said in a stern voice.  "I want everyone armed and ready for anything.  But at the same time, you are only to find out what happened and nothing else."

"Yes sir."  Bob said with a nod as he could already feel his heart rate start to increase.

~~~~~~~~~~0~~~~~~~~~~

Tracy was checking each of the clips to make sure that they were secure to the clip belt that was now around her waist.  She had been a bit apprehensive when Jeff had opened up her cell and told her that she was going with them.  But as she listened to Bob briefing everyone about the situation.  She was starting to see why they wanted her with them.  They were about to venture into unknown territory and weren't about to take any unnecessary risks.

"The mission is simple.  Get to the bridge and see if we can spot anyone still alive on board and perhaps figure out what happened here.  This ship looks like she has already been abandoned, but 'why' is what we are going to try and solve.  Once we learn that, we are to head back to ship.  Does everyone understand?"  Bob said to the team.

"Yes sir."  They responded.

"And Tracy," he said towards her, which made her whip her head up to him, "you're with me." 

Tracy simply nodded back as she could tell that this was not only to keep each other safe.   But also a test of trust that he was extending to her.  And one that she wasn't about to take lightly.  She knew what it meant all to well, to depend on those around you to survive.  And she wasn't about to fail again.  And especially with him.

~~~~~~~~~~0~~~~~~~~~~

Jeff pulled the small ribbed boat up to the starboard side at the midship of the boat so that he could get everyone close to the partially exposed keel.  Then as he kept the boat close, he tied off the boat to an exposed ring located near the base of the ship. Then once the boat was steady,  Bob planted his feet steady and fired a grappling hook up to the hand rails. Then after the rope seemed to settle, they both picked up the rope and started to pull to test the strength and secureness of it. 

Then after ensuring that it was secure, everyone started up the rope, one after the other.  First it was ship's engineer, Mike; a cool headed blonde with killer green eyes and a matching smile.  Then Jeff.  Followed by Tracy.  And bringing up the rear was Bob.  

Once Tracy reached the main deck, she was immediately nervous as all she saw was the Nif symbol on a few crates that were secured to the side.  She slowly made her way over to them to examine them closer.  Once she reached the first one, she started to pry it open.

 "What are you doing?"  Mike asked as he grabbed her hard by the arm.

Tracy rounded on him with a warning in her eyes.  "That symbol there is exactly what the Niflheim soldiers have on their armor.  I'm checking to see what the empire could possible be halling that they would need these crates.  Is that alright with you?  I know that I would prefer to know if we need to be fully loaded or not right now."

Mike gave her a stern look back as he released her arm as she yanked it away from him.  Then she finished opening up the crate.  Inside they found that it was packed with nothing but fully-automatic machine guns.  Tracy's heart immediately started to race.  Why would pirates leave these on board?  And worse yet.  Why did the Nif need this must fire power on a cargo ship?  Just what the hell were they hauling?

"That's not a good sign."  Tracy heard Bob say as he looked over her shoulder and saw the guns himself. "Something happened if the pirates left these here."

"I agree.  That's an awful lot of fire power for a simple cargo ship."  Tracy said as she looked at Bob.

"They could have just been transporting the guns to the harbor."  Jeff replied as he stood off to the side as if he wasn't even a bit nervous.

"If it was simply cargo.  It would have been in the middle with the rest of the crates.  Not off to the side for easy access."  Tracy replied.  "No.  They were transporting something a lot more valuable and dangerous then simple gun supplies."

Then she turned and looked at Bob again as she looked away from Jeff, who was now stunned.  "We need to get to the bridge to see if we can find out where they were heading with this ship.  This way we can inform the port authorities and warn them of the situation."

"I agree.  But we will go as a team.  No one walks away by themselves for any reason whatsoever.  We have no idea what we are up against.  Understood?"  He said to the rest of the team. 

"Yes sir."  Everyone replied.

Then with a nod, Bob started to lead the team towards the superstructure of the ship.

~~~~~~~~~~0~~~~~~~~~~

The movement was slow as the group slowly made their way to the bridge area.  No one talked as they smoothly and carefully searched each area before they found the stairs that made their way up to the different floors.  The quietness of the ship was almost deafening as all that could be heard was the occasional scrap of a boot on the deck,  or the scampering of what Tracy prayed was rats.  The four of them knew that there could be any number of mutated creatures on this ship that were just waiting for the right time to jump out.

Tracy didn't relax until they had reached the bridge.  Once they were there, everyone started searching the area for any clues as to what happened.  Tracy was glad that so far they hadn't run into any of those monstrosities that she had seen before.  But she knew better then to fully relax as everyone walked around.

"Looks like the helm is jammed."  Jeff was saying as he tried to move the wheel.  "There must be something major jamming the controls. Because she's not going to be able to sail anywhere like this."

"The instrument panels look to be fried as well."  Mike was saying as he was inspecting the various radars.

"Looks like they took the charts to."  Tracy said as she searched the quartermaster chart table.

 "But they forgot the contact board."  Bob said as he looked at the hand draw board as they  showed that there had been several contacts around the boat before it went silent.

"Perhaps it was a pirating attempt after all."  Tracy relied as she walked over to Bob and studied the board as well.

"Perhaps."  Bob said as he seemed to be memorizing the board.  "To bad it didn't end very well for them."

"To bad for who?  I think both parties were doomed on this one."  Tracy replied as she could only imagine the pirates shocked reaction to trying to rob a Nif ship.

"I want to check the Captain Quarters.  Perhaps he has a log that might give us some insight as to what they were doing here."  Bob said as he turned and faced her for a moment.

"I can check the chartroom and see if I can find the ship's deck log as well.  That would let us know where they had been."  Tracy said as she searched his face.

Tracy started to feel her heart start to race again as she looked at his smooth face as he curiously searched hers.  She then quickly took a deep breath and turned away from him.  

"The door should be back this way."  She said and walked away from him before her mind started to roam in a different direction.

******Author Note******

Okay, so yes I have seen a million horror films and this is the perfect scene for one.  But if watching all of those has taught me one thing, it's that timing is everything.  Both good and bad timing.  

But to what end?  Will they be able to solve the mystery before the noises in the hallway start to get a bit braver in their explorations?  We shall find out in the next chapter.

Thanks for reading.  :)

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