QUEEN MARY 2
Conia threw open the doors of his balcony and watched the moonlit Atlantic roll by. There were two full days remaining before the ship reached Southampton and he intended to savor them both.
This was the trip of a lifetime. His wife had often daydreamed of taking a cruise on a luxury liner, but this, the Queen Mary 2, was a ship beyond anything either of them could have imagined.
He loved watching Yuriko sigh with delight over the high tea every afternoon that came complete with musical accompaniment. Loved hearing the excitement in her voice as she announced it was nearly time for their dinner with candlelight. Loved holding her close on this balcony every evening after they'd overeaten meals to die for.
He'd decided to splurge for this trip to mark their sixth wedding anniversary. They were treating themselves to six nights at sea, followed by a week in London. Yuriko could scarcely contain her joy.
Their life in Tokyo was comfortable, but their time off from their JDC missions was spent on match-making and cursing aliens. Now that they had escaped from the organization-- it does not tolerate early retirement-- unscathed, all was going well.
Conia thought about the lonely people, loveless entities scattered all around the globe. Here, looking out from the balcony at the endless expanse of inky sea and sky, he could almost forget about his duty as a cupid. Almost.
Still, it tugged at him. Some days he fantasized about the two of them simply packing up their things and traveling the globe together for months at a time, tending to the most loveless people adrift in the world. Maybe someday...
A knock at the cabin door drew him back inside. Yuriko was brushing her teeth so he opened the door to find their five-year-old daughter, Koihime, grinning up at him, a glass of milk in her right hand.
"I got the milk, Pop. Now I just need a good-night kiss for me to go to sleep."
"Good for you." Conia said, smoothing back Koihime's long brown bangs. "That's better. I can see your beautiful eyes now." He leaned down and kissed his daughter's cheek.
"We only have two days left on the boat" Koihime sighed as she sat on the bed. "Don't you wish we could all stay here forever?"
He chuckled. "You don't really mean that. You have plenty of adventures waiting for you the rest of your life."
''I guess" she shrugged, then brightened. "So do you, Pop."
"Of course" Conia began. Suddenly a breath of ice wisped down his back and vanished. "Now what was that?" he thought.
With a shiver he glanced at the open balcony door where the sea flowed in foamy caps. But the sudden chill had gone.
Yuriko emerged from the bathroom and Koihime ran into her arms. By the time Conia tucked his daughter in her bed, he'd forgotten about the odd sensation. He'd forgotten about everything but the gentle roll of the sea and the precious days ahead with his family.
TOKYO, JAPAN
Half a world away, a computer secreted in a building owned by the Japan Domination Committee pinpointed Conia and Yuriko's whereabouts. Within moments, a cavalry of bears stationed in Wales set out to greet the Queen Mary when it docked on Southampton.
Spoiler: Cruise RuseQUEEN MARY 2
Kay and her friends...
that's interesting......
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