When her eyes recovered she found that the board she had removed was in fact a piece of wood roughly cut from a wardrobe door. She turned her attention to the window itself. It was small, but not so much that it wouldn’t be possible to climb through it. The only problem with that idea was that the window didn’t open, it was the kind that was fixed into a riveted frame. It was also double glazed, making it very strong. The block of wood that was previously covering it would perhaps make a useful tool for breaking through, but Lucya could see that it would require repeated strikes to fracture the glass. Every strike would be a risk, the noise would be sure to draw the attention of Tania and anyone else who might now be in the next room.

A new idea occurred to her. She picked up the piece of the wardrobe door and gauged its weight, balancing it in her hands, turning it from end to end, evaluating its strength. Once confident it could withstand a reasonable amount of punishment, she set it down on the bed and took a proper look around the cabin for the first time. It was a standard bedroom. A small double bed opposite the window, modern cabinets to each side, wardrobes along one side wall, a couple of chests of drawers on the other side, by the door to the sitting room. Between the wardrobes was a narrow door that provided access to a tiny shower room. Peering inside she found a small plastic shower cubicle, toilet, and a sink with a mirrored cabinet above.

“Perfect,” she said to herself.

She closed the shower room door behind her, hoping it would block out any noise, then opened the cabinet door. It was held in place with two flimsy hinges. She knew they would break without much effort because her own cabin had exactly the same unit, and the door was forever falling off. Gripping it with both hands, she pulled sharply downwards, twisting as she did so. The door came away easily, with just a light pinging sound as the short screws holding the hinges in place popped out.

Slipping back out of the en suite, she carried the mirrored door across the bedroom and placed it on the drawer unit by the door to the sitting room. Then she pulled the duvet from the bed, doubled it over, and arranged it on the floor in front of the the same door. She paused for a moment, thinking, then added the pillows from the bed to the duvet. Finally she picked up the solid board that had covered the window, and positioned herself near the door and next to the chest of drawers. After carrying out a few practice swings, she was happy that everything was ready. She brought the board up over her head, and then brought it crashing down onto the mirror with all her might. The glass shattered, sending shards and splinters flying in all directions. Most importantly though, it made an incredible noise. Anyone in the sitting room could not have failed to have heard it. It sounded for all the world like a window being broken.

Within a second of the glass shattering, she sprinted forwards, getting herself in place behind the door. She arrived just in time. The sound of the fixing being unbolted coincided with her taking up position. The door flew open, Tania came running in. She almost tripped on the folded duvet, but caught herself in time, stumbling forwards. Lucya stepped out from her hiding place, the board once again raised high above her. She hesitated, but only for a split second. The heavy chunk of wood came swooping back down, meeting the back of Tania Bloom’s head with immense force and sending the woman crashing to the ground. She landed right in the middle of the duvet and the pillows. Lucya dropped the board and fell to her knees, checked the back of the other woman’s head trying to assess the damage.

“I’m so sorry Tania,” she said. “But what you’re doing, it is wrong.”

Tania was out cold, but there was no blood spilt. Lucya arranged her in the recovery position. She was already immobilised, there was no need to cause her any more damage or risk anything else happening. When she was satisfied with how the woman was arranged, she collected up some of the discarded tape and used it to bind her captor’s hands behind her back. Happy she had done what she could, she backed into the sitting room, closing and bolting the door behind her.

She skipped across the room to the main door, put her ear to it and tried to listen out for the sounds of anyone else who might be standing guard. Silence. She curled her fingers around the handle, quietly pushed it down, and pulled it towards her. No sooner was it opened a few centimetres than her eyes peered out through the crack. She could only see in one direction without opening the door wider, but it was clear, the passageway was empty. She pulled the door open and slipped outside, looked left, the side that was previously blind, and let out the breath she had been holding in. It was all clear, there was nobody to be seen.

There was three main staircases that ran between all the accommodation decks. One fore, one aft, and one in the middle. Lucya checked the cabin number. She was nearest the aft, which suited her fine, as her first thought of a destination was the engine room which was located at the rear of the ship. It meant descending a long way, which increased the risk of getting caught, but there really wasn’t anywhere else to go. The bridge was off limits, and she had no idea where any of the rest of the crew might be. At least in the engine room there was a good chance of finding Martin, and refuge. She turned left, and stopped in her tracks. The door of the opposite cabin had just opened.

“Well hello there young lady. I must admit I didn’t expect to see you out here.”

Lucya’s heart almost exploded in her ears. She tried desperately to keep calm. There was no need to panic, she told herself. Just a passenger making conversation.

The man in the doorway clicked his fingers. Immediately two other men appeared behind him. The three stepped out of the cabin. The first man was well built, strong looking. The other two were even heftier.

“I was just on my way to come and introduce myself,” the first man said. “My name is Flynn, I am the captain now. I’ve just been talking to your boyfriend Lucya, the ex captain.”

“Jake? Where is Jake? What have you done with him?”

“Well, you know, he killed a few people, so we had to get rid of him.”

“You’re lying! Jake would never kill anyone or harm anyone. Where is he?”

“I told you, he killed two men. I was lenient, probably too much so. He has left the premises.”

Lucya tried to charge forwards, to do physical harm to Flynn. But his men had anticipated the move and grabbed her before she got too close. They held her in a vice-like grip.

“But I din’t want to talk about him, let’s talk about you,” Flynn continued. “You’ve proved yourself to be quite remarkable. I assume you have somehow overcome Ms. Bloom in there?” He looked at the door to the cabin where Lucia had been held captive. “I don’t think she let you out willingly. She has made a surprisingly good convert to the cause. She doesn’t have your spirit or, dare I say it, inventiveness though. Getting out of there, that takes talent. I think you’ll be one of our top specimens. It seems to me you’ve compromised Tania’s cabin. Let’s take you somewhere else, somewhere more suitable. It seems a shame to lock up such a pretty one as yourself,” he caressed the side of her face with rough dry fingers, “but this is as much for your own safety. We have a more secure cabin my boys here have been working on. The good news is that some of your old crew mates are already there. You can talk about how great things were before! Silvia will be delighted to see you, as will Doctor Lister. Taker her,” he said, clicking his fingers once again.

Lucya struggled, kicked, lashed out, tried to scratch, to scream, but either man on his own was more than capable of overpowering her. Together, she stood no chance. One of the men was behind her, he encircled her with his arms, squeezing her arms against her and rendering them inoperative. The other lifted her feet. The carried her off down the corridor like they might have carried a corpse. This body was a lot noisier though.