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But I didn’t want to stay apart Or go back to the cold, evil bitch I’d become

I considered all the ways I couldsolved itself, but I hadn’t really expected it to Eventually, the effort whited outelse could have They weren’t gone, they were just under the surface

The sun went down It was a beautiful sight, unbounded by the rules of land - nothing but waves and sea, and an endless bowl of sky I had to stop more and more frequently and just let myself float My body hurt sotears Every deliberate es and were slicing theht out of my skin My skin felt rubbery and ice-cold, except for my back, which just felt like it wasn’t there at all

Keep going

I tried, but my efforts came slower,

My energy reserves were gone, and although the world was rich in it all around me, I couldn’t tap it like a Djinn could

I’ to die out hereExcept that I couldn’t die, not without breaking the tie to David

Not without setting hi

The stars caht, and I floated onat any cost

I slept for a while I floated

I think I went a little insane, as the endless, isolated hours passed Then I swaain, and then I slept

Eventually, I dreamed I heard a ship’s horn

My ride’s here,I thought It was crazy, but somehow it all made sense, the way dreams sometimes do when you’re stuck in the middle - life was an ocean, death was a ship to take ht? So why not take the ride?

I heard the blast of noise again, ht appeared out of nowhere and hit the water, so bright I yelled and covered ht ourselves a ht "Fish her out Let’s see e’ve landed"

I didn’t realize how much of the sea I’d sed until I was out of the ocean I proh foaoldfish bowl or two I rolled onto s were on fire froled with Clorox

My head throbbed like thunder My skin felt rubbery and soft, and I was incredibly dizzy

"Huh," somebody said, and I threw up clots of white foa black paramilitary boots "She don’t look likedown on me from a stubby upper deck In comparison to the majestic cruise ship, this looked like a stunted dwarf - a working ship, sohter Not very well kept The metal deck around me was spotted with rust, there were careless piles of rope and haphazardly stacked boxes, and theover me didn’t look like the shipshape type, either There were four of theo-type pants or shorts, and nonskid work boots

And they all carried knives and guns Two of them had their firearms shoved casually into waistbands; the other two had what looked like auto on bandoliers across their chests

I was pretty sure those weren’t standard issue for guys on board hed some more I tried to sit up I was, instead, yanked all the way to ain Gravity seee concept to me, after all that time in the water

I triedon "Thanks for the rescue"

One of theht, a big, any He looked like he could bite a metal bar and spit bullets As rescuers went, not exactly co

But I couldn’t help but be relieved that the whole survival thing had been taken out of uy - apparently, Josue - said, and aimed his machine pistol somewhere in the direction of a nuans "Is your name Joanne Baldwin?"

I frankly stared at him "What?"

"Yes or no,accent to his English - thick, not quite Spanish, uese, maybe "If you’re not, I throw you back I don’t have room for pets"

"In that case I’h "Somebody told you to look for me Who?"

"Why? Ene water, eh? Must have been friends" He had a point I couldn’t i without a profit h to h to just let me drown

Wait that meant it was someone who’d knoould be in the water

"You didn’t come all the way out here to find me," I said Josue raised his eyebrows and s sort of way

"Cae on the ship that went down," he said "Stayed for the profits You’re worth a lot of uess"

He shrugged "Apparently"

This ship was far from an honest sort of vessel They’d picked up the maritime distress calls from the Grand Paradise - I assumed the captain had sent them - and of course the lifeboats would have transponders on the out automated rescue calls

And in these waters, that would drao kinds of vessels: well- Good Samaritans, and the kind of ship I’d just been fished onto

In other words, pirates And somebody had co-opted them to search specifically for me

"Look!" said one of the crew, stationed at the railing He called for light, and the bea it from black to a muddy, sullen blue At first I didn’t see what he was looking at, and then I caught a gli wood A few bits of debris from the ship had followed the same currents I’d used There was plenty of sh the debris cloud had long since dissipated and spread itself out over dozens of rave for such an enoret off?" the pirate captain asked un when I delayed my answer "Everybody in those little boats, yes?"

"You bet," I said "Everybody’s been rescued Well, everybody but uessed he’d been hoping to fish out sonificant profit I didn’t blaardless of what his patron had told him

"How come you didn’t end up on a rescue boat, h?" A couple of his crewmates offered helpful co I was starting to feel like today’s catch, still wiggling on the line