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"The E here for a short break in… about fifteen ht be able to find a spare cabin" He handed me a pamphlet about the cruise and squinted as he eyed his co with bated breath

"Hm, no… I’m sorry The Empress appears to be fully booked"

"Then ould the next--?"

"Oh, wait" He held up a hand "Yes, there is a spare cabin But it’s a very expensive one--the executive suite on the top level of the vessel"

"Will it be , after sunset?"

"One stop at about 9ph only a very short one"

"That’s fine," I said immediately "We’ll book that"

When the man told me the price, I barely batted an eyelid We had ht from Ben for a second, I reached for the backpack and then sat back down again Reaching into the bag, I counted the cash and handed it to the man He issued us the tickets and instructed us where to wait But the sun’s rays had begun to trickle down upon the harbor

Although I was anxious to get Ben far away from this man, I asked, "Would it be possible to wait in here until it coe that you need help with?" he asked, looking through theoutside as if wondering if we had left it out there

"No," I said "We, uh, travel light"

He raised a brow and then looked back at his coe ship cae of the harbor It ended up being sixteen ent before Ben and I hurried out of the office and toward one of the nearest entrances of the long boat that had just opened up

Since it was early in the reeted us at the entrance and gave us our key, we only met a handful of other humans on our way up to our room on the top level of the boat Of course, hurip on Ben in the hallways

Arriving at our suite, I closed the door behind us and locked it Now that Ben was inside, I could breathe a little more easily

I moved farther into the room with Ben It was luxuriously decorated ide tinted s, filled with traditional Egyptian furniture and a large four-poster bed There was a dining table for two--upon which was a platter of welcolanced at Ben

He still looked so tense he was clearly in nointo the food