Diana regained consciousness to the sound of heavy metal music. She blinked in confusion as the music blared, unable to orient herself as she struggled to figure out where she was. Sitting up, she looked around, confusion still clouding her brain. The last thing she remembered was struggling to stay above water after she jumped into the river trying to escape Morrow’s men. A momentary panic set in as she thought that she may have been captured, but the thought quickly slipped away when she looked across the small room and saw a fuzzy faced man smiling at her from behind the motorcycle magazine he had been reading.
“All he ever has are motorcycle magazines. Just once I’d like to read a Dungeon magazine, but that’s not likely.”
Diana just starred as the man continued his conversation with himself.
“I mean, seriously. Can’t have just one Gaming or PC magazine?”
Shaking his head, the man paused and looked at Diana.
“So, enjoying the music?” he asked.
Not knowing what to say, Diana gave a halfhearted smile and just looked around.
“Hope you like Iron Maiden,” the man said. “He’s not likely to turn it off until we get closer to the city.”
“The city?” she asked, confused. “Where am I?”
“You’re on Syrinx.”
Diana’s dumbfounded look prompted the man to speak further.
“You know . . . We are the priests of the Temples of Syrinx, our great computers, fill our hallowed halls . . .” he sang in a high pitched voice, eyes squinting as he held a make believe microphone to his mouth.
Diana was speechless. She was all but convinced she was still dreaming when the man spoke up again.
“You know . . . RUSH. 2112? Let me clarify. You’re on a boat called Syrinx. He named it after the priests from the RUSH album, 2112. Greatest album ever made, if you ask me,” he said smiling broadly.
The still confused look on her face prompted him to go on.
“My name’s Doug. We pulled you out of the water just in time. A few seconds more and I might not have caught you. We would have taken you back to the apartment complex, but we couldn’t have gun-wielding madmen following us back to our safe zone. Can’t put the people there in jeopardy.”
“We?” Diana asked softly. “I mean, thank you . . . for saving me. Sorry, I’m just a little overwhelmed right now.”
“That’s OK,” smiled Doug. “There are some clean clothes on the table over there. Best we can do under short notice. Why don’t you get dressed and come up on deck when you’re ready. You’ll want to meet the captain of this boat.”
With that Doug smiled, climbed the stairs, and disappeared topside, leaving Diana thoroughly bewildered as she grabbed the clothes and got dressed.
Connor was sitting comfortably behind the wheel of the boat, cruising at a moderate speed as he navigated the craft down the river. Hearing footsteps, he turned his head as Doug appeared and sat down next to him.
“So what’s the news,” he asked bluntly.
“Girl is awake. More than a bit confused, but she’ll be fine. I told her to come up after she gets dressed.”
“Did you get her name?” asked Connor.
“DOH!” exclaimed Doug, slapping his forehead. “Kinda forgot that part.”
“Seriously?”
“I got to talking about RUSH and got sidetracked.”
Connor just laughed and shook his head.
“What?” exclaimed Doug.
A minute or so later, the two heard footsteps as the girl made her way above deck. She appeared wearing dark blue shorts and a grey tank top.
“Take the wheel, Doug,” Connor said as he stood to greet his guest, turning down the music a notch in the process.
Doug jumped up and plopped into Connor’s seat as his friend stood and extended his hand to the girl.
“Hello. The name is Connor. Pleasure to meet you . . . um . . .“
“Diana. The name’s Diana,” she said, shaking his hand. “Thank you for saving me.”
“No problem, Diana. Pleasure to meet you.”
Connor signaled for Diana to sit as he grabbed a seat himself.
“So, I’m guessing you have a lot of questions about now,” he said, leaning back on the bench seat. “I know I do”.
Diana sat quietly on the opposite bench, hands held together as she looked at Connor. Suddenly, her eyes went wide, a panicked look on her face.
“My jeans!” She yelled. “Where are my jeans?”
“Relax,” said Connor, “they’re sitting in the sun drying. Why?”
“Where?” she exclaimed! “Give them to me!”
Puzzled, Connor got up and retrieved the jeans from the open area at the stern of the boat. Handing them to Diana, he watched as she grabbed them and frantically pawed through the right pants pocket. Pulling out a small object, she fell back onto the seat, a look of relief on her face.
Sitting back down himself, Connor leaned forward, a serious look on his face as he spoke.
“Maybe you should let me go first with the questions,” he said.
Diana looked back, unsure of what to say next, her eyes spying the array of weapons on the bench next to him.
“Let’s start with the men chasing you. Who were they and why were they trying to kill you?” Connor’s look intensified as he stared at the girl.
Diana stared back, remaining silent as she clutched the object tightly in her hands.
It was then that Doug cut the engines, the boat slowing to a drift as he spun in the captain’s chair.
“I’d answer his questions if I were you,” he said, a kind but sober look on his face. “Trust me when I say this, he’s your best chance of survival. If you want to stay alive, you’re going to need his help.”
Diana looked at Doug, then back at Connor.
Connor spoke next, a genuine sincerity in his voice.
“We could have let you die in the river, but we didn’t. We could have raped and killed you when you passed out on board, but we didn’t. You can trust us. We just want to help. So what do you say?”
Diana let out a deep breath of air she’d been holding for the last 20 seconds, her body slumping as if in defeat. Her grip on the object lessened as she held it up, showing it to the two men.
“They wanted this,” she said quietly. “They killed everyone on my research team and tried to kill me . . . all for this.”
Connor looked at Doug, the two exchanging troubled glances. Neither needed to speak. Things had just gotten a whole lot more complicated.