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“Excuse me, is this seat taken?” She stood in front of the empty seat balancing a lunch tray.

Savana looked up from her book. “No, help yourself.”

“Thank you. I’m sorry to impose, but there aren’t any other seats available. This ship really needs to rethink its stance on employee comfort, starting with more tables.” She set the tray down, glancing at the cover of the book the other woman had been reading. How to Make Him Notice You. This was going to be easier than she’d thought. “Hi. I’m Anya.”

“Savana.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Savana. I’m new and I haven’t had the chance to meet too many other employees, especially since I’ve got such an odd schedule.” She poured her Coke into a glass. Noting the woman’s rigid posture, she tried another tack, lowering her voice confidentially. “It was certainly a lot easier to make friends on my previous job. I was a vengeance demon. We had union meetings and monthly mixers.”

Savana smiled briefly. “Actually I’m new, too. This is my first trip. You were really a vengeance demon?” She looked impressed.

Noting her more relaxed posture and curious expression, Anya smiled. I haven’t lost my touch. “I was, for well over a thousand years, until a stupid mistake cost me my position. Oh, I could tell you some stories.” She unwrapped her sandwich and reached for the salt. “That is, if you’re really interested.”

At the other woman’s emphatic nod, Anya launched into one of her most amusing anecdotes.

****

Yawning, Buffy and Spike climbed into the enormous bed with the Grundy between them. After saying good night, they each rolled toward the opposite sides.

Empress had other plans. Once she was certain they were both sound asleep, she slipped from the bed. Padding into the living area of the cabin, the Grundy jumped up on the couch where she planned to sleep long enough for her plan to take effect. Her companions needed another little nudge in the right direction.

****

Zahn punched a button and moved away from the glowing panel. “All controls are set, sir. We’re continuing on a north- northwest heading and the weather is holding. It should be a clear night, although the long range forecast places a storm on this heading in two days time.”

“We’ll have adjusted our heading by then. Carry on.” Captain Welden finished checking the instrument panel readings against the clipboard in his hand before turning to the First Mate. “Zahn?”

“Yes sir?”

“Do you have the duty rosters?”

“Yes sir. What do you need?”

“I’d like all current information on cabin stewards and their assigned cabins.”

Reaching for the requested information, Zahn’s hand slowed. Puzzled, he turned to the Captain. “I’m sorry, Sir, but what exactly are you looking for? Perhaps I can be of further assistance.” He amended at the Captain’s raised eyebrow.

“I’ve decided to hold a surprise inspection tomorrow afternoon. I’ve received some complaints about the cleanliness of the cabins.”

“Yes Sir.” He retrieved the requested information and watched the Captain page slowly through the binder. “Captain Welden? May I be relieved for dinner now?”

“Of course. Send Walters up and I’ll see you in two hours.” Watching his First Officer hurriedly depart the bridge, the Captain’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

****

“So then his testicles turned an amusing shade of purple and all those pus filled boils popped quite loudly. It was an extremely gruesome Wish. That girl had real imagination.” Anya allowed herself a moment of fond remembrance. “Later, she married the boy next door in a lavish Christmas ceremony. I was invited to the wedding, but that’s our busiest season and I wasn’t able to attend.” She leaned back in her seat and looked at the quiet woman listening avidly. “So, Savana, what about you? Any men in your life right now?”

Savana sighed, doodling in the lime jello with her plastic spork before confiding, “No, there’s a guy that I’m in love with, but he isn’t interested in me.” She stabbed the wiggling salad. “In fact, he seems to be paying a lot of attention to another woman right now.” She appealed to Anya. “I don’t know how to handle it either. You see, I haven’t really had much experience with men.”

Anya nodded. “I couldn’t help but notice your tattoo. I’ve a friend who joined the Hothis about fifty years ago; they do tend to keep the sexes separated as much as possible.”

“I loved being in the sect, but he was leaving, and I wanted to be with him.”

“You dropped everything to go with him and he still doesn’t care? That’s so typical. Say, maybe I could help you; after all I have centuries of relationship experience.” She glanced at her watch. “I’m finished for the night, why don’t we get a couple of drinks in the lounge?”

Savana bit her lip. “I don’t know… I have something I’m supposed to be doing…..”

“Just one drink. I’m sure I can think of something that will get that guy looking in your direction instead of hers. ” Anya offered an encouraging smile. “My boyfriend is the bartender- we can drink for free.”

Savana started to reply in the negative when her eyes fell on the book cover. “Okay, I’ll do it. Let’s go. ”

****

“We’ve got trouble,” Zahn snarled. “The Captain is going through the duty rosters.”

“He’s going to discover Savana changed my cabin assignments.” Roc’s mouth hardened. “What do you want to do?”

“Simple.” Zahn’s eyes glinted. “We’ll blame it on Savana.”

“She’s too weak to handle the pressure. She does anything you ask, but she’ll panic if the Captain calls her to the bridge. She’ll end up telling him everything.”

“Not if she’s unavailable.”

****

“So then we went to the lounge and Xander plied her with a couple hefty drinks.”

Xander nodded. “A little social lubrication.”

Excited, Willow’s eyes darted between the two. They were both smiling, so they must have discovered something interesting. “Well? What did you learn?”

“Savana left the cult along with seven others to follow Zahn. Supposedly their debunked leader Charn came to him in a vision and provided information on where Samshara is located. But they ran out of money before they could get there, so they’re all working on the ship. I couldn’t ask her in what capacities, she wasn’t drunk enough for that, but we’re meeting again tomorrow evening. I promised to come up with a plan to help win over her true love by then.” Anya snorted. “True love. If you ask me, she’s just naïve and fixated on him. She really needs someone more considerate of her burgeoning feelings.”

“Wow, that is great info. Anya, tomorrow night try and find out whether Savana knows anything about the bracelet.”

“She doesn’t,” Anya replied easily.

“How do you know that?”

“She’s here because of Zahn and supposedly he’s working onboard because of his vision. Ergo, nothing to do with the bracelet.”

“Unless she’s lying,” Xander offered.

Anya shook her head emphatically “No, she’s neither duplicitous nor cunning enough for that, I would have known immediately. She’s actually very naive and gullible. All she can see is Zahn and she does every single thing he tells her to do, up to and including keeping tabs on Aria for him while he’s working. She’s besotted and he’s a real jerk and it’s not going to end well. I’ve seen this scenario played out a thousand times. Unfortunately this time I can’t give the man festering pustules on a soon-to-be permanently flaccid penis. ”

Xander thought it would probably require an extra large bottle of bleach to scrub that vision out of his head. He concentrated on their subject instead. “So she’s not lying. What’s keeping Zahn from lying to her?”

“Nothing at all. In fact, he’s lied to her about almost everything, poor girl. But you’re really asking the wrong question. You asked if Savana knew anything about the bracelet, you should be asking whether Zahn knew about the bracelet.”

Willow leaned forward eagerly. Anya’s voice had taken on that smug tone again, she’d found out something else important. Willow had to admit Anya had turned out to be perfect for the assignment, she’d done a superb job. “Go on.”

“Last Monday, Zahn asked Savana to arrange for Roc to be Aria’s steward; this was three days before the guest list was received from reservations. He’s also the reason Savana and the others are working on this ship for their quest money. She said it was Zahn’s idea.

Now Savana pieced all of this together and decided that Zahn wants to marry Aria for the Demaris fortune so he can continue his quest without the rest of them tagging along. She’s betting that Aria is too smart to fall for a fortune hunter, which leaves her a chance if she just hangs in there. But not only is Zahn too smart to think he’d have any chance with Aria, we know the real reason he’s watching her. He’s after the bracelet and he knew about it before this cruise.”





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