The Fall

Chapter Nine

"She's not here!" Travis said, exasperated.

They had been sitting at dinner for about twenty minutes now and there was still no sign of the fifth at their table.

Peter glanced at the empty place next to him. "We'll have to start searching for her after dinner."

Lance was silent, eating his food more relaxed than the others. He obviously was not bothered.

"She's gotta be here somewhere!" Rita put out. "She disapeared after the ship pulled away. It's only a matter of time before we run into her."

"She's probably memorized the whole layout of the ship... she'll know all the hiding places."

"Don't be so pessimistic, Travis," Rita told him as he grumbled. "She'll probably come looking for Peter afterwords."

"Hey!" Peter snapped, going red. "I-"

Travis looked up at Peter for a moment,  winced, then looked down at his plate. "We'll start looking after dinner."

Peter took a bite of his food before speaking again. "So... what's the plan? For turning her over to the CIA?"

Rita and Travis exchanged a glance. They had agreed to mislead Peter and not tell him the real plan.

"We'll wait a few days before we take her in. So she doesn't suspect anything."

Peter nodded and quickly changed the subject. "How many days should this take?"

"A week at sea," Rita informed. "Then we'll be in the good ol' island of Japan."

~

"I'll take the top decks," Peter told the others as they walked out of the dining room and prepared to look for Janet. "I need some fresh air anyway."

Rita and Lance nodded before walking off. Peter turned to leave but was stopped by a hand on his arm.

"Peter, can we talk?" Travis requested.

"Uh, yeah, sure," Peter agreed, his heart pounding. He quickly followed his friend away to the side, where no one could overhear them.

Travis turned to his taller friend and got right to the point. "Peter... don't think about her too much."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Peter crossed his arms.

Travis almost couldn't look at him. "I can tell, Peter, you like her. What have I always told you? Don't let your personal feelings get mixed up in the mission."

He was starting to sound like Janet!

"I know, I know... It's hard though, ya know?"

Travis shook his head. "Peter... there's things you don't know about her."

Peter looked up. "Like what?"

"Like when she was in the Triad... she- she-"

"...Travis?"

"She has a civilian kill count, Peter."

The air felt like ice.

"... you're lying."

Travis shook his head again. "She is dangerous. She- she deserves whatever happens to her after this."

"No- no, she's not dangerous! She wouldn't hurt anyone she didn't have to!" Peter started to raise his voice, only to be shushed by Travis. "Janet is- is- she's a good person!"

Travis clenched his jaw. "It's best you know the truth, Peter-"

"Yeah, I know it. And it's not what you just told me!"