Shark Woman in Unchartered Waters 2

Caribbean Sea. 6 am.

"What is that object over there?" yelled the old fisherman yelled to his companion as he spotted something floating in the water. "At first I thought it was a big fish, but now it looks like a woman." The boat chugged closer, until the two men were able to pull Shark Woman aboard. "She is a beautiful woman, Carlos. What is she doing out here?" asked the younger fisherman as they hauled the curvaceous costumed crusader aboard. "I don't know Juan, but she's still alive." replied the old man Looking fondly down at the fine figure, the younger man felt himself become stimulated by the sight of her beauty and helplessness. They were both amazed as out of the water..the heroine's skin tight bodysuit changed into a sleeveless leotard which highlighted her ample cleavage..small toned abdomen..shapely arms and legs. A thin gold belt with a buckle bearing the insignia of a shark's fin was wrapped around her waist.

Her head pillowed by a thick but short crop of black hair..lay on the deck.. Her eyes closed in the slits of the thin mask which stretched. "Let's tend to her." said Carlos. He placed a cloth in the ocean's cold water, and swabbed the woman's forehead. "Her pulse is strong. I wonder what happened to her?"

The answer to the fisherman's question lay in a cabana on a supposedly deserted island not far away. In the cabana, Gordon stared at the monitor, only half believing the sight shown on the screen. "It's obviously a woman, but she has the appearance of a shark." he remarked. "Look how she rips that steel net apart. Her strength is incredible." Perez sat wide eyed, entranced by what he saw. "The knock out ink seems to have no effect on her." After turning off the replay, he waited a moment. "I'll need to devise something to capture her, when she returns." said Perez. "Good idea...We don't know who she's working for...maybe..we might even be able to convince her to work for us.." agreed Gordon.

It was nearly an hour before Shark Woman stirred. "Unnnn..who are you?" sighed Vicki. looking up at the rough tanned face of the young fisherman. She was confused at first, until the man spoke. "We found you floating in the water..Senorita." said Juan as offered her a drink of water. "What are you doing out here?" "I'm not sure...I can't explain...I must have passed out.." replied Vicki as she sat up and accepted the water. It was beginning to get light on the horizon, as dawn approached. "Thank you both for the help and hospitality, but I must go now..." quipped the heroine.

Leaping into the cold ocean water the beautiful stranger disappeared beneath the the waves, leaving the two fishermen stunned. Immediately changing back into her shark skin, Shark Woman swam swiftly towards the cruise ship. She had to return before anyone discovered that Vicki Singh was missing.

Back on the cruise ship...Jonathan had spent the night watching Vicki's cabin, waiting for the young woman to return, but it never happened. "Where could she have spent the night?" He finally abandoned his watch to get some well needed sleep.

Later that morning a porter knocked on Vicki's cabin door, and when the sleepy woman answered, he handed her a vase full of flowers with a note attached. "Wait, I'll get you a tip..." said Vicki "That's not necessary, Ma'am. The Gentleman took care of it..." replied the porter. Vicki placed the flowers on the small table near the balcony door, and opened the note. "Had a wonderful time at dinner, and would like to invite you to have lunch in my suite." It was signed Baron Von Furst. When she looked up from the note, the porter had remained in the doorway.

"He said I should wait for your answer." "Please tell him I accept." "I'll return at Noon, and escort you Ma'am." The slightly built Latino then left. "Now to get back to business." Having narrowed the crew suspects down to four possibles the UN special agent decided to review the passenger lists once again, so carrying her laptop, she went to the top deck, where they held the Breakfast buffet.

After a plate of scrambled eggs, sausage, hash browns, and a cinnamon bun, she sent her laptop on a search of similarities as to sex, cabin number, point of origin, and name. There were different names for each of the cruises, but cabin number 217 had some odd similarities. All of the occupants had Puerto Rican passports, were single, female, and the same age. "Bingo." She grabbed another bun, and ran back to her cabin. "People are creatures of habit. It seems our thief likes cabin 217." Vicki decided to check out the occupant, before setting up a surveillance routine.

"We'll be docking in an hour Papa." The young man declared. "I won't be able to join you for lunch. Urgent business ashore." He fluffed his dark curly hair with a large towel as he exited the bathroom. "That's alright Peter, I have a guest coming." Replied the tall distinguished man with the goatee. "Can you stay long enough to meet her?" Both men were shouting from different rooms. "Afraid not, my meeting is right after we dock." The young man continued getting dressed in his white suit. "What's this one like?" "She's different. Not like the others. Young, beautiful, intelligent." His mind drifted back to the previous night's dinner.

"I thought you said she was different." Peter's voice had a wry smile in the tone. "I said she was intelligent." Baron retorted, also with a smile. Vicki walked past cabin 217. "She picked a good location." There were no places to watch the cabin without becoming obvious, so the agent decided on another strategy. After purloining a maids uniform, Vicki knocked on the door, declaring. "Maid service." "The maid's already cleaned the room. " A young woman with long black, curly hair stood in the doorway. "Oh, alright. I'll be leaving in a minute, so you can do what you must then."

True to her word, the woman left after preparing for a trip to the shore, allowing Vicki full access to the cabin, or so she thought. It was only a few minutes later that the agent began to feel tired. "Last night must have taken a lot out of me." Carefully going through each piece of luggage to ensure nothing was disturbed, her vision seemed to be getting blurry. "Better make this quick, so I can take a nap before my lunch date." It was a strain, lifting the suitcase into the closet, and when she turned lost her ballance falling onto the bed.

"Ooooo..got a bit ..wooozy." Then trying to stand again, her legs collapsed, sending the dazed woman onto the floor. "Uuuffff. Whas...hap..uhhhhh." Vicki's head sagged forward onto the carpet, where she lay stunned for only a moment before her eyelids closed. It was just a few minutes later when the cabin door opened, and the young woman re-entered wearing a dust mask. She went to the table, closed the small box, and then opened the balcony door. "Why are you here?" She bent over Vicki's unconscious body, checking for some I.D., but with no luck. "Who's going to miss you?" She raised the limp shoulders, then put an arm under her knees to lift Vicki onto the bed, where her wrists were tied together and lashed to the left bedpost.

Tying Vicki's delicate ankles together, the woman secured them to the opposite bedpost at the foot, so that the captive lay diagonally across the small bed. "Now to keep you quiet with a gag." Miss Rodriquez looked at the helpless woman. "I need to go ashore, but I'll be back to take care of you, whoever you are."

To be continued