Luc, Kylian and Dr. Renard managed to wrench their mouths shut and boarded the Aveline Super Party Yacht. They joined Bastian and Aveline in the bridge of the yacht. Like other vehicles of the UEN, the bridge of Aveline’s yacht was packed with high-tech instrumentation displayed on expansive touch screens of black glass. Much of the propulsion and navigation was automated so that even a single pilot could sail this yacht without help from a team of crewmembers. Bastian already pulled the yacht out to the open sea and Aveline’s yacht sped along nice and smooth at 25 knots, its top speed. It cut through the water with its bow, pushing aside a wake of waves that peeled off each side of the yacht and made that sound of rushing water familiar to sailors. Because of its magnetohydrodynamic drive, it cruised along almost silent except for that sound of rushing water in its wake.

Luc decided to have a word with Bastian about Aveline’s Super Party Yacht. He was not too pleased with the garish, attention-grabbing colors and graphics. Being so visible like that, it would be difficult to sneak up on the Order’s hideout unnoticed. It made him nervous and it made him sarcastic, too.

“You never mentioned how inconspicuous the Aveline Super Party Yacht is.”

“You think? I disagree. I think it attracts a lot of attention everywhere it goes.” Bastian was just telling the truth.

“I was being sarcastic, you lunkhead!!! How are we supposed to sneak up to the Order’s hideout in this flashy, pink and green behemoth with a hundred-foot-long girl painted on the side of it??!!”

Bastian did not bat an eye. “The way I see it, we won’t have any trouble at all. No one will suspect a thing. We’re a pleasure craft that just drifted over to the island of Formose.”

Luc stopped to think about that possibility and upon reflection, he could see Bastian’s point of view. Perhaps his begging and groveling was not wasted after all.

With the color controversy behind them, Bastian moved on to something else that bothered him.

“So Luc, who are our guests on this ‘cruise of no return’?”

Luc pointed to his travel companions as he described them to Bastian. “This here is Doc Leandre Renard, genius and inventor of teleportation technology, and this here is Kylian Bouche, a stick in the mud.”

Kylian’s ears burned to hear Luc insult him like that. He gnashed his teeth and felt his blood boil.

“I’m Dr. Kylian Bouche if you don’t mind! And I am here to help you rescue Viviane Fox.”

“That, too,” agreed the sarcastic Luc.

“Well, at least we’re all on good terms with each other, right?” said Bastian. “I estimate that we’ll be at the co-ordinates of the Order of One Justice’s hideout in about five or six hours. You might as well get some sleep before we get there. You might need it.”

All this time the men were trash talking, Aveline had the chance to study Kylian. She seemed to think he was a pretty swell guy. She noticed that he looked kind of young for his age. He could have been cast as a High Schooler in a movie she thought. He was a bit awkward, too, but funny-awkward in a good way.

“Kylian Bouche, huh?” Aveline spoke Kylian’s name just to test it out for herself. She gave Kylian a sly smile. “I think you’re kind of cute!”

Kylian shivered and his neck hairs stood on end as Aveline drew with her finger across the back of his shoulders. Kylian’s mouth twitched into a nervous smile, too.

Bastian, Aveline’s proper fiancé, took notice. “What is it with you and geeky guys?”

“I don’t know! Maybe I just like how brainy and funny they are?” answered Aveline.

“Oh yeah, that’s right.” Although Bastian did not think of himself as a geek, Aveline reminded him that he was one still.

Now, it was Bastian’s turn to worry about his girl, Aveline.

After sailing all day, the Aveline Super Party Yacht arrived in the vicinity of the Order of One Justice’s secret hideout. The sky was dark, but it was not night yet for the clouds were still visible in the inky grey sky. Luc used a pair of collapsible binoculars he carried in one of the many pockets and secret hiding places of his uniform. With what light there was left, he searched the side of the cliff looking for any sign of the Order’s hideout. He was not having much luck. The entire side of the cliff looked just like the side of a cliff. Kylian was with him and was curious to know what was going on.

“Do you see anything?”

“Yeah, I see a lot of rock and dirt and water,” answered Luc.

“No, I mean do you see anything interesting?”

“Who says rock, dirt and water aren’t interesting?”

Kylian was exasperated. Why did talking to Luc always turn out like this?

“Grrrr!” growled Kylian. “You know what I mean! Can you see the entrance to the Order of One Justice’s hideout?”

“No, I don’t see that, but what I do see is a possibly violent threat against me by an angry post doc researcher.”

Luc could see the steam rising off of Kylain’s head and shoulders as he burned with fury from Luc’s teasing.

“I’m NOT a violent, threatening person!” Kylian slammed his fist on the railing.

“See? Look what you did that innocent handrail! What did it ever do to you?”

Aveline had been listening in and spoke up to defend Kylian!

“Stop picking on Kylian, you meanie! If anyone’s a threat, it’s you with the gun,” she told Luc.

Luc reached down to his waistband where his gun would be holstered, but he could not feel it there.

“Ah nuts!” exclaimed Luc. “I had to surrender my weapon when they put me on involuntary leave.”

But thinking about his gun gave Luc an idea!

“Hold on a minute!” Luc said as he searched himself.

Reaching into a hidden pocket on his uniform, Luc retrieved his STS issued threat detection spectacles. He put them on his nose and started to scan the side of the long cliff again. This time, however, he saw a slight sheen of something floating in the vicinity of an indented cove along one part of the cliff. Luc leaned over the handrail to get a better look and then ran off to get Bastian.

Bastian was in the bridge of the yacht when Luc barged in.

“Bastian! I think I see something out there!”

“Really? I don’t see anything out there. It’s getting really dark. Maybe we should just wait until tomorrow morning to search.” Bastian yawned thinking of sleep.

“No! Here, come with me!” Luc grabbed Bastian by his shirt and yanked him off his captain’s chair. Luc then dragged Bastian outside onto the deck and pushed him right up against the railing. Luc snapped the threat detection spectacles onto Bastian’s nose and pointed his head in the direction of the cove.

Luc pointed in the direction of the sheen he saw earlier. “Look over there! Do you see that sheen of something floating on the surface? The specs say it’s some kind of hazardous chemical.”

It took a while before Bastian’s eyes were comfortable looking through the threat detection spectacles, but once he remembered how to use them, he was able to see what Luc was so excited about.

“Why yes! I do see it! The spectacles are showing me the chemical properties of the substance. If I remember correctly from my military days, I think it may be the substance known as ‘diesel’.”

“Diesel?” asked Luc all confused. “What’s that?”

“It’s a hydro-carbon distillate fuel oil derived from raw petroleum,” replied Bastian.

“Could I get that in English, please?” Luc was sarcastic again.

“It’s one of the energy sources they use outside of the UEN to power their vehicles,” explained Bastian again.

“If that’s what you think it is, then it means there are boats in there and that might be the entrance to the Order’s hideout!” Luc reasoned.

“Why yes, I suppose it might,” said Bastian. He was impressed with Luc’s ability to use his head instead of his gun.

“Alright, I’ll take the Doc and Kylian in an inflatable hovercraft to check it out.” Luc described his plan to Bastian. “You and Aveline stay here and keep a lookout for us in case we want to get picked up. If we find the entrance to the Order’s hideout, we’ll try to infiltrate without getting caught. If we’re not back in a couple of days, you can assume we’ve been captured or been killed, so alert the rest of the STS force and get the military’s big guns down here to take these guys out.”

Big guns? That made Bastian worry for he knew the politics of cruise missiles. “But if the UEN attacks anything on the island of Formose, that might spark a war that could engulf the entire world!”

“I know, but if we don’t stop the Order, there’s going to be a war sooner or later. We’re just the fuse that’ll ignite the power keg of war,” said Luc.

“You mean ‘powder keg’ of war, don’t you?” corrected Bastian.

“Power keg, powder keg, what’s the difference?” Luc was annoyed with Bastian’s nit-picking. “If a war is coming, no one is going to blame us for starting it a bit early.”