I sat in the passenger seat, closed the door and buckled up as Sam drove off. Breaking up with him as soon as our dream together had begun was the worst thing I'd ever had to do. I had seen the shock in his eyes, sensed his helplessness and felt his desperation as if it were my own. I was desperate myself, but what else could I have done?

While I was still sprinting to the station, I realized that I can't be far enough away. If I had to give up everything that was important to me, then I wanted to do it right. Boyce had once offered me a managerial position in Newtown, which as far as I knew was still vacant. I would get myself transferred there as quickly as possible. Then Ben got what he wanted - that I wasn't with Sam anymore. Even if the condition of me becoming Ben's girlfriend wasn't met, he would have to agree to it, because Ben was and remained a no-go for me, especially now. Sam would be safe, that was the main thing and I would escape Ben too. There was only one other way that would have been easier - my death.

When I looked up, Sam was driving around the corner and the sight of Sam's parents' boat on fire made me gasp in shock. Its stern was already completely engulfed in flames and was continuing to burn unstoppably. That was certainly Ben's work again. I quickly pulled out my phone and wrote a quick message in anger before putting it away again when Sam spoke.

"We'll do it like yesterday. Arnold, you go in with me. Penny, you take over the surveillance," Sam ordered us before he turned to the radio. "Ellie, Elvis, you set up the attack and delete it from the quay. Ben, where are you with Titan? Don't you have eyes in your head?" He stopped Jupiter and I jumped out of the vehicle. I certainly wouldn't stay on the dock and watch while two people who were very dear to me were in danger.

"Stay calm, Master. I'm already there," I heard Ben reply sarcastically over the radio and it was only thanks to his voice that my stomach churned again as I rolled up the flap of the breathing apparatus storage compartment. I took a deep breath before I realized I was being flanked on both sides. I looked at Arnold, then at Sam, who looked at me skeptically, before I boldly grabbed my breathing apparatus and put it on in one fluid motion.

"What's this, Penny? I said Arnold is going in with me!"

"He won't go. I'll go." I tightened the straps and put the mask on while he got out his gear.

"You are acting against my orders. I..."

"Damn Sam, do you really want to discuss this? I'd like to get your parents out of there now!" I interrupted him harshly. Didn't he notice that we were running out of time? I handed Arnold my surveillance card and when Sam nodded, I opened the air vent and ran, sensing Sam behind me just a moment later.

We entered the boat and I walked purposefully below deck. Everything was full of smoke and, despite the loud hissing noise when I breathed, I heard the crackling of the fire and just a short moment later Padrig coughing. I orientated myself on the noise and quickly saw him lying on the ground, secretly praying that he would be okay.

When I realized he was rummaging through a closet, I breathed a sigh of relief and crouched down next to him.

"Padrig, come on! I'll take you out."

"Need certificates... wedding... birth... in here!" he replied, shaken by coughing fits.

"Dad, they can be replaced. Go now. I'm looking for Mom," Sam objected and pulled his father to his feet. I looked in the cupboard for a moment and spotted a small book that looked a lot like what he was looking for and grabbed it to put in Padrig's hand before putting his other arm around my shoulders and taking him outside led.

It wasn't easy to get a coughing and staggering man with such a strong build out, but we reached the quay and Padrig pulled me down to the knees with him. Helen was immediately at his side and put an oxygen mask on his face. He breathed a sigh of relief and sat down on the pavement.

"Where is Sam?" he panted.

"He's still in the boat. He's looking for Jenni."

"Get him out of there now, little one. There's no one left in there. She wasn't there yet."

"Sam, please report, Sam?" I called into the radio, but nothing happened. Was Ben blocking the radio? Couldn't he give me a little time to sort everything out? "Sam, please get in touch! The boat is empty. Do you understand me?" But again there was no answer, but Padrig grabbed my arm and I looked into his panicked eyes.

"The fuel tanks under the living area are full to the brim. If the heat reaches them, they will explode. Please, get him out of there, little one!" he begged me and I just nodded and ran back onto the boat while I radioed over to my colleague to announced to clear the quay.

The extinguishing water had already flowed down the stairs into the lower deck and I slid down the stairs, but was able to catch myself on the railing at the bottom and stood up again. I ran down the hallway and found Sam in the back living area kicking in a door.

"Sam, there's no one here anymore."

"My father said that my mother wanted to come."

"She hasn't been here yet. Come on now." I grabbed his hand and wanted to go back to the stairs with him when the upper deck collapsed in the hallway and the flames were head-high towards us. I heard a hissing sound that sounded different from our breathing apparatus and paused skeptically, took off a glove and placed it on the floor at my feet. It was hot and now that I was crouched, closer to the ground, the hissing got louder. "We have to get out of here!"

"Well then, off to the middle," Sam replied and was about to drag me through the hallway covered in burning rubble when I stopped him.

"This is taking too long. The tanks could explode at any moment." I pulled my ax from my belt and smashed the wide window facing the stern with two well-aimed blows. "Ready?"

"Ready when you are, angel," he replied and I looked at him in surprise, but he seemed to be in thought because his gaze remained seriously focused on the window and when he started running, I immediately started moving too, tearing him jump, like Sam, with your arms in front of your face to protect it from splinters. A moment later we jumped through the window and landed in the water. Immediately the weight of our equipment pulled us down, but we had to concentrate on getting far away and not up anyway, so we started swimming. However, we hadn't gone five strokes when the boat behind us exploded. The blast reached us first, spinning us around and knocking my helmet off. Now water entered my breathing mask and I took one last deep breath. A moment later I noticed something in the water shooting towards me and I instinctively raised my arms to protect myself, but it caught me with all its force and hit me in the face of my unprotected head. I was still aware of the pain as I tried to concentrate on not gasping for air as everything around me blurred. Where was Sam? Had he at least gotten away safely? If I had to take the easier route, I would at least be happy to know that Sam was safe.

I still felt that I was getting buoyancy - or was my soul already floating away? Then everything went black.

To be continued...