Chapter One
A Russian submarine crawls along the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. The submarine is old, a model built for the Cold War spy missions of the 1960’s. It’s impossible to tell whether the submarine is still operated by a branch of the Russian military or if it is one of the many items sold on the black market after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
A man inside the submarine is holding a conversation with one of his superiors. His eyes squint as he glances at the object in the hands of the other man.
"Is that the vial that she requested? What will she do with it?"
" I don’t know," his superior replies. "She paid a very high price for an item as small as this." He frowns as he looks at the vial, running a finger slowly over its length. "Of course, the smaller, the more deadly, Vladimir." He shakes his head and hands the vial very carefully to Vladimir’s waiting hands.
Somewhere in the Mediterranean
The tall, elegant blonde woman gently hums to herself while she sits and contemplates her next venture. "Andreas, instruct the captain to set course for the Atlantic at these coordinates. Our package has arrived."
~*~*~*~
Llanview, PA
"GREAT, Todd, just great," the tall, lanky man shouts at the computer monitor while pounding on the keyboard. He runs his fingers through his hair, then pauses to yank at it out of frustration. "Arrgg!" He wonders how he got himself in this predicament.
I’m no computer expert, I can barely defrag a hard drive or send an email……let alone destroy an impending computer virus from hell. What has Blair gotten me into? What have I gotten myself into?
"I’ve really got to stop this lying……well, maybe some of the time. Where am I going to find myself an expert that can zap this virus without running his mouth off," Todd mutters.
"D*MMIT! I’m going out to clear my head." He kicks over his chair, heads for the door and slams out of his office.
~*~*~*~
Port Charles, NY
Lucky Spencer walks into Kelly’s Diner a bit hesitantly. He slowly shuffles up to the counter and plops into a stool with a sigh and a crestfallen face. "Elizabeth, I really want to tell you……"
The petite brunette flashes her eyes at him and shrieks "STOP!" as she simultaneously pounds a fist on the counter and flings a glass of water at him.
"Geez, Elizabeth, now look what you’ve done!" Lucky exclaims as he attempts to wring out his tee-shirt. "What I’VE done??" Liz flares. "What haven’t you done these past few weeks? That is, besides act like a normal person."
Lucky sets his face calmly and tries again. "Eliza—" "NO!," Liz yells. "Don’t you EVEN try telling me anything about MY love or Nikolas or…"
"F**K Nikolas, I’m outta here," Lucky retorts as he hops out of his seat, blue eyes flashing with pain and annoyance. As he races for the door, he looks back and shouts, "I’M SORRY, I’M SORRY….for everything…….I tried to tell you that I – want - to- be …….aw forget it." Lucky slams out of Kelly’s.
Liz stands there a bit wide-eyed and trembling. Lucky never stood up to her like that before! Recovering, she wipes her hands on her apron and gingerly looks up to see surprised diners who have stopped talking to enjoy the show. "Sh*t," she mutters under her breath.
Lucky has a pleasant run-in