October 13, 2004

Jeremy watched silently from a chair across the desk as his partner continued his conversation with the last cruise line company. They had been calling each and every company over the last 90 minutes. He had been surprised to find so many cruise line companies operating in the United States, many of which he had never heard of before. Some went up North to the colder climates to show passengers the whales and icebergs. Others were content with endlessly cruising the tropical climates down South. There were even some companies that took extended cruises to Europe or the Mediterranean. Most of the calls Jeremy had finished a few minutes ago were to companies that Layla had not mentioned. It was a matter of making sure all their bases were covered. If Layla had made a mistake or had been given wrong information about which cruise line it was, he wanted to be prepared. Now he was just waiting to hear what Neil had found out. As he waited, he stared down at the photocopy of the piece of paper that Layla had written on just a couple of hours ago, his shock still resounding through his body. Layla?

Yes, that s correct, sir. I m sure you can understand the gravity of the situation. The sooner you can get me a schedule of ships that are currently out and when you expect them to be in port, the better chance we have to stop this nightmare. Neil paused, listened...