They're taking the boat!

The slamming glass door behind me was nearly an afterthought as I strained my eyes, trying to make out what was happening. My hands gripped the wooden railing, and I watched as the small vehicles pulled aside the rear deck and dark clad figures began scrambling onboard.

"Oh shit George, what da hell did you get us involved with now?" Nikki hollered back at the glass doors as they flew open and what seemed like nearly the entire wedding party joined us on the balcony amid a cacophony of stomping feet, questioning utterances, and excited murmurs. I think a couple of the people thought it was fireworks at midnight or something.

I must say that a band shouting in Greek and gesturing towards something is a heck of a faster way to get attention than a record scratch, any day.

Another shot rang out, distant and echoing, and there was no doubt whatsoever no among the crowd about what was happening. I'm not sure which person screamed first. I'm certain that it was fairly high pitched, but that doesn't really tell me anything these days. All I knew is that I was being jostled, and nobody seemed to have any idea what to do, other than to ask everyone else around them what to do.

"Ok... shit... Nikki... Nikki, we gotta get out of this." I gripped her hand, and we tried pushing our way towards the doors, and the throng still spilling out of them. After a few moments the pressure of people going the opposite direction was impossible to fight against, and Nikki and I found ourselves following the overhanging balcony around towards a smaller building that lay a bit further down the overhang. The glass windows still gave a view into the restaurant, and it seemed pretty empty now, save for some confused looking staff standing exactly in position and two men sitting in a booth and arguing.

The crowd had now taken up the vast majority of the balcony, and I breathed out heavily with relief. I hated crowds, because all I could think every single time was how one single explosion could take out everyone. I know, dumb old habits from half a world away, but they seemed appropriate at the time. Wait... everyone crowded into one area, on a cliffside balcony.

The thought that somebody had planned this ran through my head. Nikki for her part was currently jiggling another set of glass door that were clearly marked "Emergency exit only" and were apparently locked and barred with a lovely red rope tying the inside handles together. Maria on the other hand was simply taking in the crowd, looking a bit pensive and nervous.

"I don't know if that thing is rated..." Maria noted, as we heard the distinctive creak of wooden beams as another gunshot rang out.

"What the hell... ok, I have no idea what the hell is... are those... pirates? What the hell is this, Somalia?" I remarked, feeling the chill a bit more fully now. Away from the space heaters and the crowd, the light shirt I was wearing was rather lacking in providing warmth, and I felt my nipples scrape against the fabric in an unpleasant manner.

"If they are pirates, then everybody on that boat is absolutely fucked." Maria remarked. "Nearest Coast Guard is all the way on the other side of the peninsula."

"We gotta call da cops or something. I mean, More cops, nothing personal, Maria." Nikki fumbled with her phone, dialing the three digits easily. She paused for a moment before appraising the phone with a shocked expression. "I have NEVER gotten a busy signal on the emergency line before..."

"Busy signal on..." I shook my head as another creak of wood could be heard. "What the hell did your husband do, Nikki?"

"Why do you suddenly think dis is HIS... ok, it's probably his fault, but dis is... wow. Ninja Pirates apparently."

The boat was moving now, and the sound of a Helicopter starting up could be clearly heard from across the water. The rapid chops of a heavy rotary wing were distinct from the occasional sound of a gunshot that still echoed across the water, along with various other sounds that I had prayed for many years that I would only hear again in surround sound.