Sam escapes Mariah.

Samantha saw her opportunity as Mariah backed away. She didn't like the shocked look on her friend's face, but she wasn't about to give up this chance just to make Mariah feel better, especially when it was just more of her stick-in-the-assery that was causing it.

"You can't stop me, though!" she announced, pushing Mariah away and sprinting out onto the dock again. Within a few seconds, she was out of Mariah's sight again, and she knew that she was a better runner than her friend, anyway. There was nothing that old fogey could do to keep her down.

It seemed, though, that someone less fun had taken notice of her run since Mariah had nabbed her. One of the staff members must have run and grabbed the security staff, because there were two burly men blocked her way at the end of the ship. When Sam saw them, she glanced over her shoulder, only to find that another one had taken up a position behind her. This did not bode well for her continued fun.

In any other situation, Samantha might have swooned at the sight of these tall, beefy guys with short-cropped haircuts and dark, tight shirts, but right now, she saw that they were her enemies. Well, she couldn't have that! She would just have to push past them somehow.

"Ma'am!" one of them said. There was a tone of admonishment to it. "Ma'am, I think you've had a bit too much tonight. Why don't you go back to your room?"

"We can't have you stirring up trouble on the deck," the one behind her said. "We don't want you to slip and hurt yourself, or worse, fall off the side."

All good points. All good points that Samantha planned to ignore. She smiled as she came up with her clever plan.