It was a perfect night. The sea was calm like a millpond, the warm breeze gently caressed her bare skin as she stared ahead, mesmerized at the white churning wake, gouged into the dark water. She gazed up at the infinite black sky and focused on the brightest stars. As she looked, fainter stars in their hundreds appeared and now, millions of even fainter stars appeared around them.
Out here on the ocean, there was no light pollution, no cloud to obscure the beauty of nature. The world was a truly wonderful place.
Sarah was so happy to be alive; at 18 years old, she had everything to live for, and she knew it. She had anticipated the excitement of this cruise for what seemed like ages and now here she was, hoping that this would be the first of many more cruises in her lifetime.
***
The air around her suddenly chilled, the stench of it made her retch, she was suffocating. Turning away from the handrail she lurched towards the entrance, back into the perceived safety of the cruise liner. Panic set in as she began choking, desperate for oxygen. Her thoughts raced as she tried to make sense of what was happening.
She remembered now; the Sargasso Sea, right at the tip of the infamous Bermuda Triangle. It was supposed to be legendary for disastrous, inexplicable happenings to ships and planes – surely not, it is only a legend after all?
The sound and vibration of the ship’s engines changed, as though suddenly supercharged, and sparks followed by flames shot from the massive exhaust vents high above the liner.
The air ignited in an intense light blue fireball, propagating five nautical miles ahead of the ship. The enormous shockwave and searing heat, crushed and melted the superstructure of the vessel; to be instantly quenched, as it sank to the seabed, miles below.