There was a long pause. Eventually Jack said, "Look, I can see this is a big deal for you. It would be for me, too. Hell, it is a big deal for me, as you may have noticed."

There was another long pause, during which both boys wrestled with agonies of indecision.

"The thing is," Jack ventured at last, "is that although I'm eighteen months older than you, more or less that doesn't mean I know it all. Really, I don't know shit. I probably don't even know what it is I don't know. But I've certainly never told anyone my sexual fantasies. Not in any detail, anyway. Boots are involved, though."

"Boots?"

"Yeah, boots. I tell you that as an example to show that we can all be a bit weird. Possibly even kinky."

"I wouldn't know. I'm not even sure that I have any, um, sexual fantasies."

"Everyone does – or so I've heard."

"No: I mean that what I think about isn't a fantasy, it's a reality. Something that actually happened."

"Wow." Jack's eyes opened wide. "You don't mean to say that you've actually done it do you?"

"Of course not," Marine Boy said in alarm. "But you see... oh hell, I'm just going to have to trust you."

"You sure? I mean, I promise you  won't blab about whatever it is, but don't think I'm forcing you or anything."

"No, it's ... I mean it's been eating me up and I've just got to tell somebody. It's that or explode."

"OK, but please don't tell me it has anything to do with Nurse Callaghan."

Marine Boy gave Jack a cold stare. "Was that supposed to be funny?"

"An attempt to lighten the mood, yeah. It obviously didn't work, though. Sorry, won't do it again."

"OK. About two months ago I was captured by pirates."

"Pirates? In this day and age?"

"More than ever. No, they don't have eye-patches and parrots, or fly the Jolly Roger, or make people walk the plank – but if you think about it, ships these days can be worth billions of dollars even before you include their cargoes; and when things are that valuable, there's bound to be people who want to steal them."

"I never thought of it like that."

"Well, they're out there. Anyway, there was this gang; notorious and clever. Made off with several ships, but we could never trace them. Long story short, someone came up with the theory that the eyes and ears of this gang were on an innocent-looking trawler that always seemed to be in the vicinity. As it happens, they were right – but we couldn't make a move without more evidence than a hunch."

"And you were sent to find this evidence?"

"Something like that. Only I ran into some fishing nets – I'll never know if I was careless or unlucky, or whether they knew in advance that I was coming."

"You mean like there was a spy on Ocean Base?"

"You have to admit that it's a possibility. But no, I don't suppose so really. It's more that I prefer to think that rather than admit that I got caught through my own stupidity."

"Or bad luck."

"Yeah, lets stick with bad luck. Anyway, I'm hauled aboard as the catch of the day, and taken down to one of the holds. Where, I might add, I found all the evidence I could've wanted about the trawler being the pirates' floating headquarters. Which was pretty bad news."

"Good news, surely?"

"Not really. They were hardly going to let me see all I wanted if they had any intention of letting me go and spill the beans."

"Ah. The lives you secret agents lead."

"I told you, I'm not a – oh, never mind. Agent or not, though, I was in a bit of a jam. They tied me to the bulkheads, like this –" Marine Boy stood up and spread his arms and legs so that he formed the shape of a large X. In so doing, he found the towel round his waist somewhat restricting, so he took if off and dropped it on the floor before sitting back down.

"I get the picture," Jack said.

"Right. And let me tell you that fighting your way loose in such situations is a lot easier in films than it is in real life, though you can be sure I tried like mad. Anyway, they leave me there for a while – maybe half an hour – so I can stew in my own thoughts for a bit. Not pleasant thoughts, believe me. Never believe any of that nonsense about be being a fearless hero or anything."

"Oh, but I do, Johnny, I do."

"I just told you – I was scared as hell."

"Yet you still go out on missions. I reckon that makes you brave as anything."

"Please, enough of that nonsense. Eventually the door opens and this woman comes in. You could tell she was one of the bosses just from the way she behaved. She came and stood in front of me and stared at me for a bit. She didn't say anything, so I didn't either. If you ever get captured by bad guys, by the way, it's often best to say nothing."

"I'll bear it in mind."

"But do look them in the eye. It helps with the self-respect. So anyway, she looks at me and I look at her. She was quite old – mid thirties at a guess – but by no means unattractive. Nice figure if I'm any judge, which I'm probably not. Long blonde hair. Even though I work mainly from pictures, I've worked out that I have a thing for blondes."

"I go for redheads myself," said the blond Jack. "Well, like you say, pictures of redheads. But if you're trying to tell me you freaked out when you found yourself fancying an older woman, relax. It's no big deal, really. There are a couple of actresses out there I wouldn't mind getting close to."

"No, it's more than that. More, and worse." Marine Boy fell silent for a while.

"You don't have to tell me any of this if you don't want to," Jack told him again.

"Yes I do. Just – just give me a minute."

Jack held up a submissive hand and sat silently as Marine Boy summoned up his courage.

"Like I said," he said at last, "It was worse. I'm not sure whether I fancied her or not, but the thing I couldn't deal with was the realisation that she fancied me."

Jack quietly got down from the top bunk. There wasn't a second chair in the cabin, so he sat on the table, as close to Marine Boy as possible, and laid a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. Gratefully acknowledging the gesture, Marine Boy patted Jack's hand with his own.

"So there I was, doing my defiant and undefeated bit," he resumed, staring at nothing in particular and sounding as if he was more than half talking to himself, "and she's sizing me up; then she throws back her head and starts to laugh. In other circumstances I might've thought it a nice laugh, but right then I didn't see it that way.

"Then she stops laughing, and that's even worse, because the way she's looking at me is weird and makes my skin crawl. 'So this is the famous Marine Boy,' she starts. Which is usually a good sign. I've heard stuff like it before, and it usually means someone's not taking me seriously, which can be an advantage. But then she goes on, 'Do you know, I think I was wrong about you. You're more than just a kid. Of course, I usually like them a bit older, but I reckon we could have some fun together.'

"I just look at her stupidly. I mean, I've heard the words and pretty much understand what she means, but this is something way beyond anything I know how to deal with. Then she reaches out and – and touches my chest. 'I wonder what's under this suit,' she says, and starts stroking me.

"Suddenly I get it, and start to panic – real freaking out stuff. I struggle. I'd already worked out that I wasn't busting out of these particular bonds, but I struggle anyway. She finds this funny; smiles at me, and not in a nice way. 'Don't be in too much of a hurry,' she says, 'all in good time.' Then she puts her hand under my chin, leans forward and kisses me."

"Wow," said Jack, unable to help himself.

"Is that a good Wow, as in I wish some beautiful older woman would kiss me, or a bad Wow as in how terrible of her to take advantage of someone bound and helpless?"

"Not sure, actually. Sorry."

"Anyway, she kisses me. I twist my head away as soon as her lips touch mine, so she mostly gets me on the cheek, but she keeps trying. I'm throwing myself from side to side, but there's always a bit she can get at. She sticks her tongue in my ear, licks my eyebrow, bites my throat..."

"Bites your throat?"

"Well, more of a nibble really. Like I can feel her teeth, but she's not actually trying to break the skin."

"Wow. As in I've never heard of a woman doing that. Is that normal behaviour, do you think, or was she just weird?"

"How should I know? Anyway, she steps back to admire her handiwork so to speak. Stares at me like she's a hungry lioness and I'm a piece of meat. I'm terrified. It's all I can do to stop myself breaking into tears. I swear I would've been a lot calmer if she'd been holding a harpoon. I'd be afraid to die of course, but this was worse."

"Isn't your suit proof against harpoons and bullets and stuff?"

"Don't believe everything you hear. The material's tough, and resistant to a lot of things – no sting can get through it, at least as far as I know – but that doesn't mean I can let a shark chomp on my leg and not feel a thing. As for harpoons or guns – well, lets just say I'm in no hurry to put things to the test."

"Er, OK."

"Yeah. So I'm struggling like mad and biting my lip so's I don't scream for mercy, and he's looking at me like I'm her favourite flavour of ice-cream – and then it gets a whole lot worse."

"Worse?"

"Worse. You see she starts stroking me again. Both hands, from here to here." Marine Boy indicated his throat and his solar plexus. "I'm beyond frantic by this time, but somehow my struggles seem to encourage her. No, I've no idea why. Then she says, 'I love it when you use your muscles like that,' then leans forward and licks my – my nipple. Through the suit, of course, but even so ..."