Remembering the officer and his attitude towards her, she turned to the rail and climbed up, leaning over, scanning the ship for any sign of CCTV cameras. Because if Patrick came at her, that would be all he had apart from his suspicions, and if there was no security on the external parts of the ship, she was free and clear.

‘You need to be careful,’ said Tommy, alarmed.

His arms circled her upper body and with ease he plucked her off the railing and set her down.

‘I’m just enjoying the view,’ she said calmly, but her insides churned with anger at his macho heroics.

Then, behind him, it happened. The sky on the horizon changed, a gradual lightening above. It was like a sunrise, but the wrong colour. It burned emerald green, a glow that shimmered in the far distance, seemingly alive as it stretched upwards and outwards. It was growing, she saw, and even before it had really begun, she knew it was going to be a spectacular show.

She gripped Tommy’s arm, pushing at him so he turned around. His breath caught in his throat as steadily the Northern Lights crawled towards them. Graphite and slate now, with piercing vibrations of fuchsia, and the whole thing suddenly pulsated, shooting across the previously black night sky.

In spite of the promise of the lights, that wasn’t why Anna had come on this cruise. This was a business trip, another episode in a long line of getting to where she needed to be. But at the moment when the lights burst across the atmosphere, everything she had fought and killed for fell away. Beneath her coat, in between her thin ribs, she felt her heart hammering in her chest. It was awe but mixed with fear, she acknowledged. Because this show was out of this world, and just like in the elevator with Tommy, she was suddenly tiny and insignificant.

‘Oh yes,’ Tommy hissed the words from between clenched teeth. ‘Yesss!’

She wanted to tell him to shut up, not to spoil it with speech, but as she glanced at him, something else overwhelmed her. He was like a child, she realised, and it didn’t annoy or irritate her as she’d thought. It was actually quite endearing.

Another unfamiliar emotion.

She breathed in deeply, flicking her head from left to right and upwards, over to the horizon, determined to see it all, not to miss a single moment.

The door opened, and there were footsteps and excited chatter as more passengers flooded out. One of them could be Paula. It was a half-thought, not important, and a glance at Tommy’s face told her he felt the same.

The guests streamed past them, exclamations of delight in their wake. Anna tilted her head back and stared and stared. She closed her eyes for a moment, and in the darkness she was delighted to find that the Northern Lights were imprinted inside her lids.