Picture courtesy of Anke Lantin

On a cruise liner, an information broker called, Orlando, is trying to relay a message back to the mainland when the Cruise Director, Rackham, and an officer, Gretts, burst into his room to take him away. Orlando makes a run for it with the two men in pursuit and then is stopped at the bottom of the stairs by an unknown person who pulls a gun on him.

At the Agency, Lee reads out Orlando's unfinished message - Ship of lies, two four C - and is convinced that Orlando wouldn't send a message unless he was onto something. Billy isn't so sure as Orlando is a well known drinker and thinks he may have just passed out before he had time to relay the full message. Lee argues with him but Billy says that with people cuts being made, he can't justify sending Lee after someone who's not connected to the Agency. Lee counters with the fact that Orlando is his informant therefore his responsibility and he'll take leave to go and look for the man himself if Billy doesn't want to help. His superior is surprised that Lee feels that strongly and decides to back him. Lee then says he needs a partner because the next trip on the liner is a honeymoon cruise.

Later that day, Amanda, Dotty and the boys are out shopping. Amanda goes to get some milk from out of a fridge and when she grabs the bottle, she's surprised by Lee smiling back at her from the other side. Having got over her shock, Lee asks her what she's doing over the weekend. Amanda explains that she has to go shopping for a coat with Dotty and that she's also going to visit an old friend of hers, Kitty Holcomb, as she's in town. Lee says he understands that she's busy and wouldn't want to give all that up for a cruise. Amanda's eyes light up at the prospect of cruise and she says that if Lee really needs her then she can alter her plans. He assures her he does and tells her to go home and pack as they leave the next day.

The following day they board the ship and Lee decides that the time is right to tell Amanda a bit about their assignment. He places an engagement ring on her finger and tells her that they're on a wedding cruise and that in two day they dock in St. Angelo in the Caribbean and get married. Amanda thinks that's asking too much of her and tries to leave but Lee stops her and the couple behind them starts chatting as they think she's nervous.

They introduce themselves as Miles Beckworth and Gillian Davies and ask Lee and Amanda if they've been on a cruise before and how long have they been engaged. Naturally, as they don't have anything rehearsed, they both come up with different answers. They manage to gloss over their mistakes and come up with plausible excuses and then turn back to board the ship.

Elsewhere on the ship, metal pipes are being loaded when one of the workmen drops the end of one he's helping to carry. The officer who chased Orlando is overseeing the loading and sharply tells the man off.

The ship leaves the dock and Gillian and Miles see Lee and Amanda on deck and tells them that they're going to sign up for dinner places and would they like to be on their table. Lee and Amanda try to make excuses but the other couple are insistent and rush off to secure the places leaving a disgruntled pair of spies to go and find their cabin.

They enter their suite and a steward called, Emiliano, introduces himself telling them that if they need anything to call him and then he leaves. They shut the door and Lee, seeing that something is troubling Amanda, tries to put her mind at rest and shows her that the cabin has adjoining rooms. When this doesn't seem to make a difference, Lee asks what's wrong and she tells him she's unhappy that he didn't warn her about things beforehand.

Outside their room, Emiliano has crept back to the door and listens in as they argue.

Lee apologises about not informing her and says that he didn't want to tell her as he knows how she feels about marriage but hastens to add that he has two days to find Orlando and they'll never get to the ceremony. Amanda asks what if it does and Lee looks momentarily stunned, and not particularly happy, at the idea but then says he has to go and do some work. Amanda wants to know where he's going and he says that Orlando's message was decoded as two four C but he thinks it might mean cabin 24C and so is going to have a nose around.

In cabin 24C, Lee has checked everything but come up empty so he goes to leave. As he does so, he sees the cabin occupants coming down the corridor and ducks back inside the room. He gets into the closet and the couple enter. Obviously loved up, they want a little personal time and Lee's there for the duration!

Back at their suite there's a knock at the door and Amanda calls out to see if it's Lee. It isn't, it's someone with a telegram for him. She opens the door and Rackham stands there. He introduces himself as the Cruise Director then hands her the telegram when she explains that Lee is not available.

At 24C, Lee leaves the room just as Amanda comes along the corridor obviously looking for him. He asks what she wants and she hands him the telegram. He reads it then explains that the new recruit in cryptology has made a mistake - Orlando's message wasn't 'ship of lies', but 'ship of spies'.

The next morning at brunch, Miles and Gillian comment on how they saw no-one at dinner the previous night. Lee just smiles then speaks to the other couple at their table. They introduce themselves as Arturro Rodrigez and Carmen Maldez. They're from Mexico and say that they only met each other the week before but it was love at first sight. Miles then asks how Lee and Amanda met and Lee fluffs his way through coming up with the excuse that they haven't really told each other much about their pasts as they want to keep an air of mystery about their marriage.

As they talk, Rackham wanders over and asks how everything is going. Lee says fine, then fishes for information about Orlando but Rackham says he doesn't remember him then asks the women to accompany him to the bridal shop for a tour. They go with him but Rackham gives Lee one last look from the upper deck before catching the ladies up.

A while later, Amanda appears from out of the Casino and immediately finds Lee. He asks what she was doing and she explains that she thought the C in Orlando's message could stand for Casino and as there's lots of number 24's in there she checked it out. Lee informs her that he's already checked that so she then says that she's suspicious of Arturro and Carmen. To her, they appear to have been married for a long while, and not just the week they claim, as Carmen was handing everything to Arturro before he asked for it at brunch - she even poured cream in his coffee without asking. Lee is impressed by her deduction and asks if she's got any other idea's. Amanda tells him that she doesn't think Miles and Gillian are in love as she spent most of brunch looking at Lee and they also sat at opposite ends of the table. Lee agrees that something's not right but decides to concentrate on Rackham as all the crew he's spoken to remember Orlando but the Cruise Director didn't.

In his room, Rackham speaks with Gretts about the cargo being brought on board. He then goes on to talk about Lee and Amanda saying that they might be who Orlando was trying to contact and that he'll bug their room to see if he can overhear anything.

Meanwhile, on deck, Lee and Amanda are talking and Amanda suggests that maybe Orlando was trying to tell them 'what' and not 'where' but Lee says that the list would be too long. They also talk about Orlando himself and Lee reveals that the informant saved his life in Haiti once and that they're good friends. Too late, they notice Miles heading their way carrying a camera. He takes their picture and promises them a copy before heading on his way.

Back at their suite, Lee had placed a Do Not Disturb sign on the door but knows someone has ignored it and entered when he picks a matchstick up off the floor that he'd used for a secret alarm. Gun drawn, he cautiously opens the door and sees Emiliano bent over searching through one of their suitcases. They have a skirmish and Lee knocks him out. Amanda pours a glass of water over his head to wake him up and he tells them he's a Porto Fero security policeman then hands Lee his ID. Emiliano explains that he fears for the life of one of their part time operative's and Lee guesses correctly that it's Orlando. Lee asks what Orlando was looking into and Emiliano says that his government is in a weak position and they fear millions of dollars are being smuggled in to fund a revolution. He adds that Orlando was trying to find out if the ship was being used to smuggle the funds. Lee points out that the ship doesn't dock in Porto Fero but Emiliano says he thinks the money is being funnelled through St. Angelo. Lee thinks it's a plausible idea as the guests and crew are going to be too occupied by the wedding arrangements to notice anything.

As they talk little do they know that Rackham is hearing every word through the bug he planted in amongst the vase of flowers in their room.

That evening at the Captain's Ball, Lee tells Amanda to mingle while he goes to meets Emiliano in the cargo hold. He thinks 24C could be a locker or storage bin number. Amanda wants to go for a walk but Lee asks her to stay there and keep out of trouble.

In Rackham's room, he and Gretts discuss the fact that Lee, Amanda and Emiliano are spies and decide they have to die. Gretts holds out a coin and says heads the men first, tails the woman - they look down and it's a tail.

Downstairs, Lee and Emiliano break into the cargo hold.

Upstairs, Miles joins Amanda and starts talking about the life boat drill the next day. He says they have seats together in boat D. Amanda repeats the seat numbers then realises that 24C could be to do with the lifeboats and leaves to check it out.

In the cargo hold, Lee and Emiliano find nothing and head back up on deck.

On deck, Amanda finds boat C and climbs up to try and get into the vessel but the boom gives way and she's swung out over the ocean hanging on for dear life. She screams and Lee and Emiliano rush to her rescue. With Emiliano's help, Lee grabs Amanda and pulls her back in. They then go back to their suite. Once there, Amanda explains what happened and Emiliano suggests that it may not have been an accident which prompts Lee to say that Amanda needs to get off the boat as soon as possible. Amanda points out that she wouldn't be any safer in St. Angelo on her own if they're planning to use it as the port to funnel the funds and as Lee relents they both realise that means she's stays with Lee and they have to get married the next day.

The following day, the wedding ceremony takes place and they celebrate with a glass of champagne. Amanda comments that the flowers aren't real but Lee says that at least the 18 karat gold ring was. Amanda smiles then has a sudden thought - could the 24C stand for 24 karat gold? Lee thinks it's a possibility but wonders how they would get that amount of gold aboard as you couldn't carry it on in suitcases. Amanda thinks Emiliano might have an idea and they go back to the boat to find him.

As they get out of the taxi, Amanda notices that pipes are being unloaded from the engine room. Lee tells Amanda to tell Emiliano while he checks it out. Gretts is overseeing the unloading and notices Lee looking at him as he walks along the boarding bridge, so he tells the men to take a break then enters the engine room. A little while later, Lee also enters the engine room and finds the pipes. He scrapes some paint off at one end and sees that underneath it's gold.

Meanwhile, Amanda goes to Emiliano's room and finds him held captive by Rackham. Upon seeing her, Emiliano lunges at Rackham and knocks him over as he yells at Amanda to run. She does, then Rackham hits Emiliano over the head with a gun and chases after her. She runs into Gillian and hurriedly explains that Rackham is after her with a gun but as Rackham turns up, Gillian pulls her own gun out of her purse and tells Amanda not to move.

Down below, Gretts is after Lee with a gun and they shoot it out then get into a fist fight. Just as he's about to knock Gretts out, Miles turns up and holds a gun on Lee so he's captured too.

Miles takes Lee back to his suite where he sees Amanda and Emiliano are caught as well. As he's being tied up, Orlando is brought in. Miles checks with Gillian that the buyers have been contacted and she confirms they have and will meet them at a nearby stretch of beach in an hour. She adds that they will get their money when the gold is on board and Miles says they should get going.

Rackham drives off with Amanda and Lee and Gretts follows behind in a jeep. Seated in the back, Lee tries to get free while Amanda sits nervously next to Rackham in the front. The Cruise Director stops the car by a cliffs edge and gets out. He pulls Lee out from the back, shows him the drop and then forces him back in the car in the drivers seat. He pours some alcohol over the spy to make it look like drink driving and making sure that Gretts is ready to push the car over the edge, Rackham leans in to release the brake. Lee has managed to free himself, and immediately pins Rackham to the car then pushes open the door, knocking him to the ground. Lee then starts the car and speeds away. Gretts sets off in pursuit and as he passes Rackham, the Cruise Director gets up and jumps into the jeep.

On the beach, Miles and Gillian are waiting for their buyers. They get out of their van and opens the side door to reveal Orlando and Emiliano who they order to help unload the pipes.

The road to the beach is downhill and very twisty with sharp and dangerous corners. Rackham and Gretts catch up with Lee and Amanda and Rackham begins shooting at them. Gretts then pulls along side them and starts ramming the car. They come to an extremely tight bend and around the corner, Lee comes to a sudden halt causing Gretts to swerve. As he loses control, Rackham and he are thrown from the jeep as it goes over a cliff and explodes when it hits the bottom. Lee and Amanda continue on down the hill and as Amanda comments on how fast they're going, Lee admits that he thinks he's burned out the brakes.

On the beach, Orlando and Emiliano have unloaded the pipes and are sitting on the sand a slight distance from the van. Lee approaches the beach at speed and tells Amanda to jump out of the car. She does so and he waits until the last minute then does the same. The car goes over a sandbank and almost lands on top of the van.

Miles makes a run for it but Emiliano trips him up giving Lee time to run up and catch him. They have a fight and Gillian grabs a gun from her purse in the van and hurries over to the warring men waiting for a chance at a clear shot. Behind her, Amanda grabs a small piece of pipe from the van and holds it at Gillian's back telling her the drop her weapon. Gillian does as she's told just as Lee knocks miles out. Amanda throws him the gun and the bad guys are caught.

Safely back at the Agency, Billy, Francine and Lee tell Amanda that the revolution has been stopped and thanks to information from Orlando, the rebel leaders have all been caught. Amanda asks about the marriage being annulled and Francine tells her that they're not technically married anyway. Lee then explains that he provided a false name, birth date and address and so the marriage isn't valid. Amanda seems relieved and then Lee asks to talk to her privately. They leave the office and as they head down the corridor, Lee stresses that whatever happened between them during the assignment was all part of the cover. Amanda says she knows that and then offers him back his ring just as he asks for it back. They laugh and Amanda gets the ring out of her bag and places it on his little finger which he finds quite sweet.

SCENE'S TO WATCH OUT FOR

Lee tempting Amanda to go on the cruise with him even though she says she has things to do that weekend.

Lee and Amanda meeting Miles and Gillian for the first time and mucking up their stories.

The conversation Lee and Amanda have in their suite and Lee's stunned face when he thinks about the possibility of them having to get married.

Lee trying to hide his annoyance when Miles wants to take a picture of him and Amanda.

Amanda hanging out over the ocean.

The wedding.

Tag.

ROMANCE

Obviously, this episode is one of the most well known of SMK for that wonderful kiss when they marry but I'd also like to comment on a couple of other little moments before I get to that.

When Lee and Amanda are in their suite, Lee does his best to make her feel comfortable by showing her that they have adjacent rooms which shows his caring side. Plus, he hadn't wanted to tell her the details of the assignment because he knew how she felt about marriage, although he then seemed to quickly move on from that fact as though he suddenly realised that it he might be allowing her to see a side of him he didn't want to.

Another cute moment is when Amanda seems to have a pang of jealousy about Gillian. She tells Lee that Gillian looked more at him than her own fiancé during brunch and Lee even appeared to be a little embarrassed by this, almost as if he'd noticed but hoped Amanda hadn't.

I also like it when Lee rescues Amanda when she's hanging over the side of the ship. He really sounds shaken and scared when he sees her and I love the way he takes his jacket off and puts it around her shoulders once he's got her safe. Such an instinctive action and he has his arm around her all the way back to the room as well as constantly asking if she's OK. So protective, bless him J

Personally, I think these were nice moments and also shows how close their friendship has become and how much Lee actually does know about Amanda, even though he'd probably deny the fact.

And so to the wedding and that wonderful kiss. Lee looked pretty nervous throughout the ceremony, whereas Amanda, more or less, looked like she enjoyed herself and handled it better.  Then comes the kiss and Lee's wonderful, 'Oh Hell, I'd forgotten about his part' look J The kiss itself is very sweet and both look as though they're effected by it and certainly would've liked it to go on a bit longer. And again, at the end, although it's not the first kiss they've shared due to an assignment, he still feels the need to stress that it didn't mean anything and make sure that she understands that. Who's he trying to convince I wonder - Amanda or himself?

The couple of other little moments that are nice are firstly when Lee is forced into the driving seat by Rackham and looks over at Amanda who stares straight ahead trying to stay calm. Lee's warm smile at her obvious courage in what appears to be a fatal situation, is good to see and shows that he's proud and pleased at the way she's handling herself. I also suspect that his admiration and respect of her, if it's possible, was even raised a few more notches.

Secondly, when Amanda runs over to Lee and holds on to him, then snuggles closer when he's holding the gun on the bad guys on the beach, I think it's quite a telling moment. She's relieved it's all over and immediately seeks comfort from him - and he automatically gives it by putting his arm around her in a hug. They both probably don’t even realise they're doing it which makes the action even more sweeter.

So, all in all, a very good episode in the romance department even though it's all 'part of the cover'. I think a couple of times we saw a flash of true feelings revealed but quickly masked as neither are yet ready to admit their feelings might possibly run deeper than just friendship. Time will tell! J

QUOTES

AMANDA: Lee, do you really need me?

LEE: I need you.

AMANDA: Well that's it, I'm there.

GILLIAN: You really gave a catch like him a chance to throw the hook?

AMANDA: Well, he was pretty firmly hooked.

AMANDA: Lee, on a need to know basis, I think, maybe, this time I had a need to know.

LEE: Look Amanda, I have two whole days to wrap up this investigation. We won't even get as far as the ceremony, believe me.

AMANDA: Why didn't you just tell me?

LEE: Because I didn't think that you'd agree to come along.

AMANDA: Well, why not?

LEE: Because I know how strongly you feel about marriage.

AMANDA: Lee, you know, we're not the only people on this ship who aren't on the level. Did you notice how nervous Arturro was at brunch?

LEE: What do you expect, he's getting married tomorrow.

LEE: Any other candidates for I've got a secret?

AMANDA: Miles and Gillian aren't in love.

LEE: Oh, our resident expert.

AMANDA: No, I may not be a expert but I know what I saw. She paid more attention to you than she did to him.

MILES: How about a little smooch for the folks back home?

LEE: How about a hug instead?

MILES: Oh, you've got a real Mr. Warmth there Amanda. Make sure he doesn't get overheated.

AMANDA: Oh, he's just a little shy.

AMANDA: Would be alright if I take a walk around the deck or something?

LEE: I'd like it better if you stayed here and finished your drink. That way I'd know that you wouldn't get in any trouble.

AMANDA: Oh well, how can I get in any trouble walking around the deck?

LEE: If anyone can manage it - you can.

LEE: Let's go.

AMANDA: I can't.

LEE: Why?

AMANDA: You're standing on my dress.

AMANDA: Are we going a little fast?

LEE: We're going a lot fast. I think I burned out the brakes.

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