20Asturias, Spain, after Bosnia
All-consuming, white light flared before Samuel Goldsmith’s eyes.
Agony exploded inside his head, threatening to burst out of his cranium. The ringing in his ears was deafening. Waves of debilitating nausea dropped him to his hands and knees and a stamp to his shoulder laid him flat in the sand. He groaned. His eyes were open, but he perceived nothing but white. Then the white dissipated, revealing an incomprehensible shimmering scene before him. The confusion of visual cues began to coalesce. The haze focussed; an image took form.
A woman.
Not any woman. His partner, Leah Martins. Her otherwise lovely features were besmirched by a grimace. The tautness of her neck muscles… Leah was struggling, kicking wildly, glistening droplets of sea water sprayed eve
