This piece appeared in Afternoon TV in March 1982.

AN ATV NOVELETTE--PART 4
The Legend of Luke and Laura
by Marilyn Henry

The scramble for the Ice Princess, that ugly black statute which was really the world's largest diamond in disguise, had ended with Alex Quartermaine (Renee Anderson) securing it and turning it over to her Uncle Edward (David Lewis) as a farewell gift when she left to join her lover, Tony Cassadine (Andre Landzaat), aboard the Cassadine yacht, the Titan. She returned the diamond-making formula to Tony and his brother, Victor (Thaao Phenghlis), and these three, along with a party of interestingly diverse guests, set sail for an unknown island where Alex supposed there was a diamond factory. Alex did not guess that the third Cassadine brother, Mikkos (John Colicos), was using that diamond formula to build an ultimate weapon which would enable the Cassadines to rule the world.

Luke Spencer (Tony Geary), who spent the winter and spring chasing down that stolen statue, now found himself involved with secret agent Robert Scorpio in a desperate assignment: stop the Cassadines in whatever scheme they are hatching.

To do this, Robert (Tristan Rogers) and Luke must stow away on that yacht and sail with the Cassadines. Laura (Genie Francis) was not about to be left behind and out of Luke's new adventure. She also stowed away, to Luke's and Robert's surprise, and the three of them spent the days at sea trying to track down Victor's copy of the formula. Between searches, Luke and Laura romanced on deck under the stars, finding their love stronger than ever.

Robert managed to steal the formula on the night before the yacht was due to dock at an unknown island in an unknown sea. Unable to contact WSB headquarters to report on their progress or to get aid, the trio realized they were all that stood between a madman and his plan to rule the entire world!

"Baby, it's good to hold you...."

Luke was not so much holding her as Laura was clinging to him as he clutched a large stick of wood. Robert had disappeared into the jungle underbrush some time ago and now Luke and Laura lay trembling together as the unfamiliar sounds of the jungle played on their city-bred fears.

"I-I want to make love to you," Laura whispered.

"I want to make love to you, too," Luke soothed.

"Now," Laura urged.

"Now?" Luke's voice wavered with an unsteady laugh that faded as he looked at her. "You got to be kidding...."

"No, I mean it."

"Now? Right here on the ground, on a deserted island, here, now? My God, Laura--there could be wild animals around, snakes--"

"So what? They're going to he there regardless." Determinedly, Laura drew her face closer to his, causing Luke's blood to pound even faster than fear had accelerated it moments before.

"No, now come on, Laura, this could be dangerous," he protested half-heartedly as she kissed him. "Baby, don't...." But he was kissing her back before he could quite stop himself.

"Hi there!" Robert's voice sang out cheerily as he entered the clearing, "Am I interrupting a romantic interlude or something?"

Instantly Luke and Laura broke apart, Laura's face reflecting chagrin, Luke's a sudden and slightly uncomfortable letdown.

"So, what did you find out, Robert?" Luke inquired. "See anyone?"

"No one. Nothing. The island would seem to be deserted, but those radio signals are definitely coming from this island. The Cassadines are here--somewhere."

Several days would pass before the three adventurers were sure just what had happened to the Cassadines and their party of guests after they had landed and disappeared. Meanwhile, the three came upon a small oasis of beauty in the midst of the jungle, a pool with a waterfall, surrounded by lush tropical flowers and a sheltered clearing. In this secluded spot they set up camp, knowing it was necessary to have some home base from which to conduct their search for the Cassadines.

Laura, in her usual way, immediately set about to make the clearing homey and comfortable. Robert was intent on carrying out his mission and camp life interested him only as a means of survival. Luke and Laura, on the other hand, were completely in tune, wrapped up in each other and ready to settle down in as much comfort as they could muster. Though they might be working diligently when Robert would leave camp to make one of his forays into the jungle, his absence would soon lead the lovers to playfulness and warm romancing under the waterfall. Robert learned to sing out just before approaching them and he was given to such comments as "Can't you two leave each other alone for two minutes?", pretending disgust at their obvious delight with each other.

Directly beneath the peaceful pool, however, was an entire underground complex, elaborate in its facilities and designed as headquarters for Mikkos Cassadine's plan to take over the world. There was the crystal room, a beautiful, if sterile, meeting room, complete with shimmering walls and views of stalactites and stalagmites. Here Mikkos gathered together his guests for a demonstration of his powers. He would force the world to surrender by freezing a sample city--and to show how that could be done, he sprinkled a bit of the formula diamond dust into the champagne fountain. In minutes the champagne had frozen and the room was plunged into a bone-chilling cold that had his guests shivering.

Mikkos's sophisticated friends were not the only people feeling the chill that night. Above ground Luke, Laura and Scorpio sat ringed around the campfire, dining on Luke's bouillabaisse stew and speculating on the next step of their adventure, when Laura noticed how the tropical air had cooled. Before long, they were huddled together, wondering what could possibly have turned the hot and humid island into an iceberg.

Sweeping into his control room, Mikkos outlined to the company how he would put the freeze on one typical U.S. city, increasing the cold hour by hour until the World Security Bureau capitulated and world power was turned over to him. He would rule, assisted by these handpicked men around him: General Kaluga (Rod Loomis), political leader Max Van Stadt (Jon Cyphers), and engineer Nigel Pennysmith (Bernard Fox), along with brothers Victor and Tony. Through their particular talents and training, each man would play a part in controlling the world. Poverty, sickness and wars would become things of the past under his rule, Mikkos insisted, a maniacal gleam in his eyes, because he could now control the weather anywhere. He had chosen the perfect city for an example: Alex's hometown, Pt. Charles!

Victor's playmate, actress Tiffany Hill (Sharon Wyatt), watched Mikkos pull the lever that set off the rockets of diamond dust over Pt. Charles and for once she agreed with Alex--Mikkos had to be stark raving mad!

The following day, while above ground sunbathing, Tiffany accidently [sic] came across Robert on a jungle path. The two exchanged looks, but the others called to her and she had to hurry away. Robert was dumbfounded, but he remembered she had smiled instead of screamed. Just maybe this glamorous lady was not content in that cavern. Maybe there was unrest below that could be useful.

Luke and Laura were happily building a shelter of bamboo. Laura had brought some lengths of fabric from the yacht and had fashioned one piece into a sarong, delighting Luke with its Dorothy-Lamour-simplicity. The other pieces she intended to use for curtains on the shelter so she and Luke could have privacy for a very special, intimate night. When she conveyed this plan to Luke, he lost all interest in the Cassadines and their dreary deeds. "You take the first watch tonight," he asked Robert, trying not to make a big thing of it, "and maybe take it further down the hill from the hut, maybe take it a little longer than usual...."

For months Luke had been playing it cool, making the usual male jokes with Robert, because he was embarrassed to let this worldly man see just how thoroughly the tough slum kid was hung up on one lovely little blonde teenager. With each new danger he and Laura faced, he came closer to revealing his obsession. However, Scorpio had no real idea of the intensity of Luke's love for the girl until that night.

Luke emerged from the shelter surprisingly early, looking very worried. "Laura isn't feeling real well," he explained when Robert gave him a questioning look. "I don't know--maybe she had too much sun. She's sleeping now."

Later, when Laura failed to awaken and seemed to be in a state of feverish unconciousness [sic] Luke's dedication to her became clear. He tried to shove past Robert, shouting that he was going below to seek help and medication from the Cassadines. Horrified, Robert reminded him they had a mission. "Laura comes before any mission!" Luke stated, letting Robert know once and for all what was the single, most important priority in Luke Spencer's life.

Laura, to Luke's immense relief, recovered after two days of fever and delirium and meantime, Tiffany proved to be a good friend by bringing medicine and information. Mikkos intended to rule the world by controling [sic] the weather, she told them, and he was starting with Pt. Charles. He had to be stopped--and fast.

All was not going smoothly for Mikkos, however. Max and wife Noel (Rosina Widdowson-Reynolds) had more than a few misgivings about Mikkos' assurances that he would stop the freezing process short of killing anyone. When they questioned his sincerity in this, he took them on a tour of the plant and they were not seen again--alive. Mr. Ballentine, head of the World Security Bureau, had set up radio headquarters in Pt. Charles, where the temperature had dropped alarmingly. Each time Mikkos contacted him, Ballentine refused to give in and the temperature went still lower until the city was crippled by blizzards. Alex, who had opposed Mikkos, now insisted Tony take her into the plant so they could see for themselves what was going on. They, too, disappeared.

Meanwhile Luke, Laura and Scorpio were building a raft in sections so they would be able to get off the island once their mission was completed. They had a plan to get below and blow up Mikkos' weather machine with explosives they had taken from the yacht. However, when Tiffany came with a stolen guard's outfit, Robert was alone in camp and he decided to leave the lovers behind in relative safety and take on Mikkos himself. Disguised, he followed Tiffany into the elevator inside the rock.

Luke and Laura were aghast to find Robert had gone without them. Their first try at distracting the guards from the rock-elevator failed and they had to flee back to the hill behind the waterfall. While dodging Kaluga's patrol, they noticed an air shaft in the ground and by removing the grate, they were able to climb down into the underground plant.

Workers in white coveralls and hoods moved around a maze of machinery. Luke and Laura found their way to a locker area and stole coveralls and hoods. Now they could walk about, but they had no idea how to find Robert and in trying doors, they happened on the freezing dust chamber. Inside were four bodies, Alex, Tony, Noel and Max--frozen stiff. Terrified, they slammed the door and in that instant were captured by Mikkos' guards.

Mikkos was in a cat-and-mouse mood. He dressed his new "guests" in dinner clothes and proceeded to explain how he alone could save the world from itself--just as soon as the world gave him supreme power to rule. Luke made quite an impression, pretending to be convinced, and when Mikkos invited him into the control room, Luke made a fast move that secured the guards' guns for Laura and Scorpio before getting himself locked in the control room with Mikkos.

It was a standoff. Mikkos had a gun on Luke and Laura and Scorpio could not get in to help. Laura found herself training a machine gun on the guards while Robert tried to figure out the door's special combination lock.

Mikkos allowed Luke to contact Ballentine by radio, coaching him on what he must say, but Luke slipped in a last minute word revealing the island's location. Mikkos rushed him and in the fight that followed, Mikkos opened the freeze chamber's door to push Luke in, only to have Luke duck and himself go hurtling past into the frigid room. The door slid closed and through the glass Luke could see Mikkos screaming, but he couldn't find the right button to reopen the door.

Luke knew there was a code that would release the lever that was creating 300 below zero in Pt. Charles. Frantically he punched out every word he could think of on the computer that locked the lever, but nothing worked. Then it came to him: Ice Princess! That was it!

Ballentine was so delighted with the news that Mikkos and his plot were destroyed, that he invited Laura's parents, Rick (Chris Robinson) and Lesley (Denise Alexander), to join him on a special flight to the island to wrap up the mission. They arrived just as Luke and Laura were getting in the mood for some serious love-making. As usual, being surrounded by friends and family had a dampening effect on their passion.

Back home again in Pt. Charles, Laura went immediately to see Joe Kelly (Doug Sheehan) whom she heard had gone to Mexico to find her estranged husband Scott (Kin Shriner). Joe had, indeed, found Scott and Scott had agreed to give Laura a divorce--but only if she would confront him in person. This meant Laura had to fly to Mexico to see him--alone--and Luke was more than a little upset at the idea. Never secure where Scott was concerned, Luke's old uneasy jealousy surfaced, but he finally resigned himself to staying behind and allowing Laura to handle it.

Laura returned triumphant--she and Scott had gone to a lawyer in Mexico and signed the papers together and all that was left was for the papers to be registered and sent to Pt. Charles. Luke was doubtful about the fact that she did not bring the papers with her, but Laura assured him all would be fine.

Meanwhile, Luke, Laura, Robert and Tiffany were getting the hero treatment around the city. The city thanked Luke by presenting him with the ownership of the Cassadine yacht, the Titan, a gift from an anonymous donor. Luke was not overjoyed: a yacht was useless to him and meant huge dock fees and high taxes. He was hard put to think of anything he could do with such an unwieldly [sic] white elephant.

Through a rush of engagement parties, job interviews and apartment hunting, Luke and Laura continued to wait for Laura's divorce decree to arrive. In an outburst of frustration, they had their first fight in months. "I'm not blaming you." Luke stated, "but you have messed this thing up beyond belief!" He was sure she was keeping something from him, while Laura accused him of being paranoid. The rift was quickly healed by kindly Mrs. Whittaker (Beth Peters), who had journeyed in from Beecher's Corners to help with the wedding preparations.

Luke had trouble accepting the fact that most of the jobs he had been offered were only to take advantage of his hero status. Being a hero was nothing as wonderful as he had supposed. It was, in fact, a drag, with opportunists converging on all sides. Robert, who had lost his job with WSB for bending orders by burning the Cassadines' diamond dust formula, was experiencing the same bad luck and disappointment. His only consolation was Tiffany, who was very attracted to him, despite his disillusioning her by telling her he was actually without diamond mines or riches of any kind.

Luke and Laura had hoped for a small, intimate wedding, but the town, led by Slick Jones (Eddie Ryder) and Lila Quartermaine (Anna Lee), were determined to celebrate with the biggest wedding Pt. Charles had ever seen. With the whole town pressing them for a wedding date, Luke and Laura were growing very anxious over the divorce papers which were days overdue. They took turns calling the Baldwin law office to check with Joe and finally Joe had a call from the lawyer in Mexico who said the papers had been mailed and it could only be assumed they were lost.

One person who was not the least thrilled about the wedding was Laura's father-in-law, Lee Baldwin (Peter Hansen). The labeling of Luke as a hero chaffed at the man; this, after all, was the man who had stolen his son's wife and ruined his son's life. With each new burst of publicity, his anger grew. Scott had fled his home, his family and his law practice and hidden away in Mexico. He refused to allow Joe to tell where he could be contacted. Lee was alone in the office when the envelope containing the decree arrived. Hurt, despondent, he took the envelope and pocketed it, planning only to get the Mexican return address off of it.

Unfortunately, before Joe could return to the office and pick up the mail, Lee became more aggitated [sic], due to a television interview with the local heroes of the day, Luke and Laura. His bitterness overcame him; he fell off the wagon, took to gin and burned the envelope, an act that, if discovered, could get him disbarred.

Luke had sensed something was not right and as soon as he entered Lee's office and saw Lee's condition, he was sure. Lee knew something about the decree he wasn't telling and Luke was determined to get to the bottom of it. Laura was being feted at a bridal shower, but as soon as he talked with her, they decided to put it in Joe Kelly's hands.

Actually, Joe as go-between was not necessary. By morning Lee had sobered and felt the full weight of what he had done. He confessed to Luke and proposed that he, Luke and Joe go to Mexico to secure duplicates of the decree. Luke accepted the apology somewhat grudgingly, but agreed.

Joe and Lee flew ahead to Mexico, with Luke following, only to discover that the Hall of Records had been ransacked and all the B and C files stolen. Luke, blaming Scotty, frantically searched through every scrap of paper, but the duplicate decree was gone. His hopes were smashed, but Lee had another idea. Laura could get a Mexican divorce, and she would be free to marry Luke, but there was one catch. The divorce would be good only if Scotty didn't contest it. If he did, Laura could go to prison for bigamy. Making amends, Lee vowed to Luke that he would do everything in his power to keep Scotty from contesting the divorce.

With Scorpio's aid, Luke and Laura flew to Texas and crossed the border into Mexico and got the divorce. When they returned to Port Charles, they found the entire town in on the wedding preparations. The mayor's wife hid offered the lawn of the mayor's mansion for the ceremony, and it promised to he the event of the decade! Helplessly Luke and Laura saw their wedding taken over and they decided the only way to handle it was to go along with it. "After all," as Luke told Laura tenderly, "what does it matter how we get married, just as long as we get married."

After so many obstacles, their wedding day finally arrived and the bride and groom literally floated through the proceedings. Laura trembled with anticipation as she and Luke finally became man and wife, and a triumphantly cocky Luke raced off with his bride to prepare for their honeymoon getaway. Despite a slight case of "just married" jitters--"I'm really married, man!" Luke told Scorpio--he was dancing with joy as he greeted the new Mrs. Spencer on the balcony of the mayor's mansion before the jubilant crowd. Laura's face lit up as she prepared to throw her wedding bouquet. Giddily, she threw it over her shoulder, but as she turned around, a silence shrouded the crowd and the blood drained from her face. Bellow a bearded Scotty stood holding the bouquet in his hands. "There is no marriage," he screamed as he threw the bouquet back in her face. Luke tried to calm a now hysterical Laura down before he leaped to the lawn and pounced on Scotty in a fit of rage. Scotty had destroyed their dream, a dream they had waited for so long. Then like thieves Luke and Laura, without turning back, raced off for their honeymoon. "We are married, Luke reassured Laura as they held each other like their lives depended on it.