Summary: They never made a season five so this is what I like to think what would have happened next after the last episode of season four.

Disclaimer: Ocean Girl/Odyssey and all associated characters, places, institutions and ideas are the property of Jonathon M. Schiff. I loved this TV show and I wish they had continued and made many more seasons of it but in a way I'm glad they didn't because I can now write my own interpretation on what might have happened after season 4.

Paradise Lost

Chapter One: The News

"Jason?" Diane looked across the table at her oldest son who was staring moodily out of the window of their cabin, staring moodily out through the murky depths of the Pacific Ocean, apparently lost in thought. There was no response from Jason, who had dark rings under his eyes as though he hadn't been getting enough sleep. That was probably the case. Every day after he finished his ORCA duties, he'd started heading over to Neri's island to see her, often not returning back to ORCA until late into the night, after Dianne herself had gone to bed.

She sighed and crossed the room to stand behind him. "Jason?" She tapped him on the shoulder and shook it a little in an attempt to shake him out of his thoughts.

He turned round and met his mother's gaze, stifling a yawn that was trying to get out. "Yes, mum?" He asked, rubbing his eyes in attempt to wake himself up properly. "Did I miss something?"

Diane ruffled his hair affectionately, like she used to do when Jason was younger, but now Jason ducked out of the reach of her hand and crossed back across the room, sitting down at the large table and pouring himself a glass of orange from the large jug in the centre of the table.

"No, not really," She smiled. "I was just telling you that because of all the hard work you've put in over the last few weeks while I've been helping to deal with all the media interest in Neri and her people that I've taken you off the roster for the next four days. I want you to relax and get some rest. You look exhausted," She told him concernedly.

Since the Ocean Planet's attempt under Malakat to melt the ice caps and take over Earth failed and Shalamorn's return, the eye of the world's media had been fixed solidly ORCA as people wanted to find out more about these aliens. In an attempt to keep Neri out of the limelight which Jason knew she would have hated, Shalamorn, Neri's mother, had made several public appearances with Madame President who had flown over to Australia especially to meet this ruler from the another planet.

Meanwhile, Jason and Neri had been busy watching the oceans, checking to make sure that the cure to the red virus that they'd found in Charley's blood was really working, destroying the foul creation that Malakat had invented in an attempt to gain support for his planned invasion. They'd been monitoring the area the virus was covering, checking what damage had been done and generally keeping an eye on things. It was an exhausting task because the virus at its peak had spread to cover a huge amount of ocean and the damage it had caused was massive.

But Shalamorn had left now, to return to her planet and repair the damage that had been done on her own planet and the media was turning its attention to the princess that Shalamorn had left behind to forge a greater relationship between the two planets. Diane had been doing her best to field the questions as to Neri's whereabouts for now but the time was coming when Neri would have to take up her duties and Jason wasn't looking forward to having to share his best friend, his girlfriend (although he didn't like using that term because he felt it made the relationship seem trivial as though it was just a childhood crush or something) with the rest of the world. She was just too special, too innocent to the human world around her and that was one of the things he adored about her. He didn't want her to be tainted by the human world.

But the thought of being able to spend four whole days with Neri, not having to worry about coming back to ORCA to get some sleep before he had to do his officer duties, to just relax and bask in the sun on her island sounded like pure bliss to him. Suddenly, the tiredness that had been plaguing him seemed to disappear and he was eager, impatient to be getting up to the pontoon, to fire up the zodiac and head straight over to the island. The sooner he set off, the longer he could spend with Neri.

"Seriously?" He double checked with his mother first, not wanting to get caught out by some prank or something. "You sure you don't need me around to help you take care of the reporters?" He wasn't about to let her deal with some of the rude reporters who kept calling for more information about her relationship with Neri and who could get down right abusive when she refused to give them any information or refused to let them talk to her sons.

Diane smiled sardonically. "I've got First Officer Denton and his son dealing with those calls," She admitted. "Louis is really good at fielding all their questions and annoying them into hanging up."

"So the little squirt is finally doing something useful around here," Jason commented harshly. "Besides spying on people and finding the worst possible people in the world to snitch on them too," He still disliked the younger boy who had been the cause of so much suffering and heartache over the past few months.

Diane sighed. "Jason, he's had a tough childhood," She sighed. "I know he's not the easiest kids to live with but try and go a little easier on him. He could use a few friends,"

"Well not me," Jason said firmly. "I want nothing to do with him,"

"Fine," Diane thought it would be wiser just let the matter drop. "Just be polite to him when you see him around in the corridors."

"Don't worry, I will be," Jason frowned at the thought of it though.

"Well," Diane briskly changed the topic of conversation. "I guess you'll be heading off to the island, then,"

"Yeah," Jason shrugged, not wanting to make a big deal about this. He hadn't told his mum about that day on the beach or his feelings for Neri. He knew his mother knew that he cared about Neri as more than just a sister, but she didn't realised how much exactly he cared for her. He just wasn't ready to admit it to his mother, to admit that her knowing looks over the past few years, the subtle comments that she'd made about the close relationship he'd had with Neri. Also, it was all so new, so precious that he didn't want to want to share it with someone else yet. He wanted to savour it, live with the joy and the happiness of it all and keep it to himself for now. "Just as soon as I've been up to the canteen to get something to eat," Jason grinned, trying to sound as normal as possible.

"Well give my love to Neri," Diane nodded, suspecting that he was hiding something from her but not wanting to push him into revealing what it was. Jason would tell her in his own time when he was ready. "Tell her not to be a stranger, I miss seeing her pop up around here these days,"

He down the orange in his glass in one long gulp and got to his feet. "I'll tell her," He grinned. "If we get bored, I'll make sure to drag her over here for a visit." He joked, heading towards the door.

Before he could leave though, HELEN's voice filled the room. "Urgent video call for Commander Bates," Jason paused in the doorway.

Diane sighed. "Who is it, HELEN?" She asked politely, crossing to the table to pour a glass of orange juice before approaching the computer screen mounted in the wall of the room.

"It's Madame President, Commander Bates," HELEN informed her cheerfully and Jason walked back towards the table.

"Patch her through then, HELEN," Diane told the computer, running her hand through her hair, something she only ever did when she was under extreme pressure.

"Affirmative, Commander," As Helen spoke, the screen filled with the image of a stern looking lady seated bolt upright in what looked like some lawyers office. Jason had seen her before a couple of times before in the past and was always a little wary when it came to dealing with her.

"Greetings Madame President," Diane greeted her with a smile. "How can I help you today?"

"Hello, Commander Bates," The women on the screen replied with a tired smile. "I hear your having to field questions from the world's media about Princess Neri," Her expression was nothing but polite but for the most part it was expressionless.

"I have my First Officer dealing with their enquiries while I organise the rest of my officers into getting ORCA back up and running. We want to get the base back up and running as a research centre as soon as possible, particularly so we can investigate the effects that the red virus has had and will continue to have on the local ecosystem," Diane explained.

"Good, we need as much information on that as possible. Good work, Commander," Madame President nodded her approval. Jason frowned; his mother didn't need anyone's approval on how ORCA was run except from his dad.

"Thank you, Madame President," Diane replied tactfully. "We'll do our best to minimise the damage done to the area. We were lucky to find a cure for the virus so quickly before it spread further. If not, it doesn't bear to think about the scale of the damage that could have been done," She admitted.

"Indeed," On screen, the president was suddenly handed a sheaf of papers which she looked down at, seeming to skim read the first two pages before looking back up. "While that is good news, I have more important matters that I need to discuss with you, concerning Princess Neri and her role as heir apparent to her mother's throne on the Ocean Planet,"

Jason's gut fell. Whatever was happening, it probably wasn't the carefree, happy future he wanted for Neri. There was too much interest in her for her whereabouts to be kept a secret from the rest of the world. People were rightly curious about these people from another planet who were more technologically advanced than the human race and who could swim through the oceans and seas like fish without needing scuba equipment. Scientists would want to do experiments, find how they could do this and if it would be possible to somehow make humans able to do the same, school children would want to see this princess from another planet and everyone would want to know every single detail about her life and her planet.

Diane frowned. "I don't know much about Neri's role, I'm sorry." She admitted. "Shalamorn didn't really discuss the topic with me at full length. Whenever she had a spare moment she was more concerned with getting to know her daughters than to tell me every single little detail,"

Madame President's face hardened for a millisecond before forming back into the expressionless mask she normally wore. "I meant her role as an ambassador for her people," She explained patiently. "We cannot bring together our two different races if she is hidden away on her little island in the middle of nowhere. She needs to learn about our cultures and about our way of life and she needs to tell us about her people's way of life and their cultures. She is a figurehead for her people and she needs to be seen. She needs to meet with the leaders of the world, to go and meet every day people and talk to them and be seen, like any other member of any other royal family from any country in the world. She needs to be given somewhere to stay matching her status within her own culture and be protected."

"But the island is her home! It's the place she chooses to live in and stay, where she can be near the ocean and to her friend, Charley," Diane protested. "Doesn't she get a say in any of this?"

"Of course we would listen to any concerns the princess may have," Madame President conceded. "But not everyone on this planet can be trusted. The last thing we want is for some unscrupulous scientist or terrorist group is to kidnap the Princess or to hurt her in anyway. It would be too difficult a task to expect us to be able to protect her on her island. With her own house on the mainland we can have security guards, body guards and cameras all over the place to keep a constant watch on the Princess at all times. Besides, her new duties would see that Princess Neri would be away from her island for long periods of time, possibly travelling all over the world. She'll see so many amazing places that she might never want to return to her island again. It is, after all, her duty to her people, to put them before herself and her happiness."

"But Neri has always been free to come and go as she chooses, to live in harmony with the world around her, always close to sea and to Charley," Diane protested, horror welling up in her chest at the thought of Neri being removed to some cold, sterile mansion unable to do anything in private or on the spur of a moment. "And she's practically part of my family! Jason and Brett look at her as being the sister they never have and Neri calls me mother,"

"I understand your deep attachment to the Princess Neri but my decision is final." Madame President waved the objections off with a flick of her hands. "While arrangements are put in place for her accommodation, education and for her meetings with the rest of the world, she may stay on her island so long as you are willing to keep fielding the calls from the media. It will only take a few days for the arrangements to be made and then a helicopter will be sent to collect her. I will give you notice nearer the time in order for you to have the Princess ready and waiting to meet the helicopter,"

Diane had to fight to keep the horror she was feeling from her face. She had been too busy to think about what the future might hold for Neri and though there was always the shadowy threat of Neri one day having to return to the Ocean Planet to reclaim her rightful place, she had always assumed that that day would be a long way into the future and that they would still have many more years with Neri before that day would come. Now the President was talking about ripping a part of Diane's family away from her and she didn't know how she was going to bear it, or even how Jason and Brett who were possibly the closest people on the planet to Neri would deal with this.

"Is this understood, Commander Bates?" Madame President asked, her face softening a little in sympathy for the family's plight but unable to do anything different. It was for the good of both planets, for many billions of people that this had to be done.

"Yes, Madame President," Diane sighed shakily. "I understand,"

"Good. I suggest you make the most of these last few days together. Make your goodbyes before it's too late," The president informed them gravely. "Bodyguards for the princess will arrive on ORCA within the next day or so. Be sure to make them welcome."

"We will," Diane agreed, wondering how she could still appear so calm to the outside world when inside it felt like her entire world was collapsing around her and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

"Thank you for you time. You know where to reach me if you need me," With that the screen flickered and died, the ORCA logo reappearing on the monitor.

Diane turned to where her son stood, staring at the screen in horror. "Jason," She started.

"No! I won't let them do this to her!" Jason swore angrily. "They can't take her away from us! Shalamorn wouldn't want this! Neri would hate being so far away from the ocean, from Charley, from us! It would kill her! There has to be a way to stop this! I won't let them take her away from me!"

Diane sighed. "There isn't anything we can do to stop them," She sighed, her voice breaking in pain. "Go and find Neri, take Brett and Cass with you and tell her what's going to happen. Spend as much time with her as you can and I'll get over to island with Winston as quickly as I can. Wait till we get there, though, before you tell her. We're a family and we'll deal with this together, as a family,"

Jason looked for a moment like he was about to argue, but then spun on his heal and stormed towards the door, which swished quietly opened, and Jason climbed through, storming down the corridor towards the canteen where he knew his brother would be at this time of the morning. All thoughts of food and breakfast disappearing from his mind as his stomach churned, filled with a bitter vial of emotions he couldn't let out.