I do not own seaQuest or it's characters. I am not profiting from this story, it is for entertainment
purposes only.

Cold Fusion
By: Kaitlyn Rose

Nathan was in the lab with Kristin and Lucas. The two were excited about a new discovery of sea
animal that had been found. It was a new shark species. They had discovered it in a deep trench on the sea
floor, deeper than most sharks ever ventured. It was only about three feet long, but it was snow white and
completely blind. It seemed to hunt by vibration alone. The shark was actually quite vicious for being so
small.

Nathan listened as Kristin and Lucas fought over what they should name it. The argument
reminded Nathan on the one between Lucas and Katie over the Stinger.

"Mom, you can't call it a blanc shark," Lucas said.

"Why not?"

"Because!" Lucas said.

"Oh, yes, well that's such a persuasive argument," Kristin replied.

"Blanc shark just sounds stupid. Besides, there already is a white shark. You have to think of
something more original that the Spanish version of white shark."

"Well then you think of a better name and I'll see what I think about it."

"Fine," Lucas said. "Can I feed him?"

"Yes, but be careful," Kristin warmed.

Lucas reached into an aquarium and caught a cod fish in the net. Then he carried the cod over to
the tank with the shark and dropped the fish in. The shark snatched the fish and thrashed it back and forth
in it's mouth in it's feeding frenzy.

"Yuck!" Lucas said as he watched intensely.

"If you don't like watching it eat then why do you do it?" Kristin asked.

"I don't know," Lucas said. "It's weird. You know it's going to be gross, but you have to look."

Nathan smiled at that remark. He understood what Lucas meant.

Ben stepped into the lab. "Hey Lucas!" he called.

"What?" Lucas yelled back, still looking at the shark.

"I just got back from a supply run and you got a care package from Nana."

"Cool!" Lucas said, and he quickly jumped over to Ben and grabbed the good size box from him.

He grabbed a pair of scissors from Kristin's desk and cut the packaging tape off the box. He opened it up
and said, "Awesome!"

"What did she send you?" Kristin asked, walking over to take a look. She felt Nathan come up
next to her and slip an arm around her waist.

"Homemade chocolate chip cookies, a batch of brownies, oh, and also peanut butter cookies with
the heresy kisses stuck in them. Two new movies, and a sweater. I think she knitted the sweater herself.
Plus I got a letter."

Kristin and Nathan laughed at the boy's excitement.

"I just know you're going to share those homemade goodies with your best friend, right?" Ben
asked, practically drooling over the brownies.

"I'll think about it," Lucas teased.

"Oh, come on," Ben whined. "Just one brownie. I haven't had brownies in like forever."

"Okay," Lucas laughed. He handed Ben one of the plastic wrapped brownies.

"Thanks, kid," Ben said.

"Now don't eat all that in one or two days," Kristin warned Lucas. "I don't want to have to treat
you for a tummy ache."

"A tummy ache! I'm not two years old, ya know," Lucas replied.

"Really, coulda fooled me!" Ben said.

"Hey, be nice or I'll take my brownie back," Lucas joked.

"Oh no you won't," Ben teased.

"Captain to the bridge," Ford ordered.

"On my way," Nathan replied into his PAL. "Duty calls," he told Kristin.

"Do you mind if I go to the bridge?" Lucas asked Kristin.

"No, go ahead," she said. She knew that Lucas liked to be in the thick of things.

"Thanks, mom," Lucas said. He grabbed two chocolate chip cookies from his box and took off
running after his dad.

"So, how does it feel having him call you mom?" Ben asked.

"It feels normal," she replied. She saw Ben smile at her, and then he left the lab to get back to his
duties.



On the bridge Nathan was greeted by the sight of Bill Noyce on the screen.

"Good evening Mr. Secretary," Nathan said.

"Wow, what's the occasion. You haven't address me formally in over ten years," Bill laughed.

"No occasion. What's up?" Nathan saw Lucas step onto the bridge.

"Well, we have an emergency," Bill said. "seaQuest is needed to go to a small underwater
research post at the following coordinates. They are being sent to you now."

"What's happening there?"

"A Dr. Adam O'Connell is working there on a top secret project funded by the UEO. It seems that
somehow his project got leaked and in the past two weeks the facility has been sabotaged, twice. His
project is almost near completion. He expects it to be done in about a week. SeaQuest is to stay there and
protect the post until his work is completed. This is a top priority. Nathan, can I speak to you and Lucas
privately about this."

"Me?" Lucas asked.

Bill smiled at the boy's wonder. "Yes, Lucas, you're, um, "expertise" at certain things is actually
needed for this assignment."

"Cool," the boy replied, earning himself grinning looks from the rest of the senior staff, even
Commander Ford.

"Mr. O'Neill, put the call through to the wardroom," Nathan said.

"Aye, sir."

Nathan and Lucas went into the wardroom and looked at the vid-link.

"Okay, what's the big secret?" Nathan said.
"I'm sure you're familiar with cold fusion?" Bill said.

"Yeah," Lucas replied. "Einstein's theory of using water to make unlimited sources of free and
clean energy."

"Exactly," Bill said.

"But the theory is supposed to be no good," Lucas added.

"Not any more. It looks like Dr. O'Connell has done it. He's made cold fusion work."

"Wow," Lucas said. "If that's true, it will change the entire world. Fossil fuels and nuclear power
will be useless."

"That would also upset a whole lot of people," Nathan said. "The oil cartel, the coal mine owners,
hell, even the auto industry would be upset because it would only be a matter of time before they were
ordered to design new vehicles using the new power source."

"That's why seaQuest is going there. The UEO wants this to work. They want it desperately.
Think about what even something like this could do for seaQuest. No more nuclear power, just open a
hatch and let in some sea water and bam, you got power," Bill said.

"It would be incredible," Nathan agreed. "Do you have any idea who is behind the sabotage?"

"None what so ever. Like you said, the number of people who would want to stop this from
happening are staggering. It could be almost anyone."

"Excuse me, but what am I supposed to do?" Lucas asked.

"We need you to hack into their communications logs. I want to know if someone on the station is
responsible for the leak. There are five people over there. Dr. O'Connell, his daughter Ellie, his assistant
Austin James, Commander Don Swartz, and Security Chief Ernest Barrett. There are only a limited
number of people who know about this in the UEO, so we really suspect the leak to be an inside job, but we
have no proof. Lucas, I know you'll be able to recognize any strange looking communications, something
that looks like it's been coded, or even just worded funny."

"Yeah, I can do that, no problem," Lucas said.

"But you're not to tell anyone what your doing," Bill continued. "Dr. O'Connell thinks you are
going there to update his computer systems. I doubt anyone there will suspect a teenager of being a spy."

"Lucas is going to be staying at the post?" Nathan asked, suddenly not liking this idea.

"Yes, it's necessary," Bill said.

"Wait a minute, not a chance," Nathan said. "You want to send him by himself to this post where
you suspect someone to be guilty of sabotaging the facility. What the hell happens if he gets caught, or
heaven forbid he gets hurt by another act of sabotage?"

"He doesn't have to go alone," Bill said. "What if Kristin goes with him, you know. I doubt they
will object to him bringing a parent with him."

"I've got a better idea, how about I go with him," Nathan said.

"With all due respect to Commander Ford, if an incident happens I want you on seaQuest to
handle the situation."

"Damn it, Bill, I don't like this. I don't like this one bit. I don't know if I'm going to agree to
this."

"Tell you what, think it over. You can escort Kristin and Lucas over yourself, check the place out,
meet the people there. If the situation is too dangerous in your opinion you can call it off. Maybe someone
from your computer services department can hack the system."

"Those guys couldn't hack into my personal log. There's no way they can pull off what your
asking," Lucas said.

"Lucas, you're not the only hacker in the world," Nathan said.

"Yeah, but if you'll forgive me for bragging, I'm the best," Lucas said, grinning proudly.

"I know, don't remind me," Nathan groaned.

"Contact me after you inspect the place and let me know what you decide," Bill said, then
terminated the link.

Lucas looked at his dad. He knew his dad was worried. He fully expected him to say no to the
mission.

"Well?" Lucas said.

"I don't know. We'll see," was his reply. "I'm going to go talk to Kristin."

"I think I'll go to my room," Lucas said. "I don't think my fragile ears need to hear the litany of
phrases she's about to throw at you."

"I guess you really are a genius," Nathan laughed. He knew Lucas was right. Kristin would flip
when she heard what Bill wanted to do.

____________________________________



Lucas went to his room and turned on his computers. He started pulling up all the research he
could find on could fusion. It didn't take long to learnt that many had tried, and all had failed.

_____________________________________


Nathan asked Kristin to enter her office and close the door. She looked at him suspiciously but
did as he asked.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"seaQuest is on it's way to a research post to provide protection while a Dr. O'Connell finishes up
his project. It seems that someone is trying to stop him from succeeding."

"What's the project?"

"You can't repeat this to anyone yet. He has succeeded in making cold fusion."

"You're kidding?" she gasped. "Nathan, that's wonderful."

"It will only be wonderful if the doctor gets to finish his work," Nathan finished.

"Who's trying to stop him?" she asked.

"Any number of greedy people would like to see this project fail. Think about it for a minute."

"You're right," Kristin replied. "So how are you going to find the saboteur?"

"I'm not. Bill has asked that Lucas go over and try to figure it out."

"Excuse me?"

"He's going to go over there pretending to be upgrading the computer system. He's actually going
to hack into the communication logs and search for the leak."

"Are you out of your flippin mind!" she exclaimed. "What if he's discovered? What if another
act of sabotage happens and he's killed. You can't actually be thinking of going along with this. And just
what in the hell is Bill Noyce thinking! Honestly! Lucas isn't military. He has no training for covert
operations! I will not go along with this! Absolutely NOT!"

Nathan didn't even try to interrupt. He had enough experience behind him to know to let her
finish before he tried to explain. He was also grateful that Lucas had gone to his room. He knew that when
the two of them butted heads it upset Lucas a great deal.

"Now that your finished. I told Bill the same thing. That Lucas would not be going there alone,
under no circumstances. Bill said the you could go with him, but!…" he raised his voice when he saw she
was about to go at it again, "…BUT, I don't like that idea either. That means instead of having one person
I love over there that I would have two people I love. I've been thinking, and I think I have a pretty good
idea. I think all three of us should go together. We'll spend the day, Lucas can copy the logs and then
review them here in the safety of his own bedroom. I figure we should be in and out in a matter of hours."

Kristin seemed to think it over for a moment. "Alright, but I'm definitely going with you two.
Someone has to keep you out of trouble."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Nathan replied with a grin. "We will be arriving at the post
first thing in the morning."

"I'll be ready."

Nathan walked back to his quarters to tell Lucas the new plan. He still wasn't to happy about this
idea, but he knew Lucas was right. The boy was probably the only one on the boat who could hack the
comm. logs and break any codes.

He entered his room. It still amazed him to look at his new quarters. He couldn't believe Bill had
done this, but he was grateful for it. He felt better knowing Lucas was just a door way away, and at least
the boy didn't have to sleep on that cot any more. After what Hawk did to him he doubted if Lucas would
ever lay on one of those things ever again.

He knocked on Lucas' door and stepped into the room when Lucas said yes. He looked around at
the mess. It hadn't taken long for this room to end up looking like Lucas' old room in mammal
engineering. As expected Darwin was in the aqua tube looking at them.

"So, you survived," Lucas joked.

"Yeah, just barely. Needless to say, the plan has been modified."

"Oh, I'm so shocked!" Lucas laughed.

"Instead of you and Kristin going there to stay, the three of us are going to go for several hours or
however long it takes you to finish your work. I want you to hack the comm. logs and then copy them to
disk. Then we come home and you study the logs here."

"That's a good idea. Actually, I like that idea better than Secretary Noyce's," Lucas said.

"Good. We will arrive at the post first thing in the morning. What are you doing?"

"Well, I thought I'd look to see what I could find about cold fusion," Lucas replied.

"And?"

"All I've found is that everyone who's tried has failed. Most believe it to be a myth and
something of a joke. Dr. O'Connell was fired from Oxford when he expressed his beliefs that he could
make it work. He sort of ruined his career with it. One article written by a Professor Glen Albright
actually went so far as to call him the crazy Irish man."

"Well, I hope the jokes on them when Dr. O'Connell proves them all wrong," Nathan replied.

_____________________________________



Nathan left the bridge and headed to his room. He spent the remainder of his shift explaining to
the crew their duties for the next day. All were curious to know what the big project was, but they had
accepted that it was a secret, and that they were there to provide security for the doctor.

He opened the door quietly and walked to his desk. He actually considered doing some paper
work for a moment, and then said the hell with it. He wanted sleep. He quietly checked on Lucas and saw
the boy was curled up in his blankets. The room glowed softly as blue ripples of light danced across the
room, emanating from the aqua tube. As always, he pulled the door too, leaving it open a crack, and then
he went to his own room to sleep.

He liked having Lucas so close by. It amazed him how much peace of mind he had knowing
Lucas was near. The new living arrangements also seemed to help Lucas. Once again his nightmares were
few and far between.

__________________________________



Nathan and Kristin waited in the launch for Lucas to arrive. Nathan should have known Lucas
was going to be late. He hadn't threatened him this morning with having Crocker come drag him to the
launch if he weren't on time. Then he saw the boy come scrambling into the room.

"Sorry I'm late. I was writing a program that would let me copy the logs faster," Lucas explained.

"I thought it might come in handy."

The three got on the launch. Nathan got in the pilots seat and Lucas took the co-pilot seat, while
Kristin sat behind them. Nathan ran through the check list and told Commander Ford that they were ready
to depart.

"Good luck," Ford said.

"Thanks, we'll be back in a few hours," Nathan replied.

Nathan piloted the launch over to the post. It only took a couple of minutes. They docked in the
bay. Nathan climbed out first and took the computer components Lucas raised up to him. Then he and
Kristin also climbed out.

"Hello," came a small voice.

The three looked to see a young girl standing there. Lucas felt his lower jaw drop when he saw
her. She was beautiful. She looked to be his age, maybe a bit younger. The first thing he saw was her hair.
It was glorious. A deep auburn that hung in large loose curls all the way down to her waist. Her skin
looked like porcelain and she wore just a touch of make-up. She was only about five foot four, and she
couldn't have weighed more than ninety pounds at best.

"My father asked me to meet you and to bring you to he lab. My name is Ellie. Ellie O'Connell.
Where glad you could come and help us."

"It's nice to meet you Ellie. I'm Dr. Westphalen, this is Captain Bridger, and this is Lucas,"
Kristin said, and she shook the girl's hand softly.

"Hello," Nathan replied and also shook her hand.

Nathan and Kristin looked at Lucas and almost laughed. Nathan raised his hand and used it to
close Lucas' mouth, which was still hanging open.

"Lucas, aren't you going to say hello?" Nathan asked, trying like hell to keep a straight face.

"Yeah, uh, hi, I mean, hello. Nice to meet you," Lucas stammered.

Ellie just smiled sweetly at him. "The lab is this way," she said, the Irish accent ringing through
her voice.

Lucas followed Ellie while Kristin and Nathan hung back just a little.

"I think we may have a problem," Nathan joked.

"Nonsense. I think it's cute," Kristin replied.

Ellie led them down several small hallways and finally into the lab. Inside they found Dr.
O'Connell along with his assistants.

"Oh, hello," O'Connell greeted. He quickly rushed to finish typing a few commands into his
computer before turning to shake their hands.

"I'm grateful you came. It was starting to get a little tense around here. I appreciate the
protection, I really do," he said as he wrapped an arm around Ellie. "I'm Dr. O'Connell, you've met Ellie,
this is my assistant, Dr. Austin James, and these two gentlemen are from the UEO, Com. Swartz and our
Security Chief, Ernest Barrett.

"How do you do," Nathan said. "I'm Captain Bridger of seaQuest, this is our CMO and head of
our science team, Dr. Kristin Westphalen, and this is my son, and our computer expert, Lucas."

"Computer Expert?" O'Connell questioned.

"Don't be fooled by Lucas' age," Nathan grinned. "He may be fifteen, but he has his Masters in
Artificial Intelligence from Stanford, and he's been working on seaQuest for over a year. Trust me, there's
nothing he can't do with a computer."

"Wow, I've very impressed young man. Maybe you and Ellie can spend some time together once
you finish the computer upgrades. I'm afraid that she hasn't had much of a chance to spend time with kids
her own age since she's been here."

"How long have you and she been here?" Kristin asked.

"For two and a half years," O'Connell said. "She was eleven when we came, now she's fourteen."

"What about her schooling?" Kristin asked.

"Oh, don't worry. She's had plenty of that," O'Connell said. "She finished high school just
before we came, and since we've been here she's been taking courses at Oxford through a vid-link system I
had hooked up with the university. She gets to participate in the lectures and turns in her homework
through the computer. She only has two more semesters to go before she's finished with her BA."

"What are you majoring in?" Lucas asked.

"I'm majoring in Literature and minoring in History. I especially love learning about ancient
civilizations," Ellie replied.

"I wanted her to major in physics obviously, but she wouldn't hear of it," O'Connell told them.

"Papa, you know I hate crunching numbers all day long," she laughed. "He's just upset that I
didn't follow in his foot steps."

"Still, you could have picked something a little more useful," he replied.

"You worry too much," she smiled.

"Well, we better let Lucas get to work on those upgrades if they're going to get done today. Then
we'll be returning to seaQuest, but we we'll be staying near by until you complete your work."

"Good, I truly expect to be finished in the next four to five days if we can avoid any more
complications," O'Connell said. "Dr. James, why don't you take our guests to the computer mainframe."

"Certainly," Dr. James replied.

Before they could leave Ellie quickly walked over to Kristin and whispered in her ear. Nathan and
Lucas saw Kristin nod to her and a relieved smiled crossed Ellie's face.

"Why don't you two go on," she told Nathan and Lucas. "I'm going to spend a little time with
Ellie."

"Sure," Nathan replied, just a little curious as to what was up. He and Lucas followed Dr. James
and he watched as Ellie led Kristin in a different direction.

"What do you think that's about?" Lucas asked.

"Couldn't tell ya," Nathan replied.

"Ellie probably just wanted to talk to another woman," Dr. James told them. "She's been down
here for two and a half years with four grown men."

"Where's her mom?" Lucas asked.

"She died while giving birth to Ellie. Ellie never even got to meet her," Dr. James said. "Eleanor
had a weak heart, and the doctors told her repeatedly not to have children, but she didn't listen. She wanted
a baby desperately. Even after she got pregnant Adam tried to talk her into an abortion, but she flat out
refused. Something happened during her C-section, and she had a heart attack on the delivery table. For a
long time I didn't think Adam would recover, but after a couple of years he bounced back. Now Ellie is the
most important thing in his life."

"You sound like you've known him quiet a long time?" Nathan said.

"Yes, I have. We went to grad school together, both majoring in physics and engineering. He got
me a job at Oxford when I got laid off from U of M. We've been friends and colleagues forever it seems.
Well, here's the mainframe. I leave you alone so you can get to work."

"Thank you," Nathan replied. He closed the door behind him and told Lucas to get to work.

_______________________________________



Kristin stepped into Ellie's bedroom. She was amazed at how pretty it was. Even though the
walls were made of steel, as were the floor and the ceiling, a large area rug had been laid out, and pretty
curtains had been hung to provide the allusion of windows, making it feel more homey. A pretty canopy
had been hung over Ellie's bed.

"Your room is lovely," Kristin said.

"Thanks, Papa tried hard to make it pretty for me. He felt guilty that I had to be stuck down here."

"You don't seem to mind too much," Kristin said.

"It hasn't been so terrible. I have friends on the internex that I talk to, and at least when I watch
my lectures on the vid-link I feel like I'm still a part of the world. Plus, twice a year Papa and I go on a
weeks vacation, just the two of us."

"Where is your mother?" Kristin asked.

"She's in heaven," Ellie said.

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I never got to meet her, but I know she watches over me," Ellie said.

"So what did you need to talk about?" Kristin smiled. She really liked Ellie, she was such a sweet
girl.

"Well, it's sort of embarrassing, but you're a doctor, and well I figured you'd know what to tell
me?" Ellie said.

"Tell you about what?" Kristin asked, having a seat on the bed.

"Well, you see, I don't have a mom, and Papa's never even had a girlfriend so I couldn't ask her,
and I could never ask Papa. He wants to pretend that I'll be ten for the rest of my life."

"Ellie, sweetie, what are you trying to get at?" Kristin asked.

"Well, I was wondering if you could tell me what's going on with me. I mean, things are
happening. You should have seen the look on Papa's face when I told him I needed bras," Ellie laughed to
herself as the memory flashed through her mind.

"Oh, so you need to have that kind of a talk?" Kristin replied.

"Uh huh. You don't mind do you?"

"No, of course not," Kristin grinned. She tried to remember just what she had said to Cynthia
when she had last had this talk over ten years ago.

____________________________________



Nathan looked at his watch. He was bored. Lucas had been working furiously for almost three
hours. Other than handing things to Lucas when he asked for them he was completely useless, but at least
by being here he was able to keep and eye on the boy and make sure no one detected the real reason he was
here.

"I'm down loading all the logs now," Lucas whispered.

"Good," Nathan replied.

"I was surprised by how much security they have on their system. It was nothing I couldn't
handle, but the UEO has gone through a lot of trouble to make sure all transmissions were protected."

"Do you think anyone else could have penetrated the security? Listened in?"

"Anything's possible," Lucas said. "I'm living proof that no system in ever completely secured."
Lucas' laptop beeped. "Great, all the downloads are done. We can go now."

"So, what did you think of Ellie?" Nathan asked, now that Lucas was done with his work.
Lucas just blushed.

"She is cute isn't she?" Nathan continued.

"Yeah, she's cute. Real cute," Lucas agreed, smiling broadly. "I love her accent."
A knock on the door drew their attention.

"Hello," Dr. O'Connell said as he stuck his head in.

"You're right on time. Lucas just finished the upgrades," Nathan said.

"Your system should function a bit faster now and a bit more security has been added to your
system." It was true too, Lucas really had added the upgrades while waiting for his software to hack into
the system.

"Excellent. Why don't you come to lunch. Ellie and Kristin are already waiting in the kitchen."

"Just what did they do all day?" Lucas asked.

"Honestly, I don't know. I asked them they told me it was girl talk," O'Connell replied. "I
figured it was better not to ask after that."

"Probably a wise decision," Nathan told him.

"Captain, I need to ask you a favor?"

"What?" Nathan asked.

"I want you to take Ellie with you when you return to seaQuest. I have Dr. James and Com.
Swartz packing her things right now. She's not going to be happy about it, but I need her to be safe. If
someone is trying to sabotage my work, I don't want her to get hurt because of it."

"That won't be a problem," Nathan told him. "And I can understand your concern."

"Thank you. I truly appreciate it."

The three walked out of the computer room and headed to the kitchen.

Kristin and Ellie were waiting for them to arrive. Nathan and Lucas saw that the two were
engaged in a humorous conversation.

"Are we interrupting?" he asked.

"Not at all," Kristin replied. "Did Lucas finish with the computers?"

"Yes, the upgrades are finally finished. After lunch we'll be returning to seaQuest."

The next hour was spent in light conversation, and the food was pretty good too. O'Connell
explained that they had fresh food delivered every two weeks, but they had emergency rations in storage if
for some reason a delivery failed to make it.

When lunch was over O'Connell and Ellie escorted them back to the launch bay. Ellie saw her
two suitcases sitting on the floor along with two large boxes holding a variety of her things.

"Papa, why is my stuff here?" she asked.

"Ellie, I arranged for you to stay on seaQuest for the next few days," O'Connell told her. "I want
you to be safe."

"You're sending me away," she exclaimed.

"Yes, just for a few days. You knew that once my work was done we'd be leaving here anyway.
You're just leaving a few days sooner."

"No, Papa, don't send me away, please."

"I'll call you everyday, and then in about four or five days I'll be joining you," O'Connell told her.

"But I don't want to go. I won't know anyone."

"That's not true. You know Dr. Westphalen, the Captain and Lucas. Plus you'll meet even more
people there. It's only for a few days."

"But,"

"No buts. Ellie, you're going. I'll be able to get my work done a lot faster if I know that you're
safe. Now please just do as I ask." He looked at her sternly but lovingly.
Ellie finally nodded her head reluctantly.

"Good girl. I promise, once this is done we'll never be separated ever again, okay."

"Okay." She threw her arms around her fathers neck and hugged him tight. When they parted
both had tears in their eyes.

"Five days. That's all. I love you."

"I love you too, Papa."

______________________________________



On the launch back to seaQuest Kristin sat next to Ellie with an arm around her shoulders. The
girl was sad but she didn't cry. The launched docked in seaQuest and Nathan and Lucas helped to carry
Ellie's things out of it.

"Why don't we put Ellie in a room close to mine," Kristin said. "Dr. Burnes room is available
since his position was never filled."

"That'll be fine," Nathan said. He and Lucas followed behind them as Kristin led the way.
Kristin opened the door to the cabin and Ellie stepped inside.

"I know it's not as nice as your room on the post, but once we get some of your stuff set out it'll
look better," Kristin offered.

Ellie nodded her head. "Okay."

"Why don't you two go and I'll help her get settled in," Kristin said.

"Fine, how about the four of us have dinner later," Nathan said.

"Sounds good," Kristin said and she gave him a quick kiss before shutting the door.

Nathan smiled. He could tell Kristin was having fun playing mom to Ellie. Not that she didn't
like being a mom to Lucas, but Lucas tended to need him more when things got rough, and Kristin
sometimes felt left out. But Ellie had been glued to her side ever since they had met this morning, and she
was loving every minute of it.

"Come on, kiddo. Let's go to the bridge and see what's up?" Nathan wrapped an am around his
shoulders and dragged the boy along.

"Okay," Lucas replied and put his arm on his Dad's back. "But then I have to get to my room and
start going through those logs."


Four hours later Nathan had to go fetch Lucas from his computer. As usual, he had gotten so
engrossed in his work that he had forgot to keep an eye on the time.

"Lucas, it's diner time. We have to go meet Kristin and Ellie."

"Cool!" Lucas said. He left his computers running so he wouldn't lose his place. He had already
gone through a ton of messages and he didn't want to try and sort through them again.

"So have you found anything yet?"

"No, but I've really just begun. It's going to take days to go through all of them," Lucas said.

"Truth be told, Dr. O'Connell will probably finish his project before I finish mine."

Nathan listened to Lucas and made a mental note to himself to keep and eye on him the next
couple of days. He knew Lucas would skip eating and sleeping to try and finish his work faster.
When they saw Kristin and Ellie in the mess they were glad to see that Ellie was at least in a better
mood than she had been when she came aboard.

"Hi, there," Kristin said.

"Hi," Nathan and Lucas both replied.

They headed straight to the counter and in a couple of minutes they returned with their trays.

"So are you all settled in?" Lucas asked.

"Yes, Kristin helped me fix up my room a bit," she smiled. "plus, I got to meet Darwin and tour
the labs. This place is very different from the post. There are so many people."

Lucas tried hard not to stare at her, but she was the prettiest girl he had ever seen and she was so
nice. Plus, they both knew what it was like to be the only kid in an adult world. He wished he didn't have
so much work to do, he'd invite her to come and play some games or listen to some of his music.

"How long have you lived on seaQuest?" Ellie asked Lucas.

"Over a year. I like it here a lot. It's the only place that feels like home," he said. She just
nodded.

"You'd think that I'd be excited to be moving off the post, but truth is, I'm nervous. I've been
there for two and a half years. I don't think I remember how to live up world," she laughed.

"Tell me about it," Lucas agreed.

"How did you know to make the vocorder? I mean, I wouldn't even have a clue how to start
something like that."

"I don't know. It just sort of popped into my head," Lucas said. "Don't you help your father with
his work?"

"Yes, I help him, but I honestly don't understand how it works. I know which buttons to push
when he tells me too, but the theory behind the reactor, I haven't got a clue. I mean, I know I'm smarter
than average, and Papa really wanted me to be a scientist like him, but truly I don't have the head for it."

"There's nothing wrong with Literature and History," Kristin said. "Especially when you
remember that you're still just fourteen."

"We could have used you when we found the Library of Alexandria," Lucas said.

"You mean you were actually a part of that?" Ellie said. "I would have loved to have seen that. It
must have been incredible."

"Yeah, it was. At least I got to see it before ten different countries butchered it and sent all it's
possessions to the four corners of the planet. So were you born in Ireland?"

"Yes, I was. I lived there till I was eight, and then we moved to England so Papa could teach at
Oxford, and when he lost his job there the UEO contacted him and then we moved to the post."

"My Nana lives in England. I visited her last month."

"England is nice, but I'll always love Ireland. There's just so much green, and then our old house
used to over look the cliffs and the waves would get so big and made the most wonderful sounds when they
crashed against the cliffs."

"The Captain owns his own island," Kristin said.

"Really! Wow, I never knew anyone who owned an island," Ellie said.

"It's nice," Nathan said. "Maybe one day you and your father can come visit."

"That'd be nice," Ellie said.

"Well, I hate to be a party pooper, but I have to get back to work," Lucas said. "I'll see you later,
okay," he told Ellie. She smiled and nodded. Lucas took his tray and dumped his garbage.

"I guess I better go to," Nathan said. "The Captain's work is never done." He stood up and kissed
Kristin good bye.

"See you later," she told him.

"Are you and the Captain a couple?" Ellie asked.

"Yes, we're engaged to be married in about nine months."

"Neat."

"Would you like to hang out with me while I work in the labs?"

"Sure."

___________________________________



A few hours later Ellie was still in the labs with Kristin when she started to feel antsy. She
decided to go for a walk and explore the boat. She told Kristin and then started to look around. She waved
to Darwin as he swam through the aqua tubes. She was surprised by just how big the boat was. She saw
that there were five decks, along with a strange elevator that went sideways instead of up and down. She
wondered where Lucas' room was.

After walking around for about a half an hour she decided to go back to Kristin, but she realized
that she hadn't been paying attention and didn't know how. She walked up to two men who were talking
amongst themselves.

"Excuse me?" she said.

"Ah, excuse me miss," Chief Crocker said, "but you shouldn't be here."

"I'm sorry, but I'm lost. Can you tell me how to get back to Dr. Westphalen?"

"And just who might you be, young lady?"

"I'm Ellie O'Connell. My Papa is the person you're guarding on the research post."

"Well, then, I guess we should get you back to Dr. Westphalen," Crocker said.

"Thank you," she said. She followed Crocker through the corridors. "What's your name?"

"Chief Crocker."

"No, what's your real name?"

"Oh, uh, Manilow."

"That's a different name," she said.

"It belonged to my grandfather. He was a Scotsman."

"I'm named after my mother, Eleanor. She died when I was born so my Papa named me after
her," Ellie said. She pulled a locket out from under her shirt and opened it up to show Crocker the pictures
inside. "See, that's my mom, and that's my dad. Dad says I look lie her."

"Your mother was very beautiful."

"You really thing so?"

"Yes, I do. Well, it's nice to meet you Ellie."

"You too. Thanks for bringing me back," she told him when they arrived at the lab.

"Your welcome. Bye now."

"Bye Uncle Manny," and she went back into the lab. Crocker just smiled at her.

_____________________________________



Nathan looked at his watch and saw that it was going on midnight. He told Katie she had the
bridge and then he exited the clam doors. He went to his room to check on Lucas. He wasn't surprised to
see the boy sound asleep hunched over his keyboard. He just smiled to himself.

He stepped over to Lucas and lifted him out of the chair and over to his bunk. He pulled the boys
shoes off and then placed the covers over him.

"Sleep well, kiddo," he said tonight, like he said every other night. He exited the room and
decided to go see if Kristin was still up by any chance.

He walked down the corridor towards her room.

"Cap," came a voice behind him. He turned to see his friend Chief Crocker come up.

"Yes, Chief," he said.

"I met our visitor earlier today," he replied.

"You mean Ellie?"

"Yeah, she's cute as a button," Crocker said.

"I know, Lucas was practically drooling when he met her. Kristin has bonded with her too, big
time."

They were almost at Kristin's door when they saw it open by itself. Out stepped Ellie, wearing a
long white ruffley nightgown. He long hair had been pulled over to the side in a long braid so it wouldn't
get knotted while she slept. She rubber her eyes tiredly and looked around.

"Ellie, is something wrong?" Nathan asked.

"Um, where's the bathroom?" she asked, yawning.

"I'll take her, Cap," Crocker said.

Nathan watched the Chief take her by the hand and lead her away.

"Ellie?" came Kristin's voice.

Nathan saw Kristin emerge at the door. "Did you see Ellie?"

"Chief Crocker is taking her to the bathroom," he replied.

"Oh, I should have thought to tell her where it was," Kristin said.

"So you two are having a sleep over?" he teased.

"She was nervous about being alone in a new place. I said she could stay the night. She really is a
sweet girl."

"So I've noticed. Just be careful," Nathan said.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Don't get too attached, it'll just break your heart when she leaves," he warned.

"I know," she replied. "But it's hard not to."

"Trust me, I understand. I felt the same way after knowing Lucas for just a few days." They
looked up to see the Chief bringing Ellie back.

"Good night Uncle Manny, good night Captain," she said as she stepped back into Kristin's room.

"Good night," Kristin said and closed the door.

"Uncle Manny?" Nathan asked, grinning.

"What? You don't like it. I think it's got quite a nice ring to it," Crocker laughed.


______________________________________________



The next day Nathan pulled day shift and was off at six o'clock. He called Kristin and told her
and Ellie to come watch a movie in his quarters with him and Lucas. Kristin told them they'd be there in
twenty minutes.

He hurried to his room to make sure Lucas had left it somewhat clean. Luckily the family room
was spotless. He stepped into Lucas' room and saw the boy still working diligently on the comm. logs.

"Lucas," Nathan said. He saw that the boy didn't even hear him he was so engrossed in his work.

"Lucas," he repeated a bit louder.

"Whoa!" Lucas called and jumped.

"Sorry, kiddo, didn't mean to scare you."

"It's okay. What do you need?"

"I came to tell you that Kristin and Ellie will be here in fifteen minutes for a movie. Thought you
might like a few minutes to straighten up your room. At the very least you might want to pick your
underwear up off the floor," Nathan said, kicking a pair away from the door.

"Uh, yeah, I guess I probably should," Lucas replied. He quickly jumped up and started shoving
clothes into his closet and pushing things under his bed.

Nathan just shook his head. "Also, get all the empty junk food wrappers out of here or Kristin will
chew us both out."

"Yes, sir," Lucas replied, grabbing a handful of Snickers wrappers off his desk.

"I'll be back. I'm going to go pop a bag of popcorn. Also, I'm just going to take a wild guess and
say that you haven't eaten yet today, have you?"

"Just how much trouble will I be in if I tell the truth?" Lucas joked.

"Never mind, I'll grab you a tray of food from the mess," Nathan answered, and quickly left the
room.

Ten minutes later when Nathan got back he was pleased to see Lucas stepping out of a perfect
looking room, although he suspected that he didn't even want to know what was under the bed or shoved
into the closet.

"Here, sit down and eat," Nathan order.

Lucas sat down at the table. It didn't look to bad today since he liked grilled cheese sandwiches
and tomato soup. Lucas watched his Dad open the door when the knock came. Kristin and Ellie both
stepped in. As usual, Lucas felt his heart begin to beat faster. It seemed it always did when Ellie was
around.

She sat down at the table with him. "Hi."

"Hi," Lucas replied.

"So this is where your room is," she said.

"Yeah, during the last dry dock the expanded my Dad's cabin so they could put my room in here
too."

"That's cool," she said. "Can I see it?"

"Sure," Lucas said. He heard Kristin groan. He led Ellie to his room.

"Oh wow, Darwin can come visit you," she said.

"Yeah, watch," Lucas said. He flicked a switch that turned on the vocorder. "Hey Darwin," he
said. They only had to wait about two minutes before fish face showed up.

"That is so neat!" Ellie said. "I wish my room had an aqua tube."

"Why?" Kristin teased. "You're never in it anyway."

"That's true," Ellie laughed. She really liked Kristin and she found that she tended to be where
ever the doctor was.

"So just how did you get him to clean his room?" Kristin asked Nathan.

"Simple, I told him she was coming and that she probably wouldn't want to look at his
underwear."

"Wow, he must have a crush if he cleaned for her," Kristin laughed.

"Tell me about it," Nathan said. "Well, let's get this movie started. I even got popcorn."

"Wonderful."

Lucas and Ellie both sat in the floor while Kristin and Nathan sat in the sofa. Ellie sat in front of
Kristin and Kristin played with her super long hair.

"Don't you ever cut your hair?" Kristin asked.

"No one could do it on the post," Ellie replied. "My dad can practically split water molecules with
a pair of tweezers, but can he cut in a straight line? Nope, don't think so. After he gave me my first haircut
I never let him give me another," she laughed. "So it's just been growing for the last two years. Why?
Does it look bad?"

"No, it's beautiful, but it must be a lot of work to keep up," Kristin said.

"Not really. It's naturally curly so I just let it air dry, and when it's in the way I put it in a big
braid."

"Captain and Dr. Westphalen can you please come to the bridge," Katie called through the
intercom.

"Oh, good grief," Nathan said.

"Want me to come?" Lucas asked.

"Nope, why don't you two stay and finish the movie. We'll be back soon," Nathan said.
Lucas and Ellie got out of the floor and moved to the sofa.

"So do you like it here?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah, I like it a lot. Maybe my Papa can get a job here when he's done."

"That'd be nice," Lucas said. "It would be nice to have someone else on the boat younger than
thirty."

"Trust me, I know what you mean. At least you have guys and girls here. You can talk to people
about, you know, different stuff. I lived with four men for two and a half years. There were days I would
have killed for a woman to talk to."

"Is that why you spend so much time with my mom?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah, that and the fact that she's really nice. I imagine if I had a mom that's how she would have
been." Ellie pulled her legs up and tucked them under her. "You're really nice too. Thanks for being my
friend."

"Sure, no problem," Lucas stammered. "As the only two teenagers here I guess we have to stick
together. Although I'll have to introduce you to Ben. He's older, but he gets into even more trouble than I
do."

"You're kidding!"

"Nope. Ben is like a ten year old. He's really great."

"He sounds fun." Ellie yawned and laid her head on Lucas' shoulder. Lucas felt the color rise to
his cheeks.

"Comfy," he asked.

"Mm-mm," she said.

"Here," Lucas said. He raised his arm so she could snuggle into his side and then he wrapped his
arm around her shoulders.

"Thanks," she smiled.

___________________________________


I can't believe they called us to the bridge because of a squid," Kristin said.

"Well, it was a giant one. I guess they figured they call just in case if you wanted to study it,"
Nathan replied. "Just think what you would have said to them if they hadn't called you."

"True," Kristin said. "I have to say that it is amazing to see them, and that one was only a foot
short of breaking the record. I wonder how Lucas and Ellie are getting along?"

Nathan opened the door to his quarters and replied, "Very well." He and Kristin stepped in to see
both of them sound asleep on the sofa. Lucas was asleep sitting up, head flopped back in a very
uncomfortable looking position, and Ellie was stretched out across the sofa, sleeping with her head in
Lucas' lap. Lucas' arm was draped over her.

"Oh, my," Kristin said. "I don't think her Papa would be too happy if he saw this," she laughed.

"We best wake them up and get them to their own rooms," Nathan grinned. He walked over and
lightly shook Ellie.

"Hmm," she said.

"Ellie, wake up," Nathan said softly. She sat up in the sofa but still hadn't opened her eyes.
Finally she did and she looked confused. "You and Lucas fell asleep watching the movie," Nathan
explained.

"Oh," she said.

"Come on, dear, let's get you tucked in," Kristin said.

"Okay. Good night Captain."

"Good night Ellie."

Kristin and Ellie left the room and Nathan shook Lucas.

"Go away," Lucas mumbled.

"Lucas, wake up," Nathan laughed. He sat up suddenly and looked at him. "You need to go get
changed and go to bed."

"Okay," he said. "Where's Ellie?"

"She left with Kristin. You two looked cozy when we got here."

"What do you mean?" Lucas asked. "We didn't do anything, I swear."

"Calm down, I didn't mean it that way, it's just that you were both sleeping on the sofa when we
arrived."

"Oh," Lucas replied.

"Go on, get ready for bed, I'll be there in a few minutes," Nathan said, grinning.

___________________________________________



The next three days were pretty much business as usual. Nathan made sure to have Ortiz
continually scan the surround area for any signs of trouble, and Tim kept a close ear out listening for any
strange communications leaving the post.

Nathan, Lucas, Kristin, and Ellie made sure to have breakfast and dinner everyday. Lucas worked
away on the communication logs but still hadn't found anything that looked like there was a leak on the
inside.

Nathan was on the bridge when Tim told him that there was a call coming from the post.

"On screen," Nathan said.

"Hello, Captain. I did it. I've finished. We're about to run our first real test."

"That's wonderful," Nathan said.

"Captain, could you please get Ellie so she can see this. This is as much her moment as it is
mine," O'Connell said.

"Of course," Nathan replied. He grabbed his PAL and called Kristin. 'Kristin, could you and
Ellie please come to the bridge."

"On our way," Kristin replied.

"How has Ellie been for you?" O'Connell asked.

"She's been a perfect young lady," Nathan replied. "She's looking forward to your arrival."

"With any luck I'll be there in a few hours," he replied.

Kristin and Ellie stepped onto the bridge.

"Hi Papa!" she said.

"Hi sweetie. I did it. It's all done. I wanted you to see."

"Great," she replied, smiling ear to ear.

O'Connell stepped over to his giant reactor. The machine was almost as large as one of the
engines that ran seaQuest.

"Dr. James, let's start the set-up," O'Connell told him.

______________________________________


Lucas was staring at his computer when he finally found it. The concrete evidence that a leak had
been on the post. The message was from Security Chief Barrett to the leader of one of the oil cartels. The
message had been coded, but Lucas was able to break the code and retrieve the message.

He printed out a copy of the message and ran to the bridge.

_______________________________________


Everyone on the bridge watched as Dr. O'Connell and Dr. James went through their set up for the
experiment.

"Alright, we're ready to turn on the reactor," O'Connell said.

"Sir," Miguel said, "I have a mini sub leaving the research post."

Before Nathan could respond Lucas ran onto the bridge waving a piece of paper. "Dad I've got it.
I know who the leak is. It's Chief Barrett."

"All systems are go," O'Connell said. The large reactor was working at full power and suddenly a
console of fifty light bulbs all lit up in a brilliant glow.

"It works!" Dr. James yelled.

Nathan looked back at the doctor's on the screen. "Dr. O'Connell, do you know where Chief
Barrett is?" he asked urgently.

He never got an answer. Suddenly there was a loud explosion and shock waves rocked the boat.
Then there was an even louder explosion and the sound of electricity crackling through the water could be
heard as it traveled past seaQuest. Miguel screamed when lightning volts shot out of his console and hit
him. He crumpled to the floor.

SeaQuest was again hit by incredible shockwaves. People could be heard screaming and things
and people went flying across the room. Several consoles exploded, ceiling panels fell and wires hung
loose from the ceiling.

Lucas felt himself forcibly grabbed and thrown to the floor. A body pressed down on top of his.
He used his arms to protect his face from all the flying sparks. He heard a loud crash and then darkness
covered him.

He was still for a moment, not sure if he should move. Finally everything was quiet. He felt the
person on top of him start to move.

"Lucas you okay?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah, you?"

"Yes."

"What's on us?"

"A ceiling panel. Hang on." Nathan struggled to slide it off. Suddenly it lifted up and he saw
Ford and Katie where holding it up. He and Lucas quickly crawled out.

"You okay?" Ford asked them.

"Yes, were fine," Nathan replied. He quickly grabbed Lucas and began to look him over for
himself.

He turned his attention back to the bridge. It was a mess. It hadn't looked this bad after the attack
of General Hawk. He saw several Ensigns were putting out some small electrical fires. Tim was trying to
wake Miguel.

"How is he?" Nathan asked.

"He's alive," Tim replied. "I think he got shocked.

"I need a damage report!" Nathan yelled.

Ford and Katie were already at consoles pulling up the information.

"We have three hull breaches. Water tight doors are already closed." Katie said.

"Sir, we're a mess. We're running on emergency power at the moment. Life support is still
operating, but propulsion is out, so is ballast control. We can't rise," Ford said.

"What about the post?" Nathan asked.

"Katie went to Miguel's console to see what she could pull up. "Sir, all the WSKR's are gone."

"You mean they aren't responding?"

"No, I mean they are gone. I think they all blew up. I think when the reactor blew it shot out an
unbelievable magnitude of electricity. Luckily the bioskin seems to have absorbed most of it or we'd all be
dead now, but the WSKR's were totally destroyed," Katie said.

"Commander Hitchcock, get the HR probe out there now. We need to know if there is anything
left of the post."

"Aye sir."

"Dad," Lucas said, rushing over to Kristin and Ellie. Kristin had a cut on her head that was
bleeding and Ellie seemed to just be waking up.

Nathan got in the floor with them. "Lucas, get the first aid kit on the wall."

"I'm okay," Kristin said. "It's just a scratch. How is Miguel? I saw him get hurt."

"He's unconscious. I imagine we've got injured all over the boat," Nathan replied.

Lucas grabbed a wad of gauze and stuck it to Kristin's head.

"What about Papa?" Ellie asked quietly.

"Captain," Katie called out.

"What is it?" Nathan yelled.

"Sir, the post is gone. I mean, it is completely gone. All that's left is a crater on the ocean floor to
show that it had ever even been there at all."

"NOOOO!" Ellie cried. "No no no no no…Papa, oh god Papa." The girl began to sob and rock
herself back and forth.

Kristin pulled the girl close and held her. "Lucas, help me get her to med bay. I have to start
treating the injured."

Lucas nodded his head and he and Kristin each grabbed a side of Ellie and led her off the bridge.

Nathan rubbed a hand through his hair. The poor girl just watched her father get blown up. Damn it how
did this happen?

"Mr. O'Neill, do we have communications?"

"Yes, but not at full power. Hopefully someone is close by because our signal is going to be very
weak." Tim said.

"Do your best."

"Captain, we can probably raid parts from one of the shuttles to enhance the comm.," Ford said.

"Good, get on it."

"Captain, maintenance is reporting that we have impulse engines working. They say it's the best
they can do," Tim said.

"Fine, set in a course for New Cape Quest, impulse power," Nathan ordered.

"It'll take us like three days to get there at that speed," Katie said.

"Well, it's the best we got, and right now beggars can't be choosers," Nathan replied.

"Mr. O'Neill, have you contacted anyone?"

"Not yet."

Lucas and a med team arrived back on the bridge. The med team went to Miguel as Lucas walked
up to his Dad.

"What can I start doing?" Lucas asked.

"You can try to increase the out put on the comm. unit. We need to send out a distress call,"
Nathan told him.

"Got it," Lucas said. He went to Tim's console and started tying commands. "I'm going to
reroute your power through life support," Lucas said. "You'll have full power on the comms, but then I'll
need to put it back so it doesn't over drain life support. Hopefully by then we'll have another idea."

"Great," Tim said. He watched Lucas type in the commands.

"Do we have a spare WSKR?" Nathan asked.

"Yes, we do," Tim said. "I remember that Miguel said he had two in the cargo bay."

"Good, then just like when the hurricane hit and we got struck by lightning, lets get a WKSR up
here and use it to help power some of our failing systems."

The next several hours were a whirl wind of activity as everyone tried to get the boats functions up
and running again. After Nathan was sure that the bridge was functioning as well as it was going to he left
to survey the rest of the boat. He was shocked to see damage covering almost every area of the boat.

Everywhere he looked he saw fallen bulkheads, hanging wires, and personal possessions flung around.
He entered med bay and was surprised to see Kristin and Dr. Levin treating at least four dozen
patients. Some beds had as many as four people sitting on them. He followed beside Kristin as she moved
to her next patient.

"How bad?" Nathan asked.

"We have one dead," she replied. "At least ten with broken bones, and dozens who need stitches.
Let's just say I'm glad that the crew attended that medical conference cause I've put them all to work."

"Where's Ellie?" he asked.

"In her room, under sedation," Kristin replied quickly, she stood up to examine the next person.

"Keep the pressure on the cut," she yelled at a man who had lifted his bandage to look.

"I'll get out of your way," Nathan said. He headed back to the bridge.

"Captain, good news, the seaFire will be here in about ninety minutes. They are offering to take
some of our wounded and escort us back to New Cape Quest.

"Excellent. Inform Kristin to have her staff ready patients for transport."

"Yes!" Lucas yelled. Just then the emergency lights turned off and the regular lights turned back
on. "I got us partial power restored." He had managed to use both WSKR's and patch them together to use
as a battery for the ship. "Comms and Navigation should be back on line, but you'll have to use my laptop
since the consoles are blown."

"How long should the battery last?" Nathan asked.

"Probably about 48 hours if we're lucky," Lucas said.

"Good. Lucas, I want you to go to your room and get some rest."

"Dad, I'm okay, really," Lucas said.

"Lucas, please don't argue with me. You've been working non-stop since early this morning with
the comm. logs. Now go to your room." He could see the boy was tired.

____________________________________________


Several hours later Nathan walked into a much calmer med bay. Patients were now resting as
nurses monitored them. He knew that two launches had taken the most severe cases over to the seaFire.
With seaQuest only having limited power it was better to have them on the other boat for their care.

He stepped into Kristin's office and found her sitting behind her desk with her head down. At first
he thought she was asleep, but then she slowly raised her head to look at him. He saw the dark circles
under her eyes, and he knew she had been crying.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I lost a second one," she whispered. "I misdiagnosed him during his exam. He said his side was
sore, but not that bad, so I made him wait to be treated, going to patients I thought were more urgent. It
turned out he had a ruptured kidney. He bleed to death. No one even noticed until he was already turning
blue," she cried.

Nathan walked over to her and pulled her into his arms. "Kristin, I know you're hurting, but you
and Dr. Levin got like sixty patients at once. You can't blame yourself. I know you, and I know you did
everything you could under the circumstances.

She held on to him tightly, crying into his shoulder. "I haven't had a day like today since I was an
intern," she said. "There was so many who were hurt. It felt like the world was coming to an end."

"I know. The bridge was total chaos, but it looks like the worst of it is over now. Now all we
need to do is limp home."

"God, how long is the ship going to be in dry dock this time?" Kristin asked.

"I can't even begin to imagine. There is damage almost every where. Half our systems are fried.
All new wiring is going to have to be done through out the entire ship. I wouldn't be surprised if it takes a
month to do all the repairs."

"Nathan, what are we going to do about Ellie? She has no one now?"

"I don't know. What do you want to do?"

"I think you already know. I want her, Nathan."

"You mean you want to keep her on seaQuest?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I mean. She's all alone in the world now and I can't put that sweet child
into an orphanage. Besides, she already knows us, trusts us. Lucas adores her, as does Chief Crocker."

"I don't mind, I really don't, but it's not that easy. One, we need to talk to Lucas. Two, she may
not want to be here. Remember, she was standing on the bridge when she watched her father get blown up.
Third, the UEO might not allow her to stay. Lucas may be a kid, but he's also a paid employee of the UEO
and a vital member to the boat. I don't think we are going to be able to find a job for Ellie on the boat.
Last time I checked there weren't any positions for book worms."

"I don't care," Kristin said. "Do something, pull strings, just don't let them take her if she wants
to stay. Please, Nathan, do this for me. I've never asked you for anything, but I'm asking for this."

Nathan pulled her close again and said he'd do everything he could. He walked her to her cabin
and kissed her good night. He was truly exhausted as he walked back to his own room.

He opened the door to his cabin and was surprised to hear crying coming form Lucas' room. He
knocked lightly on the boy's door.

"Go away," Lucas said.

"Lucas, I'm not going to go away," Nathan replied through the door. He tried the door but it was
locked. "Lucas, let me in." He waited for Lucas to open the door, and after a minute the boy finally did.
Nathan entered his room. Lucas was back on his bed, sitting in the position he always sat in when he was
upset, knees drawn to his chest with his arms wrapped around his legs.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Lucas said.

"Lucas…what's wrong?"

"It's my fault."

"What's your fault?"

"This! All of this! I found the saboteur, but I was one minute too late. If I had just worked
harder, if I hadn't wasted time with that stupid movie, I could have stopped this. Ellie's dad would still be
alive, but I screwed up and now he's dead, along with all those other people. I failed."

"Lucas, this isn't your fault," Nathan said.

"Yes it is. I was too busy flirting with her to bother to protect her dad. I let him die. It's all my
fault." Lucas leaned into Nathan as he wrapped his arms around the boy. He knew what Lucas said wasn't
true. Yeah, Lucas had stopped to watch the movie, but other than that the boy had been working around the
clock on those damn logs. Nathan had heard him working even in the middle of the night on more than one
occasion. But he knew that no matter what he said Lucas would blame himself. He also knew that Lucas
had just watched Ellie live his worst nightmare. Lucas lived in fear of losing him or Kristin. Seeing Ellie
left all alone struck just a little too close to his worst fears.

Nathan stood up and pulled Lucas with him. He wrapped an arm around him and led Lucas to his
bed. He knew that Lucas would have nightmares tonight. Lucas didn't even protest at being treated like a
baby, but gladly went with Nathan.

Nathan got in his bed and Lucas snuggled up to him. He wrapped his arms around the boy.

"What's going to happen to Ellie now?" Lucas asked, tears still falling.

"Well, I actually need to talk to you about that. Kristin wants to become her guardian. You may
have noticed that they've really bonded this week."

"Yeah, I've noticed."

"How do you feel about that?" Nathan asked.

"I don't know. After what I did, I don't know if I'll feel comfortable around her anymore."

"Lucas, you didn't do anything. This isn't your fault, and Ellie isn't going to blame you. She
never even knew you were studying the logs."

"But I know," Lucas replied.

"Well, Ellie is all alone now. Do you want to stand in the way and stop Kristin from becoming
her guardian?"

"No, no I don't want to hurt her any more," Lucas said. "No, Ellie deserves to have my mom."

"Lucas, Kristin isn't going to stop loving you just because Ellie is here. Did she stop loving
Cynthia just because you showed up?"

Lucas shook his head.

"Kristin loves you very much, and her heart is big enough to love Ellie too."

Lucas' heart was breaking. He knew what his Dad said was true, but it didn't feel like it. He had
ruined Ellie life, and now Kristin would be spending all her time with her, and she wouldn't need Lucas
anymore. Kristin would also be disappointed that he had failed. Everything was a mess and it was all his
fault.

He lay there and listened as his dad started to snore softly. He couldn't fall asleep though. He felt
too much guilt to fall asleep. He quietly slipped out of the room and headed for the moon pool. He saw
that the corridors were mostly deserted at this time. After the days events everyone was exhausted and
resting, trying to mentally prepare for the day ahead.

Lucas stepped into the moon pool and banged the side, calling Darwin to come. After a minute
the always smiling dolphin appeared.

"Lucas, sad," Darwin said.

"Yes," Lucas said.

"Darwin help."

"You can't. No one can fix this, not even the captain."

"Bridger no fix?"

"No. I messed up. I messed up and people got hurt. I made people dark."

"No. Lucas good."

"No I'm not. I'm bad. Now everything is all messed up and I can't fix it." He wiped away at the
tears as they fell.

"What messed up?"

"I had a job to do, but I didn't do it, and now Ellie's pod is all gone."

"Pod no more."

"Uh, huh."

"Pod dark?"

"Yes," Lucas said.

"Now Kristin wants to be Ellie's mom. She won't want to be mine after she hears how I screwed
up. She won't need me now."

"You don't really believe that do you?"

Lucas jumped and looked back to see Tim standing there. "What are you doing?" Lucas asked
defensively.

"I came to visit with Darwin. I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I heard what you said, and I can't
believe that you would actually think that."

"You had no right to listen to me!" Lucas yelled. "Aren't I entitled to a little privacy around
here!"

"I'm sorry," Tim said. "It wasn't like that."

"Leave me alone," Lucas said. "And I trust you to keep my privacy. I'll work my problems out
without your help."

"Fine," Tim said. "But I don't care what you say, Kristin loves you very much, as does Bridger."
With that Tim turned and left.

Lucas turned off the vocorder and headed back to his room. He didn't want to risk waking up his
dad so he simply went to his own bed, where he tossed and turned all night. Try as he might, he simply
couldn't fall asleep.

_________________________________


The next morning when Nathan awoke he was surprised to see that Lucas was already gone. He
got up and went to Lucas room but he wasn't there either. He went to the bathroom to get cleaned up.

Then he headed to the mess where he thought Lucas might be having breakfast.
He spotted Kristin and Ellie in there, but no Lucas. He went over to them and sat down.

"Morning," he said. "How are you feeling today?" he asked Ellie.

"Fine," she said flatly. Nathan nodded. Did all teenagers say the word fine even when they
weren't. He wondered if the word had been genetically programmed into them. He looked at Kristin and
she simply nodded for him not to push it.

"If you two need anything today just let me know."

"We will," Kristin replied.

"Have you seen Lucas by any chance?"

"No," Kristin said. "When he comes by the labs I'll be sure to tell him your looking for him."

"Thanks." He was about to tell her how Lucas wasn't handling this well, but then he remembered
that Ellie was the one who had actually lost her father and decided that they didn't need yet one more
problem to have to deal with.

He grabbed a cup of coffee and a blue berry muffin and headed to the bridge. Maybe Lucas was
there working on repairs.

______________________________________



Lucas crawled through the access tube working to change the wiring. He had been working on it
now for over six hours. Once he replaced a few more wires he would have the comm. working again. That
would leave the WSKR's only having to power navigation. With only one system pulling power from
them they would last longer than 48 hours, which was necessary since the trip home was closer to 72 hours.
Once this was done he'd find something else to do. As long as he kept himself busy he wouldn't have time
to think.

He rubbed his eyes. He was going to need coffee soon, and plenty of it. He looked at his watch
and he realized that he had now been awake for about 28 hours. No big deal. He'd done it before.
He crawled father down the tube and continued changing wires.

_________________________________________________________



"Commander, have you seen Lucas?" Nathan asked.

"No sir," Ford replied.

"He was here earlier," Katie said. "He worked on Tim console for about three hours and then he
left."

"Mr. O'Neill, please page Lucas' PAL."

"Yes, sir."

Nathan was surprised when he heard beeping in the room. He followed the sound and saw that
Tim was bending over to pick something up.

"Sir, I've got Lucas' PAL here. It must have fallen off him while he was fixing my console."

"Damn," Nathan whispered. "Fine."

"Sir, I have full power to my console," Tim suddenly announced.

"How?" Nathan asked.

"I'm not sure. I didn't do anything."

"Lucas must be in the access tubes," Ford said.

"He shouldn't be in there. We don't know how safe they are, or if any of them collapsed," Nathan
said. "That's why I didn't send any of the maintenance crews in them."

"Do you want to get a security team looking for him?" Ford asked.

"Yes, but tell them not to crawl into the tubes, simply to yell and try to locate Lucas in them."

"Yes, sir," Ford said. He grabbed his PAL and started giving orders to Crocker.

_______________________________________



Lucas crawled out of a tube near med bay. He thought about going to talk to Darwin, but then he
remembered what happened last night. With it being daytime he'd never have any privacy now. He
walked over to the lab and looked in at Kristin. She was sitting with Ellie. They were talking to each
other. He saw Kristin pull Ellie into a hug and pat her on the back.

He quietly stepped into the lab and walked up to Kristin and Ellie.

"Hi," he said quietly.

"Oh, Lucas. I didn't see you," Kristin said. She let go of Ellie. Ellie looked at him with her tear
streaked face.

"Ellie, I'm sorry about your dad. I really am. I tried to stop it, but I found out too late."

"You were too late," she said, and then she started crying again.

"Lucas, maybe you should go," Kristin said. When he just stood there staring Kristin again told
him to leave. Lucas turned and ran from the room before they could see his own tears falling.

"What did he mean? He was too late?" Ellie asked between sobs.

"I'm not sure," Kristin replied. "Well talk about it later. Darn, I forgot to tell him to contact
Nathan."

__________________________________



Lucas wanted to be alone. Alone with his misery. Ellie had known he had failed to save her dad,
and then Kristin ordered him out of the lab. He hurried down to the lowest deck on seaQuest, the engines
were here. They made lots of noise, but there was also lots of places to hide when you wanted to be alone,
and right now that was what Lucas wanted desperately.

He found himself a nice nook between a giant machine and the wall and he scrunched down. He
laid on the floor and curled himself into a ball and cried.

____________________________



Nathan was starting to worry now. Lucas had been missing for five hours. They had found
nothing in the access tubes, but that didn't mean that Lucas was inside one of them still trapped and unable
to get out. They had also searched the boat and found nothing.

He ordered Tim to do a boat wide page. Tim's voice rang out over the intercom for Lucas to
report to the bridge. He repeated the message three more times.

__________________________________



"They must really need his help," Ellie said.

"Lucas does a lot on seaQuest. Sometimes I think they work him too much," Kristin said. "How
about you help me with some experiments? Maybe you'll feel a little better if you focus on something else
for a bit."

"Okay," Ellie said.

"Ellie, do you know where you're going to go now?" Kristin asked gently.

"Yes," she said. "I'm sure I'll go live with my grandparents."

"Your grandparents?" Kristin asked. The thought had never occurred to her that Ellie had other
relatives.

"Yes, they still live in Ireland. They had actually wanted me to come live with them while Papa
worked at the research post, but Papa said he didn't want to be with out me during all that time, so I went
with him. I'm sure they'll take me now. Plus, Ireland is the one place I always felt was home. It'll be nice
to go back there. It's also where my mother's grave is. I haven't visited it in a long time. It's a shame my
Papa couldn't be buried next to her. He loved her so much."

Kristin put a hand on her shoulder and smiled at her. "They are together again. They are together
and watching over you, their hearts full of love."

Ellie smiled sadly at her.

_________________________________



"Captain," O'Neill said, "We have an incoming from General Pulaski."

"Son-of-a…" Nathan said. Great, just what he needed. To talk to the general who had tried to
have him court martialed when he left with Lucas when Lucas had his panic attack. "Put it on screen."

"General, what can I do for you?" Nathan asked.

"You can explain to me just how it is that you not only failed in your mission, but you allowed for
the people you were supposed to protect to me murdered."

Nathan could almost swear that the general was gloating over his failure. "We didn't discover
who the leak was until it was too late. There was over six months of transmission to review. We didn't
find out until literally one minute before that Security Chief Barrett was the leak. We also suspect him of
having planted the bomb. A mini sub departed the post just before the explosion."

"Did you apprehend the sub?"

"seaQuest was nearly destroyed when the cold fusion reactor blew. We were in no way capable of
going after the sub."

"It never occurred to you to send a launch after it."

"With all due respect, General, we were trying to make sure we didn't sink. We had over sixty
crew members with injuries."

"Just who in the hell was reviewing the logs? I want this person brought up on charges for
dereliction of duty."

"The person reviewing the logs isn't military. I'm afraid you can't bring him up on charges."

"You mean to say that a civilian was reviewing the logs!"

"Yes, under direct orders from Secretary Noyce," Nathan replied, trying not to lose his temper.

"Of course, let me guess. It was the resident genius, wasn't it. The same little kid who came to
my office and hyperventilated himself into unconsciousness. I can't believe a project of this magnitude had
been placed in the hands of a child that is clearly unstable."

"Lucas is not unstable," Nathan yelled. "He passed out in your office because two days earlier he
had been tortured by a madman and you insisted on interrogating him. Lucas is a valuable member of this
crew and you have no right talking about him in such a way."

"Lucas is a kid who has no business being on a UEO submarine. I think it's time to bring the idea
of removing him before the Board of Inquiry. This issue can be addressed when you face the board for the
failure of your mission."

"Turn him off!" Nathan roared.

"Aye, sir." Tim quickly broke the connection before the general could get another word out.

"Damn it, Lucas is already beating himself up enough as it is over this, even though he worked on
the logs night and day," Nathan told Ford. "The last thing he needs is a General out to get me coming after
him just because he can. Mr. O'Neill, get me Secretary Noyce, now, and patch it through to my quarters."

Nathan stomped off to his room. He needed to nip the problem in the bud right now. If they
wanted him to face a Board of Inquiry then so be it, but no one was going to use Lucas to get to him. No
one. He spent the next hour talking to Bill about what happened and why.

By the time Nathan got off the vid-link with Noyce it was all over the boat that General Pulaski
was holding Lucas responsible for the failure of the mission.

_______________________________________



Lucas woke with a jolt. He ran a hand through his sweaty hair trying to force the images of the
nightmare out of his mind. He couldn't believe he'd fell asleep down here. He'd have thought it too noisy
for him to sleep.

He had no idea what time it was. He crawled out of his hiding spot and made his way to the moon
pool. He was surprised that the corridors were as desert today as they had been during the night. But then
he remembered that a lot of people were in med bay and others with less serious injuries were in their
cabins, and that some had even left seaQuest and were on the other sub.

He sat next to the moon pool and ran his hands through the water. He was surprised that Darwin
wasn't here.

"I can't believe that son-of-a-bitch said that," Krieg's voice rang out.

"I know," Katie said, "but I swear, General Pulaski is actually blaming Lucas for the explosion."

Lucas froze. He heard them coming closer and he quickly ducked into one of the changing rooms.
He peeked out to watch Ben and Katie talk by the moon pool.

"I mean, that's just crazy," Katie said. "Everyone knows Lucas busted his butt to get through the
logs. But the General said he was going to drag Bridger before the Board of Inquiry and then try to have
Lucas removed form seaQuest. He actually said that Lucas was unstable!"

"Someone ought to go punch that idiots lights out," Ben said.

"Tell me about it. The Captain started yelling at the General and then he had Tim hang up on
him."

"Good!" Ben said. "Damn, I have to get back to work. Bridger wanted a list of all damaged cargo
by six pm. I'm almost out of time."

"Yeah, I think I'm going to go hit the sack, I'm exhausted."

Lucas watched as Katie and Ben left the moon pool. He was shocked to the very core. He
couldn't believe that they were going to force him to leave seaQuest. This was his home. It was the only
place where he ever felt that he belonged. But the general was right. Lucas had blown the mission. Now it
sounded like his Dad might lose his job because of his screw up. Oh god, he didn't want to leave seaQuest.
The three weeks he spent in England with Nana he had never been more home sick in his life. He couldn't
imagine being forced out the boat permanently.

He left the dressing room and went to his Dad's cabin. He needed his Dad. He was all Lucas had
left. He'd lost Kristin, now seaQuest.

___________________________________



Nathan walked into the med bay. He spotted Kristin checking on a patient and walked over to her.

"You needed to talk to me?" Nathan asked.

"Yes, I wanted to talk to you before you mentioned anything to Lucas. I spoke with Ellie. It turns
out she has grandparents in Ireland. She will be going to live with them. I had just assumed that she had
no other family besides her father. She really wants to go back to Ireland."

"Damn," Nathan said.

"What?"

"I already spoke with Lucas."

"Oh," Kristin replied. "What did he have to say?"

"Kristin, I'm worried about him. I should have told you this during breakfast, but you were
helping Ellie at the time. Lucas isn't handling this whole mess very well. He cried all night about how it
was all his fault. That if he had just worked harder he could have saved Ellie's father. Then when I told
him about you seeking custody of Ellie he said that Ellie deserved to have you for a mom. But the way he
said it, it was like he thought he was losing you."

"How could he ever think I'd stop loving him. Furthermore, everyone knows it's not his fault
what happened."

"Everyone knows it but him. You know Lucas holds himself to a higher set of standards. I
haven't been able to find him all day. I've had two teams practically tear the boat apart. Where ever he's
hiding he's found a damn good place," Nathan sighed. "I have to find him, Kris. General Pulaski called."

"Oh, really, and what did that jerk want?"

"That jerk said he's going to try to have Lucas removed from seaQuest. I've already talked to Bill
and he said not to worry, that Pulaski could make all the noise he wanted but that Lucas was staying. But I
have to get to Lucas before he hears it through the grape vine what was said."

"Nathan, he was here earlier."

"Are you serious? What did he say?"

"He said he was sorry that he was too late. He said he tried to stop it. At the time I didn't know
what he was talking about."

"What did you tell him?"

"I was with Ellie at the time. She was crying and upset. I told him to leave. God, Nathan, if he
thinks I chose Ellie over him, then…damn…I didn't know."

"It's not your fault. I should have told you during breakfast."

"You're right, we have to find him," Kristin said.

___________________________________



Lucas managed to make it to his Dad's room with out running into anyone. Twice he had ducked
into a closet. He just didn't want to see anyone. He looked around and saw that Dad wasn't there. He
should have realized that with the boat practically being blown to pieces that he wouldn't be there. He had
more important things to worry.

Lucas went to his room and closed the door. He sat down on his bunk. He was so tired. He
wanted to sleep, but he knew that it would only allow the nightmares to come. He was so sick of having
nightmares. His stomach growled loudly. He was hungry but there was no way he was going to the mess.
He was sure that by now the entire boat knew that the General had called him unstable, had blamed him for
the mission failing. He didn't want to see the stares and the pointing, accusing fingers.

He couldn't believe that they were going to force him to leave his home. He wondered if his Dad
would leave with him, or would he be alone while his Dad stayed as Captain. A picture of his Dad standing
with Kristin and Ellie came into his mind. He saw the picture so clear, and he saw that he wasn't in it.

Maybe Dad would be relieved. After all, Lucas knew he was a burden. It seemed like all he ever
did was cry on Dad's shoulder. Hell, half the time he couldn't even sleep by himself. "Face it, Lucas,
you're a high maintenance kid," he told himself. "Maybe everyone would be better off without you." He
knew he was wallowing in self pity, but at the moment his grief and pain would allow for nothing else.

He got down in the floor at the end of his bunk and just sat there. He didn't know what to do. He
didn't know how to fix the mess he had made.

_______________________________________



Kristin and Nathan went their separate ways to search for Lucas. She had now been looking for
over an hour. Where would Lucas hide?" She had already checked out his favorite places, actually
bumping into Nathan several times. She knew Nathan was on E deck right now searching the engine room.

Suddenly she turned to head towards the Captains quarters. She just had a feeling, one of those
maternal moments. She said hello to the few people she passed along the way. She opened Nathan's door
and saw that the family room was empty. She looked in Nathan's room but it was also empty. Then she
looked in Lucas' room. At first she thought it was empty also, until she heard the sound of Lucas'
breathing. Then she saw the top of his head as it was slightly higher than the bunk.

She stepped quietly into the room and walked over to him. He had yet to see her since his face
was buried in his knees.

Lucas flinched when he felt a hand of his shoulder. He looked up to see Kristin smiling at him.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her innocently.

"Looking for you. Your father and I have been searching the boat for hours. We've been so
worried. It seems that a big misunderstanding has happened."

"What kind of misunderstanding?" Lucas asked. Kristin got down in the floor next to him and
pulled Lucas to her until he was resting against her side.

"Well, it's been brought to my attention that you think I want Ellie more than I want you."

"I didn't say that," Lucas protested.

"No, maybe you didn't say it out loud, but I think you've been saying it to yourself in your head,
haven't you?"

Lucas sighed heavily before he finally said, "Maybe."

"Lucas, how could you ever think that. After all the time we've spent together this past year, after
all the things we've been through together, how could you really think so poorly of me to think that I could
replace you so easily."

"I don't know," Lucas replied. "I've just been feeling so bad over what happened. I made a mess
of everything and people are dead, and Ellie needs you now, and the General wants to have me removed
from the boat. I don't know how to fix this. What am I supposed to do?"

"Oh darling, you don't have to do anything. Sweetheart, this isn't your fault. The person
responsible for this is Chief Barrett. He's the one who hurt those people, not you. You worked almost
nonstop on those logs, and even if you had discovered the truth sooner, that doesn't mean that the outcome
wouldn't have been the same. As for you being removed from seaQuest, you can stop worrying about that.
Nathan has already talked to Noyce, and trust me, you aren't going anywhere."

"Really, I'm staying?"

"Yes, you are." She felt Lucas start to cry again. She rubbed his back softly as she held him.

"But still, Ellie's dad is dead."

"Yes, he is, but you didn't kill him, and Ellie's going to be alright. She is going to go home to
Ireland and live with her grandparents. She'll get all the love and support she'll need to deal with her loss.
She's actually looking forward to returning to Ireland."

"Is that why you're here?" Lucas asked. "Because she's leaving?"

Kristin pulled Lucas away from her and lifted his chin to look at her. "Lucas Daniel Bridger, I am
surprised at you. I am surprised that you would say something so mean to me. If you can't believe that I
love you then just what am I supposed to do to prove it to you."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry," Lucas said. "Please don't be mad at me." He wrapped his arms around
her waist and cried into her shoulder.

"Shh, it's okay. I forgive you," She said, rocking him gently. "Now come on, let's get you out of
the floor and onto your bed."

"I don't want to go to sleep," Lucas said.

"Lucas, you're mentally exhausted, and from the looks of you I'd say your physically exhausted
too. You need rest."

"No."

"What if I give you something to help you relax, and I promise to stay while you sleep."

"You can't stay. They need you in med bay. You have patients."

"Anyone who had serious injuries went to the seaFire. The med team can more than handle the
patients in med bay. As of right now you just became my patient and I'm ordering you in bed, and I'm
going to stay with you, okay."

"Okay," Lucas finally said. He got up out of the floor and went to put on his pajamas as Kristin
ordered. When he stepped out of the bathroom he saw a nurse walking in to the room and handing Kristin
a paper cup with two pills in it along with a glass of water.

"Thank you," Kristin told her. "Lucas, take these."

Lucas swallowed the pills and then went into his Dad's room with Kristin. She tucked him in and
sat down on the bed next to him.

"You'll feel better once you get some rest," she said as she lightly brushed the hair from his eyes.

"I want you to think about pleasant things," she told him. "Close your eyes and think of Disney World,
remember watching all the fire works, and think of how exciting the roller coasters were. Or think of how
much fun you had learning to ride a horse at Nana's."

Lucas closed his eyes and listened to Kristin's voice. He did as she said, and soon images came to
his mind of the things she talked about, and those images were the ones that followed him into sleep.

Kristin saw the tension leave his body and his breathing finally evened out showing that he had
fallen asleep. She reached for her PAL and stepped out of the room long enough to contact Nathan and tell
him that everything was okay, and that she and Lucas were in his room.

"I'll be right there," Nathan told her.

She turned the PAL off and went back to sit with Lucas.


____________________________________________



Nathan breathed a sigh of relief after talking to Kristin. He had been growing more and more
concerned with every passing minute. He walked quickly through the corridor to his room. He stepped
inside and saw Kristin come out of his room.

"How is he?" Nathan asked.

"He's resting now. I gave him something to calm him down. He was upset when I found him."

"How upset?" Nathan asked.

"He knew about General Pulaski," she replied. "He blames himself for what happened, and he
thought…he thought that I didn't want him anymore."

"Damn," Nathan exasperated. "I was hoping to get to him before he learned of Pulaski."

"Nathan, he was so sad. It was like he was carrying the weight of the entire world on his
shoulders. We talked for a bit, I think I managed to reassure him that everything was going to be all right.
I told him that Noyce said he wouldn't be leaving seaQuest, and that Ellie would be going to her
grandparents, so she wasn't all alone."

"That's good," Nathan replied. "But he's still going to blame himself for what happened to the
post."

"I think probably the best thing we can do is get him back in his routine. Honestly, he doesn't
need to be babied over this. Only time will help this problem. When we get to New Cape Quest there is
going to be a lot of work that needs to be done to get seaQuest back to normal. I think it would be good if
Lucas was part of the repair team. Let him design a new computer system for the boat or something like
that. Something that doesn't make him feel like a failure."

"That's a good idea. It should be more than easy enough to arrange. Hell, the UEO would
probably jump at the chance to have Lucas do it."

"Well, Captain," Kristin said, "you better get back to the bridge. I'm going to stay with Lucas. I
promised him I would."

"Thank you," Nathan said, "and I'm glad that it got to be you this time."

"Me what?"

"That it was you who helped him," Nathan replied.

"I did, didn't I?" she said.

"Yes, you did."