Hello everyone! I kind of forgot the disclaimer and authors note the first time I posted, so I'm fixing that right now. Now, this is my first ever seaQuest fic, so be kind in your reviews.
Disclaimer: SeaQuest and all its characters are not mine, I'm just borrowing them for some fun!
Overdue Leave
by Dusk
Nathan Bridger, captain of the UEO submarine seaQuest, was on his way to his island home when he suddenly realized that he had forgotten something very important onboard the seaQuest. Nathan cursed to himself then turned his motorcycle around and headed back. He was still berating himself as he climbed off his bike and onto the seaQuest. How could he have been so foolish?
The captain walked on the seaQuest, passing a few members of the skeletal crew that were to remain onboard during leave. When the captain entered his quarters he walked in and grabbed the bag that was sitting right in front of him on the table. Bridger sighed, must be old age, forgetting something that was right in front of his face. Nathan checked the time and determined that he wouldn't make it back before nightfall. He sighed and threw the pack back on the table. "Might as well stay the night," he thought to himself. Since Bridger wasn't supposed to be there, there wasn't much for him to do. He read for a while, but eventually tired of that and decided to take a walk around the ship
The ship was so quiet, Nathan thought, too quiet. He was used to the hustle and bustle of his crew; this silence was eerie. He turned down the next hallway and the silence was broken as loud, raucous music filled the air. If he didn't know better he would say that it sounded like Lucas's music. But as far as Bridger knew Lucas was off the boat and on his way for a weeklong visit with his parents. The Captain walked down the hall, curious as to where the music was coming from. He was very surprised and confused when he discovered that the music was indeed coming from Lucas's room. What was going on here? He walked up and knocked on the door. No answer, not surprising considering the ear numbing volume of the music. He cracked the door open and looked inside. There was Lucas, his back to the door, sitting in front of his computer, head bobbing in time to the music. He was obviously in his own world and hadn't noticed anyone entering his room. Bridger walked over and turned off the music.
Lucas flew around in his seat and looked confusedly at the older man. "Captain, what are you doing here?"
Bridger smiled, "I was about to ask you the same question." He walked over and sat on Lucas's bunk and waited for an explanation. When none came, he said, "Lucas, I thought you were going to visit with your parents. Why are you still here?"
Lucas frowned at the mention of his parents. He turned around and started working on his computer again. "Yeah, well, that didn't exactly work out," he mumbled.
Bridger sighed and reached over to turn Lucas towards him. "What do you mean 'it didn't work out'?"
"Nothing." The teen answered angrily.
"Lucas, you can't just stay on seaQuest."
"Why not?" Lucas interrupted. "I've done it before."
Bridger was surprised. "What do you mean you've done it before? You've stayed on seaQuest alone before? Lucas..."
But his speech was cut off by an incoming call. Lucas walked over to his vidphone and turned it on. "Yeah?"
"Hello Lucas. So, how's your leave going?" Bridger recognized the voice, and was surprised by it. Why was Admiral Noyce calling Lucas? And why did he know that Lucas was spending leave here when Bridger didn't and it was his boat? What was going on here?
"Fine. Just great, I love the view, I just don't get to spend enough time in my quarters these days!" Lucas answered sarcastically. Bridger was surprised to hear Lucas talk to the admiral this way.
"Lucas," Noyce began. "I'm sorry, next time maybe I can find other arrangements for you. But you know the deal."
Lucas quickly cut him off, remembering that the captain was still there. "Yeah, yeah, I know how it works." He mumbled.
Bridger stood up then. "What is going on here? What deal?" he said as he walked over to the vidphone.
"Nathan! I had no idea you were there! I thought you'd be on your island by now!"
"Well, I'm not. Now what is going on here, Bill?" Bridger demanded. "What is this 'deal' you were talking about?"
Lucas looked at the Captain, then back at Admiral Noyce, not sure what to do. He didn't want this man, who he considered a friend, to find out. It was just too embarrassing, he didn't want anyone to know. He looked back at Admiral Noyce, who looked like he was about to say something. But Lucas quickly cut him off, "Its nothing Captain. Um, well, nice talking to you Admiral, bye!" and with that Lucas cut the connection.
"Lucas, you just hung up on Admiral Noyce." Bridger exclaimed.
Lucas went and sat down at his computer. "So?"
"So? So? So you can't do that!"
"Why not?" Lucas asked indifferently.
"Well, first of all he's an Admiral, secondly he is a friend of mine. Perhaps most importantly though, it's just plain rude!" Bridger was astonished at Lucas's behavior. Their resident teen genius could be difficult at times, but never like this. What was wrong? The captain walked over and sat back down on the bed. "Lucas," he started in a more relaxed tone, "what's wrong?"
Lucas just stared at his computer screen, acting as though he hadn't heard the question. Bridger waited, and just when he was about to give up, Lucas spoke. "Did you ever wonder how I ended up here? On seaQuest?"
The question took Bridger off guard, and he wondered what Lucas was getting at. "Well," he began slowly, not sure what he was supposed to say, "Bill said that there were disciplinary problems at home."
Lucas leapt up out of his chair. "Disciplinary problems! Pfft, yeah, right." He paced back and forth, then stopped and looked at Bridger. "Captain, you've known me for what, about six months now, do I seem like the type of person who would have disciplinary problems?"
Nathan thought about it, and no, actually, it didn't. Lucas was a well-behaved kid. Sure he would play the occasional prank, be a bit stubborn at times. But overall Lucas was very well behaved. He always did what was asked, didn't put it off or wait around. The more Nathan thought about it, the weaker that explanation seemed. "No, Lucas, you don't." He finally said, answering Lucas's earlier question. He waited for Lucas to explain, and then realized Lucas was waiting for Bridger to ask the question. All right, Nathan thought to himself, I'll take the bait. "Alright Lucas, then how did you end up on seaQuest?"
Apparently this was the right question, or the wrong one, depending on how you looked at it. Lucas all but exploded with is answer. "I was frigging bought!" He yelled, throwing his hands in the air. "My own parents sold me to the highest bidder! Like I'm some sort of...of live stock or something!"
Bridger was shocked. "Now Lucas, I don't know where you got that idea, but I'm sure it's..."
"Oh, it's true alright," Lucas interrupted. "I was there! Once the UEO got wind of the vocorder and some other projects I was working on, they decided they just had to have me."
"Lucas, I'm sure this isn't true. You're parents may not show it very often, but they do love you, and the UEO doesn't buy people,"
Lucas interrupted again, "Well, apparently you aren't up to date on the latest UEO action. Actually, it was Admiral Noyce himself who called up dear ol' dad. And of course, my dad never passes up a good opportunity to further his research!"
Lucas was still pacing the room as he said all this. Bridger stopped Lucas and pulled the teen down to sit on the bed next to Bridger. "Lucas, how would," Bridger had trouble saying it, "how would... selling… you further his research?"
Lucas sighed. He didn't know why he was telling Bridger all of this. It was just too much now, but Noyce was going to tell the captain anyway, so why not? Lucas haltingly began to explain, looking anywhere but at Bridger. "Because, in exchange for me the UEO agreed to fund his upcoming research projects, no questions asked. Whatever it is he's working on, he now has a guarantee that the UEO will fund it. And it's not just a one-time deal. The UEO tried to back out of funding once before, but dear ol' daddy threatened to take me back. So now all he has to do is mention taking me back and the UEO jumps to his aid."
Bridger couldn't believe what he was hearing. Why would the UEO do this? Why would they buy a child? How could they? How could his parents do this? He turned to Lucas, "Lucas, why would the UEO want you so bad?"
Lucas gave a little laugh, and looked at Bridger like the answer should be obvious. "Think about it, Captain, would you want me to fall into the wrong hands?" Lucas asked, then seeing Bridger's confused look, explained further. "The UEO figured it was safer to have the Boy Wonder on their side than that of the enemies."
Now Nathan understood. Lucas was a genius. It was once said that he could be or do anything that he wanted. With that type of talent he would make a formidable enemy. Why, just look at all the advancements he had already made to the seaQuest. Who else could improve the mainframe's response time by over thirty percent? Or improve speaker quality over forty percent? And Bridger was sure that if Lucas could make such inventive and valuable improvements, why then he could also do just the opposite and destroy the ship.
He could understand now why Noyce had done what he had. But that didn't mean he agreed with it. Lucas was a person, not something to be traded back and forth like a piece of clothing. Then he remembered something from Lucas's earlier conversation with Noyce. "Lucas, what was Bill talking about when he said 'you know the deal'?"
Lucas didn't answer and again looked anywhere but at the older man's face. Bridger reached over, took the boy's chin in his hand and made Lucas look at him. "Lucas, you've told me this much, you can tell me the rest." Lucas still hesitated. "Lucas, you know this isn't your fault, and I would never judge you by this."
Lucas sighed. "Might as well tell him the rest", he thought to himself. "Well, when my father made the deal to give me to the UEO, part of the deal was that he wasn't responsible for me anymore. I wasn't supposed to come home anymore, not even for holidays."
Now Bridger understood. "And that means not for shore leave as well," he finished for him. Lucas nodded sadly. "Lucas, it isn't you. It's your parents that have the problem." Bridger told the boy, guessing at what was going through his head. "There is absolutely nothing wrong with you."
Lucas looked up at him then. "Then why would my own parents sell me? Why wouldn't they want to see me anymore? There's got to be something wrong when your own parents don't want you."
Bridger reached over and wrapped the boy in a hug. "Those bastards," he thought. "How could they do this to their own son? Couldn't they see how wonderful he was?" If he ever saw Lucas's so called 'parents' again he truly thought he would strangle them. Of course, he didn't share this with Lucas. Nathan held the boy close, hugging him tightly. Softly rocking back and forth he told the teen how truly special he was and tried to convince him that nothing was wrong with him. He went on to point out how the whole crew had come to love and depend on their youngest member, and how the seaQuest just wouldn't be the same without him.
Some time later, after Lucas had calmed down, Bridger left him playing one of his computer games on the Internex. The Captain walked straight to his quarters and called Admiral Noyce.
"Ah, hello Nathan, and how are you this evening?"
"Don't 'hello Nathan' me. How could you Bill? How could you treat that boy as some sort of possession?"
"Nathan, I'm sorry. Really I am, but this had to be done. And believe me, this wasn't my idea. It was out of my hands, I just tried to make the best of the situation," Admiral Noyce explained.
"Make the best of it? What, by trapping the boy on the sub, not letting him off? Has he even once been off this boat since he arrived?" He could tell by his friend's expression that he hadn't. "My god Bill, why didn't you tell me? I could have taken him, I could have done something," Nathan ended helplessly.
"Nathan, listen, I wanted to tell you, I truly did," Noyce began, but Nathan cut him off.
"I'm sure you did," He said sarcastically. "Bill, there were plenty of times that you could have mentioned it. But you chose not to, and Lucas suffered because of that."
"I know. And again, I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do about that now. You know now, let's focus on that."
"Ok, you're right." Nathan rubbed his hands down his face, and then looked back up at the screen. "So, it is true then, his parents really did sell him to the UEO?"
"Well, not exactly Nathan, more like and exchange that everyone involved would benefit from. Lucas would come and work for the UEO, we would be able to use his advancements and he would help us with our research, and Doctor Wolenczak would receive funds to help further his research." Noyce explained carefully.
"Bill, no matter how you word it, the facts are still the same, you bought Lucas!" Bridger exclaimed. "And how exactly did Lucas benefit from this arrangement?"
Admiral Noyce sighed, "Nathan, that wasn't our objective when we went to Doctor Wolenczak. We thought we really did have Lucas's best interests in mind. The UEO had heard of Lucas, and we had been watching his progress. When we realized he had no plans after graduating from Stanford we thought we'd give him some options to think about. But since Lucas was a minor we had to go to his parents. His father realized that and well, you can guess what happened," Noyce explained. Sighing again, Bill looked up into his friend's face. "You know Nathan, Lucas didn't have the best home environment, he really is better off on seaQuest."
Bridger digested this information. Then asked, "Ok, but why the lies? Why'd you keep everything such a big secret?"
"Basically, for two reasons. One, we didn't want it getting out that the UEO could be bribed. Second, Lucas didn't want anyone to know and I don't blame him one bit."
"No, I guess I wouldn't want everyone knowing my parents had sold me either," Nathan said sympathetically. Then thought about the situation for a bit. "Ok, so now what? Does he still have to stay on the ship? Could he come home with me?" Nathan asked.
Admiral Noyce shook his head. "Yes, if you both agree to that, it would be fine. The only reason he had to stay was because of the deal the UEO made with his father. He wasn't allowed back home and well, we couldn't have a teenager running around here for a week."
"Oh, its ok if I have a teenager running around my ship all the time, but you can't handle one for a week?" Bridger teased.
Bill laughed, "Oh, but Nathan, you have such a way with the kids these days."
They both smiled. "So, we're all clear, Lucas will leave with me tomorrow morning and spend his shore leave on my island." He stated, getting back to the matter at hand.
"That's fine. I hope you two have a wonderful time." And with that settled they cut the connection. Bridger walked back to Lucas's quarters, much happier than when he had left. When he turned down the hall he noticed that the music was back, but thankfully not quite as loud. He walked up to his door and knocked.
"Its open!"
Nathan walked in to find Lucas still playing on the Internex. He walked over and sat down on his bed. Lucas shut off the computer and turned to look at him. "So, what happens now?" he asked nervously.
"Well, if you don't mind leaving the wonderful view, you and I can head out tomorrow for a week long vacation to my island."
Lucas's smile was immediate. "Really? I can leave? Man, that'd be great!" Then the smile left and he looked seriously at Bridger. "You don't mind? I mean, you're stuck here with me all the time, this is supposed to be your vacation. You sure you want an annoying teenager tagging along?"
Bridger looked him in the eye, "I don't mind one bit. It'd be a pleasure having you. You know, it can get kind of lonely on that island all by myself."
Lucas' smile returned. "Thanks Captain."
"Well, you better start packing, we leave bright and early tomorrow morning," Nathan said as he got up to leave. As he was about to close the door Lucas stopped him.
"Hey Captain, does anyone else have to know about this? About my parents I mean?" he asked nervously.
"No," Bridger said, "Nobody will ever know, unless you want to tell them."
"Thanks." Lucas said, then turned around to start packing for a long overdue vacation.