First, I'd like to give a big thank you to K. Presson for lending me the character of Samantha for my first outing here. Now, on with the show…

Lucas slid the headphones on and leaned back against the coolness of Darwin's tube. Closing his eyes, he sighed deeply, finally starting to relax after a long day of working on a translation problem that had developed between some of the ship's computer systems, and then putting in some time on the vocorder. He enjoyed keeping busy as much as anyone, but today had been beyond busy and he was ready for some well deserved rest.

In an attempt to silence the thoughts in his head, he'd decided to load a mini disk containing some classical music; Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, into his player. The neat order of the music soothed his brain; it was mathematical and concise, and gave his mind something else to fixate on.

He was just about to press play when he heard Commander Ford's voice over the ship's com. "Lucas to the bridge, stat!"

Groaning, he pulled the headphones off and tossed them aside in frustration. Running his fingers through his hair, he then rubbed his face roughly and stood up. Was he ever going to get a break today?

He stepped out into the hallway and headed for the bridge, wondering what was wrong this time. He could have sworn that he'd alleviated all of the problems earlier in the day, and the fact that he apparently hadn't seriously annoyed him. Paging him to the bridge "stat" was never a good sign, and he anticipated getting reamed by both Captain Bridger and Commander Ford for telling them that the systems were fixed when they weren't.

He walked onto the bridge and looked around, trying to find Ford, but Ford found him first.

"Lucas! I thought you said this stuff was fixed!?"

Lucas cringed. "It was! The diagnostics all came back fine! What are you doing to it to mess it up?"

Ford gave him an icy glare and Lucas instantly regretted letting the words leave his mouth. "Obviously it isn't fixed because we're still having problems with it. If you don't mind," he said, gesturing to the terminals.

Lucas sighed and walked over to where he'd left his tools earlier. He'd learned to leave them in the last trouble spot he'd worked on, just in case, like now for instance, he had to come back and work on it again. As he bent down to pick up his drill, the lights and systems on the bridge flickered, and then went out.

"What in the hell just happened?" The voice of the Captain cut through the darkness. "Lucas!! What did you do?"

"It wasn't me! I just went to pick up a drill, I haven't even touched anything yet!" he yelled, trying to be heard of the series of beeps that let them know that the bridge's systems, although currently not functional, were being kept from complete shutdown by generators.

"Well, fix it! NOW!" The Captain yelled back. As soon as the words reached Lucas, the lights and systems all sprung back to life. Lucas let out a deep breath of relief, and looked around as the computer screens all came back on. But he noticed that no one else was looking at their screens. They were all staring at the middle of the bridge.

Lucas turned around to see what everyone else was looking at, and when his eyes rested on it, his jaw dropped open. There, in the middle of the bridge, stood a young woman he didn't recognize, and he took it that no one else recognized her either. She was wearing what would be considered "retro" clothing; blue jeans, black boots, and a black, long sleeved shirt; only retro because of their cut and style. Where had she come from?

"Excuse me, but who are you and where did you come from," Captain Bridger said, walking towards her.

She turned around quickly, her face a mixture of shock and confusion. "I…I don't know where I am or who you are?"

"You're on the SeaQuest, a UEO ship. I'm the ship's Captain. Now it's your turn."

She frowned. "SeaQuest? UEO? What are those?"

"Before I answer any more of your questions, why don't you answer mine? Who are you and where did you come from?"

She looked truly frightened. "My…my name is Ellie. I'm from Los Angeles. I was asleep…is this a dream?"

"Interesting, but the truth would be helpful. How did you get on board and past security?" Bridger said, seemingly irritated.

"What are you talking about? I'm telling the truth! I don't know what is going on, but this must be a nightmare and I want to go home now."

Bridger raised an eyebrow. Who was this girl? "How old are you Ellie?"

"I'm 23…"

"And what year is this?"

"June, 2002. Why are you asking me these weird questions? What year do YOU think it is?" she asked, pointedly. Normally, Lucas would have started laughing at such a response, but the year…2002?

"It's 2018 actually," Bridger replied.

Ellie started to laugh. "Yeah, ok. Whatever you say. Show me the way out so I can go home please." She started to walk toward the only set of doors she saw, the ones leading out from the bridge into the rest of the ship. She didn't get far.

"Hold on a minute young lady," Bridger said, stepping in front of her. "I think you have some explaining to do about why you're really here."

She stared at him, frowning in confusion. "I don't understand. Who do you think I am? I honestly don't know what is going on. One minute I'm sleeping, and the next minute, I'm here. Maybe you can tell me what you're doing in my dream."

"Ford, take her to the brig," Bridger said. Ford, standing near Lucas, nodded to the Captain and started toward Ellie. Her gaze followed the Captain's, and fell on Lucas.

She gasped slightly, and her eyes widened, immediately welling up with tears. "Gavin?" she whispered, starting toward Lucas.

Lucas just stared at her, not sure how to respond. Ford moved quickly and intercepted her, grabbing her arm. "Hold on now, where do you think you're going?"

But she didn't hear him; she was completely focused on Lucas, her tears coming faster. "Gavin…you're here too…why are you here? I miss you so much!" she cried out, straining against Ford and reaching out to Lucas, who just looked at her blankly. "Why don't you say something? Please, Gavin you have to help me! I don't know what to do! Lawrence has left on some project, I'm all alone and I'm scared…Gavin, please!!"

Lucas was completely taken in by her, though he couldn't explain why. Her hair, hanging just past her shoulder blades, was pulled back at the top, leaving her pretty face exposed. Her eyes were a piercing teal color, the color of the ocean. Even filled with tears they had a hypnotic quality. Lucas stepped toward her, reaching out his hand and grasping the one she'd been holding out to him. At his touch, she began to sob violently and her grasp on his hand turned vice-like. It was evident that she wanted to speak, but her sobs caught the words in her throat. Even if he could have let go of her hand, Lucas didn't think he would have. He'd never seen such a display of emotional pain and he was dumbstruck.

Bridger finally spoke. "His name is Lucas, not Gavin. I think you're a bit confused. Ford," he said, nodding to Ford, indicating that he should take her to the brig now.

Ellie shook her head. "No…you don't know what you're talking about! His name is Gavin, he's my friend!"

Bridger pressed a button on the com. "Dr. Westphalen to the bridge, stat!" Turning to Ford he said, "Hold on to her, don't let go of her. Something is very wrong here."

Lucas felt a lump rise in his throat as he looked into her eyes and saw all the hurt there. For the moment, no one else existed in this room except for her. "Don't let go, please," she whispered to him. He responded by taking her small hand in both of his.

He didn't even notice that Dr. Westphalen had arrived on the bridge until he felt Ellie being yanked away from him, snapping him out of whatever trance he'd been in. She screamed desperately as Ford dragged her away from him and over to the doctor, who administered a dose of sedative. Almost immediately she slumped down in Ford's arms, allowing him to scoop her up. Holding her in his arms, he nodded to the Captain and headed out to deposit Ellie in the brig.

All of the emotion swirling around him took its toll, and a tear slid down his cheek as he watched Ford take her away. "I'm so sorry," he whispered, as if she could still hear him.

"Lucas, you ok?" Bridger asked.

Lucas nodded numbly, looking at the Captain and the Doctor, and then around at the rest of the crew on the bridge, who stood silently, looking stunned. He noticed that even his friend, Samantha Kinkade was on the bridge now; she must have come with Dr. Westphalen.

Samantha, noticing something was wrong with him, walked toward him and frowned when she saw him wipe a tear away and shake his head. "Lucas, what was all that about?"

"I don't know," he replied. "She thought I was someone else."

"Who is she? How did she get here?"

Lucas shrugged and shook his head. "No clue."

"When she wakes up a little, we'll try to find out," Kristen responded.

Lucas couldn't think. He kept hearing her desperate plea for help and her frantic scream as she was pulled away from him. He couldn't breathe. "I have to go," he choked out. Before anyone could say anything, he fled the bridge for the safety of his quarters.